Ethan could be seen high in the sky, closely following the Grand Rapids Rapid Runner bus. He had come to Grand Rapids, Michigan as soon as he felt the distinct mental tug of the specialized kunai he had previously given Tony.
The underlying reason he didn't teleport instantly was the exact same reason from when he had encountered the Pennywise spirit: Caution.
He simply didn't know what awaited him on the other end of his teleportation. What he did know for certain was that it wasn't a normal location on Earth.
A pocket dimension, perhaps? Or a specialized barrier that actively messes with the fabric of space? He didn't know, and that was precisely why he took these precaution.
It was entirely possible that the cursed spirit lacked the refinement needed to detect his teleportation directly inside its own barrier, but he couldn't afford to take that chance, not when lives were at Stake.
From the grim circumstances alone, Ethan could predict that the curse responsible for this easily resided within the territory of Special Grades. The best-case scenario, if the curse detected him, was that it would flee and restart its horrific cycle all over again somewhere else.
The worst-case scenario would be that it went on a rampage and slaughtered everyone trapped inside the barrier, before Ethan could reach them.
Fortunately, through his Kunai, he knew exactly where the opening of the spatial trap was located… and surprisingly, it wasn't a static location… but a moving bus that he was currently tracking.
That implied that no matter which route the bus chose to take, it would have inevitably ended up inside the curse's barrier.
Ethan soared forward, cutting through the air before landing some distance away on an empty stretch of road. In the distance, the headlights of the Grand Rapids Runner bus came into view, steadily rolling toward his position.
"I hope you're alive, Stark…" Ethan muttered aloud, extending his hand in a clear signaling motion for the vehicle to stop.
I shouldn't have sent him alone… Ethan thought grimly. Even with his advanced armor suit, if Tony encountered a genuine Special Grade, his best chance at survival would be a swift escape and Knowing Stark, He would not flee.
The bus ground to a halt a short distance in front of him. The vehicle itself wasn't particularly ostentatious or corporate-looking like those owned by major commercial travel companies.
If a normal bystander didn't possess the ability to perceive curses, there would seem to be nothing out of place for them inside the bus.
But Ethan saw the truth. The vehicle was riddled with hundreds of low-grade curses, swarming over it the exact way a colony of ants would overtake a cube of sugar. It was an unusual and unsettling sight, to say the least.
When the driver, Bakta, noticed a lone man standing on the side of the abandoned road, she instinctively pulled the brakes. Peering through the glass windshield, she took note of the stranger's distinct features.
If Bakta had to describe the man, she would say he looked like the most generic Caucasian male she had ever seen.
Unbeknownst to her, Ethan had utilized a Kitsune illusion to mask his true face, as his real appearance was far too recognizable to be seen in public.
But what stood out most about him was his immaculate clothing. He wore a sharp suit jacket, tightly fitted over a matching pinstripe vest. Beneath the layers, his crisp white dress shirt was buttoned nearly to the collar, leaving just the top two buttons casually open.
The entire sophisticated ensemble was anchored by a solid navy blue tie, accented by a subtle, metallic silver tie clip.
Bakta knew just enough about modern fashion to recognize the signs. That suit was undeniably custom tailor-made, and it looked incredibly expensive.
Hissing softly, she pulled the lever and opened the main doors of the bus.
"My car broke down about half a mile back," the man explained smoothly. "Do you think you could give me a ride to the next town?"
Bakta hesitated, thinking it over for a second. As a commercial driver, she had a strict responsibility to get her current passengers safely to their destination.
Normally, company policy dictated that she shouldn't pick up anyone except at designated bus stops. Furthermore, she had read far too many real-life true crime dramas not to be deeply suspicious of this exact type of hitchhiker scenario.
But as she looked closer at the man, he didn't look anything like a dangerous burglar. In fact, he looked like quite the opposite.
Besides, a little bit of goodwill never hurt anybody. She had only taken up commercial driving in the first place to pay off her mounting student loans, and this particular route was supposed to be her final ride. She had only agreed to the shift to ensure she had some extra pocket money to treat herself with afterward.
"Anybody else with you?" Bakta asked, keeping a watchful eye on the man as she gestured for him to hop aboard.
"Nah, I'm alone," Ethan replied smoothly, stepping up the stairs and making his way inside.
"It's gonna cost you, though," Bakta spoke up with a slight smile as she glanced back at Ethan's retreating form.
Having goodwill didn't mean she couldn't earn a little something from the favor. Besides, judging by how impeccably the man was dressed, he certainly wouldn't miss the money.
"You are a lifesaver, Bakta," Ethan spoke up, turning back to face her with an easy smile.
"How did you…" Bakta started to ask, thoroughly confused as to how this total stranger knew her name. But seeing Ethan casually gesture toward her shirt pocket, she glanced down to where her company-issued name tag hung in plain view.
The curses immediately sensed his presence, and several of the entities near the front of the vehicle instantly began to gravitate toward him.
Ethan quickly took a vacant seat adjacent to an elderly couple. As a grotesque, worm-like curse started coiling its slimy body tightly around his shoulders, he couldn't help but grimace and make a face. He silently swore to himself that he was going to burn this damn bus to the ground the second he was done dealing with the Special Grade.
Some way further along the dark road… Ethan's sharp ears picked up a faint radio transmission filtering through the speakers from the front of the bus..." A song?"
When I was just a little boy
I asked my father, what will I be?
Will I be handsome? Will I be rich?
Here's what he said to me…
Meanwhile, in Fromville:
Tony surveyed the eerie area from high above the ground. After he had woken up from his sizer in the clinic, it had taken a significant amount of time and effort to convince the suspicious townspeople that what he said about Cursed energy was not Hocus.
Especially that fierce woman, Donna—she had offered the most aggressive resistance to his Explanation.
But after they had finally looked out at the world through his high-tech faceplate—which now had specialized Cursed Glasses lenses implanted directly into the HUD—not much doubt remained among the terrified residents.
While Tony had been unconscious earlier, a mysterious man wearing a yellow suit had visited him in what felt like a vivid, surreal dream.
"The space between dreams and reality is a curse, so be extremely careful…" the man had warned him.
At first, Stark didn't recognize the figure. But looking closer at his features, Tony realized with a jolt that it was actually Ethan.
Ethan claimed he didn't have much time to talk before the overarching curse might become fully aware of his psychic intrusion. He admitted he feared a rampant, town-wide massacre if they didn't move fast.
Ethan had quickly laid out his exact rescue plan to Tony: gather every single resident of the town and lead them out into the deep forest, just west of Colony House.
Once there, they would encounter a pure white rabbit. They had to follow that rabbit directly into the underground tunnels, and from there, he and the others would finally find their freedom.
"You will save them, Stark. After all, you are a hero," Ethan had said with a knowing smile just before he vanished entirely from the dream.
Tony landed heavily back on the ground, retraction mechanics whirring as he walked toward the anxious group gathered in front of Colony House: Jade, Jim, Tabitha, Donna, Sheriff Boyd, and his deputy, Kenny.
They had all gathered together at this spot for one specific purpose: to confirm whether or not the tunnels actually existed exactly where the mysterious man from Tony's vivid dream had promised they would be found.
Kenny and Boyd stood a short distance away from the main crowd, talking in hushed tones.
"I got, umm…" Kenny started, checking his mental tally. "I got most of the Colony House residents squared away. Most people in town aren't really using their basements, so each house is gonna take in two or three people. Some are staying down at the clinic. And the last three are gonna stay with me, my mom, and Jade, I guess."
"Okay…" Boyd replied simply, his focus clearly drifting elsewhere. Boyd was still wearing the same brown shirt from the previous night—the one heavily stained with Father Khatri's blood.
It was a grim detail that Kenny definitely picked up on, but he chose not to say anything about it.
"Feels like things are really starting to get tense out here," Kenny suggested anxiously. "People are already boarding up their windows early. And now, with the Colony House crowd and the townspeople living right on top of each other… I think maybe we should get everyone gathered together and, I don't know… say something. Tell them about this bizarre dream Stark had."
"It's a good idea… you should do that," Boyd spoke up, momentarily breaking away from his sullen stupor.
"I think it would mean a whole lot more coming from you," Kenny countered gently, pushing the responsibility back.
"Right…" Boyd murmured, understanding what Kenny was referring to. He was the anchor of this entire town, the one everyone looked to for strength.
"Right," he repeated, nodding absently as the weight of leadership settled back onto his shoulders.
"Are you okay, Boyd?" Kenny asked, his eyes dropping to notice the slight, uncontrollable tremble in Boyd's weathered hands.
"He saved my life, you know that…" Boyd said, his voice tightening with a sudden wave of raw, unfiltered emotion. "Father Khatri… the night we first got stuck into this damn town. He risked his own life to make sure that…" He choked on the words, trailing off, unable to continue the painful thought.
"One day… all he had to do was survive one more day," Boyd scoffed bitterly, aggressively kicking up a cloud of loose dirt. "And he would have been back to his shitty town, back to his shitty congregation, and I would never have to hear his annoying voice again. But no, he just had to go and die."
"I am sorry about Khatri. I know you two were close," Kenny offered softly.
It hit him then that they had all been so caught up with Stark's grandiose idea of escape that they hadn't even stopped to properly mourn the people they had just lost.
"Right… I appreciate that, kid," Boyd replied, finally looking up and meeting Kenny's eyes.
"Do you really think Stark's plan is going to work?" Kenny asked, his natural skepticism finally slipping through.
Anyone who managed to survive for more than a year in the nightmare of Fromville developed that exact defensive trait, regardless of how fundamentally optimistic they might have been before arriving here.
"Yeah," Boyd replied, though the initial word didn't seem entirely convincing to either of them. "Yeah," he repeated, this time forcing the word out much more strongly. "I think this will actually work, because it's something tangible. You saw through those cursed glasses. The exact same ones I did. This is real. We are going home, Kenny," Boyd said, turning away and making his way back toward the main group where Tony had just arrived.
"It's there… The opening of the tunnel is really there," Tony announced, a triumphant, confident smile spreading across his face.
Instantly, the weary group erupted into a rare wave of pure cheers and emotional celebration.
"It's there, it's actually there!" Jade shouted, throwing his hands up in triumph.
"We are finally going home, hon…" Tabitha whispered, tearfully locking Jim into a fierce, relieved hug.
Even Donna seemed to have gained an entirely new lease on life, eagerly high-fiving an uncharacteristically enthusiastic Boyd.
"Okay, okay, settle down, boys and girls," Tony said, raising his gauntlets to quiet the rowdy group. "Call everyone here right now. We are getting the hell out of this place."
He received another round of boisterous cheers in return, though Kenny hesitantly raised his hand to interject.
"Shouldn't someone go through those tunnels first? Just to scout it out and check if it's safe?" the deputy reasoned logically.
"No, we can't risk that," Tony countered firmly. "Ethan specifically said we have to move as one collective unit. As soon as the first person steps outside the boundary of the barrier, the overarching Cursed Spirit will be alerted. We have to get everyone out all at once."
Boyd stepped up, moving decisively to the front of the gathering.
"It's risky, I Know. Moving as a large group always is," Boyd admitted to the crowd. "But if we don't take this step, we will never cross the threshold. Kenny, Jade—head straight to town and round up everyone. Tell them to bring only the bare minimum. Tell them…Tell them we are going home."