Darkness, my old Friend

"Hello darkness my old friend...I've come to talk with you again..." A voice softly sung. The words shaking between the waterfall of tears and the pain caused from the multiple wounds crisscrossing her body. She held her side where blood continued a familiar rhythm as the song she knew by heart echoed in the vast cavern; her body shivering from blood loss and the unforgiving air current as she curled against the only standing rock. 

Her uniform was torn in multiple places but it was to be expected in a heroine’s work. The white of it nearly black as the blue, green, red, and purple flaked away or stuck to her bloody skin. It didn't matter that she had more at home. What did a uniform matter compared with a life? A life she failed as she glanced at the young girl at the far end of the cave whose life was taken at the tender age of fourteen. 

If the father wasn’t such a—no. No excuses, she cried; the song still unsteady from her lips. It was her job to rescue the child and send her safely home. But still, she could not have accounted for the adversaries nor the poison she faced. She gritted her teeth as the pain doubled. It was taking her too much effort to halt the poison. 

She looked over the girl again. This was supposed to be a simple rescue mission. She curled tighter into the fetal position ignoring the pain her wounds caused; she deserved them. She failed. And even if this wasn’t the first failure, she questioned the people who sent her on these missions. Her hand curled tighter; blood still a steady river. She knew if she tried to get up now, she won’t make it out alive. Maybe this is what they wanted? She snorted. She must be unforgivable. 

“So here you are my dear hero Elemental. What mess have you gotten yourself into?” Shadows grew from the already dark cave; a blackness that would blind civilians. Tendrils extended—warped—to its master's desires. They curled and sharpened, grew as a boulder and shrunk to a needle until everything was covered. The hooded anti-hero Darkness has come.

Even if she wasn’t hurt she’d be in no mood to place him in jail. He’d only get out again. As always; and in the same black leathers and cowl that he always wore on his face. The song was long finished from her bleeding lips as she leaned heavily on the rock supporting her. The fight inside a dying desert. She couldn’t fight him now for whatever evil concoction he had in mind this time. Maybe not for a while.

Darkness frowned at her lack of response. He stepped out of his shadows lifting his hand—now would be the time to take her and hide her away; then no one would be in his way—only to pause as he took in the cave.

It looked as if an ocean of blood was the caves bottom as hundreds of bodies littered as agate stones; the only true rock an island that held his crying wounded hero. Glancing to his side he noticed one body different from the others and sighed. He could guess what happened here. There were once upon a time multiple rocks and the walls were scorched. The only reason the blood hasn't congealed was due to his heroines use of the blood. His hero truly was a powerful force of nature.

“Shall I dispose of all this?” He asked quietly; though little it did in such a cavernous space. His voice alone made the walls tremble and as much as he would enjoy such a space the silence of his hero was nerve-wracking. Darkness watched Elemental flinch as she lifted a hand and he snapped, his patience thin.

He stormed over and covered her with his tentacles—he truly hated her words for them—and cradled his hero in his arms. He categorized each wound sending his tendrils inside to stop the bleeding. If he wasn't a doctor and she didn't have regenerative abilities, he would have found her in a worse condition. One he dared not think about. There would be no fighting his lover today or any for the next few months. The hero Elemental and villain Darkness would be taking a sorely needed vacation. No matter how ripe for the picking the city was. He was just teleporting when she finally spoke.

“Darkness, my old friend…”

He sadly smiled at her. “Yes, I’m here. I won’t leave the poor girl behind. This will be the only “good deed" you’ll get from me this time, love.”

The hero Elemental smiled before closing her eyes. “The mountains…” would be a good place to recover she left unsaid; away from people. From cities with multiple problems. Maybe being a hero isn’t a good thing. 

“Hmm. The Appalachian or Antarctica…no, Bearhat mountain. It has a lovely little lake and I'm sure we can ‘borrow' someone’s cabin.”

She chuckled before hissing. “Don't take someone's cabin. What if they're in it?”

“Then they will promptly. Get. Out.” Darkness continued on through the shadows. They were almost home. She rested comfortably. 

She would not forget her biggest mistake left behind in the darkness of the cave. It was uncertain to her if this was a set-up or her own failure. Nature was a force not to be played with. Man should know this.

She was too tired to care at the moment. A heroine’s job is never done and a villain’s game is always played. A vacation sounds wonderful, although she felt she didn’t deserve it.

“Sleep, my hero. I will take care of everything…after all, villains have many plans.”

She tried to laugh but she could barely feel anything. Darkness knew how to take care of her; it wouldn’t be the first time he’s patched her in his “secret" layer. And she’s sure it won’t be the last. After all, they still have a war to fight.