The Hero & The Darkness

    I can’t help but reminisce on the first time it happened. The skies slowly turned dark, as if a bright spotlight had been snuffed out. Only a small crack of light from the blinded sun whimpering high above the Earth managed to seep through. It served as a call to action, showing that there was something to be done. A battle to be fought. A victory to be won. For the superheroes, it was just another day. Save the planet, save the day. Another victory for us, and then decide where to grab a drink after. Most days, the biggest conflict was done over a foosball table, while the antagonists of the skies were defeated with the ease of exterminating an ant.

    It was a day that was supposed to be spent with my wife and daughter. We had planned out an entire weekend, a time for us to reconnect and bond after the long hours I had been devoting to my job. My wife, as most of the world did, heavily encouraged me to become a hero. She was there from the very beginning, back when the first lightning strike fell down, back when I detained my first enemy. My daughter was even more loving. Though the long campaigns and battles separated us, she was my biggest fan. If there is one thing I regret more than anything else, it’s the time I spent as a hero, rather than a father and a husband.

They recognized my call to action, and knew that I had to go. My daughter smiled, knowing that even if I couldn’t fulfill the promise of a day together, it would be for a good cause. I hugged them extra tight, and leapt off the ground towards the jet black lacuna. Not even halfway into the skies, I heard the familiar voice of my best friend and sidekick. With him beside me, the happy ending that awaited us became even more unequivocal. A brief moment later, a whole chorus of heroes were behind us. We smiled, cracked a few jokes, and prepared to fix the problem as soon as we could. It was a weekend, after all. Most of us didn’t want to be there long.

    Every second, the darkness grew deeper and more intimidating. The heroes, despite staying close, felt like sailors lost at sea. There was nothing tangible to keep our eyes on but the blank abyss. Though formless, it had unphysical eyes that stared deep into your soul. It could read your thoughts, expose your secrets, turn the world against you. Before we had even reached it, before any of us threw out the first punch, we could feel the weight on our mortal coils. Terror was an all too familiar feeling in the business of heroics, but I saw a new feeling of loss and fear in the eyes of my team. 

    As we neared the dark domain that enshrouded us, the air grew colder. Many of my peers took this in stride, using the bitterness as motivation. The cold increased their strength, and made them take to the skies to destroy whatever threat had awaited us this time. On the other hand, my powers relied on the heat. The sun was the source of my powers, and without it I was not just weak, I was dying. I still soared high to fight alongside my peers, but I knew that if we were unable to take out the cold fast, I wouldn’t make it to drinks.

    I fought until I had no energy left in my body. Back then, I still cared enough to avoid my death. Even with the might of myself and all the other heroes, we were simply too slow. I fell to the ground, my body failing me before my back landed in the dirt. The last sight I witnessed was the supers taking out the threat, and the darkness retreating back, only for it to creep over my eyesight. Feeling a bittersweet sadness encompassing my body, my body began to freeze still. Despite the darkness being defeated, the cold hadn’t left my system. Unfortunately, the feeling couldn’t last long. The flame inside of me had died out. I closed my eyes, and let the dark overtake me.

    What only felt like moments later, I had been awoken by an old partner of mine. I felt my powers rush back to me in a flurry, and once more felt heat in my fists. There was something different this time, though. The flames that burst from my hands, like a sapphire in the moonlight, felt stronger. I had a newfound energy. My partner tried to calm me down, insisting that I was erratic or traumatized from the events I had been through, but I knew I was fine. I pushed my way through all the scientists watching me, studying me. The sterile walls, though they couldn’t contain me, felt somehow even more draining than the darkness that consumed me. Despite this, it was only a mere second before I escaped and was back in the regular world.

    I had been dead for 7 years, long enough to miss so much of what had happened in the world. I missed my daughter’s graduation, her wedding, and many of the most important years of her life. She had grown up following my own footsteps, and became the head of a private security service. She told me that she had devoted her life to saving those around her, much like I had done years ago. My wife hadn’t moved on, but still was able to rely on my ex-sidekick for help and support after my passing. 

    I spent a week returning back to the normalcy of the world. I studied the technological advancements that I had slept through, and rekindled the connection I had with my family. My daughter, though skeptical of my return at first, was one of the most eager to see me return. I had lost so much of her life not only because of my death, but because of the vacant life I had lived before my passing. This time, I swore, the life of my daughter would not pass before me. I spent as much time with her and my wife as I could, cherishing every second for the gift it was.

As for the darkness that had killed me, the heroes assured me that they had defeated it. What I had witnessed before my passing was the destruction of its life source, and the world has not seen a crisis on the same level since. The community of superheroes brought me back in with open arms, holding a party to celebrate my return. Many of my colleagues had retired over the years, and many others had passed. Their sidekicks and partners had replaced them, hoping to carry on their legacies, much alike my own cohort. Politicians and the news even had a field day with it, claiming that my rebirth was somehow evident that their policies were working. I became an icon of growth and resurrection. To many, I was a phoenix, risen from the ashes. Scientists abhorred it, claiming that it was just a side effect of my powers, and for once, the religious zealots of the world agreed with them. They refused to worship me or acknowledge my resurrection, which I am thankful for. 

    Two weeks after I returned, the darkness had once more begun to plague the sky. My friends, my family, my partner, all supported my return to heroism. Many of my old heroic associates disagreed with my ideology, postulating that history could repeat itself. However, I knew that just because I had lost once to the darkness, didn’t mean that I would lose again. I still felt more powerful than ever, and blasted towards the dark skies with the power of a burning sun. I felt the cold burning through my skin, like a crackling campfire. I refused to stop, and continued to fight back with all my might. My superhuman partners, despite having retired, joined me in the fight, and I knew that the darkness would be defeated once more. The air beneath my fiery body made me feel like a bullet shooting through a cold gust of wind, and the darkness that shrouded the world was my target.

    As I felt the cold hit my skin, I got the same feeling I had gotten once before. The frost-tipped darkness bursting through my flaming fists with every movement, the empty void relentlessly shattering my skin like broken glass. I turned towards my sidekick and felt a single tear roll down my face, as I began falling back to the planet once more. This time, even with my extra power, I blacked out before I hit the ground. I felt as my body rolled through the dirt, and could sense the darkness outside once again retreating. I managed to crack my eyes open one last time, and witness the sun once more breaking through the ashy atmosphere.

    I let the cold consume me again. My final thoughts, despite all the chaos, laid in the memories of my wife and daughter. Though my time back was brief, the memories I had made clouded my mind. Their kindness, their love would never be forgotten. I thought of my old sidekick, having continued my legacy without me. I thought of my fellow heroes, willing to come out of their retirement and aid me in my final battle once more, for the simple reason that they were my friends. That was all they needed to be, that was all I needed them to be. 

    The next time, I had woken up on my own. I wasn’t in a cold sterile laboratory, surrounded by scientists, but rather in a small wooden box. Oak barriers, mummifying me in a dirty tomb. I began to burst my way out, the splinters from the wood catching aflame as they hit my fingers. I broke through the wooden prison, and clawed my way through the six feet of dirt above to freedom. I collapsed as soon as I felt the air on my neck, the gentle breeze providing me a shock that I wasn’t expecting. However, the other cemetery visitors probably received a much bigger shock that day than I did.

    Once again, I felt the power within me grow stronger. The flame that kept my powers alive was growing greater, and now I felt as if I had the power of an exploding sun. I flew to the skies once more, and only then did I realize how much had changed while I had been gone. The blue sky that I had died saving was now a dark gray, like the planet had been trapped beneath a large tungsten dome. Smog obscured my vision. However, what I did see revealed that I had been out for much longer than seven years this time.

    According to the date, I had been dead for nearly 50 years. The golden age of heroes that once covered the planet had ended, along with the lives of dozens of my peers. Many of the heroes throughout the generations gave their lives fighting for the freedom of the planet, while only I somehow returned for a third time. My partner, the once boy-wonder of the heroic community, had become the fearless leader of a new superhuman task force. It wasn’t long before I was on their radar, and was reunited with my old pupil. He told me of many of the events I had been gone for. My wife had retired and passed. My daughter, now older than myself, introduced me to my grandchildren. She had named her firstborn after myself.

    We all spoke once again of the darkness. It had only appeared twice in a lifetime, and continuously retreated into the light once my death was certain. Once I was gone, the darkness left with it. The world had faced many crises since, but none that were as connected as my own life towards the void that took me  hostage. My friend begged me to restrain my powers, implying that they might be the cause of the very force that aims to destroy them. However, I told him that even if my powers were the cause of my demise, it was my duty to use them to save the world. Of course, that statement was soon to be tested.

    Once more, just a week after my return, the skies turned to ash. My old friend warned me to stay back and not use my powers, as it might be the only way to end the crisis with not a single casualty. While I begrudgingly agreed, it soon became obvious that the darkness would be unrelenting as long as my powers existed. The grown up boy-wonder took his team to the heavens and battled the darkness for what felt like days. He showed that the heights of their powers exceeded even those who I fought alongside in the golden age. The darkness pushed back, until it finally had started biting into my friend. With little energy left, he delivered a final punch. The darkness, barely recoiling anymore, finally gained some leverage. It wrapped itself around my partner like a snake, sapping him of any energy he had left, and then let go.

Half the heroes broke out of formation to save him. The other half, bewildered at the events, focused more on the ebony starscape that oppressed us all. The darkness had a newfound energy, as if it were enjoying the scene. The heroes grew closer to the falling hero, as the distance to the ground shortened. Every moment he fell faster. Every instant the heroes grew closer. In the final seconds, I could see his face aimed towards me. I saw his once-young eyes looking back at me, but all he could see was darkness. He hit the ground, and his life was taken in a split-second. Anger and sadness built up within me, watching all the heroes get injured by the demons wrought by my abilities. I felt the familiar sapphire flames light up my fists, and blasted into the atmosphere. 

As I screamed through the sky, I could see the effects of my newfound strength in action. I felt a sensation of freedom, as if the darkness was not only a curse, but rather a blessing bestowed upon me. It gave me the ability to no longer hold back, which I used to my full advantage. On the ground, near my associates, I had often refused to test the full extent of my abilities. That thought was long gone now. The flames consumed me, like a torch burning up in a dark cave, helping light a way towards victory. It was a numbing feeling, but for the first time in all my lives, it felt secure. It felt like I had come home. I didn’t just let the flames consume me, I enjoyed it.

    I slugged the darkness with all my strength. For the first time, I could feel it cry back, as if for the first time, I had injured it. Although the abilities of the new generation of heroes were stronger than many of my old teammates, I soon realized that the exponential growth of my abilities had turned me into the strongest hero on the planet. In an instant, I absorbed all the power I could, and blasted the darkness with every piece of my strength. The cold, sharp void began to fall back. I landed, knowing that even though it caused the death of my closest friend and ally, no more would I suffer under the darkness.

    The moment was unfortunately fleeting. As I mindfully celebrated my victory, I began to feel a weakness inside of me. The old sense of cold and darkness that I was so familiar with hit me once more. I shrieked, looking for any darkness in the heavens, any villain to punch and fight. There was none, only my own dying self surrounded by a battlefield of heroes. The sheltering numbness that gave me the strength to go on had left me. I cursed the world, and the cold overtook me once more. Perhaps the cosmic forces that brought me back would finally let me rest, or perhaps the world would once again recruit me to battle the darkness. I closed my eyes before my face was smothered with tears, and hoped that the cycle had somehow been broken.

    The next time I woke up, it only felt redundantly expected. My body laid on a metal gurney in a bright white room, still equipped with my suit that I’ve worn forever. I left the room, and the facility without seeing a single soul, but found a note from some unfamiliar hero from an unfamiliar era. He explained that my body was kept in that state in case of my return, which had obviously come to pass. Inside the note was also a clock, from which I learned that by now I had traveled nearly 345 years from my last death.

    Without skipping a beat, the darkness arrived. I had barely spent any time adjusting to the new world. It would all be in vain, as there was nothing else for me to hold onto. My daughter had passed. The heroes of the time were strange and unfamiliar. Any hope I could have of relating to anything died alongside myself centuries ago. Once more, I battled the darkness above, and once more, I had been defeated. I no longer attempted to battle it, but rather retreated into the familiar numbness of my navy inferno. I knew this wasn’t the end, I knew that we were somehow tied in this cosmic feud together. I closed my eyes, and for the first time, I cried as the darkness overtook me.

    Since then, every time has been the same. I wake up at some point in the distant future, feeling even more powerful than before. I’ll find some new heroes, maybe go on a few adventures, and once more face the darkness. Without fail, the darkness always consumes me. Whether I fight back, whether I waste every ounce of energy destroying it, whether I’m alone or with a team, the darkness consumes me. My victories are never complete, the battle always has casualties.

    I watched through snapshots of time as the planet grew older. I witnessed my grandkids have grandkids, and watched as my ancestors took to battle just as I did. Many of them heard of a legend of the man and the darkness, and many believed me to simply be a myth. The religiou