A Single Glance
Darkstar in a Santa hat.
Darkstar in a Santa hat.
Chloe leaned closer toward the fence, her glossy eyes focused on the supervillain. He was so beautiful that she couldn’t even consider looking away.
He was a force of nature, unleashing violence upon those that had aroused his anger. One brush of his hand against someone resulted in pulverized flesh and a splash of grim red, all that was left of what had once been a human being.
He was unstoppable and unbothered.
He was beautiful. And terrible. And she had no desire to look away from him.
She’d never been in his presence before. Had only seen him on TV or the Internet, his face a Gaussian blur.
It was only chance she was here today. Her bad luck turned to opportunity. A chance to see him in person.
To feel the breathtaking pressure of his presence. It made her clamp her legs together, her skin prickling.
She’d been walking home, focused on keeping her booted feet from slipping on the icy sidewalk, when there had been a loud “BOOM!” to her left.
Blinking through snowflakes that wanted to cling to her eyelashes, she was caught by the sight of DARKSTAR! confronting what looked like a group of neo-Nazis terrorizing a handful of people.
Darkstar had been standing protectively over a bruised and bloody teenager who was lying on the ground, feathery bleach blond hair scattered around their face. The supervillain’s hands were loosely fisted at his sides, but he hadn’t looked angry until one of the neo-Nazis had said something Chloe couldn’t hear.
And then…
She’d seen plenty of superbattles on the news and from the shaky cam clips that regularly popped up on the Internet. But she’d never seen–felt–anything like this.
Darkstar’s movements were so easy that the resultant violence should have been shocking. She should have been horrified by what she was seeing. But instead all she felt was fascination.
He was so beautiful. The image of him was seared across her mind. She couldn’t have looked away if she wanted to, and she didn’t want to.
He was wearing dark wash jeans and a green winter jacket. The red and white Santa hat on his head was undeniably cute. Not a single drop of blood or viscera dared to touch him as he slapped a man on the shoulder, instantly liquifying flesh and bone.
She didn’t dare to blink, afraid of missing anything. He didn’t seem to be moving fast, but everything happened so fast that she was still holding her breath when it was over.
He stood there, not seeming to notice the stares of the people he’d saved. He was distant and glorious, seemingly outside of the world around him.
He didn’t say anything to the people he’d saved. He turned his head and looked around, a casual glance that caught Chloe where she stood before passing by without a pause.
But she felt like she’d been put on pause. His eyes had been so blue. Searing into her. Imprinting on her soul so deep that she would never be able to get him out.
Even after he left, she still stood there for a long time. Unmoving. Barely breathing. Dazzled by him.
Sighing, Darkstar stepped away from the mess he’d made and wondered if maybe he’d overreacted a little.
Glancing around, he could feel the pressure of dozens of eyes focused on him. If he’d been someone else, he would have felt a prickle of unease. Because he was himself, he had the idle thought wondering if he was going to have to unleash more violence on someone.
But the people staring at him as though dazzled were normal people. There wasn’t a hint of hostility coming from any of them. And quite a bit of worship coming from more than a few.
His eye was caught by a young woman standing behind the chainlink fence surrounding the field. Her mouth was open in a little “o” and she was staring right at him with the look of someone that had been thoroughly Charmed.
Feeling a bit bad, he hurriedly looked away from her, then leapt into the air and flew away. Not knowing that that woman, five years from now, would be one of the most fervent Darksters in the country. The legendary figure known as The Iron Gorilla.
=END=
A/N: As has been mentioned previously, those with powerful metabilities can cause those with potential to Manifest metabilities of their own. In H&V, living with Vereint and Warrick results in Melissa Kim having stronger metabilities than Melissa Song Kim from the Kanonverse.
Darkstar, by his mere presence, is a spark that lights a fire in other people wherever he goes.
