𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐑𝐄 , nightwing

016 rachel's darkness.

"𝐆𝐄𝐓 out." A woman called out behind Kory, near the lobby we'd just entered through. Lights flickered on for a moment, and while the others took a moment to turn, I made haste to get a glimpse at the possible enemy, almsot moving as if my body was too quick for my mind to keep up, the world slowing. The presence didn't seem necessarily bad, but rather tormented and hurt, paired with the visage of a woman in a style I guessed was form the nineteen fifty's, though I'd only caught a few older shows on tv, so I wasn't certain.

The lights then flickered off again and I felt a shift, a more hostile approach as two other presences started to close in along with the woman as the lights flickered on to reveal a distorted face - the woman's visage had melted, a fleshy, gooey face almost dripping off of the bone as she screamed again, more forcefully. "Get out! Get out!"

Kory stood closest to the woman, though as two more presences neared, I noticed Dick shuffle in-front of me protectively as the two figures approached, neither fully human looking either. Both appeared male, though one was a robotic man, cumbersome and adorning rock-style clothing, while the other was tightly cornered in bandages, more professionally dressed, sunglasses sitting over his fully covered face.

Just as we all came to acknowledge the room's new hostile tone, a visible and familiar screech called out, the one that had plagued me for days, as I almost doubled over, feeling the darkness claw inside me, trying to fight through my flesh to the surface, chipping away at bone and chewing on my muscles just for a taste of fresh air.

Dick's head immediately shot up before he rushed to my side in concern, helping me to stand properly again as he spoke out in observation. "Rachel."

"God, when this is over I might tear her vocal chords out just to stop her from ever screaming again, that was dreadful." I murmured, aching and wincing as the strangers in the room gave me a concerned but heated look.

"Go." Kory ordered Dick and me, though before I did, I turned and nodded, quickly facing the strangers before I ran off after Dick. "You guys look fucking awesome by the way, though Kory's totally going to rock your shit. I wouldn't mess with Lava Girl."

I gave them a pained shit-eating grin as I turned on my heel, hearing a grain from Kory behind me and a small 'thank you?' from one of the men as I caught up to Dick and followed the atmospheric pull that guided me to Rachel. I could feel the darkness about her calling out to me.

Dick and I hurried down some stairs, Dick way ahead of me as the closer I grew to the darkness, the more painful and the more enticing it became, her darkness being a sort of gravity to me, if gravity were to tug at your chest like a nuke bursting through my flesh to reach open air and detonate.

The stairs opened up to a balcony above a laboratory full of scientific equipment that most certainly couldn't be seen in local hospitals. Spirals stairs led down to the floor below, where Rachel lay tied to a gurney, a scientist-looking man, about his mid-forties, laying nearby, unconscious. Rachel screamed and thrashed, her voice a distorted lower pitch as darkness seeped out of her and worked towards what looked like a portal.

"Rachel!" Dick stood yelling in a paternal fear at the edge of the balcony, just having spotted Rachel as I stared in her direction before sighing at the sight of the old man. "Christ, of course we have to have a crazy fucking scientist. Nothing is ever normal."

My chest had tightened more than I thought humanly possible since entering the room and the sight of Rachel left my mouth dry, a dizzy spell hitting me as if all the blood was immediately drained from my body. I'd quickly strode down the stairs and closer over to Rachel, her darkness flowing through me, her pain, her agony, her terror and her rage.