Justice League: The Spartan

Chapter 42

Darkforce as usual swinged above his domain. New York City, the city that he considered as his domain and territory. Sure, he wasn't like Batman who didn't allow other capes into his city but the dark hero was very protective when it came to his city. It was times like this when he remembered the times he had back in his own world. Swinging around the city with his best friend, Peter Parker, beating up thugs and ending the day with a few hot dogs. Even though they were sharing the city, they still had fun doing it and they rarely had arguments about it.

"Those were good times, huh Pete?". He said to no one in particular.

He still remembered how the attacks happened before Thanos, Galactus and Doom showed up. The Avengers Tower was blown up first to weaken the earth's defense, then the X-men were hunted down one by one by the sentinels that Doom reprogrammed in his own image. Every mutant was either destroyed, killed or maimed. It was pure carnage.

Yet, despite the odds the dark hero still fought. Even when he lost his best friends and the ones close to him.

The screeching wheels of a truck brought him out of his thoughts, he looked down and saw a truck barreling down the street and all the lights were green. But when the dark hero looked ahead, he saw a little girl backing up into the street taking pictures of birds in trees. He jumped forward and swung his way toward her, he somersaulted over obstacles in his way and flipped over a building.

He passed the truck that was barreling toward her, the driver noticed the girl in the street and honked his horn which caused other pedestrians to evade him but the girl only turned and froze in place when she saw the truck. She placed her palms over eyes to prevent herself from seeing anything, the dark hero horizontally swinged in and easily caught her in the few seconds before she was hit. He swung her to the other side of the street and landed on the ground, then he gently placed her down. He looked at her and she still had her eyes covered.

"You can open your eyes now". He told her.

She swayed a little before slowly removing her hands, she looked up at the hero clad in black and let out a small gasp.

"You are Darkforce". She said holding the camera in her hands.

"Yes, I am. You should watch where you step next time, little girl". He said.

"I'm not little. I'm almost ten". She said.

"Oh, really. I apologize for making you sound young". He said, taking a small bow.

"Thank you".

"Are you alone or are you with your mother?". He asked.

"I lost her somewhere in the park when I was taking pictures of the birds and now I don't know where she is". She said with a downcast look, she looked sad.

Darkforce didn't know what to say. It's been millenia since he had real experience with a child, sure he had his daughter but that was a long time ago. Before he tried to say something, he noticed an ice cream stand a few feet away.

He smiled when he thought of an idea.

"Hey, I know how to cheer a young lady up". He said,"Want some ice cream?".

The girl looked up at him with a big smile and she gave a quick nod.

"Come on". He said and the girl quickly grabbed onto his hand as they walked.

Civilains shot glances at them as they made their way to the ice cream.

"Hey, you!". Darkforce pointed at the ice cream vendor and he jumped in surprise.

"Y-yes, what can I do for you?". The vendor asked nervously.

"One vanilla and one whatever the girl wants". The dark hero said.

"Strawberry!!!". The girl said.

The vendor quickly got to work and made the ice creams that were requested, finally he handed them the cones and the dark hero handed him a few quarters and they walked off to a corner. They watched as the cars passed by as they ate their ice cream, Darkforce wasn't really eating but he wanted the girl to feel comfortable and not alone.

"This is good". The girl said.

"Watch out for any brain freezes". He said.

"Ha ha". She laughed sarcastically.

He smiled underneath his mask at that. He was glad that the League didn't contact him for an emergency, sure he liked to work but right now he couldn't leave the girl that was next to him.

"Are you and Wonder Woman...a thing?". The little girl asked during the silence.

Darkforce was caught off guard as he looked at the girl.

"What makes you say that?".

"A lot of the kids in my class say that you and Wonder Woman are dating". She said before finishing the last of her ice cream.

"What do you think?". He asked.

"I think you fit better with Supergirl". She said,"She's my favorite".

"What makes you think we're perfect?". He had to ask because he was curious.

"Well, she's so strong and you're kinda strong. She's pretty and you're hot, I guess. It just makes you fit". The girl said.

"Hmmm, I don't know about that".

"Okay, maybe not Supergirl. But maybe Batgirl, Vixen, Hawkgirl, Wonder girl or Zatanna". She said.

"Uhh, I don't know. Most of those girls are mostly friends". He said.

"Well, who do you love?". She asked, looking up at him.

"I think you know who she is". He said,"She's very strong, smart and very beautiful. Plus, I'm pretty sure she could easily kill me if she wanted to".

"Is she a bad guy?".

"Nope. She fights for a good cause".

"Mari!". A voice called from in front of them.

They looked up to see a woman run toward them, the little girl smiled before waving at the woman.

"Mom! Over here!". The girl said.

The woman ran up and gave her a crushing hug, tears ran down her face as she hugged her tightly.

"Are you okay?". The woman asked,"I've been looking everywhere for you".

"I'm fine, mom". Mari said,"Darkforce looked after me". She pointed at the hero that leaned against the wall of a building.

"Thank you for looking after my daughter, Darkforce". The woman said,"I'm very thankful for it".

"It wasn't a problem". He said,"Your daughter seemed lost so I decided to help".

The woman nodded her thanks before leaving with the girl, she waved at the dark hero who waved back. He smiled under his mask before he took off swinging.

                                                         

For this chapter, I wanted to dive a little deep into Darkforce's soft side. Sure, he may come off as intimidating and dangerous but deep down he is a real softie.

That's why I wanted to do this small interaction why him and an ordinary civilian. I know it's not my best chapter but please don't hate on it.

I haven't written in a while so I'm a bit rusty but don't worry, I'm slowly coming back into the game.

Later.