Praise the Hero

Put your praise on me, I’m the hero.

Her chest was tight, surely swollen to bursting, but she held her breath. Her eyes stared unblinkingly at the lamppost, just below the light as she’d trained to do. She feared passing out if it didn’t enter soon, but sure enough she felt the atmosphere lift within the minute. A rush of air escaped her lungs and she wheezed, falling to the damp grass with green and blue dripping from her tongue. Dirt collected beneath her fingernails with the worst sensation of gore against her numbing skin. She looked up, out at the city beyond the park. Its lights were bright, its buildings gleamed.

They weaved along the skyscrapers and cars like worms, or perhaps they were smoke. Or entrails. She stood up, weakly wiping the absorption residue from the corners of her mouth. Nameless. She looked at the man shivering in his sleep, curled up on a park bench, also nameless. Forgotten, but completely unaware of his narrowly avoided fate. She sighed, suppressing more coughs.

I’m the hero.

She narrowed her eyes. The spirits were roiling inside her again, and they would be for a while. That was the price she paid. But it was worth it. Surely, it was worth it. Even if she lost the praise, the admiration and love. She would continue for as long as her body would let her, but in all truth, her body was faltering. She took shaky steps down the central park walkway, toward whoever needed her help next, unaware of the corruption latching on to them, sucking their life away where they could not see. Only she could contain them in a way that kept them down forever. Each step was hurting. She held her stomach, held her face.

Hero. Hero. Hero.

Oh gods, it was hurting. Hurting so badly, but she couldn’t stop now. She could see more of them in the alley. She needed to get them away. She needed to contain them. That was her power, her duty, her mission. She opened up her mouth, a low and raspy scream emanating from within as she dragged the spirits toward her and away from the weary, exhausted woman leaning against the wall. She pulled and pulled until the last one was gone, and then she dropped to her knees as screams bubbled inside her and blue-green oil splattered against the pavement. The woman she had saved looked down at her, confused, glassy, but slowly beginning to recognize what had happened. Her gaze softened, and she knelt down with concern. However, she recoiled at the sight of the slick, oily face, steaming and pulsing with the containment of those evildoers.

Just put your praise on me.