Hack Through The Pain

There was a time once, long ago,
a girl found herself along the road,
she was walking a straight line,
wherever the road took her,
no matter the struggle,
she felt fine.

The road was paved with monsters,
of many types that killed and slain,
the only way she knew to survive,
was to hack away through the pain.

She kept going as far she could,
reaching places where the light did not touch,
only darkness would.

She carried a baseball bat,
a blade,
and a scowl,
there was infinite power beneath her frown.

---

Along this road, it only got darker,
until she met a companion,
who became her partner.

He was a monster in appearance,
carried knives--a cleaver.
Tall and hulking in height,
but a smile that always shone bright.

He hid his face with a mask,
it helped him breathe outside,
he followed her every task,
he became the only one she could confide.

They traveled the world now together,
faced every evil, no matter how clever.

But there came a time when her partner was taken,
she became alone once more,
for he could not be reawakened.

---

Time passed as it always does,
but she had never forgotten about that loss.

She kept hacking through the pain.

Cassandra Hack was never slain.

She only grew stronger.

No slasher, no monster,
could stand in her way.

She welcomed the slaughter,
she embraced the pain.

She knew it was only a matter of time,
​and time always delivers...

---

...delivers that bright smile.

The breath beneath the mask came once more,
a deep laugh with conviction,
that brought along war.

And so he was given his cleavers to wield again,
to slash through the pain,
Vlad had returned,
with nothing but anger long contained.

***

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