somniorum malorum

[bossymarmalade]

“My baby! Somebody save my baby!”

On the eighth floor of downtown apartment building, a frantic mother was holding her infant out of a window. Smoke poured out behind her as the building became more and more engulfed in flames. Firefighters below were working quickly to get their equipment up and reach the woman, but time was against them and the flames were their enemy.

“Somebody!” the mother screamed. “Anybody!” In an anguished move that can only be attributed to desperation, the mother tossed her infant out of the window. As the baby fell, it began to wail. Onlookers across the street pointed to the child and screamed for help. The firefighters below rushed to move equipment in place, but they knew that even the softest pad may not save this child.

And suddenly, he was there. He flew in, caught and cradled the babe in his arms. He flew down to the firefighters and handed the child to the nearest one. Then, without a second thought, he leapt back up to the window of the burning building and flew inside.

The frantic mother was curled on the floor, tears streaming down her soot-covered face. “My baby!” she cried. “My baby! My baby!”



“Don’t worry ma’am” he told her. “Your baby is safe. Now let’s get you out of here.” He reached down and pulled the woman into his arms, flying her out of the window and to safety. Again, he returned to the burning building. The flames inside licked at his shoulders, his face felt warm from the heat. But he was not deterred. He went apartment to apartment checking and occasionally pulling people out and to safety below.

By the time he finished his rescue efforts, the firefighters battling the blaze had gotten a foothold but were having trouble reaching the highest floors with their hoses. With a nod and a smile to the captain on site, he flew up to the top of the building, inhaled a large breath, then flew down the side of the building slowly, blowing ice cold breath and knocking the fire down to a manageable burn. The grateful firefighters gave a cheer as did the onlookers across the street.

As the firefighters ran in to the building to put out the last of the blaze, he landed near where the EMS workers were tending to those he had rescued from the fire. He approached the woman who had been reunited with her child. “Is everything all right now ma’am?” he asked. “Is there anything more I can do for you?”

“Oh, you’ve done so much for all of us already!” she said, reaching out with one hand and touching the large red ‘S’ on his chest. “We can never repay you! Thank you Superman!”

“All in a day’s work ma’am” he replied, and gave her a smile and a short salute. His long red cape fluttered in the wind behind him.

He was about to fly up, up and away when she called out, “Wait! There is one thing.”

“Of course” he said, returning to her side. “What can I do for you?”

“You can die!” the woman screeched as the baby in her arms leapt out of the blanket and stabbed him directly in both eyes with two blades made of Kryptoni—-

“Gah!” J’onn yelled as he woke up from his nightmare and sat up straight in his bed. The Martian looked around his quarters. [4:12am] the clock said. He was still alone; his room still empty.

Dreams in general and nightmares specifically were rare in the Martian culture, but not unheard of. Still, it was troubling. Martian dreams were often times meaningless, but sometimes were prophetic. He made a mental note to check on Clark later, but attributed the dream to too many Chocos before bed time.

The Martian Manhunter pulled his blanket back on top of him and closed his eyes. He would try to get some more sleep before monitor duty…

It wasn’t his home, but somehow Seattle still felt comfortable. Maybe it was all the green that surrounded the city, made it was the company he kept there. But he’d have time to think about that later. Right now, he had a running moron to pursue.

Only the morons were, well, moronic enough to run. And this guy took the moron cake. Robbing a bank at noon? Not the best move, chum. Did this guy really think he would get away with it? When he heard the alarm, he arrived on the scene just in time to see Mr. Smart Guy here fleeing from the bank into the rainy streets, covered in blue ink from the exploded dye pack the bank teller had slipped into the loot bag.

The goon ran into an adjacent building. He had pursued the moron effortlessly, up twenty flights of stairs, laughing the whole way. He really did enjoy this life of crime fighting. And chasing down an idiot bank robber was a nice change of pace from galactic despots and end-of-the-world messes in which he found himself too often tangled.

The mook reached the top floor and burst out on to the roof, knowing he had a Justice Leaguer in hot pursuit. That was how he liked to operate; he liked it when the robbers and criminals and kidnappers knew he was coming. It made the moment of capture that much sweeter. The moron robber made for a corner and took a flying leap from the building’s ledge. The lucky idiot made the distance to the next building over, landing in a roll and spilling blue bills all over the rain-soaked rooftop.

“Nice trick buster!” he called out to the soon-to-be-caught fool. “Now it’s my turn!”

He slung the bow from his back, nocked a bolo arrow, and planted his foot firmly on the building’s ledge. Taking aim was as natural to him as growing a bea- what was that? A quick glance to his side while still in the aiming motion and he saw Black Canary in his peripheral. Had she been standing there the whole time? How had he missed her? Wait, why was he in Seattle? And why was she preparing a scream?

Her sonic blast knocked him sideways as his foot slipped on the wet brick. His momentum did the rest. As he fell from the roof, he instinctively spun around and saw Dinah standing on the roof’s edge, holding his bow and quiver. “Time to die, Oliver” he heard her say in the wind.

As Star City’s Emerald Archer plummeted to his own demise far from home, he had just enough to time to wonder if Mia would be ok without him. And as the deadly street was rapidly approaching, he had just enough wits about him to call out, “Goodbye, Pretty Bir -”

“Baaaargh!” J’onn shouted, popping out of bed and tumbling to the floor of his quarters aboard the Watchtower. Another nightmare - this time involving Oliver. The Martian wondered if he would even get a full night’s rest again.

He vowed to cut out the late night viewings of monster flicks and pulled his blanket back over him as he closed his eyes. He’d be no good for monitor duty if he couldn’t hold his eyes open.

"You monster!" he shouted. "I won’t let you get away again!"

"You don’t have much say in the matter, boy." The huge, menacing figure of Major Force stood grinning at him from across his own living room. "And this time, I won’t be leaving anything for the cops to find!"

"Nooo!" he screamed as he flew at his enemy. The two met in the middle of the room. The conclusive blast knocked both men back. He recovered fast and pressed his advantage, aiming his fist directly at the face of the psychotic killer. "This is for Alex, you son of a bitch" he said as a blinding blast of green light energy shot forth.

But Major Force had recovered too. The madman ducked the attack and countered.

He was caught off guard, blinded by grief and revenge. His enemy moved so fast, he barely had time to register the pain of having his ring finger bitten off. The shock of seeing the blood spurt from his hand and seeing Major Force swallowing his ring sent him reeling. And the hesitation was enough for the killer to gain the upper hand with a thunderous right cross.

He woke up out of the blackness to find himself tied down on his own coffee table. As hard as he struggled, he could not break free of the restraints. But worse than that, he could no longer feel any connection to his ring.

Major Force stood over him. "You’re awake now? Good. I only like to do this when they’re awake." He pulled out a wickedly sharp scalpel. "I only like to do this when I can hear their screams."

Green Lantern 2814.4 resolved to not give his enemy the satisfaction of a scream. But after two surgical cuts above his pectorals, Major Force began to peel. And being skinned alive was enough to break any man’s resolve. "Aaaaaaa-"

"Aaaarrraughaaaaarfff!" J’onn screamed as he sat straight up in his chair.

"J’onn? What is it?" Aquaman’s concerned voice asked over the monitor womb’s comm link. "What was that noise? I said the situation here is under control. Have you even been listening to me?"

"Yes, of course" J’onn lied. "Situation: normal. Thank you for you assistance."

"J’onn, I don’t know what’s going on up there, but -" The Martian reached over and turned off communications. Had he really fallen asleep on duty? This was a first. These nightmares must really be getting to him more than he thought they were. He told himself to put a call in to check on Kyle when his shift was over and went back to watching the monitors.

It was a good sign. Since his arrival on Earth, he had at times felt lovely, cut off from where he was from, and his former life. So when he was called back, he was glad to go.

Arriving early, he spent some time walking through the lush gardens. It had been such a long time since he had run his fingers over the tops of the bushes, felt their leaves so full of life, so full of -

“It’s time” a voice called out from behind him. “We will accompany you there.”

He turned to see three of the elite guard, in full armor and carrying golden spears, standing at the garden’s edge. “Of course” he answered. “Lead the way.”

Along the path to the main chamber room, he saw others of his kind watching from a distance. He thought he heard whispers, but they were so soft he could not make them out. When they arrived outside, the elite guards stopped. One nodded for him to continue inside. And that was when the apprehension began.

He began to realize that he might not have been called back for good news. And for the first time since the dawn of creation, the angel felt fear. As he entered the chamber of the Presence, he knelt. “I answer your call, my Lord” he said.

“Zauriel” a voice boomed from all around. “You were allowed to remain on Earth as my emissary. You were called to bring peace and understanding to my creation. You have failed.”

He rose in protest. “My Lord, I - aaargh”

“On your knees!” One of the Elite Guard was now behind him, holding the spear in the back of Zauriel’s thigh.

“You were too concerned with worldly pursuits” the booming voice continued. “And now you will suffer the same fate as your arrogant brethren.”

“No” he pleaded. “Please! I live only to honor you! I live only to glorify your name!”

“Burn” the Presence commanded.

The flames began at his wings, consuming them in blackness. Then the fire spread to his body. “Please my Lord! Please! Do not do this! I am your humble servant! I am your humb-”

“Blarkkk!” J’onn shouted as he jolted upright in his chair. Why had he fallen asleep here in the empty Watchtower cafeteria? Looking down, he saw a puddle where his ice cream had once been. These nightmares were getting out of hand. He had to do something soon.

The Martian walked over, picked up a roll of paper towels to begin the clean up, and sighed. Somehow, there were few things sadder than wasted ice cream.

He walked alone through the ruins of a once shining city. “I remember this place. This used to be Metropolis” he said out loud, though no one was around to hear him. The wind pushed the accumulated dust against what was left of a skyscraper. Most of it had already fallen in heaps and piles. But one wall, up to the seventh floor, remained intact. He thought about how mush they looked like skeletons.


How many years had it been since the great war to end all wars? Decades? A century? He had lost count long ago. The bombs and their fallout ended seasons. The passage of time was marked by the rising and setting of the sun, once the skies emptied of enough soot that the sun could finally be seen again. But with no one else around to mark time with, he had lost interest in doing so. Now, he only walked. And walked…


As he continued walking he saw the landscape change. “This was once Gotham City” he remarked to his own echo. He had long ago stopped looking for signs of life. There were none. He walked alone.


The vast majority of animals did not survive the war either. He had taken to eating insects when he could. But he soon discovered their numbers waning too. And not long after that, he realized that he did not have to eat in order to live.


“Central City” he announced to the dirt upon his arrival. “Or is it Keystone?” The signs and markers of humanity had long since fallen into disrepair. The earth had claimed so much of what was built by human hands already. Only the largest and greatest of structures still remained. And so did he.


His existence was predicated on nothing. He woke up alive every morning and continued walking. Oh sure, he had tried to end his misery before. Jumping off cliffs, drowning in foul and polluted waterways, even hanging himself or opening his own arteries. Nothing worked. Every day his misery kept him company.


As he walked into a new pile of rubble, he said “Star City”. What compelled him to keep walking? What made him keep moving? He did not know. He only knew that if he stopped moving, he would be consumed by the ground. Did that seem so unpleasant? If he could rest, if he could die, that would be an entirely enjoyable prospect. But he knew it would not work. He knew that he would be consumed, yet remain alive. And that was not a prospect that he relished.


He had seen so much of human history. He had been a Knight of the Round Table. And now he was the only human on the planet. He had been cursed with a demon’s immortality. And now he walked unceasingly every day. But to what end? Even Etrigan’s fire had long since burned out. Apparently, with no more souls to torment, the flames of Hell extinguished, and the Demon was no more.


All that was left was Jason Blood.


And all that Jason Blood could do was get shot with an arrow in the stomach. Wait, what now? An arrow in the stom-


“Mauooock!” J’onn yelled as he jolted awake from this nightmare on loneliness. He was in the command chair in the monitor womb. He had fallen asleep there again! This was getting out of hand. He would have to do something soon.


But for now, he was intrigued by the most recent dream. Why was he Jason Blood? And why was he shot with an arrow in the -


“Hey, are you THERE?…” his League comm link buzzed.


Ah. Oliver. That makes sense. “Yes, I am here” J’onn answered. “I apologize. Could you repeat your query?”