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thejusticelounge2012-10-28 04:45 pm
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2012-10-28 04:45 pm
changing minds
“Why do you argue husband? You know it’s true.”
“No” J’onn answered. “It can not be.” The Martian Manhunter sits alone in his quarters, the only light coming from a small desk lamp in the corner. He is visibly distraught. Arguing with the disembodied voice of your long dead wife can do that to a person - or a Martian. “I have been a part of the League for years.”
“You’ve been the League’s mascot for years! They don’t trust you. They don’t consider you to be one of them. They only keep you around to watch over you. You’re their lap dog. You’re their errand boy. To them, you’re nothing more than an alien toy. They don’t know your power. They don’t know you can destroy them all.”
“Stop!” he cries. “M’yriah, stop! I loved you. You were my wife. Why do you torment me like this?
“I don’t torment you husband. I tell you the truth.”
“M’yriah. Please…”
“They say they love you. But they’re so quick to turn on you. Don’t you remember your first year with the newly formed League?”
“How could you know about that? You were not alive when -”
“And again when the Hyperclan first attacked? And were they not quick to judge you on Rann?”
“Those were special circumstances beloved. They were just -”
“They were just what J’onn? Isolated events? How many times are you going to have to prove yourself to them before you realize what I already know? They don’t trust you. They don’t even like you. You should kill them all now before they destroy you.”
“No!” J’onn shouted, standing up. “You are not real! This is not real! They love me. I am a part of their team. I can not imagine any of them wanting to harm me. I can not imagine someone like Kate wanting to kill me! We have been through so much together.”
“Kate Spencer? She’s the worst one of them all! She would murder you without a second thought and be hailed as a hero by the rest of them. She’s the one that you should kill first! She’s your biggest threat. Don’t you see that? She’s trying to replace me, husband. She wants to take your love away from me!”
“No. Not Kate. She would never -”
“She thinks of you as an alien. She doesn’t fully trust you. She fears your power. Kill her J’onn. Kill her now. Kill her for me. Show me that you still love me and end her life.”
“Yes Daddy!” the voice of J’onn’s lost daughter added. “Do it for Mommy! Do it for Mommy!”
“M’yriah. K’hym. These things you ask of me… I… I can not -”
“You can husband. You’ve always known you can. And they all know you can too. That’s why they fear you. That’s why they don’t trust you. That’s why you must get to them first.”
J’onn sits back down on his chair. “I do not believe that -”
“You believe what they want you to believe! Your time on this planet has made you weak! They’ve made you weak! Show them what a true warrior of Mars can do. Show them for me, my love.”
“Show them Daddy! Show them!”
The Martian sits alone in silent quiet contemplation before voicing his answer. “Yes” J’onn answers in a monotone, emotion void from his words. “Yes my loves. I will show them. I will show them all. But I will start with Kate.”
“Good…”
“No” J’onn answered. “It can not be.” The Martian Manhunter sits alone in his quarters, the only light coming from a small desk lamp in the corner. He is visibly distraught. Arguing with the disembodied voice of your long dead wife can do that to a person - or a Martian. “I have been a part of the League for years.”
“You’ve been the League’s mascot for years! They don’t trust you. They don’t consider you to be one of them. They only keep you around to watch over you. You’re their lap dog. You’re their errand boy. To them, you’re nothing more than an alien toy. They don’t know your power. They don’t know you can destroy them all.”
“Stop!” he cries. “M’yriah, stop! I loved you. You were my wife. Why do you torment me like this?
“I don’t torment you husband. I tell you the truth.”
“M’yriah. Please…”
“They say they love you. But they’re so quick to turn on you. Don’t you remember your first year with the newly formed League?”
“How could you know about that? You were not alive when -”
“And again when the Hyperclan first attacked? And were they not quick to judge you on Rann?”
“Those were special circumstances beloved. They were just -”
“They were just what J’onn? Isolated events? How many times are you going to have to prove yourself to them before you realize what I already know? They don’t trust you. They don’t even like you. You should kill them all now before they destroy you.”
“No!” J’onn shouted, standing up. “You are not real! This is not real! They love me. I am a part of their team. I can not imagine any of them wanting to harm me. I can not imagine someone like Kate wanting to kill me! We have been through so much together.”
“Kate Spencer? She’s the worst one of them all! She would murder you without a second thought and be hailed as a hero by the rest of them. She’s the one that you should kill first! She’s your biggest threat. Don’t you see that? She’s trying to replace me, husband. She wants to take your love away from me!”
“No. Not Kate. She would never -”
“She thinks of you as an alien. She doesn’t fully trust you. She fears your power. Kill her J’onn. Kill her now. Kill her for me. Show me that you still love me and end her life.”
“Yes Daddy!” the voice of J’onn’s lost daughter added. “Do it for Mommy! Do it for Mommy!”
“M’yriah. K’hym. These things you ask of me… I… I can not -”
“You can husband. You’ve always known you can. And they all know you can too. That’s why they fear you. That’s why they don’t trust you. That’s why you must get to them first.”
J’onn sits back down on his chair. “I do not believe that -”
“You believe what they want you to believe! Your time on this planet has made you weak! They’ve made you weak! Show them what a true warrior of Mars can do. Show them for me, my love.”
“Show them Daddy! Show them!”
The Martian sits alone in silent quiet contemplation before voicing his answer. “Yes” J’onn answers in a monotone, emotion void from his words. “Yes my loves. I will show them. I will show them all. But I will start with Kate.”
“Good…”
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<kate?>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]
“Why do you argue husband? You know it’s true.”
“No” J’onn answered. “It can not be.” The Martian Manhunter sits alone in his quarters, the only light coming from a small desk lamp in the corner. He is visibly distraught. Arguing with the disembodied voice of your long dead wife can do that to a person - or a Martian. “I have been a part of the League for years.”
“You’ve been the League’s mascot for years! They don’t trust you. They don’t consider you to be one of them. They only keep you around to watch over you. You’re their lap dog. You’re their errand boy. To them, you’re nothing more than an alien toy. They don’t know your power. They don’t know you can destroy them all.”
“Stop!” he cries. “M’yriah, stop! I loved you. You were my wife. Why do you torment me like this?
“I don’t torment you husband. I tell you the truth.”
“M’yriah. Please…”
“They say they love you. But they’re so quick to turn on you. Don’t you remember your first year with the newly formed League?”
“How could you know about that? You were not alive when -”
“And again when the Hyperclan first attacked? And were they not quick to judge you on Rann?”
“Those were special circumstances beloved. They were just -”
“They were just what J’onn? Isolated events? How many times are you going to have to prove yourself to them before you realize what I already know? They don’t trust you. They don’t even like you. You should kill them all now before they destroy you.”
<lj-cut text="remember that it's all in your head">
“No!” J’onn shouted, standing up. “You are not real! This is not real! They love me. I am a part of their team. I can not imagine any of them wanting to harm me. I can not imagine someone like Kate wanting to kill me! We have been through so much together.”
“Kate Spencer? She’s the worst one of them all! She would murder you without a second thought and be hailed as a hero by the rest of them. She’s the one that you should kill first! She’s your biggest threat. Don’t you see that? She’s trying to replace me, husband. She wants to take your love away from me!”
“No. Not Kate. She would never -”
“She thinks of you as an alien. She doesn’t fully trust you. She fears your power. Kill her J’onn. Kill her now. Kill her for me. Show me that you still love me and end her life.”
“Yes Daddy!” the voice of J’onn’s lost daughter added. “Do it for Mommy! Do it for Mommy!”
“M’yriah. K’hym. These things you ask of me… I… I can not -”
“You can husband. You’ve always known you can. And they all know you can too. That’s why they fear you. That’s why they don’t trust you. That’s why you must get to them first.”
J’onn sits back down on his chair. “I do not believe that -”
“You believe what they want you to believe! Your time on this planet has made you weak! They’ve made you weak! Show them what a true warrior of Mars can do. Show them for me, my love.”
“Show them Daddy! Show them!”
The Martian sits alone in silent quiet contemplation before voicing his answer. “Yes” J’onn answers in a monotone, emotion void from his words. “Yes my loves. I will show them. I will show them all. But I will start with Kate.”
“Good…”
<Kate?> J’onn sends out a telepathic message. <Where are you? I am in need of your assistance but I can not let anyone else know why. Are you alone? Can you come to the Watchtower?>
As it happened, Kate was on her way up to zeta from Star City anyway—the installation of the hydrotherapy room had hit a snag or two with making sure it was ADA compliant, and she was going to have to go either be charming or knock some heads together to make sure everything got put in order. The scar on her cheek, mostly healed by now, ended up adding some fierceness to the attitude, she figured.
She wasn’t fully used to the telepathy thing yet, but it no longer made her stagger, getting a message from J’onn. Instead she continued to the zeta point, though her brow furrowed as she sent out a response as best she could. <I’m actually on my way up,> she replied, concentrating enough to make it a little more cohesive, before zetaing up and continuing the conversation once she rematerialized.
<Are you in your suite?> she asked, concerned for him, and (in the back of her mind) that no one else could know why he needed her help. <I’ll be there in three minutes.>
“Kate” J’onn said, opening the door when she arrived. “So good to see you. Please come in.”
Shutting the door behind her as she entered, his smile quickly faded. The Martian spoke quickly. “Something is very wrong Kate. I have been plagued by voices - voices telling me to do things. Not just any voices. They are the voices of my wife and daughter, lost long ago on Mars.
“What’re you doing husband? What’s going on?”
“They sound authentic, but I know they are not real. My wife’s voice speaks in contractions. Martians do not do this.
“LIAR! Don’t deny me J’onn! Don’t deny your wife!”
“Even though I know this, I can not ignore them. They are so close to my desires. Having my wife and child back - I would do anything for that to happen.
“Daddy? What are you doing? Don’t leave us!”
“But I know this is an illusion. And today they became dangerous. Murderous.”
“You can still come back to me husband. Kill that bitch now! Kill her and we can be together!”
“We Martians are constantly aware of our complete physiology. I can feel all of my cells at all times.”
“Daddy! Don’t leave us! It’s dark here! I’m cold”
“I have noted a… presence inside of me. Something that has a conscience. Something that has a separate intelligence. But it knows too much about me to be a foreign creation.
“What do you mean?” Kate asked. “What are you saying J’onn?”
“I am saying… I am saying that I created this.”
“No! You’re wrong husband! I am real! I am alive! We are alive! And you’re killing us again!”
“This thing inside of me - it is a manifestation of my guilts and my desires. It knows what I want and it knows how I feel. It has my memories. And I can not rid myself of it alone. I need your help.”
“Do not kill me Daddy! You already let me die once. Don’t do it again! Please!”
“If I can link your mind with mine, your added strength can be enough to to expel this creature. Inside my mind it will be dark. The creature will try to attack you too. And because it is a part of me, it will be able to read your mind and feed on your guilt and desires. But it can not hold us both at the same time.”
“If you bring that harlot inside here, I’ll kill her myself! I’ll take her life and it will be all your fault!”
“Kate, this is not an easy thing I ask of you. But I need your help once more. Open your mind to mine Kate. Close your eyes and open your mind…”
Kate was incredibly worried, now, feeling as if the hair at the back of her neck was prickling with what J’onn was telling her. It sounded both unpleasant as hell and utterly terrifying. To have those kinds of thoughts in your head, wearing such intimate faces…and from what she did know of J’onn and his past, the subject would never really be a healed wound.
She shivered, then looked him over, appraised his face, reading it as best she could to see if he was being manipulated still, even if he didn’t realize it—she trusted him but worried for his safety and integrity. In the end, though, she couldn’t deny a friend who needed help. Not when the past had come back to haunt him again, because she knew how that felt, and how it felt to have that use your own child and partner for its purposes, how it was like having your heart outside you for everyone to see and being torn apart at the same time that happened.
“Okay,” she said finally, jaw setting firmly into determination. “But be careful, J’onn.” And after only a moment’s trepidation, she closed her eyes.
Sensing that the entity was attacking Kate’s mind and not his own, J’onn pressed his advantage. He was no longer under its control and used his full capabilities to force the attacker out. The effort J’onn exerted in pushing this evil thing from his body was tremendous. It poured out of him like liquid, from his ears, from his eyes, from his mouth. It was black and pulsing. It pooled on the floor and began shaping itself into a cohesive form.
As it was forced from J’onn’s body, it released its grasp on Kate’s mind. The Martian could see her eyes roll back and her knees start to shake. He was by her side in time to catch her and lay her down on the floor. Her eyes were already clearing and she was beginning to pick herself up. “Damn” thought J’onn. “She truly is stronger than most of us.”
But tending to Kate had cost him precious time. And now the black liquid was in the shape of a small hominid. It spoke with a voice that sounded to J’onn like it was speaking through razors. “J’onzz! Why did you do this? I would have given you the peace of oblivion. You could have joined your disgusting M’yriah and your little pig of a daughter K’hym in the afterlife! You could have had -urk”
J’onn’s powerful hands were around the evil entity’s throat. “You will not get another chance to speak my wife and child’s names again.”
Before he could make his move, the black liquid oozed out from between J’onn’s fingers and formed a writhing cobra on the floor beneath him. It hissed at the Martian and then made a lunge for Kate. She saw it coming her way and tried to back out of its range, but J’onn’s eye beams burned its head off before it got close.
The black form shook with surprise and slowly stopped moving. It lost its cohesiveness and began to melt away. J’onn and Kate both watched as it seeped through the floor and disappeared.
“Is it gone?” Kate asked.
“I… I do not know” J’onn answered. “It was a part of me. I made it. And I can no longer sense it. But I did not sense its death either. On Mars when any Martian passed, we all felt it. If this… thing was of Martian origin, I should have been able to sense its demise.” J’onn bent down and examined the spot where it had been. “If it is not gone, I fear it may come back and attack me again. Or worse - it may attack one of the League members. And it would be my fault.”
The Martian Manhunter stood and looked around. He closed his eyes and stretched out with his mind. He could not sense the entity anywhere.
“I am sorry you had to be involved in this action Kate. But I am forever in your debt for your assistance. Thank you.” He hugged her. He could not imagine what hell she had been put through when the entity was feeding on her guilts and desires. Maybe she would tell him one day. But for now, J’onn knew that he owed his life to Kate Spencer’s help once again. And he knew that he must be on vigilant alert in case this evil returned or began controlling another teammate. He would have to file a report and warn the others soon. But for now, he was just relieved to be free of it.
“Thank you Kate. Could I interest you in a milkshake?”
“No” J’onn answered. “It can not be.” The Martian Manhunter sits alone in his quarters, the only light coming from a small desk lamp in the corner. He is visibly distraught. Arguing with the disembodied voice of your long dead wife can do that to a person - or a Martian. “I have been a part of the League for years.”
“You’ve been the League’s mascot for years! They don’t trust you. They don’t consider you to be one of them. They only keep you around to watch over you. You’re their lap dog. You’re their errand boy. To them, you’re nothing more than an alien toy. They don’t know your power. They don’t know you can destroy them all.”
“Stop!” he cries. “M’yriah, stop! I loved you. You were my wife. Why do you torment me like this?
“I don’t torment you husband. I tell you the truth.”
“M’yriah. Please…”
“They say they love you. But they’re so quick to turn on you. Don’t you remember your first year with the newly formed League?”
“How could you know about that? You were not alive when -”
“And again when the Hyperclan first attacked? And were they not quick to judge you on Rann?”
“Those were special circumstances beloved. They were just -”
“They were just what J’onn? Isolated events? How many times are you going to have to prove yourself to them before you realize what I already know? They don’t trust you. They don’t even like you. You should kill them all now before they destroy you.”
<lj-cut text="remember that it's all in your head">
“No!” J’onn shouted, standing up. “You are not real! This is not real! They love me. I am a part of their team. I can not imagine any of them wanting to harm me. I can not imagine someone like Kate wanting to kill me! We have been through so much together.”
“Kate Spencer? She’s the worst one of them all! She would murder you without a second thought and be hailed as a hero by the rest of them. She’s the one that you should kill first! She’s your biggest threat. Don’t you see that? She’s trying to replace me, husband. She wants to take your love away from me!”
“No. Not Kate. She would never -”
“She thinks of you as an alien. She doesn’t fully trust you. She fears your power. Kill her J’onn. Kill her now. Kill her for me. Show me that you still love me and end her life.”
“Yes Daddy!” the voice of J’onn’s lost daughter added. “Do it for Mommy! Do it for Mommy!”
“M’yriah. K’hym. These things you ask of me… I… I can not -”
“You can husband. You’ve always known you can. And they all know you can too. That’s why they fear you. That’s why they don’t trust you. That’s why you must get to them first.”
J’onn sits back down on his chair. “I do not believe that -”
“You believe what they want you to believe! Your time on this planet has made you weak! They’ve made you weak! Show them what a true warrior of Mars can do. Show them for me, my love.”
“Show them Daddy! Show them!”
The Martian sits alone in silent quiet contemplation before voicing his answer. “Yes” J’onn answers in a monotone, emotion void from his words. “Yes my loves. I will show them. I will show them all. But I will start with Kate.”
“Good…”
<Kate?> J’onn sends out a telepathic message. <Where are you? I am in need of your assistance but I can not let anyone else know why. Are you alone? Can you come to the Watchtower?>
As it happened, Kate was on her way up to zeta from Star City anyway—the installation of the hydrotherapy room had hit a snag or two with making sure it was ADA compliant, and she was going to have to go either be charming or knock some heads together to make sure everything got put in order. The scar on her cheek, mostly healed by now, ended up adding some fierceness to the attitude, she figured.
She wasn’t fully used to the telepathy thing yet, but it no longer made her stagger, getting a message from J’onn. Instead she continued to the zeta point, though her brow furrowed as she sent out a response as best she could. <I’m actually on my way up,> she replied, concentrating enough to make it a little more cohesive, before zetaing up and continuing the conversation once she rematerialized.
<Are you in your suite?> she asked, concerned for him, and (in the back of her mind) that no one else could know why he needed her help. <I’ll be there in three minutes.>
“Kate” J’onn said, opening the door when she arrived. “So good to see you. Please come in.”
Shutting the door behind her as she entered, his smile quickly faded. The Martian spoke quickly. “Something is very wrong Kate. I have been plagued by voices - voices telling me to do things. Not just any voices. They are the voices of my wife and daughter, lost long ago on Mars.
“What’re you doing husband? What’s going on?”
“They sound authentic, but I know they are not real. My wife’s voice speaks in contractions. Martians do not do this.
“LIAR! Don’t deny me J’onn! Don’t deny your wife!”
“Even though I know this, I can not ignore them. They are so close to my desires. Having my wife and child back - I would do anything for that to happen.
“Daddy? What are you doing? Don’t leave us!”
“But I know this is an illusion. And today they became dangerous. Murderous.”
“You can still come back to me husband. Kill that bitch now! Kill her and we can be together!”
“We Martians are constantly aware of our complete physiology. I can feel all of my cells at all times.”
“Daddy! Don’t leave us! It’s dark here! I’m cold”
“I have noted a… presence inside of me. Something that has a conscience. Something that has a separate intelligence. But it knows too much about me to be a foreign creation.
“What do you mean?” Kate asked. “What are you saying J’onn?”
“I am saying… I am saying that I created this.”
“No! You’re wrong husband! I am real! I am alive! We are alive! And you’re killing us again!”
“This thing inside of me - it is a manifestation of my guilts and my desires. It knows what I want and it knows how I feel. It has my memories. And I can not rid myself of it alone. I need your help.”
“Do not kill me Daddy! You already let me die once. Don’t do it again! Please!”
“If I can link your mind with mine, your added strength can be enough to to expel this creature. Inside my mind it will be dark. The creature will try to attack you too. And because it is a part of me, it will be able to read your mind and feed on your guilt and desires. But it can not hold us both at the same time.”
“If you bring that harlot inside here, I’ll kill her myself! I’ll take her life and it will be all your fault!”
“Kate, this is not an easy thing I ask of you. But I need your help once more. Open your mind to mine Kate. Close your eyes and open your mind…”
Kate was incredibly worried, now, feeling as if the hair at the back of her neck was prickling with what J’onn was telling her. It sounded both unpleasant as hell and utterly terrifying. To have those kinds of thoughts in your head, wearing such intimate faces…and from what she did know of J’onn and his past, the subject would never really be a healed wound.
She shivered, then looked him over, appraised his face, reading it as best she could to see if he was being manipulated still, even if he didn’t realize it—she trusted him but worried for his safety and integrity. In the end, though, she couldn’t deny a friend who needed help. Not when the past had come back to haunt him again, because she knew how that felt, and how it felt to have that use your own child and partner for its purposes, how it was like having your heart outside you for everyone to see and being torn apart at the same time that happened.
“Okay,” she said finally, jaw setting firmly into determination. “But be careful, J’onn.” And after only a moment’s trepidation, she closed her eyes.
Sensing that the entity was attacking Kate’s mind and not his own, J’onn pressed his advantage. He was no longer under its control and used his full capabilities to force the attacker out. The effort J’onn exerted in pushing this evil thing from his body was tremendous. It poured out of him like liquid, from his ears, from his eyes, from his mouth. It was black and pulsing. It pooled on the floor and began shaping itself into a cohesive form.
As it was forced from J’onn’s body, it released its grasp on Kate’s mind. The Martian could see her eyes roll back and her knees start to shake. He was by her side in time to catch her and lay her down on the floor. Her eyes were already clearing and she was beginning to pick herself up. “Damn” thought J’onn. “She truly is stronger than most of us.”
But tending to Kate had cost him precious time. And now the black liquid was in the shape of a small hominid. It spoke with a voice that sounded to J’onn like it was speaking through razors. “J’onzz! Why did you do this? I would have given you the peace of oblivion. You could have joined your disgusting M’yriah and your little pig of a daughter K’hym in the afterlife! You could have had -urk”
J’onn’s powerful hands were around the evil entity’s throat. “You will not get another chance to speak my wife and child’s names again.”
Before he could make his move, the black liquid oozed out from between J’onn’s fingers and formed a writhing cobra on the floor beneath him. It hissed at the Martian and then made a lunge for Kate. She saw it coming her way and tried to back out of its range, but J’onn’s eye beams burned its head off before it got close.
The black form shook with surprise and slowly stopped moving. It lost its cohesiveness and began to melt away. J’onn and Kate both watched as it seeped through the floor and disappeared.
“Is it gone?” Kate asked.
“I… I do not know” J’onn answered. “It was a part of me. I made it. And I can no longer sense it. But I did not sense its death either. On Mars when any Martian passed, we all felt it. If this… thing was of Martian origin, I should have been able to sense its demise.” J’onn bent down and examined the spot where it had been. “If it is not gone, I fear it may come back and attack me again. Or worse - it may attack one of the League members. And it would be my fault.”
The Martian Manhunter stood and looked around. He closed his eyes and stretched out with his mind. He could not sense the entity anywhere.
“I am sorry you had to be involved in this action Kate. But I am forever in your debt for your assistance. Thank you.” He hugged her. He could not imagine what hell she had been put through when the entity was feeding on her guilts and desires. Maybe she would tell him one day. But for now, J’onn knew that he owed his life to Kate Spencer’s help once again. And he knew that he must be on vigilant alert in case this evil returned or began controlling another teammate. He would have to file a report and warn the others soon. But for now, he was just relieved to be free of it.
“Thank you Kate. Could I interest you in a milkshake?”