THE LAST SURVIVORS OF MARS
TEN YEARS LATER
Written by Oblique
Mars was a living world once again.
Millions of years ago, the native Martian civilization had flourished under a distant white sun. The rivers had run with water and the fields had glittered with golden grass. Now, the surface was a desolate wasteland scoured by ionized dust storms and solar radiation. Its last survivors had fled to Earth. They had protected their adopted world as heroes.
One day, the best and brightest that humankind had to offer knew that they would step foot on their home world and greet the Martians as equals.
That day had come, for humans were nothing if not tenacious. A team of international astronauts from the Global Space Agency had set foot on the Red Planet three years ago, and the Martian Manhunter had been waiting to greet them.
Today, the Red Planet was inhabited once again. The first human colony on the Red Planet had a population of one hundred and twelve living souls. The glittering domes rose out of the frozen earth like spring blossoms in a field of snow. It was supposed to be called the International Mars Surface Station, but everyone called it Bradbury Base.
Her gentle breathing echoing inside her helmet, Doctor Cathy Ma stood on the ridge to the east of Bradbury Base and admired the setting sun. The horizon was obscured behind a veil of red dust. The sun was like a droplet of molten metal heated until it was white hot. The heavens were already black as ink and full of sharp-edged stars. She could look up and wonder what it had been like for the Ancient Martians to study the sky.
Doctor Ma believed that they had shared the same fundamental dream-- to go beyond. To explore. To see the stars.
She never thought that she would ever step foot on Mars. Ma was a scientist, not a trained astronaut, but humankind had developed by leaps and bounds over the past ten years. She was one of a dozen experts that lived and worked on Mars alongside the astronauts that maintained the station and collaborated on their experiments.
When the sun slipped below the horizon, Doctor Ma activated her helmet lights and turned back towards the base. Five crystalline domes (designed with help from Power Girl and Superwoman using tailored Kryptonian terraforming crystals) glittered with bright floodlights. The central dome was the largest, surmounted by a white pole where the pale blue flag of the United Nations and the G.S.A. crackled in the stiff wind.
Doctor Ma bounded towards the colony in the springy 0.376
g. She passed through the force field that protected the station from ionized dust and radiation; cycled through the airlock; and removed her spacesuit before she entered Dome Two-- habitation and recreation. Holographic decorations in anticipation of the upcoming New Year on Earth floated above the airlock and around the white tables and couches.
Doctor Ma greeted a few of the colonists sitting and eating in the recreation area. A porcelain cup of steaming green tea was resting on a gleaming white tray when she sat down on a circular chair. Smiling, Doctor Ma took a sip. She tapped the table and activated her personal log. She was home.
----
On the other side of the planet, a storm was raging. Waves of ionized dust swept across the cold plains. A vast drift of red sand seemed to coil like a snake across the ground as it was swept up into the air and revealed an abandoned rover, thick with grit and grime and pitted with abrasions.
The shimmering arms of dust crackled with electricity. Suddenly, there was a flash of white light and a spark flickered along the mastcam of the rover. Inside the robot’s instrument bay was a collection of scientific samples: dust and crumbled rocks laced with extremophile bacteria, immune to heat and cold and radiation.
With a whine, static electricity coursed through the sample bay.
There was the barest pulse of heat.
The biomass started to grow.
----
A far cry from the cold waves that used to lash at the Justice League’s previous headquarters, solar winds bounced harmlessly off the space-bound Watchtower, while inside the monitor womb at the center of the immense satellite installation it was calm and quiet.
A string of twinkling white lights and silver tinsel decorated the doorways-- Starwoman, Doctor Fate, Ice and the Flash had decorated the operational floors from top to bottom at the beginning of December. Ice had forged fantastic sculptures of glittering frost that still decorated the common area and landing bays.
The Batman ignored the frivolous decorations and concentrated on the array of screens in front of him. No matter the time of year, there was always a crisis brewing somewhere on Earth. The monitor womb connected him to satellites, news stations, and the Justice League’s government contacts around the globe. Martian empathic sensors functioned like a global seismograph for terror. One monitor displayed the status of the current members of the League.
Most of the League and the support staff was home for holidays, but a rotating holographic projection indicated who was available at a moment’s notice in case of a major crisis:
The ATOM! A brilliant scientist and the current chair of the Justice League, Ray Palmer can shrink to subatomic sizes using a suit powered by a white dwarf star fragment. Current Location: Ivy Town.
CYBORG! His body destroyed in a tragic accident, Vic Stone is now the first ever nanotechnology consciousness-- a human mind imprinted upon a legion of self-evolving nanites, capable of transforming into any configuration! Vic used his cybernetic powers, intellect, and determination to fight evil in the Teen Titans. Now, he is a dedicated member of the Justice League. Current Location: Watchtower.
DOCTOR FATE! Traci Thirteen has inherited the Helmet of Nabu, Amulet of Anubis, and Cloak of Destiny and now guards against the forces of chaos as the world’s most powerful sorceress. Location: Salem.
The FLASH! Wally West is the Fastest Man Alive. After a lifetime running from one problem to the next, he has vowed to live up to the example set by his uncle, and now neither crime nor a bad joke can outrun the current Flash! Current Location: Central City.
GREEN LANTERN! From stellar highs to dystopic downs, there has always been one constant: Kyle Rayner is the Torchbearer, the shining beacon of hope for the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. Current Location: New York.
HAWKWOMAN! Wise beyond her years, Kendra Saunders has flown with the Birds of Prey and the Justice Society of America, but the winged avenger has come into her own as a dedicated member of the Justice League, soaring at the front of the pack as one of the premier heroes on Earth and Thanagar! Current Location: St. Roch.
STARWOMAN! Courtney Whitmore honors dual legacies as she wields the cosmic rod once held by Opal City’s Starman and Skyman! As Starwoman, she has faced numerous foes, but her greatest challenge yet may be her recent call to become a member of the Justice League! Current Location: Opal City
SUPERWOMAN! Ever since the Man of Steel left Earth, Kara Zor-El has been the planet’s tireless protector-- coming into her own as the Last Daughter of Krypton and Earth’s greatest champion. Superwoman’s current location was a blue circle of light as she diffused a winter storm in the Atlantic Ocean.
The tips of his fingers held together in front of him, Timothy Wayne waited for the world’s next crisis. His eyes were slightly unfocused as he allowed his unconscious mind to handle the raw data, waiting for the stirring of instinct to draw his attention to the appropriate screen. The Caped Crusader caught movement on one of the internal cameras. He tapped the hard-light keyboard on the desk and the door to the monitoring womb slid open. “Cyborg.”
“Batman,” Vic Stone replied as he stepped inside. His synthetic skin rippled like liquid metal, silent and gleaming with a faint blue shimmer. Brighter blue lights outlined panels of white armor on his shoulders and chest. “I noted a decrease in my serotonin levels.” Cyborg’s voice was calm and even but without affect, like a radio announcer commenting on the weather, “Do you mind company?”
“You’re feeling lonely,” Tim noted as he continued to monitor the screens.
“I suppose I am.”
“Not interested in the party in Los Angeles? I know Beast Boy invited you to the Titans Tower West.”
“Supermodels and movie stars aren’t my scene,” Cyborg shrugged one shoulder and glanced at the screens, “And you?”
“I don’t take vacations,” Tim said with a small quirk of his lips.
“That sounds familiar,” Cyborg said, and Batman smiled. Vic folded his arms and examined the screens. His one human eye narrowed in concentration, “There is an increasing probability of violence against religious minorities in Khandaq and Bialaya.”
“It’s that time of year,” Tim said, “If that’s all we have to deal with, I’ll be--” His eyes flicked towards a sudden alert from the Global Space Agency. “I spoke too soon,” He tapped the mic, “All active members, this is Batman. I’m transmitting you an update now. We have an Alpha Level Emergency on Mars.”
----
The remote camera hummed as it panned across the horizon and the anemometer whizzed in a circle in the cold winds. The automated weather station on Carter Ridge was just 5.7 kilometers from Bradbury Station.
Crimson tentacles lashed out towards the ridge and heaved. The alien crested the ridge with a pulsing wail that came from vibrating panels of veined flesh stretched between plates of dull red armor that emerged out of its skin like scabs. The creature left a long trail of frozen slime in the dust. Innumerable oozing tentacles emerged from underneath the distended carapace; each limb was studded with chips of rock and crystal, like the creature was formed out of the very rocks of Mars.
The tentacles terminated in networks of fine red cilia that probed the dust and dirt in every direction. Thicker tendrils hovered in the air around the crown of the creature, like some sort of land anemone, while the largest limbs were used to grip and haul the creature over the plains of Mars.
The probing cilia identified the weather station and the alien released another vibrating wail. Thick tentacles lashed out and ripped the sensor from the dirt. The crimson flesh pulsed and writhed as it drew the cracked solar panels along the rocks until they were swallowed in shadow.
The camera went down with a crackle of sparks and a warm hiss of static.
Signal lost.----
Doctor Cathy Ma raised her hand to her eyes as the Zeta Beam teleporter flashed with white light ad she blinked to clear black spots out of her eyes. The Justice League had arrived: the Atom, Cyborg, Hawkwoman, and Superwoman. Doctor Ma took a deep breath. She didn’t know where to look-- Cyborg glittered as small panels of glowing armor made minute adjustments; Hawkwoman’s wings flexed slightly, each feather encased in bronze-colored Thanagarian armor and her face hidden behind a hawk-nosed helmet. Superwoman floated off the teleportation platform with a radiant smile, her bright red and blue suit gleaming in the overhead lights.
“Doctor Ma,” the Atom shook her hand briskly, “It’s good to see you again. On behalf of the Justice League, thank you for contacting us.”
“T-thank you, Atom,” she said, “This time, unfortunately, it’s a little more than a lost rover or a Lunatick infestation left by the White Martians. This is Mission Commander Guixin Zhao and Major Yuri Danilov, Security Chief.”
The Atom shook Commander Zhao’s hand. The station director nodded briskly. She wore a form-fitting white spacesuit and had her helmet clipped to her belt. Her shining black hair was braided into a tight knot. “Major Danilov will fill you in enroute to the airlock. I am preparing the station for emergency lockdown and evacuation, just in case. We have to astronauts missing, sir. Please, find them.”
“We’re here to help, Commander,” the Atom said. “Major Danilov, lead the way.”
The Major saluted crisply, “Thank you for answering our hail. We don’t know if it’s a native animal or some sort of alien invasion, but it’s not friendly.”
"I don’t want to speculate about it's intentions, but it’s at least fifty meters long and growing,” Doctor Ma confirmed.
“Growing?” Hawkwoman replied.
“Yes,” Doctor Ma said, “The growth rate has fluctuated, but our cameras have recorded at least a 200 percent increase in mass over the past hour. We don’t know what it is, so we can’t say if this is going to decrease or stop any time soon.”
“It’ll stop one way or another, Doctor,” Hawkwoman said as she hefted her spiked
Nth-Metal mace.
Superwoman raised one hand, “We’ll try and talk to it first, it might not be aware of what it’s doing. Either way, we will ensure that the lifeform doesn’t endanger the station, ma’am. I helped build it, we certainly won’t let it fall.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Commander Zhao.
Doctor Ma accompanied the Justice League towards the airlock as Major Danilov delivered a crisp report outlining their encounters with the lifeform.
A dune buggy with two astronauts, Andrew Davies and Valerie Mabogunje, had gone missing one hour ago at Weather Station Seven. As the alien grew closer, they had realized that it seemed to be growing and eating machinery, rocks, and minerals.
Now, it was just 4.2 kilometers from Bradbury Station and closing-- but whether it had some sort of intelligence and purpose or was just attracted to heat, electrical activity, or electromagnetic signals remained unclear.
“If it’s trying to make contact, we can’t understand what it’s saying,” Danilov said grimly, “It hasn’t responded to radio broadcasts, and we even tried flashing lights and writing in the sand. It just keeps… eating and growing.”
“I see,” the Atom, rubbing his chin, “Interesting.”
“If you say so, sir,” Danilov flashed him a tired smile, “You sound like Doctor Ma.”
Doctor Ma flushed, “It is… interesting… if a little too close for comfort.”
“Not a problem,” Hawkwoman said, “We’ll keep it clear of the station.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Danilov gestured towards the airlock, “We’re ready.”
“I’ve hooked us up to your comms network. We’ll be in touch, Major.” Cyborg said and entered the airlock.
Doctor Ma swallowed. “Please, bring them back.”
Superwoman put one hand on her shoulder. Her hand felt like the heat of the summer sun, “Everything is going to be fine, Doctor Ma. Don’t worry.”
Her cape whirled as she turned and entered the airlock. The white panels slid closed behind her. Doctor Ma tapped the control panel and sealed the airlock. She hesitated and glanced at the holographic display. She blinked, and the station computer brought up the display from a camera outside the airlock. Doctor Ma shuddered, “I don’t believe in it, but… good luck, everyone.”
It was still growing.
----
“This sucks, Bats!” Wally West moaned as he appeared in the monitor room with a crackle of light and displaced air, “How am I possibly stuck here with you while the others are on Mars. Mars!”
“You need higher gravity to function at peak effectiveness, Wally,” Batman replied, “And a spacesuit would slow you down more than the others.”
“You a real downer, Tim. Anyone ever tell you that?”
Batman smiled.
Batman watched on the monitors as the four members of the Justice League leapt into action. The Atom, Cyborg, Hawkwoman, and Superwoman were well equipped to operate in low gravity and hostile environments. Batman could provide tactical support from the monitor room aboard the Watchtower; he had visual feeds from each member and an open channel on the nanotelepahtic network. At the same time, he was calling up more members to provide a backup team-- Starwoman, Green Lantern, and Doctor Fate.
The situation was escalating, and fast. The alien was enormous, and still growing. The carapace was impermeable to the Superwoman’s Supervision. She had also tried and failed to communicate with the alien monster; if it was a Martian, it might be telepathic, but it had thus far failed to make contact.
Superman had always said that the Martian Manhunter was the most powerful being on the planet; now, they faced a monster that, potentially, had all the powers of the Last Son of Mars. Unfortunately, J’onn was off-world and unable to try and answer any of their pressing questions.
They couldn’t wait for assistance. The alien oozed towards the colony and the moment to stand and fight was now.
“You know, it looks sort’ve familiar, team,” the Atom said, scratching his head, “I mean, it’s not green or white, but it looks Martian.”
“It’s not an alien species I’m familiar with from my time travelling with Katar, and we saw some wild stuff,” Hawkwoman said as she swung her mace like a baseball bat, “But it’s obviously hostile. Let me at least knock it clear of the colony.”
“Let me try to communicate again,” Superwoman protested, “I can radiate--”
The monster released a hideous scream from rows of pulsing gills. The slender dorsal tentacles tracked Superwoman like cameras, waving back and forth. They pulsed like veins swollen with blood. Then--
FWASH! Two tentacles released a wave of searing blue electrical energy. Caught by surprise, Superwoman was blasted backwards. Three tentacles seized a boulder and hurled it towards the other Leaguers.
“See! It’s
hostile!-- I hate being right all the time!” Hawkwoman smashed the first rock out of the air with a battle cry; her wings snapped open and slammed through the air as she hurtled forwards with a
whoosh.“Alright,” Atom said, “Let’s push it away from the colony! Superwoman, go!”
Superwoman brushed at her suit and flashed forwards, “If you can understand me, I’m sorry about this! I do not--” Superwoman avoided the darting tentacles and delivered a massive uppercut at the lip of the creature’s carapace that released a loud
CRACK of air, “--want to hurt you!”
Watching remotely from the Watchtower, Wally whooped as the monster squealed and rocked backwards. “This is getting good, Bats,” Wally said with a grin, “Snacks?”
“No.”
“Suit yourself,” Wally disappeared with a
whoosh and reappeared a second later with a bag of chips and a soda. “What did I miss?”
Ignoring him, Batman frowned and stroked the edge of his cowl. Strange. It looked Martian and seemed intelligent, but it still made no effort to communicate telepathically. What was it?
The alien was now a whirling mass of tentacles that released sizzling blasts of blue energy. Cyborg returned fire with his white noise canon and Superwoman’s heat vision melted the rocks and crystals that lined the crimson skin. The alien retaliated-- several tentacles undulated and reformed into spiked maces similar to Hawkwoman’s, dripping with molten stone. The alien shrieked and smashed Cyborg out of the air with a mace trailing droplets of magma.
“Not going to lie. That’s kind of awesome,” Wally shoved a handful of chips in his mouth.
“Well, it’s Martian,” Batman confirmed laconically.
Batman brushed crumbs off the shoulder of his cape, thinking. The Martian must have mutated-- malfunctioned-- or had it?
Cyborg’s shields held as he was driven into the sand by dozens of crimson tendrils; his jump jets flared like twin blue suns, the sand starting to melt and crackle behind him. Pods on his shoulders opened and deployed a dozen explosive shells. Wreathed in fire, the tendrils snapped backwards. Hawkwoman swooped out of the sky and smashed at the creature’s carapace with a fierce cry, shattering a crystal node; a swift limb crashed against on her bronze-tinted armor and flung her into the sand. She rolled over and over and then sprang back into the air with a sweep of her wings and fierce roar.
“Have I mentioned that I love her, recently?” Wally sighed.
"Katar might have a problem with that. And your wife,” said Tim.
Wally put his hands up defensively. “As a friend, Tim! As a friend!”
The Atom dodged another might blow from the Martian; with a shimmer, he shrunk down to just a few inches high and summersaulted onto the red tentacle. “I’m going in, team! Keep it away from the colony!”
“Damn it, Atom!” Hawkwoman grunted as she deflected a crackling blue beam on her morningstar. “Be care--
ungh!”
The Atom ran along the tentacle and disappeared under the carapace, “I’m in!”
His camera feed was a kaleidoscope of pulsing red, orange, yellow, and white flesh and organic growths. The miniaturized super-hero leapt, bounced, and slid deeper inside the alien. “I… hear… breaking… up,” the Atom’s voice wavered and fluctuated in clarity, “… can… me?”
“Your signal is weak,” Batman said, “Get out of there!”
The Martian roared. Cyborg put one hand to his helmet and his jump jets disengaged. He dropped to the ground, “
Argh! T… t… telepathic chaff… !”
Hawkwoman fluttered out of the sky, her wings twitching, and dropped to one knee on the sand. “Even the
Nth-metal… is… not…enough…”
Superwoman was clutched at her head, her blonde hair floating around her head as she sped upwards, away from the hungry maw of the Martian. “Hard… to … think…”
“Atom!” Batman called out, “Atom!”
The Dark Knight’s eyes flashed to his camera feed. The Atom tugged at one of his boots; it was trapped in some sort of sticky fluid-- and it was rising. It swallowed his ankle and then tiny threads, like elongated droplets of sap, dropped out of the ceiling of the orange tunnel and lashed onto his arms. His signal was weak, “… can’t… trapped…”
“Ray!” Wally gasped.
The liquid flashed over his helmet and the screen went dark-- signal lost. “Batman to all Leaguers, I’ve lost contact with the Atom.”
“Copy that,” Cyborg replied; his voice was cold and flat. “Organic processor is compromised. Switching to computer backups.”
Batman nodded, once, “Get the others clear, Cyborg.”
The situation was dire. Batman hesitated, and then stood up. His black cape pooled around his ankles. The Atom wouldn’t approve, Superwoman wouldn’t approve, and Connor might kill him-- but he knew what needed to be done. Without the Martian Manhunter, they had no choice. “Keep it away from the colony, Cyborg. I’m bringing in backup. Batman out. Wally, you have monitor duty.”
Wally mouth dropped open and he dropped chips over the keyboard, “Wait, what? Tim? Where are you going?
Batman!”
----
It was a cool winter’s day in Haven, New Jersey. White snow dusted the sidewalk and lawn in front of a two-story house still decorated with twinkling lights. The house was pale yellow; the carved eaves matched the picket fence and the lace curtains in the windows. Topiary and an old-fashioned tin mailbox were frosted with snow.
Timothy Wayne lowered the hood of his parka, revealing that his face was still obscured hidden behind a woolen cap, high-necked sweater, and sunglasses.
“Batman, care to let me in on the plan?” Kyle Rayner said, “Why are in the suburbs of...nowhere?”
Green Lantern was also bundled up in a winter coat. His Power Ring glowed through his glove on his right hand. “We’re here for the one person that can help us save the colony,” Tim said, “Follow my lead.”
Green Lantern sighed, “That kind’ve plan, huh? Alright, Batman.”
The two men started towards the house. Tim rang the bell. The door opened, and the delicious scent of baking cookies wafted into the cold air.
“Hello, Megan.”
Megan Morse wore a red cardigan, red skirt, white blouse, and pearls. Her frizzy red hair was pulled back in a loose bun. She had pale brown skin dotted with dark freckles, and her brown eyes were narrowed as she took in the old friend standing on her front stoop. Then, with a jarring suddenness, her face was transformed by a cheerful smile, “Hello, Tim. I wasn’t expecting company!”
“I need your help, Megan,” Tim said, “The Justice League needs your help.”
Megan didn’t seem to hear him, “You look cold, why don’t you both come in! I’ve just made cookies.”
Megan stepped aside, and the two men entered. The walls were papered with a sunflower pattern. There was an elegant wooden table in the front hall with a brass bowl of potpourri.
“Don’t forget to take off your boots,” Megan called out as she walked down the hallway towards the kitchen.
“Where are we, man?” Kyle hissed as he tugged at his boots, “Who is this woman?”
“That is entirely up to her,” Tim said.
“Tim, has anyone told you that you like being Batman a little too much?” Kyle sighed.
In the kitchen, Megan took a tray of cookies out of the oven and put them the marble island. “I made chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies!” she said as they entered the room, “Oh, I’m sorry, are either of you allergic to anything?”
“No, ma’am,” Kyle grinned, “I’d love a cookie.”
Megan sat them down on stools at the kitchen island. “Megan,” Tim said quietly as she put a plate of cookies in front of him, “Please. Look at me. We need your help. The Justice League is under attack-- on Mars.”
“Would you like a glass of milk?” Megan said, not seeming to hear him.
“We don’t have time for milk and cookies, Megan,” Tim said patiently, “This is urgent. This is an Alpha-Level Threat. It’s a Martian. I need you to communicate with it.”
Kyle choked on a cookie.
“
Megan. Look at me,” Tim said.
Megan was trembling now. She started wringing her hands together. “Would… would you like some tea or coffee?”
“Remember, Megan. You can help us.
Mars.”
“How… how are the cookies?” Megan swallowed, “Try one! They’re fresh!”
“
Please, Megan. You need to come with me. I need your help.”
“I… can’t…” she whispered, her hands clenching into fists.
Tim stood. She was almost there. “You are the only one on this planet that can save the colony, Megan. It’s necessary. It’s time.”
Her voice was barely a whisper. “Don’t make me remember, Tim, please. Please.”
“Remember, M’gann M’orzz,” Tim said in the same quiet voice, “You are the Last Daughter of Mars.”
The kitchen went silent. Megan stared at him, her lips parted. Splotches of green appeared on her skin like bacteria on a petri dish. It crawled up her neck and across her face. Her hair retracted and reformed into crimson curls. There was a wet
squelch and Miss Martian was standing in her kitchen, still dressed like a homemaker. One very human tear trickled down her cheek.
“I really wish you hadn’t done that, Tim. I… don’t want to hurt anyone again.”
Tim tried not to flinch, “You’re needed, M’gann.”
Green Lantern looked from him to the Martian and back again. “What the hell is going on, Batman?”
“We’re saving the colony,” Tim said grimly, “What do you remember, M’gann?”
M’gann plucked at her pearls. Her first tightened and, with a sharp
snap, the white pearls scattered across the marble island. Her red eyes glinted as she stared at her hands. “Everything, Tim. I remember everything.”
----
Superwoman could barely think due to the telepathic assault on her mind. It was only through immense strength of will and Kryptonian meditation techniques that Kara could maintain enough concentration to keep fighting. She could barely keep up with the Martian’s attacks. Hundreds of darting tendrils flashed through the air and wrapped around her arm like some sort of possessed shag carpet. Superwoman blasted the tendrils with heat vision and then directed the attack at the giant alien. She had to keep it away from the colony!
Cyborg’s missiles roared past her and exploded, sending fragments of red flesh falling towards the sand where they dissolved into sludge. The monster advanced, oozing across the sands and absorbing its own mangled limbs.
She had to keep fighting...
“--You read me? This is Batman--”
Superwoman put one hand to her ear, struggling to think. “Yes, this is Supergirl, I mean, Superwoman. I read you, Batboy.”
“We’re coming in now. Get clear of the Martian. Do you copy?”
Superwoman shook her head again, confused. “Tim, what good is Batman on Mars?”
Batman chuckled, “Just get clear, Superwoman. We’re coming in…
now.”
Superwoman looked up and saw a green sphere of energy rocket out of a warp tunnel. The sphere collapsed with a flash of emerald energy and revealed a black torpedo. There were twin plumes of coolant gas and then the torpedo flew apart in two pieces, revealing
Batman encased in glowing black-and-red power armor.
Landing jets fired and Batman dropped into position two hundred meters from the battle. There was a shimmer and a second person appeared next to Batman. Superwoman’s eyes widened.
No-- Martian Manhunter? Impossible…
----
Alarms wailing, Tim rose to his full height with a whir of servomotors. He silenced the alarms notifying him of the telepathic chaff. He didn’t have a lot of time to waste.
M’gann M’orzz looked cold and distant as she floated above the surface of her home planet. She was sheathed in a black suit slashed with a crimson X across her chest; a dark blue cape was pinned around her throat with golden clasps. In front of them, the tentacled titan let loose with another eerie wail. Triumphant, it started dragging itself closer to the ridge. It was almost sixty meters tall, now, crowned with a disgusting mass of tiny arms, flickering bursts of electricity, and jagged crystals.
Superwoman, Cyborg, and Hawkwoman floated out of the dust-streaked sky and landed beside them. Hawkwoman’s armor was battered and and her wings flapped erratically as she staggered to a halt. Cyborg’s jump jets let out a tired whine as he looked Batman up and down. “Nice suit.”
Superwoman folded her arms, “Batman, is this who I think it is?”
“Yes,” Tim said, and his voice echoed through the suit speakers, “That is the only person that can help us resolve this situation without killing.”
Supewoman’s blazing blue eyes narrowed and then she nodded, once.
“Can you make contact, M’gann?”
“I can sense a presence,” M’gann said reluctantly.
“Can you make contact?” Tim pressed.
“Do you know what you’re asking?” M’gann said bitterly as she raised one hand to the side of her head, “Yes, Tim. I will make…
contact.”
Tim felt rather than heard the silent scream that rippled across the surface of Mars.
Everyone staggered. It felt like an icepack had been shoved into the back of his skull. M’gann’s voice echoed inside his head,
I told you. What is it? Tim gritted his teeth.
Hearing someone else laugh inside your own head always reminded Timothy all too much of the Joker.
It is nothing more than a bad memory.Tim tried to focus on the Martian monstrosity. “It’s stopped,” Hawkwoman breathed.
“It’s shrinking,” Superwoman said gently.
They were correct. Flesh sizzling and bubbling like hot oil the color of red jello, the Martian was collapsing in on itself. The telepathic fog cleared, and the tentacles retracted with a series of loud
pops.
Crystals shattered like glass, raining chunks of glittering rock across the sands. There was one last scream, like the roar of a deranged elephant, and then--
“There!” Hawkwoman pointed with her mace.
Three amber jewels popped out of the writhing red flesh and then burst like pustules, revealing the two missing astronauts and Ray Palmer. They fell to the sands in wet heaps, releasing clouds of white vapor as the yellow liquid from inside the pods froze in the subzero temperatures.
Chunks of broken equipment were next, sailing through the air like discarded toys: solar panels, four metal wheels, rocks, computer chips, and struts and spars of sticky plastic and metal rained across the sands.
Finally, the Martian released one last telepathic sigh that made the hair on the back of Tim’s neck stand up, and it was over. Sitting on the surface of Mars was a ten-year-old rover. A single electrical spark sizzled along the extended mastcam, which snapped and fell over.
“It’s done,” M’gann said and lowered her hand.
----
“Thank you, Miss Martian!” Doctor Ma said, “We will do our best to continue to preserve the wonders of your home world.”
“You can keep it,” M’gann M’orzz said as she stepped onto the Zeta Beam platform. Reluctantly, she tried to give the scientist a reassuring smile. “Thank you, Doctor Ma. I know you’ll do your best to protect my world, but my only home is Earth. Mars is yours to keep.”
There was a flash of white light, and the Last Daughter of Mars was gone.
----
“So,” The Atom said, “What happened?”
“It was never a monster,” M’gann said to the group assembled around the conference table in Laputa. “It was a few cells scraped from an abandoned survival pod with a basic bacterial computer-- my survival pod, in fact. It was reactivated by a rogue ion storm and fused with a rover. It was trying to find and preserve life on Mars, including you and the two astronauts. It was just… confused and frightened.”
“Fascinating,” The Atom said.
“If you say so,” Wally shuddered, “I mean, it swallowed you alive, man.”
“It wasn’t going to harm him,” M’gann said.
“It may have mutated further,” Tim said, “It needed to be stopped. Thank you, M’gann.”
“Thank you for your assistance, Miss M’orzz,” Superwoman said, “Will you need any--”
“My name is Megan Morse,
not M’orzz,” M’gann said, looking around at the assembled members of the Justice League. “I'm leaving now. Don’t call on me again, Batman.”
The Atom looked uncomfortable, “Batman acted… without consulting with the Justice League. I’m sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused you, Miss Morse..”
“Thank you.” M’gann stood up, “Is that everything?”
“Well, I suppose so,” The Atom agreed.
Without speaking, M’gann M’orzz floated off the ground, phased through the ceiling, and disappeared. There was a creak of armor, wings, helmets, and chairs as the entire Justice League turned to look at Batman. The Atom cleared his throat. “Uh, Batman. We
really need to talk about this.”
“It needed to be done. No one was hurt, and the astronauts were retrieved. As were you, Atom,” Tim raised one eyebrow, “I’d call that a win for the Justice League. Does anyone disagree?”
No one spoke for a moment. “Seriously, what’s going on?” Traci Thirteen burst out, “Who was that?”
“That,” Tim said, “Was a very old friend. She helped us save the first human colony on Mars with zero loss of life. Today, that’s all that needs to be said.”
Batman stood up and walked away. There was a small part of him that hoped, one day, that M’gann M’orzz would forgive him for what he had done. That, one day, the Last Daughter of Mars would return to her home planet.
