M A R T I A N M A N H U N T E R
M A R T I A N M A N H U N T E R
Fire raged through the house as J'onn broke through the wall. The family portraits on the wall distorted with the blaze.
"M'yri'ah! M'gann! J'onat'onn!" He hurriedly rushed up the stairs even as the smoke burned in his throat. He couldn't be too late. He
couldn't be too late! He broke down the door to the sewing room, her favorite room. And yes, there she was at her needlework. She'd always loved to do it by hand instead of using telekinesis.
"M'yri'ah!""You are too late, once again." She turned, revealing a ghastly burnt figure wreathed in the flames. "You're always too late."
He recoiled back.
"No! I rushed here sooner. I'm so much faster than I was!""But at what cost?" The flames then surrounded them both, filled with writhing figures, White & Green alike, all calling out in fear and agony.
"No!" One White Figure tried to fight his way out. "Spare my daughter, you monster!"
"May the Fires burn you, betrayer!" A Green one, Ja'ob, angrily jeered.
Soon others joined in. "Lapdog! Fiend! Cur! Ghoul! Soulless Machine" All the while, the flames grew ever nearer and nearer, revealing more figures, includer smaller, younger ones running in fear.
J'onn fell to his knees, awaiting when the flames would swallow him whole. But then the collar clasped around his throat, unbreakable despite all his attempts to pull. Then the attached chain pulled him up from the midst of the fire, chocking him as it brought him back to the all too familiar figure in the white coat.
"You've had your little lark, Manhunter. Now it's time to get back to work."The alarm clock suddenly sounded, causing J'onn to wake up, turn it off, then just allow himself a moment.
JOHN JONES' APARTMENTManhattan, New York CityHe took a deep breath.
"Just a dream. It was only a dream... He looked over his pale human hands, only slightly suntanned by their years walking the policeman's beat. Then in another moment of weakness, he let the disguise slip away to reveal his green-skinned hands, looking so strangely clean for all the blood that had stained them. Had these truly been the hands that had once held M'yri'ah so gently, that had been so very careful when holding his once newly born son and daughter? He felt along his arms, finding every place where the seemingly flawless skin hid small scars and dents, until it reached up to the cursed straps over his chest. He really could not don his true form without also bringing out this,
costume, that they'd designed for him, psychically locked him into wearing unless he was in disguise and making it so he'd recall all aspects of that burning fire if he tried to undo the locks. He could only be thankful that they had decided to give him pants instead of going with the trunks of that woman's first design. He shuddered at the thought, then felt his hand feel along his chest until it came underneath the straps' clasp at the center of his chest. There still he could feel the brand, the mark of the Martian World Government declaring him
theirs's. He jerked his hand away then turned back to his human guise.
No use still thinking about it. J'onn J'onzz was dead, and the Martian Manhunter was no more. There was only John Jones, and today was his first day as a detective after months of serving as a beat cop. He couldn't be late! So he finally clambered out of bed, got dressed in his best suit and tie before placing on the fedora and trench coat that his fellow officers had gotten him as a half-joke celebration present. But really, it was a nice classic detective look from all he'd seen of film noir shows, and he looked good in it so he was wearing it. He then made sure to clasp his revolver to his belt and headed into the kitchen, letting the coffee perk up while he scrambled himself some eggs and maybe snuck himself a Choco cookie. Hey, it was a day to celebrate. He could allow himself one this morning.
Distantly, the bells of St. Patrick's Cathedral rang for Mass. John swallowed a bit before plating his eggs, pouring out his coffee then sitting down. The cathedral was a beautiful building and the priest he'd met anytime he'd pass by on his beat had been a pleasure to talk to. There'd never been a good time to actually go inside though.
And there never could be. The priest didn't know what he was talking about. There could be no place in there for such as him. After he finished up, he set the dishes to soak in the sink then headed on down the stairs and out into the streets, eyeing the passing bustling crowd and cars before walking on down to his district precinct. Would today be a peaceful day, or would he be facing his first case? Only time could tell, and he better start hurrying in order to not be late. And so he started power-walking down the street, tipping his hat at anyone that gave him a wave.
SOMEWHERE IN THE AMERICAN COUNTRYSIDESomewhere, USA"Everybody, incoming! Strap in tight!" The Green Martian pilot flipped a few more switches then pulled down the wheel hard, thanking everything that he did manage to find someplace deserted for the crashlanding.
Behind him, the crammed passengers, Green and White Martians alike, huddled together as tightly as they could, bracing themselves for impact. Then suddenly, there was a jolt forward, then they found themselves rolling around and around until the saucer finally landed right side up.
The pilot then gave a sigh of relief before unstrapping. "Made it!"
One of his passengers, one of the Whites, scoffed. "Barely! What was with that landing?!"
He shrugged. "Not my fault. We had to use fuel to shake off the government fighters. We're lucky to have made it as it is." Then he tried to stand up and fell to his knees. Oooh. "Also, watch out when you get up. It's higher g's."
"What?"
"Higher gravity." A more scientific passenger, one of the Greens, gingerly stepped off his seat before slowly getting to his hands and knees. "The ship's giving us some cushion with it's internal dampers, but Earth has a higher gravity than we're used to. We'd be well advised to take the time we need to adjust ourselves to this before we leave this ship."
"We don't have time for that!" The first passenger angrily stepped towards him, only to fall and only stop himself from falling hard on his face by telekinetically slowing his fall. "As long as we're here, we're sitting ducks! The government goons will know to search for this ship and we can't exactly hope the locals won't eventually notice! We gotta get out and find shelter
now!"
"If we don't take the time to do this properly, all of this will have been for nothing!"
"Why couldn't we have landed somewhere else then? Somewhere with a better gravity?!"
"If you'd like to take your chances on Venus, be my guest."
"Enough, both of you." A White Martian woman managed to crawl over with dignity. "I understand your concerns, Le'i. But Dr. B'nja'in has more
experience in these matters. That is part of why we took him along with us in this escape. If we just ignore his advice, we will have no chance actually surviving on Earth."
Le'i sighed. "I understand, M'yr'am. But we can't just stay here. Our ship is too obvious of a target and we can't defend it easily."
"I know," Dr. B'nja'in pushed up his glasses. "But if we move too quickly, the weaker of us will die."
The pilot then came over, barely managing to crawl. "Maybe? We could just take the internal damper with us? I saw some caves nearby. If we could set up our hideaway there, then we could see what natives come investigate without them seeing us and we could have the chance to adapt and see if we can contact anyone else that's managed to arrive."
M'yr'am frowned. "Would that be possible, B'nja'in?"
"Possible enough...We'd just need to rig a way to keep it powered, which we could salvage from this ship. Then we'd need our best psychics to be in charge of making sure no one thinks to investigate our cave. Then we also could use some parts of the atmosphere control to help us adjust to breathing Earthian air more easily, as well as make sure to grab any rations we stored as we start figuring out what is and is not edible."
"That all sounds workable. Good thinking, Ash'r."
"Oh..." He blushed a bit. "It was nothing, ma'am."
"Then we better get started." Le'i forced himself up higher. "You heard that everyone. With fifty of us, we can all do our part. Men, work with the doctor to see what needs to be salvaged and where you might find it. Women, search around for any rations, space suits, and anything else we could need. After you're done, come back here and we'll make our way over to the caves. We need to move quickly, so get to it!" And with a clap, they were off.
WITHIN A SECRET GOVERNMENT COMPLEXWashington, DC"Commander! We've got a UFO here!"
"Are you certain," the commander leaned forward to look at the screen. "It could be another of China's balloons."
"I don't think so, commander. It didn't have the right silhouette on the radar. But whatever it is, it just landed here." He pointed to a place on his map.
The commander frown. "Scramble the jets and get them to investigate. If this is legitimate, this could be the start of something major."
"Yes, commander!" He sent out the orders, calling for all available jets as the commander kept a watchful eye on the screen. If this was the start of an invasion, then they would be laughably outmatched.
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