Chapter 27: [Interlude] A Normal Day (Part 3)

[Clock - 13:55 | 01:55 PM]

[Calendar - 13/02/2003]

[Location - Metropolis, the City of Tomorrow - New York, USA]

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POV Change

J'onn J'onzz - Martian Manhunter

Their mind was a palace of controlled chaos, that's the only way he can describe it. A mess that is somehow controlled and twisted in a way he had to carefully navigate it.

J'onn was trying to mess up with the minds of the seven beings to such an extent that they would stop fighting- such a thing was an easy feat for him normally and something he has done many times in his time on Earth when needing to subdue a criminal, but realistically he could only strongly mess with the minds of two Appelaxians at same time. He had only heard of this race of distant living beings before- said to live in the recluse sections of the endless universe, never truly progressing because of their constant and ever growing civil war amongst their little citizens. Appelaxians don't reproduce normally, when two Appelaxians love each other very much (they don't, really) they get together and mix their energies, and through the course of a thousand years, that energy becomes sentient! And that's how an Appelaxian is born. That's all J'onn knows about Appelaxians, but he is learning! Being inside their minds is very educational, he has learned very disturbing things that he has locked away from his memory in his own personal vault of [Do Not Open].

"[They're called Appelaxians, they seem to be here on earth for a... competition? The one to cause the most death, mayhem, and destruction, can become the new Kalar- that is their word for Emperor. These seven are called Kalathora the Golden Roc, Dut the Stone God, Gatokŋ the Wood King, Pakathar the Fire Lord, Ahamor the Crystal Creature, Xu-Ak the Glass Man, and Povokenateryn the Mercury Monster.]" J'onn shared the information he had gathered from what he could within the mind of these fascinating but very deadly beings- he was keeping his far distance from Pakathar the Fire Lord, as much distance as he possibly could -with a hint of amusement as he shared the rest of the news: "[It seems they all planned on betraying each other regardless of the winner- Xu-Ak took the most favorable form to deal with Gatokŋ, Gatokŋ took the most favorable form to deal with Povokenateryn, Povokenateryn took the most favorable form to deal with Kalathora, Kalathora took the most favorable form to deal with Amahor, Amahor took the most favorable form to deal with Pakathar, and Pakathar took the most favorable form to deal with Povokenateryn... Interesting, none have taken a favorable form to deal with Dut the Stone God, but they all were planning on K'othanny-Akar. Although Dut does have the most favorable form to deal with Xu-Ak, Ahamor, and Pakathar if he wants to... fascinating.]" J'onn was- even though he had learned of many atrocities -having fun learning new things about new beings.

K'othanny-Akar is a phrase in Martian that means 'Rivals and enemies that throw away their differences and join forces against a single target'. Yes, Martian has very specific phrases, their vocabulary is kinda big.

"[Argh- too many colors! Urgh- why do they taste weird? That fire guy tastes like jalapeños, the mercury guy tastes like a weird sprite thing, the others also don't taste that good... Gold eagle guy tastes like ass, and as a professional ass eater-]"

"[Thank you for your incredible and invaluable information and analysis, Green Lantern.]" The stoic and serious voice of the "bitter leather daddy" as Green Lantern liked to call him, echoed through their telepathic bond. It was honeslty fascinating for J'onn, because Batman's mind presence was very strong for a human without any other special power or abilities that are shaped around the mind- he was almost on the level of an apprentice might have when being tutored, and that is a high level for a human! J'onn could also see and feel strong mental shields created by the sheer willpower of not wanting his mind being read or seen, and he kept his distance out of respect: "[J'onn, tell us about their weaknesses. Anything that we haven't found out yet?]" He sounded a bit winded, but it was expected seeing as he has been fighting against Golden Roc for about 30 minutes now? He was buying time so they could find a way to free Superman from his "rock hard endeavors" as Green Lantern referred to. Ah, also, he introduced himself with his real name to the others- it was only polite, after all!

"[Well, asphyxiation for Pakathar the Fire Lord seems pretty obvious... Kalathora the Golden Roc is made of gold and thus really light, even though he can keep repairing his body with his energy, Amahor the Crystal Creature and Xu-Ak the Glass Man are weak to blunt damage, but Ahamor is weaker to physical damage while Xu-Ak is susceptible to vibrations, Gatokŋ the Wood King is susceptible to sharp attacks and fire as he is a tree, Povokenateryn the Mercury Monster is susceptible to fire as well, and Dut the Stone God doesn't seem to have any obvious weaknesses that can be easily exploited... Unless we can get some Åọṭẹẅ, which seems to be their favorite beverage.]" They don't really have it here, and the materials to make it are unknown to Pakathar, he just likes how it tastes similar to the screams of those burning alive in pure and unadulterated agony: "[And even if we had, I don't think he would accept it... he doesn't drink during work?]" There were shards of memories of him rejectin Åọṭẹẅ when he was working... his work itself was thrown into the [Do Not Open] box, and he won't look into it again!

"[Aquaman, situation?]" J'onn had to shift his body into an ethereal version of itself as he changed his density and let the tree arm just phase right through him as he listened to Batman's words- J'onn arms turned into long snake-like appendages that he used to quickly slap the Wood King, breaking its wood body further and further. "[I want to known how much longer you think you can keep going for? I can see you're getting tired.]"

Nobody paid any attention to the little "[Kinky~]" that echoed through their minds.

"[I can still keep going Batman, don't worry about me-]" J'onn had the luxury to see Aquaman's orange upper body green lower body silhouette dart around the thick legs of Dut the Stone God, his long golden trident striking several times in the same place, creaking and cracking against the stone of the giant. Superman was no longer on the battlefield, instead he J'onn was both keeping an eye on the enemy before him and a part of his mind was trying to awaken Superman's mind that seemed to be put into a stasis mode of some kind, it was frozen and could not be easily reached! "[-You've been at it for some time now, bat, you sure you don't need a break~? You might get tired of constantly fisting that big golden bird like it owes you and your family money, you're really being rough with the poor thing...]" Aquaman sounded a little mocking and condescending, but even though he sounded like that, there was genuine concern hidden beneath those layers of sarcasm and sexual innuendos.

"[Kinky!]" Once more, nobody even reacted to Green Lantern's reactive thought response. J'onn, however, recognized that as it was- Green Lantern's hypersensitivity to telepathy made his thoughts be easily broadcast through their telepathic bond even though he most likely didn't really want to say those things. "[Shit- fuck, how do I turn myself off?]"

"[I am pretty sure I can handle myself, thank your sincere and genuine, if not sexual, concern...]" With a dry response that was expected of Batman, J'onn turned his attention on his task at hand- he split 80% of his focus to find Superman's mind while 20% of his focus was spent on paying attention to his surroundings to make sure everything was alright: "[Wonder Woman, making any progress?]" At the mention of Wonder Woman, J'onn paused... If he had a powerful- powerful in terms of presence, powerful "voice", powerful desires -mind reach out to the abyss of Superman's mind, perhaps he could use that mind as a beacon to guide himself to Superman's mind? It was a rather risky endeavor, seeing as he hasn't tried such a thing before, but he knew it was possible in tbeory! Should he take the risk and, as the humans say, go for it?

"[Well, "bitter leather daddy", I am fighting an endless fight against crystal and glass monsters, and they're very annoying because each time I get closer to the big ones, they will simply and wimply cowardly scutter away from me while throwing various little minions.]" With the sharp sound of breaking glass, J'onn decided to broadcast his idea to the others, and within a second everyone was aware of what he wanted to do, the process, the risks, and the fact that he thought Green Lantern's sexual thoughts were a problem he needed to learn how to deal with, so he suggested him to go out with someone and meet new people: "[Huh, I didn't think my voice would be powerful... Also, I 100% agree with J'onn, you need to go out and meet new people, Green Lantern.]"

"[Hey! I'm trying, okay? It's kinda hard going on dates when you're a hero- specially when you're a space cop!]" Green Lantern paused for a few moments, considering the ramifications of what he was about to suggest, before he suggested anyway: "[I think the Flash can keep Woman of Wonder safe by running around, and I can keep Mr. Martian the Obvious Speaker safe while they go into the mind of the rock hard Man of Steel.]"

"[Yep- I can do that! Definitely- oh fuck!]" Flash had to dodge a rain of thousands of shards of glass that exploded from Xu-Ak the Glass Man, they were sharp and thin shards of glass that were absolutely everywhere! J'onn was able to phase through it by shifting his density, while the Green Lantern had to create a shield for himself: "[Phew~! That was close... Anyway, I can keep Wonder Woman safe while you're doing this!]"

"[Very well. Proceed with caution, Martian Manhunter. Wonder Woman, also be careful. I will keep the crystal and glass minions occupied, you got 3 minutes.]" Without warning, Batman threw one of his batarangs into a large group of crystal and glass humanoid minions before punching the Golden Roc once more, this time there was a huge dent on the wing of the golden eagle. The batarang started to vibrate and let out this shrill sound that would give anyone tinnitus if they got too close, and the glass minions started to crack and shatter into a hundred pieces, while the crystal minions would simply place their "hands" on their body and scream this shrill sound as they cracked too, but slower than the glass minions. "[...the timer has changed to 2 minutes.]"

"[Wow, Batman lasts a long time, huh?]"

"[...I will paint your ring yellow.]"

"[...sorry.]"

Nobody commented on the rather weird threat. J'onn, however, had taken Wonder Woman's mind alongside his into Superman's mind to try and wake him up- but to their absolute surprise, as they went deeper and deeper into Superman's mind, they found him, sitting alone.

Well, not exactly alone, there was a giant rock man, and they were fighting.

"He is still fighting... that's why I couldn't reach him easily, he's still fighting."

Well... how do they wake him up?