A Reason #136

Author's note: some people seemed confused about the last chapter, so I'll clear some things up real quick.

The thing about Martian Manhunter being able to see every mind on earth is not an exaggeration and is perfectly within his canonical abilities. I didn't buff him to suit the story. Heck, I might have to nerf him for the plot at some point.

Martian Manhunter is inarguably the strongest member of the justice league. Yes, even stronger than Superman. He has all of Superman's powers, and then some. His telepathic power is as powerful as the Phoenix, almost everything that has been displayed in Marvel's telepathic abilities have been done by MM. including making a psychic reality, not to mention his shapeshifting abilities. He's basically a one-man justice league with a shit ton of powers that I'd need an entire chapter to count, so anyone curious can look it up.

As for his motives, Martian Manhunter is as soft as they come, and the wisest member of the League. Only Wonder Woman is comparable to him in that area. Almost every hero had multiple villain arcs, but MM only ever had one, and it ended as quickly as it began. Make of that what you will.

With that out of the way, here's the chapter. Enjoy!

...

The silence extended for several minutes since the martian telepath 'brought them back' to Gray's hideout after his demonstration, as the latter needed the time to process the situation.

Though several minutes might not seem long, Gray still thought long and hard, making sense of many situations that made none before learning of the negative emotions lingering in his mind.

His inability to overcome anger, how quickly he accepted Richard and trusted him, despite the latter clearly being a comic character, not too different from Dr. Thompkins, and his reluctance to harm Logan when he had the chance.

Grayson was an average man in his past life, through and through. He lived an ordinary life. He was not a particularly happy person, but he wasn't a miserable one either, and the only event worthy of note in his life was how he died.

It was comforting for Grayson to know he wasn't prone to violent fits of murderous rage by default and that such happenings were caused by the negative emotions lingering in his mind from its former owner.

Unsettling as the discovery was, Grayson still took comfort in it as it proved he wasn't the violent, murder-happy psychopath he suspected himself to be.

It was like a heavy burden falling off his shoulder as his feelings of guilt for the lives he took considerably lessened but did not completely disappear, not that he wanted them to.

Though blinded by rage that was not his own, Grayson still took those lives, unwittingly or not. Living with the guilt, diluted as it was, was the least he could do as it would stop him from repeating the same mistake.

"If... If you knew all this-- why didn't you come to me earlier? Why show yourself now of all times?" Grayson asked as he turned to the martian telepath, having organized his thoughts.

"Indeed. I could have shown myself and removed the lingering negative emotions from your mind, but I chose not to..." J'onn blankly replied as he met Grayson's gaze.

"However it was not my place to do so. You needed to overcome those through your own efforts, to make mistakes, and learn from them, as all do..." The martian added, shaking his head.

"I did not wish to be unkind to you or those your mistakes have harmed, but..." J'onn explained, trailing off with a regretful expression. "The life of a hero is extremely demanding... it's filled with sacrifices and difficult choices..." the martian added, sighing.

"You must understand why you do it on your own. The wrong reason can lead to tragedy, as I've learned from experience..." J'onn went on, and I sensed a story there but was tactful enough not to ask.

"To find your reason, your cause, you needed to make mistakes, to see this world for what it truly is and learn while you had the leeway to do so..." he concluded, and his words did make sense, even if I didn't like it.

"Then why show yourself now? What changed?" I asked, dropping the subject, as I was unwilling to argue with him about why he did show himself earlier. He was under no obligation to do so, after all.

"Because you no longer have the leeway to make mistakes..." J'onn matter-of-factly explained, adjusting the sleeve button of his suit, seemingly impatient.

"I still have faith that you would overcome the anger as you overcame the hate and fear..." J'onn explained as he let go of the button and put his hand in his pocket.

"However, it would take time and mistakes, which you can not afford now that you've exposed yourself to the public eye..." he explained, gesturing to the side with his free hand.

"You were not obligated to help me, and you aren't right now, so I don't blame you, even if I don't like your reasoning," I replied, sighing as I held back an outburst of curse words at the supposed tough love I've been on the receiving end of unwittingly.

"Let's say I let you help me. How would you go about doing it?" I asked, getting straight to the point, as I already had an idea how, and I couldn't say I liked it.

"With your permission... I would enter your mind to find the problem and tone it down to manageable levels..." J'onn explained, resting one hand over his belt buckle as if everything was under control.

"I would not remove it from the root. The anger may not be yours, but that does not mean you would not face a similar dilemma that is your own should I solve this one for you," the martian man calmly explained, his words as logical as ever.

"That is all I can do to help, but whether to accept it or not is completely up to you...."

...

Stryker's Island Penitentiary

Solitary confinement

Sitting on the ground in the dark holding cell, Eve Eden leaned into the wall as she blankly stared into the ceiling. She couldn't help but remember her mother's last words before she passed.

Her mother, Maureen Eden, was not a native of Planet Earth. She came from The Land Of Nightshades, a magical dimension where everyone had the power to control darkness.

Maureen was the queen of The Land Of Shades, but she was defeated and forced to flee her home by the demon known as Incubus. She settled on Earth, marrying a regular human and having two children with him, Eve and Larry.

The two children grew up in an idyllic Kansas, blissfully unaware of their heritage and the burdens that came with it until Maureen received word that a mysterious stranger had defeated and killed the Incubus.

Overjoyed, Maureen couldn't wait to take her children to The Land Of Nightshades to show them her home and finally teach them how to control the powers she knew they had.

Unfortunately, news of the Incubus' death was a ruse. As soon as they arrived, Maureen and her children were surrounded by the Incubus and his demon followers, who kidnapped Larry and injured Maureen mortally.

Maureen used her last breaths to tell her daughter that she had the power to control the shadows and darkness and that she needed to master it to save her brother before urging her to flee.

Forced to escape and leave her dying mother behind, Eve reluctantly used her powers to go home and tell her father what happened in The Land Of Nightshades.

Eve's father, Warren Eden, was devastated by the loss of his wife and son, causing him to grow distant and bitter. He channeled his bitterness into becoming a senator, drowning his sorrow in workaholism.

The father moved to Washington as his work demanded, and though he would meet Eve, who refused to leave Kansas, to share a meal from time to time, they rarely spoke and merely ate in silence.

Through the years, Nightshade returned to the Land Of The Shades several times, attempting and failing to save her brother as she could not defeat the Incubus.

The last encounter happened when she was in college, and the defeat damaged her powers, causing her to harm herself whenever she used them to control the shadows.

Eve had no one to turn to, no one to help her, save for the catholic priest who found her half dead in a dark alley after her powers malfunctioned. The man nursed her back to health; he listened to her blight and comforted her as a father would.

Since then, Even had become a devout catholic in search of inner strength to rescue her brother as she slowly healed and recovered control of her power, preparing for the day to save her brother.

Finally, having regained control over her power in her senior college year, Eve was ready to attempt another rescue mission to extract her brother from the Incubus' clutches.

However, a single encounter made her change her mind as she looked to the sky and saw a figure soaring in the air. It was no bird, no plane, but a man in a fluttering red cape fighting an army of alien invaders on his lonesome.

Inspired, she decided she needed more experience to save her brother. She moved to the capitol to become Nightshade, a superhero like the man in the red cape.

She eventually met King Faraday, a government operative at the time, and offered her services to his agency. He agreed to hire Eve as an unofficial agent, and she worked with him as the costumed hero Nightshade, eventually meeting Amanda Waller through him.

Waller asked her to join Task Force X, and Eve agreed on the condition she commandeers the team for one personal mission, the rescue of her brother from the Incubus' clutches.

All the dirty deeds she did for Waller were for Larry's sake, but now that she was here, in this dark, solitary cell, she could not stop herself from wondering; was it truly worth it? Was there no other way?

All she wanted was to save her brother, her despair rendering her blind as she stopped asking herself the question that led her to become a superhero; what would Superman do?

"He would not give up, for once..." said a deep voice, snapping her out of her reverie as a green-skinned man walked through the prison's cell's walls like they were made of water.