Titles: Mars: An Elseworlds Story

Discovery

()

Malefic stared at the special room that housed Bruce, trying to fight the urge to panic. He had no reason to worry, really. Things were coming along fine – the human had long gained the ability to breathe on his own and seemed to be growing steadily stronger as the sols passed. So why, why did he feel so uneasy? The visions held the same sweet promises of death, so why, why was he getting so worked up?! Was it because everything seemed to be going so well?

He really hoped not.

The sols came and went and soon They started to notice the improvements. Talks of the Sickness, about a cure that could be found in the human's blood, had his own turning cold with fear. It would be so typical of his people to ruin Bruce just like everything else. But other than the more frequent taking of blood, the only thing that changed was the dosages of Black.

They doubled it.

When the human didn't start to slip into a seizure and die, Malefic didn't know what to think anymore. Such a dosage would have killed him and the others – what if They started to think otherwise? His sense of unease was growing stronger in the passing of the sols and the visions were curiously blank about what was to come, only that there would be death.

What was going on?

*Be strong,* he begged Bruce silently. *This can't have all been for nothing. We've come so far, please, save us! I don't want to die here!*

Their time was coming to an end, he could feel it.

Something had to be done soon.

()

Malefic struggled against his restraints, raw screams tearing from his throat. "NO! You can't! NO!"

Nononononono if they left this planet there would be only death, the end, he knew it to be true so why weren't They listening?! The others, they saw too so it wasn't just him! A sedative was given to him but it only made the panic grow. Everything was crumbling to pieces right in front of his eyes and the human was just as limp as before.

Bruce even managed to remain unconscious when They began the rough process of removing the tubes and wires to prepare for transportation.

Hope was fading away fast and Malefic fought to hold on to it. No, couldn't give up, not yet. Not when he still had energy to fight, that was important. "BRUCE! BRUCE YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP NOW!"

Nothing.

The only thing his efforts accomplished besides furious looks from Them was a harsh blow to get him to quiet down. He cried out, having never felt such deep hatred before for his people. Things were supposed to be different. This wasn't what the visions had promised at all! Rage began to take hope's place as They proceeded to restrain the boy to a cage of his own. Either cruelty or stupidity had Them placing the cage next to his.

He scowled at Bruce, not caring if the gesture could be seen or not. "You were supposed to save us. You promised. You're nothing but a liar!"

It was then that Malefic heard a most beautiful sound. Had heard it once, almost a year ago only this time it was far greater in strength and number. They were all screaming this time, clutching at Their heads in agony, flopping around the floor like rabid animals. He took great amusement in watching them writhe and cough up blood. Some even started bashing their skulls against the surfaces of the walls and floors in a futile effort to get the pain to stop.

When They started to attack each other, Malefic couldn't help but laugh in joy. Revenge was everything he'd been hoping for and then some. He glanced over towards the human's cage, sucking in a deep breath at the intense stare that greeted him.

Bruce was awake and glaring something fierce, eyes almost black they were so dark. "Take that back."

Malefic blinked, startled. "What?"

"You called me a liar. Take it back."

He looked around at the still writhing bodies that covered the filthy floor and had to grin. "I take it back. I take it all back."

()

M'yrnn had been an Official ever since he'd lost his son all those years ago. He'd figured it was the only way he'd ever get close to finding out what happened to his child, and though hope started to dwindle over the years, his mate Sha'sheen never wavered in her belief that Malefic would be found. M'yrnn just wished he'd been able to reward her faith with results before the Sickness claimed her, but alas he'd failed in that aspect as well.

She'd been so fragile towards the end, the spark in her beautiful eyes all but extinguished after having lost their oldest son, Lhelum, as well. The combined losses of both her and his child had M'yrnn slipping into a healing sleep in order to ease the pain of the broken bonds. If it weren't for J'onn he'd truly have nothing worth living for. As it was, he was barely able to pull himself together in order to continue his duties as an Official.

He was the best of the best, the lead Boss, as it were. His team consisted of Kryoya, his second in command who was a Lhix, a reptilian like alien from a ridiculously hard to pronounce planet, Ti and Zyphixilpha, the like-minded twins and the new recruit, Bary-Van from Krypton. Currently, they were outside a plain, two story building waiting for the High Council to give the okay to storm the property.

A cure from the Sickness had come from the place and after careful digging, his Team had discovered that the first claims of the disease had come from around the same area as well. It was just a haunch, but M'yrnn had long learned to trust his instincts over the years.

"The twins're still tryin t'get an okay from th'High-Council," Kryoya reported in his throaty, lazy drawl. "Says th''cure' managed t'save one of 'em so they're kinna hesitatin."

M'yrnn went to respond when a low whistle rang out from his left. He glanced at the new recruit. "Yes?"

Bary-Van simply pointed up, drawing both their gazes above the building, where blackish-purple clouds were swirling. Every now and then a crack of yellowish lightning would snake through.

Kryoya let out a gruff laugh, relaying the images to Ti over the comm. "If that idn't a m'ssage from th' gods, I dunna what is!" He hoped the Council would see it that way.

The clouds swirled about almost playfully and a sinister tension grew, causing chills to race across his scales. Whatever they found inside...

Something told him that it wasn't going to be pretty.

The moment Kryoya's padd lit up in confirmation they swooped forward into the building, weapons ready. M'yrnn didn't know what he'd been expecting but it certainly wasn't the sight of guards and employees bashing their own heads against the walls and floors, screaming profanities. He shared a concerned look with his second and then briefly reached out with his mind to touch a guard's– only to jerk back at the raw, blistering pain he felt.

"It feels like...fire," he gritted out through the headache that was now pounding inside his skull. "Like their minds are melting. I don't like this. Bary-Van, get the Medihealers down here. Wait for Ti and Zyphixilpha. Kryoya, you're with me. Let's move!"

Navigating through the building was easy enough, seeing how any possible hostiles they ran across were either screaming, hurting themselves, or both.

As the two Officials made their way downstairs Kryoya asked, "Hey boss, y'startin t'think tha' maybe there's a reas'n these guys're all freakin ou'?"

M'yrnn, who'd been observing what looked like medical equipment on a far wall, snorted. "Their 'Sickness' probably turned on them." He frowned as the screams started to grow louder up ahead. "Although, I will say that 'mind-melting' wasn't a symptom."

"Could be a new stran'. Maybe they los' control of it."

"Good." His voice was hard. "Serves them right for making it in the first place." For taking Sha'sheen and Lhelum.

They rounded the corner and came to a dead stop. About a dozen cages filled the room and there were kids in them! Bruised, half-starved kids, who were eerily quiet and watching their would-be torturers screaming, writhing, in agony. M'yrnn let out several choice curses and almost missed the soft, "V'lmnta?".

Everything stopped.

Please H'ronmeer don't let me be imagining things. He turned around slowly and felt his legs threaten to give out from him. There, in one of the cages, was his son.

Malefic.

He was alive.

It didn't take long for the disbelief to turn to rage. His Malefic was in a cage, bruised and collared and sporting puncture wounds that suggested that those m'nktes were –

M'rynn's thoughts were cut off when his weapon was suddenly taken away by his second. "Give it back," he growled. "That's an order."

"Nah," Kryoya shook his head. "I know tha' look an' I'm refusin' y'order."

"They've been experimenting on my son," the Martian hissed, fingers twitching with the desire to kill the still-screaming idiots. Sure, they seemed to be in agony but it wasn't enough.

Wasn't nearly enough to atone for what they'd done.

"I know, an' tha's 'orrible but seein' y'gun 'em down is only gonna mess 'im up even more."

His second had a point, he did but that didn't mean M'rynn had to like it. "Help me get these locks then." He gave his son what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "We'll have you out and home in no time. Promise."

Suddenly the future didn't look so grim anymore. Though it had taken much longer than he'd like, he ended up keeping his promise to Sha'sheen after all. Even if his son was glaring at him with distrust and would probably need a lot of counseling from Medihealers, he was alive.

The screaming was dying down to pitiful whimpers and groans. M'yrnn ignored them as he tried simply phasing his son from the cage and was stopped by a rather painful shock. He jerked his hand back, curse slipping out before he could help it.

Malefic laughed scornfully. "Yes, because the others and I never thought to try that."

The tone hurt more than the shock had. Why was he being treated as if he were the enemy? Confused, he got to work on the locking mechanism, hands manipulating the lock deftly. "Son -"

"Don't call me that!" the younger Martian threw himself against the bars, breaking his concentration, "You don't get to call me that! Ever!"

Kryoya looked up from the lock that he was working on, surprised himself at the level of animosity. "Kid, we jus' saved ya. Ease up on tha' att'tude, yea?"

That earned the reptilian a scoff. "Saved us? Please. Don't give yourselves so much cred-."

"That's enough, Malefic," a stern voice ordered, causing all eyes to shift to the owner, who was a small pale child with the bluest eyes M'yrnn's ever seen before. His first instinct was to say the kid was a Kryptonian but the bone structure wasn't thick enough. Though he did look familiar...

Is that the...same boy who landed on top of J'onn way back? We were told he'd died! What else have we been lied to about?!

Malefic was scowling. "But Bruce-"

"They deserve our thanks. After all, they did save us," the boy continued, a strange not-smile touching his lips. His accent was curious; the words came out stilted as if their speaker wasn't quite used to pronouncing them, but managed a fluidity that suggested many years of practice.

M'yrnn watched his son odd smile and vaguely had the feeling that they were being mocked. His golden eyes narrowed, not appreciating that at all. Nor did he like the creepy vibe that he was getting despite the fact that the screaming had stopped. What is wrong with you? His conscious (he liked to call it Sha'sheen) scolded him. These kids have been abused for years. Of course they're not going to feel right. Just be grateful that they're alive.

His comm suddenly crackled to life. "Boss..." It was Bary-Van. M'yrnn tapped his head-piece, having a feeling that the recruit had just disobeyed orders again. "I thought I told you to remain with the Medihealers until the twins arrived."

"Well yeah but I got curious."

Only years of training and discipline kept the anger out of his voice. "Right. We'll be talking about that later. What did you find?"

"Something...sick." The Kryptonian's voice quivered with emotion. "Sick! I can't believe..."

The lock sprang open but M'yrnn didn't reach in to pull Malefic out. Judging by how his son was reacting, touch would not go over very well.

Kryoya had already unlocked six and not a single child had moved out of their cages."Easy, Bary. We foun' a bunch o' little ones bein kept in cages. If it's as bad as y'say, I donna want 'em overhearin abou' it."

"There's still some alive?" There was such relief in Bary's voice, M'yrnn felt his insides clench. "Implying that you've found...?"

"Like I said before Boss; sick," the recruit confirmed. "Just...sick."

A rough chuckle came from Bruce. "Sounds like someone just found the White Room." His words caused the other kids to giggle, even Malefic, and the uneasy feeling increased as the M'yrnn shakily asked, "Bary, is it a white room?"

"G'NTAS DID THIS SCXROLS WHERE THE KIDS COULD SEE?!"

"Van!" Both he and Kryoya snapped in union. "Language!"

"Boss, do it. I give you permission." Bary had never sounded so shaken up before and though new, the recruit had seen many horrible things due to the Sickness. For him to give permission for M'yrnn to see inside his mind... The Martian entered the rather bare mental plane to see what had him so worked up. Images swam through of the White Room - corpses of small children who'd been gutted open, various body parts categorized and laying about in piles. Some bodies were still hooked up to machines with their faces permanently twisted in horror and fear.

His son and the others had all known about the Room and to be laughing so casually... I don't know how much damage the Medi-healers can undo. This is...sick.

"Do the required documentation and then get out of there Van," M'yrnn rasped out. "We need to get these kids topside as soon as possible."

Kryoya shot him a curious look but he didn't relay the images. The Lhix was mighty protective over little ones and would most likely become enraged upon seeing what the room held.

The one called 'Bruce' was the first to leave his cage, others following suit soon after. Kryoya reported the situation to the twins that just arrived upstairs, ordering that the Medi-healers be ready for about a dozen or so new patients. "Intense ment'l scarrin', physical inj'ries as well. Prob'bly malnourished though we canna' be sure abou' that until th'little ones're fully checked ou'."

"Little ones?" Ti's voice was scandalized. "What are little ones doing in a place like this?"

He eyed the fragile little ones, the distrusting gazes and cool look to their eyes. It was like the innocence had been drained from them. Wrong, so very wrong.

"Later," M'yrnn ordered. "They need tending to now. We're about to come up. Have transport ready." Pause. "And I think its safe to say that everyone in this building is guilty of numerous crimes."

"Really?" She didn't sound so sure. "But most of them are out of their mind with pain."

"Oh yeah." Bary chimed in. "Boss' streak is definitely still going strong."

"Just this once I would have been alright with being wrong." he sighed, suddenly feeling very old and very tired. Malefic had been found after all this time and yet...

That wasn't his son, not the one he remembered so fondly.

Just do what you can, Sha'sheen's voice echoed in his mind. You owe him that much, at least.

/Author's Note/

So like, when I first wrote Elseworlds, I didn't think there was any information about J'onn's family or whatever. It wasn't until after I wrote it that I decided to do some research and discovered that yeah, his parent's names are totally known and totally not what I called them. At the time I was like, 'meh' but now that I'm rewriting it, why not use their proper names?

So, J'onn's mom? Her name is Sha'sheen. Pretty, right?

His dad's name is M'yrnn.

Lhelum is my own creation but that doesn't really matter, as he died from the Sickness.

As for what Bary-Van said that had Kryoya and M'yrnn so scandalized, it was something along the lines of 'Those fuckers did this shit where the kids could see?!'.

^o^ Anyways, review and let me know what you think, yeah?