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Future Sins, chapter 2
"Do you want to talk about it?" Conner asked as the two were lying in their beds.
"I don't see any reason to, but I think you want to," Max replied.
"Well...do you blame me for anything? I'd understand if you did. I am responsible for this...in a way."
"You're not responsible."
"But, it's me who attacked you...sort of."
"It wasn't you. It was a deranged man from the future. You are not responsible for the attack on me."
"But, I feel kind of guilty about it."
"You should stop feeling guilty. You are responsible for the actions that you have taken. If, several years in the future, you travel back in time to attempt to kill me, then you should feel guilty."
"Are you okay with what he said?"
"I'm not worried about it. I don't place much weight on the word of a man who tried to kill me."
"You've scanned his mind?" Batman asked.
"It's difficult because he's unconscious and a powerful psionic," J'onn intoned. "But, I have scanned it to the best of my abilities."
"What did you find out?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Should we not wait until Kal-El is here?" J'onn asked. "He should know."
"He isn't aware that I asked you to do this," Batman stated. "His emotions are mixed when it comes to Match. If there's good news, we'll pass it on. If there's confirmation of the worst, then he won't believe it."
"I see," J'onn said, a slight hint of disapproval evident.
"He wants to believe the best of the boy," Wonder Woman said. "He won't listen to anything to the contrary."
There was a pause as J'onn considered this.
"What did you find from your mind scan?" Batman asked.
"He believes it's true," the Martian Manhunter said. "He didn't observe it directly, but he is convinced that Match did something to Lois in his past and our future that caused Superman to no longer trust him. I couldn't get any clear images, but he is absolutely convinced that Match did something to Superman's wife."
That weekend, Match was at the JLA Watchtower when he received unexpected visitors. Batman and Batgirl approached him at the workstation that he was monitoring.
"I'd like to gauge your hand-to-hand combat expertise," Batman stated. "Spar with Batgirl in the training room."
Match looked at the Martian Manhunter and got his nod of approval. "I assume that I should not use my powers."
"Batgirl was able to penetrate Superboy's telekinetic shield."
"I construct mine in a different manner. It might not be so easily broken. I minimize the stress lines."
"I see. In that case, you shouldn't use your powers."
At the training room, Batgirl and Match stood on opposite sides of the room. They stared at each other.
"Shall we begin?" he asked, shifting to a combat stance.
"Yes," she replied, speaking to him for the first time.
The cautiously advanced, and Match took a probing shot. Batgirl avoided it and responded with a punch that Match barely blocked. He shifted to the offense and didn't connect with anything. Batgirl retaliated with a few hits that floored him. He quickly rolled back to his feet and ignored a tickling feeling in his head.
He shifted to defensive mode and blocked or dodged her punches and kicks while he analyzed the fight. He hadn't landed anything. She seemed to be dodging his attacks before he launched them. That meant she was predicting his moves. Match came up with three possibilities: she was telepathic; she was precognitive, or; she was reading his movements. He discarded the notion that she was telepathic because he hadn't felt the tickling in his mind before they engaged in combat. Combat precognitives were extraordinarily rare and the usual tactic was to overload them with options. Match settled on the likelihood that Batgirl was reading his movements.
He broke off combat with her and took a step back, consciously shifting his stance to be completely neutral. She paused a moment before charging him. He kept completely still and calm until the last possible moment when he dodged her blow and hit her in the stomach. He then turned to face her, reverting to that same calm posture. She charged again, anticipating another attack to the stomach, but was surprised when he landed a blow on her temple.
"How?" she asked.
Match stood there, unblinking, and said nothing.
"This exercise is over," Batman's voice came from the control room.
Match offered his hand. Batgirl shook it, wordlessly.
"Once I figured out that you were reading my movements, I had to control them to reveal nothing," he explained. "From there, I had to restrain myself to attacks that were faster than your reaction time. They're usually not very effective as anything other than opening moves."
"Clever," she said before walking off.
Match was in the locker room, getting read to take a shower. He gently touched a couple of the areas where Batgirl hit him. He was going to be sore for a few days.
"I can hear you," he announced to the seemingly empty room. "You might as well show yourself."
J'onn materialized. "I wanted to make sure that you were alright. Batgirl is a formidable opponent in hand-to-hand combat."
"I'm fine, thank you," Match said. "J'onn...I haven't said this, but I respect you not only for your achievements and talents, but as a person as well."
J'onn looked a little confused. "Where did that come from?"
"I feel that it's important to say that. There are others whose abilities and actions I respect, but, as a person, I do not like them. There are others whom I like, even though they have not earned my respect."
"Where are you going with this?"
"What I'm leading to is this: if you want to know something, just ask me. You don't need to read my mind."
"You sensed my mental probe," J'onn stated.
"I've been trained to detect telepathic intrusion," Match said. "I take it that this has something to do with the proclamations of the elder Kon-El?"
"Concerns were raised. It would be irresponsible and potentially dangerous to ignore them."
"I assume you scanned his mind to verify the truthfulness of his statements."
"I did. It was inconclusive. He believed his statement to be true, but had no direct knowledge of the event that I could see. His own psionic powers may have blocked me; the structure of his brain, as well as yours and Superboy's, is not easy to read."
"I wasn't aware of that. Have you considered that he's hardly an unbiased source of information? He did attempt to kill me."
"I have. We felt it was important to try to confirm."
"There are more than just you? I shouldn't be surprised. Who?"
"Batman and Wonder Woman came up with this plan. The Flash, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow also have concerns."
"Did your scan of me put those concerns to rest?"
"I saw you have a great deal of affection and respect for her, but you've acted ruthlessly in the past."
"I see," Match said, expressionlessly. "I'm going to clean up."
Match turned to take a shower without another word.
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Has Match reverted to being evil or will he revert in the future? Right now, I'm keeping it vague to heighten the tension.
Any and all comments welcome!