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Future Sins, chapter 5
Conner was getting worried. The strain of the constant surveillance and questioning was getting to Max. It didn't help that Clark was paying regular visits and pretending that nothing was different. Or, it might have been Clark's way of showing Max that nothing was different, but it didn't come off that way. Regardless, the topic was being avoided by everyone, and Max was internalizing a lot of feelings.
Max changed the subject whenever Conner tried to bring it up, and Clark was never around long enough to discuss it. Conner figured that something had to happen soon to break the tension.
It was a relatively quiet news day, so Lois got home early. Clark had to stay later since an emergency in the South China Sea took a great deal of his time.
She was surprised at the delicious scents wafting from the kitchen when she entered the apartment.
"Hello, Lois," a familiar voice came from across the room. "I hope you don't mind me letting myself in."
She turned her head to see Max.
Clark's head jerked up sharply. He heard Max talking to Lois. He dashed out of the newsroom as quickly as possible to interpose himself between Max and Lois.
"Max, what are you doing here?" he asked, his voice strained.
Max gave a disappointed sigh before answering. "Do you know that I've been watched and tested constantly for the past two weeks?"
"What does that have to do with why you're here?" Clark asked.
"Do either of you want to explain what's going on?" Lois demanded.
"This was a test," Max replied. "It wasn't a test for me this time; it was one for you."
Clark looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"You said you trusted me," Max said with a trace of sadness. "You've been telling yourself that you trust me. You don't trust me. It's better to realize that than to believe a lie that would destroy you."
"One of you is going to explain what's going on," Lois ordered.
"It's simple," Max said. "Two weeks ago, I was attacked by what appears to have been a future version of Conner. He told Clark that he never looked at either of us the same way after what I did to his wife."
"That's it? Why do people believe someone who attacked you?"
"The JLA has been watching or testing me constantly. Did you know that Batman even bugged the room I share with Conner?"
"Max, I-" Clark began.
"I'm sorry, but I think I've worn out my welcome," Max interrupted. "Please consider this meal an apology for breaking into your apartment. I only used ingredients that were about to expire."
"I understand," Lois said.
"Would you mind calling Conner to come get me?" Max asked. "I think it's best for me to have someone around."
Conner came to Metropolis and the two flew back. About halfway back to Smallville, Max suddenly broke off and landed in a field. Conner followed him.
"Are you okay?" Conner asked.
Max wrapped his arms around Conner and started crying on his shoulder. "I tried so hard!"
Conner awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. "It's not your fault."
"I tried as hard as I could and did everything that was asked of me! Am I that useless a person? Can't I do anything right?"
"You're not useless! You're-"
"I knew it was going to be a problem," Max interrupted. "When that future version of you told him, Clark's eyes flickered over to me. They were full of hate and loathing for a second. I wanted to believe that it wasn't true."
"Max, he's wrong to act this way. The JLA is wrong too. You haven't done anything wrong. You're a good person. I believe in you."
Max looked at Conner with tears in his eyes. "I'm trying to be good. I really am."
"I know. You are good."
Conner scooped Max up in his arms. "I'll fly us back. I don't think you should use your powers in your current state."
To say Max was downbeat was an understatement. He was listless and seemed to be sleepwalking through the day. That meant he was simply breezing through school, not pretending it was anything approaching a challenge. Conner briefly thought about having Max stay home, but he knew that neither Jonathan nor Martha would be able to handle him.
Conner tried to pull Max out of his funk, but he couldn't think of anything that would make him less despondent. He cursed himself for this, since it was his future self that caused all of this.
He took Max with him to the Titans that weekend since he couldn't be left alone, and Conner didn't think staying in Smallville would help since there were too many things that brought Clark to mind.
Some of the Titans were aware that something had happened, but Conner warned them off from asking about it with pointed looks. The rest of them merely thought Max was uncomfortable around them or was feeling antisocial.
Max was seemingly in a quiet mood and was reading a book. Conner didn't trust that; he thought Max was going to break down at some point. Max internalized a lot more than was healthy.
Unfortunately, Conner was right. After a brief practice session, Conner returned to his room to find Max there with a blood-stained knife and blood coming out of his wrists.
"It doesn't hurt," Max said in an anguished voice. "Why can't I feel anything? I'd even take pain."
Conner slapped the knife out of his hands and seized a shirt and clamped it to Max's wrists, applying pressure to stop the flow of blood.
"You idiot!" he screamed. "What do you think you're doing?"
Conner's shouts brought the other Titans. The paused at the sight of a visibly despondent Match being nursed by Conner.
Robin took charge. "Let's get him to the med bay."
Once there, Max's wounds were treated and he was tranquilized and restrained to a table to make sure he didn't injure himself. Truthfully, it wouldn't stop him if he wanted to hurt himself, but it would delay him a little.
"Do you want to explain why Match was trying to kill himself?" Robin asked.
Conner visibly pulled himself together. It wouldn't do for him to break down as well.
"He wasn't," he answered. "He was trying to get himself to feel something, anything."
Cyborg looked skeptical. "He cut his wrists. I'd call that suicidal."
Conner shook his head. "If he were really serious about killing himself, he'd stop his own heart. He's already told me that's what he'd do."
Cassie looked sick. "He's already decided how he'd kill himself?"
"He...he thinks about these things. If he were captured and felt himself losing out to brainwashing, then he'd do it. He won't allow himself to be controlled again. He won't allow himself to fight me again."
"Why'd he do it then?" Robin asked. "Batman told me to keep an eye on him, but I don't think he meant that Match was likely to cut his wrists."
"Wonder Woman told me the same thing," Wonder Girl admitted.
"Why didn't the Flash tell me anything?" Bart wondered aloud.
Conner sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you. I didn't tell you before because it would have just got you anxious about Match, and he was touchy enough as it was."
"An older version of me from the future came to the present and tried to kill Match. The JLA fought him, and he revealed that Match...did something to one of their family members. He didn't say what it was, but the JLA has been more distrustful of Match since then and have been monitoring him. Match finally confronted Superman about it and found out that he didn't trust him either. Match...really respects Superman and his loss of faith in him really hurt."
"The loss of the rest of the JLA's trust didn't hurt him?" Robin asked incredulously.
"Batman doesn't trust anyone. Wonder Woman never liked him. Superman accepted him into his family. He's a lot more important to Match, and me, than the rest of the JLA."
"I never got the feeling that Match actually cared about anyone," Wonder Girl admitted.
"He makes no outward sign of his emotions," Raven said, speaking for the first time. "He guards them even from me, but they are there."
"Let's keep a watch on him for when he wakes up," Robin said. "I...wasn't very nice to him, but I didn't realize what he's been going through."
"I'm going to be here the entire time," Conner stated. "I'd appreciate any company."
Conner was lightly napping when Max woke. Max's first thought was to unleash a wave of force to free himself since he was tied down, but he remembered cutting his wrists. It was likely that it was because of that he was tied down, not because he was captured.
"You're finally awake," a woman's voice said gently.
Max turned his head to see Dove. "I apologize for putting you through this trouble. My actions are inexcusable."
"Superboy explained what you've been going through," she replied. "It makes thins more understandable."
Conner woke up during this exchange. "Are you feeling better?"
"Not really," Max said candidly. "My emotional state is little changed from earlier."
"I'm only going to untie you if you promise not to do stupid stuff like you did earlier," Conner said.
"Since I'm your clone, does my cutting myself mean I have your blood on my hands?" Match asked with more than a touch of morbid humor.
"Stop saying stuff like that!" Conner said angrily. "I'm not letting you go until you're better."
"That was pretty poor taste," Dove added.
Max's expression changed to that of one thinking about something that just occurred to him. His eyes flickered back and forth as though he were reading something on a screen.
"Untie me," he ordered in a calm and confident tone that Conner hadn't heard from him since Max was attacked in the Watchtower.
Conner started to free Max. "What've you figured out?"
"Something about my assailant has been bothering me," Max said. "I've finally figured out what it is."
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It should go without saying that since this is a work of fiction, people should not try anything portrayed in it. That holds especially for attempted suicide. In a world where someone can fly through the air and regulate his heartbeat and vital functions for weeks, it can be dismissed as something trivial. Not so in the real world.
However, Match has reached his emotional nadir, and he can only improve from here.
Canonically, the last appearance of Match was in the "Last Laugh" issue of Young Justice. He was a Joker-ized version of himself, babbling incoherently throughout the issue. He hasn't appeared since. Inertia is a character that hasn't appeared to do anything since the Impulse series. He might have appeared in a panel during the funeral of Captain Boomerang in the Flash, but he didn't do anything or speak. Both are fairly obscure characters.
Any and all comments welcome!