I do not own Mass Effect or Justice League. They belong to their respective owners.
Enjoy!
1955- Sol System
The title of Manhunter was reserved for very few. Only one in a generation could claim that honor. To do so required one to strengthen themselves beyond normal conventions, harden their minds against attack, and discipline their spirit for the hardships the title bought.
One of the final trials was that of separation. Martians were a communal people, every thought was shared as a collective. Individuality was recognized, but the strength of Ma'aleca'andra's people came from their unity. To learn to be separate from that unity was to learn to do what was necessary for the people of the world.
And sitting alone on an asteroid in the depths of space, J'onn J'onzz was completing this final test to earn the title of Manhunter.
It was difficult at first. Not hearing the voices of his people was burdensome. And not being with his family was torture. His wife and daughter were faces he longed to see, with voices he longed to hear. And he could not wait to see the pride on his parent's faces. M'yrrnn especially would be proud, since he had always expected greatness from his firstborn son. Sha'sheen would just be happy that he had not turned out like his twin.
It made J'onn sad to think of how Ma'alefa'ak had turned out. No matter how much he had tried to help his brother, the truth was that he was doomed to turn out the way he did. It was why he had been given such a dark name in the first place. His actions only made him more worthy of it.
J'onn pushed the thoughts of home from his mind. They were not something he should dwell on here. If he was to be a manhunter, he would need to be able to perform his duties and protect Ma'aleca'andra without distraction. It was why he needed to learn independence. The very purpose of this last test.
He was chosen to take this trial, to take on this responsibility, and no martian would ever be so shameful as to turn it down. No matter how difficult the tribulation, he would face greater ones once he returned. It would be his responsibility.
The feeling of the sun's rays on his back alerted J'onn. It was time.
Opening his eyes and smiling for the first time in so long, J'onn stood upon the small comet and turned his back to the star. His eyes were fixed upon the red glode he had left.
It was time to return home. And to truly gain his honor.
Taking a moment to bask in the sun's warmth, J'onn levitated above the cold rocky surface. And after one moment of silent contemplation, he took off. He rocketed himself towards his home, passing the blue world just before his own. His red home was only miles away. A distance that, thanks to his training, he was able to cover in minutes.
And this was the moment he had waited for. The moment in which his mind could once again connect to his people. He would hear their thoughts and emotions. He would feel his family once again. All he needed to do was...
"AAAAHHHHHH!"
The moment J'onn's mind was opened, pain flooded into his thoughts. A million distressed and panicked screams followed by hallowed silence. A silence matched only by the void of space.
This was not supposed to happen.
His mind was supposed to hear the cheers of congratulations. The honors he would receive as a manhunter. The love and pride of the family he had left behind.
But all he could feel was ash and flame. And when he broke through the atmosphere of Ma'aleca'andra, when he was close to the surface of his homeworld, he could see the reason why.
Everything was burning. Every structure and home. Every place of worship or community. Every last member of his race had their mind incinerated.
J'onn had once experienced the feeling of all of his people's minds at once before. It was one of his tests for Manhunter.
And right now, he felt nothing. Not a single trace of life.
But that included...
"My wife. My daughter."
J'onn rocketed across the red skies, using his momentum to speed to his home. The same home he had built for his wife next to the ancestral J'onzz estate. The estate of his family.
An estate that was aflame like all the rest on Ma'aleca'andra. And there were two bodies laid out on the porch of his home.
"No. No..."
J'onn dragged his body across the ground and towards the two corpses. Two corpses that had been people that he loved. People he had hoped to spend the rest of his life with.
"M'yri'ah... K'hym..."
His wife and daughter. And all around him, the bodies of every other martian deteriorated while their minds burned. The psychic flame turned all their consciousness, their beings, to ash. He did not even wish to enter his home, terrified of the notion of his parent's bodies being inside. All of his family, gone.
"Hello, J'onn."
He recognized the voice. It was a traitorous voice. A vile voice. It was a voice he did not wish to hear in his mind.
"Ma'alafa'ak."
The scarred martian became visible and descended from the sky to meet J'onn.
"Is that any greeting for your brother? Especially when I'm the only living relation you have left?"
J'onn wanted to ask how he had survived, o how he had hidden from J'onn's initial scan of the planet. But he had a more pressing question.
"How? What has happened Ma'alefa'ak? I wasn't gone for long."
"Long enough," the twin said with a sneer. One that caught J'onn's attention.
"What do you mean? What do you know of this?"
"Know of it? J'onn, I made sure it happened. I spread the psychic flames."
J'onn's world was upended once again. His brother, his own flesh, had caused all of this.
"Why? Why would you do this to our people?"
"Your people," Ma'alefa'ak spat. "They never accepted me. You know this J'onn."
"And you use that as an excuse to burn them all? You have committed genocide Ma'alefa'ak!"
"Not quite. We're still here J'onn," Ma'alefa'ak said without any care. "We may not have any females, but do you think we cannot breed with any species in the galaxy? We could start our own race this way."
J'onn's face twisted in disgust at what his brother was suggesting. Even at his worst, J'onn could have never imagined the depths of depravity that Ma'alefa'ak was capable of reaching.
"I am a Manhunter, Ma'alefa'ak. I have a responsibility."
The twin wasn't stupid. Twisted, but not a fool. He knew what J'onn was saying.
"It doesn't have to be this way brother. With only the both of us, we can rule the galaxy as brothers in arms. Who could stop us?"
"I will stop you," J'onn said as he manifested the uniform he had earned. "And you are no brother to me."
He acted before Ma'alefa'ak could form a response. The punch that J'onn launched arrived before his brother could choose to either phase or solidify further. Meaning that he was forced to take the brunt of the blow. And thanks to his training, his fist sent Ma'alefa'ak reeling back. He smashed through several buildings before crumbling to the ground. He quickly got back, however, with an agreed look on his face.
"It seems I will be doing this on my own. All the better, as the new Martian Empire will serve me alone."
"There will be no empire. I will ensure it."
"Will you? Tell me, how well did you ensure your own family's safety?"
J'onn vision was filled with rage against his genocidal relation. For the first time in his life, J'onn wanted to take the life of another sentient being.
He saw only red after that.
The battle lasted for hours.
J'onn was trained to be a manhunter. A leader among his people. The training he received made him stronger, smarter, and more durable than the average martian. In terms of martial combat, he was superior to his brother. Each blow he did land was enough to draw blood from his weaker brother.
"Ahh!" Ma'alefa'ack screamed each time J'onn outspeed his intangibility and struck him. Whether it was through a building, across the face, or in his chest, J'onn made sure his opponent felt each blow.
But it was not an easy battle.
Ma'alefa'ak was always a crafty one. Whenever he had a chance, he would use his shapeshifting and intangibility to avoid an attack and retaliate. It was his method of surviving this battle.
"Ugh!"
At every opportunity, Ma'alefa'ak slit J'onn's neck, slashed his chest, or cut his eyes. The wounds hurt, but J'onn was able to heal and power through all of them. It was why their fight had lasted this long, both clashing for hours.
But they could only go so far. Especially when J'onn was the superior telepath.
"Enough!"
J'onn screamed as he clenched a fist, prepared to send it through Ma'alefa'ak's chest. The psychotic martian blocked his chest to soften the blow. A blow that never came.
Instead, Ma'alefa'ak opened his eyes to see nothing in front of him. And a moment later, two strong hands gripped his neck, with the thumbs shifting and burrowing into his head. Worming their way to his mind like a parasite.
And right here, clutching his brother's throat while floating atop the burning ruins of the old capital, J'onn was ready to end this fight.
"This ends now Ma'alefa'ak."
Grabbing a hold of the monster's head, J'onn shifted all his fingers until they had reached and probed inside his head, appearing like invasive weeds. The nerves of J'onn's mind traveled through his body, though his shifted fingers, and into Ma'alefa'ack's. And once J'onn was connected, he finished the work.
"What are you- AHHHH!"
Ma'alefa'ak let out a pained howl as J'onn invaded the sanctity of his mind. And closed it off. The genocidal martian could feel every nerve of his brain that allowed for his telepathy being cut off. He could no longer hear the thoughts of others.
"A gift you never deserved," J'onn spat as he disconnected from his former brother and tossed his body aside. Only one thing remained to do now.
Martians valued life, so they had never subscribed to the idea of capital punishment. Their communal and interconnected lifestyle made them naturally empathetic. They understood the feelings and struggles all living beings must go through. Because of that, the idea of ending any life was abhorrent.
But for Ma'alefa'ak, J'onn was nearly willing to make an exception. But he would not disgrace the memory of his people in such a manner.
Instead, the Still Zone would do.
A dimension that housed nothing and existed nowhere. An empty place to which all criminals were sent when their crimes deserved it. The only punishment fitting for the one who caused the end of Ma'aleca'andra. And as J'onn tossed the limp body of Ma'alefa'ak inside of the portal, he wasted no time mincing words.
"May you spend an eternity facing what you have done."
Turning off the machine, J'onn then used his strength to smash the console. He would not allow anyone to bring him back.
And that left J'onn alone. The last of his people. The last Martian. The last Manhunter.
"No. No."
J'onn's form returned to base as his body fell kneeling to the heated sands. His hands gripped his head as the realization hit him like an astroid.
"My family. The rest of my life. All of it is gone."
Al J'onn had was an empty planet and a now-empty title. And only one option for peace.
J'onn flew away to find the nearest medical center. Most were destroyed, but one was still standing nearby. He walked inside, ignoring the dead bodies to the best of his ability. He had only come for one thing.
His only option was the hibernation chambers. Machines built to let the sick sleep away an illness. A machine that could work for years.
And as J'onn set one of them to indefinite, he crawled inside and rested his head. His only hope to ignore the pain was to sleep in peace for as long as he could.
2182-Mars
Saul Erdel was not the happiest man in the world right now. That world being Mars, where he had been relocated to study an ancient relic.
A junk job.
The device wasn't even Prothean, he had discerned that from the beginning. Everyone who had found it knew that. It didn't possess and of the same markings or act in any manner similar to the old ruins found on this world. It didn't even activate in the same manner, which was why it hadn't been opened since it was found.
"I could be spending time with my children and grandchildren. Instead, I am here."
Still, it wasn't the worst job. At least Dr. Erdel was paid well for his studies, even if he hadn't turned up anything groundbreaking yet. The pay was decent, and it allowed him time to spend with his family.
Now if only he could...
*Screech*
Erdel's musings were cut off by a sound. Not a sound from his door. Or any of his equipment.
A sound from the relic.
"What?"
Dr. Erdel could only watch in fascination and concern as the ancient machine began to move. Locks were undone as the hissing of its parts was heard. And when the machine was finally open, 's heart stopped.
And out walked a being unlike any the doctor had seen before. It was a Turian, a Krogan, and certainly not an Asari. Dr. Erdel had never seen one personally, but he knew what those aliens looked like. This one was unique.
An elongated head, a slim but strong guild, four thick fingers, stilted legs, and green skin made up a creature the likes of which Dr. Erel had never heard of. And the sight of its red eyes alone was enough to instill fear in him.
So much fear, in fact, that he was clutching his heart and falling back from shock.
"I... what...?"
Dr. Erdel fell back, his head nearly hitting the floor. But a hand stopped it from making an impact.
"Are you alright?"
The human's eyes widened at the alien's words. Its voice was deep and unlike anything, he had heard before. The concern was... a surprise.
"You... care? You can speak?"
"Do not exert yourself, please. I can take you to a medical facility."
"What... who are you?"
"My name is J'onn J'onzz. Please, allow me to help you."
But Dr. Erdel knew it was too late for that. His body was as fit as it used to be, and age was his enemy. The attack from shock was just the final push needed for him to give out. But this meeting was a pleasant setting in which to leave this life. So he smiled at the stranger.
"J'onn J'onzz. It is... a pleasure."
Dr. Erdel was dead. J'onn could sense this. Respectfully, he allowed the aged human to rest on the floor. And speaking softly, J'onn hoped that whatever faith the man had, it would reward him for his kind words.
And that left, J'onn J'onzz, Mars's last descendant, alone once again. Awoken inside a chamber on what used to be his world, now in a galaxy that was nothing like the world he once knew. A galaxy he would now have to adapt to.
I'm sorry if this seems a little space, I mostly wanted to write this and see the reaction to the idea. If people like it, I'll give it a rewrite before continuing.
I've said it before, and I will say it again. J'onn J'onzz is one of the most underrated characters in all of DC comics. Superman himself once said he would be afraid to fight him, so you already know he is powerful. And being the sole survivor of a mass genocide means that he has a lot of depth to work with. There are other great aspects of the character, but I will save them until I can implement them in this story.
I also intend to mix the history of DC's martian race with the history of Mass Effect. I already have some fun ideas of how to combine the two. But that won't be until later.
The next chapter will see J'onn adapting to his new environment. And set up his place for the start of the story. I'm looking forward to it.
And before anyone asks, as they often do, there probably will be a romance in this story. What's a hero without a love interest? Right now, I thinking of two possibilities. One of them is Liara T'Soni. She and J'onn share a few similarities. And I am interested in the idea of an interspecies alien romance.
With that same logic, I think Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya could also work. And with her more jokey and upbeat attitude, she might be a better fit to balance J'onn's more serious tendencies.
Any preference?
Anyway, please leave reviews, tell me what you think, and I will see you all next time.
Bye!