Disclaimer: I don't own anything. None of the characters nor the respective franchises/stories/universes they came from.
J'onn J'onzz gazed out at the barren wasteland before him. Powerful winds that made his cape flap, sent rocks tumble across the desert. The sky glowed a dark orange, just barely lighter than the ground it hovered above. Under the dim rays of the lone sun, not a single sign of life could ever be found on this lifeless rock called Mars by the people of Earth-the third planet from the sun.
Yet it was home to J'onn J'onzz. At least, it had been, several centuries ago. Before the parasitic invaders arrived, laid waste to the world and to the rest of his kind. Before he found his way to Earth and became known as the hero Martian Manhunter.
J'onn took a few more steps before he finally came to a stop. He crouched and put down what he had been caring on his journey. A gem as green as his own skin, and it clearly stood out in the red sand. The white light pulsed inside the gem's hexagonal frame like a heart. "To you all," J'onn whispered as he remembered old friends and loved ones from long ago.
"Welcome home, J'onn..."
"Morning, J'onn! How have been?"
"J'onn, come this way!"
"Papa!"
J'onn slowly rose to his full height. He had spent enough time. The others would be wondering where he had gone to. So, he bents his legs and prepared himself for his return flight to Earth-
BOOM!
The ground shuddered, and J'onn's legs wobbled as a result. "Wha-" he said, but was cut off.
BOOM! BOOM!
J'onn's red eyes turned to his right, finding his source. A giant mechanical head rose of the edge of distant mountains while a large beam peered through it. As the head came over the mountain, three long tendril-like legs brought it down. Those legs alone stood several dozen feet tall, well over a typical human building on Earth.
As the giant machine approached, J'onn took a step forward. "Helloooo!" he called. "Do you happen to be lost?"
The machine did not answer. "My name is J'onn J'onnz! What is yours?!" Again, there was no answer. "Not the talkative kind, I guess," J'onn murmured to himself as he took a confidant step towards the machine. When he did, he expected a reaction of some kind.
ZAP!
Not to that extreme, though.
J'onn sidestepped a blast that struck the ground. Unfazed, he looked at the machine. "There is no need for that," he called out. "I don't mean you any-!
J'onn phased through next blast that cut off his words. The ground rocked from the shot as dust went everywhere. When it cleared, J'onn manifested his physical self and sighed. He hoped words would persuade this stranger to put off its attack. Perhaps-
Another shot was fire. It was not a zap of a laser cannon, but a fizz of a sonic blast that nearly hit J'onn in the back. The Martian would have been hit if he hadn't literally morphed around the shot. J'onn looked to his left, his far-sight catching the hit of a bulky green alien with a wrist-mounted firearm. This one wasn't as big as the machine, but still large enough.
Before J'onn could wonder, a third shot went bang from his right. He surprisingly found a third green figure, this one tall and bony with tusks from the head and four limbs gripping what looked like a rifle. Another? Where did all of them come from?
Another? Where did all of them come from?
For that, J'onn closed his eyes. His mind stretched out and gently touched the minds of his three assailants, enough to gain some bits of knowledge. What little he found surprised him: clans of colored creatures fighting under war-torn skies, strange warships turning luscious green prairies into frozen wastelands, and more tri-legged machines roaming around murky grasslands. Each of those images was as bloodthirsty as the last, and revealed the intentions of these stragglers.
What was more, all three of the warmongering creatures were... they were...
'Martian?'
J'onn was taken aback . He had been on Mars for several centuries, and he had known all the races available. None of these three even matched the Green Martians. They were no mutated creatures, no experiments, but real, living Martians... At least, that is what J'onn sensed.
'Another question for another time,' he reminded himself of the task at hand.
He dug deeper into the minds of these "Martians," then began to coil them together. At last, the minds were connected, and with that J'onn spoke to all three parties: "Cease!"
All three stopped, and the ground no longer shook. Able to communicate, J'onn levitated himself into the air and continued to speak. "Friends, stop this! Why are you treating each other as enemies?! You are all Martians!"
The four-armed Martian barked, his strange language clear for everyone. "Martians, hah! These things are no Martians! There hail from no clan or have no Jeddak!"
"But why this hostility?!"
"'Why?!' I was taken from my home! I must return at once to help John Carter!" 'Four Arms' said, and J'onn felt a sense of honor within the brutish words.
"Ssssso mussssst I to help my armiessssssss!" the bulky Martian spoke, the voice slithering behind its sharp teeth. "To return, we have come for the ssssssource!"
At that, J'onn eyed the gem he had left on the ground. 'Of course, it would be that,' he lamented.
"I'm afraid I cannot hand it over!" J'onn resumed his telepathic call. "However, there is no need to fight!"
The giant bleeped a negative to J'onn, and it ironically was not alone. "Yesssss, there is!" hissed the armored Martian. "The ssssourcccccee sssshall be taken for the Icce Warriorsssssss, and all itsssssss enemiesssss ssssshall be dessssssstroyed!"
"Destroyed? Hah!" laughed 'Four Arms.' "I, Tars Tarkas, will show you no mercy!"
With that, the four-armed Martian, the bulky armored and hissing Martian, and the three-limbed giant Martian charged towards one point. The center where the three sides would come together. The center where all three would decide their fates in a glorious battle of blood, guts, and broken bones.
At that center, J'onn sighed. "This may take a while."
AN: This is an unusual idea I came up with some time ago. Seeing how many fictional races were made to come from the red planet of our solar system, I came up with this idea that has the following races meeting up:
Green Martians from DC (specifically the DC Animated Universe).
Martians from War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.
The Martians (red, green, white, black, yellow) from the Barsoom novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Ice Warriors from (classic) Doctor Who.
As interesting as this idea would be, I doubt I could really write a full-length story. This was more of a plot bunny that refused to leave me alone until I could get it down. Still, I would like to see if anyone can fully flesh this out.
Raika out.