The Campbell Chronicles Part Two
Chapter 16
A scream of anguish, pain, loss, and power shattered the silent planes of Mars as Martian Manhunter, a.k.a. John Jones, bursts from the rust-colored ground. He continued to scream, his arms outstretched, his fist clenched, and tears streaming down his face as he flew high into the air.
Psychic waves buffeted Jinks and Superman forcing them back, and nearly driving them to their knees with the emotions packed within.
Jinks Campbell stared up at him, a hint of worry in her red eyes as he finally fell silent. "It appears he got his powers back, but however he did, it wasn't a pleasant experience."
Ignoring her Superman flew towards his friend. Stopping a foot away from him, Superman reached out a hand, "John, are you alright?"
The Man Hunter didn't answer he just stared out at the rust-colored expanse that was his home world. His gaze panned over hills of red dust, craters, and a massive storm that covered hundreds of miles raging in the distance. He imagined what the world once looked like. What is was replaced with what was.
Lush fields of dark blue grass stretched as far as the eye could see decorated with purple trees similar to Earth's palm trees. Each one was heavy with yellow fruit covered in green polka dots.
He smiled as he remembered how the children used to throw rocks at them to get them down even when they weren't ripe. They had the texture of a banana, but the taste of a peach.
Metal homes in a variety of shapes decorated spaces where the grass had been cut low. Martians moved around, working the land, or soaring through the air as they flew into space to fulfill various tasks. Some headed to tall cylindrical buildings to push Martian technology even further.
A smile stretched across John's face as his wife emerged from their dome-shaped home, its three towers stretching high into the sky as she took in their world's pink clouds, their daughter Wiggling in her arms as a blob of green with large red eyes and a mouth that stretched across her gelatinous form. She dropped to the ground, shifting into an energetic three-year-old before she touched the sand.
"Mama, can I go play?"
John reached out, only for the images to fade away.
The fingers of his outstretched hand curled into a fist that shook with emotion.
"John, are you alright?"
"I saw my family."
"That's good."
"No, it's not, I was holding them on this plane, keeping them at the moment of their death." He looked at Superman, his eyes full of pain, "they have been burning for years."
"John, you didn't know…"
"I should've known! I knew how powerful the Martian hive mind was," he looked down his voice becoming quiet, "I just didn't realize it would persist after death."
Superman floated there, his hand outstretched, uncertain of what to say.
"For them to return my powers, I had to let them go," he looked Superman in the eye, "but do you want to know the horrible part?"
Superman stayed silent, allowing his arms to drop to his side.
"A part of me, despite knowing they were burning, despite knowing the pain they were in, didn't want to let them," he looked at Superman, his voice shaking, "I saw their skin melt, and still didn't want to let them go."
Superman floated there, unsure of what to say never having felt more powerless than he did in that moment.
–XX –
Diana stepped forward as the blue electricity faded from around the Flash, "Flash, are you alright?"
The speedster looked at her, confusion and wonderment shining in his blue eyes, "I'm," he began, "fine, better than fine, but I feel different."
"Different how," Batman asked, his gruff voice showing a hint of concern as he stood beside Wonder Woman.
"I've always been connected to the speed force, but now it feels deeper, stronger."
"I can answer that," Emma stepped in front of the Flash, causing him to jump back.
"Who are you?"
"I am Emma Frost, head of the science division of the planet Cradle, and this," she gestured to Alexi and Samuel, "is Samuel and Alexi Campbell. We are the ones responsible for healing you after your encounter with Amanda Waller."
"Okay," the Flash glanced at Wonder Woman and Batman, Wonder woman gave him a slow nod, while Batman's gloved hands rested on his utility belt. He turned back to Emma, "What happened?"
"Our Intel shows that you have a science background when you're not performing your superhero duties," Emma flicked her hand and a holographic screen appeared before the Flash, "so why don't you look over the data while I explain."
The Flash opened his mouth to ask how they knew about his day job but closed it and decided he would first see what they had done to him.
"However Amanda Waller removes abilities, she causes cellular damage, while Beings like Superman, and Martian Manhunter can recover due to their unique natures, you could not."
The Flash's eyes widened and his gaze snapped towards Emma. "What about Cyborg?"
Emma made a placating gesture with her hands, "He is being treated and if the treatment works, he will regain what he had long since lost."
"What do you…" Batman began but Wonder Woman placed a hand on his shoulder, "Please continue explaining how you treated the Flash."
"To repair the cellular damage," Emma continued, "We gave you what we give all metahumans that come to our world, the serum we called the Phoenixes Rebirth. This serum gives metahumans peak physical attributes as well as enhances their metagene in such a way that it becomes such a part of their genetic makeup that it is guaranteed to be passed on to children and then their children."
"Once the serum began repairing your cells, my associates," she gestured at Alexi and Samuel, "use their abilities to reestablish your connection with the speed force."
"You did more than that, according to what I'm seeing here, my cells now produce the speed force." The Speedster looked at Batman, gesturing for him to come over, "Batman, come take a look at this, please."
The Dark Knight glanced at Emma, and the blonde shrugged, "It's his medical file."
With slow measured steps, the dark Knight made his way over. After a moment of looking over the data, he turned toward the Flash, "I concur with your findings, but I would rather have you looked over at the watchtower just to be safe."
The Flash nodded, "Agreed." He turned to Emma. "Thank you for your assistance, but I would like to check on my friends now."
Emma nodded, "Of course, I'll show you to Cyborg."
–XX –
Penelope Campbell sat at the tip of a triangle Forge and Hazel Donovan formed. Blue energy connected the trio as they focused their energies on the pod-shaped tank sitting between them.
Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Nicholas Campbell, Emma Frost, Alexi Campbell, and Samuel Campbell Junior entered the room, Nicholas held up a hand before anyone could speak.
With the force of will, he connected the minds of the group.
'What is going on!' Batman demanded the moment the connection was formed.
Nicholas glanced at Emma, the blonde doctor moved into the room.
Raising her hands, pale green holographic screens appeared before her. Blue eyes danced across the screens, light reflecting off her glasses as she spoke 'Victor's mechanical components were stripped by Amanda Waller though they could regenerate, it was unlikely that his organics would've survived, leaving him nothing more than a human brain in a machine.'
'We have the technology to give him a better life and help him avoid that fate. Right now, Penelope,' she gestured to the blonde sitting at the tip of the triangle, 'and Forge,' she gestured to a man of Indian descent, sitting at the bottom left corner, 'are using their abilities to rebuild his body.'
'Hazel,' she gestured to a woman with shoulder-length Brown hair sitting at the bottom right corner of the triangle, 'Is helping merge his mind with what is left of his machine components in such a way that he would no longer be vulnerable to viruses.'
Batman glanced at Wonder Woman, and the Amazon Princess moved forward, despite Nicholas's warnings. Removing her lasso from her hip, she gently wrapped it around the three individuals. After forming a loose loop, she backed away and closed her eyes.
The Lasso glowed, and a jumble of images filled the Princess's mind. Her grip tightened on her lasso, and her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing and feeling.
Releasing the lasso, Wonder Woman took a step back, her hand rising to her head.
'Diana, are you alright?'
'I'm fine,' she focused on her fellow heroes, 'I sense no deceit or ill intention coming from the three of them. The only questionable action is the one called Forge is copying what information he can get from Cyborg's electrical components.'
Batman turned to Superman, 'What do you see?'
Superman's pale blue eyes lit with an inner glow as he peered into the strange tank. It was an oval-shaped pod that looked like it was made of some type of plant, but metal ran through the tank like veins, forming an alien pattern.
As the outer layer of the tank faded away under his x-ray vision, Superman's eyes widened as he saw what was inside. 'Cyborg has a body.'
'That's good,' the Flash began…
Only to be cut off by the man of steel. 'No, he has a flesh and blood body, similar to the one he had before his accident.'
Batman stomped towards Emma. Stopping before he glared down into her face, 'Show me what you're doing to him, now!'
Emma Frost looked back at the Dark Knight, her eyes hard and her lips thin she glanced at the Campbells and nodded, 'do it,' Nicholas said, 'we have nothing to hide.'
Emma flicked her wrist, and another holographic screen appeared before her. Another flick and it rotated to face the Dark Knight. "Focus your will on the screen, and it will respond." Without another word, she moved back to the rest of the group.
The Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman moved to Batman, forming a loose circle around him. After a moment, Superman spoke, 'So what can you tell us?'
"When this process is over, he will have a mind like a computer. He will be able to absorb technology, telepathically control machines, and produce electricity."
"A lot of that sounds like what he could do as a Cyborg, how are they making it possible within a flesh and blood body?" The Flash asked.
The Dark Knight gestured for the Flash to come forward.
Once the speedster stopped beside him, the hero of Gotham moved the screen over to him.
They appear to be using the residual Element X that was inside his mother box to create a unique metagene.
'They can…' Superman began but was cut off as the tank split open Releasing clear viscous fluid onto the floor.
The ones that had been working on him stood up and backed away as a naked Victor Stone fell onto the floor.
Superman strode forward. Whipping his cape off his body, he laid it across Victor. Ignoring the mess on the floor, Superman knelt beside him, resting a hand on the young man's shoulder, "Victor, are you alright?"
"I am," Brown eyes glanced around the room, "fine," he trailed off. He glanced at Superman, "what happened?"
Batman strode forward, "From what we know you were attacked in the Hall of Justice by Amanda Waller, and had your cybernetic component stripped from you. You were then brought to the planet Cradle…"
Victor cut him off, "The new haven for metahumans?"
"Yes, for medical treatment."
Victor looked down at himself, his eyes widened as he saw the human body he lost so long ago. Slowly, he rose to his feet, keeping Superman's cape clutched tight around him, "How?"
Penelope Campbell step forward. "The people of Cradle have access to technology and abilities from multiple worlds, while we would have preferred to ask your permission before performing such a drastic procedure time was of the essence, and we didn't have a choice."
Victor nodded the circuit-like pattern that now made up his hair reflecting the light. "I still feel my connection to machines."
Penelope smiled, "You still have many of your old abilities, you're just not a Cyborg anymore." With a flick of her wrist, a holographic screen appeared before Victor, "These are your projected abilities."
As Victor began reading, Batman cleared his throat, "I know you are adjusting, but we need to know, did Amanda Waller say anything?"
Victor glanced away from the machine, "Just your usual villain monologue", he turned back to the screen, "I honestly thought she was smarter than that."
"So, you didn't learn anything."
Victor smiled, "I know the scientists that were involved in creating the body Amanda Waller now inhabits," Victor raised his hand, forestalling Batman's questions, "but before we get into that, I want to return to my lab and assimilate some technology there."
Batman's lips thinned as he turned to the rest of the heroes, his eyes hard. "Have John meet us at the Hall of Justice. I want him to check Cyborg's mind." He glanced at the people of Cradle, "just to make sure they didn't leave any trap inside him."