***
Leaving aside the tomfoolery, Lucian and Diana approached Superman and Batman, who were deep in conversation with the Martian Manhunter. Lucian took the lead alongside Wonder Woman, though not before catching Hawkgirl's sharp scoff from across the place—her eyes narrowed in disdain for reasons he couldn't fathom. But important matters demanded priority.
"I'm glad to see you here, Lucian," Superman said warmly, extending a hand with that unwavering Kryptonian optimism. Batman, ever the shadow, couldn't be bothered—his piercing gaze remained fixed on J'onn, analyzing every flicker of the alien's form.
Lucian clasped the hand firmly, his voice laced with dry sarcasm. "Well, it's hard to ignore when someone's voice has been grinding against your mind like sandpaper for the past week." He turned his gaze to J'onn, sizing up the green-skinned figure with a mix of curiosity and wariness. "So, what's the deal? Friend here to stay, or green paste six feet under?"
That quip drew a few scattered chuckles from the group—Flash's quick bark of laughter echoed brightest—and even pulled a wry smile from Superman, easing the tension for a fleeting moment.
Superman nodded, his expression sobering as he briefed the team. "For the past month, I've been picking up an SOS signal in my head—faint at first, like a whisper across stars. A few hours ago, he finally broke through clearly enough to give coordinates. I found him in an alien ship buried deep under the Gobi Desert, isolated and alone.
Imprisoned in a room filled with toxic gas filling the air from molten lava.
The Lava was pouring in the room where he was, thankfully i made it in time."
J'onn stood tall yet weary, his red eyes glowing faintly with the weight of untold centuries. He had hidden deeply for years, guarding the secret of a hidden citadel of another alien species—or so it seemed at first glance. "I am J'onn J'onzz," he intoned, his voice a resonant echo that seemed to vibrate through their bones. "Last of the Green Martians. I fled my homeworld centuries ago, seeking refuge on Earth. I've walked among you in silence, as a doctor, a detective... a friend. But recently, I sensed a disturbance—a shadow stirring from the past that threatens this world.
I received a signal from my ship three months ago, so I went there to investigate. It turned out to be a trap—I was knocked unconscious, beaten, and left there to die. Had it not been for Superman, I would've perished under the fiery lava today.
Lucian's brow furrowed, the air thickening with unspoken dread. Superman glanced back at the group, his blue eyes hardening. "He came to warn us. About an invasion."
That word hung like a thunderclap. *Invasion.* It etched itself into their minds, dredging up the fresh scars of Darkseid's apocalypse—the screams of billions, the crumbling skies, the metallic taste of blood and ash. Faces paled; fists clenched. Diana's hand instinctively brushed her lasso, her Amazonian resolve steeling against the echo of old horrors. Batman's jaw tightened imperceptibly, a storm brewing behind his cowl.
"Is it *him*?" Flash blurted, voice cracking with urgency, his speedster energy buzzing like static. "Darkseid? Big guy coming back for round two?"
Batman cut in before Superman could respond, his gravelly tone slicing the air. "No. But that's exactly what I want to know." He locked eyes with J'onn, unblinking, probing for deceit. "Who—or what—are we facing this time?"
J'onn's form rippled slightly, a subtle shapeshift betraying his unease. A few narrowed their eyes—Hawkgirl's scoff morphed into a skeptical glare—but no one interrupted. "I am J'onn J'onzz on this world. Martian Manhunter, if you will. Originally, I hailed from Mars, a cradle of ancient peace... until it shattered."
"War?" Hal Jordan pressed, floating closer, his ring humming faintly with green light. "With who? Some rival empire?"
J'onn's voice dropped to a grave timbre, his eyes distant, as if reliving flames long extinguished. The area seemed to cool, shadows lengthening under the Watchtower's sterile lights. "The White Martians. A thousand years ago, they descended upon us in flaming spheres and meteors that scarred our skies like divine wrath. No one knows their true origin—perhaps from the void between stars, or some twisted evolution of our own blood. They crashed into our prosperous civilization, hungry and relentless."
He paused, a flicker of sorrow crossing his alien features—grief for a lost golden age. Lucian felt it too, a psychic echo brushing his mind: visions of red dunes blooming with fire, families torn apart. Diana stepped forward, her voice soft yet commanding. "They invaded your peace. How did your people survive?"
"We adapted," J'onn continued, his tone heavy with the bitterness of survival. "They evolved faster than us, They were bigger, stronger, burrowing into Mars' dark underbelly while we thrived on the sunlit surface. But their thirst for power was insatiable. They warred among themselves like savages, clawing for dominance in endless, brutal cycles."
Flash leaned in, wide-eyed. "Underground monsters? Sounds like a bad horror flick. What changed?"
"Five hundred years ago," J'onn said, his voice cracking with raw pain, "they united against us. The Civil War erupted—a clash of two civilizations. We, who only knew peace, philosophy, and psychic harmony. They, forged in war, savagery, and unquenchable rage." His fists clenched, knuckles paling to lime. "They adapted *our* gifts mid-battle, what took us millenia they took mere centuries to obtain absorbing shapeshifting and psychic might. Though it came at a cost, And It halted their evolution, but it was too late. We learned war's cruelty swiftly, but they were a plague."
Batman interjected sharply. "The outcome?"
J'onn's gaze swept the room, landing on each hero with solemn weight. "Cataclysmic. Both sides teetered on extinction. Our world scarred—continents cracked, skies choked with ash. We won, but it came at a cost, Now I am the only living Green Martian left of my species. In the end, I sealed their citadel deep underground, paralyzing them with a nerve gas from our final arsenal. I fled... and wandered your Earth in exile."
A heavy silence fell, broken only by the hum of the station. Superman placed a hand on J'onn's shoulder, empathy bridging worlds. "You carried that burden alone for so long. Why now?"
J'onn's eyes darkened, urgency sharpening his words. "Centuries have passed, And now humanity reaches for the stars. Probes, rovers—Human astronauts have broken the seal. The White Martians have woken up fully, And they bring not conquest, but annihilation. Shapeshifters. Telepaths. Warriors without mercy. Earth will be their new cradle... or grave."
The league exchanged grim glances, the specter of invasion coiling like smoke. Lucian's pulse quickened—another apocalypse on the horizon, and this time, it felt personal, the weight of forgotten worlds pressing down.
***