Chương 53: The Monologue
Batman observed the results of his latest genetic analysis with a fine eye for detail and focus. After his return from Darkseid's prison planet and the battle against Cyborg Superman, his Cybercorps, and the forces of Apokolips, the severely dehydrated and battered caped crusader had been put through a standard Neo Viltrumite wellness exam.
In a flash of light barely longer than the flash of a camera, Batman's body changed. When the light dimmed he stood taller, stronger, more clear headed, and the persistent aches and pains of a lifetime spent in extreme training and battle were simply gone. He obviously took these changes well, letting them roll off his back with grace and dignity. He didn't say a single unwise word at all to the hyper advanced alien goddess capable of wiping him out with just a thought.
Obviously.
Obviously not. After all, he's Batman.
As he viewed the results of his DNA it concluded that the only change was the lengthening of his telomeres. Calliope claimed that the brief radiation treatment he received would simply bring him up to his full potential retroactively, as if he spent his life under ideal growth conditions, but Batman just had no way of knowing if Viltrumite technology was forging the results of his independent testing.
The woes of mentally combating a race of superbeings with technology so advanced it is indiscernible from magic, world class psionics, and actual reality warping magic.
Or maybe Batman is just pissed off that he was exposed to radiation first discovered in Mark Grayson's semen and performing mental gymnastics to justify his rage.
And maybe that thought is also Viltrumite tampering.
Truly paranoia in the age of the Viltrumite is an exhausting venture.
Fortunately Superman just showed up fresh from an observation mission to Thanagarian space. Surely his time observing the transition of the latest spacefaring people to Grayson Fundamentalism and the Neo Viltrumite Empire will provide sweet balm and incense to Batman's troubled mind.
"It was the worst case scenario." Superman told him.
Dark words from the symbol of hope, but they did release a mental strain off of Batman's shoulders as many particular lines of thought were now completely unviable, freeing up the man's sharp mind to focus on few possibilities.
"How many?" Batman growled at Superman, not out of any kind of malice, but simply because that is how he speaks while on the job.
"Hundreds of thousands. Even though the vast majority didn't seem as powerful as Calliope, even the weakest would be a real challenge for me to fight. They purged the Gordanians from occupied Thanagar space in minutes and did it with casual ease."
The worst case scenario was that Mark didn't lie about Viltrumite population numbers. The best case scenario had been that Mark, Cassiopeia, and Calliope were the only Viltrumites, something disproved previously by the arrival of Daniel Grayson and his muscling into 'The Team'.
Even the best case scenario had always been cold comfort as even with the League secretly pulling resources they weren't confident in defeating Calliope, who claimed to be only half as powerful as her grandmother Cassiopeia, who claimed to be only a fraction of her father Mark's full power.
The possibility of the Viltrumites being evil was a Russian Nesting Dolls situation of doom, and now there is confirmation that they number likely as stated in the trillions and there are other members of the species as powerful as Calliope.
"What did they do afterwards?" the world's greatest detective questioned from his chair with his forehead pressed to his knuckles.
"They started building Materium Guardian Towers on all the planets they liberated from the Gordanians." Superman answered with his arms crossed over his massive chest.
The Materium Guardian Towers reportedly prevented reality warping within their star system. One tower prevents 4th Dimensional reality warping and lower, three prevent 5th Dimensional warping, and nine prevent 6th Dimensional warping. On Earth Mark built three in every Atlantean city and one in each of the twenty five terrestrial countries that converted to Grayson Fundamentalism and became member states of his empire.
He claimed that Earth needed the redundancy.
"And after? Did they leave." Batman asked though Superman's expression already told him the answer.
"No." Superman sighed and both men felt the metaphorical weight of the world on their shoulders.
And it didn't matter much that one of them could actually lift its physical weight.
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M'gann M'orzz came into the kitchen within the heart of Mount Justice and looked across into the living room to spot Superboy, Daniel Grayson, and his enormous father Markus Grayson sitting together on the couch staring at the TV.
The turned off TV.
"Do you want me to turn the TV on?" she nervously asked the trio.
"No." Superboy denied flatly.
"Shh. We're getting to the good part." Mark waved her off without taking his eyes off the blank TV screen.
If only she could find someone that looks at her the way they look at that blank TV.
____________________________________________________________________________
"Alright kiddos, we are going to start a doomsday simulation. For those who live under a rock, I'm Mark." I told the assembled teenagers who stared at me like they saw their personal hero for the very first time, "Martian Manhunter and I will sink all of you into a shared dream world in which you'll be pushed past your breaking points. While you are in the dream none of you will be able to tell that it is a simulation, you will perceive it as fully real and MM will smooth over any dissonance you may experience. At the end of the exercise you will feel a great deal of separation from the experience, this is by design. Any questions?"
"Who thought putting you in charge of a bunch of teenagers was a good idea?" my son from Nepal asked with a petulant tone and received many nods of agreement.
Kid had balls like a brass monkey and a damn fine point. Good thing too, otherwise I'd have to take them shiny clankers.
"Normally MM does these exercises, but he wisely asked for my assistance due to M'gann's own telepathic powers and the risks they posed should she overpower his own in a panic. Don't worry about that though, because I am here." I assured the children.
"What kind of simulation are we entering to make that kind of risk possible?" M'gann inquired after raising her hand.
"Our universe getting invaded by Barbatos and the Dark Multiverse." I informed them, causing mostly confused faces.
"What does that mean?" piped up Wally West, the kid in yellow not the Justice League Unlimited Flash.
"Imagine a subset of universes that mirrors the multiverse that we are inhabiting, but everything is just awful. Every time you or your mentor left a fight feeling like you just scraped by is a spawning point for another dark universe where you didn't or any number of terrible things happened. The Dark Multiverse is the cradle of unborn worlds, it is far more vast than the Orrery of Worlds, which only consists of stable realities. It is realms of constant crisis and horror. You kids are in for a real treat." I smiled and even through the great barrier of my willful ignorance I could feel the menace radiating from it.
"You've gone completely sadistic in your old age." Daniel muttered.
"Back when I was a kid like you they used to run the pressure washers up and down the streets every day cleaning up what I left behind of rebel forces. Take it as motivation to do better when it's you standing here someday. I hope you can, but I don't believe you will. Partly because my ego is bigger than this universe and mostly because when I was your age I tried to be better. I spent my days in research and study, writing letters and reports and sending them to everyone that mattered. I told myself that if I could just fix even a single obvious problem with the system with just my words that I could spend my days as a lover, not a fighter. That I didn't need to transform myself into a giant fist that smashes down all problems. History was written in the blood of all the people who found out the hard way which path humanity sent me down. So be snide, disrespectful, and self assured. One day you're going to stop and reflect on your life and you'll have to wonder if the weight of your actions even measures up to the sum of my mistakes let alone my achievements." I ended my monologue with a snap of my fingers that sent the teens into the simulation.
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I think it's hilarious that the first monologue of justification for Mark's actions happens in chapter 53. Normally you'll find this kind of monologue plastered before during and after a MC being in a situation that requires testicular fortitude to come out on top of let alone a spine of steel.
My stories are typically generational, so these kinds of things happen when parents explain themselves to their children. I think this is the foundation of healthy parenting, telling your kids what you've done and doing your best to remember why you did it. If you don't do these things the kid ends up adrift.
Maybe I'm just a weirdo that learns from other people's mistakes.
You can support me and my family at
ko - fi . com / jmanm
P.S.
I've thought up what I believe will be my final fan fiction unless someone commissions something. The first chapter is going to be titled 'On Westeros' and will be a long list of everything stupid about the many GoT/Asoiaf Self Insert fanfictions I've read over the years. It will be vitriolic.
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