Miss Martian VS Mirror Master

When superheroes and metahumans first appeared, it was every man for himself. The Justice Society of America was lost to history, and the world was fundamentally mundane. But slowly, things changed. Heroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman began to emerge, and the world expanded its horizons. Each hero was an island, dealing with problems in their city only. Eventually, this attitude shifted; heroes would collaborate occasionally. One day, the informal system of favors and collaboration was formalized as the Justice League.

As a rule, superheroes are confident and tend to keep their problems their responsibility. That is why it is notable when they explicitly ask for help. Despite only being tangentially related to the team, Jonah was called up by Impulse for emergency assistance in Central City. The Flash was off somewhere in the ‘speed ****,’ and his entire rouges gallery had come together for one giant caper. The initial insertion had gone poorly, so now there was an all-out brawl in downtown Central City.

Captain Cold, Heatwave, Weather Wizard, The Top, The Trickster, and Mirror Master. Individually, they may seem weak or even silly, but put together, they are a **** to be reckoned with. At least that was what Jonah was quickly learning.

The first thing that Porter did when he stepped into the battle was fall on his ass. He wasn’t looking where he was going and slipped on some of Captain Cold’s ice. Before he knew it, he was on his feet again.

“Glad you got my message, Porter.” Impulse had picked him up in a flash. “I’ll explain everything later; just help me bag these goons first.”

Impulse was gone before Jonah could respond. ‘bagging’ these so-called goons would be more complicated than Impulse’s cavalier attitude may have suggested to Jonah. Despite the entire team working together, the battle was still fierce. Porter was almost frozen, melted, and struck by lighting as he weaved through the fray, laying out punches with portals into the rouge’s blind spots.

Jonah was standing behind a bus stop when a grand torrent of fire flooded the street. Jonah was able to step away from the heat wave through a portal, but Miss Martain was not so lucky. Porter didn’t know then that Martians' main weakness was fire and heat. He expected the shapeshifter to escape the attack quickly, but she was caught up in the torrent and collapsed to the ground.

Darting his eyes around the street, Jonah couldn’t see any aid coming. All the other team members were fighting another rouge or rescuing civilians. Miss Martian was alone on the ground, completely exposed. Jonah spotted one of Mirror Masters's mirrors being flung toward her. He wasn’t sure what would happen if it struck her, but he was sure it wouldn’t be good.

Jonah dove towards Miss Martian’s body through one of his portals. If he could only grab her, he could-

Abruptly, the sounds of fighting ceased. The dirty concrete below them had been replaced with a pure white void. It was so quiet that the squeaking of Jonah boots echoed loudly all around him. He was in some sort of mirror dimension. The backside for all reflections. Almost everything he could see was a dimensionless white space populated with nothing except floating mirrors. Each mirror represented a reflection in the real world, no matter how small. Jonah gazed through the nearest one and saw the street he was just on but warped and distorted. It was like he was inside the mirror. The thought disturbed him. It was unnatural. It pained his eyes to try and understand the space around him logically when it was inherently opposed to how his brain was used to perceiving.

Jonah attempted to step through one of the mirrors. Instead of returning to the real world, he stepped into a difficult location within the mirror dimension. The process reminded him of his own powers but without control. Jonah restrained his breath and attempted to calm down. He told himself that the team would notice he was gone. After they won the fight, they would recuse him and Miss Martian…right?

Miss Martian lay where Jonah had left her. She was ****. The effects of the concentrated heat blast had knocked her out completely. Jonah studied her, checking for any external injuries. He wasn’t a doctor and definitely wasn’t a xenobiologist, but he couldn’t see anything fatal. She was sweating and shifting, jittering slightly, but she was still alive. Jonah did all he could and placed his gloves under her head so she was more comfortable. It probably didn’t feel too good lying on whatever she was lying on.

Collapsed on the ground, the alien superhero was weak and defenseless. Her usually vibrant green skin was pale and sickly, and her adobe freckles now resembled pox. Jonah placed a hand on her forehead. Her temperature wasn’t too bad, a little cold and clammy. She looked so weak to him; her upbeat, energetic personality was gone as she breathed gently. Her body felt like it was vibrating under the skin. Perhaps her shapeshifting was unstable.

With nothing to do but wait, Jonah formulated a plan. He realized there would be no better opportunity than this to use Miss Martian’s powers. The unfortunate limitation of his power stealing was that its name was slightly inaccurate. He didn’t steal or borrow per se. Instead, he copied the powers for himself for a limited time. So, if he tried to use Miss Martian’s psychic powers on her, she could easily repulse him, and then it would be all over. Lying to the Justice League about the true nature of his powers was one thing, but if he started actively manipulating the minds of women, he would be tying his own noose. But that was only if they found out.

Jonah didn’t have much time to think. The battle might be over at any minute. What he was going to do was risky. But he told himself it was even riskier to let things go the way they had been. His control over the women in his life was limited. It was based purely on sexual attraction, but that wasn’t enough. He needed even more control; he needed insurance. Miss Martian would provide the sort of insurance he needed.

Completely alone and defenseless Jonah borrowed Miss Martian's psychic powers. He sat beside her head and concentrated. The first time he had used her mind-reading powers, it had overwhelmed him. At the time, all the thoughts of the Watchtower flooded into his mind like a discordant symphony. But the mirror dimension contained no such distractions. It was just him and Miss Martian.

Her mind was just as defenseless as her body. Maybe it was her weakened state, or maybe his copy of her powers created a mental touch similar to hers. Whatever defenses a psychic might create for her mind automatically were gone. Despite being a laymen Jonah was able to walk into her mind unopposed. This mental freedom had a downside. It was the first time he had intruded into another's mind. Before, he had just managed to suppress his own thoughts and activity. Now, his mind was acting on an entirely new axis. It was like he could suddenly fly. The limits of his mind had kept him restrained, much like gravity kept him grounded. Now, he had no such comfort.

Instead of experiencing Miss Martian’s mind with any of his senses, it was like her entire consciousness was contained within his own brain. He imagined that if he was born with this power, it probably manifested much differently, but for now, he was limited by his own imagination.

Jonah sifted through the alien’s thoughts and systems slowly. With each misplaced move came complex personal psychological mechanisms and memories. Jonah saw the young woman’s fears and insecurities as much as he saw her memories. He saw the caverns and red sands of Mars. He saw other Martians in their natural forms surrounding and leaving her. He felt her fear and isolation of coming to Earth, A feeling he knew all too well. He saw her meeting the Team for the first time. He pushed into that feeling and followed the train of thought through meeting every team member collectively and then individually until the chain of association landed on him.

Within Miss Martian’s psychic Jonah looked slightly different, distorted but not in an unrecognizable way. It's just not how he saw himself. He was taller and more intimidating. Jonah reminded himself that this wasn’t actually him but the simulacrum of himself that existed inside MM’s brain. He focused on that simulacrum. By its very nature, it was incomplete and flawed. If he focused hard enough, he could push into the memory and, therefore, her beliefs about him as a person. Jonah could change how she remembered how his nose looked or even his height, but if he thought more broadly, he could shift the intangibles. He wouldn’t be able to push it too far, but he could change the balance in his favor for now. He pulled on two preexisting threads. First was that the young hero trusted him. It was a shame, but it was true. Jonah increased that trust as much as he could to make any repeated sessions easier. Second, he relied on what had been working this whole time: sexual attraction. Miss Martian found him somewhat attractive but more, so the effects of his pheromones had already incorporated into her view of him. Her body desired him. He just needed to match her emotional and physical attraction to him. The mind loves patterns and the path of least resistance. Once Jonah gets this ball rolling, Miss Martian will be head over heels for him before she knows it. Then, she will justify it in whatever way is easiest—Petītiō principiī.

Jonah tinkered as best as he could. His inexperience meant that he would not know the results until much later. Back in the safe confines of his own consciousness, Jonah waited as his time with Miss Martian's powers expired. Only when his mind became mundane again did he realize the gravity of his actions. No matter how soft his touch was, it was an irrefutable fact that Jonah was participating in the mind control of a sentient being. He had crossed a line. Strangely, this did not fill Jonah with as much fear as he anticipated. Instead, he grew excited thinking of all the possibilities. Exploring her psyche Jonah had grown to appreciate the alien woman more. He learned much about her personality and struggles that he hadn’t from their previous brief conversations. He discovered that her real name was M'gann M'orzz, and her real form was nothing like the attractive green human she presented herself as.

The ball was in M’gann’s court now. If Jonah had done his work correctly, she would be compelled to him soon enough. Then, he could use her powers to cement control over other women. All he had to do was wait.

Not too long after he had altered M’gann’s mind, Jonah was saved from the mirror dimension. At least he didn’t think it was that long. It was difficult to experience the passage of time in a place lacking any tangible context. Jonah tried to use his powers to escape, but any portal he opened in the mirror dimension went somewhere else. If he felt that there was a greater chance that he would be permanently stuck in the mirror world, Jonah might have pushed his powers further, but as it stood, it wasn’t necessary.

Impulse and Robin dragged the Mirror Master by the scruff of his neck into his dimension. Obviously, they had come to some sort of agreement since the costumed villain willingly used his powers. Though the blood and bruises on the criminal hinted at some necessary ‘persuasion.’

Jonah and Miss Martian were escorted out of the mirror dimension and onto the side of the victors, one on his own two feet, the other carried by her friends. Jonah was tired. Since he only had superficial injuries, he went home as quickly as possible. Since he was just an auxiliary backup, he had little responsibility in the cleanup effort. Ultimately, all he received as a reward was a handshake from impulse and his greatest gratitude. Miss Martian was taken to the Watchtower hospital, where she would fully recover. Jonah took himself home and crawled into bed.