"The agent beside me is Alex Danvers." The middle-aged black man, named Hank Henshaw, introduced the female agent. She was clearly still recovering from the embarrassment of having her cover blown and stood there in a daze. It took a signal from the man for her to clumsily produce her ID.
"Hank Henshaw..." Thea murmured the name. Was this the real guy, or was it the Martian Manhunter in disguise? Out of habit, she took off her glasses and swept her gaze over him.
The other party sensed it immediately. A faint crimson light glowed in his eyes, but he forcibly suppressed it.
"It seems your identity is fake too, am I right, Director Henshaw?" Thea's mocking voice resonated directly in his mind.
For the Martian Manhunter, who spent every day telepathically reading others, this was the first time he was the one being "read." He glanced sideways to ensure Alex Danvers hadn't noticed, then projected his voice back into Thea's mind. "Who are you!?"
He didn't expect a direct answer from Thea. His crimson eyes focused intently; he was used to finding answers himself.
The Martian Manhunter was the world's greatest telepath; it was his innate gift. Thea's proficiency in this area was far inferior to his. She could only construct layer upon layer of mental barriers to withstand his psychic intrusion.
However, the intrusion didn't come. Instead, the opponent arrogantly tried to use his vision to probe her. Thea sneered internally. She casually cast an illusion spell to prevent Alex Danvers from seeing anything untoward, then looked up. Two columns of pale yellow light shot from her eyes, meeting the Martian Manhunter's gaze head-on.
Their gazes clashed in mid-air with a crackling sound. Both turned their heads and took a step back simultaneously. Thea was simply knocked back a step; it was nothing serious.
But the Martian Manhunter was in miserable shape. His powers were strong enough to rival Superman's, and his list of abilities was so long and varied that two full pages of lined paper wouldn't be enough to list them all. But he had a fatal weakness: Fire!
That's right, the Martian Manhunter was terrified of fire! Because his entire race had been burned to ash, the immense grief had created a crack in his heart. This psychological fissure had affected him on a physical level.
Now, staring directly into Thea's gaze—which channeled the yellow light of fear—the source of that terror made him wilt instantly. Telepathy, X-ray vision—he couldn't care less about any of it. He was completely submerged in a traumatic flashback, unable to extricate himself.
Thea seized the opportunity to dive deep into his mind, observing and learning his telepathic abilities.
Mind Scan, Memory Erasure, Mental Shielding, Mind Control, Long-range Telepathy, Illusions, Hypnosis, Possession, Thought Sensing, Mind Link, Psionic Blast... A whole pile of mind-related abilities. Faced with this humanoid gift bag that had delivered itself to her doorstep, Thea unceremoniously memorized them all to study at her leisure.
What a cheat! Thea couldn't help but marvel. And these were just his mental abilities, a mere fraction of his superpowers. Add in Super Strength, Super Stamina, Regeneration, Flight, Super Senses, and so on... if this guy weren't afraid of fire, truly no one could match him.
The speed of thought was instantaneous; in the outside world, only a second had passed. Facing this walking treasure trove, Thea felt quite fond of him. She casually cast a "Resistance to Fear" spell on him.
Sweating profusely, the Martian Manhunter finally emerged from the illusion of engulfing flames. "Who exactly are you?" Although his sanity had returned, the mental burden wouldn't vanish so quickly. His earth-shattering power was currently operating at less than ten percent. Seeing Alex Danvers still in a dazed state, he hesitated before asking.
"I'm an Earthling, a genuine Earthling. But you... you're a Martian, right?" Thea crossed her legs, her long legs dazzling under her skirt, but the Martian Manhunter was in no mood to appreciate them. Thea was speaking Martian, a language he hadn't heard in centuries.
"I am a Martian. My name is J'onn J'onzz. How do you know my language?"
Thea flashed the ring on her hand. "You know the Green Lantern Corps, right? I'm a member of the Yellow Lanterns."
Oh... The Martian Manhunter let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know about the Yellow Lanterns, but he had indeed seen the Green Lantern Corps and knew their translators could interpret all languages in the universe.
"You know me? ...And you know my weakness?" Initially, J'onn thought the fire scene was a manifestation of his own subconscious fear, but as a master of mind control, he could judge that there was an artificial factor involved. There was only one conclusion: the opponent knew him, or at least knew his weakness.
Thea smiled without speaking, so J'onn pressed on. "Did my Kryptonian friend tell you?"
"That's right! It was our Kryptonian friend Clark who told me." Thea was just thinking up an excuse when he supplied an answer for her, so she happily confirmed it.
Superman and Martian Manhunter were truly great friends in the early days. Their abilities were similar, and both were aliens stranded on Earth after their planets were destroyed, giving them plenty to talk about.
But soon, due to differences in philosophy, they drifted apart. The Martian Manhunter, fearing Superman might turn evil, frantically marketed Kryptonite to anyone he met. As a "good friend," Superman naturally returned the favor, telling everyone that the Martian Manhunter's abilities were just like his, but he was afraid of fire! The result of these two buddies undermining each other was that Batman now had a very thick notebook detailing all their powers and weaknesses.
Hearing the name "Clark" from Thea's mouth, J'onn was now convinced. His "good friend" must be peddling his weakness everywhere again. He was incredibly annoyed.
"Anyway, do you have business with me? My intel should be known to A.R.G.U.S., and several high-ranking officials in the Department of Defense know it too. Why exactly are you here?" Thea saw him bowing his head in deep thought and interrupted him. If he had nothing to do, he should leave; she was busy.
"...A.R.G.U.S.? You're with them? We are a government-affiliated agency..." The Martian Manhunter felt he hadn't clarified the situation beforehand and had made a blunder. No matter how much conflict there was between the government and the military, they were on the same side. In other words, Thea and he were on the same team.
Government-affiliated agency? That explained it. Thea nodded. "We aren't enemies. You can verify my identity with General Lane, but he and a few others are currently fighting for the position of Secretary of Defense, so you'll need an appointment."
The old Secretary had stepped down, and the power players in the DoD were now in the final sprint. The winner would just need to inform the President for a nominal nomination, and the deal would be done.
Thea couldn't even find anyone at the Department of Defense right now, which showed how frequently they were out pulling strings lately.
The Martian Manhunter nodded; he was aware of this situation. Today's mix-up was largely due to not being able to find their usual handlers.
He chose his words carefully. "Your medical pod utilizes alien technology, correct? Don't you know the risks involved?"
Thea sneered. "What a joke. America's technological level has crushed the world for the past fifty years. Don't tell me you think we researched all that ourselves? Are you saying there was no reverse-engineering of alien technology involved?"