J'onn's neighbors appeared, his relatives, even a few who'd been his adversaries in life.
Through encouragement, goading, or outright cursing, they used every method to help J'onn pull himself together.
"Uncle J'onn." The one who approached him was the girl previously lying on the stone steps—the only Martian survivor besides J'onn himself: M'gann M'orzz.
The girl also possessed powerful psychic abilities. After communicating with the assembled consciousness, she quickly grasped the situation. She walked to J'onn's side as he knelt on the ground, gently placing her hand on his back, silently offering support.
"Uncle J'onn, he's almost finished. You should deliver the final blow." Thea appeared at the right moment. A man several hundred years old didn't need encouragement from someone in her twenties. He'd find his resolve.
Superman had overcome kryptonite's effects to kill Doomsday. Did he rely on physical strength? No—he relied on sheer willpower. Thea believed J'onn had that same strength. Taking this step would eliminate most of his fire phobia.
The Martian Manhunter finally stood, trembling, under everyone's expectant gaze. He staggered forward. Whether Thea, M'gann, or his family—all silently cheered him on.
The mere hundred meters took him five minutes to cover. As he drew closer to H'ronmeer, his confidence slowly recovered.
"I can do this."
"I won't fear fire anymore."
"I can't let K'hym down!!" His daughter's name erupted from J'onn's throat. He began stumbling forward. The psychic abilities that automatically shut down at the sight of flames rekindled in his mind—weak, as if a single breath could extinguish them. But his loved ones' expectations overcame his physical defect. His mind was healing his body through sheer, incomprehensible willpower.
The Martian Manhunter felt strange. His psychic power, which ran on belief more than anything, transmitted an intuition: maybe, possibly, perhaps, probably... he wasn't quite so afraid of fire anymore?
As one of the universe's best hypnotists, J'onn didn't know if he'd self-hypnotized or genuinely conquered his fear.
He didn't care. First, he had to kill the enemy.
"H'ronmeer of Ma'aleca'andra, your day of reckoning has come!" When he reached H'ronmeer's head, though still somewhat weakened, his psychic power had recovered to thirty percent—more than enough to handle an opponent with no ability to resist.
H'ronmeer had lost more than half his body. Divine power continued devouring him relentlessly.
One eye blinded by Excalibur, his remaining eye struggled open. "J'onn J'onzz, you can't kill me! I'm your god! When your abilities hadn't bloomed, I protected all of you! It was me!"
His plea was pathetically unconvincing. Thea felt contempt, but she trusted J'onn wouldn't fall for it.
Sure enough, the Martian Manhunter acted as if he hadn't heard. He began reciting names in a low voice. After each segment, he stabbed H'ronmeer with his psychic blade.
His godhood shattered, divine power and authority gone, and half his body consumed by backlashing energy, H'ronmeer's power level had plummeted. He was now just an exceptionally resilient mortal.
Facing J'onn—the strongest among Martians—stripped of divine protection and with half his body gone, H'ronmeer had nothing left but pitiful begging.
As J'onn mechanically recited names and stabbed repeatedly, even the most tenacious life force couldn't withstand such depletion.
"M'yrnn J'onzz, Sha'sheen J'onzz, M'yri'ah J'onzz... K'hym J'onzz! I've avenged you all!" The Martian Manhunter unleashed all his remaining power. A blade of radiant energy pierced through H'ronmeer's skull.
The deity who'd coveted death's domain and annihilated an entire Martian civilization reached the end of his long existence.
Having exhausted all his strength, J'onn collapsed backward. Relief, remembrance, liberation, regret—countless emotions flooded his heart. Temporarily without purpose, he simply wanted to lie still for a while.
Thea felt mildly annoyed. Hey, weren't they originally here to survey mineral deposits? Surveying turned into a search-and-rescue, which turned into uncovering truth, which turned into exposing the culprit, and finally achieving great vengeance.
This chaotic mess could only be described as bizarre.
"Uncle, don't just lie there. About your relatives..." Thea dangled the bait, and J'onn took it immediately, scrambling upright.
Knowing she wouldn't speak idly, that bringing this up now meant something important, he asked with disbelief, "Can you resurrect them?"
"That's beyond me. The rules of life and death are too vast." Thea's honest answer. Maybe when she mastered the Life Equation she could try. Not now.
She continued, "There's a place on Earth called Nanda Parbat. I once discovered a city from an ancient Earth civilization in its deepest reaches—a city constructed from psychic force."
Speaking this plainly, J'onn would have to be an idiot not to understand after centuries of existence.
"You... you mean my wife and daughter can continue living?"
Thea nodded, then switched to mental communication. "That world is small. I estimate it can only sustain a few dozen people. Your people's psychic power is too strong—it would burden the small realm greatly."
Yes, Thea meant taking a few connected individuals. The rest? Gradually assimilate with the planet. She'd helped them achieve revenge—they could rest in peace.
Selection criteria naturally prioritized acquaintances. Some random Martian noble? She didn't give a damn—she didn't even know them!
Thea borrowed residual divine power lingering in the air to construct a massive time barrier, with a fifty-to-one flow rate. The assembled spirits immediately froze. Since she was using H'ronmeer's scattered power anyway, she felt no guilt whatsoever.
The Martian Manhunter's motivation surged instantly. He wasn't some selfless saint either. First, he extracted his parents, wife, and daughter. Learning of this, M'gann was equally surprised, selecting her own parents and two siblings.
To their three hundred-plus extended relatives: sorry. The two picked and chose until they'd assembled twenty "people."
Thea teleported to Nanda Parbat. Practice made perfect—she was a familiar face now. She shifted into spirit form and led everyone into the psychic space.
Worth mentioning: J'onn and his niece could enter the incorporeal state. They could squeeze into this psychic space as well.
The space's "residents" hadn't changed much, though the small psychic animals Thea had left them had added some vitality. Settling the new residents went remarkably smoothly.