The Global Peace Initiative building in Denver was having a routine afternoon. A total of twenty-five people were sitting across the room, all dressed in expensive suits that you would see someone important wear. They were busy debating before the reinforced shutters slammed down.
Every doorway was sealed with steel doors, and the crowd rippled with confusion.
"What?"
"Is this a drill?"
"My phone's not working."
The temperature started to drop.
Frost started to creep along the glass walls, condensation formed on every surface, and everyone's breath became visible. A small hiss came from the vents, a cloud of vapour pooling across the floor, slowly.
Dr Sarah Chen, a climate scientist consulting on environmental treaties, moved closer to the vent, feeling the plummet in temperature, and her face went pale.
"That's liquid nitrogen," she whispered.
The panic started immediately, with people rushing towards the doors and pounding. People tried not to use their phones, but they had no signal. Then someone started to scream.
Others soon joined in, the room becoming a freezer they were trapped in.
J'onn phased through the building's walls, his senses picking up a massive panic. He dropped everything and came immediately, materialising in an empty hallway.
He knew where the panic was coming from and started to move towards the source.
"Good evening, J'onn."
The voice came from everywhere, calm and almost pleasant. J'onn stopped and turned.
In a place that was once air, now stood Sophist. His outfit was immaculate, his posture relaxed, and his expression composed with a smile at the corners of his mouth.
J'onn knew who he was. He remembered Hawkgirl's reports about his scenarios and about how dangerous he was. And now he was here.
"You're wasting my time. Those people are dying," J'onn said, already moving forward.
"Not yet, but they will be if you don't follow the rules." Sophist raised a hand and activated the speaker system; his voice echoed from everywhere.
"The rules?" J'onn asked carefully.
"Simple. In Conference Room 3B twenty-five people are sealed while liquid nitrogen is slowly leaking into the place. The only way to save them is to reach the end of this hallway and simply open the door. "Sophist gestured towards the corridor.
"Then I'll..."
"Without using your powers," Sophist cut him off.
J'onn went still.
"If you use your powers, I will activate the system that releases all liquid nitrogen immediately, freezing everyone to death within seconds." Sophist continued.
"You're bluffing."
"Am I? Feel free to test that little theory of yours, but understand if you're wrong, twenty-five people die." Sophist tilted his head.
"Why?" J'onn asked.
"Because I want to have a little fun. "Sophist smiled.
J'onn made his decision. Maybe he could find out what Sophist was really thinking and find out his motive that evaded even Batman. He reached out telepathically.
He started to dive into his mind full force, and he found... Chaos.
Not silence or a wall but overload. His mind was a storm, thoughts layering over each other in an incoherent mess that made J'onn's mind hurt.
It felt like trying to listen to a hundred conversations all at once, all talking about completely different things. J'onn recoiled, his mind overwhelmed.
"This is insane!" J'onn realised aloud.
"No, it's just how I think." Sophist replied calmly.
J'onn stared at him. He read a mind like this once before.
The Joker.
It wasn't identical; underneath all that mess there was a sense of structure in Sophist's thoughts, but the effect was the same. A mind he couldn't read because there were too many threads to follow.
"Tick tock," Sophist said softly, a widened smile on his face.
J'onn looked down the hallway, the door visible from where he was standing. It was just a walk away.
But that would've been too easy. J'onn took a step forward.
The white noise erupted around him; his brain felt like it was being scraped from the inside
J'onn dropped to one knee, his hands pressed against his head. He could stop all this; all he had to do was to phase away, get away from the noise, but he couldn't.
If he did, twenty-five people would die.
Inside the conference room the temperature had reached a freezing level, with frost now on every surface. People huddled together for warmth; Marly Webb kept talking to try and keep everyone calm and so they wouldn't sleep. Sleep would mean death.
"Stay awake. Keep talking, about anything. Tell me about your families," he said through chattering teeth.
A woman called Jennifer talked about her daughter; another man talked about his brother. They kept talking because if they went silent, they knew they would die, and they weren't ready for that yet.
J'onn forced himself up. The noise seemed to intensify with each step.
His thoughts started to bleed through. Mars burning. His little sister's face.
Screams from his dead world echoed through his mind. He nearly retreated, back to the rubble.
He didn't stop. He had walked through worse, endured worse and survived the death of his entire species and kept going.
He could endure this.
Those people needed him, and that was enough. It had to be enough.
Halfway through the corridor, his vision blurred and his legs started to shake. He wanted to scream. He wanted to end the pain. A thought appeared in his mind; he knew that this was Sophist's method.
Each scenario made by him was meant to push the person past their limit. It wasn't just random cruelty; it was sadism. He enjoyed watching people suffer but eventually push past it all, better than ever.
The distance closed, J'onn's hands shaking uncontrollably, the white noise tearing at his brain.
His vision tunnelled, the panel to open the door coming in and out of focus. He could taste blood from where he bit his lip without even noticing.
J'onn reached his trembling hand out and pressed the button with every fibre of his being and his last drop of will.
The shutters retracted, and liquid nitrogen was fanned away; the doors to the conference room were now unlocked.
People stumbled out, collapsing, crying and shaking violently from cold and shock. All alive.
Emergency services flooded in seconds later, giving the people thermal blankets and hot beverages. J'onn sagged against the wall, the white noise finally gone. The pain didn't disappear immediately, but he had done it. They were all safe.
Slow clapping echoed from the room, Sophist appearing in front of J'onn. It wasn't mocking him; it was sincere.
"Well done," he said.
"This was a test." J'onn pushed off the wall.
"Everything is a test, and the question is always whether you passed. "Sophist replied.
"And did I?"
"Well, obviously. You're stronger than you think you are." Sophist tilted his head slightly.
"For what purpose?" J'onn asked.
Sophist smiled and didn't answer. "Well done, J'onn J'onzz, or would John Jones be better?"
J'onn froze. He used both of his names. None of them were public information, and he only gave it to those he completely trusted.
"How?"
"I'm a man of many talents," Sophist replied.
The implications were massive. Sophist knew him. Details that should have been impossible to access, which meant.
"What do you want?" J'onn asked, his voice harder.
"To see what you're capable of, to test your reputation and most importantly, to have a little fun." Sophist's smile remained.
"Why?"
"Someone needs to make sure you idiots are actually capable of being Earth's defenders." Sophist stepped backwards.
"That's not an answer."
"No, it's not," Sophist agreed and then vanished.
J'onn stood alone in the corridor, the civilians now safe and the threat gone for now, but he knew his name.
And he was testing him, not to kill, at least not yet. J'onn reached out with his mind; he was all alone again. J'onn looked down at his hands that still shook slightly.
J'onn phased through the wall into the cold sky. He realised the game had started, and he wasn't sure how it would end.