Chapter 9: All along the Watchtower
While I have come to love my new home of Mars in many ways, Earth was my first home and even if it isn't the same universe it feels like a homecoming. I am in my human form to best facilitate familiarity in the meetings to come (img here)
Seeing the sun's light explode over the horizon of Earth silhouetting the grand space station that the heroes of this age operate out of. Observing the grand ball of nuclear destruction I feel the call of an endless ocean of flame, of destruction and creation old and primal, I feel myself shift internally but never settle on a form. The shifting increases speed and heat begins to build within me, I wrench my eyes away from the sun and instantly feel myself cool down as my shifting stops. A smile grows on my face, while that was involuntary it shows how far I have come in shapeshifting to be able to shift so fast as to build heat at no detriment to myself.
'It is a miraculous sight is it not?' J'onn asks as he and M'gann join me in viewing the last minutes of our journey
'That it is.' I respond quietly
'Who is going to meet us at the watchtower?' M'gann asks excitedly
'You shall be able to meet the entire league, I must debrief them about my time on Mars and hear what has occurred in my time away.' responds J'onn
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Pov shift: Batman
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J'onn was returning from one of his many trips to Mars today, this time however he was not alone. He had called ahead to inform the league that he would be bringing his nephew who he had described as an ambitious young scientist and author who wished to study earth's animals and eventually teach, an opportunity that he did not have back on Mars. J'onn had brought S'ols book in previous years and the young man seemed to be the adventurous type, I had lent the book to Robin who had quickly become a fan. Before I could fully parse what exactly my expectations were for J'onns nephew he had called again informing us that his niece had stowed away and had managed to convince him to take her on as his apprentice. I had initially assumed that the biologically 20-year-old martian would be his protege, I would have to meet the two newcomers to make any conclusions.
"Hey Bats, I heard J'onn is bringing some family down. Is he finally going for a sidekick?" Barry Allen The Flash asks excitedly.
It had taken bruce quite a while to get used to the enthusiastic hero given how different their cities and heroics were they butted heads quite a lot at the beginning of the league.
"Yes, J'onn is bringing a protege with him, along with his nephew" I reply evenly while reading through the young man's work.
'Either the young man is a talented fictitious writer or is an extremely accomplished combatant if the description of the descent and black trenches are accurate' I pondered but put the thoughts aside as the rest of the league filtered into the meeting hall.
"We will be debriefing J'onn on what has occurred during the time that he was gone, He shall also be introducing two members of his family one of which is to be his protege in hero work. The other is a young man with a doctorate in Ethology and biology and has expressed interest in studying the fauna of Earth." I explain as everyone sits down
"It's good to see J'onn getting a sidekick, I always feel like he's a bit lonely on earth" Captain Marvel responds jovially
"what about the other one, what have we heard about them" inquires Green Arrow. Ollie is usually a jovial man and will crack a joke when uncomfortable or feels the need to bring tension in a room down but could be fully business when he needs to be.
"We actually haven't heard much about either. We know the most about the young man as J'onn sent brought his book last time he came back from mars. S'ol A'res, approximately 60 years old or around 20 years biologically has published multiple research papers and acquired a doctorate at around 18 biological years. Besides his forays into science, he has also released an autobiography detailing his early life on mars as well as his forays into the wilderness." I respond evenly
"S'ol that name sounds familiar, is his book called "Beneath red sand"? I read that, and I thought it was Science fiction!" Barry exclaims
"We don't know enough about mars to validate his claims but we will be able to talk to them shortly. J'onns protege is his niece who is biologically 16, she stowed away on his ship and managed to convince him and her parents to allow her to accompany J'onn to earth." I say as we receive notice that J'onn had landed and was coming to the conference room.
as the door opens to the hall I first notice the tall green humanoid that is J'onn but quickly my eyes are drawn to a white-haired... human? that thought was quickly dismissed as I saw how he moved as if only approximating human movement but with the dangerous confident gait of a practiced killer.
What was even stranger is that slowly the mans movements become more and more human, more natural. That was slightly concerning, J'onn had been with us for years and still had some tells bleed through even when in a human disguise the fact that S'ol could do it seemingly easily put me on edge.
'Is he another member of the martian police force? black ops, possibly special forces. but why would Mars send him, does J'onn not know?' thoughts raced through my head as I tried to come to a conclusion
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Pov shift: MC
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As I walked into the hall beside J'onn, M'gann floating timidly behind us, I quickly took in the people around us. Noticing Batman giving me a big old stink eye I quickly fix any issues with my human form to get rid of the uncanny valley effect and turn to the rest of the league.
"Man Humans are surprisingly complicated, I thought I had mapped yall from what I could see on TV but your internals are all sorts of funky, I mean the nervous system you guys have is amazing!" I say excitedly letting my scientific enthusiasm bleed through
"whoa there, you're not gonna try and dissect anyone, are you?" Barry asks nervously
"That's a bit racist... speciesist? and no I don't I am an extremely accomplished shapeshifter and am considerably powerful psychically. As an ethologist that means that I am able to study any creature non-invasively then once I am able to perfectly mimic the species I join a community or pack to study their behavior." I explain to the flash calmly
Turning to Batman I can guess what he is thinking and attempt to assuage his worries
"The reason why I may move like a killer is that Martian predators are dangerous beasts built to kill extremely fast and durable prey and I lived with and as every one of them for nine years. Martian experiences literally shape them so during the time I spent living with the dangerous animals of mars I took on a few of their characteristics that bleed through any transformation I am not fully familiar with. I never received any formal military training because I would not be accepted into any academy, the only reason why I got into my alma mater was that uncle J'onn here recommended me. I am a white martian a minority on mars and as such face much prejudice, no other student had to spend nine years in the wild to prove their thesis." I explain calmly in order to best convey what batman was picking up and why I wasn't a martian infiltrator assassin even though that is fairly close to what I am.
"What are your goals on earth" Batman growls out at me
"Study of earth fauna, maybe a tv show, hopefully teaching at some point and to help out my family when they need it" I respond evenly explaining that while I am not here to be a hero full time I'm willing to lend a hand for the big things
The Batman nods minutely accepting my explanation and turns to M'gann who pales slightly. I lean back, She would have to give her own reasoning if she wants to be a hero.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Gumbus
Gumbus This chapter was rough for me but it should get the ball rolling slightly
lmk what yall think of the interactions
Thanks for reading!
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