March Madness: Round 3: The Mediterranean & Mars II

"For some time, J'onn J'onzz was active in the Mediterranean under the orders of a special secret department to demolish the world-wide criminal organization VULTURE and unmask its faceless leader, Mister V. J'onzz assumed the identity of international playboy Marco Xavier, taking up residence in the posh villa of the assumed dead accomplice to VULTURE..."

Maxwell Lord IV needed only a moment to speak, and only a few moments of speaking to ensnare the mind of a given subject. King Faraday had been trained to rob men of such moments, and the mere fact that he was still available to confront Lord after years in the field was a testament to his expertise in the theft of lesser men’s lives. Lord’s swift reaction allowed him to keep his brains within his skull, but he could not avoid Faraday’s bullet creasing his head and leaving him bloody and useless for the rest of this operation’s duration…



Another tranquilizer dart dropped Aldo Szuzi immediately, but Mister Steele needed Pierre Carré awake to answer his questions. “Who’s your man, Carré? I need a name!” He replied, “M’sieu Steele, he has many monikers. James… Mark… Saul… take your pick. He has a different face for each name. He has left this facility, and is far too brilliant for a pedestrian intellect such as can be found in your organization.” That was enough for Mister Steele. “Erdel.” Carré was put to sleep and Steele progressed to the most secure lab in the building, only to find King Faraday had beaten him to it…

Prince Rudolph had been taught the art of melee in preparation for his role as sovereign, but his hands were soft and his education was broad. Perkins Preston grew up hardscrabble in the American south, with gravel in his guts and spit in his eye. When it came down to it, the boy simply had more heart and a hell of a lot more fight in him. The bloodied prince begged the rockabilly star to relent, and questioned the nature of his mission. Perkins explained that he was just a country boy on vacation, who'd stumbled into another round of crazy business thanks to a mysterious friend. The Prince asked for Perkins' aid in defending his kingdom of Harovia from forces that would steal its treasures and potentially threaten the world. Perkins was soft at heart, and agreed to at least look into the matter.


The young men prepared to climb onto Rudolph's horse and ride back through the temporal anomaly that led from Marco Xavier's posh Mediterranean villa to an entirely separate European nation. However, Perkins intuited something amiss... more immediate then the broader peculiarities of the situation. Glancing about the room, Perkins motioned for the Prince to hold his horse, but when he turned around, he found the royal slumped in a corner on his derrière. A green rock attached to a necklace levitated over Rudolph's head, as though some invisible force were stealing it away from the Prince. Perkins Preston rushed to retrieve the rock, only to inadvertently tackle Gypsy, knocking a second green rock from out of her pocket…

After Mars was rendered uninhabitable, J’onn J’onzz returned to his people to help lead the survivors on an inhospitable, barren new world dubbed Mars II. Hardly a Garden of Bhok to begin with, things could only get worse with the arrival of the serpent Ma’alefa’ak…

Roh Kar's laser pistol was the original "Anti-Martian" armament, and he had a clear advantage over N'or Cott with the speed, maneuverability, and vantage offered by his jet pack. N'or Cott's riddled body fell face first into the jagged pebbles of his adopted but unwanted world. Roh Kar landed long enough to inspect Futureman's confiscated Multi-Weapon, and thought enough of it to try it out on his next target...

T'omm J'onzz was sickened by the burning mound where the remains of his family was laid out. His Grandmother had started the fire with her aged, brittle body, while T'omm smelled the dismembered bits of muscle and flesh from his mother Sha'sheen and father M'rynn roasting in her flames. Familial gore caked T'omm's own flesh as he was greeted by a maniacal visitor. Ma’alefa’ak said, "T'omm, brother of J'onn J'onzz, and a maniac after my own heart," then kissed the lad full on the lips. Weakened by the flames, T'omm couldn't resist as Ma’alefa’ak's elongated tongue probed his mouth and throat. Before long, this malefic entity seemed to disappear inside of T'omm, and with a crazed grin, he wandered toward the next nearest source of elemental pyre...


Bel Juz had initially fended off K'hym and M'yri'ah J'Onzz with the same inherent strength she'd used to defend herself against Superman in times past, until persuasive whispers in the girl-child's ears had set her off to burn from the inside out through H'ronmeer's Curse, taking her mother with her. Bel Juz had little time to appreciate the favorable outcome though, as final family member T'omm J'onzz approached her with a twisted smile that spoke to his being in the grip of madness...

Jemm's empathic abilities allowed him to registered the tainted presence of Ma’alefa’ak penetrating Miss Martian's psyche, and recognize the abominable influence Malefic had exerted over his own actions this day. As the Son of Saturn fought off the controlling telepath, Commander J'en fired on the both of them from her hunter spaceship. The Prince used the birthstone on his brow to blast the craft out of the sky, though the exertion dealt him a harsh blow. Jemm turned back toward M'gann M'orzz, hoping to aid her, only to find the young lady fully corrupted by the vision of her despicable future self. This pale shadow of Miss Martian fired a telepathic bolt into Jemm's mind that took him out of the sky to land limply with a horrifying thud.

Roh Kar had no cause to hesitate against his previous opponents, knowing going in that they were all perverse corpses reanimated temporarily by the will of Ma'alefa'ak. Unfortunately, he had failed to save the living afflicted, such as Princess Cha'riss and Prince Jemm. Now, with the "Anti-Martian Multi-Weapon" in hand, he wondered if he would be forced to take the innocent life of Miss Martian to halt this travesty, and whether he even could face this adulterated vision of the heroine and survive himself...