Nolan closed the door softly behind him, the quiet of his room a welcome relief after the chaos of the day. He stepped over to his desk and began to undo his shoes, the tightness in his chest from the past few hours starting to loosen as he settled into the familiar routine of unwinding. The room was bathed in low light, the golden hue from the city lights outside casting a soft glow across the furnishings.
It felt good to be alone for a moment.
But as he sat down in his chair, his body suddenly went rigid. A shiver ran down his spine, and the hair on the back of his neck prickled. Something was wrong. He turned quickly, every muscle in his body tensed.
And there, standing in the corner of the room, were two figures Batman and Martian Manhunter.
Nolan's heart skipped a beat, the fear immediately flooding his chest. He hadn't heard them enter, hadn't sensed them at all. He felt vulnerable in a way he hadn't experienced in a long time, the walls of his carefully crafted world suddenly crashing down around him.
"What—what are you doing here?" Nolan stammered, instinctively backing away, his mind scrambling for any coherent response.
He froze, panic quickly overwhelming him. I can't handle this. 'I'm not confident enough for this. Kieran…'
Kieran's presence flared to life within him, and with it, a surge of boldness replaced the weak, disoriented shell that Nolan had become.
The fear didn't completely dissipate, but Kieran's voice was steady in his mind. 'I'll take the lead.'
Nolan's breathing slowed as Kieran stepped in, assuming control, but he kept his body posture and his movements just like Nolan would have uneasy, unsure, projecting vulnerability. He could feel Kieran's influence in his muscles, but there was a lingering anxiety in the back of his mind. 'Not yet, not like this.' Nolan thought, but he let Kieran take over, trying to push the fear down.
"Let us talk to him," Batman said
"I—I don't know what you're talking about," Kieran said, feigning confusion as he backed up another step. The words came out of his mouth without hesitation, but he was acutely aware of how Batman's dark gaze bore into him. "Whoever you're looking for, you've got the wrong person."
Batman took a slow, deliberate step forward, his imposing presence filling the room. "Whoever you are, step aside," he said in his low, gravelly voice. "I want to talk to the main personality."
Kieran's chest tightened at the mention of the "main personality." He could feel Nolan's unease in the back of his mind, but he pushed it aside. 'I've got this. I've been in worse situations before.'
Still, his hand trembled slightly as he rubbed his brow, feigning an even greater sense of confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about," Kieran repeated, his voice more anxious now, almost pleading. "I'm just me. I don't—"
The words barely left his mouth before he got an idea and collapsed onto the floor, as if the weight of the situation had become too much to bear.
Kieran's body hit the ground with a soft thud, his limbs going limp, and he let his eyes flutter closed for a brief moment. It was the perfect act. The panic in his voice, the loss of control—it was all part of the show.
Batman stepped closer, his voice cold and relentless. "This isn't a game. You're sick. You need help."
"Help?" Kieran's words were shaky, almost forced. He looked up at Batman from his place on the floor, faking a tremble of fear. He could feel the slight discomfort creeping in as the pressure of the situation pushed on him. "I don't need any help," he insisted, his voice rising with the fake fear. "Nothing's wrong with me."
The words left his mouth too quickly. He could see Martian Manhunter standing at the edge of the room, his glowing eyes fixated on him. The Martian's expression was calm, unreadable, and Kieran's heart raced.
He quickly sat up, positioning himself between the two figures as he pushed himself back against the desk. "Don't," he said, his voice suddenly hard, the fear replaced with a dangerous edge. "Don't go poking around my mind."
Martian Manhunter tilted his head slightly, his voice gentle but firm. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to understand. You're struggling, and you don't have to do this alone."
Kieran's eyes narrowed. "Don't. Stay out of my head." His voice was a low growl now, the threat clear in the air between them.
But Martian Manhunter was already moving forward, his hand raised slightly, his fingers glowing faintly as he began his telepathic probe.
"No!" Kieran hissed, but it was already too late. He could feel the Martian's presence entering his mind, tugging, searching, and he fought against it with everything he had.
Images flashed in his mind, fractured memories, splintered fragments of all the lives he'd lived, all the personalities he housed. He could feel the weight of them pressing down on him, and it was harder than ever to keep his focus. The Martian's probing seemed to linger on certain memories, certain moments, and Kieran's anxiety spiked.
But then, just as quickly as the probing began, Martian Manhunter paused. His brow furrowed, and he pulled back slightly, his expression shifting to one of confusion.
"There's something wrong," the Martian said quietly, almost to himself. "Your mind… it's fragmented in ways I've never encountered before."
Kieran's heart skipped a beat, his breath shallow. He stood there, trembling slightly, caught between playing his part and trying to retain control. "There's nothing wrong with me," he said, voice trembling with an intensity he couldn't fully mask.
But Martian Manhunter looked at him, his gaze both curious and cautious. "There's something blocking me. Every time I try to focus on… him… the figure remains hazy. It's like I'm looking at a shadow, a distortion."
Kieran's mind raced. Nolan. He's trying to see Nolan. He's getting too close.
Kieran forced a nervous laugh, though the terror was beginning to set in. "I told you," he said, standing up, his legs shaky. "Nothing's wrong. You've got the wrong guy. You can't get into my head."
Batman's sharp eyes watched him closely, and for a long moment, the room was still, the weight of the situation hanging thick in the air. Kieran's voice grew even more insistent, desperate to regain control, to push them out of his mind.
"I don't need help," he repeated, more forcefully now. "And you're not going to find what you think you will. You don't know what you're dealing with!"
Kieran's mind spun, fractured, as Martian Manhunter's telepathic influence grew stronger. Every inch deeper, the voices grew more frantic, faster. It was like hearing a hundred whispers in an instant, none of them making sense, all overlapping.
"Stop!" Kieran shouted, his voice shaking both in his mind and out loud. His voice cracked, desperation lacing his words.
But Martian Manhunter wasn't listening. He kept pushing, his mental presence invading deeper and deeper into Kieran's mind, as if he could tear it apart piece by piece. The struggle felt impossible.
"Stop!" Quentin's voice boomed, louder this time, more insistent. He was as frantic as Kieran, but with a raw edge of panic that betrayed his sense of control slipping away.
"You need to stop!" Vey's voice cut through like a blade. "Don't you dare push any further. You're walking into something you won't be able to get out of!"
The mental landscape was a whirlwind of jumbled thoughts, memories, and personalities, all colliding with each other. Martian Manhunter's telepathic influence was like a crushing weight, pushing against the walls of Kieran's mind. Each voice Kieran, Quentin, Vey begged, screamed, and fought for dominance, but their pleas were drowned out by the Martian's relentless probing.
"You don't understand," Kieran shouted in his head, voice trembling with the weight of his words. "Stop, you have to STOP!"
Quentin's voice joined in again, more demanding this time. "We're warning you. This is bigger than you realize!"
And Vey… Vey was furious. "Get out of my head, Martian. You're walking into something you can't handle. Don't push it."
But Martian Manhunter didn't stop. He wasn't listening to the voices. He was pressing deeper, trying to unravel the chaos within, to understand the fragmented mind he'd come to study.
Then, a deep rumble. A low, guttural voice that didn't come from any of them. It was like the sound of the earth shaking beneath their feet, a force that made the air feel heavy with the weight of something ancient and violent.
"Stop!"
It was a command, but not a plea. It was an order a voice that was filled with raw, untamed power. Martian Manhunter froze. The presence felt different now, like the air had changed, thickened. It was almost suffocating.
Then came the laughter. It was a dark, harsh sound that echoed like the rumbling of thunder, reverberating deep within Martian Manhunter's mind.
The voice was like a growl, low and furious. Martian Manhunter could feel it now, this presence. It wasn't Kieran, or Quentin, or even Vey. This was something else entirely.
"You pitiful, weak-minded ants. You think you can understand what I am?" the voice snarled, each word dripping with disdain. "I am beyond all of you!"
Martian Manhunter's mind recoiled, a shudder of realization crashing through him. This wasn't just a personality it was something else, something brutal and terrifying.
The beast this entity wasn't like Nolan's other personalities. It wasn't a disjointed fragment. It was something powerful, something primal. And it was waking up.
"You push into my domain, and you think you're the ones in control? You think you can just poke and prod at me?" The voice growled louder now, more certain, and every word dripped with a sense of superiority. "You are inferior."
Martian Manhunter tried to regain his focus, but the mental presence in front of him was overwhelming. It wasn't like any force he had encountered before. It was savage untamed something that fought not with logic, but with pure, savagery.
"I will make you suffer."
Martian Manhunter could feel the force of the beast's will, pressing against him like a boulder, a violent, merciless weight. It wasn't just the thoughts that were overwhelming. It was the sheer force of the beast's presence. The animalistic nature of it. The primal, unchecked power.
"You dare enter my mind?" The beast's voice rumbled, each syllable an act of aggression. "I will make you regret this."
Martian Manhunter gritted his teeth, his telepathic abilities fighting to hold onto control, but it was clear now he was out of his depth.
This man's mind was beyond repair.
The beast's presence was unlike anything he had encountered. It wasn't a god. It wasn't some all-knowing being. But it was something far more dangerous in its raw, uncontrollable rage.
"You want to see what I am?" the beast's voice snarled, its words sharp, biting through the air. "Then I'll show you."
And with that, the pressure intensified, and Martian Manhunter was sent reeling, as though the very foundation of his mind was crumbling beneath him.
The beast woke up.
***
A/N: The beast! I wanted to give him more personality but he is still just a savage. Huge egoist