The night shift at Apex Glass Manufacturing was going past slowly, just like any other night. It was routine and boring. Then the temperature started to rise, and soon the alarms started to blare throughout the facility. Something was wrong.
Marcus Chen, the supervisor, moved towards the control panel. "Shut down the main furnaces! Now!" he yelled.
The systems didn't respond, and the molten glass started to overflow. It started to slowly spill over the edges before spreading across the floor, creating a river of fire that cut off all escape routes.
"Everyone! To the smelting chamber! Now!" Marcus shouted.
Fourteen people rushed towards it, crowding the chamber as the heavy door sealed them inside with a hiss. They were safe for now. The chamber was supposed to be made to withstand high temperatures.
The temperature continued to rise, the air growing thick and suffocating. Someone started to pound on the door, the emergency release not working. There was no response.
The only thing there was the thermometer on the rise, along with the sound of their panicked breathing. A young worker named Sarah looked up and froze. A camera was mounted in the corner of the chamber, slightly moving around the room.
They were being watched.
J'onn materialised through the outer wall, sensing the panic of fourteen humans.
Every screen in the facility activated simultaneously, all of them flickering to life and showing one single image. Sophist.
"Good evening, J'onn. Welcome to tonight's performance," Sophist's voice echoed through every speaker.
"Let them go," J'onn demanded.
"Oh, but we haven't even started yet. You see, I've prepared something extra special for you today. Tailored to your... requirements," Sophist replied, walking through his background, the camera following him like he was an actor in a movie.
The screens turned to show the trapped civilians, all huddled together in fear.
"Fourteen people. Workers. Ordinary people doing ordinary jobs. Now they're trapped in an oven. Quite the unordinary situation, yes?" Sophist continued.
"What do you want this time?" questioned J'onn.
"What I always want. To see if you can overcome your limits. To give me a fine performance." Sophist smiled.
The screens shifted again, showing the thermal readings that steadily increased towards a lethal threshold.
"The current temperature is 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Sustainable for maybe another...maybe..." Sophist checked his watch in an exaggerated motion. "Eight minutes? Ten if lucky. After that...well, I think you get the main idea. But there is a way to save them all. That's the beauty of it."
A new image appeared on the screen. A corridor with a wall made of fire.
"Located at the end of this 'corridor' is a magic button. The said magic button will turn on all the sprinklers and turn off all the furnaces. One simple button press. To save everyone. " Sophist explained.
J'onn stared at the flames on screen, a bead of sweat falling from his forehead.
"Any use of your abilities and you fail, just like last time. Just you...and fire."
J'onn's hands clenched. Sophist noticed, the camera catching his smile.
J'onn stood at the entrance. The heat was immediate and overwhelming, even from ten feet away. He could feel it pressing against him. He could barely see the button at the far end, maybe fifty feet away, due to the smoke.
The flames reflected in his eyes, and something deep inside him awakened.
A memory. A memory of Mars. The world burning, the screams, the smell of ash and all the death. His people. His family. All burning. All while he hid.
"I survived because I ran," J'onn whispered. The flames seemed to roar at him, mocking him with their terrible light.
He saw his little sister's face. Her small hands reached towards his before she dissolved in the fire, her screams howling across his mind. He was close enough to reach her. To save her. He didn't.
He chose survival over sacrifice. He chose to bury himself in the rubble, waiting for all of it to pass.
Death had taken everyone else, leaving him all alone. J'onn dropped to one knee, overwhelmed. A tear was dripping from his chin. It was his moment of cowardice. His biggest failure as a Martian.
On the cameras in the facility, Sophist watched everything in silence. Just observing.
Inside the chamber, people started to collapse, the heat getting to lethal levels. Some cried, and some even prayed. J'onn forced himself to stand, his legs shaking. Every instinct screamed at him to run from the flames.
The same ones that made him survive on Mars. "I will not fail them too," he whispered.
He didn't feel brave; the fear was still crushing. Overwhelming. But he chose to move closer anyway because these people were still alive, and he could save them if he just moved forward.
One step at a time, through the fire. Through the thing he feared the most.
J'onn stepped into the corridor; the feeling of the heat was immediate.
Past and present started to bleed together, the corridor becoming a street on Mars. He saw towers collapsing. The bodies.
"No. This is Earth. This already happened," he gasped.
The memories crashed over him like a wave, each one stealing his breath. He took another step.
He started to crack. His screams were lost in the roar of the flames. He wanted to stop, to just run away. But if he did, they would die.
So he didn't stop. He took another step. Then another. Halfway through, his vision went dark at the edges, his body trying to shut down.
"No," he said through gritted teeth.
Sophist never gave people the impossible. He could do this. He was stronger now. He wouldn't let his fear take over him.
A test of will. He forced his eyes open and forced his legs to move to get through the fire.
He saw his brother along with the billions of Martians that burned while he hid.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he whispered. Crying.
But apologies would never bring them back. Stopping now wouldn't honour them. So he kept moving, step by agonising step.
The button appeared through the smoke. Fifty feet had become thousands, each inch taking all of J'onn's remaining will. His hands shook as he reached out.
He touched it. For one moment, his muscles refused to press it, his fear almost taking full control.
Then he thought of his little sister. He pressed the button.
The sprinklers activated throughout the entire facility, water erupting from everywhere. The flames died, turning into steam as the temperature slowly dropped. Inside the chamber, people gasped as the heat started to recede. Some people collapses and others openly cried. They were safe.
J'onn exited the corridor and collapsed against the nearest wall, emergency services flooding in.
His hands still trembled, but he had done it. He saved them all and walked through the fire.
J'onn sat alone in the facility's parking lot and stared at his hands. "I was so afraid. I still am," he murmured to the wind.
Fire would always bring him to Mars. He hadn't conquered that fear just yet. He might never.
However, he didn't run away this time. He moved through the fear anyway. Because people needed him. He couldn't help but wonder how things would be different if he had moved back then. Maybe he wouldn't be all alone.
The screens flickered again, Sophist appearing. "You're wondering if maybe things could've been different," he said.
J'onn didn't respond.
"We will never know. Maybe you did in another universe. But I know in this one you acted against your fear to save others instead of yourself. That's progress, J'onn," Sophist added.
The screen went dark.
J'onn looked back at the facility, the flames all extinguished now. Fire was his deepest trauma. Not just to himself but to all of his people.
Tonight, he faced it. Even if it was just a little. It didn't heal anything. It didn't erase Mars, but it showed that maybe he could redeem himself for his actions. For his cowardice.
Maybe one day he'll set all those grieving souls free.