Speed of Lyght

Redemption

Chapter Twelve: Redemption

He was glad that they went to talk to Dr. Lindsey; it gave him a new idea as what to put Tabitha through for her therapy. J’onn and Bruce came up with a theory that the new DNA strand had an effect on her adrenaline; it was triggered when she fought and fueled her rage blackout. The Martian needed to test this theory out under a controlled environment; he could not risk her going into a fit of rage out in the open.

Superman and he were in the room that housed the simulation program; many members used it for training, honing their skills. J’onn and Bruce were responsible for creating the program, making sure that a member could select any possible program to their liking. They could adjust the program by strength level (ranging from 0 to 20; only he and Superman were able to withstand the program at level 20), environment and time.

J’onn had plotted out a simple ten minute program for Tabitha as Superman looked on.

“You don’t think it’s too early for her?” he asked.

“I believe she can handle her own, according to Bruce. Besides, this is the only way to safely test out our theories. She needs a villain to fight.” he told him. J’onn sighed a little as Superman continued to look at him, “I will put it on a moderate level…” he changed the strength level from 12 to 6. He looked at the monitor of Tabitha in the adjoined room. Without the program running, it looked like a room of various wires, “Tabitha, we’re going to test your abilities.” he announced to her. She looked around the room a bit before nodding.

“Okay…”

“Don’t hold anything back.” J’onn ordered and began the program. She slightly jumped as the room immediately transformed into the rugged streets of Gotham. When she turned around, she was met by a swift kick from Joker. Back in the control room, Superman and J’onn watched as she easily threw the mad man around. The program also monitored the person’s vitals; J’onn saw that she was nowhere near going through one of her rages and secretly increased the difficulty up to 12. No sooner had he did, the two noticed that her demeanor had changed. The more Joker taunted her, the more her mind started to leave her.

Superman quickly turned his attention back to the Martian.

“J’onn…”

“Keeping it on level six is really pointless; it’s not even a workout for Bruce…” he said, matter-of-factly; not that he thought that Bruce was weak: he knew that the caped crusader was one of three members without any mutant abilities.

“Something about Joker that she doesn’t like… besides the annoying taunting?”

“Bruce said that he’s actually her ‘favorite’. The taunting may be a trigger as well… let’s try a different villain…” J’onn decided. A few quick strokes on the keyboard made Joker run away from Tabitha and another villain appeared in front of her. She was taken aback at first at what towered in front of her; a massive yellow beast with red eyes wearing a light purple suit. Superman raised an eyebrow at J’onn.

“Of all the villains, you pick Mongul?” he wondered. The Martian ignored the look the Kryptonian was giving him and focused on the new battle. When Mongul approached her, she naturally defended herself. She saw that he would not back down and she immediately went on the attack. The two Justice League members watched in shocked silence as the life in her eyes faded and she fought him with all of her might. What surprised both of them was that she was having no problems with Mongul; he was far too heavy for her to pick up and throw so she combined her lightning with every punch and kick, knocking him into several buildings.

Her heart rate monitor beeping quickly made the two decide that they had seen enough. J’onn shut down the program instead of waiting out the two minutes for it to end itself. Superman went into the other room to help the woman who had fallen down on her knees, breathing hard. When she felt someone touch her, she let her lightning loose and turned to attack whoever was trying to sneak up on her. Seeing who was trying to help her made her eyes slowly come back to focus.