Superboy and the Martian → Supermartian

~Once Upon A Time...~

Once upon a time, in an era of magic and knights and mysterious creatures of all kinds, there were two kingdoms: Krypton and Mars.

Krypton was the smaller of the two, but it was more populated and filled with abundant resources. It was ruled by a benevolent monarchy, which was kept in check by local elections to the country's legislative body. Many immigrants came every year to seek their fortune, and Krypton soon became a very industrious country.

The people of Mars were able to keep out invaders with the help of various rumors. It was well known that each Martian inherited dark magic that gave them the ability to change shape and read minds just by looking at a person's face. The land they lived on was desertlike and mountainous, but with the help of their magic, the Martians made their land fruitful.

Martians were divided into two categories- the green, which were peace-loving and kept to their own kind, and the white, who were born much more violent and with a thirst to conquer. White Martians believed that they should use the fear they generated to invade and conquer all the known world. One time, they succeeded in rousing the Green Martians to join their conquest.

Mars was stuck on the tip of a peninsula, and Krypton was the tiny stopper that prevented the Martians from attacking the other countries such as Starhaven, Bialya, and Atlantis. When provoked by the invasion, the Kryptonians fought back with brutal strength, almost superhuman. The Martians were driven back into their land, and a hasty peace was established between the countries.

None of the leaders wanted further bloodshed, so the most ancient and wisest of the Green Martians placed restrictions on the White Martians to pacify the Kryptonian people, who, unlike their king and queen, wanted to destroy the entire Martian population as revenge for an unprovoked attack that killed hundreds of Kryptonians.

One white Martian, a young woman named M'gann, was unusually kind-hearted for one of her people. However, that did not keep Green Martians from despising her like the rest of her kind for sending them all into a war. Even among White Martians, M'gann was hated for her lack of violence.

Knowing full well of the Kryptonian prejudice of Martians, M'gann decided to take her chances among the rather than among the magical tortures of her native people. She ran to the forest on the Martian-Kryptonian border, and walked and walked and walked until she was lost.

Finally, she came up on a Kryptonian castle, home to one of the only magic-users that lived outside of Mars, the sorceress Zatanna.

Zatanna did not take sides in the conflict outside her castle, so she and her servants welcomed M'gann, and treated her with kindness and hospitality.

Unused to this treatment, M'gann returned their hospitality with rudeness and cruelty, just as she had been treated in Mars.

Finally, Zatanna grew tired of trying to help the girl who refused help. She cast a spell on M'gann, trapping her in the true form she knew M'gann hated, the lanky, ugly, monstrous, true form of a White Martian.

However, M'gann had magics of her own, beyond anything her people had ever seen. Her emotions lashed out, turning the servants into objects and furniture around the castle, and Zatanna into her own beloved, enchanted mirror.

M'gann wept at what she had done, but still the servants comforted her, and still she rejected their help.

Now, they did not have Zatanna to help them. She only left the words etched on the face of her enchanted mirror.

"Until you can learn to love yourself, all you will see is hatred."