Thirteen

Chapter 28 - Checkmate

-X-

Megan closed her locker softly. Another semester finished. She smiled to herself and held her books close to her heart. Exams had come to an end and it was time to bring most of her belongings home for the break. Megan bounced with excitement,. It would be her first Christmas here on Earth and her and Zatanna planned on spending the holidays together at the mountain.

"Miss Martain!"

Immediately her ears perked up. Who could that be? She looked to the side and could see a crowd moving towards her. Soulless cameras were staring at her and blinking furiously. Did they know?

"Miss Martian! Miss Martian!"

Megan held her books tighter towards her chest. She tucked her head down and pushed her way through the crowd surrounding her. Cameras were shoved in her face and she could feel the hot breath of the crowd against her skin. She could hear them chanting her name- her Superhero name to her face. The voices quickly began to overwhelm her.

"I-I'm Megan!" Megan insisted, "I'm Megan Morse!"

The hands of the crowd grabbed at her and her books fell out of her hands. With tears threatening to fall from her wide eyes, she looked up and was met face to face with a paparazzi camera. A bright light went off, blinding her for a second. Megan put a hand up to protect herself from the offensive light. She could hear cameras going off all around her, creating a loud chatter around her. Abandoning her books, Megan began to push her way through the crowd again.

The bloated man behind the camera dropped a heavy arm on Megan's shoulders. He ran a fat thumb down her shoulder.

"You got the green skin under here?"

She shoved him away, "What are you talking about?!"

Finally, Megan looked at the papers everyone had around her. She put a hand up to cover her face and squinted to read the print. Her picture was on the cover of the article, in her superhero uniform. She looked at the headline.

Cover Blown! Miss Martian's Secret ID leaked: Megan Morse

M'gann read the headline again and again until it finally sunk in. Her body felt paralyzed as she dropped the paper, completely horrified. The bloated man grinned at her and pulled his camera to his crooked nose.

"Smile for the camera!"

"Look over here!"

"Where's the green skin?"

"What are you- a white martian? Show us the green!"

The tears in her eyes began to fall as she turned and took off the ground as quickly as possible. As she flew, her skin turned back to green and she camouflaged herself to dodge the ugly cameras. She held her breath the entire way, fearful of the group being able to follow her home. When she finally reached the foot of Mount Justice, she gasped for air. The crown had suffocated her and drained her. M'gann stumbled inside one of the secret entrances to Mount Justice, choking back a sob. How could this happen? Her thoughts went back to the newspaper, the cameraman, the crowd pushing and shoving her at school, all of it.

"M'gann!" Kaldur announced, surprised, "How were your exams?"

She could speak no words as she turned around to face him. Without warning him, M'gann rushed into Kaldur's chest, breaking down into tears.

"What has happened?" Kaldur asked, "Are you hurt?"

"T-They know." M'gann choked out between gasps, "E-Everyone! T-They all know!"