Some time has passed since Darkseid attacked Earth, and the Justice League was formed. The heroes started to know one another and even went on a few missions together. Mostly it was Hal who visited the others, since he had a lot of time and, using his intelligence, enough money to arrange his day, however he pleased. But that was starting to change. More and more problems arrived each day, and new heroes rose to the challenge as well. Earth saw more Green Lanterns appear.
In his office, Hal is studying some plans for reconstruction. He has created Lantern Constructions after Darkseid's invasion, a construction company with the most famous Lantern as an employee. It was a stroke of genius. Not that he needed the money, honestly, but it was still fun to do and to help those who needed it. Those who couldn't afford it were never charged, and the others were charged exorbitant prices.
*Ring Ring*
"Yallo?" Hal picks up the phone, looking at the plans.
[Hal? This is Diana, are you free?]
"Hello, Diana. Yes, I'm free. What can I help you with?" Hal asks.
Over the last year, he has been on a few missions with Wonder Woman, and if he thought about it, which he wasn't, they spent quite a lot of time together that way. And no one could blame her. Hal's presence was special, even if he wasn't actively controlling it; being in his presence was refreshing and lifted one's spirits. It was that 'warm' feeling everyone was talking about, which you get sometimes.
[I wanted to go to this... restaurant and am unsure how to handle this without getting crowded. I would like to eat something.]
Hal could hear the sigh about to escape her lips. She wasn't very well-versed in modern times, and when she got on the street, everyone wanted to talk to her, so she didn't have a lot of time to herself.
"Sure, I'll gladly hel-"
Hal stops talking and looks to the side. If this were the Star Wars Universe, he would have felt a disturbance in the Force, but this was DC. He felt a local disturbance in the Emotional Spectrum. Great pain and anger... and it wasn't that far away. Something terrible had just happened.
[Hal? Hal, is everything alright?]
"Y-yes. I'm sorry, Diana. However, something has just occurred that I need to investigate. I would love to come and eat at a lovely restaurant, but let's do it another time."
[I understand. What is it? Can I help?]
"I don't know either. But I'll look into it. See you later."
[Is Barda coming with you?]
"Huh? What do you-"
*bang*
The door crashes open, and his 'secretary' walks in. A 7-foot-tall, black haired woman stands there looking cross.
"What are you doing?! Are you talking with the Amazon warrior again?! I'm coming with you, this is bloody awful," she says.
"And how many times have I told you to use the door handle and not just break things as you go along. We are a construction company and not a demolition one." Hal says.
"There are firms that demolish things?" Barda asks.
"Yes."
"And they get paid for this?"
"Sure."
"Then we need that as well. I will be perfect for me!" Barda declares.
"Ugh. I didn't even ask you to work here; that was your idea. I told you, it wouldn't suit you." Hal groans.
"No one tells Big Barda that she can't do something. Besides, I like your presence." Barda declares without shame.
[I agree with Barda, your presence is calming, enjoyable and stimulating at the same time. Very peculiar for a mighty warrior like you.]
"You're still on the phone?"
[Naturally... I forgot how to turn it off.]
"Haha! You still don't know how to use those small boxes, do you? Hahaha," Barda laughs.
"So you know how to use a phone then, Barda?" Hal asks.
"... Of course. It's the..."
"The what?"
"...green button?"
"The red one."
"AH! I blast it!"
[So can I come?]
"Yes! And I as well. Where are we going?" Barda asks.
...
"Am I in danger?"
.
A few minutes earlier, Kyle Rayner had just finished helping some people and was on his way back to his girlfriend's apartment. He was eager to return, since she was waiting for him. Alexandra DeWitt is her name, and she was originally Kyle's ex-girlfriend, who broke things off because she found him too immature. Later, he visited her and revealed that he had received a Green Lantern Power Ring. At first, she was apprehensive, but eventually agreed to help him train himself to use this new power, having heard about other Green Lanterns and the famous Lantern, Hal Jordan, although she didn't know his name.
Kyle enters the apartment.
"Alex? Are you here?" Kyle calls while walking into the apartments.
"Alex?"
He reaches the dining table and finds a note.
"At least she left a note," he says, opening it. "Huh. The handwriting looks funny."
{Surprise for you in the fridge. Love, A.}
"Heh, this woman."
Kyle walks into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator. His mind suddenly stops, seeing what lies inside it. He stares at the dead and deformed body of Alexandra, who was pressed into the fridge, for him to find. Great pain and anger overcomes Kyle, strong enough for Hal to feel it.
"Oh... god!"
"Shame isn't it?" a new voice says.
Kyle turns around and finds a man with purplish-red skin standing behind him.
"Good-looking girl like that. None too talkative, though. She kept her mouth shut about you. But that's okay. I figured you would want to come back here eventually."
"You did this?" Kyle asks in a low voice, still struggling to cope and fully register what he just saw.
"Of course I did. You don't think she got in there by herself, do you? My name is Major Force. You will give me the ring, and I'll kill you nice and quick."
*BOOOM*
Kyle punches Major Force through the building. But apart from his clothes, he isn't damaged at all.
"Come on, kid. I don't have time for-"
*BAM*
Kyle punches him once more. But that angers Major Force, and he retaliates with a right cross of his own.
*Don't jerk me around, you little punk. Give me the damn ring!"
They get into their fight, and Kyle, in his anger, creates a big needle, which manages to stab through Major Force's body.
"AAAAGHH! That hurt. You hurt me." Major Force exclaims, firing a powerful blast of energy at Kyle. "I'm supposed to be invulnerable... and look at this. Blood. Maybe this is going to be interesting after all."
.
Sgt. Clifford Zmeck is recognised as a certified psychopath who was court-martialed by the United States Air Force in 1969 and found guilty of murder and rape. He received a life sentence, but Project Atom offered him a chance for a pardon. The year prior, experiments were conducted involving an alien metal, called Dilustel, which was subjected to a nuclear explosion with a test subject encased in the metal. Nathaniel Adam was the first to volunteer, but he was reportedly killed in the blast, leading to Zmeck being given a triple layer of the alien metal for protection before undergoing a nuclear explosion. The "Major Force Project" was considered a failure after Zmeck was thought to have died in the explosion. However, the blast actually propelled him into the quantum field, sending him forward in time by decades. When Zmeck re-entered the time-stream, he discovered that the alien metal had fused with his body, granting him superhuman abilities.
Dilustel is a highly durable and extra-dimensional metallic substance with a high melting point and a connection to the Quantum Field. The Quantum Field is the limitless void of all matter and energy that is located in the space between matter and energy in the universe. It acts as the underlying essence of all matter and energy in the cosmos and is the source of power for all Quantum-powered beings. The existence of this field acts according to Quantum Theory, and it does and does not exist, meaning it does not exist until a quantum being wills it to do so.
Major Force and all those connected to the Quantum Field can manipulate it, which enables them to manipulate theoretically infinite amounts of energy. However, his abilities stemmed from a different spectrum of fields, granting him powers distinct from Captain Atom's, aside from superhuman strength and Invulnerability. This was theorised to be a result of the Major Force Project using double the amount of alien alloy and detonating a different blast yield of the bomb. He commonly manipulates his energy to generate matter into various shapes and forms, like sliding ramps, entombing enemies or manipulating his armour skin. Still, the most common form he uses his powers is a simple dark matter blast.
.
*BOOOM*
Kyle creates a hammer and smashes it into Major Force's stomach. He is angry right now and wants to hurt the man truly. He smashes his hammer against Major Force's head, making him spit blood. But the criminal is not out yet; he blasts Kyle with a massive blast of dark matter, hurting Kyle in the process. The two exchange punches one after the other. Kyle creates armour around his fist and smashes Major Force with it. He no longer holds back and doesn't give Major Force time to recover or retaliate.
"You took away the only thing that was important to me! And I don't know why! I don't even know who you are."
*BOOOM*
"But I'm going to find out."
And indeed, Kyle creates an electric chair, trapping Major Force inside it and giving him the electric treatment. He shocks him over and over again, increasing the power load and frying the man. But he doesn't say anything and keeps his mouth shut.
"Tough one, aren't you? Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
*SLAP*
"I want to know who you are, why you killed Alex and more than anything... I want to know who sent you."
"Hah. Hehehe... You really don't know anything, do you? Do you expect me to give up all that information to you? You have a better chance to make a stone bleed," Major Force says.
"All right then. Let us fire up that chair one last time," Kyle says and is about to kill Major Force, when a gun is placed at his temple.
"Just back away, son," the man says.
"Who are you?" Kyle asks.
"L.A. Special Crimes Unit! And I'm only going to tell you once more... back away."
"What are you doing then? He's the criminal! He's a murderer!" Kyle protests.
"We'll find out who's who. At the moment, your only concern is letting him out of that chair. Right now."
Kyle looks at Major Force and thinks about his teacher. He asks himself what he would do and finally relents, as his teacher wouldn't ever break. He releases Major Force and walks away. The officer stops him.
"Hang on. I can't let you leave."
"He killed her. He killed her, that's all." Kyle says.
"Look, we got a body in the refrigerator in there, and all hell has broken loose out here. You've got to come with us."
"There's no problem here." Major Force says. "Call the government. The Federal Government."
"That won't be necessary."
!!!
"Hal!" Kyle exclaims as he sees him fly from the sky.
Following him are Wonder Woman and a relatively new 'hero', Big Barda. Both of them stand between the L.A. Special Crimes Unit and Kyle.
"Secret identity, Kyle."
"Oh, shit, I... I'm sorry, I..."
Hal walks towards his friend, and they embrace. In that moment, Kyle finally breaks down, letting go of his control in front of all the people present. Once again, Hal's speciality kicks in and opens all the gates.
"What happened here?!" Wonder Woman demands to know.