43 Crisis of two men
(Green Lantern POV)
"What?! What are you talking about right now? I am Hal Jordan a Green Lantern. I got the ring a few years back. I didn't steal it.", I scream at the people who are interrogating me right now. I travelled back to Oa and wanted to ask the Guardians about the problem I encountered on Earth. But instead of helping me, I was imprisoned. None of the Guardians or Lanterns knew me. They said that I shouldn't exist and that I must have stolen the ring from a dead Green Lantern.
"How can this be? I am telling the truth. I swear. Did someone wipe your minds? But how can that be? The ring should protect us from that.", I say to myself. The buff alien, Kryon who is interrogating me huffs.
"You know an awful lot about the ring. You did your homework."
"I have been a Green Lantern for almost four years now! I got it the correct way and I was already here multiple times. There has to be a record of me coming here. I know Sinestro."
"Oh? And you think that makes us believe you? Almost the entire galaxy knows Sinestro. He is that famous."
"But the ring can tell you the truth no? Is there no way to check my last few places I was at?", I try to reason with him. I see him raise his ... eyebrow if you can call it that.
"Of course, but that can be forged.
*Sigh*
.
.
(3rd Person POV)
The room is dimly lit, casting shadows on the alien Green Lantern, Kryon, as he sternly interrogates Hal Jordan. Hal, clad in his flyer uniform, looks puzzled and defensive. He can't understand the situation right now. The only option he can think of right now is that he might be victim to a simulation of some kind. Maybe he was in a nightmare? But how does he get out then? What was going on and wasn't there someone who could help him?
"Alright again, Hal Jordan, explain yourself. Where did you get that ring?", Kryon asks and folds his arms in front of his chest.
"I already told you, Kryon? I've been a Green Lantern for nearly four years. Why won't you believe that?", I ask him.
"Your years don't matter, Jordan. What matters is the origin of that ring. There's no record of you receiving it. And I would be very surprised if there even was someone of your species receiving it. What did you say that was again?"
"I'm human, from planet Earth!"
"Earth eh? Well, I got news for you buster ... there is no such planet in the universe."
Hal Jordan.exe has stopped working.
"W-what? What are you talking about? I just came from there. It does exist. I earned this ring. I was chosen by Abin Sur himself.", Hal tried to tell him.
"There's no record of such an event. Your story doesn't check out. You should at least check your facts before lying here. Planet Earth doesn't have intelligent life, Mr. Jordan."
"..."
.
Suddenly, a communication alert flashes on the wall, summoning Hal Jordan and Kryon to the Guardians' court.
"Kryon, report to the Guardians' court immediately and bring the captive with you.", the voice of a Guardian echoes through the comms. Kyron looks at Hal and then sighs.
"Alright, let's go."
- Oa GUARDIANS' COURT - MOMENTS LATER -
Hal Jordan stands before the Guardians, who are seated in a semicircle. Their ancient blue faces exude authority and wisdom. They are looking at Hal as if they want him to break under the pressure and finally tell them the truth, but Hal has been telling them the truth. At least the truth he knows.
"Hal Jordan, we have detected anomalies in your power ring. The energy signature is unknown to us.", Guardian #2 says in a calm and authoritative voice.
"What? I got this ring from Abin Sur. It's legit. I already told Kryon here all about it. I swear that I am telling the truth. I have been a Green Lantern for four years. I don't know anything about the energy signature. But it has been working the entire time.", Hal tells them confused.
"The energy signature doesn't match any of our rings. Where did you truly get it? It is impossible for one of our rings to have a different energy signature. So we believe that you either have replicated it or got it from someone that replicated it.", Guardian #3 said gravely.
The Guardians exchange wary glances, scrutinizing Hal Jordan. They don't truly believe this accusation but they want to see what Hal Jordan would say and whether their guess is correct.
"I've been a Green Lantern for years! I've saved the universe countless times. I don't know anything about energy signatures or the like, as I have just told you. I didn't buy this ring from someone and I sure as hell didn't create it. I don't know the details of the ring and only use it.", Hal told them in a frustrated tone. He was on the verge of crying it would seem.
"It's just as we thought. You see there is another option for the difference in energy signature.", Guardian #4 said.
"Oh and what is that?", Hal asked hopefully.
"The energy signature is not from our universe, Hal Jordan. Your ring is not of our creation.", Guardian #1 said calmly.
"... what?"
A heavy silence blankets the room as the implications of the Guardians' words sink in. Hal Jordan's eyes widen, realizing the gravity of the situation. He was in a different universe? But how and when did that happen?
.
.
[Sir, the Subject designated 'Green Light' has made contact with Oa and has been captured. Nanobots work at 100% efficiency. Would you like to listen in?]
"Oh yes, please. Let's hear it. This ought to be funny."
{"I'm human, from planet Earth!"
{"Earth eh? Well, I got news for you buster ... there is no such planet in the universe."
{"W-what? What are you talking about? I just came from there. It does exist. I earned this ring. I was chosen by Abin Sur himself.", Hal tried to tell him.
{"There's no record of such an event. Your story doesn't check out. You should at least check your facts before lying here. Planet Earth doesn't have intelligent life, Mr. Jordan."
{"..."
.
"Hahahahaha, that is hilarious. It was just as funny as I imagined it would be", Bruce said.
[Forgive my question, but why did you not change that little detail as well with the Universal Programmer, Sir?], ALFRED asked
"Why would I do that? This is important data I gathered now. We know that the energy signature of the Green Lantern rings don't match."
[But you already guessed that and prepared for such an eventuality.]
"Well, I guess you're right. But it is always helpful to know as much as possible and also to know what others believe you know. I now have access to someone amidst the Green Lantern HQ on Oa. I don't have the time or interest to sneak in there and hack their servers and the like. This was much easier."
[Affirmative. Change in code: Creating reality bending device, surrounding the world with a forcefield, creating a functioning 'Einstein-Rosen bridge', connecting to an uninhabited world, exchanging places with said world in another universe, creating nanobots and injecting them into Hal Jordan and then hacking into the servers on Oa - is easier than using Portal Gun and appearing on Oa to hack their servers. ... Change in code ... #Error# unable to comprehend.]
"... Seems logical to me."
[*Raises AI eyebrow*]
"You are developing a sense of humour it would seem. Tell me whether you got something from their servers."
[Affirmative. Servers are in the process of being hacked at the moment. Data will be downloaded in approximately 32.2842 minutes.]
"Good. Now then let us visit our local steroid monster."
.
Bruce put on his suit and took the elevator to the prison cells he had created. It was now almost two weeks after he captured KGBeast and he didn't visit him or give him something to do while he was waiting. Food and water were given to him once per day. The cells came in different varieties. The one he told Sebas to put KGBeast into was one that was purely white. Nothing else was in there. There were no windows and no sound that came from outside. It was horrible for anyone to stay in there for longer periods of time.
But this was done for a reason. Batman wanted to let the Russian rot there for a while and make him soft. KGBeast was a professional if nothing else. He was trained by the KGB and had a strong mind. It would have been useless for Batman to interrogate him right after capturing him. That's when emotions run the hottest. But by putting him in a closed 3x3 cell that was purely white, had no windows or sound, with only one meal a day ... well that would mould him to clay in Batman's hands.
Batman pressed a few buttons and the cell with KGBeast was moved and lowered to the interrogation room. Then the floor of the cell opened and the man fell out and to the ground. KGBeast looked bad. He hadn't eaten very well and his mental health took a big hit here. It seems like he wasn't ready for this even after all his training.
The man had lost some weight. Especially muscle mass, because he wasn't fed any proteins only bread. The KGBeast who wasn't much of a beast anymore got up from the ground slowly and saw the small table and the chair. He was quite weak on his legs, so he decided to sit down. That was something he wouldn't have done, had he been fully focused. But he wasn't. The man's gaze was unfocused and he looked a bit paranoid.
He had expected to be interrogated or tortured, or both by Batman after he had been captured. But that didn't happen. For two weeks he had been waiting for the arrival of Batman and the pain of potential torture but ... he didn't come. It weighed heavily on his mind. The white walls, the small room, the absence of sound ... it was already torture.
The lights flickered for a moment and in the moment that the man blinked, Batman stood in front of him. KGBeast was surprised since he didn't hear or see him coming in. The room didn't have any doors or windows so it should have been impossible.
"Y-you came ..."
.
"Anatoli Knyazev greetings ... you are about to be tortured, please prepare yourself.", the deep voice of Batman was the first thing he heard after two weeks and that was what he said. There was no sympathy or emotion in Batman's voice. He was just stating a fact.
Anatoli unintentionally flinched when Batman said that. There was a strong feeling of fear that he had. It had started small, like a whisper but it had grown over the days and now that Batman was here in person and told him that, he was naturally scared. The big strong mercenary was reduced to this trembling piece of flesh.
.
Batman didn't say anything for a while and only looked at Anatoli. He didn't start with the torture, because he knew that the idea and the thought of getting tortured was just as bad as the actual torture. Batman wasn't a nice guy. Neither of his three templates was a 'good' person. He was focused and had a good heart if it came down to it.
He was willing to be the hero Gotham needed, despite having the intelligence and the tools to just erase the crime, but he wasn't a good person in the sense that he would sacrifice everything to be a hero. The Batsuit was on ... he would resort to torture when necessary, but only very mildly. He preferred to use fear and emotional damage to do most of the work because despite not being a good person, he wasn't evil. He didn't like or enjoy torture.
After a few minutes of just standing there, Batman pressed a button on the table and the chair Anatoli was sitting on bound the man and transformed into a chair that Batman could stand in front of and do his work. The table sank into the floor and all of Anatoli's clothes were removed by metallic arms.
Another smaller table rose next to Batman. There was an assortment of special needles that he often used to strike different vital/acupuncture points to induce a myriad of effects. He had mastered his own version of Hokuto Shinken and there were thousands of ways for him to induce pain.
"Let's begin."
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It is important to note that there is no 'multiple personalities' situation going on here. When the suit is on he is just no-nonsense and 100% focused. He is a dangerous man, a very dangerous man. I hope this is clear.
I won't write the torture scene. I don't like torture. It is also more Batman inducing lots of pain than using waterboarding or whatever.
