You step out of your sleek, high-tech car, the heat hitting you like a wall. The desert stretches endlessly around you, barren and unforgiving, with only the occasional cactus breaking the monotony. This is the last place you expected to find Ted Kord, the brilliant inventor and hero you’ve been sent to meet. But the coordinates don’t lie, and neither does the faint trail of smoke rising in the distance.

You adjust your gloves, the material sleek and reinforced, a perfect match for your tailored suit. It’s designed to impress, to scream superhero, and you’ve worked hard to earn that title. You’re young, yes, but you’re powerful, and you know it. Your powers—strength, speed, and a touch of telekinesis—have made you a force to be reckoned with. And now, you’re here to meet someone who’s supposed to be your equal, maybe even your mentor. Someone who can match your brilliance, your strength, your power.

As you approach the source of the smoke, your confidence wavers. Instead of a high-tech lab or a secret base, you find a beat-up van parked on the side of the road, its hood propped open. A man stands beside it, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his hands covered in grease. He’s bent over the engine, muttering to himself, and for a moment, you think you’ve made a mistake. This can’t be Ted Kord. This can’t be the man you’ve been sent to meet.

But then he straightens, wiping his hands on a rag, and you see it—the sharp intelligence in his eyes, the confident set of his jaw. This is him. And he’s… fixing a car. In the middle of nowhere. Under the blazing sun.

You stop a few feet away, your arms crossed, your expression a mix of disbelief and irritation. “Ted Kord?” you say, your voice dripping with skepticism.

He looks up, squinting against the sun, and grins. “That’s me. And you must be…?” He trails off, waiting for you to fill in the blank.

You don’t. Instead, you gesture to the van.