MAJOR DEEJ UNIVERSE

Donnell Davis was a college football player at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut until a fateful day when it seemed everything went wrong for him, that is, with the exception of receiving incredible new super powers.

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After failing in his classes and being demoted to second string as a Running Back (RB) for Yale University’s football team, Donnell sped away in his sports car, driving down the highway at breakneck speeds recklessly cutting in and out of traffic.  One wrong maneuver led him to crash into a chemical truck on the new Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge over the Blackstone River, with Donnell clocked at over 100 mph.  Donnell and his car careened through the chemical truck’s cargo bay (which was carrying hundreds of different chemicals in metal containers) and went over the edge of the bridge. As Donnell and his car were plummeting down to the icy water below, the burst of chemicals from the various containers splashed all over Donnell through his car’s broken windshield.  This, coupled with the car’s falling onto high tension power lines, caused a massive explosion, leveling all buildings within a block’s radius under the bridge.  Over 20 people died as a result of the accident and ensuing explosion. Luckily, the bridge was easily repairable not long afterwards.

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Donnell was found along the shoreline, with burns all over his body. Doctors at the Burn Unit of Yale New Haven Hospital attempted to use skin grafts for most of his burns, but his face and lower body were permanently scarred nonetheless.

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Weeks after the accident, Donnell finally awoke in Yale’s ICU. Depressed and suicidal, Donnell ran out of the hospital and to the same bridge where the accident happened.  Wanting to end his life as a ‘freak’ and a killer, he threw himself over the edge of the bridge, knowing the fall should easily kill him.  As he was falling to his death, electrical energy shot out from him, slowing his decent until, when he reached the surface of the water at a slow fall, the electrical discharge seemed to short out, dropping him into the river at the height of only 8 feet off the top of the water.

 

Donnell was completely unhurt from the fall.

 

Confused over what had just happened, Donnell tried to swim to shore. In so doing, his motions became more rapid, with his arms moving at over 100 times the rate he normally did for swimming.  Afterwards, doing the math, he swam at speeds exceeding 60 knots. Donnell swam so fast that he crashed into a cargo ship on the river and careened off of it as a result of a remarkable electrical energy field that also seemed to protect him from the impact.

 

Stunned by these new powers, Donnell got to dry land and started running.  As he ran, he went faster and faster until he was passing cars on the highway. He was also able to dodge and turn while at these speeds as if it were second nature to him. He eventually stopped at an old warehouse where he experimented with his new-found powers.  He was able to discharge electrical energy at a short range. He also discovered he had an energy field that not only protected him, but allowed for things to ‘slide’ off of him while the field was up, almost like it was frictionless; he also clocked his maximum speed at nearly 150 mph.  He deduced that he’d gained these remarkable powers as a result of the chemicals and electrical explosion when he had his accident.

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While Donnell pondered about his new-found powers, the local news showed smartphone video recordings of Donnell jumping off the bridge, obviously committing suicide. As far as the world was concerned, Donnell Davis was dead.

 

Funeral services for Donnell were held even though the police never found the body. With no identity or money, he walked amongst the homeless for months, not sure what to do with his life.  He knew if he turned himself in, he’d be in jail for manslaughter charge for the 20 people killed in his series of ‘accidents’. Instead, by happenstance, a fellow homeless woman and her children were being assaulted in a dark alley by a gang.  Donnell threw on a ski mask from a garbage pile on and saved the homeless family using his new powers.  That night, Donnell reasoned that he could use his powers to make restitution for what he’d done.  He instead created a superhero costume and started fighting crime and protecting the innocent.

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Today, “Greased Lightning”, as the media has dubbed him, is a superhero of New York City and a member of the Challengers super group.

 

On an additional note, to this day, Donnell has told no one about his true identity, and lives in a ghetto apartment in Harlem, donating any and all money he makes (other than what he needs to barely survive) to charities for those that died during his 'origin' accident.  Although he wants nothing more than to turn himself in, he feels he, instead, is doing more good by being Greased Lightning that he ever could being locked away in a prison cell for decades. His ceaseless, unending patrols looking for crimes to stop, barely getting sleep, and always going above and beyond for everyone everywhere is slowly burning him out, but to him, it's only a fraction of the restitution he owes the world for the 20 people who died because of him and his selfish, ignorant and mindless past life as Donnell Davis.

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