Firestorm #2

Firestorm tests his powers dealing with two loan sharks shaking down an old man on a busy Manhattan sidewalk. Ronnie tries to impress a random girl to prove a point to Professor Stein but it doesn't go as planned. Professor Stein is left disoriented at the Hudson Nuclear Plant after transforming back from Firestorm. Danton Black accosts the Professor as he is being questioned by police that responded for the Plant explosion. Ronnie has a dispute with Cliff Carmichael. Clark Kent broadcasts a news report about Firestorm. Multiplex, the Multiple Menace, appears and wreaks havoc.

Firestorm826's Panel-by-Panel Story Summary (Spoiler Alert)

Scene: The much-maligned isle of Manhattan! Dramatic personae: Two gangsters, an old codger, and the Nuclear Man. Time: When else? Right now!

“Just what I’ve been looking for - - a chance to give my powers a little workout!” Ronnie thinks as he happens across a street mugging-in-progress, “Besides, I’ve got time to kill…School doesn’t start for an hour!”

On the sidewalk just ahead, two thugs are working over a defenseless man. One holds him tightly with his arms behind his back while the other pummels his stomach with punches. “Youse is three days late wit yer loan payments, Mortie,” one says between punches, “Mister Oswald don’t like it when stiffs welch on him.” Mortie stares back, wide-eyed and scared. “Please, gimmie anudder day!” he begs, “Tomorrow’s my payday - - honest!” The thug rears back, readying another punch. “Sorry, Mortie,” he scoffs, “The Mob don’t like welchers…”

Suddenly, Firestorm appears overhead! “And I don’t like the Mob!” Ronnie yells down. “Say what?” the thug cries out, asking, “Who da heck…?” Firestorm scowls at him, aiming a nuclear fingertip at him. “Call me Firestorm, you creep - - as in the Nuclear Man!” Ronnie glowers as atomic energy flows from his hand.

ZAAZZK! A gesture, and instantly, a beam of sheer energy lances white-hot to the pavement below - - where the atomic structure of the concrete is suddenly altered - - turning cold cement into gloppy hot tar!

The two thugs find themselves suddenly immobilized in the sticky goo as two NYPD officers arrive. “Uh…Geewhiz…Dat guy saved my life!” Mortie cries in relief as Firestorm leaps skyward. “No applause, please,” he calls out with a playful grin, thinking, “I wish Doreen could see me pull stunts like that! Man, would she be knocked out!” Down below, a confused onlooker wonders, “Gosh…I wonder how he makes his hair burn like that? Sure must hurt like hell!”

Stein tries to bring Ronnie back to reality. “Actually, Ronald, I rather doubt that most women - - your Doreen included - - are all that impressed by feats of physical prowess,” he suggests. Ronnie soars over the busy streets as curious onlookers point at him and wonder. “That shows what you know, Professor,” Ronnie replies, “You may be terrific with test tubes, but when it comes to girls, you know zip!” Stein sighs at the exuberance of youth. “Ronald,” he answers, “I am older than you, after all, I’ve had experience…”

Ronnie quickly comes to a landing near two young couples walking along on the sidewalk. “Nuts! I’ll prove I’m right!” he thinks, “There’s a foxy lady right now!” The two couples look on in amazement as the Nuclear Man walks up to them. “Wow! You’re Firestorm, aren’t you?” one young man asks. “Yep,” Ronnie nods. “I saw a news report about you on TV last night!” the young man continues, “Say, Cynthia, this is the fella who captured those bombers at the atomic plant!” Cynthia looks at Firestorm nervously. “His h-hair…it’s burning…” she sputters.

Ronnie scoops up a discarded newspaper in his hand. “Just an illusion, Cynthia,” he tells her nonchalantly, “But if you want to see something that’s not a trick…watch this!” FOOF! Instantly, Ronnie rearranges the newspaper into a bouquet of roses! “You didn’t - - you couldn’t - - this can’t be happening - - I think I’m going to…Oooooohhh…” Cynthia stammers woozily and then faints! Her friends scramble to catch her. “She’s fainted - - and her friends look most displeased!” Stein warns, advising, “An exit is indicated, Ronald.” Ronnie steps back a bit defensively. “You’re right!” he gulps. “What’d you do to my girl, you freak?” Cynthia’s boyfriend yells.

In a quick nuclear flash, Ronnie leaps skyward. “Oh, rats!” Ronnie groans. “I knew I shouldn’t have become Firestorm again, but I just had to try it one more time, after the fun I had last night - - but it looks like I can’t even be a super-hero without messing up my chances with girls!”

Stein tries to reassure him. “You’re much too hard on yourself, Ronald,” he suggests, asking, “We saved that old man’s life, didn’t we?” Ronnie is still worried. “Yeah, but wat that my half of our persona working - - or was that you, Professor?” he asks. “You forget, Ronald,” Stein reminds him, “Because Martin Stein was unconscious when we first became Firestorm, my persona is in a dormant mode. You, Ronald, are in charge of our body - - always!”

Firestorm is silent now, thoughtful as he returns to the site of the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant in southern Westchester, where Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein were first joined…Concentrating, Firestorm now severs that link once more - - and the two halves of the Nuclear Man become separate beings, each with his own dreams!

Firefighters and police work the scene around the Hudson Nuclear Plant. Professor Stein staggers off towards the first responders, disoriented and confused from the transformation. “The Professor’s dazed - - just like he was when we last split up!” Ronnie thinks, “He never remembers what happens to us when we’re Firestorm, and maybe that’s good. One thing I don’t need is someone bossing me around…I like the Professor…even though he’s a lot like Cliff Carmichael. They’re both geniuses…but at least Professor Stein doesn’t show off…”

Ronnie thinks back to his first meeting with his arch-rival. “It’s Carmichael’s fault all this happened to me, I guess,” Ronnie recalls, “If he hadn’t made me feel like a dumb jock in front of Doreen Day, maybe I wouldn’t have tried to prove myself to her…After all, that’s why I joined Eddie Earhart’s Coalition to Resist Atomic Power - - to show Doreen I wasn’t as stupid as Carmichael said! But it turned out I was stupid - - because Earhart’s idea of resisting atomic power was blowing nuclear plants sky-high, and using me as a patsy to take the blame! The plant he chose was one designed and built by Professor Stein - - that’s why Stein and I were together!”

Ronnie walks along, slowly making his way to Bradley High. “Why we didn’t die during the explosion, I’ll never know - - but we didn’t - - we became Firestorm!” he remembers, “Now we can fly, alter our own atomic structure, even alter things around us! Last night, after we stopped Earhart’s group before it could blow up another plant, I wondered if I’d ever become Firestorm again…When I woke up this morning, I knew I had to…so I came up here, found Professor Stein, and did my thing…though I don’t know how! So that answers one question…Firestorm lives. Now I want to know - - how about Ronnie Raymond?”

And, as the frustrated teenager boards an elevated train bound for New York, back at the Hudson Plant, a bewildered Martin Stein listens to an angry cop…

“…so when the Fire Department arrives to put out this little blaze, Stein, you’re gone - - and now you show up - - without any idea where you’ve been - - or why?” the officer says suspiciously, asking, “Are you crazy - - or am I?” Stein rubs his forehead wearily. “I’m sorry, Officer, but I just don’t know what happened,” he answers, “I remember those hoodlums breaking into the plant, striking me - - and I remember waking here next morning…”

Danton Black stumbles up, clothes tattered, looking angry and disheveled. A news reporter films the breaking scene. “Liar!” Black yells out, pointing at Stein. “Eh? Black!” Stein blurts, “How did you get in here? What happened to you - - you’re a mess!” Black walks up to confront him. “Unimportant! Tell them the truth, Stein!” he growls, “I’m suing you because you stole my plans for this reactor - - and so you tried to destroy the plant to conceal your theft!” Stein quickly grows furious. “Black, you’re a fraud!” he barks back angrily. “You’ll regret that, Stein,” Black warns, shaking his fist, “Danton Black has an excellent memory for those who cross him!”

He turns and staggers away. “Particularly since you fired me as your assistant!” Black thinks, “That’s why I’m going to crucify you in court! That’s why I came here last night, to copy your designs - - to ‘prove’ my case against…” His thoughts trail off abruptly and he doubles over, clutching at his temples. “Aaaarrggghh,” he groans, “Splitting headache…!” He looks up dizzily, his vision blurred. “My head’s been in agony since that explosion last night - - pain cutting right through my skull, tearing it in two!” he moans, “My God, I’m even seeing double! Have to get away! Can’t let Stein see me like this! Lord - - what’s happening to me?”

More on Danton Black later; right now, let’s look ahead several hours to the end of the school day, as…

“This Firestorm character sure is something else!” Doreen says with a smile. She holds a newspaper with prominent headlines announcing the arrival of Firestorm in New York. “You like him, Doreen?” Ronnie asks knowingly. “Sure,” she sighs. Cliff Carmichael overhears their discussion. “You ask me, the man’s obviously a mental midget,” he scoffs, “He’s as hung up on violence as you are, Raymond!” Ronnie glares furiously at Cliff, rearing back his fist. “Nobody asked you, Carmichael,” Ronnie snarls, “And speaking of violence, that reminds me - - I still haven’t thanked you for your wisecracks at lunch yesterday!”

Cliff feigns fear at Ronnie. “Oh goodness! King Kong’s on the rampage again!” he teases, adding, “Please don’t get physical, Mr. Raymond. Principal Hapgood might not approve!” Ronnie reconsiders. “Aw, what’s the use? Everything I do is a botch,” he grumbles as he walks away, “I can’t even paste a guy without my girl getting mad.” Cliff looks over at Doreen, pointing his thumb at Ronnie. “Your girl? Ha!” he snorts. “Clifford…Dry up!” Doreen scolds him.

Soon after, at the Raymond home…Ronnie and his Dad sit in the living room together watching the evening news blaring from the TV. “…where he intercepted two Mob muscle-men in the act of harassing a victim of well-known loan shark, Oscar Oswald. We’ll be back with film on New York’s new super-hero after these messages,” the newscaster explains.

“First time Dad’s been home for supper in a week,” Ronnie thinks, “I know he’s been busy getting adjusted to his new job on the newspaper…but I wish he’d spend more time around the house…” His thoughts trail off and he thinks of the news coverage. “Say, Dad…how about this Firestorm guy, huh? Neat, right?” he asks. “I don’t approve of costumed vigilantes, Ronald,” his Dad replies, pointing at the screen, “Having Wonder Woman in New York is bad enough - - but now, with this self-styled ‘crimefighter’ - - well, frankly, there should be a law.” Ronnie sighs and grabs his jacket. “Look, I’m gonna go out for a walk, okay?” Ronnie asks. “Eh? Of course, Ronald. Do what you want,” his Dad replies.

Ronnie walks out into the moonlit driveway to shoot some free throws while he thinks. “Terrific. Even my Dad disapproves of Firestorm,” he worries, “What’s wrong with me? I do something right - - just for a change - - I just want them to be proud of me…I just want them to be proud…”

Meanwhile, in another city a few miles south… “And that’s the news tonight, from WGBS-TV in Metropolis, this is Clark Kent, hoping your news is good news. Goodnight,” Clark smiles at the camera. A graphic of Firestorm with the caption, ‘New Hero?’ is on the screen behind him. Clark gets up from the anchor desk and makes his way out of the news studio. “That special report from New York, about that strange new super-hero…Possibly it’s none of my business, but I like to keep on top of these things,” he thinks as he finds his way to an isolated supply closet. “Naturally, that isn’t a job for a TV news anchorman…” he decides. Moments later, Superman appears flying swiftly above Metropolis! “What it is,” he says with a smile, “is a job for…Superman!”

And, as the Action Ace cuts through the twilight sky toward the murky environs of New York - - in the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant, a grim Martin Stein goes about the work of repairing equipment damaged in the previous evening’s explosion…

“Another delay in opening the plant!” he frets. He busies himself using robotic arms inside an isolated chamber to move radioactive materials. “If I were given to paranoia, I’d suspect a conspiracy!” he worries, “I designed this structure to be totally fail-safe…and completely automated, needing only one pair of human hands to operate its main controls…Yet despite all my efforts, I still don’t have permission to bring this plant on line.”

He watches as the robot hands lift and pivot with a metal beam in their grip. “Danton Black’s court order prohibits me from activating the plant until his accusations have been answered before a judge - - and now the Governor is worried because he believes the plant might have been seriously harmed by yesterday’s bombing!” He grows frustrated. “Idiots, all of them! I….eh?” A clumping noise thumps out from nearby, interrupting his thoughts. Stein calls out anxiously, “Is someone there?”

A voice answers ominously. “In a word, dear Professor,” it snarls, “Yes!” THROMP! Stein is hit on the back of the head and falls to the floor! He turns and is stunned by what stands before him! “I – I must be seeing double!” he stutters, “Wh-Who are you? What do you want?” he asks the two identical men in front of him. “You can call us Multiplex, Stein! Multiplex - - the Multiple Menace!” Multiplex says doubly, “And as for what we want here - - what does anyone want from a nuclear power plant? Hahahahahaha!”

Simultaneously, one borough away… Ronnie gets back up off the ground after inexplicably being knocked over! “Wow! My jaw’s throbbing like someone just belted me - - but not me!” he exclaims, realizing, “Someone hit Professor Stein - - and I felt it! We must be tied together, even when we’re not Firestorm - - but who cares about that!” Ronnie gets up and starts running. “If someone’s hitting the Professor, he needs help!” he blurts, “And he’s just about the only friend I have!”

Ronnie’s Dad walks out to talk to his son and sees him sprinting down the driveway. “Ronnie, I’d like to - - Ronnie?” he calls out, “Son, where are you going? Ronnie? Ronnie?” Ed Raymond is puzzled. “He doesn’t hear me? Or - - did he hear me and decide not to listen,” he wonders, “What’s wrong with that boy? Sometimes I feel as though…I don’t even know him…”

Seconds later, at a subway station downtown… “Heard Dad calling me, but this is more important!” Ronnie thinks as he runs to the train platform, “I’ve got to get to Westchester - - fast! Blast! No train in sight!” He runs down around the edge of the stairway, trying to find a secluded spot out of sight. “I can’t just stand here! The Prof needs me!” he frets nervously, “Gotta try something…Don’t know if it’ll work, but if it does, I don’t want anyone to see me…If I can feel the Professor being hit even when we’re miles apart - - maybe we don’t need to be together to fuse into Firestorm!”

Ronnie closes his eyes tightly, trying to focus his mind. “I’ll concentrate - - force myself - - remember what it was like - - the joining, the changing,” he thinks desperately, “Try! I have to try! Have to - - WAH-HOO!” he cheers as atomic rings appear and quickly transform him. A bystander on the platform looks around at the empty area where a cheer just sang out. “Wah-hoo?” he thinks curiously.

Suddenly, it happens: Across a distance of twelve miles, two bodies fuse together - - and where Martin Stein crouched in consternation - - Firestorm now stands in a blaze of ruby-gold light!

“Unwelcome company, Professor?” Ronnie asks, quickly surveying the duplicate Multiplexes. “Yes, Ronald,” Stein answers with relief. “They seem to be two parts of the same man,” he explains, “and apparently they want to steal nuclear material from the pile!”

One Multiplex works an airlock valve wheel. “Stein’s vanished - - but someone else’s joined the party!” the other Multiplex blurts as he turns to face Firestorm. “Forget him! Help me with this airtight door!” calls out the Multiplex at the valve. “Cocky pair, aren’t they?” Ronnie thinks.

The airtight door opens, and the twin Multiplexes scramble inside. “Exposure to intense radiation gave us our powers - - and according to our calculations, continued and increased exposure will add to our strength - - making us stronger than any man alive!” Multiplex schemes.

Ronnie runs after them. “Okay, that does it. I’m gonna knock heads together,” he thinks, clenching his teeth as he watches Multiplex. “Don’t be impetuous, Ronald!” Stein cautions, “There’ll be time enough for the attack - - for now, observe and learn!” Ronnie looks at Multiplex through the airlock window. “Observe what? Two guys drinking up atomic energy like it’s Coca-Cola?” Ronnie argues, “Forget it, Professor! You can stand around gawking if you want - - Me, I’m for action!” Ronnie lowers his atomic density and passes into the airlock. “Ronald, wait! Their powers are unknown!” Stein warns, “You may be heading into…”

KAWHAMO! The twin Multiplexes punch into Firestorm with incredible force! “Unnnhhh…that smarts! A guy walks through walls, he begins to think he can handle anything! But I’m in this mess up to my elbows now,” Ronnie thinks, asking Stein, “So help, huh?”

Multiplex rushes him. “I just realized you must be one of Stein’s friends,” he says, “That’s why you’re here isn’t it? To protect Martin Stein?” POWWW! He pummels Firestorm again. “That makes you more than an annoyance - - it makes you our enemy!” he yells as he strikes again, bellowing, “DIE!”

Ronnie stumbles back, rubbing his chin. “I don’t believe you said that! Talk about melodrama!” Ronnie replies, “I’ve read less corny dialogue in a comic book! You guys want a fight, fine! But give me a break, willya?”

CHAROOM! Ronnie thrusts himself forward, wrapping an arm tightly around each Multiplex as he slams into them. Their momentum carries them across the room, smashing through a concrete wall! “Excellent strategy, Ronald!” Stein exclaims, “The fail-safe mechanism will seal the plant before it leaks radiation - - but now you have room to maneuver!”

So he would have, but for one crucial consideration: The men named Multiplex are more than just a team - - they act with a precision that defies understanding - - and when they strike, it is simultaneously, with a strength that is each of their strengths squared! THOOOM! The identical Multiplexes strike with a synchronized punch! The blow is devastating - - and as far as Firestorm’s ego is concerned, humiliatingly ill-timed!

The impact from Multiplex’s double strike blasts Ronnie through the plant wall and out into the air. High above, Superman has arrived on the scene. “If that’s the Nuclear Man, he looks like he needs assistance more than he can give it!” Superman thinks. He banks down as the twin Multiplexes leap out of the hole in pursuit of Firestorm. “I’d hoped we might have a new member for the Justice League,” Superman worries, “but now - - I’m just not so sure!”

Now they descend, each half of Multiplex teleporting into the one beneath to slow their fall, repeating the process tirelessly - - until, as they near their goal…Ronnie staggers to his feet after coming down into the street outside the plant. “I can repair my injuries on the atomic level - - but I’m too shaken to do it without time to concentrate!” he groans, looking up at the rapidly descending Multiple Menace. “These creeps won’t give me the chance - - unless I get them first!”

Multiplex lands in front of Firestorm. “Now, boy, we’ll learn your connection with Martin Stein!” he sneers, “Why you arrived just after he disappeared! Choose silence over cooperation, and I swear, you’ll regret - - eh? Gesturing! And these objects are coming alive!” Multiplex is suddenly caught by surprise. Ronnie uses atomic restructuring to form two giant nutcrackers that reach out and snatch the two duplicates!

“Not alive, turkeys! Just mobile under my atomic touch!” Ronnie explains, “A glance at those objects lets me ‘read’ their molecular structure - - and then rearranging that structure is as easy as tying shoelaces!” Multiplex squirms in the tight grip of the giant nutcrackers. “Think you’re smart, eh, punk?” he snorts. “No more than the average atomic-powered hero!” Ronnie answers. “You’re a million laughs, kid!” Multiplex retorts, “But if you want a real chuckle - - try this one on for size!”

Multiplex swings his fist, smashing into a nearby fire hydrant. SPOOSH! It ruptures, and the powerful stream of water gushes right into Firestorm just as he flies over it! “YEOWW!” Ronnie yells, thrust back upwards wildly by the hydraulic blast!

Borne upward on a column of pressurized water, Firestorm barely has time to free himself before… “Watch it, Sonny!” Superman says as he plucks him out of mid-air, “Keep those eyes open for low-flying helicopters!” Ronnie feels the impact of someone behind him. “Huh?” he blurts. “Don’t you think your time would be better spent crashing into the bad guys rather than innocent passers-by?” Superman asks.

Ronnie looks back and gasps in shock. “Who the - - ulp! It’s - - it’s - - it’s…” he stutters in a mixture of confused excitement. “Say it,” the Man of Steel suggests. “Superman!” Ronnie cries out in amazement. “Right the first time,” nods Superman, asking, “Er, much as I’d like to chat - - haven’t you forgotten something?” Superman points at the street down below them. “Hmm?” the distracted Ronnie mumbles as he looks down, groaning, “Oh, great!” He smacks his forehead in frustration. “Multiplex! Both of him, gone!” he exclaims, “While I hung around with my tongue out like some star-struck teenybopper - - they escaped! I had them - - and I blew it!”

Superman and Firestorm land in the street near the still-spewing fire hydrant. “Relax. Everyone makes mistakes,” Superman reassures him. “You don’t!” Ronnie blurts back. “Think so?” Superman asks, adding, “Remind me to tell you about a former friend of mine named Lex Luthor!” Ronnie looks back and forth quickly. “Where could they be?” he wonders.

Ronnie walks dejectedly, fixing the fire hydrant with a restructuring burst. “While I’m repairing myself I’ve got to think - - try to remember any clue…” Ronnie ponders. Superman watches his young friend. “He’s so eager, so desperate to succeed,” thinks the Man of Steel, “He makes the Red Tornado look like an underachiever!”

Stein takes an analytical approach. “Ronald…remember what Multiplex wants, by his own admission,” he explains, “Atomic energy to increase his strength! Apparently he requires it for survival as a duplicate being…and where is the nearest nuclear plant - - apart from my own Hudson Plant? A plant he’s already drained?” Ronnie thinks quickly. “State University - - they’ve got an experimental pile in their physics lab!” Ronnie recalls. “Gotta run, Superman!” Ronnie calls as he leaps skyward, “Just maybe - - I’ve got my lead!”

Some few minutes later, on the campus of State U., just north of Central Park in Manhattan…The twin Multiplexes busily work at breaking into the experimental pile. “More energy - - and we’ll have all the power we need!” one twin says. SCRUNCH! The gloved hand of his twin rips at the door. “If we can rip twelve-inch lead shielding off a wall,” he answers, “imagine what we‘ll do to bank vaults!”

With a low chuckle, Multiplex drops the ten-ton door to the ground, but when they step within the green-lit reactor room… “Bank vaults? Really, fellas, I’m disappointed,” Firestorm announces as they walk in, “I thought for sure you jerks were out to rule the world or some dumb thing, and now I find out you’re nothing but a pair of second-rate safecrackers!”

Multiplex looks at him in surprise. “You! How could you get in here - - an airtight room?” he asks in disbelief. “Through the wall, bozo - - How else?” Ronnie asks. The two Multiplexes break into a sprint, running for the atomic pile right behind Firestorm. “Doesn’t matter! We’re too fast for you, fool!” Multiplex growls, “See? We’ve already reached the atomic pile!”

Ronnie wheels about and fires a nuclear burst. ZZZOMM! It rockets through the air, but Multiplex sidesteps out of the way! The burst smashes into the atomic pile. “Ha! You’re so rattled, you can’t even hit us with your blast-beams!” Multiplex laughs, “You had your chance, your one chance, and you missed! Now it’s our turn!”

The twin Multiplexes reach their hands out to make contact with the atomic pile. “A moment, and we’ll have absorbed the radiation in this pile!” one duplicate says. His twin suddenly recoils in discomfort, doubling over and clutching his hand over his face. “No! We’re weakening - - draining our own energy!” he groans. “Something’s wrong with the pile!” he exclaims. “It’s - - it’s empty - - and the absorption effort - - is backfiring!” his twin blurts. “What’s happening?” he yells in shock. “In two words, couplet - - You lose!” Ronnie yells. BALAMMO! Firestorm blasts both duplicates with stunning punches! The twin Multiplexes tumble back and fall, unable to continue the fight.

Superman strolls into the airlock. “Nicely handled, Firestorm,” he smiles, “But what did you do?” Ronnie explains, “That off-target blast wasn’t off-target! I used my atom-altering power to change the uranium in that pile to harmless phosphorescence…When they absorbed it - - I guess they just blew a fuse!” Superman and Firestorm bend down and remove the helmet-masks from the two Multiplexes. “Recognize them, son?” Superman asks. “’They’ is a fella named Danton Black,” Ronnie explains, “Let’s get them to a hospital.”

Shortly, at the Downtown Medical Center… “Weird. Black must have been at the Hudson Plant when Earhart’s bomb went off,” Ronnie thinks. He stands in a hospital room watching doctors tend to Multiplex. “He was caught in the same radiation blast as we were,” Ronnie figures, “But in his case, it had a fission effect, instead of the fusion that joined us…Now without a radiation charge, the ‘split-up’ that made Multiplex is wearing off.”

The two Multiplexes shimmer in rippling yellow light, and slowly their two separate forms merge back into one body. “Thing is, will Black remember what happened?” Ronnie wonders, “And if he gets near a reactor - - will it happen again?” Stein looks over the single Multiplex warily. “True, Ronald,” he answers, “I fear this was just - - an introduction!”

And, after the unconscious Danton Black has been removed to a high security area of the center… “Son, you’ve got promise,” Superman tells Firestorm with an appreciative smile. “I do?” Ronnie says with eyes wide in excitement. “You aren’t ready yet, but someday - - maybe soon - - I just might nominate you for the Justice League,” Superman explains.

“You will?” Ronnie gasps. Overjoyed, Ronnie leaps up into the sky. He banks, dives, and barrel rolls in glee. “Fan-taas-tic! Maybe I’m not such a screw-up after all!” he cries happily, “Outa my way, world! Nothing can stop me now!”

Guaranteed: This is nowhere near - - the end!