Firestorm #5

Firestorm and the Hyena trade blows in a vicious melee outside the burning warehouse next to Bradley High. Principal Hapgood sees gangster 'Spit' Shine and makes a panicked phone call. Multiplex escapes from the Downtown Medical Center. Cliff Carmichael sees Firestorm transform and figures the Nuclear Man must be someone at Bradley High...but who? Professor Stein meets with private investigator Liam McGarrin after another blackout. Ronnie gets some distressing information about his father from a reporter at the New York News Express. Multiplex and Firestorm battle on the subway.

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

Meet the Hyena: The Hyena has a problem - - an obsessive hatred of authority, particularly the authority of the New York City Police! Just mention the cops, and the Hyena goes wild! But don’t take our word for it: Ask Firestorm…You see, he made that mistake last issue, and he may be about to pay for it - - with his life!

Ronnie flies backward from a savage strike from the powerful Hyena! “This guy’s wacko!” Ronnie cries, trying to get to his feet, “I say one word about calling the cops to cart off the crooks I captured - - and the next thing I know, pow! This jerk hits me! And it hurts! Professor Stein - - you’ve gotta help me!”

While the warehouse fire rages behind them, Stein watches as Ronnie and the Hyena battle. “Sorry, Ronald, but my assistance is purely advisory!” Stein answers, “Our bodies may have been joined together by a freak nuclear accident - - but your mind is in control of our union, not mine!” Ronnie leaps up to fly, trying to get some space between him and the onrushing beast. “Terrific! I ask for help, and you give me a science lecture!” Ronnie gripes, “You’re worse than some of my teachers!”

KZAK! KZAM! SLASH! Ronnie fires off nuclear bursts as the Hyena swipes at him. KTHOOM! ZOTTS! BLAM! “Rats! What’s wrong with me? Every time I try to zap this Hyena with a nuclear blast, I miss!” Ronnie frets, “He’s just moving too fast!”

A burst sails past the dodging Hyena and strikes the iron bars of the cage holding Shine’s men. They seize the damaged bars and wrestle them loose quickly, making a break for it as Firestorm is occupied with the Hyena. “Arrggh! Now look what I’ve done!” Ronnie sees, “One of my misses hit the cage I made to hold those thieves till the cops show up! They’re splitting - - and I’m too hung up to stop ‘em!”

But, as the old maxim says, ‘One man’s poison is another man’s veal parmigiana,’ or something like that…

“Good - - my boy’s escaped,” ‘Spit’ Shine thinks with a sigh of relief. “Now they can’t finger me as the brains who planned this warehouse rip-off!” he thinks as he puts his car in gear, “The ‘Spit’ Shine luck is still going strong!”

Yeah, well - - too bad the same can’t be said for Firestorm… “YEEOW!” Ronnie yells, “Those claws are razor sharp!” The Hyena lunges at Ronnie, smashing into him hard! “One real solid slash - - and I’ll be dog food!” Ronnie worries, asking the Hyena, “What’s with you, anyway? Why pick on me? The morning news says you captured some robbers yourself last night! Doesn’t that put us on the same side?”

The Hyena continues to wrestle with Ronnie, slashing his costume into tatters. “The same side? The same side?” it asks, “Hee-hee-hee-hee! You wanted to summon the police! You wanted to help them! Hahahaha! That makes you as bad as they are! Heehaha!” Ronnie tries to fend off the blows, thinking, “What a fruitcake!”

The Hyena smashes a claw across Ronnie’s face. “EEOW!” Ronnie yells out. “It’s true I hate criminals! It’s true I’m a scavenger of crime! Hee-haha-haha!” Stein looks on nervously. “Ronald, withdraw! The Hyena is a ruthless in-fighter!” he warns, “Your atomic restructuring powers are useless at such close quarters! In Heaven’s name, Ronald, get out of there!” Ronnie tries to push off the Hyena and fires a nuclear burst. “You’re telling me? He blocks every shot!” Ronnie blurts.

“Yes, like the true hyena of the African Plains, I too steal the prey of the predators! Hee-hee-hee!” the Hyena hisses, “But where the bestial hyena steals food from a lion - - I steal loot from a crook! But not for the cops! Never for the cops! Heeha! Heehee-haha!”

Ronnie lies on his back, stunned from the onslaught. “You don’t have the Hyena’s skill or experience! We’ll be slashed to ribbons!” Stein yells. Ronnie looks up as the Hyena prepares to pounce. “Can’t move, Professor,” he groans, “Head’s spinning - - too dazed to defend myself!” The Hyena lunges at him, cackling maniacally as it strikes! “I’m - - going down!” Ronnie moans, crushed under the Hyena’s writhing muscular mass.

And, as the Nuclear Man staggers under the Hyena’s savage onslaught…

“My Lord, this is terrible!” Principal Hapgood exclaims in shock, “First, a fire in that fur warehouse opposite the school, now a battle between two crazed costumed crime-fighters!” He looks down from his office window on the hectic below. “When I accepted the post of Bradley High’s Principal, I knew I’d be dealing with a dangerous neighborhood - - but who would’ve imagined this? And to think, this once was the quietest area in Upper Manhattan!”

He watches for a few moments as Firestorm and the Hyena continue to struggle. “It’s enough to - - Dear God!” he gasps, “I just noticed, in that car parked across the street - - ‘Spit’ Shine, son of New York’s most notorious Mob overlord!” Hapgood turns quickly from his window. “If Shine’s here, that fire must have been a diversion! ‘Spit’ Shine wants more than a handful of stolen fur coats! He must want me!” Hapgood realizes as he stands near his desk. “If I can just slip out the rear door unnoticed - - No! I have to warn the man Shine really wants!” he decides. He reaches for the phone and anxiously dials a number. “Answer! For God’s sake, answer the - - hello?” he blurts as the other line picks up, continuing quickly, “Thank Heaven you’re in! This is Wallace Hapgood - - yes, yes, I know - - but this is urgent, my friend!” Hapgood looks on the verge of panic. “Your old enemies must know you’re back in town!” he explains breathlessly, “Listen carefully, no time to explain…”

So there’s more to Ronnie Raymond’s principal than meets the eye, but to learn much more, we’ll have to wait! In the meantime, at the Downtown Medical Center, a few miles south…

“So that’s our special security patient, hm - - the one we’re holding for the New York City Police until he comes out of a coma,” a doctor asks an intern. They stand in the corridor outside an observation window to a patient room where a comatose man reclines on a hospital bed. A bright sign announces ‘Restricted’ above the window. “Doesn’t seem like much…What did you say his name was?” the doctor asks. “Danton Black. I don’t know the full story on him,” the intern replies, explaining, “Apparently, he’s a nuclear engineer who worked on the Hudson Power Plant up in Westchester with Professor Martin Stein. They say Black went berserk! Just what he did, I’m not sure. Anyway, the authorities want us to keep him isolated and we have - - but, if you want my opinion, it’s all a little melodramatic - - eh?”

Something amiss distracts him. “Did you notice the light blink?” he asks, nodding at the ‘Restricted’ sign. The doctor looks up. “Blink? It’s gone out! Must be defective!” he observes, adding, “Call Maintenance, and have them…”

Suddenly, lights begin going out up and down the hallway in rapid succession! “What on Earth? Now all the corridor lights are blinking off!” the intern notes with worry. “Listen! The whole building is powering down! Something wrong with the generators” he warns, asking, “But how could…?”

The intern’s question goes unanswered, and in the next instant becomes decidedly irrelevant, as…

BWHOOM! An explosion rocks the corridor, blowing the stunned doctor and intern down. “The isolation room - - it’s blowing apart!” yells the doctor, “Lookooooout!”

And simultaneously, in the street outside Bradley High - -where things are little better than they were moments before:

“Ronald, it is imperative that you are not injured!” Stein warns, “Who knows how it might affect our separate bodies, if Firestorm’s fused body is…” The Hyena laughs loudly, lashing Ronnie with another blow. “Will you please shut up?” Ronnie pleads, “I’m doing my best - - I don’t need you dumping on me too!”

Ronnie stumbles back. The Hyena eyes him carefully, slowly raising its claw. “This exercise has continued long enough! I’m bored - - and tired!” it growls, “Heeheehee! I’m going to finish you, cop-lover - - with a small caress from my Vibro-Claws!” Klik! Whrrrr! Instantly, the Hyena’s claws begin vibrating like miniature power saws. It sweeps a claw near Ronnie, slicing right through a light pole!

“Oboy!” Ronnie gulps nervously. “Hahaha! I built these toys for special occasions - - diamond-edged claws vibrating at ultrasonic frequency! Sharp aren’t they?” the Hyena asks, stalking closer, “Imagine what they’ll do to you! Hee-haha!” Stein calls out fearfully, “Ronald…” Ronnie rubs at his shoulder, his costume in tatters. “Quiet, Professor!” Ronnie answers, “I’ve got one shot before he jumps - - and if I miss, I’m a dead man!”

ZZZAM! But miss he does - - ! Or does he? KZZAK! Ronnie’s nuclear burst sails past the Hyena, smashing into a tall electrical pole just behind them. The girders and support beams of the pole weaken from the blast. “Hee-haha!” the Hyena cackles as it moves in for the kill.

CREEEEAK! The girders give way and the pole starts to fall! KWAMM! The heavy steel pole crashes down on top of the Hyena! The beast crumples unconscious! “You changed the support struts on that power line tower - - into tin foil!” Stein exclaims, “Perhaps not an orthodox use of your atomic restructuring powers - - but an effective one! Still, we came terribly close to being killed! Next time, we…” Ronnie quickly interrupts, explaining, “Uh-uhn, Professor! No more ‘next time’ for me! This isn’t fun - - it’s murder! I’m through!”

Ronnie stands gathering his composure, looking down at the motionless Hyena. Unseen behind him, a shadowy figure slowly stalks up to him. “Punk, I don’t know who you’re talking to - - but I couldn’t agree with you more!” snarls ‘Spit’ Shine. POW! Shine viciously surprises Ronnie with a pistol whip blow to the base of the skull! “Unnhh!” Ronnie groans, collapsing unconscious next to the Hyena.

“Some super-hero!” Shine scoffs, “All that fire on his head must’ve melted his brains! He didn’t even hear me sneaking up on him!” Shine’s men rush over to their boss. “What the hell, if we can’t grab Hapgood, we’ll grab the Hyena! At least this way, I’ll have something to show my Mom and Dad!” Shine decides, directing his men to load the Hyena into the getaway car. Two of his thugs reach down to pick up the limp beast. “Hey, he ain’t heavy at all! Mosta this costume is padding!” one thinks. “Padding or not, I sure don’t wanna be around when he wakes up!” another figures. He points at the motionless Nuclear Man, asking, “Hey Boss - - what about the other one? Waste ‘im?” REEEEE! Police cars are quickly approaching. “Leave him!” Shine barks, “Don’t you hear those sirens? Somebody finally called the cops!

Shine’s car screeches away in a cloud of dust. Ronnie groans, coming to and slowly lifting himself up. “Owww…Slugged from behind by a crummy gangster!” he moans dejectedly, “That cuts it! I’ve had it with this super-hero scene!” Ronnie stumbles to his feet and hesitantly leaps to the air, still shaking off the after-effects of the vicious attack. “Ronald, you’re not serious!” Stein blurts, “Turning our composite self into a super-hero was your idea! Now - - when we’re becoming good at it - - you want to quit?” Ronnie flies from the warehouse over to the back side of the school building. “You bet, Professor. I’m just your average high-schooler, remember?” Ronnie asks in frustration, “I can’t deal with this life-and-death stuff anymore! Sorry - - but I’ve got enough problems of my own!”

Uh-huh, and here’s one now - - Cliff Carmichael, the ever popular school smart-mouth: “Huh? Isn’t that Firestorm? What’s he doing in the school yard?” Cliff asks in surprise, looking down at the Nuclear Man from a school hallway window. FTOOM! “Eeeyow!” Cliff blurts, squinting his eyes, “Bright light - - can’t see! That jerk’s a menace!” Cliff turns back, trying to look at Firestorm. “Great, now I’ve got spots before my - - eh?” he asks, ‘Waitasecond! Firestorm’s gone…and someone’s slipping into the school…Hot ships! That must be Firestorm’s secret identity!”

Cliff thinks quickly. “Sure, it all fits!” he thinks with a snap of his finger, “A few days back, Firestorm jumped on me - - and he said he’d heard from ‘sources’ that I’d been bad-mouthing him! Sources, my shoe-horn! Firestorm’s somebody at Bradley High! But who?” He turns and heads for class. “If only that bright light hadn’t dazzled me, I’d know for sure…but maybe I can still figure it out scientifically! Yeah - - and when I do, I’ll be famous! That’ll show him, boy!” he schemes.

A student looks over and sees Cliff approaching. “Hey, Carmichael, you creep!” he calls out, obviously irritated, “That term paper you sold me was a stinker! Teach gave me an F- ! Just wait’ll I get you after school!” Cliff quickly shuffles past. “Let’s see, the way he acted, Firestorm hates my guts,” Cliff figures. Lost in thought, he bumps into another student with his shoulder. “Watch where you’re going, turkey!” the student says as he shoves Cliff. Another student walks up and knocks Cliff’s books out of his hands. “Hey Carmichael, you creep! My girl says you bothered her at the dance! Do it again, and I’ll fix your face!” he warns. “

“Okay, that narrows it down…” Cliff thinks as he bends down to retrieve his books, “All I’ve got to do is make a list…a short list, shouldn’t be too hard…” Tap-tap-tap! Cliff looks over at a teacher’s shoe standing next to him. He trembles and looks up. “Clifford, you know the school policy about fighting in the halls,” the annoyed teacher tells him, “Be down in the gym at three o’clock. We’ll see if you’re as fast with your feet as you are with your mouth. Fifty laps around the track - - and Carmichael, I’ll enjoy this!”

Cliff sighs as he gets up, “Of course, I’ll have to include some teachers too…M-Maybe this’ll be more complicated than I thought…” Ronnie walks up to Cliff. “Hi, Carmichael, have you seen Doreen around?” he asks, “I have a date with her and her sister after school.” Cliff glares at his rival. “Go sit on a tack, willya Raymond? I’m busy!” Cliff snarls. He continues to class, wondering, “Somebody at Bradley High…but who?”

And, as a bewildered Cliff Carmichael continues past a bemused Ronnie Raymond, less than a block away, an equally bewildered Professor Martin Stein makes a frantic phone call…

“McGarrin? It’s happened again!” Stein blurts from inside a phone booth. Liam McGarrin leans back in his chair and props his feet up on his desk. “Another blackout, Professor, like the ones you told me about in the office?” he asks, adding, “I wondered what happened to you. You disappeared before I could begin shadowing you, as we agreed.” He listens for a moment. “Sure, Professor,” he answers, directing, “Stay there. I’ll pick you up in thirty minutes.”

Exactly twenty-nine minutes later… “This isn’t a normal part of our service, Stein, but you sounded desperate,” McGarrin announces as he pulls up and parks his car next to the Professor. “Get in, I want us to talk,” he suggests, and Stein climbs in.

And, at that same time, in a Midtown office building… “You stupid half-wit!” yells Mother Shine angrily, “Bringing him here! I oughta…” SLAAP! She whips a backhand across ‘Spit’ Shine’s face. “Unnh!” he groans as he falls to the floor. “Aw gee, why’d you have to hit me in front of the boys?” he asks, lifting himself up, asking, “How’re they gonna respect me if you treat me like dirt! It just isn’t fair, Ma!”

Mother Shine stands glowering over him, clutching her Tommy gun and wearing a purple zoot suit. “You want respect? Then don’t act like a baboon!” she snarls, explaining, “First you try to snatch Hapgood without clearing it with me or your Dad, and, when you botch that, you grab a refugee from a Wolfman movie! For once in your life, be like your brother - - and think!”

Two of ‘Spit’s’ gang hold the limp Hyena up by the shoulders, dragging it across the office floor. “Listen to your mother, ‘Spit.’ Crime is a business these days,” chimes in his father, ‘Shoe’ Shine, standing nearby in an orange pinstriped zoot suit. “Folks don’t get kidnapped in a business, son,” he adds.

‘Spit’ gets to his feet. “But - - but that’s what you used to do!” he protests, “You told me how you were gun-runners back in Prohibition days…You snatched Congressman…Senators…once, even the Mayor of Syracuse, just to keep the cops from closing your operation! I thought…” Mother Shine snaps at him. “Shaddup!” she barks, slapping him hard across the face again. “Them days were different! That was before your Dad spent fifteen years in jail!” she yells at him, “We’re still the top Mob in New York - - but we’re respectable now! We’re in politics! And you, ya dumb jerk, you wanna set us back thirty years!”

‘Shoe’ Shine tries to defend his son from his wife’s wrath. “Now, Ma, don’t hurt the boy!” he calls to her, “He meant well.” She glares at her husband, growling, “’Shoe’, you’re too blasted soft!” He points at her from under his wide-brimmed fedora. “Ma, don’t forget who’s head of this family! Maybe you were Boss while I sat in the slammer, but I’m home now, and ‘Spit’s’ my boy, too,” he explains, “He was just trying to get Hapgood so we could find our old friend Rockwell. He chose the wrong time, that’s all.”

Mother Shine backs off of ‘Spit’. “Have it your way, Shoe,” she answers. “Rrrrr,” the Hyena moans. “We still don’t need that walking rug!” Mother Shine yells, pointing at the beast, “Dump him in the Bay, boys, before he wakes u…”

Too late, Mother Shine - - Too late by a long shot! With a shrug the waking Hyena throws off the gangster-guards like a hound shaking fleas - - and then springs the length of the room, claws flashing, a laughing snarl bubbling deep within slavering jaws:

“He’s crazy! Shoot him, Ma! Shoot!” yells a terrified ‘Spit’ Shine as the Hyena barrels into him. Mother Shine aims her Tommy gun. “Just get your head down, Shoe,” she yells, “I’ll blast that sucker clear back to Canarsie! Hahaha!” She opens fire! RAKATAKATAKATAK!

But, though Mother Shine’s machine gun spits bullets with deadly accuracy, the Hyena moves with even greater skill and speed - - and before Mother Shine can shift aim, the savage scavenger is gone - - a dwindling shape soon lost in the city’s sprawling shadows:

“Ma, did you see his eyes?” That crazy clown wanted to kill me!” Shoe asks, “But why me? I’ve never even seen him before!” He and Mother Shine stand at the window’s edge. The glass was shattered when the Hyena blasted through it. They can see the Hyena far below, acrobatically dangling from a building as it makes its way down to the rooftops.”God knows, Shoe!” Mother Shine answers, “But I’ve got a sure feeling he’ll be back - - and next time, we’ll waste him but good!”

Time now, to look in on the teen half of the Firestorm fusion, as Ronnie Raymond leads Doreen Day into the offices of the New York News Express…

“Sorry your sister Summer couldn’t be here, Doreen,” Ronnie says as he opens the door for her, “I wanted both of you to meet Dad.” Doreen steps inside. “I’m sorry, too, Ronnie,” she answers a bit anxiously, “but I can’t imagine where she’s gone off to. After her meeting with Principal Hapgood - - before that fire - - she disappeared! She didn’t even wait to tell me if she’d gotten that teaching job - - she just vanished!” Ronnie nods, replying, “Hate to say it, Doreen, but your sister’s a little…weird.”

Ronnie leads Doreen toward a reporter busily punching a story into the keys of her typewriter. “Uh - - hi. I’m looking for my Dad, Edward Raymond. He’s a reporter here…Do you know where I can find him?” Ronnie asks. She turns from her work to look at him. “Say, sure, Ed Raymond, you must be his kid, Ronnie,” she says with a smile, “My name’s Hildy…Hildy Park. Sorry, but your Dad stepped out.” Ronnie frowns. “Oh, great. That’s swell,” Ronnie answers, “I told him I wanted to bring some friends here to see how the paper’s run - - and what does he do? He leaves me high and dry - - like always!”

Hildy tries to reassure him. “Don’t be too hard on him, Ron,” she explains, “He got a phone call before he left…and from his expression, it looked important, probably a tip. News reporters have to hustle for their stories, and even though your Dad’s one of the best, he did come into the business pretty late…” Ronnie gets irritated and interrupts. “Huh? What’re you talking about?” he blurts, “Dad’s been a reporter for twenty years!”

Hildy gets up from her desk. “Uh, Ron…Your father started reporting only a few years ago,” she answers, “What he did before that, I can’t say - - but he wasn’t in the newspaper biz.” Ronnie yells out in disbelief, “You’re nuts! Dad’s been a reporter all his life! He wouldn’t lie to me! He wouldn’t!” Doreen pulls on his arm, asking, “Ronnie, we better go…Please?”

And, as a stunned Ronnie Raymond allows himself to be led from the News Express Building, not far away, at the Downtown Medical Center…

“Let’s get this straight. You say this guy drained energy from a bunch of lightbulbs - - and then blasted a hole through two feet of concrete wall?” a skeptical police officer asks, “C’mon, Doc. Come clean. A gas main blew up and you’re covering up - - right?” A nurse tends to the doctor who is still shaken from the explosion.

“Wrong! Officer, Danton Black is obviously far more than a mere man!” the doctor answers, “Ask your superiors - - he once was a ‘super-villain’ named Multiplex!” The officer stops scribbling on his notepad. “Sure, Doc. How do you spell that - - M-u-l-t-i-p-l-e-c-k-s?” he asks. “Call the commissioner, man! He tell you!” the exasperated doctor replies, adding, “Multiplex is a menace! He absorbs energy - - uses it to gain super-strength! You have to stop him!” The officer shakes his head. “Right, Doc. Why don’t we run it down again…from the beginning…”

At that moment, in a bar near the offices of McGarrin Investigations, Inc,… “Tell me again, Professor!” McGarrin asks, “You say you’ve had these blackouts ever since an accident at the nuclear plant you designed up in Westchester…” Stein nods, taking a gulp of his beer and whiskey. “And they worry me, McGarrin, am I losing my mind?” Stein asks nervously. “All my life, I’ve believed in…scientific explanations, but this...! Blacking out…waking miles from where I should be…It’s a nightmare! That’s why I want to be followed. I must know what I do…No matter how unthinkable..!” Stein tips his glass and takes another long drink. McGarrin eyes him, slowly puffing on his cigarette. “Maybe you drink, Professor,” he thinks, “The way you’re slugging down those boiler-makers, it’s a miracle you know where you are now!”

And, as a desperately worried Martin Stein talks with a skeptical Liam McGarrin, elsewhere in the city, a familiar costumed figure stalks in the later afternoon streets - - scattering crowds with a near-demonical laugh, as he drains energy from movie marquees - - bus engines - - light poles and gas-driven dynamos! And with each new power surge, his laugh shrills wilder and his eyes flare mad, for he is Multiplex, the Duplicate Menace - - and he prepares for an act of bloody vengeance!

Not long after, at the 57^th Street subway entrance… “Feeling better, Ronnie?” Doreen asks. “I guess so. Thanks for letting me walk off my anger, Doreen,” Ronnie nods, adding, “What that girl said about Dad just made me so mad…” They put their tokens in the machine and walk through the turnstiles. “Maybe…because I guessed it’s the truth!” Ronnie thinks, “I mean, I’ve wondered about Dad for a long time. Why we’ve always moved from city to city, never staying anywhere long enough for me to make friends…Why Dad won’t talk about Mom…and how she died. Why he gets moody sometimes…”

Doreen watches him with concern. “Poor Ronnie! I can see how upset he is,” she thinks as they walk down to the platform, “From what he’s said, he and his father have never gotten along…and now this! Why would his father lie to him? That’s what I can’t understa - - Huh?”

Doreen’s thoughts are interrupted by a mass of anxious and scared people rushing up the stairs. “Gangway, ya stupid kid!” a man yells, shoving past her. “Run! For Heaven’s sake - - Run!” yells a panicked woman. “What the - - Has everyone flipped out?” Ronnie asks in shock as people push past him abruptly. “Lemme outta here! He’s comin’ this way!” a man yells. Ronnie makes it to the base of the platform. “Who’s coming which way? Will somebody tell me what’s…”

Ronnie looks out on the tracks and gasps. “Oh my God! It’s Multiplex!” he thinks, “He’s loose - - back in costume - - and somehow, he’s pulling power from the subway’s third rail!” Multiplex kneels on the tracks, holding the energized third rail. ZZAAZAZAZ! The electrical current hums loudly as it passes into him from the rail. “More! More! Then I can split again - - divide myself once more! Yes! Yes! Yessss!” Multiplex cries out as he soaks in the power. “But - - I thought Multiplex only absorbed atomic energy!” Ronnie thinks as he looks on, “That’s how he got his powers - - in the same explosion that fused me into Firestorm! With him it had an opposite effect - - giving him the power to split in two! Holy Hannah, if he can absorb any kind of energy - - he’ll be invincible!”

BBRONK! BRRONK! The loud horn of the oncoming F Train announces its momentary arrival. “Huh? That train speeding into the station - - it’s on a collision course!” Ronnie thinks. On board, the subway driver looks on in horror at Multiplex standing just ahead on the tracks. “Oh, Lord! No room to brake! That guy’s gonna be flattened!” he yells. Multiplex shimmers brightly in a strange rhythmic light. “Eh?” the driver thinks, “My eyes going bad? He’s getting all blurry…”

Ronnie watches, shielding his eyes from the bright radiance. “Multiplex is splitting apart” he thinks anxiously, “When he does that, he becomes super-strong! Like a human atomic bomb!” In an instant, Multiplex fissions off a duploid. The two identical men thrust a powerful punch into the onrushing subway train! TABOOM! The train stops dead in its tracks! “YAAAHH!” the stunned driver yells as the impact throws him through the window.

Ronnie Raymond’s next action is instinctive. Gone are the fears of a few hours before: With an effort of will - - he mentally reaches out to the man whose life is unwittingly tied to Ronnie’s own…

“Jush…one more drink…try to forget,” Professor Stein mumbles as he gulps at another boiler-maker. McGarrin looks at him with concern. “Good grief! Either Stein’s a lush - - or a man with sincere fears, trying to drown them in drink,” he thinks, deciding, “I believe Stein’s telling the truth!”

And, as he has six times before, Ronnie joins with Stein despite the distance, summoning the scientist into instantaneous fusion - - a process that leaves a certain detective suitably stunned:

Stein drops his glass on the table and slides off his chair under the table. In that instant, atomic rings encircle him and he disappears! McGarrin sighs and looks under the table for his drunk client. “C’mon, Stein, I’m taking you ho - - Huh?” he gasps in shock, “He’s gone!”

Teleportation or simultaneous transportation - - the name doesn’t matter, and the effect is simple: A man vanishes from a bar, and a teenager disappears from a subway platform, and in their stead - - there is Firestorm!

The Nuclear Man appears on the subway platform and launches himself towards Multiplex. “Good thing Doreen ran off with the crowd - - otherwise, I’d have some explaining to do as Ronnie Raymond,” Ronnie thinks. A strange sensation pervades in his body. “I - - Hey! Something’s weird! I feel woozy - - off-balance!” he worries, “I’m flying too fast! Multiplex sees me! No time to turn before he…”

SPLOW! The twin Multiplexes pummel the approaching Firestorm with a powerful tandem punch. Ronnie is flung through the air, stunned by the blow, landing nearby on the tracks. “This is almost too good to be true!” Multiplex thinks, “It’s the same punk who beat me the first time I became Multiplex! But that was before I figured out how to control my powers! Now I’m going to pound him into the asphalt!”

Ronnie lifts himself up as Multiplex rushes towards him. “Well, well, Ronald, my boy! What a pleasant shurprise!” Stein slurs happily, “I thought you decided to quit thish ‘shuper-hero’ game! Changed your mind. Eh? I’m proud of you…” Ronnie realizes something is wrong with his subconscious advisor. “Uh-oh! Professor Stein sounds sick!” he thinks, asking himself, “And if he’s sick - - I’m sick! What’ll I do?”

You better do something, hero - - and you better do it fast!

Ronnie stumbles to his feet as the twin Multiplexes lunge for him. KWHUNK! They throw a dual punch at him that barely misses as Ronnie dodges. Multiplex hits the track bed, throwing up a spray of rocks. “Bought myself a few seconds - - but that’s all!” Ronnie thinks, looking over his shoulder, “Multiplex can’t fly, but down in a tunnel, that gives me a pretty slim advantage - - especially since I’m so dizzy! How can I stop him? Professor, some advice - - quick!”

Stein thinks quickly through the alcohol’s effect. “You’ve got a nuclear blasht, Ronnie boy! Use it - - knock that bum back into the shtone age!” Stein directs. Ronnie aims his hands at Multiplex. “The direct approach, huh? Suits me, Professor,” he answers. Light dances around his palms. “Grab your socks, Bobbsey Twins - - You’re going back to Sleepy Land!”

Ronnie starts to unleash a nuclear burst from each hand into the Multiplexes. “Wait? Waitaminnut - - am I crazy?” he asks himself as he watches, “Multiplex feeds on energy! If my blast hits him, it’ll give him more power! Gotta divert it - - but I’m leaving myself wide open for…”

BWHOM! BLAM! Ronnie is knocked back by a Multiplex double punch! “Shorry about that, Ronald, guessh I washn’t thinking!” Stein mumbles, “Jusht give me a second…I’ll come up with a real plan!” Ronnie staggers back as Multiplex hits him again. “Professor, I don’t have a second! He’s murdering me!” Ronnie warns. “Uhh…feels like…mind’s stuffed with cotton!” Stein worries though his inebriation, “Lord help me…Lord help Ronald…I can’t seem to…think!”

Two more punches land viciously on Ronnie’s jaw. “Unnh,” he groans from the impact. “The boy needs me…and I’m failing him! Have to…shake it off…get my mind working again..!” Stein frets, “But everything seems so fuzzy! I…can’t! Can’t! Ronald…forgive me…”

Multiplex and his duploid grab onto each of Ronnie’s arms tightly. Ronnie fights to free himself. “Now, Firestorm, you’ve got so much nuclear energy packed in that scrawny frame,” Multiplex snarls, “You’re going to give some - - to me!”

Pain: An agony beyond imagining, like the rending of a wound… “Ronald! Multiplex is absorbing so much energy - - it’s weakening our fusion!” Stein yells in terror, “We’re ripping apart - - and it’s killing us!”

Pain: Like a sword of dry ice, cleaving the fog wrapping Firestorm’s mind, like cold wind through steam… “I’ve split from the Professor! He’s too woozy to think - - but I’m not!” Ronnie thinks quickly, “But - - so what? I’m only a teenager - - a B- jock! Professor Stein’s the genius - - not me!” Ronnie bends under the strain, tightly held by Multiplex. “Still - - the ball’s in my court! I’ve got to shoot - - and fast!” he thinks, “Multiplex is grabbing so much energy, he’ll soon be able to divide into a thousand - - Hey! That’s the answer! If Multiplex wants my nuclear energy, he can have it! And, boy, I hope he chokes on it!”

Ronnie unleashes the full fury of his nuclear energy. White-hot light like the surface of the Sun floods into the subway. Multiplex and Firestorm flash and shimmer in the incredible spectacle. “No! Too much! Too much!” Multiplex yells, “Can’t contain it! I’m overloading! I’m - - AAAAAAAAHHH!”

PTOOM! Ronnie looks around, quickly glancing back and forth. “Huh? I-I’m still in one piece?” he asks in disbelief, “Fan-taas-tic! But where’s Multiplex? What if I goofed? Maybe he didn’t blow a fuse like I figured! Maybe he…”

A very small voice yells up from his feet. “Blast you, Firestorm!” Multiplex seethes angrily. Ronnie looks down at a swarm of hundreds of miniature Multiplexes massing around his feet and ankles. “I’ll get you for this! You think you’ve won - - but you only know the half of it!” Multiplex fumes. “Wowza! Multiplex did divide into a thousand beings - - but since the division was so sudden, none of them is over three inches tall!” Ronnie says in amazement. “It’s not exactly what I hoped for - - but who’s complaining?” he asks, noting, “The worst he can do now is bite my knee!”

A group of police officers with reporters and photographers in tow runs down the stairs from the street onto the platform. “Looks like the fun’s over here, fellas,” a reporter sighs as he looks around, “Only things here are some dressed-up rabbits and a dude with - - uh…flaming hair?”

Epilogue: Though stunned, the police and reporters hear out the Nuclear Man’s explanation without interruption, and then, once appropriate orders have arranged for Multiplex’s collection…

“Some personal questions, pal,” a reporter asks as his cameraman busily snaps pictures, “First off - - what’s your name again?” Ronnie looks at the microphone as the camera flash blinks at him. “Firestorm,” he answers, asking, “Can I get a copy of that photo?” The reporter nods, asking, “Sure. Now about the hair bit - - Does it hurt?”

Professor Stein comes to. “Hic! Aw, go cram it in your ear, Needle-Nose. Hic!” he stammers. Ronnie suddenly feels woozy as Stein’s presence returns. His eyes get glassy as he answers the reporter. “Yeah, go cram it in your ear. Hic!” he replies. “Uh-oh. Did I say that?” Ronnie gulps in embarrassment, “I don’t feel so good…Hic! Maybe I better…Hic!...be moving along…Hic!...”

Ronnie quickly turns and stumbles away as the reporter looks on in shock. “Catch that? He acts like he swallowed a brewery” the reporter tells his cameraman. “Y’know, I swear I even heard him talking to himself…Just what New York needs - - a fruit-cake with super-powers!” the cameraman answers. “Buddy,” the reporter scoffs, “I’m movin’ to Cleveland.” The newsmen look down at the swarm of miniature Multiplexes. “But first, I’ll grab some pictures! Otherwise my editor will think I’m the fruitcake!” the cameraman says as he clicks the shutter button, “Smile, you little buggers!”

POP-POP-POP-POP! Suddenly, the micro-Multiplexes vanish! “What the - -? Popping like stretched-out soap bubbles?” the cameraman blurts in amazement. “What d’ya suppose that means, Chuck?” the reporter asks, looking on in surprise.

Ronnie walks up the stairs to street level. “Whew! Sure made a mess of that press conference…but at least my head’s finally clearing,” he thinks, rubbing his forehead. “I just realized - - I never learned what Multiplex was planning - - or how he can drain electrical power as well as atomic! Wonder what…?”

Ronnie looks up to see Doreen Day. “Please - - did you see a boy down there? Your height - - brown hair?” she asks anxiously. “Uh…No,” Firestorm answers, “You better look yourself!”

Ronnie walks out onto the sidewalk. Police officers hold the curious crowds at bay. “Swell, now I’ve got Doreen worried about me,” Ronnie thinks, “Maybe this super-hero thing is too big for a teenager. It sure seems like it’s too much for me.”

High above, two figures watch Firestorm intently from a rooftop. “See? He doesn’t even suspect!” Multiplex whispers, “He thinks he defeated the original me in that subway, but he doesn’t know - - I divided myself before going down there! He crushed my duplicate - - not me! Not Multiplex! And how fortunate I stayed up here to watch - - otherwise I never would have met you! You came here - - because you hate him too!” The Hyena nods, laughing quietly. “Hate him? Oh, yes! Hahaha!” it answers with a sly grin. “What a team we’ll be!” Multiplex schemes, “But first - - planning! We must plan! And, someday, soon - - Firestorm will die!”