Follow

    The Fury of Firestorm #15

    The Fury of Firestorm » The Fury of Firestorm #15 - Breakout released by DC Comics on August 1983.

    Short summary describing this issue.

    No recent wiki edits to this page.

    Firestorm battles with Multiplex and Enforcer. Clarissa Clemens surprises Professor Stein when she shows up unexpectedly at his apartment. Senate Bill 343, a measure to consolidate all nuclear research to Hewitt Industries, narrowly passes in a 50-49 vote. Reporter Roxanne Sharpe smells a story. Senator Walter Reilly meets the man that is blackmailing him and holding his Lorraine Reilly captive. Clarissa continues her clandestine surveillance, this time focusing on Ronnie and his Dad.

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

    Multiplex stands with a look of triumph on his face. Before him stands Firestorm, floating in a neutrino projector tube that restrains him, having just had disruptor pods implanted into his temples. Multiplex recalls that in their previous encounters, he met defeat at the hands of Martin Stein through Firestorm. Multiplex swore that he would be triumphant in their next encounter. And he has been triumphant, he announces, “The struggle between us is over, and at last - - Multiplex wins!”

    Looking down, Ronnie remarks to the Professor that it may be a wild guess, but somehow he thinks this Multiplex guy doesn’t like them. Stein recalls that before Multiplex gained his fission powers which made him into the Multiple Man, he was Danton Black, Stein’s assistant. In Black’s mind, Stein was his scientific rival and he bears considerable malice on his former colleague. Ronnie agrees, saying “Uh-huh. Like I said, the man hates our guts.”

    Multiplex stands with a sly grin on his face. Next to him is Enforcer, the green-armored mercenary that captured Martin Stein. Multiplex thanks Enforcer, giving credit to him and the disruptor pods and neutrino projector of Multiplex’s design which have resulted in making his worst enemy into his helpless prisoner. “Who says there’s no justice in the world?” he asks. He relishes that Stein did this to himself, making a tape recording that revealed his every secret as Firestorm. The tape ultimately fell into the hands of Multiplex, and it gave him the edge he needed to capture Firestorm. Patting Enforcer on the shoulder, he gushes “I love a little irony - - don’t you, my friend?” Enforcer replies that Multiplex worked hard for this moment and deserves it. “I’m just wondering - - what happens now?” Enforcer asks.

    Firestorm has a grim look of determination on his face and the disruptor pods on his temples start to blink brightly. Multiplex reveals to Enforcer the next steps in his plan. He will use the disruptor pods to separate the Nuclear Man into his component personas, and by threatening the boy he will force Stein to devote his expertise to serve Multiplex’s purpose. “Ultimately of course, both of them must die,” he concludes. Enforcer seems shocked at the fate of both of them, including the kid. The faces of Firestorm and Stein’s subconscious presence struggle and groan in focused concentration. Atomic rings appear at Firestorm’s temples, and a small space can be seen expanding between his temples and the disruptor pods!

    Multiplex reminds Enforcer to remember his beginnings. Enforcer was a small-time mob thug before entering employment with Multiplex. He gained more power than he’s ever possessed when Multiplex gave him the armored suit he now wears. Multiplex is surprised that Enforcer would be a bit squeamish over the fates of Stein and Raymond. Firestorm draws his legs up slightly, knees bent. His hands are at his side, fists clenched tightly. His head is arched back, eyes tightly squinted. Multiplex turns to look at him, snapping “What is he doing?” He and Enforcer look on in shock at the sight. Multiplex sees that Firestorm has somehow destroyed the disruptor pods, and the only thing keeping him contained now is the neutrino projector! “I-I don’t believe it! You said those pods would keep him paralyzed!” Enforcer exclaims.

    Firestorm looks upwards into the neutrino projector showering its energy onto him. Twin beams of pink energy emanate from his eyes and connect with the projector! “That’s one neat thing about atomic restructuring powers, Enforcer,” Firestorm says, “they work on just about anything!” A loud FZAM! Echoes through the room, and Multiplex cries out that the projector has been changed. It falls to the ground in front of Multiplex and Enforcer. Firestorm has freed himself!

    Flying above his fission-powered captor, Firestorm tells him “All it takes is the ability to alter atomic structures at will, pal. And if you think what I did to your machines was wild - - just wait till you see what I’m going to do to you!” He launches himself forward, fists clenched with atomic rings surrounding them. Stein warns that Multiplex may be momentarily startled, but remains fiercely resourceful.

    Multiplex orders Enforcer to kill Firestorm, stepping behind his green-armored mercenary. Unimpressed at Multiplex’s resourcefulness, Ronnie compliments Enforcer on his fiber-plastic armor, but tells him he has no style. Using a restructuring burst, he turns the lightweight plastic armor into a heavy cast iron knight’s suit of armor. Whoops, he forgot that cast iron must be a whole lot heavier than plastic. Enforcer, completely encumbered by the sudden weight increase, falls to the ground in a clatter of clanking metal. “That fall didn’t hurt you…I hope,” Ronnie tells him, adding, “Now for your boss.”

    Multiplex is no longer startled. He has become quite enraged. He stands shaking his fist at Firestorm, telling him to mock as he will. The nuclear accident that gave Firestorm control over nuclear fusion also gave Multiplex the power of atomic fission. Thrusting his hand into a control panel, his forearm is surrounded by sparks and smoke. ZZZACK! “All I require is energy from an outside source - - such as this control terminal - - where you are two men who can become one - - I am one man who can become two…or four…or sixteen!” Multiplex yells at the Nuclear Man. Ronnie says one creep like Multiplex is enough, and the way he sees it, his fun has just been doubled!

    Ronnie uses restructuring bursts to create a series of giant toy blocks. Stein warns that a labyrinth of toy blocks won’t catch Multiplex. Even if one of his duploids was struck unconscious by a block, one might escape. And as long as one Multiplex duploid is free, they can’t be sure if they’ve caught the original. Ronnie accepts the Professor’s point, planning to box his opponents into a nuclear cage. His words are cut short. Something has grabbed his foot!

    Ronnie looks down to see the metal-armored hand of Enforcer locked tightly on his right ankle. Enforcer has regained his footing and slams Firestorm down hard on the floor! Multiplex runs off as his mercenary and Firestorm battle. Enforcer grabs a chunk of metal wall, wielding it above his head like a makeshift two-handed axe. Firestorm rises up slightly off the floor, arm extended defensively. Enforcer yells out that if Firestorm wanted to play medieval jokes, he should laugh at this now! Suddenly, Enforcer yells out a shriek as a FZAAM! of restructuring energy melts the metal wall axe. Firestorm lands a crushing punch into Enforcer’s stomach, launching the armored mercenary upwards. Stein thanks Ronnie, having wanted to gain the upper hand on Enforcer for hours. Enforcer lands into the maze of giant blocks with a Krash! Ronnie observes that Enforcer is down for the count and asks if Stein has any idea where they are. Stein has no idea and suggests they explore, and Ronnie concurs expecting that they will find Multiplex when they look around the complex.

    Flying through a doorway, Firestorm is knocked to the ground by an unexpected punch from Multiplex! Two duploids were poised in ambush, hidden behind the doorframe. Firestorm looks up to see the two running off. Stein asks Ronnie if he is all right. Ronnie replies that his jaw aches, but he’ll live. Taking flight in pursuit, Ronnie recalls that the last time he felt this stupid was when Cliff Carmichael flattened him with a lucky punch. He swore off fighting with Cliff, but will find blasting Multiplex to be a real pleasure. Firestorm flies down the corridor in chase. Unseen behind him, the real Multiplex stands concealed behind another doorway. He exults that the fool Nuclear Man fell for his diversion. While Firestorm chases the duploids, Multiplex will escape!

    Multiplex moves through a hallway in concentrated thought. “I see I vastly underestimated that young man’s ability. Such power - - combined with even Stein’s second-rate mind - - makes for a formidable opponent,” he analyzes. He will have to retreat for now, but if he did so empty-handed, his current employers would be most displeased. He opens a door and stands to look in the room. “Fortunately, I have a bargaining chip: the lovely Lorraine Reilly!” he observes.

    Lorraine sits alone, head hanging down. She is tied to a chair, held captive. She mumbles “Please…please…talk to me…” Multiplex looks at her quite pleased that at least one part of his plan has succeeded: deprive Lorraine of all outside stimulus, and her spirit is completely broken. He picks her up, cradling her against his chest. She hangs limp like a rag doll, still mumbling incoherently for someone to please talk to her. Multiplex gushes “Not only will you remain a useful tool to manipulate your father - - the junior Senator from New York - - but you may even prove a valuable pawn in your own right. We shall see. I think my employers will be quite satisfied. Quite satisfied indeed.” Multiplex and Lorraine rise up on an elevator platform onto the roof of the island complex. At the controls of a red mini-jet with Lorraine slumped in the passenger seat, Multiplex launches skyward over the Manhattan skyline.

    Back inside, Firestorm finds three of Multiplex’s troops blocking a doorway. A Multiplex duploid escapes through the door and they close ranks. “Somebody should’ve told them that’s a no-no,” Ronnie observes, softening them up with a trio of nuclear bursts. They fall quickly to the floor. Stein wonders if Multiplex made a tactical mistake waiting for them when he could have escaped easily. Ronnie says he’s not a mind-reader and, after the way Multiplex treated them in that room, he’s fair game. With a FZOOM, Firestorm phases through a wall by lowering his atomic density. On the other side in a startled look, he gulps “Whoops! Oboy,” looking down at dozens of Multiplexes!

    A cacophony of Multiplex voices fills the room as the duploids speak in near-unison: “Well, Firestorm? What are you waiting for? You’re not afraid of me, are you?” They spring forward to attack and Firestorm finds himself at the center of their swarm, pinned between and among them as they clutch and pummel him! Ronnie observes that Multiplex sprouts new bodies the way a lizard grows a fresh tail as he faces a whole army of Multiplexes! Stein notes that each new pair of Multiplexes has less mass than the one before, but there are so many - - too many! One Multiplex yells “Pull him down! I have him outnumbered!”

    A duploid grabs Firestorm around the neck, their faces inches apart. The angry duploid spits that Stein was never his equal - - not as a scientist, and not now! He taunts Stein to use atomic restructuring powers, then laughs that Stein dare not do so. “Your powers are useless against organic matter,” another duploid yells. The clones pound Firestorm relentlessly, and in separate yet somehow the same voice, proclaim “Blast me - - and the feedback will stun you unconscious! Thus for the second time tonight, I win, Stein! I will always…eh?” The Nuclear Man suddenly vanishes before the dozens of surprised clones’ eyes!

    Falling through the floor by lowering his density, Ronnie kicks himself. He was so busy letting those bozos climb all over him that he forgot he could just drop out. Above him the multiple menaces quickly figure out what happened to their quarry, and that Firestorm has slipped through the floor into the generator plant below. Stein looks around at the generator room, quickly understanding how it can be turned to their advantage. He tells Ronnie the generators must supply the energy for the entire complex. Ronnie catches on, knowing that Multiplex needs energy to maintain his army of duploids. He aims a nuclear burst at the generators - - FZAK! The complex is plunged into total darkness. “A little blackout should settle his multiple hash but good,” Ronnie exults. In the room full of clones, the sound of popping grows louder and louder as the multiple men robbed of their sustaining energy disappear like bursting bubbles!

    Taking flight, Firestorm phases through the building’s structure and into the sky. Looking around, Ronnie recognizes the East River. Multiplex was hiding out on an island just south of the 59th Street Bridge. A police helicopter patrols nearby, and Firestorm flies up to it to inform the officers what they can find below in the island lair of Multiplex. Turning towards Stein’s apartment, Ronnie says they are in big trouble. Both Multiplex and Enforcer know their secret, and it is a safe bet they won’t keep it secret for long. Stein wonders if that is perhaps for the best as they come in for a landing on his apartment building roof. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying, Professor?” Ronnie asks. Stein continues, asking why they should continue to keep it a secret.

    Firestorm transforms into two separate men, and they walk inside the building. Stein says he has no security clearance to protect anymore, and reminds Ronnie that their masquerade has been awkward at times. Ronnie quickly agrees. Doreen must think he’s a flake and Coach Mason is ready to throw him off the basketball team because of his crazy behavior lately. Still though, Ronnie asks if they are supposed to keep this kind of thing to themselves. Stein says there are no rules and besides, they may not have a choice. As they walk from the stairway, a nearby person overhears and asks “No choice about what, Martin?” With a shocked look at the unexpected person’s presence, Ronnie and Professor Stein see Clarissa standing in the hallway!

    She greets them pleasantly and explains that it was wrong of her for stopping by without calling, figuring the two men were busy working on Ronnie’s school science project. Ronnie says the project can wait and offers to make himself scarce. She leans to him and plants a soft kiss on his cheek, saying “You’re sweet, Ronnie. Please don’t go. I’m sure Martin wants you to stay - - I know I do.”

    A few minutes later, Ronnie stands in the kitchen pouring some drinks. Calling himself a regular Cupid, he wonders how Martin and Clarissa could have broken up since they seem to be made for each other. Clarissa told him that she still loves Martin, and Ronnie bets Martin still loves her. He carries the glasses to the living room and finds Stein and Clarissa arguing. “Damn it, Clarissa - - it’s finished. It was over the day you left me,” Stein yells at her. She sobs, sitting with her head in her hands, saying his shouting makes her afraid. Stein is enraged, screaming “Don’t shout? After the way you treated me? Wasn’t it enough that you destroyed my life? My God, do you think I’ll let you…” He raises his hand, poised to backhand Clarissa! Ronnie yells “Professor! Don’t touch her!” Ronnie’s voice breaks Stein’s anger. He looks back at Ronnie, his hand still poised in the air. Coming to his senses, he looks at his hand, shocked at losing control of his emotions.

    Stein peers about in bewilderment, and without another word, walks to the apartment door, shutting it quietly behind him. Ronnie tells Clarissa that he really just doesn’t know what to say. He has never seen Stein so angry, but is reminded that he has been under tremendous pressure lately. “He hates me, Ronnie. How can I blame him?” she asks. Stein was right, she says, she left him when he needed her. But she reveals that she just couldn’t stand his drinking anymore. Ronnie is surprised, thinking that it wasn’t until after he met Stein that the drinking problem began. He offers to talk to Stein and Clarissa rushes to him. She hugs him, tucking her head against his chest. “Oh Ronnie, you’re such a good friend,” she tells him, “You are my friend, aren’t you, Ronnie? I want us to be friends…”

    Washington, D.C. The hallowed halls of the United States Capitol. Inside, impassioned debate is taking place on a bill in the upper chamber of the Senate. At the podium, a Senator addresses his colleagues. “Gentlemen of the Senate, this bill must not pass,” he directs. He warns that a vote for the measure under consideration is not a vote for the people of the United States, but rather, a vote for the Hewitt Corporation. The proposed legislation would give Hewitt a monopoly on all future nuclear research, tying a hamstring on the Atomic Energy Commission, and endangering the lives of countless Americans. Concluding his speech, the Senator moves for a vote. His request receives the needed procedural second from another Senator, and the call is made for all in favor of Senate Bill 343 to vote aye, all against t vote nay.

    Up above in the overlooking press gallery, GBS-TV Washington political correspondent Roxanne Sharpe stifles a yawn. She’s lived in this city by the Potomac for seven years, and politics as usual bores her to tears…but she will not be bored any longer today! The Senate vote is announced. The bill squeaks by, passing 50 to 49. Roxanne is very surprised, scribbling on her notepad. She wonders how the bill could have passed by one vote. The Senate leaders told her it was destined to fail. She quickly deduces - - someone has switched their vote at the last instant! She looks down and sees several Senators congregating around New York’s foremost liberal Senator, Walter Reilly. Roxanne is perplexed. Why would Reilly cast a vote in favor of the country’s biggest conglomerate? Focusing intently, she thinks “Roxanne, my girl, your nose smells news.”

    An hour later, a phalanx of reporters clutters around the Capitol exits where the Senators leave to climb into their limousines. Senator Reilly appears, and Roxanne Sharpe calls out to him and asks if she can ask him a few questions about his vote earlier. Reilly replies curtly, “No comment, Ms. Sharpe.” She is confused, reminding him that he has always been open to her before. He brushes her aside, saying he has another appointment that can’t wait. His driver opens the limousine door and he disappears into it. “Hmm. My nose definitely smells news,” Roxanne thinks as he drives off. The driver of his car is…Mica!

    Thirty-five minutes later, the limousine of Senator Walter Reilly pulls up to an extravagant mansion. Reilly tells Mica that Roxanne Sharpe won’t be put off for long by his “no comment” answer. She will want an interview to explain his vote and behavior. “I hope your employer understands that,” he says. “Our employer, Senator, ask him when you see him,” Mica replies as she works the beeping security panel on the door. A loud hum resonates from the door. “Wh-what’s happening? What sort of place is this?” Reilly asks. He looks in, wide-eyed and utters quietly “Good heavens.”

    Inside, two men appear before him in airtight suits that resemble an astronaut’s spacesuit. The door closes behind Mica and Reilly, and one of the men orders to cycle the airlock. Mica explains that the whole house is hermetically sealed. The two men use a hand-held scanner, sweeping it over the new arrivals. The scanner indicates a positive reading, and the man orders that Mica and Reilly will need a full scrub. They lead the two into a large anteroom filled with control panels, readouts, and a large cylindrical tube extending from floor to ceiling in the center of the room. The tube has a large access door. “Mica, you know the drill. Into the tube, Senator,” a space-suited man orders.

    “Will you please explain what’s happening? We are going to see my daughter, aren’t we?” Reilly asks. The door of the tube is sealed shut and Mica tells him soon. She hands him a protective helmet and directs him to put it on. It has goggles attached. She tells him to take a deep breath. A loud SSSSSSHHHHH fills the tube and its occupants are enveloped in a greenish foggy haze. Reilly thinks it is noxious gas until Mica informs him it is a disinfectant that dissolves all non-human tissue, viral strains, hostile bacteria, even non-organic fibers. The process is hard on clothes, she details, but they will receive new clothing when they reach Level 13. The tube works like an elevator after the sterilization procedure, and they descend into the depths below.

    Arriving at Level 13, Reilly and Mica are outfitted in isolation suits complete with glass bubble helmets. Reilly finds the precautions insane, wondering what Mica’s employer is afraid of. She leads him into a large, circular room. A strange bed-like mechanical chair sits in the center, occupied by a sole figure. Mica explains that the occupant of that chair, Mr. Hewitt, is very concerned about disease. He has lost his immunity to even the most minor of infections and a simple cold could be fatal to him. Hewitt lies back, feet slightly elevated, odd tubes and connections adhering into the stark white suit he wears.

    In a very frail voice, Mr. Hewitt speaks, warning the approaching Reilly that he has come close enough. Reilly demands to know where his daughter is. Hewitt asks him not to be so loud, and asks if Reilly voted as instructed. He already knows the answer because if Reilly had not, he would not be there, and Lorraine would be dead. Reilly exclaims “Hewitt, you’ve got what you wanted, a legal monopoly on atomic power research - - now, in the name of mercy, let me see my daughter!”

    Hewitt smiles, enjoying the inner turmoil he has inflicted on Reilly. He explains that power is all he has left to enjoy now that the pleasures of flesh have been denied to him. He recalls that it has been ages since he enjoyed a normal meal, but cuts himself off. Reilly again demands to see his daughter. Hewitt explains that he can control every machine in the entire complex from his command chair, and he directs Reilly’s attention to a wall panel across the room. Hewitt pushes some controls, and a large sliding wall rises up. Inside, floating inside a stasis chamber is Lorraine Reilly! A mask covers her face and multiple tubes connect from the top of the cylinder to her body. She is bathed in a yellow-orange glow inside the tube. “There she is, Senator, beyond that unbreakable plastiglass window. And there she shall remain, until I am finished with her and you. Goodbye, Senator. We’ll be in touch,” Hewitt concludes.

    In another section of the underground complex, the face of Danton Black appears as he removes his Multiplex helmet from his head. He feels like a fool for allowing a second-rate mind like Stein’s to upset the plan that took months to develop. In the end, the only thing it produced so far was Lorraine Reilly. A cohort, Maxwell, tells Black not to run himself down, explaining that Hewitt takes the long view. Black was able to prove his theory about what happened to both he and Stein in the accident at the Hudson Nuclear Facility. He suggests that what happened once might be able to happen again.

    Maxwell reaches to a control panel screen. He tells Black to think that maybe they don’t need Stein and Raymond anymore. Black wonders if the intent is to duplicate them, and Maxwell tells him to think about it adding that they should keep a lid on what they know about Stein and Firestorm. That knowledge may prove useful. Maxwell clicks the keyboard, and the face of Clarissa Clemens appears on the screen. Addressing her, Maxwell asks “Objective Nine - - anything to report?”

    Clarissa sits in her car, a hidden dashboard camera beaming her image back to Maxwell. She holds a hand microphone and answers that she has made contact with her ex-husband and Ronnie Raymond as instructed. Their reactions to her were as expected. She says that Ronnie trusts her completely, like the mother he never knew. She just drove him home to his house in upper Manhattan. She asks if Maxwell would like a visual. “Affirmative, Nine,” crackles Maxwell’s voice. Clarissa’s camera, hidden in her car’s headlight, captures the sight of Ronnie walking away from her car, approaching his front door. Maxwell observes the image, telling Black that perhaps it was a mistake to focus their attention on Stein. The screen shows the front door opening. Ronnie’s father, Ed, greets him, noting that Ronnie is late. Ronnie tries to make an excuse, but his Dad cuts him off. Ed had called the Bun ‘n’ Bun when Ronnie wasn’t home by 10:30 pm. The manager told Ed that Ronnie had been fired. “Oboy. Can you let me explain, Dad?” Ronnie asks. Ed directs him inside.

    Maxwell and Black look on at the screen and Maxwell’s face registers shock. He recognizes Ed. Raymond for some reason. “Who would have thought - - after all these years, I’d see him again, like this!” Maxwell exclaims. Black inquires if Maxwell knows Ed Raymond. Maxwell explains that 14 years ago, some people he worked for signed Ed Raymond’s death warrant!

    Ronnie sits on his living room couch. His father lectures him about his last stunt of staying out all night and the warning he was given then that things were going to be different. Ed says they’d have it out once and for all now if he wasn’t due to work the graveyard shift at the newspaper soon. Ronnie asks if he can say anything and his father cuts him off, calling Ronnie irresponsible. First, he was kicked off the basketball team and now has been fired from his job. He says that Ronnie’s going to straighten out, starting now. They’ll talk more about this tomorrow, Ed says, and informs Ronnie that he is grounded. With a loud slam of the front door, Ed leaves for work.

    Ronnie sits alone in the dark. He wonders what he would tell the Justice League if they called an emergency meeting. “Sorry - - my Dad won’t let me come out and play anymore,” just doesn’t seem like the right answer. Ronnie wishes he could get his Dad to listen, but then what would he tell him? Exhausted, Ronnie lays back on the couch wishing the world would just go away. It does for a while as he falls asleep - - until it returns with a vengeance!

    Ronnie is startled awake to see Multiplex leaning over him, choking him! “Now I’ve got you, boy! Die!” Multiplex yells. Ronnie cries out in fright, telling Multiplex to let him go! “Not until I’ve crushed the life from you, boy. You can’t escape me - - I’ve got you surrounded!” Multiplex fissions his body into dozens of miniature clones and they swarm all over Ronnie. He yells and falls to the floor, knocking over…Doreen Day!

    Coming to his senses, Ronnie shakes off the Multiplex nightmare. Doreen explains that he told her she could drop by. She had knocked, the door swung open, and she saw him lying there. Ronnie dismisses the bad dream, and asks if Doreen will stick around for a while. She says it’s been so long since they had some alone time. They embrace tightly and kiss, and she tells him they’ll have plenty of time to talk…later.

    sizepositionchange
    sizepositionchange
    positionchange
    positionchange
    positionchange
    bordersheaderpositiontable
    positionchange

    Creators

    none of this issue.

    Teams

    none of this issue.

    Locations

    none of this issue.

    Concepts

    none of this issue.

    Objects

    none of this issue.

    Story Arcs

    none of this issue.

    User reviews Add new review

    This edit will also create new pages on Comic Vine for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Comic Vine users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.