Ronnie deals with some issues with his basketball coach. Senator Reilly purchases a golden pan flute from Mr. Pandrakos, a Greek sailor. The Pied Piper attacks at Senator Reilly's townhouse and steals the golden pan flute. The Pied Piper hypnotizes hundreds of citizens outside the townhouse.Firestorm falls into the angry, frenzied sea of people when he arrives to help.
Firestorm826's Panel-by-Panel Story Summary (Spoiler Alert)
Teenagers Joey and Paco cling to the roof of a speeding subway train, hanging on for dear life. They had been painting graffiti on the train when it started moving unexpectedly. Paco loses his grip and starts to slip. Joey tries desperately to hold onto Paco, but their hands separate and Paco falls away to certain doom leaving Joey alone on the roof. As the train speeds away, a huge net suddenly appears out of thin air, catching the flailing Paco. Firestorm, patrolling the city above the train, saw the kids in trouble and used an atomic blast to create the net. With Paco safe, Firestorm pursues the train. Joey is panicked and thinks his friend is dead. He thinks of how he will have to tell Joey’s mother and sisters what happened. He looks up tearfully to see two yellow boots strangely hovering in front of him as the train barrels down the tracks. It is Firestorm, offering Joey the thoughtful suggestion of the ease of simply paying the train fare when you want a ride somewhere. Grabbing Joey off the train, Firestorm flies back and picks up Paco from the net. Seconds later, the trio lands in a nearby neighborhood basketball court in Queens. Kids cheer and thrill to the sight of Firestorm with Joey and Paco. Paco says he’ll never try that again as Firestorm reminds him that he might not be so lucky next time. Behind Firestorm, Joey wields a spray paint can intent on “decorating” Firestorm’s backside. Without a glance behind him, Firestorm rearranges the paint can, leaving Joey with a handful of sticky goo. The kids all laugh, and Firestorm soars away.
Moving through the clouds, Professor Stein reflects on the chance encounter with the train and Ronnie’s skillful use of atomic restructuring powers, but Ronnie’s mind is elsewhere. As they come to rest on a cloud, Ronnie tells Stein that he had been distracted by re-reading an ad clipped from the personals section of the newspaper earlier in the day. He reveals that he summoned Stein to Firestorm for personal advice. Agreeing to help, Stein listens as Ronnie reads the personal ad: “Dear Hotstuff, I still want to buy you dinner. Get in touch real soon. Lorraine.” Ronnie reminds Stein that Lorraine is Lorraine Reilly, the daughter of Senator Walter Reilly. Lorraine developed amorous feelings for Firestorm after he rescued her from Black Bison (see issue 2). Ronnie asks if it would be wise to look Lorraine up since Doreen recently ditched him. Stein says he’ll think about that.
3:30 pm at Bradley High finds the school deserted, with students having headed for home half an hour ago. In a flash of atomic light, Firestorm lands and transforms back into Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein. With a wave, Stein heads off to work on his experiments back in his lab at Concordance Research. Ronnie thinks dejectedly about an upcoming conversation with Coach Mason concerning Ronnie’s recent suspension from the basketball team and heads into the gym. Finding Coach Mason in mid-practice with the team, Ronnie offers to explain about his frequent absences from practice. The Coach says it is performance that matters, not excuses. He cites Ronnie’s poor performance over the last few months, which the Coach blames for an embarrassing loss against rival school Molloy High. The Coach says he has been the laughingstock of the league ever since. Standing nearby within earshot, a gleeful Cliff Carmichael observes the conversation and smirks at Ronnie. To his dismay, Ronnie sees Doreen standing with Cliff. The Coach grabs back the attention of the momentarily distracted Ronnie. Coach Mason explains that Ronnie is still suspended and his only chance of being reinstated is to attend every game and practice as a bench-warmer. One absence will mean his permanent dismissal from the team. Cliff and Doreen walk away, and Ronnie sits alone in thought on the bench. Downtrodden, he reflects that he was a hero ten minutes ago compared to a suspended bench-rider right now. Taking comfort in the fact that Lorraine likes him, he wonders what she’s doing now.
In the office of Senator Walter Reilly, a meeting is taking place between he and a Mr. Pandrakos. Senator Reilly is renowned for his extensive collection of historical and cultural artifacts. In his hand, he admires an exquisite golden pan flute, brought to him by Mr. Pandrakos. Impressed, Senator Reilly offers a deposit of $5,000 to Mr. Pandrakos as an advance against the full purchase price while the item is professionally appraised. Mr. Pandrako agrees, and Senator Reilly hands him a large stack of money. Showing Mr. Pandrakos to the door, he introduces his daughter Lorraine Reilly who has just walked in. Mr. Pandrakos greets Lorraine, but something about the way Mr. Pandrakos speaks leaves Lorraine feeling uneasy and flushed as chills run down her spine. Mr. Pandrakos leaves the townhouse, and his reflection is seen in the outside lenses of binoculars held to a man’s head. In a green jester-style outfit, the man leans over a rooftop parapet to watch Mr. Pandrakos, thinking about how much trouble Mr. Pandrakos has caused him. The man has traveled around the world on looking for something, and he feels on a hunch that he has found it here. Putting down the binoculars, his thoughts turn to his hunch that Senator Reilly has just bought the most important pipes in history. The man thinks that he will soon own those very same pipes, or his name isn’t…the Pied Piper!
In the labs of Concordance Research, Harry Carew sits listening through headphones to a tape recording. Carew, a competitive co-worker of Martin Stein, stole the tape from Stein’s desk. The tape had been erased by Stein. Carew, who is the resident audio scientist at Concordance, is determined that there must be some valuable secret that Stein felt necessary to erase. Admittedly nosy and curious, Carew is diligently working to reconstruct the erased tape to learn its’ contents. He listens closely as the tape spins, and hears something about an accident at the Hudson Nuclear Facility. Thinking that he may have found the skeleton in Stein’s closet, Carew remembers learning about the accident but being under the impression that it was sabotage. Carew now thinks about the possibility of Stein having had some role in the plant accident. Feeling uneasy, Carew thinks that he almost feels guilty. He is suddenly startled by an unexpected touch of a hand on his left shoulder. Oblivious to the approach of the person due to the headphones, Carew yells in surprise to see Martin Stein! Innocently unaware of what Carew is doing, Stein smiles and suggests that the two go out for dinner and conversation.
At Senator Reilly’s exclusive townhouse, his butler Jeeves feeds the Reilly family cat in the back courtyard. Smiling and pouring milk in the cat’s bowl, the butler compliments it on its’ loyalty that is apparently wasted on a Senator that doesn’t like cats. Soft strains of music are starting to be heard from some unknown source. The music grows slightly louder, and the cat hisses and arches its back. Jeeves raises his head, wide-eyed and transfixed by the sound. The cat screeches and flees. Jeeves stands with a quizzical, hypnotized smile on his face, saying over and over “That music, that music.” From out of the shadows playing his flute appears…the Pied Piper! He directs Jeeves back into the house and announces that he and the butler will now go see Senator Reilly. Smiling a pleased smirk, the Pied Piper resumes playing his music.
Alone in his office, Senator Reilly is dictating personal notes and reminders into a microphone. He speaks of checking with Tip O’Neill, the Speaker of the House, regarding combining their efforts on a new tax bill. Then, a reminder to his secretary to check on suits recently sent to a tailor. In the midst of a reminder to his accountant about his 1981 tax refund check, Senator Reilly’s face suddenly goes blank and he stops speaking. Strains of music resound in his office. Uncontrollably compelled by the melody, he reaches for the box where he has stored the golden pipes purchased earlier from Mr. Pandrakos. He moves to hand the pipes away to someone and trips. The glass box containing the pipes falls. The glass shatters and the pipes clatter to the floor. A now-familiar green slipper stands near the pipes, the voice of it’s’ owner promising the swift death of the clumsy fool who dropped them if the pipes are damaged.
Hearing the crash from the nearby office, Lorraine Reilly reacts and calls out to her father. Hearing music, she finds it odd that her father would be playing music before dinner. The music grows louder and Lorraine realizes something is wrong. She feels the start of a hypnotic numbness as soon as she hears the music. Thinking quickly, she grabs a pair of stereo headphones that were on her desk and covers her ears. Thanking the fast reflexes she has learned by being a Senator’s daughter, she moves towards her father’s office to investigate. Looking in, she sees her father kneeling before the Pied Piper still playing his pipes. Grabbing a vase, she moves to the stairs and throws the vase at the Pied Piper. Dodging the vase just in time, the Pied Piper decides that Lorraine must be taught a lesson. He reveals that his pipes can be used for more than just mesmerizing people. With a mighty blast of sound, a sonic storm explodes towards Lorraine, throwing her helplessly through the air. With the change in tune, Senator Reilly’s hypnotic trance breaks just long enough for him to make an attempt to escape. The Pied Piper turns his attention back to the Senator. With another mystical melody, the carpet the Senator stands on becomes animated and tightly wraps around his body as he screams in fear. Kneeling, the Pied Piper reaches for his prize, the long-lost legendary Pipes of Pan!
In the locker room shower at Bradley High stands Ronnie Raymond. Still stewing over his situation with Doreen, he thinks there are many other girls in the world – one Lorraine Reilly in particular. Looking around to be sure he is alone, he tells the Professor to hang onto his socks and starts the transformation. At that exact moment at a sidewalk restaurant, Harry Carew and Martin Stein are enjoying dinner. Stein admits that he has been too wrapped up in his own experiments and tells Carew he wants to be more outgoing. Carew praises him outwardly, but inwardly insultingly question’s Stein’s intelligence. Stein feels the start of the Firestorm transformation and jumps up as Carew reacts with surprise. Stein makes up a quick excuse about an untended experiment back at the lab. Carew, in his sweatsuit from a workout, yells that his wallet is back at the lab and he has no way to pay for dinner. Fleeing and leaving Carew to worry about the check, Stein ducks behind a waterfall display as the glow of a radioactive transformation surrounds his form.
In the blink of an eye five miles away, Firestorm appears soaring into the sky above Manhattan. Stein loudly proclaims that it would be nice to have a few minutes warning before these unexpected transformations. Ronnie apologizes and suggests that they get a beeper system like the doctors use. Stein questions what emergency has transpired necessitating the transformation. Ronnie tells him that the emergency is his plan is to drop in on Lorraine Reilly’s townhouse to ask her out for dinner. Outraged, Stein is annoyed at the interruption of his own life so their composite persona can chase a romantic interest. Ronnie asks him to be reasonable, which doesn’t calm Stein’s irritation much. Ronnie creatively reminds Stein that since they share in Firestorm, Lorraine is interested in Stein also. Taken aback, Stein admits he hadn’t considered that possibility and that he will have to think further about the implications of such an arrangement. Ronnie suggests they head back home if the Professor needs to, which Stein declines while wondering if Lorraine really likes them.
Turning down the street leading to the Reilly home, Ronnie sees a strange amount of people congesting the streets. Thousands of people are coming from every direction, heading into this block. Stein sees something wrong and asks Ronnie if he noticed the eyes of the people. Ronnie confirms that he has noticed a strange blank stare on each person’s face, and notes that they are all directing their stare toward a building across the street. Looking at the object of the transfixed people’s gaze, Firestorm sees the Pied Piper! Recognizing him from Justice League files, he recalls that the Pied Piper is an old enemy of The Flash.
The Pied Piper steadily blows his pipes to continue the trance-inducing melodies. The music is calming to the hurried city folk, and they are drawn to it like an electron to a proton. Slightly affected, Firestorm covers his ears but is momentarily distracted by the sound. Stein yells to bring him back to focus as he sees a truck hurtling toward the defenseless crowds. With his ears sealed, Firestorm sends a nuclear restructuring burst at the truck, causing it to phase into an immaterial state and pass harmlessly through the crowd. A second burst melts the rubber of the truck tires, and it oozes to a halt. Stepping from the cab, the blank-eyed driver slowly walks back to the crowd and the Pied Piper. Stein tells Ronnie that the building roof the Pied Piper is sitting on is the townhouse of Senator Reilly.
Flying back to the townhouse, Firestorm demands that the Pied Piper tell him what has happened to the Senator and Lorraine. Calling him “my hot-headed young friend,” the Pied Piper directs the powerful music of the Pipes of Pan directly at Firestorm. Yelling as the waves of sound hit him, Firestorm is pushed backward uncontrollably in the air. Stein asks Ronnie if he is alright, and Ronnie tells him the sound nearly caused Firestorm to become unconscious. Worried that the musical notes were just a warm-up scale, Firestorm falls towards the crowd below. The Pied Piper’s music grows in speed and intensity, causing the crowd to go into a wild state of frenzy. Firestorm falls into the crowd, and dozens of arms seize him. Fearing the crowd will rip them apart, Stein begs Ronnie to get away. But Firestorm is trapped in the clutches of the people. On the rooftop, the Pied Piper raises his pipes skyward, continuing his mystical melodies as a radiant full moon shimmers in the distance.
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