Action Comics Issue#42:“Ring of Fire” Part 1Written by: Pat OwenCover by: Joey JarinEdited by: Brian Burchette
“Tell them that this isn’t LexCorp, I’m not Luthor, and we won’t be involved with anyone like them.”
Pete Ross sat at his desk, a stack of files stacked in front of him. After hanging up the phone, he got to his feet and walked over to the large window that overlooked the great city of Metropolis. Pete gave a sigh of relief. Being in charge of the company that once belonged to a now infamous criminal was stressful but he honestly believed it would have been worse.
Suddenly, the window Pete looked through began to vibrate a little and then came to an even quicker stop. Pete stared up and down at the pane of glass for a moment, unsure of what happened. Then, without any warning, the window began to shake wildly.
But it wasn’t just the window…Pete Ross turned to his desk to see the frame around his picture of him and Lana Lang was also vibrating violently.
Next to that, his wine glasses clattered from the tremors. He knew it couldn’t be an earthquake though as nothing else in the room was shaking besides the glass.
Pete began to make a run for his door, hoping his secretary; Jessica was still just outside of his office. When he took his sixth step from the window though all of the glass in the room; his window, his picture frames, his wine glasses, and the mirror resting on the wall by his door exploded. Glass flew through the room in a hailstorm of small shards while Pete dove to the ground, feeling a few pieces of glass sink into his back.
“Jessica!” Pete cried.
“Jessica’s a little busy at the moment. How can I help you, Mr. Ross?” A man’s cold voice said.
Pete glanced up to see a tall man standing above him, a dark coat draped over him. Pete cringed as he felt his hands prick all of the glass that lay on the floor.
“It hurts doesn’t it?”
Pete’s vision drew back to the man who smiled down at him. Glass began to rise off of the ground and draw toward the intruder, swirling around him slowly. Pete’s mouth opened a tiny bit as the man held out his hand. Pete could see glimpses of his own reflection as shards of glass hovered above the newcomer’s palm.
“Mr. Ross!” Jessica stormed into the room.
Jessica shot a glance at the man who smiled at her. She seemingly ignored the man and helped Pete to his feet, putting his arm over her shoulder. She helped him limp out of the office, the sound of glass crunching with each step, leaving the attacker standing alone.
Jessica was almost dragging Pete to safety as they slowly moved into the building’s hallways. Jessica saw two guards standing at the other end of the hall and began to bring her boss toward them.
“Mr. Ross needs help!”
The two guards still held their backs to Jessica. As they drew closer to the guards, Jessica noticed that neither of them were even moving a muscle.
“Hey! Did you hear me!?” Jessica put her hand on one of their shoulders only to feel a strange plastic-like surface.
Pete and Jessica gasped, getting a better look at the pair of guards. They were frozen in place, their skin now a sticky substance. Their expressions were full of fear, and their eyes were still moving while they’re body remained immobile.
“My god…” Pete said.
“You like them? Made them myself.” A young man with dirty blond slicked back hair came around the corner. “You see, with one touch…” The newcomer lightly put his hand against Jessica’s cheek, causing the strange material to spread from his fingers and onto her face. “…I can make my own little wax museum.”
Jessica pulled away as the young man chuckled. She hustled by him, Pete still hanging onto her, praying that the attacker wouldn’t follow. The man just smiled at her as she passed by with Pete. Making their way to the Ross Industries conference room down the next hallway, Jessica locked the door behind them and then hurried Pete to the entrance of the emergency panic room they had built in case any of the VIPs of the company were under attack. A control panel rested on the wall.
“Mr. Ross, please. Entered the code before they find us!” Jessica urged her boss.
Pete weakly nodded, reaching his hand out to the buttons and punched in the code only him and a few other close associates knew. The panic room door slid open and Jessica dragged Pete inside. A large computer sat in the cramped room. Jessica lowered Pete onto the ground and then stood above him.
“Did we make it?” Pete asked.
“Yes, Mr. Ross. We sure did.”
Pete’s eyes widened when he saw Jessica’s beautifully tanned face replaced by a pale cold visage and her short blond hair transform into long brown locks. Pete’s mouth remained agape, stunned. The young woman standing before him turned around and opened up the panic room door, allowing a few men enter into the panic room, including the two they had escaped before. The one who had destroyed the glass stepped forward.
“Time to talk, Ross.”
***
“Concentrate, Conner. Let go of all of the distractions, the worries, and just focus on the task at hand.”
“…It’d be a lot easier to do that if you weren’t lecturing me the whole time…” Superboy said under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Superman watched the young Conner Kent stare at the same scarecrow he’d been looking at for the last thirty minutes. He knew that teaching Conner heat vision wouldn’t be a walk in the park but he had expected Conner to at least have been able to unleash the heat, even if he couldn’t control it yet. But for the whole thirty minutes there hadn’t been one temperature rise at all.
“Are you feeling anything strange in your eyes? Anything at all?”
“Besides the water from not being allowed to blink…nada.”
After another moment of glaring at the scarecrow in front of him, Conner turned away and Superman stepped toward the young man.
“What’s the matter, Conner?”
“Do I really even need to know how to use heat vision? I mean how ‘essential’ is it for me to learn how to start fires?”
“Well I don’t think you’ll be getting too far with just flight and strength. You might make a half way decent wrecking ball. And my other abilities have saved my life more times than I can remember.” Superman said sternly.
“What if…what if I just can’t use heat vision. You know like if it’s physically impossible for me to use it?” Superboy said stubbornly, picking up his leather jacket from the ground and throwing it over his suit.
“You’re a Kryptonian, Conner.”
“No I’m not, Clark! I’m a lab experiment!” Superboy countered.
Superman’s eyes widened, struck with surprise. “Don’t say that.” Superman said, putting a hand on Conner’s shoulder. “Let’s take a break from the practice for now. Go for a flight around Metropolis. Sound alright?”
“Yeah.”
***
“Anyone seen, Kent?” Perry White came bustling out of his office.
“No, Chief, haven’t seen him.” Lois said, typing away on one of her stories.
Perry’s eyes flickered to Jimmy Olsen who simply replied with a shake of the head.
He then looked over to Edward Lytener.“Nope.”
“Well if he shows up, I want to see him in my office immediately, alright?” Perry stormed back into his office without another word.
“Wow, someone’s grouchy.” Edward said, taking a sip of his coffee.
RIIING.Lois picked up the phone.“Hello? Yes, this is Lois Lane.”
She glanced at Edward and Jimmy who gave her a curious look.
Lois listened to what the caller had to say and smiled ecstatically.
“Yes! I’ll be there at eleven. Thank you!” Lois hung up the phone and looked up at her two fellow workers. “I got the Morgan Edge interview!”
***
“I won’t do it.”
“And why not?” “Because you’re nothing but a bunch of freaks.” Pete Ross said coldly, staring the leader of his captors in the eyes.
“I may not recognize you, pal, but the rest of you I do.”
The other members of the group closed in on Pete but the leader held them back.
“We need him alive.” The leader said, brushing some of his white blond hair to the side.
“You don’t have reason to hate him like we do, Tyler.” A young man with spiky black hair said coldly. “He found out about what Luthor had done to us and when he did, did he help us? No. He ‘terminated the project’, throwing us out into the street. No homes. No lives!”
“I understand but bear with me here, Ian. I’ve brought you guys up to the next level. I know you want revenge but we went through all of this trouble to get Ross to allow us access to this room so don’t you want to make a little bit of green when you kill him?” Tyler explained.
Ian, who preferred to be acknowledged as Gemini, glanced at the floor for a moment before slowly backing off from the leader of the pack. Tyler turned back to Pete, determination etched into his face.
“Don’t think of us as stupid, Ross. We discovered this little security plan of yours. All of the money in this company can be accessed only through that single computer. That’s why you keep it so well protected, right?” Tyler said, raising his hand and causing the shards of glass in Pete’s back to rise out and float in the air. “Well now you have a decision to make, Ross. Either you go on that computer and get us the money, then die. Or we slit the throat of that pretty red head wife of yours.”
Pete clenched his teeth, suddenly feeling that the odds were too far against him to do anything.
He climbed up to his feet. “Fine. Just don’t hurt Lana.” Pete limped over to the computer and sat down, punching in a few keys as his attackers watched.
Tyler turned to the shape changing woman who had posed as Jessica.“Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, Shifter. Contact me immediately if you do, understood?”
“Will do.”
Meanwhile, Gemini flexed his muscles and cringed in pain as a shape began to creep from the very insides of his back, clawing its way out. It tore from within his skin until it finally pulled out of his body. Where there was once just air stood another identical man…another Gemini.
Pete punched in a few more keys when the alarms throughout the building began to ring throughout the area. Tyler furiously drew his attention back to Pete and lunged for him with his arm. Pete tackled into Tyler, pinning him to the ground.
“If there’s one thing I learned back in the days of growing up in Kansas, it was not to let myself get pushed around by bullies like you!” Pete said proudly, throwing a punch that smashed against Tyler’s face.
Pete managed to land a few more blows to Shard before being thrown off of him by Shifter, who had not had a chance to leave yet, and Mannequin, the man who could turn people into wax.
“Damn it, hold him still!” Tyler hissed, holding his face.
“You’ve got it boss.” Mannequin said, pushing his hand down on Pete’s shoulder, quickly turning him immobile, frozen in place.
“The police will be here shortly. We have to leave. Now.” Tyler ordered, being helped up by both of the Geminis.
“Leave now? You’re kidding right?” One of the Geminis said.
“We can’t walk away when we’ve already made it this far!” Said the other Gemini.“You know how I feel about cops. We can come back later. Take Ross and move!” Tyler roared above the yipping of the pair of identical Geminis.
Gemini, both of him, grudgingly picked up the still trapped Pete, lifting him and carrying him out of the panic room.
***
The skyline of Metropolis at sundown was a beautiful…especially from the sky.
“So what do you think, Conner?” Superman said, the reflection of the orange sky glistening in his eyes.
“It’s alright I guess.” Conner replied.
“Conner…what you said earlier about you not being a Kryptonian because you were created in a lab…you can’t think like that.” Superman sighed, glancing over at his companion while they soared through the air.
“Yeah but whether I think like that or not, it’s the truth. I wasn’t born on Krypton like you, Clark. I’m not some amazing ‘Last Son’ who must carry on the legacy of his people…”
“Truth be told, Conner, neither am I. I don’t even remember Krypton. I was just a baby when it was destroyed. Earth is where I call home.
”They flew over the enormous skyscrapers of the city peacefully, enjoying watching the sun set. Suddenly, Superman came to an abrupt halt in mid-air, floating in place and staring down towards the streets.
“What is it?” Conner asked.
“Sirens…near Ross Industries.”
As they descended down towards the crowded city below, Superboy was a little bit confused. “What’s the big deal about Ross Industries?”
“An old friend of mine from back in Smallville runs it. It used to be LexCorp which was owned by Lex Luthor. You met him.”
“Bald and bold? Yeah. Not a fan.”
“Not many people are.”
They lightly landed on a rooftop across from Ross Industries, now seeing the squads of police cars parked outside of the building.
“Yikes. Looks like something big went down.”
“Wait here.” Superman said, his feet beginning to leave the ground.“But-““Just hang tight, Conner.”
***
“Thanks for coming, Ms. Lane. You can sit if you’d like.”
Morgan Edge stood at his desk but then took a seat when Lois sat down.
“I appreciate you giving me an exclusive, Mr. Edge. If you don’t mind answering a few questions then we can get started.” Lois said, pulling out her pen and notepad.
“Ask away.”
“Okay…what is your favorite holiday?”
Morgan chuckled to himself, looking directly at Lois. “Please Lane, dispense with the fluff questions that you will clearly not even write down and just get to the point.” Morgan said coldly.
“Fine. Have you ever been involved in any criminal activities?”
“Never. I am a fine upstanding citizen who pays each and every one of his taxes.” Morgan answered, flashing a snarky grin.
“Not appreciating the sarcasm.”
“Well Lane with those kinds of questions, sarcasm is all you’re going to get.” Morgan said.
“If that’s how it’s going to be then I’ll let myself out. Have a good day, Mr. Edge.” Lois said bitterly, leaving the office.
Morgan Edge sat in solitude, staring at the door that had just closed. He opened up his laptop on his desk and turned it on.
The menu requesting the user’s password popped up and Morgan stared blankly at it for a moment before gently putting his palm on the keyboard, closing his eyes. The computer’s menu suddenly logged in without the password and began quickly cycling through hundreds of menus, file after files until a strange symbol formed on the screen.
The symbol of Brainiac.
***
“What’s going on?” Superman stood in the shattered window of Pete Ross’ office.
“Looks like a kidnapping to me. And I have a huge hunch of who did it.” Superman stepped into the office, to find Maggie Sawyer of Metropolis PD. She wore a trench coat draped over her while she investigated the glass ridden crime scene.
“You have a guess on the captor’s identity?” Superman asked.“More like captors. Plural.”
At that moment, two police troopers walked by the doorway carrying the two securities guards that had been turned into wax statues. Superman walked into the office, glass shards crunching beneath his boots.
“The wax statues were a big giveaway. Here, you may want to take a look at this.” Maggie handed the Man of Steel a manila folder.
Superman flipped it open to find a few pages of police profiles on a group of people.
“They’re called the Freaks. But for as long as they’ve been operating, they haven’t moved beyond a few gang wars or minor thefts. Never anything this big before.” Maggie said, watching as Superman turned the page.
“Ian Randall, Gemini, can create a duplicate of himself…Brendan Nash, Mannequin, has the ability to turn people’s skin into a wax-like material…Tina Greer, Shifter, able to mimic appearances, changing her shape at will…” Superman read the files and then looked up at Maggie curiously. “They all possess powers?”
“Yes, they got their powers while being experimented on by Lex Luthor a few years back. Apparently he was trying to figure out a way to kill you. But like I said, they’ve always just been a street gang. Nothing we couldn’t handle, until now that is. Now that they have a new addition.”
“What do you mean?”
“Explosions occurred from every single glass object in this room, not just the windows. That rules out the possibility that the windows were shattered only by the intruders entering. And besides, these windows to this office were double layered. Bullets wouldn’t even be able to get through them let alone a person smashing it.”
“Who did this?” Superman said, now growing a bit agitated. After all one of his best friend’s lives was at stake.“
Well I’m not positive but all of the evidence is pointing in this direction. There was a man named Tyler McKnight. He used to be Metropolis PD but was targeted by Mirror Master who he had helped put behind bars on his last visit.” Maggie said, her face pale as she continued to the story. “One night, when I drove Tyler home after he crashed his cruiser a few hours earlier…he went inside to find that his family, a wife and one daughter, murdered.”
Superman’s eyes widened with surprise.
“Mirror Master was there waiting for him. Tyler tried to fight him and Mirror Master tried to cut and run, jumping into one of his portals in the bathroom mirror. Tyler tried to follow, going headfirst when an…accident happened. The mirror shattered and Tyler fell out of the portal having been caught in the portal closing. It put him in a coma for months…”
***
“Come on, Conner. You can do this…”
Superboy stood on the rooftop of a brick building across the street from Ross Industries. He glared hard at the stone floor of the roof, veins bulging from his neck. He had been trying desperately to turn on his heat vision but it remained hopeless.
“COME ON!” Conner slammed his foot, unintentionally causing a tremor that made the whole structure beneath him quake.
Conner closed his eyes for a moment, trying to control his frustration, dwelling on the fact that he may not be fit to wearing the “S” on his chest. He gently opened his eyes only to find steam rising from the roof. It took a moment for the shock of seeing the stone rooftop boiling to set in and when it did…
“YEAH!!! That’s what I’m talking about!” Superboy cheered.
Without even the slightest warning, he felt a strange itch in his eyes.
“What the-“ He rubbed his eyes, but soon after realizing that his eyes felt like they were on fire, a fire burning away at his very retinas.
The feeling grew more intense with each passing second until he felt all of the flames crawling from the depths of his pupils be unleashed. In an eruption of high temperatures, heat shot from his eyes uncontrollably, searing the roof he stood on while he recoiled from the blast.
“No! Turn off! Turn off!” Superboy said, reeling his head back and forth.
Conner flung his hands over his eyes but the force of the heat vision pushed them away when they got too close.
Superboy swung his head around looking toward the Ross Industries tower for help but forgot that wherever he looked, the heat beam followed. “HELP!”
***
“We have one of the Freaks in captivity over at Stryker’s Island. I’m about to head over there and see what he knows. Care to join me?” Maggie Sawyer asked.
“Sure. The more we know, the better.”
Superman felt his attention be tugged out the window, the super-hearing locking onto a plea for help from nearby.
“Excuse me for a moment.”Superman flew out of the broken window, leaving Maggie alone in the office.
The hero landed gracefully on the building opposite Ross Industries to find Superboy screaming for help while heat vision flared from his eyes.
“Conner? Conner!! What’s going on!?” Superman called over Conner’s shouts.
“I can’t turn it off!” Superboy cried, pressing his palms as hard as he could against his eyes, the reflection of the red hot beams glowing against his hands.
“Have you tried closing your eyes!?” Superman asked.
“Of course!”
“Alright now, just try to calm yourself, focus on turning the heat off. Try to relax your body, okay?”
“I’ll try.” Conner said.
Superboy took a deep breath, his hands shielding the blasts from his eyes. He held his head facing upward to avoid hitting anything else. After another moment Superboy noticed that his eyes were not burning as intensely and the pain was starting to fade.
“I think it’s working…”
“Good! Just keep focusing, Conner.”
Another moment passed and the heat vision finally vanished from sight and Conner bent over, gasping for air.
“You alright?” Superman asked.
“Honestly…I’ve been better.”
“Ha. Right. I’m going to be heading to Stryker’s Island with a police detective. Someone I have to talk to.”
“Cool. Can I come?”
“I think it’d be best for the time being if you headed back to the farm, Conner. I don’t think it’s the right time to tell the world about you. Not yet.”
Superboy folded his arms scornfully.
“Trust me, it’s for the best right now.”
“Yeah…whatever.”Conner flew off into the night sky, fading within the array of beautifully lit stars illuminating the dark.
Superman stood on the rooftop for a moment longer, his cape drifting in the breeze. He wasn’t sure if he made the right decision in not letting Conner be involved but at the moment, it seemed to be the smartest course of action.
The Man of Steel turned around, facing the Ross Industries building.“Don’t worry, Pete. I’m on my way.”