Issue #11: "Hell, Fire and Brimstone" Pt. 1

“Morning, gorgeous,” Martin Stein groaned, scratching his head as he walked down the stairs of his New York Brownstone to the dining room where he was welcomed with the sounds and smells of breakfast being made. “What’s on the menu this morning?”

“Pancakes, eggs, home fries, steak,” Clarissa Clemens sang as she walked toward Martin, with a glass of orange juice and the morning paper, wearing only a button-downed shirt of his.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit much?” Martin asked as he sat down at the dining room table.

“Well,” Clarissa said, placing the glass of juice on the table and handing Martin the paper with a kiss on the lips, “I figured you might be hungry after our little workout last night.”

“I’m famished.” Martin smiled as he kissed Clarissa back. He peered around the corner to watch her walk back to the kitchen, before he unfolded the paper and found that the front-page story was Firestorm’s antics at Boss Shine’s midtown building. “Impossible.”

“What’s impossible, sweetie?” Clarissa asked as she emerged from the kitchen with plates of food.

“Oh nothing. I’m just reading about the things this hero Firestorm did yesterday,” Martin explained while Clarissa was setting down breakfast on the table. “It just seems impossible.”

“What does, him turning a building into water or transforming into Firestorm without you?”

“How do you know about that?” Martin snapped.

“You’d be surprised at what I know,” Clarissa said as her eyes turned black. Before Martin could respond, Clarissa surprised him by quickly injecting him with a sedative in his neck, causing him to fall face first, and unconscious, into his pancakes.



“Ronnie!” Jefferson Jackson yelled as he ran across the Hudson University quad after his roommate. “Ronnie, I’ve been hollerin’ at ya for a minute.”

“Sorry Jeff,” Ronnie apologized, waiting for Jefferson to catch up. “My mind has been a bit occupied.”

“Mine too, after catching our headline,” Jefferson commented while he pulled the morning newspaper out of his book bag.

“That is pretty sweet,” Ronnie said as he grabbed the newspaper, “but it’s not what I’ve been thinking about.”

“Well, what’s up?” Jeff asked as he and Ronnie began walking towards their dorm room.

“I quit the Justice League. I resigned my reserve membership.”

“Why’d you do that?” Jefferson asked.

“I jumped head first into this superhero-thing. And it was great for a while, but lately…” Ronnie paused for a moment before he continued. “I’m flunking out of college, I broke up with my girlfriend, inadvertently killed a police officer, and almost died only to find out that I have leukemia, which might have been caused by my powers. This isn’t what I pictured my life was going to be like after coming to college, let alone becoming a superhero. I’m lost and I don’t know what to do. But I can’t be a part of the JL with all of these distractions. It could lead to someone else getting hurt.”

“So, what are you going to do?” Jefferson asked.

“I need to find my place, but I need to get well first,” Ronnie said. “I’m going to go forward with the bone marrow transplant, which means that Firestorm is going to be on the shelf for a while.”

“Well, you gotta do what you gotta do, man,” Jefferson said, their dorm now in sight. “Have you talked to the professor yet? Found out what happened that night he left you hangin’?”

“No, but it’s not for a lack of trying. I’ve tried to call him, on his cell, at his house and at Concordance. I also tried to summon him, just to get him out of whatever rock he was hiding under, but nothing. It seems like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth.”

“And you’re not worried?”

“He’s probably with his ex-wife, Clarissa. They’ve been spending a lot of time ‘reconciling’ recently. Whatever, man, I’ve officially washed my hands of him.”

“Ronnie. Ronnie Raymond,” a female voice called out. Ronnie and Jefferson looked over to see a beautiful redhead in a dress-suit, leaning up against the wall of the dorm. “It’s been a long time.”

“Lorraine Reilly,” Ronnie said as he walked over and hugged his longtime friend. “It’s great to see you.”

“Same here. We don’t nearly catch up as much as we should.”

“Lorraine, Jefferson,” Ronnie introduced them, prompting them to shake hands. “She’s an old friend from high school, graduated a couple of years before I did. She works for some government organization or something. It probably didn’t hurt that she’s also the daughter of Senator Reilly. Her dad and mine go way back.”

“Without him, my dad wouldn’t have been elected.”

“It’s a pleasure, Ms. Reilly,” said Jefferson.

“Please call me Lorraine,” she answered.

“Dude,” Jefferson turned to whisper into Ronnie’s ear, “you gotta tell me where you find all of these women.”

“So, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Ronnie asked her.

“Unfortunately, Ronnie, this is not a leisure trip. We need a place we can talk in private.”



“You’re getting what you deserve, Martin.” Clarissa stood, stoic, watching down through an office window at the laboratory below, where a couple of Multiplex duplicates placed Martin Stein into a large clear cylinder that was attached to a working replica of the same reactor that was intended to power the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant. More duplicates began to take measurements and make adjustments to the machines in preparation of their upcoming experiment, under the direction of Henry Hewitt, who decided that his supervision was needed on the floor.

“And how do you feel, Clarissa?” Morgan Edge asked, sitting down in a large leather chair, observing the scene below. “After all of those years of standing by him, while he went out and got drunk, and was continuously unfaithful to you, only for him to come home and mistreat you and raise his hand to you. After the pounds of makeup, and excuses for the bruises, and the repeated denials when a rumor of a tryst with some young assistant or intern came up, how does it feel?”

“Honestly,” Clarissa began, “part of me realizes he has genuinely changed. There were times where I recognized the man that I married and times where I thought that I had fallen back in love with him. But my anger outweighs that love and that anger justifies my hate.” Clarissa turned toward Morgan, with her eyes turning black. “And my hate feels pretty good.”

“That’s good.” Morgan stood up and pressed his palm to Clarissa’s cheek as his eyes turned black as well. “Embrace that hatred. When our master comes back to this plain of existence, he will reward us.”

“Ahem,” Multiplex cleared his throat as he entered the room. “We’re ready.”

“Mustn’t keep our guest or Mr. Hewitt waiting,” Morgan said as his eyes returned to normal and he exited the room. Clarissa was about to follow after him when Multiplex stopped her.

“You know, when a guy works with people, it makes him feel better knowing their motives,” Multiplex began. “I know yours. It was pretty obvious. I mean, I was there at a lot of those functions where you had all that makeup and those lame excuses. Mr. Hewitt’s doing it for his legacy; he wants to leave behind this image of a great man who saved the world. But your friend Morgan; I just can’t get a beat on what he’s after in all of this.”

“Martin was always right about you. You can’t just see things for what they are. Morgan’s motivation is the simplest of them all,” Clarissa said as she put on her green helmet, locked it onto her matching body armor and pulled down the orange faceplate. She then said, as a synthesizer disguised her voice, “Morgan’s doing all of this because God told him to.”

Multiplex nodded as he followed the Enforcer out of the door.



“Dude, I’ll just go in here and listen to my iPod,” Jefferson said as he went into his room.

“I’m not sure it’s wise to talk here,” Lorraine said as she followed Ronnie into his dorm suite.

“Sorry, Lorraine, the Ronnie-Cave is being fumigated,” Ronnie said as he closed the door. “So, what’s up?”

“Ronnie, how long has it been since you spoke with Professor Stein?”

“How do you know that I know the professor? What does that have to do with anything?”

“The professor is a person of interest and we haven’t been able to contact him. You’ve also been seen with him around campus and at Concordance.

“It’s reassuring to know that I’m under government surveillance.”

“I also know that you two combine to form Firestorm.”

Ronnie’s eyes perked up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“This is no time to deny it, Ronnie. The professor is probably in a very bad situation; you’re probably next on their list. I’m not here as a member of my organization or as a government official. I’m here as your friend and I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you.”

“Then, what the hell are you talking about? Who are you talking about?”

“A group calling themselves the Omega Committee. They are interested in trying to recreate the accident that created Firestorm. They’ve been buying up the salvage from the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant and probably are responsible for breaking Danton Black out of prison. They have already begun experiments all over the world, but haven’t been successful. Their next move is probably to get Martin Stein and try and pry the secret from him.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“My organization is in the business of monitoring metahuman activity. That’s why we know your secret. But they have nothing to do with this. This is personal for me and it’s not just because of you.” Lorraine paused as a blue light surrounded her body. Her clothing transformed into a blue and orange costume, with blue flames materializing from her arms in the shape of feathers, as well as from her head, replacing her long red hair.

“You’re Firehawk?” Ronnie said, recognizing the heroine.

“Yes, and I’m also the Omega Committee’s first unsuccessful experiment.”

To Be Continued!


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