Chapter V: Meltdown Part 1
New York, NY. Three Months Ago.
Ever since the accident of his senior year, Ronnie Powell never imagined that he would be able to have a normal life. On a field trip to a nuclear power plant, he watched as Emerald Man and one of his enemies fought through the skies and crashed into the reactor. During the evacuation, Ronnie was knocked unconscious by the panicking crowd and left behind. By the time he woke up, the reactor had gone critical, and the resulting explosion had transmuted his entire cellular structure into living radiation. Unaware of his dangerous new physiology, Ronnie went back to his parents, only for them to be killed on contact. Distraught by what he had done, the young man did not resist when S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived to contain him.
Not long after, Emerald Man heard about what happened and hired Professor Martin Selving - the world's leading expert on radiation - to help design and build a specialized containment suit that would protect anyone around Ronnie while they figured out a way to cure his condition. Despite Ronnie's disposition, Emerald Man convinced him to use his powers for good while he waited for a cure. Adopting the name of his high school basketball team, Ronnie dubbed himself "Firehawk" and joined other superhero proteges in studying under the Justice Legion of Avengers.
Unfortunately, while studying Firehawk's condition, Selvig developed a cancerous tumor in his breast and hadn't discovered it until it was too late. But that didn't stop him from constructing a device that would allow Ronnie to transform from his radioactive form to his human form and vice versa. During Ultriac's invasion, Ronnie sacrificed himself to destroy the alien's mothership, sending him through time and space before making a triumphant return to the Justice Legion to help them defeat Darkanos.
After the Infinity Crisis had been resolved, Ronnie spent some time off from hero work to heal from using the Infinity Rings and to earn his G.E.D. But despite appearing to be cured of his affliction, he was still afraid that someone would be poisoned just by standing next to him. As such, he continuously went to Tony's radiology lab to have his human form tested for radiation.
"You're absolutely sure?" Ronnie asked, anxiously.
"Mr. Powell, we've checked your human form for any latent radiation several times." The scientist sighed, tiredly. "We checked you when you woke up. We checked you after you had breakfast. We checked you after your daily workout. After you took a shower. Before you went to lunch. When you came back from lunch! And every time we've checked you, the result has been the same; your human form shows no signs of emitting any harmful radiation! Now, while we understand your concern, my team and I are well into overtime and we would like to go home!"
Needless to say, Ronnie was a bit upset by the older man's tone. "Hey, fuck you, man!" He snapped. "I don't want to poison people after I just saved the universe!"
"Whoa! Hey, calm down, man!" Bart and Karen ran into the room to restrain their friend. "C'mon, let's go get some pizza and play some video games and cool off, huh?"
"... can we get stuffed crust?"
A few hours later, Ronnie was happily munching on his fifteenth slice of pizza while playing against Bart in Street Fighter. Soon, Tony entered the break room with Amanda Fury.
"Hey, Ronnie. Are we here at a bad time?" Tony asked.
"Nah, don't worry about it." Ronnie smiled without looking up from the game. "I love kicking Bart's ass in front of an audience."
"Quit spamming!" Bart growled, irritably, as he furiously mashed the buttons on his controller.
"Learn to block!" Ronnie laughed in reply as he won his fifth consecutive game. "HA HA! Oh, yeah! Go, Ronnie! It's your birthday! You are awesome!" He cheered. With his victory secure, Ronnie turned to Tony and pointed to his own goatee. "Check it out, Tony! My hair's growing back! We can be the awesome facial hair bros!"
"We need to talk, kid." Fury declared as she handed the young adult a manilla envelope.
"... what's this?"
"It's a confidentiality agreement." Fury explained. "You are not to discuss anything that happened during Darkanos' invasion of Earth, including when you had the Infinity Rings."
"What? Why not?"
"Because despite all the good it did, it also caused a lot of problems." The secretary of defense went on. "Your snap did more than just free everyone from the Anti-Life Equation and bring back Hyperman and Thunder Woman. It also brought back a lot of bad guys, too. It'd be best if no one knew about all of that. Either that, or you forfeit your right to go back to being Ronnie Powell."
"What?"
"Well, seeing as how it was S.H.I.E.L.D. who reversed your death certificate, it stands to reason that if you don't play by our rules we can revoke that action."
"Oh… okay…" Ronnie cleared his throat as he clicked the pen in his hand and signed the agreement.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Mister Powell." With that, Fury took back the manilla envelope and made her way out of the facility.
Tony snorted, crossing his arms as he watched the secretary of defense walk away. "I swear, we should've had her go up against Darkanos." He laughed. "With a shoulder that cold, she probably could've frozen him in place before he even got to the Infinity Gauntlet."
Ronnie chuckled at his friend's joke. "Hey, uh, listen, Tony, I was actually thinkin' about coming to work for you, ya know?" He offered. "Like, I still got all this science-stuff in my head thanks to Professor Selvig, so maybe I could, like, help you the way he did, ya know?"
"That accent real?" Tony joked, again. "I never noticed it with the mask on all the time. You sound like Rocky." The armored Avenger could see the annoyance on his protege's face. "Uh, but, yeah. You? Working for me? That's… I don't think that's fair."
Ronnie blinked in confusion. "What? Why not?"
"Well, 'cause you didn't earn that knowledge." Tony explained, softly. "It didn't take any discipline to achieve. Selvig only did it so that you could come up with more transmutation ideas on the fly, but there's a lot more to what he did than that."
"Well, I could still do something." Ronnie shrugged. "I mean, maybe-"
"Hey, listen, kid…" Tony slung his arm around his friend's shoulders. "I'm not really supposed to tell you this, but me and the rest of the Legion are in talks with someone else to set up something big for you kids. Just be patient, okay?"
"Oh… okay." Ronnie conceded.
"Hey, c'mon, cheer up." Tony gave the young adult a gentle shake. "You're back! You've got your human body back! I mean, sure, in order to reverse the death certificate, we had to blow your secret identity. But, hey, how else are we gonna explain why you weren't killed in a nuclear meltdown? Seriously, though, maybe you should plan a vacation or something."
Philadelhia, PA. Present Day.
Ronnie let out a long, exasperated sigh as he landed in the alley and converted to his human form. After settling in at Purple Labs, he had requested some time off to visit his childhood home. He was sad to see that his former family home - and, by extension, several surrounding houses - were still quarantined due to fallout. Moving on, the nuclear hero eventually came upon the local diner where he and his friends would hang out after a basketball game. Stealing a glance through the windows, he could see Kirby High's current roster of Philly Firehawks watching the 76er's game. A few blocks further, and he found himself at the community basketball court where he first showed interest in the sport.
He was about to look for a cheap motel to check into when he caught a runaway basketball. Looking up, he spotted a single child standing in the center of the court. "Hey! Over here!" The boy shouted. Ronnie looked at the ball in his hands then towards the nearest hoop. Holding his breath, he crouched down to propel himself upwards as he threw the ball. The boy watched the ball bounce off the backboard and roll over to the other side of the court. Ronnie could only shrug, apologetically, as he watched the child chase after the ball.
"What on earth was that?" An older voice called out. "I remember a time you could've made that shot with your eyes closed."
Ronnie smiled as the man approached him. "Coach Davidson?"
"You're not on my little league team anymore, Ronnie." The man chuckled. "Call me 'Al.' Now, about that shot."
"Yeah, guess my game is a little rusty." Ronnie rubbed the back of his neck, bashfully, as the boy ran up to his former coach's side.
"Well, maybe you can get some pointers from Ryan, here." Al joked as he hugged the boy to his side. "He's my grandson."
Ronnie's eyebrow arched. "Grandson?" He teased.
"You've been gone a long time."
"... maybe too long." Ronnie agreed as he followed Al down the sidewalk. As Ronnie and his former coach walked down the streets of Philadelphia, Ronnie made sure to keep his hood up to prevent anyone else from recognizing him. Without a secret identity, he'd be at the mercy of paparazzi. After a few minutes of walking, the trio entered a barber shop where Ryan begrudgingly sat down for his haircut while Ronnie and Al took seats in the waiting area.
"He'll be starting middle school next week." Al explained. "Basketball tryouts are the week after. It's all he thinks about."
"Maybe he's excited to play with his grandpa." Ronnie chuckled. "He seems like a good kid. You should be proud."
"He's brash. Impatient. Thick-headed. He's a lot like you, actually."
Ronnie sighed, dejectedly, looking at the ground. "I hope not."
Al rested a hand on his former student's shoulder. "Ronnie, you do still have friends here, son. Real friends." He said, assuringly. "What's bothering you?"
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Rex Williams - soldier of fortune - rode into his hometown after a long job out of state. Currently, he was on a relatively boring assignment from his boss at Stagg Corporations, delivering two briefcases from South America that apparently contained new, experimental pharmaceutical compounds. As he neared the last train station, Rex felt his phone vibrate in his pocket; he was receiving a video call from his boss. "Hey, Hugh. What's up?"
"Hello, Williams, my boy." Hugh Stagg - the CEO and owner of Stagg Corporations -greeted, warmly. "I take it you're almost home?"
"Yep. I'll be at the last train stop in twenty minutes." Rex nodded. "I take it Flintsones will be ready to pick me up from there?"
"Java will pick you up, yes." Hugh corrected. "Honestly, Williams, why must you tease him like that?"
"Well, if you didn't hire cavemen, I wouldn't tease him." Rex shrugged.
"Now, listen, carefully, Williams," Hugh went on. "It is imperative that I get those briefcases here, safely. It took a small fortune to get what's in them."
"Relax, Hugh. You'll get your briefcases with no problems." Rex promised.
Unfortunately, there was a slight problem happening in the cargo car. The crew had failed to properly secure one of the two briefcases and the vibrations of the train had been slowly shaking loose from its straps. At last, the case fell from its shelf and spilled its contents. A single vile slipped from the velvet pocket and cracked open. The mutagen began eating through the stainless steel floor and then the braking mechanism below. The train couldn't slow down, and rocketed towards the city.
The engineers sent out a distress signal to the next station, warning them to keep everyone away. Soon enough, the emergency broadcast station caught wind of the story, and a news helicopter was quickly on the scene. Ryan was just finishing his haircut when Ronnie and Al saw the whole thing on the barber's TV.
"Dear God! It's going to crash!" Al declared.
"Stay here!" Ronnie ordered as he unbuttoned his shirt. Tapping the device in his chest, a swarm of nanobots encased his body in a protective suit of armor as his organic body transmuted into pure nuclear energy. He rushed out the door, and waited until he was a safe distance from the others before propelling himself into the air with a steady blast of flames coming from his hands and feet.
"Awesome!" Ryan cheered. "Could he do that in middle school?!"
Firehawk flew towards the train station at his top speed. Once he caught up to the train, he cut off power to the engine by melting the power chords. After that, he moved towards the front of the train and pushed against it to slow the momentum. As he hoped, the train was slowing down, but it wasn't enough to prevent it from crashing. In a last-ditch effort, Firehawk aimed his palm towards the train station and transmuted the concrete wall behind the buffers into a giant air bag. The train crashed into the air bag, and finally came to a halt.
A few minutes later, Rex Williams discreetly recovered his briefcases before making his way off the train. Java was waiting for him, as promised, but instead of getting into the car, Rex handed his valet the briefcases and walked back towards the nuclear hero.
"Thank God you were here, Firehawk." The train's engineer praised as he shook their savior's hand. "It's a shame you moved to Chicago and have to deal with Payne's shit. If you hadn't-"
"It's alright, sir." Firehawk replied, humbly. "I was just in the right place at the right time."
"That's my pal, Ron." A voice called out. "Always there when you need him most."
Ronnie turned around with a smile on his face at the sound of the familiar voice. "I don't believe it! Rex Williams?!"
"Nice digs, Ron." Rex smirked as he high-fived his best friend. "I see you're still wearing the team's old colors, but that's not exactly a standard basketball uniform."
"Heh, yeah." Firehawk laughed as he showed off the red and black containment suit. "Guess you could say I found a new kind of team to bail out of trouble. What've you been up to?"
"I'd love to tell you back at my place." Rex offered. "Unless you're too busy for an old friend?"
"Never." Ronnie declared as he changed into his human form and retracted the nanotech armor.
Meanwhile, back at Stagg Corporations, Hugh Stagg was in the middle of a video press conference with his stockholders regarding his latest project. "Gentlemen, last year, we had a combined total of fifty-two on-the-job accidents at our power plants and oil refineries. Now, your unions are threatening to strike or worse drop you, altogether."
["Get to the point, please, Hugh."]
The C.E.O. pulled up a video with a CGI simulation of a silhouette standing in the middle of a nuclear power plant. The simulation played out a nuclear meltdown with the silhouette standing in the center of the plant. The figure transformed into pure lead to survive the blast and falling debris, then transformed into a gaseous substance to slip through the cracks and reform in a safe distance from the accident.
"I call it 'the Meta-Man!'" Hugh announced. "A physically altered man who will not only be able to survive in hazardous environments, but will thrive in them! My scientists have developed a way to charge the human body with ionic energy. Doing so will give that person the power to alter their physiology, and adapt to any surrounding!"
["A very interesting proposal, Mr. Stagg."] Another stockholder commented. ["But we need something more than a simulation."]
"You needn't worry, gentlemen." Hugh promised. "We are all set to begin human trials. All we need is a volunteer."
["Alright. Well, get back to us when you do. See you then, Hugh."]
On the other side of the city, Ronnie was enjoying a beer with Rex while the two old friends hung out in Rex's apartment flat. The nuclear hero took a particular interest in a photo of the duo during their last championship game together. "Heh, good times." Ronnie smiled. "Remember when I won that game?"
"I remember that we won that game." Rex corrected.
"All I remember is that I took the winning shot, it circled on the hoop and almost went in on its own, and then you slammed it in and took all the credit." Ronnie chuckled, teasingly.
"Hey, c'mon." Rex gave his friend a playful shove. "We were both heroes that day. Scouts came for both of us, right?"
"Yeah, that reminds me; how'd you afford all this?" Ronnie couldn't help but ask. "Shouldn't you still be in college?"
"Nah, I dropped out and went into the service for a couple years." Rex explained. "After that, I made kind of a name for myself as a soldier of fortune. Now, I'm getting paid the big bucks."
"I'll bet. Big penthouse, expensive beer, gourmet groceries." Ronnie nodded, impressed. "You've done alright for yourself."
"Working for an industrialist like Hugh Stagg has its perks." Rex smiled as he slung an arm around his old friend's shoulders. "But so does working for Tony Jordan, right? Having those sweet radiation powers must help you make a fortune on the side."
"Aheh, it, uh… it doesn't really work like that." Ronnie chuckled, half-heartedly. "I'm lucky enough to have the clothes on my back."
"Well, then we simply must take you shopping."
Ronnie's eyes widened in surprise as a gorgeous young woman entered the apartment and kissed his best friend. Rex wrapped his arm around her as he introduced the two of them. "Hey, babe. This is my old buddy, Ronnie Powell. Ronnie Powell, this is LaHoya Stagg, my fiance."
Ronnie blinked. "You're… dating the boss' daughter?"
"I told ya this job had perks." Rex replied.
LaHoya giggled. "Except daddy doesn't know, yet. Nobody's good enough for his little girl."
Ronnie just shook his head in amusement. "You always did like living dangerously, Rex."
LaHoya gave Rex another kiss as she excused herself to the bathroom. "Have you tried looking up Laura?" He asked.
"Laura Reilly?" Ronnie shook his head. "No, I haven't spoken to her since prom. But, I heard she died from a brain tumor a few years ago."
"What're you talking about, man?" Rex's eyebrow arched, slightly. "I spoke to her a few weeks ago. She had a tumor, yeah, but they detected it just in time to remove it."
"What? How's that…?" Ronnie's eyes widened in shock as he realized how such a thing was possible. Laura had been diagnosed with the inoperable tumor after Darkanos found the first two Infinity Rings. But because he had ordered everything in the universe to be as it had been before Darkanos got the Rings, that must have included Laura's tumor. Because of Ronnie's actions, his girlfriend had been given a second chance at the life she deserved. For the first time since the Crisis, Ronnie felt as if he had done the right thing.
"Do, uh… do you know where she-?" Ronnie was cut off by his phone's ringtone. He politely excused himself before going out to the balcony to answer it. "Hello?"
"Ronnie? It's me, Tony."
"Uh, hey, what's up?"
"I heard about the train crash and came as soon as I could." Emerald Man explained. "I'm investigating the crash site right now, and my ring is telling me that there was some kind of illegal mutagen eating at the braking mechanisms."
"Really…? I'll call you back." Ronnie hung up his phone as he gave Rex a suspicious glance. Making his way back to his friend, Ronnie activated the nanotech armor without transforming into his radioactive form. "Something you wanna tell me?"
Williams blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"That train crash was the result of a mishap involving an illegal mutagen that was found in the cargo car." Firehawk elaborated. "Only someone working for a pharmaceutical enterprise like Stagg Corporations could have possibly gotten their hands on that."
Rex looked offended at the accusation. "You can't be serious. Why would I take that kind of risk?"
Ronnie crossed his arms in doubt. "You always said you'd do anything to get ahead."
"... I've got nothing to say about it." Rex replied as evenly as he could.
With a soft exhale, Firehawk transmuted himself and tapped his finger on his friend's phone. By manipulating the electrons in the air, the hero managed to add his own contact number into the phone. "Call me if you change your mind." He suggested before flying off.
Soon after, LaHoya returned. "What happened to your friend?"
"... something came up."
One hour later, Hugh Stagg received a call from his secretary. "Yes?"
["Mr. Williams is here to see you, Mr. Stagg."]
"Well, send him in." The C.E.O. got up from his desk to embrace his most valued employee. "Williams! Good job on recovering those briefcases. I heard all about the accident. Thank Heaven you weren't hurt! We'll sue that railroad company for everything it's worth!"
"It wasn't their fault!" Rex interrupted as he forced his employer's arm off of him. "Hugh, what was in those briefcases?"
Hugh sat back down at his desk, threading his fingers together. "I already told you." He shrugged. "It's just some new expiremental pharmaceutical compounds for my research."
"Would those compounds happen to be an illegal mutagen?" Rex asked, resting his hands on the desk as he leaned in.
Hugh scoffed. "You don't seriously think I'd risk using that, do you?"
"I don't hear you denying it!"
"... then hear this; stay out of it!" Hugh replied, threateningly. "It's all above your paygrade."
"Fine…" Rex conceded as he threw a letter onto the desk and turned towards the door. "LaHoya, you can come in, now."
Stagg was confused as his daughter entered the room as he looked over the letter. "I don't understand… what is this?"
"It's me giving notice." Rex replied as LaHoya stood beside him. "I won't be involved with whatever you're doing. So I've accepted a job offer in Los Angeles."
"And I'm going with him." LaHoya declared, showing her engagement ring as she hugged Rex's arm.
Needless to say, Hugh was distraught. "But you can't!"
"Daddy, I'm not your little girl, anymore!" She insisted.
"Don't try to stop us, Hugh!" Rex hugged his fiance back.
Hugh seemed to calm down a bit. "No… of course not." He replied, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "It's just… such a shock. But if you're sure this is what you want…?"
"It is." LaHoya nodded.
"Then go with my love. And my blessing." Hugh sighed as he took his daughter's hands into his own.
"Then I guess I'll go clear out my desk. No hard feelings?" Rex extended his hand towards his former boss with a smug smile. "... dad?"
Hugh sneered as he left the room. "Good night!" He huffed. Once he was far away from the couple, he took out his phone and dialed his most trusted assistant. "Java, you're staying late, tonight. I believe I've found our test subject."
Later that night, Rex was just gathering the rest of his things from his desk when he noticed someone sneaking into the sub-labs on the security monitor. He tried to dial up security on the company's landline, but there was no response. With a heavy sigh, Rex decided to do Hugh one last favor and handle the intruder, himself. He was just thinking about the brand new apartment he and LaHoya would move into when he spotted a single test tube lying in the middle of the floor.
He was just about to pick it up when, suddenly, a large glass tube descended from the ceiling, trapping him inside. The purple mutagen fell from a tube at the top, coating his skin with the burning, viscous fluid. After that, someone flipped a switch, bombarding the unfortunate man with ionic energy. And that was when everything went black for Rex Williams.
When Rex woke up, he looked down to see he was laying down in a hospital bed and had been dressed in some bizarre purple jumpsuit with a large red "M" written over the chest. His entire body felt numb, yet he could still move his arms and legs. A bright flash of light drew his attention as he spotted his former employer. "Stagg? W-what's going on?"
"Williams! You're awake!" Hugh handed his camera to Java before going to the young man's bedside. "There's been an accident. You-"
"Daddy, where is he?!" LaHoya suddenly burst into the room. She rushed towards Rex's side, only to collapse from shock upon seeing his face.
"What? What's wrong?!" Rex asked, sitting up from his bed.
"Brace yourself, son." Hugh warned as he cradled his daughter in his arms.
Rex hesitantly made his way towards the mirror hanging above the sink across the room, unaware that his feet were hovering above the floor. Much to his horror, his skin appeared to glow with a flickering white energy, his hair had all fallen out, and his eyes were a piercing dark red that appeared to emit a similar red smoke. "No...no! NO!" In a blind fury, Rex ripped the sink out from the wall with a single hand and smashed it against the mirror.
"Java! Stop him!" Hugh ordered. The hulking servant lunged towards the mutated soldier of fortune, but Rex accidentally knocked him away with a swipe of his hand.
"What's happened to me?!" Rex cried out in anguish before jumping out of the window. By some miracle, his hands blasted concentrated streams of burning sulfur that propelled him through the sky.
Once he was gone, LaHoya woke up in her father's arms. "Daddy? W-what happened? Where's Rex?!"
"Don't worry, my darling. Everything's going to be alright." Hugh promised as he hugged his daughter, tightly.
"LaHoya!" The traumatized girl and her father turned to the window as Firehawk flew into the hospital room. "I heard about the accident! What happened?! Where's Rex?!"
"I'm afraid you're too late, my boy." Hugh replied. "Mr. Williams is currently on the run, trying to cope with his new condition."
LaHoya stood up and hugged Firehawk's arm. "Ronnie, please! You have to bring him back! Who knows what could happen to him while he's out there?!"
"Don't worry, sweetheart." Firehawk replied, assuringly. "I'll bring him back to you. Even if I have to turn over every brick in Philly to do it."
Little did either of them notice that Hugh took a picture of them in their comforting embrace.
Hours went by and Ronnie was no closer to finding his best friend. Much to his frustration, he heard a bank alarm going off directly below him. Growling to himself, the nuclear hero flew directly down and shattered the robbers' van to pieces with a powerful stomp. The getaway driver had been flung from the front seat and collided with the pavement so Firehawk turned his attention to the other thugs. "Your move, creeps." He sneered.
As he expected, the idiots aimed their firearms at him. Rolling his eyes beneath the glass visor in his helmet, Firehawk waved his hand in front of their weapons, transmuting them into puddles of shampoo before knocking them all unconscious with his fists. The driver, having finally recovered, took the pistol out of his back pocket and aimed it at the unsuspecting hero when a nonlethal bolt of lightning zapped him back into unconsciousness.
"Well, that was awfully sloppy, Ronald." Thunder Woman remarked as she landed. "Even for you."
"Donna? What're you doing here?"
"Emerald Man called Dr. Lord and informed him of the situation regarding your friend." Donna explained. "Since I was the only one in the building at the time, he sent me to come assist you."
"God, why does Tony have to butt-in to my life?!" Ronnie exclaimed. "This is my problem! I don't need him! For anything!"
Donna looked startled by his outburst. "Ronald, I'm here to help you. Why are you behaving like this?"
Ronnie's expression softened, slightly, as he took a seat on the curbside. "Sorry, it's just… running into Rex after all this time… seeing how good he has it… it's made me think about my life. Some of the things I've been through."
"The… road not taken?" Donna asked as she sat down beside her friend.
"Yeah. Kinda." Ronnie sighed. "Except… I didn't choose this road. It was forced on me. If I hadn't been in that accident, I could've been where he is, today; wealthy, successful-"
"Engaged to a beautiful woman?" Donna teased, playfully.
Before Ronnie could answer, his phone went off. "Hello?"
["Ron? You there?"]
"Rex!" Ronnie jumped to his feet. "Are you okay?! Where are you?!"
["I'm at the high school. Come alone. We need to talk."]
"I'll be right there! Don't move!" Ronnie hung up the phone and reactivated his helmet. "I gotta go! Take care of these crooks for me, will ya?"
"Wait! Don't go off alone-!" Donna cried out as her friend flew away. Grumbling in frustration, the Corbinite demi-goddess fished her own phone out of her pocket. "Karen? Ronald may be in trouble. How fast can you and Bartholomew get to Philadelphia?"
A few minutes later, Firehawk landed just outside his old high school, using his hands to emit harmless light while searching for his friend. He found that the glass door in the front had been smashed open and reasoned that Rex must have broken in to seek sanctuary. As he carefully stepped through the broken frame, he made sure to fuse the glass back together. Making his way down the halls, he was surprised to see several candles and flowers decorating the bottom of his old locker with some sort of note taped to the front. Ronnie gingerly plucked the note off and read it to himself.
"Dear Ronnie, my best friend and soulmate, it wasn't fair for you to have been taken from this world so soon. But know that so long as the last gift you gave me lives on, I will always love you. Sincerely, Laura Reilly."
Ronnie's heart sank; after pocketing the note, he made a personal vow to look up his old flame and explain what happened. At last, he spotted a faint light coming from the gymnasium. "Rex!" He called out. "Rex, is that you?!"
Just as the nuclear entered the gym, Rex spun around and sprayed a black substance from his palm. Firehawk was coated in a thick layer of lead glass. As the radiation-retardant material hardened, Rex shapeshifted his fist into solid steel and delivered a strong blow to his old friend.
Firehawk was now helpless as the seams of his suit were completely insulated. "Rex, what're you doing?!"
"I always knew you were jealous, but I didn't think you'd go this far!" The ionic energy shifted over his arm, transforming it into molten magma. "You ruined my life… now I'm gonna end yours!"
To Be Continued!
Firehawk aka Ronnie Powell - Firestorm/Darkhawk
Meta-Man aka Rex Williams - Metamorpho/Wonder Man
Hugh Stagg - Simon Stagg/Hugh Jones
LaHoya Stagg - Sapphire Stagg/LaHoya Scriff
Amanda Fury - Amanda Waller/Nick Fury
Laura Reilly - Lorraine Reilly/Laura McGuire