Chapter 3
The Nuclear core of the issue
As the girl's left school, Babs then saw to familiar someones. "Hey, isn't that Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch?" She asked.
"I do believe it is" said Zee.
"But who are they talking to?" Asked Kara. Karen squinted her eyes as she looked closer. She then recognised the man that was with them. It was a man who looked to be in his 40's with grey hair and wearing a classic nerd attire.
"That's Martin Stein" said Karen.
"The nuclear physicist?" Asked Babs.
"Yeah, that's him" answered Karen.
"Wonder what they're talking about?" Asked Kara.
"Let us find out" said Diana. They then walked closer.
"I told you I'd help you after practice" said Ronnie.
"You were late by half an hour", said Jason. "Practice is only an hour, you were gone for nearly two".
"Sorry", said Ronnie. "I got caught up in something".
"If you mean flirting with women, then yeah, you got caught up all right" said Jason.
"Yeah, stay out of my business" said Ronnie.
"When your business threatens my chances to get me into M.I.T", said Jason. "It DOES become my business".
"Oh fuck off Jason" said Ronnie.
"YOU fuck off Ronnie" said Jason.
"BOYS! Not here!" Yelled Martin.
"Fine!" Said Jason and Ronnie. The two then walked in opposite directions just as the girls arrived to hear Martin sigh.
"Are you Martin Stein?" Asked Karen.
"Yeah, I'm Martin Stein" replied Martin.
"What was that about?" Asked Kara.
"And why were Ronnie and Jason with you?" Asked Jessica.
"Ronnie and Jason are my kids" answered Martin. This made the girls gasp.
"Ronnie's your son?" Asked Diana.
"Yeah", said Martin. "And Jason is my step-son".
"That's why Jason and Ronnie have different last names" said Babs.
"Wait", said Karen. "If Jason's your step-son, then what happened to his dad?". Martin then sighed again.
"He was killed during an attack at the Star City nuclear power plant", said Martin. "The same one that created Firestorm. I promised Jason's father that I would look after his family, but it only seems to becoming more unstable".
"I'll say", said Babs. "Ronnie and Jason are the complete opposites. One likes sports, one like science, one's a douchebag and one's not a douchebag".
"Speaking of which", said Zee. "Why does Ronnie act like this. According to a friend of ours, he acts, like Babs described, a total douchebag".
"It's how Ronnie copes" said Martin.
"Copes with what?" Asked Diana as she and the other girls felt uneasy.
"The death of his mother" said Martin. This caused the girls to gasp in horror.
"His mother died?" Asked Jessica.
"Yeah, breast cancer", said Martin. "She died when Ronnie was about seven years old. I guess acting like a 'douchebag' as you say is his way of coping with her death. Ever since I married Jason's mom, he and Ronnie have been butting heads, sometimes verbal, sometimes physical. I just, don't know what to do sometimes".
Meanwhile.
Ronnie crossly walked home as he mumbled under his breath. When he reached the house, he took out his key, just in case Jason was home and locked the door. But, when he went to put the key into the lock, the door opened.
"Huh, that's weird", said Ronnie. "Jason always locks the door when he comes home". He then walked in and looked everywhere.
"Jason! Jason!" Called Ronnie. He then went to look in Jason's room to see that it was empty and that his portable energy transfer system was gone.
He then called Martin. But, it went straight to voice mail.
"Dad, we have a situation", said Ronnie. "Jason isn't home and his latest project is missing". He then saw something poking out of Jason's drawer. He pulled it out and saw that it was a drawing. He looked at it. It showed Jason + latest invention + nuclear core = better Firestorm.
"Oh no" said Ronnie. he then closed his eyes an concentrated before he turned into Firestorm. He then flew out of the window and headed straight to the Metropolis nuclear power plant. When he arrived, he flew towards the core and saw Jason attaching his invention to the core's rods.
"JASON! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Shouted Firestorm in worry.
"Proving to everyone that I'M better than you", said Jason."and what better way, than by proving I'M a better Firestorm".
"Jason, are you crazy?", asked Firestorm. "What happened to me was chance, there's no TELLING what could happen".
"It's better then being in the shadow of the douche of a hero you are!" Roared Jason. After he finished setting up the device. He placed his hands on two sticks and it turned on. The power flowed through Jason as his eyes glowed red. But then, something went wrong and the energy and his eyes were turning blue as he screamed in pain.
Firestorm rushed to help, but…
BOOM! An explosion engulfed the whole area as Firestorm was thrown into a wall. As he got up, he could here laughter.
"Jason" said Firestorm sounding worried.
"Oh, Jason Rusch is no more" said a voice. A figure then started walk out of the smoke.
"What did you do to yourself?" Asked Firestorm.
"Well, you became Firestorm", said Jason. "But, from now on, call me-".
The figure then revealed itself to be a replica of Firestorm, the only difference was that the outfit was black and white, he had a skull face and his fire hair was blue.
"-DEATHSTORM!"
