Legends of Firestorm Annual #1

[Spider-Man Beyond]

The Multiverse Presents

Legends of

Annual #1
The Fury of Firestorm, the Nuclear Man

Written by Joel Sawyer (Glippernip)

Edited by Daniel Dyer (Spider-Man Beyond)

Multiverse logo created by Tony Peterson (Starfall)

(Editor's Note: Close this thread right away if you haven't read Unlimited Legends #20

[Spider-Man Beyond]

If anyone had seen it, they would not have been able to explain it, or even comprehend what they saw. With a hiss and a BOOM, a small, flaming meteor fell from a hole in the sky. As the hole closed, the meteor slammed into a rocky hill.

For quicker understanding, call it his “heart”. In reality, it was a techno-seed, like a living computer CPU that could be dropped into almost any environment. The ground around the red, smouldering stone rolled and clumped together, the hill itself changing its shape to suit the stone. What this “heart” needed more than anything was a body.

And what a body it created for itself. It stood six stories tall, its fist as big as a full-size SUV, its chest almost as wide as a semi-trailer is long. It burned a deep red, with a black skull-like shape for a face. Fire flickered across its “skin”, fire from the radioactive material that its “heart” was made of.

“Sinners, beware,” it said, “Brimstone has come to cleanse this world!”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

“How are you feeling?” Mr. Miracle asked his companion in a very nonchalant manner. With the vague order of “somewhere safe”, the Mother Box had deposited them in a construction site of a half completed structure. With the horrible rain going on outside, the site was abandoned.

“I am not at full strength,” the green being named J’onn J’onzz stated, “but I am not sure how much longer we should wait. Darkseid will not wait.”

“He hasn’t waited,” Miracle replied. “The Box has detected multiple Boom Tubes opening on Earth, one not far from here.”

It was only a few minutes later when they heard a commotion that came closer as they listened. Pulling the yellow and red mask over his features, he popped his head outside the building to see a flaming giant approaching.

“We have trouble,” Scott Free, Mr. Miracle said.

J’onn stepped out to see.

“Ping!”

“The Box says it is called Brimstone. I’m not familiar with him at all.”

“It is not alive the way I am accustomed to,” J’onn stated. “I cannot sense any thoughts at all.”

“Because I am the Engine of Destruction for an angry, vengeful god,” Brimstone bellowed. “False gods such as you are powerless against me!”

“What do we do?” Miracle asked.

“I am weak against fire, likely why this Brimstone was sent against us. We should keep our distance for now,” J’onn answered. “This city called New York contains one who may assist us.”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Firestorm rocketed across New York, his hair leaving a flame trail behind him. Dimly, he heard a cheer occasionally as a pedestrian spotted him, but the streets were nearly empty. As previously, he swung through Times Square, near the NBC offices to check the time.

“Professor,” Firestorm whispered, “it’s... tomorrow! It’s past sunrise.”

>>We haven’t been seen since yesterday evening,<< Martin added, stunned. >>The clouds are so heavy, we didn’t realize it was day.<<

“If we ever meet Morrow again...” Firestorm said, then stopped himself. RED, Morrow’s android, hovered a short distance away, watching the hero. It now used a crimson whirlwind to fly, so Tornado Champion was in there somewhere. “Why are you following me if you’re not gonna help?” Firestorm asked.

No response.

“You know, a sidekick is supposed to tell jokes and assist now and then.”

No response.

“Fine. I’ll start with the guy at STAR Labs first,” Firestorm decided, rising higher in the air.

>>Firestorm, wait!<< came an insistent, commanding voice that echoed in the minds of Ron and Martin.

“Now what?” Firestorm spat. Truthfully, each new event just irritated him further.

Two men (?) joined him in the air. The first floated on disks connected to his feet and wore a bright yellow and red costume with a green cape. The other one looked marginally human, very muscular but with green skin, a bald head, and almost cavemanish features. He wore a red “X” across his chest with accompanying belt along with a blue cape, trunks, and boots.

“I’ve been to the cape,” Firestorm quipped, “but the cape has never come to me!”

>>Oh, Ronald, that was bad.<<

Cut me some slack, Professor. I’m not in the best of moods right now.

“My name is J’onn J’onnz,” the green man began, “and my compatriot is Mr. Miracle. Neither of us is from Earth.”

“You speak better English than most people I know.”

“I am a telepath. I have absorbed your language.”

“Do tell,” Firestorm nodded, then continued. “I’m a little busy right now...”

“I am aware of your current situation, but it is worse than you think. I cannot give you all of the details, but a flaming giant named Brimstone is coming this way to capture us.”

“And you are leading this flaming giant into Manhattan,“ Storm asked, incredulously.

“I’m suggesting a cooperation,” J’onzz explained. “I am not good against fire. If you will face Brimstone, I will deal with one of your threats.”

“Great,” Firestorm said. “Under the circumstances, I shouldn’t just trust you, but if you are out to get me or double-cross me, the end result will be the same. We haven’t a lot of time. Where is Brimstone?”

“West, not far.”

“I hope you mean what you say,” the Nuclear Man said before zooming off, adding, “I meet my first alien being, and its name is ‘John Jones’. Figures.”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

He saw the monster from a long way off. “It’s huge, Professor. What can we do against that?”

>>I’m not sure,<< Martin replied, >>but we’ve never been able to test the limits of our power.<<

“Yeah. Cut loose and hope it works. Good plan.” Firestorm flew at the giant, his whirlwind-generating companion still following.

“So,” Brimstone bellowed, “another false angel approaches me for judgment?”

“No, just thought I’d make some S’mores,” Storm flippantly stated.

Firestorm shot in, creating a spike and huge weight that crashed down on the spike, but the tip would not penetrate Brimstone’s skin. Firestorm then attempted to smother the giant with flame-retardant foam, but Brimstone burned the substance off easily, and the hero could not create enough to cover the behemoth, anyway.

“Truly pathetic,” Brimstone judged, closing his fist around Firestorm. The flames around the closed hand exploded into a fireball. “If such is the kind of sinner I must punish, I will win my lord’s approval very quickly!”

Opening his hand, expecting to see a crispy corpse, Brimstone instead saw Firestorm whole and intact, and the Nuclear Man quickly transformed the air and rain around Brimstone’s face into sand and heat resistant glue. Blinded, Brimstone threw Firestorm, though the hero quickly turned and advanced on the giant.

>>Nice tactic, Ronald, but it will only delay him a moment.<<

“I know that, Prof,” Firestorm began. “I don’t want to repeat our fight with Typhoon. We need a plan. Any ideas?”

>>The fact that the driving rain and our foam do not effect his fire suggests that his flames are not typical. We should analyze the properties of his heat.<<

Brimstone cleared his vision and lunged at Firestorm, his feet crushing a gas station as he did. Leaking gasoline ignited and a fireball rose into the dark morning sky. Teeth nashed together, Firestorm dove into the inferno, transforming the gas into less combustible materials. He began to pant and sweat.

“I don’t know how much I can take, Martin,” he whispered. “We’re already tired, and we’re using so much power right now.”

>>We’ve never really tested our limits. I haven’t known how to.<< Martin added.

“We should...”

Brimstone’s massive palm slapped Firestorm down onto the devastated pavement. Then, the monster stepped on him. “Crushed beneath my heel is all a sinner like you deserves,” the giant decreed.

Beneath the street, after lowering his atomic density to zero, Firestorm slipped behind the beast and rose back into the open air. Unnoticed, he trained his molecular restructuring “sight” on the giant.

>>It isn’t normal fire,<< Stein marveled. >>He is radioactive. Dear lord, Ronald, he may be contaminating the city!<<

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Professor, but do you see anything alive in that mess?”

>>I... don’t.<<

As a test, Firestorm hit a small section of Brimstone’s surface with a controlled nuclear burst, and with a tiny FZAM changed two inches of Brimstone’s skin into hydrogen, which flared for a second. There was no painful feedback.

Firestorm smiled. “Now, this is more like it,” he said as Brimstone turned toward his voice.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

J’onn J’onzz, the last surviving Martian, and Mr. Miracle, Apokolips’ greatest escape artist, soared over Manhattan. Ahead, the roof of STAR Labs building glowed in the darkened morning sky.

“Ping!”

“This energy conveyance system is pretty strong, and this man seems to be siphoning from it,” Miracle translated.

“You are not as strong as I,” J’onn stated. “I will face this human. If you discover a way to assist me, do not hesitate.” J’onn flew straight at the man.

Christopher Lansing, who had let the bombers into the Hudson Nuclear Facility and lay in a coma for months, stood atop the STAR Labs building feeding off the New York power supply even as the storm raged over the city. Wearing nothing but his footgear and boxers, he had “fried” X’s across his face and chest. He now called himself Kriss Kross.

He had also gone completely insane. He didn’t even know he had been asleep for so long. He just knew that, when he woke up, he could absorb energy around him, and he really didn’t have any control. At this point he was angry, and wanted everyone to know it. Admittedly, it didn’t help his state of mind when a muscular green goon flew towards him.

“You must stop what you are doing!” J’onn J’onzz shouted, amplifying his deep voice to overcome the background noise. “Your actions endanger the city.”

“It’s all good, my boogery friend,” Kross shouted back. “It can’t be real. I can fry anything I want.”

“This is reality,” J’onn pushed. “You are harming your own home.”

“Storms do not fight each other, green musclefreaks don’t approach me for conversation, and I don’t glow in the dark. Not... reality!”

“Perhaps I can restore your sanity with my telepathic abilities, but time is important. I must subdue you. Perhaps when brought to your senses, you might even aid us.” J’onn approached Kross, firing red beams from his eyes. Glowing in a field of reddish-pink energy, Kross fearfully blocked with his arm, and cringed when the beam hit him.

Then he cracked a big grin. “See? Common sense dictates. I shouldn’t be able to absorb the laser-eye from any old green goon that comes along. Let’s see what else I can do!”

Kriss Kross grimaced, internalizing some of the energy flowing through him. His muscles bulged, his skin stretched and acquired a reddish color matching that of the energy he produced. J’onn watched as the energy burned the hair from Kross’ head.

“See that?” Kross said. “Just like those silly Dragonball cartoons.”

“I do not have time,” J’onn commanded, his arm stretching between he and Kross and landing a vicious punch. Kross backed away from the impact, but the blow did not pierce Kross’ energy field.

“Mortal Kombat, then,” Kross hissed, punching J’onn in the jaw. The snap of energy that accompanied the fist sent the Martian skidding across the roof and smashing into a central Air Conditioning module.

“I’m King of the world!” Kriss Kross shouted to the sky.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

“You’ve analyzed how the energy system works?” Mr. Miracle asked his wristband, Mother Box.

“Ping!”

“Wires? Have to admit, they’ve maximized capacity for such an inefficient system of energy conveyance. They haven’t even gone Zeta yet. OK, then, tell me how it all works.”

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

For the fifth time, J’onn J’onzz slammed into an obstruction on the rooftop of the STAR Labs.

This is not good, he thought to himself. I am not at full strength, and he becomes stronger as the battle progresses. Yet, if I do not defeat him, I will not be in position to stop Darkseid. There must be a way! J’onn J’onzz stood and launched his next attack.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Firestorm, the Nuclear Man quickly found himself frustrated. He blasted Brimstone with his atomic restructuring powers, but each blast only converted an amount of matter the size of a lounge chair. After doing this three times, he backed off to catch a breath.

The gouges began to fill in as the hero watched.

“I don’t believe it,” he whispered.

“Now do you understand?” Brimstone bellowed, moving toward his nemesis. “Your paltry abilities do not match mine. You, as all sinners, are doomed by the judgement of my lord!”

“His body is so dense, I can’t transform much at a time,” Firestorm stated.

>>And we are tired and weakened,<< Stein added. >>If we had more energy...<< Then a light bulb went off in both their respective heads.

“That’s it,” they both shouted in unison.

Firestorm tested his hypothesis and instantly knew that it should work. “Hey, Brimstone,” Firestorm called, “you want to play Titanic? I’m the iceberg!”

Brimstone boomed, “I do not play... What are you doing?”

With a smile, like he did during the Hudson Nuclear Facility incident and again when Stein’s nuclear submarine exploded, Firestorm began absorbing the radiation that saturated Brimstone’s body, filling the reservoir he tapped to use his powers.

He felt the increase almost instantly. It felt good, like drinking a Mountain Dew after a hard, sweaty basketball game. Remembering the Hudson incident, how much ambient radiation he had absorbed in seconds, Firestorm poured it on, drawing as much radiation in as he could as fast as he could.

“You cannot defeat me,” Brimstone bellowed, flailing at Firestorm like a man bats at an insect. “My victory is preordained.”

Then pieces of Brimstone’s shell began to crumble, and his fire dimmed. In fact, it happened so fast, Firestorm had difficulty later remembering the monster’s fall. His form shrank, seemed to shrivel, and chunks crashed to the ground at his feet.

Brimstone howled to the heavens, “Master, why don’t you protect me? Am I not loyal? Why do you allow this?”

“Because my judgment trumps that of your master!” Firestorm shouted. “This is my city! Next time, ask before you barge in!”

FZAAAAMMMM!!!

Firestorm blasted Brimstone with a monstrous atomic burst. The matter and mass that comprised his body became water. Before the eyes of Firestorm and to an extent America due to various cameras and news teams, Brimstone disintegrated.

“That’s how we do things in New York,” Firestorm muttered as he turned and zoomed back toward Manhattan, the RED android still following passively.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

“This is going to be tricky,” Mr. Miracle said. With guidance from his Mother Box, he had found one of the three lines that fed the STAR Labs building electricity. “You are sure I can’t just cut one line? It has to be two?”

“Ping!”

“Well, just another challenge for Mr. Miracle,” the multi-colored contortionist stated.

With practiced ease, he tripped the breaker that shut down the power line. Without him saying a word, the Box opened a Boom Tube and Miracle shot through it. At the exit, still in the structure’s basement, Miracle ran through the floor’s schematic in his mind as he moved.

Steam pipe, stairwell, water pipes, he ticked off in his mind as he rounded, ducked under, or dove over the obstacle. He wished there had been more space here so the Boom Tube could have been closer to the target, but no matter. He leapt to the floor from a catwalk and slammed the circuit breaker down. The lights went out.

“Did it work?”

“Ping!”

“Great!” Cutting the two power lines overloaded the third. J’onn, he mentally called, can you hear me?

>>I am still encumbered with Kriss Kross,<< came the telepathic answer.

I just cut his power. Be ready, Miracle suggested.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Even as J’onn registered Miracle’s statement, and even as he dodged another powerful energy blast, he saw a look of confusion jump to his attacker’s face, and the energy field that protected him dimmed.

Almost as immediately, he saw electricity crackle from conduits at the top of neighboring buildings.

Despite aching joints and weakened muscles from imprisonment, torture, and the current battle, J’onn J’onzz launched himself at Kriss Kross. As Kross fired his deadly ray, J’onzz summoned his will and desolidified, the blast going through him harmlessly. Closing with Kross, J’onn shoved his immaterial fist into Kross’ chest and partially solidified it, and the insane man screamed in pain but did not falter. J’onn hit his now exposed target with pure psychic force. Kross stumbled and his field dimmed further as he closed his eyes and held his head in his hand. With all of his remaining strength, which was still significant, he punched Kriss Kross into the air. All at once, J’onn dropped to the rooftop as Kriss Kross sailed several blocks and plummeted toward the New York streets.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Within minutes, Firestorm arrived at the STAR Labs building while Mr. Miracle returned to J’onn’s side. The newcomers to New York both noted that, despite the driving rain, the flames on Firestorm’s head blazed like a bonfire and his skin seemed to shine. With RED there, the foursome looked up at the raging storms called Typhoon and Tornado Tyrant.

“You have anything left in the tank?” the Nuclear Man asked the Martian.

“I am very weak,” J’onn replied, his telepathic ability translating Firestorm’s slang. “I’m not sure how effective my psychic power will be. I cannot even detect the mind of the tornado creature even though it is obviously alive.”

Firestorm glanced at Miracle.

“My abilities are mostly my skills,” he offered apologetically. “Box is trying to analyze the storms, but it may take some time. We’re new to Earth.”

“Don’t know if I can take them both on,” Firestorm said, shaking his head but rising into the air, “but I...”

“FIRESTORM, WAIT!” the robot interjected.

“Tornado Champion?”

“I... don’t know,” the crimson construct answered. “I do not remember much. I believe that, if you can deal with Typhoon, I can defeat Tyrant.”

Firestorm grinned. “The sheriff always needs a good deputy,” he said.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Tornado Tyrant was dying. It realized this suddenly, like a lightning strike, and for the first time in memory, it became scared. It tried to escape only to find Typhoon’s winds were now too strong.

Then the Tyrant felt a familiar presence approaching.

“Tornado Champion,” it cried. “Brother! Once this being is finished with me, it will turn on you! Aid me and we can defeat it together.” Tyrant saw RED flying toward him and realized it was not Tornado Champion. At least, not anymore.

With no hesitance, Red Tornado with a crimson cyclone pushing him forward, flew into the whirlwind that made up the Tyrant’s “body”. Inside, RED centered himself. What had been Tornado Champion reached out, grabbed the weakened Tyrant, and slowly dragged the grey vortex into the organic polymer shell that comprised RED’s skin. Within, the three forces (Champion, Tyrant, and RED’s programming) combined and lost individuality. As the Tyrant disappeared, a new being hovered in the dark New York sky.

The black clouds parted, and Typhoon glared at this strange, new creature.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Those in New York, whether seeing with their own eyes or watching on live TV (if they still had electricity or signal, that is), gasped as Typhoon became visible. He was huge, gigantic, fully 80' tall. Lightning flashed in his blazing red eyes. “How many challengers must I destroy before this city accepts that I rule the sky?”

“Blow it out your cold front,” a smallish voice called.

Typhoon turned to see a flaming comet streaking toward him from the city. Moments later, he recognized Firestorm.

“I’ve already beaten you,” Typhoon growled. Then, with a gigantic thunderclap, Typhoon roared. “I am Lord of the heavens!”

>>What do you intend to do, Ronald?<< Martin asked.

“I’m going to get in his face and release all of this power I’m carrying, see if I can disperse the storm.”

>>You don’t know how that will effect us,<< Stein urgently offered.

“Right now, Professor, my job is to take down Typhoon as quickly as possible. Everything else is secondary.”

>>If you feel that strongly, then I am with you all the way,<< Stein said.

As Typhoon howled, Firestorm flew right up to his face and exploded.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Groggy and weak, Firestorm woke up a moment later and looked to the sky. There was no sign of Typhoon, and the sun peeked through the slowly breaking cloud cover. He smiled. “We did it,” he whispered.

>>That we did,<< Stein agreed. >>Now we’d better start flying or we will be a red and yellow smear on Broadway.<<

Firestorm tried, but it didn’t work. He sighed. “Always wanted to be on Broadway,” he rasped.

“Not today,” a mechanical sounding voice called.

“Hey, RED,” Firestorm called weakly.

“Call me Red Tornado,” the construct replied. Matching Firestorm’s falling speed, Tornado carefully slowed the Nuclear Man down and then carried him to where J’onn and Mr. Miracle waited. By then, Firestorm could stand without assistance. Barely.

“So, my strange, green ally,” he asked, “just what is this all about?”

“Once you can fly again, I will tell you everything I know en route.”

“Red Tornado, are you up for a trip?” Firestorm asked.

“I... do not believe so,” Tornado responded. “I remember so little right now. I recognize you as a friend, and I remember things, but it is all blurry. I think I require time to... assess my status.

Firestorm nodded, his strength starting to return. “So where are we going, J’onn?”

“Metropolis,” the Martian answered.

Continued in Legends of Superman #16...