A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the JLA...
Current mood: thoughtful

Actually, it wasn't funny at all. Unless you call getting knocked out and taken to a villains lair funny.

The last thing I remember, I was on my way to a JLA meeting. Next thing I know I'm waking up groggy and confused. Green Lantern (the older one) was helping out of some kind of prison. I was being held by someone calling himself "Megistus".

Green Lantern got me recouped. Someone in a purple jumpsuit helped get Metamorpho free. And I helped them recover Green Lantern's power battery and a bunch of other stuff.

The stakes were high. I didn't know any details, but this Megistus guy had a cloud over the sun that was threatening the entire Earth. Superman was there and a whole bunch of people in purple jumpsuits. We fought Megistus, but one of the purple jumpsuits, a woman named June, sacrificed her life to save the planet.

10:11 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

The Great Disaster
Current mood: sad

We all took Karate Kid's death hard, but of course his girlfriend Una took it the hardest. The JLA from this Earth had their Martian Manhunter check our story out. Not only was Karate Kid dead, but the whole world was in danger from the doomsday virus he was carrying. Supposedly Ray Palmer's blood had the antidote.

But the science guys weren't able to figure it all out in time. We watched from an observation window as they did some sort of autopsy on Karate Kid. Something went wrong and the virus turned into a giant monster. We did our best to contain it. But it made it outside the OR.

Green Lantern tried to trap it, but the thing exploded. They were calling it Morticoccus. And it was loose.

The Cadmus Lab people finally synthesized a limited number of inoculations from Ray Palmer's blood. Those of us with heavy superpowers were given the shot first, so we could help around the world.

And at that time their world was in serious need of help. The news from around the world was terrible. It was a global disaster with riots and wars breaking out all over the place. And politicians jumping talking about terrorists and WMDs, trying to make a bad situation worse.

Then someone at Cadmus became infected with Morticoccus. I didn't see it, but from what I heard she attacked her co-worker with fangs and claws.

The air around so thick with tension you could cut it with a knife. Ray Palmer wouldn't seem to figure out what the virus was doing. And anytime he had news, it was always bad. Even the superheroes began to fall apart with bickering and fighting. They were frustrated, and even though they wouldn't admit it, everyone was scared. And those of us from this Earth, also felt responsible. We had brought Karate Kid here. We'll that crazy Monitor did, but still...

Then it happened. The world. It started in Asia, but spread through the Middle East, to Europe and America: all out nuclear Armageddon. When Atom told us what had happened, that the entire world had been destroyed it was agonizing. What do you do after the end?

It took a long time for us to decide. Jimmy Olsen's biker friends had a boom tube that was supposed to be able to get us back home, our real home, our Earth.

We were on top of the Daily Planet in Metropolis. Looking out over the city, with every building still standing was a beautiful site. There were some doubts about if it was the real Earth or not, but Olsen said he was certain.

I'd seen the an entire Earth destroyed. I wanted nothing more than to go home. I'd been away too long.

6:39 PM - 2 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

R.I.P.
Current mood: sad

We were back on Earth and Karate Kid was unconscious with some terrible disease. Ray Palmer said maybe the JLA would have the equipment to help him, so they went to find the Hall of Justice.

I went to find home and get some rest. I was all shook up from fighting OMACs and Brother Eye, not to mention the creepiness that is Darkseid and Apokolips. But home wasn't there! I flew over campus but couldn't find my apartment building. It wasn't there! I checked around. I couldn't find my parents, but that's no suprise. But other people who should have known be didn't recognize me.

So I hurried to the warn the others. I came in just as Superman, Flash, and Green Lantern (the older one) were grilling Donna Troy and crew. Ray Palmer said we should get out quick, I took his cue and made a flash that blinded everyone, while Ray teleported us all away.

Karate Kid needed immediate medical attention. I remembered the Professor talking on about Cadmus Labs with incredible experimental bio-equipment. So I led everyone there.

Jimmy Olsen and his biker friends were already there. And our Green Lantern brought back some of the others. From what I could gather, we had been transported to some alternate Earth. It was very similar except no one knew any of us.

Together we broke into Cadmus Labs. Jimmy Olsen knew the place, but they had crazy security. We had to fight a mob of four-armed monsters. It wasn't really too hard, considering.

Finally we met someone who was in charge. Jimmy Olsen called him Dubblix. He didn't recognize any of us either, but he believed us and said he would help. But we were too late. Karate Kid was dead!

8:03 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Apokolips
Current mood: hopeful

I fought OMACs before but in Bludhaven I was up against the big bad Brother Eye with an army of OMACs. Without going into the gory details, I’ll just say I ended up trapped in a giant bubble tank hooked up the Brother Eye.

I was rescued by Red Robin and his friends. I was still groggy from Brother Eye’s bubble bath, but figured out that I was not on Earth any more. The planet is called Apokolips and believe me, it lives up to its name.

Donna Troy was there, and remembering the last time I was on a space adventure with her, I really began to worry about what kind of crisis I might be getting involved with. One of Red Robin’s friends is a Green Lantern (not John Stewart, one of the other ones). The Karate Kid had also been brought from Bludhaven but he was unconscious.


And before I could get my bearings, we were surrounded by OMACs. Even with a Green Lantern I didn’t know what kind of chance we’d have. But it didn’t workout like that. Everything started to fall apart, literally. Something happened to Brother Eye and everything began to collapse, explode, and burn at the same time.

Then the calvary arrived: a bunch of bad biker dudes led by a geeky kid on a motorcycle. We regrouped and did a quick head count. In all the ruckus, the Atom had disappeared. Donna said it was important for him to come back, so I used the matrix to find him in the subatomic world and draw him back out.

Then things really got bizarre. It was like a something I’d read in my Russian Literature course. Karate Kid was unconscious. His girl-friend was freaking out. The Atom was saying we might need to kill Karate Kid. Red Robin had no problem with that. But Donna Troy wouldn’t stand for it. And neither would I. We’re heroes. We find a way to stop the bad guys and save the good guys. That’s what we do.

Then some guy with cornrows showed up and transported all of us back to Earth. It was all pretty confusing, but my priority now is to find the other JLA-ers and get some help to save Karate Kid.

Currently reading : Firestorm: The Nuclear Man -- Reborn By Stuart Moore Release date: 28 February, 2007

8:07 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

A Justice League Welcome
Current mood: inspired

I got the call from Black Lightning. He was checking up on me after the Injustice League's attack, but I could tell from his voice that the Justice League was in trouble. So I went to help.

And I'd say Lex Luthor holding an unconscious Superman and about to cut his throat with a Kryptonite knife constitutes big trouble. But it was easy enough to transmute the knife into an ordinary eating utensil, pretty useless for Lex Luthor unless he wants to butter his biscuit, if they have biscuits where ever Task Force X sent him.

Even with Superman out of immediate danger the odds looked pretty bad. I had just got out of the hospital. And I was outnumbered by bad guys calling them the Legion of Doom. But I had an ace.

The very first thing I'd done when I got there was slip Batman a ballpoint pen he could use as a lock pick. In no time at all, the Dark Knight had the entire Justice League plus special guests free and ready to rumble.

Reminded me of that quote I heard last semester in Greek & Roman history class: "Justice renders to everyone his due." It was a guy named Marcus Tullius Cicero who said that. And in Latin the "C" has a hard sound like a "K", so his name is "Kick-er-o". And that is just what we proceeded to do.

Fatality and Doctor Light double-teamed Green Lantern. He was being helped by Red Arrow who shot Fatality in the hand. But she's one tough evil lady. So I made a giant tennis racket and swatted her. How embarrassed she must feel about that!

A little later Black Lightening asked me to help put Red Tornado back together. The poor robot was laid up on a table with just a torso. But I don't have that kind of intricate control over what I transmute.

I was explaining to them that I could make the raw materials but I don't know how to reconstruct a robot, when a giant gorilla attacked us. I put a brick wall in his way but it barely slowed him down. Luckily Geo Force was there and got rid of him. And I mean seriously got rid of him.

Wonder Woman was having it out with that Cheetah over that creep Dr. Light; she let me have the assist. Having been messed up by that woman's claws it felt great to get in one good fusion blast.

When the dust settled the good guys were standing strong and all the bad guys were down for the count. But then Task Force X showed up and took over the show. The tension was so tight in there you could have cut it with Lex Luthor's butter knife.

But that wasn't the strangest part of the day. Just as I was shaking Black Lightning's hand and ready fly out of there, Batman came up to me. He said I was joining the JLA. Mind you, he didn't ask...he didn't suggest....he told me. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Black Lightning all agreed. So now I guess it's settled. I'm in the Justice League!

Currently reading : Firestorm: The Nuclear Man -- Reborn By Stuart Moore Release date: 28 February, 2007

6:47 PM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Atomic Knights Round 2
Current mood: grateful

The Atomic Knights got rid of Desaad but then they were going to "secure" us. I wasn't going to let that happen. Those guys don't know when to quit.

Gehenna and I turned back into Firestorm. Unlike Desaad, I have years of experience as the Nuclear Man. There wasn't much of a fight. I turned their metallic armor into solid lead and they fell flat.

Karate Kid and his friends needed to get on their way, so I told them I'd stay with the Atomic Knights until they'd gotten clear. They headed off down the tunnel under Bludhaven.

And I found the Professor. He was on the ground near some rubble. He was conscious but only barely.

Currently reading : Firestorm: The Nuclear Man -- Reborn By Stuart Moore Release date: 28 February, 2007

5:25 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Blüdhaven
Current mood: determined

I recovered from my run in with the Injustice League and was still searching for the Professor. I had reason to believe he was in the disaster zone that used to be the city of Blüdhaven.

For a deserted toxic wasteland, I ran into a lot of people. There was a superhero calling himself the Karate Kid. His excuse was that he's from the future. He and his friends were on a search also, for some kind of cure or great disaster or something.

I decided to help them. And at the same time keep an eye on them and maybe find out more about the Professor.

We were stopped by some of Blüdhaven's new security force: the Atomic Knights. They didn't seem like bad guys but they wanted us to leave and we didn't want to. So I had to take them down: turning the oxygen inside their armor into ether.

We pushed forward. I opened a secret door and there was Professor Stein! He was tied to a chair and being tortured by the sadistic Desaad. It was horrible.

Desaad trapped me inside an energy cage. I figured one way to escape and save the Professor was to merge him into the matrix. But that was Desaad's plan all along.

Somehow he got inside the matrix and took control of Firestorm. Gehenna and I were stuck inside, helpless, watching him reek havoc on our friends. He was really going after Karate Kid.

But the Atomic Knights showed up again. They used some kind of silver globe that unzipped the matrix, leaving Gehenna and I on the ground.

Desaad did that boom thing and got away before we could stop him.

And I still don't know what happened to the Professor.

Currently reading : DC: World War III By Keith Champagne Release date: 05 December, 2007

7:13 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Injustice League Unlimited
Current mood: pissed off

This has turned out to be a bad day, a very bad day, like a "visit-to-the-ER" bad day. But it didn't start off bad.

I was flying over Manhattan following up on a juicy tip about the Professor. Gehenna said it was a trap. I knew it was a trap. But we've been searching for Professor Stein for months with nothing to show for it. So I had to check it out, just in case.

Gehenna was right. It was a trap. Killer Frost was waiting for me. I don't know why that woman hates me. I think she has me confused with the other guy. But I've had enough run ins with her by now, that I didn't even break a sweat. I turned the floor into Propylene Glycol. Yeah, anti-feeze. Pretty clever.

I was about to wrap it up, when I got jumped. There were three of them. And not just any three bad guys, these were the worse three: Batman's crazy Joker, Superman's evil Lex Luthor, and Wonder Woman's mean-as-anything Cheetah. They called themselves the Injustice League.

I think I still could have taken them, except Luthor zapped me with some kind of beam that stopped my powers from working. Then the Joker squirted me with some Joker-venom that I couldn't neutralize. And the Cheetah ripped me to shreds.

Like I said, it was a "visit-to-the-ER" bad day. I guess I should be grateful that I made it out alive.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed covered in bandages and hooked up to an I.V. drip. And my face was paralyzed in that stupid Joker-grin. The doctor seemed surprised, but she said I was going to make it.

Wonder Woman and Hawkwoman came to visit me. I don't know how they found out but it was nice of them. I'm just glad Batman didn't see me like this. So much for the good news...

I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to recover, but I better heal fast. I heard some yelling and fighting in the hallway outside my room and it sounds like the Justice League might need my help.

Currently reading : Firestorm: The Nuclear Man -- Reborn By Stuart Moore Release date: 28 February, 2007

3:42 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Champion of the Red
Current mood: determined

I flew into the sky. Orion had Kalibak so I was able to focus on saving New York City from the Parademons. Their pace was almost too much. I was throwing everything I had at the them: giant fans, three headed dragons, a battle ship. But there were too many of them.

Then Kalibak came at me. He was flying on Metrons chair and tossed Orion to the side like a rag doll. Good thing Mister Miracle caught him as he fell.

Firehawk tried to help me with Kalibak but he was just too strong. This wasn't a fight I was going to win with brute strength. So I decided to borrow a strategy from the Greatest of all time: Muhammad Ali.

I play acted like I'd given up and told Kalibak I'd give him the Professor. But once we landed back on solid ground my girl Gehenna showed up with a Wile E. Coyote bundle of dynamite. That slowed Kalibak enough to give me time to put the plan in motion.

The Professor set the matrix back like it had been a year before when Lorrain and I were Firestorm. That meant if she and I were more than a mile apart I turned into a nuclear BOMB like that time in Las Vegas. She couldn't change into Firehawk so I transmuted some keys to a car for her to drive through midtown.

Then I went to step back into the ring with someone a lot worse than George Foreman. Gehenna's dynamite trick had really made him angry. It was a slug fest and there was no way for me to win. But all I had to do was keep taking it until Lorraine got far enough way.

And when she did: BARRROOOMMM!

Kalibak is one tough sob but a nuke is a nuke. I took care of the radiation so no one else was hurt and dropped him back with Orion and Mr. Miracle.

Mr. Miracle loaned me his mother-box and it actually worked for me. I needed a gravity well so I made a little helium, tossed in a little hydrogen and had a star. Those parademons won't be back.

But just when it looked like things were getting good there was another BOOM! One of the scariest dudes I ever met stepped out of a circle of light. Big ugly mean...Darkseid! With one wave of his hand he took out Mister Miracle and Orion.

He called me Champion of the Red but there was nothing I could do to stop him. He actually reached his hand through my chest into the matrix and pulled Professor Stein right out of Firestorm.

Lorraine said she would be my partner again as Firestorm but there was someone even more suited to the job: my girl Gehenna. She insisted that she help me. Even though the odds are that we won't make it, Gehenna believes in me. She knows I'm going to win...because I am Firestorm and because we belong together.

So now somehow, some way, we're going to rescue the Professor from the evil Darkseid!

Currently reading : Firestorm: The Nuclear Man -- Reborn By Stuart Moore Release date: 28 February, 2007

3:25 PM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

The Chaos Equation
Current mood: determined

That crazy dominatrix, Lashina, choked me until I was totally passed out. All I remember was the Professor yelling at me to wake up. He said we were in some kind of wormhole and she was taking Firestorm somewhere. And I'm sure I didn't want to find out where that was.

I came to and got away from her. She tried her whips on me again but I had some shields to protect me. But this female was tough. She lifted up the five thousand pound electric motor over her head and crushed it. She got one of her whips around my left foot. Then she got me by the neck again.

No way she was going to beat me the same way twice! I transmuted the whip to glass and crushed it in my hands. Then I knocked her out with a fusion blast and headed back out the wormhole.

Gehenna was there with Mister Miracle and Orion. Firehawk was there too. They all looked pretty rough, but the Female Furies looked a lot worse.

Orion and I talked. He was less belligerent and offered to take us to his home world, New Genesis, where Darkseid wouldn't be able to get at us. But neither the Professor nor me wanted to leave New York City.

Then the strangest thing yet happened. This guy in a flying chair showed up INSIDE THE MATRIX! His name was Metron and he said he was like the Professor: "a seeker of knowledge." He told us why Darkseid is sending people after Firestorm.

Not that I understood most of it but basically Darkseid has something called the Anti-Life Equation, which is as bad as it sounds. Professor Stein has figured out a formula that points the way to the Life Equation. And Firestorm is one of the beings created to be a champion of this fundamental force and solving this equation will give the power to defy Darkseid's reign of terror.

But before we could figure out what to do next, Mister Miracle's PDA-box started pinging. There was a BOOM! And some big, ugly angry guy with a club was yelling and talking trash. He called himself Kalibak and said he was Darkseid's son.

Orion took a swing at him but Kalibak surprised him with some strength he said he got from his father. Kalibak also zapped Mister Miracle with PSI beams he got from Darkseid. Next he's coming after me.

But that's not the worst of it. Outside the sky is filled with thousands of screaming Parademons about to tear NYC apart!

Currently reading : Firestorm: The Nuclear Man -- Reborn By Stuart Moore Release date: 28 February, 2007

5:34 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Old Gods & New
Current mood: worried

Today started off like any normal superhero day. I stopped a group of terrorists but not the kind you might be thinking of. These were homegrown terrorists, white supremacists trying to murder Jewish and black judges in New York. They had a bomb. They had machine guns. And they had some foul mouths. But before they knew what hit them I had the place secure and the terrorists knocked out.

So I dropped the Professor of at the subway and loaned him my Metrocard to get back to Columbia. Then I found Gehenna and tried to explain why I was forty minutes late. She was okay with it but said I had to watch the complete works of Uwe Boll with here. Yikes!

But when we got back to my apartment someone had broken in. Turns out it was Mister Miracle aka Shilo Norman. And Gehenna went ga-ga over him. She's seen all his escape artists stunts on TV.

Mister Miracle hadn't broken in my apartment to give out autographs. He came to warn me, or really to warn the Professor. So Gehenna made some coffee. And Mister Miracle started explaining.

The Gods found out about some research the Professor is working on. Some of the gods are good and some are bad. But they all want the Professor and his research.

Mister Miracle has this PDA/phone thing he calls, "Mother Box". And the thing went ping just in time.

Dude in a metal helmet and red suit came flying in, busting everything up and saying he was going to take the Professor. My apartment was ruined and now my dad is going to kill me over the deposit. But I gave as good as I got.

Mister Miracle said that this guys name was Orion and he was one of the good ones. I still wasn't going to let him take the Professor. I sent him for a long fly ball deep into left field. But he got back up. He was going to throw a hunk of stone at us but I turned it into lead.

Mister Miracle was impressed. But Orion picked that up too! Finally I encased him in a solid titanium box with only his head out so he could talk. He said that the Professors work had something to do with the most important equation in the universe and the Earth Elementals.

Before Orion could explain anymore all hell broke loose, literally. Four very dangerous looking females showed up and took us by surprise. They called themselves The Female Furies. One of them cut Mister Miracle and a second one stomped him good. With Orion trapped in the titanium box he was easily taken out by the third. The fourth one had a whip and got it around my throat. Before I could transmute it I was knocked cold.

This isn't looking good for me.

Currently reading : Firestorm: The Nuclear Man -- Reborn By Stuart Moore Release date: 28 February, 2007

10:49 PM - 0 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

New Years Eve: What People Do
Current mood: hopeful

I don't know what most people do for New Year's but I fly around the upper atmosphere bagging Dolli clones left over from the evil scheme to blow up the world. Lorraine was helping but ever since I beat Tokomak I've had the flu bug.

When I got the call from Mikhail that he found the Pionic Man I went to check it out. Not only did the Pionic Man abandon us during the battle at Hewitt Enterprises but now he's friends with the Head Dolli, the same one that attacked Firehawk in the desert and then saved Gehenna from the Pupil. And get this...they're looking for an apartment in the city! I don't know if its a Brokeback Mountain thing or a Felix and Oscar thing, but I might have the strangest Rogues Gallery of all time.

The rest of New Year's Eve I spent with Gehenna. She talked about her father, Tokomak. I guess I'll never know what he meant by his last words, but at least Gehenna understands why I had to do what I did.

She and I went to check on the Professor. I thought he was keeping a low profile because of Chanukah but that ended over a week ago. Really, he was upset with me for using Firestorm's powers on an organic being. "Never on organic matter!" Plus, he was as sick as me with the flu.

Turns out the flu bug and the crazy weather were both Firestorm's fault. The feedback from unfusing Tokomak was affecting us and disrupting molecular motion all over the Eastern seaboard! I have to learn to think through consequences, especially as Firestorm. A superhero has to deal with difficult problems on step at a time.

The Professor helped me use Firestorm's subatomic senses to locate the main wormhole that was trapping the heat in a quantum loop. I took care of it but there are more of them for us to find. As the Professor would say, "All a man's problems can't be solved overnight."

The three of us headed over to watch the ball drop. I called my Dad on the way. I don't really know what to say to him but he's back with Mom. What ever that means. I hope the best for them, I guess. If there really are such things as second chances, I hope that's what I'll have with my family.

I thought about the good deeds I've done and the mistakes I've made over the past year. New Year's Eve is a time to celebrate life, even the parts I don't understand.

Currently reading : Superman: Back in Action (Superman (Graphic Novels)) By Kurt Busiek Release date: 31 January, 2007

3:24 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

In My Father's House Part Four
Current mood: accomplished

Today started bad and then got worse.

First off, I totally lost my cool with Gehenna. I really freaked out because I thought she had been playing me all this time, helping Tokomak ruin my life.

The Professor helped me get myself under control. Gehenna can't help who her father is...none of us can.

I asked Firehawk to gather everybody and meet at Hewitt Enterprise. But once we got there Tokomak said some kind of mind control word and put Gehenna in a trance.

Good thing Tokomak is one of those old school supervillains that needs to explain his masterplan before he blows up the world. And blowing up the world was just what he had in mind.

He told how he had almost died of radiation poison fighting Ron Raymond. But he made clones of himself. The Dollies were all clones...named after Dolly the sheep of course. Gehenna was also a clone, but he didn't turn her into a soldier. Instead he told her he was her father. Some father! He gave her over to Lex Luthor to trap me!

Tokomak's trying to make another Firestorm with nuclear accidents all over the world. And as his big finale he was going to set of 89 nuclear bombs and then transfer the energy to himself!

That's when my friends showed up: Firehawk, Pozhar, and the Pionic Man. And we just broke loose.

Pozhar took on the Dollies. Firehawk went hand to hand with Tokomak. Even the Professor got a hit in and knocked The Pupil cold.

But Tokomak said another control word and put Firehawk under mind control. She tried to kill me!

Why is it that so-called men of power think they can control everybody?

Firehawk resisted and I brought her into the matrix where Tokomak had no control.

Then I proceeded to beat the tar out of him. But even that wasn't enough. I had to unfuse him with his clone, even though it meant he would die.

I did it! I beat him! But with him went my only chance of knowing who I really am and why I became Firestorm: The Nuclear Man!

Currently reading : Firestorm: Reborn By Stuart Moore Release date: 28 February, 2007

12:24 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Space again!
Current mood: productive

I might as well get used to the outerspace thing. Wouldn't you know it...the Auctioneer had us all one a giant spaceship!

Once we got all our powers back and were able to get all Earth's stuff back. Superman knew exactly what needed to be done and he did it. He was too cool.



Now I'm really determined to find the Professor, and I know just where to start looking.

Currently watching : Superman Returns (Two-Disc Special Edition) Release date: 28 November, 2006

4:25 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Me and Nightwing: Hanging tough
Current mood: hopeful

Nightwing and I were scoping out those robots and followed them when they started to disappear so we could see where they were taking all the stuff.

We found Superman and a bunch of other superheroes that escaped from their storage containers. We were going to bust out of there but all our powers had been neutralized.

Despite everyone's bickering we worked together to find a way to get our powers back. Superman took a really risky jump (that might have killed him!) to disable the dampening field affecting all of us.

Currently listening : Late Orchestration: Live at Abbey Road Studios By Kanye West Release date: 06 June, 2006

4:19 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment