Brad did not receive Firestorm's reply until the seventh day after sending the email.
"Thank you very much for the Justice League's recognition and invitation, but I'm sorry. I don't think I have what it takes to be a superhero. For a while after becoming Firestorm, I even stopped feeling like myself. Perhaps God chose the wrong person to bless...
."
His hands resting on the keyboard, Ronnie Raymond leaned wearily back in his chair.
He stared blankly at the reply he had just sent to the Justice League, then used his mouse to open their official invitation again. He read it over and over, until he finally clutched his head and broke down sobbing.
In truth, Ronnie desperately wanted to join the Justice League. For a time after becoming Firestorm, he had enthusiastically used that incredible power to fight the supercriminals of New York City.
But Ronnie cared too much about being Firestorm. He had failed to realize just how strongly another person opposed becoming Firestorm.
Yes, Firestorm was not a single person.
He was a superpowered warrior formed by the fusion of Ronnie Raymond and an older man named Martin Stein.
In high school, Ronnie had eagerly participated in all sorts of social activities to prove himself. Through a chance encounter, he joined an anti-nuclear organization.
At first, Ronnie thought it was merely a peace organization devoted to preventing nuclear weapons and radiation leaks.
But when its leader gathered them together and ordered a terrorist attack on a nuclear power laboratory, Ronnie finally realized that the "comrades" around him were anything but law-abiding citizens.
It was a terrorist organization hiding within society.
Ronnie immediately voiced his vehement opposition to its leader.
But young Ronnie had underestimated the darkness of human nature. The leader ordered him abducted, and the