Omega the Unknown
is trapped in the rubble of the warehouse destroyed by Nitro last
issue. His suffering has prostrated James-Michael Starling, who is having
breathing trouble. Ruth Hart calls Dr. Barrow while Amber Grant ministers to
the boy. Guest Richard Rory makes a snide comment and Amber snaps at him. Omega
manages to free himself and fly away over the heads of the firefighters and the
crowd and JM is suddenly relieved. Pedestrians who heard of his encounter with
Blockbuster (issue #7) mock and jeer at him. He walks back to Hell’s Kitchen
where he sees a fruit vendor in a confrontation with an accused thief; the
quarrel grows violent and suddenly the two men are disintegrated, courtesy of
the Foolkiller on a nearby roof. Omega is found by Gramps who approves of the
villain’s act and then he leads “Sam” home for some needed rest and repair….
While Amber
Grant is in the shower, Rich tells Ruth about the threat he received from the
Foolkiller, whom he saw die. There is a knock at the door and Rich fears it is
his doom but it’s only the building super informing them that there is no hot
water, which Amber just discovered the hard way. Amber threatens to complain to
the landlord but the super threatens to tell him how many people are living in
their apartment for two…
…and then the
Foolkiller enters. Rich recognizes him as old friend Greg Salinger, who assures
them that he is the real Foolkiller, demonstrating his disintegrator weapon. He
explains how Rich told him about the original Foolkiller and Greg was
impressed. But he decided that the original failed because of his religious
obsession; Greg intends to succeed by secularizing the mission, defining fools
as those who have no poetry in their hearts. He departs on his “mission,”
exiting via a hole blasted in the wall….
Elsewhere,
Omega asks to borrow three hundred dollars from Gramps, then flies to the
shopping district to purchase a suit. But Blockbuster has just robbed a jewelry
store nearby. When he hears the owner offer a thousand-dollar reward for the
return of his diamonds, Omega leaps at the villain, who hurls him in front of a
bus. Omega is hit by the bus and witnesses are certain he is dead but he slowly
pulls himself together and chases Blockbuster, catching up to him at
Rockefeller Plaza. They fight on the ice rink and the baddie hurls Omega
against the golden Prometheus statue and he is stunned. By the time he has
recovered, Blockbuster is gone…
…but only a
short distance away where he stops to lay out his next plan, picking up his son
and fleeing to Arizona where he can sell the diamonds. But he is spotted by
Gramps who recognizes him. Blockbuster knows he must silence the old man but
Omega arrives. Blockbuster hurls a refrigerator at the hero who blasts it out
of the air. But the shot weakened the hero who collapses to the ground.
Blockbuster seizes him by the throat—and is then disintegrated by the
Foolkiller, who offers a poetic farewell and warning before departing….