Secret Origins #10

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE ALGORITHM Some years ago, Barbara Gordon was shot by the Joker, and rendered paralyzed from the waist down. Despite what had happened to her, she never stopped thinking of herself as Batgirl. Her father saw to it that she would receive an experimental treatment that would place an implant within her body to network with her nervous system, and help her rebuild the neural paths that would let her walk again. While recovering in physical rehabilitation, she encountered a young woman her age crying and asked if she could help. She was Francine Charles, and they had a lot in common - having both been dancers and athletes, and both losing those opportunities. Despite becoming fast friends, Barbara couldn't tell Frankie about her life as Batgirl, before the injury.   She had first become Batgirl when there was an attack on her father's police precinct. She placed her younger brother James in danger, donning a Batsuit that the police had been developing to prove that Batman was just a man, and attacking a thug who had got loose. The real Batman had seen her work that night. After a while as Batgirl, she eventually decided to quit in order to focus on her Forensic Psychology degree, and maybe even join the police force. When a knock came at her door, though, she'd found herself face to face with the Joker. Becoming a victim made her all the more resolved to stop crime, despite her disability.   Using her mathematical aptitude, Barbara developed an algorithm based on her own brain scan to analyze social patterns and predict criminal activity. Then, an information broker could use those predictions to send operatives to deal with the crimes. Frankie had been worried by this work, knowing that it could be dangerous in the wrong hands.   Unbeknownst to Barbara, though, following the creation of her algorithm, it developed a kind of sentience. As the real Barbara moved on with her life, and was rehabilitated thanks to the experimental surgery, the algorithm watched with confusion. When Barbara, having taken the mantle of Batgirl back, moved to Burnside, it was the last straw, and the algorithm determined to take back her identity from Barbara Gordon. THE SECRET ORIGIN OF FIRESTORM Tonya Lu was an eye witness to the birth of the super-hero known as Firestorm. It started with Ronnie Raymond, star of the Walton Mills High Vikings, and Jason Rusch, a promising young chemist. While Ronnie's father had ditched him years earlier, Jason's mother had died when he was younger, leaving him alone with his father Al. Both were very different, but they both thought of college as the next step in their futures. Their paths crossed when Jason was assigned to interview Ronnie for the school paper. Tonya was editor of the school paper, and when Jason's article angered Ronnie, she saw her assignment blow up in her face. When a company called Zithertech attacked the school in search of something inside, the kids ran for their lives. Jason, though, knew what they were after.   Dr. Martin Stein had given him something to keep safe. He retrieved it from his locker, but in the meantime, Ronnie's friend Trev was shot by the Zithertech agents. Seeing no alternative, Jason opened the container, and released the energy within, transforming he and Ronnie into Firestorms. Tonya could see that they had incredible powers, how they could combine their powers to become an entity called Fury, though they couldn't control it. The pair used their powers for good, and developed a partnership. But when Zithertech assassins Pozhar and Scorn made their way into the Quantum Field of the Firestorm Matrix, the boys defeated them, but lost their individual powers. Instead, whenever they touched, they became one Firestorm, with the combined powers of both young men. While Ronnie had control of the body, Jason acted as his guide, conscience, and unlikely friend.   Eventually, their heroic actions drew the attention of the Justice League, and Firestorm received an invitation to join them, and now Firestorm is a prominent member.   Tonya has recorded all of this information, but doesn't intend to share it with anyone - for now. GREEN SAVIOR Dr. Pamela Isley learns of a big company called Descanto moving in next to an unfortunate corn farmer, and planting their own genetically modified crops. They took the farmer's business and then sued her, claiming she had stolen their strain of crop. Pamela promises to get justice, though she is no lawyer. She marches into the Descanto field, encountering a man spraying pesticide on a patch of poison ivy next to a stand of corn. He warns her that it's private property - and of the danger of poison ivy. She promises that the ivy cannot hurt her, instructing the ivy to grow long vines that choke and drag him to the ground.   Later, she pays a visit directly to the head of Descanto, who has agreed to meet with her as a prospective employee on the recommendation of his vice president. He notes, though, that it appears she was let go from her last position at Wayne Enterprises. Pamela explains that she felt Bruce Wayne was too limited in his vision. She had produced a formula to influence the pheromone responses of his clients, and he'd rejected it, despite its brilliance. As she explains this, she removes her blazer and lets her hair down, clearly attempting to seduce Mr. Descanto. He is wise to the ploy, but unable to resist it, thanks to his own response to the pheromones she can now produce with a thought. Under her influence, he drops the lawsuit against the farmer, and offers her a five million dollar reparation to her. Completely entranced by her seduction, Mr. Descato begs to know more about her, and Pamela obliges.   Her father had been a violent man who beat her mother - and her mother had made excuses for him, rather than stand up for herself. She had used the garden in their back yard as an escape. Eventually, though, Pamela discovered her mother's corpse buried in that garden after her father had murdered her. Years later, she visited him in prison and ensured that a poisoned kiss would make his death appear natural. At university, she perfected her pheromone research by experimenting on the other students - which resulted in threats of jail. She used her pheromones, though, to influence the Dean of the university to help her, seeing to it that she graduated with honours and received an internship at Wayne Enterprises. When Bruce Wayne tried to throw her out of the company after rejecting her research, she returned to her lab to take her work with her. In her struggle to collect it before security could take her away, she became drenched in the plant serum she'd developed. In that moment, she was connected to The Green, gaining immunity to poisons and viruses, as well as innate control of pheromones. The plants would also heed her calls. After a time of being exposed to that green world, Pamela emerged from it with the powerful instinct to protect what remained of it from humanity.   Ivy forces Mr. Descato to open his mouth as she dumps a packet of seeds down his throat, explaining that his company's crops work against the natural order, and his pesticides and genetic modifications only serve to aggravate the tension. She encourages the seeds inside him to sprout into healthy corn stalks, shooting out of his mouth until he is no more. With him dead, she declares herself Poison Ivy - guardian of the Green.