Power Pack #41

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The issue begins with Power Pack attempting to stop a fan that is dealing fire arms. An opposing gang approaches and demands the guns; because the arms dealer already sold guns to their opposing gang.

Not far away, another man is being roughed up for being late on his “protection fees.” When he explains he doesn’t have the money, the men roughing him up explain he has fire insurance and if the building burns down he can pay what he owes.

They force him to sign a life insurance policy and explain, he either burns the building, or their boss inherits his life insurance; either way the boss gets what is due to him.

Back to Power Pack, they decide to attack the van once it’s completed the latest arms dealing with the gang. The gang members try to help defend the van, but the weapons explode in their hands, causing casualties. Power Pack quickly leaves, knowing there’s nothing that can be done. At home, Alex expresses his frustration of trying to save a world full of people, so bent on killing one another. Alex’s friend Dan arrives and mentions that they’re going to meet at a new place. Alex goes with them; but when the leader of the club (Marty) tells everyone to light up a cigarette, Alex declines, and when peer pressured, decides that he wants no part of the club.

Alex runs into an older gentleman named Yancy and helps him with his belongings, while sharing his recent woes. Yancy explains that perhaps Alex needs to show them why smoking is bad, not just tell them. Alex returns to the club with several books that show lungs of smokers, and notes about how it’s the same exhaust that comes from cars, and each cigarette shortens a person’s life by twelve minutes. Despite it appearing as others would side with Alex, once Marty speaks up, the other give in to peer pressure and turn on Alex, except Dan, who now seems more hesitant than ever.

Meanwhile the landlord of the apartment – the same man who was shook down earlier about burning down his apartment complex goes down to the boiler room where he thought he heard voices – but Dan, Marty and the others have cleared out.

Heading home, Alex sees more adults smoking and wonders why they would do it. He then confronts a man about throwing a match on the floor and missing the trash, but the man turns and shoves Alex’s face into the trash instead. Alex runs into Yancy again and let’s his anger overcome him, blaming Yancy and saying he can’t believe he took advice from a guy who can’t even pay his rent. On the way home, Alex sees people dealing drugs to one another and only grows more frustrated.

Dan revisits Alex saying that the club needs him, and that the others just follow Marty because they don’t know better, but Alex refuses to go. He later seeks out Yancy to apologize for what he had said before. Yancy explains that he can’t give up on people, or else there will be no one to lead them out of the darkness.

At the same time, the landlord of the apartment has begun pouring gasoline in the boiler room, when the other members of the club are hiding. They realize what he’s doing and he fires a gun to stop them from running. He locks the windows and doors and apologizes to the kids, and explains they have to die in the fire, because no one can know he started the fire or else he won’t get his insurance money. Alex decides to visit the club again at the boiler room and hears them screaming for him to help. He uses his powers to disintegrate the door and let them out, just as the furnace explodes. The rest of the Power Pack kids grab him and pull him away from the fire.

Power Pack flies over, and Alex uses his power to disintegrate the footing of a water tank, while Jack uses his anti-gravity powers and Katie flies him over the fire so that he can tilt it over and put out the flames. Alex spots the van that was dealing weapons and notices that the landlord is dealing with them too. The landlord quickly flees, while Alex destroys the guns. The arms dealers quickly jump into the van and attempt to run Alex over. Alex disintegrates the ground and causes a large hole for the van to crash into, while the members of the club find and chase down the landlord and capture him; but he suffers a heart attack, related to his excessive smoking, and dies.

The club meets at Yancy’s shack, and their first action is to banish smoking among their members.