Journey into Mystery #518
The Fire Next Time… Chapter Two
FBI agent Carter Tenko is trying to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the terrorist organization called FreedomsLight, and how the Black Widow was able to shut them down. His only witness to these events are an elderly woman named Lottie Hederman who somehow got deeply involved with the organization through her son, Herve. However, just as she was about to tell him the full story, the old woman suffered a heart attack and had to be taken to hospital.[1]
Once the old woman is well enough to speak, she continues to tell him her story. She tells him how the Black Widow was able to track down the location of the FreedomsLight compound and, despite not having super-powers, was able to hold her own against the heavily armed accelerationist group. That is until their leader, the mysterious woman known as the Ebon Flame arrived to challenge her to a duel.
Agent Tenko tells Lottie to take it easy as she is still recovering from a heart attack. However, the fact that the old woman knows what happened at the compound tells Tenko that somehow Lottie was there to witness it all. When the old woman asks if she will be put under arrest, Carter says he’s afraid he’ll have to. Despite this, Lottie decides to explain how she was involved in all of this….
After she was visited in her home by the Black Widow, Lottie was then kidnapped by FreedomsLight since her son, Herve, was a high ranking member of the organization. They wanted her to see her son’s work and understand and support their cause. This is how she came to be there the night that the Widow attacked their compound. After the spy managed to escape, Lottie was taken to the Ebon Flame. The Flame told Lottie that their organization became what it is now thanks to the hard work of her son, whom the Ebon Flame admits to loving, even though she has never personally met him.
Relating all of this to Agent Tenko, Lottie explains how she hadn’t seen her son in months, and admits that she couldn’t help but feel pride for what he had been able to accomplish. She points out that today’s revolutionaries could become tomorrow’s war heroes. Carter reminds her that FreedomsLight are not revolutionaries, but terrorists who have shed the blood of innocent people. Lottie agrees with this assertion, but she eventually came to see the Ebon Flame not as an individual, but a legend with a dream of a better world. Which is why Lottie became upset when the Flame almost died at the hands of the Black Widow.
The Black Widow’s next clash with the Ebon Flame was when FreedomsLight attacked a dock being guarded by SHIELD. They came to steal an device that was important to their cause. However, when they got inside, they found the Black Widow waiting for them inside with the device they sought. Lottie was brought along to witness the ensuing battle, seeing not only the Widow and Flame physically clash, but also argue over ideology and how this so-called resistance movement would endanger the lives of innocent people. The battle came to an abrupt end and it Lottie would go inside the warehouse to find out what happened. Inside she found the Ebon Flame who was not seriously injured. Apparently, she drove away the Black Widow and managed to steal the device she sought.
In recounting all of this, Lottie admits that she got caught up in all the excitement and at 80 years old, she found a new lust for life. Hearing all of this, Carter doesn’t buy the idea the FreedomsLight would bring her along for such an important heist. Lottie is in the middle of explaining how they brought her along to use as a human shield when she suffers another heart attack.
As the doctors rush her into the operation room, Carter hopes that the old woman will survive long enough to finish her story. He desperately want to know everything she does so he can get closer to finding out the real truth.
Recurring Characters
Black Widow, Carter Tenko, Lottie Hederman
Continuity Notes
It’s later revealed in Journey into Mystery #519 that this is not the real Lottie Hederman, but the Black Widow in disguise. The real Lottie was actually a war criminal who founded FreedomsLight. A lot of the facts in this story are also lies since the Black Widow is trying to expose Tenko as a member of FreedomsLight.
