Raphael Suarez was a college student working at the hospital that Lyja gave birth to her egg in. After the doctor removed an alien implant from her, and set it aside, Raphael himself studied it to find out what it was. The implant suddenly gave off a flash of blinding light and Raphael found he had the power to fire blasts of energy from his fists.
He immediately made his way to Four Freedoms Plaza and spoke with Mister Fantastic’s robot secretary, Roberta. Roberta called up to the Human Torch, who was busy and asked to have the man blown off. But Roberta, herself, turned off. Raphael grew concerned, and instead of leaving he ventured further into the building and ran into the Torch and Lyja fighting off a being known as the Collector, over Lyja’s egg. Raphael used his new-found powers to help fight against a robot the Collector used to distract them, and destroyed it.
Then Raphael explained where he got his powers and offered to help. Together with the Torch, he poured fire into the Collector’s barrier. But once the Collector realized the egg was a fake, he declared it a sham, and left. Raphael was left with the arguing couple while Johnny demanded to know why he had been tricked, again. When Lyja explained her story, Raphael realized how the device worked, and tried to interject his knowledge but the Torch quickly cut him off, much more concerned about his lying ex-wife and her mysterious egg. When the egg hatched, revealing a giant alien called a Sha’Barri, Raphael helped the best he could alongside Lyja and Namor and Ant-Man who came to assist. But the creature was destroyed only when Lyja used her Skrull abilities to transform into its twin and best it.
When the rest of the Fantastic Four materialized, Raphael faded into the background while the professional heroes sorted things out. He later disappeared with Namor and Ant-Man when the soon-to-be Fantastic Force appeared to help the Fantastic Four against an alternate version of Reed Richards. His later whereabouts are unknown, as well as the state of his powers.
