Superboy

Killer Frost walked through the empty streets of Metropolis, shivering as always. She rubbed her arms in a desperate attempt to warm herself. She smiled as she came upon a fire in a barrel. Reaching out, Frost absorbed the heat of the fire, freezing the barrel itself in the process. The blessed warmth only lasted for a second before Frost shuffled off, looking for another source of warmth.

Inside Cadmus, Superboy yawned. He'd just run the obstacle course again and was waiting while Mickey Cannon studied some readouts in the control room. Superboy put his hand behind his head and hovered in midair, starting to doze off.

"Cocky, isn't he?" Cannon asked Dr. Roquette Serling, who was comparing data on her monitor.

"Just like he always was," Serling replied with a smile.

The smiling Cannon reached past Serling and pressed a button on the console. "Let's wake him up, then."

Superboy let out a yell as a blade shot out from the floor and poked him in the behind. Rubbing the sore spot, Superboy flew over to the control panel window, where Cannon was laughing. Serling was fighting to keep a straight face, but she wasn't succeeding very well.

"Very funny, Mickster," Superboy said with a scowl. "Hardy-har-har."

Cannon caught his breath. "That'll teach you to doze off in the obstacle course. Nobody said you were through."

Superboy turned around and saw that all the dangers had reactivated themselves. "Great," he said as he flew towards them again.

"That should get the message across," Cannon said. He looked down at Serling. "See anything unusual?"

Serling shook her head as she continued to scan the data. "Doesn't look like it. Looks like he's still in great shape. I'm not seeing any anomalies from the last time we were able to scan him."

"Good," Cannon said. "Raise the hazard level to 4."

"Four?" Serling asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Cannon replied. "Let's see what he can do when it's a little bit harder."

"All right," Serling said uncertainly. She raised the dial. Together they watched as Superboy fought to free himself from the robotic arms that had just appeared.

"This isn't fair!" Superboy yelled as he shattered the arms with his tactile telekinesis. "Changing the danger level should be worth a foul!" He let out a yell as a wall panel slid open and a blowtorch activated. Superboy barely dodged the stream of fire.

Cannon glanced at the monitors again. "How's he holding up?"

Serling confirmed her data before replying. "As well as he ever does. Looks like nothing's changed."

Cannon nodded. "Give him another five minutes, then shut it down." Serling nodded as Cannon walked out.

Cannon walked into the hall and saw Dubbilex going down the corridor. Cannon was confused as he tried to greet Dubbilex, but the DNAlien just walked past him.

What is this? Dubbilex thought to himself. Something is close... but what? Dubbilex returned to his office and closed his eyes in meditation.

Frost smiled as she saw a burning building. She hurried her pace and stepped toward the fire. Firefighters around her started shaking their hoses as the water pressure dropped. Finally, as Frost drew even nearer, the water coming out of the hoses froze solid. The firemen fled as Frost drew the heat of the fire into herself, finally leaving nothing behind but the charred remains of the building. She basked in the warmth for about five minutes before the constant cold started overtaking her again.

"So cold," she whispered as she began walking again.

Finally free of the obstacle course, Superboy downed about half a bottle of water in one gulp. He wiped the water off his chin and looked down at Serling. "How was that?" he asked.

"Great," she replied, wiping a spot of water off her screen. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've just run a marathon." Superboy bent over her screen, trying to decipher the information on it. "Uh-oh. My green line's above my brown one. Does that mean what I think it means?"

Serling closed her eyes a second. "These aren't M & M's. And you're staring at the power readings for the obstacle course."

Superboy took the opportunity to down the rest of his water and shot the bottle toward the trash can. It clanged against the far side and clunked to the bottom. "Two points," he said as he walked out.

Serling waited for the door to close and her shoulders started shaking. "My green line," she whispered between giggles. "If that was what you thought it was, it would have blown out the monitor." Serling rolled with laughter in the empty control room.

Frost opened her eyes. The frozen corpse of a man who'd gotten too close lay on the ground beside her. She remembered her mission now. She turned down a street and kept walking. Frozen footprints dotted the ground behind her. Now, however, she walked with a purpose.

The beeping intercom cut off Superboy's very off-key (and very bad) rendition of Blink 182's "What's My Age Again." "Always when I'm in the shower!" Superboy yelled. He stuck his head out of the curtain and smacked the panel. "What?" he asked.

"Superboy!" Cannon's voice said. "Killer Frost's loose in Metropolis! We're getting ready to dispatch Heat Wave to go stop her and I want you to go along with him."

"Mick," Superboy said, "I'm wet and naked. Can't this wait?"

"I don't want to hear about your personal life. Get down here." The intercom immediately clicked off.

Superboy closed his eyes and hung his head. "Great," he said. He used his powers to shut the shower off, then again to blow the moisture off his body. He grabbed his towel and headed toward his closet, where his uniform hung.

A few minutes later, Superboy entered the briefing room where Heat Wave was already waiting. "Thank you for joining us," Cannon said sarcastically. "Here's the situation. Killer Frost has been spotted roaming Metropolis. The SCU thought that since you've gone up against her before, you'd know how to handle this."

"No prob," Superboy said, making a big show of cracking his knuckles. "So what's she after?"

"No idea," Cannon said. "I just know the mayor wants her stopped, and with Superman off on a JLA mission, you're next."

"So what's she do?" Heat Wave asked. "I don't think I've ever crossed paths with her."

"She absorbs heat," Superboy said.

"Great," Heat Wave said. "She's going to just think I'm a buffet or something."

"Listen," Cannon interrupted, "We've gotten word that she's in the middle of Swan Boulevard heading toward the park. Take the Whiz Wagon and cut her off. Hopefully we can stop this now."

Superboy and Heat Wave stood and walked out.

Cars swerved as Swan Boulevard turned into a skating rink. Ice flowed out from Killer Frost as she absorbed the road's heat from the sun. "Where is Superboy?" she demanded. Pedestrians fled rather than answer. Frost smirked at the damage she was causing as the cold caused water mains to begin freezing and bursting. Rather than enjoy her handiwork, she continued forward, bringing the ice field with her.

"There she is!" Superboy yelled over the wind. He stood in the Whiz Wagon's open cab, pointing downward.

"Got any ideas?" Heat Wave asked as he fought the controls.

"Oh, yeah!" Superboy said, grinning. He slapped a button on the control console before launching himself into flight.

As Heat Wave fought to keep control of the Wagon, laser cannons popped out of the sides and started firing at Killer Frost. She held out her arms as the energy hit her.

"So warm," she said, smiling. "But enough is enough." She raised a hand and an ice spear stabbed forward toward the Wagon.

Heat Wave let out a yell as the spear tore through the side panels and began trying to wrestle the craft to the ground. He closed his eyes as the entrance to Weisinger Park loomed ahead. Heat Wave couldn't keep himself from yelling as the Wagon tore through the decorative iron fence and dug a trench along the well-kept grass.

"Heat Wave!" Superboy yelled as he watched the Wagon go down. He saw it slide to a stop and then Heat Wave wearily waved that he was okay. "Great," he thought. "Heat Wave's down and it's up to me." Let's see, he thought. Need a weapon, need a weapon... He smiled as he saw something that would do.

"Hey, Cold Stuff!" Killer Frost froze as she heard the mocking tone. She turned and her eyes widened as she saw Superboy swinging a light post at her. She smiled as she absorbed its heat. The metal became so fragile it shattered on contact. "Oh, boy," Superboy said, looking down at the piece of the post he still held.

"Mmmm," Frost said. "I'll bet you have a lot of heat in you."

"Sorry!" Superboy replied as he flew out of range. "You're not my type!"

"But you are," Frost said as she created an ice ramp to take her towards Superboy. "You're quite my type."

"Great," Superboy muttered as he started flying more rapidly. "I can't get away from her!" Suddenly Superboy's toes started feeling cold. He looked down and let out a yelp. He accelerated as he saw ice beginning to form on the toes of his boots.

Killer Frost's smile grew wider as she also increased her speed.

Just before her cold field reached Superboy, she heard a voice from below. "Hey! The kid's with me!" Killer Frost fell to the ground as she was enveloped in blessed warmth.

Great move, Heat Wave thought to himself. You shoot her with your fire-gun, and she's eating it up! What now?

"Great move, Heat Wave!" Superboy yelled. An instant later, he swung another light pole, knocking Frost into the pond, scattering the ducks. Immediately a sheet of ice began covering it.

Superboy landed beside a nervous Heat Wave. "I forgot she can't absorb heat and create cold at the same time." He looked out onto the pond. "Looks like she's frozen solid."

"Let's call the SCU, then," Heat Wave said, heading toward the Whiz Wagon.

Their eyes were drawn to the center of the pond as a glowing portal appeared. A man with pale skin stepped out and looked down. "Not bad," he said. "Welcome to the team." Using heat vision, he lasered out a cube which encased Frost and pulled her out of the pond. "Let's go."

Superboy's eyes widened as he recognized the man. "Match!" he yelled as Frost entered the portal.

Match turned and smiled. "Not this time," he said. "But soon." Laughing, he turned around and entered the portal, which immediately vanished.

Superboy stood there clenching his fists and glaring at where Match had disappeared.

Roy Harper shook his head. "Man," he said. "I go on a school field trip with Lian and it just busts loose around here."

Heat Wave, rubbing his neck, nodded slightly. "You got that right."

Superboy grinned. "You should have seen the look on his face when the nurse tried to put an ice pack on his neck!"

Heat Wave shot a dirty look at Superboy. "Hey, you seem to have dodged that icicle pretty easily. Don't take it out on those of us who can't fly."

Roy sat down behind his desk. "Man, I'm never going to be able to leave you guys alone again. You just find too much trouble to get into when I'm not here."

Superboy shrugged and grinned. "Hey, we're good at what we do." Superboy glanced at the clock above Roy's desk, with arrows for hands. "Oh, man! Is that what time it is?"

Roy glanced back. "Yeah."

"I'm late for a date with Cassie! She's gonna kill me!" Superboy flew out of the office, scattering papers off Roy's desk as he went.
"Well, now that he's gone..." Roy smiled and opened a false set of drawers on his desk, revealing a small refrigerator. He pulled out a beer and tossed another to Heat Wave.

After a long pull, Roy set the bottle on his desk. "So, how'd the kid handle himself out there?"

Heat Wave thought a moment. "About as well as you could expect. I had to step in, but he put Frost down pretty quick."

Roy leaned forward over his desk. "I really don't like hearing that she's apparently working with Match. That could spell trouble."

Heat Wave smiled. "Hey, I always loved it when they'd team up."

"Yeah, but you were fighting heroes."

"So?"

Roy shook his head again. "You guys were nuts."

"Yeah, but those were great days." Heat Wave thought a moment. "You used to work with Green Arrow, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Roy said.

"I'll make you a deal. I've got some killer Barry Allen stories, but you've got to tell me some of your stuff on Green Arrow."

"Why?" Roy asked.

Heat Wave shrugged. "Simple. Those were better days back then. And ever since Guardian... well, I've been feeling nostalgic. Plus, I've got a great story I'm saving about how he and Barry caught me once."

Roy smiled. "Sounds like fun."

Heat Wave raised his bottle. "First things first. To better days!"

"To better days," Roy echoed as the bottles clinked together.

"Now then," Heat Wave said. "The Fire Opal had just been brought to Central City for a special exhibit, and I just thought that this was too good of an opportunity to miss..."

The stories ran for hours, with laughter occasionally bursting out of Roy Harper's office.

Superboy landed outside the Sandsmark home and rang the bell. "She's gonna kill me," Superboy kept repeating to himself as an angry Cassie answered the door.

"Cas, I can explain," Superboy started until Cassie cut him off.

"Save it," she snapped. "What are your friends doing here?"

"Friends?" Superboy asked. Just then a familiar-looking blonde stepped forward.

"Long time no see," Saturn Girl said.

Next Issue: The Legion has returned! But the bad news is that Silver Sword's back, too!

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