Superboy

Superboy rushed down the corridor to Mickey Cannon's office. Here, deep within Project Cadmus, they believed that they had located Dabney Donovan, a madman who was trying to destroy the Project.

"What's up, Mickster?" Superboy asked.

Cannon frowned. The siege hadn't been going well. Since they'd gone into lockdown days before, Cannon had only had about an hour of sleep. "Serling thinks she's found something." He laid a device on the desk. "She was trying to recover some of her files from the computer in that burnt-out lab and came up with an idea. This thing is rigged to track the genetic signatures of Donovan's clones."

"Homing device. Sweet," Superboy said as he strapped it to his arm. "Tekka come up with this?"

"Yeah," Cannon said. "So we know it'll work."

"Only way I'd trust it more would be if the Gadget Guru himself had put it together."

"Once you start shutting down Donovan's defenses, I'm sending in the troops. Heat Wave's going to be leading them."

"What about Arsenal?" Superboy asked.

"Harper's going to be busy holding down the fort here. Good luck." Cannon shook Superboy's hand.

As he walked out, Superboy bumped into Roquette Serling. "Be careful," she said.

"Hey," Superboy said, smiling. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Superboy walked into the heavily-guarded hangar and launched into flight.

As he flew, he switched on the device and noticed that it had already locked on to a large group of Donovan-created clones. "Well, well, well," Superboy said. "Looks liked I've got him already." He turned his head and saw a young woman flying up beside him. "Hey, Cas!" he called.

"Hi," she said with a smile. "I heard what was going on and figured you could use a hand."

"You still mad?" he asked.

"No," Wonder Girl said. "I'm sorry if I came on a little harsh. It's just kinda weird to have Saturn Girl pop up like that on my doorstep. And then the way that girl in the purple went after you..."

"It's okay," Superboy said, reaching out to clasp her hand. "And if you're lucky, you might get a shot at Saturn Girl yet."

The two soared through the air, heading toward Donovan's headquarters.

Dabney Donovan sat in his command center, watching everything as it transpired. His cloned Legion stood around him. Saturn Girl stepped to his side. "It's true," she said. "El Computo has determined that their trajectory is heading here."

"Good," Donovan said. "Alert the troops. You know where you're supposed to go."

Saturn Girl nodded and led the team out as alarms started blaring throughout the complex.

Superboy and Wonder Girl landed outside the complex and were immediately greeted by weapons fire.

"Looks like Dabney's grown himself some guards," Superboy noted. "Wanna take `em out?"

"Let's," Wonder Girl responded with a smile. The two waded into the guards, sending the enemy troops flying.

In the med-lab at Cadmus, Dubbilex's eyes suddenly shot open as alarms blared.

"He's not safe," he whispered as doctors swarmed around him.

Superboy moved slightly as the last guard went flying past him and into the wall. "Nice shot," he said.

"Thanks," Wonder Girl said as she walked toward him. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"What's this for?" he asked.

"I've missed you," Wonder Girl said as she raised her head and passionately kissed him. "I've really missed you," she whispered.

"Cass," Superboy said, growing uncomfortable. "Now may not be the best time for this..."

"Shh," she said as she kissed him again. "We'll hurry. There's just no one else on the team who does for me what you do. Impulse, Robin, Aquaboy, none of them."

"What about Grover?" Superboy asked.

Wonder Girl giggled. "You know, I'm pretty open-minded, but doing it with a Muppet is a little out there even for me." Wonder Girl let out a cry as Superboy activated his tactile t-k and sent her flying.

"Why'd you do that?" she demanded.

"You think you're pretty smart, don't you, Donovan!" Superboy yelled at her. "You need to do a little more research! Like finding out names of people she knows!"

Wonder Girl scowled. "Oh, piffle!" she yelled as she charged Superboy. Superboy barely managed to get away from her before she burst into flame just like the others had.

Donovan scowled. 842-B hadn't worked out as well as he'd thought. "Who names their kid Grover, anyway?" he asked the empty room. The irony was lost on him as he knew someone who'd named their kid Dabney.

Superboy flew into a large room and saw Saturn Girl standing there. "So we meet again," he said.

Saturn Girl smiled. "Yes, we do," she said. "And I've got some new friends for you to meet."

"I can't wait," Superboy said. "But first..." He threw a rock at Saturn Girl, knocking her unconscious. "Who's first!"

"Me!" the former Triplicate Girl yelled as both her bodies charged him.

"Trip?" he asked.

"Thanks to you, not anymore! Now we're just Duo Damsel!" Superboy kicked one and she fell to the ground unconscious.

"Who are you now?" Superboy asked. "Ms. Mono? Singular Sensation? Can't Do Squat Girl?" He punched her and she fell to the ground. "Howsabout Gets Knocked Out Easily Lass?" Superboy smashed into the wall as Mon-El attacked him from behind.

"That's far enough!" Mon-El yelled. Mon-El grabbed Superboy in a bear hug and started squeezing.

Superboy squeezed his eyes shut as he knew what he had to do. He focused his tactile t-k on Mon-El. Mon-El's eyes grew wide as his body started to expand. "What are you doing?" he asked an instant before Superboy punched him and knocked him out.

"Something I never want to do again," Superboy said. It had been way too easy to pour his tactile t-k into pulling Mon-El apart at a molecular level.

A young man wearing blue and red walked out, accompanied by the rest of Donovan's Legion. "Looks like it's my turn," he said.

"Let's get this over with," Superboy said. "Who are you?"

The young man smiled as he started growing. "They call me Colossal Boy!" he yelled.

"I'll bet you're a hit with the ladies," Superboy observed as he launched into flight. He soared straight at the giant. He barely managed to evade Colossal Boy's grasping hands and poured all his momentum into a spot between the giant's eyebrows. Superboy watched as Colossal Boy's eyes rolled back in his head and he started falling backward. The rest of the Legion scattered as Colossal Boy slammed into the ground.

"I've got to try and stop him!" another Legionnaire yelled as she launched into the air. Superboy watched as she shrank to a tiny size.

"So long, Flea Girl," Superboy said as he flicked her off his shoulder.

"Shrinking Violet!" a girl with red hair yelled. "That's it!" She raised her hands and boulders began to levitate. "Time for you to see what Light Lass can do!"

"Now I know you're kidding," Superboy said. He dove downward and knocked Light Lass unconscious as well.

"Who's left?" Superboy asked.

"Feel the wrath of Ferro Lad!" a young man in a silver mask said. Ferro changed to metal and started toward Superboy.

"I'm sure the big S would whip up a giant magnet or something, but I think that this'll do just fine for me," Superboy said as he threw one of Light Lass's boulders into Ferro. The Legionnaire crumpled under the impact.

Superboy wiped his brow. "Looks like you're the only one left," he said to the young man in white and yellow. "Who're you? The Color Blind Kid?"

"No," he said. "Karate Kid." Karate Kid launched himself at Superboy, striking repeatedly. Finally Superboy had to fly upward to get away.

"Karate Kid, huh?" Superboy asked as he dove downward and grabbed him by the collar. "Wax on, wax off!" he yelled as he cracked Karate Kid's head into the wall of the room. The unconscious Kid fell to the ground.

"Well, that was easy," Superboy said as he continued into the base. Behind him, the Legionnaires burst into flame and disintegrated.

Superboy paused as he heard a muffled sound from inside a room. He tried the knob and found it locked. Pulling back, he punched the door in.

Inside was a young man, suspended by restraints. He weakly looked up as Superboy ran in and started snapping the chains. "Thank you," he said.

"Who are you?" Superboy asked.

Tears began running down the young man's face. "The master locked me in here because he said my powers were stupid."

"Why?" Superboy asked. "What's your name?"

"Tenzil. Tenzil Kem." Tanzil picked up a piece of the chain and started chewing on it. "Matter Eater Lad."

"Whoa," Superboy said as his jaw dropped.

"Sorry," Tenzil said as he finished a length of chain. "He hasn't fed me for a while."

"That's all right," Superboy said as a grin began to cross his face. "I think you're giving me an idea."

Dabney Donovan stalked his command center. "Where is he?" he demanded. Donovan dove for cover as the far wall exploded inward. A smiling Superboy stood there, surrounded by dust.

"Hey, Dabney," Superboy said. "Whaddaya say you just give up now?"

"Never!" Donovan yelled as he raised a remote control. "I can still blow this base up!"

Crunch.

Donovan's jaw hit the ground as he turned his head. There was Tenzil, chewing on half of the remote. "Needs salt," Tenzil said.

"Oh, piffle!" Donovan yelled. "Now I'm done for!" His body began to smoke. "Howsabout a little pyrogranulite?"

"Time to go!" Superboy yelled. He grabbed Tenzil and started flying out of the base as fast as he could. Behind him, Donovan had turned into a human torch and was running after him. Superboy glanced back just in time to see the fireball collapse.

"So what happened next?" Cannon asked. Superboy was being debriefed in his office.

"You know the rest," Superboy said. "Heat Wave took the troops in and found the body. Me and Tenzil just got back here as fast as we could."

Roy Harper spoke up. "Serling's been working on the body. She confirmed it. That's not Donovan. It's just another clone. He's still out there somewhere."

"Great," Cannon said. "That's all we need. And what about this Tenzil guy?"

"I'd like to see him stick around," Superboy said. "Serling told me that Donovan didn't implant him with one of his fail-safe devices, so he should be safe. Plus, we may be able to get a lot of information about Donovan's clones from him."

Cannon nodded. "All right. Your little buddy can stay." The briefing wrapped up soon thereafter.

"Piffle!" Donovan yelled in his hidden lair. "How could he overcome all of that?" He turned as a glowing portal opened and Match stepped out.

"Dr. Donovan," Match said. "Come with me if you want to destroy Superboy."

"Well why didn't you say so?" Donovan grabbed a ratty suitcase, stuck a moth-eaten cap onto his head and walked into the portal. Match followed and the portal disappeared into darkness.

Next Issue: What can go wrong on a simple mission to Donovan's lair with Roquette Serling and Wonder Girl? If you're Superboy - PLENTY!

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