“The Superboy Revenge Squad!”
Mickey Cannon paced his office. Superboy had been in a major funk for days. This one was even worse than the last one. "Every mission!" Cannon ranted. Roy Harper sat in front of him. "Every mission I try to send him on, he just locks the door!" "Take it easy, Mick," Harper said. "The kid's personal life has been a bit of a rollercoaster lately. You know everything he's been through." Cannon plopped down behind his desk. "I know, but the fact is that this place is very close to becoming a military installation. I need the kid out there on the front lines." "All he needs is something to snap him out of it," Harper said. "Don't worry. Something'll come up." "I hope so," Cannon said. "This is really starting to get old." Roquette Serling straightened up. "Well, Tenzil, it looks like that's got it." She gently started detaching sensors from his forehead. "I believe that I now know you better than you probably know yourself." "Thanks," Tenzil said, sitting up. "Do I pass?" Serling laughed. "Of course. It's just that you've been our only chance so far to study one of Dabney Donovan's clones." "Because I'm the only one who hasn't gone poof?" Serling leaned back against a counter. "I would have put it another way, but yes." "It's great to be loved." Tenzil hopped down from the examination table. Serling hurried forward as he stumbled. "Are you all right?" she asked as she caught him. "Yeah," Tenzil said as he rubbed his forehead. With Serling's help, he leaned against the table. "Just a little dizzy. Guess you gave me one test too many." Serling smiled. "Just rest. Let me know when you're ready to go." Serling quickly stepped away, trying to banish Tenzil's deep brown eyes from her mind. Roy Harper stepped into his security chief's office and turned on the television. He was shocked to see live footage from downtown Metropolis. With a smile, he clicked on the intercom. "Mickey, it's Roy. Turn on channel 8. I'm going for the kid now. And I won't take no for an answer." Without waiting for a reply, Roy sprinted out of the office. Deep within the cavenous headquarters of the Superboy Revenge Squad, the Squad's leader smiled as the television showed Match causing random destruction in the city of Metropolis. "It begins," the leader said. Harper kicked the door to Superboy's room open. "Get dressed, kid!" he yelled. "Match is running loose in Metropolis!" "What?" Superboy asked as he shot up in bed. "Heat Wave's already on site trying to get a perimeter set up. We're going as soon as you're dressed. Let's go!" Harper pulled the door closed behind him and sprinted toward his room and his Arsenal uniform. Superboy sighed as he threw the covers off him. "So much for that," he said as he slid the magazine back under his mattress. He headed for the closet and started pulling his uniform on. Match smiled as he threw a car into a nearby store window. Pedestrians scattered as the window exploded. "Where is Superboy!" Match bellowed. Across the street, Heat Wave stepped forward, a detachment of Cadmus troopers behind him. "Let's do this fast," Heat Wave said softly. "We need to take this guy down before somebody gets killed. The Kid's on his way if we need backup, but let's see if we can't take care of this before he gets here." The troops quickly moved into formation, their weapons targeted on Match. Match ripped a lamp post out of the street and swung it at a building, sending bricks and plaster flying. As the troops raised their weapons, Match simply dropped the lamppost and smiled a sinister smile without turning to face them. Heat Wave stepped forward and raised his gun. "Match! Surrender now!" The smiling Match turned and looked at Heat Wave. "You're not Superboy," he said as a peculiar red glow began to form around his eyes. "That means that you're unimportant." Heat Wave realized what was happening a second too late. "COVER!" he yelled as Match fired his heat vision. Heat Wave flew backward as the beams hit him. Heat Wave slid to a stop as the air was filled with the screams of the burning troops. Superboy landed beside him as he picked himself up. "What's going on out there?" he asked. "Match," Heat Wave said as he placed his gun in his holster. "My suit protected me, but he's killing those men!" Superboy's face grew hard. "I'll handle him. You and Roy do what you can to save those guys!" An instant later, Superboy was gone. Arsenal and Heat Wave were running after him, Arsenal already reaching for a fire extinguisher arrow. Match smiled as his nostrils filled with the odor of burning flesh. "I do so love a good barbecue," he said with a smirk. He turned as his name was screamed. Superboy slammed into him, throwing the both of them into a restaurant. They skidded across the floor, scattering tables and chairs, until they finally crashed through the order counter and came to a stop. Outside, Heat Wave and Arsenal frantically worked to extinguish the troops. "How are we doing?" Heat Wave asked. "I've got five dead," Arsenal said. "I'm on my cell now trying to get some paramedics out here." "What about your communicator from Cadmus?" Heat Wave asked. Arsenal shook his head. "No good. Some sort of jamming field's up. Can't get through." Heat Wave cursed as he kept trying to keep his men alive. Back at Cadmus, Roquette Serling and Dubbilex were meeting with Mickey Cannon when the room shook. "What's going on?" Serling asked. "I would recommend sealing this room," Dubbilex said. "We are under -AAA!" Dubbilex grabbed his head and crumpled to the ground. Serling rushed to his side. Cannon started pressing buttons on his desk. Alarms started blaring and a steel protective wall dropped over the door. Tenzil looked up as his door slid open. A familiar face stood there. "Brin?" he asked. The visitor slammed his fist into Tenzil's face, knocking him out. He left the room, the unconscious Tenzil thrown over his shoulder. In the main genetics lab, Dabney Donovan started dancing. "Look at the equipment!" he exclaimed. "Oh, the fun I'll have!" He laughed madly and started working with the machines. Cannon's head whipped around as his door started steaming. He hurried to the door and touched it. He jerked his hand back. "What's wrong?" Serling asked. "Is it hot?" "No," Cannon said. He clicked a switch and a panel in the wall slid open. "I think you'd better clear out of here. I've got a bad feeling I know who's on the other side of this door." "But what about you?" Serling asked. "And Dubbilex?" "If he's stable, leave him here," Cannon said. "If they've got a telepath with them, then he'll just show up like a beacon. Get moving. We need somebody to tell the Kid what's going on here." Serling nodded and hurried out. Cannon slid the panel shut and locked it. He activated an emergency beacon and turned just as his door exploded inward and the rest of the Superboy Revenge Squad stepped in. Killer Frost stepped to one side. Her work was done after destroying the door. Sidearm stepped in and aimed his blaster cannon at Cannon. The look on his face showed that he'd like nothing more than to fire. Cannon's jaw dropped when the leader stepped in. "How?" he asked. Superboy knelt over Match with the clone's collar clenched in his fist. "Why?" Superboy asked. "Why are you doing this?" Superboy let out a cry as he was picked up from behind and effortlessly tossed through another wall into the kitchen, where his head left a sizable dent in the front of a stove. "Because he's just following orders," Knockout said as she helped Match to his feet. "Is it time?" Match asked. "Yes," Knockout replied. "Let's go." The two walked into a portal and were gone. Arsenal ran in and saw Superboy lying on the ground. "What happened?" he asked. "I dunno," Superboy replied. "You get the license plate offa that steamroller that just hit me?" "No time," Arsenal said. "We just got a priority one alert from Cadmus. They're under attack." "Wait! Where's Match?" Arsenal shook his head. "Gone. Probably to Cadmus." "Let's go," Superboy said. Arsenal nodded and the two hurried outside. Heat Wave was covering the face of another trooper who'd just died. "We've got to get back to Cadmus," Arsenal said. Heat Wave looked up at the approaching ambulances. "You go. I'm staying here with them." Arsenal scowled but finally just nodded. "All right. We'll call if we need backup." The two quickly ran for the Whiz Wagon and went airborne. As they neared Cadmus, the control console for the Whiz Wagon suddenly beeped. Arsenal cursed and started frantically punching buttons on the controls. "What's wrong?" Superboy asked. "Cadmus has taken over the Wagon." Arsenal looked up. "Guess we'll just be enjoying the ride. We don't have any control." The two were silent as the Whiz Wagon gently entered Cadmus and settled to the ground inside the darkened hangar. "I don't like this," Arsenal said as he jumped out of the Wagon. He reached for his bow and an arrow. "What's with the freaky light scheme?" Superboy asked. "We forget to pay our electric bill?" "Not quite," a voice said from the doors to the Project. "Although we have been forced to terminate your service." The lights came on, revealing the assembled Superboy Revenge Squad. Dabney Donovan. Killer Frost. Sidearm. Knockout. Match. The leader stepped forward, finally revealing herself. At a gesture, Match threw Cannon to the ground at her feet. Amanda Spence raised a pistol and smiled. "Welcome home, brat," she said. "You're just in time to watch all your friends die." Next Issue: It's Superboy and Arsenal vs. the Superboy Revenge Squad! At the end of this one, nothing will ever be the same again! Previous Issue | Next Issue |
