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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:32:56 GMT
(begun by Christian J, continued by manomight1974 August 14th 2014)
Superboy's Laboratory Workshop The Kent House 321 Maple Street, Smallville, Earth-1 Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 1:27 pm The small basement workshop was dark, the air thick with the acrid smell of ozone as Jonathan Kent entered his son's cramped work space. He had not seen Clark since their brief conversation the night before in the kitchen, not that that was all that unusual, but the elder Kent could almost sense that his son was still dwelling on the events of the last few days. Again, not that that surprised him…were he and his son's positions reversed, he might be running through things as well. "Son," he called out into the darkness as he stepped further into the darkened room and fiddled for the light switch, "are you here?" "In here, Pa," Clark's voice sounded from Jonathan's left. "I'm in the workshop." "Can you turn on the lights, young man?" "Oh, sorry," Clark said rather sheepishly, "I forgot that you can't see in the dark. Lights on." As Clark said that last part, the workshop located beneath the Kent home's front lawn sprang to vibrant full illumination. Jonathan had to shield his eyes for a moment as the lights came on…he forgot how bright the lamps in here were. As the lights came on, Jonathan found himself looking at his son`s back. The boy was still wearing the same clothes he had on the night before, and was sitting hunched over the workbench with thin wisps of grayish smoke wafting upward from in front of the boy's head. "Heat vision for a soldering iron," Jonathan thought to himself, a proud but thin smile crossing the elder man's lips. "What's up, Pa?" Clark never turned away from his work as he spoke, something that always irritated Jonathan. "I haven't seen you since last night, son," Jonathan began, "are you back to dwelling on what happened?" Jonathan sounded concerned but slightly impatient as he spoke to his son. "No, Pa," Clark replied as he turned around to face his father, "I'm not dwelling on what happened. I've been working on something to take my mind off dwelling on it." "Clark, have you been working all night?" "Yes sir, I have." "Son, I know you don't need to sleep all that much, nor eat, but you've been working for a little over fifteen hours straight. Did you even stop once to stretch your legs or go to the bathroom?" "I didn't need to, Pa." Jonathan Kent shook his head from side to side as he put his forehead in the palm of his right hand. "Son, I love you, but sometimes you do tend to try my patience just a wee bit, you know that?" "Sorry, Pa." Clark hung his head in shame. "I'm not mad, so stop that. I understand that you need to work in the lab or go out flying when things are troubling you, but you can't hide out in here when you have a problem. Your Ma and I are always here if you need to talk about something, not to mention the fact that occasionally, your Ma might not want you to be sitting around the house stinking the place up because you haven't taken a bath." Jonathan was smirking a bit as he said that, which made the two Kents start laughing. Jonathan always seemed to know exactly the right thing to say or do to alleviate the tension. Jonathan was good that way, so good in fact, that you couldn't tell if it actually ever worked to alleviate the tension or not. "So, what are you working on here, son?" Jonathan was also very good at changing the subject when he knew that he had made his point to his son. "Something really, really interesting?" Jonathan cocked an eyebrow. He was intrigued. "Go on." "Well," Clark began as he hopped off of his chair, allowing his father to get a good look at the device on the work bench, "I decided to take a look at the remote control device that Ultraboy used to travel between the dimensions that separated our universe from his. Looking it over, I found that it was a fairly simple device, and I decided to build a similar device that would allow me to traverse the dimensions and explore other realities without ever leaving home. So, I built an inter-dimensional television set." "Why?" "Simple, Pa," Clark replied, his eyes beaming as he spoke, "this would enable me to look a dimension over and determine if it was safe before I actually traveled there. After all, I wouldn't want to travel to a world covered in so much Green Kryptonite it would kill me in seconds." "Interesting, son." "Best part, Pa, is that I actually improved upon Ultraboy's design. In addition to the viewing screen, I also have a more advanced version of the handheld that can initiate dimensional travel like the original, but it can now detect and track disturbances between dimensions and allow me to follow said disturbances." "And what do you intend to do with this, son?" "Simple, Pa. In the past when I have traveled from one parallel reality to another, it was kind of random, with almost no rhyme nor reason as to where I ended up. This will stop that, and enable me to see old friends that I haven't seen in a while." "Such as the version of you who had the symbol with the reversed color scheme." "Exactly. I was just about to test out the viewing system. Do you want to stick around and watch?" "Sure, son. Fire it up." Clark stepped over to the six-foot tall and five-foot wide viewing screen and flipped on a few switches located on it's edge. He stepped back a few feet as the screen began to hum to life. An image of Main Street in Smallville began to crystallize in it. "It looks like the street out in front of our general store, son." "Look closer, Pa. It doesn't say `Kent General Store', it says `Kant Kramladen'. It's in German." Jonathan took a good, long look at the screen. "Well, what do you know, it does. That's rather…odd." "There are always possibilities, Pa. There are always…" Clark trailed off as his face went white as a sheet. Something he saw had spooked him, and Jonathan turned his gaze to where his son was looking. What both Kents saw was a frightening and chilling sight. There was an American flag fluttering in the breeze above the general store, but instead of 50 white stars in the blue field, was a white Swastika. This world must be one where the Nazis won WWII. Clark was taking measured, deep breaths, trying to remain calm at what he had just seen. It didn't help, though, as just then an even more frightening image moved across the screen. It was Superboy, but like no Superboy that either Kent had ever seen…this Superboy was a Nazi. Jonathan let slip a tiny gasp as he watched this alternate version of his son flying around this alternate Smallville wearing a dark gray bodysuit with a yellow belt, red boots and red cape. He had short, close cropped hair that was almost shaved clean and a haughty, arrogant attitude that screamed from every inch of his face. The worst part was his chest symbol. Instead of the traditional red and yellow pentagonal "S", it was a plain red field in the traditional pentagonal shape, but was marked with a yellow Swastika angled in such a way that it almost appeared like it was a letter "S". Everything about this boy reminded him so much of the arrogance of Adolf Hitler from old newsreels, and the worst part was that he was, after a fashion, this world's version of Clark. "Oh, my," Jonathan said as he covered his mouth with one hand. "You said it, Pa." As the two Kents watched in horror, this Nazi Superboy's dark eyes lanced out with thin beams of heat vision, striking at three armed teenagers in tattered 1940's era U.S. Military uniforms. As the three teens were consumed in flames, the Nazi Boy of Steel coldly said, "Tod den Amerikanischen schweinegrippe," which Clark knew from his German class in Smallville High translated into "Death to American swine." "Somebody has to do something about this, Pa," Clark's rage and determination rose up on his face. Jonathan placed a hand on his son's shoulder and squeezed very gently. "I agree, son," Jonathan replied, "but not you. This is their world, and while I find what's going on there absolutely disgusting and distasteful, you can not get involved." "But, Pa, you are always telling me that if I can help in some way, I should." "Son, I…" Before Jonathan could complete his thought, the cramped little workshop was flooded with crackling yellow-white sparks of electrical energy and from the center of the view screen a swirling vortex of smoke and lights opened up, swallowing Jonathan whole before the entire apparatus exploded in a flash of light and force that flung Clark against the stone wall behind him. Clark shook his head as he picked himself up off the floor. He stared for a long moment at the charred and broken remnants of his inter-dimensional viewing screen, slowly taking measured deep breaths. It mattered little to him that his hours of work had literally gone up in smoke, all that mattered was that his father was lost and it was his fault. "Land sakes," came Martha Kent's voice from the doorway, "what happened here?" Clark turned to face his mother, tears streaming down his face and frantically explained to her the events of the past few minutes. Martha placed her hand over her mouth and let out a low gasp. "You have to go after him, Clark." "I know, Ma," he replied as he stripped down to his Superboy costume. He placed his index and pinky fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle to summon Krypto. As the Dog of Steel came bounding into the room from the secret entrance in the floor, Superboy grabbed the newly built inter-dimensional handheld control unit, "Hold on, Pa," the Boy of Steel thought to himself, "I'm coming for you."
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:33:37 GMT
Smallville Bus Station 1 Roosevelt Avenue, Smallville, Earth-1 Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 1:33 pm
Police Chief Douglas Parker was standing outside the front doors of the Smallville Bus Station, looking down at his wristwatch rather impatiently. “The 1:15 from Metropolis arrived eighteen minutes ago,” he thought out loud. “He should have come out by now. Parker was not looking forward to the duty that he had ahead of him, but as Smallville Police Chief, he had no choice. Public safety had to be maintained, regardless of how he felt about the person.
The large front doors to the bus station, thick Oak doors stained with a dark red Mahogany finish, swung open next to Parker as he waited, and a man of average build in a simple tweed suit stepped forth carrying three large suitcases. He was middle aged, with simple wire rimmed glasses with a receding dark brown hairline. He stood in the doorway for a moment, nervously fidgeting as he tried to get his bearings. When he saw Parker, he stopped in his tracks, dropping his suitcases.
“Hello, John,” Parker said as he stepped over and helped the average man with his dropped suitcases.
“D-d-d-Douglas. I d-d-d-didn't expect to see you here,” John responded.
“John, let me help you to my car.” Parker already had the man's suitcases off the pavement and was leading his friend over to his patrol car in the small parking lot. Dr. John Bailey, former head of the Johnson Observatory outside Smallville, just followed sheepishly.
“I th-th-th-thank you, Douglas,” Bailey said to his friend as they walked. “I d-d-d-didn't think anyone would come to meet me. You're a g-g-g-good friend.”
Parker turned to face his friend, letting out a quick, harsh breath as he did so. He was not going to enjoy saying what he now had to say. “John,” he began, “I'm not just here as your friend. The town council wanted me to make sure that you got into town safely...” he paused, taking a deep measured breath, “...and to make sure that there won't be any more trouble like there was a year ago.”
“Oh. I-I-I-I s-s-s-see.” The events from a year ago were still very fresh in both men's mind's, even though Bailey could only vaguely recall what had happened. Bailey, late one night, was observing what appeared to be a “Rogue Star” through the telescope at Johnson Observatory, when a freak accident occurred...strange radioactive emissions from the star were somehow focused through the telescope's lenses and into Bailey's body. An explosion occurred, destroying the observatory, and seemingly killing Bailey. Superboy and Krypto arrived on the scene, but too late...they found no trace of Bailey in the rubble, believing him to have been killed
Bailey had in fact survived, the explosion and bombardment with radiation altering his mind into a super-powered criminal capable of destroying objects with destructive beams from his hands. He formed a gang, and began a reign of terror robbing gold shipments and banks until Superboy figured out what happened to him and found a way to reverse the process, returning the good natured scientist to normal. Following his brief crime spree, Bailey was arrested and sent to an asylum in Metropolis to recover from the ordeal. Superboy and Parker had both spoken on Bailey's behalf to the courts, which is why he had not ended up in prison. And now, after a year under a psychiatrist's care, he has returned home to Smallville to try and pick up the shattered pieces of his life.
“John, you know that I don't want to say this to you. I know it wasn't your fault, but the town council...”
“I-I-I-I kn-n-n-now. They don't trust me anymore. If I were in their shoes, I'd feel the same way, and probably ask you to do what you're doing right now.”
“Okay. Leah made up the guest bedroom for you. You can stay with us until you get back on your feet.”
“Th-th-th-thank you, old friend. I'd like that very m-m-m-much.” Bailey got into the patrol car, glad that his oldest friend still trusted him and believed in him. He just wished that he could trust himself. His stuttering had gotten worse over the last few days, and he could swear that he was hearing voices telling him to do bad things. He feared that his grasp of sanity was failing and that before long he would be spiraling back downward into the abyss.
* * *
Somewhere Between Dimensions Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 1:36 pm
(Earth-1 Relative)
When Superboy pressed the activation stud on the handheld device, both he and Krypto immediately vanished from the Kent basement in a brilliant flash of yellow-white light. It took the two heroes less than a microsecond to discern their surroundings. They seemed to be floating, moving forward through a circular corridor of rainbow colored light that swirled all around them. Superboy mentally took note of this, recalling that he and Krypto had not experienced anything like this imagery the last time they crossed between parallel realities. Point of fact, the last time, using Ultraboy's device, it was a little disorienting but was nearly instantaneous. This was new. Normally, the amateur scientist in him would be marveling at this, perceiving every color that comprised the corridor's tunnel walls of energy. But, things right now were not, in fact, normal. His father had vanished because of one of his experiments, and he had to find him.
Superboy looked down on the handheld device's readouts and gauges, adjusting a dial as the two heroes ventured further through the energy tunnel. The handheld was definitely tracking a disturbance, which had to be his father. He depressed another stud, this one marked “Lock”, and he and Krypto shot forward at a greater rate of speed. A red light was flashing on the handheld, this one marked “Target”. He was there,
Taking a deep breath, Superboy depressed the deactivation stud, and the two of them vanished from the corridor, and reappeared in mid air about 20 feet above a simple street in some simple town. Since neither he nor Krypto had been flying when they entered the energy corridor, both fell out of the sky and crashed with a deafening crash into the roof of a dark blue sedan, putting a very human sized indentation into it.
Superboy lay on his back for a moment, shaking his head. “Note to self,” he said, “make certain you are using the power of flight while traversing the dimensions, otherwise you are a human sized wrecking ball.”
After a long moment, the Boy of Steel finally stood up and jumped down off the roof of the flattened sedan. Once he had gotten his bearings, he knew he was going to have to fix that...assuming, of course, that his Nazi counterpart didn't start pummeling him first.
He looked around at the buildings on either side of him. This wasn't the same world that he and his father had been looking at moments before the explosion in the lab. All the signs were in English, there was a standard American flag flapping in the breeze above them. This did not bode well. He looked down at the small screen on the handheld marked “Dimensional Vibration”, noting that it read “2336”.
“Either the tracking calibration is off,” Superboy said, “or I re-materialized too soon. Either way, I'm on the wrong world.”
“You can say that again, pal,” came a youthful voice from above the Boy of Steel. Superboy whirled about and came face to face with a blonde boy wearing a colorful costume of red and yellow. He wore a red domino mask on his eyes and a golden ring on his right hand. There was a large collar that came up around his head, and circular yellow symbol emblazoned on his chest with a stylized letter “W” in it's center.
“Who are you?” Superboy asked calmly.
“I'm called Wonder Boy,” the floating hero responded as he swooped down and knocked the Boy of Steel across the street with a super-powered uppercut from his right hand.
As Superboy crashed into the side of a building across the street, he sighed. “Just what I need right now,” he thought, “more trouble.”
This was certainly not how he wanted to spend his Wednesday.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:33:53 GMT
Elsewhere
Hourglass stood behind Lex Luthor, observing. Lex Luthor was seated in front of the viewscreen in Hourglass's darkened control room, the light from the viewscreen gleaming off his bald head. “Hmm,” he muttered as he observed the events occurring at the Smallville Bus Station. Lex steepled his hands in front of his face and processed the information, slowly and carefully before he spoke again.
“This,” he finally said, “could prove useful to our goal.”
“You don't say, young Mister Luthor,” Hourglass replied, curious as to what the young genius had in mind. “Do elaborate.”
Lex Luthor smirked, a slight snorting laugh produced as he did. “I remember John Bailey and what happened a year ago. The powers he possessed were quite...awesome. If we could somehow reactivate those powers, I think he would be a powerful addition to our group.”
“Interesting, Lex. Very interesting indeed. What would you say if I told you I already put events in motion to bring that about?”
“I would say that it would not surprise me in the least. You seem to be taking steps to recruit only the best, and by best, I mean worst of Superboy's many varied adversaries. How did you accomplish this, might I ask?”
Hourglass laughed. “One of the first associates I recruited was a thug from the Saturnian moon of Titan. As you are well aware, Titanians are possessed of great telepathic powers. This young man, Ralk, is a distant cousin to an old associate of Superboy from Titan, a young man known as Kral.”
“Interesting,” Lex said, cocking one eyebrow. “Go on.”
“Ralk is destined to battle Superboy in one week's time. Being that we are outside the timestream, I collected Ralk after Superboy and Kral returned him to Titan for imprisonment, and brought him here to my citadel two weeks ago. After Cyber was collected shortly after that, we outfitted Ralk with a device that enabled him to broadcast thoughts into Bailey's mind.”
“You're trying to get Bailey's other personality to reassert itself. All fine and good Hourglass, but without his energy powers it's kind of a waste of time.”
Hourglass walked away from the viewscreen, his black cape flowing with a pronounced flourish as he turned away from Lex. The costumed villain had his back to Lex now, and clasped his gloved hands behind his back as he began to speak again. “That is where you will come in, my young friend.”
Lex swiveled his control chair to face Hourglass, who still had his back to the bald teenager. “I have no idea how to recreate Bailey's powers.”
“Ah, but you do know how to examine and test, don't you? When I bring Bailey here, you will take a look at him. Find whatever residual energies still exist within his body, and replicate them.”
“Simple as that, hmm?”
“Yes, Lex. Simple as that. You seem to forget the amazing technology that exists herein. Plus, since we are outside of time, you can just view the original accident. Again, simple as that.”
“And how soon will you be bringing Bailey here?”
“Soon enough, Lex. Ralk is still...affecting him. I need him more pliable for our needs. We are going to drive him to the breaking point, and then offer him a release from his suffering by allowing him to be a villain once more.” With that, Hourglass exited the control room, leaving Lex Luthor alone with his thoughts.
Luthor sat there in silence, again processing the information slowly and carefully. The realization of just how evil Hourglass truly was was starting to dawn on him. He realized how cold his “benefactor” was, and he started to have grave misgivings about his involvement. “This deal is getting worse by the minute,” he thought, shaking his head.
* * *
Superboy got back on his feet, dusting himself off. He looked back at this “Wonder Boy”, narrowing his eyes. He was processing the events of the last few minutes, and he had already made a few basic conclusions about this world he stood on. First, Wonder Boy was some kind of hero-protector of this town, much like Superboy was back home in Smallville. Second, after X-ray and microscopic scans of his adversary in red and yellow, he determined that his powers were not natural like his own were...they must come from that ring he wore on his right hand, and those powers were the result of magic from the ring was a very distinct possibility. Considering that he had a vulnerability to the effects of magic just like anyone else, Clark knew that this was going to hurt.
Wonder Boy floated in the air only about two feet off the ground directly in front of Superboy. “Why don't you stay down, villain?” Wonder Boy was taunting Superboy, attempting to goad him into fighting back.
Superboy didn't react. He was trying to gauge his foe, see what made him tick. “I'm not a villain. I'm a hero from another world, just like I assume you to be.”
“Ha! That's a likely story. Heroes don't cause damage to public and private property.”
“You mean like you just did when you threw me into this wall?”
Wonder Boy paused. This super-powered boy in blue and red had him there. “Dad's going to scold me for not looking before I leaped..again,” Wonder Boy thought to himself, just as Krypto slammed into him at full speed knocking him into the damaged wall behind Superboy.
Superboy slammed the palm of his right hand against his forehead, realizing that things had just gone from bad to worse.
“Krypto...bad dog!”
Wonder Boy pulled himself out of the rubble, his eyes darting from Superboy to Krypto as he dusted himself off. “Okay. That tears it. You just proved who the bad guy here is, and it's not me.” Wonder Boy placed his index index and middle fingers into his mouth and let out a loud whistle. “Now you're gonna get it, blue boy.”
Almost instantly, Superboy felt himself being lifted up into the air, something dragging him into the sky by his indestructible cape. He didn't need to look up, even he though he did anyway, knowing exactly what he was going to find, but still surprised by the very sight. His eyes widened as he caught sight of a gray hound wearing a golden colored metal collar and a red domino mask.
“Good boy, Rover,” Wonder Boy called up to his canine companion. “Let's teach these two some manners.”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:34:10 GMT
Superboy was beginning to get annoyed. Everything that had occurred up until this point was just a series of events that were out of his control, and he really needed to regain said control and quickly before something else happened. “Okay,” he said, twisting his head up to look directly at Rover, “nobody tugs on Superboy's cape. Nobody.” Superboy took a deep breath and exhaled a large gust of super-breath at Rover, knocking the canine's grip on his cape loose and into the damaged building off to this left. As soon as Rover had let go, Superboy, using his power of flight, descended gently back down to the pavement.
Wonder Boy was angry. “If you've hurt my dog,” he yelled, “I am going to make you wish you hadn't gotten up out of bed today!”
Superboy smirked. “If only he knew I never went to bed last night.” Superboy was making very precise calculations as he stared his opponent down, factoring in Wonder Boy's approximate height, weight, speed...he had to be as precise and accurate as he could even though most of what he was using was rough guesses based upon his own formidable powers.
Wonder Boy, if nothing else, was extremely predictable. He launched himself into the air, propelling himself with arms stretched forward, fists clenched, straight at the Boy of Steel. Time around them seemed to slow to a crawl. Superboy had to time this perfectly, otherwise he was going to get wailed upon with magically empowered super-strong arms.
As Wonder Boy was just about to make contact with Superboy's chest, the Boy of Steel was a blur of super-speed, grabbing the crimson clad teen's right arm with one hand and slipping the golden ring off his finger with the other in so deft a motion it was almost as if Superboy had been a pickpocket. With the magic ring off his hand, Wonder Boy lost all his powers and was about to drop to the pavement when Superboy grabbed him and set him back on his feet.
“I believe this is yours,” Superboy said, grinning, as he handed the ring back to Wonder Boy.
Wonder boy chuckled as he placed his golden ring back on his right hand. “I guess we know that you're one of the good guys now. No villain with those kinds of powers would disarm his opponent so gracefully and then hand the weapon back to him.”
Superboy offered his hand to Wonder Boy in a gesture of friendship. “Sorry about Krypto. He tends to get a wee bit protective of me when we are on super-combat with an adversary.”
Wonder Boy gently grasped the outstretched hand and shook it. “Ditto on Rover. I hope he didn't rip your cape.”
“Probably not. It's indestructible. I guess proper introductions are in order. I'm called Superboy.”
“It's good to meet you, Superboy. I'm called Wonder Boy. Welcome to Littlefield.”
“Nice little town. I think we ought to clean it up now and fix all the damage we caused.”
* * *
Elsewhere
Jonathan Kent was floating...falling...not moving all at once inside a tunnel of rainbow light that swirled around him. He didn't know where he was or how long he had been there...his watch had stopped, probably at the very moment that he vanished from his son's workshop in the basement.
Jonathan tried to remain calm. He may not know where or when he was, but he knew that his son would find him.
“I think I'm going to have to have a word with him about this. No more experimenting with parallel universe and alternate dimensions...” Jonathan's reverie was cut short as he reached the end of the line, the blackness at the end of the corridor turning into a yellow-white membrane of energy and light, and with a loud BOOM, he exited into a clump of neatly trimmed Azalea bushes.
Jonathan stood up and looked around. He recognized where he was. It was Smallville Park, or at least it looked like Smallville Park. Everything was where it should have been, but all the signs around the park were in German. He must be on the Nazi Earth.
As he looked around, he didn't seem to notice the utter fear in the faces of the people in the park. Each person who saw him all seemed to shriek, calling out “Mein Gott” or “Gott in Himmel” and fleeing in panic. It took a scant few more moments of looking around, which was probably exacerbated by the disorientation from dimensional travel, for Jonathan to realize what was going on.
“What the heck?” Jonathan was puzzled by the reactions he was getting, so much so that he didn't see the youthful figure in red and gray descend from the sky and land directly behind him.
“Herr Kent,” came a familiar voice from behind Jonathan. He spun around and came face to face with the Nazi Superboy, his son's counterpart on this mixed up world. He looked so much like his son, but there was an innate arrogance and self-importance in how he carried himself, how he stood with his clenched fists on his hips.
“Oh boy.”
“Herr Kent, sie sind verhaftet wegen verbrechen gegen das Reich.”
Jonathan didn't need to understand the words, to know the meaning. He was in big trouble and right now there was only one person who could get him out of this. Unfortunately, he had no idea where Clark was, or if if he'd even find him.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:34:32 GMT
Littlefield
Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 2:47 pm
A little over an hour had passed since the ever so brief battle between Superboy and Wonder Boy had both commenced and ceased. In that time, the two young heroes had used their respective super powers to clean up the mess that their actions (both accidental and purposeful) had caused. As they worked together, they chatted, comparing notes on the similarities and differences of their respective super careers. The Boy of Steel had learned that Wonder Boy had rescued an Asian Yogi who had been visiting Littlefield from Tibet from drowning in the small lake in Littlefield Park. The Yogi, who had been eternally grateful for the young man's actions, had bestowed upon him and his dog, Rover, a golden ring and collar that magically bestowed upon the two great superhuman powers that equal to those possessed by Superboy and Krypto.
As they flew off into the sky, with Wonder Boy taking the lead since this was his home turf, Superboy continued their conversation. “So this Yogi,” he said, “whatever happened to him?”
“That's the interesting part,” Wonder Boy replied, “as soon as Rover and I rescued him and he gave us the ring and collar, he vanished in a puff of smoke, as though he had never been there in the first place. Soon after, Rover and I first appeared as Wonder Boy and Rover the Wonder Dog, battling criminals and averting disasters.”
“Interesting,” the Boy of Steel said, his curiosity piqued.
“Yeah. If I concentrate hard enough, I can talk to the Yogi, and he can sometimes impart wisdom unto me, but beyond that I haven't seen him since.” Wonder Boy led the four of them down towards a small wooded area outside of Littlefield. As he did so, Superboy couldn't help but be reminded of how similar this was to to the secret entrance into his own workshop in the basement of the Kent house. When they touched down, Wonder Boy moved a small boulder aside, revealing a cave entrance into what Superboy could only assume was Wonder Boy's equivalent to the basement workshop.
“C'mon,” Wonder Boy said, motioning for the Boy of Steel and Krypto to follow him.
“Let me guess,” Superboy said, “secret entrance into your hidden workshop in the basement of your parent's house?”
“How'd you guess?”
“I have the same thing back home in Smallville.”
Wonder Boy smiled. “Great minds think alike, huh?”
Superboy returned the smile. “Yeah, I suppose so.”
“Before we go in, I think it only fair to tell you my real name. I'm Fred Carson,” Wonder Boy said, as he removed his crimson domino mask.
“Clark Kent. You took an awful big risk revealing yourself to me. What if I turned out to be another super-villain who was just trying to lull you into a false sense of security?”
“I did think of that, which is why as we were talking, I was concentrating through my ring and talking to the Yogi. I was asking him if you were one of the good guys. He responded, in his usually cryptic manner, 'You can trust this Superboy as you would your own reflection.' I kinda wish I had done that before we started fighting back in town. It might have saved us some time on clean-up.” Wonder Boy chuckled.
“Well,” Superboy countered, also chuckling, “as my father Jonathan is fond of saying, 'Hindsight is 20/20.' Besides, I don't think I've ever been hit that hard by someone whose powers were derived from magic before.”
Wonder Boy, or Fred as Superboy should start to think of him, smiled back at that. “You have a vulnerability to magic I'm guessing?”
“Yeah, among other things.”
“I'd love to hear all about it...Clark.”
As they walked down the tunnel that Superboy could only surmise led into the basement of the Carson house in Littlefield, the two heroes continued talking, Superboy talking about Krypton and Kryptonite, Lex Luthor and the friendship lost, Lana Lang, Ma and Pa Kent. Wonder Boy countering with Xander Drax and their friendship lost, Chelsea Chase, Mom and Dad Carson. As they compared stories on the long walk to the workshop, Superboy couldn't help but feel like one's history and career was like a mirror to the other's, almost as though someone had just plagiarized the story, disguising it with very vague differences to make it feel like it was different even though it wasn't. Magic instead of science fiction.
When they reached the workshop, they found that Fred's parents were already there waiting for them to arrive. Superboy was taken aback slightly with how similar they looked to Ma and Pa, almost as if they were cousins or some other distant relations.
“Superboy,” Wonder Boy said, “these are my parents, Joseph and Matilda Carson. Mom and Dad, this is Superboy, and he needs our help.”
* * *
Jonathan Kent sat in darkness. Since he had been taken into custody, and he wasn't sure how long ago that was since the Nazis had taken his watch and there was no clock near his cell, he had offered no resistance. The last thing he wanted to do was to give in to his anger and fear and lash out at these fascists, and then have to experience first hand the infamous and sadistic brutality of the Third Reich. Jonathan Kent had read enough over the last 20 odd years to know that standing up against the Nazis when you didn't have a heavily armed platoon of seasoned troops backing you up usually resulted in a bullet to the brain from a Luger...no matter what earth you were on.
The cell door opened in front of Jonathan Kent and two Gestapo officers entered the cell, both armed with shiny black MP-40 submachine guns. The two officers trained their weapons on Jonathan, which Jonathan could already tell were cocked with bullets in the chamber. The taller of the two soldiers, who reminded him a lot of Burt Belker, an assistant to his friend Lewis Lang, except he was clean shaven with close cropped hair, said to him“Herr Kent, komm mit uns.“
Jonathan, still not wanting to give them any trouble, slowly put his hands in the air and stood up, his demeanor showing the two Nazi agents that he would give no trouble.
The two moved around behind him and “gently“ nudged him down the corridor with the barrels of their machine guns shoved into his back towards a large door marked “Kommissar“. One of the agents, he couldn't tell which, held Jonathan in place as the other opened the door and then roughly shoved the middle aged man into the overly bright and ornately decorated room. Jonathan's eyes went wide with surprise when he saw who was sitting before him. Seated behind the large desk, dressed in the black Gestapo uniform of a Colonel, was none other than Douglas Parker, Police Chief of of Smallville...at least where Jonathan came from.
Kommissar Parker shot the two agents a look, and they exited the office, slamming the door behind them. Parker motioned towards a chair, indicating that Jonathan should sit down. “Hello, Jonathan,“ Parker said after a few moments, “why aren't you dead?“
Jonathan eyed the double of his old friend cautiously. He wasn't sure what to make of this Parker, but he was at least thankful that the man was speaking English. The incessant German was driving Jonathan nuts. “I'm not sure that I understand what you mean.“
“Don't get cute with me,“ Parker replied, his nostrils flaring ever so slightly. “I shot and killed you three months ago, so explain to me how it is that Enemy of the Reich #1 Jonathan Kent is still among the living.“
“You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Douglas.“
Parker stood up and walked around the desk to stand next to Jonathan. He leaned in close to Kent so that he could stare him down eye to eye. Parker smelled of sweat, cigars, and brandy, certainly nothing like the Douglas Parker that Jonathan Kent was familiar with. “Try me, old friend. We've got plenty of time.“
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:34:49 GMT
Wonder Boy's Laboratory Workshop The Carson House 231 Elm Street, Littlefield, An As-Yet Unidentified Earth Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 4:13 pm
Superboy sat, hunched over the workbench in Wonder Boy's workshop, his heat and microscopic visions working in concert to repair the hairline cracks in the delicate wiring of his handheld dimensional teleporter. He'd been working for a little over an hour making repairs on the device. In that time, he had been working frantically to try and fix the gizmo, all the while his mind kept drifting back to the subject of his father. He had no idea what had happened to Jonathan Kent after the vortex had swallowed him up...he wasn't even sure if his father was still alive...“No,“ he thought to himself, wiping nervous sweat from his brow, “I can't think that. He's alive, and I'm going to find him, even if it takes me the rest of my life.“
As he worked, Wonder Boy had been assisting him in making repairs and had continued to tell him more things about himself and his world. Fred Carson had proven himself to be a very capable and inventive genius when it came to electronics, a fact that Fred had mentioned as they worked together. Fred had told him that he wanted to work as an inventor after college, a fact that greatly impressed the Boy of Steel. Clark himself had occasionally thought about doing that kind of thing as a vocation, but was, thanks to his mother's repeated suggestion that he go to work as a newspaper reporter, kind of putting that idea off to the side.
“Solder?“ Superboy put his hand up, not even turning away from his work.
“Solder,“ Wonder Boy replied as he placed the spool in the Boy of Steel's hand.
“Thanks,“ Superboy used his super-dense fingernails to cut off a small length of solder and placed it above the last connection. Focusing his vision, his eyes sent out a near invisible beam of heat vision that melted the solder into the connection. There was the briefest hint of ozone in the air as his heat vision did it's work, and small wisps of smoke floated up as it cooled and hardened into a solid circuit. Superboy put the circuit boards to the handheld back in their casing and was about to close it back together when Wonder Boy held up his hand to halt him.
“If I might make a suggestion before you close the device back up,“ Wonder Boy said.
“I'm listening,“ Superboy replied, curiosity evident in his tone.
“Well,“ Wonder Boy began, “it occurs to me that the cracks and broken connections you just had to fix might have been caused by an impact, either when the initial explosion occurred in your workshop back home, during our brief slugfest, or both.“
“You make a good point.“ Superboy had the barest hint of a smile on his face as Wonder Boy talked.
“I have this liquid foam I've been working on that we could spray into the gaps inside the handheld's outer shell. It's very similar to caulking compound, but it also acts like an insulation for temperature changes and it will give it a bit of cushion effect against getting knocked around. I think it will protect it a lot better than just the outer shell did. I don't know if it will stand up to an explosion, but it's worth a try.“
Superboy hated to admit it, but he really liked how Wonder Boy thought. “By all means, Fred. Let's do it.“
Wonder Boy walked over to a small metal cabinet and pulled out a nondescript metal spray can with a long, thin nozzle attached. He took the two halves of the handheld's outer shell and began spraying a stream along the inside of the front half. As the liquid hit the metal and plastic casing, it at first seemed to coat the shell like spray paint, but within seconds it expanded into a rubbery, foamy pad. Wonder Boy took the index finger of his right hand and pressed into the gooey material, showing that it was not as solid as it appeared. As he pulled his finger out, the material resumed its original shape, as if it had not been disturbed in the first place. Superboy tested it himself as Wonder Boy repeated the process on the other section of the casing, and he couldn't help but be impressed with the seeming “magic“ that this young man had just performed.
Wonder Boy placed the circuit boards and wires back inside the casing, snapped it together again, and tightened the screws. The handheld, now fully reassembled, was handed back to an amazed Boy of Steel.
Superboy smiled. “Thanks, Fred,“ he said, offering his hand to the young hero in red and yellow. “I owe you.“
Wonder Boy accepted the hand and shook it firmly. “Nah, you don't owe me anything. My dad runs the hardware store in town. I can replace everything you used at no charge.“
“That's not what I meant.“
“I know. If anyone owes anyone around here anything it's me. I cold cocked you with no provocation earlier.“ The two heroes were laughing. “Go find your father, Clark.“
“I will. And I hope to meet you again someday...under better circumstances.“
“Good luck...friend.“
Superboy smiled as he set the target lock coordinates on the handheld control panel. It was still detecting the disturbance, which meant he could hopefully find his father. Superboy waved to his new friend as he pressed the activation stud and he and Krypto vanished from the workshop. Wonder Boy hoped that his friend would succeed.
* * *
Between Dimensions
Superboy didn't look at the swirling of colors around himself. He was paying more attention to the target screen and the readouts. The red light marked “Target” was flashing again, and this time he paid attention to the dimensional vibration readout on the screen, which was displaying a vibration of “116”.
“Well, boy, Earth-116 here we come,” Superboy said, looking over at his faithful canine companion as he depressed the deactivation stud. The two of them once again vanished from the swirling rainbow corridor, and this time when they reappeared, they were standing on terra firma.
Superboy patted Krypto on the head and started looking around to get his bearings. He didn't like what he found. Again, he had appeared in a version of Smallville where all signs were in English. The Boy of Steel shook his head, getting ready to depressed the activation stud once again and start over, when his super-hearing picked up the distinctive high-pitched whine of an energy cannon firing at something behind him.
Superboy spun around and caught sight of a small group, about six or seven metallic globes flying above Smallville. Each globe was big enough to carry one human-sized occupant, and occupant who was visible through the clear, glass-like cockpit window in the front. All of the pilots were dressed identically, wearing bright yellow jumpsuits emblazoned with an oval symbol on their chests made up of the letters “SRS”. “Oh great,” Superboy thought out loud, “not the Superboy Revenge Squad. I just had a run-in with them on my Earth a few weeks back!”
“Get out of the way!” The voice was screaming at Superboy, and made him turn his attention away from the floating members of the Superboy Revenge Squad. When he looked toward where the voice was coming from he saw...himself...running at normal human foot speed towards him, which was odd to say the least. This counterpart was exactly like himself, except for one thing, the colors of his chest symbol were reversed, with yellow being the predominant one. Superboy knew this other Superboy, as they had met before some time ago when he was flung into the Boy of Steel's own reality after being exposed to Red Kryptonite by the Superboy Revenge Squad which made him attempt to destroy Chief Parker's career. Superboy and Chief Parker had even discussed this incident, rather briefly, less than a week ago.
Knowing he had little time to act, Superboy moved at super-speed, grabbed his counterpart, and hid the two of them in a alleyway nearby. Superboy watched the SRS move passed their hiding place without stopping, realizing that they had a few minutes respite before they would have to worry again. It was at that moment that his super-hearing detected the sound of his counterpart's heart racing. The other Superboy was breathing heavy, almost gasping for air. Something was definitely wrong here.
“It's you,” the other Superboy said in between gulps of air. “I haven't seen you in a dog's age!”
“Later,” Superboy said, cutting his counterpart short. “What the heck is going on here, and why are you out of breath?”
“The SRS exposed me to Red K again,” his counterpart began, “and this time, I lost all of my powers.”
It was at this moment that Superboy realized that things had just gotten more complicated.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:35:04 GMT
An Alleyway
Smallville, Earth-116 Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 4:20 pm
Superboy stood with his now powerless counterpart, holding his head in his hand. “I can't seem to catch a break, can I?” The frustration in his tone was evident.
“What's wrong?” His counterpart had finally started to catch his breath. His heart rate and breathing were starting to return to “normal”...at least normal for the next 24 to 48 hours.
Superboy looked up. He saw the concern on his counterpart's face, and it relieved him. He related to his other self the entire series of events that led him here, from the accident in the workshop and loss of Jonathan, all the way up to his arrival here and now. When Superboy finished telling the sordid tale to his counterpart, all the other Superboy could say was, “Hmm, interesting.”
“Yeah,” Superboy replied. “At least this time, the handheld doesn't need repairs...that I am aware of. I could keep going, but I can't just leave you here to fend for yourself powerless against the SRS. I think I'm going to have to take care of them for you and then get you home to your version of Ma and Pa so that you can activate your Robots. This way, your Smallville will have some semblance of protection until your powers come back.”
“Okay. You have any idea what you're going to do about those idiots from Wexr II?”
Superboy had a devilish smile on his face. “Oh, I have an idea. I'm just going to need your shirt to accomplish it.”
The other Superboy returned the Boy of Steel's smile. “I got you. Great minds think alike.” Quickly, the other Superboy unfastened his cape and removed his shirt, handing it to the Boy of Steel, who did the same, replacing his shirt with the red and yellow symbol with the one emblazoned with the yellow and red one. Refastening his cape, he was now an exact double for his powerless counterpart. “You might want to change into Clark Kent while I handle this.”
“I might as well. Not like I can do anything else right now.”
Superboy looked down at Krypto. “Boy, stay with my other and keep him safe. I'll only be a few minutes.” The Boy of Steel handed the handheld to his counterpart, who was at that moment in the process of changing into his Clark Kent clothes, and smiled. “As the old saying goes, 'Here goes nothing.'” With that, Superboy leaped into the sky, and soared to a spot above the center of this version of Smallville.
Hovering in mid-air, Superboy pulled his arms back, and with all the force his superhuman arms could muster, slammed his palms together, generating a sound akin to that of three sonic booms going off at the same time. This was the second time in less than a week he had to perform this trick, the last time during his time on Ultraboy's Earth, and even though it had the potential to be extremely destructive, desperate times called for desperate measures. Then again, it was a classic, and the classics never out of style.
"Attention, members of the Superboy Revenge Squad," Superboy said, using an omni-directional burst of super-ventriloquism, "this is Superboy. Now that I have your attention, you will note that I still have my powers. Your trick with the Red K, like every other plan you folks have ever come up with, did not work. I'm going to give you to the count of five to get the heck off of Earth, and go back to Wexr II. If you do not leave, I will take those metal globes you are flying around in, and use them for basketballs.”
There was utter silence for the next few moments, obviously the SRS was mulling over the Boy of Steel's statement.
“Superboy,” came a deep baritone voice, obviously over a loudspeaker communications system from one of the SRS's globe ships, “this is Rava of the SRS. I'm calling your bluff. We can just hit you again with the Red K.”
Rava. Superboy remembered him from his own universe. He was in charge of the SRS some time ago when he and his men, Nar and Olmeg, used Red K to cause Krypto to hate him and vice versa, which lead to the two heroes to try and kill each other. As usual, they failed miserably. Superboy shuddered, the memory of that incident still haunting him. He was going to have get over it, at least until he had handled this situation.
“Yes, you could indeed do that, Rava,” Superboy called back, again using an omni-directional burst of super-ventriloquism, “but you seem to be forgetting one very important detail.”
“And what is that, Superboy?”
“The effects of each piece of Red K only work once on me. Unless you've got other, more powerful weapons housed in those globe ships, you're out of luck. Again, I am going to count to five.”
Rava was quiet for a moment. “No need, Boy of Steel. We'll leave...for now. Just remember, you've only earned yourself a small respite. We'll be back.” With that, the SRS's globe ships ascended into the sky, leaving Smallville, and Earth, behind. Superboy watched them as they headed for their mothership in Earth orbit. In moments the mothership engaged it's warp drive, setting course for a return trip to Wexr II.
“Whew,” Superboy breathed out a sigh of relief. This plan had actually worked out even better than he could have hoped for, without him having to actually fight them. Superboy turned his gaze down toward the alleyway where his counterpart was waiting. Krypto was still there keeping watch, and his counterpart was now fully changed into his Clark Kent attire, looking up in the Boy of Steel's direction. Superboy flashed him a winning smile and gave him the thumbs up sign. All was well again in this version of Smallville...sort of. His counterpart was still powerless. Hopefully, that Red K effect would only affect him for 24 hours, and then he'd be back to full power. Unfortunately, Superboy couldn't stay to find out. He still had to find Pa.
“Let's get you home,” Superboy used his super-ventriloquism to speak to his counterpart. “Then we can get back into our proper costumes, and I can get back to tracking down Pa.”
Superboy was a blur of motion as he swooped down and picked up this world's Clark Kent, motioning for Krypto to follow them back to the secret entrance. At the speed he was traveling, it only took him 15 or 16 seconds to go from the center of Smallville to the secret entrance to the Kent house out in the woods. When they arrived near the giant boulder that covered the secret passage, Clark Kent handed Superboy his uniform shirt back, and Superboy switched back into his own costume and out of his counterpart's. Once fully redressed as his regular self, Superboy returned the costume tunic to his other self, took back the handheld, and lifted up the boulder, opening the secret entrance into the Kent house for his powerless counterpart.
Before he could activate the handheld, Clark put his hand on Superboy's arm to stop him. “Before you go,” he said, “I just want to say thank you for everything you did.”
Superboy smiled. “Clark,” he replied, “don't worry about it. If our positions were reversed, you would have done the exact same thing for me.”
“I can't fault you there, but I still have to say thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up when you did.”
Superboy placed his hand on Clark's shoulder. “You would have figured something out. You're just like me, you always do. Although, it does occur to me that you and I always seem to run into each other when you've run afoul of your SRS.” The two teenagers laughed.
“Yeah, we do at that,” Clark replied. “Maybe after all this is over, and you've found your version of Pa, you could come back we could hang out.”
“Clark, I'd like that. I'll see you soon.” Superboy pressed the activation stud on the handheld, and he and Krypto vanished, leaving Clark Kent alone in the woods outside Smallville.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:35:18 GMT
Kommissar Parker's Office
New Hamburg, Nazi-Earth Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 4:24 pm
“Would you care for a Brandy, Jonathan?” Kommissar Parker was standing over by a very ornate and fully stocked liquor cabinet in his office. Jonathan Kent simply shook his head in response. “You're loss, my friend.” Parker had already poured himself a glass, and sat down on the corner of his desk, sipping the sweet liquid. His eyes narrowed as he looked Kent over. He placed the glass down and folded his hands. “Jonathan, we have known each other for many years, and it certainly pained me when I had to do my duty, but you were standing against the World Reich with your little band of terrorists.”
“I'm not who you think I am, Douglas.”
“I think you are Jonathan Kent. Am I wrong?”
“Technically, no. But, and this is a big but, I am not the Jonathan Kent you...knew.” There was the slightest hint of disgust in that last word, almost as if Jonathan Kent spat it out towards this Nazi version of his old friend.
“How is this possible? How can you be him, but not be him?” Kommissar Parker was certainly intrigued by these statements.
“I come from a parallel universe, where things are totally different, but at the same time, exactly the same.”
Kommissar Parker almost fell off the corner of his desk, laughing. “Do you really expect me to believe this...drivel? Do I look stupid to you?” Jonathan Kent had to stifle his natural inclination to comment on the ridiculousness of Parker in a Nazi uniform.
“You can believe what you want, but in all the years you have known a Jonathan Kent, did he EVER lie to you?”
“You have me there, Jonathan.”
Jonathan Kent began relaying his story of how he got here. Parker listened intently to Jonathan's story, resuming the sipping of his Brandy.
“So,” Parker began after a few moments, an accusatory look on his face, “you and this 'Superboy' were spying on us. What were your plans? To invade and 'liberate' this world from the glory and security of the World Reich? I've heard enough of this garbage.” Parker reached behind him and pressed a button on his desk. Almost immediately, the two guards who had earlier deposited Jonathan entered into the Kommissar's office. He looked at the two Nazi agents, waved at Jonathan, and said, “Bring ihn zurück zu seiner Zelle. Wir werden uns später mit ihm beschäftigen.“ The two Nazi guards roughly grabbed Jonathan Kent and forcibly dragged him from the room. Parker continued to drink his Brandy. He stood up and walked around his desk and depressed the intercom.
“Ja, Herr Kommissar,” came the voice of a young sounding woman, obviously Parker's secretary.
“Ruf die lokale an reichsfuhrer. Ich muss ein Wort mit im haben. Sofort.”
* * *
This time when Superboy and Krypto rematerialized, they were in an alleyway off the main street in the center of a small town that looked like Smallville, but different at the same time. Superboy wanted to figure out where they were first before he did anything. He was a stranger in a strange land after all, and the last thing he needed was a repeat of what had happened on Wonder Boy's Earth. He put his hand down and looked at Krypto. “We're going to stay put right here for a few minutes, boy.” Krypto understood, and sat on the cold asphalt.
Superboy concentrated his super-visions and looked out at the small town. Everything was in English, so again, they were on the wrong Earth. Signs around the town labeled this place as a town called Littletown, but it didn't appear to be the Littletown he knew from his Earth, the one in New Jersey. He looked further and finally came upon a sight that shocked him. There was a battle going on in the center of town, two blocks over to the right.
“You'll never stop my wooden monster creation, Kid Lantern!” The voice was guttural, but young, coming from a teenager who looked something like a youthful Cro Magnon. He wore a gray jumpsuit, which reminded the Boy of Steel of the way Lex Luthor dressed while he was incarcerated at Soames Juvenile Reformatory. He was carrying some kind of jeweled golden scepter, that glowed as he waved it. As the Cro Magnon youth waved the scepter, the monster, a walking wooden Frankenstein Monster, roared and bellowed, trying to grab at this “Kid Lantern”.
Kid Lantern wore a bright red shirt with a yellow and green stylized lantern symbol emblazoned on it, green pants, red boots with yellow stripes, a collared purple and green cape, and a purple domino mask. He floated in the air, his body surrounded by a glowing nimbus of green energy that was generated by a metallic green ring on his left hand. Each time the Wooden Frankenstein tried to grab him, Kid Lantern swerved and bobbed in the air, deftly avoiding the monster's touch. “Give it up, Vandal,” Kid Lantern shouted back. “This ersatz wooden Boris Karloff isn't going to prevent me from taking you in!”
“Maybe one won't, Kid Lantern,” the Cro Magnon replied, smirking, “but what about 12?” Vandal waved the scepter again and instantly, eleven more identical looking monsters materialized in the street, surrounding the floating hero. Superboy watched intently as the dozen Wooden Frankensteins began to pummel Kid Lantern, knocking him to the ground.
“Why doesn't he fight back?” Superboy was confused. That ring he wore surely should enable him to both defend himself and destroy those monsters, they were only made out of wood after all. “Doesn't matter,” Superboy thought, “he's in trouble, and it's about time for the Smallville Sensation and his canine companion to lend a hand. C'mon boy, we've got a job to do.” Superboy and Krypto took off into sky, flying head long towards the battle.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:35:34 GMT
Vandal Savage smirked. He had been waiting a very long time for this moment, his final triumph over the Littletown Legend. Kid Lantern would finally pay for turning him from a handsome teenager into this monstrosity he now appeared as. With Kid Lantern gone, he would take the hero's stupid magic ring and use it on the meteorite to change him back to the way he was. Nothing could stop him now.
Nothing, that is until the strangely dressed boy and dog swooped out of the sky to rescue Kid Lantern.
Savage fumed as he watched the boy in the skintight blue and red costume and cape scoop up his hated enemy and deposit him behind the small police cordon a hundred feet down the road. “No, no,” he said, his words little more than grunts between closed lips and clenched teeth. “I will not be denied!” He waved the scepter once more and motioned for the Wooden Frankenstein's to follow after the new arrivals. Each one lumbered down the street at half the speed of an ordinary human.
Behind the police cordon, Superboy was making certain that Kid Lantern was okay. As he X-rayed the blond youth, detecting no internal injuries or broken bones, he was snapping his fingers in front of the hero, trying to ascertain his state of consciousness. “Are you okay?”
Kid Lantern shook his head, blinking, obviously trying to make certain that what he was seeing was not some kind of weird hallucination induced by a concussion. “I'm fine,” he said, puzzled. “Um, who are you and is that dog wearing a cape?”
Superboy had that faintest of smiles on his face. “I'm called Superboy. This is my dog, Krypto, and yes, he is wearing a cape.”
“Kid Lantern. You saved my life?”
“Yes, we did. Why did those monsters knock you down so easily?”
“They're made of wood.”
“Yes, I'm aware of that.”
“Oh, you must not be from around here. My ring gives me great powers, but it is ineffective against anything made of wood.”
“That makes sense, Kid Lantern. I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that the scepter your Cro Magnon adversary is using to create and control them is magic, yes?” Kid Lantern nodded in response. “THAT could be a problem. Magic and I do not mix well together.”
“Hmm,” Kid Lantern replied as he stood back up. He was somewhat unsteady on his feet, but the ring seemed to glow and pulsate, helping him to regain his footing. “I'd say that this is one of those times when teamwork and strategy would be our best course of action.”
“I've got an idea,” Superboy said, grinning. The Boy of Steel looked down at Krypto, and was silent for a long pause. It looked to Kid Lantern as though he was communicating with his dog. Did this newcomer have some kind of telepathic rapport with the dog? “Krypto will be our secret weapon.” Superboy gave the handheld to one of the police officers present behind the makeshift cordon and asked him to keep it safe. Turning back around to Kid Lantern, he said, “Shall we?” The heroes then took to the sky, Krypto hovering directly in front of the police cordon on watch while Kid Lantern and Superboy flew to a nearby construction site.
“How did you communicate with the dog?”
“Super-ventriloquism.”
“I'd ask you to explain that, but I don't think I want to know.”
“We'll need some improvised weapons, Kid Lantern.” Superboy walked over to the construction site's foreman, quickly and politely explaining the situation. The foreman looked over to Kid Lantern, who nodded back in response, vouching for the Boy of Steel.
“Take what you boys need, but please bring it back when you're finished. We do have work to do, you know?” Both heroes gave the foreman the thumb's up, and set about grabbing what they needed to battle the Wooden Frankensteins. Superboy armed himself with the wrecking ball from a crane, while Kid Lantern used a beam of green energy from his ring to take the plow off an earth mover. The two heroes looked at each other and took off back to the police cordon just as Krypto started barking.
Flying back onto the scene, the young heroes found the Dog of Steel weaving and bobbing in mid-air to avoid being grabbed by the wooden monsters. Superboy placed his index finger and pinky in his mouth and released a high-pitched whistle, alerting Krypto to get out of the way. Krypto then vanished in a blur of super-speed as Superboy and Kid Lantern got to work on the monsters.
Superboy, using a combination of super-strength and super-speed, began swinging the wrecking ball like he was in an Olympic hammer throw event. With his very first swing, he had knocked down and shattered three of Savage's Wooden Frankenstein's, and then three more with his next swing. Kid Lantern, on the other hand was flying low to the ground, the plow in front of his body like a shield. He flew at top speed into the remaining six monsters and knocked them down like a set of bowling pins.
Vandal Savage was watching this scene, fuming. These newcomers were ruining his plans. “You think that you've beaten me heroes? Think again! For every one of my Wooden Frankensteins you knock down or destroy, I will create six more to destroy you!” Vandal Savage was screaming at the top of his lungs as he raised the scepter up to conjure more monsters. The scepter began to glow and pulsate with an unearthly, golden aura. Vandal pointed it in the direction of the two heroes, but before he could create anymore wooden monsters, a strong, fast moving gust of wind swept him off his feet. As he fell backwards, he lost his grip on the scepter. “”NOOOOOO,” he screamed.
Savage lost consciousness for a few seconds as his head bumped into the fender of convertible. When he came to, Krypto was sitting on his chest, the scepter in his mouth like he was showing off a new bone. As Vandal Savage tried to get up, the Dog of Steel began uttering a low, guttural growl, baring his teeth, which were still clenched around the golden scepter. Savage sighed, having resigned himself to his fate. He lost. “Beaten,” he began, anger and frustration in his tone, “by a dog in a cape!”
At this point, Superboy and Kid Lantern were standing over him, their wooden adversaries having vanished in puffs of smoke when Savage lost his hold on the scepter. Superboy leaned down, patted Krypto on the head, and smiled at the prone form of Vandal Savage. “That is the same reaction,” he said to the villain, “that every foe we have ever fought back on my world has had when Krypto does his 'knock the wind out of them' trick. They just can't believe or accept that they were beaten by a dog in a cape.”
Superboy took the scepter from Krypto and handed it to Kid Lantern. “I believe this is yours. A little slimy, but currently out of the hands of the bad guy.”
Kid Lantern smiled, taking the scepter from the Boy of Steel, and tucking it into his belt. He shook Superboy's hand firmly and said, “Thank you. I don't think I could have done this without your help.”
“I'm sure you would have figured out a way out of this.”
“Can someone please get this mangy mutt off my chest and take me off to jail? I'm getting sick of this mutual admiration and thanks,” Vandal Savage yelled from the ground. The two heroes laughed as they helped the villain back to his feet and marched him down to the waiting police officers.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:35:49 GMT
Town Hall Steps
Littletown, Earth-2222 Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 5:17 pm
It had taken Superboy and Kid Lantern a good 20 minutes after turning Vandal Savage over to the Littletown Police to repair the damage caused before and during the battle. Kid Lantern did a good deal of the clean-up himself using flaming green energy constructs from his ring, while Superboy had repaired the earth mover and the crane at the construction site. Superboy noted to himself that they worked well together, and hoped that after all of this was over, that he would come back here to this Earth, which, after he had retrieved his handheld from the police officer he had left it with during the fight, had learned that this Earth had a vibration of “2222”.
These battles that he had been involving himself in had been both a good and bad distraction. On the one one hand it had taken his mind off Jonathan's disappearance, but on the other, it had prevented him from finding his father. He still couldn't figure out why he kept popping up on alternate Earths that were not where his father had landed. He'd already made repairs when he was back on Wonder Boy's Earth, so it should be working perfectly...unless of course, it hadn't actually worked the way it was supposed to in the first place.
Superboy shuddered. He didn't want to think that, and was trying to put it out of his mind as he stood on the steps of the Littletown Town Hall, conversing with Kid Lantern. The two had already compared notes in regards to origins and powers. Superboy had thus far learned that Kid Lantern had found a “magic green lantern” in a cave while on a camping trip, and learned from the lantern that it would grant him great power to help others, but was ineffective against anything made of wood, hence his problem earlier with the Wooden Frankenstein's.
Vandal Savage it turned out, was Kid Lantern's equivalent of Lex. They had met in much the same way that Superboy and Luthor had met, but in this case, Vandal had pushed Kid Lantern out of the way when a rotting tree nearly fell on him. Grateful, Kid Lantern, upon learning that Vandal was a big fan his, helped him to create a place to work and study in the ruins of an old Civil War era fort outside of town. It was here that they had found a strange glowing meteorite. While trying to study it, a wooden plank from the ceiling of the crumbling fort had fallen, knocking Kid Lantern down, and during the fall, his ring accidentally released a burst of it's mystical green energy that struck the radioactive meteor, and caused it to irradiate and mutate Vandal Savage, granting him increased intelligence and a prolonged, if not immortal lifespan, but also transformed his good looks into that of a Cro Magnon. The shock of what happened had unhinged Vandal and he blamed Kid Lantern for his predicament, believing he was jealous of him and had done it on purpose. Vandal Savage had vowed revenge and had used his increased intelligence to steal any mystical artifact of great power he could find to use against the young hero.
It reminded Superboy so much of what had happened with Lex, and even though he knew he wasn't responsible for what had happened, he still felt responsible for his friend's actions...much the way he assumed Kid Lantern felt about Vandal.
Superboy had also related the circumstances of his current predicament regarding his father to the young hero.
“I hope you find your father, Superboy,” Kid Lantern said as the Boy of Steel worked the controls of the handheld. “I don't know how you are staying so calm in all of this. If it were me, I'd probably be a nervous wreck right now.”
Superboy nodded. “I guess it's probably Adrenalin. I know it's going to hit me soon enough.”
“Well, good luck Boy of Steel. I hope we'll get to work together again someday.”
Superboy nodded again. “So do I, Kid Lantern. Maybe someday we will...if we're lucky.” Superboy depressed the activation stud on the handheld and he and Krypto vanished once more into the depths of the Multiverse, leaving Kid Lantern alone on the steps of the Littletown Town Hall. As the young hero stood by himself, a cool breeze blowing through his purple and green cape, he wondered if the two of them would meet again.
* * *
As Superboy and Krypto swiftly moved through the corridor of swirling rainbow light once more, he felt anxious but hopeful. He was sure this time that he would find his father. This hopeful idea was also what had kept him going with each dimension jump. The handheld started flashing. Looking down, he saw that the readout was displaying the vibration of “1071”. Superboy looked down at Krypto and smiled. “Here we go again, boy.” Superboy depressed the deactivation stud and the two heroes vanished from the corridor.
Seconds later, there was a bright yellow flash of light as Superboy and Krypto materialized on the shoulder of a highway leading into a large city. In front of the two of them, there was a giant billboard sign that depicted a teenager with light brown hair waving. The image of the teenager wore a bright yellow shirt with a large blue letter “T” emblazoned on the front, metallic shoulder guards, a brown and silver belt (which contained an advanced flat, circular push-button-activated turbine), and thick ring-like silver-colored metal wristlets. On the sign, in big, bold letters around the image of the strangely dressed teenager, it said, “Welcome to Seaboard City...Home of Tom Turbine! Enjoy Your Stay!”
Superboy stood there in front of the sign for what seemed like hours, just staring at it. His knees finally began to buckle and go limp after a few minutes, and he slumped to the ground, dropping the handheld next to him. Superboy's eyes welled up with tears, his face was flushed.
“Not again,” he muttered, slamming his invulnerable fists into the ground, digging them into the dirt. His hands shook as he pulled them back up and repeated slamming them into the dirt again and again and again. He looked up into the sky, tears steaming down his cheeks. “NOT AGAIN!!!”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Nov 6, 2019 0:36:11 GMT
Kommissar Parker's Office
New Hamburg, Nazi-Earth Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 5:39 pm
“Herr Kommissar,” Overboy began, “do you belief him?”
Kommissar Parker eyed the arrogant, super-powered boy who sat across from him. He sat slumped in his chair, feet clad in crimson boots up on the corner of the desk. Parker did not like this young man, but he knew the kind of power the young man commanded. He took another gulp of his Brandy before answering. “Overboy,” Parker said, “he has no reason to lie to me.”
“But,” the Nazi Boy of Steel replied, “do you belief him?”
Parker took a deep breath as he got up and walked over to his liquor cabinet and refilled his glass of Brandy. “Yes, I do in fact believe him.”
“Vhy do you belief him?”
“For two reasons,” Parker said, sipping from his freshly filled glass of Brandy. “One, we both know that Jonathan Kent is deceased...we were both present when I shot him. Two, and I state this again, he has no reason to lie to me. You and I both know that with the periodic strangeness that goes on in this town my young friend, the idea of a parallel universe where the Reich was defeated and where you are a hero-protector to Smallville, as this little hamlet was once known, is not so far-fetched of an idea.”
“Vere I you, Herr Kommissar, I vould vatch my tone, lest someone start beliefing you are throwing your loyalties in vith those...anarchists that Kent organized before his...untimely...death.”
“You needn't worry about me, Overboy. My loyalties are with the World Reich. I was merely pointing out that we have seen our fair share of the strange here, and while his story does appear to be utterly fantastic, it is not to be disbelieved just because we don't like it's contents.”
Overboy smirked as Parker finished speaking. The Kommissar was indeed correct in his conclusions. Once a policeman, always a policeman, as they say. “Do you belief that an invasion of our world is imminent?”
“Invasion, no. From what I gather from Kent's story, his world has neither the unity of a worldwide government as we do nor the technological savvy to accomplish such a task. That being said, I do believe that we should expect 'company' from his world in the form of your counterpart from that world before long.”
“I agree, Herr Kommissar.” Overboy sprang from his chair and got back onto his feet, stepping over towards the office window. As he opened the window and gt ready to fly out through it, he looked back at Parker and shot him a look of utter disdain. “Reichsfuhrer Wayne has placed the security of New Hamburg in my more than capable hands. Should this 'Superboy' show up, vhich ve both agree vill happen, ve vill need to be prepared. If ve are not, then it can only be assumed that it is your fault, and I guarantee you, if he succeeds and rescues Kent, you vill be joining your Juden wife in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.” Overboy flew out the window and off into the early evening sky.
Parker's hand was shaking as he took another gulp of Brandy from his glass. He hated that brat, but he knew he was correct. He needed to be ready should Superboy show up. Putting his glass down, he left his office and headed down the hallway towards the cell block. He needed to have another word with Jonathan.
* * *
Seaboard City, Earth-1071 Wednesday, April 25th, 1967 5:51 pm
It had taken Superboy a few minutes to regain his composure and calm down. In that time, he had decided to seek out this Tom Turbine and see if he could assist him in finding his father. Something was obviously wrong with the handheld, whether it was just damaged or something more, he did not know. However, he did know that it was probably a good idea to not attract attention to himself or Krypto. To that end, Superboy removed his compressed Clark Kent clothes from the secret pocket in his cape and changed at super-speed. He removed Krypto's cape and used it to wrap up the handheld, tucking it under his arm like it was a parcel from the United States Postal Service. Thus disguised, the two heroes walked into Seaboard City.
As they wandered about the huge city, Clark was struck with how much it reminded him of Metropolis, with its Art Deco style buildings of gleaming stone. Seaboard City stretched on for what seemed like miles, tall skyscrapers and towers reaching into the sky, almost as if they could touch the blue. There seemed to be an abundance of air traffic in the skies above, peppered with dozens of zeppelins. THAT was definitely different. Clark was not used to seeing that many blimps in the sky. This world must certainly have evolved differently. Clark was staring like a tourist, which, in a sense, he was.
Clark shook his head after a few minutes, his daydreaming over, and waved for Krypto to follow him as he continued further into the hustle and bustle of the strange city. To his credit, Krypto did not stray too far from his master, remaining no more than a foot from Clark at all times. And, even if he did lose his master, his super-senses would have enabled him to find the teenager.
As the two disguised heroes rounded a corner, they came into a large open square, similar to New York City's Times Square, but it was strangely empty of both pedestrian foot traffic and cars. Well, there were cars, but they were strewn about, some turned upside down. Clark was trying to figure out what was going on when a police officer grabbed him and pulled him back behind the barricades that he had just ignored.
“Kid, get back behind the line!” The police officer, a gruff looking man in his mid forties with graying hair was barking at Clark. “Didn't you see what was going on?”
“Sorry, officer,” Clark replied very sheepishly. “I was kinda in my own world and didn't notice. What is going on?”
“Tourist,” the officer said rather snidely. “Tom Turbine is battling his archenemy, Diamond Dan again, and we are trying to keep the civilians out of range of flying debris.”
Clark nodded at the police officer and turned his attention towards the battle on the street. Tom Turbine was on the ground, and another being, who looked like a teenager whose body was made entirely out of a crystalline of diamond-like substance wearing a dark blue tank top, skintight dark blue pants, and black leather wristbands, belt, and boots was standing ten feet from the grounded hero, his stance that of menace. “Get up, Turbine,” Diamond Dan shouted, his voice sounding a bit like sandpaper grating against itself. “Get up so I can knock you back down!”
Clark watched as Tom Turbine slowly pulled himself back up into a standing position, and smirked at Diamond Dan. The way he carried himself, he radiated waves of confidence. His eyes narrowed as he stared down his foe. Without looking away, almost as if it was a reflex action, Tom Turbine depressed a small stud on the front of his belt. As soon as he did so, the flat turbine in the front of his belt began spinning and released arcs of electrical energy into the thick ring-like silver-colored metal wristlets he wore, which seemed to charge his body with unearthly power.
Tom Turbine gave Diamond Dan a devilish smile. “In Seaboard City,” he said, his voice booming like thunder, “crime doesn't pay!” Tom Turbine leaped straight forward and crashed into Diamond Dan, knocking the villain to the ground.
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