Superboy joins Batman and Robin in the case against a madman who is trying to rob a city. |
====================================================== The Sleuth's Apprentice - Part 8 of 17 Superboy, Superman, Batman and Robin are Copyrighted and owned by DC Comics. ====================================================== Suddenly, Jackie had called out the name of a friend, whom she had spotted from a distance. 'Jackie! It's so good to see you! How've you been?' this other girl said, as she came up to Jackie and embraced her like an old friend who hasn't seen her for a long period of time. 'It's so good to see you!' Another gentleman came up behind the girl, who was short but slender. 'Hey Jackie, Nikki' I would like you to meet my dad!' Superboy just looked on from a distance, since he was standing just a few feet behind Jackie. He decided to remain quiet, as he witnessed Jackie and her friend's father getting introduced to one another. 'Good evening, Mister Wancho! It was a pleasure to meet you!' Jackie said, as she shook the man's hand. Superboy looked up, with an alarmed look on his face. Did she say 'Mister Wancho'? The man was short and stocky. He had a short beard and a mustache on his face. His head was bald, he had dark brown eyes and he had a serious look on his face. 'I'm very pleased to meet you. I'm happy to see that my daughter has such fine friends. You know, it's hard for her to find good friends, because of my prominent position in the community. But, I am pleased to meet you and I hope you'll be able to remain good friends for a long time.' Mr. Wancho said to Jackie. While Superboy was listening to Jackie's conversation, he didn't notice that Nikki had wandered off. She was only a few yards away, when another male approached her from behind. The man was tall and heavy. He was almost seven feet tall, and he was large and muscular. He had a short beard and a mustache, and he glanced at Nikki with an angry look on his face. 'I've been trying to get a hold of you for the last three days' he growled at Nikki. 'You don't return my phone calls at all! What's gotten into you?' 'Listen to me, Jordan!' Nikki shouted back angrily. 'You don't own me, alright?' 'I haven't seen you for the past three days! You keep on going out with Charles, when I thought you were my girlfriend! What are you doing, stabbing me in the back?' The shouting match had caught Superboy's attention. He turned around and realized that Nikki was probably in trouble. 'It's over between us, okay?' Nikki replied. 'I have another boyfriend and I'm no longer interested in you! I told you this last week, but some people around here just don't listen, do they?' 'Don't double-cross me, Nikki!' he shouted. 'We have a relationship going here'' 'No we don't! Leave me alone!' 'Don't you dare even think about walking out on me!' 'I don't have to think about it! I already did! Get lost!' 'You witch! I ought to knock you out for this!' 'If you touch me, then I'm calling the police!' Nikki retorted, while she took a few steps back. 'I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't forget for as long'' he said in a threatening voice, as he started to run after her. Jamie saw that she was in trouble, and he quickly walked up to the tall man and stood between Nikki and him. 'Leave her alone!' Superboy ordered him. The big man just stared at him and laughed. 'Who's this kid?' Jordan sneered at him. 'He's a friend of mine. Now, get out of here, before I call the police!' Jordan walked up to Jamie and attempted to push him aside, but he gasped when he noticed that the caped boy wouldn't budge an inch! He was standing as firm as a statue! 'Get out of my way, kid, or else you'll get hurt!' 'I'm not the one who will get hurt around here'' Jamie replied calmly. Jordan stood right in front of Superboy. For the moment, he just grinned, when he looked down at the little kid. Jamie was almost two feet shorter than Jordan! Jordan placed both of his huge hands on Jamie's shoulders as he tried to shove him to the floor. However, all he managed to do was push himself backwards while he tried to force Jamie to fall on the ground. 'What the heck?' Jordan thought to himself. But the big man decided not to waste any more time, playing with this little kid, and he made a fist with his right hand. He rapidly stormed straight at Jamie, and he was poised to deliver a huge blow to Jamie's head using his right fist. Jamie saw the fist coming, and he raised his right hand to block the punch. Within seconds, Jordan's large fist slammed into the palm of Jamie's hand, and Jamie was holding him in his place! Using his left hand, Jamie grabbed hold of Jordan's right arm. He wrapped his fingers around Jordan's arm and squeezed just enough to let Jordan know that he wasn't going to let go of him any time soon. 'Auuuwww!!!' Jordan screamed, as Jamie's fingers wrapped around his wrist. 'Let go of me, you little brat!' Both Jackie and mister Wancho, who had been talking the whole time, had stopped and looked on at the situation. They recognized Jordan, and they were amazed when they saw how easily Superboy was able to stand up to Jordan's blow. Jamie continued to hold Jordan's arm in place. Jordan then grounded his teeth, as he mustered every ounce of strength he could come up with, to push Jamie's hand away. But, Jamie continued to muscle his arm lower, forcing Jordan's arm to come down. This, in turn, forced Jordan to come to his knees, since he was a lot shorter than Jamie. Nikki, Jackie and Mister Wancho were amazed, when they noticed how easily the little Superboy had forced the seven-foot-tall, three-hundred pound man to his knees. 'My God! Let go of my arm, you jerk!' Jordan screamed at the boy, who just stared at him with a serious expression on his face. 'Leave us alone, then!' Jamie said calmly. 'Stop bothering Nikki!' Jamie suddenly let go of his arm, and he stepped back. Jordan reached over with his left hand, and grabbed hold of his right wrist, where Jamie had held on to him for the past minute. His skin was all red from the pressure, which the boy had so easily exerted on his arm. Jordan then looked down at the little Superboy with disgust. He felt his pride being stomped on, and he was feeling incredible embarrassed. 'No little kid is going to make me look bad in front of my girlfriend!' Jordan screamed at the top of his longs, as he ran towards Jamie at full speed! Jamie just stood there, patiently waiting for Jordan to come to him. Then, he extended both arms before him. Using the momentum that Jordan had gained by running straight towards him, Jamie had placed one hand on the large man's chest, and the other hand on his leg. Jamie then easily scooped Jordan off his feet and raised his entire body above his head! Jordan was screaming at the top of his lungs, while his body was held up and in mid air by the caped boy. Jordan's body was held in the horizontal position, while Jamie was holding him up. 'My God!' Nikki exclaimed. 'He must weigh at least three-hundred pounds!' 'Wow'' Mister Wancho exclaimed, as he took note that Jamie didn't even break out in a sweat. Jamie looked on at Nikki with a smile, while he was still holding Jordan above his head. 'Should I put him down?' he asked the frightened girl, with a smile on his face. 'Y-Y-yes, Superboy' Please' Please set him down'' she stuttered in disbelief. Superboy then tossed the large man about five feet away from him. He had hurled the large, 300-pound man, about 5 feet in the air, as if he was a large garbage bag. After he had landed on the floor, Jordan quickly stood up, and stared at Superboy. This time, he felt incredibly afraid of the boy. Superboy slowly started to walk towards Jordan, while maintaining a serious look on his face. Jordan had lost his balance for a moment, and he fell backwards on the floor once again. This time, he gasped, as he looked up and stared at the short, muscular boy. His cape was billowing in the wind behind him, making him look like a fearless warrior. At this point, Jordan was scared to death! 'What kind of a kid are you?' he shouted, as he began to tremble in fear as Superboy walked closer to him. 'Who' Who are you?' Superboy remained silent, as he slowly walked up to him. He stopped right before Jordan, who was sitting on the floor with his long legs spread out before him. Then, Superboy extended his right hand, holding his hand right before Jordan's face. At first, Jordan feared that the boy was going to hurt him. But, he let a sigh of relief when he realized, that the caped boy had extended his hand, in order to help the man get back up and on his feet again. Jordan reached out with his right hand and grabbed Superboy's hand. He then pulled himself up, while Superboy remained standing in the same position. Once Jordan was back on his own two feet, he looked down at the boy, with his mouth open wide. He then backed off. 'No kid can be that strong'' he said softly. 'Just leave us alone, and nobody gets hurt'' Superboy stated softly. Jordan knew who was boss, and he decided not to argue with the Boy of Steel. He quietly turned around and started to walk away, occasionally turning around and staring at the strange, muscular boy. Wancho, Jackie and Nikki were standing next to each other, while staring at the caped boy in complete disbelief. Superboy walked up to them, and stood right before Nikki. 'Are you alright?' he asked her softly, while showing some concern. 'Yes, I-I-I'm okay'' she stuttered. 'My goodness, you were amazing! Jordan is so much bigger and heavier than you, but you just lifted him up like he was a piece of paper!' 'Oh, well'' Superboy replied, while he blushed a little. Nikki walked up to him, and she rested her ebony hands on his shoulders. She rubbed the palm of her hands over his cape, before she bent down and she gently placed a kiss on the boy's forehead. 'You're my hero, Superboy' she smiled at him. 'Thank you so much for saving me'' 'Awwww' It was nothing'' he whispered, as he looked down while he had a wide grin on his face. His cheeks were bright red, for he didn't expect her to kiss him. 'What an unusual boy'' Wancho said, as he walked up to him. 'I'd love to have this kid as my little brother!' Jackie chuckled, as she stared at the young super boy. 'I wish I could take you home with me!' 'So' You're Superboy, huh?' Wancho wondered, as he continued to examine the boy from head to toe. 'That was a very impressive show of strength, buddy!' Superboy just smiled in return. 'Oh, it's no big deal' That was very easy for me to do'' 'Well, let's go walk around the fairgrounds some more. It's getting late'' Jackie suggested. Superboy strolled around the fairgrounds with them, until they had to go home. By then, he had decided to fly back to the Batcave, so that he could meet up with Dick and Bruce at Wayne manor. Superboy wasn't aware of the plans that Wancho was making, once he had walked away from him. Wancho had grabbed his walkie-talkie out of his shirt pocket, and he called out to some of his staff members. 'I just saw this kid, who managed to push around a three-hundred pound man, like he weighed nothing at all! It was incredible' Yes, I'm not lying. His name is Superboy'' 'We have plenty of kids who are enrolled in our camp. Many of them are athletes and they're all pretty strong!' the voice on the walkie-talkie replied. 'They can be strong, but none of them are like this boy! He just completely dominated a guy who is over seven feet tall! And this kid was no taller than five feet! He practically forced this guy to get on his knees by pushing his arm to the ground with just one hand! It was incredible!' 'Alright, I'll do some research on him'' 'I want this kid, Brian! I want his power! If I can't have his strength and powers, then I want to at least be able to order this kid to do stuff for me, do you hear me? I want you to find out whatever you can about this kid! I want him in my army, and we might have to send him to the camp in Arizona, if we have to. In any case, I want this kid on my team, no matter what the cost!' 'Okay, boss'' 'I want to know what this kid can do. I want to know who he is, where he's from, and what his weaknesses are! I want him' I want to own this boy, do you hear me?' 'Yes sir! I'll get right on it'' the voice responded reluctantly. Wancho closed the speaker on the walkie-talkie. He then looked up, and he stared at the boy's long, red cape, which he saw in the distance. He had decided that he would not rest, until Superboy was his and his alone' |