- "Okay, of all the souls I've known, Guardian's was the most...human."
- "That reeks! It reeks big time and what's worse...it's a Shatner quote!"
- --Superboy's nightmare
Superboy (Volume 4) #87 is an issue of the series Superboy (Volume 4) with a cover date of June, 2001.
Synopsis for "Touched by a Guardian Angel"
Superboy has a nightmare on top of a nightmare about Guardian's death. He blames himself for what happened. Falling out of bed Kon sees Dubbilex in his room. Dub has come back to mourn Guardian and perhaps help avenge him. The two head for the briefing room where Mickey Cannon (who is in no mood for the Kid's usual attitude) shows a tape of the last battle between Guardian and Shrapnel. They all assemble to go to Detroit and bring down Shrapnel for what he's done.
The team arrives at an amusement park where Shrapnel is holed up. Just before they left and right after they got there, Superboy saw a small child in a backpack in their midst. At the amusement part, Kon follows the Kid into the Fun House (which to some degree is a fun house from hell) and ends up having an out of body experience courtesy of Deadman. The ghost explains that part of his job now is to help the restless dead make contact with the living and explains that's why Superboy has been seeing visions of the small child. Before Deadman can explain further, however, he senses that something is happening to Superboy's body. Shrapnel has surfaced and grabbed Superboy's unconscious form. Deadman possesses the Kid's body but doesn't know how to use his tactile telekinesis.
On the ethereal plane, the image of the kid changes first into a monster and then into Guardian. Jim tells Superboy that his spirit can't move on because he hasn't been laid to rest. In the real world, Heat Wave tries to help Superboy out, but he only delays Shrapnel a moment. Dubbilex makes mental contact with Kon and discovers that Deadman has possessed his body. He quickly explains how to use Superboy's power and Deadman blasts Shrapnel into bits. The monster is only delayed again, however, and quickly begins to form a shell around Superboy. Dubbilex rips Superboy's mind from the spirit plane and back into his body. Superboy first blasts Shrapnel apart again but when Dub and Deadman tell him that it won't stop the monster, then Superboy causes all his pieces to collapse in on themselves at a super high velocity, rendering Shrapnel into a paperweight with barely any consciousness.
In Washington, Amanda Waller talks with President Luthor over a new policy involving Agenda equipment and Cadmus. In the shadows, an unknown figure conspires with Waller.
Superboy and the rest of the team head back to Cadmus. Before he breaks contact, Deadman warns Superboy about a certain helicopter leaving the Project. The Kid flies out of his craft and tears into the helicopter, guessing correctly that they were transporting a coffin with the remains of Guardian. Kon takes the coffin and lands in the woods with it. Figuring he has to be sure that the body is in it, Superboy opens the coffin -- and finds a live baby inside playing with Jim's helmet.
Appearing in "Touched by a Guardian Angel"
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