He was sick of looking at them - he needed a break, something to take his mind off of it for a while.

He noticed his prep school yearbook sitting up on a shelf. Now that was something to look at for a bit, anyway.

Tony pulled the yearbook down and began to look through it. As he did, his thoughts shot back to a time almost twenty years before . . .

Another heist gone wrong. And this time it wasn't even in a big town, just a medium-sized burg. It was just Jake Simmons, a.k.a. Deathbolt's, luck nowadays. As he was getting older, his ability to martial electricity was waning, as was his general stamina. He had managed to get out of the bank, and out of the town, just barely.

That's when the getaway car ran out of gas.

"Why didn't I plan for this?" he yelled to nobody in particular. He steered the car over to the side of the road as far into the brush as he could manage. He walked away from the car, then remembered that he had left the bag with the cash from the robbery in the car.

"Of all the things to forget!" he shouted.

He then opened up the car door again, grabbed a satchel full of money, and walked into the woods. There appeared to be lights up ahead. Within the next few minutes, he would have to figure out whether to hide in the woods, or in the large building up the road.

His roommate, Tony Stark, was playing his Van Halen tape so loud that Bruce could not think.

"Could you turn that down, Tony? I'm trying to study!"

"What?"

"Turn it down!"

"Huh?"

With remarkable agility, Bruce then took his rubber eraser and threw it at the on-off switch on the stereo, so that it impacted the switch and turned the stereo off.

"What did you do that for?"

"I'm trying to study for my Latin exam tomorrow . . . the same one that you should be studying for."

"I'll get to it later." Tony was lying on his bed, looking at a rather risqué magazine that he had smuggled into the dorm. "It's time for Halen now!!!" Tony got up and switched the stereo back on, at the same volume that it had been before. "Runnin' with the Devilllll!!!! Runnin' with the Devillllll!"

Someone knocked on the door, which Bruce opened, as usual.

It was Tom Fireheart. Tom was another party boy from the Southwest, the child of fabulously wealthy Native American parents.

"Ha-len!! Ha-len!!" Tom shouted.

Tony sat up, opened a small box from under his bed, and threw Tom a Pabst Blue Ribbon. The extremely athletic Tom let it fly toward him, then caught it with almost superhuman speed.

Tony got up and put his hand on Bruce's shoulder. "You won't tell anybody about the beer, will you, Bruce?"

"No, I won't."

"You gotta learn to party, Wayne!" Tom Fireheart remarked. "You know that Mr. Speerman won't be back until at least midnight! He's got a hot date. When I found out what he was up to, he promised me two free pizzas if I didn't tell the Headmaster."

"Crazy like a fox!"

"Like the Trickster Fox, man!"

"There are other things that are more important than partying tonight!" Bruce yelled back.

Bruce picked up his stack of books and left the room, slamming the door behind him. College would not come soon enough in his mind - he could get his own dorm room, and not have to live with party guys like Tony Stark. Although both boys were orphaned, each of their families had tons of money. They were almost like brothers, though, because both sets of their parents and Tony's cousin Morgan had been killed on the same night.

But that didn't mean that Bruce had to flunk his Latin exam.

Or get an A- on it, anyway.

Bruce walked downstairs and headed for one of the study rooms that looked out on the campus courtyard. Nobody would notice him in here, and nobody would be playing loud music . . . although he still heard the thumping bass of Van Halen, even this far away from his dorm room.

He looked up at the buildings up ahead. It had to be an institution or something . . . but there weren't any big fences. Maybe it was a school.

Jake Simmons never did very well in school.

Maybe these prep school kids had somewhere he could hide.

Deathbolt saw a large storage shed, and, upon getting closer to it, saw that it was unlocked. It would be a good place to hide, and to plan what he was going to do next.

He was moving toward one of the storage sheds. It couldn't be the janitor, Mr. Barris. He would have been done with his work long before now, and he would have his trusty flashlight on.

Bruce may have been a good student, but he was a good amateur detective, too. And he saw a mystery developing.

Bruce was so excited that he left his books in the study room and ran back upstairs. He bumped into Tony and Tom standing on the stairs.

"Hey, Bruce," Tony said. "Don't be mad, man."

"Yeah, man. We'll let you hang out with us."

"Right now, there's more important things to do," Bruce responded. "I think I saw something strange outside, and I want to check it out."

"Nobody's allowed outside after curfew!" Tom responded.

"But we're allowed to play loud music and drink?"

Tom did not respond.

"Stand back, Tom. Sherlock Holmes here smells a mystery."

"I am not Sherlock Holmes." Sherlock Holmes was one of Bruce's literary heroes, and he did not appreciate anyone mocking him.

Tony smiled his winning smile. "I'm going to go along with Bruce and see the mystery visitor," Tony exclaimed.

"I don't need your help." Bruce started up the stairs himself, toward his dorm room.

"C'mon, it'll be fun."

Tom headed back up the stairs as well. "You guys go chase down your mystery. I'm going to go back to my own room and party."

There were at least two full cans of gasoline that he could use for his car. Not the best stuff, but his was not the best of cars, anyway.

Deathbolt thought quickly. If he took all of the cans of gas, he would be able to get pretty far into the country, maybe to another gas station where he could refuel enough to get into Canada.

But he could only carry one can of gas at a time.

Deathbolt had to do some quick thinking.

"It's dark, Bruce. Why don't you turn on the flashlight?"

Bruce turned around and shushed Tony. "Because if it is someone, like a criminal, he'll see the beam from the flashlight! Now stay quiet."

They walked on a few steps, and Tony tapped Bruce on the shoulder.

"You're sure he went into the storage shed?"

"Pretty sure . . . "

They walked on a few steps more, and Tony tapped Bruce on the shoulder again.

"Bruce?"

"What is it?!!?" Bruce exclaimed.

"What are we going to do with the mysterious stranger once we find him?"

"I haven't figured it out yet. I will, though."

The two boys moved toward the shed. As they got closer, it became very obvious that someone was in the shed, and that they were moving stuff around in a hurry.

"Well?" Tony said as they stopped a few feet from the shed. "Are we going to go take a look?"

Bruce was thinking. Now that they had their mystery guest in their sights, what would they do with him?

"We'll find out who it is, and what they're doing here," he responded bravely.

Had the cops found him?

He stood stock still and listened. Whoever it was, they were trying to be quiet. Closer attention made it clear that whoever was talking, they were not policemen.

Deathbolt remembered that he was hiding on school grounds. Kids! If they told someone about him, he would be in for it!

Things were more complicated now.

The shed door slowly opened.

"It's me, the janitor!" a voice responded. "I'm trying to fix something, boys. Sorry to wake you."

Tony turned to Bruce.

"That's not Mr. Barris' voice."

It was curiosity that made Bruce walk further on, and that made him open up the shed door.

Before them was Deathbolt, in costume, with his hands flaring with electricity.

"Meddling kids!!! I'll fix you!!"

One bolt of electricity sent Bruce reeling into the grass. He was still conscious as he saw Deathbolt walk out of the shed into the grass. A real-live supervillain! Here at Adirondack Academy!!

Deathbolt threatened Tony with his bolts of electricity. He made Tony drive the wheelbarrow containing the gasoline cans.

Deathbolt knew that Bruce was still somewhat conscious.

"If you ever want to see your friend alive again, kid, you'll never tell anybody that this happened!!!"

Deathbolt and Tony walked off toward the woods as Bruce fell into unconsciousness.

Tom opened his dorm room door one more time to see if Tony and Bruce had come back. Their door was still open, and the light was still on.

Tom crept out into the hallway, made sure the door was still unlocked, and closed it. At least that would stop Mr. Speerman from immediately knowing that Bruce and Tony were out on the school grounds somewhere after curfew.

Tom's curiosity was piqued, though. If they had been gone this long, they must have found something . . . or someone. Tom wanted to see who or what it was.

He went back into his room, put on his sweater, jeans, and sneakers, and headed downstairs so that he could take a look, too.

"It's a long walk, kid! Get a move on!"

"Yes, sir!"

Tony wished that he could turn and subdue the criminal somehow. But he did not want to get shocked like Bruce did. And he wasn't half as good at fighting as Bruce was. He would just have to take advantage of the right moment to escape.

Tom smelled something like the after-smell of lightning. But there wasn't a cloud in the sky! It was a clear October night.

Then he saw the body of Bruce Wayne lying in the grass. Tom sped over to his friend.

"So, you're a big-time supervillain, huh, mister?"

"You got it, kid. Keep pushing the wheelbarrow."

"My family has a lot of money, Mr. Deathbolt. If you let me go, I can get them to give you some."

The thought of the amount of money that the boy's family would give him gave Deathbolt another idea. He would take the boy with him, and use him to get a huge ransom. He would dump the kid after getting the money, and then go away . . . maybe even to Mexico!

Deathbolt was too deep in greedy thoughts to realize that Tony had taken advantage of that moment to quietly set down the wheelbarrow and race back toward the school.

Tony was already close to the gymnasium when he heard Deathbolt calling after him. The supervillain's powers couldn't be that strong, otherwise he would have reached out with a lightning bolt and zapped him from afar.

"Come back here, kid!!"

"What happened, Bruce?"

"It's a supervillain called Deathbolt. He has electrical powers. He captured Tony!"

"No way!" Tom responded.

Bruce had only been conscious for a few minutes, but he already had a plan.

"I need you to go call the police, Tom. I'll try to keep Deathbolt on campus long enough for the police to show up. If you see Mr. Speerman, tell him what's going on."

Bruce raced off in the direction where he remembered Deathbolt and Tony were walking, as Tom raced back toward the dorm to call the police.

He switched on some of the overhead lights.

"Come on out, kid! Don't be scared." Deathbolt stalked across the gym floor. "Come on out. Maybe I'll make you my kid partner or something. How do you like that?"

There was still no response.

"I'll find you, kid! You can't leave here without me seeing you, so I'll just take my time."

But Deathbolt did not notice the door on the other side of the gym opening. He also did not notice the teenaged figure swinging at him on the climbing rope until he was knocked to the ground.

Deathbolt got up to face the young Bruce Wayne.

"I thought you were down for the count, kid!" Deathbolt exclaimed. "You're going to wish you was dead when I get done with you!"

Bruce swept around with a kick and knocked Deathbolt to the ground. Deathbolt got back up to his feet, and prepared to shock the boy past unconsciousness.

"Yer fast, kid, but I've got electrical power on my side . . . "

Just then, Tony pushed a heavy gym mat down out of the bleachers, and it fell on top of Deathbolt. The villain was instantly out cold.

Tony came down from the bleachers and stood next to Bruce. Deathbolt lay in a heap at their feet. They had stopped him!

"Thanks, Tony!" Bruce said.

"Thanks for coming after me, Bruce."

Just then, police lights whirled and sirens sounded in the courtyard outside. Tom Fireheart had managed to call the police!

Mr. Speerman and a few police officers entered the gym.

"Boys! What are you doing in here? What are you doing out after curfew?"

The head police officer walked over to Deathbolt's prone body, then pulled a police sketch from his belt.

"I'll tell you what these boys did, Speerman. They caught a notorious super-criminal. The New York State Police have been after Deathbolt for two days!"

"We did it, Tony! We caught our first criminal!" Bruce and Tony shook hands as the police prepared to cart Deathbolt away.

Tony and Bruce had faced their first threat together. And this time, long before battlesuits and Bat-caves, it had been their talents and their intelligence that had won the day.

Tony did not know that he would soon find out exactly what had happened to Deathbolt, to Jake Simmons.