The Sleuth's Apprentice

The Sleuth's Apprentice - Part 15 of 17

======================================================
The Sleuth's Apprentice - Part 15 of 17

Superboy, Superman, Batman and Robin are Copyrighted and owned by DC Comics.

======================================================

Wancho was very busy writing out papers, including the new orders for his army of soldiers, in planning the next robbery. He was so busy, that he didn't even hear the intercom buzzing out loud. The small, white box continued to sound off, until the secretary decided to speak through it.

'Boss? Professor Brian is here to see you. He insists on seeing you now!' the voice announced.

'Tell him I'm busy doing paperwork and that I cannot be disturbed!' Wancho sneered at the intercom.

'Sir' I told him that, but he insists on seeing you, because he's holding Superboy prisoner and he's here with him now'' the secretary relayed back.

Wancho looked up when he heard the name of the boy, whom he'd once met before.

'Alright. Please let him in right away!'

When the sliding door opened, Brian walked in, pushing a stretcher on wheels, which resembled a hospital bed. Jamie was lying on the bed, with his eyes closed, and with his hands bound with rope. There was a chain around his neck, and a small, glowing red rock was attached to it.

'We got him, boss!' the professor cheered. 'And, he's all yours! I managed to extract some liquid from the Zyrtonium rock, which will completely remove his free will. Using a microphone and a loud speaker, I can have him trained to obey your every command and do absolutely everything you tell him to!'

'Good work, Brian! Let's get started right away. What do we need to do, in order to get him to go to Gotham City, so he can do our dirty work for us?'

'I just need to get him to drink the serum, which should last about four hours. After that, we need him back here, so I can give him another dose of the Zyrtonium serum''

'How long can we keep on giving him the serum?' Wancho asked him.

'Well, the Zyrtonium will eventually kill him. He'll die after he's had a few doses''

'Very good!' Wancho said. 'If the time we got him is limited, then we'll need to put him to use right away! We'll need to send him to Gotham City, where he can rob the big banks and jewelry stores, where the pesky Batman and Robin can't do anything to stop him! It'll be great!'

'I have a green jumpsuit for him to wear. Once we have it on him, nobody will recognize him. Then, I'll give him the serum. But, you must stay with him and use the microphone in the van, so that you can tell him what to do. He'll be like a super robot to you!' Brian cheered.

'I'll have control over the most powerful kid in the universe' And he's going to help me rob all of Gotham City, and nobody will stop me! Haahahahah!' Wancho laughed sarcastically.

Brian grabbed a plastic cup, containing a dark, red liquid. He then stood besides Jamie. He released the chain, which was placed around the boy's neck. Removing the Zyrtonium rock, suddenly caused Jamie to wake up, although he was still in a daze from being exposed to the deadly metal for so long.

'Uhh' Where' Where am I?' Jamie wondered softly.

'Here you go, boy'' Brian laughed out loud. 'Drink this. This is your medicine''

Brian then forcefully placed the edge of the cup against Jamie's lips. Jamie opened his mouth only slightly; since he was just too groggy to see what Brian was giving him.

'Drink this, boy'' Brian ordered, as he poured the red liquid down the boy's throat. 'It'll make you feel very, very light-headed in a few minutes''

After a few moments, Jamie's expression became very blank, and his face was pale white. His eyes appeared to be a dark tint of red, and he looked like he was in a daze.

'Let's get him into the jumpsuit. Then, we'll take him to the van, where the amplifier is all set up for him'' Brian told his boss.

'Good, good''Wancho laughed, as Brian helped Jamie put the green jumpsuit. 'In a few minutes from now, we will own Gotham City, and nobody can stop us!'

Once Jamie had the suit on, Wancho stood right in front of the boy.

'Walk out the door and then go to the garage. Wait in the back of the white van for me.' Wancho ordered him.

Jamie slowly got up and turned to the door. He then walked out the room, strolling down the hallway and walking towards the garage.

'Once I can control the boy's strength and power, I can control the city! Yes!' Wancho grinned. 'I don't need to use any of my soldiers. Superboy can do all the work for me all by himself!'

'Yeah' You said it, boss'' Brian smiled.

Moments later, the two men had gotten inside of the white van, which was parked out in the garage behind the main building. Jamie was sitting on a bench, in the back of the van, while the two men drove the van to the city.

About twenty minutes later, the van parked in front of the largest bank in Gotham City. Wancho gets up and opens the back door. He tells Jamie to get up and to walk over to the entrance of the bank.

Wancho grabs the microphone in the van and he starts giving his instructions to Jamie.

'Alright, Brian' It's time to use our new lethal weapon!' Wancho laughed. 'We have control over the greatest power on earth!'

Jamie quietly walked into the bank, just wearing his green jumpsuit. He held an empty bag in his hand. When he started walking towards the vault, the security guard started to stop him from going in.

'Halt! You can't go in there, kid'' the guard said.

Jamie continued to march towards the vault door. The guard noticed that he didn't react to his orders, so he walked up to him and grabbed Jamie by the arm.

'Stop what you're doing, kid!' the guard said.

'Let go of me!' Jamie said. 'Don't touch me!'

Jamie continued to walk to the vault, but this time, the guard tried using greater force.

'DON'T TOUCH ME!' Jamie shouted, as he placed his hands on the security guard's chest, and pushed him away. The guard soared across the lobby, crashing with his back into the glass window!

Another security guard came, and aimed his gun at Jamie!

'Stop right there!' they shouted.

But, Jamie didn't stop, and he continued to walk towards the large vault door.

The guard started shooting at him, but, to his amazement, all the bullets just deflected off the boy's rock-hard skin!

The security guard grabbed his walkie-talkie, and radioed for help.

In the meantime, Jamie got to the vault and blasted a hole through the thick, metal door, using his heat vision. Several men were shooting at him, but they quickly noticed that it was no help at all!

Jamie stuck his hand through the hole in the door, and within moments, he tore the huge door off of its hinges, and tossed it on the floor like it was as light as paper!

He then walked up to all the shelves, where the cash was, and he started stuffing the money in the large, cloth bag, which he carried over the shoulder! Within moments, he had cleaned out the vault, thanks to his super speed!

When he had gathered all the money, he calmly walked through the front door of the bank. Unfortunately, there were about a dozen police cars that were parked outside. They were all waiting for him.

As soon as Jamie had walked out of the bank, several officers started shooting at him with guns and rifles, but to no avail. Everything has bounced off of him! Nobody could stop him!

TV cameras and radio stations where all there, covering the event. And, everyone was wondering who the strange boy was, who couldn't be stopped!

One police officer hid behind his car, resting his rifle on the hood of the car. He began to fire round after round of bullets at Jamie, and Jamie had spotted him. Suddenly, Jamie stopped walking away from the bank, and he focused on the police car. Two thick rays of laser beams came from his eyes, striking the car and penetrating the fuel tank. This set off a huge explosion, which set the police car on fire, injuring the officer who had so valiantly tried to stop the Superboy who had turned evil!

There was complete chaos! Other police cars showed up, and the officers tried to block Jamie's path, but nobody succeeded. One police officer tried to run him over, and Jamie stopped his car with one hand. He then lifted the car up and hurled it several hundred feet away, allowing it to crash on a parking lot full of cars. The crash started a large fire, and several fire engines had to arrive at the scene in order to put out the fire!

In the meantime, Superman and Batman with Robin had heard that there was something weird going on in Gotham City, and that some weird bank robber had robbed the Central bank, located in the heart of the downtown financial district!

When Robin turned on the TV, he immediately recognized the boy, who was causing all the destruction.

'That can't be right'' Robin said. 'It's Jamie! Jamie just robbed the central bank in downtown Gotham City!'

They decided to head on out there right away, to see if they could stop Jamie from robbing any other businesses.

Meanwhile, a large armored car came right at Jamie. The truck was speeding at him, in order to run him over. Jamie had set the bag down, and he stopped the oncoming truck with his bare hands, lifting it up and off the floor like it weighed nothing at all!

He then flipped the truck upside down, before he hurled it away, like it was a toy.

Suddenly, shots were fired at Jamie! When Jamie looked up, he noticed that several snipers had taken up positions inside of an old, abandoned building, which was overlooking the plaza where the bank was located.

As Jamie calmly started to walk towards the building, the shots intensified dramatically, as the snipers were desperately trying to stop the super-robber from coming any closer. Unfortunately, the super kid was as invincible as he was unstoppable.

When he came to the ground floor of the five-story brick building, he walked towards the outer, brick wall of the building. He slowly placed both palms of his hands and pressed against the brick wall. Suddenly, cracks began to surface on the wall, around the area where Jamie was pushing up against the wall with his bare hands. The cracks began to lengthen, as Jamie applied more force. Within seconds, the wall began to cave in and crumble, causing all the top floors to cave in as well. All four of the snipers screamed, as the entire building crumbled below them, and the entire site was reduced to rubble, dust, wood, and metal!

'Oh my God!' one of the officers yelled out. 'He brought down the entire building with just his bare hands!'

The police officers were astonished! They had never witnessed such a display of strength and power before. How were they going to stop the evil super kid?

When Robin arrived at the scene of the bank robbery, he saw Jamie from a distance. He leaped off his motorcycle and ran towards him.

'Jamie! What are you doing?' Robin shouted at him.

When Jamie turned to face him, Robin could tell that he wasn't himself. Jamie had a very blank stare, as if he was hypnotized. He saw that Jamie's face was pale, and his eyes had a strange redness about them.

'Jamie! You can't do this! Stop what you're doing!'

'I listen to Wancho now. Stay away from me. I'm not normal right now!' Jamie replied.

Suddenly, Superman landed right next to Robin. He slowly walked up to Jamie, who was still carrying the big bag, which was filled with the stolen money.

'Jamie! It's me' Your father!' he said to the boy.

'Stay away from me, Superman!' Jamie warned him. 'Don't come near me!'

But Superman came close to him and tried to fly past him, taking the bag away from him. However, Jamie saw him coming, and he set the bag down when Superman was just about to grab the bag out of his hand.

'DON'T COME NEAR ME, SUPERMAN!' Jamie shouted, as he placed his hands on Superman's chest, and forcefully hurled the Man of Steel against the outer wall of a large department store.

'Aaaaarggg!!!' Superman groaned, as he hit the wall with his back.

Superman hit the wall with such force, that he knocked a hole in the wall, which caused a part of the building to cave in!

Superman got up, after laying there for a few seconds while in a daze, and looked around in order to make sure that nobody got hurt by the impact. Then he leaped in the air, and flew back to where Robin was standing.

'Good grief! I have completely forgotten how strong Jamie was'' Superman explained, while still feeling a bit of pain from the impact.

'We're doing it wrong'' Robin pondered. 'We're trying to fight him, and it's not working. I need to get on the bike and race home, to get something in the Batcave'' Robin said, as he jumped on his motorcycle.

'We'll follow Jamie and see where he goes' Superman said to Batman and Robin.

At that very moment, Wesley had arrived at the scene in Gotham City as well.

Jamie continued to walk towards the white van, which was parked several yards away. Wancho got out of the van and greeted Jamie, taking the bag filled with the loot from him. Then he opened the back door to the van, and allowed Jamie to get in and sit down on the bench. He closed and locked the doors, before he got back in the divers' seat, started the engine, and drove off. Superman decided not to intervene, but to just follow him in order to see where they were going.

'We need to stop Wancho'' Superman said to Wesley. 'Somehow, he has control over Jamie. He must have poisoned him with Zyrtonium. How can we get Jamie to snap out of this?'

'Robin said that he was going to get something from the Batcave. In the meantime, let's just follow him and see where he's going next''

'If they decide to commit another crime using Jamie, then I want you to find out how Wancho is doing it and see if you can stop him. I'll try to slow down Jamie and to bring him to his senses, okay?'

'Wait, dad' Wes replied. 'Don't try to stop Jamie right now! You know how strong he is! He might do something to hurt you! Let's wait for Robin to come back!'

'I have to stop him, Wes' Superman said. 'He's my son, and I can't bear to see him do these things!'

'I know that, dad!' Wes replied. 'But you got to remember that Jamie isn't himself right now, either! He's been hypnotized, drugged, or something!'

'Alright, let's follow them from a distance''

Superman and Wesley flew behind the white van, and they followed it from a distance. In the meantime, Robin had arrived at the Batcave, and he had found the three little beanbags from his bedroom.

'This has got to work'' Robin said. 'If this won't do the trick, then God help us''

Robin ran out of the Batcave and leaped back on his motorcycle. He raced down the secret passageway, which led to the hidden opening which was located behind the Wayne Manor. From there, he rode back to the jewelry store at super speed. When he arrived there, he looked at his watch, which indicated where Jamie was going, thanks to the transmitter, which was implanted on Jamie's tooth.

'Oh no, they're heading to the financial section of downtown Gotham City!' Robin exclaimed, as he tracked Jamie's path on his watch's display. 'I'm going to take a shortcut so I can beat them over there!'

Robin raced through several alleys, which led him to the part of town, where he expected Wancho to take Jamie next.

When the white van had pulled up in front of the large jewelry store, Wancho was rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

'It's time to use our secret weapon' he grinned to himself. He then turned around and stared through the glass in the back of his van, which allowed him to see Jamie.

'It's almost a shame that I'll eventually have to kill the boy' he said to himself, looking down at the strange laser-gun that was on the passenger's side of the car. Brian, the scientist, had design the gun, which would shoot rays of Zyrtonium. This was his only weapon against Jamie, just in case something was to go wrong and Jamie would turn against him. But, what could happen?

Wancho grabbed the microphone, and slowly began to give his orders, as he unlocked the door. Jamie would only respond to his voice, if it came through the speakers.

'Alright, Superboy' he laughed. 'Go and get all the jewels for Wancho. When you're done, we'll get the bank, which is right next door. You'll make your comrades at the training camp in the desert, very, very rich''

Jamie walked up to the glass door, in front of the store. A steel bar was bolted against the door, with a padlock on each end. Jamie just reached out and grabbed the thick, steel bar, bending it with his bare hand and with minimal effort.

'Wow' the kid is strong'' Wancho whispered to himself. He couldn't believe that he was in control of so much power, which was bundled up into this little kid.

Jamie snapped the bar in half like it was a toothpick. Next, he forced the door open, setting off the alarm. But, it didn't faze him at all, and he continued to make his way into the showroom of the store.

When he was standing in the middle of the store, he slowly looked around, taking note of all the glass display cases, containing precious jewels and articles of gold and silver.

'Smash the glass and take all the jewels and throw them in the bag' Wancho ordered.

Jamie hesitated for a moment, for he was pondering a way to break all the glass. Suddenly, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth wide, letting out a very loud shout! His high-pitched screech sounded so sharp, that all the glass in the store was shattered instantly!

'Wow!' Wancho said, as he had covered his ears.

Jamie then raced through the store, using his super speed, and he had gathered every single article in the store, and he had tossed them in the bag. Within seconds, Wancho saw Jamie sitting in the back of the van, holding on to a bag full of stolen jewelry.

'Amazing'' Wancho said to himself. There was no limit to what this kid could do, and Wancho knew it. How long could he hold on to Jamie, and make him do everything he told him? He tried not to think about it at that time.

'Alright, my boy' it's time to take care of the bank next door. Empty the vault and bring everything back to me!'

With a serious expression on his face, Jamie marched up to the front entrance of the bank, holding the empty, white bag in his hand. This was going to be easy!

When Jamie stood before the front entrance to the bank, he stared at the front door, before red rays of light flashed from his eyes, striking the door and setting it on fire. Jamie just walked right through the flames and the hole in the door, which was caused from the heat of the flames. The glass shattered everywhere, and when Jamie walked in, he looked around to determine where to go next.

Using his x-ray vision, he scanned the building, looking for the vault, where the cash and the jewels were stored. Once he found them, he walked right towards the large vault door, which was made of solid steel. The door was seven feet tall and five feet wide, and the thick, metal door was about ten inches thick.

Using his heat vision once again, he aimed for the combination lock, which was visible from the front of the door. He blasted the lock with his heat vision, which had caused a spark and set the front of the door on fire. Then, Jamie placed his hands on the door and began to push the door, using his mighty super strength.

The metal began moan through the immense pressure that the super boy was exerting on the door. Steel started to bend, as the thick metal bars began to give way to the boy's phenomenal physical strength.

Within minutes, the steel had bent completely, and the door's hinges had snapped off the left edge of the wall, causing the entire side of the wall to crack! The large, 6,500-pound steel door then came crashing down on the floor, leaving a large cloud of dust. Jamie stood in the door opening, before he took a deep breath, and blew all the dust away!

Next, he took the bag in his hand, and walked over to a large metal case containing small boxes which were filled with jewelry. Using his super speed, he went through the small boxes, one by one, and emptied the contents of each one, placing all the jewels in the large bag. Then, he walked over to the other side of the large room, which was the fireproof vault, where he spotted the drawers which contained neatly stacked and counted bills of cash.

As Jamie began to fill the large, cloth bag with the many bills and coins, police officers had entered the vault door behind him and pointed their guns at him.

'Hold it right there!' one of the officers shouted at him. 'Drop the bag on the floor!'

Jamie slowly turned around to face the police officers, who were all pointing their guns at him, with the guns cocked and loaded, so that they were ready to open fire.

'Hands up, or we'll shoot!' another officer shouted at him.

Jamie just stared at them in silence, showing a very serious look on his face. Then he heard Wancho's instructions, which were spoken through the microphone from the van, which was parked outside. Jamie was still able to hear him, thanks to his super hearing.

'Just keep on going. Don't do anything unless they shoot you. Then, fire back your heat vision at them, in case they do!' Wancho instructed him.

Jamie continued to fill the bag with money, when one of the officers ordered the others to open fire.

'I must gather the money and the jewels for Master Wancho and his servants!' Jamie announced to the on looking officers.

'Shoot him!' he shouted, while he gave the order. 'Bring him down, now!'

The seven police officers all opened fire at once. A shower of bullets came towards Jamie, who didn't move at first. Then Jamie turned around to face them, and he started firing rays of his heat vision at them, one by one!

Jamie blasted the rays at the first officer, striking his hand, which he was using to hold the gun.

'AUUUW!' the officer screamed, as he dropped the gun and grabbed his wrist with his other, free hand. He screamed in pain, and he immediately fell to the floor, as he tried to blow out the flame, which was on his hand. He couldn't believe it, that the boy had set his hand on fire using his heat vision!

The second officer, who was squatted behind a desk, continued shooting at Jamie, firing one bullet after the other.

'Stop shooting at me!' Jamie said to the officer. He then started to walk towards the cop, who was hiding behind the desk, which was located in the corner.

When the officer had used up all of his bullets, he stared at Jamie for a second, before he mustered enough courage to get up and to walk up to him. He realized that Jamie was unarmed, or at least, he appeared to be unarmed. Unfortunately, the police officer didn't realize that Jamie had plenty of weapons in his arsenal.

When the officer was only ten feet away from the boy, he instructed him to stay back.

'Don't come near me!' Jamie said calmly. 'Stay away from me!'

The police officer continued to walk up to Jamie and he was now just six feet away from the boy.

'I said STAY BACK!' Jamie shouted.

Jamie took a deep breath, before he opened his mouth wide, exhaling hard and causing a strong gust of wind to grab the police officer, who was about six feet tall and who weighed over 240 pounds, to fly across the room before he slammed with his back against the steel wall behind him. The impact knocked him unconscious, as his body fell to the floor. He rolled over and he clearly had the wind knocked out of him.

The four other police officers were still in the vault with him. They decided to attack the young bank robber, at the same time.

The four men jumped on Jamie, but the Boy of Steel didn't budge. He remained standing like a rock, and he used his arms to swing the men off of him. He grabbed one of the officers, a man who was almost seven feet tall, and he hurled him across the vault using his strength. Then, he blew the second officer against the steel door, which lay on the floor before him.

The third officer had his arm wrapped around Jamie's neck. Jamie however, wasn't hurt by it, and he slowly turned around, prying the man's off of his back as he grabbed his arm using his own hand. Jamie then swung around and hurled the man straight up, smashing him against the ceiling. The man then came crashing down on to the concrete floor in the room, falling with his face to the ground.

The last officer, who was there, then got up and he stared at Jamie in complete shock. He grabbed the radio and ordered his backup unit to come over using the armored car. There was just no other way of stopping the super robber, and they decided that it was time to use more drastic measures to bring the bank robber down.

Jamie quietly finished filling his bags with all the money and jewelry he could find. It was easy to do, now that the seven officers were taken care of. When he turned around, he spotted the last officer, who had radioed for help. The officer started to run away, when Jamie started to make his way out of the door of the bank.

Suddenly, a large armored car came driving through the front door of the bank. The vehicle smashed through the door, which had already been shattered by Jamie when he walked in. The vehicle came straight towards Jamie, with the intention of running the boy over!

Jamie slowly dropped the bag, which contained the loot, on the floor besides him, as he quietly waited for the steel-plated car to come closer. When the vehicle was about to touch him in the chest, Jamie extended his arms and placed them on the front of the vehicle.

The driver continued to step on the accelerator, forcing the large car to continue to move forward, when Jamie moved his right leg back and forced both hands on the bumper of the truck, blocking it in its way.

The tires began to slip over the concrete floor, as the boy forced the vehicle to remain stationary. The driver continued stepping on the accelerator, allowing the engine to make a loud, whining noise, at the car struggled to move forward while it pushed against the boy's hands.

Jamie then reached down with one hand, grabbing hold of the bottom edge of the bumper, as he grabbed hold of one of the side handles on the hood of the car. He then lifted the armored vehicle off the floor, with the front wheels suspended in air.

As Jamie continued to lift the front part off the ground, he decided to raise the left side higher than the right, so that the vehicle started to tilt to one side.

'Whaaaaa!' the driver yelled, as he realized that the vehicle was slowly being turned over to its side.

Jamie continued to force the left side of the vehicle up higher, as he walked closer to the center front edge of the car. The armored car was only touching the floor on the right, rear tire, since three of the four wheels were in the air.

With one mighty shove, Jamie allowed the armored vehicle to topple on its right side, causing the driver to fall over to one side and hit his head against the side door. The wheels were sticking out to the left side, where the entire bottom chassis of the car was clearly visible. When Jamie let go of the car and quietly turned around to walk away, he left behind the large, armored truck, while it was sitting on one side, near the entrance to the bank!

'Oh, my goodness!' one of the security guards exclaimed, who was still standing outside. 'He threw the armored truck over to one side, like it was some kind of a toy! Who can stop this kid from causing any more destruction?'

It seemed hopeless. What was going to happen next? How much more destruction was Jamie going to cause, before somebody figured out a way to stop him or to get him to snap out of the hypnotic trance that he was in?