Legend's Apprentice

Pain

My head whacked the steering wheel when we crashed. This van was very old school, no air bags or seatbelts or really any safety features beyond the brakes, and those were kind of spongy. I put my hand to my forehead and felt rage boiling up inside. I was really trying to do the right thing and get my friend to the hospital and now some asshole just took out the windshield and crashed the only vehicle I had access to. A clink from the passenger side drew my attention to a pipe rolling around on the floor, so I grabbed that and threw open the door. I could vaguely see a figure ahead so I kind of skipped a couple steps and swung the pipe, developing torque from the twist at my knees and hips and really belted the asshole good.

Or tried to; there was a clang and the feeling of slight give; I'd hit metal. Whatever. "Son of a bitch!" I yelled, giving in to the dark side and swinging with everything I had. This one caught the guy on the hip and there were similar results.

"Whoa, there, Satan, calm down," a familiar voice said, slightly alarmed, catching my wrist. Which was the wrist I'd hurt back in the cave. My knees buckled under the onslaught of pain and the anger drained away, leaving me running on fumes and despair, hanging from some guy's grip.

"You need to get out of my way," I said flatly, summoning everything I've got left. "I have a friend in the back of that van who needs a hospital really quick."

The grip on my wrist released and I crumpled unexpectedly to the asphalt. Damn, that hurt too. "Alex?" the voice said incredulously, and a bright light shined suddenly in my eyes. I averted my eyes as I slumped, defeated, and I started to cry. This was the shittiest new year ever. How did this guy know my name?

As I started to ponder that, there was a smooth movement and Mr Stark's face was revealed. He looked puzzled, but he got on his comm device and started talking. I didn't care anymore. With a major effort, I got to my feet and wobbled to the back, opening the door and crawling in to check on Damian. Mr Stark followed me and shone his bright light inside so I could see. Damian looked pretty much the same except that at least the blood wasn't flowing as energetically. I pressed on a big blood vessel in his throat and was relieved to feel the pulse jump under my fingers. I held my inner wrist over his mouth and felt faint puffs of breath; gingerly I patted his chest in approval. I felt myself pitch forward into blackness.

I woke up to somebody patting my cheeks forcefully. "Dammit! Stop hitting me!" I complained, and the aggressive patting stopped.

"You scared the hell out of me, kid," Mr Stark said. "Backup's coming." And indeed, there was a powerful whirring sound and headlights flooded the back of the van. I started to sit up and was swamped by nausea. I breathed shallowly to avoid throwing up on poor Damian, who had enough to contend with.

"The Joker and some goons are in a cave back there--" I waved in the direction I'd been driving. "It's a natural cavern that has an excavated tunnel at the end. There are cells on the left side and some rooms farther down. I took the van and Harley took the Joker's car, so he might still be there," I rattled off, trying to get the important information out. Mr Stark nodded and stepped back.

"This is looking disturbingly familiar," a gruff deep voice said with a flapping sound. I focused and saw Batman, cape and all. "It'll be tight, but I can fit them both in the Batmobile." After a moment's study, he hit some buttons on the key fob and asked me to scoot forward. He helped me out of the back of the van, scooped me up, and placed me carefully in the little niche behind the drivers seat. "I'm going to lower the seat back," he warned me, and I made myself as comfortable as I could as the other seat went back until it touched the back of the compartment just above my knees. A minute later he was laying Damian on the seat, buckling him in. Damian moaned a little and his dad froze.