The Dork Knight

[Batdude]

Midnight in Westchester, NY


As everybody was preparing to bed down, Marty was up and active. He knew his insomnia was at least in some way related to his condition, and he was naturally active at night. That made normal class work a bit difficult, but Marty wasn't too worried about it, since he always found a way to scrape by in class.

Tonight though was different. He had no intention of sulking in his room, rummaging on the internet or any of that. His recent taste of his potential had been irresistable, and he was starting to believe in his self-imposed mythos. He was a superhero. There was no shirking his destiny, and that was to be a force for positive change in the world. Of course, this story had been written ad infinitum in the modern world, and was in danger of being a cliche in and of itself. Marty was undeterred though, and knew that his ability demanded that he give of himself to the world at large. He hadn't discussed it with any of the other senior mutants, and he wasn't sure if he would. What was certain was that he felt a sense of predestination, and he was going to rise to that calling.

But first, even superheroes had to eat.

Marty padded from his dorm room downstairs to the kitchen, ready to get his leftovers on before leaving the reservation for a few hours.

[Twitch]

Joe was in the middle of a comfort food session. He was feeling a little worn down today. It wasn't encouraged to raid the chocolate chip by the Cullen's staff, but someone kept a carton of the stuff in the freezer and he would be damned if he wasn't going to take advantage of it. He added copious amounts of chocolate syrup while he was standing in front of the refridgerator with the door open. The door swung shut, and he came face to face with Marty, otherwise known as and accurately self-titled Batdude.

"Wassup Bats?" Joe said, and let the door shut behind him with a nudge.

[Batdude]

"Hey Joe."

Marty's ears triangulated the fridge raider, and then swiveled away slightly to dampen the sound of his voice somewhat.

"Just getting ready to go out actually. Getting a little bit of crash breakfast before."

His snout wiggled a bit, and he began to track down the smell of nacho cheese...something.

[Twitch]

"Go out?" Joe asked, quieting his voice.

"It's 11, most everyone should be in bed or studyin'. Whatcha goin' out for?"

[Batdude]

Finding a half-eaten bag of Doritos, Marty fished them from the pantry, mindful to keep the rustling of the wrapper to a minimum.

"It's either this or goof on the internet all night. I can't sleep. It's hard for me to catch any sleep at night. Guess I can chalk that up to another special gift."

Marty set the Doritos aside, and opened the fridge, carefully retrieving a tupperware container with baba ghanouj inside.

"Sweet, I was hoping nobody finished this."

[Twitch]

Joe took a spoonful of the ice cream, and watched Marty rummage through the pantry and then fridge.

"You didn't answer the question." He said, and took another bite, mmming to himself in dairy fat delight.

[Batdude]

Marty paused, and looked at Joe for a second.

"You seem to be pretty cool, and I don't think you're mental, so I'll level. But not here."

Marty glanced about, his ears swiveling as he did so.

"My room's about soundproof."

[Twitch]

"Aight." Joe said. He took a glance at his ice cream and decided it would come with despite the school's "no food in dorms" policy. He followed Marty over to their wing of the boy's dorm. He would put it away later. Right now whatever Bats was up to seemed heavy and needed his attention. They slipped inside Marty's multi-insulated soundproofed room, which was almost a foot smaller in every direction than a normal dorm room at Cullen's.

"So what's goin' down?"

[Batdude]

Marty also violated the food policy, toting the Doritos and Baba Ghanouj with him. They sat in the low-lit room, and Marty turned on enough ambient music in the background to confound anybody sensitive enough to somehow get past his sound dampening material.

"Alright, so we're here, we're getting an education, and we're supposedly safe. That's what we're generally told is best for us, and to some extent, that's true."

Marty inverted himself, perched on his roost, and reached up to access a strongbox he'd bolted to the ceiling alongside his computer.

"But I'm not convinced that's where it ends."

[Twitch]

Joe's eyebrows went up. He set his bowl of icecream down on top of the chest of drawers. He leaned back against the wall, and folded his arms. Cullens was mostly safe, well, safer than most any other place. It was one of the reasons the FBI let him go. That and the Wisconsin branch had some concerns about Joe's developing abilities and the attention they might attract otherwise.

"Where it ends?" He repeated, not fully understanding the Bat's path of logic.

[Batdude]

"Did you ever think that what you can do was not a matter of blind chance or accident? That you are morally obligated to use your talent to benefit others?"

Marty momentarily picked through a keyring before finding one that opened the box. From inside, he pulled out a small electronic device, and tossed it to Joe. It looked somewhat like a radio, but different. When turned on, there was mostly silence, punctuated at times by curt-sounding voices cutting in and out, and talking in a lingo that was not immediately familiar to a layman.

[Twitch]

"Yeah you got a police scanner." Joe listened for a moment, and then put two and two together.

"Oh damn, Bats. Damn." He took a deep breath and turned it back off.

"Please tell me you have at least some kevlar or somethin'." He said, looking up at Marty, more than a little scared for him. Sure, they were in podunk upstate New York, but a good .30-06 would make short work of hollow bones and leathery wings right quick.

[Batdude]

"I've googled some on the internet, but I haven't gotten around to ordering it yet."

Marty dipped a dorito in the baba ghanouj, pausing a moment before continuing.

"I haven't really gotten as far as fighting any bad guys directly, but I've at least been able to make sure the cops find them."

He pointed to a trunk that sat adjacent to the second hand couch.

"I've got GPS, glow sticks, a nitrous paintball marker with glow paint, and a half dozen pre-paid cell phones."

[Twitch]

Joe closed his eyes for a moment.

"Aight, you leveled with me, I'm gonna level with you." Joe said, and rolled his sleeve up on his right arm. A deep scar marred his skin.

"AK." He said, as if those two letters explained it.

"See, my dad was undercover in the APD. I got this, he wasn't so lucky."
Joe reached into his back pocket, and pulled a card out of his wallet.

It was an ID issued by the FBI.

"This is serious, so it must must must be on the Dee Ell." Joe explained, deadly serious. Marty nodded, and Joe handed him the ID.

[Batdude]

This was getting heavy. Marty nodded gravely at what Joe had said. The kid was pretty damn street smart.

"I love Jersey about as much as any other Jersey boy, and I know too many times I saw some awful thing go sideways and had to sit on it. I hated it then, and I hate it now. I used to be a buck forty-five nobody Jewish kid living in a Puerto Rican borough. I've seen dudes get jacked and cut up over some stupid jacket, or shoes, or an iPod, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do."

Marty dropped down to the floor, strangely silent as he landed. He picked up the scanner and clipped it to the sturdy belt he was wearing.

"Now, I can. I'm not Batman or Superman and I've got no illusions about what I can and can't do. It's risky, but a lot of people less talented than me are already risking more."

[Twitch]

For as insane as what Marty was suggesting, he seemed pretty pragmatic about the whole thing. He considered telling Bats about the Glock, but the only person who knew about it was Vipul, and the less who knew about the firearm the better.

"Anything goes wrong, and you call me. I've been in a gunfight before. I'm suburban but I've seen my share of lead." Joe said.

[Batdude]

Joe certainly seemed trustworthy enough. Marty wouldn't dare let somebody else at the institute know, especially the faculty. Yes, he was an X-Man, and yes, that was something that even Joe didn't know. That said, he doubted they'd think highly of his side-show quest.

He flipped his main phone open.

"You got it."

He could tell that Joe was a bit uneasy about the thing, and he respected that. Truth is, it felt good to tell at least somebody, just to be sure that you weren't alone in the world or weren't going crazy. He hoped that he never had to ask for his help. If Joe was going to get involved, that would be his own choice.

[Twitch]

"Be careful Bats. I don't wanna scrape you up off some pine tree or somethin'." Joe said.

"Peace bro." He added, picking up his ice cream. He was really going to need it tonight.

[Batdude]

"Alright brosef, take it easy."

Marty extended a hand, and gave his confidant a firm handshake. He was determined, but hoped that Joe's concern would be unneeded.

In the meantime, he still had to get ready.

As the door closed behind him, he continued to array his gear. He donned a black shirt and jeans, and clipped his GPS opposite the scanner. The glow sticks went into a drop pouch on his jeans, and the paintball marker was slung onto a three-point sling that he'd bought on the internet, which allowed him to wear it tight on his body in a manner that didn't interfere with his wings.

He checked the charge on two cell phones, and slipped them into his front pockets, as he killed the lights and eased his window open. Checking the scene briefly with an active ping of echolocation, he leapt from the window, his massive wings spreading suddenly and beating the air in heavy chops until he gained lift.

[Batdude]

Leaving Cullens far behind, Marty gained altitude and took up a vantage point over the area outside the New York metropolitan area. Even though it was cloudy, his echolocation allowed him a crystal clear view of his surroundings. As he glided along effortlessly, he waited for the police band to pick up something. He'd cribbed a quick list of police codes on a laminated card at his wrist, which would do until he could memorize them.

"Unit 71 this is Central Dispatch. Calling in a 100 southbound on McGreevey. Suspect is in early nineties Caprice, blue, incomplete Jersey plates."

Marty knew that one without looking.

"Hit and run."

He veered sharply in the direction of McGreevey Avenue. The color description did him no good, but he'd gotten really good at being able to discern vehicles by their sound. He pulled up, actively pinging. The rattly purr of at least sixteen older GM's could be heard down the next mile and a half. Of those, eight were too large, and four more had engines too big to be a Caprice.

He flapped heavily, picking up speed as he shadowed the traffic.

[Stern]

Stern was walking down McGreevey Avenue in the middle of the night, wondering what he was doing there in the first place. Not exactly a comforting street at night, he was trying to reach a friend to drive him home.

"Told him not to drive his car to go drinking by himself. Great idiot he is."

Granted, he had only been walking a block (the bus form the university ran mercifully late), but still, his achluophobia was kicking in despite his glow.

Suddenly a blue car screamed past him followed by a police siren. "Good God! Wait, is that Steve's car?"

Stern of course only saw the color. It was in fact not Steve's car, but Stern ran after it anyway. "Steve, if you're driving drunk, I'll kill you. I don't care if I get branded as a crazed mutant."

[Batdude]

Marty picked up speed, actively pinging the suspect cars as he cruised above. Two were obviously different designs than the Caprice. The other two were close, but Marty was eventually able to sort them out. Finally, he was on the tail of the Caprice, and closed the distance, just as the car took a sudden U-turn and exited across traffic.

"They're gonna miss him."

Marty mumbled to himself as he banked sharply. He tried to stay close, but not too close. There were enough street lights that would partially illuminate a flying man-bat to any passers-by, so he had to be careful with that.

[Stern]

Stern quickly found he couldn't keep up on foot. Stern really didn't want to use the alleyways, as they were darker than the street itself, but he really needed to catch up to that car.

"The things I do for friend's friends."

Stern figured the best way to cut off the car would be to go through the alleyway. Lucky for him, it was a clear one. Stern sprinted through the alleyway and emerged at the next street in time to see the car fly by him again.

"What is he thining?"

[Batdude]

Marty flapped hard and picked up altitude to get a good vantage. He perched at the top of a building, and removed one of his pre-paid cell phones, pressing 9-1-1 with a clawed finger. With the phone on speaker, he caught air again, speeding up to catch his target.

"I want to report on the hit and run on McGreevey. I'm following the car involved, and it's going westbound on Sigmand."

"Sir, thank you for your input. Please pull over and stay out of danger, the police are on their way."

Marty shook his head.

"I'm staying on this guy. He could get away. I'll keep the line open if anything happens."

[Stern]

Stern decided that it was time for Steve to stop. The blue car sped past him yet again, turning a corner and continuing down the new street.

"Great."

The college student started running through alleyways again, using his track and field athletics to hop garbage cans and fences. Who would have known hurdles and the high jump would come in so handy? Not to mention the hundred meter dash and the cross country training.

Stern put on a full sprint and tried to second guess Steve. Would he switch back down the perpendicular street?

Alas, Stern was not so lucky. At this rate he would lose the car. He needed to do something fast.

Stern placed the fingertips of his right hand into a point and opened his left hand wide. Two beams of light shot from his hands. The right one was focused, and aimed at the blue car's tires. The left one was wider, but stern pointed it at the general area of the driver's rearview mirror. Then he upped the wattage.

"Steve, pull over," he whispered.

[Batdude]

"Oh no."

The rotor blades were easy to hear from miles off, but it was clear they were vectoring onto his location, and likely going after the blue Caprice. Marty accelerated, knowing that he'd have to get in and get out soon to avoid having to answer some embarassing questions from the cops.

"What's wrong sir?"

Oh yeah, the dispatcher.

"N- nothing." Marty replied, a needing a little extra breath to maintain his airspeed.

"Can you let the police know that the car they're after is going to be marked with yellow paint?"

"Yellow paint? Who is this?"

"Just let them know, okay!"

Marty passed the Caprice, looking for a good perch where he might be able to mark the car.

[Stern]

Stern found it harder than he first reckoned to keep the beams of light bright while he ran after the car. It took way more concentration than he first figured. But something seemd to be going on. The car was swerving a bit here and there, trying to get the light out of the mirror. The rear tired didn't look to be suffering too much.

Stern was quickly running out of breath. The running and the two beams were a bit much for him to maintain.

Now or never.

Stern stopped where he was and placed his hands together, focusing his whole self into one concentrated pinpoint of intense light. For a few intense moments nothing happened to the tire. Then it seemd to sag. Stern grinned apparently the tire was losing integrity.

He held off for a moment and tried to catch up as best he could to get another solid lock on the car.

"I'm sure if I were closer, it would work better."

[Batdude]

"Overpass!"

This was risky. To get close enough for a good marker shot, he'd have to get uncomfortably close to lights that might give him away. He glided to the spot, then suddenly pitched down and crouched against the overpass's concrete rim.

Quick to fold his wings out and not cause a scene, Marty shouldered the paintball marker, and lined up the appraoching Celica.

And then, all Hell broke loose, as one driver on the road below likely saw a dark-clad figure hoisting what looked to be a gun at traffic. He hit the brakes, sending his car into an uncontrolled skid which crashed into the next lane, starting a multiple-car pileup.

"Oh crap...oh crap...oh crap..." Marty muttered near hyperventilation.

"Are you okay? That sounded like a car crash!"

Marty very quickly turned the phone off, and buried his face in his hands.

[Stern]

Stern reached the overpass in time to watch the blue car clear it. The rear tire caved of its own accord, wrecking the thing into a parked car. The police stopped by it and climbed out, guns drawn. No one noticed the faintly glowing mutant that had been the source of light for the crash.

Oh crap..oh crap...of crap...

Where was that coming from? Someone hurt or scared? Stern needed to check on Steve, but also didn't want to get into the middle of police work. So he decided to look into the frightened person.

His ambient glow illuminated a clawed foot poking out from under the concrete barrier keeping cars from plummeting into the other road. It caused him more curiosity than surprise, but still, he was careful about approaching it.

"Everything ok?"

Stern was well aware of how light could frighten animals and people who tried to hide in the dark. Stern had his hunches about the kind of being he would find in the shadows, but he decided to see what the light would reveal. Man, he hated the dark.

"Are you sure everything is fine?"

[Batdude]

"Holy - !"

Marty lurched from the sudden glowing intruder. Half out of shock, and half out of an innate desire to get the heck out of dodge after this little debacle.
He stumbled and fell off the overpass, fortunately quick enough to spread his wings that he caught some air, and glided incredibly uncomfortably over the heads of both the hit & run guy as well as the police who were swarming him.

"That thing's got a gun!"

The big wings flapped slow, and Marty's muscles screamed to give him some lift.

[Stern]

Stern rolled out his shoulders and massaged a small kink in his neck. "Well, that was no good."

At least Stern knew what he was dealing with. A mutant that had one of the more radical mutations. Stern needed to do something to keep the officers from switching targets.

"Hey! That man in the blue car nearly ran me over!"

Stern ran up into the light of the nearby streetlamp. "Officers! He's going to get away!"

Stern pointed to the man climbing out of the car. It was not Steve, nor was the car Steve's. Perfect.

The officers took their guns out of the air and returned them to the wild driver.

"What were you two looking at? Shadows in the dark?"

The officers looked at each other quizzically for a moment or two, then said, "Stand back, sir. We'll handle this. We're sorry this man put you in danger. We have the situation well in hand."

Stern thanked the officers and walked off down the street as non-chalantly as he could towards the surprised and apparently scared mutant. There had to be a way to get to a nearby roof.

Most of the rooves were above the lamplights. Granted, some of them had their own lighting fixtures, but a person could stand in the center of any given roof and remain hidden. The person probably went there.

[Batdude]

Marty had scarcely managed to flee the glowing guy and the police before he found himself in a new tight spot.

He had forgot about the helicopter, which was now angrily chopping the air around the scene. Night turned to instant daylight, and Marty realized that they had trained their lights on him.

"Oh man this really sucks."

They were still at a distance, but gaining. Even with his bad eyes, the light from the spotter was incredibly painful. Fortunately, he didn't need to keep his eyes open to work, so he closed them.

Where to go...where to go.

[Stern]

Stern looked up and noticed the bat mutant in the spotlights of a police helicopter. "What to do...What to do?"

Stern held his hands out like he was shouldering a rifle. His hair turned a bright red as he strained out the the other colors in the visible spectrum and trained a finger on the cockpit of the aircraft.

"Man, I hope this works."

A tight beam of red light lanced out of his finger and danced across the canopy. It bounced around between the pilot and co-pilot, then moved towards the vital parts of the aircraft--the rotors and the fuselage.

The chopper turned in an evasive maneuver, bringing its spotlight around to its new facing.

Feeling good about his achievement, Stern relaxed his focus so his light grew white again. Then he ran back to the service ladder and climbed down to the street, where he shone huge searchlights in the sky in an opposite direction of the strange mutant. Maybe the chopper would fly off in that direction to investigate.

[Batdude]

Marty felt buffeted in mid-air as the rotor wash changed direction. The helicopter was getting spooked by something, and the demi-bat hadn't a clue what that was about. A second spotlight came up out of nowhere, playing across the cityscape, and Marty used the distraction to find a quick perch, on the maintenance ladder of a billboard, tucked out of sight from oncoming traffic.

Breathing heavily, Marty folded up his wings, and gave a few quick hypersonic chirps to look for danger. He was so worked up, all he could think about was having a smoke to keep his nerves from overwhelming him.

[Stern]

Satisfied that the chopper was off the mutant's back, Stern took a moment to apprise his surroundings. His conclusion was fast and decisive. He was hopelessly and irrevocably lost.

He climbed back up to the roof of the building he had just come from and peered out over the cityscape. The clocktower and some of the other buildings close by ESU were very prominent against the night sky--especially the clockface, which lit up at night.

Stern climbed back down and made his way towards the clocktower. It was several blocks away, but most likely no more than a mile or two away. Stern was just glad he didn't have a lot to do tomorrow. He needed the sleep soon.

By now the police had taken away the wild driver. After what happened to him, he was feeling pretty unsympathetic towards Steve. He'd just find his own way home.

About that time, Stern's cell phone beeped at him. It was Steve. Apparently he had hooked up with some random woman at the bar and was going home with her.

"Whatever. We'll see if you still appreciate that decision come morning."

The streets were quiet. Usually empty streets were a comfort to Stern at night, but his achluophobia was kicking in. He walked quickly and with purpose, not bothering to glance around him or give any passersby the idea that he was bothered.

Stern's glow brightened to give him a somewhat broader radius of visibilty.

[Batdude]

There he was again, that glowing guy!

Even with his terrible eyesight, Marty could tell a light source that big. Plus, he could still "see" through sound, and the glowy thing walking about on the street was definitely person-shaped. Another mutant?

Marty decided that he'd let the human spotliight stroll by, and he'd catch air after he cleared out. That guy nearly got him arrested and/or killed.

"Agh"

Marty winced, making a pained sound a bit too audibly as he shifted his weight. His left foot really hurt. He squeezed his toes together and pain aside, it felt like he'd stepped in something warm and sticky.

Only he knew that he didn't. It was pretty obvious what had happened.

[Stern]

Agh

Stern looked up at the billboard where the sound came from. There was apparently nothing there. Stern stopped a moment and shone some light around the edge of the billboard.

"Something going on? Anyone up there?"

The words came out quicker than Stern was comfortable. It was dark, the streets were empty, and like a fool he was offering to help someone that might be lying in wait to mug him.

Anti-mutant people can be anywhere, and even if no one can sneak up on you, the thought of someone stabbing your back without anyone around to witness it was not pleasing. Stil, Stern figured by now he'd just have to take his chances.

"Hello?"

[Batdude]

Damn

Marty couldn't break for it with lightbulb keeping his eyes on the billboard, and the guy had already proven to be incurably curious. Marty could risk climbing between the two sides of the board to hide even better, but he didn't want to think about having to use his legs and his foot was starting to throb so hard he could hear it.

This was stupid, he at last thought. Maybe plain candid talk would work.

"Go away."

[Stern]

Stern raised an eyebrow. "You're the flying mutant right? Looks like a bat? Good to know you got away from that chopper. I didn't know if my plan would work. You ok?"

Stern's first impulse was to try to get to the roof, but he decided to stay where he was. No need to get the stranger riled up.

[Batdude]

"I wouldn't have had to get away from that chopper if you didn't freak me out into the open."

Marty winced as he shifted his weight again, trying to keep the throbbing down.

"You gonna narc on me? I realize I'm asking a talking mag-lite, but right now I'm just asking for a little subtlety."

[Stern]

"I didn't even know you were there, to be honest. You already sounded freaked out by the time I got there."

Stern shrugged and checked the seal on his goggles. "You can stay up there and hide if you want. I wasn't planning on getting you in trouble. Just wanted to help you get to safety. Can't imagine too many people out there would be able to keep cool if they saw you."

Stern looked about. "Anyway, I need to get back to my place. I'm tired of wild goose chases. Good luck keeping hidden."

[Batdude]

"I think I got shot."

Marty blurted it out, sure that it was a really dumb thing to say. This guy could really be trouble, but he seemed so...boyscoutish? Is that even a word?

"I don't know, I've never been shot before."

[Stern]

Stern nodded. "Well, would you like me to look at it for you?"

Apparently the guy was just scared and hurt. Made sense. He crossed himself and took a deep breath. "I'm going to climb to the roof, ok?"

[Batdude]

"Ok sure, just keep that light off, whatever you do."

Marty found a spot to lie back on, and that seemed to help the throb. Now it was just hurting. He needed to take the edge off, and fished out a joint and his lighter from a pocket.

Was this guy a doctor? Look at it? Like a moonlighting Doogie Howser mutant doc? Marty absent-mindedly wondered about how far Beth Israel hospital was from here, and if he could make it if he felt like flying, which he didn't particularly at the moment.

[Stern]

Stern found the service ladder and climbed to the roof. What was that smell?

A small red glow gave him his answer. The guy was smoking. And apparently it wasn't your average smoke.

"Well, let's see."

Stern did his best to keep his ambient light low. However, he did shine some light at the guy's foot. "Indeed. You have been shot. You should probably get some serious medical attention from somewhere. But what with your, uh, habit, and your mutation, I'm not sure they'd be particularly sympathetic towards you. Cullen's is across town. They might be easier on you than Beth Israel."

Stern removed his shirt and pressed it around the guy's foot to stop the bleeding. "I can't remove the bullet, so whatever you do, you're going to have to do it fast."

[Batdude]

"Ahh...hell that hurts!"

Marty recoiled from Stern's touch a bit.

"Just...just tie it on or something."

He tried to think about the mileage back to Cullens, and if he could swing it. Maybe he could. Lightbulb was right, he probably shouldn't even consider Beth Israel. If being an extreme mutant wasn't a problem, being a gunshot wound victim with drugs would be.

"I'm gonna try and fly to Cullen's."

[Stern]

Stern tied the shirt around Marty's foot. "Ok. You have a cell phone or anything with you? I can give you my cell number and you can keep me posted."

Stern fumbled for his own cell phone. "My car is back at campus. I'll get back there as fast as I can and trail you back to Cullen's. That way if you have to go down to land, or just feeling dizzy from blood loss, we can stuff you in there as best we can and try to just drive you back."

[Batdude]

"Yeah...hang on."

Marty's hands shook slightly as he retrieved his cell phone and flipped it open. He paused, balling them into fists to stop the shaking, and then got ready to input Stern's number, carefully punching in the digits he gave him.

He took another toke, and closed his eyes, eventually exhaling. When his eyes opened, he noticed Stern's number adjacent to another number he forgot he had.

Joe's.

"Wait, that's it. I know a guy at Cullens who has a ride."

He really didn't want to go that way, and endure the street-wise kid's I told you so's. But then again, few people would understand other than him.

[Stern]

"Will he be coming to get you, then? That would be more helpful than you trying to fly bleeding like you are. Give him a call and see what he can do for you. I'll wait with you until he shows."

Stern looked around the sky. The helicopter and the police seemed to have given up pursuit. The driver was caught, so there was nothing more for them to do but patrol around.

Stern pressed himself against the billboard. With any luck his ambient light would mingle with the light illuminating the other side and reduce suspicion.

[Batdude]

For a moment, Marty stared at his phone and said nothing. He coughed a little, licked his lower lip, and hit the dial button.

[Twitch]

The phone rang. Joe had started to sleep. Almost involuntarily, he groaned and blindly fumbled for the phone.

"Mmmmph... yeah, hello?" he said, his voice a little lumpy.

[Stern]

Stern leaned against the back side of the billboard. He was feeling tired and a bit bored. He needed to make sure the bat person was going to get to Cullen's ok.

So he idly began fiddling with his mutant powers. He never really toyed with them, but the sudden entrance of another mutant caused him to want to know more about his abilities. Stern slowly started to cycle throught he color spectrum. Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Indigo. Violet. He felt like one of those fiber-optic Christmas trees the people at Tech Support plugged into their USB ports last fall.

Stern wanted to know what was going on, but decided to let the stranger rest and get through his phone call uninterrupted.

[Batdude]

"Joe, it's Marty."

Marty spoke in a cool tone, deliberately trying to remain as chill as he could.

"I know it's late, but I need your car."

[Twitch]

Joe paused for a moment and considered what this meant.

"Okay." he said. Marty was in enough nonsense if he needed a ride. The last thing he needed was a lecture.

"Aight, where you at?" He asked. Joe had already slipped on his shoes, pants and a shirt. He grabbed the keys for the TA.

[Batdude]

"I'm..."

He glanced out for a quick chirp at any "visual" landmarks.

"...Kauffman and 12th, about halfway up the block. Watch for a billboard."

So far, Joe seemed pretty down to earth about it, which was good. The kid was definitely a team player.

[Stern]

Stern stopped his color looping and glanced over at his charge. "If he needs any extra help, I can make a beacon for him. What's his favorite color?"

[Batdude]

Marty paused, taking a cue from lightbulb, and nodded.

"Look for the red light." He at last spoke into the phone.

[Twitch]

"Aight. You should be able to hear me commin'. It's an 01 Pontiac Trans Am with an exhaust." He said quietly as he jogged through the hall. It was about 12:30 AM and fortunately, empty.

"I'll keep an ear out." Marty said, after a short pause.

Joe's only concern was that there might be some sort of security lockdown for the roomy garage, but he was able to open his stall with no trouble. He breathed a sigh of relief when the car's pointy nose cleared the doorway. Mindful of the car's electronic cutout's opening after 2700 RPM, he eased the car out of the lengthly driveway.

Joe had a pretty good idea of where Marty was, about 10 miles west. He kept it cool and did 5 over. No sense in getting the local Sherrif's department excited. The car loped through town, and when he got to the intersection of 8th and Kauffman, a billboard advertising a car dealership lit up with red light.

The car loped it's way into the alley beneath the billboard, but he couldn't really see much from his viewpoint.

"Yo, Marty." He called through the driver's side window, mindfull of yelling near the sonically sensitive mutant.

[Stern]

Stern lay on his belly flashing a red light just underneatht he billboard. A great looking car pulled up and a few seconds later he heard, "Yo, Marty."

The college student rolled onto his side so the red light continued. "Marty? I think your ride is here. You need help getting down?"

[Batdude]

"Nah man, I got it."

Marty nodded as he sat up. Fortunately the weed seemed to mellow him a little. His foot wasn't throbbing as much. Of course when he stood up, it throbbed slightly, but he could keep his weight off of it. He leapt down, spreading out his wings slightly to catch enough resistance to float to the ground, where he landed on his good foot as well as he could. Still, he had to shift weight a little, and when he did, he let out a sharp yelp.

"Gah!"

Tucking his wings up, Marty collected himself, and hobbled with as much dignity as he could muster over to the waiting car.

[Twitch]

"Aw hell, Marty." Joe said as the mutant hobbled over to his car. Obviously Bats had been shot in the foot. Joe got out and popped the hatch. He pulled out a beach towel and a first aide kit.

"Times like this is why you keep a towel in the back. I want no blood on the carpet." He said as he set the towel over the passenger seat and footwell. Marty looked pained. His bat-face was scrunched together. Joe walked up and pulled Marty's wing/arm over Joe's back to alieviate the weight off of Bat's foot.

"Aight." He said, and closed the passenger door.

"It still stuck in there or did it fly through?" Joe asked as he returned to the driver's seat. He paused, and audibly sniffed.

"Damn that is some dank stuff. You got any on you?"

[Batdude]

Marty felt really reluctant about setting foot in Joe's ride, so it relieved him to see the towel. His question initially went unanswered as Marty sat, a little spaced, and then suddenly remembered what he asked.

"What? Um, I don't know. I didn't really look."

Not that he was particularly squeamish, but the sight of his own flesh and blood mangled like that wasn't something he wanted to really look at. He already knew it hurt like hell.

At the request from Joe, Marty chirped again to scope out the area before passing the still-lit spliff to his much-appreciated chauffeur.

"I'm good right now. Just thirsty. A little thirsty."

Lightbulb had congregated by the vehicle, and Marty looked back to the good Samaritan.

"Yo hey Lightbulb thanks for stuff and you know."

He started to wonder about the kid, and if he realized that he'd basically just stuck his neck out for him and risked getting in deep trouble with the cops.

"Dude, you need to get out of here ASAP. You got anywhere to lay low?"

[Stern]

Stern shrugged. "School is nearby. Just a couple of blocks away. If I stick close to lamplight, no one will notice my ambient glow. Besides, if I keep my head low, I can always say I never saw anything and missed the last bus to campus. The police might even give me a ride back."

He reached inside the car and patted Marty on the shoulder. "Get better soon, man. Maybe next time you go out it will be better for you. My name is Stern, by the way. If you're in the area, look for me. It would be good to know what's become of you."

Stern took his arm out of the car and stood up. "Good luck, guys."

[Twitch]

"You take care of yourself. Thanks for helpin' my boy." Joe said, and casually dropped the weed out of the driver's side window. He shifted it into reverse and idled the car out of the alley. He made sure to run the spliff over with the driver's side tire.

He pulled the window controls up. He wanted to take advantage of the tints as best he could, especially with Marty in the passenger's seat. He liked Marty, but the fact was he could provoke an altercation, which, after all of tonight's drama, was the last thing he wanted.

"We ride clean in this car. I can't afford risks with anything Federal. If ya got anything else ya gotta ditch it." Joe explained and merged back onto the main drag. There was a nice gap of nothing between Cullens and the town, so he'd make Marty throw out whatever else he might have there.

"How's the bleedin?" He asked. Joe realized just then he had no idea how much blood Marty had lost.

[Batdude]

Marty didn't say anything to Joe's admonishments. He closed his eyes and silently let his head bounce on the headrest. If he were a little less shot, he'd be pretty pissed about it all.

When asked about the blood, Marty looked at him, and shook his head.

"I dunno man, more than a little? Less than a lot? I didn't even realize I was shot until later."

He looked down at his foot, wrapped in a t-shirt that was showing red patches seeping through.

"Still bleeding. Throbs a lot."

He adjusted the temperature controls, switching the heat on a little.

"Man it's cold tonight."

[Twitch]

Bats was lookin' too glassy-eyed for Joe's taste. There wasn't anyone else on the road, so he flicked his hi-beams on and mashed the gas pedal. The speed limit was 50, but Joe doubled that. He couldn't risk more with the winding, hilly road. They were originally eight minutes out but as Joe gunned it whenever he had visibility and backed off before blind spots, that figure diminished quickly to four minutes. He was grateful that he kept the tank full, as the big V8 was making the fuel gauge move in real-time.

Up ahead, a glint of brown fur and eyes reflected on a crest. Joe deftly moved the car almost an entire lane over. His mirror popped the deer and slammed into Marty's window. Somehow, the window wasn't cracked. A glance at the dangling side mirror told him he'd need to get that replaced.

"Damnit." Joe said. "Stupid god-damn idiot deer."

Marty had generally freaked out. Joe slowed for a moment and took a look. The towel was getting darker.

"Breathe easy Bats, easy." Joe said, his concentration going back to the road.

[Batdude]

"Holy...you just hit a deer!"

Marty twitched in an aftershock of surprise, twisting his head back to steal a glance. He didn't see anything.

"Where did it go? Man as hard as that was, it can't be walking..."

Marty began to talk about everything and nothing. He couldn't shut up. If he stayed quiet he'd have to think about the throb in his foot that was getting a little more pronounced as he started to come down.

Marty watched a single bead of crimson glide on the outside of the window, pushed along by air resistance. He traced it with a finger.

[Twitch]

The Trans Am came over another crest, the long, progressive downhill about two miles before Cullens. The V8 roared as Joe gave it more throttle, the motor coming full onto the cams in fourth gear. Retrospectively, Joe would probably remember this as a stupid thing, but when one of your friends is dying (maybe), and you're 17, going as fast as possible seemed like a good idea at the time.

The speedometer quickly went north of 140 MPH. Around 160 the car felt like it began to float. Fortunately, the two miles to Cullens were just about done. It would take a good quarter mile to bleed the speed. Joe gently lifted off of the gas, careful not to upset the car into a nasty weight transition that would leave them tumbling down the county road. At ninety, he eased into the brakes, quickly bringing the car to a "normal" speed for the entrance.

He looked at the towel again and winced. He went down the driveway at a "liesurely" 40.

"O-o-ok Marty, who y-y-y-you want me to get." Damn studder.

[Batdude]

"I'm tryin to think who won't blow their stack."

Was Duncan cool? He seemed okay. Definitely wasn't going to go around Mr. Bertrand, but Marty knew that was delaying the inevitable. Just having Mr. Bertrand around made lying not an option.

What about that Indian guy? Or that lady from, where was it? Iraq or something.

"Dude I am drawing a blank, I don't care at this point. I'm in a lot of trouble either way."

Finally, they came up to the familiar sights of Cullens. Marty was a little out of it, which kept him from being too panic-stricken at driving halfway about the speed of sound.

Marty leaned back, removing his glasses and massaged the bridge of his horned snout.

[Twitch]

The dude was no help, which frustrated Joe at this point. Joe had been at Cullens for four months, but he'd only just been there. He felt like he had been floating through the semster and hadn't really connected with anyone, cept Marty. And now Marty was being a moron.

"F-f-f-f-fu-forget it." He studdered. Joe popped the car into neutral at the entrance, and ran for the door at way more than human speed. He was rather frustrated when it was locked, but after he fumbled a bit, he realized he was one of the few kids with keys to the garage, and bolted. He pulled up his car's garage door and ran inside, past what used to be Cullen's collection of exotica. The door barely slowed him down, and he bypassed the elevator, which was slow on the best of days. He bounded up the stairs to the teacher's wing. Joe let momentum carry him to a random door, Ms. Cato's.

He knocked rapid fire, probably sounding more like a dull-beaked woodpecker than a human.

[Evelyn Cato]

There was aabout thirty seconds of silence from the other side before the sound of a lock turned. The door opened slowly, and Evelyn stood quietly, somewhat confused, at the sight of the young man standing before her. He looked frantic, and her expression turned to a cautious concern.

"Joseph?"

What he was doing out at this time of night was beyond her, but the frantic nature of his knocking and the look in his eyes was enough to tell her that this visit was largely unplanned.

"What are you doing out this late?"

A hand went up to rest along the doorframe.

"Is everything alright?"

[Twitch]

"M-m-mar..." Joe paused, to collect himself. "Marty got shot." Evelyn's eyes began to dialate at the news.

"In the foot." He added quickly. Joe was nearly halfway down the stairs a moment later.

[Evelyn Cato]

As confounding as the news of Martin being shot was the question of just what exactly he'd been doing to get himself shot, but Evelyn knew that the why's were not so important at the moment. She followed after Joseph as fast as she could manage, the long nightrobe she wore an odd contrast to her surroundings.

She moved quickly down the stairs, doing her best to stay as close behind Joseph as she could manage.

[Twitch]

It was fortunate for Evelyn that Joe headed for the front door, and that he had conciously slowed down for her benefit.

He opened the main entrance door. His car was right at the bottom of the steps. Joe hoped that Marty was still awake.

"S-shs-shoot." He said and opened the passenger door. His voice trembled, and not just from his studder.

[Batdude]

Marty sat slightly hunched over, his ears twitching back and forth as he fiddled with a cigarette lighter. It was a pleasant distraction and kept his mind off his foot. He heard Joe and Evelyn almost the whole way, so wasn't surprised to see them return.

He looked at the brunette woman, a little sheepish at his condition suddenly.

"Uh, hey."

[Evelyn Cato]

Evelyn gave a worried frown, and crouched low to get a better vantage of Martin's foot. It did not look particularly life0threatening, but she guessed that it certainly wasn't exactly pleasent either.

For the moment she would not touch the wound.

With one hand one the edge of Martin's seat to help her stay balanced, she looked up to him.

"I won't ask you what you were doing; yet, at least.

"Can you walk?"

[Twitch]

Marty paused for a moment.

"I can hobble." He said.

Joe was visibly nervous. He bounced from one foot to the other. Marty was still bleeding all over the towel. Joe realized he had left the car running. It was probably a good thing, too, after caning the hell out of it.

This was the worst part. Right now, he couldn't stand waiting to do something.

"Cato do you want me to do somethin'?" Joe asked. He couldn't wait any longer, and time seemed like it was an old Caddy in mud.

[Batdude]

Marty stood up, and wavered a bit. The sudden shift of blood pressure into his foot made him a little nauseated. If he wasn't dark-skinned as it was, he would have blanched. Instead, he was sure that it read all over his face.

"I'm cool, I'm cool."

He exhaled in a ragged breath, and gingerly took a step

"Aaagh!"

[Evelyn Cato]

Evelyn was quick to take up his arm as he faltered, and she motioned for Joseph to do the same so that between them, Martin was sufficiently supported.

It was unecessary to say that Martin would be taken to her rooms, and she slowly, carefully took a step forward.

"Make as little sound as possible," she cautioned.

[Twitch]

Joe snuck underneath Marty's other arm. He half-wondered why Cato didn't just ask him to carry the Jersey kid. Marty weighed next to nothing.

"I c-c-could just c-carry him." Joe offered quietly. He yawned, suddenly feeling tired. This day had gone from merely meloncollie to drama in a bad way.

[Evelyn Cato]

That Joseph could carry the demi-bat came as a welcome offering, and Evelyn nodded quietly before shifting her grip on Martin.

"That would be most welcome," she agreed softly.

[Batdude]

Marty wasn't sure which was more embarassing - having both of them carry him, or just Joe. Either way, he was in more pain than embarassment, so he let it skate.

He hobbled along with Joe's support, trying to keep at least a little dignity about himself. Right about now, he just wished he had a way to hit rewind on the whole evening. Not that he regretted his choice, but that he regretted the outcome. Surely there was some way he could have stopped this from happening.

As an afterthought, he hoped he didn't smell too much like herb, because being a GSW and getting dragged to a teacher could only get worse.

[Twitch]

Discontent with Marty's sluggish pace, Joe lifted the lighter mutant off the ground. Marty mrrphfped in protest, but it was short-lived. He was mindful of being silent.

It didn't actually take very long to get to Cato's room. Her footfalls were smooth and silent, at least from Joe's perspective. He was sure Marty could hear otherwise. How many hallways had this living ancient snuck through?

Joe yawned. It wasn't loud enough to draw any attention.

Once inside Cato's room, he set Marty on the edge of the bed, his foot resting gingerly against the hardwood floor. The door clicked behind them, and Cato turned the lights on. Joe winced.

[Batdude]

Marty generally looked discontent and irritated, and wasn't too thrilled about taking the wrapping off his foot.

"I'm thirsty, can I get something to drink? And some aspirin or something?"

[Evelyn Cato]

It wasn't hard to divine that Martin was less than excited to be in the situation he now currently found himself. It was even easier to see however, that the boy was in some small amount of pain that for the moment seemed to be superceded by his irritation. She knew that if they were to get anywhere in dressing the wound, he'd need calmer nerves.

Without a word she left the bedroom, stepping through the living area and into the kitchenette. She was gone only a few moments before returning with a glass half full of water in one hand, and what looked like a miniature wine glass in the other.

The water she gave to Martin.

"Drink," she ordered as she disappeared once more into a small side bathroom. The sound of a medicine cabinet being opened could be heard, and the clink of jars hitting one another as she searched for something in particular.

When she returned, the small wine glass was set on the nightstand and with a careful motion, Evelyn opened the lid of a small ivory and jade bottle, pouring a small amount of its' contents into the glass.

Replacing the stopper with an easy motion, she took the water glass from Martin's hand and replaced it with the other.

"Drink that. Slowly. It is a tincture. It's not exactly aspirin, but it should make you feel better for a small amount of time so that I can look more closely at your wound."

The look on his face made her loft a single eyebrow in the beginnings of amuement.

Finally.

"It's salvia. Now drink."

[Twitch]

"Miss, can I go?" Joe's lids were getting heavy again. He'd balied Marty out, but didn't want to stick around.

[Batdude]

"Joe, thanks man. Sorry about this."

Marty closed his eyes, wishing he could just dispel it all. Opening them, he took a drink. Ugh, it tasted like bitter and burning. He knew enough about salvia to expect strange things. That his teacher of all people was using it was sort of cool, in an incredibly bizarro way.

Lying back, he put his hands over his face as the pain began to recede a little.