Danny Knox limped into his apartment with his groceries, body still knitting itself back together. He left a trail of blood across the floor but didn't care,he'd clean it up later. Or not.
His phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his jacket. Unknown number. Again.
"Crashtest speaking. If this is about insurance, I don't need any."
"Uh… hi! Me again. Sidekick kid."
Danny groaned. "Didn't I hang up on you already?"
"Yeah, but hear me out."
"You have 60 seconds."
"OK so basically I can help you gain more popularity. Think about it. 'Crashtest 'takes the young hero under wing. Raising the next generation of heroes'."
Danny stared at his phone. "Tempting. Go on"
"I can't explain in detail on the phone."
"OK. Let's meet at the coffee shop." As soon as he said this he remembered he still had debts to pay there.
"On second thought, let's meet at donny's pizza in 30 minutes" and he ended the call.
He shoved the phone into his jacket, dropped his groceries in the kitchen and grabbed another beer from the fridge for the road.
Fame wasn't really his thing. If anything he was trying to see if he could get the kid to pay for dinner pizza. But something about that kid's confidence… or maybe just the crushing boredom of immortality… made him curious.
He came out of his apartment and stared at the trail of blood down the hallway. He looked down and realised his pants were soaked with blood.
"I should change my pants," then he look at the blood trail again, "I'll deal with that later"
Danny arrived at Donny's Pizza twenty minutes later. Now in different pants, he also wore a hat, glasses and a face mask. He didn't want to be seen in public with some snotty nosed kid. At least not until he was sure
Inside, the place was half-empty. A few families, some couples on a date , and one kid sitting nervously in a booth by the window. Danny spotted him instantly, too clean, too eager, bouncing his leg like he'd downed six Red bulls.
He sighed, adjusted his hat and slid into the seat in front of the kid. The kid stared for a bit before Danny said, "it's me"
"You're late!" the kid said.
"I'm immortal, not punctual. Now hurry up I have important Crashtest stuff to do."
The kid blinked, then broke into a grin. "This is awesome. I'm Kyle, by the way. But I was thinking, for my hero name , maybe 'Sidekick Supreme' or—" he spoke fast.
"No." This kid is definitely on some red bull, Danny thought.
"Okay… uh… 'Kid Crash?'"
Danny narrowed his eyes. "…Are you trying to get bullied?"
"Do you even have any powers?"
"Oh yeah. Check this out." Kyle held out his palm and it started crackling with electricity. "Cool huh?"
It definitely was quite impressive but Danny wasn't going to tell him that.
"Meh, It's alright" he said trying to sound as unimpressed as possible. He picked up the menu and started looking for something to order.
"So about what we said on the phone, I could help you manage your finances and also help you get jobs testing products for companies"
"How old are you again?" Danny asked, shocked, and looked at him from the menu. This kid might be useful after all. Especially since he could help him make some money.
"15 and a half."
"You've got cash on you right? I need someone to handle the check." Danny said.
"Are you serious?" Kyle groaned.
Danny glanced over the top of the menu. "Dead serious. Sparks"
Before Kyle could argue, their waiter appeared, and Danny immediately ordered the largest pizza on the menu plus a pitcher of beer. "He's paying," Danny added, jerking a thumb at Kyle.
Kyle opened his mouth, trying to object but then shut it. He looked both confused and flattered. "This is… mentorship?"
Danny leaned back in the booth, smirking. "Kid, if you can pay for dinner, then maybe I'll think about taking you in."