Chapter 1: At Least It’s Used
Chapter Text
Duke may have done this on impulse, but Bruce is also at fault for this. This whole thing started because of a comment at breakfast. “You baby Duke so much that he’s not even allowed to drive.” Jason pointed out. He had just gotten grounded and Bruce was being an overprotective parent because Jason crashed his motorcycle and he’s been banned from using it ever since.
“How did I even get dragged into this?!” Duke said in surprise. He was just eating his pancakes. He didn’t want to get dragged into Jason’s argument on why he should get his motorcycle back. “Jason, Duke doesn’t drive because he’s too young to drive.” Bruce said and Duke squawked in surprise.
Duke was old enough to get his driver’s license, and he already has his license. Bruce just never allowed him to drive any vehicles so far. Duke actually started to comment on this, but Jason just took it upon himself to continue to beg Bruce for his motorcycle back. Duke was left slightly annoyed about the whole argument, and after breakfast, he went outside for a walk.
Duke was walking the busy streets of Gotham early in the morning. He had his headphones on and he was listening to some pop music to take his mind off his frustration. ‘I can totally drive, Bruce is just being too protective of me. He’s not even like that with Damian, and he’s basically allowed to do anything. This isn’t fair.’ Duke though, and he threw his hands up in frustration.
Duke kicked a rock that was in his way, and he watched as it bounced a few feet before stopping in front of a used car shop. Now, Duke wasn’t the type to spend a large sum of money on impulse, but Bruce made him do it.
Besides, at least he won’t be as suspicious if Duke spends money on a used car (it won’t look like he spent much of Bruce checks his bank account). With those thoughts in mind (and not ones about hiding the car from his family), Duke walked through the gates with his head held high.
An old guy in his late forties walks towards Duke, who was just looking around at all the different cars. “What are you doing in here, kid?” The man asked in a gruff voice, which startled Duke a bit, but he turned around and smiled politely at the man. “Oh, I was hoping to buy a car.” Duke said and the man gave him an annoyed look. “Look kid, if you don’t have the money to buy a car, then leave. I’m not here to deal with your silly little pranks.” The man said in annoyance and Duke frowned.
“I’m actually here to buy a car. I’m not trying to play any pranks.” Duke assured and the man still gave him a suspicious look. “Fine kid, you can look around and see which car you want.” The man said and Duke smiled. Duke started walking around the lot and looking at different cars. The man was following behind him closely, but Duke didn’t really mind. They passed by a dented 2005 Toyota and even a 1995 Acura TL, but none of them caught Duke’s attention.
The longer Duke spent in this car lot, the less sure he was about buying a used car. He was just about to tell the man he actually didn’t want to buy a car, when he spotted a 2006 Chevrolet Camaro. This Camaro’s paint was coming off, and it’s covered in mud. It looks a bit old, but it was still really pretty in Duke’s eyes (only because it was yellow). Duke walked up to the Camaro and admired it a bit more.
It definitely needed to be cleaned, and maybe a new paint job because of how its paint was coming off, but it seems in pretty good shape. Duke turned around and looked at the lot owner. “How much do you want for this?” Duke asked and the man was actually surprised that Duke wanted to buy this car. “I’ll give it to you for three thousand.” The man said and Duke looked back at the car. If he were to buy this car for three thousand dollars, Bruce would definitely know he did something.
“I only have twenty four hundred on me, would that work?” Duke asked the man, and he even tried out his puppy dog eyes. The man thought about it for a few seconds before nodding. “It’s all yours kid. Let’s get the paper work done, then I’ll get you the keys for it.” The man said and Duke nodded happily. Duke sighed a few papers before swiping his card and paying two thousand four hundred dollars for his new car (used car). He was so excited that he was bouncing on his feet as he made his way back towards his car.
The man walked over to Duke’s car with him, and once they were close enough, he handed Duke the keys. “I hope you enjoy the car, kid.” The man said while smiling and Duke thanked him. Duke unlocked the car and sat inside of it. The seats were soft and it was in really good condition on the inside. There was even a little bobble head of a girl dancing in a green skirt, and it smelled very nice inside.
Duke rubbed his hands against the steering wheel of the car, and he swore he felt the thing shake a bit, but he brushed it off as him rocking the car. Duke eventually put the key into the ignition and started the car up. The radio was blaring ‘Feel This Moment’ by Christina Aguilera and Pitbull. Duke covered his ears from the blaring music, and he cut the radio off. ‘At least the radio works.’ Duke thought as he closed the door to his new car.
Duke waved at the lot owner as he drove off and he decided that he might as well wash the car first, since it was really dirty. Duke didn’t want to mess up the paint anymore, so he took it to one of those hand wash machines and got out of the car once he parked the car in one of the open spots. Duke spent 30 minutes scrubbing the mud off of the car.
Duke got the rims, the rubber on the tires, and even the license plate on the back. He of course washed the rest of the car as well, and he rinsed off the soap with some cold water, before drying it clean with a rag. Once the car was shining, Duke finally got back inside of the car and relaxed.
“Owning a car isn’t for the weak.” Duke mumbled to himself as he leaned back in his seat and rested for a bit. He hasn’t even owned the car for an hour and he’s already tired from taking care of it. He was happy with his progress though, but he still has a few more things to do. Duke drove to the DMV next, and he got himself a license plate so he won’t get pulled over for someone’s plate, and thankful he didn’t need to get one with an adult (Gotham’s DMV is weird).
After Duke got his license plate, he asked someone to help him out (don’t talk to strangers kids, Duke is our brave soldier). Once the license plate was on, Duke decided that that was enough work for one day, and he started to drive back to the manor.
He completely forgot about the whole ‘hiding the car’ thing from Bruce, but he’ll just make up some story about his friend having the car. Duke parked the car in front of the manor, before getting out and walking into the manor. He didn’t hear how the car said a small ‘thank you’ as he closed the door.
Chapter 2: Why Didn’t I Listen?
Summary:
As you can tell from the chapter title, Duke’s already starting to regret his decision.
Chapter Text
Duke didn’t know how he did it, but he convinced his family that the car outside was for his friend. It wasn’t like he totally lied. The car was for his friend (the one in his head). Anyways, Duke woke up the next morning and decided to drive to school today, so he grabbed his backpack and left earlier than he usually would have. He didn’t want anyone to see him drive the car, but he also didn’t want to answer any questions they would have had about said car, so he skipped breakfast just to leave early.
Duke got inside of the car and as soon as he turned on the radio, it started blasting music again. The song that was playing was ‘Where Have You Been’ by Rihanna and specifically they ‘were have you been, all my life’ part kept replaying. Duke lowered the radio quickly and drove away as soon as the radio was lowered. He knew the loud music would have woken up at least one of his siblings, and he wasn’t about to get caught.
Since it was a bit early in the morning, Duke decided to stop at a diner to get some breakfast, so he parked his car in an almost empty parking lot and then walked inside. Duke ordered scrambled egg, bacon, and two hash browns from the kind waiter, and while he waited, he scrolled through this phone. When Duke’s food arrived, he started eating while watching a random video on his phone, and once he was finished eating, he paid for his breakfast and went back outside.
Duke hopped into his car once more and prepared himself for a blasting radio, but it never came. When he turned on the car, it was playing some soft music that you would usually hear in the background, and he was honestly happy that his ears wouldn’t have to suffer again. Duke pulled out of the parking lot for the diner and started driving to school. On the way there though, something happened that may have just proved Bruce’s point.
Duke was driving at the speed limit while humming to a random song that was playing on the radio. His feet barely pressed against the gas pedal and he kept his eyes on the road as he tapped his index finger against the steering wheel. He didn’t notice how a Mercedes Benz was coming way too close to his bumper. Duke may be a good driver, but he definitely needs to get better at checking his surroundings.
The radio started to shift in stations without Duke touching it, and the car started to speed up a bit, even though Duke didn’t press down on the gas. The roads were pretty clear, so thankfully Duke can try to figure out what’s happening with his car while at a stop light. Duke slowly pressed on the brakes to stop the car, and he felt a bit of resistance when he tried to stop it, but it eventually came to a smooth stop.
Duke moved his hand towards the radio and started to adjust it a bit, but the stations barely changed and if they did change, they just went right back to the same station. Duke was confused about the whole thing, and he thought that he might need to pay for a new radio.
While Duke was completely immersed in trying to fix his radio, he didn’t see how the Mercedes Benz was speeding up behind them and they didn’t plan on stopping. Just as Duke was about to give up on trying to fix the radio, he flew back in his seat and bumped his head against his seat as his car sped off. The light didn’t even turn green yet, and Duke didn’t have his foot on the gas.
Duke has now realized that he might be a bit slow, because he just realized that he’s not driving the car. “Ahhhhhh.” Duke screamed out as he tried and failed to stop the car by using the brakes. The car was breaking the speed limit and it’s like it kept speeding up even more. Duke tried to take control back over the car, but he couldn’t even move the steering wheel, which was moving on its own.
The radio was switching between random stations and saying different words, but Duke was too panicked to even listen to the words. A flash passed next to Duke’s window, and it was glowing purple. Duke’s car moved to move away from the blast, and Duke watched as the purple thing hit the road and left a black mark on it. Two more purple lights blinded Duke a bit, and the car kept swerving around them while speeding up.
Duke’s curiosity finally got the better of him, and he turned around to see where all of the purple things were coming from, and when he saw Mercedes Benz speeding up behind him, he turned back around and tried to calm himself down.
“Okay, let’s think. I’m being chased by a car and my car is running away from the car that’s chasing us. That car could very well be an undercover police car, but there are no lights or sirens.” Duke mumbled out and a loud ‘Smart Cookie’ blasted out from the radio and Duke jumped a bit in his seat.
“That was definitely perfect timing from the radio.” Duke mumbled out and he jumped once more when the radio spat out a few more words that actually made a sentence. “Hold on tight, this ride’s about to get bumpy.” The radio blasted out, and Duke felt his seatbelt tighten around him. Duke didn’t really have anything to hold onto, except the steering wheel, so he held onto that.
Duke’s car drifted right on its next turn, and it spun around a bit before going the opposite way. The Mercedes Benz didn’t get tricked though, because it did something similar and continued to follow behind Duke’s car. “Um, talking car, do you have a different plan?” Duke rushed out as he saw how the Mercedes Benz was getting closer to them.
“When I say ‘go’, you turn my wheel all the way to the right, then jump out of the car.” The car said as it changed radio stations and female and male voices mushed together into a sentence. “Are you crazy?! I’m not jumping out of a moving car.” Duke exclaimed and the car almost sounded like it growled a bit. “Just do it.” The car said and Duke just got ready to do something stupid. They were close near a pier, so Duke’s car was speeding towards the ocean, but there was sand all around the road they were on.
“3…2…1….go!” The car exclaimed and it swerved to the right and popped its door open while taking off Duke’s seatbelt. Duke was quick to throw himself out of the vehicle, and he rolled onto the sand and kept rolling as it was kind of a hill and not really a lap surface. Duke didn’t get to see how his car transformed into a giant robot, as he was still rolling down the hill with his eyes closed.
Thankfully, Duke finally stopped rolling and he honestly wanted to just stay lying there, but he needed to check on his talking car. Duke sat up and opened his eyes, and he didn’t expect the scene before him. He obviously didn’t get to see his car transform, but he definitely saw how the Mercedes Benz transformed into a giant silver robot.
“What the fuck?!” Duke yelled out, and maybe it was because he hit his head, or just from the shock of the whole situation, but his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went limp as he lost consciousness.
merijein on Chapter 1 Thu 14 Aug 2025 05:51AM UTC
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Venxas on Chapter 2 Mon 18 Aug 2025 04:25PM UTC
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