-Runaways : Children of the Pride

Before I go on with the actual story I just wanted to give you guys a little info on the characters. Just in case you didn't ever read Runaways before. Also, I added in two characters from New X-Men to make the story a bit more interesting.

Characters that are in the actual comic :

Nico Minoru - Sister Grimm - She is basically the weilder of the Staff of One. She has magical abilities, but can only cast spells when she bleeds. Nico can only use the same spell once. "WHEN BLOOD IS SHED LET THE STAFF OF ONE EMERGE!" Nico has a crush on Alex.

Alex Wilder - Basically the leader of the group. He's a computer geek and a computer genius. Alex has somewhat of a crush on Nico.

Molly Hayes - Bruiser - She's a young mutant with super-strength. Molly is the youngest in the group.

Gertrude "Gert" Yorkes - Arsenic - You're average not so good looking girl that….HAS A PET DEINONYCHUS! She can telepathically talk to her dinosaur, which she named Old Lace. Whatever harms Gert harms Old Lace and whatever harms Old Lace harms Gert.

Chase Stein - Talkback - He's the main transporter of the group since he's the only one who can drive. He stole his parents x-ray goggles and fistiguns. The fistiguns allow him to generate and manipulate fire.

Karolina Dean - Lucy in the Sky - Karolina's an alien. Her powers include glowing a myriad of colors, flight, and shooting rainbow beams out of her hands.

Characters that I felt like adding :

Noriko "Nori" Ashida - Surge - Nori's a mutant that can absorb energy from the air and appliances/devices. This energy causes her mind to race. It can be used to increase her speed, or be shot out of her fingers in offensive bursts. She has somewhat on a crush on David.

David Alleyne - Prodigy - He's a mutant with a subconscious form of telepathy that lets him absorb the skills and knowledge of everyone and anyone around him. However, he can't retain that knowledge once the person he gained it from leaves the room. David has somewhat of a crush on Nori.

Pride and Joy : Part 1

--Wilder Residence--

Alex Wilder was in his room, playing an mmorpg. He was playing as Captain America, but was highly off character. Alex, being the guy that he was, couldn't remove his eyes from the chest of his friend's character, the Invisible Woman. His parents walked into the room. "Alex," his mother said, "IS THAT PORNOGRAPHY?" "Uh no Mom," he replied, "It's just an mmorpg." "Mmor-what?" asked his father. Aex sighed. "It's nothing dad. It's just a game…like Scrabble." said Alex.

"Does it cost me any money?"

"Yeah….but you got it for me for my birthday."

"Your birthday was MONTHS ago Alex. Unsubscribe today."

"But Dad…."

"TODAY!"

Alex's father walked out of the room. "Remember dear," said his mother, "we have our annual charity event later today. Be sure to clean your room." Alex groaned and fell backwards onto his bed. "Things keep getting better and better….." he said to himself.

--Yorkes Residence--

"I DON'T WANT TO GO!" shouted Gert Yorkes. "This isn't your decision Gertrude," said her father. "BUT THEY'LL THINK I'M FAT!" she shouted in response. "Nonsense, Gertrude. You are not fat," replied her mother, "Now go upstairs and get changed." As Gert made her way upstairs to her room, she turned around and stuck up the middle finger at her parents.

--Dean Residence--

"OH MY GOD KAROLINA! THOSE TEMPEH FAJITAS LOOK DELICIOUS!" shouted Mrs. Dean, "ISN'T SHE AN ANGEL DEAR?" "You bet! These fajitas are delicious!" said Karolina's father, Mr. Dean. He reached to take another off of the platter that Karolina was carrying. "Save some for the fundraiser Daddy," said Karolina, "We don't want all of them to vanish before we get there like last year, do we?" "No, we don't," he replied, with a look of disappointment on his face.

--Hayes Residence--

"Dad…..can we talk about my body?" asked 11-year old Molly Hayes. "Um..What?" asked her father. "Well there's all this weird stuff going on in my body. I tried asking Mommy, but she said to ask you 'cause you're a doctor I guess." "But…she is too…." he replied. "It's okay," said Molly, "I can just look it up on google or something."

"No Molly, it's good that you came to ask me. So you just turned twelve…"

"Dad, you know I'm still eleven!"

"Oh yeah…right. I think it would be better if your mother and I both talk to you about it, but it has to be after the party, okay?"

"Okay Dad."

--Minoru Residence--

"NICO HURRY UP IN THERE! WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE!" shouted Mr. Minoru, "YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOR OVER THREE HOURS!" "I can't find my black nail polish!" replied Nico from inside her room. "Oh, I threw that away," said Nico's mother, Mrs. Minoru. "You did WHAT with my nail polish?" asked Nico. "I threw it away," replied her mother, "Oprah's doctor friend said that teens who wear black nail polish are more likely to do drugs. I didn't want to take a chance." "Great, just great. Now I have to mix all of my old nail polish together and HOPE to get black!" shouted Nico. "We are going to be late this year, aren't we?" asked Nico's father.

-- Ashida Residence --

"MOM, DAD, GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN HERE!" shouted Nori, "WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" "Coming Noriko," said her mother as she walked down the stairs with Nori's father, "Since when are you excited to go to the fundraiser? Is this about some boy?" "I don't wanna talk about it Mom," said Nori, blusing. "Well as long as your happy to go for once, let's leave," said her father. "Finally!" said Nori, running to the car.

--Alleyne Residence--

"DAVID ALLEYNE GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" shouted Mrs. Alleyne, David's mother. "I'm coming mom!" he said, running down the stairs. "Where have you been?" asked his father, "We should've left 10 minutes ago!" "I was just making sure my hair looked okay," he said. "Oh my god! Chris I think David has a crush on a girl!" said David's mother. "Shut up….." said David, blushing. "Come on," said Mr. Alleyne, "We can worry about that later. Right now we just need to get to the fundraiser on time."

--Wilder Residence--

"ALEX COME DOWNSTAIRS! WE HAVE GUESTS!" shouted Mrs. Wilder. Alex came down the stairs grumpily. What greeted his eyes was the same sight that he had seen coming down the stairs since he was a toddler. Chase was sitting on the floor, Molly was hiding behind her father, and Karolina and Gert were chatting quietly. Something was new though, Nori and David were talking to each other, and they were, well, blushing. There was definitely something going on. "Where's Nico?" thought Alex. He heard the door open and turned his head. The Minoru's had arrived. "SORRY WE'RE LATE!" shouted Mr. Minoru, "THERE WAS BAD TRAFFIC!" Mr. and Mrs. Minoru walked inside to greet their adult friends. "Oh my god…." whispered Alex. Nico looked completely different than she had last year. Last year, she was your everyday Japanese-American girl, glasses included. Now, she had contacts and was completely goth. "Hi Nico," said Alex as he came down the stairs. "Hey Alex," she said back, blushing. "You different…" said Alex. Karolina looked over at Nico, and ran over at once. "NICO!" she shouted, "You are so hot now! Where'd you get that outfit?" "Um thanks Karolina," said Nico, "I actually made it." "Now that we're all here," announced Mr. Wilder, "let's eat dinner." The kids waited patiently as their parents got food first, and quickly grabbed the remains of the food. "Kids, why don't you go to the game room and eat like you always do?" said Mr. Wilder. "Whatever," said the kids in unison. They piled downstairs and ate their meals.

--Game Room--

After eating, it was the usual routine, or so it seemed. Nico yawned. "What she said," said Gert pointing to Nico. "Okay," said Alex, "I know we're all extremely bored here. So why don't we do something exciting?" "Like what?" asked Nori. "Let's spy on our 'rents," said Alex. He got up and opened up a hidden door. "Awesome!" said Karolina, "A secret door!" Alex put up a finger to his lips and said, "If we want this to work we have to be quiet." The eight of them piled into the secret passage. In there, they found a one-way mirror. Through it, they saw their parents, in costumes. "What the…?" asked David. "Our parents are so totally gay!" whispered Chase. "No you idiot," said Alex, "They're super heroes!" Alex's father was standing up while the other parents were gathered around a wooden table. He was speaking in a strange language. "What are they saying?" asked Nico. "I have no idea," replied Nori. "Whoa," said David. "What is it?" asked Nori. "I know what they're saying!" he answered. "Well, what are they saying?" asked Chase. "Something about…beginning a ritual of some sort. The Rite of Blood or something like that," he said. Alex's father said something else, and Alex's mother stood up. She walked over to the bookcase and slid it to the side, revealing another hidden room with a girl inside. Alex's father drew a knife. "I don't like the looks of this," said Karolina. Mr. Wilder said something else in that same strange language. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes' eyes began glowing and the girl stood frozen in place. He said two more sentences, and the Steins took out a strange machine. The Minorus grabbed a spell book and began chanting. Mr. Wilder approached the girl with the knife in his hand. Nori held onto David's hand, and the entire group all started sweating. Mr. Wilder grabbed the girl and shoved the knife into her chest. Nico, Molly, and Gert screamed. They quickly covered their mouths and that feeling of nervousness overcame the entire group. Their parents had heard them.

-- to be continued --