WHAT IF . . . FEATURING THE RUNAWAYS
by
MORAL MARK
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: As in my other more recent fics, this is written in rough comic book script style with very little page information and limited panel/scene direction; instead, the script is broken down into specific scenes. Also, the script is slightly modified to maintain a level of suspense for the casual reader.
And once again, typical disclaimer - Marvel owns Runaways, the Watcher (or resemblances to) and any other Marvel properties created (or employed).)
SCENE 3 - REUNION
TEXT:
1 YEAR LATER
Night time, Los Angeles planetarium, James Dean memorial. The scene is empty at first, before Karolina enters, looking around, wondering where everyone is at.
KAROLINA:
Um, hello? Anyone? Didn't tiptoe out the house for nothing, did I?
(OFF PANEL)
K!
We see Nico emerge from the trees nearby and heartily hugs Karolina.
NICO:
I . . . I thought it was some sort of joke, or a trap. I haven't heard from you or anybody for so long . . .
KAROLINA:
Thought it was due time for a reunion or something.
Gert enters on-panel.
GERT:
And right you were. (smiles) I needed an excuse to sneak out in the middle of the night and potentially get mugged..
(OFF PANEL):
Yeah, couldn't agree with you more.
Alex appears, hands in pocket.
ALEX:
Another week in boarding school and I seriously would have hanged myself. Er, hanged somebody, at least.
Anyway, Karolina and I thought it was a good -
Nico runs to Alex, hugging him passionately.
NICO:
Alex . . . God, I thought I would never see you again . . .
ALEX:
Uh . . .
KAROLINA:
She's been awfully huggy for a Goth girl.
Alex pulls away from Nico as they meet eyes.
ALEX:
Yeah, I missed you too.
(recollecting himself)
Ahem, okay, anyway, Karolina and I thought it was a good idea get everyone together again, especially - wait, where's Chase and -
CHASE:
Yo, Captain Cryptic, why the hell didn't you just say the planetarium?
Chase enters, with Molly on his back.
CHASE:
Took over an hour to find out where this stupid James Dean memorial was!
MOLLY:
Nico! Gert! Karolina!
Molly dismounts from Chase and rushes to greet the girls.
CHASE:
Man, you shoulda seen her when I picked her up. She was all down and moody and everything before I showed up. Mol's been nothing but the giddy since.
MOLLY:
(ecstatic)
Yay! We're all together again! It's like when our parents get together every year and -
Silent panel. All six of them somberly look at the ground, Molly's last sentence already stinging like an old scar.
MOLLY:
. . . I know.
ALEX:
I . . I guess that's why Karolina and I brought us together again.
KAROLINA:
Honestly? I just miss everybody. I mean, okay, life now is . . . well, it could be worse, but after everything that's happened to me, I think you guys are pretty much the only ones on the planet who really get how I - how we feel right now.
I'm surrounded by kids who hate their dads because they never showed up to their little league games, and I'm supposed to relate with them?
CHASE:
Kinda hard to relate with idiot adults and whiny baby kids when your parents were iced by superheroes.
GERT:
. . . damn superheroes . . .
ALEX:
Do we even know why this all happened?
GERT:
I got the "Idiot's Guide" version from Captain Flagpole and Iron Man when they pulled us all together after they took our folks down. But I'm pretty sure half of it was crap.
NICO:
Our parents were supervillains -
CHASE:
- so the idiots in spandex, having nothing else better to do with their stupid time, decided to do some gay super-team up and beat the life out of them.
Yeah, heroes all right. They save the day, everyone throws a parade. Whoopty freakin' do.
MOLLY:
But . . . but why did my mom and dad have to go?
Why did they have to go?
NICO:
I don't even get what they did that was so bad that they had to die.
KAROLINA:
They told us -
NICO:
Yes, they told us our parents were going to destroy the world. Yes, they told us they ruled Los Angeles like an evil empire. Yes, they told us they had to be brought down. They told us, the very same they who zapped my dad in the face! So you see why I still don't truly understand why!
GERT:
We know, Nico. Believe me. We know.
ALEX:
Guys, let me tell you a story. Maybe it will make things better, maybe it will make things worse, I don't know. But first, I want you to listen . . .
Alex pulls out a book from his backpack. A black book, with an imprint of a red foot with six toes.
ALEX:
. . . then I want you to tell me where we go from here.
Panel - The six gather in the nearby woods as Alex tells his story.
WATCHER (CAPTION):
The story, according to Alex, can be summed up like this -
CHASE:
So, these . . . Gibborim dudes gave our parents power and wealth, so for the next twenty-five years they could pave the way for the new world, or paradise, or whatever.
NICO:
And they chose us, their children, as the six to succeed them in the new world.
KAROLINA:
So they did all this awful stuff - extort, steal, maybe even kill - so that they could hand over the paradise they built, to us?
ALEX:
No, see, I think our parents did that awful stuff so that when it came our time to step up, we would have the power, the resources to shape a paradise, or new world, whatever the Abstract says. In other words, our parents wanted to give us the ability to make the world a better place. They wanted us to be heroes.
GERT:
So, rather than squander their legacy to the outsiders - criminals, presidents, superheroes, whatever - they voluntarily gave up their lives, by the fires of the Gibborim. They wanted to leave a legacy . . . for us to follow.
ALEX:
(holding the Abstract)
That's what I got so far.
GERT:
I don't know about this, Wilder. I mean, based on what that book says, our parents probably really did some evil things. Is tbat a legacy that we would have wanted to follow? And why the Gibborim? What's their stake in all this, really?
NICO:
Well, in the early, root definitions of the name, the Gibborim are, almost literally, giants whose enormous spiritual power is tied to the very earth itself. I mean, they're regarded as angels in heaven.
Maybe these spirits, or angels, or whatever, have had such a huge stake on this world since the beginning that they're sick of everyone destroying it. Maybe they wanted us to do something about it.
GERT:
Still . . . what our parents have done . . .
ALEX:
Yes, I'll agree that our parents have strewn off the righteous path. But what was in their hearts? What was their ultimate goal? What was the sole purpose why they did whay they did?
Machiavelli once asked whether the ends justify the means. I'm saying - yes, they do. And knowing everything I know now, I flat out believe it.
Gert pauses for a moment, contemplating what Alex said. She looks down at the ground, and an overwhelming look of sadness grows in her eyes.
GERT:
You know, Wilder, a year ago I would have disagreed with you. I would have said that in the history of politicians and general assholes, Machiavelli was the King James Bible for them all. I would have said that no good things are made from bad actions.
But you know what? That was a year ago. This is now, and damn it, you know what? You're right.
MOLLY:
So what are we going to do now?
NICO:
Good question. Really, it's not like we can do much now. We're just kids with no parents. Heck, we're probably going to be truant kids with no parents if we don't head back -
MOLLY:
I'm not going back.
Nico and the others turn to Molly.
MOLLY:
I don't wanna go back. Sure, it's where I live, but it's not home. Those kids at X-Corp may be mutants . . .
. . . but you all are my friends. You are what I have left.
KAROLINA:
I'm with Mol on this one. I'm not going back. I just can't stand it.
GERT:
I can't either. Thought I could put up with being controlled by know-nothing adults, but I can't. Not anymore.
ALEX:
Chase?
CHASE:
Ha, too late, split months ago.
ALEX:
It's all you Nico.
Nico pauses in one panel. No text. Then -
NICO:
Screw it, let's go.
CHASE:
So, what's the plan? We go Mad Max style and renegade it outta here?
ALEX:
No. I got a different idea.
Splash Panel, showing all the runaways facing out.
ALEX:
We make our parents proud.