Disclaimer: I do not own any of the aforementioned characters besides DJ Kirra. The Runaways were created by Brian K. Vaughn and Adrian Alphona. They exist in the Marvel Universe.

Runaways:
California Soul
Pt. 3

The fire had been burning for two hours and the police and fire department of the great city of Los Angeles were on the scene trying to keep the crowd and the fire under control. Among the crowd, two teens, who were on a date now stood, the flames lighting their shocked faces. They squeezed each other's hands.

"There's someone in there…"

"Don't, please…"

"Sorry, but getting roasted like a turkey is not a way to check out."

DJ let go of her hand and rushed towards the police. The officers were too distracted to see a teenager go sliding underneath their vision. DJ dashed past the fire fighters, who shouted for him to stop. He burst into the flaming hallway. The heat was sheering at his skin and he could already feel the burns forming. He ran up the decaying stairs, his hands clenched his, eyes watering. He could feel them, it was a girl, and she was locked in the bathroom on the fourth floor. DJ paused at the landing of the third floor.

"Damnit, NO! HANG IN THERE!" He yelled.

The feeling had gotten loose and shaky; she was dying slowly but surely. He rushed the stairs to the fourth floor. They gave way just as he pushed off the third to last. He hit the soot covered floor. He pulled himself up and raced through the flames and debris looking for the door. The flaming bits of woods flew outward into the room. DJ moved through the room, a body was lying on the floor. She was dead, he didn't need to check, and she was silent, like a negative photo. He checked anyway touching the neck, no pulse either. He wiped away a tear with his hand and rushed to the bathroom.

"BACK UP!" He yelled and bashed the door open.

The girl was curled up in a ball in the middle of the room. She was crying, not even 8 year's old and she was probably an orphan now. He reached out and grabbed her and pulled her close. He took off his over shirt and wrapped her in it. He made his way to the window.

Karolina was standing in the crowd, trying her best to stay calm. Her mind was racing with thoughts, about DJ, if he was okay, if he was going to make it. One of the windows on the fourth floor exploded in a ball of flame.

"NOOOO!" She cried.

She ran away from the crowd and into the back alley. She didn't give a damn now, not with him on the line. She yanked off her medical bracelet. The light exploded like a Las Vegas sign in the heart of an Alaskan evening. Karolina shot up from the ground and flew towards the building. She wiped a tear away and threw her fist forward. The window broke out and through the smoke was the familiar look of the person she'd fallen hard for.

"Lucy!" DJ yelled, "C'mon!"

Karolina reached out and yanked him out of the window. She struggled as she noticed DJ had gained an extra passenger. She grabbed Karolina's other hand. The explosion caught them off guard. She felt DJ's hand disappear from her grip and she flew upwards at the loss of weight pulling the little girl and herself to safety. A flaming piece whatever hit the ground; fire fighters rushed over and sprayed it with water. Karolina set the girl down and raced toward the smoldering mass. It rose up and shook itself off. DJ's entire body was as black as soot. The white's of his eyes were the only thing not blackened.

He coughed dust and rubbed his forehead, "Chase needs to work on that force field generator more."

Karolina smiled weary and jumped him knocking him on the ground, "You son of a bitch…" She looked at him, tears rolling down her cheeks, "You damn bastard."

DJ smiled and hugged her, "Let's get the hell out of here."

The light became blinding for everyone. In the flash and confusion the building collapsed and the two mysterious people who saved the little girl were gone as well. DJ and Karolina rolled up on a park bench and took a breather.

"I owe you…" DJ smiled.

"No, you owe Chase." Karolina answered.

"Touché." DJ replied.

"DJ that was the stupidest thing I've ever seen…" Karolina snapped.

"Sorry." DJ replied looking at the ground, "But in the words of the earlier generations. Shit happens."

"Not to you or me…" Karolina answered, she grabbed DJ's hand put her hand over his, "Swear to me, you won't do that again. Please, I could not stand the thought of losing you." She answered.

"I'm not going anywhere…" DJ answered, "It'd take an act of god to get me to leave."

"You loser…" She replied.

They pressed their lips together and embraced. She pushed DJ on his back and pulled out of the kiss. She smiled at DJ who rubbed her cheek.

"Maybe… but I haven't lost you yet." DJ muttered.

"I tell you how much I hate this sappiness?" Karolina said and kissed him again.

"No, but that's pretty much pointless." DJ laughed, "Let's get back to the hideout, I need to wash up, unless kissing a BBQ human being is your kinda thing."

She rolled her eyes and got off him. The two walked the rest of the way back to the hideout. DJ went right to the shower room and started washing. Karolina went to her room and changed. She smelled like an ash tray dipped in stank. DJ rubbed his face off with a rag; it gained a black spot to its white exterior. Karolina took her dark forest green towel and rubbed the black stuff off her face. DJ cracked his neck and stood under the shower head and washed with soap to get the blackened ashes off him. The force field had stopped the fire to an extent but the soot and such had caked on him like rust.

He sighed aloud and looked up at the ceiling, "How in the world did this all work...?" DJ questioned, "You're giving me so, much what's on you're agenda to destroy for all this. What's the counter balance?"

He wished for once he'd get a reply, something of a sign. All he got was a bar of soap to his head. He looked over at Karolina who was wearing a nearly transparent nightgown. DJ gawked at her whole figure.

"How's this for a counter balance?" Karolina said.

"I'd say… damn girl." DJ joked.

"Exactly," Karolina replied.

The two embraced in a hug under the water, "You know I'm naked right?" DJ asked, "Shut up." Karolina answered and kissed him. They rocked back and forth, the water striking them like a warm breeze.

----------------------------

DJ walked out of the bedroom the next morning in his other pair of shorts and a blue button up shirt. His hair had gone back to its chestnut brown. He walked to the main room and sat down. He sat for several minutes in total silence, not making a peep besides his breathing. Gertrude was the next person to come in. She looked at DJ and made a wave, DJ waved back. After about three days of their hostile crap and their nagging of Alex, DJ had torn into them for the second time. He laid his entire life to them bare and they had to listen. When he finished, he felt the brewing and stirrings of the better sides of their feelings. He knew they understood finally and he left them to it.

Now things were different, Alex was happy, he was happy. Karolina was totally Gaga over him and just being with her made his entire day. He was still put off that he could read her emotions because of that bracelet but that didn't mean he could just play it by ear. She of course was with him for roughly everything. Groceries, trash duty, anything that he had to do, she was right by his side.

He leaned his head back and relaxed his brain. He thought of fluffy clouds, flying and just enjoying what he had lying in his lap at the moment. Wait a minute…, DJ thought. He opened his eyes and looked down with as little head movement as possible. Old Lace was looking at him, its mouth open slightly and a long run of drool down its scaly left cheek. DJ's eye twitched.

"I hate you…" DJ muttered.

She sneezed on him, which even with the nose ring still flung enough booger and snot to cover DJ's face, "I retract previous statement… I really hate you…" He wiped some of the boogers and snot off his face and shook his head off.

"Gertrude! You're dinosaur just sneezed and drooled on ME!" DJ yelled as he walked down the hallway.

He went back into Karolina's room; she was sitting on the bed and looked back quickly. She pulled the sheets over her chest and blushed deeply.

"Whoa…" DJ said, "I didn't see anything, no worries. I just need a damn shower, Dino decided to just shoot snot into my face…"

"She does that." Karolina answered.

DJ shrugged and went into her bathroom and shut the door. Karolina dropped the sheet and quickly pulled on her unmentionables. DJ started up the shower and started taking off his clothes. He stepped in to the warm stream and started scrubbing his face with soap. He then realized his folly and cried in total pain at the burning bubbles hitting his eyes.

"SWEET JESUS!" DJ yelled at the top of his lungs.

Karolina came bursting in, DJ wiped around, "What's wro-…" Karolina paused, her face tightened up in total shock, "Nevermind…I didn't see anything…"

If she wasn't wearing that damn bracelet, DJ knew he'd feel just as embarrassed as she did. At the moment he was ignoring the blinding pain in his face and was more worried about length. He looked down and prayed she wasn't laughing behind that door. He washed off the soap and wrapped a towel around himself and stepped out. Karolina was out of the room already. He picked up his old clothes and pulled them on. He smiled, he liked the feeling of his old clothes, and the new ones were just annoying at times. He threw on his faded purple Pac-man t-shirt, tossed on his shorts and socks and pulled on his shoes which were still black for the night prior. He wanted to head out for a walk, just to get some fresh air and to suck in some emotions, reading the same ones over and over was like sitting in an language class with a teacher who believes that you can't learn it any other way then through a text book.

He walked down the hallways and then through the main room in all its intricacy. DJ went to the left, yanked the lever down and ascended upwards towards the city. He stepped out; shut the door which sealed itself showing no trace. He felt the sun shine hitting his face, he smiled and stretched. He started walking, to the one place in the city he knew he could go to. Because it was after all, 25 cent hot dog day and that was worth walking the distance. He made his way to Figueroa and down it towards the upper part of the city. He kept his steady pace, sensing any and every one's feelings like a radio. One guy was mad at his wife but he was coming around, feeding off the feelings in his honeymoon with her. Another guy was pondering going straight after this last job he was going to pull. And…, DJ paused. He turned around and felt the gun press again his stomach.

"My god. I thought I was never to get so lucky…"

DJ never saw the face, they turned him around to fast and he could tell they'd pull the trigger without care if he made a move. They lead him to an alley and kept out of sight.

"Quit that, having you read my thoughts are pissing me off."

"I'm not. And even if I could stop, I wouldn't anyway, that's the only thing keeping you and me on a level playing field bucko." DJ replied.

"Well whatever the hell you're doing stop, cause it's like an annoying little brother looking on me all the time." The person answered.

DJ loosened up and let his mind wander as best he could with a gun barrel buried in his back, "That better?"

"Yeah it…"

DJ focused in so hard he could feel a nosebleed coming on, "EH!" He felt everything the guy had. He wanted DJ for something horrible; he wanted to use him like a tool and kill him like a pig. He had a vendetta with him… for a reason he couldn't find, it was far too well guarded. The world went fuzzy and he lost concentration.

"You didn't have to clock him…" was the last words DJ heard before going out of it.

"Stonewall, you dumbshit…" One replied looking over at Stonewall, "If you damaged his abilities I'll kill you man."

"Dude, he deserves it, his blood is as guilty as those that spawned him. God demanded it." Stonewall answered.

"Bite me. C'mon Oedipus, get his feet." The one answered.

"Screw you Napoleon, you get his feet." Oedipus snapped.

Napoleon groaned and grabbed the empath's feet and the two hoisted him up. They tossed him into the back of the trunk and shut it.

"Think General Lee can use him?" Stonewall answered, "'cause if he can't, I'm killing this son of a bitch."

"Dude, just because he's the son of you know who, doesn't mean he's the damn incarnate… Christ get over it."

"Never use his name in vain…" Stonewall snapped.

Oedipus raised his hands as a gesture of being sorry, Stonewall shook his head and got in the car. Napoleon started the sedan and the three took off with their prize in the trunk. DJ rolled over inside and spit blood out. He groaned and rubbed the back of his head.

"Ah hell…" He thought.

He did his best keeping his readings off those in the front seat, the best he could tell, and he was just a small fly in their massive rooms full of emotions. One seemed overly angry with him, possibly the one who wanted to use him for a tool. The others were sort of in different. There wasn't any light and the trunk was stuffy. He knew he was in a car though; the roads and the whooshing pieces of emotions were a dead giveaway. DJ rolled onto his back and put his feet on the trunk. He pushed with as much strength as he could. Surprising the latch unhinged rather easily, the only problem was, and this seemed somewhat minor, he was going roughly 70 miles and out in the car pool lane none the less. He needed a way to escape when the thought struck him. It was crazy but it might work. He started clawing away at the back seat of the car. He'd seen in a movie where the guy tore through the back seat and climbed into it. Without much choice or a better idea, he went right to it.

"Oh damnit…" DJ answered.

"Yo, Napoleon… the damn latch on the trunk is busted again." Oedipus answered looking out the passenger rear view mirror.

"Are you kidding?" Napoleon asked, he looked at the rear view mirror and sighed, sure enough, "Damnit, we have to pull over before someone phone's in that we got a kid in that damn trunk!"

He yanked the car off the next exit. DJ slid to the side and damn near fell out. He tried to stay with as much connection to the car as possible; swaying a little bit might lead to him being a greasy spot on the road. The car pulled to a halt. Three doors opened up, he reached up and pulled the trunk down and shut quietly. The doors closed and he punched through the back seat and started pulling himself through. He kept pulling and flopped into the back seat. He jumped into the front seat, locked the door, turned the key and slammed on the gas. His adrenaline was screaming through him and he could sense their emotions explode like a fire cracker. He pulled back onto the highway, the rear windshield exploded as a bullet blew it out. DJ swerved but kept it under control.

"God DAMNIT!" Oedipus yelled.

Stonewall looked at him and punched him, "What have I told you about using the lord's name in vein!"

"Go to hell!" Oedipus snapped.

"You will, don't worry!" Stonewall screamed.

"EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP OR I'll PLUG YOU BOTH!" Napoleon shouted above the both of them.

They quickly clammed up and looked down, Napoleon lost his rigidity and took a breath, "Now, it's not that we can't find him again, this city is big but we know his face and that counts for a lot. Besides, no one can get away from General Lee and our informants can easily find him."

"What if he doesn't want to be found though?" Oedipus answered, "I mean, if he doesn't want to be found, it'll be hard for us to get a bead on him. He could leave town, or go into the sewers, or just go to where we can't get him."

"You're babbling, after The Pride went under, General Lee gained the power hold over this city. There's not need to worry about this. We'll get this empath and we'll exploit him more then a glitch in AOL." Napoleon answered with a smile.

DJ yanked the car off to the side and got out. He took the keys and pitched them into a bush. He went to glove box and opened it up. A gun fell out and hit the floor. He looked at for a moment, pausing. He flinched quietly, something flashed inside of him. He grabbed it and put behind his back. He covered it with his shirt and he started walking. He had no idea what part of town he was in, but once he found Figueroa, he'd be alright.

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Later
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"Hey, Gertrude, where's DJ?" Alex asked.

"No idea…" Gertrude responded, "He was up, but Old Lace sneezed on him, I think she has a cold."

"That's a shame." Alex said sarcastically.

It was no secret that Old Lace still didn't trust Alex. Be it by Gertrude or by its own nature thoughts, he didn't know. But DJ had set things in motion for bridges to be rebuilt; this one he guessed would be a smidge difficult. He shrugged and walked over to the lift. He yanked the lever and went straight up. The doors opened and he took a step and tripped. He hit the ground, his glasses flying off his face. He looked back, the image was big, blurry and out of focus to the point where identification was impossible. He reached back and pulled his glasses in front of his face. He gasped in surprise, with DJ laying on the ground, bleeding, his clothes, ripped and torn, his body still and quiet.

"No, god please…" Alex yelled. He grabbed DJ and yanked him into the lift and hit the lever.

They traveled slowly to the bottom floor, "HELP! ANYBODY! Come quick!"

Chase was the first to get there, "Holy cow! Alex what happened!"

"I don't know! He was laying at the door to the lift, I tripped on him!" Alex cried.

Karolina zoomed out almost immediately. Her scream nearly shattered all the glass objects in the room. She raced over and kept screaming.

"Damnit! Get out of here!" Chase cried, "NICO! Get your ass over here NOW!"

Nico came running and froze at DJ's mangled body, "Omigod…" She said quickly, Karolina was still sobbing uncontrollably, Gertrude came up from behind and took Karolina's arm and took her away. She fought against Gertrude but couldn't beat her; Gert had a good pair of jelly rolls compared to her light frame.

"You've gotta heal him Nico." Alex pleaded.

"Jeez, he's nearly dead…" Nico answered pulling out the switchblade. She pricked her finger.

"When blood is drawn, the staff of one emerges…" Nico growled, "GAH!" She replied out of breath, holding the staff in her hand, "I still haven't got used to that."

"C'mon, quit commenting and help him!" Alex snapped.

"Right." Nico answered, "Heal!"

The staff did nothing, "Live!" Not even a spark…, Alex looked around, he whispered something in her ear, "There's no way that'll work."

"Just try it…" Alex asked.

"Ugh…" Nico groaned, "Phoenix Down!"

The burst of light blew them all away and the roar of something near unholy echoed through the corridors. A bonfire went over DJ's body and engulfed him. There was no smoke to it at all. A hand burst out of the fire and started dragging itself out of the pyre. DJ rolled out buck naked. He was coughing and crying like anew born baby.

"AHHHHH!" He shouted in anger.

"DJ! Dude, calm down man, you're alright." Nico answered kneeling down next to him.

"Actually I am quite calm…" DJ replied straighten up as if everything was fine, "Just, I wanted to make it look all dramatic and such…"

Nico punched him in the shoulder, "Ow…"

"Asshole!" Nico yelled.

"Christ, I need new clothes…" He said, "One's covered in fossil boogers and the others were just lit on fire like a Viking funeral. The hell am I supposed to wear now?"

"No idea… but for some reason or another, we seem to have an abundance of clothes around here."

"And the 6 of you decided to not tell me because why?"

All seven of them, with DJ wrapped in a Towel for Molly's sake showed DJ why. If there was any piece or article of clothing worth mentioning, DJ couldn't see it. It looked like a circus had abandoned this mass, left it in elephant dung. It was then promptly discovered by Hobos, torn to shreds, never washed, ditched in here and for twenty years for moths, spiders, and other assorted insects and arachnids to nest in.

"I can honestly say it. There is no god here…" DJ remarked.

"Never unarmed of a witty comment, even a bad one." Gertrude asked looking over.

"If you got it flaunt it." DJ responded, "Alright, well if anyone needs me, I'm going to go pull a terminator and unpants someone."

"There's no way we're letting you outside in a towel, especially a good one." Alex answered.

"Then gimme some of your shirts or something." DJ asked.

"There's no way in a hell. With your reputation, I'd have to be crazy! I'd lose them too quick and we'd both be in your predicament."

"I'm so remembering this…" DJ muttered, "Now you guys might want to leave the room, don't want to spoil anyone's build up. And Karolina, don't you say anything…" He said pointing at her.

It took twenty minutes to sift through the shreds of what might've been considered clothes, but DJ did find a pair of pants, but they were so old, he thought they might be up to carbon dating. Next was shirt which out of all oddities he found this really awesome yellow one with a black Pac-man symbol. He pulled the shirt over him and then pulled up his pants; they promptly sank and hit the floor. He dove into the pile and pulled out a belt. He found some socks and pulled them on. The shocking part was the shoes. A pair of old school, Vans 'off the wall' editions and they didn't smell like piss to boot. DJ pulled them on and cracked his neck. Lying on the ground in front of him amidst the clutter of clothes as a black cap, he reached down and pulled it on. It was worn and old but it'd do for what he needed.

He stepped out and smiled, "I'll get underwear some other way, 'cause the underwear I found either belonged to a guy without his manhood or a 8 foot prison inmate with a serious problem…"

"Fair enough…" Alex answered, "C'mon we gotta grab groceries."

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Undisclosed Location, Earlier
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"YOU IDIOTS!" The disembodied voice shouted.

Stonewall, Oedipus and Napoleon all lowered their heads, "Your task was to get it by any means possible. Its a weapon of such extreme importance that it can stabilize our hold on this city and take over where The Pride had previously failed. Now you tell me, you say it escaped, tore a hole in your back seat and climbed into the car and drove off."

Another person blew past the three causing the lanky Oedipus to stumble, "General Sir, one of our agents has spotted him. Should we apprehend?" He asked.

"With caution. It may be armed. If it resists, work it over." The General answered, "Either its dead or its with us. You three will report to the restrooms and clean them spotless till I could deem one worthy of having my ass planted on it! DISMISSED!"

The three ran out of the room like a small pack of dogs with their tails between their legs. The other one who'd burst in remained standing by the chair.

"I want it brought back, alive, but in the event the agent kills it, I want its corpse. I want DJ Kirra before it realizes what in the sam hell it really is."

Author's Space: OOO, 6 reviews, 2 chapters... thank you all! Hugs Anyway, thanks to Rob for finally stopping by, maybe my backstory wasn't very adaquate but eh... looks are trying to find something to say Eh... Okay! So, looks like things are off, we got bad guys, we have good guys, we have DJ who's sorta in the air on everythin and hopefully won't go up in smoke again. To any anyone who didn't get the Phoenix Down joke, play Final Fantasy, you'll get the idea. As for a Dinosaur getting a cold, I wouldn't know if they could get one but again... eh, I just wanted to write a Raptor sneezing on someone. Sorry, I don't thik I have any funny one liners for you. Shrugs I will try to add more funny one of these days.