Runaways:

Youth Gone Wild

Chapter 2

Blood on Blood

by Ri-kun

"What the hell are you guys doing robbing a bank?!"

I thought that was a pretty damn ironic question. "What the hell are you doing robbing it?" I shot right back. "That is what you're doing here, right?"

Joshua began using his gun as a back-scratcher, which struck me as a really bad idea. "Kinda, yeah," he admitted. "But aren't your folks rich?"

I really hate it when people point that fact out. "They're also evil ninja crime lords," I snapped back. "Hence, we are robbing a bank."

"You're parents are... what, now?"

"Boys!" Nicole shot out. "Can we finish this discussion later? I fairly sure the police will be along any second to inquire why we are trespassing, disturbing the peace, destroying public property, and commiting the federal crime of grand larceny!"

"Actually," Joshua spoke up. "It doesn't qualify as grand larceny unless you've taken a minimum of..."

"Run for it!" she screamed, pointing to the way out.

Before we could, though, police sirens began roaring in our ears. Flashing blue lights spilled out into the room, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps. It would seem that our folks had pulled out all the stops! Within seconds, the entrance had been completely blocked off by a mixed squadron of cops, ninjas, and aliens. None of the police were acting like this was really all that strange, which just served to confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that my parents really had fully infiltrated the law. Not that being dragged off by them to the Pride's secret headquarters hadn't been enough proof to start with, however.

The foremost ninja, who seemed to be leading the invading swarm, cocked his head to the side and gave me a funny sort of look through his ninja mask. It almost looked as if he recognized me, I thought.

"Hello, Daniel."

The voice that spoke through it send shock waves up my spine. "Joseph?" I asked, pulling my own mask down.

He did the same, and I found myself staring right into the face of my older brother, Joseph Whittaker. His ninja uniform was an exact replica of mine, the difference being only that it was tailored to match his much more athletic frame. The suit clung to his body as though he'd been poured into it. One of the secret envies I'd always had was that Joseph was in so much better shape than me. It was easy to understand why so many girls went ga-ga over him, aside from the whole 'being evil' part, I mean. I didn't have to like it, but it was easy to understand.

Of course, I'd hated him long before just finding out that he was a part of the Pride.

"I was kind of hoping I wouldn't find you hear," Joseph said to me, wearing the smirk on his face that I always hated seeing.

"I really didn't expect to see you hear, either," I replied as best as I could without shaking. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"School's out for me," he said, swinging a bo staff that looked just like mind around. "I ditched classes to come home."

"Dad's money at work," I quipped, bringing my own in front of me.

"You should know. You're stealing some of it!"

"Actually, we're only stealing my money. It's not safe to come out during the day anymore. Too many people are looking for us!"

"Yeah, I kind of heard about that. Seems you and your friends stumbled across something you weren't supposed to learn about just yet. Mom asked if I'd be willing to talk about it with you. She had this idea that you'd listen to me."

I laughed, coldly. "Mom should know better."

"She really should." Joseph struck a pose, and pointed towards me. "You should know, the Hand don't really care if you live or die. Dad hasn't given them the full story, but if you come back with me, we can make all of this work out. I really don't wanna have to hurt you, bro, but that doesn't mean I can't!"

I heard Miguel gasped at the mention of the Hand, whatever that was, but he was a million miles away to me at the moment. "I'm not seven years old anymore," I told him, sounded braver than I really felt. "And you can't hold me down in front of the couch and force me to watch Gremlins: The New Batch!"

"Wanna bet?" Joseph flipped around into an elaborate spin and twirled his staff beautifully. "Do you really think I've been away at college all this time?"

"Bring it on!"

"Are you guys gonna stand around and talk all night, or will there actually be any fightin'?"

The cop that spoke got a nasty look from one of the ninja standing just off to the side of Joseph. Reaching into his pocket, he whipped out a silver ball about the size of a marble. I realized what was about to happen just as the ninja threw it, but it was too late to even cry out. The officer burst into flames the moment the ball touched him, leaving behind only his gun and a pile of smoldering bones.

"Any other questions?" Joseph asked, coolly.

"Just one," I heard Gabriel say. "Do any of you have some ketchup?"

That made absolutely no sense to me, until I turned around and saw the rather large, transparent dragon standing behind us all. The thing looked like a ghost, but something in my guts told me it would hurt very bad if those razor-sharp fangs and claws tore into me. I couldn't imagine why Gabriel would want to use any kind of spell like this, but it was too late to debate the issue. The dragon lunged foward to where we were all standing, making us scatter into one another.

"Run away!" I heard Gabriel scream. "And do lots of it!"

He didn't have to tell me twice! I spotted Joshua cowering over in a corner near the door, and spared a moment to snatch him by the front of his shirt and drag him out the front door with us. There was a look of pure wonder in his eyes as we all fled, like he couldn't really believe what he was seeing. Clearly, I had some explaining to do, but it would have to wait!

When had just made it outside when Miguel noticed. "It's not dark anymore!" he said, looking around in confusion.

"Spell... wore off!" Gabriel gasped, collapsing to the ground. "Couldn't... maintain that... much!"

He looked like he was going to puke, and while it would have been nice to have somebody else take up that mantle, I really hoped he could hold his lunch in for a little bit longer until we made our getaway. Assuming, of course, we had a getaway plan!

"It's my fault," Nicole said, moaning. "I told him to do something really big that would distract them! Wait, where's O-Ren?"

O-Ren's location became clear a moment later. The ninjas were suddenly all around us, and I don't mean like in a quick-movement sort of way. They were just there, appearing in a cloud of smoke like off of Darkwing Duck! I nearly expected a monologue to follow, but it didn't.

"Cool!" Miguel said. "How did they managed that?"

"Beats me!"

"Boys!" Nicole hissed. "Later! We've got to get out of here, and fast."

One made a moment like he was going to approach Nicole, but fell flat on his face before finishing the first step. A smoking hole lay open where his chest had been; something had blown a hole straight through his heart, taking the whole thing with it! Another ninja fell, this time without his head, which was missing the bottom half as it rolled past us and into the street. Suddenly, it was raining yellow energy blasts all around us, somehow only hitting the ninjas in red. It seemed that O-Ren had remained true to her post, and was living up to her codename with great relish!

"Way to go, O-Ren!" Miguel cried out, as we made a dash for the van. "Remind me to kiss that woman later on."

"She'd break both of your legs if you tried!" I told him, jumping in back. "Come on, Joseph. We're leaving!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," he grinning, coming up behind me.

"Hold it!" Nicole cried. "Who said he was coming?"

There was about two seconds of absolute quiet. "If we leave him here," I said, gravely. "The Pride will kill him. Or worse, torture him until he gives them everything he knows about us. It's safer for us all if he comes with!"

"Come on, then," she relented, after a moment. "But hurry! We can't be caught here, and O-Ren is still up on the roof!"

The dragon had escaped from the bank interior by the time we drove around. Miguel steered out of it's way just as a panicked O-Ren came running out into the street, flagging us down. The van spun, tires squealed in severe protest, and the door swung open on it's own just as we came to a stop right alongside her. O-Ren opened her eyes to see all of us sitting there looking at her expectantly. Without so much as a comment on Miguel's driving skills, she hopped in and slammed the door shut behind her.

"Drive!" she pleaded, as the dragon let out a roar.

For once, Miguel wasn't in a mood to argue with her. He peeled the van out of there just as the beast brought down a very heavy and taloned foot in the spot where we'd only been seconds before. I fell out of my seat as O-Ren tipped over backwards next to Joshua. Looking at him, she blinked a couple of times before extending a hand.

"O-Ren Wong," she introduced herself, uncharacteristically. "Nice to meet you."

"It's a pleasure," Joshua replied, taking the hand offered to him carefully in his. "I'm Joshua Higgins."

"Now, who the fuck are you and what are you doing here with us?"

That sounded more like O-Ren. "These guys caught me robbing the same bank they were, and let me come along when the cops showed up. Thanks for that, by the way. I really appreciate it."

"We never said we were letting you come along," Nicole counted in a cold voice. "First of all, just what are you doing here? I thought they put you away for good!"

Joshua looked at her in a way that I didn't like. "Still mad because I left?" he said softly.

"That was back in junior high," she replied. "I'm over you by now."

WHAT?!

"Sounds like it," he noted, smugly. I was already regretting taking him along. "So, what's led Meridian's finest honor student to a life of crime?"

"Our parents are evil supervillains," Miguel answered unabashedly. "We found out they're part of this secret conspiracy group called the Pride, and now they want to drag us back home and brainwash us so we'll forget until we all turn eighteen."

Joshua blinked. "Oh, okay. That makes perfect sense."

"He's telling the truth," I muttered, suddenly very angry. "Our youth minister is a time traveling serial killer and possible theif. We're not sure on the last part, but each of our parents are involved."

"I know," he said, calmly. "I've know for a long time now, actually."

Each and every one of us looked at him, including Miguel, who nearly sent the van straight into a bread truck as a result. Nicole gave him a very stern lecture about watching the road, before turning back around to glare at Joshua. I really enjoyed seeing the look she was giving him.

"Explain," she demanded. "And no funny stuff!"

Joshua actually looked hurt. "Why do you think I left you?" he said in a soft voice. "Why do you think my friends and I stole that money and made tracks for Texas? Did you really believe it was just a stupid joyride, like everybody else said?" I wanted to choke him as the tears came into his eyes. "Nick," he whispered. "I loved you!"

It was becoming very uncomfortable in there all of a sudden. We all felt like we were trespassing on what should have been a private conversation, but that didn't stop me from wanting to hear more. I felt like it was my business to, despite not having a good reason! Just exactly when had Nicole and Joshua dated? And why in the name of all that was Tolkien was she letting him call her 'Nick'?! Nicole hated that name! I had known that much on great authority for years!

"You know about our family?" O-Ren pressed, breaking up the love fest. "About our parents? About the Pride!"

"I didn't know they were called the Pride," he admitted, looking suddenly uncomfortable. "But the guys and I have known for years now that something rotten controlled stuff here in Meridian. And most everywhere else, too! That's why we were headed for Texas. My buddy had this uncle that was in tight with the mob. We though he might give us protection if we turned over the money to him."

"Two thousand dollars in exchange for protection," O-Ren scoffed. "Even I think that sounds weak!"

"It wasn't two grand," he corrected. "It was two hundred grand! We stumbled upon it by accident, and somebody wanted us dead for it. It think they must've thought we knew more than we did. Either way, it got clear real quick that we needed to make a run for it. That's why I've spent the last few years in prison."

"I thought you were sent to a juvenile hall for delinquent offenders," I threw in. My voice sounded really nasty, even to me.

"On the surface, it is," he said, looking down. I really felt bad suddenly for the way I sounded.

"Lots of bad stuff goes down in there. And I don't mean regular prison shit, either! There's something really foul in that place, something that everybody is afraid to talk about! My buds and I decided to make a run for it, but we ran out of cash real quick. The only place left to go was here in town, but we can't stay here for long. If they find out I came back, they'll..."

I would have liked to hear what our parents would have done to him. It would've appeased the angry demon lurking in my chest at the moment, crying out for Joshua's head to delivered on a platter. We never got to learn, though, because a blast of something off to the right threw the van clear off the road, and us along with it. The machine bounced and crunched like a sardine can, coming to a stop only after completing a very convincing impersonation of a laundromat dryer on spin cycle. My mind was screaming at me a mile a minute, telling me to run like hell. They had found us, and we'd all been caught with our pants down way past the ankles!

I might have run in that moment. I would've left everyone behind just to get away, and it shames me now to remember that. I couldn't run, though, because I had no way of knowing which way was up. My sense of direction had been fucked over with a toilet brush! Everything was going black, and I realized too late that I was passing out.

The trouble was, this was the best sleep I'd had since this whole mess started!

Time ceased to exist for me. I had a wonderful dream in the blissful space of unconsciousness; my mom and dad were home as I came in from school. Joseph had come home early for Christmas, and we were all going to open presents early. Grandma had even stopped by, and she brought cookies, something I hadn't seen her do since she died when I was four. Gabriel was allowed to come over and sit with us. His parents had left him alone at his house.

Then the house got real cold. It was suddenly dark, and snow was falling outside the living room window. The snow then moved to the indoors, coating the furniture and coffee table in a thick, white blanket. I was standing there, wondering how I was going to clean all this up, when Joseph handed me a broom and dustpan. He was going out with his two girlfriends, a pair of siamese twins from Japan, and leaving me behind to do all the work.

I felt like Cinderella, having to sweep up while everyone else was going off to have a good time. Then, my fairy godmother showed up, only it was Gabriel again. He held open this thick book that smelled like an old corpse, and whispered something familiar I couldn't quiet recognize. He turned our dead dog into a carriage for me to ride in, so I could go pick up Nicole for the senior prom. She and I were nominated for king and queen, so we had to be there. Only, the carriage looked more like a hearse from that Headless Horseman movie, and the horses drawing it were skeletons that breathed fire.

I was trying to explain to him how I couldn't pick up Nicole in that, when he told me that Joshua was taking her in my place, since I'd waited to long to ask her out. I was going to have to go with O-Ren instead. O-Ren, and her bazooka, which was currently leveled at my chest. She fired...

And I woke up.

Thank God!

"Glad to see you're awake," Nicole whispered to me from my left.

I tried to raise up, only to learn that somebody had strapped me to a table right out of Frankenstein's laboratory. I glanced over as far as I could to the left, and saw she'd been given the same royal treatment.

"How long was I out?" I asked her. My voice sounded weak, so I tried again.

Must sound more macho in these situations. The Man Code would not be violated!

"How long was I out?" I asked again.

"About an hour, I think," she said, looking worried. "You were moaning a lot in your sleep, and talking about something to do with a..."

I really hoped I hadn't been prolific. "I was having... a nightmare," I told her. "Nothing important. Just weird stuff that didn't make any sense."

I began to take note of my surroundings, if only to have something else to talk about. The room was circular, and filled to the brink with equipment that belonged on the set of Star Wars. Consoles practically made up the walls of the room, and there were blinking lights everywhere. I was suddenly very glad that I'd never seen the original footage of Pikachu's attack from that episode of Pokemon that gave all those elementary kids seizures, because it felt like one was on its way!

And I thought the bathroom light at my house had been bad!

"Where are we?" I wondered. "This looks like..."

"We're at my house," Nicole interrupted, sounding very embarassed. "At least, we're underneath it. My parents were the ones who staged the attack on the van. They brought some of the kids with them, in case we tried to fight back. Everyone was knocked out, though, so they brought us here until the rest of the Pride shows up."

"They told you all of this?"

Nicole looked, if possible, even more ashamed. "My mom," she mumbled, looking as far away from me as the neck apparatus would allow. "Likes to talk about her kids."

"The mutants?" I pressed, wanting to know more. "They take in mutants, right? Teach them how to control their powers."

"Not just to control them, obviously," she grumbled.

The door in front of us slid open. Nicole's mom walked in with a very calm expression on her face as she strolled right up to us, like we were sitting in her living room, and I was there to take Nicole on a date. I should have been so lucky!

Then again, for all I knew, this really was Nicole's living room. She'd never invited me over before, so it was possible!

"Well, young lady," Diane said. I could hear a lecture coming already. "You've managed to cause quite a stir this time! Always trying to get our attention, when there was never any need to start with."

"It's your own fault," Nicole replied, bravely. "You used to tell me all the time, 'Well-behaved women rarely make history.'"

"You read that off a coffee mug in Earthbound, dear," she responded, checking one of the monitors nearby. "I used to tell you to brush your hair every night before you go to bed, or else you'd wind up with split ends."

"You got it wrong, then. My hair is flawless!"

Diane promptly strode over and took hold of a lock of her daughter's hair, then narrowed her eyes disapprovingly. "You really need to use conditioner," she scolded. "It would help bring out the natural highlights so much better."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Could we please cut the crap, mother?!"

I was having a hard time believing this conversation myself. It sounded like the sort of thing you'd read in comic books, except that Miguel read more of those than I ever would. Diane took Nicole by the chin and dragged her face towards her. Their eyes met, and I could honestly feel the anger burning from Nicole towards her.

"You took my powers from me," she hissed, bitterly. "You told me for years that I was a flatscan! Do either of you have any idea what it was like living here with you? Everyday was like being in a prison! All the kids used to make fun of me behind my back, calling me all sorts of names! I hated it, and I hate you!"

Diane sighed. "Try not to be so dramatic, dear. It's not becoming of you! And I should think your old friend from your junior high school days would know more about prison life than you do. Your father and I thought we'd seen the end of your rebellious days. We both knew he was going to be trouble."

"Don't talk about him!" she shrilled, fighting to get loose. "And what have you done with Joshua?"

I really didn't want to hear this part. "He's safe," Diane assured her, checking her daughter's vital signs. "If you're good, we might even allow you to visit for a little bit. After we've confirmed a few things about him."

"Like whether he's a mutant?" she challenged. "If he is, will that help him live longer? Or, is dad going to give his brain a lobotomy like the rest of the Pride wants to do with us?"

Diane looked at her. "Your father means well," she said, stiffly. "He doesn't want to harm any of you more than necessity requires. I..."

"He's cheating on you, you know."

The bomb came from out of nowhere so abruptly, I wasn't sure I'd heard her right. Diane's face narrowed dangerously, but it wasn't enough to stop Nicole. She was raised up off the table with a look of such rage that it shocked me to my core. I'd never imagined I would live to see that sort of look on her face.

"I know," Nicole went on. "I overheard one of the cheerleaders talking about it. She just couldn't shut her mouth up about all the things dad had done to her in his office at school! She was bragging that she'd never have to worry about getting expelled, or failing a class, so long as she kept her legs spread for him! Why do you think I was sent home that day for fighting? I must've knocked out two of her teeth with that punch!"

I'd never heard that!

"Marriage doesn't always turn out to be what you thought it would be," her mother whispered softly

Diane looked at Nicole for a long time, and I had the feeling she wasn't really aware of me being in the room anymore. This would have been an excellent time to come up with a daring, James Bond-like escape plan, and put it into action. One that cleverly involved me seducing Nicole into a fit of unbridled passion the moment we were both free, of course! My mind, however, was drawing a total blank. I wasn't even coming up with one that didn't have kinky sex in it at any point in time, in fact!

It was becoming remarkably clear why Nicole had preferred Joshua to me all those years ago. I was surprised my older brother hadn't snatched her up as one of his conquests, but then, she was probably too young for his tastes. I was doing such a good job of feeling sorry for myself that it didn't entirely register when Nicole's shoes exploded right out from under her. The table rocked right off it's foundations, and sent her flying back into a wall behind us. There was a shower of sparks, the smell of smoke, and Diane screaming at the top of her lungs in fear. Then, the sound of flesh hitting bone filled the air, and Nicole's mother came sprawling back into my line of sight, staggering like she'd been decked by a prize fighter off of Ultimate Championship Fighters.

My mouth dropped open as Nicole came back into view, clutching her right hand in pain as she undid the straps that held me down. "Did you just..." I stammered, pointing to where her mother was now lying motionless. "I mean..."

"Later!" she said, looking around desperately. "We need to find the others and get out of here! Do you know where my bag of tricks is?"

I looked, but didn't see it. "They must've put it somewhere else," I said, apologetically. "What... how were you able to get loose like that?"

"Jackrabbit sneakers," she said, absentmindedly. "Another one of Jeff's little toys. Where could they have taken the others?"

"Just how much stuff did you take from his basement?!"

"The basement," she repeated, and I knew she wasn't paying attention to me anymore. "We're in the basement right now. This is the medical room, and there are four more on this level. They would've put all of us here, since the Negation Room only works on mutants with the X-gene. Which means the others are probably on this floor!"

I followed after her, noticing as I did that my staff and jet hoverboard were missing, as well. It sounded stupid, but I felt very naked without either of them with me. They were my only real source of power, not that I'd proven really capable with either of them. It was just as well that Joseph and I hadn't gotten into it back at the bank. He'd have wiped the floor with me, and that alone would've been bad enough. Having all my friends plus Nicole there to witness my humiliating defeat...

I was really in the mood for a pity party by the time we found the others. O-Ren and Gabriel were strapped down the same way she and I had been. It took just a few seconds to free them, but neither knew where our gear had been taken to.

"I slipped the boots on before they got to the van," Nicole explained. "There wasn't enough time to take out anything else, and I figured they'd have me searched before we all got here. My parents couldn't have taken any of it very far. The trouble is, there's plenty of rooms down here that could hold stuff like that, and we don't have time to search them all! They're going to come looking for us soon."

An alarm sounded, which could only mean one thing. "They're looking for us," I said, flatly.

"Right," she nodded. "We need to move fast. Finding the others is our top priority!"

I tried to tell myself that her concern had nothing to do with Joshua being here with us, but the memory of the way she looked when he'd told her that he loved her kept flashing in front of my eyes. I was loosing focus rapidly, and that wasn't a good sign. We were all in the most danger we'd come across since first running away from home. There was no time to worry about my own personal hang-ups. I resolved from that moment on to keep my head in the game, and not spend anymore time getting distracted. Mistakes like freaking in the middle of a shoot-out back at the bank weren't an option from this point on.

I would have to be strong, no matter what the consequences!

I came into the room where Miguel and Joshua were being held first. There was about a split-second pause where my brain registered that something wasn't quite right. I saw Miguel lying unconscious at Joshua's feet. Neither of them were strapped down on the tables, but there was blood all over Joshua's wrists. He was also holding what looked like O-Ren's metamorph gun, and had it pointed at me. Then, blue lightning came flying out of it, and I was lifted up off the floor into the air.

"Joshua!" Nicole screamed, somewhere off in the distance. This was going to be the second time in less than an hour that I'd passed out, which was completely unacceptable! I gathered together every last ounce of will in my body, and forced myself to remain awake. I could at least watch what was happening!

Which, as I thought about it, could only be worse than loosing my grip on reality and missing the whole entire nightmare.

Man, I really had some fucked up reasoning.

Joshua had aimed the gun at everyone else, meanwhile, and was laughing the entire time. I got the suspicion then that this whole story about being on the run from the Pride, and robbing a bank for money to escape them had been one bold-faced lie. What he said next didn't help discourage my little conspiracy theory, either.

"Shit, I really had you all played out like a harp, didn't I?!"

Nicole didn't look very happy from my position near the table. "You lied to me," she stated, painfully. "Again! All this time, all that crap about being sent away because you knew too much, and being kept in a place were bad things were happening..."

"First rule of lying," he interrupted, holding up a finger. "The best way to lie is to let other people do the talking for you! And always give a little bit of the truth, if you can. That makes it all the more believeable!"

"You undeniable bastard!" O-Ren spat. I was finding myself agreeing with her more and more lately. "You had us all believing that..."

"That you're stupid little story about supervillian parents concerned me one bit? Please! I might not know what exactly is going on here, but even a place as fucked up as this can't convince me that something as idiotic as a group of allied villains controlling Meridian. Just what sort of moron do you take me for?"

"I'm glad that's a retorical question."

"Shut the fuck up!" Joshua barked, and I could tell he was aiming the gun at Gabriel now. I tried getting back up, I really did, but my body just didn't want to move the way it was supposed to. I was going to die here, but first I'd have the pleasure of knowing that I let my friends down first. I was being allowed to watch as someone I'd foolishly trusted murdered us all! When it came to stupid moves, I really could take the cake.

Miguel was stirring not far away. I saw the flicker of movement out the corner of my eye, and realized he was raising his hand up ever so slightly. The fingers were pointed at Joshua's backside; he couldn't see what was happening. I really didn't know what was about to happen either, but there was a gleam of determinatin I'd never witnessed before in Miguel's eyes. He opened his mouth as his hand began to tremble, and something made Joshua whirl around. There wasn't enough time for him to raise the gun up and fire, though. Miguel was two steps ahead of him.

"Flame on," he whispered, weakly.

Fire exploded outward, and I mean it when I say that it burned! All the air in the room suddenly became unbreathable. Everyone was coughing and gasping like they'd been hit with poisonous gas, but it was really just the flames coming from Miguel's outstretched hand. I mean, they really were that hot!

Joshua took the entire brunt of it. His body was caught up in a miniature storm of white-hot fury that send the gun flying out from his hands. O-Ren caught it in mid-air, but then dropped it in the next second, crying out in pain. The metamorph gun wasn't damaged in the slightest bit, but the metal had become super-hot, apparently. Joshua, meanwhile, was stumbling all over the place, knocking things off and setting the whole room ablaze. Alarms were flashing left and right, setting off the sprinkler system. Everyone took cover as Joshua came back towards them, still on fire despite the water raining down on us all now.

Miguel's hand fell to the floor in a puddle that formed directly beneath it. His eyes closed as his breathing became shallow; his last heroic act before passing out had been an attempt to save us all. I felt a sudden gratitude fill me as my mind was flooded with memories of how much I'd disliked him before. It seems I'd been too quick to judge.

All of this happened within the space of a few seconds. My mind was either racing to keep up with it all, or slowing everything down so that it could process the important parts. I looked over at Joshua, who was still burning nearby. The sprinkler system had made the fires die down, but they were far from put out yet. Parts of his body had been burned all the way down to the bone, leaving areas I never wanted to see exposed to air. It didn't seem to have slowed him down any, however. In fact, Joshua looked very far from death's door at the moment. He was bearing down on all of us with a crazed, manic look in what was left of his one good eye.

I nearly threw up.

"You think something like this can stop me!?" he howled, tossing his head back up at the ceiling. "You don't know what those monsters did to all of us. Can't you tell by now that I can't die. I can feel it growing inside of me, just like the others. They did the same thing to them, and soon, it's going to come out of us. I won't even be me anymore, so none of this matters! Do you fucking hear me?!"

"NONE OF THIS MATTERS!"

Joshua's body lurched, and I thought perhaps that I'd begun hallucinating from the last couple of days. It should have occured to me that something along those lines would be far too simple. Our lives were much more complicated than that! Wings sprouted out of his back, and I'm talking about the ones that come from insects. So did these long feeler-type thingies that made this horrible clicking sound. I was suddenly wishing that I could just pass out, or begin hallucinating.

His whole body changed, then. Joshua was gone, and in his place stood this grotesque monster-insect from outer space! I don't know what made me think that, other than my mind not wanting to believe that anything this horrible could live on earth! It kept right on making that clicking sound as it strode over to where Nicole was laying. She screamed as it picked her up off the ground effortlessly, and that one act kicked my body into high gear. Nothing was going to hurt her so long as I was still breathing. I stood up, swaying a little, but able to walk. The thing must've heard me coming, though, and whirled around to meet me charging it with a raised claw.

I was sent flying across the room, but got right back up. There was still life in me, and that meant I could do at least one thing right tonight! The creature was tough, and it's outer layer of skin felt like armor. If it really was like other insects, then that meant...

That meant I should've paid more attention in biology. I tried tackling it again, if only to make it drop Nicole, but that was a no-go. I was thrown back again, and this time it hurt a lot more. I had maybe one more good one left, and then it would be lights out again. I had to make it count, for all our sakes. Something told me that thing wouldn't stop with her, but she would've been more than enough! I braced myself , ready to give this last one my all, but someone beat me to it.

An ugly green and yellowish cloud surrounded the creature, filling the room with a putrid stench that would've put the locker room toilets in our gym class to shame by a mile! The cloud concentrated itself on the monster, who howled in pain and let go of Nicole at once. I looked over and found Gabriel crouched low to the ground. The book was open in front of him, and he had both arms out, casting a chant.

The creature stumbled backwards, and Gab took the initative. Doing a cool sort of rolling crouch, he tumbled forward to where O-Ren's metamorph gun still lay, and snatched the thing up. If the metal was still hot, he gave no sign of it. Switching it to a form I'd never seen before, he opened fire on the thing with all his might. The monster was thrown back into the wall with a sickening crunch. The sound made me shudder involuntarily, but Gabriel kept right on firing. He unloaded every last bit of power that thing carried, until the gun made a sort of pitiful whine and shut down. By that point, there wasn't much left but a disgusting smear on the wall, and twitching parts scatter all about near it.

I did not throw up. At the very least, I would not throw up!

Damn it!

"You saved me," Nicole said. She actually sounded like your typical anime-heroine after the mysterious hero comes charging in to the rescue. I wished then that the monster could've at least done the courtesy of devouring my body whole so that I didn't have to hear this. The night couldn't possibly get any worse! I challenged fate then and there to try and come up with something more heart-wrenching than this moment.

Which was probably not a smart idea.

"What was... that?" she gestured, waving at the air with one hand while the other pinched her nose tightly.

"Noxious Cloud," he said, looking embarassed. "Sorry about that, but it was the only think I could think of that might work. Insects are sensitive to smells, so I figured a spell to affect it's sense of..."

"They aren't the only ones!" O-Ren cut in, taking the gun from him. "Damn! This room smells horrible. Let's just get out of here!"

"Good idea," she said. "Someone will have to help carry Miguel, though."

"I'll do it," I said. O-Ren silently walked over to help me; her gun was of no use to her, so she slung it over her should haphazardly and grabbed Miguel's other arm.

"He's heavy," she noted, struggling with his weight. "No more candy bars for him!"

"No more candy bars for all of us," Nicole said, proudly. "The money is still here in this sack! And so is all the rest of our gear. We can finally get out of here!"

"We need to find Scooby," Gabriel said, then added quietly, "Please. I don't want to leave without him."

"Can't you call him to you?" Nicole suggested. "I mean, I guessed that there's some kind of magickal connection between the two of you, since you were the one who said the spell that raised him."

Gabriel looked up at her thoughtfully, then closed his eyes in concentration. There was this horrible crashing noise, like the sound of metal scraping against metal over and over again. Something came crashing to the ground out in the hallway, and a whole new set of alarms went off. Seconds later, Scooby was waiting expectantly in the doorway, as if waiting for us to follow him.

"I think he wants us to follow him," Gabriel said, out loud. "He might know a way out of here."

"How?" O-Ren wondered, stumbling to where I had to catch her, which made us both drop Miguel.

"I hope he doesn't remember that!" I said, sadly. "He did try to save us, after all."

"And nearly burned us all to death!" It would seem that O-Ren was getting back to her old self. Her eyes met Nicole's for a moment, and she actually turned pink a little.

"Thanks," O-Ren mumbled, picking Miguel up off the floor. "For stopping to get me back there. I wasn't sure at first... you know! If you guys were really going to leave me behind or not. Especially after what I said, and all."

"We're in this together," Nicole said, putting an arm around her friend reassuringly. "We don't leave one of our own behind."

"Unless they turn out to be murdering insects in disguise!" I added, then turned serious. "Sorry about that. I know it's a lame way of putting it, but you were right to want to leave him behind. None of this would've happened if I hadn't..."

"Forget it!" she replied, shaking her head. "It was the right thing to do at the time. We have to keep remembering things like that, or we'll just wind up being as bad as our parents are. Doing the right thing should never be a mistake, okay?"

I smiled, but wasn't feeling up to it. "Thanks."

Scooby led Gabriel and the rest of us to a hanger. Nicole wasn't surprised to see one there, but swore she'd never known a place like this existed underneath her house. There were several different types of vehicles just waiting there for the taking, but we quickly settled on the jeep. It was big enough for all of us, and could travel off road without needing all new shocks afterwards. Since our resident mechanic was still out from doing his impersonation of a firefly, that seemed especially important.

Unsurprisingly, O-Ren was able to hotwire this vehicle, too! We all made it back in one piece. It was a long trip home, since Nicole's house was actually pretty far out in the more rual area of the city. She made us take several detours to shake off anyone that might be following us, and took the jeep all the way to the other side of town away from the Arcade so O-Ren could dismantle the GPS tracker, and every other device not crucial to it running. I was at last able to do something useful by pointing out that we could stash the jeep in the unused garage where they once housed all the go-carts. Getting it through the fence wasn't easy, but it was all worth it the minute Nicole smiled at me and said that it was a brilliant idea.

That alone made me feel like I hadn't been a total screw-up.

I went to bed the moment we got settled in. The adrenaline had staved off my hunger for the moment, and I pleaded to be excused from any further discussions on what the money might be used for until morning. Nobody complained; I think they were just as exhaused it. It was the darnedest thing, but I had another dream after I fell asleep that night. I was somehow back at the base underneath Nicole's house. Her mother was there, sporting a nasty bruise on the side of her face, along with Miguel's mother.

"We studied the analysis your husband sent to us," she said, looking grim. "The news isn't good."

"I suspected it wouldn't be," Diane replied. "The question remains, how bad is it?"

Miguel's mother paused. "Do you know anything at all about the Brood? They are among the most foul of all beings that inhabit the universe. Even some of the most despited and hated races across the galaxy consider them the worst of the worst. They are a parasitic race, respawning by inserting an insect-like fetus into a host. The parasite feeds off it's victim, who remains largely unaware of what is in store for it. Once it has been sufficently nurished, the Brood spawn takes over it's host's DNA completely, leaving nothing behind. I understand... that the experience is quite gruesome, even for those that witness such an even."

"Are you suggesting," a voice said from behind them, and I somehow was able to see that it was Gabriel's mom.

"Are you suggesting," she said again, more firmly. "That our children were able to take down a being such as that by themselves?"

"The cameras were damaged by the host, as she put it," Diane said, pointing to Miguel's mom. "Before the fight really even began. Her son was injured, but it didn't appear too serious. The Brood, however, was completely decimated, so I would have to wager a guess that... Yes, they did!"

Silence filled the room. Each woman looked over to the next, and something began to fill the air between them. An odd sort of smile covered each face one after the other, until all three women were looking at one another with an impossible grin on their face.

"You feel it too, don't you?" said Gabriel's mother, joyously.

"Indeed, I do," Diane answered, her eyes shining with excitement. "Pride!"

Pride?!