HELL IS FOR CHILDREN

Part II

By Wesley Overhults

Bronson Canyon, Los Angeles, Earth-171

“This place is a mess,” stated Sandman, looking at the remains of what was once the original Hostel, the hideout of the group known as the Runaways.

At this point, the Hostel was nothing but a pile of rubble thanks to what looked like a cave-in of some kind. Wasp and Sandman looked around before exiting what was basically a hole in the ground and returning to the surface. It was obvious that no one lived in the hideout anymore so it was pointless to continue looking for clues. Sandman used the temporary telepathy given to the team by Sister Grimm to get a status report from the other two teams. No one was turning up anything.

“You know how kids are,” reminded Wasp. “We suck at picking up after ourselves.”

Sandman smirked and nodded his head. He was catching more through the telepathy than he necessarily wanted to know. Daredevil and Sister Grimm were thinking some very private thoughts but the emotions coming from Wasp’s mind weren’t exactly helping matters. Sandman didn’t want to get involved in personal entanglements, especially given the nature of their lives at this point. Still, he couldn’t exactly blame Kate for wanting to share her life with someone.

“You and Osborn are pretty chummy,” he noted cautiously.

“We’re just friends,” she clarified, knowing exactly where he would go with what was intended as a casual remark. “I know what you’re thinking, literally, and it’s not like that.”

“We got trouble,” realized Sandman.

“I told you it’s nothing,” repeated Wasp.

“No, we have trouble,” stated Sandman.

Both of them looked up in the sky as what looked like demented fireflies soared through the air and then landed before them. Now that they were closer, both Exiles could see that they were people or at least they were humanoid in form. They glowed with ethereal light, each of them a miniature aurora borealis.

“My name is Karolina Dean,” stated Starshine. “I represent our home world of Majesdane as well as The Pride. You’ve been targeted by The Pride for death and we’re here to carry out that order.”

“Great, I was getting bored just hanging around,” said Sandman ruefully, cracking his knuckles as the Majesdanian warriors took flight and circled the two Exiles.

The La Brea Tar Pits

Goblin and Daredevil both looked around the rather spacious cavern hidden under the La Brea Tar Pits that the Runaways had once called home. The place looked intact though it looked as though no one had used it in years. Every piece of furniture sported a nice coat of dust that told the duo the hideout had been abandoned by its former residents. Whatever they were looking for, they weren’t going to find it here.

“Better tell the others this place is a bust,” said Goblin. “People obviously haven’t lived here in years.”

“Gives us an excuse to poke through their stuff,” reminded Daredevil. “Maybe learn a little bit more about who we’re up against.”

“You just want to go through your girlfriend’s underwear drawer,” replied Goblin with a smirk. “Try not to think too loudly either. That temporary telepathy works for all of us and I for one don’t want to be a part of you psychically talking dirty to her.”

“Might as well have a little fun while it lasts,” joked Daredevil, absently fiddling with the various knick-knacks he found lying around the old Hostel. “Wow, vintage copy of Monopoly over here. Somebody must’ve been a serious board game fan.”

“Kids definitely lived here,” noted Goblin, surveying what he assumed was the common room and noting that even when people did live there they probably didn’t clean it regularly.

“Nico and Paige are in trouble,” realized Daredevil, the telepathy keeping them up to date on the situation in Malibu.

“I know,” replied Goblin, turning his attention to his teammate. “We need to get there to back them up but they’re pretty far out. Seems like Wasp and Sandman ran into something too.”

Both Exiles clutched their heads for a moment as their temporary telepathy suddenly vanished. They looked at each other and realized that meant one of two things. Either the time frame on Nico’s spell had expired or, more likely, something had happened to Nico.

“We need to get over there,” stated Daredevil.

“On it,” confirmed Goblin, grabbing him by the wrist and floating into the air.

“Wait, I got something,” warned Daredevil. He tuned his eyes and ears to what his danger-sense was telling him. Someone or something else was in this place with them.

“Could be more toys from Stein,” decided Goblin, landing and readying himself for combat. “If the others are having trouble, it stands to reason he would send something after us.”

A clicking noise emanated from the hallway and came towards the two Exiles at a frighteningly fast pace. Something growled at them and then lunged from its hiding place. Daredevil flipped over the beast and popped it in the back of the skull with one of his d-discs. The dinosaur roared and leapt, meeting Daredevil in the air and taking him to the floor of the cavern. Goblin jumped onto the thing’s back and it gave Daredevil the moment he needed to slide himself out from under it.

“What the hell is this thing?” asked Goblin, wrestling with Old Lace before the dinosaur threw him across the floor.

“A refugee from Jurassic Park,” replied Daredevil, telescoping out his batons and readying himself for a fight.

Old Lace looked in Daredevil’s direction and sniffed. She gingerly approached Daredevil and lowered her head, sniffing his fingertips and nuzzling his hand affectionately. Daredevil quizzically looked at his teammate as Harry picked himself back up to his feet and studied the scene before him. Johnny turned back to his new pet and audibly gulped.

“It smells Nico on you,” explained Goblin.

“I’m not sure if I should resent that implication or not,” replied Daredevil. “Seriously, Osborn, what the hell do I do with this thing?”

“Dad never let me have a pet,” commented Goblin but it seemed that Old Lace had her own ideas about what to do.

Daredevil and Goblin both looked at each other as Old Lace moved towards a hallway and then turned back, canting her head in that direction as if indicating that they should follow her. Both men shrugged at each other and then obeyed their silent orders. Old Lace led them through the twisting halls of the cavern until they came to a room that looked more like a workshop than a room someone could call home. Old Lace seemed to know her way around the room though because she moved straight to a workbench and then whined at the metallic orb that rested on it.

“Right, little Timmy’s trapped in a well,” joked Daredevil after picking up the contraption. “What’s this doo-dad supposed to do?”

The next few seconds answered Johnny’s question as the orb lit up and he accidentally dropped it out of surprise. The thing rolled before coming to a stop and emitting a beam of light from its top. The beam turned into a holographic image of a bespectacled, pudgy girl with purple hair. She adjusted her glasses and then checked something out of the image’s range, almost as if she was adjusting the position of a camera.

“If you’re watching this then it means I’m probably dead,” explained the video recording. “My name is Gertrude Yorkes and I’m a member of the Runaways. Please, don’t get all gushy on me. Chances are that none of us are that famous and we’re probably all dead. Anyways, I don’t have much time before whatever happens next. The others don’t know it but something’s coming. I managed to sneak a peek at that copy of The Abstract that Alex still carries around. A cyborg named Victor Mancha is going to kill a lot of people of the underwear pervert variety, including us.”

“Anybody up for popcorn?” inquired Daredevil. “Candy? Soda?”

“Shut up and watch,” ordered Goblin.

“That’s not the worse part,” continued the holographic Gert. “A couple years ago when we confronted our parents, Nico outed herself as the mole inside our group. I didn’t wanna believe it because she was my best friend. Turns out she wasn’t the real threat. Alex was the real traitor and she got sucked in by him because she loved him. She took the fall for him and it took me two years to prove it. Problem is that none of it matters right now. Right now, we’re probably all going to die thanks to that crazy cyborg guy. If anyone finds this though, I thought they should know the truth. If we live through this, I’m calling Alex on his bullshit and we’re settling this. He’s going to screw us over again and I’m not going to let that happen to the rest of my friends.”

The recording ended and Old Lace whined once more. Both Exiles realized that whoever this Gertrude Yorkes was, she had been the dinosaur’s owner. It also answered the question of what happened in this reality to cause the Runaways to hate Nico so much. However, their hatred was obviously misplaced because the person they should really be angry at was Alex Wilder.

“We don’t have time to deal with this,” decided Daredevil. “Nico is in trouble or worse. We need to get to Malibu and back them up.”

“If they didn’t kill her then they took to wherever their base of operations is,” reminded Goblin. “We have no way of knowing where that is because obviously they’re not thinking true to form and our resident expert is in their custody.”

“Then we can use this thing to find her,” said Daredevil, looking to Old Lace. “It knows her scent, maybe it can track her down.”

“And what do we do when we get there?” asked Goblin skeptically. “These guys have been two steps ahead of us already. You don’t think they’re waiting for us to show up on their doorstep trying to rescue the others?”

“We need some firepower then,” declared Daredevil. “What did these kids use for weaponry or transportation or whatever?”

Old Lace’s attention perked up and she scampered towards a slab of metal that looked like a doorway. Daredevil followed suit and tried to open the rusty door with no success. Goblin motioned for Daredevil to stand back before punching a hole through the door and using it to rip the thing off its hinges. The two Exiles entered what looked like a hangar and came face to face with what looked like a giant, mechanical frog.

“Some kind of vehicle?” wondered Goblin aloud as he stared at the Leapfrog.

“Works for me,” replied Daredevil. “C’mon, let’s go save the day.”

Sierra Towers, West Hollywood

“I’m always amazed at what you’re capable of.”

Machine Man turned his attention to his companion, noting the compliment before refocusing his attention back to the monitor bank. The cable sticking out of his head connected him to the monitors, allowing him to beam the video and audio signals he received from his drones into the screens so everyone else present could see what he saw.

“Kay and her crew look like they have everything under control,” assessed Machine Man. “Molly and those new drones should be coming home any minute now. I took another look at those chronal signatures. Nico’s carrying something that’s giving off a crazy energy sig. I have a feeling it’s just what we need.”

“Can you isolate the signature and replicate it?” inquired Alex.

“Won’t know until I take a look up close and personal,” responded Chase. He clicked a button on a console and opened up the doors on the ground floor so Molly and the drones could return with Sister Grimm and Husk.

“It feels weird seeing her after all these years,” admitted Alex, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and watching Bruiser return with her prizes.

“I wouldn’t know,” responded Machine Man gravely.

“I always thought you and her had a thing,” commented Alex.

“I’m with Karolina now,” noted the android though really Chase wasn’t “with” anyone.

Alex nodded to himself before leaving the monitor room and walking down the hall. Everything was proceeding according to plan. Chase would give him the chronal signature he needed and once that was finished the device would be complete. Los Angeles was only the smallest tip of the iceberg. Alex was playing for much bigger stakes. Once the device was complete, Alex and the rest of The Pride could hold the entire world hostage as well as other worlds. They could move from reality to reality with ease and they would conquer wherever they went. The Pride would become bigger than their parents, better than any other criminal group could ever be.

“No trouble?” he asked as the youngest member of The Pride finished securing Sister Grimm to a chair.

“Nopers,” replied Bruiser. “I got that other girl too. I thought maybe you guys would need her or something.”

“Maybe,” he relented. “If not, I’m sure you can find something to do with her.”

“Whatevers,” replied Molly, shrugging after finishing her task and then running off to play with her new toy.

Sister Grimm stirred groggily and blinked. She felt like she had been hit by a truck but she had a feeling that was only the beginning. It took her a moment to orient herself and recollect her thoughts. She was in Los Angeles but this was a different LA than the one she grew up in. Bouncing around realities always left you with a disoriented feeling. She looked up from her seat and saw Alex Wilder looking back at her. Seeing his face brought up a host of conflicting emotions in her and she noticed that he had the same reaction upon seeing her. In her reality, Alex was the one who had betrayed the Runaways, her most of all because she was in love with him.

“You haven’t changed,” commented Alex. “Last time I saw you, you got incinerated by the Gibborim. How did you magic your way out of it, Nico?”

“I’m not the same Nico you knew,” she explained. “I tried to tell that to Molly but she wouldn’t listen. What the hell is going on, Alex? What did you do to my friends?”

“I didn’t do anything,” he retorted. “You betrayed us to our parents, Nico. I’m the one who managed to save the team and I’ve been trying to keep them together ever since. The world is what happened to us, Nico. We all had to grow up some time.”

“Not like this,” countered Sister Grimm, struggling to get herself out of the clamps that kept her in her seat. “You really think this is going to hold me here? I can be out of this chair in two seconds and I can kick your ass in three.”

“You’ll find those cuffs are designed to negate your magical abilities,” noted Alex. “Chase has turned into quite the technological wizard. I’m constantly finding new and interesting things for him to build me. Speaking of which, that’s where you come in. I need something from you.”

“Something tells me I won’t like it,” she admitted, realizing that he was speaking the truth. She tried to summon her magical powers but nothing was happening.

“If you’re from a different reality then you must have something that’s keeping you here,” explained Alex. “I’d like to study it. I think it’s just the thing Chase and I have been looking for.”

He looked at her wrist and noticed the charm bracelet. It wasn’t exactly her style with the bright blue orbs dangling from it. He assumed that the bracelet was the device he wanted to look at. She noticed him looking at it and looked to it herself. The Tallus couldn’t be removed, not by anything or anyone. She knew that from personal experience.

“It’s called the Tallus,” she told him. “You want it? Why don’t you try to take it off me?”

Alex ran his hands along the bracelet in an attempt to find a clasp or lock he could trip to release it from Nico’s wrist. He came up empty-handed, however, because he soon realized there was no such clasp. Alex resorted to pulling on it but it wouldn’t budge an inch.

“Guess we’ll have to go with more drastic measures,” he decided. “Chase will be here in a few minutes. You’ll find him less ‘forgiving’ than I am.”

“It’s funny how no matter how many worlds you go to, some things are still the same,” retorted Nico. “I loved you, Alex. Why would you do this to us? Why would you do this to the only family you have left?”

“I’m not the bad guy,” promised Alex before leaving the room.

“Not from where I’m sitting,” shot back Sister Grimm.

Nico struggled against her bonds but she knew without the use of her magical abilities she was helpless. She tugged and strained but she couldn’t gain even an ounce of freedom. It was then that the door opened and someone else entered the room. Nico gasped as she saw the cybernetic body of Chase Stein, the liquid-like nanotech undulating as if it was alive. Machine Man flowed into the room with effortless ease.

“Interesting fashion statement,” he told Nico, studying the Tallus with his electronic eyes and seeing the chronal energy it gave off. “I would love nothing more than to get that thing in my lab and see what makes it tick. Funny thing, I could say the same about you.”

“Chase, you have to listen,” pleaded Sister Grimm. “You know I’m not from this reality. You have to understand that things went horribly wrong in this world. That’s why I’m here. I’m here to fix it, Chase. Whatever you guys think you’re doing, Alex is going to betray you. He did it in my world and he’ll do it in this one.”

“You’re the only traitor I see,” stated Chase. “It was you, Nico. You were the one who sold us out to our ‘rents and those ugly-ass giant things. So do both of us a favor and please try not to scream if I ‘accidentally’ slip with one of these things. I don’t want to hear anymore pathetic whining.”

Nico gulped as a drill protruded from each of Chase’s fingertips. With the look he had in his eyes, she fully believed that he would saw her arm off if it meant getting his hands on the Tallus.

“You better use your power if you don’t want me to rip it off for reals,” admonished Bruiser, her fingers grazing along Husk’s exposed skin before pressing firmly and scrapping against it.

Paige only nodded and shut her eyes, using her powers to let Molly shed her skin and reveal the diamond underneath. Bruiser clapped with glee after peeling away all of Paige’s skin. Husk struggled against the metal cables Molly had used to bind her wrists together and hang her from the ceiling of the room. She had no idea what the younger girl had in mind but she had already taken one shot from Molly and that was enough for anyone.

“You shouldn’t have called me a kid,” reminded Bruiser, checking the cable that held Husk’s ankles together so she couldn’t kick. “I really hate it when people do that.”

Molly took a shot at Paige’s exposed ribs, using all her super strength and actually putting a dent in her skin. Husk felt a slight hitch in her breath and realized she probably had a cracked rib or worse. Her skin was diamond but that didn’t mean the rest of her body was as durable. Bruiser took a couple more shots, putting up her hands like a boxer and making it obvious that she intended to use Husk as the punching bag.

“It’s what ya are,” rasped Husk in response. “Ah don’t know what happened ta ya but yer still young. Ya don’t hafta do this.”

“Everyone thinks they know me so well,” snarled Molly, punctuating her sentence with a punch. “My parents died when I was eleven years old after I found out they worked for evil giants who ate people’s souls. Am I still a kid now?”

She ended her question with a vicious cross to Husk’s jaw. Paige took the blow and then looked at Molly with pity and sympathy in her eyes. She lost her father when she was younger than Molly so she knew what that was like. She wasn’t that much older than Molly, only a couple of years in fact. It was easy for the Kentucky-born Exile to understand where the youngest Pride member was coming from.

“Ah lost mah Daddy when Ah was younger than that,” admitted Husk. “Yer folks were bad people but they musta loved ya. Trust me, Ah get that too.”

“You still have your mom,” countered Bruiser.

“Maybe if Ah’m lucky and Ah get home,” replied Husk. “Ya don’t wanna be a kid anymore? Fine then, Ah’ll tell it to ya straight like an adult. Whatever yer doin’ is wrong. It’s wrong and deep down ya know it is.”

Husk could sympathize with Molly. Emma Frost wasn’t just Paige’s teacher, she was also a second mother to her. Paige wanted to be like Emma Frost but the more she thought about it, the more she wondered whether or not that was a good thing. She remembered what her brother had told her when she got to meet an alternate version of him. She was a good person deep down but somehow she had turned into someone that she didn’t recognize anymore, that her family couldn’t recognize. When was the last time she had been home to see her family ever since she went to Massachusetts? A few months, maybe almost a year?

“I dunno what to do,” confessed Molly, hitting Husk with a quick combination of punches and sighing deeply.

Husk winced from the blows and tried to figure out how she could get out of her current situation. She flexed against her bonds but found that she was tied too tightly to break free. Until she could do so, she would be at Molly’s mercy until the younger girl either killed her or simply got tired of her and turned her attention to something else. Paige’s best option at this point was to keep the girl preoccupied with her moral crisis until an opportunity for escape presented itself. She just hoped she didn’t get herself killed while waiting for said opportunity.

“Gotta do what ya think is right,” said Husk. “Trust me, adults are just as clueless as kids when it comes ta that.”

“They’re my family,” explained Molly. “I trust them and I love them.”

“Don’t mean ya gotta agree with ’em all tha time,” countered Husk. “Ya gotta be yer own gal sometime, Molly.”

Molly sighed again and sat down in front of Husk on the floor, curling her knees up and resting her chin on them. She felt like her heart was pulling her in two different directions. She loved her friends because they were the only ones who were there for her but now . . . now everything was falling apart. Her friends were turning into something else, something darker, and she had a choice to make. Did she want to merrily march to Hell with them or did she want to be a better person at the risk of losing them forever?

“I wish I was a little kid again,” she admitted, looking up at Husk. “I really wish things could go back to the way they were.”

“Can’t go back,” reminded Husk.

Bruiser nodded and got up from her seat. With effortless ease, she broke the metal cable keeping Husk suspended in the air Husk fell into Molly’s arms like a dead fish as the younger girl cradled her and cushioned her fall. She tore the cables off Husk’s wrists and ankles and then helped the Exile back to her feet.

“We’re going to get Nico,” she explained. “They just want whatever chronal thingy she has that keeps you guys here. Hopefully they haven’t hurt her.”

Bronson Canyon

Multi-colored streams of light pierced the darkness of the night. They wafted through the air under their own power, or more accurately under someone else’s power. The living beings of light known as Majesdanians flitted through the air like overgrown, demented fireflies. At the center of the swarm huddled two Exiles, battered and beaten from the attack of the rainbow-colored aliens. The group of alien refugees stood poised to finish the reality-hopping heroes off until the leader of the group gave them the signal to fall back and hold their positions.

“The humans are almost completely defeated, Lady Karolina,” stated one of the burlier men among the group, obviously one of their finer warriors.

“They’re stubborn creatures,” replied Starshine before gliding forward to the duo of Exiles. “I would offer you compassion but that’s not exactly how Majesdanians do things. Considering you want to harm the friends I’ve made on this planet, no such mercy will be given. I’ll let you say a few final words before my people and I release you from this life.”

“We never came up with a battle cry,” mumbled Wasp through her bloody lips, looking to Sandman with a rueful and defiant grin. “Exiles assemble maybe?”

“Too derivative,” replied Sandman. He looked up into the sky and realized he couldn’t see anything because of the smog canopy over the city. However, what he could see was something hurtling towards them at an astonishing rate. “I got one. Move!”

Starshine and her people looked up as well and saw whatever it was dropping out of the sky. Wasp and Sandman scrambled to one side of the circle as the entire ring of Majesdanians scattered. The Leapfrog came down with a thundering boom, sending shockwaves throughout the area. The Majesdanians wasted little time in sending concentrated beams of light at the amphibious vehicle but the blasts had little effect on the armored hide of the transport.

“Where the hell are the weapons on this thing?” asked Daredevil, looking to Goblin and then back to the unfamiliar control panel in front of him.

“I have no clue,” replied Goblin, fumbling with the buttons and switches. “I barely figured out how to pilot this thing.”

“Miss Dean and her friends seem quite angry with you,” commented a mechanical voice coming from the vehicle’s speaker system.

“What the hell?” asked Daredevil in confusion. “This thing talks?”

“Affirmative,” replied the Leapfrog. “Mr. Osborn was it? I believe it would be wise to activate my weapon systems now.”

“Do it then,” ordered Goblin.

The Leapfrog’s laser cannons came alive and returned fire against the Majesdanians. The fluorescent aliens scattered formation but continued strafing the giant machine to little avail. Sandman and Wasp realized that the safest place for them to be in order to recover was inside the Leapfrog itself. Wasp flitted into the air and made a beeline for the front cockpit while Sandman transformed into his sand form and slithered like a snake along the ground, hoping that there would be an entrance on the underside of the vehicle.

“These two are friends of yours?” inquired Leapfrog, referencing Wasp and Sandman.

“Yeah, they’re with us,” confirmed Goblin. “Open the doors and let them in. We need to get out of here.”

“What destination do you desire?” asked Leapfrog.

“Wait, who built you exactly?” asked Daredevil in return.

“Master Victor Stein and his wife Janet created me,” answered Leapfrog. “Since their unfortunate deletion, I have been in the service of Master Chase and his friends. I am . . . saddened that Master Chase and his friends have left me in such disrepair.”

“Can you find out where ‘Master Chase’ is now?” asked Goblin.

“Affirmative,” replied Leapfrog. “Master Chase and his friends are located at a building called Sierra Towers in West Hollywood.”

“I leave you two alone for five minutes and this is what you bring home?” joked Sandman, coming into the cockpit with Wasp on his heels.

“Thanks, ‘Dad’,” retorted Daredevil. “Can we get the hell out of here and get away from Miss Lite-Brite and her merry band of walking glow sticks?”

“Where these Runaways are, I’m betting that’s where the girls are,” said Sandman. “Tell this thing to get us there as fast as it can.”

Next Issue: The Exiles clash with The Pride as “Hell Is For Children” concludes!