Runaways:

War Machine

Chapter 5

Dirty Little Secret

by Ri-kun

What remained of the house was still smoldering as we sorted through the reckage of embers. I was doing my best to keep everything on the inside numb, feeling as little emotion as possible while we searched for a body. I refused to let my mind think any further than that; that we were looking for a body, any body, and not Nicole. My chest felt like it was going to burst open anytime my thoughts strayed too close to that. I wanted to fall over and scream, scream until my guts puked themselves out onto the ashes and wail up at the blackened sky about the unfairness of it all. We were just a bunch of stupid kids. None of this was our fault; we sure as hell hadn't asked for any of this.

Why the hell did she have to die?!

I couldn't look around to see how Gabriel was doing. I was too busy being wrapped up in my own little world of misery to care at the moment. He was my best friend; Nicole had chosen him over me, and I was blatantly turning out any hurt that might be coming from his end. It just confirmed the belief that I was a wretched excuse for a human being. Knowing all that didn't stop me from feeling sorry for myself and the situation I was in. If anything, it just added to it.

I could remember so much about her right now, with vivid clarity that's usually reserved for high-definition tvs! Nicole and the way she walked, her smile, her laugh, even the weird way she would drink soda. In-between all of this were the memories of what I overheard whenever she and Gabriel were screwing their brains out together. For some reason, the fact that I'd never laid a damn hand on her made all of this even worse. That should have been the final nail in my coffin, but being pissed that I never got a chance to screw my virginity away with her felt better than hurting on the inside.

No one was talking. Everyone else worked like we were at a funeral. Tonight might very well be just that, what with all the bombs and screaming going on in the distance. It sounded like the Sentinel robot was still giving the Pride a run for it's money. If something good came of this, it might be that our parents would be destroyed for us. Along with the entire city and who knew what else, but that was the silver lining, right?

Jeff stood off to the side by himself. He hadn't tried to run away so far, but none of us cared enough at the moment to keep a good eye on him. He could've dropped off the face of the earth for all I cared, but he was just standing there watching us. It made me sick how a useless, murdering pile of filth like him could still be breathing and the love of my life gone for good. Those seemed to be the breaks, though. No one cared if we were alive or dead! All that mattered was the Pride kept running things while hunting us down. If there was a God in heaven, I was past the point of believing he gave a shit about me.

"I found something," Gabriel called out a minute later.

Of course, he would have found something. His undead mutt, Scooby, had been sniffing around helping him look, so naturally he would be the one to find the first clue. What he held looked like some type of recorder device. I didn't recognize the model, but since this had been at one time the home of a time traveller, that proved to be a moot point.

"What's so special about that thing?" I asked. When everyone looked up at me, I realized what I just said must have sounded just as bad as it did to me, so I cleared my throat and apologized.

"Sorry, what have you got there?" I tried again.

"Some kind of recorder," Gabe told me, holding it out. "But the Seer Ring Nicole liked to use is duct taped to the top of it, see?"

I did see, and it made my throat tighten. "Do you know how it works?"

"Push the yellow button," Jeff called out from a distance. "That will play back any messages recorded on it in the last twelve hours."

I didn't thank him, though part of me wanted to. Taking it out of Gabriel's hands, I did as Jeff said and watched as the screen flickered to life. Everyone gathered around me to watch as Nicole's face came up on screen. She looked beautiful, even though at once I knew something was horribly wrong.

"Guys!" she gasped, as if in pain. "I'm so sorry about this. One of the Pride caught me in the parking lot as I was trying to leave. I tried fighting them off, but they hit me with some kind of spell. It must have done something to my brain, because everything after that is almost a blank. I remember some things, like him asking me questions about our home base. I tried not to, but something made me tell him!"

"Submission spell," Gabe whispered quietly.

"Everything is still a little fuzzy, but I've regained control of myself to act on my own again. They aren't watching me right now, but the Pride knows where we are. I've decided to take them out using a detonator device that was hidden in one of the walls. I found it weeks ago, and thought we could use it as part of a surgical strike. Forgive me, but if they use the data I've accumulated so far, all of you will be in danger! I've backed up everything I translated so far from the Abstract scroll onto this thing. Please use it, and stop our parents once and for all. I love you all..."

She paused then, a tear rolling down her face. "Thank you for being my friends. The best friends I've ever had!"

The screen went dark after that. I held the recorder in my hands for a moment as they began to shake uncontrollably. Everyone was looking straight at me; I could feel their eyes on me, but I didn't care. My ears still rang with the sound of Nicole's voice, with the pain I'd heard as she said her goodbyes.

"O-Ren," I whispered, not looking at her. "How much of a charge does your gun have left?"

She didn't answer me at first. "How much?" I asked again, quietly.

"Less than 2%," she said, uncertainly. "Basically, enough for one good shot. Nothing that powerful would make so much as a dent in the Sentinel robot, though."

"That's fine," I replied, holding my hand out. "Let me borrow it for a second, please?"

O-Ren silently turned her weapon over to me. I passed the recorder over to Gabriel, then flipped one of the orange switches all the way back. "Hold on to that thing for a minute, will you? I've got something to take care of right quick."

Jeff turned to look at me as I approached. "What happens to me now, soldier boy?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at me. "You've tried your hand at torture. Care to give me the details on how you liked it?"

"Was it worth it?" I asked, ignoring him.

"Hmmm?"

"Was it worth it?" I repeated, fighting the urge to smash his face in. "Being the Pride's little bitch for so long. You're a wanted crimminal in almost every timeline in existence. Everywhere you go, someone is waiting there to take you out. Am I wrong?"

"How did you guess that?" he inquired.

"I've seen your basement, remember? Who knows what else you've accomplished, jumping from one plane of reality to the next. There must have been loads of people who hated your guts. Enough that they found some way of tracking you, even after you were long gone."

"You're driving at something," he stated flatly, looking at me closely. "I've known you for too long. You're way smarter than some people think, but you don't use it half the time. Since when have you enjoyed playing detective?"

"That girl," I began. "The one you had in your place when we showed up. She wasn't human at all, like we assumed. Someone had built her, and I think she was there with you for a reason. Did someone build her to look like a victim you might chose, hoping you'd pick her up? Is that why you went to all the trouble of being a member of the Pride?"

I could see Jeff's eyes in the dim light. He was doing a fairly good job of keeping his expression neutral, but I could tell he was afraid of me now. I'd guessed at something he hadn't expected. Kinda funny, when you think about it.

"You found her first, though, didn't you?" I went on. "You knew what she was, and was going to get rid of her before she could pose a threat. That's when we showed up! You couldn't risk a battle and have her wake up, or whatever it was she did, so you got her out of there. You put her in the most dangerous place you could think of, because if all the junk the Pride dumped in that old building didn't finish her off, you knew of a way to get in and do the job yourself later. After we had left!"

"I could kiss you," he taunted. "If you swung that way, at least."

"Get in line. Someone else has already tried tonight."

That got his attention. "So, what happens now? You cut off more fingers in exchange for information about how to stop the robot?"

"No," I said, leveling the gun at him. "I'm sick of your idiotic games, and I'm tired of running. So long Jeff! If it weren't for the fact I knew you to be a homicidal sicko, I'd say that it's been a pleasure knowing you."

The gun went off. I didn't remember pulling the trigger, so maybe it had some kind of sensor on it that picked up on what I wanted. I told myself that for a few minutes as Jeff's body slowly grew cold on the ground, a big smoking hole in his chest visible in the darkness. Everyone kept their distance as I watched what was left of him lying there, my face empty of anything human or kind. Satisfied he wasn't getting up, I turned back around and watched as each of them flinched slightly. When she was close enough, I tossed O-Ren her gun back and thought for a moment.

"It needs recharging," I said to her. "Is there enough time for you to do whatever you need to get it back online?"

"O-Ren!" Gabriel said, when she didn't answer.

"I need... an hour," she stammered. "An hour, for minimal power to return. Anything bigger than that takes a full day or so."

"What have you got in mind?" Miguel asked, watching me from several steps away.

I took the recorder back from Gabriel and pried the ring off. Slipping it onto my fingers, I waited as the chill that ran through me unexpected faded. "We're going to finish this," I told them. "We're gonna stop that fucking monster back there once and for all, then take the fight right to our parents' doorsteps. If that's a problem for any of you, I suggest you leave now and turn yourselves in. Anyone who's with me, get ready and be in Kamegami ten minutes from now. Got it?"

I waited in Kamegami for everyone. Somehow, I just knew they were all coming along in spite of the danger. Of course, the threat of death and dismemberment could hardly have been considered a reason not to go by this point. We'd all faced much worse together, and that was before I sort of assumed command. I think was surprised me the most as I sat there mostly just drumming my fingers was the fact that no one had protested. Not even O-Ren, who used to never fail to point how my incompetence before. I might have considered killing someone in cold blood right in front of her before now if I knew it would have this sort of effect.

Well, maybe not, but the thought made me laugh.

When they all filed in one after the other, I began passing out little ear pieces for them to wear. "What are these?" Miguel asked politely.

"Communication piece phones," I said, getting the tank going. "Just think of ourselves as going Bluetooth. It's about time we all had a way of keeping in touch with each other."

"How about the Pride overhearing us, though?" This was from O-Ren, though she used a much more respectful tone now. "Shouldn't we worry about that?"

"Why?" I asked, glancing back. "We're putting an end to this. The time for us to limp from one hiding spot to the other is over. We're either going to end this all now, or not ever."

"So, how do we stop the Sentinel robot?" Migel asked, after a moment's blessed silence.

"We hit it hard, and don't stop until it breaks into a million little pieces. Anybody see anything wrong with that?"

"We tried that before," O-Ren spoke up, sounding a little more like her old self. "I realize you weren't there, but none of us could put a scratch in it. Whatever they did to that thing made it indestructible!"

"This time's different," I assured her.

"How?"

"Because we're not going to let up. I mean it, if anybody doesn't want to do this, I can pull over right now and let you out. Nobody will think less of you, if that's what you're all worried about. I won't blame you for not coming with me. This is a fight I'll probably not live through to tell anyone about."

"Dan," Gabriel said in a quiet voice. "Nicole wouldn't..."

"Don't!" I yelled, hitting the dashboard with my fist. "Don't, Gabriel. Please!"

No one said a word to me. "Just... go. If that's what you're going to do, then tell me now before we get there."

O-Ren stood up first. "I'm sorry, Dan," she said, not looking at me. "I really am. I just can't..."

I pushed down on the brake controls and brought Kamegami to a slow halt. We were traveling through a rough patch of the city that the Sentinel had already been through. It looked like the robot had done a pretty good job of smashing everything up. Either that, or it has stopped to place DDR!

"Are you guys coming?" she asked, halfway up the ladder.

She seemed to be asking Miguel specifically, who looked back and forth between me and her for about thirty seconds. Finally, he stood up and hovered above his seat for a minute. I though he might sit back down, but then his body just sort of steadied himself.

"I really would have gone with you," he told me, sincerely. "I was all set to, no matter what happened to all of us. But, I just can't bring myself to leave her alone out there all by herself. You heard what she said; it'll be another forty-five minutes before her gun recharges. She's no good in a fight until then."

I was expecting O-Ren to drop her gun on his head for that remark, but she didn't. Miguel seemed to be waiting for the same thing, but when it didn't happen, he started making his way for the ladder after her.

"Go with them," I told Gabriel, once they'd climbed out the hatch. "They'll need you to look after them."

It was a lame excuse, and he knew it. Gabriel got up, but didn't head for the hatch. He climbed over the seats to stand behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders, giving me whatever comfort he had. I wanted to weep at the gesture. Violated the man-code once again, I know, but it had been a rough night for me.

"I'm not leaving."

"Just go," I pleaded. "I don't want someone else I care about dying on me. Once was bad enough!"

"She might still be alive," he offered. "There's always hope."

"Do you really believe that?" I turned around to face him when I asked that.

"I don't know," he finally admitted after a moment. "Scooby definitely picked up remains of her scent. She lived in that house for a month, though, so that doesn't necessarily mean the blast killed her."

"Just like in a comic book, huh?" I pushed a tear out of my eye, then straightened up. "Go, Gabriel. Look after the others, and keep yourself alive for me, okay?"

His face turned stony. "Are you sure?"

I looked at him. So many things had gone wrong so far, it only made sense for me to push that last barrier away. Since I would probably go to hell, I might as well go there with honors. Grasping him behind his neck, I pulled Gabriel in and kissed him fiercely on the lips. It was short, brief, but very intense. When I pulled away, his eyes were as big as saucers.

"Wow!" he breathed. "So, uh... does this mean you like guys, too?"

"I'm about to make a kamikaze charge towards a battle mech at least fifty times my height and who-knows-how many times my weight. Nothing after this is going to end well for me, so I might not be in my right state of mind at the moment. Try not to make too much of it. Just think of it as me saying a really weird goodbye."

"Maybe." Gabriel leaned forward a little as he whispered this. "But I've waited a long time for that to happen. So, humor me a little."

"Sorry, but that's all your getting. Now get out of here!"

I was smiling as I watched him go. It was a sad sort of feeling, one that I wasn't accustomed to, but it made what I was about to do seem a bit more right. I waited for the sound of the hatch closing, then listened as Gabe's footfalls scraped down the side of the tank. Once he was safely away, I cranked it up into high gear and sped off down through the destroyed landscape. Tears were in my eyes and rolling down my cheeks now, but I didn't bother stopping them. It felt good to cry my heart out now, to think about all the good times we'd had together, and all the craziness we'd survived. I guess that was the reason I was ready to die for these people.

I just wished that I'd told them the same thing Nicole had. That they were my best friends, too!

*****

The trip was not a smooth one. You know how in all those movies and animes, when the hero bids his comrades a fond fairwell to go into the last battle on his own, and the path is ready and clear for him? This was not the case for me. The shock absorbers on Kamegami got one hell of a workout the closer I drove back towards the battle. From the distance on the screen, and the way the sensors kept flipping in and out on me, I guessed that the battle had moved on away from the parking lot. The compass instruments told me it was due just a ways to the northwest from where it'd originally been. I would have probably found it even without all the fancy tech.

Another thing that doesn't often happen in these types of situations is hitchikers. I almost didn't notice her at first, so intent was I at making sure the coordinates were correct. She was just standing there in the middle of the road, blocking Kamegami's path like it was no big deal. I almost didn't slow down in time, but the thought of adding vehicular homicide to my growing list of sins helped shove the brake controls down. The camera zeroed in on her face as I brought the tank to a complete stop, and I heard myself gasp.

I knew her!

Perhaps it was because she had saved my life, but I was totally trusting as I climbed out the hatch to meet her. This proved to me an error in judgement, for once I was safely on the ground, she seized me by the collar and flung me against the side of my own tank. The whiplash alone was enough to disorient me, but then she had to take away all of my weapons. The Seer's Ring stayed on my finger at the very least, but only because I suspected her of not knowing what it was.

"What do you want?" I slurred, as things came back into focus. "Look, I was trying to save you before. What's the matter now?"

"Where is my target!?" she practically screamed. "Where is he? Tell me!"

Her voice was different from the last time I heard it, when Gabriel and I was trapped in the mall. It had sounded metallic, computerized back then. Now, she sounded like an ordinary girl, and scared out of her mind. She was, however, incredibly strong. I could feel the strength in her hands as she pressed me harder into the tank's side.

"I don't know..." I gasped. "What you're talking about!? What target? Do you mean Jeff?"

"Target..." she repeated. "Target... target... designate target!"

"You're not gonna go all Blue Screen of Death on me now, are you? Because I wouldn't even pretend to know where to plug in a keyboard so we could do a Control/Alt/Delete."

"Shut up!" she screamed. And yeah, I admit that I probably had that one coming. It was a harsh thing to say, though more than a little true. The girl just kept screaming that over and over again. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

"I have!" I finally screamed back, when she was squeezing me harder and harder. "You're the one who keeps yelling!"

"Not you," she moaned. "These voices in my head. They keep yelling at me to find somebody. I have to go kill someone, or they won't stop hurting me."

The light bulb finally clicked on in my head. "You were sent here to kill Jeff," I stated. "He's already dead, but you don't know that yet. And whatever you're... programmed with isn't going to stop making you hunt him until he's dead!"

This was seriously my fault, but the moment I said that Jeff was dead, she seemed to get a hold on herself a little. "He's... dead," she whispered. "You... know he's... dead?"

I nodded. "I'm the one who murdered the sonovabitch. Does this mean you have to kill me now?"

"I... don't know," she admitted, setting me down. "My head's still in bad shape. Are you sure you killed him?"

"The big hole in his chest would indicate yes." I gulped, remembering how the gun had seemed to go off on it's own.

"He's survived worse," she replied, holding her head in her hands. "I don't know how I know that, but I do. And he's done such horrible things, unspeakable things. I shouldn't know any of this, but I do! How do I know that?"

"I'm just guessing, but something may have gone wrong with your programming," I told her, gently. "Assuming you are a robot, after all. And speaking of robots, I had this great idea that it would be fun to go charging head-first into battle with one much scarier than you are at the moment. Could you maybe wait here until I..."

The earth-shattering explosion that rocked me off my feet saved me the trouble of finishing that sentence. I looked off into the distance just in time to see bits of robot parts go flying everywhere. One or two of them really made some range, too! It looked like the Pride had finally figured out a way to put that thing down for good. Instead of feeling glad about it, though, that just meant that the last half hour had been all for nothing. I'd said my goodbyes and made my peace with God or whatever for no reason whatsoever.

But the worst part was that I'd kissed Gabriel goodbye. Suddenly, I wanted some Scope real bad!

"This is probably a bad time," I said, wiping my mouth off. "But, do you have a name? Or at the very least, a serial number?"

"My name is..." She paused. "Rachel. My name is Rachel. What's yours?"

"Mine's Dan," I said, offering my hand. "Dan..."

And then the Dollar Tree to our left blew up. "Whittaker," I sighed, giving up on making any kind of flashy introduction. "Dan Whittaker, youngest son of evil ninja clan leaders operating out of Meridian, who maintain control of the Gulf Coast through a secret organization called the Pride. What's your story?"

Rachel was ignoring me in favor of the pretty fire burning the discount store to the ground. "There was somebody in there," she told me, growing alarmed. "I don't know how I know it, but..."

"Someone inside the store?"

"No, inside whatever hit the store! Come on!"

"Wait!" I called out, trying to stop her, but she was moving very fast.

Nothing had gone the way I thought it would tonight, but since an innocent bystander's life was potentially at stake, I decided I could at least help out. Besides, even if there wasn't anyone in that smoldering wreckage, this would at least be a good time to show off my ride in front of a cute chick! I crawled up into Kamegami and started the engines. As they roared to life, I steered the tank towards what was left of the Dollar Tree store, and gunned it.

Kamegami charged foward like the turtle-shaped tank it was. The girl named Rachel heard me coming and leaped impossibly high out of the way as I drove past, though I'd already made sure to steer clear of her. The tank burst through what remained of the wall like it was cardboard, then rolled over the crumbled shelves and merchandise to the back area. Once I had cleared a path, it was easy to see what had hit this place.

It didn't look like any obvious part of a robot, though that was hardly my area of expertise. Miguel or O-Ren could have probably told me more, but I was doing my best not to think about them right now. Since the battle never had the chance to really begin, it was starting to feel more like they'd deserted me. The thing looked like some weird sort of capsule. I hoped the owners of this place were insured against falling debris from supervillain battle! This wasn't New York, after all.

"What is that thing?" Rachel asked, as I climbed back out once more.

"A tank," I replied. "I call it Kamegami. The name means 'turtle god.'"

"You named a tank 'turtle god?'" she asked, blankly.

"Yes, yes I did. Now, any chance of you prying that door off?"

I was pointing to what looked like a hatch on the capsule's side. Rachel noticed where I was gesturing to, and walked over to it. "Careful," I warned her, instinctively. "That thing looks hot."

"I can deal with hot," she replied calmly, gripping the handle.

Rachel gave the hatch a hard yank, and I could hear metal tearing away from metal as steam filled the air around her. At the same time, something behind me gave an unnatural-sounding click.

"Freeze!"

I whirled around with my bo drawn, but one look told me it wasn't going to do a bit of good. About thirty or forty Pride soldiers composed of my parents' clan and sorcerers who served Gabriel's stepfather were standing there. I think one or two members of Miguel's family had joined in, too. We were effectively surrounded and outnumbered.

"Come away from the capsule," one of the aliens shouted. "Now, or we open fire."

Instead of listening, Rachel's hands started to burn through the veil of steam. The Skrull alien fired his blaster at her, but Rachel caught the beam just before it struck her across the face. Her hands glowed even brighter as she held onto it for a second, then lobbed it back through the air like a baseball. The Skrull looked shocked as his own attack hit him right smack in the chest.

"Now," Rachel said, stepping down. "Who wants to be next?"

"Nice trick," I complimented. "Care to lend me a hand?"

Rachel gave me a once-over. "Got anything with you besides that stick in your hands?"

I put the bo away and held my hands up, balling them into fists as fire spread across them. "Maybe."

"Neat trick," she almost repeated. "Sure, I'll play along."

"The girl is an unknown factor," one of the sorcerers called out. "We need to regroup!"

"Don't leave on my account," Rachel called out, cockily. "We're just starting to get to know one another."

"This isn't over," one said, brave enough to approach me. "You and your little band of rebel troublemakers will face the wrath of Dormamu, then all the rest of the Pride!"

"Rebel troublemakers?" I had a sudden thought. "Decon Mehan, is that you under all there?"

"Shit!" he cursed, backing up. Several of the ninjas with him began to snicker. I'd never heard ninjas laugh before. Somehow, it seemed like it should be against the ninja code, or something.

"Go on," I taunted them, boldly. "Get out of here, before we both kick all your asses!"

"You dare to challenge us, whelp?"

"Damn straight," I told the magic man. "I doubt any of you are up to a battle now. I've seen what that robot can do, and frankly, it's a miracle to see any of you standing here after going up against that thing. I'm still not sure how you brought it down, but if you really thought you could take either of us on, you wouldn't have bothered warning us ahead of time. Right?"

They all looked at each other, then turned back to stare at me. "Your mother and father are very worried about you, Dan."

I looked the ninja right in the eye. That was just about all I could see of him. "Tell them I said hello," I replied, earnestly. "And to stop trying to find us."

"They only want what's best for you."

"I can take care of myself. Besides, I imagine Joseph is more than happy that I'm out of the picture now. So just go home and make up whatever story you want about me being a disobedient, ungrateful child. Or whatever it is ninjas say to their clan elders!"

"If you would consent," he said, slowly reaching into his belt. "They would like to speak with you alone. We were asked to give this to you, should one of us come across you alone at some point. It is a transmission signal." He flipped it to me, and I caught it. "Use this whenever you are ready," the ninja went on. "They will come and find you."

I waited until they left before taking my eyes off to stare at the transmitter. It looked like little more than a red button with a single switch in the middle. Pocketing it, I turned towards Rachel, who was staring at me closely.

"Are things always this exciting with you?" she asked, considering me carefully.

"Some days, it isn't nearly as dull," I told her, grinning. "Those are the days when I use the gloves."

"I'd like to see that sometimes, but I think my curfew is long gone, so I'd better go."

I watched her go, feeling the need to say something. She moved really fast, though, and was down the road and out of sight before my brain could catch up. I looked after her for several minutes, before it finally occured to me that I'd parked Kamegami there for a reason. The steam had finally cleared, leaving behind a stench somewhat reminecent of a funeral home. Rachel had gotten the hatch off for me, at least. I climbed up the side of the capsule part of the way, enough to where I could have a peek inside. What was waiting for me in there nearly made me fall backwards.

"A child?" I marveled.

It was a child!