Runaways

"Runaways" is the 14th episode of the second season of Young Justice, and the 40th of the overall series. It aired on February 2, 2013.

Logline
Nightwing tasks Blue Beetle with chasing down a group of potentially dangerous super-powered teenage runaways. But Blue's not the only one hunting them...

Synopsis
At a STAR Labs testing room, Tye, Asami and Neut watch as Virgil Hawkins levitates a metal trash can lid around. Unsatisfied, Dr. Wilcox tells him to levitate the whole can, causing Virgil to slam the lid into a wall in frustration. Virgil demands a break from the relentless testing. Wilcox reluctantly grants them twenty minutes leave. They walk past Eduardo Dorado Sr.'s office, and overhear an argument between the scientist and his son; Ed tells his father that he and the others are tired of the testing. Eduardo is determined to prove his theory that the Meta-Gene is opportunistic in nature, but all Ed wants is a cure. Eduardo says Ed has only himself to blame for running away from Argentina. Ed admits that wanting to be with his father was a mistake and storms out of the office, meeting his friends outside. Neut unconvincingly pretends they heard nothing, but Ed says he isn't bothered; it's an old argument. Virgil suggests they grab lunch while they still have time, and Tye complains the situation at STAR is bad as being with the Reach. Neut disagrees, but Tye tells him he cannot take much more. Virgil says he won't have to–they'll be breaking out that night.

Later, in the Zeta Lab, a shipment of cargo is Zeta-ed in. Eduardo informs Adam Strange that they are Amazo body parts salvaged from the Hall of Justice, to be temporarily stored in STAR's vaults.

Back in the testing room, the five former Reach captives are again being tested, when Dr. Wilcox calls an end to the day's experiments (both in English and, for Asami's benefit, Japanese) and leaves. Neut confronts Virgil about his plan to run away. Neut believes they are better off staying where they are, concerned for their safety and others' should they lose control of their powers. Virgil is unmoved, and makes to leave with Ed, Tye and a somewhat confused Sam. Neut refuses to let them go and so activates an alarm. The other four run to the nearest fire exit, but find it locked due to the alarm. Ed asks about Virgil's escape plan, and Virgil reluctantly admits he never came up with one. He suggests Ed teleport them out, but Ed angrily reminds him he can only teleport himself, and only along sightlines. Virgil then suggests Tye use his powers to remove the roof and carry them out, but Tye tells him he cannot control his powers. Burton Thompson and a pair of STAR guards then arrive. Burton demands the kids come with them, but Ed teleports behind them, and Sam makes use of the distraction to use her powers to tackle the two guards. Burton grabs Sam and Ed and tries to persuade them it's for their own good, but Virgil is tired of hearing that, and knocks Burton out with a fire extinguisher. The building then loses power. Virgil wonders if it might be due to his powers, though Tye disagrees, when Sam notices the door is now unlocked, and the quartet make good their escape.

In his bedroom, Jaime is on the phone with Nightwing. He tells Nightwing that he is uncomfortable going after the runaways as Tye is his friend, but Nightwing retorts that he is counting on their friendship to allow Jaime to convince them they are safest at STAR until the Reach are dealt with. Jaime reluctantly accepts the mission, activates his armor and flies off.

Virgil hangs up at a pay phone outside a bus depot and heads inside. Tye is shocked Virgil called his family, and is adamant that he won't be returning to his own. Virgil explains that, unlike the others, he hadn't run away from home; the Reach mistook him for a runaway when he went to meet his sister at a train station. He left a message for his parents asking them to wire money so they could buy bus tickets to his hometown of Dakota City. Ed asks how they'll find a cure there. Virgil doesn't know and says he doesn't want a cure, as he uses his powers to take a drink from a vending machine. Virgil starts to drink it, when Tye stops him–the drink is Reach. As Tye curls up to sleep, Sam notices the approach of Wilcox and some STAR guards, and tries to warn the others in Japanese, eventually grabbing Ed and pulling him to the window. Virgil tries to wake up Tye, but instead Tye manifests a huge astral form, which tears the roof off the depot and throws it toward the STAR personnel. Wilcox is stunned to see Tye manifest such a large form. The guards take aim at Tye, but Wilcox reminds them they are supposed to be protecting the children. Blue Beetle arrives and tells the STAR personnel to stay calm. Tye then slams Beetle into the ground, picks up his friends and runs away with them. Beetle tells Wilcox to go back to STAR, then heads after Tye and the others.

Out in some woodland, Tye stops running, puts down his friends and dissipates his astral form, waking up as he does so. He begins to ask what happened, but quickly realizes the answer himself–he'd thought he was dreaming. Blue Beetle then arrives. He tells them he means no harm, but that they must go back to STAR. Virgil acknowledges Blue Beetle is one of the good guys, but Tye tells him that he doesn't understand their situation. Beetle retracts his armor, showing Tye who he really is, and tells him that he does. He shows them the Scarab, and explains that the Reach created it to give him powers and control him. Virgil admits Jaime is one of them, but the runaways refuse to continue being STAR's lab rats. Jaime asks if he should allow them to remain free until the Reach takes them again. Virgil says they will go to his parents' place, but is silenced when Jaime tells them of the danger they would be putting Virgil's parents in. Sam asks Jaime if he can help them. He says yes, and the others are surprised at his ability to speak Japanese. Jaime tells them it's due to the Scarab, and presents a new plan: they will go to the nearby Green Beetle. Since he helped Jaime, he may be able to help them. Jaime walks off, and the others follow.

Back at the Zeta Lab, Eduardo is angry Wilcox abandoned the search for his son and regrets not going himself. Wilcox is confident Blue Beetle with return with the children. The argument is interrupted when the room begins to shake. A wall bursts open, throwing the scientists to the floor. Red Volcano emerges from the opening, and greets the "meatbags", before thrusting spikes of rock through the Zeta-tube to prevent any Leaguers Zeta-ing in. He then grabs Eduardo and demands to know where Amazo is.

As Jaime and the runaways walk along a deserted road, Nightwing calls. He sends Jaime to stop Volcano's attack at STAR Taos. Jaime protests that he is busy with the runaways mission, claiming to have almost tracked them down, but Nightwing tells him that can wait–with the Zeta-tube at STAR off-line Beetle is the only hero in range. Jaime begins to tell the others about the set-back, but they already know thanks to the excessive volume on Jaime's phone. Jaime armors up and tells the others to stay where they are until he returns, before rocketing off. Ed wants to go, as his father could be in trouble. Tye reminds him that he hates his father, though Ed insists he only hates him sometimes. Virgil understands, and tells Ed he'll go too. Tye incredulously asks if they really want to go back to the place they just escaped from, then dismisses his own question and says he's in too. They turn to Sam, who pauses, before declaring in Japanese that she doesn't understand but will go with them, giving them a thumbs up.



The four runaways arrive at STAR, Virgil having carried Tye and himself on a manhole cover, Ed teleporting himself and Sam using her power to propel herself across the ground. Everything is quiet, confusing the foursome, until the ground suddenly begins to shake. A fist of partially molten rock emerges from the ground, exploding to reveal Blue Beetle. Beetle falls to the ground as Red Volcano emerges. Volcano creates a sinkhole beneath Beetle, then has the hole close over from the sides, burying him. Volcano then goes back down the tunnel he came from. Virgil is determined to save Beetle, but Ed questions how either of them could do it with their powers. Tye says he will save Jaime and sends the others after Volcano. Remembering lessons from his grandfather, Tye focuses himself, projects an astral form and plunges his hands into the ground.

In STAR's vault, Red Volcano tears though the Amazo crates, but is unable to find the head. Eduardo tells him the League sent the head somewhere else for security, so Volcano decides to take Eduardo's head as compensation. Before Volcano can touch Eduardo, however, Ed teleports in next to his father, then teleports them both outside the vault. Eduardo is stunned his son was able to teleport them both; Ed tells him he was motivated. Both are crippled with pain, but Virgil and Asami arrive to defend them. Sam propels herself at Volcano, but bounces off ineffectually. Virgil attempts to use his powers on Volcano, but they are reflected back on him. Volcano prepares to retaliate, when Tye's hand comes through the ceiling, grabbing Volcano. Tye throws the robot in the air and Beetle hits him with a plasma blast, sending him crashing into the ground. When the smoke clears, the robot is undamaged; he reminds the young heroes of his name, Volcano. He then creates huge spikes of rock from the ground. Beetle is able to dodge them, but two impale Tye's astral form, causing it to dissipate. Beetle moves to attack Volcano but is caught in a ball of lava. Beetle emerges unscathed and enraged, and blasts the robot with his sonic cannon. Noting the blast was effective, Beetle tries it again with a continuous, high-powered beam. Volcano is slowed down, but the sonic waves also hit the laboratory, and the building begins to crumble. Virgil tells Beetle to stop, but Beetle is determined to defeat Volcano, and activates a second sonic cannon. Virgil asks Tye how well he knows Jaime, and Tye tells him to cut Jaime some slack. Virgil dismisses it, saying they have bystanders to save.

Inside the building, Asami rescues Eduardo, using her powers to bounce them outside. Eduardo asks after his son, and Sam reassures him before heading back inside. Meanwhile, Ed guides Neut and a group of guards to a door. Neut thanks Ed for coming back, though Ed insists it's temporary. Virgil magnetically lifts some girders trapping Burton, and helps him out, as Sam takes Dr. Wilcox. As Volcano and Beetle continue to battle beside the building, Virgil and Asami put their resuees down by the STAR Labs sign, and Wilcox thanks them both.

The pair then meet Ed and Tye as they emerge from the building. Tye tells them he thinks they got everyone out, when Volcano is blasted through the building, landing nearby. Blue Beetle flies in through the hole and moves to attack, but before he can, Volcano traps the four runaways in fists of earth, telling Beetle to sacrifice victory for them like a good hero. Beetle tells the robot not to stereotype, as he generates an energy weapon on his chest and blasts Volcano. Beetle then charges after the robot, leaving the runaways to free themselves with their own powers. Ed angrily tells Tye Jaime planned to sacrifice them. Tye has no answer.



Beetle and Volcano continue to fight, and Volcano manages to grab Beetle. Beetle creates a drill on on arm and drives it into the robot's chest. Initially ineffective, Beetle pushes a sonic cannon into the hole created and fires, causing the robot to explode. Beetle then goes to the runaways, planning to take them to Green Beetle. Tye begins to protest, but Jaime angrily rejects any argument, before being interrupted by arriving reporters. As the emergency services arrive, the reporters begin asking Beetle questions, and the runaways take the opportunity to disappear.

On a rooftop, Blue Beetle tells Green Beetle that he overplayed his hand, and should have called him to collect the runaways as soon as he found them. Green Beetle tells him it was a sensible tactic to try to win their trust, and says they'll find them again. Blue tells him the timing of Volcano's attack didn't help either. Green Beetle disagrees; it helped to establish Blue's credentials as a true hero. Black Beetle says that is equally important; just as the Scarab rebooted by Green Beetle now controls Blue Beetle's "meat", Blue Beetle must control the people of Earth.



The runaways return to the ruined bus depot. Ed is unsure returning is a good idea, but Virgil says no one will think to look for them there again. Ed asks what they do next. Tye and Virgil have no idea. Sam warns them of an approaching car, which pulls up next to the depot. Inside, Lex Luthor tells Mercy that sending Red Volcano to attack STAR worked marvelously, and now it was time to seal the deal. He got out and approached the teens. Virgil immediately recognized him, and he revealed that he knew who they were too. Not only that, he told them he had been watching them for weeks and arranged both the power cut that allowed their escape from STAR and the arrival of the press that allowed them to evade Beetle. He tells them Blue Beetle has become an agent of the Reach. Ed retorts that Lex works with the Reach, making their drink. Lex admits that he suspects he is being used, a feeling he expects the runaways are familiar with. He tells them he has the resources to protect them, and give them the ability to control their own destinies.

Title
The title refers to the rescued abductees, whose Meta-Genes were activated by the Reach, therefore supplying them with superhuman abilities. The term "runaways" is used because at least two of the abductees, Tye Longshadow and Eduardo Dorado Jr., had run away from their families. At least one of the other two were erroneously mistaken for runaways. It can also refer to the fact that the abductees escaped—or were, in effect, running away—from STAR Labs.

Cast and characters
! colspan="3" | Non-speaking roles
 * rowspan="2" | Jeff Bennett
 * colspan="2" | Red Volcano
 * David Wilcox
 * Bruce Greenwood
 * colspan="2" | Eduardo Dorado Sr.
 * Kevin Grevioux
 * colspan="2" | Black Beetle
 * Bryton James
 * colspan="2" | Virgil Hawkins
 * Janice Kawaye
 * Asami "Sam" Koizumi
 * Phil LaMarr
 * colspan="2" | Green Beetle
 * Eric Lopez
 * colspan="2" | Blue Beetle
 * Jesse McCartney
 * colspan="2" | Nightwing (not seen)
 * Gregg Rainwater
 * colspan="2" | Tye Longshadow
 * Freddy Rodriguez
 * Eduardo "Ed" Dorado, Jr.
 * Mark Rolston
 * colspan="2" | Lex Luthor
 * rowspan="2" | James Arnold Taylor
 * colspan="2" | Nathaniel "Neut" Tryon
 * Burton Thompson
 * Jesse McCartney
 * colspan="2" | Nightwing (not seen)
 * Gregg Rainwater
 * colspan="2" | Tye Longshadow
 * Freddy Rodriguez
 * Eduardo "Ed" Dorado, Jr.
 * Mark Rolston
 * colspan="2" | Lex Luthor
 * rowspan="2" | James Arnold Taylor
 * colspan="2" | Nathaniel "Neut" Tryon
 * Burton Thompson
 * colspan="2" | Lex Luthor
 * rowspan="2" | James Arnold Taylor
 * colspan="2" | Nathaniel "Neut" Tryon
 * Burton Thompson
 * Burton Thompson
 * Burton Thompson
 * colspan="3" | Adam Strange
 * colspan="3" | Mercy Graves
 * colspan="3" | Mercy Graves
 * colspan="3" | Mercy Graves

Continuity

 * While at the bus station in Taos, Virgil Hawkins takes a sip of the Reach energy drink, which was introduced in "True Colors" and explained in "The Fix".
 * It is revealed that in "The Fix" Green Beetle did not actually give Jaime control of the Scarab, but instead rebooted it, allowing the Reach to control it once again.
 * Reporters think Jaime is the old Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, in a new costume, and note they hadn't seen him in a while; Jaime mentioned people did not know of Ted's death in "Satisfaction".
 * Black Beetle refers to Green Beetle and Blue Beetle as his "little brothers", just as he had referred to Blue Beetle as his "little brother" in "Before the Dawn".

Ratings
"Runaways" garnered an average of 2,123 million viewers. This coincided with the "#SaveYJandGLTAS" tag campaign that was trending on Twitter during DC Nation's broadcast on Saturday, as a form of protest against the show's absence in Cartoon Network's returning shows list for 2013-2014. Whether this had any direct effect on the ratings is unknown.

Trivia

 * The four runaways bear traits of characters from Super Friends, namely their superpowers, ethnicities and color patterns:
 * Virgil Hawkins (despite also being an established character in the comics as Static) is an analogue of Black Vulcan. While Virgil has electromagnetic abilities (like Static), Black Vulcan's powers were based on only lightning;
 * Eduardo Dorado Jr.‎ is an analogue of El Dorado. Both have teleportation powers;
 * Tye Longshadow is an analogue of Apache Chief. Tye is able to project an astral form that can grow to a gigantic size, while Apache Chief could physically grow into a giant;
 * Asami Koizumi is a female analogue of Samurai (her nickname is "Sam"). Samurai was able to propel his body by means of wind control; Asami does it by means of.

Unanswered questions

 * Is Lex Luthor truly working behind the Reach's back? And if so, why?