Have you ever had a nightmare where you were running from some one or some thing? Have you ever had that sort of dream that completely gripped you in fear and no matter how hard you ran, you could not make any headway? For every stride you made, it seemed as if you were pushed back by five? Almost like running in place?

For thirteen-year-old Max Elliston, that is not only a nightmare, but a stark reality. He has been held in what has been referred to as the pens for six months now. During that time, he has waited patiently for the chance he could escape. And when his moment came to him, during the regular exercise the Pig insists his "herd" engages in, he jumped at it.

He ran from the pens, fearing what would happen if he were captured and brought back. He heard the alarms going off once he cross the perimeter. He heard the guards (or the herders as they are called) shouting after him to stop. He heard the bullets whizzing past his head.

He knew he was risking certain death, but death would be better than the nightmare he has lived over the past six months. He has seen what happens to those who remain with the herd for too long. Eventually, the Pig's conditioning takes effect, and they essentially become slaves. Some eventually do find release, but not through escape. Instead, their release comes when they are bought by the Pig's less-than-respectable clients.

Max put that out of his head. Soon, soon he would be free. He charged further, not faltering for an instant. Just over this hill, and then he would be home free. He had heard stories that just over the hill was as far as the pens extended. He thought that once he crossed that threshold, he could finally get away for good.

But what he found once he reached that hilltop was a vast river. It was at least five miles wide and he had no idea how deep it went. The barking of the hounds grew louder, which meant they were coming closer. They would be here shortly. He looked behind him, and then ran towards the river. Even if he could not make it, at least he would have escaped this life.

Before he could take another step, he felt a hand upon his shoulder. The hand gripped his shirt and threw him back several feet. He looked up and he saw a broad, well-built man walking towards him, a club in one hand. He was dressed in leather, complete with a full facemask, bandolas, and spikes. Like a character out of an S&M movie with more clothing. Not one bit of skin showed on his body.

A herder.

Max tried to scurry back, but the barking was deafening now. He slowly looked over his shoulder and saw several growling dogs behind him. The only thing preventing the dobermans from assaulting him were the half-dozen herders who restrained them. The herder who had impeded his progress stepped closer and kneeled down by him.

"Just what do you think you were doing, little piglet?" he asked. "Did you really think you could escape? The Pig owns you, body and soul. There is no escape from the pens."

Max offered no reply. Between the dogs, the herders and the punishment that awaited him, he was paralyzed with absolute fear. The herder forcefully gripped him by his neck and tossed him closer to his fellow herders with ease. The others looked to him for instructions.

"Take him back to the rest of the herd," he said. "I'm sure after this ungrateful display, the Pig will want little Max to spend some quality time with the Boogeyman."

Max's eyes grew wide with horror at that name.

"No... please no..." he pleaded. "Not the Boogeyman... I'll be good, I promise—but don't take me to the Boogeyman! Don't leave me with him, please! I'll do whatever the Pig wants, I swear! I won't try to escape anymore, I just... just..."

"That's for the Pig to decide, kid," said the herder. He glanced up at the other herders. "Get him outta my sight."

"...not the Boogeyman..."

Independence High School;
Greenwich Village

The hands of the clocked moved slowly. Far too slowly for Robbie Baldwin. He sat impatiently outside the office of the school guidance counselor, tapping a rhythm with his hands on his knees. He felt jittery and antsy, and all he wanted to do was go home. Play some video games, maybe see if Elvin was up for hanging out later.

But for now, he was stuck. In more ways than one. The clock seemed almost frozen, and for a brief second, Robbie thought he saw the second hand move backwards. He almost felt like asking the secretary if the clock was working right. But a glance at his watch proved that it was indeed correct. Time moved as normal, but it felt like eternity.

He exhaled deeply in frustration as he continued to beat a tune on his legs. In study hall the period prior, the girl who sat in front of Robbie had the music turned on a bit too loud, so now, much to his chagrin, he had the latest Kanye West song ringing inside his head.

The door opened and a slim, middle aged man with a bad comb-over and glasses stepped out. He wore a beige suit, and he held the door open for a young man with black hair. He smiled and said his goodbyes to the student. Once the student left, the counselor looked down at the small appointment book in his hand and looked up at Robbie.

"Mr. Baldwin?" he asked. Robbie looked up and nodded. "I'm Dr. Cantero, please come in."

Cantero smiled as Robbie stood and approached the door. He opened it for the younger man and then followed him in, closing the door behind him. He motioned for Robbie to take a seat in front of his desk, and then he moved and sat behind it. Robbie's eyes scanned the office. The desk was relatively bare, with the exception of a computer, several framed photos of children and whom Robbie assumed was Cantero's wife.

"Now then, I'm sure you're aware of why I called you in here today?" asked Cantero.

"No, not really," replied Robbie. "I was just given a pass during homeroom to come to your office during seventh period."

"I see," said Cantero. "Well Robert, it seems you have an interesting situation here."

"Oh?" asked Robbie.

"Yes," replied Cantero. "As you are no doubt aware, this is your fifth year at Independence."

"Yeah, I know..." muttered Robbie.

"We are at the halfway point of the first semester, and looking over the marks you've received so far, I have to admit that there's a bit of a cause for concern. Robert, you do realize that if you don't start pulling up your grades, you may end up staying here for six years?"

"I know, and I'm trying—"

"Then obviously you need to try harder," said Cantero. "Perhaps cut out some of your extracurricular activities. It says here that you're interning at Damage Control in your spare time?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe you should reconsider that."

"I dunno, doc..." said Robbie. "I mean, this internship could really help me when it comes to getting a job."

"Internships are very valuable, don't get me wrong," said Cantero. "But without a high school diploma, they're useless. Tell me, Robert... what is it you want to do with your life?"

"With my life?" asked Robbie in reptition. "I... well, I haven't really given it much thought."

"What about college?" asked Cantero. "Surely you have some plans for after graduation?"

"Nah... not really," replied Robbie. "I'm sort of just trying to graduate. I think I'll go to a community college or something and then figure out what I want to do later."

"But what is it you want to do?" Cantero repeated. "You're nineteen years old, Robbie—don't you have any goals?"

"Sure, survive high school," said Robbie.

"And then community college," said Cantero. "Yes, I got those two parts. But what do you want to do with your life?"

"I'm... well, I'm exploring my options, I guess," said Robbie.

"What options have you explored so far?"

"Well that's a difficult question to ans—"

"Is it difficult to answer because you don't have any?"

"...okay, point taken."

Cantero sighed and took off his glasses with one hand, using the thumb and forefinger of the other to rub the top of his nose, near his eyes. He replaced the glasses and turned his scrutinizing gaze on Robbie once more.

"Listen Robert... you have to take charge with your life," he said. "You have to figure out what you're going to do with your life, and you have to pull your grades up. I don't want to see you in the same position a year from now. Your test scores show that obviously you're a bright young man, but you just don't have any initiative. And without initiative, you won't succeed in this world. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I think I do," said Robbie.

"Good, then get your act together," said Cantero. "You're nineteen, Robert. It's time to grow up—you can't stay in high school forever."

Crash Pad

"You're up," said Gravity.

"Okay," began Ricochet. He held one of his golden discs between his fingers and hurled it at his teammate. "Scarlet Witch."

"Definite ten," said Gravity. He extended his hand and altered the gravitational pull on the disc, sending it off its course. "She's got a total exotic gypsy thing about her. Especially when she was wearing that one costume not long after the heroes came back."

"Your turn," said Ricochet.

"Right... let's see..." said Gravity. He slammed his fists on the ground and sent shockwaves through the ground. "Oh, Invisible Woman."

"Milf," said Ricochet. He leapt into the air and bounded off the walls of the Crash Pad to avoid making contact with the ground. The two New Warriors were in the Crash Pad's training room for a light sparring match. He brandished several throwing discs and hurled them at Gravity. "What about Joystick?"

"She's got a temper and she's an ex-con," said Gravity. He tried to alter the trajectory on most of the discs, but a few he couldn't affect, so he simply dodged them. "That whole bad girl vibe is definitely a turn-on. How about Spider-Woman?"

"Which one, the redhead from the Avengers or the one with black hair?" asked Ricochet. He landed near Gravity.

"The one on the Warriors," replied Gravity. Neither made another move to attack, simply choosing to remain talking.

"Are you serious?!" exclaimed Ricochet. "She's like, fifteen dude!"

"She's still got a killer body," said Gravity.

"Maybe if you're into jailbait," said Ricochet. "You want a killer body though, you should've seen this girl I saw at ESU."

"Oh?" asked Gravity.

"It was when I had to take on that Bushwacker guy," replied Ricochet. "Anyway, she was one of those X-chicks, and she had like, pink skin and red hair."

"Pink skin?" asked Gravity. "I think that's a bit too exotic for me."

"You like 'em plain, that's all," replied Ricochet.

"So what happened with this girl?" asked Gravity.

"Nothing," replied Ricochet. "She helped me capture him and then that was that."

"You didn't try to get with her?" asked Gravity.

"I've got a girlfriend," replied Ricochet.

"At that time, I bet you wished you didn't," said Gravity with a slight grin. The two left the training room and in the next room, they saw Speedball, Rage and Patriot sitting at a table. Also seated at the table was the team's sponsor, Dwayne Taylor.

"Well, this is a surprise," said Ricochet. He looked to Dwayne. "I thought you said you weren't gonna be around much?"

"I'm not, but this is a special circumstance I felt I should stop by for," said Dwayne.

"When we first met Taylor, he said he was going to bring in a non-combat operative to assist us with the technical side of the group. Handling communications, manning the War Chopper, that sort of thing."

"We have a chopper?" asked Ricochet. "No one told me we have a chopper."

"How could you miss it?" asked Gravity. "It's that big helicopter-shaped object with the tarp draped over it."

"Everything in this place has a tarp on it," said Ricochet.

"Anyway..." stressed Patriot. Ricochet and Gravity quit their bickering. "It seems Taylor was a bit too brash when he said that."

"The Warriors used to have someone who filled that role," said Rage. "But he wasn't able to come back."

"I talked to him, he said he's too busy over at MIT to come back to the Warriors," said Speedball.

"So we're stuck without anyone, is that it?" asked Gravity.

"Essentially," replied Dwayne. "I do have some people I can trust to fill the position, but I—"

"That's not really necessary," said Ricochet.

"What was that?" asked Dwayne.

"I know someone who could do the job," replied Ricochet. "The guy's a whiz at engineering and computer stuff. He'll probably be the next Tony Stark."

"Is he trustworthy?" asked Dwayne.

"Oh yeah, definitely," said Ricochet. "I'd trust him with my life. Hell, I have."

"Have him come down to the Crash Pad on Thursday night," said Dwayne. "I want to meet him before we make any decisions."

"I'll talk to him, see what he says," said Ricochet.

Adam Aaronson sat on the bleechers of the park district's football field. Surrounding him were several young boys from the ages of eleven to thirteen dressed in football equipment, many of them with their helmets off. He had a whistle around his neck and he held a clipboard in his hand.

"Okay, you guys did good today," he said. "Remember, we've got practice tomorrow afternoon at five, so I expect you all to be here, got it?"

The kids all nodded.

"Alright good, then you're free to go for now," said Adam with a grin. The kids smiled back and ran off to the locker room to change.

Adam collected the leftover equipment from the field and started on his trek back to the locker room as well. He enjoyed coaching the park district's little league. It gave him a sense of accomplishment, one he couldn't find on the high school football team. Ever since he found out the truth behind his speed and strength, he left the team, worried about causing someone harm or of slipping up and showing his true colors during a game. Coaching was better for him anyway.

He stopped for a second and strained his ear... his hearing picked up some sort of rustle. He turned and glanced around with his eyes, trying to take in every inch of the landscape. He could see nothing out of the ordinary, but he remained on alert. He slowly began to circle around the field, closer to where he heard the sound. Right beside the bleechers was a brush.

It was there, this time he was positive. He jumped into the brush and found someone there, spying on him. It was a man dressed from head to toe in black leather. Adam pulled him from the brush and tossed him out onto the football field. The eavesdropper reached for his weapon, a baton of some sort, but Adam pulled it away from him before he could use it. Adam wrapped his hand around the man's throat and lifted him into the air as if he weighed nothing.

"Who the hell are you?!" demanded Adam. "What are you doing here?!"

"I was sent to keep you busy," he said.

"Busy?" asked Adam. "Keep me busy from wh—"

He stopped as he realized what the man was saying. His fist connected with the man's jaw, and he bolted off in a run towards the gym and the locker rooms. As he ran, the skin which covered his body seemed to slide away, revealing his cybernetic body beneath it. He ran at breakneck speed and when he came to the locker room door, he plowed right though it. Inside, he found nothing. The kids were all gone, but their uniforms and equipment were scattered on the floor.

"They must have grabbed them after they finished changing..." muttered Adam. "But who...?"

He went back to the football field and found the herder still laying there. Adam grabbed him and brought his face close to the herder's. The herder was unconscious, and Adam knew that meant he was lucky for the moment.

"You're not gonna get off that easily," he said. "As soon as you wake up, you're gonna tell me everything I want to know. And God help you if I don't like your answers."

NEXT: The children are at the mercy of the Pig and it's up to the Warriors to find them! But who is the Boogeyman and what is his involvement with the pens? Find out next time!

WAR ROOM

Well here we are, the beginning of the second story-arc on New Warriors. And, as you've noticed, this section still needs a name, so suggestions are appreciated! So far, I've gotten some positive response to this series, and I'm having a blast with it. The rest of the team sort of got the shaft with the "Empire" tie-in, since it was a Ricochet-centric story-arc, but as you can see, you can't keep these characters down. Gravity, Speedball and Machine Teen all got more screentime in this issue and you'll be seeing more from Spider-Woman, Rage, Joystick and Patriot in the near future.

Anyway, with that said, let's get on to the letters. First one is from Bren Hunter, writer of the excellent Captain Britain series, with comments on the second issue.

The fight scene that took up much of this issue fit my preferences almost exactly. It was clear and followable, without the kind of superfluous detail that only leads to confusion or a slower pace. And, of course, the verbal barbs did more harm than the punches and kicks. Huge fun. Like with earlier in the New Warriors story, I felt the additions to the team joined up a bit too easily, but like with Patriot's string-pulling, I am confident that the motivations and explanations will come in future issues.

I'm glad you enjoyed the fight scene with Firebrand, as I personally felt that was one of the weaker elements of the story. I'm also glad you're enjoying the banter in the series, as it's probably my favorite part of writing these characters. The dialogue pretty much writes itself where the Warriors are concerned (especially Ricochet). I understand the question of easy additions, but I think of it in the sense that it took me four issues (the "From The Ground Up" story-arc in Amazing Fantasy and the "Firefight" story-arc in the first two issues) to set up the team, whereas Fabian Nicieza set up the entire team in the first issue and included a battle with Terrax (Jay Faerber did the same thing in the first issue of the second series, although with Blastaar instead of Terrax). And as time goes on, you will see the motivations of the individual characters coming out.

Only one other letter for this issue, and this one from Dom, a frequent commentator on the MO message board. Speaking of which, if you're not on the message board, what are you waiting for?! Get yourself registered and join in a conversation! Anyway, Dom's comments are in regard to the New Warriors Annual.

I am really enjoying this new team! Especially now with the addition of Speedball and Rage! Don't really know the orginal New Warriors that well (as evidenced by my confusing Rage and Night Thrasher). But also do like your interpretation of these characters! Am quite curious about who your Patriot is! Wish more New Warriors would have joined the fight though, but it was nice to see Blink! Is she joining the cast then?

Good to know my team is making readers happy. And Speedball and Rage were two of my favorites from the Nicieza series, so I felt I should include them in this incarnation as well (they're also the only two, with the possible exception of Turbo, fitting in with this new version of the Warriors). Patriot's identity will be an ongoing plotline for quite a bit, probably won't come to fruition until after issue #12. And yeah, I understand that I sort of shafted the other Warriors in the annual, but there was a reason for that, because it sets up some important stuff that's going to happen to Ricochet in the future.

Blink joining the Warriors, though? ...oh damn, look at the time, I've gotta run!

That's it for now. Until next time, I remain:

Dino Pollard
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