Rock Bottom

Rock Bottom is the fifth episode of the second season of the television series Runaways.
==Synopsis==
When the kids discover that Topher may be more dangerous than they could have imagined, addicted to the rocks that give him superhuman abilities, will they help him or will they turn their backs on their new friend?
==Plot==
Topher Vasquez tells his story to the Runaways, and claims to have found Gibborim Rocks in an abandoned terrarium after he was rejected by his family, which gave him superhuman abilities. Alex Wilder wonders how such rock samples could have been found in another location than the PRIDE Construction Site, and Molly Hernandez insists that Vasquez should be allowed to stay in the Hostel due to his honesty. Although reluctant, the Runaways accept and go back to their own plans, while Vasquez asks Hernandez for some details about the dig site mentioned by Alex.
Karolina Dean enters the hole located on the dig site with Jonah, who explains to her that she is partly of extraterrestrial origin, and that several members of Jonah's family, meaning her family as well, are trapped in the bottom of the hole. Karolina then returns to the Hostel and, out of fear that Alex's plan of hacking into the construction site's systems could endanger the Gibborim, she attempts to sabotage his computer, but is stopped as she is found by Nico Minoru.
Later however, Hernandez realizes that Vasquez is gone, after he promised Gert Yorkes that he would bring back medicines for her. The Runaways quickly discover that Vasquez stole the map of the dig site, meaning that he probably wants to find more Gibborim rocks, which he has become addicted to. The Runaways take their car near the dig site, where they see Vasquez leaving with his bag full of rocks after he violently attacked one of the workers. As Vasquez carjacks a passing driver, the Runaways decide to follow him.
The Runaways track Vasquez down to a residential area and find him inside a house where they learn the truth: Vasquez was actually rejected by his family after he found the rocks, which caused him to permanently injure his father. Sensing a lot of tension, the Runaways attempt to defuse the situation, but it rapidly grows out of control as Vasquez attacks them and attempts to leave. Hernandez does her best to keep her teammates from retaliating and tries to calm Vasquez down, but to no avail. Vasquez eventually throws a dumpster at them, and when Chase Stein attempts to deflect it with the Fistigons, he accidentally directs it towards Yorkes. Vasquez saves her, but is heavily wounded in the process, and the Runaways are forced to leave as an ambulance arrives.
Back to the Hostel, Hernandez laments that what happened to Vasquez is their fault, and she blames Minoru for not having trusted Vasquez and making him feel unwanted. Minoru insists that Vasquez was dangerous and unreliable, only for Hernandez to remark that Minoru sounds more like her mother. Later, Minoru is comforted by Karolina, as the two girls begin to passionately make out, while Yorkes goes to see Hernandez and praises her moral strength. Nevertheless, Yorkes later leaves the Hostel during the night without telling anyone in an attempt to get some medical support.
Meanwhile, PRIDE interrogates Eiffel, as they have learned that she encountered Chase, and despite Eiffel's disrespectful demeanor, they are told that the Runaways stole a computer from Atlas Academy. They figure out that the Runaways want to use it to hack into the dig site. As they discuss, Dale and Stacey Yorkes reveal that they saw Karolina and Jonah earlier on the dig site, which makes them fear that Jonah might know where the Runaways are. Robert Minoru decides to carry an assassination attempt on Jonah on his own, despite PRIDE doubting that it is a good idea.
Jonah summons Frank Dean to his office and reveals to him the Ultra Project, ordering Frank to find someone to sacrifice so he can regain some life force. While Frank struggles to find the strength to carry on Jonah's orders, Jonah is confronted by Leslie Dean, who blames him for having kept silent the fact that he regularly met Karolina and told her the truth about her heritage without consulting with Leslie. Leslie later finds Frank and learns that he has to pick someone to be killed for Jonah. As they discuss Karolina, Frank decides that he will not follow Jonah's orders, much to Leslie's pleasure. Leslie is later approached by Karolina, who wants to ask her questions about Jonah.
Janet Stein keeps decoding the Abstract, and discovers that Jonah owns a spaceship with an anti-gravity engine which could seriously endanger the whole California if misused. She returns into the Healing Algorithm and asks her husband Victor's help to destroy it, which he agrees to. Meanwhile, Robert fails to kill Jonah using Inhibitor Pods as he is attacked from behind by Aura and Frances. Jonah, although weaker than ever before, brings Robert back to the PRIDE Headquarters, much to PRIDE's astonishment.
==Cast==
Main Cast:
*Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder
*Lyrica Okano as Nico Minoru
*Virginia Gardner as Karolina Dean
*Ariela Barer as Gert Yorkes
*Gregg Sulkin as Chase Stein
*Allegra Acosta as Molly Hernandez
*Angel Parker as Catherine Wilder
*Ryan Sands as Geoffrey Wilder
*Annie Wersching as Leslie Dean
*Kip Pardue as Frank Dean
*Ever Carradine as Janet Stein
*James Marsters as Victor Stein
*Brigid Brannagh as Stacey Yorkes
*Kevin Weisman as Dale Yorkes
*Brittany Ishibashi as Tina Minoru
*James Yaegashi as Robert Minoru
*Julian McMahon as Jonah
Guest Stars:
*Jan Luis Castellanos as Topher Vasquez
*Danielle Campbell as Eiffel
*Efrain Figueroa as Joseph Vasquez
*Rose Portillo as Eileen Vasquez
*Heather Olt as Frances
*Pat Lentz as Aura
*Veronica Diaz as Sofia Vasquez
*Devin Kawaoka as Nurse
*Lindsey Hutchison as Attorney #1
*Kamar Elliott as Attorney #2
*Portia Bartley as Teenage Neighbor
*Paul Lacovara as Driver
*Angelique Kenney as Officer Nichols (uncredited)
Non-Speaking Characters
*Magistrate's Son
==Appearances==
===Locations===
*Los Angeles, California
**Hostel
**PRIDE Construction Site
**PRIDE Headquarters
**Church of Gibborim Executive Office
**Stein Mansion
**A.S. Memorial Medical Center
**Vasquez Residence
**Goodman University (flashback)
***Geosciences Research Center (flashback)
**Atlas Academy (picture)
**Dean Mansion (mentioned)
**Minoru Mansion (mentioned)
*Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (virtual reality)
**Odyssey Diner (virtual reality)
*Area 51, Alamo, Nevada (mentioned)
===Events===
*Chase of Topher Vasquez
*Gibborim Prophecy
**Attack on Jonah
*Assassination of Gene and Alice Hernandez (flashback)
*Assassination of Graciela Aguirre (mentioned)
*Rite of Blood (mentioned)
*Assassination of Amy Minoru (mentioned)
===Items===
*Gibborim Rock
*Church of Gibborim Bracelet
*Dematerialization Box
*Abstract
*Staff of One
*Fistigons
*Healing Algorithm
*Inhibitor Pods
*Anti-Gibborim Serum (mentioned)
*Book of Gibborim (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
===Vehicles===
*Magistrate's Ship
*Runaways' Rolls-Royce
===Sentient Species===
*Humans
*Gibborim
===Creatures===
*Deinonychus
**Old Lace
* (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
*Spiders (mentioned)
===Organizations===
*Runaways
*PRIDE
*Geoffrey Wilder Construction Inc.
*Church of Gibborim
**Ultra Project (mentioned)
*Nemo
*Synnergy
*Wizard
*Los Angeles Police Department
*California
*Forbes
*Hudson Rubbish & Disposal
===Mentioned===
*Gene Hernandez (drawing)
*Alice Hernandez (drawing)
*Graciela Aguirre
*David Ellerh
*Magistrate's Son
*Amy Minoru
*Livvie
*Priscilla Cordoba (newspaper)
*Erin Bailey (newspaper)
*
*
*
==Music==
Song title 	Artist 	Location(s)
Haunted By The Sky	Tor Lundvall	
*Topher Vasquez tells his story of how he got the Gibborim Rocks.
 	White Plains	
*Janet Stein returns to Victor Stein's virtual reality to ask if he could build something to destroy a gravitional wave engine. Victor gets to work on a new device.
Twilite Speedball 	Mos Def 	
*The Runaways pursue Topher Vasquez in a high speed car chase.
Buckets 	Kodacrome 	
*End credits.
==References==
==External Links==
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Category:Runaways (TV series) Episodes