Chase Stein

Talkback
File:Runaways2 24.png Chase with Old Lace Cover to Runaways Vol.2, #24. Art by Jo Chen.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Runaways # 1 (1st series)
Created by	Brian K. Vaughan Adrian Alphona
In-story information
Alter ego	Chase Stein
Team affiliations	Runaways, The Fall
Notable aliases	Talkback
Abilities	Skilled pilot, Controls The Leapfrog, which has various technological abilities, Telepathic link and command to a genetically engineered deinonychus

Chase Stein is a comic book character in the ongoing series Runaways, published by Marvel Comics.

Fictional character biography

Early life

Chase Stein is the son of mad scientists Victor and Janet Stein. The two supposedly made a fortune from inventing a tool that removes stickers from CDs, but were actually members of the secret group of super villains called The Pride. Victor often physically abused Chase for talking back and for getting poor grades in school.

Runaway Vol.I

File:RUNAWY008.jpg

Chase with the Fistigons. Cover to Runaways Vol.1, #5. Art by Jo Chen.

Chase often comes across as being a dumb, obnoxious jock, but he is surprisingly street smart. Before learning that his parents were members of The Pride, Chase wanted to be an announcer for ESPN, but after his experiences with the Runaways he decides that he wants to join the FBI to help other troubled teens like themselves (with the added perk of carrying a gun all the time.)

He receives his codename "Talkback" from Gertrude's sarcastic remark (he wanted to be called "Neo") and for his habit of talking back. The only Runaway with a driver's license, Chase transports the team in his unmarked white van (very inconspicuous, commonplace, and difficult to track. Furthermore, it has a stolen licence plate.) He uses equipment taken from his parents' secret underground lab: "weaponized" gauntlest called Fistigons and multispectral goggles, but the both are destroyed in the final battle with the Pride. Chase was the one who originally found the Runaways' first hideout, a "missing mansion" which was swallowed up during an earthquake in the 1920s or 1930s that he nicknamed "The Hostel".

Template:Spoiler When the Runaways sneak into the under-sea lair of The Pride in an effort to stop their parents from presenting an offering to the Gibborim, the teens are attacked by the hideout's security system: a giant stone golem. During the ensuing battle, Chase nearly drowns and is given CPR by Gertrude Yorkes. He shows his gratitude by kissing her, and calls her "the hottest chick [he's] ever seen." As he is too weak to continue on to face The Pride, Chase offers the Fistigons and goggles to Alex Wilder, who later betrays them all. Chase saves the team from certain death by hot-wiring the transport ship his parents designed, the Leapfrog, and getting them out of the Gibborim's lair before it explodes.

When the Runaways are split up by Social Services, Chase tells the authorities that he is going to go and live with an Aunt in Anaheim, but instead gives them a false address and runs away again. Later, when the rest of the Runaways leave their foster homes to meet each other, Chase turns up by surprise and leads the teens off to release Gert's raptor, Old Lace, from an Avengers storage complex. After successfully rescuing Old Lace, the kids decide to stay together rather than return to their foster homes and move off to their new lives in the Leapfrog.

Runaway Vol.II

With the Fistigons now gone, Chase helps the team by piloting the Leapfrog, which serves as their getaway vehicle. As opposed to most vessels, which are designated "she," Chase has specifically designated the Leapfrog a male vessel, as the team had "more than enough estrogen". Chase uses the Leapfrog's lasers, which he has only just discovered, to attack Excelsior. Chase now knows how to fix The Leapfrog after it was shot down by a blast from Darkhawk's amulet. He has also recently discovered that the "Frog" can talk, and it calls him "Master," to Chase's delight.

The Runaways have a shocking encounter with Gert's older self, who travels from 20 years in the future to tell the Runaways about Victor Mancha, a boy who will grow up to be a deadly super-villain. Suffering from internal injuries sustained in a battle with "Victorious," the older Gert confesses her love for Chase before dying in his arms. Visibly shaken, Chase vows to "tear [Victor's] damn heart out."

However, the present-day Victor is an innocent young man, and a battle with Ultron leaves him an orphan. He joins the Runaways despite Chase's clear animosity towards him. Chase is also concerned that Gert may be infatuated with Victor, who is more her intellectual equal. Though Gert assured him that she only loves him, Chase remained leery of Victor's place among them long after his teammates accepted him. It wasn't until Victor begged Chase to knock him out while under the influence of the New Pride that Chase finally accepted him as a teammate and brother.

More recently, it has been hinted that Chase himself has a dark-side. In the "East Coast/West Coast" arc, Chase tells the Pusher Man that he once beat a gang member to death when the other teen tried to steal Chase's van. He did not confirm whether it was fact, though he says that his relationship with Gert is what keeps him "good". Earlier in Series 2, there was a time when he nearly confesses a personal secret to Nico but is interrupted. It is likely that this murder was his secret, as they were mentioned in the same arc. However, this story is later revealed to be a made up story used to explain the beatings Chase received at the hands of his father.

However, in the first crossover with Cloak and Dagger, Cloak with Chase inside his cape claims that he cannot sense any blood on the hands of his captives, but does detect a darkness in one. This could mean Chase is either immune to Cloak's senses or his secret does not relate to killing anyone. It is also possible he was sensing Alex Wilder's intentions for betrayal, since Alex was also trapped in the darkforce dimension.

At the end of the Parental Guidance arc, Gert sacrificed herself to save Chase's life. To do so, she had to tell Geoffrey Wilder that Chase was a bad person. In her dying breaths, she told Chase that she lied to protect him, something that he had taught her. She also transferred Old Lace's psychic link to Chase and tried to tell him how much she loved him. After an unseen dispute with Nico about what to do with Gert's body he leaves the team with Old Lace, a copy of the Abstract, and Geoffrey Wilder's decoder ring.

While the other Runaways find methods to deal with their grief, Chase uses Old Lace to hunt down Lotus, the only member of the New Pride who had not attempted to atone for the murder of Gert. Using the Abstract and the decoder ring, Chase opened a portal to the dimension of the Gibborim and was offered the resurrection of Gertrude in exchange for one innocent human soul. Chase glared menacingly at Lotus, but released her, realising that her innocence was stripped during the murder of Gert. As they left the Gibborim's dimension, the old gods told Chase that their offer still stood: One innocent soul for the resurrection of Gert. Chase then ordered Lotus to burn the abstract, but not before he secretly ripped several pages from the tome. Chase then returned to the Hostel and acted as though none of his encounters had happened.

Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways

He eventually returned to the team, as seen in the Young Avengers crossover during the Civil War event. He has become a very angry young man, who is very eager to fight and snaps at his fellow teammates. Sometimes the anger is justified, such as when Xavin (unintentionly) insulted a damaged Victor. Other times, he is out of line; he caused Molly to run away from the Hostel in tears after she made a simple request. His intelligence also seems to have increased, as he was attempting to repair Victor, although he had previously repaired the Leapfrog several times, and may just have an aptitude for all things mechanical.

After Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways

Some time later, after the Runaways battled the Silver Bullet Gang, Chase got into an argument with Nico over his ruthless attitude he had been carrying into battle ever since Gert's death. Following this, Chase decided to walk back to the Hostel while the others rode home on the Leapfrog. In reality, Chase returned to the Gibborim and asked if their offer to resurrect Gert had any "fine print". They told him that the offer would expire in twelve hours because by then they would no longer be in limbo and they would have disappeared from this plane of existence forever. They also revealed that the person sacrificed to them would be written out of reality, as if they had never existed in the first place. Following this, Chase was last seen in an undisclosed location with an unconscious Nico tied to a chair in front of him. He stared at her coldly and commented that she was the most innocent person he knew, clutching the Staff of One in his hand and Old Lace behind him.

Chase then went on to tell Nico that he intended to kill himself to ressurect Gert. He also told Nico about how his father used to beat him with the phone book after getting a D or a parking ticket. Chase never thought those were good enough reasons, so he made up stories in his head to explain why he deserved this and after a while he started to believe some of them himself. He left the Hostel after giving Nico three failsafes for if Victor ever reverted to his original programming, and taking Nico's Staff of One, promising to dispose of it so that Gert and Nico could live long and happy lives.

The other runaways set off in pursuit, following a trail Old Lace had deliberately left.

Abilities

Chase Has a Telepathic Link To The Dinosour "Old Lace" Once Linked To Gertrude Yorkes, Before She Died.

Trivia

• In Brian K. Vaughn's original pitch for the series, Chase was originally called John. The relationship Chase has with Molly in the comics was also originally given to Gert.