a donut shop and leaves Molly behind with Victor. A weak Karolina, a Staff-less Nico and Xavin the realm of the Gibborim, only to find that the giants will not accept Chase as a sacrifice. Apparently, his self-sacrifice was not considered "innocent", and instead the giants move to consume Nico. As all hope becomes lost, a conscious Victor and Molly enter the realm of the Gibborim to save Nico. Without their sacrifice, the Gibborim slowly fade to their deaths. As the team returns to the Hostel, they notice their security has been breached. Xavin realizes that she did not make the group invisible when they left; subsequently, Iron Man greets the children with a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents. In another reality, the Gibborim come face to face with the person who alerted Molly to Chase's plans in the first place: Alex Wilder. The Joss Whedon era When Brian K. Vaughan told Runaways editor Nick Lowe that he wanted to leave the title, Lowe had begged earnestly for Vaughan to stay, but Vaughan had already decided to leave Runaways at the top of its game. Finally, Lowe accepted Vaughan's departure and asked longtime Runaways-fan Joss Whedon to write an arc. Although Whedon had originally declined, he accepted the following week. According to Whedon, his decline from before had been "eating away at him", and after talking to Vaughan all weekend about the series, Whedon had accepted. Vaughan had helped hand-pick Whedon. Whedon had long since been a fan of the series, and even wrote a fan letter which has since been collected in the Runaways vol. 1 hardcover, where he begged Marvel to continue the series after learning it might have ended at issue #18. Dead End Kids Originally published in: Runaways #25-30 (April 2007 - June 2008) Creators: writer Joss Whedon, artist Michael Ryan Guest appearances: The Kingpin, the Punisher After escaping Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D., Nico, Victor, Chase, Molly, Karolina and Xavin arrive in New York City. After a brief run-in with Wilson Fisk (the former "kingpin" of crime in NYC) and the Punisher, the Runaways steal an artifact belonging to the late Gertrude Yorkes's parents. In a twisted turn of events, the Runaways escape to 1907 New York. Much to their shock, the Runaways are horrified to learn that the Yorkes themselves lived during this time, leading a super-powered group called the Sinners. The Runaways separate all over