Amber went to the lab to look for Leo before school when she found him, Adam, Bree and Chase huddled around a fancy new motorcycle just as Mr. Davenport came in through the tunnel sporting a new outfit he obviously meant to do his motorcycle riding in. “Well, whaddya think?” He asked the group.
Chase raised his eyebrow sarcastically as he answered. “I think you’re begging for a gang of bikers to do rotten things to you.” The rest gave a resigned nod as Mr. Davenport’s face changed to a “ha ha” expression. Then Bree frowned as she took a closer look at what he was wearing.
“Are those my pants!”
The Ha Ha look changed to a smile as he replied, “Not anymore.” The kids exchanged uncomfortable glances before he came around to the other side of the bike and launched into his explanation doubling as his bragging. “I call it a davencycle. She’s got auto-pilot, laser-guided weapon systems, and a tiny little flower vase,” pulling a flower out of his jacket and placing it in the vase “to brighten your day.” This made everyone exchange smirks or amused glances as Adam launched into another insult.
“Whoa, cool. Throw in a tiny basket for Chase to ride in and we’re good to go.” Chase bristled at this while everyone else seemed amused.
“Yeah, well no matter how big the bike, you’ll never fit your ego on there,” Amber chimed in as she gave the back of Adam’s head a harsh slap. The others didn’t have time to notice before a loud sound of static interrupted them. As they all turned to the screen’s control panel, they saw a familiar loathed face and waving hand appear.
“Hello? Anybody home?” Douglas called in his rough voice before giving a short laugh.
“He hacked you again?” Leo burst out. “Would it kill you to invest forty bucks in some security software?” They brushed this off for now as they all turned their complete attention to the screen, Amber unable to hide the complete loathing for the man they all believed had destroyed her home and family.
“Love the new lab, Donnie. Ooh, tunnels! Industrial, yet classy.” He smiled at the attempted small talk.
Mr. Davenport looked furious too. “Take a hint, ex-brother. There’s a reason none of us accepted your buddy requests.”
“Oh I accepted it.” Adam announced. When everyone glared at him, his voice got slightly defensive. “What? His updates are hilarious.” Then mimicking Douglas, he continued “Lookin’ forward to a weekend of evil, winky face…” emphasizing it with waving his arms along with what he was saying. Everyone else gave disbelieving and dismissive gestures as they turned back to Douglas. Amber didn’t know what to think of that. Yes it was Adam, and essentially had the mind of a child, but as far as they knew, this was the guy who had destroyed her home and family, and now he was on Adam’s buddy list? Seriously? Her scowl got even deeper as she turned her glare back to Douglas, who’s face had now turned more urgent.
“Listen, I don’t have a lot of time, Krane’ll be back soon. He went out to get his head waxed.” The last part sounded like an afterthought, and Amber thought it was strange how conversations with him made it sound like he was just meeting someone at the laundromat trying to make small talk or something. His voice always sounded light somehow, which she didn’t think matched the kind of guy who would destroy a person’s whole family. Or what she recalled of him going all the way to Antarctica to save Chase from the avalanche.
“Fascinating. You know what? It might sound like I’m hanging up,” Mr. Davenport retorted as he reached for the button.
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait!” Douglas urged. “This isn’t another trick. You’re in danger! Krane has completely lost it!” he continued as he emphasized everything with his hands all over the place.
“Oh, wow!” Chase responded sarcastically. “So the guy who keeps implanting himself with bionics is unstable? Who could’ve seen that coming?” They all gave agreeing smirks, which only seemed to frustrate Douglas.
“I’m serious! Krane is using my technology to give himself new abilities I didn’t even know were possible. He’s a ticking time-bomb, and he sees you three as a threat!” Despite what they believed he’d done to her family, he seemed to be seriously trying to warn them about this guy. He actually seemed worried, scared even. She’d have to remember that.
“Hey!” Leo objected. “What about me?! I’m dangerous!” He backed up and pumped his fists.
Douglas obviously didn’t think Leo was worth taking seriously. “Yeah, there’s always a chance you’ll faint on somebody.” Leo backed up, trying to think of a comeback, but he didn’t get the chance.
“Look,” Mr. Davenport said calmly. “Adam, Bree, Chase…” he looked over at Leo and hesitated very slightly. ”… and Leo and Amber can handle anything.” Leo seemed pacified and started bouncing on his toes with his fists back up as if in a fight. “And after all you’ve done to this family, why should we trust you?”
“Well.. I..” Douglas floundered, but still looked worried. He put his finger out, asking for time, then actually voiced it. “Give me a minute.” He looked into his own head for a reason for them to trust him. Amber just raised an eyebrow in disbelief, still scowling, but not as deeply as before. This was definitely not a threatening look for him.
Mr. Davenport gave a dismissive wave. “Take all the time you want.”
“Oh thanks. I—“ The screen turned off. Mr. Davenport had hung up.
As soon as the call was gone, Mr. Davenport headed to the other control panel, now worried about what Douglas was up to. “Douglas is up to something.” They turned to follow him. “He’s obviously trying to distract us with this Krane guy.” He started pushing buttons on the console.
Chase approached him with a more thoughtful expression on his face. “Well maybe so, but… what if he’s telling the truth?” he asked with a shrug. “And what if… what if he’s not the one behind what happened to Amber?” Amber folded her arms, already starting to consider this.
“We’ve seen Krane face-to-face. He’s a total creep,” Bree interjected as she approached with Adam and Leo.
“Yeah,” Adam agreed. “Nice eyes, though.” That made Amber roll her eyes. She wasn’t the only one.
“Trust me, this is exactly what Douglas wants,” Mr. Davenport insisted. “Don’t fall for his trap. My brother is the real threat.” They all nodded agreement, but Amber held her hand up to her chin as she considered everything that had just happened. She might have to agree with Chase about the possibility that it wasn’t Douglas. The way he acted didn’t seem consistent with being evil enough to completely destroy her family. Besides, and this kept bugging her anyway, what would he have to gain from that? She sighed as Leo shouldered his backpack and headed upstairs to go to school, looking over his shoulder to see if she was coming. She shouldered her own backpack automatically and followed, still lost in thought.
Still in the lab, but a bit later....
Adam and Bree sat by the tunnel entrance as Chase looked through his schoolbooks for his Chemistry notes. Though he still wondered about Douglas. Yes, the guy was evil, or at least not entirely worried about things being legal. But when he’d gone to Antarctica alone for the cytanium and gotten trapped in that avalanche, Douglas had come halfway around the world to save him. And that soup he’d made was really good too.
Chase couldn’t help smirking at the memory. There they’d been in the middle of an arctic desert, and his evil uncle-father was trying to give him Tuscan bean soup in a tent with a snowstorm raging outside. When Chase had asked, understandably he thought, if the soup was poisoned, Douglas had pointed out that flying thousands of miles to save his son’s life just to poison him… might not be the most logical assumption. Then warned him he’d freeze to death if he went outside. In the conversation that had followed, he admitted he had just wanted to get back at Donald, not hurt any of them.
Chase wasn’t sure what his original intentions were for when Douglas found him, but he seemed to understand a few things about intelligence being lonely when no one else appreciates it. None of this seemed to be consistent with destroying Amber’s house with her family still inside. Marcus had tried to kill Leo, but Douglas had never actually tried to hurt any of them himself. He also talked a lot about family whenever they saw him. What if they’d been wrong about him?
“Good news,” Mr. Davenport announced as he strode in from the tunnel.
“We’re kicking Chase off the team?!” Adam asked in a hopeful voice. Chase closed his notebook, wondering again why his brother continued to say things like this in front of him. Seriously? He thought to the back of Adam’s head through squinted eyes.
Mr. Davenport at least looked at Adam like that was a ridiculous idea and proceeded to explain. “No. Until I figure out what’s going on with Douglas, no one’s going to school.”
What? “No way! I’m gonna miss my Chemistry test!” Chase protested, his voice coming out as more of a whine than he was comfortable with. I was totally going to ace that test too!
Bree only missed a beat before coming back with “Nerdiest, sentence, ever.” She and Adam approached Mr. Davenport as Chase plopped his now useless-at least for today- school supplies. What a waste.
“Well Leo and Amber already left.” Adam reminded Mr. Davenport. A surprisingly good point coming from Adam.
“I sent Tasha to pick them up. In the meantime, we have a new state of the art security fence, capable of withstanding any threat. Even bionic ones.” This Chase paid more attention to. “Behold…” Mr. Davenport started walking to the entrance. “The-“
“Wait! Let me guess!” Bree interrupted, as Chase followed. She continued in a game show host voice. “The Davenfence!” He prepared himself for a name that, if Bree wasn’t right, was still probably just as lame.
Mr. Davenport picked up the sarcasm and retorted back. “No, that’s lame. This is the new cyber security perimeter Daven-wall.’ Cause that sounds so much better…Chase thought with a smirk. “I control it remotely from my wrist.” He demonstrated by putting his thumb on a pad strapped to his wrist as a robotic voice said “Lab security perimeter engaged.” Prompting a “whoa” from Adam. “Yeah. And this little baby can only be turned on and off with my own personal thumbprint.”
He couldn’t help it, he had to remind Mr. Davenport of this. “Mr. Davenport, I applaud your efforts,” he said as he strode forward for emphasis. “But I could easily break out of this thing using my fingerprint recognition app,” he finished with a confident smile. Small problem, Mr. Davenport still seemed confident.
“Uh, actually ya can’t. I removed my fingerprints from your database.” Darn it, he already thought of that. His smile changed to a slightly disappointed version of “Oh.” “But,” Mr. Davenport continued. “I can come and go anytime I want, by wearing this.” He held his wrist up to emphasize it with his thumb. Not surprisingly, Adam argued to find loopholes in Mr. Davenports theory.
“But, wait. What if you lose the remote? We’ll be stuck in here forever.”
“I’m not gonna loose the remote,” Mr. Davenport replied calmly.
“But what if it runs out of batteries?”
“It doesn’t use batteries,” Mr. Davenport answered slightly slower.
“Well what if you lose your thumbs?”
“I’m not going to lose my thumbs!” Mr. Davenport retorted loudly as he used the wristband to walk out of the lab.
Adam turned to the two of them, still not convinced. “Just because he says it confidently, does not mean it can’t happen.” Bree and Chase just shook their heads slightly and walked away, Chase returning to the seats they had been sitting at before they’d found out they weren’t going to school. Kicking his backpack aside slightly, he sat and considered Mr. Davenport’s decision about not going to school until they’d figured out what Douglas was up to. When it came to protecting their family, he’d noticed that he and Mr. Davenport were the most likely to take a threat seriously. But he still had to wonder if Mr. Davenport was focused on the right person. And with what he’d been thinking before Mr. Davenport came in, Chase believed it might be possible that Douglas could actually care about them, albeit in his own twisted way of expressing it. But Mr. Davenport had “stolen” him and his siblings from Douglas, and he kept claiming he just wanted them back. There must’ve been at least some attachment there, didn’t there? And from what he’d read of Amber’s face as they spoke to him that morning, she might actually agree with that. For now, he just hoped that Mr. Davenport hadn’t made the decision to keep them home too late for Amber and Leo.
At school....
Leo and Amber headed to the lockers to retrieve the books they had forgotten- again- for English class. “Why do they make us read this anyway?” Leo wondered aloud looking at one of the covers. Amber shrugged, not quite listening, still lost in thought about the conversation with Douglas that morning. Leo studied her for a moment before deciding to comment on it. “Alright, what is it? I know you’re thinking hard about something, you’ve got that look again.”
Amber had to raise her eyebrow at this slightly. “That look?” When he just continued to stare as if she should know better, she wistfully looked away and back into her thoughts. “What if Chase is right? What if he didn’t do it?” When Leo seemed confused, she rolled her eyes. “My family? What if it wasn’t him?”
Leo blinked and studied the locker doors for a minute, considering. “Then who would it be?” His glance came back to Amber, still sifting through his thoughts. “You think it could’ve been Krane?” he asked.
Amber just shook her head. “I think without more information, we’re not going to be able to tell for sure.” She looked at her watch. “We’d better head back. Shouldn’t keep Mrs. Thistle waiting, she’s already on borrowed time herself.” They grabbed the necessary books and turned around to have a heart attack and drop everything on the floor. Amber clutched near her heart with one hand as she used the other to steady herself with the lockers While Leo yelped and jumped back slightly. Douglas stood calmly near the corner of the hallway, with the most serious expression Amber had ever seen on him, and with no reaction at all to their response.
“I mean aaaaah!” Leo said hurriedly to amend his response, as if he was really fooling anyone.
Douglas waved him back off and rolled his eyes. “Relax…”
“I am relaxed! I’m very relaxed!” Leo retorted before putting his fists out. “Let’s do this spikey, let's get real,” he finished starting to throw punches, punches that Douglas deflected easily, even looking bored.
Douglas waited a moment for any more attempted blows before attempting to speak again, still looking bored. “Ya done?”
Amber just glared at him. “I just have one question.” Douglas raised an eyebrow, but still looked mostly bored. “Were you the one responsible for what happened to my family?” Emotion roughened her voice slightly, but she managed to make the question mostly direct and demanding.
At this, Douglas frowned and actually looked slightly confused. “Your family?”
“My family, my house… Gone. Exploded in front of my face!” Her voice rose and grew rougher with each word, but she managed to leave tears out of it, and keep it quiet enough that she was fairly sure no one in the classes would be disturbed. That surprised her. And with each word, Douglas seemed more confused, and actually seemed a little sorry.
“That wasn’t me. I was focused on getting Adam, Bree and Chase back, and Marcus was fixated on Leo, but I never targeted you or your family. … That must’ve been Krane.” The last bit was quieter, almost an afterthought, but he was serious, and she couldn’t see any sign of a lie on his face. With this, Amber gritted her teeth and looked at the floor, attempting to reassess this information and the man in front of them.
“What do you want Douglas?” Leo asked, bringing them back to the present.
At this Douglas gave a small wave of his hands. “You’re both smart. You figured out about Marcus and I before anyone else, so you’ve got to believe me about Krane.”
Amber’s gaze returned to Douglas for a moment before exchanging looks with Leo. She gave a short nod, and Leo shrugged slightly before folding his arms in front of him. “Alright. Talk.”
Douglas circled a spot on the floor following his own thoughts as he spoke. “Krane and I used to be on the same page. Get the kids back, use them for bank robberies, money scams, you know, garden variety bad guy stuff.” At this Leo gave a somewhat acknowledging shrug. Amber just kept watching. “But I was never gonna hurt them.”
“Marcus tried to kill me!” Leo exclaimed slowly for emphasis.
Douglas’ face she could only read as “That wasn’t the point.” What came out of his mouth was “I said them.” He was starting to lose his patience. He strode to the other side of the hallway, agitated and waving his arms again. “Listen, Krane is completely out of control. He’s got a serious score to settle with the rest of the world, and now he has the bionics to do it,” he finished looking directly at them.
Amber paused only a moment before asking, “What does he want with Adam, Bree, and Chase?”
“He doesn’t want them, he wants to destroy them. They’re the only ones that can stand in his way.” Leo and Amber considered this for a moment before Douglas put a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “Look, I'm scared, Leo. And you should be too.” He released Leo’s shoulder and pointed slightly as his face as his other hand reached into his pocket for his phone. “Watch this,” he told them as he positioned himself so both of them could see it. The video that came up was hardly worth sharing. “Oh, sorry.” He said with a chuckle. “That was my fortieth birthday party. We had a burger truck.” Again, Amber wondered how he could go between stalking these kids and causing so much trouble for the Davenports to sounding so conversational and upbeat like this.
“Stop it.” Leo said in a voice that was meant to sound like he was almost playing along, but not. Then Douglas turned serious and found the video he had been looking for.
“Here it is.” Krane was on what looked like a vertical hospital bed, but had so much energy coming out of his hands that the streams of it seemed to take half the frame.
“Yeah, that dude’s no joke.” Leo agreed in a rather pointed voice. Seeming satisfied somewhat that he had made part of his point, Douglas put his phone away. “So what am I supposed to do?” Leo asked.
“Talk to my brother. He’ll believe you.” Douglas started walking off at this point. “I gotta get back before Krane blows a gasket.” He turned back for a second to add a thought. “Literally, he has one right under here,” he said, pointing to his neck. He made a face, waved his hands slightly, then left.
Leo and Amber just stood there for a moment before turning their attention back to each other. “Whaddya think? You believe him?” Leo asked.
She nodded reluctantly. “As much as I hate to admit it… Yeah. Even the part about… My family. I was having doubts about him being responsible for that even after that message this morning.” She saw Leo pull out his phone to warn Davenport and turned most of her attention to her shoes.
“Hey, Big D it's Leo. Listen-“ he paused with a somewhat annoyed look on his face. “It's Leo! Listen,Douglas just stopped by school, and I hate to say it, but we think he’s telling the truth about Krane. Even Amber thinks so.” When he heard whatever response came from the other end, his annoyance seemed to grow even more as he looked at his phone in disbelief before repeating what he’d said and hung up.
Amber raised an eyebrow in question. “What?”
“His voicemail is him pretending he can’t hear you and giving you enough time to get into whatever you’re trying to tell him before admitting it's just his voicemail and you finally hear the beep.”
Amber rolled her eyes. Yeah, that sounds like Davenport.
Back at the lab....
Chase sat behind the control panel, trying to study for another test that was coming up. He could make up the Chemistry test easy, but wanted to be sure he was prepared as possible for their next test on Les Miserables. Of course Adam was making concentrating on anything difficult by trying to throw random items at the Davenfence to watch it shoot across the room after bouncing of the force field. Part of him was trying to study while the other part of him just waited for his brother to get bored of throwing small stuff and tried to throw him at it instead. He knew it was coming. And another part of him wondered why Tasha hadn’t returned with Amber and Leo, and was starting to worry.
“Oh ho ho! Awesome!” Adam called out as he watched his shoe fly away from the force field. “Aw, let’s see, what else can I throw?” After hearing a pause and seeing Adam turn his direction, Chase knew he’d finally thought of it. Although, he was a bit surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. I’m not in the mood for this…
“Don’t even think about it!” He said firmly, hearing the groan from Adam, he must’ve successfully deflected him. Then he heard the force field whir as Mr Davenport walked in.
“Something’s wrong.” Chase immediately closed his book to listen. “Leo just left a message that Douglas showed up at school, and now I can’t find them or Tasha.” Mr Davenports obvious concern did nothing to ease Chase’s mind. Now he’s showing up at school? How can we protect them at school if we can’t show our bionics?
“Oh, well, I’m sure we’ll find them if you keep us locked down here in the basement,” Bree threw in sarcastically. Mr Davenport just pursed his lips in annoyance as the screen behind him changed from whatever readings had been on there to a video link to Tasha, Leo and Amber tied up in a warehouse with a vertical stretcher behind them. Chase’s face tightened in concern, as did Mr Davenports, the others just looked confused. Tasha, Leo and Amber were yelling loudly, but not frantically, if anyone could hear them.
“I Knew it. Douglas has them!” Mr Davenport declared. But it wasn’t Douglas who suddenly came on the screen, it was Craine.
“Guess again,” Craine replied. How bad can this get right now? Is he the one who killed them? Chase wasn’t sure he wanted to think about Amber’s reaction to that if it was true and she actually found out about it. He couldn’t stop himself from trying to reassure them though as he stepped forward.
“Guys, don’t worry. We’ll get you out of there,” he promised them, and himself.
“Chase, don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Adam argued. Chase turned to glare at him. Why would he say that? After deciding they didn’t have time to get into that, he turned back to the screen as Mr Davenport addressed the man holding the rest of his family.
“So you’re Victor Krane.” At this, Chase saw Amber’s face sharpen her attention on the man holding them captive, but barely recognising the look she gave this man. If he had to give it a name, it would be barely contained rage. “Love the face. Do you get all the premium channels on that thing or…” Mr Davenport just drifted off as Krane just glared for a moment.
“Enough. Hand over the bionic kids,” he demanded calmly. Chase could see Amber still seething as she stared at their captor. Tasha and Leo were just watching, listening to what stakes were attached to their freedom, or their lives.
Mr Davenport immediately scoffed at this demand. “Not gonna happen,” he said matter of factly.
“This isn’t a game,” Krane continued calmly. “Ive sent you my coordinates. They have ten minutes to get here, or I downsize your family.” He turned back to his prisoners as Amber finally…… spoke, more or less.
“DOWNSIZE?! Like what you did to my family?” She raged. There was no hiding the rage now, Chase could barely recognise her face. “Was that you?” She demanded.
“Of course it was. You were always in the way and were supposed to be in the house when it happened.” He tsked at the apparent failure. Amber struggled against the rope, trying to charge at him. “So, I guess you can go first if they don’t show up.” Amber ducked under the loosened ropes and got knocked to the floor by an invisible force right away, hard. Chase almost charged at the screen, but had no room to do that. Krane just tsked again. “Pathetic,” he murmured, turning back to the screen. “You have ten minutes.”
As soon as the screen cut out, Chase went to the tablet to get the coordinates. “Got em. He’s at the corner of Prescott and Maple,” he related to the others.
“Ooh, nice neighborhood. Crime does pay,” he heard Adam say from behind him.
Chase half dropped the tablet back on the console and started to rush for his capsule. “Let’s go!” The others rushed to theirs just as fast, but Mr Davenport held his hand up.
“No. There’s too many unknowns with this Craine guy. This one I do alone,” he stated seriously.
“You?!” Adam yelled. Seriously? He’s going alone?
Mr Davenport looked insulted. “Yes, Me!” he retorted.
Adam changed his tone, but was no less insulting. “Aw, its so cute when he gets all macho!”
Chase knew he was actually agreeing with Adam, but he couldn’t let the man that had raised them get hurt too. He cut in front of his brother to talk to him. “Okay, no offense, but if this guy’s too dangerous for us, how are you going to beat him?”
“With this,” Mr Davenport replied hold up his wrist, one of the metal armbands he’d been wearing activating and now looking more like a weapon. “My thermal blaster,” he continued, starting to point to the other side of the room so they could see it and safely keep the aim away from them. “Trust me you do not wanna be on the wrong side of this baby,” he finished as he nodded his head confidently, at least until he actually looked at it, made a face, then rotated the blaster portion to face away from him. Typical, Chase thought. This wasn’t very reassuring.
After Mr Davenport had corrected his error, he went on. “This is the most powerful weapon I’ve ever created.” He shifted his gaze back to the blaster as he spoke, marveling at his creation again. “It’s like carrying around a lightning bolt. It will fry Krane’s circuits for good,” he continued as he looked back at them.
“Or you can wear your motorcycle outfit and he’ll die of laughter,” Adam chimed in, earning rolled eyes or annoyed looks from everyone else.
“Look, Mr. Davenport, you can’t go alone.” Chase urged. “Krane is a powerhouse! He’s the toughest enemy we’ve ever faced!”
“And without my speed, you’ll never make it!” Bree pointed out.
Mr Davenport still wasn’t having it. “My Davencycle will get me there in plenty of time. I’ll have Leo, Amber and Tasha home by dinner.” Now I’ll have to worry about all of them till I get that fence down.
“Okay,” Adam cut in again, walking in front of his brother. “But if you’re not back by six thirty, we’re eating without you.” Mr Davenport just rolled his eyes then used the remote to run out of the lab.
As soon as Mr Davenport left, Chase dove for the console to start trying to get the force field down. He knew none of them could just stay there and wait to hear if the others were okay. Plus, Amber had stayed there the whole time they thought they’d had to hide from the FBI and had gone with Mr Davenport and Leo to try to look for them. He couldn’t just sit here and wait when she had done that. “Bree, hand me my backpack!” He said as he lay under the console to get to the wiring. As soon as she brought it, he grabbed a set of small tools for the console and got to work.
At Krane's warehouse....
While Krane waited for the others to get there, he shoved Amber into a large metal box, almost like one of those safe rooms people buy to stay safe from burglaries and break ins, but safety was probably the last thing on Kranes mind. That blast Krane had hit her with when she’d tried to charge at him had hurt more than she wanted to admit, but couldn’t really hide. She hadn’t been any resistance to him at all when he shoved her in that box. Now he was dragging Tasha and Leo that way too. Amber kept wishing she’d been able to put up more of a fight. The rage she’d felt when he’d confirmed he was the one responsible hadn’t gone away, but was dulled slightly now that she felt a bit of how futile it seemed to try to fight him. He was bionic- she wasn’t; he was a big guy- she was tiny. The others had told her the man had implanted himself with every bionic technology Douglas had come up with, and while she didn’t know how many he’d come up with, he still seemed to be a threat to all three of her bionic friends, and she was just one human. How could she possibly put up much of a fight against that. All this thinking only made her angrier, and not being able to do anything about that either made her angrier still. So she sat in the corner, brewing for now. She’d find her chance someday. She had to. But she’d have to be smart about it.
“You know, I am a fairly well-known tv personality, and this could bring a lot of heat your way,” Tasha tried to threaten. She sounded confident, but Krane didn’t look worried.
“I’ve seen your reporting. I’m doing the world a favor,” he retorted, shoving her in the box, almost making her trip over Amber and pulled Leo across to the box, who stopped before going in there to try to look Krane in the eye.
“Hey, if you hurt my family, I will hunt you down, so you better take me down too,” he stated, sounding just as mad as Tasha. One thing about the Dooley’s, they might not be able to put up much of a fight physically, but they had the heart for it. If they had the bodies to actually put up that fight, Krane might’ve actually been in trouble. Unfortunately, they didn’t, and Krane stepped up to prove it.
“Alright.” All he did was punch one fist into the other hand, cracking his knuckles, right in front of Leo’s face, and watch Leo’s face turn squeamish looking at that fist.
“Box it is,” Leo amended stepping into the box.
Tasha deflated as he stepped in. “Sweetie, you gotta stop talking,” she told him as he helped Amber to her feet. He nodded in response as she addressed Krane who had just closed a metal door with a window placed at chest level. “Adam, Bree, and Chase will be here any minute, and they will take care of you!” she yelled through the closed metal door, pointing at him to emphasize her threat.
Krane still wasn’t scared. Amber just kept watching for any sign of emotion, or weaknesses that she could consider later to get back at him. “No, they won’t,” he said in that disturbing, and infuriating, calmness. “Your egocentric husband will try to be a hero and play right into my hands.”
Of course, Davenport had to choose right then to bust open the door with a triumphant laugh, right before the door slammed shut in his face again. Why did he have to prove him right so quickly? ……...That is so like him….. Krane just pointed his head at the door to prove his point before turning around readying himself for a fight. “Sorry I’m late,” Davenport opened, seeming to try to take a heroic pose.
“No,” Krane replied with a smile, growing wider at knowing Davenports timing couldn’t be more perfect to prove his point. “You’re right on time.”
Davenport chose that moment to shoot Krane with some kind of weapon on his wrist that shot a steady red energy beam at his enemy, making him double over, giving Davenport a moment of victory, and had him pointing at it to the those watching from the box. His moment of triumph was short lived though, as Krane lifted his hand to seem to catch the beam, making his hand glow a brighter red than Davenport’s beam from his weapon.
“What’s happening?” Leo asked.
“I dunno how he’s doing it, but he’s draining all the power from my blaster,” Davenport answered as the beam now pulled at his arm as the power left it. Krane lifted his arm as he drained more and more power from the blaster with a triumphant smile. The power drained quickly, and Krane just smiled as Davenport tried to tap and paw at the cuff on his wrist as if it would suddenly decide it had more power after all and shoot Krane again. He only did this for a moment though before throwing his hands up. “Okay, well that was the main thrust of my plan.” Amber groaned inwardly and sank her head slightly, putting her hand to her forehead. Even if that was the main thrust of your plan, why would you admit it to him? “I guess it’s gonna be hand-to-hand combat.”
Leo voiced everyone’s thoughts, a talent of his. “And we’re doomed.” Although, why he had to say it in front of someone who was trying to kill them always mystified Amber. I don’t care how obvious it is, if you don’t say it out loud, they might at least think you may have another trick up your sleeve…
Krane charged at him now, but didn’t even have to block Davenport’s opening blow, just held up his hand and used some force to hold Davenport away from him and start pushing him backwards and into the floor. He must have molecular kenisis like Chase. Or something like it anyway. Davenport was clearly feeling the pressure pushing him down has his face twisted against it. “You blocked me outta the lab with your little security fence.” That fence must be blocking them too, or they wouldn’t have let Davenport come, and they would’ve been here by now. “Turn it off.”
“NEVER!” Davenport shouted.
Krane seemed amused as he released Davenport. “I figured you’d say that, so I’m gonna give you a choice. Adam, Bree and Chase… “ he turned to the box as he spoke. “... Or them. It’s up to you.” Tasha and Leo exchanged looks, Amber just set her jaw. She’d rather die than let him get to her friends. Who knows what he’d do to them and their bionics, or what he’d make them do if he tried using the triton app again.
“I’ll never make that choice,” Davenport replied firmly.
Krane just looked at a remote he now held in his hand as he pushed a button. “How bout now?”
Amber now felt a heat that was not coming from her anger as the walls around her turned red. And was this HEAT… “What is that?” she asked Krane with a bit of heat before the heat around her started to drain her energy.
“An exothermic energy field,” he said in that ever infuriating calmness. Amber grit her teeth again. How could he be so calm about things like this? “Its like a microwave. Good for chicken,” he said lightly, then turned to Davenport and finished menacingly. “Baaaad for humans.” Davenport rose to his feet, a horrified expression on his face. “They should be well-done in about six minutes.” Tasha and Leo looked around the box and the red walls radiating heat they could almost literally see. Amber just stared at nothing, then looked at Davenport, who took another approach.
“Look, just let them go. Take me instead,” he pleaded. He meant it- Amber could see it all over his face. The nerds in this family were so self sacrificing when it came down to it. Yes they had egos, but if the chips were really down, they’d do anything for family.
“Well, that wouldn’t be as much fun,” Krane said mildly, before giving a small laugh. “But you can stop this. All you gotta do is turn off the security perimeter.” The horror on Davenports faced deepened and he looked at the metal box that was growing hotter and hotter as they continued talking. “Tick-tock,” Krane pushed on. Davenport started fighting himself as he would look at his wrist, and off at nothing as he waged an internal battle. Amber set her jaw. He couldn’t do it. She’d never forgive herself if he chose them over Adam, Bree and Chase. They weren’t just her friends, they were heroes. If Krane controlled them there was no telling what he could do.
At the lab...
Back at the lab, Chase was growing frustrated. He had panels hanging from wires dangling from the console as he worked to get the field down, but every route he tried to take to get around it still ended with the request for the required fingerprint. If only Davenport hadn’t remembered his fingerprint recognition app, they would be there by now.
“Hurry! We have to get out of here and help them!” Bree urged.
“I’m trying!” Chase answered just as urgently. “I hacked through the encryption, but it won’t let me go any further without a fingerprint.”
“Ooh! I have a fingerprint!” Adam cut in, seeming to at least be eager to try to help.
Chase sighed and turned slightly to look at his brother. “I meant Mr Davenport’s,” he explained, immediately turning back to what he was doing. What else could he try that he hadn’t already without a fingerprint?
Adam’s voice continued behind him. “Why would I have Mr Davenport’s fingerprint? Think, Chase, think.” I have been thinking, dummy…. He sighed again and kept fiddling with the panel he was on until Bree chimed in.
“Hey. Isn’t that his coffee mug?” Chase got to his feet. It was! Finally a productive suggestion. That would have his fingerprint!
Adam kept thinking of simpler things as they approached the mug. “Ah, good one. Let’s have a cup of Joe and talk about the good old days while Chase figures it out,” he said as he reached for the mug. Chase stopped his arm at the elbow before he could actually touch it.
“Stop.” He made sure Adam dropped his arm before he went on. “Bree’s right, I can use my fingerprint recognition app to pull his thumbprint from the cup. Then we can shut down the perimeter.” He turned back to the cup to scan it, but Adam had to jut in one more useless suggestion.
“Okay, but if that doesn’t work, I got twelve of these bad boys and, odds are, one of ‘em’s bound to do something.” Chase -again- couldn’t help marveling at how often he could miss the point entirely.
Back at the warehouse....
It had been cool enough that morning that they had all been wearing multiple layers of clothing, in some form or another anyway, Leo and Amber were wearing long sleeved shirts with a collared shirt over them and Tasha with a sweater over her t shirt. Amber was sure she was not the only one regretting this as they stood roasting in this box, trying to fan themselves in a small and warm enough room that not even air wanted to move.
“Donald! … Do something!” Tasha yelled.
She had never seen Davenport look more worried, or trapped. He crossed over to Krane as he urged him, again to stop. “They have nothing to do with it!”
“And yet, they seem to have everything to do with it,” Krane replied. Why is he always so freakin calm? Amber wondered, not enough energy to be fuming anymore. She had always overheated easily to begin with, but this was much more. Only stubbornness kept her on her feat.
Leo unwisely opened his mouth again. “Don’t give in, Big D! We can take it!” Amber shot him a look. She knew they couldn’t take it forever. Not that she wanted Davenport to give in, but she didn’t care if she roasted in here rather than let Krane get his hands on the others. She didn’t like that Leo and Tasha would go down with her, but…. what could she do? She didn’t get the chance to voice any opinion before Krane gave his.
“Really?” Some disbelief and mild anger finally colored that hated voice. “How bout now?” he asked as he dialed up the heat.
They all started taking off the top shirts as the heat escalated drastically. “Okay, that burns! Yeah!” Leo acknowledged, nodding as he took the button down shirt off.
Tasha looked pissed. “Stop talking to him!!” he commanded her son.
“You’re running out of tiiiime,” Krane taunted to Davenport.
Davenport gave a glance to the overheating box containing his wife, step-son, and semi adopted daughter before futilely trying to take Krane’s remote to it. “Just stop!”
Foiling this attempt, Krane used his … force ...whatever... app to push Davenport away and facing the ground away from him, who groaned in pain. “I thought you were smarter than this,” Krane mused. “You will never beat me. Give me Adam, Bree, and Chase, or you will lose everything.”
Out of nowhere, Davenport’s watch started beeping, actually confusing Krane enough to let go and ask what it was. “Nothing,” Davenport stammered. “My fantasy football team is winning.” He fiddled with his watch for a moment before a robotic voice told them the perimeter was disengaged. NO!
“Why’d you turn it off?” Leo demanded.
“I didn’t!” Davenport answered quickly. Chase! He must have found a way to turn it off! “It’s okay, I can re-arm it from here,” Davenport continued.
“Too late!” Krane said with a laugh as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Tasha and Leo shared Amber’s stunned expressions as Davenport wailed “He can geo-leap?! I haven’t even cracked that yet!” He yelled in frustration as he put his hands on his hips after a brief touch to his forehead.
Leo managed to sound calm for a moment. “You know what, I’d love to help with that if my brain cells weren’t BOILING!” he finished with a yell. At this reminder, Davenport turned frantic again trying to find a way to turn it off, but nothing he tried seemed successful. He fiddled futilely with the tool table nearby to find something he could use for a few minutes before Leo yelled again. “Get us outta here!” He yelled franticly.
“I can’t use my thermal blaster cause Krane drained all the power out of it.” He turned back to the tool table for a moment, fiddling some more before throwing up his hands and asked “What kind of evil villain’s lair doesn’t have a large device for cutting metal?”
“Just do something,” Tasha yelled, her energy obviously draining. “I can’t take much more.”
Davenport looked at his wife’s distress as if it was causing him physical pain too before pushing off to another part of the room to see if the other console would do anything, but he never reached it before Leo voiced a brainwave. “Wait! This lab must be tied to a huge power source. Can’t you patch that into the thermal blaster?” He pointed to a large cylindrical power station near the door Davenport had come through.
“YES!” Davenport cried as he headed in that direction. “And if I reverse the polarity,” he continued as he turned and walked backwards to the power supply. “It’ll pull the heat from the cube and burn a hole in the door!”
“And is that safe?” Tasha asked. Do we really have time for safe right now?
Davenport had reached the power supply, but backed away to provide sufficient sarcasm. “I don’t know. Maybe we should consult the manual before we rush into anything.” After he was done with the sarcasm he grabbed the cords he needed, still sputtering sparks, and put them up to his blaster. Amber, Leo and Tasha ducked away from the door as it -amazingly- worked just as Davenport said it would. A large enough hole for them to get out of grew in the door before he pulled his arm down and pulled the cords away, stopping the effect. They all gave relieved laughs as they climbed out of the box and into an embrace. The hug didn’t last long because Davenport pointed out that because they’d been in the box they were burning him. But they were out!
“Let’s go! We gotta check on the others!” Amber insisted as she ran for the door, energy renewing now that they were outside of that blasted box. They ran after her.
Douglas' POV
Douglas rummaged through a worktable at another of Krane’s safehouses. He knew Krane wouldn’t be here. After leaving Leo and Amber at the school that morning, he’d returned to the warehouse they’d been staying at lately and had been told- more or less- that he was out now, and when he’d tried to leave, Krane had tried to kill him. Douglas had enough experience with this to simply make Krane believe he was actually dead. But after Krane left, Douglas had got out of there as quickly as he could and found out what Krane was up to. He had managed to place a few bugs in Davenport’s security system that told him enough that Krane was trying to get into the lab, where his brother had set up a security fence to stop Krane from getting in, and the kids from getting out. Knowing how stubborn Krane was though, it wasn’t going to take him too long to outsmart his brother and get a hold of Adam, Bree and Chase. But Douglas couldn’t let Krane get his hands on them. He’d actually kill them. As much as Douglas had wanted to get them back, he’d never wanted to hurt them. He’d created them. He was their father, and his brother had stolen them. He still felt bad that Marcus hadn’t made it out of the house either, he had thought Marcus would come outside.
Douglas shook his head, he couldn’t think about all this right now. He had to focus on finding a weapon to stop Krane before he killed the kids. First he brought up a feed he still had to the house and put it on the screen behind him. At least he’d know if they were okay. They were in a call with Krane… Douglas paused. It seemed Krane had his brother’s wife, the boy, Leo, and their friend, Amber. That one looked livid when she found out who held them captive, and Krane actually confirmed he was the one behind what happened to her family. Seeing Chase’s and Amber’s reactions, he wondered briefly how the others hadn’t caught on to how they felt about each other. His brother might’ve noticed, but his other two kids hadn’t. He shook his head. When heard the ten minute limit repeated, he suddenly remembered a weapon he’d hidden in a compartment in a wall, just in case. He didn’t trust people. He heard his brother refuse to take them with him, for their safety, and scoffed with them when he gave that excuse. He found it, the immediately went to his brother’s lab to help his kids. He wasn’t going to get there in time to save the others, but he at least he knew where his kids were, and that’s where Krane would go as soon as he got through that fence. And he would likely geo leap in, so he wouldn’t use any entrances, trying to leave the kids no time to escape.
Knowing his brother, and having been in the old lab, the one he’d blown up, he had a feeling he’d be able to find the entrance to that tunnel he’d seen in that call to his brother to warn them this morning. The rest of the house would have much more security, but that tunnel seemed to have been designed for speedily getting in and out of the lab in their mission suits. Either way it seemed his best bet.
As he expected, he found it easily, and found the three of them on the floor in their mission suits as if just receiving a blow from Krane, who was standing over them raising his energy sphere between his hands ready to strike. Douglas didn’t waste any time, he fired his weapon at Krane before he could deliver the blow and hurt his kids. The blast sent him to the console on the other end of the room, as the kids looked for the source of the blow and found him, with confusion on their faces. “Hi, kids. Good to see ya.” And it was. They were still okay. He pointed his weapon back at Krane, careful not to actually shoot as for some reason they crossed to the capsule side of the room in front of his weapon. What is he teaching these kids?
Krane pushed himself off the floor. “I thought I finished you.”
“Yeah, that’s what I wanted you to think,” he told Krane. Its saved my butt a few times, so I got good at it. It was something he was proud of, so he bragged to his kids. “I’m gettin’ pretty good at fakin’ my own death,” he relayed with a grin, still pointing the gun at Krane. Unfortunately, his moment of inattention cost him.
“Good luck faking your way around THIS!” Krane used electric shock to knock Douglas to the ground losing his grip on his weapon.
Okay, that hurt, he thought to himself mildly as the pain doubled him over on the ground and he tried to turn to face his kids and his attacker, but putting his one hand on his shoulder and the other as the only shield he had. He saw his kids watching him from near the capsules. “Kids, you might want to leave for this next part,” he warned. They shouldn't watch their father get killed by Krane. He could feel and see smoke still rising from his own body from the electricity that had just been through him.
He saw Krane build up energy in his hands for another blast like he’d been about to throw at the kids before he came in and covered his face, waiting for the blow, hearing Krane roar as he prepared to strike… then a couple stutters before it was suddenly quiet and he dared to look back up. Chase was right next to him on the floor, holding his hands up, and Krane was on his back where he’d been standing. Chase must have used his shield to save him. He’d have to thank him later. For now, he had to be sure Krane didn’t escape. He retrieved his weapon and dashed to cover Krane before he could get to his feet as he heard the other two commenting on Chase’s quick action.
Having his weapon ready to fire at Krane who just stared at him recovering from his own blow on the floor, the thought he had a moment to relish in it. “I should’ve done this a long time ago.”
“Guys!” He heard his brother’s voice over his shoulder and turned to look at the tunnel briefly, but that was all Krane needed to geo leap away.
“Oh, NO!” he chased the spot for a moment as if he could catch him before turning back to his brother. “You let him get away!” He almost bumped into Amber who seemed to be trying to get to the spot he disappeared from too, her hands going up to her hair when she failed to reach him, but her face full of rage, still staring at where Krane had been. His brother however…
“Get Out of MY HOUSE!!” Donnie charged at him with his blaster he’d been bragging about to the kids before on his arm pointed straight as his chest now, so Douglas dropped his weapon to the floor and backed up with his arms over his head. Krane was the one trying to kill them this time, Douglas had just tried to save them, and yet the blaster was pointed at him? He didn’t try to hide his frustration, but decided not to say anything to try to defend himself yet.
“No! Mr Davenport, it’s okay!” he heard Chase cut in. “Douglas saved us from Krane.” Honestly, even though Chase had just saved his life a minute ago, he was still surprised he was defending him now. He wasn’t used to them defending him at all.
Donnie turned to Chase as if he was speaking blasphemy. “Saved you?” Donnie turned back to look at him. “He’s the reason we’re having to fight Krane in the first place,” he finished looking even more determined to shoot if Douglas didn’t leave.
Douglas waved his hands slightly in front of him, too aware that his brother was too close to shooting him for sudden big movements. “Don, I can explain-”
“You’re lucky I’m letting you go.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could only see Chase’s face behind Donnie’s, which actually looked sorry for him. “Now get out of here before I change my mind.”
Douglas just tipped his head forward a bit to acknowledge that was as far as he was going to get with his brother. Then gave a slight placating wave of his hands to try to let Donnie know he wasn’t going to keep arguing or fighting.
When Douglas didn’t move beyond that and Donnie didn’t shoot, Adam pushed in front of Chase to say something to Donnie. “Hey, if you’re gonna blast him, can you get it over with? Cause this is getting really uncomfortable.” He pulled back to just behind Donnie with his fist covering his mouth, and a sidelong look from Chase, and Douglas caught the looks from the rest of the family, Leo and his mother still looking angry, but Bree just watching for what they would do. Amber was still staring at where Krane disappeared from, the seething seemingly calmed, but her face was still tight, and her hands were gripping her hair so tightly, he was surprised she still had any attached to her head, and her eyes were closed in pain or anger, he couldn’t tell which. Keeping his arms up, he backed up until he could walk out of the lab without his brother shooting him.
The lab- Chase's POV
With Douglas gone, the family went on to asking if everyone was okay, but mostly uneasy about approaching Amber. Chase just stood there watching her. They’d just confirmed that Krane was the one who was responsible for what happened to her family instead of Douglas, and finding out by him taking her and the others captive? He stood frozen for a while as the rest of the family eased around her to leave the lab, Adam and Bree already changed out of their mission suits, Bree glancing back at him with a brief pointed and concerned glance at Amber. Chase didn’t know how to answer, but that must have showed in his face. He hoped she’d be okay of course, but didn’t know how long that would take. After the others left, he stood there a moment longer, not even thinking really, just trying to feel her pain as he approached her from behind, coming up on her left while placing a hand gently on her other shoulder.
Her face was still a long way past angry, but there was despair and pain in that look too, her eyes were closed, and she was still gripping her hair, alternating between loosely and tightly enough to pull it out. Then he saw the tears edging her eyes. “Amber?” he said quietly. He saw her blink, but that was the only acknowledgment he saw, if she was even acknowledging him. “Amber,” he said again, only slightly more urgently. She blinked a bit more, finally pushing those tears out of her eyes.
“He was right there...” she said quietly, tightly. He felt her shudder under his hand on her shoulder. She licked her lips and closed her eyes again. “I wanted to kill him Chase. I still want to. But I can’t. I’ll never be able to.” She set her jaw so fiercely he was surprised she wasn’t breaking it. He could totally understand her wanting that. He’d killed her whole family, kidnapped and threatened to kill her, and Chase knew she still had nightmares about all of it. The house, about anything happening to them because of either Douglas or Krane. And now knowing that she couldn’t even get back at the guy responsible because he was so powerful… Chase closed his own eyes for a moment, then popped them back open as images of her family swamped him again. He still had nightmares too. Make no mistake, someday, they were going to make him pay. He just wished there was a way Amber could feel like she was part of it. An idea struck, as he considered it for a minute. Why not?
He removed the hand from her shoulder and took one of her hands from her head to get her attention and pull her with him at the same time. “Come on, I have an idea.” She gave him a slightly confused but chiseled face in return. “It might not be actual revenge, but it might let you safely fight something that at least looks like him,” he offered. She followed.
He led her to the simulation room, where he set up a room looking like where she, Leo and Tasha had been held, then made the opponent she faced look like Krane. But didn’t tell her that he was going to be using that image to fight her himself so it would feel real. He didn’t want to fight her. But he figured she was too frustrated to simply fight air, and even in a simulation, it did feel different. So after she put the headgear on, he put his own on. She charged at him and they fought, hard. He didn’t use any bionics, but he didn’t back down otherwise. He’d been trying to teach her some self defense and basic fighting since what had happened to her family, and he could see now it was paying off. But the pain and anger were driving her so hard, that it built up his own anger, knowing why she felt this way. It built up to the point that he blacked out, and only came to when Amber was in the middle of blocking him, but didn’t move more than that and just held the block while ducking her head, starting to shudder.
He panicked for a moment. Had he just been focused on fighting instead of retaining information, or had she just been fighting Spike? “Amber!” She glanced at him, but mostly kept looking at the floor and started heaving breaths, and he could hear the start of sobs. Oh no…”Did I hurt you?” he asked. If he had hurt her when she was already hurting from all of this.
“No,” she sobbed in answer. “I mean, yes, but…. no more than one would get hurt in a fight anyway.” Her voice was broken, but she was being honest.
He shook his head, still trying to believe she hadn’t just been fighting Spike. “Amber, I blacked out.” He took a few shuddering breaths himself before asking her, “Were you just fighting Spike?”
“No… yes… I dunno.” They both lowered their arms enough that he could see more of her face. Tears were now streaming down her face, and her shoulders started shuddering more and more as sobs started to wrack her body. “It’s just… all of this… the fight pushed me enough to finally cry about it. So thanks for that.”
His mouth fell open and he tasted a tear as it dropped in his own mouth. He hadn’t realised he’d started himself until then. “I didn’t mean to make you cry, I thought this would help.” He gripped his hair with his right hand as his other went to her shoulder.
“No, I mean…” she swallowed and sniffed and tried to look him in the eye briefly. “I think I needed to cry, but… I was too angry to let it out at the time. But the fight pushed me enough that I finally let it out.” Chase almost nodded, but was still letting that sink in. “So… I'm really thanking you for that.”
“Well, one piece of good news, not many people can hold their own against Spike, and you must have, so…. there’s that.” He gave a small smile.
She managed a small laugh before crumbling into more sobs and sinking to the floor. He sat or sank to the floor with her and just held her as she cried, not wanting to leave her alone. At least this time he didn’t have vomit on his shirt to get on her face.
When the sobs gave way to sniffles and sniffs, and shivering, he pulled back a bit to get a look at her face. She was much calmer, in fact almost seemed asleep. He considered this a moment. If it came to it, he was sure he could get her to her room and put her on her bed. But he didn’t want to do that unless he was sure she was asleep, not wanting to cross any boundaries. “Amber?” He said hesitantly, quietly. She just gave a sleeping blink and shivered again. “Are you asleep?” She didn’t respond to that at all, which he took as a yes. The tip of his mouth curved in a small and unconscious smile. Since one arm was already around her shoulders, he looped the other arm under her knees and carried her to her room, placing her gently on the bed. He found a spare blanket from her closet and placed it over her since she’d already been shivering, and just watched her for a moment, a few thoughts actually coming back to him. He’d make sure Krane paid for what he’d done to her. And he’d do everything he could to help her be able to join in, he promised himself as he left her room to finally change out of his mission suit.
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