I was in the lab doing some training with Davenport and Chase. I was practicing using my lighting at different levels of strength. Davenport has me charging random things. So far I've charged an electric toothbrush, a phone, now it's a tablet.

"Ok Harper. Try and charge this tablet without frying the circuits." I nodded and took a deep breath while touching the screen. I conducted electricity on my fingertips and it surrounded the tablet for a few seconds before I made them disappear. Then the screen lit up and it showed the battery was at full charge.

"Yes!" I shouted happily and Davenport high fived me. I accidentally shocked him a little and he jumped. "Sorry."

"Great work! I think that's enough training for today."

"What? We've only been training for fifteen minutes!"

"And we made some progress."

"Come on."

"Harper, you can't rush these things. You gotta take baby steps."

"But I already know so much. If you would just let me show you-"

"Harper, I do training a little differently than Douglas. I take the safe route, and that's what we're doing. Alright?" I sighed in defeat.

"Fine." I said flatly. "I feel like he's holding me back for some reason." I told Chase after Davenport left the lab. Chase held one of my hands and I looked at him.

"Hey, Mr. Davenport is just looking out for you. He's right, you can't rush things."

"But everything he teaches me I do correctly on the first try. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like it was programmed into me. At least for some of my abilities."

"Well, maybe Douglas did program you to instantly know how to use your bionics." I smiled at Chase, getting an idea.

"I should scan my chip." I tried to walk away but Chase didn't let go of my hand. I looked at him with confusion.

"Can you put it off for a little bit? This is the first time in a while we've been alone together." I smirked at him.

"And what exactly do you suggest we do about it?" I asked, making him laugh. Chase brought me into a hug and I sighed happily. We stayed like this for a while. Eventually I pulled away slightly to look at him with his arms still around my waist, our faces were only inches apart. I find myself leaning in the slightest and Chase does the same. I can see in his eyes that he's nervous and I cup his right cheek while still moving my face closer to his, and it seems to reassure him. Our lips are only centimeters from touching and my heart is racing.

Just as we're about to have our first kiss, the elevator doors open and we scramble away from each other, putting a good ten feet in between us. Both of our faces are beet red and I try to get my rapidly beating heart to calm down.

Mr. Davenport walks in, oblivious that he interrupted our little moment.

"Ok, I thought about it, and I guess it wouldn't hurt to use the simulator for a bit." Instead of jumping for joy, I just did a thumbs up and a tight smile.

"Yay." I said, doing a bad job at pretending to be happy. Chase cleared his throat.

"I'm going to go do some...homework." Davenport looked at him with concern.

"Chase, are you okay? You look a little flushed." Chase scoffed and crossed his arms then uncrossed them.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I mentally face palmed. His voice was a few octaves higher, and he cleared his throat a second time. "Nothing happened while you were gone!" Chase insisted, and it was painfully obvious he was lying. But he bolted out of the lab, leaving me behind. Davenport looked at me suspiciously.

"What's going on?" It was my turn to freeze, which made Davenport's eyes narrow at me.

"Uhh…" all I could do was give him a nervous smile before super speeding out of there at the max speed. I don't stop until I'm halfway to Mexico where I find a secluded area and spend the next few hours freaking out over what almost happened.

A couple hours later...

It eventually started to get dark and I knew I'd have to go home eventually. Everyone was in the lab and I gawked at the shiny new motorcycle parked in the middle of it.

"It's beautiful." I whispered, afraid to touch it and break it.

"So, what do you think?" We all looked at Davenport and I raised an eyebrow at his outfit. Tight leather pants and an equally tight jacket of the same material.

"I think you're begging for a gang of bikers to do rotten things to you." Chase answered, making me snicker even though I was mad at him for abandoning me with Davenport earlier. The way he avoided my gaze told me he felt guilty about it. Or he was still flustered about our almost kiss.

"Are those my pants?" Bree asked, making me look away from Chase and at Davenport who smiled and adjusted his jacket.

"Not anymore." He said and I wondered what possessed him to wear his daughter's pants. They did not suit him at all, but he could care less what I think, "I call her the "Davencycle". She's got auto-pilot, laser guided weapon systems, and a tiny little flower vase to brighten your day."

"Haha, cool. Throw in a tiny basket for Chase to ride in, and we're good to go." I punched Adam in the shoulder.

"Hello? Anybody home?" We all swiveled around and saw Douglas on one of the computer monitors. He laughed at our shocked expressions.

"He hacked you again? Would it kill you to spend forty bucks on some security software?" Leo asked his step father harshly.

"I keep telling him I could do some major upgrades but he won't let me." I looked pointedly at Donald who sighed.

"Love the new lab, Donny. Ooh, tunnels! Hehe, industrial yet classy."

"What do you know about classy?" I asked snarkily and smirked when he looked hurt at my comment.

"Take a hint, ex-brother. There's a reason why none of us accepted your buddy requests." Davenport said. I scoffed, remembering when Douglas requested to follow me. I denied it and sent him a strongly worded message after.

"Oh, I accepted it." Adam told us, and we all gave him looks, " What? His updates are hilarious." Adam showed us a post from his phone. "Looking forward to a weekend of evil, winky-face." He laughed, but the rest of us didn't.

"Listen, I don't have a lot of time. Krane'll be back soon. He... went out to get his head waxed."

"Fascinating. You know what? It might sound like I'm hanging up." Davenport said and reached for the off button.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait! This isn't another trick!" I stopped Davenport from turning the monitor off, intriguing with Douglas' behavior. I could see something in his eyes that I've never seen before. Fear. "You're all in danger. Krane has completely lost it!"

"Oh, wow! So, the guy who keeps implanting himself with bionics is unstable?" Chase asked sarcastically.

"Who could have seen that coming?" I finished.

"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 four as a threat!"

"Hey! What about me?! I'm dangerous." Leo insisted and he did a fighting stance. It wasn't a good one.

"Yeah, there's always a chance you might faint on somebody."

"Look, Adam, Bree, Chase, Harper... and Leo-" Leo did another fighting stance. "-can handle anything. And after all you've done to this family, why should we trust you?" Donald's question rang in my head, memories of when he asked me the same thing. What's it been, four months? Has it been that long?

"Well, I... give me a minute." Douglas was having a hard time coming up with something. The man does not have any redeeming qualities.

"Take all the time you want." Davenport encouraged cheerfully.

"Oh, thanks I-" I blinked when the screen went dark, meaning Davenport had hung up.

"Douglas is up to something." Davenport said while walking over to one of the computer desks."He's obviously trying to distract us with this Krane guy."

"Well, maybe so, but what if he's telling the truth?" Chase asked.

"Yeah. We've seen Krane face-to-face. He is a total creep." Bree said.

"Yeah. Nice eyes though." I had an entirely different adjective from Adam's, but now wasn't the time to get into that argument.

"Trust me, this is exactly what Douglas wants. Don't fall for his trap. My brother is the real threat." I wanted to express my opinion, but decided against it. Davenport would flip if I tried to defend his brother. And why should I? He's the one who changed my life without my consent.


It was lunch hour the next day and I planned on heading to the Davenports to see why they didn't come to school. I texted Bree and got no response. Leo and I had left before they did. But they never arrived.

After putting my books away I head to Leo's locker.

"Hey Leo, have you heard from Adam, Bree, and Chase?"

"No."

"Well I'm gonna sneak out and go home to see if something happened." Leo nodded and said he'd cover for me. Closing his locker, he was about to leave while I checked my phone to see if anyone texted before I left. When Leo did a high pitched scream I looked up and saw none other than Douglas. But I didn't scream like Leo.

"Douglas." I growled and Douglas held his hands out.

"Harper, Leo, I need to talk to you-" I don't let him finish and move around Leo to grab a fistful of Douglas' shirt to lift him up and shove him against the nearest wall.

"H-hey I'm not here to cause trouble. " He insisted, but I didn't believe him. This man was the definition of trouble. Even if I thought he was right about Krane, that doesn't mean he still isn't evil.

"Yeah right. You've got a lot of nerve showing up here."

"I just want to talk." He said again.

"Yeah, well I don't. Got any last words before I turn you in? "

"Harper, you have to listen to me. It's about Krane." My fury dies down the slightest but I still don't let him go.

"What about him?"

"Let me go and I'll tell you."

"Fat chance!" I exclaimed while laughing. Does this man think I'm dumb enough to do something like that? I'm insulted.

"Harper." I glanced at Leo who's look said that he wanted to hear what Douglas has to say. I opened my mouth to protest, but in all honesty I wanted to know what Douglas thought was so important to tell us he showed up at our school. Clenching my jaw, I dropped Douglas back on his feet and took a step back.

"Fine, you have one minute. Talk." Douglas straightened his bunched up shirt and then said our names.

"Harper, Leo. You guys are both smart. You both knew about me and Marcus before anybody else. So you have to believe me about Krane."

"Uh, if I remember correctly, Harper worked for you." Leo said and after briefly glaring at the boy, I decided to clarify a bit.

"Before I did, I suspected Marcus was a creep. From the very beginning I knew he was up to no good. But I guess like father like son." Douglas glared at me.

"We're talking about Krane now." He said and I rolled my eyes. "He's gone completely insane. We used to be on the same page. Getting my kids back, use 'em to rob banks, pull scams, ya' know, garden variety bad guy stuff. But I was never gonna hurt them."

"Marcus tried to kill me!" Leo yelled and I joined in.

"And me!"

"I said them!" Douglas shot back, like somehow it made it all OK. "Listen. Krane's completely out of control. He's got a serious score to settle with the world and now he's got the bionics to do it. "

"And who's the one who introduced him to the technology?" I asked, scratching my chin, "Oh yeah, you!"

"I never thought he'd do something like this. He wants to destroy Adam, Bree, and Chase." Then he pointed to me, "And you."

"Why?" Leo asked.

"Because you're the only ones standing in his way. I'm trying to warn you. " I scoffed and Douglas took a step closer and waved a finger at me. "Look, I'm scared Harper, and you should be too." He poked my shoulder while saying the last part to drive the point home. That, coupled with how serious he was being, made me start to question if Davenport was right about him being the threat. He's never been like this. But there was still some doubt and I think Douglas knew this because he took his phone out. "Watch this." When party music began playing Leo and I shared a confused look. "Oh sorry, that was my fortieth birthday party. We had a burger truck." Douglas began chuckling and Leo told him to stop it. Nodding, he pulled up a recording of Krane. He was implanting more bionics.

"Yeah that dudes no joke." Leo said as Krane yelled from the immense power he was given.

"How many bionics has he implanted?" I asked, my stomach churning a little as dread set in.

"More than I can count." Was Douglas' answer. He shut his phone off and I walked a few steps away as I processed what I'd seen.

"Ok, why did you come to us with this?" I asked.

"Because I need you two to talk to my brother. I tried to warn him and he didn't believe me. He trusts you." Leo and I shared a silent conversation with our eyes and eventually nodded.

"Fine." Leo said for the both of us. Douglas nodded.

"Good. I gotta get back before Krane blows a gasket. Literally, he has one right under here." He pointed to his shoulder before walking out the doors.

Leo pulled out his phone.

"I'm calling big D." He told me, putting the phone to his ear. I was able to hear both ends of the conversation with my bionic hearing.

"Hey, Big D, it's Leo, listen."

"What? Speak up, I can't hear you!"

"It's Leo! Listen, Douglas just came by to school and I hate to say it, but, I think he's telling the truth about Krane."

"Haha! Just kidding, you got my voicemail, beeps on you!" I roll my eyes. He's seriously a man child. Leo sighed and hung up.

"Tasha? What are you doing here?" I asked, seeing the woman come in through the front double doors.

"Donald wanted me to come pick you two up. He wants you all to stay in the lab until this Krane guy is dealt with."

"Well, we need to talk with him anyways." He jerked his head in the direction of the doors. "Let's go." I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"You guys go on ahead. I'll super speed there in a little bit."

"Why?" Leo asked, worried.

"I just… need some time alone." I told him with my eyes that I couldn't tell him in front of his mom and he nodded, understanding. "I'll be back before you guys get there, I promise." Tasha seemed reluctant but Leo backed me up and they left shortly after that.

I really wanted to follow Douglas. I don't know why, maybe to see if I could get an answer as to whether or not I could trust him.

I was disappointed when all he did was go to the grocery store. I'd hoped to be proven wrong and that he was plotting some giant scheme then I wouldn't feel so conflicted. I thought I was going insane for even thinking about trusting him.

Realizing the time, I supersped home.

"Hello? Anybody home?" I asked as I went inside.

Silence. I let the door close behind me as I stepped further into the living room.

You know that feeling you get when something is wrong? That's all that came to mind when there was no one coming to the room.

That feeling was getting stronger and my mind told me to get to the lab quickly. I don't take the elevator and use my super speed instead to go in the back way.

I just passed the last turn that led into the lab when I hit a wall. I yelp in surprise when I'm electrocuted and sent flying backwards a good twenty feet, hitting the ground.

I groaned and held my head as I sat up, my body spasming a bit from the shock. "Wha?"

"Harper! You ok?" I heard someone ask and I shook my head to clear away the fumbled thoughts. Standing up I walked over to where I had hit a wall, or force field type wall to be exact. Another one of Donald's inventions I thought grimly. My eyes finally landed on Adam, Bree, and Chase who stood with worried expressions on the opposite side of the wall.

"What's going on? Where is everyone else?"

"Krane has Tasha and Leo and Mr. Davenport went to go save them." Bree informed.

"What?! But you guys are way more-"

"He wouldn't listen to us. He's locked us in here and we're trying to get out." I growl.

"I swear if that man dies I'm gonna make sure his gravestone says "Because I'm an idiot"!" Bree nodded her head and smiled thinly.

"Can you help us?" Chase asked, getting back to the situation.

"Forget about us. You need to go help Mr. Davenport. " I gaped at Bree.

"Huh? You want me to take on that bionic crazed maniac myself? " Chase spoke up before his sister could.

"No, it's too dangerous. " He protested and I was taken aback by how harshly he spoke.

"She's Leo and Tasha's only hope if we can't get out. " Bree said looking at me to back her up. Only I didn't.

"Oh come on, I'm sure I can figure out how to disable this thing." There is no way I can take on Krane by myself, and quite frankly I don't want to.

"Harper! " I looked Bree in the eyes, "There's no time. Tasha and Leo need you to save them. Please." I opened my mouth ready to say no, but stopped on seeing the desperation in her eyes.

I sighed. "I'll see what I can do. " You must be out of your mind. This will be my first mission in a sense.

"No. You're not trained to battle with another bionic." Chase told me.

"Neither were we when we battled her and Marcus." Bree said.

"Yeah but-"

"It's ok, I can do this. " I assured Chase, though my head was saying the opposite. "I'll just stall him until you guys get out and then come give me back up." Chase still didn't look convinced and Bree put a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her and then sighed.

"Be careful." Chase said and I nodded, hoping I was hiding the fear I felt having to face Krane.


I super sped to the coordinates Chase sent and it led me to a surprisingly upscale neighborhood and not some abandoned warehouse like the first time we met Krane.

I didn't go in right away though.

How am I going to do this? Just run in and start fighting the guy? Most likely that's what Donald did, and who knows how that went. Guess there's only one way to find out.

Even though I could have easily broken the front door to get in, I chose to sneak in through a window on the side of the house. There was no furniture, but I think I was in the living room.

Finding the lab or evil lair was a no brainer. Obviously it'd be in the basement since that's where everyone seems to have it.

I tiptoed up to the door and leaned close to listen and get an idea of what was happening on the other side.

"You will never beat me. Give me Adam, Bree, and Chase or you will lose everything."

I punched the door with my super strength and it flew into the room. Donald was on his hands and knees with Krane towering over him.

"Harper!" I looked and saw a giant metal box with a window with Tasha and Leo in it. I could feel the heat radiating from it which meant they were probably meant they were being roasted alive.

"What are you doing here?" Davenport asked.

"Saving you, you idiot!" I snapped, briefly glaring at him before focusing on the bionic maniac who didn't seem surprised to see me. In fact, he looked happy about it.

"Nice of you to join the party, Mia."

"It's not a party until I arrive." I said with a snarl.

"I had things perfectly under control, Harper." Davenport told me and I rolled my eyes.

"Sure you did. That's why you were cowering on the floor, right?"

"Someone get us out of here!" My eyes widened when I saw Leo and Tasha and was reminded that they were minutes away from being barbequed. I noticed the control in Krane's hands.

Knowing I only had a short time to save them, I shot a ball of fire at Krane. While that distracted him I super sped over and swiped the controller from his hand. I turned down the dial, but cursed when I saw that there wasn't a way to turn it off.

Then I felt my throat constrict and the control was ripped from my hands.

"Nice try." Krane said with a smirk.

"Harper!" Leo shouted.

I glanced at the pair and even though I was struggling to breathe, I tried to think of another way to save them. The only abilities I can use at this point are my pyrokinesis and lightning. Making a split second decision, I shot a little bolt of lightning, just enough to cause a tiny explosion that broke the lock on the door. Davenport rushed over to get Tasha and Leo out while Krane growled and suddenly my body erupted in pain as his lightning stuck me and I'm sent flying backwards into a bunch of metal barrels.

Everything fades in and out and once I'm able to regain my senses, I see that Krane is gone.

"Where is he?" I asked, having a hard time get back on my feet.

"Chase disabled my security perimeter!" Davenport informed while grabbing my hands and helping me stand. I was wobbly for a few seconds then was OK. I guess Krane's blast wasn't a fatal one.

"No! We gotta go help them!" I exclaimed, ready to super speed to the lab.

"You're too injured to fight."

"I'm fine."

"It's to dangerous."

"That man wants to kill my friends and I'm not going to let that happen. Not if I can help it." I don't give Davenport a chance to say anything else and go to help my friends. My family.

I make it to the lab in less than a minute, stopping and ready to fight. Only, I don't see Krane anywhere. It's only Adam, Bree, and Chase.

"Where is he?" Krane suddenly appeared in front of us. I waste no time and shot a fireball at him.

"Get him!" Chase told us. When he said this I briefly glanced at him. Next thing I knew, I'm hit by more lightning and fly backwards into the wall. When my vision focuses I see Adam, Bree, and Chase on the floor. I try to get up, but the lightning strike was more powerful this time and I couldn't stand right away.

"This has been fun." Krane said, walking towards me, "But all good things come to an end!" He began forming an energy ball and I close my eyes, preparing for the fatal blow. I heard something being fired, but no pain.

Opening my eyes, I see krane laying sideways on the ground and in pain. Looking to my right, I felt relief upon seeing Douglas with a laser cannon. He smiled at me and the other three who were getting up. Chase hurried over and helped me stand up.

"Hi, kids. Good to see ya!" He greeted cheerfully before aiming the cannon at Krane. Krane got on his feet and was glaring daggers at Douglas.

"I thought I finished you!" He shouted with fury.

"Yeah, that's what I wanted you to think." He chuckled, "I'm gettin' pretty good at faking my own death!"

"Good luck faking your way-" Krane shot his blue lightning at Douglas. "-AROUND THIS!"

"Douglas!" I exclaimed as Douglas dropped his cannon and landed on the floor. There's smoke rising from his burnt shirt as he moans in pain.

"Kids... You might wanna leave for this next part!" He grunted out.

I watch as Krane begins to create an energy ball that will undoubtedly kill Douglas. The man covered his face with his arm, doing what I had just done not a minute ago. Even though I despised the man, I couldn't just let him die. I make a split second decision and everything seems like it's in slow motion as I touch Chase's arm and then run towards Douglas. My heart is pounding in my ears as I drop to the floor and pivot around to where I'm facing Krane, and it takes everything in me to not fall into a panic as the energy ball gets stronger. Just as it's released and headed in our direction, I activate my forcefield and it deflects the attack. The energy ball bounces off the forcefield and sends it flying back to Krane who's knocked off his feet and lands on the floor in pain.

My force field disappears and I lay there, breathing heavily and stunned at what I just did. When Douglas gets up he holds a hand out for me to take and I blindly accept.

"You saved my life." He said, just as surprised as I was. I wasn't sure what to say to him, thankfully his focus went back to Krane and he picked up his weapon.

"Dude! That was awesome!" Adam exclaimed while patting me on the back. I groaned since I had been blasted twice onto something and there will undoubtedly be a little bruising later.

"I should have done this a long time ago!" I followed Douglas over to where Krane lay. Douglas was about to shoot Krane when suddenly,

"Guys!" Douglas and I looked at Donald who ran into the lab with Tasha and Leo. Krane took the moment we were distracted to geo leap away.

"Oh... no! You let him get away!" Douglas shouted in anger, and rightfully so.

But Donald didn't care and aimed his thermal blaster at Douglas. Douglas puts down the cannon and raises his hands.

"Get out of my house!" Davenport shouted, and once again I surprised everyone including myself by defending Douglas.

"No!" I exclaimed, stepping in between Davenport and Douglas, "Mr. Davenport, it's okay! Douglas saved us from Krane!"

"Saved you?" He pulled me behind him so he could aim the thermal blaster at Douglas again, "He's the reason we're having to fight Krane in the first place!"

"Don, I can explain!" Douglas tried to say, but Davenport wouldn't hear it.

"You're lucky I'm letting you go. Now get outta here before I change my mind." Douglas hesitated though, and his brother raised an eyebrow, silently challenging him to do otherwise. There was a long, tense silence. Eventually Adam came in front of me to talk to Donald.

"Hey, if you're gonna blast him, can you please get it over with? 'Cause this gettin' really uncomfortable!" Donald gave him an annoyed look.

Douglas glanced at me, but all I could do was look away, not having the courage to defend him a second time. Eventually I heard his footsteps and when I looked up he was gone. And I wasn't sure how to feel about it.