I'm baaaaaack. And guess what? Stuff actually happens in this chapter. I tried to add action, but action scenes just aren't my thing 'cause I always make them too descriptive and it just ruins the effect. Anyway, let me know what you guys think! Always much appreciated! :)

Just a little tidbit of what's been happening lately: I rediscovered my love for NBC's Heroes. Anybody else watch it?

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed my story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

When Davenport got home, the first thing he noticed was the silence. The whole house was dead silent, and that immediately raised the inventor's suspicions. Quietly setting the groceries he was carrying down on the kitchen counter, he asked slowly, "Eddie… Where are the kids?" The computerized home system appeared on the display screen closest to Davenport.

"Well, hello to you, too," Eddie said crankily. At Mr. Davenport's glare, the computer yawned and said, "Fine. Speedy and Superman dashed off to the sunshine state while your evil stepson and Einstein had a confrontation which led Darth Vader to freeze Luke in carbonite." Although Eddie's movie references were confusing to the inventor, Davenport got the gist of it and his heart nearly stopped; Bree and Adam could handle themselves because going to Florida was no big deal, but the mention of Leo and Chase did not sound good.

"Eddie, could you show the security footage of Chase and Leo and their…confrontation? Please?" Eddie rolled his eyes.

"As long as you said please, then I guess it's alright." Eddie's image was replaced by crystal clear security footage of the living room, where Davenport could see Chase sitting on the couch with his forearm covering his eyes, and the inventor was worried at how tired his youngest bionic looked, despite the good rest he had last night. Then came Adam, and Davenport couldn't help but smile at the sixteen-year-old's attempt to scare his brother and Chase's comment on how he could hear Adam breathing; Mr. Davenport wasn't surprised when Bree shuffled in, chin glued to her chest as she texted and made her way down to the lab. When Leo walked in, the adult could immediately tell something was off with his stepson.

Davenport listened in on the conversation couldn't help but admire how maturely Chase was handling the situation. For a moment, Davenport was worried that Chase might give in, but he could practically see the light bulb go off in the bionic's head just before he asked Leo about the arcade he wanted to go to. With increasing horror, he watched as the argument grew between the two teens, and as Chase walked away after Leo 'gave in', Davenport saw his stepson's eyes flash with cunning unlike anything Big D. had ever seen in Leo; the said person followed the bionic, and the security camera footage switched so that Davenport could now watch them as they stood in front of the elevator.

"I just remembered!" Leo said. "Davenport wanted me to show you something." Pause. "Ah, he wanted me to show you some new upgrades for the capsules."

Davenport blinked. What upgrades? He only made one – …Oh. Davenport swallowed thickly, feeling betrayed and appalled. As Chase read Bree's note in the lab, Davenport dreaded the next few moments as Chase was completely unsuspecting of Leo's intentions.

"So, what are the upgrades that Davenport wanted to show me?" Chase asked.

"Well, he said you have to be in your capsule to experience the upgrades completely, so – in you go." Leo pushed Chase towards his capsule.

Leo spaced out for a few moments, and Chase asked, "Well?"

"Just a moment," Leo said, and a deceitful grin appeared on his face, and that's when Chase figured out something wasn't right.

"Wait!" Chase yelled, pounding on his capsule door, but Leo had locked it, and Davenport knew that no one besides Adam could break the polymer. "Leo, what are you doing?!"

"I can't have you blabbing to Davenport or my mom about the arcade, and I can just get Bree to get my homework." Leo paused to study Chase with mock concern. "My, you look tired. I think it's time for you to take a nap." Davenport could only watch the footage with disgust as Leo adjusted the sleeping gas dosage, and his heart lurched at the terror written across Chase's face. As the gas leaked into Chase's capsule, Leo laughed and rubbed his hands like a mad scientist; he certainly had the crazy look on his face right.

Davenport could barely hear Chase whisper, "Leo, don't" before the bionic was forced into unconsciousness by the gas, falling back against the glass and sliding down until he was sitting on the floor of the capsule.

As Leo walked away, the dark-haired man watching the screen heard his stepson say, "Too late, already did."

What had Leo become? Davenport wondered as he raced down to the lab to check on his youngest bionic – no, his son.

The first thought that came to Chase's sleepy mind was, What is that awful smell? Sure enough, the foulest smelling air entered Chase's nose and he briefly wondered if Adam let one rip in his capsule, but then, as the bionic groggily got to his feet and hastily pushed out of his case, coughing the whole time, he become conscious of the fact that he had been alone. His feet stumbled on the capsule's thresh hold, and it was as he was about to take a step to steady himself that he also realized that his legs were very weak and they chose that moment to give out. Luckily, someone caught him before he did a fantastic face plant on the lab's cement floor.

A muffled voice reached his ears, but his brain was still too muddled to comprehend what the person was saying, and since his nose was still plugged from the whatever-it-was gas and his face was buried in someone's shirt, he wasn't able to identify who it was that caught him. If he had been able to move his stupid arms, he'd have clutched his pounding head. What happened? he groaned inwardly. My brain feels like it's been removed, put in a blender, and then poured back into my skull. The person, whoever it was, dragged Chase over to a chair and sat him down, where, finally, his hearing came into focus.

"Chase? Chase! C'mon, wake up, pal." It was Davenport. Chase stared up at the dark-haired man blankly because his eyes were still seeing doubles and he couldn't tell which Davenport was the real one.

"D'enprt?" he slurred, and the inventor was glad that Chase was at least responsive. "Wha happn?" Chase found that his arms were working again, and he brought a hand to hold his head. "Ma hed hurths." Mr. Davenport gently took Chase's wrist and pulled it away before he grasped the bionic's head and searched the teen's unfocused eyes.

"You really don't remember anything?" he asked. He watched as the kid struggled for answers, hoping that Chase would figure it out on his own. He did.

Chase found sudden clarity that came with the memories, and all of his senses and thoughts snapped into place at once. "Leo!" he shouted, jumping to his feet before Davenport could stop him. Putting a hand to his brow, Chase paced a few steps away before snarling, "That brat."

Davenport came up behind him and twisted him around by the shoulders and asked, "Are you okay, Chase?" Chase scowled and looked away.

"No. Leo betrayed me. We were supposed to be friends." Davenport shared the feeling.

"It's not everyday your stepson goes rogue," he agreed as he finished his assessment of the bionic; the kid looked fine physically, but they would have to work on the mental part later. "Come on, kiddo," he said, clasping a comforting hand at the base of Chase's head. "Let's bring Leo home and see what we can do." Chase nodded and followed Davenport to his self-driving car where Chase gave Davenport the Dead Man's Arcade's address to log into the car's system.

After a few minutes of silence, Chase asked, "So… You saw the security tape footage?" At Davenport's nod, the teen gave an empty half smile when his suspicions were confirmed before turning back to look out of his window.

Davenport suddenly remembered something Leo said and had some pieces of the puzzle that needed filling. "Leo said that he had these new friends at school- punk-dressed seniors." He hesitated, but at Chase's expectant look, he continued. "Have you seen them around?"

Chase shrugged before replying, "I don't know. I've been too busy with my own prob- uh, project. Yeah, project." Davenport glanced at his bionic with a disbelieving look and was about to challenge Chase on his weak cover up, but the car suddenly slowed and dinged.

"Arrived at destination," said the emotionless female car voice. Both passengers got out of the car and crossed the lot while looking up at its imposing structure. The entire building was made out of blackened bricks with a blood red sign that read "Dead Man's Arcade." Through the automatic glass doors, the entire arcade was dark except for the lights coming from many games inside, and kids stood at almost all of them – too completely obsessed with their game to even care that they had been standing there for hours.

Chase and Mr. Davenport entered the building, searching the games until they spotted Leo standing in front of a game called Zombie Hunters, but it was a total understatement. The two watched in disgust as Leo picked up a fake gun connected to the game, tranquilized a zombie, put the gun down, picked up the fake hatchet that was attached to the game, hacked the zombie's head off, put the hatchet back, picked up the fake knife attached to the game, and started cutting the zombie open with sick fascination…doing all of that without even blinking an eye.

Davenport tried talking to Leo, but his words fell on deaf ears, so he and Chase shared a look of agreement before the bionic wrapped his arms around Leo's shoulders while Davenport grabbed Leo's legs, forcefully pulling Leo away from his game which did the trick.

"Put me down, you short person!" he spat, looking up at Chase with frenzied eyes, and was literally foaming at the mouth. He struggled against the hands that held him, but he was still weak compared to the elder teen and adult. However, as soon as they stepped out of the arcade, Leo went completely limp in their grips with glazed-over eyes and a blank expression.

"Seriously," Chase complained. "What is wrong with this arcade?" As Davenport and Chase finished stuffing Leo in Davenport's car, the bionic froze with one foot in the vehicle and his left arm resting on the rim of the roof. "Wait, now that I think about it, all of the kids in there from my school are the ones that get low grades."

Davenport sighed from his side of the car. "Chase, the whole school has low grades compared to you. Be specific." Chase glared at the dark-haired man but continued.

"Those kids in there," he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, "all get D-'s or lower." Big D's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"But – Leo's been getting A's through C's on his report cards."

A sheepish looked crossed the bionic's face as he said, "Welllll… Not exactly…"

"Chase… What did you do?"

"Okay, fine. Leo was desperate. You and Tasha told him that he couldn't play video games unless his scores improved, and he was having serious withdrawals." At Davenport's disbelieving look, Chase raised his hands in an innocent gesture. "No lie; that kid was terrifying. So, anyway, he coerced me into creating an exact replica of his report card…with a few, uh, small adjustments…" he added reluctantly.

"Unbelievable!" Davenport threw his hands in the air before turning away and turning back again. "Kids and their video games! Leo is so grounded when we get this mess cleaned up." After a few seconds, Davenport spotted a sliver of relief in Chase's eyes and added, "You, too!" At Chase's shocked and guilty expression, he continued. "I am so disappointed in you, Chase. I designed you to be smart – smarter than anyone else in the world – and therefore, I had hoped that you would make wiser choices." With that, Davenport got into the car and slammed his door; when Chase didn't get in right away, the inventor leaned over to peer at Chase. "Get in the car. Now." Chase's face darkened and he slammed the door.

The window was down, so he said, "No. I'm walking." Before Davenport had a chance to reply, Chase walked away quickly, his whole body language brimming with anger. Davenport watched him go, his mouth hanging open in shock for a few moments before he snapped it shut and turned on the car before manually driving it home, zooming past Chase.

As Davenport looked in the rearview mirror at the bi- his son, he felt a twinge of worry, almost slowing down to wait for the teen to catch up, but then he shook himself thinking, He probably needs some time and space to think. He'll be fine.

I hope.

As Chase walked, sulking in his thoughts, he stuck his hands into his front pockets as the wind blew open his unbuttoned, red-and-blue-checkered flannel shirt to reveal a black tee underneath. Kicking at a stone on the sidewalk, Chase muttered darkly about Davenport and his blindness to other people's feelings. Chase was just betrayed by his best (maybe only, considering the circumstances) friend, his step-brother, and Davenport was already yelling at him, having completely forgotten about the incident and never once even asked how Chase was feeling. Although, Chase admitted, it would have been kind of awkward if Davenport had asked, but at least he would have asked.

So lost in his thoughts was Chase that he didn't even notice two teens coming up behind him until they grabbed his arms and pulled him down an alley before he even got the chance to comprehend what happened. "Hey!" he yelped. When he saw who it was, he couldn't hide the look of surprise on his face. "What, are you guys following me now?"

Steroid Boy just snarled and Slim Girl snickered; they put him down just long enough so that they could pick him up just like the way Chase and Davenport had done with Leo, but instead of tossing him in a car, they tossed him into a dumpster filled to the brim with smelly, sticky, and disgusting garbage. As Chase scrambled to get out of the garbage, the two took off running with hysterical laughter echoing off of the ally walls, leaving the younger teen alone, spluttering and coughing against the awful fumes.

The bionic flung himself out of the dumpster and landed hard on his side where he proceeded to roll onto his back, still coughing from the garbage, but he managed to get to his feet and lean against the wall, thoroughly disgusted. Pieces of garbage stuck to his clothes and a sticky substance covered his palms from the inside edge of the dumpster – his stomach churned at the thought of all the different germs on the garbage, and he tried as hard as he could to hold down his lunch but ultimately lost the fight and dived behind the dumpster where he emptied his stomach. Now even more revolted, Chase wiped his mouth with his flannel shirt (one of his favorites, by the way) before staggering out of the alley and trudging for home, his mood fouler than before.

The man watched in interest through a store's outside security camera feeding into his tablet as the boy walked home, his normally cheerful personality was now sullen - it was great. Shadow Man smiled; perfect. His plan was already working. While his two "volunteers" worked on the bionic's self-esteem, he was free to put the rest of his plan into action. With the Davenports focusing on family issues, he was allowed to destroy some inventions here, steal others there – all under the noses of the inventor and his super-human teenagers. Soon, he'll have all the equipment he needs to take over the world, and the only ones able to get in his way would be spread so thin to even stop .13% of his operations.

Stretching, the man stood and walked around his desk, deeper into the shadows where a hidden door was built into the wall. As he pushed the door open, he smiled.

Davenport couldn't surprise him anymore.

When Chase got home forty-five minutes later, the bionic was in desperate need of a hot shower, clean clothes, and a comfy couch, or bed, to collapse on. Davenport was nowhere to be seen in the upper floors of the house, so Chase assumed he was down in the lab with Leo, and while the long walk home had given the teen time to cool off about Davenport, he was still reluctant to face the inventor… his… father… just yet. So he went upstairs to his room to get fresh set of clothes.

Davenport had reluctantly given each of the bionics rooms, but only because it was to keep their cover story more plausible. If the bionics had friends over, wouldn't it seem suspicious that the teens didn't have any rooms to sleep – to live – in? Each bedroom had a bed, of course, but they were rarely used because the teens still slept in their capsules downstairs; each bedroom had a dresser filled with clothes, accompanied with a closet for dress clothes and shoes; each teen had a desk to do school work or whatever else they wanted to do on it if they couldn't concentrate in the lab; and lastly, each room had a set of shelves for decorations or whatever else they decided to put on there, and a bookshelf; however, the styles of each item listed varied between the three teens, since they got to design their own rooms. Chase's bookshelf was filled with all different kinds of his favorite books, ranging from authors like Shakespeare and Mark Twain and Susan Cooper to James Patterson, Jonathan Stroud, Christopher Paolini, and Rick Riordan. Bree's, however, was the complete opposite.

While the occasional romantic novel was ideal for Chase, Bree's bookshelf was crammed with love stories; so lovey-dovey were they that Chase wanted to puke. Literally. And not only that, but Bree also seemingly managed to collect every fashion magazine ever published. And Adam… well, Adam's book collection was the most interesting. Adam amuses himself with whatever he can find, and that also included his literature. Surprisingly, Adam has all kinds of magazines, from sports to even fashion; books for kids through teens.

As he walked past Bree's unoccupied room, Chase couldn't help but stop and make a face at the colors. Bree's queen-sized bed set was the color of dark purple, purplish grey, lavender, and white. The walls were a deeper lavender color, the carpet was white, and white laced blinds blew gently in front of a window. All in all, it gave off a very girly feel, yet it seemed more mature due to the deeper colors. Bree's desk was made out of dark mahogany wood, as was her bookshelf, wall shelves, and dresser. Pictures of friends, girly decorations, stuffed animals, perfume and lotion bottles, and a jewelry box ordained the shelves neatly, but Chase still wrinkled his nose, mostly because of the sweet fumes that circulated in the air but also because of all the girl drama that must go on in this room.

Adam's room was next, but Chase still couldn't help the feeling of disgust as he glanced in his older brother's room. It looked as if a tornado had specifically targeted Adam's room, and that was putting it lightly; clothes were strewn around the room everywhere – dirty and clean – as well as magazines, old pizza and various take-out boxes (to Chase's immediate repulsion, some boxes still had food in them), and many, many wires from all of the different game controllers and consoles. Davenport had granted Adam his request for video games in his room, and that was why Adam was the only one with a TV, strictly for gaming purposes only. The colors of Adam's room were like the colors of the light spectrum; his walls were blinding orange, the carpet was light green, his king-sized comforter set was red and black, his desk chair was yellow to go with his black desk, and his wooden shelves, bookshelf, and dresser were stained dark brown.

Chase passed by the only spare bedroom upstairs, completely empty and boring. He paused in the doorway, but soon moved on, shaking off a strange feeling.

Lastly, Chase came to his room. Each room was the same size, so when the bionics picked out their rooms, no one would have an unequal amount of space, and Davenport allowed them to design their rooms the way they wanted them so no one could be accused of having a nicer room. While Bree's and Adam's rooms were colorful and light, the youngest bionic's room was quiet and calming, colors that wouldn't distract Chase if he was working on a project, which he was most of the time. He chose blue grey walls with a grey carpet and white drapes across his window; his bed, which was only a queen since he didn't need a king, was covered by sheets and a comforter with colors ranging from black, light blue, grey, and white. The top of his desk was made of sturdy glass and was supported black metal legs. Chase's dresser, bookshelf, and shelves were all stained black, and books accompanied every ounce of space on the latter two. Parts of various machines were scattered on his desk and dresser, while his bed was made and ready for use.

Chase gazed at it longingly but shook himself and gathered some clean clothes from his dresser before heading back down the hall to the bathroom to take a shower. He came out of the bathroom ten minutes later smelling – and feeling, mind you – clean, but his relief was short-lived when Bree dashed up the stairs just before he was about to disappear into his bedroom to take a nap. "Chase!" she exclaimed. "Where the heck have you been?!" Chase rolled his eyes before turning around to face his sister, about to tell her it was no big deal and that she should leave him alone, but he was cut off. "We've been worried sick, especially Davenport!" That made the youngest sibling freeze for just a second, but his previous, though now dwindling, anger at the inventor resurfaced and he refused to acknowledge that Davenport was actually worried until he saw for himself.

"I… went for a… walk." Chase, never well at lying because he pretty much always told the truth (much to people's annoyance), cleared his throat and elaborated further. "Uh, yeah, I needed to clear my head. Too many ideas in this genius mind of mine." At the last few words, he tapped his temple while simultaneously backing into his room, clasping his hands as his eyes darted nervously from Bree's suspicious face to the bare walls of the hallway. "So, now I've got a really great idea for a project and I'm just gonna work in my room for a while and-" Bree cut him off once again.

"Oh, no you don't. Davenport told us everything about what happened between you and Leo and him." Speeding forward before he could duck into his room and shut the door, she grabbed his arm and super sped him down to the lab, and when Bree stopped and let him go, Chase stumbled as the world spun and he was lucky to bump into a counter to steady himself.

"Chase!" Chase closed his eyes and groaned inwardly at the sound of Davenport's – yes, ladies and gentleman, no lie – worried voice. "Are you okay? When you didn't come home when I thought you would, I thought something happened."

Turning to face the dark-haired man, Chase narrowed his eyes. "I wasn't that late! What was your estimate of my time of arrival?"

"Forty minutes."

Chase made an annoyed gesture with his hand. "I was only five minutes late! Big deal!"

"It is a big deal because I care about you, Chase! I was very worried when you didn't come home right away." Something flashed in the bionic's eyes, but before Davenport could decipher it, Chase looked away to survey the lab. Adam was eating popcorn while watching them, Bree was blocking the main route of escape, and Leo was lying on a gurney with his arms and legs strapped down.

Swallowing, the fifteen-year-old approached Leo, who looked to be asleep – or unconscious. "How is he?" he asked quietly while looking down at his former friend. Davenport came up behind him and laid a hesitant hand on Chase's shoulder, who tensed slightly but then relaxed.

"There was some sort of unidentifiable drug in his system, but from what I can tell, it produces receptors that block the serotonin from reaching the cells of his brain, which can cause obsession, a huge amount of it. Serotonin also regulates body functions like sleeping and memory; a person infected with this drug will cease these functions until the obsession has been appeased, and they'll… do anything to achieve their goal. Obsession is like an addiction-" Chase looked back at Davenport and the two shared a look, obviously thinking about what Chase said to Leo earlier, "a person obsessed with something has to be weaned off of whatever they're obsessed with, like a puppy when it gets too old to stay with its mother." Squeezing Chase's shoulder slightly, Davenport moved to stand on the other side of Leo. Davenport's face turned sad as he gazed at his stepson. "But this drug works fast and strong; it would be impossible to wean them off of their obsession, and I've been able to deduce that the drug kills the infected because – in their fixation – they won't eat, drink, or sleep."

"Or use the bathroom," Adam finally piped up. Chase nodded as if to say, Good point.

Davenport paused, momentarily thrown off track, casting a weird look at Adam before continuing. "However, the good news is that I was able to flush most of the drug out of Leo's system before it did too much damage."

"Wait," Bree interjected. "Mr. Davenport, if Leo wasn't supposed to be able to sleep, then why did he go comatose?"

Davenport's brow furrowed. "I haven't the slightest idea." He pouted like a little kid at his inability to figure the problem out when he was supposed to have a genius mind, and he was a little hurt when Chase came up with a solution, but he shouldn't have been surprised because he designed Chase to be smarter than him. Still, though.

"It had to have been the arcade!" the youngest bionic exclaimed. "Remember when I told Leo how kids that go in there never come out the same," he asked Davenport, who nodded. "That had to have been it! Maybe the arcade's…. what-ever-it-is overrode the obsession drug in Leo's body."

Donald was about to respond when Leo stirred. Everyone looked at the teen with expectant faces which slowly turned to confusion when Leo didn't wake. Instead, he looked like he was… kissing?

"Mmmm, Janelle." More smooching sounds. Bree quickly got out her phone and started to take a video while everyone tried to hold back their snickers. "You're the video to my game, the remote to my tv, the- ZOMBIE! Die, die, DIE!" Leo started to thrash around, and if the straps weren't holding him down, it might have looked like he was pounding something into the ground… or chopping a zombie to death with an ax. "Oh, Janelle, did I get zombie blood on your shirt? I'm so sorry. Here, take this napkin. You want me to buy you a new shirt?! Are you insane? Buy your own shirt! Wait… No..! No, don't! Nooooooo!" Leo sat bolt upright, wide awake. "AHHHHHHH! She ate my brain!" Everyone burst out laughing, cradling their stomachs.

Bree stopped the video and said, giggling, "I am so keeping this for blackmail."

So, this isn't a cliffhanger. Cool, huh? But don't forget to come back next week 'cause that's when the real action start. See ya next Saturday, peeps.