Okay, Chapter five is later than usual.

Reason: I had graduation.

That is all.

So I'd like to thanks you guys for...you know...reading and reviewing and the like. :3

RissA15: This girl now has the power to unleash 5,000+ Hellcat clones on people. Enjoy. :3

Mia-Teresa-Davenport: "Right?!"

AllAmericanSlurp: No.

J. Liz .8: Yes, Chase wasn't a little bitch for no reason. :3

Anna Davenport + Chaseylover: Thanks.

DarkestKing: *applause*

So let's do this. Adam?

"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."

"People are supposed to fear the unknown, but ignorance is bliss when knowledge is so damn frightening."

Laurell K. Hamilton, The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #2)

"I am very protective of my family."

Christa Miller

Adam

Watching Leo frantically try to explain what he and Tasha saw was just confusing. Apparently, Chase had been running so fast that he had blurred, creating the appearance that some strange darkness clung to him as he fled.

Because he had to be fleeing from something. Chase wasn't fast enough on his own to be a blur. Something had to give him that panicked burst of adrenaline.

But that "something" was a mystery still.

Maybe he had been running from the fact that he somehow caught Mr. Davenport's old invention on fire. Adam had no doubt that it would get Chase in trouble. However, Chase hadn't ever run from being chewed out before. He was the kind of guy that usually stood up and faced the music. Besides, it wasn't the first time Chase had accidentally caught something on fire in the Lab.

It was the first time in years that he fled instead of just containing it in a forcefield until it exhausted itself.

So...what was the problem?

Adam pondered this as he and Mr. Davenport worked on containing not only the flames - not a big problem for a fire extinguisher - but also some radiation that had gotten out somehow. Mr. Davenport had made the mission suits radiation-resistant, which was why the two were wearing them while Leo tried to explain everything he could to Bree from a safe distance across the Lab. Mr. Davenport was actually trying to explain the process, his voice muffled by the funny mask that was supposed to protect them from whatever radiation did that was so bad, but Adam wasn't paying attention. He was just holding the extinguisher, waiting on Mr. Davenport to just tell him to shoot it at the flames.

Why the fire wasn't already out was actually a bit unnerving to Adam. He might not be the brightest candle ever lit, but he was pretty sure that metal wasn't flammable. And the flames were strange. It seemed darker than regular fire, somehow.

The fire let out a spark that drifted towards Eddy's screen, prompting the little program to pop up. "Are you going to put that out or not?"

Mr. Davenport sighed. "Eddy, it's complicated. We don't want the extinguisher spreading around whatever is giving off this radiation."

Eddy scoffed and turned on the sprinkler system, simultaneously soaking everything and everyone in the Lab and putting the fire out. Bree let out a frustrated wail that her hair was ruined as Mr. Davenport gave Eddy an incredulous look, no doubt biting back a hair-based bit of mourning himself. Eddy just smiled. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Mr. Davenport rolled his eyes and picked up some kind of special container. He started towards the now-charred portal - the base had melted horribly, but the silver ring was shockingly all right - and Adam followed closely, kind of curious about what was causing his teeth to feel more numb as he got closer. Adam figured that it was the portal itself, but Mr. Davenport apparently had different ideas. His attention was on a pair of pliers near the machine. Why broken glass and a strange rock or something was so fascinating was beyond Adam, but Mr. Davenport carefully scooped all of the glass and the rock into the little container and sealed it. He put it beside an identical container on the cyber desk before gesturing towards the tunnel. "Okay, everyone out. I'm going to decontaminate this place."

Adam obediently followed Bree and Leo out of the Lab, but Mr. Davenport stopped him at the door. "Adam, the mission suit and mask need to stay here to be cleaned, too."

Adam nodded and hopped in his capsule, allowing the device to change his clothes as Mr. Davenport disappeared to who-cared-where to change. Adam waited at the tunnel until Mr. Davenport reappeared in his normal clothing and typed something into the cyber desk. He then ushered Adam from the Lab as the lockdown doors sealed the place off completely. Adam frowned. "So we just wait now?"

Mr. Davenport nodded. "And we find Chase. I want to know what happened in there."

"Kinda pointless to fight for what you want when what you want continues to break your heart."

Molly McAdams, Stealing Harper (Taking Chances, #1.5)

"Any fool can know. The point is to understand."

Albert Einstein

Chase

Hiding behind a dumpster in an alley wasn't as fun as it sounded. I know that it was a bit cowardly to be hugging my knees and rocking in a basic fetal position, but I was doing it. The voice was angry enough about it, though, so don't bug me. I was getting enough crap from it.

Why did you run? And why are you cowering? It's pathetic.

I pinned my ears - I figured out that I could control them and my tail - and let out a frustrated hiss.

I could hiss now. I was discovering all kinds of things.

Get up, go home and handle those idiots!

I didn't move, though.

Let's be honest here. It was hard to admit, but this right here was absolutely petrifying. I had no idea what was happening, no idea how to handle it, and, to be frank, I wanted Mr. Davenport - or anyone, really - to tell me that it was going to be all right. Childish, I know, but it was becoming obvious to me that I couldn't handle it on my own.

Maybe my family was right. I certainly felt like a useless coward at the moment.

You're not useless unless you act like you are.

That was...actually a sound statement, I supposed. Incredibly blunt, but sound. Fine, I'm not useless.

Then stop acting like it. Do you really want to spend your life depending on others?

I let go of one knee and sighed. Not really, but I can't stay out here forever.

Then go crawling back to those unappreciative morons, my voice sniffed.

I didn't want that, either. I didn't know what the voice in my head was capable of yet. Besides, it would be nice to get a few days away from everyone's constant negativity regarding me. A sort of vacation, I supposed. Just until I figured that voice out.

And my hand healed. A thin burn ran across my palm and a couple of fingers from touching the machine. It hadn't even been hot.

Silver is toxic to demons, the voice piped up. Don't touch it again.

Fine, but I wasn't a demon.

Yes, you are. Accept it.

It was pretty hard to ignore the new body parts. And the "essence" that was settling in designs on my skin. And the burn that logically came from nowhere. My tail started to twitch a bit. If I was a demon, then I had better learn about them, right? And I seemed to know someone who had a better grasp on the subject than I did.

Okay, let's say that I am a demon, I began, speaking to the little voice. Tell me everything about it.

That would take several thousand years.

I sighed. Vague douchebag. I lowered my ears and stared at my arms, following the dark patterns on them with my eyes. According to my new voice, it was just my essence settling.

But what did that mean?

If you won't tell me everything about demons, I tried again, then tell me about essence.

We're slowly starting the journey from Chase to Hellcat. :3

So, until next time, feel free to review. Or don't. Whatever.

And enjoy.

*Bows and exits*