Congratulations to these awesome people who answered correctly! AngelGoneDevil69, LBozzie, incinera, BTRlover1122, Nicole0725, Hollybush 17008, amichele, Share11223344, rockybluewigs, a guest (you described the right episode!), Amnagreile99 (you did, too!), and doomforzombies16 - you guys remembered! Leo did mention about a pet hamster in Mission: Space, when Donald was asking where Marcus was, and Leo said that he's probably dangling his pet hamster off the window. :)

I also want to thank these great people who left touching comments! monkeygirl77, KyoumouDBZmjj8, misaai, koryandrs, Lady Cougar-Trombone, and labratslover - thanks to you guys, too!

I seemed to have made everybody sad last chapter; I'm sorry to be a downer, guys.

Two things before the next chapter: (1) apology for not keeping my word, and (2) additional disclaimers.

Quickly, I do want to say I'm very sorry for being weeks late. Between my hectic schedule, getting over a cold THEN getting caught up with bad allergic reactions twice in a row, I was pretty booked - so I'm really sorry.

As far as additional disclaimers, I thought that it's necessary that I say this because I feel like in the next couple of episodes (or maybe even in Season Three), there will be some things that I established in this Chronicle that will disagree with canon: there are a lot of guessing work I'm doing as I write the tags, and they will probably be very wrong. Like Caitlin having a brother, for example, or Leo's dad's whereabouts.

In the case that the show reveals the facts about these, I have every intention of staying with what's already written, mostly because I don't see the point of changing what's been read ages ago. I'll probably try to bend it to still be somewhat agreeable with canon, but I won't rewrite chapters just to be right.

It's fanfiction. That'll completely take the fun out of everything.

Anyways, I hope it's okay. :)

So, after that chapter-long intro, here's the 20th Chronicle! Please enjoy!

Episode Tag to: Perry 2.0

Chronicle 020

Chapter: Upshot

Password: *****************

Date: 10.20.13

Time: 6:18 PM

The past three weeks had been interesting. Normal stuff went by at first: Chase and I weren't too careful with what we wished for; Big D's businessman side got the best of him so all of his good intentions flew straight out of the window; Robo Perry was born; Chase and I were hated by about eighty-five percent of the student body; we tried to sabotage Big D's invention; said plan blew up in our faces; Adam, Bree and Chase almost had to reveal their bionics to the school big wigs just to stop yet another one of Big D's inventions gone haywire (not that it's his fault, really); and then Principal Perry unknowingly saved us from a huge hassle by unleashing her Sparta warrior side, ending the whole Robo Perry debacle in the most disturbing way possible.

Yeah. My life has gotten to the point that events I've only seen in video games before now happens on a pretty regular basis. It still hasn't lost its coolness factor, though.

But, believe it or not, what made these past couple of weeks interesting is something that's actually normal.

It happened three Tuesdays ago, when I stopped by my locker on my way to English class. I was in a hurry, partly because I only had a minute to go before the bell rings and Ms. Keating's classroom is on the second floor of the other building, and partly because I caught wind that the football team was on their trap-a-nerd-in-a-locker spree, and I was next on their list. That was probably why, in my nervousness, I screamed like six year-old girl when Principal Perry called my name.

It was kinda awkward at first. Principal Perry was frowning at me, I was staring back, while the student beside her, I'm almost sure, was narrowing his eyes at both of us.

That whole scene only ended when Principal Perry rolled her eyes and finally stated her business. I didn't really catch much of what she said because of the other kids walking in the hallway. And the bell ringing. All I understood was that she received some complaints about exchange students not being treated nicely, and that she decided to implement some kind of a buddy system. There was also something about this being a payment for what my siblings did, but I may have just been imagining that.

Then she lightly shoved the guy with her towards me before flashing him a fake grin and walking away.

"Is she always like that?" he asked.

I made a face. "No. The rest of us unfortunate, regular students get treated worse," I said, making sure Principal Perry was out of earshot. I turned to him. "At least she's obligated to be nice to you."

He nodded. Then, with a smile, he held out a hand. "I'm Alistair, by the way. Alistair Byrne, from Ireland," he introduced himself.

I smiled back. "Leo Dooley, from…here," I said. "So. Alistair. What class are you headed to?"

Alistair checked the schedule in his hand. "English class. Ms. Jennifer Keating?" he answered, and then looked up at me.

I grinned. "Oh, no way! You're in my English class?" I asked. "How come I didn't see you there yesterday?"

Alistair folded up his schedule before tucking it into his pocket. "There was some guy from the football team who said he will take me to the classroom, but…"

I nodded knowingly. "Tried to stuff you in a locker, didn't he?"

"Yeah," he answered shyly.

He didn't have to say anymore. I just patted him on the shoulder and said, "Welcome to America, man."

We had a good conversation on our way to class. Not to mention safe, and I think it's because Alistair have some kind of immunity because of Principal Perry. I asked him how he liked the country so far, the school. He said he's enjoying good old California, mostly because of his host family who really goes out of their way to make sure he's having a blast.

As far as Mission Creek High, there were a few things he's not too fond of. When Ms. Keating told us about a project we had to do over "The Great Gatsby," Alistair and I teamed up, and while we were talking, he mentioned about his first few days being not too comfortable because of two students who kept bothering him. I asked him who they were, but he wouldn't say. Being the nice guy he is, he didn't want to name them. He said that there probably was just some misunderstanding between him and the two.

Jerks.

Needless to say, the two of us were cool with each other from the get go. We hung out most of the day, which I'm glad he didn't mind. I would have broken off around lunch, but Adam was off with a couple of guys from his Home Economics class, Bree, no doubt about it, was hanging out with Owen, and Chase was on some type of luncheon with his Latin class. Since we had some more time to talk, I asked Alistair about Ireland and about his family. Turns out, his host family's daughter had gone over to Ireland as an exchange student too, and his family is taking care of her.

After school, he invited me over to the house he was staying at for dinner. He said his 'American parents' (what they warmly told him to call them) were inviting another family also hosting an exchange student, and he said they encouraged him to invite someone else from school that he met that day. Since schedules in our house become non-existent when a mission calls for our time, I told him that I appreciated the thought but maybe another day.

I really wanted to go. I mean, come on. Ever since Gordon and his family moved out of town, no one else had invited me anywhere. There was one party invitation a month or two ago, but we only got it because Adam insisted to whoever asked him to come that the four of us were a package deal.

Alistair told me he understood. Still, he gave me his phone number, their house number, and the house address—just in case I changed my mind.

I thanked him and walked towards the parking lot where Adam, Bree and Chase were watching.

I think that was the first time I noticed that something was wrong. Adam and Bree didn't look too happy that I was talking to Alistair. They looked suspicious. Chase looked cautious. I didn't think much of it at the time. I thought they were just upset with me because it was taking me too long. I even raised my hands and apologized before I got in the car to make up for it.

The ride home was kind of quiet. There was casual conversation. Bree talked a little bit about what Owen told her about his trip with his family to Ontario over the weekend. Chase told us some about the meeting he had with his Latin class. Adam didn't say anything.

At least not until we pulled up in the driveway. "That kid wasn't bothering you, was he, Leo?" he asked.

I shook my head and said no.

The rest of the afternoon was busy for them. It was super boring for me. Because of the situation with the She-Terminator, Big D insisted that Adam, Bree and Chase train with the updated version of the simulator. For me, that translated into not being really necessary to be there.

Ten minutes in their session, I asked Big D if I could leave.

"Uh, sure," Big D said. "Where are you going?"

"To a friend's house," I answered him as I was grabbing my house keys and my jacket.

He scoffed. "To a friend's house. No, really," he said.

I shrugged. "Yeah. I made a new friend today," I said. I grabbed my phone before bolting out of the lab and into the garage. "I'll call once I get there!"

I probably should have rethought riding my bike to Alistair's house. It took me at least half an hour to get there. Not to mention I had to go past some questionable neighborhoods. But, for Mom's sanity's sake, I'll keep that on the down-low for now. Plus, it didn't really seem much once I arrived. The house was huge! Not as big as ours, of course, but it was still huge. I also had to call in just to be able to get through the massive gates.

Alistair was really happy to see me, and that was a nice change of pace since most kids at school usually run the opposite direction when I try to approach them the second time. Even my siblings do it every now and then. He introduced me to Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie, his parents-for-the-meantime. They were very pleasant. They talked to me a lot while I was helping them out with setting a few last things for the dinner.

Mr. McKenzie seemed to have taken a lot of interest in knowing more things about me, especially when he found out that Big D was my stepdad. He kept asking if Big D lets me try out prototypes of his new inventions and if I like them. I told him he does and I do.

When he asked me to tell him about them, which I had every intention of going around and avoiding, Mrs. McKenzie stepped in with a laugh and told me not to say anything else. Apparently, Mr. McKenzie works for Big D's rival company, in their engineering department.

It put a little damper on things, to be honest.

There was also a bit of awkward conversation, like when the news came on and Mom was on TV reporting. "I can see why Donald Davenport married her," he said. He turned towards me. "Is she that hot in real life?" Then, with a glance to Mrs. McKenzie, "I'm asking for Henry. He has a major crush on her, and he may want to know."

"I don't know," I answered when he looked back at me. "She's my mother."

Thankfully, the Hailey's came before it got more embarrassing—for me.

That was when I met Cory. "Cory Nguyen from the awesome country of Vietnam, man!" Great guy. He's 16, and he's already a senior. He did tell us that he's always only had average grades since he's more focused on playing hoops for his school back home. He said his mother's a big shot lawyer, and she was the one who insisted that he sign up for the exchange student program in keeping up with a tradition she started with his older twin siblings.

I had fun that night. We played this one team game, I can't remember the name now. Mrs. Hailey volunteered to be the judge, so it ended up being Alistair, Cory and me versus Mr. Hailey, Mr. McKenzie and Mrs. McKenzie. They creamed us the first round. We got them the next two.

I think I would have gone home very late that night if not for Mom calling me. She was getting very worried and panicky. Mrs. Hailey seemed to have sensed it, so she spoke to her and promised her to drop me off.

Usually, being two hours past curfew would automatically incite Mom to read me the Riot Act, but when I told her that I was spending time with new friends, she let me slide with "Well, just don't do it again, okay?" I would even venture to guess that she was relieved that I was branching out.

Which I did more of days after that. Since Adam, Bree and Chase were no-shows at lunch again, Alistair, Cory and I ate together. I learned more things about them. Allister has this ability of mimicking different accents, which Cory and I found hilarious. I mean, he still can't beat Bree's, but it's still pretty funny when he does it. Cory, on the other hand,…doesn't have anything that's out of the ordinary, but Allister and I did have several good laughs from knowing that he falls in love easily. He gave us a list of girls he has a crush on.

Seriously. If it moved, he was infatuated by it.

The teasing kind of wrecked his confidence a tad bit. We did apologize. It really wasn't our intention. But he got back up on his feet again by the end of that Thursday, when I introduced him to Rashida Emerson, Girl #4 on the ongoing list.

Surprisingly, the only girl who didn't make it to that list was the one girl who seems to be on everybody else's.

We met her Monday morning at lunch. Alistair, Cory and I were talking about after school plans when we heard Stephanie and her posse laugh loudly. Naturally, like everybody else, we looked out of curiosity. All we saw was her squad snickering and darting dirty looks at this poor girl walking away embarrassed from the table.

The girl seemed to have every intention of leaving the cafeteria, but when she caught sight of us watching her, she stopped. She took a deep breath then, with a stunning smile, she approached us. There was a degree of anticipation when she opened her lips to talk. We almost expected the sweetest sound and most wonderful words to come out.

Then, in the most innocent of intentions to give a simple American greeting, she let rip a bucket full of offensive terms and expletives.

It was so bad that even Alistair started blushing.

"Why would you say that?" Cory asked after snapping out of his own shock at hearing what he heard.

"What?" she asked, confused by what he meant. Then, in a thick French accent, she added, "Is that not how you say hello in America?"

"Yeah," I told her. "If you want to get jumped after school."

She stared at me with confusion. Then, with a groan, she pulled up a chair right across from me and sat down. "I should have known," she mumbled. "That is why the students had been looking at me all day."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, I don't think that's the only reason why they were staring," I mumbled.

She sighed. "You do not mind if I sit with you boys?"

We told her we didn't.

"My name is Isabelle Laurent-Moreau," she introduced herself. "I am visiting from Lyons, France."

"I'm Alistair Byrne," Alistair offered his hand. She shook it. "Pleased to meet you, Isabelle."

"Cory Nguyen," Cory held up his knuckle for her to bump. She took it with a grin.

I flashed one of my debonair smiles at her when she turned to me. "Je m'appelle Leo Dooley, baby. Enchantez."

Belle looked impressed. She asked in French if I spoke French.

I said I did.

Then she started talking in her language quickly. I got dizzy with trying to follow, so I stopped her and told her I only took it for one year.

She said okay, but she said she still found it cool. She said that in English.

After that, everything else sort of just followed. Alistair and I stuck together most of the time, and it's not just because I'm using him as a shield to prevent the varsity team from giving me a wedgie. Since Isabelle—or Belle, a nickname we called her once and had caught on—is determined to stay away from Stephanie and her peppy Storm Troopers, she stays with us, too. Cory comes most of the time, but he tries to be with his 'little Razzle Dazzle Cake' as much as he can.

When we're off school, we still kick it. We'd watch movies, visit stores. One time, Landon, Mr. and Mrs. Hailey's eldest kid, agreed to drive us around town so Alistair, Belle and Cory could take pictures. Sometimes, we'd hang back at the McKenzie's theater room with boxes of pizzas on the floor, piles of homework on our laps, and hours of Wipeout on the big screen.

We watched a football game one weekend. The three of them agreed that it's a violent sport. I told them that if they wanted to see real violence, they should go to the Department Store at the mall come Black Friday. But then they didn't know what that was, so I had to explain it to them. Then I told them that we will go next month and watch from afar so they could see what I was talking about.

That was probably the most time I've spent out of the house in a week. I'd leave home in the morning at 7:45, and I wouldn't come back until 9 at night. I think Eddy was so pleased with that that he started being nice to me. Big D seemed concerned. About what, I wasn't really sure. But he would just remind me of the mission summary reports I had to do, which I would always have done by the following morning. Mom, on the other hand, was happy as long as I give her updates on my whereabouts.

I did feel bad about not spending as much time with Adam, Bree and Chase. Especially that one night when they were all hyped up, telling me about the mission they went to earlier in the day and I just fell asleep while they were talking because I was so tired. So I tried to fix it by introducing them to each other. I figured we could all hang out.

That didn't work out too well. Alistair looked intimidated by Adam and Bree, Bree wasn't such a big fan of Belle constantly calling me her petit frère, and because he's not used to Cory's off the roof enthusiasm, Chase was plain annoyed. They didn't like each other, and that was bad news for me.

That's what made the problem worse.

Adam, Bree and Chase started constantly taking me wherever they went in school, but I would sneak out whenever they're not looking because Principal Perry threatened to give me a month worth of detention if I didn't keep up with Allister. So I would go with my other three friends, only to come home hours later to my siblings who would be very upset with me.

What was I supposed to do? Choose? If I did have to, I didn't understand why. Adam had other friends, Bree had Owen and Caitlin, and Chase had the other kids in the hundreds of clubs he's in. Why couldn't I have three of my own? And it's not like my friends are bad kids, because they're not. Minus the bionics, they're just regular, awkward teenagers just like them.

And if it's the case, I don't get why Adam, Bree and Chase would be jealous of Alistair, Belle and Cory.

Oh.

Well, I guess that explains why.

Honestly, it wasn't something I planned to make them feel bad, but they seemed to think I did.

"Is this your way of getting back at us for what we did to you when we were still friends with Marcus?" Adam was the first one to ask, when the four of us were down at the lab two days ago waiting for Big D.

"What?" I asked. "What are you guys talking about?"

"You know. The hanging out with other kids, ditching us, practically replacing us," Bree said.

I was honestly surprised. "Whoa. Slow your roll. No one's replacing anyone."

Chase shrugged, arms crossed. "Sure seems like it," he said.

That stung a little bit. I mean, usually, I'm not too hesitant in getting even if the situation calls for it, and even then I rarely act purely out of revenge. But I won't do that to them for something as small as that. And I've always known that Eyebrows was up to no good anyways. If anything, I was being protective more than I was jealous.

So, I just laughed it off. "Guys. They're just new friends that I'm trying to get to know better. You three are still my best friends," I assured them. "And I thought you all would be glad that I'm not tailing you as much."

They didn't say anything for a while, and I thought that meant they agreed.

"We're actually kind of scared," Adam said quietly.

I turned around with a frown. Then I saw it in their faces: the worry, the hint of anger, the shadow of desperation to never see something they saw a few months ago happen again.

They're still scared that other people would hurt me. Or, worse yet, take me away from them forever.

I sighed. I smiled. "You guys know that I'm never going to leave, right?" I asked. "It's never going to happen."

They smiled at me.

"Good," Chase added.

We left it at that. Though, I think they still doubted that I liked them better than Alistair, Belle and Cory.

Hopefully, with what happened yesterday, I was able to prove to them that I do. At the start of lunch, Chase's phone alerted him of an urgent mission they had to go to. I didn't have to go back home with them, but they still asked me to go.

As I was getting my things together, Alistair, Belle and Cory came, inviting me to a lunch that the exchange students put together. "Mrs. Hanna brought the karaoke," Alistair added.

So I stood in the middle of them, unsure where to turn and who to go to.

I was really tempted to let Adam, Bree and Chase go back by themselves. I knew I was just going to end up behind the desk, watching Big D as he leads them through the mission. But if I went to the lunch, I'd probably have one of the best times of my life. The way they had been planning it, I was sure it would be great.

Then it came to me that I might have a better time with Alistair, Belle and Cory, but it will be over soon. Next year, when the program tells them that it's time, they will go back home, and our friendship may very well end there.

With Adam, Bree and Chase—we're all stuck together for years and years to come. We're family. And yeah, it does get super boring for me, always being the guy behind the scenes, but I really wouldn't have it any other way.

"Sorry, guys," I told Alistair, Belle and Cory. "I gotta go with my siblings to do something important."

Alistair and Cory nodded, slightly disappointed. Belle smiled sadly. "Okay," Alistair said. "Just call if you want to join us for the movie tonight."

"I will."

Then, Alistair left after waving goodbye, Cory following him after nodding at me one more time. Belle gave me a peck on the cheek before she walked off with them.

When I looked back at them, Adam, Bree and Chase looked satisfied.

I wish I could say that the mission turned out fantastic and that I was able to go with them to save the world, but I can't. The task was pretty intense and a tad bit on the extreme side of danger, so Big D banned me completely from it. So I ended up staring at the ceiling all afternoon long, waiting for them to come back to tell me all about it.

I did text Cory that evening, only to tell him that I wouldn't be able to make it. Mom wanted to take Adam, Bree and Chase to the store to teach them how to shop, and they wanted me to come. It made up for my yawn fest of an afternoon. It amused me to watch Adam trying to figure out which gummy bear would work best with the budget, Bree picking the things she wanted from the sale rack, and Chase calculating how much money the coupons Mom gave him to manage would cut off from the total price.

Like I said. Interesting.

And hey, it's all worth it.

Signed,

Leo Francis Dooley

End of Chapter Upshot

Re-Enter Password: *****************

Date: 10.20.13

Time: 10:58 PM

20th Chronicle, you guys, which means there's a little extra on the question! Name the three accents Alistair mimicked when he was talking to Adam and Bree at the gym in Perry 2.0.

As far as story recommendations, if you like Leo-centric stories that feature him with powers and/or abilities, Angel has just updated her story, Reprogrammed. You'll enjoy seeing the friendship between the siblings and the Davenport household, especially between Adam and Leo. The story also contains very vivid imagery which I'm sure you will like. It steadily climbing towards a big point in the story (I'm guessing), so don't miss it!

I'll try to update as soon as possible, guys! Hopefully, it won't come as late as January. That will not be good, especially since it means I've let pending tags pile up too high. :P