Here's a virtual high-five to Lady Cougar-Trombone and doomforzombies16! You guys are right; Chase brought in freeze dried food to keep up with the theme. ;)

Thanks too to UnknownForNow, BTRlover1122 (I'll PM you right back to answer your questions ;) ), Sharon1234 and MexicanSwagg for your comments! I loved 'em :)

Here's the thirty-third chronicle!

Episode Tag to: Taken

Chronicle #033

"Retrograde"

04/23/14

6:00 PM

I have no idea why I'm still surprised. I should be used to it by now. Or, at least, I should have been expecting something like this to happen. Having a billionaire stepfather is already a good enough trigger for it. Add having three bionic older siblings with a maniacal enemy to that, and I should have seen the perfect equation for a kidnapping.

Still. It's a little strange. When I came to school yesterday, all I was thinking of were my classes—my tests, whether I brought a shirt to change into after the dissection in Anatomy, how I could avoid gym class entirely. The next thing I know, Douglas was there, asking me to warn my family against Krane. This, I had a hard time wrapping my head around. Giving me credit for being credible was good, I guess, but it was still off putting to hear it from someone you've only ever known as another enemy.

That thought distracted me throughout home room. I only snapped out of it when Mr. Lassiter received a phone call from the office, telling him that I have early dismissal and that Mom was outside waiting in the car. I thought it was pretty weird, but a day off school is a day off school. Who'd ever say no to that?

When I came outside, I saw Mom parked at the curb with the windows rolled down. Her hands were on the steering wheel, and she was staring straight ahead. She was sitting up. She rarely slouches, but there was something about the rigid way she sat that made me suspicious. She looked too attentive, like one wrong move would cause bad things to happen.

I approached the car slowly. "Mom?" I said. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

She hesitated. She took in deep breaths. She looked at me worriedly. "Everything's going to be okay," she said.

I frowned. "What do you mean?" I asked.

My phone started to ring at that moment. Pulling it out of my pocket, I saw that it was Big D.

The window behind Mom's rolled down, and I saw why she was acting that way. "I wouldn't answer that if I were you," Krane said.

I stared at him while my phone kept ringing.

Krane slightly held out his hand, and using his molecular kinesis he snatched my phone. Afterwards, he crushed it, the screen shattering and the shell casing snapping in pieces. "Get in the car," he told me. Then, he looked at Mom—head, shoulders, back—in the way vultures look at a soon-to-be-dead prey. "Or do you need more convincing?" he asked me.

"I'll get in, I'll get in," I said. I walked around to the other side and did what I said.

I gotta give props to Big D because I think he handled everything that happened next really well. His shoes were probably the most difficult place to be in, especially after Krane made him choose between the three children he raised and his wife and stepson. Just thinking about the question that loon asked him sickens me. It's like someone asking you which side of your brain would you like to keep, and which part would you like to lose. Choosing any of the two would give the same result. Any of it will kill you.

But Big D never gave up, and I highly respect that.

I told him so earlier. I was sitting at the sofa, watching TV. He was in the kitchen, preparing a bowl of fruits and a tall glass of ice cold water for Mom, which he had been doing for her regularly since yesterday because the exothermic chamber caused her to be a bit dehydrated and somewhat sick. I thought about how I was going to word it as I glanced at him from time to time. I wanted to make sure I sounded sincere, because I am. "Hey, Big D?" I started.

Big D continued to put the bowl and the glass into a carrying tray. "Hm?"

"You know, what you did…" I nodded with a small smile. "That was cool."

Big D stopped. He looked up at me.

"Thanks for stepping it up for us," I added.

A smile came up to his face. "There's nothing I wouldn't give up for any of you," he said. "I love your mother and Adam and Bree and Chase and you very much."

I nodded. "You're a good father, you know that?" I said.

Big D sighed. "Yeah," he said. He grinned warmly. "But it doesn't mean I don't appreciate hearing it from one of my kids." He lifted up the tray. "Thank you," he told me.

I nodded.

We exchanged one final look and then off upstairs he went.

To be honest, this whole deal with Krane has got me worried. He's still out there, and though we know he's one ally less he can still pull a trick off his sleeves any time, any day which could leave us hanging on a balance. But, I'm starting to realize that this is not going to do me any good, always looking behind me. If I think about it, it's probably the dumbest thing to do especially if what I want is to be one step ahead of him. I wouldn't be able to see clearly ahead approaching things this way.

Here's what I need to know about what will happen next: it's good to create a plan, as Big D always tell me when we create the mission strategies, for the best and the worst case scenarios; but it's also good to stay chill and not panic, as Mom had taught me while we were at the school parking lot. Panicking's just not efficient. Neither is it pretty.

Plus, the six of us make for a good team. So far we've handled situations thrown our way rather well. We're holding up our own.

Rounds One and Two have gone. Round Three's right around the corner, I know, but I refuse to just sit around and wait for it. Life still goes on, so there's no use being idle.

And hey. Krane might be a bionic psychopath, but gym class still has him beat by a comfortable margin.

Signed,

Leo Francis Dooley

04/23/14

7:55 PM

The Bree Chronicles

In Taken, what was the name of the device Donald tried to use against Krane? Comments and answers are loved!