Many thanks to AllAmericanSlurp, Lrlover444, Lady Cougar-Trombone, BTRlover1122, and raenbc for your reviews!

The answer to last chapter's question is Morf Vortex, and I thought it was really sweet that Donald taught that move to Leo because he wanted him to win instead of Principal Perry.

Quickly, before the new chronicle: AllAmericanSlurp, I really wanted to reply to you! I just wanted to let you know that you shouldn't be worried about Billy - he's coming back in Season Four. He even tweeted two, three months ago about having a fitting in for his mission suit (said it was a bit smaller, and I'm guessing it's because he really muscled up during the break), and a few weeks ago, Kelli posted a video on Instagram of her, Spencer, Angel, Billy and Tyrel playing in the rain outside the studio where they shoot the show. So rest be assured, he will be with the show until the end. ;)

I hope you guys enjoy this new entry!

Episode Tag to: Brother Battle

Chronicle #040

"Gradient"

10/27/14

10:16 PM

Don't tell Bree, but I think I'm really, really starting to like the idea of having an older sister.

Don't get me wrong, having older brothers have its pluses, too: I get to have someone to play video games with and have someone to joke around. Sometimes Adam helps me with heavy-duty chores, and sometimes Chase helps me with homework when I just feel like banging my head on the desk because it's too hard. See? Good things. Really, they're awesome.

But older sisters… Older sisters are different. They seem to be standoff-ish at first, like they really don't want anything to do with you, but then later on, when you're feeling a little off, they come right out with a solution to the problem and reveal that all along, they've been paying attention to everything that's been happening to you and that they do care about you.

Like this week. Or, to be exact, a few days ago. Disasters of humongous proportions just swung in. For one, Adam and Chase had an epic duel of bionics. New bionics, I should say, because Chase used his upgrade of laser bo staff against Adam, and Adam used his Superman-like increased lung capacity against Chase. If how the lab looked afterward was any indication, things got really bad. And not just between the two of them—Big D and Douglas, too, but their fight was a little nerdier (electric field destabilizer + metal).

Bree had to make sure that things are really settled between Adam and Chase afterwards. She said it was just to make sure that we don't have to redecorate the lab again, but I know she meant that she didn't want the two of them harboring hard feelings against each other.

But on top of all of that, Bree also had to deal with her pending unemployment. She decided that Tech Town was a crazy place to work for so she resigned. She doesn't seem to be too bothered with having to quit. I can even dare guess that she was happy to leave.

I have to admit that I was one of the problems she had to deal with too. I was NOT happy that I was disqualified from the Tech Town contest to meet Franz Minsk and ride the anti-gravity roller coaster he engineered. I mean, come on. Who wouldn't be? I've been on many roller coasters, but that one would have been different. Plus, not a lot of people had been on it—with Franz Minsk! What made it worse is the fact that I actually was the one millionth customer. I should have won, but I had to forfeit because Bree was related to me.

So, instead, the next person in line got the prize.

Yay.

Needless to say, that loss was not taken lightly. I guess I shouldn't have had bellyached much about it. After all, I've just won something about a week ago. But, still, a second win would have been nice, you know?

Probably having had enough of my pouting and whining, Bree decided Friday afternoon that a change in environment would be good for me. "Come on, Leo," she said yesterday as she was walking past the couch where I was sitting.

"Come on where?" I asked.

"To the mall. Let's go."

I frowned at her. "No. I am not going with you shopping," I told her.

"We're not going shopping," she said. "I need to stop at Tech Town to get my last check. Scott said I need to come there if I want it."

"Why didn't he just mail it?"

"For me to be able to answer that question, I need to get inside his head. No one should be subjected to that torture," she said.

"Mm" was all I said before getting up to grab my phone, my wallet and my keys. "So I guess you're really taking me back to the scene of the crime, huh?" I said later.

"Scene of the crime?"

"Yeah, where my pride and dignity were soullessly trampled on by our short-tempered principal and Tech Town's corporate policy."

She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. "Come on," she said, dragging me by the arm to the garage.

The drive to the mall passed by a little loudly. I kept complaining about being taken out of my mini movie marathon, and Bree kept telling me to stop complaining because I could always continue later. We segued into me criticizing her driving skills as she was pulling into the mall parking lot, but she abruptly and concisely waved me off with, "We'll talk once you get your license."

"You go get your check. I'll wait here," I told her after she got out because I noticed that there were a lot of cars there, even a news van, and I didn't want Bree to suddenly change her mind into staying longer with the rest of the world who seemed to be wandering around the mall at that moment.

"No, no, no," Bree said. She walked around to my side and opened the door. "You're coming with me."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Leo," she said warningly, placing her hands on her hips like Mom would.

That's one of the things I don't like, by the way. Bree's been picking up a lot of Mom's habits, like the hands-on-hips thing, and of course my instinct got me to react like how I would if it had really been Mom telling me what to do.

Well, mostly, anyways. "Fine," I said through gritted teeth before getting out of the car.

Bree seemed bright-eyed and a little excited as we were walking through the mall. Meanwhile, I was scowling and trudging unhappily behind her. She was commenting about how the mall was expecting a visit from one of the stores' owners that day and that was why there were a lot of people in there. I grumbled out a monosyllabic, non-word response because I really just wanted to go back home.

"What would you do if you meet Franz Minsk?" she asked as we walked closer to Tech Town.

"I don't know," I said unenthusiastically. "Freak?"

"Oh, please don't," she said before vanishing into a super crowded Tech Town.

The place could not be more packed. There were customers, many employees and a news crew. It's like the company announced that it would give away free phones to whoever could fit in the store. I don't even know how they managed to put a table of "refreshments" in that small space.

I couldn't understand what the buzz was all about and was seriously regretting coming there after I was elbowed for the fourth on my back when I saw Bree waving me over to the counter.

After pushing through the pretty stubborn masses, I found her in the clear, with Scott and another person that I should have figured out would be there.

My observation skills are really shot.

Apparently, at that moment, so was my ability to form coherent words.

"This is my brother, Leo," Bree introduced me. "He's been really excited to meet you."

"Oh, is that right?" Franz Minsk asked, turning to me with a grin. He held out his hand. "Well, Leo, it's nice to meet you. I'm Franz Minsk."

I shook his hand slowly. "I know. I have pictures of you on my laptop," I said. My eyes widened when I realized how that must have sounded. "It's for a research paper for my robotics class," I said. "Not for creepy reasons or anything."

Scott just stared at me with a disturbed look on his face.

Bree narrowed her eyes, wrinkled her brows, and then just shook her head.

Franz Minsk just nodded with a smile, understanding what I meant and I guess not really taking what I said the way I thought he did. "Well, I hope they give you extra points for meeting me in person," he said.

"I'm not sure about extra points, but I'm pretty sure my teacher would freak out," I said.

"Like what you're doing right now?" Bree said under her breath as Franz laughed.

I glared at her.

"Glad to see your enthusiasm about me and Tech Town, Leo," Franz said, slapping a hand on my shoulder. Then, turning to Bree he said, "You, too, Bree. The company is so sad to lose an employee like you who's so dedicated to your work even if, clearly, you're already preoccupied with saving the world. We'll miss having such an energetic young person like you and the passion you showed for this company."

I frowned because in no way were Franz and I thinking of the same Bree as a Tech Town employee. I mean, I know of my sister Bree who used to work in Tech Town, but in no terms was she energetic and-or passionate about the job. She might have started off that way, but then Scott and the crazy customers…

Well, I guess that's enough to explain why. The job became annoying because Scott and crazy customers.

Bree just smiled at Franz. "Thank you, sir," she said.

"You're welcome," Franz said. "Now, do you mind if we take some pictures and do a short interview for the company before you go? I know you said you can't stay for too long, but you know. We've never really had a superhero work in our store before."

Bree shook her head. "I don't mind at all," she said. She glanced at me. "As long as he's with us."

"Oh, yeah, sure. That'll be fine," Franz said.

So that was what happened: a prolonged picture taking session and an interview. Franz made a short speech about his appreciation for the teenagers working for his company before using Bree as an example of an employee who 'did her best' in her job. He said the company was sad to see her go, but saving others is much more important to Bree so that was why she decided to leave (Bree shot me a look that said "Okay, what?" after he said that, and I tried not to laugh). He asked Bree a few questions afterwards about her experience with the company, and I guess it's to boost up their rep so other kids would apply. Bree skillfully answered, making sure that she didn't humiliate the company while telling the truth at the same time.

For example:

Franz: How was it like working under a manager like Scoot here?

Bree: Well, all jobs have their challenges. One of them is getting adjusted to new people. Scott… I can honestly say I haven't met a manager like him before.

See? No lies. Everyone who might consider applying will know from Bree's response that (1) the job will be challenging, (2) they need to adjust to the job – because it's super nutso, and (3) Scott is not like anyone they'd ever met. Any future employee cannot hold Bree accountable because she called things as they were.

After being badgered for nearly an hour, Bree finally got her check. She said thank you, said goodbye to Franz Minsk, before telling me that we needed to head back home. I took a quick picture with the Tech Town big boss, said goodbye, too, before running after Bree to catch up with her.

The drive home was still a little loud. I guess I was just too excited about having met the person I'm writing my research paper about that I kept talking about it. Surprisingly, Bree lasted the whole ride without getting annoyed. She was just smiling, commenting here and there, and basically just listened. I didn't even realize how much I'd been talking her ears off until she said, "You and Chase can be such dweebs when it comes to research, you know that?"

"What do you mean?" I said in my defense, and it was then I realized that we were already sitting at the garage. "Oh."

Bree laughed. "Yeah. 'Oh'," she said, and then she opened her door to get out of the car.

It came to me at that moment that our little trip to the mall was something that Bree had planned all along. More than likely, she already knew about Franz Minsk coming to meet her on her last day at Tech Town, and it seems to me that since then she'd been making sure I'd be able to meet him too.

Like I said. Sisters.

"Hey, Bree?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks. A lot," I said. "I really appreciated that."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile. "I know it wasn't an anti-gravity roller coaster ride, but…"

"No, no! It was as awesome," I said. I grinned. "I mean, hearing Franz Minsk call Scott Scoot on an interview that would be seen internationally made it much better."

Bree chuckled. "I'm sure Caitlin would love to hear about that," she said.

I frowned. "Where was she anyways?" I asked. "I don't think I saw her there."

Bree sighed, her grin dying down to a much smaller smile. "Helping out for the art show tonight," she said. "She didn't want to because she's still upset with, um, one of the kids, but she had to for extra credit."

I knew Bree long enough to know that sometimes, she tends to wave away things that needs to be tackled. She acts like she doesn't care when in reality, she does.

At that moment, even if she was smiling, I knew she was upset—and I knew exactly who made her upset. "Owen's a goof," I said.

Bree's eyes snapped back at me, widened in shock. "Leo!"

"What? It's true," I said. "What kind of guy dumps a girl like that?"

"He didn't really dump me. I mean, not really," Bree said. "He said it was never serious. I was just his muse and," she sighed, "and I guess I took it too seriously."

"What a jerk," I said. "I mean, you guys dated! You guys went to see movies and went out and, and, and the dude came over several times and ate food out of our fridge! That was dating, and it was serious." I shook my head. "He's… I don't even know. Whatever. Bottom line is, you shouldn't waste your time on guys like that. In fact, maybe this is a good thing, because you deserve someone who can see past your bionics and like you for who you are."

Bree smiled. "You think so?" she asked.

"I know so," I said. I sat up. "Look. There are many things I'm not very sure about, and there are many more things I mess up because I'm not very sure about many things, but what I do know is that you don't treat a girl like that. You don't lie just to get out of a relationship. At least be man enough to be honest to her so she wouldn't feel more awful than she already feels."

Bree said nothing but thought about it for a while. Then, she smiled, following it with a laugh. "When did you become so good at relationships?" she asked.

"After I read Mom's women magazines," I said firmly, waving my index finger to emphasize my point. "And, not only that, I grew up surrounded with women. I see how happy Grandma is with Grandpa because of the way he treats her, then I've seen Aunt Janice in a few bad relationships and how it affected her. Then Mom…"

"You see how happy she is with Mr. Davenport?"

"Yeah, that, too," I said. "But, mostly, she taught me that good women deserve good men. Well, actually, I learned that, because that's what I wanted for her—a good guy to take care of her."

Bree nodded down to the steering wheel with a smile.

"And that's what I want for you," I said. I nudged her. "Because you're a good sister." Then, after thinking about it, "Most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Bree repeated.

"Yeah, because you could have told me that I was ineligible for the contest, and I wouldn't have had to buy all of those batteries then bring them back then…"

I kept going on and on just to mess with her, but Bree was already out of the car, shaking her head and chuckling in disbelief as she went inside the house.

After finishing my paper last night, I realized that I hadn't been as bummed as I was before Bree took me to the mall. I guess I'd been too excited about what happened at Tech Town that I forgot that I was upset. Actually, things became much better when I submitted my paper this morning. Mr. Hewlett saw the pictures of me and Franz Minsk so he asked when I met him. That turned out into this huge question-and-answer session, with Mr. Hewlett and the rest of the class asking me about the Tech Town big guy himself. Sure, there are only nine of us in the class and most of us are tech geeks anyways, but it was so cool to have that much attention on me. That's unprecedented.

Now I know how Adam, Bree and Chase must feel whenever they're interviewed or stopped by people on the streets to take pictures.

It's been pretty awesome, and that's all thanks to Bree.

Signed,

Leo Francis Dooley

10/28/14

6:00 PM

The Chase Chronicles

Douglas gave new abilities, not only to Chase and Adam, but to Bree, too. What is Bree's new bionic ability? Answers and reviews are appreciated!

I'll try my best to catch up before the finale comes out on January 26th!