We're caught up!

Congrats to Rodrigo and vampiregal007 (extra points for you!) for naming a Douglas Davenport invention as shown in Mission Mania! Both of you named the Pencil Bazooka, so great job. ;)

Thank you to Lady Cougar-Trombone and LRW for the reviews last chapter! Much appreciated!

Special thanks, too, to raenbc! Yay, you're here!

Okay, this is definitely the lengthiest Chronicle entry. It's seriously enough to last a person a week, so I won't take up much with the notes.

I will say, though, that I really enjoyed writing this one.

Hope you enjoy reading it. The squad is introduced in this chapter. ;)

Episode Tag to: Simulation Manipulation

Chronicle #053

"Stealth"

05/23/15

9:41 PM

Here's a fact of life that I learned this week: almost every school that have teenagers as students will have cliques in them, including the only academy that houses and trains bionic kids who hadn't even been exposed to the world enough to know what 'clique' means.

I guess it's been inevitable since this all started. I mean, come on, first day of school, we were all divided – and I don't even mean by our rankings. Walking into the Training Center for the first class with all of the students present, it was clear that there were going to be three groups that would eventually become the power players in the Academy: the Buff Bros, the Speedsters, and the Brainiacs. Although Adam, Bree and Chase lead these groups, respectively, I don't think they've noticed yet that these kinda-sorta divisions exist. Or that, in a course of a few months, the three of them had risen from being the school underdogs to, well, the big dogs on campus.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not decrying some sort of injustice here. Unlike in Mission Creek High where the jocks and the cheerleaders and even the student council were super mean, the Academy's big groups are nice. Not all, but most of them are. They're very friendly, actually.

I guess the problem is that, for the rest of us who don't quite fall into any of those classifications, there are certain…bonuses that are not extended to us.

For example, the simulation exercises.

That program is in place to assess student progress and mentor performance. Like three weeks ago. After Big D tallied the average scores of each team, it was determined that the Speedsters had taken first place, which was great because that left Bree in a good mood and her students with a pretty hefty amount of points added into their grades. From what I've heard, two of the girls in her group actually leveled up because of it.

Adam and the Bros were in second place. They were actually doing good on their own, even if you take out the obstacle win-by-default. They, too, were happy about that (then again, dudes are always happy, even if they lose).

Chase… Well, yeah. That was a topic he didn't want to talk about, so I wouldn't even dare to explore that in this entry.

No matter the result, though, one thing is for sure: members of their groups all get a leg up because of their participation. Big D gives the rest of us who weren't put in a group extra credit homework, but it's not the same. The other students get to apply the skills they learned and get to have slightly more points whereas we get to stay up late at night, circling multiple choice questions that seven times out of ten are trick questions.

Of course, I approached Big D about that, but all he told me was, "Leo, you can't be in the exercises. Those are only for students who have a good handle on their abilities. Plus, the teams are full."

"I do have a good handle on mine," I said. "I've been using them on missions. I'm used to them."

"I know. I understand that, but…"

I knew what he didn't want to say. "Big D, I won't be the only beginner classed in a team. All three has bumblebees in them," I reasoned.

"It's not that."

"Okay. Then, what is it that I have to do?"

Big D sighed. "Okay, it's not—" he stopped as he thought of how to phrase his answer. "It's not what you have to do, it's…the abilities you have."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Each group has a defined set of skills. Like Adam's group. The majority of them have mastered super strength. Bree's group has mastered super speed. Chase's has mastered either the super intelligence or molecular kinesis," he answered. "And you, I…I can't group you into any of those."

"Why? I have super strength," I said. I shrugged. "I mean, only a fraction of me, of course, but I have it."

Big D shook his head. "No, you're not getting what I'm saying," he said with a chuckle. "Your main ability is your laser sphere generation. Sometimes it's a toss-up between that and your energy transference. Those, you have a good handle on. Your super strength, you just…have."

"But—"

"Leo, look, I'm sorry, okay? But I can't put you in a group."

"Well, how can I level up?" I asked, trying not to get frustrated.

"Just do the extra credit."

"Oh, come on, Big D. You and I know that that's the slow lane," I reasoned.

Big D shrugged, and he did look like he was sorry about the situation. "I'm sorry, buddy," he said, "but as of right now the teams are packed. Maybe I can see about switching the members up next semester, but until then you're going to have to wait."

Next semester meant nearly four months of doing paper work. It also meant countless of opportunities missed in ranking up. As interesting as yellow is on my shoulders, I'd really rather have green by summer. So, as Big D was walking out of the room, I said, "What if I play for it?"

Big D stopped and then turned around. "What did you say?"

I shrugged. "What if I play for it?" I repeated. "What if I prove to you that I can be on a team?"

Big D smirked, probably thinking that I was joking. "Leo…"

"No, no, I'm serious," I said, maybe a tad bit desperately. "Just one challenge, your choice. And, since the number of members in a team is a concern, I can ask other students who are not on the main teams to be in my team. You know, play for a place, too."

Big D laughed. That kinda hurt. "Are we back on the mentoring issue again?" he asked.

That definitely hurt. "I'm not mentoring them, Big D, I'll be playing with them," I said. "I just want a chance. You told me not to complain about being a student and so I stopped. Now that I'm focusing on it, why don't you want to help me?"

Maybe something in what I said got to him, because the grin evaporated into a small smile, and he seemed to start thinking about it. "Alright, alright. I'll consider it. I'll run it with your siblings and see what they think." His brows wrinkled. "But, how are you going to find a team? I thought you said the other kids don't like you."

I have to admit, I didn't really think about that.

"You'll make a better case if you have a group," Big D said.

"I…already have a person," I said but tried not to look as nervous as I felt as I thought of that not-quite-true statement.

Big D's brows rose up. "You already have one?"

"Yeah. Era."

Big D frowned. Then he laughed. "Era? The girl Adam's been talking to?"

"Yep."

Big D thought about it. "Well, okay," he said. "You need about three more, maybe four if Adam, Bree and Chase decide to play with their members."

"Alright. Done."

"I'll give you until Monday night to get your team together," Big D said. "If you can give me a team of six, we'll play."

"Sounds great."

No. It didn't. Five days to find willing participants from the students? How could I pull that off?

The next day, at lunch, I had to come clean to Era and tell her what I've done. She seemed to share the same sentiment that I had. "Are you crazy?" she shrieked, glowering at me. She gestured to herself with her half-eaten sandwich as she asked, "You want me to play against the mentors, with the team I will build for you?"

I glanced around the cafeteria to make sure her freak-out moment didn't alert the entire student body. "Okay, okay, it's not like that, alright? This is not going to be a battle. More than likely, it'll just be a skills game," I assured her, hoping to calm her down. "I just really want to be in on a team so I can scale up the ranks faster. And that won't only be in my case, that'll be for yours and your siblings', too. All of us are going to benefit. Didn't you tell me that you wanted red patches on your uniform?"

"Don't turn this around on me."

"I'm not," I laughed. "Look, seriously, this is going to be good for all of us. And you're not going to do all the work. Really, what I'm asking is some help. If you could ask around, see which of your siblings who are in the same situation that we are would be interested in it, that would be awesome. I can talk to them and explain the offer. See? We're in this together."

She just kept scowling at me, her arms crossed.

"Plus, you owe me a favor," I pointed out. "Remember? You and Adam?"

She sighed in surrender. "How did I know you were going to bring that up again?" she said.

I grinned. "Because you and I are good friends?"

"See, that's unfair. I thought that was the deal. We'll be friends if you help me out."

"Right, but then we really became friends because we're game buddies," I said. "You gotta admit, the two of us make a pretty good team. We creamed Spin and Bob really good at Skip Bo last Sunday."

Era rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll ask," she said unhappily. As a sign of protest, she stood up from the table with her tray before saying, "But just so we're clear, I'm not teaming up with you when we play Like Minds tonight. This partnership is on hold until further notice." Then, she marched off.

Thankfully, the bad mood wore off during our game that night. She discovered that what I said was true; we do work well as a team. She and Spin started off well, but then after a while, Bob and I started to earn more points. The objective of the game is to think alike, which was a little hard for her because as it turned out, she hadn't quite gotten Spin's mind on matters. I didn't really have much of a problem with Bob. He's basically Adam Junior, so I just had to think like Adam. It wasn't very hard to do. I lived with the dude for three years, so.

As I was getting lunch the following day, Era ran up to me, cutting in line with a smile. "Alright, I have the info you need," she chirped as I grabbed a chicken wrap from the food line.

"Info?"

She scoffed. "For the team?" she clarified, picking up a few things from the spread, too.

I frowned. Then, "Wait. You really do?"

She nodded slowly, grinning.

"Oh, that's awesome!" I said, offering her a fist bump as we made our way to a table. "Okay, so, what you got?"

"Well, as it turns out, out of the twenty-eight students here in the Academy, only seven of us are not classified under the three main abilities," Era explained. "You know what's weird? Even Bob and Spin are in groups. Bob's with Adam, and Spin's with Bree. They just haven't gone on the exercises yet because they're too young for it."

"Mm."

"Anyways, I asked around to, you know, kinda see if anyone would like to be fast-laned into the teams, and – I didn't find one."

"What?"

"But, I do know of four others who may not mind playing with us if you explain the whole deal to them," Era amended with a smile.

"Wait, four? What happened to the other one?"

"She wants to sit it out." Era then smiled knowingly, in a way that made me feel like I was missing something. "Believe me, though, she'll be watching."

I narrowed my eyes at that, but then decided to shake the thought off. "Okay, so, who are the four?" I asked.

Era's mouth pulled to the side as she looked around the cafeteria with a thoughtful frown. "You probably already know them, with how small the island is," she said. Her face cleared as she gestured to a pair coming into the cafeteria, a boy and a girl. "Oh! There they are, the two of them. Miller and Miles. You've met them, right?"

"I've met them in passing," I replied.

And I did. Miller and Miles are fraternal twins, although you wouldn't think it if you base it on height. Miller is at least half a foot taller than Miles. Their features, though, are alike – I guess as close as you'd expect of fraternal twins. They both have jet black hair, dark brown eyes, and slight Greek features. As far as personalities, Miller's the social one. He's a very happy guy, talks to everybody, can make light even a serious situation. Miles is the quiet one. She looked observant. Other than that, I didn't really know much about her.

Era turned around again. "Uh… Oh." She pointed at a guy hunched over a tablet, eating at the corner by himself. He looked to be around the same age as I was. Like the twins, he had dark hair, too. His was spiked up. He has Latino features. "He's another one."

"What's his name?" I asked.

"I don't know. It changes every time," Era said.

"What do you mean?"

"He's trying to look for a good name to have. He used to be Donald Jr., but Mr. Davenport gave that same name to another one of our brothers. I guess, to avoid confusion, he just decided to find a new one," Era said. "Usually, he goes by the nicknames given to him. 'Smarty Pants', 'Squint', 'Eyebrows'—"

"Eyebrows?"

Era smiled uncomfortably. "Some of my siblings tease him a lot because…" she gestured to her brows. "They said it's pretty thick up there."

"Wow. That's mean."

"Yeah," Era agreed. "They're probably just jealous because he's smart."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. His brain can go from zero to full throttle in a matter of seconds. His mouth does, too, when he's nervous," Era said with a chuckle. "He doesn't get teased, though, when Storm's around."

"Storm?"

"She's the fourth." It took Era a minute to locate her. She nodded at her when she found her. "Yep, that's my younger sister. Little girl, fiery personality – no pun intended."

Storm did have a small frame, but she carried herself with confidence. Actually, it was more of a 'mess with him, I dare you' look. She was darting it towards her brothers who seemed to be talking about formerly-Donald-Jr. behind his back. It stopped them effectively. Storm had the same skin color as I do, but a bit lighter, and had dark, curly hair that flowed down to her shoulders. "Fiery personality?" I asked.

"Storm has a good heart, but she's got attitude problems sometimes," Era said. "She's not like Lexi, though. That girl. You talk about attitude."

"What do you mean? I mean, I know Lexi turned out to be a psycho, but she was nice."

"No, Lexi is a psycho, period. She was horrible. It actually surprised me that none of you caught onto that," Era said. "Storm has attitude problems, yeah, but Lexi has attitude problems, anger issues, superiority complex—she was super annoying, okay? Especially after Sebastian got to her and Tank, she just became more and more difficult to live with. She got into a fight with Miles twice before because she wasn't being very careful with her molecular manipulation ability. Once, she almost seriously hurt Storm and Juliette."

"Oh. I didn't realize a lot of things have happened in the dormitories."

"Yeah, but don't tell anyone. Things like that, we deal with on our own," Era replied. "But yeah. After that incident, Storm started looking up to Miles. She's the only one she'd listen to so, if you want Storm in the team, you have to convince Miles first. If she's in, they're both in."

I nodded, trying to take in all the information given to me. "Okay, please give me a run through of the four of them again," I said. "What can we expect?"

After half an hour of conversation and eating, here's what I gathered regarding my then potential team:

Miller

The oldest of the twins. Very sociable, and very adventurous. He's the polar opposite of Miles' most of the time. He's a bit of a troublemaker because he's willing to do almost anything that looks fun. Gets into arguments with his twin sister occasionally, especially whenever their younger brothers follow his lead in doing 'juvenile stunts,' but they usually work together as a team.

Main bionic ability: cryokinesis. Might be talked into joining the team.

Miles

The youngest of the twins. Responsible, always alert when it comes to the well-being of her brothers and sisters. Considered as the Mom figure by most of her siblings. She's very protective and so could be suspicious of new people. She's nice, once you get to know her. She's also friendly like her brother, but only to people who had earned her trust and respect.

Main bionic ability: geo-leaping. Probably needs more convincing than her brother.

Era

Board gamer extraordinaire. Great tactician (if our past games of Monopoly Deal is anything to go by). Overall cool girl.

Main bionic ability: electrokinesis. My partner-in-crime.

(formerly-Donald-Jr.)

Certified genius. Brain hits full speed quickly, but most of the time he's held back by his own nerves. He gets frazzled easily, and he finds it hard to interact with strangers. Loves reading, but has troubles with it because he can't see clearly due to his laser vision being faulty.

Main bionic ability: sonic vibration manipulation. Would be cool to have in the group.

Storm

A good person, but has attitude issues from time to time. Like Miles, she's protective of her siblings, too. Recently, she's taken it upon herself to stand up for formerly-Donald-Jr. She has the utmost respect for Miles, so she listens to her. She doesn't speak much, but oftentimes her look is enough to say what she's thinking.

Main bionic ability: pyrokinesis. Hopefully I can talk Miles into joining.

I planned to approach each of them after school that same day, but Era, being the awesome friend that she is, thought ahead of time and made it easier for me. She told them to meet with us at the cafeteria at around five o'clock if they wanted to hear my pitch for the 'extra credit' activity they could take part in.

It had been a while since I've been that nervous. I guess part of the reason why I was kind of jittery was because I wasn't very familiar with them. Like I've told Era, I've only met them in passing. I didn't know how they would react. I was worried they would just laugh at the idea. Or worse, ignore it.

Formerly-Donald-Jr. was the first one to arrive. He said hi back to Era when she greeted him; he just looked at me when I asked him how things were going. Then, he sat at one of the bigger tables with his tablet and started reading.

Miller came next, Storm soon after. Immediately after he sat down, Miller started asking what the meeting was all about, but we told him that we had to wait for his sister. It took Miles about fifteen more minutes before she came (she had to handle a situation between Spin and one of their younger sisters back at the dormitory), so Miller decided to ask the same question again, and again, and again.

I didn't know whether he was being eager or if he was trying to be funny.

Once all of us were present, I gave them my presentation. I told them about the deal Big D and I agreed on, told them that if we were able to show him and my siblings that we were good enough to be placed in a team, we would be, without having to wait for months.

When I finished, the twins seemed like they were seriously considering it. Storm was just looking at us with an expression that I couldn't really read.

Formerly-Donald-Jr. looked like he had a question but was having difficulty verbalizing it.

"Donald Jr., do you have any questions?" I asked, hoping to prompt him into speaking.

Nope. With more eyes on him, that made it worse.

"It's okay, Don," Era told him with a smile as he withdrew more. "You can ask. We may all be wondering about the same thing you're wondering about."

He thought about it. Then, he turned to Miles for help. When Miles leaned over, he whispered his question to her.

Miles nodded. "That is a good question," she told him. To us, she said, "He's wondering what it is we have to do."

"Honestly, at this point, I don't know," I said. "I'm guessing it'd be something along the lines of what the teams had done. So, it could be taking down Exo, going through an obstacle course – you know, and everything else in between. Although, knowing my stepdad, it's going to involve something that would stretch us to the limit and would require the use of our abilities."

"Are we going to have at least some kind of training?" Miles asked. "Are the mentors going to help us?"

"No," I said. "But—"

"So does that mean you're going to be the one leading us?" Storm asked.

I never really thought about it until she brought it up. I grinned. "Yeah," I said. "I guess I am."

"I'm out," Storm said. She got up then started heading out the door.

Miller stood up, too. "Yeah, man, it sounds good and all, but…I'd really rather not get flattened out during an exercise because I'm not ready, you know?" he said.

Era and I exchanged nervous looks before I called out to them. "Wait, wait! Can't you guys just hear me out?" When they stopped and looked back, I said, "Look. I'm not the leader per se, but…I'm just…the one…in the lead?"

Miller frowned. (I don't blame him, though. How flawed was that logic? Not the leader, but I'm in the lead?)

Storm just stared. Then, she walked off.

After watching her go, Miller gave me an 'I'm sorry' shrug. He left, too.

I sighed. "Well, that was not how I hoped things would go," I mumbled.

"What about you, Miles?" Era asked her sister. "Do you want to give it a try?"

Miles pondered over it. "It really does sound like a good idea," she said, "but I'm just concerned over our safety going in unprepared. Most of us don't have a good handle on our abilities as it is."

"More than likely, Big D's not going to put us in a very dangerous situation. I think we can handle it," I offered.

"He pitted my siblings against a million dollar robot that zapped a few of them. I'm not saying that I'm mad at him for doing that, I'm just saying that it could happen to us, too. I'd really rather not watch my siblings, or even you, get hurt or even humiliated because we went in when we're not ready," Miles said. She stood up. "But, like I said, I do like the idea. Give me a day to think about this. I'll get back with you when I've decided." Then, she walked away, too.

"Don J. What about you, man?" I asked when it was just the three of us.

He tensed up. "I, uh…" he spoke. Then, he stood up and hurried after his older siblings.

Yep. That meeting was a total bust.

Of course, I couldn't just give up, especially after my siblings asked me about the progress I was making during dinner that night. I was kind of vague and told them it was moving along. It was true; we were moving. Only problem was that we were going the opposite direction.

Thinking that everything was going well, Adam, with a grin, said that he was glad to hear that there would be a challenger team in the house. He then said good-naturedly that they would be preparing for us.

That made me more determined to get the group to stick.

By lunch the next day, I asked Era about the likelihood of that happening. She wasn't hopeful, and that was bad. Storm and Miller seemed to have made up their minds with their decision to not get involved. Miles hadn't said anything, but Era said her older sister looked like she was leaning towards the same direction as they were.

"What about Donald Jr.?" I asked when I caught sight of him eating lunch alone in the same space in the back.

Era shrugged. "I haven't really asked him."

I nodded. "Alright. Let's go ask him now," I said as I got up from our table.

"What?"

"Come on. Let's go talk to him."

Era didn't seem to like the idea at first, but she still came.

Formerly-Donald-Jr. looked up when we got there. Like the first time, he was okay with Era but was nervous when he saw me since he didn't know me well. Still, I greeted him. "Hey, my man! How's it going?" I asked with a grin.

He hunched closer to his tablet, probably thinking that that would hide him somehow. To be nice, though, he answered back with a stutter, "I, uh…I—I don't—I don't know."

Era and I looked at each other. "Are you doing okay?" Era asked with a smile.

He nodded.

I looked at what was on his tablet. It kinda surprised me how big the font was. For someone who was around the same age as I was, it was pretty huge. "What do you have there?"

"It's, um, just, uh…" he pointed at the screen, gesturing at the letters. "It's…I'm…"

"You're reading something?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, cool," I said. "Listen, um, Donald Jr.? It's Donald Jr., right? I can call you that?"

He didn't say anything, but his expression hardened, like there was something in what I said that he didn't like.

I looked at Era for help. She came in with, "Hey. It's okay. He just wants to know if that's what you want to be called. Is that okay with you?"

He looked around first. Then, he shook his head. He mumbled something next.

"I'm sorry, man. Can't hear you that good. What'd you say again?"

"I said that's not my name," he said hesitantly.

Era frowned. "Why not? You liked that name when Mr. Davenport gave it to you. You don't like it anymore?"

"No, it's – it's not that." He scratched his head. He glanced up at us before explaining, "It's… It's just that – I, um… Donald Jr.—the, the other one—told me I can't use the same name."

Era huffed in anger. "That nutjob," she said. "Why would he say that?"

He shrugged.

"What?" I said, also finding that unfair. "And you let him take it?"

He nodded. "He's older than I am," he said, his voice small.

Era rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you let me know about that? Or even Miles? We could've dealt with him."

"It's not a big deal, Era, okay?" he said.

Era opened her mouth and was about to go off on a venting spree, not noticing that the idea of a confrontation between his other siblings agitated her younger brother. So, to stop her, I cut in. "Look. That's fine. He can have that name, right?" I said. "You can just get a cooler name. You have anything in mind?"

He looked at me, like he wasn't very sure why I was being very friendly. "Yeah, I…I do, actually," he said. "I've got several."

I shrugged. "Okay. Let's hear them."

After a bout of hesitation, he said, "Um, I – I like science, so I thought I could pick a scientist's name. I actually, uh, like the sound of Einstein."

"Well-known name," I said with a slow nod, "could get your sisters in lots of fights with your brothers."

"Um, okay. How about Kepler?"

"Like Johannes Kepler?"

Era narrowed her eyes. "Who is that even?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Mendeleev?"

"Okay, we're getting more and more medieval with the names," Era said.

That, of course, frazzled him to the point of surrender. And by surrender, I mean babbling about a somewhat relevant but still different topic. "Well, um, you see, names, really, they're just…" and he was off citing his argument about the conventionality of name picking.

Zero to full throttle, just like his sister said.

That gave me an idea. "How about we call you Rocket?" I said.

Both of them looked at me.

I grinned. "You have to admit, your brain takes off pretty quickly when the situation calls for it," I said. "Plus, it's an awesome name. Fits you."

He pondered over it a while. Then, he smiled, which I think surprised both Era and I, even if it was small. "Okay," he nodded.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah."

Era grinned. "Alright. We're calling you that from now on," she said.

He got up, just like everybody else was doing at that point, to head for his first afternoon class. Picking up his tray and his tablet, he gave us another smile before walking off.

"I think he thinks of you as a friend now," Era said as we watched him go.

I smiled, but then sighed when I remembered something. "Oh, man. I forgot to ask him about the exercise!" I said.

Era looked at me, biting her lips apologetically.

"Hey, uh, Leo?" Rocket walked back towards us to get away from the stares his other siblings were darting towards him. "If, uh, if you could, um, make sure that no one will be watching us…" he nodded. "I'll join."

I only stared at him at first, because I wasn't expecting that. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I can see if that's possible," I said.

He just nodded, and then he vanished with the rest of the students to the Training Center.

So, at that point, I had Era and maybe Rocket in the team with me. We had three out of six, if you look at it in a glass half full kind of way. I didn't have too much time before the deadline Big D gave me, and that was all I could think about during the weekend I spent back at the house. Mom seemed to have sensed that something was bothering me, because she asked me about it during our late night Walmart run. I usually try not to worry her with what goes on in the Academy, but I figured that this one, I could tell her.

After all had been said and done, Mom gave me a reassuring smile. "You still have time, baby. Don't worry too much about it," she said. "You never really know. People's minds change all the time. Maybe the other three kids would switch over and play."

I sighed. "Yeah. I hope so," I said, even if I was feeling pretty glum about it.

Come Monday morning, the situation was still the same. Storm and Miller were still on no, but Miles had told Era that she had made a decision. She was with her twin brother and younger sister.

That was depressing news, which didn't help my Monday mood. The only thing that cheered me up, really, was when I gave Era and Rocket the things I bought for them at the store. Era had asked me a few weeks prior about 'that foam thing' that Bree uses for her hair, so I got her a bottle of mousse (at least, that was what Mom said Era was probably talking about). She nearly killed me with her hug-of-death after I gave it to her during breakfast.

As for Rocket, I got him something that could help him a bit with the font size problems. And maybe even the 'Squint' nickname his brothers had given him. "What's this?" he asked as I handed it to him.

"Try them on," I said.

He hesitated. Then, he put it on.

When he looked up at me, eyes wide with what could only be surprise, I asked, "What'd you think?"

Rocket powered on his tablet. He drew back when he saw how big the words were on the screen. As he adjusted them so they could be smaller, he said, "I…I can see everything clearly." He adjusted his new glasses. "Is this, is this the specialized device Mr. Davenport told me he'd make for me?"

"No, buddy. Those are just regular reading glasses," I said.

"So that was all he needed?" Era asked.

"Yep. After seeing how he was reading, I got a feeling that his vision was bad because his eyes were bad, and not necessarily because of his laser vision. I mean, that could be it, too, but if that's helping him now…"

Era nodded, grinning down at her younger brother as he looked at his tablet eagerly.

"I'll tell Big D about this, Rock man. He and Douglas might want to do a quick check on you later to see if reading glasses is really all that you need," I said. "By the way, why don't you come sit with us whenever we eat? It's only me and Era at the table. We still have plenty of room."

"I, uh…I guess I could," Rocket said as he worked to remove the stickers on the glasses.

I smirked. "Yeah you should."

"I'm in."

Looking up, the three of us saw Storm with her arms crossed, watching us with a blank expression.

"Um…"

"That simulation exercise you mentioned, where you need six people. I'm in," Storm clarified. "Just tell me what I need to do for my part, and I'll do it." She didn't give me a chance to respond. She just glanced at Era, smiled a little when she saw Rocket with the new specs, and then walked away.

That was definitely a twist. It was a good twist, but it was still a twist.

But even with that development, I still didn't have what Big D asked. The four of us only made two-thirds of the requirement, and by the end of school that day I'd reached the deadline. When I saw Big D waiting for me at the Training Center before he announced the event happening that night, I knew I had to tell him that we wouldn't be able to play with the other teams. "You and your group ready to go, Leo?" he asked as I approached him. "I'm just about to tell everybody about the new course. We're all playing tonight. You guys would get to take part in breaking it in."

"Yeah, uh, Big D? I…don't have six. I only have four," I told him.

"Four other people, or…?"

"No. Just four of us."

Big D thought about it. "Well, I'm inclined to say that that's a no-go, but I really would like to see more students go through this course because it really will show how well you guys can perform in certain situations," he said. "Tell you what. Still bring your team tonight. Maybe I can work out some sort of a compromise so you guys can join in, too."

I said okay, but my gut told me that more than likely, we'd end up just watching instead of playing.

By eight o'clock, everyone had gathered back at the Training Center. Adam, Bree and Chase were with their teams, while with me were Era, Storm and Rocket. Big D told us the rules: It's not an elimination game, so don't even think about sabotaging other groups if we meet them on the way. Bionics can be used, but use discretion because there are certain sections of the course where specific abilities would be disabled. It's a timed challenge, so if we don't make it to our team platform in time, we'd be left in the course and would have to face the shame of not being fast enough. Collecting our flag is the objective, so make sure we have it with us as we get out.

Be nice. Have fun.

Playground rules, plain and simple.

"If there are no more questions, teams, I'd like for you guys to step forward," Big D said. After we did, he said, "Alright. As you guys can tell, this is a bit of a change to the usual routine. All the teams are present and will be playing against each other. Again, cumulative points from your team placements will be broken down and added to each member's scores. That should boost up your rank standings nice and good. Your mentors are not going to be evaluated, so don't feel any pressure. Just do your best. Oh. And you have a challenger team playing against you, too."

A low chorus of 'ooh' went off, and some students snickered while others just looked around.

"So, Leo – you've got your team of six?"

"No. Just four."

He frowned. "No. Six." He gestured towards us. "There are six of you."

I looked behind me to see what he meant.

Era. Storm. Rocket. Miller. Miles. Me.

Six.

"Uh, well, okay. I guess we do."

"So, really, we're going against a no-challenger team," someone from the Buff Bros said, and it made the other kids laugh.

I kind of expected to see the infamous Storm storm that Era had been talking about, but nothing came.

"Come on, guys. No trash talk. Be nice," Big D said. "Now, as you can see, it's uneven. Adam's, Bree's and Chase's teams only have five each. You have six. One of you has to sit it out."

"Actually, that's not necessary, Mr. Davenport," Chase said. "It's okay if all of them go."

I stared at Chase as the other teams giggled. "Really, Chase? You're joining into this bashing thing?" I asked. "Because…"

"No, no! I don't—guys, stop it—I'm not talking down on your team. Believe me, I'm not," Chase said. "Mr. Davenport told us about the deal, and we thought that it was actually a good idea. Adam, Bree and I need to be able to see what you guys can bring to the table. We need to be able to see which of your abilities we can work with and incorporate in our teams." He shrugged. "What better way than to watch you go through the course?"

I continued frowning, even if what he said made a lot of sense.

"O-kay! If that's all, everyone – take your positions," Big D instructed.

As the six of us stood over a white and blue mat on the floor, I heard one of the Brainiacs ask, "Is he going to drop us off underground again?"

"Your flag colors are the colors on your mats. You have ten minutes," Big D said as he placed his thumb on a clicker. "Go."

Before anyone could ask where we were going, the floor opened up and swallowed us.

I guess that was what the mat was for. To break our fall.

It didn't do its job so well, because it felt like I got body slammed hard – by the Hulk, at that. "Ow… I guess that was the first challenge," I said with a grimace as we all got up from the floor, wincing and groaning from the pain. "'Try not to get killed.'"

"Is this what we have to go through for points?" Era asked, hand on her hip as she, well, looked like readjusted her spine. "This is terrible."

"Rocket. How are your glasses, dude?"

"Intact. Surprisingly," Rocket said.

"How's everybody?"

"Peachy, man. Peachy," Miller said as he limped forward.

"Let's just get this over with," Miles said, her face lightly scrunched in pain.

"Storm?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here as soon as possible," she said, her face expressionless. "I need to rig someone's capsule tonight."

"Whose?" Miller asked.

"Donald Jr.'s."

Miller slowly pointed back at Rocket with his thumb, his eyes narrowing to ask if she meant him.

"I said Donald Jr., not Rocket," Storm told him. "It might do his sense of humor some good if I make him swim with the sharks tonight."

…and there's the infamous Storm storm.

I laughed.

Her siblings gave me a look. "Don't encourage her, Leo," Miles said.

"Yeah. She's serious," Era added.

I looked at Storm.

Storm hitched her brows.

I cleared my throat. "Uh, well, yeah, in that case, no," I said. "Don't, uh – don't do it." To avoid any awkwardness, I decided to actually case the room we were in. It was dark, but was very spacious. We did have enough light, though, to see what was ahead: a sizeable walkway, a gap in between (but you can jump across it to get to the other side), and then a ledge. In front of it was a closed door.

Did I mention there was a huge, metallic pendulum swinging at full force and at a worrisome speed between the gap?

"Well, if the fall doesn't send you to the med bay, this certainly will," Era said. "You know, I don't think I know how to get past this."

"Maybe Miles can geo-leap us to the other side?" Miller offered. "Maybe even past the door?"

"Not past the door. I can't do that. I have to be able to see or at least know where I'm going," Miles said. She held out her hands. "We can try to get over to the ledge, though."

So all of us held on. She tried.

Didn't work.

Miller eyed his twin sister. "So, are you doing it already or are you still concentrating?"

Miles let go of Era's and Miller's hands. "I don't understand," she said. "It's not working."

"It's probably one of the abilities blocked in this section," I said. I stared at the pendulum as I thought of a solution.

"Can't you use your super strength?" Miller asked me. "If you time it right and exert enough force, you can stop it from swinging."

"No," I heard Rocket say. His siblings must have looked at him, because he started stuttering again. "The, um… It could, uh… From where he is, the force would just make the, make the ball swing forward and crush the ledge," he said. "Then—then we wouldn't have anywhere to…to hop onto."

"Hm. That's true," Miller said.

I was staring at where the chain to the pendulum was attached to. I couldn't really see where it ended up there because it was in the dark, but I figured that the only way we could stop worrying about the pendulum was if it wasn't there. "Miller, I heard you can make ice?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Then step right up here, my man. I've got a job for you." I pointed at the end of the chain, to the highest link we could see. "Can you shoot it that high?"

Miller nodded, his arms crossed. "Yeah, I think so."

"How much can you freeze that?"

He grinned. "Oh, it would break."

I gestured for him to step closer to it. "Take it away," I said.

Miller stretched his arms for a bit. Then, he held his hand up towards the chain. "Courtesy of Thursday's training," he mumbled with a grin before firing what looked like crystal blades. As soon as those hit the metal, the ice started spreading. Soon, it ate at it to the point that we could hear the links crackling.

To speed it up, I stepped up beside Miller then fired a laser sphere. That crushed the links and caused the pendulum to swing off then crash somewhere below.

"Mm! That's how you do it!" Miller said as he excitedly gave me a high-five. He put too much force into it, I think, because my hand started throbbing afterwards.

Miles started ushering us forward. "Okay, okay, come on. We don't have all night for this," she said.

The connector door opened once all six of us were on the ledge. When we stepped in, the next challenge was waiting.

That one wasn't so bad. It just forced us to think faster because we were in a time crunch. In the middle of the room was this podium with a box attached to it. On top of that box were three lights that started off green, but for every thirty seconds that we waste on fumbling over the wirings, a light would turn red.

When the second one changed colors, I figured out where Big D got the idea for this exercise from: the particle accelerator mission.

I told Era to fry the circuits—just like what Chase had done. She panicked at first, not too sure how good of an idea that was, but I told them to trust me. She did, even if she hesitated.

The last light stayed on green, and soon the door behind us opened.

The third room was tricky. There were two tunnels in front of us, and we had to choose which one to go to. I had a feeling one of them would lead us into a place we wouldn't want to be in, and the other one would lead us to the next door.

"I guess the only solution to this is just to try them both out," Miles said with a shrug after we discussed our approach.

We all nodded in agreement.

Apparently, Rocket didn't. "I, um, uh…" He took off his glasses. "I could use my ability to see which way we should go."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My ability enables me to, uh, read sound waves. I can see vibrations when I close my eyes."

"Okay. Like a sonar. Nice," I said. "So, what do you want us to do?"

"If Mi-Miller and Era could just go into the tunnels, like, one of them there and one of them here? Walk in far enough and then yell out on our signal, maybe?"

I nodded at them. "Okay, peeps," I said. "Pick a tunnel. Any tunnel."

Miller picked the left one, and Era picked the right one. After they had gone in far enough, Rocket closed his eyes.

"Alright, on the count of three," Miles said. "One…Two…"

"Whoo, I'm awesome!"

"She said three, Miller!"

Rocket opened his eyes. He pointed to the left as he slipped his glasses back on. "Left leads somewhere. Right dead ends to a wall," he said.

As Miller met us on our way into the tunnel, he told Era with a grin, "What'd I say?"

"Ugh," Era rolled her eyes.

I patted Rocket on the shoulder as we came up to a door. "Great job, Rock man," I said. "You have good ideas, dude. Don't be afraid to speak up more. We won't laugh at you."

His siblings agreed.

"Oh, uh…Y-yeah. Okay," he said.

The fourth and final one was interesting. We were led into this one big room. In the center of it were the platforms where we needed to be on in about a minute and a half. By those platforms were our flags. The problem was getting there. At first glance, it looked like an easy task. There were metallic bridges that connected the ledges each team were on to the center of the room. It hung over what looked like a shallow drop, although if you fell into it, it would take a lot of energy to get out from it.

The bridges looked a little off to me. The steps or whatever they were called were metal, but then the side rails looked like plastic ropes.

It didn't make sense.

"You guys actually made it!" the same person from the Buff Bros (Donald Jr., apparently) said as he looked at us with a large grin. He walked ahead of his team, leading them through the bridge. "That's actually kind of cute that—Ahh!"

"Thank you, Mr. Davenport," Storm muttered after one of the steps on their bridge broke open, causing her brother to fall into the hole.

Looking around, we started to see that the bridge was a trick. Even the Speedsters got caught in the Bridge of Doom even when they were using their abilities. Not all of them, but one or two did fall into the pit.

As the Brainiacs joined the rest of us in that room, and while the other teams struggled to pull up their teammates out of the hole, the platforms started rising.

"So, what do you guys say we make a run for it?" I asked my team.

"Um, how about no?" Era said. "If the Speedsters couldn't get past it when they have the ability to, what makes you think we could do it?"

"You're right." I thought about it. "Anyone has molecular kinesis?"

They just stared at me.

"I…could…boost you guys up to the other side?"

That was a no, too.

Storm shook her head before walking around us. She unknotted her crossed arms. Then, after taking her place in front of the bridge, she activated her pyrokinesis and shot at the railings.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I said as Miller and I held her back. "What are you doing?"

She shrugged off our hold on her. "The bridge has built in pressure plates," she said. "With the steps already attached to the ledges, the only purpose of the railings, really, is to relay information if someone has stepped foot on the booby traps. The railings are wires." As the ropes burned, certain spots on our bridge swung open, revealing which places were safe to step on and which ones weren't.

"Oh…"

"Alright, let's get a move on it," Storm said. "We only have a few seconds to get onto the platform."

Following Storm's lead, we made a quick dash past the bridge. We had to jump up into our platform because it was nearly a quarter of a way up by the time we got to it.

Coming back to the Training Center, we saw that the Speedsters had beaten us to first place, but they looked as physically, mentally, and maybe even emotionally drained as we were. Our team fell in second place. The Brainiacs were on third; Buff Bros took the last place.

Bree and Chase looked pretty pleased with their groups. Adam was grinning for some reason.

Big D looked horrified. "Leo, I said you guys would get to break in the new course, not break it!" he said as he came up to me.

I shrugged, grinning guiltily. "Sorry, Big D," I said. "Desperate times."

"'Desperate times'? That was just a course!"

"We…play…hard?"

Big D sighed. "I just – I don't even…" He turned around to head up to his stage. "Alright. Flags. Hand all of them over."

And with that, the rush that came from placing vanished. "Oh, man. We forgot!" I told my team. "The flag!"

They exchanged glances. "You forgot, man," Miller said as he held up the flag. "We didn't."

I sighed in relief. I grinned. "Did I tell you guys you're awesome?"

Era smirked. "Yeah we are," she said as Miles handed Big D our flag.

It had been some time since I had that much fun. Granted, that whole simulation exercise had me sleeping like a dead person that night and has me hurting until this day, but it was great. The best part of it is that I made friends. Like, actually made friends! I mean, Era's already my friend, but now, Rocket hangs out with us, too. Storm tags along most of the time. She eats lunch with us, and sometimes even breakfast. Miller and Miles sat with us at lunch one time, but I think they would have spent more time with us if Miles hadn't been so busy watching after her siblings, and if Miller hadn't been so busy, well, getting in trouble.

The only not so fun thing that came out of that was the decision. On the plus side, Miles, Rocket, and I got placed into teams. Bree had agreed to take on Miles, Chase picked Rocket for his team, and Adam said he would take me into his group. On the down side, because their abilities still didn't fit into a category, Miller, Era and Storm were not placed. They were going to be waitlisted.

I felt bad. I mean, second place? That wouldn't have been possible if the three of them weren't there. Plus, it made me feel guilty that I would get what I want, and they wouldn't.

When I brought up that problem to them after school two days after the exercise, Era just said, "Well, I mean, you know, that's good for you guys. You should – you should take it! This is going to help." I knew, though, that it made her sad. It probably even hurt her. Still, she smiled. "You've wanted this, Leo. Just take it. You and Miles and Rocket deserve it."

"Yeah," Miller nodded in agreement, even if it disappointed him, too. "Yeah, you guys do."

Storm didn't say anything.

"You guys are okay with this?" Miles asked them. She turned to her brother. "Miller?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I mean, sure, you know? Whatever," Miller said with a shrug.

"It's okay if you don't like it, Miller," Miles said. She nudged him lightly. "It's okay to be sad."

Miller stopped smiling at that point. "Ah, you're right," he said. "This is bumming me out."

Miles turned towards her sister. "Era?"

Era just shook her head; she didn't want to say what she was thinking.

"Well, real talk? I don't like it either," I finally said. "I mean, it's a good opportunity but, if we're not all going to get placed in a group, I don't think I want to be placed in a group."

"What?" Miller asked. "Why?"

"Yeah, I…I don't want to, either," Rocket said.

"But, the group challenges will give you the boost you guys need for the ranks," Era reasoned.

Instead of telling her that it was out of my want to stick with all of them, I just joked and said, "Yeah, well… I don't know about Rocket, but for me? If I join the Buff Bros? I'm going to have to wear those sleeveless man tanks, and, really, I mean, look at these bad boys." I flexed my arms. "I don't think you guys are ready for this."

Era and Miles started laughing. Miller and Rocket chuckled.

Storm, surprisingly, grinned.

We came to a unanimous decision after that that we all wouldn't mind being on the waitlist, which meant I was back to where I started. I told Big D about it, and he said that, so our efforts in the exercise wouldn't be wasted, he would still add the points we got towards our ranks. He asked me again if I was sure with the decision, and I told him that we were.

Lately, I've been focusing back on doing the extra credit paperwork for points. It's not so bad now, because I kind of have a study group that helps me out on questions I get stuck in. We also sneak in snacks and games, and sometimes we would have so much fun that we forget about what we should be doing.

Really, it's fine.

With new people to hang out with, I'm just looking forward to this summer.

Signed,

Leo Francis Dooley

05/25/15

11:58 PM

The Bree Chronicles

(P.S: I noticed a girl staring at me during class today. I wonder why.)

In Simulation Manipulation, how did Leo resolve the clutter problem at the living quarters? Answers and reviews are appreciated!

Just in case you hadn't read Run, Run, Run, the post script is a reference to Leo and Amaranth's first-ish time 'meeting.' ;)

One more week before the new episode airs, whoo!