And I come back with Chapter Eighteen.

:D Here we are, people. Tasha versus Douglas. It's not as volatile as one would expect, but it's in here.

So, let's go. Thanks to all you readers and reviewers who are sticking around. And no killing the characters! We have a story to do!

Mia-Teresa-Davenport: *High fives back*

Gg180000: "Ha! Zara would never let anyone hit me there! Erm…Zara? What's with that deranged look?"

….Leo? Get my steel-toed boots.

"Holy crap!"

Where are you running to, punk?

"To get my balls of steel!"

You don't have balls of steel.

"I keep them in a box on my desk."

Moonlit: "Yes, I am. :3"

UnknownForNow: I'll let this detail slip: Tasha can't touch the ears, either. Only Adam can. Special Charmer privilege. :3

RissA15: Hellcat, explain.

"I don't know his name! And it would only work if he was on the internet. This guy has no trace. He doesn't exist. Also, moving something with molecularkenesis doesn't make the object intangible. Douglas would feel it moving around in his pocket."

Also, it's not really a secret where we are. xD

DarkestKing: We love it here. :3 Thank you.

"Still wondering about that nuke situation…."

Stop it, Douglas. You're not getting the nukes!

AllAmericanSlurp: "o_o Mind if I don't unleash my fury?"

DisneyXDGirl: "I'm watching you."

Anyways, let's do this. Leo?

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

"The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success."

Bruce Feirstein

"I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays."

Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Chapter Eighteen – Like Father, Like Son

Douglas

"Well?"

Bree's impatient demand drew Douglas' attention away from the smoldering puddle that used to be her phone. "That thing is dead," he informed her. "No one can repair it. It is - say it with me - dead." He frowned when Bree remained silent. What a buzz kill. "You didn't say it with me."

"More importantly, it's burning a hole in the counter," Donald muttered beside him, eyeing the mess.

Bree glared at Ysthry again, who had sheltered herself from Bree's rage by curling up in Leo's lap. It was an admittedly brilliant tactic. Bree wouldn't attack Leo, and Ysthry was using it to her advantage. "I hope you get a stomach ache."

Ysthry grinned. "Demons don't get sick."

"Nope," Oly confirmed from her perch on the stair railing. "Your mortal ailments are no match for our demonic superiority!"

Douglas rolled his eyes. Smug little bastards, weren't they?

"So how do we get rid of the acid, then?" Leo asked, petting Ysthry.

"Neutralize it with a weak base and scoop it up," Donald explained, still eyeing the counter. It was obviously ruined. "Then, we get a new countertop."

"Demons are going to destroy the house," Bree huffed.

"Not the entire house," Oly corrected. "I rather like that one room full of mirrors. I can see several of me in there."

"The world doesn't need more of you," Douglas responded.

A low growl sounded from the top of the stairs, and Oly immediately jumped off of the railing as Chase appeared, followed by Tasha. "That's mine, imp."

Douglas ducked behind Donald and shoved his brother a bit towards the more-than-likely still-irate Chase. "Kill him first! I'm too handsome to die!"

Donnie dug his heels into the carpet. "Wait, what?"

"I'm not going to kill anybody," Chase responded. However, he did narrow his eyes at Douglas, who ducked a bit behind his older brother. "I wouldn't be able to run from the law. I can't leave the house."

Douglas winced slightly. It wasn't like he enjoyed imprisoning Chase within the fence. In fact, he felt a bit guilty at lying to Chase about why. It wasn't that he wanted Chase to think he was a dangerous creature that needed to be contained, but he didn't want Chase to know what was really going on. He would freak out. Letting everyone know that Krane had a cyber cloak wasn't high on his list of things he wanted to do. And, with Krane being untraceable, who knew if the guy Chase had some kind of vendetta against was Krane himself, simply trying to lure them into a trap? No, Chase had to stay. Douglas had thought Chase died back in Spain, and he wasn't going to go through the hell of not knowing if Chase would come back again.

However, if Chase knew that, he would come up with so many logical arguments that Douglas would have no choice but to let him go. Therefore, Douglas latched on to one of Chase's insecurities and ran with it. Hopefully, Chase would forgive him soon. Until then, though, using Donald as a shield would suffice.

"Seriously, what?" Bree asked, frowning. "Just walk out the front gate."

Tasha crossed her arms and stalked towards Douglas, her eyebrow raised. Oh, hell: Of course Chase would go running to the she-devil. "Why would you ever think that trapping someone is justified?"

Douglas threw his hands up innocently. "In my defense –"

That lit the fuse. Tasha instantly began what was sure to be a long-assed, boring lecture about freedom and civil rights. However, he was spared by Oly, who snapped her beak loudly. "Good god, she's going to talk until we all die of boredom."

"Shut up, Oly," Tasha huffed.

"Hold up, guys. What's going on here?" Leo asked.

Tasha nodded at Douglas. "This idiot thought that it would be a good idea to make a band that would alert him anytime Chase left the fence so that he could bring Chase back," she explained, her voice filled with anger.

Donnie rounded on him, eye blazing. "You did what?"

Douglas offered his brother a nervous smile, grasping at straws. "You see...I was only thinking of his..." Wait a second, why was he on trial for this? "Didn't you lock all three of them in the Lab with your 'Daven-wall?' At least he can go outside this time!"

"We didn't appreciate that, by the way," Bree cut in, shooting Donald a pointed look.

Douglas' tactic proved somewhat successful. Donald was suddenly defensive. "I was trying to protect them."

"Who says I'm not?" Douglas countered.

"You do," Chase huffed. "You keep claiming that it's to keep me from hurting that guy."

You're not helping, Hellcat, Douglas thought. He wished fleetingly that he had cracked telepathy so that Chase would have been able to read the thought.

Bree pointed at Chase. "Are we talking about the fence guy? Because you do get a bit crazy when he's around."

"I wouldn't hurt him, though," Chase muttered, crossing his arms.

"You take that thing off of him," Tasha growled, bringing the topic back to the metallic band on Chase's wrist.

Wait, seriously? How important did she think she was? Sure, she was terrifying, but Chase's safety overrode any intimidation he usually felt when she was on the war path. He crossed his arms. "No. It's not like he's going to be stuck here forever."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Tasha sent him a look that would've broken the will of many a man.

Too bad Douglas was just too great to give up without a fight.

"Douglas, let him go," Donald pressed.

Douglas sighed dramatically. "Et tu, Brute?"

"I don't want Tasha beating the snot out of you," he elaborated. At least Don cared. It made a nice, warm feeling spread through him as Donald spoke again. "You'd bleed all over the carpet, and I don't want to clean it up."

The warm, fuzzy feeling immediately died and was buried upon a hill composed of lost hope and broken dreams. Of course that was why. And, where many would find it a funny joke, Douglas didn't. He honestly couldn't tell if Donnie was being serious. Unfortunately, he most likely meant it.

"Give us the key, Douglas," Tasha demanded, holding out her hand.

"Yeah, Master: Give her the key!" Oly chortled loudly.

"Can it, Oly," Douglas snapped. Oly winced, but was still grinning.

"Douglas," Donald warned.

It was about this time that Douglas felt something move in his pocket. Douglas glanced at Chase, noting that his hand was twitching a bit.

Using his molecularkenesis to get the key while Tasha serves as a distraction. Smart kid, but not smart enough.

"Douglas, I will take it," Tasha huffed. "One more chance: Give up the key."

Douglas caught a glint of metal out of the corner of his eye and casually closed his fist around it. He raised an eyebrow at Chase smugly, who glared back. With a half-smile – foiled again, Chasey? How sad – Douglas turned his attention back to Tasha. "Nice try. Now, if you need me, I'll be going over the next few days with Oly." He gestured at Oly. "Let's go."

Oly climbed onto Douglas' shoulder as he passed Tasha, smirking at her frustrated expression. He climbed the stairs, very aware of the eyes drilling holes in his back as he reached the top and started towards his room. Maybe Chase was losing the touch he had displayed when he conned Perry out of twenty dollars a while back. Oh well.

Out of the blue, Oly started laughing. "Half-Breed got you!"

"No, he didn't," Douglas responded with a frown. "I still have the key."

"The key is under Tasha's shoe," Oly corrected. "Half-Breed dropped it to the floor with that floating trick of his."

"But I caught it," Douglas protested. He stopped and opened his hand to show Oly. However, she started laughing harder when she saw what he was holding. Douglas himself was shocked and embarrassed.

In his hand was nothing more than a random house key that Chase had used to keep Douglas' attention when he moved the actual key to the floor.

Chase had successfully stolen the key. From him. He was Douglas god-damned Davenport! No one was clever enough to pick his pocket before!

He didn't know whether to be proud or pissed.

"You thought you beat him," Oly laughed.

Douglas glared at her, closing his fist around the house key. "Shut up, Oly."

"Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins."

Ayn Rand

"There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line."

Oscar Levant

Leo

Leo wished that he could join Oly and Chase on their mission. According to Chase, they were spying on the glowing man.

Whoever – or whatever - he was.

That sounded infinitely better than following Summoner Hall to a so-called "special" room to learn about the new Circle. On his shoulder, Ysthry let out a sigh and shifted a bit on his shoulder, obviously fighting to stay awake. The poor imp was about to fall off of his shoulder completely. Meanwhile, Hall reached a door and finally stopped, turning around to look at Leo. "Now, I need you to promise me that you will tell no one about this. This is top secret research. Understand?"

Leo nodded, not entirely sure what kind of secret a new Circle could hold. "I promise not to tell anyone, sir."

"Good," Hall responded, smiling. He opened the door a crack. "Prepare yourself for the most amazing Circle ever discovered."

Leo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. How this Circle would differ from any other was unknown to him. It would probably be some strange new design, but that was all. Summoner Hall pushed the door open, revealing two normal Circles and something Leo wasn't expecting at all: A strange man tied up in the center of the Summoning Circle. He appeared utterly terrified, but remained silent as Hall approached the Summoner's Circle. "Come here, Leo," Hall encouraged, gesturing for Leo to follow.

Glancing warily at the man, Leo crossed the room and entered the Summoner's Circle beside Hall. "What…?"

"Watch and learn," Hall interrupted gently. As Leo fell silent, Hall began to summon an imp. Leo bit his tongue, wanting to stop Hall from summoning a demon with a man in the other Circle but knowing that they would all die if he caused the Summoner to mess up. So, despite all of his anxiety, Leo maintained silence.

A moment later, Hall finished summoning the imp. However, nothing happened. None of the usual illusions that demons tended to make when they arrived, no noise, nothing. Instead, the man in the other Circle shook his head very hard.

Leo tilted his head. "What happened?"

"You see," Hall explained, "when someone is in the Summoning Circle, the demon is summoned and bound inside of them. The human body becomes a Circle!"

Leo felt like he was going to be sick. "So…there's an imp inside that man?"

Hall nodded, grinning excitedly. "Imagine the possibilities! If a man has the willpower to control a demon, he could utilize its powers as his own!" He waved dismissively at the man in the other Circle, who was shaking his head harder and groaning now. "A normal person would likely not succeed, but Summoners would be able to due to our training in concentration, don't you think?"

The stranger groaned again. "Please get this thing out of me," he whimpered. "It's whispering constantly in my head!"

Leo felt the blood drain from his face. Krane be damned; Hall was just as unstable and dangerous. Only a lunatic would think of anything as horrible as trapping a demon inside a person. And Leo felt that he needed to tell his family immediately, whether or not the information was useful.

Holy shit, the new Circle is the human body?! That poor man!

What could possibly go wrong, right?

And where the fuck is Krane in all of this?! He needs to get his ass out here, right?

Anyways, until he does, we're here.

Feel free to review. Or don't. I don't mind.

And enjoy. :3

*Bows and exits*