Well . . . These past few days haven't been the best. I hurt my wrist (yes, yes, again) and so now I can't type. I'm using a dictation program on my computer to write these authors notes, and I have to say, it's really awkward reading these aloud. XD so I'm sorry if anything in my authors notes looks off; blame my weird dictation program.

But I couldn't wait to give you guys a new chapter of war-torn. And especially for one big reason: I will not be posting anything during the month of November. I will be participating in nanowrimo (assuming my wrist feels better by Sunday) and do not want to be distracted. I might see if I can sneak in a chapter during the middle of the month since the story was written in advance, but we'll just have to see. I definitely won't be posting anything new, and I highly doubt I'll be updating any of my other stories. I'm sorry for any inconvenience, but I will be back on December 1, hopefully with a lot of confidence from having finished a whole novel. :)

But anyway, let's get to the story. This chapter introduces a new character, and I'm really excited for you all to see him. Yes he is someone you know. He someone a lot of you love. ;) you may be confused at first, but that was my intention. ;) if it helps anything, remember that all the characters are related to each other in the exact same way they are in the canon.

This is also where the happy chapters end so I hope you enjoyed them. I don't own lab rats, only any OCs and anything else you don't recognize. Enjoy!

Chapter three soundtrack #1: "When Can I See You Again?" by Owl City.

Chapter three soundtrack #2 (beginning at "In the middle of Malcolm's sentence, all the lights in the hall went out."): "Rise of the Black Curtain" by Audiomachine.

* * * Chapter 3: Away From Normal * * *

"Are we there yet?" Adam asked, kicking the base of the control panel.

I groaned and lowered my holophone. "Quit asking that!" I shouted at him.

Adam folded his arms across his chest and looked out the front viewport. He was silent for a few moments before saying, "Are we there now?"

This time Mr. Davenport and Chase joined me in groaning. "Look out there, Adam," Chase said. "Does that look like the Falken system?"

Adam squinted. "It looks like a bunch of stars."

"Exactly. We're still in hyperspace. So quit asking if we're there! It'll be obvious when we are."

"So are we there now?"

"Adam, pipe down or you'll have to stay with me during my morning meetings!" Mr. Davenport threatened.

Adam huffed and stuck his feet up on the control panel. He quickly became fascinated with all the stars shooting past our ship at a fast enough speed that they all looked like blurred lines. His frown turned into a smile, and just like that, my brother was back to normal.

"And what are you doing?" Chase, who sat next to me, asked.

"What does it look like?" I asked as I stared at my holophone. "I'm posting on StarChat and letting my friends know what I'm up to. 'My brothers are driving me crazy. Ugh, is this flight almost over?'"

"Well, now you just sound like Adam." Chase leaned back in his chair and smirked. I rolled my eyes. How did I get such an annoying boy for a brother?

"Adam," Mr. Davenport said a few seconds later, "we're there."

I gripped my father's chair and leaned forward, peeking out the front viewport. The star lines faded into regular stars, and our ship slowed to a normal speed. Directly in front of us was a station the size of a moon and just as round.

"Finally," I groaned, but excitement welled up inside of me. The Bionic Convention was hands-down the best part of being bionic. It was the one place I truly had any friends. Nothing there was normal—I fit right in.

Our ship pulled into the blindingly white hanger bay. Mr. Davenport landed our ship with all the skill of an expert pilot as the workers down below guided him. Once we touched down, we all hopped out of our seats and ran out onto the exit ramp.

"Hey, hey, get your luggage!" Davenport shouted at us before we could run off. All three of us sighed, but we turned back and grabbed our suitcases. "We'll check into our room first," our father said. "After that, you can explore."

"So, the usual?" Chase asked.

"Exactly." Mr. Davenport swung the ship keys around his finger and stuck them in his pocket.

The foyer for the hotel rooms on that part of the station was right next to the hanger bay. After sitting around and fidgeting while we waited for Mr. Davenport to check in, we took the elevator up to the thirty-seventh floor. "Not very high up this time," I mused when he told us our room number.

Our room was located just a few doors down from the elevator, which meant a faster trip down to the convention hall. Score!

Mr. Davenport's position as a head scientist got us a pretty sweet room. There were two rooms, technically, each with one bed. Adam and Chase got one, Davenport got the other, and I slept on the couch bed. Not that I complained about it; Davenport kicked in his sleep, and there was no way I wanted to share a bed with either of my brothers, so I figured I made the right choice. We had a holoscreen and a few other amenities—even our own kitchenette. Not that we cared that much. Most of our time would be spent outside of the room anyway.

"Get settled, guys," Mr. Davenport said after tossing his luggage in the second room. "I've got a meeting in a few minutes. I'll be there until the first talk this afternoon. Meet me at that little coffee shop outside the exhibition hall at 15:00. Got it?"

"Got it," the three of us replied as he walked out the door.

I threw my suitcase on the couch and spun on my heel. "All right, I'm headed downstairs. See you later, losers," I said.

"Wait!" Chase called before I could leave. "We need to work out a plan."

I groaned and leaned against the wall. There went Chase, ruiner of all things fun!

"We know when and where to meet, right?" Chase asked.

"Davenport just said it," Adam pointed out. "Even I remember it. Coffee shop at, uh . . ."

"Fifteen. Don't be late. The opening talk starts at 15:15, and you both know that it isn't optional."

"Yes, Chase!" I said. "We all know. This isn't our first convention. So give it a rest. I'm going to miss the races!"

"Yeah, and weight-lifting is starting soon. Speaking of which, I left my weights at home. Hmm, I wonder what I should use?" Adam looked slyly at Chase.

"No, no, and no!"

"Oh, like you have a choice."

I laughed as Adam tossed Chase over his shoulder and the three of us left our room. After a loud and annoying ride in the elevator, we reached the fifth floor where the convention was being held. "Later, suckers!" I shouted the second I stepped out of the elevator.

Before I sped off, I stopped for a second to take it all in. The convention hall stretched ahead of us for what seemed like forever. Booths and games lined every wall and most of the space in between, creating an elaborate maze full of all sorts of cool products and programs.

Inventors and vendors waved various kinds of new training devices in my face, people at booths peddled new bionic upgrades every few meters, and professional trainers tried to draw a crowd with their new methods of bionic use. All of that looked cool, but other parts of the convention appealed to me more.

I super-sped past the booths and out towards the most amazing part of the convention: the training grounds. As I got closer, another blur approached me. "Bree!" she screamed over the wind in our ears. Both of us came to a stop, drawing looks from those around us.

"Natie!" I said, embracing my friend. "Wow, it's been so long! How've you been?"

"Great! I missed you at the last convention."

"Yeah, our stepmom and stepbrother were still moving in, so we couldn't make it."

"I saw you post about that on StarChat. What's it like with new members of the family?"

"Kinda weird, but Tasha and Leo are great."

"That's good to hear. Okay, now that the idle chit-chat is out of the way, I have something amazing to show you."

"It's not what I think it is, is it?" A smile spread across my face.

"It totally is, and it's finally done! Come on, come on!"

Natie grabbed my hand and once again we sped through the hall. With the expert maneuvering we had gained from a lifetime of using bionics, we avoided any potential disasters. That didn't stop some people from yelling at us to watch where we were going. Natie and I laughed and made no effort to slow down.

Soon we arrived at a large opening in the wall. There we stopped our speed, wanting to take it all in. We stepped through, into a large open space that completely took my breath away.

On the opposite wall, a window—which stretched a good ninety meters above us—overlooked the whole Falken system. Bleachers sat to our right and left, enough to hold several hundred people. The center of the area was something of an oval-shaped field with a polyurethane path around it. A super-speed track!

"They finally finished it!" I gasped.

"Yup, and it's amazing," Natie said, unable to hold back her grin. "The grand opening was at the last convention."

"Aw, I missed it?"

"Yeah, but there were so many people that you couldn't really use it. There's still a lot of people, but it's not so bad this time. The races start in an hour, but you want to get some practice in early?"

"Well, duh."

We jogged up to the start of the track. I still couldn't stop marveling at this place. The super-speeders had begged for a larger track for years, and they finally made one! It had to be one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. And now I got to use it, and I got to use it with my best friend.

Natie and I met at one of the conventions when we were eight, and even though we only saw each other every two months, we remained close friends. She was one of the few people who understood me. She had two older brothers, and she also wished she was normal. Still, both Natie and I loved our bionics when we raced. That was the only time we wouldn't trade abnormal for anything.

"Get ready," Natie said as we knelt down, "get set . . . go!"

"I'll have a Jundland Java, please," I said as I slid into the bar stool.

The Tentalin bartender nodded and turned around, preparing my coffee and a few others with all six of his arms. After about a minute he pushed it across the counter and I in turn handed him the money. He took it while handing someone else their drink.

I leaned with my elbows on the counter and sipped the drink. The warm, rich liquid tasted amazing. After racing so much, it was good to take a break and relax. I turned around to look out at the rest of the convention and people-watch.

Several humanoids of all races and species roamed the halls. Over by the wall, a pair of twins tossed a fireball back and forth. A few girls with super-agility sat on the ceiling, whispering about the poor souls under them who couldn't wall-climb. A group of boys with large muscles walked past, shoving each other and shouting unintelligible phrases.

I was so occupied watching others around me that I didn't notice the boy nearby until he was right on top of me—literally.

"Watch where you're going!" I shouted, grabbing my coffee to keep it from spilling. Luckily I avoided disaster, and the boy spun around, a shocked look on his face.

"S-Sorry," he stammered. "I didn't see you there. This place is a little overwhelming."

"You're lucky I didn't spill any! This stuff is piping hot." I looked up into the boy's face and felt a silly grin coming on. Speaking of piping hot . . .

"I'm really sorry," he said. "I was just looking for the exhibition hall. Do you know where it is?"

Hmm, cute but clueless. "Maybe that sign right behind you will help." I pointed to the huge sign on the wall that read "Exhibition Hall" right next to a massive electronic door in front of which people were starting to crowd.

He rubbed his hands together and let out an embarrassed laugh. "Thanks. Usually I'm a lot more observant, I swear! This is my first convention, and there're so many more people than I thought there would be."

I nodded. "Yeah, it gets crowded. Are you newly bionic?"

He furrowed his brow. "Not exactly. I'm an android."

I nodded again and took a sip of my coffee. Shoot. "Oh, cool. There aren't many of you around."

"I was hoping I could be put to good use here, like the bionics are. My previous . . ."—he raised an eyebrow, searching for the right word—"owners, I guess, didn't exactly have good intentions."

I shrugged. "It happens. I'm sure there're lots of things you can do. The scientists could always use help. My dad's one of them. I could introduce you after the talk today."

He smiled. "That would be great. I'm Marcus, by the way."

I accepted his outstretched hand. "Bree. So, you're searching for something to do?"

"I guess. Can I take a seat?"

"Why not?"

Marcus sat down beside me and leaned on the counter, looking out into the crowd walking past us. "So . . . you're bionic?"

"There wouldn't be much point in me being here if I wasn't."

He chuckled. "True. What's your main power?"

"Speed. And you've got . . .?"

"Speed, strength, and intelligence." He smirked. "All three. But they're more prone to glitches and . . . stuff." He paused, looking down at the ground.

Someone shouted my name, and I looked up to see Adam standing a few meters away, waving at me. "It was nice meeting you, Marcus," I said as I stood up, "but I've got to go. Maybe I can meet you here later and introduce you to my dad?"

"That would be great." Marcus grinned. "See you later, Bree."

I tossed my coffee cup in the trash as I walked up to my older brother.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Oh, just some cute android I met. Where's Chase?"

"I don't know. He's not here?"

I checked my holophone. "It's 15:06 right now. We are totally giving him a hard time when he gets here."

Already people began to flock into the hall, eager for good seats. We didn't have to worry because Mr. Davenport had reserved seats, but I still didn't want to be stuck behind the huge crowd of people.

Just then Chase ran up to us, out of breath and sweaty. "I misjudged how far away the hall was," he gasped as he reached us. "Sorry, guys. The acadecathalon lasted longer than I thought it would."

"Ha!" Adam said. "You're the one late."

"Yeah, you were the one bugging us about being on time," I added.

Chase stood up straight and glared. "Hey, it's not my fault!" He looked ready to say more, but he spotted Mr. Davenport and we went to join up with him.

With only a few spoken words describing what we had done all afternoon, the four of us walked into the huge exhibition hall. The entrances were positioned all around the top, but our seats were further down, closer to the stage. The raised platform stood in the center of the room, and large screens hung from the ceiling to give a better view to those in the back. The enormous hall was built to seat thousands of people, and today—like any other day—it was packed. We elbowed our way through the crowd and got to our seats after a few minutes of searching for the right ones.

"Do I have to sit next to Chase?" I asked as we found our spot. "Can I sit on the other side of you, please, Mr. Davenport?"

"Bree, grow up," Mr. Davenport said. "If I had to sit next to Adam on the four hour flight here, you can stand sitting next to Chase for forty-five minutes."

I wrinkled my nose. "But he smells."

"And you think Adam doesn't?"

"Hey!" Chase protested, but Adam shrugged it off. My younger brother pulled my arm and I sat down. "You heard the man. You're stuck with me." He sent me the kind of malicious grin that only a brother is allowed to give a girl.

I would've objected more, but the music playing while we entered came to a stop and a spotlight lit up the stage. A man walked out and the crowd cheered. He was none other than Malcolm Dengre, Director of Bionic Activities and Administration.

"Welcome, bionics and family," he said once the crowd quieted down. He walked around the stage in a smooth circle, making sure to look out over the whole room. "We are so excited that you could join us today at our fifty-eighth bimonthly bionic convention. Hopefully you've been having fun doing the different training activities and contests we set up, as well as all the wonderful food! There's a fantastic Arbaranian noodle stand down on hall 4b, and I highly suggest you check it out."

This earned a few laughs from the audience. Malcolm Dengre had one of the most charismatic personalities in the universe, and he could make anyone smile. That was the reason he always talked at the conventions. That and he knew about the bionic society better than anyone.

"Anyway, we have so many fantastic things planned for this weekend, so we hope you'll stick around and check them all out. Later this evening we will begin the seminars, so if you'd like to see if there are any you are interested in, check out our little pamphlets. If you don't have them, you can find the ones that have been stuffed in the trash—or there are nice people in bright vests handing them out at every corner.

"For now, though, I'm going to talk to you about what's going on in the world of bionics. We've been working on many big projects lately, and there's one in particular that I want to talk about. We've been eagerly waiting to reveal it to you, so here it goes."

The lights dimmed and bright colors flashed on the screens. Malcolm cupped his hand around his microphone and said in an announcer-like voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, the very first look at . . . the Bionic Academy!"

An image of a space station appeared on the screens. It was an odd shape, with a tall sphere being the focal point and two shorter semi-circles protruding from either side, though the semi-circles never quite touched. Oohs and aahs echoed throughout the hall, as well as applause.

"The Bionic Academy will be a boarding school, sponsored by the Galactic Alliance of Planets and the Board of Bionic Activities—which I head." Malcolm grinned and kept walking as the screen showed new images of rooms filled with all kinds of spectacular tech. "Students will learn a variety of subjects, as well as train their bionics to be the best they can be. The academy boasts the latest and greatest technology, not to mention cozy dorms, large rec rooms, an impressive cafeteria, state-of-the-art training simulators, and more."

Mr. Davenport elbowed me and whispered, "I designed a lot of the stuff they'll be using there. Yeah, just when you thought I couldn't get any more awesome."

I patted his arm. "I think you mean, just when we thought your ego couldn't get any bigger."

"We are excited to announce this to you all," Malcolm continued. "We're hoping to open it toward the end of next year. Before any of you ask, we won't be revealing the location of the academy quite yet. We've made the mistake of disclosing too much once before, and we won't let it happen again. The academy is full of all sorts of new devices, and, well, we don't want all those cheats out there copying off of us, do we?" Malcolm winked and chuckled. "But not to worry. Once we get closer to opening, we'll let you know where it is. Or we could make you fly around space looking for it, but I doubt we'd get many students that way.

"In a few months we'll be opening enrollment, so start thinking about whether you'd like to go. Age doesn't matter; if you've already graduated, we'll focus on just your bionics. And if not, there will still be regular school classes to take. While the academy is designed to hold a couple hundred thousand students—yeah, big place, I know—chances are it will fill up eventually, so be sure to sign up as early as possible to secure a spot!

Chase leaned over and whispered in my ear, "See, I told you they were going to announce an academy!"

"And I told you I don't care."

"Oh, come on, this is cool!"

"As long as I don't have to share a room with you, I'm sure it will be."

Chase rolled his eyes and leaned further over me asking, "Mr. Davenport, can we go?"

He shrugged. "I don't see why not. I'll probably have to go myself to help with the students, since I'm one of the few people who knows how to train bionics."

"As long as they have a hot dog stand, I'm cool," Adam said, joining our little huddle.

"Well, they'll have to feed hundreds of meatheads like you," Chase said, shoving Adam's shoulder.

"We've got a few other small announcements to make over this weekend," Malcolm said, bringing my family out of our conversation and back into the talk, "but the academy is the one we've been waiting to give you for so long. I think we can all agree that it's going to be a huge asset for bionics across the galaxy. Finally we can have—"

In the middle of Malcolm's sentence, all the lights in the hall went out. His mic shut off and the screens went dark. Straining my eyes, I could see Malcolm fiddling with his microphone in an attempt to fix it. People started whispering to each other. Some went up higher to open the doors, but the news made it back to those who were lower: the electronic doors were locked. Whispers went around.

Probably just a malfunction . . . just a malfunction . . .

Bionics were trained to keep a level head in strange situations, so no one panicked. Still, there was a sense that something was not as it should be. That became more apparent as security guards ran up on stage and started talking to Malcolm. No one panicked yet, but we began to fidget in our seats.

Then, just as we were ready to pass it off as faulty wiring, a laugh rang out through the speakers and echoed through the whole room. Not just any laugh, but an evil-sounding, malicious laugh, like a villain makes in the holomovies. That could not be attributed to a malfunction.

A thousand hearts beat together as we looked around to our neighbors, wondering what in the galaxy was going on.

The screens came back on, and a collective gasp swept through the crowd. There on the screen was the laugher, the person responsible for the horrifying sound. It was a face from the history books, and one no one ever thought they'd see again.

"Greetings, bionics," Victor Krane said, the wires in his head stretching and moving with his jaw. "I'm so terribly sorry to interrupt your fifty-eighth bionic convention, but I thought this was the appropriate way to announce my return."

"Wow, someone's pulling an elaborate prank," Adam said.

"I-I don't think it's a prank, Adam," Chase said, playing with his fingers. "Mr. Davenport?"

We looked at Mr. Davenport. His face had gone chalk-white, and even in the near-darkness we could see the terrified look on his face. "This isn't a prank," he mumbled, more to himself than us. "Th-That's . . . that's Krane."

"But he's dead," I said. "Right? He died, like, thirteen years ago. How could he—"

"I'm afraid the report of my death was greatly exaggerated," Krane said as if to answer my question—the same question everyone had floating around in their heads. "And now I'm ready to take my revenge on this galaxy. And believe me when I say that I won't be stopped this time.

"I plan to officially announce my return in two days on the magnificent planet of Plenus. I hope you'll send some of your bionic soldiers to watch. I'd love for them to see what I have planned. It will be . . . explosive, to say the least."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Malcolm asked. He didn't exactly shout, but he was loud enough for most of the people in the front to make out what he said.

Krane chuckled. "Mr. Dengre, I can hear you."

Malcolm snapped his head up and his face paled even further.

"And to answer your question, well, let me just say that I'm openly threatening the lives of billions on that planet. I suggest you come and see it for yourself."

Someone in the audience shouted, "Fake! Go back to your mom's basement, you prankster!" A few others yelled their agreement.

Krane cocked his head and frowned, then chuckled. "Fine. Take that risk if you'd like. Believe I haven't really returned and risk billions of lives of Plenus if you so wish. But I think you'll realize soon enough that I am back, and that I have beautiful plans for this galaxy. I know you'll try to stop me, but rest assured, you bionic do-gooders will fall, even if I have to kill each and every one of you myself!"

Krane's laugh echoed through the room once more. The screens turned off and the lights came back up, leaving a pale and confused Malcolm Dengre in the center of the stage and thousands of terrified bionic heroes in the seats.

"Well, Chase," I whispered, "you were right: this convention will change everything."

Whoa, Krane's back? Who could've seen that coming? –_– yeah, I know, not exactly a shock. Still, now he's threatening billions of lives? That can't be a good thing. The bionic heroes will stop him, right? Right?

Oh, and hey, it's Marcus! What's he doing here? Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Did he betray Krane and Douglas? Or was he never with them in the first place? I mean, I did say their relationships were the same. . . . And yes, I threw it a little Maree in there. That's one of my favorite AU ships. :3 question is, Will this ship set sail, or will it sink? Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out.

And yes, I'm sorry I'm leaving you guys for month. But I'm very excited to be doing nanowrimo for the first time. I'll see if I can sneak in some time in the middle of the month to post chapter 4 of war-torn, but we'll have to see. If I can't, I'm asking you guys to please be patient with me. I promise I will be back come December. And trust me, I'll miss you very much. :) (also, this means I won't be reviewing or messaging pretty much at all during November. I'll try to get a little more done before November 1, but that all depends on whether my wrist get better not.)

Well my wrists and fingers are killing me know, so I hope you guys are happy. XD I had to get one more chapter in before the end of month no matter how much it hurt. ;) sorry for any weird mistakes in my authors notes, but there's not much I can do to fix them, Unfortunately. (but I can still do enough to fix that curse word it tried to put in there earlier. O.o) thank you so much for reading and I hope you'll consider leaving a review. Tell me what you liked, tell me what you hated. But I still hope you liked it. :P I'll see you guys in December for chapter 4: "Tag Team." (and prayers for my wrist would be greatly appreciated. :)) see you guys later! Bye!

* * * Glossary/Pronunciation Key * * *

Arbaranian (are-bar-ain-ian) noodles - A kind of noodles.

Board of Bionic Activities - The people in charge of bionics. They plan missions and organize the bionic convention.

Holomovies - (Real life equivalent: movies)

Holophone - (Real life equivalent: cell phones)

Holoscreen - (Real life equivalent: television)

Hyperspace - A method of faster than light travel. Commonly used by ships across the galaxy.

Jundland (jund-land) Java - A kind of coffee.

Malcolm Dengre (Mal-come den-grey)

Natie (gnat-ie)

Plenus (pleh-nes) - A rich planet in the inner rim. Has a population of several hundred billion. (Fun fact: the name came from the Latin word for "plenty." Also, it is very highly based off the planet "Coruscant" from Star Wars.)

StarChat - A social media site, mostly used by teens, that is popular all over the galaxy.

Tentalin (tent-a-len) - A species most recognized by their six arms.

Twenty-five hour time - The most popular method used to measure time in the galaxy. Starts at 1:00 in the morning and goes until 25:00 at night. A standard form of time in the galaxy. (Note: yes, days in this story have 25 hours.)