Title: "Rules of Physics"
Rating: T
Genre: adventure, friendship
Characters: all the usual suspects plus OCs
Summary: AU. Stepping foot in the world's first Bionic Academy was the easiest part. Living there with both familiar and new people? Maybe not so much. With so many lessons to learn, friends to make, and dangers to watch out for, Leo would have to learn how to adjust as he's sent on a fast track to the unknown. Sequel to Laws of Nature. Season Four redux.
AlienGhostWizard14 notes: Hey guys. I hope you like our sequel story. We appreciate everyone who reads and hope you guys enjoy.
musicnotes093's notes: This is gonna be a long one, guys. It's gonna be like a season four – if not the whole series – redone. We still hope you enjoy, though! There are a number of new ideas in here that we're gonna work on. Should be exciting.
Updates would take quite a while, two weeks at the very least, but-the chapters should be long enough.
Thank you to everyone who's here to read and support. You guys are wonderful!
Rebellious, Part One
Like with his first day of school, the first time Leo set foot into the Bionic Academy was characterized by strong nausea. However, whereas with the former, he felt sick because he was horribly nervous, with the latter his stomach was overturning due to his means of transportation to get there. The hydroloop had catapulted him at an unforgiving speed. At first, when Donald told him about it, he thought it would be impossible. No way a transportation system could be that fast.
He forgot that he was talking to the man whose brother had managed to create bionic chips and who himself had built an empire on things that sounded so technologically impossible.
It really wasn't the best idea to underestimate him.
As he pulled his suitcase out of the hydroloop, he looked around and had to marvel at the grand structure before him. It had been very impressive on the blueprint that was shown to him, but seeing it in person made it all the more striking. The room in front of him, which had all the makings of a classroom, was so big. The gadgets that furnished it allayed some of his doubts for choosing this instead of the university. Maybe, he thought, it wouldn't be so bad there after all.
He looked at the students wandering around, touring their new home with a wide-eyed interest. He smiled at a few whose eyes he caught, and it settled down some of his apprehension when some of them smiled back. A few of the teenagers glanced at him, frowning quickly as they saw him and his suitcase, before walking on with their group, chatting amongst themselves about things he probably wondered about, too.
The wide window to his right offered a great view of the Pacific, and for a moment he was lost in it. The beginning of this new chapter of his life looked beautiful, bright, and infinite, just like the sun and the ocean that surrounded them. At the same time, he was aware of how lonely and disorienting it could also be, especially now that he was thousands of miles away from the city he knew and the people he considered as his home.
"Hey! You're here!" came a greeting from behind him.
Leo turned around then smiled. "Hey, Mr. Davenport. How's it going?"
Donald shrugged. "Oh, you know, not too bad. The orientation's not until this afternoon, so I have time to just relax." He frowned after seeing the suitcase. "That's all you brought with you?"
"Just a few clothes. You mentioned about the capsule dorms, and from the blueprints it looked like there were going to be ten capsules in a room? I didn't really know where I'd be storing any of my things, so I just brought some clothes for now," Leo said.
Donald scratched his head. "Well, you won't really need that many of your clothes here anyways, so I guess it was good you packed light. But then I also made a deal with you. I told you you'd get free room and board if you sign up, and since you did, well, you will have your own room." He turned at an angle, and then asked with a smirk, "You wanna see?"
"Yeah, sure," Leo said, surprised by the accommodation that was extended to him.
As they briskly walked down the hallway, Donald said, "It's not much. Just a small room near Douglas' room at the far end of the North wing, but I figured it would be enough. The other students, even Adam, Bree, Chase, and Daniel, have to share rooms, but I figured you may not be used to having that many people in your space."
"I would've been okay with having one or two roommates," Leo offered as he struggled to keep up with the inventor, tugging on his luggage while avoiding the teenagers in their path.
Donald smiled. "Well, I'll keep that in mind," he noted. "How was your trip here?"
"Sickening. Almost spilled my breakfast all over the hydroloop's floor."
"Oh."
"Mr. Davenport? What did you mean when you said I won't need many of my clothes here?" Leo asked.
Donald smiled secretively as they slowed down to a stop in front of a door. Facing him, he told the teenager, "Attend the orientation after lunch. You'll see." Taking the intrigued expression on the boy's face as an indication of success, he chuckled. He gestured ahead. "Lead the way."
Though still puzzled, Leo did what he was told. The door slid open with a soft hiss, revealing the modest but very comfortable room behind it.
"You don't have to worry about people coming in here snooping through your stuff," Donald said as the teenager marveled at the capsule and the small amount of furniture in it. "I designed this door to read your bionic chip, so unless it's you or you're with the people who want to come in, it won't open. It's the same with the capsule dorms, just to avoid any fights or confusion. The Living Quarters, which is where Adam, Bree, Chase, and Daniel would be, will be the only exception. We're allowing students to come in there in case they have questions or concerns—you know, open door policy. So, if you have anything you want to talk to them about, just come by. Don't come too often, though. They won't appreciate that very much."
"Wow, Mr. Davenport. I don't know what to say," Leo said, stunned at what the billionaire had done for him.
Donald smirked. "Say you'll be at the orientation." With that he walked out the door.
Leo smiled and then started to unpack his few possessions.
. . .
"Excuse me, coming through," Leo said as he maneuvered through the crowd of students as he tried to find the cafeteria. From what Mr. Davenport said, lunch would end in 15 minutes, and he hadn't gotten a single bite to eat yet. It would be a lot easier if the school wasn't the size of an island. Actually, it would be easier if the school was the size of a school.
He looked behind him, and because of that he didn't notice the girl standing in the middle of the hallway. "Ow!" he said after he ran into the girl, knocking both of them to the floor.
"Oh man, I'm so sorry," the girl said as he helped her up.
"No, it's fine, really. I should have been looking at where I was going." Smiling a small smile, she looked up at him, and it showed Leo her features. She had dark hair and a somewhat tan skin tone. From what he could see, she was also about his height. "Again, sorry about that," he said. "I'm Leo, by the way."
The girl smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm S-75."
"Catchy." Leo forgot that the students hadn't chosen their new names yet, so they still went by their soldier names.
"Weird, you mean," she said.
Leo held his hands up. "Hey, I didn't say that."
She chuckled. "I haven't seen you around. We've met the Davenports, so I know you're not a family member." She narrowed her eyes, her head slightly tilting. "You're not, like, one of my brothers that I haven't met yet, are you?"
"Not that I know of," Leo replied with a grin.
She nodded slowly. "Not to sound rude but, what are you here for then?"
"Right now, I'm just here for something to eat. I'm starving."
"Oh. Well, in that area I can help." She nodded to the right side of the room. "This way."
"I wish I had toured this place earlier. I was too busy getting situated," Leo said a moment later, following her through the stream of students.
"No worries. If it makes you feel better, the cafeteria's the only other place besides the dormitories that I know about," said the girl. She smirked. "It's the only place I bothered to learn about."
"Yeah?"
"Yep. I just discovered that I really like normal people food."
"What, you haven't had any before?"
"No. Not that I know of," she said, veering to the left. "Then again, I don't remember much of anything before Adam found us, so I can't say I'm positive I didn't."
"What do you remember eating?" Leo asked as the cafeteria came to view.
"Power pellets," she said, stopping at the nearly non-existent lunch line. She turned around with a grin. "I guess the guy who managed us before fed us like we were chickens."
"Well, teenagers could be as jumpy," he joked. "Sometimes adults can't differentiate us from farm animals, you know?"
She pointed at him in agreement, playing along. She glanced behind at the counter then said, "Well, here you are. Enjoy your lunch."
Leo smiled at her. "Thanks."
She nodded. She was walking away when something came to her, causing her to turn around with a frown. "Oh, uh, Leo, right? Can I ask you something? Do you think you're gonna eat the crumbly, crunchy things they have up there? We have three in a plate. It's brown."
Leo looked at the counter. "They really gave us chicken pellets?"
"No, no, they're different," she said. Gesturing with her hands, she described, "It's circular, yay big. It's got little dark dots all around. It's very sweet."
Leo thought about it for a while. "Cookies?"
"Yeah, that's it. I think that's what it says on the little cards," she said. She smiled widely. "Are you gonna eat all of yours?"
"Uh, I guess I can save 'em for you," Leo said. "You can have it."
"Thanks! I tried to ask my siblings for some of theirs, but they won't share. Meanies." She grinned. "Anyways, I'll catch you later at the orientation. Eat well." After that, she left.
Leo watched as she vanished through the intersecting hallways. He was kind of glad to meet somebody friendly, albeit a little forward. It would definitely be interesting, especially if most of his fellow students were like her.
Remembering how much time he had left, he hurried to get his food, already subconsciously looking forward to the assembly that should be taking place shortly.
. . .
"Welcome! Welcome, everyone, to the orientation session for the first ever Davenport Bionic Academy!"
A round of applause came about, and it seemed to really please Donald. Leo must say, the administration was already making quite an impression. The Davenports, led by Donald and with Adam, Bree, Chase, and Daniel on his side (Douglas stood nearby), were all dressed in white attires that rendered them quite official and very respectable. From what he could tell, the teenagers in the family, especially the two youngest, looked proud in it.
"Oh, thank you, guys. You're so kind," Donald said. "Anyways, most of you know me. …Oh, who am I kidding? Of course all of you know me. I'm Donald Davenport, founder and CEO of Davenport Industries—"
Douglas cleared his throat.
"Co-founder and CEO of Davenport Industries," Donald amended with a side glance at his younger brother, "as well as this academy…"
While Donald introduced his family and spoke of their roles, Leo took a quick look around. From the crowd, he easily picked out S-1. She seemed to have been designated as leader and perhaps even the parental figure of the pack, if the way many of her siblings stayed close by her was any indication. With her were perhaps the youngest students there, listening to the words the founder said. He noticed a brief movement in his periphery. When he looked, he found S-75 smiling at him, a hand slightly up after waving.
Smiling back, Leo looked back at Mr. Davenport, seeing Douglas give a tablet to Adam. "And that's all of our staff. Now, I would like to talk about how we are doing classes. Adam, Bree, if you could." Donald said, gesturing to his oldest children.
"If we could what?" Adam asked, getting an eye roll from Bree. Grabbing the tablet from her brother's hands, she pressed a few buttons, and the wall behind the stage displayed a picture. The picture was a bar graph, with four colored bars. The bars ranged in size, with the yellow being the smallest, followed by green, then orange, and lastly red.
"This will be our ranking system. Each color signifies your mastery of your bionics: red being an expert, orange advanced, green intermediate, and yellow being beginner. You will wear your colored patches depicting your rank." Bree pressed the tablet again, and the picture changed to show a black shirt with yellow patches, depicting a beginner's rank.
"Now, obviously you will be able to go up or down in rank, depending on how you handle your abilities, participation in class, etc. At the end of every quarter, I will let everyone know their new rank. When you get back to your rooms, your uniforms should be in your capsule's closet. If it isn't, come check with me, Douglas, or Chase, and we will get them to you."
Everyone in the room seemed pretty content, so Donald smiled. "Great. Classes start tomorrow, hope you guys have a great rest of the day." At that, the mentors left the training room, which everyone else soon followed. Leo waited behind for a bit, so he wouldn't get trampled on his way. After a few minutes, only Leo and a handful of students remained in the training hall.
As Leo walked towards the back, he froze, noticing one of the soldiers in the corner of the room. The kid looked either really sad or really tired and was just reading something from a tablet. But that was not why Leo noticed him. He suddenly remembered an event from a few weeks ago, at the battle.
"Ow," Leo said, dropping the wires and flashlight. "And that must have been the power cord," he deadpanned. Bending down and turning around, he went to grab his flashlight. Except, he stopped cold seeing the light showing a pair of black sneakers.
Looking up, Leo jumped up at seeing who was in front of him. It was a Hispanic boy, looking around Leo's age. He was wearing a black shirt with a gray vest, and black jeans. But, Leo didn't focus on any of that; he just saw the mechanical green eyes. And he widened his eyes seeing the green turning red.
However, unlike then, the teenager didn't look bent on hurting anybody. He seemed as awkward, uncertain and even as out of place as he. It then came to him that like S-75, without the Triton app controlling the boy, the ruthlessness that usually came with it likely didn't exist in him anymore.
Encouraged by his earlier experience with the teenager's sister, Leo, grinning, decided to approach him. "Hey, I know you! Weren't you the guy who tried to kill me?"
At that, the boy looked like he just wanted to vanish into the wall behind him.
Seeing the looks they got from passersby, Leo realized that the explanation of how he knew him didn't come out as tactful as he thought it would. He wanted to apologize and amend his mistake, but by the time he turned his attention back to him he was already taking his leave. He wanted to call after him, but he saw it would be of no use.
Nice, Leo, he thought. At this rate you'll alienate the entire island by breakfast.
As he assessed how his first day at the island had been going, he suddenly remembered Natalie and Xavier. It made his heart sick for his friends.
He hoped they were having a better start to the school year than he was.
. . .
After breakfast the next morning, the administration at the academy announced that the first agenda of the day was registration.
It seemed backwards and slightly redundant since they already drafted dossiers of each student well before orientation yesterday, but the founder said that they realized that students still went by their soldier number designation. He added then, unfortunately not jokingly, that he was moved to rename all of them based on his own name (at which Leo was glad that his mother already picked one for him). However, since the mentors frowned upon that idea, he would let them choose what they would like to be called instead.
Though their mastery wouldn't be reevaluated, the founder also said that some students would need to meet with Douglas and Daniel again regarding their abilities. Thanks to Adam, some files were tampered with, leaving a hole in the database they had made. It wouldn't take long, he said. Just a brief refresher so they could patch it up.
Leo didn't think he would be affected by either of those. At this point, the Davenports were probably already so knowledgeable of his information that they could recite those in their sleep. His abilities, too – they already knew it well.
He glanced at the patches on his uniform. He didn't really mind being classified as a beginner because he was. He did have a bit of an issue with the shirt being a little too snug. He understood that he was a small guy, but he really would have liked a shirt that was a size bigger. It fitted a little uncomfortably, and it honestly made him conscious.
Maybe he could speak to Bree about it after training. His first online class wouldn't start until quarter 'til eleven, so he had time and wouldn't have to rush to get back to his room.
Once he finished with his food, he got up from his seat, tossed the disposables in the bin, and then made his way to the training area. He didn't want to make the same mistake yesterday of being unprepared, so he decided to avail himself of the chance to get acquainted with the classroom. Consulting the tablet given to him, he proceeded to go on his way.
He had just walked out of the cafeteria when he heard his name. Swiveling around, he saw Douglas by the entrance with Daniel at his side. "Got a minute?" Douglas asked.
"Um…" He looked at the direction where more students started to head to. With what he had planned, he really barely had any to spare. But, he opted to go anyways. "Sure."
Douglas nodded to the left, leading the way down the hall. "How do you like it here so far?" he asked a moment later.
"Okay. It's a really nice facility," Leo said.
"Good. Glad to hear it," Douglas said. "Your capsule works well?"
"Yes."
"Good. There were some students who didn't sleep too well last night. I'm gonna look into that later on today."
Leo leaned back a little and said to Daniel, "Hey, man. How's it going?"
"Too fast, honestly," Daniel responded. "This all sounded good when Uncle Donald brought it up two, three months ago. Now it's just…"
Leo grinned. "Being a mentor's a lot of work, isn't it?"
Daniel scoffed. "It's driving me crazy. I know it's bad when I start wishing we were back in Mission Creek High."
"Hey, you gotta work for those digs. They're nice, by the way."
"Thanks. Adam's already got food stains all over his."
Leo chuckled. Turning to Douglas, he asked, "I hope you don't mind but, where are we going?"
Douglas stopped at a door. "My office," he said, placing his hand on the scanner. After it read his prints, the entrance slid open.
The first thing that Leo noticed when he stepped in was the exam table, situated just a few feet ahead. To its right, mounted up against the wall, was a large cabinet, colored as sterile white as the rest of the room. There was a long table at the farthest end, with gadgets and diagnostic equipment semi-organized on it. There was also a desktop to the left side.
He guessed it made sense that Douglas' office was a clinic. After reviewing last night what he had missed at the orientation, he learned from the Staff List that the younger inventor had been designated as the academy's resident nurse. Still, it made him wonder, "I thought the infirmary is on the third floor on the West Building?"
"Dad thought it was a good idea to have a place that's easily accessible. Closer to points where students are likely to get hurt," Daniel explained.
Douglas pulled out a drawer. While taking out a folder, he asked Leo, "You're okay with the rank given to you?"
Leo nodded. "Yeah. I could always use more pointers on dealing with this new stuff."
"New stuff, huh," Douglas said with a smirk. He picked out a pen from the holder, and then opened the file. "I know training's starting soon, so I won't take long. Like Donny said, some bits were unfortunately deleted. Just to be safe this time, we're also using paper copies as back-ups. Okay, so, your basic information's still intact," he said, frowning down on the printed copy. "Daniel?"
"Same with the database," his son replied, consulting his tablet.
"The information about your dad is blank. Is that one of the things that got messed up, too, or…?"
Leo just shook his head.
"Alright." Douglas skimmed down the list. He turned to the next page, and then tapped on it. "That's what's really missing. Your range of abilities. I remember your bionics are mostly strength-based, so I already put super strength and blast wave down." He glanced up at him. "Do you have super durability?"
"Not that I know of," Leo said.
"Okay. What else do you have?"
"Uh, the one with the laser spheres…"
"Laser sphere generation," Douglas said as he wrote and Daniel typed.
Leo scratched his head, hesitating. "And I, uh, I think I can also absorb energy."
Douglas and Daniel both looked at him, and the expressions on their faces reaffirmed his choice of not telling Donald, Bree, and Chase about it during assessment a few days ago. "You told Donny about this, right?" Douglas asked.
Leo shook his head. "They needed a demo, and I didn't want to do it. When I accidentally came across it a few weeks ago, I freaked and ended up shorting out a few things in our house. I don't want to do that again."
"Look, kid, I know these new abilities are scary, but you have to tell us about it," Douglas said patiently. "Energy Transference can be lethal if you don't know how to control it. That ability enables you to tap into any energy sources."
"Well, okay, I just have to stay away from anything with electricity then."
"Living things are also energy sources," Douglas pointed out.
Seeing the distress on his features, Daniel assured him, "Don't feel bad for having this ability, Leo. Dad's not telling you this to make you feel guilty. We just think that learning about it would help you a lot." He grinned. "If you ask me, I think that ability is pretty cool."
Though he didn't smile back, Leo did appreciate it. "I'm not the only one who has this, right?" he asked.
"Nope. Far from it. S-3 and nine others have it, if I remember right," Douglas said, and it gave Leo a sense of relief. Checking the file again, he said, "So, you've got super strength, blast wave, laser sphere generation, and energy transference. Besides laser sphere generation, the rest of the abilities are at beginner's level. Is that all the abilities you have?"
"Uh…" Leo quickly glanced at his peripheries. String of various colors streamed all around him. Over the quick summer break, he had learned what those really were: electromagnetic waves. Objects usually had one set color, though still varying depending on what they were for. His favorites were the thickest streams, the light blue ones, since they were superhighways of information. He tapped into them several times already, opening them to see what they contain. He'd like to think that at this point, he had become very familiar with how to operate it.
What he disliked the most were the strings connected to bionic humans. It had been useful with Krane, but now, being surrounded with that many teenagers with so many waves he could easily tug on, he detested it.
Douglas looked up. "You have another one?"
"No," Leo lied. He smiled. "That's it."
"Are you sure?"
"I wish I had super durability."
"That doesn't count." Douglas made a quick check. Then, he nodded. "Alright, you're free to go. You know where the Training Area is from here, right?"
"Yep. Just go back to the direction of the cafeteria, and then turn right."
"Okay. Keep Adam in check, won't you?"
"Sure." Then, he walked out.
The smile on his face gradually fell as he traveled down the hall. Glancing around, he saw the air filled with different waves. He could even still see the orange neon one that belonged to Daniel, even if it was faint now.
He couldn't tell anyone about this. If he wanted to have friends, he couldn't. If anyone found out, they might all become afraid of him, even the family that had invited him and extended their kindness to him.
So he wouldn't. He would keep silent about the ability that he had nearly a full control over.
Part Two will be up in two weeks. :)