"So what are we going to do?" Leo asked tentatively.
"I don't know! I didn't make that thing for people!" Mr. Davenport practically shouted.
"Maybe we should check on him to make sure he's okay," Leo suggested, but then a disturbing thought came to him. "What if he has the brain of a dog now?"
That made Mr. Davenport freak out even more. "You numbskulls totally Leo'd this up!"
"Hey! What have I said about using my name as a verb?" Leo scolded indignantly.
Mr. Davenport only shook his head, kneeling down next to the unconscious dog. He instantly recoiled, saying "Ugh! He has dog breath!"
"What do you expect? He's a dog," Leo said impatiently.
Mr. Davenport rolled his eyes and reached out to the brown dog, but before he could touch him, Adam shouted "Wait!"
"What?" Leo and Mr. Davenport asked in annoyance simultaneously.
"What if by just touching him, you turn into a dog too?" Adam asked. "Ooh, I wonder what kind of dog you'd be – maybe a shiatsu? You know, those little dogs with the squished up faces?"
Mr. Davenport gave the oldest teen a look of ire before rolling his eyes yet again as he said "I'll be fine, Adam." He reached out and touched the dog's cheek, patting it as he said "Chase, Chase, wake up Chase. Chaaaase!"
"Chaaaase! Come on, buddy, wake up! Chase!" Chase opened his eyes blearily, looking up to see Mr. Davenport kneeling over him with Adam and Leo standing close behind him. Chase blinked several times, feeling lightheadedness wash over him.
"He's awake!" Leo blurted anxiously.
"Chase, are you in there?" Mr. Davenport asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the youngest bionic.
That's a strange question, Chase thought to himself. Aloud, he tried to say "Of course I am, Mr. Davenport," but to his surprise it came out as a series of moans and yips as he stumbled over his tongue and his voice rose and fell uncontrollably. He frowned in confusion.
"Chase, if you can understand me, nod your head clearly," Mr. Davenport instructed. Chase complied.
"Oh good, he can understand us!" Leo said, relieved.
"Thank you, captain obvious," Mr. Davenport sighed.
"You're welcome, sergeant sarcasm," Leo replied without missing a beat.
"Why wouldn't I be able to understand you?" Chase tried to ask, but again, it came out horribly wrong. He began to panic. "What's going on?" he tried to ask, but still the words were terribly distorted, and he tried to push himself up only to be pressed back down.
"Whoa, take it easy, boy," Mr. Davenport quickly said in a soft tone.
Boy? He never calls me just 'boy', Chase thought, his frown increasing. Mr. Davenport seemed to catch his slipup, and he sighed.
"This is going to come as a bit of a shock to you, Chase, but your brothers turned you into a dog," Mr. Davenport explained.
"On accident!" Leo added.
Chase looked at each of them in turn before breaking into (a twisted) laughter at the ridiculousness of their claim. The others looked at each other, Adam asking "Is he crying?"
Chase stopped, shooting his older brother a look as he tried to say "No!" but it came out as a bark. Wait, a bark?
Chase began to struggle to get free of Mr. Davenport, but his father-figure held him down. "Chase, what are you doing?" he asked.
"He doesn't believe us, does he?" Leo realized. Chase stopped struggling, barking as if to say "Yes! Of course I don't. You're not fooling me." Unconsciously the bionic dog's ears went flat, and he looked to almost be frowning. Leo went running over to Mr. Davenport's work desk and pulled a hand-held mirror from one of the drawers, jogging back.
"How did you know that was in there?" Mr. Davenport asked in embarrassment.
"Are you kidding? I'd be surprised if it wasn't in there," Leo retorted, kneeling down next to the man. He held up the mirror in front of Chase as Mr. Davenport let go of the dog.
Chase's eyes grew wide and he repositioned himself, moving around to make sure he was actually looking at himself. A high pitched whine escaped him, and his jaw dropped open in obvious shock. He was looking at a skinny medium-sized dog with spiky, thick, light brown fur, a sharp muzzle, and large pointy ears that stuck up straight.
Nooooo! Chase moaned, and he snapped out of his stupor. Adam! Leo! You idiots! What have you done to me?! Memories of being hit by the painful blue ball of light and watching his hands turn to paws came back to him, and his ranting only became more fervent.
But to Mr. Davenport, Adam, and Leo, all they heard was furious barking, watching nervously as Chase cast his accusatory gaze on all of them in turn.
"Chase, Chase, calm down," Mr. Davenport said, unsuccessfully trying to quiet the angry dog.
"Look Chase, we're sorry-" Leo began to say.
"We are?" Adam asked, cutting Leo off; a grin was plastered on the oldest bionic's face as he tried not to laugh.
"You're not helping!" Leo exclaimed, shooting the older boy a look as the enraged bionic dog's barking grew even more intense, his barks cracking several times.
Finally Chase stopped, breathing hard and growling. He glared at them before staggering awkwardly to his paws, tripping over the clothes. Gawkily he stalked away from the others, refusing to acknowledge them.
"Do you think we should help him take off the clothes?" Leo asked.
"Not until I get a few pictures of this," Adam said, already taking out his phone.