The alarms within the capsules went off with an infuriating little dinging melody, shaking the bionics from their dreams. All three groaned, and sensing that they were awake, the alarm fell silent. The same couldn't be said about the ringing in their minds that lingered for a couple more seconds.
"Wednesdays – I hate Wednesdays," Adam moaned, leaning his forehead on the glass of his capsule.
"It's Monday, dorkquad," Bree grumbled, attempting to rub the sleep from her eyes. "Another full week of school ahead of us."
School. That word sent a figurative lightning bolt through the youngest bionic, and he blinked awake. School was fun; it was full of easy targets. But technically Spike wasn't allowed to go.
"You expect me sit around here?" he had snapped, glaring at Mr. Davenport.
"Yes, because you are meant to protect Chase, not go to school," the tech mogul had explained.
"Yeah, being a nerd is Chase's job," Adam had added.
While that was true, Spike had no desire to sit around and do nothing. He was well aware that the others saw him as a force of nature: unpredictable and potentially dangerous. Spike was pleased with this, but the reputation had its drawbacks.
"You're not going to tell me what to do," Spike had argued.
"Yes, I am," Mr. Davenport had said firmly, a mild threat underlying his tone. He was not going to change his mind any time soon.
An idea struck him as a second bolt of lightning, and as he thought about it, school looked to be more and more of a reality for him. They wouldn't tell Chase that he couldn't go to school.
Brilliant! It was brilliant! The only hard part was acting enough like the wimp that he could fool the rest of the family. Spike grimaced – it was entirely against his nature, but it was necessary if he wanted to go to school.
"Chase? Spike? Which is it?" Bree asked as she stepped out of her capsule, already dressed and preened for the day.
"I'm Chase," Spike said, attempting to make his voice higher. He realized too late that he had overshot the pitch, so to cover up his mistake, he began coughing into his elbow.
Bree frowned, suspicious. "Are you sick?"
The youngest bionic shook his head, gesturing to his throat as he continued to hack, trying to convey that it was simply full of mucus at the moment.
Bree smiled, opening up his capsule and hugging him tightly as she cried "You're back!" Spike flinched, and resisting the urge to shove her away, hugged her tentatively in return. When she let go, her smile had grown into a wide grin. "Hurry up and meet us upstairs – we'll fill you in."
He nodded, and with that she turned and left. Adam had exited the room a minute before, so now Spike was alone. He let out a sigh of relief; he had passed the first test.
Within moments he was dressed, wearing some of Chase's nerdiest clothes, in Spike's opinion. He rolled his eyes – the kid was practically asking to be picked on. No, asking was not strong enough of a word. Begging was the right word. Why do I even try to protect him? In fact, I might actually help his tormentors next time.
He stepped out of the capsule, hurrying over to the cyber-desk where within moments he had pulled up a video of Chase that Leo had shown him the other day. Spike had saved it because he thought it really revealed a lot about the little twerp. Well, Chase, that was.
Spike watched Chase demonstrate to Adam how to do a leg sweep during one of their trainings, executing it flawlessly. The app was disappointed that Chase did not continue, instead stopping to help his brother up. Chase then began explaining the move to his older brother, delving into the physics of it, and Adam's face showed more and more confusion as the younger boy continued. Adam finally interrupted with an insult, and Chase, after an affronted look, replied in kind.
Spike did not need to watch the entire video again, instead stopping after hearing Chase talk for a couple seconds. Upon clearing his throat, Spike worked to mimic what he had heard, and after a few tries, he nailed it. To make sure he had it down, he said a few quick phrases, pleased that he didn't noticeably falter.
"You sound ridiculous – but it's not like you didn't sound ridiculous before," Spike heard from behind him, and he whipped around with a frustrated growl. No! He couldn't believe it – he was busted already.
"What do you want, flat-face?" Spike snarled, glaring at the home security system.
Eddy's emoticon wore an amused expression, and he asked "What are you trying to do? Talk to your tiny bug friends?"
Spike's countenance darkened. "You're lucky you can hide in the wall."
"Cool it, love-boat. I just want to know how you plan to make mischief so I can either help you or bust you."
"Mind your own bee's wax!"
"You're going to school, aren't you?"
Spike glowered at the emoticon. "So what if I am?"
Eddy grinned. "Well then I'm going to help you. I want to see their faces when they realize it's you and not Chase – this'll be good!"
Spike shot the security system a look of deep suspicion, trying to decide if he should trust him or not. But it seemed that he had little choice anyway.
"Stay out of it," Spike finally snapped, stalking out of the room.
"You don't want my help?" Eddy asked in a whiny voice.
"No!" Spike called, stepping into the elevator. With that, the doors closed and he felt the familiar sensation of rising quickly before reaching the main level of the house, and as soon as the doors reopened, he stepped out. Role playing round two.
"Chase!" Spike heard Leo exclaim as the app walked into the room, and within moments he was being smothered by the rest of the family. He had to consciously relax and force a smile, something he would have never seen himself doing.
"We're so glad you're back!" "Do you know how long you've been gone?" "Why did Spike come out in the first place?" "We were so worried!" "We missed you so much!"
Spike cringed at the torrent of comments and questions, saying in his best Chase voice "Guys, stop!" They did, and he heaved a breath. "Can you fill me in later? We have to get to school." In truth Spike did not care if they arrived at school early, on time, or late, he just wanted to escape the mansion before he was discovered.
Several of the family members frowned in confusion, Mr. Davenport saying "We don't have to go yet."
"Yeah, shouldn't you know that, Chase?" Leo asked.
Spike scoured his brain for a convincing reply, finally saying "I should probably check in with my teachers before school starts in order to get what I missed from Friday."
The others still seemed unsure, but it was apparent that they had bought his lie when Mr. Davenport said "Alright, I'll drive you guys in early. Adam, Bree, and Leo, hurry up so we can leave."
It wasn't long until they were out the door and driving to the school, silence pervading the air. The others seemed to sense that Chase (as they thought) did not want to talk.
When they arrived at their destination, the teens exited the car, Spike breathing in the moist air off the cool breeze. Light gray clouds blocked the blue sky from sight, much-needed gentle showers of rain certain to come sometime during the day.
The commando app's gaze rose as the Davenport's and Dooley strolled up to the dull building, reading Mission Creek High School next to the dingo logo. Excitement coursed through his veins; this was his playground, and he fully intended to enjoy himself.
AN: Heyo, wonderful readers! What do you think, Spike going to school... under the guise of Chase... How do you think this will play out?
Fun Fact: The cover for this story is a completely original, creative brainchild of mine. Made by yours truly :S I first sketched and cartoonized the side of Billy Unger's face, took a photo, and then worked some magic on the computer to harden and define the outlines in standard black, filled it in with white, then copied it and inverted the black and white. After splicing and diagonally lining them up the best that I could, I then typed out the title, sliced it in half and inverted the colors, combined the picture and text, and wah-lah! A title cover made with lots of time, effort, and immense frustration for Asori here. So yeah, fun stuff. A glimpse into what I do to prepare stories :S
That's all I have to say for today - keep your eyes open for Chapter 11!