A/N: This one ended up running a lot longer than I wanted it to. Maybe it will help make up for the last chapter being so short. The next chapter (Chapter 11) should be the last one.
This contains another fight scene and I'm terrible at writing fight scenes so I really hope everyone is able to follow what is going on. If not, let me know and I'll work on re-writing those parts. Thank you!
Smartgirl13579: Yes, we're settling into the new house fairly well so far. Thanks for asking!
Unknowndiva: Here's the battle you asked for. :)
Asori: Yeah, that's why I didn't give a preview of this chapter's title at the bottom of the last chapter. I was afraid someone would figure it out. Anyways, thank you!
PurpleNicole531: I agree. He was not only their first villain but probably one of their strongest considering they weren't even the ones who took him down (the cave-in did). Glad you liked it!
Dirtkid123: XD Marcus should be glad he doesn't have to fight you! ;) Thank you so much for the review and I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
BasketballQueen: Thank you! And they still walked into a trap, just not the kind they were expecting.
X-X-Midnight Star-X-X: Glad you liked it! Thank you so much!
DeathStar5799: Thanks! (btw, as a Star Wars fan, I love your username!)
LoveShipper: Thank you for all your reviews on this story! I'm really glad you're liking it
Melon-Lord-of-Fire: Welcome to the story! Glad you're liking it. And that sounds like a cool idea about Chase and Douglas with Marcus. If they don't do it on the show, you should definitely write a fanfic on that idea.
Chapter 10: Family Reunion
Adam, Bree, and Chase stared at their bionic "brother" in complete shock.
"Marcus?" Bree asked in surprise. "What are you doing?"
Marcus glared at her. "What do you think I'm doing? Getting revenge for what you people did to me."
"What we did to you? I seem to remember you trying to kill us the last time we saw you," Chase said. "Who are you working for now?"
"I'm not working for anyone. I was the one who hacked into your bionics, Chase. And I also took control of Adam and Bree. When I didn't succeed in killing all of you that way, I decided to let you know where to find me and then I could deal with you in person," Marcus explained calmly. "I know all about computer hacking, and how bionics work, from helping our dad in the lab all those years."
"Well, that explains why my scanners didn't read any heat signatures in here," Chase said.
Marcus smiled. "That's not all your scans missed. There's a little surprise waiting outside for the rest of the family."
Leo crouched behind a shipping container and used it to shield him from view of the warehouse. He'd been sitting here since the others had gone inside and was quickly growing bored. Crawling to the edge of the container, he peeked around the corner at the giant metal building. Still no sign of life. He glanced at his watch and noticed with concern that it'd been almost ten minutes.
"Leo calling Big D," he said into his earpiece.
"What's wrong, Leo?" Davenport's voice answered.
"Did you notice how long they've been in there?" Leo asked.
"Yes, I was just about to contact Chase on his communicator. If they haven't found anything in there, we'll head back to the lab. Maybe we tracked the signal incorrectly."
"Roger that. 10-4. Over and out."
"Leo, just say 'bye' or something next time."
"Okay, fine."
Leo turned off the device and walked around to the front of the shipping container. He saw Davenport approaching the warehouse door from his left and he knew that Douglas was positioned somewhere on the right. He waved his arm in that direction to signal his uncle that they were getting ready to pull out, but there was no response.
Switching back on the communicator, he tried getting in touch with Douglas that way, but with no luck. "Hey, Big D, something's going on. I can't get ahold of Douglas," he said when they met in front of the door.
"Yeah, I can't get in touch with the others, either," Davenport replied. "I don't like the looks of this."
Before anything else could be said, a group of people suddenly swarmed around them. Leo froze in his tracks and raised his laser weapon defensively. He was surprised to see that the attackers were eight teenagers, all around the same age as Adam, Bree, and Chase. The teens formed a loose ring around Leo and Davenport and stood in battle-ready positions as if waiting for the command to attack.
"I don't get it," Davenport said in confusion. "Chase scanned the area. There was no one here." He lifted his handheld scanner and pointed it towards the nearest teen. Looking at the readout, he turned to Leo with a worried expression on his face. "I know why they didn't show up on Chase's scanners. They're androids."
"Just stop, Marcus," Bree said. "What is it you think you're gonna get out of this? What did we do to you?"
"You destroyed my home and my life," Marcus said angrily. "And then you just left me."
"We thought you were dead," Chase told him.
"Yeah, you were kind of under several feet of cement," Adam said.
"None of you even bothered to come back," Marcus accused them. "You weren't even concerned with whether or not I'd survived."
"Were we supposed to be?" Bree asked. "You tried to kill our family and us."
"How did you escape?" Chase asked curiously. "The whole lab exploded."
"I crawled out of the rubble before the explosion went off," Marcus said. "I made it into one of the escape tunnels and got outside to safety. As soon as I could, I got access to a computer and worked on repairing my damaged parts. It took many months and a lot of work, but I made it. And the first thing I promised myself I'd do was find you guys and make you pay. But I got a rather interesting surprise when I began spying on you and found out that our dad, who you had betrayed and tried to get locked up, was now working on your side."
"We didn't betray him," Bree said defensively. "He wanted to use us as weapons."
"He made you," Marcus reminded her. "And you chose Mr. Davenport over him. I stood by him through all those years, not you three. And yet he was still so quick to just forget about me and move right in with you. You replaced me."
"That's not true," Chase said, trying to reason with him. "Douglas thought you were dead. We all did. If we'd known you were still alive, we would have tried to help."
"Too late for that," Marcus said. "And I think it's time to end this." He reached out his hands in front of him and they glowed with his bionic energy. Turning towards them, he released a huge blast wave that threw them in all directions, crashing through the crates as they fell.
"Okay," Leo said. "What's the plan?"
The androids were looking more hostile by the second. And apparently their leader had finally given them the signal, because they suddenly charged forward as a group. A tall, dark haired boy nearest the warehouse wall fired his laser vision at Leo, who just barely ducked in time. A shorter blond kid began using molecular kinesis to hurl objects and shipping crates at them.
"Get for cover," Davenport yelled to Leo. "And fire everything you've got at them!"
"Will do!" Leo called back, firing his weapon at the tall boy with the laser vision. The energy emission from the gun sent the android staggering back a few feet, but that was it. "They're too strong," Leo said.
"Keep firing," Davenport told him. "Aim at their weak spots where it might do the most damage to their wiring. Especially the neck."
"Got it," Leo nodded. He continued firing at the oncoming soldiers while retreating towards the pier, looking desperately for a place to take shelter. "I'm just really glad my mom doesn't know what I'm doing right now."
Chase rolled over with a groan. He'd crashed through three wooden crates before the concrete floor brought him to a jarring halt. He wasn't sure if he'd blacked out afterwards or not. All he knew was that he was in pain and his head was hurting more than ever. Using a box for support, Chase pulled himself to his feet and waited for his vision to clear.
Carefully picking his way through the shattered and splintered crates, he stepped back out into the open. Marcus was standing a few feet away, holdng up a force shield in front of him to deflect the flames from Adam's heat vision. His back was to Chase and completely unprotected. Seizing the opportunity, Chase ran forward and used a judo flip to land Marcus on the ground.
The android teenager was back on his feet in mere seconds. He reached out his arms in either direction, pointing directly at Adam and Chase. Blue lightening bolts of pure electricity shot towards the two brothers and they fell to the ground almost unconcscious from the shock.
"Do you really think I don't notice you there, Bree?" Marcus said suddenly. Turning, he used his molecular kinesis to throw a metal bar at a nearby shadow.
Bree, who'd been trying to use her invisibility to sneak up on Marcus, barely ducked in time to save herself from getting hit in the head with the metal object. Using her super-agility, she ran straight up the side of one of the piles of crates. Having built enough momentum, Bree flipped backwards off the pile and landed feet first on Marcus' shoulders. He went down but used his super-speed to roll away before getting pinned to the floor. Leaping back onto his feet, he threw an energy sphere at her; she was forced to super-speed away from him to avoid getting hit with it.
Chase and Adam were back up by now and the three siblings formed a ring around their attacker. Marcus turned and tried to shoot a laser at Adam, but Chase threw a force field between the two of them to protect his brother. Bree ran in and tried to flip Marcus off balance, but he saw her coming and shoved her out of the way with his own force field.
"This isn't working," Bree said, breathing heavily. "Chase, what do we do now?"
Chase was about to put his system to work on calculating the best plan of attack when he noticed a weird feeling in his head. He recognized that feeling from before; someone was trying to hack into his brain again. Marcus must be transmitting the signal from his own robotic brain.
Knowing that he didn't have a moment to lose, Chase quickly began shutting down his outside signals. If he could block Marcus' way in, there was a chance he could protect them from being taken over again. The only problem was trying to focus on that task at the same time as defending himself and his siblings from Marcus' physical attacks.
"Chase," Adam called to him. "You awake? We need a plan."
Marcus looked at Chase with an expression that clearly said he knew exactly what Chase was doing. Without taking his eyes off the team leader, Marcus sent a shock wave directly into Adam, throwing him to the ground. In almost the same moment, he also used his molecular kinesis to make a nearby pile of crates unsteady.
Chase could see that Bree was standing directly under the pile of crates and that, in a moment, Marcus would bring the entire pile crashing down on her. He used his own molecular kinesis to try to steady the pile and prevent it from toppling. Locked into this kinetic battle over the crates as well as the mental battle for control of his bionics, Chase knew that his system wouldn't handle it for long. Marcus would win if they didn't do something fast.
"Bree, get out of there," he warned her.
Noticing the unbalanced pile overhead, Bree moved quickly out of the way and ran over to help Adam to his feet. Chase activated his magnetism app in time to stop Marcus from hurling a shipping container at them.
A red warning message began flashing in the center of Chase's vision: 'WARNING: SYSTEM OVERLOAD'. If he let Marcus hack into him, the android would take control of all three siblings in less than a minute. "Adam," Chase called to his brother. "Heat vision now!"
"I tried," Adam started to say.
"Just do it," Chase told him. As soon as he saw Adam's eyes begin to light up, he called to his sister, "Bree, cyclone."
Bree nodded to show she understood. She took off at top speed and ran lightning-fast circles around Marcus. The flames from Adam's heat vision were caught up into the tornado-like winds and formed a barrier of fire around their enemy. Bree quickly stopped running and moved out of the way to avoid getting singed by the flames.
Marcus was forced to stop everything else so he could form a protective energy shield around him, keeping the fire out. He knew how much the heat could damage his wiring. The flames died out rather quickly without Bree's speed keeping them going and Marcus immediately lowered his shield. Before he had a chance to attack them again, Adam ran forward and used his pressurized-lung-capacity to create a powerful wind, knocking Marcus back against the wall of crates.
"Do you really think you can beat me?" Marcus yelled angrily. "I'll destroy you, your family, and your home - just like you did to me!"
"I don't think so," Bree said, with just as much anger in her voice. "You've hurt this family enough."
"Marcus," somebody yelled from just out of sight.
Everyone turned in surprise to see Douglas come running around the corner from the direction of the front door. He ran over to the group and came to a stop a few feet in front of Adam, Bree, and Chase. He was now standing between them and the android.
Marcus stared at the man with hate and anger. "Hi, Dad. Surprised to see me still alive? Or do you even care?"
"Marcus, just stop," Douglas said. "Leave the kids alone, they didn't do anything to you."
"Yeah right," Marcus laughed harshly. "How can you actually defend them? You obviously don't remember the way they destroyed all your work and tried to have you sent away. They deserve to have me destroy them." He activated his lightening-force and was ready to strike the three bionic siblings down when Douglas held out a small device in front of him.
"Don't do it, Marcus," he warned. "This emits an electrical pulse strong enough to fry your circuits for good. I don't want to do it, Marcus, but I will if you try to hurt my kids."
Marcus glared at him. "After everything they've done, you're still going to protect them? They didn't seem to feel the same way when they betrayed you to side with your brother."
"They were right," Douglas said quietly. "And I understand why Donald took them in the first place. I can't hold a grudge against them for doing what they thought was right. You shouldn't either." In a firmer voice, he added, "And, yes, I will protect them. We're a family now; and families fight for each other."
The group stood in icy silence for a moment. Bree glanced at the others and couldn't help noticing with a bit of irony that their bizarre little "family" was finally grouped together again. She realized that these four people would have been her entire family had Mr. Davenport not found them when they were babies. She and her brothers probably would have ended up as evil as Marcus if that hadn't happened. It gave her a weird feeling; and, in a strange way, she could almost feel sorry for Marcus.
After a moment of silence, Marcus apparently made up his mind. He summoned all of his bionic energy and released a powerful blast of electricity and lightning straight at Douglas. Bree stood frozen in horror, too stunned to do anything. She knew that it was enough energy to kill Douglas instantly. "No!" she yelled.
On his part, Chase was having a hard time just keeping the group in focus. His vision kept blurring and he felt strangely off balance. The distraction of having Douglas arrive gave him the necessary time to shut Marcus out completely. He and the others were safe from being hacked, but he wasn't sure how well he was doing otherwise. The room looked rather vague and cloudy and it felt almost like the floor was wavering. He knew the others were talking, but their voices sounded fuzzy and muted.
It was Bree's yell that made his mind snap back into focus enough to see what was going on. Reacting instinctively, Chase leapt forward, landing in a crouched position directly in front of Douglas. He activated his force field immediately; just in time to stop the deadly bolts of electricity. Marcus didn't let up, however, and Chase could feel his shield beginning to fail. The energy beams would be able to pierce through in a matter of seconds.
"Douglas, do it!" Bree and Adam yelled at the same time.
Douglas pointed the pulse emitter at Marcus and pressed the switch. A blue ray of light shot forward, hitting its target dead on. The android immediately deactivated and crumpled to the ground in a heap.
Chase felt the energy attack let up, so he released his force field and let it disintegrate. He sat where he was for a moment, watching the room spin crazily out of control, before falling forward onto the concrete floor. As he lay there, he could vaguely hear Bree calling his name and he felt Douglas lean over him to see if he was alright. Then the world faded from view.
Poor Marcus. :( But I guess you can't feel too sorry for an evil android. I chose Chase as the one to save Douglas because of how quickly he leapt to his "dad's" protection in "Taken". I got a very strong impression during the third season that Douglas was connecting better with Chase than the other two. Maybe because they have so much in common, and Chase kinda reminds me of Douglas in a lot of ways: they're both the youngest brother; they're both geniuses who like showing off their intelligence; both get picked on by their older brothers; and both have a tendency to overreact to things.
Anyways, I hope the chapter wasn't too long. The next chapter will probably be the last one.
NEXT CHAPTER: "Leo's Close Call" - Outside the warehouse, Donald and Leo are dealing with a few problems of their own...