Sloth: This is probably, officially, the longest chapter I have ever written. with 8 drafts and probably still a few typos as I try desperately to stay awake to finish punishing. It also probably has the most extensive fight scenes. Sebastian and S-1's fighting style is based on the fighting style of Sports Master and Tigress from Stargirl. Their fight scene was just on fire and I legit see these two being that coordinated when they work together. This chapter is lengthy though, and I had to cut scenes due to how lengthy it is. Like I said, I'm completing this story as is, plot holes and all, because I want to rewrite it from scratch, but didn't want to disappoint loyal readers with an unfinished story.
So this, and the epilogue are for you guys. Thank you all so much for reading this story, following, reviewing, and sticking with a guy who can barely finish anything! I hope you continue to support me, and if not, I'm just glad to know you've enjoyed this story. With the fanfare out of the way, enjoy the last Chapter of The Tale of Marcus Davenport.
Loser Like Me
In life, you have to take a step back and just enjoy the little things in life. It's a common phrase that gets used more often than it should. The real irony of it though, is that it's quite possibly the most meaningful and helpful suggestion one could make. Especially when your life is a never-ending cycle of failures and successes. Life is cruel sometimes, and just taking a moment to breathe and just bask in the moment could prove to be the most eye-opening thing.
For Marcus, he could enjoy the simple act of being able to remember. His mind was no longer a jumbled mess of blank faces and pixilated nightmares. His mind was clear, and it only got clearer with each step he made. It was something he could genuinely appreciate as he fought for not just his life, but the lives of those he had grown close to.
Clashing against Sebastian and S-1 stimulated his brain, recorded moments coming back to him in an instance. It was why he knew to duck left to avoid a side whip kick from S-1. It was how he knew to quickly jump off the ground to avoid a low sweep from Sebastian. In mere milliseconds, hundreds of memories flashed through his brain, his bionics sorting them at the speed of light. Hundreds of training fights, thousands of different combat scenarios, all of them shifting in and out of his head as he clashed with his brother and sister.
Sebastian threw a punch, which Marcus evaded before trapping the arm by arming his own arm around it. Marcus lowered himself, pulling Sebastian with the momentum of his fall. He used his younger brother to block a kick from S-1 before letting go of Sebastian and sliding out from under him. As his body glided over the smooth concrete floor, Marcus spun himself around, bring his arms up to block a drop kick from S-1.
He pushed upwards, hoping to throw her onto her back. But S-1 simply followed the momentum of her body. She spun backwards, bracing herself with her hands and back flipped away. She stood up with the poise and elegance of a ballerina. But while she exuded grace, Sebastian came in swinging like a berserker.
The brown-haired boy leapt over S-1, using her shoulders as springboards to gain more air. His signature electro-fork came to life in his hands and he brought it down. Marcus leapt backwards, narrowing missing the energy weapon by a hair. It sliced into the ground, leaving a molten grove from where it cut into the floor. Marcus didn't worry about it. Instead he focused on the wall behind him, running up the wall and using it to help propel him upwards for a spinning back kick.
Before his foot could connect though, Sebastian's body evaporated, breaking apart into tiny atoms before reassembling back together as Marcus landed. Sebastian brought his weapon up in a swiping motion, only to be met with thin air as Marcus's body disassembled and reassembled behind his brother. He knocked Sebastian down with a roundhouse kick to the side.
"Cheater," Sebastian hissed.
"Don't give me something I can copy," Marcus countered.
"Copy this," Sebastian sneered before lifting his pelvis up and spinning his body. He spread his legs out, forcing Marcus to back pedaled to avoid the spinning kicks. Like a street performer, Sebastian spun himself, using the momentum to get back on his feet. But he didn't stop there. He cartwheeled towards Marcus, stopping only inches from the other boy before he dropped down and swiped at his legs with the electro-fork. Marcus was barely able to keep up, forced to flip backwards at the last second. But it seemed Sebastian predicted this as no sooner that Marcus was in the air, Sebastian geo-leaped right where Marcus was going to land and delivered a powerful kick that sent Marcus crashing to the floor.
Sebastian followed it up by bringing his weapon down. Marcus barely managed to summon a laser staff to his hands to block the attack. Blue and red clashed against each other as they struggled for dominance.
Status: 87%. Estimated time until shut down, 9 minutes, 34 seconds and counting.
Marcus pooled his strength, forcing his muscles to work as he pushed Sebastian back and knocked the relentless teen off with a swing that would make Babe Ruth proud. As Sebastian stumbled, Marcus jumped to his feet, wielding the laser staff as if he had been born with it.
Status: 80%. Estimated time until shut down, 8 minutes, 59 seconds and counting.
He stared Sebastian down. He couldn't afford to use multiple abilities at once again. He had roughly 8 minutes now. But at the same time, he couldn't afford to give anyone an inch in this fight. Collecting his thoughts, focusing them on combat. It probably saved him since it was at that moment, he realized that S-1 was missing.
The battle cry startled him, nearly making him drop his weapon. He spun out of the way, S-1's fist colliding onto the floor where he had once stood. Her fist created a small crater as the energy she had been collecting in the background shot out from her fist. The floor caved in, cracks splintering like spider webs.
Marcus blinked. "Ok. That's new."
"That's what happens when you decide to play house with heroes. You don't evolve."
"Yeah? Let's see if I learned something from them or not," Marcus shot back before getting into a fighting stance.
….
…
..
Chase ran out of his cell the minute it came down. He unapologetically wrapped the giant suit into an embrace. But then quickly pulled himself out of the hug to reprimand Leo. Don't get him wrong, he was relieved to see both him and Marcus alive. But god dammit he was not happy about the how.
"How could you give him his bionics back!?" Chase nearly screamed while waving frantically towards the ensuing battle between Marcus, S-1 and the world's worst best friend.
"Hold up, I didn't give him anything," Leo defended himself, his voice sounding distorted thanks to the Exosuit. "As soon as he was conscious, he stuck that thing in his own neck. What's the big deal anyways? He's kicking butt."
Chase wanted to scream. Is he grateful for being saved? Yes. Is he over the moon that his family was alive? Yes. Was he annoyed that once again Marcus had decided to do something when he was explicitly told not to? Yes. Very much yes. Why was it that he was the only one who ever listened? He thought Marcus having super intelligence would at least make him realize how dangerous this stunt was. But no, apparently not.
"The big deal is that his chip is fried," Chase answered.
"Fried?!" Douglas spoke up as he freed Adam from his cell. The aging hipster leaned dangerously close to them, a hint of madness in his eye. "What do you mean fried? What did you guys do to my chip?"
"Would you rather have him brainwashed?" Mr. Davenport quickly asked as he and Bree joined the growing group. Douglas seemed to think about it before telling them to carry on with the conversation. His attention then turned to Adam's inhibitor and how to remove them.
"Leo, Marcus's chip is basically running on empty," Chase told his stepbrother. "They could shut off at any moment."
"Then we need to get in there and help him," Bree said. She tried to superspeed, but only ran a few steps before back pedaling to the impromptu family meeting. "As soon as we get these inhibitors off."
"Just give me a few seconds I'll have them off in no time," Douglas said. He turned to Adam, quietly asking if he was ok with having a few broken fingers. That prompted Davenport to scold his younger brother.
Chase uneasily turned back to watch the fight. He hated being helpless. He wondered if this was what Marcus felt. To have power so close but to have it all just suppressed inside. Chase felt like throwing caution to the wind and just go diving headfirst into the fight. Marcus was holding his own, but Chase didn't need super intelligence to see how this would end. He looked around, trying to see a way to help. He'd even take a weapon at this point.
His eyes fell on something laying on the computer desk. Curious, he walked over to pick it up. His eyes widened and he turned to his family.
"Guys! I found a cyber key to the inhibitors!" Chase exclaimed proudly. A gust of wind suddenly flew past him. His fingers felt empty. He blinked, the key now missing from his hand. Across the room, opposite of the ensuing battle, a grinning Spin stood. The child mockingly waved a cyber key at Chase.
"You mean you LOST a cyber key to the inhibitors," he sassed. Spin quickly took off, his body turning into a cyclone as he ran off.
"Get that key!" Davenport shout, signaling everyone to chase after the bionic child.
….
…
..
Marcus's body impacted hard against a coffee table. In retrospect, geo-leaping into a room he had never been in before wasn't the smartest idea, but at least it separated him and Sebastian from S-1. He quickly got up, just in time to block a strike from Sebastian's electro-fork. They clashed in a stalemate, Marcus glaring his brother down. With 70 percent of his power remaining, he had to focus on keeping his opponents separated and as disoriented as possible.
Marcus kicked Sebastian, breaking their stalemate and giving him room to spin his laser staff around before bringing it down to the floor to send an electrical current through the floor. Sebastian countered by driving his electro-fork into the ground, letting it absorb the electricity. He ripped the fork out of the ground, electricity flowing between the two points. He swung his weapon in an arch, the electricity flying towards Marcus like a blade.
Marcus brought his laser staff down to cut the electric blade in half. The staff kept going down until it hit the ground and Marcus used it to pole vault himself towards Sebastian. They collided and Marcus quickly geo-leapt them into the kitchen, this time using Sebastian as a cushion as they crashed into the kitchen table. Wood splintered around them, flying into the air like flower petals.
Victory was short lived as Sebastian quickly caught onto Marcus's tactics and turned it around. He took hold of Marcus's ankle and gave him an impromptu tour of the house. First, they teleported into the upstairs guest room. Sebastian had managed to reorient them, letting him stand while Marcus hung midair. As gravity took hold, Marcus fell backwards, but not before twisting his foot out of Sebastian's grip. He flipped back until he landed next to a shelve, which he kicked towards Sebastian with the help of good-old fashioned super strength.
Sebastian ducked under it before moving towards Marcus like snake. He struck with right punch that Marcus easily avoided. Or so he thought. He had dodged in the wrong direction, allowing Sebastian to clothesline Marcus with his left arm. As Sebastian kept moving forward, they disassembled before reassembling in the foyer. Sebastian had once again reoriented them, making them appear a few inches off the ground. They crashed into hard tile, Marcus's head making a particularly painful contact that had him seeing stars.
But fuck the pain dammit.
Before Sebastian could get up, Marcus pulled the younger boy into a headlock and activated his bionics. He meant to take them outside, but somehow, they ended up back in the lab. Marcus spun Sebastian around and kicked him backwards in the gut. Sebastian collected himself easily, re-summoning his favorite weapon and spinning it around. Marcus let out an annoyed sigh. "Do you have any other weapon than that?!"
Sebastian said nothing. He simply brought his electro-fork down like a bat, which Marcus countered with a laser staff. The two weapons bounced off each other. Marcus found himself bending backwards. He kicked himself off the ground, just narrowly avoiding S-1 as she slid down under him. He flipped onto his feet, grabbing his laser staff from where it hung in the air and went for a slicing strike to Sebastian's head. The other boy blocked and pushed back, bring their two weapons to the ground. As Sebastian leaned closer down, S-1 came around over him, using his body as support as she kicked Marcus in the got. Marcus stumbled back, watching Sebastian grab S-1 and pull her to his side.
"You're getting sloppy," Sebastian taunted.
Status: 60%. Estimated time until shut down, 6 minutes, 42 seconds and counting.
He tried not to show how winded he was. His muscles hurt. His lungs screamed at him. His vision occasional glitched, his bionics were struggling to maintain the energy needed to keep his laser staff active. Standing itself was starting to feel nauseating. But he refused to show them any signs that he was wavering. He took a step back, brandishing his laser staff and beckoning his two opponents.
Sebastian and S-1 looked at each other before nodding. They ran forward, Sebastian for going Marcus's left while S-1 came at him from the right. Marcus spun his staff to the left, while simultaneously kicking right. To his surprise, Sebastian dropped into a slide, avoiding the staff while S-1 jumped over Marcus's kick. Sebastian kept moving behind Marcus, catching S-1 as gravity took hold of her. They moved together, Sebastian using his molecular kinesis to spin them around simultaneously twisting their older sister around. S-1 was brought to her feet, launching herself into the air with Sebastian's aid.
She came at Marcus with a flurry of punches and jabs. Marcus was forced back, using his staff defensively as she struck like a viper. Her attacks were precise, aiming for vital points that forced Marcus to either block or dodge. Each time he blocked her attack, she would counter with a punch with a faster speed, each one getting faster and faster. Marcus was only able to keep up by relying on his own speed, but still she had him on the defense.
It only ended when she flipped backwards, her arms interlocking with Sebastian's. He lifted her up, adding more power and altitude to her back kick. Marcus stumbled backwards, driving his staff into the floor to keep himself steady. He watched as S-1 landed behind Sebastian, picking him up and launching him towards Marcus.
Marcus slid out of the way, gliding across the floor and coming to a stop in a crouch. He pushed himself up with his staff, launching into a scissor kick that caught S-1 in the shoulder. But she cushioned the blow by rolling into the fall. As she rolled, she slid her index finger across the floor in an arch, energy travelling out in a rolling wave. His left eye glitched, temporarily blinding him. Caught completely off guard, he tripped into the attack, which launched him backwards into Sebastian's arms.
Despite how thin Sebastian was, the guy had a strong grip. Sebastian's elbow pressed against Marcus's throat while his other arm hooked under his arm. His laser staff glitched and dissipated, the residual energy cracking weakly in his fingers.
"Like I said," Sebastian whispered arrogantly, "sloppy."
"One on one, I could kick your ass," Marcus retorted.
"I don't it really matters," S-1 said as she strolled towards him. "Let's finish this family reunion."
"Aw, come on, Taylor, don't you want to humor me just a little bit?" Marcus asked. He smirked at the scowl on her face. It was good to know he could still get under her skin.
"Snap his neck."
"With pleasure," Sebastian smiled. The pressure in his neck grew. Marcus grabbed ahold of Sebastian's arm, trying to activate his super strength.
Status: 55%. Estimated time until shut down, 5 minutes, 30 seconds and counting.
System Error.
Status: 55%. Estimated time until shut down, 5 minutes, 30 seconds and counting.
System Error.
'Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit,' Marcus thought. Of all the times to start glitching and NOT accidentally fire electricity. The pressure grew tighter and Marcus gagged. Sebastian's other arm reached for the back of his head and Marcus started to fight.
'Air! Need…Dammit!'
Sebastian got ready to twist, Marcus desperately digging his nails into his sociopathic brother's arm.
"HEY!"
The trio turned in the direction of the intrusion, startled by the sound.
Chase stood in the middle of the lab, Bree and Adam flanking either side of him. Leo was out of the Exosuit, which was in the corner sitting on a very unamused Spin. Davenport was on the opposite side of Leo, the inventor brandishing a blaster. And beside him, looking smug as he held up three deactivated inhibitors, was none other than Douglas Davenport.
Marcus couldn't help but smirk at the dysfunctional family, standing like a bunch of superheroes. It made him wonder why he was even bother fighting for them. But he wouldn't complain. Not when Chase was holding a super condense force field in his hands like some sort of anime hero.
"Hands off our cousin."
Marcus blinked. "I'm sorry, your what?"
Chase hurled the force field. The ball expanded, growing and turning into a wall that knocked into the three of them. Marcus felt Sebastian let go. That feeling was followed by the sensation of being moved at high speeds. He blinked, finding himself being steady by Bree who smiled at him.
"What took so long?" Marcus laughed.
"'Thank you, guys, for saving me from my crazy family,'" Leo mocked. Marcus just patted him on the back.
"Marcus," Chase started, getting the attention of the aforementioned bionic teen. "We thought we lost you."
"Yeah, because you're like, way more fun than Chase," Adam added, clapping Chase on the shoulder. The younger of the two flared his nostrils in frustration, which got a laugh from the other teens.
"Point is," Chase continued, "We're glad you're ok. You're a part of this team." Chase extended a hand towards Marcus. "So, what say we take them out like one?"
"Probably the smartest thing you've said," Marcus smiled before doing a quick, silly handshake with Chase.
They turned, watching as Sebastian and S-1 got to their feet.
"Ugh, Spin!" Sebastian growled as he stood up, his eyes flaring emerald. "You had one job!"
"You try having a giant suit on you!" Spin spat back from across the lab.
"Never expect a throw-away to do a soldier's job," S-1 said. She pulled the sleeve of her jacket up, pressing a button that was embedded into a bracelet. "S-4, time to wake up."
Owen's capsule lit up and the door opened. Owen's eyes snapped open, lit up completely green. He stepped out of the capsule, stopping to pick up and hurl the Exosuit off Spin. Spin got up and Owen geo-leapt them to S-1 and Sebastian's side, completely the quartet. Chase nodded to his own siblings, the three stepping forward with Leo and Marcus on either side.
"You want our bionics?" Chase started. "Come and get them."
"Gladly," S-1 replied.
With that one word, both sides raced towards each other. S-1 ran at Chase, who guarded against her punch. He slipped under her arm, twisting around her as Bree took his place. Bree kicked at S-1's arm, and then pushed the other girl back with a side kick to the gut. Sebastian met up with Marcus, who was ready to catch the other boy's arms before he could conjure the stupid electro-fork. This gave Chase time to slid in from the left and kick Sebastian's feet out from under him. Adam ran into Owen, using his body to push Owen back like a bulldozer. To his amazement however, Owen drove his foot into the ground, locking them into a stalemate.
As for Leo, well he remembered that he didn't have bionics and quickly had to run for a weapon as Spin turned into a miniature cyclone with the sole intent of committing murder.
"We got to help the kids," Donald said as he went to jump into the fray. But he was stopped by Douglas.
"They can handle them for now. Right now, we need to hack into that computer and shut off S-4's Triton. We do that and it'll give them the advantage."
"Well what are we waiting for, get hacking, Dougy."
….
…
..
Bree and S-1 attacked each other with rapid kicks and punches, their bodies becoming a blur as they attempted to out speed the other. Blow for blow they were evenly matched. Even as Bree went for a roundhouse kick, S-1 went into a split to dodge the kick. She picked herself up to deliver a kick, which Bree caught and pushed away.
"Not bad for outdated tach," S-1 said.
"Not bad for a lunatic," Bree shot back.
Once again, they became a blur of punches and kicks, but this time S-1 was gaining the edge. Her movements were becoming more fluid, her body moving like water. It wasn't like she was even fighting anymore, but simply dancing while punctuating ever other movement with a sharp kick or deadly punch. Bree was able to avoid S-1's attacks, but she couldn't counter the unrelenting ballet. Bree was finally able to get a moment to catch her breath when S-1 delivered a drop kick that sliced right through one of the operating tables.
"Ok, I hate you for a lot of reasons, but can I just say, you've got some serious moves."
"Eight years of dance classes."
"It shows."
"Thanks."
Bree ended their pleasantries by going into a spinning back kick, knocking S-1 back. She followed it up with a running jump kick and then a back kick. This time she was going on the offensive and she'd be damned if she gave it up.
….
…
..
"Come on, Owen, be a good friend and let me kick your butt!" Adam tried to reason. He wasn't used to being outmatched in strength. Especially not by someone smaller and scrawnier. Although to be fair, Owen was just a couple of inches shorter than Adam, but Adam had his pride. The two were locked in a power struggle. Owen didn't seem to have an incredible strength like Adam's, but he had enough to hold his own.
Owen suddenly started to push back. Adam found himself sliding backwards.
"Whoa. Hey. Hey! No, bad Owen! Bad Ow-en!" Adam found himself getting tossed into the air. He landed on his back, grunting in pain. He looked up to see Owen coming for him. He came down with his fist. Adam raised his legs up, catching Owen in the chest and pushing him back. As Owen stumbled back, Adam jumped to his feet.
"Ok, I know you're like brainwashed and everything. But you do that one more time and I'm fighting for real."
Owen leapt towards Adam, jumping past the taller boy and landing on the wall. He stuck to it like a spider, his feet glowing as it anchored him to the wall. He took advantage of Adam's surprise and launched himself elbow first into Adam's gut. Adam gasped in pain. The impact sent him flying across the lab and into the capsules, shattering them.
"Ok…. fighting for real now…." Adam wheezed.
Owen launched himself towards Adam, but this time Adam was ready. He kicked upwards just as Owen reached him, nailing the younger boy in the jaw. Owen flipped backwards, falling flat on his face. Adam stood up and nearly jumped out of his skin as Owen rose up from the ground as if he had been pulled up by a string.
"Oh, come on!"
Owen stepped forward, only to have Leo run into him. Adam reached forward, and pulled Leo to his side just as Spin accidentally crashed into Owen.
"Two v two?" Adam asked Leo.
"I'm down."
….
…
..
Chase ducked under Sebastian's electro-fork, bracing himself as Marcus rolled over his back to kick Sebastian in the gut. After Marcus delivered his kick to Sebastian's gut, he grabbed Chase's arm and Chase trusted Marcus. He let himself get picked up and swung, Chase delivering a kick to Sebastian's shoulder.
Chase landed next to Marcus; his eyes trained on his former friend as Sebastian got back up. Together, Chase and Marcus kicked forward, delivering twin kicks to Sebastian that sent the other bionic teen to the floor. Deep down, Chase bubbled up with vindication. He had trusted Sebastian with everything. From his most vulnerable moments to his intimate secrets. And Sebastian had spat him in the face. Used him. He wanted to do more than just show up Sebastian in a fight.
The urge to break Sebastian's kneecaps rose as he watched his former friend get back to his feet. He looked into those brown eyes as they flared into a violent electric green. Sebastian snarled, his hands glowing green and red as he conjured up two laser staffs, one in each hand.
Spike snarled within.
Marcus snapped Chase back to his sense with a quick pat to his elbow. Chase glanced over at Marcus. Marcus didn't look good to be honest. His left eye looked to be glitching, flicking between blue and brown. He was starting to sweat, and Chase's enhanced hearing could pick up on the ragged breathing Marcus was trying to hide. And yet the idiot still had the audacity to smile.
Chase couldn't help but chuckle. The message was clear. If Marcus could look like shit and still keep his cool, then so could Chase. Chase nodded back and the two of them turned their attention onto Sebastian.
"You going to just stand there playing with your lightsabers?" Marcus started.
"Or are you going to actually take this fight serious?" Chase finished.
Sebastian snarled. His eyes were completely green now. He came at them, brandishing his red staffs like swords. Marcus quick took a hold of Chase's hand and pulled back, creating laser staff, which Chase took ahold and brought up to block one of the red staffs. At the same time, Chase created a force field that Marcus grabbed to defend himself. They pushed Sebastian back, knocking him into the air.
They traded weapons, Chase taking his force field back while Marcus retrieved his staff. Sebastian came down and Chase condensed his force field into a ball. He hurled it at Marcus, who used his staff to bat the ball towards Sebastian. When their two energies met, the force field ball became electrified. It went sailing towards Sebastian, exploding on impact.
But as the dust cleared, Sebastian stood. He had seen better days. The explosion had ripped his jeans at the knees and burnt the sleeves of his shirt. His hair had lost its neat style, now splayed messily against Sebastian's forehead. The green in his eyes flickered until they became a fiery red. His muscles twitched and tensed as he snarled like a wild animal. The crimson eyes bore into Chase and Marcus before Sebastian's entire body was enveloped by a red aura that sparked with electricity. Sebastian roared; his voice getting much deeper.
And angrier.
Chase slowly turned to Marcus.
"Marcus."
"Yup?"
"Does Sebastian have a commando app?"
"No," Marcus answered. Sebastian snarled, his aura sparking erratically. "it's technically called the berserker app."
"IM GOING TO RIP OUT YOUR SPINES AND BEAT YOU WITH THEM!"
Chase let out a terrified yelp, stepping back ever so slightly behind Marcus.
Sebastian dashed towards them like a bullet. They didn't have time to defend themselves. Sebastian's hands caught them each by the throat and they were carried a good two feet before being hurled the remaining length of the lab. Chase had enough sense to erect a force shield to cushion their impact against the wall.
"You didn't think to warn us about that before?" he chided Marcus.
"To be fair, I was 12 the last time it activated."
Sebastian snarled and came for them again, crashing into dual force fields. Sebastian raged against their defenses, beating his fists against the energy walls. On the bright side, it seemed that Sebastian was so overtaken by his blind rage, he didn't think to use any other bionics. On the downside, Berserker Sebastian was stronger than Chase could have predicted. He could see cracks forming on his shield and Marcus was sweating just trying to keep it up.
Marcus's force field briefly flickered, causing Sebastian to narrowly get through before it came back up to block a punch. Chase mentally cursed. They couldn't keep this up. Looking around, he caught Bree and S-1 in a light speed hand to hand fight, their bodies speeding around the room so fast they were nothing but twin blurs. Adam and Leo were holding off Owen and Spin. Or rather, Adam was attempting to hold off Owen and Spin while Leo attempt to get the Exosuit working again. And off in the corner, Mr. Davenport and Douglas were arguing over codes.
They needed a way to turn the tide. Something to-
"Hey!"
Chase's nearly lost his focus, his eyes snapping to Adam. Owen had some how lost interest in Adam and as going after Leo. Chase watched as Adam hurled Spin right into Owen's gut, sending both of them out away from Leo. That's when the idea struck him.
"I've an idea!"
"Finally!"
"Get us to Adam!"
"Wait seriously?"
"Just do it!"
Marcus gripped Chase's shoulder and they dropped their force fields. Their molecules broke apart just in time to avoid being beheaded by one of Sebastian's fists. In an instant, they reappeared next to Adam and Leo. Chase's world was still spinning as his body was put back together. He shook his head, making a personal note to never try that again. Though he seemed to be doing better than Marcus, who nearly lost his lunch on Adam's shoe.
"Yeah, a lot of people feel that way about Chase," Adam joked, patting Marcus on the back, not at all phased by Marcus's violent dry heaving.
Bree took that opportunity to arrive by their side. "Marcus, are you ok?"
"His bionics must be starting to shut down," Leo theorized.
"We need to get him out of here then," Bree said, but Marcus fended her off.
"No. No I got this," he coughed. He stood up, but Chase had to admit that Marcus wasn't looking so good. His left eye kept glitching. He was visibly sweating now, soaking his shirt. The skin under his eyes were starting to darken while his breathing became a little shallower. They had to end this fast. And without Marcus using his bionics. It might mean they were a man down, but it was doable.
"Tired already?" S-1 asked as she appeared in front of them. Owen and Spin were flanking her. Chase smiled at their position.
"Actually, we were waiting for you."
"For us?"
"Yeah." Chase held his hands out, forming a camera lens with his fingers. "You're in the perfect spot."
Sebastian barreled right into the three siblings. He was so dead set on attacking Chase and Marcus that he didn't even think about S-1, Spin, and Owen. He charged into them, knocking them to the ground and nearly trampling them as he kept running forward.
"Adam, blast him!"
Adam obeyed without making some joke. Probably because he recognized the danger for once. With a quick charge, Adam sent out a small blast wave that sent Sebastian stumbling back into his siblings.
"Nice one," Bree complimented.
"That's how we're going to beat them. They're not as coordinated as us," Chase explained. "They're too single minded."
"Which means we use them against each other," Marcus smiled, catching on immediately. Chase couldn't help but smile and nod in response.
"Wait, will it work?" Leo asked. "No offense, but Marcus hasn't exactly trained with you guys."
"I trust him," Chase simply answered. "Just like I trust you to Leo things up."
"Was that a compliment?"
"Just do what you do best, Leo," Chase said, giving him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. His attention was brought back to the Hendersons, who were angrily pulling themselves out of the pile. He gave his siblings one last silent command. They each nodded in understanding. They ran split up, each going after their own targets.
"Tag, you're it!" Marcus shouted as he tripped Spin. The boy looked confused, watching as Marcus ran off. Confusion gave way to anger and a spin sized cyclone chased after Marcus.
"Dibs!" Adam hollered as he barreled by S-1 and picked up Sebastian like he was nothing more than a sack of angry potatoes.
"Owen! Remember when I melted Butter Perry?" Bree shouted as she ran past her not-dead-bionic (ex?) boyfriend. The mind-controlled soldier twitched before standing up and stalked towards Bree.
"Look likes that leaves you with me," Chase smirked at S-1. She didn't look amused at all.
"What? You think your little brain's going to help you?" she asked, as she held out her hand, a ball of raw energy forming in it. The ball spun around faster and faster until it became a disk. Chase simply taunted her, copying Marcus's 'come-at-me' taunt. Seeing S-1's face turn red, Chase took off running, flipping over energy disks.
….
…
..
"Why are they just running?" Douglas asked as he watched the most dangerous game of tag take place.
"I don't know, but right now we need to focus on this code," Donald said. He was a genius, but even he was having trouble with the code. He looked at the wall of code that blocked their access to the Triton app. Just when they thought they could crack it; they would be met with another security system. He typed in a few keys, hoping this time the firewall would come down.
It did.
"Yes! Finally!"
A clown face appeared on the screen, laughing and shouting, "Ah-ah-ah! Ah-ah-ah!"
"No!"
"I told you that wouldn't work!" Douglas shouted.
"Oh, yeah, because your suggestion was any better."
"Well at least mine was backed with experience."
"I have experience!"
"Yeah, with pies!"
"How's it going?" Leo asked, interrupting the argument. The two men turned their attention to the new arrival. Donald was both glad that Leo wasn't trying to fight off a bionic soldier, and terrified because Leo was near electronics.
"We just need a little more time," Donald told Leo. Mostly to reassure himself.
"Yeah that's not going to work," Leo said before running over and started to mess with the controls. The two men cried in horror as Leo pushed buttons randomly.
"Leo, what are you doing?!"
"Leo-ing things up!" the boy answered, somewhat proudly. Mayhem and disordered had the tendency to follow Leo around like a lost puppy. This time, he was hoping to use it in his favor. As he manically messed with the sophisticated technology, it started to spark and smoke. The laughing clown face on the monitors were not terrified, as if some digital chaos god were leering down at it from cyber space.
With one final "I hope this works", Leo pressed a random key.
"Access granted."
The Davenport brothers blinked, watching as Leo cheered.
….
…
..
Bree kited Owen, drawing him towards the various monitors. Wordless she taunted him, elegantly dodging his attacks and watching as he punched through monitors and circuit boards.
"Looks like even under mind control, you're not all that bright," she smirked. A frown formed on his neutral face and Bree just shrugged. "What? You mad? Why don't you go sketch out your feelings?"
Owen silently charged towards her, jumping into the air and charging up his fist with electricity. Bree stood tall, staring at Owen with nothing but amusement. Thanks to her super speed, she had all the time in the world. Owen seemed to lack the speed to match her, his movements slow, moving inches per minute. She slipped into a battle stance.
The air around her was filled with the sound of electricity and cycling wind. Adam and Marcus came sliding in behind her from different directions. She was hoisted up by the waist and tossed into the air and she let herself relax to into the feeing of flight. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could make out Marcus doing the same. Together, using the momentum Adam had given them, the two reached down and grabbed Adam. Once the three were linked, Marcus geo-leaped them out of harm's way. Sebastian, Spin, and Owen all collided together. Owen's electrified fist, Sebastian's rage aura, and Spin's centrifugal force resulted into a small blast that knocked them back. Owen fell to the floor, Sebastian crashed into the last remained server that powered the lab, and Spin landed awkwardly on a table.
In the blink of an eye, Marcus, Bree, and Adam reappeared, landing on their feet in the middle of the three prone boys. Marcus quickly picked up Spin, tying the kid's wrist with some power cords that came from the destroyed computer servers. Adam nudged Sebastian with his foot. And Bree placed a foot on Owen's chest.
His eyes opened and she reared her fist back, ready to strike him in the temple.
"Whoa! Whoa! Bree what are you doing!?"
Bree stopped and looked at Owen. Hazel eyes looked up at her in confusion. She could just barely make out the sound of Mr. Davenport and Uncle Douglas cheering and chest bumping. It made her focus more on Owen. Gone was the stiffness in his posture. His body was more relaxed. He looked around in confusion. Confusion that slowly turned into horror as reality slowly sank in.
"I…am I in a lab?" he whimpered. His voice quivered and it seemed like he was speaking more to himself than to Bree. He finally looked back at her and took in her disheveled appearance. "Oh god. Bree did I-?"
The question hung in the air. Bree removed her foot and pulled him into a hug. He stiffened under her embrace. It took a moment for him to relax and return the embrace.
"Welcome back."
Owen didn't know what happened. The last thing he remembered was losing a fight to Sebastian. Now he was being hugged by Bree, who looked like she had just been in a fight. He took in her scent, taking in the grounding scent of cheap perfume and cotton. God, he loved it. Feeling like he was being watched, he looked up to see a bruised-up Adam smiling at him. And then his eyes caught sight of Marcus. Marcus whose cybernetic eye was glitching, who looked like his hair had been charred and beaten half to death. Marcus who was holding a tied-up Spin like the kid was nothing but a rag doll.
Owen broke the embrace and stood up, letting out a yelp as he realized his older brother was no longer faking human was decked out in soldier gear. He pulled Bree behind him. "Get back! He's dangerous." Owen warned his friends. Marcus simply raised an eyebrow.
"Good to see you too, Owen," Marcus said as he corrected his grip on a squirming Spin. "But just to catch you up, the Davenports are bionic too, I'm on their side, you were under the Triton app, and I could still kick your ass even while holding Spin so don't even try."
Owen blinked. "What?"
"We'll explain later," Bree told him. "But right now, we have to deal with your crazy sister."
"What?"
"Come on!"
….
…
..
"Stay still!" S-1 demanded.
"No!" Chase countered as he dodged another one of her attacks. S-1's attacks had been calculated at first, but the more Chase avoided her attacks, the more desperate she became to try and hit him. He had carefully watched her fighting Marcus. She was smart, but she excelled more in hand to hand combat. Exhausting her had been his best bet and so far, it was working. He just had to keep avoiding her and –
Chase's train of thought stopped as he was suddenly plucked from the air mid flip. S-1 had geo-leapt towards him and caught him by the back of his shirt. Chase suddenly found himself hurtling towards the hard floor, hitting it hard enough to not only bounce off the floor, but also chip a tooth. He tried to get up, but military boots came down right in between his shoulder blades. He let out a cry of pain. She leaned down, speaking dangerously close to his ear.
"I'm going to enjoy ripping your bionics out of you."
"You're already bionic, why do you need ours?" Chase asked her. He tried to get up, but a strike to his spine rendered him prone.
"I'm not after your bionics. I'm after your bionic infrastructures" she clarified. "With them, I'm going to cure my father of his illness."
"What? You're delusional if you think our bionics can do that."
"Not delusional. Well informed. You three have the only bio-compatible bionic infrastructure. Self-healing biometrics. Even if your chips are removed, your bionic infrastructures will prevent you from getting sick. From getting diseases. You three are practically the holy grail of the medical field and you didn't even know it!"
Chase blinked. How had he never noticed? Did Mr. Davenport and Douglas hit jackpot and didn't even know it? Or did they know the entire time. His mind was racing mile a minute. His thoughts came to a stop as he found S-1's fingers wrapped around his throat.
"I'm sure you can now die happy knowing your parts will be going to a much more deserving man."
"N-no! Wait!"
The nail on S-1's left index finger started to glow. Chase realized it was a thermal scalpel and started to struggle more and more as it got closer to his exposed neck.
An energy ball crashed into S-1, knocking her off Chase and letting him gasp for air. Leo came up to Chase, a blaster in his hand.
"That was for my living room!"
Chase got up, clearing his throat and looking down. He blinked. "Is that the Exosuit's hand cannon?"
"Yeah, it's not getting back up anytime suit," Leo replied. Chase would have been surprised, but honestly, he just wanted this day to end already.
He looked back at S-1, watching her get back up. She glared but didn't attack. Mostly because Chase was backed up by the rest of his family. Adam, Bree, Marcus can up and joined them. Adam stood next to Leo while Marcus and Bree stood to Chase's other side. He didn't even need to turn around to know that Mr. Davenport and Douglas had joined them as well. He did catch Owen coming up to Bree's side, Spin held firmly in his hands. Chase smirked. He loved it when a plan came together.
Sebastian stumbled over. He clutched his head as he stood next to S-1. He whined a little. S-1 at least seemed to have some decency in her as she wordlessly steadied Sebastian.
"I think he broke my nose," Sebastian bemoaned.
"We'll get it looked at at the facility," she told him as she rubbed his shoulder. Yet she never broke eye contact.
"The only place you two will be going is a cell where your bionics will be turned off," Mr. Davenport stated.
"Are we now?" S-1 asked slyly. An odd feeling dropped in Chase's chest. Something wasn't right.
"Give it up, Taylor," Douglas suggested. Chase could have sworn the man actually sounded…sad? "Just come quietly. We can get you guys help. Reunite you with your real family."
"I have my real family," she said, stepping in front of Sebastian. Her gaze fell on Marcus and Owen. "Its just a shame some of them can't see that. Even after everything our father did for them."
"I'll be sure to send him a Father's Day card," Marcus quipped.
"Don't worry. You've been disowned," she fired back. "but hey, we got you a little parting gift."
She dug into her pocket and fished out a silver pen-shaped object with a large red button on top. Chase found himself gripping Marcus's wrist. Chase told himself that the bomb in Marcus was gone, disabled. But he still felt the need to get Marcus out of here, away from that device.
"T-that's not going to work," Marcus stammered. "We took care of my bomb."
"Oh, I know. But this isn't for your neutron bomb," S-1 said. She looked in Owen's direction. "It's for his."
CLICK
The scream that came from Spin was deafening. Owen tried his best to hold onto the younger boy as he started to thrash about, his neck beginning to spark. It was more violent than Marcus's. Whether if it was because the bomb was stronger this time or because Spin was younger, Chase had no clue. He could only duck as bolt of electricity flew from Spin's body. Owen had to let go, his fingers getting burnt as Spin's body started to get hotter by the second.
"What did you do?!" Douglas roared.
"You didn't think we'd bring along your stupid little lab assistant without make sure he was actually usefully to us, did you?"
"B-but you said we-we were going to get Marcus back," Spin sobbed. His body shook as he fell to the floor.
"We say a lot of things," Sebastian shouted over the roar of electricity. "Sorry, Spin."
Leo let out a shriek as a wild bolt of pure plasmas sailed in his direction from Spin. Davenport had barely managed to pull Leo out of the way. Marcus almost stormed forward to the two cowards, when Spin let out another cry of pain.
"What did I do wrong?" Spin sobbed.
His so-called siblings didn't answer. They kept her focus on Marcus and Chase. They held the cards, but S-1 was the house and she had rigged everything from the start. The rising strength of the energy that came from Spin didn't give them much time to think. It was quite literally do or die.
Marcus cursed as he ran to Spin's side.
Sebastian and S-1 took that as a sign for them to escape. S-1 geo-leaped away first, turning her back on her brothers and disappearing. Sebastian following, mockingly winking at Chase and giving him finger guns. A silly little way of Sebastian telling Chase they'd see each other later. Before, Chase found it silly and endearing. Now, it made Chase seethe with anger as the other boy disappear like a coward. They were gone, back in the shadows they crawled out of. Chase swore to himself that he'd find them. Maybe not tonight. Maybe not even tomorrow. But he swore that one day they'd meet up and he'd pay them back.
But right now, he had a new mission. They all did.
"Bree, try to find the inhibitors fast! Adam, get Leo, Mr. Davenport, and Douglas to safety! Owen-"
"I'm not leaving him!" Owen spat as he tried to hold onto Spin. Chase stopped and looked. Owen was holding onto Spin, trying to stop him from hurting himself with all the thrashing. He even went as far as to break the cord binding Spin's hands. Marcus was trying to make a force field to help stabilize Spin, to ease his pain.
"Hey. Hey, Spin look at me. Focus on me, ok?"
"M-Marcus. I'm sorry. I just…I just wanted us to be a family again."
"Hey. Hey we will. Ok?"
Bree came back, the inhibitors in her hand, but they were charred and fried. S-1's attacks must have hit them while Chase was dodging. He cursed himself. There wasn't time to make another. Spin looked like he was going to go critical any moment. Maybe…Maybe?
"Adam! Try and use a force blast."
"How's that going to help?"
"You absorb energy before releasing it. Maybe you can absorb some of energy to help spin out. Marcus and I can combine our force field to stop the blast."
"Even if that worked," Douglas cut in, "there will be Spin parts all up inside those force fields."
"WHAT?" Spin cried, loosing a bit of concentration and a burst of electricity escaped his entire body. It was a miracle Owen didn't get thrown off. Marcus held firm, taking in the energy with his bionics. Chase immediately saw the light bulb go on in Marcus's head.
"No. Don't think about it."
"Try and stop me," Marcus told Chase. Before anyone could stop him, Marcus placed a hand on the back of Spin's neck, right on top of his chip. Chase watched in horror as the crackling electricity that surrounded Spin started to flow into Marcus's hand. It glowed white as it started to absorb the raw, uncontrolled energy of the bomb.
"Marcus, stop!" Davenport demanded. But Marcus held firm. "That ability wasn't meant to be used like that! Your body won't be able to take it!"
Marcus ignored him. He ignored everyone. The only sound he could hear were Spin's pitiful sobs. It drove him further, pushing his bionics to their limits.
ALERT! ALERT!
Status: 5%. TOTAL INFRASTRUCTURE SHUT DOWN IN: 1 minutes, 30 seconds and counting.
ALERT! ALERT!
He pushed on, willing his body to absorb more. A familiar white-hot fire coursed through his entire body. But this time he would endure it. This time he was fighting for someone else.
ALERT! ALERT!
Status: 3%. TOTAL INFRASTRUCTURE SHUT DOWN IN: 60 seconds.
ALERT! ALERT!
A cry of pain ripped through his lips. Spin had gone quiet, passed out from his own ordeal. Owen was panicking, whether it was about Spin or him, Marcus didn't know, nor did he care.
Status: 2%. TOTAL INFRASTRUCTURE SHUT DOWN IN: 50 seconds.
"Marcus, stop!"
"Almost…got it…" Marcus told Chase. "Get them….out of here…."
Status: 1%. TOTAL INFRASTRUCTURE SHUT DOWN IN: 30 seconds.
"I've an idea!"
A pressure came onto his back. Marcus wasn't sure what it was, but it knocked the wind out of him. The fire building inside him ran wild. It felt like it was shifting, moving around. Twisting around in his gut before traveling to his back.
Status: 1%. TOTAL INFRASTRUCTURE SHUT DOWN IN: 20 seconds.
Marcus's vision started to blur. A pop and he lost all vision in his eye, seeing nothing but static. A coppery taste filled his mouth. His hand was getting numb now. His lungs started to burn. Like someone had taken a hot iron poker and jammed it straight into both lungs. Still, Marcus persevered.
Status: 1%. TOTAL INFRASTRUCTURE SHUT DOWN IN: 10 seconds.
He looked up at Chase and gave him a cheeky grin.
9
"Don't be such a bitch," Marcus told him.
8
"Stop being a jerk!"
7
"Nah."
6
CRITICAL ALERT!
5
TOTAL INFRASTRUCTURE SHUT DOWN IMMINENT
4
"The bomb's deactivating. There's not enough power left in it!" someone cheered.
3
Marcus didn't know who. But he smiled.
2
At least he did something good.
1
BIONIC INFRASTRUCTURE SHUT DOWN. STATUS: TERMINATED
The lit up, the thing Marcus was conscience of was a light that filled the room and the sound of concrete falling around him.
….
…
..