April 17th, 2010 Tompkins house (Maddie's POV)-
"Alright Maddison-"
"Dad, please just give me another ten minutes. I've almost finished my project." I pleaded. I've spent the past three days trying to get into the secure network that I found last week. It doesn't really make sense that there is a private network this secure in the middle of nowhere. The only things close to our house are the three other mansions, one owned by Mr. Davenport.
"Honey is already an hour past your bedtime. Ms. Harrison doesn't want you to worry about your assignments too much. It's time for bed. Shut it down you can finish your work tomorrow." he insisted. I groaned and made sure to hide my backdoor into the network and shut down my laptop. Dad thinks that the project is just a simulation, he thinks that I'm still learning to hack. I love my parents but the amount of trouble I'd be in if they really knew all the dangerous things been doing for the past three months, I don't think I could ever see graduation.
"Good night Dad." "Goodnight Maddie, I love you."
April 18th, 2010 Tompkins house (Maddie's POV)-
"What the heck?" I had finally gotten into a couple of the secure files from the private network after almost a week of work to get them. The first one I reached was confusing, it held information on some weird biologically regulated atmospheric chambers. After that I kept digging and found a file that held blueprints for some sort of lab. The lab was sure to be state of the art but the weird part was there are no scientific facilities nearby.
So I worked my way through the network to find a base of location for the servers and found the location to line up with Mr. Davenport's house. Being the curious kid I am and with all the information that I could get my hands on I brought it upon myself to check out the lab. Just got to get my mom to let me go out.
"Hey Momma, can I go on a bike ride?" I asked. I have never loved lying to my parents, but with my abilities and the way trouble always seems to find me it'd probably be better if they didn't know.
"Yeah that be fine Maddie. are you meeting up with Kayla?"
"No Momma Kayla has homework to work to do because she goes to school. Unlike some people."
"Maddie you know we don't want you going to school because it can be dangerous for you. You're doing just fine with Ms. Harrison every week, I thought we talked about this. You know we'll come back to this when you're older." She explained.
"Yeah, yeah. Bye momma"
On my way out I grabbed my bike helmet and started heading to Mr. Davenport's house. It's a bit smaller than our house and it's about fifteen minutes away on my bike. When I got there I hid my bike in the bushes and snuck around behind the house. From the blueprints I knew that there was a garage entrance to the lab that was disguised like a waterfall. So cool!
Once I got to the waterfall I took out the cameras by looping the feed. Then without anyone around I used my enhanced lung capacity to blow the waterfall into splitting apart. The door behind it was easy to hack the system to open the garage. It was honestly kind of concerning how there was no other security measures after the door but that just made it easier for me. The lab was right past the garage, there was a girl and two boys in the lab. The tallest and oldest looking one was sitting at a desk trying to untangle what look like a yoyo. The girl who looked like she could be a year older than me was listening to music and off in her own world. The younger boy, who looked like he could be my age was walking into the lab from the opposite entrance. I didn't think that Mr. Davenport had kids.
"Who are you?! No one else is supposed to be down here! I need to tell-" The youngest boy started to exclaim. The other two looked up with shock.
"No no no no! Please don't tell anyone! I'm Maddie, I live across the street. I was just curious when I found the network and wanted to see what was going on." Hopefully they won't tell on me, I can't get in trouble with my parents. Plus it might be nice to have some friends close by, Kayla is cool but she's only ten and is always busy with school.
"We can't have anybody in the Lab! Mr. Davenport has never let anyone else in! We need to find him and-" The youngest began to ramble, when he was cut off.
"Chase no need to freak out, maybe we should just talk to her. You know it would be nice to have another girl around here for once." The Girl explained to the youngest, Chase.
"Yeah Chase-" the oldest said looking at a hyperventilating Chase, "with her around we'll finally have someone shorter than you." He and the girl began to snicker as Chase blushed.
"Hey Maddie- MADDIE!" Mr. Davenport walked into the lab not realizing the fact that his twelve year old neighbor was talking to his secret kids in his secret lab. Doing a double take to see her.
"What are you doing down here?!"
"Uh- I um- I f- found the lab by hacking into this secure network- which now that I think about it was your secret and highly secure network- and found some information on the lab and really wanted to see what it was. Plus there was some project file that looked really interesting and my mom always says that one day my curiosity would come back to bite me and I'm seeing how right she really is but th-" I rambled for what felt like hours on end while Mr. Davenport just seemed angry, shocked, then confused, then he looked like he was thinking through a problem.
"Maddie. Maddie! Stop talking!" I heard Mr. Davenport and quickly stopped "Okay first, how in the world did you get in here?"
"Garage, I used my backdoor in the system to open the door." I supplied meekly. Running my hand through my already messy hair.
"Alright, now did you tell anyone about all this?"
"No. No one knows but me." I answered more confidently.
Frustrated he rubbed his hand down his face. "Ugh- ok fine. This is fine. Maddie I need you to promise never to anyone about what I'm going to tell you, you promise?"
I nodded, now more nervous than I have been throughout the entire situation.
"Maddie, this is my Lab and these are my kids Adam-" the older looking boy, "Bree-" the girl, "and Chase" the boy that looked my age. "They are bionically enhanced humans. Adam is strong, Bree is fast, and Chase is really smart." That bothered me now that I had an explanation I could connect these three to the Project: Lab Rats file. The way he explained their abilities sounded like he was talking down to a child, and I may be young but I am smarter than that.
"You mean that Adam has super strength and enhanced durability, Bree has super speed and enhanced agility, while Chase has Super intelligence and super senses." While Mr. Davenport was stunned, I could see that Bree and Adam were smirking at their younger brother. I followed their line of sight to see Chase staring at me, jaw on the floor and eyes glazed over. I suddenly had a newfound interest with my shoes and heat creeping in my cheeks.
Suddenly Mr. Davenport broke out of his daze, pulling Maddie's attention back up.
"Hey, would you be interested in a job?" That was not what I was expecting.
"W- wha- A job? I just hacked you, broke into your house, spoke back to you, and your solution is to offer me a job?"
"Yeah. I have been needing a second pair of hands around the lab. Plus I'd be nice to have a fresh pair of eyes rescuing a network that a twelve year old seemed to tear apart." Mr. Davenport explained, I was still in shock.
"Y- ye- yes! Yes! I totally want it!" I realized my excitement must of had me looking like a little kid. "Uh- um... I mean of course, that sounds very nice Mr. Davenport. Thank you." He was smirking at my reaction and nodded along.
"Yes!" "OMG!" "Awesome!" The siblings answered.
"Well I'll leave you four to get to know each other while I get the papers sorted out." He said walking back towards the elevator.
"So..." Adam started "you like pigs?" Out of all the things he could've said that's what he chooses to ask first? I could hear Bree groan in annoyance and saw Chase roll his eyes.
"I guess I do, I don't really spend a lot of time around them. What do you guys do here?" I asked trying to move the conversion along.
February 26th, 2012 Davenports lab (Maddie's POV)-
Now that I've been going to actual school it's been a bit harder to prioritize my training and with my powers getting stronger, mainly my senses, it's been harder to keep control. I was sitting at my desk on the far end of the lab trying to focus on my work. Even with my headphones on I could hear the hum of the machines all around me, the heartbeats, and the breaths of the bionic siblings in the lab with me. Adam was looking for his E-pod, Bree was currently reading a magazine (with headphones in and a familiar E-pod in her lap), and Chase was reading something on his tablets.
Trying to focus on my work was becoming harder and I really needed to get it done before Davenport got back from his honeymoon with his new wife and stepson. Chase had just stepped out, towards the back area of the lab. Adam looked over at me thinking I couldn't hear him, (I don't like not telling the Lab rats but if I tell them they might tell Davenport who could tell my parents) turned to Bree.
"So how much longer you got on the two of them finally getting together?" Adam smirked, thankfully not noticing my blush.
"Well for being two of the smartest people I'll probably ever meet they are painfully oblivious to each other's feelings. Maddie loves to supervise Chase's physical training and Chase likes to drool over her when she's rebuilding Davenport's firewalls. It has to be at least another year before one of them has the guts to actually do something." Bree explained.
I was probably as red as a fire hydrant by now. Realizing that I wasn't being as subtle as I had thought but also for the fact that Chase apparently drools over me. Before their conversation could get any further I raised my volume to focus on my work. Hearing the footsteps coming back to the lab I forced myself to keep my eye on the screen in front of me. Finishing up my work I cleaned up my desk, turned off the monitor and turned to the bionic trio.
"Alright I'm heading out guys." Grabbing my bag from the floor I walked over to the island they were gathered around.
"Why are you leaving so early today?" Chase asked "You usually don't leave till around five thirty, it's only one twenty eight."
"Davenport is having some guests over today plus I have a project I have to finish tonight so I'm gonna head home early."
Chase is so cute worrying about me
Wait no don't think that
You can't do anything when you're lying to him
"Bye!" "See you tomorrow." "Bye Madds."
The way he said it so casually almost stopped me on my way out. The nickname was new and super cute. The butterflies in my stomach began to swarm and race around, the grin on my face stayed stuck all the way home.
I kept walking past my house to the woods on the side of the hill. I found the tree with the torn bandana in its branch and started climbing. After learning how easy it was to find the lab I wasn't taking any risks with my own base of operations. Reaching the bandana was the first part, then I began the trek towards the entrance. I jumped off the branch grabbing the highest branch of the next tree and swinging off of it. Hopping from tree to tree I began to speed by. I reached up to swing off the final branch that was only reachable from the previous tree.
Grabbing the branch and holding on, the branch lever bent out and the hidden gate in the floor opened up. It was made out of a base material that was nearly unbreakable and coated in a thick layer of concrete. Once the door opened far enough I dropped down into the cave. The system began to do its work taking in a full biometric scan then my vocal code. It was accepted and I entered the base. It wasn't too dissimilar to the lab, having my central console with its computers and all the cyber desk in the middle. But I did have an AI that's wasn't Eddy and my own gym. The most glaring difference though was my super suit on display at the end of the lab next to my weapons wall.
Time for training.
February 27th, 2012 Davenports lab (Leo's POV)-
This is so cool! I'm sitting in a secret lab owned by my billionaire stepdad watching my new bionic step siblings train. After watching Bree complete her training exercise, Big D began getting ready for Chase's exercise. I turned to see a random girl walking into the lab. She looked like she could be fourteen with long brown hair. She was slightly taller than me wearing an old galaxy wars t-shirt, with a flannel on top, ripped jeans, and combat boots. She is on a tablet not paying attention to anything else. This isn't good, are they just letting anyone in, what is with Big D and a lack of security.
"Uh- not to worry anyone but is she supposed to be here, in you know- your top secret lab with the illegally created bionic humans!!" She looked up from her tablet stunned clearly not expecting to see me. Then a look of realization seemed to dawn on her and went back to her tablet walking over to stand in between me and Bree.
"So I take it this is the new stepson? What happened to "no we aren't gonna tell him about Adam, Bree, and Chase" or "don't be ridiculous Maddie, he won't find the lab"? Are you telling me that I was right?" She asked snarkily, Davenport just glared at her from across the cyber desk.
"Leo meet Maddie, Maddie here is my Lab assistant and the only other person who knows about Adam, Bree, and Chase. Now that introductions are out of the way let's get back to training. Okay, Chase. Enemy grenade, three o' clock!"
I observed Maddie keeping her focus on her project only pulling away to see Chase complete his exercise successfully. A look of awe in her eyes. Bree just looked at her with a knowing smirk and I'm just more lost.
"Hey! Why does he get a force field, and I don't?" Adam complained.
"Cause if you had one, I wouldn't be able to do this." Adam was confused until bree threw her water bottle at his chest, gaining a wince from him.
Big D explained his plans for the day as he was leaving the lab and I saw Maddie finally put down her tablet and grab a backpack from the ground. Did she have that the entire time?
"Well, I better get ready for school." she explained.
"Yeah me too." I agreed.
"Ooh! I have always dreamed about going to school. Passing notes, going to prom, breaking into choreographed dance numbers after math class." Bree clearly had learned everything about high school from kids shows and Maddie snorted behind her.
"Yeah. All we do is eat, sleep, and train for missions. We're like human lab rats." Chase had to be embellishing what the amount of routine in their lives was.
"Come on, it can't be that bad." I offered then followed the nod of his head towards the wall, only to see Adam running on a human sized hamster wheel.
"So, you've never left this room? That explains the haircuts." I commented.
"I happen to like their haircuts." Maddie said matter of factly.
"I bet school's fun. You know, except for books, classes, and learning stuff." Adam huffed.
"Well I hate to tell you Adam but that's literally all it is. School sucks, it's basically government mandated and they expect you to be happy about the so-called education you are receiving." Maddie explained and I hummed in agreeance.
"Plus it's even worse when you're "the smart kid."" I added.
"Well, down here, smart is considered superior." Chase tried.
"No it's not." denied Adam and Bree "I mean maybe for Maddie but that's because she's also cool." Bree tagged on when she saw her friend's hurt look.
Suddenly, I had an amazing idea.
"Hey, you guys should come to school with me! You could be my bionic bodyguards!" I could see that the bionic trio loved the idea. Maddie did not.
"Okay!" "I'm in!" "Let's go!" "Not a good idea." We all turned to look at her.
"Maddieee come on! This is my one chance at popularity! Do you really want to take that away from me?" I begged.
"No it's not safe and I don't want to lose my job. If they go to school they could glitch or tear apart the whole school!" Maddie made some valid points, but I couldn't give up my chance. This could go really well or really... not well.
"Hey Chase, do you think it would be nice to go to school with Maddie? Could you talk to Davenport if we get caught? Make sure Maddie doesn't get fired?" I asked, smirking. The two teens began to show a blush, it was working.
"Uh- um- Y- yeah I could probably do that." he said, rubbing his neck and trying not to stutter.
"Oh Okay I guess if I definitely won't be getting fired it could be fun, just please don't blow up my school." She explained trying to pull herself back together. "We just need to shut down Eddy-"
"Not so fast short stack." I jumped at the appearance of the AI, my siblings just appeared to be annoyed but Maddie looked furious.
"I thought it was just in the living room?!" I shrieked.
"I told you to stop calling me short stack!" Maddie shouted in fury. Chase reached over to pull her back and make sure she didn't start attacking the wall. She grabbed Adam and pulled him over to a control panel. "Rip him apart." She - I wanna say growled.
"Aha! Sweet! I barely got electrocuted!" Adam said after he grabbed a handful of wires from Eddy's control panel.
"Ok I'll see you at school." Maddie said with a new skip in her step and walked out.
Note to self: never get in Maddie's bad side.
"Okay, come on. If we're gonna go to school, we should shower first, because two of us really stink." Bree grimaced.
Mission Creek High School (Maddie's POV)-
I was grabbing my algebra textbook from my locker when the three new students walked in with their brother. They were all raving about school and I started heading over to see them. I walked up to Leo as Bree stepped towards Amelia from my biology class.
"Hi, I'm Bree. I like ponies and girl things." She said to Amelia with a handshakes. She ran back to us, "Did you see that? I have besties. I can't wait to stab them in the back!" She babbled.
"Okay, hurtful." I said to Bree. I had been friends with her for two years.
"You know it's not the same. You're like my sister , they are just friends from school." She explained innocently.
"Yeah that makes it better." I smiled. Adam ripped a locker door off its hinges as Chase pulled him back to us.
"Would you two quit goofing off? We're supposed to not draw attention to ourselves." Chase reprimanded his siblings but then the school bell rang for the first period.
The irony in this was almost laughable but I was there only four months before when I started going to public school. It's extremely painful and it feels like the bell hammer is beating inside your skull.
"What's up with crazy?" Leo asked.
"He has ultra-sensitive bionic hearing." Bree said not understanding the pain her brother was facing.
"What was that?!" Chase said, finally breaking from his tourture.
"It's called a bell. It rings every 40 minutes, eight times a day. So... have fun with that." Leo clarified.
"Come on big guy." I said helping him off the ground "let's get to algebra." I rubbed his back a bit to help him through the residual pain. It took me weeks to get used to the bell, and it's still a bit of an annoyance with a slight ring in my ear.
Davenport's house (No One's POV)-
"Hey, honey. Oh, okay. So we have kids living in the basement, and we walk on the furniture— got it." Tasha said sarcastically as Davenport ran across the couch.
"The alarm in the lab went off, Eddy's been disabled, and the kids are gone." Davenport said hysterically.
"Those animals yanked my wires! And one of 'em manhandled my motherboard!" Eddy complained.
"Where are the kids?!" Davenport yelled.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you talking to me, or the wife you replaced me with?! You know, I might like a new pair of shoes, too!" Eddy cried.
"Eddy!"
"Fine! They went to school with Leo and Maddie." Eddy relented.
"No. No, no, no, no, no, no. They can't go to school, not with their glitches! How could Maddie let this happen?!" Davenport ranted.
"What glitches?"
"Because they're human, their emotions can trigger their bionics. If one of 'em gets a little nervous or upset, or even a little bit too happy..."
"Uh-huh?"
"They could take out everything from here to Tijuana."
"What?! You did not mention this on your profile."
"Come on!" Davenport pushed.
MCHS Gym (Maddie's POV)-
For whatever reason it was mandatory to go to the pep rallies at school, so I sat down at the top of the bleachers with my tablet and got to work. With my headphones on I double checked to make sure no one was paying attention to me. I needed to make some adjustments to my mission suit. On my last outing, some guy thought it would be fun to pour acid on me. Luckily the suit took most of the damage and the rest healed quickly.
Just as I was getting somewhere with the new design I heard the words glitch and heat vision. Never a good combination. I looked up to see Adam's eyes glowing then jumped into action. I put my tablet down, ran to grab the fire extinguisher, pulled the pin, and shot the foam right after Adam set the fire.
Then things seemed to move even faster. A chain reaction of events leads to a decapitated mascot, a hurt cheerleader, and five kids waiting for trouble.
"So, how was school?!" Davenport fumed as he came into the gym.
We all gave our most innocent smiles hoping for an easier punishment.
"Get in the helicopter!" He yelled.
"I'm just gonna head- home." I said trying to step away.
"You too Maddison." He said through his teeth, I winced at my full name and followed along.
Davenport house (Maddie's POV)-
We all got to the Davenport house and sat in the living room waiting for our comeuppance. I sat in between Chase and Adam. Davenport was fuming.
"Do you realize what you've done? I had to write a check to that school for 30 grand to make this go away." Davenport started.
"For thirty grand, I'll go away." Leo added.
"Why would you encourage this?" Davenport asked me
"We're sorry. We just wanted to be normal for a day." Bree spoke up seeing that I was struggling.
"Oh, come on, Donald, they're just kids. When I was their age, me and Fiona Micklejohn, we snuck out and we crashed– You know what? I'm not helping." Tasha tried.
"Look, I designed you guys to go on highly classified missions, not try out for the cheerleading squad." Davenport said, becoming even more frustrated.
"Oh... well, there goes that dream." Adam mumbled, it took a lot not to question him.
"Mr. Davenport it wasn't Maddie's fault! She tried to stop us but we pushed her. We would've done it with or without her." Chase tried to defend me.
"Look, I know you're mad, Big D, but these guys performed the impossible today— They made me popular. I got game!" Leo kept trying but if anything he was making the situation worse.
"And I cured male pattern baldness with a biology rat." Chase beamed.
"Ooh! And I got invited to my first party! By a boy!" Bree continued.
"How exciting! We gotta get you clothes and shoes, and we'll do— again, not helping." Tasha said.
"That's it. Leo, Maddie, you two are banned from the lab. And you three are to have no contact with the outside world. No talking, no texting, no Maddie."
"Am I fired?" I asked meekly.
"No, but you will not be working here. I am gonna transfer you. Everyone go to bed." Davenport finished walking away in disappointment.
"Well, I guess I have to go home now. I hope I can see you guys again." I grabbed my bag and left without a second glance. If I looked back I know I wouldn't be able to leave.
I got home and just changed into my sweats, put on the Office, and just sat in bed. I'm about to fall asleep when my phone starts going off. I answered the phone to hear leo screaming on the other end with music blaring in the background. I winced, pulling my phone away from my ear at the noise.
"Leo what's going on?"
"Maddie! You should come join the party! We are having a party for Adam, Bree, and Chase' last night of freedom!" Leo yelled through the phone. Knowing them would lead to trouble and they'd definitely get caught. I couldn't just lay at home with that going on.
"Okay Leo, I'm on my way." I hung up, not bothering to change. I grabbed some vans and my bike, heading over to the Davenport house. When I got to the front gate I used my security pass to get into the front yard of the house, I could already hear the music.
Opening the door I saw Leo dancing, Chase and Adam talking by the food, and Bree talking with a guy by the stairs. The house was full of people. It took a minute to adjust to all the noise but I thought my best bet would be to talk to Adam and Chase before something happened.
"Hey, want some cake Maddie?" Adam asked.
"I'd be careful Madds, that piece of cake has approximately 47 grams of sugar. If you eat it, you'll be bouncing off the walls for hours." Chase said, looking at me.
"How do you know that?" Adam asked and I hummed in agreement.
"Cause I just had 12 pieces! Whoo-hoo!" Chase grabbed my hand and ran for the couch. He pulled me up with him and Adam followed after grabbing a fist full of cake.
We were all jumping on the couch as the door opened to reveal Mr. and Mrs. Davenport. Leo pulled up in a golf cart while wearing a samurai helmet
"Hey, you're back! How did these people get here?!" Leo tried to weasel out of the situation.
"You are in big trouble, mister." Tasha reprimanded.
"Hey, everybody! Thanks for coming. Get out!!!" Everyone began flooding out of the house, save me, Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo.
The door closes.
"You kids have really done it this time. And who gave Eddy cake?" Adam raised his hand shyly.
"I just wanted them to have one more night of fun before you put them back in their display cases." Leo explained.
"Biologically regulated atmospheric chambers. Look, the fun's over. As of tomorrow, you're all being relocated. Permanently!" Mr. Davenport decided.
"What?!" We all chorused.
"What part of "no contact with the outside world" did you not understand?" He questioned.
"Where are we going?" Bree asked, she was worried, but who could blame her they were being forced away from their childhood home.
"To one of my remote research facilities where you can complete your training." He stated with a firm tone.
"But this is home. This is where I get my meaty-flavored pellets!" Adam argued. Not a strong argument.
"Not anymore. Now go downstairs and pack your stuff." He said leaving no room for any other argument.
"This isn't fair. They're my best friends." Leo tried for one last hit.
"Donald, when are you going to realize that they're not just science projects? They're teenagers." Tasha tried to change his views. The leaving the room.
"Any chance we can ship her off, too? If not her, maybe the short stack?" He pushed.
"No! We can't ship them off." Davenport gave Eddy an incredulous look.
"Okay, just checking." The AI demon said in disappointment. For whatever reason whatever reason Davenport won't get rid of him.
Davenport Lab (Bree's POV)-
We were all down in the lab getting ready for bed. Leo and Maddie had snuck down to spend the last night with us. Leo had fallen asleep gripping Adam and Maddie, well...
"I can't believe this is our last night in the lab." I said finishing up brushing my hair.
"I think Leo's really gonna miss us." Chase said from inside his capsule
"Yeah" I snorted, "Maddie too. Don't you think so Chase?" We all looked to see Maddie leaning against Chase in his capsule. It wasn't very new to see Maddie and Chase cuddling, it was something that would happen now and again when the two of them were in close proximity to each other. Even though the blush on Chase's face was priceless as he looked up realizing that he was caught staring at her.
"Uh y- yeah, I guess." He stuttered and Maddie shifted. She tightened her arm around his waist and nuzzled her head into his neck.
"Think we should wake them up?" Adam asked from his capsule.
"No, let them sleep." I said smiling towards my brothers. I was really hoping something would happen between Maddie and Chase before we left. They really make each other happy, I don't see why they won't just tell each other their feelings.
"But Leo's drooling on my socks." Adam whined.
A/N: That's it for Crush, Chop, and Burn! Pt.1 Let me know what you think.