A week went by and I hadn't gone back to the Davenports. I was on the phone with Chase who just told me the most bizarre thing ever.

"So let me make sure I understand this correctly. In order to make fast money, Davenport is going to fly above Mission Creek in a jet wing - that hasn't been tested - in order to raise enough money to build a new lab?" Chase confirmed this and I scoffed. "He's insane."

"Well we have to get money quickly so our capsules can be rebuilt before our bionics start to glitch."

"It's been almost a week and I feel fine."

"Well it's only a matter of time. So, will you come?" I sighed.

"I don't know Chase..."

"Come on, we could really use your help." I scoffed a second time.

"Why should I help your dad when he hasn't even explained why he lied to me?"

"You haven't really given him a chance to." I rolled my eyes, even though he was right. "Maybe once things settle down he'll say something. If you won't do it for him, do it for the rest of us." Despite being angry with Davenport, I knew I should pitch in. Like Chase said, it's only a matter of time before the glitches start.

"Fine. What time should I be there?"

"Tomorrow, 7 am." I internally groaned at the idea of being up so early on a Saturday, but promised I'd be there.

I was helping Chase set up mission control, and each of us had a headset on.

"I still can't believe you only landed one sponsor, Leo." Davenport said.

"You're lucky I got one. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a sponsor for an old guy who thinks he can fly?"

"The best you could do was Go-Go Global Pack and Ship?" He asked, pointing to the banner hung on the front of our table. There was also a big logo on the ground and balloons everywhere. I helped put a lot of it up.

"Now you only get paid if you survive." Leo told Davenport which made the man become more nervous if that was even possible. "But if you don't, they'll ship your remains to your home state for free. Alaska and Hawaii not included. You're also contractually obligated to say "Go-Go Global Pack and Ship" throughout your flight."

"That's gonna be hard for him. He's not used to promoting anything but himself." I muttered to Leo and Chase who nodded.

"All right, two minutes to launch." Leo announced. I followed Chase to the table set up with computers and helped with final preparations.

Tasha came over just as we got Davenport's helmet cam set up so we could communicate with him while he was airborne.

"Okay, guys, we're about to start the webcast. Tasha Davenport presents "Look Out Below: A Jet-Wing Catastrophe!"" Davenport flipped out.

"Oh, for-"

"It's just for ratings." Tasha assured him, but it didn't calm his nerves.

"Your helmet-cam is up and running. Harper and I'll man mission control, and cue you when it's time to release your parachute for the landing." Chase said and Davenport nodded.

"Okay." He said in a high pitched voice.

"Ready to roll, Big D?" Leo asked.

"I can do this. I can do this." Davenport said, mostly to himself and he put on his helmet.

I watched as Tasha began the live Webcast. It made me nervous that we'd be on camera.

"The world waits with bated breath, as Donald Davenport, husband of witty, yet personable reporter Tasha Davenport, prepares to launch for the first ever jet-wing flight across Mission Creek."

She stepped aside to let the camera focus on Davenport who was on the verge of hyperventilating. He took deep breaths and waved at the camera. Instead of having confetti, packing peanuts were blasted into the air for a dramatic effect. Mr. Davenport had to spit out a couple that somehow got in his mouth.

"Before I launch, I would like to take a moment, maybe longer, and, uh, thank everybody for coming out today. It really means a lot, and I see a lot of familiar faces in the crowd. And since I have time, I would like to mention you all by name."

"Why is he stalling?" Chase asked us.

"Doesn't really matter to me. I have the launch button." Leo said. He was standing next to me and his was hand ready to press it.

"Hey, I'm the one helping with mission control so I get the launch button." I grabbed a hold of the computer but Leo grabbed it and didn't let it go. We began a tug of war and Leo accidentally pressed the button.

"Cynthia Forrester. Wow! How are the kids-" Mr. Davenport was cut off when the jet turned on and he was launched into the air.

"Whoops." Leo and I said and we turned to look at Chase who was shaking his head, but he didn't seem upset.

"Well, I guess he can't stall anymore." He said. We watched as Davenport flew higher and higher, his screaming loud and clear in our headsets. Eventually it stopped as he leveled out.

All was going as planned for the next little while.

Davenport cheered as he was flying. Leo grabbed my mic so he could talk to him.

"You doin' alright up there, Big D?" He asked.

"Yeah, I don't know what I was worried about. This is awesome. But not as awesome as the low, low prices at Go-Go Global Pack and Ship."

"Wow, he actually promoted someone other than himself." I said, mildly impressed.

"We are gonna make a fortune. Tons of people are tuning into the live Webcast." I looked at Chases computer and saw that over 10,000 people were watching.

"Of course they are. I'm amazing." Mr. Davenport said into the camera, "But not as amazing as shipping your valuables with Go-Go Global Pack and Ship. All right, enough coasting. It's time for some extreme free styling. All right, world, let's slather up this stunt with some Davenport butter."

"Mr. Davenport, I wouldn't-"

"Whoa, turbulence!" As if that wasn't bad enough, an alarm started beeping. "What was that?"

"That was your parachute." Chase informed him nervously.

"Aah!"

"Not to worry. You'll be fine for the moment. You'll just continue at jet speed until your wings run out of jet fuel." I didn't like where Chase was going with this and leaning closer, I covered my mic.

"What happens then?" I asked Chase nervously.

"Then he'll crash." He answers, looking like he was about to get sick. Leo and I looked wide eyed at Chase and to be honest I was starting to feel a little sick myself.

"Oh, no. I'm gonna fall. Faster than the prices at Go-Go Global Pack and Ship." Mr. Davenport began sobbing and Chase sank into his seat and was pulling his hair.

"Good analogy, Davenport." I said, hoping to lighten the mood, but judging by the looks I got from the boys it didn't work.

Tasha chose the wrong time to come over with her video crew. Chase was furiously typing into his computer and I was trying to turn off an alarm going off on mine. I got so frustrated that I started punching the keyboard.

"Famed reporter Tasha Davenport here, bringing you one of the most tense moments in television history. A live jet wing crash! We have exclusive access to mission headquarters, where I'm sure they have everything under control." All three of us looked with wide eyes at the camera. I nudged Chase who was quiet for a few tense seconds as he tried to think of something to say.

"We're, uh... We're mulling our options." Chase told the world, choosing his words carefully. Tasha covered her mic.

"Mulling your options? That is my husband up there." She hissed.

"Hello. Somebody needs to come up with a solution fast. There is jet fuel leaking inside my flight suit." A couple seconds later he corrected himself. "Nope, not jet fuel."

"This is all my fault. I had the idea of sending him up there." Leo said. If he was looking for someone else to take the blame, he was going to have to look elsewhere.

"No argument here." Chase commented, confirming this, and Leo looked wide eyed at him. "Mr. Davenport, we're just gonna have to use our bionic-" I stomped on Chase's foot to stop him from finishing that sentence. Leo unfortunately didn't get the message.

"Chase, you can't show the world your bion-" I had to stomp on Leo's foot next and after he looked at the camera trying to hide his pain. "Hi." He said to the camera.

"Stop saying bion-a-hi, call Adam and Bree, and get me out of the sky!" Davenport shouted.

"Well, we'd love to, but someone took away our cell phone service."

"Really? Guilt? Now?"

"I'll run to school and get Adam and Bree. Keep his hopes up." Leo told us and he ran off. Chase and I sat down and tried to act casual. I was doing a better job than Chase, but he tried his best.

"So... Whatcha gonna do tomorrow if you make it?" Chase asked and I elbowed him.

"What Chase is trying to say is..." I paused, suddenly tongue tied. What do you say to someone on the verge of dying. "...what kind of flowers would you like at your funeral in the unlikely event of your death?" Chase glared at me.

"That's not any better!" I covered my mic.

"Well it's the best I got!" I hissed back. Our argument was interrupted when my headphones suddenly sparked and smoke quickly followed. I ripped them off. "What happened?"

"Your bionics are glitching. You just fried your headphones!"

"Great!" I tossed them on the table and went to check how much fuel the jets still had, but Chase stopped my hand from touching the keyboard.

"Don't touch anything!" I felt my fingertips tingle and he recoiled his hand. "Ow! You just zapped me with your lightning!"

"So you're saying I...shocked you?" I chuckled at my own joke but Chase didn't even crack a smile. I immediately stopped laughing and my face became red from the way I just embarrassed myself. Did I seriously just do a lame pun? At a time like this? When do I ever do that? And in front of Chase?

After a few awkward minutes, Leo came back with Adam and Bree in tow.

"Okay, Okay, we've got some serious problems. Adam's heat vision's glitching out, Bree's bouncing off the walls, and I saw Principal Perry's bare feet. And can I just say-?" Leo covered his eyes and screamed.

"What's on his face?" Chase asked, referring to Adam.

"It's a hubcap. It's the only thing I could find that would shield my heat vision." I could hear his heat vision hit against the metal. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Guys, I can't keep circling above you. I'm almost out of fuel. What's the plan?"

"We're working on it." Chase said before covering his microphone to talk to us. "I've run through every possible scenario, and they all end with the Donald Davenport memorial bridge."

"Well, we can't just let him fall. Use your magnetism app." Chase shook his head at Leo.

"I can't. The jet-wing is made out of fiberglass, not metal."

"Well, We have to do something." Leo insisted, "The whole reason he did this ridiculous stunt was to get the lab back for you guys."

"Leo's right. Mr. Davenport put his life on the line for us." Bree said.

"Yeah. Plus, he's our dad. Wait, technically, he's not our dad. Why are we here again?" Oh Adam.

"You guys are gonna have to use your bionics, but not with all these people around." Leo said.

"I'll take care of that." I volunteered, desperate to get away from Chase before I did something stupid. I went to the center of the landing zone and stuffed my hands in my jeans pockets in case they decided to glitch.

"Okay, attention. I'm gonna need everyone to clear this space out immediately." No one moved and I rolled my eyes. "There are free snacks inside." I revealed and that made the crowd rush inside.

"Hey, guys, good news. If he does crash, we've got this adorable little tote bag we can collect his pieces with." Adam said, and he showed us this 'tote' which was actually the parachute that Davenport dropped.

"Adam, where'd you get that?" Leo asked.

"I found it on the side of the road next to the hub cap."

"Adam, that's not a tote bag. That's the parachute that fell from Mr. Davenport's jet-wing." Chase took the parachute from his brother. "We gotta find a way to get this to him."

"Why don't we just give it to him when he lands?" Adam asked dumbly.

"Hey, what if Adam uses his strength to launch it back up to him?" Leo suggested and Chase lit up at the idea.

"Yes. I'll calculate the coordinates, and guide his throw." He went over and popped the parachute in Adams hand. "Here. All right, Mr. Davenport, be on the lookout. I'm sending up your parachute." He adjusted Adam's arm to the right angle.

"All right, here we go. Three, two, one." The parachute was thrown into the air in a direct path to Davenport.

"Adam, great job. It's heading straight for him." I praised, which turned out to be a mistake.

"Cool, let me see!" He lifted the hubcap on his face up and his heat vision glitched, sending a laser that reached Davenport and sliced part of the jet wing. We all gaped at Adam. "Whoops. I think I'm just gonna pull this back down."

I could hear Davenport's terrified scream from Chase's headphones and was starting to get really worried we wouldn't be able to save him.

"Relax, Mr. Davenport, I have a plan." Chase assured his dad. Tasha walked over.

"Why aren't you saving him? Can't any of you fly?" We all looked awkwardly at each other, "What do you do in that basement all day?"

To make things more complicated, Perry runs into the area, huffing and puffing. Stopping in front of us, she doubled over while breathing haphazardly.

"Thanks for leaving me behind. Why'd you use your super speed?"

"I didn't." Bree said.

"I can try to use my molecular kinesis to slow his descent, but he's still gonna hit too hard."

"Wait, we are in the parking lot of a shipping store. We can use cardboard boxes to break his fall." Leo suggested.

"And tape... to put him back together." Adam joked, and I rolled my eyes.

"You heard him. Let's go." Perry left with everyone, but I stayed behind with Chase.

"I'll use my molecular kinesis too." I told him but he shook his head.

"You can't. You might glitch and your lightning could hit Mr. Davenport. Plus, Principal Perry doesn't know about your bionics."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" I demanded, becoming frustrated from not being able to help.

"Keep yourself from glitching so Perry isn't shocked by your lightning." I gave him a look, not impressed with him making fun of my pun.

All I could do was watch as everyone minus Chase tape together boxes to create a crash pad. I kept myself from saying anything about the numerous ways this might not work.

Chase gave me the head phones so I could keep Davenport calm and he could focus on using his molecular kinesis.

"Guys, I'm out of fuel. I'm trying not to use my scared voice," Davenport's voice became high-pitched, "-but it's slipping out."

"Mr. Davenport, Chase is slowing you down and they're building a crash pad. Try to aim for it." I said through the microphone.

"It's working. I'm slowing down. I'll release the jet-wing so it won't crush me on impact." I nodded before realizing he couldn't see me.

"Good idea." I said into the mic and I glanced at Chase, "You doing OK?" I asked and he nodded, but I could tell he was having a hard time using his bionics.

"All right, we're good to go. Boxes are set up as a crash pad." Bree informed us, then she grew panicked. "Oh, no. I feel a glitch coming on."

"Got it." Leo dropped a box over Bree's head that was tall enough to trap her inside before she sped off.

"I bet she looks stupid." Adam said and then his heat vision glitched.

"Chase, what's wrong?" Leo asked and I looked at him and saw that Chase was struggling.

"I think my bionics are glitching, too."

"What's happening? I'm free-falling again!" Davenport screamed, "Five hundred feet! Four hundred feet!"

"Do something!" Leo shouted at Chase while shaking him. Chase took a deep breath and raised his hands again.

"It's working. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna live." I was watching Chase and when Davenport started screaming I knew he glitched. "I'm falling again, I'm not gonna make it. My life is over!" Then he calmed down, "What? No, I'm fine. I'm okay, I'm- Nope, I'm a goner!" More screaming.

"Aim for the boxes, money bags." Perry yelled even though Davenport couldn't hear him.

"One hundred feet!" Chase began to wobble.

"I can't control him anymore." He said weakly and I couldn't stop him from collapsing without risk of shocking him.

Making a decision, I looked towards the sky and ignored Davenport's and Perry's screaming as I raised my hands and tried to activate my molecular kinesis so I could maybe slow his descent in the last few feet.

I was only able to slow him down the tiniest bit before he crash landed on Perry. I felt a little unstable but Leo wrapped an arm around my waist so I didn't fall.

"I think we've learned something today. Nobody covers a story like Tasha Davenport." Yes, because that's what's important right now.

"Is he dead?" Perry asked breathlessly from underneath Donald.

"No." Chase, who had woken up, told her.

"Am I dead?" Perry asked.

"Unclear, but just to be safe, we should probably proceed with a burial." Despite the almost accident, I was able to smile at Leo.

Despite the almost catastrophe, Mr. Davenport got paid, at least enough to build two capsules. They were put in Tasha's sewing room until the new lab could be built. We all had to take turns using them, but it was a relief not dealing with the glitching.

After I spent a few hours in the capsule, I was on my way out when Mr. Davenport stopped me.

"I think we need to talk."

"I'm not so sure I want to." I said, not looking at him. He sighed.

"Harper, I want to apologize for not being up front with you about this, I just didn't want you to worry." My forehead wrinkles and my hand leaves the doorknob as I turn to look at him.

"Worry?" I asked. He motioned for me to come over to the couch and I reluctantly did. He waited until I sat down before talking.

"When I said you're bionic chip couldn't be removed, I wasn't lying."

"But I saw the schematics-"

"And they're true. Yes, I can remove your bionic chip, but then I'd be putting your life at risk."

"I don't understand." He wasn't making any sense.

"If I removed your chip, I'd activate some sort of trigger that would cause your bionic infrastructure to self-destruct."

"Self - destruct?" I repeated. "Like, I'd blow up?" Davenport nodded. "Why would Douglas do that?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to risk tampering with it. Make a mistake and well...I think you know what I'm trying to say." I got up and began to pace as I processed all this. "And I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry." I jerked my head in his direction.

"What do you think I'm doing now?" I exclaimed and his face turned away. "So there's nothing you can do?"

"Nothing I'm willing to risk your life over." Sighing harshly, a heavy weight settled on my chest.

"So Douglas won after all." I said quietly.

"Maybe he didn't." Davenport came to my side, "Douglas intended for Adam, Bree, and Chase to be bionic war machines and I was able to turn them into bionic heroes. Maybe... you could too." I laughed dryly until realizing he was dead serious.

"What, me? Become a bionic hero?" I asked, and he nodded, "You're not serious."

"I am."

"I-I... don't know. I'm not really the hero type."

"But you can be with some more training. You've been great so far with it."

"I don't know." I repeated. Mr. Davenport put a hand on my shoulder.

"Just, think about it. Ok?" I nodded reluctantly, and was quick to leave after that.