We sit in the backseat of my Mom's SUV as we watch the houses get bigger and bigger. I looked over at my best friend Leo who was sitting in the seat next to me. We were sandwiched by boxes of Leo and his mother's stuff as we made our way to their new home.
"Leo! Are you excited to move in with your new step-dad?" My mom asked, looking at us in the rearview mirror.
"I'm so excited! I mean he is a billionaire!" He exclaims happily. He looks at me and I give him a look that says "really". "But you know I'm going to miss living next to you guys." He says in a high pitch fake voice. I roll my eyes and jokingly punch his arm.
"No your not. You are moving in with a super-rich tech genius. You won't miss us at all." My older brother Alex said from the passenger seat.
"Ya and don't think we won't be over all of the time," I say giving him a teasing look. "You can't get rid of us that easily Dooley." We start laughing.
"Ya especially since you two are staying with us for the next two weeks." He says nodding at my brother and me.
"Not that this isn't a nice moment but look we are here!" My mom says as she hits the button to open the very large gates. We pull up the driveway and we are all blown away.
"Wow! This place looks so cool!" I yell as I climb out of the car.
"Mom!" Leo yells as he runs and hugs his mother.
"Leo!" She greets her son lovingly. "Hey, guys." She greets us as she pulls us into a hug as well.
"How was the honeymoon, Tasha?" My mom asks greeting her best friend.
"It was great! We had so much fun. And I can't wait for you to see the house." Tasha gushed with her best friend. Alex gestures for Leo and me to follow him to the car. He loads us up with bags and boxes as we make our way to the door.
"Mr. Davenport? Where would you like this?" Alex asks as we approach the front door.
"I'll show you when we get inside but first." Mr.Davenport says as he tries to pick up his bride. He struggles a little but does eventually lift her up.
"Wow, I'm kind of surprised those little arms can carry an actual person," I whisper to my brother and best friend.
"Stop." My mom reprimands me but also is holding back a laugh. We watch as the older man carries Tasha through the door.
"Welcome home Mrs.Davenport." He says spinning his wife around in the living room.
"Why thank you, Mr.Davenport" Tasha replies dreamily.
"Absolutely Mrs.Davenport." Mr.Davenport replies dramatically as he leans in for a kiss.
"We get it. You got married. It's getting old." Leo deadpans as we carry in the bags and boxes.
"Wow, this place is so cool!" I remark as we set the items down.
"You got this big house just from inventing things?" Leo asks his Stepfather. The older man nods and Leo turns to his mother. "Now that's a husband." He whispers to her.
"I know! Way to add the one thing this family was missing. A guy with loads of money." I add.
"Mara!" My mother scolds but as soon as she turns away Aunt Tasha fistbumps Leo and me.
"What's this?" My brother asks pointing at some machine next to the couch.
"That's my latest creation." Mr.Davenport informs Alex as he comes up to the machine. "This is Davenport Industries' first completely interactive 3-D TV." He explains as he turns the device on.
Suddenly a 3-D baseball diamond appears in front of us. We hear what sounds like a ball hitting a bat and a crowd cheering. Suddenly, a real-sized baseball comes flying from the image right towards Leo. The younger boy runs back to catch it but hits the wall before he can.
"Hey! Watch the face, termite." The wall yells back. I look around and see a screen on the wall light up with a big e that has a face.
"Mom, I think the little voice in my head is back," Leo says slightly freaking out.
"No, this is Eddy. He's my smart home system." Mr.Davenport laughs at his stepson. "Eddy this is my new stepson Leo, Tasha's best friend Cheryl, her son Alex, and her daughter Mara who happens to be Tasha's Goddaughter." He says pointing at all of us individually. "Remember, I told you Leo and Tasha are moving in today." He tells the A.I.
"Hey welcome." The computer exclaims. "Everything here is mine." It says before it turns off.
"Did you design him to be a complete jerk on purpose or no?" I ask the older man crossing my arms. The older man looked at me unamused and leaned in between Leo and me.
"Why don't you two go check out Leo's new room." He says looking between both of us. We nod excitedly and he laughs. "Ok just go straight down that hallway, and when you see the room with the video games and action figures and the 50 foot TV Screen, keep going, that's mine." Leo and I look at each other annoyed but start our way down the hall. After a little while of us looking in different rooms we get frustrated.
"This place is huge!" I say to Leo as we come across another sitting area.
"I know!" Leo complains. "I'm going to need a GPS just to find the bathroom." He comments leaning against the wall. Suddenly, a door with the Davenport industries logo appeared on the opposite wall.
"Huh, you must have hit that panel when you leaned back," I comment pointing at the keypad behind him. The doors open and we exchange looks and shrug. We walk forward into the room and look around.
"Hello?" Leo calls into the room. I look around and realize that it was actually an elevator. However, before I can voice that thought the door closes, and the elevator drops suddenly and extremely fast. This causes Leo and I to scream loudly. When we stop and the doors open Leo and me stick our heads around the corner and peer out the door. We see some sort of layer with all of this high tech stuff in it.
"This must be a layer of some sort," I say as I walk out of the elevator.
"You know what this means?" Leo says grabbing my shoulders and I shake my head. "My new Dad is Batman!" He yells gesturing to the rest of the room.
"Ya I don't think that's it," I say patting his shoulders. Suddenly, the door on the opposite wall starts to open and I grab Leo's arm and pull him behind some yellow barrels that were in the room. We hide just in time to see a boy around our age with the ugliest haircut I have ever seen comes running into the room. He then shuts the doors behind him.
"Good luck getting in! That steel door is thicker than your head!" The boy yells to someone on the other side. Suddenly the door bent almost as if someone had punched it. Then after another punch, the doors go crashing to the ground with a loud clang. A much taller boy walks through the now broken door almost as if what just happened was normal. "Well, there's another way to get in." The shorter boy responds.
"Holly…" Leo starts but I quickly cover his mouth before the other boys could hear him. It was a good thing I did because the larger boy picks up the smaller one by the back of the weird suit that he was wearing.
"Give me back my ePod!" The larger boy demands as he shakes the smaller one.
"I don't have it!" The smaller one shouts just as a girl walks in with the said device.
"Hey." She greets as she clicks through the ePod. The tall boy lets out a long gasp.
"You took my ePod!" He shouts as he drops the smaller boy with a large thud.
"Taylor Swift Mega Mix? Really?" She asks laughing.
"I find her soothing!" The tall one defends. The girl just shakes her head and turns to walk back into the other room. He however stops her by shooting lasers out of his eyes.
"Did he just?" I whisper to Leo who nods back with wide eyes.
"Oh, I know you didn't shoot that laser at me." She snaps seemingly unbiased that he was able to shoot lasers in the first place.
"Oh, sorry. It was a terrible mistake." The larger boy says faking the apology. "Just like your face." He adds back. It reminded me of the way Alex, Leo, and I tease each other, sibling-like. She obviously was not amused by the comment because the next thing I know she was in front of the boy and was pushing him into the tubs Leo and I were hiding behind. Leo and I duck to avoid being hit by the falling objects and come face to face with the three mysterious people.
"Ahhhhhh!" The three of them scream at the sight of us.
"Ahhhhhh!" Leo and I scream hugging each other.
"Ahhhhhh!" We all scream together. I then grab Leo's hand and run into the other room with him squealing loudly behind me. However the other three follow behind us and corner us behind some sort of computer console.
"We don't tend to play this card that much but." Leo starts to say.
"Mom!" We cry at the same time. Soon our parents and my brother come off the elevator and make their way into the layer.
"Leo." Aunt Tasha calls. "There you guys are."
"Mara." My mother does the same as we run into our respective mother's arms.
"What is this place?" my brother asks looking around the odd room.
"Who are they?" Aunt Tasha asks confused, pointing at the three other people in the room.
"Oh, them. There, uh, a boy band I have been working with." Davenport says trying to play it cool but obviously failing.
"One of them is a girl." My mom points out unamused.
"Well that's the twist, Cheryl," Davenport says like she is stupid. "One of them is a girl." He adds half-heartedly. The girl tried to help by giving us a thumbs up but none of us were buying it.
"How stupid do you think we are?" I ask him, crossing my arms.
"Ok." He sighs "They are a part of a top-secret project I've been developing. Genetically Engineered superhuman siblings." He says geeking out.
"Cool!" Leo, Alex, and I shout at the same time as our mother's shout "Excuse me?"
"Tasha, Leo, Cheryl, Alex, and Mara, meet Adam, Bree, and Chase, the greatest combination of biology and technology ever developed. I don't want to brag but I am incredibly smart." He says taking a little bit of an ego trip. Aunt Tasha turns around and looks at us with a look that says 'can you believe this?'.
"Hey don't look at us." My mother says to her.
"Ya, we told you to stay away from internet dating," Leo says as we all nod in agreement.
"So they're robots." Aunt Tasha says to her husband hesitantly.
"Whoa!" Chase gasps.
"Hey!" Adam yells offended.
"Oh no she didn't," Bree says pointing her finger at the older woman.
"No, Tasha, they are human, I've just given each of them a unique set of bionic abilities controlled by a microchip implanted in their necks. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is." Mr.Davenport says biting his finger waiting for our reaction.
"Ya cause that's not complicated at all." My brother replies, rolling his eyes.
"What kind of abilities do they have?" I ask excitedly. I have always been a bit of a closeted nerd so to find out that my best friend would be living with superheroes was exciting.
"Well, I'm glad you asked Mara. See Adam has brute strength, and Bree has speed and agility, and Chase has super senses and a superior intelligence." He says proudly pointing to each kid.
"Cool!" Leo and I yell at the same time. However, my mother was not amused and she gestured at Tasha as if to say 'deal with this.'
"Donald." Tasha says as she approaches her husband. "Hi." She says nervously as she walks by the strange teens. "There are children IN OUR BASEMENT!" She whispers yells at her husband.
"This is a scientific habitat!" The scientists defends his actions.
"Is this place even suitable for children?" My mother pipes up looking around the lad.
"I mean look around! It has a game room and a rock wall, anything a kid could ask for!" He says showing us around the room. "I've created this place so that they can train in the utmost comfort and technology." You can tell he was really trying to sell this place on us.
"It's true!" Adam pipes up. "The toilet seats even have warmers that talk!" He laughs.
"What do they say?" Leo asks walking up to the boy.
"Well, it depends on…" The tall boy starts.
"No," I say stopping him with my hand.
"Donald, I don't know what to make of this," Tasha says with a sigh. "Some wives get surprised with a trip to Hawaii or a curse. Bionic teenagers were not on our wedding registry."
"Honey, they have to stay down here for their own safety. This is all very top secret. But as soon as their training is complete, they'll be able to handle any crisis or problem the world throws at them." Mr. Davenport reassures us.
"I want to go to the pyramids," Chase says raising his hand.
"I want to go to Paris." Bree adds dreamily.
"I want to go upstairs," Adam says bluntly.
"Aw, you have never been upstairs?" I ask, looking at them. They shook their heads no and I instantly felt sad for them.
"Hey what are those?" Alec asks as he crosses to stand in front of these three tubs that stood on the back wall.
"Are they time machines?" Leo asks his stepfather excitedly.
"No, they are not time machines. The time machine is in the shop." He jokes looking at us. He stops laughing when none of us join. "These are my biologically regulated atmospheric chambers where my bionic creations live and sleep and eat. Which reminds me it's dinnertime." He says turning to the bionic teens.
"Yes!" They shout running to their respective chambers while putting on a pair of googles. The rest of us follow Davenport over to the computer desk as he gets ready to feed them.
"Ready?" He asks them as they nod enthusiastically. Suddenly these brown pellets come dropping from the top of their chambers. The boys try to catch the falling pellets with their mouths while their sister was catching them and taking small bites.
"These are my patented protein pellets," Davenport explains. "Whatever they don't catch now they get for breakfast." He says enthusiastically. My mother takes a step back away from it all.
"I don't know if I feel comfortable with the kids staying here anymore." My mom says to the other two adults.
"Cheryl." Aunt Tasha says taken aback.
"Please, Tasha." My mom says turning to her best friend. "He has children with superpowers living in his basement!" My mom yells pointing at the scientist.
"Cheryl, please! They are not dangerous. I would never put the children in danger like that." He says begging my mother. "When I first started talking to Tasha she explained that you and the kids were a package deal. I need you to trust me. My creations are meant to help people." My mom looked at him very intently and then let out a sigh.
"Oh alright." She gives in. "However any funny business I am coming straight home!" She tells the older man harshly.
"Yay! I get to stay." I whisper to Leo as we do our handshake.
"Come on, let's go get the rest of the stuff," Tasha says, coming to stand by her husband and best friend. "Why don't you guys stay and get to know each other." She says turning to us younger kids.
"I'll help get our bags." My brother offers following the adults out. At some point during the conversation, the food pellets stopped dropping, and the bionic teens exited their capsules.
"Girl!" Adam yells suddenly and the next thing I know I am being swarmed by the bionic teens.
"I saw her first!" Chase says before Adam pulls him back.
"Well, I'm the one who crashed into the barrel's she was hiding behind." Adam fights back. However, Bree pushes her way between them.
"This is my first chance at a BFF and I won't let you idiots ruin it for me,'' she growls. All the while I am being cornered.
"Wow, there bionic people. Back away from the teenage girl." Leo yells, putting his hand up to stop them from getting any closer. "Are you alright?" He asks, turning to me.
"I'm fine," I tell him before turning back to the other. "I'm assuming that you don't get to meet a lot of people so I'll let that slide. However, you should know for the future that is not how you interact with people." I say laughing.
"Sorry, about that. We just got excited." Chase says bashfully.
"Ya, I just always wanted a friend who was a girl since it has always just been my brothers and Mr. Davenport," Bree says coming up to me.
"Well, I'll be your friend," I say with a shrug.
"Really?" She asks. I nod in response and the next thing I knew I am being lifted off the ground in a bone-crushing hug. "Best. Day. Ever." She squeals. "We can give each other makeovers and tell each other secrets. And we can be best friends that stand behind each other no matter what!" She tells me.
"Um, sure?" I say not so sure.
"So I know that Leo is our new brother but who are you and the other guy?" Adam asks me as his sister sets me down.
"Ooo. Bestie give me all the deats. Are you two dating?" Bree asks motioning between Leo and me.
"Ew! Gross!" Leo and I yell at the same exact time.
"Mara is my best friend. We grew up together. Our Dads were best friends growing up and did everything together." Leo starts to explain.
"Ya, they were best men in each other's weddings, and then our Moms became best friends too. Leo's dad was my brother's godfather, my father was Leo's and Aunt Tasha is my godmother." I add. We stop suddenly and take a breath.
"Then when we were six and Alex was nine our Dads went for a drive and were killed by a drunk driver." Leo says sadly. I grab his hand and give it a gentle squeeze.
"After that Mom and Aunt Tasha moved next door to each other and practically raised us together," I explain.
"So when Big D was talking about knowing that we are a package deal that's what he meant." Leo finishes. However, suddenly we hear someone let out a huge sob. We look over and see Adam with tears in his eyes.
"That was so touching. I'm so sorry." He says pulling us into another bone-crushing hug.
"There, there, big guy," Leo says patting the tall boy's back.
"So why are you staying with us?" Chase asks. "Not that I am complaining." He adds hurriedly.
"My mom is going away on business for two weeks and doesn't want Alex and me to be home alone that long." I say with a shrug. The conversation would have continued but we are interrupted by the elevator opening.
"Mara your mom is leaving and Tasha wants you both upstairs for dinner." Mr.Davenport informs us.
"Aw, do we have to? I want to hang out with Adam, Bree, and Chase more." Leo complains to his stepfather.
"Yes, you do. But how about this, why don't you two help me with their training tomorrow morning?" He asks us. We both nod in excitement and say goodbye to the bionic siblings.
"This is so cool!" Leo says to me as soon as we are in the elevator. "I have bionic siblings. Now I have actual friends! And they are ones who are obligated to like me like you are." He says gesturing to me.
"Leo I could not explain our friendship better than myself." I say with a laugh as I throw my arm around his shoulder.
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Leo and I woke up early the next day so we could help Davenport with the three siblings training the next morning.
"Hey, bestie can I do your hair?" Bree asks as soon as she sees me.
"Um, sure." I say hesitantly as she pushes me into a chair and starts to brush my hair. Leo sits down in a chair next to me. Adam was fiddling with a disk of some sort and Davenport and Chase were doing some training forms.
"Okay, Chase, " Davenport instructs. "Enemy grenade, three o'clock." He says as he throws a virtual power ball at the youngest bionic teen. The boy uses his force field to block the "grenade".
"Awesome," Leo whispers looking at his new brother in aw.
"Hey! Why does he get a force field and I don't?" Adam asks his father, offended as he drops the disk on the desk.
"'Cause if you had one, I wouldn't be able to do this," Bree says, throwing her water bottle at her older brother.
"Okay, you guys take the rest of the day off," Davenport says nodding to the bionic children. "I'm going to go speak at a tech conference. Because I'm awesome then I'm going to get the speedboats detailed, and then I'm gonna go get waxed." He lists. Bree and I exchange a disgusted look as she finishes doing my hair. "Don't judge me." Davenport adds before he leaves for the day.
"Your hair is done!" Bree says showing me my hair in her hand held mirror. She pulled it back in a high ponytail with some rainbow hair clips. The ponytail itself was being held up by a braid.
"It's cute Bree but can I make one change?" I ask. She nods her head and I take out the hair clips so my front layers frame my face. I then take the white hair clip and place it back in my hair. "This is more my style but you did a great job," I tell her with a smile.
"Well, we better get ready for school." Leo says turning to me. I nod and stand up as well.
"Oh, I've always dreamed about going to school!" Bree sequels as moves out from behind the cyber desk. "Passing notes, going to prom, breaking into choreographed dance numbers after math class." She said, giving us a nice set of jazz hands.
"Yeah. All we do is eat, sleep, and train for missions. We're like human lab rats." Chase says crossing his arms.
"Come on, it can't be that bad," Leo says to his siblings. Chace gives him a look that says 'really?' and points to the corner where Adam is running on a giant hamster wheel.
"Ok, I guess it is that bad." I say as we watch the older boy run on the wheel.
"So, you've never left this room?" Leo asks them. They shake their heads sadly.
"Well that explains the hair cuts," I mutter to Leo. However, the others heard and innately reached up to their hair.
"I bet schools fun. You know, except for books, classes, and learning stuff." Adam says as he joins the group.
"It's not fun when you're 'the smart kid," Leo informs the others.
"Uh, I get better grades than you and I have friends," I inform Leo.
"Well, at least I don't act dumber so I can have friends." He says crossing his arms and getting in my face.
"At least I have friends." I point out. This causes Leo to back off and look like a wounded puppy.
"Low blow, Jacobs," Leo tells me. I roll my eyes as I push him a little jokingly. This causes him to laugh. Chase then crosses in front of his sister to stand next to me.
"You know." He starts sliding up next to me. "Down here, smart is considered superior." The smart boy says giving me a wink.
"No, it's not." Adam and Bree say at the same time. Chase's face falls and I pat him on the shoulder.
"Hey, you guys should come to school with us!" Leo says lighting up.
"Great idea, Leo!" I tell my best friend as we do our handshake.
"Ya, you guys can be my bionic bodyguards!" Leo says turning to his new siblings.
"Okay!"
"I'm in!"
"Let's Go" The siblings agree as we head towards the door. However, as we get closer to the door it starts to close.
"Not on my watch, laser brains!" A voice calls over the intercom.
"Aw shoot!" Adam says in frustration. "We forgot about Davenport's creepy computer." He says gesturing to the screen.
"I thought he was only in the living room!" Leo says in confusion.
"Nope, I'm everywhere!" The AI responds happily.
"That's a disturbing thought," I say with a shiver.
"Wait even in my shower?" Leo asks in horror.
"Yep and nothing needs to be that clean sport-o." Eddy retaliates. The rest of us laugh as Leo makes a face mixed between terror and embarrassment.
"Okay, we need to shut that thing off," Leo says in anger.
"Never going to happen, okay?" Chase tells us as he opens the computer's control panel. "Eddy is an incredibly complex and sophisticated piece of machinery. It would take years before…" However, he is interrupted by his brother reaching into the controls and pulling out a chunk of wires. Subsequently shutting off Eddy.
"Sweet! I barely got electrocuted!" Adam informs us as he passes the wires to his younger brother.
"Good job, Adam!" I say giving the bionic boy a high five. He returned it and I had a splitting pain go rushing through my arm. "A little hard their buddy but we will work on it." I tell him as I shake my hand.
"Okay if we are going to school, we should shower first, because two of us really stink," Bree informs her brother. The two boys smell themselves and gag. The oldest two-run to their tubs and Chase, Leo, and I walk to the control desk.
"Mara do me a favor and hit this button when I get into my capsule." Chase says pointing at the said object.
"What can I do?" Leo asks the brainiac early.
"Oh, uh. You can sit here and supervise." Chase tells the younger boy as he leads him to a chair. Leo grumbles and Chase jumps into his capsule and gives me a thumbs up. I hit the button and suddenly the capsules started up like a car wash. They were being sprayed with soap and water. Then they were dried off with a giant wind machine. The wind caused their hair to stick up in very weird ways.
"How could the hair get worse?" I ask, turning to Leo who just shrugged. The next thing I know there is a flash and they are all changed into everyday clothing. They then exit their capsule.
"Oh great. It gave me your underwear by mistake." Adam informs his sister as he squirms uncomfortably.
"Gross!" Bree yells in disgust.
"What are you complaining about?" Chase asks his older brother. "I got the bra," Chase informs his siblings. This causes Leo and I to laugh really hard. The siblings climbed back into the capsules and I hit the button again.
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We told Alex to drive to school without us and we take the three bionic teens on the bus. They kept wandering around and talking to random people. It was taking all of Leo and I's effort to keep them under control. They were like toddlers always wandering off. In their defense, it was their first time in the real world.
When we did finally get to school it was true kayos. When we walked in Adam started feeling the walls. I pull him away and see Chase going up to some girls and awkwardly waving and giggling at them.
"Sorry, about him. He is new. I'll see you guys in Choir." I say pulling the bionic teen away from the girls. I pull the bionic brothers over to my locker and open it to put my books in. Chase reaches into my locker to look at the objects I had in there. I, however, slap his hand away and he instead plays with the lock on one of the other lockers.
"Mara!" I hear my brother hiss behind me. I turn around slowly and see Alex and his friend Mason standing behind me.
"Hey, Mar." Mason greets me as he heads to his locker a couple down from mine. However, before I can reply Alex drags me away from the other.
"What are Adam, Bree, and Chase doing here? And why is Bree hugging a lunch lady?" My brother asks me in anger. I turn and see the Bree is in fact hugging a lunch lady.
"Uh, I don't know what she is doing but Leo and I wanted them to experience high school for the first time," I tell him, giving him a weak smile.
"Davenport made us swear not to tell people they even exist and you and Leo are parading them all over town." He says through gritted teeth.
"Will you relax? They have never even been upstairs. What kind of life is that." I explain as I gesture to Chase who was making Mason open and shut his looker so that he could mimic his actions. "Leo and I just wanted to give them something more than just being locked in a stupid basement," I say trying to get him to sympathize with us. He lets out a long frustrated sigh.
"Fine. But if Davenport finds out I was never involved." He says wagging his figure at me.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I squeal as I give him a hug. He pats my back and pulls me away.
"Uh, Mar. We might want to save Chase because if he makes Mason close his locker again I think he's going to punch him." He says pointing at the two boys. We rush over and I pull Chase back.
"Sorry, Mas!" I tell the older boy as I grab Chase's hand away from spinning the lock on my locker again. "He is new," I say with a nervous laugh.
"It's okay," Mason informs me as he turns to my brother. "Should we be concerned?" I hear the other boy say as I push the youngest bionic away.
"Dude, you need to cool it," I whisper yell at him. "If you don't start acting normal you're going to give us away" I inform him.
"I'm sorry I'm just excited. I have never experienced stuff like this before!" He says with very little remorse.
"You're right. It's not like you guys have done anything that bad." However, as the words leave my mouth I see Adam handing a girl her actual locker door.
"Adam!" Chase snaps at his brother as we all move into a huddle. "Would you two quit goofing off?" He snaps last his siblings. I rolled my eyes at the comment since he was goofing off as well. "We're supposed to not draw attention to ourselves." He tells his siblings. However, right after he said that the bell went off which caused him to scream and roll around on the ground.
"What's up with crazy?" Leo asks over the screaming.
"He has ultra-sensitive bionic hearing," Bree informs us. I nod in understanding as the boy stops yelling.
"What was that?" Chase asks, breathing heavily leaning against his brother's legs.
"It's called the bell." Leo says like he was stupid.
"It rings every 40 minutes, eight times a day. So…you know. Have fun with that." I say patting his shoulder. We all start to walk away and I realize that Chase was still laying on the ground. I let out a sigh and walked back to him. "Come on I have math now you can show us just how smart you are." I say as I offer a hand to pull him up. He gives me a kind smile and we walk in the direction of the others.
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"I hate gym class!" Leo complained as we all sat on the bleachers.
"Why?" Adam asked curiously. Suddenly a ball came flying towards Leo. He catches and attempts to dribble it but fails miserably.
"That's why." I explain gesturing to the ball almost hitting his head. Leo grabs the ball again and walks towards us.
"So big deal you can't play basketball." Chase tries to comfort his new brother. "Chess club is where all the action is." I roll my eyes at the comment and wave as two of my friends walk towards us.
"Is Leo attempting to play basketball again?" Morgan asks as she approaches the groups.
"You got to give him some credit. He does try really hard." Zoey replies back.
"Hahaha," Leo says dryly. "Can you two stop talking like I'm not right here?" They let out a laugh and apologized.
"Guys these are two of my friends Morgan and Zoey," I say gesturing to the two girls. "Girls this is Adam, Bree, and Chase." Everyone says their respective hellos and the two girls sit down.
"Well you guys picked a great day to come in cause we have a substitute for gym. Normally, we would be running laps or something like that." Morgan informs the siblings.
"Well, I can't wait till everyone starts singing in beat with the bouncing balls." Bree says standing up. This comment makes the other girls laugh but Bree makes a confused face wondering what they were laughing at. Suddenly, a ball goes flying at Bree and she catches it. "What do I do?" She asks nervously.
"Throw it!" Leo instructs her. The girl turns and throws it full force at a boy named Kavin. The ball hits him in the face hard and he falls to the ground. "At someone who's looking." Leo clarifies as Bree, Morgan, Zoey, and I go running towards the wounded boy.
"Wow! You caught that with your face!" Bree tells the boy before she walks away.
"Kavin, are you alright?" Zoey asks as we help him up.
"I think my nose is broken." He says as he reaches up to grab it. "Who even was that?" He asks.
"That's my friend. She's new." I say nervously.
"Come on. You should go to the nurse." Morgan informs the boy.
"I'll take him." Kavan's friend says as he leads the boy away from us.
"What's with her?" Zoey asks regarding Bree.
"Uh, they are Leo's new stepsiblings. They are normally homeschooled and don't get out much. In fact, Leo and I had to sneak them out to be here today." I explain to them hesitantly.
"Oh poor them," Morgan says as we turn around to face the siblings. However, when we turn around we see Leo flying in the air and dunking a basketball. He then falls to the ground with a hard thump and then stands up to look at everyone. Everyone looks at him with a face of pure shock. Then everyone broke out into a huge amount of cheers.
"Yeah! I got mad skills!" Leo says as he eggs the crowd on.
"Uh, what just happened?" Zoey asks us.
"I don't know but I gotta go bye," I say quickly before I rush over to the bionic siblings who were high-fiving each other.
"So much for keeping a low profile," I whisper yell at them.
"Aw, come one look how happy he is," Adam says pointing at Leo who was getting high-fived by everyone.
"Your right this is the happiest I have seen him in a long time." I say with a small smile on my face.
"Lighten up there bestie," Bree tells me, putting an arm around me. I roll my eyes and lead her to the locker room to change.
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"Attention, students!" Principal Perry's voice comes over the intercom. "The pep rally is starting. Go, dingoes!" I was already in the gym with the band setting up. The cheerleaders were cheering as people walked in and Leo was signing basketballs for people.
"Why is Leo signing basketballs?" My brother asks coming up to me with a bass drum strapped to the front of him.
"Cause he dunked a ball in gym class," I inform him as I pull my saxophone over my neck. My brother didn't look amused.
"And how did he do that? Because last time I checked Leo could barely walk straight let alone dunk a ball." He says to me angrily.
"Adam may have helped a little bit," I say as unconcerned as possible. I could practically see the stress in his face.
"Of course he did." He says rolling his eyes. "Oh great, there is only two of them one! One is on the loose." He says gesturing to where Leo was talking to Adam and Bree.
"Will you chill!" I tell him as I pull him farther from the rest of the band. "I left Chase in the computer lab because he was having fun having full internet access. He said something about learning to be a chiropractor. And look there he is now." I informed my brother as the said brainiac walked in. "Will you stop treating them like science experiments. They experience that every day of their lives. Let them have this one day." I said pleading with the older boy.
"Why do you think Davenport keeps them locked in the basement?" My brother asks me worried.
"They're harmless," I explain to Alex. "I mean look over there Bree is flirting with a boy, Chase is laughing with Leo, Leo has actually friends other than us, and look. Look at Adam playing with Dewy Dingo." I say with a fond smile at my new friends.
"Uh, what's Adam doing?" Alex asks, setting the bass drum down. I look over and see Adam starting down Dewy Dingo.
"Uh, come on!" I say taking my instrument off and pulling my brother towards our friend and his new brother.
"What's wrong with Adam's eyes?" Alex hissed as we approached them.
"What are you talking about?" Leo asks us, confused.
"Look," I say pointing at him. Leo turns around and looks to see that the oldest bionic eyes were turning red.
"Oh no, his heat vision!" Chase says in a panic.
"His what?" Alex asks angrily.
"It's a glitch." Chase started hesitantly.
"You guys can glitch? Like a computer system?" I ask, getting just as flustered.
"Whenever he gets too upset his heat vision acts up!" He explains almost in like a guilty voice.
As the words leave his mouth Adam lets out two red beams from his eyes that fire right at Dewy Dingo setting the mascot on fire. Alex runs and gets the fire extinguisher and puts out the fire. This causes the mascot to stumble backward into the cheerleaders. One of the girls gets thrown into the air and starts to fall back down.
"I got her! I got her!" Bree says speeding over to the girls. However, the girl ended up falling right through her arms. "Whoops. Overshot it. But don't worry I know a chiropractor in the Philippines." She says as she walks away from the fallen girl. Just then the fire alarm started to go off so Leo and I ran over to our older brothers. However, Chase runs towards a big group of students.
"People. People. Statistics show that if we don't panic, at least 70% of us will make it out alive." He says trying to calm everyone down. However, this caused everyone to panic more and push him aside. He gets back up and walks to join us as we start to head out of the room. But at that moment Tasha and Davenport come into the gym and the burnt head of Dewy goes rolling by.
"Oh no!" Tasha exclaims "They killed Dewy Dingo." Her voice stops us in our tracks. I stand in line between Alex and Bree as we all give the parents an innocent wave.
"So. How was school?" Davenport asks through gritted teeth. We all started to shrug but this made him angry. "Get in the helicopter!" He screams causing all six of us to go running out of the room and up to the roof.
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The helicopter ride back to the mansion was silent. When we get back to the house he makes us all sit on the couch. I sit down between Adam and Bree and turn to the very angry billionaire.
"Do you realize what you've done?" Davenport finally says after starting at us for a very long time. "I had to write a check to that school for 30 grand to make this go away." He says as he marches around the couch.
"For 30 grand I'll go away." Leo offers from his spot next to my brother.
"Ya and I'll go with him." I offer raising my hand. The scientists however give me a look that says 'shut up' so I lower my hand.
"We're sorry," Bree tells the older man desperately. "We just wanted to be normal for a day." She explains. However, Davenport did not seem swayed.
"Oh, come on, Donald. They're just kids." Tasha interjects. She then turns her attention to us. "When I was your age, me and Fiona Micklejohn, we snuck out and crashed…" She turns to look at her husband that was giving her a look to tell her to stop talking. "You know what? I'm not helping." She explains to us as she moves to sit on Bree's other side.
"Look, I designed you guys to go on highly classified missions, not try out for the cheerleading team." Davenport snaps at us.
"Oh, well there goes that dream," Adam says disappointed. I reach over and rub his arm comforting him.
"Look Big D I know you're mad." Leo says getting up to stand in front of his stepfather. "But these guys did the impossible today. They made me popular." Leo says excitedly.
"It's true! People were obsessed with him today. It was kinda disturbing." I inform the adults.
"See, I got game!" Leo yells happily.
"And I cured male pattern baldness with a biology rat." Chase says standing up happily.
"Ohh! And I got invited to my first party! By a boy!" Bree squeals also standing up.
"Oh my God! Kavin asked you out?" I ask Bree, jumping up and down in excitement.
"How exciting!" Aunt Tasha gushes as she joins us in our celebration. "We gotta get you clothes and shoes, and we'll do your hair and…" The older woman stops talking when her husband clears his throat. "Again not helping." She states as she pulls me to stand next to her.
"Mr. Davenport," Alex states standing in front of the inventor. "I would like you to know that I was not involved in this at all. It was all them." He says pointing at us.
"Well if that were true you would have called me as soon as you saw they were out." Davenport reprimands him. He then turns to address all of us. "That's it Leo, Mara, Alex, you are banned from the lab." He tells us. "And you three are to have no contact with the outside world. No talking, no texting, no nothing." He snaps at his kids.
"Ooh, what about the lost art of pantomime?" Adam asks as he starts to act like he is trapped in a box. This causes Davenport to turn red.
"Go to your tubes," Davenport screams causing the bionic kids to run down the stairs. Leo and I also stand to leave.
"You know we just wanted them to have one day not being locked up like prisoners," I tell Davenport before Leo and I head to his room. I flop myself on his bed and he sits in his desk chair.
"Ugh, I can't believe Big D! Good thing him and mom are going out for dinner tonight so we don't have to be around them." He says as he spins the chair around. Suddenly a thought clicked into my mind and I saw Leo had one too.
"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" I ask the boy with a big smirk.
"If they can't go to the party…" He starts smiling.
"Then we'll bring the party to them!" I finish the thought as we share a high five.
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"Leo hurry up! People will be here any minute!" I yell banging on the younger boy's door.
"You can't hurry perfection!" Leo yells through the door. I let out a humph and lean against his door. I catch myself in the mirror across the way and gaze at my appearance. I was wearing a black leather jacket with a white tee shirt underneath with a red heart on it. I was also wearing a maroon skirt with black combat boots. I also had a light bit of makeup on. Finally, Leo opens his door stepping put in a button-up and a cardigan.
"You look like an old man," I tell him as I take in his appearance.
"Hey! Be nice to the guy who used his last bit of power to throw the best party ever." He says pumping his hands in the air.
"Hey, I'm the one who convinced Alex not to rat us out! All you had to do is say come party at my new mansion." I say crossing my arms.
"Ya, how did you do that?" Leo asks curiously.
"You know that girl he had had a crush on for years Emma Wilson?" The boy nods and I smirked. "I may have convinced her to text him and ask if they could hang out tonight at the party." I explain as the doorbell rings. I open the door and crowds of people enter. I see Alex go right to Emma and Leo and I smirk.
"Should we go get the guests of honor?" I ask my best friend.
"Lead the way," Leo says as we sneak our way down to the lab. When the elevators opened we see the three bionic teens looking sad. Chase is the first to notice our presents.
"Leo, Mara, what are you doing? You're not allowed to be down here." He warns us with a slight surprise in his voice that we were there.
"Don't worry about that, kids just get changed," I say leaning against one of the cyber desks.
"We are all older than you." Chase points out.
"Wait why do we need to get dressed?" Bree asks, looking confused.
"You know that big party everyone was talking about?" Leo asks them.
"Uh, yeah," Adam says confused.
"Just get dressed," I tell them as they run into capsules and change. We all head upstairs and the boinc kids are all in awe. Leo jumps on top of the couch.
"The party is in your living room!" Leo yells at the top of his voice. The four of us start dancing as Leo starts chanting. "Do the Leo! Do the Leo! Now just the sexy people!" He yells jumping off the couch.
"Leo, Mara, I can't believe you did this!" Chase says, pulling us both in a hug.
"Yeah, We owed you guys, and since you guys couldn't go…" Leo says, giving me a proud look.
" We brought the party to you!" I finish giving Bree a hug.
"Cheese curl?" Leo offers the boys.
"Wait? What about your mom and Davenport?" Adam asks the youngest boy.
"They're at dinner. They'll be gone for hours." Leo shrugs them off. "Jimmy, get your head out of there. It's a microwave." He says stomping off in that direction.
"What about Alex?" Bree asks me. I point to Alex flirting with Emma.
"Bree you will learn quickly that the easiest way to distract annoying brothers is with girls." I inform the speedster.
"That's not true," Chase says, crossing his arms. However, my friend Maddy walked by and went to the snack table. Adam and Chase look at each other and go running after her.
"Typical," I say rolling my eyes. "Hey, look who's coming over," I whisper to Bree as I see Kavin approach. "Man you really messed up his face." I say with a grimace.
"I know." She states back dreamily. I let out a little laugh.
"Have fun. I'm going to save Maddy from the bionic bros." I tell her as I walk away. I come up to the boys and see them smashing cake in their faces completely forgetting about the cute girl. "How much cake have you had?" I ask laughing at the frosting all over their faces.
"A lot!" They yell as they jump on the couch. I walk over to Leo who somehow got the golf cart out.
"What do you say Jacobs want to go for a spin?" He asks me with a bright smile. He had some sort of helmet that looked expensive.
"You know I do." I laugh as he hands me a gladiator helmet. I get on and as we pull into the living room we are met with a very angry Davenport and Tasha.
"Hey, your back!" Leo says guiltily.
"How was dinner?" I ask just as shocked. We quickly scramble out of the golf cart and up to the very angry parents.
"How did these people get here?" Leo asks in fake surprise. I shrug going along with it knowing that they weren't buying it.
"You two are in big trouble. I know your schemes when I see them." She says pointing at the two of us. We look down in defeat as Davenport finally explodes.
"Hey, everybody! Thanks for coming. Get out!" He screams at the other high schoolers who quickly evacuate the scene. However, when they all leave we look over and see Alex making out with Emma not paying any mind to the adults. Davenport marches up to them and growls "Out!" They break apart and the blonde girl goes running out.
"Alex! I expect this from Mara and Leo but you, really? I'm very disappointed in you." Tasha scolds the older boy who looks devastated by the whole situation.
"You kids have really done it this time." Davenport steams at us. "And who gave Eddy cake?" We all turn and see the AI covered with said food. Adam raises his hand guilty.
"We just wanted to give them one more night of fun before you put them back in their display cases." Leo tells his stepfather as he pulls his helmet off.
"Biologically regulated atmospheric chambers." The scientists scoff turning to look at his wife as if to say 'can you believe him.'
"Whatever they are, we wanted them to see what life is outside of a stuffy basement. They deserve to know what fun is." I say pulling my helmet off as well and crossing my arms stubbornly.
"Look, the fun is over. As of tomorrow, you are being relocated permanently." He says to the bionic kids.
"What?" The three of them ask in shock.
"What part of 'no contact with the outside world' don't you understand." He says as he starts to walk away.
"Where are we going?" Bree asks stopping the man in his steps.
"To one of my remote research facilities to complete your training." He says turning back to them.
"But this is home." Adam pleads. "This is where I get my meaty flavored pellets.
"Not anymore," Davenport says grimly. "Now go downstairs and pack your stuff." He orders the siblings.
"This isn't fair." I tell the man.
"They are my best friends." Leo adds as we leave to stomp up the stairs. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Davenport turn to my brother who just shook his head.
"Mara! Leo! Wait!" He yells as he follows us up the stairs.
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Leo and I walk into the lad later that night after we change into our pajamas. The air was heavy and none of the siblings were talking.
"Mind if we stay with you tonight?" I ask getting the sibling's attention.
"That would be nice," Adam says, giving me a sad smile.
"I'll go get the roll away, Davenport keeps down here." Chase informs us as he runs into the next room. I give Bree a surprised look.
"He is not as bad of Dad as he has been the last couple of days." She informs me grimly. I walked up to her and put my hand out.
"Can I do your hair?" She gives me a small smile and nods sitting in a chair and handing me the brush.
"That's it. If you're leaving I'm leaving." Leo states as he climbs into Adam's tube and wraps himself around the strong boy's leg. We all let out a small laugh and Chase rolled in the cot at that moment.
"There's only room for one so one of you will have to sleep on the floor," Chase informs me.
"No they won't," Adam says as we all turn to see Leo passed out on his leg.
"He has abandonment issues. He has had them since our fathers died. That's why people don't want to hang out with him because he gets clingy." I tell them as I keep brushing the speedster's hair. "I'm going to miss you guys," I added sadly.
"I can't believe this is our last night in the lab." Bree burst out suddenly. I rest my head on top of her and rub her shoulders and then go back to her hair.
"I think Leo is really going to miss us too," Chase adds as we all turn to look at the sleeping boy again.
"Yeah me too." Adam adds with a mix fondness and annoyance. "Think we should wake him up?" He asks.
"Nah. Let him sleep." Bree says fondly.
"Ya, he'll only get himself worked up again," I add.
"But he is drooling on my socks." He complains but we all laugh it off. Bree stands up and hugs me as they all climb into their capsules and shut the doors. I pull back the blankets on the cot and give them all one last look before falling