CHAPTER FOUR-

Adam, Bree, Leo, and Mr. Davenport sat in the lab silently. They had been there for four hours. Adam had dozed off awhile ago, and his head was resting on a desk. He was drooling a little bit. Every now and then he would snore or mutter something that sounded like "Chase, why?". He was shifting restlessly, and it was clear that whatever he was dreaming was more like a nightmare.

Next to him, Bree was pacing. Of course, with her, it wasn't really pacing. She would slowly take a step before rocketing to the other side of the room. Then she would stop look up at the monitors, turn away bitterly, and repeat. There was an anxious look on her face the whole time. Sometimes she would zoom over to stand behind Donald and gaze up at the monitors, shaking her head sadly, before going back to pacing.

Then there was Donald. He was just sitting in his leather chair, staring up at the monitors. His hands were resting on the keyboards. He had been in that position the whole time. There were bags under his eyes. His eyes were also very bloodshot and looked like he hadn't been blinking the whole time either.

Leo, however, seemed very energetic. He didn't seem to realize they'd been there for four hours. He also didn't look concerned, unlike the others. In fact, he seemed slightly happy. Probably glad that someone had messed up and it wasn't him. Chase's betrayal hadn't struck him as deeply as it had everyone else. He was simply walking around pressing buttons and picking up random inventions.

"Hey what's this?" Leo asked eagerly, picking up what looked like a ray gun. It had a sign labeled 'Do not touch, Leo'. "And look, it has my name on it!" He said brightly.

"Put it down." Mr. Davenport said, still not moving.

Bree stopped pacing. "Wait, wait, wait." Her eyes were wide as she gaped up at the monitors.

"Exactly! If it has my name on it, I should be allowed to touch it!"

"The sign says 'Do not touch, Leo'." Donald shook his head, but still didn't turn.

"How did you know that? You're not even looking at it!" Leo complained.

Mr. Davenport chuckled. "They all say that."

Leo looked around the lab and frowned when he saw that every invention did indeed have that written on them.

"Guys!" Bree half-shouted, causing them to go quiet. "Look!" A little red dot, adorned with the letter C, had appeared. It was moving at great speeds towards them.

"Chase." Donald said quietly. "Why can we see him now?" He questioned himself, running a hand through his hair. "Why does he want us to be able to see him now? Why does Douglas want us to be able to see him now?"

Bree frowned, squinting at the screen. "How is he moving so quickly?"

Mr. Davenport finally spun to face them, his expression grave. "The flash-drive."

"The one with Adam's 'Incredible Edibles' on it?" Leo asked in confusion.

He shook his head. "He lied, Leo. It wasn't Adam's list of things he's eaten. That would've taken way longer than an hour and a half to download. He once took a bit out of a cookie jar. He thought it would taste like cookies. Anyways, the flash-drive really had the other abilities... And they installed them."

The strangest of looks crossed Bree's face. She looked shocked, distraught, betrayed, and, most of all, upset. "Chase has all three abilities?" It wasn't really a question.

Donald nodded.

"So... He's smart... He strong... And he's fast..." She sat down. "Then Adam and I... We really don't have a purpose, do we? We can't stop him." The defiance in her eyes was fading. "He can do everything we can and more. We're no better than Leo."

"Hey!" The small boy protested.

Donald was clearly concerned. He got up and walked over to his daughter's side. "Bree, don't say that. You're much more important than Leo."

"Hey!" Leo exclaimed.

"Am I? Am I really?" There was pain written on her face. "Because I don't think so."

Leo threw his arms in the air. "I'm right here!"

The sound of a siren interrupted their conversation. Red lights started flashing and Leo let out a slight scream. Adam sat up in fear, yelling something about a sandwich. Mr. Davenport quickly walked across the room and opened a drawer. Pulling out what looked like three ray guns, identical to the one Leo had tried to use, he handed two of them to Adam and Bree, but shook his head then second Leo opened his mouth.

"Security's been breached. Get ready."

It was about three more seconds before the dot on the screen was showed as right on top of them.

"Hello Donny."

Donald spun around in surprise to see his older brother standing right behind him, an evil grin on his face. "How did you-"

"Eddy let us in." Another voice answered the uncompleted question.

Bree and Adam turned to see Chase. Bree winced. He was wearing a mission suit, but not one of theirs. The one he was wearing was red with a black triangle on the front. He was even wearing red gloves. She took a step back in fear.

"Hey guys."

Bree was shocked by his tone. It was true, there was a mocking to it, but she could also hear regret.

"Chase, what are you doing?" Adam asked sadly. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" He said coldly, crossing his arms. "I was tired of being pushed around, treated like I'm not good enough, taken advantage of. So you can have your little 'Hustle and Muscle' team." His eyes glinted maliciously. "But it may not work the way you've hoped."

Adam shook his head and backed away. "I can't hurt you..." He told Chase, frowning. "You're my brother."

"Suit yourself." Chase began advancing towards his older brother. As he raised his fist, Adam just laughed.

"Please. You hit like a girl!"

Chase raised an eyebrow and swung his fist into Adam's stomach. The boy stumbled backwards and doubled over in pain. He let out a groan. "Since when do you have muscles?" He questioned, out of breath.

Chase just sneered at him. "Listen, you guys are coming back with me."

"Why do you need us?" Bree spoke up, her voice soft. "You have all three abilities. What use are we?"

Adam gasped, as if he couldn't believe it. "You have all three abilities?"

Chase rolled his eyes but turned to stare at his sister. "Why aren't you fighting me?"

She shrugged. "What's the point? You're my brother. I don't want to hurt you. And even if I did, I couldn't get a hit in. You're all three of us combined."

Chase started to appear discouraged. "You're not even going to try?"

"No." She laid down her ray gun in a sign of surrender.

Chase's eye twitched guiltily. "Bree."

Adam frowned and grabbed her shoulder. "Bree, what are you doing? Don't just give up!"

"He's going to beat us anyway. He's stronger than you, faster than me, and still a genius. We haven't got a chance."

Adam took a step back, his face full of uncertainty. "But..." Finally he sighed. "I just can't believe it, Chase." He shook his head. "You really joined him." He also sat down his ray gun.

"I... I..." Chase swallowed. "I can't do this." He shook his head and turned to Douglas. "I just can't do it. He's my brother. She's my sister. I just can't do it."

Douglas turned away from his conversation with his brother, his face contorted with anger. "Excuse me?"

Donald looked enthralled. "Chase, I knew you wouldn't join him!"

Chase bit his lip. "Oh, but I did join him. I just... I can't go through with this."

Donald froze. "So you were really on his side?"

Chase nodded slowly.

Douglas intervened. "Not WERE. Oh no. You still are."

The bionic boy frowned, clearly torn. "But Mr. Davenport-"

Donald blinked. "Did you just call him Mr. Davenport?"

Bree could tell he felt replaced. In a way, so did she. Chase had simply traded his siblings for new abilities. However she made no effort to move.

Douglas crossed his arms. "You have to make a choice, Chase. You can either be on my side, or Donny's."

"Come here, Chase. Don't worry." Donald coaxed confidently. "You don't have to stay on his side."

"But I do." Chase said slowly. "I really do." He began walking towards Douglas. The man grinned like a maniac and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I'm sorry." He told Donald. He really did look apologetic. "But I choose my father."

The hurt on Donald's face was almost too much for Bree to bear. She felt a surge of anger at her brother. In a flash she was by his side.

"What's WRONG with you?" She questioned. "Can't you see that he," she gestured towards the stricken Donald, "is our father? He raised us. He cared about us. He didn't just want to turn us into mind-controlled weapons!"

Chase scowled. "This is my choice, Bree."

"I don't care." She said, suddenly calm.

"Excuse me?" He was getting more and more flustered.

"You don't seem to be using your bionic brain much lately." She stated. "You just listen to what Douglas says, never thinking for yourself. And I know one thing: You're NOT my brother." Her face was dead-calm.

Chase's eyes widened and his chin dropped. "What-"

"Chase, we don't have time for this. You know what to do." Douglas snapped.

Chase took a deep breath and pulled a glowing blue orb out of his pocket. Bree rolled her eyes, not scared, but Donald gasped. He pulled Adam and Bree behind him and turned to his brother.

"Douglas, what are you thinking? That's dangerous!"

"Mr. Davenport, what are you talking about?" Bree questioned.

"That's a highly experimental piece of technology. When it touches your flesh, it has drastic results. A normal person simply passes out. But the effects on a bionic... It causes what's known as a blackout. You're awake and doing things, but you're not aware of it. And when you wake up, you have no clue what happened."

Chase glanced down at the orb in his hands and inwardly sighed. At least he now knew why he had to wear mission gloves. He gently lobbed the ball towards them. Adam beamed like a small child and ran towards it. "I got it, I got it!" He said cheerily.

"Adam, no!" Bree cried.

But it was too late. He smoothly caught it, causing Douglas to smirk. "Nice catch."

The orb fell to the floor and Adam stood there. Slowly, he shook his head. There was a cruel look on his face. Without saying a word, his eyes glowed red and the bright red beams shot at his sister, who super-sped across the room.

Chase seemed to take that a challenge. He sped towards her. She took a step back in surprise. "Oh wow." She said finally, her voice bitter. "Congratulations. You're fast now. But you're still not going to catch me."

Her tone reminded them both of when they were little. It was going to be like a game of tag. Chase held out his hand and the orb flew into it. He then came towards her and she was just able to dodge him.

"You missed." She pointed out.

He grit his teeth and once again zoomed across the room. She once again sped out of the way.

"You missed again. You may be evil now, but you're still the same uncoordinated Chase."

Getting fed up, Chase threw the orb in the air and used his molecular telekinesis to direct it at Bree. Once again, she was able to avoid it.

"Oh, you're going to use all three abilities, and even with just one, I'll still be able to beat you." She said, smirking.

Chase glared at her. "What happened to 'I don't want to hurt you, and even if I did I couldn't get a hit in'?"

"People change their minds. You of all people should know that."

Donald and Douglas both watched silently. It was clear that they knew how important this was. Donald was praying that Bree would triumph, whereas Douglas was rooting for Chase. Adam stood off to the side, watching his siblings with narrowed eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chase growled.

"Well look at you. You were on our side, but you changed your mind."

Chase paused. "I thought you thought of it as some big betrayal."

"I do."

He scowled and held out his hands. Carefully, he created a ball of energy. Then he hurled it at his sister. She stepped to the side but ran into Adam. Adam grabbed her and she turned around and stared at him.

"Adam, what are you-"

"Come on, Adam. Let's go." Chase instructed.

Adam stayed silent but nodded.

"Douglas, you can't do this. You can't take all three of my kids." Donald looked like he was about to cry.

For a second, Bree thought she saw pity flash across Douglas' face, but just like that; it was gone. His expression was hard.

"They're not your kids."

And then Chase sped them away.