Thanks to Casey Storm and PurpleNicole531 for reviewing again! So consistent, I love it! Also, thanks AzulaTano, for your review, much obliged.
New follower, hi! I'm loving being able to greet a new one every chapter for the past two or three!
Okay, I so not going to force you to review to give you another chapter, but they are much appreciated! Sorry for anyone who thinks I wavered from how I write on this chapter, I'd like to hear if it's any good((: I totally spat out a bunch of words to make my longest chapter yet! Piece out geeks (I'm one too, so I'm allowed to say that)
"Sir, are you sure they can pull this off?" one of the three henchmen asked, unsure. He didn't like doubting his chief, but sometimes the boss' plans were way too eccentric for his taste. "You did just acquire them yesterday ..."
"Enough," the leader spoke gruffly, rubbing at his temples as if his head pained him. "They are my unthinking, blank minions. Whatever I say, they do. The Bionic Three are starting to weaken because of the activated virus, their little sidekick can't handle all them on his own, and Alexa won't be able to reach the four in time – I've made sure of that. Stop doubting or I will erase your mind again. A fresh canvas is always fun." He approached dangerously for a moment, before retreating back to the shadows as if thinking better of it. The henchman shivered. All three of this leader's loyal men had gotten their start in the same way the victims of the train had.
That memory now up front in his thoughts, the henchman – his comrades with him – didn't quite fancy being a clean slate again, losing everything he had built for himself over the passed two years. He and they all knew they were only following their leader because they were made to do so, but the thing was that while they were under this spell, they didn't care and rather appreciated being chosen.
"Sorry, sir, forgive me," for the first time in a few months, the robot droned tone of his voice etched its way back, scaring the henchman into idiotic obedience without questions.
The burly boss seemed satisfied with the sincere apology, and went back to the screen in front of him, a vintage gamer's controller tiny in his giganic hands.
"Tell us again why you decided to use such a repulsive looking tool instead of a state-of-the-art updated, wireless and hands-free controller?" the second henchman inquiried, this time only curiousity detected. He knew better than his buddies, in a way that he did not question their leader.
The dark figured man rolled his eyes, but conceded to the petty need of answers. "It reminds me of the time I truly come from." His words were coarse and heavily coated, almost like he was purposely hiding the emotions from his voice.
The henchmen glanced at each other, told this many times over in different scenarios with different items, but still lost as to what that meant.
Alexa strained her eyes to the shoreline in front of her, gasping for air as she picked up the oars after her minute break and paddled on. She didn't think about how tiresome rowing could be, and how little of muscle she actually had, when she decided to go 'rogue' on Davenport and disobey. If she had, she still would have left, just via a different passageway.
Her chest was heaving, and her heart was lodged in her throat when she finally bumped up onto the sandy beach. Lexi wanted to curl up into a dying heap and catch her varying breaths, but scenes from her life in the future, the devastation and the need, kept her upright – albeit, a little wobbly, but standing straight nonetheless. It was times like these that helped her remain humbled and believing she was not indestrucable; she hated these times.
Shaking out her cramped hands, and trying to ignore her sore rear, Alexa made a wild dash – un-Bree-like, of course – to the main land. She really wished for superspeed in times like these, but given that future Davenport had taken that ability from her after the 'event', she was forced to run like a normal person. Her normal running, however, wasn't fast enough even for non-bionic people and Lexi feared she wouldn't be able to make it to the cave-in on time, before the others screwed up their futures like blind puppies.
The future girl shook her head solemnly, trying not to be annoyed by the ignorance she was surrounded by. It would be so much simpler to just convey all her knowledge, but their was 'dangers' and 'instabilities', which she and everyone knew of.
Lexi made it into town, eyes widening at the sights. Grounded cars, very dull neon signs, ugly building structures, very bad fashion choices, it was all so strange. Eyes scanning the centre of Mission Creek, the bionic female caught sight of a bus sign. It was a crude way people use to get around, but it was her best choice at attempting to get to the others before something serious actually happened.
Alexa bolted across the street without looking, car horns blaring at her as they were forced to make a reflex stop. The brunette hardly noticed her intrusion, and continued on her way to the bus stop's bench. In the future, streets were for pedestrians, drivers ruled the skies above. The girl tilted her head in confusion at the angry glares and the protrusion of one specific finger – the time-old signal of frustration towards someone. That never changed even come 18 years later. Lexi waved innocently back at the five cars she inconvenienced, wanting to tell them that, soon enough, they need not worry over the rules of the road.
When the bus arrived, Alexa found difficulty in getting through the sea of people exiting and entering, fighting her way in for a spot as if her life depended on it – which it very well may have. "Let me through! I am bent for time and it is rather important. You'd be in good standing if you would just get. Out. Of. My. Way." Arguing was futile, but Alexa still managed to board the bus and find a spot next to an older lady with a heavy-looking purse that had an ugly floral pattern. Lexi tried to hide her scrunched up nose, so as to not disrespect the elderly woman, but it was physcially impossible for her. The futuristic bionic girl leaned back on the seat, trying to forget where she was and enjoy the ride. Flying a car and time travelling was more natural than this.
Chase pressed his lips together firmly, feeling the wind rush by him as Bree supersped him to the site. Adam and Leo were ready and waiting when Bree placed her younger brother back down on stable earth. The rush of superspeed hardly got to Chase now, so the Bionic Brain was able to get to work on a plan right away. The man-made tunnel had caved in the middle, leaving a lucky few cars and their passengers on either side free. Chase sent Bree over to comfort the distraught witnesses and to probe their minds for an explanation to what had happened. In the mean time, the mission's leader scanned the accident with his chip, searching for the victims under the rubble. As far as he could tell, there was a total of 22 people trapped – that is, those who were living.
Shrugging any access thoughts from his mind, he quickly analyzed the situation and ran a few ideas through his mind, thinking through the pros and cons of each, and discarding ones that weren't any good. Perferrably, he searched for one that contained no casualties.
"We need to stabilize the reckage before we touch anything," he spoke. "One wrong move and a victim could be crushed." The words came out so matter-of-fact, but deep down they all knew Chase had emotions. Missions were no place for those, sadly.
"How do we do that?" Adam asked, frowning.
Chase was about to say a thought he had in his head, when Bree came back with a gust of wind. "Okay, so some of the witnesses were not very helpful-" she pointed menancingly at one in particular, who seemed flustered after talking with the bionic female, "- Henry here says he was just driving and then, all of a sudden, he wasn't." She looked ready to punch something, but instead just growled. "That must have been when his car rammed into the concrete pieces of the rubble ruins."
Leo was about to tell Bree to go on, when she did without prodding, "But some were more alert and observant. From what I hear, it was a freak accident. The tunnel above gave in, apparently it's been needing repairs for a while, and a cloud of dust fogged out everyone's view for a good few minutes before clearing and revealing the cave-in." She shook her head, finished. "It's not much, but ..."
"It'll do," Chase murmured, eyebrows creasing together. "Adam and Leo, you guys will work together to clear the broken pieces, while I stand by and stabilize everything with my molecular kinesis. As soon as there's a pathway, Bree will superspeed in as I use a force field to shield those inside. That's when you two," the mission's leader pointed to Adam and Leo again, "will remove the restof the rubble threatening to cave-in on the victims. Once removed, I'll lower the shield and Bree will bring everyone out and in the clear with our help." He nodded, looking to the others, who agreed in unison.
"What did I miss?" Mr. Davenport's voice rang through the intercom. "I stepped out with Douglas for a moment to get a snack."
"Always the hero, Big D," Leo mumbled, running off with Adam to get to work. Chase ignored his adoptive father, and focused in on his molecular kinesis. His hands stuck out in front of him slightly, twitching a little as he stabilized all the rubble simutaneously. He carefully stepped closer to the reckage, trying to get in a closer range to strengthen his ability.
"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy," a robotic monotone was picked up through his bionic hearing. "Destroy. Destroy. Destroy." Chase couldn't help the goosebumps forming on his arms at the unnatural sound to what initially seemed like human voices.
"Bree," Chase half-hissed, half-whispered. "Do you hear that?"
Bree slouched her shoulders, giving him an annoyed glare as if to say, 'Really? You're the dude with super hearing.' Chase bristled as the neutral voices became louder. They must have been soft sounds in regular ears now, for Bree glanced behind her nervously. Her mouth gaped at what she saw, and if the younger bionic sibling didn't have to concentrate he would have to. "What is it?" he questioned, arching an eyebrow.
"What, Chase?" Davenport took on a worried tone.
"Mr. Davenport, we could really use an extra set of hands .. where's Lexi?" Bree asked, eyes straining on what was behind her and Chase, but ultimately resting on her little brother.
"Guys, she's not clear for-"
"We need her!" Bree set her voice a smidge higher, to relay the need more clearly.
Adam and Leo turned for a brief second, but Chase waved them back to their job. "We need to get those people out! They won't be able to breathe under there forever!"
"Why would you need future girl?" It was Douglas' voice now. He didn't know the full extent of the little knowledge everyone else had.
"We just do-" Bree was cut off by the 'destroy's getting louder and closer.
"Donnie went to get her ..." Douglas was at a loss.
There was muffled silence, and some worried shuffling, until Davenport finally came back to his mic. "I can't find her," was all he had to say. He sounded in between concerned and very angry. "Honestly, does anybody ever listen to me!"
Chase and Bree huffed out, rolling their eyes. "Not the main concern at the moment, Mr. Davenport," Bree mumbled. Chase raised an eyebrow in an unvoiced question towards his sister. "A cluster of people, baring pretty top-notch weapons I might add, are heading straight for us."
"Then what are you waiting for!" Davenport sounded urgent. "Go get them!"
"But, Mr. Davenport, the trapped people-"
"Are not your only concern anymore," Davenport interrupted. "You won't be any good to those people if you are overtaken by whoever those people are."
Chase, yet again, could feel a strain on his bionics, sweat beading on his forehead to show the exersion. The sight of her brother must have been enough to convince Bree. She rushed off, heading straight for the intruders without hesitation or showing signs of slowing down.
The younger boy attempted a head swivel, but instantly felt like he was losing his grip on the fallen reckage, and kept looking ahead. He could hear his older sister's voice so clearly, along with the drone tones of the attackers. From the sound of it, both Bree and the group were taking turns having the upper hand. Chase winced as a wave a nausea washed over him, forcing him to unwillingly, temporily deactivate his molecular kinesis. He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing against his temples in evident pain.
"Chase!" Leo screeched, but the mission's leader was still hunched over. Adam and Leo had been in the middle of another broken piece of concrete removal when the stability of Chase's bionics went off air, causing a whole new tumble of rubble to fall down on the old piles, avalanche style. Leo twisted his head around to see Chase out of commision and Bree finally handing – without consent – the upper hand over for good to her attackers. One of those in front whacked her over the head with their two-handed weapon, as another pointed theirs at Bree and fired. A blast of icy blue rays shot at the bionic girl, who was now unconscious, and froze her where she lay.
"Adam, Leo! What's happening!" Davenport's voice yelled above the now even louder chanting of the intruders. "I've lost contact with Bree and all I'm getting is a fuzzy connection with Chase!" The two boys looked at each other, weighing the importance of the mission against saving their siblings. The frightened screams of the victims below the cave-in made them decide quickly, turning away from Bree and Chase to try to complete this mission as a duo. Every time they attempted to remove a concrete piece, the mountain of rubble would shift and a long moment of panick would commense. When nothing happened, they'd try again, only to have the same effect.
The whole time they were trying to figure out how to delicately manuever their way in, Chase had also been overtaken and captured with a heavy whack to the head, but not being blasted with the same fate as Bree. Instead, someone injected a green liquid into his neck with a syringe, causing him to black out. It took everything Adam had to not run to his brother's side and help. He didn't know he had it in him to ignore his siblings in a time of need; it almost repulsed him. He felt like a traitor, but at the same time Adam had sworn to dutifully fulfill every mission the government sent them on. The president was under all of this tunnel reckage, along with many civilians. Adam's frustration spiked with the mental confrontation, and he gripped one piece of rubble and flung it behind him, hearing a scream and yelp. Adam cringed. If that was Bree or Chase ...
"Do it again!" Leo exclaimed, looking behind them at the take-over. He snatched a piece of broken concrete for himself, spinning it around with his bionic arm a few times before tossing it. It sailed through the air, landing directly in the middle of the gathered foes, taking out two in its wake. Adam exchanged a hopeful smile with Leo, before cautiously removing three pieces of rubble at a time and chucking them at the cluster.
It took only a few tosses for the robo humans to smarten up – or rather, be told to smarten up via their controlled brains – and they started ducking and firing off shots of various weapons, anything from a simple gun to a flamethrower. Two of the intruders hoisted Chase in between them, and took off running through the crowd, who then created a shielded circle and started to retreat from whence they came.
"You get back here with my brother!" Adam yelled, charging off in a fury before Leo had a chance to restrain him.
"Adam, we can't just leave the people trapped in there!" Leo had tried countless times to be the voice of reason in the past, usually sarcastic reason, but Adam didn't understand or care about that sort of stuff. He was very in the moment, and in that moment his brother was being kidnapped.
Leo, in turn, ran forward too. He never liked being left behind, so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
"Guys! Somebody answer me!" Davenport sounded very helpless now. "What's happening, what do you see?"
Adam and Leo ran past a frozen Bree, who was already starting to melt, before Leo screeched to a halt and backed up to help. "Are you okay?"
"Y-y-yeah," Bree shivered, rubbing at her arms as she tried to forcefully pull out her legs, which were enveloped in thick ice. "J-j-ju-just c-c-c-cold." Leo shrugged, breathing on the ice to quicken the process.
Adam tumbled back to the two, clearly out of breath, but was obviously trying hard not to admit defeat. "They got away," he snarled through his clenched teeth, leaning forward with hastened, hoarse gasps. "Someone clicked a remote control in my direction and I immediately felt weaker."
The sound of a loud crash and boom made the Lab Rats' jump. The remaining bits of the tunnel behind them that had been upright caved, causing the whole structure to fall apart and the small progress Adam and Leo had made on getting through was rendered useless. Bree didn't want to, but she took a glance at the site, coughing back the cloud of concrete and dirt dust in the air.
Light footsteps were hurrying towards the battered teens, making each one in turn get into defense mode. When they all turned, Alexa was seen sprinting towards them in a mad flurry amongst the dark grey smoke, panicked eyes gathering intell on what went down around her. "I'm too late," it was a statement, not a question. Her voice had noticeably deflated as she spoke. "The future has been upset ..."
Bree was now patting down her thawing thighs, when she peered upwards at the girl in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"This mission was successful and now-" the sirens of emergency vehicles picked up, on their way. "Now we must face the catastrophic consequences."
"One failed or successful mission can't change that much, can it?" Leo's nose wrinkled, not wanting to hear the answer.
"Guys!" Davenport wasn't taking kindly to being brushed aside.
"Depends on the mission," Lexi's panick never left her face. The hopeful twinkle she was forcing herself to keep in her eyes was starting to dwindle. "This one was just too important to screw up ..." A lump caught in the future girl's throat as she tried to swallow back an anxiety attack.
"Where's Chase?" When Alexa said this it wasn't like she hadn't noticed his absence until now, she had searched for him first, for this day was not only incredibly sensitive for her future but for his. No one answered her, except with sad expressions and angered looks. "Oh ... no." The youngest bionic swayed on the balls of her feet, staggering backwards a little. The others were shell-shocked for the second day in a row, but not enough to not notice Lexi staring down at her hands as if this was her first time seeing them.
Bree pushed herself into a comfier sitting position, poking at her legs until feeling returned. "Lexi?" she was mildly concerned, but not surprised. This girl was strange enough to them for them to expect her to react like this. "We'll get Chase back ..." That was when the past female bionic noticed exactly what Alexa was staring at. Her hands, more specifically the pinky of each, were slightly translucent. "Wh-" but Bree had used up her last bit of energy on her previous words.
"Today was the day they met ..." Lexi's voice was becoming distant, her thoughts far off. "He saved her and she thanked him with a kiss ..." The future bionic didn't even sound like the girl she had started off being. She was a shell. "They missed their deadline ..."
"Enough with ignoring me," Davenport interrupted, in his perfect timing way. "I want answers! I need visuals!"
Suspense! I promise you answers will come in the next or next to next chapter! I was going to keep you guessing until the very end of this fanfic, but that's kind of mean and I don't want to extend it to over the top(; I know I'd be begging for answers at this point.
Why are Lexi's hands disappearing? Who were suppose to meet today? Why does Mr. Davenport have such bad timing?