Kihonne: Alright guys, I'm seeing a lot of positive feedback for the first chapter, so I'm glad to hear that you all liked it so much! I'm back with the second chapter, but first, it's shoutout time!
Xxx
LabGirl2001: Calla's in charge of the kids now, yeah. It should be very interesting, especially considering that Leo's living in Centium City too. As for Emily, she certainly isn't perfect, that's for sure. I wouldn't call her totally sheltered – Calla and Chase don't seem like those kind of parents – but she certainly does need to learn to adjust to change. Though, to be fair, it's a pretty sudden and pretty big change. As for the Elite Force, unfortunately no, we won't, but we will catch up with them at some point. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Algernon23: I'm so glad you liked it! I wasn't entirely sure which scenes I should choose for Calla, especially given that it was the last tribute chapter and that she was such a significant character in the series, but I'm glad you liked it so much. I totally get where you're coming from with Naomi – she and Ben both do sit in a weird area where they're too young to be an adult, but too old to be considered one of the kids. She could definitely be categorized in both groups. That being said, you'll see her interact more with the younger members of the team than the original team (yet another reason why I sent the original Elite Force off planet), so it'll probably become less confusing over time. Noah's going to have a range of abilities, some like Bree and some that were inspired off different heroes. As for the capsule, that will be brought up. Noah's not the only member of the team with bionics – Naomi doesn't have any, but Charlotte does. Chapter 3 is set up so that each of the characters will get a chance to show the audience their unique abilities, so you'll get to see more of both their abilities then. I'm glad you liked what I did with the parents – it wouldn't make much sense to have a new team when the old one was available. They are going to be gone about 8 months, but Season 1 is only going take up about 4 – 4.5 months (it's set from the beginning of September to mid-January). Chase's senate bid will likely still happen – granted, he'll have a lot less time than other candidates to campaign, but, assuming the trip takes 8 months as expected, he'd get back about 4 or 5 months prior to the election. Oh, and yes, everything going on with Davenport Industries is definitely going to have some repercussions, that's for sure. Everyone certainly is in a difficult position with everything going on, and Calla's definitely going to have a lot on her plate dealing with all the kids. But like you said, she does have help. Naomi, Ben, and even Leo will be there to help. As for the new villain team, they're definitely going to cause trouble for the kids, Vulcan especially. He's…well, he's special. I'm interested to hear what you and everyone else come up with for theories for the team; even if the theory is totally insane, I will want to hear it. It could end up being right. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter too, and I hope you had a great St. Patrick's day too!
Humanusscriptor: Oh, sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon!
SzymonS: I'm so glad you like it, and Emily! Don't worry, there will be more Kameron and Kira – there isn't too much of them in this chapter, but they'll have their time to shine really soon. Unfortunately, Nyssa won't be in this story very much (I do have a guest appearance intended for her in one chapter, but that might be it). Sorry. As for why the team can't teleport, Caldera is also using forcefields to protect their planet from the Venusians, not to mention, the airspace around it isn't all that safe right now. I intend to go more into detail about that at a later time, but that's the short answer. Good question though. Interesting guessed about the new villain team, but I can't confirm or deny any. Though I will say this – of the three that you saw, not all of them were new characters. They're using codenames to protect their identities. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the first chapter, and I hope you all like this one too!
Xxx
Kihonne: Anyway, on with the chapter!
Seraphina: Kihonne doesn't own Lab Rats, Mighty Med, or the Elite Force. She only owns this story, any and all OCs in it, and anything else you don't recognize from the original shows.
Xxx
Sera's POV
I stopped at the bottom of the stairway, watching the activity in the kitchen as a knot formed in my stomach. I'd never been particularly fond of going to school – I'd always preferred my private lessons with Hapax the Elder over the public classes I had to do twice a week – and having to go to an Earth school had already been nerve-wracking. I'd hoped that a quiet morning before classes would help ease my nerves but judging by the chaos present on the main floor of the penthouse, that wasn't going to be happening.
Emily was in the kitchen, cooking bacon on the stove while looking at her class schedule on her Davenwatch. Every so often, she'd bend down and hand a piece of bacon to Helix, who was sitting happily at his owner's side. Kira was going through piles of school supplies that Calla had left for us on the counter, shoving different items into a black and pink backpack. Kameron was on the couch, playing a loud video game while occasionally popping a grape into his mouth. Naomi was on the phone with someone – Ben, I presumed – making her away around the kitchen as she tried to make herself something to eat without having to make Emily move from in front of the stove. Calla was at the desk, muttering to herself as she skimmed through an open filing cabinet drawer, looking for one document or another.
All in all, it was very different than what I was used to.
"Morning, Seraphina." Kira smiled brightly at me as she walked to the couch, dropping her bag on the ground before sitting down next to her brother. She had a bowl of mushy looking stuff in her hands. "There's oatmeal left if you want some."
"Thanks." I replied, walking over to the island and taking a seat. Calla clapped her hands together, getting everyone's attention, just as I made myself my breakfast.
"Alright. First day." She announced. "Everyone has their schedules, supplies, bags, lunches?" She waited for us all to confirm, and then for Kameron to race upstairs and come back down with his bag. "Okay, good. The school is only a couple of blocks away – Emily and Charlotte can show you the way to it. Em, honey, I'm trusting that the two of you will keep an eye on them, keep them out of trouble?"
"What makes you think we're going to get into trouble?" Kira protested. Calla raised an eyebrow, lips curling into a smug smile.
"I've spoken with your parents." She replied. Kira sighed, admitting defeat. "Look, it's easy to get turned around in a new school, that's all I meant. You will help them out?" She added, glancing at Emily. Emily shrugged, but nodded, turning back to the frying pan.
"Wait, I have a question." Kameron spoke up. Calla sighed.
"No, you may not bring Josh to school. He stays in your cage when you're at school and while I'm at home." She told him.
"That wasn't it." He replied. She smiled.
"In that case, what's up?" She inquired cheerfully.
"Why can't we just take the bus to school? Why do we have to walk? It would save us, like, ten minutes." He asked, earning a groan from both Naomi and Emily. Calla sent them a look before answering Kameron's question.
"Because those self-driving buses are dangerous, and I don't let Emily, or anyone else living under my roof take them." She explained, her tone overly patient in a way that told me that she'd had to answer this question numerous times before. "Trust me, kid, you don't want to end up at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean."
"Like that could really happen." Kameron scoffed. Calla merely raised an eyebrow, choosing not to argue with him about that point.
"Look, walking won't kill you, and that is the rule." She told him, not unkindly. He sighed but went back to his video game. "Alright, like I said, stay out of trouble. Rule number one is no using your powers at school. Kam, Kira, I know Geminus has that rule for all of the children of the NLH, but Sera, the same goes for you. It's just safer for everyone if you all act as if you don't have any abilities. Okay?"
"Okay." I nodded – it seemed fair enough. Calla nodded.
"Alright, now, if and when you all break rule number one – and don't say you won't, I went to high school with bionic superhumans – make sure you don't get caught and I expect to hear about it. You won't get in trouble if you had a good reason for using them, and I can't handle a situation that I don't know about, alright?" She waited for us each to agree. Naomi was watching the whole conversation in amusement, sipping at a cup of tea. "Am I forgetting anything?"
"Don't think so." Naomi added, reminding Calla that was she in the room.
"Yeah, we're good." Kira replied. Calla nodded.
"Great. I'm off then." She announced. She walked over to Emily and gave her a kiss on the forehead before grabbing her bag. She glanced at Naomi. "You need a ride to your classes?"
"Please." Naomi placed her mug in the sink and started to follow Calla out.
"Morning Charlotte." Calla greeted as the dark-skinned girl stepped into the room, having arrived just as they were leaving.
"Bye Aunt Calla, bye Naomi!" Charlotte called back. She waited until they left before turning to Calla with a scowl on her face. "Dad remembered the no bus rule."
"Mom too." Emily sighed. She looked at Kameron. "There's no point, Kam. They've been insisting on that rule since I was in kindergarten."
"They don't actually believe that the buses could end up at the bottom of the ocean, do they?" Kira chuckled. Emily nodded, and Kira stared at her. "Okay, what is with their hatred of self-driving cars?"
"No idea." Charlotte supplied, sitting down in the chair closest to the TV. "All I know is that whenever I ask my Dad about it, he says 'Marcus' in a really weird tone."
"Who is Marcus?" I asked, confused. Emily shrugged.
"No idea. We should go." She added, glancing at the clock. "If we don't want to be late."
"We wouldn't be late if we took the bus." Kameron grumbled under his breath, reluctantly grabbing his bag and following the older girl out the door.
Emily's POV
"And this is the main hallway where most of our lockers are." I explained, showing Kira, Kameron, and Sera into the hallway. It was abuzz with life, students from all four grades attending the school in the hallway. It wasn't even the majority of them - I knew a lot of the students would be in the cafeteria eating breakfast, or already in their classes, or, for the athletes of the academy, they were meeting with their individual coaches.
"Which are ours?" Kameron asked, looking around. I held my hand out for his tablet and he showed me his welcome packet.
"Uh, first ones on the left of classroom room 101. That's the first one on your left." I turned and pointed. "Coincidentally, that's where your first period class is. You guys all have first period Spanish?"
"Unfortunately." Kira replied with a forced smile.
"Senorita Ortiz isn't that bad, I swear." Ava assured them, walking over to us, holding her books in her arms. She glanced at me and Charlotte. "We've got chem with Perez, then fourth period gym with Satan together, right?"
"Unfortunately." "Yeah." Charlotte and I both replied.
"I'm sorry, your gym teacher's name is Satan?" Seraphina questioned skeptically, looking at us. Ava, Charlotte, and I all exchanged looks.
"Yes." We all said at the same time, dead serious. Kira frowned nervously.
"Don't we have gym fourth period as well?" She asked slowly. Charlotte nodded.
"They mix grades for that, since everyone's got to take it but we all have weird schedules." She explained. "But yeah, we'll all have gym class together."
"Except Aaron." Ava added. She glanced at the others before adding. "My cousin. He's in your grade."
"That sucks." I grumbled. Aaron was on the football team, and everyone knew that the football players got special attention from all the coaches. It was unfair, but being friends with one of them worked in our favor. Aaron and Ava had only started at Millennium Academy just before our second semester last year (they'd only moved to Centium City in late December), but Aaron's position on the team had kept a lot of the bullies in the various sports teams around the school away from Charlotte and I.
Suddenly, before I could give them any more explanation, the warning bell rang. Seraphina winced at the sudden sound, looking around in confusion.
"Warning bell. Means we should get to class." Kameron said quickly. I realized that they probably didn't have any type of bell or schedule like this for Calderans in their education. "Room 101, you said?"
"Yeah." I nodded.
"I'll see you in class." Ava told me. I nodded, then waited until she left to give the others some last bits of advice.
"Sera, just follow Kameron and Kira's lead in your classes, and you'll be fine." I assured the Calderan. "As for the rest...avoid the second floor bathrooms - they're disgusting..."
"If you want a snack, the vending machines near Room 203 are the best," Charlotte added before looking at me, "and whatever you do,"
"Do not, under any circumstances, piss off the gym teacher." I finished. The three of them looked at us, now genuinely scared of what gym was going to be like, and I felt like my job had been done. "Alright, we'll see you guys later."
I waited until they'd actually started heading in the direction of their classroom before following Charlotte into ours.
Mr. Perez was one of those teachers who believed in seating charts, and much to my dismay, Ava was stuck sitting at the front of the room, partnered with Haley Sitwell, while Charlotte and I were both at the back of the classroom. Neither of us had been partnered with each other, but the two new guys we were being partnered with - Darius Moore and Matt Ward - had yet to arrive, so it gave us a little time to talk.
"You think they'll be okay?" Charlotte inquired, turning around on her stool to face me. I shrugged.
"They'll be fine. They're superheroes - I'm sure they can handle a little school." I rolled my eyes.
"No, I meant-" Charlotte gestured vaguely at the sky. I nodded, understanding what she meant instantly.
"Dad and the others? They'll be okay too. It's just a mediation thingy. They won't be in very much danger." I replied. I sat back suddenly. "You've got to be kidding me."
"What?" Charlotte turned around. Then, in a much happier tone than my own, "you've got to be kidding me."
When we'd been hanging at the Cluck-Cluck Barn the other day, Charlotte had seen a couple of good-looking guys and had been joking about getting their numbers for the rest of the day. And apparently, they were in our class.
"Well, hello there." Charlotte greeted as they walked over to us. "Which one of you is Matt?"
I nearly smacked myself at Charlotte's obviousness. Matt - good looking with a brown comb-over and thick eyebrows - sat down beside her.
"Hey, I'm Matt." He held his fist out to her, then, after she bumped her fist with his, he held it out to me. "I'm new."
"Nice to meet you." I bumped my fist with him, then slid over so Darius - a skinny guy with shoulder length, dark-brown hair - could take his seat. "I'm Emily, this weirdo here is Charlotte."
"Hey, better a weirdo than a nerd." Charlotte teased.
"Nerds are awesome, what are you talking about?" I teased. Darius and Matt watched the conversation, amused.
"So, are you guys new to Centium City?" Charlotte inquired, smiling prettily at Matt.
"Uh, my mom just moved us here." Darius didn't sound too excited about that, which confused me. Millennium Academy was one of the best schools in the country - why wouldn't he be excited?
"And what about you?" Charlotte asked Matt. "You move here with your mom too?"
"My dad, actually. We moved because of his job." He explained, seeming less annoyed by the transition than his friend.
"What's he do?" I asked, curious. He shrugged.
"It's complicated." He replied. I frowned, but didn't push it - not everyone wanted to brag about their parents jobs. Before Charlotte could ask another question, the teacher cleared his throat and began the class. I noticed immediately that out of the four of us, I was the only one taking notes. Charlotte and Matt were whispering to each other, not paying attention in the slightest - unfortunately, both Charlotte and I knew I'd be giving her a copy of my notes later, so she didn't seem bothered by what she was missing. Darius, on the other hand, looked to be listening, but hadn't even bothered to take out his notebook.
That annoyed me to no end. We were apparently going to be lab partners this year - though, I wondered if Perez would be willing to let me switch with Matt so that Charlotte and I could be partners like we had last year - and he wasn't even taking notes? If he thought I was going to carry his ass through this class and get himself an easy A, he had another thing coming.
"Alright," Mr. Perez clapped his hands together, sitting down at the front of his desk, "I like to start the year with a pop quiz. So..." He paused, considering his question, "who can tell me what an ATP molecule is made of?"
My hand shot into the air, a confident smirk on my face. Mr. Perez smiled and pointed in my direction, and I smiled.
"It's made out of a ribose center, which is a sugar molecule, which sits between a base made of linked carbon and nitrogen rings, also called adenine, and a group of three phosphates." Darius answered before I could. I stared at him, stunned.
"Very good, Mr. Moore." Mr. Perez smiled, while I continued to stare. "Now, what is a solution called when it has a pH of less than 7?"
"It's acidic." I declared, briefly raising my hand before answering. Darius raised an eyebrow at my answer.
"Thank you, Ms. Davenport." Mr. Perez said warmly. I'd always been a favorite of his. "Can anyone tell me how enzymes are denatured?"
Both my and Darius' hands went up at the same time. Oh, it was on.
Sera's POV
"I can not believe he beat you." Ava was laughing at Emily as Kira, Kameron, and I walked over to her and Charlotte. Emily scowled, crossing her arms.
"He did not beat me." Emily insisted, rolling her eyes.
"He kinda did, Em." Charlotte smiled.
"No, he didn't." Emily replied dismissively.
"You sure? It sounds like he beat you." Kameron commented. Emily gave him a look. "Who is 'he', by the way?"
"Darius Moore, new kid." Charlotte explained, nodding towards a dark-haired guy standing at the other side of the gym. He kept glancing over at us, though. Maybe he knew we were talking about him? "He's got a hot best friend. His name's Matt." Charlotte added, talking mostly to Kira and myself.
"I'm not interested." Kira told her, waving her off.
"Good, because I don't plan on sharing." She added.
"Which one is Matt?" I inquired about Charlotte's new friend, looking around. Darius was talking to a group of guys, but I couldn't see which one she was talking about.
"Oh, he doesn't have gym with us." Charlotte explained.
"He doesn't have gym at all. He's exempt." Emily added. She sighed. "I wish I could be exempt."
"Why is he exempt?" Kameron frowned.
"He said it was a medical thing, but he didn't want to talk about it. Said it wasn't anything serious." Charlotte shrugged. She glanced at Emily. "Oh, by the way, we're going to show him and Darius around after school."
"I never agreed to that." Emily said quickly. Charlotte rolled her eyes.
"You just don't like them." She insisted. Emily nodded.
"There's something about them that weirds me out." She reasoned. I smiled a little.
"Are you sure it's not just because Darius beat you?" I asked.
"Quit it!" Emily snapped, losing her patience, but the others all just laughed. Then, all of a sudden, all noise in the gymnasium ceased at once - you could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet.
"Listen up, maggots!" I spun around to see a short, red-haired lady in a cat-themed sweatsuit stalking towards the center of the class. The rest of the students all started to move closer together - despite her short stature, something about the woman seemed to make everyone else afraid. "I'm Ms. Perry, your new gym teacher! Now, if you were hoping for a fun little gym class where you can sit around and play duck, duck, goose or whatever stupid game you were thinking of, think again! Because in my class, I don't care about fun. Do you understand?" She turned on the nearest student, getting right in his face. "Well?"
"Yes m'am." He whimpered. She nodded.
"Good. Dodge ball." She announced. "Athletes on one side, non-athletes on the other."
"How is that fair?" Kameron protested. Perry turned to face him, a deep scowl set on her face.
"You want to repeat that, Glenn?" She questioned. Kameron frowned.
"That's not my name." He commented. She raised an eyebrow and stepped forward, causing Kameron to take a step back.
"It is now. Get over there." She instructed. Kameron gulped, then nodded and did as he was told. We all started splitting up.
"Wrong side, Dooley!" She called.
"I'm on the fencing team." Charlotte reasoned.
"That's not a real sport!" Perry sneered. Charlotte sighed and walked back over to us.
"You know she hates me the most." She muttered. Emily grimaced and patted her shoulder.
"We know." She assured her as we all turned to face the team full of football, baseball, soccer, rugby, and whatever other sports players there were in the gym.
"In case you didn't realize, we're screwed." Ava mentioned, glancing sideways at us.
Xxx
"I hate this school." Kira scowled, wincing as she rubbed her stomach painfully. I grimaced sympathetically, not disagreeing with my younger cousin.
"It's not so bad." Charlotte reasoned, shrugging.
"Uh, no. It is." Kameron agreed with his sister, arms crossed. "I miss our old school."
"What was your old school like?" I inquired, curious.
"More relaxed than this." Kira grumbled.
"This place is so prissy and uptight." Kameron sighed. "There are a million rules, these ugly uniforms, and oh yeah, Perry."
"Well, it is a private school." Emily pointed out. "It's bound to be more prestigious than public schools."
"Doesn't mean we have to like it." Kira sighed. I looked at her, a little surprised to see her so pessimistic about the whole thing. We hadn't spent too much time together growing up, but I did remember that Kira was always the cheerful one. "Sorry, I just miss my old friends."
"Well I can't do anything about your old ones, would you like to make some new ones for the time being?" Charlotte offered. "I'm sure Darius and Matt won't mind you guys tagging along on our little tour of Centium City."
Kira and Kameron exchanged looks. "No thanks. You seem like you're fine on your own." Kira replied, smiling a little. Charlotte shrugged.
"Suit yourself. Sera?" She offered. Emily spoke up before I could.
"Actually, I'm not coming." She told Charlotte. The dark-skinned girl scowled in annoyance. "Hey, I actually can't. Noah forgot his wallet at home and needs me to bring him some cash so he can buy himself dinner later."
Charlotte looked genuinely disappointed, so I cleared my throat. "I can take the money to him."
Emily shot me a desperate, pleading look, but Charlotte grinned happily. "That's a great idea, Seraphina!" She exclaimed, one hand already reaching for her bag. She pulled out a couple of paper bills and handed them to me. "Thank you!"
"It's fine, really." I assured her.
"Are you sure you know where you're going? You've only been in town for a couple of days." She reminded me, clearly still looking for a way out of having to help Charlotte.
"I was just there a couple of days ago." I reminded her. "I know the way."
"Yeah, she'll be fine." Charlotte was already guiding Emily away from us. "Call us if you get lost!" She called over her shoulder.
Xxx
"Oh." Noah stopped when he saw me sitting at a table near the employee entrance, looking a little surprised for a minute before smiling. "Hey Sera, I thought Emily was coming."
"Charlotte's making her help her with something, so I volunteered." I explained, handing him the cash. He smiled.
"Thanks. You didn't have to." He told me, walking over to the counter. "Hey, you want anything?"
"Uh..." I hesitated, looking at the menu. I'd never even heard of half of these options before. Noah was patient though, waiting for me to make a decisions. "Onion rings, I guess?"
"Cool." Noah gave the waitress our order. Waiting a few minutes for it to come back before taking a seat across from me. He had ordered himself a chicken burger and fries. "So, why has Char kidnapped Em this time?"
"This happens a lot?" I guessed, based on his tone. He chuckled, nodding.
"Don't get me wrong - Emily is perfectly capable of getting into trouble on her own - but Charlotte can be...persuasive."
"They're giving some new kids a tour." I explained. Noah frowned before taking a bite of his burger.
"Shouldn't they be giving you guys the tour?" He questioned. I shrugged.
"I didn't really want it, and I don't think Emily was that keen on giving it to begin with." I admitted. I glanced at him. "I don't think she likes me very much."
"No, that's not...well..." Noah trailed off and I sighed, picking at the fried rings he'd bought for me. "It's not you, okay?" He paused to take another bite. "Emily's never been the biggest fan of change, especially ones that she has no say in. This whole thing with our parents is stressing her out, and she's probably taking it out on your because you're sharing a room. It's not fair, but it's not personal either."
"So what do I-Oh." I started as I took a bite out of my onion rings. I stopped when the taste hit my tongue - no wonder my dad listed 'fast food' as one of the best parts of Earth culture.
"I'm guessing they don't have onion rings on Caldera?" Noah chuckled. I shook my head. "You were saying?"
"What do I do? About Emily?" I asked. He smirked.
"Show her up, or tell her off." He shrugged. I frowned, thinking that that would just start an argument. "Look, she gets into her head and sometimes doesn't realize what she's doing. She'll see what's she doing eventually, and probably apologize then, but if you tell her off the next time she's, well, being Emily, or show her that you're not backing down, it'll hit her sooner."
I hummed in response, thinking it over. "Maybe." I agreed slowly. Noah smiled.
"Fair warning though - she's terrible at apologies. Like, really bad. It's kinda funny, actually." He chuckled. He started to tell me something else, but a sudden screeching noise, followed by a loud crashing coming from the road stopped him. We both stood up, caught off guard by the noise. "What the hell?"
Emily's POV
"So, how do you guys know each other?" Matt inquired as we walked down the street, Charlotte occasionally pointing out some building or monument and telling the guys why it was cool, or why they should avoid it, or some other fun fact. She was taking her duty as tour guide very seriously, so much that it was almost funny. Matt was the only one really listening, watching her with wide, curious eyes, nodding along and asking questions, while Darius looked like he couldn't care less about it. Something felt off about the way Matt was so invested in Charlotte, like he was faking it or something. I smiled inwardly, realizing that he probably only asked for the tour to spend more time with her, and dragged Darius along so that it didn't seem so obvious.
"We're cousins. Oh, and our parents work together." Charlotte replied brightly. Darius looked up at that.
"At Davenport Industries?" He guessed. I stopped to look at him, a little surprised, but he just shrugged. "Well, your last name is Davenport, and Aaron Merullo mentioned that your Dad was the bionic guy."
"You were asking about me?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He smirked.
"I like to know my competition." He replied. Charlotte chuckled a little.
"Yeah, our parents work at Davenport Industries. Her mom is CEO, actually." She added. I sent her a look – I didn't like telling people what my mom did for a living. It wasn't that I wasn't proud to be her and my dad's daughter, but I was aware that even for Millennium Academy, my family was pretty rich. We didn't flaunt it about or anything, and Mom was pretty insistent that if I wanted something I had to work for it, but that wouldn't necessarily matter to the other kids at school. Most would just see a spoiled rich kid and that's not the kind of reputation I wanted.
Darius and Matt didn't look like they cared about the money, though. "That is so cool!" Matt grinned widely. "Wait, does that mean you guys are bionic too?"
"No." Charlotte lied instantly. I shook my head.
"That's a shame. That would be cool." Matt shoved his hands in his pockets. I shrugged.
"So-" I was about to ask them what they thought of Millennium Academy so far when I suddenly heard the sound of shouting. We all turned at the same time towards the sounds, but whatever had happened was so far away that we couldn't quite see what was going on. There was smoke though, and distressing noises coming from closer to the city center.
"What's going on?" I wondered. Charlotte started forward.
"What are you doing?" Darius questioned. Charlotte hesitated, looking back towards what I had to assume was a major traffic accident.
"Someone could be hurt." She reasoned, and, before any of us could stop her, she took off in the direction of the commotion. I frowned.
"That doesn't look safe." Darius told me. I nodded.
"Which is why someone should go after her." I agreed, following after Charlotte.
"Hey!" I called after Charlotte, getting her to slow down enough for me to catch up with her. "Oh God."
It was an accident, but it was a particularly bad one. A bus – thankfully a city bus rather than one of the elementary school ones – was tipped over in the middle of the street, while another car had hit a post nearby. Another flipped car had crashed into the front of a café, with smoke coming out of the restaurant. People were running from the scene, panicking.
"I think there are people inside!" Charlotte called to me before running into the café. I, meanwhile, raced towards the bus.
"Hello? Anyone in here?" I called as I ran around it. It was tipped on its side, making the door completely inaccessible, but on the roof of the bus, there was an emergency exit. It took a couple of harsh kicks to get it open, but eventually I managed it. "Hello?"
A couple of people quickly crawled out of the emergency exit. "There's no one else still inside." One of them, a woman, told me as I helped her and her son off to the side of the street.
"What happened?" I asked, confused.
"The GPS went crazy." The twelve-year-old boy told me. I frowned – aside from my mom and uncle's jokes, I'd never actually heard of a self-driving vehicle's GPS causing an accident. "Behind you!"
I spun around to see another car behind us. Immediately, I knew something was wrong – one of the passengers was desperately trying to get control of the wheel, but it was jerking out of her hands, moving completely on its own. And it was coming right towards us.
Sera's POV
"What the hell is going on out here?" Noah demanded, watching in horror as one vehicle collided with another. It was the third vehicle to lose control since we'd ran to the road – the first one narrowly missed hitting us, but thankfully the couple inside managed to bail from the car before it crashed into a street sign. The driver of the other car wasn't so lucky, unfortunately.
"I have no idea." I muttered before running after the third car stopped, having slammed into a parked car. I quickly jumped over the parked car's hood, sliding across it at the end so that I could reach the driver's side. I ripped open the door, having to tug at it a few times to get it unstuck. "Are you okay?"
"Joanie." The woman said, looking behind her as she pressed a hand against a deep-looking cut on her forehead. I followed her gaze to see a young girl sitting in a car seat.
"I got her." I assured the mother before moving further down the car. The door opened easily and I helped the child, Joanie, out of her seat. "She's okay, she's not hurt." I assured her mother.
"Thank you." Her mother smiled at me as we moved off to the side of the road. She looked out at the road in dismay. "This has been happening all over town."
"Why?" I questioned out loud. She shook her head, as clueless as I was. "Oh!"
I turned to see another car speeding towards one of the cars that had already crashed, the driver clearly unable to do anything. I started towards it, unsure of what I could even do. There was nothing I could do to save the driver in the moving vehicle, but maybe I could at least protect the driver still in the crashed vehicle.
I raised one hand, forming a thick wall of ice into a barrier around the non-moving car. The driver inside of it, still unable to get his door opened, looked visibly relieved, but I wasn't entirely sure if the barrier would be thick enough to protect him.
Suddenly, something blurry sped past me, towards the moving car. I couldn't quite see what it was, but it flew into the car's window, shattering it, and then disappeared as quickly as it had came. And once it was gone, I realized: the driver was no longer in their car.
"Holy shit." I heard someone swear. I spun around, and to my shock, there stood the driver, along with Noah, an equally confused look on the driver's face.
"Wait," I frowned, looking between Noah, who was still holding the driver's arm, and the car, then back at Noah. I blinked in surprise, distinctly remembering how my parents had told me that Katherine, Chase, Spin, and Charlotte were the only bionic super humans living in Centium City. "Did you...was that you?"
Noah licked his lips, looking between the car and I. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "I would really appreciate it if my mother never finds out about this." He said slowly.
"O...kay." I drew out the word, still confused. I looked back at the street, where more cars were clearly having trouble. "C'mon."
Emily's POV
"Em!" I heard Charlotte shout, but my eyes were locked on the car. I raised my hand, praying that this would work.
"Stop." I ordered, reaching out to the car's GPS with my mind. My abilities wouldn't work on the car itself, but the on-board computer GPS that controlled the autopilot? They should still obey my commands, even malfunctioning the way it was. Right?
Much to my relief, the car braked instantly, skidding to a stop mere inches away from me. I let out the breath I'd been holding and dropped down to the ground, my knees weak with relief; I wasn't entirely sure that was going to work, and it was way too close of a call for my liking.
"Emily!" A hand pulled on my arm, tugging me back to my feet, but it wasn't Charlotte. "Are you okay?" Kira demanded, eyes wide. I nodded.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were walking home on your own?" This wasn't even close to my place.
"We got lost." Kameron admitted, eyeing the road cautiously. I smiled cheekily, then ran to the car. The drivers had fled sometime after I'd stopped it, leaving the doors wide open. "I think it's stopped, Em. The cars don't seem to be running after the initial crash."
"Yeah, well, I need this one to work." I muttered. I sat down in the driver's seat, then looked at the others. "Don't worry about me - go try and help the others. I've got an idea."
"Suit yourself." Charlotte nodded, about to leave with the twins. I frowned when I found that GPS had indeed shut down. I couldn't do anything if it wasn't working right.
"Wait!" I called after them. They all stopped, looking at me as if awaiting orders. "Which one of you is the sparky one?"
"Present!" Kameron raised a hand. I nodded and motioned for him to come over while the other girls ran off to help people. "What do you need?"
"My dad once told me that your mom was able to power the entire penthouse once when there was a power outage and the backup generation broke down." I told him. "Any idea how she did that?"
"Yeah, I think...let's try this." Kameron placed his hand on the front of the car's dashboard, right next to the GPS system. He frowned in concentration, and suddenly, the screen came to life.
"Awesome. Keep doing...whatever it is that you're doing." I told him.
"Aye-aye, captain." He joked. I smiled a little at that before raised one hand, using my fingers to shift through the code in the device. "What are you doing, anyway?"
"I'm trying to figure out what's doing this." I replied as I started scanning through everything. "If this is happening in multiple vehicles, it's not just a random malfunction."
"You think it's a virus?" Kameron questioned. I nodded.
"It makes sense." I answered, just as my Davenwatch began to beep. "Uh, I need my eyes on the screen. Can you see who it is?"
"Your mom." He replied, craning his neck to try to avoid having to read the name out loud. I shook my head at him, gesturing for him to dismiss the call - now wasn't exactly a great time.
"Alright, I think I found the problem. It's affecting all vehicles with this brand of autopilot." I frowned, bothered by what I had frowned. It wasn't a virus like we'd originally thought, but rather a malicious update that had sent the cars out of control.
"You think you can fix it?" Kameron questioned. He sucked in a breath. "Oh, dang."
"Maybe. What happened?" I demanded as I started to rewrite the code to try and fix the problem. Once I fixed it here, I could send it to the other vehicles as a forced update.
"Car exploded." He mentioned. I raised my head in alarm. "No, it's okay. Kira got the people out in time."
"Alright." I muttered, focusing. "Alright, I got it."
"You sure?" Kameron questioned. I bit my lip.
"We'll see." I replied, sending the code out to the other vehicles. I turned to him. "Let's go join the others, shall we?"
Sera's POV
"And then, I just flew in and pulled the guy out of his seat. I've never seen anyone look more confused in my life." Kira laughed as we stepped out of the elevator.
Thankfully, the update Emily had created in the middle of all that chaos today had stopped the cars from malfunctioning - it didn't do much to help the cars that had already crashed, but it prevented any more accidents caused by the GPS. We'd all gotten to Davenport Tower at the same time, and were going back through everything we'd done today.
"It was actually pretty cool-oh." Charlotte stopped in the doorway to the penthouse. Confused, I looked past her to see Katherine Dooley, Leo Dooley, Naomi, Ben, and Calla all waiting for us in the living room. None of the parents looked too happy, though Ben and Naomi seemed to be neutral on whatever it was that was upsetting them. "Hi."
"You all have your Davenwatches on, right?" Calla demanded. We all glanced at the our wrists, where the watches were all attached.
"Yes...?" Noah answered, confused.
"Learn to answer them." She told us, tone annoyed and frustrated. "I've been calling you all for the past hour."
"Sorry." Emily apologized sincerely. "It's just...it wasn't a great time for calls."
"Your mom calls you, especially when the city is like this, you pick up." Leo warned. He glanced at Charlotte. "Same goes for you."
"All of you, actually. It goes for all of you." Calla corrected.
"We're sorry." Kira told her. "But you wouldn't believe the day we've had."
"Oh, I think we might." Ben cleared his throat, nodding at the TV. Though it was muted, I could see flashes of footage and photos from today, mostly of the wrecks and what was going on. Several of them showed the six of us helping people, as well as images of Katherine, Leo, Calla, Ben, and Spin and AJ Henigs-Krane doing their part. Even Naomi was in one of them, having abandoned her camera to help an elderly man climb out the back of a wrecked bus.
I glanced at Calla. "You did say you wouldn't get upset at any of us for using our powers if we had a good reason for it." I pointed out. Emily smirked a little, ducking her head so her mom wouldn't see it.
"Well, I was kinda hoping you guys could stay out of trouble for at least 24 hours first." Calla said in exasperation, sitting down on the couch. She sighed. "But you're right, I did say that, and you're not in trouble." We all let out sighs of relief. "That being said, not getting caught was one of the rules. You're not in trouble - it wasn't your fault - but I hope you all know how lucky it was that I managed to get a friend of mine to get rid of the footage of you guys using your abilities."
"They understand, Calla." Naomi assured her, giving us a stern look of her own.
"Wait." Noah frowned, looking at the adults suspiciously. "If we're not in trouble, why are we getting the welcome wagon?"
"Dude!" Emily shot him a look, trying to silence him.
"Because what happened today ain't gonna be happenin' again." Katherine told us.
"What do you mean?" Kira asked. She looked at us to see if any of the rest of us had any idea what Katherine was talking about. "We helped people."
"You ran into a very dangerous situation, and you could have very easily gotten yourselves killed." Ben corrected.
"Yeah, but we helped people." Kira insisted, still looking confused. Ben glanced at Naomi, Calla, Leo, and Katherine, looking for some help.
"It was reckless and dangerous." Calla told her.
"You guys would do that same thing. Dad, you were younger than me when you went on your first mission." Charlotte pointed out. "And Uncle Adam, Aunt Bree, and Uncle Chase started missions around the same time."
"And had it not been for Adam, Bree, and Chase, I would have blown up in a train full of nucloneum." Leo pointed out. Calla nodded.
"Adam, Bree, and Chase were trained to do thing like that. They were taught how to handle situations like that, and you weren't. You could have gotten hurt." Calla stressed.
"We're trained." Kameron muttered to his sister.
"Messing around with Twilight doesn't count as training. Your sidekick training doesn't start until next year." Ben spoke up, having heard him. Kameron scowled, annoyed.
"Well, then, you should train us." I spoke up. Calla looked at me.
"Excuse me?" She questioned. Emily smiled, looking at me.
"Yes." She agreed, turning to her mom. "Sera's right; you should train us to be heroes like Dad."
Three different voices told us "No" at the same time.
"Why not? Clearly we're good at saving people." Charlotte agreed, pointing at the TV screen. "And if you train us, it won't be so 'reckless and dangerous'."
"We could be the new Elite Force." Kameron agreed.
"Not happening." Leo told us.
"Why not?" Noah protested.
"Well, first of all, you're not even supposed to have powers," Calla sent Noah a look that silenced him, "and second of all, your parents sent you here because it was safe."
"I'm pretty sure that trainin' you to fight ain't what they 'ad in mind." Katherine added.
"Kath's right. They wouldn't be very impressed, and frankly, they're right." Leo agreed. Charlotte pushed in between Emily and I to stand in front of all of us, her arms crossed.
"If you didn't want me to be a hero, why'd you give me bionics?" She demanded.
"Because we want you to have a choice." Leo explained gently. "When you're an adult."
"This isn't fair." Kira argued. "Kameron and I are going to be sidekicks anyway."
"In the future, yes, but not right now." Ben told them. Naomi sighed.
"Why don't we discuss this again in the morning?" She suggested. Calla shook her head.
"No, this is the last time we're discussing it." She insisted. She looked at us. "You're not going to train, and you're going to avoid using your abilities unless you absolutely have to. That's my final answer." Her expression softened. "Trust me guys, it's much safer this way."
"Whatever." "Fine." We all grumbled in response. Calla sighed, then clapped her hands together.
"Alright, I'm sure you all have homework." She changed the topic. "If you guys finish it before dinner, maybe we can rent a movie, alright?"
No one seemed too enthusiastic as we made our way up the stairs. "Noah, Emily, stick around." Calla added as Noah headed for the door. I saw Emily's expression - briefly panicked and nervous before she reeled it in, forcing a neutral, if not confused, look onto her face. She started back down the stairs as the twins and Charlotte went up, while I stuck around on the stairs, curious.
"So...superspeed." Leo announced. "You two want to explain this?"
"Explain what?" Emily's voice was full of innocent confusion.
"She didn't know anything about it, Uncle Leo." Noah said then.
"Really?" Calla didn't sound like she was buying it. "How'd you get the bionics then?"
"I borrowed the schematics from Great Uncle Douglas' computer, and then I just copied it. It took me a while to get everything right, but I eventually figured it out."
"Really?" Leo hummed. "You didn't have any help?"
"No." Noah said firmly.
"Emily?" Katherine questioned.
"I don't know what you guys are talking about." The girl genius insisted.
"...Okay." Calla decided. "I hope that is the case, because implanting a piece of untested technology into someone without an expert present would be really risky."
"I know. I would never do that." Emily told her.
"Alright, you can go." Calla allowed. I heard Emily's footsteps come towards the stairs. "However, if I ever find out that you did do something that dangerous, you will be grounded, understood?"
"Totally." Emily tossed over her shoulder, making her way up the stairs. She stopped when she saw me, and I gave her a look to let her know that I definitely didn't believe that she was all that innocent. Then I shrugged, not particularly wanting to get involved, and slid closer to the wall to let her by. To my surprise, she sat down next to me, also listening in on the conversation.
"So...how much trouble am I in?" Noah questioned. Calla sighed.
"None...from us. Your parents on the other hand, well I don't expect they'll be too happy about it when they find out."
"Are you going to tell them? I know they're supposed to check in at some point."
"Their first check in won't be for a couple of months, but yes, we do have to tell them." Leo told him. Emily sighed, looking upset.
"Can I tell them?" Noah asked. There was a pause, where I assume someone answered non-verbally. "Thanks."
"Alright, you want to stay for dinner?" Calla offered. Noah hesitated.
"Who's cooking?" He asked bluntly. I heard Leo, Katherine, Ben, and Naomi all laugh.
"You know what? I'm done!" Calla declared, only earning more laughter from the others.
Xxx
Sometime in the middle of the night, I was shaken awake, none too gently, by Emily. "What?" I demanded, sitting up. She was sitting on the edge of my bed, clad in a dog bone-themed PJ top and sweatpants.
"You sleep really deeply." She explained. I sighed, sitting up.
"If this is about my snoring, invest in earplugs." I told her. She looked at me, surprised. "Yeah, I know it's been bothering you, but I can't help it."
"I'm not used to a roommate, or living with anyone else for that matter. It's weird." She explained, picking at a loose thread on my comforter. "I'll stop complaining though."
"It's...is that why you woke me up, or was there something else?" I asked, softening my tone. She nodded, smiling brightly.
"Team meeting. Mission Command." She told me, standing up and heading for the door. I frowned.
"What team?" I questioned before tossing my sheets off of me and following her.
Emily's POV
"Okay, I know I'm a morning person, but this is WAY too early in the morning to be awake." Charlotte yawned as she walked into mission command. Her hair was a mess, frizzy and uncombed. Noah and Kameron both looked like they wanted to agree - my cousin hadn't even bothered to get dressed before coming here.
"Alright, we're all here." Kameron yawned tiredly, sitting on the ground underneath my mom's computer desk. "What's up?"
"Look, there's something that Calla's not telling you about what happened today." Naomi told us, pacing the floor. She had been the one to call this team meeting, and was one of the only ones wide awake.
"Wait, are we actually getting in trouble?" Kira questioned, sitting on top of the cyber computer.
"Hold on." Noah stopped Naomi from answering. He looked at me, then gestured at the ceiling. I shook my head, catching on immediately.
"MISS is down while she runs some updates. Mom won't notice." I assured them all.
"Alright, what's Calla not telling us?" Sera asked.
"That whole autopilot fiasco? It wasn't an accident." Naomi announced. Everyone started to exchange looks.
"What do you mean?" Noah questioned.
"She means that t wasn't some mistake that freaked out the GPS, or a virus. They all went haywire because of an update someone purposefully put in the system. All the vehicles using that brand of autopilot were meant to go crazy." I explained. I looked at Naomi. "It wasn't the company that did it though."
"How can you tell that?" Kira asked, frowning.
"Because the update was uploaded through an external server, not one of the companies." Naomi explained, glancing at me. "I'm guessing that's what you found when you went through the update?"
"Yeah. I tried to track where it originated from, but the signal bounced around so many times that I got lost." I explained.
"Calla too." Naomi confirmed.
"So, what you're saying is that someone tried to cause all those accidents, and we have no way of figuring out who?" Kameron confirmed. "Why would they do that?"
"Well, as it turns out, while all the analysts at the company were busy trying to get their vehicles back under control, someone snuck in and got access to their digital files." Naomi explained. "And before you ask, no, we don't know what files they accessed because they pretty much wiped the system after they were done. The backups too."
"That's going to cripple them for months." Emily realized.
"Okay, that's bad and stuff, by why you'd have to wake us up at 2 AM to tell us that?" I questioned. "Why does Calla not want us to know?"
"She doesn't want you to know because Miles DeCook doesn't think it's just a one-off thing." Naomi explained.
"Who's Miles DeCook?" I asked.
"Head of the Super Human Investigation and Response Team. Some of the bigger tech companies, the ones that are capable of doing things like creating advanced weaponry or bionics, have contracts with them." Emily explained. She looked at Naomi. "The company that made the GPS, was it Explority?"
"Blizzard Corp." Naomi replied. Emily shrugged.
"Are they going to hit more tech companies? Like Davenport Industries?" Kameron worried. Charlotte shook her head.
"I'd be surprised if they did. Blizzard Corp works mostly in robotics and related tech. I don't even think DI does business with them." She assured him.
"We don't. I doubt they'll target the company next." Emily agreed. She looked at Naomi. "Does Miles think that they're attacking tech companies though?"
"He's not sure. But Calla thinks that whatever it is, she, Leo, Katherine, Spin, and AJ can handle it."
"You don't think so." I realized. She shook her head.
"No, I don't. Six people died today, even with all of us helping. And clearly whoever this is is willing to go to great lengths to do whatever it is that they're trying to do."
"So, what's the plan?" Noah questioned. Naomi looked around at us.
"I know Calla, Ben, and Leo already said no, but this city needs a team to protect it." She told us, her tone soft and serious.
"An Elite Force." Kira grinned. Naomi nodded.
"We can figure out training later, but for now...who's in?"
Kira was the first to reply. "Hell yes, I'm in."
"It is our turn to play hero, don't you think?" Charlotte agreed. Noah sighed.
"My parents are already going to kill me for my bionics, might as well do good with them while I can." He replied.
"Count me in." I added. Sera smiled.
"Let's be heroes." She nodded. Kameron sighed.
"Far be it for me to stand in the way of heroism. I'm in." He announced. Naomi smiled.
"Alright. Time to play hero." She declared.
Kihonne: So they're going to go behind Calla and Leo's backs and train anyway! That'll be interesting, that's for sure. Any guesses at how long that will last? Or better yet, what about who was behind that malicious update? Seriously, I want to hear your thoughts on the chapter, guys! Let me know!
Anyway, I'll be back this time next week, on March 29th, with the next chapter! Until then, don't forget to review guys!