Kihonne: I am so sorry for being gone so long guys. I really, really, really appreciate the patience. I don't want to get into it, but things have kinda been rough on my end up until about the last week, and I just haven't been in a mindset to write until recently. But, I'm back now, and aside from potential work delays, I don't see us having any more issues with updates. Anyway, time for the shoutouts!
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LabGirl2001: Well, I'm glad it was a pleasant surprise for you! Spin's always a fun character to include, so hopefully, I'll be able to bring him back for another chapter or two. I'm really glad you liked the Charlotte / Leo family fluff. He is a pretty chill Dad, yeah. Not usually very strict, though you will see that side of him in some upcoming chapters. I'm really glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you like this one too.
SzymonS: It was a good idea on Leo's part, I agree. It would really help them, especially Sera and Emily. I'm glad you liked their scenes especially – I think I put the most work into making sure those came out just right. I'm also glad you really saw Emily's point of view – I wanted everyone to see both sides of the situation, since it seemed like Emily was just being unreasonable in the beginning. I'm glad you like her, by the way. Calla getting an assistant…I won't say I haven't thought about it. She will be figuring out a way to deal with her workload, especially after this chapter. Don't worry. Ah, Leo and alligators, that was fun. Interesting theory about Darius. I guess we'll see if you're right or wrong about him. As for Kira, I'm sure she'll explain sometime. Complicated doesn't necessarily mean bad though – it could just mean not simple enough to explain in a couple of sentences. As for Noah, I personally can't wait for that revelation. And wow, your friend is good at hiding things. I couldn't even hide my last girlfriend from my parents for more than a couple of weeks – I'd never get away with something like that. Calla has some Davenwatches with geoleap functions, but only the advanced ones. I'll got more into detail about those later, but at the moment, they're not quite on the market yet, and are only accessible by some Davenport Industries employees (and the Elite Force). It would revolutionize the world, that is true, but Calla's got so reservations about making them easily accessible. After all, what's to stop a criminal from buying one and Geoleaping into a bank vault? Anyway, my exams actually went really well, thanks. I hope yours went well too.
Guest: Glad you liked it! I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
BingeReader9: I'm glad you liked it to much! You will definitely be seeing more of Darius, that's for sure. He and Emily would make a cute couple, wouldn't they? Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
SummerSunShine: I'm so glad you liked the chapter! Calla's reaction to Noah is definitely going to be entertaining for the rest of us. I hope you like this chapter too.
Guest: Well, I'm glad to hear from you. I'm so glad you liked the chapter, and my other stories! I really hope you enjoy the rest.
Guest: Wow, the second new reviewer in two days? Awesome! Welcome, lol! I'm so glad you liked the chapter, and my other stories! I really hope you enjoy the rest.
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Kihonne: Alright! Without further ado, on with the chapter!
Calla: Kihonne doesn't own Mighty Med, Lab Rats, 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.
Ben's POV
"Good morning." Naomi greeted cheerfully when she opened the door to the penthouse for me. "I hope one of those is for me."
"No, I got coffee for everyone else, and two for Calla." I said straight-faced as I walked in, balancing two trays of Starbucks in my hands. She laughed lightly, stepping aside to let me place them down on the counter just as Calla came walking down the stairs, her face buried in her tablet. "Morning Calla."
She didn't respond, instead walking into the kitchen while flipping through images on her device. I glanced over at Naomi for an explanation, but she merely shrugged.
"The product launch is today." She explained. I nodded in understanding. Naomi smiled and cleared her throat as Calla started looking for a coffee pod. "Ben has coffee."
That caught her attention. Calla looked up, somewhat startled, then smiled when her gaze landed on me. "Oh, hello Ben."
I chuckled. "Hey Calla. Got you a caramel macchiato."
"Thanks Ben." She told me, grabbing the properly labelled cup and placing it next to her tablet before she opened the fridge.
"Hey," Naomi frowned at her, looking slightly concerned. "Was that you I heard earlier?"
"I'm fine." Calla sent her a look. Naomi returned the stare.
"You sound like you were being sick." She pointed out. I looked at Calla, frowning.
"I'm okay, seriously. You're as bad as Leo." She muttered, grabbing a piece of fruit out of the fridge.
"Then what's with the banana?" I asked. She sent me a look.
"Cramps." She said bluntly. I nodded, noticing the tension in her shoulders.
"Morning." Emily greeted, coming down the stairs before anyone else. I could hear Kira and Kameron upstairs, the two arguing over who would get to use the shower after Seraphina. "Ooh, coffee. Whoever bought it, I love you."
"Thanks Em." I chuckled, as she quickly downed half her own cup. Calla shook her head, amused.
"What are you doing dressed so early?" She asked suspiciously.
"Field trip. Charlotte, Ava, and I have to be at school early." Emily explained.
"Oh, right." Calla nodded. "The CCEU visit."
"You know, I'm helping out with a tour of the journalism department." Naomi mentioned, glancing at her niece. "I know none of you guys are applying to journalism, but come say hi."
"If we can get a second away, sure." Emily promised. Calla smiled, grabbing her coffee cup.
"So, have you made a decision on whether or not you're going to apply there?" Calla asked before taking a sip of her coffee. She immediately spit it back into the cup. "Okay, that is the most disgusting coffee I've ever tasted."
"Is it?" Naomi frowned.
"Yes, who made that?" She demanded, staring at the cup in disgust.
"The girl with the pink hair at the Starbucks a couple of blocks down." I answered slowly. "She's literally your favorite person who works there."
"Didn't you tip her, like, thirty bucks at Christmas?" Emily added, walking over. She took a tenative sip of her mom's drink, then, in a puzzled voice, said, "Mom, this tastes fine."
"Emmy, I know my coffee." She told her. "I think I would know the difference between good coffee and..." She paused suddenly, looking back down at the coffee, then at the banana still in her hands. "Shit."
"Mom?" Emily frowned. Calla didn't answer, the wheels in her head obviously spinning over something. She was staring at her fingers, moving them as if she were trying to count something on them. "Mom?"
"Shit." Calla whispered, half to herself.
"Calla." Naomi called loudly. Calla looked up, drawn out of her thoughts.
"Uh...sorry. Sorry." She shook her head.
"Is everything okay?" Emily asked, frowning. Calla nodded quickly.
"Great, yeah." She replied, still obviously distracted. She glanced down at her coffee cup, then grabbed her tablet in a hurry. "I have to get to work to prepare for the product launch. Have fun today."
Without waiting for a response, she quickly kissed Emily on the forehead and was out the door before anyone could say anything. Emily slowly turned around to face us.
"It's not just me, right? That was super weird, even for Mom?" She asked, confused, eyeing the door as if she expected Calla to come bursting in a second later. Naomi nodded in agreement.
"We'll check on her later." I decided, glancing between the two girls. For all we knew, it was just some weird mad scientist thing. Maybe. Probably.
Emily's POV
"I feel bad for Aaron, Seraphina, Kameron, and Kira." Ava commented as we walked into the main library of Centium City's Elite University. "Stuck at school while we're on a field trip."
"It's not just a field trip. It's a basically a recruitment drive." Darius grumbled. Charlotte gave him a look.
"You act like it's the army. They're just giving us a tour of CCEU." She told him kindly. He sighed dramatically. Inwardly, I agreed with him; I wasn't too excited about the trip myself, but the whole thing had been mandatory for graduating students. "C'mon, it'll be fun. We'll get a tour, t-shirts, and food in the cafeteria. All for free."
"Besides, isn't it a good idea to get a good look at the school you might be attending next year?" Ava added.
"If we intend on going." I replied. Charlotte and Ava both looked at me sharply.
"Calla still hasn't changed your mind on that?" Ava seemed surprised.
"She's been busy." Charlotte told her before looking at me. "Are you seriously still refusing to apply?"
"I don't want to go to school here." I shrugged. They were both looking at me. "Guys, c'mon. Don't tell me this is your first pick."
"No, but it is my third." Charlotte replied. I frowned at her; I'd thought that it would for sure be fifth at the best.
"It's good to have fall backs." Ava reasoned as well. I nodded.
"I know. But it doesn't mean that CCEU has to be one of them." I argued. Darius cleared his throat and stepped between the two of us.
"How about this? You two enjoy the tour, soak up everything you want to soak up, and Emily and I will go over to that cafe," he gestured at the small coffee shop in the corner of the library," and enjoy our day off from school."
"I don't think we should separate." Ava mentioned, giving Darius a look. Darius returned it, smiling charmingly at the black-haired girl.
"It'll be fine. There's no rule that we all have to actually go on the tour." He pointed out. "Besides, it's better than one of us breaking off on our own and getting into trouble."
"I know you're talking about me." I looked up and over my shoulder at him. He smirked a little, but didn't look away from Ava. He probably realized that Charlotte would listen if he managed to get her on board with our plan.
"Alright." She agreed slowly. "Stay together though; don't get lost."
"There are signs everywhere. I'm sure we'll be fine." I called over my shoulder, already heading for the coffee shop.
"Hold up." Darius called after me, jogging up to me as I got into the line. "You're fast."
"Us Davenports take our coffee very seriously." I replied. He cracked a smile. "Thanks, you didn't have to do that."
"It wasn't just for you. I didn't feel like taking the tour either." He replied. I frowned.
"No?" I raised an eyebrow at that. He shook his head.
"Please, I have the opportunity to go to school pretty much anywhere. The last thing I'm going to do is go to school anywhere near here." He replied. I nodded, understanding the feeling. As much as I loved my family, I wanted to see how well I'd do on my own, and that wasn't going to happen at a school literally named after a superhero team my parents founded.
"Anywhere in particular?" I asked, curious.
"SUNY, Harvard, maybe Penn State." He shrugged. I nodded impressed. "What about you?" He asked. I began to respond, but he stopped me, grinning. "Let me guess...M.I.T., Caltech, Stanford."
I felt myself blushing a little. "That's...exactly right."
"They're some of the best in the country for STEM programs." He nodded. "And you're the type of girl who'd aim for the best and nothing less."
"The type of girl?" I repeated, laughing a little. "How well do you think you know me?"
He smiled genuinely at me. "I know enough."
I felt my cheeks heat up as I remembered the other night. I turned around quickly to face the front of the line, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "Yeah, well..." I said, not really knowing what else to say.
Calla's POV
"Alright, final checks, everybody!" I called, walking through the display room. Around me, my employees were hustling around the room, double checking everything from lighting to signage. "Dustin, I need you to go over the guest list, make sure everyone is here. If anyone isn't, I want to know who and why. Toni, I need you in the control room, making sure everything runs smoothly." I directed, looking over the list of the products on the holoscreen connected to my Davenwatch. "Spencer, I need today's itinerary sent to my screen."
"Already done. Check your email." My secretary told me. I smiled.
"Thank you, Spence." I smirked - yep, he was definitely a keeper. I turned to AJ and Leo. "Okay, you guys ready?"
"Are you? You seem distracted." He commented. I looked at him sharply. "No, I'm not." I replied, confused. AJ raised an eyebrow about that.
"Yes, you are." He told me. I opened my mouth to argue with him, but Leo cut me off.
"Stop deflecting, AJ. It's okay to be nervous about selling your invention." He told the younger boy. AJ frowned at him, affronted, but Leo chuckled. "Go get ready. You'll do fine, kid." He turned to me. "We should go."
"We'll see you in a few, AJ." I promised him. He nodded, then walked over to where his own invention was on display, intent to make sure it looked perfect for the potential buyers.
"So, what's going on with you?" Leo asked as soon as he was gone. I looked at him, and he shook his head. "Don't say nothing. You got my and AJ's names mixed up four times today."
I stopped. "Have I really?" I demanded, eyes going wide. He shook his head.
"No, but the fact that you actually believed me for a second there proves that you are distracted. What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong." I insisted. "We'll talk about it later, alright? Right now, let's focus on this."
"Sure." He agreed, smiling. I grinned back at him before sweeping through the doors and into the lobby area where several of our best clients and potential buyers were waiting.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" I called, getting everyone's attention. Most of the people in the room I recognized - some were representatives from tech stores who would be selling our products in their stores, while others were board members here to see what revenue I was able to generate for this quarter, and some were government reps who would be more interested in our weaponry than our regular products. There were a few that I didn't quite recognize, but the members of the board who couldn't make it to these things often sent their own reps to the sales, so I suspected most, if not all of the unknown faces, were some of those. "It's nice to see all of you again. I see we have some new faces in the crowd, welcome. Today we'll start by showcasing our latest products, then we'll start the auction after some light refreshments."
"Shall we?" Leo encouraged, gesturing to the doors. We led the group into the sales room, where several of the inventions on sale were sitting on pedestals. There was an employee stationed next to each of them, either the person who invented the product or one of the lab assistants who assisted in its design, production, or execution so that whoever was showing it off would have the best understanding of the product.
"Now, if you follow me, we'll start with our hexacopter. We don't have the scale model in the room-"
"They wouldn't let us stick something that big in here, sorry folks." Leo chuckled.
"But we do have our lovely prototype created by one of our best scientists. I'd like to introduce-"
Before I could finish what I was saying, the room exploded around me. I was pushed to the ground by the sudden explosion, things going flying everywhere.
I raised my head as the smoke started to clear, hoping that whatever had exploded was done, only to find the barrel of a blaster aimed right at my forehead. "Calla Davenport, it's a pleasure."
Emily's POV
"So, listen, about last week," Darius smiled, sliding slightly closer to me on the bench we'd found outside the cafe, "before your mom interrupted us..."
"Yeah?" I smiled back. He grinned, leaning in again.
"Emily!" He jerked back at the sound of Charlotte's voice. We turned to see my cousin running towards us, a panicked look on her face.
"What's going on?" I demanded. She was about to reply, when she suddenly glanced at Darius.
"Uh, we have to go home. It's important." She said, her voice shaky. "Your mom called."
I nodded, though I didn't quite understanding what was going on. "I'm sorry. Rain check." I told Darius.
"Uh...are you sure?" He stood up. He looked like he might try and stop me, but seemed uncertain about it.
"Yeah. I'll talk to you tomorrow." I promised before following Charlotte through the halls and out the doors. "Char, what's up? Do we have a mission?"
The look she gave me told me that we didn't, that it was something much worse.
Ben's POV
"Davenport Industries taken hostage." The newscaster was saying as I ran into Mission Command. The kids, minus Naomi, were all inside, staring at the screen. "There is not yet word if anyone has been injured or killed yet, just that seven gunmen have taken a group of what we believe to be approximately thirty people hostage."
"Hey." I called, getting most of their attention. Emily and Charlotte both looked frozen where they stood. Emily looked at me a minute later, eyes a little too wide to hide her panic. "Guys, they're going to be fine."
"Mama and Spin are still on that mission in the alps. I can't get a hold of either of them." Charlotte murmured, eyes locked on the screen.
"I know. Which is why we're going in to save them." I agreed. That got both girls, along with Kira, Noah, Kameron, and Seraphina to look at me. "Naomi's already on the scene, getting as much information as she can for when we arrive." I told them. "In the meantime, it's time for our first official mission. Time to suit up."
"Uh, I hate to break it to you, but you're the only one of us with a super suit." Kameron pointed out. I nodded, realizing that he was right, but MISS interrupted me before I could offer an alternative solution.
"Actually," she announced, "Miss Calla has been working on mission suits for all of you."
"Really?" Noah, despite the circumstances, looked excited at the prospect. Instead of verbally responding, MISS opened up one of the rock walls to our left. One by one, with Kira at the head, we stepped inside to see the weapon's vault fully stocked. At the far end stood eight mannequins. Seven of them had uniforms, clearly tailored specifically for their intended users, and one left empty, presumably for me to put my own uniform there if I chose. I nodded, smiling to myself.
"Suit up."
xxx
"I love this." Kira grinned, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear before twirling around in front of us. "What do you think?"
Her uniform was black with a four inch thick line running up both of her sides, and matching red boots. Unlike the rest of us, she didn't have any sleeves or gloves, giving her a little more freedom to use her fire powers. She was wearing a mask as well, the thin, red piece of fabric covering from just above her nose to her forehead, with eye holes large enough to prevent from obstructing her vision.
"It's okay." Charlotte smirked, adjusting her own gloves. Her uniform was also red, but a much darker, crimson shade. The front part of her uniform was better padded, likely made of a stronger kind of protective material, and, like her gloves and knee-high boots, was colored black. "Mine's better."
"Calla certainly went all out." Noah agreed. His uniform was much simpler than most of the uniforms - it was almost entirely a dark silver, aside from the black sections on his sides, inner arms, boots and gloves. His belt was mostly black, except for the silvery EF symbol on the buckle. He grinned as the others stepped into the room, having finished getting dressed. "You guys look nice."
"Thank you." Seraphina blushed a little, running one hand down her arm. Her uniform was mostly light blue - the shade matching the icy blue streak in her hair perfectly - with black sections on her hips, midsection, and upper chest, and 3/4 length sleeves. Instead of the usual elbow length gloves, she sported a pair of fingerless gloves, and her black boots were a little more stylish, with light blue straps hooked around them. They looked a little similar to some of the things I'd seen Skylar wear the few times I'd met her, and I realized that Calla must have styled them as such on purpose.
"Are we ready to go?" Kameron questioned, crossing his arms. His uniform was a faded gold color in the shirt, with a padded black vest and black pants with gold pockets. He had black gloves and boots as well, along with a black belt that had a gold EF insignia on the buckle. I glanced over to where one member of the team was still standing in front of the mannequin wall.
"Give me a minute." I told them. I walked over to her, past Naomi's green and black uniform that she'd been unable to grab before having to head out to the mission site. Emily was staring up at her uniform, clearly conflicted. "You okay?"
"The uniform." She said simply. I followed her gaze, looking over the uniform. The bottom half was mostly black, aside from two blue stripes on the outside of each of her thighs. The top was mostly blue, aside from her black sleeves and the black stripes on her sides, which matched her boots and gloves. Most significantly different from the rest of the uniforms, hers had a blue hood. "It was her's."
"She'll be okay." I promised her. She nodded faintly, still not looking away. I sighed; Charlotte was easy enough to distract with a mission and a new uniform, but Emily was more difficult. "She wouldn't have given it to you if you weren't ready."
"We're going to save them, right?" She asked. I nodded.
"We're the Elite Force now. We can do this." I assured her. She nodded. "Alright, time to go." I told her before looking around at the rest of the team. "We're a team now, guys. This may be our first official mission together, but we've got this. We just need to work together, alright?"
"Ben's right. We can do this." Sera agreed, exchanging looks with a few of the others.
"Let's go." Emily agreed, reaching up to grab her uniform's jacket.
Calla's POV
I glowered up at the masked intruder, hating how little I could do in this situation. There may have only been four of them, but after somehow managing to take out my security team, they'd taken everyone in the room hostage.
Leo and I were immediately separated from the rest of the group, our reputation as former members of the Bionic Academy apparently preceding us. AJ was shoved over with the others, looking as frustrated as I felt. He kept sending me and Leo looks, both concerned and expectant, clearly waiting for us to come up with a plan. The problem was, with two guns on us, and two more on our clients and guests, there was little either of us could really do without endangering anyone.
"So you're the bionic brat and the girl genius." One of the intruders mused. He too was wearing a visor, but I analyzed him as best as I could, memorizing the receding brown hairline, the sound of his voice, anything that could help us identify him later. "I thought you were supposed to be tough."
"They're not that tough." Another intruder commented. Their voices were very similar, I noted. Unusual, but might make a difference if I managed to get a recording and put it through my vocal recognition software. Hopefully, they hadn't taken out MISS' security cameras.
"Take off the masks." Leo suggested, crossing his arms. "Let's see how tough you are."
The two guys started towards Leo, and I tensed beside him. "Don't." I growled, glaring at them threateningly.
"Janus," one of the others warned, and, despite only using one name, both men stopped. I recognized him a little - he was one of the people who'd broken into Blizzard Corp, one we thought to be called Jupiter. "Cool it. Venus, Victoria, and Vulcan are almost done."
"Done what?" AJ called. Jupiter and the two men purposefully ignored him, but the other guy - a black haired young man also wearing a visor, raised his gun a little. He'd been the one to threaten me after the smoke cleared, if I remembered correctly.
"We need to hurry." He warned his buddies. "Discordia says we're going to have company."
"You hear that, boss?" Jupiter raised one hand to his ear, touching an ear piece. "Discordia's given us a heads up." He listened for a moment, then turned to his friend. "You hear from Neptune?"
"Radio silence." He replied. I exchanged looks with Leo; though they might be ignoring us a little, we were learning quite a bit about their little team, starting with the fact that none of these guys were the leader. I could work with that.
"You know, not to sound cliché, but you're not going to get away with this." I commented, trying to sound nonchalant. I looked over at Jupiter. "You DO know who I am, right?"
"Calla Davenport." He mused, glancing at his friend before sauntering over to me. "CEO of Davenport Industries, former member of the Bionic Academy and the Elite Force. I'm not impressed."
"Hurtful." I commented sarcastically. "You forgot one thing. I'm also the wife of Chase Davenport, bionic superhuman. He's not exactly the kind of person you want to piss off."
"It's a shame he's off planet then, huh? Or that the other two bionic heroes in the city are out of the city, isn't it?" Jupiter mocked. I blinked in surprise - while we didn't go to great lengths to hide Chase's 'sabbatical' as we were calling it, I hadn't expected the intruders to know about it yet, and there was no way that they should have known that he was off planet. Jupiter opened his mouth to say something more, possibly to mock me, but paused when someone started speaking in his ear piece. The voice was too muffled to hear properly, but something about it sent shivers down my spine. Something about it was familiar; if only I could hear it better... "Victoria's got activity by the south entrance."
Emily's POV
"Alright guys, you know the plan. You got this." I heard Ben say into the comms as Kira and I made our way down the south hall.
"Got it. See you after we kick the bad guys' butts." Kira smirked.
"Oh, is that how you think this is going to end?" Another voice mused. A woman wearing black stepped out into the hall, a dark visor hiding her face from view. "Oh, so naive."
Kira and I exchanged looks. "We're naive? You're the one misjudging us because of our age."
"Please, I don't care how old you are. Fifty, fifteen, doesn't matter - you're still not walking away from this." She told us before raising her hands. Two blasts of dark purple plasma formed in them before she threw them at us, using as much force as she could. I dropped back a step, sliding to the side, while Kira ducked underneath the blast before shooting a stream of fire at the woman. I raised my plasma blaster and took a shot as well, hoping that at least one of our attacks would hit her.
The woman hit the wall, just barely avoiding being burnt, and then shot a plasma blast at mine. The two collided, cancelling each other out, and she charged at Kira.
I raised my weapon and shot at her again, but instead of dodging it, or blocking it, the woman suddenly transformed, her body changing from solid to a swarm of buzzing cells in the span of half a second. The swarm opened up a hole in itself, allowing the plasma ball to fly through it harmlessly.
"The hell?" Kira shouted, raising her arms over her head to defend herself. She lit her entire body on fire in that moment, as some sort of defense mechanism. It worked to protect her - the swarm separated and flew away from her. "What is she?"
"Doesn't matter - she clearly doesn't like fire!" I called back. I shot another plasma blast at the swarm, getting its (her?) attention. She charged at me and I backed up, not out of fear, but so that I was right in Kira's line of fire. "Hold!" I shouted, shooting another plasma blast at the swarm to keep myself as the target. Then, once it was upon me, I screamed, "Fire!"
I dropped to my knees just as Kira raised her hand, and a blast of fire burst through the spot I'd been previously standing. It caught the bottom half of the swarm, and the buzzing turned loud and higher pitched, almost like a scream, before it reformed into the woman who'd started fighting us. She hit the wall behind her, hard, breathing heavily as she glared at us.
Ben's POV
Admittedly, it was a little concerning when Emily and Kira suddenly cut off, but I knew that whatever they were facing, they could handle it. Besides, by the looks of things, we had our own problem.
"Well, look what we've got here." Two visor-wearing guys stepped into the hall in front of Naomi, Noah, and I.
"More intruders." The second one mused.
"Intruders? You broke in first." Noah pointed out.
"Semantics!" They both snapped at him. He paused, glancing at Naomi and I out of the corner of his eye.
"Look," I stepped forward, "if you surrender now and release the hostages, no one needs to get hurt."
"We're not the ones who are going to be getting hurt." The one on the right.
"You are." The one on the left added. They stepped closer together, and Naomi raised her weapon - a large blaster she'd gotten me to grab from Calla's weapon's vault. A bright light started to fill the room though, much to our surprise. Naomi, Noah, and I all looked away, shielding our eyes from the blinding light.
"You want me to surrender?" When we turned back, the two guys had been replaced by a different man, this one much taller (standing at almost 8 feet tall) with a more menacing voice. His vizor was gone, revealing an ugly, red face with a misshapen nose underneath.
"Okay..." Noah drew out the word, glancing back at us. "I did not see that one coming."
"Doesn't matter." Naomi raised her gun to shoot at him, but he raised his hand first. He shot a strange looking, brown sludge-like blast at the weapon, and to our shock, the moment it hit, the weapon began to disintegrate in Naomi's hands. She gasped in shock and dropped the weapon, but it had completely disintegrated before it touched the ground. "Okay, it might matter. A little."
"He can't destroy what he can't touch!" Noah hissed before speeding towards the super villain. Instead of charging him directly though, Noah swerved to the left, taking a U-turn around the villain to confuse him. Realizing that Noah intended this more as a distraction than an actual attack, I leaped into the fight, flying right at the villain. I slammed into him with all my fight, knocking him off balance. Noah came up behind him at the last minute, tripping him from behind. The criminal fell back a little, but quickly recovered, too quickly for my liking. I prepared to charge him again, but suddenly, he reached his hand out, right into Noah's path.
"Whoa!" Noah shouted in shock as the villain stood up, holding the him upside down by the ankle. The kid looked more stunned than anything else, mostly at the fact that the criminal was both tall and strong enough to hold the 5'11 speedster upside down and off the ground. I paused in my attack, not wanting to hurt Noah, but also not having many ways to attack the criminal without making that a risk.
Naomi, on the other hand, had no such reservations.
The criminal ducked a little, staring at her with surprised eyes as a fire extinguisher went flying just over his head. I turned to see my best friend standing partially outside of a storage closet, holding another fire extinguisher up in a threatening manner. "Put him down." She threatened, glaring at him.
The criminal looked like he didn't know whether to be amused or worried by her actions, but it was enough of a distraction for me to get in there. I charged and then leaped forward, aiming for the criminal's legs while he was still distracted by Naomi. I hit him hard, forcing him to drop Noah (I would apologize later for the pained grunt I heard him make) and took him down to the ground.
"You-" The red-faced criminal placed his hand on my shoulder, and I suddenly felt an odd burning sensation. I rolled away from him, clawing at the area to discover that part of my uniform had started to disintegrate. I was unharmed thanks to my almost invulnerable skin, but it left a rather nasty hole that I'd have to fix later. "Tecton's son." The criminal said, clearly recognizing where I'd gotten my powers from.
"In the flesh." I growled, before backing up to where Naomi and Noah quickly flanked me.
Calla's POV
"Think it's the kids?" Leo hissed, watching Jupiter and his friend carefully. Janus - both of them - had left to go deal with whoever our 'company' was, leaving the two intruders left to watch us. The unnamed criminal looked a little jumpy, ready to fire at the slightest noise as he kept his faced and gun turned towards us, while Jupiter was as calm as could be.
"Quiet." The unnamed one growled at us. I glanced at Leo quietly, waiting. With the just Jupiter and Jumpy in the room, we could take them. We just needed an opening.
And sure enough, one made itself present to us. Just not the one we were hoping for.
I swore silently to myself as I saw the door at the far end open slightly, and Kameron's head poked out. It was partially hidden - it had been meant as a employee entrance only and had been hidden carefully by curtains for the event, so Jupiter and his buddy hadn't noticed yet, but it certainly answered Leo's question. I shook my head at Kameron, hoping he'd get the message and back out, but when he met my gaze, he just smiled, then ducked behind the door. Whatever that smile was about, it wasn't a good thing, I knew that for sure.
A moment later, the lights above us flickered, then went out, and I had no doubt that it had been our young electrokinetic's doing. Jupiter and Jumpy looked a little caught off guard by the sudden power outage, and Leo, AJ, and I all took our shot at the same moment.
AJ tackled Jupiter just as Leo and I charged at Jumpy. The gun in the unnamed criminal's hands went off, and I dropped, a searing pain racing across the side of my head. I hit my knees, my head spinning a little. I reached up to touch the wound, feeling a dizzy spell come over me. When I brought my hand back, there was some blood, but surprisingly little. I blinked, a little confused - weren't head wounds supposed to bleed a lot? And why was my hearing all distorted, like I was underwater?
"Calla!" Leo's shout brought me back to the present. I could see him on the ground, with the other criminal standing over him with the gun. Leo normally wasn't so easy to take down, so he'd likely been distracted by me, and Jumpy had taken advantage. The criminal looked like he didn't know who to shoot, then, in a sudden, jerky movement, fixed the gun on Leo.
"Wait-" I raised my hand, trying to...I don't know, stop him? Distract him enough for Leo to take him down? Something.
Suddenly, Jumpy stumbled and let out a cry of pain, dropping his gun. Seraphina and Charlotte stood behind him, the former holding a ball of ice in her hands. Past them, I could see Kameron and AJ standing between Jupiter and the other hostages, both of them looking ready for a fight.
"Papa!" Charlotte exclaimed, while keeping her eyes locked on Jumpy. Leo didn't answer her, instead scrambling to get the gun himself. He grabbed a hold of it before Jumpy could take it back and aimed it at the criminal's stomach, slowly standing as he did so.
"Mars!" Jupiter shouted before the criminal could try anything stupid. AJ and Kameron had backed Jupiter up against the wall, but he was facing us. He shook his head slowly, and gestured vaguely at his wrist. It was then that I noticed that they both had identical watches, and they weren't the Davenwatches either.
"Stop them!" I called, but it was too late. Before anyone could do anything, both of them slammed their hands onto the digital faces of their watches, and they disappeared before us, geoleaping to safety.
"Well, that's not fair!" Kameron complained in protest, looking around.
"Are you okay?" AJ demanded, running over to me. I nodded, slowly climbing to my feet. I still felt a little dizzy and off balance, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before.
"Where's Emily? Are the others safe?" I demanded, looking at Kameron, Charlotte, and Sera.
Xxx
"They all got away?" Jazz asked, distracting me as she finished tying up the stitches. I hummed in response, frustrated by the turn of events.
"All of them, they all geoleaped away at the same moment." I complained.
"What did they want?" She inquired, brow furrowed in concentration.
"Tech, we think. Miles sent a few tech experts from S.H.I.R.T. to help go through inventory, but we're pretty sure Venus, Victoria, and Vulcan broke into the high security vault for more than just kicks."
"Venus, Victoria, and Vulcan? Like the Roman gods?" Jazz asked, leaning back. "All done, by the way."
"Sounds like it. Thanks, by the way." I told her, reaching up to feel along the top of my ear. I winced at the feeling of the three stitches at the top.
"You're lucky, you know. Half an inch lower and you would have lost the ear. An inch to the side, and...well, you're lucky." She concluded. I raised both my eyebrows in agreement. "You'll be fine. The stitches are dissolvable, so you don't need to come back in."
"Great." I hesitated, wondering if maybe I shouldn't just walk out of here so quickly. She paused at the door, frowning.
"Something else, Calla?" She asked. I licked my lips, then nodded. She closed the door and leaned against it, crossing her arms. "What's going on?"
"I haven't really felt like myself lately. Tired, moody, and just plain...off."
"Could be stress." She commented. I nodded.
"It could be. But...I've been sick, stomach issues. And there've been a few dizzy spells too. And this morning, well..." I shrugged, rubbing my hand against my arm and looking up at her. "I have a theory, would like to see if I'm right."
She looked at me thoughtfully. "How long has it been since Chase left?" She asked.
"Five weeks." I responded, having been counting the days in my head. She nodded thoughtfully.
"We can run a test." She decided, looking as if she'd come to the same conclusion that I had.
Emily's POV
"Hey, Mom?" I poked my head into my mom's bedroom. She was sitting on top of her bed, her back against the backboard and her holocomputer in her lap. But the screen in front of her was blank, no work evidently being done. She looked up suddenly, as if I'd startled her, but her face melted into a warm smile.
"Hey, honey." She greeted, patting the bed next to her. I didn't wait for any more invitation, walking in and climbing on top of the bed next to her. She pulled me into a hug from the side and I leaned my head on her shoulder. "Crazy day?"
I nodded. "Are you, Leo, and AJ really okay?" I asked. She smiled and nodded, brushing a strand of hair from my face.
"We're really okay." She promised me. I nodded. "You guys did really good out there."
"We didn't even beat them." I groaned. She nodded.
"But you held your ground. And sometimes that's more important." She assured me. "I think I underestimated you. All of you."
I smiled a little. "You gave me your mission suit."
"I was a hero. It's your turn now." She explained. She frowned. "Also, I think it might look better on you."
"Yeah, well, you're old." I teased. She laughed good-naturedly at that.
"I hope your kids tease you as much as you tease me."
Then she stopped, frowning. "What's wrong?" I asked. She shook her head, brightening again.
"Nothing." She told me. She sighed. "Listen, honey. I know you're not big on change, and that this whole situation has been a huge change for you."
"It's okay." I assured her. She raised an eyebrow.
"Is it?" She questioned skeptically. I thought about it, then nodded.
"I mean, I didn't like it at first." I admitted. "But it's not all that bad. Sera's not a terrible roommate," Mom rolled her eyes, "Okay, fine. She's actually a pretty decent roommate once I gave her a chance. And having Kira and Kameron around is like having younger siblings."
"Really?" Mom looked surprised and, oddly, a little relieved. I nodded.
"In a good way, not a I-hate-my-siblings way." I explained. She smiled.
"That's good." She commented. I nodded, and then noticed the look she was giving me. "So..."
"So..." I mimicked. She pressed her lips together.
"How would you feel about having an actual younger sibling?" She asked, absently rubbing her belly. I stared at her, looking between her patient and hopeful expression and her belly. After a moment, I finally responded.
"Dad is in for a real surprise when he gets back." I smiled back at my mom.
Kihonne: Yes, Chase is certainly in for a surprise. I think one of you might have guessed that Calla was pregnant, so congrats to you for figuring it out. Anyway, what did you guys think of the chapter? Good, bad? Somewhere in between?
Alright. Since everything's back to normal on my end, here is the new update schedule for June:
June 7th (possibly June 8th) – Field Trip
June 14th – All Hallow's Eve
June 21st – House Guests
June 28th – Study Break
Alright folks, I'll see you all in a few days. Until then, don't forget to review!