CHAPTER ONE, crush, chop and burn

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On Emilia Hunter's tenth birthday, the girl's fate began as soon she started showing signs of her banshee abilities that she got from her mother, Lily. And with her ex-boyfriend around, she couldn't risk the man coming after her daughter again and use her powers to his advantage.

Which is why, to protect her daughter, Lily made the decision to bring her to her friend, Tasha Dooley, knowing she would take Emilia in and keep her safe with no protest. And even better, she didn't have to worry if Emilia accidentally exposed her abilities because Tasha was the only one who knew about Emilia and herself being supernatural — of course it took her a long time to process though.

But to a sad turn of events, Lily unfortunately died not long after Emilia had turned thirteen — and not only then did she realise that her mother was never coming back for her.

Accepting Emilia's decision, Tasha never adopted the girl, but promised to keep her safe, and it would continue even though she was moving with the Dooley family into the home of Tasha's new husband, the billionaire inventor: Donald Davenport.

Little did Emilia know, that moving in with the Davenports would change her life for good.

"This place is huge! I'm gonna need a GPS just to find the bathroom." Leo and Emilia took in their surroundings as they took a tour of their new home. The boy leaned and hit his back against the wall that had apparently activated an elevator that appeared in front of them.

"What the..." Emilia trailed off, walking towards the elevator.

"Hello?" Leo called out, following her into the elevator. Suddenly, the doors slammed shut and the elevator shot down causing Leo to scream and hold onto his friend who sighed at him.

Soon, the elevator doors open once they reached the bottom and the both of them stepped out. Leo looked around the room and gasped. "Whoa! My new dad is Batman!"

Hearing a noise from behind the doors, Leo then grabbed Emilia's arm before pulling her behind a bunch of yellow barrels to hide, just as a young boy ran out and shut the doors behind him with a smirk. "Good luck gettin' in! That steel door is thicker than your head!"

The smirk on his face fell at the sight of the large dent marked on the doors before they fell down, revealing his brother.

"Well, there's another way to get in." The smaller one chuckled nervously, making his brother glare at him before walking up to grab the back of his suit and lift him off the ground.

"Give me back my ePod!" He demanded thinking the boy took it, who was quick to defend himself through a shout. "I don't have it!"

"Hey!" A girl entered the room listening to music through her headphones, making one of the boys gasp. "You took my ePod!" He pointed out and threw the other boy to the ground.

"Taylor Swift Mega-mix? Really?" The girl raised her brows in question towards the boy who was quick to come to his own defence. "I find her soothing."

Emilia couldn't disagree. She loved Taylor Swift herself.

The girl turned around to walk away but to Leo and Emilia's surprise, they watched as the taller boy shot lasers from his eyes towards the girl who scoffed, turning around to face him. "Oh, I know you didn't shoot that laser at me!"

"Oh, sorry. It was a terrible mistake," The boy looked at her in fake concern before resting a smirk at his lips. "just like your face."

"Ahh!" The girl screamed, super speeding into her brother and pushed him, knocking down a few barrels in the process to reveal Emilia and Leo's hiding place.

"Ahhhh!"

"Ahhhhh!" Leo screamed in response as Emilia stood unbothered by the screams until the three strangers to the child-hood friends joined in and screamed at a similar level. The Dooley boy let out a squeal before running past the kids with Emilia following behind him, rubbing her ears with a groan. "Jeez, not so loud."

The three siblings followed Emilia and Leo into the back room before surrounding them as if they were waiting for them to explain themselves.

"What the hell, dude?" Emilia groaned at her best friend who had placed her in front of him like a shield.

"What? You're my bodyguard." Leo shrugged his shoulders, hiding behind Emilia who shook her head in annoyance, flinching slightly at the boy's yell for his mother. "Okay, I don't play this card too often, but... mom!"

"Would you stop screaming?" Emilia gritted her teeth in frustration, looking at Leo who was quick to apologise to his friend when he remembered her abilities.

"Leo! Emilia!" Tasha called out for her son and his best friend as she walked into the room with Donald by her side. "There you two are!"

"Oh! What is this place? Who are they?" Tasha pointed towards the three kids, that question simply sending Donald into panic mode. "Uh— they, uh, are... a boy band I've been working with, um, and the twist is, one of em's a girl."

But neither one of them believed his lie, making Donald sigh in defeat. "All right, they're part of a secret project I've been developing- genetically engineered superhuman siblings." He gestured between them at their introduction. "Tasha, Leo, Emilia, meet Adam, Bree and Chase, the greatest combination of biology and technology ever developed. I don't want to brag, but I am incredibly smart."

Tasha looked towards Emilia and Leo who raised their hands in surrender. "Don't look at me." Leo started to say, reminding his mother. "We told you to stay away from internet dating."

"Well, more you than me." Emilia corrected her friend who sent a look.

"So they're robots?" Tasha's question seemed like it offended the three super-humans who each chimed in with their own response.

"Whoa!"

"Hey!"

"Oh no, she didn't!"

Donald shook his head, explaining. "No, Tasha, they're human, I've just given each of them a unique set of bionic abilities controlled by a microchip implant in their necks. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is. See, Adam is all brute strength, and Bree has speed and agility, and Chase has super-senses and a superior intelligence."

"Donald... hi..." Tasha awkwardly pulled her new husband to the side. "there are children living in our basement!"

"This is a scientific habitat. I mean, look at it- it's got a game room and a rock wall, anything a kid could ask for. I've created this place so they can train in the utmost of comfort and technology."

"It's true." Adam chimed in, coming to Donald's defence. "The toilets have seat-warmers that talk."

"What do they say?" Leo questioned, although before Adam could finish his sentence, Emilia kindly stopped him, turning to the Dooley beside her with a mutter. "Why would you ask?"

"Donald, I don't know what to make of all this. some new wives get surprised with a honeymoon in hawaii or... a cruise. Bionic teenagers were not on our wedding registry." Tasha told her husband.

"Honey, they have to stay down here for their own safety. This is all very top-secret, but as soon as their training is complete, they'll be able to handle any crisis or problem that the world throws at them." Donald explained.

"I want to go the Pyramids."

"I want to go to Paris."

"I want to go upstairs."

"Mom, are you okay?" Leo asked, furrowing his brows at the woman before gesturing to Emilia as he continued. "You have the same facial expression as you did when Lily told you that Emmy was supernatural as well."

"Dude." Emilia sent him a look before whacking the boy in the stomach who groaned, reminding her. "What did you do that for? He already knows."

"Yeah, but they don't." Emilia nodded her head towards Adam, Bree and Chase who looked between the two friends, confused.

Tasha and Donald shared a look before the latter was first to speak, clearing his throat to grab their attention. "Umm... Emilia. Since you know about them, is it alright for them to know about you? You don't have to though, if you're not ready."

"No, it's okay. They can know." Emilia nodded her head in confirmation, letting Donald turn to the kids so he could explain for her about the girl's supernatural abilities.

"Well, that's..." Bree trailed off, trying to come up with a response when Emilia nodded towards her and finished her sentence. "Freaky? Tell me about it."

The Dooley teenager frowned before his attention turned elsewhere as he looked behind Donald with a gasp. "Hey, what are those? Time machines?"

"No, they are not time machines. Time machines are actually in the shop. These are my biologically regulated atmospheric chambers where my bionic creations live and sleep and eat." Donald explained walking in front of Leo before adding on. "which reminds me, it's dinnertime."

"Yeah!" The bionic siblings rushed towards their tubes.

"Ready?" Donald asked the teenagers who placed the goggles on their faces before nodding in confirmation to let him press a few buttons on the console before food pellets were released and started to fall down from above them like rain.

"These are my patented protein pellets." Donald explained. "Whatever they don't catch is tomorrow's breakfast."

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"Okay, Chase. Enemy grenade, three o'clock!" An energy ball was thrown towards Chase who put out his force-field to block it.

Adam, who was watching the scene unfold, then scoffed in question. "Hey! Why does he get a force-field and I don't?"

"'Cause if you had one, I wouldn't be able to do this." Bree answered, throwing a water bottle at him without warning, that hit him in the chest.

Donald turned to the teenagers. "Okay, you guys take the rest of the day off. I'm gonna go speak at a tech conference, because I'm awesome, I'm gonna have the speedboats detailed, and then I'm gonna go get waxed." He explained, getting weird looks from everyone. "Don't judge me." He added before walking out the lab.

"Well, come on Emmy. We better get ready for school." Leo announced to his best friend who let out a groan about not wanting to go. "You and me both."

"Ooh!" Bree approached the two friends with a gasp at the mention of school. "I have always dreamed about going to school. Passing notes, going to prom, breaking into choreographed dance numbers after math class."

She jazzed her hands at the teens making Emilia smile before Chase walked up to them. "Yeah. All we do is eat, sleep, and train for mission. We're like human lab rats."

"Come on, it can't be that bad." As soon as Leo said that, they all looked towards Adam who was literally running on a big hamster wheel. "So, you've never left this room? That explains the haircuts."

"Come on, they're not that bad." Emilia slapped Leo on the arm while reassuring the two bionic siblings who smiled at her.

"I bet school's fun." Adam approached the group, scoffing as he continued. "You know, except for books, classes, and learning stuff."

"It's not fun when you're the smart kid."

Chase smiled at this. "Well, down here, smart is considered superior." This made Adam and Bree share a look before turning to their brother in correction. "No, it's not."

At the mention of school, an idea popped into the Dooley boy's head. "Hey, you guys should come to school with us! You could join Emilia and be my bionic bodyguards."

The bionic siblings all agreed and went to follow Emilia and Leo out the lab when the doors closed in front of them, followed by another appearance from Eddy on the monitor who cackled. "Not on my watch, laser brains!"

"Aw, shoot. We forgot about Davenport's creepy computer." Adam groaned while Leo opened his mouth in shock, continuing with a rhetorical question. "I thought it was just in the living room?"

"Nope! I'm everywhere."

"In my shower?" Leo widened his eyes as Emilia snickered behind her hand when Eddy responded with a remark. "Yep. And by the way, nothing needs to be that clean, sport-o."

"Ok, we need to shut that thing off!" The Dooley boy declared, making Chase shake his head and informed him. "Never gonna happen, ok? Eddy is an incredibly complex and sophisticated piece of machinery. It would take years before—" He was cut off by Adam using his super strength to rip the wires apart causing Eddy to fade off the screen.

"Aha! Sweet! I barely got electrocuted." Adam chuckled, holding onto the wires before putting them down.

"Okay, come on. If we're gonna go to school, we should shower first, because two of us really stink." Bree said causing Adam and Chase to sniff themselves, both disgusted by the smell.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo! yeah!" Adam cheered as they all showered in their capsules.

Once they finished and got dressed, they stepped out of the capsules. "Ah, great. It gave me your underwear by mistake." Adam groaned.

"Gross!" Bree shuddered.

Chase looked at his siblings in annoyance. "What are you complaining about? I got the bra."

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"Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho!" Chase giggled as they all entered the school hallways, along with his siblings who had the same reaction.

"I can't believe we're actually at school. I am so excited!" Bree said with a smile. She looked around before spotting a lunch lady and running up to hug her. "Oh, my first lunch lady." The girl was soon pulled off by Emilia before letting out a chuckle. "She smelled like fish sticks."

"Don't worry that's normal." Emilia informed the girl before Leo interjected. "Do us a favor and try to act like you've seen the world. I have a reputation to uphold here." As soon as he said this, one of the football players came behind Leo to give him a wedgie.

"Walk away, Steve." Emilia appeared in front of the football player who huffed before following his friends. It was a normal thing that happened when Emilia got involved since quite a few students were scared of her due to how protective she is when it comes to Leo.

Bree went up to two random girls and held out her hand as she greeted. "Hi, I'm Bree. I like ponies and girl things." Emilia was quick to pull the girl away who gushed. "Did you see that? I have besties! I can't wait to stab them in the back!"

"Uh okay besties don't do that." Emilia pointed out to the girl, smiling slightly. "But if you want, I can be your bestie." She looked at Bree, who pulled her into a hug and cheered happily.

They pulled away from the hug, only to see Adam standing next to a girl by the lockers. "Here, little lady, let me help you out with that." Adam said before instantly ripping her locker door off, causing her to run away in fear.

"Adam!" Chase said through gritted teeth as he walked back over to him and asked. "Would you two quit goofing off? We're supposed to not draw attention to ourselves."

As soon as the bell rang, Chase let out a scream as he covered his ear with his hands and fell to the ground, grabbing onto the closest leg he could find which was Emilia's.

"What's up with him?" The Hunter looked at the boy's siblings, with Leo chiming in before they could answer. "Yeah, what's up with crazy?"

"He has ultra-sensitive bionic hearing."

"What was that?" Leo looked down at Chase's question before going to explain. "It's called a bell. It rings every 40 minutes, eight times a day. So... have fun with that." He walked away with Adam and Bree, leaving Emilia and Chase still in the hallway.

"Would you like some help?" Emilia looked down at the boy with a kind smile, making him chuckle nervously as he finally pulled his arms away from her leg to grab onto Emilia's hand who helped him off the ground.

Chase smiled nervously, captivated by her beauty as he looked into her eyes by mistake before Emilia's voice snapped him out of it. "It's no worries, I couldn't just leave you here. Are you going to be okay?"

Chase sighed. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Come on, let's catch up with the others." Emilia said, grabbing his hand and pulled him with her as they headed towards where Leo, Adam and Bree were.

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"I hate gym class." Leo grumbled to his friends that sat on the bleachers. With Emilia being the only one who understood why, Adam looked at the Dooley boy in question. "Why?"

"Wait for it." Emilia chuckled once the ball was passed to Leo who attempted to dribble it but failed as soon as it hit his feet causing him to wince in pain. "Aaaah! That's why."

Chase shrugged with a grin. "So big deal— you can't play basketball. Chess club's where all the action's at."

A ball was then thrown at Bree and she caught it with both hands, making her frantically turn to Emilia and Leo. "What do I do?"

"Throw it." Leo gestured with his hands before Bree followed, doing as he said. Although, didn't focus on her aim as the ball she threw ended up hiring one of the students in the nose, leading for him to fall to the ground.

"To someone who's looking." Emilia deadpanned.

Bree ran over to the boy. "Wow! You caught that with your face!" She gasped causing Emilia to playfully roll her eyes.

"Just once I'd like to show these fools up and go all NBA in their faces." Leo whined, making Chase look at him in confusion. "Then why don't you?"

Leo dramatically gestured to himself. "Look at me! There's more meat on a dog bone!"

"Yeah, but now you have us to help you." Adam pointed out, smiling at Leo as he got up from the bleachers before grabbing him by his back and lifted him up in the air while ignoring the boy's yells in protest. "Huh? Wait, what?! No, these are my good drawers!"

Leo screamed as Adam threw him towards the basketball hoop using his super-strength. To his surprise, he managed to grab onto the ring while knocking the ball into the net before his fingers slipped and he fell flat on his back on the hard gym floor.

The students gapped at the boy who managed to pull himself off the ground before the crowd of students erupted in cheers, clapping their hands for Leo's student — including Emilia who was just doing her job as a proud best friend.

"Yeah, I got mad skills! yeah!"

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"Attention Students! The pep rally is starting. Go, dingoes!" The Principal announced through the intercom as Emilia walked into the gym with Bree to see Leo signing basketballs for a few students.

"Let's get fired up..."

Leo grinned and walked over to the girls. "You guys rock! Ever since gym class, everyone wants to be my friend. And there's been a certain gentleness to my wedgies."

"It's the least we could do. You two gave us our first taste of freedom." Bree said, smiling at Leo and Emilia.

"Yeah, and our first taste of salisbury steak. Uh, yum." Adam grinned, taking a bite of his steak.

Chase walked in with a smile on his face, making Leo question. "Where were you?"

"Computer lab, taking med school courses. Guess who just became a chiropractor in the Philippines?" Chase answered, wearing a bright grin at his lips.

The Dingo approached Adam and pretended to lick the boy who smiled. "Aw, look. The doggy likes me."

"Okay, doggy, that's enough. Hey, I said that's enough!" Adam yelled in annoyance after having enough and tried to run away but it followed him anyway.

Leo looked at Adam before turning to Chase and asked with wide eyes. "Why are Adam's eyes turning red?" Emilia and Chase followed his gaze, making the latter gasp in panic. "Oh no, his heat vision!"

"His what?"

Emilia turned to her friend. "You know the lasers we saw, when we were hiding behind the barrels, keep up Dooley!" She reminded him, softly hitting him in the stomach.

"It's a glitch. Whenever he gets too upset his heat vision acts up!" Chase explained, making Emilia and Leo widen their eyes as they watched lasers shoot out of Adam's eyes — causing the mascot to set on fire and run around the gym in panic.

The cheerleaders that noticed the Dingo mascot screamed in fear and ran away, leaving the remaining cheerleader in the air with nobody to catch her.

"I got her! I got her!" Bree yelled using her super speed to catch the girl but unfortunately missed, making the cheerleader fall onto the ground.

"She don't got her." Emilia sighed, throwing up her right hand in the air to gesture towards Bree and the now injured cheerleader.

"Oh. Oops. Overshot it. But don't worry, I know a chiropractor in the Philippines." Bree winced before running back to the group as smoke began to spread around the gym, sending everyone in panic.

However, Chase tried to stop the students from going anywhere in attempt to calm them down as he explained. "People. People. Statistics show that if we don't panic, at least 70% of us will make it out alive." But that didn't help at all as they just shoved him out the way as they ran past him to get away from the smoke.

"Oh Chase." Emilia held out her hand to help the boy off the ground once again. "We've got to stop meeting like this."

"Thanks." Chase smiled as he took Emilia's hand the second time that day to help him off the ground. "Again."

"Again, it's no problem." Emilia chuckled as they began walking back to the others, only to widen her eyes at the sight of Donald and Tasha walking into the gym.

They stared at the group of five who awkwardly waved at them before Donald was first to speak with a fake smile. "So... how was school?!" He paused for a moment before snapping. "Get in the helicopter!"

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When they got back home, they weren't surprised as Donald started giving them a lecture and now Emilia and Leo were banned from the lab, along with that Adam, Bree and Chase weren't allowed to have any contact with the outside world.

But while Tasha and Donald were out for dinner, Leo decided to take it upon himself to move the party to their house, inviting Adam, Bree and Chase to join him in the living room since Emilia was upstairs in her room, sleeping.

She would've counted herself as lucky as because she wasn't involved in the party, she wouldn't get in trouble, however, she was disappointed to hear the announcement from Donald that Adam, Bree and Chase were being relocated permanently after him and Tasha walked in while the party was still happening.

Since the siblings completely disobeyed Donald's order, he was now moving them to one of his remote research facilities where they can complete their training.

So because it was their last night there, both Leo and Emilia joined the bionic siblings down in the lab to be there with them.

While Emilia attached to Chase's leg, Leo clinged onto Adam's, both fast asleep that they couldn't hear the siblings talk.

Bree sighed. "I can't believe this is our last night in the lab."

"I think Leo and Emilia are really gonna miss us."

Adam nodded. "Yeah, me too. Think we should wake them up?" He asked as they looked down at his and Chase's legs to see Emilia and Leo sleeping.

Bree smiled in awe. "No, let them sleep."

"But Leo's drooling on my socks." Adam groaned in defeat, making Chase chuckle before he looked down at Emilia sleeping, holding onto his leg like she didn't want to ever let him go — the sight making a soft smile appear at his lips before the trio eventually drifted off to sleep.

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