CHAPTER ONE, sink or swim

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Not one single piece of technology in the lab was left untouched by the explosion. The capsules for one, Leo's Mission Specialist Desk and the rest of the technology that Donald used to built it was completely ripped apart.

Although all of that can be replaceable, however Adam, Bree and Chase are not — therefore, they needed to prioritise their safety and find them before Douglas does.

"Almost ready. Just three more bags." Tasha said as she brought the bags down to the living room moments before they had to leave.

"Tasha, we're homeless." Donald reminded. "Do you really need all these clothes?" He asked, only for the woman to look at him, unfazed. "These are yours." She deadpanned.

"I cannot believe they're kicking us out." Leo then sighed. "Where are we gonna go?" He wondered.

Looking between the two teenagers and his wife, Donald explained. "Look, there is a five-star hotel downtown. We can stay there until we can prove my account was hacked."

"How?" Leo asked before Emilia did. "You have no money, no credit cards, nothing."

"Well, y-yeah. I just thought we'd tap into yours and Emilia's college fund."

"Hell no." Emilia muttered before Leo walked to the door after hearing someone knock on. And as soon as he opened the door, he widened his eyes once he spotted Perry poking her head in.

"Sup, Dooley." Perry greeted, making Leo shriek before going to shut the door, only for Perry to stop his movements and push herself in. "Well, I see you did your squats today." Leo pointed out after failing to block the woman from coming in to the house.

"That's the power of protein." Perry explained as she flexed her arms. "I eat three whole chickens a day. Uhhh!"

Emilia turned away as Tasha fake smiled towards the woman and asked. "Principal Perry, what do you want?"

"Nothin' from you, Betty Blue." Perry pointed at the woman before turning to Donald. "I just came here to shake down old Donny for my hush money. Keeping a bionic secret really takes it out of a gal."

"And here I thought you were just winded from walking up the driveway." Donald sighed before grabbing what Perry had in her hands. "Look, you know I'm broke."

Perry grinned. "Well, then perhaps I'll have to find another way to get my money. Maybe a tell-all book. How one adorkable Principal saved America from three bionic freaks!"

"Look, I'll get you your hush money, but first, we need a place to live. And then we have to find Adam, Bree and Chase." Donald explained.

"Who?" Perry shook her head, confused, making Emilia sigh before stepping in. "The three bionic freaks." She reminded in a mocking way before Perry gasped in realisation.

"So you're telling me the sooner you find a place, the sooner I get my money." Perry recapped and Leo nodded at her. "That's right, TP. You help us out, we help you out. You wash our back, we— Ohhh." The Dooley boy cringed as he stopped himself from finishing that sentence.

"All right, I'm in. You can stay at my place." The woman suggested. "As long as you don't mind sharing the john with eight cats and the occasional semi-pro bowler."

Tasha stepped towards Perry. "What if we stay at the school temporarily? Like when you set up the shelter for people after the big storm last year."

"Oh! So that's why everyone was banging on the door trying to get in!" Perry realised. "All right, you can stay at the school."

"Oh, good." Donald sighed in relief. "Well, you wanna help us with our bags?"

"My pleasure." Perry agreed and grabbed two of the bags before walking out. Though it wasn't long before the group heard tires screeching as Perry drove away from the house.

"We're never gonna see those bags again, are we?" Donald asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Emilia hummed. "What do you think?" She asked rhetorically, as if it was obvious.

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Once arriving at the school, Perry had set up four cots for them. Though Emilia probably preferred sleeping on the floor than sleeping in the beds that probably hadn't even been cleaned.

"Here you go. Four cots." Perry announced. "This takes me back to the good ol' days in the prison infirmary." She said, holding her hand to her heart.

With furrowed brows, Tasha asked. "You were a nurse?"

"No, I was in prison." Perry corrected.

Emilia pursed her lips before nodding. "Yep, that sounds about right."

"Okay, you kids settle in. I'm gonna go try and find some less crusty blankets." Perry said before going to walk away when Tasha stopped her. "Is there someplace we can store our things?" She asked.

"Sure. You can take the gym locker next to mine. You might want to wear slip-ons in the shower. I got something in between my toes that just won't quit." Perry explained before walking away.

And after Tasha left the room, Leo then walked in while pulling in some computers behind him from the computer lab.

"Good news, Big D. I got some of this stuff from the computer lab. Maybe you can use it to track Adam, Bree and Chase's last GPS location." Leo explained.

"Or, judging by it's age, the last location of King Tut." Donald remarked. "Sorry, Leo. I'm just frustrated. Without my stuff, without my lab, this is hopeless."

"Come on, Big D, you're a tech titan. You built an empire out of nothing." Leo reminded the man as he sat down on the bed behind him. "Yeah, but it was so hard." He pouted.

"Yeah, but you did it. And if you put your mind to it, you can do anything." Leo continued as Emilia joined their side. "You're brilliant."

"You're right, guys." Donald nodded as he stood up. "I am handsome. And brilliant." He added, placing his hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Hold on, we didn't say—" Leo didn't get to finish his sentence as Donald interrupted. "I'm back!"

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As Emilia and Donald continued to work on the computers, Leo came walking back in with an explanation. "Principal Perry was hogging the internet in her office, so I snuck in, plugged in our wire instead. Turns out she's a day trader for the Japanese stock market."

"That did it." Donald stated once he looked back at the computers. "We are now able to pinpoint their precise location when they turned off their GPS." He explained. "You know, guys. With my genius, and Leo's ability to follow wiring, and Emilia's protective instinct, we make a great team."

"Their last known location was at the Port." The Hunter girl stated. "They must have jumped on a ship."

"It says there were three freighters that left around the same time. They must be on one of them." Leo explained.

"Douglas may already have a jump on us. We have to act fast." Donald informed.

"But even if we know which freighter it is, how are we gonna get to it?" Leo asked his stepfather who smiled at him when he remembered. "I have a secret. I have a helicopter I keep stashed away for special occasions, and nobody knows about it! Ha!"

"I have a secret too." Leo started. "I know, I use it on weekends." He confessed with a nervous smile as Emilia rolled her eyes.

When it was time for them to begin their search for Adam, Bree and Chase, Leo went with Donald to look for them while Emilia stayed at the school with Tasha, just so she wasn't alone with Perry.

Tasha was brushing her hair and watched Emilia who was lying on the floor listening to music with her headphones, when Perry walked in while dragging her bed behind her — already dressed in her pajamas.

"Oh. You come to keep us company until Donald and Leo get back?" Tasha guessed, as she looked at Perry who shook her head. "No. I got a little flea problem, so I'm crashing here tonight." She informed the woman.

"Your cats have fleas?"

"No, I do. I'm crashing here so I don't give them to the cats."

"How thoughtful." Tasha responded sarcastically through a scoff before Perry began scratching herself — soon taking Tasha's brush and use it to scratch her back.

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MEGAN SPEAKS !

welcome to act three!! i
hope you enjoyed this chapter, and
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think!! thanks for reading, i love you all!! <33