CHAPTER SEVEN, the rats strike back

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The guys have come back from their mission feeling exhausted from all the training. The guys wanted to have a relaxing day, but instead they had to help Donald with his work. Donald had left the lab, leaving the others to groan in defeat.

"Why do we always have to do what he wants us to do?" Bree groaned, in which Adam reminded her. "Weren't you listening? The man is king!"

"Hey." Leo thought of an idea. "Maybe you guys should do what those hotel workers downtown did. You know, strike." He suggested. Adam nodded before punching Chase in the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?" Chase asked, with furrowed brows. Adam gestured to the boy while saying. "Leo said strike." Bree turned her head to look at Leo as she questioned. "Strike?" This made Adam punch Chase in the shoulder again before Bree wondered. "What's a strike?"

"Stop it!" Emilia scolded, using her quick reflexes to grab Adam hand before it could hit Chase. She sighed before moving to stand next to Leo as she explained for him. "He's talking about when employees refuse to work, until they get better working conditions, like more days off." Leo nodded before chiming in. "Or in your case... a day off."

"Hey, that's a great idea." Chase said, pointing his finger at them with a smile. "I say we all strike!" Adam, Bree and Leo all punched the boy making him groan. "Oh, come on!"

"All right, that's enough hitting." Emilia scolded, making Chase smile.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The next day, Donald came dancing into the lab with a bright smile on his face, before stopping when he saw the teens holding up different posters while chanting. "Unfair! On strike. Unfair. On strike."

Donald threw out his arms. "What's all this?"

"We are on strike." Chase informed the man who furrowed his brows. "Why would you guys strike? You have the most awesome lives ever. Except maybe for mine." Donald questioned.

"Ha, ha, ha. We're serious." Bree said. "Adam even made us signs."

"Yeah." Emilia cleared her throat as Adam stood up. "I'm more concerned about what sign Adam was trying to do on himself." She said, pursing her lips with a sigh.

"Probably should have used a pencil." Adam said, pointing out as he had marks of colouring pens all over himself.

Donald sighed, holding his arms out. "Oh, okay guys. Quit being ridiculous." He told the group when Leo stepped forward. "There's nothing ridiculous about it. They're on strike and me and Emilia are their captains." He explained.

"We're sticking it to the man." Leo added before Adam went to chime in. "Yeah! And I don't know exactly what it is, but we're sticking it to ya! And it's going to be really hard to get off."

Donald looked between Leo and Emilia before asking. "Why are you striking? You don't even have to train." The latter shrugged before answering. "I'm not. I'm just helping them show their point of view."

"This isn't about training. It's about unity and equality! And getting what we want- ity." Leo pursed his lips, before Donald looked over at Chase who chimed in. "We're striking for a day off. We need downtime just to have fun. As long as it doesn't effect our school work." Adam elbowed him in the chest in disbelief at his last point. "That's right. We are united in this cause. We will get what we deserve, because..." Leo held up his sign. "Superhumans are humans too!"

"Come on guys." Leo looked back at the others before they all chanted simultaneously while shoving Donald out the lab. "Superhumans are humans too!"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Just like they said, Adam was taking his spa day, Bree was watching Teen Fiancée with Emilia who occasionally slipped in for Leo and played a couple games of Table Tennis with Chase, until the power suddenly cut off making them all groan.

Donald had walked in with a smile on his face before stopping to announce. "And darkness falls across the land of Davenportia. Ha ha ha ha!"

"Turn our stuff back on." Bree told him, in which he corrected. "I think you mean, turn my stuff back on. Because you can't strike against me without striking against Davenport Industries, and that means you can't use Davenport Industries' equipment. Ha! Boom! So, if you don't mind, I will take that, and that, and that, and this, and that. Ha! And... that!" He grabbed all the things that they were using.

"Oh hey, that's my face cream." Adam told the man who sighed before informing him. "Adam, this is sour cream."

"Yeah, and when it's done on my face, I use it on my burrito." Adam explained, like it was obvious as he held the burrito in his hand before spreading it on his face.

"And that is also mine." Donald said, grabbing the burrito from him. "Yep! Now, all you have to do is end the strike, and you can have the stuff back." He stopped by the lab doors.

Adam hummed. "Sounds like a win-win. I think we should go for it."

"No! What about your day off?" Leo questioned, standing in front of them. "Come on, guys! Stay defiant! Stand up to the man!" Adam held out his arms to the side while exclaiming. "But the man has my burrito!"

"And the man is having it for lunch." Donald smiled, taking a bite out of it. "Now, if you don't mind... I'll be up in my well-lit mansion, playing with all my toys that still work. Ha ha ha ha!"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The next day, Emilia rushed into the lab with Donald, both wearing winter coats as the latter clicked the power back on.

"Guys! NASA called." Donald panted, in which Bree questioned with a smile. "They want their nerd back?" Emilia laughed along with the others before shuddering at the cold air. "Look, they moved the gravity belt presentation up to tomorrow! So, we have to put all this ridiculousness behind us, and get back to work! Strike's over!"

"Au contraire, Big D." Leo said, as they stepped out of Chase's capsule. "You obviously don't know how a strike works. It's not over because you say it's over." Emilia opened up her coat for Bree who ran into her grasp, before she wrapped the other part of the coat around her.

"Guys, the biggest contract of my life is on the line here." Donald informed, in which Chase threw out his arms before sarcastically replying to the man. "Oh! We'd love to help you, Mr Davenport, but since you didn't care about our needs, why should we care about yours?"

"Uh, because I, and listen closely now..." Donald said, before gesturing for them to lean in. "Said so!" He raised his voice. "All right. So, I'm going to go get the gravity belt, and when I come back, strike's over!" He ran out the lab, leaving Adam to cheer. "Did we win?"

Bree sighed, pulling away from Emilia's grasp as she was warmed up now. She turned her head to look at Leo before saying. "Great plan, Leo. We lost." Leo waved his hands in front of him as he replied. "No, that's what he wants you to think. But now, we have all the leverage."

"You're right!" Chase pointed his finger at the Dooley boy. "He can't do the presentation without us."

Leo hummed with a nod. "And we can use that to get what you guys want, and more! Trust me, guys. I smell a victory." He explained, getting a chuckle from Adam.

"Oh! No, those are my feet. I used rosewater in my cankle bath." Adam informed, before they sent Leo upstairs to talk to Donald. After a while, the group of four stood by the elevator as Bree sighed. "Leo should be been back by now. His lungs are way too tiny to be talking this long."

"The negotiations must be grueling." Chase said, before Adam chimed in. "I knew I shouldn't have demanded that bucket of sour cream!" Emilia pursed her lips as Chase sarcastically replied to Adam's point. "Yes, I'm sure that's the sticking point." The elevator doors opened, revealing Donald, making Bree smile smugly. "Finally. Is the man with the fancy belt ready to buckle?"

"Nope. Actually, I'm ready to begin training for the presentation." Donald smiled, making Emilia furrow her brows as Chase reminded him. "You can't do that without one of us."

Donald turned around to face them. "Actually, I can, because you have been replaced." The elevator doors opened to reveal Leo in a training outfit.

"Okay, you're replacing us? You were supposed to negotiate for us!" Bree asked in disbelief. Leo pointed at the speedster as he replied. "To be fair, your demands were... ridiculous."

"They were your demands!" Emilia exclaimed, looking at the boy as if he was crazy.

Bree nodded. "When did they become ridiculous?"

Leo gestured to himself. "When I got what I wanted. Boom!" He said, dancing towards Donald who joined in.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Calling Donald's bluff, the bionic siblings and Emilia decided to get revenge on Leo for betraying them. They walked into the lab with Donald smiling smugly at them. "Oh! Hey, guys. Did you come here to grovel? Proceed."

"Uh, no." Bree shook her head. "Actually, we came to check on your new test pilot. You really want to replace us with Leo, we should really make sure he's up to it."

Donald nodded at the girl. "Oh! Leo is up to it."

Emilia raised her brows in amusement as she watched her friend drop one of the one pound weights to the floor. She sipped on the straw of her drink before questioning. "Do you need help with those, Leo?"

Leo shook his head, pursing his lips. "Nah. It's just a hand cramp." He shook her off, after glaring at the amused look she had on her face.

Adam walked around Donald as he said. "Look, if you're replacing us with Leo, shouldn't he be doing the same training that we did?" Donald looked away as he uttered out a lie. "Oh, no. I mean, I don't think that's necessary."

"Oh! But we do." Chase grinned. "I mean, unless, of course, you've been bluffing this entire time. And you really have no intention of letting Leo test the gravity belt."

Donald nodded at the younger sibling. "Okay. Fine. Why don't we start with some push-ups? Or a push-up." He suggested.

"No. Leo has to train exactly as we did." Chase reminded him. "Throw him in the deep end." Leo nodded along as he chimed in. "Yeah, Big D. Throw me in the deep end. Just give me a second to get my floaties."

During Leo's training, after teasing them to make it harder for the teen such as, using a tennis ball cannon, and setting the laser ball to combat mode, the group of four walked out the lab with a smile on their faces.

The next day, Donald and Leo came walking in to the living room. "Congratulations, Leo. You have completed every training test necessary for the gravity belt presentation." Donald complimented.

"How many did he pass?" Chase wondered, in which Donald snapped at the boy. "He completed them!" Bree sighed as the four stood up from the couch before she told the man. "Just give it up! We all know you're not letting Leo go up in that thing."

"Oh, yes, I will, missy!" Donald defended. "The NASA rep will be here any second now, and Leo is good to go." He turned back to the bionic siblings to add. "Unless, of course, you guys want to end this right now and help me with the presentation."

"Not unless you're ready to give us more time off." Chase didn't back down. "Not a chance!" The man exclaimed. Chase stepped forward as he said. "All right. Fine. Then let's belt you up, Leo!"

"Don't mind if I do." The boy said to himself. As soon as the doorbell rang, Donald panicked and wanted them to take the uniform off of Leo.

With the guys begging him to have a day off, and eventually the man sighed in defeat. Leo ended up doing the presentation by accident, making him crash into multiple things in the process as he floated in the air, until he found the off switch.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

MEGAN SPEAKS !

hope you enjoyed reading
this chapter!! i hope you're all
excited as i am for when it comes
to that chapter. thanks for reading!!