CHAPTER THIRTEEN, the bionic 500

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"Ohh! This new neighbour has got to go!" Bree groaned after shutting the front door - most of the group standing in the living room in the middle of the night after being woken up by the sound of an engine revving and tires screeching from outside the house.

"Why does he keep racing his car up and down our street every night?" Chase huffed in question while trying to hold up a half-asleep Emilia who continued to flop in his arms.

Adam gasped. "Ooh! I know this one! To get to the other side."

Leo gestured to the door after hearing the sound of the car once again. "He clearly has no respect for my beauty sleep." He scoffed. "It takes atleast eight hours to look this good. Ten, if you want that Leo glow."

"I cannot believe I have to wake up to this." The Davenport man grumbled as he ran down the stairs to join the kids.

"I can't believe I have to wake up to that." Leo remarked, looking him up and down to gesture at his choice of pyjamas before gesturing towards Emilia, referring to her sleeping position. "Poor Emmy is traumatised."

Donald furrowed his brows, looking down at the Hunter girl who was being held up by Chase before turning to Leo. "This is Italian silk. A cheetah wishes he looked this good." He pointed out.

"A cheetah would have the decency to cover that up with a robe." Bree retorted just as Emilia let out a groan at the sound of tires screeching from outside. Muttering a few curse words under her breath, she pulled away from Chase now awake and stormed towards the door.

"Oh, they've woke up the demon." Leo winced as they watched Emilia open the door, and glare towards the new neighbour's car. "Hey, Pierce! Get your fucking car off our lawn!" She yelled out the door since nobody else had the guts to do it before.

Donald pulled his phone out. "Let's see how he likes my new high-pressure sprinkler system." He said before walking out onto the porch. "Okay, set to 'Monsoon'." He let out a laugh after seeing the sprinklers turn on. "Ha! He's stuck in the mud!"

Just as he pointed that out, the mud spurted onto him as he was now fully covered in it. "Not anymore." Leo pointed out in amusement.

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Walking into school that morning, they furrowed their brows at Leo before Chase wondered. "Leo, how'd you get to be first in line for locker reassignments?"

"Oh, since I couldn't get any sleep, I've been here since dawn." Leo informed them. "FYI, you do not want to see the lunch ladies without makeup." He warned.

"Wait. They wear makeup?" Bree questioned in disbelief.

Leo nodded. "But since I'm first in line, I'll finally get the corner locker."

"Wait a second. I thought this was the line was lice check." Adam thought and grimaced at the fact before walking away.

"There she is, Locker 106. Away from the traffic, near the cheerleaders, and I can see Principal Perry before anyone else- and a two second head start can save a life." Leo explained before Emilia, Chase and Bree walked away from him.

Back at home, Emilia sat on the red chair as they all hung around in the living room until the doorbell rang. "Okay, that's Pierce. Now watch as I handle this like an adult." Donald told the group as he started approaching the door.

"Okay, but what do you want us to do when you start crying?" Bree wondered, receiving a look from Donald before he opened the door.

"Clayton? What are you doing here?" The Dooley boy questioned the boy at the door who he saw earlier at school.

"Looking good and smelling great." Clayton said smugly, holding his jacket over his shoulder. "Oh, my dad came to talk to your dad."

"You can come in by the way." Emilia muttered sarcastically as the boy allowed himself in which made her roll her eyes.

"Wait. Pierce is your dad?" Chase stood up from sitting on the arm of the chair, looking at the boy in question. "Hmm. Makes sense, rich jerk, rich jerk's son." Adam interjected before sniffing the boy. "He does smell good."

"Hello?" Clayton called out. "Isn't anyone going to take my coat?" He questioned, making Emilia narrow her eyes. Though she wasn't able to stop Adam in time who happily took the rich boy's coat before putting it on himself, ending up ripping the clothing. "It's got a lot of give." He chuckled.

Pierce then walked in, throwing his keys towards Chase. "Two coats light wax, and shampoo the carpets. And don't touch the radio- I'm an easy listener." He ordered.

"I'm not washing your car." Chase scoffed at the man as Emilia's glare hardened.

"Me neither." Adam chimed before sniffing the air. "But may I take your coat?" He innocently asked.

"Can we move this along?" Pierce asked rudely as he walked to where Adam was standing. "I got golf in the A.M, and I like to show up early to scream during other people's swings. Aaah!" He chuckled to himself. "Drives 'em crazy."

Emilia growled after having enough of the man's attitude, and went to step forward only for Chase to hold her back from punching the man. Seeing this, Donald followed to where Pierce was stood and got in with the focus of conversation.

"Look, I'll get right to the point. You have been driving your car across my lawn at night, and it needs to stop." Donald requested.

"Not gonna happen." Pierce denied. "But I will pay you to stop talking. What's your price?"

"Alright, that's it!" Emilia snapped, managing to get out of Chase's hold, however he was quick enough to turn her around and lift her up over his shoulder.

"Excuse her." Chase chuckled sarcastically. "She's just hungry. I'll go take her to get some food now." He turned around before leading her out the room with Emilia glaring at the rich father and son duo from behind him.

"Are you trying to pay me off?" Donald scoffed out a laugh. "I'm a billionaire."

"Wow. Just a billionaire." Pierce looked back at his son who winced. "Must be rough. Well, if you ever need a loan, you know where I live. It's the castle at the top of the hill that casts a shadow over your entire existence." He told Donald.

"Well, please." Donald scoffed. "You do not have more money than I do."

Pierce sighed, pulling his phone out. "That's my net worth." He stated, showing Donald who scoffed as if it wasn't that much. "Well, not all the zeroes fit on one screen." Pierce added, turning his phone before scrolling across the screen a few times.

Donald gulped. "Oh, yeah? Well, I see one zero that's not on that screen. Ha! Take that!" He pointed out before starting to whimper.

"Someone's about to start crying." Bree pointed out before Donald shook it off. "Look, okay." He told the man. "Enough is enough. What is it gonna take for you to stop driving on my lawn?"

"I can't think of a thing. Good night." Pierce told him, shaking his head before he turned around to walk out.

"It's like he's asking for Chase to let Emilia run back in and punch him." Bree muttered to Leo and Adam who nodded in agreement.

"No- No!" Donald stopped him from leaving the house. "You are not leaving until we resolve this."

"Fine. How about a contest?" Pierce proposed a challenge. "We could settle this on the racetrack. My stock car against yours. You do own a stock car, don't you?"

Donald let out a forced laugh. "Of course... I own a stock car. And when I win, you stop driving your car on my lawn."

Pierce shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no. I think we should play for much bigger stakes- like the deeds to each other's houses. The winner stays, the loser... goes." He told Donald.

"Deal." The Davenport man surprisingly agreed, shocking the teenagers.

"See you on the track." Pierce nodded. "Or later tonight when I tear up the rest of your lawn. Heh heh." He chuckled to himself before picking up his car keys that Chase left on the couch before leaving the house with his son following.

"I'm sorry." Chase interjected, walking back into the room with a pouting Emilia beside him. "Did I just hear what I think I just heard?"

"That he just bet our house? Yes." Bree clarified for her brother before turning to Donald in question. "Mr. Davenport, are you sure about this?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, if you don't win, we'll lose our house." He reminded.

"Guys, I got this. Don't worry about it." Donald reassured them. "I just have one question, though. What exactly is a stock car?"

"You see?" Emilia turned to Chase. "This might not have happened if you didn't carry me out of the room!"

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The group were now at the racetrack - worried that Donald would lose the race when Pierce and Clayton walked over. "Well, Davenport, we just wanted to wish you luck." Pierce said with a smug smile on his face just like Clayton.

"You'll need it against our driver." Clayton added before the father and son duo chuckled to themselves.

Donald scoffed. "Driver?"

"Yeah. I said we'd race, I never said I'd be the one driving. Joey." Pierce called out to his driver who climbed out of the stock car. "That's your driver? When does he get his learner's permit?" Donald scoffed.

"Uh-oh. I've seen that guy before." Chase pointed out before using his bionic eye to scan the driver's identity. "That's Joey Logano. He's been racing since he was six! He's the youngest nascar driver to win on the pro circuit- ever."

"Ohh..." Donald now started to get nervous when Adam held out the bucket. "We're gonna need a bigger bucket." He mentioned.

Now getting the race started, Donald was twenty eight laps behind Logano. Donald had to make a pit stop so the crew could add more gas.

"I can't believe I'm losing so badly." Donald told the group. "You do know that stepping on the gas pedal makes it go faster, right?" Bree reminded him.

Donald rolled his eyes at the girl. "There must be something wrong with the car." He thought.

"Okay, let's be smart about this and eliminate variables. First of all, are we sure the car is not in reverse?" Adam questioned, making Donald send him a look.

"Wait. It's been almost a minute. Shouldn't your pit crew be done by now?" Chase questioned.

"Yeah, and where's your crew chief?" Bree was next to ask when Emilia interjected. "What is he doing down there?" She pointed out to the group who followed her gaze to see him talking to Pierce and Clayton.

Chase then tuned in his bionic superhearing to hear what they were talking about. He widened his eyes before ducking back to the car. "Pierce is cheating. He paid your pit crew to sabotage your car." Chase notified Donald after hearing part of their conversation.

"I knew it." Donald seethed before climbing out of the car. "You guys are fired. Get out of here, Ken! Ken. That was it! Uhh!" They all walked away, leaving Donald to sigh after realising his mistake. "Probably should have waited until they put those back on."

"Wait. Mr Davenport, what if we replaced you pit crew with a bionic pit crew?" Chase proposed a plan as Adam shrugged. "Or we could start rooting for Joey Logano. Hey, just throwing out options." He chimed in.

"Hold on." Leo interrupted. "Isn't using bionics technically cheating?" He questioned, making the banshee smack him upside the head. "Isn't paying the pit crew to also sabotage his car, technically cheating too? Yes!"

Donald nodded. "Technically, I'm just levelling the playing field." He reminded.

"Okay. I'll tap into the car's central computer and optimise it for peak performance." Chase began to explain before pointing at Bree. "You use your super speed to change these tires and to gas it up." He looked towards Adam. "And Adam-"

"Can do this." He interrupted Chase before lifting the car up using his super-strength.

After the group got his car ready and changed in to matching outfits, Donald set off again around the racetrack.

"With 50 laps to go, Logano's lead is shrinking! Davenport is actually catching up! And don't forget, your lug nut calendars are available at the concession stand. Keep an eye out for April- I'm wearing tires!"

Donald returned back to his station. "Okay, we need to change the tires in under ten seconds, or-" Bree interrupted Leo by using her super speed to change the tires. "Done." She confirmed with a smile, letting Donald set off again with Leo's hat flying off from impact.

"This is incredible. Davenport has evened it up! I'm almost beginning to care who wins!"

Joey Logano suddenly came walking over. "So, it looks like my afternoon just freed up. You guys need any help?" They all responded with nervous stammers. "Please say yes. I want to hide from that flag lady."

"Yoo-hoo. Hey, Joey! Wanna go halfsies on a hoagie?"

At that, Joey fell to the ground in fear until the group eventually passed Joey some headphones so he could join the team.

"Two laps to go in the Rich Jerk 500. Davenport and Pierce are neck and neck- It's anybody's race. And I think we're all wondering the same question, Is there a Mrs Logano?"

"Davenport, you're doing great. Just please stop saying 'vroom vroom' every time you make a turn." Joey told the man, making Emilia sigh in relief. "Oh, thank god. I thought I had to say something."

Donald now seemed to be struggling since with no steering wheel after he accidentally pulled it off. "You do know it pops back on, right?" Joey gladly reminded Donald who sighed in relief before popping it back on to continue driving.

"What is Mr Davenport doing? Why is he slowing down?" Chase questioned.

Bree nodded along. "He's gonna lose!"

"No. He's obviously giving up. It's the honourable thing to do." Adam piped up, making Emilia give him a look.

"No, he's just drafting." Joey told him.

"It's something I learned from my racing simulator. I'm reducing my wind resistance by hiding behind Pierce's car, and then I'm gonna slingshot past him in the straightaway. On my controller it's red-red-green-up arrow, but I'm pretty sure I can make it work."

"Come on." Emilia muttered under her breath, a smile appearing on her face when she watched Donald speed past Pierce.

"And Davenport crosses the finish line!"

"Yeah!" They all cheered, before Emilia and Chase both engulfed each other in a hug before the girl reached her arm out for Bree to join.

"Great job, guys." Joey congratulated the group before taking off his headphones. "Now it's time for the real race- getting away from that flag lady."

"You forgot your calendars!" Perry screamed as she came running towards him, making him run away faster.

The group all cheered as Donald arrived back to the station and climbed out the window as soon as he stopped only to fall to the ground on accident.

"Man, nice work, Mr Davenport! You totally showed those guys who's boss." Chase told the man.

Donald nodded in agreement. "Yes... Yes, I did. But, it's important to remember, always win with dignity. Ha! I beat you! I beat you!" He danced towards Pierce to brag how he won the contest.

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MEGAN SPEAKS !

hope you enjoyed reading this
chapter!! i am so excited to publish
the next few chapters you don't even know.
but please be prepared for tears🥺 thanks
for reading, i love you all!! <33