CHAPTER FOURTEEN, chore wars

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After doing all their chores that Tasha had asked them to do, Leo and Emilia received their chore money for that time. Unfortunately for Leo who wanted to see the Pigs Zombie movie after he finally had enough money, Tasha stated that he wasn't allowed to go.

But from seeing Emilia and Leo doing the chores and to get money at the end of it, is actually what interested Adam, Bree and Chase since they didn't know about that sort of thing. Though they were glad to have bionics as it meant for them to have the ability to clean the whole house a lot faster than it would normally take.

After they have done their chores, Tasha gave the trio seven dollars each to start with, reminding them to spend their money responsibly.

But that wasn't going to happen anyway.

The next day, Adam walked through the front door to see Chase and Bree sat on the couch with Emilia sat down on the red chair nearby. "Hey guys. The neighbours are selling their stuff in the front yard. I spent my last five bucks on this whole basket of used socks."

"You don't even wear socks." Chase reminded his brother who held up his hands that were covered in socks. "Hello? Sock puppets." He said as if it was obvious.

The auburn haired girl chuckled before looking to Bree who went to speak. "Well, I spent my chore money starting my hideous babies collection. Here's Lip-sore Lizzy, pink-eye Peggy, and limited edition triple-chin chuck."

"What'd you buy Chase?" Emilia nodded towards the briefcase that the boy had in his hold before he opened it to show everyone.

"I bought financial security. That's right. Just me and my money for the rest of my life. I'm saving every last dollar. Friends come and go, but money is forever." Chase told them before handcuffing himself to his briefcase.

"This is spending your money responsibly?"

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"Hey Davenport, what are you doing?" The Hunter girl walked out of the elevator to see the man working on something at his desk.

"Hi Emilia. I'm just working on something for Tasha." Donald said as the girl pulled out a chair to sit down next to him. "Did Tasha tell you about the jewellery box that her grandmother gave her?" At Emilia's nod, Donald then informed the girl. "Well, I'm fixing it as a surprise."

"That's sweet." Emilia smiled kindly at the man before letting him get back to fixing the jewellery box, whilst she stayed there on her phone.

Eddy appeared on the monitor. "Wish we could keep Tasha in a box like that."

Donald sighed at his smart-home system. "Eddy, this is a jewellery box. That Tasha's grandmother gave her. It's been broken for years, and I'm going to restore it, and surprise her with it. Yeah, I'm perfect."

Emilia rolled her eyes at his ego showing before looking over at Eddy who then remarked. "Ooh! If you really wanna surprise her, let's split town and not leave a forwarding address." Emilia then grabbed something before throwing it at the screen, groaning when Eddy was still there.

"Only thing is, I have to find a place to hide it where she won't find it." Donald sighed before he placed it in one of the small holes where she wouldn't find it before furrowing his eyebrows along with Emilia as they heard Leo walk past them groaning.

Donald got out of his seat and followed Leo into the lab along with Emilia. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say something's wrong."

Leo leaned his head in his hand, groaning. "The new pig zombie movie comes out this weekend and I can't go."

Donald smiled. "Wait, did you say 'Pig Zombie?' This little piggy went home..." The two boys said in unison. "to eat your face!"

Emilia laughed at their actions as Leo asked his stepfather. "No way, you like Pig Zombies?"

"Do I breathe? They're only the greatest movies in the history of movies ever made ever."

Leo smiled happily to see someone else had an interest in the same movie he did. "I know! I memorised every line by heart and my psychotic pig oink is dead on."

Donald imitated a zombie squeal before sighing in relief. "Finally, I have somebody to watch these movies with. Bree hates them. Adam's scared of them and Chase always ruins them with logic. 'A pig can't peel a banana, a pig can't crack a safe. A pig can't jump an 18-wheeler over an unfinished section of highway'."

Emilia shook her head, watching the two ramble on about Pig Zombies. "I wonder what Tasha is up to. Or I hope the trio aren't doing anything stupid." She muttered to herself before walking out of the lab to go back upstairs to find something else to do.

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Emilia was hanging out in her room unaware of the house sale that had been taken place downstairs before picking up her phone when she heard it ringing. "Hey Davenport, what's up?"

"Hey Emilia. You know that jewellery box I've been working on?"

"Yeah, why what's wrong?"

Donald then asked. "Have you seen it or moved it by any chance because it's not in the same spot as before?"

"No, I haven't seen it or touched it. But I can have a look for you. And I'll come downstairs to tell you if I've found it or not." Emilia told the man who thanked her before hanging up the phone with a sigh.

She left her room before starting to walk around the house, thinking of different spots of where the jewellery box could be until she ended up in the living room when she spotted the bionic trio in the kitchen — with Adam and Chase counting money.

"Whoa! Where did you get all this money?" The Hunter girl gasped as she appeared beside Chase and grabbed his selection of money, scanning through it with wide eyes.

"Uh... we—" Chase stammered nervously, sharing a look with his siblings as they struggled to come up with an excuse as to why they had so much money when Donald walked in.

"Have you guys seen a jewellery box?" Donald questioned as Emilia held her arm back, passing Chase back his money. While it was happening, she managed to notice the nervous expressions that crossed their faces making her grow suspicious.

Bree turned to Donald nervously. "Is it a little brown wooden one with a gold heart on top of it?"

Donald looked at her with hopeful eyes. "Yes!"

"Haven't seen it."

"Me neither."

"Nope, not me."

"Couldn't find it. Sorry." Emilia told the man who sighed, throwing his hands out to the sides in defeat. "I don't know what happened to it. It was Tasha's grandma's. I was gonna fix it for her and surprise her with it. If you guys see it, let me know."

"See what?" Tasha asked as she walked into the room, making Donald chuckle nervously. "See— see, uh, that new reality show about the dog and the— and the bear. They, uh, fall in love and fight crime. It's adorable. It's on TV right now, let's go watch it."

He glanced back at Emilia and made a gesture as if he was saying to keep looking for the jewellery box, which she nodded at before following them out the room — leaving the bionic siblings in panic after realising they sold the jewellery box during the house sale that took place in the living room earlier.

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The next day, everyone apart from the bionic trio were confused about why most of the things in the house were disappearing, still unaware of the house sale that took place in the living room the day before. For most of the day, Emilia spent her time hanging out with Leo who ranted about how he got caught watching the Pigs Zombie movie and lied about it.

Needing Emilia's help, the bionic siblings told the girl about their situation in hope that she would help them get the jewellery box back, which they eventually did.

Once they had finally gotten it fixed, Donald then brought Tasha down and guided her towards the teenagers who were holding the fixed jewellery box when Tasha accidentally bumped into the couch.

He led her towards the couch to sit down as the teens gathered around them. "Okay, and open 'em!" Tasha opened her eyes as Donald lifted the cover off the jewellery box. "Surprise!"

Tasha smiled. "You fixed my grandmother's jewellery box!"

Donald nodded. "It took a long time, but Emilia, Leo and I painstakingly restored it to its original condition."

"Emphasis on the painstaking part." The Dooley boy mentioned, earning a hum from his best-friend. "Yeah, you were annoying." She said as a joke, receiving a playful glare from the boy.

"Aw, that's so sweet of you guys." Adam smiled before slapping Donald on the back, accidentally using his super strength which caused Donald to drop the box and it smashed onto the floor.

Adam looked at everyone. "I'll clean that up for five bucks." He volunteered himself before Emilia went to jump at him, only for Chase to hold her back.

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