CHAPTER FOURTEEN, bionic action hero part two

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Chase started to stir. After Troy knocked him out at the Hollywood studio — where Douglas, Adam, Bree and Leo still were — the bionic couple were brought to Giselle's lab, unfortunately separated from one another.

Giselle looked behind her and narrowed her eyes at the intelligent bionic superhuman, "Lock him up." She ordered her closest android to do as she said, when she noticed Chase beginning to gain consciousness.

Troy obliged and flipped a switch that was next to him, that trapped Chase so he couldn't escape out of the table he laid on.

The sound of the locks clicking together instantly alerted Chase, who blinked, taking a look around the room he did not recognise, until he saw Troy and Giselle, making him scowl. "Where am I?"

Giselle smirked, "My robotics lab." She answered his question, amused, knowing she currently had the power in this situation. She glared, "Can I get you anything? Water, tea... sharp pain in your neck as we rip out your bionic chip?"

"You know," Troy started making his way around the table while pointing out to Chase, "I was built on this very table. Kinda funny. It's where I had my first day, and you're having your last." He let out a cackle, though Chase didn't find it funny.

He looked up at Giselle with pursed lips, "All this technology, and you couldn't give him a sense of humor app?" He wondered, and Troy responded with a glare.

Before her android got the chance to speak again, Giselle decided to change the subject, and started explaining, "With your chip, I can finally give my androids superior intelligence. And unlike bionic humans, they won't be vulnerable to things like pain, or emotion, or their lives ending."

"My family will come for me." Chase insisted.

The sound of somebody wailing suddenly echoed around the lab, that made Chase squeeze his eyes shut as Troy and Giselle covered their ears, until it stopped. The corners of the Giselle's lips tugged up at the painful sound, and patted Chase on the shoulder. "Don't you mean— us?"

"What did you do to Emilia?"

Giselle laughed as Chase's demeanour changed as soon as he realised his girlfriend wasn't safe, like he had hoped she'd be. Giselle chose to ignore his desperation of wanting to know what she'd done with Emilia, and went on to share with him what was currently happening at the film set. "And I'm sure your family would, if they weren't about to be involved in a terrible accident."

Chase sat up, his brows raised at this. "Accident? What are you talking about?" He watched as she clicked a button on the monitor, which revealed footage of the team still standing in the training area film set, with Giselle's androids crowded around them.

There were ten seconds remaining, meaning they had ten seconds to figure out a way to get out the studio, otherwise the whole place would blow up with them and the androids still inside. However, as the timer got closer to 0, the androids began to geo-leap away. Of course, Giselle wasn't going to leave all of her androids behind.

The video on the screen changed, and Chase only managed to see the outside of the building before it went up in flames, and large amounts of rubble were scattered everywhere.

"Nooo!"

Troy and Giselle smirked, satisfied with the work, before the latter made a noise and looked back at a now heartbroken Chase. "Well, that's a wrap on your family."

"Wait." Troy leaned closer to the screen, seeming to have noticed something, which caught Giselle's attention. "What is that?"

As the camera zoomed closer, they could see Leo, Adam, Bree and Douglas running away from the dreadful scene. They made it out!

Chase sat up once again, "They escaped." The boy breathed out in relief. But, it unfortunately didn't stop him from worrying, when Emilia was still in the lab, god knows where, and there was a good chance she was harmed, which he didn't like one bit. Especially as he had no way of getting to his girlfriend, because he was still trapped down on the god damn table.

"But that's impossible."

"Not really." Chase corrected smugly, "Looks like you need my bionic intelligence more than your stupid robots do." As Troy stormed over, it made him lean back, letting out in fear, "I was kidding. Please don't take it out, please don't take it out!"

And at that point, Emilia Hunter let out another scream that reached their ears.

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Chase directed his eyes between Giselle and Troy, who were stood on either side of the table he was still stuck on. "I bet my family is tracking me and Emilia down as we speak." He insisted.

Troy didn't feel threatened at all. "And when they do, I'll take them out." He told Chase. If he would have to fight the bionic team, Troy wouldn't back down from it, that's for sure.

"Forget about them." Giselle said, not seeming all too bothered about what the others will do when they arrive, and was more focused on the task at hand, wanting to finish it before the team come to Chase and Emilia's rescue. "It's time to remove Mr. Know-it-all's chip."

"See, you think you're insulting me with that, but it's actually a compliment."

Giselle ignored him yet again. "I'm gonna go find something sharp to rip you open with." She said, and started making her way out the room.

Troy grimaced. "Ugh. Sounds messy." He pointed out the obvious. "Better go get my hairnet." At his excuse, Troy followed his boss out the room and left Chase by himself.

The bionic superhuman rattled around after they left the room, using this as an opportunity to find a way to break free, when all of a sudden, a frown etched on his face as his bionic-hearing managed to pick up something.

"Stop... stop it, please."

"N-no, no, please... he— help me."

Chase could recognise that voice instantly. Emilia cried out for help, wanting someone to rescue her and it physically hurt him. He rattled once again, desperately trying to escape so he could save his girlfriend. Chase's eyes then lit up once he saw the switch from across the room, before groaning at the distance between him and his only way out of there. "Oh, come on. Why does the release have to be all the way over there? Doesn't matter. Mr. Know-it-all has molecular kinesis. It's go time, boys." The boy turned his left hand towards the direction of the switch, and activated his molecular kinesis to try and pull it down with his mind. Thankfully, it began to move. "Yes. Come on, Come on." Chase whispered in hope, until finally the switch moved all the way, releasing Chase, who shuffled on his feet before jumping off the table and to the floor.

The doors opened, and in came Giselle and Troy, who looked shocked at seeing Chase back on his feet. "How'd you get out?"

His eyes hardened. "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to destroy you." Chase stated, before shaking his head. "Eh, I'm gonna destroy you anyway. It was molecular kinesis." He shushed cheekily.

Troy pulled off his hairnet and handed the fabric to Giselle, "Hold my hairnet."

Chase glared and put his fists up before the fight commenced. Troy spun around and jumped high, trying to roundhouse kick Chase, but luckily, the boy ducked under his leg. Troy continued to kick towards Chase, who managed to dodge them just in time, until he was kicked him in the chest and Chase stumbled back from the contact. As Troy resumed to kick his legs up in attempt to hit him again, Chase quickly managed to stop it with his arm and with his other fist, he punched Troy in the chest, completely forgetting that he was an android and recoiled from the pain when his fist was met with steel.

"Abs of steel, brah. Literally." Troy bragged, and kicked Chase in the chest one more time, making him slam back into the sink.

The Davenport boy grit his teeth, watching as the android started to walk away before Chase got up to his feet and stopped Troy with his magnetism app.

Troy glanced down, his eyes filled with confusion as to why he stopped all of a sudden, not knowing Chase forced him to. "What is happening?"

"It's called a magnetism app." Chase shared as he began to reel him in. "And this is called reversing polarity... brah." He mocked his vocabulary, before sending Troy flying across the room and the android hit the barrels, then landed on the floor with a groan. Chase started to make his way over, with his eyes on Giselle. "Were you really gonna waste my super-intelligence on that hunk of junk? Even his ponytail is dated."

"Of course not." Giselle answered Chase. "Troy is the old model. It took me twenty years to get him programmed to this level and he's still unreliable. Your intellect's going into my new fleet of androids." She explained.

Troy was leaning against the barrels, his betrayed expression aimed towards Giselle. "What?"

Giselle pressed a button, before turning to look at her right where the doors opened, and unveiled a new android. "Say hello to the future." After she pressed another button, it caused the android to morph into an older man. "Each android takes on the appearance of whatever human I program it to be. That way, they can blend in with the rest of the population. This is my Uncle Jerry."

"A 50 year old with a gut?" Chase sounded like he found it hard to believe. "No offence, but the only thing that Uncle Jerry could destroy, is a hoagie."

The android fired a blast down that knocked him off his feet.

Giselle looked down at him, feigning a wince. "If you think that hurt, wait till you meet my Aunt Betty."

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Emilia winced when her eyes fluttered open, and slowly, she turned her head to find herself alone in a small room, with the only light she could find, leading her away. She lifted the soft sheet off her before putting her bare feet to the cold ground and let them carry her out of the tiled room and down the empty corridor.

"Where do you think you're going?" The banshee stopped once the voice had reached her ears. She stayed still, not out of fright, but the gentle tone in the voice felt familiar to her — that she hadn't also heard in years. Slowly, Emilia spun around to face the figure who was leant against the wall with an amused expression.

"Mom...?" Emilia stared, bemused, although her heart warmed at the sweet sound she missed so much. "What— how... what—?" She struggled to come up with words, wanting to ask her why or how she was seeing her dead mother at this very moment.

The ghost of Lily Hunter leaned off the wall, and made her way towards her daughter, tilting her head with a knowing grin on her face. "What am I doing here?... How can you see me?" She spoke, voicing her thoughts, when her facial expression softened. "Oh, honey... you needed me."

Emilia's brows then furrowed slightly when she noticed the way her mother glanced back at her words, her eyes glued onto the room that Emilia just walked out of. Without thinking, she started moving forward, heading towards the room she had just been in. Emilia stopped at the doorway, her eyes widening when she saw herself laying on the bed, almost comatose, and a figure of a man that she couldn't recognise just yet, though her mother knew.

"Momma..." Emilia whimpered, turning back to face the ghost, afraid to know the answer to the question she is about to ask. "what's happening to me?"

"Oh, my sweet girl, I'm so sorry." Lily started to apologise like she was responsible for what was happening. But, no matter how far they ran, the man hurting her daughter was too smart for her liking. "He found you again."

Emilia's face paled. "It's him, isn't it?" She asked, knowing the answer already. "I get it now. This and you— it's all in my head." She stated, finally realising that she was dissociating herself from the pain she knows Nick Anderson, her very own father, was inflicting.

"I'm afraid so." Lily nodded. "But, listen to me— you need to wake up."

"How?" Emilia wondered.

"Well, that's what I'm here for—"

Emilia suddenly stilled as another set of familiar voices came from behind her, making her turn to face that direction. "Chase!" She walked further down the corridor, and her mother followed her until they finally reached the end and came to a stop at a glass window — which gave her access to inside a lab.

"No, he's not breathing." Emilia frowned, hiding her confusion as to why she was able to see into a different room, when she saw Adam and Bree standing over an unresponsive Chase. Her eyes immediately watered, listening as Bree realised her younger brother had no pulse. "No. This isn't happening. Come on, Chase. Chase, come on."

Emilia watched Adam as he started to shake his brother, tapping him repeatedly while he begged for Chase to wake up. "Honey," Lily called out to her teary-eyed daughter as Bree just managed to pull Adam away from Chase. "he's okay."

"He's gone... and it's all my fault." As Bree stood with Adam, consumed with guilt and not being able to help but feel responsible, Emilia kept her eyes on Chase and tears began to fall down her cheeks when she sobbed, "But, he doesn't look okay."

"I'm the worst brother ever." Adam cried. "All I ever did was punch him and make fun of him. I never even told him I loved him."

Emilia's face softened at his words, before Lily's ghost gained her attention again. "Sweetheart, look at me." She did just that. "Chase is going to be okay. You know that. I know that. I mean, we are banshees." She shot her a pointed look.

The Hunter girl was silent for a moment before opening her mouth, "I need to wake up, don't I?"

Lily merely nodded.

"I will destroy you for what you did to him!" The sound of Adam's cry made Emilia swallow the lump in her throat.

"If I go back..." Emilia looked up at her mother, her eyes still watery. "am I ever gonna see you again?"

"Not for a very long time." Tears spilled in Lily's eyes and she shook her head softly. "But, you've got them now, and they make you happy. And that is all I ever wish for you to be."

Emilia tilted her head. "I love you mom."

"I love you too." The woman said, smiling gently through her tears. "And by the way, just to know for the future, you can tell Chase that he has my blessing." She winked playfully, earning a laugh from her daughter, making her smile widen.

"Mom..." Emilia responded with a groan, like a child being embarrassed by their parent.

"Now..." Lily placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders and forced her to turn back to face the window. "using your voice... break the glass."

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Emilia shot up from the bed with a powerful wail, that sent her father flying back into the tiled wall after he nicked her on the side of the head. Once she lifted the sheet off her, she put her feet to the floor and ran out the small room — into the same corridor she saw in her mind.

A gust of wind brushed past her before she could escape, and then appeared Nick Anderson in the flesh, and his daughter instantly wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. "Uh oh," Her father feigned a wince, "it looks like someone's too weak to use their super-speed."

Emilia grit her teeth and shoved the man with all the super-strength she could muster. That's when their second battle commenced.

The father and daughter fought up and down the hallway, with Nick using the girl's fragile state to his advantage. Emilia managed to take him down a couple times before she finally ended up on the ground with Nick hovering over her, prepared to cause more damage to his daughter.

But that all seemed to be prevented when a laser sphere was fired from behind Nick, and it hit him in the back, making him fall to the ground.

"Emmy!" The sound of her dear best friend, Leo, calling out to her, surprised Emilia but still made her feel relieved. As Leo's running footsteps grew closer, he could finally tell who the man was that he did that to. "Oh my god! Oh, is that—?"

"Yes, it's my dumb father. Now, could you please help me off the floor before he wakes up?" Emilia grumbled.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Leo murmured as Douglas ran up next to him, staring down at his former friend who he worked with back in his evil days.

"How is he alive?" Douglas wondered. From what he could remember, when they fought each other back in his old evil lair before it got destroyed, he assumed Nick Anderson died with Marcus, when the rubble rained down from the ceiling, crushing the android, thinking Nick was still unconscious after his fight with Emilia when it happened.

"Just as clueless as you are, but it doesn't matter right now, we need to go and get the others." Leo rushed out as he pulled Emilia off the ground and wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder to hold her up before he followed Douglas down the hall, letting the man lead them to where everyone else was.

Once the three of them reached Giselle's lab, they stopped in the doorway to see several of Giselle's androids surround the siblings. However, before either of them could make a move, Douglas fired his weapon and took all the androids down. This made everyone left standing, direct their gazes in that direction to see them standing by the door.

"I guess androids aren't immortal after all." Leo smirked towards the fallen androids, continuing to hold up Emilia, wanting her to stay awake.

Douglas grimaced, tilting his head at his mistake, making him correct Leo. "Technically, they're not dead, just deactivated."

Emilia slowly turned her head to glare at Douglas as Leo rolled his eyes, waving him off. "It's a good line, just go with it."

"I thought I'd seen the last of you, Douglas." The Vickers woman said, believing he was taken care of when she sent one of her androids to the island to take them down.

Emilia's eyes started to close, before she flinched ever so slightly and her blue eyes slowly met with Chase's, who watched her in concern. You okay? He mouthed, wanting to do nothing but just run up and take her in his arms right there. The girl nodded slowly and managed to give him a small smile for reassurance.

"Yeah?" Douglas raised a brow at his college ex-girlfriend as the teenage couple had their silent conversation. "Well, this time, I'm breaking up with you." He raised his gun and aimed it at the woman, though before he could pull the trigger, Troy came up behind him and rapidly snatched the weapon out of his hands. "Hey!"

The old android walked by them, before stopping and turning to face everyone with the gun he held in his hand, raised. "Troy, it's about time you got here." Giselle reprimanded, looking puzzled that he wasn't doing anything. "What are you waiting for? Take them out!"

"Oh, I will." Troy said, before surprising everyone as he aimed the weapon towards Giselle. "But I'm taking you out first."

"What?" Giselle tried to hide her fear. "What are you doing?"

"Surviving." Troy answered. "You were gonna get rid of me, so I'm gonna get rid of you. And once I do, I'll be in charge of all your androids."

Giselle arched her brows. "You?" She scoffed, not believing he would succeed. "No one's gonna take you seriously."

"Then I'll make them take me seriously." The old android snapped. "We won't just take out bionic humans. We'll take out all humans." As he raised the gun, he added, "Goodbye, Giselle."

Silence briefly filled the lab, until Giselle decided to run over and hide behind Douglas, rushing out her next words, "Save me and I'll get coffee with you."

Douglas looked up and hummed, almost as if he was actually considering her offer for a moment, making Leo roll his eyes. "Douglas!" He rebuked, as Emilia put her leg out and kicked him, making Douglas snap out of it and shuffle his feet over to the other side of Leo.

Once there was nobody to protect her, Troy fired the weapon at Giselle before she fell to the floor in front of everyone. "Maybe now you'll take me seriously, human."

"Get him!"

As the majority of them started to charge at Troy, the android was able to grab Bree — who was the closest to him — and kept her close to him, with the weapon now aimed at the team. "One more step and I'll waste her."

"Adam, use your blast wave!"

Adam paused at his sister's words, knowing what that will do if he used the ability and immediately denied to do it. "No, it'll take you out, too."

However, Bree knew that. "Troy has no regard for human life. If taking me out means saving others, then do it."

"I can't."

"He's gonna take me out anyway." Bree reminded him, while Troy carried on taking them both back and further away from everybody. "You might as well take him out, too."

"She's right." Leo admitted out of fear.

Troy laughed and told Bree, "They don't have the guts."

"It's okay."

Once Douglas took Emilia off Leo's hands, one by one, slowly Leo, Chase, and then Adam hesitantly activated a bionic ability. Chase took out his laser bo, Leo fired up a laser sphere and Adam finally prepared his blast wave.

"No..." Emilia muttered, begging for them not to fire their weapons, although it's not like they had any other choice. Troy continued to back up with Bree, until his back hit the sink and it turned the water on, causing him to move away quickly, and that got Bree's attention.

All in slow motion, Bree glanced back at the sink as water dripped from the tap, and it fortunately made her remember something — a conversation that her and Troy shared earlier that day, when she asked him why he didn't show up to the pool where they had arranged to hang out.

"Not much of a water person."

And suddenly it all made sense. Bree angrily grit her teeth and brought her elbow back, hitting the android on the arm, catching him off-guard. She continued with her super-speed to throw the gun out of Troy's hand and onto the ground, before twisting him around and she held him over the sink. "You owe me a swim." Bree ignored Troy's protest and plunged his head into the water that electrocuted him, making him fall to the floor.

Without thinking, Adam sent him blast wave out and it knocked his sister to the floor, even though she already took out Troy herself. "Adam!"

"What?" He looked back at Douglas, confused on what he had just done wrong. "I thought we were doing this."

Chase smacked his brother on the chest before he ran over to help Bree up off the floor, with Adam and Leo following suit. The former held onto his sister, looking amazed at what she had just done to take Troy down. "That was amazing. How did you know to do that?" He asked, as Leo grabbed the gun for Douglas.

Bree chuckled lightly. "I finally realised why Troy didn't like water. I mean," She gestured down to the dead android. "the old androids must be like cell phones. Sophisticated technology, but if you drop it in water, it's ruined."

"Wait, so does this mean the role in Bionic Action Hero is up for grabs?" Adam wanted to know and raised his hand in the air, pointing to himself.

"Wait." Chase interjected, looking back as they all followed his gaze, noticing someone was missing from the lab. "Where did Giselle go?"

"Oh, man." Douglas groaned in disappointment that his ex-girlfriend left. "The good ones always get away—" He paused, noticing the looks he was receiving. "I mean... oh, no." The injured girl he was holding onto to, managed to whack him in the chest, making him grunt in pain. "Don't test me, woman. Just remember, I'm the one holding you up."

Emilia breathed heavily. "And you just remember that I'm the one with super-strength."

"Chase, take your girlfriend off me please before I drop her on the floor." Douglas huffed out, letting the boy take an almost passed out Emilia and lift her up onto his back as everyone started heading out.

"Hey, Adam." Chase called, causing his brother to stop and turn to look at Chase who made his way towards him. Earlier, when his siblings found his android replica on the table and believed he was dead, he overheard everything Adam said, and he wanted to talk to him about it. "Just so you know, I love you too."

Adam snorted awkwardly, instantly denying what he happened to confess earlier. "I never said that. You misheard me." Chase merely grinned, seeing right through him, before Adam punched him in the chest and ran out the lab.

Chase grunted, before the small grin appeared on his face again and he flicked his eyes up to Emilia who was now passed out. "Come on. Let's get you home, Lia." He whispered, and walked out, trying to catch up with everyone else.

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Back at the Academy, after Douglas helped patch Emilia up, everyone was now sat around at one of the tables in the cafeteria, each of them eating off a plate in front of them. Emilia and Chase's seats were right beside each other, considering Emilia was resting her head on Chase's lap.

"Emilia, Chase, I'm sorry." Bree sighed out as she apologised for the events that happened. She was still ridden with guilt about what she did that led to them almost dying at the hands of Giselle and Nick. "I can't believe I trusted Troy just because he was cute. And tall. And ripped."

Adam picked up a carrot stick. "Yeah— well, now he's mangled, melted and dead." He deadpanned, before putting the vegetable in his mouth.

"Hey," Douglas interjected, trying to reassure the group. "what's important is that everyone's okay. Yeah, Giselle and Nick are still out there, but without her androids, Giselle's powerless. She's got nothin' left. However, we still need to keep an eye out for Nick for Emilia's sake."

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author's notes!

i hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! oh poor Emilia can't catch a break :(

but at least she saw her mother again!!! ( in ghost form )

thanks for reading, i love you all!! <33