CHAPTER NINETY, bob zombie

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"Uh, Bob?" Bree furrowed her eyebrows once she noticed what the young blond was wearing when she and the others stepped foot into the common area. "Why are you wrapped in tin foil?"

"It's not just tin foil." Bob explained. "I'm also wearing three layers of pasta, tomato sauce and cheese."

Adam pat him on the back and grinned. "I turned him into a human lasagna pan. 45 minutes in the sun, and it's Bob appetit."

"You know," Leo started to say, before he turned to the girls and Chase. "given what I've seen of Bob's training, this might be the most productive use of him yet."

Adam licked his finger after he wiped it on the tin foil and hummed. "Don't move. You need more oregano."

Adam quickly rushed off just as Perry walked up to the group. "Mm, lasagna!" She looked towards Bob and asked, "Got any garlic bread?"

"You betcha." Bob nodded. "They're strapped to my shins."

"I'll be back." Perry gestured behind her with her thumb and smiled cheekily, looking the blond up and down. "Save me the greasiest piece."

As she turned around and began making her way towards the hydra-loop, Leo stepped forward and stopped her. "Hey, where are you off to?"

"Yeah," Emilia leaned forward with the corners of her mouth tugging up into an innocent grin. "and how long can you stay there?"

Perry rolled her eyes before facing Leo to answer his question. "Your cheap father forgot to pay the trash bill. I am so sick of working for a guy who won't let me throw trash in the ocean." She then blew her nose on a napkin before tossing it on the floor and made her way into the hydra-loop to leave the island.

"Guys," Douglas called out when he went into the room, holding something up in his hand. "check it out. This is gonna change our bionic academy forever. I found a way to replicate Chase's bionic intelligence."

"What?"

"Yeah." Douglas nodded. "Remember how Giselle Vickers wanted to give your intelligence to all of her androids? Well, this intelligence duplicator will wirelessly add it to everyone's chip."

"Wait," Bree paused, "so you're gonna make me like—" She gestured over to Chase who currently had his arms crossed over his chest and a bright smile on his face. "him?" When Douglas nodded at her, she waved him off, "Pass."

"Don't worry." Douglas spoke up. "The five of you won't be affected. Your chips are older models, and uh, Leo doesn't have one. But, if this works, all the students will be just as smart as you." He pointed at Chase and chuckled. "I just have to find someone to test it on."

Chase raised his eyebrows slightly. "And do you really think that's someone's just gonna let you randomly experiment on them?"

Just as he said that, Adam finally returned from wherever he had ran off to, and approached Bob who was still wrapped up in tin foil. "Sorry, Bob. It's getting cloudy. I'm gonna have to cook you in here with my heat vision."

"Will it hurt?" The blond-haired boy asked.

"Let's find out together."

"Okay." Bob nodded before holding his arms out to the sides, allowing Adam to fire his heat vision at him. "Ooh! Something's cookin'!"

Douglas pursed his lips, looking back at the team and shrugged. "Bob it is." He confirmed as Emilia ran over to stop Adam.

"Adam! Bob is not food!"

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Perry set down the giant green flag on the ground and started to hum a fanfare as Emilia, Bree and Leo approached the woman. "Welcome to the United Republic of Perryland."

"I know I'm gonna regret this," Leo tilted his head, "but what's Perryland?"

Bree grabbed part of the flag and held it up. "And why does this flag have a cow on it?" She asked.

Perry pointed a finger in her direction. "That's an ox! Know your meats." She snapped at her before walking over to the console. "When I went to pay the garbage bill, they told me you'd never registered the island as a country, so I seized the opportunity. As of today," She grabbed a charter and unraveled it. "you're all second-class citizens of Perryland. This is the official charter. Read it and weep."

Emilia glanced down at the charter before raising a brow and scoffed. "You expect us to believe that's real?"

"Oh, it's real. Just ask my muscle." Perry smirked before blowing the whistle that she had wrapped around her neck, causing a group of men dressed in camouflage to come marching into the room.

Once the line of men stopped right behind Perry, Leo grimaced slightly. "This is bad. This is very, very bad."

"Who are they?" Emilia asked, cautiously.

Perry grinned. "They're on loan from a tyrant friend of mine. And speaking of tyrants, guess who the dictator of Perryland is?"

Bree read off the charter once again and as soon as she found the answer, she snorted. "Your cat, Mr. Whiskers?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Perry replied. "He's vice-dictator, and he reports to me. Now, join me in singing the Perryland national anthem."

Emilia shook her head. "Absolutely not."

Perry merely ignored the girl and lifted her head up to the ceiling to sing in an operatic voice while the soldiers saluted. "O Perryland. You're all at my command. You'll do what I say, while I eat rack of lamb. Your sweat and tears will bring me cheers. Your robot hands will fan my face. From dawn to dusk, O Perryland. I stand on top of you. O Perryland. I stand on top of you."

"When did you have time to write that?"

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As soon as Emilia, Bree and Leo stepped foot into the Mentors Headquarters, they instantly noticed that Perry had completely redecorated the whole room. The furniture in the room was covered in animal print blankets, cushions and a rug on the floor. New decorations were scattered across the room and portraits of Perry had been recently hung up on the wall.

Perry was sat on her throne that was stationed in front of Adam, Bree and Chase's capsules, which have also been decorated by Perry, while one of the soldiers was sat in front of the woman, trying to massage her feet.

Bree immediately stormed over. "You cannot just come in here and take over our home."

"Of course I can." The woman quickly argued. "In Perryland, Perry does whatever Perry wants."

"Okay, look, Terry," Emilia took a deep breath to try and calm herself down so she doesn't explode on her. "you may own the island, but Adam, Bree and Chase still need to sleep in their capsules."

"Fine. Because Dear Leader is a compassionate goddess, you may recharge your robot batteries right before bedtime." Perry accepted. "And FYI, I changed the lock on that door, so you're gonna have to buy key cards from me. They're twenty bucks each."

"What?"

"Oh hell no."

"That's insane!"

"Fine. They're forty bucks." She shrugged. "Now get out of here. I have work to do." Perry clapped her hands and more soldiers walked in, pushing wheelbarrows filled with sand.

"What is that?" Leo asked.

"Sand to fill the pool with. Vice-dictator Mr. Whiskers is helicoptering in tomorrow, and he demanded a much bigger litter box."

"Ew." Emilia and Leo grimaced.

"That's disgusting."

"Don't worry, you can still swim in it." She began to cackle, before the soldier by her feet joined in with the laughter, making her stop. "It's not that funny. Get back to work!"

Emilia stepped forward with a scowl, causing Leo to immediately wrap his arms around his friend's waist and pull her back in. "As much as I'd love to do the same, maybe let's not resort to violence just yet." He pointed out and pushed the banshee behind him.

"I can do what I want, thank you very much." The Hunter girl grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I can't believe I'm gonna say this—" Leo quietly muttered before pointing a finger at his friend as if he was scolding her. "but, don't you make me get Chase, 'cause I will."

"Oh, you, tattle tale!" Emilia paused for a second before speeding out the room, receiving a laugh from Bree before she followed her out with the same speed.

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"Make every mole count." Perry ordered to one of the soldiers who was currently painting a portrait of her, when Emilia, Bree and Leo returned to the Mentors Headquarters. Once Perry spotted them, she smiled. "Hey, Perryland peasants." She stood up from her throne to walk over to them. "Check out this thing I found in the weapons room." She ripped off her sleeve to unveil her laser fist. "It shoots lasers."

The girls quickly widened their eyes. "What were you doing in our weapons room?" Bree inquired.

"Levelling the playing field." Perry replied. "You never know when you machine people are gonna turn on us fleshies."

Before either of them could respond, the four of them turned their heads at what sounded like a herd of goats coming towards them. Their brows then pinched together in confusion at seeing the students coming towards them like zombies.

"What's going on?" Perry panicked, though none of them had absolutely no idea how to answer her question.

"I don't know." Leo shrugged.

"It's a rebellion." Perry suddenly pointed out to them. "They're trying to take me out so that they can rule Perryland. Well, the only way that's gonna happen is over Dear Leader's dead body."

Leo bobbed his head. "Well, you had a good run."

Emilia chuckled as Perry scowled at Leo. "Back off. I've got a battle to fight." She said, reaching for her laser fist, making Emilia step forward to stop her.

"No, no, no, you absolutely cannot attack them. They're innocent!" She reminded the woman.

"I'm not gonna attack them." Perry denied. "I'm just gonna give them a gentle warning. A gentle 15,000-volt warning."

"Watch out!" The girls and Leo immediately ran forward to protect the students by pushing them to the ground to avoid getting hit by Perry's fires from her laser fists. "Get down! Get down!"

Perry laughed. "That's how it works."

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Leo screamed as he ran into the common area to inform the others about Perry while the two girls were pushing the students towards the rest of the group. "Sound the alarm. Perry's on a rampage."

Perry rushed in. "I don't wanna hurt you. I just wanna shoot you with a laser." She said, firing a laser towards Douglas, Chase and Adam, which ended up destroying the intelligence duplicator in Douglas' hand. The only back-up he had made.

"Come on!" Douglas groaned.

Adam grimaced. "Any chance you make three of everything?"

Douglas sighed, walking straight past Adam and towards Perry. "What is going on?" He asked the woman, before motioning towards the students in the room. "Why are you shooting at them?"

Emilia sighed loudly. "I think the better question is, what did you bafoons do now?" She wondered, turning her head to stare at Chase and Adam with a pointed gaze.

The both of them immediately raised their arms, trying to prove they were innocent. Chase moved his left arm and pointed it towards his brother to blame him quickly. "He started it!"

Adam pulled a face. "To be fair—" He pointed his finger in Douglas' direction, putting the blame on him. "he did, when he built the stupid thing."

"Anyways, as I was saying," Perry interjected and explained to Douglas, "these students are trying to oust me from power."

"No, they're not."

"They're not?"

"No."

"Oh, okay."

Emilia and Bree shared a look after their mouths fell open in shock at how quickly the woman just agreed. The latter directed her eyes back to Perry and told her, "Emilia and I have been telling you that for an hour. Why do you stop when he tells you?"

"Because he's the future king." Perry giggled at Douglas before walking out the room.

"So much for an easy fix." Douglas complained as he walked past the team. "Now I have to build a new duplicator from scratch." He turned around and left in a huff.

"Well, as long as they don't tap into their bionics, there's only so much damage they can do." Chase pointed out.

One of the students then slammed his fists down onto the console, using his super-strength, which caused the doors in the room and the hydra-loop ones to start opening and closing repeatedly.

Bree gave her brother a pointed look. "You were saying." She mentioned. "They're gonna destroy everything."

"So, what do we do with them?" Leo asked.

"I have an idea." Adam nodded with a grin on his face before deciding to put all the students in the now empty pool in the Mentors Headquarters.

"Good idea, Adam." Chase smiled as all of them now stood in the Mentors Headquarters. "I can't believe they're not smart enough to find their way out of the pool."

"Ooh, we can finally figure out how many people we can cram in there." Adam mentioned with a beaming smile. "Everybody count off." However, the students continued to bleat like goats. "Ah— hold on. Somebody said five twice."

"Hey," Leo faced Perry when he appeared to have remembered something, "whatever happened to your military goon squad?"

"When they found out they weren't getting paid, they threatened to quit, so I had to fire on them."

Emilia furrowed her eyebrows. "Don't you mean fire them?"

Perry shook her head. "Nope."

"Okay." Douglas walked up, stepping in between Chase and Adam, holding a new intelligence duplicator. "This better work. Otherwise I'll have to get rid of these kids and whip up a whole new batch."

Adam gasped. "That's what I said!"

Douglas held up the duplicator and scanned all of the students that were contained in the pool. As soon as he finished, Chase approached the young blond and crouched down so he was eye-level with him. "Bob, name an element in the periodic table."

"Uh... lasagna." Bob answered.

Adam smiled proudly. "That's my Bob. Welcome back, buddy." He held his arms out for the blond while he and the others students start to clamber out the pool.

Perry walked up to Douglas with a smirk. "I'll be inside preparing for the royal bathing." She told him before facing the girls and Leo. "Good news. You three get to scrape my heels."

"Not a chance." Emilia snorted just as Perry left the room.

"So, what do we do?" Bree wondered.

"Same thing I did in high school detention." Leo replied, staring ahead in disgust. "Grab a bucket and a cheese grater and let your mind drift somewhere else."

Douglas came over and showed the girls and Leo the clipboard he was holding. "I went through all the paperwork, and I can't find a legal fix that will remove her from power."

"Well, then I'm afraid we have no choice." Chase stated. "We have to relocate the academy."

"Well, there is one possible legal solution." Leo mentioned, gaining their attention. "If Perry were married, her spouse would own half the island, too."

"Yeah, but..." Douglas laughed, "we all know there's no person in their right mind who's gonna marry her." His laughter suddenly died down at noticing the innocent smiles that the team were sending him.

Emilia chuckled slightly and looked back at Bree as she bestowed another smirk. "Come on, Bree. Let's go dress shopping!" She glanced back at the dirty-blond and giggled, teasing him as she along with Bree, ran away.

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"I can't believe this is happening." Douglas stood next to Leo with a frown, referring to how he had suddenly got roped into marrying Perry, which to him — this whole wedding reception seemed like one of his nightmares coming to life. Though, the girls did a good job at redecorating the training area.

Leo's eyebrows pinched together. "I can't believe Perry only has one guest." He said before the two of them averted their eyes over to the bride's side of the room, only to see one of the seats through the rows of chairs had been filled by a training dummy, dressed in a tuxedo.

Adam headed towards Douglas and Leo, dressed in a black robe. "All right. I signed up online. I'm officially allowed to marry you and Perry."

Leo bobbed his head, taking notice of his outfit for this occasion. "You almost look official. Nice touch with the robe."

"Oh, no, this was just 'cause I was chilly." Adam corrected, before taking the robe off and chucked it onto the floor, revealing the tank top and swim shorts that he was wearing underneath the black garment. "All right, let's do this. Hit it, Bob."

The blond pressed a button on the keyboard, and it started to play synthesised polka music, which confused everyone. It only took a moment before Bob realised his mistake and immediately tried to fix it, until they heard the sound of processional music playing from the instrument.

Chase was the first one to step onto the walkway, and begrudgingly proceeded down the aisle while throwing rose petals down as he went. When he reached the front, he dumped the basket on the floor before slumping down on the empty seat.

Finally, Perry came round the corner with Emilia and Bree holding up her dress from behind. The woman stopped about half-way down the aisle to turn to the training dummy sat on her side of the room. "Thank you for coming." She smiled, then continued her way down until she stopped at the end and looked at Douglas. "Aren't you going to lift my veil?"

Douglas attempted to hide the terror on his face that was threatening to surface. "Actually, I was hoping there was a second one that I could cover it with." He had surely hoped, but reluctantly he ended up lifting her veil, causing a smile to curve her lips.

"I've been dreaming of this since I was a little girl. This is exactly how I pictured it."

Bree tilted her head and parted her lips open in bewilderment. "On an island filled with bionic super-humans?"

Perry looked back at the brunette, sharply. "You don't know what I dreamed. You weren't there."

The woman stepped closer so she could stand on the other side of Adam, with the girls behind her, when Adam spoke up, "Here ye, here ye..." As he started off, Emilia's eyes glanced over and found Chase looking back at her. He smiled softly at his girlfriend, and winked at her, making the current grin on her face brighten. "We are gathered here to join Theresa Cherry Perry and Douglas Orville Davenport in marriage."

Emilia snorted as Leo raised a brow at the dirty-blond. "Orville?"

Douglas pursed his lips at Leo. "Given everything that's happening right now, do you really think that that is gonna embarrass me?"

Adam resumed his speech. "If anyone here sees a reason why these two should not be married, please raise your hand." At that, everyone apart from him and Perry raised their hands, which the Davenport boy seemed to ignore. "Nothin'? Nobody? No one here objects? Not a soul? Good. By the power vested in me, by some random site on the internet, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the—"

"Cue the music." Douglas told Bob just as Perry leaned in for a kiss, something he clearly wanted to avoid doing. The processional music started to play again as the students applauded weakly.

"Hold on." Leo called out, stopping Douglas and Perry who had started making their way back up the aisle. "There's still one minor formality to make this... beautiful arrangement official. You have to sign a marriage licence." He held out the certificate on the clipboard.

"Of course." Perry picked up the pen and signed the certificate. "Congratulations. You're now Douglas Orville Perry."

Once the clipboard was handed back to him, Leo quickly double-checked her signature before the corners of his mouth quirked up triumphantly once he saw they had succeeded. "We did it!"

Douglas laughed in Perry's face and clapped his hands, walking around her so he was stood with his family. "As your husband, I now own half the island."

"You may think you own half of what's mine, but in Perryland, the lady takes it all." She corrected, quickly wiping the smiles from their faces. "Read the charter. Come on, Dougie-poo." Perry latched her hand onto his arm and pulled him behind her, "It's honeymoon time."

Douglas was crying. "Oh, my evil past has finally caught up to me."

"Hold on there, Bridezilla." Emilia stopped them, walking closer to Perry with the clipboard in her hand. "Joke's on you. We switched documents."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, yeah." Bree approached them, stopping next to Emilia who gave her the clipboard. "This isn't a marriage licence. You just signed a contract that gives total ownership of the island back to us."

"What? Give me that!" Perry reached forward to try and snatch the certificate out of her hands, but Bree was faster. The Davenport girl turned around and super-sped out the training area.

Bob looked back at everyone, confused. "Wait, so they're not actually married?" He asked. "Well, if those two can't make it, what chance do any of us have?!" Chase and Emilia turned their heads over to the blond, looking offended by that before they watched him run out the room.

Perry glared at the Dooley boy. "You may have taken my island and my man, but you will never take my laser fist!" She dropped her bouquet on the ground, unveiling the laser fist.

Seeing the weapon on her hand, everyone started to scatter around the room, screaming. Chase ran towards his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her to shield her from the lasers that everyone was trying not to get hit from.

"And this is still exactly how I pictured it!" Perry screamed, heading up the aisle as everybody had managed to escape. She turned to the training dummy still in the chair and snapped, "Thanks for nothing!"

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author's notes!

ALMOST 400k READS!!! WHAT?!?!

thank you all so so much!!! i hope you guys are enjoying this book as much as I am when I am writing Chase and Emilia! <33

i can't believe Protector will be finished soon :(