which father knows best
The next day, they all worked in the lab.
"Well, Bree," said Donald, walking over to the computer. "You smashed your chip so badly, it's useless. But, I was able to replicate my brothers original chip, and like my face, it's flawless."
"Forget the chip. We need to get this dude a mirror," said Leo. Maeve laughed.
"Wait," said Bree. "So, I'm actually gonna be bionic again?"
Donald smiled. "Yep."
"Yes!" Bree cheered, hugging him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Oh, your chip's almost ready!"
The replicator machine on the table beeped, flashing purple.
"Ooh, snacks are done!" Adam jogged over to the machine, followed by the others.
"For the last time, this is not a microwave. It's a chip fabricator," said Donald, shoving Adam aside.
"Hey, call it whatever you want. I'm still making my mini pizzas in here," he replied.
Donald removed the new chip from the machine and turned to Bree. "Okay, Bree. Hop in your capsule and get ready for your new chip."
Bree grinned, grabbing the chip and standing in her capsule. Donald typed on the computer, preparing to insert the chip.
"You know, Big D, if this works, maybe you can make a chip for me," Leo shrugged slyly.
Donald scoffed. "Please. Your body can't handle high fiber cereal."
After the insertion, Bree stepped out of her capsule. She rubbed her neck.
"So?" Asked Donald in anticipation. "How does it feel?"
"Like a piece of metal just got jammed into my neck and fused to my nervous system," she answered.
"Whoo! Success!" Donald cheered. "Alright. Now give it a try, see how it works."
"Okay," Bree smiled, walking away from them. She readied herself before taking off.
She super-sped forward... and up, and up, until she was running back and forth across the ceiling. The light fixture fell to the ground, and shortly after, so did Bree.
"Well, she's still more useful than Chase," Adam shrugged.
"Are you okay?" Maeve ran over to help her up.
"I'm fine," she said, dusting herself off. "Why didn't it work?"
"You know," said Donald, "technically speaking, your bionics are working."
"You call this working?!" Bree yelled, her voice distorted and deep. She then groaned, her voice shooting to a super high pitch. "I can't control my vocal manipulation. I can't control anything!"
Donald groaned. "I'm so close. It just needs a few tweaks."
He moved to put some sort of electronic neck brace on Bree. Chase pulled Adam and Maeve aside.
"Guys, we're in big trouble if he can't fix her," he said. "We need her speed and agility for missions."
"Well, maybe we'll just find someone to replace her," Adam suggested.
"We can't just replace her," said Maeve.
"You're right," sighed Adam. "Let's just forget about her and move on. She's dead to me!"
Maeve and Chase exchanged exasperated glances. Adam thought for a moment, his face twisting into sad frown.
Chase sighed. "What's wrong?"
"I miss Bree!" Adam wailed.
Chase patted his shoulder and they walked back over to Bree and the others. Donald was meddling with Bree's neck brace.
"No offense, Big D," said Leo, "but if your brother's the one who created her original chip, maybe we should just call h-"
"No, forget about it! I never wanna see that waste of space again," Donald snapped.
"But he's our only hope, and he's not all bad," said Chase. "He did save us from Krane."
Maeve nodded. "Honestly, when my dad wasn't around to egg him on, Douglas was actually pretty chill."
"Yeah, well, you know what else he did?" Donald yelled. "He blew up the lab, kidnapped you, and stole all my money."
"All I'm hearing is adventure and excitement," said Adam.
Donald let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, I do not need any help from Douglas. I will fix this. Okay? Give me a little credit. I happen to be a tech genius."
He took off the neck brace and Bree stood up.
"Okay, let's give it another go," said Donald, clasping his hands together.
Bree took a deep breath. She stepped forward, but as soon as her super speed activated, she zoomed backwards and crashed into the wall.
Adam laughed. "Oh, Mr. Davenport. You are not good at your job."
-
Maeve and Bree hung out in the lab for the next few hours, waiting for Donald to fix the chip. He was standing at his desk, focusing on his work, Leo peering over his shoulder.
"Did you try-" Leo started.
"Yes, I tried that," said Donald.
"Maybe-" said Leo.
Donald stood up. "Maybe you should stand over there so that your peanut butter breath wouldn't distract me and I could think!"
He returned to his magnifying glass, carefully working on the chip. Suddenly, it zapped loudly. Donald jumped back, dropping it onto the table.
"Ow!" He grimaced. "You know what? I need a break. That's it, I just need a break! That's all! Whoo! Break time! Hahaha!"
He walked out of the lab.
"Wow," Bree shook her head. "I have never seen him like this."
"I have," said Leo. "Remember last Christmas when he gained two pounds? Those fluffy sweaters weren't fooling anybody."
"I'm scared, guys. What if he can't fix my chip?" Bree frowned. "I had a gift, and then I just threw it away. By destroying that chip, I destroyed our team."
Maeve felt a pant of sadness. She hated seeing her best friend like this. If only there was something she could do about it.
-
Maeve checked her phone, walking through the park. She approached a mean-looking older lady running a Middle Eastern food stand.
"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm looking for a man named Douglas Davenport?" She asked. "Short, creepy, porcupine hair."
The lady looked her up and down. "I wouldn't call it porcupine hair."
Her voice was deep and raspy - Douglas' voice.
Maeve groaned, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "Why do you always use that cyber mask?"
The lady raised a hand to her neck. In a few seconds, her face was detransformed - and it was Douglas standing in front of her.
He smirked. "My hair's really more of a spiky lion's mane."
"You know," she said, studying him. "I'm really starting to see the resemblance between you and Donald."
He glared.
"Anyways," said Maeve, "why would you choose some random old lady with your cyber mask? You could be anyone."
"Two reasons - hides me from Krane, and scares the pigeons away," he replied, stepping out from behind the food stand. "How'd you find me?"
"I have your location on Find My Friends, idiot."
He groaned.
"Look, we need your help. Bree destroyed her chip," she frowned.
"She what?!" He exclaimed. "It took me years to perfect that thing."
"Yeah, and it took her three seconds to destroy it," Maeve nodded. "And Donald can't fix it."
Douglas laughed while Maeve rolled her eyes at his impending gloat. "Of course he can't. I win again! Oh, I can't wait to shove his face in this one."
"No!" She exclaimed. "He doesn't even know I'm here. He's super mad at you. I just didn't have another choice."
"And why would I help you?" He asked. "You blindsided me. You teamed up with them and left me."
Maeve scoffed. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're still upset about that."
He huffed. "A little."
"Come on, please," she frowned.
Douglas sighed. "Well, I would, but I don't have a lab anymore."
"I'll sneak you in while Donald's gone."
"Yeah, we tried that once before. Didn't work out, remember?" He replied.
Maeve laughed. "Didn't work for you. I got Chase to let me back in."
"You're really not making me wanna help you."
"No, I'm sorry," she stopped laughing.
"Okay." He reactivated his cyber mask, turning back into the lady. "Guess I'll just have to be the bigger man."
Before they made their way back to the lab, Maeve grabbed a plate of food from the food stand to take with her.
Back at the lab, only Leo was there. Maeve motioned for Douglas to enter.
Leo screamed.
"Leo, shhh," said Maeve. "It's fine. He's here to fix Bree's chip."
"And you're sure we can trust him?"
"He's fine! He runs a food truck now," said Maeve, holding out the plate of food she had brought back. Leo hesitantly grabbed a pita chip and nibbled on it.
"Okay... he can stay. For now."
-
Around an hour later, Leo checked his phone. "Big D's gonna be back any minute! Do something!"
Douglas frowned. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear ya. Could you say it a little louder?!"
Leo jumped back.
Douglas typed a little more to start printing the new chip. "There. It's as close to the original design as I can get."
"If your microchips are as good as your pita chips, I think we're in good shape," said Leo.
Suddenly, Bree ran into the lab. "What is he doing here?!"
"I invited him," Maeve explained. "He's the only one who could help."
Bree frowned. "I don't know about this."
"We don't have a choice," said Leo. "Do you wanna be bionic or not?"
The chip fabricator dinged and Douglas grabbed it, smiling. "Chip's ready if you are! Why does it smell like pepperoni?"
"Okay, fine. But this better work," she said, walking over to Douglas, but stopping herself. "Wait. You're not gonna, like, turn me evil, are you?"
"I already tried," he said. "Didn't take."
Bree snatched the chip and headed to her capsule.
"Don't worry, Bree," said Leo, mouth full of pita chips. "I think we can trust him. What bad guy makes baba ganoush this good?"
"I've got a really good feeling about this," Douglas smiled, inserting the chip into Bree's neck.
She stepped out of her capsule.
"Okay, go ahead! Test it out!" He said.
Bree smiled and took off. She ran a perfect lap around the lab and hallway.
"Oh my god!" Said Maeve, high-fiving Douglas.
"You did it!" Grinned Leo.
Bree passed them again, still running. "I can't stop!"
Maeve frowned and shoved Douglas. "I thought you knew what you were doing!"
"I'm a little rusty, okay?" He shouted.
Someone walked into the lab.
Shit. It was Donald.
Donald's eyes widened upon seeing his brother. "How did he get in here?"
Maeve hesitated. "I let him in."
"Before you get mad," said Leo, holding out his plate of pita chips. "You've got to taste this!"
"Help me!" Bree yelled, lapping them again.
"I specifically told you guys not to contact him!" Yelled Donald. "How could you betray me?"
"You're really surprised?" Maeve asked.
"Oh, lay off the kid," said Douglas, patting Maeve's shoulder. "She was just trying to help."
"Help her? She's worse off than she was before!" Donald yelled, backing Douglas into a corner. "I was this close to fixing this."
"Oh, I saw your chip. You were not close."
"You were not close," Donald mocked.
"Do something!" Bree yelled as she passed by, startling the brothers out of their argument.
"Bree, do you mind? The adults are trying to have a conversation," said Donald. "We're never gonna be able to fix that chip unless we can get Bree to stay in one place."
"How are we supposed to stop someone running at the speed of sound?" Asked Leo.
Douglas snapped his fingers. "Spike strip?"
Donald scoffed. "Sure, why not? It worked for Wile E. Coyote."
"Help!" Bree shouted.
"Maybe we can construct some sort of giant air bag," suggested Donald.
"Oh, yeah, cause that's not cartoony at all," said his brother.
"Spike strip," Donald repeated. "Where'd you get that idea, your hair?"
"Oh, where'd you get the air bag idea, your belly?"
Donald gasped. "I'll have you know I lost that Christmas weight-"
"Ballistic gel!" Leo shouted.
"What?" Douglas and Donald asked him in unison.
"You know," Leo continued, "the gel that forensics labs use to test firearms."
"That's not a bad idea," said Donald.
"I thought it wasn't a bad idea before you did," Douglas said.
"Spike strip."
"Air bag."
-
They worked quickly to set up a block of gel to hopefully stop Bree in her tracks.
"Okay, it's set," said Leo. "Next time she runs through here, she'll get stuck in there like a rat."
They could hear the zooming of Bree approach them until finally, she stopped, legs trapped in the block of gel.
Bree laughed, her legs still wobbling. "Yes!"
"It worked!" Leo exclaimed.
"I know, I'm a genius!" Douglas and Donald said in unison, then glared at each other. "I'm a genius."
As they started examining the coding of the chip, Leo and Maeve set up a harness and a swing for Bree and worked on getting her strapped in. It was taking longer than expected, and the brothers didn't seem to be any closer to figuring out what was wrong.
"Can someone please do something?" Bree yelled, legs swinging wildly below her.
Leo checked his iPad. "Her heart rate's at 200 and rising and, while I'm not a doctor, I feel that's unsafe!"
"This is all your fault," Donald pointed at Douglas. "You overloaded her chip."
"My fault?" Douglas exclaimed. "It was your chip I was trying to fix, which was flawed. Much like your original nose."
Donald gasped, looking up from his computer.
"Guys! We have a real problem here," Maeve snapped.
"Get this chip out of me!" Bree panted.
Donald jogged up to her. "We can't remove your chip while your bionics are in use, but we can reprogram it wirelessly with this!"
He placed a small device on the back of her neck and ran back to his computer.
"Hurry, she's redlining!" Leo said. "If you don't do something, her heart could-"
"My heart could what?!" Bree yelled.
Leo looked at her, then back at the brothers. "What's another word for explode?"
They returned to their computers.
"I'll enable a diagnostic app that will help us isolate the problem areas in the code," said Donald.
"We don't have time for that. I'll fix the code." Douglas pushed Donald aside.
"You've fixed enough, I've got it!" He shoved back.
Douglas looked up. "Oh no, what's wrong with her head?"
Donald gasped and looked to Bree. In that split second, Douglas shoved him aside once more. Donald noticed this and shoved back.
"Stop! We're running out of time!" Maeve yelled.
"Wait!" Said Douglas. "This line of code hasn't been debugged."
Donald examined this. "That's why her neural array keeps re-indexing."
"What does that mean?!" Leo shouted.
"I found the problem!" The brothers both yelled, typing furiously into the computer as they spoke technological words.
Finally, miraculously, Bree's legs stopped running.
"Yes! Her heart rate's going down!" Leo grinned. "It's headed for normal."
"Yay!" Bree said wearily, leaning against the straps of her swing.
Douglas and Donald broke out into a celebratory choreographed handshake and dance. Leo, Bree, and Maeve watched in horror.
"I wish my heart exploded before I saw that," Bree frowned.
-
Later, Leo and Maeve sat on the couch in the living room. Adam and Chase walked in.
"Hey guys! Guess what!" Leo said.
Bree super-sped up to them. "I'm back, losers!"
Chase grinned and hugged her. "You got your speed back!"
"Well," said Adam, "that's too bad, cause we kinda already moved on."
Bree and Maeve looked at him in confusion.
"Hey, boys!"
They turned to see Douglas walking into the living room alongside Donald.
"Douglas?" Chase asked. "What's going on?"
"He fixed her chip," said Leo.
"Actually," said Douglas, looking at his brother. "We fixed her chip. That's right. The Davenport boys, together again!"
"Yeah, not quite," said Donald, taking a step back. "Look, I'm grateful for your help, and I couldn't have done it without you, but I can't forgive you for what you've done to this family. You should go."
"Oh," Douglas blinked.
"You can't throw your own brother out on the street," said Chase.
"Why not?" Asked Adam. "I'd do it to you."
"He's tried to hurt us too many times," said Donald.
"But he's also saved our lives," Bree protested. "Twice."
"Plus," said Leo, "dude can cook."
"Speaking of, you've eaten 60 bucks worth of my food," said Douglas. "Pay up."
Leo stared. "You heard the man. Out!"
Douglas started walking towards the door.
"Donald, you're really not gonna let him stay?" Maeve asked.
"Just give him a chance," said Chase.
"This isn't fair," Bree added.
"Guys," Douglas raised his arms up to stop them. "It's okay. He's right. I messed up. I'll see you around."
Douglas walked out.
After a moment, Bree turned to Maeve. "Thank you, Maevey. I mean, if not for you, none of this would have ever worked out."
Maeve smiled.
Bree stepped up to Donald. "I promise I will never do anything that stupid ever again."
"It's okay," said Donald. "We all make mistakes. And everybody deserves a second chance."
Bree looked back towards the door. "Everybody?"
"Oh, snap!" Adam exclaimed.
"Bree..." said Donald.
"He saved me."
"Donald," Maeve started. "You forgave me. Why can't you forgive him?"
He stared, thinking for a moment, but then walked off.
-
The next day, Donald had miraculously changed his mind - probably due to the peer pressure from his family. They made their way to the park and Maeve spotted the lady at the food stand.
"Hey, Douglas," said Maeve.
The woman looked up.
"I don't think that's Douglas," said Chase.
"Yeah, she has much bigger hands," said Adam.
"He does this all the time with his cyber mask. Come on, Dougie."
Maeve reached towards the lady's neck to deactivate the mask, but she swatted her hand away.
"Get off me!" The lady exclaimed - only it was not Douglas' voice.
"It's okay, Greta!" The real Douglas popped out from behind a bush. "They're with me."
Leo shrieked.
"Sorry, ma'am," Maeve grimaced.
"Uh huh," she grunted, and walked off.
Douglas stepped up to them. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Uh, we..." Donald began. "We're going on a family jog. You know, Leo gets winded on the last mile, so we all have to carry him. Can't go alone. Bye!"
Donald turned back to his family.
Bree pushed him back towards Douglas. "Oh, no, you don't."
Donald sighed. "Okay, I may have been a little harsh yesterday."
"A little?" Douglas echoed.
"Don't push it. You're sleeping in a bush," said Leo.
Douglas frowned. "Continue."
"I realize that everybody deserves a second chance," said Donald. "Even you. So as soon as you apologize for all the things you've done to hurt our family, and say that I'm better than you... maybe you can come stay with us for a while. If you don't want to, you don't have to!"
"No, no, it's..." Douglas stopped him. "...clear that you need me. So... I'm sorry. And thank you. Now let's go home!"
"Okay," said Donald. "Um, I only brought the motorcycle, so you're gonna have to ride on the back."
"It's okay, I'll just drive it."
"Drive my motorcycle? I don't think so. Everybody knows the big guy rides in front."
The brothers walked off, bickering over their motorcycle.
"Wow," Chase scoffed. "So immature."
Adam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, who acts like that?"
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