The Modern Four

Chapter 10

Surprisingly, for once, Penny was having a quiet Friday night. Violet and Wilbur seemed to have made up, and everything was working out in the group. Usually they would be hanging out today. But, everyone else had plans. Violet said she had a family event, and when Penny pressed the issue, she was silent. Hiro and his older brother had plans to go to the arcade, and Wilbur had to house sit. So, tonight it was Penny and Netflix. Oh, and the Chinese takeout her mom had ordered. She plopped down on the couch, absentmindedly petting her dog, Bolt, and switching on the tv. Pretty little liars, here I come, she thought to herself. However, after only about five minutes of the show, her cell phone started buzzing like crazy. She sighed, picking up her phone and glancing at her texts. 5 new messages from Wilbur. Huh. She opened up her phone, reading through them.

'Penny?' The first one read. It was quickly followed by "RESPOND", after that a "HELP" next a "MY DADS THING IS GONE." Lastly "CALL ME." Penny blinked, sighing and picking up her phone, calling Wilbur. It took a while, but he eventually picked up, sounding panicked.

"Penny? Oh my god, Penny. I need you to come over right now. The thing my dad built is gone! I left open the shed and it's gone and I don't know what to do oh my god my parents are gonna kill me!"

Penny blinked. "Wait, what? What thing? Why didn't you shut your garage? You're an idiot, did you know that?"

Wilbur groaned. "Okay, mom, just. Just come over and I'll explain."

"Okay, bye. See you in a few." She hung up, hopping off her couch. Her Netflix binge would just hve to wait.

Within minutes, Penny was up and over the fence that seperated the two houses, going in through the back door. Wilbur stood in the kitchen, jumping as Penny opened the French doors that separated the kitchen from the patio.

"I hate how you do that." Wilbur said, crossing his arms.

"I like to freak you out." She smirked, then quickly turned serious. "So your dads thing is gone?" She asked. Wilburs expression melted into one of nervousness.

"I don't know how it happened! I went to go check on the lock and Domer or one of my dogs started barking, so then they all started barking, and I went to go quiet them down! When I got back, the door was wide open, and one of my dads time machines was gone!" He said, looking extremely panicked. Penny's eyes widened.

"Hold it. Did you say...I don't think I heard you right. Time...machine? As in..."

"Yeah. Time machine." He bit his lip, looking down. "My dad is gonna unveil it next weekend at the convention. And now it's gone!" He exclaimed. Penny stared at him.

"Your dad...invented a time machine?" She said, in total shock.

Wilburs eyes widened, and he looked down "I...I shouldn't have said that..."

Penny swallowed, looking down. "Okay, I'll gawk about that later. First, we gotta find your dads...thing...back. We...how long do we have to get this back?"

"My dads gonna be back in town next weekend. We have until then. And...I have no idea where to start."

"I have a pretty good idea." Penny said, grabbing her phone and dialing a few numbers.

Early Saturday morning, Penny, Wilbur, Violet, and Hiro stood in the shed, searching around where the time machine stood. They were in teams, Hiro and Wilbur were looking outside, while Penny and Violet searched inside. "So...what...happened?" Violet asked, looking at Penny confused. Penny bite her lip. She hadn't given much detail, except for wilburs address and that it was an emergency. The two showed up at about 7 in the morning, Violet had ridden her bike over, and Hiro had gotten his brother to take him over.

"It's...I think it'd be better for Wilbur to explain rather than me..." Penny said, uncertain how to start. Violet sighed.

"Okay, I'll just text him later. So, what're we looking for?"

"Clues...out of place papers, a wallet, anything." Penny said, channeling her inner Nancy Drew. Violet picked up a notebook and flipped through it.

"I don't know what's out of place and what's in place here. This is a mess."

"I know, I can't find anything in here...let alone something left behind by a petty thief."

Violet sighed, setting the notebook down. As she did that, a piece of paper fluttered down from the nearby pile. Furrowing her eyebrows, she picked up it, scanning over it. "Hey Penny? I think I may have found something..." Violet handed the paper over to her friend, who read it over quickly.

"No way...Violet, you're awesome!" She replied. Violet laughed a bit.

"I know." She said with a grin.

"C'mon, we gotta show this to the boys!" She said, running to the door.

While the girls were inside, the boys were searching the perimeter. Hiro looked at Wilbur, frowning a bit. "So what are we looking for?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Clues." Wilbur stated simply, as if everyone should know what he was talking about. Hiro blinked.

"Clues for...?"

"The man who stole my dads thing." Another simple answer from Wilbur. Hiro sighed.

"You're gonna have to give me a little more detail here, buddy." He replied, searching around a bush.

"Okay, were searching for clues to find the man that stole my dads million dollar invention because if I don't find it my mother will skin me alive while my dad and grandparents watch. Is that detailed enough for you?" Wilbur replied, sighing and looking down at his shoes.

Hiro paused for a second, before nodding. "Perfect, thank you." He said sarcastically, standing up and brushing off some dirt. "How long do you have to find it?" He asked, watching as Wilbur looked around behind the shed.

"A week." Wilbur sighed, shaking his head. "This is pointless. I am not going to find this."

Hiro frowned, looking around and spotting a piece of white paper. Picking it up, he looked it over and then grinned. On the paper was a small printed receipt from the local grocery store. Listed on the receipt were the items that were bought, the date, and the cashier. Hiro looked at Wilbur, who stood there confused. "I don't see what you're so excited about." Wilbur blinked, shaking his head. Hiro sighed.

"Look, maybe this cashier knows something. She could've seen the thief, or someone who works for them, or anything! We have to go talk to her!"

Wilbur shook his head. "We don't even know which Stewart's she works at!" He frowned. Hiro looked at the receipt and grinned, pointing to the small 16 on the receipt.

"Yes we do! Cmon, let's go show the girls!"

"Show the girls what?" Penny's voice asked, a smirk in her tone. The two boys turned around to see the girls holding up their piece of paper.

"Find some evidence?" Violet asked. Hiro and Wilbur nodded. The four grinned. They were pretty good at this detective thing.