Concealed//Lab Rats

The Intruder

Disclaimer: I don't own Lab Rats/Lab Rats: Elite Force.

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   Marcus super sped into the penthouse, ready to show the others what he'd found. "Guys, I'm-" He cut himself off after seeing what awaited him. Douglas and some kid he'd never seen before looked to be hugging Chase while rest of the team were blasting furniture that seemed to have it out for Chase. "What the heck?"

   "He's glitching," Bree informed him as she brutally destroyed a flying table. "The kid re-programmed his chip and it caused a glitch."

   Marcus would've asked what kind of glitch it was, but he found out on his own. Something felt off and then the next thing he knew he was the one flying towards Chase! He tried to move but he seemed to be stuck to Chase's side. Neither cared for the arrangement.

   "Magnetism app?" Marcus guessed with an exasperated sigh.

   Douglas gave him an sheepish grin. "Welcome back?"

   "COULD YOU PLEASE HURRY?" Chase shouted.

   "Wait a second," the kid -- Marcus still wasn't sure what his name was -- said. "Can't his capsule reset his operating system and bring his magnetism app back to its original state?"

   Everyone stared. Marcus thought maybe this kid had super intelligence and was from the Academy.

   Douglas was the one who eventually answered. "Yes. Yes it can."

   "Hurry the whole room is going to implode!" Skylar yelled.

   Marcus shut his eyes. This was reminiscent of how he died. He could barely move. The room was being destroyed around him -- though not nearly to the extent of the day he died. There was the possibility of being crushed by the same place that housed him. He opened his eyes when the darkness also reminded him of that day.

   The others scrambled to get Chase's capsule while Douglas and the kid moved Chase -- and by extension, Marcus -- into said capsule. The weirdness of the situation got his mind off of his deathday. 

   They were soon placed into the capsule and Douglas typed something on the side. "There. That... should... do it!"

   Marcus was immediately released and he super sped to the other side of the room. In the rare chance to the glitch revamping, he wanted to be as far away as possible.

   "You okay?" Douglas asked.

   "I'm fine."

   Skylar took the same approach with Chase. "You alright?" 

   "Yeah, I think so. But my back is killing me!"

   "Sorry to hear it. Contest it back on!" Kaz exclaimed. The others cheered and tried to walk away, but Marcus called them back.

   "Yeah, I don't think so. I've got news." Marcus glanced around and saw the kid listening eagerly. "Not for you, kid."

   "Aw, c'mon!"

   "For once, I agree with Marcus. You've caused enough damage, AJ!" Chase said, glaring at him. AJ sulked away and Marcus continued.

   "Anyway, I met up with an old friend, which is good. His name's Gabe. Apparently his dad's the leader now."

   "Clifton?" Douglas asked with a distasteful look. They'd never gotten along well.

   "Yep. Gabe led me into Clifton's office and I found this." Marcus took the piece of paper out of his pocket and walked closer to the center of the room so everyone could see. 

   "It's a commision to build the androids," Chase realized, looking closer. 

   "It doesn't say who built them, though,"  Kaz said. "Just some guy called E."

   Other than that, it showed what the capabilities of the androids should be and things like that. Roman and Riker evidently wanted them to be able to survive a lot -- more than what they'd been able to when Marcus saved the Davenports. Marcus looked away from the paper. Being an android himself, looking at it seemed wrong somehow.

   Douglas suddenly snapped his fingers. "I bet it's Clifton."

   "Then why would it say it was by E?" Bree asked.

   Marcus was beginning to catch on. "Because his codename is Eye -- like an eyeball, not the letter. And it was found on Clifton's desk."

   Douglas nodded. "Exactly. Plus, I'm pretty sure Clifton invents in his spare time."

   "How do you even know that? I don't think I've ever seen you talk to the guy," Marcus said, crossing his arms.

   "Hey, I tried since you and Gabe were friends! He just didn't put in the same effort."

   Marcus smiled a little before turning back to the piece of paper. Everyone else did as well.

   "So what do we do?" Oliver asked.

   "You keep going until you find hard evidence. Then we tell the president and he locks Clifton up," Douglas said. 

   Marcus scoffed. "Right, 'cause we can just call the president like he's our best friend."

   "Kind of," Bree shrugged, grinning at Marcus's incredulous expression. 

   "You-- What-- How?"

   Bree, Chase, and Douglas laughed, while Oliver, Kaz, and Skylar were left as confused as Marcus was.

   "Anyway," Skylar said, "while Marcus is  investigating that, what do we do?"

   "I guess focus on Roman and Riker," Douglas answered.

   Skylar didn't seem to be a fan of that, but she didn't object. The others nodded.

   "If  Marcus takes out whoever is helping Roman and Riker, it'll be easier to defeat them, but still not easy," Douglas said, realizing that Skylar didn't like the answer. "So you guys will need to focus on them and helping the remaining superheroes."

   Skylar seemed to like that better, as did the others. They knew they weren't sitting around doing nothing -- in the long run, they were doing something important. Everyone else went on with their contest (except for Chase, who went down to Mission Command), leaving Marcus and Douglas alone.

   "Okay, so who the heck was the kid?" Marcus asked.

   "AJ.  He lives downstairs. Apparently he's been sneaking into Mission Command. Him and Chase had this contest where if AJ could sneak back in, he could be on the team. AJ just re-programmed Chase's chip to let him in. Course, then his magnetism app started glitching."

   "Oh, really?" Marcus deadpanned.

   Douglas laughed, making Marcus crack a smile. They then stood in silence for a minute before the conversation returned to the W.I.R. 

   "What are we gonna do about Clifton? I'm around Gabe a lot, what if he finds out?" Marcus asked.

   "I'm not sure. You'll just need to be careful."

   Marcus tilted his head a little. Douglas almost seemed worried. And while that wasn't good, it made him strangely happy. Because that meant he cared. "I'll be fine, Dad. Go eat your comfort macaroons." Every time Douglas was worried or stressed, he ate macaroons. Marcus wasn't sure exactly why (or if there was a reason at all) but Douglas had done it since Marcus was little.

   "Yeah, yeah," Douglas said hurriedly. "C'mon, we can talk about the W.I.R. later-- you're gonna wanna watch the end of their little contest!"

   Marcus raised an eyebrow but followed Douglas to the terrace, watching the girls inevitable takedown of the boys.

~~

   I told you there'd be more of the team in this chapter! I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to comment, it makes my day!

   Jesus loves y'all!

   BionicallyChristian out!