“Time to storm the castle!”

Austin/Vector's P.O.V.

Oh my gods of Olympus! I thought to myself as we made our way to Mega-jerk's castle. How could I let that secret slip? Guess I got distracted by that voice of hers - Oh my gods! Austin Carter, get a hold of yourself!

Well, while we wait for V.E.R.A. to take us to Mega-Jerk's castle, might as well explain myself. Yes, my sister, Jane Carter is - er was bionic. She had a chip implanted into her neck at birth, and that chip binded her DNA and stuff with technology. But she wasn't supposed to be the first.

Originally, my father created the chip for there to be an advancement of humans, but was supposed to test it on an adult, not a newborn baby. Though, when my sister was diagnosed with some sort of incurable disease that would make her both mentally and physically weak and would put her through some sort of terrible pain as she grew older, my dad believed he had no choice but to install it in her. The chip did more than make her feel better, it made her better overall; in athletics, academics, etc. Though, I am glad that the only thing that didn't accelerate about her was her height. 

But as she grew older, my father found that without the proper knowledge of an adult about what to do and what not to do, her bionics can glitch. They were also wired to her nervous system, so she had to stay homeschooled for a while until she learned better, though thanks to her bionic brain, she learned quickly. 

It was fun to have a bionic sister because it made me strive to be a great big brother. I've looked out for her for practically forever. And it turned me into the cooler, more social, awesome big brother I am today. Sometimes my big brother instincts kick when I'm around Parker. 

After my dad figured out his invention was a success, he tested more minor versions of my sister's bionics on actual adults. However, from what I've heard, not all of the tests were successful. Some effected the test subjects physically; for example, it would effect their fingers and their freeze-fingers would turn into frozen fingers. Some effected the people on the inside, like those twins they tested on; same exact bionics, but one lost their voice forever, while the other had to speak what they were thinking without a choice (wonder what happened to them). There was even that one guy who went mentally insane, but Dad never really told Jane or I about that one. 

How do I know about him in the first place? Simple; my little six-year-old sister's power of eavesdropping. Well, not an actual power, but she can apparently turn up or turn down the sensitivity of her hearing. So... yeah.

Parker and I still wonder why my little sister was the only one who had bionics with no terrible consequences. Maybe it had something to do with her things being implanted at birth. Maybe it had something to do with her disease. Maybe they accidentally added something during the operation. I don't know, and I never will because of that dam fire. 

And now, there's suddenly a girl who is apparently my sister's best friend who has always had the same dam  powers as her-

Suddenly, I heard one of the little kids squeal in surprise. I was pulled out of my train of thoughts as I locked eyes on what they were squealing at. Butterflies flapped around in my stomach as the black-as-ebony castle came into view. Sentinels of the same color and code patrolled the surroundings, circling around the castle in a straight line at the same speed in a weird and creepy way. It could've just been me but I thought the castle seemed more menacing, with the virtual storm clouds rolling in and all.

Little Enzo and DJ gripped each other's hand in comfort, both visibly afraid of what's inside and the castle itself. On the other side of Tamra, our basketball star stood strong but his clenched fists showed how he was ready to smash all the sentinels for scaring the kids and taking away their mom. On the far right, my little buddy was fidgeting with his fingers, but I couldn't tell if it was from the castle or our newer, slightly intimidating teammate who apparently was not the girl he thought was. Our ninja... it was kind of hard to read her since I usually had to rely on her facial features when it came to Tamra. With the suit on, you couldn't see her face or her eyes or her lips or...

...

... Moving on.

Lastly, the Bionic Blade; she flies in to save the day and claims she's always known my sister and her secret. This seemed totally unbelievable since everyone else aside from Jane who tried getting bionics would get scrambled in any and every which way possible. She shows zero fear, which I expect from a hero, but there's still something up with her that just ticks me off. 

"M-m-m-mommy is in th-th-there?" DJ quivered, shaking in her seat. 

Her brother nodded. "Dad would tell me about it when he patrolled the palace this past year," he managed to croak out out of fear, "but it's SO much scarier in real life."

"Unfortunately, it's much different and more terrifying than before," Parker announced awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm guessing that that means the security was upgraded as well."

The Bionic Blade projected some sort of hologram in front of us as her nails glowed purple once again. It showed a scale model of Megabyte's castle and its schematics of the walls, sentinels, and even the inside. "Googz is correct," she commented. "According to some old holo-prints that I've picked up from V.E.R.A., comparing it to the current calculations," she swiped right to a comparison chart, "the defense systems increased by at least 26% and the offense systems increased by at approximately 42%. The jail cells are at about 39% harder to break into, and the danger level of electric shocks are up by around 30%."

A moment of silence passed as we eyed the newbie. I can clearly see why she works solo. Though we had to move past that since we needed to save Bob and Dot. I cleared my throat before speaking. "Giga, are you able to scan the castle to see if we can find out where Bob and Dot are?"

Our purple-suited teammate nodded and went back to the castle slide. "Okay, this is a live feed of what is happening inside the building. After analyzing the kids' codes, I scanned the castle for traces of similar code. And it shows that Dot and Bob are..." She zoomed in on the main floor. Just below the throne above the dungeon, a cage held two figures, the thick bars flowing with some sort of protective code. "... there."

Parker leaned forward and inspected the cage closer. "This is the same coding used for the firewall protecting the Department of Internet Security's energy source. One of the sentinels must've copied the code and transferred it to the bars of the cage."

"Why couldn't Megabyte just put a firewall around the entire castle?" Trey questioned. 

"Because he wants us to go in," Tamra concluded. "He's trying to lure us in with bait in order to destroy us."

"Well, we're gonna save Bob and Dot, and remember, Mega-jerk isn't exactly the sharpest holo-tool in the holo-shed," I joked lightly. 

"We're not ready for this," Trey announced. We all turned to him surprised. "We've never been able to actually frag the new sentinels, and we can't guarentee we'll make it out of that castle alive."

"I agree with D-Frag," Parker added. "I've calculated the odds and the chances of us getting out of Megabyte's castle is about-"

"Who cares about the odds?" The Bionic Blade snapped. "There are lives at stake. And last time I checked, you guys have also been upgraded by V.E.R.A. not too long ago. And who cares how dangerous it is? Isn't the Guardian's code to protect? We aren't exactly protecting anyone by walking away. And it's only a matter of time before this Megabyte hurts someone else.

"I know the danger I will be getting myself into, and I know that there is a chance I might not come back. But that's the life of being a hero; you must sacrifice what you have to save one to hundreds of lives. We all were chosen for a reason, and we cannot let Adam Carter down by delaying the mission. I have two plans, one that will work with only me, and one that will only work with all of us. 

"I'm going in, and I'm only going to ask you guys once; are any of you with me?"

A moment of silence passed as we second-guessed ourselves. I understand that the Bionic Blade wants to lead and be some sort of inspirational hero, but that's my job; V.E.R.A. herself said I was supposed to lead. And we just her! How can we trust her? 

Tamra sighed. "I'm with Giga; we don't really have much of a choice. As Guardians, it is our duty to protect, and I can't bear to think of these innocent children turning into orphans. I'm in."

She put her hand out and the Bionic Blade slapped her hand on top. 

"Chances of survival multiplied by faith and hope," my best friend said as he placed his hand on our new teammate's hand, "equals I'm in too."

Trey and I looked at each other, right before our team's strength followed the other's. "If short stuff's in, then I'm in."

My jaw went slack; he's always the second-guesser to think of what happens later in life. 

"Vector," the Bionic Blade said, "I understand that you don't trust me. Heck, I wouldn't trust me if I were in your shoes. It may seem like I'm taking your role as leader, and I apologize, but I'm trying to think of people aside from us. Do you wanna see other innocent people get affected by what Megabyte will do?" I shook my head. "Then the only way for us to stop us is if you come with us. So... are you with me?"

After a few seconds, I looked at each of the members of my team. Although I was still hesitant, I placed my hand on the top.

"Time to storm the castle!"