In the lab, Adam, Bree, Chase, and I were wearing neck braces that control what we do. "Okay, now we'll check your bionic reflexes. First the left arm." Mr. Davenport says. He presses a button that causes us to raise our left arm and hit each other in the face. Since I was standing next to Chase, I didn't get hit and laughed. "Okay, now the right arm."

Mr. Davenport presses the button again, and we all raise our right arm and hit each other in the face again. Bree laughs since she didn't get hit and was standing next to Adam. "Oh, I hate this game!" Adam shouts since he got hit both times.

"Okay, Adam. Well, you can sit this one out." Mr. Davenport says. "I'll just do Bree and Chase." He presses the button, and Bree and Chase hit Adam. Bree, Chase, and I laugh.

"Come on, Big D, it's summer vacation! Let's hit the beach. Slap on some shorts and show everyone your pasty little walking sticks!" Leo says.

"Not now, Leo. We're doing some routine bionic chip maintenance." Mr. Davenport says. "Besides, this is fun. Right, guys?" Tasha walks in with a plate of snacks.

"Good times," Adam says.

"A blast," Chase says.

"Oh, it's great!" I say.

"Okay, are we done here? I wanna go be normal for a while!" Bree says, taking off her neck brace. She throws it at the console, making it spark, and Tasha drops her snack plate.

"Can't we go just five minutes without something sparking, exploding, or oozing around here?" Tasha says. "Ever since summer vacation started, it has been like one long science experiment."

"I'm sorry, honey. I...you know...maybe...maybe Leo's right. Maybe we need to take a break and go to the beach." Mr. Davenport says.

"Ahh!" Adam shouts.

"Yeah!" Bree says.

"We'll take a whole weekend, as a normal family, you know?" Mr. Davenport says. "No gadgets, no phones. We'll do it totally tech-free."

"That is exactly what I need. You would really do that for me?" Tasha says.

"Of course. You are way more important to me than the amazing innovations born of my genius." Mr. Davenport says. Tasha leaves the lab.

"Wow, Big D, it's really nice of you to blow off work for my mom," Leo says, picking up the snack tray from the floor and putting it on the console.

"Well, you know, Leo, now and then, everybody needs a little peace and..." Before Mr. Davenport could finish what he was saying, an alarm goes off. "Quiet!" Mr. Davenport shouts over the alarm.

"It's the early warning satellite system," Chase says.

"It's detecting a giant solar flare. When that thing hits the atmosphere, it'll cause massive power failures and a total blackout of satellite communications." Mr. Davenport says.

"Okay, I should tell my mom we're not going to the beach, then," Leo says.

"No, no, no, no. Don't tell your mom a thing about this." Mr. Davenport says.

"Oh, right. Let's just ignore the biggest solar flare in history to keep the little lady happy." Chase says.

"Don't worry about the solar flare. I'll handle it." Mr. Davenport says. "Just pack your stuff in the R.V. And get ready to get your beach on!" We all give Mr. Davenport a look.

"I know nobody says that. I know that." Mr. Davenport says. The five of us walk up to a basket full of goggles, and Adam hands us a pair.

"Adam, safety goggles aren't going to protect our eyes from the solar flare," I say.

"No, but it will protect us from the glare when pasty legs Davenport puts on his shorts!" Adam laughs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"All right, Tasha, your totally tech-free weekend starts now." Mr. Davenport says as we stand inside the RV.

"Great. I'm gonna go claim our spot. If we wait too long, we're gonna end up sitting next to talkers." Tasha says. "I hate friendly people."

"You go ahead. I'll be right there." Mr. Davenport says. Tasha leaves the RV. As Adam, Bree, Chase, and I were about to leave the RV, Mr. Davenport stopped us. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do you guys think you're going? Did you forget about the solar flare?"

"What do you expect us to do? Bionics can't stop a solar flare." I say.

"No, but I have something that can." Mr. Davenport says. He presses his hand on a touchpad,
and many different consoles appear in the RV.

"Welcome to the Davenport Industries mobile action lab." Mr. Davenport says.

"Very impressive, Big D," Leo says. "You're the master of the ta-da moment!"

"Ta-da!" Mr. Davenport sings. "I call her the Ugly Lady because it's what's on the inside that counts. You guys will launch the rocket just like in your training simulations. It will block the solar flare by releasing a cloud of heavy gas into the atmosphere."

"Ooh," Bree says.

"Cool!" Chase says.

"Sweet!" I say.

"You're goin' down, sun!" Adam shouts.

"This supercomputer is calculating the precise time that you need to launch the rocket. It could be minutes, it could be hours. You'll just have to wait and see." Mr. Davenport says.

"In here?" Bree says. "But we're supposed to go to the beach."

"Yeah, and I was supposed to be six-foot-one. Life is full of disappointments." Mr. Davenport says. He looks up at Adam who was six foot one.

"Great. So we all have to pay the price for another short guy with an axe to grind." I say.

"Look, guys, focus. It takes all three of you to initiate the sequence. Once the alert sounds, you'll have a 2-hour window to launch the rocket before the flare becomes unstoppable. Got it?" Mr. Davenport says.

"Yeah, we got it," Bree says. "Saving the world's gonna ruin my vacation. Stupid world!"

"Guys, come on! You're missing all the fun!" Tasha shouts from outside the RV. "There is a bulldog in sunglasses riding a surfboard!" Leo laughs. We hear a splash in the distance. "Ooh! Never mind."

"Be right there, honey!" Mr. Davenport says. "Look, as soon as you guys launch the rocket and save the world, you can get outta here and go get your beach on."

"Wow," Leo says as we all give him a look.

"What, still nothing? You know what? I don't need your approval. I'm rich!" Mr. Davenport says.

"Am I the only person who thinks launching a rocket is cool?" Leo says. "Big D, go slather on some SPF fifty...thousand. I got this."

"No, the only thing you've got is the uncanny ability to break the most expensive thing in the room." Mr. Davenport says.

"Is this about your guitar?" Leo asks.

"What about my guitar?" Mr. Davenport asks.

"Let's go! We're missing the surfing bulldog!" Leo says. "I'm goin'!" Leo leaves the RV.

"What about my guitar?" Mr. Davenport asks, running after Leo.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At the beach, Leo, Mr. Davenport, and Tasha are sitting on the sand. "Ah, listen to that...no phones ringing, no gadgets buzzing. Just the sounds of nature and..." Tasha raises her sunglasses and hears a dog barking. "A bulldog barking up seaweed."

"Yep. There's nothing more fun than sitting completely still in direct sunlight for hours on end." Leo says. "My back sweat is headed towards unnatural places."

"Leo, come here." Mr. Davenport says, getting up from his beach chair. "I still have to secretly supervise the mission from here, so how would you like to be my covert communications liaison?"

"Is this like the time you tricked me into doing the dishes by calling me your culinary implement decontaminator?" Leo says.

"Yeah, pretty much." Mr. Davenport says. "Observe." Mr. Davenport walks up to the cooler and takes out a drink. "Well, Leo, you look, uh, parched. Let me get you a frosty beverage. Drink up." He hands Leo a can of soda, and when he opens it, it turns into a phone.

"It's a secret can phone!" Leo says.

"There is no such thing as a tech-free weekend." Mr. Davenport says. They do a little dance. The phone dials Bree's number.

"Super boring mission headquarters. Bree speaking." Bree says.

"Hey, Bree. How's the mission?" Leo asks.

"Leo, what are you drinking?" Tasha asks.

"Call you back cola," Leo says, hanging up the can phone.

"You know you're not supposed to drink soda. It makes you all jumpy. Give me that." Tasha says. "Now!" Leo hands Tasha the can phone, and she drops it into the cooler next to her, causing it to spark.

"I knew I should have sprung for the whole six-pack." Mr. Davenport says to Leo.

"Well, I'm sorry, Big D. Looks like I'm gonna have to check in with 'em the old-fashioned way...with my feet, my face, and a whole lot of this," Leo says. He smiles and strikes a pose.

"Yeah, just hurry back, will ya? The only reason I'm letting you go in the first place is you stopped doing that anywhere near me." Mr. Davenport says, copying Leo's pose. He sits down next to Tasha while Leo runs back to the RV.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey, super sibs. How's the mission going?" Leo asks us once he arrives at the RV.

"This stinks! We're gonna waste the whole stupid day in this stupid lab waiting for this stupid computer. It's all just so...dumb!" Adam says.

"Why don't you take turns coming to the beach with me?" Leo asks.

"We can't. The launch procedure requires all four of us." Chase says.

"Mmm, but if there are four of us plus one, then two can stay and two can go until we need four, and then one can stay and one can run and get the one who's having fun with the other one," Adam says. "Wait. Somebody check my math."

"He's right. Someone pat him on the head and give him a biscuit." Chase says.

"Cool, so two of us can leave," Bree says.

"I think that we should put it to a..."

"Me and Cassie first! Come on, Leo!" Bree says, super speeding Leo and me out of the RV.

"Vote!" Chase says. "Hey, super speed does not overrule democracy!" Adam and Chase leave the RV. "They're gone!"

"So gone!" Adam shouts.

"This is not fair!" Chase says.

"So not fair!" Adam says.

"Bree and Cassie are not gonna get away with this!" Chase says.

"So not gonna get away with this!" Adam says.

"You know what? I'm gonna march right down to that beach and I'm gonna find them, even if it takes me all day." Chase says.

"Yeah! You go with your bad self!" Adam says. "Make them pay!" Chase heads down to the beach while Adam gets back inside the RV. "Wait, did he do what I think he did? Ohh, he did! He went to the beach without his sun hat! Chase, you're gonna get a sunburn!" Adam grabs a hat and leaves the RV. Once he was gone, an alarm starts blaring in the RV and a voice says "Launch window open."

Down at the beach, people were watching a man dance while dressed as a robot. Chase stands next to the man and dances along with him. The people in the crowd put money in the man's hat. "Chase, what are you doing here?" I ask. I was carrying a big giant teddy bear that I had won.

"Watching this guy. People keep giving him money, but he just won't leave." Chase says.

"You're supposed to be watching the mobile lab," Leo says.

"No worries. Adam's watching it." Chase says.

"What's up, beach bums?" Adam says, walking up to the four of us, holding a tray of different flavored ice cream.

"Adam, what are you doing here?" Chase asks.

"Well, I wanted an ice cream cone, but they had twenty-one flavors. And you know me...I'm never one to make an uninformed decision." Adam says.

"Adam, get rid of those," Bree says. "We need to get back to the mobile lab."

"Oh, right. Free ice cream!" Adam shouts. He hands an ice cream cone to a random guy that walked by. "Oh, and don't worry, it's barely licked."

When we got back to the RV, we noticed that it was gone. "Where's the mobile lab? It was parked right here." Bree says.

"It's gone!" Leo says.

"Okay, all right, nobody panic," Chase says. Adam screams and we all give him a weird look.

"Sorry, brain freeze," Adam says. "Where's the RV?"

"How could the mobile lab just disappear?" Bree says.

"Maybe it got tired of waiting and it split like we did," I say.

"We have to tell Mr. Davenport," Bree says.

"Oh, yeah? And what are we gonna tell him? Hey, remember that really easy mission where all we had to do was sit around and wait? Well, guess what...we totally blew it, and the world is toast. Oopsie!" Chase says. We hear a police siren and turn our heads to see a police officer riding over to us on a scooter.

"Freeze!" The police officer shouts.

"Officer, we'd like to report a crime," Chase says. "Someone stole our RV from this spot, and it's supercritical that we get..."

"Cool your jets, spanky. I had it towed." The police officer says.

"What? Why?" I say.

"Your car alarm's been goin' off for, like, an hour, dude." The police officer says. "Plus, I thought it'd be funny to watch a little tow truck pull that huge thing away. It was."

"Car alarm?" Chase says, looking at us.

"If you want your RV back, you're gonna have to cough up 200 clams." The police officer says.

"Okay. But does it have to be clams? 'Cause, personally, I'm more of a shrimp guy." Adam says. The police officer gives us a weird look as he rides away on his scooter.

"You guys...that car alarm was the alert tone telling us to launch the rocket!" Chase says.

"Wait. So that means we have under an hour to collect $200, get the mobile lab back, stop the solar flare, and wrestle a shark." Leo says. Adam, Bree, Chase, and I give him a weird look. "Oh, what? You're bionic, and we're at the beach. I'd like to do one fun thing today."

"We need to tell Mr. Davenport. He'll give us the money to get the RV back." I say.

"No. No way. We can still fix this." Chase says. "Come on, I know how we can get the money fast." Adam, Chase, Leo, and I start to head down to the beach, leaving Bree behind.

"Chase, get back here. No one's gonna pay to see you wrestle a shark." Bree says, she follows us to the beach.

At the beach, Mr. Davenport was anxiously bouncing his leg up and down in his chair after having to go without his gadgets since Leo left. "Wow, Donald, I'm impressed. You have almost made it to lunch without using any of your gadgety gizmos." Tasha says.

"Yeah, who needs 'em? I am super relaxed." Mr. Davenport says.

"Hey, have you seen the kids?" Tasha asks.

"Uh, you know, they're probably in the arcade. You know what? I'm gonna go check on 'em! Bye!" Mr. Davenport says. He grabs the can phone from the cooler and walks away from Tasha. "Come on, work for daddy." When he tries to open the can phone, part of the can falls off. He throws the can into the sand and sees a woman sitting next to him, using her phone. He walks up to her. "Excuse me, miss. Billionaire genius, potential world crisis. Do you mind? Thank you." He takes the woman's phone and dials one of our numbers.

As he waits for one of us to pick up, the woman hits Mr. Davenport with her surfboard. "Hey! Ow! Do you mind? I am on the phone!" Mr. Davenport tries to run away from the woman.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and see the wonders of Leo's legendary boardwalk freak show!" Leo says.

"Sideshow," Chase says.

"Whatever," Leo says. "First, direct your attention and your dollars to Adam, the incredibly but not suspiciously strong man!" Adam walks up to a little girl wearing a pink bunny shirt.

"Hey, little girl. You like bunnies? Me too. Check this out." Adam says. He picks up a sign that says lifeguard on duty and folds the sign to make it look like a bunny. Adam hands the sign to the little girl, but it was too heavy for her, and she drops it. Everyone claps. Adam takes off his hat and hands it around to people so they can put their money into the hat.

"Wow. Wasn't that amazing, folks? Now, keep your eyes and your wallets open for Bree, the magnificent mistress of magic." Leo says.

"Okay, do I have a volunteer? Nope? Okay, looks like it's you, big guy." Bree says. A man wearing a yellow-striped shirt and red hat walks up to Bree. "Okay, people, keep your eye on the shell." Bree super speeds around the man and holds out her two hands. "Where is it?" The man points to her left hand, and when she opens it, the shell wasn't there. "Nope. And look what's over here. Bam! Your driver's license." The man opens his wallet and takes out the shell. Everyone claps.

Bree looks at his license. "You know, I never would have guessed you were bald under there." She gives him his license back.

"Her flying fingers are quicker than the human eye, but it's actually a simple trick that's not that impressive once you know how it's done," Leo says. "And now, give it up for the amazing Chase, who will...what can you do that won't bore people?"

"I got this," Chase says. "Now, if someone could kindly give me a prime number with at least four digits, I will mathematically extrapolate..."

"Great job! Let's give him a hand! Yeah!" Leo says. "Next up, we have Cassie..." We watch as people start to leave. "Hey. Adam, go make another bunny. Make a bunny." We see the police officer that was riding on his scooter approach us.

"Great show, little man." The police officer says to Leo.

"Thank you," Chase says.

"I was talkin' to him, dude." The police officer says. "You totally bombed, bro. Now, unless you dudes want to shoot the curl on a longboard of hurt, you'd best show me your performance permits, like, right now."

"We don't have permits. We're busted," I say.

"Oh, relax. He's wearing flip-flops, and his squad car has handlebars." Chase says. "He's not even a real cop." Minutes later, the police officer sends us to a small beach jail. "Yet, he has a real jail. Okay, there's only one thing left for us to do...we have to find a way to get in touch with Mr. Davenport fast."

"Uh, I'll just call him. Davenport!" Adam shouts. After he called Mr. Davenport's name, a male officer with long blonde hair walks into the jail with Mr. Davenport. Adam laughs. "I can't believe that worked!"

"I did not steal anything. That woman committed assault with a deadly floatie!" Mr. Davenport says. The officer puts Mr. Davenport in the jail and screams when he sees us. Adam, Bree, Chase, and I smile and wave at him.

"Long story short, Big D...botched mission, world is doomed, solar flare's a-comin. Oopsie!" Leo says.

"You know, an hour ago, I was a little freaked out because I didn't know what was happening, but now I think I prefer the mystery." Mr. Davenport says. "What are we gonna do?"

"I can use my super strength to break us out," Adam says.

"Good one. Okay, we have to figure out a way to distract Captain Cocoa Butter over there." Mr. Davenport says.

"If only we had a burrito or, like, a monster wave, dude," Bree says.

"Luckily, there is a genius inventor in the house. Everybody empty your pockets. Come on." Mr. Davenport says.

"Uh, stick of gum," Leo says.

"Two dimes," Adam says.

"Nine-volt battery," Bree says.

"A half-eaten peanut butter sandwich," I say.

"A sandwich? Really?" Mr. Davenport says, giving me a look.

"What? Bree had a nine-volt battery, but no one said anything about that!" I say. "Besides, this is my emergency sandwich for situations like these." I take a bite out of my sandwich.

"Bobby pin," Chase says.

"All I have to do is take these items and fashion a makeshift phone out of them." Mr. Davenport says. "What am I talking about? This is a bunch of pocket junk. I can't do anything with this." We hear a surfer music ringtone and Mr. Davenport's eyes widen thinking it was his miniature phone. "It works!" We look at the officer and realize that it was his phone playing the ringtone. He answers it.

"Hello? What? What do you mean someone's towing my scooter, dude?" The officer gets up from his chair and runs out of the room.

"Now's our chance. Adam, be discreet." Mr. Davenport says. "Just turn the lock pin ever so slightly..." Adam uses his super strength and pulls off the iron doors.

"Oops," Adam says.

"Or that'll work too. Let's go!" Mr. Davenport says. We all leave the jail.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once we made it back to the RV, it was a complete mess, and the alarm was still ringing. "Oh, no! Everything got all messed up when the mobile lab got towed!" I say.

"This is bad. This is really bad." Chase says.

"Yeah, it is. Two hundred dollars to get my RV back, two hundred dollars for disorderly conduct, and a hundred dollars for stealing a cell phone." Mr. Davenport says. "What were you thinking?"

"That was you!" Leo says.

"There is a solar flare headed towards us right now!" Mr. Davenport says.

"Ahh, I'm freakin' out!" Adam says.

"Look, don't panic. In simulations, you guys have launched this rocket in two minutes, and you've still got..."

"Launch window closes in sixty seconds." A computer voice says.

"Half that. Okay, we're gonna have to work together. Adam, pick up that rocket. Leo, Cassie, find the launch keys. Bree, console. And, Chase, you're gonna have to help me figure out the launch vectors." Mr. Davenport says. "The vectors are corrupt in every system. The computer isn't fast enough to recalculate them."

"Bree, how many words can you type in a minute?" Chase asks.

"All of 'em," Bree says.

"Right. I knew that. Okay, type this in." Chase says.

"Thirty seconds."

"Launch to 60,000 feet...then change altitude to generate negative Q Alpha within 4% of predicted trajectory, and then fire rocket thrusters to initiate..."

"Done." Bree and Chase both say.

"Done." Adam and Mr. Davenport say.

"Launch window closes in ten...nine..."

"Leo, Cassie, the launch keys." Mr. Davenport says.

"We found them, we found them," I say.

"They have to be turned at the same time." Mr. Davenport says.

"Where's the other keyhole?" I ask Mr. Davenport.

"Over there." Mr. Davenport says, pointing to the keyhole that was on the other side of the RV. I run over to the keyhole and place the key into the lock. The six of us duck to the floor as the rocket flies away. "Everything looks good. It's on target."

"Did it work?" Adam asks.

"Solar flare neutralized." The computer voice says.

"It worked! We did it!" Mr. Davenport shouts. We all hug each other.

"Okay, now that that's finally taken care of, can we please go have fun at the beach?" Bree says.

"Absolutely." Mr. Davenport says. Before we could leave, an alarm starts blaring.

"Oh, no!" Mr. Davenport says.

"What now?!" I say.

"Nothing. I'm just messing with you. It's my car alarm." Mr. Davenport says, shutting off the alarm.

"Really?" Chase says. We all leave the RV.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, hey, guys. Oh, I must have dozed off." Tasha says as Mr. Davenport, Adam, Bree, Chase, Leo, and I walk over to her. "Did you all have fun today?"

"Sure did," Chase says.

"Yeah, tons of fun," I say.

"We weren't in jail, that's for sure," Adam says.

"Great. Well, I have had my fill of fun for the day, so...let's go home." Tasha says.

"Wha...go home? But we didn't get to do anything fun yet." Bree says.

"Wait. If you guys haven't had fun all day, then what have you been doing?" Tasha says.

"Home it is, then." Mr. Davenport says. We all pack up our stuff.