The next day started fresh. The sixteen year old was clean and ready to head out the door. Thank goodness it was Sunday since he really didn't want to go to school. The sun's light shined through the window. The former jock looked around the house. His mom left for work an hour ago. The time was currently 9:35am. This meant that he was alone. That quickly became a problem. Why was he alone? Three people lived in the house. The sophomore shook his head as he went to grab his jacket. He put it on and left out the door. He didn't know where he was, but he sure was going to get busted for it.
*****************
There was loud snoring in the lounge. A person was sleeping on the couch. His hat was over his face. He had been up for a while last night and he was sleeping in. In another part of the area, an elevator appeared. Another person, shorter than the other one, hopped out. He was about to work on some stuff in his station, but he was a bit surprised at what he found. He saw that one of his friends was asleep on the floor. That puzzled the black haired boy.
He was about to say something, but the elevator had brought up another person. He stepped out and was ready to talk to the young genius. He quickly pointed to the floor. The sixteen year old looked down to see his little brother asleep. He became confused as well. After shooting another glance at his little companion, the former jock kneeled down and shook his family member.
"Ryan?" Mark called.
The pilot slowly opened his eyes. It took a few seconds for him to see everything. He looked up to find his older brother and best friend staring at him. He sat up.
"Morning." He greeted still sleepy.
"What are you doing here?" Harris questioned.
Ryan shrugged.
"Weren't we going to meet up today?" He inquired.
"Yeah, but when did you get here?" Mark quizzed.
Ryan stretched a bit. He then got up and walked away from the two. Both of them followed him to the lounge. The last of the four was still asleep. His arm was draped over the side of the couch. Harris walked over and shook him.
"Spyder?" He called.
The jokester didn't wake up.
"Yo buttface!!" Mark yelled.
The daredevil shot up immediately. He looked to see everyone staring at him.
"Oh hey guys what's up?" Spyder asked casually.
"Okay, when did you guys get here? And why didn't you tell us?" Harris questioned.
The two boys glanced at one another.
"We were...uh..." Ryan started out.
Mark crossed his arms.
"Trying to plan...your surprise party." Spyder came up with.
The others looked at him.
"My birthday was two months ago." Harris told him.
"I know that. I meant Mark's." Spyder clarified.
"Yeah...mine isn't for another three months. But thanks for trying anyway. Oh! By the way, I like anything related to sports or cash." Mark replied to that.
Harris rolled his eyes.
"Seriously, we're fine. Nothing happened. We just decided to come here early so we wouldn't forget." Ryan reassured them.
"Wrong." Mark disagreed.
"Wrong?" Ryan asked.
"You were gone all last night. Where'd you go?" Mark wondered.
Ryan looked at Spyder, who was out of ideas.
"I met up with Ryley. Spyder heard Paige was coming, so he wanted to come. We all hung out for hours and we got tired and the Mech was the closest place. Ryley's cousin was in town so she drove Ryley and Paige home." The technopath explained.
"So if I call Ryley right now, she'll back you up?" Mark questioned.
"Yup! 100%! Can't see why that would not be true at all." Spyder tried to help.
Ryan shook his head at him, signaling him to stop. Mark took out his phone and dialed Ryley's number. For those of you who have not read Let's Meet Ryley, I'll catch you up. Ryley Dennis is friends with the boys and is a frenemy to Mark. She's older than them and is a cheerleader for her school. Just like everyone else, she was transferred to Bay City East. She became a cheerleader there as well. She's clever, sporty, and tough. Being the sophomore that she is, she tends to know her fellow peers better than most. Making friends is extremely easy for her, her personality attracts people, and she never takes crap from anyone. These are all the reasons why the pilot has had a crush on her for so long.
"She's not picking up." Mark said.
Ryan shrugged.
"Maybe she's still asleep." He guessed.
Mark sighed as he attempted to call Ryley's best friend. Paige Aveeno is also a cheerleader. She shares the traits of being tough and intelligent. The two girls' differences show through how they act and their personalities. While being more bold and sassy, Paige is very sweet and polite. Her attitude only comes out if you rub her the wrong way. She's not a pushover, however her generous deeds may make her seem that way. Her crush on the pilot's best friend is evident, which is why it's fun to tease the two.
"Hello?" Paige greeted.
Mark's eyes widened. Her voice was unlike one he had ever heard. It was sweet and soft, but not quiet either. He quickly dismissed it as he went to answer back.
"Hey." Mark replied.
"Hi Mark. What's up?" Paige asked.
"Were you with my brother and Spyder last night?" Mark questioned.
"No. I was doing homework. I don't like waiting until Sunday because I need my day to chill." Paige answered.
Mark glanced at the two boys as he nodded.
"Thanks, that's all I needed to know." Mark said.
He hung up on her. Spyder got off the couch and stood next to Harris. Ryan had his hands in his pockets.
"Where were you?" Mark inquired more seriously.
Ryan glanced at Spyder. He bit his lip and sighed. He walked up to the two.
"Um....we were fishing and two hillbillies asked for tickets to Beyonce's concert. We got scared and ran to Mech X4." The jokester lied.
Ryan gave his best friend an 'are you kidding me?' look. Mark just blinked.
"What?" Harris inquired in disbelief.
Spyder shrugged. Ryan sighed.
"We came into Mech X4 last night and had some fun." He came clean.
"Wait, you took Mech X4 out for a joy ride?" Harris posed.
"To be fair....I think he needed it. He probably doesn't want to stay there all night, so we were doing him a favor." Spyder attempted to defend.
"The robot's not a he." Mark told him.
"It's a she?" Spyder then asked.
"No!" Harris and Mark shouted.
Ryan chuckled a bit. Mark looked back at him, which made the young technopath drop his smile.
"You can't just a battle bot out for fun!" Mark scolded him.
"Someone could've seen it and get you guys on camera. That would risk everything." Harris added.
Spyder put his first finger up in the air.
"And we agreed not to use Mech X4 for fame." Harris shut him down.
Spyder removed his finger from the air.
"Stealth mode was on and we did everything we could to hide it. It's not that bad." Ryan told them.
"You can't waste the stealth mode like that. We need to save as much energy as we can. This robot is for monsters only, Ryan! Why start using it for fun when we have people who want to destroy it?" Harris responded to that.
The pilot glanced at the floor.
"Fine. I won't do it again. Are we done now?" Ryan asked.
Mark quickly came behind him as he walked away.
"You don't even sound like you care!" He accused.
Ryan turned around.
"Says the guy who was willing to be back on varsity over being at the Mech. Says the guy who thought that when the monsters were gone ditched all of us in an instant. You think you gave something up? Please. If Wade wasn't even part of varsity, you'd jump at the chance." He snapped.
The technopath's older brother stepped closer to him. The others backed away.
"Uh oh." Spyder mumbled.
Him and Harris went into the other room.
"I gave up varsity to be more focused on what's actually going on! So yeah, I did give up something! And how many times have I saved your butt? How many times was I there to help you?" Mark asked him.
"And how many times did it take for you to realize that being an older brother isn't acting like a huge jerk for most of his life, only to turn that all around because we have monsters to deal with?" Ryan retorted.
His older brother paused for a second.
"And if I wasn't adopted, you'd probably care about me even less. And the fact that I am adopted makes it better for you because you'll be the only real Walker in school because my father is someone I'm trying to stay away from. So do you honestly care about where I was last night or do you wanna score big brother points by pretending to care?" Ryan quizzed.
Mark was silent. For one thing, the words that the pilot was saying to him stung a little. And two, he never expected him to say that. Yelling never solved anything, which is why neither of them really yelled that loud. It was an argument, but it was somewhat a hurtful one. How long was his little brother thinking this? Was it true? Has Mark changed due to the situation their in? In a way, it kind of seemed like it. Then again, maybe it was good that he did.
"If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't be doing all of this. I would've shot down the chance to help you. I'd probably be busy with varsity trying to throw Wade out....I still might do that though. But I wouldn't of covered for you either. I told mom you slept over at Spyder's. So if I don't care, why did I do all of that?" Mark asked.
"Woah..." Ryan replied astonished.
"What?" Mark quizzed.
"You got Spyder's name right." Ryan told him.
The sixteen year old rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, cause that's important right now." Mark stated sarcastically.
"Look, I said I won't do it again. So can we just let it go?" Ryan asked.
"No. This isn't just about the Mech. First, you attack and try to hurt me. Then, you snuck into the woods and nearly beat Seth to death. I mean, he deserves it, but it was still too far. Then last night, you snuck out again to take Mech X4 out for a joy ride. And now, your just brushing it off like it's nothing. What's up with you? Why are you doing this?" Mark demanded.
His brother just shook his head. He aimed for the door, but the former jock blocked him. The pilot sighed.
"Your not walking away from this. Your gonna-"
"I need more!" Ryan finally screamed.
The lights flickered constantly. A spark occurred right after. Mark looked around before facing Ryan again.
"More what?" He asked.
"Just...more! I'm tired of using my powers to just move the robot. To fight with in battles. I need more, Mark. I wanna know what I'm capable of. I wanna know how far I can go. I can't be held back anymore!" Ryan told him.
Mark didn't speak as his brother continued.
"And I know Leo made this power to protect the city from Grey and Harper, but there has to be more. I don't wanna try and have a normal life! My life was never normal to begin with. My parents are hiding because of what's in me. And yeah, I'm doing good, but at what cost? Who knows if we'll ever destroy them?" Ryan asked.
"Using your powers publicly will get you killed. Are you willing risk that just because you want to know more about them?" Mark questioned in return.
"Yes I am!" Ryan answered.
"Well guess what?! It's not all about-"
"Me! I get that. But you don't understand." Ryan cut him off.
"What don't I understand?" Mark quizzed.
Ryan took a deep breath.
"It's not like I wanna put people in danger. I'm trying to help by getting better. Getting stronger. Maybe even without upgrades and modes on the robot. But how am I gonna do that when I only use it for battles?" He explained.
Mark was about to speak, but Ryan quickly beat him to it.
"And don't say you get it because you don't! You weren't born with powers. You had a completely normal life. You were popular and everyone loved you. And even at Bay City East people love you. Me? I had to find out last year that I was adopted. My whole life was a complete lie! And you, your mom, and your dad have tried and I can't thank you all enough. But, it still can't hide what's been kept from me." He spoke.
Mark nodded.
"My parents are somewhere and I only got to meet one of them. And in case you forgot, he wasn't even my real dad! I don't know where my birth mom is either. I don't know what she looks like. I don't what she does on the weekends. I don't know her favorite food or movie. I was ripped away from that! I only know about your mom. You had it! I didn't!" Ryan continued.
Mark looked up and down at him.
"And I'm not perfect! Now I have to be because I'm saving the city?! It's not fair. I didn't get one piece of my real mom at all. The closest thing I got was where she MIGHT be. And I'm sorry that I'm such a horrible brother, but I'm done being lied to. I'm done not knowing." Ryan finished.
He ran out the door and into the elevator. He used his powers to shoot himself down. His older brother watched him go. He didn't know what to say. There literally was nothing he could say. He was right. He would never know what the pilot has been through without going through it himself. The sixteen year old saw it. Even though he could be as confident as ever (without being egotistical about it), he really was scared and kind of in a rough spot. Crying was something he didn't want to result to, but Mark could see it was that bad. He knew that just wanted to let it out and be done with it. However, Ryan was stubborn. That sometimes made him stubborn to some of his emotions. Overall, all the former jock could do was just be there. He so badly wanted to fix everything, but not even the legendary Mark Walker could solve every problem.