Pandora's Box

In the Greek mythology, Pandora's box was a jar filled with all evil the world could ever hold. And when a young woman named Pandora was given this jar as a wedding gift, she was told not to open it. Yet, her curiosity was too big and she had opened it, releasing all evils to the world. And when she closed it again, there was only hope left in the box. People who know this story well say that if she had opened the jar - or box - a second time, she would have released the hope, removing the hope from the world. But she hadn't.

But Eddy was planning to do that.

You see, metaphorically, Eddy had already opened this box once. He had made an action which seemed innocent at first but with consequences as big as the United States, with problems reaching the borders of the States, but not beyond. Not yet beyond those borders, but he would most certainly like to expand his empire with the bionic army as his guards and police officers.

He looked back on his genius plan mere hours before the execution would be performed.

He first had taken the bionic army away from Kraney with a sly trick, keeping his distracted while he himself was reprogramming the Trident-app. The fool didn't suspect a thing, and this moment became one of the few moments he had felt really excited, as if adrenaline was rushing through the veins he didn't have. His only regret was killing the poor fool; he could have been useful, but there was no way he could have predicted that. Plus, there still was Douglas.

Speaking of which, he still needed someone to pay a visit to the only Davenport running around freely. Wait, let me correct that last line: the only Davenport allowed to run around freely, even though with limits. One of his soldiers was always around him, keeping him from leaving the lab under the ruins of the Davenports' house. He hadn't seen the light of day in two years.

Two years… the time really had flown. It felt like he took Krane's life only a week ago, imprisoned Douglas six days ago and it seemed only two days ago he had finally found the siblings and Donald.

As a computer bot, it shouldn't have taken him one and a half year to finally find the Davenports. He should have at least caught one of them. Yet, they stayed hidden until he found Adam. Eddy had no idea why Adam was separated from the others, but it was a huge advantage in a fortunate time. Not a few days later, Bree could be added to the list of his bionic soldiers as well. You could say these events turned out differently with Chase.

The young bionic thought that destroying his chip wouldn't only disable his abilities, but would also keep Eddy from turning him evil and adding him to the army. Before Eddy even had a chance to invade his chip, he took it off and smashed it beyond repair. So that's why the youngest of the siblings now served as a prisoner, being treated in the worst circumstances to break him. After half a year, he still was trying to break the young man. And yet, he wouldn't budge, not even when he too could never see anything anymore.

Leo and Davenport were easier to find. No, Eddy had to correct himself yet again. He didn't find them, they found him. They foolishly thought that if they destroyed Eddy, they'd free the bionic soldiers and Adam and Bree and Chase – and to an extent, Douglas too. They didn't stand a chance. They were soon taken prisoners, too.

No more thinking about that now. Today is the big day.

Before he would continue with their extermination, he would first see his favorite prisoners in their last minutes. For almost two years, anyone he had talked to before having them killed told him the Davenports (and Dooley) would defeat him. More people rose trying to follow the example of the Davenports, fighting for their freedom, unintentionally saying Donnie was the leader of the very scattered resistance. But after today, none of these 'rebels' would be trying to rise up and reclaim their lands.

As Eddy watched the screens, he saw how only one of the three prisoners was noticing he was being watched. Dooley was just staring to the wall, Donnie was trying to sleep and Chase was staring right at the screen, at the right of the camera through which he looked at Chase. He still wondered how the blind young man could know how was looking. This didn't have anything to do with his bionic abilities which Douglas refused to restore (he still wished he could kill Douglas for refusing an order). It had to be human, but there wasn't anyone he could compare Chase with to really understand how he managed to know.

He appeared on the screen and faced Chase from close by.

"Hey, Chase." Chase frowned.

"I'm not broken yet," the blind prisoner said. It was an automatic response to the question he was sure Eddy would question. But this time, he wouldn't have to answer that specific question. After today, he would never have to automatically answer that question.

"That's not what I wanted to say." The guard who had to watch Chase was now standing next to him. There was no need to cage him; he couldn't see where they were and every time the guards changed, they would turn him around and around, making him lose his orientation in the room, and they would sometimes move the furniture and they hid the door from him.

"How are Adam and Bree?" Chase wanted to know.

"Look, if you're going to keep asking about them, they will be killed."

"You won't; they're valuable."

"I have lots of soldiers with all abilities, I can miss them." He didn't see how the blind prisoner felt, but he did know he should be afraid now, or at least nervous. Especially when he told the guard to bring Chase to his office without further explanation. He gave the same order to the soldiers who kept an eye on Dooley and Donnie. He could've stayed to see Chase's startled reaction, or the way how Dooley and Donnie would act, but he didn't want to do it – today was the day, so he shouldn't get too fond of trying to break his 'favorite' prisoners.

A few minutes later, they were present in Eddy's office, known as the presidential office in the White House, and the three had to sit down on their knees, facing the multiple cameras who were pointed at them. Eddy was right behind them, on a screen making him look and feel bigger than he actually was.

Maybe today could replace the excitement of the day that Kraney died. Thinking back to the metaphor he used earlier to explain to Chase what he had been trying to do, he just knew it was time to open Pandora's box a second time. He looked around the office one more time, to see if everything was in position. There were a few guards handling the cameras and making sure this would air all over the world. Behind the cameras, out of the viewer's sight, stood twenty guards who would intervene should one of the three prisoners try to escape. And S1, Adam and Bree were standing behind Leo, Chase and Donald respectively.

When one of the soldiers signaled they were on air, Eddy started to speak.

"Hello everyone!" he started, happiness clearly audible, "I'm sure you've all heard of me. Most of America will know me as their to-be emperor, and the rest of the world will soon follow. You've all heard those nasty bad rumors about me. No, I'm not trying to blow up the world. No, I'm not trying to make a point here and please, I am not controlled by someone. I am a program designed by the kneeling man on your right.

So if you want to blame someone for this to happen, you can blame Donald Davenport over there.

Anyway, you're probably wondering why I'm doing this. Well, there is one simple reason: this world is completely messed up. Seriously, the leaders should stop quarrelling and promising us things they'll do within a few decades and do just things really quickly. And I'm just trying to make this place better. All emperors and dictators in the past also knew this and did their job well.

I'm going to do things the quick way. Before me you see three of my finest soldiers, and three of my prisoners, which you'll probably know. No, I'm not just gonna shoot them just to make a statement. I have my reasons for killing them.

Donald Davenport is an obvious choice. He created me, thought I'd be just a whining child. He's caused the misery, so just to please you, I'll kill him. No, I don't feel regret – I don't feel anything at all – for killing my creator. I didn't really like him anyway.

Then there's Leo Dooley. There's no real reason for me to kill him, except that he's really stubborn and very annoying. I mean, look at him! He doesn't look nice at all! Besides, if I kill him, I'm doing him a favor: he'll see his mommy again!

Then there's Chase Davenport, Donald's 'son'. He was bionic, too, but smashed his stupid chip so I couldn't control him like his brother behind him! I tried to break him, but I didn't manage to do this. Then, I realized he might inspire rebels to keep hoping and resisting and that's something I do not like.

Oh, almost forgot! Hope is the one thing keeping them alive. By killing them, I'm delivering a message to the world's leaders – except the president of the USA, 'cause I already killed him. I am reopening Pandora's box, if you know what I mean. Surrender to my will and I will keep your politicians, kings, presidents or emperors (or whatever you call your leaders) alive. You might even continue to rule, but you will do anything I say. If you deny my offer I'll take your lands with force. I have three bionic kids in front of the camera who will demonstrate how I might kill you just like the three young men who were definitely your last and only hope of winning from me.

And by the way, I have hundreds of these bionic soldiers, all equally super strong, super-fast and super smart. You have been warned. Goodnight, everyone!"

Eddy stopped talking, but the cameras still recorded everything. So they did record how Chase, Dooley and Donnie were killed by Adam, S1 and Bree. Eddy smiled as the cameras stopped recording and the bionic soldiers went to throw the bodies in a put dug on White House grounds. The only thought left was the shock on the faces of the world's leaders when they saw the complete message.

He had reopened Pandora's box. He had given them a final choice, but they would sure lose all hope.

Eddy made them lose hope.

Eddy had won.

Hey guys! I really hope you liked this little one-shot, because this is my first Lab Rats story here. I'll apologize if they seem a little OOC, but I tried to keep them in character as much as possible. Also, I should mention I wrote this for daphrose's Evil Eddy challenge. I might write more Lab Rats in the future, but first I'll finish other stories in other archives.

Thanks for reading!

-Writer207