Title: Everything is Done For a Reason

Rating: T

Genre: Drama, crime, adventure, slight angst, family, tragedy, other stuff

Characters: Chase, with mentions of pretty much everyone else

Pairing(s): None

Summary: He did everything intentionally. Letting Marcus find the lab. Giving Bree the idea to smash her chip. Letting Douglas stay with them. Taking out Krane. Sowing the seeds to Sebastian's rebellion. Causing Leo to quit the Academy. So much more… They were all stepping stones to a bigger plan, and he had every intention of taking the power it released for himself. AU, one-shot, fairly high T.

Warnings: None, really. I suppose if you really hate people evil-izing Chase, then you probably shouldn't read this. But as I mentioned, it's AU, and I thought it was a pretty cool idea.

Notes: I started writing this four months ago, and I just couldn't get it exactly right… until now. Thanks to Susz for making sure the continuity is all there! So, just FYI, Elite Force is irrelevant here. A random note: this is my twentieth story! That's a huge landmark for me, so yay :D Enjoy the story, everyone!

"Why?"

The question was so ridiculous, he laughed. He quite honestly thought it was obvious from at least the moment he considered joining Douglas after the 'Avalanche Incident', as they called it. But they never suspected a thing, and now here he was, ready for his moment. Ready to become the all-powerful superhuman he was always meant to be.

"Why?" the person repeated, and he looked down at her in disgust—her clothes were tattered, bruises and cuts covered her face, and she had chains made of a dark material glowing purple encircling her wrists and ankles.

"Why what? Why am I unleashing the power you all contain and taking it for myself?" he said haughtily, still looking down at her.

"Yes," another person chimed in, looking about as horrible as the girl. "Why are you doing this? This isn't you. Not at all. I know the real you, and this isn't him."

"Leo, it's not worth it," the girl said. "Don't you see? He's gone. This isn't like the Triton App, where we could talk him out of it. There's nothing we can do."

"But why did he leave, Bree?" the last occupant of the room asked, also looking beaten down. "He would never."

"I don't know, Adam," Bree replied, not taking her eyes off of their captor. "Maybe Chase would like to answer that." He could see the hate and the hurt shining in the dark brown orbs.

Chase didn't care in the slightest.

"Maybe it's because you never knew me at all," he said simply. "I would have left a long time ago, but I foresaw all of this happening. It was too good to pass up. Now let me tell you a story…"

ac·tor /ˈaktər/

noun

a person who behaves in a way that is not genuine

Avalanche Incident: Part I

He didn't exactly know when it started. His dislike for being teased grew into something stronger, and then, the next thing he knew, he was plotting world domination. He didn't quite understand the timeframe, he hadn't been paying attention, but he went with it. He could have it all, and he wasn't about to give that up.

'Betraying' his family to join Douglas and then actually betraying the evil Davenport brother was just one step in his plan.

Chase needed for Douglas to be out of the way for just enough time so he could continue on with his plan—of course, Chase was going to release him eventually.

Anyway, it had not been his intention to get caught in an avalanche, but it all worked out. Douglas found him, and Chase managed to act his way out of it. Acting was a strength of his, after all. He pretended he wasn't hurt whenever Adam tossed him around. He pretended he wasn't angry when Bree lied to him. He pretended he wasn't annoyed every time Leo cracked a joke about his nerdiness. Yes, Chase had become an expert.

Phase one of his plan was complete.

de·ceive /dəˈsēv/

verb

to mislead by a false appearance or statement; delude

Attacking Marcus: Before the Showdown

Of course, he had started the first phase of his plan about a year before the 'Avalanche Incident', when he'd done a quick scan and realized that their new friend Marcus wasn't human at all.

He had attacked Marcus one day after school and completed a check on the android's memory. He had been both surprised and delighted with the discovery that Mr. Davenport had an assumed-dead brother who was, in fact, not dead at all and was going to capture them and take the rest of their family out.

Chase wasn't worried about that whole 'the rest of our family is going to die' thing. So long as he had an ally who could make bionics, that was fine—he didn't care who died.

He quickly repaired Marcus—his plan could only kick off if the android was still operational—and continued on his way.

That was the beginning of his plan, which gradually grew, as all plans do. He ended with a full plan, one which ended with more power than anyone could imagine.

Douglas was the next step, and Douglas would complete phase one.

hood·wink /ˈho͝odˌwiNGk/

verb

deceive or trick (someone)

Glitch in the Plan: Part I

He thought it was obvious that he wanted more power, more recognition. He wanted to be the most powerful, to rub it in their faces, to overpower them.

But apparently it wasn't obvious. None of his siblings seemed to notice the darkness that had always been in him—then again, he'd always been a rather good actor when it had come to things like that. And it's not like he wanted them to figure it out before he could enact his plan.

Marcus had to find the lab, Chase decided. So he had it all carefully planned. The next time there was a mission alert, he would lure everyone out and direct the android downstairs—all in secret, of course.

Chase honestly didn't see the whole 'mission-in-space' thing coming, but he took it in stride. Marcus ended up finding the lab anyway, and Leo wasn't about to stop him. Everything went smoothly… until Adam got stuck in space.

(No, no, that can't happen.)

Because Chase needed Adam's chip for his plan to work. It had to be in a living human body, and said body containing the chip was about to be smashed to smithereens.

Thankfully, Chase's new ability came in handy, Adam's chip was saved, and Chase could finally breathe again.

se·cret /ˈsēkrit/

noun

something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others

Android's Chip

Marcus's chip wasn't necessary, but Chase wanted them for his… upgrade. Since it wasn't exactly a normal bionic chip, it wouldn't work in the overall plan, but he could definitely use a boost.

The night the android died, Chase snuck back to the collapsed lair and salvaged the chip, making a copy before returning the chip to the mangled remains of the android. He had a feeling it was what needed to happen for the future—and his hunches were generally correct.

He didn't swap out Marcus's chip with is own—Davenport would notice the difference for sure—but he hid it in a safe place where he could go back for it.

He was going to want it soon enough.

betrayal /bɪˈtreɪəl/

verb

to hurt (someone who trusts you, such as a friend or relative) by not giving help or by doing something morally wrong

Avalanche Incident: Part II

When Chase got stuck in that avalanche, he really was trying to get cytanium for Mr. Davenport to make his planned betrayal hurt for him even worse—but he also was getting some for himself. He was already three months behind on his project, there was no time to waste.

And then Douglas showed up when he got stuck. Douglas showed him how his siblings abandoned him.

Any trace of doubt Chase still had concerning his plans to betray them—which wasn't much, honestly—vanished. (They've brought this upon themselves.)

Chase honestly considered joining Douglas, he really did. But he ultimately decided that it wouldn't work out in the long run. Douglas, being a normal inferior human, would want to control everything. Chase couldn't have that. He lured Douglas to the lab, and fortunately, Leo brought the freeze ray down. So Chase froze his biological father.

(Double-cross, triple-cross… quadruple, even. How long would this go on? As long as it took.)

Chase had his cytanium, the competition was out of the way, and he had his family's trust. It was all his.

But he wasn't done yet—not even close.

escape /əˈskāp/

verb

break free from confinement or control

Run, Chase, Run

Perry learned their secret. The government would soon be hunting them down—or not. Chase knew what Davenport would do. He knew what lengths his adoptive father would go to in trying to keep them 'safe'—in other words, hidden; locked up.

Chase also had known days before that Douglas had escaped, but he hadn't tell anyone because he had known what Douglas would do. They had to be in danger, all of them. The lab had to get blown up for the chain reaction Chase had set to be set off.

Chase had it all figured out.

plot /plät/

noun

a plan made in secret by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful

Time Between The Villain and Phase Two

It was pure and utter torture waiting so long. Chase was forced to wait for an entire year. A year was what stood between him and the next phase of his plan. But it was worth it. He had some time to fix and perfect any holes left in his grand scheme. He was the smartest man alive, he knew he had some time to spare.

un·fore·seenˌ/ənfôrˈsēn/

adjective

not anticipated or predicted

Glitch in the Plan: Part II

Chase wanted to break them. That was the truth. He wanted them to build up their strength only for it to be snatched away from them, because if that happened, it would only make him more powerful. So he pushed Bree in just the right way, and everything he wanted to happened.

Bree smashed her chip. Just like that, she was a normal human, as useless as Leo.

No, Chase did not want her to lose her bionics permanently. She was necessary, after all. But he needed to show them that they were not invincible. And he figured that Davenport would be able to fix her chip in no time.

That was his mistake.

He hadn't thought about what might happen if Davenport couldn't fix her chip. The billionaire was always bragging about how genius he was, and in doing so, Chase had been lead to believe that Bree's chip could be fixed. Chase didn't know how. He knew how to copy chips, like he did with Marcus's, but not how to create a completely new one.

His plan was almost ruined right there and then, but fortunately, Leo saved the day. Leo, of all people! So maybe he wasn't as useless as Chase thought. Leo somehow managed to get Douglas to come over and, after quite a few failed fixes, he actually succeeded.

Chase wasn't acting when Bree's chip was restored—his plans were saved. He could stand to celebrate.

bide /bīd/

verb

remain or stay somewhere

What One Year Will Do

Many more things had happened, things even Chase couldn't have foreseen. It threw off his plans a bit, but he figured it all out soon enough. He just had to wait a little longer.

Douglas was good now—that could be used to his advantage for sure. Krane was still out there—okay, that wasn't so much of a problem, either. Leo was bionic now—that improved his plan, even. Most importantly, the world knew about them.

He kept up the act, and he knew that he fooled the entire world. The world trusted him to save them—and Chase was going to turn the tables. He knew exactly what he was going to do, he just had to wait it out a little.

mur·der /ˈmərdər/

noun

the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another

Ashes to Ashes

Once Krane was blasted away, Chase felt an incredible rush of energy. He knew exactly what it was—the plan Douglas came up with? Chase… tweaked it. The insurmountable power constantly streaming from Krane was absorbed into the blast, in turn flowing into Chase. He may or may not have siphoned some of Adam and Bree's energy, too… along with the rest of the soldiers. Oh, who was he kidding, he totally did, and he was proud of it!

And when he enacted his plan, this moment, the first act of murder performed by him, would remind them of everything he did. After all, he was controlling Adam and Bree, so he was the one responsible for Krane's death.

(Krane's power was his—all his.)

so·ci·o·path /ˈsōsēōˌpaTH/

noun

a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in a lack of conscience

Someone to Manipulate

After the Bionic Academy was established, and Chase looked through the security features, he came to the conclusion that it could be brought down fairly easily. The way to do that, however, was to get someone else to test the waters first. His target was easy to chose: Sebastian.

First off, Sebastian had a crush on Bree, and she liked him back—that was too obvious—so it would destroy her when he turned. Second, Sebastian was powerful. He was ranked highly, and he he had connections to other powerful students. Best of all, Sebastian held grudges.

So Chase told Sebastian the story. Not the full story, of course, but the version that would turn him.

It worked.

Chase acted, like he always did. He unlocked an ability for Sebastian and purposefully left the computer open so Sebastian could unlock them all. He set everything up, initiated lockdown, trapped Davenport and Perry into the hydroloop.

Once again, Chase indirectly proved that the Davenport family was not invincible. They could be defeated. Fortunately for his plan, they weren't defeated. That wasn't the point. The point was that he saw their weaknesses, their reluctance to fight a friend. Imagine fighting a brother.

Another point was that he got three more chips to use in his final plan.

in·vin·ci·ble /inˈvinsəb(ə)l/

adjective

too powerful to be defeated or overcome

Returning Like Perry's Rashes

S-1 returned—seriously, it seemed like every time they got rid of her, she kept coming back, like one of Perry's rashes. But then again, the more power Chase could gather in one place, the more power the final step would release.

But it all worked out. They successfully used her hazy memories to destroy the chip virus—which Chase was furious with himself for not seeing—and everything was back on track. S-1 was enrolled as a bionic student, and she was regaining trust from everyone. Surprisingly, Leo was the first friend she made.

More stuff happened—Douglas' ex-girlfriend, Giselle, came to destroy them. Daniel, who was apparently Chase's long-lost brother, returned. Everyday life of a bionic human.

Eventually, S-1 chose a new name, a new identity—Chase could relate. There were so many times he'd wanted to be free of who he was—a teacher, a hero, a brother… he wanted it all to go away. He didn't want to be a teacher, he didn't want to be a hero, he didn't want to be a brother. It was all too complicated and tiring, but he had to hold on for a little longer.

So S-1—sorry, Taylor—created a new bionic team headed by Leo after the boy was jealous about an award. It only heightened Chase's contempt for him, and at last, he couldn't hold in the bitterness any longer. Chase's solid wood block of sanity chipped, just a little bit. He snapped at Leo, told him he was worthless and useless and that he would never be as famous or powerful or great as they were.

He hadn't intended to drive Leo out of the Academy like that, but hey, it worked—after Leo did something really stupid to prove himself and ended up permanently blinding Taylor. Leo quit. And it was perfect, until they went to the awards ceremony and almost fell off a bridge. Leo came back and saved them—and Chase hated himself for feeling a smudge of appreciation for how Leo refused to leave him.

Chase decided to let Leo stay… for the time being.

de·ci·sion /dəˈsiZHən/

noun

a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration.

Penultimate

Davenport created a Space Colony—Chase was a little hurt, but okay, fine. What really ticked him off was that when they got there, things began going wrong almost immediately, and then the worst possible thing happened: Krane returned.

No, no, no! Chase needed him gone. Another bionic human to compete with just wouldn't work. Krane was supposed to be gone—Chase felt cheated. Spike threatened to show right then, but Chase knew that he needed calm, cool intellect and forced the app down. Brute force was always nice, but there were times where brains are better than brawn.

Unfortunately, Krane wasn't alone. He recruited a man named Gao, who made liquid bionics. (Nuh-uh, no! Not fair, not fair at all!) Fortunately, Leo grabbed a giant blaster and destroyed the remaining liquid bionics, though not before Chase managed to snag a single vial. (Yep, definitely going to use this.)

They escaped the planet with the colonists, leaving an unmasked Krane for dead. On the way, Gao snuck in and managed to use the Triton App on Leo, and Chase was so, so tempted to end things for Leo right then and there—but he didn't. There were remnants of power left in the boy's system, and Chase would be sure to get it all out. So they just captured him instead.

So everything was fine—the colonists were safe, Gao was captured, Krane was dead. But… he didn't die.

Chase decided right then and there that he was the only powerful one, he was the only bionic human who would survive. Krane was but a pawn in his game, and pawns were meant to be sacrificed. Chase ended him.

Later on, Adam almost died in space—again—but he didn't, thanks to Chase's planning and backseat driving.

Chase had everything he needed—he was ready to go.

des·pot /ˈdespət/

noun

a ruler or other person who holds absolute power, typically one who exercises it in a cruel or oppressive way.

Finality

One more adventure— just one more. Giselle was back, but Chase wasn't worried at all. Last time, she believed she'd captured him. No, he gave himself up so he could get information about her technology.

This time, however, she kidnapped every single student, and Chase's plan wouldn't work without them. He had to get them back.

The rescue effort didn't go so well. Daniel, Douglas' son, lead them into a trap—but it wasn't Daniel at all, it was Marcus. Yes, that Marcus. He was a new and improved android, with the original chip Chase had left behind. He knocked them out and stuck them in a metal-walled room. A room where bionic chips went to die.

Their chips were destroyed, along with Chase's plan.

(No, please, I've spent so much time, so much time…)

But Leo's bionics were intact—Chase hated that so much—and he got them out of there. Fortunately, they won in the end—Giselle was dead, and their chips were replaced.

They went back to the island, and Chase set his plan into motion.

"Do you see now?" Chase asked. "Do you see your own foolishness, the ridiculousness of your inexplicable, unwavering faith in me? Do you see how that faith destroyed you?"

"I see how you lied," Bree replied, defiantly raising her chin. "I see how you lied to us for years and years. Your crazy. You're sick. You're a sociopath."

"I knew you would say that," Chase said, faking a sigh of disappointment. "Bree, Bree, you never see the bigger picture, do you?"

Leo suddenly blinked, as if he'd come to a startling conclusion. "He wants our power… All of it."

"Correct!" Chase spun around, smiling as if he was a teacher handing a student a perfect quiz. "That's exactly what I want, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"But won't it hurt?" Adam asked, sounding much younger than he actually was.

Chase turned on him, eyes suddenly wild. "Did you ever care about how much you hurt me when you tossed me around all those years? Did you ever care how much I was hurting? No, you didn't! You're a coward, and you're going to pay for that!" He marched over to a nearby console, raising his hand to hit a button.

They all cried out at once.

"Wait, no!"

"Chase, please!"

"Stop!"

Too late. His hand came down on the console, and the chains binding the three defeated heroes began to glow an even brighter purple.

"You'll begin to slowly feel your power draining from your body until you are nothing but a withered corpse," Chase said calmly, as if it wasn't a totally insane thing to say. "The energy you release will act as a magnet, pulling in the abilities from the former soldiers, as well. I have chips stolen from multiple bionic people—Marcus, Sebastian, Lexi, Tank. I'm combining it all to create one mega-chip that has every ability and will never burn out. And I will have all of your power!" He kept his hand on the button, and his hand began to glow with a purple light—the energy of his fallen siblings.

"Chase…" Bree gasped, slowly sinking towards the ground. "You don't have to do this, please. You're still in there, we can help you! Please, Chase. Please. You're my baby brother, I can save you!"

For a moment—just a split second, really—Chase looked like he might listen. He looked like he might turn back into the Chase they'd always known. He looked like the kid he was.

Then he looked away. "I have to do this," he whispered. "Only I can save me now."

If someone were standing on the shore, facing the island, they would have seen the wave of purple energy that was released into the air, miles high. But no one did see. No one saw it coming. No one realized that the boy who was a hero, one of mankind's saviors, was heading right to them.

He was coming, and nothing would stop him.

So... good, bad, mediocre? I'd love to hear your thoughts!