Kayden


-2:43:03

She was finishing up on her current client's papers after discussions had gradually ceased. It looked like she had a good buyer on her hands, one that to her eyes would allow for a lot more money to get into her pocket. Thankfully she had not been pressed on any upcoming bills lately and if anything, the money in her bank was slowly but surely going to be enough soon for her and Aster to have the means to leave the city. It would take more months and hard work of course to get to the point of reaching such a goal…

But if it meant for the safety of her baby girl and being away from her former life, then she would take it. There were other issues attached of course to that plan, namely that she had no feasible way yet to beat her ex-husband out in court due to how deep his pockets went but that was a problem for another day…

Now, she just needed to relax and be laid back for the rest of the day after such a successful meeting with a client. Ascending the stairs she was already excited and relieved that it ended the way it did as she walked up to her apartment's front door and opened it with her keys.

Immediately she was greeted with the cozy but simple atmosphere of her little home.

Oh, she missed being in a mansion, to have all of the comforts that being rich had, but it was not important in the grand scheme of things. What was important to her was Aster, and even with all the things she did in her double life as a Parahuman, she would trade anything in the world just to keep her safe and sound.

To have her have a normal life for once. Away from all the chaos and destruction.

Away from all the noise brought about by her… affiliations.

Did she have regrets about her life when she joined said affiliations? Perhaps. Guilt was never much of a thing for her when she did all of those things to… enemies in both spirit and identity, but her priorities immediately turned and shifted when her baby was brought into this world.

She wishes to turn her life around from that phase of herself. From that history that brought about all the wrong and blood in her hands.

She was not sure if she could, or if her own baby would forgive her someday for such atrocities, but that would not detract from her goal and mission in life which was to give her a future.

"Theo! Are you still here?" she said aloud through the hallway as she heard the sounds of their television being turned on. She took out her phone and saw that the damn thing still had no signal and was malfunctioning as much as other people did but she assumed that Theo had put on one of the many discs they had of movies and shows that she enjoyed.

Still, the sounds of the television seemed akin to static before abruptly turning off completely in the process as an audible groan was heard out aloud.

"S-Sorry Kayden! The TV's still down I'm afraid." The young man said as Kayden watched through the doorway of her apartment's living room. She smiled the moment she saw Theo holding his sister in his hands while she sipped on her bottle of milk. With the state of the room around them and with how messy the crib was, she assumed they had fun.

"Hey…" she said with a grin.

"We uh, she wanted to play with me." Aster started to coo in his arms when her little eyes saw Kayden. Her small arms reached for her mother as Theo stood up carrying the child and walking to his surrogate stepmother. "Little rascal had too much energy to the point she got tired pretty fast."

Both giggled in unison at the act as Theo gently transferred the little girl into her mother's arms.

"You won't believe how many sleepless nights I try to survive just getting her to lay down and sleep in her crib. Sometimes I think she just wants the attention… or that she wants to sleep next to me on the bed." She said with a proud loving smile as the girl's fingers took hold of her own.

"Sounds like a handful."

"Pfft… your father said the same when you were young you know." Kayden said in a jest…

Only for the mood to abruptly change when she saw Theo frown a bit.

"Right."

She instantly felt guilty. Placing a hand on his shoulder she squeezed him caringly to make him feel better. The boy looked up to her and smiled, albeit still strained. She was about to say something different at first but an idea sprung in her head.

"What about you stay for the night? I'm sure Aster would love to play more with his little brother." She offered as the boy's mood perked up.

"Really? But… I don't want to be a burden or anything."

She felt herself grin as she shook her head at his remark.

"Theo… you will never be a burden, especially to me. You're like a son to me already in all respects. I don't think I would mind at all having you around more with your sister. You're probably the person I trust best to be in her care right now." She said with genuine honesty in her words as she patted the boy's head.

He was nearing her own height in the process, and he was still growing but even if the boy went out of his way on whatever choice he would take in life, she would always trust him.

He was nothing like his father. He was far too different.

She was even confident in saying that he was better than her, which is why there was a soft spot for him in her heart. The kind that would always trust him despite everything.

"T-Thank you… Kayden. I appreciate that."

She then leaned on the top of his head and gave him a small kiss.

"You are welcome…" she said as she felt Aster coo as if in agreement. " So… does that mean you're staying?"

"I don't think Dad has anything planned for me tonight. He… uh, I think he's going to be busy with a meeting." Theo said and she instantly knew what the boy was implying.

She frowned at that small tidbit of information, but at the same time, it was nothing surprising.

The damn, yellow-skinned chink of a Dragon was mobilizing lately to enlarge his territory and she knew that it was only time when Max would respond. It was then that her decision to keep Theo here was confirmed to be better, as it was far away from any neighborhood that harbored any Asian or ABB-affiliated turf so any fighting would be far away from their current position.

Far enough away that they would all have a peaceful night.

She did not need to come out later as Purity again. She needed the rest and the day off.

"I see. Then I suppose I have to cook dinner." She said before realizing that her refrigerator had very little food in it left. It was okay if it was just her and Aster because she would just eat some of the leftover salad in her fridge while her milk would still last tomorrow, but with Theo here she needed to change strategies.

Holding the baby tighter in her arms she looked at Theo.

"Is the landline still down?" she asked as the boy started to clean the mess that they made earlier.

"I was dropped here by one of Dad's associates, but I haven't checked."

"Hm." She started walking towards the nearest phone in her kitchen but as soon as she put it by her ear, there was literally no dial tone nor any sound that came from it. The power was still on thankfully, as well as one of the simpler appliances but it was strange that they were all working as if the electricity coming from the lines were weaker than usual.

This was something she noticed far back when she met her client a few hours ago and according to the many people she walked by outside, it was as if there was a pseudo-blackout with anything related to electronics and such.

She hummed in disappointment, knowing that she would not be able to get them take-out but after looking at the clock and what time it currently was, she came to a final decision on what to do.

"Theo, were you able to see any Groceries open today when you headed here?"

"Um… I think Jerry's was open, I didn't notice much of the others though since most of the shops seem closed."

Jerry's was about a block away from here she thought, as she started to think about what to buy aside from the necessities.

"Alright, I think I'll fix something up when I come back later…" she said as she felt Aster coo at her.

Her baby had finished her bottle and was now starting to look sad as if she coincidentally knew that she was going to leave again. She sighed with a slight smile as she gently took the bottle off of her lips and kissed the top of her head.

Her baby girl was just too precious. Refusing her was almost impossible.

"Theo…" she called.

"Yeah?" the boy said as he looked at the doorway.

"You okay on being alone for a few minutes while we get some food?"


-02:18:39

Her little girl was giggling as she looked at the sights around her. She was thankful that the store was still open despite the difficulties that the rest of the city had, but she also kind of felt intimidated at how long the lines were at the payment counters.

Due to the machines glitching out the staff had to do with a much more simpler means of getting everybody's transactions done.

Of course, Kayden was not yet finished filling her current cart given the long list that she had in her head, but she was starting to feel a lot more annoyed that she did not consider a second option for their coming dinner. She hoped Theo would wait for a few minutes at home because with how long the lines were, it was going to take a while.

Thankfully, her little girl who was riding on the cart made the experience a lot brighter than it previously was. Moving down the aisles just made her heart spark in joy when her little girl looked in amazement at the things that she was seeing.

That pure, innocent quality of her child just made her day twice over already.

Reaching out towards a box of ready-made pancake mix she was suddenly bumped by a presence on her left that then skidded on the tiled floor before her.

"Hey, watch it!" she shouted with a bit of anger as she saw that it was a young girl barely older than her Aster that tripped due to bumping into her.

The girl quickly dusted herself off and stood up to look at her and bow in apology.

"S-Sorry ma'am."

Kayden suddenly shifted where she stood as she saw what the girl was as well as the gesture that was given to her.

"Kiana! What did I tell you about running around places like this?" a voice said near her as Kayden turned and saw what she assumed to be the girl's mother.

"I'm sorry ma'am… my child, she is clumsy." The woman said as she apologized to her while holding her daughter's hand. Kayden blinked as she saw the two before her.

The mother was shorter by her a bit and sported what she assumed to be the type that a middle-class single mother would wear as she held onto her grocery basket.

But what stood out to Kayden was the fact that the two were…

those people….

The girl even repeated her apology in what she assumed to be Chinese… or Korean, or whatever kind of language they spoke as the mother apologetically smiled in her direction.

"I apologize again, ma'am. She's just very energetic you know."

"Yes… I guess so." She said, her tone and voice being flat.

There was an awkward pause in their interaction until Aster laughed to break the stillness.

Kayden turned her head towards where Aster was who was laughing and giggling with the little girl that bumped her earlier. She stopped to think for a moment as she saw her little girl enjoy herself with this… the unknown girl that she just met just seconds ago.

Kayden convinced herself to take a subtle deep breath.

"They're precious, aren't they? Makes you want to forget all of the exhaustion and problems as soon as you see those smiles on their faces." She heard the mother of the girl say as Kayden remained quiet.

The two girls continued to interact as Aster laughed at the slightly older girl's attempt at making funny faces. A part of Kayden just wanted to leave at that very moment. A very old part of her cast by her prior history just wanted to be out of these people's hair as the feeling of discomfort just ebbed within her. It was just unfortunate that this was a public place and any notion of doing anything to supplant that itch within her was going to make it all the more harder for her and her baby to get out of their current situation in life.

"How old is yours? Mine is barely 4." The mother continued to say in an attempt at a conversation.

A conversation Kayden was not keen on continuing. "Hm." She hummed dryly as the woman perked up and understood the air around them.

"Oh! I apologize again for prying ma'am. But you have a lovely daughter, and we wish you both a good day." The woman apologetically said as she took her daughter's hand and started to walk away from them, only to stop when said daughter looked back at her baby girl and waved goodbye.

Aster reciprocated the farewell much to Kayden's discomfort as she returned to the item that she needed to get from the aisle.

She managed to breathe a sigh of relief as the two walked away from them. Looking at the products that were on the shelf she started to compare them as she wished for her those thoughts of hers earlier to vanish as quickly as they appeared.

She did not need them that day. She did not need another reminder of her prior self being a Parahuman being shoved in with all the dalliances and bias intact. She intended to change for the better.

Yet, seeing those people still irked her. A large part of her still did not care about them.

Nor if she could at all even.

The mixture of thoughts caused her to pause for a moment as she stared at the two boxes of pancake mix in hand absently while never realizing that Aster was uncomfortably moving on her spot in the cart.

"Uwouuu… Mhmmm." Aster moaned.

It was too late for her to notice when she felt something crawl on the back of her palm before appearing right there on her hands.

Kayden screamed as she threw the box to the floor the surprisingly large spider lunged towards the shelf, avoiding the fall…

"What the hell?!" Kayden intoned as she took a step back, only to gawk in horror when through the box that she threw on the floor, ants and various other bugs started to come out from the boxes in droves and numbers. She screamed as they all crawled along the floor in rapid succession when she heard Aster cry out aloud in fear and horror.

The once quiet and peaceful setting of the grocery store suddenly erupted into a cascading cacophony of screams and the emerging sound of a thousand insects and bugs rapidly emerging from every nook and cranny of the building.

Aster's screams filled most of Kayden's ears as the rapidly expanding number of vermin now came out from everywhere. She tried stepping on them and doing her best to get them away but as Aster continued to wail in pure terror, she then saw in horror that their groceries…

Even the ones that had no food in them started to open up in a fierce mixture of ripping sounds and cries of various bugs in the air as they erupted out of their seemingly demented coffins. She saw within seconds that the fruits and meats she bought started to turn into a visceral image of a time-lapsed rotting experiment as more of the horrifying abominations started to explode from various orifices.

Kayden quickly grabbed Aster into her arms as she tried to swat the sounds and smells of various horrible scents of rot and trash while flies of different kinds started to fill the air.

She felt her skin light up and started to flare to emit a burst of light that would give a reprieve… but she was stopped instantly when Aster's cries overpowered even that of the chaos. Kayden realized much to her horror that even if she wanted to… her baby was in her arms and any destruction she would wreak could inexplicably harm her.

"FUCK!" she cursed in the air as everywhere as far as her eyes could see bugs were infesting and tormenting the various people in the store as their screams and cries were drowned against the ocean of vermin coming at them like an unyielding storm.

"MAMA!" she heard against the chaos as Kayden saw the mother and daughter earlier trying to hold each other in fear as the tiled floor now swarming with insects was trying to surround them like a tidal wave about to drown them in it.

Kayden could not care less about that stupid sight as she ran with Aster in her arms until she felt the little girl beset by the insects grab onto her leg in fear after being momentarily separated from her mother due to the chaos.

Kayden sneered with an intense glare as the useless waste of a girl started crying upward to her as the Mother who was now standing up from the mess joined her. Kayden held onto one of the aisles as they let the sea of insects wash over them while the mother and child clung to the same aisle next to her as they all horrifyingly watched the panicking number of bodies that tried running at the exit of the store in a vain effort of getting away from the madness.

Multiple people were trampling over each other, some already drowned by the excess number of insects as the delirious sounds of panic and terror joined the chaos like a demented choir of hollow souls lost in time. Kayden continued to hear Aster cry out in pure and utter horror as if her voice was about to give out at any second due to exhaustion as she covered her baby's eyes at what they were seeing.

Especially since against the trampled madness, multiples unmoving bodies were not on the floor bathed in blood before being overtaken by the vermin completely. There was just violence all around as the people who desperately tried to get out were now ironically making a wall of bodies to clog against the exit, wide enough as it was.

What made it even worse was the fact that through the haze being thick enough as it was, all the lights in the store were now failing one by one…

Each light source turning off audibly like drums joining in on the symphony for the dead.

Until darkness overtook the entire building as Kayden held onto her baby tight against the rumbling pandemonium. They were now tucking each other in with the aisle that they were holding onto as multiple skittering vermin crawled and washed over them like a rapidly bustling river of doom that seemed never-ending.

She placed a hand on her baby's mouth to try and stop them from harming her as the child continued to sob in tears. Kayden closed her eyes as the nuisance of a mother and child did the same next to her, tucking into her like she was their lifeline…

She wanted to use her power, wanting to escape from this hellhole and get her baby away from it all, but due to the confusion and how overwhelmed her senses were, as well as the fragility of Aster's presence in her arms, she could no longer think straight.

Everything was just full of loud, unending noises as she prayed for it all to stop.

Kayden did not even realize that she was starting to tear up unconsciously due to the fear erupting from her due to the fear of Aster's safety.

It did not help that against the already loud cacophony of noises there were voices amongst them singing and chanting.

"~Oberon. King Oberon demands Absolution! ~"

"~Hail Oberon. Hail His Majesty! ~"

"~Call out his name, Oberon! His words be the truth, Oberon! ~"

They were all repeating over and over again in the course of an untold number of minutes as the pandemonium around them just seemingly did not cease.

Kayden continued to hold tight, her arms already straining from holding on as she felt her tears now staining her neck and chest as she held Aster close. Her baby's cries were no longer heard but she kept her close while the nuisance of a girl holding to her with her mother continued to cry in defeat as if they were all going to die.

Kayden was not into that mindset at all unfortunately, she would do her damnest to get Aster out of there, even if it was going to ruin everything after. She was determined…

But the unending sea of vermin continued to cascade around them as she felt the building rumble. It was then she realized that this was not just happening here…

It was everywhere

And whatever was causing such rumblings and sounds akin to thunder or explosions outside meant that this was bigger than anything she had experienced thus far.

It was like…

It was like an Endbringer had arrived pre-emptively in Brockton Bay.

Or better yet, an Endbringer had awakened in Brockton Bay.

She continued to feel her tears wetting her cheeks as she held her baby close, tighter than anything before her as her instincts blared at her at full force to protect her young.

It went on and on…

Her eyes eventually closed as the sobs and screams around them continued.

It was just never-ending, and Kayden wanted to wish, to whoever was listening up above, for everything to stop.

She begged, but nobody would answer.

Kayden felt herself blink as something was skittering on her face. She swatted it off weakly as she opened her eyes. Her chest was heaving for shallow breaths as the heavy feeling of terror did not subside yet.

However, as her vision cleared, the anxiety in her head started to ebb away bit by bit when she saw that the haze of vermin had calmed down and their numbers dwindled by a half. No longer was the air heavy with that thick, impenetrable atmosphere and the sounds of the insects were no longer as prominent as they once were.

What remained, however, were the sounds of harrowing sobs and cries as voices of people around them that were in many states of despair. She clung Aster close to her body reflexively as she slowly started to stand up. The only light source that was present was that of the entrance through the broken glass windows…

And it cast a gloomy, perpetually depressive, and traumatic atmosphere that would eclipse everything that Kayden had ever experienced even in the days of her Cape life.

Each sob and cry heard in the air was echoing around her that only increased the oppressive doom and hopelessness of the situation. Kayden slowly stood up and while shivering, she looked around at how devastating the aftermath was…

And the untold number of peaceful shoppers on the floor that were now all pale and unmoving.

She started to walk in any direction that would rid her of this place as she unknowingly did not notice that the mother and child behind her followed closely hand in hand.

Kayden was never an empathetic person, but the images around her were just too much.

The perpetual cries and sobs… the bodies, the number of people shouting outside, and just the awful landscape of the carnage around her. She did not even notice that she was shaking as she held onto Aster for her dear life.

Moments later they slowly walked out of the grocery store against the pile of bodies stacked there when they were finally able to see what was happening outside.

She could hear the kid clinging to her pants alongside her mother crying again as Kayden just looked in near apathy at what she was seeing.

"We're going to be okay… w-we're going to be okay…" she heard beside her as they took in what was happening.

Fires were all around them across many buildings. Destruction of various kinds caused by panic and hysteria was present as far as her eyes could see. The streets were filled with bodies as paramedics, authority figures, and mourning civilians continued to cry in infamy.

Then an explosion made the ground rumble where they stood as the familiar sight of a metal dragon multiple blocks away was blowing fire against the mass of insects that were still around them.

They dissipated enough that Kayden could see much more clearly but hordes of them were still skittering and flying towards a direction around them like an exodus of sorts.

Aster was quiet.

Kayden continued to hold her baby in her arms as she continued to take in the scene around her.

Her mind drifted to Theo as panic now started to return to her head.

But her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a voice cut through the air.

"EVERYONE! EVACUATE TOWARDS THE DOCKS! ENDBRINGER PROTOCOLS ARE NOW IN EFFECT! YOU MUST ALL RUN TO THE DOCKS!"

A man zipped around them which Kayden recalled as being the hero Velocity.

It seems electricity and anything electronic were no longer working as cars were left there with no ability to start. The hero continued to run and scream around him as people started to move against the somewhat calming chaos…

Until something happened that would freeze everybody in place.

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. ~"

A low but eerie cry pierced through the air as Kayden, and everybody present watched in the realization that the mass of insects around them was singing like a choir with their soft but uncanny voices that seemed to allude to something.

"Mama…" the girl beside her said in fear as a collective shiver emerged throughout the populace.

-1:17:22

Everyone's eyes turned upwards as the insects continued to sing.

The mass of insects that flew towards the direction of their conglomerated exodus had now reached their apex.

Instinct and reflex were nearly silent as the emotion present across the city was united against one thing as the sky darkened completely…

A shadow covered the entire city like a blanket of the Apocalypse as something emerged from the mass of vermin across the far horizon that was accumulated into this.

The voices of the insects around them were silenced as the sky was no longer seen. The overwhelming sensations of any emotion were raised twofold as every person present could not fathom or understand what they were seeing.

The scale…

The pure and utter insanity and inconceivable nature of it all just made everyone gawk in disbelief as if the human brain could no longer process the information being fed into it.

How could they describe it?

It was… a darkened mass with rough, rotten tree-like appendages for wings as it flew(?), levitated(?), there that dwarfed any creature or entity that the human race had ever seen.

But the most prominent feature disregarding the impossible length and width of the entire thing was the maw...

Or better yet, the hole or abyss that was so dark and unending that finally dread settled in with each and every person present.

Kayden felt many people run around her but many or most of them still gawked at the sheer unprecedented and almost fictional quality of the impossibility they were seeing.

Then the impossibly large maw...

Roared to life.

OOOWOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH!

Nobody would have noticed it, but it was not just the maw that roared to life, but each and every insect across the world, not just in Brockton Bay, had released such an awe-inspiring but sinister guttural sound that would stun the human race in the process.

Many would see it across miles away…

Many would find themselves in pure and utter fear at the sheer impossibility of it all across countries or continents away…

But to Brockton Bay, as soon as that demented and guttural roar of the end spoke towards its population, what came after made everybody deaf just to the loudness of the impossibly large maw.

Kayden held her ears, they rang in full as no longer were there any sounds that came into it.

It was just ringing as each, and every person stunned completely by the ordeal was not ready for what came next.

Kayden's haze was suddenly interrupted by the sensation of gravity being violated.

The sensation of falling was felt as everybody fell to the ground amidst the ringing of their ears.

She then tried to clear her vision as fear and panic overtook her completely when she saw that everything was falling in towards the maw despite the direction it was opened to.

Kayden clung to her panic and was starting to slide along the street until she clung her arms towards a nearby pole. She felt the sensation of an arm grabbing onto her foot as she saw the mother and child clinging onto her in dear life.

They were screaming as buildings, materials, cars, and people fell in towards the impossibly large maw. Nothing was spared, even the ground beneath them as inch by inch in quick succession, the city of Brockton Bay was falling into the hole.

Kayden screamed as she tightly held Aster in her arms while seeing the mother clinging to her child beg to her that she take her child with her…

Everything was just falling around them as the block before them was now starting to be uprooted Kayden saw the crying and innocent sobs of the child clinging to her foot.

Panic and pure utter desperation clung to her senses as she violently kicked the child that was holding her foot into the void. The last that she would see of them was their screaming forms reaching out to her.

But her ears were still ringing.

Kayden pulled herself forward with what remaining strength there was left in her arms as she activated her powers after being repressed for so long due to her fear and emotions and sped away from the devastation.

Her ears were still fucking ringing.

She flew as fast as she can, as fast as she had never been before as everything around her continued to fall into the abyss until her concentration was ruined when a stray object hit her at full velocity…

It violently flung her off course… until she felt herself land on a dilapidated building near the docks.

Kayden quickly sat up, but despite the adrenaline and determination, she felt many bones break from the fall. Her ears were still deaf as she tried to stand up.

She immediately looked at Aster to see if she was alright…

But, she was-

She was….

Kayden did not know if it was the silence brought about by her deafness of something else, but it was only there that she felt herself wail in despair when she looked at Aster.

No…

No… why? Why it'd have to be her?

She was shaking in pure sadness and despair as she shakingly stroked the hair of her baby.

She screamed while sobbing, but she could not hear it…

She could hear nothing as she embraced the chilling and pale remains of her baby.

The only good thing left in her world.

Kayden cursed and cried out into the air as silence permeated her ears amidst the receding ringing.

Her lungs could no longer support her pain as untold minutes or seconds passed by.

Until she felt nothing else after when the world around her fell

-58:01


AN: Expect more POV chapters around Brockton Bay. Mostly Villains in the next few.

Hope ya enjoyed hehe.