Carol

A flare of pain started to emanate on her cheek as pure and utter shock overwhelmed her senses.

She stared at the person who caused such pain as they both looked at each other.

Even if no words were shared, the fact alone that the young woman before her bore such an expression would scar her for life.

Carol did not care about the slap, nor how hard or painful it was given the nature of her daughter's powers, but the look on her face just tore open all the most painful memories that dragged her heart out into the gutter and stabbed it without pause. It was heavy…

Incomprehensible…

And worst of all, a pure resonating feeling of guilt and sorrow rolled into one.

Victoria was not even crying, her face just morphed into an unending semblance of shock, denial, and the most prominent one, disappointment. One that Carol was not privy to in a very long while, nor ever in her life.

Victoria was her daughter, her beautiful, perfect daughter that she protected and loved more than anything she had ever loved in the world. She was the jewel that kept her hoping even as the days grew sour and when the world seemingly was unkind. Victoria was her confirmation that she had done something good in the world.

Nothing eclipsed that feeling altogether, not even her oath of being a lawyer or being a hero.

Nor even the New Wave experiment that she and her family championed… which in some cases just floundered after Fleur.

No achievement in her life eclipsed the very day Carol heard Victoria's cries when she was born.

And ever since then, even if she considered and finally realized how terrible of a parent she was, her role as Victoria's mother was as normal and perfect as it could have ever been.

Now…

Seeing how she stood there silent, shaking, and turmoiled with so many emotions that they leaked out of her like a haze, made Carol once more see the truth about herself.

"Victoria…" Carol tried as she moved her hand towards her beloved daughter, hoping to reach her.

What merely happened was that Victoria just stepped away, remaining silent as her lips quickly opened and closed within seconds, hopelessly not finding the words to say back to her mother. To Carol, that was where she realized that it was futile.

Her own fingers began to curl on themselves to close back as Victoria finally had enough and quietly walked away, not even closing the door behind her as Carol watched her disappear. She stood there frozen as she watched the doorway, knowing deep in her heart that the possibility of reconciliation was, dare she say it, slim.

Improbable, even.

It was then that she found herself sniffing as a tear began to manifest in her left eye.

People often say that words when wielded with the most genuine form of hate or disdain could cut deeper than any knife within a person's heart. For Carol she found it to be the opposite when it came to what happened with her daughter…

The sheer silence alone and the weight that every unsaid word and emotion had just crushed her far more than any words would conjure in a single heated argument or confrontation.

In fact, Carol hoped Vicky had said something, anything at all just to make her understand or even comprehend what her daughter had been thinking. Yet, even if she hoped of such things, she already knew what the girl left unsaid, and it broke her more knowing that she did not even bother to tell her such things due to how pointless it would all be in the end.

Talking to Carol was not even worth it anymore and that was what stuck in her head.

"It sucks… doesn't it?" a painfully weak and haggard voice said as Carol found herself wiping her tear as she closed her lips on trying to say anything back. She then turns around and sees her sister Sarah, heavily wounded on the hospital bed as her eyes stare right back at her with an amount of intensity that she had never seen since Fleur's death.

"You… y-you heard everything I take it?" Carol asked, fearfully for the first time towards her loving, very patient sister who had more kindness and empathy towards others compared to herself. She was the voice of reason in the family and she was one that put family first, out of all of them.

To hear her haggard voice be that spiteful and venomous despite the dry tone within them just made the day worse.

"Yes," Sarah replied with nary a sentence further needed to elaborate on her feelings.

"L-Look… I'm not going to defend myself for the actions I took. I don't think I can if at all, b-but-

"But what? I lost my husband, Carol. I cried so hard for him that my tear ducts became dry as he sacrificed himself just to get me and Crystal out and now… just the implication alone from your little spat with my 'niece', just made me understand how it all came to be."

Sarah not mincing words nor even invoking a stutter from the entire delivery was something to be impressed by, given that she was debilitated, and the likelihood of her walking again was improbable, especially with Amy's death.

"Mark didn't know, huh?" she continued as she looked away, not wanting to meet her eyes.

"Sarah… I didn't-

"When was this? When did my loving, perfect, fucking husband, go behind my back just to comfort the goddamn perverted advances of my stupid, idiot sister?"

Sarah had forced herself to sit upright despite all the pain as her red, tired eyes spoke of every emotion needed to know at that very encounter. Carol was left aghast and in shock, as no words seemed to flow anymore in her defense.

"My God… it was all a goddamn lie. I always hoped for the best when it came to our family, but it's all been a goddamn joke wasn't it? Even from the very start."

"It… it wasn't."

Sarah didn't seem to hear her words that were next to a whisper as Carol saw her lay down on the bed, conflicting feelings within her as she tried to wipe her own tears.

"So, Mark was just there as window dressing? And Amy… my God, that poor girl. Why was I such a fool for not seeing it until it was too late?" Sarah said with guilt as she started to sob.

"I-I loved Mark. P-Please don't say those things, i-it was never a lie. I just… I just…"

A minute of pure silence rose between them as both sobbed for their own guilty consciousness.

Inevitably, Sarah broke it as she finally gave up and admitted defeat.

"Just… go."

"S-Sarah, I didn't mean to-

"Please. Just go. I don't want to sully the memory of the man I loved knowing that he betrayed me." Sarah said with such finality that it made Carol step back as her already heavy chest became heavier with each passing second.

"Sarah…"

"Don't you dare say his name. Y-You don't get to say it. You don't deserve to say it. Y-You don't deserve anything from me. Now please… leave."

Without any more words exchanged, Carol promptly left as quickly as she could as Sarah was left to her own devices. Both sisters cried in their own rights, but it was worse for Sarah at that very moment as every single memory of her husband was now tainted indefinitely, and as her daughter, Crystal peeked through the door in confusion after seeing Carol leave with tears on her face, the only action she took was to call her and pull her into a loving, painful embrace.

As for Carol, having nobody left to console her merely found herself going to the women's restroom and locking herself in one of the stalls.

She cried. Harder than ever before.

Knowing full well that there was nobody left to console her in her time of need.

She found herself drowning in her own tears as she recalled Amy and Mark's final moments.

Worst of all, seeing that look on Amy's face as if she had made a mistake saving her at the last minute just returned so many memories back to Carol's face as full-on realizations began to blossom anew in her broken heart.

It was an accident. She was hoping to save Mark. Not her.

But seeing now that she was alive, her sister crippled, her nephew dead, and her daughter was not even keen to meet her again, and that was when Carol thought that she truly did not deserve it.

She did not deserve to live this long.

She did not deserve to be saved the way she had barely an hour ago.

She was a mistake that kept on existing.

A mistake that would live the rest of her life knowing all of her misdeeds towards her family.

Even their movement, their ideal would barely be a footnote in the annals of history. A testament of insignificance, as much as her own life was.

It was… too much.

Too much as she continued to silently sob within one of the stalls. Alone.

At least it should have been, for a while longer when she heard a voice coming from the outside.

"Mrs. Dallon?" the voice inquired as Carol found herself to stop but she still wished to wallow in her own shit.

"G-Go away, please. I-I need time for myself."

"I… understand. However, please hear me out. This is for a matter of grave importance, and I'm afraid a representative of New Wave is hopefully there to attend it."

"Y-You already have probable t-testimonies from others in Brockton… Y-You don't need us." She painfully said.

"You don't understand Mrs. Dallon. This is not about Brockton."

Carol, despite her current pain, was confused by those words as she stood up from the stool and tried to wipe her face. She opened the door and saw the heroine, Miss Militia standing there with her mask off. The woman, seeing her distress just from her expressive eyes alone while she walked out looking worse for wear.

"I apologize. Immensely if need be. I didn't seem to see how much of a disaster this must have been for you and your family."

You don't know half of it… Carol mused as she nodded at the woman and went to the washing area of the restroom to try and clean herself. When she saw her reflection in the mirror it only served to make her vulnerable.

"Mrs. Dallon. Forgive me for intruding, if you don't see yourself or your family fit to attend the meeting then I will inform my superiors about it with as much consideration as possible." Miss Militia said in sympathy as Carol splashed water on her face.

"J-Just call me Carol." Because I don't deserve to be called anything else, really.

"Right, Carol. In that case, call me Hannah." Miss Militia promptly replied as Carol finished wiping her face with her handkerchief.

"W-What's going on?" she asked as she turned around finally to the woman.

Only to see that Miss Militia looked troubled.


Carol, with what focus was left in her head was utterly shocked and surprised at those in attendance. The rather large room looked horribly cramped with how many important people were present. Ranging from those in high positions in the government both Parahuman-based or non-Parahuman-based, as well as various Rogue organizations, teams, and to Carol's shock and surprise…

Criminal elements and their leaders. Not all of the big profile ones were in attendance of course, nor the most chaotic and horribly infamous ones that would prove catastrophic to the integrity of the meeting, yet the fact that they were here and at least to some extent posed no such threat to their counterparts showed the severity of the situation.

One that Carol gulped inwardly as she thought about those final moments in Brockton.

It was bad enough that what remained of her family had turned on her but add those harrowing images of an entire city being sucked into an immense, black hole opened by a large, flying worm-like behemoth and the rest of her days would be stuck in fear trying to not look at the skies thinking that something as large as that would manifest out of nowhere again.

The suddenness of a literal Endbringer appearing out of nowhere after a deluge of a million insects was a sight and experience that nobody would ever replicate or think of in the history of their memories. Worse, when she tried recalling the various Endbringer battles both old and new, this was the very first one that had a totally destructive aftermath that left nearly nothing alive in the process.

Say what you will of the various devastations that the big three had incurred throughout history, but nothing approached the near-total absolution that the flying worm had wrought.

Perhaps Carol's view on it was skewed due to recency bias and the fact that it was her home and family that were affected horribly, but she stood by those thoughts as she watched the various people around the cramped room audibly argue about various things.

Things that seemed to be just as important as what happened in Brockton.

The seriousness of the situation was highlighted even more when fellows in military uniforms, ones that Carol had not seen in years due to the decline of Modern Militaries, were present and were as exhausted and troubled as she was.

Even the villains present, numbering as the least in the entire population of the attendance had sported troubled, almost contemplative expressions on their faces, to the point that Carol legitimately thought that they were actually here to cooperate in some way or form.

Perhaps. Perhaps not, but due to what this all looked like, along with the barely functioning monitors where important foreign leaders were, it painted a picture of the most important meeting regarding the complex situation happening around the world.

One that to Carol's surprise was not just Brockton in this case.

Even Piggot, in her horribly wheelchair-bound state, was in attendance as well, being wheeled by Battery who had Assault right next to her. What remained of the Brockton Bay Protectorate and all of its personnel was a shadow of what it once was. People often clowned them for being inefficient at curbing the very notable large presence of Parahuman Gangs in the area due to their manpower shortages but seeing it now put into perspective the devastation that made up her home.

She was not even privy to any villains that survived, or if there were any at all.

And it was worse for the Wards, whom Carol only saw Gallant, Vista, and one other blonde parahuman girl who was as scared as a wreck at those final moments.

There were some of course that she did not recognize, either they were rogues that had little to no choice to join or attend the meeting, or people important enough behind the scenes that were forced out into the open due to the direness of the situation.

It could be either.

But despite all of the big names being present, one thing that Carol noticed was the absence of the Triumvirate. The three core parahumans represented the balance of power Heroes had over the world and were responsible for the many battles against extreme situations such as these.

Carol had many opinions over the Triumvirate, but she would never ever question their impact not just on the United States, but for the majority of the world. Scion was inconsistent and was far too late despite all of his power, and the Triumvirate was what most Parahumans and the public looked up to when it came to who would save them.

They were paragons essentially, with all the baggage involved.

Despite all the problems that some may have over them, they represented the strength and pinnacle that kept people believing in times of crisis.

And… to see them absent still despite everything that's happened baffled her.

To see some very high-profile rogues and even villains but not the Triumvirate was already odd in itself. Especially with the murmurs and talks happening around her, painting a very grim picture of what's happening around the country.

From the Butcher going trigger-happy to try and face the flying worm…

… to the Fallen celebrating in full stride as horrible mentions of vigils, parties, raiding various smaller communities and towns, sometimes cities with their enlightenment rituals… which from the implications alone made Carol chilled to the bone.

… and lastly, rumors and mentions of the Birdcage being silent completely.

There were many more of course, strewn across the multitude of people around the room not just from the United States but some of the present international attendants, but from those many conversations alone it made Carol feel as if her own familial problems were a literal insignificant speck to the direness that was being felt.

It put into perspective what the actual major concern was underneath all of this.

And it made Carol's earlier problems look embarrassing in comparison.

"THEY NEVER CAME! DO YOU FUCKING HEAR ME? WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THEY WOULD HELP NOW?!" a loud angry voice said as most turned their heads towards a pair of people who were arguing over the absence of the Triumvirate.

One of their comrades managed to calm the man down as everybody returned to their own muses.

Carol sighed as she noticed Miss Militia had arrived in the room once again, next to her.

The woman looked as if she was bordering on crying. Carol looked at her and they met eyes for a moment before Miss Militia wiped her eyes. "I apologize… the meeting should start soon; I saw Legend arrive in the lobby," she said, trying to steer the conversation away from her grief as Carol hummed.

She knew what that meant, and she was pretty sure everybody here felt the same.

"Was it a friend?" she asked with respect.

Miss Militia looked at her and her eyes said it all as her quivering lips shifted from a pained smile to a saddened frown. "A-An old friend. W-We were planning to meet in a few weeks, she u-used to joke about me being distant from her."

It was the first time Carol had heard the woman go emotional that way as she saw her try to hold back her tears. It changed how she viewed the heroine whom from a distance Carol once just merely respected but never knew at a personal level.

"My condolences." Carol genuinely said as she nearly tried to put her hand on the woman's shoulder only to stop due to all the conflicting feelings. Still, her words had an impact as Miss Militia nodded back at her.

"They said she held on, even at the end. Doing what she did best." Miss Militia, no, Hannah said with acceptance as one of the main doors to the cramped room opened and instantly the entire room began to quiet down as they saw one of Dragon's armors come inside with Legend and Eidolon behind her. There were also a few, unnamed and unknown people that tagged alongside them as the precipice of the meeting now began to dawn on the people present.

Oddly enough, what became a sight that everybody suddenly focused on was the bizarre aura and presence that a maskless Legend had when he came inside the room.

He just felt different and a lot brighter in atmosphere and tone compared to the rest of the room. Unfortunately, while this distinction was made, he looked no worse than everybody with how unkempt, exhausted, and troubled his expression was.

Even Eidolon's body language beside him was as apparent as everybody else's.

Carol even noted that the absence of Alexandria alone brought forth a ton of implications that made the crowd in the cramped room feel a lot more hopeless than before.

"Before we start officially, there are a few updates that need to be addressed, Chief amongst them is the fact that we…" Dragon, through the voice of her armor, clicked her tongue in a fashion that already said what needed to be said. "…we lost contact with the President. Washington and most of the Eastern Seaboard has now gone dark and likely perished as of the current moment."

Instantly a ton of murmurs erupted before Dragon raised her mechanical hand. "… What remains of assets both government and private from those states and areas that remain are what we have in this very room and facility."

There was an uproar of voices from those in the governmental sector, especially with those in uniform due to the question of the succession of command but Dragon once again spoke up.

"I wish for us all to leave the discussion of leadership for later because we are all running out of time. Time that is far too little to solve every issue at hand. Even us, standing here, discussing is wasting precious time when we can save what we have left."

"What are you talking about?" one of the many people in the group of PRT high personnel that Carol had an inkling of said. This one, being Tagg was notable in some circles.

"I'm afraid this is no crisis that can be solved by parahuman or human means. What we have is an existential crisis on a scale that not even the advent of the Endbringers have brought."

"That's absurd. Even if we are to agree that this is a crisis on a scale undetermined, whichever threat causes it will not benefit from the destruction of everything." A hero from a group of independents said, a sentiment that a few other voices in the room (namely a few of the villain groups) seemed to share or at least support.

"Even the Endbringers stop at one point. So why is this any different?" another voice asked innocently from the crowd. It echoed a sentiment that many seemed to look at Dragon and what remained of the Triumvirate for an answer.

"It isn't," Dragon emphasized as the entire room, even those that still disagreed went silent. "I'm afraid that's something that we all need to realize at this very moment. Right here and now… if we don't ever respond with the necessary cooperation and unity, everything will be lost. Permanently."

"What Dragon said… unfortunately this is beyond being heroes and villains at this point." Legend added as he stepped up much to the disdain of some others in the room.

"Enlighten those in attendance Legend, as to where the Triumvirate was when all of this started?" a villain from the Elite, The Gentleman asked with suspicion as all eyes turned to them, even those in the PRT and Protectorate. "Because as everything turned to shit, even your own territory and city feel your absence and negligence."

"Hey, that was uncalled for!" one of the heroes that survived the New York purge said but it was a sentiment that only a few seemed to support.

"Is it?" a voice asked.

"Where is Alexandria, Legend? And why exactly did the Triumvirate not respond the moment all of this happened?" one of the directors asked with a bothered tone as the two remaining members of said group remained silent. Even Director Piggot, one of the people there at ground zero, while curious understood the implications already as to what exactly happened.

"God." A whisper said as the stakes silently became twofold from that news.

Many in the room already understood what was happening, but a good number of them just did not want to accept or understand the reality that was already occurring around them. Chief amongst them were the many who were still unaffected. Many that due to all of the technology blackouts, did not realize the extent of the threat at large.

Suddenly various murmurs and angry discussions between groups started to form until one of the men in uniform asked a singular, important question.

"What are we dealing with?"

Dragon turned to Armsmaster who nodded as he placed a device on one of the tables. The device activated and showed a variety of holograms that Dragon then led along with the rest of the Tinker organizations present to step forward. They, along with those present on the screens or with their foreign ambassadors or representatives, were as exhausted-looking and disturbed as the rest who knew.

"Nearly three days ago, there was an emergence of a series of heavy blackouts, both in infrastructure and through the worldwide web that severely hampered communications and various other important sectors around the world. This was not a singular, localized event for which I'm sure you are all aware and it has steadily decayed through our modern society to the point where anything electric and not tinkertech-based no longer functioned as intended." Dragon explained as it was well-known to many how hard the prolific tinkers around the world tried to patch up the issues only to fail in various ways.

"What does this have to do with anything?" one of the rogue independents asked, annoyed.

"It has everything to do with it," Armsmaster said with all seriousness as he brought up what little corrupted footage and data from their former city. "Today, at exactly 3 pm or so, a young woman woke up in Winslow High, Brockton Bay."

Instantly the data and images made everyone audibly gasp in shock and fearful awe as he extrapolated a central image that was taken from Dragon's drones, just before the final one went offline.

"Wait… those insects. Are you saying that…" Accord asked as the room suddenly felt the disturbing aura that was felt from seeing those images alone.

"Yes… I'm afraid the nearly harmless, mass exodus of various arthropodal fauna seen nearly everywhere around the world were converging on one singular point. The cities that were close to the nexus, were suddenly exposed to an attack on a scale that dwarfs even Leviathan or Behemoth's records. Director Piggot and what's left of the Brockton Bay's Protectorate and PRT can attest to that, as well as the surrounding towns and cities near Brockton Bay."

Eyes went to them as Carol's memories of the event returned, but what eclipsed the fear and horrible realization was the discovery of the identity of the person that had started it all…

And she was barely older than any of her daughters.

Even Director Piggot and Miss Militia near Carol stared in utter dismay and horror remembering all of the deaths, all of the pain and suffering from the event that did not even occur for more than an hour.

"Holy shit." One of the people from the villain groups said in surprise as Dragon continued.

"It's just a bunch of insects though." A surprising tone from one of the men in uniform said as Director Piggot frowned with immense anger. "A tragedy but not one that is as large of a threat as the three attacking cities without reason simultaneously at this very moment."

"I assure you, General Müller, with respect to the deaths from the European Continent, this is not as simple as it sounds. In addition, insects and simple creatures they might be, the young woman who is the nexus of all of this, controls all of them, unilaterally." Dragon explained one that many felt confused by.

"Unilaterally?" Blasto asked in fear.

"Yes. As of this moment and to the confirmation of experts that we have around the world… every single simple fauna under the arthropodal phylum from our ecosystems are flocking in the control of one single person."

"That's… that's impossible and… frightening to contemplate about." Blasto and a few other wet-based tinkers in attendance thought.

"I don't doubt the severity of such a problem, but how are we supposed to take that seriously?" Tagg asked as Piggot suddenly shot up from her wheelchair, standing nearly in pain by its armrests as Battery tried to get her back to sit.

"YOU WEREN'T THERE! You weren't there to see everything that happened, you weren't there with how many we've lost." The woman was quickly calmed down by her subordinates as the rest of the directors in the room went silent, even Tagg.

"You don't think I don't see how you and nearly every single person in this room look at me and my men as if we are to blame for all the deaths that's happening? That you use me as your scapegoat knowing that it was in my city where this abomination first appeared?" Piggot added as the scorn in her face along with the knowledge of her injuries made Carol see all of the buried feelings underneath that were now unearthed in its pure, visceral state. "Where were you all when I asked for help? Where were you all when I placed my own health and limb on the front lines so that I can beg for any, any sort of support so that I can willingly bring just one gang down?"

"No… no, you don't fucking get to play the blame game on me. I know for a fact that I was never the best director placed in the role I was told to fix. But you don't get to blame me knowing that none of this could have happened had you and everybody else at this table, done enough to help my city." Piggot finished with a thunderous voice that made everybody contemplate their own words for a few seconds.

"Fellow Directors and the rest, there is an estimated 10 quintillion insects around the world in terms of population consensus, and that's only for insects, not even factoring the sea-faring life that fall under the phylum as well as other extremities unaccounted for but… that's far from the point," Dragon said as the images changed on the holograms.

And Carol nearly blanched as she tried to look away.

"W-What… what the hell is that?" a foreign representative said simplifying the feelings within the room. Even Eidolon and Legend looked disturbed.

"The existential threat," Dragon admitted with a degree of defeat in her tone.

"The prior estimate of its size ranged from 1440km. It was significantly big compared to the British Isles when it first manifested." Armsmaster said.

"Prior estimate?" one voice asked.

As eyes turned to Dragon and the rest of the experts in the room, the troubled expressions on their faces seemed to speak for themselves. "We have no current estimates as of yet, but due to the instances of what news and instruments we have, it's deduced that it's now ten times that."

There were a lot of gasps to those in attendance as Carol herself as well as the remnants of Brockton Bay finally sunk into the horrible implications of those words.

"This was a recent image of the horizon in Monterey, Tennessee," Dragon said as she pulled one of the corrupted files from her data banks it showed a harrowing sight of a simple countryside against a horizon but instead of the sun, what made up most of the scenic view was a large, dark hole that resembled a dark star. Nearly the entire sky was covered from the limits of the frame and based on how large the buildings near where the image was taken were, it spoke a lot about its size…

Worse, the ominous aura of the entire picture seemed to put into perspective the feelings of dread that were already building up within the room.

"Is that… what I think it is?" Director Armstrong said.

"No. But make no mistake, it shares properties of a Black Hole, yet it's as anomalous compared to anything we have on record, parahuman or natural otherwise." One of the experts Dragon brought along said with a troubled and confused expression to the sight. Even Armsmaster was perplexed.

"It has a powerful gravitational pull, one that forces gravity to fall into the direction of the maw, and within minutes as soon as it manifested in Brockton Bay, it's consumed the city entirely. Worse, based on its current size and to the simple logic of why we have no contact over most of the East Coast, we can assume it grows proportionally to the amount it's consumed." Armsmaster said with difficulty as he looked at the images.

"Its existence in itself is an anomaly. From a visual standpoint, it's a conglomerated mass of insects accumulated in upwards of less than an hour, and even then, the entire thing makes no sense. It's essentially a new entity in terms of everything because not only does it give out signals and data that appear both baryonic and non-baryonic in nature, but it also opens a metaphysical hole in space that unlike theoretical wormholes leads to basically nowhere." Dragon explained to the best of her ability, even doubting her own words scientifically over what the entity was due to its varying inaccuracies in terms of the limitations of the observations.

"The worst part is… anything that falls down the singularity is gone. Forever." Dragon emphasized as she played the corrupted footage of her final drone that went into the maw. Within seconds the footage fizzled out into static. "We don't know where the maw leads to, or if it ever leads to anything, but one thing's for sure, once anything falls into the singularity, nothing comes back."

It took a few seconds for everyone to sink all of that in as Carol found herself placing a hand on her lips due to the severity of it all. It was distressing and despite the air of impossibility with the claims, many of them now realized it was true.

"Can't we… destroy or create a biological weapon to exterminate the insects?" one asked.

Dragon and the rest looked at each other. "Even if possible, we don't have the time to synthesize one, and worse, we don't know if it will affect the entity."

"T-The girl… can't we do something about her? If perhaps she controls the entity we can-

"We doubt that." The fedora-wearing woman next to Eidolon said who was silent up to this point. "Destroying the girl is moot, for not only is the girl the master of the entity, but she is also the entity itself." Her robotic, emotionless voice only served to rattle the entire room.

"How do we KNOW that?" one of the more vocal people in the room asked as an argument broke out due to plans of what to do with the girl that left Carol scared due to the possibility of violence but it was halted completely when Dragon slammed her robotic fist into the table.

It was loud enough that it pacified the entire room for a moment.

"Any attempt we have with the girl is pointless! Negotiation does not work and fighting her or destroying her body is a variable that we have no knowledge of knowing the aftermath of!" she forcefully said, with the most emotion she had ever said in her entire life, much to everyone's shock.

Even Armsmaster, as well as the rest of the Guild that were present, were similarly shocked but more so over the gravity of the issue at hand.

"Do YOU ALL UNDERSTAND that it took her nearly forty minutes or so to destroy Brockton Bay and it took her a few minutes! Minutes to destroy the surrounding cities and states."

The heated expression of words made everybody nearly step back.

"Dragon… you don't mean…" Narwhal fearfully asked before-

"YES! She's doing this on purpose." Dragon exclaimed as Legend looked at her.

"It's the largest and most destructive display of sadism we have ever seen in the history of mankind. She knows… and she's doing this to her delight and understanding over the many people she's killed." Dragon continued with the same intensity as before.

Legend then stepped up from that as the guilt on his face was already present.

"We have reason to believe that she has a large thinker rating that allows her to sense emotions, and read memories on a scale and area that defeats anything we have on record barring the Simurgh."

Legend then sighed heavily as the entire room moaned in fear to his statement. "And we have no true understanding of the limits of her abilities. What's observed only scratches the surface."

A video was played of the final interaction between Dragon and the girl as she conveyed her intentions.

"I am not here to fulfill a grudge. I'm here to finish the job."

The moment it ended, the room was so silent that the sound of a fly buzzing in the air made everyone focus on it with full intent and paranoia.

Frozen in fear, Carol, and everybody else watched in dread at the seemingly unaware creature.

BAM!

It was Director Piggot who had ended the tiny speck without warning as they all stared in a futile manner.

"What… what do we do?" a voice asked weakly to break the silence as everybody stared at Legend and the people near them.

"Is there… nothing we can do?"

That was the question, wasn't it? Carol asked that to herself as well as the feeling of the inevitable doom was now at the forefront as did everybody else.

"H-How long do we have?" a foreign representative asked.

Dragon and Legend looked at each other. "We can't say. The images from Monterey were taken about two minutes before this meeting started. Based on our estimates the singularity itself or the 'wyrm' has slowed down, for what reason we don't know… but even the rate of how it's slowed down merely tells us that we have less than an hour left…" Legend explained.

"Left of what?" A man from the Elite asked.

"Either the total collapse of the North American continent or perhaps the world." Legend finished.

A few murmurs and whispers started again after he said those things until one man from the screens, a representative from one of the Japanese dignitaries with a troubled face began to ask:

"Legend. Even if we pour all of our resources, as well as the remainder of the other nations within this room, it's simply impossible for any action to be done with the timetable you have presented us."

"… and with the rest of the world being attacked by the Endbringers, there's… there could be nothing left once all of this is done." Armsmaster finished as the room once more turned silent.

"It's really happening isn't it?" Myrddin said.

"C-Can we perhaps get the assistance of Scion?" a rogue asked.

"Even if we were to agree to that, the clashing of such entities would only hasten the doomsday clock faster than before." The fedora-wearing woman said, almost disturbed by the suggestion.

As Carol observed the ongoing meeting, it was then where she saw how oddly disturbed and guilt-ridden Legend was from the whole proceeding and as the mood in the room bordered on to defeat and fear of the inevitable end, the man stepped up and it was as if the entire room brightened…

If only for a moment.

"I believe there is something we can do, but it would need the cooperation of everybody here in this room, not just for the good of humanity, but for the survival of it."

"You… knew this would happen?" a sudden voice from the crowd said and to Carol's surprise, it was Dean, or Gallant as the Wards knew him. Victoria, surprisingly to his side.

Yet despite seeing them, the point of focus was the serious accusation, placed by the young man. One that turned everybody's heads to Legend himself.

"Yes."

Carol watched in shock as the world around her was drowned out by the sudden screams of anger and disbelief. To Carol, however, as the admission was made…

She realized that just like the lies that broke her family at the last moment, the simple admission of truth would prove to be a dealbreaker in the survival of their species.

And looking at how Dragon and Legend were trying desperately to calm everybody down…

Carol began to stare at the singular clock just by the doorway contemplating the realistic possibility of the end. Seeing the discord that was starting to develop around her made her think deep down that perhaps… perhaps we all deserved this at the end.

Perhaps it was just fated to be that way.

She felt a tear once again trickle down her cheek as she and her daughter met eyes once more.

A sentiment that she will never be able to experience again…

Nor ever.

TO BE CONTINUED…


AN: Damn was this so hard to write. Jesus. I eventually decided to do this in three parts as well as having secondary material (in this case as I explained in my Camazotz snip, a few more Fragment chapters), just to the depth and material that needs to be done before we do the final battle. Explicitly, this chapter and the next, which involves Oberon will take place the same time as this which is why I haven't revealed the timer as to where we are currently hehe.

My God, I had to cut so much out of this, the heavy handed Amy and Mark flashbacks which were in my notes will probably be relegated into something else in the future, but I just cut them out not just for length issues, but because it was so minor in the face of the actual danger in-story. I will decide perhaps if we will see those things in the fragment chapters (because the earlier meeting with Cauldron and Legend is pretty important for the setup of the end). Even the conversations here were longer and so expository that I had to trim them down from the original. This was quite the daunting task for me and we're still about less than half of the planned notes I have that's written for this part of the story…

But I'm quite excited about the next chapter! Because it involves what's happened exactly with the Faerie Queen and Oberon while we segway some moments into how the meeting was made in the first place. I'm actually already starting a few paragraphs of that in the posting of this chapter so… yeah, hope to get it out soon.

Anyway, while I'm not overly happy with how the first part of this mini-setup was made, I do perhaps hope that this was fascinating enough as a read.