Chapter 62: Cracks Concealed

-Eidolon POV-

He slumped into his chair, the same dead-eyed expression that had been on his face for the last day or so. He let out a breath, his body present yet his mind still a million miles away.

Boston was gone.

Not damaged, or even destroyed, gone. One second they were receiving reports of a new Endbringer sweeping through Brockton Bay, the being twisting the city like taffy, and the next it had reached Boston.

Then it was gone. Deleted

Cauldron had been unprepared, no that was too kind. They had been caught with their pants around their legs. That…thing that had appeared in their base had reduced most of the parahumans who saw it into babbling wrecks. David himself had woken up twenty minutes after the portal had closed, lying in a pile of vomit and bile. The world had been a blurry, pain-filled, mess that he could not banish with any power he possessed – he could only wait for it to pass naturally.

Compared to the others he could even be considered fortunate. Some took far longer to recover, while Doormaker…

Still, by the time he had recovered it was too late. The loss of Boston had happened only an hour or so after he had been forced to look into-

He shuddered, his mind tearing itself away from that line of thinking.

So, yes, Boston was gone. Now there was merely a gaping empty hole that stretched down for miles where there had once been a city. In place of people living normal lives there was now nothing.

And David hadn’t been there.

No! It was worse than that, he had been complicit!

That thing, whatever it was, had appeared in Jinzhou – right after they had attempted to enter it! Right after it had all gone wrong and-

His shaking form let loose a wracking sob of horror frustration.

He didn’t try to stop the convulsions, he was alone. He had chosen to come to the meeting earlier than normal, he would have privacy.

He wouldn’t show weakness in front of the others.

How had it all gone so wrong?!

First that new Endbringer -Eris- had killed Rebecca, and now this! It felt like, more and more by the day, the world was falling through their fingers – slipping away like sand. It was a familiar feeling, but one that had only ever been as strong when Hero had died.

Perhaps that had been the turning point?

With Charles’ death Rebecca had turned cold, he had become more bitter and even Keith had lost much of his cheer. Only the latter had truly recovered, his husband and child bringing joy back into the man’s life.

The only silver lining, if there even was one, was that Jinzhou had been the first to perish.

Which was for the best, he had been against their temptations from the beginning. Time had only proven him right, but rather than vindication all he tasted was the ash of defeat.

There would be meetings soon, this he knew.

Not just with Cauldron, but with the PRT and even the world.

An Endbringer that could appear anywhere, travel across the world in less than a heartbeat and snatch up cities like they were children’s play toys. The news was already making people panic, with an upturn in migrations moving away from cities and into the countryside.

Which had it’s own set of problems.

The PRT had, by necessity chosen to focus most of their attention on the major cities of the US. It was only common sense, they were the areas that had the most people and thus the most parahumans.

Unfortunately this attention made the rural areas of America a secondary concern, and gave villains operating there a lot of wiggle room. The fallen were the most famous example, of course, but there were others. Masters who ensnared entire villages and were only noticed months or years after, Supremacist factions like the Herren clan, human trafficking rings and more.

Ironically the people trying to escape the cities had only placed themselves more in danger. Not to mention many of those panicked, scared, individuals may well trigger, thus further driving up the danger.

More than  ever the cracks in their foundation were beginning to show. Senators were calling for more extreme measure to be taken against parahumans, Haven -the Parahuman group most active in the aforementioned areas- was using the situation to accrue more influence and power and the Elite were also taking advantage in their own ways.

David’s head thunked against the meeting room table, a ragged sigh once more escaping his lips. He felt tired. It seemed that, for all their efforts, they were struggling to merely stay afloat. An endless rat race, and David was just so sick of it.

David longed for a fight. Something uncomplicated. Something he could unleash his frustrations upon and feel like he was doing something useful.

Not sitting in place watching the world pass him by, helpless to do anything! Waiting to die!

He shut his eyes, calming his breathing. Minutes passed like that, David attempting to clear his mind with only the sound of a nearby fan to keep him company.

“Not doing too well?”

He raised his head up. It was Legend – Keith. The one who had arrived in Boston moments after it had been snatched away. Too late to prevent it from happening. David wondered if it haunted him, but then he already knew the answer to that.

Keith’s usually cheery aura lacked something. Perhaps it was the slumped posture, the eye bags or the brittle smile but it was clear Legend wasn’t holding together well.

“Hey Keith,” he said, half-heartedly waving at his friend. “Not really, I just wish I could do something about this. Find the monster responsible.”

‘The one that isn’t us,’ he doesn’t say to Keith. Legend was kept in the dark about a lot, their botched attempt to gain access to Jinzhou was one of them

“Don’t I know it,” Legend laughs darkly, before sighing and turning to sit across from him.

Legend opens his mouth to speak, yet nothing comes out – either unable to come up with something comforting or not able to scrounge up the energy to try.

David isn’t sure which would be worse.

“A fifth one,” David finally says, the admittance of a unwanted truth passing through his lips like fire.

“That’s not confirmed,” Legend half-heartedly argues.

David doesn’t bother to speak at that, merely gazing evenly Legend’s way.

The man sighed, the years of command of the protectorate weighing more on him now than they ever had before. It was not something David envied, in that respect he was fortunate. Eidolon had never been leadership material, not really.

Too aloof, too powerful.

But Legend? That was a man you could pin your hopes to, and indeed many had.

Silence fell over the meeting room, neither having anything to say. For a moment he expected to hear Rebecca’s authoritative voice to resound, to push them to press on – to give logical reasonings for why they had to.

But there was nothing. Rebecca was dead. Her body stolen, her legacy tarnished.

“The other one is still at the South Pole, right?” Legend’s question led to the abrupt end to the silence.

Eidolon’s teeth gnashed at the reminder.

“Yes.”

The growl that left his throat was deep and bestial, surprising even himself with the hatred contained within it. He quickly composed himself, he was Eidolon, a hero the world was meant to look up to!

Yet he couldn’t help the rage he felt, the anger that had been so rightfully earned by the death of his friend and entire swathes of land condemned to war and horror.

That piece of shit...!

“I wonder why it happened?” Legend's voice shook him out of his dark thoughts.

Eidolon glanced over. “What do you mean?”

“Well…it’s not like the Endbringers to get in each other’s way like that. Jinzhou clearly served a purpose, destabilising China. So why would the other one destroy it?”

Eidolon scoffed.

“Who know what those things are thinking. That city of fools probably served it’s purpose and was eliminated. It’s not like China needs further prodding towards that.”

Legend nodded at that, mind clearly drawn towards the multiple wars raging in that area.

“Well, at least we can use this as more justification to the public to not enter one of those cities,” Legend mused, hand cupping his chin in thought.

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” came a voice by the door – the voice of Doctor Mother.

The neatly dressed woman walked in calmly, folders carried under the crook of her arm as she approached the table.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

David’s question only caused the woman to hum slightly, sliding her chair out and perching herself upon it. She didn’t answer right away, preferring instead to organise her collection of documents.

Why she hadn’t done so before the meeting, David couldn’t say. Probably a power move Eidolon had never seen the point of, given that he himself was all the intimidation he would ever need.

“Contessa and Kurt won’t be joining us,” she began, “but to circle back to your question: it’s because Jinzhou isn’t gone.” She took a sip of coffee, before glancing around the room – oblivious to his own shock or that of his friend’s.

“A lot less people than we usually have. That’s a shame,” she mused to herself, looking unbothered in spite of her words.

“What do you mean it’s not gone? I’ve seen the footage, there’s a hole where it used to be?!” Eidolon all but spat.

Doctor Mother took another sip, still infuriatingly unbothered. “Yes, it’s gone from it’s last position but it hasn’t been destroyed.”

Eidolon’s mind sharpened, Thinker powers coming to the fore.

Not destroyed, but not where it was. His eyes widened. “So this new Endbringer teleported the city?”

Without a word said Doctor Mother tossed one of the many documents in her hand across the table to him. The yellow cover brushed against his fingers as he tore it loose and began perusing the papers held within.

He shuffled through the papers at lightning fast speeds, his many Thinker powers allowing him to digest and retain the information in microseconds. He stopped when he finally turned to the last page and stared at the photo covering the bottom half of the page.

The image of a city surrounded by snow and dark pillars.

“So they’re coordinating then?” He spat, passing the document to Legend – whose eyes had been darting between the two of them in concern.

“Not confirmed but it seems likely,” Doctor Mother commented.

Legend’s face grew more severe as he scanned through the document, his eyes eventually landing on a single page and refusing to move on.

“…It’s sacrificing people?” There was a sombre tone to Legend’s voice.

“Probably,” Doctor Mother said.

She once more reached for her cup, before pausing. There was a buzzing sound coming from her left pocket, the sound loud enough to be heard by David. She sighed, and reached in to take out her phone. Given that it had yet to repeat the alert, Eidolon surmised it was a text message. Her eyes scrawled across the screen lazily – and then again, this time more urgently.

Doctor Mother stared at the screen in naked incomprehension for a moment. Then she groaned, forcing her head into her hand – appearing as if she had just developed a migraine.

“It would appear Kurt will be joining us.”

He and Legend exchanged a confused glance with each other, Legend going so far as to shrug his shoulders.

As far as David remembered Number Man should be busy keeping the global economy afloat, which had understandably attempted to commit suicide upon learning two Endbringers had showed up within a month of each other.

Yet apparently the man had noticed something important enough that he chose to come to this meeting instead? What could be so important.

There was a clang, as something within the corridor leading up to the meeting room had fallen. The three of them craned their necks in the direction of the door. A door which flew open with enough speed to crack against the wall, allowing a maddened-looking Kurt to stumble into the room.

David didn’t want to even begin to consider just how much caffeine the man had consumed. The man was jittery, each movement not coordinated – as was Kurt’s standard – but rather a series of jerks that a person might consider a walking pace.

Y’know, assuming you had never actually seen that before and also squinted really hard.

The man’s bulging eyes skittered over the room, bouncing from person to person with the sort of speed that would make other’s think he currently possessed three Thinker powers, not David.

“FIVE!” The man belted, unprompted.

Doctor mother exhaled wearily, clearly contemplating whether waking up today had been the right choice.

“Have you been taking the Tinker stimulants again, Kurt?”

“I’M FIVE - I MEAN I’M FINE!” The man drunkenly flopped into his chair, head bobbing up and down – as if he were mere moments away from passing out. Shakily he withdrew his own copy of the displaced Jinzhou, the photo crumpled from having been held in his pocket for too long.

He slammed it down on the table.

“It keeps repeating! Five pillars! Five corpses for each one! Fifty five meters tall! Microscopic etchings every five micrometres! Gradient shifts every five centimetres! It’s everywhere! What does it mean!!!”

David slowly scraped his chair away, obtaining a sudden urge to be anywhere but here.

Doctor Mother’s smile slowly strained as Kurt’s unhinged rant went on. David didn’t often feel pity for the woman, given how heartless she was, but seeing her attempt to ask for help via blinking in morse code almost made him feel a glimmer of it.

Naturally, David still wasn’t going to help.

Legend, bless his heart, was made of stupider stuff and decided to try.

“Uhhh, Kurt? Maybe you should-“

The Number Man whirled in Keith’s direction, almost throwing himself to the floor from his own momentum – only managing to catch himself on the lip of the table.

“Five, Legend! Five Endbringers! They’re mocking us!” The unhinged words continued, sounding far too similar to David’s own thoughts for comfort.

David shook his head. Okay, this had clearly gone on for too long and the information he had been gaining from his Thinker powers were telling him things regarding Kurt’s health that were far too severe to ignore.

With a thought he let go of one of his powers, allowing a non-lethal blaster power to emerge.

‘Oh sure, now you’re cooperative,’ he thinks bitterly before a violet ray knowcks Kurt unconscious.

The man’s head slumps forwards, his glasses falling from his face and onto the floor.

There was silence for a moment.

“I suppose he has been working too hard this past month,” Doctor Mother comments awkwardly. “Perhaps we can hire Accord, or other Thinkers, to substitute for Kurt for a while?”

“Yes. Do that.” Eidolon emphatically agreed, shuddering slightly as he remembered the state of the man’s body. Legend spent a moment or two adjusting Kurt, and allowing him to gain a more comfortable position, before turning back to them.

“I don’t think it’s just Kurt,” Legend commented, eyeing the both of them.

“I’m fine,” they both said, Eidolon slightly growling the words.

Legend raised an eyebrow, but tactfully didn’t comment.

Doctor Mother coughed, composing herself as she retook the papers from Legend, the man passing the over with a grateful look.

“The exact ramifications are hard to consider presently,” here she shot a heated glance at Kurt, “for obvious reasons.”

Kurt let out a snore, attempting to turn over in his chair and failing miserably.

“Normally I’d go over things in more depth but-“

She glanced at the both of them, her face cycling through annoyance and resignation.

“-It’s obvious it won’t be productive in your current states, try to get some rest where you can.”

Eidolon and Legend traded wry looks, well aware sleep would be a luxury in the coming days.

“We’ll do that doctor,” Legend politely said, rising from his seat.

“Sure,” he said, much more taciturn.

“Oh, and Eidolon? I have a new process I wish to try with your serums, come meet me tomorrow at twelve,” She said.

Eidolon nodded, well aware that that was code for: ‘let’s have a private meeting without Legend.’ The skullduggery regarding his friend was a sadly necessary evil, even if it left a bitter taste in his mouth to keep things from his sole remaining friend.

“Understood.”

“Meeting adjourned then,” she sighed and then turned to Legend. “ I don’t suppose you can take Kurt to a room that has a bed?”

Legend shook his head in slight mirth, reaching over to hoist Kurt over his shoulder – carrying the man like a sack of potatoes. The two men, and a murmuring deadweight, exited the room, leaving the Doctor and returning to the endless grinding work that had slowly become the new norm.

AN: And we’re back with Cauldron who…aren’t doing great. Legend didn’t manage to save Boston. Eidolon is feeling useless and is carrying one hell of a grudge against Alexander. Number Man has been carrying the past month of work on his back and has resorted to shady Tinker stimulants right before Alexander’s little prank for Thinkers hit him. Doctor Mother is currently wondering how she seems to be the sanest one present.

Oh, and there’s something off with Doormaker, but it hasn’t been revealed yet. Fun!

Thanks for reading and please leave a comment!