VT - Chapter 35 : The Big One..... (Patreon)

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Brockton Bay

–Kayden Russell–

When she’d first left Max, she had known that it was going to be an uphill battle, not just because of the possibility that Max might use the vast resources he had access to against her or gain Aster’s custody, but also because of her past actions and what it meant when her previous colleagues saw what she was doing after leaving the E88.

The thing was that no one truly left the E88, certainly not the tag that comes with the association. The only way to do so was either by death or by being imprisoned in the Birdcage, two things that are truly permanent in their cape society, as there was no coming back from these two things. Not so far, anyway.

Shaking her head, she moved to do the chores she had let fester until the end of the day. As if her day job was not tiring enough. Being an interior decorator, especially in Brockton Bay, a dying city, was not an easy thing. Her contacts helped her coast along, and then her work would hopefully help her get a steady stream of work, but as things stood, the entire city was sitting on a precipice. 

Either the fact that Grand Chariot had a member in the city, and the dropping crime rates due to that, would attract people who sought stability and security, or the inevitable conflict on the horizon with the said Grand Chariot member would push the remaining moderately wealthy people out of the city and finally kill it entirely.

She had no idea what the end game was going to be, and she wished, even for Aster’s sake, that the city would become better, but as things stood, she had very little hope for that happening. Already, she could sense that most gangsters had grown impatient and were likely waiting for the first spark to see what would happen.

She had seen the woman in action during her evening strolls, and while they hadn’t interacted or crossed paths yet, she had to make sure that she did not go too far during her strolls, lest she grab her attention. She was not afraid for herself, or for Aster, but what the fallout from even firing a single beam at her would be. The mere existence of Grand Chariot behind her means that not even an insane fool like Lung will touch her.

She was pretty much protected from everyone, but that window was shrinking rapidly. Shaking her head, she looked at the now clean sink, the dried and folded laundry, the fast asleep Aster, and the now cold dinner on the dining table, before taking a look at the time.

Plopping her ass down on the hard and cold chair, she looked at the cold paste before shoving it in. She had neither the time nor the patience to actually reheat the damn thing before going back to sleep. She had an early day planned tomorrow, and—

She paused as she heard a distinct buzzing from the closet behind the kitchen sink. It was right behind her as well, and while she knew it was supposedly only for emergencies, she did not have the energy to deal with that right now. She refocused on the meal in front of her, as—

The ringing stopped as she looked at the fork in her hand; her thoughts conflicted as she thought about Max and what the E88 meant. It was everything to Max, and she could understand him when he told her that being Kaiser was what gave them everything. That he couldn't just up and leave because of her, and that doing so might just be putting all four of them in danger.

Theo was a sweet kid, and he was great with Aster, but she did not know if she could bear to separate him from his father. Hell, even doing so with Astger had taken a great deal of courage, and she had no idea if she could even do that again. One of these days, she feared that Max would come here at one of her low points, and then sweet talk his way back in. That he would make her come back as one of E88’s chief enforcers. That he would–

She looked to the side, right out of her window, overlooking what remained of Brockton Bay’s skyline and narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what was wrong. The buzzing came once more from behind her, and that, coupled with her bad feeling, made her get up and head towards Aster immediately, the chair falling down.

Yet, she did not stop as she threw the door open, only to pause, her eyes widening in horror, as she saw a suit floating right next to Aster, the window as well as part of the wall having been melted away. 

A slight sound made her look back as another suit greeted her. Sleek, silver, and more importantly, brimming with so much energy, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

Her power instinctively bubbled forth as a direct response to the threats in front of her, as she growled out, despite her deathly fear, “Get away from her.”

The suit right next to Aster held its hands up and stepped away from Aster, as she asked. She instantly zoomed forward and cradled Aster to her chest, barely restraining herself from blasting away, knowing full well that there was no running from these guys.

“Kayden Russel, or maybe Kayden Anders. You never really officially divorced on paper, anyway. Either way, we are Grand Chariot, and as you can tell by the fact that you are still breathing, we are not here to hurt you.” A voice came from both the suits at the same time, which was creepy.

“What do you want, then?” She snapped and took a step back, only to pause as she saw a red mark appearing on her hands, as the suit standing at the door of the bedroom had aimed its hand at her.

“Please do not attempt to flee. That will just be more work for us. We are actually here to protect you. Here,”

The suit gestured at the TV next to her, as it switched on and, to her horror, showed rows upon rows of articles, web pages, forums, live streams discussing the fact that Kaiser’s identity was leaked, and that Medhall had been identified as the front and source of funding for the E88.

“In moments, I can predict no less than a dozen people finding your location and heading here. Not all of them will be law enforcement, and/or have good intentions in mind. I am here to safeguard you until the situation stabilises, much to my chagrin. I DO NOT wish to have riots in this city. So, will you come peacefully, or do we need to call in more backup?”

Her gaze was locked onto that TV screen, as it continued to show proof after proof of the suit’s words. This could still be a trick to lower her guard, or to kidnap her or Aster to get leverage over Max, but then why go through all this? That particular organisation had no need to do this.

Slumping, she tightened her hold over Aster. “What happens to us?”

“You will not be separated. You will be held in the same place as all the other members; we will gather soon enough. I will ensure your safety and make sure you get just punishment for your crime."

Fear and Anger bubbled forward as she blurted out, “No! You can’t take Aster from me. I will not–”

The words choked in her mouth as she saw Max and Theo on the screen, in the bunker that Max paid a fortune for, alongside visuals of Cricket, Stormtiger, Hookwolf, and even Krieg being taken in by suits and being flown into the air.

“As you can see, we can take you down, even without endangering the baby. But we would prefer not to. So, what do you choose? You should know that we don’t do things halfway. Reinforcement is already on the way.”

The tension in her room seemed to bubble over as her eyes tracked both the suits, calculating their positions, estimated output from the beams, and realised that had she been alone, she probably would have been able to at least escape; she couldn't do that right now, not with Aster. She was not going to risk Aster’s well being here.

So, she slumped, all the fight leaving her body. Even as she walked towards them, she asked, “What will happen to Aster once I am imprisoned?”

“That is a question for later. Right now, please follow the two suits, and just know that the moment you try to escape, we will personally hunt you down.”

The warning sent shivers down her spine as she looked at the baby seat that one of the suits had retrieved from the living room. She gave the suit a look at that.

“For the baby.” The suit, quite unhelpfully, clarified.

___xx___

–Max Anders–

“Surrender. We have your compatriots either already in custody, or well on their way anyway.” He heard one of the suits speak. His power was already in action, and while he would love nothing more than to skewer them where they stood, three things stopped him.

One, they each had a power core that could explode, and judging by their yield, the explosion might just bring the entire building down on them.

Secondly, Theo was here, and he was not going to risk a fight that could even potentially hurt him. Thirdly, this was the Grand Chariot he was talking to. Even he had limits, and he had no shame in admitting that an organisation that was beyond even the PRT, Triumvirate, the Federal Government, and more was something that was beyond him as well. He could kill these two, but then what?

Knowing them, they likely had the big guns already headed towards the Bay. Kayden was not picking up his calls either, which meant that–

A screen popped up out of nowhere, showing him visuals of Kayden as well as everyone else, save for Night and Fog, who had left the city when Kayden left him. She, too, was flying up in the air, into a small ship, with the others as well.

Save for Kayden, who was complying with their orders, and Krieg, who was nowhere to be seen, everyone else was unconscious and placed onto beds that restrained everyone, along with breathing masks that made sure all of them were unconscious. He noticed the baby seat and sighed before looking at the suits ahead of him, “Take me. But if even one hair on Theo’s head is–”

“Do not worry. We are not in the business of hurting kids. He will be safe and sound, so will his sister. You have our word for that.” He nodded at the words and then tensed as the suit walked towards them. He resisted skewering the whole damned thing, before the suit turned around and unfurled, revealing an empty space within.

He felt his throat go dry at the implications of being inside that suit, as the other suit did something that bypassed the lock on the bunker and opened the door. Realising that resistance was futile, he called out for Theo, as the other suit made sure Theo was secured before all of them began flying high up in the air.

Once they were out of the building and up in the sky, the Jet above them was made visible as he and Theo entered the bay of the ship, which was empty.

Before he could even ask for the whereabouts of others, the suits replied, “The other one is full for now. We will take you to them once the Big One is here.”

The suit opened up as he hastily stepped out, the experience of being caged within a death machine supremely uncomfortable as he grabbed onto Theo and asked, “What is the Big One?”

The suit pointed at the TV on the side, which switched itself on, showing him what was supposedly the Big One.

He did not truly understand the scale of the ship until it zoomed out and showed him the comparison with the other suits flying about, as well as the ship he was currently inside.

Oh….They were fucked, weren’t they?

Damn Coil