The Reality Vortex: Red Reputations

[Vegetto]

Rogue City Command Center Ruins

Cayde followed after the group into the wreckage of the command center, placing his hands on his hips once he emerged through the portal. He glanced around with mostly a blank stare; taking in the damage of the scene and the output behind where he and the other Rogues had operated on behalf of some Vortex denizens and the city hundreds of times. It hadn't fully dawned him from Brask and the others leaving under Vegetto's tantrum, but with their headquarters now fully in a wrecked state, Cayde sighed to himself as he began to walk deeper into the room.

"Another end of an era...it's a shame how short it was."

He perked his mechanical eyebrows once Spawn began to explain the situation regarding Valeria, frowning immediately at what occurred. Cayde fiddled with the main console in seeing if he could pull up the main holoimage of the city on the terminal, but the machine itself had been wrecked to a point of inoperation, and the android turned his eyes slowly towards Spawn to speak after him.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that letting her get that meeting was a bad call. I mean, has some complicated connection to Doom...wants a meeting with the famous Breakers who beat Doom...your first thought probably should've been that she was gonna try and kill them if she got what she wanted. It's usually the complicated relationships that inspire people to take up a mantle of some kind."

He crossed his arms, leaning against the table.

"But she seemed a bit smarter than that; sure she willing set off Vegetto and probably has some bad blood with him. But why go through all that trouble to ruin his image, set him off in the city against the Xy'phers...and just leave? We can at least rule out that she's working with the Red King; setting off a pissed Vegetto in the city wouldn't be very helpful to their cause. And clearly, if she wanted to turn him on the Breakers...she would've stuck around and tried to bait him into attacking them. It seemed more like she was testing him and his anger, than actually trying to use it against the Breakers."

The android shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, we should probably move on from it for now though. She's gonna be a problem if she gets that Doom coin and finds the castle...but that won't matter if the Red King turns the entire Vortex into Xy'phers. One Vortex ending crisis at a time, I always used to say."

---

The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

Vegetto kept his same dejected stare throughout Clark's optimistic view, his eyes turning down slightly. He contemplated the prospect the Kryptonian presented, and in truth, most of the words held true. However, Vegetto pulled back, shrugging his shoulders to break Clark's grip and grunting a bit. The Potara fusion turned his back to Clark as he stepped slightly out of the bright moonlight; a nearby tree casting a shadow that covered the left half of his body while he stared down at the snow.

"You don't get it, Clark. Those memories of her...of even the Breakers...do keep me warm at times. You and Cayde always told me to remember those positives; her laugh...her smile."

His head dipped a bit.

"She always pushed me to be the best I could be...and in time, I used to hear her voice telling me to keep going. Pick up my feet, keep my fists up...and knock down anything that stood in my way."

Vegetto slowly turned his eyes up, and his dejected solemn stare relaxed further. He looked out at the droplets of snow cascading down gently in front of the two with a tired stare, his eyebrows falling a bit.

"It's gone, Clark...I can't hear it no more...no matter how hard I try. I fight and struggle to keep warm from those memories...but eventually they fade away. Every time they do, I'm left with only the pain in their wake. Pain that drives my rage..."

He glanced slightly over his shoulder.

"It's the rage that strangles the grief, Clark...and I can't stop it. I used to think of the first...kiss I ever had with Kass as a warm memory...but now all it reminds me of, is the bastard who took her from me. So now, even those memories no longer give me comfort and the list that do is getting smaller every day I keep going."

Vegetto turned to face back towards Clark, his facial expression having changed entirely. His eyebrows had narrowed into a firm stare mixed with clear anger and determination, yet the ominous toxic energy was no where to be found. His eyes showed the wear and tear throughout the many years spent since the final battle with Doom; an exhaustion mixed into a man desperately fighting not to overcome the pain of loss, but searching for a way out. Vegetto met Clark's eyes firmly once more, his dual voice weak.

"I don't want to remember her anymore...whatever form she is now or whatever the hell she is to me. Her memory is just...poison in my veins. A gaping hole in my chest that these old memories cover up but never heal. And I can't just let go...how do you let go a gaping hole in your chest?!"

A couple of painful tears cascaded down from the sides of his eyes; a clear conflict of morals within his mind as Vegetto spoke the words timidly as if he was still unsure of what to do.

"If she had never existed...then...I wouldn't be hurting like this. I hate that I have no control over it; I hate what I've become. I don't want to hurt anymore, Clark...I want to be free."

 

[~ Z ~]

Once Avalon arrived to the central tower, he noticed Zenta already there. The beast faced the wall, keeping a distance between himself and the others yet made sure to listen in to the conversation. Avalon frowned when he saw Zenta in his current state, but even he knew that the beast needed some space to gather his thoughts. Still, he couldn't help but feel bad for him.

Man, I've never seen him so down before. Cuki must've meant a lot to him... Hope he can clear those dark clouds.

Avalon then shifted his attention to Spawn as he explained everything about Brainstorm. Like usual, he unrolled his scroll and began to scribble things down, careful to not let anyone peek at his scroll. He would glance between Bernkastel and Gogeta before turning towards the direction Vegetto and Clark flew off to. Yet again, he scribbled many things, all of which were hidden from the Breakers. His final gaze landed on Spina while he paused, trying to get a good read on the Saiyan. After a few seconds passed, he scribbled more.

"Findin' Doom and his castle? What good would that do for her? Guess she wants some closure?" Avalon said, never taking his eyes off his scroll. "Regardless, whatever plans she had for us were not as bad as we thought or ruined by the Xy'pher invasion back in Reflection City."

"From my findings, the Xy'phers were primarily after the citizens of the city and not you. If anything, you guys interfered with their plans and made things harder for them," Nia commented. "It's weird though, I assume they would be constantly after you like flies on a horse's butt."

"Maybe they were tryin' to kill two birds with one stone?"

"Sounds like it to me, but I need to capture another Xy'pher to confirm this belief. Once we destroy the Hive, we can get one and ask more questions."

"Anywho, back to Spawn real quick; so Brainstorm, aka, Valeria, ain't related to Doom, at least blood-wise, and is also an Alter Bein'. We shouldn't jump to the conclusion that she wants to hurt us just because she likes Doom or somethin', that's stupid." Avalon said to himself while quickly jotting something down. "She didn't hurt Spawn or the Agency, or us, so let's not mark her a threat juuuuust yet." Avalon then turned to Nia. "Nia, think you can tell us more about the Hive?"

"Such as?"

"Do they stick out? Are they easy to spot?"

"In some cases, yes, but each hive can be different. Some are created on the surface while others can be dug underground. I'm not sure how a Dark Xy'pher would make their hive look like, but I'm pretty sure it's very similar to the Elites. ...You're askin' a lot of questions, is this normal?"

"I'm just gatherin' information, don't mind me."

 

[ShineCero]

Rogue City Command Center Ruins

Spina glanced at Avalon, furrowing his eyebrows when the ninja seemingly tried to shift the conversation quickly away from Spawn. “How about you shut up for a second?” He scolded the ninja harshly. “Doctor Doom was a deadly adversary—something that you have no knowledge of aside of extremely limited information from few years ago. Anyone partially related to that bastard should be taken as caution at the very least.”  He raised his finger and pointed the ninja. “We’ll deal with the Nia and the hive in a second; don’t go off on your own. Because as far I’m aware, you’re only here until you [wanted to] clear the air with Cuki.”

Spina turned his sights to Detective Spawn. “Obviously, speculating about her motivations isn’t top priority, and I ain’t interested in chasing her tail right now.” His eyes squinted, agreeing with both Avalon and Cayde that Xy’phers are the main focus right now. They are clearly targets and chasing after Brainstorm will simply leave them wide open to surprise attacks. “But I want to be damn sure that you won’t blindside us when we go after the Xy’phers because you’re working under orders from Valeria. If so, I’ll kill you right now. Another less hassle to deal with.” Spina seems determined to air out any other problematic issues that could interfered with their objective.

Detective Spawn’s eyes locked with the Saiyan. Spina seems a lot calmer now, until he still senses a dreadful presence around him, but could not pinpoint the description of it. “I won’t blow smoke up your ass with fluffy promises. I was simply told to score a meeting with you, and that’s all. If she does call, I’ll be sure to be around for you to hear it yourself.”

Spina sharpened his glare towards the Detective for several moments, clenching his right hand. “Then tell me two things. Did you try to exterminate both Bernkastel and Zenta because of her?”

“No.” Detective immediately responded. “Brainstorm has nothing to do with that. That is part of my investigation. I acted on my own because I sensed… death on them.” He glanced over to both Bernkastel and Zenta before continuing. “It’s classified at the moment, so I cannot say more for the matter until Detective Battler returns.”

Lucifer perked at this question, turning to the Detective. “Hmm?”

“Fine. Final question: what forced your hand to work with Brainstorm then.” As Cayde allured, it was rather foolish to have a meeting back at Reflection City.

Spawn’s gaze fell to the floor and went silent for a couple of seconds. He turned to Bage once more; it was a sympathetic expression he had. “Wanda.” He spoke. “She has her coin.” He spoke, his voice cracking upon mentioning her. “I cannot go on knowing her life is at stake. She affirms me that if I secured a meeting with the Breakers, she won’t be toss into the Valley of Black Crystals.”

Spina narrowed his eyes when Spawn mentioned a name he never heard of, but it seems to have affected him since his tone was softer this time around. “Hmph. If I suspect that you’re pulling a fast one, I’m ripping you apart.” He turns to Bage. “You’re his superior, right? Make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish.”

The old Saiyan finally turned to Nia, leaving the others to discuss further with Spawn if needed. Grabbing Nia by the back of her hoodie and lifted her from the ground, Spina shook her a bit. “Alright, on to you. We didn’t get a lot, but you talk about the hive and such. It seems that you can sense Xy’phers and whatnot. Can you sense a hive? If so, how far away is it? Or at the very least, tell us the general vicinity of it.” He sharpened his eyes. “And how many enemies do these “hives contained?”

 

[LoopyPanda]

Rogue City Command Center Ruins

Being one of the first to seat herself, Bernkastel passed Zenta but only glanced neutrally towards him for a few lingering moments as she walked by. Silently sitting down with the others coming in suit, she observed him remain at a distance from them before accepting it as a deliberate choice on his part. She opted not to press him into doing any particular action, knowing he'd be listening in regardless.

In preparation of the discussion Spawn would have about Brainstorm and her link to Doom, Bern reached for an empty glass of ice almost immediately. Inevitably, any mention of the megalomaniac unearthed unpleasant memories she didn't need infecting her consciousness anytime soon. And always, it gave her a strong urge to drink. Just one drink will be sufficient this time, Bernkastel told herself while mixing some improvised cocktail from whatever Spawn left behind.

Listening attentively to what he had to say about Brainstorm, her expression was of furrowed brows and a small grimace. Quietly, she stirred the drink while pondering Brainstorm's motive with the others. However, her relatively passive state was momentarily interrupted by Avalon's treatment of Valeria as a potential threat. Albeit probably unintended, it was a callous mistake to underestimate anybody posing to be an understudy of Doom. Letting Spina handle the harsh scolding, she decided only to give Avalon a glare over her shoulder for a few moments before turning back to Spawn and Cayde.

"Hard to speculate without much to go on... but the type of Alter Being you described sounds oddly familiar. I think Kent mentioned something like that a while ago, maybe he can elaborate on that if we ask him later. As for Valeria finding the Coin or the castle one of those definitely remains out of her reach; killing any of us now would only hinder her. Now that you've revealed yourself as some sort of mole, we wouldn't benefit from killing you either... I wouldn't discount it being something she planned since she clearly wanted us to know of her existence."

"But what's this about an investigation?" Bern asked with a raised brow. "I thought only Goku had business with me for the incidents in the Metropolis. You're telling me some other Detective's been on my tail too? Tch, and here I thought the agency wouldn't be a thorn in my side with Goku out of commission..." she grumbled before downing the rest of her drink. What's so classified if it's obvious so many people find us dangerous enough to eradicate? And why Zenta too... has he always found Zenta dangerous from the beginning even without sensing any killing intent from him? Either way, I ought to keep an eye on him if he'll take any chance to kill me while my guard is down.

"Oh well. If this Battler person is your superior for that, then observe me as closely as you like-- that sense of yours is keen, I'll give you that much..." Bernkastel trailed off before giving Spawn a taunting half-smile. "Since it seems you've already made up your mind about me though, I look forward to where that will lead you."

Berserk watched Avalon prod Nia while chewing on a pizza she'd managed to heat up instantaneously with her vision. "Maybe the King is saving us for dead last after Vegetto showed up? He might be trying to make a horde of Dark Xy'phers first and making it harder for us to hide somewhere safely. If they really wanted to, they could've just waited for us to come back here and finish us off but they didn't. Why hold it off when there's no real advantage? I don't get it!"

 

[~ Z ~]

As Spina scolded Avalon, he couldn't help but feel insulted. Leaving the group was never part of his idea, but at the same time, he did not want to be looked down upon by Spina or the others. He considered himself the weakest of the group, not being able to have incredible strength, magic, or the capability to fly, so he always felt like he never contributed anything. He then shifted his view from Spina to Bernkastel. Likewise, he remembered the issue between her and Vegetto and frowned. The way the two constantly argue and fight left a bad taste in his mouth but he did not want to come between them. As the issue with the Xy'pher grew worse, he knew that trying to talk to them would never work, given how stubborn they were. Not just those two but almost the whole group.

This is a mess... We are makin' no progress. Damnit, what do we do? Avalon glanced at Spina Boss has been actin' so weird lately, he might as well be a different person. Vegetto and Bernkastel are impossible to talk to right now, Zenta's depressed, and things keep on pilin' up on us! The odds are against us if we don't shape up...

As Avalon thought to himself, he looked completely focused, nothing like his goofy self. When Berserk spoke about the King's possible ideas for them, he also noticed an inconsistency in the was the Xy'phers attacked them.

Berserk's right... why didn't they just wait here if they knew where we were? Somethin' ain't addin' up... Nia mentioned that they weren't after us in Reflection City, we just happen to be there when the attack happened. Avalon bit his lip. So what were they really after?

"Ack! Yes! Usually when there is a large congregation of Xy'phers in a single location, it is indicative of a hive." Nia said as Spina wiggled her around. From her pocket, she pulled out a map of the area around Reflection City before pointing at a spot she circled above the city. "I was able to sense a large collection of Xy'phers north of Reflection City, right around here. I believe it's in a small town not too far off the city. This is also where I sensed many of those Coin things the Xy'phers are after. I can lead you there." Nia dusted her jacket off before glaring towards Spina when he asked about how many enemies the hive will contain. "Tens of thousands, probably. Picking a fight with the hive is a death wish, especially with how it's constructed. It's built similar to that of an anthill, with narrow halls and little room to fly. There are dead ends for you to get yourself cornered and picked off, so you must remain hidden if you are to enter the Hive. If you're spotted, you're done." Nia floated upwards to gaze at the Breakers. "They know the Hive and all its rooms, you don't. You'll be in their territory, so exercise extreme caution and avoid getting caught."

"A stealth mission, eh?" Avalon grinned.

"Yes, and your objective is to get rid of that Central Core. Get rid of it and the Xy'pher count will drop to near 0. The hard part is finding it." The Xy'pher smiled. "However, there is some good news! I believe this Hive is not very large, so sneaking inside it won't be hard. Still, I want you guys to be careful, it's still very dangerous."

Avalon flinched slightly at what Nia said and looked at the Breakers for a brief second before stretching his body to hide his smile. He eyed Nia's map like a prize.

"Well then! I guess we should rest up for the big day, eh? Even if it ain't a big deal, we should always expect the worst, right? Anyway, I'm gonna get some shut eye, I'm beat!"

Zenta remained silent as usual, zoning in and out of the conversation, however, when Spawn brought up the fact that he was investigating him and Bernkastel, his ears immediately perked up. He turned his head and the expression he had was shock, if one was able to tell. He seemed alert and a little fidgety about what Spawn might say. He turned his head to Lucifer hearing the curiosity in his tone.

"I do not know why you hold such a vendetta over me, but it is growing old at this point," Zenta said with a snarl. "Stop digging into my life, Detective Spawn..."

 

[meta knight]

May thinks "not my job to care about Doom Coin or his castle at this point at time. At this point all I am doing is getting some background information that may be useful latter on."  It's hard to tell what May thinks about this information.

May asks "Even under normal conditions I don't think most people in this group is able to do the hole sleuth mission. I need to ask how we are going to avoid surveillance? We are dealing with a hive mind and odds are they may have something that can detect us."

 

[ShineCero]

Rogue City Command Center Ruins

“North of Reflection City…” Spina recalled the Xy’phers retreating; if the hive was nearby, it makes sense that they will simply fallback and regroup again later. “Hmph. Don’t underestimate me.” Spina furrowed his eyebrows, clenching his right fist tightly. “I fought countless enemies in my time—death don’t scare me.” The old Saiyan boasted, his lust for battle starting to show briefly. “That aside,” His instinct for battle soon faded, “Rushing in would be foolish."

Spina turned to May first, then Avalon, only for the ninja to leave the area early. “Tsk…” He grimaced in annoyance. “Sneaking isn’t difficult according to her, but you’re right about the surveillance. We should send in those capable of stealth first.” Spina glanced at May. “You look capable, hmm? Think you can find a way to sneak in there without detection?”

---

Detective Spawn remained silent when Bernkastel ended her piece with an ominous warning. “Indeed. It’ll come to light soon enough. I’m sure you’ll be delight to have him be your company—he’s well-verse of you, Witch of Miracles.” But that’s all he could say on the matter. Spawn knew he had no leverage currently due to his connections with Valeria and his botched plans in Reflection City on restoring their reputation. Yes, Valeria hadn’t done anything significant, but it was still poised an issue in the future and won’t place blame on any of the Breakers for being distrustful. It’s why he specifically made Bage the leader. “I do expect some form of punishment when this is all over, Bage. Don’t go easy on me, would ya?”

However, the Detective’s tone went harsh upon Zenta’s demand to cease his activity on digging into his background. “Don’t need too,” Spawn retorted. “The foul cries alone tell me everything.”

Lucifer cackled in reaction to Spawn’s hostility towards Zenta. “Hm. Now I understand…” A devilish sneer appeared on his face—and didn’t elaborate anything further than that. “At least you were honest about your involvement, Simmons. Assuming if we survived the onslaught of Xy’phers, Valeria would pose as a new force for you Breakers. And this Battler—Oh, my curiosity is peaking at an all-time high.” The angel’s smile continues on. “I’ll be skipping dinner, for this delight was enough meal for the day. You can devour those disgusting noodles without my presence.” In a gaudy fashion, he bowed to the Breakers. “Do shape yourself up, Zenta. Otherwise, you’ll shed the skin you spent so much time preserving.” The angel departed to an empty room to rest for the night.

---

The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

Clark simply stared in silence when Vegetto simply let it out the truth of the matter. The more the fusion talk about his own despair, Clark’s expression became grimmer. Lowering his head; his tears that he shed for a friend simply froze from the freezing temperatures.

“A single death pained you so, that you forfeit everything about her. So much, that you rather allowed a single man live comfortably in your mind and put him above the one you claim to cherish?” Clark spoke with contempt in his voice.

Clenching his fists tightly, Clark’s eyes lit bright red as he walked closer. “Feeble anger is lost one me, Vegetto. Your despair, barely a melody to my ears. Your desperation, hardly worth to sympathize. Erasing one’s existence to be free of pain; a weak fool’s desperate attempt. If it’s not Kassava, it would’ve been something else. You are simply weak, so weak that both agony and anger strangled you until you’re gasping for air. Rather than control it and use it as an effective tool, it become a vehicle to justify your stagnation, your weakness, your arrogance, and the way to avoid guilt.”

Clark placed his hand on Vegetto’s shoulder, gripping it tightly. “It'll be easier to blame Kassava. She's the one who got herself killed and giving you pain. Why should you suffer, hm?"

 

[Panich]

Confused, Bage listened carefully as Spina interrogated his detective, hoping to have some light shed on a situation that was clearly unknown to him during the fight with Xy'pher Goku.

Something happened with Brainstorm?​

As he sat in the command center, taking in all this information Spawn revealed about a secret meeting with Valeria. All he knew about her was as Spawn explained. After the information started to become more unfamiliar, the Senior detective remained in shocked silence trying to process what he was hearing. At the sound of Spina's command however, Bage's attention returned back to the group.​

"Right. I'll keep a close eye on him."​

The senior detective turned to Spawn as he mentioned his punishment. It was clear now why Bage was the leader now... But despite a bitter taste of the situation, he remained composed as he addressed the other detective quietly.​

"We'll talk after the meeting, Al. For right now I'm going to help the others in formulating the hive stealth mission. By then, I hope you'll be prepared to tell me what you know. All of it. I am your superior now after all."​

The look he gave Spawn was one of disappointment, but also understanding. He only wished he trusted the agency enough to tell Goku at least. But right now there was no time to dwell on any of that. He could scold the other all he wanted after the red king was dealt with. He stepped forward as the others speculated a way to sneak into the hive undetected by any supposed security.​

"Well... I would like to suggest Spawn, as he does have a few abilities perfectly suited for a stealth mission like this. I understand if there's hesitation in allowing him to go on this mission, if he doesn't attend the mission, then our trump card will have to be Avalon, since stealth is his strong suit. What do you say about that? Because as I see it, any other way I to the hive would have to be a decoy luring a significant number of Xy'phers out on a chase while the others sneak in."


He turned to Spina and Cayde, wondering their input on his suggestion.

 

[Vegetto]

Rogue City Command Center Ruins

Cayde had already gestured towards Nia after Bage glanced towards him, his mechanical voice ringing out with an enthusiastic tone in the ideas presented.

"Well...how about both? It's like the others said...even with the fusions and some of the more...loud Breakers...out of the picture, we still don't have a suitable team for a real stealth op."

He nodded first towards Spina, Bernkastel, and Berserk.

"No offense guys, but you're not exactly the subtle type. It's good that you're not unhinged and reckless to the point where you level cities like the...uhh..other Blue Devil...but expecting you to learn how to invade a base where every creature is linked together in a hive mind and can inform each other of a person who makes a little slip up when sneaking? That's a pretty risky set of circumstances for us to bank everything on."

The android then turned to Bage, smiling widely.

"So! Why don't we have team one make a big distraction, lure out a good chunk of them away from the hive. Then team two sneaks in, gets in there, and shuts down the core. With less ants in the anthill as our questionable ally put it, it'll make the stealth job easier and there will be less resistance when team two takes out the core."

---------------------------------------

The Snow Mountains of Rogue City

Vegetto stood silent throughout Clark's explanation of his pain, his eyes still dulled and dejected while he looked on. The thought of ending his own life had never once crossed the Potara fusion's mind on a conscious level; whether he had the strength to reverse his course when faced in that pivotal moment of weakness, however, was valid a concern as any for those who saw his decent into failure. Yet the barb of a revelation in Clark's words struck him to the core: he had indeed, allowed himself to fall into a state of such weakness. The memory and cherished feelings he had for his dead wife strangled him so in his failure to adapt into the life of a heroic warrior, and the present thought soon filled his mind:

Kassava was just the first...and it if wasn't her, it'd be someone else.

His eyes narrowed immediately, thinking on at the prospect. Despite Trunks' best efforts from his universe and even the current situation with Gogeta, Vegetto found his moment of clarity in the twisted realization that no one, not a single person in the entirety of his existence, had ever truly formed a familial or close bond with him other than Kassava. He drew on the connection, realizing that keeping everyone at arm's length allowed his selfish focus of growing in combat to flourish without weakness. Vegetto's eyes wandered a bit, the steeling of his mind in the resolution further amplified as he thought more on attempting to salvage the damaged "father son" relationship with Trunks from his world. 

He always wanted me to be something I am not...he always wanted a family. And it made him weak...begging for everyone's help when he couldn't see his own strength. He let it die...chasing those bonds.

Vegetto perked his head slowly, however, the sensation of a familiar energy signature soon entering the area. Gogeta landed with a loud thud, snow kicking up upon his impact onto the ground. The other fusion glanced between the two, his eyebrows furrowing at the strange sight of Vegetto slowly forming a smirk.

"Did I miss something?"

Vegetto shook his head slowly, nearly erupting into a confident and enthusiastic chuckle as he reached out, shaking Clark's shoulder while looking over towards Gogeta.

"No...you didn't Gogeta...I finally figured it out! You're a genius, Clark!"

Gogeta kept his brow furrowed, opting to remain silent and letting Vegetto move a bit towards him.

"We used to be the perfect warriors, Gogeta! Cold and ruthless; we lived by our strength alone...uninhibited by all of this...foolish emotion!"

Gogeta stared on in confusion, his gut sinking slightly at the start of this revelation while Vegetto sharpened his tone; a new saturation of frustration building. Unlike the unrefined and wild fire of his outbursts, the tone behind his dual voice was pointed and determined on a single source. A strange calm ebbed and flowed with it, the energy that had been missing from the Potara fusion for some time.

"But slowly, over the years...we became like Trunks and Kassava. The quest for power giving way to this...life of mediocrity. Think about it: that power...Ultra Instinct, I saw you use it to go after Spina. You beat one of the most powerful Breakers, because you stopped letting that witch cling to you like a disease! You were free!"

Gogeta frowned immediately, his expression softening.

"But I like being friends with Burn. She helped me get stronger...I think...and Kassava helped you get stronger too."

Vegetto dropped his shoulders, nearly rolling his eyes in the notion of actually having to spend more effort convincing Gogeta of his belief.

"You can still be friends with her, Gogeta...just...keep your distance. You keep everyone at arm's length. Like those times when you were chasing that one guy through Metropolis or when you fought Detective Broly; you didn't care about anyone. You just had fun, fighting and doing whatever you wanted to do."

Gogeta kept his frown, sharpening his stare a bit.

"Yeah...and I hurt a lot of people. It's bad that I killed those innocent people."

Vegetto groaned.

"Please...this isn't like our world, Gogeta. They're not dead; they'll come back. If anything, it'll teach them to get stronger and better. So they won't die from something as pathetic as falling rocks or buildings."

Gogeta fell silent; his naivety on the nature of the world embracing a bit of Vegetto's point, but his own beliefs still conflicted and prompted him to drop another counter argument with a firm tone.

"Kassava wasn't weak though...neither was Trunks. And they're dead."

Vegetto kept his own firm stare, raising his right eyebrow with a small smirk forming despite the contents of his own speech.

"Were they actually strong? If Trunks had stopped trying to help people and went looking for me, he would've come here with you and Kassava instead of being erased. If Kassava hadn't spent so much time looking at me and feeling good about herself...Doom wouldn't have caught her off guard. Those little people you stepped on in your fighting are gonna come back after some time, and that means they're stronger than Kassava and Trunks. Think for yourself and not being strong enough, gets you turned into a coin. The only ones who truly were deemed unfit to exist, were the ones who put others before themselves."

Gogeta blinked in shock at the prospect presented, but without any knowledge on the matter with Kassava, the other fusion thought to himself at the notion of their lost family members earning their own deaths. His gut instinct was to refute it; to challenge that it was unfair for Trunks or Kassava to be judged in such a harsh and strong way. But before he could speak again, Vegetto spoke out with a dismissive tone.

"Look...the point is...we got to where we are and found our peace by doing what we wanted to do. We didn't let ourselves answer to anyone, we didn't try to be someone that is accepted by others. We are warriors; we fight and live for the battle! Without all of these petty attachments like the one I had with Kassava...and with it gone, I am free!"

Gogeta kept a confused and furrowed brow at the speech, but he did not speak a word. Despite his desire to protest, the other fusion understood the viewpoint, and in his core, he knew he missed the simplicity of his old life. He looked on expectantly towards Vegetto; the stare between the fusions speaking volumes in expectantly waiting for Vegetto to clarify his feelings on the matter for the impressionable Gogeta.

Vegetto knowingly raised his smirk, and for the first time in years, the relief was clear in his dual voice.

"And I have to say...it feels pretty good."

Vegetto then immediately turned slightly towards Clark; his expression lifted and in his happier elevated expression, he nodded to the Kryptonian.

"Isn't that right, Clark? Let's just do whatever we want; this Reality Vortex can sort itself out!"

With Vegetto looking on in his elevated and relieved sense of clarity, Gogeta also turned his eyes onto Clark expectantly. While the Potara fusion only looked to the Kryptonian for validation, Gogeta watched Clark as a somewhat conflicted mindset, but gradually accepting the ideology before him. Whatever the Kryptonian replied with, would shape the two fusions into their mindsets for the foreseeable future.

 

[Z-Fighter]

Bara turned to Cayde.

"I can detach pieces of myself and let them move through enemy zones undetected if you want to get the full scope of intelligence and all," she suggested, "being a Majin does have its perks after all; complete and total manipulation of my own body. Now that I have seen how much effort has taken it all in big attacks, I'll decide for an alternative to see if we can get an edge in a way that would suit this kind of mission more..."