The Reality Vortex: Red Reputations

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"And have him get in the way of our fun-filled and merry rapport we've established?... Very funny. Who knows, maybe he'll decide to come down himself if he catches wind of any more unfortunate 'slip ups' from an incompetent subordinate?" Bernkastel deadpanned jokingly before frowning with crossed arms. "You heard Spina; don't get in our way needlessly." While her tone remained aloof as usual, it held a hint of contempt since what little patience she had was worn down overtime from Goku twisting her arm and forcing the Breakers to cooperate. Bern was troubled by what scale of threats they could face in the forseeable future and what effect that could have in itself.

Berserk glanced up as Lucifer and Avalon dismissed himself for the night. "Leaving already? But we're still spitballin' strategies here ya know!"

"You can fill them in by the morning, I'm sure. It seems Avalon already has ideas of his own." Bern said. "Lucifer too. Besides, at his current form it might be a pain to maneuver around." She gave a small grimace when Cayde pointed towards their direction. Initially she wanted to protest but stopped when she gave Cayde's reasoning more thought. "I... suppose that's true. I've never had to deal with being on the other side of high-security before... much less one with such restrictive space."

"None taken, Mister TinMan! I might get mighty claustrophobic down there, and it's no good flying if I can't move jet-fast. It'd turn into a nasty game of pinball real quick." Berserk tugged on her ribbons bashfully. "Being quiet and sneaky just isn't my forte at all."

"Even if I were to send in a kitty or two, I'm afraid we are priority targets. The Xy'phers Spina and I faced were exceedingly ruthless. Since they've seen my familiars before it'd be too obvious now and the jig would be up," Bernkastel conceded. "Making grandiose spectacles is something I've been trained in however. I also have a very good point of reference to work off of so I suppose I don't mind."

"Team Distraction it is!" Berserk cheered after hooking an arm around Bern's neck, causing her to dangle like a ragdoll while she wiggled her arms to get free. "Can we, Grandpa!?!? Can we can we can we? I can make a few explosives as early as right now!" she asked Spina excitedly. 

"Please say yes so she can let go..." Bern strained out.
 
May thinks "I gest being a contractor." May asks "I can but I like to know, how many ways do the Xy'phers have detect others? How good are those methods? Can the stealth team trick these methods? Do we have a map of the location so we can plan out?" May is trying to maximize the results of the mission.

May orders 07 to make food. May says "I trust we all are going keep at this for some time." 07 starts to make food.
 
Rogue City Command Center Ruins

“Understood, Boss.” Detective Spawn spoke without much resistance.

Spina crossed his arms. “Hmph. Splitting into two teams is ideal and solves our problem.” He agreed with both Bage and Cayde. It wasn’t lost on him that this plan is practically similar to that of the Reflection City plan: splitting into two teams to lure large portions of Xy’phers out, while the other team takes advantage of the situation. “No need to convince me, playing to our strengths is the best option. I’m the type that like to get my hands dirty.”

He turns to May, whom has some concerns about the Xy’phers awareness. “As far as I’m aware, they rely on sight, so that put this to our favor. And we can use Nia’s map to scope the area before committing to our plan.” He looks at May with a determined stare. “I’m sure you and others have a method to hide our sight.” He glances at Detective Spawn’s ability to hide one’s energy signature, and they didn’t pick up on that during Reflection City—they only attack based upon seeing the actual Breakers.

“I’ll lead team distraction.” Spina stated, smirking when Berserk expressed excitement of distracting the Xy’phers. “Berserk, Bage, Bernkastel, Cayde and Zenta will be with me. The rest will follow under May’s watch.” He turns to Nia. “Since you can detect these rock bastards, you’ll be far more useful if you hang with team stealth.”



The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

Clark stood there in silence upon Vegetto’s harangue. His eyes, gleaming with red, never once waver away from the potara fusion, even after Gogeta appeared at the scene. His eyebrows hang low, his face held an indifferent expression. Standing under the moonlight, it was like time itself had stopped around him; everyone froze in place from his perspective.

Only when Vegetto asked the Kryptonian, seeking validation, did Clark move, albeit slightly. Both fusions stared on, waiting to see Clark’s reply in regard to their morphing ideology and mindset. When the clouds block out the Vortex Moon, darkness descend upon the Snowy Mountains; only his glistering red eyes being the source of light.

A single amputated arm and both legs from Gogeta flung in the air; burns marks clear at the site. It was a mere flash, less than a nanosecond barely passed. Clark appeared in front of Vegetto, staring him down as residue from the heat vision seared from his eyes, after dispatching Gogeta instantaneously; cracks spreading throughout the fusion’s body. His face held no fury nor disappointment; instead, it was a face of man with an obligation. No need for words; for only actions, Clark displayed, would they have value.
 
Rogue City Command Center Ruins

Cayde perked his head up at Berserk's enthusiasm at making explosives, proudly perking up his head with a confident tone.

"Explosives, huh? You know, I'm something of an explosive enthusiast myself."

He pushed himself off the ruins of a table he rested against, his head turning slightly towards Bara and shrugging her shoulders.

"Hey, whatever floats your boat. Just work with the other people, while we make great booms will ya?"

The android then yawned loudly, stretching his mechanical arms as he walked towards the exit.

"But sleep is good too...man I'm tired!"



The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

In the split second of the devastating attacks, Vegetto gasped in pure shock in being caught offguard from the sudden move. Gogeta crashed into the snow after having lost most of his limbs, yelling out in a pained agony as he laid in the snow.

Vegetto rushed over to Clark, but avoided reaching out and gripping the man while his wide eyed narrowed in confusion.

"What the hell was that?! Why did you do that?!"
 
"Oh, don't worry 'bout me! We gotta get up fresh and ready for tomorrow, so I'll get some shut eye first. At least I can count on you to make a big scene, right Berserk?" Avalon gave Berserk a thumbs up before walking backwards into the hallway then turning on his heel. "Make sure to make lots of boom! It's kinda cool when you do it." Avalon said before waling off into the shadows where, true to his ninja roots, promptly disappeared.

Nia flew upside down, staring at the Breakers individually. A smile formed on her face as the group pondered about what should be done to destroy her people.

"I agree that two teams work best. I can lead the distraction group towards the hive, then, when things get crazy, I can merge in with the stealth group." Nia nodded to herself. "I can provide the smaller stealth group some backup as well as predict when and where the Xy'phers might come. Yes! This is the most fun!" Nia then turned May and began to ponder slightly. "The Xy'phers I have encountered have little ways of sensing you, useless they outright see you. Being sneaky is the best approach since the Xy'phers cannot sense energy like you can unless are Elites or specifically made to do so. Even then, those are rare, so it's safe to assume no common Xy'pher will sense your presence. The one you should worry about is the Dark Xy'pher. Don't worry though, I will be by your side to guide you. But we should certainly rest, I will be sure to take you to the area I suspect the hive to be, but we must be well rested. I will protect you from any foreign Xy'phers that may slip by, I do not need sleep, after all."

Nia gave the Breakers a friendly thumbs up, awkwardly giving them another disturbing smile in her attempt to get on their good side. Unable to properly stop a conversation, she simply stopped talking and kept her eyes glued on them, not blinking once.

"Very well, I will follow your lead, Mr. Spina." Zenta spoke out before rising to his feet. "I will be on my best behavior."

As Zenta left the room, he stopped by Spawn for only a brief moment. The air around the two got heavy and thick, his presence looming down over Spawn. However, nothing came out of it and the heavy aura left the room. Zenta simply turned away from Spawn and walked away, past Bernkastel and Berserk, and into the shadows.

"I hope he can recover. I sense hostility from him..." Nia said. "But regardless of what he feels, we must gain our rest."


As the morning sun shined between the battered buildings, Nia was the first to poke her head out one of the shattered windows. She was outside the entire night, and, true to her word, she protected them. The fact that she did not attack them in their sleep was proof that she could be trusted, at least for the most part. She noticed that none of the Breakers were awake yet as she carefully floated through the hallway. Using her psychic powers, she slowly opened the doors of each room the Breakers were staying in and peered inside. Each sleeping Breakers would slowly lift out of bed and float towards the main room where they constructed their plan. Of course, she did not ask for permission, but it seems she was trying to help them out by getting thm out of bed.

"Hey, the sun has peaked over the horizon. This is the first indication of morning!"
 
Rogue City Command Center Ruins

At the conclusion of the meeting, after everyone had their filled, it was time for rest. After the events of Reflection City, it was understandable for everyone to be on some kind of edge. Detective Spawn’s plan failed on all points; there existed someone connected with Doctor Doom; the Breakers is undoubtedly fractured because of the actions taken by Spina, Vegetto and Zenta.

Not even counting that majority of events captured on camera and televised across the world by the dangerously daring duo, Stacey, and Chad. They made strides, yes, but they also experienced unruly failures. Their reputation, red with egos, pride, and rejection of bonds, continued to diminish somewhat. Their deaths, if it ever occurred, is now set and stone to be a dubiously long time until the world erased them from their memories.

To say that morale is at a all time low is an understatement. Spina understood this greatly. Recalling briefly when he led a small band of Saiyans in his youth, morale can greatly contribute to whether a mission is a success or a failure. He kicked out Gogeta for being too much of a liability; he kicked out Brachi for abandoning comrades in the middle of battle; and he rejected including Vegetto back to the Breakers. Add that Cuki and Cross left for various reasons, the former speculated to be killed by the Xy’phers, and the Detective Agency seems to be compromised, the old Saiyan sought the way to pulled through.

Making his way through the hallway, Spina spotted Lucifer standing by the window. The angel held a cackling smile as he looked through the glass, taking several sips of wine sporadically. Lucifer noticed Spina and held up his glass.

“Greetings, Spina. I taken the meeting concluded with the appropriate plan in mind, yes?”

Spina sharpened his eyes and nodded once. “Yeah, I’d assumed that you already know the gist of the plans.”

“Indeed,” Lucifer smiled, taking another sip. “I’ll be confident that you will lead them into a successful mission; even at the worst-case scenario.”

On the contrary, Spina always held great suspicion towards at Lucifer. Connection with Demi-Fiend aside, Lucifer seemingly operates on a different level compared to the others. He’s mysterious, and his powers seems to fluctuate depended on the scenario. As Zenta and Bernkastel allured briefly back then: Lucifer is a wild card, but so far, he saved the Breakers from imminent demise when needed. More importantly, Lucifer seemingly has become a vehicle for information regarding the state of this world.

“Lucifer,” Spina glanced towards the devilish angel. “When Vegetto erupted with anger, I sensed a unique energy that flourished around him. I cannot describe it, but it felt that it could influence one’s way of thinking.” The old Saiyan recalled his encounter with Null Knight earlier. “Is that the same presence that I sometimes exert whenever I’m in battle?”

“It seems that he is aware of it…” Lucifer thought to himself; it greatly amused him. “What Vegetto is expelling isn’t something to take note of, really. Only those with weak minds or constantly under stress would be influenced by his toxicity. It actually quite commonly for those that obtain divine status: their arrogance, whatever that shapes it, elevates to the point that their mere presence can shape one’s thinking. Some are more prominent than others, but this is one the low side.” Lucifer furrowed his eyebrows. “Hence its was rather unbecoming to see Bernkastel of all people get roped into this.”

The angel glanced at the window once more as he continued. “Yours is different. I would even say, it quite unique in its regard—it cannot be sensed by any means. I’ve tried numerous times to pinpoint what I’m exactly sensing here, but even then, I could only speculate based on current information.” Lucifer eyed on Spina with a smirk. “And fortunately for you, it doesn’t have any impact on the others; so far, it seems to affect you only. For better or worse.”

“Hmph,” Spina was relieved that, at the very least, the ominous warning Null Knight doesn’t seem to impact the others too much. “That makes it easy then.” His left arm started to move briefly, flinging to life.

Lucifer raised a brow. “Hmm?”

“Nothing.” Spina ended his thoughts, which cause his life arm to go numb once more. Before leaving, Spina glanced through the window, seeing brief red lights in the vast snowy mountains. “I’m heading off.”

The angel narrowed his eyes when Spina walked past him, he noticed small dark spots on his left arm. It was erecting on his skin, mainly his fingertips and his scars. Whatever he decided, the dark spots had grown in response. It had greatly amused him.
“Spina.” Lucifer called out to him. Spina stopped but didn’t turn to face the angel.

“Gods never experienced the grace of choice; it leaves them fearful of consequences.” Lucifer sneer as his blue eyes shined. “Struggling to take the first step leaves them vulnerable of what’s to come. A second step allows one to truly become accustomed to the world. But the third step is truly what defines someone.” He smiles. “I wonder what your third step will be, Spina.”

Spina turned his head slightly but didn’t respond. Instead, Spina smirked before heading off. Arriving at a room that was not occupied, the old Saiyan glanced over to the rest of the rooms; they were all ranging from minimal to extreme damage from the Xy’phers. Suddenly, the old Saiyan spotted a young woman across from him. At first, he assumed it was either Bernkastel or Berserk or perhaps Lilith returning to her normal form. However, when woman turned her head, it was a completely different person altogether: something that he never seen before. She had a sinister smile as she waved at him as she stood by the room where Bernkastel resided in for the night.

Spina blinked once, doing a double take to confirmed what he was seeing; however, she disappeared. “…. I need to really sleep.” He concluded that the person he saw was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.



The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

Clark offered no response for his actions taken against Gogeta. Rather, when Vegetto demanded an answer, the potara fusion was immediately backhanded by the Kryptonian. It was an insignificant slap; barely just enough to swat away mere insects. To Vegetto, it was a devastating power that forced him back at a distance.

As the moonlight ceased, the burning light of the sun leaks before the horizon. As dawn came slowly, particles of energy accumulated around Clark’s eyes. When he fired another round of heat vision, it lined perfectly with the dawn at the horizon. Colliding against Vegetto, it drove the fusion deep into the icy plate, melting it to the point of boiling.

As the heat vision subsided, Clark turned away from Vegetto, shifting his attention towards Gogeta. “Another petty attachment. Had you been focused, Gogeta wouldn’t been in a state like this. Stay there. I’ll take care of it.” Ignoring the agonizing screams from Gogeta, Clark placed his foot firmly on the fusion’s chest. “I’ve stunned any attempts to regenerate your body.” He tilted his head, observing the state Gogeta is in. “A single blow from me is enough.” His eyes glow bright red, ready to fire at Gogeta.



Rogue City Command Center Ruins - Next Morning

“That’s one way to wake up.” Detective Spawn said, floating upside down. “This is why I hate psionics. They’re the annoying type.”

Lucifer, who never went to sleep, was floating rather elegantly. “It’s rather amusing. We don’t get a lot of people with psychic abilities back in my world. They’re usually killed for being the “invaders of minds”.” The angel left out a light cackle, generating a cup of hot tea.

Spina opened his eyes, wearing nothing but his pants; completely ripped apart due to the battle in Reflection City. “Hmm?! Put. Me. Down.” He commanded Nia.

"Do you ever wear clothes?" Detective Spawn grunted in annoyance. "I ain't going to the battlefield to stare his butt-naked ass."
 
Rogue City Command Center Ruins

As Cayde floated in air, he suddenly started to flail and spaz out at the sensation of being lifted in the air by the strange telekinetic powers.

"Gah!! What the hell?! Let me down!! PLEASE!!""



The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

Gogeta howled in pain, his eyes tightly shut as he hacked up and barely moved without usage of his limbs. Despite Clark's threat, the fusion was in too much pain to simply respond; unable to resist the impending doom from Superman's eye beam.

The stunned expression on Vegetto's face remained in place despite Clark's backhand smashing his cheek in, the Potara fusion bouncing along the ground from the impact and barely responding to the intense damage of crashing into the mountain side. His shocked stare remained; the determination on Superman's face told the entire story. Vegetto blasted downwards into the cold icy tundra from the intense beam slamming into his chest, stunned into silence in realizing that he had failed to understand the Kryptonian and now, Clark was out to kill them both.

Am I not supposed to have what I want?

The distracted and racing mind of the Potara fusion took away from his defenses; the intense beam beginning to burn away at his blue gi. Vegetto felt the skin on his chest begin to sear, twinging a bit in pain as he tensed his muscles in frustration with himself. The words themselves ate away at his confidence, and even he could feel the selfish and evil nature that radiated from those words in his mind. Yet his pain flourished once more, lost again as he looked around desperately for a way out.

What am I..supposed...to...do...

The intense crushing of rock and snow, the tumultuous roar of the wind as he descended back and the devastating energy behind the eye beam blocked out the thoughts within his mind. Yet naturally, Vegetto began to block out the noise to focus on protecting his body against the beam; holding the energy at bay from piercing him. He looked on with a perplexed stare; a sense of disconnect from the world around him. The sight of the crushing rock melted to nothing in his eyes, and he found himself in a silent void despite the devastating scene of what was occuring. Vegetto blinked to himself, thinking back to the final lesson he received when he faced Whis in similar confusion.

"Damnit Whis, I was emotionless!! I killed every petty attachment; I was the perfect warrior! Why isn't the power coming back?"
"Because Ultra Instinct isn't about being emotionless. Pride, anger...even love sometimes...all of it can be a distraction, yes. And to block it out, gets your closer...but it's not the full teaching. You have to give your entirety to the flame."

"But where is that?! It's not in me, I don't feel anything!"

"Because it isn't within you, Vegetto...and it won't be. Ultra Instinct is never about you; it's about adapting to the world around you."


Vegetto gasped, his eyes turning down at the subconscious memory of Whis gently poking his chest where the eye beam threatened to tear into him.

"And it starts...with the impulse of the spirit."

Vegetto glanced down, struggling to fight against the beam nearly cutting into him as cracks along his chest began to form. The immense weight of thoughts that ran through the Potara fusion's mind were racing at speeds too fast to decipher, the black energy mounting again at the impulsive idiocy to blame everyone else for his situation. Yet it all cleared at the piercing scream of his own counterpart; not one from the actual agonizing Gogeta, but one that Vegetto imagined for himself.

"VEGETTO!"

Vegetto blinked hard, the voices washing away other than the few memories he called on. Cayde in trouble, screaming for the same person...the crowds of Reality Metropolis cheering when he defeated the last crime lord of the town, and finally Clark's own happy tone in helping Vegetto through his rough time alone in the world.

"Everybody loves a hero! People line up for them, cheer them, scream their names...and then tell stories of how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them to hold on a second longer. It's an amazing feeling...to be that light of hope for those people...but sometimes you have to be steady, and give up the thing you want the most. Even your dreams..."

Vegetto's eyebrows sharpened, his mind absolving the doubts and ego within as he began to focus on the clear issue at hand: Gogeta needed him. The Potara fusion roared not in rage or emotion, but to quell the toxic distractions even further in his mind. The cracks along his torso began to recede slowly as he felt his own life force surge at the call; to push himself beyond the limits to save his only family truly left spurring the development forth. What was important to Vegetto and what he wanted no longer mattered; if he did not rise to the challenge, Gogeta would perish. 

From the depths of the snow shot out a massive cylinder of silver energy spiraling upwards into the sky. Storm force winds blasted the snow in every direction, and within the blink of an eye, a daunting silhouette shot forward through the air at speeds that only Clark could somewhat detect. In the blink of an eye, Clark was tackled off of Gogeta's torso and sent plummeting into the snow; a pair of arms having wrapped around his ribcage while the two tossed and collided across the ground. Eventually sliding to a halt without the unseen force barreling into Clark further, the Kryptonian could see the transformed Vegetto looming in his fluid posture. The familiar silver fire swirled around his body in an ominous heat and pressure; the cascading particles of light flowing upwards around his body.

Yet his hair itself was mangled and still its normal shade of brownish black, flowing in the silver fire. Vegetto's narrowed eyes focused solely on Clark in an intense, determined glare. The pupils glowing a distinct silver hue. Not a word was spoken further by the Potara fusion; there was no need as Clark had indicated.

Vegetto stood on in his incomplete Ultra Instinct form, ready to move in anticipation for Clark's next attack.
 
May starts to make and revue the maps. She starts to make plans on how to get to the center. 

----- 
Next morning 

May says being up before even Nia "so it's about time the others are getting up or it's time to gather." May simply lets Nia drag her out of room. 07 says hands her a cup of coffee "it seems so mistress." May starts to drink her cup of coffee. 

May says "You should really give people a chance to get dressed Nia." 07 thinks "good thing mistress is an early riser."
 
"Nooooo... five more minuuuuutes..." Berserk groaned from under the pillow covering her face. Sitting up best she could manage while being essentially weightless, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Hey, why's everybody in my room...?"

"That's because we aren't... even though we've got perfectly good legs to walk with," came Bernkastel's sour response, clearly not taking kindly to being 'helpfully' woken up by Nia the way she had chosen. Clutching her pillow in midair, Bern's legs were tucked in like a cat curled in a ball. Unamused, she stared down Nia dismissively. "With those screaming birds, it's impossible to sleep in anyway. I dislike being maneuvered like a puppet, so if you could un-float me this instant..."

"Huh?" Berserk caught sight of Spina lacking clothing once again and she started to thrash her arms. "Ewww! Go put some pants on, dude! That's gross! And I can float by myself without problem, you lemme down!" To top off her rambunctious protesting she chucked her pillow at Spina out of disgust from the sight.

"Indeed, at least make an effort to cover your indecency." Averting her eyes, Bernkastel turned her floating body away to stare out one of the windows. Her demeanor today was colder than usual but mostly out of how serious she wanted to take the day's mission.

Gogeta's still out... his presence is too far away. she thought. So is Vegetto's. Seems they don't intend to go against Spina's plans and decided to do something else. Fine by me; I don't feel like dealing with that guy (Vegetto).

"What a mess, this place is... I'd find it hard to concentrate with all the rubbish crumbling around."

"Not for me! I got my stuff all ready last night just before I hit the hay-- you wouldn't believe how easy it was to assemble things when all you need is just in one big pile." Berserk announced cheerfully. "They'll definitely get our end of the job done and then some!"

"Good-- I would like nothing more than to turn our unsuspecting victims into piles of glitter dust." Bern nodded smugly. "We'll make sure of that. Right, Zenta?" she asked, remembering the way he pulverized their captive Xy'pher with such ease. "There's no reason not to crush them now."
 
As everyone was gently gathered together by Nia, it seemed by the senior detective's undeterred snoring, he had no trouble getting his eight hours of rest. The Saiyan detective began to squirm in the air as the commotion of the Breakers began to wake him.

"Hmmm...? Oh!" Bage opened his eyes and shot awake when he noticed that he was spinning in the middle of the air, confused as to why he wasn't in his bed. Seeing the annoyance in most of the breakers faces he decided to speak up to hopefully ease their irritation. But not before turning his eyes from Spina in his birthday suit. "Uh.. thank you Nia for waking us up but Bern is right, we can all walk from here."​

With a small yawn followed by a smile, Bage began going over the details of the plan in his head. Despite the stressful end to the previous day, the senior detective looked as prepared as usual.​

"Okay. Good morning everyone! Hope you're all well rested. I'll just get right into it.To recap yesterday's meeting, Spina, Berserk, Bernkastel, Cayde, Zenta and I are team distraction. The rest of you will follow May as team stealth." Paying no mind to himself floating and spinning in mid air, the detective continued, "teams will do exactly as they are instructed to do. Team distraction will lead most of the hive on a chase while stealth gets in and destroys the core. Sounds simple enough when you put it that way... But this team is full of surprises so we'll see. Anything I'm missing?"
 
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