The Reality Vortex: Red Reputations

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Bara nodded to Bage.
"I'll do what I can, as will Brachi and Jize once they come back to aid us after Brachi's training is done." She said.
 
The Secret Door of Doctor Doom

Cayde's expression quickly soured at Spawn's comment; not at the Detective himself. The android quickly glanced to the side in a subtle attempt to avoid the impression of being annoyed at Spawn, Cayde's eyes momentarily lifting around the area in a bid to suppress the memory of what had happened moments ago. He sighed lightly once he recomposed his demeanor, his eyes lifting back onto the Breakers at the suggestions posed by Bage and May.

"Sounds crazy...but I love elaborate, over the top plans that shouldn't work! Should be a lot of fun."

His eyes caught onto Bernkastel as she stood, seemingly completely silent throughout the strategy. He peered at her while leaning forward, examining the witch closely and perking his eyebrows at the seemingly glowing whites in her eyes. Cayde turned his eyes slowly to the lock, noticing how intent and focused the witch was on the pad, thinking back to his own training a few years prior.

"The point of Ultra Instinct...is clarity. To tap into the power, you must not let any distraction sway your focus; let it all melt into the flame...."

Cayde frowned at the sound of the familiar dual voice having pushed its way into his mechanical mind again, but exhaled a little sigh in careful consideration of the intensity behind Bernkastel's focus. Not sure of the witch's intentions or what she was doing, Cayde slowly turned on his heel and faced towards the others.

"Guys...let's be quiet for a minute..."

Cayde instinctively took a step back, watching on while he turned his head towards the door.

"I think we're about to see something special."

The Room

The cubes shook violently in the boiling rage; Vegetto's fury barely contained in the audible grunting and struggle. Like a wild animal desperate to break free, he continued to struggle in vain against the intense magic that bound him; his eyes further and further dilating at the taunting from the pair. He never opened his mouth to respond; how could he? The maniacal taunting tore into the broken man; both physically and emotionally as he tightly shut his eyes. With no where to run and no capability to lash out, Vegetto retreated into his mind in the only move he could make to protect his sanity.

The burning rage began to simmer as the Potara fusion purposely blocked out any sound he could from his mind. A quiet void filled his brain; with nothing to do about his situation, he could no longer force a resolution of his choosing. Having enjoyed bending the world itself to his whims, for good or worse, Vegetto floated aimlessly within his brain without control over his fate. Without anything to do with his strength, he glanced around the room with a dejected and defeated tone in his mind.

Now what...

His eyes first turned onto Lucifer through the cubes while the angel spoke to Zenta in mockery of the Potara fusion's pride, but his eyebrows furrowed a bit in confusion. A strange sensation seemed to hang over the angel this time; one that Vegetto focused in on intently. About the angel, Vegetto felt a sensation not of true anger or rage, but of disappointment. It seemed to conflict heavily with what Vegetto believed about Lucifer's intentions, having always assumed the angel was out to specifically kill him and the Breakers in the near future. Yet Vegetto floated in his confusion at the sensation's pull; he could feel the angel's enjoyment of his torture, but no true hatred or overwhelming desire to kill the Potara fusion really existed in the sensation. Only the immense disappointment and annoyance filled Vegetto's mind, the Potara fusion furrowing his brows again in confusion.

What is this...

Before he could continue on the investigation behind the sensation, Vegetto's eyes soon lifted as he felt the coins being pulled from his glove. He audibly gasped, about to speak out at the coins being snatched, but fell silent in a bid. The sensations he felt, the emotional pull from both men below him, began to dwindle again as Vegetto's rage began to return at having something taken without his resistance. The Potara fusion caught himself before the sensation could seize him again, falling silent and furrowing his eyebrows once more.

Let it go...let...it...go....

Vegetto lifted his pupils back up slowly, the cubes still spread out while they glanced around the room. Once again, he felt the emptiness of the situation fill his mind, but a soothing serenity soon washed over the man internally. Like cooling breeze washing over a scorched land, Vegetto's mind flowed with the open void while Zenta inspected the coins. The Potara fusion shifted his attention down onto the beast slowly, but felt nothing as Zenta spoke on his analysis of the Air Dancer.

Yet once Zenta slowly sounded out Gogeta's name, Vegetto watched on carefully as the beast stopped cold in his discovery. Vegetto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion even further, a true sensation of grief radiating from the beast being the last thing Vegetto expected. He dived deeper and deeper in the pull, the grim facade covering Zenta's true emotions beginning to slip as Vegetto felt the pure hatred and rage that simmered underneath.

"He meant that little to you, didn't he, Vegetto?"

The words themselves spoke on Zenta's disappointment, but the pointed hatred was all Vegetto could feel. Unlike Lucifer's annoyance but lack of care to really see Vegetto killed, Zenta radiated with a true hatred and desire to kill beneath the surface as he spoke. Vegetto's eyes peered down at Zenta in curiosity more than just the natural defensive mechanisms he felt towards someone truly interested in ending him, noticing that Zenta spoke from a position more of vengeance than personal slight. The death of his counterpart seemed to pull on the beast, and the hatred felt seemed to resonate from who Zenta was supporting. A need to protect Bernkastel from Vegetto's own desire to end the witch, the death of Gogeta, and the insult to the student drove the sensation Vegetto felt swirling around Zenta. The Potara fusion dipped his eyes a bit as his only response; the words were true. Gogeta, at this point, was the long lost family member to Vegetto. At first, merely just an experiment to see if someone similar to his personality could do better in the Vortex and then someone Vegetto felt needed to be saved from the terrible influences of Bernkastel in his mind. Yet he could feel the loss and sadness that Zenta felt at Gogeta's demise; something he himself, could not.

The temptation of Creator's Essence, the allure of a greater power for once, did not entice Vegetto. The Potara fusion waited in silence at the posed question, but before Lucifer could respond to Zenta's attempt to learn more, he once again barreled through with his own desire to speak out at Zenta's proclamation earlier.

"Why do you care?"

He barely paused at the posed question, spoken not in dejected spite or frustration. Perhaps even one that was not intended for Zenta completely as Vegetto lowered his eyes; the sensation of Clark's complete contempt and disdain filling his own mind as he repeated the words he had thought given him purpose. As he thought further and further on how much Clark despised the notion of stepping on those who needed their help, Vegetto struggled to speak the words in the shame he felt.

"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 fought and lived for the battle."

His eyes lowered slightly.

"And if we could not have our way...if we cannot defeat our opponent...then we are worthless."

Instead of resonating with pride behind who he is, Vegetto spoke more as a man empty and bound to those words. His eyes lifted back slowly onto Zenta in expectation for an answer; the question posed spoken with a specific name but a meaning meant for another.

"Gogeta could not have his way...and he paid the ultimate price for it. There is no value in a warrior who cannot defeat his opponents...so why do you insist on supporting him when all he does...is bring you destruction?"
 
The Secret Door of Doctor Doom

"I think that could actually work out pretty well for the most part," Berserk said. "We better be ready to deal with Walter's portals if the King orders him to. If we don't think our way around those, it could be another problem... but every portal is a two-way thing...." she grinned deviously at the notion of tossing in explosive projectiles. Cayde's mention for them to quiet down made her slightly confused.

"What, this door? Oh, yeah, we're stuck trying to see if we can get it open."

Bernkastel crossed her arms, it would have been a comical sight for the others if they saw someone with such a tall stature like Guardian using her as an armrest. She raised her hand toward the keypad, figuring the voice imprints would just come to her if she pulled them out from the device with the technique. However, she paused after being given a warning by the Overseer.

"Right... there's a lot more at stake here than just myself." It seemed that whatever the contents of the password, it was something that Guardian knew had the potential to be upsetting for Bernkastel. It wasn't something to take lightly, especially given how easy it was for things reminiscent of Doom to get under the Witch's skin. But how could she stop such an involuntary response?

Out the corner of Bernkastel's eye, she saw May using some kind of tool, although in slowed motion-- she followed her movements to the keypad itself. There was a faint line coming from May's hacking kit and seemingly tracing intricate patterns along the door's locking mechanisms. Bern took the chance to just stand there, holding her breath while May's hacking procedurally cleared through various walls of security within Doom's technology. The hacking's momentum started to slow but with time Bernkastel's sight granted her the ability to see a growing digitized cobweb spreading across the doors. Her chest began to burn, her body urging her to breathe again soon.

Bernkastel continued to wait, staring as the web grew in its decoding intently waiting to see or hear the imprints. Reaching into the cobweb through what May's hacking was able to clear, her hand stopped at a cube in the cobweb's labyrinth. This must be the last thing to clear in order to get to the print, and May's hacking wasn't budging at this point. Bernkastel's hands felt like pins and needles upon touching the cube. This must be it. Staring intensely on the cube, she dug her hands in and unleashed the energy as she did when using it on Spina directly. In her palms floated five glowing spheres, whispering echoing around her like she stood inside of a cave.

'MylungsareburningIneedtodothisnow-' her heart beat inside of her ribcage like it was going to explode. She crushed the pieces in her hands, releasing Doom's voice that rang out around her all at once.

Bernkastel's body reacted before her mind did. She nearly doubled over in a short coughing fit, clutching into the keypad. Berserk's eyes widened in shock. "Whoa there! Are you oka--" Bern held a hand up to silence her, turning back to the screen before speaking.

"The password... is... Detective Vegeta, Kassava, Zenta," Bernkastel uttered between raspy breaths, "Bara, and... Lambdadelta." She weakly patted May on the shoulder before slumping down to the floor next by the agent's side. "I... owe you one..."

Berserk was speechless, glancing up expectantly at the door, wincing in anticipation of it being potentially wrong. She feared to even ask aloud if that was the right answer, in case the door would invalidate what the Witch had just said.
 
"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Nia said. "The Xy'phers have a connection to the King, but not so much the Elites. Yes... I can see this working in our favor!" The Xy'pher pumped a fist into the air. "Think you can do that, Avalon?"

"Hmm, pretend to bo Atomic Flare and Walter? I can do it... but I kinda need to bonk 'em with my scroll." Avalon said sheepishly. "I can't just transform into them out of the blue; if I do, then it'll be obvious that it's a fake. My scroll takes details of whomever it touches and gives me a more vivid description when transformin'. ...Unfortunately, I doubt that Atomic Flare or Walter will allow me to touch 'em."

"Unless you get the proper help." Nia added. "It'll be rough but we can do it. With my psychic powers, your scroll can go where I command it. Detective Bage's plan is the one shot we have to take down the King."

"As long as I get it back in my hand, I can make anythin' happen. Bet'cha Berserk's got one hell of a throwin' arm!" The ninja smiled. "But promise to keep an eye on it... It's an heirloom and a holy artifact!"

As Avalon and Nia spoke, Cayde's voice butted in. They both glanced at Bernkastel and noticed her silence and intense concentration. Taking Cayde's advice, they hushed down, awaiting Bernkastel's next move. It all happened so fast for him, and he was confused as to why Bernkastel held her breath to the point of collapse. Once the password came out of her mouth, he stared at Berserk confused until staring at the door. He, too, was worried if that was even the right password.

"W-What did you do..?" Avalon said in a whisper, not expecting Bernkastel to answer. "How did you even..?"

============

"Do you even realize how foolish you sound right now?" Zenta snapped at Vegetto. "Babbling nonsense about worthlessness and being a warrior, like a broken record. Enough! Your pride has blinded you worse than me." The beast began to circle around the Vegetto Cubes. "The only one who has caused more destruction for us, is you, Vegetto. The recklessness of your actions and words have gotten the Breakers in trouble far beyond Gogeta could ever amount to... Your words alone have secured our executions! Do you even realize that?!"

Zenta flicked at the cubes tauntingly.

"Gogeta's destructive nature came from somewhere--someone. I care for Gogeta because he was able to put his pride to the side for those he cared for. He may be stubborn, yes, but not selfish. All I hear from you are excuses, a coward who is afraid to see himself in the mirror. You choose not to change. You are afraid to move on. The problem is you. We have grown tired of giving you chances!" Zenta's fangs bared as he continued to circle the Angel and Cubes. He snapped his jaws at the cubes, coming close to eating some. "My student left the Breakers in order to find you. You were still family to her, but what do you do? You spit on her name like she were your enemy... She truly believed that if she found your wife, that you would come back... A piece of her died trying to put this group back together."

The beast sighed for a moment and stopped.

"I lost my wife and child because I was too weak. Believe me, I understand what it is like losing someone you love. But in the end, I had to move on. Not because I was heartless, but because I'd end up like you; a worm. Eventually, I found Cuki and the hole I had in my chest was replaced with her. You have so many people who truly cared for you, Vegetto, but you cast them aside, spat on them, and even got them killed. This is all on your shoulders, not us." Zenta snarled towards the Fusion. "I will not forgive you, and I doubt you can redeem yourself after this stunt. You are your own undoing. Your own destruction."

As Zenta turned to face Vegetto, he sported a wicked and twisted smile. A tiny crack formed on Zenta's visor, almost hinting at his contained power just waiting to escape. However, the beast remained calm and in absolute control of himself. His words were personal, almost as if he experienced it.

"Truthfully, I hope Lucifer keeps you alive, so you can see each one of us die. I want you to understand what you have lost... and then I want you to grieve it. Full of regret. Full of guilt. It spirals together into dementia--psychosis. Unable to die so you can live with that burden, adding more on to it. To scream at the top of your lungs, into a void, where death cannot be any sweeter from the bitter reality you belong in. You can only hear your screaming pleas echo." Zenta gripped some of the cubes and squeezed tightly. "And when you lived as long as I have, you become deaf to the echo of your own screams. Absolute solitude. That is the pain I wish you can experience."

Zenta took a step back, releasing the Vegetto Cubes.

"But, once again, you are blessed. This fate will not bestow you, no, not in this world. There are still people who care for you, surprisingly. You want to be a true warrior, then heed my advice for once; fight for someone other than yourself. Being a warrior is not about winning or pride. Once you figure that out, you will know what to do. Until then, remain naive." Zenta took a sharp breath and his expression returned to neutral as he turned to Lucifer with his usual smile. "Now then, Creator's Essence?"
 
The Secret Door of Doctor Doom

“… That’s a solid plan.” Spawn agreed with Bage. “If the little shits aren’t connected with the Elites like the Red King, that can prove advantageous.” The hellspawn turns to Spina. “Any issues with that?”

Spina simply glanced at him. “Do what you want.” He answered.

“The hell is up with him?” Spawn thought to himself. “Is he in a sour mood?”

Regardless, a moment of silence followed after Cayde spoke out. From their perspective, Bernkastel was simply standing there with her eyes widened, then suddenly collapsed to the ground moments later once she uttered out several words for the password.

“That’s… rather specific for a password,” Spawn glanced at the door. This was their last attempt, but it seems that Bernkastel held some level of confidence in her answer, even thanking May for hacking the keypad. “Are you sure---”

“…. Access Granted.” The door keypad said. The buttons on the keypad light up in bright colors before the doors opened before them, allowing entrance.

“It worked?” Spawn turned to Bernkastel, remembering the time where Spina somehow managed to enter the manor by pressing his hand against that strange barrier. “How the hell did you do that?”

Guardian petted Bernkastel’s head with a gentle touch. “Marvelous.” Her tone, cold, came off at the very least, congratulatory. The white coloration on her hair edges became more apparent. Although the usage of Clear Mind still held a heavy toll on her body, at the very least, she did not cough out any blood. “Concentration is the vital part of Clear Mind. I urge you to continue using it when the opportunity presents itself—” Guardian’s body began to fade. “Or when you are faced with overwhelmingly emotions. This is just only the beginning.”

The Room

“Bravo!” Lucifer clapped in an over-the-top manner after Zenta figured out the identities of the Vortex Coins. “Such a shame! Quite unfortunate! The world shall weep that the blue devil burnt his final light!” The angel pulls out a handkerchief and pretended to wipe away tears. “How, how fate is a cruel mistress.” He made light of Gogeta’s apparent demise in a series of crude jokes; contrast to Zenta’s sadness.

Lucifer waited patiently when Vegetto forced himself into the conversation to get an answer out of Zenta, and the latter to respond in kind. Vegetto’s philosophy and reasoning, in Lucifer’s eyes, was nothing new. It was a façade, an attempt chance to excuse any actions and wrongdoings under the false pretenses. What caught his attention was Zenta’s response and revealing glimpse of his own past experiences to Vegetto. Lucifer smiled devilish and once again, clapped in an applause after Zenta finished.

“Oh, that was entertaining! That almost improve my mood.” He paused. “Almost.” The angel grabbed a cup of tea provided by the catering Xy’phers. “Arrogant gods complaining is so boring, I’m on the verge of actual tears.”

The angel narrowed his eyes at Zenta. “But that was quite a response. You can lash out, if you want, my boy. Be my guest and even take a piece of him with you.” A sinister laugh followed. “Now then…” Lucifer took a sip of the tea before placing it back on the table. “Are you familiar with cycles…”
 
Bara was also surprised at seeing the password being accepted.
"Well, at least this is some progress now." She said, "How did you do that?"
 
May packs up her hacking kit and says, "well I gest I was only wasting my time trying to hack it. But once more got to love being on the good side of their luck." May shows her ability to role with anything.

May says "at this point I would like to move on to the next thing after all; we all need to get what on offer before the king after all."
 
The Room

(Putting this in Spoilers cause it's a lot of mental baggage for the Potara boy lol, so you can skip right over it if you just want to see Cayde's part for the development going on outside of this)

A single word had not been spoken yet, but as soon as Zenta's voice raised, Vegetto's eyes instantly retreated towards the ground. The cubes themselves seemed to wither and retreat; the intensity of the incoming words stabbing into him before they were even spoken. The spoken words he had used to brace himself with propped Gogeta up like a shield for himself; another cowardly act in desperation to lessen the impact of what was to come. Yet the tirade instantly tore through the facade like butter, and Vegetto merely avoided all eye contact as Zenta launched into the verbal beatdown.

The cubes floated silently, and the immediate truth of Gogeta came to light: his counterpart had failed in a similar manner to find an answer to their personal problem. Yet in spite of the failure, Gogeta had managed to succeed ever so slightly in some regard by turning away from the destructive selfishness, choosing to give up domination after the battle with Spina for a chance at friendship. Even as he floated in shame, Vegetto momentarily thought on that proclamation. The intense hatred bubbled up once again within, remembering a familiar voice filling his head randomly in tandem with the rage he reminisced on.

"Noble Kakarot...giving his life for the lives of his friends...for my life..."

The wounded pride at potentially being saved by another, the naïve nature of it all spurred forth the same rage that Vegetto felt at the time he heard Gogeta proclaim his desire to befriend the Breakers. And while it had failed with most of the Breakers, Gogeta had achieved something that Vegetto had lost with the friendships he made with Zenta, Bernkastel, and the girl that Gogeta promised to spar. In those connections, Gogeta was now one step ahead of the Potara fusion. Vegetto's eyes had dipped again, having realized he allowed his own pride to spur him forward in that he never truly worked to train Gogeta after that proclamation, only beat the fusion to a pulp for his own vindication. Along with allowing the selfish desire of domination to sway and influence Gogeta off the path of protecting others, and in doing so, motivating Superman to kill him.

Then came Clark himself; the first rewarding challenge Vegetto had faced in the Vortex. The Potara fusion had seen the mountain of power within the man, an unending potential that could build without reason or cause. In the end, there was no question about it: had Clark truly believed in Doom's vision, there would have been no contest. Even with Ultra Instinct, Vegetto knew he stood little chance against the Kryptonian's true potential. Yet despite such a magnitude of difference between them, Clark had chosen to limit himself and push Vegetto to simply get stronger in their battle. Perhaps it was simply the nature of being a hero to inspire Vegetto, or just the simple selfish desire to see Vegetto truly develop into a worthy opponent. However, he felt the rage of his pride viewing such an act as pity and weakness, and once again allowing it to blind him into rebelling against the teachings when faced with the pressure on his ego from Valeria and the Xy'phers.

He thought hard on the people that he's hurt as Zenta tore into the truth of Vegetto's nature; having recently broken the friendship of Cayde that had tried so hard to tolerate the man's depravity, but was not even worth warning of a new plan. The nightmare of Doom overpowering his Final Kamehameha was only a dream because of the support and warmth the Breakers provided in that last ditch effort. Yet Zenta spoke it clearly: that bond had been destroyed by Vegetto's own choice. And as he thought on the cold void that he had created in tearing the original Breakers apart, he lightly began to think on the person who saw the same fate and had given her all to prevent it in vain.

The name had been spoken only moments ago and deep down, Vegetto knew exactly who she was. Memory was not fleeting or easy to forget naturally in such a case; the girl that had continue to sacrifice for the Breakers in their pivotal time of need haunted his mind so completely, Vegetto had done everything in his power to forget her in every sense he could. The memories of the girl who despite being tired and weary, would care for them and give up her home for their comfort simply boiled forth a rage within Vegetto that he could not contain, viewing it as absolute weakness. Internally, he imagined himself standing before the silhouette of the girl first in an absolute sense of rage and hatred he hid from the Breakers during their journey to defeat Doom. In his mind, a stranger stood against his desire to return home and leave the Vortex behind, simply because she had no where else to go and wanted a family that she never had. He saw her toil and fight for it so desperately, that Vegetto had planned to kill the girl once the Tools were secure and he could take his family home. He balled his white gloved hands into fists as he glared down at the silhouette of the girl in rage.

"You're so pathetic. All that time and energy you wasted, trying to create a family out of us...look where it got you."

Yet now within his mind, Vegetto stood alone in the cold void he had created for himself. Not a single remnant of his old life was with him anymore: his mentor and brother had abandoned him due to an inability to support Vegetto, and his son and wife had been permanently erased from existence. And even though he hated the girl for her desire to see a new family born from the Breakers at the cost of his old life, Vegetto knew it was wrong to kill her for it. In the dark void, Vegetto stared down with a somber expression at the silhouette of the girl before him this time, his dual voice meager and the prideful hatred no longer burning his thoughts.

"But maybe...if I had been more like you...if I had been as...strong...as you...none of this would have happened..."

Vegetto lowered his head once more, a long pause following as the overdue statement began to finally come forward.

"I'm...sorr-"


The squeezing of the cubes prompted Vegetto's eyes to snap back up and return to the reality before him; looking back at Zenta cautiously. He avoided the gaze of the beast once more as Zenta delivered the final piece of advice and while it was not new to him, Vegetto floated in silence pondering over the meaning while the two discussed Creator's Essence.


The Secret Door of Doctor Doom

As Bernkastel collapsed and thanked May for helping hack the terminal, Cayde frowned alongside the others that expressed doubt that it worked initially.

"Yeah...there's no way that's the pass-"

The loud "Access Granted" completely overrode Cayde's voice while the android spoke, prompting the man to blink in wide confusion. He furrowed his brow a bit in thought while the doors slowly swung open, the words Bernkastel spoke catching the android's attention more than the praise of success from the others.

"Detective Vegeta...Kass...Lambda..."

Cayde glanced towards the open door slowly with a small frown, perking his head a bit before glancing at the others.

"Hey...uhhh...this may be a little superstitious. But I remember those names in the password; 'he who shall not be named right now' told me what happened during the fight with Doom. And if my memory serves correctly...all five of those names in the password were the ones Doom killed in the final fight."

Cayde kept his frown in nodding towards the entrance.

"So maybe...before we go in there...we should figure out if your old pal Dr. Doom set that password before fighting the Breakers. Or well...after..."
 
"A piece of him?" Zenta paused for a moment before turning his attention to Vegetto. While the Fusion remained silent in thought, the beast slowly reached out to grab a random piece of Vegetto. He yanked it out of the orbit it had around Lucifer and glanced down at it. There was a long eerie silence from the beast until he finally spoke out again.

"I will take a piece of you with me." Zenta said to Vegetto. There was no malice and no rage behind his voice, but rather, support. In a swift motion, he flicked the piece of Vegetto into the air and clamped his jaws over it before swallowing it whole. "You have much to learn. I will keep this piece of you until you have learned what it is to be a warrior. Maybe this is what it will take to help drive the message through your thick skull."

Zenta shrugged before offering a gentle smile to Vegetto. He flicked at some of the cubes, yet, his touch was soft and not as rough as it was before.

"Do you want to remain incomplete or fill in the void? I can help you, but only if you help yourself. The choice is yours."

Finally, the beast paid full attention to Lucifer. He tilted his head upon listening to what he said about cycles. Was he talking about something unique to his universe?

"Cycles? As in day and night cycles? I suppose so, but I doubt that is what you are referring to." Zenta stretched his arms high above his head, whipping his tails behind him as his joints popped. He, too, grabbed a cup of tea the little Xy'phers were offering. "Enlighten me, Lucifer."
 
Bernkastel rested for several moments to regain the energy Clear Mind had taken, glancing up at those who raised their questions aloud or whose expressions were telling of the shock that came. She wasn't sure how to explain; rather, if she should. One couldn't simply say she speaks to a giant woman walking her through these things without sounding like an absolute lunatic. They'd think Bernkastel simply lost her mind trudging through the manor's cursed rooms.

"It's... a new type of magic I'm learning to use. Where I'm from, I normally don't need to concern myself with these sorts of problems. If the game was based on figuring out the past, I usually could find a different fragment where the answer was found and use that to advance my progress... but here in the Vortex I don't have the ability to search endless timelines since the future doesn't yet exist. Here, my miracles have to be worked out differently." Bernkastel decided to tell a different truth in place of the real answer. "This magic is new to me, but it seems to help me bypass the infinite guessing. It just... takes a toll... I don't have infinite time using it either, so May's hacking helped me figure out what I was looking for."

And without her help, I could have lost my concentration if I had the time to think about what I was really looking at... Bernkastel didn't yet know the consequences of it, but she wasn't foolish enough to find out.

"... Oh." Berserk was still processing Bernkastel's complicated explanation, but there was a sense of deja-vu lingering around the Witch that she couldn't ignore. It didn't explain why she'd sometimes see a flash of black like she'd blinked without actually doing so. For now, she decided to leave it at that given the urgency of their objective. "Well, like Cayde says, there being multiple passwords could be a bad sign. I thought you guys killed Doom, so how'd he have enough time to change his passwords?"

"I'm not sure myself..." Bernkastel stared off with a morose expression thinking about the macabre choice. "Lambdadelta had dominion over certainty; her power to be nearly absolute must have been a real threat to Doom. I don't doubt he prioritized killing her; the others very well could have been premeditated kill just to cripple us mentally. It worked, I'll give him that."

Berserk frowned, feeling rather sorry for the Breakers now that Doom's affect on them made itself more apparent than ever. Vegetto's unhinged madness, Bernkastel's turbulent ability to handle emotional disturbances from within and around her, Zenta's fearsome instability when those he loves are threatened... it made perfect sense. "Well, before or after he killed them, we're just going to have to see for ourselves, right?"

"Seems so." Bernkastel now felt well enough to stand up, dusting off her knees with a more renewed confidence from Guardian's approval. Looks like I can practice using it even with difficult conversations... wonder how that would work... She picked up on the tense air around Spina, tilting her head curiously about what she missed while using Clear Mind.
 
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