The Reality Vortex: Red Reputations

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I know that much. Maybe I should've used it to kill the replica soon as I saw it; not only did we get nothing useful out of him but now Valeria definitely has an advantage over us, Bernkastel thought in response with an annoyed expression showing through her features. Guardian's last phrase piqued her curiosity. Who? Is there something you know that I don't?

Before she could wait for a reply from the Overseer, Bern caught Cayde's pleading stare resting on her. She was only passively listening and remained silent for a moment to think about the question. The Witch tilted her head with an unblinking stare, mulling it over before deciding to speak her mind. "What one person lacks, the other has. It balances out the weaknesses of a team, and when there is unity a miracle can be brought about in a situation that is otherwise impossible to overcome."

"I think that's true enough for you guys. Shoot, even the ones whose personalities clash like oil and water can pull off some great teamwork once in a while!" Berserk playfully elbowed Avalon with a wink. "Sides, Cayde's right, I'm your friend too remember? If you get yourself in a sticky situation, what good'll it do if I just sat there and watched? The only worrisome thing is if you do something crazy and we can't bail you out."

"If we stick together, that won't be a problem. There is one other thing that is important between friends and teammates..." Bern held up a finger. "I'm starting to understand that friends need trust by a balance of giving and taking. Relying only on others weakens your ability to stand alone when you need to. But if you need help, yet never reach out to others..." Bernkastel glanced down at the floor sullenly, choosing not to finish her sentence. "...Friends will help you if you let them. Then it's your turn to help them back."

Bern then turned toward Spina. She looked him over, in concerned disbelief he wasn't in pieces. "Hey. Thanks for saving Cayde, but are you... really okay? I mean, I'm glad you're alive. But anybody else would be a pile of dust right now."
 
The Secret Door of Doctor Doom

“Oh, little one. Your naivety is precious.” Guardian spoke out once more. “Perhaps this can be a testament of your emotional state to better control clear mind. Once you initiate the battle against the Red King—enter Clear Mind, and I’ll tell you what I know.”

Spina sharpened his eyes when Bernkastel approached him. “I just so happen to get in the way. Nothing more.” When asked about his ability to survive such a blast as close range, Spina downplayed it. “My body is still getting used to the amount of power that was brewing inside me for a while, but this was a perfect opportunity to see how much stronger it had become.”

There was a slight pause after the old Saiyan said that. He looked at the witch with ferocious eyes. “Soon, I’ll be catching up to you." Yet once Cayde, Berserk, Bara and Bernkastel spoke of bonds and trust, the older Saiyan's interest dwindled. After Vegetto's repeated statements, and among other factors, regarding the state of the Breakers, Spina had grown quite cold towards them. He became dismissive of their well-being, and became less talkative in their talks. Rather than engaging in their converstation of cheering up Avalon, Spina went towards the door instead began inspecting it.

--

“If you want to say something, say it. Don’t dance around the bush.” Detective Spawn knew the intention behind Avalon’s questioning but didn’t place fault on him. It was a natural assumption considering his ties with Brainstorm.

“As far as I’m aware, Valeria is not Vita. This is the first time I heard of that name.” Detective Spawn approached where the Doombot once stood, crouching down to pick up fragments. “To be frank, I was surprised that the castle is still here, let alone functioning. This is beyond my scope of what I know.”

He turned to Detective Bage, assuring that he was telling the truth. “As I said before, I was only to seek out the Breakers and have you meet with her. Anything else, I’m completely in the dark. Nevertheless, if we take to what Doom said as the truth, Valeria most likely got notified of this place. Knowing her... she'd probably stay cleared until we defeat the Red King.” He turns to Avalon. “Satisfied?”

The Room

“You? I thought it was that genocide-loving friend that you sympathized with.” Lucifer caught onto the whisper, and simply poking fun at Zenta since he was clearly nervous about something. As he adjusted himself after putting on a stylish, cyan-colored suit, the angel smiled devilish. “Come, don’t get so down in the slumps. I’m sure that friend of yours finally met his end when we got forced into this world.” A flick of his finger, and a blood red rose appeared on his fingertips. “So lucky… haha.”
 
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Avalon carefully listened to the group as they talked about how they were willing to stick up for him. For a moment, he was confused, assuming that they would hate him more after the stunt he pulled; and yet, they did not. The flabbergasted look on his face showed it all. A light turquoise hue flooded on his cheeks as Berserk, Bara, and Cayde said how they would stick up for him in times of need. Even Bernkastel added herself into the mix and that is what pushed Avalon to the edge.

“Y-You guys…” His lower lip and shoulders started to tremble, but he quickly turned his head away from the group and pulled his arm to cover his face. “Y-Y-You guys are d-d-dorks…”

It is clear that he did not have many friends, even back home, so situations like these got him emotional. Snot ran down his nose, but he quickly wiped it away with his arm before putting the same arm around Berserk’s shoulders. He took a sharp breath and laughed, trying to hide the fact that he cried.

“Well, it’s good I got you guys around! Let’s keep an eye on each other’s back, and I’m sure we’ll get through this.” Avalon grinned widely. “Someone’s gotta watch Berserk anyway.” He ruffled the Powerpunk’s wild hair.

After he cleaned his face from the emotional moment he had, he turned his attention to Spawn, listening intently on what he had to say. Even he was in the dark with all the information Doombot threw at them. While it was confirmed that Vita was not Valeria, Avalon felt that it was a name that would come up later.

Doom mentioned this Vita dude… Apparently, he’s strong enough to slay The Voice, so there is a bigger question here. The danger lies in not how strong he is, but rather where that power is held. This Doombot knew the location and sent it to someone. That much power in the wrong hands can only lead to bigger disasters than any we’re about to face…

Avalon remained silent for a moment as he stared at each of the Breakers.

Somethin’ that could ultimately break them…

Once Spawn finished talking and gave the ninja a sassy remark, Avalon narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah. It’s nothin’ personal, but you shouldn’t be surprised if we get suspicious of you, Detective Spawn. Valeria most likely received some preeeeeety crucial information about the only person capable of killin’ the Voice. We’re already strugglin’ with the Red King; if this Vita-dude falls into Valeria’s hands, we’re screwed.”
 
I would like to apologize for the frequent delays. Lots of crazy events, so our posts were delayed a bit. Things should be better now, so expect more uptick in posting. We’re in the final stretch of the final arc—so hang it there. We’re almost at the end!

I’ve also edited my last post—mainly Spina’s dialogue and added Guardian’s part in it for a smoother experience.

--

The Secret Door of Doctor Doom

Detective Spawn frown at Avalon, before nodding in agreement. “I’m not surprised.” He said, “There was just no need to ask me questions to get an answer out of me. I have nothing to hide from you. Anymore, at least.” He reassures the Breakers, more specifically Bage. “Whoever this Vita person is, clearly is a valuable asset.”

Avalon was right that Valeria obtained valuable information if they were to take the Doombot’s word of sending it remotely. However, given the current situation, there was little they can do about it. The hellspawn looked around the room; although it was practically a mess due to the explosion, there could still be some valuable stuff they can grabbed. If anything, the fact that this room managed to prevent the Red King from entering showcase some limitation of its psychic abilities against powerful magic? Something to ask the brat later… but I have a feeling the answer she’ll give me won’t be satisfying.

“At any rate, we need to figure a way out of here.” Spawn said. “Pick up some of the scraps you can find. Maybe that’ll help us in a long run. I’m sure the Witch can use that strange magic again to get us out of here—”

A loud thumping sound echoes across the room. Spawn turned; the remnants of the door crashed near his feet. “Huh?”

“Haaa….” Spina let out a deep breath; intense smoke pour out of his mouth life fire. Without saying a single word, the older Saiyan left the room. It was clear that Spina had went through tremendous changes ever since arriving at the strange manor. He became cold, distant and isolated. A chilling presence can be felt if one were to stand near him.

Once Spina left, the hellspawn crossed his arms. “Tch. Guess we’re going too.”

The Room

It wasn’t long before Spina arrived. Vegetto was still in pieces; Lucifer seems to be in a better mood; and Zenta seems to be out of it as if he heard something terrible.

“Spina,” Lucifer called him out. “Find anything interesting in this castle? My apologies that I couldn’t come along and explore. I just couldn’t when I’m in such a foul mood.”

“Nothing worth talking about.” Spina answered. “I doubt we can leave this place so easily. It just the Red King’s way of humoring us, since they didn’t bother sending his lackeys.”

“And where are the others?”

“I guess they’re coming. Probably still messing around Doom’s room.”

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed and smiled devilishly. “Ah, so something interesting did happen. You can fill me in the details later, then. In the meanwhile, we’re nearly our execution date. I hope that girl with the mask approached us first. She’s a feisty one. She even gave Zenta quite a roughhousing.”

“Is that why he looks so distraught?” Spina stares at Zenta briefly.

“Oh, no. Different reasons, hehehe.”

“Hm.” Spina pondered for a moment. “That masked girl looked familiar, though. Pretty sure I fought her before.”
 
May says as she takes out a couple orbs to start to gather "even if this Vita did kill off the Voice dos does not make them on our side. Outside of powerful we can't make any judgment of Vita until we meet him."

May says as may open a map that the orbs sent to scout made "as far as collecting the remains did not expect that you Spina would suggest that we gather what we can. In that case let the orbs gather things; that is one their jobs." May thinks "Chances are good that i will have to look into doom tech. I think it will be mostly hacking work, but it should be fine."
 
May’s right, just because Vita killed the Voice doesn’t mean he’s on our side. Crap keeps pilin’ higher and higher… Avalon frowned at the thought of the Breakers hardships. Man, I don’t think they can go through any more trauma…

Avalon looked around the room, thinking about what to get. His eyes settled on the mysterious gun. As he approached it and leaned down to pick it up, he began to examine it. On the side of the gun was the word ‘GODSLAYER’ carved into the metal. The gun was incredibly heavy in Avalon’s hand when it did not look the part. If others were to hold it, it would be light, yet, when he held it, it felt like it purposely weighed him down.

What’s up with this gun? It’s so… heavy. Avalon thought while lifting the gun up and down. Why does it feel like it’s drainin’ me? While Avalon pondered, he got his scroll and opened it, immediately writing something down. Maybe we should take this gun along, it could be useful if we fight the King…

“I should take this…” Avalon said as he placed the gun on top of his open scroll. The gun seeped into the paper and turned into a drawing within the scroll. “Doom has this for a reason, so maybe we should take it too—”

Before Avalon could finish, his scroll snapped shut and became incredibly heavy, pulling Avalon straight to the ground. The ninja gasped loudly, caught entirely off guard.

“What the hell?!” The ninja tried his best to lift the scroll to no avail. “What’s up with this gun?! It’s like… it hates me!” Avalon reopened his scroll to remove the gun, which got heavier in his hands. He looked around the room and thought he was crazy for not being able to lift a gun. He still wanted to take it, but he could not carry it.

Avalon approached Cayde and held the gun out to him with shaking arms. The weight proved to be too much for Avalon and the gun fell from his hands; however, when it landed on the floor, it made a gentle thud, almost as if lighter than a feather. Beads of sweat rolled down Avalon’s cheek, so he was not exaggerating when he said the gun was heavy in his arms. It was obvious the gun had a certain reaction to him and his scroll.

“Sheesh, I was gonna hold onto that and sneak it to catch the King off guard, but I think I’ll just leave it in your hands, Cayde.” Avalon noticed when the gun landed on the floor, light as a feather. “Seems like the gun doesn’t like me very much. Maybe it needs a pro in order to use it? You should hold on to it for now, might be handy later on.”

Still, that’s odd… maybe it knows I’m not experienced? It’s not heavy now, so Cayde should be able to wield it no prob. Avalon pondered. Weird.

When Spina tossed the door to the ground, Nia was the first to flinch. Her gaze never left Spina, but her eyes were distracted by the whirlwind inside her mind. She was clearly thinking about something that bothered her greatly. The Xy’her followed Spina silently through the hall.

Once Nia followed Spina into the room, her face scrunched up, confused and bewildered. Avalon was second to enter the room, arms behind his head. He noticed Nia’s face and tilted his head.

“What’s up with you?”

“It’s just so strange to me…” Nia said in a low whisper.

“What is?”

“That thing the King saw, beyond the barrier.” Nia looked up at the ceiling. “He exhibited… fear.”

“So? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“The King is void of all emotions. He literally doesn’t have—or understand—any type of emotion. It’s alien to him. Yet…” Nia bit her lip before glancing down at the smaller Xy’phers at their feet. “That explains why the Xy’phers had this… tick to them. Ever since I got here and started fighting the Xy’phers, they all weren’t as mindless. It’s almost like the King’s fear rippled onto them. It left him paralyzed.” Nia turned to face Avalon. “If we can tap into that fear he has and exploit it… then it might help us win this fight.”

“What do you mean?”

“The King does not understand the concept of fear, therefore, if we can somehow create an illusion of that creature he saw, then he will no doubt drop his guard. Not just him, but all the Xy’phers. He will be entirely focused on the creature, and his fear will overwhelm him. He won’t be able to attack or defend.”
 
Bage listened intently to Spawn's explanation about Valeria and Vita, but it wasn't until Spawn turned to him with a much calmer tone, that he was reassured. The Saiyan smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder, "Well regardless of suspicion, it would have been to our advantage if you did have any insight on Vita. But where's the fun in making it easy right?" He mentioned in an almost joking tone. As the Hellspawn suggested for the group to collect any weapons to aid them in battle, Bage could only watch in awe as Spina tore down the door before them with no problem at all. As it stood, there wasn't much to expect other than surprises from Spina.

The head detective was in his own daydream for a moment, Vita was one that could destroy the Voice, and May had a point, Vita's role in all of this was unknown. The Breakers could attempt to form an alliance, but they could just be working with the Voice, or even want to become the new ruler of the vortex. His thoughts were halted a moment as he overheard Avalon and Nia discussing the Red King and another possible weakness. He entered the room, his face contorting as the gears turning in his brain. That was a good observation on Nia's part. That could make their whole battle with the king much easier if his army was immobilized along with him.

"Hm? Do you mean Atomic Flare?" Bage's attention shifted at hearing Spina mention familiarity with the masked superhero. "If you've fought her before, then you would know her weaknesses, right? That would give us a huge advantage in the fight! For Avalon and Nia especially!"
 
First post of the New Year!

The Room

“You’re right May. There’s a light chance that Vita could be an enemy as well. If Valeria does go after it, she’ll probably meets her end.” Spawn paused. “That would be a favorable scenario for me.” Seeing several people leaving the room, he’d follow suit since there was nothing valuable to him to take and could always rely on May for extra intel. Though he was curious about the gun that Avalon handed over to Cayde. It contains some magic element of high caliber. It weighs like bricks to Avalon, but to Cayde, it was nothing more than an ordinary gun.

“The souls are shaking with anxiety… is that the gun?” He mumbled to himself. “Seems like it was infused with some spiritual energy… btu why would Doom have that? I don’t recall any of the Breakers being more of the “holy” types. Aside from Lucifer.”

Regardless, Spawn entered the room and seen Zenta finally in the room, though he looked a bit roughed up. “The hell happen to you, vile beast?”

“Pay no mind to him, he’s trying to piece his thoughts together. He’ll be ready before the battle arrives.” Lucifer chuckled.

“I see that your mood improved a bit, angel.” Spawn stares at Vegetto. “You’re serious about keeping him at bay like this?”

“Oh, I’ll let him go when that feisty one comes and take us to our execution. He’ll fight the Red King alongside the Breakers.” Lucifer assured. “I figured it was high time for a lesson in humility. Now, I’m curious to see how strong of the will he has, now that the Red King elevated such to a higher status than all of us. I shall not be disappointed.”

“Right.” Spawn looked visibly annoyed. Catching onto Avalon and Nia’s conversation, he’d decided to chimed in. “If we were going with that plan, then we need something powerful to fool that hunk of rocks. Someone with psychic abilities can easily detect an illusion miles away, since Nia made him out to be extremely caution of his presence. We needed something of high caliber magic to do the deed, that not even psychic powers can detect.” He stares at Avalon. “Simple ninja tricks won’t do the trick… We need more to trick that rock.” He turns to Bernkastel; lately, both Spina and Bernkastel had been demonstrating strange feats that otherwise shouldn’t be possible, but they did it. “The witch can probably do that if she that does that weird magic thing again.”

--

“I said I had vague feelings of fighting Atomic Flare before. She seems familiar, but that’s it. Can’t give you anymore unless I rip that mask off her face.” Spina responded rather harshly. He paused for a moment when Bage was it more enthusiastic about learning more about Atomic Flare. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you stare at Atomic Flare from the few times we met her.” Spina furrowed his brows. “Do you know Atomic Flare?”
 
Berserk frowned at having her messy hair fussed with even more, pouting before playfully glaring at Avalon with crossed arms. "Hey, I don't need any babysitting! I'm not a kid-- I'm an older teen see? Nine-teen!" She proudly enunciated the numbers for some reason. "And I'm wayyyyy stronger than a baby-- do you even lift, nerd?" she pointed at the gun he handed over to Cayde. "We're gonna have to train those noodly arms of yours if you want to hold the BIG GUNS!" The Powerpunk's laughter at her own jokes bounced off the walls as she floated down the hallway with the others.

Bernkastel was quiet, standing near Spina while he clawed at the door. His explanation didn't quite relief her concern the way she would have liked. She tried to keep her worry from showing too much, instead feigning surprise with a slight raise of the eyebrows. Bern easily pieced together the actual truth, realizing what she did earlier to return him to semi-normal was probably why he couldn't fight in the first half of their latest battle. Despite the scary look on his face, the meaning of his next statement was easily recognized. That's right, we're rivals now. It seems untouched still, so maybe I can understand him properly.

"Well then, I'll just have to stop dragging my feet. Sounds like I'm making it too easy." Just as she said that, the door was off its frame in a flash. She covered her ears at the loud noise, sighing a little. "And he's off..." Following everyone else out of Doom's hidden lair, she trailed behind quietly among the chatter. The Witch stared at Spina's back intently and contemplated resetting him a second time before quickly going against it. Brutality probably expects it, and even if he didn't, she might incapacitate Spina for the battle ahead. For now it seemed safer to leave him be.

Her thoughts ended upon entering the room, looking relieved Zenta returned alive but ignored Vegetto altogether. Bernkastel joined in on strategizing with the others, crossing her arms to think when Spawn called on her. "So I just need to evoke that same fear he felt before. Something that will ultimately make him forget his own autonomy... his loss of self-control is when his willpower would falter significantly. The army should follow suit, and that's where you guys come in to shatter them like glass." The Witch smirked maliciously; she wanted payback with great satisfaction after the humiliation she endured in that room. "Yeah, I'll gladly make that arrangement."

"Ooh this is going to be fun~!" Berserk was picturing nothing but endless explosions on her end. "But we can't let you go in by yourself. If the King figures out what you're up to, you're the first one he's going to squash! Should we split up into small groups or something? Those Elites are probably gonna be a pain to fend off..."

"Theoretically I should be fine by myself but I can't be attacked while I use my technique." Bernkastel explained. "Despite that one risk I'll be able to keep whoever's guarding me out of harm's way."
 
“Hey, that sounds like a good idea!” Avalon said to Spawn. “If Bernkastel can use her magic, then I’m sure we’ll be able to cast an illusion strong enough to spook the King.”

“She said she needs to be protected while she casts her spell. The Xy’pher army is vast! Who’s going to protect her?” Nia said.

“Well, the one who’s always been her bodyguard, duh.” Avalon turned to face Zenta, who was still in his deep thought, almost unaware that Bernkastel and the others had returned. “Right Zenta?”

There was no reply from the beast, his hands still shaking slightly from the seed Lucifer planted in his mind. Was it rage or was it fear? The deep thought Zenta had in his head left him nearly oblivious to the words coming from Avalon mouth. To him, it sounded like gargle.

The original, ultimate sin…

Ultimate sin…

What does that… mean? Zenta thought to himself. Gods demonize others to define good and evil? But how..? How does that work?

“Ultimate sin…”

“Uhh, Zenta? You okay buddy?” Avalon leaned his head to the side as he stared at Zenta mumble to himself.

The beast quickly gasped, surprisingly, caught entirely off guard by Avalon. He took a step back and noticed that the rest of the group was back before having his shocked expression turn back to neutral. A gentle smile formed on his jaws as he let out an embarrassed chuckle.

“Ahh, forgive me. I was…uhh, in a very deep meditative state.” Zenta cleared his throat.

“We were talkin’ about how Bernkastel needs a bodyguard to cast her super magical spell on the King.”

“I will gladly protect Lady Bernkastel at any cost.” Zenta bowed his head to the Witch, yet, there was something clearly wrong with him. He seemed both gloomy and excited. Was the execution scaring him, or was he excited about the fight? “As long as I am here, I will defend you, Lady Bernkastel. No matter what.”

"Let us hope that the King does not pick Bernkastel to kill first... He tends to get rid of the biggest threat." Nia frowned. "Then again... he seemed to see you all as equals."

"Well, whatever he thinks, he better prepare himself because me and Berserk are gonna punch his crystal crown off. He won't know what hit 'im!" Avalon smiled. "I'm full of tricks, so the King better watch his back. Right now, we should rest to prepare for the worst."

========

A mysterious figure stood at the top of a crystallized hill, watching the King’s Castle from a distance. It wore a black cloak with a hood. The shadow was dark enough to completely shield their face. The only thing that shined were its emerald eyes. In one of its hands was a Xy’pher that was missing both its arms and legs, forcefully kept alive by the mysterious being. It had several points on its body that indicated it was struck with precision in order to immobilize it.

“What news do you have?” The being spoke as it pointed the tortured Xy’pher to the castle. It had a feminine voice.

“T-The King has the Breakers..!” The Xy’pher squirmed. “They’re going to be executed tomorrow...!”

“Tch!”

“Heh, you failed to save them, just like the other!” The Xy’pher mocked. “The King will have your coin soon enough!”

While the Xy’pher cackled, the mysterious person crushed its head effortlessly in its hand and letting the body roll down the hill like trash. A soft sigh came from the cloaked being as a dense mist started to surround the person.

“Well then, let’s go.”
 
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