The Reality Vortex: Red Reputations

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"I don't think it's brainwashing... at least I hope it's not," The boy addressed Berserk then turned to Spina and pouted. "And I'm not a monster you old smelly hairball!"

"You should tell us what happened, kiddo," Avalon said. "We're kinda investigating this situation. Might as well start from the beginning."

The boy wiggled free from Bage's arms and tried his best to vividly explain the scenario with wild hand gestures and mimicking the creatures who attacked them.

"Well, my friend and I heard a rumor about a treasure in this forest so we came here to find it for ourselves. We found a weird crystal with a coin inside and it looked like it was worth a gazillion bucks. We took the crystal and as we were about to head home, it suddenly came back to life! The guy was exactly like those creatures you fought off. We got scared so we ran away but that's when his buddy came out of nowhere and started to attack us!"

"Sounds like an ambush to me," Avalon added. "I'll take a guess that's when you and your friend ran deeper into the forest?"

"Yeah, we just wanted to get away from them but it's like every corner we took, they were waiting for us! Then... then one of the creatures caught up to us and impaled my friend right through his chest, pinning him to a tree." The boy paused for a moment before shaking his head. It was obvious that he held back his tears and forced himself to be strong in front of the Breakers. "T-Then he disappeared and those weird gremlin things took his Coin away... Mom always told me that they were good and bring Coins to safety when no one claims them. I ran away but they managed to corner me. I got so scared that I grabbed the nearest thing I could. Next thing I know, I whacked one of them in the head with this weird bottle."

The child held up the odd bottle that Bage requested the Breakers to look for. He smacked it on the ground several times to prove how hard it was as well as illustrate how he attacked the creature.

"I kept hitting him on the head over and over again until it started to bleed. That's when his friend tried to pull a fast one on me but I got out of the way in time and he killed his own buddy! What a dumbass! Serves him right after what he did to my friend. He even managed to crack the crystal and chip off a tiny piece!" The kid pointed in the direction of the crime scene they investigated the other day. "It all happened over there but I was chased deeper into the forest. I managed to hide but that's when I saw all of them come out of the trees and bushes! There were over a thousand of them!"

"That correlates to what I sensed throughout the forest. Many individuals watching our every move. I see it was not just my suspicion." Zenta nodded as he took a mental note of what the boy was saying. "Please continue, child."

"They all were communicating with each other and mumbled gibberish that I couldn't understand. That's when I saw the big one... He's the one you guys just beat! He controlled the weaker guys and told them what to do. It was like a mafia! I managed to escape after a few days and that's when I saw those officer dudes! One of them was holding the crystal of the dude I whacked! I remember it because it was chipped. I tried to warn them to drop it but it was too late! One of them put the tiny shard on the crystal and it exploded! That one officer didn't make it... As soon as it exploded, we were surrounded again!"

"I had to take the other officer, Holmes, I think, and run since those creatures blocked off the exit," the boy continued. "I explained everything to Mr. Holmes as we hid. He said he was going to give me a chance to escape while he tried to get his partner's coin. As we tried to escape, we get attacked by my friend and his partner who have been converted into those...things! Shortly after, we ran into you guys, and, well, you guys know the rest." He stomped his foot on the ground, upset. "The leader took my friend's Coin and turned him into a monster, I just know it!"

"Well, at least you're safe now." A sigh of relief escaped Avalon. "And your story seems to check out so far. It explains why the RNN thought we had something to do with Holmes and Petrovic. They must have been attacked a few hours after we left. With the carnage left behind by the explosion, it makes sense that they thought it was The Breakers. We should take him to the apartment, he'll be safe there, don't you think?"

"Apartment? With the Blue Devils?!" The boy gasped. "No way I'm going near them. They're stupid, evil, and heartless! Nothing but villains, gross."

"Aww, don't worry. Berserk and I will keep an eye on you!" Avalon said as he placed an arm around Berserk's shoulders. "We don't bite, promise."

"Do I haf'ta stick with the weird purple freak and his lame girlfriend?"
 
Spina let out a small chuckle. “At least we’ve agreed on something.” He said in response to Bernkastel agreeing on keeping Gogeta in constraints until things settled. “If you want to entertain yourself by listening to a fucking brute, then so be it. As long its not getting in our way, and isn’t detrimental to us—which notably, it will, then I don’t care.” The old Saiyan turned to the child, seeing to his story. He didn’t have time nor the effort to spend on something like Gogeta. As long he doesn’t appear, on the technical level, he cannot do anything due to the others feeling some type of attachment to the fusion. At the very least, Vegetto might have something to say, assuming if the fusion is still even in this city.

Ignoring Gogeta’s comments, Spina was more interest in listening the child’s story about how he came across these beasts, and the overall situation with the other missing child. As the kid finished the story, Spina turned to the forest and seen the damage that was initially done by them. “They’re aren’t that strong; not even the big one wasn’t all that much. Though, their numbers seems to be big though.”

The Old Saiyan turns to the child, seeing the bottle that was similar to what Bage asked earlier. “That’s the bottle you were looking for, Detective. Hmph, we managed to do another point for you, huh?” Spina seems relaxed that things are going smoothly this time around. Though, he was slightly annoyed when Avalon continued to barge in into conversations. “Listen, you ain’t doing jackshit unless I say so. Don’t bark out orders—you did one good thing, and if you keep doing that, maybe, just maybe, I’ll give two shits about your thoughts. Until then, zip it.” Spina have an intense glare an Avalon. He isn’t going to let a couple of strangers barge in, and especially since their goals are strange at best and suspicious at worst.

Spina turns to the child. “But he’s right. Not only its safer, bringing you to Detective Goku will definitely have him be less on edge, slightly, with us knowing that we aren’t a bunch of goddamn fools. You’re coming with us. Period. With the information, maybe they’ll find out what’s going on and give Bage a hand on his mission. And the RNN can get off our backs on this one.” He turns to the portal that Bernkastel made. "Let's go."

Lucifer rubbed his chin slowly. “Doesn’t sound like a zombie nor ghoul. Something about this crystal is turning them into these things.” The angel nodded his head, as Lilith continues to increase the power of the black energy restricting Gogeta. “I agreed that moving back the apartment is the best course of action. I’ll let to ask a few more questions, not to the child, but to uhh, Bage, isn’t it? Considering these little ones napped all the coins except for the big one, we can use that to examined anything… and whatever that strange bottle is.” He looks around. “And I suggest we make haste before they start to regroup.” Lilith and Lucifer went inside the portal.
 
Cross says "If its not ghouls then its got be some kind of body control. The fact they did not seem too have a since of self preservation in till the big guy was taken out may indicate that."

Cross says as a matter of fact to the kid "trust me out side one of us(Gogeta) RNN tends to make us out far worst than we are."
 
Bernkastel sweated slightly at the child's explanation, having realized that they would have been ambushed the day before if she managed to actually put the shard into the crystal. She made a mental note not to follow any strange ideas the coin gremlins would convey without proper caution.

"Who are you calling lame, you lil' anklebiter!" Berserk demanded angrily, leaning forward with Avalon's arm still hanging off her shoulder. "While you were busy cryin' for yer mommy with snot all over yer face, we were doing our legwork with that giant creep! I oughta give you a knuckle sandwich AND a wedgie for mouthin' off!"

"Stupid...? What a rude thing to say to people going through all this trouble to find you," Bernkastel glowered at the child with a frown. "I'm very smart, I'm 1000 years old in fact! We're the older ones here so you just have to do as we say." She crossed her arms childishly, apparently insulted about having her intelligence questioned more than the other labels used. "This is why I don't get along with kids..." Bern grumbled. "Just go and take him along. At least Goku will be somewhat relieved to find him alive."

"Man, I was thinking we'd at least get a thank you. How do heroes put up with these twerps all the time?" Berserk grumbled to Avalon. "If they aren't zombies then I can at least worry more about cleaning it... what kinda freakazoid bites people!"

Bernkastel watched most of the others leave through the portal first before looking back down at Gogeta. "If only causing problems wasn't your talent in the first place... then again, who am I to lecture you on that front?" Gazing down at him with a serious expression, a small droplet of blood fell from her stained face onto his forehead. "Speaking of teachers, that reminds me... one has been gone for quite some time now." Bern's eyes narrowed in a suspicious manner.

"What was the real reason Whis didn't come back with us, Gogeta? Certainly, not even you would be foolish enough as to openly call him a weakling."
 
Gogeta only glared back up at Bernkastel, the contempt and burning fire strong in his eyes.

"Ha, he left because he said he had more important things to worry about."

He shifted a bit, the cocky dark smirk returning on his face. The words rang out with a venom desperate to poison the target; the fusion doing his best to simply try and inflict any harm he could in his speech.

"You didn't mean anything to him; he threw you away like trash just like you both did with me. I should've known you both only wanted to hold me back, ha! But I'll get free; Whis and Vegetto can have their Ultra Instinct, and you can have that pathetic weakling."

Gogeta kept his grin, the eyebrows twitching a bit in the overwhelming frustration he felt despite the intense cocky smirk he kept strong.

"I'll beat you all my own way."
 
Bage came closer to the group before Spina approached him and the boy. He narrowed his eyes a bit at how the other Saiyan aggressively referred to the child. His head turned to Avalon and Berserk also bombarding the child with questions. 

"Questions can wait! We're going back to the apartment-!!" Bage tried to bring the conversation back onto the regrouping until he had been interrupted by the boys wiggling. He let go at the boy's indication of wanting to be let go and allowed him to explain. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a pad and paper that had been heavily filled with his own previous notes. As the boy went on with his story, Bage made sure no detail was left unwritten. He zoned out all other voices around him until the story had been completed, to which he turned his eyes away from examining the not pad to Spina.

"Huh...? Oh! I didn't think you'd be keeping score. But in any case, you all did a good job today." He said before putting the notepad back and smirking at Spina's comment before Bage turned to the boy and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry, you'll be safe with us." He smiled as he walked through the portal with the others.
 
"Man, Spina sure hates me..." Avalon said in a low voice to Berserk. The tone in his voice indicated he felt a bit sad not being able to impress Spina. "Well, if he feels that way I guess I should try harder, huh? I promise to not let him down! But anyway, you should fix that wound you got. The last thing you want is an infection to form! We might need to chop your arm off if that hap--." He paused as his eyes widen suddenly. His hands shot up and gripped his head as he began to shiver in a cold sweat.

In his field of vision, he saw a black sky and blood everywhere. Body parts were scattered around as he saw a lone man in the middle of the pile of bodies. His breathing began to rapidly increase as he closed his eyes to block out the vision he saw but he heard voices call out to him. Each scream echoed in his head until he opened his eyes again to see the shadow of a man behind a blood-soaked Berserk. He slowly reached out to Berserk with both hands on her shoulders. She felt his hands grip her tightly in a shaking fit before coming to a forced stop. Avalon cleared his throat and shook his head free of the vision he was having, slowly returning to the nerd Berserk grew to know.

"Ha, as if I'd let anyone chop off your arm!" He chuckled, trying to recollect himself. "Anyway, we should head back and I'll help you clean that arm. You'll be back to fighting again in no time! I better step up my training too, can't have you saving my butt all the time, right?"

He let out a forced laugh and turned on his heel to walk through the portal and into the apartment.



"Well... I guess I can stick with you guys..." the child sighed, still unsure about being in a room with the Breakers. "It's better than being here, I guess. But I ain't listening to what you Blue Devils got to say. I'll only listen to him since he saved me first!"

The child pointed at Bage and quickly ran after him through the portal, feeling much safer around him than the others.



As the rest of the group left, Zenta stayed and listened to the conversation between Bernkastel and Gogeta. All he could do was shake his head at how Gogeta talked about Whis, Vegetto, and Bernkastel at this point.

"My, my, I think I am starting to understand why Whis refused to train a person like you," Zenta sighed. "I may not understand your motives or your ambitions, but I believe you are afraid of something, Gogeta. Are you simply a puppet to your darkest desires? Do you control your power or does it control you?" The beast circled Gogeta's body as he spoke. "Not even a few days ago, you would allow no one to come close to Lady Bernkastel, even among her friends. Now you attack her and leave her with a broken nose..."

He stopped in front of the Fusion before swiping his foot under his chin, forcing him to look up at the Beast. Zenta silently stared down at him. Gogeta's glare reflected off of his visor, giving the impression that he was staring at himself. A few minutes passed until Zenta slipped his foot away from his chin.

"I sense an imbalance within you. I cannot prove it, but you seem to have a thunderstorm of insecurities in your mind. An internal battle no different than that of Cuki. You two are more alike than you think... I believe you can resolve this on your own. After all, you are a powerful fighter at heart, yes?" Zenta said with a smile as he lifted Gogeta by the black energy holding him. He reeled him back and took aim at the portal. "Seek your own answers, Gogeta!"

Before Gogeta had time to reply, Zenta chucked him through the portal and into the apartment with the others. He dusted his hands off before standing next to the portal and turned to Bernkastel. "I know you know him better than I do, but be wary of his forked tongue. There is no shame in having doubt but do not be fooled by his words, Lady Bernkastel..."

He bowed his head while placing an arm behind his back and guiding the other to the portal. Like a true gentleman, he allowed Bernkastel to go before him.

"We should hurry home and tend to your nose, my Lady."

In the Apartment​

"Hey, your place is kinda cool," The child said as he looked around and placed the bottle on a table. "Whoever owns the place sure took real good care of it."

"Don't get too comfortable kiddo, Detective Goku should be here soon to pick you up and take you home," Avalon said.
 
Cross says "Spina, Bernkestel I trust you bout are capable of resolving this possesses fool(Gogeta)."Cross did not care to hear Spina's, Bernkestle's, or Gogeta's response so he just went in to the apartment.

-----
(The apartment)

Cross takes out a book and starts too do some book keeping.
 
Spina head his head slightly when Gogeta desperately tried use Whis as a way to diminish the group’s morale. He turned away—as long Gogeta is wrapped up in such a state, he has no reason to put his venomous words with any weigh. “I ain’t carrying that bastard.” The old Saiyan entered the portal and arrived at the apartment.

[The Apartment]

“I’m already here.” Detective Goku came downstairs, holding a dozen of empty boxes with one hand. He turns to Detective Bage, seeing that he was still in one piece. “I’m glad to see that Bage had made it back in one piece. Based on that, I’ll assume that you lot actually managed to complete the task and find out what had happened to the officers?” He noticed that they’ve brought on a child, but strangely, not the officers at the scene.

“Unfortunately, the officers were killed by these crystal creatures before our arrival.” Lucifer said. “But we did have some information. Apparently, based on my observation and the information we got from the child, there were creatures ambushing people that enter the forest, and turning them into crystal beasts. We’ve easily dispatched the weaker ones, although they were numerous of them attacking from all around... but then their leader appeared. It was quite significantly stronger than the regular ones, but Spina was able to lead the newer ones to defeat it in a splendid fashion. Though, it turned into a Vortex Coin, it was encased within a crystal… seemingly impossible to break through. We recovered that coin, but those little gremlins retreated and took all the Vortex Coins with them.”

Detective Goku placed the boxes on the ground, listening to Lucifer’s explanation. “Hmm, crystal beasts, and crystallized Vortex Coins. I never heard of such phenomenon. Do they appear to have a will on their own?”

Lucifer shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of—they seems to attack on instinct. Though, the leader seems to inhibit some kind of awareness. The boy and Zenta seems to imply that the forest is filled to the brim with them.”

Detective Goku adjusted his glasses. “I see. This can be useful for Detective Bage to look into this further and confirmed the claims further. I’ll have to go to the city and see things for myself.”

Spina crossed his arms with a smirk. “Hmph. Your welcome—that should definitely give us a head start.”

“Yes. Congratulations. You idiots managed to do complete the absolute bare minimum of meeting my expectations of you doing something right for once, and not acting like a bunch of muscle head brutes. When you actually be consistent in your actions, I’ll be singing a different tone. Until then, don’t act like what you did was exceptional.” 

Spina’s smirk vanished instantly, turning into a frown. “…Damnit.” In a quiet tone.

“Detective Bage. I created an office space in this apartment for you to continue with your investigation—and watch over these knuckleheads. I already transported all your findings so far, so you don’t have to worry about that.” Detective Goku said, turning to the kid and noticed the bottle. “Hey kid, I believe you have something that we’re interested in.” He pointed at the bottle, remembering Bage already in possessed of these items.
 
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