The Reality Vortex: Red Reputations

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"Well, for once, I sorta agree with Lucifer," Avalon sighed before putting his hands behind his neck. "I mean, all the problems we had have been with the same, erm, suspects. In a time like this, I don't think we can even afford to mess up anymore. I don't think we need to remind ya' of what happened last time, right? Let's not repeat that. This time we got Bernkastel and Zenta on our side, so it should be a piece of cake, really!"

Nia seemed both confused and curious about the way the Breakers worked, however, her attention was quickly caught by May as she asked about the hive and its properties.

"The Hive is the domain of a particularly strong Xy'pher, usually an Elite. I have heard rumors that the hive in Metropolis was the domain of the one known as Eleki, so I have reason to believe that this next hive is the domain of the second Dark Xy'pher." Nia used her psychic powers to lift the decapitated head of the Xy'pher into her hands. She showed no signs of being uncomfortable. "All hives, in some way, are connected to the Central Hive, the one where the King resides. Most Xy'phers are created in the Central Hive and distributed to the smaller hives scattered about, but Elites can also create their own Xy'phers within their own hives."

"What's the best way to take out a hive?"

"Destroy its central core. Once destroyed, the hive will crumble and all Xy'phers created in that hive will die."

"Guess we know what we gotta do then," Avalon said while scribbling in his scroll. "What's the best way to destroy it?"

"Brute force, magic, psychic powers, they all work the same. It's fragile but difficult to find. I can find it but with the Xy'phers running around, it won't be easy--"

"What's it look like?" Avalon interrupted.

Nia paused for a moment and stared at the Xy'pher head in her hands before carefully pulling out the core from its forehead. She used her psychic powers to hold it up to Avalon while she used her hands to describe how big it is. She opened her arms wide. "It looks like a Xy'pher core, just ten times bigger and with more energy swirling inside. It sorta looks like one of those Earthling lamps that make your hair jump when you touch it."

As Avalon scribbled away in his scroll, he made sure to keep the contents of his writings private. His face was full of determination. Was this really the same Avalon or did he have something up his sleeve? "Alright, I think I got an idea cookin' in this genius brain of mine. We should talk more in private, Nia, I got plans for you. Besides, you heard Cayde, we gotta rest up since we leave at dawn." He turned to the other Breakers and gave them a cocky thumbs up. "Get some rest guys, we'll need to be at our best for tomorrow!"

"Plans? I did not agree to--"

"Don't worry! Hey, hey, I never agreed to fight the Dark Xy'pher but someone's gotta do it. Now c'mon, I gotta know you better." Avalon said as he took Nia's hand and dragged her to follow him. He gave Berserk a sly grin. "Besides, I know Berserk won't get jealous about a handsome man like me being alone with a cutie like you, right Berserk?"

"Cootie?" Nia said in confusion as she did not resist Avalon's tug. "Sounds contagious."


As Nia explained the situation to the Breakers, Zenta remained unfazed from his shame. Even as Bernkastel spoke to him, his reply and actions are delayed. The beast looked entirely defeated, physically and mentally. He slowly lowered his face to gaze at his hands, at least that what it looked like. He seemed disgusted, ashamed, and terrified at what he sees, almost as if he remembered something he shouldn't have. It was obvious that his mind was racing for more reasons than just one.

There was a wave of an unknown and ancient depression that consumed the beast. His tails sagged, his shoulders slumped, and his head turned to the sky. When he heard Lucifer speak, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, if not foreboding. Even he could not place his finger on why it sent a small chill up his spine. He tried to pay no mind to it, yet Lucifer's words echoed in his head.

Zenta should come with the Breakers; however, he still has plenty of surprises...

He continued to stare, falling silent as Bernkastel prompted him with a question. There was a long pause, almost too long. Did he hear her or were his thoughts drowning out her voice? It was so hard to read him, one would assume he ignored the Witch. While it is rare for Zenta to show emotion (and rarer to actually see them on his face), there was no hiding the uneasy and uncomfortable way the Beast felt about his actions. Yet, it seemed that he was more upset at himself rather than the fact that he nearly slayed Vegetto. Whatever Zenta was thinking about went deeper than what transpired before him. His hands began to shake, but not out of anger. It was fear.

The feeling of powerlessness is a burdensome thing, isn't it...

"Yes..." Zenta finally answered. It was all he said as he silently walked past Bernkastel without even giving her as much as a glance; he was simply too ashamed, yet his hands continued to shake. His mind continued to race with more than just Cuki.
 
Just when he thought the Breakers finally seemed to settle, Vegetto and Zenta were at odds once again. It didn't surprise the Lead detective in the slightest but nearly sprung into action when Zenta began ripping ripping away the fusion's energy in another fit of rage.


No sudden movement was made once Spina claimed control of the situation. Bage sighed with relief, his hope for the Breaker's leader was mending as he saw a less monstrous demeanor this time around. The battle must have brought him back to his senses, Bage thought. Then suddenly in a flash, Superman and Vegetto were gone.​

What should they do now? Bage had to think. There wasn't any possible way they could face the Red King with this much disorganization with the final battle soon approaching. It was clear who the liabilities were but there was no way they would leave without putting up a fight as they've always done. He looked on as Lucifer chimed in with his very harsh but truthful opinion of the Breaker's flaws and remained silent as he started to see at least Gogeta, Zenta and Bernkastel reflecting. He almost enjoyed the witch's internal brainstorming with Berserk's analogy as help. He silently noted the information Nia provided about the hive and was puzzled at Avalon's furious writing, but he wouldn't complain since he seemed eager to discuss his plan with Nia. Bage then turned to the leader of the Breakers and pulled him aside to addressed the angel's thoughts to him. It was tim to have a talk leader to leader.​

"Spina, I hate to agree, but Lucifer has a point. Your team has done great work, I wont let that go unnoticed, but even now some of them can't even go two seconds without trying to kill each other." He stated. "The detective agency will be moving forward at dawn but as leader of this investigation, I cannot keep tolerating slip ups like this hindering it. We are dangerously close to facing the Red King himself. Power will only make it so far without a cooperative team. So while I have no say in what you do with your group, I think it's time to start making some tough decisions and drop anyone holding you back. You seems pretty certain about leaving Vegetto and Brachi earlier and Gogeta has already made his decision. They'll only get themselves turned into Xy'phers if they tagged along and the King can't have anymore strength than I assume he already has."
 
Bara got a bit stern at that.

"If you want to go on without my bestie, be my guest, but don't come complaining to either myself or Jize when you'll find out that will end up to be a big mistake. You may see her as a liability to you, but you obviously don't know her the way I or any of the others of our friends do. Sure, she has her issues, but so does everyone else. I can keep watch over her using a piece of myself while we can go on without her. Now, are we finally done with all this in-fighting and time-wasting or are we going to stand here all day long?!" 

It appeared that the Majin was trying to show some initiative of her own on this time, but it was more apparent she was annoyed at the others for what has transpired overall.
 
Ruins of Rogue City

Lucifer’s gaze never once falters away from Bernkastel, latter slowly unearthing the deeper meaning behind his words. Only until Bernkastel offered an awkward apology, did the angel spoke once more.

“For I, but a humble servant to ensure the fierce vigor of freedom of man, and not to be weigh down by the madness of divinities.” Lucifer’s smile continues on. “To succumbed to the intoxicating nature of a God is worth none of your pride.” His eyes squinted towards the Witch. “Don’t drift away from [true] strength; it’ll be a shame, outright pitiful, for you to lose sight within the cries of untimely cicadas when you finally scratched the surface.” He accepted the apology, although it wasn’t needed; understanding the message is more than enough.

The angel watched Zenta with a careful eye; examining his posture and body language as he stepped away from the Witch. The displeasure of oneself wasn’t surprising to Lucifer, but the aura of fear he felt radiating from Zenta is caught his attention. When Zenta passed Lucifer, the angel never took his gaze away from the Breakers before speaking again. “Hypocrisy is the fruits cultivated from fear; it’ll blossom soon enough, and it’ll be a sight to see.” Lilith slithered around the angel’s neck, staring intently towards Zenta.

When Bara voiced her annoyance that they are leaving Brachi behind, the angel’s smiles beamed through. “Oh, so you can act on your own accord. Now you’ll finally be able to express a level of agency and independence—without being a lapdog to god’s contentious need to surround thyself with worshippers. I’ll be looking forward to your growth, young one.”

Lucifer then turned his sight towards Berserk; her zeal and vigor leaving a lasting positive impression on him. “You’ve continued to be a delight, young lady. Your radiating chaotic energy relished my mood ever so brilliantly, and you assessment of my message gives me an excellent outlook upon you being a perfect candidate of becoming a Fiend. Not to mention, I’m sure you have excellent taste, as opposed to a certain machine.” He chuckled. “Do let me know if you’re ever interested.” The angel praised, leaving the floor to Spina to make the final decision.

Spina, pondering the thought, was taken to the side by Detective Bage. An unusual occurrence, since this marks the first time that they actually converse with one another. At least, in the extent without any interruptions. At first, he didn’t think much of the Detective nor anyone in the Detective Agency. After seeing them in action, Spina’s opinion of them changed drastically. With Bage ascending as leader of the Detective Agency, Spina was seemingly impressed with his forwardness.
“Hmph. I know that much.” Spina responded, seeing that Gogeta already left after his talk with Cayde. He thought about whether or not things would’ve been different had he was there when the Xy’phers invaded Metropolis. “But I agreed. We’ll move on without them…” the old Saiyan clenched his fist. “Besides, I think it’s about time I get to take a crack against a powerful Xy’pher.” His lust for battle slipped out for a moment; Nia’s commentary on it had piqued his interest greatly since he never had the chance to fight a Dark Xy’pher. Especially notable that he longed a chance to fight Detective Goku, but his mind was focused elsewhere.

Regards to Zenta, Spina was neutral towards him. It was a surprise to see someone as calm and collective as Zenta reacted in such manner. However, Spina felt he was in the same position a few times prior; so, he didn’t have much to add on that manner. He questioned whether or not Zenta would be a liability to the mission if the captured Breakers turned out to be Cuki, but it seems that Lucifer was adamant about keeping him around.

It was rare to see Bernkastel stumbled on her words. If anyone dared crossed her, the Witch will easily retort back harshly, but she expressed sympathetic gesture towards Lucifer, once after Berserk calmed her down. “Hearing that Bernkastel vowed to become stronger, Spina nodded. “Of course, we don’t need anymore hinderance. Red King clearly wants to capture us; you’ll have the opportunity to let out your frustration against those rock bastards. I’ll make sure you become stronger, Bernkastel.”

With that said, Spina’s eyes sharpened with determination. “We’ll leave at dawn as Lucifer suggested.” He paused for a second, briefly looking at both arms; his left, now numb and lifeless, was used to save someone, while his right was used to reject handful of times. “And we’ll avenge Cuki.”

The old Saiyan noticed that Avalon attempted to take Nia away and grabbed the back of his collar. "What are you doing? We need Nia for more information. She stays here with us." His eyes turned to Spawn, staring with suspicion. "You’ll explain your relationship with Brainstorm; it might be relevant against the Red King somehow.”

“Good job, Bage.” Detective Spawn praised, seeing Avalon dragging Nia away for planning. Of course, he knew that the topic of Brainstorm won’t just go unheard. “Fine,” He responded. “Heading at Dawn, right? I’ll be in top condition by then, so I can assist the Boss [Bage]. For now, I’ll tell you everything I know about her, over drinks. Plenty of drinks.”



The Snowy Mountains of Rouge City

Clark squinted his eyes when Vegetto gave his retort that the Breakers needed to be taught a lesson, the same way [he] taught him. Vegetto saving the Breakers and providing hem shelter was an act of kindness; but Clark knows that there was something far more than that. “Did they do that? Or did you provoke them because you’re being too much of a tryhard!? Be honest, Geets!!”

The Kryptonian shouted back at the fusion, but the way Vegetto looked upon saying his piece weigh heavy on his heart. Clark knew that there was something much, much deeper than what the fusion is letting on. Perhaps Vegetto was fetching something to be in absolute control where nothing would go pass him; perhaps Vegetto was striving for something that he cannot be denied of. Clark’s mind was racing through millions of things at once; processing what could be a possible rationale for Vegetto’s behavior.

But that doesn’t matter unless Vegetto himself fully explains what is truly bother him. Seeing the toxic energy brewing around him, Clark responded quickly. He tipped his swirly glasses down to cover his eyes. Taking a small que from Vegetto, Superman shouted as energy build around him. A blue hue of light gathered around at the end point of the glasses, circling around until it hits the center. “Neutron Beam!”

One of many moves he intended to use only for Vegetto once he become a professional hero; a devastating ray of light blasted forward in a swirly fashion. It slammed against the fusion, spinning his body around rapidly as it rocked his core molecules, until he crashed against, he snowy terrain. The power behind the beam was so great, that it turned the ground into pure glass.

Clark closed in on Vegetto to prevent him from retaliating. Grabbing on the back of his head, the Kryptonian raised the fusion’s head and slammed against the glass terrain; his reflection being present through all the cracks underneath his face. “Look at yourself! Is this what you want to be? So full of hate and anguish that anything that so much looks you the wrong way, you smite them as they stood?!” Clark tried to keep himself from shedding anymore tears over his dear friend. “Do you think Kassava would approve of what you doing all this damn time!? This is how you want to honor Kassava’s memory, by becoming just like [him]?!”
 
May thinks "Have any them died in the vertex? I get killed or death is painful but at worst we just get her coin that trapped in some funky crystal. That will be some work but I think we should be able to resolve that with time." May just assume that a true death is very rare thing to happen.

07 looks at Lucifer like he a fool.
 
The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

Vegetto’s right eyebrow twitched in frustration, the truth of the matter only serving to worsen his reaction. The wounded pride exploded outward in the form of the black energy, and while Clark’s words did sink into Vegetto’s heart, the immeasurable arrogance that spurred Vegetto forth guided his decision to finally fight Superman head on.

He roared as he dashed forward, and at the sight of Superman’s new beam, Vegetto smirked with a scoff.

“Neutron Beam? Not another one of your candy prank attacks ClaAARRGH!”

Vegetto winced heavily in pain, the entire body of the Potara fusion radiating violently as he spun. The unexpected damage that came from Superman’s attack weakened Vegetto back into his base form in pure shock, the warrior crashing into the glass and his face rocked back and forth from the impact. The rage in his eyes built through the pain and as his face began to bloody from the cuts of the glass, Vegetto clearly grunted and prepared to launch a counter attack. The tumultuous anger boiled over finally, but once Superman spoke of Kassava, Vegetto froze. The immense anger and bloodied face lowered slightly, his reflection in the glass gone while the black energy slowly retreated. Vegetto laid face down against the glass once Superman had finished slamming his head, slowly pushing himself off the ground.

The cold wind howled as it whipped around the two, Vegetto slowly turning to Clark. The energy that swirled around the Potara fusion had vanished entirely, the heat of his rage and fury evaporated into nothing. Vegetto stood with an empty expression not just devoid of emotion, but a will to truly master them. His black pupils met Clark’s, two empty voids that spoke volumes on the real problem that still resonated within Vegetto. The hollow dual voice that spoke was as cold as the wind, not if malice or venom but complete emptiness.

“Kassava can’t approve of anything. She can’t feel pride, shame or love. My wife…can’t feel anything.”

The words spoken rung empty that signified Vegetto might be talking about more than just Kassava in his speech, his dead eyes still locked with Superman’s.

“She’s dead.”
 
"A-chichichi! No grabby the scarf, please!" Avalon carefully pulled Spina's hand off of his scarf and dusted himself off. He listened, however, not leaving alone with Nia. "Alright... But I do wanna talk to Nia in private about something. Nothing serious, just some ideas I got brewin' in my noggin'."

Avalon gave the group a thumbs up and urged Nia to do the same. Nia copied his gesture and gave everyone a forced and awkward little smile. The concept of human emotions baffled her, but she seemed happy trying something new regardless. When May spoke up again, Nia was a little hesitant answering her question, mostly from the fear that Zenta might attack her.

"Well, if your friend, erm, expired, then getting the Coin back is the correction option. The King will not allow such a thing to happen so easily, however. I suggest that you all prepare well for the grand pushback he'll issue." Nia paused slightly before scratching her arm. "The King has meticulous plans, even I do not know fully why the King is after you. You caught his attention before, but I wonder why..?"

"He probably wants our power in his army. Hot shots like Bernkastel, Gogeta, Zenta, and Boss would no doubt make him rise up in power." Avalon said. "Heck, even me and Berserk are targets and we just got here, honestly."

"Is that so..? The Xy'phers I captured never mentioned anything about your unique abilities. Huh, maybe they're built different and act different from the ones I know..."

"Whatever it is, we should rest up for the day and think about that later." Avalon nodded before looking up to see the main hub where Vegetto first brought them into the city was still up (Rooms and all!) It was not in the best shape, but at least it better than sleeping outside for some. "Hey, looks like our rest spot is still up, so let's head back and Cayde can cook us some of that ramen stuff and Detective Spawn can talk more about Brainstorm."

As Avalon tried to bring up the spirits of the group, he couldn't help but glance at Zenta. He kept his back turned to the whole group and he noticed his hands tremble. The idea of the master losing his student ran a cold chill through Avalon as he remembered what it was like losing his clan, he could only imagine what Zenta must be thinking.

"Hey, uhh, Zenta, it'll be alright. Let's just rest for the day and clear our minds. You're the one who is an expert at that, so let's keep our spirits up, okay?" There was no response from Zenta with both sadden and scared Avalon. He was nervous about continuing the conversation.

Hypocrisy is the fruit cultivated from fear; it’ll blossom soon enough, and it’ll be a sight to see...

You know nothing, Lucifer... And you will remain knowing nothing.

Lucifer's words echoed through Zenta's head. As much he tried to block out those words, they seemingly got louder in his head. On the outside, he was a motionless, like a statue, but mentally, he was screaming. Eventually, his quaking hands calmed down and he took a deep breath. His frown was still eminent, but he tried desperately to look as if he was fine, but, as usual, his tails showed his true feelings; shame, agitation, and sorrow. Anything the Breakers said was blocked out and he paid no attention to it as he began to walk. The beast walked carefully in between the Breakers, his tails just barely brushing up on their bodies as he headed directly towards the rest spot Avalon pointed to earlier. His hands clasped behind his back as he walked past Lucifer, not once looking in his direction.

"I lost my composure when I am usually the one to keep myself calm... A sight indeed..."

Zenta then began to make his way towards the meeting spot, ignoring whether the Breakers would follow or not. It was obvious he was hurt, but how much of it was he willing to bottle up in front of them is a mystery. If he erupted like that from the mention of Cuki, who knows what else he is holding back emotionally.

"Maybe someone should talk to him?" Avalon whispered loudly. "He 'looks' okay but I think we all know he ain't. Why don'cha give it a shot Bernkastel? He seems to like you best, after all. You two get along pretty well."

"I can hear you, even if you whisper, Avalon." Zenta said. "Do not bother Lady Bernkastel with something as menial as my emotional status. She has more important matters to attend to and I will not waste her time." The beast looked up towards the Central Tower. "I have recovered from worse, so worry about yourselves rather than me." There was a slight pause. "Still... I am sorry."

The beast took one last step forward and instantly vanished into the air. Avalon sighed, feeling that Zenta was not only being too harsh on himself but refusing to let anyone into his life. Why was he so adamant of pushing everyone away, even if all they want to do is help him? Perhaps this is something he should ignore, but it made him feel a little uncomfortable. There was nothing he could do, however, at least not right now.

"Well, we should rest up, no doubt. I know he'll listen in to what we have to say. He's got huge ears after all." Avalon used his hand signs to summon a medium paper bird with the limited energy he had and hopped on its back. "Right-O, let's go then guys." Avalon said as he flew off with the bird towards the Central Tower.
 
Bernkastel simply stared back at Lucifer, only looking away in response to the metaphor he gave to her. Strangely she looked morose about it for some reason. "Right..."

Her gaze turned upwards at the sensation of Zenta moving in her periphery, eyes following him as he slipped past the group for the tower up ahead. While Avalon appealed to the others about talking to Zenta, Bern kept her eyes on the beast's back before noticing the erratic trembling of his arms at his sides. With a small frown, she waited for him to take his leave before speaking again.

"I'm... not sure there is anything I could say that will put him at ease. Not with the situation we have right now that's full of questions we can't answer yet," Bern said. "The best we can do for him now is let him help us topple the King's empire and retrieve Cuki's coin like Spina said. Whatever follows, we'll deal with it accordingly. I'll see things don't come down to that and keep an eye on him tomorrow."

"Yeah, let's give the guy some space for a bit. It's been a long and rowdy day for everybody after all," Berserk agreed. She then turned to Lucifer and rubbed the back of her head bashfully. "Oh, me? I'm just someone with a lotta stories under my belt and someone who seemed to be in need of one. Comes with the job of being a triplet sibling I guess. But say, what's this Fiend thing you're talkin' about? Are they some kinda punk squad I haven't heard about yet!? I dunno about taste since I've never eaten fancy food, but I can cook a mean pizza with my heat vision!"

Bernkastel in turn side-eyed Spawn with similar levels of suspicion to Spina, if not greater based on the fact she saw him getting ready to attack Zenta and herself moments prior. "Hmph. That's the least he could do regardless-- she's a Doom." With a brief grimace, she turned on her heel and opened a portal to the tower for the remaining people to enter, stepping through it first.
 
Ruins of Rogue City

“Regardless of his intentions, this won’t stop until that bastard is gone,” Spina responded to the possible motivations of the Red King. “If he wants to bring it, so be it. I’ll happily craved my fist into that bastard’s face.” He spoke. Unlike the rest of the Breakers, the old Saiyan never met the Red King. After Bernkastel stated that she’ll keep an eye on Zenta, that was enough for him and headed towards the portal.

“Best to leave him be,” Detective Spawn watched Zenta leave after Avalon tried to comfort him, viewing the latter’s action as naïve. Without any further notice, the Detective headed to the tower through Bernkastel’s portal.

“I’ll be happy to tell you about the concept of Fiends when we dealt with the Red King, my dear.” Lucifer adjusted his suit; Lilith crawling around his body until she found comfort wrapping herself around his right arm. “But I’ll say one thing: it’ll elevated your potential far higher than anything you’ve seen.” The angel paused, smirking with pride after hearing Zenta snapped at Avalon and reject any comfort. “And I’ll introduce you a grand delicacy of cuisine, far more suitable than a bowl of sloppy wet noodles.” With that said, Lucifer left for the tower.


========

Rogue City Command Center

Right away, Detective Spawn sat down with several bottles of boozes. As his form switched to his human appearance, Spawn opened a bottle and took a large sip. “Shit, that’s the good stuff.” Letting out a sigh of satisfaction.

“Right,” Spawn furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Bage’s direction briefly before continuing. “The Detective Agency is not involved with Brainstorm, or Valeria as you now know.”

“As I told you before, my first encounter with Valeria was during a mission. I was ordered to scout the area for possible sightings of strange dark beasts in the area. And she was there by her lonesome, but her curiosity kept her accompany. She assisted me in the mission, gave me a detailed report of her findings without hesitation, so I thought nothing of it at the time. After several encounters, I foolishly introduced her to the Detective Agency to make her a Detective. She declined, but still willingly to provide aid whenever needed.” He paused for a moment. “That’s where Detective Goku promptly ordered me to do a thorough background check. There… is when I found out her connections with Doom, and more.”

“And what more did you find out?” Spina said.

Detective Spawn turned his gaze to Bage once more. “From this point on, neither Goku, Bage, May nor the entire detective agency knew about this.” He emphasized, taking a deep breath. “Valeria’s connection with Doctor Doom is a bit complicated, but she isn’t directly related to him by blood it seems. Furthermore, Valeria is an Alter Being. As you’re aware of how their pitiful existence came to be, but she was different. I’ve witnessed the cries of souls from her, that she purposely sought out specific persons and forced a merger with them. From there, I found glimpse of her plans: finding the Doom Coin and Doctor Doom’s castle, but the moment I got too close, I got discovered. Rather than coining me, she made an offer in exchange that I cannot refused.”

Spawn clenched his hand against the bottle upon saying that. “So, I was forced to a situation to seek out those who were closet to Doctor Doom, and to present her an opportunity for an meeting. I have no knowledge of what she planned to do afterwards. I'm completely in the dark about that.”



The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

In preparation of a counterattack, Clark tensed his body and balled his fist tightly. Yet rather than Vegetto doubling down on his anger, he became dejected. The boiling aura of anger vanished; instead, replaced with despair. The look of his eyes when he lost the will to even fight on the mere mention of Kassava, resonated with the Kryptonian.

Clark’s gaze never left the fused warrior; he was trying to come up with the words to counter, but nothing came to mind. His moved his mouth, but no words were uttered. As the sky darkens, Vegetto’s words felt like it was weighing the world down and descend into darkness. He blinked once, fondly remembering a dear friend walked down this path when he lost someone, drowning himself in despair and simply fighting purely out of instinct.

“Death is not the end; as long you remember them, they will live forever.”

Clark uttered the statement without realizing it. He looked at his hands, remembering a fond but painful memory of holding someone in his arms. “You don’t need to hurt; you don’t need to avenge. Just grieve, carry on.” He remembered as he recited those exact words towards Vegetto. “And don’t lose.” Clark narrowed his eyes, eyeing the fusion. As the moonlight from the Vortex Moon shined to the both of them, Clark placed his hands on Vegetto’s shoulders. “Just because her body is gone, doesn’t mean that those feelings are gone. Only her body that left. The love didn’t.”
 
May thinks "note to self, mind reading is a common thing hopefully some Xy'phers can do."

May says "as far your question on way go after this group, there are a number of reasons, but I say they have experiences that are deemed valvule and/or chances are good that this group is simple powerful are the strongest reasons." 


May says "If were speaking making cooking, 07 is skilled in that as well a lot of household tasks." Those that have eaten with May can confirm that 07 is skilled in cooking.
 
Rogue City Command Center Ruins

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

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

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

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

He crossed his arms, leaning against the table.

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

The android shrugged his shoulders.

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



The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

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

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

His head dipped a bit.

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

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

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

He glanced slightly over his shoulder.

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

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

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

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

"If she had never existed...then...I wouldn't be hurting like this. I hate that I have no control over it; I hate what I've become. I don't want to hurt anymore, Clark...I want to be free."
 
Once Avalon arrived to the central tower, he noticed Zenta already there. The beast faced the wall, keeping a distance between himself and the others yet made sure to listen in to the conversation. Avalon frowned when he saw Zenta in his current state, but even he knew that the beast needed some space to gather his thoughts. Still, he couldn't help but feel bad for him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Such as?"

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

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

"I'm just gatherin' information, don't mind me."
 
Rogue City Command Center Ruins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Berserk watched Avalon prod Nia while chewing on a pizza she'd managed to heat up instantaneously with her vision. "Maybe the King is saving us for dead last after Vegetto showed up? He might be trying to make a horde of Dark Xy'phers first and making it harder for us to hide somewhere safely. If they really wanted to, they could've just waited for us to come back here and finish us off but they didn't. Why hold it off when there's no real advantage? I don't get it!"
 
As Spina scolded Avalon, he couldn't help but feel insulted. Leaving the group was never part of his idea, but at the same time, he did not want to be looked down upon by Spina or the others. He considered himself the weakest of the group, not being able to have incredible strength, magic, or the capability to fly, so he always felt like he never contributed anything. He then shifted his view from Spina to Bernkastel. Likewise, he remembered the issue between her and Vegetto and frowned. The way the two constantly argue and fight left a bad taste in his mouth but he did not want to come between them. As the issue with the Xy'pher grew worse, he knew that trying to talk to them would never work, given how stubborn they were. Not just those two but almost the whole group.

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

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

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

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

"A stealth mission, eh?" Avalon grinned.

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

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

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

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

"I do not know why you hold such a vendetta over me, but it is growing old at this point," Zenta said with a snarl. "Stop digging into my life, Detective Spawn..."
 
May thinks "not my job to care about Doom Coin or his castle at this point at time. At this point all I am doing is getting some background information that may be useful latter on."  It's hard to tell what May thinks about this information.

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

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

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

---

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

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

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



The Snowy Mountains of Rogue City

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

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

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

Clark placed his hand on Vegetto’s shoulder, gripping it tightly. “It'll be easier to blame Kassava. She's the one who got herself killed and giving you pain. Why should you suffer, hm?"
 
Confused, Bage listened carefully as Spina interrogated his detective, hoping to have some light shed on a situation that was clearly unknown to him during the fight with Xy'pher Goku.

Something happened with Brainstorm?​

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

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

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

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

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

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


He turned to Spina and Cayde, wondering their input on his suggestion.
 
Rogue City Command Center Ruins

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

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

He nodded first towards Spina, Bernkastel, and Berserk.

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

The android then turned to Bage, smiling widely.

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

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

The Snow Mountains of Rogue City

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

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

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

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

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

"Did I miss something?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gogeta frowned immediately, his expression softening.

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

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

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

Gogeta kept his frown, sharpening his stare a bit.

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

Vegetto groaned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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