The Reality Vortex: Red Reputations

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Berserk blinked, leaning over to peek at the tunnels. "Sucks for people who can't fly. You couldn't pay me to go down a tunnel that creepy." She watched the bird try to wake Avalon up for a bit before glancing back over at the deep fissures and feeling completely unnerved by its vastness. She didn't like staring into it. "Allure City was empty and quiet just like this. But it wasn't abandoned at all. At least, I stopped thinking it was when me and Avalon saw all those crystals down in the basement. Those creepy things must like hiding in dark places like that." She paused before dismay set in her features, rubbing at her face nervously. "But uh, haha, what're the chances we find a bloody scene like that again in a place this huge? ... say, uh, there wasn't any... explosive event that happened in Reality Metropolis recently right?" She asked Lucifer while poking her fingers together nervously. "Besides mine, heh. It sure would be bad if those little gremlins got ahold of a ton of coins all at once! Ha-ha-ha. Yeah..."

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Bernkastel, pushed away from the range of Gogeta's attack by Spina, hadn't moved from the spot where her back met a large pile of rubble and caused dusty debris to crumble onto her head. Her eyes had momentarily widened from the sudden shove before looking over to see that Gogeta was already dealt with by Zenta; from the split-second she was dazed the fusion was halfway through tearing down Bage's defenses. She did not watch Zenta very long, looking away with a distant but troubled gaze.

Glancing down at her scraped knees and palms, Bern listened in on the others' words, slowly digging her fingers into the dirt before she made herself stand up. Her eyes were empty but her upper lip visibly stiffened, and she did not speak until she made sure Gogeta didn't spontaneously get up and go for another round.

"While I respect the strength you command, Bage... I'm afraid that's going to be utterly and hopelessly useless," Bernkastel deadpanned as she ruffled the dust out of her hair, meeting Bage's irritated look with a cold gaze of her own. "I could see why you'd want to arrest him, considering who your superior is... but Gogeta doesn't so much as flinch at Goku's threats of arrest, even laughed right in his face. What makes you think he'll yield to a subordinate?" Her tone increasingly stiffened in contrast to her neutral expression.

"I really hate people who just don't learn... Gogeta's made it clear by now he can and will interfere with our objectives for his own purposes. He has no sense of fear or concern for his own life when throwing himself head-on, a brute in the truest sense." Bern smiled humorlessly as she stared at the three who spoke their piece, falling quickly into a grimace with an edge to her tone. "Knowing that, do you seriously believe at this point he'll care about all these threats? That it will somehow deter him from trying to get around whatever measures you take?" Awaiting their answers, she stared at the pipe in Spina's torso, studying it silently while deep in her thoughts about why it wasn't just ripped out.
 
Lucifer remained silent when Berserk asked the question regarding any explosive events that occurred in Reality Metropolis. “Didn’t you say that you were looking for Ultraman?” Lucifer recalled Berserk’s original intentions for coming here and joined the team for that purpose. “Unfortunately, you seem to be getting bad intel of what actually occurred here in this city. It took me a bit, and a lot of digging on my spare time since I do not trust any formal news organization such as Reality News Network and whatever the one Cross runs in a futile attempt to distort truth. A Gogeta proudly declared you as his friend upon introduction, you were standing among the destruction dealt by his own hands to find a good fight. And lots of people perished and turned into a Vortex Coins as a result. Like the one where he was drunk and went on a rampage against one of the Detectives. Tons of bystanders cried out as their lives has been snuffed out.” 

Looking down at the shattered ground and the deep fissures that exposed the underground tunnels. “Fortunately for you, we won’t find remains or bodies. Just a bloody mess. When people are dealt damage, especially a powerful blow, they will be turned into a Vortex Coin. However, in the case of Spina, if they aren’t dealt in one blow, cracks will appear all over their bodies which indicates their health is currently dropping. Once its spread all over their body, its essentially mean that any powerful blow will end them and turning into a Vortex Coin. Uhh, kind of like dropping of HP Bar from those video games that Naoki makes me play. I have a feeling that the tunnels might have more answers than we’re looking for. Let’s head back to the group for now. It seems that Zenta had taken care of the problem.” His eyes narrowed. “Oh, he’s here.”

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Spina furrowed his eyebrows when the blade tore through the barriers as it hurled straight for him. He did not plan on dying, but he was not going to get taken out alone. But the blade stopped mere inches from his body as Zenta appeared and chokehold Gogeta until the latter passed out. He let out a deep breath, not out of fear, but from sheer exhaustion since he focused what remains little of his energy to hold out a bit longer. “Nope. Take him away.” He said prior to Bernkastel’s statements. He fell on his knees as the injury worsened as cracks spread halfway his body. “Shit…” His eyes phased in and out as he tried to maintain his conscious as he attempts to rip out the pipe from his body, but he was too tired to do so. He turned his head when Bernkastel urged that it will be pointless to arrest him. “No…” Spina tried to find the words through his extensive breathing. “If reasons nor threats won’t keep him in line… then…”

“He’ll have to be taken out. The only solution to the problem.” Detective Goku arrived at the scene in a typical fashion. Seeing portions of Metropolis destroyed once more, Gogeta on the ground, and all the Breakers on the verge of exhaustion, barring one on death’s door. It did not take long to see that something must’ve happened, and Gogeta once again forced the Breakers to deal with his dangerous behavior. “I’ve given you plenty of chances to get him to stay put and time and time again, you’ve repeatedly failed on what you proposed as your responsibility. You and your team have the potential of turning things around—and you have—but now, we need to iron out a few things that’s constantly getting in your way. Starting with this one.” He stared at Spina's condition. "He needs proper care right away, otherwise, he won't last for much longer."

“Goku?” Detective Spawn arrived with his blade and chains out, seemingly ready to kill Gogeta. “Took you long enough. Did she really take that much time?” Spawn said. “I thought I told you that I got this handle. I didn’t need the Breakers coming in and mucking things up.”

“I’d assumed you were in trouble since it did take you three days. At least with their help, somewhat, they managed to take out Roya, did they not?"

“…I guess.” Detective Spawn admits. “They, expect for the one was so kneed on fighting this Spina, managed to lure Roya away and did some explosion. After that, I could not sense her anymore, so I assumed she’d escaped. Pity, really. We could get some decent information out of her, especially with that strange abilities she did.” He paused for a second. “Also… I found something interesting in the underground tunnels regarding the missing people few weeks back. I found a breakthrough in my investigations.”

“Ah, so once Gogeta wasn’t part of the planning, they managed to do something competent. Especially with Bage making an assertion in terms of leadership. More reasons, then. Although the city was destroyed.... especially by someone who poised himself as someone proper, it is to be expected.” Detective Goku stated. “Roya escaping is a problem, but we'll have Battler on the case to track her down when we go back to the Agency.” He paused for a moment when Spawn mention the tunnels. “Really?” Detective Goku walked closer to Gogeta, grabbing him by the back of his neck and lifted him off the ground. “I’ll be taking him now. I’m sure you won’t have any objections to that, will you?”
 
Cross sneezes cross thinks "really I being effected by that clichés. It best be entertaining what that person did say and not some thing foolish. Knowing my luck some one thinks some thing foolish."  (cross just siting some were.)

Cross sends to bout Goku and Spina "War criminal and Spina if Roya leave some thing behind that belonged to her(Any item or any thing like blood/hair)? a simple tracking spell should be able to find her unless some one is interfering with it." 

Cross sends only to Spina "Gogeta I think we let the Gogeta issue fester long enough."

-----
Underground

The Reverent moves with the group and chuckles at the comment about "cross distorting the truth".
 
Avalon began to mumble and stir from his unconscious state. Fluttering his eyes open, he saw his paper avian gently nudging him. A gentle pat on the head was all it took to calm the bird down. With the help of the bird, Avalon sat up and groaned in pain before hunching over and staring at the ground. His mind raced at how he was even alive when all he could remember was Roya hitting him followed by the loud and fiery explosion. Yet, despite all that, the mysterious voice that spoke to him was still stuck in his head.

Am I dead? Is this a dream or an illusion..? The ninja glanced at his hands before clenching his fingers. He dug his nails into his flesh to draw a thin line of blood. No, I'm alive. But how..? And what was that voice? Was it real or was I hearing things? And if it was real, then... was it... Seilong?

With heavy legs, Avalon pushed himself up to his feet and patted the dirt and dust off his pants. He took a glance around and noticed how messed up Spina was. The cracks all over his body reminded him of Cuki. When Goku arrived to take Gogeta away, he said nothing against him taking Gogeta away. If anything, he felt relieved. He already didn't like how Gogeta was treating the others and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse if it didn't stop. Yet, deep down, he felt sorry for him but could not bring himself to forgive him.

Had you just listened, none of this would have happened to you, buddy... Justice always finds a way to restore balance. If it has to be done, then you brought this upon yourself.

Finally, he shifted his eyes to Berserk and made a small sigh of relief. He waved to her in order to show that he was okay but his face was still distracted from the voice he heard as well as the issue going on with Goku and Gogeta.



"I am more inclined to suggest Goku destroy him," Zenta said with a sigh. "I am not much for violence but Gogeta has done more destruction than need be. My battle with Roya was nearly sabotaged by Gogeta in his fixation with Spina that I had to exert more energy than needed..."

Zenta wiped the sweat off his forehead. Even Zenta, someone as forgiving as him, has had enough. He gazed at how worn the Breakers were and seemed more concerned about Spina's cracked energy signature. With the city practically in ruins and the enemy chipping them down little by little, he knew he would reach a limit soon, everyone would. He glanced down at his hands and legs; to him, he saw his energy fade in and out, indicating the numbness and his fight to overcome it. To the outsider, his hands and legs were visibly shaking at the strain the beast had to put to just stand. Even now, when all was calm, he noticed how labored his breathing was.

The beast shook his head before turning his head to face Goku as he held Gogeta.

"Take him," He said, his tone flat. "I will not continue to stop Gogeta from his impulses. I have given him far too many chances... Every moment I spent trying to steer him away from this fate was time wasted. He continuously sabotaged our efforts to fix our name. He continues to ostracize himself from this group, believing himself superior to us. And, in a karmic, and ironic twist, he has even injured Lady Bernkastel, someone who has done more for him than any one of us ever would. For this, I will no longer see myself forgiving him in any stance he takes. To me, he is no longer my ally." The beast then turned his back to Goku and walked towards the Breakers.

"Take him and get rid of him. Should he ever come back to threaten anyone this group again, I will return him to you but as a Coin..." Zenta said in a dark tone as he walked past Bernkastel towards Spina. "I warned him of his path and what I would do to him if he chooses poorly. He made his decision and so have I..."


Damn, even Zenta has had enough... Avalon frowned, watching the beast slowly move past the Breakers to sit on top of some rubble. His last sentence sent a shiver up his spine. But... why did he give Gogeta so many chances if he could just as easily destroy him?
 
"I'm not denying the severity of what it's all come down to, and I don't need to be lectured any further on the matter," Bernkastel snapped, wrinkling her nose towards Detective Goku as she'd become increasingly agitated by the conversation. "He's impossible to control, I know that-- but the issue is that between jail and just killing Gogeta, these are just temporary solutions! The outcome won't be ideal at all, and until you understand--"

Bern's vocal objections were cut off by a loud noise from one of her familiars, which sat as she turned to exchange a wide-eyed glare with it. Wordlessly looking around her periphery, the witch's tense expression smoothed out into a reluctantly calmer one as a long pause came over her. Looking away to regain her composure, Bern sighed through her nose before speaking again without the bite to her voice.

"... Alright," She sighed lightly, "I'll make it unanimous then; take him in. Dealing with the gadfly can wait for after we resolve more pressing matters." Making her way towards Spina, Bern knelt down before grasping the pipe with one hand and the other glowing bright white. "Don't scream." Without much more warning, she pulled it all the way out and quickly discarded the iron. Holding her hands above the wound, she focused what energy she had into manifesting a healing spell. The fact that there were more cracks than actual blood gave her concern. "Huh?... this isn't closing up like it usually does..."
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Berserk rubbed her chin with a hand. "Izzat so?   I thought it was weird how quiet the city was when I got here. I've only seen one person turn into a coin in front of me other than the Xy'phers, but I didn't think it was a thing that happens to everyone. Then again, it's super hard to get someone to end up that way if they're actually worth fighting." She figured that if someone was used to seeing this happen, the lack of bodies or other violent imagery probably helped make them desensitized to killing them in the first place. Usually she didn't think about innocent bystanders since the only people Berserk bothered associating with were capable of actual combat. "Sounds like it sucks to be a normal guy. But with everyone down there, Grandpa'll probably be fine. I just wish Mr. Gogeta'd get that cactus out of his ass already. He'd be cool if he didn't start acting like a lame poser jerk!"

Waving at Avalon excitedly seeing him awake and moving, Berserk eagerly pointed to the objects in her lap. "Alright, let's go and take the bottle to Bage! He'll know how to open it." Getting down from the other bird, she gathered her items and made her way close to where the group was. "Hey guys, looky what Roya left behind for us! Well, she threw it at at Lucifer's head, but we got it!" Subconsciously the girl rubbed at the bump on her forehead where the bottle bonked her, but she held it up in the air.
 
"Gogeta, bad." Bara simply said, showing that she too found Gogeta's actions beyond deplorable.

"I agree that Gogeta's actions have been unacceptable; he clearly is following his own path, but moreso in pursuit of his own objectives instead of aiding us in the more important matters at hand. It would be much more sensible if he had aided us to solve this crisis instead... Alas, mortals work in mysterious ways." Jize said, nodding as she went to check on Brachi and Bara.
 
“Why would I scream—” Spina dig his fingers into the ground, griping the soil as hard as he could when Bernkastel ripped out the pipe from his torso. Leaving out a shout in agony, the old Saiyan slammed his head against the floor to avoid himself from screaming—although, inflicting even more pain than usual. Anyone in attempt to try and speak with him after that fell on deaf ears since the pain became the central point for him. 

The cracks rapidly spread as a result to the sudden pull, likely due to his exhaustion related to the recent battles against the Xy’phers that were after them, Roya and dealing with Gogeta. However, before it spread too far, it was slowly receding back to the center point of the wound from Bernkastel’s healing magic. Panting heavily, Spina turned to Bernkastel and smile. “That’s one scar that I didn’t want…” Clearly focusing on the wrong side despite his injury.

Spawn lowered his eyebrows, clearly thinking negative of the group so far. He looked towards Bage with a look of empathy for the junior detective in kind. “Anyways… is there a consequence of Roya eating our dreams?”

Spina struggled to find the words, so he decided to shorten it with a simple explanation. “It just prevents you from sleeping on your own, unless knocked out. Something… Zenta did will do… the trick. At that point, without dreams, it just nothing but distortions. Better take him out quick…” 

"Damn." Spawn said. "Insanity isn't much, but I need my sleep." 

Detective Goku nodded. “Then we’ll be taking our leave. Considering that you lot have been a busy bee as of late, I will give you some time to rest since you all look so terrible. Clean yourself up and eat lots of food. Unless you have any critical information for me to know—” He stopped when Berserk, Lucifer and Avalon arrived at the scene, seemingly with an item that was once held by Roya. “Oh?”

Lucifer, rubbing his forehead as well, was slightly embarrassed by the ordeal since it caught him off guard. “It’s the truth, she tossed it as a last attempt to do something, but it didn’t. If it were not for the fissure splitting all the sudden, and she fell to the underground tunnels to use the chance to run away, we would have caught her. Oh well. I’m sure she’ll be back for payback.” He turned to seeing Detective Goku holding onto Gogeta. “You’re taking him, I presume?”

“Yes. You don’t have to worry about him for a while.” Detective Goku said.

“Ahh…” Lucifer smirked. “A long while.”

Spina, overhearing Lucifer mentioned the underground tunnels and the galaxy bottle that Bage was looking for, reminded him of what he saw when he fell. “Wait… there’s one more… I fell towards the underground… and I saw—” Spina’s pupils vanished, and he feel to the ground, completely knocked out due to the injuries.

“Huh? Saw what?” Detective Spawn stated, his curiosity peaked since the mention of a horde, the missing people after Ultraman v Gogeta’s aftermath investigation could be linked to this. “What did you see down there—damn it, this motherfucker is out cold.” He placed his hand on his forehead. “Did any of you see anything as well?”
 
"Nice job Berserk! Looks like this whole endeavor wasn't a whole waste. At least with the bottle, we can get some more information about those Xy'phers. Might help explain why they might want to kill us or maybe even the master plan of that Diamond King." Avalon said as he made his way over to Berserk and peered over to see his scroll as one of the objects she held on to. "How'd you end up with my scroll? Bet you were curious about what's inside, huh? Maybe for a little kiss on the cheek, I'd give you a quick look inside!"

With a quick swipe, he took his scroll back and couldn't help but smile knowing Berserk actually kept an eye on it. Yet, the memory of the voice in his head continued to stir. If it was Seilong, why did he choose now to show himself to Avalon? When will the next time come? Was that voice even real? I must have hit my head harder than I thought if I was hearing things... But maybe...I wasn't? ...Asking Berserk wouldn't hurt.

"Hey, uh... Berserk," Avalon said while pressing a hand to the side of his head, the pain of today's events throbbing his head. "By any chance, you didn't hear a voice other than ours when you blew Roya to bits? I--uh, I think I bonked my head and I'm hearing voices now. Pretty weird, right?"




Tunnels under the city..? Zenta thought as he listened carefully to Spawn and Spina. Interesting... A hidden system beneath the city to help those less than capable. Very handy in times of disaster... Ever since I came back, the city was more empty than what I remember. Gogeta's fight certainly influenced a massive evacuation from the city, that's for sure. Still, I wonder where all those people went to...

As Goku mentioned that he was going to take care of Gogeta on his own terms, Lucifer's little comment forced a slight snarl from the beast. After his talk with Lucifer a while back, Zenta seemed to be very careful about speaking much about himself. However, knowing about Gogeta's fate, despite what he said earlier, made him slightly anxious and tense. Even the talk of people possibly dying or turning to coins caused his tails to twitch in insecurity.

A long while... Cuki... I cannot let them get hurt...

The beast rose to his feet from the rubble he sat on and approached the unconscious Spina, hoisting him over his shoulder. He glanced down at Bernkastel and urged the Witch to get up on her feet. "I believe it will suit you better if you perform your magic back in the apartment where you can concentrate better, Lady Bernkastel. Out in the open, we could get ambushed again... I will remain diligent of any intruders nearby while we all take a rest back home. ...Yet you're one of the few who can make portals back home. You should preserve as much energy as you can to properly tend to Spina..." The beast then turned to Child Lucifer and the soft and gentle tone he spoke to Bernkastel changed to a stricter tone. "You, Lucifer. You have some energy to spare, I can see it. Are you capable of making a portal back to the apartment? If so, then do it."

Zenta began to walk towards Lucifer until he towered over the child, Lucifer's face reflecting from his visor.

"I will not ask you twice, child."
 
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