The Reality Vortex: Red Reputations

Status
Not open for further replies.
Cross says to Zenta "I hope this idea works."

Cross says "Are you fine in beating a weakened foe Gogeta? What about that pride will it not be staffed unless you fight Spina or any us at our full power?" Cross thinks "If this falls we may have to kill him and let the horde take his coin." Cross is trying to use Gogeta's pride to aid the group.
 
The mud splattered outwards from where Gogeta landed on the ground, the fire licking at the ground and surging violently in every direction. The man's body was dry as ever; the fire evaporating any water from getting close to the transformed fusion. He stood still on the ground, watching tensely while Spina picked himself up. The voice that rung out in his head from Cross went unanswered; Gogeta's confident smirk unchanged and his attention unwavering off Spina.

"Ha, look at you."

Gogeta stifled a small chuckle, his silver eyes sharpening a bit.

"I didn't know the mighty Spina could beg and grovel like that. Maybe you're not as tough as I thought you were."

The playful taunting ceased as quickly as Gogeta's glare sharpened, the ferocious stare of Ultra Instinct forming on his face in a second while he clenched his fists.

"Get ready. This is our fate...our battle."
 
Bage looked around, preparing himself for a final struggle to keep the group safe. He too had been conflicted on what to do, but Zenta's order brought him back to his senses. He could only hope that by some miracle Spina make it out of this okay. He nodded to the beast and moved closer to the wall of Xy'phers. 

"Everyone get behind me!"

The detective took a deep breath, knowing he would regret this later. His energy steadily rose, veins bulging out of his face from forcing his exhausted energy out one last time. He brought his arms to his chest in an 'x' formation and shot himself like a bull at the Xy'phers in hopes to clear a path for the Breakers. Once he blew the crystal beings away he turned to the others. THe detective was now truly out of ki.

"Let's go..! Q-Quickly!"
 
Brachi saw Gogeta's attack on Spina.

"How did that fool get back here?!" She asked.

"No time reminiscing on that, better do what Zenta says and head for the far edge of the city. It's our only way to escape." Jize said.

Brachi and Bara nodded, flying down low to the ground as the three made their escape, wanting to see if they could pick up any of the others along their way.
 
His words were not having any effective on Gogeta—it fell on deaf ears. Spina, barely keeping his eyes opened and his vision starting to blur, reached for his torso as it started to throb. “Gogeta… don’t you care… about her…? She was your friend… right? She’s in danger… we can save her… Don’t let him control you…”

Gogeta was all powered up, dry due to his energy evaporating the rain around him. In opposition was an older Saiyan clearly on death’s door. He was exhausted, drenched and filthy from the mud splattered on his body. Panting heavily, Spina realized that Gogeta is no longer making any sort of compromise.

He looked ahead, through the thunderous storms as the Xy’phers are completely overflowing the city. He could not tell if they were rushing at them or they have been caught already. Their safety, Gogeta’s interference, and helplessness was driving him insane.

Spina’s eyes narrowed as the images from his dreams of Gogeta standing before the dead Breakers. The sheer sadistic expression he displayed with absolute glee of killing them as he seeks the battle against him burned in his mind. The screams of his comrades, one by one, ringed his head repeatedly as he failed to do anything to stop him. Suddenly, his heart start to beat faster as Gogeta’s energy increased dramatically…that his own instincts is responding to such.

“You know that won’t work. He’s already made up his mind. Will you?” A voice popped up in Spina’s mind.

Spina’s eyes darted around as he stood still to see who was speaking to him.

“How long will you purposely delay it? You want this battle. And it’s the only way to save them. Come, release… Give in to your desire.”

Spina opened his mouth as his increased his breathing, as if he were trying to yell at the fusion for risking everything. Trying to find any kind of way to prevent the fight from happening, yet he already held up his fist to an offensive position.  Clenching his fist, Spina had rage presented on his face. “…You will risk your only friend… for this pointless battle?"

=====

Lucifer narrowed his eyes as after seeing Bage made a path for them to go through. “Right behind you, sir…” He grabbed onto Bage’s arm, tugging him along as he crossed it. Suddenly, he felt an unusual energy from afar. “Damn, guess I won’t be able to examine that right now…” He said with an annoyed tone. “Rest assure Detective, I’ll protect you…” He quickly smiles at him. “You all heard the cry, let’s go.”
 
Thanks to Bage making a path for the Breakers, the Xy'phers were pushed to the side, making a path for the group to run through. Taking advantage of the situation, Avalon took Bage and placed his arm over his shoulder, supporting the Detective as he rushed through the path he made. He turned to Berserk and Bernkastel as he urged the women to follow. Thanks to Bage's efforts, the Xy'phers were not as many and the group was free to escape to the deeper sections of the ruined city. It was strange though... With all the Xy'phers running around, one would think that every inch of the city would be infested, yet, there was still open space like this. Zenta was able to catch up quickly, leaving the two Saiyans to fight between each other. His only regret was not being able to help Spina as much as he could. It was better for only one to suffer than to watch the whole group die.

Forgive me, Spina... If you do end up with the upper hand, please stop Gogeta...

With the group momentarily free from the Xy'phers, Avalon leaned Bage against a building, keeping a lookout for any swarms nearby.

"A moment to breathe..." He said looking up at the dark clouds above them. As the rain fell on his body, any cuts and bruises he had would slowly begin to heal. "Rain patches me up, so I can still put up a small fight if we need it. It's not perfect but it's better than nothing."

"We will need every little bit we can muster..." Zenta said as he ran towards the group. "They will find us at any moment. We cannot rest long..."

"Hey Zenta, why must we keep Bernkastel safe? I know she's a Witch but..."

"Lady Bernkastel is the strongest among us and her magical potential is near without limits. She is also quite intelligent and no fool to danger. I believe that if she can survive, then perhaps she can seek a solution to this mess..." His voice softens slightly as he slowly turned to face the Witch. "I also made... a promise. A promise to keep all of you safe as best I can... And I have failed to keep that promise..."

Avalon frowned slightly, feeling bashful about Zenta having to put such a burden on his own shoulders for the sake of the Breakers. It inspired him to keep trying and work harder for the group. The ninja nodded and turned his head to see one lone Xy'pher staring at them from down the street. He immediately held up the broken Xy'pher limb in a defensive posture, putting himself between the Xy'pher and the group. However, upon closer inspection, this was not just any Xy'pher but one they were familiar with.

The Xy'pher was Petrovic, standing and watching the group with blank eyes. He remained silent for several moments until a flash of lightning burned across the sky. Zenta quickly stood by Avalon's side as both prepared to fight any Xy'pher they come across. The air was heavy and something felt very off. Finally, Petrovic took a step forward and began to speak. His voice was monotone and sounded as if it was glitching out.

"You are s-str-ong, B-Break-ers. You can f-ight one Xy'pher n-n-no pro-bl-em..." Xy'pher Petrovic said.

"But w-wha-t about tw-o?" Another Xy'pher spoke out from behind Petrovic. It was Holmes who walked out from behind his partner.

"Or t-thr-ee?" Yet another Xy'pher spoke out, this one being the child they rescued a while back. He also appeared from behind Petrovic and stepped out to the side.

All around the Breakers, Xy'phers would add to the number and appear from the shadows. The alleyways would have Xy'phers slowly walk out into view. The buildings around them would have Xy'phers peering down at them from the windows and rooftops. Manholes would shift as another few Xy'phers poked their heads out to stare at them. Even the few remaining trees had the shining eyes of Xy'phers watching them from between the leaves. They were everywhere, always watching their every little action. They did not attack, however. Instead, they simply watched and surrounded the group, almost as if waiting for something, or someone, to appear.

The lightning overhead would begin to grow wild, almost too erratic for it to be normal lightning. It struck the ground multiple times and raced across the sky as if being controlled. The rains and wind would grow stronger. The Xy'phers on the ground would all begin to line up before the Breakers, creating a type of formation. They each turned to face each other and, from the center, began to make a path for something walking towards the Breakers. Despite the thunder roaring overhead, the group would hear faint footsteps.

"H-He is he-re..."

As the army parted itself, the being was finally coming into view. It was a Xy'pher unlike the ones the Breakers have seen before. His entire body was made of transparent black crystals and his presence was enough to make the Breakers feel as if they were choking. Sparks of electricity were zapping all around the creature's body. The aura around him was that of pure madness and insanity. Inside the crystals was flowing electricity that gave the appearance of veins flowing through its body. Everything about this particular Xy'pher screamed bad news. Once the final Xy'phers parted the way for the main one, each one bent at the waist, bowing to him. This was the same creature Spina and Bern's familiars witnessed in the tunnels. This was one of the Elite-Berserkers mentioned in the previous bottle. The Xy'pher born of Black Crystals...

"Well, well... what have we here?" It spoke perfectly compared to the weaker ones around him. "Ah yes, you're the Breakers, right? Man, the Xy'phers told me a lot about you guys! Day after day of nonstop fightin' can really break you guys down, huh?"

The Elite-Berserker tilted his head, seeing the Breakers very tense and ready to fight at any given notice.

"Hey, hey, relax! I ain't gonna kill you guys yet! These guys aren't gonna attack you, not while I'm here. Besides, I like to play with my prey to see how long they last. See? I'm a nice Xy'pher! Boy, my sister is gonna be jealous when she finds out I got all the Breakers to myself, tho,' she should be busy in that other city..."
 
"What is your deal anyway?" Brachi asked as she used this moment of reprieve to hopefully get an understanding of the situation as a whole, "What makes us 'Breakers' so special for you lot? Is it our powers? The fact we're not like the civilians out here, or that we don't seem to cater to the whims of whoever put us in this situation? Is it for kicks? Or is there an ulterior motive behind this all? Inquiring minds would like to know." 

Bara hid behind Brachi at this point, unused to the appearance of this new Xy'pher Berserker. 

"What are you doing, Brachi?" Jize asked.

"I just want to have a better understanding of the whole thing," Brachi retorted, while inwardly hoping that trying to reason would give the Breakers some breathing room to gather whatever bits of energy the could get in case the offensive would continue, "what makes us so special compared to anyone else? What is that beef they have with us, if there is one to begin with?"
 
Cross thinks "I gest this is way this was one the reason way this cycle was oddly at this point quiet. The scale of this city alone is impressive but going after more than one city all at once means." 
 
The lightning that crackled down and struck the ground between Spina and Gogeta gave the only reprieve from the fusion's confident, stern stare. His eyes met Spina's, the presentation of Bernkastel being in danger doing nothing to change even his expression, let alone his motivation.

"He doesn't control me...he never did. I am finally...free."

He chuckled to himself, clenching his fists tighter.

"If the witch is as powerful as you keep claiming she is, then let her prove it. She's already thrown me aside; I'm not needed."

Gogeta glanced Spina up and down with a light scoff.

"And apparently...neither are you. So stop pretending you care...let's end this!"


Rogue City

High in an unknown region of the Reality Vortex loomed a large tower. The rest of the buildings were hidden behind the rocky, snowy landscape alone as well as the almost blizzard like slew of snow poaring down across the open valleys of land and soil. The snow barreled down onto the window sill in front of Clark Kent, who stared off into nothing. His head snapped up at the sound of a man snapping his fingers in Kent's right ear, the mechanical voice of the man ringing out and nodding his head back towards the long table down a small flight of stairs.

"Hey, they're saying they need you down here."

Clark's expression remained mostly flat, his head turning in following after the hooded, mechanical man. The man was a perfect android; blue metal for his frame and clad in a near scavenger, hooded vigilante set of robes. Red, distinguished markings resonated with some sort of tribal meaning on his hood and the cape that flowed gently from behind him. The orange, brightly illuminated eyes glanced amongst the other well armed and battle dressed men standing around the long table. The android stopped and audibly cleared his throat, waving his hand in a grandiose manner while he bowed slightly at the hip.

"My fellow friends and family, I am honored that you would join me here today. Now I know some of you still have doubts on selling the Rogue logo to Allure City to fund our gymnastics team, and some of you have even been hurtful by calling it a pyramid scheme. But as an honest business man, I can assure you that-"

"Will you shut the fuck up, Cayde?"

The detested voice of the man that spoke stood opposite from the android known as Cayde, scoffing in annoyance.

"This isn't a joke. People are fucking disappearing out there and shit's hitting the fan. Why don't you cut the bullshit so we can do something about it?"

Cayde leaned his head back a bit, his right eyebrow cocking with an inquisitive tone.

"Hey Brask, calm down. I'm just trying to help you get rich here."

The android shrugged his shoulders.

"You might as well make some money since all you do is stand here complaining or get your ass kicked by little kids stealing your lunch money."

The bald white man instantly started to angrily storm in a walk around the table, his right hand lifting and pointing straight at Cayde.

"What the fuck did you just say?!"

A couple of the gathered men quickly intervened and held Brask back, who angrily struggled to break free of the hold. Cayde simply raised his arms up in a mock surrender, watching the development go on as the men shouted at each other.

"Easy Brask calm down!"

"No! I'm sick of this fucking clown! We're out here busting ass and he just fucking talks shit on everything we do."

Cayde sighed audibly, lowering his arms.

"Brask, buddy c'mon. You know I love you....but I just can't help it when you come in with this doom and gloom opinion every time the littlest thing goes wrong. Someone's gotta lighten the mood when you're here, saying the whole Vortex is ending."

A man on the left hand side of the table spoke next, his tone serious and his eyes narrowed.

"With all due respect, he might not be wrong this time."

Cayde turned his head at the ominous response, watching on as the man fidgeted on the keyboard of buttons in front of him at the end of the table. In an instant, a bright beam of blue light shot up from a projector in the center of the table. The rays and beams morphed into giant holoimage of the barren Reality Metropolis; an aerial bird's eye view of the reconstructed city made possible in the form of an image that would appear from a camera view. In the depths of the ruined streets and cityscape were the monstrous scores of Xy'phers flooding the area. Most of the men gathering around the table stared up in somber silence in seeing the staggering waves of creatures; the man who made the previous claim speaking up again.

"This is real time footage. Our drones normally have been shot down or destroyed when getting close like Allure City, but there's no mistaking it now. Whatever these things are, they turned good standing citizens and criminals against one another...and wiped out those massive cities in minutes. How long would we last?"

Cayde fell silent in looking over the holoimage, another man across the table that had stepped back from helping calm down Brask speaking up.

"But why are they in Reality Metropolis? That place is a ghost town. What are they after?"

The man with narrowed eyes sharpened his stare, adjusting the holoimage a bit. The camera view zoomed in drastically, rendering an image of the Breakers standing before the Elite Xy'pher looming over them.

"The Breakers."

Cayde let out an audible sigh, nearly rolling his eyes.

"Here we go."

In tandem with Cayde's sarcastic response, Brask broke out of the grasp on his body with a dejected shout.

"No! We are not wasting time and resources on helping those fuckers! It'd serve everyone if this army wiped those bastards off the face of the Reality Vortex!"

Another man frowned, glancing towards the one who revealed the image of the Breakers being attacked.

"I'd have to agree with Brask. If this army wants to fight the Breakers, we should let them. Hopefully, they take each other out and everything gets better."

Clark Kent narrowed his eyes, adjusting his glasses and staring up at the image while Cayde's eyes glanced towards him after the last man's statement. The man who revealed the information shook his head.

"Not fighting...taking. They want to control their will...and add the Breakers to their army."

Brask's eyes widened, quickly turning his head towards Clark Kent.

"Then we have to act now! We have to destroy the Breakers before this army can take them!"

Cayde scoffed lightly, speaking up in defense while Clark Kent turned his eyes down while he rubbed his chin.

"I second that idea, just because I want to see good ole Brask get bodied by the Breakers."

Brask glared down back at Cayde for a brief moment, his stare shifting quickly to Clark Kent once he managed to move past his annoyance with the android.

"Listen, there's no more time for this nonsense. You've already talked to the detectives; no one wants those fuckers around. All they've done is fuck shit up, and now at the height of their bullshit, they're gonna get zombified and their power used to wipe out the Vortex. I don't care how much you want to save these bastards; we can't let them live anymore. We have to destroy them now and hide their coins. For everyone's sake."

Cayde chimed in once more.

"Brask stop saying we. You're not gonna do-"

"YOU have to destroy them."

All eyes of the men gathered at the table turned onto Clark Kent, Cayde stopping midway into his attempt to deflect the command from Brask. Clark Kent remained silent for a few moments, his eyes lifting slowly.

"It's still too risky but...you're right. I want all of you to set up bunker defense protocols. Whatever is happening, it won't be long before it comes for us. I'll need all of you to be ready."

His eyes turned slowly to Cayde, gesturing to the android.

"Cayde, you're with me."

Cayde blinked once, watching Clark Kent turn on his heel and head towards the only exit leading into the room. The hooded android turned shortly after, walking down towards the exit and briefly lifting his arm to point at Brask.

"Seriously buddy, consider my offer. I can make you a rich man!"

Brask growled and lunged a bit towards Cayde before the other men caught him, holding him back while Cayde chuckled to himself as he jogged after Clark Kent to leave the tower.
 
Reality Metropolis

Lucifer narrowed his eyes when they were surrounded by the Xy’phers at very corner after the “Elite-Berserker” Xy’pher spoke with a normal speech pattern. Seeing that Brachi tried to bombard them with questions, the small angel chuckled. “Our energy returning is impossible now…” He turned to the Xy’pher. “I sense Dark Energy overflowing around it. Quite a nice army you got yourself. Did the King really need this much to pin the Breakers down?”

======

Outside Reality Metropolis

Spina’s eyes widened upon Gogeta was uncaring about potential loss of life of someone that he proclaimed as his friend. He thought that Bernkastel would at least cause the fusion to be worried, or at least break out the hold that Vegetto-Black had placed upon him. Yet, when the words that he’s no longer in control—no he was never in control—left his lips, the old Saiyan’s eyes drifted away to focus on the missing symbol on his forehead.
Gogeta’s chuckle caused a reaction out of Spina. His eyes narrowed; his muscles tensed up; and his heart was beating faster than normal, reaching dangerous levels. He was trying to calm himself down and solved this situation as calmly as possible. “Gogeta…” The injury from his torso reopened as cracks started to spread around.

Yet, Gogeta’s final words hit the core of the old Saiyan’s existence” “Stop pretending you care”.

Sudden images flashes before Spina’s eyes—memories of his old past prior to Reality Vortex. He himself was standing on a rock, looking down on a group of enemies as his teammates shouted from behind.

“Hey man, let’s call it quits. We’re too exhausted.” One male Saiyan said, pleading Spina to end this attack on a planet with too many enemies.
“Yeah… we can’t keep going… why are the hell are we killing ourselves for?” Another one added.

Spina smirked. “A fight is worthless without the risk of death. We’re Saiyans aren’t we? I ain’t going to be submissive to that bastard prince any longer. Come on, just a few thousands more.” He said, met with only groans from his crew.

One that memory fades to darkness, another played, with Roya standing before her crews and devouring her dreams, leaving Spina the last one standing. “Normally Saiyans ain’t much after being Freeza took over... but you’re different. You even force your crew to fight me… how idiotic. Are you itching for death, huh? Hehehe…”

“We quit… you are too reckless… I ain’t having that. Get yourself killed by being on your own then.” One Saiyan shouted at Spina. “We ain’t digging our early graves. You only pretended to care about us as long it further your desire. You pushed us so we can be your sparring partners. You don’t give a damn about us. You don’t give a damn about anyone.” As the memory slowly disappears, the monster appeared before him in his mind once more with a smile on his face. Staring down with his single eye, the monster cackle at the old Saiyan trying his best to control himself.

“That’s…” Spina’s body was shaking frantically. “Not…” Images of the dead breakers before him as Gogeta stood on their bodies. “True—” A image of Bernkastel’s power increasing as she honed her physical prowess. Was this a need for protection—or an attempt to straighten her out to become an opponent for his desire. Nevertheless, Spina stood still for a few seconds as his eyes met Gogeta’s.

The monster smiles as he opened his mouths. “Release.”

[align=center][video=youtube]

An explosion of life-energy suddenly erupted from Spina’s body as his aura flourished around him. Scorching heat from the aura cause the muddy ground to quickly burn up around himself as it flung in the air. Titling his head back, Spina shouted at the top of his lungs; his body mass increased dramatically as red fur covered it all around. Transforming straight into his Super Saiyan 4: Primal state, he arched his back as energy continued to flow through his body. He was sweating as if the pool of energy was overbearing, but he kept on powering up. In a few instances, his body dramatically became “bigger” than before—the lack of pupils, the unique color, maroon, of his fur aside from his usual colors, and the sudden change to his voice—it became more primitive and more beast-like--but it was only for a few seconds before returning back to the "Primal" state. In turn, the healing process was rendered useless as the cracks spread across throughout his entire body due to using life energy consequently. Flakes of his skin were peeling off as he continues to power up—he was practically killing himself. 

“Not yet… I won’t let you perish that way…” The monster spoke in Spina’s mind and paused the “destructive” end of the cracks just enough, so he won’t explode. “Heheheh…” The monster vanished from inside Spina’s thoughts as the older Saiyan slouched forward.

Slowly lifting his head in the fiery aura flourishing around him, Spina’s eyes was mixed with rage and the determination of a warrior ready to die. “Fine... let’s drop the pretense. Let’s fight... as warriors. Only our fights will do the talking. Let me warn you. I talk very loud.” A single lightning struck down, in which Spina blasted from his spot, dashing towards Gogeta as he pulled his arm back and tightening his right hand into a fist, hurling it towards Gogeta’s face. The impact itself generated powerful forces to generate rock formation to form around the two.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom