The Reality Vortex: Red Reputations

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Cayde blinked widely at May, watching her begin to open fire on Gravita. The android held a surprised stare, his wide eyes turning around to the others.

"Really? Hello? Is no one impressed by literal black hole erasure?"

He straightened out his posture, watching Vegetto stand with eyes turned up to the battle above. Cayde briefly glanced towards Bernkastel, rubbing his chin once she mentioned her take on the new form.

"Hmm, but what should we call it? Super Saiyan....Full Power?"

The android merely shook his head.

"No that's too simple and boring. Maybe...Ultra Super Saiyan? Mega Super Saiyan? Oh! Perfect Super Saiyan!"

Vegetto only stared up in response, still powering the Spirit Sword while he scoffed in reply to Bernkastel's comments.

"He's always been a reckless brute in combat...this doesn't make any sense. To control his energy like that...there's no way that's Spina."

The Potara fusion narrowed his eyes even further, a determined stare watching the old Saiyan charging towards Gravita.

The Super Saiyan form has always been wasteful. It should be impossible to do what he's doing but I'm seeing it happen in front of me...

Vegetto glanced down to his free hand, clenching his gloved hand into a fist.

Have I been doing it wrong this entire time?
 
As the scenery around the two changed due to the influx of oozing Dark Energy, Spina sensed a disturbance from Gravita. Her body is falling apart from the excess damage, but just as quickly, new, black crystals formed. Even May firing from the distance is simply adding to the danger. Moreover, Gravita’s demeanor had changed from unhinged to pure insanity. Dark Energy is a terrible force that never should be underestimated. Any attempts to manipulate, it will result unpredictable, often deadly disasters and tragedies.

Feeling a strong drawn from her gravitational force, Spina’s eyes narrowed before his face caved in by Gravita’s punch that surpasses the force of a supernova. As the explosion rippled the ground and shattered the dome from behind, the old Saiyan’s head whipped to the left. Yet, without hesitation nor delay, in such fluid movements, he swings around mid-punch, and struck Gravita in the face.

“…the ultimate defense.” Kai explained to Spina. “If you can flow and regulate your explosive energy, you can use it defensively. Even more, by following the flow of battle, if you time it well… you can even use the opponent’s attack to your advantage. By letting the impact ripple through your body like waves, you can then redirect their attack against them in greater power. If you can muster that… I’m sure you’ll achieved greater heights in battle.”

​

The impact from Spina’s reversal was even greater power than what Gravita initially dealt out. As a destructive explosion erupted from the impact, generating a force so powerful than it can described as a hypernova, Spina reeled back his right arm, motioning in beautiful motions as if he was conducting an orchestra. Trails of blue light, glittering in the deadly explosion from their attacks shining far brightly.

Spatting out bits of blood, Spina smirked. “Flowing Strike: Roaring Tsunami” Not giving Gravita any chance to recover from the attack, rapid, piercing blows struck against her. The initial blows were weak—but it had a ripple attack: as each attack connects, it’ll grow stronger as it travels through one’s body. And for every attack that connects, it increased the power of the ripple even further. The blue particles that fly off from his fist, swirl around the two erratically.

===

Lucifer, as his hair is once again a mess due to Gravita’s supernova attack, stared with amusement. “This is quite a show. I never seen Dark Energy to such effect. Is this the consequence of this creation? Growing unstable, it could be quite problematic if she were to explode right now. Isn’t that right, Lilith?” He turned, noticing Lilith, along with several Xy’phers, being flung around in the air due to the high-pressure winds generated from Spina’s reversal. “Ah.”

===

Broly turned to see the Spirit Sword pierced through his torso. “Arhghh… you think that can hold….me—” The Xy’pher Saiyan attempted to downplay the attack but its clear that he wasn’t going anywhere; the difference in power was too great for Broly. Before he could’ve thought of anything to get closer to the two, he felt his legs suddenly becoming numb. “What--?” He turns to see Zenta standing before him. “Why can’t I feel my legs….?! Did that worm do something to me?!”

“Thanks…” Detective Spawn said, seeing Vegetto and Zenta pinning the Saiyan Berserker down. Turning to watch Spina performed these strange feats, he responded to Cayde’s initial question. “Like May said… tons of freaks out here… this may as well be normal. Maybe for this group of misfits. Though, I am surprised to him doing those kinds of things.”

“Shut up!!” Xy’pher Broly’s voice wasn’t clear, but it was an indication that this was what he said. “You’re getting in my way… that’s an opponent I wish to fight!!” Realizing that he still has an arm left, he attempts to gather enough energy to try to blast the Breakers.
 
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May says in a flat but educational tone as she shoots off the arm Xy’pher Broly’s was gathering energy in "Spawn you really underestimate how strange the vertex as a hole is. The fact alone that we are having a conversation or the fact one of us just named a new state of one of us wend we in the middle of a fight." May points out that there are not just the two Xy'phers here.

May says "O one more thing someone confirm that Broly is not going to do something stupid."
 
"Yeah." Was all Bage could muster to the cyborg as he stared in awe as Spina absolutely dominated the battle between him and Gravita. As Spawn and May shrugged the feat off as just another happening in the vortex, he seemed to interject agreeing with Cayde

"Well, I can't say I've seen a Saiyan do something like demolishing a black hole with their bare hands. There's no way this can only be a super Saiyan transformation mastered!"

The detective turned his eyes to the other group, watching Broly be pinned down in front of them. He narrowed his eyes at the Xy'pher as he raised his hand to attack but then settled once May had taken care of the limb by shooting it off. "We'll keep an eye on him." The detective gestured to himself and the group who had just taken care of the Xy'pher. "Though I'm surprised he's kept up this long in his condition."
 
(SUPER late post, I know! But it is here now after several unexpected delays that cropped up Friday)

Bernkastel pursed her lips in brief silence at Vegetto's comment. Spina hasn't been himself ever since he died... and it's only thanks to Guardian I even know how, she thought. But it wasn't accurate to say he was replaced by some kind of bodysnatcher either. Bernkastel could only surmise this as an Overseer's avatar herself; she wasn't being controlled by anybody. She was just putting Guardian's gift to good use. But in Spina's case, the one calling itself Brutality loaned Dark Energy... which seemed to have a far more dramatic effect on his base personality by bringing out tendencies of a dark id.

Vegetto didn't see what I saw... I don't think any of them would understand the incomprehensible horror that burned itself into my retinas. Just the memory of Spina withered and hollow made her blood chill itself.

"....There is always more than meets the eye," Bernkastel remarked cryptically before turning away from the battle upon Avalon calling her over.

"Oh? I intend to keep it that way-- It would be bad if anybody knew all of my tricks. Wouldn't make me much of a magician. But if you want me to make sure we capture Broly intact, I can do that with a Fragment crystal. They're very versatile." The Witch pulled out a shard and held it out for Avalon to see. "I could even trap him in one if I so choose-- like a magic box. But he must be at his weakest state for it to hold."

Berserk watched Zenta power-up her blade, looking giddy once she had it returned to her. "I didn't know you could do that!" She moved her hand through the licking white flame in amazement that it didn't burn. Giving a big grin she got into an offensive stance. "I sure hope it'll hold up after this-- alright Nia, I'm goin in!" The Punk dashed off after Zenta towards Broly.

In that moment, the supernovas rang out, causing Bernkastel to sweep her arms and conjure a thick wall of icy crystals as a buttress for the group. The earthquake rumbling the ground beneath them caused the wall shielding them to break down almost as quickly as she had put it up.
"We'll need to make haste! I've got a feeling this whole place will implode soon enough, so we'll need to either teleport out of here or blast our way to the surface!"

"You, fight the old man? Puh-lease! Look at your sorry state!" Berserk cracked apart the sword before striking Broly across his chest with it, allowing each flaming section to chip off part of the crystal exterior scraping by. "Quit bein' such a pain and keel over already!"
 
Gravita flew backwards from Spina's Roaring Tsumani attack and slammed against the barrier dome. The dome shattered from Spina's attack and Gravita's increasing gravity. The overflow essence of Dark Energy encased the young Xy'pher, which creatied new black crystals on her body. Gravita gripped her head, in a futile effort, to try to remain in control of herself, but all she could do was let out a deafening scream. All over her body, new black crystals formed, and her cute pink gauntlets originated to turn into spiked black crystal gauntlets.

"I will not... be defeated HERE! This is MY show!" Gravita spoke in a corrupted voice. "I... I will KILL you!"

The Xy'pher stared at Spina with eyes that shined a bright yellow. She did not move yet, instead, she began to gather all her power directly to her black gauntlets. Like before, the Black Goo started to twitch and contort due to the immense energy she was gathering. This time, the Goo began to bubble, almost as if being boiled. The energy was becoming highly unstable! And due to the high amount of energy emitting between Gravita and Spina, it was subjected to explode at any moment's notice.

Gravita huffed and rushed towards Spina at blazing speed. She was so fast that the surrounding air tiny body started to catch on fire. Despite the new formation of Black Crystals on her gauntlets, the sheer amount of pressure coming from her body started to crack the crystals. Once Gravita was in front of Spina, so many crystals had formed on her hands and arms that they were almost bigger than Gravita herself! Once she was literally inches from Spina's face, she pulled her arms to the side. At this moment, she was no longer acting herself. As if her entire personality had vanished, and her body simply acted on its own will. The loyalty to the Red King, and any concerns over her Xy'phers ceased. The only thing that mattered, was defeating Spina with everything she had.

"Max Gravity..! Ultimate Big Bang!!!"

Gravita launched her fists directly on both sides of Spina's head, getting ready to crush his head between her gauntlets. The amount of energy was so great that should Gravita land her attack, it would spark the outpouring into a massive explosion that will not only take out the Breakers, but reach and engulf Reflection City as well.

"NOW DIIIIIIIEEEE!!!"

The gravity around herself and her gauntlets not only distorted space and reality around her and Spina, it also distorted time as well. To the Breakers, it looked as if Spina and Gravita were standing still forever, facing each other, but in reality Gravita had already launched her attack.

The dome would finally collapse on itself, but thanks to the gravity at work, it created sharp shards that directed themselves towards the Breakers. Each shard launched itself aimlessly, some spinning like saw blades. It was a literal rain of sharp spears and spinning saw blades ready to impale or decapitate them at any given notice.

Zenta quickly noticed that May had shot off Broly's arm and sent it flying in the air. As it landed on the floor, it was still charging up the blast Broly had earlier. The beast quickly took action and kicked the arm up in the air and grabbed it, pointing it towards Gravita. Once the blast fired, instead of going faster, it started to slow down. It slowed down so much that it eventually stopped in midair between Gravita and Spina. There was no explosion or shockwave, just an eerie mass of energy frozen with Gravita and Spina. Zenta turned to face Spina and Gravita and wondered why they were not moving until their energy and Broly's blast started to swirl and distort in his 'vision.'

"Spina..?" Zenta said under his breath as he turned his attention back to Broly. However, once he did, he gasped upon hearing the whizzing noises of the falling dome shards. A shard that was spinning out of control was heading straight to him and Berserk, easily capable of decapitating both of them in one swoop. As it grew closer, Zenta quickly leaned his body back as fast as he could, narrowly avoiding having the top of his head slice off and only losing strands of his hair. The same shard flung by Berserk and just barely avoid slicing her arm off; instead, leaving a deep gash from her shoulder to her wrist.

"Ah!" Avalon said as he swiped the fragment from Bernkastel's hand. "You can trap people in this?! I bet you can use it like a knife and stab people. Say... that gives me an idea--" Avalon turned his head to see a shard flying right at him and Bernkastel. "Gwah! Look out!" The ninja grabbed the Witch and pulled both himself and her to the floor, saving them from being skewered. "W-We gotta hurry up and get out of here! This battle is gettin' too dangerous!"
 
Understanding the flow of energy, whether internal or external, creates an extraordinary warrior. Flowing Strike essentially takes the knowledge of the flow of energy behind raging currents and tidal surges and recreates these within one’s body. In the case of Spina, whom energy is constantly on the rise thanks to his explosive growth, it allows him to regulate his energy output, avoid any wasted movements and become proficient in battle.

In contrast, Dark Energy…

Spina tread with caution after seeing Gravita formed an abundance of black crystals around her gauntlets and her body. She was bratty before, but now utterly unhinged in her tactics.

…cannot be regulated nor control. It cannot be mastered. It is sloppy, messy, and destructive as the essence oozes outward. It is a powerful force that destroys the mind. Until their entire existence—whatever that makes them whole, will ceased. Only their bodies left behind to act as the mind collapsed and their consciousness vanished. Gravita, despite being a mere creation using Black Crystals as a base, was rapidly evolving—whether she wanted too or not. And with it, her general loyalty and regard to her fellow Xy’phers lessen dramatically until none is left.

Dark Energy destroys the utter consciousness of an individual—and when that happens, tragedies will come and mountains of broken bodies is the result.

Once Gravita closed the gap between them and launched her attack. Narrowing his eyes, Spina responded with his own, sensing the danger it will cause should it land. In elegant movements, the old Saiyan pulled his arm back and launch forward in blistering speeds. The small particles that flung off from the roaring tsunami, thicken and twirling around the two with intense pressure.

“Flowing Strike: Wave Fist--”

===

Broly’s arm was blasted off by May’s gun, removing any chance to attack the Breakers. “Arghh…. You damn worms—” Before the Xy’pher Saiyan can finished his sentence, he was struck in the chest by Berserk. His entire body was on the verge of collapsed by the culmination of damage. He dropped his head, unable to move at this condition.

“Using Broly… I’m sure he heard some things during his venture here. I’ll keep him wrap under my chains. He’s weak enough for you to keep him trapped for a while.” Spawn thought to himself. “Yeah, he’s a stubborn fucker, isn’t he? He won’t stay down.” He looked ahead after feeling the change in atmosphere. The gravity was far stronger this time around, and after seeing Zenta redirect Broly’s attack towards the dome, and from his perspective, it looked like it didn’t go anywhere. “We need to move. Now.” Before Spawn can opened his cloak, several saw blades of rock came at his direction. He had to jump out of the way, but one of them managed to smash through his green chains, freeing Xy’pher Broly.

“Arghhh!!!” Broly suddenly woke up. Without any regard for himself, he turned towards the Breakers with his mouth opened and fire. It wasn’t enough to do any significant damage, but it was enough to blast his body away from their blades. Broly easily shredded his body that way, until it was simply a flying torso with barely a head. But it was enough momentum to reach Gravita and Spina.

Just moments before the two collided, Xy’pher Broly slammed onto Gravita, pushing her out of the way and interrupting her attack.

“!?” Spina raised a brow.

“Ahaha…” Broly simply floated as he cackled. “Forget about her… I AM YOUR OPPONENT… NOW FIGHT ME!”
 
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As Gravita was hit by Broly and pushed out of the way, her gravity returned to normal and time worked properly again between her and Spina. She fell backwards and landed on her butt before glaring directly at Broly. The crowd of Xy'phers, in the meanwhile, cheered louder and louder, enjoying the duel from the Breakers. At this point, not only was Gravita lost, her mind and personality were gone due to the Dark Energy that now engulfed her. All she saw was red when Broly tossed her aside, essentially ruining her attack towards Spina.

"You..." Gravita growled under her breath. "You filthy little maggot!"

Gravita grabbed Broly by his chest and cracks began to form all over the Saiyan's body. She was crushing the Xy'pher piece by piece. Slowly, Broly's body started to cave in on itself, until it started to increase in speed. Suddenly, and in an instant, Broly was crushed right on the palm of Gravita's hand, compressing him into the size of a pea. His Crystallized core fell to the ground and Gravita kicked it towards the crowd of Xy'phers.

"This is MY show! I'm the star!"

The cheering from the Xy'pher crowd instantly stopped the moment Gravita killed Broly. The echos of their chants died off in an eerie silence, and the room grew very cold. Gravita, either unaware or too lost from the effects of Dark Energy, failed to notice the crowd stop cheering. She turned to Spina held her arms apart like before, getting ready to do her move once again. The Xy'phers all stared at Gravita with a long dead stare, none of them moving an inch from their spot. They followed every inch of Gravita's movements, as if to judge or study her. A similar thing happened with Eleki when he killed off a random Xy'pher.

"Uh-oh..." Nia said to herself. "She did the unspeakable..."
 
May says "So the construct might have shown a sine sapience or free will. All that means is there is a chance she has the ability to grow." Due to the fact May has made golems in order to make her life easer she has some level of expertise on this. May thinks "I so the king was a shitty master/maker. The worst thing I seen is their real devotion tortes me."

May says "With that stated we need to consternate on killing her more after that we may need to kill her former fan club."
 
"Hey!" Bage flinched at Broly's sudden outburst. He moved back from the initial blast and even prepared to retrieve the husk of a Xy'pher himself. But all he could do was watch as the upper body of the former captain slammed into Gravita and demanded Spina battle him.

"Ugh, you've gotta be kidding! He's nothing but a torso and he's still trying to pick a fight?" Bage scoffed in disbelief. However, what came after would leave the Detective speechless. Watching as Xy'pher Broly was crushed down to nothing but a core, Bage stared on in silence with the Breakers and the Xy'phers at the unthinkable act the elite had just committed. If the fight wasn't over before, it certainly was now.
 
"Hey! Get back here dammit I wasn't finished with you!" Berserk withdrew her blade, getting ready to chase after Broly before seeing a multitude of the deadly projectiles raining down on the Breakers. The one that struck her arm caused a trail of blood to seep out onto the floor, shouting in pain she dropped the blade reflexively to grip her arm.

"Owww... shit. Oh shit, yeah, that's uh... that's a pretty bad one," Berserk cursed, slowly bending over to grab her weapon with the uninjured one. The feeling of cold air made her feel like she really didn't want to take a look. The ribbons in her hair wrapped around it like a makeshift sling.

"Okay, change of plans-- I think his core's good as lost if Lucifer and Lilith can't get to it up there," Berserk reported to Cayde and Vegetto. "We can't say for sure if this Hive is still able to reconnect with the King's network, but she's Eleki's sister... we ought to gather everyone and make our escape soon. The alternative is wiping them all out with her, but she could turn us all into pea-sized mush in a second. It's too dangerous to get close." She seemed at a loss for what to do to help them.

Bernkastel gasped and flinched away from the saw blades zooming past her and Avalon. Hearing Nia's low warning, she looked at him with urgency. "It can be thrown like a spear, it'll still trap her-- you could even throw it for Spina to use on her, but we need to think fast. There's no more time, she'll either be executed or she'll try to take this whole Hive down with us in it."
 
“This feeling of dread…” Detective Spawn said once the Xy’phers on the stands stopped cheering simultaneously after Gravita killed Xy’pher Broly. Observing her unstable behavior, and the cracking on the black crystals being more apparent, he turned towards the others. “Berserk is right. We need to bail out—fast. Never mind her powers, if that freak explodes, we’re done for.” He raised his head in an attempt to split opened a portal, but it failed. “Shit, the presence of Dark Energy is too much here…” Taking the account of the audience, with the Dark Energy suppressing their abilities, it’ll be very difficult to fight them off unharmed.

When he spotted Lucifer, the Detective shouted at him. “Hey fuckface! We gotta bail—I know you have something in your sleeve to get us out of here.”

“Hmm,” Lucifer pondered. Lilith finally came down, slithering through the rubbles from the massive explosions. There was something in her belly that she swallowed. No doubt that she managed to snag the Broly’s core. “No, I think you guys still have a chance. Let it play it out and see what happens.”

“Tch?!” Detective Spawn was taken aback by his comments. “You damn asshole—”

“Run.” Spina said, interrupting the Detective. He turned his head towards Vegetto briefly. Ever since that incident where they nearly fought each other back at Reflection City, they hardly spoke to each other. He’d simply held a cocky smirk before darting his eyes towards Bernkastel. “Save that for later. We’ll use that for the Red King.” In stylistic movements, until he made a battle pose. “I’ll hold her off. Get out.” A sudden rush of liquid appears out of thin air and engulfed the old Saiyan’s right hand. Seeing that Gravita still wants to battle, it was time to end things. She couldn’t last much longer—she was going to explode. His pupils disappeared as he once again attempted his finishing move.

“Flowing Strike: Water Fist”
 
As Spina rushed to her, Gravita let out a sinister, painful laughter.

"No one is runnin' from my show." She repeated.

Holding her arms up and warping the spacetime around her. The intense gravity was so powerful thanks to Dark Energy, that it forces nearly everyone, including the Xy'phers in the audience, to the ground. The Dark Energy engulfing Gravita's body so much that it tore apart, piece by piece. Those closest to Gravita, like the Breakers, would feel their bodies being crushed. Th Dark Xy'pher then started to show cracks all over her body, each one leaking Dark Energy, similar to how light escapes a person who is about to be Coin'ed. She stood in place, twitching wildly, before slowly walking towards Spina. As her body leaked more Dark Energy, it was obvious that she was moments from exploding.

"Breakers..." Gravita spoke, her voice nothing but a glitchy, gargled mess. "I am... the perfect Xy'pher. I am... beyond petty loyalties, I am... the True Red King." Despite the Xy'phers being pinned on the ground, they let out a scornful hiss. The utter audacity that she put herself above the Red King. The deadly effects of Dark Energy had corrupted her mind to the point that she was no longer a true Xy'pher. She was on the verge of becoming a "Behemoth."

She started to run towards Spina and jumped, reaching her arms out towards him like a child ready to hug their parents. Her body would continue to show more and more cracks, until the Dark Energy oozing from her body would orbit her, spinning faster and faster. It ripped her body to shreds and exposed her core, which was entirely consumed by Dark Energy. Her core was a literal bomb, ready to blow.

"I will die with you..."

Suddenly, her core cracked, and the entire arena was engulfed in a bright light, followed by a tsunami of pure darkness.

.......

.....

...

Moments had passed... before the light finally subsided.

"I finally managed to find you." A mysterious voice spoke out. "Right on time, too."

The gravity lifted from the Breakers and Gravita was nowhere to be found. Instead, they would feel a gentle breeze brush against their bodies, indicating that they were outside. The manor was nowhere in sight, instead, there was a crystallized castle before them. The crystals were all cut to perfection, and it made the castle incredibly beautiful to see. Any ray of light would dance off its walls in a glittering rhythm. All around the massive castle were smaller crystals that formed statues of chariots, knights, and bishops. In front of each statue was a row of pawns defending them. Near the four corners of the main castle were four giant rooks that acted as watchtowers for the never sleeping Xy'phers. Even the ground was entirely made of crystal, eating away at the soil and compressed it to diamond. Finally, right in the center of the castle, at the very top, was a gorgeous crystal flower-crown that oversaw everything. It looked similar to a lotus flower and was just as stunning.

All around the castle were Xy'phers, all with some form of armor on them. They all marched in perfect unison and formation. Some Xy'phers were moving supplies around while others were exchanging information, yet their primary task was the same: defend the castle from any intruders. However, not one batted their eye towards the Breakers, almost as if their appearance was not worth any concern.

There was barely any organic life in the area. No trees, no grass, no wildlife despite being in the middle of seemingly no where. There were hints that the castle was there for a while even before the King had arrived.

Before the Breakers stood a tall and skinny Xy'pher with armor that resembled a Knight. He stood proudly before them with the Xy'phers he rescued from Gravita's blast. He looked familiar to the Breakers, more so to Detective Spawn while he waited patiently for the Breakers to rise to their feet.

"The King is eager to see you, Breakers." The voice spoke again. "He has prepared a dinner for you; so best not have him wait."

1661635701070.png
 
Bara remained on guard, but decided to follow.

"This had better not be a trap..." she thought to herself as she looked around the area, her headtentacle scanning the entire area to at least memorize the exterior of the complex, so she could tell Brachi all about it once they would meet again.
 
May says as she takes out a shield and slams it down in order to stop her from moving "... she may be going super nova." May gets behind her shield in order to block.

May thinks "this is way you don't use unstable material." As the bearer that was meant to keep the other Xy'phers' out of the combat aerial was broken. May thinks "so need to in prove defenses of the bearer units."
-------------

May says as she gets up "So we were that close oblivion, I don't think the king would wase that energy to prevent our and/or his underlings' deaths." May thinks "I wonder if this will end up as enemy of my enemy is my friend things, but our core values clash with the king's?"

May says flatly and as matter of flatly to the Brakers "I see little harm in playing along because regardless we do need to, we need to deal with the king one way or another. "

May thinks giving a quick look the shield and orbs she used a look over "they worked as well as expected but I will have to look over these later. Good thing I have a lot these."
 
Moments before Spina and Gravita collided, and the latter unleashed a destructive bomb from the cracking black crystals, Spawn knew that whatever their plans was futile. Anyone caught in in the vicinity of an explosion from Black Crystals were doomed to a thousand years as a Vortex Coin.

“I want you to keep an eye out on the Breakers. Specifically, Bernkastel. There are multiple sightings of her committing serious offenses… but something seems off. Keep an eye out on her, will ya?” A detective paused. “Keep an eye out for the angel and the fox-like creature as well. If you suspect anything… let me know right away.” He said. "I'll be investigating another incident in the meanwhile..."

A memory played in Spawn’s mind. The intense power of the gravity had forced everyone down, and their abilities were greatly suppressed. “Shit. Sorry Battler… looks like you’ll have to take over.” He thought about Wanda, his former wife that Valeria held. “God damnit—” The white light exploded in all directions, engulfing everything in sight.

---

-----

------

Detective Spawn opened his eyes as the light subsided. They were now in an entirely different area. Gravita was nowhere to be found, and upon further inspection, all the Breakers seems to be here. Alive and well. The effects of Dark Energy had disappeared, and their strengh no longer surpressed. “The fuck happened?”

“Seems like we managed to survive, after all.” Lucifer said. “Thought so. Thanks to this particular stranger.”

“Stranger…?” Detective Spawn turned to the armored knight that stood in front of Spina. His attack seems to never connect to Gravita.

“?!” Spina lowered his fist and jumped back a couple of feet. “Who the hell are you? What happen to that Xy’pher brat?”

“Detective Williams!?” Spawn shouted by seeing the Xy’pher. “They actually did turn you into one.” He wondered if Williams came in and portal the Xy’pher away before she exploded. “Did you come to recuse us?”

Spina turned his head slightly seeing that Spawn recognized him. “The one who wrote those letters.” He turned to Xy’pher Williams. He wondered why the Red King would send him to recuse them from the destruction. Especially if they were so low on the list in their grand plan.

“I have to agree with May. Dinner sounds lovely. It at least we can do after he fetch for us from that predicament. Besides, it is time for fine dining for all that battling, hmm?” Lucifer seems to look forward to it on finally meeting the Red King. “Nia darling. Should we expect any surprises since the Red King personally sought us out?”

Spina looked up towards the castle. Despite the perfect way it was designed, it seems all too familiar with him. “Wait, isn’t that…”
 
The Hive Arena

Both Vegetto and Cayde looked on with wide eyes once Broly was crushed, staring on in silence. The air changing instantly caught both of their attention, Vegetto glancing around with narrowed eyes while Cayde swallowed audibly, scanning the crowd of Xy'phers.

"I got a bad feeling about this..."

The rush of pressure suddenly took hold for the pair, Cayde stumbling a bit while Gravita unleashed her devastating power to pressure the entire arena. He grimaced a bit, the warning from Berserk now fulfilled while Vegetto raised two fingers to his forehead, his turquoise eyes straining a bit.

"Damnit...I can't sense anything through this energy!"

Through the intensity of the gravity, Vegetto's head lifted slightly with a struggled grunt and his eyes met Spina's once the older Saiyan had momentarily rejoined the group. No words spoken per the usual, but the flash of a cocky smirk and Spina's calm, collected stance in comparison to the shaking and trembling Vegetto, was all that was needed to dull the world around the Potara fusion. Vegetto's eyes widened in a combination of shock and rage; the flames bursting within like a lit match hitting an oil spill. Spina had achieved a power beyond anything Vegetto had produced; an efficiency and strength blended together in a form that Vegetto believed impossible. With that realization came only one answer for his ego: Vegetto was simply not as capable as Spina in that regard. In a new way, Vegetto was inferior. And with that smirk, Spina knew it too.

The toxic psychology began just as it usually did all over again, and Vegetto winced as he felt his very soul being burned away in that self hatred reignited. All the progress he made with Clark, the promises made to the fallen Kassava and Gogeta, undone in an inability to escape his nature. To compare himself to others was unavoidable; he loathed inferiority to anyone no matter how much he wanted to bond with others and losing tore apart his world completely. Yet despite the fire burning strongly within, Vegetto glanced back up and furrowed his brow. Internally, the sensation had changed. As if standing in a flame without being burned, Vegetto glanced around in his mind at the thoughts that rushed into his head.

No toxic energy swirled within his body this time, and despite Vegetto feeling clearly slighted by the move, he looked on without that blood boiling rage. In his mind, his memories flooded in of Spina's battle with Gravita; the sheer consistency and efficiency of his movements. The staggering heights were at Vegetto's capability in the Potara fusion's eyes, but the potential depth of that strength Spina now wielded was far beyond the ceiling Vegetto had placed for himself. Vegetto narrowed his eyebrows, looking deep to see the ceiling of growth he had placed on himself had now been shattered entirely through that example; the pride he clung to splintered into pieces in his mind. Instead, his own memories in mastering his energy to fuel his body beyond his capabilities mixed with the memories of Spina's recent fight, the culmination of the two creating an excitement that had been lost to the Potara fusion for some time. The tendencies of one fusee's destructive habits tore into his mind for so long, but the new motivation from the mindset of the other found its way to the surface once again.

The internal fire that once burned the Potara fusion raged on in his turquoise pupils, Vegetto's own smirk forming in meeting Spina's eyes

You may have won this time...but I swear I'll surpass you, Spina.

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As soon as it began, however, Vegetto glanced around at the sight of the entire scenery being completely different. The Potara fusion didn't even realize he had been on all fours from the intensity of the battle moments before; so lost within his psyche that he missed a near universe shattering explosion. He rose to his feet in tandem with Cayde, who brushed himself off while he rose to his feet with the Breakers. Cayde glanced around, eyeing each individual and making note that everyone was here before turning to the knight being addressed. At the mention of food, Cayde's mechanical stomach ironically rumbled loudly; the gears turning audibly near the group as he rubbed his stomach.

"Yeah...food sounds really good."

He nudged his elbow at Vegetto standing next to him, his mechanical eyes forward with a grin.

"How much you wanna bet this Red King hasn't made anything as good as my spicy ramen suprem-"

A flourish of wind and pressure suddenly knocked the android back, Cayde completely caught off guard from the sudden outpour of storm force winds and tumbling onto the ground. He blinked in surprise and turned his head up at the sight of an enraged Vegetto powering up as the source. The golden aura of his own Super Saiyan form violently escalated; intense pressure from before spurring the rise of devastating energy. The near blood shot eyes dilating were fixated on only one target; the all too familiar castle of a different time period. The white gloved fingers clenched into fists, the gloves themselves contorting and crunching under the intense squeeze of hatred that dripped in the dual voice of the fusion.

"At last...I found your little nest...rat!"

Vegetto suddenly blasted up into the air, sending out enough wind to force Cayde into tumbling up to the rest of the Breakers. The android grunted, slamming into Spina's left leg while he looked up with wide eyes.

The Potara fusion floated high in the sky, towering over the massive crystalized castle while he kept his clenched fists raised and bent at the elbow. He bolstered out his chest, the anger in his expression still apparent despite a thunderous roar of pride and confidence filling the air.

"DOOOOOOM!.......DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

The surging golden aura grew immensely as Vegetto raised both of his arms up into the air, high above his head and his hands clasping together. His third and pinky fingers interlaced together, while his pointer and middle fingers remained locked and extended upwards like two finger guns pressed together. He leaned his head back, staring up into the sky with confiden, narrowed turquoise eyes while intense pressure flowed through his wrists; electricity sparking violently at the build up. Gradually, a pure beam of golden energy exploded upwards from his pointer and middle fingers; a brilliant flash of golden energy in the form of a sword rushing upwards. The clouds and sky itself nearly split apart from the intense whir of energy; mountainous in display while Vegetto continued to shout over the whir of the energy.

"Your dream is dead...your vision leads NO ONE! And when I finally...DESTROY...your castle...there won't be a trace of you left! I'VE WON!!"

The contorted rage in Vegetto's expression deepened, a crazed grin forming in place of the confident smirk as his turquoise eyes locked onto the castle fully, his arms reeling the massive energy sword back.

"FINAL EXCALIBUR!!"

Vegetto continued to scream at the top of his lungs as he shot downwards toward the ground, his arms swinging the massive energy blade like an overhead axe and attempting to slice the entire castle in half with the devastating attack.
 
Bage narrowed his eyes in frustration at Spina's final words to them, why did it always have to come down to a sacrifice?! It pained the detective to leave anyone behind, but they couldn't afford to lose here, not when they were so close to facing the Red King. He hesitated before responding to the group's plan to leave.

"....Right, then we'll be leaving this to Spina. Let's hurry up and-" Bage stated before being cut off by Gravita and being slammed into the dirt of the arena once again by her intense gravity. His breathing became heavily restricted and he began to panic as Gravita spoke, her last final message to the Breakers was proof that this would be where they met their end. No no no "NO!" That was all he could gasp out before shutting his eyes and bracing himself for the impact.

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Then suddenly there was nothing. Silence, a calm breeze, and a voice calling to him. This had to be the afterlife, he thought to himself., almost relieved that it was over... But then he opened his eyes and saw the gleaming castle before them and the crystalized stranger before them. They were alive!

"Detective Williams!" Bage jumped up in surprise before sadness overshadowed it. He had been turned into the very thing he had hoped for them to stop. Bage felt almost responsible for this. There was confusion on the Senior detective's face as the Xy'pher detective mentioned dinner with the Red King. He almost questioned and objected to Detective Williams's invitation, but With May and Lucifer agreeing to go along with it, he decided against it. "D... Dinner...?"

He turned to Spawn whispering to him while eyeing the Xy'pher knight.

"This is absolutely a bad idea right...? I can't be the only one who feels strange about this-"

His thought was once again interrupted as Vegetto rocketed into the sky, ready to attack the castle as a whole. He stared up in shock watching the Saiyan fusion. "Vegetto?!" He turned to the Breakers hoping for an answer that justified his behavior. "What's gotten into him!? We're in the middle of enemy territory!"
 
"What?! Spina, no! We can't just leave you behind-" Bernkastel objected, eyes widening before they darted past him to see Gravita readying her last stand. Immediately as she tried getting up, the gravity pinned her down to the floor.

"Shit! I can't move!" Berserk squeezed her eyes shut as the ground beneath her became stained with blood seeping out from her wrapped-up arm. The darkness creeped over all of them like an inky shadow, and caused the Powerpunk to brace for the worst...

Opening her eyes, Berserk was shocked to see the light once more. Glancing around hesitantly, she stood silently for a few moments.

"Are we dead?"

"We're still alive. But how...? It should have been impossible." Bernkastel was equally dumbfounded, eyeing their new surroundings with suspicion. The artifices of beauty in the architecture giving her an unsettling tinge of disgust; this was definitely a Xy'pher domain. No. The witch narrowed her eyes.

Could it be?! It's still standing after all this time? The shock of realization took over, deepening the sinking feeling innher gut. How did the Red King mamage to find this castle when Valeria couldn't?! Despite the utter lack of hostility coming from the Xypher army, Bern's tense body language never faltered.

Her eyes met the stranger speaking to them-- a Xypher knight, confirmed by the detectives to be Williams. Suspicion only raised at that. If this man ended up like this... what if the King's holding Cuki hostage right now? She's probably a Xypher too... The witch clenched her fist as she stood straight with Avalon off the ground. Why did he let us live?

"D-dinner? Wait... I'm a little confused here." Berserk put her free hand up, an incredulous look on her face. "First, nobody's explained how Cayde can eat food despite being a robot. And second-- do Xyphers even EAT? I don't eat rocks and this place doesn't look like a farm-to-table restaurant."

Meanwhile, Bernkastel glanced over to Vegetto once her realization was made. His prolonged silence said it all, still as a statue yet she could tell a deep rage would no doubt be brewing in his mind. Bern knew just how sore even a mention of Doom could bring up that dreadful feeling. His shaking fists prompted her to whisper towards him in urgency.

"Hey, no! Stop-- just calm down. Don't do it--"

But then he already launched himself into the air, screaming his intent to obliterate the castle at the top of his lungs. Bernkastel had been taken by surprise at this; she had already dealt with Gogeta's impulsivity before, it was all too familiar for her.

Berserk let out a shocked yelp, shielding herself from the blinding display by floating behind the group. "I-I'm not sure, he was just fine a minute ago! Cool as a cucumber!"

"This is Doctor Doom's castle. You know how empty his eyes get when he talks about it," Bernkastel answered. Vegetto showed signs of having a shorter fuse these days, but she had never thought he was this utterly unhinged about what happened. Dreading what might come next, Bern folded Avalon's fingers over the shard she had left him. "I didn't think such a madness existed deep within him. The mask has finally slipped."
 
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