Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

With the chances of something going wrong increasing with each passing moment, it wasn’t long before Vahn, accompanied by Okita and Altera, appeared within the underwater research center located in the depths of the Arabian Sea. There, he found Da Vinci standing in front of a clear tank, silently observing the bound woman within.

Though clothes got in the way of Spiritron Suspension, Vahn’s orders were to bind Musashi’s upper body with a straight jacket while allowing her to keep most of her normal outfit. The only things that were taken from her, other than her swords, were the ornaments tying up her hair, her earrings, and a jade tomoe necklace that looked like half a yin-yang symbol. These all seemed to be Artifacts of indeterminate quality, so, in the hopes of preventing Musashi from escaping, they had been sealed away within Imaginary Number Space.

With Vahn’s arrival, Da Vinci was able to breathe a sigh of relief as, for the first time in more than three hours, she took her eyes off Musashi, a wry smile on her face as she muttered, "You took your sweet time, didn’t you...?"

Hearing Da Vinci’s remark, Vahn offered an apologetic smile and, despite the fact her current body was just a ’doll’, he ran his fingers through her hair before resting his head against her’s and saying, "Thanks for keeping an eye on her...sorry for troubling you."

As she hadn’t actually been serious about blaming Vahn for his delayed arrival, Da Vinci just lightly giggled in response to his words before placing her hand against his chest and saying, "You can make it up to me later..." in a teasing tone.

Seeing Da Vinci resort to her usual antics, Vahn rolled his eyes before lightly pinching her side and adopting a serious expression as he turned his attention to Musashi. Then, without worrying about whether or not she would escape, he walked over to the control panel, placing his palm against the surface to disable it. This caused the fluid to gain a pale-blue luster, losing its suspended state and transitioning into an active state. As a result, Musashi’s body twitched and, after her eyelids fluttered a few times, she opened her eyes and began moving on her own once again.

Knowing she could hear him, Vahn stated in a firm and resolute tone, "Wait until the fluid completely drains. This chamber is a very delicate piece of technology so you won’t earn any favors if you go out of your way to destroy it."

Since she was still breathing liquid, Musashi was unable to speak, but, knowing Vahn would have the ability to read her lips, she asked, "Are you always this intense? Relax, I’m not in any rush to fight you for a second time. I’m guessing you’re wanting to interrogate me or something, so, as long as you don’t try any funny business, I don’t mind conversing for a bit. You’re one of the few people that has ever matched me in battle, much less secured a victory. I can extend you the courtesy of answering a few of your questions."

Vahn didn’t really appreciate how easy-going Musashi was, but, after fighting against her, he knew this was just a part of her character. Since he could now see the flow of fate around her, he could tell she was serious about answering his questions, to an extent. In fact, if he focused on the individual currents around her body, he could see glimpses of the upcoming interrogation, including several instances where they ended up battling.

Though basing his decisions on his foresight was ill-advised, Vahn was able to learn that Musashi, despite being bound, could break out whenever she wanted. As for her weapons, they seemed to be as much a part of her as Okita and Altera, meaning she could call upon them regardless of whether or not they were sealed away. Even if he managed to prevent her from manifesting them, however, Vahn saw one timeline where Musashi managed to get her hands on Okita’s [Purgatory], something that was best avoided at all costs...

Earning an incredulous look from both Da Vinci and Musashi, Vahn turned to the former and said, "Retrieve Musashi’s weapons. The negotiations will go a lot smoother if we show some sincerity..."

Da Vinci had misgivings about following Vahn’s orders, but, believing he had his reasons, she didn’t refuse his order. As for Musashi, she gave Vahn an appraising look as if she were trying to ascertain some veiled truth. This caused the flow of fate around her to become constrained to several larger currents, many of which showed them exchanging blows after negotiations broke down. While this seemed to be a detrimental development, the fact most of these currents ’stopped’ at some point, each ending in Musashi’s death, gave Vahn an air of absolute confidence.

Musashi didn’t fear strong opponents, quite the opposite, but the feeling Vahn gave off was different than most. Rather than hubristic confidence, he gave off a feeling of ’absolute assurance’, almost as if he was in control of everything. It was an uncomfortable and unnerving feeling, as, despite facing off against thousands of opponents, Musashi never got the impression that she ’couldn’t win’ before.

While waiting for Da Vinci to return, Vahn continued to observe Musashi until the liquid had drained completely. Immediately after that, the pressure differential caused a loud hissing sound, followed by a bit of icy-cool residue spreading throughout the laboratory. Once the pressure had normalized, the crystalline glass sunk into the floor, allowing Musashi some freedom of movement. Despite this, she continued to stare back at him, her peculiar Mystic Eyes glowing with a subtle light as she seemed to be searching, and failing, to find whatever it was she was looking for.

After several minutes of tense silence between them, it was Musashi who spoke first, her usual smile returning as she muttered, "It seems our battle was beneficial for your growth...as you are, I wouldn’t be able to defeat you without sacrificing everything. Tell me, was that part of your plan as well...?"

In response to Musashi’s question, Vahn adopted a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes as he shook his head and answered, "I’ll consider answering your questions once you start answering mine. After what your group tried, my patience has been worn thin. Depending on how these negotiations go, I may be forced to take drastic action to prevent your group from indiscriminately causing chaos and leading to even more unnecessary deaths..."

Hearing Vahn’s response, Musashi couldn’t help but frown as she immediately retorted, "We’re not trying to cause chaos...we’re trying to stop you from destroying everything just to suit your vision of the future. We wouldn’t have to resort to underhanded methods if your Empire didn’t have such a comprehensive stranglehold on the rest of the world..."

Though it wasn’t entirely unexpected, Vahn was unable to restrain his aura in response to Musashi’s absurd reasoning. Her words basically amounted to an excuse that allowed them to act however they pleased, so long as it was in opposition to the Empire. Thus, despite knowing it wouldn’t really help his cause all that much, Vahn’s eyes began blazing with a golden light as he shouted, "That is complete bullshit! Don’t try to justify your heinous actions on such fragile grounds! Do you think I’m a coward and a fool!? If your group wanted to oppose me, you could have literally sent a fucking message and I would willingly show up to face whatever you wanted to throw at me! Instead, you skulk around like snakes, causing trouble for other people, and even targetting innocent fucking children! Other than your group of selfish fools, have you even helped a single person since your arrival in this world!? How many unrelated people have you killed just to further your goals!?"

Feeling the aura radiating from Vahn’s body, Musashi was forced to take a few steps back, her face paling slightly as she did her best to resist the pressure. It was pretty obvious that he wasn’t at all pleased by her choice of words and, despite wanting to deny his accusations, she would be lying if she said there wasn’t some truth behind them. Though it was primarily due to the Empire’s extensive information network, their group had been forced to lay low and act behind the scenes, doing what little they could to interfere with the Empire’s plans...

Not giving Musashi any breathing room, Vahn’s aura continued to swell, his gaze becoming even more intense as he added, "I accepted the fact people would see me as an Evil Tyrant, but, from the very beginning, the rest of the Empire has worked tirelessly to help people. Among them, I am your only true enemy, yet, in spite of that, you continue to harass and badger the very people trying their best to prevent further loss of life! Your group is full of cowards! There has never been a point in time have I been afraid of you! If you want to stop me, feel free to do everything you can against me! Come up with all sorts of plans, weapons, schemes, or whatever else you want! I will face it all head-on and destroy every attempt you make with my power alone! Stop relying on underhanded methods to try and exploit those around me, harming people who have literally done no wrong in a vain attempt to put pressure on me! Tell me, Miyamoto Musashi, which part of kidnapping innocent children is the most heroic!?"

As Vahn was doing very little to hold back his aura, the laboratory itself began to strain under the pressure as, in other parts of the undersea research center, various pipes began to burst. Musashi herself had to rely on her ’Nothingness’ just to stay on her feet as, without her weapons, the only way for her to resist Vahn was to use her final trump card. This would cost her ’everything’, however, so she was extremely resistant to using it, especially after hearing his words.

In the hopes of getting him to calm down, even just a little, Musashi did her best to adopt a sincere and apologetic expression as she groaned, "Calm down...I already said I would try and answer your questions. There is no need to lose your cool like this...seriously, I can understand why you are upset, but, will you really destroy this facility just to yell at me...?"

Musashi’s words did very little to help Vahn calm down, but, as Okita and Altera were both silently watching him, he forcibly suppressed his anger. He had already conveyed the most important parts, so, if Musashi had any sense of accountability at all, she would consider his words. He really didn’t care what kind of methods they tried to use against him, but, if they continued targetting the people he cared about, Vahn would crush them all. The only thing preventing him from doing so, thus far, is the knowledge that they are actual Heroes trying to resist against what they perceive to be a force of great evil. None of them had truly negative auras and, as he was still resistant to the idea of killing Heroes, Vahn wanted to at least try and reason with them.

Despite going to great lengths to force himself to calm down, Vahn’s tone remained just as grim and accusatory as before as he said, "You should have realized it from the past two battles, but, I am more than willing to accept responsibility for my actions, even if it means fighting directly against a group of Heroes that want nothing more than to see me ruined. I don’t care what methods you use to try and defeat me, so long as it doesn’t involve innocent bystanders and unrelated parties. If you continue using these cowardly means to advance your agenda, don’t blame me for crushing your group of hypocrites. You have already seen it for yourself...my power grows exponentially with each battle. Do you really think I’m going to keep idling about as your group continues to use even more underhanding means to achieve its goals...? This incident is your last chance to prevent all-out war, so, during the upcoming negotiations, I hope you will properly consider your options..."

Hearing Vahn’s words, Musashi was tempted to retort that he wasn’t exactly leaving her any options, but, knowing he likely wouldn’t take kindly to such remark, she just nodded her head and answered, "Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind..." while praying for Da Vinci to return quickly...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Under pressure...pressin’ down on me...!’,’Vahn is an angry boi’,’The Heroes group is about to learn what happens when you play stupid games...’)