Reno (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
midgarhorizon) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2012-05-08 12:51 pm
midgarhorizon) wrote in towerofanimus2012-05-08 12:51 pm
Entry tags:
(no subject)
Characters: Reno, open
Setting: 2-12, Floor 38, Floor 3, + Outside Tower
Format: Any
Warnings: Graphic nightmares, torture, body parts, pretty bad stuff, mental torture, death, so on
Summary: Several different things happen in this condensed post. Unable to sleep, Reno keeps drifting off in the most random of locations.
BACKDATED (see settings)
The first few days of the "Labyrinth" experiment, as Reno had taken to calling, had him worried. People he knew were out there, trapped in Shiva knew what kind of sick twisted maze. He figured to do these sponsorship things, and at least help them out. Who knew? It might gain him some points with people. As far as Shion was concerned, he could at least help the kid last a bit longer. But then came the dreams.
The first night was the worst. The instant his head hit his pillow, he was standing on a dried up wasteland. Shriveled tree trunks and grasses clung to the parched, cracked earth, barely holding on in the arid wind that tossed tumble weeds around. Time seemed to stretch out into infinity. The sun passed overhead several times even as he took a few steps toward what looked like an ancient forest. He kept walking, but something started happening to him. His mouth felt dry and his tongue too thick, and stabbing thirst wrapped around his throat until it felt like he was choking on the too-dry air. Another few steps, and his clothing were hanging off of him, the weight melting off like butter underneath the hot sun. And yet it seemed like it was taking forever, making those steps, seeing the sun fly by time after time.
A heavy weight settled on him, and he fell to his knees, too weak to go on and far too thirsty to cry for help. Face down in the dust, he took in one last breath before he found himself in a cage.
This one was even worse.
He was like an animal, pacing up and down that cage, grabbing the bars and shaking them, even while unknown persons laughed at him from the shadows. Over and over, the laughter would ring out, and something would hit him and he would pass out, only to wake up and do it over, and over again, the only difference being in the ways the laughter killed. At the end, when it had its fun, he was yanked out of the cage and stretched on a torture stock, and the last thing he remembered was a sharpened axe coming down on his neck.
His own screams woke him up in the room he shared.
From then on, every time he closed his eyes, it was nothing but hell.
---
On Day 4 of the experiment, Reno had settled down on one of the beanbag chairs on Floor 38, holding a book he had taken from the library. It was one of the few ways of entertainment in the tower, and he didn't feel much like going to the Media floor only to have the faces in the televisions stare at him.
A few pages into the book, a trashy romance novel- the library didn't seem to have any pinup magazines- he felt that slight heaviness on his eyes. It had been a tough couple of days, having to watch people die one by one and suffer in that Labyrinth, and he hadn't been getting a lot of sleep. Well, the Labyrinth and the nightmares. Rubbing his eyes, he got back to the book and tried to shrug it off. It didn't pay off very well, even as his eyes started to close of their own free will.
He was in a dark room, no lights or sounds, and he had the distinct impression he was alone. There was no background sound, no birds, no sounds of habitation. It was like he had been ejected into space on an escape pod.
Just before he started panicking, his head jerked back up and the book fell from his fingers.
---
On Day 5, despite the constant nightmares, he tried to keep on his normal routine as long as possible. That included training in the meadow or other places he found, visiting the library, and doing his job of washing the windows. These tasks seemed to get harder and harder, even as he avoided sleep as much as possible.
It was inevitable, then, that he was face first on the keyboard in front of him, twitching and mumbling.
This dream was particularly bad. He was strapped down in Hojo's lab in the Shinra Building, blindfolded, but the sounds were familiar and he heard the familiar footsteps of... there were several people, but he didn't want to believe it was who he thought.
"What do you want?" He whispered, his throat feeling raw and dry.
There was that laughter again, just taunting him. Metal clanged against metal, and then something that sounded like a sword was pulled from a sheath. That was the last thing he heard until his own scream startled him. The scalpel had made a long incision along his abdomen, cutting into the organs below. It didn't stop there. His flesh was pulled back and someone shoved their arm inside of him, plucking everything inside of him out, one by one. He shrieked in terror when that hand reached for his heart.
---
Day 6 was worse. He felt like a zombie, his head in a fog and his body unable to even think about sleeping anymore. The routines were mostly done with a robotic-like intensity that would have rivaled the clear collared workers around the Tower.
Taking the elevator up to the outside landing, Reno shrugged into his harness, going through all the procedures he had made up for himself, save one; he forgot to check that the harness was safely attached to the rope.
Scaling down the Tower, he got to work on the windows, scrubbing each one until it shone, and then going to the next set down.
A sudden wave of dizziness hit him, and he went limp in the harness, the squeegee falling from his grasp.
It was that nightmare again. He was tied to a chair, while he faced one of his own colleagues laughing and taunting him with his failures, calling him worthless. A useless piece of trash that had somehow made it in on Veld's good graces; someone that constantly had to be checked up on and partnered with someone actually competent. He would always defend himself, or his actions, trying to make excuses, but the worst thing about this nightmare was that he knew they were right. They always were, weren't they, Reno? It was time for you to die.
This time, it was Cissnei. Her petite frame shook with laughter even as she took her shuriken to his chest, cutting out his heart.
Flailing around, he woke up just in time to hear the harness give out, and he plunged into the depths of clouds below.
---
On Day 7, Reno woke up. This mental hell wasn't done with him, not by a long shot.
That familiar feeling of sleep paralysis hit him, and all he could do was close his eyes again until it passed, but this time, it wasn't just a quick minute and he was up. This time it seemed to stretch on like that one dream of dying in the wasteland.
And he had another nightmare.
This time, he knew he was awake. He heard the others around him, laughing again. Always laughing, always taunting him. He was the weakest of the Turks, he never had anything good to be said about him, even his speed records were a sham. Untrustworthy, not trusting enough of others, sarcastic, sadistic. They laughed again as they got closer, placing their hands on his body, knowing he couldn't fight back.
Then there was the smell. His eyes flew open in terror, unable to scream at the sight of the others, all supposed to be alive and well, nothing but zombies, their flesh dripping off of their bones and eyes hanging from sockets.
"This is your fault, Reno." They whispered, voices crackling and gurgling. "You did this to us. You watched as we all died. You could have saved us... and now you're going to join us."
A gateway opened in the floor, roaring and flaming with rainbow colored energy, followed by an intense waft of sulfur.
"Join us," they chanted, grabbing his arms and legs, lifting him off of the bed. They held him over the portal in the floor, and another hand grabbed his leg from below, angling him to see better.
It was Veld.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance, boy." And then Veld yanked hard, and he went tumbling into the pit.
Then it all vanished, and Reno sat up in his bed, gasping.
(Feel free to interact with him in any setting, waking him up or whatnot. He's got more than enough dreams to be woken up from! Also, for the window washing scene, feel free to see him falling or knock on the windows to try to wake him. Don't forget to title a comment with the setting!)
Setting: 2-12, Floor 38, Floor 3, + Outside Tower
Format: Any
Warnings: Graphic nightmares, torture, body parts, pretty bad stuff, mental torture, death, so on
Summary: Several different things happen in this condensed post. Unable to sleep, Reno keeps drifting off in the most random of locations.
BACKDATED (see settings)
The first few days of the "Labyrinth" experiment, as Reno had taken to calling, had him worried. People he knew were out there, trapped in Shiva knew what kind of sick twisted maze. He figured to do these sponsorship things, and at least help them out. Who knew? It might gain him some points with people. As far as Shion was concerned, he could at least help the kid last a bit longer. But then came the dreams.
The first night was the worst. The instant his head hit his pillow, he was standing on a dried up wasteland. Shriveled tree trunks and grasses clung to the parched, cracked earth, barely holding on in the arid wind that tossed tumble weeds around. Time seemed to stretch out into infinity. The sun passed overhead several times even as he took a few steps toward what looked like an ancient forest. He kept walking, but something started happening to him. His mouth felt dry and his tongue too thick, and stabbing thirst wrapped around his throat until it felt like he was choking on the too-dry air. Another few steps, and his clothing were hanging off of him, the weight melting off like butter underneath the hot sun. And yet it seemed like it was taking forever, making those steps, seeing the sun fly by time after time.
A heavy weight settled on him, and he fell to his knees, too weak to go on and far too thirsty to cry for help. Face down in the dust, he took in one last breath before he found himself in a cage.
This one was even worse.
He was like an animal, pacing up and down that cage, grabbing the bars and shaking them, even while unknown persons laughed at him from the shadows. Over and over, the laughter would ring out, and something would hit him and he would pass out, only to wake up and do it over, and over again, the only difference being in the ways the laughter killed. At the end, when it had its fun, he was yanked out of the cage and stretched on a torture stock, and the last thing he remembered was a sharpened axe coming down on his neck.
His own screams woke him up in the room he shared.
From then on, every time he closed his eyes, it was nothing but hell.
---
On Day 4 of the experiment, Reno had settled down on one of the beanbag chairs on Floor 38, holding a book he had taken from the library. It was one of the few ways of entertainment in the tower, and he didn't feel much like going to the Media floor only to have the faces in the televisions stare at him.
A few pages into the book, a trashy romance novel- the library didn't seem to have any pinup magazines- he felt that slight heaviness on his eyes. It had been a tough couple of days, having to watch people die one by one and suffer in that Labyrinth, and he hadn't been getting a lot of sleep. Well, the Labyrinth and the nightmares. Rubbing his eyes, he got back to the book and tried to shrug it off. It didn't pay off very well, even as his eyes started to close of their own free will.
He was in a dark room, no lights or sounds, and he had the distinct impression he was alone. There was no background sound, no birds, no sounds of habitation. It was like he had been ejected into space on an escape pod.
Just before he started panicking, his head jerked back up and the book fell from his fingers.
---
On Day 5, despite the constant nightmares, he tried to keep on his normal routine as long as possible. That included training in the meadow or other places he found, visiting the library, and doing his job of washing the windows. These tasks seemed to get harder and harder, even as he avoided sleep as much as possible.
It was inevitable, then, that he was face first on the keyboard in front of him, twitching and mumbling.
This dream was particularly bad. He was strapped down in Hojo's lab in the Shinra Building, blindfolded, but the sounds were familiar and he heard the familiar footsteps of... there were several people, but he didn't want to believe it was who he thought.
"What do you want?" He whispered, his throat feeling raw and dry.
There was that laughter again, just taunting him. Metal clanged against metal, and then something that sounded like a sword was pulled from a sheath. That was the last thing he heard until his own scream startled him. The scalpel had made a long incision along his abdomen, cutting into the organs below. It didn't stop there. His flesh was pulled back and someone shoved their arm inside of him, plucking everything inside of him out, one by one. He shrieked in terror when that hand reached for his heart.
---
Day 6 was worse. He felt like a zombie, his head in a fog and his body unable to even think about sleeping anymore. The routines were mostly done with a robotic-like intensity that would have rivaled the clear collared workers around the Tower.
Taking the elevator up to the outside landing, Reno shrugged into his harness, going through all the procedures he had made up for himself, save one; he forgot to check that the harness was safely attached to the rope.
Scaling down the Tower, he got to work on the windows, scrubbing each one until it shone, and then going to the next set down.
A sudden wave of dizziness hit him, and he went limp in the harness, the squeegee falling from his grasp.
It was that nightmare again. He was tied to a chair, while he faced one of his own colleagues laughing and taunting him with his failures, calling him worthless. A useless piece of trash that had somehow made it in on Veld's good graces; someone that constantly had to be checked up on and partnered with someone actually competent. He would always defend himself, or his actions, trying to make excuses, but the worst thing about this nightmare was that he knew they were right. They always were, weren't they, Reno? It was time for you to die.
This time, it was Cissnei. Her petite frame shook with laughter even as she took her shuriken to his chest, cutting out his heart.
Flailing around, he woke up just in time to hear the harness give out, and he plunged into the depths of clouds below.
---
On Day 7, Reno woke up. This mental hell wasn't done with him, not by a long shot.
That familiar feeling of sleep paralysis hit him, and all he could do was close his eyes again until it passed, but this time, it wasn't just a quick minute and he was up. This time it seemed to stretch on like that one dream of dying in the wasteland.
And he had another nightmare.
This time, he knew he was awake. He heard the others around him, laughing again. Always laughing, always taunting him. He was the weakest of the Turks, he never had anything good to be said about him, even his speed records were a sham. Untrustworthy, not trusting enough of others, sarcastic, sadistic. They laughed again as they got closer, placing their hands on his body, knowing he couldn't fight back.
Then there was the smell. His eyes flew open in terror, unable to scream at the sight of the others, all supposed to be alive and well, nothing but zombies, their flesh dripping off of their bones and eyes hanging from sockets.
"This is your fault, Reno." They whispered, voices crackling and gurgling. "You did this to us. You watched as we all died. You could have saved us... and now you're going to join us."
A gateway opened in the floor, roaring and flaming with rainbow colored energy, followed by an intense waft of sulfur.
"Join us," they chanted, grabbing his arms and legs, lifting him off of the bed. They held him over the portal in the floor, and another hand grabbed his leg from below, angling him to see better.
It was Veld.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance, boy." And then Veld yanked hard, and he went tumbling into the pit.
Then it all vanished, and Reno sat up in his bed, gasping.
(Feel free to interact with him in any setting, waking him up or whatnot. He's got more than enough dreams to be woken up from! Also, for the window washing scene, feel free to see him falling or knock on the windows to try to wake him. Don't forget to title a comment with the setting!)
no subject
"Huh... where'd you get this?" Reno took the glass, and just held it for a moment, feeling like his equilibrium was still slightly off.
no subject
He sighed, shaking hair from his face. He'd need to get it cut soon, especially if he'd be stuck here for as long as he thought.
"You wanna go for a walk?"
Hey bix, where've you been?
"Before I answer that, I think it's time we probably got names to call each other."
I don't have internets at the house, so I have to walk to the nearby college for it... LOOONNNG WALK
He chuckled a little at that, having to give yourself a nickname wasn't something he'd ever actually thought he'd have to do.
"Well, there's Sparky." It was what Veld called him, back in the day.
Aww poopsy :( got to say it's been dull without you around
"Veld just called us that to piss us off, remember? But you got this tan thing going on. Less spark and more rust. Sounds like just the thing, Rusty." Sigh. "Walk sounds nice right now. I'm getting tired of being cooped up in this place."
Re: Aww poopsy :( got to say it's been dull without you around
"Eh, I think it became a thing of endearment at some point. Rusty and Sparky it is then, long as it isn't 'Sir' I'll roll with it. Unless there's a situation, then I'll probably end up giving orders or something. Not that I expect anyone to listen, nobody ever does." He was rambling a little, half thoughts of the whole new mess rolling around in his head.
"Yeah, that's the worst part. Not being able to leave. Ready?"
no subject
Pulling on his sleeves after a moment, he nodded. "Yeah, let's go."
annnd time to pack up. They're needing this room and I have to mosey home. TOMORROW POSSIBLY.
Tseng disappearing wasn't too impossible, the man had his own objectives and ways of doing things after all and he'd obviously survived whatever had happened.
He led the way out, letting his feet direct their wander through the tower.
FINGERS CROSSED you get nets soon!
"You know, with the others being 'dead' and all." Something occurred to him, and he shoved his hands into his pockets. "You do know they're still alive, right?"
FOR A BIT.
"I don't know about Elena, but..." He fell quiet for a long moment, eyebrows coming together as he thought of how to phrase it. "Veld's alive, so is Vincent. I- We buried the bodies of Tseng, Rude and... another us. It doesn't mean they're really dead though, I mean... Strife showed up here and we buried him too, and there's been at least three times we've been saved. What's to say Tseng isn't being a bastard an' faking his own death."
no subject
"If there's more than one universe, timeline, whatever, you can be damned sure they're still alive out there."
THIS HAD BEEN LONGER, but it got stupid-ed.
It didn't change that he'd had to shoot the thing when it looked like Rude. Didn't change that he'd probably never see Catpaw again.
"...damn, now I know why Veld was such a hardass back in the day."
no subject
But he understood what he was saying. "We've had to bury too many friends already, I'm probably the one person that understand what kinda hell that put you through, but... I got to say, I think this shit has broken you."
And here he was, freshly resurrected after falling from the Tower. That was all right, he barely remembered anything, since it was just fading into more of those nightmares.
no subject
"You try having to shoot Rude." He snapped, "Try dealing with that while everyone around you is screaming and bleeding and dying and begging you not to shoot and he's looking at you like you kicked his puppy and laughed while you're slowly bleeding out. You try having the unshakable urge to tear Veld limb from limb and eat is soul because you don't want him and Vincent to run off together without you, and Vincent with your body. You try being in a hellhole where you don't have a weapon to defend youself and the person in charge is a lunatic who can put flesh eating things inside you if you hit someone. Or literally make you eat your own cooked foot if you do something he doesn't like."
no subject
"I'd probably be the same way. Look, I didn't mean-" Why was he so bad at this stuff? "I'm just saying..."
All the words died in his throat. Here to help. You've got backup. Not alone. None of those things seemed appropriate anymore in the face of the things he had seen.
no subject
He brightened, somewhat of an act for his other self as if to tell him it'd be alright at some point. "I had a girlfriend though."
no subject