[01] || [Open] || [Backdated to before the event's start]

[sunglassing]

Characters: Rude and YOU
Setting: Room 4-14, Meadow, Maze (Battle), Floor Five and Cafeteria
Format: Prose or Action, whichever you prefer
Summary: Rude wakes up in the tower and goes off to explore. At some point he'll fight some monster and try to eat the most feared oatmeal.
Warning: Lots of "………" and this kind of silence. Otherwise nothing, aside from violence at the maze.


Dormitories (Room 4-14)
By now Rude was already dressed- His suit impeccable, his fighting glove together with his Materia and bracelet ready for action. His earrings and sunglasses were on as well- The lack of light didn't seem to be a problem for him. It never was. In fact it was as though his sunglasses were apart of him and didn't obstruct his vision at all. And now he's on to reread that paper. The planet, destroyed? As far as he was concerned that was nonsense- After all that had been going on, he couldn't imagine the planet being destroyed so easily. Let alone him being the sole survivor.

He shrugged and pocketed the paper before moving on to look at what else he had in his trunk- His suits and accessories had obscured everything else. His PHS but it was of little use as the communication functions were broken beyond repair. Whatever, he listed what he had with him and ordered it in his Trunk for easy access. Oh, and bottles of Ale? Whoever took him had a strange sense of humor at least.

Floor Twenty-Five (Meadow)
It took some time for Rude to realize. A meadow, here in the middle of this hell of a tower? That was surprising. That made no sense, like everything else he saw so far. And there was obviously nothing to do around here.

He decided to quickly explore and look for people, but he wouldn't stay long. At least this floor was fairly quiet and relaxing, if anything.

Floor Eight (Maze)
… A Maze. No, Rude wouldn't enter it. He had whatsoever no times for it; there were far more urgent things to do. Nevertheless, as he was heading to the exit- Monsters attacked him. They were many but they were weak. He easily punched back those who attacked him and then cast a Lightning spell on those who were behind him.

More appeared, and he would probably take care of them fairly easily, but help would be most welcome, if only to make the battle end more quickly. Even though he, for one, desires no help right now.

Floor Five
After exploring a bit of the tower, some of the architecture couldn't help but remind him of the Shinra Building- Yet at the same time it couldn't be more different. Whoever did that had to be powerful and they had to master some advanced technology or materia. On top of that they probably had large sums of funds at their disposal. There were few people with that kind of means left on Gaia; and he was already making a list of who he thought could be his potential captors.

He advanced and tried to look through the viewing station after a while- Nothing. It was getting irritating, absolutely nothing worked in this tower. He shook his head and decided to head for the exit. Worthless.

Floor One (Cafeteria)
… Oatmeal. The one food Rude could never eat ever since he was a children, it had to be the one food he would be provided with to eat. The only food. He poked at it and tried to eat, very slowly and carefully…

…

No. Just no. Oh God, what horror was that? Alright, he'd go hunt for other food, he'd remain on diet or something. But he couldn't eat that. He just couldn't. They'd have to give a reason solid as rock for him to go through swallowing that horror. Or remain one month without eating.

Everywhere Else
Have a Turk walking through the tower. He looks strong and maybe dangerous, but don't be afraid, he doesn't bite and even if he is fairly cold, he's a polite person. Rude will just go ahead and explore, try and find people from his homeworld if there are any and answers.

By the way he looks walks and behaves; it's obvious that man is considering himself to be on work or on some sort of mission- Hopefully you won't think he is one of the Tower's agent.

Comments

Maze

[speaks_dirty]

She was headed down when she heard the tell-tale sounds of battle on the floor. Siira picked up her pace and jumped over Rude, an Ice 3 spell going straight into the face of one monster and landing a kick on the head of another. The force from her jump and landing was more than enough to crush most of its' face.

And the woman wasn't even paying attention to who it was she just leapt in to rescue. So she didn't recognize the bald Turk just yet. He might be able to recognize her though, whether from Meteorfall or from before. Her fighting style just definitely unique.

[sunglassing]

He recognized her immediately. Not only her fighting style, but her hairs were pretty unique and hard to miss. Yet he didn't say word of it, right now they were to kill those monsters, questions would come latter. And those monsters were quickly dispatched- While Siira on managed to exterminate them easily with her kicks and ice spell, Rude himself cast yet another Blot3 spells on all remaining target and punched the last one standing.

She was one of the last person he had expected to see here- He couldn't say it felt bad seeing one of his fellow Turks, even when they had not met in years. She had lost nothing of her skills after all that time.

"Siira."

[speaks_dirty]

"Hey Rude." One last kick to one of the monsters that tried to get back up and it wouldn't be getting up again. And look, she didn't even have to bust out her gun. She definitely didn't lose any of her skills in that time. She was a Turk, after all. None of them would get rusty.

Strightening her suit and kicking one of the carcasses, Siira sniffed a bit as she caught her breath. This hadn't even been a minor exercise but it was thrilling all the same.

"Damn, the whole gang is startin' to flood in, huh? I mean, I've run into both Reno's, Rod and now you. It's like a Turk reunion in here."

[sunglassing]

Reno and Rod? He nodded and then readjusted his sunglasses. Well, Reno's presence was a definite plus, as well as Rod's. Although it was quite suspicious. Siira and Rod, both of them in this tower on top of Reno, after all those years. Definitely sounded fishy, but he trusted her.

He frowned ever so slightly for a second though- He thought to have heard 'both Reno's', which made no sense. He probably misheard that part, most likely was 'Both Reno and Rod'.

"....... Both Rod and Reno? That's good."

[speaks_dirty]

"Two Reno's and a Rod, actually." Siira corrected him, raising her hand to wiggle two of her fingers. She wasn't sure he could handle hearing that so quickly but it was better than waiting and, at the end of their conversation, then mentioning it. That would be a bit cruel.

The martial artist grinned and clapped him on the shoulder, looking him over for a second before nodding. Of course he wasn't hurt, she wasn't that worried about that anyway. It was seeing Rude here and she kind of had to touch him to be sure that she wasn't hallucinating.

"Shiva's tits, Rude, it's good to see you. And we ain't alone, some SOLDIER's are here, ex and otherwise. It's a fucking ShinRa reunion."

[sunglassing]

"As it is good to see you...-!"

Wait, two Reno? She really just said that? Sorry, but that kind of obscured everything else. He didn't even realize she clapped him on the shoulder. For one because that made no sense. For two because the existence of two Reno would probably destroy the universe. Oh wait...

"SOLDIERs? Who? And what's with those two Reno?"

It's strange. Siira wasn't one to drink alcohol while on duty, nor was she one to speak bullshit or make stupid jokes.

Cafeteria

[rookiemyass]

Breathless and looking a bit worse for the wear, the Turks’ most haphazard member stumbled into the cafeteria, swearing up a storm as usual.

Monsters. There were fucking monsters and meadows and all manner of freaky ass shit in this tower and merciful Shiva if this wasn’t the worst fucking day ever. The note in his room said he could get food down here, though; after people had filled his brain with all sorts of messed up info that he had stopped bothering to try and process, he was absolutely starving, so he’d forged his way through and finally made it to the cafeteria… which was dark. And empty.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Belatedly, he noticed a lone figure on the other side of the room, and his heart lept when he realized that – yet again – he recognized the trademark suit the person was wearing. The sunglasses and excessive amount of earrings filled in everything else he needed to know.

“Damn… They got you too, huh?”

[sunglassing]

He had spotted a man entering, but hadn't cared enough to go and see. If it was an hostile, he would take care of him would he make the mistake to get too close. Rude looked up when the man addressed him-

... Rodney? Well now. He had hoped to see people from home, but he hadn't expected to see Turks... Let alone those who had no choice but to leave the company. That was a good thing though, they were amongst the few people he trusted after all. Yet at the same time, it was fishy.

That many Turks, reunited in the tower? Took away all credibility from the letter that pretended the planet was gone. That hardly could be a mere coincidence.

"Rod."

A nod and a slight smile, but only for a second.

"Me, you and others apparently."

[rookiemyass]

Now, at first Rod had been completely convinced that this whole thing was some giant conspiracy against the Turks – the fact that Turks kept popping up all over the place only made him more and more certain that this was all an overly elaborate ploy to get them all out of the way, once and for all. That had been before he’d literally had to fight for his life all the way down to the god damn cafeteria, however, and by this point Rod couldn't even find it in him to be surprised when he entered the room to see Rude sitting quietly and poking at a bowl of what appeared to be oatmeal. Rod was tired, he was stressed out, and while he was certainly happy to see the Rude, he was pretty much done with theorizing about why this was all happening and ready to get his chow on. Thinking about the situation could come, uh, never.

“Ugh, don’t even get me started, man. Who else you seen so far?” Rod plopped down heavily on the bench across from Rude, looking extremely relieved at the chance to sit down for a while. “And where’s the grub? I could eat a whole god damn chocobo.”

[sunglassing]

In time Rude would get over the conspiracy theory- But for now he still had to keep it in mind. All in all, it was more reassuring to think that, than to think Gaia's gone. As for now-

"Only Siira, but she told me Reno is- are here."

Two Reno... He trusted Siira's words, but he would have to see them to believe it. Reno may very well have played a prank on her, that's the kind of thing he could and would do. But he knew for a fact Reno wouldn't play such a prank on him, so he'd get to see in time whether this was true or not.

As for the grub... Rude points his dish and shakes his head.

".......... That's all they got."

[rookiemyass]

"...you're kidding me, right?" Rod deadpanned, staring at Rude in horror for a moment before leaning forward and peering suspiciously at the oatmeal, as if maybe it would jump out of the bowl and creep away if they didn't keep a close eye on it. Judging by his experiences in the tower so far, it honestly wouldn't surprise him. "The fuck even is that slop? Dude, I think it just moved."

Meadow

[notontheflowers]

At least there weren't graves to fall in to had been Reno's opinion of this floor. It had an uncanny resemblance to one of the decks on the Elegante so he usually avoided it but it was comfortable enough in the ridiculous heat fluxuations of late.

There were plants he knew were at least vaugely edible growing as well and he'd been decidecidedly busy looking for them when Rude appeared. The catch of suit out of the corner of his eye had him turn though.

And freeze completely still with one hand on his gun. Fear jolted through him, the last two times he'd seen Rude the guy had been an illusion by a thing trying to kill him and a corpse respectively.

"Rude?" He breathed, a vauge hope that this wasn't whatever it was that was destroying worlds playing another trick trickling down his spine. It wouldn't be easy but if he had to he'd do what needed to be done to protect the universe at large.

[sunglassing]

The meadow was particularly calm and admittedly by the time Reno came in, Rude was lost in his thoughts. While on the outside he didn't speak a lot, that much couldn't be said on the inside. This tower, the letter. None of this made sense. The Planet's destruction... He couldn't believe it, yet this was the less unlogical option. He needed to have more elements. He needed someone to give him answers.

That's when Reno spoke his name. Caught by surprise yet he reacted quickly when he heard a very familiar voice addressing him. He turned immediately and looked.

"............"

It was Reno, of course. He looked a little bit...- Different, if the word was right. Different from last time he spoke with him but there was no doubt. It was well the Turk he had worked with for roughly ten years.

"Reno."

He smiled ever so slightly for a few seconds then nodded.

"Good to see you."

[notontheflowers]

It was the smile that did it, Reno's hand falling from the weapon limply.

"Rude. You're here. You...you asshole! D'you know how worried- you ass. I haven't seen you alive since- I should hit you." He was jumping from sentence to sentence as relief, worry and anger warred for control of his emotions. "Ifrit's balls I never thought I'd see you alive again."

[sunglassing]

Asshole? That's not really the welcome he was expecting but he could understand why Reno would have thought him dead, what with the whole world destruction going on. It's a relief in his end as well, albeit probably on a lesser extent. After all from his viewpoint, last time he'd see Reno was... Yesterday.

"Well, I am alive and I am here."

Though... Reno looked very distressed, worried and angry... Admittedly he'd never seen him like that before. Not even when the Meteor fell on Midgar. ... Maybe he should say something nice...

".......... Sorry I worried you."

[notontheflowers]

"Not worried so much as..." He sighed, ordering his thoughts with a calm breath before continuing. "You read about Gaia being gone, right? Well before I was dragged here I spent nearly a year on a ship without hide or hair of you or any other Turk but Vince, Tseng, and Veld. When we got where the ship was going... we found where Tseng had dissapeared to. I-we had to bury him and you." He explained, frowning a little before forcing out a laugh.

"But it's all good now. You're not a zombie or a delusion an' there're others comin' in all the time from Gaia. It'll be great."

Upperfloor/Staircase?

[midgarhorizon]

It was a long trip up and down these stairs, but Reno was slowly starting to get used to it. Sometimes it was a relief not to have to use the elevator, but it was a bit annoying at times.

Hauling scavenged food. That was what he was doing right now, toting up what he found to the Floor 38 encampment in a large bag he had made for this specific purpose. Or that was what he WOULD be doing if he hadn't run into someone... someone who was kind of like a giant wall of a man... and dropped the bag of mushrooms.

Sounds good to me!

[sunglassing]

Those stairs were a pain, alright. They were awfully reminiscent of the sixty floors of stairs in the Shinra Building. By this time Rude had already met Siira- Who had told him about the existence of two Reno in the tower. And then one of the two Reno she mentioned. So he wasn't that surprised to bump into Reno.

Well, physically-speaking this one looked more like the Reno as he remembered him. Good at least he'll be able to differentiate them with ease. Not good though, he's still having a hard time coping with the idea that there are two in this... Tower.

He grabbed the bag of mushrooms on the ground and handed it over to Reno with a slight smile.

"Smells better than their oatmeal."

[midgarhorizon]

Reno had just taken the bag with a muttered 'thanks' when he realized just who had given him the bag back- and then dropped it again. "Rude?"

Shock. He wasn't expecting Rude to show up, and he was happy to see the big lug, really, really happy, but at the same time, again that meant more people were gone...

Reno would have to break himself out of that train of thought, that was gonna get seriously fucking depressing.

"Rude!" The bag forgotten, Reno stopped giving a flying chocobo about dignity, he actually full out hugged the guy.

[sunglassing]

It was nearly amusing to see Reno that dumbfounded at his sight, but Rude's face remained straight and he only nodded when Reno uttered his name. And then-

".............."

That... Was that...? A hug? Rude kind of, well, didn't know how to react to a hug. Come to think about it, in spite of having been partners and best friends for years, hugs wasn't really something they did often, if ever. Reno should've known that- Was life in this tower really that terrible?

Rude just remained... Immobile for a moment.

Then he... Tried to hug back. He's seen other people do it before. Okay, the embrace is very light and... The clasp on the top of Reno's back nearly non-existence. It's... Very awkward overall, but at least he tried? Would it have been anyone else, he would probably have pushed them away immediately.

But that only last a totals of 6 seconds before Rude let go- That's already a lot.

[midgarhorizon]

Oh, right, yes that was probably a good idea. Not embarrassed in the least, okay maybe a little, Reno let go and busied himself grabbing his bag of mushrooms again.

"When the hell did you get in?! Damn, it's good to see you, buddy." He straightened up and settled down on a step. "Did- did anyone explain what happened, why you're here?"

He was concerned for his partner now, the initial elation of seeing the bald cueball wearing down a bit. The Turks were all showing up in the Tower, mostly around the same time- what exactly did that mean?

Cafeteria!

[provenworth]

[For once, she could go for a food that was more...hearty. Steak. Ribs. Chicken cordon bleu. Anything but the mushy porridge of oatmeal. Thankfully the punishment - or perhaps it was just part of the acclimation - would be over soon and she could have regular food.

Tray in hand, Elena turned to find a seat, eyes scanning the area for the most appropriate place to sit while maintaining a proper view of the room while ensuring that nobody could sneak up on her, when she saw him. Oh, that back, that suit, that bald head. Her feet move before her brain realizes they are, quickly closing the gap between them.]

Rude!

[sunglassing]

[ Did Rude mention Oatmeal is the one thing he cannot eat? Because he certainly despises and hate that food... Oh well. That's when he heard a familiar voice calling him out. ]

.... Elena.

[ She was here too? That really made a lot of Turk, and it was a i>good thing. he smiled ever so slightly, only for a few seconds that's Rude here, and motioned for her to sit down. ]

[provenworth]

[No, he certainly didn't. Though she could understand why - it was one of the most bland things to eat. And, man, did they try to push that on you when you were in the hospital.

Her heart hammers in her chest, almost to the point of hurting her ribs, her hands shakily putting the tray down on the table beside his. First Reno, and then another Reno, Sephiroth, Cloud, Hojo, and an alleged Loz. Gaia, this place was filling up so quickly with friends - and foes.]

I didn't know you were here...

[Ah, that short, pleasant smile that made you question if it even happened. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she took the offered seat, turning towards him. Her face is momentarily serious, eyes focused on his every movement.]

I need you to tell me the last thing you remember before you got here. Apparently when we are brought here, we're from "different worlds".

[sunglassing]

[ The part about two Reno was actually the part that remained mostly stuck in his throat. One was hard to handle, two was, what? It's hard.

That, but also Sephiroth and Hojo. After all they did, he just couldn't believe they were still alive in this tower. Not only it made no sense but it also made their lives hell. ]

I just arrived, today.

[ The last thing her remembers... Deepground. Even though he hadn't participated in the operations, he had read the Mission Report and done some cover-up and investigation job back at Junon. ]

The last major event I recall is the Deepground Rebellion. It ended a few days ago.