001 - well there's a song on the radio that says "let's get this party started"

[duplicitousringleader]

Characters: A newly-arrived Dio and whatever poor saps are unfortunate enough to meet him!
Setting: Room 04-14, Floor Five, and Floor Fourteen
Format: Action brackets to start with, but I'll switch to prose if you want!
Summary: Dio wakes up and discovers that he's moved from one horrific environment to another. Oh, well. Could be worse. Maybe he'll find more shit to sabotage here.
Warnings: Spoilers for VLR may come up while interacting with Dio; let me know if you'd like me to avoid them. Also, he's a huge jerk. If he treats your character rudely, it's not because I dislike you, it's because he's just that kind of person.

[Room 04-14 - closed to Quark.]
[This has got to be the worst sleep he's had in a really long time. Considering what he's been through lately, that's really saying a lot. Dio is not comfortable when he's conscious enough to realize he's in a bed, probably because he can't fucking move. If he could speak, he'd probably be cursing up a storm. There's a hard glint in his eyes that makes it pretty clear he's screaming obscenities in his mind.

Finally, he can sit up and take a better look around the room. Beds. Trunks. And not too far away - a person. And a familiar one, at that.

Quark. That little shit.]

Oh for fuck's sake - this is where you ran off to? We were looking all over, you little bastard!

[Don't tell him he's in a weird white jumpsuit yet, Quark. Let him figure that out for himself.]

[Floor Five]
[He's wearing his own clothes now (and thank god, because Dio in skintight clothing is probably something no one wants to see) and he's already had his obligatory bowl of oatmeal (and he didn't enjoy it). Now he's wandering, and the fifth floor looks interesting enough that he steps off the staircase and wanders further in.

At first, he ignores the viewfinders. They don't interest him much; he's more intrigued by the security station. But he doesn't get much out of the worker units staffing it, and after a few absolute failures at starting a conversation, he rolls his eyes and walks away. He starts for the stairs, but pauses and looks back at the viewfinders once more.

He wanders over to them and studies them with a contemplative expression. To look or not to look? That is the question...]

[Floor Fourteen]
Now this is more like it.

[He scoops up a remote and flops into a couch in the media room, pointing it at a television with an empty movie case nearby and turning it on. If there's already a movie in there, that saves him some time. What comes up seems to be some sort of a romantic tragedy, from the incredibly overdramatic breakup scene that Dio is greeted with. He raises an eyebrow as the girl on the screen begs her lover not to leave her even though she's pregnant with another man's child.

So much for this being more like it.]

Ooookay then. Gonna have to have a talk with whoever picked this movie. Talk about shitty tastes.

[Don't mind him as he just casually leaves the movie on while he starts looking through the rest of the selection.]

Christ, isn't there anything good to watch in this place? Just one stinking movie. That's all I'm asking for here!

Comments

floor five because OH MY GOD DIO.

[dusknoir]

Thinking of looking through?

[HOLY HELL when did someone else pop into existence behind Dio? Who knows, but Morty did it. Hell, maybe it was another ghost trick he performed with the help of his little friends. But whatever the method, he's there now, and he finds Dio's contemplation of the... frankly terrifying viewfinders to be troubling. This is seen from the rather grim expression on his face.]

I wouldn't.

I apologize in advance for him...

[duplicitousringleader]

[WHOA JESUS CHRIST WHERE DID THIS PERSON COME FROM--

He's sharing a room with a little brat and this place has people who can just appear out of nowhere. Dio can already tell that he's really going to hate it here. He turns toward Morty, trying to regain his composure, and gives him a pointed look.]

You gonna tell me why you wouldn't look or are you just gonna stand there and tell me things you wouldn't do?

it's dio. the apology goes without saying.

[dusknoir]

[Whoa, snappy. Morty's expression smooths out into something more serious, but less emotional overall. It's his don't-take-no-shit Gym Leader look. You wanna fight that, Dio, huh? Do you?]

...How attached are you to your old world?

sighs a lot oh well at least everyone has someone they can punch in the face now

[duplicitousringleader]

What, that old hunk of rock?

[...welp. That answers that question. He shrugs easily, a nonchalant look on his face in stark contrast to the serious expression on Morty's.] No use dwelling on things that aren't around anymore.

[dusknoir]

[ ... ]

[Morty is regretting talking to this guy more and more every second.]

Well, in that case, go ahead and look right through.

Room 4-14

[averytinyparticle]

[Quark wakes up with a start from where he had been sleeping peacefully (or...relatively peacefully, considering it was the Tower and all). For a second he could have sworn he had heard--]

M-Mister Dio?

[Quark's eyes go wide as his head swings around to confirm that it really was the disgruntled blonde who was yelling at him! Not...the most pleasant wake-up call, but Quark's face twists up in a surprised smile nonetheless.]

Mister Dio! [He kicks his sheet off and scrambles for his hat immediately.] You're here! It's really you!

[Quark looks a little confused, then, as he realizes what Dio said.] Looking all over for me? What do you mean? I was looking for you last time I saw you!

[Well, him and everyone. But Quark was preeeetty sure nobody had been looking for him. Gosh, Dio was still really weird. Anyway, it didn't matter anymore. If...if Dio was here, in the same room like everything had been in the Nonary Game...maybe that meant his Grandpa was going to show up, too!]

[duplicitousringleader]

I mean, you ran off and the rest of us were running all over the place trying to find you, you brat! Don't act all innocent!

[God, it was like when they betrayed Tenmyouji in the AB game all over again. But this time he wasn't going to let Quark just act like he hadn't done anything. Dio knew the kid had run off. It had been such a pain with everyone freaking out about where he'd gone and oh no, was Quark going to be hurt? And shit like that.

Dio was pretty sure he'd just done it for attention.]

Don't try and pin this on me! So what the hell is this, some new location for that dumb game? And what the hell - [He brings up a hand to his collar and makes a face.] - is with this? Like the bracelets weren't bad enough!

[averytinyparticle]

[Quark opened his mouth to protest, but he supposed he couldn't--not exactly. He did run off, after all.] But I only left Sigma and K to tell you and everyone else about the bomb we found!

[Maybe...when he had woken up in the Tower, he had completely disappeared back in their world? But that wasn't his fault. It was the stupid Tower!

Quark pouts, fitting his hat snugly against his hair.]

Gosh...you don't have to yell at me about it.

[With a shake of his head, Quark explains. Well, explains as best as someone could expect a ten-year-old to explain.]

I don't think so. I thought so too when I first woke up here but I'm preeeetty sure now that this Tower doesn't have anything to do with the Nonary game. The collars don't come off, though. Just like the bracelets. [Quark looks over, notices the unread letters on Dio's nightstand and points to them.] A bunch of stuff is explained in those!

[duplicitousringleader]

Bomb?

[Dio looks surprised. He has to - Quark doesn't seem to know where the bomb came from, and he sure as hell isn't going to spill it now. The brat could go running back to the others (no he can't) and then everything would be ruined.]

Look, kid, I'll yell at you if I damn well please. Do you know how worried your old man was?

[...hahaha oh god Dio don't try and take the moral high ground here, please. Especially considering what he'd been about to do to Tenmyouji and everyone else.

He frowns and looks back at the nightstand when Quark points to it. Christ, he has to read? At least Zero III had just told them what was up. This was so needlessly pointless. He rolls his eyes and grabs the letters, scanning them quickly. You can practically see the instant when he realizes that whoever wrote them was serious.]

What the fuck?! [Which asshole went and did his job for him-- I meeeean...]

Floor 5

[fragileprophet]

[This floor was not one that Ion was in the habit of frequenting. It was, after all, the floor that contained the images of his miasma-ridden home world. He didn't want to have to see Auldrant in such a state of ruin. To know that all the people on there had been met with such a terrible fate.

It wasn't something that the Fon Master wished on anyone. Besides, he's already sad enough as it is.

When he's passing buy it today, however, and notices a rather sharply dressed young man inspecting the view finder as if he had never seen such a device before. It's quite possible that the blonde man hadn't--after all, isn't it about that time of the month that new residents start to appear?

Ion figures he can't know without asking...and besides, he can't stay gloomy forever. Potentially helping out a new resident is something Ion would gladly suck up his troubles for.]

Pardon my interrupting.

[Ion steps forward, toward the hatted man, and smiles as softly and warmly as he can currently manage, hands folded politely in front of him--somewhat reminiscent of a certain young lady back on the man's planet.]

But I couldn't help noticing that you seem a bit unsure...

[duplicitousringleader]

[He turns at the sound of Ion's voice and actually does a double-take when he sees the robe-clad boy instead of the blond he was expecting. Sure, Ion's voice was a little softer and more feminine than Quark's, but there was a definite similarity between the two.

But... what in the hell? Who was this? He's seen his fair share of unnatural hair colors (here's looking at you, Clover), so he can't say the green hair bothers him that much. But the kid just looks out of place in this environment. A monster-infested tower run by people who claim that their worlds were destroyed, and then... this guy, who looks almost like he could be knocked over with a mere flick of a finger.

The kid looks, and sounds, like he doesn't have any malicious intentions. Which isn't to say he doesn't (Dio knows very well that there's corruption hiding in everyone, and that appearances could be deceiving), but the way he's standing there and smiling at him like they could be good buddies almost reminds him of Luna.

It's an uncomfortable association, really.]

Just trying to decide whether or not taking a peek is worth my time, that's all. What, did you want to look?

[fragileprophet]

[If Ion notices Dio's suspicion or hesitation, he doesn't make any indication of it. Only continues smiling--though the smile falters uncomfortably at the question, becomes more bashful.]

N-No...that's alright. I've already looked before and once was enough. But thank you for asking.

[He pauses, extends his hand in a friendly gesture of greeting.]

My name is Ion.

[duplicitousringleader]

[He looks down at the hand, then up at Ion's face. Tsk, kids. What is Ion playing at? For all the boy knows, Dio could be one of those people parents warned their children about. (Spoilers: He is.) But he seems to be trying to be genuinely friendly, and while Dio just doesn't understand the motivations behind people who do that sort of stuff, well... he knows they're a lot easier to fool.

So he smiles and takes Ion's hand for a quick handshake.]

Mine's Dio. You been around here for very long, kid?

floor 14 - also totally cool with spoilers!

[chainsawn]

What's so wrong with this movie?

[ Dio might be surprised to suddenly find a girl standing behind him. She got there thanks to her invisibility powers, okay, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to sneak up on him like that.. but at least the expression on her face is blank rather than threatening or anything. ]

I think it's pretty interesting. I saw it already. The guy leaves her though, he's really, really rude.

[duplicitousringleader]

[Everyone and their mother is popping up behind him out of nowhere. Dio is not sure he's okay with this. He shoots Urotsuki a wary glance and then frowns heavily.]

What, you like this garbage? She slept around and now she's having someone else's kid. What's he supposed to do, support her cheating ass?

[For someone who supposedly doesn't care about the movie, he's getting pretty into this debate.]

[chainsawn]

Maybe she just randomly got pregnant. [ She says it very seriously in her blank voice. Like she really believes that could happen. ] I think that happened in another story before. Um.. what was it called..

[ That would be the bible, Urotsuki. ]

[duplicitousringleader]

[Dio barks out a laugh - clearly, he doesn't think she's serious. Then a few moments pass and he looks really bewildered.]

Wait, what? Kid, that shit doesn't happen. That's just a story. A fairy tale.

[Guess who doesn't believe in the Bible.]

Floor 14

[morituramfides]

[Romantic Tragedies? Jin wasn't sure if that was worse than a Romantic Comedy or not.

Either way, he's just sort of casually standing behind the couch, one arm on the back of it while his other pushed his glasses up his nose.]

Better men than you have tried to find something good to watch. Trust me, there's not much.

[duplicitousringleader]

Hey, fuck you. I'm the best damn man this place'll ever see.

[...he says, without taking his eyes off the television. It's not until the woman on the TV bursts into tears as the man storms offscreen that he leans back and tilts his head to get a look at Jin. ..huh, well that's unexpected.]

If you know so much, what movie would you recommend?

[morituramfides]

[Jin simply looked down at the man and fixed him with a look over utter incredulity and derision over the top rim of his sunglasses.] Really? You don't really look like much of a man period, if you ask me.

[Aaand then he shrugged at that, as if it was absolutely nothing.] Anyway, I've given up finding anything interesting to watch. The only thing this place stocks are cheap knock-offs that you'd find being sold on a street corner.

[duplicitousringleader]

Yeah, that's not one I've ever heard before, you little shit. [Dio rolls his eyes. He doesn't need to take this sass from some kid whose balls probably haven't even dropped yet.

Jin's answer gets him another roll of the eyes.] A bunch of B-movies? Christ. Just what I needed.

Guess these guys' taste really is as bad as it looks at first glance.

Floor 5; I don't even know what this canon is so spoil away

[undefines]

Don't bother.

[A young woman speaks, though her exact appearance is...malleable. In any case, her tone is bored, with maybe just a hint of a sulk to it.]

It's not very exciting.

[duplicitousringleader]

Yeah?

[He looks over his shoulder and smirks faintly. He's seen enough "normal" people in this place so far that he doesn't expect to see anything out of the ordinary, and so he doesn't.]

You'd think they'd give us something good for entertainment around here. What's the use of looking out of it's dead boring?

[undefines]

Yeah, well, it seems like our entertainment isn't on their list of priorities. [She's definitely grousing.] Those things— If you care about the world you come from, the only thing they're good for is rubbing it in.

[duplicitousringleader]

My world was pretty much fucked even before I got here, anyway. [He shrugs. He discusses the destruction of his world so nonchalantly - like it's just a fact of life. Well, it is, but most people would have more of a reaction to that.]