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After his fight with the creature that had once been a man Ruien had passed out, however, this time when he awoke he knew that he was still in the real world, the feel of the breeze on his face and through his hair. He remembered waking on the top of the highest intact building in the ruined city with no recollection of how he got there, with only two words echoing throughout his mind as he roused himself into consciousness.
"Thank you." Ruien had found it somewhat surprising at first, but he did remember the war, stranger things had indeed happened. He had walked off of the building and landed softly on the ground, awed by the silence, the isolation he now felt in the one place that had once been the epicenter of activity, the city that never slept. Now the ruined city of silence.
"Hmph. Poetic." Ruien uttered calmly, feeling almost uneasy in the oppressive silence. He turned his back on what remained of the shell of the once great city and began to make his way toward Mount Gagazet, the sooner he was out of his former home, the better he would feel. The trip to the top of the mountain itself had been a long and irritating one, Ruien had not quite fully recovered from his last fight and had, had to take frequent stops so that he could rest if only for a moment.
By the time he had reached the mountains peak and entered the first cave leading into the inside of the mountain Ruien had passed out again and by the time he had come back to his senses it was already light outside. After that he had spent the vast majority of the day traversing the inner caves of the mountain, slowly. Eventually he made it to the outside and was able to find his way down the rest of the mountain with little-to-no difficulty.
He reached the bottom of the mountain and was met by some glares and some stares of confusion by the tribesmen there, however, Ruien was not about to waste what little energy he had left fighting these things, he was driven now, by what he had been told in the other world. He remembered during the war the rumors, whispers going around about other existing worlds. They were unconfirmed of course, but since Ruien had spent an unknown amount of time in that other world he knew it was entirely possible for other worlds to exist. Not only that, but those rumors of other worlds persisted within the realm of half-death. And then finally there was what that wolf-like creature had said just before that fight.
"That was one you, one fate that could still be..... But know if that fate does come to be.... Your death will follow...". He was interested now, there was some truth to those rumors at least. He had continued on his way, asking around for directions and trying to get possible leads, eventually he had discovered the existence of the Lost Continent and learned that it had become the source of all rumors concerning the existence of other worlds. And now here he was. Stood in the middle of a wilderness, with no clue on where he was and no clue as to whether he was any closer to finding out the answers he sought, all in all Ruien was slowly becoming irritated.
"Beh. They don't call this the Lost Continent for no reason do they?" Ruien managed to keep his words to no more than an quite talk, however, he did a bad job hiding the tones of irritation that crept into his voice. Not that it mattered, by the looks of it there was no one around to hear him. He kicked a small stone out of frustration, turning to look for something to at least point him in some kind of direction. Of course he found nothing, and once again he scuffed the tip of his boot on the ground. He cast another half a glance around the immediate vicinity again and sagged his shoulders.
"Good thinking there Ruien. head right out into unknown territory with only some vague directions and unconfirmed rumors as directions." Ruien said to himself, the sarcasm in his voice bitter. Standing up straight he looked around once more before walking off in a random direction. he had no idea where he was going, nor even if the direction he walked lead to anywhere in particular. But going somewhere was better than standing around here just complaining about the fact that he was lost. He guessed that if he kept walking he might eventually get lucky and at least find someone that knew the way to a village or something similar so that he would be able to get himself more precise directions, hopefully.
For hours it seemed tht you wandered in the vast and unending plains of the wilderness. However...as the sun began to set in the sky, on the horizon you saw the walls of a city. The long grass ended, and here bagan a huge plain of what seemed to be dried earth, not sand nor soil, but more of a dried rocky terrain. There were caravans heading up on a nearby road, the large gates of the city were open, this train of caravans headed inwards. There was music and dancing coming from the nearby set of caravans.
Two boys were outside playing with wooden swords, one dressed in a garnish plumed hat. Obviously pretending themselves to be heros. They slashed and danced as an old man on the back of one of the caravans played along in a guitar. Each strum marking a striike of the sword.One tripped over a rock and fell backwards, the other triumphantly held his wooden blade to the boy laughing. The other slapped the toy out of the way...and the play began once more.
A horn sounded out from within the city. Clearly it was marking the hour. More laughter....it seemed that if you joined the walk with this caravan you would end up inside the city. Perhaps asking around the caravaners would benefit you with some knowledge of the city.
Ruien continued to wander in any direction, often changing and back tracking and then redoubling before going back the way he had come and heading off in another direction entirely. Because of this progress was slow at best. Slowly he began to get frustrated, irritated. Just as it looked as though he was not getting anywhere he finally found his way out, on to a grassy field which ended rather abruptly and gave way to a huge barren land of dry earth. Just as Ruien figured that his wandering were about to begin all over again he spotted it. A city of some kind in the distance. Ruien sagged his shoulders again and let out a sigh of relief. Finally he was getting somewhere.
"Hmph, where to start." Ruien asked himself calmly as he began his trek toward the city. Possible locations to begin asking rolling through his mind. At a glance this city seemed to be some kind of trading city, either that or there was some kind of festival going on, either way it would just make tracking down rumors easier. Perhaps local taverns would be a good place to start, rumors often did get thrown around in those kinds of places quite a lot. He considered the possibilities as he walked, he took note of the general look of the people in this city as he approached the gates. They all seemed fairly laid back, content with their life and enjoying it. He walked past the two children having their mock-fight and the old man playing the guitar and walked into the city.
"Not bad." Ruien muttered as he drank in the sights and the sounds of the city, yes indeed, it was very pleasant here. He could see how some people might want to spend their lives here, however, Ruien had a goal in mind and was not here to sit idle and enjoy whatever it was that the people were doing here. So, he began to walk. Again with no idea where he was going, the only difference this time, was that he could stop and ask for directions at almost any time he needed to. He walked, keeping an eye on the areas that seemed to be relatively popular gathering spots for the locals. He came across various shopping points, places selling weapons, various pieces of armour, things for cooking, metalworks, carpentry.
"It is almost enough to make me laugh." Ruien muttered to himself, some of the shops here seemed to be remarkably out of date. However, Ruien was not about to stand here and muse about the possible date this city could have been built in, nor the lack of contact it seemed to have with the world outside he had to keep reminding himself that he had a goal. He was on his way forward when he spotted something, a fairly unpopular shop. Ruien recognised some of the items in the window, small pieces of materia, magical armlets and other such things useful for the heat of battle, more-so to those more versed in the arts of spell-weaving than to someone like Ruien, whom relied more on his more unique power than that of standard magic.
"Perhaps." He strode towards it, taking in its appearance, it seemed to be just as well kept as any other shop, the exterior was pleasant enough and the interior was cool and inviting. So he had trouble figuring out why this shop was so unpopular among the rest, perhaps it was merely the fact that no-one in this city was very talented at spell-weaving and as such had no need to enter this place.
For the time being the shop appeared empty, so he had a look around, taking note of the magical items and other similar things on display. It was as he came to one wall in particular that his attention was caught, a load of what seemed to be newspaper clippings framed and mounted on the wall. They all seemed to be of headlines. This city had its own news line, it really was a civilised place.
"Contego Courier" The name seemed to be a tad mainstream, especially for a city like this, but at least he knew the name of this city now. There was one headline in particular that caught his eye, simply because it seemed to be more faded than the others, and there were no other headlines about similar subjects in this frame.
"Research into the existence of other worlds begins!" Ruien cocked an eyebrow. That seemed far too convenient, yet something told him that he was on the right track, perhaps the store-clerk would know something, anything more. The only real thing preventing that from happening was that the store-clerk seemed to be nowhere in sight.
It was rather quiet in the magic shop, at least for awhile, thats when you heard the sounds of what seemed to be canned goods falling in the back. A man walked out ( apparantly the clerk). He was rubbing his had and then looking back, there was a can in his hand. It seemed to be a strange canned mix of sausage and beans. He smirked as he looked at you. " I see you...and I know what your thinking....this is a magic shop....whats so magical about canned sausage and beans?". He smirked.
" The price!".
He grinned. The man himself seemed awfully familar. He popped out a cigarette and lit it up. " They say we shouldn't smoke in public areas....". He waved his hand. " I say fuck them....this is my fucking shop I'll smoke what I god damn well please....". He eyed the newspaper in your hands. " And I'll thank you kindly if you put that down if you arn't going to buy it, this is a shop not a fucking library....". He sat down on the stool, cradlying his head in his hands.
" Gah what am I saying I'll scare off the customers talking like that....gah dad was right...I should have just become a marksman....erm I mean...how can I help you today sir?"
The silence, almost complete stillness of the store seemed to stretch on for longer than anything Ruien had felt in a while. Unable to do much more than look at the faded headline Ruien simply stood rooted to the spot, wondering just how much truth there was to the rumors he had so often heard. Perhaps this would be the place where everything would merely begin. Once he had more concrete information he would be able to get somewhere in the very least. That was when he heard it, he knew that here there would be no possibility of attack, so he had no reason to draw his weapon.
"Unusual." Ruien half muttered to himself as he saw the store clerk stumble out of the back room with a can of tinned goods in hand. Ruien listened to him speak and it soon became clear as to the reason this store seemed to be nearly deserted. This guy did not seem to be too inviting at all, this was his own store as well. Ruien listened to the guy speak and had the strangest feeling of deja-vu. It was strange, he did not even have to listen to the guy speak, he just had to look at him. Ruien shrugged inwardly, perhaps it was nothing more than coincidence. The chances were this man simply reminded Ruien of someone he had met during the Zanarkand war.
"Heh, it would appear that you and I both know the very reason you're not that popular." Ruien said calmly, placing what he had picked up back where he had found it. He walked around the store, simply looking at the other merchandise for s moment, taking his time before finally beginning to make his way to where this man was sat, thinking the best way to word what he was about to say, there was a chance that he would just appear to be insane, however, that was a chance Ruien would have to take.
"So, this research into 'other worlds' how long ago did that start? I have heard many whispered rumors on their existence but nothing solid enough to prove them to be true. I myself have been looking into these very rumors, to discover whether or not there is any truth to them. As you can imagine my search has generally turned out to be fruitless. However, finding that." Ruien gestured his thumb in the vague direction of the news paper clipping. "Makes me think that I am finally on the right sort of track. Perhaps you can provide me with some answers. The way I see it, I've been having so little luck so far that any kind of information would be some kind of help."
Ruien said calmly, thinking that he had at least done a good job of putting his search into words. He fell silent short afterwards, part wondering and part hoping that he would at least find some answers here, if not, he was back at square one with little more than half a clue in his favor. Perhaps over all, this search would take him longer than he anticipated.
The shot keeper didn't take his eyes off you until you had put the newspaper down, it was funny most human eyes couldn't quite work like that, it would be one of the first things you noticed about him. The eyes could follow movement yes. But not every single movement. Even a single twitch out of place the mans eyes managed to move to take it in. His words echoed in your ears. His father had said he should have become a marksman. His father was right. With eyes like those he'd likely turn an enemy into swiss cheese before they even made a move to avoid him.
" Other worlds?....oh...you must mean the gateway....yeah its been in the papers for oh...a month or so now.....you seen the wagons coming into the city? well you see bout a month ago there was this huge earth quake.....wrecked the northern part of the city, thats the part closest to the mountains, lotta rubble fell there....well the caravan folk are workers from outlying vllages in the wilderness looking to make a quick buck".
He closed his eyes for a moment and took a draw of his cigarette. " Well after the repair work started, everyone started questioning just why the earht quake hit here the hardest, usually they only occur in paces that have a real history of it....out here we havn't had one natural disaster since....well I don't know!". He shifted around a bit in his stool. " Thing is there was also this bright light...and it came from the direction of the gateway....so people got to thinking...you put two and two together......". He shrugged.
" Theres always been odd rumours going around about the gateway....we don't even know if it is a gateway....it was just called that cause of how it looked...but...after the earthquake...when people went to check out the gateway...only thing they found out of place..was that there were footsteps leading away from it.....but no footsteps coming towards it...in any direction...got people thinking....if they were leaving the gateway....but didn't come to it....then they probably came THROUGH it...".
He shrugged. " A lot of old legends surrounding that thing....but only till now people began taking them seriously....". Thats when he grinned. " If your so interested in looking into it....I can give you a map...leads ya right to it...plus some other interesting sights on this continent.....but...". He scratched his chin. " Its gonna cost ya.....and no not any gil....I'll need you to bring something back for me....". He thought for a moment. " You look the warrior type....just to the west of the gateway...about 10 minutes west give or take....is a place called M. Labs.....old abandoned research facility....guy from Shinra came here long ago...started taking the mako readings of the area around the gateway...found something....I want you to bring me back the research papers....should be in an old vault somewhere in the building...".He smirked for a moment.
" Course...the building is filled with monsters....".
Ruien had taken note of this guy as he watched Ruiens every movement, with precise eyes. It was impressive to say the very least, with eyes like that this man should have been a marksman and not just a mere store clerk, he would have more than likely been close to unstoppable had he heeded his fathers advice. However, Ruien was not going to give someone else possible career advice, well. Not yet anyway. It was when this man began addressing Ruiens question that the shock set in, not only did he know what Ruien was talking about, he even had a name for it! From nothing more than vague rumors to something far more concrete in less than five minutes was not too bad at all.
"The Gateway?" Ruien could not help but mutter to himself as this man continued his explanation, this was more information than he had originally even dared to hope for. He was given information, even some directions, however, at this point Ruien generally had no real idea where he currently was, nor any real idea on how to get from here to there, so he figured that he would be reduced to blindly feeling his way around yet again while stopping at intervals in order to ask for directions, that was when the man offered Ruien a map leading him directly to his intended goal, which is when Ruien began to think aloud.
"What's the-" He began, but did not have the time to finish before this man told Ruien what he wanted, research papers. Ruien wondered for a short while what Shinra actually was, but he figured that it would not matter much, since the guy had given him directions. An old vault in the facility, not that difficult to remember. Though somewhere in the back of his mind Ruien wondered how this guy could have possibly known that, since he was nothing more than a store clerk. he dismissed it as idle chat he had probably heard and accepted the map with a small smirk of his own.
"Well that's good to hear actually. I wouldn't want this task of yours to be too easy." Ruien said, glancing over the map and taking in everything he would immediately need for quick reference before placing it in his pocket. His lips twisted into a small smirk once more as he began to walk toward the door to the shop and then stopped for a moment.
"Perhaps you should have listened to your father there. You could become great." Ruien said calmly giving one final smirk before leaving the store and heading off in the direction he had briefly gleaned from the map he had been given. He would stop to check it again once he was in a less populated area. Although judging from what that guy had said this gateway was pretty public knowledge, Ruien just felt somewhat, uncomfortable glancing at a map in a crowded street. He continued walking in a brisk stride, his mind no focused on that single goal.
"Heh, besides, I need to make sure I'm not completely rusty." He muttered to himself as he continued onwards.
The shop keeper seemed to pay you no mind at all as you left the shop, on the map the city was clearly marked out as " Contego". There wasn't much detail concerning the actual city on the map, then again it was just a continental map. There were quite a few land marks spotted out clearly within the wilderness section, usually much attention wasn't paid to things like this. However with this type of map it was clear that these land marks would be guiding points to ensure you were going in the right direction. Wandering in a wilderness of this size was just as bad as any icy tundra or desert dunes.
One did have to wonder though why the shop keeper was so interested in these scientific notes concerning the gateway. Maybe he would sell them on for a greater price to those who were currently researching the gateway? Who knew? But the point remained that the man was rather intimidating. Shop clerk or no. There was something off about that man....and the feeling of familiarity around him...even though he was clearly not from your age...or continent. Was just something hard to ignore.
As you reached the gates a man stopped you.
" Chocobo sir? Only 200 gil for a ride!, much faster than walking I assure you, and don't worry about getting off, moment you do they'll run right back here...well trained are these ones...".
You heard a whark. And saw that it came from a variety of yellow riding birds. How odd.
Choice Event:
1, High ho choco away! 2, If I could walk 5000 miles...
Ruien found his way out of the city with relative ease with much thanks to that map the store clerk had given him, various question rolling in his mind, most of them of course were fairly trivial, mainly dealing with fiends while he was on his was to his own destination, and that of course depended highly on whether or not he actually encountered any fiends along the way. He left the city and drew in a deep breath, coming to a halt as the man holding the large yellow birds confronted him. He cocked an eyebrow, although one of these things would have made his trek forward much easier, he had a lack of any real money, further more, he had indeed walked most of the way to this continent, he hardly needed the help. So he merely raised his left hand and shook his head once before continuing forward.
"Hmph. I must have been out for some time. Heru Soeki was nowhere to be seen." Ruien thought out loud, he had indeed found it strange that he had not heard anything from Heru-Soeki since waking up. The two of them had walked away from more than one close scrape and had come out even stronger for it. In fact, the two of them had become quite close as allies during the last few weeks of the war, where Heru-Soeki would have gone Ruien had no clue. Worst case scenario was that he was dead, or he may just have figured that Ruien himself was dead. Regardless of the reason Ruien made a mental note to check it out once he was done here.... Well, when he was done at what he now knew as the "gateway".
He walked in silence for a long while, he had no-one to talk to, so he had little need to talk to himself. In fact, he spent the time he was walking simply thinking on what had happened. That final fight with his brother before he had been sent to that hell. He stopped walking for a brief moment, catching sight of a distant figure, they were too far away to make out any real detail, yet did not seem to be anyone of great importance, he shrugged inwardly and merely ignored the figure, carrying on in the pursuit of his own goal. he walked tirelessly, now that he had been awake for a few days he was slowly getting back into the feel of his own body and was beginning to tire at a much slower rate. With this in hand he was able to continue walking long past the limits of a normal human.
"So... This is how it ends? Zanarkand, as a collective sacrifices itself. So that it can prevent the loss of a war. It's almost enough to make me reconsider my previous judgment on their cowardice." Ruien spoke in a flat voice, unimpressed with what this war had fallen into. He clutched his trusted katana-esque blade in his left hand, his knuckles white with the force he was gripping the sheath at. The field of battle. The once grand streets of this city were in disarray, disciplined soldiers ran in every direction in a vain attempt to escape the wrath of this colossal beast. Ruien could only shake his head. Here he stood on the dilapidated remnant of what was once a skyscraper, if looks were anything to judge Ruien would have said that he meant nothing to this creature, he was being completely ignored.
"It's almost pathetic. Don't you think so my brother? Had father and the other commanders allowed us to go through with our plan. We might have finished the war long before it came to THIS." Ruien could hear the disgust in his brothers voice. It reflected the disgust he felt himself, yet Ruien was much more disciplined than his brother Celt and was able to hide it. Ruien shook his head and turned to face his brother.
"What's done is done. No point dwelling on it. It seems as though this will be where we go our separate ways my brother-" He was cut off as Celt held up a single hand. A small smirk twisted its way across Celts lips, a spark shone in his eyes, one not too unlike a spark of madness. He span his gunblade several times and rested the blunted edge against his shoulder.
"Yes, it does seem that way. However, I've had enough of this. Acting as though I am equal to these pathetically fragile humans. You and I both know that we're some of the most superior beings alive. I refuse to use a blade of human craft any more. I will carve my own path in history, make a name for myself as a merciless master of combat. As the one man no-one is able to defeat." Ruien listened in silence and took a swift step to the side as his brother charged him. Striking him solidly in the gut with the pommel of his weapon. Celt keeled over, coughing. Ruien merely walked passed him enough so that he was stood with his back facing his brother.
"A merciless master of combat? Perhaps you should actually get some combat experience before you go and make such a broad claim." He heard something he would have never expected at that point. The sound of laughter. Ruien turned just in time to intercept another strike from his brother. He pushed his brother away and drew his weapon, his eyes narrowing into an intense glare as Celt lowered his stance.
"Since you insist on taking this route then I will kill you. I can't waste my effort fighting you when I have bigger plans than that. If you just give up I'll make it quick."
"Heh. Don't underestimate me my brother. I have much more experience behind me than you may think." there was an intense silence between the two of them. In a flash of lightning, a beat of thunder the two once close brothers charged at each other.
Ruien stopped, at this point he had lost track of the time he had spent walking. He had kept a careful record of his progress by frequently referring to the map. He let out a small sigh as once more he folded the map up carefully and placed it back into his pocket. He was getting close now. Pretty soon he would know what these rumors were born from. And more importantly, he would know why he had become so interested in rumors he normally would not care about. Although Ruien had to admit, that there was a certain element of familiarity to this whole thing, though he could not have said why.
You had made it quite a bit aways from the city since you first started thinking about Zanarkand and your old comrades. This world was still strange to you, after all...just how long had you been lying there? How long had you been in the suspended state of animation, half way between the realms of life and death. Still the mans words spoke out to you, many worlds, many futures. Many decisions yet to be made influencing them all. But you had to wonder already what path you were on. Realising that all these different paths lay ahead of you. Was that realisation enough to change all of them?
" Grrrrr......"
There was a low growl coming from the long grass next to you, it would draw your eyes to it. From there stepped out a rather large hound like creature. Similar to a wolf, it brought your memory back to those demons that had ravaged the woman and had attempted to devour you. But you could tell by the colour and its markings that this creature was one native to Gaia. A Fang as it was known. However it seemed somewhat larger than it usually was. More than likely a side effect of living on these plains. After all...not all species of cat were the same...so why should it be that way with these monsters.
Suddenly something tackled you from behind. Knocking you to the ground. Then the realisation sprung. These creatures were smart...one had attracted your attention whilst the others had snuck up behind you....there were four of them...and you were on the ground...
Battle VS Alpha Fang x 4 BGM: The Extreme
Description: These Fangs are larger, stronger, and smarter than the average counterpart. They thrive in the wilderness of the Lost Continent and are rather common here. Their pelts can be sold for quite a bit of gil.
Ruien had been caught off guard completely, he hit the ground and was left disoriented for the briefest moment so it took him a moment or two, to figure out that he was encircled by four. Ruien had to think for a moment, Fangs. The answer came to him as he slowly managed to push himself back to his feet, he looked at the one he could see immediately and could almost see the depth of intelligence in its eyes. Perhaps not quite to the same degree as those wolf-like creates back in that other world, but still very intelligent never the less. His weapon took mere seconds to summon, yet he knew that trying to summon it in the middle of a circle formation was pretty much asking to be killed. So, he would have to start this fight himself.
He ran forward, toward the Fang immediately in front of him, quickly he jumped up and over the creatures head and landed softly on the ground behind it. He stood up and turned in a single movement, in the next second to follow he touched his otherworldly power and snapped his fingers. The small, yet physically harmless explosion of black fire cause the four fangs to recoil backwards. Ruien used the brief moment of confusion to summon his weapon and stand tense. These things, no matter how much larger, nor how much more intelligent they were to their other brethren were still just child's play to Ruien. They moved swiftly to try and encircle Ruien once more. With a pang of dark humor Ruien merely coated two of them with segments of his weapon and then ignited the VII Flame. There was a brief moment when the Fang stood absolutely still, almost as if they knew what was coming. And then they were dealt with. Ruien had caused the VII Flame to implode, crushing the two Fang he had captured to oblivion. He twisted rapidly to face the remaining 2 Fang, just in time to see them leap at him.
"Hmph. You overestimate your abilities." Ruien said calmly, dodging to the side in order to avoid a single foe and grabbing the other by the throat. Ruiens strength coming into its own. He could feel the thing struggling and promptly coated it with the VII Flame. The Fang howled and then fell silent as it hit the ground and burst into dust. One left now. Ruien walked calmly toward it. He could see the thing trying to back away, try to flee. But today. Ruien was not feeling very merciful, no, this one would die. Once more he snapped his fingers. Disorienting the Fang with a small explosion of black fire. he ran forward and kicked it solidly in the chin. The Fangs head snapped back and then it fell to the ground and lie still. Ruien waving his hand once, his weapon fully returned to him.
"I thought they would have lasted longer than that, such a let down." Ruien said to himself. He dismissed his weapon and once more drew the map from his pocket. He looked over the distance he had already traversed and the distance he had left to cover. He was close. Very close. He put the map away and continued walking forwards, this time keeping an eye out for anything else that could perhaps try and pose a threat to him. However, everything after the previous slaughter had fallen quiet, almost as though everything else had witnessed his previous triumph. Ruien could only shrug inwardly, this merely meant that he did not have to waste as much effort fighting the small things. He rand his hand over the top oh his head, causing his hair to slick itself backwards.
"Not much longer now." He said quietly, his anticipation rising slowly. Yes, things were coming along quite nicely, he should be done very soon.
The fangs lay now defeated under your blade and powers, Now looking back at the map you would realise that one of the markers on your map was shaped like the head of a wolf. Perhaps this represented a nest of fangs? It would mean that you were close to the Gate.You opened the map to take another look at it and the marker points that surrounded it.
Another howl went up nearby, it would probably be a good idea to get on moving...otherwise things were going to get a lot more complicated. More howls filled the air. The sounds of padding feet. A biohazzard symbol on the map was clearly marking out the area of the labs. Wheres the Gateway was nearby. It would be your choice about where to go first...however you should probably make your mind up quickly....
Ruien spent a moment just looking at the map, he did of course remember the deal he had made for this map and as such knew that while the gateway was his primary goal, he would have to travel to the lab so he could get the store clerk those research papers. He heard the howls, at first in the distance, however, they seemed to be rapidly drawing closer and closer to his position. Ruien slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes, while he knew that these creatures posed absolutely no threat he had no desire to waste any more effort on them. His decision took very little time to make, his primary goal was still the gateway, whatever these research papers were for, whatever information they contained would have to wait.
"Get what I want first. If I have to. I'll go back later for what he wants." Ruien said calmly to himself, folding the map and carefully returning it to his pocket. He continued walking toward his objective at a brisk pace, unsure of why he had initially found these rumors to be so interesting, unsure of what exactly he had expected to find when he reached the gateway. Ruien continued walking, keeping stride as he merely thought about why he had decided coming here in the first place. The howls getting further and further away with each rapid step he found himself taking.
It was odd, it was almost as if he had done this. Or something similar to this before. Everything from that store clerk right down to this terrain, it all felt strangely familiar in a surreal kind of way. Ruien shrugged inwardly, perhaps he had seen this place before in some kind of magazine. Not that he read them very often. Or perhaps he had been told about it. Ruien put a hand on his head and realised that somewhere along the line his thoughts had become erratic. Ruien smirked to himself, during his stay in that other world he had never really had much time to himself, so often times he never really had to think about much other than keeping himself alive. Now that he was back and rapidly returning to power his thoughts were a maelstrom of confusion. Perhaps it would have been better for him to focus on one goal for the time being and then return to other thoughts later.
After all, in the other world, there was always something to do other than just walk for miles at a time. while this was not the most exciting thing Ruien had ever done it gave him a moment of quietness, a moment of solitude. Not for anything in particular, sometimes it was just nice to have a moment to himself. Ruien drew in a deep breath, stopping only to check the map once more, he looked around at his immediate surroundings, he should have been getting close by now. He smirked once more, things were falling into place at last. Not that he knew what to expect though.
The gateway...was somewhat disappointing, despite all the hype around it the thing seemed to be nothing more than a large steel archway that had what looked like an old rusted control panel at its side. That said however....beyond the physical world there was something about this gate that called out to you. Between the archway. Directly under the pass...there was some sort of distortion. You could feel it even now, pulling at the magic within your body like some kind of magnet. Was that how this thing worked? By drawing out magic from the surrounding area?
This theory was only supported by the fact that ten feet around the Gateway there was nothing but dry cracked soil. Nothing could grow in this. It may as well be sand. There was an unsteady feeling around the gateway.And then suddenly.....there was a voice in your head....it was your own voice...but different.
“I really have to question their motives; many of them have seen first hand that they cannot even begin to compare to me. Are they really fighting for only glory? I can understand protecting people, but you can only go so far with doing that.. If they are fighting for only the glory I have to wonder what would happen to people like them if people like me were all dead.”
The voice was then gone. Leaving you with nothing but that strange pull...
As Ruien had figured, it had not taken him a great deal of time after the incident with those Fangs for him to reach his goal. He continued to walk until he reached what he could only describe as the ruins of an ancient bunker. Of course there was barely anything left of them, which made finding a way in easy, through the remnants of a long hallway, and into a large open chamber to see.
"What? .... So anti-climactic." Ruien said to himself out loud, after everything he had heard Ruien had figured that it would have been something at least a slight bit more spectacular than this. The gateway, the area around it looked so bland, so void of life. Ruien thought for a brief moment that he had wasted his time coming here, but then.
“I really have to question their motives; many of them have seen first hand that they cannot even begin to compare to me. Are they really fighting for only glory? I can understand protecting people, but you can only go so far with doing that.. If they are fighting for only the glory I have to wonder what would happen to people like them if people like me were all dead.” Ruien felt his eyes widen when he heard that it was his own voice. There were some subtle differences to it, but it was unmistakable, this was his own voice. As it spoke a flash briefly blinded Ruien and he found himself looking at a woman. However, the vision was over before he had the chance to make out any real detail to her face. Then it was over. No. Ruien could feel something, a strange pull, as though he was being pulled toward the gateway itself.
"The.... Hell?" He rasped, the breath drawn from his lungs as he took a step forward. There was a long pause, time seemed to crawl to a slow, and then quite suddenly his control over the VII Flame diminished and a large ring of black flames encircled the gateway and Ruien. He tried only once to regain control, but it soon became clear that it was not going to happen. He turned his attention back to the gateway and continued to walk forward, he took another step.
“I’m going. The time is ripe.”
“But what about-“
“That was a mistake! Now when I give you the signal you know what to do.” It was his own voice once again, speaking with another. That of a woman. Ruien, did not stop this time. He took another step forward, and another. He stopped as he looked up at the arch of the gateway that hung overhead. His expression impassive. He drew in a deep breath and took a step forward so that he was stood directly under the archway and stopped once more.
“In a time of war no matter who is competing there can only be one victor, even amongst allies there will always be those who will fight for the glory of victory. It is for these reasons alone that a war can never truly end.” This time the voice that spoke was of an unknown man, he had never heard this voice before, however, he had little time to care for that. He took one final step forward, stopping as he stood at the exact point in which he could feel this mysterious calling.
When you stepped directly through the gate your eyes would be met with a white flash, a voice that seemed to come from nowhere, like none before spoke at this point. " Ah.....a power point". The voice spoke with what could be refered to as many voices, for it sounded like multiple people speaking all at once in the exact same tune. You would begin to see something beyond the light, like clearing fog. Pillars with different kinds of writing and symbols on them. Then...another gateway. Outside....more pillars...and a temple of sorts. " You are a creature of multiple existance.....no matter which world we look at....you are always a central player....". Once more flashes. This time of the strange man and woman who had stood with you at the tower. Another man with silver shoulder length hair holding a blitz ball.
" Some...are more important than others.....these few make impacts on the worlds...no matter where you look.....but they are few and far apart.....yet somehow...they are drawn together.....by an unseen force....".
Flashes of a man, then of a monster. " In the world...these important ones.....come in three forms.....the destroyers.....the heroes...and the unknown......most dangerous are the unknown...for they can become either....or both....". There was the image of you again. " In the world beyond this gate...you were an unknown...sometimes a hero...sometimes a villian....". The voice faded. " But for all unknown kinds....one factor continues.....death for you is inevitable...". A flash of your death. " We watch...and see.......". The light began to fade, but just before it disappeared completely. There was a whisper.
" Search for the truth...in the temple of Gaia....".
Ruien could only stand and watch in silence as events began to unfold right before his eyes. Events that this time, he was right in the middle of, more flashes, more erratic and seemingly random visions and more voices. Once more he heard about how his approaching death was inevitable, this was the second time he had been told about it. He began to wonder, if his death was inevitable was there much point in him fighting to escape that other world in the first place. Ruien could only stand, rooted to the spot, his head hanging, staring at the ground.
"Was there any point in it at all? If my death is inevitable then surely I should have just given up in my efforts to escape." Nothing was making much sense to Ruien right now, he made a note to himself, once this was over he would have to actively look for the wolf-like creatures he had encountered in the other world and see just what they knew. And then.
"The Temple of Gaia?" Ruien finally looked up, brushing the thoughts of what he had just heard again, he was alive right not and that was all that mattered. Along with his end of the bargain he had to keep he had a whole lot of other things to do, finding those wolf-like creatures and the Temple of Gaia were just two things out of many. Ruien turned on his heel and began heading back in the direction that he had originally come from, toward the area where the labs were marked on his map, perhaps he would find out a little bit more about the Temple of Gaia from that store clerk once he had returned with whatever it was he was looking for in these labs.
"They were too weak. I-I held back and they were still too weak to kill me." Ruien put a hand to his head as the voice spoke, the voice was his own, from another version of himself. From a world that was the same as this one, but different. Ruien shook his head and stood still once the voice had finished speaking, waiting to see if anything else would be said. Nothing. he shrugged and continued toward his destination when.
"Brother, please. let me die with my dignity. I. I want to be with her." Ruien cast another quick glance about the immediate area, no visions, just the voice of himself. He grimaced just thinking about it. With everything he had heard so far Ruien began to think that perhaps, someone, somewhere was using these voice to make sure he knew that there was no escape, that Ruien was going to die and there was not going to be anything he would be able to do about it. He shook his head once more and carried on walking, the voice of his other self continuing to speak as he did so, most of it being almost completely alien to Ruien himself.
"This will make us shun you." "Heru-Soeki. make sure that no harm comes to him." "Vir-ez will be out as long as he is." "You are to make sure that they." "Why do I feel so bad having to hide this from him." "Your trickery." "Is not good enough." "I know you're there." "So, stop hiding." "And show yourself."
By the time he had put enough space between himself and the gateway, the voice had stopped and Ruien was once again walking in silence. Perhaps, there was much more going on here than Ruien had initially thought. These seemed as though this was going to be so much bigger than he had anticipated.
There was more to this than met the eye, the gate was more than just a pile of rusting metal shaped like a gateways arch. No far more than that. Then why was it that no one had really mentioned about hearing those kinds of voices? Or was it as the main voice had said. Was it because you were special in some way? What had it called you again? An unknown? One not decided yet upon his purpose. The temple of Gaia? What was that? Obviously this world was Gaia...but what was the temple? There were many temples all over this world. But it sounded as if the voice was speaking of a specific one. A temple that held authority over all others. A temple that didn't worship a god or diety. But rather the planet itself. On the way towards the " Shinra Labs". You heard some voices in the distance.
" Uncool dude I thought you said you knew the way?"
" I do....but the Wilderness goes on forever....and you can barely see an inch above your head because of all this tall grass......why the hell they put a lab out here I'll never know..."
The two seemed to be traveling together, and by the mention of " labs" you assumed they were heading in the same direction as you. The voice echoed in your mind again. " Drawn together by forces unseen". It would be up to you if you wanted to join them, however their reasons for going to the lab were unknown...and you had a map.
" Bah...you know Shinra, out in the middle of nowhere with lots of mako potiental...always their thing.....besides they really should have hired better guards....means we wouldn't have to come out here and exterminate them...".
Well, that answered that question. Now it was up to you...
Choice Event A, Join them B, Sneak around and go on your own
Ruien had walked in silence for a long while, merely contemplating what he had heard up until this point. His death was inevitable, those wolf-like creatures had said so, and now so had some disembodied voice, Ruien began to wonder just how these things knew this. Whether or not it was true no longer interested him, he merely wanted to know how it was known. He began to turn possible answers over in his mind until his train of thought was interrupted by the voice of someone unknown to him. He sat listening to the two men as they spoke, remembering something he had heard beforehand, he shrugged, if it was indeed true then the chances were that Ruien would end up seeing these two again.
His mind was made up, he would continue by himself, he had a feeling that if he ended up traveling along with these two that they would only slow him down. Or maybe even end up going for the same prize as him, regardless, there would only be an even lengthier fight to end. He shook his head once, reminding himself that it was merely because he wished to have no distractions as he raced for his goal. He took a detour, sneaking around the men as they spoke and then swiftly continued by himself towards the labs marked on his map, stopping only the make sure he was still headed in the right direction.
He looked onwards as he carried on walking, to Ruien right now, the only thing that really mattered was getting to the labs and retrieving those papers for the store clerk.
And so he continued walking.
The sound of singing steel echoed abnormally as Ruien drew his blade. The two brothers stood in silence. Delivering nothing but intense glares, it was pure intensity. Neither brother dared to make the first move, neither brother wanted to give the other a chance to defend himself. The thunderous clamor of a cannon being fired at the monstrosity slowly making its way through the city broke the silence between the two warriors and then they pounced. Their blades slashing the air in a frenzy of well aimed strikes and blocks.
"What is it that you fight me for? Surely we both strive for the same thing." Celt asked as the two brothers locked blades, stood in a contest of strength. Ruien looked over the interlocked weapons, and into his brothers eyes, giving him a small smirk he pushed his blade forward, forcing his brother away from the stalemate.
"Indeed my brother. However, it is that single goal we both desire that will lead us into conflict again later on. I intend to eliminate you before you have the chance to get strong enough." Another silence and again the two brothers ran at each other, their blades locking once more, this time it was Celt that pushed his weapon forward. He did so more forcefully than Ruien had expected causing him to stagger. Celt backed up a step and closed his eyes, moments later the building began to shake violently, the roof split across the middle as a large set of claws appeared over the side of the building and a large dark red dragon came to rest. It looked at Ruien and roared its disapproval of him and then lunged its head forward with open jaws in order to attack.
"You couldn't mock me anymore." Ruien jumped and slashed through the top and bottom of the dragons mouth. Its head fell apart and the great beast fell from the roof of the building with a distressed gurgling sound.
"If you tried." Ruien said calmly, flicking his katana-esque blade through the air, splattering the roof with flecks of blood. Celt glared in silence, Ruien, however, merely smirked and rand back onto the falling side of the roof. Celt bolted after him, finding purchase on the falling pieces of the building and then jumping after his brother. Ruien jumped backwards and found footing on the side of the colossal beast destroying the city. Celt was fast to follow and seconds later the two brothers were running side-by-side, on the back of the creature, their fight continuing.
Ruien looked up, finally allowing himself to come to some kind of stop. He looked up at the building, smiling to himself. He had made it, not much longer now. Perhaps the first thing he was going to do once he gave the clerk those papers, or, whatever they were, would be to look for the Temple of Gaia.
Shinra labs. The place was different from the main arcatype you had seen within the city of light. Most of their buildings were stone. This one....twisted metal. The ground itself was different. Dry....almost the same as the gateway. It was almost as if the life of this spot had been sucked dry, so much so that not even the most virulant weed would grow on it. In the centre of the complex there was a large dome like structure with a ladder going up the side and a door at the end of it. There were windows and exhaust vents. The windows seemed to give off an errie blue colour. The gate for the fence surrounding the structure was broken down, the wire of the fence torn. Likely through years of direpair. It was likely animals once kept out by the fence now roamed free within. The words of the clerk went through your mind.
" Monster infested"
He had said. And yet, there were no actual signs of monster activity. Well. At least yet. Upon wandering inside there was the sound of scratching coming from one of the complex's many doors. Walking up to it you would see that on the door there was the sign. " Research and development. Labs 203-05". So, it looked like you could get into the complex from here. But there were more sounds within. Behind the door would lie a staircase....that would take you into the real facitliy that lay underground. You just had to hope those papers wern't too far in there....
[[ Arrived at Shinra Labs!]]
[[ RP your way through Shinra Labs. 1000 words to reach the research papers in the head scientists office. The labs are infested with monsters. Of what kind you can decide.]]
Ruien looked around, this place was a mess, the fences were torn apart, doors had been ripped from frames, windows had been degraded into little more than large holes in their walls, the ground was dry. Ruien dusted off his trench coat and shook his head.
"when he said labs I pictured them being a little less of a shit hole." He shrugged inwardly, these labs had probably been abandoned for some months, entire complexes usually took much longer to fall into this kind of state.
"Oh that's right." Ruien muttered when he remembered what the store clerk had said, these complexes were infested with monsters. A smirk twisted its way across Ruiens lips, he cracked his knuckles and continued walked forward. Well, even if there was an infestation Ruien figured that he would be able to do with the practice, after all, he still was not at his best after his little sleep.
"So. Lets get started." He uttered as he reached the only door he could find. With an effortless kick the door fell from the frame and landed on the floor. The sound echoed loudly in the initial enclosed space of the hallway and then there was silence. Nothing came running at him, there were no other screeches of disapproval at Ruiens entrance, he looked around. Nothing.
"Heh, how anti-climactic." He said calmly, taking a step forward, the sound of his boot hitting the ground echoed loudly, and yet still nothing came to greet him. He relaxed his stance and continued onwards, his footfalls still echoing loudly, through the narrow hallway and then into a sudden opening. Here in this darkened room Ruien knew almost at once where he was. The large desk in the center of the room was positioned between two sets of stairs which led onto an overhead walkway which led to further doors, on that desk were the remnants of destroyed computers. This was some kind of reception area, that was when he noticed it.
"What the?" He found himself stunned almost to the spot, this creature, it was like those creatures he had fought away from that woman while he had been in that other world. His mind was racing, surely there was no possible way for them to be here, this was not their world, they were unintelligent and posed almost no threat to Ruien, but they could not be here. The creature growled at him and then ran forward. Of course dealing with it was a small matter, Ruien Merely bathed it in the VII Flame and watched as its body was reduced into nothing. It let out the unusual scream as Ruien had expected it to upon death and then remembered.
"That's not a good thing." He remembered, however, the damage was done and more of these creatures began walking slowly into the clearing, fighting these would end up being a pointless waste of effort, so he was going to go straight to his goal and get back out again. He remembered the store clerks words, in some kind of old vault, very vague, however, Vaults were normally kept to the lowest parts of a building, so he would have to find a set of stairs leading down. He looked at the creatures, their numbers were beginning to increase, well, of course Ruien was not about to let them trap him completely. He ran for the door that he had seen the first creature come from and snapped his fingers, the small flash of black flames had done all they needed to, the creatures reeled and fell to the ground, giving Ruien a chance to head in his desired direction.
Through the door and around the first corner he came across Ruien kept a sharp eye out for any stairs he could find, his searches while running through proved to be fruitless, however, he soon came to an empty door frame and found himself out in an large empty courtyard, it was as he was roughly half way across this courtyard that he noticed the ground which he was running on was metallic. He paused, stopping dead in his tracks, he blinked once, twice, three times.
"Well. That is certainly convenient." He said almost sarcastically, well ,he had found what was almost definitely the entrance to this vault, now all he needed to do was find the panel to open it, he looked around. Already the creatures were beginning to emerge from the doorway he had just come from, fighting them was going to be inevitable, even if it was going to be no more than a waste of effort, he readied himself and summoned his weapon, standing in a ready stance he began to call upon the power of the VII Flame. A sudden tremor caused him to stagger. The creatures that had been chasing him began to back away. The ground began to open.
"Oh. Come ON!" Ruien said loudly as the ground parted to reveal a large cargo lift with a large hulking figure on it the dark purple hide, the dirty Golden main, the vicious looking horns. Ruien looked up at the face of the Behemoth and smirked.
"Well, at least I can count on some kind of challenge from this thing." The Behemoth dropped to all fours, causing the ground to shudder, opened its mouth and roared at Ruien. His smirk broadening Ruien wrapped his hands with various beads from his weapon and then infused them with the power of the VII Flame, there was only a moments pause as the Behemoth reared back and then charged at him. Ruien rolled his eyes, he had forgotten just how basic these things were, after the fighting against those wolf-like creatures and those unusually intelligent Fangs Ruien was disappointed. He jumped, landing on the back of the behemoth. He drew his hand back and a second later plunged it into through the spine of the Behemoth. It swayed and fell to the ground just as Ruien had once again jumped.
"Almost pathetic." Ruien said calmly as he landed softly on the ground while the Behemoth landed clumsily and convulsed violently before finally falling still. Moments later he was stood on the large cargo lift.
He noticed that other monsters were timidly making their way outside from doors and windows, he ignored them and pressed the button, descending through a dimly lit tunnel Ruien knew that his trip out of this place was going to be a great deal more fun than his run here. The lift ground to a halt, another few moments walking through some narrow hallways and then into another opening where a large vault door stood securely. Ruien smirked once more.
"Now they're just making this too easy for me." He called upon the power of the VII Flame and this time merely allowed the raw power of it to flow onto the door, slowly breaking it apart. After a few moments he had an entrance into the next area, he cleared his power and entered the next area, wondering just what was good enough to warrant him wasting his time here, maybe if he was lucky he would be able to get a little something extra out of this deal for all his wasted effort.
Through the hordes of monsters that had infested the area you finally got to the main researchers office. In there, lying all over the tables were papers on all subjects, monsters. Monster behaviour patterns. Local culture. Economics. Levels of ( something called) mako. In the office there was a window that looked out into a cleanroom. Inside there were many man sized containers containing the same glowing blue that had been permiating through the dome upstairs window. However thats not what you came for. After some shuffling about on his desk you finally found the papers on Gateway XXVI. Reading it...you would find something awfully strange.
" Today something odd happened, whilst walking under the gate I heard a voice, I asked the remaining members of the research team if it was one of them. But nothing. Hours later whilst passing under the gateway's archway once more, the voice came again. This time only louder. And clearer. It was my own voice. At this time many of the researchers had went back to the labs. And it was here where I questioned my own sanity.
I seemed to have a conversation, with myself. Myself, but from a different plane of existance.
It seemed that at the same time, my alternate self was also researching the gateway. Together with a genius of my own calibur ( myself ha ha ha) I've begun to unravel quite a lot of the gateways mysterious nature. However there remains much to be seen. I will continue this, but no one must know. Lest they think I've lost my mind.
---- Several papers later ----
New virualant lifeform found within the soil of the gateway. Other researchers dead. Otherself must have sent it through. It seems to have a fatal effect on normal humans, but thrives within the blood stream of those who have mako within them. Requesting more Soldier members. WIll see how they react to new viral life form....
You would have continued reading...had you not heard something behind you. A chamber opened...gas escaping into the cleanroom beyond the window. Something was stepping out from the chamber. A human figure wearing a strange armour. Her eyes glew a strange orange colour. She looked up at you...aimed her weapon and the glass shattered....seemed this wasn't going to be so easy after all.
Boss Battle vs Omege Soldier BGM: Precipise of Defeat
Information: An experiment of the head researcher of the Shinra labs, utilizing the virulant life form he mentioned in his papers. The omega soldier seems to have far surpassed the normal combat abilities of a normal soldier. However it seems to act with a will of destruction. Not seeming to respond to talk, it seems to be more of a monster than anything else.
Ruien stood in silence reading the papers and was shocked to find that he had not been the only one hearing the voice of his otherworldly self, he continued reading, finding out only a little bit more about the state of things overall. They had found some kind of viral component, something more about being fatal to regular humans and then the word "Mako" appearing again. And then something about requesting more soldier units. Putting two and two together at that point was relatively easy, from what Ruien was able to gather was that whoever it was that had been researching was aiming to make some kind of super soldier. Almost as if to confirm his theory, only moments later a woman, wearing Armour of a make Ruien had never seen before, stepped out into the room from an airtight test chamber.
"Heh. Seems as though the red carpet is a tad late." He said calmly, looking at the woman, who now, was stood in silence. He stood silently himself, waiting, if she was going to attack Ruien was going to make sure that she made the first move so that he could launch the appropriate counter attack. He cast a quick glance around the room, this would be a relatively bad location, it was a little bit too small to fight effectively in, but he would cope.
The expression of her face suddenly changed, from empty, almost idiotic observance into focused rage, and then suddenly she lunged forward. Immediately Ruien was impressed, for he had been swiftly and solidly kicked in the face. Yes, her speed and strength was impressive, this was going to be a good fight, he knew it.
His recovery was swift, and his reflexes were sharp enough to allow him instantaneously avoid the follow-up kick she had aimed for his head, she followed up with a third kick. Ruien quickly fell to his knees and swept the woman feet from underneath her. She staggered back wards and then fell to the floor, giving Ruien all the time he needed to summon his weapon. The woman was also fast to react, she span on her shoulders, swinging her legs out wards in a kicking motions before finally pushing herself onto her hands and then flipping back to her feet. Ruien allowed himself a small smirk as she glared at him.
"Well, well, it seems as though human ingenuity has finally managed to give them a semi-passable fighting unit." He said calmly, walking forward, this time he was going to be the one attacking, he wanted to see just how much this thing was prepared for the used of the VII Flame. He enveloped his hands with the black flames and ran forward, preparing to attack, he would sweep her legs from under her again and then try to either kill her outright, or, if such a thing was not yet possible he would try to reducer her mobility, making her a lot less threatening. He did not get that far however, she ran forward as fast as she could, by the looks of it and delivered a solid knee to the gut.
Ruien keeled over, managing to snap his fingers. The woman fell back, a strange mechanical yelp escaping as she did so. Ruien stood up straight and then thrust his open palms out wards, blasting the woman back with a wave of black flames. That was all the respite that Ruien needed, within seconds he was running at the woman, drawing his hand back. He increased the charge of the VII Flame, increasing the size and ferocity of the flames enveloping his hands. He made no pause, no attempt to give the woman a chance to escape and the plunged his hand forward.
The sound of breaking bones was audible and then Ruien glimpsed the seemingly random event of someones hand and forearm hitting the ground. His eyes widened as he saw that he had just removed the womans arm from the elbow down. He had not realised that he had been putting quite that much power into the VII Flame until he had actually taken something vital from his foe. It was then that he realised that his understanding of this power was far from complete. He backed away a step and observed, the woman, was looking in confusion at the stump where her arm had been, however, that did not last long as she turned back and almost immediately resumed her attack.
"Not this time." Ruien uttered calmly, this time he dodged to the left as the woman tried to knee him again, it seemed as though she did not learn from her mistakes, Ruien grabbed that flowing hair and started increasing the amount of black flames on his hands. Within seconds it was slowly spreading, catching her hair and then soon spreading to her head and then down her neck and covering her entire body. Her fight was over, she had lost the second Ruien had gained some kind of grip. Now all he had to do was sit back and watch as the Black Flames destroyed her, not through burning her, no. These flames were not actually fire based, nor were they magical. what was going to destroy her was the raw power now covering her.
"I would tell you to relax and accept your death. But I can only begin to imagine the kind of pain you're feeling right now." He said calmly, a small smirk twisting its way across his lips. He watched in amusement as the woman tried her best to extinguish the non-burning flames that were now slowly eating away at her skin. Another almost mechanical scream made the room literally shake as she finally fell to the ground and convulsed. Seconds later there was nothing left, only the arm he had removed from its own earlier on the ground. He picked it up and let out a small snicker of laughter.
"Well, at least this world has a little something to remember you by." He mocked to the air, throwing it back into the chamber the woman had originally come from. He turned back to the desk and began gathering the papers he was likely to need, hell, gathering all the papers he could get a hold of. he placed them into the briefcase resting behind the desk. He was done here, there was no point in staying any longer. With a final glance back at the testing chamber the woman had emerged from he turned his back on the room and left.
Battle Over!: -Free Level 1 magic of choice - +200exp
Click.
An ominous, dark sound. You didn't want to hear. The sound of a bullet being primed, the finger on the trigger and the hammer pulled back. You felt that the proximity of the gun from your head, was close. Too close to dodge or block successfully. You couldn't tell who it was, yet. You had to be impressed at how they'd managed to sneak up behind you. Even during combat, your sensed were primed. You should have- no. Would have heard him. " ...Tch...man....I gotta say....this is the second time I've had you like this.....". The voice....it was famliar. And you knew just who it belonged to. The clerk who had sent you here in the first place. "....Or at leasts thats what I thinks....memories are taking a little bit longer to jump back into place than he said....". The barrel of the gun moved down. And then...Bang.
Pain would erupt in your knee as a bullet shot straight through it. Usually your regeneration would take are of such a small wound easily. But for some reason it continued to bleed out. He'd kick you so you'd face him. Planted a boot on your chest and aimed his six shot gun straight at your face.
" When you saw me in that shop...almost blew my cover.....I came in oh....5 or ten minutes before you did.....shop keeper took me around back and showed me the map....but he refused to give......got into a bit of a struggle when you came in...had to break his neck...gunshot would have been a lot more of a tell sign than some cans falling over...".
He grinned. " ....Well...I'll be taking these...". He kept his gun trained on you and grabbed the research papers. "...Thanks for taking care of the girl for me...wasn't sure how many of them Dr M had created.....". His eyes glared in on you. " You know...the last time we were in this position...by some...act of god...or the devil...you made it out alive.....this time....". He took aim. " I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen....". An explosion rocked the building as he pulled the trigger. The bullet glanced away from your head and hit the floor.
" ..God dammit I told them not to start before I was finished!.....hmm...lady lucks on your side Ruien...Don't think this is the last time you'll see me!...".
Crimson took off. Another explosion rocked the building....rubble fell on top of you.
On the Surface
" I told you bastards not to.....oh...fuck me sunday....". Crimson let off a shot as what he saw decended down from the skies, chasing him. A large, somewhat demonic looking dragon. He rolled out of the way just in time as its claws swept down. A jeep charged through the remains of the fence. On board two men in balaclavas. Crimson looked down at the corpses of Dremora and Viper. This worlds version of the two of them. He'd killed them on the way in. He had to imagine that somewhere out there was another version of himself. Who knew. Maybe that version really was a magic store clerk. " Sir shall we attempt to engage the dragon?". He shook his head.
" If my world is anything to go by...we'd best just escape...that dragon put a hole in the Spiran monster Sin...what do you think it'll do to us if it catches us?".
The men nodded and drove off. Delivering covering fire from a back mounted turret. Fortunatly the dragon didn't follow. It dug through the wreckage and found what it was looking for. In its claws it lifted Ruien's unconcious body and placed it upon his back before taking off in the direction of the Spiran continent.
[ Thread complete! Start a new thread in spira. When you awaken the " dragon" will be gone]
" The price!". 
" Uncool dude I thought you said you knew the way?"
" I do....but the Wilderness goes on forever....and you can barely see an inch above your head because of all this tall grass......why the hell they put a lab out here I'll never know..."