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The securiity guard opens the cage and smirks, however there is trouble, on a loading van nearby one of the gaurds is having trouble putting an experiment into the back of the van. One man slips, the container quickly follows. In the next few seconds all hell broke loose. The container was dented. Gas flew outwards as cold oxygen flooded out along with what appeared to be some kind of fluid. The scientists rushed back into the building as the guards took their aim. Just what was in that container?
Something flops out, a small mass, a tentecal of some kind with no real body. However it seemed that the moment it got out of the container. The thing began to rapidly mutate. It grew larger and larger, automatic weapons opened up, each bullet only being absorbed by the creature as it grew in size and mass. Eventually it stopped growing. The creature had some female features...however the majority of it was a moving grotesque mass of slime and discoloured flesh.Its eye lit up as a laser shot out, slicing through the guards, halting the automatic weapons fire as they fell to the ground dead.
The security man with Nanaki ran in, his pistol drawn, firing off a few shots before he too was taken down by a shot from the laser to his shoulder. He however was lucky...and was still alive although injured....
Boss Battle vs JENOVA BIRTH BGM: Jenova
Information: A powerful boss monster that utilizes time magic and non elemental skills to overwealm its opponents.
Winning conditions: Fight together and reach a cumulative word count of 3000 in order to defeat boss. Additional rewards will be given for team work.
Fides spun at the sound of gunshots. He saw the...thing...rise up and gain form. He reached at his back where he usually kept his glaive and then remembered: he hadn't brought it into work this morning, Hojo's tests being the only thing on his schedule. "Shit...Get the civilians out of the area. I'll distract it." He looked around and saw a security guard who had been carrying another of the "experiment" boxes dropped by a beam from the thing. He ran over to one of the windows on the Shinra building, grabbing the sheet that had covered the box on his way, hardly noting the creature inside, swirling the sheet around his hand as he ran. He punched through the glass and grabbed one of the solid steel rods from the window, ripping it out of the wall, cross-piece and all. He had a weapon now.
He winced as he thought That's coming out of my paycheck.
He turned to the "experiment," his improvised glaive at the ready. He ran at it, stabbing at it's eye, fully prepared to dodge any lasers it decided to fire, hoping the others had more of an idea what this thing might be allergic to than he did. Hopefully, he'd be able to distract it long enough that the others could get any civilians out of the battle area before...well, he'd rather not dwell on it. ########## ((Boss Battle: 248 Post Count: 248 Thread Total: 2611 Thread Bonus: +100))
Cecil looked at Vale. "Get the civilians outta here. I'll help Fides." He runs toward the "experiment" and stopped next to Fide. "Don't argue with me, I'm here to help." He turns into a Dark Knight and takes out his Deathbringer. "Lets do this."
He charges at it, dodging the laser and throw the sword like a spear at his eyes. He stick out his hand the Deathbringer reappears in it. He looks at the experiment, and the at Fide. "That's your weapon? Don't you alway carry your weapon with you?"
Nanaki grunted his gratitude at being released, the cloth around the front of the cage moving just enough for him to look over the scene. He watched in mixed horror and amazement as a worker who had been struggling with a crate slipped. The next turn of events seemed to happen so quickly; he watched as gas escaped a glass container similar to the one he had been confined in earlier, and saw how armed guards quickly came to the scene. His body tensed as he dug his claws in, unsure of what was happening but obeying his instincts enough to know that it wasn’t something to be trusted. A few moments passed as the assembled group waited for the gas to clear, he picked up the sounds of the guards suddenly tightening the grip on their triggers, and he himself narrowed his good eye as a tentacle suddenly came into view.
Nanaki growled deeply, not liking this one bit, and was suddenly amazed to see the thing grow and change. What is it? These humans are sick indeed if they created such a thing… he thought as he felt a sharp chill throughout his being. In frozen horror he stared at it, the weapons of the guards firing all around him as they punctured the abomination. Despite this, it still grew until it could be said it had the anatomy of a human female, the rest of its body could only be called nightmarish. Its first show of life was to slice through the row of guards with its eye, bringing the fire-red creature back to his senses. He watched on as his new-found ally charged towards the creature and fires a few shots, before he fell to the ground as a blow hit his shoulder.
The feline was frozen with fear. He turned suddenly as he heard a man speak, and watched as the cloth that was still covering his cage suddenly lift away. He nearly shouted a warning to the man before he punched a window using the cloth to protect his hand. He shook his head as though trying to dispel an unpleasant thought and strode out of the cage and over to where his downed comrade was. He inhaled the man’s odour, nodded to himself that he at least didn’t smell dead and opened his jaws to grasp the man’s uniform. He slowly dragged him out of harm’s way and then ran forwards to survey the area, and his new enemy.
In the minutes it had taken Nanaki to hide his friend, he notices another man clad in unusual armour slinging an equally unusual weapon at the experiment’s eye, before watching in amazement as the scythe reappeared in the knight’s hand again. He pads up to them quickly, and remembering the other man’s command of getting the civilians out of the way, he looks around him and notices a few stunned passers-by watching.
“I will help you with the ‘innocents’”, he replies, referring to the civilians who are still around.
Talking to them would be no use, he thought flicking his tail, and there is another way. Nanaki dashes at the crowd and gives out one of his deepest roars, causing most people to break away and run. For those who couldn’t comprehend that there were two ‘monsters’ here he bares his pale fangs and rumbles a warning in his throat. With the area clear, the Cosmo guardian turns back to the two men and focuses his attention on the experiment instead.
“I don’t know the nature of our enemy but together we stand the best chance - I have some magic at my disposal, as well as my teeth and claws,” he says with a nod before continuing, “If you two could keep it at bay, and I’ll do my best back here with what I have, yes?”
He closes his eye as he dips his head low to the ground, silently gathering energy and focusing his mind before he suddenly moves his head upwards. The creature is engulfed momentarily in weak flames that die down within a matter of seconds. Nanaki jumps backwards and arranges himself into a battle stance as he awaits its next move.
It was a typical day for the Turks around the Shinra building. Typical, being no work at all. Not that he minded one bit. But it was the fact Reno was getting restless. They all knew about the thievery from the Galbadians on that research vessel. They'd stolen something big. And it was covered in red tape. Not even they knew what was going on. Right now he was doing some press ups, jogging trousers on, his suit finely pressed and hung up in the changing room. Reno however was just sitting there leaning against the wall.
He said nothing. It was the usual manner for him, don't speak unless you have something worthwhile to say.After his excercise routine he took a quick shower and got changed into his uniform, ensuring that the tie was perfectly in line with the suit. Now for the rest of the dy they would.....wait. There was nothing else to do. They would take part in the upcoming battle. Of that he was sure of, but if it would be a frontline role. Or a behind the scenes black ops like they were used to. He didn't have a clue.
His eyes moved down to the windows, watching the lines of solider recruits and mercenaries move slowly and ever forward into the Shinra building. Thats when something happened, there were several screams outside, gunshots. He wouldn't say anything but he was glad for the sudden lapse in peace. He could have left it to the gaurds, but this was something to do. When he got outside, Rude could hardly believe his eyes, a monster from one of their labs....one like he'd never seen before. And it had taken down several of the Shinra's grunt troops. Now standing in its way were 2 men and one...animal? He wouldn't get too confused right now. Questions would come later.
He reached back and slammed his fist into the ground, a wave of energy channeling along the path and smashing into the monster.
I couldn't take much mre of this, waiting around to do absolutely nothing. Sure Rude was fine, away toning his own ass, hoping to one day get his own well chiselled bald headed babe. As for me, well I was just god damned restless. Several days now without even word of what we were doing. I hadn't seen Tseng in a long time, no doubt he was getting some bullshit from the higher ups for losing that experiment in the first place. Of course none of it was our fault. Ifs they han't ordered enough people to watch over the god damned thing then how could you blame it on the Turks?
The war was more more or less the same thing. They thought it wouldn't take much, so they didn't send out that many. And they ended up losing. Now Galabadia were on our doorstep and . " Tch....". And...we were just sat here waiting for orders, as if we had all the time in the world before the next attack.
" Hey Rude, fancy going for a drink later?"
No response, the guy must'n't have heard me. Probably lost in his own thoughts as usual. But man oh man would a good drink be heaven right now. Cold.....relaxing. Shivers just thinking about it....but then again...not worth seeing the face of disipline. Rude was out soon enough and he joined me on lazy mans avenue , that was until some comotion outside caught his eye, and then the crazy bald bastard went running outside. Why didn't he just leave it for the soldiers? Its what they were paid to do. Then again, following his line of thought is easy enough. It was something to do. And god knows we needed that.
So I ran outside and followed him, and I almost bumped into him when I saw the slaughter that was going on. Before my mind caught up my body had already got my stun baton in hand. I quickly ran up to the monster and clicked the stun switch. Instantly thousands of volts ran through the baton, and as I struck the creature it was hit with it too. I jumped back to Rude's side.
Rufus stood in his office, cool anger written all over his face. He was pissed, and royally so. But that was nothing new, in fact it was getting to be a constant condition for him. And it was easy to understand why, between his father constantly sending him on crap missions and giving him frivolous orders and his own employees' complete disregard for his authority and his life. He was getting nothing but shit from above and below, and he was gradually becoming quite sick of it.
He glowered as he swept his arm smoothly across his desk, knocking all the reports and files and memos right into the trash bin. The cause of his anger this time, or the first reason, at least, was written on one of those papers. His father's latest act of stupidity; making some random SOLDIER 2nd Class the leader of the volunteer army. How ridiculous. Why would he choose a 2nd? Anything less than 1st was just another sword, as far as Rufus was concerned. Giving the position to a 2nd was like giving it to any of the hundreds of grunts in the company. Rufus sighed. And the whole idea of making the volunteers their own army was completely ridiculous! Why do they even need a leader? Wouldn't it be best to integrate the volunteer forces in with the regular army? Intermingle the trained men and the untrained men, that way, there were fewer gaps and weak points in the defense. (such a strategy would also result in fewer casualties, but that was just an added bonus in Rufus' mind.) But there was nothing Rufus could do now. He was used to his father's stupidity. ...But that doesn't mean that it didn't still piss him off.
There was a buzz on his phone and his receptionist's voice came through the speaker. "Mr. Vice-President, Professor Hojo is here to see you, should I send him in?" This was the other reason why Rufus was fuming at the moment. Professor Hojo, head of the company's science department. Just a few days prior to this Rufus had been given orders to escort prisoners from the train station to Head Quarters, a task that Rufus found completely beneath him. The memory of the task just further increased his anger at his father. It should have been a menial task, and it likely would have been, had someone else been assigned to it. However, the presence of the Vice-President, of all people, put the prisoners and the guards on edge. Rufus blamed his father for what happened next. If President Shinra had sent anyone else instead of Rufus, the prisoners would not have had the opportunity to escape at all. Though, it made little difference. Rufus had caught up with the suspects, he had them right where he wanted them. That is, until a member of the science department interfered. A helicopter decided to drop in one of their prized "experiments", a great beast that attacked the prisoners, and himself, on sight. The confusion brought about from the battle had resulted in the escape of two of the prisoners, and the death of the third, before he could have been interrogated.
Rufus had those worms right where he wanted them until Hojo had entered the picture. And now he had the nerve to arrive late to the meeting? Rufus' memory of the events had solidified his mood. He pressed the intercom button on his phone. "No, he is late, and now I'm busy. He should have shown up on time. I'll be with him in a moment." He then paced the office a few times, taking deep breathes. He had decided to delay the meeting, not because of the reason he said, but to give himself time to cool down. He knew Hojo all too well, and knew that he would be completely calm and collected throughout the speech Rufus was going to give him. He also knew that Hojo would be quite amused if Rufus lost composure, and Rufus didn't want to give the bastard that satisfaction. After a few minutes, it became apparent that his mood was not about to improve any. He sighed and hit the intercom button again. "Alright, send the fool in."
"Um, sir..." The receptionist replied, "He left." "...why?" Rufus' voice was cold, calm, and hateful. "Another scientist just arrived, frantically calling Professor Hojo away. One of the lab specimens have escaped, it seems." "....thank you. I'm going out, hold my calls." Rufus' voice was calm, but the force with which he was holding down the button on the phone had turned his knuckles white. He then, briskly walked out of the room, and took the lift down to the main entrance. Once outside, he would call upon his Turks. They would scour the city, find this specimen, likely destroy it, and then make sure that Hojo had no other excuses to get out of meeting with him.
He stepped out of the building, and began heading down the road, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and dialing as he went. He held the phone to his ear and then stopped dead. He had just noticed the chaos that had been going on just down the street from him. A monster was standing there, blasting away at things with lasers. The phone rung once in his ear as Rufus stood still, staring, and then twice, and then he heard a faint musical chime coming from the direction of the monster. There were shadowy shapes fighting off the beast, and the musical chiming belonged to one of them. Shit, Rufus thought. He hung up the phone and the chimes stopped. He then began slowly marching toward the chaos. He couldn't really have the Turks scour the city for the specimen if they were busy here, now could he? He would just have to step in and end things quickly. He pulled his shotgun from his coat as he went.
Word Count -1035 OOC: That doesn't count toward the boss battle total, since I'm not actually fighting yet....
This was annoying. Not that Elena minded a bit of a break from…wait, what did she need a break from? There hadn’t been any activity to take note of for…well, longer than she could stand to still for. It was a long and grueling process, being bored. Sitting. Standing. Patrolling the three square feet in front of the President’s office in case he needed something crucial, like a tissue. She almost wanted to whine about the stuffy suit, feeling like these days, they could at least afford to wear pajamas to work.
Though, knowing Rude, his uniform and pajamas were probably the same thing. And Reno….no, scratch the pajama idea. He’d probably be quick to show up naked to work dangling a lacy teddy in front of her. Bad idea. Bad idea. Her light footsteps barely made much of a noise along the sterile hallways, and for a moment she had almost forgotten that she was indeed, still on duty. Good Gaia. It almost seemed like the worst vacation one could possibly imagine, being assigned to basically walk laps around the building, deliver papers this way and that, and actually get a decent nights sleep.
This HAD to be against company policy. Honey optics scanned the premises of the current hallway, one looking perfectly identical to the last one she had trailed herself down, and stopped at the nearest exit. There was a faint rustling coming from behind the cold door, like most of the rest of the building, unblemished by fingerprints or the tiniest of scratches. Curiosity sufficiently piqued, Elena took a baby step towards the door, knocking once. That led to well….outside, but she couldn’t get over the fact that the sounds sounded like something being dragged. Garbage, perhaps? No, last time she checked, that was taken care of towards the –back- of the building. Some sort of…stray cat?
No. Wow, she was really off her game. Finally deciding to actually open the damn thing instead of simply speculating, a gloved hand reached for the doorknob, twisted and shoved it open, perhaps a bit too dramatically. Instantly, the coppery smell of spilled vitae permeated her nostrils, causing the blonde to recoil in disgust. ’Come on, get a grip! This is nothing compared to Reno after happy hour.’ Right.
Steeling herself as much as physically possible, Elena cracked open one thankfully not-sleep-deprived eye, her hand instantly straying to the cool touch of her gun. It was oddly comforting to know it was there, but still, she didn’t know –what- this was just yet. Maybe an employee had just..cut themselves? ’Must be the paper cut from hell.’ There was another smell lingering, though, one far stronger than that of blood and..some other unidentified organic matter, one that almost made her vomit. It reeked of what smelled like brime, if someone had poured an absurd amount of ammonia into the mixture.
A strange, suckling sound came from around the corner, and inching towards it, Elena found herself avoiding chunks of glass scattered amongst a few human teeth and....’What did I step on? An eyeball.
Well, this certainly wasn’t a stray cat. Unless the cat was a feral beast that was part Siamese and part meat grinder. The trail led around the rest of the side of the building, towards the front entrance. Startled, and declaring that this was indeed something a bit more heinous than a paper cut, Elena high-tailed it back into the doorway, sprinting down towards the main reception area. As soon as she stopped her frantic arm-waving and order-issuing, another quick sprint up to the President’s office to find it vacant almost gave her a coronary right there and then.
Reno and Rude were probably with him, she reasoned with the part of herself that was still stuck in rookie mentality. Now to find them… The trail of glass and parts had led to the front of the building, hadn’t it? Excellent. Pushing about twenty people out of her way, she eventually reached the building’s entryway.
Two seconds to catch her breath.
One to ready her gun in her hands.
One to steady their shakes.
And one to break into an all out, unrestrained run as soon as a flash of red caught her eye. ”Reno!” Another uniform crossed her vision, a gloved hand sending shockwaves towards what looked like a serious pain in the ass, and most likely the cause of her near-vomiting incident earlier. And ew, there was still eyeball on her shoe. No time for that, though, especially not as soon as the well-groomed blonde head of the President himself stepped into view. Rushing to his side, Elena quickly prioritized events. Well, he had a shotgun, that was great, but he was the President. There was no way that a pseudo-behemouth shooting….lasers? Were those lasers?
..Nevermind. There was no way that the…thingie was going to harm ShinRa’s president. ”Sir, please stand back!” her voice was urgent, wide eyes trying to catch his own authoritative gaze. Stepping in front of her superior, Elena dug into her pockets, feeling the familiar spherical grenades slip into her palm. Shooting it didn’t look like a good idea for now, so maybe something a bit more demanding was in order.
Readying a technique known to herself and fellow Turks as “Blaze”, Elena grabbed a handful of the smaller ones, popping the tabs and caps on each with practiced ease, tossing them towards the offending…and really ugly creature. Small explosions marking where each had landed, Elena tensed, ready to tackle the President in case her sudden attack set off the creature, and she had to save them both from a laser blast. Where was Tseng, dammit? Why hadn’t an alert been set off earlier? So much for a slow week….
Cecil looks around and notice more people had came. He notices a beast getting the civilians to safety. Soon he saw 2 guys and a girl wearing the same uniform. He watched as the bald guy slam his fist to the ground that a shockwave toward the experiment. Who were these guys he asked himself? But question was to be asked later. He gripped his sword and charged and the experiment. He jumps in midair and starts slashing at the experiment, after being dazed from the shockwave. After a series of attacks, he does backflip in midair and creates a dark energy ball from the tip of his index finger. As soon as the dark energy ball was large enough, he shoots it at the experiment.
He lands on his feet, and turns back into a paladin. He takes a breather and looks at the experiment. It was getting weaker by the second. He had to finish it off, or make it weak enough for the other people to have a chance to finish it off. He takes out his Lightbringer and again charges at it. The sword started to glow and slashes the experiment in the chest. Still in midair, he turned into a dark knight and shoots two large dark energy balls it. Finally he turns back into a paladin and in midair, he shoots out crescent shaped energy blasts made out of light from the blades of his sword into the head of the experiment. He lands on his feet, but goes down on one knee. That last attack took a lot out of him and needed to rest. He looked at the experiment, and see that is was almost defeated. One more attack should do it, but he did not have enough energy to finish it off. He had to let the other people to finish it off.
Fides was completely focused, having entered his "battle trance" as he called it, ignoring everything except the most vital pieces of information. He noted the attacks of his sudden allies. He noted the beast getting the civilians away. He noted the laser being pointed at him. He dodged and came up on one knee about two yards away. He smiled. The thing was just about finished, and he knew exactly how to kill it. He spun his improvised spear and said "heh...this shit's about to get manic." He leaped at the creature, sending himself into a high-velocity spin, the "blade" of his weapon, glowing hotter and hotter as the oxygen around it flared from the friction. Vapor trails tore off of his elbows and feet as he elongated himself into a more aerodynamic shape. The "blade" burned from orange to red to blue to white. At the moment when it seemed as though the steel of the "weapon" must surely melt from the intense heat, Fides reached the creature.
The length of steel tore through the thing like a hot knife through warm butter. Fides passed through a shower of acrid ichor and flesh to the other side, landing on his feet as he dropped the once straight steel length. The intense heat had melted it, twisting it beyond recognition. The entire thing smoked and Fides ran towards the fountain to plunge his burned hands into the water. He was confidant that, with that last attack, the creature would be dead, or at least incapacitated to retreating, so he relaxed a bit, enjoying the feeling of the cool water on his burnt hands. "Mental note: do NOT do that with a pure metal object again." He grinned his crooked grin as he spoke to himself. ************************************************************************************** ((Boss Battle: 3345 Post Count: 298 Thread Total: 2909 Thread Bonus: +100XP))
Elena: Gains one free ability Red XIII: Gains one free ability Cecil : Gains 200exp Fides: Gains: 300exp Reno: Gains: 300exp Rude: Gains 300exp
[ Thread Completion!]
You are now free to leave, or continue on your own in character interaction ( personally I'd prefer if you interacted, get a chance to know each other before the next event thread)
And the monster was toast before it even knew what hit it. A smirked the way I always do taking a more relaxed stance with my baton. I looked over at Rude, the man quiet as ever before slowly walking over to the container. I bent down and examined it, something all too familiar about it. Then I remembered. The crate right before the plane had taken off. It looked exactally the same. It was carrying a peice of Jenova, some monster that was important to the higher ups. Thats all we knew. From this experience though I knew it was dangerous.
If it was so volitile as to mutate the moment a freeze container was breaced...then imagine what a bigger peice of it would do. Again I didn't want to think about it. But all the same, now he knew why the president and the executives were all so touchy on this subject. And why tey were so worried about the Galbadians having a hold of it. But at the same, I couldn't shake the feeling there was more to this than I knew. but then again, working in this company there was always something you didn't know. A truth hidden within lies.
After standing up I looked over at Elena, still a rookie within the turks, but she was holding her own. " Hey Elena!". I grinned " You didn't do too badly, the moment you hit it that thing died". I looked over at Rude for confirmation. " You saw it". Then back to Elena. " Hell with that kinda strength you'll be gunning for Sephiorth's job nevermind Tseng's". This was of course a joke, the monster had been softened up a bit before Elena had jumped in, but she was the one to make the finishing strike. So it worked either way. Still, jokes aside, I'd have to wait till the others left before I could discuss this Jenova thing with Elena and Rude, Company policy.
"Yes, congratulations for doing the job that we pay you to do." Rufus said quite blandly, placing a hand on her shoulder for just a moment while he walked around her. Despite the cold, hurtful tone of his voice, he was actually quite pleased with his minions' work, and the hand on her shoulder was a sign of his approval. They had dispatched the beast quickly, allowing Rufus to finish here more quickly, and then hurry on to more pressing issues...like reaming Hojo's hide! He scanned the area, as if expecting to see Hojo there. Then something caught his eye.
The box that the creature was being held in... Rufus' eyes grew wide in recognition. He turned to his Turks. There were three of them present at the moment. Pilot-Turk, the loud-mouthed, red haired man who typically flew the chopper whenever Rufus needed to go somewhere, the Shades-Turk, the large serious looking man, usually co-pilot, though he was known to be the muscle of the group when the need presented itself, and Elena, the only member of the Turks' whose name Rufus actually knew, or even cared to know. He valued all of his Turks much more than any of his other employees, or anyone else in the world, for that matter, and the trio were his most loyal minions.
That was why he felt comfortable talking to them now, knowing that they would do the work without question, and any secret information they happened to learn in the process would stay secret. "Shovel up the remains of that thing and pack it back up into that box, you understand?" He said to Pilot-Turk, speaking in a whisper so that the civilians couldn't hear. He turned to Shades-Turk and nodded, implying that the same orders went to him as well.
He then turned to Elena. He scribbled a message on a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Take this to my father, if you would." He said with a small smile, and though it was an order, he spoke extremely softly, considering how foul a mood he was in. He had a soft spot for Elena, he wasn't sure why. Maybe it had something to do with the way she always called him Mr. President, even though his father was still very much alive (unfortunately), or maybe it was her eagerness to serve him. Regardless of the reason, she was his favorite Turk, and that was why she was delivering a message, as opposed to scooping up entrails. "He will be displeased to hear the news, however, so I would advise giving it to him and then getting out of the room before he has a chance to read it. Come back and see me when you are done." He nodded, signaling that that was all.
And then his smile turned downward, slightly. Jenova was his fathers pet-project. Rufus knew barely enough details to know that it should be taken out of the public eye immediately. Beyond that, he didn't really read the memo. He figured, once that message reached his father's hands, it wasn't his problem anymore. He grinned slightly at the thought of his fathers reaction, but it was short lived as his mind returned to the business at hand.
He turned to the civilians. One of them seemed to have a large ferocious feline for a pet. Rufus approved of this, and it made his mood lighter and his voice slightly less sharp as he addressed them. "Thank you for your assistance, but the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company can handle the situation from here on. Have a nice day." He put a cold and serious tone to the last sentence, making it very clear that he intended for them to leave now. Then he addressed the SOLDIER operative, dropping the note of kindness. "If you are on duty, then grab a shovel and help my men, if you are not, then get the hell out of my sight." He then turned, leaned against a nearby wall, and waited, either for the remains to be fully gathered, or for Elena's return, whichever came first.
Word Count 722 Thread Total 1774 OoC: Sorry for more or less sending everyone away like that, but I gotta act the part, and what else would Rufus be expected to do in that situation?
It was a terrible feat to stop herself from blushing, a light pink hue creeping up her face to turn her cheeks the slightest shade of red, half blushing with chagrin, the other with the embarrassment that came with being the only female Turk in this rather chauvinistic group. “Y-yes, sir!” throwing up a hasty and stiff salute, Elena began to turn on her heel, grasping the paper as if it were the most fragile and delicate treasure in the world. Things like that had to be handled perfectly where the..OTHER Shinra was concerned.
Well, both of them. Rufus demanded perfection , which she was happy to make as her goal, but his father…well, she’d have to heed the President’s advice. Er..Rufus’ advice. Sir’s advice. Perfection was never enough for him, not at all. But between her anxiety, Reno’s rather loose-lipped comments, and her boss, it was hard to keep what was now a rather tame sort of blush from erupting into a full-on beet-red complexion. Her fair skin was prone to it, as it was, but her personality was even more prone to flushing at the worst moments in recorded history. And now, she wasn’t sure whether to process Reno’s words as a compliment or some deranged form of a come-on. Hell, a glance from the red-haired Turk could be constituted as sexual harassment, and Elena had done the paperwork so often now that she could fill it out in her sleep.
..That was pretty sad, now that she thought about it. “Shut up, Reno!” she was lucky that her hasty reply came out without a stutter, and for once, hated Rude’s customary silence. He was usually a comforting presence to be around, a silent statue that had no ulterior motives (though you could never be sure, he DID hang around Reno an awful lot) and made no audible remarks about her performance, what she looked like, or how much of a rookie she was. That nickname still stuck like glue, sadly, even though she was..somewhat sure it should’ve worn off by now, to be replaced by something nicer…but then again. Nicknames from her superiors would probably not be too agreeable. “But er…”
Tseng’s job? That was almost an insult. She hadn’t seen him more direct superior for days now, and no one knew of his whereabouts. It was..unsettling to say the least. Reno and Rude were good company in their own way, but the lack of security, knowing she could go to Tseng with any questions and not be subjected to ridicule …well, embarrassment, yes, but sarcastic quips about her gender, no. It was even hard to sleep, or relax, not knowing if he was alive or dead. Probably on some mission of sorts, but…” ..T-thanks. And Reno.. have you seen—“ oh, nevermind. She had work to do, no dawdling allowed. Muttering under her breath, light mood starting to fade, Elena broke into a sprint, racing back into the building and boarding the elevator.
Getting off at the top floor, Elena made her delivery quick and to the point, attempting to smooth out any creases in the note, not that there were any..but you never knew, did you? A knock on the door, a hasty salutation followed by silence, then curses abound, drowning out Elenas “Sorry, s-sir!” s and she bolted from the room, dignity slightly in tact. Well, Rufus was right, he WASN’T happy about whatever that note had said. Rushing back down again, the disheveled Turk made her best effort to approach Rufus with as little shaking in her voice and hands as possible. It really wasn’t her fault, the “real” President was quite intimidating.
“P-President, Sir!” her hands dropped to her sides, trying to look as stately as possible, readying herself for that cold gaze to be cast upon her. “Er..Mr. Shinra wasn’t…ah, the message has been delivered successfully. He didn’t say much in reply b-but to see him as soon as possible, something about surveillance and a team of idiots in labcoats, and..to make Reno and Rude and I clean up the remnants of the situation. A-anything else, sir?” Oh Gaia. How she dreaded wading into the mess of entrails…but a job was a job, no?
The monster had managed to take the hit from him with little after shock to show for it. The battle was going to get heated, and as expected Reno came rushing down after him despite all the shouts about letting Soldier do the job they were paid for. Soon enough Elena joined in the fight, and her appearance seemed to spell the end for the monster as she delivered the finishing stroke which had it fall over and begin to melt. Of course it wasn't quick but already you could see the edges of the flesh ( if it could be called that) putrifying into a slime.
Reno however seemed to be more concerned about the container that the thing had broken out of, it had a shinra logo on the side, but other than that there wasn't much special. Other than the fact it was a freezing unit. Most monsters were just kept in normal cages for transport. But then there was the idea that this thing had mutated in the first place from such a small piece of a larger body. Almost immediatly the thought came to him. Jenova. Again, not something he knew much on. Just that it was a monster kept in the lab department contained in frozen mako.No doubt there would now be a large debriefing from the heads.
Reno as per usual, after finishing his exmination, took his own form of debriefing by picking out on Elena. He looked for him to confirm the comment on job position and Sephiroth, however Rude just stood there. Neutral and silent as the great obelisks. The show of the Vice President was however somewhat of a suprise. The man had Elena run off with a note to explain the situation to the President. Soon the kid was back. And Rude couldn't help but feel....the boring days were over....something big was about to start.
And despite his usually unphased mentality. He cracked a small grin.
Ack, Rude as per usual was saying nothing, although everything that I needed to know about what he thought was in his eyes and in his features, although however slight. Again he disapproved with my attitude, but again when did he ever agree. I suppose thats why we stuck together, he kept me from moving to far into the realms of hyperactivity and general taking things too far.As for me, well I kept him from becoming too boring, or indeed too threatening in his still statue like silence.
We balanced each other out. Ying and Yang. Polar opposites, and inseperable. As for the rookie, before I even had the chance to come back with a comment of my own, the big boss man Rufus himself showed up. The guy was vice president. But already he was setting himself up for taking his fathers place. He'd been building his power base, especially amongst the turks, perhaps the turks trainees were more loyal to him than to his father. But as for me? Well it was his dad who signed my paycheques, and thats all the loyalty I needed.
I waited for the rookie, but in the meantime I thought I'd give the vice president a bit of black operations advice. " Mr Vice president" I said in an all too sweet voice, " You know, telling unregistered employees to grab a shovel for clean up isn't much of a good idea when dealing with class 1 volitile lab substances...who knows what spies might be out amongst them, I'd advice you get a lab clean up team". I went quiet. No doubt rich kid wouldn't be too happy about it, but then again I didn't much care. I loved getting one up on people like him. Born with a silver spoon stuck up their asses. Self rightous bastards.
The battle had quickly come to its end, as the creature lay in pieces around the area. For a few moments, Nanaki was stunned as he examined his surroundings. “Thanks to each of you for helping in the battle,” He spoke in a low growl as he bowed his sleek head, chocolate bangs falling over his face all the while. The feline flicked his ear as he straightened up. He had his own concerns to deal with, as he padded around the remains of the creature and sat by the security guard’s side.
“The battle has been won in our favour, my friend. Can you stand?” he asked calmly, staring at the man’s face. He hoped that the abomination’s attacks were not fatal. He looked over his shoulder at the pile of dead fighters and shuddered. When that monster had opened fire, they hadn’t stood a chance he thought sadly, closing his good eye for a few moments in respect. Nanaki couldn’t hear the low whispers of the others, but he didn’t want any part in similar situations again. I need to find out where I am… what has been done to me, and I need a plan he thought with a deep sigh.
Nanaki stirred as the blond-haired man, whom he presumed was someone important in this city turned to him. Shinra… he repeated mentally as one ochre eye glanced at the emblem on the guard’s uniform again. Whoever the guard was, the last line of the blond’s words were less friendly, and the fire-red feline wanted nothing more to do with the Shinra, his captors.
I have to get away from here…he thinks taking in the steel and concrete around him. Nanaki nudges the man’s shoulder gently with a large paw, hoping to wake him from his stupor. “We need to leave my friend… I hope you know your way around the city…”
((OOC: Sorry for short reply)) - Word Count: 325 -
The mans eyes slowly opened as you nudged him, then with a sudden realisation of what had just happened they seemed to gape open. His hand moved slowly over to the shoulder where the laser had taken him, and one of his fingers managed to catch the coterised burn wound. He flinched slightly at the pain of it, but slowly got into a sitting position he turned to Nanaki. " I think I'll be fine...bump to the head from the fall hurts more than the shoulder wound heheheh...". He removed a cigarrette and lit it up.
" Yeah, I think I can walk...one second I'll stand...".
Slowly he began to stand up, almost faltering and falling a few times, but with a nearby wall as a support he got to his feet, still a bit dazed but he looked much better than he had whilst laid out on the ground. He took a couple of steps then looked over at Nanaki. " You know I think I could use a drink....I know this place down in the slums....Sector 7....called the Seventh Heaven....I think we should go there....". He stumbled forwards, heading towards the train station, with every step mumbling something or other about a hard drink.
One had to wonder why it was only alcohol on his mind. And not the fact he had a gaping hole in his shoulder. But. Thats men for you.
Nanaki smiled faintly as the man slowly regained his senses, a fortunate one indeed, he contemplated as the man detailed his injuries. The feline allowed the guard some dignity as he attempted to stand, watching anxiously as the human nearly fell but finally supported himself. Nanaki observed the man carefully, noting that he was surprisingly calm and collected as though he rescued the Shin-Ra’s experiments and saw grotesque creatures escape everyday.
Remarkable, he thought admiringly as the guard approached and addressed him. Nanaki’s own eye widened at the man’s words, fixing on the man as he staggered away babbling incoherently, perhaps to himself, but the warrior wasn’t sure. He flicked his slender tail as he stood awkwardly for a few moments before looking over his shoulder at the carnage that was left behind, and then obediently trotted at the guard’s side.
For a few minutes Nanaki was at a loss for words before he spoke lightly,
“This Seventh Heaven… as long as we are away from anything to do with the Shin-Ra and their sort, that is fine with me.”
Fides stood at attention when the Vice-President addressed him, holding his charred palms slightly away from his sides. "Yes sir!" He snapped off a salute before heading over to talk to the wolf-cat-thingy that he wasn't entirely sure how to classify. Eh, it's sentient, that's all I need to know. He saw the young security officer heading towards the train station, the creature following him. He smirked slightly, relieved that the creature would be out of Shin-Ra's paws for a while at least. Heheheh...paws... He looked down at his palms and decided, screw it, I'm going home. I might actually start carrying my glaive around if things'll be like this.
As he walked away, he heard a crinkling from inside his uniform. He looked in his shirt and saw that a single sheet of Hojo's memo paper had survived unharmed. He took it out with care and looked at it. In a sudden motion, he crumpled it up and tossed it aside. It's got blood on it. he thought to himself, but that was just an excuse and he knew it. He didn't want anything to do with Shin-Ra anymore...unless it was acquiring the President's money and power and disbanding the Turks and SOLDIER. And possibly fifteen minutes alone with Hojo and the rest of the leading researchers.
Rufus watched as Pilot-Turk and Shade-Turk just stood there, despite being told to clean up the mess. Rufus sighed as Pilot-Turk announced his thoughts. Unregistered personnel indeed. "If you are referring to the SOLDIER 2nd Class just now, I am fairly certain that SOLDIER members are registered, furthermore, I had no intention of him actually helping. Have you ever seen a shovel in Headquarters? My intentions were to get rid of him, so that we can cover this up quickly. He'd spend hours looking for the proper tools, and by the time he returned we'd be done here. That was the plan anyway, yet it seems you two don't feel like getting your hands dirty at the moment, huh?"
Just then, Elena returned, her report half-way out of her mouth before she had even reached them. Rufus' customary cold gaze was accompanied by an inner smile. Always eager to please, he thought. Listening to what she had to say, Rufus' eyes narrowed...and then grew wide. He had caught something that she had said. Idiots in lab coats? Rufus chuckled. "No, no, there is nothing else." He looked back up at the building, staring down his father's office window. "idiots in lab coats" he whispered. After a moment he broke off his stare and looked Elena full in the face. It was unfortunate that Elena would be forced to do manual labor too, Rufus had tried to spare her that, but he couldn't help but be happy by what he heard.
"All there is to do now is to clean this up quickly!" He said, downright cheerfully. Ha! Jenova, His father's pet project, was ruined! And from the looks of it, he was blaming the Science department! This was just perfect! If he could get his father on his side in this, than perhaps Hojo would be out on the streets before the week was out! Rufus was so uplifted by this thought that he almost considered helping his minions as they clamoured through the entrails....almost...
Oh dear Gaia, NO. One look at the job in front of her, gaze flickering from the Pre—VICE Presidents’ face to the mass of entrails and sinew and tendons meant that she should probably get to work…but get some noseplugs first. And…what was just ore terrifying was that she’d be working with Reno. She hadn’t expected Rufus to look at her, and his full-on stare was almost overbearing. Why did she have such trouble returning the look? Well, he was certainly intimidating, and a gaze from her employer was equivalent to being accosted by the same lasers that the…nasty thing had fired from its core.
Rufus seemed….happy, was it? Well, if that stare at his father’s window (how she dreaded even walking past that office…) meant anything, it was just another time for him to think about overruling his father’s position—something Elena would have to admit that she supported. He was technically above who she deemed her actual employer, but still….gah, this was too confusing. And gross! But, a duty was a duty, and of course, Rfus couldn’tbe expected to do any of the work himself. Well, of course not! It wasn’t like he was out of shape or anything—wait, what was she thinking? Too many thoughts. Must focus on something boring. Oh, there’s Rude! A comforting sight for sore, girlish eyes.
A sudden flush crossed her cheeks at the mere thought that she had just shoved out of her mind, honey colored optics sliding away from her superior. What was with her lately? Reno must be rubbing off on her, and the lack of Tseng to kickstart her into disciplinary form was obviously a huge toll on the girl. Tseng…
No, no time for more thoughts. Work, work work! ”I’ll get right on it, sir!” With a quick and eager salute, she tried to find a shovel, and fast, and despite how much it irked her, took her place beside Reno, almost slipping and falling on the slippery ground riddled with blood and innards. Oh…she was going to be sick, almost definiatley. But certainly not in front of her fellow Turks and her boss.
Especially not Reno and Rufus. Reno would NEVER let it go, Rude would..say nothing, but probably internally laugh at her, and Rufus…well you never knew what he might dock your pay for, although it would just be embarrassing as usual. That strange feline had left by now, and that was another thing..what –were- all these weird creatures? Talking..cat-lion…things, giant nasty things…this day was certainly interesting. And she had a feeling that it was just going to get even moreso. ”At least we have work, Reno…” That much was true, but one scoop of her shovel and she felt sick to her stomach. ”That’s it. I’m n-not sleeping for a week..”
Word count: 468 [Sorry for the short post!] Total: 2 598
Grunt work. Rufus seemed somewhat of a slave driver, so I just grabbed the damn shovel and got right too it. I knew however I wouldn't be alone in these matters, likely that each bucket of slop we filled would be heading right back down to the science department to see if they could sew this dirty big bitch back together...or weld it...or whatever they did with that damn massive budget. The moment Elena got back I had to notice Rufus' odd attitude to her. It was almost...favouritism.
For a moment, just a moment, I had to hope that he'd give her some other menial task, in that case I might be able to start a class action suit against him for work favouritism. Maybe even spice it up a bit with some sexism in there. Yeah, that'll boost the old pay check up a little. Finally give me that vaction I wanted in Costa Del Sol. But no, as with everyone else, Elena got to it. Golden boy of the Shinra couldn't be seen showing even the slightest bit of favouritism. But by the looks on Elena's face she'd caught the glance her way too.
" Gotta think....he probably would grab a feel if people wern't watching".
I whispered it under my breath as I shoveled yet another headful of slop into a bucket. Thats when I found a particularly juicy peice. A bit of tentacle still intact for the most part. I slammed my shovel in and managed to get a good chunk of it off along with the tip. I bent down slowly and picked it up, slimy and heavy. I looked over to Elena. " Hey...rookie....". I grinned. " Remind you of anything?". I had to laugh, and just tossed it over to her. I hoped she puked. It would be legendary.
If Elena hadn’t been preoccupied with plotting to suffocate Reno while he slept, she would have tossed her lunch all over the scene. It stunk. Not only that….but….ew! Sunlight made the thing seem like it was practically wriggling in his grasp, perfectly shiny, slimey and just enough to make her double over. When the disgusting appendage was tossed at her, however, she let out a rather unprofessional squeal, rapidly backing up. Luckily, she didn’t fall into a pile of exploded monster-goo, but she did fall flat on her butt a f ew feet away, hand over her mouth.
”R-Reno!” she gasped, too flustered to really express anything else but pure shock at the moment. Hey! This was in front of….oh my. ”Th-that….you..URGH! That’s DISGUSTING!” Getting to her feet immediately, practically green in the face, Elena hurried back to her abandoned shovel, sending a deadly glare Reno’s way, which seemed highly unnatural and far too forced for her. Would he EVER stop calling her that? Probably not, she admitted to herself with a sigh, trying to focus on shoveling rather than…oh that was hard to look at.
Turning away again for a moment, Elena managed a few mutterings under her breath, contemplating whether or not to just whack him on the back of the head with the shovel and be done with it. Might be doing the workforce a favor, but knowing Reno, he’d probably attempt to sue her. HA, as if he could. She had a deskful of sexual harassment claims just WAITING to be turned in, and with that knowledge up her sleeve, she felt a slight bit more relaxed than before.
Except, what did he mean by “remind you of anything”? Was she supposed to be reminiscing about some giant octopus best friend from her childhood or----OH. When she finally got his meaning, Elena’s face took on a whole new hue of red, the rosy undertone present in her pale complexion making her rather vulnerable and prone to such embarrassments in the first place. She simply stared at Reno, mouth agape.
”W-what’s THAT supposed to mean?!” This was..this was…cruel and unusual! Yes, that’s what it was, testing her for reactions, making crude jokes at her expense…stealing her undergarments, setting up a camera in her room, ‘accidentally’ bursting into her shower, and of course, singing crude and inappropriate songs…constantly.
It was hell, but Elena never had the guts to tell him off properly, or maybe she just didn’t wan—no, of course that wasn’t it! Ugh…this day had just started and it already was confusing as hell. Just concentrate on shoveling, Elena: heave ho, heave ho.
’Can I kick him with the boss watching?’
More shoveling, being careful not to slip and fall. Where had this thing come from, anyways? The scene looked like the company bathrooms after one of Reno’s Friday night drinking binges, and she never even handled that very well.
Judging from Rufus’ repition of his fathers words, and gee, the broken bits of a container around the area, one could assume that it was from the science department. But…why? For shits and giggles? Well, you never knew with this company, but she had to wonder what the hell they were up to when they made whatever this thing was. Maybe she should poke around afterwards—but that might be frowned upon. Unless…..
Clearing her throat and focusing on Reno’s face to rid herself of nausea (though that hardly helped in her case), she raised her voice just loud enough for her two fellow Turks to hear. ”Uhh…are you guys..free after this?” She couldn’t help it, this seemed kind of interesting, even if it was a bit out of their bounds. She was so used to getting orders and following them to a T, but…well, maybe she’d been hanging around Reno too much.
After Cecil finish resting, he got up and looked at the people wearing the same. They looked liked they were talking about the experiment that went wrong just now, and therefore decided not to join in. He notice the security guard waking up and slowly getting up with the help of a feline. After seeing everything was under control...for now he decided to leave the area and held for that bar again.
After giving a quick glance, he notice that Fides was just standing there. He wondered if he was alright, so he decided to walk up to him. "Hey Fides, you alright there? You look like you're in your own little world." Looking at his face, indeed he was. It was as if he had something in his mind. Something that was troubling him.