(no subject)

[sleazeoverstyle]

Shit.

Shit. It's pretty much all he can do to follow through this dark nothingness at Axel's heels, and he ain't so fond of the way this feels. He's been in worse situations before, of course, and he's about 99% sure he will be again, but this place can kiss his ass. It's like drowning in a nightmare and his Electro-Mag rod's buzzing and giving off the occasional nearly-invisible spark in his left hand and yeah, he's moving as fast as he can, even though he doesn't know where the hell he's going.

Every friggin' sense is on high alert, and because sight is low on the availability scale he does what he's trained to do: ignores the pounding of his own heart, lets himself adjust to the surroundings however he can, and shuts the hell up. If this is that Void he heard about, it ain't a place he wants to stay.

In the darkness he nods to Axel in a get us the fuck out of here now kind of way.

Comments

[killitwithfire]

"Almost there," Axel says quietly. It carries through the dark though, to Reno. They've been lucky so far; no hungry yellow eyes staring out from the darkness at them. But Axel moves through the darkness, slinking low, and holding himself like he's expecting an attack at any time.

[sleazeoverstyle]

All this crouching shit reminds him of the way things used to be a couple years ago; he moves back into it like it was just yesterday. If he just follows the sounds he'll be okay. Anyone makes any moves on them, he'll kick their friggin' asses so hard they'd wish they'd never met Reno of the Turks.

He don't mind this kind of tension: it's okay. It's what keeps a guy focused under pressure, and that's got value. Without that, people die, and he has no damn intention of dying alone in the darkness.

"Right here behind you." His voice is as quiet as he can make it, and it's still strange as anything to hear someone else with his voice up ahead. Kinda spooky.

[killitwithfire]

It's about then that the first pair of yellow eyes blinks up out of the darkness. They're in a vaguely humanoid blot of darker darkness slinking and twitching in their direction. And where that first pair appears, there's soon another.

And another.

And another.

And they advance.

"Here they come," Axel says. He spreads his hands at his sides, summoning his chakrams in a whorling burst of flame. "Start running." And he follows his own instructions.

[sleazeoverstyle]

Fuck this: he's got a weapon but he ain't gonna stop to fight if he doesn't have to. Anyone could tell they're gonna be surrounded soon so he does what he's told -- no ego involved, just the pure desire for survival -- and follows the flame.

As fast as friggin' possible, wondering if by some chance he's got one of those all-that-shit-is-for-wimps Phoenix Downs with him.

He might. And hopefully he won't have to use it, 'cause if he does, he won't have time to show Axel here how to administer it.

[killitwithfire]

Of all the items their worlds have in common, Phoenix Down isn't one of them. Unfortunately.

Axel has to burn through a few of the Heartless, but it isn't long before he comes to an abrupt stop. He draws open the way out; palm trees, and a green-covered volcano are visible through the oily film of the portal out.

"Go!" Axel shouts.

[sleazeoverstyle]

Axel doesn't have to tell him twice. If there was electricity in that darkness -- and for all he friggin' knows, there was, not like he knows how to find it -- he could've made a little more of a contribution to the cause. As it is, he bolts for the exit, hoping like hell Axel's right behind him. If he isn't, he might never get back to the bar... not to mention home.

All those thoughts flit by in the blink of an eye and before he knows it, he's through. Breathing a little hard, but through.

[killitwithfire]

Axel's right behind him, and he shuts the portal down as he crosses it. It dies with a whorl of almost tangible darkness, briefly tainting the clear sunny afternoon.

"Well. It could have been worse," he says, grinning.

[sleazeoverstyle]

HEY. This place looks kinda familiar. Smells like Costa del Sol on his world, what with the palm trees and water and shit.

"So this is your Hawaii, huh?" If the trip here fazed him at all, he ain't gonna show it other than this one time. "It'd be nicer if you could get to it without going through that shit back there, but hey, it's cool. I could fight those yellow-eyed bastards on the way back if you want."

Whatever those things were -- are -- might just kick his ass, but that adds to the general level of excitement and now that they're out here in the sunshine, the darkness don't seem like nothing at all. It's hot, bright, and pleasant.

[killitwithfire]

"I can actually get us right back to Milliways from here," Axel says. "But right now, my door's set to Traverse Town, which is nowhere near here."

He shrugs a little, and starts heading up the ridge that leads over to the beach. The power of the volcano thrums under his feet; the heart of the island is made of fire, and it echoes in his own.

[sleazeoverstyle]

My door this, my door that, like the guy owns all the real estate in town or something? His door's set to Midgar or wherever the hell he actually walked in from and he'd like to keep it that way, thank you very friggin' much.

But he's the guest here and ain't that a strange development; when was the last time that happened? His twin here makes a shit host but he ain't gonna complain: he just follows.

"So you do that to the side of the volcano?" Hey, he's just getting his bearings. Until a little bit ago, he never even heard the word Hawaii. He'll probably never hear it again, and anyhow, he's trying real hard not to think about the fact that he's in some whole other world. For all he knows, it's just a part of his own planet he ain't been to yet. There's plenty of places like that.

[killitwithfire]

"Nah, the volcano did that to itself. Granted, it was right around the same time I was here... But my work's just over here," he continues. "Take a look," he says, gesturing down at the glassy beach.

Granted, it's not the prettiest glass, but it's solid, shiny and smooth, all the way to the water's edge, as far as can be seen.

[sleazeoverstyle]

Hey.

HEY. Check that out: it looks as smooth as... well, glass. No shit, asshat, he tells himself, that's what Axel said it was. "So that was all sand." He nods his appreciation: he's not much of a chemist but he knows you can fuse sand into glass and that's pretty. "You know, for a guy who ain't quite as good-looking as me, you do decent work. We could use you at Shin-Ra."

And helping rebuild Shin-Ra is pretty friggin' high on his list of priorities.

Shit, they could go surfing on that solid wall of glass. That'd be something else.

"So where the fuck are we, exactly?" He ain't particularly used to cavorting off to other worlds, and despite knowing the bar's at the end of the universe and all that shit, it's still a lot for a guy who never left his planet for twenty-eight years to have to think about.

[killitwithfire]

"Who's not-quite-as-good-looking? Well, I guess without fire you must feel you need something to compensate. Of course, I'd hope any near-twin of mine has more going on for him than a pretty face."

The words come without any real effort, and he's grinning, although whether it's for the banter, or his handiwork, well, even he couldn't really answer that.

"As for where we are... This is a chain of volcanic islands in the middle of the fucking ocean. Past that... I've never been." He shrugs. "And what the hell is Shin-Ra?"

[sleazeoverstyle]

From anybody else in the whole friggin' universe, those'd be fighting words. But he can't fault the guy who looks like him for talking about how good-looking they are.

"Shin-Ra's the company I work for." That's simple. "And I've been to the islands in our ocean, but this is... like a whole different planet, right? We're not on Gaia."

He ain't stupid, but the whole other realities thing isn't exactly what he'd call normal either, although every friggin' time he opens a door and it leads to Milliways, it gets more and more normal. It's just that he hasn't told a soul back home about it yet because... why bother? Word'll get out sooner or later, especially with Lockhart and Valentine at the place, but they're kinda... stuck, as far as he can figure it, and he ain't.

And that's lucky.

[killitwithfire]

"Whoooole different planet," Axel confirms. "I'm pretty sure there's more to it, but I know at least one other that's just islands and ocean. ...Not really mind kind of place though, you know? What does your company do?" he asks, on the end of his explanation.

[sleazeoverstyle]

Yeah, whole different planet: that's pretty friggin' wild, and to top off a day that's been pretty friggin' strange by virtue of the fact he ended up at the end of the friggin' universe without intending to, it's just one more thing. One more notch on the belt, if someone wants to keep track.

"What doesn't Shin-Ra do." It's a long, ugly, complicated story. "They used to pretty much run the world. Then kinda sorta fucked it all up. Now we're tryin' to rebuild it. But me, I just do whatever they need me to do. For the boss, right? The guy in charge of the whole thing. It's my group's responsibility to take care of him. I've been with the Turks a long time." It's kind of a half-assed explanation and he knows it, but too bad: if Axel's interested, he can ask more questions. "The company's full name is the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company. We provide... power. Light up the world, and do a few other things on the side, or at least used to."

His near-twin's work on that whole beach of glass is still admirable-looking. He must've been on friggin' fire. Maybe they could harness his energy instead of Mako and light up their world that way.

Probably not.

No, definitely not. Scratch that; he's never been the idea guy.

[killitwithfire]

It all sounds warpedly familiar; like his own former job, through a mirror darkly. Or brightly, as the case may be.

"Whatever the boss says, goes, yeah?" Axel asks, a faint, wry smile on his face. "I know how that works. Hope yours deserves it more than mine did."

[sleazeoverstyle]

They call the boss sir for a reason, and it ain't just out of some misguided sense of loyalty or duty. He kinda likes the guy even though half the world wouldn't mind seeing Rufus Shinra dead.

Well, that ain't gonna happen. Not with him around.

"Shit, he's all right." At least the boss's tryin' to do the right thing now, even if he didn't in the past. He's sick now too, but only four of 'em know that and like he's gonna tell.

[killitwithfire]

"Yeah? That's good then," Axel replies. he has to admit, if only to himself, that he's a little envious; on the other hand, if his boss hadn't turned out to be such a complete asshole...

He probably wouldn't be here now. He wouldn't have his heart, or his friends, or... Hell, any of it.

"You wanna take a look around?" he asks.

[sleazeoverstyle]

"Fuck yeah. I didn't travel through some tunnel of doom and gloom to walk over here, say nice glassblowing, and turn tail and head for home."

It's nice here. It's pretty, and he's a little bit of a sucker for pretty things and places and people and this place makes him smile. "Seeing as how I ain't never even heard of Hawaii and have no friggin' idea what planet we're on or where to go, you might maybe want to lead the way."

Just a suggestion. Otherwise, he's goin' skateboarding on a beach of glass.

[killitwithfire]

"Yeah, that's what I thought. You want to hit town, or the volcano first then?" Axel asks, grinning broadly. He would have been rather disappointed, otherwise.

[sleazeoverstyle]

"They got a town here?"

Hell yeah: the day's lookin' better already. And if he plays his cards right, he bets he can even get a drink somehow. Different world probably means different money, but he never let a lack of funds stop him from quenching his thirst.

And he's pretty friggin' thirsty after that little jaunt through the darkness getting here.

[killitwithfire]

"Yeah. Well, it's more of a village, and a little touristy, but the locals in this world are actually really friendly," Axel explains, as he starts back down the ridge. There's a well-worn footpath there, that leads around to the beach, and back to the village.

[sleazeoverstyle]

"We gonna pull the twin brothers routine on the locals?" Personally, he still thinks he's the better-looking of the two, even if they are the same height with the same hair color and the tattoos and voice. The difference is in the eyes and the attitude, although Axel's attitude sure ain't so very different from his own. Plus, the guy's missing the all-important pair of goggles.

"Friendly and pretty, I hope?" He maneuvers the path easily. Shit, he can climb friggin' buildings when he has to, so the side of a hill ain't nothing. "Here's hoping you ain't burned all your bridges in this place along with their beachfront property."

[killitwithfire]

"Nah. The only time I ever actually met the locals, they invited me to their luau." His grin turns smug for a moment. "They're pretty laid-back here, from what I've seen. Love a good party, know how to dance, and yeah, pretty too."

In other words, Axel's kind of people, if you're talking people in a general sense.