εγλ 0010 March 18. 13:30. Upper Junon.
Rude calmly took a sip of his drink and released a heavy sigh. He slumped a bit in his chair, a fist resting on the table. It was like Reno to be late—ten minutes, fifteen, even twenty was understandable with his erratic personality. But it was approaching an hour past the agreed upon meeting time, and there was still no word from him. Rude was certain he gave the right address to the restaurant, and Reno was certainly familiar with this city even if it had been a few years since he last visited.
Rude could feel the sympathetic glance from the waitress as she refilled his glass with iced tea, probably assuming Rude was some poor bloke whose date stood him up. Other people would come to that conclusion, but Reno and Rude weren't like other people. Rude knew that Reno would never miss a chance to hang out and reminisce with his dearest friend. They had been partners for nearly ten years, knowing each other's personalities and quirks intimately, closer than even most siblings could achieve. No, something else was keeping Reno away, Rude could feel it in his gut. A sinking feeling inside him that told him something was wrong. Reno must have been in some kind of trouble (it certainly wouldn't have been the first time). Rude paid the small bill for the iced tea and purposefully walked out of the restaurant. Time to get to work, the former Turk thought as he slid his familiar sunglasses on.
εγλ 0010 March 18. ?:? Early evening?. Somewhere outside Junon.
Reno's pathetic groans echoed through the concrete pit he was buried in Pain wracked through his body; the burning sensation emanating from the broken bones through his arms, legs, and nose faded in and out, as if his nervous system could only process so much traumatic stimulus all at once. It was cold, and as night approached, it would only get colder. Here he was, trapped underneath some urban ruins somewhere outside of Junon. He was barely awake when his kidnappers had tossed him down into this pit and buried him alive. But now he was fully awake and conscious of the pain and severity of the situation he was in.
He wasn't dead now, but he surely would be within the next few days. He couldn't even move due to the injuries he had sustained from the beatings from the AVALANCHE-wannabe kids, there was no way he could move the rubble to free himself. The broken bones, the incoming freezing temperature of early spring nights, starvation, dehydration. And he was all alone. His friends and allies had no idea where he was. Reno shuddered as the list of what he was to suffer through ran through his mind. A fitting punishment, this was exactly the fate Reno himself had condemned hundreds, if not thousands, of poor souls to on that day three years ago. The lucky ones were crushed instantly, but most suffered for days underneath the rubble until they succumbed and died from their injuries and exposure to Mako radiation. And now, it seemed Karma had finally caught up to Reno.
Let it end. That was Reno's thought when Trisha held the gun to his head earlier that day. He meant it then and he meant it now. But the sweet embrace of death wouldn't come for him just yet, he was going to have to suffer for a while first to atone. But an even worse realization materialized: What if those kids had managed to kill him and now he was in Hell? He knew some people believed that when people die, they experience a sort of "final reckoning." As their spirit energy dissolves into the lifestream, their mind loses all sense of time and they're made to experience the reward or punishment from the virtues or sins of their life. Yeah, that sounded right. This was definitely Hell, a just reward for all the crimes against humanity he had committed as a Turk and an overall terrible human being. No amount of good he ever did for Shinra or for WRO could ever save him from this fate. He was right, it didn't matter if Trisha's friends had killed him or spared him. Reno would meet the same end.
How much time had passed? The sun was nearly set and the darkness would settle around him. He cried. He groaned in pain and cursed at the top of his lungs. Fuck, fuck, fuck, damn it all! Reno was on his way to obliteration, but he didn't have to go out quietly.
Reno felt a rumble above him, footsteps? Was someone really here? He groaned louder in a desperate hope that the person above could end this nightmare.
"Hey, I'm here! Hang tight, Reno! I'll get you out." The familiar voice filled with Reno with an overwhelming sense of relief. Even though they weren't Turks anymore, they were still partners. A bond so strong nothing could break it; not rubble, not Karma, nor any kind of divine retribution. Despite overwhelming odds, Rude was here, lifting away the rubble and uncovering Reno's pathetic form.
"Hey Rude!" said Reno, the relief in his voice rising above the pain. "Hey sorry I missed lunch. How'd you find me?"
Rude sighed and shook his head. "It wasn't easy."