[ So this is new and exciting. Definitely not Midgar, definitely not Purgatorium, definitely not that misty town he's almost certain he dreamed up. Space stations and artificial intelligence, oh my. The green hisses in the back of his mind, murmuring to itself about the last time She had been in space, the last time She had come to a new world, but there is no deliberation or task for him to fulfill. The green whispers of danger but no more or less than he normally found himself in, which said something about his life.
Once upon a time, he thinks, this would have been an emergency situation, being spirited away to places unknown by powers unknown. Now it's just a Saturday, and he strolls with hands in his pockets, fingering the explosives and poisons and razors within easy reach, ever present sunglasses hiding the poison mako green and cat pupils of his eyes. Jenova's mark. He'd traded away his humanity for power, and one of the consequences was unfortunately cosmetic.
Not that Duke made a habit of going around without his trademark shades anyway, but their necessity did make him more conspicuous, which was never a word that sat well with him. A retired spy was still a spy.
On the other hand, he was much harder to kill these days, so it all evened out in the end. Sort of.
He spares a thought for the new alias he'll have to use, when he gets up the energy to pay attention to the network here (there's always a network). The last time he'd given Valentine's name as his own, and he might do so again. Sikander Valentine. It wasn't actually any less him than Iskander Kaplan, or Alex, or even Duke. Just one more mask to wear. Just one more little lie, pretending he still had some connection to Vincent after all this time, pretending it mattered that he'd struck a devil's bargain and willingly given himself over to be made into a monster. Because clearly Vincent needed more of those in his life, when it had been done to him again his will.
In any case, Valentine's name is as good as any, and Duke certainly isn't looking for him specifically in this empty place, because that would be beyond pathetic. He's looking for anyone who happens to be there, and he won't be disappointed in the slightest when they don't turn out to be Vincent Valentine. ]
DUKE (THE LEGENDARY TURK) | FF7 BEFORE CRISIS | just arrived
Once upon a time, he thinks, this would have been an emergency situation, being spirited away to places unknown by powers unknown. Now it's just a Saturday, and he strolls with hands in his pockets, fingering the explosives and poisons and razors within easy reach, ever present sunglasses hiding the poison mako green and cat pupils of his eyes. Jenova's mark. He'd traded away his humanity for power, and one of the consequences was unfortunately cosmetic.
Not that Duke made a habit of going around without his trademark shades anyway, but their necessity did make him more conspicuous, which was never a word that sat well with him. A retired spy was still a spy.
On the other hand, he was much harder to kill these days, so it all evened out in the end. Sort of.
He spares a thought for the new alias he'll have to use, when he gets up the energy to pay attention to the network here (there's always a network). The last time he'd given Valentine's name as his own, and he might do so again. Sikander Valentine. It wasn't actually any less him than Iskander Kaplan, or Alex, or even Duke. Just one more mask to wear. Just one more little lie, pretending he still had some connection to Vincent after all this time, pretending it mattered that he'd struck a devil's bargain and willingly given himself over to be made into a monster. Because clearly Vincent needed more of those in his life, when it had been done to him again his will.
In any case, Valentine's name is as good as any, and Duke certainly isn't looking for him specifically in this empty place, because that would be beyond pathetic. He's looking for anyone who happens to be there, and he won't be disappointed in the slightest when they don't turn out to be Vincent Valentine. ]
((ACTION or NETWORK))