Voro closed his apartment doors with a nice click, making a small echo in this tiny one-bedroom place. Floor cracked when he stepped over to the empty clothes hangers and left the overwhelmingly sweaty leather jacket on it.
The pants were neatly folded and left on the couch, backpack left near the rest of the bags and shoes, even with the dust and blood on them - fit perfectly into the spot he took them from.
Surprising even to himself, the lights were off.
Voro just...didn`t feel like needing them now.
It was dark but nice. And he still saw everything clearly, maybe he was just so used to the same exact layout of items and furniture, or maybe he just started to see better.
Hard to say from just a dim room. There was something else to check out.
The shirt came off and went into the laundry basket, and Voro finally stood in front of the mirror.
He changed, the sweat and tiredness, the greenish blood, the look on his face but more importantly - everything else.
Ripped body.
Weirdly smaller eye pupils.
Veins pumping blood , visible to the naked eye.
And down on his legs, almost swollen ankles are now fine and ... bigger. But with a weird spider-web like bruise on the feet, some sort of nerve visible through the skin maybe..
Or that`s just his imagination, at this point anything was possible for him.
grrr....grumbbllleee
'Right' Voro snapped and went straight to the fridge 'Food'
Inside of course - meat. A lot of meat, as expected from a butcher, who was raised by a butcher and lived on meat his whole life.
Voro grabbed the biggest piece of prime beef he had, dumped a side of mashed potatoes and a lot of sauce, microwave that "dish" and stuff his face with it as fast as possible.
And during the feast, he just thought.
About the general situation the world has found itself in, and especially Voro among the people "hurt". Oh what a shame it was, so much...chaos around him.
But it didn`t move him at all.
Only thing that changed for him is the lack of workplace and his family shop.
Which....also didn`t move him. More like gave him joy. Freedom.
Voro smiled to himself, and bit a large chunk of beef.
--------
At the site of the Tower near his shop , or the Emergence, or the Disasterof2026 or EarthBlack**** as other people call it now, there was a small blue tent with a redcross on top of it. Voro went straight there.
"Yes hello, I`ve called the line about.....being alive and being on the list" Voro came in chuckling a bit
"Oh I see, let me help you with that" few computer clicks and loading screens later
"May I have your name?"
"Voro Vane"
"mhm" keyboard typing extensively " Where where you at March 9th at 14:25, or around that time. If you`re not sure when that was - we mean The Event"
"I was at my butcher shop" Voro quickly said "Wait The Event?"
"Temporary name. Your ID please and we`ll be good to go"
Voro reached for his wallet while someone entererd the tent behind him
"Hello Veronica. I see we have another lost soul"
"Yes we do, and we`re almost done"
"Huh" The man in a black suit walked up to Voro and looked him dead in the eyes
"You don`t look injured Mr...." looked at the Id card "Vane...How`s your shop holding up?"
"Not good Mr.Thorne" He answered holding his id plaque on his chest.
"Hmmmm. If you don`t mind me asking, why so late? The announcement was made over 26 hours ago."
"I do mind, but if you must know, I was at my grandpa`s house. Outside of town."
"I see, I assume you needed some peace and quiet after this huh?"
"Yeah" Voro got back his ID card from the lady with a polite thank you "ALL of this"
Nodded to both of them and left the tent
'That man....is problematic' Voro started to walk towards his destroyed shop, while observing as much of his surrounding as possible.
Where was the platform, where did the workers moved through.
Police cars - parking spots, count and patrol route.
Anything useful to him later.
On the other side of the street he went to his PrimeCut shop and after a small talk with the police ofiicer, he let him through the yellow taping. Inside the shop he picked up a broom and started cleaning up.
Or at least pretending to - his eyes kept looking outside. Collecting info.
Because of course, one visit to the Tower wasn`t enough.
Not after seeing what it did to him, even though the one floor rewards weren`t much, it was still like spending months on training the body. And that wouldn`t be enough probably to jump the gap between buildings, not like this at least.
And of course, he had to go back for another reason, something much simpler for him yet complicated to others.
FUN
Why would he give up on the adrenaline rush of fighting monsters, the actual living blood flowing out of them instead of cheap meat.
Why would he stop at the beginning of something clearly much bigger.
So, after time and time thinking about the next step, he prepared.
Shelves were cleared out and all the "tools" were brought home. He emptied the counter, took all the product he had and threw it in the fridge. Any bandages, anti-bacteria sprays, masks and all other hygienic equipment into the first aid kit.
When he was satisfied with what he learned about the location, he bid the police officer farewell and went home.
And then he packed for the second run.
2 large knives, butcher and chef`s - breaking and stabbing.
10 small ones, mostly for throwing. If the next boss is stronger, he might not escape like before.
Whole first aid kit - for good measures.
Smallest sleeping bag he had - Sleeping on his backpack wasn`t nice last time.
Food - beef jerky and water.
Some thermal clothing and black overalls, perfect for a dark cold castle.
Gloves - something he found out he had from the leather clothes set. He did hear his father used to be a motor-head and drive days without end. Good thing he left some remainders for his son.
'Thanks dad. I`ll take those for good use'
And now he was ready. Only thing left to do is wait for the opportunity to get into the Tower.
And he waited, on a roof top next to the Emergence site with a clear path for him to run towards it and get to the second floor of the Tower. Somehow.