[TEXT] Leo to Team, COME IN TEAM

[anything_it_takes]

[The cart ride into Keeliai is long, exhausting and stressful. Leo presses himself into the furthest corner to hide (which still leaves him painfully visible) even as his sharp blue eyes peer through the slats, taking in as much of the alien city as possible.

On one hand, this is the most amazing thing Leo's ever experienced, an exhilarating adventure straight out of Space Heroes. On the other, he's never felt so alone, out of control and exposed in his life. Sure, he always wanted adventure, but not without the guys - and not hauled down a city road in broad daylight, surrounded by people turning their heads in curiosity.

At least the few kedan on the street who take a close enough look into the open-backed cart to spy him out don't scream or run. But there are some stares, and he can feel the undercurrent of hostility like a flame inches from his skin. There's a tension in the air in some parts of the city they go through, a hard look to some of the kedan when they see someone not like them...

Leo slips into his appointed building like - well, like a ninja, or as close as possible while lacking the cover of darkness. When he gets to his temporary quarters he leans his shell against the door and sighs wearily; alien robots and plant monsters are one thing, but this? This is an entirely new level of crazy.

Water had seemed a natural choice when the kedan gave him options. He's glad of his choice now as he splashes some from the room's small fountain over his head, then winces as he does the same to the burn mark forming on his shoulder. It's not serious, but Leo's entire arm aches and tingles from channeling Justin's electrical shock through his katana. He's certainly pulled smarter moves.

Hopefully whatever jerked him "sideways" during that explosion also took his brothers through in slightly different places, and he can link up with them again once they all get their bearings. He knows the team can handle this situation, but first? They have to be together.

He'll start canvassing the city come dusk, one Sector at a time if he has to. But until nightfall, Leonardo has time to kill, and he isn’t about to sit around doing nothing.

Settling in at the console, Leo sets it up for a text message - and pauses, considering his options. This is a public network; he has to get a message out that his brothers will understand if they're listening, but that won't arouse too much civilian curiosity or alert any enemies.

There is one thing... He'd batted around an idea for a code word with Donnie. The problem being, it was never official - Leo just hadn't anticipated a realistic situation where it would be useful. The idea was just idle talk.

He hopes that if Mikey or Raph are alone out there, they'll recognize his reference. Donnie will catch on at least, if he's listening. One way or the other it's the best Leo's got until he can search the rooftops.]


ANy New Yorkers out here? if you know the 2nd Time About shop on Bleeker, contact me ASAP

[Ryan to Dauntless, come in Dauntless...]

Aalso. Look, I got the story from the kidan ans I know i can;t be the first person to ask. But Im looking for any leads on how t get back to my own world... stories, rumuors, anything.

Thankyou.


[Please don't let him be alone out here. Leo presses Return.]



[ tl;dr Enter one cagey ninja turtle boy with delusions of being a Great Hero! Leo v.2012 is here and super worried about his bros ;A; ]

Comments

[audio --> action]

[seriouslytwisted]

[Great, Leonardo's in this mood now. THANKS DONNIE.

There's no talking him out of this though, Raph can hear it in his voice. So he heaves a frustrated sigh.]

Fine.

[And because Raphael knows his brother, when he finally gets there he's going to head for the roof instead of meeting in front. He's pretty familiar with the Metal sector now -probably more than he is with the Water sector, in fact- and it doesn't take him long to navigate to that spot.]

[perma-action]

[anything_it_takes]

[Leo's out there the second twilight eases into dark. But he's not on the roof. He's up on the spire, where he can see EVERYTHING that approaches him; from below he's just an architectural outcropping that doesn't quite fit.

And there's his brother in red. Leo is in SUCH a mood you don't even know. But it's not the dimensional twins and time variances and whatever the heck else Donnie was going on about that set his mask too tight. (Okay, so maybe that's a little of it.) It's Raphael. And waiting for him gives Leo PLENTY of time to stew over his brother's indiscretion.

He waits until Raph is on the roof, then drops down with a light thump. And boy is he mad.]

You've been here for two months, so you decide it's okay to plaster your face all over an unsecured Network?!

[Well Leo's not wasting any time, is he]

[seriouslytwisted]

[And Raph was about to smile upon seeing you, Leo. Now he just wants to shove you off the roof.]

Wh- It's not my fault! Those piece of crap computers keep fritzing on me!

[anything_it_takes]

[Yeeeeah unlike you bro Leo hasn't not seen his brothers in two months and he's not in the most sympathetic mood.]

You didn't seem to have any trouble switching between video and audio just now.

[Don't you dare say it's because you've been doing this for two months. RAPHAEL. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THIS.]

[seriouslytwisted]

No, Leo, I mean it did this before and seeing as how absolutely nobody cares, I didn't bother fixing it when it did. [He folds his arms tightly and snarls a little bit.] How about you get off my shell about it?

[anything_it_takes]

[Leo pinches between his eyes. On top of being shunted to a different dimension and alternate reality versions of himself and his brothers, he has to cope with THIS.]

Alright. Fine. What's done is done. [There's nothing anyone can do about the past. HOWEVER.]

But do something about it, tape over the lens or something. Whether people care or not, we shouldn't be advertising our presence!

[seriouslytwisted]

I'm not advertising. Advertising would be scrambling for the webcam and being really obvious about how much I don't want people to see me. Like Donnie does.

[Raph doesn't go out of his way to be seen, he just doesn't care if he is.]

[anything_it_takes]

[Nnnnnnnngh

Okay, okay, OKAY. Leo takes a deep breath and mulls over the situation. The posts are public record; if their enemies are here, or if they ARRIVE here, Leo can't change that. He can't count on Donnie being able to do it, either.

But you better do what he said and nix the video from here on out, Raph. Leo has a responsibility to protect the team and YOU might not think the Foot or the Kraang will ever get here but it's a good thing somebody around here is capable of planning ahead.

The things that happen when Leo's not around to tell Raph what to do...

Finally he sighs, the outrage over Raphael's video finally spent. Leo turns to sit on the molding around the base of the building spire, shell hitting the stone with a soft clunk.

Time for serious business.]

I take it Mikey isn't here yet. Well - our Mikey, anyway.

[YET. Because Leo just got here, Donnie and Raph have been here for a couple months, Mikey could be incoming. He COULD be... and Leo will treat that as a certain thing because the alternative is not an option.]

[seriouslytwisted]

[Raph huffs and leans against the side of the spire as well, arms still folded.] Haven't seen him anywhere yet. [And it's Mikey. He'd definitely have made himself known.]

Look, Leo- there's stuff you gotta know about these other guys.

[anything_it_takes]

[Leo leans back against the tower wall and looks up at Raph.]

All right. Bring me up to speed.

[seriouslytwisted]

This Mikey seems like an okay guy, but when me and Don went to visit his place it was like Leatherhead's hidey-hole in there. Traps all over, that would seriously kill people. And he let Donnie go in there and poke around on his own, without even going with him to disarm them.

[That didn't really sit well with Raph, but not until he looked back on it did he realize how much it bothered him. Donnie can disarm traps as well as the next guy, but in the dark, with as many as there were, without any idea where they were?

Yeah.]

[anything_it_takes]

[Leo doesn't know if that qualifies as cautious, or careless. But the idea that Donnie could have run face-first into a trap that was comparable to Leatherhead's frighteningly ingenious and pointy machinations? His expression hardens at the suggestion.

Not so great there, Mike.]

I'll have to be careful if I get an invite.

What else?

[seriouslytwisted]

...yeah.

[He doesn't want to talk about this one.]

Watch out for the other me here.

[anything_it_takes]

[OK you know what Raph, the less you say the more Leo has cause for worry. He hears the terseness of his brother's voice, can tell he's not just being brusque, Raph doesn't want to discuss it because talking about it makes him uncomfortable.

Leo is hardly his brother's nanny, but the reality that his brothers have been without his guidance for two whole months is gradually sinking in. So whatever happened to make Raph's expression go carefully neutral? Is Not Okay.]

What happened.

[seriouslytwisted]

[You know Leo, your brothers managed fifteen years without your guidance and somehow made it out relatively unscathed. You are definitely not Raph's nanny, and now that he's gotten this on top of Donatello all but accusing him of going on a wild rampage and expecting people to come after him because of Raph-

Yeah he's getting really annoyed here.]

None of your business.

Just watch out for him. He's got a temper. [Yes, Raphael is aware of the hypocrisy here, and he also knows it should say a lot about how unhinged this guy is if he says he has a temper.]

[anything_it_takes]

[Raphael's obviously on his last frayed nerve here. Leo's done fighting; he raises a hand slightly in placation.]

Alright, I'll try not to get him angry.

[Okay. They've been over everyone so far, except for...]

What about the other me?

[At THIS point Leo's not sure what to expect.]

[seriouslytwisted]

He's fine.

[Grumpily obliging, because he's glad Leo decided not to push it. Then again, Leo can always tell what's too far with Raph.]

He's not gonna be a problem.

[anything_it_takes]

[Yeah, Leo's not interested in a Real Fight, and he knows when it's going in that direction. He might not understand Raph a lot of the time... but he Gets him.]

Thank goodness for small favors.

[michaeljangelo]

Aww man, you really didn't just say that out loud, did you? That's like, asking for trouble.

[Says a voice from a nearby shadow. A nearby shadow that suddenly has the munchies and starts chewing on something crunchy.]

Begging for it really. Like...watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat sort of way.

[seriouslytwisted]

[HOW THE FUCK IS HE SO QUIET]

Mike! Nobody invited you, get lost!

[anything_it_takes]

[HOW DID HE SNEAK UP ON THEM okay to be fair, when Leo's engaged with his brothers he really doesn't focus enough on his surroundings. That has been proven over, and over, and over. STILL.

Hey, that sounds like...]

Is that popcorn?

[Are you creeping up there watching them talk and eating POPCORN????]

[michaeljangelo]

[Ninja.]

I did that already, get lost I mean. It was kind of embarrassing, really. My own fault though, I really don't get out nearly as much as I should.

[From the brief sound that follows there's the sound of someone brushing brushing their hands together, presumably to get rid of crumbs.]

Seaweed chips. Or...at least I'm going to pretend they're seaweed chips. It's traditional that this sort of thing require either candy or something with a good salty-crunchy mouth-feel.

[seriouslytwisted]

Stop talking.

[The real question is, how long was Mike there listening?]

Were you following us?

[anything_it_takes]

[YEAH. HE NOTICED THE "NINJA" PART. THANKS.

Leo just folds his arms and glares at the source of Mike's voice. He's backing his bro on this question.]

[michaeljangelo]

Why would I need to? You outright announced where you were going to be. It was just a matter of finding my way here.

[Slowly Mike emerges from the shadow. And why yes, he's smiling...of course he's smiling.]