[voice; action]

[seriouslytwisted]

[voice]

[Exploring and ninja-ing around is turning up a whole lot of dead ends and questions with no answers, so now Raphael is going to try his last resort.

Conversing with strangers.

Making sure he has his voice only function on (pretending that little SNAFU with it in his earlier conversation didn't happen) he reluctantly addresses his fellow...strand-ees.]


Okay, seriously. How many of you people actually buy that "you are in the in-between" story?

[the mystic new-age voice for the quote helps set the atmosphere, yes it is necessary]

---

[action]

[Before this post, Raphael will be swimming around in the Water Sector, trying to keep as hidden as possible but needing to surface to breathe and also sneak back up onto the docks occasionally when he can't cross sections in water. He's a stealthy little bugger, so the average Joe might miss him, but anybody with serious training or extra-sharp senses might find him.

...or you might catch him when he's losing his temper and angrily kicking over a barrel after talking to yet another tree-hugging native yokel, whatever.]

Comments

[seriouslytwisted]

[Even his voice is different. This is really surreal and just- this is weird. This is making his head hurt even worse.

Raph shakes off the last of the netting with Leo-but-not-Leo's help and puts a hand to his plastron, backing away a couple steps. This is borderline creepy, looking up into the face of someone who is unmistakably not his brother, but is still Leonardo.]

Leo, what- What happened to you? Why d'you look like that?

[duelkatana]

[Leo doesn't back away himself, but he doesn't move forward either. He kind of just...slides his katana back into its sheath and slowly gets to his feet. STILL STARING. STILL NOT BRAINING.]

Er...like what?

[seriouslytwisted]

Like that, like- [cough. Raphael steps forward and jabs a finger into Leo's plastron.] Like not-you! [Raph's eyes narrow and he steps back again. Is this Leo? What if this is like, some kind of robot or impersonation or something by the Kraang or the Foot or WHOEVER.]

[duelkatana]

[oh whoop - there goes the shock with that finger jab, and in its place is the timeless, beloved feeling of raph you're getting up in my face stop it. Even though this isn't...his Raph?? AUGH. He almost brings up a hand to swat that finger away, but Raph steps back again before he can.]

[OKAY. Getting his crap together now. You're a ninja, Leo, expect the unexpected or whatever.]

Raph, I don't know what you're talking about! [Okay he said your name kind of like a question, sorry.] Look, just calm down for a minute!

[seriouslytwisted]

[Oh there's that smug 'I'm better than you so you should listen to me,' tone that Raph hates so much.

...and is probably difficult to duplicate. Lots of things make Raph want to punch people in the face, but none quite so easily as Leonardo being bossy.]

I'll calm down if I feel like it!

[Lucky for you, Leo, he feels like it. So he folds his arms and glares up at him.] All right, start talking.

[duelkatana]

[Oh great. Leo is supposed to explain this? This is usually the kind of insane thing he'd hand off to Don, who'd pull some kind of magically sensible explanation out of thin air.]

[He crosses his arms too, out of habit more than anything - he has no idea who this kid is, but he sure has Raph's inherent ability to make Leo feel frustrated and on edge, and he scowls in silence for several moments before speaking.]

I think we should compare notes. You're Raphael, I take it?

[seriouslytwisted]

Yeah, I'm Raphael! You know any other mutant turtles in red? [Raphael is wearing his patent snarl, but Leo's not rising to the bait. He's just- just so fucking reasonable and he's being calm and adult and ugh UGH UGH. Come at him already!]

/SCREAMS AT DW and tags before class

[duelkatana]

Take it easy, Raph. [It slips out before he can stop it, which kind of surprises him because that hard, level tone is...more of something he'd take with Mikey than he would Raphael. He grimaces back, narrowing his eyes.] Look, I don't know what's going on any more than you do. You look like my brother, but you're definitely not the Raphael I know.

I KNOW RIGHT

[seriouslytwisted]

[Raphael gives Leo another look-over, categorizing all the differences. Even his limbs are a different shape; he's no more the Leonardo Raphael knows physically than he is in voice or how he behaves. This Leo's even less fun than the other one, and that's saying something.

Whoever this is, he's not Raphael's brother. And Raph wishes he could just get angry about it, but he almost drowned and he's tired and he'd been so hopeful. He just kind of wilts; sinks down into a crouch and hangs his head with a sigh. Giving up the fight a lot easier than a certain other Raphael with whom Leo is more familiar.]

You're not the Leo I know either.

You're like some...other-dimension Twilight Zone twin. [Raph's pretty sure there was an episode of Space Heroes like this. ...not that he pays attention to that stupid show.]

[duelkatana]

[And that...really kind of takes Leo off guard. He isn't sure what he was even expecting at this point, but whatever it was, seeing the fire go out of this other-Raph so quickly is startling enough to take the wind out of his own sails. He lowers his arms and looks again, this time more slowly.]

[...he's younger. It's obvious beyond his smaller stature - his voice, how he carries himself. The way he's crouched on the ground right now, discouraged, even a little vulnerable. Leo can't remember the last time he's seen his own brother like that.]

[This is absolutely insane. There's still a disconnect between what he's thinking and what's right in front of him: this can't be Raphael. There are only four mutant ninja turtles, and only two of them are here. Some kind of trick. A trap by the Emperor or Evandau. Or maybe he's just losing his marbles.]

[But what he's seeing is Raph, not quite Leo's brother but still, unmistakably Raphael, a kid who's upset and beaten down because...Leo isn't quite his brother, either. And in the end, the battle between Leonardo's caution and his compassion has always been a rather one-sided fight.]

[With a quiet sigh Leo crouches down, bringing himself closer to eye level with Raph. Man. How does he even do this?]

Maybe we should start from the beginning. What's the last thing you remember before coming here?

[seriouslytwisted]

[Raph's eyes flick up to Leo when he crouches down in front of him, and now that the adrenaline's worn off he's just exhausted. Yesterday he apparently almost drowned in the ocean, and today he almost drowned again. Two days ago he got his baby brother seriously wounded with his incompetence.

This is just not his week.

He'd be more insulted by Leo coming down to his level like he's some kind of little kid, but Raph just so badly wants a familiar face that he'll take one that's only halfway familiar, at this point. Almost.]

How am I supposed to know you're not a trick? Some kinda robot freak or Foot Clan soldier with a costume fetish?

[He wants to believe this Leo means no harm, but it's...difficult. He's just so naturally suspicious.]

[duelkatana]

[The question manages to shock a small smile out of Leo, because...that suspicion? Yeah, that's something he's a little more familiar with. He shifts his balance between his feet, musing over how to respond.]

[...funny how his own fears were echoed right back at him, when he thinks about it. And Leo knows: sometimes it takes trust to make trust.]

[He shifts back a respectful distance, then drops to his knees in a formal kneeling position. He loosens the strap holding his twin katana, pulling both sheaths from the leather strip tying them into their X-cross shape - and then he takes them and sets them on his right side, the sheathed blades facing in. Difficult to reach and nearly impossible to draw before your enemy; a classic gesture of friendly intention among traditional samurai. Then he leans forward into a bow.]

I mean you no harm. I swear this on my honor.

[If this Raph's Leo is anything like he is...or if he has a sensei who ingrained Bushido into them just as deeply, maybe this will get through to him.]

[seriouslytwisted]

[If that doesn't creep Raphael right the fuck out, nothing will; sure, it creeps him out in a reassuring way, but still. A LEO. IS BOWING TO HIM. This is really disturbing.]

All right- geez, Leo, get up. What's the matter with you?

[Raph's folded his arms tightly over his plastron and is looking away, face a darker green than usual.]

I believe you already.

[duelkatana]

[what. too much?]

[Okay but really, Leo can't help a bit of a grin at that. It's not like he meant to embarrass Raph, but at least the message got through. And ordinarily he'd leave the katana at his side as a sign of continued respect, but it looks to him like this Raph has had enough of customs, so he obeys and knots them back up into their scabbards before rising into a stand.]

[...looking at Raph's flustered reaction, he's also finally starting to find a shred of familiarity in the situation. At least in addition to the still very prominent levels of WTF.]

I guess you might have a few things in common with my brother after all. [Okay yeah sorry, now he just sounds...a little bit amused. His Raph can get pretty embarrassed by all the formal stuff, too.]

UGH I SHRIEKED WHEN LEO BOWED BTW

[seriouslytwisted]

[Well see, if it were Mikey bowing before him, or if it was because Raphael had won a fight, yeah. You stay down there for like ten minutes while he takes pictures and video.

But otherwise- IT WAS JUST EMBARRASSING OKAY

Raphael scoffs when Leonardo stands up -he wears his swords differently too- and does his best to pull himself back together.] Imagine that.

Anyway. What I remember before I showed up was fighting Snakeweed- [hold on] You know who that is?

(◡‿◡✿)

[duelkatana]

Snakeweed? [what the heck kind of name is that] No, that...definitely doesn't ring any bells.

AHH CUTE

[seriouslytwisted]

[He sees that judging look on your face Leonardo.] Wh- Look, Mikey named him. We just call him that to shut Mikey up.

[duelkatana]

You named him? [AND fought him? What exactly is this thing??]

[seriouslytwisted]

He names things, the kid's a lunatic, I know. [MOVING ON.]

I was fighting Snakeweed with Leo -my Leo- and before that- [This throat closes up. He doesn't want to admit that he got his brother seriously hurt, not to someone who's essentially a stranger, even if he doesn't feel like it.] Before that...I was looking for him.

Anyway, Snakeweed knocked me into a wall and I saw stars, and then I'm getting pulled out of the water.

[duelkatana]

[Sounds a bit similar to what had happened back in Leo's world - the part about being in a fight and getting knocked out, anyway. But he's already heard accounts from other people that they weren't in any danger before they got here, so...he doesn't put much stock into that.]

[More importantly. Leo's never heard of this "Snakeweed" guy, and he most certainly doesn't remember ever fighting anyone named that with his brother. This Raphael...it's like he's from a whole different world.]

[...]

[...there was a professor on the consoles the other day, and he mentioned parallel worlds, multiverses. Leo's got his experience with the Battle Nexus, and he's listened to some of Donnie's lectures on the subject, but...it all seemed so academic. It's not like Leo thought hey, maybe one day I'll be staring at an alternate version of my brother.]

[Assuming that's what's actually happening here. But he hasn't got a better explanation yet.]

Looks like none of us are in Kansas anymore.

[seriouslytwisted]

Dude. [Slightly choked voice here. At least the humiliatingly lame quips are the same. That's totally a comfort except that it's not.]

[duelkatana]

...what? [It was clever!]

[seriouslytwisted]

[No.]

Okay, so, if you don't know who Snakeweed is, do you know about Dog Pound? Bradford, I mean. Or Baxter Stockman, or the Kraang? Or the Foot?

[duelkatana]

[Dog Who and...wasn't there an utrom named Kraang or something?]

[Except he knows those other two, and oh, especially the latter. Leo's face darkens as he realizes the implications; it would figure, of course, that the Foot would be a constant within any world the turtles existed in.]

You mean the Shredder.

[seriouslytwisted]

Yeah. Him too.

[So that's the same, then, even in this other freak bizarro world this Leonardo's from. Great. Awesome to know that no matter what, there's a Shredder out there to kick the shit out of his brothers.]