ɪʀᴏɴᴡᴏᴏᴅ ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ ᴇsʜᴀɪ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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tushanshu_logs2013-05-20 05:12 pm
ironwood) wrote in tushanshu_logs2013-05-20 05:12 pm
Entry tags:
- post: npc,
- thread: michaelangelo,
- thread: zatanna zatara,
- † alcuin nó delaunay,
- † amelia wil tesla sailune,
- † amon,
- † arthur,
- † arthur curry,
- † assorted characters,
- † carol danvers,
- † finnick odair,
- † jack frost,
- † james buchanan barnes,
- † jason bourne,
- † javert,
- † johan gustav dååhd,
- † kaldur'ahm,
- † king richard,
- † korra,
- † leonardo (2003),
- † leonardo (2012),
- † livewire,
- † marius pontmercy,
- † mark grayson,
- † peter parker (animated),
- † prussia,
- † tazendra,
- † toro raymond,
- † una persson,
- † victor borkowski,
- † wally west,
- † zelgadis greywords
Event | Satellite | Crash Landing
Characters: Any and all!
Date: May 21, 2013
Location: In and around the city of Keeliai
Situation: The early morning hour brings unexpected devastation to Keeliai and the outlying areas. Emergency response and damage control follows!
Warnings/Rating: Fires, minor violence; please put CW in your subject lines
Satellite Crash Event
Crash Landing | Salvage Party | Shocking Spectres
Questions | Fire Sector | Earth Sector | Metal Sector | Water Sector | Wood Sector | Outlying Areas
The early morning hours of May 21st are broken by the sound of a low lying explosion and a veritable rain of fiery bits and bobs such as molten hot metal and space debris. Those out and about in the very early morning (three hours before dawn) see a meteoric shape streaking overhead and leaving a debris trail. Those interested in following it may find themselves distracted by the debris raining down across Tu Vishan, starting fires and damaging buildings turtlewide. Tu Vishan certainly is, for the great turtle grinds to a halt amidst all this and a trace of concern for the little ones on his shell can be felt in the minds of many.
Date: May 21, 2013
Location: In and around the city of Keeliai
Situation: The early morning hour brings unexpected devastation to Keeliai and the outlying areas. Emergency response and damage control follows!
Warnings/Rating: Fires, minor violence; please put CW in your subject lines
Satellite Crash Event
Crash Landing | Salvage Party | Shocking Spectres
Questions | Fire Sector | Earth Sector | Metal Sector | Water Sector | Wood Sector | Outlying Areas
The early morning hours of May 21st are broken by the sound of a low lying explosion and a veritable rain of fiery bits and bobs such as molten hot metal and space debris. Those out and about in the very early morning (three hours before dawn) see a meteoric shape streaking overhead and leaving a debris trail. Those interested in following it may find themselves distracted by the debris raining down across Tu Vishan, starting fires and damaging buildings turtlewide. Tu Vishan certainly is, for the great turtle grinds to a halt amidst all this and a trace of concern for the little ones on his shell can be felt in the minds of many.
no subject
He doesn't take time to study the source of the destruction. He already got a good enough look up on the roof, and right now, that isn't their problem. Worry about that once they get out of there in one piece.
In a minute's time, they're at the top of the heap, twisted hot metal and smoldering wood scorching the soles of his feet. His eyes water and his lungs burn, but above he can see clean air and sunlight. Though they're not out of the woods yet.
The hole in the roof is too much of a vertical leap from their position, and Raph can't swing it with this guy on his shoulders. Reflexively, he looks to his brother for a plan. You're the problem solver here, Fearless. Better think of something and make it quick.
no subject
Halfway up, Leonardo realizes his mistake. The smoke had thrown off his sight more than he'd thought. From here he can see it plain as day: it's too high. He can't give Raph a boost that far up, not when his brother has the added weight and one arm occupied keeping it there. He doesn't let it break his climbing stride, but his mind is furiously working. Need a way out.
He still doesn't have one when they get to the top. He's aware of his brother looking at him, but he ignores the gaze, stares up at the hole in the roof with calculated intensity. Then his eyes tear away to sweep the upper level, taking in every rapid-fire detail - there's absolutely no solid ground left, save for a single ledge jutting out from the wall where the floor crumbled away. They could easily sidle along it, but there's no windows along the wall. Just another dead -
Wait.
A thick metal support beam, jutting out horizontally from the wall on the far side of the room. Useless as vertical as it is now, but if they can just get it to straighten out a bit - they could use it as a stepping stone to get to the roof.
His gaze swings back to Raph. "Give me your sai!"
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"This better be good, Leo," he says, his voice grating like sandpaper in his throat. "'Cause in about two seconds we're gonna be turtles flambe."
If he loses his sai, he'll be pretty cheesed off. But if they die, he's gonna be pissed.
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He lands on the outcropping of cement, his heart shuddering in relief when it remains solid underfoot. Then he's navigating across the ledge with nearly effortless grace, making his way to the protruding rafter. His eyes sting with tears and his chest is starting to feel like it's closing in on itself, but they're so close. They can do this.
When he finally makes it to the beam, Leonardo signals for Raph to stay back. Then he swings his left arm around metal bar to hug it close to his side and lets his weight drop from the ledge, leaving him hanging from the beam like some kind of insane acrobat. A low hiss escapes from his throat at the mere heat of the metal - feels like his skin is being cooked - but he ignores it and swings his right leg up, slamming his foot flat against the wall. Gritting his teeth, Leo starts pulling hard at the beam, leaning all of his weight away from wall while keeping his foot firmly planted, exerting as much pressure as he can on the point it goes into the plaster.
Then, with his right hand, he viciously stabs the sai into the wall over and over, trying to dig around the beam enough for it to loosen and shift away, to bend, to give, to straighten out, anything. Come on...
Come on!
no subject
"Easy...," he growls, mostly out of earshot from where Leo's perched monkey-like on the beam. The warning's mostly for himself, anyways.
Okay, so maybe he's still a little pissed. He never was any good at any of that zen crud, but the potential of being burned alive is too great to lose it right now. Those flames aren't getting any smaller, and the kedan draped across his shoulders isn't getting any lighter. The man is still nothing but dead weight, hasn't given him so much as a sign of life since he dug him out of the rubble. Adjusting his grip, Raph can only hope he's not standing here risking his shell for a corpse.
Below, he can hear the groan of warping metal, the crackle of burning wood. The pile of debris is getting more precarious by the second. Something near the ground explodes, belching an eruption of heat and fire that is way too hot for comfort.
"Any day would be good!" He yells, like that would make it any better.
Much as he hates to think it, he's getting to the point where he might need to ditch this guy or they'll both be killed.
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Then, with another wrenching jerk that rattles his teeth, the beam catches again, stuttering to a complete stop. Leo coughs, trying to regain his bearings; he's hanging precariously over the ground level, now completely washed in flames, but he's alive and the beam is supporting his weight. He glances up to see the other end held sturdily in place by a bent section that refuses to jam through the hole he'd dug.
"Go!" he shouts hoarsely as he swings backwards, already building the momentum to launch himself up after Raph.
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On the ground below, a huge group of kedan have gathered, working methodically at putting out the fire. Some point and shout at him, some gasp in fear and panic. He can see the rest of the family huddled under a tree. When the woman spots him, she rushes forward toward the burning building, wildly screaming his name. Two more kedan come to hold her back.
"You better be alive up there, pal," he grumbles, shifting the man's weight again. "Your family's waitin' for ya."
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He doesn't stop to look at the ground or chat with his brother. The second he's got enough oxygen in his system, Leo is sprinting towards the roof's edge, trusting his brother to be right behind him. The building groans and shudders underfoot. They might only have seconds before the whole thing collapses in on itself.
No trees in close range; only one way down he can think of. If he were Don, he could run a few quick tests in his head about velocity generated from this height versus the depth of the water. But he isn't, and all he can remember is that they're pretty damn deep. It'll have to do. A broken bone or two can be risked when the other, more guaranteed outcome is burning alive.
"Canal!"
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Digging his feet into the soft canal bed, he launches his way back to the surface. The first breath of real, clean air rakes his smoke-singed lungs, making him cough as he swims his way back to the grassy bank. He lies there hacking for a moment on his hands and knees, a string of spittle hanging from his mouth and a sense of failure burning in his chest.
If the guy wasn't dead already, he sure is dead now.
It's then he notices the group of kedan fishing something out of the water. Another few are running in his direction. In his gut, his first reaction is to run away from the screaming mob. But before he can completely catch his breath, they're helping him up, thanking him. And he just stands there stunned. All these people who just yesterday hated his guts are actually grateful for what he's done. It's kinda nice, actually.
When he asks about the man, they tell him he's still alive. Exactly how alive, he doesn't even want to know. He can't be all that well-off after what he's been through, but he doesn't even want to think about the details.
He just wants to find Leo and figure out what the hell that metal thing was that started this whole freakin' mess.
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He can barely tell up from down, but he kicks off blindly through a haze of bubbles in the direction of dappled light. When his head suddenly breaks the surface, Leo gulps down a breath of air - it's cleaner than the smoke-tinged air up on the roof, making his lungs wrench inside his chest, like there's not enough room. He hacks several times, bobbing up and down in the water. Through tear-filled eyes he spots his brother being helped to his feet at the canal's edge.
Where's Tian?
The question sends a jolt of electricity through his spine. Leo clamps down on his coughing fit and barrels forward, ignoring the feeling of thousands of needles piercing into his arms with every stroke. Already the skin is starting to blister in the beginnings of what look like second-degree burns, but he doesn't care. Not right now.
A few more kedan cluster at the water's edge, ready to help him up. They grab at his elbows and shell, carefully avoiding his damaged skin; whispering words of awe and praise at him. His pride aches worse than his wounds at the attention, but to push them away would be an insult, so he surrenders himself to their care.
"Raph," he calls out as they half-guide him up the canal's slope, "where is he?"
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It gets worse when one of the medics breaks free from tending to the family and jogs over in his direction with a case of medical supplies. Raph's already flinching away before the guy even gets all the way over.
"I'm fine," he grits out as the guy gets too close for comfort trying to examine a burn on his arm. He wrenches the assaulted limb out of his grasp, giving the medic a sour look. "Look. I know you're tryin' to help, but I said I'm fine."
Thankfully he can see Leo coming up the bank toward him with his own entourage. Hopefully they can slip out of here before he really snaps at someone. He's getting really sick of all these weirdos trying to touch him.
"Over there," he answers, nodding to the larger group gathered farther down the bank. "They said he's still alive."
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"Thank you," he murmurs politely, tugging his limbs gently back to his side. "I can walk now." He could walk from the start, but he's trying to be nice.
The kedan step away from him, though they're still hovering a few feet behind as he makes his way towards his brother. The medic Raph shooed away tries to come at him too, and this time Leo at least lets him take one arm and stretch it out for a look. Without the cool bite of canal water against his skin or the adrenaline pumping through his veins, it's getting progressively harder to ignore the sizzling pain running up and down his arms.
"Good," he sighs, a bit belatedly. He closes his eyes and breathes a slow, careful breath of clean air.
A sob of delight pierces through the dawn sky. Leo's eyes fly open and swerve to the source - the group surrounding the family has broken away, and from here he can see Tian sitting half-up with the help of his medic, disoriented and bewildered by his wife throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing into his chest. At his sides, his daughter holds the baby with shining eyes, and his son drops to his knees to bury himself in his father's side.
Huh. Tougher than he looks.
Leonardo takes an incognito glance around. Everyone around them is watching the scene, even the medic still poking at his arm. He tilts his head towards Raph with a grin.
That's our cue.
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It wasn't that he didn't like people for their lack of gratitude. It wasn't even because they always screamed in his face. He just didn't like people in general.
There were a few exceptions, of course. But the kedan aren't one of them. Sure, they may be all smiles and gratitude now. Try waiting a week and seeing where they all stand then. No matter what, they were Foreigners, and the kedan hated them for being there.
Raph doesn't smile as he slips his way past the crowd. It's not that he isn't happy about what just happened. The guy lived and that's great. But there's something fishy about those things falling from the sky, and they're gonna get to the bottom of it.
He and Leo stick to the rooftops on their tour around the burning chaos of Keeliai. They pull more people to safety from crumbling buildings in Fire, sit crouched in the growing shadows watching people sift through the rubble in Earth. And that night, they hunker down in an alleyway and catch a few restless hours of sleep.
On day two, it's in Metal that he has the real fun. People taking advantage of the chaos start looting stores, starting riots in the streets. And though Raph isn't completely against the idea of stealing, he has no problem getting involved with those wackbags, prattling on about research and stolen work. It's like listening to a whole bunch of caffeinated Dons after a thirty-six hour long lab work marathon. Calling it "annoying" wouldn't even be the half of it.
After a long couple days of fighting, they stop and make a small camp on the outskirts of town to rest and regroup. Burned, bruised and exhausted, Raph picks at the small fire, roasting some kind of weird animal they'd been given earlier by a grateful shop owner.
He knows Leo wants to get in contact with the other turtles. They haven't talked about it at any great length yet, but he can feel the conversation creeping in like an unwelcome house guest.
no subject
But a city in chaos is familiar, no matter how it speaks. Leonardo and Raphael are a two-turtle rescue squad, a vigilante force, a pair of silent lookouts, whatever Keeliai needs them to be within the rapidly changing hours. For the first time in a while, Leonardo feels like the limbs to a well-oiled machine are missing, and it places a heavy block of sick guilt in his stomach - will the time come when he and Raphael don't even feel the missing presences, the empty shadows where their brothers should be at their side?
The leader says yes: compensate. Adapt. The turtle says: never.
It's something on the periphery of his mind, but Leonardo doesn't allow it to swallow his thoughts. Not while the city speaks. It's only when they take a pause to collect themselves on the outskirts of the city does he allow himself time to reflect.
His resolution is surprisingly simple. There's nothing wrong with adapting - only with forgetting. And that, at least, will never be a problem.
But then his thoughts turn to the other turtles that are here...their interdimensional cousins, as he's come to rationalize them. Leo and Raph haven't had time to check if their own suites are still standing, let alone stop in and use the console functions to try and hail someone. Their alternate doppelgangers are completely off the radar.
It's worrying. Leo's fully confident that they can take care of themselves, but it's been over two solid days of radio silence. They can't let it sit any longer.
He stops cleaning his swords to stare over the fire at his brother. "We need to touch base with them."
no subject
There's a flash of teeth as he digs the stick into the hot coals a little more violently than necessary. It loosens a smoldering log, collapsing the flaming pile in a burst of firefly pieces of ash.
Getting mad, thinking about going back out there and putting the beat-down on more dumb thugs is easier than thinking about the real issue here. Because that... that's the proverbial can of worms. A livewire bundle of emotions he still hasn't been able to make sense of after so many months. It's just been long cycles of avoidance until he gets their presence forced down his throat again. Over and over.
All he knows is it just doesn't feel right. Every time he thinks of them being out there, there's a tight, hot feeling in his stomach that just makes him want to hurt something. He just doesn't want anything to do with them if he can avoid it. So he decides not to answer with anything more than brooding silence.
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But as it turns out, maybe Leo's soul was never his to share. For him, perhaps understanding that is all it ever took. But Raphael...
Leo knows his brother, but their minds work so differently. Even since childhood, it was obvious that they'd never be able to fully grasp how the other processes information - if Leo did things one way, Raph did something entirely different, and even if the result was the same, no amount of yelling would make their methods clear to one another. Leo was precise, methodical, inventive; Raphael was efficient, intuitive, direct.
When he was a kid, Leo just thought Raph was stupid. Stupid and lucky. It pains him now to think about how little he understood his brother.
He understands now, though. He understands that his solution cannot be his brother's. And he understands that he will never be able to grasp the way Raph's mind works well enough to do anything but push and hope he comes to one himself. Because Raphael is anything but stupid.
Leo lets the silence stew for nearly a full minute. Finally, he lifts the swords from his lap, sets them upright against the rock, and leans forward, steepling his fingers in front of his face. He fixes Raph with his full attention, gaze piercing through the embers swirling above the fire.
"Raphael."
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Or at least that's how it comes across in Raph's mind. Everything about the situation makes him feel uncomfortable, violated. But instead of shedding some light on exactly what the problem is, he only reacts like he's being threatened and pushes back.
"What?" He snaps, dropping his stick into the fire and restlessly climbs to his feet. "You wanna check on the little pipsqueaks, go right ahead. Just leave me out of it."
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Tonight, he'll try and skirt past. He inclines his head questioningly, keeping his voice carefully neutral. "Why?"
He may not exactly understand how the cogs turn in that head of Raph's, but over the years he's learned how to insert the coins. Sometimes the most straightforward questions dispense the fullest answers.
no subject
Raphael has never been good with his own emotions. Most of the time, he just doesn't understand why he feels the way he does, why things set him off so bad. Sometimes they feel like a disease that slowly threatens to consume him. They're like a demon that takes control of his every sense. Makes him lose his head, makes him do things he regrets. But anger. Anger he can understand, channel outward, make other people feel the way he does. It's the only way he knows how to make other people understand.
Much as Leo doesn't want to rise to the bait, now Raph's expecting a fight, and he won't back down now. Not when fighting is so much easier than talking. Pacing the length of the fire's red halo like a tiger in a cage, he spits his words like a snarl.
"You know, just because you're all enlightened now don't make you my shrink. It doesn't matter why. So just shut your trap and leave me out of it!"
no subject
This time he's gone straight for the throat from the get-go. Holding some stupid, imaginary superiority complex over his head...separating them into two islands so far away they can't even see the smoke from one another's fires. It's the biggest chink in his armor. And somehow he falls for it, every time.
"It does matter, Raph," he bites out, lowering his hands from his face. He stares into the scattering ashes, gritting his teeth and standing up. His eyes lock back onto his brother, framed by a halo of shadows at the fire's edge. "It's been months. Don't you think this has gone on long enough?"
no subject
Their family, what they have is sacred. Sure there were times in his life he'd wished there were more mutant turtles in the world. But after spending a lifetime learning that they'll always be alone and die alone, that loneliness, that special bond he has between his brothers... that's all he has. It's his identity. And this place has violated all of that.
None of it is his anymore, and he hates it. He hates what they are, how they look, how they talk. He hates that little wide-eyed kid with the chip in his shell is so much like him and everything he's not all at once. He hates feeling robbed, replicated, invaded. He hates how they remind him of brothers he hasn't seen in months, but they're just not his.
"It ain't right."
no subject
'So why are you pretending it is?'
"No one's asking you to roll out the red carpet!" He bites out, not quite managing to keep the growl from his voice. His hands bunch into fists at his sides, but it's an empty show of self-control. He's already entered the hurricane. "You haven't even given them a chance." Then Leo sneers; it's pure ugliness and spite, and later on, he'll hate himself for it. "Or would you rather the other Raph let us starve?"
His own accusations are there, printed in seething blood - Is that what you would have done?
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So instead, that point pries into him, rips the lid off the temper he was barely making an effort to contain.
"We would've done just fine without him!" He snarls, lunging forward toward his brother, close enough to the fire it sets his old burns ablaze with stinging pain. "We don't need them, and I don't need you tryin' to tell me what to do!"
He wants so badly to just jump him. Duke it out with fists instead, show Leo how he really feels.
Far away, in the city that's nothing more than firefly lights winking on the horizon, the sound of screaming echoes through the night like packs of howling wolves. Nothing like the errant yelp and yell of lingering crime from before.
Raph almost misses it over his heartbeat thrumming in his ears, doesn't react until he sees something... Something like weird lightning, like silver clouds drifting over the dark shadows of buildings. Something drifting their way.
Shaken from his rage, all Raph can do is stare over Leo's shoulder at the thing flying blindingly quick in their direction.
"Uh, Leo?"
no subject
Leo is ready to give it to Raph. He sinks his feet, preparing for the first blow...
...that doesn't come. There's an explosion of noise from a drowsy city, a series of screams that cut off at just the wrong time. It sets off an entirely different string of alarm bells in his mind.
Raph's instant change in body language seals it. The moment his gaze flits over Leo's shoulder, everything is dropped from his mind but pure, ingrained instinct. He barely registers his brother's words above the electricity jolting through his body, his brain telling him to move.
Without thinking, he strikes out hard against Raphael's chest with his palm, trying to knock him back from whatever's coming at them. Then he's turning on his heel, lunging for his swords as his eyes feverishly slash into the direction Raph was looking in - he doesn't see it, where's the threat coming from -
Then he catches it streaking towards them, like an underwater shadow in reverse. Blacker than the night itself, but shimmering in bright metallic tones when the light glosses over its form; fast and deadly like a predator, a living cloak of lighting headed straight in their direction. A perfect bolt of pure, menacing danger. Leo's heart beats once in his throat before shattering into ice.
He's not going to make it to his swords.
The thing slams into him at velocity, lifting him off his feet and pitching him clear over the fire into the fringes of darkness at the edge of the campsite. He lands hard on his plastron, banging his head against the cool earth, but he doesn't cry out - just lies there prone for several seconds, dead silent against the crackling fire and distant city echoes.
Then suddenly he gasps, sounding like he'd just surfaced from underwater. Leo dizzily makes it to his elbows and knees, clutching his head and groaning. He makes no further effort to move after that.
no subject
He can't get there fast enough, his feet skidding for purchase in the lose dirt. Leo's hurt. Leo's dying, for all he knows. His heart is pounding out of his chest.
That moment of deathly silence is filled with a blur of white-hot terror. Leo's dead. That thing killed his brother. Now he's alone. It's selfish but fuck, don't leave him alone!
What the shell was that thing!?
Raph falls to his knees at his brother's side, their argument forgotten. He grips his shoulders, pulls him up, cradles him against his chest. He has to see his brother's face. He has to be okay.
"Come on... Talk to me, bro. You gotta be okay."
At least he's groaning. Groaning is good. It's better than nothing, right? Yeah, better than nothing. His hands are shaking, his eyes blurring with panicked tears. He has to get him somewhere safe. Has to figure out what the heck is going on around here. Nobody hurts his brother and gets away with it. He'll make them pay.
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