closed | door handles are off but you know i'll never miss 'em

[phobulus]

Who: Alec Hardison (phobulus) & Donatello Hamato (purplexing)
What: Local teen menaces twenty-something who's used to being the baby of the group
When: Nebulously before Central City's lockdown
Where: A back alley near YOU (if you haunt Central City, that is)
Content Warnings: --



( it becomes clear, very quickly, that hardison is far outpaced when it comes to all of his most prized skills and talents. but, dear reader, it should not be said that he who proclaims himself protege to the late great nate ford is not also crafty in his own way! where technology outstrips, antiquitiy may indeed fill the gap.

that's why he's struggling with the lock on this hoopty. that's why. it's not that he already failed to break into a better car. no. that would be ridiculous. this is adaptation. this is the future: old crappy technology and mechanisms that can't be hacked by 1's and 0's, yes. this is the answer.

the slim jim comes up and the lock stays put, and hardison hisses out a curse word before letting his head bonk against the pane of the window. )

Never thought I'd say this but I'm actually glad you're not here to see this, Parker...

( another try, then, with all his focus on the task at hand—because there should be no competition for a junker like this, right? )

Comments

[phobulus]

Oh, you know. Hobby stuff. ( he lied blatantly through his liar teeth. ) What do you need a whole ass car for?

( satisfied with their deal, hardison gets back to it and by back to it i mean continuing to fail at breaking in )

[purplexing]

[Fair answer. Donnie'd probably say the same if his needs weren't so mundane in this particular case.]

Transportation, obviously. I do not have the funds to be purchasing cars and then there's...well, this whole situation. [He gestures at himself.

Then he watches Hardison do a miserable job once again before shaking his head.]

Sigh. Have you even done this before? Here, stand aside.

[Donnie holds a hand up again to conjure up some unnecessarily fancy mystic-tech gadgetry, the purple rectangular markings on his skin glowing- a bit brighter than usual, he'd say, if he were paying attention there.

He nearly jumps as the neon violet light that forms everything else flares, and it seems harder to contain it into a given shape.]

AAH! Wha- Wait, what's happening?!

[phobulus]

( eloquoently, hardison contributes: )

Uhhh...??? ( shake it off ) Is that not normal freaky deaky alien turtle stuff? Talk to me, what's supposed to be happening?

[purplexing]

Not an alien!

[In spite of things he feels he must point this out.]

And no this is not supposed to be happening! -ohmygosh why is this happening- calm down, just breathe, Donnie, uh...

[He squints as he manages to disperse it.]

You saw me use it earlier didn't you? My mystic-tech- except usually it's not all over the place.

[phobulus]

OK! Weird esoteric turtle-magic! How am I supposed to know? I don't know you, man!

( he's flustered, and yes, dramatic, and now also a little bit guilty and worried. his hands make soft fists at his side, and he chews at his lip. he's gonna have to invest in gloves or something, isn't he? )

Look, it's possible it coulda been not entirely all you, exactly. This mystic-tech, like hard light type projections, or something?

[purplexing]

Making assumptions hasn't been working in your favor, just saying.

[Donnie turns his attention sharply towards Hardison then.]

Or something... [He allows the vagueness, brow lifting.]

Let us go back to the possibility that it is not entirely me...

[phobulus]

( quietly, almost chagrined, hardison holds his hand back out. possibly his lop-sided grimace does little to instill confidence??? )

[purplexing]

...Gasp, it was you?!

[POINT.]

What did you do to me!

[phobulus]

Hey, don't even—don't start that with me, kid. This is—maybe you're a turtle with technomancy or whatever but I'm just some guy, OK?

( BIG SIGH )

I don't even know what I did to me!

( does that make sense psych he doesn't care actually )

[purplexing]

[That does dampen Donnie's accusation a bit. The turtle teen looks mildly bothered by that. He sighs, letting his hand drop.]

It's the stupid Confluence again, huh? I hear it gives out free powers sometimes like it's Christmas.

[phobulus]

( my guy has been living in full denial, so his thousand yard stare down at his open but relaxed hands is uh pretty intense. )

Yup. So I guess no more handshakes.

( but also he's not trying to dump all of this on the kid. another solid deep sigh, and he's got to get himself together. shake it off, hardison! )

C'mon. We still got a hoopty to break into, know-it-all. You good?

[purplexing]

[Donnie looks down at his own hands.]

I guess that's a lot worse than having to worry about touching anything with a complex computer system.

[He blinks then.]

What? No, we're not just breezing over that, I want to know what you did exactly!

[With that, he fixes a determined look to the side as he tries to form something else, flipping his goggles down.

That light flares again, lines tracing in the air as he tries something simple, his bō. It still looks like it's trying to stretch beyond the defining shape. ]

[phobulus]

( hardison throws his hands up in either surrender or exasperation. is this what his crew back home had to deal with all the time? no wonder they just shoved hardison off buildings without asking... )

Ain't nobody breezing. I mean, sure, we can stand here and I can tell you I don't know all night until that crew or the cops roll back around. Or— ( the driest look he can muster ) —you can take a second and figure out if you're good, we get this taken care of, and maybe figure out what the hell that electrical storm did to me.

[purplexing]

Fascinating...

[Donnie at least hasn't completely tuned Hardison out, so he does pause his study to look back at him, making a slight face.]

...well, since you're being that insistent, let's see if this thing can still move. My mystic-tech at least doesn't appear so unstable that it'll explode or anything.

[He lets his staff vanish, peering back into the car window to this time form something else inside the car: a tiny hovering drone. Which he gets to unlock the door from the inside.

Donnie pulls the door open, eyeing things before he ducks down to have a look beneath the steering wheel.]

Given how long this thing's been left alone, there's no telling whether it still runs, is out of gas, or might be accessory to a crime, but I guess we probably should move to a better location if possible.

[phobulus]

( hardison isn't a hide-your-emotions kind of guy: watching donnie's mystic-tech at work leaves him gawping openly at what seems to be hard light projections entirely under his control interacting with physical space. he has all the questions, but he also has the desire to get back to sophie in one piece, so: )

Right, yeah. Let's, uh, let's see what it's got.

( much less impressively, hardison hefts his plain old toolkit in hand, ready to crack some plastic and yank some wires. )

[purplexing]

[Donnie looks pretty smug, always happy to know he's impressed someone.

He grumbles a little as he tries to get the ignition started.]

Hopefully all this thing needs is a jump.

[The turtle slips back out once he's popped the hood, propping it open for inspection. ]

Hey Nathaniel Sr, mind trying to start her up again while I jump this thing?

[phobulus]

Senio—?

( awe broken, hardison scowls and grumbles. despite his disgruntled but quiet protests he folds his body into the driver's seat and is greeted with no view at all, starting at the open hood while he pulls the wires from where donnie cracked into the console. )

Nathaniel Senior— ( tap-tap ) —damn kids and their damn magic trying to call me a—can't even focus on the task at hand— ( tap-tap ) —gotta use fancy pants magic...

( another spark, and the engine whinnies more like an exhausted mule than a car that's about to run. but it sounds like the engine has turned over, so he pauses and leans his head out the window. )

We good?

[purplexing]

[Still bitter about being assaulted earlier? Perish the thought!

Donnie gives a whoop from the other side of the hood as the engine still proves functional. He holds a thumbs-up out to the side, just visible.

The telltale purple glow winks out before he drops the hood and pauses a moment since Hardison's in the driver's seat. Eyeballing him, Donnie steps around to the passenger's side, rapping a knuckle against the door for him to unlock it.]

[phobulus]

( no shut up you're bitter you fetus egg!!! also, regardless of his frustration he's not a monster, so once the door's open and donnie's getting in, hardison smiles at him, and puts a fist out for a bump. )

Nice work, kid. Where to?

[purplexing]

[Donnie slides in, pulling the door closed as he settles back against the seat. He glances over at Hardison and grins, bumping the guy's fist with his own.]

The name's Donnie. How 'bout we grab some pizza and find a new temp spot to park this baby so we can do some better part assessment and removal?