metalogs | I want to be blinded from this dull today

Entry tags:

I want to be blinded from this dull today

Who: Leonardo

faceguy, Donatello

purplexing, Accelerator

levelshift
What: Three children commit light B&E and felony theft.
When: Late May. Probably after that Fantastic announcement, what timing.
Where: An electronics recycling facility in Central.
Content Warnings: Kids committing crimes, body horror, psychological horror, blood, sensory overloading. These kids have trauma, thanks nightmare floor! Will update as necessary.

[With everything going on in Central City - the flooding, the lockdown, Fantastic taking over the Alliance - the smart thing to do would be to delay this whole mission. Or even better - call it off, because even though it should be a (mostly) harmless crime for the benefit of Donnie, stealing equipment meant to be recycled is still illegal. But no, they've made plans, scoped the place out, trained. Dropping things now would be putting all that time and effort to waste, and besides, it should be a simple stealthy in-and-out mission, right? It's a recycling facility, how bad can the security be?

Besides, it'll be fun to stick it to Fantastic. A heist (albeit, a small one) happening right after he becomes head of the Alliance? Now that's fantastic.

Accelerator isn't too sure what to expect. He's been in a recycling facility before, back in Academy City, and the security was incredibly lax. This is a different city - different universe, with different rules. He's a little cautious, since this was originally his idea, and he's the one with only thirty minutes of power to work with. Otherwise he's a weaker-than-normal high school student relying on two very capable ninjas.

It's fucking weird to be relying on other people. He kind of hates it, and he isn't totally sure why, though he can't exactly overthink it right now like he usually would. He's trying to stay focused on breaking into the facility and not fucking anything up for Donnie and Leo. He's even made something of an effort for tonight, with a duffle bag to store equipment (a smaller backpack is inside for stuff he'll grab for the Society's cut) and a black hoodie in case he needs to hide his hair (he isn't sure, white hair just doesn't seem very stealthy).

So far it's going smoothly. With Leo's planning and leadership and Donnie taking care of the security system they're able to sneak in and avoid the paths of the security guards. In fact, it's going so well that it sort of seems like they might be able to get in, grab what they need, and get out with no incidents whatsoever.

Of course, it's absurd to throw all caution out the window simply because things are working out right now. Especially when they run into their first obstacle.

After dodging a few more guards, the trio will come to a long hallway, the only path to their goal without having to pass directly several security stations. Spread through the length of the hall are little red lasers, arranged into one very elaborate grid meant to ward off would-be thieves such as themselves. It's like something out of a spy movie, and it's unclear whether these are the kinds of lasers that will cut a limb off or simply sound an alarm if tripped. Maybe it's both.

Accelerator leans heavily on his crutch, looking thoroughly irritated with this obstacle. His reflection might be actively detrimental here.]

This is fucking ridiculous.

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[Just admit it, Accelerator. You're impressed by their mad skills!

But now they've got a new room to deal with, and Donnie is starting to really question the security choices here.]

Wha?

[His eyes flick from the creepy giant doll to the timer. Again he pulls down his goggles, looking for any kind of system access or sensors of some kind along the wide space between them and the other end of the room. Anything, really.]

Iii don't know but I don't like it...

[He will never admit it!!

He's equally as confused by the robot, though, shrugging at the both of them.]

That thing looks like something you'd see in a fucking textbook for preschoolers.

[The room itself doesn't have any sensors outside the robot, which is connected to the security system via hardwiring in her feet. So nothing wireless that can be messed with.

There's a loud beep that makes Accelerator jump (for a second he thinks it's his choker, but it's too loud for that), and then the lcd monitor flickers on, reading 2:00. That's when the robot speaks, saying GREEN LIGHT and sounding very much like a little girl. The monitor starts counting down from two minutes.

Accelerator, only knowing the game as Daruma-san ga koronda, glances at the two of them.]

The fuck? Is that thing letting us go?

Well, green light does mean…

[Leo’s voice trails off as something occurs to him. Given how chaotic he and his brothers are he doesn’t remember them playing this game a lot, but…]

Wait, does the robot want to play Red Light, Green Light? What kind of security system is this?

[But so saying, he takes a few steps forward while the robot hasn’t turned around, just to test that theory.]

There's nothing I can access externally to shut anything down. I'll give them points there but...

[Donnie's face screws up in disturbed confusion at Leo's suggestion once the timer sets and the giant doll speaks.]

Wh- Seriously?? You go from lasers to this??

[But they have a timer, so they're limited to...something. As Leo moves, Donnie glances over at him in brief panic before cautiously taking a few steps after him.]

Go when green, stop when red- assuming that's what this is. Not sure we want to find out what happens if she catches us moving if that's the case.

[Nothing happens when Leo and Donnie move, luckily! Accelerator takes all of one step but looks annoyed. Now that they've explained the rules he gets it, and he isn't happy.]

Goddamnit, I am not playing Daruma-san ga Koronda.

[Since his hand is already on his choker he flips the switch, altering the vectors in his legs and proceeding to launch himself the rest of the way across the rest of the room (actually taking care to make sure the force doesn't break the floor or cause any unnecessary loud booms). It takes only a second or two and he's at the doorway, the door sliding open for him. He'll duck in, holding it open as he hits his choker again.]

You guys have this, right?

[Aaand that's when there a childish RED LIGHT as the robot turns her head around.]

Edited 2023-05-20 15:51 (UTC)

[Leo really, really wants to make a big fuss about Accelerator ditching them, but then the robot says “Red light!” and he has to freeze. He’ll just hope that the annoyed look on his face conveys what he’s trying to say.

Actually, he isn’t sure if this robot is sensitive enough that just talking will set it off. Does he want to be the one to test that theory…?

He debates but decides against it. But it’s a hard choice. He’s practically shaking with the effort to not mouth off right now.]

[Surprised? No. Annoyed? Very. Donnie still looks utterly betrayed by that move, but he supposes in Accelerator's shoes, he'd do the same thing. Like Leo, he freezes in place as he holds off his words for the esper. If they could just breeze through it, he'd use his battle shell. But that begs the question of just how long they have to move.

If it was only x seconds from the time the timer started and the doll proclaimed 'green light', then it'd be easier to work out.

But that'd be way too easy. It's probably randomized, a point he keeps in mind as he starts keeping count of how long the doll keeps looking their way during the red light sequence.]

[Seeing the annoyance on the turtles' faces makes him frown a little. What? They're ninjas, they should be able to handle a stupid kid game. If anything he'd be the one screwing things up - his legs still shake sometimes if he isn't controlling his own vectors. Without his ability he's very wobbly, it isn't conducive to standing still.

He directs his gaze passively back to the robot, silently counting the seconds off before she states GREEN LIGHT and turns back around.]

[Leo also waits patiently until that time, but he isn't doing any counting.

If Accelerator can cheese, he can cheese, too.

The second she's turned back around, he's got his good katana out.]

Yeah, no. I'm not doing this.

[He opened a portal big enough for him and Donnie in the middle of a rushing sewer flood, he can do it again.

He draws a circle on the floor, and the portal opens under his and Donnie's feet - spitting them out just above and to the left of Accelerator across the room. Leo lands on his feet - it was only a couple feet of drop, after all.]

If Accy's just gonna abandon us than I'm not playing fair, either!

Who's showing off now!

[Yeah, he was holding that in there, just for you, Accelerator.

Donnie's not about to put forth any estimations just based on one timed session, but he's starting to take a step forward once it's all green. At least until Leo's pulling out his sword.

-and just like that, they're on the other side of the room.

He only stumbles slightly because he'd been mid-step during the portal, but he doesn't have to adjust his balance too much. Donnie flashes a grin of approval. He wasn't digging this game anyway.]

I think the whole point is to not play fair, especially given the lasers and now this weirdly specific game. What's next, a moat full of crocodiles?

[Oh shit, more portals! Accelerator is watching with interest at that - and a little trepidation, given what happened with Donnie's mystic tech. His choker isn't in esper mode when the portal opens near him, but he takes a small step backwards anyways.

And he clicks his tongue.]

Your teleportation looks like it's working, you didn't need my help.

[He looks over, they're in a hallway, with some stairs leading downwards to the next floor. Success?]

But if there is a moat full of crocodiles next, I'm smashing through it.

[That kid's game was dumb and (not) doing the teamwork thing is exhausting when you aren't used to it.]

Only for short distances, though. [Which is why he can't just portal them into the room with the computer parts from here. That would be too easy.]

A moat with crocodiles would be more friendly than Accy, so I think we can handle it.

[He tosses a grin at Accelerator as he leads them forward again. According to the blueprints, they should have only one last big hall to get down before they arrive at the room they want. He can only assume it is boobytrapped, too. But annoying as it's been, it hasn't been anything they can't handle, so it should be fine!]

Maybe we should start dressing you in red.

[Donnie smirks a little at Accelerator's tactic of choice. And Leo's comment, because he's not arguing that point.

He starts along after Leo, though he still feels he must bring up a point.]

Although if you smash through a moat, that would probably just end up flooding everything.

[It's definitely good to know that limitation with the portals!]

What? [Though the turtles get a confused glare in response to the ribbing (especially that red comment, which goes over his head), and he'll follow after them.]

I could redirect the water. I've done that before.

[Obviously they would both know that by now, he's just being very snippy.

The stairs are empty, thankfully, so they get a short reprieve as they walk down to the next floor.]

[Accelerator may not understand Donnie's joke, but Leo snorts.]

Can you redirect the water like a boss?

[This is still an inside joke and maybe that's a little mean, but Leo can't help it.

He walks down the stairs and stops at the bottom, peering around for any more guards, but it seems like they're in the clear there.]

We're getting close now. Man, this has been pretty easy.

[Did he just jinx it?]

Pff.

[Don't mind them, just ping-ponging these right over Accelerator's head, it's fine.]

It's only easy because we don't have anything to lug back yet.

[That's really the part he's still working out, since he's not sure what all they'll find exactly. Well, he'll try to be practical about their potential haul. "Try" being the operative term.]

[Alright, this has to be some stupid twinspeak or something. He looks thoroughly annoyed at this, since being messed with and not understanding it is the pits, but he refuses to get any saltier about it and give them more ammo.]

Tche.

[The entire stairwell seems to be empty, lucky them! At the bottom of it is a single door, so obviously the only way to go is forward.

Since Leo is in the lead when he opens the door everything looks dark, like someone forgot to turn the lights on. There isn't even any emergency lighting, which you'd expect. When he steps through the doorway, though, that's when everything lights up.

... Except maybe 'lights up' isn't the right term, since the place is still dark and dismal. Any lighting seems to come from a vague ball of luminescence in the distance. It'd be a stretch to call it a star, and it certainly doesn't look like any sort of manmade light fixture.

The space is massive, far bigger than the facility itself. There doesn't seem to be a visible second doorway, and as soon as Donnie and Accelerator follow Leo through the one they came through is disappearing. Dust motes float slowly through the air, and there's an eerie sort of silence. Debris and chunks of rock seem to be falling, slowly, and the entire place could almost be mistaken for outer space if not for the fact that it looks more like some rocky, grey wasteland that's been completely and utterly devastated.

Maybe wreckage is a better term for it. Some of the massive debris surrounding them looks vaguely humanoid, even with teeth, though there's only ever one eye-like shape square in the middle of what could pass as a head.

Leo should find it all familiar.]

You're gonna have to be pretty selective about what you want. These bags'll only carry so... much...

[Whatever Leo was trying to say trails off as he enters the room - it's a very familiar scenery indeed, and his breath catches in his throat at the sight of it.

He's back.

No, but he can't be back. How!? When!? Did the Confluence yank him out of the building and put him back without warning? What about Donnie and Accelerator? Did it pull them in with him!?

Some part of his brain, just barely heard over the panic, reminds him of the door, the one he just came through. He spins around to find it on instinct, and when he turns, Donnie and Accelerator will be able to see the near frantic look on his face.

The door is gone.]

No no no no no no no no, we can't be here.

[He takes two steps forward, but his frantic reaching doesn't bring him in contact with any door.]

Okay... I'm trapped. Hah... Haha...

[He seems to have completely forgotten the other two are standing there.]

[With no real reference point, Donnie has no idea what he's looking at the moment they set foot inside. The rational part of his mind is already trying to work out the dimensions of how big this room can actually be, but he doesn't need to ponder long to figure that by all appearances, it looks impossibly huge.

An illusion, surely, optical, most likely. The strangely specifically detailed debris field? Another programmer's strange flavor of design element, applied this time to a holographic projection.

He's about to relay his thoughts on the matter in exactly those words- until he sees the look on his brother's face.

He has never seen that look on Leo's face, and that realization alone is almost terrifying enough.]

-Leo?

[Broken, he sounds broken- "Trapped"-

Donnie's eyes widen, and he turns around sharply to look where the door should have been. Pieces are clicking into place all too rapidly, and he takes in the grotesque floating chunks in a new light.]

Oh no...

[But...it can't be, can it? They can't really be here, who put in that type of money for security that sent you clear to a different dimension??? His logic, he clings to it still. Never mind that this is oddly, terribly specific.]

Leo, Leo! Snap out of it!

[He steps over to grab a hold of his brother's shoulders, make him focus.]

[Suddenly the ridiculously childish security robot is looking a whole lot better! Accelerator has similar thoughts as Donnie when they enter the room - he has no context as to what this place is and means, so he's looking around with a frown, observing all the destruction. Is this supposed to be some security developer's idea of a creepy aesthetic? It feels both like overkill, and like he's missing something here, since those shapes further off certainly aren't just random rock debris. They're very specific.

He doesn't look over when Leo spins around in his peripheral vision, though when he speaks up, that gets his attention. That doesn't sound like Leo, and - oh, that doesn't look like Leo. This is the first time he's seen him look anything close to scared, and it's unnerving. Making it even worse is Donnie's reaction, his concern makes it clear this isn't some bad joke.]

The hell is with him?

[There is so much he's missing here, and now is obviously not the time to stop and try to make them give up some answers. Accelerator remains where he is, pulling his gaze away from the two turtles back to their surroundings, hand on his choker, in case this is meant to be some kind of ambush.]

[Donnie suddenly getting his face causes Leo's eyes to snap back to focus, and the hands on his shoulders are maybe the only things stopping Leo from retreating into his shell to hide from this nightmare. Right, Donnie is here, and Accelerator, and he can't check out because he has to keep them safe, he's the leader and that's his job.

He gives his head a firm shake and tries to calm his breathing before it gets too fast. Hyperventilating would help exactly no one and so he will not.

He reaches with one hand and gives Donnie's arm a squeeze, so he knows Leo's still here.]

Sorry... sorry, I just... wasn't expecting...

[Another deep breath, and he turns his head to look at Accelerator.]

Remember how I said I locked the thing that hurt us up where it could never get out? Well... there is where I locked it up.

[He has to fight himself not to squeeze Donnie's arm any tighter. It's fine, he's got this, he's so got this, he's cool and good and fine and dandy.]

I just don't know how we ended up here.

[Donnie's shaking his head at Accelerator's question, which he mostly takes as rhetorical. His own response is vague; now's not the time, nothing good, he has no idea- fill in the blank--

Leo makes eye contact and that's one load off of Donnie's chest. It's a small comfort, quickly swallowed by the confirmation of just where they are, and it shows on his face.

He steals a look around, looking for signs of what Leo had imprisoned here, even as he tries to hang onto sensible theories. This isn't that place, it can't be that place-

Can it?]

It doesn't make sense.

[Donnie looks back at Leo and Accelerator. Voicing his reasoning, that should help things.]

This can't really be it. There's...got to be some kind of trick to it. I mean, why would a recycling center of all places have access to a prison dimension? And more specifically, this one?

[Right, he remembers that unpleasant conversation. He's wishing he didn't. It would be a lot easier if this place was just the fantasy of some overzealous security system designer.

But no. Accelerator's response to both of them is silence as he processes all of this, alarm taking over his features. He's seeing why the two of them had such strong reactions now. Even if this wasn't that exact prison dimension, the fact that they may very well have been dumped into another universe is frightening. It being the prison dimension is just another layer of horrible.

What in the hell, were they fighting freaking kaiju?!]

Is that what we should be figuring out right now? [That's to Donnie, finally. He gets being logical about this, though his own brain is taking a slightly different, more doom-and-gloom path.] How fucked are we in the worst case scenario?

[Leo lets go of Donnie and turns around, taking in the scenery again. Every shadow, every shift in the debris, catches his eye, leaves him tense and wary, coiled up and ready to strike.

He unsheathes his katana even though there aren't any visible threats, the bag he brought to carry things out with slung over his shoulder to stay out of the way.]

I think Dee has to be right - the Prison Dimension couldn't be accessed just any old way, you have to have the key and you have to use a gate.

[Actually he's not sure exactly how necessary that second part is, but the key is definitely necessary.

Still, logical reasoning is not helping him much when every fiber of his being is screaming at him to run and hide, when every rock and twisted hunk of metal cuts a menacing figure in his brain and the parts of his shell that cracked under the pressure ache and his breathing is getting too fast again-

Deep breath.

And then:]

But if it is the worst case scenario... I won't let anything happen to you guys.

[Even if something happens to himself, it's fine. (He was always destined to die here anyway.)]

[Accelerator is given an exasperated look. Not. Helping.

But Donnie's also frustrated with himself in that he can't give a logical explanation for this. He's still opening his mouth to try and speak his thoughts, work it out between them all, although when Leo speaks, he pauses to look back at his brother.

There! he wants to say. That's the reason! But it still doesn't explain anything, and that's what's eating at him.

And then what Leo says forms a knot in his stomach, nearly jumpstarts a fresh panic.]

No! [He almost startles himself with how forcefully he says this as he grabs at Leo's shoulder again.] That's not happening, there is no worse-case scenario, this can't be the same place. There's got to be a reason for it, I'll figure it out and we can all get out of here!

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