neonleon | Snek IC contact

[ Indeed he does not! And Bunter here doesn't hear him coming. ]

The others? Where are they?

[Just... Watching him. Testing testing...]

Where they were when you left.

[Is that...that's Leo's distinct green and]

[That looks like Hunter!]

[Hurrying to catch up to them.]

[ Bunter shakes his head a little. Trying to get a hand on Leo. ]

The last couple hours are so blurry. I can barely tell what's going on with him in control.

[He knows something's up, he knows it but he can't tell what it is exactly. Even when that burning painful thing in his own chest is burning again while also being... very calm. It's a weird feeling.]

Well, right now? You're in the woods. You should go back to the temple.

[hhhhhHHHH he's weak. Weak to little brothers. He can take a little bit to get him back there and then come back, holding one hand out to him.]

Come on.

[Leo isn't fighting? That sounds like Hunter's voice.]

[He's fine? He fought off Belos?]

[He enters the space.] Hunter! Are you okay?!

[ Bunter's eyes are still squeezed shut as he puts a hand on Leo. holds the other one out for Donnie. ]

Oh - oh good. You're both here now. My new brothers.

[Yeah no definitely not right. Why won't Hunter look at them.]

I'm going on record to say I do not like how you said that just now. Or that you won't look at us.

[He steps forward, reaches for Hunter.]

[Until Leo speaks and he stops short.]

[He straightens up, looking to Leo for a sign, even as he keeps Hunter in his view.]

[ Bunter lifts his head at that, finally opening his eyes. ]

Annoyingly perceptive. I preferred the other one's obliviousness.

[ One hand shifts into tendrils and tries to grab at Leo's katana; the other shoots out at Donnie's torso. ]

[As soon as Donnie looks to him, Leo's eyes dart up - go up in the air, away-

And then that gets said. Shit shitshitshit he only has the one so better make it count.

He'll raise it to slide at the tendrils just to keep them away from his sword and then toss the sword to Donnatello.]

[Oh shit-]

[He grabs his Bo from his back, spinning on his feet as he brings it forward to help deflect the rest of the tendril that he wouldn't have been able to dodge.]

[He keeps up the movement, jerking the Bo down to force it down as he jumps up, grabbing the hilt of the blade. His Bo keeps up its spin, rocket hammer forming at the end and igniting and rocketing up into the air.]

[ DAMN you annoying TEENAGER TURTLES --

Belos accomplishes NEITHER of those objectives then, first getting a slice to his tendrils, and then getting the second stab deflected back at him. And now there's a FLYING TURTLE smh.

He turns on Leo since he's on the ground; a set of glyphs on his arms flare, sending a gout of ice at him. ]

Brothers. Of course.

Twins, even!

[He grins at that, ducking from the ice but grabbing for a chunk of it. Focuses and -

A sharp pain erupts in his chest, the glow of his stripes normal with his ninpo usage flickering instead. Like trying to climb through sludge before it ignites properly, glow steadies and he gets another sword constructed in his hand. Once he does, he focuses again, disappearing in a flash of blue and reappearing holding the sword Donnie caught and coming down with an upward swing of both swords now.]

Told you I was happier!

[He releases the grip as Leo begins the port, eyes going to his arms and-]

[Confuse the instruction.]

[He flips the hammer over, letting it draw him down to follow up on Leo, but he cuts out the hammer at the last second, only striking down with the Bo as a follow up for Leo.]

[Or rather a feint as he summons a basic construct to his hand, a mix of the various glyphs Hunter has shown him and really aiming to slap it over one of the glyphs on Hunter's arm.]

[ Swords AND a bo, that's going to hurt. Belos raises an arm to bring up slime to block Leo - partially, anyway. The first sword gets stuck, but the second one cleaves through, sticking him to the ground for a moment. That gives Donnie an opportunity to strike home with --

No, it's a feint. But Belos is distracted, and Donnie gets a chance to slap those glyphs down. Belos howls in rage and pain as a fire starts up there, disrupting whatever he was trying to do next. ]

I hope you realize what this is doing to Hunter's body.

[There's the brief flicker of something on Leo's face - I'm trying to save you, you big idiot! - before he refocuses.

Doesn't matter. Not here.]

And there are how many magic healers around this place? I'm sure he'll forgive us.

[Soon as the fire starts, Leo jumps half a step back, looking to Donnie to check his status.]

[Donnie leaps away, purple energy dancing around his hand.]

As long as we get you out of him, we can help him recover from the rest. There's no getting better with a parasite like you around.

[He meets Leo's eyes, his own determined. He holds up his hand, more circular disks of the combined glyphs in his hand, ready to disrupt more of them.]

Not that you would understand that what it means to help your brother recover, do you, Belos?

Do not preach to me. If you are actually brothers, then you know what it means to do anything you can to save them.

[ The ooze crackles with a different color this time; it eats away at their ninpo from a distance, trying to drain all the magic it can.

He looks to Leo specifically now. ]

What it feels like to be cut off from them - to have them separated from you in another world. To have them CHANGE without you.

[He feels so seen. That frustration and abject loneliness sparking up with the words. Belos knows exactly what he's talking about. And the core of his center bottoms out, leaving his heart a gaping maw for just a moment.

No. Focus on now. Feelings later. His grip on his swords tighten and he quickly throws one past Belos, blinking himself that direction instead to swing at him.]

[Before the winter clothes had hidden his markings. Now in the torn mess he's been running around in for the games, they're visible, showing off their glow.]

[As well as the crackling scars up his arms, purple light emphasizing the jagged trails.]

[Donnie's grip tightens on his staff and he trusts the Ninpo, trusts the energy that only exists because of a true family connection.]

[He trusts Leo.]

Is that your big complaint? He changed?!

You really want to just be one messed up reflection, don't you? Of course he changed. People change and they always will, no matter how maddening it is. But no matter the changes, he was still your brother.

And instead of learning how to connect again, you chose to murder him. When you save your family, you put yourself on the line, but you weren't willing to sacrifice for him.

[He moves in the opposite direction as Leo, knows how he usually strikes, purple energy crackling over the staff as machine parts form and he sends out clamps rocketing to hit elongated wrists to pin him down.]

He betrayed me first! He ALWAYS betrays me first!

[ Belos bellows, whirling, trying to keep both of them in his sights at once - and in doing so, manages to keep control of neither. A wave of slime rises up to burn Leo - right as he teleports away to the opposite side. It’s already fallen by the time Donnie is in that same place, and a hurried attempt to raise it up again is interrupted by Leo’s swing catching him full in the back. He staggers with a howl - and Donnie’s clamps pin him to the ground by his horrible slimy wrists.

He struggles like that, shifting his body, struggling to get loose. Congrats, turtles, you’ve caught him. For now. But move quickly—-]

[Once Belos is down, Leo lands close by and looks up to Donnie.]

Whatever you've got, let's go. He's not saying down long.

Having more loved ones isn't a betrayal. And Hunter is not Caleb.

Get the crystal on him and reach out for me and Hunter if you can. I can guide us through it either way. [He keeps his staff in hand, but is already starting the process to reach out for the anchor that is the crystal and to push through to Hunter the moment he's able-]

[ The link sways uncertainly, like a rope bridge being battered by a flooded river. But - as difficult as the traversal looks to be, the bridge IS still intact - and down in the bottom of his mind, Hunter is trapped by Belos’s corruption. The same green—black vines Donnie saw before have completely taken over the quiet forest, and Hunter himself is half-drowned by a slew of vines that are dragging him slowly beneath the ground.

He is there though - the turtles are not too late. ]

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