neonleon | SERPENTINE HORIZON

[Look, most of that one is comedy antics. But there is a moment -

Arguing with April at lasertag while a few Foot goons fight behind them.

"Really? Again? Come on Leo. Ruining my normal and laser tag. Laser tag is sacred."

Foot Recruit, they now know Cassandra, chimes in, "Beyond sacred. How could you?"

Leo just wants her to understand, they're trying to help with something important to her. "We’ve been trying to help you have a normal day, but those Foot bozos keep following you."

It isn't much but his want to help April was genuine.]

[....]

[The amount of not feeling understood is getting]

[Real familiar]

[He will put down the comic and okay. Time to drop kick the daddy issues, yeah? Yeah.]

[Picking up the comic about what happened with Big Mama that one time.]

[Donnie saw the memory of Leo making the initial deal. Their father lamenting that he didn't bring Donnie instead.

But it keeps going, their father deriding Leo for doing this, for making the deal even worse adding in the extra goons. Getting fitted for his own suit, but the thought bubbles adding in his plans - and then I used the custom fitting to sneak in one of Big Mama's teleportation coins, a neat trick for later *wink* - and their father even angrier.

It culminates in Leo being betrayed by Big Mama and thrown into the ring as well. He decries the double-cross for one second before admitting to their father it was their plan.

"Please this was my plan all along."

"Just admit it already, son. You were played!"

The dismissal stings. It sinks down to his heart and digs its claws into him. "How come nobody trusts me? None of you guys have any faith in me. Why?"

"Maybe this whole situation!"

"This whole situation was my plan all along. If it wasn’t, then why'd I ask your tailor to make me this outfit?

"So we could both perish looking super fly?"

He rolls his eyes, and pulls out the coin. "Or so I could sneak this baby in..." And the portal opens, letting him grab his odachi from Big Mama's box, "To sneak this baby in. My deal was no weapons for you, not me."

But he'll never forget. His father doesn't trust him.]

....

Dad was never very good at talking through when he's wrong.

[He sighs, rubbing at his face, closing the comic.]

[Hm.]

[Picking up the death maze at Hueso's.]

[An earlier comic, a lot more worn. But the beginning starting with Leo struggling with his portals, his brothers ragging on him while they have theirs figured out for the most part. Not their fullest forms, no, but they can at least get them going at will. Meanwhile, Leo's struggling. He's never struggled at anything like this, and it's wrong. It shouldn't be like that. And his brothers are not making it easy.

So the discovery of Hueso's Run of the Mill Pizzaria is good. It's a chance to prove himself. Prove to his brothers that he's still just as skilled as he's always been, this is just new. The whole adventure plays out more or less as is, with Leo's mental struggling with his portals, whispering to himself that he is a champion quiet and subdued, moreso than whatever it may have looked like in the moment to them.]

[~~Gifted kid life~~]

[Donnie realizing that may he and Leo are even more alike than he first thought. He knew they had a lot in common, but now its Even Worse.]

[Is it worse?]

[Its probably worse.]

[There is a lot of]

[Stop starting]

[This time]

[Before he goes to check for a comic about the Gift fiasco]

[The gift fiasco...

Donnie's Gifts

It starts easy enough, the brothers enamored with the gifts Donnie made them. But as they start to fight Meatsweats, they turn and make things worse. eventually they're separated, and Leo tries to talk to them.

"Anyway, we need to tell Donnie that he doesn’t get to tell us what to be."

Raph nods, though hesitant. "Yeah, I know. But he’s got such a softshell."

"But it’s like he’s trying to fix us. What are we, broken?" Leo needs them to know they aren't broken. Because if they are, that means he is too. And he can't deal with that, not right now.

But Raph and Mikey agree: "No."]

[Okay, one, Raph is rude thinking he couldn't take some harsh criticism.]

[Even if he was rather scared they wouldn't like his gifts.]

[But! Still!]

[When the option is them thinking he thinks that they're...broken...]

[He does spend longer with it. Is it just a fear that he might be broken, or does it]

[Have more on his thoughts on him for doing that.]

[In their defense, bro, you did say if they didn't like it you'd be crushed.]

[WELL]

[Maybe]

[But still, if he was hurting them that much, they should just hurt him and then they can move on!!!]

[Is there a comic on the whole mind altering incident because maybe he got a little more bothered by Belos then he would like to admit!!!]

Edited 2022-12-05 08:13 (UTC)

[Mind Meld

It's weird, really. The start of the comic has a little narration. Mostly about not understanding what, exactly, is so serious about this tech since Donnie only talks in specs with no context. Wanting to encourage Raph finding a cool thing because the poor guy has to carry their weight constantly, and Mikey's still just a kid.

But once the brain alteration happens....There's no more narration. Everything is straight forward. No double-talking, no burying the lede. Everything Leonardo says is exactly what he thinks and none of his own voice.

It's a pretty dry issue, all things considered.]

[Ah, there is that not being understood feelings.]

[Also wow, that is]

[Very eerie to read, actually.]

[And made him miss Leo more.]

[Okay, finish the gauntlet of those videos, Mieky and him as waiters. What was that exact insecurity!!!]

Edited 2022-12-05 08:24 (UTC)

[You Got Served!

Less an insecurity and more the constant, incessant nagging of their baby brother making a competition out of something Leo didn't want to compete in. It's one thing when it's an open match, something he's agreed to, but another when it's just wanting to get to Hueso's because he asked for their help.

It does become a competition though, Mikey pushing that button repeatedly throughout the entire evening. Fine. If Mikey wants to make this a competition, he will.]

[...really, he can't blame Mikey. Its incredibly hard to not ride a high after beating Leo in anything.]

[But the frustration is pretty valid as well.]

[Okay, he will set down the comic and just process all that.]

[He is going to do a more thorough look around.]

[IS there a Leo action figure anywhere?]

[There are so many other comics, but Donnie is moving on.

If there is a Leo figure, it's not on the shelf with the others. Where does Donnie want to look?]

[There are so many comics, but he also read a bunch and has so much emotional information to work through already!!!]

[Under the bed perhaps???]

[SO MUCH.

Donnie, you got a light? Dark as fuck down there. What little light there is shows there's definitely something down there.]

[A light is easy enough to make. Purple energy gathers at his shoulders and makes a floodlight.]

[Purple tinted, but still light.]

[The shadows scatter under the light, like dark black tentacles hiding at the edges now and releasing a small figure on its own. Like it had been dropped under the bed and forgotten. Or put there to be forgotten.]

[Oh lovely]

[Tentacles.]

[He is going to summon purple energy in a techno glove around his hand because he absolutely doesn't trust THOSE at all.]

[But then he's going to reach in to grab the figure.]

[Donatello wins: .... A Leonardo Hamato action figure!!

It's small, about the same size as Donnie's. A lot beaten up, scuffed. Dusty and scratched up with smears of dirt and whatnot. His expression is tired, and a little afraid. Too much put on him too suddenly, like he can't get a breath and is trying desperately to not let anyone know how bad he's struggling at it.]

[Oh no]

[Okay, this? This he can fix.]

[He will straighten up, banishing the glove and summons a multitool. He's going to get to cleaning and fixing up this action figure, taking a look around for anything that might be colored paint.]

[Probably. Someone's gotta have tools to make action figures somewhere around here, but there are plenty of boxes on the shelves and some paint supplies in there. Brushes, paints, sealant.]

[Yes, good.]

[He may not be the artist Mikey is, but he can paint in the lines.]

[He can get rid of the dust and dirt, buff away the scratches, give a fresh coat of paint.]

[He]

[He doesn't do anything to the expression directly. He'll ponder that when the rest is cleaned up.]

[It's easy enough to clean up, repaint. Get the Leonardo Action Figure looking clean and new.

But the expression... Still the same. Still afraid, and a grim reminder that Leonardo is just sixteen. Sixteen and had the weight of the entire universe on his shoulders for those brief few minutes to make that decision.]

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