Raph personally does not lose his grin when Belos makes his spooky grand entrance. He's been wondering how target-shaped Belos is this whole time. The answer is: very.
What he's hearing is "precision tools" and "we'll need Leo after the precision tools get him out" so the math on that is obviously "so stay between us and this gross-ass old dude because you're not precision tools or a convoluted plan." Obviously. ]
It's your show, little brother. [ He'll trust that. He does trust that. ] Raph'll be the opener.
[ YEET off he goes again. Head empty no thoughts wanna try to punch Belos very hard with a giant mystic fist.
Also he is bringing Hunter with him. Welcome to baby possum mode inside the big red family gundam. He will defend you with his life. ]
[ Hunter is now? A baby possum?? Complete with confused scrabbling and hissing when the protection snaps him out of his initial panic. ]
—- I’m okay! I can handle this! He’s my uncle, so -
[ Belos is getting punched SQUARE in the face. It’s a satisfying noise! So much squish! The fist goes through him in fact? He splatters ALL over the place.
And then he reforms on top of Raph’s energy construct, seemingly unharmed. He paces on top of it, feet sticking via goop. He clicks his tongue. ]
“How boorish of you. I thought you would be more flexible in a setting like this.”
[ The entire pit seems to rock back and forth, as if being rattled by giant footsteps. ]
“No wonder it took you this long to even attempt a rescue.”
You go, Raph, show him what a healthy big brother relationship looks like. [Offers him a thumbs up and let's Hunter be taken away. He trusts Raph to keep Hunter safe.]
[He turns to Leo and kneeks beside him, looking over the cocoin. He tunes out Belos' guilt trip. That doesn't matter right now. His focus is on Leo.]
Really would be nice if you woke up now, Nardo. [He pulls up the laser, and starts cutting away chunks, careful to not get too closer to where his body probably is, just until he can see better hints if it.] You know, I've been thinking a lot about trust lately.
[Breathe in. Slice. Breathe out. Slice. Focus, focus, FOCUS]
[That cocoon shell isn't giving any problems to the laser. It's pretty tight work though, like the goop was literally dripped onto him and hardened that way.
It did, but they weren't there for it. As more and more pieces of the shell fall away, it's clear where those strings that they cut went to: wrapped around his arms, legs, and neck, cutting deep into the flesh and muscle. The other visible problem being... anywhere the goop touched skin is burn scarred, that same kind of acidic burn Belos gave him during the Death by Destiny fight. All over his face except the small bit around one eye that was left uncovered, his neck, his chest and arms. But so far, no issue slicing it all off.]
[ As before, the flick scatters him into goop ... and as before he reforms again, this time up in his strands. There's an unnerving movement behind him - the walls of this chamber pulsing dimly as eyes begin to open all through the scenery. One opens right next to Donnie and stares at him.
Hunter cowers close to Raph, still debating wtf to do here. ]
"Is this what my grimwalker's replaced me with this time? A trio of pets?"
[ Hunter grits his teeth, fingers digging into Raph's shell. ]
They've all been kinder in one day of knowing me than you were to me my entire life.
[Donnie trusts Raph. He trusts Raph to keep Hunter safe. He trusts Raph to keep Belos relatively occupied. He trusts Raph to do his best to keep his word and he knows that's gonna be key.]
[The urge is strong to fire the laser into that eye, but it's just staring and right now, his focus on Leo.]
[He does pause, seeing all that damage.] Oh Leo.... [He sniffs because the emotions are running high, his brother is hurt, and of course the tears are starting.]
[But he can see and that is Enough.]
[The laser in his hand gets smaller. A precise tool. Purple energy wrapping around his hand as a mechanical glove as he starts grabbing strands, and tugging them to get the laser close to cut them away without hitting Leo.]
I know you can hear me. Even like this, you can't abandon us.
Trust isn't blind faith. Trust allows for questions, criticisms. Because trust is about intentions, benefits of a doubt, and yes, knowing the disagreements are not make or breaking the relationship.
I'm sorry we made you feel like you had to be perfect. You didn't. You just needed to listen, let us help you find the answer. We want to help you.
[Focus. Focus. He is reaching deep into his own mystic power, focusing on his next move. The next completely stupid move.]
[As Donnie gets the last of the shell off, he'll see the last of the damage - Leo's hands and feet fading, his soul trying to still hold on.
But once he grabs the first strand, Donnie will hear his own voice. Leo is a suitable stand-in. Anyone can learn. And until you do, you can outsource. Leo makes a great stand in.
Another strand, Mochi's voice. Maybe this is why you're such a poor leader.
Raph's voice, You just don't get it. And then growling in anger, Let him go, Mikey.
Their father, Oh why did I ever trust you? My other sons would have taken this seriously. followed by Casey Jr's, filled with frustration and anger, The world needs Master Leonardo. And all we got is THIS guy.
But then the last strands are all Belos. Belos' voice sinking deeper into his skin than the others. You've ruined everything. You may as well give in, and save ONE person some trouble.
It's terribly noble. Just you, all alone. And they don't even care. Let the stand-in take all of the hurt.
To give a hug? On his own? Please. He used you like the tool he considers you to be.
Don't tell me you're stupid in addition to being inadequate. You're the weakest link here. Or else why would I be here at all?
Then why haven't they managed it already? They find it easier to believe in your cruelty than I was expecting.]
[ Hunter instantly brightens at that. A gloved hand reaches out from behind Raph, waving a whole stack of post-it notes with weird circles drawn on them. He doesn't want to try using them THROUGH Raph's shield or he would. ]
Here! Try these - they're ice glyphs. Just smack them down wherever you can.
The room tilts. More and more of those eyes open, great corded limbs of goop beginning to take form as it becomes clear what this room REALLY is. Belos's humanoid form dangles like a little light on an angler fish as the much larger monster begins to finally move. A face looms in the darkness, made up of that green-black goop and lit by an eerie blue light.
One enormous hand reaches for Donnie and Leo, trying to close fingers around the both of them and c r u s h. The other hand reaches out to pry at Raph and Hunter, this time seeking any weakness in the red energy armor to try and separate the two of them. ]
[There is a sharp breath at some of those strands. It doesn't slow his determination to cut them away. It does speed up his tears, but fuck, he is determined to see this through and as the feelings and doubts and everything seep into his mind, into his bones-]
[It crystalizes his plan to ninety-nine percent.]
[His ninpo is wrapped around what he needs it to be.]
We are gonna have such a talk later. I could just say you're wrong in interpretations, how I love you, but its all words, and that isn't going to be enough, not now.
[He sees the movement out of the corner of his eye, and he's quick to change the laser, into a giant scooper as the hoverpack activates and shoots them off to the side, out of the way of the hand.]
Trust isn't blind faith.
[There's a giant Belos. The situation is definitely a lot more dangerous. One hundred percent.]
But sometimes a leap of faith is necessary.
[Leo is too quick to sacrifice himself, to lose value in himself, and getting him to respond to that alone may not be enough.]
[But he knows what is going to get Leo's attention.]
[He knows where Leo isn't going to let him down.]
I'm trusting you big brother.
[And then in the mindscape and real world both, purple energy encases his back.]
[ RAPH DID NOT GIVE EVERYTHING PERMISSION TO HAPPEN SO MUCH AND YET? HERE IT ALL IS??? The events pipeline is real. ]
Guys!
[ Part of the plan, trust Donnie and Leo, part of the plan, he's gonna hate it, it's gonna be maddening, it's gonna go against his nature, he was specifically told this. He has to trust them and he does, and they have it, Raph is giving it, has given it, not gonna jump in not gonna jump in not gonna jump in.
(Trust does not keep him from sounding abjectly terrified in that moment.)
So in some ways, it's maybe for the best that Belos is acting up.
Gross goop man try to separate Raph from Hunter, now of all times? Try to do even more harm to Raph's little brother collective than he has already? ]
Did your bro bail before he could teach you to keep your hands to yourself or what!? Step off!
[ Big villains don't get nice manners Raph, they get mean Raph.
When will the madness end.
Maybe after Raph is done trying to simply rip this giant goop hand off for its audacity. His mystic form now comes with +2 extra arms, the rare-sighted PVP special.
He's still uhhhhhh. Still working on his long term plan game. ]
There’s a moment before Raph’s energy hands make impact where the giant face seems to stutter for a moment. All of the open glowing monster eyes focus DIRECTLY on Raph. Also a few more open up and then also stare at Raph just for emphasis. It’s a whole cataract circus up in here, and Raph has their full attention.
And then the arms start doing work, and all hell breaks loose.
First - the first goop hand gets torn into by Raph’s giant hands. This time, the ooze sizzles and sparks, and when it hits the “floor” of the chamber, it does not immediately reassemble itself. Oh sure, it tries, but there’s a delay now. This is a far more integral piece of Belos’s body vs. the angler fish decoy garbage man (say that three times fast).
Second - Hunter lets out a yell of sheer terror just for having that hand get this close to begin with, and apparently seem intent on snagging him, and also the shell exploding, and ALSO the sheer level of sass happening in the Raph dimension. He winds up FLINGING several ice glyphs at the goop trying to reform on the floor and yelling to Raph or Donnie to please stomp on them or something.
Third - ]
“You know NOTHING about my brother!”
[ So, direct hit in the malignant prune that serves as Belos’s heart. The goop hand that Raph did NOT eviscerate reaches for Donnie instead, moving to scoop him and his soft shell up. There will be SQUEEZING if this is not stopped. ]
I'll make it two weeks! [At least Donnie was quite aware how much Raph was gonna hate it. At least the offer probably also serves to say they're still in one piece.]
[But trust was important. Trust is key to this entire operations. Between all of them and maybe part of the plan was to make sure Raph didn't fall into big brother habit.]
[He trusts Raph to keep Hunter safe. He knows Belos won't have him again. He trusts Hunter to not let Belos win if they're on the line and he hopes the two are alike enough to keep the other from being dumb about it.]
[He's accepted he may get hurt. But Leo has been reaching out to them, over and over again. He knows Leo is still there. Leo still wants to keep them safe.]
[So he's stacking the deck. If his twin has to worry about him over his own despair, it's the risk he's willing to take because Leo may not save himself, but he'll do everything for them.]
[Trust was key and with his plan underway, the focus that had been for deconstruction focuses on the Ninpo itself, trying to embrace that connection, to let it strengthen in his brothers.]
[But he's at least trying to not be completely suicidal about his cliff dive.]
[He sees the hand, he sees the glyphs, he has a Leo-]
Raph's raised three younger brothers, he's a good judge! [He's scooped up Leo, using that ninja speed to dash under hand, purple energy forming around him and he leaps up as he fabricated his web shooting bike, putting Leo between him and the handles, flames roaring behind him as zips over to the glyphs, driving sideways to hit the glyphs with the end of his staff.]
[ Sorry, Hunter, front-lining this experience in the Raph dimension. Terror abounds.
Final boss form Belos is so much more satisfying to tear into than the tiny decoy version was to hit. Physically and apparently emotionally. ]
Yeah, I mean, just sayin'. [ He will stomp one glyph, to be helpful. But it seems like Donnie's got a handle on that. ] Lame duck or dud egg?
[ Raph thinks that he is maybe tired of being nice. He thinks he really just needs an outlet upon which to go apeshit. So he's gonna try to climb up what's left this arm like a feral raccoon. Or a different size animal, depending on what the scale is here.
All things from the past few days considered, he's not above wondering if ripping out an end boss kaiju throat would also be satisfying right now. ]
[ Feral baby raccoon is about the vibe here; the arm is about ten feet in diameter, give or take, though given its oozy consistency, that diameter varies the more Raph climbs. It's not the most solid perch, but Raph will find that he can punch handholds into the side of the flesh if he's willing to endure the burning acid sensation that results from making contact with the goop.
Meanwhile, the ice from the glyphs that Donnie set off shoots all along the green slime, spreading in fractalline patterns. Belos lets out a howl of anger as he staggers. The great face in the wall lowers a bit as he struggles to move with so much of him freezing up. ]
"Cease this nonsense conversation about eggs."
[ Ooze takes over the floor from the bottom up and begins to rapidly fill the chamber. It remains below where Raph and Donnie are, but it won't stay there. Hunter yelps in alarm from the back of Raph's shell; a wayward glyph paper falls from his pocket, settling on the surface of the ooze for a moment before it dissolves into nothingness. A couple of faint animal faces seem to swim among the liquid filling the chamber. Are they turtles? ]
It's a metaphor! Was your brother, the duck, bad at his job, or were you, the egg, always going to be a brother murderer no matter what. I know you struggle with things like consequences and accountability and what that means in theory!
Considering the extreme lengths of the dud egg, Caleb really might not have had much to work with, Raph!
[Donnie is still flying around on the bike, doing his best to stay out of the way as spidershell hands grab the handles to steer him around, his hands returning to Leo. Pulling out the tanto blade and cutting away more of the cocoon. (Sorry if any happen to travel Raph and/or Hunter ward, rough flying and all.)]
Come on, Leo, don't make it that easy for him to manipulate you, you're better than that. [As he cuts the bits away, he's trying to reach out, purple to blue, see if he can get a spark this deep.]
What fun toy do you want, Raph?! [Because he can tell when a brother just wants to go apeshit and he is all to happy to enable whatever that mode wants to be. Just while keeping Leo away from Soup.]
[ If no one else has got Raph's analogy, he knows Donnie's got him. He gets the feeling that some of the yelling may be solely for his "we are not dead over here, Raph" benefit, but he won't take offense with that.
Things to think while Raph is fully going ahead and tanking hand damage for what will always be the greater good: anything that may ultimately lead to safer brothers. Also his poor impulse control.
It's a big question. If he wants a tool on Apeshitquest, what might help? Normally he'd vote for making the bad man go boom, but given this whole situation that would probably rain a bunch of acidic goop on everyone. Not optimal. What remains? What's been effective? ]
Might need some lifts in a sec if you can spare 'em! [ If not, he'll make do. Leo's the priority. ] Hunter, dealer's choice. Got a few more glyph thingies you wanna hand out? I'm gonna cover more ground.
[ And considering how much good work those glyphs are doing for them right now, having more to throw down is probably the best bet.
If Belos wants to make his brother issues everyone's problem, then fine. He can have the devoted attention of big brother Raph and his three mystic clones. Lacking the sharp thinking and convenience of a skilled strategist with portals, bullheaded spreading across surface area will have to do. ]
[The whole nest area shakes with the impacts and fight, and purple reaches out for blue.
He jostles and jerks in Donnie's arms as they fly around the area avoiding goop, but there does come a weak pulse in response. Faint but there. It pulses in time with a bottle in all their pockets.]
Glyphs - right, um - I have light, fire, and vines? Which ones do you want?
[ He'll shove a couple of each in Raph's face to be honest; he's already clinging high on the turtle's back, terrified of the room filling with acid goop. What few stray bits of cocoon that have gotten through the shield eat away at his shirt a bit, but do not hurt him at all.
Meanwhile, the acid continues to rise ... except, where those purple and blue colors intersect, it can't seem to get closer? Hell, anywhere the ninpo reaches, the goop can't get in to touch them really. Brotherly magic is much stronger than all of Belos's seething rage.
Those shapes swimming in the goop are definitely turtles. They glow dimly, and several of them try to swarm Leo and Donnie. Another one of them tries to swim up Belos's arm to Raph. There's something plaintive about them - not aggressive.
Belos himself scoffs down at all of them. ]
"My brother abandoned me. Stabbed me in the back. And every single copy of him did the same, eventually."
[ As Raph ascends, some of the goop forms into a more humanoid figure ahead of him. Hunteroid? That is absolutely a shadowy Hunter forming to try to attack him and prevent him from climbing higher. ]
[The yelling is definitely in part of Raph's benefit. A little bit to talk shit at Belos.]
When a brother messes up, you work through it, not murder! With how fast you jump to murdering brothers and children, it really becomes a non-starter for any of them to even attempt to work through things with you! Get some accountability, you're the problem!
[Clones are disposable, don't need lifts for them, they'll come and go as Raph needs.] Hunter, help maneuvering!
[A hand holds onto Leo, the other grabbing his staff, reaching deep into the ninpo. Bigger fabrication, but not too overly complex, it just needs the power. He breathes in, breathes out, pushes through the dizzying feeling. He's fine, he's connected, he's fine.]
[The pieces form after him as he flies away from the soup and any stray arms, combining together before the pieces shoot out to form at Raph's back, large rocket thrusters attaching, complete with a space for Hunter to squirrel himself away as well as controls to help Raph move with more precision and agility.]
[The bike falters for a moment, drops several feet before he gets the control back, solidifies it. He pulls back energy, cancelling the fabrications in other parts of Leo's mind, the spiderhsell, hand moving from the staff to the handle to steer. Thrusters, bike, and supply satchels left.]
[A pulse. A return.]
[A thrumming at his side. He looks down. Wait...would it...?]
[He grabs the potion, tugging off the cap with his teeth and going to try pouring it into Leo's mouth.]
[He hasn't noticed he's fallen low enough for the turtles to get close to the bike. He's a little distracted.]
[ He's straight up just gonna send most of them with the mystic clones anyway. They're not gonna get much distance, but he at least tries to get them a ways further up this arm before they start slapping glyphs down. Surface area. Very important.
Raph feels a way. About so much of this situation, and the past few days, and all the stuff he's heard about Belos to start with. He's angry in a way that goes deeper than impulse, turns to clarity. It's like Anger 2. Which is a new one for him. ]
I'll let you in on this one for free, Phil! I don't even gotta know the whole story! [ What, like he's gonna actually use 'Phillip'? No way. ] They all loved you! You turned on them!
[ He pulls together a big mystic gauntlet. These rocket donations are exactly the ideal setups right now. If Hunter can help on maneuvering, also good. There's still a throat up there somewhere, un-ripped. If he's gotta punch his way through this Hunter-shaped goop puppet first... he's gonna hate that, but it's very rock and a hard place. ]
[Amidst the punching and yelling, goop gooping and evil menacing, something does happen. Donnie empties the potion bottle into Leo's mouth and that ninpo still blips out before a massive pulse goes out from Leo, a blue wave of electrical energy washing over the entire area once.
It bounces the bike up a little higher from the goop flooding in and Leo's eyes open with a faint blue glow first before fading to normal again, his stripes glowing brightly.
He coughs into his hand, sitting up himself and looking around wildly-]
What-
[And then takes quick stock of the situation. Giant evil monster Belos. Raph and Hunter fighting melee, Donnie keeping him out of the way for now, acidic goop rising in the room like a sinking ship.
A white hot incandescent fury fills him, ripping off a last piece of the cocoon shell in his hand and flaring it into a blue-hilted katana in his grip.]
Raph! Hunter! Head's up!
[He moves his hand holding his sword measuring an angle before he swings it hard through the air. That same ozone smell erupts as a sequence of blue portals open all around Belos and countless swords shoot through from all angles at the asshole, but carefully avoiding Raph and Hunter. It's a veritable episode 39 of Utena in here.
It's his brain. He gets to go big all he wants in ways he can't in the real world yet.]
[ Hunter winces on Raph's back - that hurts more than anything else, to be honest - and now there's so much going on it's all he can do to hang in there, protected by Donnie's tech and Raph's everything. Later he can maybe unpack that but -
The giant Belos monster is VERY distracted. First by - Phil, really? That deserves a swat at Raph all on its own. The enormous claws rake across his protective red ninpo, scratching along the surface of it. But even as he claws at Raph, Raph is gearing up for ULTIPUNCH! He's able to catapult forward with Donnie's rockets, as Hunter leans hard into it, pushing them on even faster with a quick combo of ice and fire glyphs. (It's just an explosion, but then again isn't that what rockets are anyway?)
The big red turtle cleaves through the Hunter clone and Belos's neck in a horrible spray of green-black ichor. That monstrous horned face dips to one side, mostly disconnected, but not quite. He gurgles as even more horrible sounds come out of him. And the Hunter clone, well. Spattered all over the place too.
But the ooze begins to reform. Despite the gap in his neck, Belos begins to reattach his head. And then -
And then ALL OF THE SWORDS. So many swords! They whiz past Hunter and Raph safely, instead embedding themselves into Belos like the world's worst tomato pincushion. Some appear to miss ... at first, until they strike one of the many glyphs now scattered around the chamber. Fire burns along the acid pool, setting it ablaze. Ice creeps up Belos's legs and prevents him from moving. Vines block his neck from reforming properly, and the light punches UPWARDS, cracking the ceiling of the chamber as it begins to let the rest of Leo's heart in. No more prison deep away from everything and everyone.
Belos lets out one more horrible gurgle of despair and begins to collapse. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: THE PIT
[ Big flashy explosion? Excellent. Top tier.
Raph personally does not lose his grin when Belos makes his spooky grand entrance. He's been wondering how target-shaped Belos is this whole time. The answer is: very.
What he's hearing is "precision tools" and "we'll need Leo after the precision tools get him out" so the math on that is obviously "so stay between us and this gross-ass old dude because you're not precision tools or a convoluted plan." Obviously. ]
It's your show, little brother. [ He'll trust that. He does trust that. ] Raph'll be the opener.
[ YEET off he goes again. Head empty no thoughts wanna try to punch Belos very hard with a giant mystic fist.
Also he is bringing Hunter with him. Welcome to baby possum mode inside the big red family gundam. He will defend you with his life. ]
Re: THE PIT
—- I’m okay! I can handle this! He’s my uncle, so -
[ Belos is getting punched SQUARE in the face. It’s a satisfying noise! So much squish! The fist goes through him in fact? He splatters ALL over the place.
And then he reforms on top of Raph’s energy construct, seemingly unharmed. He paces on top of it, feet sticking via goop. He clicks his tongue. ]
“How boorish of you. I thought you would be more flexible in a setting like this.”
[ The entire pit seems to rock back and forth, as if being rattled by giant footsteps. ]
“No wonder it took you this long to even attempt a rescue.”
Re: THE PIT
[He turns to Leo and kneeks beside him, looking over the cocoin. He tunes out Belos' guilt trip. That doesn't matter right now. His focus is on Leo.]
Really would be nice if you woke up now, Nardo. [He pulls up the laser, and starts cutting away chunks, careful to not get too closer to where his body probably is, just until he can see better hints if it.] You know, I've been thinking a lot about trust lately.
[Breathe in. Slice. Breathe out. Slice. Focus, focus, FOCUS]
Re: THE PIT
It did, but they weren't there for it. As more and more pieces of the shell fall away, it's clear where those strings that they cut went to: wrapped around his arms, legs, and neck, cutting deep into the flesh and muscle. The other visible problem being... anywhere the goop touched skin is burn scarred, that same kind of acidic burn Belos gave him during the Death by Destiny fight. All over his face except the small bit around one eye that was left uncovered, his neck, his chest and arms. But so far, no issue slicing it all off.]
Re: THE PIT
I know, bud. You're with me either way.
[ Belos be out here saying stuff, Raph is busy thinking ugh, of course he's a dude who you make go splat and then he just reforms to say evil stuff.
Must have been the little brother. Before he did that one specific murder.
Raph tries to flick him. ]
Re: THE PIT
Hunter cowers close to Raph, still debating wtf to do here. ]
"Is this what my grimwalker's replaced me with this time? A trio of pets?"
[ Hunter grits his teeth, fingers digging into Raph's shell. ]
They've all been kinder in one day of knowing me than you were to me my entire life.
Re: THE PIT
[The urge is strong to fire the laser into that eye, but it's just staring and right now, his focus on Leo.]
[He does pause, seeing all that damage.] Oh Leo.... [He sniffs because the emotions are running high, his brother is hurt, and of course the tears are starting.]
[But he can see and that is Enough.]
[The laser in his hand gets smaller. A precise tool. Purple energy wrapping around his hand as a mechanical glove as he starts grabbing strands, and tugging them to get the laser close to cut them away without hitting Leo.]
I know you can hear me. Even like this, you can't abandon us.
Trust isn't blind faith. Trust allows for questions, criticisms. Because trust is about intentions, benefits of a doubt, and yes, knowing the disagreements are not make or breaking the relationship.
I'm sorry we made you feel like you had to be perfect. You didn't. You just needed to listen, let us help you find the answer. We want to help you.
[Focus. Focus. He is reaching deep into his own mystic power, focusing on his next move. The next completely stupid move.]
But...there is more to trust.
Re: THE PIT
But once he grabs the first strand, Donnie will hear his own voice. Leo is a suitable stand-in. Anyone can learn. And until you do, you can outsource. Leo makes a great stand in.
Another strand, Mochi's voice. Maybe this is why you're such a poor leader.
Raph's voice, You just don't get it. And then growling in anger, Let him go, Mikey.
Their father, Oh why did I ever trust you? My other sons would have taken this seriously. followed by Casey Jr's, filled with frustration and anger, The world needs Master Leonardo. And all we got is THIS guy.
But then the last strands are all Belos. Belos' voice sinking deeper into his skin than the others. You've ruined everything. You may as well give in, and save ONE person some trouble.
It's terribly noble. Just you, all alone. And they don't even care. Let the stand-in take all of the hurt.
To give a hug? On his own? Please. He used you like the tool he considers you to be.
Don't tell me you're stupid in addition to being inadequate. You're the weakest link here. Or else why would I be here at all?
Then why haven't they managed it already? They find it easier to believe in your cruelty than I was expecting.]
Re: THE PIT
He swats at him again, mostly on principle. ]
Yeah, thanks for the apples to oysters stuff, actual supervillain.
[ Which is all he can really call that, by his reckoning. It's like saying a banana replaced a lobster. ]
Hunter, we got anything that can freeze him up some, or do we gotta get creative?
1/2
Here! Try these - they're ice glyphs. Just smack them down wherever you can.
Re: THE PIT
The room tilts. More and more of those eyes open, great corded limbs of goop beginning to take form as it becomes clear what this room REALLY is. Belos's humanoid form dangles like a little light on an angler fish as the much larger monster begins to finally move. A face looms in the darkness, made up of that green-black goop and lit by an eerie blue light.
One enormous hand reaches for Donnie and Leo, trying to close fingers around the both of them and c r u s h. The other hand reaches out to pry at Raph and Hunter, this time seeking any weakness in the red energy armor to try and separate the two of them. ]
Re: THE PIT
[It crystalizes his plan to ninety-nine percent.]
[His ninpo is wrapped around what he needs it to be.]
We are gonna have such a talk later. I could just say you're wrong in interpretations, how I love you, but its all words, and that isn't going to be enough, not now.
[He sees the movement out of the corner of his eye, and he's quick to change the laser, into a giant scooper as the hoverpack activates and shoots them off to the side, out of the way of the hand.]
Trust isn't blind faith.
[There's a giant Belos. The situation is definitely a lot more dangerous. One hundred percent.]
But sometimes a leap of faith is necessary.
[Leo is too quick to sacrifice himself, to lose value in himself, and getting him to respond to that alone may not be enough.]
[But he knows what is going to get Leo's attention.]
[He knows where Leo isn't going to let him down.]
I'm trusting you big brother.
[And then in the mindscape and real world both, purple energy encases his back.]
[And shatters his battleshell to pieces.]
Re: THE PIT
Guys!
[ Part of the plan, trust Donnie and Leo, part of the plan, he's gonna hate it, it's gonna be maddening, it's gonna go against his nature, he was specifically told this. He has to trust them and he does, and they have it, Raph is giving it, has given it, not gonna jump in not gonna jump in not gonna jump in.
(Trust does not keep him from sounding abjectly terrified in that moment.)
So in some ways, it's maybe for the best that Belos is acting up.
Gross goop man try to separate Raph from Hunter, now of all times? Try to do even more harm to Raph's little brother collective than he has already? ]
Did your bro bail before he could teach you to keep your hands to yourself or what!? Step off!
[ Big villains don't get nice manners Raph, they get mean Raph.
When will the madness end.
Maybe after Raph is done trying to simply rip this giant goop hand off for its audacity. His mystic form now comes with +2 extra arms, the rare-sighted PVP special.
He's still uhhhhhh. Still working on his long term plan game. ]
Re: THE PIT
There’s a moment before Raph’s energy hands make impact where the giant face seems to stutter for a moment. All of the open glowing monster eyes focus DIRECTLY on Raph. Also a few more open up and then also stare at Raph just for emphasis. It’s a whole cataract circus up in here, and Raph has their full attention.
And then the arms start doing work, and all hell breaks loose.
First - the first goop hand gets torn into by Raph’s giant hands. This time, the ooze sizzles and sparks, and when it hits the “floor” of the chamber, it does not immediately reassemble itself. Oh sure, it tries, but there’s a delay now. This is a far more integral piece of Belos’s body vs. the angler fish decoy garbage man (say that three times fast).
Second - Hunter lets out a yell of sheer terror just for having that hand get this close to begin with, and apparently seem intent on snagging him, and also the shell exploding, and ALSO the sheer level of sass happening in the Raph dimension. He winds up FLINGING several ice glyphs at the goop trying to reform on the floor and yelling to Raph or Donnie to please stomp on them or something.
Third - ]
“You know NOTHING about my brother!”
[ So, direct hit in the malignant prune that serves as Belos’s heart. The goop hand that Raph did NOT eviscerate reaches for Donnie instead, moving to scoop him and his soft shell up. There will be SQUEEZING if this is not stopped. ]
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[But trust was important. Trust is key to this entire operations. Between all of them and maybe part of the plan was to make sure Raph didn't fall into big brother habit.]
[He trusts Raph to keep Hunter safe. He knows Belos won't have him again. He trusts Hunter to not let Belos win if they're on the line and he hopes the two are alike enough to keep the other from being dumb about it.]
[He's accepted he may get hurt. But Leo has been reaching out to them, over and over again. He knows Leo is still there. Leo still wants to keep them safe.]
[So he's stacking the deck. If his twin has to worry about him over his own despair, it's the risk he's willing to take because Leo may not save himself, but he'll do everything for them.]
[Trust was key and with his plan underway, the focus that had been for deconstruction focuses on the Ninpo itself, trying to embrace that connection, to let it strengthen in his brothers.]
[But he's at least trying to not be completely suicidal about his cliff dive.]
[He sees the hand, he sees the glyphs, he has a Leo-]
Raph's raised three younger brothers, he's a good judge! [He's scooped up Leo, using that ninja speed to dash under hand, purple energy forming around him and he leaps up as he fabricated his web shooting bike, putting Leo between him and the handles, flames roaring behind him as zips over to the glyphs, driving sideways to hit the glyphs with the end of his staff.]
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Final boss form Belos is so much more satisfying to tear into than the tiny decoy version was to hit. Physically and apparently emotionally. ]
Yeah, I mean, just sayin'. [ He will stomp one glyph, to be helpful. But it seems like Donnie's got a handle on that. ] Lame duck or dud egg?
[ Raph thinks that he is maybe tired of being nice. He thinks he really just needs an outlet upon which to go apeshit. So he's gonna try to climb up what's left this arm like a feral raccoon. Or a different size animal, depending on what the scale is here.
All things from the past few days considered, he's not above wondering if ripping out an end boss kaiju throat would also be satisfying right now. ]
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Meanwhile, the ice from the glyphs that Donnie set off shoots all along the green slime, spreading in fractalline patterns. Belos lets out a howl of anger as he staggers. The great face in the wall lowers a bit as he struggles to move with so much of him freezing up. ]
"Cease this nonsense conversation about eggs."
[ Ooze takes over the floor from the bottom up and begins to rapidly fill the chamber. It remains below where Raph and Donnie are, but it won't stay there. Hunter yelps in alarm from the back of Raph's shell; a wayward glyph paper falls from his pocket, settling on the surface of the ooze for a moment before it dissolves into nothingness. A couple of faint animal faces seem to swim among the liquid filling the chamber. Are they turtles? ]
"I will drown ALL of you out if I need to."
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Considering the extreme lengths of the dud egg, Caleb really might not have had much to work with, Raph!
[Donnie is still flying around on the bike, doing his best to stay out of the way as spidershell hands grab the handles to steer him around, his hands returning to Leo. Pulling out the tanto blade and cutting away more of the cocoon. (Sorry if any happen to travel Raph and/or Hunter ward, rough flying and all.)]
Come on, Leo, don't make it that easy for him to manipulate you, you're better than that. [As he cuts the bits away, he's trying to reach out, purple to blue, see if he can get a spark this deep.]
What fun toy do you want, Raph?! [Because he can tell when a brother just wants to go apeshit and he is all to happy to enable whatever that mode wants to be. Just while keeping Leo away from Soup.]
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Things to think while Raph is fully going ahead and tanking hand damage for what will always be the greater good: anything that may ultimately lead to safer brothers. Also his poor impulse control.
It's a big question. If he wants a tool on Apeshitquest, what might help? Normally he'd vote for making the bad man go boom, but given this whole situation that would probably rain a bunch of acidic goop on everyone. Not optimal. What remains? What's been effective? ]
Might need some lifts in a sec if you can spare 'em! [ If not, he'll make do. Leo's the priority. ] Hunter, dealer's choice. Got a few more glyph thingies you wanna hand out? I'm gonna cover more ground.
[ And considering how much good work those glyphs are doing for them right now, having more to throw down is probably the best bet.
If Belos wants to make his brother issues everyone's problem, then fine. He can have the devoted attention of big brother Raph and his three mystic clones. Lacking the sharp thinking and convenience of a skilled strategist with portals, bullheaded spreading across surface area will have to do. ]
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He jostles and jerks in Donnie's arms as they fly around the area avoiding goop, but there does come a weak pulse in response. Faint but there. It pulses in time with a bottle in all their pockets.]
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[ He'll shove a couple of each in Raph's face to be honest; he's already clinging high on the turtle's back, terrified of the room filling with acid goop. What few stray bits of cocoon that have gotten through the shield eat away at his shirt a bit, but do not hurt him at all.
Meanwhile, the acid continues to rise ... except, where those purple and blue colors intersect, it can't seem to get closer? Hell, anywhere the ninpo reaches, the goop can't get in to touch them really. Brotherly magic is much stronger than all of Belos's seething rage.
Those shapes swimming in the goop are definitely turtles. They glow dimly, and several of them try to swarm Leo and Donnie. Another one of them tries to swim up Belos's arm to Raph. There's something plaintive about them - not aggressive.
Belos himself scoffs down at all of them. ]
"My brother abandoned me. Stabbed me in the back. And every single copy of him did the same, eventually."
[ As Raph ascends, some of the goop forms into a more humanoid figure ahead of him. Hunteroid? That is absolutely a shadowy Hunter forming to try to attack him and prevent him from climbing higher. ]
Re: THE PIT
When a brother messes up, you work through it, not murder! With how fast you jump to murdering brothers and children, it really becomes a non-starter for any of them to even attempt to work through things with you! Get some accountability, you're the problem!
[Clones are disposable, don't need lifts for them, they'll come and go as Raph needs.] Hunter, help maneuvering!
[A hand holds onto Leo, the other grabbing his staff, reaching deep into the ninpo. Bigger fabrication, but not too overly complex, it just needs the power. He breathes in, breathes out, pushes through the dizzying feeling. He's fine, he's connected, he's fine.]
[The pieces form after him as he flies away from the soup and any stray arms, combining together before the pieces shoot out to form at Raph's back, large rocket thrusters attaching, complete with a space for Hunter to squirrel himself away as well as controls to help Raph move with more precision and agility.]
[The bike falters for a moment, drops several feet before he gets the control back, solidifies it. He pulls back energy, cancelling the fabrications in other parts of Leo's mind, the spiderhsell, hand moving from the staff to the handle to steer. Thrusters, bike, and supply satchels left.]
[A pulse. A return.]
[A thrumming at his side. He looks down. Wait...would it...?]
[He grabs the potion, tugging off the cap with his teeth and going to try pouring it into Leo's mouth.]
[He hasn't noticed he's fallen low enough for the turtles to get close to the bike. He's a little distracted.]
Re: THE PIT
[ He's straight up just gonna send most of them with the mystic clones anyway. They're not gonna get much distance, but he at least tries to get them a ways further up this arm before they start slapping glyphs down. Surface area. Very important.
Raph feels a way. About so much of this situation, and the past few days, and all the stuff he's heard about Belos to start with. He's angry in a way that goes deeper than impulse, turns to clarity. It's like Anger 2. Which is a new one for him. ]
I'll let you in on this one for free, Phil! I don't even gotta know the whole story! [ What, like he's gonna actually use 'Phillip'? No way. ] They all loved you! You turned on them!
[ He pulls together a big mystic gauntlet. These rocket donations are exactly the ideal setups right now. If Hunter can help on maneuvering, also good. There's still a throat up there somewhere, un-ripped. If he's gotta punch his way through this Hunter-shaped goop puppet first... he's gonna hate that, but it's very rock and a hard place. ]
Re: THE PIT
It bounces the bike up a little higher from the goop flooding in and Leo's eyes open with a faint blue glow first before fading to normal again, his stripes glowing brightly.
He coughs into his hand, sitting up himself and looking around wildly-]
What-
[And then takes quick stock of the situation. Giant evil monster Belos. Raph and Hunter fighting melee, Donnie keeping him out of the way for now, acidic goop rising in the room like a sinking ship.
A white hot incandescent fury fills him, ripping off a last piece of the cocoon shell in his hand and flaring it into a blue-hilted katana in his grip.]
Raph! Hunter! Head's up!
[He moves his hand holding his sword measuring an angle before he swings it hard through the air. That same ozone smell erupts as a sequence of blue portals open all around Belos and countless swords shoot through from all angles at the asshole, but carefully avoiding Raph and Hunter. It's a veritable episode 39 of Utena in here.
It's his brain. He gets to go big all he wants in ways he can't in the real world yet.]
Re: THE PIT
[ Hunter winces on Raph's back - that hurts more than anything else, to be honest - and now there's so much going on it's all he can do to hang in there, protected by Donnie's tech and Raph's everything. Later he can maybe unpack that but -
The giant Belos monster is VERY distracted. First by - Phil, really? That deserves a swat at Raph all on its own. The enormous claws rake across his protective red ninpo, scratching along the surface of it. But even as he claws at Raph, Raph is gearing up for ULTIPUNCH! He's able to catapult forward with Donnie's rockets, as Hunter leans hard into it, pushing them on even faster with a quick combo of ice and fire glyphs. (It's just an explosion, but then again isn't that what rockets are anyway?)
The big red turtle cleaves through the Hunter clone and Belos's neck in a horrible spray of green-black ichor. That monstrous horned face dips to one side, mostly disconnected, but not quite. He gurgles as even more horrible sounds come out of him. And the Hunter clone, well. Spattered all over the place too.
But the ooze begins to reform. Despite the gap in his neck, Belos begins to reattach his head. And then -
And then ALL OF THE SWORDS. So many swords! They whiz past Hunter and Raph safely, instead embedding themselves into Belos like the world's worst tomato pincushion. Some appear to miss ... at first, until they strike one of the many glyphs now scattered around the chamber. Fire burns along the acid pool, setting it ablaze. Ice creeps up Belos's legs and prevents him from moving. Vines block his neck from reforming properly, and the light punches UPWARDS, cracking the ceiling of the chamber as it begins to let the rest of Leo's heart in. No more prison deep away from everything and everyone.
Belos lets out one more horrible gurgle of despair and begins to collapse. ]
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