[Donnie casts a look over his shoulder at Casey's noise, however quiet, but also partially because his team readout showed an uptick in Casey's heartrate. He can only see his head just above the shelves so he's not sure what he saw. Whenever a supply run goes out, he's on guard duty, unless they need to scavenge for things of a more technical nature.
The hard light flyer completes its circuit; no Krang patrols. Donnie sends it out further, half a mile. Advance notice of any approaching crews would be more helpful. Leo can handle whatever's going on in the store.]
[Whatever's going on in the store that happens to be Casey alerting him to some goop. Eugh.
Leo steps closer to where Casey is to get a look at what he's seeing. Nods in the acknowledgement. He moves his hand to gesture for Casey to step back and leave it alone. If it's benign and not reacting, then best to give it a wide berth and leave it be. No sense causing problems now.
He resumes scouring the shelves; they had made a point of showing any of the younger scouts and scavengers what items looked like in the old days, what expiration dates looked like and what they mean, which ones still matter now. He turns to make sure the recording Donnie's taking picks up everything he's seeing - some shelves of general first aid supplies like bandaids and gauze wrappings, small rolls of medical tape, some OTC painkillers. While some not usable now, they could possibly be reverse engineered and new ones made. Other than that, it's some frozen foods still in one or two of the working freezers, canned goods, and some nonessentials. He'll grab one box of bandages and check on Casey.]
[Casey's... doing his best. Most of what he finds seems to be garbage, which isn't helping his confidence any. If he can't be a great ninja (yet, hopefully) you'd think he could at least be a good scavenger. He was pretty good at scrounging cast-off supplies back at base, but that tended to be him trying to make treasures out of trash. Here, you couldn't really do that for most of what they were looking for. A tin can could be repurposed into target practice, a broken table leg carved into a toy for one of the little ones, but you couldn't turn either of those into the food or medicine they desperately needed.
He'd managed to get a couple of things, unspoiled canned food and a box of dusty bandages that could probably be cleaned and reused, but when he reaches for another set of cans, feeling hopeful, his fingers scoop underneath it and meet a squishy substance that makes his heart leap in his throat, realizing too late that it's more goo, and he's gone and touched it, the substance tacky and fresh like bubble gum. His first instinct is to yelp and yank his hand right out of the now-stuck glove as he retreats - not great - and his second instinct is to cover his mouth with his hand as if he could take the noise back - also not great, because he dropped his hockey stick in the process. Okay, cool, that's two for two in the "don't do that" category.
Thankfully his third instinct is to grab his stick and hop behind the nearest cover. No more noise. And if anything else moves, he will hit, decisively.]
[Right about when Casey's heart rate ratchets up again, the flyer detects Krang movement heading for their position. A pack of dogs thankfully, no lieutenants or other higher-cognitive soldiers, but they'll need to be dealt with quickly before the upper echelon learns of the disturbance.]
Incoming, [Donnie tells them over their short-wave communicators, another brief flicker of ninpo as he creates an additional flyer and sends it off to cover the other 180 degrees his first can't. They'll need as much head notice of officer approach as they can get, if it comes to that.] Dogs, seven or eight, from south-southwest. ETA two minutes.
[Leo doesn't have Donnie's scans for anything, but he felt the hockey stick drop, heard the aborted noise and Casey scuffling. He flits over quickly, taking stock of the situation to see a small bit of Krang goop moving like a skydancer on a windy desert day.
Great, is about all he has time to think when he hears his brother's voice over the comm.]
Shit.
[He looks over his shoulder at Casey, then takes a breath.]
You up for a little scuffle?
[Because calling it that can lessen how serious it is for Casey. Make it more approachable. They've got himself and Dee, so it should be... fine. At least until they can get out.]
[Seven or eight- that sounds insurmountable to him, when he's just starting out at basic level. But neither of them are calling for a retreat, and they'd know best what they can handle. If he chickens out at the first sign of a fight - especially when it was probably his fumbling that drew their attention - how will he ever grow? How could they depend on him?
His knees are shaky, but he wills himself to take a deep breath and tighten his grip on his stick, nodding. His mask snaps back over his face, and he looks back towards the direction Donatello had indicated.]
I'm with you, sensei. Can we... ambush them, maybe?
[He's not sure how much the dogs might know, but he figures they'd have a good plan in mind.]
[Casey's vitals are still ridiculously elevated; not just pre-battle adrenaline, but terror. Maybe it was too early. An uncharacteristic stab of sympathy makes Donnie hesitate just a moment, the offer of just sending out a rack of homing missiles to take the dogs out on the tip of his tongue.
Glances back at Leo as he readies his weapons, rotating his wrist and shoulder so they click. His arm shouldn't be clicking; note to self, schedule Leo for prosthesis maintenance when they get back.
That helps him make up his mind though, and with a snap of his fingers Donnie creates what looks like a harness out of light that materializes directly around Casey, fitting down over his custom Genius-made body armor snugly and clasping around his chest and waist. A small laser pops up from the shoulder of the harness and shoots a beam behind Casey, neutralizing the Krang tendril on the shelf with a hiss of blisteringly hot light and the stench of burning rot.
Nothing's going to get near Casey with that thing on, at least not without taking a hell of a hit. It splits Donnie's attention heavily to run the Pro-Vest and his fliers at the same time, so he also creates some blast door barriers for the entrances and exits to keep them from being outnumbered too quickly.
Overkill? Perhaps. Maybe he's just enjoying the chance to stretch after so long at home base.] We can try the roof.
[Leo has an answer on the tip of his tongue, ready to assuage any nervousness Casey has and build up the confidence in his protégé.
But then Donnie makes a move remotely, he watches the best latch around Casey and take out the small bit of Krang in front of them.][He listens to his brother's suggestion and looks up above them at the ceiling half-caved in but there's still enough solid structure.] Yeah. Yeah, I think we can. C'mon, Case.
[He doesn't pat him on the back like he usually would, not wanting to disturb the delicate tech right now. And something about his arm clicking when it shouldn't; best not to overwork that. He ducks down and starts making his way to the back of the bodega, looking for a back door.]
[The sudden manifestation around him is startling, and with him already jumpy the uptick of his breath and heartbeat probably doesn't earn any confidence from his elders. But the familiar warmth of ninpo keeps him from reacting more strongly than that, instead silently accepting it with sheepish and somewhat reluctant gratefulness. It's embarrassing to need it, and he does feel badly about Donatello having to divert some of his energy towards protecting Casey (when he damn well should be pulling his weight by now), and yet... he feels a lot better already. And getting ninpo shielding from Uncle Tello is as good as a hug. He doesn't do that for just anyone.
He follows Leonardo's movements closely, doing as instructed and keeping watch for their options. With his mask down his sensors are spinning in search of tactical positions, identifying anything that stands out as either dangerous or beneficial, and its tech merges seamlessly with the ninpo vest, laser at his shoulder tracking what he scans and ready to fire at a second's notice. Not for the first time he feels something deep in him burn with envy and wonder at such power - it's so much more efficient! - but he squashes it and refocuses. Sensei gets by just fine without it. Commander O'Neil does. His mother did. He can do this.
In the end it's not his scanner but his own two eyes that spots it, and silently he jerks a finger towards an overhanging balcony above the fire escape- the front is half-crumbled but would offer decent cover and a spot to jump off and attack from, while the escape itself wouldn't be half bad to... escape from. A little obvious, perhaps, but the lighting is dull enough that they could probably get up there unnoticed.]
[Yeah, Donnie is fully aware of the advantage he and Mikey have as active combatants in the field. If Leo still had his Ninpo (and if Raph wasn't...gone) they would've had more than a fighting chance against the Krang, absolutely.
But Leo doesn't have his Ninpo. And Raph is gone.
So Donnie will put a little laser vest on a kid sometimes if he feels its necessary, and they'll survive just fine with that.
Casey Jr. points up at a half-collapsed deck at the side of the storefront, which is more promising than any of their other current options. If it falls he and Casey have his mystic tech, and Leo has his "mad skillz" to survive.] Grab whatever's useful and get up there. Sixty seconds until arrival.
[Donnie's already making his way up, exercising that actual ninja skill that he so rarely gets to do. His pathway is probably much slower than Leonardo's just because of that, though eventually he gets into place and also solidifies Casey Jr.'s vest into a matte black instead of its typical glowing purple. Stealth and all.]
Will do. [He gets that to Donnie, following to where Casey indicated. It'll be precarious, but he knows Casey can get up there no problem. Kid's always been a climber since Leo started looking after him, he can do this. Between him and his twin, they'll make sure Casey gets back with only minor injuries if that much.
Not for the last time does Leo wish he could use his portals still. It would be easier. So, so much easier.
But he doesn't have that option. His ninpo is gone. Raph is gone.
He takes a deep breath, grabbing any boxes of bandages and antiseptic that can fit in his bag before following after Casey.]
[The perk of being small and wirey (and substantially smaller than the turtles he spends the most time with) is that he's great at scrabbling around and finding small spaces to occupy between them without getting in their way. He's also learned to find his own way to get things done, since growing up in the apocalypse means you either learn some self-sufficiency or you die fast. The balcony is a bit of a climb and the path up is halfway collapsed, but he manages to get most of the way up on his own power just fine. It's only when he reaches the fencing around the edge that a piece of the rusted old metal comes loose, very nearly sending him plummeting back down onto his ass.
Thank goodness his instincts have been honed enough in training that he's quick to fling his hand back out, releasing his grappling hook and latching on to a more stable part of the fencing. He swings there for a moment, eyes blown wide and quietly stunned that a) that worked and b) he did it right and c) he did it right while being supervised, before he shakes it off and allows the wire to draw him back up to where he'd been. A quick hop gets him over to the other side where he crouches in a decent observation spot, draws his hockey stick, and waits for their signal.]
Fifteen, south, [Donnie whispers, eyes on Casey long enough to be sure he's found a stable hold. The squeals and snarls of the dogs filter in through the broken glass windows, bouncing eerily off of the rubble of downtown Manhattan as they scrabble closer. Something's claws catches on metal, the resulting screech horrific, but by then the first cluster of dogs (four) are bursting into the store, snarling and snapping. They clamor for where the tendril was before its untimely demise at the vest laser, then spread out to search.
The dogs will find them soon enough; they might be out of immediate sight, but they haven't been able to cover their smell. The laser on Casey's vest switches to whatever dog is nearest at the time but doesn't fire as per Donnie's silent command, in order to protect their advantage.
Donnie glances over at Leo and gestures at the dogs. Go first. He'll cover. Casey can jump in when (if) he feels he's ready.]
[He's luckily gotten high enough that he can see the layout of what's left of the store... And also the hounds tearing through the destroyed merchandise, making sure whatever they touch is no longer viable. Good they grabbed the important things. He wants to get them out of here, at least get the supplies back to the base quickly so Casey can get this easy experience - but he can still feel that gaping maw where his ninpo is barely a trickle. He doesn't want to use it unless it's absolutely necessary.
If he has to, then it'll be Casey.
At the gesture, Leo looks from his brother back to the hounds. Then he smiles at Casey giving a 'wait here' motion of his hand before diving in with a flourish of his katana. He's just gonna go to town, boys.]
[O-oh, wait here? Casey had been about to join the fray, still anxious but eager to show his merit, but he's not about to disobey one of sensei's instructions. He shifts to a better position to clearly keep an eye on things, and looks towards Donatello next, unsure. How long should he wait? Or should he make a judgment call? If Leo runs into trouble, he's not sure he could hold back, if there was something he could do.
(He tries to bury the thought of what good he would be able to do, if Leo couldn't handle it. Everyone needs help sometimes, even his seemingly invincible sensei.)
For now he'll watch the chaos. Watching Leo work is a lesson in and of itself- he hasn't earned the title of greatest ninja master for nothing.]
[Leo...the whole point of this was to give Casey a taste of what's to come. It's just a bunch of dogs, and Donnie put that laser vest on him for a reason. Overprotective Sensei strikes again.
Donnie rolls his eyes but doesn't move otherwise, at least having learned not to challenge Leo on his decisions in the thick of a fight (finally). Though when it does seem like the rest of the dogs are gathering to surround Leo, he nudges Casey gently and jerks his head toward the scuffle. Go on kid, you have the advantage. Donnie's up here and he's not going to let anybody die or get turned, so go to town. It's fun!]
There's one hound he left untouched at the back of the pack, snarling and growling trying to get in on the action. (But can he really be blamed for being overprotective? He can't let Casey get hurt-) He does step aside, so Casey has an easier line of sight to the mongrel, only cutting down the one or two hounds immediately in front of him.]
[He'd been waiting with a hair trigger, so when permission is given Casey launches himself over the rail and slides down the hill of rubble, spinning his chainstick around to gear up for the strongest swing he can muster. It's not the stealthiest approach, but the Krang dogs were already on edge from the fight with Leo, so when the closest one twists around to snarl at him, he gets a face full of chainsaw.
It's... eugh. Somehow messier than expected, and he's grateful for the mask over his face because a stronger whiff of that would probably be getting him sick. Probably something to do with the unnatural infection coursing through its body. He shakes it off as best as he can and ducks under its swinging claws, knocking its back feet under it with a kick and rolling to get over to where Leo is, bracing against his back. These things sure are durable...]
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The hard light flyer completes its circuit; no Krang patrols. Donnie sends it out further, half a mile. Advance notice of any approaching crews would be more helpful. Leo can handle whatever's going on in the store.]
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Leo steps closer to where Casey is to get a look at what he's seeing. Nods in the acknowledgement. He moves his hand to gesture for Casey to step back and leave it alone. If it's benign and not reacting, then best to give it a wide berth and leave it be. No sense causing problems now.
He resumes scouring the shelves; they had made a point of showing any of the younger scouts and scavengers what items looked like in the old days, what expiration dates looked like and what they mean, which ones still matter now. He turns to make sure the recording Donnie's taking picks up everything he's seeing - some shelves of general first aid supplies like bandaids and gauze wrappings, small rolls of medical tape, some OTC painkillers. While some not usable now, they could possibly be reverse engineered and new ones made. Other than that, it's some frozen foods still in one or two of the working freezers, canned goods, and some nonessentials. He'll grab one box of bandages and check on Casey.]
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He'd managed to get a couple of things, unspoiled canned food and a box of dusty bandages that could probably be cleaned and reused, but when he reaches for another set of cans, feeling hopeful, his fingers scoop underneath it and meet a squishy substance that makes his heart leap in his throat, realizing too late that it's more goo, and he's gone and touched it, the substance tacky and fresh like bubble gum. His first instinct is to yelp and yank his hand right out of the now-stuck glove as he retreats - not great - and his second instinct is to cover his mouth with his hand as if he could take the noise back - also not great, because he dropped his hockey stick in the process. Okay, cool, that's two for two in the "don't do that" category.
Thankfully his third instinct is to grab his stick and hop behind the nearest cover. No more noise. And if anything else moves, he will hit, decisively.]
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Incoming, [Donnie tells them over their short-wave communicators, another brief flicker of ninpo as he creates an additional flyer and sends it off to cover the other 180 degrees his first can't. They'll need as much head notice of officer approach as they can get, if it comes to that.] Dogs, seven or eight, from south-southwest. ETA two minutes.
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Great, is about all he has time to think when he hears his brother's voice over the comm.]
Shit.
[He looks over his shoulder at Casey, then takes a breath.]
You up for a little scuffle?
[Because calling it that can lessen how serious it is for Casey. Make it more approachable. They've got himself and Dee, so it should be... fine. At least until they can get out.]
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His knees are shaky, but he wills himself to take a deep breath and tighten his grip on his stick, nodding. His mask snaps back over his face, and he looks back towards the direction Donatello had indicated.]
I'm with you, sensei. Can we... ambush them, maybe?
[He's not sure how much the dogs might know, but he figures they'd have a good plan in mind.]
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Glances back at Leo as he readies his weapons, rotating his wrist and shoulder so they click. His arm shouldn't be clicking; note to self, schedule Leo for prosthesis maintenance when they get back.
That helps him make up his mind though, and with a snap of his fingers Donnie creates what looks like a harness out of light that materializes directly around Casey, fitting down over his custom Genius-made body armor snugly and clasping around his chest and waist. A small laser pops up from the shoulder of the harness and shoots a beam behind Casey, neutralizing the Krang tendril on the shelf with a hiss of blisteringly hot light and the stench of burning rot.
Nothing's going to get near Casey with that thing on, at least not without taking a hell of a hit. It splits Donnie's attention heavily to run the Pro-Vest and his fliers at the same time, so he also creates some blast door barriers for the entrances and exits to keep them from being outnumbered too quickly.
Overkill? Perhaps. Maybe he's just enjoying the chance to stretch after so long at home base.] We can try the roof.
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But then Donnie makes a move remotely, he watches the best latch around Casey and take out the small bit of Krang in front of them.][He listens to his brother's suggestion and looks up above them at the ceiling half-caved in but there's still enough solid structure.] Yeah. Yeah, I think we can. C'mon, Case.
[He doesn't pat him on the back like he usually would, not wanting to disturb the delicate tech right now. And something about his arm clicking when it shouldn't; best not to overwork that. He ducks down and starts making his way to the back of the bodega, looking for a back door.]
Keep your eyes peeled for any other way out.
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He follows Leonardo's movements closely, doing as instructed and keeping watch for their options. With his mask down his sensors are spinning in search of tactical positions, identifying anything that stands out as either dangerous or beneficial, and its tech merges seamlessly with the ninpo vest, laser at his shoulder tracking what he scans and ready to fire at a second's notice. Not for the first time he feels something deep in him burn with envy and wonder at such power - it's so much more efficient! - but he squashes it and refocuses. Sensei gets by just fine without it. Commander O'Neil does. His mother did. He can do this.
In the end it's not his scanner but his own two eyes that spots it, and silently he jerks a finger towards an overhanging balcony above the fire escape- the front is half-crumbled but would offer decent cover and a spot to jump off and attack from, while the escape itself wouldn't be half bad to... escape from. A little obvious, perhaps, but the lighting is dull enough that they could probably get up there unnoticed.]
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But Leo doesn't have his Ninpo. And Raph is gone.
So Donnie will put a little laser vest on a kid sometimes if he feels its necessary, and they'll survive just fine with that.
Casey Jr. points up at a half-collapsed deck at the side of the storefront, which is more promising than any of their other current options. If it falls he and Casey have his mystic tech, and Leo has his "mad skillz" to survive.] Grab whatever's useful and get up there. Sixty seconds until arrival.
[Donnie's already making his way up, exercising that actual ninja skill that he so rarely gets to do. His pathway is probably much slower than Leonardo's just because of that, though eventually he gets into place and also solidifies Casey Jr.'s vest into a matte black instead of its typical glowing purple. Stealth and all.]
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Not for the last time does Leo wish he could use his portals still. It would be easier. So, so much easier.
But he doesn't have that option. His ninpo is gone. Raph is gone.
He takes a deep breath, grabbing any boxes of bandages and antiseptic that can fit in his bag before following after Casey.]
Dee, time and direction?
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Thank goodness his instincts have been honed enough in training that he's quick to fling his hand back out, releasing his grappling hook and latching on to a more stable part of the fencing. He swings there for a moment, eyes blown wide and quietly stunned that a) that worked and b) he did it right and c) he did it right while being supervised, before he shakes it off and allows the wire to draw him back up to where he'd been. A quick hop gets him over to the other side where he crouches in a decent observation spot, draws his hockey stick, and waits for their signal.]
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The dogs will find them soon enough; they might be out of immediate sight, but they haven't been able to cover their smell. The laser on Casey's vest switches to whatever dog is nearest at the time but doesn't fire as per Donnie's silent command, in order to protect their advantage.
Donnie glances over at Leo and gestures at the dogs. Go first. He'll cover. Casey can jump in when (if) he feels he's ready.]
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If he has to, then it'll be Casey.
At the gesture, Leo looks from his brother back to the hounds. Then he smiles at Casey giving a 'wait here' motion of his hand before diving in with a flourish of his katana. He's just gonna go to town, boys.]
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(He tries to bury the thought of what good he would be able to do, if Leo couldn't handle it. Everyone needs help sometimes, even his seemingly invincible sensei.)
For now he'll watch the chaos. Watching Leo work is a lesson in and of itself- he hasn't earned the title of greatest ninja master for nothing.]
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Donnie rolls his eyes but doesn't move otherwise, at least having learned not to challenge Leo on his decisions in the thick of a fight (finally). Though when it does seem like the rest of the dogs are gathering to surround Leo, he nudges Casey gently and jerks his head toward the scuffle. Go on kid, you have the advantage. Donnie's up here and he's not going to let anybody die or get turned, so go to town. It's fun!]
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There's one hound he left untouched at the back of the pack, snarling and growling trying to get in on the action. (But can he really be blamed for being overprotective? He can't let Casey get hurt-) He does step aside, so Casey has an easier line of sight to the mongrel, only cutting down the one or two hounds immediately in front of him.]
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It's... eugh. Somehow messier than expected, and he's grateful for the mask over his face because a stronger whiff of that would probably be getting him sick. Probably something to do with the unnatural infection coursing through its body. He shakes it off as best as he can and ducks under its swinging claws, knocking its back feet under it with a kick and rolling to get over to where Leo is, bracing against his back. These things sure are durable...]