post-snek recoveries

[neonleon]

[You know?

That weird temple wasn't good, but it wasn't the worst. Not by far now that he's back in this dimension. He floats a bit aimlessly, body broken, shell cracked and falling apart, some bones and insides shattered. His head aches in a way that he can't think.

All he can really do is hope Prime doesn't find him immediately right now. The light off his ring catches his eye and he looks at it, not fully registering that it's lit up.

A promise.]

Comments

[pyrighteous]

[ A promise made before the temple went a little mad and endgame happened - a promise started by his older self in an effort to change the timeline - and a promise being kept, damn it, no matter what the cost.

The light flickers, dimly, then starts to brighten. A voice calls out. It's blurred and hard to make out. ]

--ardo? Leo - can hear - please -

[ It echoes strangely in this dimension. ]

[neonleon]

[He definitely hears... something? Something. Weird dream. Hearing Hunter, because even if they said he'd find Leo, there's no way he'd actually willingly come to this place, right? Knowing what was waiting here?

But even he notices that ring getting brighter. He holds it to his chest with that family picture with his good arm.]

Was nice hearing your voice again, Hunts. [One last time. probably.]

[pyrighteous]

[ Something blurred in return; Hunter's gone the wrong way for a moment, getting himself turned around in this empty hellscape. but then he manages to turn himself, and find where the light is brighter... ]

-- hear it lots of times! I promise! Just - hang in there! If you can hear me, say someth -

[ Hunter's voice is clearer the closer he gets. ]

[neonleon]

[It IS clearer. Enough that Leo cracks open his not-swollen eye to look around. Unsure, slowly turning frantic.]

Hunter? Wait - are you here?

[He can't see Hunter, but that voice was definitely clearer, it was closer. Leo clutches at the photo and tries to shove his weight to float a direction but it hurts.]

[pyrighteous]

I-I'm here! I'm trying to find you, I'm just -

[ There's a LOOOOOT of debris. But Leo can just barely make out the faint glow of a light glyph coming from behind that one chunk of rock? Off to the side and a ways away. ]

[neonleon]

Hunter!

[His voice cracks as he tries to go farther. Pulling on debris that gets him nowhere without the right angle or gravity. But he waves his good hand with the ring on, letting the light shine a little more clearly.

And tries to ignore the ice in his veins when he hears Prime growling loudly in the distance. Fuck fuck fuck fuck-]

I'm over here!

[pyrighteous]

[ Oh Titan. Hunter hears that growl too. It makes him freeze for a moment. ]

What was that?

[neonleon]

It's bad news, we gotta go-

[Hunter may not see it, but he can hear a loud crash as Leo is slammed into a piece of debris with a cry, something cracking hard.]

Did you really think you would be able to hide forever?

[pyrighteous]

[ He doesn't see the crash, but he feels it reverberate in this strange place. Between that and the light in his ring, it gives him enough to go off of. There's the soft sound of Hunter blinking forward and -

He crests the piece of debris that Leo's just been slammed into and stares down with horror at the scene below. ]

Leo!

[neonleon]

[No swords, no weapons, no ninpo here- He's laying in a small crater made from Prime throwing him into it, pieces of his shell falling off as he tries to move and sees his ring even brighter-

Prime looks up toward the new voice confused before hearing that name.]

I see you are not completely alone. No matter. You'll both be dead together soon.

[pyrighteous]

[ Old man Leo HAD warned him that there'd be pieces falling off - that Leo would be in a terrible state. That doesn't prepare him for the reality of seeing shell fragments floating around. Or what must be underneath ...

The rage and worry that surges up from that sight explodes out of him before he has a chance to think about it. ]

Fuck you!

[ Two blinks: one to Leo's side, and then another one back up the way he came. A glyph clapped to Leo's back sends gentle, flowering vines around him to hold as much of Leo's shell in place as he can. ]

[neonleon]

WHAT?

[Prime watches that happen, his prey, this hated turtle disappear in the blink of gold as the smaller creature grabs him and runs. His suit pushes him forward to chase after the pair.

But Leo is tired. He feels the support for his shell securing tightly around him and keeping him in tact. Up close he looks worse - eye and jaw swollen, mouth bloodied as he leans into Hunter.]

You found me.

[pyrighteous]

[ That just breaks his heart even more. "Rough shape" doesn't even begin to describe it ... Hunter's glad he made the preparations that he did, but now he's not sure if it will be enough. If he gets Leo home only to lose him there... ]

I promised. No matter what, I'd come for you.

[ And as Prime gives chase, Hunter's head snaps up. Another blink takes them several feet back away from Prime and towards the portal Hunter used to get here. ]

He's not going to hurt you EVER again.

[neonleon]

[As Prime gets closer and lets out another shout, Leo's whole body tenses, breath going still as he holds it as much as it hurts to (lungs, something wrong with his chest, only natural considering how hard Krang slammed into his chest over and over-) and he leans into Hunter.]

Yeah. Y-yeah, I know he won't now.

[pyrighteous]

[ Hunter leans his forehead down to rest against Leo's. Gentle, so gentle ... ]

Come on. We're going home.

[ He blinks away again - again - until there's finally the glowing outline of a door just ahead of them, with the reddish trees of a forest visible just beyond the threshold. ]

[neonleon]

Home... Yeah. Yeah, let's- Go home.

[He doesn't move, closes his eyes until they're at the door and the light hits him. It's so different from everything in this dimension it's impossible to miss. He has to shut his eyes once Hunter steps them through from the light until he can adjust, his body going dead weight with the full proper gravity.]

[pyrighteous]

[ Hunter staggers a little as the full weight hits him, but he's a strong former grimwalker and he's not going to let Leo fall. Instead he gently lowers Leo to the ground. ]

-- Raine! Darius! I got him! H-he needs a healer!

[ And while things are moving in the background, Hunter whirls to get the door closed before trouble can follow them through. ]

[neonleon]

[Raine and Darius were on standby while their protégé embarked on this task. But once the turtle 'demon' is out and on the ground, they approach carefully, even as Leo is turning his head to watch Hunter.

Prime found the door, he's coming for it, arm outstretched - Only for it to be slammed shut in his face. They don't hear his wail of anger from the other side of it. Not when the now former-coven heads are trying to get the turtle bundled up for transport.

But Leo is watching Hunter and. This is real. It's real, not a dream or anything.]

[pyrighteous]

[ It's VERY real. Once the door is closed, Hunter lunges forward to activate the circle of fire glyphs he had set up. They don't look like the ones Leo saw before? It's a new design, and they're much larger for way less effect. But the end result is the same: Hunter SCORCHES the living daylights out of the spot where the door had been just in case of lingering Krang.

Hunter turns back as Darius and Raine are bundling. ]

Be - be gentle, please. He's even worse off than I thought.

[ He's holding a couple pieces of Leo's shell in his hands too. ]

You have to stay with us, Leo. Okay?

[neonleon]

[He's already mentally trying to tally up his own wounds, but chief among them is definitely a concussion or five. Hunter's right, he has to stay with them. The vines around his shell and plastron are holding together, but Darius gets a bit of sludge to encase it further, and Raine carefully helping it solidify for now.]

I'm- I'm here. With you.

[With all that settled, Raine comes to stand next to Hunter while Darius uses a bit more sludge to lift Leo up and start carrying him.]

"I'm sure he'll be fine."

[pyrighteous]

[ Hunter clings to the shell pieces as Darius starts to carry him off. There's nothing else he can do now, except hover by Leo's bedside once he's been tended to, and hope that the time it took to have healers and a bed prepared for him at the university was worth the extra time the Krang had to maul his fiancé. ]

He - he needs to be. If he dies after all this -

[ the temptation to go full Belos and make grimwalkers would be SO high. ]

[neonleon]

[They smile gently at Hunter, keeping their tone sympathetic.]

"They took care of me and Eda. They can take care of him, I'm sure."

"To be perfectly fair, you were not in as many pieces." [Darius is still carrying Leo but watching them over his shoulder before he looks at where they're going toward the university. Raine smiles a little.]

"We won't let him die."

[pyrighteous]

[ Darius please you're not helping. Hunter winces. ]

Please. Please. I'll do anything. Anything at all that will help him--!

[ He drifts after Darius, not taking his eyes off Leo for a second. ]

[neonleon]

"Don't worry, Hunter, we won't let anything happen to your special friend." [Darius does think it's cute, but this situation is not how he would have wanted to meet Hunter's fiancé.

The university is big and open for them. They're ready for whatever Hunter had told them, but it's still a shock that not only was it true, but it's worse than they expected from what Hunter told them. They're rushed in to the healers as they start working on Leo as they walk, some of the abomination sludge having to be cracked and broken to get to his plastron.]

[pyrighteous]

[ Hunter had given him all the details he could - that a turtle demon would be arriving with a cracked shell, that his arm would probably be messed up badly, and that there would be internal injuries too. But all of them put together like this, and worsened by the last couple of hits ...

He stays back out of the way of the healers, but he's not leaving the room. ]

I - I know. I just. He's already had so much happen to him. I didn't realize it would be this bad.