Accelerator is silent for several moments, glancing up at Leo, then back down at the photos. He wouldn't know anything about sex appeal and he's pretty sure saying that out loud is only going to introduce an opportunity for more sass that he would be absolutely terrible at handling, so he tries to skirt around that subject.
Even with the pictures. At least he knows what brother #3 looks like?]
They look like something out of a movie.
[Like Akira or some shit.
He also points at one of the photos with Mikey.]
Which brother is this?
Edited (Shut up I didn't forget to add this.) 2023-05-02 03:52 (UTC)
[Leo is unfazed by Accelerator not saying anything to that. He just leans in to look at what picture he's pointing at, even though he has a feeling he already knows.]
That's Mikey. He's our little brother.
[Leo misses him so much but he can't dwell on it right now.]
If he shows up here you better tell me this time, Accy.
[He mostly means it as a joke, but... okay maybe he's still a little mad about it.]
Technically the base vehicle for the tank did come from a movie...
[But he is totally taking that as a compliment, 'Rator.
Donnie's expression softens a little as he looks at the picture, a sharp contrast to his usual expressions. He knows he misses Mikey and Raph so he can't imagine how much more Leo does.
He does cast a mildly dry look at the esper with the implication of Leo's comment. It's not something Donnie cares to revisit himself, but the way he arches his brow at Accelerator suggests they'd both like to be in the know if any other turtles surface around this place.
But at least Accelerator had apologized on that rooftop, so he doesn't let the esper stew too long. He holds out the guy's crutch.]
Anyway, if we're packing up, I guess I'd better give this back. Sorry, you'll have to work with it a little longer. I know you're getting attached to that one but I'm not sure how long it'll last for you.
[Right, name acquired. But at what cost, because that friendly reminder from Leo is causing a fresh wave of guilt to wash over him. He has apologized to Donnie, albeit poorly, but he has yet to do so with turtle #2 (#1 technically).
A kind person would say something right now, but Accelerator just feels awkward and a quickly increasing need to get out of this social situation and put himself in an environment that suits him better. AKA, go be alone.
His expression remains impassive the entire time.]
[And because there's a strange sort of comfort in it, he reaches up to hit the switch on his choker so he has his powers back.
Except he's still holding the crutch Donnie made.
There's a BANG!, like a gunshot going off, and a small explosion of sparkly light where the crutch once was. There's a shockwave too, a smallish one since his reflection isn't reflecting a whole lot. All of that is bouncing right off Accelerator harmlessly - he only looks down because of the noise, and the fact that this reflection is feeling entirely abnormal compared to normal instances.]
[Leo isn't actually expecting an apology, so the lack of one doesn't faze him. He just shrugs in a sort of "you do you" way.
And then Accelerator switches on his choker.
At first Leo doesn't know what's happened, or even that the two events are related. All he registers is a sound like a gunshot, and his immediate instinct is to protect Donnie, but in that moment the only thing he can do to accomplish that is throw an arm in front of him (like that would stop a bullet).
And then he realizes that there's purple light debris and the crutch has disappeared, and as his brain catches up with the situation he lowers his arm again.]
Uh... whoa?
[He's seen Donnie's mystic tech get destroyed before (though not often), but the flashy method has him a little stunned.]
Donnie flinches back at the sudden reaction, mostly at the suddenly unexpected release of whatever concentration he was putting into maintaining that mystic-tech crutch. He shakes his head, looking past Leo at the remnants of his ninpō.]
What the...
[Immediately he's pulling his goggles down as he looks at Accelerator, piecing things together even if he's still not exactly sure what all had just happened.]
[The light sprays outwards away from Accelerator, kind of like water, before dissolving into nothing. Like it was never there to begin with.
Accelerator notices the turtles' reaction in his peripheral vision, but his focus turns down to his now-empty hand. His reflection is back on, a reality-warping layer overlapping with his AIM field, which is normal for him, but that was anything but. When he reflects something he knows exactly what's going to happen, where whatever he's reflecting is going to go, and that....
It takes him another half second of thought before he's deliberately stepping further away from Leo and Donnie. He's doing his best to keep his expression measured, but he's tense and inwardly he's trying not to freak out. The last time his reflection did something unexpected the results were not pleasant.]
I didn't do that on purpose. [......... Y'know, just in case Donnie gets mad about that.]
[Accelerator puts more space between them, and Leo leans back from Donnie, relaxing his body more slowly than he’d like. Man, his fight response triggers easily these days… (Can’t imagine why.)
But Accelerator says he didn’t mean to do that, and he probably didn’t. He looked as surprised as they were, even if he was more subdued about it. And it makes no sense anyway. So no reason for everyone to be so tense! Just an accident.]
I’m guessing… your esper powers have some weird reactions with our ninpo.
[He wonders what would happen if Accelerator tried to use one of his portals with his powers on, then thinks it’s maybe better they don’t find out.]
[Donnie looks more annoyed than angry about it, and that's because he is.]
I should've figured that, but then again, I didn't realize the extent of your reflect until today, not to mention that funky aura thing you've got going on there...
[He's...more upset at himself for not having considered adding that possibility to his calculations, it seems. And he's back to tapping at his computer. More data, more notes-
...it occurs to him that it's probably a good thing Accelerator's choker wasn't actively on esper mode when he'd tried to take a look at it on the roof. The backlash from the sudden dispersion of his mystic-tech crutch was like being stung by a rubber band snap. He's pretty sure he doesn't want to find out what would happen with a bigger, more direct connection.]
[An abnormal interaction with whatever mystic energy ninpō uses does seem like the most likely explanation, but Donnie's comment (" - the extent of your reflect - ") makes Accelerator inwardly wince. This shouldn't be a repeat of the incident when he was ten, he's had control of his reflection for years now.
But there's the new addition of this supercomputer, and he's uncertain chalking it up to ninpō is a good idea. What if the computer caused an irregularity in his calculations? Or what if being here was causing him enough stress - enough unconscious mental instability - that his calculations were just incorrect?
There are a lot of unknown variables here. It's making him agitated.]
That's probably my AIM diffusion field. [Unless the Confluence did something new, or the supercomputer is doing something to him right now....
Urgh, he doesn't like this. He reaches up to his choker again, hitting the switch. As soon as he does that his legs give a little wobble, and he quickly jabs his other hand out to take his normal crutch back.]
I need to go re-run some calculations, make sure it was just your ninpō and not anything else. [AKA he needs to go check his brain, preferably somewhere away from people in case his Personal Reality gets even more unstable.]
[Funky aura? AIM diffusion field? Yeah, Leo has no idea what they're talking about anymore.
What he does know is that Accelerator seems kinda... freaked. Well, not that he's acting outwardly freaked, but he turned off his choker, so Leo thinks he's definitely shaken by what just happened.]
Are you gonna be okay? We can walk you back.
[He doesn't know exactly where Accelerator lives, but he figures they can just get him to his building, anyway.]
[Preoccupied as Donnie is with trying to work out this new puzzle, he isn't really paying as much attention to Accelerator as Leo is.]
We could run some tests once you do that, that seems the clearest way to figure it out. At least I'll kind of know what to expect, but it'd probably be better to do something small scale...
[He blinks then, prying his eyes from his computer as Leo asks the esper if he's okay, finally looking towards Accelerator again.
It is hard for him to really gauge someone like the esper. He's used to dealing with his brothers who more often than not broadcast every emotion they're going through. Not someone more like...himself.
That realization makes him frown as his brow furrows, but he doesn't reiterate Leo's inquiry, though he is now giving them both his full attention.]
[Getting into the details now would mean sticking around, which isn't something he wants to do. He shakes his head vehemently, reaching for his crutch.]
It's probably nothing. I don't need any damn help walking back.
[Let's run some tests is a reasonable suggestion to make, he knows this, but right now all it's doing is reminding him of the scientists back in Academy City. Follow our plans and participate in our experiments, they had said. Yeah, look how that turned out.
On top of that he really isn't used to being offered help. That's just - it's very uncomfortable for him. They mean well, and what does he even do with that except grumble and walk away as quickly as possible? Which makes him look like a huge asshole, though to be fair that's what he is, and at least he's holding back from berating them like he did when Donnie apologized back on the roof.
He clicks his tongue, irritated with himself.]
I'll figure this fucking thing out and get back to you two.
[It's not exactly how he goes about making his brothers stop bothering him when he needs some space but he recognizes it for what it is now.]
I'll let you know once I get something together for that crutch.
[He nods at Leo then, gesturing for them to go. Not that he had been doing physically as much as the other two had but keeping his ninpō running in the long run does about the same thing for his appetite.]
[Unsurprised, Donnie is, if only because he hasn't gotten a goodbye once from the guy before.
He's also not terribly surprised when Leo drops his question.]
Not very sociable, right? [Coming from Donnie, that's saying something.] He's pretty rough around the edges. But I guess considering what he told me about where he came from, it kind of explains some things.
[For Donnie to declare someone “not very sociable” is definitely something.]
Yeah, his world sounds rough. [Accelerator said it was better than being created to be soldiers like they were, but Leo isn’t sure. And anyway, it’s not like they actually got used as soldiers.] Maybe it’s normal there. Ooor he just doesn’t want to get close to people.
[Leo shrugs.] He seems invested in helping you get tech parts and I don’t get the vibe that he’s going to horribly betray us, so…
...I don't know. Maybe it was hard getting close to people there.
[Accelerator hadn't really gone into too much detail about how it was with the other people there, after all, but neither had Donnie asked.]
He offered to help when I mentioned I was pretty much building from the ground up. I figured it couldn't hurt if he found any places, anyway, and if he didn't, then it wasn't like it was going to change things.
Part of it did stem from when he mentioned that you two were looking into with that Fantastic guy.
Yeah, maybe... When I first told him I was going to school here he got really weird about it so the whole place must be pretty harsh.
[Even though now he is going to school. Ah well, it's not Leo's business... (yet).
At the mention of their anti-Fantastic pact, though, he nods.]
Yeah, we've been... looking into whether all his heroic escapades are real. And doing some low level internet trolling.
[It's nothing impressive yet, but maybe if they can help build the negative internet buzz around him it'll help sink his campaign to run the Alliance.]
That guy sucks. If he takes over the Alliance it'll be bad news. Huvrye hates him too; I think he's trying to come up with a way to stop him too, but I don't know what he has planned.
Because having a city of science purposely creating espers is totally normal otherwise, sure.
[Yeah, harsh is a word for it.]
Any results?
I'm surprised no one's dug any dirt up on him yet. No one can have a spotless record unless he's already somehow managed to make sure his bases were covered before he made a bid for Alliance leadership.
[But yeah, it's definitely not good. Guess he can't blame Accelerator for being a little antisocial, given the circumstances.]
Some small things... saves he claimed credit for that probably aren't his, rumors that he stages crimes just to stop them... and I don't buy that he's truly invulnerable. Everyone has to have some weakness, right?
Having to adjust to the situation here is a thing, so I guess he's at least trying? And he didn't have to lend me his teleporter to get here, but he did.
...even if he neglected to mention the existence of family in this particular city.
[But it had worked out, and Accelerator had at least said he was sorry once Donnie grilled him for it. It was a very stressful day.]
Right. How long has this guy even been around here? Is he a local?
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Accelerator is silent for several moments, glancing up at Leo, then back down at the photos. He wouldn't know anything about sex appeal and he's pretty sure saying that out loud is only going to introduce an opportunity for more sass that he would be absolutely terrible at handling, so he tries to skirt around that subject.
Even with the pictures. At least he knows what brother #3 looks like?]
They look like something out of a movie.
[Like Akira or some shit.
He also points at one of the photos with Mikey.]
Which brother is this?
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That's Mikey. He's our little brother.
[Leo misses him so much but he can't dwell on it right now.]
If he shows up here you better tell me this time, Accy.
[He mostly means it as a joke, but... okay maybe he's still a little mad about it.]
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[But he is totally taking that as a compliment, 'Rator.
Donnie's expression softens a little as he looks at the picture, a sharp contrast to his usual expressions. He knows he misses Mikey and Raph so he can't imagine how much more Leo does.
He does cast a mildly dry look at the esper with the implication of Leo's comment. It's not something Donnie cares to revisit himself, but the way he arches his brow at Accelerator suggests they'd both like to be in the know if any other turtles surface around this place.
But at least Accelerator had apologized on that rooftop, so he doesn't let the esper stew too long. He holds out the guy's crutch.]
Anyway, if we're packing up, I guess I'd better give this back. Sorry, you'll have to work with it a little longer. I know you're getting attached to that one but I'm not sure how long it'll last for you.
1/2
A kind person would say something right now, but Accelerator just feels awkward and a quickly increasing need to get out of this social situation and put himself in an environment that suits him better. AKA, go be alone.
His expression remains impassive the entire time.]
... I'm going to walk back normally.
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Except he's still holding the crutch Donnie made.
There's a BANG!, like a gunshot going off, and a small explosion of sparkly light where the crutch once was. There's a shockwave too, a smallish one since his reflection isn't reflecting a whole lot. All of that is bouncing right off Accelerator harmlessly - he only looks down because of the noise, and the fact that this reflection is feeling entirely abnormal compared to normal instances.]
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And then Accelerator switches on his choker.
At first Leo doesn't know what's happened, or even that the two events are related. All he registers is a sound like a gunshot, and his immediate instinct is to protect Donnie, but in that moment the only thing he can do to accomplish that is throw an arm in front of him (like that would stop a bullet).
And then he realizes that there's purple light debris and the crutch has disappeared, and as his brain catches up with the situation he lowers his arm again.]
Uh... whoa?
[He's seen Donnie's mystic tech get destroyed before (though not often), but the flashy method has him a little stunned.]
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Donnie flinches back at the sudden reaction, mostly at the suddenly unexpected release of whatever concentration he was putting into maintaining that mystic-tech crutch. He shakes his head, looking past Leo at the remnants of his ninpō.]
What the...
[Immediately he's pulling his goggles down as he looks at Accelerator, piecing things together even if he's still not exactly sure what all had just happened.]
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Accelerator notices the turtles' reaction in his peripheral vision, but his focus turns down to his now-empty hand. His reflection is back on, a reality-warping layer overlapping with his AIM field, which is normal for him, but that was anything but. When he reflects something he knows exactly what's going to happen, where whatever he's reflecting is going to go, and that....
It takes him another half second of thought before he's deliberately stepping further away from Leo and Donnie. He's doing his best to keep his expression measured, but he's tense and inwardly he's trying not to freak out. The last time his reflection did something unexpected the results were not pleasant.]
I didn't do that on purpose. [......... Y'know, just in case Donnie gets mad about that.]
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But Accelerator says he didn’t mean to do that, and he probably didn’t. He looked as surprised as they were, even if he was more subdued about it. And it makes no sense anyway. So no reason for everyone to be so tense! Just an accident.]
I’m guessing… your esper powers have some weird reactions with our ninpo.
[He wonders what would happen if Accelerator tried to use one of his portals with his powers on, then thinks it’s maybe better they don’t find out.]
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I should've figured that, but then again, I didn't realize the extent of your reflect until today, not to mention that funky aura thing you've got going on there...
[He's...more upset at himself for not having considered adding that possibility to his calculations, it seems. And he's back to tapping at his computer. More data, more notes-
...it occurs to him that it's probably a good thing Accelerator's choker wasn't actively on esper mode when he'd tried to take a look at it on the roof. The backlash from the sudden dispersion of his mystic-tech crutch was like being stung by a rubber band snap. He's pretty sure he doesn't want to find out what would happen with a bigger, more direct connection.]
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But there's the new addition of this supercomputer, and he's uncertain chalking it up to ninpō is a good idea. What if the computer caused an irregularity in his calculations? Or what if being here was causing him enough stress - enough unconscious mental instability - that his calculations were just incorrect?
There are a lot of unknown variables here. It's making him agitated.]
That's probably my AIM diffusion field. [Unless the Confluence did something new, or the supercomputer is doing something to him right now....
Urgh, he doesn't like this. He reaches up to his choker again, hitting the switch. As soon as he does that his legs give a little wobble, and he quickly jabs his other hand out to take his normal crutch back.]
I need to go re-run some calculations, make sure it was just your ninpō and not anything else. [AKA he needs to go check his brain, preferably somewhere away from people in case his Personal Reality gets even more unstable.]
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What he does know is that Accelerator seems kinda... freaked. Well, not that he's acting outwardly freaked, but he turned off his choker, so Leo thinks he's definitely shaken by what just happened.]
Are you gonna be okay? We can walk you back.
[He doesn't know exactly where Accelerator lives, but he figures they can just get him to his building, anyway.]
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[Preoccupied as Donnie is with trying to work out this new puzzle, he isn't really paying as much attention to Accelerator as Leo is.]
We could run some tests once you do that, that seems the clearest way to figure it out. At least I'll kind of know what to expect, but it'd probably be better to do something small scale...
[He blinks then, prying his eyes from his computer as Leo asks the esper if he's okay, finally looking towards Accelerator again.
It is hard for him to really gauge someone like the esper. He's used to dealing with his brothers who more often than not broadcast every emotion they're going through. Not someone more like...himself.
That realization makes him frown as his brow furrows, but he doesn't reiterate Leo's inquiry, though he is now giving them both his full attention.]
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[Getting into the details now would mean sticking around, which isn't something he wants to do. He shakes his head vehemently, reaching for his crutch.]
It's probably nothing. I don't need any damn help walking back.
[Let's run some tests is a reasonable suggestion to make, he knows this, but right now all it's doing is reminding him of the scientists back in Academy City. Follow our plans and participate in our experiments, they had said. Yeah, look how that turned out.
On top of that he really isn't used to being offered help. That's just - it's very uncomfortable for him. They mean well, and what does he even do with that except grumble and walk away as quickly as possible? Which makes him look like a huge asshole, though to be fair that's what he is, and at least he's holding back from berating them like he did when Donnie apologized back on the roof.
He clicks his tongue, irritated with himself.]
I'll figure this fucking thing out and get back to you two.
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But he will this time, because Accelerator isn’t family or even really a friend; if he doesn’t want help then Leo won’t force it.]
Alright, well, let us know what you figure out. Worse comes to worst we just won’t use our abilities around you while you have that thing turned on.
[It’s not like they’ve never gotten around without them before, Donnie especially. They can make it work.]
Come on, Dee. I wanna get food on the way back.
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[It's not exactly how he goes about making his brothers stop bothering him when he needs some space but he recognizes it for what it is now.]
I'll let you know once I get something together for that crutch.
[He nods at Leo then, gesturing for them to go. Not that he had been doing physically as much as the other two had but keeping his ninpō running in the long run does about the same thing for his appetite.]
Sure. Pizza or something else?
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He turns to go, not bothering with a goodbye or anything, because that's just how he is. Have fun with getting food-that-is-probably-pizza!]
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Pizza sounds good to me!
[He’ll wait until they’ve left the building and Accelerator is nowhere in sight to do a little debrief.]
So what do you think of this guy, actually?
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He's also not terribly surprised when Leo drops his question.]
Not very sociable, right? [Coming from Donnie, that's saying something.] He's pretty rough around the edges. But I guess considering what he told me about where he came from, it kind of explains some things.
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Yeah, his world sounds rough. [Accelerator said it was better than being created to be soldiers like they were, but Leo isn’t sure. And anyway, it’s not like they actually got used as soldiers.] Maybe it’s normal there. Ooor he just doesn’t want to get close to people.
[Leo shrugs.] He seems invested in helping you get tech parts and I don’t get the vibe that he’s going to horribly betray us, so…
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...I don't know. Maybe it was hard getting close to people there.
[Accelerator hadn't really gone into too much detail about how it was with the other people there, after all, but neither had Donnie asked.]
He offered to help when I mentioned I was pretty much building from the ground up. I figured it couldn't hurt if he found any places, anyway, and if he didn't, then it wasn't like it was going to change things.
Part of it did stem from when he mentioned that you two were looking into with that Fantastic guy.
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[Even though now he is going to school. Ah well, it's not Leo's business... (yet).
At the mention of their anti-Fantastic pact, though, he nods.]
Yeah, we've been... looking into whether all his heroic escapades are real. And doing some low level internet trolling.
[It's nothing impressive yet, but maybe if they can help build the negative internet buzz around him it'll help sink his campaign to run the Alliance.]
That guy sucks. If he takes over the Alliance it'll be bad news. Huvrye hates him too; I think he's trying to come up with a way to stop him too, but I don't know what he has planned.
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[Yeah, harsh is a word for it.]
Any results?
I'm surprised no one's dug any dirt up on him yet. No one can have a spotless record unless he's already somehow managed to make sure his bases were covered before he made a bid for Alliance leadership.
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[But yeah, it's definitely not good. Guess he can't blame Accelerator for being a little antisocial, given the circumstances.]
Some small things... saves he claimed credit for that probably aren't his, rumors that he stages crimes just to stop them... and I don't buy that he's truly invulnerable. Everyone has to have some weakness, right?
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Having to adjust to the situation here is a thing, so I guess he's at least trying? And he didn't have to lend me his teleporter to get here, but he did.
...even if he neglected to mention the existence of family in this particular city.
[But it had worked out, and Accelerator had at least said he was sorry once Donnie grilled him for it. It was a very stressful day.]
Right. How long has this guy even been around here? Is he a local?
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