Turtle Soup [Raph, Leo, Donnie, Sora, Open]

[x_nightwatcher]

Who: Raph, Leo, Open
What: Meeting downstairs to help with the crapp-ola.
When: Today, about now-ish.
Where: First floor.
Rating: PG for now

Comments

[honorandcourage]

Still not completely comfortable with Paradisa or the people who inhabited it, Leonardo took a more circumspect path to the first floor of the castle, moving quickly from one shadow to the next and using the various doorways, alcoves, and scattered furniture to his advantage. He knew he was being more cautious than he probably needed to be, but considering that he was about to come face-to-face with something right out of a horror movie, Leonardo wasn't willing to take chances.

When he reached the first floor, Leonardo skirted the crowds, ignoring the noise from the attacking zombies whenever he passed a window. Since when did zombies speak Spanish, anyway? In all of those movies Mikey watched, there had been a lot less speaking and a lot more moaning and groaning. A lot more uncoordinated shuffling around, too. These guys looked like they had a plan.

"What's been happening?" Leonardo whispered, as he slunk up behind Raphael. "Have they gotten themselves sorted out yet?" he asked, eyeing the castle's defenders critically. He hoped that there were some trained warriors in there. Otherwise, they might do more harm to themselves than to the enemy.

[x_nightwatcher]

Raph kept perfectly still as his brother came up behind him. Call it good training, great sense of hearing, or a brotherly connection, the red turtle just wasn't surprised when his "elder" brother slunk up next to him.

He grunted once then glanced back at Leo for a moment, taking in the sight of his formerly "lost" brother. His eyes skitted back to the action.

"They seem to have some sort of driving force behind them, a little bit of experience," Raph said, a little uncertain whether he was talking about the creatures or the defenders. Both, truthfully. "Not much for planning, but they're sorting it out nonetheless I think."

[honorandcourage]

Leonardo's eyes narrowed in thought. In close quarters, a large group of inexperienced fighters could be more dangerous than the enemies themselves. Not knowing who any of these people were, he was unable to accurately judge their skill levels. Some held their weapons as if they were well-acquainted with their use, while the best that could be said of others was that at least they knew which part of the weapon was the business end.

"If they get in here, it's going to be chaos," Leo muttered, glancing around for a solution to the problem and not finding much to work with. "And I've been told that going out is suicide. Though, with the proper timing..."

He took a moment to mull it over before looking at his brother. "If they get in, we can get out. By thinning out the ranks, maybe we can make the battle more manageable."

[x_nightwatcher]

Raph nodded his agreement. "Yea, sure. Sounds like a plan--more these guys probably have." He paused, glanced at his brother with his eyes only. "In other words, we go outside to fight so we make it less chaotic for the good guys inside, right?" He grinned. "I love suicide plans. Why haven't I noticed this side of you before?"

[honorandcourage]

"We're not going to die," Leo muttered under his breath. It was suicide to go out alone, he had to concede to that. But with his brother beside him, they could do anything. Had done everything, from traveling in time to defeating powerful enemies from other dimensions.

Leo returned the grin, feeling more hopeful than he had since he had gotten to Paradisa. "We stopped the Shredder-" temporarily, his brain added unhelpfully, "-and the Foot. Like a few of zombies are going to be tough. We've seen the movies. Aim for the head."

[x_nightwatcher]

Raph chuckled. "Oh, yea. Definitely. Thanks to Mikey, I've seen plenty of old horror movies." He made a motion with his hand like the cutting off of one's neck. "Decapitation is the way to go, baby."

He paused. "I'm not sure they're actually zombies though," he muttered too softly to be heard. He returned his gaze to the chaotic crowd in front of the two turtles.

[honorandcourage]

Remembering the multitude of times he had admonished Michelangelo for wasting time watching stupid movies when he could have been taining, Leo made a mental note to apologiz the next time he saw his youngest brother. If he saw him again. Okay, that's not productive, Leo told himself sternly. Focus on the problem at hand. Fight zombies now. Worry about Mikey later.

Once Raph turned back to the crowd, Leo took advantage of the opportunity to surreptitiously study him. The turtle was concerned; all the talk about not remembering things made him uneasy. Should he worry that Raph had been hurt during one of his nightly excursions? Or had he been right and they were from different times? Leo doubted Raph would readily admit to the former and the latter filled him with dread. What if he altered time? What if a small change had catastrophic consequences on his family and the world? The thought made his head ache. Where was Donatello when he needed him? Donnie was the genius, he'd know what to do. Leo sure as hell didn't. He had his hands full with the zombies.

Leo blinked, suddenly remembering another tidbit of zombie lore. Giving himself a once over, he winced. "You should have worn your Nightwatcher armor, Raph. Then you would've been protected from bites."

[x_nightwatcher]

"The Nightwatcher only comes out at night, Leo." Raphael said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, I don't think they're exactly zombies per se."

He glanced back at Leo. "I think the people here are calling them 'Ganados' or something like that. Whatever those are." He looked away again. "They only look like zombies, not act. Who knows how you get infected with these things."

[honorandcourage]

"And it only feels right when you're alone, I know," Leo shrugged. "It was just a thought."

Wearing armor might hamper Raph's speed, but Leo thought it was still a good idea. Especially if there was a chance of infection. However that happened.

Leo frowned, feeling disgusted with himself for not knowing what to do and with the castle for becoming more complicated with each passing minute. "Too bad I didn't learn any Spanish in Central America. Of course, it probably wouldn't help anyway. I doubt the secret to stopping them is hidden in the name."