#dude managed to do acrobatics with a two handed sword

[lesiasmadness]

When my brother was studying theology they mainly shared their dorms with journalism and archeology students, and he told me the archeologists would always be their protection if a fight broke but cause they were all pretty buff. Basically to pass certain classes they needed work experience and no matter what the speciality they'd end up at dig sites. And since it's students nobody would let them do anything besides... the digging. And it's a very demanding task. So they were all physically capable nerds.

What I'm saying is that before the injuries so jolly frame, there's a non zero chance Layton broke a few jaws they just never let us see that

[ecemichi]

Tetora Idol Story 3

Hinata: Fufufu. This much isn’t even stealing candy from a baby, it’s stealing the baby~♪

Season: Spring

Tetora: (Aww shucks~, I’ve really done it this time…...)

(I totally forgot that the radio recording was moved to tomorrow~)

(Of course, no matter how long I waited, no one from Ryuseitai would come!)

(That staff member who happened to be passing by really saved me there, apologetically tellin’ me “That’s not in today’s schedule”...)

(Arhghhh! My face turns all red just thinking about it!)

(I even boasted to my karate club juniors about how I had a job today and left⁠—there’s just no way can I go back to Yumenosaki after that.)

(Now I’m here for circle activities, but…)

.....Uu~myu, I don’t think anyone else is comin’. Ah well, it’s not like I’ll just sit down an’ twiddle my thumbs. Today’s just one of those days, right?

Since I’m on my own, I could do some cross legged meditation... but all I really wanna do is vent all this stress out by working out.

Let’s just go to the training room~

Hinata: Ossu, good day to you~☆

Tetora: Aoi-kun… You’re Hinata-kun, right? Ossu, you’re here to train?

Hinata: Hm~m, not quite.

Tetsu-kun, are you the only one here? Have your circle activities been canceled?

Tetora: Did you come here to check out our circle “Shin”, Hinata-kun? Do you want to become a member? Or are you just here to observe?

If that’s the case, I suggest you come another day. It’s just me today.

Hinata: Hmm, I don’t really plan on joining the circle. Sure, martial arts sound like fun, but I’ve already signed up for a bunch of other stuff.

And of course I could just join ‘em all, buuut… the only way to manage that would be via mitosis~♪

To cut to the chase, I’m not here to join “Shin”, but to ask for advice. Your circle’s all about martial arts, so I guess I’m here to humbly request a piece of your wisdom or whatever?

You see, Yuuta-kun and I are in the middle of planning somewhat of a street performance.

Tetora: Guess you could say you’re working your way from the bottom up, huh. Even though 2wink participates in lots of variety shows nowadays…

You guys still continue on doin’ street performances?

Hinata: Well, yeah~ They’re a good learning opportunity, and with no distance between us and our audience they can experience our performance in its rawest form!

This is part of our advertising strategy, so I was thinking about doing our classic 2wink-core acrobatics live, but… that’s just what we do normally, isn’t it?

Then a lightbulb lit up in my head, and I thought, how about we mixed street performance and martial arts together~?

A dynamic dance combining strength and speed! We might just invent a whole new style...☆

Tetora: Street performance and martial arts… U~myuu. It doesn’t really sit well with me. Guess I’m too thick headed?

Hinata: I think it’s a good match~ For example… Hah! Bamboo swords: found! Dunno whose these are, but I’ll be borrowin’ them for a bi~t☆

First you hold them with both of your hands, then take account of how high the ceiling is… Aaand there...it...GOES...!

Tetora: Ah, you’re juggling with them! You’re nimbly throwing them like marbles, that’s so sick, dude! Aren’t they heavy?

Hinata: Fufufu. This much isn’t even stealing candy from a baby, it’s stealing the baby~♪

First you gotta split the swords into three groups...Two...And one! Throw them like they can almost lick the ceiling, and then jump up!

Some sword action mid air! Following that with a somersault~ Aaand it ends in a snap with a kickass pose☆

Tetora: Woaaah! Sick moves, dude~! I got all excited just by watchin’!

Though, you can only do those using tools ‘n stuff right? In karate, your only tool is your body.

I’m probably better off without outside help, heh~

Hinata: That so? I just thought of something reaally cool, though~

…Ah. Maybe Tetsu-kun would be a better pick for this than me?

Tetora: Me?

Hinata: Yes. You put your hand out and, as soon as you say “Ossu!”, pew! Flames burst out of it. We can form a temporary unit, 2wink&Tetsu-kun!

Let’s perform on the streets together♪

Tetora: Thanks for the invitation, but as far as I know I can’t really throw flames out of my hands~?

Hinata: I know that, silly. That’s where my great performance comes in! The moment you assume that karate pose, Yuuta-kun and I will make the flames come out.

If it goes well, Tetsu-kun, you’ll look like you’re the one controlling the flames! It’s a mash illusion of karate and fire performance…☆

Tetora: I wonder if it’d go well, though~...?

Welp, they do say don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. I shall do it rather than think about it!

Hinata: Yep yep, anything’s a challenge~ There’s no demerit in trying out stuff, if all goes south we’ll just explode and die I guess~♪

Tetora: Nope nope nope nope! Explosions are a no-go! Safety first, please!

Mixing street performance and martial arts… I dunno what would come out of it, but I feel like it’s going to help me as well.

I’m a member of Ryuseitai, but I’m also a taichou of some sort.

I should try to challenge lotsa things to be a taichou that can make everyone feel safe~!

jp proof: shiro

en proof: meteorgreen

[kikoqueenofrats]

Okay bukkarooos let’s get down to business-

I’m gonna be doing a frame by frame of one of my favorite AvM fight sequences (AvM 14) per request of the Ava enthusiasts discord-

This is gonna be a long one so buckle up and let’s goooo!!!!

also keep in mind the fight scene has alot of death, swords, bows and violence, ya know...usual kid show stuff- 

so if this stuff triggers you be careful okay.

(also please keep in mind that there aren’t gonna be alot of photos thanks to Tumblrs ten picture limit)

So the sequence starts at 3:49 ish when they’re all falling-

pfft Green looks like they’re just running-

I went through the frames and their hands are now on their hips-

Idk why I found that so funny…

oh wait no they just had their arms out nvm-

Behold- the spider!

Righto the fight is kicking off, enough with the funnies!

Blue is immediately pulling out their bow, makes sense since they are the archer of the group, it’s also a safe way to dispatch of enemies that can poison you with one bite.

Oh boi here come’s the spiders-

Yellow and Green draw their swords first...hmmm-

Orange also drew their sword pretty quickly afterwards

Then Red-

Guess we now have who has the fastest reaction time out of the sticks?

However Blue had already drawn their bow before this so I guess it’s not entirely accurate.

Red got the first hit.

The Blue and Yellow double teamed on the second...wait that spider tried to web Blue-

Good thing Yellow got it before it did-

Orange got the third

Then Green hit the same spider again

at the same time Red murdered another spider

Together Orange and Green have hit the same spider three times now-

guys isn’t that a bit overkill?

Using the momentum of pulling out their sword Red flies over to Blue.

Ooop Yellow’s got a spider on their back-

Orange also has a spider clinging onto their leg-

Pfft I can imagine Blue saying “hold still” whilst Yellow is like “get it off, get it off get it oooofff!!!”

Green almost gets a face full of spider but skillfully parries the attack with their sword.

Orange has now killed the spider clinging to their leg-

Yellow finally manages to push the spider off just as Blue releases their arrow resulting in the spider now having an arrow through it’s front..

Green curls up into a ball...perhaps recovering from the shock of almost getting a face full of spider?

Or maybe they were using it a shield against the spider Blue sent their way?

We may never know-

Blue grabs onto Reds hand and throws them and they hit the three spiders as they fly by.

Like there is absolutely no planning it’s just, Blue and Red grab hands and Blue just yeets Red into the spiders.

The amount of trust this group has is amazing and it’s about to get even better!

Now Orange has grabbed onto Reds foot, wonder what they’re planning?

Dude I think Orange just kicked a spider into Greens back-

Oooof-

They handle the spider like a champ tho so it’s all good!

Yellow kills another spider whilst Red and Orange exact their plan-

Blue sends an arrow at another spider.

Orange is now on Reds feet, oooh boi it’s spring board time!!

waaait...did….did...wait-

a spider just crawled up towards Yellow-

Don’t worry tho, Yellow smacks the gravity defying spider back into the abyss-

Blue gets another spider with an arrow before Yellow slays the gravity defying spider-

during this Orange is flying at the remaining spiders, almost hitting Green on their way there.

Just before Orange actually hits the spider Green pulls out their fishing rod.

...Yellow and the spider freeze mid hit before they move again...it’s like...pfft Yellow really is an anime kid-

So Green has thrown Red the line...is Red gonna pull a Tarzan?

Oh wait Oh boi Orange is trapped within three spiders did Green see this coming? ohhh boi-

well two technically the third one is kebabbed on Oranges sword-

phew Orange wriggled their way out, Blue looked like they wanted to help but Yellow stopped them?

That or they were prepping to catch Orange?

Wait no, Blue was using Yellow as a spring board nvm-

Blue shoots off one arrow just as Red is coming in with the triple spider kill!

Green pulls Red back and Blue just...makes a kebbab with the three spiders and their arrow.

Green uses the momentum from pulling Red back to push themselves forward and just...helps Blue stick the spiders together even more with their sword-

now if that isn’t over kill I don’t know what is-

Unsurprisingly Greens sword gets stuck, they pull it out tho.

Ohh boi now for the mine-cart fight!!!

Yellow and Orange land first.

Then Blue, the absolute mad lad lands on their feet!! that’s gotta hurt!

Then Green, landing back first, that’s also gotta hurt-

before Red lands Orange gets a spider on their back, though Blue just stands there as Orange deals with the spider themselves-

Hah- karma-/J

Blue also gets a spider on their back just as Orange is finished dealing with theirs-

In comes Red as Orange is debating whether or not they should smack the spider on Blue with their sword.

Red is also grappling with a spider...and then proceeds to fall into a mine-cart full of em-

Red is not having the best of days-

Orange decides that they should and knocks the spider off of Blue.

Now Orange and Blue are just watching Red struggling with the spiders, they probably just trust their ability to help themselves but that doesn’t mean some help wouldn’t be nice….that or they just couldn’t do anything at that moment considering their distance n all

Green get’s a face full of spider

wait no the duo is helping, pfft I keep forgetting this is a frame by frame of course it’s gonna take a while-

anyways Green kicks the spider off them.

Orange kills a spider Red sends their way.

And then proceeds to throw it at Blue, who skillfully ducks out of the way.

Red manages to get all of the spiders out of their cart-

Orange smacks the last spider Red gets rid of and manages to not almost hit Blue with it this time.

During this time Yellow has joined Green in their mine cart.

The group are now off the incline and onto flat tracks!

Orange and Blue are riding their carts like a skateboard-

Blue is taking care of the quadruple mine-cart filled with spiders that are currently pursuing Green and Yellow. Well trying to at least, they do only have one bow.

Green’s been glomped by another spider whilst on the floor above Red and Orange are preparing to deal with an incoming spider on a mine-cart.

Red and Yellow simultaneously get rid of their respective spiders.

Yellow kills another brave spider trying to repeat what the other spider did to Green whilst Blue is continuing to help clear the mine-carts.

Red gets rid of another incoming spider during this.

Orange, having nothing to do just stands there...watching the chaos-

Ooop now another large train of spiders are closing in on Blue, Orange and Red-

Green has pulled out their trusty fishing rod!

Orange just jumps onto the lower tracks!!! like they really are using the carts as a skateboard!!! *wheeze!!*

Green has caught another mine-cart and pulls it towards them, the momentum almost throws out poor Yellow-

meanwhile Red is grappling with another spider-

Blue is now dealing with the train of spiders heading towards them.

Red deals with the spider just as Green pulls the mine-cart towards them.

Orange is now dealing with the train of spiders following Green and Yellow singlehandidly-

What a mad lad!!

Two spiders try to jump on Blue at once but the dude just jumps and sticks them together with an arrow!!!

as Yellow is jumping into the mine-cart Green just pulled over Green is rescuing Orange from the pile of spiders they just walked into with their fishing rod-

Blue is also helping by killing the pile-

Blue pushes the cart next to them over to Red who is probably motioning to the incoming pile of spiders in a come get me sort of way-

YOOOO!!!

Blue was only tempting the spiders, they jumped off their mine-cart just as the spiders lunged at them and sniped them with their bow!!!

whooo!!!

and now they’re helping Red with their mine-cart full o spiders!

Orange, Green and Yellow just b chillin’

wait no they’re dealing with the spiders off screen nvm-

Orange just climbed into Yellows mine-cart, Green is slowly being separated from the group-

OOOh the line Blue and Red are on suddenly dips!!

Red looks like one of those...before the end credits roll and the group jumps and freeze frames ngl-

anways!! focus on Blue!!!

they do this magnificent flip whilst shooting the spider that is now clinging onto Greens leg, then they let off another arrow mid air before LANDING ON THE SPIDER RED SENT THEIR WAY AND JUMPING OFF IT AND ONTO A NEARBY MINE-CART!!!

Blue is the ultimate mad lad!!!

meanwhile Red has now joined Orange, Yellow and Green on the tracks below…

….as Blue is jumping from spider to mine-cart they shoot another spider-

like...Blue’s acrobatics are on point today!!!

Green manages to shake off the spider and skewers it into the tracks-

Yellow and Orange are still dealing with the mine-cart full of spiders in front of them

Green is now jumping onto the mine-cart train with the remaining spiders on it and taking them out!

Blue is shooting spiders out of the air.

Red beckons to Orange and Yellow, Yellow proceeds to jump into Reds mine-cart, they both then make their way over to Green… leaving Orange to fend off the cart of spiders in front of them-

Orange notices that Yellow and Red have left them and proceeds to follow them.

Just as they are falling off another ledge Orange jumps mine-carts, landing in Yellow and Greens mine-cart and Blue jumps down to join their friends.

Blue continues to snipe spiders after the group lands.

The others watch in awe, since the spider cart is nowhere near them, as Blue continues to snipe spiders.

Blue jumps to the mine-cart closest to Red.

The lines shift...the line on the top becomes the line on the bottom and vise versa-

Blue instead of jumping to the mine-cart closest to Red they fall onto the track below them-

landing gracefully onto their stomach-

Red almost shares Blues fate but they pulls out their trusty fishing rod just in time and swing themselves up onto the mine-cart just in front of Orange.

Yellow and Orange are fighting spiders during this.

Green leaps into the air and swats an incoming spider

That landing must’ve been rough because Blue is still recovering from it….the spiders are closing in-

There’s a blockade right in the path of the other sticks!! it sends all of them, the spiders and the mine-carts flying!!!

ORANGE LEAPS AT JUST THE RIGHT MOMENT AND THEY AND RED AVOID THE BLOCKADE ALL TOGETHER!!!

Blue Orange is coming for your mad lad crown!!

during this Yellow and Green land near Blue, rescuing them from the spiders.

Yellow stabbing the spider ontop of Blue results in them loosing their balance and almost falling, however Green pulls out their fishing rod and pulls Blue back into the mine-cart just as the tracks turn into a ramp.

The momentum flings everything in the mine-carts into the air launching poor Blue, who is still connected to Greens fishing line, into the air.

Red reels in one of the airborne spiders and slays it.

Blue once again snipes spiders mid air as Yellow and Green are falling into the abyss below.

Convenient tracks are convenient!

Blue jumps into the mine-cart Orange and Red are in as Red is continuing to fish for spiders.

Green lands gracefully onto the mine-carts below.

Red catches Yellow with their fishing rod just before they hit the mine-carts.

They hit a ramp soon after.

Yellow is still in the air, fighting spiders at this point and Green is singlehandidly taking on any spider that dares invade their personal mine-cart train.

Yellow is still fighting mid air-

Red and Green are now fishing for spiders!

Orange is still trying to keep the mine-cart free of spiders as Blue continues to snipe the spiders attacking Green.

The line cuts out on Greens end and they fall only to use their ever trusty fishing rod to pull themselves into their friends cart!

As they’re swinging up Orange grabs their arm and pulls them into the mine-cart….

They all yay before falling off the end of the track!

OOOOH boi!!!

yeah this isn’t the best but uh...glad you made it to the end of this trainwreak-

This probably isn’t gonna be a thing but uh….yeah-

Bye!

*goes into hole-*

[jflashandclash]

Time frame: Several months after the last short, After Sea of Monsters and before Titan’s curse.

 Big Boy Conversations

Story VI

             “Kronos has been waiting thousands of years. He can wait another decade.” The witch boy glowered.

“No—Camp Half-Blood now knows,” said the servant of the Titan Lord. “We need to find another way to accelerate his rise.”

                                                                  -Overheard in the Captain’s Quarters                                                  

           For the first time in what felt like years, Luke had a full night’s rest. These days were becoming rare: days when his thoughts were his own. No shrieks of Kronos. No passive mutterings about the bitterness of existence (other than his own bitter mutterings). No hisses about how weak Luke was—a demigod, pathetic for needing to sleep, for needing to eat, for needing to do anything other than the mission, for caring for his old friends for—

         The tip of Axel’s sword would have slashed across Luke’s chest guard had he not pivoted backwards.

         Luke tried to shake the whispers from his thoughts. Those weren’t useful when sword fighting. Kronos wasn’t in his head right now. The last thing Luke wanted was Kronos’ internal cheerleading when the Titan wasn’t around.

         Especially when it meant that Luke would lose his sword.

         The motion was so quick that Luke didn’t have a chance to disengage. He’d gone to lunge for Axel, only to have Axel arch his blade, locking Luke’s, and disarming him.

         There was a pause.

         Luke’s sword clattered onto the deck.

         For such a short moment that Luke wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it, Flynn paused in drilling the younger recruits to scrutinize them.

         Then she was barking orders again.

         Axel froze.

         The jaguar boy’s tufted ears tucked low to his hairline. His golden eyes went wide, flicking—as Luke learned they often did—to figure out where his little brother was before returning to Luke. (His little brother was sparring with Mercedes.) He kept his sword in a defensive stance, the tip shuddering, like he feared Luke would blast him off the ship with some hidden Sith Lord power.

         Fear, Luke realized. Kronos would have been thrilled that Axel’s reaction to winning a bout was fear. Axel may have won this, but he still knew his place.

         It made Luke feel sick. This soldier would fight alongside him in Kronos’ honor guard. Or…. Or they would protect Luke himself, depending on how the Titan Lord chose to reform. Luke chewed his lip. Would Luke be himself anymore if that happened? If Kronos took over his body? That sense of nausea twisted his stomach tighter.

         Either way, he should have been excited, if not proud, that Axel had bested him.

         The sight of Axel’s fear made him sick for another reason. It reminded Luke of his nightmares about Thalia’s eyes, wide and brimmed with horror upon seeing him. That was the last thing he wanted from her.[1] Those nightmares, like Kronos’ cheerfulness, were distractions while training.

         Luke gave Axel a smile, hoping it didn’t twitch. “Nice disarm, dude,” he cheered. Sometimes, he forgot how to make his voice sound encouraging.

         Several people had stopped at the sound of his sword. When Luke laughed, picked up an iced towel from a bowl filled with them, and threw it directly into Axel’s face, everyone relaxed.

         Pax—Axel’s fluttery, excitable little brother—braced to run to Axel, probably to tackle hug him. As soon as he exposed his back, Flynn rolled her eyes. She made a hand motion and Mercedes—Pax’s partner—immediately tackled the tinier boy to the deck.

         Luke picked up an ice towel for himself and wrapped it around his shoulders. “You’re improving fast,” he said.

         Axel tossed his sword onto a designated weapons mat. Sweat soaked the loose strands of his bun to the back of his neck. When he and Pax trained, they rejected dirtying shirts unnecessarily. This definitely distracted most of the girls, some of the boys, and quite a few monsters.

         “Thanks,” Axel said. He wiped his chest down with his towel. From what Luke had heard, Pax and Axel did a separate training regiment to maintain their skills as acrobats. It showed on their muscle tones, and Luke wondered, passively, if they’d let him join. Or if Kronos would let him. The Titan Lord might consider it a waste of time.

         “Axel, what are you doing for the rest of today?” Luke asked. He glanced around the deck. Everywhere you looked, demigods were attacking dummies, practicing with monsters, playing in the pool, or shoving at each other. Jack provided background music with an acoustic guitar.  

         Nearby, Lucille, a friendly daughter of Aphrodite, helped their youngest pledge pick up her first sword. Charlene, or Charlie as everyone called her, was five years old. Everyone loved her, including the monsters. While her mother, Ethel (though everyone called her Echidna), was cold and distant, Charlie was outgoing and feisty. She’d be a strong warrior one day, and—from the amount that she could already shock others—a powerful child of Zeus and granddaughter of Summanus.

         Too young for the prophecy, the voice of Kronos cooed inside of him.

         Luke shook his head.

         He wanted to be excited that Charlie was picking up her first sword and being taught by her step-momma. He didn’t want to be excited that Charlie could one day slay a sea cow to rule the cosmos. No wonder Zeus rebelled against Kronos if he wanted to give those kind of bedtime stories.

         This was one of their days off. After practice, everyone would have free time. Morpheus had lulled Kronos’ sarcophagus essence into a daze, claiming it was good for his regeneration and Luke’s sanity. These days were becoming rare. Normally, Luke would take Jack to the Monster Mash club to throw back a few beers, but they were on the wrong coast for that. Feeling the warmth of the breeze, he realized they were probably along the wrong continent.

         Axel looked uncertain. He picked up one of the water jugs that Ethel and Charlie had set out for the training troops. He nodded his thanks to Ethel. She leaned stiffly against the pool railing and scowled at the ground by Axel’s feet. Axel had, gently, been encouraging her to make eye contact with men without electrocuting them.

         “Um, we’d have to ask Jack,” Axel said. Luke shook his head. You asked Axel if he had free time.

         Jack scrambled over alongside them, playing a short, mysterious tune like a theme for his arrival. Whenever Flynn was busy, Jack hovered around Axel and Pax to scold them or give them encouragement, like “a proper father.” Luke had originally assumed Jack would forget this whole parenting thing within a few months, lost to another one of his crazy ideas. With the continuous doting, Luke now wondered if Jack and Lucille would start an Adopt-a-Demigod club. Most of the demigods aboard had such fucked up histories; a Big Brother and Sister program to mentor tiny demigods would actually be a good idea. He shuddered to think of Jack enacting it.  Jack would add Adopt-a-Demigod family hour before the morning Demigod-Monster meditation sessions.

         “Yes?” Jack sang. He almost his balance as he leaned backwards with his acoustic guitar as though it were electric.

         Luke balanced him, smirking.

         “Do we have music practice today?” Axel asked.

         “Band practice,” Jack corrected, his broad smile exuding excitement. He set his guitar to the side. “We’re another month, a keyboardist, and band name away from our first concert, Mr. Guitarist.”

         He went to ruffle Axel between his tufted ears, but Axel swatted his hand away. The boy tried to look annoyed. Those ears gave him away, perked up and alert. “You’re not my dad. And, if you were, you couldn’t be both my dad and the lead singer of our rock band.”

         “I can and I will,” Jack said, “I’ll be the coolest dad in history.”

         His incessant cheeriness and attention had been wearing Axel’s moopiness down over the last few months. Jack’s attitude also helped Luke when doom and gloom of everything got to him.  

         Maybe this was why Axel and Pax worked so well with Jack. It gave him two toys that had to follow through on all of his crazed ideas. Sometimes, they were even excited about the odd plans. It definitely made Luke and Flynn’s lives easier.

         “Yes to band practice. You won’t become the best guitarist in mythological history without practice!” Jack said.

         In his peripheral vision, Luke could see Lou Ellen steal Mercedes’ nose. Well, he guessed Lou Ellen was trying to steal Mercedes’ nose. The young witch came away with Mercedes’ chin instead. Alabaster was still working on her precision.

         In this chaos, Pax managed to crawl out and scurry over. He tackle-hugged Jack. Although Jack towered over him in height, the younger boy almost plowed him over. “Do I get to play the drums again?”

         “Yep,” Jack said. He struggled to lift Pax. Axel sighed, reached subtly for his little brother’s foot, and helped lift Pax into the air. The motion was so slight that Jack probably thought he’d managed on his own.

         “Do I get to practice rap-screaming?!” Pax asked.

         “Only if you take the proper precautions to protect your vocal cords. We need a screamer, and I don’t have the right set of vocal cords for—”

         A spear lodged into the deck between Jack’s feet. He shrieked, dropping Pax. Pax and Axel found their footing easily. Jack almost fell over.

         A tall boy with black armor and grey underclothing walked over, jerking the spear from the ground casually. “Sorry,” Alabaster said, “Someone had a bad throw.”

         For a split second, his glittering green eyes narrowed at Luke. Luke would bet that one of Hecate’s brats had been aiming directly at him, likely under Alabaster’s orders.

         “Work on your family’s aim, Torrington. I expect perfection with all of your boasting,” Luke growled.

         A new recruit nearby giggled, “Draco should learn some honing spells.”

         Alabaster was already walking back towards his siblings, like he hadn’t heard.

         “Witch Boy gives me the creeps sometimes,” Jack said, dusting himself off.  

         Luke would never admit to it, since he knew Alabaster would enjoy any show of weakness or fear from him, but Luke often worried Alabaster had little voodoo dolls of everyone aboard the ship. He understood Jack’s feelings.

         “He’s not bad once you spend some time with him,” Axel said.

         “Or maybe he’s just had time to bewitch you two,” Jack said. The grin returned to his face.

         At some point during the altercation, Pax dove behind Axel. He poked his head past one of Axel’s arms, intently watching Alabaster return the spear to an empousa. The lovely girl with the donkey foot winked at Luke. She giggled to Lou Ellen, who was now limping. Mercedes must have taken her chin back from the little witch and given her a warning of what would happen next time she took it.

Lout Ellen stuck her tongue out at them.

         Jack reached around to pinch Pax’s ear. “The Witch Boy has definitely bewitched one of you. Or was it Lou Ellen that did that?”

         Luke was so intent on keeping his troops trained, setting up everything for the rise of the Titans, and keeping up with the goings in New Rome and Camp Half-Blood, he often forgot how much drama and gossip happened on the ship. With the thought of Thalia turning back from a tree, he couldn’t get himself to talk to anyone about their crushes. Jack just… prattled about Flynn. But, it was nice to hear Jack talk. Maybe he should have paid more attention to the politics aboard the ship, if it meant the Witch Boy was gaining more loyalty.

         Pax went bright red. “No!” he cried too fast. “I just—I think he and Lou Ellen are cool.” When Pax noticed Luke’s gaze, he tucked completely behind his brother’s back, mumbling an apology in what sounded like Spanish.

         There was that fear again. Luke’s gut twisted to realize that Pax hid when Luke raised his voice against Alabaster.  

         That’s not what Luke wanted right now.

         Luke gave them a calming smile. “Hey, Jack and I were going to dock and hang out on the cliffs later tonight. Wanna come?”

         “I would need to find a babysitter for Ajax,” Axel said, reaching behind his shoulder to pinch Pax’s ear.

         “I can’t come?” Pax’s question sounded disembodied. He’d completely vanished behind Axel’s torso. Luke had to wonder if one of their acrobatic practices was pretending to move as one person since Pax could vanish whenever he wanted.

         “Nope. We’ll bring you when you’re older. We need to have big boy conversations,” Jack said.

         That brought Pax from around Axel’s back. “Could I play Mortal Kombat with Matthias?! Or watch TV?! Or—or—” His voice dropped to a hopeful whisper, his cheeks rouging again. “Do you think Alabaster would let me help in the lab?”

         Jack raised a mischievous eyebrow. “We can make Alabaster let you in the lab.”

         As they decided Pax’s fate for the night, Luke thought over Jack’s understatement: “big boy conversations.” What Luke needed was a set of people he could trust, ones that wouldn’t gossip and would do anything for him, even if that meant killing him for his own good.

        Yea. Big boy conversation.

****

Sorry for the delay! I hope you enjoyed regardless, and as always, thank you for reading! :D I should have part two/the final part of this short out next week!

  [1] Mel Betanote, “You reap what you sow, a little bit literally considering your god weapon.”

[fanatic-scribe]

Gasp

Chapter 1/? Void

Fandom: Rise of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Word count: 3,928/5,564

Ao3: Here

Characters: Donatello (main), Everyone else are side characters.

Warnings: Badly written fight scene, Not really character death, Heavy angst, Swearing.

Ch 1 / / Ch 2 / /

Summary: Slowly Donatello opened his eyes and looked up at the swirl of bubbles and bits of the bright lights of New York sparkled against the black water get further and further away. Donatello wondered where the slight tinge of red was coming from as it twisted and disperse with the bubbles above him. It almost looked like a galaxy, a galaxy just below the surface of the water.

A/N: Not beta read so just let me know if you see mistakes. Constructive criticism is welcomed! based on @teetlebros angst idea but I made it super long for some reason. This work will be tagged with #gasp rottmnt

Originally tonight was supposed to be a movie night with April but soon the turtle’s had found themselves chasing a band of mutants through the night. Raphael had made the quick decision to chase after them, he told April to wait for them at the cinema and that they would be back soon. She was too smart to believe that. April had started to run after them to join the fight, battle damaged wooden bat secure in her hards. After all no one stepped up to her friends and ruined their movie night!

The group had all chased them to the middle of bridge in Queens, it was dark and they seemed to have lost sight of the mutants. They stopped to look around into the black night, April breathing a little heavier than her friends. None of brother could see trouble but they sensed something, every nerve in their body was one edge for an unseen danger. They all wordlessly shifted into a position where they were surrounding April protectively, weapons at the ready.

Raphael and Donatello locked eyes for a moment before Donatello nodded and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. Just as he had adjusted the goggles a crow of creatures came from under and over the bridge. It was hard to make out in the darkness but because of this goggles he could see they looked to be like mutants, mutant bug monkeys. They were all different, some had multiple arms or legs, others had wigs and they were all of different sizes. Yet they had similarities, sharp claws, hard exoskeletons in the pattern of armor and mandibles. Fur could be seen between bits of the armored plates. They came out hissing and making noises like a monkey and like a monster, they were a truly ghastly sight.

“Oh, shit that’s not good.” Was all the purple clad turtle managed to say before the creatures came into view of the others. All of them put in their two cents speaking at the same time,

“What the actually fuck?”

“Uh, that’s nasty!”

“I am incredibly jealous of people who have never seen these.”

“If you squint they are kinda’ cute.”

Without hesitation the creatures attacked with a series of high pitched roars and screeches.

“Everyone! Keep these ape bugs away from April!” Raphael shouted as the largest of the said creatures, only slightly smaller than the turtle, snarled and charged at the turtle with a scream. Raphael charged back with his own battle cry pulling back to punch at the creature.

“I think you should be keeping them from me big red!” April cheered as she bounded into the air confidently wielding her bat, aiming for some of the smaller flying creatures.

“Come on Raph,”Leonardo teased, his grip tight on his sword, “let Leon come up with the badass names. I think they should be called-” he was interrupted by one of the creatures lunged for the blue ninja. Like a blur he dodged out of the way and swiped his sword through it, he then dramatically posed with a huge smirk on his face, “Spider Monkeys.”

“Not to be the one to correct you Leo, even though I love to correct people,” Donatello spun his staff to hit an approaching foe, “not only are spider monkeys actually a thing that already exists,”He spun and set the rocket on his staff and threw it, “but these are all a bunch of different bugs and different primates mutated together, none of which are spiders. So we can’t call them all Spider Monkeys.”

“Still, it’s a better name than ape bugs.”

“How about Arthro-apes?”

“Donnie,” Leonardo looked hurt as he leaned on his sword, “that was really terrible.” Donatello scowled at him making Leonardo crack a small smile. Donatello caught his staff as it returned to him and smirked, looking his brother in the eye.

“Shut up Leo.”

Michelangelo came bounding into the scene with a roll and acrobatic landing, “Why not flip it,” There was a slight pant to his words as he spoke, most likely from the excessive flare he put in his movements. He crossed his arms in front of him as a visual guide, “Instead of Spider Monkeys, Monkey Spiders.”

“I really don’t think that fixes anything really.”

“Again, I would just like to clarify, none of these are spiders.” Just then Raphael came crashing over to them with a loud yell, having been thrown by the largest of the remaining creatures, quickly followed by April still holding her bat in attack position.

Raphael was moving with so much force that the red turtle had crashed through the protective railing on the bridge, “Raph!” In the blink of an eye Donatello had already extended his metal arm from his pack to grab his brother, quickly pulling him back up.

“Thanks for the save there Don.”

“Yes you’re welcome. But on that note be careful everyone,” He pulled his goggles down and looked down at the water, “this is about a 50 meter drop to the water. It won’t kill you but it won’t feel great either.” pushing his goggles back to his head he turned to his brother’s, “If you fall and pass out we may not be able to get to you in time.”

“Got it.”Raphael nodded and standing up. “Everyone watch yourselves.”

As they all looked out at the creatures Donatello notices some of the already injured ones were leaving, he spun his bo-staff holding it defensively, “Guys there are still some left.” If they were running at the first sign a trouble this wouldn’t be the worst fight ever.

“Well then it shouldn’t be too hard to beat these spider monkey.” Leonardo smiled at Donatello earning him an eye roll, “Just came up with that one.”

“Alright,” Raphael gathered his team, “April, you go with Leo.”

“I have never felt more safe.” Leonardo said nudging April.

“Mikey back us up dude.” Michelangelo nodded with a smile, “And Donnie use your jetpack to get the flying spider monkey.”

“It is not a jetpack and not spiders but aye captain.”

“Ready guys?” There was a nod from everyone, “Then let’s go!”

With that Donatello took to the skies wind from the night air and the wiring of his pack filled his ears as he made a beeline for the flying enemy confidence filling his vision. He spun his staff round him to gain moment for each of his swings at the so called spider monkey. With a crack of his staff the mutants were falling followed by a few clever taunts from Donatello that no would ever hear. A few tried to get in close and even spit some dissolving saliva but each was cracked with a staff hard enough to damage the exoskeleton. With their toxin dodged they hit areas of the bridge’s beams where it slowly dissolved with a hiss and whine from the metal. Donatello paid little attention to this as he spun his weapon in celebration, his breath coming out in huffs from his fight. He had managed to swat down the last of the flying spider monkeys, now moving to focus his attention on his brother’s not noticing the figure bolting to him from above.

Before Donatello even knew what was coming a freakish looking creature bolted from the dark sky to land directly onto the turtle shaking and spinning them in the air. The spider monkey latched on with its feet gripping the turtle’s battle shell, two skinny arm with sharp claws were also tightly holding his shoulders. It’s wings were flapping and buzzing loudly while another pair of arms worked at battling his staff and reaching for the machine’s on his shell armor.

Donatello pushed harder against this creature, “Oh god get away from me! You are so disgusting!” he struggled and pushed but this spider monkey was too strong despite his small size. The spider monkey looked at him with the face of an ape, it’s four eyes were a hexagonal pattern of iridescent black and green giving way to no emotion, as it’s mouth opened revealing a jagged mandible dripping with spit. There was a high pitched bellow as it leaned forward, mandibles aimed directly for Donatello’s face.

Without a moment’s hesitation Donatello pulled one hand away from his staff to guard his face from whatever this would do, he didn’t care if it left him defenseless. The spider monkey bit directly into the tech gauntlet Donatello always wore. It growled angrily gnawing and then adjusting it’s bite only to get another mouthful of metal, sticky saliva begin to drip from it’s mouth. Seconds later Donatello cried out in pain as he felt a burning pain on his arm, he looked to see his gauntlet spark and dissolve against his arm burning him along with it. The spider monkey wildly lunged, continuing to try and bite Donatello’s head. Despite the burning on his arm he was able to dodge each attack, but only by inches.

Getting frustrated it pushed itself up high above the turtle going to bite at his head from above and with as much force as possible. Seeing a momentary opening to escape what seemed to be certain doom the turtle lifted up his legs and grabbed onto the spider monkey’s wings. With a loud kiai he kicked the spider monkey with both his legs and all his power, forcing the creature tumbling backwards to the ground but leaving it’s wings behind. Donatello dropped the wings and shook his hands that were covered in a sticky pale green goo. However, the celebration was short lived.

Donatello heard a beeping noise behind him immediately followed by him being violently yanked backwards by his battle shell.

With him being distracted by the spider monkey’s jaws Donatello didn’t notice the second pair of claws grip at his shell. His kick had managed to pull vital parts and circuitry from his battle shell propelling him backwards and directly into a metal beam. There was an audible crack hidden somewhere in the loud gong of titanium on steel.

“Oh no, was that me or the shell? ” Donatello thought to himself. He couldn't decided which he would prefer. As he fell to the ground me managed to dive and roll just before hitting the concrete, he did however continue to roll and tumble until he eventually stopped lying face first on the ground. His weapon fell conveniently right by his head a moment later.

Donatello turned his head with a groan just in time to see the creature already standing from it’s fall, a pale green oozing from were the wings use to be. It let a loud screech and started to charge to Donatello. Moving quickly with heavy limbs Donatello scrambled up to a seated position and reached for his weapon, all the while this spider monkey closing in on him growling and screeching. The moment Donatello was on one knee he turned on his staff’s jet, spun it quickly and flung it at the creature, him to be pushed back slightly. He watched his staff collide with the creature and then both of them fall through the hole Raphael had made. After a few seconds, and a slowly dulling howl, there was a splash.

Immediately Donatello worked to remove his tech gauntlet which was still causing a slight burn. Once it was removed he threw it to the side, holding his arm close to his chest and took a deep breath before examining it. The injuries were not terrible, some slight burns and cuts but nothing to terrible. Taking the moment of calm he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to relax his screaming nerves, he was bruised but nothing bad. He counted himself lucky.

Finally, only as he stood, he remembered the crack sound from his earlier crash with the beam. None of his bones seemed to complain as he stood. Also he could hear the slow sound of dying beeps from his battle shell. Donatello realized that the crack from earlier had definitely been his battle shell and not him. He was relieved, if only slightly. Then suddenly he realized. He didn’t have his staff.

Within seconds he was sprinting to the hole in the railing. Already in this battle he had lost his shell and gauntlet tech, if his staff had fallen in the water there was no way he could get it back until he finished tech repairs. He looked over the edge of the bridge where the hole was, trying to see if his staff was stuck on a beam even getting down on his knees for a closer look. He found nothing.

“Shit!” He said to himself. He rubbed his face with his hands and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Quite a wonderful night we are having! We should do this more often!” he said to the twisting void of the black water bellow. It calmed him, talking to things that could never respond back. At least the spider monkey was gone now. Finally gathering himself again Donatello turned to look back at his brothers, each still fighting their spider monkeys. He knew he needed to get back and help. After all he is ninja, anything can be a weapon when you’re ninja.

He was only able to rise to one knee before he felt sharp claws digging harshly into his ankle and pull him over the edge. The turtle fell face first onto the concrete ground and was slowly dragged across. Panic gripped his mind, with his battle shell disabled he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from falling into the dark water. He looked at his brother, all were busy with their own battles. He was alone and he had to get away.

Donatello was desperately clawing at the ground looking for anything to grab onto as he was dragged over. Finally he had managed to get a firm hold on the broken railing stopping his movements. Now that he was sure he wouldn’t fall he could focused his attention on getting this thing to let go of him. “Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!” Donatello held on tightly as he used his free leg to kick at the spider monkey. He had gotten a few good kicks in before he felt his body jerked downward, his hand starting to slowly slip on the smooth metal railing. Looking back at his safety line he didn’t notice the spider monkey reaching up until he felt the sharp pain of claws dig into his thigh drawing blood. He cried out loudly as the spider monkey clawed up his battle shell and dragging Donatello with all its might as he tried desperately to keep his hold.

Hearing the scream Raphael turned to its source, blood dripping from his nose. Donatello looked up at his brother with fear in his eyes. He reached a hand off the bar to his brother and leader, “Raphael!” He shouted desperately for help. Donatello saw his brothers eyes widen just as he felt clawed hands grab his shoulder and torso.

“Donnie!” Donatello saw his brother start to run to him before getting charged by his spider monkey, and then he was falling.

A high trilled scream from the spider monkey and the rush of air past Donatello’s ears was all he heard as he rushed to the water. Quickly, he tucked into a ball so that his battle shell would take the brunt of the impact since he couldn’t escape to his shell. He had never wished to be Mikey more in his life.

“If you fall and pass out we may not be able to get to you in time.” Echoed in his head the entire way down.

It took all of 3 seconds for Donatello to crash into the cold, unforgiving water. Immediately upon impact he had all of the air knocked out of his lungs and his head was in a daze. A sharp stab of pain in his leg snapped him out of his haze. He looked down and saw the deep gashes on his thigh from his earlier fight, he had to get to the surface and get it treated, other than that injury he seemed ok. Just a little sore maybe a pulled muscle, nothing he wasn’t use to. Good thing turtles are hardy.

The battle shell is the hardiest and strongest tech shell that Donatello owns, for obvious reasons. This made she shell incredibly heavy making it hard to swim in, under normal conditions Donatello would never be swimming in his battle shell. Luckily this was an easy fix. Because his universal controller was broken Donatello had to dislodge his battle shell manually. It wasn’t until he tried to unlatches the shell did he notice the shell was locked in place still attached to him, still dragging him deeper into the black water. Donatello was suddenly painful aware of his empty lungs as he saw the lights of the surface dim with each passing second.

Just as Donatello felt his ear pop from the pressure he started to kick his legs, almost like it was an alert that screamed, “ Start moving now dumbass! ” After only a few kicks he discovered his injured thigh wasn’t going to make this swim to the surface easy. Each movement shot a sharp pain through his body but he couldn’t stop, no matter what happened he had to keep trying to reach the surface. He reached his arm high using the light of the surface as a guide of which way was up, in the dark water it’s easy to get disoriented. With each stroke of his arms and kick of his legs Donatello was getting closer and closer to the surface the blurry lights of the city growing brighter. The slow pace of his swim didn’t worry the turtle in the slightest, he could hold a lung full of air for almost 30 minutes. All he had to do at this point was get a lung full of air.

It was when Donatello noticed the lights of the surface still did his arms and legs start to feel stiff. Each of his movements was slower and less powerful stopping his movement to the surface, his battle beaten muscles failing after working so hard. He closed his eyes, focused his mind and swam harder; as hard as he could have possibly swam; swam as if his life depended on it because, in this case, it truly did. However, it seemed that no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t keep up with the added weight on his back his overworked body couldn’t handle it any longer. It took every ounce of strength he had to keep from sinking lower but his limbs were feeling heavy with every stroke. His movement became more frantic. He was starting to panic. He had to swim. Now!

The longer he attempted to swim the slower his movements became, no matter how hard he swam he kept sinking further and further into the unforgiving black water. Then his lungs started to burn. In a last attempt to gain some headway the turtle pulled the last of his strength to make one last dash for the surface. However, even his adrenolin wasn’t enough to push his body to the surface. His lungs keep burning and screaming for him to breath, but his instinct to hold his breath held strong even as his body turned upside down from the weight of his shell. As Donatello felt his lungs start to burn he couldn’t help but wondered if it was from his own panicked mind or from lack of air. Neither option was preferable.

Eventually Donatello couldn’t fight it any longer, his lungs, just like his body, gave up and took a deep inhale. His lungs were so desperate for air but where meet only with the painful rush of water. It burned and stung Donatello’s sinuses and throat, clogging every inch of him leaving him gagged by water. There was a loud ringing in his ears that only intensified the pain, with each desperate cough he could inhale more water. His head felt like it was going to explode under all the pressure, his eyes squeezed tight from the feeling.

"Huh.” He thought to himself, “Drowning. What a terrible death for a turtle."  He chuckled to himself, "Leo would probably have a one liner for that.” Over the burning in his chest he realized he regretted it. The last real thing he said to Leonardo was ‘Shut up.’ even if it was a joke, he wish it had meant something.

Soon, he began to feel dizzy, he remembered reaching for his brother. Was that the right thing to do? “Hope Raph doesn’t think this is his fault for not grabbing me.” Then he felt weak and tired. Finally, he felt calm.

Never had Donatello felt so tranquil and calm. Looking back up at the blurry and dimming lights, he didn’t know if the creeping darkness was from the water or from his impending unconsciousness. He chose to ignore it. No point in getting more stressed out now.

An image seemed to flash before his eyes. A memory. A memory of Michelangelo. He was holding something. It was a 3DS, the 3DS that Donatello had promised he would hack for him. “Fuck, I was going to do that tomorrow.” He felt a pinch of guilt at leaving his brother like that.

He thought how funny it all was, moments ago he was fighting for his life with everything he had, all for nothing. Now he was still going to die despite the fight. Alone, to weak to move and surrounded by the quite void of the deep water.

Something else flashed in his him blurred mind, April still needs help with her science project. It was about rockets or machines or space. He couldn't remember now, "She's smart. She can do it." He told himself, he believed in her.

There was no more pain in his legs, no burning in his lungs and no arch in his wrist. It was almost like Donatello had left his body. Almost felt like he was waking up from a deep, long nap, and he was still in the after-effects of it.

“I should have slept more.”

As spots began to flash in his vision Donatello would only feel an overwhelming urge to sleep. Stronger than anything he had ever felt before and he was far too weak to refuse. He let his eyes flutter closed.

There was nothing left for him to do except fall asleep and let it end. Slowly he opened his eyes one last time and looked up at the swirl of bubbles, bits of the bright lights of New York sparkled against the black water burred from refraction. Donatello wondered where the slight tinge of red was coming from as it twisted and disperse with the bubbles above him. Small particles of debris shone past the light against the surface, Donatello wondered if is is what stars in the night sky looked like. It almost looked like a galaxy, a galaxy just below the surface of the water. Who know? Donatello couldn’t help but think how beautiful it all looked as he slowly sank, black spots starting to decorate his vision. He wasn’t scared. The space like lights of New York were a beautiful last sight.

Donatello's vision faded to black.