All the World In Front of Me

[thepurpleone]

WHO: Donnie and you!
WHERE: Temba
WHAT: Trying not to roast
WHEN: Mid to late July
WARNINGS: N/A
NOTES: Will match tag format/preference!


I. Evaporate
One might have thought it impossible to kind of miss the Calibrations space but at least it was climate-controlled! The weather's been absolutely hideous, not to mention dry, something Donnie's not used to. It makes things difficult to concentrate on, even with a fan blowing in your face.

Even summers in New York were never this bad. He could almost be fooled into thinking he was stuck in stage one of the flu, except that it had never lasted for days. Then again, given how hard it is to tell the difference for the time of day with how consistent the temperature is holding, he's not sure how long it's been. Going outside seems out of the question, but he still risks it just so he can check on his poor plant experiments out in Blue-04.

This is definitely not an ideal climate for a soft-shelled turtle, but the boy can't not tend to his plants, even if what he can ultimately use is a soak in a nice big pool. He'd thought to lug some water out to the poor, wilting garden but now he's regretting not saving some for him to dunk his head in. He huddles in the meager shade of what's still standing of the ruins it resides in, trying not to cook as he tries to mentally plot the quickest course to finding cover.


II. Rest and Recharge
Thankfully the beach is more tolerable, and the water feels good to stand in. It's not the most ideal place to really relax for all the waves, but it's some respite from the heat at least. He might just go for a swim anyway.

Of course if any of those pesky lobsters get too close and prove to be a nuisance, they're going to see what it's like to be used as a giant croquet ball. They fly pretty far when they're whacked with a rocket-boosted mallet! Head's up!

Time at the beach is only partially for play, however. Donnie does have research to do, after all! He has some things to research and materials to gather in the caverns. And maybe at least it'll be cooler in the depths?


III. When Turtles Fly
Rocket-boots had never been something he'd ever considered making but now he wishes he had because. They. Are. Amazing!

Tony said these babies can break the sound barrier. Donnie is absolutely going to test this out.

As a self-proclaimed adrenaline enthusiast, there has been nothing stopping Donnie from testing their limits. Well, except for the heat, but if you go fast enough and high enough... Huh. What's the range on these anyway? Yet one more thing to find out.

It's both strange and exhilarating using tech that hasn't been built by him, that was made for him- maybe the most bizarre part of it. They're so much cooler than a skateboard- he doesn't need a ramp to do any tricks!

Heights have never been a problem for him and clearly neither have drops as he boosts himself up high and then lets himself freefall some before catching himself in midair and zipping along again. The heat may still be present but at least he doesn't have to walk in it!

Of course once he gets high up enough, he can catch a pretty good glimpse of that new rock formation to the southeast, and it does not look promising...


IV. DiY
((OOC: AKA choose your own adventure/wildcard!))

Comments

[spinsandneedles]

"Yeah, from what everyone's told me, going out in a storm sounds like a terrible idea," Sonic says, pausing briefly before adding, "so if you do decide to try getting to the cave in a storm, hit me up because I'll totally go with you!"

Sonic no you're supposed to try to convince people to NOT do dangerous things.

[thepurpleone]

Because Donnie totally needs an enabler.

The turtle blinks and then grins. "Well, if you're volunteering," he says, holding out a fist.

"I guess we should probably figure out where to find each other in the case that the network goes down."

[spinsandneedles]

OOO FIST BUMP, Sonic is all about this. Donnie gets his fist bump!

"I don't really stay anywhere in particular, but I imagine I could find you pretty quick just taking a run through town. Unless a storm knocks my speed out, I guess. Where do you usually hang out?"

[thepurpleone]

Aw yeah.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how the storm might affect that," Donnie says, nodding as he frowns again.

"Well, normally I'd be at the forge or the greenhouse. I've got a temporary workshop too," he says, pulling out his tablet to show Sonic the location.

[spinsandneedles]

And Sonic leans over to take a look!

"Gotcha. So how about if there's no storm, I'll just find you, but if there is one we pick some central location and meet up there? Like the fountain, maybe?"

[thepurpleone]

"...know what, that makes a lot more sense. Yeah, let's do it that way," Donnie agrees after a moment. He imagines things might be difficult enough to find a person during a storm with whatever else might be thrown at them.

At least they have something of a plan. Which...isn't much, all things considered, but it's a start, and it's not like they have much to go on otherwise!

[spinsandneedles]

"Sounds good to me. Think fast!"

By the way Sonic still has that crystal chunk, he flicks it into the air with his thumb towards Donnie.

"Anyway, I think the world's finally stopped spinning. Need help hauling crystals?"

[thepurpleone]

That is not the greatest phrase to use as a head's up for someone like Donnie. "Huh-? Ow!"

Perhaps predictably, it bounces off of his face, maybe a minor retribution for hurtling a lobster into Sonic's. He flails a bit, juggling the crystal between his hands a few times before finally getting a grasp on the thing with a huff.

"Well I don't mean to get that much," he notes, rubbing his face with one hand as he tucks the crystal back into his pouch. "But I don't mind if you tag along."

[spinsandneedles]

HAH. Yeah no Sonic doesn't feel bad about bouncing the crystal off Donnie's face. Maybe he would have if it had actually hurt him, but Donnie's a tough turtle, he can handle it.

"Great! I can't promise I won't touch anything."

Just a head's up.

[thepurpleone]

He's had a lot of experience with things bouncing off his face and head, it's true.

Donnie looks at him with a crooked grin. "Well, it won't be any different than if my brothers were along in that regard," he notes dryly as he gets to his feet.

"Just um...let me know if you start to feel weird in there or anything. I know you're fast and all but I'm not sure what else you might be able to do that might be amplified."

[spinsandneedles]

"Oh yeah, I'll be sure to let you know."

Sonic finishes his water and caps the bottle, aaand now he has this bottle. He's not going to be a jerk to nature and leave it laying around.

"Usually when I come into contact with overcharged gems, it just cranks all my natural abilities up to eleven. oh, also I turn all shiny and gold and I can fly, that's a thing. It's pretty cool." That's totally normal, right? "That's just what the Chaos Emeralds back home do though, I won't know if the crystals here do anything special until I see 'em."

[thepurpleone]

Donnie blinks and then holds his bag out if Sonic wants to deposit his empty bottle since the hedgehog's clearly got no visible pockets.

"-okay there is so much going on in what you just said right now." He squints. "You turn gold? And fly? Because of some crystals? Wow. Is this a magic thing? I feel like this is a magic thing."

[spinsandneedles]

Sonic tosses his bottle into the bag! He is naked he has no pockets.

"I don't think they're magic or anything, just super powerful. Like, in a reality bending sort of way? I've seen a guy freeze time with one, another dude used em' to power hulking death machines and stuff, I can use 'em to get super powers. The possibilities are literally endless.

[thepurpleone]

"That...sounds even crazier but if it's all energy then there's got to be a scientific explanation for the effects," Donnie concludes. "Where were they found, how were they made? Those sorts of details would probably shed some light on how they could have such a range of powers."

He's a bit reluctant to depart from the shade of the trees but heads out towards the beach again, his feet at least saved from the grit and warmth of the sand as he more or less skates a foot above it.

[spinsandneedles]

"I don't know if they were made somehow or if they just happened naturally. All I know is that they're probably thousands of years old and that they came from space. There's other weird things, like for some reason after I use them they scatter themselves all over the world. Just kinda fly up in the air and pshoom."

Falling in step next to Donnie, he makes a little explody motion with his hands to demonstrate the way the emeralds like to scatter. "We're not really sure why they do that, but it makes it a real pain to gather them all again whenever we need them."

((ooc: lmao stealing a little emerald knowledge from Frontiers, I know it's canon to IDW but I don't know like wwwwwwwhere in the timeline it falls??? lol comic books are hard))

[thepurpleone]

"From space? So potentially a natural phenomenon if they're that old... or created by some ancient alien civilization." Not like he can rule out aliens considering their current circumstances, after all.

What Sonic says next makes him hum thoughtfully. "Huh. Weird, but maybe because of the power concentration it's like some built-in failsafe to keep it from being overused?"

[spinsandneedles]

"Yeah, it's all a little over my head."

He doesn't think too hard about the how's or the why's, all he cares about is if it works.

"I can think of a handful of people who wouldn't hesitate to overuse them, so really the scattering thing is for the best."

[thepurpleone]

Of course Donnie's more interested in details, but he's no stranger to those sharing Sonic's sentiment in if it works then it works. He's lived with three of such individuals all his life after all. Which is why it's simultaneously frustrating and not. In any case, it's not like he can test or study any of these Chaos Emeralds anyway.

"How many times have you been able to gather them together again?" he has to ask, because from what Sonic's saying, it sounds like he's had to do it at least a couple of times, so maybe they don't really go too far.

The caves are coming up, not difficult to spy now that they're on the beach itself, but Donnie points them out anyway.

[spinsandneedles]

Maybe some day Tails will show up and he and Donnie can have big nerd chats about big nerd things.

"Let's see... There was that time when Eggman snatched the Master Emerald, fighting Perfect Chaos, that big lizard with a space station up it's butt..." Sonic trails off, then begins silently counting on his fingers before eventually giving up with a shrug.

"Dunno. A lot. I've lost count at this point."

Sonic resists the urge to zoom on ahead and into the shade of the caverns, but he doesn't want to ditch Donnie out here in the sun like a jerk. So, he'll walk. Like some kind of normal person.

[thepurpleone]

It will be glorious!!1!

Donnie stares as Sonic lists off the times. "...okay, wow. Guess they can't be that hard to track down then. Um, what's this about Perfect Chaos?" Unless that's a flashy stage name of sorts, he'd figure those two words kind of went in opposite directions.

Getting out of the sun is good enough incentive for him to speed up his stride a bit, and at least his feet aren't sinking in the sand since he's floating over it. He might have been trying to take things easy in case Sonic hadn't really recovered. But eventually they're out of the brightness, and Donnie takes a moment to pull off his fancy boots so he can put them in the bag.

"Electronics and such kind of get super juiced in here so it's probably better I not be using those once we get closer to the crystals," he explains.

[spinsandneedles]

"They can be tricky to find, but I'm also real fast, so that kinda makes up for it," he says with a shrug. When you can cover more ground in five minutes than most people can in five days, things won't stay hidden for long. "So, Chaos was this water monster that this mad scientist I know tried to take over the world with once. It's a long story. Anyway, each time Chaos got ahold of a Chaos Emerald, it made him bigger and nastier, until he absorbed all seven of 'em and got big enough to thrash a whole city. That's when he was called Perfect Chaos."

He explains it as though it's just a normal occurrence, like this sort of thing just happens every Thursday.

"It won't blow my phone thingy up if I take it down there, will it?"

[thepurpleone]

"Wow, okay that sounds horrible."

Donnie grimaces at the thought of anything actually tromping through New York City. Sure, it seems like the number one spot for all aliens and monsters to hit when it comes to pop culture but no one wants it to actually happen!

"Huh? Oh no, at most it'll just have a lot of interference if you try calling out. And the metal glows. Actually anything metal will glow. Weird, right?"

It already promises to feel so much better as they head deeper in and away from the mouth of the cave. "It goes down a pretty good ways before we'll hit a fork. One way heads to the hot springs- which...is probably the last place we want to go given the current circumstances- but the other winds some before we'll reach where the crystal concentrations are."

[spinsandneedles]

"It's fiiiine, I had it under control. But yeah, the metal glowing thing... doesn't really make sense."

Metal glowing is kind of weird, and Sonic isn't sciency enough to know what might cause a reaction like that. He glances down at the buckles on his shoes, but aside from that he doesn't have much to worry about as far as metal going weird on him.

"Hot spring's for winter, we'll just have to come back then. Does it dead end at the crystals?"

[thepurpleone]

Well, if Sonic's able to talk about it then things must have worked out. Sounds like a headache wherever he's from, if things constantly happen that require some power boost from specially charged crystals.

"Oh yeah, definitely. It's great soaking in hot springs in the winter!" Things he's only read about and never actually done until being stuck on an alien planet. Go figure. "Kind of, yeah. There's smaller strains between some of the tunnels- those lead to dead-ends but they had a bunch of old supply crates and things in them. I found some pretty decent components that could still be used. Kind of weird that they're down here to begin with though."

[spinsandneedles]

Huge headache, but he's used to it by now and honestly he kind of lives for this stuff, being a big adrenaline junkie and all.

"What kinds of things were in them, exactly? Given the storms and stuff, I don't think it's too weird for someone to want to keep stuff put away in a place like this."