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]

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."

[thepurpleone]

As a self-proclaimed adrenaline enthusiast himself, Donnie still would get a little tired of that kind of world-threatening consistency. If you're too busy saving everyone then how do you possibly have any personal time?

"Well some of them were empty so someone's picked through things before. But there's like...medicine or something? That's what it looks like anyway. And then there's leftover cloth for whatever reason. Aside from the electronics parts."

There's a faint glow and glint along the cave walls the further they progress. Donnie eventually pulls out a flashlight to light the path, which notably starts to brighten in some areas, around the same time that Sonic's shoe buckles start to glow. And then there's the purple, rectangular markings on Donnie's shoulders and thighs, lighting up like they were done in some kind of UV-reactive ink.

[spinsandneedles]

See it's fine because Sonic's fast enough to save the world every five minutes and find personal time. Kind of. Probably. Don't worry about it.

"I don't think I'd trust medicine that's been sitting in a cave for who knows how long."

Most people wouldn't, hopefully. But hey, the metal glowing thing is cool!

"Woooah, my kicks have gone nuclear! You weren't kidding about the glowing thing!"

[thepurpleone]

"I know, right?" Donnie has to agree. Medicine in general had a shelf life, and even if things in the cave looked better than things in the city, there's still no telling how long they'd been in the caverns.

He snorts a little at Sonic's observation. "Haha, told you! Once we get deeper in you'll feel it too, it's kind of like... if you drink too much espresso or something? That's what it feels like to me though. It's like the air's charged too, a buzzing at the back of your head kinda thing."

[spinsandneedles]

"I've been banned from espresso."

Donnie can probably make a reasonable assumption as to why.

"But, I get what you mean. That doesn't sound too different than how it feels when I use the Chaos Emeralds."

[thepurpleone]

The turtle gives Sonic a wry look. "You must be an absolute menace with espresso," he smirks. He'd been pretty restless standing still even without it.

"Well, hopefully you don't end up exploding anything. Tommy won't come in here for some kind of concerns regarding that and his ability."

Donnie had been in these tunnels a few times enough to remember the way, and after a while, he turns off the flashlight. "Okay okay, check this out."

It's not completely dark in the tunnel for the crystals that can be seen in the walls, but also the glow from both of them. But then a bright line of neon violet light traces above Donnie's outstretched hand, forming a drone completely out of some kind of hardlight, casting a purple tinge on their surroundings.

[spinsandneedles]

"...See, I wish you'd mentioned the exploding thing outside."

Sonic's whole thing isn't really exactly like Tommy's, apart from the speed and high metabolism. All of Tommy's everything seems to be way faster whereas on the inside Sonic's just a normal hedgehog.

A normal giant, blue, talking, bipedal hedgehog. As far as he knows, anyway. Point is, he's probably not going to explode, and the possibility of doing so isn't enough to deter him from continuing.

Anyway, time to check out whatever Donnie's showing him. Bro did that drone come out of Donnie's tutrleflesh??

"Dude-- where did that come from!?"

He's gonna touch it. He is reaching out to poke it. Is this smart? He has no idea.

[thepurpleone]

"I figured if you made things explode you'd mention it!"

But that's neither here nor there...or at least nothing's exploding, anyway.

Donnie looks pretty smug at Sonic's reaction. "Muwahaha- I have no idea." He shrugs but doesn't do anything as the hedgehog pokes at the thing. It's surprisingly solid, and it moves back as it hovers on its singular rotor, floating there even as the turtle drops his hand.

"See, I didn't know I could do things like this before I took a wrong turn in this cave and stuff started glowing. Tony says it has to be me and not the cave, so...I guess I just haven't figured out how to do it myself yet? Somehow?"

[spinsandneedles]

"Wait-- Tommy can make things explode?"

Okay yeah, no, Tommy's powers are literally bonkers. Sonic will bug him about it later for sure, right now he's distracted by Donnie's wacky technomancy or whatever.

"If you couldn't do that before the cave, and you can only do it in the cave, then how does this Tony guy know that it's not the cave giving you that ability?"

[thepurpleone]

"I guess? I didn't really ask him about it."

Donnie turns his attention to the walls, running his hand along the rough surface. "It's been the response others with abilities have gotten, from what I've heard. Lasts for a little while even once you're outside, depending on how long you're in here. Cranks up the power on them. Like with Tommy. You feeling any different?"

He pulls his goggles down, wincing at the glare of the display and shoving it back up only as soon as he finds a notable enough vein of the crystals he can work at. Time to make a handheld drill! The drone's still floating around to cast its light for them, and Donnie's hardlight drill sure doesn't seem to have any problems in penetrating the rock wall as he tries to loosen some of it around the crystals there.

[spinsandneedles]

"Hmm..."

Sonic checks himself over while Donnie starts digging out some crystals. Does he feel different?

"Maybe a little... vibraty? That's not a word, but it should be. It kinda feels similar to when I'm using the emeralds, only I can control that power. This almost feels like someone's forcefully injecting it into me."

[thepurpleone]

"I bet you'd tell the difference real fast if you ran back in and out again," Donnie suggests as he continues to carefully work at the wall. He removes the drill, eyeing the placement of the crystals before starting again at a different place.

"I crash pretty hard after being in here too long and then using up all that energy though, so word of warning. We probably shouldn't stick around any longer than we have to."

[spinsandneedles]

As soon as Donnie finishes suggesting that Sonic run out and back in, Sonic is gone. Just, poof, there he goes. He may have kicked up some dust. BRB

Also if you hear a loud BOOM don't panic, that's just Sonic accidentally breaking the sound barrier while he takes a quick jog on the beach, does a couple laps, and then returns in time to catch Donnie saying something about not sticking around too long? Maybe it was important.

"You didn't hear that loud noise just now, did you? No cave shaking or anything?"

[thepurpleone]

Donnie doesn't even seem to notice Sonic's gone, although he does jerk his head up at the sound. But with nothing coming down, he shrugs and resumes his work. At least until Sonic's asking about it.

Frowning, he glances over at the hedgehog. "I heard something that didn't sound like thunder, but nope, nothing came down, thankfully."

[spinsandneedles]

"Oh good. Hopefully I didn't freak anyone in town out..."

He'll find out later if they get back and everyone's panicking about kabooms. No biggie.

"So! It's like you said, this stuff just jacks your natural abilities up! I don't really feel different, I just feel more... me. Like me times ten. Does that make sense?"

[thepurpleone]

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

A little excitement can distract them from the heat. Or something.

"I think so? I mean, aside from feeling like I've got this extra buzz of caffeine or something, I don't particularly feel any different."

Donnie stops his drilling, letting the tool vanish with a thought. "It's just weird because I had no idea that I had some kind of access to...magic." He's still somewhat torn on that point. But it's his, and that's what's fascinating. Now if only he knew how to actually tap into it without depending on such a specific environment.

[spinsandneedles]

"Whatever that is you're doing, I've never seen anything like it before. At least, I've never seen a person do it, that's the kind of thing I expect to see a machine do."

Like those 3D printers, only like, glowy? Something like that.

[thepurpleone]

"My older brother does this thing where he can basically surround himself with a bigger version of himself, not too unlike this, a kind of light form." Donnie conjures up a hammer and chisel, applying it to the rock the crystal is yet embedded in.

"But I figured that was because of his magic weapon. My other two brothers found magic weapons too but they do different things with them. Like, Leo can make portals between places, although whether they end up where they need to be is usually up in the air. And Mikey's weapon kind of seems to have a mind of its own but its range seems pretty limitless and it can catch fire. I have seen him hurl an entire cargo ship with it, it is crazy."

[spinsandneedles]

"Man. Your family sounds huge, and pretty awesome! Are you all into the sciency stuff, or is that more just your jam?"

Dude Sonic is so impressed right now, both with the cool glowing tools that Donnie can make with turtle magic and his neat little turtle family. Donnie's whole deal is just super interesting.

"Hey, does touching the crystals amplify the affects any, or is it enough just being in the cave with them?"

[thepurpleone]

Donnie grins a bit. "Well, three brothers and dad, yeah. I guess it is pretty big." He gives a dry laugh then. "Nah, it's just me."

He carefully breaks away a chunk of crystal, turning it in his hand. "So far as I can tell, it's not affecting them because they're a result of the amplified effects. Here, hold this," he says as he passes it over to Sonic so he can get started on another chunk.

[spinsandneedles]

"Bigger than mine, heh."

Sonic takes the crystal chunk and looks it over while trying to keep up with Donnie's science talk. "Ohh, I think I get it. Whatever's jacking our powers up is also causing the crystals to grow? Still weird that it's just an effect that walking into the cave would have. Like, something's got to be causing it, right?"

[thepurpleone]

"Probably some kind of radiation. Which...does make the whole exposure thing kind of questionable, especially since we don't know for sure what consistent exposure might do. But that's part of why I'm trying to study it."

Donnie pries out another chunk. "It's unfortunate that the Agrii don't have any sources old enough to provide any answers on that. Unless that information was lost. It's clear they knew about the crystals and the caverns enough to have made use of these for powering things around the city. I don't know how deep that understanding was and can't tell from just the engineering data point."

[spinsandneedles]

"Oh. Great. Doesn't radiation kill you?"

It's fine, we'll just hang out IN THE RADIOACTIVE CAVE while Donnie plays with rocks. "Has anybody tried digging in here? Just like, straight down, just to make sure there isn't something physically causing this? Mostly I think I just don't like the idea of standing in a cave full of magic radiation..."

[thepurpleone]

"Well. Yeah, but I'm not getting those kinds of readings from here, at least." YEAH just trying not to think too hard about it as he frees another crystal and hands it over. "One more should do it..."

He pauses, glancing down. "Don't think so? It doesn't seem like anyone's done too much in here, and if they do it seems to be mainly for the hot springs. ...although if there are hot springs then I don't know if we want to do any digging in the case that we end up tapping into what's heating said hot springs. At least, not just digging anywhere. It'd have to be precise."

[spinsandneedles]

Sonic takes the crystal, but now he's eyeballing them suspiciously. He doesn't trust this cave or anything that comes out of it now, THANKS DONNIE.

He gets over it pretty quickly though, now there's something he can probably actually help with. "It's magma, right, that's what heats them? So if you can figure out where to dig that won't drop us into a death pit, we should be fine! I can handle the rest."