revivalproject | [closed] A-MAZE-ING

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[closed] A-MAZE-ING

WHO: turtle bros
WHERE: the Warrens
WHAT: maze time!
WHEN: maze time!
WARNINGS: maze time!

If Leo's being honest, he doesn't have the best track record with mazes.

And he and Donnie haven't exactly been... okay, lately. And Leo is still worried about Donnie's leg.

So all things considered, maybe they weren't the best choice to volunteer to trek down one of the routes that opened after Keith's group went ahead.

But the thing is, Leo doesn't know if either of them would have been happy sitting around waiting for something to happen. Donnie always wants to fix things. And he would have gotten too anxious the longer they sat there.

So here they are, in the maze. Leo supposes, in good news, that nothing scary has happened yet. The maze isn't full of monsters or deadly traps. It's just big and confusing. The most dangerous hazard so far is the threat of running out of food, but at least they thought ahead on that front.

So they're exploring, and trying not to have to double back too much. This has been going on for awhile now. Leo hasn't been paying attention to how long, but he's sure Donnie knows. At least tech works down here.

"I wonder who built all this?" he asks. "Was it just for... a-maze... usment?"

This is hardly his first maze pun since they came in here, but now he's really stretching for what even counts as a pun.

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“Aren’t you two cute?” The holoturtle reaches out like she’s going to pinch Leo’s cheek, but of course they can’t actually. She can’t even fully reach him where he’s standing, let alone touch. Still, Leo indulgently leans into the action, smiling.

“Auntie, we just need to know who here knows the right door out.”

“The right door? Hmmm…” She taps her chin like she’s thinking. “Weeell…”

She points out two of the holograms they haven’t spoken to yet.

“Those two are the ones who would know… but they won’t give you that information for free. You’ll need to trade.”

“Trade in something a hologram would want?” Leo prompts.

“The only thing anyone here values… information!” She spreads her arms wide. “You’ll need a tasty morsel of gossip to offer them.”

She leans over to “pinch” Donnie’s cheek next.

Of course, Donnie thinks as he looks over to the other holoturtles. He rolls his eyes at the catch, because nothing can be received for nothing, even in a virtual game.

"I'm sure these guys are eager for anything if they've only had old gossip to circulate between them," he mutters, looking dryly between Leo and the holo they're currently interacting with. Yeah, hologram or not, he is not indulging this auntie behavior, and he stands stubbornly just out of reach.

She doesn't seem too disappointed by that, but Leo still isn't sure how "aware" the holoturtles actually are of their actions.

"So what kind of gossip do they want?" he asks. "Celebrity? Relationship? Drama?"

"Hmm, well... The one in the blue dress always wants to know the latest in financial news. She's quite the financier!" The holoturtle indicates the turtles as she mentions them. "And the one in the bowler hat, he wants to hear the latest on the upper class. I think he might use it for... blackmail!" She chuckles like this is funny.

Leo just nods along. Seems like pretty standard stuff for a hoity toity party set up like this.

"And I'm guessing that guy over there," he says, indicating the only turtle she didn't point out, "and the girl over there," he points to the turtle they talked to last, "might be good people to hit up for the gossip?"

"Oooh, you're right!" The holoturtle winks at Leo. "You do have your finger on the pulse of things."

Leo's smile gets a little bigger, which is maybe sad when he's being complimented by a computer program. "Thanks, Auntie, you've been a big help."

"Of course!" She gives them a way. "You boys have a good time now!"

Even though he's letting Leo handle things, Donnie still takes note of the other turtles and the 'information' that they seem particularly interested in. Financing and upper class what? Are they just supposed to make things up? Because certainly that sort of stuff doesn't apply to Temba life.

-oh, within the 'game' info. He looks over as Leo points out the other two, making a bit of a face as that means they'll have to talk with that annoying turtle from earlier again.

"Think I would've preferred a dance game," he mutters, but he doesn't miss the change in Leo's expression, something brighter, more like the smiles he usually wears with ease. It makes him smile too, if just a little, even though he's not entirely sure why.

"Okay 'nardo, who're we hitting up first?" he asks once they've been dismissed.

Leo thinks about that himself, looking over the participants. The most efficient way to do this would be to get the info they need first, then talk to the turtles who know which door to go through... but he wonders if that's really the best tactic just because it's expedient.

"I think... I'm talking to the guy in the hat first," he announces.

At least in terms of a game, Donnie can see the angle Leo might be going for, even as he can see how it'd be faster to try getting the answers first.

He looks to the holoturtle in question, considering before he glances back at Leo with a nod. Loosening his arms from their folded position, he makes a sweeping gesture towards the hat-wearing turtle.

"Well then, the floor is yours, good sir," he says, bringing back his favorite Fake Billionaire Junk Mogul accent for the occasion.

Oh, Leo forgot about that particular schtick! Though he was on Team Raph for that particular outing. He does still appreciate a good callback, though.

"Thank you, good sir," he echoes back, before going to the indicated turtle. Time to get a baseline.

"Hey there," he greets, waving at the holoturtle as he steps into its sensor area. "We were told you were a man who might know what door to go through?"

"The doors?" the holoturtle asks as it springs to life. "I do have some information about that... But I don't just give information away for free, you know."

"Yeah, we've heard that info is as good as gold around here," Leo concedes. "But if you wanted some kind of info in exchange, what would it be?"

"Hmm..." The holoturtle seems to think, tapping a hologram cane against the floor. "Well, that is an interesting question... I mean, I'm not cheap, you know."

"Maybe... something about the others here?" Leo suggests, waving a hand. "Something really juicy like that?"

The holoturtle taps his cane again. "If you had information about that," he concedes, "I might be persuaded to tell you what I know."

Sidling up beside his brother, Donnie stands by, nodding along as Leo converses. At the very least he can take mental notes, not that anything so far is very surprising.

Of course everyone's going to hold their figurative cards close to their chest. He slides a dry look over at Leo, but he's pretty sure he's anticipated this sort of thing.

He did anticipate it! Leo's goal here wasn't to find out what information the holoturtle wants. It was something else.

He wraps up his conversation here, then turns back toward the holoturtle in the dress, ready to repeat the process.

This goes about the same as the last one. The hologram confirms it has the info they're looking for, but wants information about local businesses. Leo takes note of the fact that this hologram is much less fidgety than the last one. She stays mostly still as she talks to them, her hands holding up the trailing ends of her skirt.

"Find me something useful," the holoturtle says in a cool voice, "and perhaps I'll return the favor."

Leo nods agreeably. "We can do that," he says, giving her a little salute.

The whole process seems much too tedious for what Donnie figures gets them not much farther than what they'd started with. He drums his fingers against his arms as he waits for Leo to finish up.

"Okay, so we primed them up for info exchange. Now what?" he asks as they step away.

"Then we do the info exchange!" Leo says cheerily. "But first we gotta get the info."

He turns back, surveying their last two options: the uncooperative holoturtle they talked to before, and the only one left.

"Let's hit up the new one first. Then we can try again with that one with the fan."

"But of course," Donnie nods. He doubts the other holograms are just going to conveniently spill the information they're looking for, but at least now they have a bit of direction.

"All right then." He starts towards the turtle in question although he'll drop back to let Leo take the lead once they're close enough. "Hopefully this one's not as annoyingly evasive as the other one..."

Leo has a feeling that it will be annoyingly evasive. But he fully intends to crush it!

"Hey there," he greets, stepping into the holoturtle's sensor. "How are you enjoying the party?"

"Hmm, well... It's just as humdrum as ever," says the turtle, sounding uninterested. "If this were happening at my grandfather's estate, it would be far more grand."

"Your grandfather's estate?" Leo repeats, sounding impressed. "Oh yeah, he was that real hotshot... What'd he do, again?"

The turtle seems torn between being affronted that Leo doesn't know and being excited to talk about his family('s money).

"He was the richest oil baron this side of the nation!" the turtle explains, without qualifying what "nation" they're talking about. "He had business sense that took him from rags to riches! He was unrivaled by all others... until I was born, of course."

This is crap, but Leo just nods along. "Oh yeah, you're way more accomplished," he agrees. "Like when you...?"

"Why, just the other day-" the turtle starts, and then launches into a tale that is surely embellished and still doesn't say much. Leo just nods along anyway, like this is the most interesting thing he's ever heard.

"Oh, here we go," Donnie murmurs under his breath, but he puts on his best fake smile as the holoturtle indulges Leo, trying not to scoff as he can't help but think of the actual state of things beyond this weird little sci-fi haven.

He's not sure if any of what they get is worthwhile. If anything, he just figures this guy loves to hear himself talk. Donnie's not trying as hard as Leo to look interested, although at the very least he can appreciate how his brother can schmooze with fake rich people so easily.

If only he could leverage this ability into charming real rich people. Maybe they could get some money. (Or Tony would actually like him.)

The guy does love hearing himself talk, and boy is it boring. Leo still pretends to listen until the end, indulging the infodump like he actually cares.

Finally, in a break in the conversation, he says, "So you'd say you have your ear to the ground when it comes to all the financial news, right?"

"Oh, of course!" agrees the holoturtle, all buttered up now. "In fact..." The turtle leans in, glancing this way and that before cupping a hand to his mouth, like he's about to tell Leo something quite secretive. "I actually have some top secret information that can really net someone some money if they act fast. If you want to know." The turtle straightens up again. "But only if you can keep it secret."

"Oh. We wouldn't tell a soul! Cross our shells and hope to die." Leo glances back at Donnie. "Right, Dee?"

Pay no attention to how Donnie's fake eyebrow twitches. It's an impressive feat though, to be sure!

Of course he's not upset that all that had just been so that they could get to the actual meaty part of things! Hopefully the holoturtle can't read murderous facial expressions.

"Absolutely!" Donnie replies between grating teeth. "There will definitely be death involved!"

Edited 2024-12-16 06:00 (UTC)

Leo elbows Donnie, all without letting his smile slip a millimeter.

Thankfully it seems whatever AI program is running the holoturtle does not take what Donnie just said as a threat.

"Alriiiight... Just because you seem so trustworthy."

The holoturtle leans in again, hand over his mouth, and gives Leo the secret info.

"The Rothschild factory's latest shipment... sank. At sea." The holoturtle giggles, like this is funny. "Their stock is going to plummet when it's announced next week!"

"Ah, such a shame." Leo shakes his head like this information about a fake company going under is of real concern to him. "Good thing I was already planning to sell all my stock tomorrow anyway."

He winks at the holoturtle. The holoturtle winks back.

Info successfully gathered, Leo will quickly extricate them from this conversation. One down, one to go!

At least if it were a video game he could just read things fast and hit the skip button!

Donnie's...smile sharpens just a touch at Leo's elbowing, but he refrains from adding anything more as he lets his brother carry on.

He's all too happy to be away from the hologram once Leo's secured the information. "Eyew, is this how actual rich people parties go?" Maybe he'll ask Tony if he ever sees him again.

"That had to be the most pointless character script ever written." Yes, he's going to complain all the way to the next turtle, not that he is looking forward to this one.

"Who knows? Not like we'll ever be invited to one."

Well, maybe Donnie will be, since he has the sugar daddy and all that.

"Hey, it's alright! We got the info we needed." He leads the way to the uncooperative first holoturtle. "Let me just wrap this up reeeaaal quick."

He steps up to the turtle, and she springs to life again, giving a flutter of her fan as she does. "Still trying to find the right door?" she asks.

"Nah," says Leo smoothly. "We're over the door; we like hanging with you guys." He folds his arms and grins. "So how's the party going?"

"Oh, well, if that's what you're asking about," she says, and starts into another infodump about fake gossip. Hope Donnie is ready!

"Did we? I hope the other NPCs think it's worthwhile then." Because he sure didn't!!

Donnie doesn't even try to look like he's enjoying himself but the only reason he does keep at least somewhat tuned in is because he doesn't want to have to go through all this again- and doubts that they'd conveniently repeat themselves like your average games might if you just run back to talk to them.

Meanwhile, Leo is just gently prodding the NPC about different conversation topics. Most of this sounds pretty useless - you can’t blackmail someone for wearing out of style heels - but he knows there has to be something buried in here…

“-and then I noticed that Lady Ornate Boxshell wasn’t sitting with her husband! Ah, but then I nipped off to the powder room, but it was occupied…”

“Was Lady Ornate Boxshell inside?” Leo asks, raising an eyebrow.

The holoturtle pauses and flutters her fan. “Is that unusual?”

Leo thinks over the tidal wave of information before this… remembering another mentioned party guest who seems to have disappeared.

“Was Lord Asian Boxshell also in there?” he asks, giving the turtle a conspiratorial wink.

She flutters her fan even more aggressively. “I never said anything of the sort,” she says, but her voice sounds tinged with glee.

Leo grins. Bingo. Time to end this conversation and get out of here!

This sort of gossip is tedious to listen to, especially when he has no investment in the person doing the talking. Donnie's glad Leo's handling it because he's getting exhausted just being there, thankful that it isn't an actual party because he's not sure he'd be able to engage in this much small talk if more people decided to assault them at once. How do people do it?

He tilts his head as Leo homes in on...something, he'd missed it and the insinuations that follow go right over his head. But something had come up, otherwise Leo wouldn't be grinning like that.

Once they're away from the fan-turtle, Donnie gives his brother a look. "I am assuming you got what you were looking for..."

Leo grins and gives Donnie fingerguns.

"Sure did, mi hermano. All that's left to do now is exchange our info for the door we need and we're out of here."

He's already angling back toward the holoturtle in the hat. He can tell Donnie's patience for this ran out awhile ago, so he's not bothering to ask for his input on which one first.

"So, info on one Lady Ornate Boxshell for info on a door," he says as he steps back into the holoturtle's sensors again. "Are we good with this trade or what?"

"Lady Ornate Boxshell?" says the holoturtle, tapping his cane. "Now that is interesting... What is it?"

"She was seen in the powder room with someone... not her husband." Leo winks. "If you catch my drift."

Probably making out in there. Gross. But Leo doesn't show his distaste for the situation.

His arms are still folded as they make way back towards the be-hatted holoturtle, waiting to see what all Leo's got to share. He drums his fingers, arching a brow as his brother dishes.

Oh.

Oh.

"Gasp, the scandal!" Is he acting or is that his actual response?

Yes.

"The scandal!" agrees the holoturtle heartily. "Oh, but this is some tantalizing information you've brought me." He taps his cane again.

"Yeah, and a deal's a deal: which door is the way out of here?"

"Right, of course." The holoturtle nods. "It's the door to the right." As he says this, he lifts his hand and scratches at his head under his hat.

Leo blinks. "The right?" he repeats.

"Yes," the holoturtle says with a nod and another scratch. "The door to the right will lead you where you want to go."

"...Alright," says Leo with a grin. "Thanks! See ya, then."

And he'll back away from the sensor for that turtle.

Edited 2024-12-18 23:39 (UTC)

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okay I think I'm finally sure where I'm going with this so hopefully we start moving faster lol

XD

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