revivalproject | Don't Go In The House

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Don't Go In The House

WHO: A mysterious voice, a masked figure, an assortment of victims, and maybe some heroes, too! This one is open, check the OOC post to coordinate.
WHERE: Temba, Green-14
WHAT: Another homicidal attack!
WHEN: Early January
WARNINGS: This is another murder attempt. It involves fire.

This wasn't often an alluring part of the city. Even dark, the blinking light long since winked out, the radio tower loomed, and the wasteland around it felt like a warning so the snow fell smoothly there, the ground underneath it flat and unbroken by any snarl of resilient weeds. Only a few footprints disturbed its surface. On the road, they were all but gone, the bots dutifully dusting away the snowfall on the new pavement and keeping it easily walkable for anyone who didn't mind the empty eye of the tower, or the hypnotizing maze of the memorial nearby. Someone who might have ducked curiously into a building that was leaning slightly, neglected among the repairs of the city, maybe because of its flat, imposing walls--devoid entirely of any windows, and only accessible by a single, heavy door. Someone who must have finally picked up the courage, or just a flashlight to brave the complete dark within, because as the sun started to sink, leaving dazzling colour dancing around the icicles clinging to the roofline of this abandoned structure, a scream burst out of it. It was tinny and muffled, clawing its way out of the single, dark doorway that it could penetrate, and the snow gathered around the foundations softened the sound even further, but in the empty city, in the air chilled enough that not even the flapping of birds' wings might baffle the sound, it echoed. A scream, then a pleading sobbing, rattling breaths begging for mercy, help, God. A raw, desperate wail.

Anyone moved to help would have to access through that one open doorway, and would be immediately met with the imposing darkness of this closed off space. Inside, it smelled cloyingly sweet, like old rot. Underfoot, the floor was slick, not like melting ice but with a worrying tackiness. If they brought any light, they could see that it was red, and spread slowly, coagulating in the chill.

The sound of the sobbing didn't cease. Even inside, though, it had a strange, small quality, like the source had moved further into the building. The voice had gone hoarse, the screams like rasping paper. Until, maybe, such a helpful hero picked up the communication device, dropped in the middle of the floor, sticky with the red substance. Then, the voice giggles.

In the horrible second you have to wonder at the noise, a burst of heat and light suddenly erupts from the doorway, the one exit standing behind you, now an inferno. Just beyond it, in the cold blue light of the last of the winter's sun, a figure had their hand on the door. A ghost, draped in black that pooled in the snow, with a stark, white screaming face. They slam the door shut, trapping the rapidly spreading fire inside.

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Radley, of course, can't ignore a scream for help. He runs for the building and inside. "Hello? What's wrong?"

He makes a face of mixed disgust and horror at the substance on the floor. Blood?

When he finds the communication device, he suddenly realizes what's really happening. At the sound of the giggle, anger flames in his eyes. He looks up with a start at the new sounds and light, sees the infamous melting ghost, and doesn't even have a chance to yell before the door slams shut.

He looks around in horror, holding an arm to his face. He's still holding the communication device. From the pattern of past crimes, it probably belongs to someone innocent. He'll hang on to it. He gets out his own communicator and tries sending a video. "Hello? There's a fire at Green-14...." Coughing. "It's spreading fast. If anybody's around ... help...."

Will it even go through? Probably not. He looks around again, desperately, his eyes watering. Will he get out of this?

Probably not. But he's not giving up yet. He looks around for something he can use to try to knock a hole in a wall or bust open the door.

There was something about hearing a scream like that. It prompted an instant adrenaline rush when a moment ago you were complaining about how exhausted you were having to shovel snow out of your garden. It was enough to give someone a second wind, propelling them down the street, shovel still in hand.

Hamatos never tended to run away from potential threats, not when it sounded like someone needed help. It hadn't been too difficult to narrow down the source, not when he was so close and the cries continued.

"He-"

His voice caught in his throat at the feeling beneath his boots. ...ohhhh he sure hoped that wasn't what he thought it was but he was so glad he wasn't running around barefoot--

Donnie's head lifted at the voice, taking a moment to place it. "Radley? Did- Huh?" He stared almost dumbly at the communicator the other held, not at all liking the creeping, nagging feeling that something was Very Wrong here and not just because the device was contaminated.

Far be it for him to be out in this weather not dressed for it, but the fresh wave of heat was something he could easily feel even through the layers he wore. He turned, still feeling like he was processing everything much too slowly.

That mask... That laugh...

Donnie threw out a hand towards the doorway.

"Wait-!"

Except they wouldn't, because this was the game all along, wasn't it?

Keith had heard the scream as well and went running. It was rare he was without Kosmo when out on patrol, but he'd given the wolf the night off, leaving him at the house with Snow. Being on patrol, however, he was at least in his Paladin armor.

As he ran towards the building, he drew his bayard, ready to fight if he had to. They stormed in, almost all together at the same time. The floor squished with liquid as Keith stepped in, and he stopped to stare at the comm in Radley's hand.

"What-..." Why would someone do that? Keith felt the hairs on his neck stand on end. "A trap...?"

He looked down. What was on the floor, anyway? But that laugh, and the flash of heat... Keith turned towards the fire in time to see the weird masked figure slam the door on them. He cursed.

Bayard ready, Keith closed the mask on his helmet, intending to slash open the door, but, even with his armor, it was too much flame to get back that way. He turned to the others.

"Go deeper in!" he yelled at them. "Look for another exit!"

Radley had mixed feelings about finding more people in here. He couldn't deny part of him was glad he didn't have to figure this out alone, but on the other hand, if something went wrong, more of them would die. And he was probably the least suited to this type of situation out of the three of them; he imagined Donnie and Keith both had likely encountered dangerous scenarios like fires before. (Of course, he could be wrong.) But he didn't want to be a burden, just as he felt he had been back home.

"It's another murder scene!" he said to Donnie. "And this time we're the victims!"

He looked to Keith, nodded, and struggled to go deeper in. He tried to watch where he was going so he wouldn't trip on anything, but he could still feel the gross substance under his feet. Was it really blood?! He kept hoping it wasn't, but ...

He coughed, trying to look around at the walls and the floors. "Maybe if there's a loose beam here or something to ram the wall with...." He found one on the floor and reached for it. At the same moment, he could hear the old building creaking dangerously all around them. "If we don't get out of here soon, it's probably gonna collapse!" he exclaimed.

That was only making him more afraid. Collapsing mine tunnels had always been a phobia of his. Collapsing burning buildings weren't any better.

Donnie hardly needed it spelled out for him. There really was little other explanation after that laugh, a clear trap, and that masked visage mocking in its own way.

He shook his head, the cloying scent both dizzying but somewhat familiar. His eyes flicked towards the flames, rapidly eating away at- No, not blood.

Maybe the madness of the situation prompted him to do the unthinkable, a quick swipe off the red substance on the ground with a finger, a lick. It wasn't a full mouthful but it was still almost a punch in the face. "Oh no-" he coughed, stumbling back from the doorway, no longer visible for the flames that engulfed that path. He stepped backwards, eyes roving their confining space. They'd doused the place in the stuff, no wonder the fire was spreading so quickly!

"I-I don't think there's another door," Donnie said, glancing warily above as he wondered if it were the sound of creaking or the flames tearing up the floor. The place had already been questionably vertical. It was already getting harder to breathe as the smoke and heat built up.

What was it about fire in enclosed spaces..? "We need...an opening." Ventilation, backdraft prevention- if he blasted a hole through the wall? But the integrity of the building...

He shoved his sleeve back, tapping at his computer to patch to his comm. "L-Leo, are you there?"

Keith caught sight of that 'taste', and crinkled his nose, even though he understood the impulse to do it. The fire was moving too fast. An opening? But... and he looked up as well. The speed of the flames didn't leave much time for the building's stability. He was in his armor, so Keith wasn't as worried for himself as he was for the others.

"Okay, move to the back wall... as far from the source as possible," he said quickly, moving to encourage Radley and Donnie to move away from the now impassible door. "Keep a hold of that comm unit," he then told Radley. "We might need it." Then, he turned to Donnie. "What is that substance?"

Keith already had his sword ready. He hadn't put it away, yet. Once close to the back wall, he began examining it for a good spot to cut through... preferably a window if there was one already there and in reach? With everything boarded up and broken apart, plus the heavy smoke, it was hard to tell exactly what might be a window and what was just broken framework of a wall.

Was this a former house or a shed?

"I can cut a hole, but we have to avoid any load bearing spots to give ourselves as much time as possible to get out." The visor of his helmet glowed slightly with some readings as he used it to scan the wall. Hopefully, he could find something...

Radley was so upset at realizing they had walked into a trap that he was being Captain Obvious for the moment. Then he just had to stop and stare in horrified shock at Donnie’s actions. “What are you doing?!” he exclaimed. Had he been talking to an adult, he probably would have thrown a mild swear word in there.

He looked over at Keith’s words and started to head back there, still clutching the comm. “It’s probably some innocent person’s again,” he said with a frustrated sigh.

He stood by nervously as Keith looked for the right place to cut and tried to feel across the wall himself to help. Beams were falling down all around them, but he was trying to control his fear of being trapped in something collapsing. Of course a good spot had to be found or things would collapse for sure. He flinched as one landed right near them.

He could barely hear Leo over his own coughing and the snapping and crackling of the building and the growing flames.

Moving back only did so much good. Donnie pulled his scarf up over his nose and mouth in an attempt to filter some of the smoke for all the good it would do. "It's-- the juice made from those red fruits," he tried to explain. "This place is going to go up fast."

Already he was getting dizzy from everything, but he strained to look at the rest of the building around and above them, yelping as things started to fall apart.

"I-I don't know how much longer it'll stay up..." he said, eyes widening at the increasing groan above. "Ohnonono-"

Amidst the eerie red haze, a bright neon purple light pierced through the smoke, tracing out a support pillar that for all appearances looked less than solid, yet it seemed to do the trick to brace the ceiling above as it threatened to give in.

Keith jumped when the smaller piece hit the floor between him and Radley, barely missing getting hit. The embers that flew up caught on more of the juice, starting to burn the back wall.

Keith cursed and moved back towards Donnie.

"Juice? We have flammable fruit?" Why was Keith not surprised? Maybe because Sh'Ka had giant rock leaves that could do some serious damage during their version of autumn! Either way, he certainly could see how fast that was accelerating the flames.

They didn't have time to worry about the stability of the wall. While Keith figured he'd be okay for at least a little while thanks to the protection from his Paladin armor, he knew Donnie and Radley didn't have that protection and certainly would not have the extra time if this place came down on them.

The scan from his helmet did show a spot that might work. At least, it was relatively less risky than the rest of the wall.

"Over here!" He moved that way, And then jammed the black and white blade through the crumbling building materials that were left.

Edited 2025-01-09 09:41 (UTC)

... Well, that was better than if Donnie put someone else's blood in his mouth, but the news of it being the flammable fruit didn't thrill Radley either. Especially when the back wall caught fire too.

He waited to make sure Donnie went ahead of him to the spot Keith found before he would proceed there himself.

A chunk of wall threatened to flop over in flames, as the support pillar groaned some more. The ceiling and the wall might give way at once.

As much as Donnie would usually love to infodump, he wasn't up to the task at the moment. He could feel the weight of the building pressing against his mystic-tech and even one unfamiliar with his ninpō could see it flicker, likely not to last very long. It was a drain when he was already tired, compounded by the inability to breathe and the ever rising heat.

He staggered after Keith, leaning on his shovel. For a moment he watched blearily as the other began to work at the wall. Could've helped with that... He shook his head, pulling himself straight as he shifted the grip on his tech-bō. Laser rifle is too narrow, buzzsaw, maybe? Drill will compromise things faster-

Pain spiked through him as he felt his ninpō give, the translucent support pillar vanishing in a flurry of pixelated purple light as the weight of the ceiling bore down, finally too much to hold.

A chunk of debris smacked into his shoulder, and while the battle shell beneath his jacket blunted the blow, it was still heavy and more than enough to knock him off balance and to the ground, more pieces beginning to rain down upon them. Good that they moved from the center as the bulk of the ceiling fell in, but it was quickly affecting everything else.

Keith activated his shield to try and hold off what he could as well, the cyan blue light flashing into existence among the orange-red glow. Radley was the most vulnerable of the group with no armor or shell that he could see, so Keith moved to try and cover him first. He grunted in pain as he felt debris pin his left leg.

The shield was big enough to cover most of the pair as long as they stayed close, but it was primarily their heads and torsos...

Sorry, Donnie, but Keith had to make a choice. His shield couldn't cover all three, and turtles had shells. Humans didn't.

After a moment of getting his bearings back after the collapse, Keith glanced back towards the bayard to see if he could reach it, but holding the shield in place made it hard. The blade was still stuck through the wall...

Maybe someone outside would see it...

Radley had the beam he had found, and he used it to try to deflect what debris he could from hitting them, but with so much falling he could do very little overall.

He started when first Donnie and then Keith were hurt, Keith while trying to protect him. He hadn't wanted that to happen, but he had feared it would. He was not suited for this.

"Are you both okay?!" He wasn't sure how badly Donnie had been hurt, or how serious the damage now was to Keith's leg.

He moved to inspect the debris on Keith's leg, not sure how heavy it would be. Maybe the beam he had could be used as a lever.... He wedged it underneath and tried to lift it up.

It was a good thing Donnie had been overly paranoid enough to wear his battle shell everywhere, otherwise things would be very different without it. But a battle shell only did so much when an entire building was about to fall on you.

"-fine..!" he grunted, which came out more a cough and was probably a lie, but none of them were really fine here. He caught a glimpse of Keith's shield- oh Newton, that was a good idea. Carefully he pushed himself up enough to tap at his bracer, producing a hardlight shield of his own, and not a second too soon as another chunk of debris bounced off it, inches from his head.

It took even more effort to get back onto his feet, his body doubled over, still wracked with coughs. He twisted the handle of his shovel, transforming the tech-bō back to its default mode before tapping another button to unfold it into a makeshift support from what bit of the ceiling still bowed above them.

"...I'm going to try blowing a hole..." he gasped, hands bracing against his knees. It was hard trying to focus, violet light flickering as he struggled to hold onto a form.

"I don't know how long I can hold this up," Keith said, his voice tight with strain and pain. He knew his leg wasn't broken, at least, but it was getting hot through the suit and his arm with the shield was going to tire fast under the weight. He was breathing hard now, though, even if he hadn't before, but it wasn't from smoke. He still had the visor closed on the helmet. "I'm... okay. Just focus on getting a hole... in that wall." He was going to avoid making a comment about feeling toasty. Keith might be snarky at times, but he was not good at making sarcastic morbid humor like Shiro.

But, as Radley started to lever the debris off his leg, Keith felt the weight above him shift.

"Ah!" The piece of ceiling he was holding off with the shield suddenly got heavier, forcing Keith to brace it with his other arm. "Don't push that too hard! It might bring down the rest of it!"

Or at least wait until they had a quick exit!

Donnie's tech-bō only had so much reach for height, and it would only hold so much weight. It might help with some of the weight but not for long, and they'd still be a bit cramped beneath it.

The turtle was panting hard, straining to hold his ninpō together. Hopefully Keith and Radley would know when to move because Donnie didn't have the breath to spare in order to lay out any plans. Everything was too hot, but he couldn't help but drop to a knee, trying to ignore the sensation of being slow-roasted. Maybe not the best thing to be doing either way when the floor's sticky with the very stuff feeding the fire.

The neon purple outlines take form, fritzing like a bad channel reception, shaping wiring and circuitry and cylinders on a spot upon the wall before them, the internal workings of a modernized petard soon sealed within a translucent shell as the final pieces are visualized and conjured.

Donnie shifted his shield to be situated between them and the wall with the bomb, and hopefully no one was on the other side as the mystic-tech explosive went off, force pushing outwards along with a good portion of the wall that had surrounded it.

The building shuddered with it, more debris showering from above, causing the titanium of the makeshift support to groan, although it was unable to do much for the looser parts, burning pieces falling around and on top of them. Donnie collapsed too, the blast he charged for the explosion eating up whatever reserves he had.

Radley immediately stopped. The last thing he wanted to do was cause more trouble. Maybe he should just do nothing and let Donnie do his thing.

Donnie was definitely not looking good, though, and Radley didn't feel much better. He wasn't sure which of them was faring worse. He blinked through blurry eyes as he watched what Donnie was doing. It was really pretty cool and pretty fascinating, but there was no time to really enjoy the show.

Then the bomb went off and Donnie collapsed and Radley was definitely fully back in the present and further worried. "Hey!" He reached for Donnie's shoulder. "Donnie?!" He was worried wondering now if he would need to try to help both of them through the hole and if he could successfully support their weight.

The sight of Donnie's tech doing its thing was pretty interesting, but it wasn't something that Keith hadn't seen something similar of before. The pixelated manifestations of light were similar to what the training deck in the Castle of Lions also did, just in a different color.

"Get him out of here!" Keith urged Radley, seeing Donnie collapse. Keith had more time than the other two, that much he knew. It was important to get them out first. "Go! I can hold this still for a little while, but you guys need air!"

Radley had never seen anything like it, although he had seen cool tech back home.

He nodded, worried, and moved to try to help Donnie get up. "Come on," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "We've gotta go." He prayed things wouldn't completely collapse yet and he braced himself, hoping he could support Donnie's weight for as long as was needed.

The turtle teen coughed weakly, trying to hang onto consciousness. That seemed just as easy as trying to get his own feet under him, boots sticking from the smears of red liquor that was just inviting more of the flames directly towards them.

He hissed, pulling back a hand as the fire was too close, leaning heavily against Radley. Donnie himself wasn't necessarily that heavy, but his battle shell was the main compromise, being made of metal.

Radley held on tightly, definitely struggling from the weight of the battle shell but somehow managing. He tried to half-pull, half-guide Donnie towards the new hole, flinching as the fire came too close to them. They might end up tumbling through the hole.

Since the moment the call came in, Leo's been running. He knew Donnie was calling from Green, but not from where exactly, so he portaled as close to the district as he could and then started searching.

It didn't take long for him to see the smoke.

He couldn't hear much from Donnie's call, the sounds too jumbled and static-filled, but he heard enough to get the gist. There's no question that Donnie is in the burning building, and he beelines for it, portaling intermittently to cut the distance.

He arrives just as Radley and Donnie tumble out of the hole in the wall.

"Donnie!" he shouts, skidding to a stop just in front of the pair. He wants to grab his brother and get as far away from here as he can, but...

"Is there anyone else inside?" he asks, looking at Radley. Please say no...

Radley is relieved to have Donnie out and he kneels there coughing and gasping for fresh air. He looks up blearily at Leo, also relieved more help is here.

"Yeah! Keith is in there and his leg is pinned!" he says.

The frigid air is both painful and a relief, although no easier to get a fresh breath when your lungs still insisted on expelling the gritty smoke-laced mouthfuls you'd all but swallowed earlier.

Donnie's clothing is singed and smudged in ash and perhaps disturbingly stained red in places. He lifts his head at Leo's voice, an exhausted but relieved smile twitching at his lips, ruined by another cough. He was barely following the conversation but tries to look back towards the smoke-spewing hole upon mention of Keith.

The state of Donnie's clothes (and the very obvious red stains) are not putting Leo at ease, nor is his cough. And he wants to just grab him and go, but... Keith is still in there.

And Donnie was able to lift his head and smile, so...

"Okay," says Leo to Radley, and then doesn't wait for anything else. He jams one of his swords into the dirt outside the building, then grips the other one in his hand and jumps through the hole Radley and Donnie came out of.

Immediately, the heat and smoke threaten to overwhelm him, setting his eyes watering and his lungs burning. He covers his mouth with his free arm, for all the good it does, and squints through the smoke, fighting coughs and dodging debris.

"Keith!?"

Keith had closed his eyes, trying to settle his nerves enough to reach out for his bayard through quintessence. He'd done it before. He could do it again. He just needed to focus.

It was a little hard to focus when the whole world was burning around him, though. Not to mention trying to keep the remaining debris from falling down on him.

Looking around, Leo would see the cyan colored lighting from Keith's armor and shield at some point. He wasn't far from the hole. At the sound of another voice, Keith felt his heart spike.

"I'm here!" he called out. He was probably the only one of the group that hadn't had his breathing affected thanks to his helmet, so it shouldn't be hard for Leo to hear him.

Keith was holding the light shield over himself with his left arm, and his right hand was propping it up against the additional weight, though his arms were starting to look tired. His left leg was pinned under some other debris, and there were definitely some flames around him. Then again, the flames were kind of everywhere... so... that was definitely an issue.

They definitely have a number of problems - Leo feels the flames bite at his skin, and he winces as he pushes forward. If he can just get to Keith, he can teleport them back out.

He follows the light of Keith’s armor until he makes it to the other man, eyes stinging and skin dried out. He holds out his sword towards Keith, hilt first - not relinquishing it, but offering him a handhold.

“Grab the hilt!” he instructs, before coughing against the smoke.

Keith was wary, but he tightened his jaw and braced himself. It wasn't like he had much better options at the moment. He just hoped that whatever Leo had planned was going to be quick. With a deep breath, he took the full weight of the debris against his shield on his left arm and quickly reached out with his right to grab the offered hilt.

Don’t worry, it’s quick!

Leo uses the sword he left outside as a tether, feeling the connection between it and the sword he’s holding. There’s the brief smell of ozone (or would be, if they weren’t in a burning building) and then a flash like lightning.

And then both Keith and Leo are back outside the building, arriving next to Leo’s sword. Leo coughs and stumbles back a step, but he’s otherwise alright.

Good thing Keith had closed his eyes or he'd probably be temporarily blind at the moment. It was probably also a good thing he was used to the idea of teleporting due to having a teleporting wolf.

Which, reminder to self, never leave Kosmo home again.

Keith pushed himself up into a seated position, glancing back at the others to see if they were okay. The visor on his helmet glowed for a second before disappearing, and then he pulled the helmet off, shaking off the sweat.

"That was a mask, right? Like on a person?" he asked, definitely sounding distressed. He'd thank Leo later, but his brain was going a mile a minute, probably faster, and he needed to process his thoughts in the order that they appeared.

Donnie'd nearly fallen over in an attempt to reach for his brother the moment Leo had moved into the building. His knees sink in the half trampled snow, the cold burning in its own way, but it's still weirdly soothing. He'll complain later, maybe.

Each breath is painful to draw in, and it only feels like he coughs twice the amount out. He can barely feel that familiar pulse as Leo teleports back out with Keith, body sagging in relief. Behind them, as if in final farewell, he can hear metal groaning one last time against the strain of the building before more of it collapses inwards, sending a brief flare through the opening they'd vacated. That hurts almost as much as being stuck there in the first place, his precious baby, gone.

Keith's words sound distant, and Donnie's own thoughts are much more sluggish than they'd normally be, so worn out as he is. Maybe if he closes his eyes for a moment he'll feel better.

Radley had rushed to try to help Donnie and keep him from following Leo back inside, and has been waiting tensely. To see Leo and Keith come back safe, he relaxes immensely.

"Yeah, there was a mask," he says bitterly. "We were all supposed to be the next victims of those creeps."

He flinches at the collapse. Maybe he'll feel like investigating the rubble when the fire's out, but maybe not. He really doesn't want to go back in there ever again.

"I've still got the comm they used," he says. "I'm sure it belongs to somebody innocent again, though."

He sighs, coughing a bit again. "Is everybody okay?" He supposes they'll have to be treated for smoke inhalation, at least, except Keith. He hopes Keith's leg isn't badly hurt.

The news that masked assailants did this is not surprising to Leo. Of course those guys are causing more trouble. No one’s been in a hurry to stop them.

He doesn’t have the bandwidth to care about investigations right now, though. Instead, he leaves Keith and kneels next to Donnie, already checking him for the source of the red stains.

“You can find the call number for the tablet and use that to find who it belongs to,” he says quickly. “They probably changed the main profile to ‘Unknown’ again… Hey, Dee, you can’t sleep in the snow.”

Edited 2025-01-11 18:55 (UTC)

Keith gave a frustrated look. But Leo's concern over Donnie definitely got his attention then. He gave a glance at Radley, too. The three of them were still covered in that goopy stuff, and those two were going to at least need to be treated for smoke inhalation. And, even if he'd had his armor on, Keith was pretty sure just the high heat itself probably left him with some mild burns. The others might be worse off.

"We should get going," he said. He moved to get up. "Everyone should be checked out by a doctor and- ah!" Putting weight on that leg was apparently not a good idea. Keith dropped back to the ground when it gave out during his attempt.

"'m not," Donnie weakly protests, mostly out of reflex, contradicting his response as he starts leaning towards Leo. The red stuff is a bit sticky and smells a bit sweet on closer inspection, so at least it doesn't seem like he's bleeding out in weird places.

"Yeah, I'll check the call number later," Radley says. "Right now we should get away from here."

He cringes when Keith's attempt to stand goes very poorly. He gets up and goes over to him. "Try leaning on me," he says, reaching to help Keith get up again.

Yeah, Leo doesn't believe Donnie for a second. But at least, on further inspection, the red stains don't seem to be blood, unless Donnie started bleeding red kool-aid.

He looks over at Keith's aborted attempt to stand. He doesn't think anyone in this group can walk very far, so he gets himself under Donnie's arm and drags both of them up, then raises his sword.

"Alright, let's get you guys to the hospital," he says, slashing the air.

At least now, Leo's been there enough times that he can portal them straight inside the door. All they have to do is walk through. He gestures at Keith and Radley to go first.

Keith nodded tightly, and then shifted himself gingerly so he could get up without putting too much weight on his injured leg. Accepting Radley's help, he was up, but definitely not steady enough to stand on his own.

At least there was one good thing about having been to the hospital a lot, right, Leo? Heh... He grabbed his helmet, summoning his own sword back from wherever it had landed after Donnie blew the hole in the wall so he could stow it in his armor (a few flashes of light and the sword was back in his hand before being 'gone'...). He nodded at the gesture from Leo.

"Thanks... for getting here." He'd have likely been literal toast if Leo hadn't shown up. Then, leaning on Radley for support, he nodded at him that he was ready to head through. Another, "Thanks," to Radley this time. Keith hated needing help, but at least he had learned over time and with maturity how to accept it.

At the very least Donnie tries to make the effort to stay awake, largely taking the cues from Leo as he feels his brother try to get them up. He just feels numb now but it beats being fried.

Donnie raises his head again at the flash of Leo's portal, even though his eyes remain mostly closed. Just a little farther, and at least his brother's here.

The portal was sure handy. As was being able to summon your weapon like Keith just did. Cool. But Radley didn't focus on that right now.

"Sure," he said. "But I'd probably be dead if you hadn't acted in there, so ... thanks." He smiled and moved to help Keith through the portal.

"Hmph." Keith managed a tired smile. He could sit there and explain the whole 'I had protective armor on and you didn't' angle, but he was honestly too tired now to bother. Adrenaline was a powerful energizer, but, when it left, boy did it leave a person exhausted. Keith could feel himself crashing, so it was time to focus what energy he had left on just getting through that portal.

So, with Radley's help, he went through.

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