3272/Dom the Bomb - After Action Report

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Dom the Bomb - After Action Report
Date of Scene: 07 September 2020
Location: Turtle Lair
Synopsis: Donatello reports back about his encounter with Don the Bomb. Some common ground is found with Raphael, as Donatello is overcome with anger. This leads to Donatello making an obvious confession to his brother. Raphael offers, surprisingly, a lot of really good advice, though their pinball machine has seen better days.
Cast of Characters: Donatello, Raphael




Donatello has posed:
    Donnie's computer, off in his little area of the Lair, had been working hard on some calculation. There was nothing obvious on the screen to match the activity, but the computer's fans had been going non-stop and Donatello had been out for several hours. The screen just shows long strings of code flying by faster than someone might read if they tried.

    Suddenly, the entrance of the lair opens up and Donnie comes rushing in. After taking a few steps away from the doorway, he leans his bo staff up against the wall and pulls off his facemask.

    "Guys!" he calls out to anyone who might hear.

Raphael has posed:
Parked in front of the pinball machine, Raphael is trying to set a new high score. That's the goal each and every time. The fact he hasn't set one yet, and he's often been heard swearing at the ball or the flippers or just the game in general should be enough to prove it.

"Aw c'mon! How can I even hit that?! That's bullshit!" he yells at the game, slamming a fist down on the corner of the table. It's a wonder he hasn't shattered the glass yet.

Donatello's arrival gets a sharp, "What?" from over that way. His mask is also down around his neck.

Donatello has posed:
    Spotting Raphael, Donnie begins to move towards him before his brain could come up with a good reason not to. BANG! Donatello leaps up a couple of centimeters as Raph's fist comes down on the machine. Almost as if by instinct, Donatello reaches a hand out and rests it on the spot that his brother hit, as if to comfort the pinball machine. He gives Raph a sideways glance, as if to say -- who do you think will have to fix this if you break it? But, there are more important matters at hand. An argument with Raphael can happen later.

    "We need to talk," he replies before pausing. It's as though he's finally considering what he's going to say and how he'll say it -- or perhaps, how much of it he'll say. Strangely, for this -- Raphael might be better than the others.

    "I'm going to tell you something and you need to keep it a secret," Donatello begins, lowering his voice a little bit. "You can't tell father. And you can't tell Leo." Mikey has been left out of this disclaimer.

Raphael has posed:
They've got Donnie. Donnie can fix anything. It keeps Donnie busy, therefore it is all right.

Imagine thoughts like that drifting through Raphael's head, and it might not be far off. More like he just gets angry at the drop of a hat and takes it out on whatever's most responsible for it. Poor, abused pinball machine. At least it didn't tilt this time. Raph's the only one tilted.

"Yeah, we do. I can hear your computer a mile away. You still digging up that creepycurrency or whatever the hell you call it?"

So close, Raph, yet so far.

"A secret? Sure, whatever." He's ambivalent to Donatello's hushed tones, until it registers that he isn't to tell Splinter or Leonardo. This gets a shift in expression, his head angling to one side, arms crossing. "You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. Sorry. I was watching Django earlier. Now that movie has some good lines and fight scenes."

Donatello has posed:
    Something else has been keeping Donatello busy, but that seems like it might be related to the topic at hand. Still, his hand remains on the pinball machine enclosure, as if to establish himself as its sworn protector. At the mention of cryptocurrency, Donatello glances back to the corner of the lair and at his computer setup.

    "I am, but that's not what's going on there. That's Miyagi -- it's a machine learning model I've been working on in order to help us perform research on...Well, it doesn't matter right now, but I'll explain," Donnie replies, detecting that he might be going down the slippery slope of technobabble.

    As Donatello becomes reasonably sure that Raphael will either keep the secret or double-cross him, he takes a half step closer and lowers his voice just a touch more. "I'm going to tell you something here that no one knows -- well, no one but April. I need you to know in order to understand the rest of it," he explains, clearly in distress about this. With his purple mask off, Donnie's features are easier to make out. He's staring at his brother, really troubled by something. It's a silent plea for his cooperation.

    "Kai and I...well, we...."

    His voice hitches a moment.

    "I think we're dating? I don't know. We went on a date and are going to again."

    Donatello turns his head, suddenly, to make sure that Splinter or Leo have not come into the room. Dating a former member of the Foot Clan would not be well received by them. Donnie looks back at Raph, ready for his reaction to that before he can continue with the rest.

Raphael has posed:
Raphael holds up his hands. "No, that's okay. As long as it works," he says, the answer a rapid one before Donatello can nerd out on him, at least over computer stuff and research. It is /so/ not Raph's strong point.

It's the look in Donnie's face and eyes that staves off anything further from the brash turtle. "Yo, you all right, bro? Seriously," he asks, waiting to find out more prior to a couple key words coming up: 'Kai' and 'dating.'

"Eh?"

They still appear to be alone, at least. At the moment, it seems the news has broken some part of Raphael's brain as he visibly ticks off a couple things on his fingers, mouth moving silently as his eyes turn toward the ceiling. This is him in deep thought.

When he does say something, it might not be what Donatello was expecting. "How does that even work, bro? You're, like, different species and all."

Donatello has posed:
    The tension accumulating on Donatello's features seem to release. It's not a look of relief, but rather, the typical annoyance that can come when dealing with his brother. Of all the details to focus on, he chooses that one.

    "Raph!" he whines. "Come on, this is serious! They hit her with a TRUCK." Donatello, once again, seems to let a brief moment of anger take over. He slams a three-fingered fist into the corner of the pinball machine, perfectly timed with the word 'truck'.

    "And...Now he's out there, he knows about her. He knows that there are at least two other mutants -- me and Alopex, and...he seems...dangerous," Donatello continues, distress oozing from his voice.

    It's about that time that Donatello's computer emits an audible chirp and then the familiar, annoying tones of a dot matrix printer (that's all they could find in the trash!) printing off something. Donatello suddenly runs towards the printer, peels off the page, and comes hurrying back. It's a newspaper article, which Donatello quickly skims through before handing it to his brother.

Raphael has posed:
"Careful, bro. That's a delicate instrument," Raphael offers helpfully. "And if you break it, I can't fix it." Now it's his turn to play sworn protector of the pinball machine. And the world turns...

He sniffs. "/Who/ hit her with a truck? Who is they? Are they? Whatever! And she hit me with a dumpster, in case you forgot." Yeah, they got over that, and have since worked together, but it happened. Things like that aren't easily left behind.

Then comes the sound of the computer and the old printer, Donatello bolting for it, returning, looking at the result, then shoving it toward Raphael. "Okay, okay, slow down. Keep your shell on." Eyes pass over the words - he's definitely a slower reader than Donatello - and the first thing he asks is, "What kind of stupid name is Dominic Dominic? 'Dom the Bomb?' I oughta kick his ass on account of sounding like a loser."

Donatello has posed:
    "Raph..." Donatello starts. If one were to keep score, the number of times Donatello has had to start a sentence off with an annoyed-sounding 'Raph...', well, it outnumbers any other possibility.

    But then, they share some common ground.

    "It really is a stupid name," Donatello agrees, his brow line lowering to form a deep frown. His features seem to telegraph something new: hate.

    "I just...I just want..." Donnie begins, his voice stammering a little bit. He begins pacing. "We gotta find this guy. We need to make sure he can't do this again."

    Donatello stops his pacing and turns to face Raphael once more. "Raph, please...."

    It's just...weird coming from Donatello, but he's sure that his brother will understand. If anyone could, it would be Raph.

Raphael has posed:
Raphael goes back over the story while saying offhandedly, "Yeah, thanks. I almost forgot my own name." At least, he's frowning. Dog-fighting, multiple animals, a familiar nickname...

"Wait, you're saying they'd caught her an' were gonna, what, make her fight, or..." He seems to be getting it as he stops on the part about the black market, the frown deepening. "How's she doin'?" he asks, and the gruff exterior is gone if just for a moment. He can see this pains his brother. He isn't /that/ oblivious.

"You wanna go find this guy an' make him pay, don't you? Beat him to within an inch of his life, make sure he can never do this kinda shit again, right?" he asks his usually level-headed brother, the questions bringing a point with them.

Donatello has posed:
    Donatello sighs, annoyed a touch, at Raphael. Of course he knows his own name! But, still, the point is made and Donatello backs off about it.

    "They, they, they found her...They hit her with a truck and brought her in. She was locked up when we found her. They weren't making her fight -- it seemed like they didn't know exactly what they had," Donatello continues, now visibly distressed. His breathing has intensified, his face full of worry. He is pained.

    "She's...I don't know how she is. I...I want to see her, but...Well, you know, I don't think Alopex completely trusts me, or...you know, all of us, yet. I just...I'm worried. Her head was bleeding, but...She's tough," Donnie explains, sighing. "I bet the truck has seen better days."

    And then, Raphael lays it all out. Find him. Make him pay. Inch of his life. Donatello's brow falls again and he nods his head to each of those, and then...well, he stops. His brow rises, his features soften. "I...Well..." Donnie begins. Those things don't sound like him. "...I mean, I..." The turtle pulls over a nearby stool and falls into it.

    "Damn."

    Donatello looks up at his brother, sighs, and then looks down at his knees. He was about ready to say yes to those suggestions -- it seems Raphael's point was made.

Raphael has posed:
Raphael, however, doesn't look like he's going to give up the idea so easily. Evidence? The mask is pulled into place after the details Donatello is aware of are given.

"Let's go find this asshole and teach him a lesson. Right now. You got any leads on where he's at?"

He's already got his sai tucked in place, though he double-checks just to be safe. "This'll be good for you, bro. One less scumbag to worry about."

If they can't find the guy straight up, they'll find someone else who can point them to the one with the same name twice. Then, it will be on.

"And she'll be fine. You just gotta believe that." The former Foot members might not be family, per se, but there's something about them that has led to the turtles and them sort of having each other's backs in ways.

Donatello has posed:
    Donnie looks up at his brother, just in time to see him pull his mask into position. He takes a breath and rises to his feet. A glance is given to his bo staff, leaned harmlessly against the wall near the main exit of the Turtle Lair.

    He seems somewhat apprehensive about this. It's as though the turtle recognizes the slippery slope he's about to go down -- being pulled along by his brother, who might just be more comfortable with what comes next than he is.

    "Leads?" Donatello responds, though not really asking a question. He turns his head towards his corner of the room.

    "Miyagi!" he calls out. "Find leads on Dominic Dominic -- Dom the Bomb -- current whereabouts, top priority!"

    A response comes in the form of Donatello's computer systems suddenly coming to life again as their fans kick back into overdrive. There's no audible response, but it's clear something's happening.

    A glance is given to Raphael, partly to see what he might say next, and partly to see how impressed he is. Despite these two finding some common threads to tug on, he's still Donatello.

    After a short pause, the dot matrix printer hooked up to the computers begins to let out its carrion call of annoying tones. It begins to slowly churn out a response.

    As Donatello begins to walk towards the printer, his gait is a little bit closer to normal -- he's not as frantic. It's as though talking to Raphael helped. Who knew?!

    "Thanks, Raph," Donatello adds quietly, sincerely, as he returns with the printed response to his command.

Raphael has posed:
When the mask is on, Raphael is usually all business. There is something Donatello feels strongly about, and if it means a chance to go fight, is Raph really going to turn that opportunity down? Hell no.

"Yeah. You know.." he begins, but Donnie's on it. "Don't tell me it actually responds to commands? Miyagi! Find the best pizza coupons in town!" Time to really put it to the test.

He hears the fans moving, leading toward him raising a brow toward his brother at the glance, then he gives a shrug. "Thanks for what? You know I'm here for you guys." Even when he's not actually there. The printer in action leads to him cracking his knuckles. "Whaddaya got?"

Donatello has posed:
"Thanks, I don't know...Just, thanks," Donnie explains, a little embarrassed. "I...A lot of this is just, you know...new to me." And it's true. A moment ago he had visions of breaking Dom the Bomb's neck. Days ago he was on a date. It's just unfamiliar territory and not at all where he was expecting to be at this point.

    His eyes shift down at the paper in his hands. Donatello takes a deep breath and sighs. "'Don the Bomb was the name of a 1980s New Years Eve party held on December 31st, 1986 and was so-named due to the Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union. For further information on this, please ask. For information regarding Dominic Dominic, also known as Dom the Bomb, please wait -- processing is in progress'," he reads. Donatello crumbles the piece of paper into a ball and tosses it.

    "Still needs some work," he explains to Raphael, muttering the words under his breath.

    But then, the dot matrix printer comes to life again! There may be some hope yet. Donatello walks back over and tears off the new sheet. Another sigh. Donatello returns to Raphael and hands over the sheet. It's still warm from the printer. Pizza coupons.

Raphael has posed:
"Welcome to having feelings," Raphael deadpans, nudging his brother in the shoulder perhaps a little more roughly than to be expected, but that's the way it is with him. "It proves you aren't a robot."

When the bit from the 80s is read off, he expresses irritation. "Why would we care about that? What's that got to do with anything?" Seems Miyagi is still trying to function. "Ya think?" he retorts after Donatello's assessment.

A look of expectation takes shape as something fresh is printed off. Turning out to be the coupons, he looks them over and approves. "Not bad. At least this ain't a total loss so far. So you're really head over shell for that pup, huh?"

Donatello has posed:
    Donatello sighs at that. Yes, welcome to having feelings. It's true. He's had more of them recently, both positive and negative, than he could ever recall. And it would seem that Kainashi is central to them.

    OW. The shove was more than Donatello was expecting, but it seems par for the course when his brother is the source. Donnie takes a breath and shrugs his shoulders at the mention of Miyagi -- the machine learning model that would benefit from some more training data. "Yeah, it'll get better. It was able to predict the location of Kai's Shell Phone just by the different mesh antennas that it was connecting to before they got her," he explains, somewhat proud of his creation. "It uses a neural network, so... the more we ask it to do, the better it will get."

    Raphael's final question gives the other turtle a mental pause. Did he really ask him that? Does he really want to know? Is this a trick? Donatello glances around the Lair, just one more time to keep watch for other sets of ear slits. He finds a seat on the stool again.

    "I..." he begins, deciding to just answer Raph's question. "...I mean, yeah?" There's a pause. "I know she hit you with a dumpster, but she's...She's the nicest person I know. She just...She makes me feel..." There's a pause of consideration.

    "...Good, you know? Happy. Like...She makes me feel," Donnie begins, searching for a word. "...Normal. Not like such a nerd." He looks up at his brother, using his own word there.

    "I mean, we're different, but it's, you know...A good different," he adds. "I just..She's a.. I just think she's great."

    It's a rare moment, but one becoming more and more familiar to Donatello. It's just, word-vomit, straight from his heart, and with zero technobabble or even caution. He's not watching his words -- he's just saying them.

Raphael has posed:
As gruff and grumpy as Raphael is, he's the turtle most ruled by his feelings and emotions. It can be a contradiction with him the quickest to want to fight, but it also slots in perfectly as a reason why. He runs hot, the color red fitting him perfectly, and there are times it's a good thing for the rest of them, other times it's a bad thing.

But, if anyone understands someone going through conflicting emotions, it might just be Raphael even if he isn't the best at talking about them.

"My bad," he offers to the rough shove, but the sentiment isn't there in the tone. He's listening, actually listening, to Donatello explaining how the location prediction thing works, a slow nod in response. They are still alone.

He even ignores the dumpster being brought up again. Once a conversation is certainly more than enough! "Even nicer than me? I don't buy it," he responds, and it can be so hard to tell if he means it or not. He can't, can he? This time, he doesn't badger his brother about the nerd thing. No need to repeat it since it was already said. It's like the dumpster thing.

In the end, past a furrowed brow, the mask scrunched up, and a reluctant expression, he offers, "Yeah, well, I dunno if it's gonna all work out, but I hope it does."

They never had time to think about stuff like this before.

Donatello has posed:
A touching moment, to be sure. Donnie gives his brother a shallow nod. "Thanks, Raph," he responds quietly. There's a brief moment of silence from the turtle before he suddenly becomes aware of just how uncomfortable he feels right now. It's the worst kind of silence -- the calm moments just after coming clean to his brother, talking about his feelings. It's just one of those things. The best thing to do is replace the uncomfortable silence with more words.

    "Well, I think it's working out, you know?" he explains, resting his hand back on the pinball machine -- right where he slammed his fist minutes ago. He's calmed down considerably. "I mean, I was worried about Alopex. She, well, she's very protective and...well, the hammer could still come down. She might think this is all my fault -- blame me, I mean. I don't know. I think it's okay."

    "But, Master Splinter -- he can't know. I just...she was in the Foot, you know? I don't think he'll understand," Donnie explains. Splinter would probably try to, all things considered, but then Donatello's bigger worry comes forward. "And Leonardo. Leo. He absolutely can't know! He'll...I don't know, I think he'd be even worse about it. About how she's a security risk or something." He says that last line like he's thought about this for quite a while -- almost like he's managed to annoy himself with it before Leo has a chance.

    Donnie lifts his hand from the pinball machine and wipes away some moisture building near his eyes. He's fine, it's just a lot happening all so suddenly.

    "And, look, I know this might be tough for you," Donatello adds -- a pretty big presumption on his part. If there's one person this might be easy for, it should be Raphael, but Donnie doesn't seem to be giving him that credit. "...And, if you need someone to joke with about this, you know... April knows, so I guess you could do that with her. I know you need to get your shots in."

Raphael has posed:
Raphael, turtle of few words, most of the time. Also not the best at pep talks. "I dunno. She ain't that bad. That fox, I mean." Pause. "I'm just sayin' she's a fox, 'cause she is. But they stuck together. It's probably a dog thing, you know? Like a pack. Is two enough for a pack?" Another pause. "Whatever."

Moving toward the pinball machine again with Donatello, Raphael stops him with a hand at the shoulder. "Look, bro. Nothing gets past Splinter. I mean that. Nothing. You think he doesn't know something, but he knows everything. If he ain't said anything to you about it, he probably gets it. And Leo? I hate to say it, but even if his head's in the clouds half the time, he doesn't miss a whole lot neither. So you can go on thinkin' they don't know and worry about it, or you can just tell them yourself and find out for sure."

He glances elsewhere right as Donnie's going for the eyes, giving him the respect to avoid blatantly noticing. "Ain't nothing I can't handle. You know that," he says with all the bravado they've come to expect from him. "I ain't gonna get on you for having feelings for someone, as long as you keep carrying your weight around here when we're out doin' stuff."

Donatello has posed:
    "She rescued Kai from the foot," Donatello explains, providing some insight into the bond that they share. It's probably all that needs to be explained.
    But then, the hand on his shoulder stops Donatello in his tracks. The sound advice from Raphael stops him even more. Donnie takes it all in, considers his assessment of Splinter and Leonardo, and desperately searches for a hole in his brother's logic. Finding none, Donatello takes a deep breath and exhales loudly.

    "Damn," he says again. "You're right."

    "It's just, then there's a situation. If Splinter or Leonardo tell me to not see her anymore, well..." he begins, his voice trailing off a bit. "...I'm going to keep doing it."

    He turns to watch Raphael's reaction to that. It's almost like Donnie wants to make sure his insubordination is noticed -- like it's something they might bond further on.

    And then, Raphael's final point is given a nod of agreement. It's a reasonable expectation, given their lifestyle.

Raphael has posed:
"I know," Raphael says of Alopex and Kainashi and the Foot, but he just says it as a way of confirming, nothing else.

He lets go of Donatello as the logic he shares (shhh, not too loud now) sinks in. If Donnie can't find something in it to question, it must be sound. "Of course I'm right," he snorts, perhaps taking them out of the moment.

The expectant look on Donatello's face following the open words of defiance to potentially being told he can't be in that sort of relationship earns him a punch in the shoulder, but a gentle one for Raph. "Yeah? Way to go, Donnie! About time you stood up for yourself over something!" Whether he has before or not, and of course he has. This is just Raph's interpretation of it all. "I almost /want/ to see them say no, now!"

Donatello has posed:
    Really, it's shocking that Leonardo hasn't connected the dots and confronted him about this already. Days ago, SHIELD Agent Lara Croft exchanged contact information with Donatello -- about something harmless, but still! -- and he couldn't even be bothered to care. He might have even misplaced it! His mind was elsewhere.

    Still, Raphael's encouragement earns a slight grin. He rolls it back a touch. "I don't know, it would be better to not have it come to that, but..." he begins, his eyes scanning the Lair just once more. "I guess, I just prefer for it to be easy but..."

    "I'm not worried about them," he realizes. There's a pause and then Donatello's brow line raises, almost as though he just listened to his own words. It seems easier, now. He just realized that Splinter and Leo can't really do anything about this. Wow.

    "Alright, thanks, Raph," he adds. It's a little less wistful and intense as from before -- more meant to signal that there might not be much else to say on the matter.

    But of course, it's not too late to add in one last...

    "Don't tell them, though."

Raphael has posed:
"Hey, nothing easy is worth fighting for," Raphael says, then he corrects himself. "I mean, the other way around. Anyway, whoever said that is full of crap. Whatever."

And, it's true. What are they going to do, kick Donatello out of the lair if he decides he wants to hang out with Kainashi? No. More likely they'd put extra effort into making sure everything is safe.

Raph gives Donnie a little salute. "Any time. It's what brothers are for, right? And you're obviously smart enough to come talk to the one who ain't gonna steer ya wrong. I ain't tellin' nobody nothin' neither. Just remember what I said. You start slackin'..."

Then he nudges Donatello. "Now, outta the way. I got a high score to get."

Seconds later, he's bashing the side of the pinball machine again. "You gotta be kiddin' me! I hit that!"

Donatello has posed:

    Donatello manages a smile and nods his head. Today has been about following a different path, and perhaps ignoring his initial instincts. And his current instinct is to give Raphael a basic lesson on geometry and how it affects the direction that the steel ball travels inside the pinball machine. But...again, today has been about ignoring his initial instincts. Instead, Donatello takes a quick intake of air and gives his brother the space he wants. After all, Miyagi needs a little motivational reprogramming.

    The neural network is going to need some direction in order to properly find information on Dom the Bomb. The turtle finds a seat at his computer, nudges the monitor to wake it up, and glances over his shoulder at Raphael. The glance is held for a second before he turns back to the computer system, smiling. He begins typing.