7262/A Punishing Discussion

A Punishing Discussion
Date of Scene:	16 April 2019
Location:	Turtle Lair, under NYC
Synopsis:	Leo and Donnie talk about Punisher's plans. Includes brief Splinter cameo.
Cast of Characters:	Leonardo, Donatello

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Leonardo has posed:
"Hajime!"

Down comes Splinter's staff against the floor of the dojo, punctuating the call to begin. He has the turtles sparring, working as they often do on their techniques both with and without weapons, pairing them off two on two for a while, then all four against each other. It's the sort of thing they've done as long as they can remember, keeping the four ninja sharp and focused.

Once enough time has gone by, with each of them getting in a number of clean strikes on each other, the time to end is sounded by their rat sensei.

"Yame!"

After going over what they did and didn't do well, he nods his approval and sends them on their way for personal time. In between keeping an eye on Casey's place after the information April gave Rey, there's another subject that's been nagging at Leonardo's brain, one he brings up as he puts his swords away and towels his face off, walking with Donatello. "So, this Punisher and Shredder stuff..."

Donatello has posed:
     Donatello had done his sparring, a good workout overall. though he was skilled, his brothers Leonardo and Raphael were more...apt in combat.

  Once they'd been let go for the evening, Donnie had walked with Leo to the kitchen, not for pizza, but for a cold drink. "What about it?" He asks, holding up the canteen and taking a long drink of water. He was used to being a sounding board for the others. He may joke around, but he was smart, and he cared.

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo knew he could count on Donatello for a fair opinion of things, and it's not the first time he's sought out his 'purple' brother for some advice away from the ears of Raphael or Michelangelo. Mikey might be just as prone to suggest something completely silly as logical, and Raph tended to prefer going on the attack first, doing something else, /then/ maybe asking questions.

Leo does have a slice of leftover pizza for himself, which he hid well with a note scrawled on it: 'DO NOT TOUCH OR ELSE! MIKEY, THIS MEANS YOU!' Even still, it was stashed in this, tucked away in that, and buried under a little more. Also not refrigerated, but it was plain cheese and looked like they got it fairly recently.

*CHOMP*

"I know you're probably itching to see the insides of Punisher's van, but I'm still not sure about the direct approach he wants to take," he explains, holding up a hand briefly to signify he's got more to say. "I also know Shredder is still bad news, but he seems to have forgotten about us. It's like he's moved on to bigger things. That doesn't mean we're done with him, but is it the right time to make a move this open? There are also kids in there, and I don't think they all know what they're getting into with the Foot. Punisher says he knows what he's doing, but I don't trust him enough to believe it all the way."

Donatello has posed:
     "Well, I mean, it would be rad to see a real battle van that was made with parts that were intended as such, yes." Donnie responds, taking more water for himself.

  He regards the last part of the questions carefully, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "I know what you mean, but on that same note, if we get in his way, who's to say he won't turn on us?" It was a fair question, Donnie's seen this man work, and it's cold, methodical. "If you boiled Raph down to make a sauce, you'd end up getting the Punisher. But he does have more experience on this kinda stuff than we do. I don't envy the decision you need to make. But I got your back on what you choose."

  He grimaces just a bit before looking back to Leo. "I'm sorry, I wish I had a more decisive outlook for you. There's just too many variables right now to make much more than a, and I can't believe I'm about to say this: guesstimation." He shudders, very much disliking that term.

Leonardo has posed:
Decisions like this are what leaders have to make. "Yeah. He seems to trust us, but what happens if he decides he doesn't like the way we do things? You saw the tunnel he set the traps in, and he's doing the same around that place. He plays for keeps, and a part of me respects that, but I don't think there needs to be any killing. You know the Foot uses kids to do their dirty work because they're expendable. That's why I try not to hurt them beyond just making sure they're going to stop bothering us. I don't think Castle sees it the same way."

Leonardo chews on the pizza, which is still pizza and edible as long as it hasn't started growing stuff yet, but he washes it down with a good dose of water. He snorts at the comparison to Raphael, but he doesn't deny it. "If even you can't do any better than giving me a guess...man." He wipes his forehead with the towel again, eyes taking on that more serious, determined look he gets when he's making up his mind.

"Now I can't believe I'm about to say this, but we might have to go just to make sure he doesn't go crazy on them. We know Shredder's got a lot of people tricked into buying what he's selling them, but I don't think that makes them all bad. If we can get some of those kids out and down a better path...you know what I'm saying? It's going to get Shredder looking at us again, and we're not going to lead him here, but I'm also not looking at this as us having to hide down here forever."

Donatello has posed:
     "Castle is the biggest variable here. His methods...are brutal. But I don't think he'd kill kids. If anything he'd make them watch him take out the adults. Like some kind of...sick Scared Straight program. Effective, if not traumatizing to an extreme."

  Donnie sighs, and nods. "I agree. If we go with him, he may be less inclined to leave so many bodies." He responds, then giving a small smile to his elder brother. "As far as Shredder goes, we can handle him. We've done so before, when we were less experienced even."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo leans against the countertop of their kitchen area, crossing his arms. "Making kids watch him kill someone would almost be worse to me. I don't care /how/ bad someone is. That's just not right." And that's regardless of whether it would work to get someone on the straight path or not.

A gesture follows, hand out. "And if we have to stop him ourselves, I know we can do that. Same thing with Shredder, but we can't forget we have to fight him as a team. If anything, the only part that worries me is that Raph might end up into the way Castle does things."

Donatello has posed:
     Donnie can't help but shake his head. "Not unless...we all get killed. Raph may be a lot of things, an incorrigible hothead most of all. But he cares too much to be a thoughtless killer." Donnie had seen him do many things that seemed out of character. He'd never betray that trust though.

  "Sensei once told me, gosh, we were...maybe eight. After Raph had...punched me a little too hard. To pay more attention to how he reacts to Mikey when he thought he wasn't being watched. So one night, Mikey was having a nightmare, and I peeked my eyes from my shell, and saw Raph get up from his mat and sit next to Mikey until he stopped making a fuss."

  The purple clad turtle then turned and looked Leo right in the eyes. "He loves us, much more than we know. And he doesn't show it in the right ways, like punching your younger brother in the arm hard so that he makes sure to keep his guard up better."

Leonardo has posed:
"I..know," Leo admits, the eldest turtle showing a normally serious expression, deeper into thought. "And you're right. I see it too sometimes, especially with Mikey. I think we all kind of keep an extra eye out for him, you know?" Then he slides away from the counter area to slug Donnie in the shoulder, only not at all as hard as Raph is known to whack his brothers around. "And sometimes for you, too. You're the brains, we all know that. Someone's got to keep what's up there from getting rattled around too much." He moves to rap knuckles atop Donatello's head, lightly.

Leonardo is clear to say, "I'd do anything to make sure everyone here stays safe. When you think I'm off meditating just because I train all the time," and he certainly does train more than the rest of them, "I'm also trying to think of all the ways we could end up in danger and how to handle it. But, how are your projects going?"

Donatello has posed:
     "Hey! Sparring's over, doofus!" Donnie says, holding up a three fingered hand to the leader. "Yes, thank you. I don't need Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy on this brain." He responds, sneaking under his breath.

  He puts his finger to his mouth, tapping it a couple times. "I've got a couple experiments right now. Just keeping up with the repairs on the Shellraiser is a daunting task. But I have a couple ideas, I just need to get them down on paper instead of marinating up here." He taps his bald head.

Leonardo has posed:
Grinning, Leonardo pokes randomly at Donatello with both hands, going for unprotected areas, then he backs off abruptly with an innocent expression, imitating their sensei. "Master Splinter say, 'Fight can happen any time. Turtles must always be ready.'" While Michelangelo might carry on, Leo seems to know when enough is enough, going for another sip of water instead, now listening.

"Why don't you do some of that later on, then? If you ever need someone else to bounce some ideas off of, you can come find me. I know that's all your thing, but it helps all of us," he explains, giving the clock a quick peek. "Oh, Space Heroes will be on soon!"

Donatello has posed:
     "I will. I just need to get it done right." Donnie responds, giving a stretch of his arms.

  That was his cue to stand. "Enjoy Space Heroes, I'm gonna see if I can't get one or two of those ideas down on paper." With that, he makes his exit, time to find his magnifying goggles, perhaps some tinkering is in order as well.