Leonardo

"In here, my son."

Mike lays motionless on an infirmary bed, a futuristic life support mask covers his nose and mouth. Next to him, in an easy chair, sits Splinter.

Yes there is incense, and yes there is tea.

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Leo fully comes in the room and stares hard at Mike before leaning over his baby brother and lightly pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Do we know what is wrong with him?" he asks.

Then fully looks at his father. "And when was the last time you ate?"

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He's had tea, Leo. That's exactly the same thing as eating!

"The tether linking his spirit to his body has been severed."

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Tea is not food, Dad! No matter how much you might want it to be!

He raises a finger and then goes to lean out the door. Waving down a passing wait rat, he asks as politely as he can, can there be a very large slice of chocolate cake here in the next five minutes? And a big bowl of traditional udon noodles.

It helps to have been nice to the house staff that took over his living room for the past week.

"All right. Tell me more, you will eat, and then we'll make a plan."

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He is not a child, Leonardo.

"I am not hungry," says Splinter with just a touch of a sulk in his voice.

He is a highly trained ninja assassin. A master of his craft.
He is not sulking.

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Leo scratches the space under his nose and between his mouth and is not covering a smile. He didn't used to do the exact same thing to his father when he was younger.

"Of course not, master."

And just lets a waitrat place the tray near Splinter without comment. Not at all unlike what Splinter would do for him.

"Do we know how this happened?"

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Splinter is seeing what you're doing there, Leonardo. At some point soon he will once again be overjoyed and impressed at your level of maturity, but that point is not now. Right now he's too physically exhausted and emotionally drained to be all that reasonable.

"Not specifically, but I have a theory.

Bar was fleeing the impending explosion of the red crystal by leaving her body and entering Michaelangelo's. There is damage to the plaster of a wall in close proximity to Bar that I believe was made when the force of the explosion hit them both.

My theory is that the sword he was carrying on his back sliced his spirit free at that point of contact."

He pauses.

"Leonardo, are you familiar with the Vorpal Sword?"

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"The Vorpal--"

He stops himself and thinks hard.

"The one that goes snicker-snack? From Alice and Wonderland?"

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"The one used to slay the Jabberwocky, yes. Michaelangelo was carrying it when he sent me back to New York, and I believe he was carrying it during the explosion."

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Sallie was in the kitchen just a few minutes ago, and heard a strange rumor which she then verified. Twice.

Someone delivered food to Splinter.

The rat is eating!

Sallie bounds into the infirmary with, "Who the good gorram got you to eat? Should get a rutting gold star..."

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"Mrs. Reynolds."

Leo offers a shy sort of half smile and bows his head at Sallie's entrance. He doesn't comment on food because if he does, Splinter won't eat just to prove a point ( what point is still under contention).

"Father was just telling me that Mikey was carrying around a magical decapitation sword when he..." He compresses his lips into a thin line and does not finish the thought.

"But, I am glad you are well after all that has happened." And smiles.

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Splinter's ears began to flatten at the sound of Sallie's voice.
He's being outflanked, this can't possibly be good.

"Good day to you, Sallie. Have you met my eldest son, Leonardo?"

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Sallie.

Leo continues to smile politely.

Not only is Splinter addressing his brother's friend and coworker by her first name, but there is a good deal of affection in that undertone. Which is fascinating because when his father speaks to him, Splinter always refers to Sallie as 'Mrs. Reynolds' in a most polite fashion.

It took the old rat years to stop calling April 'Ms. O'Neil'.

Fascinating.

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"Only up here," Sallie smiles, pointing to her right temple. "I'm glad you're here, Leo. I can't supervise your ba as much as I'd like."

LOVE YOU TOO, SPLINTER.

"But how are we getting on with the task at hand?"

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There's a almost silent grumble/mutter under his breath that clearly expresses exactly what Splinter thinks of needing supervision AND Leo's smile.

Splinter can swear like a sailor if he wants to.

"Slowly," he says in a volume more suited to polite conversation.

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Leo's smile is a great deal warmer when he says, "Thank you, Sallie, for your time."

This entire interaction continues to be fascinating.

"Father seemed to have some thoughts before you arrived."

Look at him deflecting for you, Dad!

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"I'm sure that between the two of you, Mike will be back on his feet quite soon.

"Wish I could offer somethin' in the way of help though. I'm no good with astral plains."

Because what other plane could there be, to a rancher, but a plain? Sallie's been picture Mike standing in a wheat field for a week and a half.

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If Splinter hears Sallie's mistake, he shows no sign of acknowledging it.

"You sell yourself short, Sallie. You have been, and remain, a constant source of aid."

He turns his attention to Michaelangelo, who has been quiet for far too long.

"I have tried to trace his spirit back using the sword, but...I..." He sighs. "My concentration is not what it once was, I am afraid."

Splinter is beat. He's just...tapped out.

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"Is that why Leo's here as well -- besides wantin' to just be here, I know, I know."

Can Leo even -- Splinter said that Mike wasn't supposed to be able to do this, so Sallie doesn't know if Leo's capable.

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"I am a novice compared to my master," he offers.

Without teasing his father more about this sudden discovery of Mrs. Sallie Reynolds, Leo folds himself into lotus position on the floor. He unhooks his own swords from his back and places them next to his father's feet. Ever so carefully, he picks up the Vorpal Sword and closes his eyes.

He sits like that for a long moment before having a full body twitch. "...sorry." He sets the sword down in his lap and flexes his fingers. "It is not a pleasant blade."

This time, he only touches the upper part of the blade (the bit he assumed did the cutting) with the barest touch on one hand and closes his eyes again.

He tips his head toward Splinter. "I feel him. It is a very light touch, but him." It smells like pot, to be honest.

...no one else needs to know that.

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Splinter nods.

"It was stronger before, but only just. I fear we are running out of time."

He pinches the bridge of his snout, but the action fails to elicit the focusing effect he was looking for.

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With his eyes still closed, Leo turns his head this way and that, as if looking around the room.

"It is very strange. It is almost... like a trail of Mike."

Deep breath, in and out.

"I am going to follow it."

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Meanwhile, Sallie is going to take a seat, and try to be as quiet as humanly possible.

Because the last thing she's going to do is break anyone's concentration.

(Even if she doesn't get it.)

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As Sallie sits, Splinter rises. Like Sallie though, he makes as little noise as possible as he slips off his chair and makes to follow Leonardo wherever he may go.

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One more deep breath in--

Leo unfolds himself from the floor and looks down curiously at his human body. "Even stranger than looking in a mirror," he mutters to himself.

He looks down at his three fingered hand and smiles. His astral projection has always been himself as a turtle. He had not thought it would change, but sometimes, he does surprise himself.

Everything has a more dull, blue tinge to it. Sallie gives off a certain sparkle of golden light, and his Master is bright and true to color, even in a different plane. He nods to Splinter and walks out into the hallway.

The... feeling of Mike is faint but there. It's in the hallway and the floor, and trails itself in wonky loops and loop-de-loops up the stairs, down the stairs, under the stairs, over the tables, under the tables, and behind the bar. People, characters, and even some objects give off different levels of color (he keeps a wide berth around anyone brightly lit; no need to attract too much attention).

Bar herself is a rainbow of color, and it's more of an impression of maybe what a bar would look like rather than the wood and brass he sees every day. Leo touches the surface, careful and polite, and smiles at the feeling of both his brother, Magellan, and Bar herself.

The feeling is growing stronger here but not quite...

"Mike isn't here," his voice echos strangely in the between. "But I feel him more strongly-- woah!"

Leo started to walk around behind the bar, and he is suddenly yanked off his feet. He makes a grab for Bar, holding tight to one of her fixtures.

"Something is pulling me!"

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Splinter follows the projected Leo from the infirmary and into the main bar. He was doing so well maintaining his distance, so as to not interfere with his son's search, but when he senses his distress he lunges forward in an effort to help.

"Leonardo!"

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