p o l y m a t h

@techniicality​ said: "Okay, brother mine? Don't freak out. So, two of the rotors on my battleshell malfunctioned and I made a -beautiful- landing that was kind of painful but also poorly graded by Leon because he lacks an eye for plummeting sport, but I just wanted to tell you that it needs repairing before I can wear it again so I'm going to stick to my spider-arms and call it a day okay? okay!" He's trying to quickly make his exit before Donnie can panic.

“Sounds great, Nico. Just leave it there on the workbench and I’ll get to as soon as I finish recalibrating Shelldon’s internal stabilizer-”

And then it clicked.

anonymous said: So Donnie, how painful was it being partnered with Hypno during the chess challenge?

“Oh. My god are you- are you sure you want that answer? Because the short answer is, it was terrible.

The long answer is it was the worst half hour of my life. I’ve played chess since I was a child, against both Niccolo and computers, and we’re both very good at it. In fact, I don’t mean to brag, but our chess skills are good enough to compete with some of the masters.

Which would have mattered, of course, if we’d been allowed to play at all. But NO! Big Mama thought it fit to chain us both to an inept stage magician who had apparently never even looked at a chess board in his life! And then- THEN- had the audacity to turn us both into chess pieces so that we couldn’t even actually play. Where was the challenge? How were we supposed to work with Hypno if we couldn’t even do anything but be chess pieces?

It wasn’t like we could call out the moves, oh no no no. Chess is a mind game, there is strategy involved, and calling out moves would completely defeat the purpose, letting our enemy know before we even moved what our play was!

Not that actually calling the moves would’ve even remotely helped regardless- I doubt Hypno knows a Rook from a Queen!

Do you think he knows how to set a Lasker Trap in an Albin Countergambit?

“I know, but.. it’s also just nice to hear you singing without prompt. You’ve got a really nice voice, you know.” He won’t sugarcoat it; he’s always loved the sound of Donnie’s voice.

“..Could you sing another one?”

“Well, I certainly can’t say no to a request like that.”

He can’t really dance or anything, but he can reach out to take Aiden’s hands and pull him further into the lab. He’s rarely feeling good enough to sing without prompting, and only his brothers really know he can at all.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, brother mine. We have quite a reputable reputation.”