Nobody saw him scale the building, or heard him disarm the security alarms on the windows. He slipped inside as quickly as he could, closing the window again before anyone felt the draft. He pulled out his dagger, black hilt with a black blade that wouldn't reflect light. Now that his eyes were accustomed to the night, he could see the faint outline of a bed and the man sleeping inside it. Nobody knew he was here. Perfect, as usual.

He stepped closer to the bed, not making a single sound. The floor had been designed to creak, but he wasn't the normal trespasser. The floor was no threat. Looking down on the slumbering business man, he forced himself to close his eyes. He had to be sure. He wouldn't allow himself to kill an innocent man.

His eyes flashed open and he took a deep breath. He didn't need to see that right now. At least he knew he was right. This thing had to die. He pulled the dagger up, then drew the blade across the man's throat, covering the victim's mouth with his hand before he screamed. Blood trickled noisily down the sheets and onto the floor. The man's arms reached up, his hands grabbing at the assassin. It didn't matter what he tried. He was too disoriented to do anything more than grapple. Finally the body lay still.

Time to leave, he thought. He turned and left the room the same way he came in, carefully climbing back down to the alley. Still in his time window, he made it out of the alley before the security car rolled by. Lifting a manhole cover, he dropped down into the sewers and disappeared, racing through the tunnels.

Leonardo silently entered the lair, creeping across the main room. He put the dagger away under the couch, then eased down onto the soft cushions. He glanced at the clock before he fell asleep. 1:40.

I've got to learn to speed this up, he thought. One of them might have woken up. That would be a real mess to explain.

The next day, Leonardo had just come out of the exercise room when he heard Mike yell something.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Look, it's on the news!" Mike said loudly, pointing at the tv. "George Reynolds got killed last night."

"Reynolds? That name sounds familiar," Leo said, looking at the screen.

Mike shook his head at his brother. "What rock have you been living under? The guy's been preaching tv sermons for the past five years."

Donatello came into the room and flicked on the computer. "Yeah, he was gonna branch out from New York in two weeks. It was all over the web."

"Now I remember," Leo nodded slowly. "From what I heard, he was a total jerk."

"Sure was," Mike agreed. "He's been convicted of some rather unChristian doings."

"Like what?" Leo asked curiously.

"Theft, mostly," his younger brother said. "The cops knew he was dealing with killers, too, but they could never pin it on him."

"Looks like a contract backfired," Leo said. "Did they say how it happened?"

Mike breathed out, nodding. "It looks real professional, too. The killer got past the alarm, went right into his bedroom and slit his throat. Nobody heard or saw anything."

"The guy'd have to be a real wizard," Don agreed. "That alarm was state of the art, and the security was good. I have to admit, I'm impressed."

Leo almost smiled. "Well, we knew there were some assassins in the city," he said. "I just never thought they'd do something so public." He stretched suddenly. "Is Raph out?"

"No, Raph is not out," came a sarcastic voice from the subway car.

Leo glanced over and saw his brother fiddling with a length of rope. Raphael was slowly winding it into a tiny hangman's noose, then unwrapping it and starting again.

"Bored?" he asked.

"Nothing gets by you, huh?" Raph growled. "Splinter doesn't want me to take off today, and I'm sick of practicing. Yeah, I'm bored."

"Why can't you leave?" Mike asked.

Raphael didn't answer.

"He broke one of Master's staffs in a tantrum," Don laughed. "So he's grounded for a week."

Michealangelo started to laugh, then hushed up as Raph shot him a withering glare and held the noose up threateningly.

Leo rolled his eyes and went to the room he shared with Donatello. He pulled a book out from under his bed, then opened it to the middle. The smaller, thinner book inside, completely hidden, was flipped open to the twelfth page. Making sure that nobody knew what he was holding, he started to read silently.

"Electrical trips can be circumvented by plastic. However, spider filaments have been known to make the connection holding the second, unknown, trip open, and once pushed out, it will cause the second circuit to connect and set the alarm or bomb off."

12:48. This time the night wasn't so dark. In fact, it was annoyingly bright. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the full moon was unusually large, lighting up the sky and the ground. The target was inside a building located in the center of New York. Cars ran back and forth on the streets, shining high beams into the alleys. This one would be harder.

Instead of trying to climb inside like last time, Leonardo went through the sewers and came up into the sub-basement. Looking around to make sure no one else was there, he found the elevator and pushed the doors open. The top of the elevator had a grate with a latch. Ramming a dagger into the lock, he pried the grate up and climbed onto the car, quietly easing the grate shut again. Now he took a hold of the cables and starting to climb, hand over hand. He noticed the ladder beside him on the wall, but he could climb faster on the cables.

Ten stories later, he came to the right floor. There was a ventilation shaft above the ceiling, so he opened it and pulled himself inside. He crawled for several minutes in the dark, looking down whenever he could. After several minutes he finally found the right room. He carefully opened the grate in front of him and let it fall quietly on its hinges. Moving smoothly, he slipped down the wall and landed on the floor without a sound.

The next victim hadn't even noticed he wasn't alone. The man was working furiously on several papers in front of him, scribbling notes on the desk notes. Leo walked slowly towards him, coming from the side. He was a foot away when he stopped. His dagger poised, he looked down on the business man.

Please, he prayed, when I'm in danger, let me realize it.

He closed his eyes. He wouldn't kill unless it had to be done. Concentrate.

Leo shuddered as he opened his eyes. This one was worse than the last one, impossible as that seemed. He turned the dagger in his hand, then shoved it up in back of the man's head, sliding it between the skull and the spine. The man gurgled, his hands shaking, his whole body convulsing. A terrible voice, not human at all, growled and hissed, but after a moment everything was quiet again.

The assassin wiped the blade off on the body's shirt, then placed it back in his belt. He looked up at the ventilation shaft, then decided that he didn't want to do that again. Too cramped. And dusty. He was covered in dust. With a resolute sigh, he opened the window and started to climb up to the roof, only another story away. The alarm went off, but he knew that would happen.

As soon as he reached the roof, he darted across it and jumped, landing on the next building. He kept going so that he was at least a block away before anybody thought to look up there. When he was in a darker part of town, he started down the fire escape of another building. Once he was back on the ground, he dropped into the nearest manhole cover and headed home.

Leonardo was back on the couch before anyone noticed he'd been gone. The dagger was placed back under the couch, and he gave one last look at the clock. 1:24. He shook his head angrily. It shouldn't have taken so long.

"Not another one," Michaelangelo said, watching the news.

"Mike, I'm starting to think you watch that thing too much," Raph griped, crashing on the sofa. "You keep complaining about it."

"But look, someone else got killed yesterday," Mike insisted.

Donatello glanced at them from behind the couch. "Who?" he asked, practicing a bo kata.

"Um, Carl Sirian or something. I didn't catch the last name."

"You mean Carl Iserian?" Leo asked, leaning over the couch.

"Yeah, that's it!"

Raphael looked up at his older brother. "You knew him?"

"He was a drug lord," Leo answered. "I heard about him from April. He's been to trial six times."

"No convictions?" Mike asked curiously.

Leo shook his head grimly. "No witnesses."

Nobody said anything for awhile. They all watched the news report, but it was over quickly and switched to a ten minute world politics story. Raphael turned to Mike.

"So how'd they do it?"

Mike shrugged. "They weren't too detailed this time. They just said that the building had been broken into and the killer had gone up the elevator shaft."

"There must be fingerprints, then," Leo said. "On the ladder."

Mike shook his head. "Nope, nothing. Five bucks says the killer went up the cable."

Raphael laughed derisively. "Up ten flights? Yeah, right. Next you'll be telling me he went through half a mile of ventilation shafts! Nobody'd be that crazy."

"Still, it was good job," Donatello said. "If the alarm didn't go off until the window broke, then that means the assassin have to get to the elevator unseen, climb ten stories, and kill the guy before he hit the panic button. A real professional."

"He shouldn't have been working so late," Leo sighed.

They all nodded wordlessly. Suddenly the eldest yawned.

"You getting enough sleep, fearless leader?" Mike asked. "You sound tired."

"Just bad dreams," Leonardo said. Rubbing a knot out of his right hand, he left the room and settled onto his bed. Pulling out the book, he started to read again. He would have to know about home security systems this time.

12:33. Leonardo didn't mind the lighter sky this time. He was in the suburbs now, where the only things he had to worry about were the little alarms and motion detectors. No problem. Nobody paid attention to lights activated by movement. Stray cats did that enough. And the home alarms were even easier than the large corporate ones. Just a few flicks of the knife in the right wires near the power box and it was off.

He picked the back door lock, then stepped inside. He didn't notice the furnishings or fancy pictures, instead heading straight for the bedrooms. The target was fast asleep in one of them. He just wanted to get this over with before the target woke up, or before his brothers noticed he was missing.

The first bedroom held two little girls, each sleeping peacefully. Placing his hand on the dagger, he closed his eyes and listened.

He smiled slightly. It was nice to see something other than blood and horror. The next room had a teenage boy inside. He closed his eyes and listened to his thoughts.

Leo shook his head, almost laughing. This guy made him think of Mike. He frowned. The thought reminded him that he had to get home soon. He stepped into last bedroom at the end of the hallway. Two people in bed, a man and a woman. Was he wrong about this hit? Nothing seemed out of place. He took out the dagger and looked at the wife, sleeping soundly.

Normal enough. Now the man.

Leo took a deep breath, then struck, driving the dagger straight through the man's skull and into the brain. The body jerked only once, then fell still. The wife rolled slightly but didn't wake up. Pulling away, he wiped the blade on the sheets and turned, leaving the house and running back as fast as he could to his own home.

When he finally made it, he stared at the clock. 1:15! Still, he had been farther away, but he didn't like how long it had taken him. He fell asleep on the couch, knowing how tired he'd be in the morning. He just worried about how he was going to find the fourth and final victim. These three had been easy enough to sense, but the last one would be well hidden.

"That's it," Michaelangelo said decisively the next morning. "We gotta do something."

"Whoa, Mike sounds serious," Raph said caustically. "Someone musta blown up a pizza parlor."

"Check it out," the youngest said, turning the tv volume up. "April's reporting this one."

"--murdered in his own bed, with his wife sleeping beside him. The home security alarm had been bypassed and the locks picked, but nobody heard anything. A neighbor said he saw the motion detector lights, but figured it was just a cat. Apparently, New York has what looks like an assassin on the streets. We'll bring you more as the story develops."

Everyone was quiet for a few moments. They looked up at the eldest, wondering if he was going to agree with Mike.

"Don, see if you can find out if anyone hired hits on the victims," Leonardo suddenly said. He turned to Raphael. "Are you off house arrest now?"

Raph nodded sullenly. "Yeah, yeah."

"Great, go see if the gangs know anything," Leo ordered him. "Find out who's profiting by this."

"Got ya," Raph smiled darkly, taking off through the sewers.

Leonardo felt a little pity for the gangs. He'd just given Raphael the 'all clear' on senseless violence.

"Anything for me?" Mike asked impatiently.

"Yes. Call April and ask her for any details they're not reporting. And ask if they've found a pattern yet. These hits seem kind of random. We might have more than one person on our hands."

Donatello glanced curiously at Leonardo. "What're you gonna do?"

The eldest looked down at the computer screen. His brother already had the search engine going. "You said the assassin went through the sewers in the second hit, right?"

Don nodded.

"Then I'm gonna check the area, see if he left anything interesting behind. It'll help if I can learn how he broke inside. It'll give me a clue as to how his mind works. If we're only dealing with one killer, then we have one hell of a professional on our hands. I'll be back by four. Try to convince Raph to be here, too."

Mike laughed suddenly. "Wish us luck! He'll be having too much fun."

*****

It was four thirty when Raphael finally came back home, his knuckles slightly bruised. He had a wide grin on his face, though, which meant he had enjoyed the day out.

"You look like you swallowed a canary," Don said, printing something out.

"Nah, I didn't do any swallowing today. Everybody I talked to ate a few teeth, though."

Leo came up beside him and took the paper Donatello had just printed. "This the list?"

"Yup."

"Awful short. It's complete?"

"Yup."

Leo sighed and put the paper back down.

Donatello leaned back and rubbed his eyes. He hated the way Leo could just glance over a day's work and toss it aside. Of course he knew his big brother had the whole list memorized now, but still, a little more recognition would be nice.

"Did you dig anything up?" Leo asked, looking at Raph.

"Not a damn thing," Raph answered, but he didn't look too sad. "Nobody really cared that these guys were dead. They weren't trafficking in the same stuff."

"What were they doing?"

"They were all in that dead evangelist's crew. I think they were all gonna go into business together."

"Mike? You?"

"That's the only pattern they have," the youngest said, yawning on the couch. He stretched out on his stomach and looked up. "And there's one other guy involved, the producer."

Raphael walked around the couch, then suddenly dropped down on his sibling's shell. Mike grunted in surprise and tried to get up, but his brother was too heavy. Raph leaned back and started flipping channels.

"Raph, get off already!" Mike cried out, trying to push him up.

"Make me," the other laughed, settling back further.

Leo crouched down so he could see Mike's face. "What was the producer's name?" he asked.

"Mark Rhodes," Mike grimaced, trying to get a full breath. "He lives near the Garden. Raph, would you please get up? I can't breathe!"

"Aw, but yer comfortable," his tormentor smiled.

"Lives near the Garden?" Leo asked. "Let me guess: he's one of those eccentrics who lives where he works?"

Mike nodded as best he could, then abruptly threw all of his weight against the back of the couch. Combined with Raphael's weight, it was enough to tip the couch backward and throw Raph onto the floor.

"Hey, no fair," Raphael complained, sitting up. "You weigh more than I do."

"I do not!"

Leo's eyes widened slightly as he saw the black dagger, in full view now that the couch had tipped. He grabbed the side of the couch and turned it right side up again, hiding the dagger once more. The move also sent his brother flying off of the seat and rolling on the floor.

"Ow, okay, okay, sorry," Mike said, rubbing the arm he fell on. "So, what's the plan?"

Leonardo sat back and considered. "Best guess is, Rhodes is the next target, and the killer's gonna go after him tonight. The last hits have all happened late at night, so we'll just stake the place out and wait. Mike, get the address. Everyone, get ready to take off. We're gonna want enough time to check the place out."

Everyone left the room to get their gear. Leo waited 'til they were out of sight, then grabbed the dagger and slid it into his belt. They wouldn't question it. They all knew he usually carried one or two as a last resort. Then he slipped his katanas into place and waited. He could probably manage this, even with everybody around. It wouldn't be easy, but at least he knew where the last one was now.

The sun's last rays were just beginning to disappear when the four made it up to the roof of the neighboring building. Cold winds blew by them, but they hardly noticed. They were focused onto the spots Leonardo was pointing out. Each of them had a different entry point.

"Everybody got their communicators?" Don asked.

They all nodded.

"And new batteries?" he asked again.

"Uh," Mike glanced down at the communicator. "Did I use these in the Gameboy or not?"

Raphael sighed. "Don't worry. If we hear a girl scream, we'll come find you."

"I don't scream like a girl!" Mike yelled.

"Maybe not, but you do scream," Raph sniggered.

"Enough," Leo admonished them. "Let's go. Stay in contact and out of sight."

The four ninjas split up. Raphael headed for the roof, where he would enter through one of the huge air conditioning units. Donatello made his way to the left side, toward the elevator shafts. The building was odd in that its elevators were on the outside of the building, but that made it all the easier for them to get inside unnoticed. Mike was on the other side, doing the same. That left Leonardo to enter through one of the windows and make his way for Rhode's bedroom. Don had said it'd be on the twentieth floor, but that floor plan had been old, and there was no way to tell if Rhode had switched rooms, fearing that he was a target.

Time crept by on lead wheels. They each reported to Leo on the communicator every fifteen minutes. Two hours passed and there was no sign of any assassin. Leonardo had found the bedroom and pulled away quickly before he was seen, retreating to the roof. At the ninth regular call in, Leo ordered them to different posts, worried that they might have missed something.

"Raph, go for the twentyfifth floor and hang out near the main air vent. He tried it once, he might do it again. Mike, see if you can block off the west elevators, Don head to the east side. Keep a sharp look out."

"Where are you off to?" Don asked curiously.

"I'm gonna check the perimeter again. I've got a bad feeling about the north side. It's too open."

Donatello waited until he had settled on top of one of the elevators. The post gave him a perfect view of the streets below, but nobody looked for him in the shadows. He flipped on the communicator, but hit a different setting. A grid came up on the screen, showing four different blinking lights. He hadn't told any of them that he'd put tracers inside the communicators. It was something he was sure they wouldn't like, especially Raph. Besides, right now he was glad he had. Something was bothering him about their posts. Leo was the only one covering the north side.

He watched the lights. Mike and Raph were both stationary in their designated spots. His own light was flashing perfectly. But the fourth one was no where near the north side. It was moving slowly through the building, heading for the center. A sick feeling welled up in him. A real professional, he thought. If anybody could have pulled them all off... Fearing the worst, he flipped the communicator on.

"Wuzup?" came Raph's voice. "We got a bogey?"

"Maybe," Don said. "And it might not be the one we were expecting."

"What, Donnie? Where's Leo?"

"Good question. He's not in the north wing. He's inside the center of the building."

Raphael paused for a moment. "Maybe he saw something."

"He would have called us," Don argued. "Raph, he's not where he said he'd be."

"He lied? To us?"

"It looks like it. Raph, I got a bad feeling about this."

"Let's go. Call Mike and talk us through the route. I hope we're wrong, but..."

Don nodded. "Raph, remember when we were talking about the second hit?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Remember Leo said the guy shouldn't have been working so late?"

"Big deal."

"Raph, no one said what time the victim had been killed."

The line was silent for several seconds. "Don, get Mike and let's go. Now!"

Leonardo walked through the corridors, wondering if he would get away with this. The entire hallway was dark, the floors didn't creak, and no one was around. For some reason, it seemed too easy. He drew the dagger reflexively. The blade seemed to point him in the right direction. Turn left, go straight, turn left again, now right and down the hall. The room at the end. That had to be it. There was a code lock on the door, but it was no problem. A large cigarette tray sat next to the door. He took some of the white sand out and blew it gently against the digital keys. Sand stuck to four keys, 2, 1, 6, and 9. He smiled. Easy. He punched in 1962, a likely birth year for the man inside. The lock sounded softly, and then the knob turned. He pushed the door open and slid inside.

Moonlight shone in through the large window and across the bed. The man inside was fast asleep, unaware of how much danger he was in. Lift the dagger up now, look for the right spot to strike.

He shook his head vigorously. "Stop arguing with me," he whispered. "It has to be done."

"You keep fighting," he said. "You should know by now you can't get around me."

The voice was cut off suddenly, as if it had been strangled. Now he closed his eyes and concentrated.

He went to the window quickly, just to make sure that no one was outside. He didn't know if one of the ninjas was hanging by the window. Assured he was alone, he went to the bed and raised the dagger and poised it over the man's throat. One quick slice was all it would take. He started the motion.

Lights suddenly flashed on. He looked up in surprise to see three turtles staring in shock at him.

"Leo? You?" Mike asked in a tiny whisper.

"But why?" Don asked. He lifted the bo up. "Why?"

There was a sharp gasp from the bed, and they all looked down at Mark Rhodes. His wind pipe had been severed, but he wasn't losing any blood. He just couldn't breathe. Leo almost went to finish the move, but Raphael started towards him. With a low curse, Leonardo turned and leaped through the window, disappearing from sight. The alarm started blaring, and voices seemed to come out of nowhere, heading straight for them.

"Damn it!" Raphael looked over the edge and saw his brother climbing toward the outside elevators. "Get to the elevator shafts!"

Mike went straight for the vents and vanished, while Donatello ran through the hallways and evaded any followers. Raphael climbed onto the ledge and started to the head for the elevators. He was only a few feet behind his brother.

"Why'd ya do it, Leo?" he yelled, watching his brother shatter the glass around one of the compartments.

"You'd never understand!" the other replied, climbing onto the elevator. He started to climb the cables.

Raphael started climbing, not far beneath him. The dagger appeared in Leo's hand, about to slash the cable, when he suddenly seemed to be fighting with himself.

"No no no, stop arguing," he whined to no one. A moment passed, and the knife tossed down aside his brother, where it embedded on top of the elevator. "There, happy now?"

My brother's nuts. "Leo, you need help," Raph called up. "Please, stop running!"

"Raphael, hang on--" this time his brother sounded more like himself, but the voice was cut off abruptly. Leo's hand went to his throat, but then he recovered and gripped the cable as tight as he could. Raph looked down at the knife. It had sliced through most of the cable. Sheer weight was beginning to pull it apart. His fingers tightened around the cable.

Suddenly the cable snapped. The elevator began to plummet down and pulled them up. Five, ten, fifteen stories flashed by in a few seconds. At the twentieth floor they burst through the glass top and flew out over the roof. Leonardo landed perfectly, but Raphael was off balance and hit the floor hard. He moaned, trying to sit up, but he was too disoriented.

"Raph?" came his brother's voice.

"I said, stop arguing," came the second voice from the same body. "He's fine, let's go!"

Raphael could only watch as Leo tried to jump and hold himself back at the same time. He had a feeling what was going on. Leonardo wouldn't leave until he knew Raph was all right, but something else was pulling him away.

"Leo, whatever's in you, fight it!"

"I can't," came the reply. "Too strong--a demon--"

"That's quite enough of that. Back down into the subconscious." Leo dropped to his knees, then frowned and stood up. "Sorry, gotta go. You have no idea what you've done, though. I don't know if I can repair the damage."

At that moment Michaelangelo burst out of the roof door and knelt beside Raphael.

"See, he'll be fine," Leo said to himself, then jumped over the edge and out of sight.

Mike helped lift Raph up to a sitting position. "What was that about?"

"Leonardo needs help," Raph whispered, trying not to feel dizzy. "There's something inside him."

"Like Poltergeist?"

"Sure, Mike, like Poltergeist," Raph said. It was close enough to the truth, and he didn't want to clarify. "I wish I knew where he was."

"We do," came Donatello's voice from the roof door. He held up the communicator. "We can track him with this."

Raph shook his head. "No good. He's probably gonna tie it to a dog or pigeon and let us chase that around town. I have a better idea."

"What's that?"

"Um, can we get out of here first?" Mike asked, helping Raph stand. "There's a bunch of guys inside who think we tried to kill their boss, and I don't wanna be around to argue when they get up here."

"Point taken," Don said. He pointed across the roof tops. "We can talk about this great idea at home."

"No rest for the wicked OR the good," Mike quipped into the communicator.

Raphael smiled grimly. His head still throbbed from the hit he'd taken last night, but he had to be here. He was certain Leo would show up again to finish Rhodes off, even if he was in a crowded hospital. He just hoped he'd be able to help him before anything bad happened.

He glanced up. Donatello was on top of the hospital in plain sight, but Mike was right outside Rhode's window. Raphael was on the roof of a neighboring building. They kept looking around, wondering when their brother would show.

"I'm tired," Mike said after a moment. "Donnie, how much colder is it gonna get?"

"Low forties."

"Can we go home now?"

Raphael rolled his eyes. "No, shut up, cry baby."

"I am not a cry baby," Mike argued. "It's cold."

"If you'd volunteered to take the roof, you could walk and keep warm," Don told him. "But no, you wanted to sit down on a comfy ledge."

"Hey, I didn't--"

"Quiet," Raphael suddenly told him. "I think I see him. Stay down."

They all blended with the shadows, but only Raphael could see Leonardo as he jumped from one roof to the next. The assassin landed on the building Raph was on, about to run to the hospital, when his brother stood up in front of him.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, drawing his sais.

"Out of the way." Leo's voice was unnaturally cold. "I'm ordering you--"

"You ain't my brother," Raph interrupted him. "Leo would never run into a trap this easy. He learned that lesson once already. Who are you?"

"No one to be trifled with. Out of the way." Leo tried to walk around him, but Raph got back in front of him. He slashed at him once with his sais and was startled when he connected. Blood started to trickle from the cut in Leo's arm.

"You hurt me!" the strange voice cried. "You actually hurt me!"

"Geez, you're stupid," Raph growled, advancing. "Even Mike could have blocked that hit."

"I heard that!" Mike's voice crackled over the communicator.

"Stay away," Leo yelled, backing up. "Don't come near me!"

"I've always wanted to rip Leo apart," Raphael bluffed, raising a sai. "Now I have the perfect excuse."

"You fool! You kill me and the world ends!"

"Yeah, right. Pull the other one, it's got bells attached. You're a total waste of oxygen."

Leonardo pulled the black dagger out. "You freak! You'd let Behemoth go free just to satisfy a blood lust?"

"Behemoth who, stupid?"

Leo's eyes were turning black with rage. "You ignorant, blind--"

His hand stiffened and the dagger dropped to the floor.

"Get out," Leonardo whispered, dropping to one knee. "Out of my head!"

"Not yet, I have to--"

"I said out! Right now!"

Raphael almost smiled. His brother was so used to command now that he expected everything to obey him.

A dark shadow suddenly appeared around Leo, then shimmered and was flung away. It rolled along the ground with several grunts and curses. Leonardo groaned and started to sway. His brother raced to his side and caught him before he hit the floor.

"You okay, bro?"

Leo shook his head, then winced. "No, headache. Killer headache."

"But yer back, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I couldn't fight him when he was calm, but you got him angry enough. He lost control. Good news is, that thing's out of me. Bad news is, I think he was right."

Raphael helped his brother stand. After a moment, Leo stopped swaying and steadied. "It's okay, I'm fine now. But he's right. We have to kill that thing in the hospital."

"What thing?" Mike's voice piped in from the communicator.

"The demon," the shadow on the floor said in a raspy voice. "Before he wakes up."

"All right, who are you?" Raph asked, pointing a sai at it.

"You can't hurt it like that," Leo said, but his brother ignored him.

"I asked you a question! Who are you?"

The shadow seemed to stand erect and face them, but it was hard to tell. It was just a black shape. "I'm Damon, fallen angel and the watcher of Hell's furnace."

"What'd you want with Leo--" Raph started to ask, but his brother cut him off.

"He's trying to stop another demon from leaving Hell," Leo said, "and the people I killed were like carriers."

"It's the only way I can get back to Heaven," Damon said softly. "I prayed, and the Lord gave me this mission, but I didn't know how to do it myself. I didn't mean to make such a mess, but I haven't been up here in so long. I needed a body that could kill..." his voice trailed off and he sniffled a little.

"And this is what you couldn't fight?" Raph asked his brother incredulously.

"He's not as weak as he seems," Leo defended himself. "He is a killer, after all."

"Please," Damon started to beg, "Behemoth is going to wake up if we don't kill Rhodes. You don't want to see what'll happen."

"Leo?" Raph started, not sure what to do.

"Your call," Leonardo said, surprising his brother. "I've been out of it for a few days. I can't be certain if he's telling the truth or not."

Raph considered, then nodded his head. "Sure, let's do it. If he's right, we save an angel and kill a demon. If he's lying, what's one more guy in New York?"

Leo winced slightly at that logic, but nodded anyway.

"Guys, check this out!" Mike suddenly yelled. "This guy is glowing!"

"What?" all three said, racing to the ledge. Sure enough, a brilliant glow was pulsating from Rhode's hospital window.

"Mike, get out of there!" Leo ordered, knowing his voice would reach him through Raph's communicator.

"Yeah, both of you, come to this roof!" Raph added.

Behind them, the shadow started to cry. "I've failed. A major demon on earth. I'll never get to Heaven."

"Leo, how bad is this gonna be?" Raphael asked.

The glass suddenly smashed open and a brilliant light flashed out into the sky. It coalesced into a swirling form and then solidified. It looked like a fat human with an elephant's head and legs, but it didn't look silly to any of them. It looked like pure evil. The demon was easily as tall as an eighteen wheeler stood up on its butt end.

"I think it's gonna be real bad," Leo answered. His hand went for a katana, but his swords weren't there. He glared at the shadow.

"I was afraid I'd hurt myself with them," Damon apologized. "I left them in Central Park."

"Central Park?" Mike asked.

"I'll tell you about it later," Leo said. "If there is a later."

The demon let out a huge roar, shaking the building's foundation. Leonardo was relieved that it hadn't taken a step yet. Who knew what kind of damage that thing could do?

"Damon!" he turned to the fallen angel, "is there any way we can get rid of that thing?"

The shadow nodded. "We know its name, so we have to draw a circle and pentagram around it to banish it."

"Can you do it?" Leo asked.

Damon nodded again. "But it has to stand in one spot, and drawing the design will take--"

"Start," Leo cut him off. "We'll keep it there. Just hurry up!"

The shadow disappeared almost immediately, reappearing like a plume of smoke beside the demon.

"Okay, fearless leader," Raphael asked. "Now what?"

Leo shook his head, drawing two daggers. "Just keep that thing on that building. Don't let it move."

"May I remind you that it's bigger than us?" Don asked through the communicator.

"Donnie? I thought I told you to get over here," Raph growled.

"Well, since we gotta be here anyways, it seemed better to ignore you," Mike quipped. "So when will you two be joining the party?"

"Get it started without us," Leo ordered them. "We'll be right over." He turned to his brother. "Ready?"

Raphael grinned. "Onward Christian soldiers."

The two leaped across the small gap between the buildings and began climbing up the side, struggling to hang on as the hospital shook and trembled. When they finally came up over the edge, they saw Mike and Donatello struggling to herd the gigantic demon in a certain spot. The shadow was working around them, marking off a large area with a wide black trail. Behemoth turned, noticed the two newcomers to the battle, and stomped his right foot.

The entire building seemed to rock to the right, swaying wildly. Leonardo caught Raphael's wrist before his younger brother dropped off the side. He managed to pull him up onto the roof, wondering how long there would be a roof to stand on.

"Go help Mike and Don," Leo told Raphael.

"But what're you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna get that thing's attention," the eldest growled.

As Raph joined the other two, the leader raced forward and leaped onto the demon's exposed back, stabbing his dagger as far into the spine as he could. Behemoth roared and twisted his arms, trying to reach the creature on his back. Leonardo did his best to dodge the flailing claws and plunged his other dagger farther up into the skin. When he was certain it was solidly planted, he pulled the first dagger out and jabbed it back in even higher up. Repeating this several times, he found himself behind Behemoth's neck, thankful that the creature was so huge it couldn't reach him. It stomped its left foot, barely missing Donatello, who had to throw himself out of the way.

The hospital shook again. Screams echoed up from the rooms.

"What is this thing?" Leo wondered aloud.

"Behemoth, demon of greed and gluttony," Damon yelled out. "Hell's wine steward. His footsteps can cause earthquakes!"

"Great," Leo growled. He drove his daggers into the creature's spine, then scrambled farther up as bugs and spiders came crawling out of the wound. "Damn, this thing is hideous!"

He leaped over the demon's head and landed squarely on its trunk. He looked over his shoulder and saw his brothers doing their best to keep the demon in one spot. Turning back to Behemoth, he threw his daggers squarely into each eye. Each dagger disappeared as the demon roared in pain and reached for its eyes. Leo dove back over its shoulder and gripped tightly to the gray hide.

"I'm almost finished!" Damon yelled. "Get out of there, all of you!"

His brothers obeyed, darting out of the red circle on the floor.

"Leonardo?" the fallen angel asked nervously.

"Someone's got to keep this thing busy while you send it down," Leo answered. "You know that as well as I do!"

Damon nodded dismally, barely hesitating as Behemoth struggled to get at the ninja on his back, not caring about the circle around it. Damon sighed sadly, then sealed the circle. Lights flashed, smoke swirled around them, and then the circle, the demon, and Leonardo were gone.

Everything was silent for a moment. The three remaining turtles were stunned into silence, even Raphael. Their oldest brother was in Hell.

"Isn't there a way to get out of there?" Raph asked the fallen angel. "If Behemoth could do it--"

Damon shook his head. "Mortals go in, not out. Only one person can send people back and forth with impunity. If your brother has any hope of returning, he'll have to get the prince to send him back."

"The prince?" Don asked. "Would that be--?"

A loud peal of thunder suddenly crashed, drowning out his words. Lightning struck the roof, but instead of disappearing immediately, it stayed put for half a minute. They could barely make out two silhouettes in the blinding blue light, but they could see the two shapes standing as if they were talking and laughing with each other. Then they shook hands and the second one started walking toward the edge of the lightning. When he reached the outer edge, the lightning disappeared and Leonardo was standing in front of them as if nothing had happened.

"Leo! Yer okay!" Raphael yelled as he embraced his brother, betraying his fear for a moment.

Leonardo laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing really bad happened."

"Nothing bad?" Mike scoffed. "Dude, you went to Hell!"

"I wasn't hurt," Leo said. "I was actually having fun fighting all the demons down there."

"You were only down there for a few seconds," Don argued.

Damon laughed. "Time passes in the afterlife differently than on this plane. He was down there for several hours."

Leo leaned against the building's ledge. "Like I said, I was having fun tearing the demons apart until Lucifer sent me back here."

"He sent you back?" Raph asked. "You got kicked out of Hell for having too much fun?"

His big brother nodded.

Raph smiled. "For once, I'm actually proud of you."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Wow, my life is complete." He turned to Damon. "Um, getting rid of Behemoth was supposed to get you entry into Heaven, wasn't it?"

Damon nodded. "Yup. Hopefully--"

He was cut off as a cut appeared in the air and opened up to a tunnel of light.

"Well come on," came a happy voice, contrasting immensely with the mood of what had just happened. "We haven't got all day. Get your forgiven feathers in here."

"But the hospital?" Damon asked hesitantly.

"It's fine, He's taking care of it," the voice laughed. "Now get in here already."

No longer a shadow but a tall man with gigantic wings, Damon walked into the light without looking back. Then the light disappeared and everything was dark again.

"Well, that's that," Leo sighed. Something on the ground caught his eye and he walked over to it. His swords. Damon had somehow brought them back from Central Park. "Let's go home."

"Pizza'll look real good when we get back," Mike sighed, joining his brothers in climbing down the side. They saw the empty bedroom, the window exploded out and the body gone. "Was Mark Rhodes really evil?"

"He's wasn't even real," Leo explained. "He was created by Behemoth to carry part of himself upworld. It's a good thing I killed the other three parts. We only faced a quarter of a demon up here."

"I don't ever want to go to Hell," Mike said.

"It's actually not that bad," Leo said absent-mindedly. He noticed his brothers' astounded looks and grinned. "I mean, aside from all the fire and brimstone and eternal damnation."

Later on that night, when everybody was asleep, Leonardo sat up on the couch. He took out the dagger that none of them had noticed he had carried back from Hell. The blade was an unnaturally hard silver, with a black hilt and a jewel embedded in the end. A gift from Lucifer for bringing back Behemoth, who had left without permission. Instead of being angry that Damon had escaped, the lord of hell had actually envied him.

"Angels that became too human," Leo mused a moment. Still, he was worried about what a dagger from the devil could do. He took out the feather that he had picked up along with his swords, a white feather with golden edges. It was nearly as long as the dagger. "And demons that become angelic."

The dagger and feather would go in his room, reminders of the past night. He hadn't told his brothers how much fun he'd had fighting the demons in hell, and how much fun they'd had, having their arms and heads hewed off before putting them back on. He wondered if they'd been holding back from hurting him, but shook his head. No, even the devil had been impressed by his skill.

"That's the reason you'll never end up in hell," Lucifer had told him. "Not permanently, anyways. You're too destructive. It's probably the endless cycle of reincarnation for you until you actually reach Nirvana."

"So which religion is right?" he had asked. "Christianity, Buddhism, Shinto?"

"All of them," Lucifer had said. "They're all parts of one whole, although I will say that everyone in Heaven is a bit partial to the Christians. They're quite a comedy act even if they're so sincere. The Boss's Son really likes that sect, too."

Leo lay back on the couch, putting the items aside on the table. As he closed his eyes, a strange question entered his mind. Had Lucifer let Behemoth slip out so Damon could pass the test to get back into Heaven? He had been envious, after all, and he had expected Leonardo down in Hell at that precise moment. Maybe the devil wasn't so evil as everyone thought.

Maybe Lucifer is trying to ascend, too, Leo thought. Maybe the devil can also be saved?