After receiving assurances that the turtles were serious about becoming Warders, Mr. Hidesato took a key that hung on a chain from around his neck and unlocked the heavy suitcase. It also required him to enter a combination, which he did after opening the lock.

It seemed rather heavy security for a suitcase and the turtles along with their friends waited with heightened curiosity to see its contents. Mr. Hidesato opened the suitcase fully, displaying several tools nestled into specially fitted spaces within its padded interior.

Rather than explain the contents right away, Mr. Hidesato looked up at those gathered around the desk and said, "Centuries ago, when the legendary creatures roamed Japan, there was magic. Real magic, not the kind practiced by entertainers in your Las Vegas. Through the years this magic faded because people were taught that it did not exist. Without belief, magic hides. It does not die however, and may be used by those who understand its power.

"The items in this case have been blessed with magic. It is old, old magic and very powerful. Bushido teaches us what we must know in order to harness this magic. Without enlightenment, the things inside this case are merely pieces of metal."

"We've had some experience with magic," Raph said with a slight sneer. "Can't say it's all been good."

"As with everything, magic is balanced," Mr. Hidesato said. "There is both good and bad magic. There is magic that is meant to be good but can be corrupted, and magic that is meant to be bad but can be purified. I explain this to you so that though you may not understand how the items in this case work, you must simply accept that they do. You will encounter magic as you pursue the creatures and without the protection of magic, you will succumb to evil."

"Protection of what sort?" Leo asked.

Mr. Hidesato reached into the case and picked up an object with a slender metal handle. On one end more metal had been forged into the form of a pair of Japanese symbols.

"It reads 'warder' or 'jailer'," Don explained for April and Casey's benefit.

Peeling back the sleeve from his right arm, Mr. Hidesato displayed where those symbols had been burned into the inside of his forearm. "It is a branding iron," he said. "Only those bearing this mark may capture the creatures. Only those bearing this mark have the protection of magic and the ability to see most of these creatures."

"We've got to be branded?" Mikey asked, his voice rising in pitch.

"I'll do it," Raph said. "Do we need to build a fire to heat that thing up?"

Shaking his head, Mr. Hidesato said, "No. Magic will provide the necessary heat. Extend your arm."

Raph presented his forearm, placing the back of his fist on the desktop to keep his arm steady. When Mr. Hidesato brought the end close to Raph's skin, the symbols began to glow red with heat.

Mr. Hidesato pressed the hot metal to Raph's arm, which began to sizzle. The burning flesh was not a pleasant smell and Raph's lip curled back in distaste, but otherwise he did not display his pain.

When Mr. Hidesato withdrew the branding iron, the mark it had left on Raph's arm continued to glow red for several seconds. Then it faded, leaving a fully healed scar bearing the Warder symbols.

"Hey, it don't hurt anymore," Raph said wondrously. Tentatively placing the tip of his finger against the mark, he added, "Shell, this feels like I've had this mark for a long time."

"The magic not only sears the mark upon your skin, but into your very being," Mr. Hidesato explained. "Once the mark is in place, it no longer needs to be painful."

Leo stepped up to where Raph had been and duplicated his brother's actions. Once his arm was ready, Mr. Hidesato placed the brand upon his skin.

The turtle leader remained stoic during the process, nodding as he examined the finished product. Donatello offered his arm next, scrunching his beak as the scalding iron touched his skin.

When it was Mikey's turn, he said, "You know, maybe three Warders is more than enough. Somebody should stay behind to count the coins, make a few lists, write the stories about your adventures . . . ."

"Get your butt over there, knucklehead," Raph told him, giving Mikey a shove.

Mikey squeezed his eyes shut while Mr. Hidesato applied the brand. When it was done, Mikey said, "Easy as pie. No sweat. I feel like a new turtle."

"Wish that meant we could've traded in the old one," Raph muttered.

When Mikey stepped back, Casey walked up to the desk and held out his arm. "Do me too. These guys shouldn't have to clean up my mess by themselves."

"I cannot brand you," Mr. Hidesato said. "You do not fulfil the requirements to be a Warder."

"To hell with that," Casey said. "I've been fighting against bad guys since I could walk. Just 'cause I don't know all that Bushi-doodle stuff don't mean I can't wrangle a few monsters."

"You do not understand," Mr. Hidesato said. "The power of Gokuri magic will not attach itself to those who have not been enlightened. Allow me to demonstrate."

He brought the branding iron close to Casey's skin. It did not turn red and when he touched it to Casey's arm, the metal was cold.

"Well crap," Casey said with feeling. "If I can't catch them then I'll be bait. I ain't sitting on the sidelines."

"I can help Don create an algorithm to track the creatures," April said. "We almost always work as a team."

"This will be a large undertaking," Mr. Hidesato said musingly. "If we are to recapture creatures which took centuries to catch the first time around, then a team approach seems the most sensible. My uncle's home will be our base of operations. Come, there are other things I must show you."

Turning to the bookcase on the wall next to the desk, Mr. Hidesato pushed a set of books to the side, revealing a small panel containing a keyhole. The same key that he'd used to open the suitcase fit this keyhole as well. When he turned it and extracted the key, the bookcase slid aside to reveal a hidden room.

"Cool," Mikey said with a grin.

The room was about twelve by twenty feet in size with a tall ceiling. One wall held a bank of computers atop one long workstation. Another wall contained several televisions, each tuned to different news outlets, the sound muted and the close captioning enabled.

On the third wall was a line of old outdated machines which still looked to be in working order. Don recognized a telegraph, a mimeograph, an am/fm radio that appeared to date from the nineteen fifties, and a short wave radio amongst the collection.

There was also a crystal ball, a pair of Ouija boards, and a deck of fortune telling cards. However Mr. Hidesato's uncle had chosen to pursue his creatures, his methods had not involved strictly Japanese magic.

"I'm guessing this is the war room," Raph said.

"It is the central point for intelligence gathering," Mr. Hidesato acknowledged. "I had intended to clear these things out and ship all of it overseas to my home in Japan, as well as the coffer for safekeeping there. Those plans will have to be delayed, along with the sale of my uncle's home, until the creatures have been reacquired."

"We're not gonna catch anything by standing around talking about it," Raph said. "Fire up those computers ya' two whiz kids and let's get this show on the road."

For the next few hours Don and April sat side by side in front of the computers. While they worked, Raph sprawled in a chair watching the news feeds, changing stations periodically in an attempt to keep up with everything that was happening in the city.

Mikey had discovered a police band radio amongst the items clustered together along the third wall. While he listened to that, he also read an instruction manual on operating the telegraph and a book on Morse code.

In the office, Leo occupied the couch, on either side of him books from the elder Hidesato's collection. He'd also found several journals that had been kept by the family Warders and was reading through them.

Mr. Hidesato took his personal belongings upstairs and moved into his uncle's bedroom. He had informed the small band of fighters that there were spare bedrooms on the second and third floors of the home and that they were welcome to use them.

Casey was sent out with a shopping list. The kitchen had been stripped clean of food after Mr. Hidesato senior's death and it needed to be restocked. Much like when he'd been sent after the luggage, Casey wasn't thrilled with the job of gofer, but he figured it was what he deserved for having unleashed a multitude of hellish spawn upon the city.

Feeling stiff after sitting for so long, Raph finally got up and stretched. Scratching his side, he walked out to the office and went to stand in front of Leo. Yawning prodigiously, he glanced over the journals lining the couch around his brother and made a face.

"What the shell are ya' reading?" Raph asked, noting the small Japanese characters covering each page.

"Quite a few members of Mr. Hidesato's family kept journals," Leo said. "Some of them contain very detailed accounts of their efforts in tracking down and capturing creatures. Did you know a lot of the creatures were just supposed to be bogey man tales that parents told their children to keep them in line?"

"Tulpa," Don said, entering the room. "The belief in them by the kids and probably some of the parents during a time when magic was prevalent no doubt resulted in the manifestation of these beings. A Tulpa is something created through spiritual or mental power alone."

"Way to go mom and dad," Raph said. "Look, I'm sure this is all fascinating stuff, but I didn't sign up for the job of sitting on my ass. What say we hit the streets before the sun comes up and see if we can't lure a few of these creatures out of hiding?"

"If we did find one, how do you propose we catch it?" Leo asked, closing the journal he was holding. Tapping its cover he said, "According to these journals, depending on which creature you're after, differing methods have to be employed."

"I'm already starting to regret the good old days of just pounding someone into submission," Raph groaned.

"Your brute strength will certainly become necessary," Mr. Hidesato said, approaching on silent feet. "Many of these creatures will put up a fight."

"You must have had some ninja training yourself Mr. Hidesato," Don said, impressed that he hadn't even seen the man come into the room.

Mr. Hidesato bowed his head in acknowledgement. "I have myself trained with a number of Masters. If not for my advanced age, I would relish the exhilaration that accompanies a hunt."

"So how do we catch these things?" Raph asked.

"Just as your brother said, it depends on the creature itself. You must first know what you are after," Mr. Hidesato said. "Unfortunately, you do not have the time to acquire all of the necessary knowledge. Since I have studied these creatures from the time I was a small child, I will tell you what must be done."

"Master Splinter will have to know what we're doing," Leo said. "We'll need to divide our time between here and the lair. It goes without saying that we can't be seen by people."

"But ya' had to say it anyway," Raph said teasingly.

"It is a good thing for us that most of these creatures prefer to appear at night," Mr. Hidesato said.

Casey peeked into the room and announced, "I've got the groceries put away. There's pizza if anybody wants some."

As if pizza were a magic word, Mikey was suddenly in their midst. "Don't let it get cold Casey, 'cause I think I've got something."

"From the cop shop?" Raph asked, knowing his brother had been listening to the police band.

"Yeah. A bunch of jewelry stores along Midtown East on Fifth Street got broken into about an hour ago. The alarms went off almost at the same time. The cops are saying that the only thing that shows up on the video cameras is an eyeball."

"An eyeball? On all of them?" Don asked.

"Only repeating what I heard," Mikey said.

April came rushing into the room. "The police just chased a female pickpocket along East fifty-seventh. They thought they had her surrounded but she just disappeared."

Turning excitedly to Michelangelo, Mr. Hidesato asked, "Did they say what was stolen?"

"They said be on the lookout for someone trying to unload a bunch of gold coins," Mikey answered. "Why would someone just steal coins from a jewelers?"

"And the woman," Mr. Hidesato began, looking at April, "did they describe her?"

"Just that she was wearing a long gown and had a flowing scarf over her head," April said.

"You know what it is, don't you?" Leo asked, rising from the couch.

"It is a Dodomeki," Mr. Hidesato told him. Striding to the coffer which still sat on the desk, he opened the lid and chose a coin from the box. "To contain her you must use this coin. Capturing the Dodomeki requires using her own greed against her. She must steal this coin from one of you kame; once she has it in her hand, the coin's magic will pull her inside."

"How do we keep her in there?" Raph asked.

To answer that question, Mr. Hidesato took another tool from the suitcase. This one had a thick, cylindrical hand grip, not unlike that of a pair of garden shears. The working end almost looked like cooking tongs, but the metal face on either side had a small box mounted onto it.

Pointing at the box, Mr. Hidesato said, "Do you see the opening here? This is where the red wax comes out so that a captured creature may be sealed into the coin." He touched the bottom points on the handle. "These flip open so that solid wax bullets may be loaded into the device. Once you have pulled the creature into the coin, you must quickly seal it in with the wax. It is currently loaded."

"How do we heat the wax?" Don asked.

"You do not have to, the tool is powered by magic," Mr. Hidesato said. "Place the coin between the tips of the tool and squeeze the boxes together over the square opening in the coin for a slow three count. Wax will flow out to fill the opening and will then immediately harden."

"I guess this is another thing that'll only work for us?" Mikey asked, taking the tool from Mr. Hidesato.

"Yes, and do not lose it," Mr. Hidesato admonished the brothers. "There are few people who know how to create another and they all reside in Japan."

April had ducked back into the war room while they talked and she called out from inside, "She's mugged someone else. I've pulled up a map of the area that she's in and she seems to be moving in one particular direction."

The group gathered inside the room to look at April's map. Each of the places and people the Dodomeki had attacked were marked in red.

"Casey, ain't there a coin dealership right about here on Forty-Seventh Street?" Raph asked. "I remember 'cause we stopped some Purple Dragons from busting in there once."

"There sure is," Casey said. "It's a big fancy place too."

April's fingers danced over the keyboard. In a second she had a street side view of the coin shop on her computer screen.

"That is where the Dodomeki will go," Mr. Hidesato said.

"Tell us about her," Leo requested.

"Dodomeki are cursed women," Mr. Hidesato explained. "This supernatural creature, what we call a yokai, is a thief with a preference for stealing money. The curse attached because of the woman's greed and wickedness. Someone who steals a lot in Japan is referred to as having 'long arms' and the creature you are after does literally have long arms. She is also covered in hundreds of tiny eyeballs."

"That's why the only thing on the security camera was an eye," Don said.

"She can spew poisonous fumes, so you must surprise her," Mr. Hidesato warned. "Do not cut her skin because her blood will likewise give off noxious gasses. If you place the magic coin into a pocket with other coins and jingle them, she will be attracted to the sound and be unable to pass without stealing all you have."

"Once the coin's in her hand it will activate on its own?" Don asked.

"Yes," Mr. Hidesato answered. "She will be pulled into it. When the coin starts to fall after she is inside, catch it and quickly seal the center with the special wax."

"Our disguises are in the moving truck," Leo said. "Mikey can wear one of those. Because that area is patrolled by private security, we need to be inconspicuous, so we'll go in April's van rather than the moving truck. Casey can drive and get us a parking spot as close to the coin dealers as possible. Mikey will deploy to a spot between the Dodomeki and the coin shop."

"Deploy," Mikey repeated. "That sounds so much better than Mikey is the bait, which is what you mean. Why am I always the bait?"

"I'm pretty sure you've asked that question before," Raph said.

"How did you answer it?" Mikey asked.

"I told ya' to stop whining," Raph said.

"Does everyone understand the plan?" Leo asked. "April, could you remain here with Mr. Hidesato and monitor any reports that come in? Relay any new information to us via shell cell."

As they walked back out through the office, Mr. Hidesato handed the coin he'd taken from the coffer to Leonardo. "This is the coin created for the Dodomeki. It, like the wax sealing tool, cannot be duplicated here in the States. Take great care of both."

"We will," Leo assured him.

"Good luck," Mr. Hidesato called out as the turtles and Casey ran upstairs and used the master bedroom terrace to exit the house.

While Casey drove April's van to Forty-Seventh Street, Michelangelo sat in the back and pulled on his disguise. "I hope somebody thought to grab some coins so I'll have something to jingle while I'm walking around," he said.

His brothers looked at each other in dismay. "Oh crap," Raph said. "Guess we should have taken care of that before we left Mr. Hidesato."

"No sweat ya' guys," Casey said. "There's a bunch of quarters up here in the ashtray. Ya' can't navigate the city if ya' ain't got coins for the tolls."

"Ha! Now you're finally being useful," Raph said, leaning between the front seats to scoop out the coins from the ashtray.

"Jerk," Casey said, making a sharp turn and tossing Raph back into his seat.

"Wack bag," Raph retorted.

In the passenger seat, Leo pointed at an alleyway in the middle of the block. "Right there Casey. That spot will place us between the Dodomeki and the coin dealership. If she's still moving in this direction, that is."

"She is," Don said, listening to April through his headset. "She's getting close too. She attacked a man walking his dog three blocks from here."

Casey backed the van into the alley, making sure that the shadows hid the vehicle. The group disembarked and Raph stuffed the coins into Mikey's pockets.

"Here," Leo said, handing the trap coin to Mikey. "Put this in with the rest of the coins. Walk up and down the sidewalk and make sure to jingle those coins. The rest of us will remain hidden nearby, so if you have any trouble, we'll be with you in a second."

"Make that half a second," Mikey said, placing the trap coin into his pocket.

"Let's go, we don't know how fast that thing is," Raph urged.

Casey and the three older turtles spaced themselves out along the street, remaining out of sight in the shadows. Pushing his hat down low to hide his face, Mikey began strolling along the sidewalk, jiggling the coins in his pocket as loudly as possible.

He walked up to within half a block of the coin dealership, crossed the street, and made a return trip. Mikey passed the others' hiding places, going two blocks up before crossing over again and moving back towards his starting point.

Mikey had just crossed the street for a third time and was nearly opposite the alley where the van was parked when a little over a block ahead of him an old homeless man staggered out of an areaway.

"She took my money!" the old man shouted piteously, waving an empty tin can in the air.

Almost before Mikey could process that the man had been robbed of his coins, a woman appeared in front of him. She wore a dark colored kimono along with a headdress that flowed down to mid-thigh and kept her face in shadows.

Mikey barely had time to yank his hand out of his pocket before she descended on him. One long, thin arm snaked its way towards him, the sleeve of the kimono blowing backwards to reveal dozens of small eyes covering the skin.

Pure reflex made Mikey jump backwards, emitting a high pitched shriek of surprise and disgust as he did so. Unfortunately, the back of his foot came down on the hem of his trench coat, yanking him off balance.

Arms pin wheeling, Mikey tried to regain his footing and only managed to tangle himself even further in his trench coat. As he fell, his hand clutched at the nearest thing to him, which was the Dodomeki.

Mikey's fingers caught in her kimono as he went down and his weight and momentum ripped the garment off of her. Landing on his shell, Mikey stared wide eyed at the now nearly nude form standing over him.

From both shoulders, along her incredibly long arms, and down to the tips of her fingers were covered in eyes. On her face, where there were normally two eyes, the Dodomeki had three.

Her mouth opened and a gurgling sound emerged as she bent down to reach for Mikey. Completely freaked out, Mikey planted one foot flat on the sidewalk and shoved his body away from her.

At the sight of her prey attempting to escape, the Dodomeki pounced, grasping at Mikey's pocket. Suddenly remembering what he was supposed to do, Mikey reached inside the coat, fumbling to extract the wax tool from his belt.

His movement pulled the edge of the coat away just as the Dodomeki's hand slid into the pocket. The sound of the material ripping was nearly as loud as that of the coins spilling out of the pocket and rolling all over the sidewalk.

Strange gibbering issued from the Dodomeki's mouth as she dove for the coins. Mikey watched in horror as each coin she touched was swallowed up by eyeballs.

"Get up, Mikey!" Raph shouted.

The sound snapped Mikey out of his daze and he scrambled to his feet as his brothers and Casey darted out of hiding. "Where is it, where is it," Mikey muttered, looking all around for the trap coin.

He spotted it rolling down the sidewalk towards Don and Casey. "Grab it!" he yelled at them.

Before they could reach it, the coin bounced off the sidewalk, hit the street, and rolled into a storm drain.

"Oh shell! It went down the drain!" Don called out to Leo.

Running towards the Dodomeki, Leo pointed at Don and ordered, "Get the coin!"

"We've gotta stall her!" Raph bellowed, pulling one of his sai and running towards the nearest parking meter.

Leo immediately saw what Raph meant to do and unsheathed his katanas. "Incoming!" he shouted at Mikey before tossing one of his swords to his younger brother.

Mikey shrugged off the trench coat while the katana was in the air and deftly caught it when it reached him. Raph jabbed his sai into the coin box on the meter and wrenched it to the side, ripping the metal open. Coins began spilling out, hitting the sidewalk and bouncing in every direction.

Turning on his heels, Mikey raced to the next meter in line just as Leo reached his. A hard slice sheared open the metal coin box to send another torrent of coins onto the ground. In less than a second, Mikey had forced open a third parking meter.

In the meantime, Casey and Don were face down on the street, peering into the darkened storm drain. "Can you see it?" Casey asked.

"Hang on," Don said, pulling his shell cell from his belt and activating the flashlight app. Pointing the light into the drain, he saw the coin glittering just out of reach.

"I can get it with my hockey stick," Casey said, sliding it from his bag.

"Not unless you've got glue on the end," Don replied. "Hey, do you have any gum?"

Casey's eyes lit up. "Yeah, hang on."

Quickly fishing into his pocket, Casey came out with a square of bubble gum. Peeling the paper off, he stuck the gum in his mouth and began to chew as fast as his jaws would work.

Meanwhile, the Dodomeki was jumping from place to place on the sidewalk, slathering and babbling incoherently as she scooped up coins. The three turtles kept moving, slicing open parking meters and tossing coins all around her to keep her pinned to one spot.

Slapping the masticated wad of gum onto the handle of the hockey stick, Casey slid it through the grate, using the light from Don's shell cell as a guide. He was off target the first try and had to press his shoulder into the pavement to get the correct angle. On his second try he snagged the coin and hurriedly dragged it out of the storm drain.

As soon as the coin was free from the drain, Don grabbed it off the stick and tossed it onto the sidewalk in front of the Dodomeki. "Heads up!" he yelled at his brothers.

The sound as it hit the ground drew the Dodomeki's attention directly to the coin. With a cackle, she snatched the coin from the sidewalk.

Rather than disappearing into one of the eyes, the coin seemed to stick to the tips of the Dodomeki's fingers. The yokai bounded to an upright position and tried to shake the coin loose, but it stuck tight.

For a second nothing happened, and then her body started to shake. The Dodomeki screeched as her skin became transparent and then turned vaporous. Coins began cascading from the smoke to bounce in every direction.

"Mikey, wax!" Leo shouted.

Dropping the katana, Mikey yanked the wax tool from his belt just as the Dodomeki was sucked into the Wado Kaichin. Taking a running dive, Mikey slid forward on his plastron, his hand outstretched, and caught the coin as it fell.

Rolling into a seated position, Mikey shoved the coin between the tips of the wax tool and squeezed it shut.

"One thousand one," Mikey counted, "one thousand two, one thousand three."

His brothers and Casey gathered around Mikey as he slowly opened the tool and plucked the coin out of it. Holding it up so that the coin was illuminated by a street lamp, they could all see that the wax seal was in place and had hardened properly.

"Holy crap," Casey breathed out, running a hand through his hair.

Raph reached down and helped Mikey to his feet. "Ya' did it little bro'."

"I think I wet my shell," Mikey responded. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah," Raph said, throwing an arm across Mikey's shoulders. "That was one ugly bitch."

The clang of something metallic hitting the sidewalk startled the group and they spun as one, all reaching for their weapons. All they saw was the homeless man, his can rolling to a stop at his feet as he gawked at them.

Casey reached down and scooped up a handful of coins. Approaching the man, he picked up the can and deposited the coins into it before returning it to the old man.

"Tha . . . that's . . . those . . . are . . . are . . . ." the old man babbled incoherently, lifting a shaking hand to point at the turtles.

"Figment of your imagination," Casey said. "Go buy yourself a cup of coffee as far from here as ya' can get. The place is about to be full of cops."

"Co . . . cops? I'm g . . . gone," the old man stammered, turning away from Casey and shuffling off as fast as he could.

"Calling the police is a good idea," Leo said. "Don, ask April to phone this in to them three minutes from now to give us time to clear out. They'll need to recover these coins."

"On it boss," Don said, relaying the message to April.

Leo retrieved his sword from where Mikey had dropped it and the group made a beeline back to the van. As Casey drove around the corner, the sound of approaching sirens could already be heard.

The ride back to the house was without incident, though quiet. The group was still tense due to the stepped up police patrols all along their route. They didn't begin to relax until after Casey had dropped the turtles off in the alley behind Mr. Hidesato's garden.

Casey came in by the front door while the turtles once more used the upstairs terrace to enter the house. Adrenalin was still flowing through their systems and they finally let the excitement of a successful hunt overwhelm them. They were all talking at once as they walked into the office.

"Did you get her?" Mr. Hidesato asked, his hands clasped in front of him.

"We sure did," Mikey said, producing the trap coin.

"Excellent!" Mr. Hidesato said gleefully, taking the coin to the coffer and placing it into the correct holding slot.

"Was there any trouble?" April asked.

The turtles looked around at each other and then glanced at Casey.

"Nah, it was a piece of cake," Casey said.

"Mmm, cake. Did you get any cake?" Mikey asked.

"I got pizza," Casey said with a scowl, "and it's cold."

"Not to worry Mikey," April said, linking her arm with the orange banded turtle's. "I'll make us a cake. We should celebrate! The new Warders have been baptized, as it were."

"We can warm up that pizza while we wait," Raph said. "I'm hungry."

"We'll have to call it breakfast," Don said. "It's almost four in the morning."

"I need to call Master Splinter and let him know we're all right," Leo said.

Mr. Hidesato walked back over to join them. "You should let him know that you will be staying here," he said. "There is still much work to be done to prepare you for the task ahead. The Dodomeki was a minor yokai; others that you must face will be of far greater danger."

His words were sobering as the group was reminded of the sheer volume of escaped creatures.

"Okay, well that's one way to bring the party down," Mikey said. "I vote we think about that after we eat and get some shut eye. Oh yeah, and one other thing . . . ."

"What Mikey?" Raph asked when his younger brother paused.

"I also vote that Raph is bait next time," Mikey said. "After all, he's not only a bigger target, he's a slower one too."

"Come here ya' goofball," Raph growled, chasing after Mikey. "I'll show ya' slow!"

Leo waited for everyone to clear out of the office so it would be quiet during his call to Master Splinter. Before doing that though, he picked up the journal belonging to the elder Mr. Hidesato and carried it over to the desk.

Taking a pen from the desk set, he opened the journal to a blank page and wrote "First capture; Dodomeki. Minimal property damage, no injuries."

Closing the journal, Leo tapped the cover before releasing a deep breath. His brothers had no idea what the other journals contained and therefore no clue what was in store for them.

For now, he'd keep it that way. There was no point in all of them having nightmares.

End Dodomeki