Leonardo had taken a step closer to Raphael without realizing it, perhaps subconsciously expecting a violent outburst from his brother. Raph was certainly not Mr. Hidesato's biggest fan.

Instead, his voice heavy with disdain, Raph said, "Nice of ya' to join us."

"Were you out capturing one of the escaped creatures?" Mr. Hidesato asked.

"Nah, we just got back from a neighborhood block party. We're real popular with the ladies," Raph replied.

"Leonardo?" Mr. Hidesato asked, looking at the elder turtle.

"We defeated and captured a Jubokko," Leo answered.

"No thanks to you," Raph said.

"I still have a company to run," Mr. Hidesato said, "and business interests to which I must attend."

"I guess that's more important than making sure we know what the hell it is we're going up against," Raph said. "So maybe one of us dies. No big deal, right? I mean, there's still three to carry on for ya'."

"You have the journals," Mr. Hidesato said, ignoring Raph's sarcasm.

Raph snorted derisively. "Fat lot of good those do us. There's more information left out of them than is in them. That's supposed to be where ya' come in. This is supposed to be the priority. Ya' sure as hell keep telling us that capturing creatures is all that matters."

"You assured us you would be available to assist us," Leo said.

Don said, "I can quote you if you need a reminder. You 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.'"

"Kinda hard to tell us what must be done if ya' ain't here," Raph said, glaring at the man.

"When you said we'd have to learn on the job, we didn't think that meant we'd be learning on our own," Mikey said.

"Do you know what the journal said about the Jubokko?" Leo asked. "It warned us to beware of the tree's branches and that the trap coin had to go into the opening in its trunk. Nowhere in the journal did it mention that the tree's roots were also a danger."

"We got to learn the hard way, just like with the Teke Teke," Raph said. "Learning the hard way is what gets ya' killed."

Mr. Hidesato looked around at them, noting that they were a united front. "Even if one could not see you, it would not be difficult to tell that you are brothers. Please, trust me when I tell you that my absence was not only unavoidable, but that it was crucial."

"See, that 'trust me' line, that's what people say when they can't be trusted," Raph said. "Ya' ain't given us one good reason to trust ya' yet."

"You run an antiques business," Mikey said. "What was so crucial that somebody else couldn't handle it? Did someone break a priceless vase?"

Perhaps it was the turtles' growing suspicions, the guarded look that Mr. Hidesato sometimes wore, or the instances where information had been withheld, but Leo was suddenly impatient with the subterfuge.

"If you will recall, I told you before that I would not risk the lives of my family or friends without assurances that you'd fully uphold your responsibilities to us," Leo said. "You aren't telling us something and we want to know now what that is. If you don't satisfy us, we're leaving."

Compressing his lips, Mr. Hidesato appeared to weigh his options. Finally he turned, walked over to one of the easy chairs, and sat down.

Waving towards the other seats, he said, "Please, be comfortable. I do not know what it will take to satisfy you, but it is possible our conversation could last a while."

Mikey sat in the chair opposite him while Leo and Don took seats on the couch. Raph chose not to sit down, instead standing behind Mikey's chair, his arms crossed.

Mr. Hidesato glanced at him but said nothing, no doubt realizing that Raph would not relax until he received answers that would fully satisfy him.

"You may remember my telling you that there are warder clans all over the world," Mr. Hidesato said, "and that they have their own coffers filled with captured creatures to safeguard."

He paused, obviously wanting an acknowledgement of his statement. Leo said, "We remember your telling us of other warder clans and about how the warder legacy passes from one generation to the next."

"There is more," Mr. Hidesato said. "The eldest warder in each clan automatically becomes a member of the Warder High Council. Once each year the representatives attend a summit meeting to discuss any events of note which may have occurred during the previous twelve months."

He stopped because Leo, who was not prone to gawking, was doing so. "How could you suggest we accept this lifelong responsibility knowing full well we could not become High Council members?"

"It was a detail I was sure we could resolve," Mr. Hidesato said, sweeping it away with a wave of his hand. "The High Council membership is secondary at the moment. What is key here now is that I was called away on Council business. An emergency video conference meeting of a Council quorum which I was required to attend."

"What was the emergency?" Don asked.

"This situation," Mr. Hidesato said. "They have learned that the creatures under my clans' guardianship have escaped. I had hoped to recapture the majority of them before the other warder clans became aware of this catastrophe. If we could have quickly returned the creatures to the coffer, then I could have mitigated the severity of the repercussions."

"What kind of repercussions?" Mikey asked. "What does that even mean?"

"There's probably close to a hundred coins in that box," Raph said. "How could ya' possibly think we'd be able to capture them that fast?"

"I must admit that I was more concerned with protecting the honor of my clan than with the feasibility of clearing up this disaster quickly," Mr. Hidesato said. "Perhaps if I had notified the Council immediately, I could have sidestepped the call from some of the members that more drastic measures be taken."

"Drastic measures?" Leo asked. "What kind of drastic measures?"

Mr. Hidesato made a steeple with his fingers and pressed them to his chin. "The other clans wanted to send their own warders to New York to deal with this situation. Dozens of warders, all converging on the city at one time."

Now all four turtles gaped at him. It was Raphael who found his voice first. "What the hell? There are warders who could have come here and cleaned up this mess? Ya' didn't even need us!"

"Yes I did," Mr. Hidesato rushed to say. "You do not understand."

"I certainly don't," Don said. "Why would you choose four untrained ninja to recapture these creatures when there are apparently so many trained and experienced warders willing to travel here to take care of this?"

"You said 'wanted to send' warders," Leo said, frowning.

"Yeah," Mikey said. "Don't they still want to? We could sure use the help since they know what to do."

"No," Mr. Hidesato snapped, straightening in his seat. "I assured the Council that we have the escape under control."

"We don't!" Raph exclaimed.

"People are dying," Leo said quickly, cutting off any further outburst of temper from his brother. "We are more than willing to take a backseat and offer assistance to other warders."

"If these warders come here to take over the hunt, even more people will die," Mr. Hidesato said. "Every clan follows its own code when it comes to hunting creatures. The Council does not dictate our rules of engagement, they merely monitor whether the job is getting done."

"I thought that warders captured yokai in order to protect people," Don said. "How would more die if other clans came here to do that job?"

"My clan has always made an effort to hold the lives of innocent people in high regard whenever we can," Mr. Hidesato said. "For many other clans, the first priority is capturing creatures. They will do whatever it takes to achieve this goal, including placing unsuspecting people in harm's way and destroying property in order to drive a yokai out of hiding. Some have been known to dynamite entire buildings, while others have flooded cities to drain a river where a yokai lurks. You do not want these people here."

"Some of these other clans, are they from Japan as well?" Leo asked.

"Yes," Mr. Hidesato answered. "My family has worked with them in the past."

"Are there that many creatures?" Mikey asked. "Wasn't your family in charge of them?"

"There are a great many more yokai than just the ones my clan captured," Mr. Hidesato said. "The number of coins a coffer can hold is limited. Yokai are strong and the bonds created by magic are finite."

"How many more?" Mikey asked.

"Hundreds," Mr. Hidesato said. "Some have multiples. Many are created by the yokai themselves, while others come into being because of a strong belief in them."

"Remember what I said about Tulpa? A strong belief by large amounts of people that a creature exists could cause that creature to manifest," Don said. "Magic would play a part in that creation."

"That is the problem that the Council is concerned about," Mr. Hidesato said. "The longer that yokai roam free and people see or experience them, the more people believe in them. This starts a sequence where captured yokai can be regenerated. When this happens, the newly created yokai have to be caught."

Now it was Don's turn to frown. "It could turn an already bad situation into an unbreakable cycle. How was it overcome in the past?"

"Because this phenomenon is so much like a virus, the solution employed is very like administering a vaccine," Mr. Hidesato said. "Inhabitants of villages and towns where the yokai were prevalent were told that the creatures had been captured. They were made aware of the existence of warders. Once they believed in us and our ability to contain these creatures, the yokai disappeared."

"We certainly can't do that here," Don said. "The likelihood that a large number of people would be knowledgeable enough to connect strange occurrences to yokai is extremely small. This is a city of nearly nine million people. If we started to tell a few of them about creatures, the word would spread. We'd have an epidemic."

"Not to mention the fact we couldn't tell them about us," Mikey said.

"That is why we must trap and store these yokai as quickly as possible," Mr. Hidesato said.

"So what, ya' fill your coffer and that's it?" Raph asked. "Ya' retire?"

"Some clans are large enough to maintain more than one coffer," Mr. Hidesato said. "Ours was not, though we were the best of them. Most coffers are filled with only a few types of yokai. The Hidesato clan coffer is the only one containing no duplicate creatures."

"Lucky us," Mikey said.

"I had to assure the heads of the other clans that they do not need to come to New York," Mr. Hidesato said. "I told them that I had highly trained warders out collecting the creatures. It was the only way to hold them back."

"Ya' got highly trained ninjas out collecting creatures," Raph said, correcting him. "You're the only highly trained warder around here and ya' can't be bothered to come out with us."

"My role now is more one of diplomacy and representation," Mr. Hidesato said. "My age . . . ."

"Sounds like a damn excuse," Raph broke in. "Our Father is old and he kicks butt. Even if ya' just came out and told us what the hell to look for it'd keep us from getting killed. But no, you'd rather sit up in this nice comfy house, looking down your nose at us and . . . ."

Raph's rant was interrupted by the ringing of his shell cell. A glance showed him that it was Casey who was calling.

"What's up Case?" Raph answered with a touch more impatience than normal.

Casey's voice sounded shaky and Raph switched the call to speaker mode. "I was out busting up some Purple Dragon activity when I came across some . . . remains. Raph man, this is some freaking shit!What's left of a . . . a person looks like it was torn to shreds.There's an arm laying ten feet away from a pile of insides.It's gotta be one of those creatures."

"Get away from there," Raph said. "Ya' hear me, Casey? Get the hell outta there!"

"Maybe I can find out what did this," Casey said.

"Ya' ain't equipped to fight one of those things," Raph said. "We don't know what it is so we ain't either, but if ya' don't move your ass, I'm coming down there to move it for ya'."

"I'm in the Bronx," Casey said. "It'll take ya' too long, even at this time of morning."

From the corner of his eye Raph saw that Mr. Hidesato was signaling frantically. When he looked over at the man, Mr. Hidesato said, "Tell Mr. Jones to bring the arm here."

"What the hell for?" Raph asked, only half hearing Casey's arguments as to why he should remain where he was.

"Just tell him," Leo said.

"Casey," Raph said, ignoring his friend's babbling. "Casey! Mr. H says grab the arm and get your ass over here."

"Ya' want me to pick the damn thing up?" Casey asked, his voice rising an octave. "It's a fucking mess!"

"Wrap it in something and transport it," Raph said, irritation in his tone. "Ain't like this is the first gory mess ya' ever saw."

"First one anybody ever asked me to touch," Casey said, hanging up on Raph without another word.

"He sounds thrilled," Don said.

"I guess this means we're not sleeping yet. How about I make us a snack?" Mikey asked. Without waiting for a response, he added, "Pizza in forty minutes."

Mr. Hidesato stood up. "Please pardon me. I will return when Mr. Jones arrives."

He bowed to them and left the room. The turtles heard him climbing the stairs and by an unspoken agreement, they all went to the kitchen together.

As Mikey began to take out the ingredients he needed in order to make a pizza, two of his brothers took seats at the kitchen table while Raph paced.

"You should sit down for a few minutes," Don told him in a mild tone. "It's going to take Casey a while to get here."

"I'm too pissed to sit down," Raph retorted. Spinning, he aimed a hard glare in Mikey's direction. "Don't ya' try to defend Mr. H again either."

While Raph's back was turned, Leo shook his head at Mikey, silently warning him that it would be best not to respond to his brother. Mikey shrugged and returned to rolling out his pizza dough.

"Mr. Hidesato is at an advanced age, Raph. No matter what their physical training, a human in their late sixties cannot be expected to move quickly," Don said. "You can't really expect him to go with us on a hunt."

"What I expect is that he stop hiding shit from us," Raph said. "We forced his hand just now and he had to tell us about the Council. From the start he made it sound like we were his only option for catching those creatures. He used us 'cause he knew we'd be obligated to Casey."

"A flight from Japan takes around fourteen hours," Don said. "He asked for our help because we're already here."

"The knowledge of our existence along with the realization that his clan was at its end no doubt influenced his decision not to call for backup from other warder clans," Leo said.

"He might have been telling the truth about wanting to avoid the unnecessary mayhem other warders could bring to the city," Don said. "He might also be concerned about saving face and his clans' reputation."

"So what else ain't he telling us?" Raph asked in a belligerent manner. "What other secrets is he hiding that are gonna bite us in the ass? If he didn't tell us this one until we backed him into a corner, then what's it gonna take to drag the rest out of him?"

"We'll find out," Leo said, trying to calm his brother. "So far we're doing all right on our own."

"He should have said he had people out there who were trained to catch these things!" Raph yelled. "He should have been right up front about that!"

"Maybe it's a matter of trust for him too," Mikey said, despite Leo's warning. "It had to be a shock to him to have four mutated turtles walk into his house. No matter how good April told him we were, we're not anything he's ever dealt with before."

"And those escaped creatures aren't something we've ever dealt with before either," Raph said, grabbing a chair and plopping down onto it. "Mr. H ain't much help, the journals ain't much help, so maybe we can talk to some of those other warders and get their advice."

"If we did that, we'd be telling them we don't know what we're doing and that Mr. Hidesato is unable to help us," Leo said. "All we'd accomplish is to give them an excuse to come to New York."

"Suppose other warders had gone out after the Jubokko," Don said. "If what Mr. H says is true, those warders would have let that young couple distract the tree so they could sneak in to capture the yokai."

"Mr. H might seem like he's got a one track mind, but he's never outright suggested we use people as bait," Mikey said. "Well, except for Casey, but that's only 'cause Casey keeps insisting he wants to help."

"Dammit," Raph said, crossing his arms and leaning back forcefully in his chair. The chair back creaked in protest. "I hate this complicated crap. What happened to the good old days of smacking some bad guys around?"

Mikey slid two pizzas into the oven and turned back to his brothers. "Oh, you mean like the Shredder, the Foot Clan, Hun, or our best bud Bishop? Yeah, that was always so much fun."

"Beats the hell out of this magic stuff," Raph said. "You'd think we'd had enough of that with the Tengu Shredder."

"Possibly part of our destiny is to defeat demons and evil magic," Leo said. "I've contemplated upon that many times. That and how we came to exist at all. Everything about what we've encountered in our lives seems intertwined with our origin. Maybe this is too."

Raph rolled his eyes but seemed to relax. "I'll leave all that deep thinking to ya' and Donny," he said. "Why ya' want to find answers to things that don't really matter is beyond me."

That began a conversation that continued along those lines until the doorbell rang.

"I'll wait for the pizza to be ready," Mikey said quickly as his brothers got up. "I don't need to see a severed arm."

"I hope we'll still be hungry for pizza after we see it," Don said as he left the kitchen.

When they opened the front door to Casey he stepped inside, gingerly holding a newspaper wrapped object out in front of him.

"Where am I taking this nasty thing?" Casey asked.

"Come with me, Mr. Jones," Mr. Hidesato said. He was standing near the foot of the upper staircase, having appeared without anyone's notice.

Leo was relieved when Mr. Hidesato led the way downstairs. For just a moment he worried that the man was going to use the kitchen table to examine the remains. It was bad enough they'd already performed first aid on the same surface where they ate.

The lights were on in the dojo and in Don's work space, which was where Mr. Hidesato took them. A plastic sheet had been laid across the center table and a floor lamp pulled up next to it to provide additional illumination.

There was a tray of medical instruments sitting on a corner of the table. None of the turtles had heard or seen Mr. Hidesato setting it all up. Since he hadn't come into the kitchen to access the hidden medical closet, Leo had to wonder where these particular instruments had come from.

Mr. Hidesato indicated that Casey should place his find on the table and the man did so with alacrity. He appeared relieved to have divested himself of his burden and took a step back. In the strong light, Casey's face had a distinct greenish tinge.

Leo wasn't sure what he expected to see, but as Mr. Hidesato peeled back the newspaper, the young turtle couldn't help but gasp. The arm was barely that; scraps of what appeared to be suede still clung to areas, but most of the skin had been shredded, leaving strips of muscle still holding the bones together in spots.

Using a scalpel, Mr. Hidesato carefully cut away the largest piece of suede and examined it under the light.

"See here Leonardo," Mr. Hidesato said, gesturing for Leo to stand next to him. "The suede has very distinctive marks upon it, as does the skin that lay beneath the suede. What do they look like to you?"

Despite the gruesome appearance of the arm, Leo studied both the skin and the piece of suede as Mr. Hidesato indicated he should. Don moved in close, giving the objects the same intense scrutiny.

"It looks as though something hooked the skin," Leo said slowly, unsure as to what he was seeing.

"Something sharp," Don said with more confidence than his brother. "Almost like the end of a fish hook. You can just see the mark of the barb on the underside of the suede."

"Some of that skin looks chewed," Raph said. "The rest of it looks sliced."

"There wasn't much left of the guy," Casey said. "The only reason I even know it was a guy was 'cause there was hair on some of the remaining parts where women don't grow hair."

"Most of him was eaten," Mr. Hidesato said. "This was undoubtedly the work of a Hari onago."

"Hey, if you guys are through looking at gross stuff, the pizzas are ready," Mikey called out from the doorway. "I can mix up some sodium bicarbonate for anybody who can't eat."

He left without waiting for his brothers. Leo knew his quick exit was to avoid inadvertently seeing the arm and couldn't really blame him. They were all somewhat inured to grotesque sights, but that didn't mean they invited the chance to see them.

At the top of the stairs Mr. Hidesato said, "I will be in the office when you have finished your repast."

With a short bow he left them. The turtles and Casey proceeded on to the kitchen where they found the pizza already sliced and waiting for them on the kitchen island.

Casey took a bottle of ginger ale from the refrigerator and bypassed the food. The brothers loaded their plates and sat down at the table to eat.

"What do ya' think this Hari whatever is?" Raph asked as he bit into his pizza.

Mikey lifted a palm. "Uh uh. New rule, we don't talk creatures while we're eating. I put effort into these pies and I want you guys to remember the food, not the gross stuff we're now doing for a living."

Don filled his glass from the jug of water which sat in the center of the table. Holding up the glass, he said, "Here's to a job well done."

His brothers followed suit and Casey came over to clink his bottle against their glasses. They all drank and Casey slid into a seat.

"How did ya' get out of the apartment?" Raph asked. "And why were ya' out chasing Purple Dragons?"

"Angel swung by the shop and told us the Dragons were planning to pull a heist at an auto parts warehouse in the Bronx," Casey said. "I been restless and April agreed it'd be a good idea for me to go discourage that piece of crap gang from robbing anybody."

"Did ya'? Discourage them I mean," Raph said.

Casey grinned. "I discouraged the hell out of them."

After ten minutes of light hearted banter Casey managed to down a couple of slices of pizza. They finished up and Don loaded the dishwasher before the group headed in to the office to meet with Mr. Hidesato.

He was seated at the desk when they arrived, scrolling through a tablet. Setting it down, Mr. Hidesato said, "Business inventory. I have not had a chance to review the list of newly acquired items."

"You have someone taking care of day to day operations for your import export company?" Don asked, sitting down in a chair opposite him.

"There is a business manager who oversees the various operations as well as a financial officer who takes care of the finance side of the business," Mr. Hidesato said. "They have been with the company for all of their adult lives."

"Are they aware of any other part of the family business?" Leo asked.

"No, though I believe they do suspect we have a crime fighting sideline," Mr. Hidesato said. "They have alluded to as much in conversations, but they do not ask and we do not tell."

"How about ya' do tell us about the creature that tore that guy apart," Raph said.

Mikey pulled up a chair and sat down, but the others remained standing. Mr. Hidesato tapped the screen on his tablet and then tapped it again before turning it around for the group to see. On it was an image of a beautiful Japanese woman in a kimono, her thick black hair flowing all of the way down her back.

The picture was old and faded. "This image was created by an artist in seventeen seventy-nine," Mr. Hidesato said. "The story is that the brother of one of the artist's friends was killed by this woman. They did not know what she was, but the rumors about the killing spread to our clan and we hunted and captured her before she could do more harm."

"This is a Hari onago?" Don asked. "How does she kill?"

"Her hair is a deadly weapon," Mr. Hidesato answered. "The tips of each of her hairs is fitted with a needle-like, barbed hook. She walks the streets searching for young, single men walking by themselves. When she comes across one, she offers him a coquettish smile. If the smile is returned, she attacks by letting all of her hair down and the barbed ends then lash out with incredible speed, sinking deep into her victim's flesh."

"That explains the fish hook appearance on our victim's skin," Don said.

"She is immensely strong," Mr. Hidesato said. "Once her victim is ensnared and helpless, she rips him into pieces with her hooks and devours the remains."

"Anybody ever get away from her?" Casey asked.

"If one is a very fast runner and can get into a building with a sturdy door," Mr. Hidesato said. "If the man can get safely indoors before her hooks catch him, he only has to survive until sunrise, when the yokai vanishes."

"She's fast and she's strong," Raph said. "How the hell do we catch her?"

"The trap coin must be shoved onto one of her barbs," Mr. Hidesato said. "To do this, one must grab a section of her hair."

"That means getting close enough to get tangled up in her hair," Don said.

"Without getting ripped to shreds," Mikey added.

"Once the trap coin is in place, her hair will lose its mobility," Mr. Hidesato said. "It requires speed and agility to catch this yokai. Then there is the matter of luring her out in the first place."

"I'm guessing she won't find turtles attractive," Leo said.

"Nor old men," Mr. Hidesato said with a quick glance in Raph's direction.

"That leaves me," Casey said.

"Ya' ain't all that fast," Raph said, giving him hard stare.

"Maybe not, but I'm fast enough," Casey said. "I figure all I gotta do is make it to my motorcycle. I can start that baby up in under a second and get her to sixty before any of that bitch's hair touches me."

"If we jump out of hiding before she can pursue Casey, then we can surround and cut her off from him," Leo said.

"It wouldn't hurt to give him a little extra protection," Don said, appearing lost in thought.

When he didn't continue, Raph prodded him. "What are ya' thinking, Brainiac?"

"Bullet proof vest," Don said. "Well, not bullet proof, but something he could wear over his clothes that would be harder for a barb to penetrate. Casey, do you have a leather jacket?"

"Yeah, April bought me one a couple years ago," Casey said. "It's thick as hell."

"That's perfect," Don said. "You'll need leather pants too and not the kind they wear on TV shows."

"More like chaps the cowboys wear," Casey said, understanding what Don was going for.

"Like that," Don said. "I could make them if you could get me some leather. April might have some in her shop. Wear a thick shirt under the jacket and blue jeans under the pants. And boots if you've got them."

"I've got boots," Casey said.

"What about his head?" Raph asked. "I know it's thick, but she could sink a barb into his face."

"Hey!" Casey protested.

"He could carry his helmet," Mikey said. "As soon as Hari decides his face looks good enough to eat, Casey could slap the helmet on his head."

"I'll run home, let April know what's going on, and grab whatever leather stuff I can find in her shop," Casey said.

"Come back as quickly as you can," Don told him. "I'll need time to fashion some pants for you."

"There is a spare bedroom on the second floor, Mr. Jones, if you want to get some sleep," Mr. Hidesato said. "It has its own bath."

"I'll take ya' up on that," Casey said. "Be back shortly."

Raph went to the front to let Casey out and then locked the door behind him. He returned to the office in time to hear Don ask, "What are we going to do with the arm?"

"There is a furnace in the room next to your work space in the basement," Mr. Hidesato said. "It is separate from the one used to heat the house and burns much hotter. The smell of anything burned inside is ventilated in such a way that it is not noticeable."

"That means you've had occasion to burn things such as this before," Leo said.

"Unfortunately," Mr. Hidesato said. "We have tampered with it and left traces of ourselves on the remains, so they cannot be returned to the site of this poor man's demise."

"His family isn't going to get any closure," Mikey said.

"Too often with yokai that is the case," Mr. Hidesato said. "I have often wished to be able to offer the family some comfort, but the cause of most yokai deaths do not allow for that."

"Kinda sucks," Mikey said.

Mr. Hidesato pushed back from the desk and stood up. "I will burn the arm and then retire. Good-night warders."

Taking his tablet with him, Mr. Hidesato left the room and went downstairs. After he was gone the brothers looked around at each other.

"There's no point in my lying down," Don said. "I've got work to do as soon as Casey gets back here."

"I'm gonna hit the showers," Raph said. "Anybody want to go with?"

"I'll join you," Mikey said, getting up from his chair. "What about you, Leo?"

"I'll wait here with Donny," Leo said. "I want to check the journals and see if I can find the entry for the Hari onago."

"Both of ya' are gonna need sleep sometime," Raph said. "How about I come down and help ya' with that leather suit when I'm done in the shower, Don?"

"I accept," Don said. "I'd like a couple of hours of shuteye after I finish the thing."

"Then I'll collect Leo for a nap too," Mikey said. Addressing his older brother, he added, "You aren't going to spend hours with those musty journals."

"Speaking of journals," Don said, "why don't you guys take the blank ones I brought upstairs? We need to work on them sometime. Be as detailed as possible. If we've learned anything from our hunts it's that future warders need as much information as we can give them. We also know we can't depend on the creatures to stay caught."

"Okay," Mikey said, snatching the journals up from the corner of the desk where they'd left them earlier. Then he and Raph went upstairs.

Don collected his duffel bag from the couch and went around to sit at the desk. Taking a blank pad of paper from his duffel and a pen from the desk set, he began to sketch a design for the leather pants he was going to make.

While he did that, Leo took some journals from the bookshelves and got comfortable on the couch. The journals they had pulled out while researching the Jubokko were still scattered across the coffee table, which surprised Leo. Mr. Hidesato had time to put them away and hadn't done so, perhaps having grown tired of tidying up behind the turtles.

Leo was searching through his second journal when the doorbell rang. When he started to rise, Don waved at him to stay seated and went to let Casey in. They both returned to the office long enough for Don to collect his sketch and duffel bag. Casey was carrying a bag with the logo for April's shop emblazoned on its sides.

Sometime after Raph went down to join Don in the basement, Mikey strolled into the office, fully intending to drag Leo up to bed. He found his brother sound asleep on the couch with a journal face down on his plastron.

Sliding the journal out from under Leo's fingers, Mikey set it on the coffee table and then used one of the blankets on the back of the couch to cover his brother. He took a second one with him over to an easy chair, pulling the matching ottoman close and then getting comfortable with his feet up. Mikey was asleep in minutes.

The house settled into silence. Leo slept dreamlessly for a time and when a dream did come, it was different than the others he'd had.

In his dream, Leo and his brothers surrounded a comely young woman. For a moment nothing happened, and then the wind kicked up, disarranging her long, dark locks.

As soon as her hair lifted, the attractive face became contorted with rage. Leo felt something sharp flick the skin on his cheek and it stung.

Before he could react, a light from somewhere nearby began to grow brighter. Within seconds that light swelled to such brilliance that Leo had to squint against it.

"Leo, dude, wake up," Mikey urged, shaking his brother's shoulder.

Leo's eyes snapped open and settled on Mikey's concerned face. Clearing his throat, Leo sat up and Mikey perched on the coffee table in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"You were making some weird sounds and holding your hands up in front of your face," Mikey said. "Was something attacking you in your dream?"

"It was the Hari onago," Leo said, touching his cheek as the memory of the wound she'd inflicted came back to him. "I wasn't trying to fend her off though, I was trying to protect my eyes from a very bright light that came out of nowhere."

"Did you find her in a journal before you fell asleep?" Mikey asked. "Maybe it says something about a light."

"I found a reference to her and it was pretty much everything Mr. Hidesato told us," Leo said. "Nothing about a light."

"Then we gotta ask him," Mikey said. "Maybe he forgot about it."

"What time is it?" Leo asked.

Mikey rose and went around to look at the small clock on the desk. "Just past two-thirty," he said. "I could go for a sandwich. How about you?"

Getting up to stretch, Leo said, "I could. Do you have any idea where Raph and Don are?"

"Nope. I fell asleep in that chair," Mikey said. "Let's go find out."

Mikey went downstairs and Leo upstairs. Leo found his brothers asleep in one of the bedrooms and backed out quietly.

Meeting Mikey again on the ground floor, Leo said, "They're sound asleep."

"Probably ate before they went up," Mikey said as he and Leo proceeded into the kitchen.

They discovered Mr. Hidesato seated at the table, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Did you sleep well?" Mr. Hidesato asked them.

"Leo had another dream," Mikey said as he pulled out a loaf of bread.

Lowering his paper, Mr. Hidesato asked, "Was it about the Hari onago?"

While they made sandwiches, Leo told the man about his dream. Taking seats at the table, Mikey asked, "So that light. Was that something the creature makes?"

Mr. Hidesato frowned as he shook his head. "No. It is nothing with which I am familiar. Perhaps it was an automobile headlight?"

Mikey stopped his sandwich halfway to his mouth, his eyes wide. "You don't think it could have been Bishop, do you? I keep expecting him to pop up."

"He probably will if reports of strange sightings reach him," Leo said. "It's something to be considered."

"Who is Bishop?" Mr. Hidesato asked.

Leo explained, telling him of Agent John Bishop and the Earth Protection Force. "He's helped us in the past, but most of our encounters involve him trying to dissect us. He'll investigate any yokai sighting he's made aware of to find out if it's of alien origin."

"It won't matter if it isn't 'cause he'll still get in our way," Mikey said. "We've gotta try to keep a low profile on what we're doing and on any news getting out about creatures."

"Another good reason not to have other warders come here," Mr. Hidesato said. "They will not be nearly as circumspect as we are."

The brothers finished their sandwiches and then went to the dojo for a workout. It wasn't long before Raph and Don found them.

After their workout, Leo took a quick shower in the basement bathroom and then joined his brothers in the media room. Mr. Hidesato had told them he was preparing dinner so that they could relax.

When it was time to eat, Raph ran upstairs and pounded on Casey's door, rousing his friend. At the dinner table, Leo told them of his dream and their concerns about Bishop.

"That's just what we need, Bishop horning in on this," Raph said.

"We can't worry about him," Leo said. "We'll carry on with our plan and hope he isn't around. If we do see him at some point, we'll probably have to tell him something of what's happening, just to keep him out of our way."

"What makes you think he'll listen?" Don asked.

"We proved that we were right about the Tengu Shredder," Leo said. "That should have bought us some consideration from the man."

"If he becomes a nuisance, I can bring some pressure to bear on the man," Mr. Hidesato said. "I am not without influential friends. If necessary, the full weight of the Council can be utilized as well."

"Did ya' finish those pants, Donny?" Casey asked.

"They're ready for a fitting," Don said.

"Let's review logistics while we finish up here," Leo said. "Then we can get Casey suited up."

"I brought April's van," Casey said. "My motorcycle's inside."

They discussed the plan for capturing the Hari onago and then Don helped Casey into his protective gear. Don had taken apart several leather jackets in order to create the pants, making certain they were large enough to fit over Casey's jeans and not restrict his movements.

While Casey pulled the van around to the alley behind the gardens, the turtles collected the proper trap coin and the wax tool. It was after nine and dark out as the Turtles climbed inside the van for the ride to the Bronx.

Casey drove slowly past the alley where he'd found the remains of the Hari onago's victim. There was white chalk outlines around where the various human parts had lain, indicating the police had processed the scene. After driving around a couple of times, the group determined that there was currently no police presence in the area.

"They probably think it was a gang related killing," Don said.

"Let's make sure it's the only one," Leo said, his expression grim.

"How are we gonna know where Casey should park his bike?" Raph asked.

"As long as we're in the general area of her first kill, I'm fairly certain she'll come to him," Leo said. "What we need is a spot that will provide us with good cover."

"The city blocks here are about six hundred feet long," Don said. "Casey can probably run that in under a minute."

"If he's motivated," Raph said.

"Ya' can bet your ass I will be," Casey said.

"We should cut that time down," Leo said. "We have to allow for the time it takes you to mount your bike and start it."

"Then he should be no more than four hundred to four hundred and fifty feet from where he parks the bike at all times," Don said.

"Make sure ya' back it into the parking spot," Raph said. "That way ya' can turn away from whichever direction the creature shows up."

"Geez, ya' think I'm an idiot?" Casey asked.

"I'll get back to ya' on that," Raph said with a grin.

"Jerk," Casey said.

"Wack bag," Raph tossed back at him.

"Over there," Leo said, tapping Casey on the shoulder and pointing to a section of the block where a small liquor store sat.

"Gotcha, let me find a parking place," Casey said.

Once he'd parked the van, Casey and Raph took the motorcycle out of the back and walked it to within three hundred feet of the liquor store. Leaving it backed onto the sidewalk facing outwards, they joined the other three turtles who were waiting in front of the store.

"Walk a hundred feet in that direction," Leo said, pointing away from where the motorcycle was parked, "then come back past us towards the bike. Stay at least fifty feet from it and turn around to come back. If you're too close to the bike when she approaches, you won't get a big enough jump on her."

"So I just walk up and down the sidewalk?" Casey asked.

"Just walk," Leo said. "Try not to look as though you're waiting on anything. We'll post atop the store awning, in the tree, behind the garbage bins, and on the window balcony one floor up."

"Don't look in our direction when ya' go by either," Raph said.

Casey lifted the collar on his jacket and turned to look at his motorcycle. "Okay, I guess I'll start walking."

When he glanced back, the turtles had vanished to their hiding places. Exhaling heavily, Casey began strolling the sidewalk, swinging his helmet and behaving as though he hadn't a care in the world.

Hiding amongst the tree branches, Leo scanned the street. It was quiet; a block containing mostly small stores with some apartments above them. Since it was nearly ten-thirty at night, most of the apartments were dark.

Leo kept track of the time as it passed. They were two blocks from where the yokai's first attack had been and it had happened sometime after midnight. The waiting did not bother him, but concern over police patrols did. If a patrol unit caught sight of Casey, they would stop and question him. He'd more than likely be told to move along and that would ruin their chances of catching the creature.

Luck seemed to be with them. For more than two hours Casey paced the same length of sidewalk, seemingly undaunted by the monotony. Only three cars passed on the street during that time and none of them were police units.

Already watchful, Leo grew even more so as the hour crawled past midnight. His brothers were well hidden and he couldn't see them, but he knew that they were quite aware of the time.

Donatello, on the balcony, had the most unobstructed view of the street. Casey was approaching their positions when Don imitated the call of a Northern Mockingbird to draw his brothers' attention.

Through the branches of the tree, Leo saw a young woman in a loosely fitting kimono walking down the sidewalk towards Casey. Their friend stopped under the awning where Raph was hidden and awaited her approach.

Without pausing in her steps, the Hari onago smiled demurely at Casey. Leo tensed, getting ready to spring from hiding.

For a moment Casey seemed to have forgotten what he was supposed to do. Holding his breath, Leo waited, hoping that Casey wouldn't allow her to get too close. Then Casey shook his head as though waking himself, and smiled.

As soon as Casey returned her smile, he yanked the helmet onto his head, turned on his heel, and started running.

The Hari onago was incredibly fast. In the time it took Casey to don his helmet she had let her hair down. If he hadn't been simultaneously moving, the first lash of her hair would have entangled him fully.

As it was, several barbed tips slid off his helmet and a dozen more ripped into the top layer of his leather jacket and pants.

Running as if the very devil was after him, Casey sped toward his bike without looking back. Before the Hari onago could move to give chase, the turtles leaped out of hiding and surrounded her.

The sound of Casey's motorcycle starting up told the turtles he'd reached safety. They didn't need to worry about his staying out of the yokai's reach; his tires squealed as he sped away from the scene.

Upon seeing the turtles, the Hari onago hissed, her eyes on the warder symbols burned into Leo's arm. Turning away from him, she tried to slip past Mikey, pulling up short when she saw that he also bore the symbol.

Finding that she couldn't escape, the creature decided to fight. With blinding speed her hair snapped out at the turtles, the barbs on each tip deadly sharp.

Leo automatically turned his carapace to her, feeling the snap of her hair as it bounced off the hard surface. He spun back to try to grab hold of one of her locks, but her hair recoiled from his grasping hands.

"Keep your shell to her!" Leo yelled.

A barb swept past his guard but couldn't penetrate his plastron. Each length of hair seemed to have a mind of its own and Leo knew it wouldn't be long before the creature stopped trying for their center mass and went for areas not protected by shell.

"Shit!" Raph yelped as a barbed tip sliced into his arm.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Mikey screeched, jumping up and down while hair snapped at his legs.

Don had his bō out, trying to trap a section of hair. In the time it took to blink, the Hari onago hooked one of his hands and caused him to drop his weapon. Leo drew his sword and sliced the tendril of hair as Don worked it out of his skin. When he threw it down, the tendril crawled across the sidewalk and was scooped up by another section of hair.

The Hari onago tried to run through the space left by Leo when he'd moved to rescue Don and the turtle leader had to jump to cut off her escape. In response, several coils of hair lashed his body, scratching the skin along his exposed sides and arms.

"Fuck me!" Raph shouted as a lock of hair looped around his wrist and dug into the back of his hand. With his free hand he tried to catch another tendril that came at him, but it drew back so quickly his hand grasped air.

"She's too fast!" Mikey called out, sounding desperate.

A tendril snapped towards Leo's face and he ducked aside, not quickly enough to avoid the stinging cut she inflicted along his cheek.

Just as in his dream, as soon as that happened, a light suddenly appeared in the darkness. It wasn't coming from the street though, it was coming from Donatello.

Looking over at his brother, Leo saw that the warder symbols on his arm had begun to glow. The brighter they got, the slower the tendrils nearest him became.

"Grab my hand!" Don yelled, reaching for both Leo and Raph.

When Leo's hand touched Don's, his own warder symbols started to glow. Stretching toward his youngest brother, Leo tried to catch hold of Mikey's hand.

Almost as if in desperation, the Hari onago focused on the one warder whose symbols had not come to life. As all of her hair began to move towards Mikey, Don clamped down on the coil that was still caught in the back of Raph's hand to keep it from escaping.

Though slowed by the warder magic, the Hari onago's hair swept forward quickly enough so that the first tendril touched his plastron before Mikey could move.

Behind them, the roar of a motorcycle cut through the night. "Hey bitch! Thought ya' wanted me!"

The Hari onago jerked around, her hair snapping back from Mikey, and Leo lunged for him.

"Get him, Raph!" Leo ordered as he fastened onto Mikey's hand.

Raph was moving before the words fully left Leo's mouth. Pouncing at Mikey's outstretched hand, he seized it and completed the circle.

The symbols on Mikey's arm began to glow once he made the connection to his brothers. As the intensity of the light increased, the Hari onago's hair backed away from the warders, moving in slow motion.

Trapped by the magic of the light, the creature stood frozen, her hair looped around her body. Using two fingers, Don worked the barb of the last tendril loose from Raph's hand and then maintained his grip on it so that it couldn't get away.

"Gotta move fast," Raph said, squinting against the brightness created by the warder symbols. "Who's got the coin?"

"Mikey does," Leo said. "Stay still; Mikey will lean towards you. When he releases your hand, slide yours up along his arm to maintain contact while he gets the coin out of his belt."

Leo leaned in Mikey's direction when the younger turtle began to move, giving his brother as much slack as he could. When just the tips of his fingers were still touching Don's, Leo held his position.

Very slowly Mikey reached for his belt, making certain that Raph was touching him at all times. Taking the coin from a hidden pocket, he lifted his hand again and transferred the coin to Raph.

"I'm gonna count three," Raph said. "On three I'll stick this coin on the hair Don's holding."

"The rest of us won't let go of each other," Leo said.

Raph nodded. "Ready? One, two, three!"

Spinning towards Don, Raph's hand snapped down on the length of hair. It pulled against his grip, the tip twisting around to avoid the coin he was holding.

The glow from the symbols diminished once the circle was broken and the Hari onago showed signs of coming to life. Just as her hair began to slide loose from her body again, Raph jammed the coin onto the barbed tip and leaped away.

Head thrown back, the creature howled as her hair whipped towards the coin and was pulled into it. There was a grinding sound from the heels of her shoes when the Hari onago dug into the sidewalk to try to fight against the coin's magic.

Her struggles were in vain. Within seconds her body disappeared into the coin.

Dropping Leo's hand, Don pounced on the coin, sweeping it up and placing it inside the tips of the wax tool. Leo released Mikey's hand and the glow from their symbols faded completely.

Holding up the sealed coin, Don looked around at his brothers, then at Casey who walked over to join them.

"Guys, what the hell just happened?" Casey asked. "Ya' glowed. What made ya' glow like that?"

Speaking for his brothers, Leo said, "We have no idea."

End Hari onago