Later on that night, everyone stayed in, afraid that dragons might catch them off-guard.

Donny and Rita had come back to the lair for dinner, then went back to the lab to continue setting it up.

"Man, if I had a set-up like this at home, the possibilities for my inventions would be endless." said Donny, marveling at Rita's laboratory space.

Rita smiled. "I can imagine. It's a shame all you could find was an abandoned train station to live in. We had to find various places because we all wanted our own little place in the sewer. Shelly is an exception; all she wanted was a nice kitchen with a full fridge, and she's fine."

"Sounds like Mikey." Donny laughed.

Rita laughed.

After a little while, they had set up the furniture.

"Well, all we need now is the lab equipment." said Rita.

"Yep." said Donny.

Back at the lair, Ashton was getting restless.

"I need to climb." she whined.

"Go find a tree or something then." said Leo impatiently as something really interesting happened on TV.

Ashton looked around, and noticed that everyone was rather preoccupied. She sighed heavily, then left the lair. She walked down the passageways, and suddenly felt very lonely. These past few days, bonds had begun to be formed between her family, and the new Turtles, and she was the odd one out. Donny could hang out with Rita, Leo and Venus were together a lot, Mikey and Shelly spent a lot of time together, Splinter could talk to Pidgina about anything . . . and then there was Raph, her best buddy. He'd been hanging around Cori; she knew he liked her. And even though she was happy for him, a part of her wished that Raph had never met Cori, and that they could hang out again like they always used to.

Ashton found a manhole opening, and left the sewers, going to the park. She soon found a nice tree, shooed the scorpions away from her, and relaxed on a branch. The cool breeze swept through the trees, making them rustle ever so gently on this summer night. She remembered when Raph used to sit right under the tree she was in, and they'd talk into the night. Suddenly, it all seemed like she was back in Brazil, no one to talk to, no friends at all.

As she relaxed on the branch, the next breeze bought a new scent with it. Ashton's nose twitched at the strange scent. She then heard something in the tree that was next to her. Her ears twitched as the unnatural movement in the next tree over alerted her to the fact that the breeze wasn't what was affecting it.

She sat up quickly, and climbed higher into her tree, then peered out of it to the next tree. It was all silent, but a distinct disturbance lingered in the air that tickled her skin and captured her attention.

Suddenly, movement in the tree was sudden, and then stopped. Ashton could feel her heart beat double time, and cold chills ran up and down her spine. She hissed threateningly to warn away whatever it was that was there. Feeling a little more than vulnerable being all alone, she jumped out of the tree, and began making her way over to the manhole, when a feeling stopped her. She knew she was being followed, and going into the manhole would inevitably lead this stranger to the Turtles.

She stood in the middle of the alleyway next to the park, unsure of what her next move would be. And just as quickly as the feeling of being alone came on, it went away; there was a new presence. Suddenly, Ashton spun around and came face to face with the same young man she saw when coming back from Dunkin Donuts that morning. The young man grinned.

"You!" Ashton said.

The young man continued grinning, baring the fangs he had. "Yeah, me."

"Who are you? Why do I keep seeing you?" Ashton asked, trying to push aside the fear that built up within her.

"As for your first question, my name is Schiam, but you can just call me, the assassin." he said quite matter-of-factly.

Ashton was shocked; she finally met the assassin. "So you're the assassin. Who are you going to assassinate?"

"It's the answer to your second question, Ashton." Schiam's grin faded. "I'm here to assassinate, you."

Ashton felt her heart jump into her throat, and her blood run cold.

"Dragon Lord is tired of you being in the way. I'm from a very poor dimension, and he's paying me highly to dispose of you."

"What are you? Why do you have fangs?"

"What slithers through trees in the Amazon and poisons its victims with a single bite?" He flicked out a forked tongue. "A snake, of course."

"I hate snakes. I hated them when I lived in the rain forest, and I hate them now." Ashton said bitterly.

"I never liked cats either." said Schiam as his eyes took on an eerie red glow.

Ashton's nails slowly extended. "I've never lost a fight to a snake yet, and I'm not going to start now."

Schiam grinned evilly.

Ashton hissed as Schiam began stepping closer to her. As she reached out to scratch him, he disappeared. "Huh?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face. Suddenly, she was roughly thrown down from behind. As she turned to get up, Schiam pinned her down with his foot.

Ashton slashed at his leg, and he moved it quickly.

Schiam's quick body moved away from Ashton's attacks each time, preventing Ashton from getting very many hits in.

After a while, Ashton was heated, angry, and frustrated. She looked at Schiam with disgust, who only met her look with that of pure glee.

"I'm going to get going now."

"Leaving already huh? Scared?"

Schiam chuckled. "Hardly the case. I just thought I'd test out to see what you're made of before I move in for the real kill. I like to play with my victims before I annihilate them." he grinned.

Ashton's nails slowly retracted as she caught her breath.

"You'll be seeing me again young one. You can count on it." Schiam then disappeared off.

Ashton watched him leave, then quickly ran into the manhole, closed it behind her, and ran back to the lair.