Disclaimer: Don't own the Ninja Turtles, do own the demon world, it's residents, the Xawks, the Reapers and their respective identities.
----
Raphael groaned and tried to put his hand up to his head, but he realized immediately that his hands were bound behind his back, and his feet were tied together. The turtle snarled angrily and tried to break free; he'd been aware of his apparent extra strength for some time, especially when it came to fighting with Leo or training. He could bust open a normal sandbag with one hit rather than hundreds. However, whatever was binding his hand would not break, much like the furniture in Ssylvar's home. What Raph didn't know was that he would need power to break these bonds, not just strength.
The angry turtle gave up on his bindings and looked around; he was lying on the floor in a small concrete-walled room, alone. There was a cracked wooden door about three feet in front of him, and it was closed. Raph tried to struggle toward it, but quickly realized that it was futile; he wouldn't be able to open it anyway. He sighed and settled down to wait, his brain streaming with ideas of what he was going to do with his captors once he was free.
Eventually, after nearly an hour, a figure in a black cloak entered the room. Raph yelled angry insults and curses, but the dark figure did not seem to notice, simply grabbing the back of Raphael's belt and dragging the irate turtle from the room.
The trip was short, but Raph was absolutely furious by the time the figure walked into a large room and dropped him to the floor. The turtle bellowed in outrage, cursing everything and everyone. He was so angry that he barely noticed another figure drag Leonardo into the room. He also barely noticed that many black figures were converging on them from the dark corners of the room. Raphael hollered at all of them.
Leonardo had only been conscious for a few minutes, but he was far more aware of the present situation than his brother. Leo had tried to break his bonds once and realized that he could not, so he'd given up and resigned himself to observance. Leo kept his mouth shut and watched as nearly twenty figures in black surrounded them. Raphael continued to curse loudly, even as one of the figures stepped forward and loomed over the two turtles.
"Be quiet!" The dark figure bellowed. Leonardo decided that it was definitely a male voice, raspy and nearly worn out.
Raphael did not stop cursing. The figure waved his hand and two more came forward with a piece of cloth. Leonardo decided that this guy was certainly their leader...whoever -they- were.
The two figures grabbed onto Raphael's head and forced the cloth over his mouth. Leo could have told him that now would be a good time -not- to talk, but Raph didn't realize the consequences, and as soon as his mouth opened to utter another curse, the cloth was pulled into it. He was effectively gagged, and the two figures in black tied a tight knot behind his head to make sure he would stay that way. Raphael was even more furious, but now he could only utter muffled grunts.
"That's better," the lead figure said. His two followers fell back into the crowd, each nodding to the leader as they passed. He nodded back and reached his hand up to his hood, pulling it down around his shoulders.
Leo and Raph were both a little startled; this figure was a -man-. He didn't have spikes or horns or wings or scales or fur; instead he was just a tall young man, with short dark hair that stuck out messily in every direction, a thin face with a bit of stubble, and a sharp nose. In addition he sported piercings in his nose, ears and eyebrows, and a tattoo of a dragon which wound around his neck. To the turtles, the best way to describe him was that he looked very 'cool.' Leo was reminded of some of the punk rock bands that Mikey liked to listen to.
"You seem surprised," the man said, "I don't have any other form to show you. This is how I look." His tone of voice did not match his appearance; he was angry, and Leo thought he sounded very tense. At the man's words the other thirty-odd figures removed their hoods as well. Most of them looked strange, with the aforementioned wings, claws, ect. A few of them looked like humans.
"Who are you?" Leonardo asked, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
"You don't know us?" The man asked, his face in a sneer, "You should, you work for the traitors, the ones who would kill us."
"I'm sorry?" Leonardo asked, genuinely confused.
One of the Demons in the crowd called out angrily, "He lies, kill them!"
The lead man turned toward the voice and raised a hand. He then turned back to Leonardo and pointed to the turtle's right shoulder.
"This scar marks you for it. You murder for the traitors."
Leo looked at his shoulder, but his arms were twisted in a way that he could not see the scar that Orgo had placed on him. He knew it was there, but it still did not help him to understand.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Leo said, "A Demon named Orgo put this on my shoulder so that he could bring me to this world. He brought me here to help my brother, Donatello. Orgo told me that he's being impersonated by an evil demon who's been killing people. Was it him who was blowing up the city today?"
A murmer rose from the crowd of Demons at Leonardo's words. The lead man put up his hands for silence.
"Your brother is named Donatello?" the man asked. Leonardo nodded, and the man scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"That's interesting. You two certainly -look- like him, but looks in this place are quite arbitrary."
Raph began to struggle more at the man's words, and Leo gave a start.
"You know Donatello?" Leo asked, echoing the words that Raph so desperately wanted to be able to say.
The man nodded, "Yes, we all know of him and have seen him, though none of us know him personally. Your story about Orgo is strange...he told you that Donatello was an evil Demon?"
"Yeah...he said that the real Donatello was being tortured and kept in the lava pits...he even showed him to me. He showed Raph the impostor too...he put a guy in that lava; he just threw him in there like it was nothing..." Leo took a deep breath; he was starting to get upset thinking about his brother.
"Very interesting," the man said.
One of the demons called out from behind him; the same voice as before, "How do we know he isn't lying? He could just be making this up!"
The lead Demon shook his head, "I know you're skeptical, Hal, which is why you're so valuable to our group. But," and he waved his hand toward the turtles, "Why would anyone make up a story like this? If this turtle wanted us to believe something, he wouldn't tell us something that doesn't make sense. Any Demon would know that this story is bogus."
The Demon named Hal crossed his arms, "True, but, what if they're telling us that bogus story -because- they want us to think that they don't know anything? They're tricking us into thinking they're really innocent when they're not!"
"Oh, come on, Hal!" Another voice echoed from the crowd.
"What?" Hal responded, "Would -you- take a risk with Traitor spies? I wouldn't."
The lead man put up his hands, "Enough. I appreciate your concern." He turned back to Leonardo, "I hope you can understand why we're nervous about you."
"I can't," Leonardo said bluntly, "I told you...we're only here to help our brother. We're not helping any Traitors, and we're not murderers..." Leo cut off; they'd been more than willing to murder an 'evil' demon two weeks before.
"Tell me," the lead man said, "What are your thoughts on Orgo and Ssylvar?"
"Well," Leo said, "I thought they were ok at first, though I must admit I had my reservations when Orgo invited me to come to this world. I really only came because it seemed like the only chance I had to find out what had happened to Donatello. You see...he was murdered, and we never found out why or who had done it." Leo paused, emotion overcoming him for a moment. He regained his composure and continued, proceeding to tell about how he and Raph had gone to attack the 'evil' Donatello, how he'd escaped, and how they'd tried again to retrieve him from Earth but to no avail. He also told them how he and Raph had been prisoners for two weeks in Ssylvar's house, until the wall was blown off earlier that day.
"I see," the lead man said, "So your opinion of Ssylvar and Orgo has waned somewhat?"
"Absolutely," Leo said, "They both started to seem kinda shify, and being stuck in that house didn't help much. "
"You don't know the half of it," the lead man said. He waved his hand and the bindings disappeared from Leo and Raph's hands and feet. The gag disappeared as well.
"What the hell is all this shit?!" Raph screamed, jumping to his feet. Several of the Demons advanced towards him, but the lead man waved them off.
"Try to relax," the man said, "I will put the bonds back if I have to."
Raph seethed, but clamped his mouth shut. Even he could see that this was not a good situation, but it was starting to get a little better, at least.
"Thank you for releasing us," Leo said, climbing to his feet as well, "Why now?"
The man shrugged, "I'm starting to believe your story; I don't think Ssylvar would take such a covert approach to finding us. Orgo might, but he's not in charge. Also, I don't like to kill people. These days I can just as easily as the next Messenger, but breaking the rules seems blasphemic."
"Messenger?" Leo asked. He vaguely remembered Orgo saying that word.
"Yes," the man said, "You don't know what that is?"
"I...I think I do," Leo said, "Orgo and Ssylvar said that when you die, you need a Messenger to get you here."
The man nodded, "That's right. And all of us here are Messengers," he made a sweeping guesture. He also put a hand on his chest, "My name is Justin, by the way."
"Leonardo and Raph," Leo said absently, waving his hand at himself and his brother respectively, but his mind clearly on other things, "But...Orgo and Ssylvar said that -they- were Messengers..." Leo said, confused.
"Yes," Justin said, "They are, but there are many of us. Three hundred and sixty-five."
"Well, that's convenient," Raph said, snorting.
Justin laughed, and the turtles could both see that he also had his tongue pierced. "It is convenient," the man said, "You see, with that many of us, we don't have to work very often."
"What does all this have to do with us...or Donatello?" Leo asked, not sharing the man's amusement, "You said that you know him."
Justin nodded, "We do...you see, we Messengers; another name for us is Reapers, have a hierarchy of power, so to speak. Starting at the 365th, we go up in power until you get to number one, the most powerful of us all...and the most powerful of all demons."
"Ok..." Leo said, glancing at Raph, who didn't look like he cared at all about what this guy was saying.
"So," Justin said, "Some of us are weak, and some of us are very powerful. Orgo and Ssylvar are very powerful. Your brother is very powerful."
"Don?" Raph asked, his head snapping up.
"Yes," Justin said, "Donatello is the most powerful of all of us. When he died, that was his destiny to become the one known as the Siyem."
"Woah," Raph said, "Hold on a sec. You're tellin' me that Don is the...the -most- powerful guy around here?"
Justin nodded solemnly.
Raph slapped his knee, "Ha! You really had me goin' there, pal! There's no way...unless he really was possessed by an evil demon..."
"No...that definitely didn't happen," Justin said, "Your brother was made into a Messenger just as he came to us. It isn't possible to be 'possessed' by anything here."
"Well," Raph said, "It just doesn't sound right. I've seen a lot of crazy things lately, but who would pick -Donnie- to be the most powerful anything?"
Justin smiled, "That's how it usually goes. The one who is chosen to be our leader is usually the least likely person of all to be chosen."
"It makes sense," Leo said, "If anybody would be responsible for that kind of power, Don would be."
"That still doesn't explain why he threw a guy into a boiling pit of lava," Raph said.
"Well," Justin said, "He may have had good reason to. When we Messengers bring someone to this world, we're pretty attuned to the type of life that person led. If it's really bad, we feel strongly compelled to punish that person."
"Strongly compelled?" Leo asked.
"Yep," Justin said, "Consider this; if someone who is really bad is allowed to become a free Demon, they will eventually discover that they can increase their power by killing other demons. Soon enough, we have a mass murderer on our hands that we Messengers have little power to stop because we're not allowed to kill unless we're attacked....well, we didn't -used- to be able to kill..."
"What do you mean, you didn't used to be able to?" Raph asked, frowning.
"Orgo and Ssylvar have done something; we're not sure what. Somehow they've weakened the spirit of the Earth and caused all of her rules to disappear. That's why this city is in the process of being destroyed."
"Oh," Raph said, "So...is it really safe to be hanging out here like this?"
"Not very," Justin said, "But hopefully we've added enough stregnth to these walls that this building won't blow up."
"Um..." Leo said, "What if they notice that it's not blowing up?"
"We'll just have to hope that doesn't happen," Justin said, "We've been on the run from them for two weeks. We used to number about forty, but several of us have been killed."
"What about all the other Messenger people? You said that there were 365." Raph asked.
The man shook his head, "Most of them have joined with Orgo and Ssylvar."
"Why are they doing this?" Leo asked.
"They were tired of rules. There were many among us who felt that we should be the rulers of this place; after all, what's the use of having all that power if you can't use it?"
"So, what makes you guys different?" Raph asked, frowning.
"We are the weak Messengers," Justin said, "Some of us have barely more power than normal demons."
"Great," Raph said, "So, you group of weak guys is all that stands in the way of these morons from taking over this whole place?"
"Not just taking over," Justin said, "They will probably kill almost everyone, and then move on to the human world."
"What?" Leo exclaimed, "That can't be..."
"It can," Justin said, "Though, they probably won't kill the humans. They'll just make them their slaves and wait for them to die. Once that's happened, they'll be able to harvest their Demonic power for themselves."
Raphael looked skeptical, but Leo looked horrified.
"...how can they be stopped?" he asked, trying to calm himself down.
Justin shook his head, "The only hope is your brother."
Raph snorted.
"We aren't even sure if he's still alive," Justin said, "It is certain that Ssylvar and Orgo's first priority was to eliminate him. With all the rules gone, it's possible that they have."
"No..." Leo said, "No, I don't think they've done it....at least, I know that they've failed twice."
"Because you helped them do it," Justin said.
Leo nodded, his face twisted with grief, "Yes...we tried to kill him..."
"Whatever," Raph said, "That wasn't Don...it was...something else."
"What else was it, Raph?" Leo snapped, glaring at his brother.
"It wasn't Don! We would have known!"
"We didn't really give him a chance," Leo said, bowing his head.
Raph opened his mouth to speak, but abruptly closed it. He seemed to struggle for a moment with his thoughts, and finally he pounded his fist on his leg, "No! We didn't try to kill Donnie! We couldn't have!"
"Ssylvar and Orgo tricked you," Justin said, "They showed you things that would make you emotional, and they knew about his death."
"Yeah," Leo said, his eyes still downcast, "They did know about it. That's why I went with Orgo in the first place."
Raph nodded, "Yeah, that's how Ssylvar convinced me."
"They knew for a good reason," Justin said, "Ssylvar was the one who killed Don."
"What?!" Raph exclaimed, but Justin put up his hand.
"He didn't kill him to be a bastard; he killed him because the Earth Spirit Gaia told him to."
"Well, then, I'll just kick this Gaia's ass!" Raph yelled, his eyes flashing with fury.
The group of Demons seemed abashed, but Justin looked amused, "That would be impossible," he said, "But, you have to understand understand; Donatello was destined from birth to become the top Messenger...unfortunately our old one was destroyed and he had to be brought in early. We -have- to have a Siyem."
"So, you just up and killed him?" Raph said, still furious.
"I'm sorry," Justin said, "It wasn't our decision. Dying isn't really that bad...unfortunately the people who aren't already dead don't know that."
"No, they sure don't," Raph said, crossing his arms, "This is crap. Complete crap."
Leo sighed, "I know it sucks, Raph," he said, "But there's really nothing we can do now."
"Like hell there isn't!" Raph said.
"What would you suggest?" Leo asked.
"We kick all these jerk's asses, that's what we do!"
Leo shook his head, "Raph, you know we can't do that. They managed to knock us out and tie us up once; I'm sure they'll be able to do it again."
Raph snorted and glared at his brother, but he kept silent.
Justin was grinning slightly as the two brothers bickered, and waited until silence fell between them before speaking, "I'm sorry for what happened, but there's nothing that can be done about it now. We should worry about your brother's life in -this- world. If he's still alive, he's the only hope we have."
"You said that before," Leo said, "What can he really do?"
"He's the only one who has the power to kill both Orgo and Ssylvar," Justin said, "The rest of us are way too weak."
"Well, what good are we?" Raph said.
"He's a brand new Siyem," Justin said, "He won't know anything, he won't be able to -do- anything. If we can find him, we can help him."
"You can, maybe," Raph said, "We can't do crap."
"Don't worry," Justin said, "You're not useless. When Orgo and Ssylvar marked you with those scars, they gave you their raw strength. You don't have any power, but even Ssylvar would have a hard time killing you."
"So, we're punching bags," Leo said.
Justin smiled, "Maybe...but maybe not. Or, we may all be dead tomorrow."
"Great," Raph said. "So, do we have to follow you freaks around this place?"
"Absolutely not," Justin said, "But, do you really want to fend for yourself out there?"
Leo shook his head, "No. We were running for our lives out there earlier. We'll stay with you."
Raph shot a glare at Leo, but said nothing. Justin nodded.
"Good. You run a slightly smaller risk by being with us."
Raphael made a rude noise. Justin shrugged and snapped his fingers. A tiny blue Xawk appeared in the air above his head.
"I'll send this guy to look for Donatello....I hate to do it, because we've already lost two Xawks looking for him, but we -have- to find him."
He relayed his instructions to the tiny blue, which looked fairly distressed by its errand. Justin stroked his head soothingly and assured him that he would be fine. He was a great Xawk and would not have any problems at all. The little Xawk seemed somewhat more confident, and leap from Justin's arm with a squeak and was gone.
"Will that little thing actually be able to find him?" Raph asked.
Justin shrugged, "I hope so...we'll see."
"I don't like this. What do we do now?" Leo said.
"We wait. That's all we can do. I know it sucks." Justin shook his head sadly.
"Yeah," Raph said, "You can say that again."
----
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! I meant to work on this last weekend but then I got sick and well...I didn't do anything! This chapter was much longer than I thought it would be, and I didn't expect for it to only be one scene...but Leo and Raph needed to be straightened out! Anyway, I'll try to get another chapter out this weekend...barring illness, that shouldn't be a problem!
----
Raphael groaned and tried to put his hand up to his head, but he realized immediately that his hands were bound behind his back, and his feet were tied together. The turtle snarled angrily and tried to break free; he'd been aware of his apparent extra strength for some time, especially when it came to fighting with Leo or training. He could bust open a normal sandbag with one hit rather than hundreds. However, whatever was binding his hand would not break, much like the furniture in Ssylvar's home. What Raph didn't know was that he would need power to break these bonds, not just strength.
The angry turtle gave up on his bindings and looked around; he was lying on the floor in a small concrete-walled room, alone. There was a cracked wooden door about three feet in front of him, and it was closed. Raph tried to struggle toward it, but quickly realized that it was futile; he wouldn't be able to open it anyway. He sighed and settled down to wait, his brain streaming with ideas of what he was going to do with his captors once he was free.
Eventually, after nearly an hour, a figure in a black cloak entered the room. Raph yelled angry insults and curses, but the dark figure did not seem to notice, simply grabbing the back of Raphael's belt and dragging the irate turtle from the room.
The trip was short, but Raph was absolutely furious by the time the figure walked into a large room and dropped him to the floor. The turtle bellowed in outrage, cursing everything and everyone. He was so angry that he barely noticed another figure drag Leonardo into the room. He also barely noticed that many black figures were converging on them from the dark corners of the room. Raphael hollered at all of them.
Leonardo had only been conscious for a few minutes, but he was far more aware of the present situation than his brother. Leo had tried to break his bonds once and realized that he could not, so he'd given up and resigned himself to observance. Leo kept his mouth shut and watched as nearly twenty figures in black surrounded them. Raphael continued to curse loudly, even as one of the figures stepped forward and loomed over the two turtles.
"Be quiet!" The dark figure bellowed. Leonardo decided that it was definitely a male voice, raspy and nearly worn out.
Raphael did not stop cursing. The figure waved his hand and two more came forward with a piece of cloth. Leonardo decided that this guy was certainly their leader...whoever -they- were.
The two figures grabbed onto Raphael's head and forced the cloth over his mouth. Leo could have told him that now would be a good time -not- to talk, but Raph didn't realize the consequences, and as soon as his mouth opened to utter another curse, the cloth was pulled into it. He was effectively gagged, and the two figures in black tied a tight knot behind his head to make sure he would stay that way. Raphael was even more furious, but now he could only utter muffled grunts.
"That's better," the lead figure said. His two followers fell back into the crowd, each nodding to the leader as they passed. He nodded back and reached his hand up to his hood, pulling it down around his shoulders.
Leo and Raph were both a little startled; this figure was a -man-. He didn't have spikes or horns or wings or scales or fur; instead he was just a tall young man, with short dark hair that stuck out messily in every direction, a thin face with a bit of stubble, and a sharp nose. In addition he sported piercings in his nose, ears and eyebrows, and a tattoo of a dragon which wound around his neck. To the turtles, the best way to describe him was that he looked very 'cool.' Leo was reminded of some of the punk rock bands that Mikey liked to listen to.
"You seem surprised," the man said, "I don't have any other form to show you. This is how I look." His tone of voice did not match his appearance; he was angry, and Leo thought he sounded very tense. At the man's words the other thirty-odd figures removed their hoods as well. Most of them looked strange, with the aforementioned wings, claws, ect. A few of them looked like humans.
"Who are you?" Leonardo asked, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
"You don't know us?" The man asked, his face in a sneer, "You should, you work for the traitors, the ones who would kill us."
"I'm sorry?" Leonardo asked, genuinely confused.
One of the Demons in the crowd called out angrily, "He lies, kill them!"
The lead man turned toward the voice and raised a hand. He then turned back to Leonardo and pointed to the turtle's right shoulder.
"This scar marks you for it. You murder for the traitors."
Leo looked at his shoulder, but his arms were twisted in a way that he could not see the scar that Orgo had placed on him. He knew it was there, but it still did not help him to understand.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Leo said, "A Demon named Orgo put this on my shoulder so that he could bring me to this world. He brought me here to help my brother, Donatello. Orgo told me that he's being impersonated by an evil demon who's been killing people. Was it him who was blowing up the city today?"
A murmer rose from the crowd of Demons at Leonardo's words. The lead man put up his hands for silence.
"Your brother is named Donatello?" the man asked. Leonardo nodded, and the man scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"That's interesting. You two certainly -look- like him, but looks in this place are quite arbitrary."
Raph began to struggle more at the man's words, and Leo gave a start.
"You know Donatello?" Leo asked, echoing the words that Raph so desperately wanted to be able to say.
The man nodded, "Yes, we all know of him and have seen him, though none of us know him personally. Your story about Orgo is strange...he told you that Donatello was an evil Demon?"
"Yeah...he said that the real Donatello was being tortured and kept in the lava pits...he even showed him to me. He showed Raph the impostor too...he put a guy in that lava; he just threw him in there like it was nothing..." Leo took a deep breath; he was starting to get upset thinking about his brother.
"Very interesting," the man said.
One of the demons called out from behind him; the same voice as before, "How do we know he isn't lying? He could just be making this up!"
The lead Demon shook his head, "I know you're skeptical, Hal, which is why you're so valuable to our group. But," and he waved his hand toward the turtles, "Why would anyone make up a story like this? If this turtle wanted us to believe something, he wouldn't tell us something that doesn't make sense. Any Demon would know that this story is bogus."
The Demon named Hal crossed his arms, "True, but, what if they're telling us that bogus story -because- they want us to think that they don't know anything? They're tricking us into thinking they're really innocent when they're not!"
"Oh, come on, Hal!" Another voice echoed from the crowd.
"What?" Hal responded, "Would -you- take a risk with Traitor spies? I wouldn't."
The lead man put up his hands, "Enough. I appreciate your concern." He turned back to Leonardo, "I hope you can understand why we're nervous about you."
"I can't," Leonardo said bluntly, "I told you...we're only here to help our brother. We're not helping any Traitors, and we're not murderers..." Leo cut off; they'd been more than willing to murder an 'evil' demon two weeks before.
"Tell me," the lead man said, "What are your thoughts on Orgo and Ssylvar?"
"Well," Leo said, "I thought they were ok at first, though I must admit I had my reservations when Orgo invited me to come to this world. I really only came because it seemed like the only chance I had to find out what had happened to Donatello. You see...he was murdered, and we never found out why or who had done it." Leo paused, emotion overcoming him for a moment. He regained his composure and continued, proceeding to tell about how he and Raph had gone to attack the 'evil' Donatello, how he'd escaped, and how they'd tried again to retrieve him from Earth but to no avail. He also told them how he and Raph had been prisoners for two weeks in Ssylvar's house, until the wall was blown off earlier that day.
"I see," the lead man said, "So your opinion of Ssylvar and Orgo has waned somewhat?"
"Absolutely," Leo said, "They both started to seem kinda shify, and being stuck in that house didn't help much. "
"You don't know the half of it," the lead man said. He waved his hand and the bindings disappeared from Leo and Raph's hands and feet. The gag disappeared as well.
"What the hell is all this shit?!" Raph screamed, jumping to his feet. Several of the Demons advanced towards him, but the lead man waved them off.
"Try to relax," the man said, "I will put the bonds back if I have to."
Raph seethed, but clamped his mouth shut. Even he could see that this was not a good situation, but it was starting to get a little better, at least.
"Thank you for releasing us," Leo said, climbing to his feet as well, "Why now?"
The man shrugged, "I'm starting to believe your story; I don't think Ssylvar would take such a covert approach to finding us. Orgo might, but he's not in charge. Also, I don't like to kill people. These days I can just as easily as the next Messenger, but breaking the rules seems blasphemic."
"Messenger?" Leo asked. He vaguely remembered Orgo saying that word.
"Yes," the man said, "You don't know what that is?"
"I...I think I do," Leo said, "Orgo and Ssylvar said that when you die, you need a Messenger to get you here."
The man nodded, "That's right. And all of us here are Messengers," he made a sweeping guesture. He also put a hand on his chest, "My name is Justin, by the way."
"Leonardo and Raph," Leo said absently, waving his hand at himself and his brother respectively, but his mind clearly on other things, "But...Orgo and Ssylvar said that -they- were Messengers..." Leo said, confused.
"Yes," Justin said, "They are, but there are many of us. Three hundred and sixty-five."
"Well, that's convenient," Raph said, snorting.
Justin laughed, and the turtles could both see that he also had his tongue pierced. "It is convenient," the man said, "You see, with that many of us, we don't have to work very often."
"What does all this have to do with us...or Donatello?" Leo asked, not sharing the man's amusement, "You said that you know him."
Justin nodded, "We do...you see, we Messengers; another name for us is Reapers, have a hierarchy of power, so to speak. Starting at the 365th, we go up in power until you get to number one, the most powerful of us all...and the most powerful of all demons."
"Ok..." Leo said, glancing at Raph, who didn't look like he cared at all about what this guy was saying.
"So," Justin said, "Some of us are weak, and some of us are very powerful. Orgo and Ssylvar are very powerful. Your brother is very powerful."
"Don?" Raph asked, his head snapping up.
"Yes," Justin said, "Donatello is the most powerful of all of us. When he died, that was his destiny to become the one known as the Siyem."
"Woah," Raph said, "Hold on a sec. You're tellin' me that Don is the...the -most- powerful guy around here?"
Justin nodded solemnly.
Raph slapped his knee, "Ha! You really had me goin' there, pal! There's no way...unless he really was possessed by an evil demon..."
"No...that definitely didn't happen," Justin said, "Your brother was made into a Messenger just as he came to us. It isn't possible to be 'possessed' by anything here."
"Well," Raph said, "It just doesn't sound right. I've seen a lot of crazy things lately, but who would pick -Donnie- to be the most powerful anything?"
Justin smiled, "That's how it usually goes. The one who is chosen to be our leader is usually the least likely person of all to be chosen."
"It makes sense," Leo said, "If anybody would be responsible for that kind of power, Don would be."
"That still doesn't explain why he threw a guy into a boiling pit of lava," Raph said.
"Well," Justin said, "He may have had good reason to. When we Messengers bring someone to this world, we're pretty attuned to the type of life that person led. If it's really bad, we feel strongly compelled to punish that person."
"Strongly compelled?" Leo asked.
"Yep," Justin said, "Consider this; if someone who is really bad is allowed to become a free Demon, they will eventually discover that they can increase their power by killing other demons. Soon enough, we have a mass murderer on our hands that we Messengers have little power to stop because we're not allowed to kill unless we're attacked....well, we didn't -used- to be able to kill..."
"What do you mean, you didn't used to be able to?" Raph asked, frowning.
"Orgo and Ssylvar have done something; we're not sure what. Somehow they've weakened the spirit of the Earth and caused all of her rules to disappear. That's why this city is in the process of being destroyed."
"Oh," Raph said, "So...is it really safe to be hanging out here like this?"
"Not very," Justin said, "But hopefully we've added enough stregnth to these walls that this building won't blow up."
"Um..." Leo said, "What if they notice that it's not blowing up?"
"We'll just have to hope that doesn't happen," Justin said, "We've been on the run from them for two weeks. We used to number about forty, but several of us have been killed."
"What about all the other Messenger people? You said that there were 365." Raph asked.
The man shook his head, "Most of them have joined with Orgo and Ssylvar."
"Why are they doing this?" Leo asked.
"They were tired of rules. There were many among us who felt that we should be the rulers of this place; after all, what's the use of having all that power if you can't use it?"
"So, what makes you guys different?" Raph asked, frowning.
"We are the weak Messengers," Justin said, "Some of us have barely more power than normal demons."
"Great," Raph said, "So, you group of weak guys is all that stands in the way of these morons from taking over this whole place?"
"Not just taking over," Justin said, "They will probably kill almost everyone, and then move on to the human world."
"What?" Leo exclaimed, "That can't be..."
"It can," Justin said, "Though, they probably won't kill the humans. They'll just make them their slaves and wait for them to die. Once that's happened, they'll be able to harvest their Demonic power for themselves."
Raphael looked skeptical, but Leo looked horrified.
"...how can they be stopped?" he asked, trying to calm himself down.
Justin shook his head, "The only hope is your brother."
Raph snorted.
"We aren't even sure if he's still alive," Justin said, "It is certain that Ssylvar and Orgo's first priority was to eliminate him. With all the rules gone, it's possible that they have."
"No..." Leo said, "No, I don't think they've done it....at least, I know that they've failed twice."
"Because you helped them do it," Justin said.
Leo nodded, his face twisted with grief, "Yes...we tried to kill him..."
"Whatever," Raph said, "That wasn't Don...it was...something else."
"What else was it, Raph?" Leo snapped, glaring at his brother.
"It wasn't Don! We would have known!"
"We didn't really give him a chance," Leo said, bowing his head.
Raph opened his mouth to speak, but abruptly closed it. He seemed to struggle for a moment with his thoughts, and finally he pounded his fist on his leg, "No! We didn't try to kill Donnie! We couldn't have!"
"Ssylvar and Orgo tricked you," Justin said, "They showed you things that would make you emotional, and they knew about his death."
"Yeah," Leo said, his eyes still downcast, "They did know about it. That's why I went with Orgo in the first place."
Raph nodded, "Yeah, that's how Ssylvar convinced me."
"They knew for a good reason," Justin said, "Ssylvar was the one who killed Don."
"What?!" Raph exclaimed, but Justin put up his hand.
"He didn't kill him to be a bastard; he killed him because the Earth Spirit Gaia told him to."
"Well, then, I'll just kick this Gaia's ass!" Raph yelled, his eyes flashing with fury.
The group of Demons seemed abashed, but Justin looked amused, "That would be impossible," he said, "But, you have to understand understand; Donatello was destined from birth to become the top Messenger...unfortunately our old one was destroyed and he had to be brought in early. We -have- to have a Siyem."
"So, you just up and killed him?" Raph said, still furious.
"I'm sorry," Justin said, "It wasn't our decision. Dying isn't really that bad...unfortunately the people who aren't already dead don't know that."
"No, they sure don't," Raph said, crossing his arms, "This is crap. Complete crap."
Leo sighed, "I know it sucks, Raph," he said, "But there's really nothing we can do now."
"Like hell there isn't!" Raph said.
"What would you suggest?" Leo asked.
"We kick all these jerk's asses, that's what we do!"
Leo shook his head, "Raph, you know we can't do that. They managed to knock us out and tie us up once; I'm sure they'll be able to do it again."
Raph snorted and glared at his brother, but he kept silent.
Justin was grinning slightly as the two brothers bickered, and waited until silence fell between them before speaking, "I'm sorry for what happened, but there's nothing that can be done about it now. We should worry about your brother's life in -this- world. If he's still alive, he's the only hope we have."
"You said that before," Leo said, "What can he really do?"
"He's the only one who has the power to kill both Orgo and Ssylvar," Justin said, "The rest of us are way too weak."
"Well, what good are we?" Raph said.
"He's a brand new Siyem," Justin said, "He won't know anything, he won't be able to -do- anything. If we can find him, we can help him."
"You can, maybe," Raph said, "We can't do crap."
"Don't worry," Justin said, "You're not useless. When Orgo and Ssylvar marked you with those scars, they gave you their raw strength. You don't have any power, but even Ssylvar would have a hard time killing you."
"So, we're punching bags," Leo said.
Justin smiled, "Maybe...but maybe not. Or, we may all be dead tomorrow."
"Great," Raph said. "So, do we have to follow you freaks around this place?"
"Absolutely not," Justin said, "But, do you really want to fend for yourself out there?"
Leo shook his head, "No. We were running for our lives out there earlier. We'll stay with you."
Raph shot a glare at Leo, but said nothing. Justin nodded.
"Good. You run a slightly smaller risk by being with us."
Raphael made a rude noise. Justin shrugged and snapped his fingers. A tiny blue Xawk appeared in the air above his head.
"I'll send this guy to look for Donatello....I hate to do it, because we've already lost two Xawks looking for him, but we -have- to find him."
He relayed his instructions to the tiny blue, which looked fairly distressed by its errand. Justin stroked his head soothingly and assured him that he would be fine. He was a great Xawk and would not have any problems at all. The little Xawk seemed somewhat more confident, and leap from Justin's arm with a squeak and was gone.
"Will that little thing actually be able to find him?" Raph asked.
Justin shrugged, "I hope so...we'll see."
"I don't like this. What do we do now?" Leo said.
"We wait. That's all we can do. I know it sucks." Justin shook his head sadly.
"Yeah," Raph said, "You can say that again."
----
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! I meant to work on this last weekend but then I got sick and well...I didn't do anything! This chapter was much longer than I thought it would be, and I didn't expect for it to only be one scene...but Leo and Raph needed to be straightened out! Anyway, I'll try to get another chapter out this weekend...barring illness, that shouldn't be a problem!