I'm trying my best to resist the urge to vomit, mostly because vomiting with a mask on would be pretty bad.

"Thanks, Nightcrawler," I moan, finding myself lying on the grass in another park. "Bumpy ride though. Can I suggest that you install barf bags into your X-Men uniform?" I don't get an answer and force myself to look up. "Kurt?"

Leatherhead is kneeling besides Nightcrawler, who's on all fours and seems to be panting. "I suspect," Leatherhead says, "that all of the excitement has severely weakened your friend. Should I find a safe haven for him?"

"It is all right," Nightcrawler gasps, slowly making his way up to his knees. His face is sweaty and, despite his indigo complexion, he looks a little pale. "I expected this much. Teleporting more than one person at a time has the tendency to drive me a little off-center, and so doing two such trips in succession has taken a bit out of me. I will be all right in a moment."

"Donnie." I look up to see Leonardo sitting back on his heels, looking a little shell-shocked… pun definitely not intended. Splinter is sitting besides his son, his head in his hands. "I just can't believe…." Leonardo starts again. "Donnie… what happened to him? What was all that about Famine and War… and… and Pestilence?"

"I was a fool," Nightcrawler groans. He still has his backpack on and slides it off of him, looking at it reproachfully. "A stupid mistranslation, and it almost put us all in incredible danger."

"What are you talking about, Elf?" I ask him as I manage to get myself into a sitting position. "And ease off the guilt trip, buddy. That's my game."

For once, it doesn't look like Nightcrawler's in a joking mood. Leatherhead helps him to sit up and, though he doesn't seem to have the energy to look at his books, Nightcrawler puts a hand on his bag. "There was a word in the text that Amanda and I could not translate. We could make out the root word for 'horse,' but we ended up translating it as a 'workhorse,' thinking that these demons were looking for labor slaves. Now I see… it was not workhorses that they were looking for. They were looking to become horsemen. The Four Horsemen, to be more precise."

"Four Horsemen?" Leonardo asks.

"The book of Revelations," Splinter mentions. "There is much literature surrounding the four ghostly figures that appear in the final book of the Bible. I had always presumed, however, that they were merely metaphorical. Are you insinuating that they-"

"Oh," I butt in, finally making the connection. "Oh, not him. Not prepared for that. The Four Horsemen is one thing. But… Apocalypse? Are we dealing with Apocalypse?"

"The end of the world?" Leatherhead inquires.

"If only it were that simple," Nightcrawler responds. "Apocalypse is not an event, but an actual being. He is possibly the oldest living mutant, and he is determined to rule the planet and eliminate all those that he considers 'inferior beings.'"

Leonardo asks if he means humans, and Nightcrawler shakes his head. "Again, that would make things simple. There are many mutants that he considers to be little more than a waste of oxygen, and I know of many who have had their lives forever ruined because of his scheming. He is one of the X-Men's most dangerous foes, and I am afraid… oh, oh now the translations begin making sense!"

He somehow manages to stumble to his feet and begins a strange stagger that I eventually realize is a nervous pace. "The four demons in the text wish to be the next generation of Horsemen, which Apocalypse has been fond of creating from painful genetic modifications on mutants. That is why they seek us out rather than the humans. They want to take over the bodies of individuals that they know to be strong and powerful. And, most likely, they took a special interest in four brothers with a genetic make-up that is so very unlike the mutants that Apocalypse traditionally uses."

He stops, looking down at Leonardo. "Donatello appears to have been predestined as Famine, the Horseman that can turn any organic material into dust. From what I had seen, Raphael became War, who can cause powerful explosions just by clapping his hands. Michelangelo… it would appear that when Raphael resisted the demon, Michelangelo came along and acted as Pestilence, making him ill and thus weakening his resistance."

Nightcrawler says nothing else for a long time. Finally, Leonardo stands. I think he probably has a good idea of what's going on, but he still asks, "What about me? They already have three Horsemen; what happens when the fourth demon finds its mark?"

Nightcrawler gives Leonardo an uneasy glance. He eventually looks down and sighs. "You do fit the molds quite well. It is remarkable." Returning his eyes to Leonardo, he answers, "The Horsemen now only await their leader. Death."

Oh yeah. How very coincidental. Four Horsemen, and four ninja turtles that apparently fit into the Horsemen archetypes. When I find the comic book writer that rules my life, remind me to steal his pen.

Leonardo and Splinter both remain quiet, appearing to be in deep contemplation. Leatherhead rises to his feet and looks to Nightcrawler. "Forgive me for not having as much expertise in biblical matters, but… what exactly will happen if Leonardo is captured and turned into a Horseman?"

"May I hazard a guess?" I ask. "Fire, brimstone, maybe a little antichrist action?"

"Oh, do not be ridiculous!" Nightcrawler tells me. "Apocalypse has little to do with the Scriptures, and only uses their namesakes because of their dread symbolism. If Leonardo is indeed ensnared, it will not be the end of the world. …unless, of course, Apocalypse succeeds in using the turtles to kill us all."

"That's not going to happen," Leonardo tears in determinedly, his hand balled into a fist. "Whoever this 'Apocalypse' creature is, he is not going to get me, nor is he going to get away with whatever he's done to my brothers. We'll find a way to get them back, and we'll take him down in the process."

Nightcrawler awkwardly clears his throat. "Yes, well… perhaps I should warn you, my friend. Though Apocalypse is a little bit younger than the Devil, he is still rather ancient, powerful, and evil. Combine that with the fact that he is a metamorph and can change his body into anything he wills it to be, and I should hope that you have a very good plan before you attempt to attack him with nothing but those little knives upon your back."

"I would like to raise a point," Leatherhead says. "We were able to break through to Donatello, if only for a few minutes. If his story could be trusted, then whatever spirit it was that entered his body only did so because Raphael purposely injured himself."

"Leatherhead," Leonardo cries out, "I'm not going to stab each of my brothers in the vain hope that-"

"Silence, Leonardo," Splinter tells him. "Let him finish."

"Thank you, Splinter," Leatherhead continues. "I would never ask that you purposely cause even the most minute harm to your brothers; at least, not unless we knew for certain that doing so would end this once and for all. Rather, I found it interesting that this same spirit that lost control of Raphael also managed to lose enough control of Donatello to allow us to learn all that we have. I'm wondering, Mr. Nightcrawler, if it would be possible to conduct more research on these spirits and see where they came from. It would appear almost as though they have rather distinct personalities, which may provide useful information in fighting against them."

"Actually," Nightcrawler brings up, "they are demons, not spirits. And, as it so happens, I think that may just help us out even more. Your observation is most interesting. I wonder if the demon that is currently possessing Donatello isn't one of the weaker ones, or at least one of the more temperamental. If that is the case, then perhaps it will not be too difficult to completely free Donatello of its grasp."

"More good news, boys," I realize. "If that demon was initially in Raphael, then that means that whoever's possessing the old hothead only just managed to gain control of him recently. In fact, if Raphael's still as sick as Leonardo says he is, maybe we've got just enough of a chance of freeing Raphael as we do Donatello."

No one says anything for a moment. Splinter at last rises to his feet and brings up the fatal flaw in our reasoning. "All this is well and good. However… what of Michelangelo? Can he not be saved?" He and Leonardo look to Nightcrawler, already expecting him to have all the answers.

"I… I am not sure," Nightcrawler reluctantly admits. "From what I can gather, it would seem that Michelangelo has been possessed by the same demon since the very beginning. As such, this demon's grip is probably the strongest."

"Not to mention," I throw in, "if it's Pestilence, it's going to be a little hard to get close to him without feeling like we've got every illness in the book, from influenza to athlete's foot." There's another pause in the conversation. This is getting way too solemn for my tastes.

Thankfully, Nightcrawler grabs his backpack off the floor and begins to walk. "Come, follow me. I am of the opinion that these demons—whatever their current weaknesses might be—will become stronger if they manage to get their hands on their leader. Death has always been the most cunning and heartless of the Horsemen, and I would much rather have Leonardo on our side than on theirs."

Leonardo asks where we're going, even as the group of us follows after Nightcrawler. "We are going to find a vehicle," he tells us. "And then we will drive it as quickly and as inconspicuously as we can to Westchester. The only ones who can help us now are the X-Men." He looks back at me and tells me that I don't have to join in. This was likely to get ridiculously dangerous and he'd completely understand if I-

"Put a sock in it, Bamf Boy," I interrupt. "The turtles were my friends first. And after seeing what happened to the majority of them, there's no way I'm going to let some super-powerful, antediluvian, megalomaniac metamorph get his hands on Leo. You read the ancient texts, and I'll be the bodyguard."

"We shall be the bodyguards," Leatherhead proclaims. "Donatello is one of my truest confidantes, and seeing him in so much pain is not something that I take lightly. I'll do all I can on the scientific front to see if there isn't a way I can study the X-gene and learn how to reverse its effects after being forcibly introduced into the bloodstream of someone like me or Leonardo."

"Scientific minds abound at the Xavier Institute," Nightcrawler smiles. "I take it that you will form a strong kinship to Dr. McCoy. If there is any way to further explain the genetic aspect of our troubles, then he is the mutant to turn to."

"Dr. McCoy?" Leonardo asks. "Another mutant? Does he actually have his doctorate, or is that just a nickname for him?" Nightcrawler replies that Beast—which is Hank McCoy's codename—does indeed have numerous doctorates for more areas of science than he can even pronounce. Leonardo seems to think about this for a second before saying, "Donnie would love to know how a mutant managed to get a degree. He probably looks pretty human, huh?" Nightcrawler and I can't help but burst out laughing.

"Let's put it this way," I tell him, "if all your friends are green and reptilian, then all of mine are blue and furry."