"I just don't get it!" Raphael complained. "Why wouldn't Splinter tell us any of this?"

"I think he was scared." Donnie answered. "After all, yokai are demons. He probably didn't want us to find out because he thought we would get out of control with our abilities."

"I can see why." Leo called out. He was sitting on his bed with his hands held out in front of him. Cupped within them were shards of thin, clear ice. His brothers stared at him, amazed.

"Whoa dude!" Mikey gasped. "How did you do that?"

"I don't really know." replied Leo sheepishly. "I just…"

"Thought about it." supplied Donnie. Everyone looked at him in shock. He smiled slightly.

"I've been doing some research." he stated. "You see, those words that machine said about us were not merely words, but races."

"Races of what?" Leo questioned. "Those don't resemble any breed of turtle I've ever read about."

"That's because they're not!" Donnie explained excitedly. "They're words from Japanese folklore. That machine confirmed what Sakebi told us. We really are yokai!"

"Then how do you explain this?" Raph demanded, gesturing to himself. "Splinter told us himself that we were mutated. Are you saying that He's lied to us our entire lives?" Donnie's face turned grim.

"Yes. That's the only explanation. My analysis proves that we are in fact yokai, yokai mutants at that. And though I am not sure yet about Leonardo, I can confirm what kind each of us are." He pointed to Raphael.

"You are part kappa and part hinotama, essentially a fire spirit." He turned to face Mikey.

"Little brother, you are a japanese smoke yokai, or an enenra."

"Cool! Does this mean that I can make my own smoke bombs now?"

"Sure Mikey, sure."

Donnie ended his speech with a gesture towards himself.

"I'm the same type of yokai as Sakebi, an Isa Onna, essentially a japanese vampire. But no need to worry, I don't plan on ducking anyone's blood anytime soon." Donnie paused, and put his fingers up to his chin.

"The strange thing is, I feel that I'm missing something, but I can't figure out what it is."

"I think we should all be getting to bed." suddenly declared Leonardo. "We'll have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, especially if we are planning to win this competition."

"We don't even know what we're supposed to do yet!" Raph growled as he fell asleep.

~l\l~

"Good morning contestants!" Kurotame announced from above. All of the yokai were huddled below him, waiting with anticipation.

"Today marks the beginning of the Yūrei no toraiaru, a competition to determine who is the greatest of all the yokai clans. The first test is called Senso no shitsumon, and will begin shortly."

"Yo, Donatello!" a voice called from the crowd. Donnie looked around and saw Sakebi walking towards him. "Long time no see. Your clan and mine must be neighbors."

"Wonderful." Raph muttered. Donnie gave him a quick glare before turning back towards Sakebi.

"What do you want?" he asked flatly. He still didn't completely trust the strange Isa Onna.

"All I ask for is a small truce." Sakebi contended. You and I, if we worked together, would be unstoppable!" Leo stepped forward to reply, but Donnie held him back.

"I decline your offer." he replied, his voice strangely cold. "Leave my sight at once!" Sakebi smirked.

"Very well, Lord Donatello."

~l\l~

"What was that for?" Leo demanded as soon as they were all inside their quarters. "I'm the leader of this team. I'm the one that's supposed to make the decisions."

"You seriously believe that you are in control?" Donnie whispered as he fiddled with the doors lock. "You're not, not anymore." Leo's own eyes narrowed when he caught sight of Donnie's. They were dark and cruel, maybe even scary.

"You heard the machine yourself, Leonardo. It claimed I was the leader of the New York sector."

"That was just a machine. Splinter, our father, said himself that I was the leader of this team, not you Donnie." Suddenly, the lights seemed to dim, and when Leo looked around he saw no sign of Raph and Mikey.

"Splinter didn't know everything." Donnie voiced. "He may have known we were yokai. He may even have known of our abilities. But the one thing he was ignorant to was our pasts."

"What do you mean by 'our pasts'? We have always been just ordinary mutant kappa. There's nothing special about us!" Donnie chuckled softly under his breath.

"You still hang onto Sensei's every word, don't you aniki." Donnie laughed. "However; I believe it is time for a reality check."

With a snap of Don't fingers, the world around them both began to spin. When the scene finally focused, Leo found himself staring into an old-fashioned Japanese room.

"You swore your oath to remain by my side." Donnie declared, excitement lacing his words. "You and the rest of our brothers are my Hyakki Yakö; my personal army that will lead me back to my rightful place as the Lord of Pandemonium!"

Everything made sense to Leo in that moment. He remembered the oath he had swore in his past life, when he was an outcasted Yuki Onna and the most powerful strategist in all of the yokai realms. It was his master who had finally given him a home. It was his master who had given him a family.

"Lord Nurarihyon…" he whispered, the name coming naturally from his tongue. "It is a pleasure to serve you once again, even in this other life." Donnie smiled slightly.

"I will leave you in your role as the head of our team." he decided. "However; I am still the leader of this clan, and must be allotted my say when needed." Leo bowed low as the setting righted itself. Mikey and Raphael reappeared, and time itself seemed to start again. Leo left for his section of the room with a large smile on his face. The other two brothers turned on Donatello.

"What just happened, Donnie?" Mikey demanded. "You and Leo were out for a good 15 minutes!"

"I don't know." Donnie stuttered. "I can't remember."

"Maybe you need some rest." Raphael suggested, clapping him on the back. "After all, tomorrow's supposed to be a pretty big day, right?"

"Good idea, Raph." Donnie said with a yawn. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

~l\l~

"What's this first competition about anyway?" complained Raphael.

"I've heard it's a test of strategy and cunning," explained Sakebi, his eyes aglow with excitement. "Both crucial elements needed by the Lord of Pandemonium." Leo's smile widened.

Finally, a chance to show off my skills for my master!

Kurotame appeared in front of them all with his arms spread wide.

"Welcome to your first challenge, my dear yokai." he called. "I hope you all had a pleasant night's rest. The main event will begin shortly. Prepare yourselves, and may the best leader win!"

The room was silent after Kurotame left. A scream broke out, and then another and another until the sound filled the entire room. Suddenly, a pale figure emerged right in front of Donatello, who cried out in fright.

"I'll save you, master!" called Leo as he sent a shard of ice directly at the monster's heart. It froze solid.

"What are those things?" Donnie whispered. He was being supported from behind by Raph and Mikey. "They almost look like ghosts. But that's impossible…"

"I don't think anything can be impossible anymore, D." Mikey said. "Everything is different now." The apparitions kept on appearing, separating the brothers to weaken their defenses. It seemed to be working.

I can't take it much longer.

Donnie's thoughts were frantic as he held off one of the demons with his staff. All around him clan members were falling, though Donnie doubted they were really dead. Their beaten, broken bodies disappeared long before they hit the ground. On a whim, Kurotame's words ran through his head.

May the greatest leader win… that's it!

Donatello scoured the area around him, looking for his brothers but not finding them. He seemed alone, yet something within himself told him that he actually wasn't. Scenes flashed in front of his eyes from a former battle where the commander was separated from his clan. He now knew just what to do. Donnie let out a soft, yet sharp chirp from under his breath. Later the yokai around him would testify that they hadn't heard the young kappa make any sound at all. Leo, Raph, and Mikey appeared before him, yokai powers visibly blazing. Raph's eyes had once again emerged red and gold, and his sai were held in front of him, dripping liquid fire. Leo's mask had a coating of thin ice crystals along the outer edge. His eyes glowed an ethereal light blue, and the light from them seemed to encase his entire form. Mikey's eyes were the exact opposite, having turned a hazy, dark grey. Streams of smoke wrapped around his arms, making him nearly impossible to see in the muted light of the battlefield. Donnie felt his mind succumb to the strange conscience that seemed to reside within him. He opened his eyes, and saw his clan in all their glory.

"Kurotame said the best leader and strategist would win this game." Lord Nurarihyon instructed. "And of course, there is no better strategy than to not fight at all."

~l\l~

Donatello now stood before the leader of the band of ghosts. He was a tall, brutish man with a feathered hat perched on his head. His coat was adorned with several medals and ribbons, while the man himself held an air of practiced grace.

"You wished to speak with me, Lord Donatello?" The general stated, his voice as rough as gravel against pavement.

"Yes, Lord Haganashi." Donnie replied, his voice polite and clipped. "I wish to propose a truce." Haganashi's eyes widened, before he smiled widely and chuckled under his breath.

"Of course you would." he countered. "Very well then, I will accept your truce on one condition." Donatello cocked his head to the side in question.

"Oh, and what would that be?"

"You must allow me to take control of your body for one whole day, so that I may do what I wish in the world of the living."

"And what would happen to my soul during this time?" Donnie asked. This offer was beginning to intrigue him.

"You would be in a calm, sleep-like state." replied Haganashi. "You wouldn't feel nor remember a thing." Donnie looked up at the ghostly general, and saw only trust and a hint of mission in his pale eyes. He smiled.

"You have a deal."

~l\l~

The figure of Donatello Hamato stood in front of Kurotame, but when he spoke, it wasn't in the young kappa's voice.

"I am very pleased with your selection of a champion, Lord Kurotame, though I suppose I must be. I remember the first time I met Lord Donatello so very well." Haganashi spoke, his eyes glittering with mirth. Kurotame chuckled.

"Yes, he's quite special. He's my prime candidate to make it to the finals." Haganashi looked back at him with a slight frown.

"You do not feel that he will win your competition?" he asked hesitantly. "Why is that?"

"He has yet to rediscover the extent of his fear." Kurotame explained. "And the world of the yokai now is vastly different than what it was before."

"Lord Donatello is smart. I'm sure he will manage, as will his hyakki yakko." replied Haganashi. "Speaking about that, I am worried about one of them. Leonardo, I think it was?"

"Yes, Leonardo has gotten himself into quite a bind, hasn't he." Kurotame sighed softly. "He's the first Yuki-Onna to grace Aokigahara in so long. He's in a similar situation to his brothers, only instead of being feared, his kind are scorned."

"I must be going now." Haganashi announced.

"Very well then. It was very nice talking to you, my dear friend." Kurotame smiled. "I will announce the beginning of a new trial soon. Hopefully, our contestants will find it much harder than the last." The room filled with crazed laughter, that only subsided once Haganashi left the premises."

~l\l~

Donnie awoke the next day to find that he was indeed himself again. The events from the previous days frustratingly eluded his memory. His brothers, who had been sitting in the room waiting, smiled brightly when his eyes turned to them.

"Donnie, you're back!" cried Mikey, wrapping his brother in a gigantic hug. "I missed you so much." Leo looked down at him, his gaze tinged with concern.

"Are you sure you're okay? Possession couldn't have been fun, so why did you do it?" Donatello's eyes went wide.

"I was possessed? That's disgusting!" Raph laughed softly under his breath.

"Haganashi stayed true to his word. Donnie doesn't remember anything. I guess it's for the best." Mikey's eyes suddenly brightened with excitement.

"They're going to announce the results from the competition today! Come on, D, let's go check it out!" Donatello was dragged from the peace of his room into a bustling crowd of other yokai. The two brothers pushed through until they saw a large, colorful board at the center of the square. Once the other yokai saw the pair, Donnie began to hear whispering. He saw the results on the board, and knew why. It listed who was ahead in the competition, and the number of yokai that team had currently killed. At the top was Donatello's name, and beside the letters was the number that had the entire square buzzing.

"How can you win a challenge without killing anyone?" a yokai off to Donnie's left muttered fiercely under his breath. Donnie smiled.

I told them I was right.