"You're a fool, Oroku Saki." I hissed as Misa slapped a handful of salve over my black eye. "Was starting a bar fight with five imperial guards worth the thrill?" My female companion was lecturing me as she tended to my wounds. I admit that I pouted as she spoke to me like a child.

"At least I won", I muttered which resulted in another slap of salve.

"I couldn't see the point in challenging those guards. If it weren't for your ninpo, you wouldn't be alive."

"I love how caring you are." She blushed as she looked away.

"What was your intention? Was it worth it?" The Hamato woman glared at me.

"They were describing how succulent your bosoms are", I whispered, unfortunately, Misa heard me.

Misa waved her hands over my body. She whispered a few words until a light enveloped me. "I admired your vigilance, but I can fight my battles. The nerve of men speaking of my body parts. Give me five minutes and I'll be dressed as a man to finish what you started!" I chuckled, yet groaned, the pain still there. I love her feistiness.

"Alright. Next time we encounter, I'll buy you a men's kimono. I'm interested in what you look like as a man."

"Makes me wonder who you side, Roku."

I grabbed her arm and pulled her close. Our faces were inches apart. "Whatever you were, whoever you become, I see you – all of you."

~Lady Ai~

Another memory of Oroku Saki. It showed Misa using her powers to heal him. I felt pain in my stomach as I was waking up. How did I…? Oh, right. Xander the Yokai Douchebag pierced my stomach. That explained the pain. However, it was replaced with warmth. It's the kind of warm fell on an autumn afternoon. I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was blurred until I was blinded by a light. I thought I was walking through a tunnel, that this was my final walk, but I was staring at a red-eared slider with tears streaming down his eyes. The lights above him gave off a halo ring.

"Leo…?" The said turtle got tearier and thrust himself onto me crying on my shoulder. "What's with the tears?" I softly joked, "You missed me that much?"

He shook his head. 'You're an ass! An ass with a flat ass!' he sniffed a few times. I gently pulled Leo off. I wiped his tears. He laid his hand over mine and squeezed. 'I'm just… so happy you're awake.'

I softly chuckled. Then, I noticed something: I was missing an arm. The events flashed through my eyes. Not only did Mama's Boy stab me with his arm he took one of mine! "THAT FU-!" Leo covered my mouth.

'We can't make too much noise', he warned, 'It's possible there are guards outside my door. I'm lucky they haven't done a check-up.' Leo released his grip. I was paying attention to his tear-stained cheeks. 'Can we focus on something else, please? For instance, what's our next move?'

I tried standing with one arm. I wobbled a bit. Leo was just as misoriented as I was. Leo had more strength than I was, so he assisted me. He laid my arm around his neck while wrapping his arm around my waist as we walked out of the bathroom. After leaving the bathroom, Leo grabbed my disposed of arm and gave it to me. I was relieved seeing my arm in his possession. First, I uncovered my jacket and exposed my right side.

'Should I…?'

Just jam it in. No hesitation.

'Wouldn't it hurt?'

Duh. Leo was skeptical. I nodded in approval before he thrust my arm into the metal plug. I bit my tongue until I tasted my blood. I heavily huffed. The pain slowly dulled.

'I'm sorry! Are you OK?'

I inhaled deeply as I pulled my jacket back on. I will be. Right… here's the plan: you stay here, and I'll go find your brothers and your weapons. I know it wasn't the most ideal plan in mind, but it was the most effective kind. We have no weapons and Leo's brothers are probably held in a hotel version of a dungeon. I could tell Leo doesn't have his sword with him which explained why he was in here as a "guest". At least when I find the items first, I could use the odachi to create a portal and get Leo out first before finding his brothers. The slider before me didn't agree.

Leo gave me a deadly glare. 'Hell no! I'm not staying here while you go off playing Secret Agent Man! Not to mention, within an hour people are coming in here and going to get me ready for a wedding I'm too young for! Like it or not I'm coming with you!' I don't like his plan. It's too risky. 'I would rather go with you than wait for the dress-up crew to pamper me with whatever they have in mind.'

I rubbed my neck. I'm still getting the hang of my mystic powers. I never tried traveling with someone in mist form. Hell, I'm not used to my powers in general. What if something happens to you? I'll never live with myself knowing I was responsible.

Leo cupped my cheek. 'Hey, I trust you. We've handled crazier shit before. This should be a walk in the park for you, Edge Lord.' I rolled my eyes. At times like this, I missed Goth Boy. The door handle jiggled causing us to jolt. Talk about it too soon.

On instinct, I pulled Leo close and let the shadows consume us. Muffled cries were heard beyond the darkness. We dashed through crowds of yokai. We made it to the elevator. We descended out of the black abyss as soon as the doors closed. I leaned against the nice, decorated wall. That took a lot out of me. Who would've thought moving through shadows was energy-draining? I'm training more on my new abilities… after we get out of this telenovela nightmare.

"You good?" Leo laid his hand on my arm. I felt his concern.

I straightened myself off with a shake. "Yeah, I will be. Now, we're going to find your weapons first."

"No, looking for my brothers", Leo demanded, crossing his arms, "then, we'll find our weapons. After, we find Xander and kick his ass! I'm itching to beat his fake hotness."

I stared at the fuming turtle. "How do I say this without hurting your feelings… fuck it, you and your brothers are terrible at stealth."

"No, we're not!"

"This coming from a turtle who yelled Goth boy while I was getting crushed by Barry Drax."

"We slid down a tunnel!"

"I rest my asshole."

Before Leo could say a comeback, the door opened to reveal a fox yokai. He was shocked to see us. He turned to run off, but I pulled him in as the door closed. I pushed the fox against the wall with a knife in his throat. He gulped.

"I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and you're gonna answer me truthfully. Am I clear?" the yokai nodded. "First one, where did Big Mama put away our weapons and the jar of oozequitoes?"

"No, where're my brothers?!" My eyebrow twitched.

"Leo!"

"Merrill!"

We locked onto a glare showdown. We're getting our shit so we can have the upper hand. What part of that don't you get?

'I want to make sure they're okay. How's that a bad thing?! And news flash, we have watched plenty of Lou Jitsu movies to be stealth-like.'

Does it involve wearing a bed sheet over your head and closing your eyes?

'You're such an asshole!'

I learned to live with it.

"Um…" we looked at the restrained staff, "The kappas are in the VIP rooms; they are heavily guarded with our heavy set yokai. I could lead you to Big Mama's office. She has a secret vault where she kept her most precious valuables. Just don't kill me! I have 50 more years before my retirement!" I smirked at my friend as the turtle huffed. I mentally cheered a small victory as I released the yokai to work on the elevator mechanism.

The elevator jolted to life. I had the knife close by in case the fox decides to improvise an escape. We reached Big Mama's office. We step into the entire floor. To our relief, the office was vacant. No one in sight. I dragged our hostage inside. "Alright, where is our stuff?" I pushed the creature. The fox went to the wall with a portrait of a clown. He used his index fingers to poke the clown's eyes. The illusion disappeared revealing a huge, golden safe. Not gonna lie, but that's dope. "I guess you weren't kidding. Now open it." The staff obliged and dialed the code.

One…

One…

One…

"I'm starting to see a pattern…" I observed.

"Wait. Basically, the whole eleven dial code is 1?" Leo commented, "That's dumb."

"Tell that to the safe maker!" The yokai yelled as he dialed the last code. The vault opened. We were amazed by many artworks and riches. I spotted our items, especially the oozequitoes.

"Hello, magic sword! Papi missed you!" Leo kissed his sword lovingly.

"Get a room", I called.

Leo smirked my way. "Jealous?"

I walked up to him tilting his chin up. "Jealous of what? Who has the longest sword? Let's test that…" Leonardo released a chirp dropping his sword; his face flustered. My foot caught it before it the floor. I stepped back, and with some finesse, I kicked the sword up and caught it with ease. "My, my, Leo. You have a dirty mind." I twirled the blade and laid it on my shoulders.

The slider pouted. "It's your damn fault! My best friend is a pervert!"

"But I'm not the one who insinuated anything dirty. Your face brightened like a Christmas tree. It makes me wonder if you did think of me naked."

"Go suck a cactus!" I stuck my tongue. Suddenly, I heard the yokai speaking into his walkie-talkie. I quickly grabbed the device and crushed it with one hand. "You piece of shit. I should've sliced your throat when I had the chance!" The fox looked ready to piss himself.

"Merrill, you have to leave!" Leo cried thrusting all the weapons, Donnie's invention, and the jar in my arms.

I looked at Leo in disbelief. "What? No! I'm not leaving you! Didn't you say you don't want to get married to that asshat?"

"I did, but you're the only one who can travel in secret. Find my brothers and get me. Please… for my sake."

I didn't want to leave him, but I knew with how skilled I was I wasn't strong enough to deal with an army of yokai staff members. Reluctantly, I nodded and disappeared into the shadows. Surprisingly, I managed to hold onto all the items I carried. Footsteps were muffled beyond the darkness. Whispers murmured. My curiosity got the best of me. I peeked my eyes through the shadows. I was hiding in a desk's shadow. I saw Leo being held against two large yokai. Big Mama was staring him down with an intense glare.

"You were looking for me?" Big Mama asked with skepticism.

Leo 'smiled'. "That's right. I wanted to discuss what my outfit would be."

Big Mama wasn't expecting that; however, she kept her guard up. "Are you saying… you will marry my son?"

"Absolutely." She didn't expect him to be so willing suddenly. Just then at the right moment, Xander the Mama's Boy walked entered. His eyes widened seeing Leo in his mother's office.

"What is going on here?" Pretty Boy yokai asked.

"Xannie, sweetie cakes, Blue Turtley Boo agrees to marry you!" The owner beamed in joy.

Xander raised an eyebrow. "Release him." The two staff released Leo while the heir walked up to the turtle. "…you said you want to get married, yet I wonder if all this is a façade. Not long ago you disagree. You said, and I quote "I don't want to see you or talk to your pathetic face". Now miraculously you changed your mind. How did you leave your room unnoticed?"

Leo shrugged. "I'm a turtle of many talents", the turtle responded sashaying to Mama's Boy, "something you'll find out on our wedding night." His voice turned husk. "What I said before… I was nervous… I said many things when I'm scared or terrified of change. Then, I went out to get some air, and lo and behold, everything became clear. You were right. I can't stand hiding anymore. Let's get married, Xander!" He finished with a smile.

Xander was unconvinced. "I'm not convinced. Bravo on your performance, by the way. I must say I was on the edge of my feet."

Leo grabbed onto Xander's collar. I was expecting the slider to punch him as I did…

To my horror… Leo kissed Xander!

A part of me died inside.