A/N Hey all. Sorry I haven't updated in a long time, but can anyone say FINALS WEEK? Gaa, I hate school...I will post more on Monday or Tuesday, but you'll have to make do with this till then.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or any of their affiliates. I only own Sasha, her Token, Aadrano, and the plot.

XIX

Aadrano perched on the rails of a fire escape overlooking the manhole the turtles normally used as an entrance and an exit to the sewers. His link with the turtle Raphael was paying off. For the past few days, the turtles and Sasha had been talking, weighing their options. And if Aadrano was reading Raphael's emotions and movements correctly, then tonight, Christmas Eve, the five would make their way to Shredder's lair for a face-off.

A child on the other side of the window was screaming bloody murder about a monster being outside his window. Aadrano listened, amused, as him mother insisted that there was nothing on the fire escape. Stupid humans. Why was it that children, the youngest form of the species, were wise enough to identify danger and evil, while their parents were ignorant to the whole thing?

"Tim, there's nothing out there," the mother was saying. "Monsters don't exist, so stop crying."

The child continued in his screaming fit.

Below in the ally, the manhole cover was moving. Aadrano watched as the turtles ascended from the dank sewers beneath one at a time, followed at length by Sasha. She had her saber at her side and her Token still around her neck. She looked scared for the first time he could remember. The sight actually made Aadrano laugh. She deserved to be scared.

The group cautiously made their way up the fire escape across the alley from Aadrano to the rooftop and then disappeared from sight. Aadrano smiled and opened his wings, causing the child to scream louder.

"MAMA! THERE'S A MONSTER OUT THERE! HE'S GONNA EAT ME!"

"Timothy," the mother said, frustrated with her son for his stuborness. "If you do not stop crying this instant, you get a time out. There are no such things as monsters, and nothing's going to hurt—"

She was cut short as the window her son had been pointing at suddenly shattered into a million pieces, the glass flying everywhere. When she filed a report with the police later, it would go down as one of those unexplained phenomenon, for there was no rock in the apartment, or evidence of a person ever being on the fire escape. Aadrano knew this, and smiled as he brushed bits of glass off his fist. Humans were more scared of what they couldn't explain than even the most far-fetched truth.

Aadrano followed the group of five warriors at a distance, flying above the rooftops. The turtles knew exactly what warehouse to find the Shredder in, but they didn't know the greater threat was following them silently behind.

The Demon of Warfare let out a small giggle of evil glee. Brother and sister were going to have a little reunion.

"There's the warehouse," Leonardo whispered to Sasha. He was pointing at a large building across the lot.

"Okay," Sasha said. "Now what?"

"Just follow us and try to keep up," Mikey answered with a grin as he and his brothers began to move along in the shadows silently towards the warehouse. They were slightly crouched, making sure to use any coverage they could. Sasha glanced up at the sky. She could have sworn a shadow had just passed over her, but the sky was clear. Shrugging, Sasha followed the turtles, keeping low.

Upon reaching the warehouse, the group came across a pair of Foot Soldiers standing a midnight guard. Leonardo and Raphael took them out before they knew what hit them.

Donatello pulled out a rope and grappling hook and threw it up to the roof of the warehouse. Making sure it was secure, he turned and grinned at the others. "Who's first?"

Leonardo went first, then Raph, and then Sasha. Michelangelo and Donatello took up the rear.

Sasha had never scaled a building like this before. Usually when she had to get someplace, she would just show up there. But she couldn't' remember how to teleport yet.

When Sasha got on to the roof, she took a quick glance around. Leo and Raph were helping the others. From what she saw, there was a large skylight window in the middle of the roof, which probably looked down to at least the floor below, if not all the way to the ground floor. But what caught her eye even more was a strange black shadow over near a utility shed. Night patrol. It was her turn to take out some guards.

Sasha took off at running speed, heading straight for the three men. They pulled out weapons. One took a swing at her with a katana, but she ducked and punched him hard in the gut. She then used her tail to pull another enemy's legs out from under him, reveling slightly when the sharp crack from his fall told her he wouldn't be a problem anytime soon. She turned to the third enemy, who was backing up a little bit towards the edge of the roof. She glared at him and then leapt, kicking his chest in midair. He stumbled backwards and then before anything could be done, he stepped on a place where there was no roof and fell to the ground forty feet below.

Sasha's eyes widened. She had never killed a person before. Never a human. She shivered and backed away from the edge of the roof. She heard footsteps coming up behind her, and turning, she saw that it was the turtles.

"Are you okay?" Leonardo asked.

Sasha blinked slowly and then shrugged her shoulder. "I'm fine," she said in a voice that didn't sound fine. "I took care of the night guard duty."

Leonardo nodded and then motioned for them all to follow him. They went over to the skylight and peered down into the building below. Through the window, Sasha saw a man dressed in a strange costume, with metal blades sticking out of it, and a helmet made out of metal on his head. He looked so familiar. She knew him, and she knew she didn't like him.

"Is that the Shredder?" she whispered to Michelangelo.

"Yeah. You recognize him?"

She shrugged. "Sort of. I just wish I could get a closer look."

As she finished her sentence, someone suddenly plowed into her from above and behind, pushing her through the glass of the skylight and forcing her down four stories to the ground below.