The light of dawn begins to softly glow, overtaking the night sky, turning the freezing night into a warm morning. The sight of morning gave a wave of relief for the three crooks, but for Mona Lisa, she felt uneasy for she knew her end was approaching. As the ship sailed on, Leatherhead sat next to the princess, trying to make small talk with her to calm her from her soon to be demise, much to Donatello's annoyance. Though Mona was reluctant at first to engage in 'chit-chat' with one of her captors, she eventually gave in. During their conversation she realized that though he's big and intimidating, Leatherhead was truly a kind soul. It shocked her that someone as kind as he is was a part of a plan to kill her and start a war between two lands. Mona was able to figure him out from their talk. He was an outcast, people assumed the worst from him before getting to know him. That's how he ended up where he is now.

"You remind me of someone I once knew," Mona said to him.

Leatherhead looks at her with curiosity, "Really?"

She nods, "He was misunderstood by many. Often came off as aggressive or rude, but I knew deep down he cared and had a pure heart..." Mona softly smiles, something she hasn't done in a long time as she relives those happy memories from years ago.

"What happened to him?" Leatherhead asked.

Mona's smile quickly fated as reality came back to her. Before she could give Leatherhead an answer they hear Leonardo say in a panic, "He's right on top of us!" Everyone looks out to the ship with red sails that has been following them all night. The ship was no longer at a far distance, getting closer to the criminals by the hour. "I wonder if he's using the same wind we're using?" Leo wonders aloud.

"Whoever he is, he's too late! We're here!" Donnie exclaimed as he pointed at a bulking landmass up ahead. "The Cliffs of Insanity!" he announces.

The boat finally pulls up to the shore and Donatello grabs Mona Lisa by the arm, refusing to loosen his grip. He drags her off the ship as Leo and Leatherhead do their best to tie the ship for it to not drift away. As everyone got off the boat they stood together before the towering cliff. There was already a rope dangling off the cliff that led to the top that Mona Lisa assumed they had already placed there before her abduction.

Leonardo takes out a harness and uses it to strap Mona onto Leatherhead so he can more easily carry her. Leo and Donnie also attached harnesses onto themselves so Leatherhead could carry everyone up the steep cliff with ease.

Donnie looks out to the other ship, which was almost to where they were. Donnie grins, "He'll never catch up to us. He would have to sail around for hours until he finds a harbor."

As everyone was safely secured, Leatherhead began climbing the rope up the cliff.

Donatello looks down to see the red ship as it stopped near their ship. Leaping from the ship was a mysterious man dressed in black. He grabs the robe and quickly begins to climb up towards them.

"He's climbing the rope!" Leo says looking down, "And he's gaining!"

"Inconceivable..." Donnie said aloud. He looks at Leatherhead and demands that he goes faster. Leatherhead nods and starts picking up speed. Donnie looks back down and sees the mysterious man is cutting deeply into Leatherhead's lead. "Faster!" Donnie shrieks.

"I thought I was going faster," Leatherhead asked as he kept climbing.

"He's gaining!"

"Well, it's not my fault. I'm carrying three people," Leatherhead explains, "He's only got himself."

"I don't care about your excuses!" Donnie grumbles, "I'm just going to need to find myself a new monster..."

"I'm sorry, Donatello..."

"Don't call him a monster," Mona Lisa says. Leo nods, agreeing with the Princess.

"All of you shut up!" Donnie angrily shouts.

Donatello begins to notice that Leatherhead's lead is becoming smaller and smaller. The mysterious man was getting closer.

Leatherhead struggles but soon finally makes it to the top of the cliff, an area filled with stone ruins, almost resembling what might have once been a castle or a look out fort. Donatello leaps off him and pulls out a knife and rushes over to a large rock where the end of the rope was tied to and starts cutting. Leonardo helps Mona Lisa off of Leatherhead and gets her back on her feet, keeping guard of her as well to make sure she doesn't run away. Leatherhead watched Donatello work, awkwardly waiting for someone to tell him what to do. Donnie cuts through the last bit of rope and it quickly slithers across the ground and out of sight towards the edge of the cliff. It was quiet.

Leatherhead then looks down by the cliff's edge, "Huh, he's still there."

Donatello and Leonardo join him, looking down. There they saw the mysterious man dressed in black holding onto the jagged rocks, desperately trying not to fall.

"He didn't fall?!" Donnie says in disbelief, "Inconceivable!"

Leo turns and looks at Donatello with a judgemental look, "You know, you keep using that word... I don't think it means what you think it means."

Donnie rolls his eyes and groans.

"Look!" Leo says, looking down again and pointing at the man, "He's climbing up."

"Well, whoever he is, he must have seen us with the Princess and therefore must die!" Donnie looks at Leatherhead and points at Mona Lisa, "Carry her."

Leatherhead nods and goes to Mona Lisa, her hand and now feet tied together, and picks her up and begins carrying her over his shoulder. Donnie then turns to Leo, "We'll be heading towards the Triceraton frontier. Catch up with us once he's dead. If he falls, great. If not, then use your sword."

Leo nods then asks, "Can I duel him left-handed?"

"We're in a hurry!"

"Well, it's the only way I'll be satisfied," he explains, "If I use my right then it'd be over too quickly."

"Fine. Whatever. I don't care. Just kill him!" Donatello begins heading off.

Leatherhead walks up to Leonardo, "Be careful," he softly says, "People in masks cannot be trusted."

Leo smiles, "Don't worry, my friend. I'll be fine."

"I'm waiting!" Donnie calls out.

Leatherhead nods and with Mona Lisa over his shoulders, he hurries over to Donatello. The two men leave Leonardo behind, standing alone on the top of the Cliff of Insanity, impatiently waiting for the mysterious man who had been following him and his group all night to reach the top. He tries to pass the time by practicing his fencing, but too soon he is bored. He approaches the edge of the cliff and looks down, seeing the mysterious man still struggling to climb up.

"Hello there!" Leo says to the Mysterious Turtle, giving him a friendly wave.

The Mysterious Turtle looks up at Leo with a glare. He says nothing.

"Taking your time?" Leo asked.

"Look, this may come off as a shock to you, but this is not as easy as it looks," The turtle says in a somewhat snarky tone, "So I'd appreciate it if you don't distract me."

"Oh, sorry." Leonardo steps away from the cliff's edge and once again draws his sword. He loosens up with a few perfect thrusts, then resheathes and looks eagerly over the edge again.

"Could you, maybe, speed things up?"

"No, I think I'll take my sweet time," He says sarcastically, "but if you are in such a hurry, you could lower a rope, or a tree branch, or do something useful instead of just standing there like an idiot."

Leo could tell this young man has quite a fiery temper. He ignores his insult and continues, "Well, I actually do have some rope, but I don't think you will accept my help since I'm only waiting up here to kill you."

"That does put a damper on our relationship."

"Okay, how about this; I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top."

"That's very comforting," The Mysterious Turtle says with an eye roll, "But you'll just have to wait."

"I hate waiting..." Leo says to himself. He looks back down at the turtle climbing, "Could I give you my word as a Spaniard?"

"No," he says, starting to struggle more with his climbing, "I've met too many Spaniards in my past. None of them are trustworthy."

"Then how can I get you to trust me?"

"Nothing comes to mind."

Leo thinks for a short moment then looks at the man climbing. With his head held high and in a serious and honest tone he said, "I swear on the soul of my father, Hamato Yoshi, that you will reach the top alive."

There was silence between the two men for a moment before the mysterious man looked up at Leonardo. He could see the emotion and honesty in his eyes from the mention of his father. He knew this Spaniard was telling the truth and he could trust him, even if it was just for a moment to help him reach the top of a steep cliff.

He lets out a long sigh, "Fine. Throw me the rope."

Leonardo nods and rushes over to the giant rock that the rope was originally tied to. He unravels the rope, with a good long enough length and tosses it down. The mysterious man grabbed the dangling rope near him and let go of the rocks. The two both struggled, Leo holding rope to make sure the man did not fall and the man doing his best to make it to the top with all his strength. With Leo's help he was able to climb up the top of the cliff.

"Thank you," the Mysterious Turtle says as he tiredly draws his two sais from his belt.

"No. No. We'll wait till you're ready." Leo says to him. He was surprised, someone like him carrying two small blades as his ideal weapon for combat and not a grand sword. He's either a very skilled fighter, or a fool.

He puts his sais back in its belt holsters, "Again, thank you." he says as he sits down by the nearest rock to catch his breath and rest for a moment.

Leonardo examined his opponent as he rested. He was a mutant turtle, like him, dressed in all black clothing with a matching black mask covering his face and going over his head. The turtle in black seemed to be around the same height, and quite possibly the same age, as Leonardo, but with a slightly more muscular build and green eyes. He watched him take off his boots, shaking out pebbles that got trapped inside from his climbing.

That's when Leonardo's curiosity struck, "I don't mean to pry, but is your right hand made of metal?

The turtle in black looked at Leo, confused by such a strange question, "You always start conversations this way?"

"My father was slaughtered by a man with a metal arm."

The turtle dressed in black looks at him. Without saying another word he takes his glove off of his right hand and lifts it up, showing that his hand is normal, green skin with three fingers. He is not the man Leo was hoping he would be.

Leonardo sighs, slightly disappointed by the answer. Another failed search for who he is truly looking for. He looks up to the turtle in black, "You know, my father was not only a great swordsman, but a great sword maker as well."

"I didn't ask," the Turtle in Black comments as he puts back on his glove.

Leo ignores him and continues his story, "One day a strange man with a metal arm appeared and requested a special sword. My father happily took the job," Leonardo reached for his blade that rested in his belt loop. He pulls it out to show the other turtle, "He worked on the blade for a year before he was finally done."

Carefully, Leonardo hands his weapon to the Turtle in Black. He was surprised that his supposed enemy trusted so much to just hand him the sword, but looking at the blade he could understand why. It was perfectly crafted, polished, and surprisingly easy to handle. The Mysterious Turtle was very impressed by the sword's craftsmanship.

"Incredible. I've never seen anything like it," he says as he hands it back to Leonardo with a slight smile. He was now intrigued to hear the rest of his story.

"The metal hand man returned and demanded it, but he only paid one-tenth of the price that he promised, so my father refused to give him the blade. Without another word, the metal-handed man slashed him through the heart," Leonardo was silent for a moment, remembering that tragic day. Though the memory was still painful to relive, he held back his tears and continued, "I loved my father so naturally I challenged his murderer to a duel..." he looked down to the ground in disappointment, "I failed... The metal-handed man let me live and left me with the sword, but he gave me these," Leonardo gestures to the two faint scars on both sides of his cheeks.

"How old were you?

"Eleven. After that day I dedicated my life to the study of fencing. So next time we meet, I will not fail. I will look at the man with the metal hand and say 'Hello. My name is Leonardo Hamato. You killed my father. Prepare to die'."

"You've done nothing but study swordplay?"

Leo shrugs as he sits next to the turtle in black, "More pursuit than study lately. You see, I've been searching for him for fifteen years now and I am starting to lose hope. I'm just working for Donatello to pay the bills. There's not a lot of money in revenge."

"Well..." The Turtle in Black stands up, "I hope you find him one day."

"Oh. You're ready?"

"Whether I am or not, you've been more than fair."

"You seem like a decent guy," Leo smiles, "I'd hate to kill you."

The Mysterious Turtle smiles back, "You seem like a decent guy. I'd hate to die."

The two turtle men draw their weapons, Leo with his sword and the Mysterious Turtle with his sais, and position themselves for their duel. Both were standing in the proper stances for an honorable fight, stances wide and feet strongly placed on the ground as Leonardo said, "Let us begin."