Joss pulled out her katana as the thin creature, who had a slender blade for a hand, advanced towards her.

"Guess you're not going to make this easy…"

Metal clashed on metal as they lashed out, and Joss did a sweeping kick.

Her opponent jumped over, coming down for a fatal slice, but, even on her shell, Joss blocked and kicked him in the stomach.

As he flew up, she got on her feet and slashed upward.

Her opponent disappeared, and she sheathed her blades with a solid 'click' as the crowd roared in excitement.

'I guess this is nice…being seen for who I am…'

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Jackie faced the giant humanoid triceratops before her, who's battleax looked heavy and deadly.

"Oh…hi…"

She pulled out her ninja swords, twirling them as she took a step or two back with a sheepish grin.

When her opponent charged, surprise and fear froze her from within.

Luckily, adrenaline melted her free, and she jumped to the side.

Swords clashed with the ax blade, but she had to redirect the attack quickly.

She wasn't strong, no matter how you looked at it…

The broad side of her opponents weapon smacked her in the side, making her shell smack into a wall.

Before she could move, she saw his ax coming down.

Closing her eyes from the fear of pain, it surprised her to realize that she was somewhere else.

Jackie opened her eyes to the infirmary, and pouted.

'I can't believe I'm the first turtle out!'

Gold/brown-tinted eyes looked up as her mother walked up to her.

'I hope the others are okay…'

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A large humanoid bull towered at least six feet above Violet's head.

"…Whoa…big guy…"

She pulled her sai out, twirling them, as her opponent got ready to charge.

When he did, with a strange roar, Violet was ready…

She jumped over his deadly horns, landing on the back of his neck, wrapping her arms around it securely.

She grabbed hold of his horns as her opponent bucked and reared.

"Guess this is as close to bull-riding as I'll ever get!"

With a solid pull, the large bull fell on his side heavily.

Without a moment's hesitation, she put a sai at his throat, but she had an apologetic look on her face.

"Good fight, bud…"

He disappeared, and she put her sai away, smiling at the roar of the crowd.

'I could get used to this!'

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Rose glared at the giant humanoid snake before her.

"Guess I get ta kick yer ass after all!"

"Let's see if you can, little girl…"

The red in her eyes seemed to glow.

"I am NOT little!!!"

Whipping out her blades, the dark red-banded turtle charged.

She attacked fast, but his sword, a blade as long as he was tall and paper-thin, countered her every move.

Her temper flared dangerously, and it clouded her eyes when his sword struck.

A long gash on her thigh, blood spraying to coat skin and metal, as she cried out.

She stayed standing, however, as her own blood, fresh and warm, dripped down her leg to mix with the ground in a crimson mud as she adjusted her footing.

"Just give up, you fool…"

"Call me a fool…"

Rose lifted up her blades defensively.

"…But those words aren't in my vocabulary…"

She saw the move, the sword racing to meet the tender spot over her heart, and her blades moved to block him when a stinging pain rang through her head, like something had smacked her in the head.

Apparently, his tail actually had a use…

She closed her eyes, ready for the deadly slash, when she realized she was no longer in the arena.

She fell over, opening her eyes to see that she was in the infirmary.

"OW!!!!!!"

She proceeded to curse in English, Japanese, Chinese, Egyptian, and Spanish, all of which she'd learned from her Uncle Don, who'd been happy enough to teach her.

"Rose?!"

She looked up at her Aunt Gio and Jackie, and smiled sheepishly.

"Hey, guys…um…lotta blood, huh?"

Gio glared slightly at the off-hand tone, and helped lift the young turtle up.

"OW!!!"

"Maybe you should be more careful! And stop cursing!"

"…I wasn't cursing! I was just telling kami to heal my leg REALLY fast!" Rose stuttered out sheepishly, plastering an innocent smile on her face.

"…Nice try…I know English and Japanese, too…"

'…Darn…'

She saw her mother's worried violet eyes, and smiled reassuringly as she was put down onto a mat.

"Hey, mom…nice day, isn't it?"

Cat smiled slightly.

Rose hoped everything was okay…

'I'm gonna kill 'im…'

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Jazz held up her staff as the strange blob creature threatened to charge.

When he pulled out a chain and a barbed weight, the light pink-banded turtle tensed.

She jumped up as it flew at her, and the blade popped out of her staff.

She stabbed the chain, and landed easily.

As the creature tried to pull his chain free, she focused chakra into her palm.

"Rasengan!"

Before the attack struck, her opponent disappeared, and she pulled her weapon out of the ground, smiling as the blade clicked away and she strapped it to her shell.

The loud roar of the crowd wasn't satisfying or relaxing, only making her feel uncomfortable.

She looked around, and saw her parents beside the daimyo.

With a soft smile, she sat Indian style on the ground, focusing.

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"Hello, again! Still trying to molest my cousin?"

Ben frowned playfully at Takashi, who pulled out his blade as the nunchuks twirled.

"And what? You're gonna beat me up, little man?"

"Just for the tournament…but you'd better hope Vi doesn't get a hold of you…"

A playful grin.

"You don't want to ACTUALLY piss her off…"

The chains caught the curved blade, flinging it into a wall.

"She's pretty dangerous when her eyes shift to red…"

The nunchuka went for the head, and his opponent disappeared.

"HA!!! LOSER!!!"

He grinned in satisfaction when he heard his father's familiar laughter echo to him.

'Yep! Battle Nexus Trophy, you are MINE!'

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Theo looked at the small man before him, and quirked an eyebrow as he pulled out kunai.

"Hey, shorty. Ain't you too little to be playing against the big boys?"

His eyes widened when he grew, muscles the size of tree trunks flexing in anger.

"…Aw, shell…"

The fight was fast and intense, and it ended with Theo getting thrown into a wall.

"Remember my name, fool…"

"Yeah, hard to do when I don't know it!" Theo teased.

"…Kluh…after my father…"

That name rang a bell DEEP in the light grey-banded turtle's brain before he was in the infirmary.

"…Aw, man!!!!!!!!"

He looked ready to have a hissy fit when Rach walked towards him.

"Hey, Theo…"

"…Mom…"

He turned to see Takashi, and smiled sheepishly.

"Oh…hey…"

"…You're going down…"

A senbon slashed Takashi's cheek, and he noticed the grey-banded turtle behind her son.

"Ya wanna mess with 'im, ya mess with me." She warned with a protective growl, like a mother wolf defending her cubs, as Theo hid behind her with a "Mommy, he's gonna kill me!"

Glaring in warning and demanding respect as a warrior and a past champion, she turned around, helping her son to the others.

'…This is COOL…'

And so the next rounds began…