Summary: The Lotus must battle a new enemy who threatens to take over the city and Saldana's mind.
Inside an old empty lab, Vela was trying her very best to recreate her camouflage neurochemical on the lab table after the battle between her and the Lotus Ninjas. She paid no attention to the fact that she's surrounded by cages that are filled with strange mystical creatures as the only test subjects available to her research. The creatures have pink bodies with five tentacles, short white crown, red eyes with blue sclera.
"If those girls think they have stop me, then they were wrong." Vela said angrily to herself. "Even though these weird jellyfishes are the only ones for my experiments, I almost recreated my camouflage neurochemical combined with their own powers." She held up a syringe of neon green liquid in her hand. "When it is complete, all of those people who rejected me will tremble before the power of Dr. Vela North."
The enraged Vela nearly finished making her serum, unaware of two mystical jellyfish mystics were hanging on the power lines above her. Then, some power lines were chewing on that send each one flying into beakers full of volatile chemicals, igniting a large explosion around the empty room. The explosion also caused all of Vela's body to get mutilated and the chemical that she was working on seeped through her scars. All the mystical jellyfish creatures began to flee out of the room from the flames.
"No! Help me! Please!" Vela commanded.
At her words, all the mystical jellyfish creatures came flying back to help their master. That's when Vela discovered her mental control over the mystical jellyfish creatures. Now that she's a mystic human hybrid with the ability to control every mystical jellyfish creature at her will, she'll proceed her plans to get her revenge on the city.
In the Crete Fortress, the girls have a friendly match against Saldana. They crouched in a huddle behind their mother for a full-proof plan.
"Ok, here's the plan." Lee said. "Donna is gonna strike first."
"Wait, why me?" Donna hissed. "I'm going to get creamed!"
"Well, getting creamed is part of your everyday training defeat." Ella joked.
Donna scowled at her hotheaded sister's words.
"Trust me. It's all part of my plan to catch mother off guard." Lee grinned confidently.
"Uh, Lee, don't get me wrong." Ellie remarked. "But us against mother is one way of getting our butts whipped when it comes to your plans."
"Ok, Ellie, you attack." Lee scowled.
"I'm doomed." Ellie muttered.
"Alright, now that's outta the way, let's do this!" Ella snapped impatiently.
The Lotus Ninjas got up from the floor and silently surrounded their mother, who tilted her head slightly because she can sense her four daughters with her eyes closed. Saldana stepped one foot forward and ready to defend herself. As Lee gave her younger sisters a nod, Ellie charged Saldana from behind and leaped into the air to aim her foot at her mother's head. Saldana quickly reached behind to grip the orange mystic kunoichi's legs, pulling her closer in her direction and kicking her youngest daughter away. Ella charged forward and leapt into the air as she was ready to take Saldana down. Saldana took the red mystic kunoichi by the wrist before flipping her onto the ground. Donna delivered a spinning back kick to her mother's head, but Saldana grabbed the purple mystic kunoichi's ankle and punched Donna right into Ella and Ellie. Before Saldana spun around to defend himself against Lee, the blue mystic kunoichi sped forward and delivered a punch directly in Saldana's face with a quick fist. Donna, Ella, and Ellie gasped as Lee was shocked at what she just did.
"Mother, I'm so sorry!" Lee apologized with a gasp.
With Leona distracted by her apology, Saldana grabbed her oldest daughter by the wrist and pinned her on the ground.
"Well done, Leona." Saldana praised as she released her daughter from her grasp. "But you hesitated and that made you vulnerable just when you had the perfect advantage to strike more."
"Understand, mother." Lee said with a groan as she got up off the floor.
"That will be all for today." Saldana said as she walked to her room that was conjoined to the dojo. "Have the rest of a day off."
After Saldana entered her room and shut the sliding doors behind her, the three mystic kunoichis stood up and surrounded Lee with smiles on their faces.
"Lee! That was...wow!" Ellie said in awe.
"Not bad, sis!" Ella smiled.
"I can't believe you actually tagged mother!" Donna said. "That was so epic!"
"Well, it was all teamwork, after all." Lee grinned. "We are definitely getting better every day."
"We might be even close on catching up to mother." Donna said.
"Yeah, maybe we won't need her to train us at all once we are master mystics." Ellie agreed.
From her room, Saldana heard her daughters' conservation that left her deeply concern.
Meanwhile, Vela was observing the whole city from the building rooftop in her new Kurage humanoid form with two Kurages hovering next to her. She has light pink skin and red eyes. She also wore a long-sleeved black bodysuit, dark pink thigh-high boots, and a dark pink hooded cape.
"With my Kurage army, this world will be cowering in the shadows." Vela said cruelly. "Then, I shall reclaim the city and no one will be able to stop me."
With a wave of her hand, Vela unleashed the large number of Kurages to invade the city that created a huge panic for the humans. Casey was walking down the street and suddenly saw a bunch of Kurages flying to his direction, causing him to run as fast as he can on his skates without a thought of fighting them.
From the building window, Vela had watched the entire city littered with Kurages scaring the humans at their sight.
"Well done, my Kurages. My plan is working perfectly." Vela said with a smile. "But those four mystics are still out there and I know all of you aren't strong enough to stop them on your own." Her two fingers touched her forehead. "But I do sense a master mystic who can help us out."
As Vela unleashed her telepathic waves throughout the city, one of the strong waves went up to the sky and into the Crete Fortress.
Back in the Crete Fortress, Saldana was quietly meditating herself in the dojo until suddenly she heard the Kurage Queen's voice within her head.
"Join me! Join me!" Vela whispered.
Saldana's eyes opened wide as she bent down on the ground and clapped her hands to her forehead with a scream while resisting control from the Kurage Queen that brought her back to reality.
Instantly, the Lotus Ninjas heard their mother's scream and rushed inside the dojo. They gasped to see Saldana breathing heavily on the floor.
"Mother!" Donna said as she and her sisters helped Saldana off the floor. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Saldana said weakly.
"Are you sure?" Lee asked cautiously. "You don't seem..."
Suddenly, the sound of the rock music had interrupted Lee.
"Hey, it's Casey!" Donna exclaimed.
Ella and Ellie made kissing sounds, much to Donna's annoyance. Donna irritatedly snapped her fingers and two rocky hands from the floor pulled her sisters' faces down to the ground as she took out her L-Phone and answered the call.
"Hey, Casey." Donna said casually. "What's going on?"
"Donna, I need some help!" Casey said in a panic through the phone. "I'm having a little bit of a problem here!"
"Don't worry, Casey! We'll be right there!" Donna said. She hung up her phone and stared back at her sisters. "Casey needs our help! We have to go!"
Outside, the Lotus Ninjas ran across the building rooftops. They could even hear the screaming humans running away from the Kurages below.
"Man, the city is so dark today!" Ellie said. "There's flying jellyfishes everywhere."
"Actually, the entire jellyfish population doesn't fly in New York. They're underwater..." Donna said as she ran on the right side of Ellie.
"Do not make me smack you in the head right now!" Ella said threateningly as she ran on the left side of Ellie.
"Uh, girls, we may have a problem." Lee said.
The Lotus Ninjas reached to Casey's location and stopped on the building ledge. They could see Casey Jones hiding behind the rooftop doorway while peeking through the door at the swarm of flying Kurages.
"Look, there he is!" Ellie exclaimed.
"We're coming, Casey!" Donna shouted. "Don't move!"
"Easier said than done!" Casey shouted back.
The Lotus Ninjas hopped over the building and landed in front of the rooftop doorway, confronting the swarm of Kurages face to face with the mystics. Donna contained Casey in her purple magic sphere she casted and went back to the building across from where they stood on as Lee, Ella, and Ellie quickly followed her. As the Kurages flew towards them, Ella turned around and unleashed a powerful orb of fire from her palms at them before hopping back to her sisters and her friend. The team looked back to watch several Kurages scattered away from the fire attack.
"Does anyone know what the heck is going on?" Casey blurted out. "And who are those things?"
"Those are actually Kurages." Donna explained. "A mystical race of telepathic sea creatures that can be found in the deep seas of the ocean. But since they were well coordinated around the city, there has to be a mystic with that higher intelligence on controlling them."
"So, you're saying that you sense a someone is controlling every Kurage in the city." Ellie said.
"Wait a minute." Ella said in realization. "Does a mystic with telepathic power can also enslave any people telepathically?"
"Mother!" Lee exclaimed with her wide eyes.
Meanwhile, Saldana was floating a bit close to the floor. Her eyes widened open as she found herself standing on ghost white water as a base inside her mind. The place has a pale pinkish background and a glowing white aura.
"Why must you fight?" Vela questioned. "You know you can't resist my control. You will come to me eventually."
"You can't control me." Saldana hissed. "But I'm much stronger than you think!"
"That power gave me strength." Vela giggled. "Together, we do anything and we will be unstoppable!"
"No!" Saldana shouted. "We're nothing alike! My powers come from peace while your powers come from destruction!"
"Just like your past life ended in destruction." Vela said.
Vela conjured the sight of Saldana's former home burning to the ground with her deceased Caesar dead on the ground in front of her eyes.
"Sooner or later, you will join my army." Vela said sinisterly.
As the Lotus Ninjas and Casey raced back into the fortress, they ran into the dojo and found Saldana lying weakly on the floor. They ran to the white mystic and helped her to her feet.
"Are you okay, Saldana?" Casey asked with concern.
"No, Leona." Saldana said. "Your former adversary, Dr. Vela North, has returned."
"Vela's behind this?" Donna said. "But how's that even possible?"
"Somehow, she has acquired a telepathic connection with every Kurages in her control after a freak accident in her lab." Saldana explained. "And she now calls herself, the Kurage Queen."
"Now this is personal. No one messes with our mother's mind." Ellie said angrily. "We gotta take her down!"
"Agreed, Michelle. The Kurage Queen will not rest until she has complete control of this city and my mind." Saldana said. She slowly walked towards her memory shrine and took down her old family photo. "Everything I had in my life is gone. My husband, my son, and even my home clan. You four are all I have left in my life."
"Don't worry, mother." Ella assured. "We'll stop her."
"But we need find her first." Donna pointed out.
"Thanks to the Kurage Queen, I was able to see into her mind." Saldana said. "She's in her lair in an abandoned utility building across TCRI."
Suddenly, Saldana screamed out loud as she dropped the picture and holding her head with her hands. Lee and Casey helped her back to her feet before Saldana started collapsing to the floor again.
"Fight her, mother." Lee said firmly.
"I will." Saldana replied. "Just go."
"Don't worry." Casey said. "Casey Jones will look after Saldana."
Donna, Ella, and Ellie nodded as they exited the dojo. Lee bent down to pick up the picture and stared at it for a minute before joining her younger sisters.
The Lotus Ninjas arrived at the abandoned utility building and entered quietly into the main room. They walked through the dark hallways, but they stopped when they heard a strange sound in the air.
"Do you guys hear that?" Donna said.
Lee, Ella, Donna, and Ellie looked down the hallway and saw a swarm of Kurages zooming through the halls.
"You gotta be kidding me." Ella muttered.
"Any ideas, Lee?" Donna asked.
"Yeah, run!" Lee shouted.
The Lotus Ninjas began running down the hallway as fast as they can with the Kurages chasing them. Donna launched herself into the air and summoned a giant rocky hand from the ceiling that grabbed her and her three sisters, leaving the Kurages flying down below them without notice.
"Brilliant, Donna!" Lee said. "Keep moving!"
With a nod, Donna motioned the giant rock hand to move forward.
Back in the Crete Fortress, the Kurage Queen was resuming her efforts to take control of Saldana's mind.
"Why do you even care about this new life of yours so much?" The Kurage Queen questioned.
"Because that's...where I...belong." Saldana groaned as she could feel her strength getting weaker by the second.
"Oh really? Your daughters have begun to outgrow you to their full potential." The Kurage Queen taunted.
The Kurage Queen conjured the sight of the sparring session earlier where Lee punched Saldana straight to the face.
"They even mentioned that they don't need you anymore." The Kurage Queen continued. "But I do. Come to me and join your real family."
"Nooooo!" Saldana cried.
The Kurage Queen finally have control over Saldana.
Casey heard Saldana's scream from the kitchen and entered back in the dojo with a hockey stick in his hands, but he stopped when a thick mist started to form around the area. He didn't like it not one bit.
"Saldana?" Casey called out. "Is everything okay?"
Casey stepped through the mist and turned around to walk backwards before bumping into something. He gasped sharply as he whipped around and stared wide-eyed when he noticed the white mystic held her white energized fists in the air and her eyes were glowing dark pink. Saldana immediately charged at Casey with several white energy bolts. Casey was able to dodge each one with his skates and ran for cover, but one energy bolt made him fall to the floor and moved to the corner when Saldana was walking closer above him. Before Saldana was about to harm Casey severely, she stopped as the Kurage Queen's voice was calling to her mind.
"Forget the boy, Saldana. Come to me now." The Kurage Queen ordered.
Obeying her command, Saldana moved away from Casey and exited the fortress.
"Okay, now that was freaky." Casey muttered.
Meanwhile, Donna continued to motion the giant rock hand to move with her earth magic.
"Okay, I know the Kurages are part of our mystic race and all, but I'm officially freaking out by all of this." Ellie said as she was staring down at the roaming Kurages.
Finally, the giant rock hand stopped to the end of the wall where the girls can see a wall of Kurages blocking their path in front of them.
"Donna, check out that wall." Lee said.
Donna touched the ceiling wall with her right palm and picked up several figures behind the end wall through the vibrations.
"The Kurage Queen is in there." Donna stated. "Her utility chamber is on the other side of that wall."
"But how are we supposed to get past them?" Ellie asked, pointing her finger to the Kurages.
"Ella, create a fire ball." Lee said to her red mystic kunoichi sister.
"You got it." Ella said with a nod.
Ella waved her hands around and formed a large ball of fire, throwing it slowly towards the Kurages.
"Uh, Lee, you do realize those creatures are highly feared by anything streamy." Donna said.
"You don't say." Lee smirked.
Lee summoned a large arrow made of water out of thin air and shot it at the fireball. The water arrow and the fireball clashed together to form a powerful steam at the Kurages, causing the psychic mystic creatures to scatter away from the wall.
"Let's go!" Lee said.
As the Lotus Ninjas destroyed the end wall, they entered inside the enormous room that led them to the main room area that has several Kurages scattering around. Lee, Ella, Donna, and Ellie found themselves confronted by Vela North, who was standing on a platform high above them with her fellow Kurages.
"Ah, mystic ninjas, we meet again." Vela said.
"Except last time, North, you didn't bleached your skin into a flamingo color!" Ella retorted.
Lee, Donna, and Ellie giggled at their sister's joke.
"I am the Kurage Queen!" Vela shouted in frustration. "The Kurage Queen!"
"Sad." Ellie coughed into her fist.
"Sorry, but we don't actually about your discovery." Lee retorted. "We've got a few tricks to bone with you!"
Suddenly, the Lotus Ninjas flinched at the sound of rock music.
"Thanks for ruining the moment, Donna." Ella remarked.
Donna turned away from her sisters and quickly took out her L-Phone to answer the call.
"Uh, Casey, this really isn't the best time to call me right now." Donna answered.
"Donna, it's Saldana! She's gone!" Casey shouted through the phone.
"Gone? Gone where?" Donna asked.
"Right here." A low, raspy voice answered.
Slowly, the four mystic kunoichis turned and gasped surprisingly. They saw Saldana stepping into the room with glowing dark pink eyes. Saldana is now under the Kurage Queen's control, much to the girls' horror.
"Mother!" Lee, Ella, Donna, and Ellie gasped collectively.
"She's mine now." The Kurage Queen said with a chuckle.
"Mother, please snap out of it!" Lee cried. "She's controlling your mind. You have to fight it."
Saldana stared at her daughters a she ignored her daughter's pleading words.
"Saldana, destroy them!" The Kurage Queen ordered.
"With pleasure." Saldana said with a monotone voice.
Saldana took a few steps forward towards the four mystic kunoichis.
"Are we really gonna do this?" Donna asked uncomfortably.
"We beat her once, we can do it again." Lee replied. "Remember, do not hesitate."
Saldana clenched her fists and summoned white energy engulfing them.
"Let's. Take. Mother. Down." Lee said.
The Lotus Ninjas summoned their elemental magic and charged forward together. Lee ran forward to attack her mother. Donna ran forward after her, then Ella went after her, and then Ellie went after her. They attacked together, but their elemental fists ended up on the ground at the same place. They all felt the presence of Saldana right behind them, making the girls turn to see her with fear. Saldana sent her daughters flying by delivering four quick white energized kicks.
The Lotus Ninjas were thrown against the wall. Ellie, Ella, and Lee hit the wall on their backs and slumped on the floor while Donna hit the wall on her face and fell on her back to the floor.
"Now I'm starting to see everything clearly." Donna said to her sisters as she looked back at Saldana. "She has been going easy on us for all these years!"
Donna suddenly ran forward and went to attack Saldana with a swift kick, but Saldana dodged out of the way. Donna then summoned up the ground beneath her and ruptured it to send out a wave of violent earth rushing towards her mother, but Saldana jumped in the air and kicked the purple mystic kunoichi back to the wall. Ellie swiftly created several arrows made of air and fired them at Saldana, but the white mystic protected herself with a white energy force field and then fired a powerful white energy blast that sent the orange mystic kunoichi to the wall on the other side of the room before falling to the floor. Ella ran forward and channeled her flaming powers around herself to fire out the flames forward in the shape of a giant dragon at Saldana, but Saldana moved out of the way and flipped over Ella to kick her in the face with a foot that sent the red mystic kunoichi to the ground at Lee's feet.
Lee stood silent for a moment and stared at Saldana with her sad, begging eyes.
"Mother, please!" Lee pleaded.
Saldana didn't respond and ran forward as Lee did the same. They fought using their fast kicks and punches, dodging and blocking each other's attacks with speed and agility. But Saldana eventually knocked Lee to the ground, putting her foot on the blue mystic kunoichi's chest and raised her fist in the air.
"Finish her." Vela commanded.
"Wait!" Lee said, stopping her mother from finishing her up. "Remember who you are! Shiroibara Saldana."
Lee conjured up the family picture and Saldana stared down at with narrow eyes as if the photo was snapping her out of it.
"Please, mother. We need you." Lee said softly.
"Don't listen to her." The Kurage Queen said as she levitated herself down and stood over Saldana with a cruel grin. "Your place is with me."
"My place...is with...my daughters!" Saldana cried out.
Suddenly, Saldana's dark pink eyes went back to normal and she charged forward at the Kurage Queen. Saldana delivered a powerful punch that was strong enough to create a small explosion for the Kurage Queen to get hit hard at the wall and fell on the ground floor unconsciously. That even made the girls blinking in surprise.
"Mother!" The Lotus Ninjas exclaimed happily as they hugged their mother tightly.
The Lotus Ninjas and Saldana watched as a wave of Kurages flew over the unconscious Kurage Queen and took their leave out of their sight.
Back in the Crete Fortress, Saldana was meditating peacefully and levitated herself up when Lee entered the dojo to check on her.
"Mother, are you positive that you are alright?" Lee asked cautiously.
"Yes, Leona, I'm okay." Saldana replied with a smile. "Thanks to you and your sisters."
"Well, you did hesitate." Lee grinned. "And like you said, hesitation makes you vulnerable."
"Yup!" Ellie said, peering around a corner of the dojo entrance.
Ella appeared beside Ellie and crossed her arms while Donna appeared behind them with a greeting two fingered salute.
"Yes, I'm proud of all of you." Saldana smiled.
"But who knows." Lee said with a cocky grin. "Maybe we'll be even better master mystic kunoichis than you in the future."
Saldana's eyes narrowed as she grabbed Lee's wrist and threw her over her shoulder into the wall. Lee slid down and landed on her back with dizzy eyes.
"It's gonna take every skill I've taught you to keep up with a master mystic like me." Saldana said as she walked towards her room.
Ella, Donna, and Ellie giggled as they knelt next to their oldest sister.
"Great to have you back, mother." Lee groaned.
Saldana glanced over her shoulder and giggled.
Enjoy. Also, kurage means jellyfish in Japanese.