Outside the city, the K-5 were chasing Omalgae on the rooftops. Ariana, Talia, and Ezra jumped off the rooftops and landed in front of Omalgae, who came to a halt and turned around to run away. But Kirana and Camilla landed been right behind the plant mutant. Having enough of this, Omalgae began firing large glowing green seeds from his palms at the K-5 at a high velocity.
"Oh snap!" Talia screamed.
Talia created a solid barrier of air that surrounded herself, Ezra, and Ariana as Camilla created a barrier of fire that surrounded herself and Kirana Both barriers were strong enough to protect the mages from incoming rapid green seeds.
Omalgae stopped attacking the mages and sped away over Talia's barrier to pick up speed across the rooftops.
"Guys, Omalgae's getting away!" Ariana exclaimed.
Talia and Camilla released their elemental barriers as the K-5 immediately went after the plant mutant. Omalgae jumped down into an alley and Kirana stopped running to signal her younger siblings for a complete stop by holding up her hand as the siblings stood by edge of the building.
"We've got him trapped, team." Kirana said confidently.
"Great. Let's get him." Camilla said.
Kirana drew her elemental magic and her siblings did the same with their magic. With a nod coming from Kirana, the team looked down into the alley and found Omalgae was gone out of their sight.
"How is he already gone?" Ezra asked.
"What the heck?" Kirana gasped in shock. "Where did he go?"
"Thanks, Kirana." Camilla said. "We lost him."
"Now, how could possibly be my fault?" Kirana questioned defensively.
"Because we would've been caught Omalgae by now if you have come up with a better plan." Camilla snapped.
"Well, you need to stop second guessing my orders!" Kirana retorted.
"Then, quit making bad orders and I would listen to you for a change!" Camilla shouted. "Besides, I'll show you how I can be the better leader than you!"
"Oh, that sounds like a challenge!" Kirana yelled with a glare.
"Now, let's not make any poor judgements here." Ariana said slowly as she got between her two older sisters and pushed them away.
"Ariana's right. You two can't argue all of this back home." Talia added.
Kirana and Camilla glared at Ariana and Talia furiously, making their younger sisters step away from them.
"Guys, please don't fight over this dare. It's gonna end up in a terrible disaster." Ezra said.
Kirana knew her younger brother was right but Camilla didn't even listen, making Kirana glare at Camilla.
"If you think you can lead the team better than me, that's fine by me." Kirana said firmly.
"Wait, what?" Ariana, Talia, and Ezra screamed.
"But if you fail, don't come running to me because I won't care." Kirana continued. "Have. Fun!"
Kirana began walked away angrily from her sisters. Camilla crossed her arms with a glare as Ariana, Talia, and Ezra looked cautious to watch their oldest sister go.
"We're doomed without Kirana, aren't we?" Talia asked with a deadpan look.
"Yeah, pretty much." Ariana sighed with a nod.
"I told them but no one listens to the eleven year old." Ezra groaned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Kirana sat angrily on the edge of the building rooftops that has a billboard standing behind her.
"I worked my butt off to become the leader that mother chosen me to be." Kirana thought furiously. "Who does that hothead brat Camilla think she is? She doesn't have a single clue how hard it is to handle the responsibility as a leader. Once she fails her job of being leader, she'll come running and admitting me that I'm right. Just wait and see."
Suddenly, Kirana sensed many black auras coming from behind her as she got up and summoned her water magic. She turned around and found herself face to face with a squad of Shadow Clan ninjas.
"The Shadow Clan? Well, this night is going to be delightful." Kirana said with a grin.
All of the Shadow Clan soldiers lunged forward to attack at Kirana with everything they got, but the blue mage knuoichi have beaten them easily.
"Thanks for making up my bad night." Kirana smirked.
Then, Kirana sensed another black aura out of the corner of my eye and looked up to see a shadowy ninja crouching on top of the billboard. The ninja was actually gazing down at Kirana as if he was studying her moves. Then, the figure jumped down and landed on his feet to face Kirana. The black aura that Kirana have detected was a Shadow Clan mage ninja. He was tall and lean almost equal to Ariana's height with a muscular physique and brushed-back black hair. He wore a black v-neck training shirt with several gray linings in its place, black hakama pants, and black ankle wraps with gray linings. He also has a black metallic mask with neon gray linings at the center that covered his eyes. To Kirana's eyes, he looked strong and dangerous.
"Hey, you're not bad." The ninja boy spoke in a smooth voice. "You might be quite a challenge for me."
Kirana's eyes widened wide in surprise as she can't believe that the Shadow Clan ninja was really complimenting her fighting skills.
"Um, thanks?" Kirana said with a raised eyebrow.
"Now here comes the fun part." The ninja boy said with a chuckle.
The mage ninja boy approached Kirana slowly and summoned out his dark energy magic from his hands. He extended their arm forward and released a multitude of hands composed of dark energy to grab the blue mage knuoichi. Kirana quickly created a barrier of water that surrounded herself to deflect the Shadow Clan ninja's attack. The mage ninja then charged a large sphere of dark energy between his hands and fired it at Kirana in form of a powerful beam. Kirana took the hit from the attack, leaving her struggling to stand up and fight back. The mage ninja took that advantage and lunged forward to release several tentacles made of dark energy that wrapped around the blue mage kunoichi, restraining Kirana's movement by her arms and legs in the process. The mage ninja came close into Kirana's face.
For some reason, Kirana found herself somewhat attracted to him rather than feeling the sense of fear in her mind.
"Heh, maybe not." The mage ninja said with a shrug. He took off his mask and revealed his jade green eyes with a smile to Kirana. "Forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kuro. But don't think we're finished here. We have all night. See ya."
Kuro summoned a portal made of dark energy and descended into it out of sight as he snapped his fingers to free the blue mage kunoichi from the dark energized tentacles. Kirana ran up to the disappearing portal and looked down at the spot with a complete confusion.
"Who was that boy?" Kirana asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Crete Fortress, Camilla, Talia, and Ezra watched as Ariana was using her magic to pinpoint the various places Omalgae had been sighted on a map of New York City.
"Ariana, will you hurry up already?" Camilla asked as she put her hands on her hips.
"I'm working as fast as I can here." Ariana replied irritatedly.
"Then try working faster!" Camilla snapped.
"Obviously, I can't even concentrate with you yelling in my ear!" Ariana retorted with an annoyed look.
"How about I hit you and see what happens?" Camilla said as she cracked her knuckles hard.
"Fine, I'll work faster." Ariana sighed with a groan as she quickly went back to the map with her magic.
"Thank you!" Camilla smiled.
Ariana, Camilla, Talia, and Ezra immediately looked to see the lab doors opening slightly as Kirana stepped inside while struggling to walk on her feet.
"Kirana!" Ezra said in worry. "Are you ok?"
Ezra went over to help his older sister.
"Yes, Kirana's back!" Talia exclaimed enthusiastically. She quickly helped her oldest sister from falling. "And she's hurt really bad! What happened?"
"I got attacked by the Shadow Ninjas." Kirana replied. She knew that she can't tell her younger sisters about her meeting with Kuro, so she decided to keep that a secret from them. "They have been putting quite a fight for once."
"Don't worry. You sit down and I'll heal you back in no time." Talia said.
Ezra grabbed a chair for Kirana and she sat on it.
"There you go, sis." Ezra said.
"And where have you been?" Camilla demanded as she stood in front of Kirana.
"Don't see why you care about my business." Kirana retorted.
"Fine, don't tell me." Camilla scowled. "I'm really glad that the Shadow Clan gave you a beatdown anyway."
"Look, enough with this pointless arguing." Talia said as she stepped between her older sisters and placed her hands on each of their shoulders. "We have something more important than this stupid fight."
"Whatever." Camilla snarled as she walked away from her sisters.
Talia rolled her eyes and pressed her glowing orange hands on Kirana's chest as she began healing her oldest sister back to perfect health.
"Found it! I've found Omalgae's hideout!" Ariana exclaimed as she stood up and pointed out the bright purple circle on the map. "Right here."
"Good." Camilla said. "We'll leave immediately since I'm in charge now."
Kirana glared at Camilla as she got up from the chair to stomp out of the lab and slammed the door on the way out. Camilla smirked slightly, leaving Ariana and Talia feeling extremely anxious about their mission. Ezra glared at Camilla but she ignored him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Kirana sat on the couch and watched the new episode of Battlestar Matrix. She viewed the scene where Captain Mila was fighting against her enemy's second-in-command named Kyros in hand-to-hand combat. Kyros was enjoying sparring with Mila as his worthy opponent while Mila was feeling both confused and attracted to him during the fight. In the end, Kyros won the fight and delivered a small kiss on Mila's cheek, making the captain blush on both cheeks for the unexpected event.
"Wow, who knows relationships can be complicated." Kirana said.
That's when Sage walked in the living room.
"Kirana, have you seen your siblings?" Sage asked.
"They just left." Kirana replied with a careless wave. "Camilla believes that she can lead the team better than me. So, I let her take my place as the leader."
"But that's not your decision to make, Kirana." Sage said.
"Mother, they always questioned my leadership and I'm sick and tired of it." Kirana protested. "They have no idea how much responsibility I have to carry for team."
"I understand, Kirana." Sage said calmly. "But you need to realize that leadership is all about responsibility.
Kirana looked down to the ground and knew that Sage was right as usual.
"Now go find your siblings." Sage ordered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the city, Kirana stood on the rooftop and sat on the ground in a mediative position. She took a deep breath and focused on her powers to perceive auras that surrounded every living things within the city. She was able to sense emotions and health coming from humans and hidden mages alike. But what she didn't know is that someone was walking quietly near her from behind.
In quick seconds, Kirana sensed the person's aura and noticed that he's close behind her.
Kirana quickly summoned two water tentacles from her back and wrapped around the person's waist and arms together, making her stand up from the ground and turn around to walk closer at the stalker with a glare. Her eyes widened wide in complete surprise when the person was actually a mutant turtle. The mutant turtle himself has emerald green skin, blue mask with long tails, and a pair of katana swords on his back. He also has the same height and eye color as the blue mage kunoichi. Kirana and the mutant turtle made eye contact and they felt a magical attraction as if they instantly felt something for one another. Their gaze was more focused than any gaze should be. Fearless sapphire blue eyes—the exact same color that the ocean had carried. Their eyes were sparkled with calmness, loyalty, and curiosity behind their masks. They could feel a new kind of heat glowing through them. Everything that made them who they are—their love for their family, their home, their sense of honor, their name, themselves—disconnected from them in that second and floated up into space. They could see that now—how the universe swirled around them as they felt the gravity no longer tied them to their position. It was the mutant ninja turtle and the mage kunoichi that held them here now.
"A mutant?" Kirana gasped sharply.
"Wait, I'm not your enemy." The mutant turtle said. "I thought you were one of the Foot Clan ninjas."
"I'm not. I've heard of that clan before, but I'm not part of them." Kirana said firmly. "I'm actually from the Magnolia Clan, but I thought you were a Shadow Clan ninja sent to spy on me."
"Trust me, I'm not either." The mutant turtle replied. "But give me a chance to apologize."
"Apologize? For what?" Kirana asked as she cocked her head in confusion.
Suddenly, the mutant turtle used his foot to take out his katana sword and slashed the water tentacles that freed him from Kirana's grasp. Kirana backed away few inches from the mutant turtle as the mutant turtle took out another katana sword from his back and got into his offensive stance.
"That." The mutant turtle replied with a playful smirk.
Kirana slowly opened up her hand to create a katana sword out of water and got into her offensive stance.
"Are you always this mysteriously handsome or am I just quite lucky to fight a worthy ninja?" Kirana said with a sly smirk.
Kirana swung her katana sword at the mutant turtle, who blocked it with his katana sword. As the two delievered strong slashes and defensive blocks to each other, the mutant and the mage are really enjoying their sparring as they found themselves extremely skilled martial artists due to their enhanced speed and stamina. They both are fighting in a more traditional Japanese martial art style with their own katana swords.
"Your hand-to-hand combat is very balanced compared to mine." The mutant turtle complimented. "And you're using the Niten Ichi-ryū as your sword fighting style just like me. Your fighting style is almost similar like mine."
"Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you." Kirana remarked.
Kirana swiped her katana sword and sent out several scythe-like blades of water at the mutant turtle, who was able to block the attack from his katana sword. But as Kirana expected it, she transformed her katana sword into a whip made of water to strike the mutant turtle's chest multuple times that sent him flying to the ground close to the edge of the rooftop.
"Okay, I did not see that coming." The mutant turtle said with a groan.
"Well, you haven't realized it yet. I'm a mage." Kirana said. "A race of naturally magic-wielding humans. In battle, I can channel my magical energies to my enemies."
"Yeah, I've noticed." The mutant turtle said. He stood up from the ground and placed his katana swords to the back of his shell. "I'm Leonardo, but you can call me Leo."
"An introduction?" Kirana questioned confusingly. "So you're not taking me in?"
"Well, you did put up quite a fight." Leo said with a shrug. "But since you're not part of the Foot Clan, I trust you. So I won't be taking you in."
"Guess I underestimated you." Kirana said as she vaporized her water whip out of thin air. "You really aren't like the other ninjas I've fought, especially one from the Shadow Clan."
"Thanks." Leo said with a nod.
"Well, if you didn't come to take me in, then what do you want?" Kirana asked suspiciously.
"Your name." Leo grinned.
"Kirana." Kirana chuckled.
"Beautiful. Almost better than my name anyway." Leo joked with a smile.
As Leo and Kirana stepped closer and gazed into each other's eyes, they both realized that they have something else to do.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I have to find my siblings." Kirana said.
"And I have to find my siblings as well." Leo said. "My hothead brother is the leader because he thinks he can lead the team better than me."
"You too, huh? Tell me about it." Kirana agreed. "I have a hothead sister back home who thinks she can be a better leader than me, so I know exactly how you feel."
"But hey, do you want spar again sometime?" Leo asked.
"I would love to." Kirana replied with a smile. "But only if you can find me in the city next time."
With that, Leo and Kirana went separate ways to find their siblings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Kirana raced across the rooftops, she felt a black aura hiding in the shadows and stopped on the rooftop that has the cosmetic store billboard behind her. She stood her position with her eyes closed shut to focus more about the aura she'd sensed within the shadows. She opened her eyes and quickly dodged many shuriken with a backflip before landing back on her feet. She looked up at the shadows and watched a teenage girl stepping out right in front of her with a greeting smile.
Kirana gasped happily as she recognized the girl from before. The teenaged girl was slightly taller than Kirana and approximately close to Ariana's height with a lean, slender figure. She has short black hair with a large portion of dyed blonde at the back in a style of angled bob with long eartails. She has amber eyes, several black earrings, and bright red eyeliner over the tips of her eyebrows. She wore a full-body black bodysuit worn under a silver armor attached to her chest, part on her thighs, and around her shoulders, arms, and legs. She also wore traditional Japanese shoes and a purple belt around the waist.
"Well, well, well, you've grown quite strong than the last time we sparred back in Japan." The teenaged girl complimented.
"Karai!" Kirana squealed with a huge smile.
Kirana ran forward and hugged Karai, who returned the hug with a smile.
"It's so good to see you, Kirana." Karai said.
"I never thought you would come in this city yourself." Kirana said with a somewhat surprised face. "I would have known you were coming sooner."
"Good times travels fast." Karai said with a shrug. She drew out her tanto sword and got into her offensive stance. "Now, let's put our training to the test for old time sake."
"Alright then." Kirana grinned as she opened up her hand to create a tanto sword out of water and got into her offensive stance. "And trust me, I have been picking up some new skills."
Kirana launched herself at the human kunoichi first with a swipe of her tanto sword, but Karai had already blocked the attack with her tanto sword. Karai was about to strike the blue mage kunoichi with her tanto sword, but Kirana quickly countered gracefully with her tanto sword. Kirana and Karai exchanged slashes with their own tanto swords. After few minutes of giving each other's attacks at full power, Kirana and Karai took a step back.
"Impressive." Karai complimented. "You really have pick up some new tricks."
"Told you I've been training." Kirana said with a smirk. "Your acrobatic skills have been improving as well."
"Love to stay and chat, but I have to meet up with someone." Karai said.
"Oh, so do I." Kirana said. "I have to find my siblings. The whole reason is kinda of a long story."
"Give them a shout out for me, Kirana." Karai smiled.
"I will." Kirana smiled back.
With that, Kirana and Karai went separate ways to their objectives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After her meeting with Leo and her encounter with Karai, Kirana stood by herself in the alleyway and used her aura sense to track down her younger siblings. She still can't believe her mother sent her on the search to find them. Well, she's willing to track down Ariana, Talia, and Ezra. But not Camilla, that's for sure.
"Now, what street did Ariana said back in the lab?" Kirana muttered.
Kirana stopped talking for a minute and immediately dodged the dark energy blast with a water shield she conjured up when she turned around to block the attack. She released her water shield and found Kuro walking out the portal made of dark energy as it disappeared right behind him.
"Was I too quick for you?" Kuro smirked causally.
"Your timing needs some work if you're gonna spy on me." Kirana replied with a playful smirk.
"There's no need for me to spy on you. I'm just in the mood for some fun." Kuro responded.
Kuro summoned dark energy with his hands and got into his offensive stance. Kirana shrugged her shoulders as she summoned water with her hands and got into her offensive stance.
"Let's just get this fight started." Kirana smiled.
"Time to turn up the heat." Kuro smiled back.
Kuro lunged forward and fired a drilling beam of dark energy at Kirana, who dodged out of the way and formed a circular torrent of water in front of her hands to attack the dark mage ninja. With their eyes focused on each other's incoming moves, Kirana noticed that Kuro's mage ninjutsu skills were very formidable that makes him able to take his opponents one-on-one easily while Kuro noticed that Kirana's mage ninjutsu skills were more traditional style that fuels through her bravery and determination. Then, both mages stopped fighting for deep breaths.
"I guess all of our training paid off, huh?" Kirana grinned.
"Ha, you sure know how to show a boy a good time in this city." Kuro complimented with a smirk. "But then again, I'm starting to see why the Shadow Clan haven't finished the job on taking you down."
"Like Lady Shade couldn't fight me at her full strength." Kirana remarked.
"I know, right?" Kuro agreed with a grin. "The words revenge and vendetta has really giving her a crazy obsession. Trust me, that woman really needs a new source."
For some strange reason, Kirana was actually enjoying talking to Kuro just like the way she likes to chat with Leo and Karai.
"To be honest, you're not as bad as you think you are." Kirana said as she cocked one of her hips sassily. "I mean, why didn't you finish me off back on the rooftop earlier?"
"Because I always get myself distracted with many weaklings in my life and I enjoy taking on mage fighters like you." Kuro answered. He moved himself closer to Kirana, causing her to back away to the wall. "You actually put up a fight, but I don't think you're as good as you think you are. You eyes are filled with freedom and I admire that."
Kuro moved away from Kirana and pointed his finger at the skyscraper building.
"Meet me there at midnight." Kuro said with a sly grin.
"Why?" Kirana asked confusingly.
"I want you to show something interesting." Kuro said.
With that, Kuro sank down to his shadow and disappeared out of sight.
Kirana have never felt so confused in her entire life. She viewed Kuro as a Shadow Clan member, but he's more cunning and dangerous than any average ninjas from that clan. She could feel her heart speeding up, but it only reacts faster when she first met Leo. She realized that she has romantic feelings for both Leo and Kuro, but she can't decide who she attracts more. She knew she can't tell her mother and her siblings about them, so she knows just the right person she can talk to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, the three other mage kunoichis and mage ninja walked through the underground tunnel coming from below the old warehouse.
"We have been walking for hours!" Talia groaned. "Are we there yet or not?"
"Keep it down, Talia!" Camilla hissed. "We can't let Omalgae know we're down here."
Ariana, Talia, and Ezra exchanged glances at each other before turning back to Camilla.
"Wow, she sounds just like Kirana." Ariana whispered.
"Yeah, I miss her already." Talia whispered back.
"I just hope she knows where we are in case we need her." Ezra whispered.
"You know, I can hear you three!" Camilla said as she spun around with a glare. "You say that name one more time and I'll shove your faces down into the ground!"
Camilla continued to move forward, leaving her younger sister talk among themselves.
"And now she sound like herself again." Ariana said to Talia and Ezra.
"Bummer." Talia muttered.
"Typical." Ezra muttered.
The mages finally found Omalgae's secret hideout. Camilla, Talia, and Ezra's eyes widened wide, but Ariana was still looking down to her map.
"Oh boy." Ezra said.
"Okay, according to the map, Omalgae's lair should be right here." Ariana said.
"Uh, Ariana?" Camilla said slowly. "We found it."
Talia poked her finger on Ariana's shoulder and pointed it upward. Ariana followed the finger and then looked up with wide eyes.
The mages walked forward and observed the place with their jaw dropped. The entire place was modeled like a large glowing indoor garden complete with trees and grass. The ground was clouded with dark green mist and several enormous Venus flytraps planted on the grassy ground. As they walked around the Venus flytraps, Talia and Ezra looked into one of them curiously and peered through the mouth to see a male human trapped inside.
"This is where the humans have been all this time." Ezra said in realization.
"Okay, this is wrong on so many levels!" Talia exclaimed with a yelp.
"Calm down, Talia." Ariana said as she and Camilla joined their youngest sister and younger brother. "He's actually holding them captive."
"For what?" Camilla asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Ariana placed her hand on the Venus flytrap and focused on the plant with her earth magic.
"According to my magic, he's planning on devouring them." Ariana said.
"Okay, now that's gross." Talia muttered.
"How are we gonna free them?" Ezra asked.
"Ariana, use your magic to let the plants free the humans." Camilla said. "Talia and I will lead them out with a little hypnosis."
Ariana motioned her glowing purple hands and commanded the Venus flytraps at her will. With a snap of her fingers, the Venus flytraps lowered themselves and opened up their mouths to release the humans to the grass. Camilla, Talia, and Ezra hid behind one of the giant Venus flytraps as they waved their red, orange, and teal glowing fingers around in the air to take control of the humans, sending them straight to the exit at one peace.
"This mission was a job well done without Kirana." Camilla grinned.
"Camilla." Ezra warned.
Then, the hissing sound of the plant mutant made the mages turn around to face him.
"No!" Omaglae screamed angrily. "You four have ruined my meal!"
"Oh snap." Ariana muttered.
"What do we do now, Camilla?" Talia whispered to Camilla.
"Simple. Take him down!" Camilla replied.
Camilla, Ariana, Talia, and Ezra charged forward to attack Omaglae.
Ariana ran for Omaglae and summoned five long earth spikes to pierce Omaglae from all sides. Omaglae dodged each earth spike in his way and formed a green ball of energy between his hand to fire it at the purple mage kunoichi that exploded on impact. Talia created several blades of wind to attack Omaglae, who blocked the attack with his growing arms and released a cyclone of glowing green leaves towards the orange mage kunoichi. Ezra made several lightning bolts and threw them at Omaglae, but he dodged them and released a glowing green vine at the teal mage ninja. Camilla fired a number of fiery curved beams of fire towards the plant mutant, but Omaglae avoided each beam in his direction and fired multiple glowing green seeds that exploded the red mage kunoichi on impact.
Omaglae then unleashed three vines to wrap around the mages and threw them viciously into the wall near the exit. Camilla, Ariana, and Ezra were struggling to get back up on their feet, but they noticed that Talia was still down.
"Talia's down and out!" Camilla gasped with wide, panic eyes.
"Oh wonderful." Ariana said sarcastically. Her eyes focused on Talia. "Look, Camilla. We can't take our chances here against Omaglae with Talia unconscious. We gotta move right now."
Camilla nodded her head and picked up Talia in her arms as Ariana summoned a large purple flower from the ground behind the mages. The giant flower then sucked the mages into the hole at the center and sank itself down to the ground as an escape route.
"I will find you, mages!" Omaglae yelled angrily. "Count on it!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After racing across several rooftops to her desination, Kirana finally made it to Casey's apartment home. She landed on the fire escape and walked up to Casey's window to see the lights are on.
"Casey." Kirana called quietly. "Are you there?"
Casey walked to the window and opened it with a confused face.
"Kirana." Casey said. "What is it?"
"I need to talk about something." Kirana said with a nervous smile.
"And what would that be?" Casey asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I met two boys today." Kirana replied with a nervous smile.
"Really?" Casey smiled excitedly. "Tell me!"
"Okay, there's this guy who's super charming, a skilled martial artist, and he's uh...a mutant." Kirana explained quickly. "And there's this guy who's a cool rebel, a slick martial artist, and he's uh...in the Shadow Clan."
"Are you insane?" Casey shouted in a whisper. "You have a crush on a Shadow Clan bad boy and a mutant?"
"I know, but I feel lost and confused every time I think about them." Kirana argued. "I'm tired of being the responsible one and want to have some fun, but I still want to be disciplined and honorable to his clan."
"As much as I wanted to pound that mutant down, I'm more interested about the Shadow Clan bad boy." Casey said. "So what does he want from you?"
"He wants me to meet him at the Seagram Building." Kirana replied. "I know you're suspecting a trap from him, but I sensed some good aura on him. I can feel it within me."
"Well, I hope you're right." Casey said with a shrug. "But it's your choice, Kirana."
As Casey closed his windows, Kirana looked up to the sky with her mind racing to make up a choice. Both Kuro and Leo are handsome, mysterious, and excellent fighters. But Kuro makes her feel like she can have a little fun than Leo.
With a deep sigh, Kirana had made her decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the Shadow Clan HQ, Kuro walked through the doors to see Lady Shade in her throne chair and approached her with a kneeling bow down to the floor.
"Kuro, I have noticed that you didn't have the opportunity to finish off Kirana." Lady Shade informed.
"Oh, you don't say?" Kuro questioned calmly. "I didn't even need to use my full power for the likes of her."
"So you let her go instead." Lady Shade responded.
"No way. That's not true." Kuro stated plainly. "She escaped from my moment to strike."
"I find that hard to believe coming from you." Lady Shade said.
"Well, she did escaped from you." Kuro snapped.
"Enough!" Lady Shade shouted.
Lady Shade got up from the throne chair and approached down to Kuro from the stairs as Kuro stared up to Lady Shade without a hint of fear in his body.
"Next time you see Kirana, you will take your time and finish her real painfully. Understand?" Lady Shade demanded.
"I understand, mother." Kuro said respectfully.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the Crete Fortress, Camilla and Ariana carried Talia into the living room with Ezra following as Sage came out from the dojo just in time to see her unconscious daughter.
"Set her on the couch now." Sage said quickly.
Camilla and Ariana gently placed Talia to the couch. Sage sat down next to the unconscious mage.
"Where is Kirana?" Sage asked, looking up at Camilla and Ariana.
"We don't know, mother!" Camilla said miserably. "This is all my fault. I should have never took Kirana's place as the leader. I wanna risk my own life for things like this, not my siblings."
"Is Talia gonna be ok?" Ezra asked his mother.
"She'll be fine." Sage told him. "She needs rest."
Sage looked at Camilla.
"Now, you finally understand Kirana's responsibility to this team." Sage said firmly.
"Trust me, I know." Camilla said. "She was right. We need her back, but mostly I need her back."
"Then, go find her." Sage said simply.
"But we have no idea where she is." Camilla told Sage.
"She's heading at Seagram Building." Ariana spoke up.
"How can you possibly know that?" Camilla questioned.
"Casey texted me and told me so." Ariana replied as she held up her K-Phone. "I'll stay with Talia. You go find Kirana. We don't know what she could be doing on that building."
"I'll tag with her." Ezra said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the rooftop of the Seagram Building, Kuro sat on the ground and waited for Kirana to meet with him. His smile grew wide when Kirana climbed to the top and landed on her feet on the ground as she walked closer to him.
"It's about time you show up." Kuro said with a grin.
"So, why do you want me to meet you here?" Kirana asked.
"To show this." Kuro said.
Kuro waved his hand around in a circle and pointed his magic in the air, summoning a shiny light green amulet hovering bewteen the two mages.
"That's the Amulet of Nightshade." Kirana said in awe. "It's the source of all dark magic."
"It's ancient, beautiful, and yours...if you join me." Kuro said as he looked at Kirana right in the eyes.
"Join you for what?" Kirana asked hesitantly.
"We're going to absorb its tremendous power." Kuro replied.
"No, I'm not." Kirana said sternly. "Absorbing that kinda power will leave a very chaotic outcome even for advanced mages."
"Oh come on. You know, you want it." Kuro said with a chuckle. "Stop being responsible, Kirana. Stop waiting for people to give you the life you want. Go and bond with it."
"Sorry, Kuro, but no." Kirana responded.
"Refuse my offer? What a shame." Kuro said.
Kuro's hands began engulfing with dark energy, but Kirana grabbed his hand to stop him.
"Kuro, you don't have to do this." Kirana told Kuro.
"I know, but you really need to lighten up." Kuro said with a smile. "You're taking yourself way too seriously."
"Kirana! Are you here?"
"Where are you? Kirana!"
Kirana gasped as she recognized those voices anywhere. Camilla and Ezra climbed at the top of the building and jumped over at the rooftop ground as they saw their oldest sister with a Shadow Clan ninja.
"Um, bad time?" Ezra asked.
"Uh, what are you doing? Who's he?" Camilla demanded.
"Camilla, Ezra, this is Kuro." Kirana said. "Kuro, this is Camilla and Ezra."
"Ariana, Talia, Ezra, and I have been risking our lives against Omaglae and you're up here making friends with the Shadow!" Camilla shouted.
"Hey, you're the leader now." Kirana said quickly. "You didn't want me on the mission, remember?"
"Ha, what an entertaining argument." Kuro said with an amused smile. "I'm gonna enjoy this."
Ezra suddenly sensed something was approaching them.
"Listen, Kuro and I have shared equal fighting style that involves..." Kirana explained.
Ezra picked up the sense of a familiar plant mutant was approaching them.
"Oh, crud." Ezra said.
Kirana immediately stopped talking when she looked behind Camilla to see Omaglae climbing on the rooftop. Camilla noticed her older sister's look and spun around to face the plant mutant. Ezra spun around and saw Omaglae.
"I found you, mages!" Omaglae hissed. "Now, you three will pay for foiling my plans!"
Kirana, Camilla, and Ezra summoned their elemental magic and got into their offensive stances. Omaglae held out his arms and released glowing light green leaves from his palms at the mages, who jumped out of the way and ran forward. Just before Kirana, Camilla, and Ezra could strike, two of Omaglae's vines wrapped around their bodies and pulled them forward as the siblings were being lifted up into the air.
Kuro watched the whole battle from the distance. But when he let out a smirk, he charged forward and fired several spheres of dark energy continuously from his hands that made the plant mutant took the hit and sliced the vines that were holding the mage kunoichis and mage ninja. Kirana, Camilla, and Ezra landed on their feet as they ran back to Kuro.
"I have a plan for a combination attack." Kirana said.
"You're the leader, after all." Camilla said.
"Gladly." Kuro grinned as he cracked his neck side to side. "I love a good fight when I see one."
"Especially when it's together." Ezra commented.
The four mages charged forward to perform a combination attack. Kirana summoned a stream of big bubbles of water from her hands that hit Omaglae multiple times at great force. Kuro charged dark energy on his fingers and summoned thousands of dark energy blasts to strike at Omaglae. Ezra unleashed a stream of lightning from his palms to attack Omaglae. Camilla released a large bullet-like stream of fire towards Omaglae. The plant mutant took all of the mages' attack and went flying close to the edge of the building, but he stood himself in his weak state and wasn't going to be defeated that easily. Kirana formed a sphere of water in her hands above her head, Kuro formed a sphere of dark energy in his hands above his head, Ezra formed a sphere of lightning in his hands above his head, and Camilla formed a sphere of fire in her hands above her head. Once after the sufficient amount of elemental magic has been gathered, the four mages released their magic at the plant mutant in the form of a large elemental beam. Omaglae screamed in horror as the large elemental beam exploded him upon contact and shattered him into pieces.
"Nice plan, sis." Ezra said to Kirana.
"Thanks." Kirana said happily. "Good to be leader again."
"That felt good for my strength." Kuro said with a smirk. "We should do this again sometimes. See ya later."
Kuro sank down to his shadow and disappeared out of sight from the building.
"We'll talk about him later, but right now I wanted to say...I'm sorry." Camilla said as she looked at the ground. "You're right. Being the leader is hard work and I seriously hate it."
"It's okay. Apology accepted." Kirana smiled.
Kirana and Camilla hugged each other and pulled in Ezra for the hug. The mage siblings walked back home together, unaware of the beating sound from Omaglae's heart was still intact.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the Crete Fortress, four mages gathered around Talia. Camilla, Ariana, and Ezra watched closely as Kirana held a slice of cheese pizza close to their youngest sister's nose.
"Mmmmm, cheese pizza." Talia spoke slowly with a sniff.
"Told you." Kirana smiled proudly. "Works every time."
Talia woke up and snatched the slice of pizza with a mouth like a wild animal.
"Oh Talia, we thought we lost you for sure!" Camilla cried as she hugged her youngest sister tightly.
"Glad your okay, Talia." Ezra smiled.
"But did we defeat Omaglae?" Talia said. "I remember being blackout for a second."
"Yeah, we did." Ariana grinned. "Thanks to Kirana, Camilla, and Ezra."
"Works for me." Talia smiled with a shrug.
Camilla pulled Talia back from the hug and pulled Kirana by the arm away from her younger siblings.
"So, who's that boy you were talking to?" Camilla asked.
"His name is Kuro." Kirana replied. "And I know what you're thinking, but he didn't try to attack me."
"Do you realize that he's part of the Shadow Clan, right?" Camilla asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I know." Kirana said with a smile. "But hey, nobody's perfect."
As Kirana walked past her younger sister and went into her room, Camilla stared at her older sister with a confused look. Kirana let out a low, dreamy sigh as she knows that she will see both Kuro and Leo will be very soon. Between her love for Leo and Kuro, she have made her decision about them.