Summary: Leona lets Rafaela try her hand at leadership; Leona meets a handsome yet dangerous male mystic ninja and a handsome yet mysterious mutant ninja.
Outside the city, the Lotus Ninjas were chasing Omalgae on the rooftops. Donna and Ellie jumped off the rooftops and landed in front of Omalgae, who came to a halt and turned around to run away. But Lee and Ella landed been right behind the plant mutant. Having enough of this, Omalgae began firing large glowing green seeds from his palms at the Lotus Ninjas at a high velocity.
"Oh snap!" Ellie screamed.
Ellie created a solid barrier of air that surrounded herself and Donna as Ella created a barrier of fire that surrounded herself and Lee. Both barriers were strong enough to protect the mystics from incoming rapid green seeds.
Omalgae stopped attacking the mystics and sped away over Ellie's barrier to pick up speed across the rooftops.
"Girls, Omalgae's getting away!" Donna exclaimed.
Ellie and Ella released their elemental barriers as the Lotus Ninjas immediately went after the plant mutant. Omalgae jumped down into an alley and Lee stopped running to signal her younger sisters for a complete stop by holding up her hand as the girls stood by edge of the building.
"We've got him trapped, ladies." Lee said confidently.
"Great. Let's get him." Ella said.
Lee drew her elemental magic and her sisters did the same with her magic. With a nod coming from Lee, the girls looked down into the alley and found Omalgae was gone out of their sight.
"What the heck?" Lee gasped in shock. "Where did he go?"
"Thanks, Lee." Ella said. "We lost him."
"Now, how could possibly be my fault?" Leo questioned defensively.
"Because we would've been caught Omalgae by now if you have come up with a better plan." Ella snapped.
"Well, you need to stop second guessing my orders!" Lee retorted.
"Then, quit making bad orders and I would listen to you for a change!" Ella shouted. "Besides, I'll show you how I can be the better leader than you!"
"Oh, that sounds like a challenge!" Lee yelled with a glare.
"Now, let's not make any poor judgements here." Donna said slowly as she got between her two older sisters and pushed them away.
"Donna's right. You two can't argue all of this back home." Ellie added.
Lee and Ella glared at Donna and Ellie furiously, making their younger sisters step away from them.
"If you think you can lead the team better than me, that's fine by me." Lee said firmly.
"Wait, what?" Ellie and Donna screamed.
"But if you fail, don't come running to me because I won't care." Lee continued. "Have. Fun!"
Lee began walked away angrily from her sisters. Ella crossed her arms with a glare as Donna and Ellie looked cautious to watch their oldest sister go.
"We're doomed without Lee, aren't we?" Ellie asked with a deadpan look.
"Yeah, pretty much." Donna sighed with a nod.
Meanwhile, Lee 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. Lee thought furiously. Who does that hothead brat Ella 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, Lee 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." Lee said with a grin.
All of the Shadow Clan soldiers lunged forward to attack at Lee with everything they got, but the blue mystic knuoichi have beaten them easily.
"Thanks for making up my bad night." Lee smirked.
Then, Lee 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 Lee as if he was studying her moves. Then, the figure jumped down and landed on his feet to face Lee. The black aura that Lee have detected was a Shadow Clan mystic ninja. He was tall and lean almost equal to Donatella'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 Lee'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."
Lee's eyes widened wide in surprise as she can't believe that the Shadow Clan ninja was really complimenting her fighting skills.
"Um, thanks?" Lee said with a raised eyebrow.
"Now here comes the fun part." The ninja boy said with a chuckle.
The mystic ninja boy approached Lee 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 mystic knuoichi. Lee quickly created a barrier of water that surrounded herself to deflect the Shadow Clan ninja's attack. The mystic ninja then charged a large sphere of dark energy between his hands and fired it at Lee in form of a powerful beam. Lee took the hit from the attack, leaving her struggling to stand up and fight back. The mystic ninja took that advantage and lunged forward to release several tentacles made of dark energy that wrapped around the blue mystic kunoichi, restraining Lee's movement by her arms and legs in the process. The mystic ninja came close into Lee's face.
For some reason, Lee found herself somewhat attracted to him rather than feeling the sense of fear in her mind.
"Heh, maybe not." The mystic ninja said with a shrug. He took off his mask and revealed his jade green eyes with a smile to Lee. "Forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kage. But don't think we're finished here. We have all night. See ya."
Kage summoned a portal made of dark energy and descended into it out of sight as he snapped his fingers to free the blue mystic kunoichi from the dark energized tentacles. Lee ran up to the disappearing portal and looked down at the spot with a complete confusion.
"Who was that boy?" Lee asked.
In the Crete Fortress, Ella and Ellie watched as Donna was using her magic to pinpoint the various places Omalgae had been sighted on a map of New York City.
"Donna, will you hurry up already?" Ella asked as she put her hands on her hips.
"I'm working as fast as I can here." Donna replied irritatedly.
"Then try working faster!" Ella snapped.
"Obviously, I can't even concentrate with you yelling in my ear!" Donna retorted with an annoyed look.
"How about I hit you and see what happens?" Ella said as she cracked her knuckles hard.
"Fine, I'll work faster." Donna sighed with a groan as she quickly went back to the map with her magic.
"Thank you!" Ella smiled.
Donna, Ella, and Ellie immediately looked to see the lab doors opening slightly as Lee stepped inside while struggling to walk on her feet.
"Yes, Lee's back!" Ellie 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." Lee replied. She knew that she can't tell her younger sisters about her meeting with Kage, 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." Ellie said.
"And where have you been?" Ella demanded as she stood in front of Lee.
"Don't see why you care about my business." Lee retorted as she sat down on the black swivel chair.
"Fine, don't tell me." Ella scowled. "I'm really glad that the Shadow Clan gave you a beatdown anyway."
"Look, enough with this pointless arguing." Ellie 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." Ella snarled as she walked away from her sisters.
Ellie rolled her eyes and pressed her glowing orange hands on Lee's chest as she began healing her oldest sister back to perfect health.
"Found it! I've found Omalgae's hideout!" Donna exclaimed as she stood up and pointed out the bright purple circle on the map. "Right here."
"Good." Ella said. "We'll leave immediately since I'm in charge now."
Lee glared at Ella as she got up from the chair to stomp out of the lab and slammed the door on the way out. Ella smirked slightly, leaving Donna and Ellie feeling extremely anxious about their mission.
Meanwhile, Lee 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." Lee said.
That's when Saldana walked in the living room.
"Leona, have you seen your sisters?" Saldana asked.
"They just left." Lee replied with a careless wave. "Ella 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, Leona." Saldana said.
"Mother, they always questioned my leadership and I'm sick and tired of it." Lee protested. "They have no idea how much responsibility I have to carry for team."
"I understand, Leona." Saldana said calmly. "But you need to realize that leadership is all about responsibility.
Lee looked down to the ground and knew that Saldana was right as usual.
"Now go find your sisters." Saldana ordered.
Back in the city, Lee 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 mystics alike. But what she didn't know is that someone was walking quietly near her from behind.
In quick seconds, Lee sensed the person's aura and noticed that he's close behind her.
Lee 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 mystic kunoichi. Lee 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 mystic kunoichi that held them here now.
"A mutant?" Lee gasped sharply.
"Wait, I'm not your enemy." The mutant turtle said. "I thought you're one of the Foot Clan ninjas."
"I'm not. I've heard of that clan before, but I'm not part of them." Lee said firmly. "I'm actually from the Lotus Clan, but I've thought you're 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?" Lee 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 Lee's grasp. Lee 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.
Lee 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?" Lee said with a sly smirk.
Lee 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 mystic 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 me."
"Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you." Lee remarked.
Lee 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 Lee 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 seen that coming." The mutant turtle said with a groan.
"Well, you haven't realized it yet. I'm a mystic." Lee 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?" Lee 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."
"Guess I underestimated you." Lee 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?" Lee asked suspiciously.
"Your name." Leo grinned.
"Leona, but you can call me Lee." Lee chuckled.
"Beautiful. Almost close to my name anyway." Leo joked with a smile.
As Leo and Lee 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 sisters." Lee said.
"And I have to find my brothers." 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." Lee 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." Lee replied with a smile. "But only if you can find me in the city next time."
With that, Leo and Lee went separate ways to find their siblings.
As Lee 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.
Lee gasped happily as she recognized the girl from before. The teenaged girl was slightly taller than Lee and approximately close to Donatella'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 spar back in Japan." The teenaged girl complimented.
"Karai!" Lee squealed with a huge smile.
Lee ran forward and hugged Karai, who returned the hug with a smile.
"It's so good to see you, Leona." Karai said.
"I never thought you would come in this city yourself." Lee 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." Lee 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."
Lee 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 mystic kunoichi with her tanto sword, but Lee quickly countered gracefully with her tanto sword. Lee and Karai exchanged slashes with their own tanto swords. After few minutes of giving each other's attacks at full power, Lee and Karai took a step back.
"Impressive." Karai complimented. "You really have pick up some new tricks."
"Told you I've been training." Lee said with a smirk. "Your acrobatic skills has been improving as well."
"Love to stay and chat, but I have to meet up with someone earlier." Karai said.
"Oh, so do I." Lee said. "I have to find my sisters. The whole reason is kinda of a long story."
"Give them a shout out for me, Lee." Karai smiled.
"I will." Lee smiled back.
With that, Lee and Karai went separate ways to their objectives.
After her meeting with Leo and her encounter with Karai, Lee stood by herself in the alleyway and used her aura sense to track down her younger sisters. She still can't believe her mother sent her on the search to find them. Well, she's willing to track down Donna and Ellie. But not Ella, that's for sure.
"Now, what street did Donna said back in the lab?" Lee muttered.
Lee 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 Kage walking out the portal made of dark energy as it disappeared right behind him.
"Was I too quick for you?" Kage smirked causally.
"Your timing needs some work if you're gonna spy on me." Lee replied with a playful smirk.
"There's no need for me to spy on you. I'm just in the mode for some fun." Kage responded.
Kage summoned dark energy with his hands and got into his offensive stance. Lee shrugged her shoulders as she summoned water with her hands and got into her offensive stance.
"Let's just get this fight started." Lee smiled.
"Time to turn up the heat." Kage smiled back.
Kage lunged forward and fired a drilling beam of dark energy at Lee, who dodged out of the way and formed a circular torrent of water in front of her hands to attack the dark mystic ninja. With their eyes focused on each other's incoming moves, Lee noticed that Kage's mystic ninjutsu skills were very formidable that makes him able to take his opponents one-on-one easily while Kage noticed that Lee's mystic ninjutsu skills were more traditional style that fuels through her bravery and determination. Then, both mystics stopped fighting for deep breaths.
"I guess all of our training paid off, huh?" Lee grinned.
"Ha, you sure know how to show a boy a good time in this city." Kage 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." Lee remarked.
"I know, right?" Kage 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, Lee was actually enjoying talking to Kage 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." Lee 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 mystic fighters like you." Kage answered. He moved himself closer to Lee, 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."
Kage moved away from Lee and pointed his finger at the skyscraper building.
"Meet me there at midnight." Kage said with a sly grin.
"Why?" Lee asked confusingly.
"I want you to show something interesting." Kage said.
With that, Kage sank down to his shadow and disappeared out of sight.
Lee have never felt so confused in her entire life. She viewed Kage 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 have romantic feelings for both Leo and Kage, but she can't decided who she attracts more. She knew she can't tell her mother and her sisters about them, so she knows just the right person she can talk to.
Meanwhile, the three other mystic kunoichis walked through the underground tunnel coming from below the old warehouse.
"We have been walking for hours!" Ellie groaned. "Are we there yet or not?"
"Keep it down, Ellie!" Ella hissed. "We can't let Omalgae know we're down here."
Donna and Ellie exchanged glances at each other before turning back to Ella.
"Wow, she sound just like Lee." Donna whispered.
"Yeah, I miss her already." Ellie whispered back.
"You know, I can hear you two!" Ella 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!"
Ella continued to move forward, leaving her younger sister talk among themselves.
"And now she sound like herself again." Donna said to Ellie.
"Bummer." Ellie muttered.
The mystics finally found Omalgae's secret hideout. Ella and Ellie's eyes widened wide, but Donna was still looking down to her map.
"Okay, according to the map, Omalgae's lair should be right here." Donna said.
"Uh, Donna?" Ella said slowly. "We found it."
Ellie poked her finger on Donna's shoulder and pointed it upward. Donna followed the finger and then looked up with wide eyes.
The girls 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, Ellie looked into one of them curiously and peered through the mouth to see a male human trapped inside.
"Okay, this is wrong on so many levels!" Ellie exclaimed with a yelp.
"Calm down, Ellie." Donna said as she and Ella joined their youngest sister. "He's actually holding them captive."
"For what?" Ella asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Donna 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." Donna said.
"Okay, now that's gross." Ellie muttered.
"Donna, use your magic to let the plants free the humans." Ella said. "Ellie and I will lead them out with a little hypnosis."
Donna 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. Ella and Ellie hid behind one of the giant Venus flytraps as they waved their red and orange 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 Lee." Ella grinned.
Then, the hissing sound of the plant mutant made the girls turn around to face him.
"No!" Omaglae screamed angrily. "You three have ruined my meal!"
"Oh snap." Donna muttered.
"What do we do now, Ella?" Ellie whispered to Ella.
"Simple. Take him down!" Ella replied.
Ella, Donna, and Ellie charged forward to attack Omaglae.
Donna 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 mystic kunoichi that exploded on impact. Ellie 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 mystic kunoichi. Ella 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 mystic on impact.
Omaglae then unleashed three vines to wrap around the girls and threw them viciously into the wall near the exit. Ella and Donna were struggling to get back up on their feet, but they noticed that Ellie was still down.
"Ellie's down and out!" Ella gasped with wide, panic eyes.
"Oh wonderful." Donna said sarcastically. Her eyes focused on Ella. "Look, Ella. We can't take our chances here against Omaglae with Ellie unconscious. We gotta move right now."
Ella nodded her head and picked up Ellie in her arms as Donna summoned a large purple flower from the ground behind the trio. The giant flower then sucked the mystics into the hole at the center and sank itself down to the ground as an escape route.
"I will find you, mystics!" Omaglae yelled angrily. "Count on it!"
After racing across several rooftops to her desination, Lee 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." Lee called quietly. "Are you there?"
Casey walked to the window and opened it with a confused face.
"Lee." Casey said. "What is it?"
"I need to talk about something." Lee said with a nervous smile.
"And what would that be?" Casey asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I met two boys today." Lee 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." Lee 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?"
"You know, but I feel lost and confused every time I think about them." Lee argued. "I'm tired of being the responsible one and want to have some fun, but I still wants 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." Lee 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, Lee."
As Casey closed his windows, Lee looked up to the sky with her mind racing to make up a choice. Both Kage and Leo are handsome, mysterious, and excellent fighters. But Kage makes her feel like she can have a little fun than Leo.
With a deep sigh, Lee had made her decision.
At the Shadow Clan HQ, Kage walked through the doors to see Lady Shade in her throne chair and approached her with a kneeling bow down to the floor.
"Kage, I have noticed that you didn't have the opportunity to finish off Leona." Lady Shade informed.
"Oh, you don't say?" Kage 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." Kage 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." Kage snapped.
"Enough!" Lady Shade shouted.
Lady Shade got up from the throne chair and approached down to Kage from the stairs as Kage stared up to Lady Shade without a hint of fear in his body.
"Next time you see Leona, you will take your time and finish her real painfully. Understand?" Lady Shade demanded.
"I understand, mother." Kage said respectfully.
Back in the Crete Fortress, Ella and Donna carried Ellie into the living room as Saldana came out from the dojo just in time to see her unconscious daughter.
"Set her on the couch now." Saldana said quickly.
Ella and Donna gently placed Ellie to the couch. Saldana sat down next to the unconscious mystic.
"Where is Lee?" Saldana asked, looking up at Ella and Donna.
"We don't know, mother!" Ella said miserably. "This is all my fault. I should have never took Lee's place as the leader. I wanna risk my own life for things like this, not my sisters."
"Now, you finally understand Lee's responsibility to this team." Saldana said firmly.
"Trust me, I know." Ella said. "She was right. We need her back, but mostly I need her back."
"Then, go find her." Saldana said simply.
"But we have no idea where she is." Ella told Saldana.
"She's heading at Seagram Building." Donna spoke up.
"How can you possibly know that?" Ella questioned.
"Casey texted me and told me so." Donna replied as she held up her L-Phone. "I'll stay with Ellie. You go find Lee. We don't know what she could be doing on that building."
On the rooftop of the Seagram Building, Kage sat on the ground and waited for Lee to meet with him. His smile grew wide when Lee 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." Kage said with a grin.
"So, why do you want me to meet you here?" Lee asked.
"To show this." Kage said.
Kage waved his hand around in a circle and pointed his magic in the air, summoning a shiny light green amulet hovering bewteen the two mystics.
"That's the Amulet of Nightshade." Lee said in awe. "It's the source of all dark magic."
"It's ancient, beautiful, and yours...if you join me." Kage said as he looked at Lee right in the eyes.
"Join you for what?" Lee asked hesitantly.
"We're going to absorb its tremendous power." Kage replied.
"No, I'm not." Lee said sternly. "Absorbing that kinda power will leave a very chaotic outcome even for advanced mystic."
"Oh come on. You know, you want it." Kage said with a chuckle. "Stop being responsible, Lee. Stop waiting for people to give you the life you want. Go and bond with it."
"Sorry, Kage, but no." Lee responded.
"Refuse my offer? What a shame." Kage said.
Kage's hands began engulfing with dark energy, but Lee grabbed his hand to stop him.
"Kage, you don't have to do this." Lee told Kage.
"I know, but you really need to lighten up." Kage said with a smile. "You're taking yourself way too seriously."
"Lee! Are you here?"
Lee gasped as she recognized that voice anywhere. Ella was climbing at the top of the building and jumped over at the rooftop ground as she saw her older sister with a Shadow Clan ninja.
"Uh, what are you doing? Who's he?" Ella demanded.
"Ella, this is Kage." Lee said. "Kage, this is Ella."
"Donna, Ellie, and I have been risking our lives against Omaglae and you're up here making friends with the Shadow!" Ella shouted.
"Hey, you're the leader now." Lee said quickly. "You didn't want me on the mission, remember?"
"Ha, what an entertaining argument." Kage said with an amused smile. "I'm gonna enjoy this."
"Listen, Kage and I have shared equal fighting style that involves..." Lee explained.
Lee immediately stopped talking when she looked behind Ella to see Omaglae climbing on the rooftop. Ella noticed her older sister's look and spun around to face the plant mutant.
"I found you, mystics!" Omaglae hissed. "Now, you two will pay for foiling my plans!"
Lee and Ella 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 mystics, who jumped out of the way and ran forward. Just before Lee and Ella could strike, two of Omaglae's vines wrapped around their bodies and pulled them forward as the girls were being lifted up into the air.
Kage 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 mystic kunoichis. Lee and Ella landed on their feet as they ran back to Kage.
"I have a plan for a combination attack." Lee said.
"You're the leader, after all." Ella said.
"Gladly." Kage grinned as he cracked his neck side to side. "I love a good fight when I see one."
The three mystic charged forward to perform a combination attack. Lee summoned a stream of big bubbles of water from her hands that hit Omaglae multiple times at great force. Kage charged dark energy on his fingers and summoned thousands of dark energy blasts to strike at Omaglae. Ella released a large bullet-like stream of fire towards the Omaglae. The plant mutant took all of the mystics' 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. Lee formed a sphere of water in her hands above her head, Kage formed a sphere of dark energy in his hands above his head, and Ella formed a sphere of fire in her hands above her head. Once after the sufficient amount of elemental magic has been gathered, the three mystics 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." Ella said to Lee.
"Thanks." Lee said happily. "Good to be leader again."
"That felt good for my strength." Kage said with a smirk. "We should do this again sometimes. See ya later."
Kage 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." Ella 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." Lee smiled.
Lee and Ella hugged each other and they walked back home together, unaware of the beating sound from Omaglae's heart was still intact.
Back in the Crete Fortress, three mystics gathered around Ellie. Donna and Ella watched closely as Lee held a slice of cheese pizza close to their youngest sister's nose.
"Mmmmm, cheese pizza." Ellie spoke slowly with a sniff.
"Told you." Lee smiled proudly. "Works every time."
Ellie woke up and snatched the slice of pizza with a mouth like a wild animal.
"Oh Ellie, we thought we lost you for sure!" Ella cried as she hugged her youngest sister tightly.
"But did we defeat Omaglae?" Ellie said. "I remember being blackout for a second."
"Yeah, we did." Donna grinned. "Thanks to Lee and Ella."
"Works for me." Ellie smiled with a shrug.
Ella pulled Ellie back from the hug and pulled Lee by the arm away from her younger sisters.
"So, who's that boy you were talking to?" Ella asked.
"His name is Kage." Lee 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?" Ella asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I know." Lee said with a smile. "But hey, nobody's perfect."
As Lee walked past her younger sister and went into her room, Ella stared at her older sister with a confused look. Lee let out a low, dreamy sigh as she knows that she will see both Kage and Leo will be very soon. Between her love for Leo and Kage, she have made her decision about them.