Jess shifted her duffel around with growing anxiety while watching Leo draw symbols in chalk on the stone wall of the dojo. While the Battle Nexus fascinated her, it felt wrong to be leaving in the middle of everything. Not to mention the portal itself was freaking her out. She stumbled back when water slipped through the seams of the stone like a water fall and started glowing blue. Even as Raph and Master Splinter walked through unharmed she tried to walk away.

"I've changed my mind. I don't want to go."

Mikey stopped her and gave her a gentle shove forward. Jess dug her heels into the ground, but it didn't hinder him moving her forward towards the glowing water portal. "It's perfectly safe and, Leo's on the other side to catch you!" he teased before shoving her through.

"You didn't have to be so mean," Amber said but couldn't help but smile.

Mikey waved her off. "She's fine. Alright kids, single file!"

On the other side Jess tumbled through the portal with half a profanity directed at Mikey out. As promised Leo caught her. "I'm gonna kill him!"

Leo set her down. "It wasn't so bad."

"I could do without the falling," she huffed straightening her clothes.

"Welcome to the Battle Nexus!" Mikey announced sweeping an arm towards the valley below.

"Are you alright?" Leo asked Jess when they started making the trek to the palace.

The path was just barely wide enough for the two of them to walk beside each other. "I can't stop thinking about Laker. He's not dead. Something could happen and we're not there."

"We wouldn't be on this trip if I didn't think it was safe, Jess. If Vincent says the Dragons are pulling back and that it's safe to be gone for a few days, I believe her."

They entered the square below the palace. "I thought there'd be more people—Aliens?."

"The Daimyo invited us a day early. By tomorrow, this square will be filled with venders and the competition will begin."

"Who's the Daimyo?"

"He created the Battle Nexus," he explained. The steps were growing taller with every step. "Enjoy the vacation and relax."

"How am I supposed to relax when we're on an alien planet and you competing in an intergalactic gladiator battle?" She blushed realizing her mistake and hoped he didn't notice. She stared up the stairs already feeling her legs ache.

"It's completely safe. The competitors are pulled before the final blow. Besides, I've won the last three competitions, but I appreciate the concern."

Jess glared at him as he passed grumbling to herself.


Andrea wondered around the Hall of Champions admiring the statues and their inscriptions while the adults talked with a giant man. She noticed Nikki leaned up against the wall a little further down the hall. "You ok?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

Andrea leaned against the wall beside him. "About Levi?"

Nikki looked up shocked but also comforted that his sister knew him so well. "Yeah," he breathed, "I just don't know what to think and this sudden vacation isn't helping. I didn't even get to talk to him before we left. What if it wasn't nothing?"

His sister was quiet for a moment thinking over her words carefully. "For what it's worth, I don't think it was nothing. To be honest, I kinda saw this coming. There were times you two really connected on more than just friendship." She looked Nikki in the eyes, "What ever happened between you two wasn't nothing."

He stared back at her hoping she was right.

"Nikki, Andrea, come here. The Daimyo wants to feet you," Leo called waving them over.

The stood before the Daimyo bowing politely with Mira.

"Only three?" he asked.

Leo looked over at Donnie hoping they'd find them soon. "We're still looking for the fourth, Daimyo."

"I see. Good luck. Please join me for a feast."


Nikki and Andrea took a seat at the large table expecting Mira to sit with them, but a red-haired boy about their age took the seat next to Andrea.

"Hey, I'm Ue-Sama. I'm kinda the ultimate ninja around here."

Andrea shared a confused glance with Nikki. "That's cool. My brother and I just started training."

The moved closer to her. "Maybe I can show you a few moves?"

"My son, please come sit next to me."

He stood with a pout and sat next to his father at the head of the table.

Nikki pushed around the alien delicacies finding them unappetizing. "This is gonna be a long three days," he grumbled.

"It's not so bad," Andrea said slurping what looked like noodle. Nikki turned away feeling more green than usual.


Jess looked down at her food with no appetite, her mind too focused on the gang war back home. The only thing to distract her was the Daimyo's grand retelling of the brother's first Battle Nexus as teenagers.

She looked at the red-haired boy staring at Andrea finding it hard to believe he tried to kill his father.

"And I was the Battle Nexus Champion!" Mikey proudly declared before getting yanked back down by Raph with a warning.

"You did all that at 17?" Jess asked getting blank stared back. "What?"

The Daimyo look at Leo. "Have you not told them?"

Leo smiled sheepishly, "There's a lot of ground to cover."

Jess looked down at her plate realizing there was still a lot they still didn't know about the brother. Not that there was a lot of time to fill them in on their adventures between dealing with the gang war and whatever else was going on."

"Jess, would you please come with me?" The Daimyo asked standing.

Jess looked at Leo in question, but he shrugged. She followed the towering man back to the Hall of Champions where he stopped in front of the statue of a man. Splinter was beside him. "Who is this?"

"Hamato Yoshi," Daimyo said in a somber tone.

"He looks kind."

"He was and he was the most honorable warrior I have ever met. He passed that along to Splinter and his sons. Fate has been kind to you."

Jess looked away. "I appreciate the sentiment, Daimyo, but why did you call me out here?"

"Your children seem oddly familiar. Do you know how they came about?"

"We have some ideas, but every clue brings up more questions."

"Something about them feels powerful."

"Well they all have special powers. Andrea can run very fast, Nikki and lift was more than Raph, and Mira can change the color of her skin. Maybe that's what you're sensing?"

"Perhaps," he mused.


Ryu walked through the gardens of the palace admiring the scenery while looking for a place to meditate. He was annoyed someone interrupted him till he saw it was Jess.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked taking a seat on the nearby fountain.

"Looking for somewhere to meditate."

"Did you find a place?"

He sat down beside her. "No."

"I don't really want to be here either," she said looking up at the sky caught in dusk. It was so beautiful and strange.

"It's not that I don't want to be here. I've begged my mother to let me compete for years. This just isn't how I imagined it. I should be with my mother in Japan."

"Take it from me, gang life isn't all it's made out to be."

"It's more than a gang," he defended. "It's a technology company and more."

Jess thought about that more a moment. "Sounds like a lot of work."

"Yes, which is why I should be with my mother shadowing her dealings."

She waited till he calmed down again before speaking again. "I know it may not seem like you have a lot of time, but I promise you do. I'm sure Karai will teach you when she's ready. Sometimes it's hard to let go of our kids," she smiled nudging him.

"Maybe you're right," he admitted knowing she was probably the only person who could relate to him. "But it's still frustrating."

"Try and have fun while we're here."

"I will if you will," he replied knowing it would be hard for her.

"Deal."


Just as Ryu thought he'd found a spot to meditate we was interrupted again. This time by Mira.

Her smile fell when she saw that it was him. "Oh, it's you. I thought you were Nikki."

"Wait," he said stopping her from leaving.

"What? Want to belittle me more?" she asked, stepping into the grove fully.

He felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Mira rolled back on her heals, "So I'm not useless?"

He winced remembering what he had said a few days ago, the same feeling in stomach growing. He realized it was guilt. "I don't have room to talk being just human."

"Well, you were right about one thing. I am terrible at ninjutsu."

"Yeah, I'm not taking that one back."

Mira thought for a moment before getting an idea. "You can help me then to make up for it."

Ryu scoffed. "I didn't agree to that."

"Too bad. You owe me."


Thanks for reading!

Update a few hours after posting this: so um my file deleted again. I am trying to fucking hard. I don't know what is wrong with my computer but the back up reverted back as well. I don't even know how that happens. I am really defeated right now and unfortunately updates are gonna have to stop. Hopefully not for long but I am in college and now have 30,000 words to fucking rewrite. I love this story too much to give up but I feel so broken by this.

Update update: My computer just hates me, but One drive has yet to let me down. I'm not gonna question it but I found a copy backed up on my onedrive with all 100,000+ words so ignore the pervious update above, nothings stopping. I'm taking extra precautions as well to ensure this does not happened again. I definitely didn't have a breakdown at one in the morning and I definitely did get a full nights rest.

Anyway if you're from the future reading this BACK UP YOUR BACK UPS and it's ok to laugh at my pain.