Summary: The Lotus find a new ally when they meet Saldana's distant relative.
In the Shadow Clan sanctuary, Lady Shade hovered freely in the air.
"After all these centuries, I'm finally free!" Lady Shade said. She looked down at the three remaining Shadow Clan members. "What happened to my Shadow Clan?"
"Here's the thing...we are the only three clan ninjas left." Luna replied anxiously.
"I see." Lady Shade said. "I supposed that'll do."
"What's your bidding, mistress?" Shadow Recruit asked with a vicious grin.
"There's no need for you three to do anything." Lady Shade replied. "If I must remain truly free and powerful, Kage...must be destroyed. I've sensed his presence."
Lady Shade teleported out of the secret lair and reappeared on the rooftop of a tallest building. She smiled deviously as she rushed forward to search for Kage.
In the Crete Fortress, Donna knelt down in front of the unconscious mystic on the floor. She poured purple energy from her palms that worked its way up around him.
"Is he alright, D?" Ella wondered.
"He seems fine." Donna replied. "He's a little daze, but he'll be fine."
The mysterious mystic woke up and slowly got on his knees. Donna backed away to her sisters as Saldana and Raven gasped sharply when they noticed the Lotus symbol on his attire.
"Rest, fellow Dragoness." Saldana said as she walked slowly to the mysterious mystic. "Don't be alarm. You are safe. Welcome to the home of the Lotus Dragoness. My name is Shiroibara Saldana."
"And I'm Shiroibara Raven." Raven added.
"Hello, Saldana and Raven." The mysterious mystic greeted. "I am Kage."
As the mysterious mystic took off his mask, Azalea was the only one who gasped with a tearful look in her face.
"Kage." Azalea spoke.
"Azalea?" Kage said.
Azalea tackled Kage to the floor and hugged him.
"After all this time, Calluna and I thought you were gone! I'm so sorry, brother!" Azalea apologized tearfully.
"Brother?!" Saldana, Raven, Donna, Ellie, Lee, Ella, Angel, and Azazel exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, right. Kage is my younger brother and Calluna's as well." Azalea said. "That makes him your great-uncle."
"Are they your descendants, Azalea?" Kage asked, looking at his family members.
"Sorry, brother. But they are Calluna's descendants." Azalea answered.
"I see." Kage said. "Judging by your action on finding the crystal, I can guess none of you know the true history of Lady Shade. I'll explain everything."
As Kage tried to stand up, Azalea helped her brother on his feet.
"Many generations ago, Burakkuōzu Rōzu was the the leader of a peaceful clan called the Shadow. For years, our clan prospered." Kage narrated. "But there was a great darkness on the horizon. The Shadow Clan were attacked and driven to the brink of destruction. Heading to the brink of no hope, Burakkuōzu Rōzu made a deal with a powerful oni. This demon offered her a suit of dark armor that would make her invincible. But it came at a cost. The armor corrupted her soul, giving birth...to Lady Shade. Who led the Shadow down a path of evil. Calluna and I had no choice but to rise up against it, starting a clan of our own...the Lotus Clan. No magic spell could defeat Lady Shade, so I resolved to make the ultimate sacrifice, taking Lady Shade and myself to the Underworld. The crystal was what connected Lady Shade and I, and why it was in the Underworld with us. It was the only way to stop...my mother."
Saldana, Raven, Donna, Ellie, Lee, Ella, Angel, and Azazel looked at Kage with surprise expressions.
"Hold up, wait a minute!" Lee exclaimed. "Lady Shade is your mom?!"
"Yes. As I was in the Underworld, Lady Shade would never reach full strength." Kage answered. "Even though releasing me was a mistake, it's not your fault that none of you learned the real truth of the Dragoness legacy."
"I didn't know anything about that." Azalea said. "If I wasn't traveling around , I come have help."
"It's alright, sister." Kage said. "I told Calluna to keep my whereabouts a secret from you all those years ago. The fault was mine."
"Kage, I have failed to prepare my children for this moment." Saldana said. She held Kage's hand into hers. "But it'll be an honor to learn our family's mystical art from you."
"I will." Kage said. "But first I must rest. Also, I want to get to know my family. Let's get to know each other."
A hour later, Kage looked up at a glowing white globe that was levitating with multiple spheres orbiting around it from an armchair. He was watching every slideshow that played his sister and her descendants. He then looked at four spheres that played a slideshow of the Lotus Ninjas. One sphere played Donna looking at a blueprint of Phantom, another sphere played Lee posing in front of the mirror while wearing her trendy clothes, the third sphere played Ella riffing her electric guitar, and the last sphere played Ellie painting her walls.
"It's been so long. Five hundred years and Calluna kept this clan strong and proud." Kage said with a warm smile. "Every descendant taught their children many things other than traditional mystic arts. Especially the importance of family." He turned to the Lotus Ninjas, Raven, and Saldana. "I couldn't be any prouder."
"Thank you, Kage." Saldana smiled softly.
"But I also noticed that none of you haven't been mastered in your Arcane Force." Kage said.
"What's Arcane Force?" Raven asked.
"I'll show you." Kage replied.
Kage's eyes glowed golden yellow. His entire body was encased in a large golden orb of magical energy. The golden light from the orb faded away and Kage was floating in the air in front of his Dragoness family. Kage's hair was now styled made out of pure magical energy, glowing white eyes, and dark yellow skin.
The Lotus Ninjas, Raven, and Saldana stared at Kage with awestruck faces. Angel exited the kitchen with an apple in her hand until she looked Kage in awe.
"Years ago, Calluna, Azalea, and I left our home planet to explore Earth as our new home." Kage explained. "We are known as the Majedites. Beings of powerful magic that connects our family throughout generations. It gave me the strength to defeat Lady Shade all those years ago. As long as there are Dragonesses, there is hope."
"So, that's what is called. I always thought it was a zenith." Azalea said. "During my encounter with my great-nieces, they unlocked that power."
"That's right. My sisters and I did it before and we can do it again." Ella said. She looked back at Kage. "Can you teach us how to tap into that inner power?"
"Of course. Let's begin." Kage answered as he stood up from the armchair.
Suddenly, Kage gripped the sides of his chest and dropped on his knees. He saw a face of Lady Shade looking up with a wide, sinister smile.
"Kage, what's wrong?" Azalea asked in concern.
"It's Lady Shade! She's heading this way." Kage said with wide eyes.
A black sphere suddenly appeared above the Dragoness family, bursting itself to reveal Lady Shade, Shadow Recruit, Nova, and Luna.
"Kage!" Lady Shade spoke as she looked down at her son. She then noticed Azalea was helping her brother up. "Hello, Azalea. It's been a long time, daughter. But I'm only here for your brother. Now I will consume his Majedite essence, and become truly invincible." She looked at Shadow Recruit, Nova, and Luna. "Destroy anyone who gets in my way."
"With pleasure." Luna grinned.
"Protect Uncle Kage!" Ella shouted.
The Lotus Ninjas clashed with the Shadow Clan kunoichis, leaving Saldana, Raven, and Angel run up to check on Kage and Azalea.
"Let's get you out of here." Saldana said to Kage.
"You're not going anywhere!" Lady Shade said.
Lady Shade raced forward towards Kage. But Ellie summoned two dark orange vines from her hands and capture Lady Shade tightly before pulling her away and slamming her to the wall.
Saldana slammed her hand to the floor and conjured up a white portal underneath Angel and Kage. They fell through the portal before closing itself.
"Cute spell trick, but not good enough." Lady Shade said to Ellie as she walked off from the wall.
Lady Shade managed to break herself free from Ellie's spell. She then created four glowing black ball of energy in between her hands and fired them at the Lotus Ninjas that knocked Ella, Donna, Ellie, and Lee to the walls.
Saldana released a white crescent-like blades of energy from her hand at Nova and Luna, hitting them into the kitchen. Raven avoided Shadow Recruit's energy blasts from her parasol. Before Shadow Recruit could strike again, Azalea smashed her fist to the ground and created pillars of black energy that knocked her away.
Saldana's portal took Angel and Kage into Donna's lab.
"Phantom!" Angel called out.
Phantom flew up to Angel from her charging station.
"I need you to protect Kage." Angel ordered. "Activate battle mode."
"You got it." Phantom said with a salute.
Phantom transformed her arms into cannons and stood in front of Kage.
"You'll be safe in here." Angel said to Kage. She took out her mystic katana and held it in her hands. "Phantom and I got your back."
"Thank you." Kage said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Lady Shade's display of power had destroyed the entire fortress. Everything was on fire and in ruins. But the Lotus Ninjas continued fighting against Lady Shade with every magic they got.
The Lotus Ninjas charged forward at Lady Shade with energy blasts, but Lady Shade shielded herself with a force field to repel them.
"Your efforts are futile." Lady Shade said.
The Lotus Ninjas charged again with a series of rapid magically enhanced punches and kicks, but Lady Shade's force field repelled them once again.
Then, Lady Shade sensed Kage's presence again.
"Kage." Lady Shade said.
Lady Shade teleported away out of the living room and reappeared in Donna's lab.
"Give up, my son." Lady Shade said. "You can't hide from me forever."
Phantom and Angel stood in front of Kage in their fighting stances.
"Stay away from him!" Angel yelled.
"Booyakasha!" Phantom cried.
Angel and Phantom leaped forward, but Lady Shade blasted Angel away to the wall with a black energy beam and swiftly slashed Phantom in half that destroyed the robot in an explosion.
Lady Shade walked through the smoke in Kage's direction. Kage summoned his magic from his clenched fist, but he's too weak to defend himself.
Suddenly, Ella teleported in front of Kage with a yell. She tackled Lady Shade out of Donna's lab and they went flying into the living room. They landed on the ground and kept fighting in rapid succession. Lady Shade gained the upper head and rapidly thrashed Ella with her magically enhanced punches.
Before Lady Shade could finish Ella off, Kage rushed forward and saved Ella in his arms. He settled Ella on the floor next to her bruised sisters and stood in front of them in his Majedite form.
"Get away from my family!" Kage cried threateningly.
Lady Shade lifted both arms in front of her and fired off an enormous black energy beam at Kage, who flew up in the air to avoid the attack. Kage soared around Lady Shade in rapid speed and unleashed a barrage of golden yellow energy bolts to attack Lady Shade.
Kage then created a glowing golden yellow ball of energy in between his hands and fired it in the air above him. The energy ball then exploded into multiple yellow meteors that rained down towards Lady Shade that hit her hard to the ground.
The Lotus Ninjas looked at Kage's display of power with amazed faces.
"Whoa!" Donna, Lee, and Ellie said in unison.
"He's tapping into his full power of Majedite." Ella murmured.
Kage extended his hair into long tentacles and then rapidly thrashed Lady Shade from above. But Lady Shade repelled the attack with a force field and trapped Kage in a sphere of black energy, bringing it in front of her.
"The Underworld has made you weak, Kage!" Lady Shade said. "But it has made me strong! And now, your power will be mine!"
Lady Shade unexpectedly gasped sharply as a transparent white face rose out of her mask.
"Kage...please help me." Rozu spoke faintly.
"Mother?" Kage gasped with wide eyes.
But Lady Shade quickly regained control and closed her fist, crushing Kage with powerful energy.
Kage dealt huge damage from Lady Shade's attack and looked into the eyes of the horrified Lotus Ninjas. As he fell onto the floor, he looked at his great-nieces with tears in his eyes.
"I...love you...my nieces..." Kage muttered with a small smile.
"UNCLE KAGE!" Lee hollered as she was trying to reach Kage.
"No, Lee!" Ella shouted as she grabbed Lee and pulled her back. "The Dragoness must live on!"
Ella magically dragged Lee, Ellie, and Donna into the darkness.
In the garage, Azalea glued the three Shadow Clan members to the wall with her magic.
"Everybody in the Sonicruiser right now!" Ella shouted.
"But what happened to Kage?" Saldana asked.
Ella clenched her fist and looked away with teary eyes. Donna, Ellie, and Lee did the same. Raven gasped sadly as she covered her mouth with her hands. Azalea covered her eyes, trying to find back her tears. Saldana slammed on her knees to the ground with tears in her eyes.
Suddenly, Lady Shade reappeared in the garage with glowing golden yellow eyes.
Saldana, Raven, and Azalea exchanged agreeing nods.
"Girls, I'm going to send you to the temple!" Azalea shouted to the Lotus Ninjas.
"We'll buy you time!" Azalea said.
"No, we're not leaving without you guys!" Ella said pleadingly.
"Rafaela, as long as there is a Dragoness, there is hope!" Saldana said.
Ella looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. She then turned to Raven.
"Grandma Raven...get us out of here." Ella said.
Raven generated a black sphere with her hands and fired it at her descendants.
Lady Shade charged up in full power. Raven, Saldana, and Azalea charged towards her with blazing hands.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Ellie, Donna, and Lee shouted.
With that, the Lotus Ninjas vanished.