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Nerissa: You are pathetic!

Me:Whatever.

Chapters 26

Familiar Brawl

Before the Battle Nexus started, Leonardo tried to find Ue-Sama, the young lad who had been the Ultimate Ninja. The young boy was nowhere to be seen.

As he headed back to regroup with his family, he heard a strange, yet familiar voice call out," Leonardo?"

Turning, he started in surprise as the Daimyo's son ran towards him. Leo was shocked to find that the young boy appeared to be his own age, a mature young man. He was grinning broadly," Do you remember me?"

"Ue-Sama?"

He nodded, chuckling," I have changed much, have I not? You, however, seem to be the same!"

Leo chuckled softly," Yeah, pretty much."

Ue-Sama added," Have you heard about the female warrior that has joined? I have sparred with her before. She is amazing!"

Leo cocked his head," Really?"

Ue-Sama chuckled," She is so well-covered, I wonder if she is truly very ugly, or very beautiful. You can tell she is female by her siren-like voice."

Leo raised an eye-ridge," Are you in love?"

Ue-Sama shook his head, grinning," Not with her. She is far too arrogant for my liking, thought she is an honorable fighter."

Ue-Sama added," I hope I will not have to face you in the tournament, but if I do, beware, for I have changed much from the last time we saw each other!"

Leonardo grinned," Yeah? Well, I've learned a trick or two as well, my friend."

The two laughed as they made their way to the arena.

***

Daphne, headphones on and skateboard in hand, continued to practice the tricks that Mikey had taught her. She was learning quick, though she did suffer from bruises and scratches.

Eos was paying a few bills for their father, making sure the budget came out okay, while Andromeda wrote in her new sketchpad. The redhead was actually doing sketch after sketch of her boyfriend, Raphael, obsessed to no end, though she would never admit it.

Eos sighed, as she remembered a conversation they had all shared a few days ago, before going to bed…

*flashback*

"…And then, things got pretty quiet. I think he wanted to kiss me, and hell, I wanted to kiss him and what ended up happening was we awkwardly just backed away and came back," Andromeda grumbled," Now, it keeps playing in my head, and I'm beginning to think I should have just kissed the bastard!"

Calypso chuckled," And to think, you proclaimed you hated him when you two first met!"

"I did hate him…I hated to love him." Andromeda retorted.

Daphne sang," Can't you feel the looove tonight?-OW!" Andromeda smacked her over the head and snorted," You're such a sap, Daphne!"

Daphne rolled her eyes," Whatever, brick-head!"

Andromeda quietly sneered," Who are you calling brick-head, you floozy?!"

"Well, you just missed an opportunity to kiss your guy! That's pretty brickheaded!"

Andromeda gave no warning. Not that Daphne needed one, she was already racing outside, yelling," Help me!!!"

Eos turned to Nerissa," So, has father found out anything on Sybil Deluge?"

"No, not yet. He's and April are still trying to get in touch with the band. No one's returned phone-calls."

Eos frowned," That doesn't sound… normal. I'd say the chances of the girl being a mutant just tripled, if they're trying to hide her."

Nerissa nodded in agreement," You're right."

Eos looked over her shoulder and saw that Andromeda and Eos had gone elsewhere. Calypso had taken off after them, to attempt to keep Andromeda from killing the feckless Daphne. Turning back to Nerissa, Eos asked in a low tone," So, what about you and Fearless?"

Nerissa snorted," I'd rather not talk about this right now!"

Eos snorted back," You're either not being honest, or you're kidding yourself. And either way, you're doing more damage then good. Tell me, what are you afraid of?"

Nerissa snapped," I'm just not ready, okay?!"

Eos shrugged," I know you better then that. I think you're just scared, Nerissa."

Nerissa rolled her eyes," Say what you like."

Eos took her sister's shoulder," Nerissa, please, listen to me. I've been watching you, and Leo. Every time you come into a room, his eyes are on you. But all the arguments are started by you."

Nerissa became slightly transparent and Eos knew there was something very wrong. But all Nerissa would say is," It's none of your business, little sister," and turned away.

Eos sighed slightly in sympathy and murmured," What has happened to you, my sister? You never used to shy away from love before."

*End flashback*

Eos sighed again and wondered what had happened to Nerissa, to make her push away the chance at love. The dark haired turtle knew it had nothing to do with Leo being cruel or unkind. They had had fights, where hurtful words were exchanged, but she always started them, and she finished them, too.

Now, as Eos resumed the budgeting, she murmured," Pain has no recollection of where it begins…"

***

Leonardo was surprised at how focused he managed to stay, even distracted by thoughts of his problems with Nerissa. It wasn't long before he was back to where he had ended, three years ago, when the Ultimate Ninja and Draco had nearly assassinated him, three years ago.

He smirked as he faced a smaller warrior, who stared up at him, scowling," Yer gonna kick my ass, aren't you, turtle?"

"It's what this whole thing is about, isn't it?" Leo chuckled, as he dove forward, attacking the smaller warrior, who wielded an ax.

"True, that." The dwarf grunted. He was surprisingly fast AND resilient. Every blow that Leo landed didn't seem to impact him very much. Leo kept testing his limits, careful to keep his guard up.

***

Raphael scowled as he faced off with Genisuko.

The rhino-like samurai chuckled as he smirked," You're no match for me, Ninja, so why don't you just-"

Raphael leapt to the attack, aggressive and determined.

As the two fought, Raphael wouldn't admit it, but Gen was good.

"What's the matter? Am I too much for you, eh, Ninja?" Gen snorted with laughter, his conceited smile sickening the turtle.

A thought of Andromeda came into his mind, her sweet smirk, her flashing eyes and her beautiful, jazz-accented voice, bringing him a fresh surge of adrenaline, as he snarled, "Don't count on it!" and suddenly, Gen found himself not only weaponless, but about to receive a killing blow.

Raphael smirked, as he stood, victorious.

***

Mikey sat, bummed as he muttered," Man, I can't believe I got the shell beat outta me… again!"

Donatello sat by him, chuckling," I lasted longer then you, Champ."

"Shut up, Donnie." Mikey muttered.

Don pointed," Look! There's eight contestants left! Raph and Leo are almost in the finals!"

Mikey grinned," At least I never had to face that monster, what's-his-face?"

Don peered closer, before observing," Hey, do you think that's the new warrior that Usagi mentioned? The girl?"

Mikey looked, shielding his eyes," I don't know. One thing for sure… that's a lot of black clothe!"

It was true. Head-to-toe, the figure was clothed with black, making it impossible to discern whether they were male or female. Mikey sighed," I wish Daphne was here."

Donatello rested his elbows on his knees, his chin on his hands," Yeah, I wish Eos was here too."

***

Leonardo found himself face-to-face with Argus. The many-eyed monster that had threatened his younger brother. He gritted his teeth as he heard the giant taunt," You have to know that you cannot win this battle!"

And just like that, the monster suddenly changed form… from giant and grotesque, to the shape of his Master.

Leonardo responded," You will not deceive me, Argus! I know who my friends are!" as he rushed forward, testing his enemies' mettle.

***

Raphael groaned," You're kidding me!"

Before him stood the warrior Usagi had told them about. He couldn't see her face, or even her eyes.

Brandishing his sai, he taunted," I'm sendin' you back to your dolls and dress-up clothes, little girl!"

The black-clad figure gave no answer as she whirled a simple bo, like Don's. Raphael rushed headlong at her, leaping over the swipe she gave and landing a blow to her shoulder.

She gave a small grunt, but managed to duck his next blow and cracked the bo against his knee. He gave s solid curse as he snarled," Okay, off with the kid-gloves!" furiously following through with each attack.

Fluidly, she ducked each strike and danced around him. Raphael realized she was trying to make him waste his energy, which made him slow down, forcing her to make any attacks.

He was surprised at her stamina, and he observed," I take it you've been practicin' a long time, eh?"

"You have no idea." Came the muffled reply.

He was shocked… SHELL SHOCKED when she suddenly swept his feet out from under him and he found himself on his shell, her bo at his throat.

He vanished before she could strike, and he was in the box with Mikey and Donnie.

"Aw, shell!" Raphael grumbled.

Mikey began to grin.

"Dude, you got PAWNED by a girl!"

Raphael snarled as he tackled Mikey. They both tumbled to the floor, and Don sighed, "Some things never changed."

Quite abruptly, Argus appeared in the box with them. His golden eyes blinked furiously, as he snarled," No… It cannot BE! NO!!!" he roared.

Mikey snickered," Hey look! Big and ugly lost! To a puny turtle no less!"

Don whispered," Um, Mikey,"

"The big oaf could make it to the semi-semi finals, but he couldn't outlast a single turtle warrior!"

The giant glowered silently before abruptly leaving the box.

Don rolled his eyes," Mikey, do the words 'Exact Revenge' strike terror into your heart?"

"Um… no, not really."

"I thought so." Donatello snickered.

Raphael growled softly as he muttered," I didn't like the look in ANY of that guy's eyes!"

Mikey shrugged," What's he gonna do? Glare a hole through us with all those eyes?"

Don suddenly choked," Guys, check it out, Leo's in the FINALS!!!"

Raphael craned his neck and stared.

"Oh shell… he's facing that feminist!"

Mikey belted," C'MON LEO, DON'T LET A GIRL BEAT YOU LIKE SHE BEAT RAPH!!!!!"

Raph snarled as he whacked Mikey over the head.

***

Leo swallowed hard. He had never imagined he'd actually make it this far. Only one more fight, and he'd be the champion of the multi-verse!

As he looked at his next opponent, his blood seemed to run cold. The female warrior… she was standing in front of him. Completely clothed in black, he could see no distinguishing features about her. She was tall as he, but beyond that, nothing.

He spoke aloud to her," May the best warrior win."

A slight inclination of the head was his only response as they circled each other. Finally, they began their fight.

As Leo whirled, trying to get past her defenses, which were very good, he noticed she seemed very hesitant about returning any of his attacks and he used this to his advantaged, though he didn't like to. He wanted, he HAD to win this…

Suddenly, she gave a small cry and pushed him back. He heard a small zip and a feathered dart landed in her shoulder. It pieced through her clothes and she vainly tried to pulled it out, but staggered.

He caught her as she stumbled and he picked her up as she became limp.

"SOMEONE! HELP!" Leo shouted as he tried to listen for her breath, catch sight of a rising or lowering of her chest.

***

As the female was lowered to a pallet, the healer very gently took off her mask.

As the mask fell away every warrior there stared in wonder and marveled at her beauty.

"Such hair…"

"Her skin is flawless!!"

"The shape of her eyes is exquisite!"

"Such a graceful neck…"

And suddenly, they all heard a loud, agonized wail," NERISSA!!!!"

Yes, the mysterious warrior was Nerrissa. big surprise huh?

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