Summary: The Lotus Ninjas reflect on their most exciting adventures in a form of a sleepover.
In the Crete Fortress, the Lotus Ninjas are meditating with Saldana in the dojo. All five mystics crisscrossed on the floor in a circle with their eyes closed.
"Remember, meditation requires complete concentration through the mind, body, and spirit." Saldana said. "Clear out all your thoughts and focus on the emptiness of the void."
Then suddenly, flashing visions of Caesar's sacrificial demise appeared rapidly inside Saldana's mind. She tried to contain the sense of fear, but she let out a sharp gasp with wide, open eyes.
"That's…enough for today." Saldana said with a hint of fear in her voice as she stood up on her feet. "We will finish this tomorrow."
"Wait, mother. What's wrong?" Lee asked with a worried face.
"Yeah, are you alright? You want me to make you some tea?" Ellie asked in concern.
"Yes, I could use some tea to calm my nerves." Saldana replied, inhaling and exhaling deep breaths. "I'll make it myself, but thank you, Michelle."
Saldana walked out of the dojo at a slow pace. Lee, Ellie, Ella, and Donna exchanged worried expressions.
"Something's definitely wrong with mom." Ella said.
"Yeah, but I'm getting the feeling that whatever's on her mind must be seriously personal." Donna agreed.
"Maybe we should talk to her?" Ellie asked.
"I don't think she wants to talk about it, even if we do ask her." Lee replied. "Let's just let her calm down until she's ready to tell us."
Ellie, Ella, and Donna nodded.
Later that night, the Lotus Ninjas magically levitated the sleeping bags, the snacks, and the refreshments. Tonight is the night of the girls' sleepover. Irma and Aaliyah sat on the couch, enjoying the magic in awe. Lee wore a navy-blue sleeveless nightgown with a black fringe along the shoulders. Ella wore a black singlet with bright scarlet trim with a large bright scarlet skullette in the middle and dark burgundy shorts with a black trim. Donna wore a pale lavender nightgown with black straps going over the shoulders and black sheer ruffles on the chest and at the end of the skirt. Ellie wore an off-shoulder orange shirt and dark tangerine sweat pants with black trimming and drawstring. Irma wore a bright green tank top with black straps and three organza ruffles across it, and dark green shorts that had black organza ruffles lining the sides and hem. And Aaliyah wore a black jersey and dark gray shorts.
The girls then gathered around in a circle.
"So what should we do first?" Lee asked.
"How about truth or dare?" Aaliyah suggested.
"Oh, yes." Ella grinned.
"You just wanna dare us to do silly stuff again." Ellie said, crossing her arms with narrow eyes.
"So? What's your point?" Ella said.
"Hello, girls. Mind if I join you?"
Lee, Ella, Donna, Ellie, Irma, and Aaliyah turned their heads to see Saldana standing next to the couch. She was wearing a white elegant nightgown and matching white slippers.
"Sure." Irma said with a smile.
"Yeah, you can join us." Aaliyah nodded.
Lee, Ella, Donna, and Ellie traded silent looks that caught Saldana's attention, but she quietly didn't say a word.
"Alright then. Let's get started." Irma said. "We'll go around in a circle." She looked at Aaliyah. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth." Aaliyah said.
"Can you demonstrate your tanto skills?" Irma asked.
"Sure." Aaliyah said.
Aaliyah reached the sheath from the armrest and grabbed a black checkered handle, pulling out a short stainless sword in one hand. As her tanto sword illuminated in a white light, Aaliyah then spun her weapon upwards and released a simmering swirl of white energy in the air. Irma, Lee, and Ella looked in awe while Donna and Ellie applauded with smiles.
"Impressive, Aaliyah." Saldana said. "You're handling the tanto very well."
"Well, it's all thanks to you." Aaliyah smiled. "I had so much fun when you gave me this sword."
[Flashback]
One Shadow Ninja drew her katana sword and charged forward, swinging his weapon to attack Aaliyah in rapid succession. But Aaliyah blocked the katana blade with her tanto sword as fast as she could. As her tanto sword illuminated in a white light, Aaliyah then swung her weapon and fired white energy in an X shape that hit the ninja to the wall.
Aaliyah charged towards the second Shadow Mecha Ninja, who swung a pair of nunchucks to strike swift attacks at Aaliyah. But Aaliyah blocked the strikes with her tanto sword.
Aaliyah's tanto sword glowed and she swung several white energy waves at the third Shadow Mecha Ninja.
Once the smoke cleared, the Shadow Mecha Ninjas laid unconscious on the ground.
"Oh yeah! We won, y'all!" Ellie cheered.
"You know it." Aaliyah said as she and Ellie high-fived with smiles.
[Flashback Ends]
"You were totally rad when you took those Shadow Clan goons down with that sword." Ella said with a smile.
"I know." Aaliyah grinned. She looked at Ellie. "Truth or dare?"
"I choose dare." Ellie said.
"I dare you to wear your superhero costume." Aaliyah asked.
"Your dare is my command." Ellie said.
Ellie stood up on her feet. She engulfed herself with shimmering magic from her hands, releasing swirling orange energy around her night attire and altering into her Saffron Empress costume.
"Saffron Empress is in the house!" Ellie announced.
Then, Ekron flew into the living room. With a happy expression, he zoomed forward and nuzzled against Ellie's cheek affectionately.
"Oh, Ekron. We did have fun together, didn't we?" Ellie smiled as she wrapped her arms around Ekron and hugged him. "Just the two of us, fighting crime in the night."
"Just you and him?" Donna asked, crossing her arms with a smirk.
"Well, okay. We did have a third wheel joining the fun." Ellie admitted.
[Flashback]
"Get this." Ellie said as she rotated in front of Ekron. "I have an idea of becoming a superhero. That way I can help people out in the world without sticking to the shadows all the time. Now, be honest with me. It's lame, isn't it?"
Ekron shook himself, signaling that he doesn't think it's a bad idea.
"Really?" Ellie asked in shock. "So, you won't mind being my partner?"
Ekron nodded again.
"Oh, thank you, Ekron! You're the best!" Ellie cried happily as she wrapped her arms around Ekron and hugged him affectionately. "But first, I'm gonna need…a superhero costume. Something empowering. Something wicked. And something that screams 'criminals beware'." She sparked an idea after releasing Ekron. "I got it!"
Ellie levitated above her bed. She engulfed shimmering magic in her hand and released swirling energy around her ninja attire, transforming into her brand-new costume. She's now wearing a small reddish-orange cropped top with three-quarters length sleeves that shows off her midriff, a pair of tight black shorts, black fingerless gloves, and dark mahogany thigh-high combat boots.
"Ekron, I give you…Saffron Empress!" Ellie announced.
Ekron formed two hands out of yellow energy and applauded with a happy expression.
Inside the store, the thief began taking money from the cash register and putting it in a bag. His eyes glowed in yellow light.
The unknown superhero broke through the front door. Before he can walk forward, Ellie and Ekron appeared at the door.
"Hold it right there!" Ellie shouted.
Ekron sent out two energized tentacles and restrained around the superhero. He flew forward and turned the superhero around as Ellie walked up towards him.
"Now, what are you...?" Ellie demanded.
Ellie stopped talking. Her jade green eyes instantly connected with the mutant turtle's black eyes. She felt her heart picking up speed. Her eyes glinted with a magenta shade just as it occurred with the mutant turtle, igniting an instant magical attraction between them.
A small gasp escaped out of Ellie's mouth as she quickly realized that he is the same mutant from her vision.
"Hi." Ellie greeted dreamily.
"Hi." The mutant turtle back with a dreamily smile. "Uh, can you tell your eyeball friend to untie me?"
"Oh, right, sorry." Ellie smiled sheepishly. She looked up at Ekron. "It's ok, Ekron. You can let him go."
Ekron obeyed and released the mutant superhero.
"Wow, I've never met another superhero before." The mutant turtle said. "Especially for someone as cute as you."
Ellie blushed with a giggle.
"Yeah, me neither." Ellie said. She realized what she just said and cleared her throat. "I'm Saffron Empress."
"Turtle Titan." The mutant superhero replied.
Turtle Titan paced on the building rooftop and sighed dishearteningly.
"Hey, don't worry, Titan." Ellie assured, placing a comforting hand on Turtle Titan's shoulder. "It's only your first day."
"I know. You're right." Turtle Titan said.
"And honestly, it's my first day too." Ellie said.
"Really?" Turtle Titan said in surprise. "I mean, judging on how you use your powers back there, I thought..."
"I'm an actual superhero? Nope." Ellie said. "I mean, yeah, I have powers over air and wind. But I spend most of my time sticking in the shadows."
"Oh, tell me about it." Turtle Titan said with a scoff. "It's always bushido this and bushido that."
"It's like you're not free to make your own options." Ellie continued.
"Sometimes, you just wanted to do..." Turtle Titan said.
"You wanted to do..." Ellie said.
"More than being a kunoichi/ninja." Ellie and Turtle Titan said in unison.
Ellie and Turtle Titan looked at each other in surprise as they both realized they have a lot in common based on what they just said. As they looked into each other's eyes, they slowly began to see that they're perfect for one another.
As Silver Sentry started searching, Turtle Titan and Ellie peeked around the corner of a building.
"You know, maybe Master Splinter was right...again." Turtle Titan said. He removed his superhero costume. "Maybe it's time to get back to basics. Ninja turtle style!"
"I'm with you." Ellie agreed. She waved her hand back and forth with a grabbing shape and released a swirl of magic around herself, changing her superhero costume back into her ninja attire. "This is more of my style anyway."
Turtle Titan stared at Ellie as he couldn't help it to notice her beauty, making him wolf-whistle.
Ellie giggled.
"I'm Michelle, by the way." Ellie said. "But I go by Ellie."
"Michelangelo, but you can call me Mikey." Mikey said with an outgoing wink.
Dr. Malignus started running until he quickly halted when he spotted Mikey, Ellie, and Ekron.
"Hi. Remember us?" Mikey called out.
Mikey and Ellie charged forward as they kicked Dr. Malignus hard, sending him crashing into the open elevator.
"Who needs a shield and grappling hook anyway?" Mikey asked.
"Oh, one more thing, Mikey." Ellie said.
Ellie walked up to Mikey and magically conjured a piece of paper in his right hand.
"What's this?" Mikey asked in confusion.
"My number." Ellie answered. She kissed Mikey on the cheek and winked flirtatiously at him. "Call me."
With that, Ellie magically disappeared with Ekron.
[Flashback Ends]
"And that was also the day when I met Mikey." Ellie said. She clasped her hands together with a flushed smile. "He totally captured my heart that night."
"Mikey?" Aaliyah asked with a confused eyebrow.
"We'll tell you later." Lee replied.
Ellie turned her head to Donna.
Alright, Donna. Truth or dare?" Ella said.
"I'll go…with truth." Donna said.
"What invention is your number one favorite?" Ellie asked.
"Why, Phantom, of course." Donna answered. "I still haven't managed to install a personality in her programming, but she has already proven to be the best robot I could've ever built."
[Flashback]
Lee, Ella, and Ellie sat on the couch while watching TV until Donna came walking into the room.
"Ladies!" Donna called out. She placed her hands on her hips just as Lee, Ella, and Ellie turned their hands to their brainiac sister. "I want you all to meet Phantom."
Donna pointed her thumb behind her. Lee, Ella, and Ellie looked past Donna to see a large doll-like humanoid automaton walking and standing behind her. She is six feet and four inches tall. Her metallic face was modeled after a twenty-year-old woman. She has steel complexion, shoulder-length metallic blonde hair, and bright green eyes. She has long and slim arms with thick wrists and large, thick hands. She also wore a metallic shin-length light bluish-purple qipao with long black sleeves and black pants with attached ankle high-heeled boots.
Lee, Ella, and Ellie's gaze repeatedly darted back and forth between Donna and Phantom.
"What the..." Ellie said in utter surprise. "This is what you wanted to show us?"
"Yup." Donna answered with a smile. "You see, Phantom is programmed with the purpose of guarding her allies, protecting them from danger and then leading them to escape. Depending on the situation, she would chase away or battle the attackers."
"So, she's like a bodyguard." Lee said.
"Yup. Our bodyguard." Donna said.
As Ryoko and Ekron came into the living room, they immediately stared at Phantom in wonder and amazement. They flew around the doll-like automaton in admiration, while Phantom looked at them in curiosity and wonder.
Ella generated a great amount of fire from both hands and unleashed a huge blast of flames from its mouth at Phantom. But Phantom's eyes glowed and generated a purple orb of magical energy around herself for protection. Once Phantom dropped the orb, she instantly disappeared.
"What the?! Where did she go?!" Ella exclaimed as she began looking around for Phantom.
Seconds later, Phantom reappeared behind Ella. She grabbed Ella and flipped both of them upside-down before falling and driving the red mystic kunoichi head-first into the ground. Donna recorded the fight with her cell phone in enjoyment, but she quickly moved her phone to record Lee and Ellie attacking Phantom with their magic.
Lee and Ellie manifested dozens of spheres composed solely of compressed solid water and wind before sending them to attack Phantom all at once. But Phantom generated another purple orb of magical energy around herself to protect herself. Phantom then disappeared and reappeared between the two mystic sisters.
Before Lee and Ellie could react, Phantom suddenly grabbed Ellie's left leg and Lee's right leg. She proceeded to smash them into the ground multiple times until she tossed them up in the air. Phantom then radiated a field of lightning around herself that hit the mystic sisters, sending them to fall and crash into the semiconscious Ella.
Phantom landed back to the ground and Donna sat on her robot's right shoulder with a proud smile.
"I don't know about you girls, but this was fun." Donna said. "And I've got it all on video."
Irma focused her attention on Phantom, who looked down at her.
"Donna, I know you have something to do with this. Please explain." Irma said.
"This brilliant robot is Phantom." Donna said proudly.
"By studying Sage's schematics on Ivanna?" Irma asked with a smile.
"Yup." Donna grinned. "With a lot of mystic upgrades from me."
"That's awesome." Irma said.
"Phantom, take it down!" Donna ordered her robot.
Phantom nodded and charged forward. She thrusted her arms forward and quickly slashed the vines that snared the girls all at once before picking up Chantrieri and tossed it away.
Phantom postured herself for battle with her claw-like fingers. She ran and leapt towards Chantrieri, but the flower monster quickly swatted her away.
Donna and Irma hid the bushes as they are waiting their right time for Phantom to take down Chantrieri. Donna handed a black bomb in Irma's hands.
"What's this?" Irma asked.
"It's a nightshade bomb." Donna replied. "The plant itself causes paralysis. One hit and the monster will no longer be to fight back."
"Wow. Nice." Irma smiled.
"All Phantom has to do is to weaken the monster long enough for me to use my magic." Donna said.
Phantom stood back up and leapt off again. This time, she managed to slice Chantrieri's vines in rapid tornado-like style.
Chantrieri growled angrily. It headbutted Phantom to the ground and hit her into the sky before smacking Phantom into the ground from the sky. Chantrieri then attempted to crush Phantom with its vines, but it barely missed her. It also sent Donna and Irma flying some distance into the grass.
Phantom knelt in pain and almost started to give up.
"Come on, Phantom! Don't give up! I know you can take that plant down!" Donna shouted.
Phantom looked down sadly, signaling her creator that she can't fight anymore.
"Yes, you can!" Donna yelled. "Come on! You're strong, Phantom! Strong in the real way!"
Phantom looked at Donna, regaining some confidence in herself. She nodded her head and slowly pulled herself back on her feet.
"Now, go get it!" Donna shouted.
Phantom understood and charged forward with quick speed. Chantrieri started lashing its vines towards Phantom, who dodged and then ran away. Chantrieri then chased after Phantom straight into the greenhouse.
Phantom sprang off in the air. Chantrieri started launching its tentacles. Phantom then hurled her arms at the ground and constructed a large drill underneath Chantrieri, causing the plant monster to lose its footing and crash onto the ground.
"Well, let's just say I couldn't do it without Phantom." Donna smiled, looking up at Phantom. "She was strong and brave just how I made her."
Phantom lifted her large hand and gently patted her creator on the head, signaling Donna that she's grateful to be part of the team.
"I could be wrong, but I think Phantom is telling you that she's already part of a great team." Ellie said to Donna.
Donna looked up at Phantom and grew a smile on her face.
[Flashback Ends]
Phantom stood behind Donna and patted her hand on her creator's head before walking away to the kitchen.
"Besides, I have already installed ten ninjutsu databases in her system since that fight with that Chantrieri monster." Donna said with a smile.
"Nerd." Ella muttered with a grin.
"Alright, Ella, your turn." Donna said. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare." Ella said.
"I dare you…to not get angry for a week." Donna said.
"What?! You can't be serious!" Ella exclaimed.
Lee and Aaliyah laughed.
"Good dare, Donna." Ellie snickered. "As if Ella could ever control your temper."
"I totally control my own temper." Ella retorted.
"Oh really?" Ellie, Lee, and Donna questioned with smirks.
[Flashback]
"Well done, Leona." Saldana said as she congratulated her oldest daughter.
Ellie, Ella, and Donna stood up to stare at Lee.
"Looks like the teacher's pet won...again." Ella commented with a glare as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Rather be a teacher's pet than a ninja dropout." Lee retorted.
Ellie and Donna giggled with a smirk. Ella glared harder and turned away with a scoff while Lee released Ryoko and petted the dragon.
Suddenly, Ellie got assaulted by a dodgeball from an unfamiliar female student. She has a slender, athletic build with pale skin, dark pink hair tied in a side bunned ponytail with a braid on the left, and green eyes.
"Hey, you!" Ella said with a glare. She stormed toward the unfamiliar student. "What the heck?!"
"Oh, come on. Loosen up a bit." The student said with a thoughtless grin. She held her hand. "It's just a game! A good one, that is. Hiya, I'm Rosa."
Rosa's hand got slapped away by a truly fed-up Ella.
"And I don't care!" Ella snapped. "We're in a timeout!"
"Who cares?" Rosa snapped back. "I'm not letting some silly timeout stop me from having fun. Besides, it's not over until I say it's not over."
"Are you okay, Ellie?" Aaliyah asked, running up to check on Ellie.
"Yeah, I'm good." Ellie replied.
Ella growled and marched right up close to Rosa's face.
"Listen, Rosa. You hurt my sister and no one hurts my sister, except for me." Ella said.
"Is that so? So, what are you gonna do about it, hothead?" Rosa snapped.
"Hothead?!" Ella shouted angrily.
"Uh oh." Ellie said with wide eyes.
Ella soon tackled Rosa onto the floor and the two started wrestling each other. Everyone took out their phones and began recording, while Aaliyah and Ellie quickly ran up to separate Ella and Rosa.
Then, the coach came back into the gym and glared once he saw the fight between Ella and Rosa.
"You two break it up right now!" The coach yelled.
Once Ella and Rosa broke off the fight, they stood up and continued glaring at each other.
"And allow me to share something with you, Ella." Rosa said to Ella with a glare. "There's room for one tough girl in existence and that's me. And if you ever fight me again, there's gonna be bigger trouble coming in your way."
"Heh, talk about all bark and no bite." Aaliyah said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "How about you do us a favor and bore someone else?"
"Excuse me, new girl! But I wasn't talking to you!" Rosa snapped as she moved her glare to Aaliyah.
Ella then butted heads with Rosa.
"Well, that's too bad! Because if you mess with her, you mess with me! You wanna go, then let's go!" Ella snapped back. "I don't listen to toughies who talk and don't punch!"
Rosa and Ella growled angrily, but Aaliyah and Ellie grabbed Ella from either of her arms to move her away from Rosa.
Rosa served the volleyball to Ella and Aaliyah. But Ella unexpectedly caught the ball with one hand. She let out a smirk and simply crushed it that dissolved into nothingness.
"Hey, you're not playing fair!" Rosa protested angrily. "How dare you!"
"Don't even try! You're the only one who pulled out that stupid trick in the middle of a game and you're telling me about being unfair?!" Ella retorted.
Rosa and Ella butted heads again.
Aaliyah served the ball over the net. Rosa simply hit the ball with one hand, but the volleyball instantly detonated and charred Rosa.
"What in the world…?" Aaliyah said with a confused eyebrow.
"Seriously?! You got some nerve implanting a bomb into the court?!" Rosa accused.
"Oh, look who's talking! You started it with that cheap ball of yours, freako!" Ella countered.
Rosa and Ella butted heads again with more force.
Ellie took Ella's headphones off her ears.
"Get your head out of the music and fill your stomach with my delicious cooking." Ellie said.
"Give me back my headphones, Ellie." Ella warned.
"Sorry, sis. It's not music time. It's dinner time." Ellie said with a grin.
Ella growled in annoyance.
[Flashback Ends]
Ella crossed her arms and rolled her eyes with a sigh.
"Alright, fine. But no promises." Ella said.
"She means for now." Ellie said as she and Donna exchanged teasing smiles.
Ella narrowed her eyes at Ellie and then turned her head to Lee.
"Lee, truth or dare?" Ella asked Lee.
"Truth." Lee said.
"Okay. Have you ever made a mistake in your whole life?" Ella asked.
"No." Lee answered.
"Oh please. Remember the first time we met Lady Shade? And our fearless leader was invited to see her in person and went to meet and greet alone, fooling her into believing she was a good mystic." Ella pointed out.
"Here we go again." Lee said, rolling her eyes. "Look, I'll admit that I almost went over to the dark side. But my aura sense made me realize she was lying every word. Remember?"
[Flashback]
Leo ran towards the building and placed Lee down. He opened the door and walked inside. Before Lee could follow, she looked back and narrowed her eyes as if she quickly detected three familiar auras.
"Lee, something's wrong?" Leo asked.
"It's nothing." Lee replied. "Let's go."
Lee walked inside and closed the door behind her.
Lee and Leo walked forward to enter a large room together. The room contained a burner of hot, smoking coals on one side, but there's no one here. Leo and Lee kept looking around the room suspiciously.
"Hello?" Leo called out. "Hello?"
Lee's eyes widened when she quickly detected visible auras popping up around the whole room.
"Heads up. We've got company." Lee said to Leo in alarm.
Suddenly, a group of Foot Ninjas and Shadow Ninjas came out of hiding. They flooded into the room and surrounded Leo and Lee.
Leo pulled out his katana swords while Lee engulfed her hands with water magic. As the Foot Ninjas and the Shadow Ninjas moved closer and closer, Leo and Lee huddled close back-to-back.
"Whoever takes out the most wins." Lee said with a smile.
"You're on." Leo smiled back.
Leo jumped in the air and landed on the ground with a fighting posture with his swords. Three Foot Ninjas jumped at Leo, but Leo rolled out of the way. He then jumped back up and attacked them all at once with a single, swift kick. Lee backflipped over three Shadow Ninjas and started releasing concentrated beams of water from her hands at them. She then swiped her arms and sent rapid blasts of water at the other three Shadow Ninjas that were running towards here with their weapons. Leo sliced off the swords coming from the Foot Ninjas and kicked one of them away, which leaves Lee unleash a circular torrent of water in front of her hands and attacked the remaining Shadow Ninjas in a cyclone of water that was strong enough to knock them along with the Foot Ninjas to the ground.
Leo and Lee stood together as all Foot Ninjas and Shadow Ninjas laid on the floor while groaning in pain and defeat.
"Looks like it's a tie." Leo grinned.
"Pretty much." Lee grinned back.
Then, Leo and Lee heard clapping. They turned their attention to a man and a woman standing together in the shadows.
"Impressive, very impressive." A Japanese man commented.
"Our agents said you two were good, but their description doesn't do you justice." A Japanese woman added.
Both mysterious strangers stepped out of the shadows with grins on their faces. The man has black hair that reaches close to his chin and brown eyes. He wore a gray kimono shirt that has long white sleeves with pale brown trim, white pants with a pale brown sash-like belt, and traditional Japanese shoes. The woman revealed herself as Rozu as she was wearing a black business suit with a white undershirt, silver-gray buttons, and black high heels.
"I am Oruko Saki, eighth generation master of ninjutsu." The man introduced.
"And I am Ravenna Rozu, master of mystic ninjutsu." The woman introduced.
"And you are...?" Saki asked.
Leo put his swords away and bowed.
"Leonardo." Leo introduced.
Lee narrowed her eyes at Saki and Rozu. She detected dangerous auras coming from both of them, but she composed herself to avoid suspicion from Saki and Rozu.
"And I'm Leona." Lee introduced with a bow.
"Yes." Rozu responded with a nod. "Saki and I felt it was urgent that we meet. There are things you need to know. I see. To you, nothing is clear now. You have been caught in the middle of a battle that is so much bigger than yourselves. But you must know there is a force."
"A corrupt and evil force that is out there right now, working its insidious tentacles into every aspect of our world." Saki explained.
Saki and Rozu walked up to the wall that has two large symbols of the Foot Clan and the Shadow Clan.
"Unfortunately, the only thing standing against this evil force is us and our humble army of ninjas." Saki added. He and Rozu turned back to Leo and Lee. "We stand alone against them as our masters did and their masters before them."
"It has been our destiny to fight for the side of good. We were hoping that you would find it in your heart to join us and fight against this evil." Rozu said. "We could stand together."
Leo looked speechless, but Lee narrowed her eyes in doubt.
[Flashback Ends]
"Well, Lee got a point there, Ella." Ellie said.
"But without my aura sense, I would've bought Lady Shade's twisted story." Lee said. "I would've seen her lies coming."
"Yeah, and let's forget when we went to face Lady Shade for the first time and she literally kicked out butts." Ellie added.
[Flashback]
The Lotus Ninjas stood intensely in the rain on a rooftop, facing Lady Shade and her Shadow Ninjas.
As the thundering sky poured down heavy rain, Rozu's hands enveloped in blazing black energy.
As Ellie faced three Shadow Ninjas, she paid no attention to Lady Shade leaping at her from behind. Lady Shade delivered a swift, brutal kick that sent Ellie flying across the rooftop almost close to the edge.
Lady Shade glanced to see Lee dueling with several Shadow Ninjas. She jumped and swiftly kicked Lee away, but Lee backflipped and landed safely on her feet.
Donna knocked two Shadow Ninjas with her plant vines from her hands just before Lady Shade leaped down next to her and grabbed the vines as she threw Donna away to the roof door.
Lady Shade charged forward as Lee and Ella sprang in the air to strike with their magic. But Lady Shade knocked them down with black energy blasts in mid-air.
Donna jumped in the air and fought a trio of Shadow Ninjas with her vines. Lady Shade stood in front of Donna and attacked her with blazing energized kicks several times before punching her with her energized fist. Donna flew backwards from the strike and slammed into the wall.
As Lee blasted five Shadow Ninjas with her water magic, Lady Shade came up behind her and raised her energized fist to catch the blue mystic kunoichi off-guard, but Ella managed to shield herself and her older sister with a fiery shield.
"Don't you even think about it!" Ella shouted.
Ella struggled against Lady Shade, who delivered a flurry of rapid punches at her shield. Once the fiery shield vaporized from the final punch, Lady Shade grabbed Ella by the neck and threw her against the wall next to Donna, who tried to recover herself.
Ellie found herself surrounded by Shadow Ninjas and managed to take them down with her air magic, but Lady Shade appeared and attacked her, which sent Ellie crashing into the wall next to Ella.
Lee continued fighting against Shadow Ninjas with her water magic until she suddenly found herself face-to-face with Lady Shade. Lady Shade punched her, sending Lee sliding into the wall.
Donna, Ella, and Ellie moved over to Lee with concern. Lady Shade stalked towards all four mystic kunoichis, who looked up at her in horror.
"I will make sure neither of you make it out of here alive!" Lady Shade said as she lifted her energized hand that was shaped into razor-sharp claws.
"Don't you dare touch my daughter, Lady Shade!"
Saldana flipped down from the water tower and stood in front of her daughters.
"You may have destroyed my husband. I will not let you do that again with my girls!" Saldana cried.
"I would love to see you try, witch!" Lady Shade declared in anger.
Saldana and Lady Shade exchanged punches, kicks, and energy-based attacks at each other, but they both struggled to strike unpredictably against each other.
Saldana jabbed Lady Shade's chest and then sprang over her to land in front of the water tower support beams before signaling the Shadow Clan leader to bring it on. Lady Shade growled in fury and charged forward at Saldana. Lady Shade blasted a black energy beam toward Saldana's direction, but the Lotus Clan mystic dodged and blocked with a white lotus-shaped shield while backing away when Lady Shade delivered several energy blasts in rapid speed. Saldana evaded as each energy blast destroyed every support beam after deflecting off of her shield. Just as Lady Shade's energy blast destroyed another support beam, Saldana formed a cocky smirk and teleported away. Lady Shade stood in confusion as Saldana reappeared with her daughter, but she quickly noticed the water tower began creaking and swaying dangerously.
"This is for my Caesar!" Saldana declared.
Saldana fired a white energy bolt at the last support beam, causing the water to fall onto the gasping Lady Shade. Saldana lifted her hands in front of her and unleashed white energy blasts toward Lady Shade and the rest of the Shadow Ninjas. Once the energy blasts made contact with them, Lady Shade and her Shadow Ninjas ended up being engulfed by large globes of energy, which then erupted with them inside of it. The Shadow Ninjas landed on the fire escape while Lady Shade landed in the alleyway. But it was too late for her to react when the water tower itself came falling down at her from the rooftop.
In the alleyway, Lady Shade's arm suddenly punched through the debris, which signaled her defeat is far from over.
[Flashback Ends]
"But is she gone for good?" Aaliyah asked.
"I wish I could say yes, but she's pretty relentless on coming back." Lee replied as she put her head on her knees.
"Yeah. Remember when she destroyed the fortress?" Donna said.
[Flashback]
Lee suddenly came crashing through the wall. She landed on her back to the floor as she was covered in deep bruises.
Saldana, Ella, Donna, and Ellie looked at the injured Lee with shock faces.
"Lee!" Ella exclaimed.
"Lee, what happened?" Ellie cried.
Saldana knelt beside her oldest daughter and lifted up Lee's head gently on her knees. As Lee struggled to open his eyes with a groan, Donna poured purple energy from her palms that worked its way up around her oldest sister.
"She may be unconscious and heavily injured, but she's still breathing." Donna stated. "In other words, she's gonna be okay."
"Lee, who did this to you?" Ella asked as she clenched her right fist.
"It…was…Lady Shade." Lee answered croakily. "She's…back."
Suddenly, the wall exploded open and Lady Shade floated inside the room.
"Oh snap." Ella muttered.
"Lee was so not kidding." Ellie said.
Lady Shade glided into the room. Behind her, the flying blimp revealed more Shadow Ninjas waiting outside.
"No one opposes Lady Shade, especially you thorning witches. And now I will have my revenge for our last encounter!" Lady Shade declared. She turned to her Shadow Elite. "Finish the brats off. The mother witch is mine."
"Let's pound her down once and for all, girls. You with me?" Ella stated.
"For Lee!" Donna agreed.
"For Lee!" Ellie nodded.
The Shadow Elite jumped towards the Lotus Ninjas, leaving Lady Shade charged towards Saldana with her dark magic. Lady Shade and Saldana shot magical energy blasts while blocking each other's attacks at the same time. As Saldana kicked Lady Shade away, three Shadow Ninjas came charging after her. Saldana easily knocked the Shadow Ninjas with swift kicks before turning back to Lady Shade, who was coming up behind her. Lady Shade charged and fired black energy blast at Saldana, but Saldana dodged each energy blast and then delivered another kick that threw the Shadow Clan leader back against the wall.
The Shadow Elite surrounded the Lotus Ninjas, who were protecting an unconscious Lee. Before the Shadow Elite prepared to strike, Phantom suddenly came in front of the Shadow Elite and grabbed the Shadow Clan assassins by the arms as she fried them with purple surges of electricity and threw them hard to the wall.
"Nice one, Phantom!" Donna smiled.
Lady Shade growled for her elite assassins' defeat.
"Obliterate them!" Lady Shade ordered her Shadow Ninjas.
More Shadow Ninjas flooded the room. Donna, Ella, Ellie, Saldana, and Phantom charged forward as the two forces clashed into battle.
Ellie, Ella, Donna, and Phantom moved away from the Shadow Ninjas. As they gathered together with their allies, Saldana extended her arms out and enveloped herself in a surging white magic aura.
"Watashinoie o watashi no jigen ni hozon suru." Saldana casted.
A massive white portal appeared on the ceiling that caught everyone's attention. The portal started expanding itself around the walls and engulfed everything as if it was sinking all the rooms into itself. Donna, Ella, Ellie, Aaliyah, Irma, Lee, Ryoko, and Ekron watched as the portal kept engulfing everything else from top to bottom until there was nothing left, except for them and the Shadow Clan.
Saldana dropped her arms down and took deep breaths before giving Donna a knowing nod.
"Phantom, get us out of here!" Donna ordered her robot.
Phantom nodded. Her eyes glowed and generated a purple orb of magical energy around herself and everyone else. With that, she instantly teleported herself and the family out of the fortress.
After that, the Shadow Ninjas recovered from the battle along with the Shadow Elite, Sienna, and Mira. Lady Shade, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at the disappearance of her enemies.
"Shadow Ninjas, vanish." Lady Shade ordered.
The Shadow Ninjas, the Shadow Elite, Sienna, and Mira obeyed as they sped through the opening hole and sprang back onto the flying blimp under the heavy rain.
Lady Shade pulled out a firebomb device in her hand and pressed the button at the center before dropping it on the floor and enlarging it with her magic.
"My enemies may be gone, but they can't hide from me forever." Lady Shade said. "Without a home of their own, they will soon reveal themselves as warriors and not cowards."
Lady Shade then floated through the opening hole.
Then, the firebomb exploded and promptly bursted the entire fortress into flames. The Crete Fortress became visible from the cloaking spell and began descending from the sky until the flames engulfed the entire airship into nothingness.
[Flashback Ends]
"Yeah, it was an actual living nightmare." Ellie said.
"But did you girls finally take her down for good at her headquarters?" Irma asked.
"Well, we did tap into our elements and finished her off that night." Ella answered.
[Flashback]
The Lotus Ninjas stood back on their feet. They closed their eyes and rose up in the air as they began to concentrate and connect towards the core of their elemental magic within them. Once the Lotus Ninjas opened their eyes, Lady Shade witnessed something that stunned her. Lee was transformed from a solid girl into a free-flowing being of pure liquid water. Ella's entire body altered into a streaking being of living fire. Donna was converted into a tree-like being with her hairstyle altering into various blooming flowers. And Ellie's entire body became completely air-like.
"So, you literally tapped your elements and turned into one." Lady Shade said. "No matter. I can't wait to tear you mystics apart!"
The Lotus Ninjas narrowed their eyes and zoomed off towards Lady Shade.
Lady Shade formed a black energy sphere in her right hand that shot out arrow-shaped energy projectiles to attack the Lotus Ninjas, who swiftly evaded with incredible speed and then began to circle the Shadow Clan leader.
Lady Shade narrowed her eyes with a glare. She lifted her left hand and summoned several black energized tentacles to grow and restrain Ella's limbs, hoping to restrict her movement. But Ella radiated brighter and brighter, causing her flames to scorch the tentacles. Ella generated multiple fireballs at once around Lady Shade and threw them as an exploding barrage, burning the Shadow Clan leader's body and part of her mask with extensive damage.
Lady Shade screamed in anguish. But before she could attack Ella, several vines began to hold her back. Lady Shade turned her head and saw Donna was restraining her in her own flowery hair. Donna molded five large fists from the ground and sent them to deliver a series of punches at Lady Shade from every direction. Donna nodded her head at Lee and Ellie, leaving the Shadow Clan leader bewildered.
Lee flowed through the air and created a large bubble of water that enclosed Lady Shade. Lady Shade struggled to free herself. Lee then lifted the water bubble above her and the water bubble itself was fired into a powerful beam of high-pressure water that knocked the Shadow Clan leader.
Once Lady Shade crashed to the ground, she struggled to get back up.
Ellie sprang up in front of him and generated a large tornado around Lady Shade. The increasing speed of the wind carried Lady Shade in midair without giving her any chance of a counterattack. Ellie then formed ten crescent-shaped blades of wind and sent towards Lady Shade at full speed.
"That...doesn't matter! I will...destroy you!" Lady Shade yelled weakly.
The Lotus Ninjas hovered over Lady Shade. They shot out elemental blasts that wrapped Lady Shade inside a large multi-colored energy orb. They then tossed the energy orb in the air and sliced through it with swift kicks and punches, causing the energy orb to explode.
With no strength left to fight back, Lady Shade collapsed to the ground hard and got knocked out cold.
The Lotus Ninjas descended onto the ground and returned to normal. They all looked down at the fallen body of their enemy.
[Flashback Ends]
"As much as I want to believe she's gone, I'm getting the feeling that it won't be the end of her." Lee said firmly. "And even if Lady Shade survived out there, she will never break this family apart, no matter what she throws at us."
Ella, Donna, Ellie, Irma, Aaliyah, and Saldana nodded their heads in agreement.
"Well, now that the recalling memories are officially over, it's time for pizza." Ellie said.
"Nothing says pizza than a glutton like you, Ellie." Ella said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, stuff it, Ella." Ellie said.
Ellie smacked the pizza right in Ella's face with her magic. Ella wiped the pizza off her face and growled at Ellie, who gave her a mocking smirk.
"You're so dead!" Ella shouted.
Ella propelled towards Ellie into a rolling tackle. Lee and Donna leaped on Ella to stop the fight, but they all ended up rolling around in a pile on the ground.
Irma, Saldana, and Aaliyah could watch the wrestling sisters from the couch.
"Oh, this is so getting this on video." Aaliyah smirked, recording the wrestling sisters on her phone.
"Is this how they are all the time?" Irma asked Saldana.
"Indeed, but that's family for you." Saldana said with a smile.
Enjoy and review.