Summary: When Ellie wins a challenge at a video game tournament, the Lotus Ninjas are - once again - in big trouble with a resurrected Ivanna, who returns for a rematch.
At Eastman High School, Lee walked through the hallway along with Ella, Donna, and Irma.
"Any news about your after-school activities?" Irma asked.
"All the clubs are canceled today." Donna replied. She shrugged her shoulders with confusion. "Don't know why though."
"My next cheerleading practice is tomorrow." Lee said.
"Already caught up with my homework, so I'm good." Ella answered.
Suddenly, Lee, Ella, Donna, and Irma heard loud cheering out of nowhere.
"Hey, y'all hear that?" Ella asked.
"Where is that noise coming from?" Irma wondered.
"I think it's coming from that room." Donna replied, pointing her finger at the nearby classroom.
Donna opened the door and entered inside as Lee, Ella, and Irma followed from behind. They came across a group of video game club members playing a fighting video game on the large projection screen coming from a projection device. Ellie and Aaliyah are playing against each other while some of the video game club members began recording the match with their camera phones. Ellie's battle avatar is a female humanoid mecha bunny and Aaliyah's battle avatar is a female humanoid mecha fox.
Lee, Ella, Donna, and Irma walked up to the crowd with a mix of confusion and amazement.
"Hey, what's going on?" Ella wondered.
"Last week, Eastman High was selected to participate in the New York Cyberstar Tournament!" A male black spiky-haired student answered.
"Cyberstar Tournament?" Lee repeated.
"It's one of the largest and most popular annual esports tournaments, where players represent their middle and high school, and college. To enter the tournament, potential students must play the qualification matches against every video game club member and get the highest scores." A female blonde bobcut-haired student explained.
"Oh yeah. I remember Ellie going ecstatic about it days ago." Donna said to Lee, Ella, and Irma. "She's been practicing this game for weeks since its release."
"So far, your sister has dominated every club member here." A female brunette-haired student said. "She's competing against Aaliyah. If she wins, she's in the tournament."
Meanwhile, a gray mystical apparition materialized out of thin air. It turned itself into a gray orb and started flying down to the indoor arena.
Inside the indoor arena, few staff members already began setting up the chairs and tables for the Cyberstar video game competition. The gray orb flew through the wall before discovering a game controller on a nearby table. The gray orb then soared straight into the device and rebuilt into a child-sized robot.
"Yay! I'm back!" Ivanna said with a smile. She spun around with joy. "And better than ever!"
Ivanna jumped off the table and walked over to the large LED video systems with HDTV suspended from the ceiling. Her eyes widened in awe. She soared up and landed on the top, where she spotted the banner that read "Cyberstar Tournament" above her. She placed her hands together on the video systems and plugged her fingers into them, absorbing available information of gameplay and fighting mechanics.
"Oh, a video game competition. Now, this is my kind of fun." Ivanna said. Her smile grew wicked. "I wonder if I can add an additional player to this fun game."
Back at Eastman High, Ellie and Aaliyah kept playing their video game with fierce determination. Lee, Ella, Donna, Irma, and the video game club members continued cheering for them from behind.
Ellie's battle avatar swung her leg to Aaliyah's battle avatar and delivered a rapid series of six high-damage somersault kicks that knocked her opponent into the air. Ellie's battle avatar then lifted her two large ears and transformed them into powered cannons before unleashing a powerful orange laser at Aaliyah's battle avatar. Aaliyah's battle avatar fell straight to the ground. Ellie's battle avatar turned to the screen and gave out a victorious wink.
"Michelle wins!" The video game announcer spoke.
Everyone cheered excitedly as Ellie and Aaliyah high-fived with smiles.
"Wow! I can't believe it!" A female student exclaimed in amazement.
"Ellie beat Aaliyah!" A male student smiled.
"Beat Aaliyah? She pulverized her!" Another male student grinned.
"Awesome job, Ellie. You're gonna make a killer combo." Aaliyah said to Ellie.
"Congratulations, Michelle. You are officially our school's champion." A video game club leader said. "The Cyberstar Tournament doesn't start until 6pm. Good luck. We'll be cheering for you when we get there."
"Oh, trust me. I'll be ready for it." Ellie said with a confident smile. "And with my killer combos, I'll win the tournament for this school, for sure!"
The video club members cheered happily.
Later that evening, the student contestants from rival schools and colleges, and spectators arrived inside the indoor arena. The spectators and students took their seats from the cushioned chairs, while the rival students sat on the foldable chairs down below.
Ivanna looked down at the rival students and the audience on top of the large LED video systems.
"Looks like everyone's here and accounted for." Ivanna said. She let out a wide smile on her face as she slowly fused herself through the large LED video systems. "Time to make my grand entrance."
Just as the Cyberstar Tournament was about to begin, the large LED video systems suddenly glitched out of control with static noises. The rival students and the audience looked up at the screens with confused yet alarmed faces. Then, the image of Ivanna's face appeared before them.
"Attention, gamers! I am your host, Ivanna!" Ivanna announced. "I am in control of this tournament now! Time to see who's the greatest gamer in this city and that's gonna be me! Game on!"
As Ivanna laughed, gray energy orbs materialized around the LED screens. Everyone screamed and started running away towards the exit. But the energy orbs began to swarm around the arena. The students and the spectators began to run as fast as they could, but the energy orbs quickly caught them one by one. Once inside the energy orbs, everyone went into a deep sleep. Then, the energy orbs floated up to the ceiling.
"I am unstoppable!" Ivanna shouted. "With this new upgrade, I'll soon be leveling up into the full power of technology worldwide in no time!"
Down below, Irma and Aaliyah watched the giggling automaton underneath the clothed table.
"Oh, snap! That robot is back!" Aaliyah whispered to Irma. "We need to get the girls here right now."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Irma agreed as she began dialing on her phone.
In the Crete Fortress, Ellie already began playing Cyberstar on the couch. During the intense minutes of playing, Ekron carried a water bottle into the living room and handed it over to Ellie.
"Oh, thanks, Ekron." Ellie smiled, taking the water bottle from Ekron. "You're so sweet."
Ellie kissed Ekron, making him flush before flying away.
Ella, Donna, and Lee walked out of the kitchen just in time to notice their youngest sister is still playing her video game.
"Dang. Someone's still pumped up for the tournament." Ella said.
"Which, by the way, we should've left by now." Donna said.
"You can't be late. Remember, the whole school is counting on you." Lee said.
"Don't worry. I'm just developing new combos that will help me win." Ellie assured. "And besides, we got magic. We can teleport there and back home in no time."
Donna opened her mouth for a second and realized that Ellie has a point on that one.
"Hm, she got me there." Donna said to Lee and Ella.
Suddenly, the sound of the techno music was heard from Donna's waist belt. Donna took out her phone and answered the call.
"Hey, Irma." Donna said casually. "What's sup?"
"Donna, we've got trouble!" Irma said in a panic through the phone. "Remember Ivanna? The robot you and your sisters fought before? She's back! She kidnapped the audience and the rival students, and now she's taking over the tournament!"
"Stay put, Irma! We'll be right there!" Donna said. She hung up her phone and stared back at her sisters. "Irma and Aaliyah need our help. You're not gonna believe this, but Ivanna's back."
"Ivanna?" Lee repeated in surprise.
"Last time we fought her, she got melted into a puddle by my flames." Ella said.
"But how did she manage to survive?" Ellie asked, pausing her game and joining her older sisters.
"It's possible that the mystical energy within her circuits must've allowed her to rebuild herself." Donna answered. "Since then, I do feel bad for her. She does have the mindset of a child."
"Yeah. A crazy child with sadistic weapons." Ellie reminded.
"True, but it wasn't her fault." Donna said. "Sage was the one who created her and programmed into the path of evil. I mean, imagine if Saldana was evil like Lady Shade, we would've been assassins instead of who we are today."
"Okay. So, what's your point?" Ellla asked slowly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'm saying we should help her." Donna said. "You know, offer her an alternative life."
"Oh, we are so gonna regret this." Ella said with a sigh.
"So, let's start looking for Ivanna." Lee said.
"Say no more. Ivanna's at the arena where the tournament is being held." Donna said.
The Lotus Ninjas arrive at the competition arena, where Ivanna managed to find Irma and Aaliyah, and sealed them in a deep sleep within the energy orbs.
"Found you!" Ivanna shouted in a singsong tone.
"Let them go, Ivanna!" Lee demanded as she and her sister activated their elemental magic. "No need to put innocent lives in danger!"
"Well, well. well. We meet again. This time, it's my turn to be victorious!" Ivanna yelled.
Ivanna created four geometric projectiles from four directions on the screen. Each projectile is in shapes of a green triangle, a red circle, a blue cross, and a pink square. All four projectiles started firing lasers at the Lotus Ninjas, who immediately scattered out of the way. The Lotus Ninjas released their elemental magic at the projectiles while avoiding the lasers with backflips and splits.
After the Lotus Ninjas destroyed the projectiles with an elemental combination, Ivanna materialized two missile launchers from both sides of the screen and unleashed a cluster of missiles towards the Lotus Ninjas. But Donna quickly summoned a wall of earth from the ground with both hands, protecting herself and her sisters from the missiles. Then, the Lotus Ninjas charged forward and fired their elemental energy blasts at Ivanna, but their attack didn't land a dent on the robot. Ivanna then created gray energy bolts around the screen and released them towards the Lotus Ninjas at once, but the Lotus Ninjas dodged and ran away from the robot's energy bolts.
"It's game over, girls!" Ivanna smiled evilly.
"Not even close!" Ellie shouted, evading five energy bolts coming in her direction. "I challenge you to a match!"
Ivanna halted her attack with a surprised face. Lee, Donna, and Ella looked surprised as well.
"That's right! You heard me! I challenge you!" Ellie said, pointing her finger up at Ivanna. "Me and you! One on one! If I win, you let everyone go! And if you win, you get me!"
Lee, Donna, and Ella's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yay, I have a playmate! Let's play!" Ivanna said.
Ellie walked up to a table and grabbed the controller.
"Oh, there's no need for that." Ivanna said.
With a flash of gray light that emitted from the screen, Ellie disappeared.
"Ellie!" Lee and Ella cried.
"Hold up! Look!" Donna gasped, pointing her finger up at the screen.
Lee and Ella collectively looked up to see Ellie was digitized inside the screen.
Ellie looked around the digital word in awe. She was standing on the green grids on the floor of a massive flying metallic midnight blue circular platform in an outer space filled with many stars. Ellie then looked down at her body. She was transformed into a mecha version of herself. Her body is dark orange with lighter orange armor around her shoulders, torso, arms, and legs. She still has long thick blonde hair and forest green eyes.
In a flash of gray light, Ivanna stood on one end of the platform. This time, she has the height of a teenage girl. Her long black hip-length metallic hair was pulled back into two braided pigtails. She wore a long-sleeved deep gray leotard with black cuffs that had six silver studs, black tights, and black calf-high combat boots with silver-gray soles.
"I've leveled up to your age now." Ivanna boasted.
"Good. That way, we can fight evenly." Ellie grinned. She activated her air magic from both hands. "Let's play."
Ivanna lifted her fingers upwards and executed a barrage of missiles into the air that rained down upon Ellie, who swiftly avoided the missiles as fast as she could. Ellie generated a tornado around Ivanna that sent her flying away to the edge of the platform. But Ivanna floated back up on her feet and then fired a powerful laser beam at Ellie from her eyes. Ellie backflipped out of the way.
Lee, Donna, and Ella watched Ellie and Ivanna still charging and firing their powers on the screen. Their eyes moved to the health bars, which displayed the orange bar from Ivanna and Ellie.
"Looks like Ellie and Ivanna are evenly matched." Ella said. "We've gonna help our sister."
"But how?" Lee asked.
"It's tricky, but I know it'll work." Donna said. "I can create an undetectable code that can interface the gaming system to free the audience and trap Ivanna at the same time. But I'm gonna need you two to cover me, so Ivanna won't get suspicious."
"You got it." Lee and Ella nodded.
Donna ran forward and dove under the clothed table. She magically pulled up a purple holographic screen and started typing with her rapid fingers.
As Ellie and Ivanna charged again, they continued launching and dodging each other's attacks. Ivanna managed to fire a large blast of gray energy from both hands, pushing Ellie away close to the edge of the platform.
Out of the corner of her eyes, Ellie saw the orange bars on the health bars.
"She's anticipating all of my attacks!" Ellie muttered. "At this rate, I need to come up with an ultimate move fast."
"Tonight, I will be victorious!" Ivanna said with a smile.
"Not today!" Ellie said.
Ellie sprinted forward and jumped in the air. She engulfed her legs in pure air energy and rotated them, rapidly kicking Ivanna multiple times. Ellie fired spheres of air energy at Ivanna from her hands. Ivanna charged her hands with gray magical energy and surrounded herself with the energy, spiraling herself through the air towards Ellie in a torpedo fashion. Ivanna then moved right in front of Ellie and delivered a spinning uppercut while jumping in the air. Ellie recovered and jumped in the air, barraging Ivanna with beams of air energy and knocking her away.
Lee and Ella began cheering for Ellie. With Ivanna distracted, Donna finally created her code on the holographic screen. She constructed the holographic screen in the shape of a purple energized butterfly and sent it flying on the top of the screen. The energized butterfly's wings transformed into RCA cables and secured into the video input, releasing the code within the system.
Ivanna transformed her arms into cannons and began firing large dark gray lasers at Ellie, who immediately avoided while charging forward. Then, Ellie unleashed a relentless flurry of rapid punches and flips. With Ivanna slightly stunned with stars circling around her head, Ellie took the advantage and jumped high up in the air, summoning multiple orange diamond-shaped projectiles around her.
"Game over." Ellie said with a smirk.
Ellie launched the diamond-shaped projectiles at Ivanna. The diamond-shaped projectiles encircled and crashed into the robot, exploding into an orange pillar of air energy.
With a defeated scream, Ivanna fell backwards onto the ground and exploded herself to pieces of pixels.
Ellie turned to the screen with a victorious wink.
"Michelle wins!" The video game announcer spoke.
Lee, Ella, and Donna cheered excitedly.
"Yes!" Ella shouted.
"You did it!" Donna beamed.
"You rule!" Lee smiled.
Then, Ivanna rematerialized wholly. She watched Ellie celebrating her victory in pure anger. Her eyes started glowing and her body began to enlarge. When Ellie noticed a large shadow covering her, she turned around and her eyes widened in shock to see Ivanna towering over her nearly twenty feet tall.
"This game is far from over!" Ivanna boomed.
Just as Ivanna brought her giant foot down, Ellie suddenly disappeared entirely.
"Huh?" Ivanna said in confusion.
Ellie looked around at the area where she was brought back into. She ran up and reunited with her big sisters in a hug.
Then, the Lotus Ninjas looked back up at Ivanna on the screen.
"What?! B-But how?!" Ivanna demanded.
"You can thank my brainiac sister for that." Ellie said, pointing her thumb to Donna. "Now, a deal is a deal. Now, free our friends and everyone here."
"Not a chance!" Ivanna snapped.
"Typical." Ella said, rolling her eyes. "Sore losers never keep their promises."
"I did have a hunch that she wouldn't. That's why I've created a code for this certain occasion." Donna added.
Ivanna looked surprised at Donna's words.
"A code? Like a computer virus?" Ivanna asked.
"Something like that." Donna replied. "Not only will it free the citizens, but you will be automatically trapped in cyberspace forever."
Ivanna looked utterly frightened. She watched the energy orbs descending to the floor. Each energy orb dematerialized, leaving nothing but sleeping humans on the ground.
Ivanna then gazed upon the Lotus Ninjas in sheer horror.
"No! No! Stop it! Please!" Ivanna begged. "Delete the code! I beg of you!"
But it was too late. Ivanna turned around to see a black hole forming behind her. The strong force of the black hole prevented her from escaping. She cried out in terror as she got dragged into an empty abyss that served as an eternity of imprisonment. The Lotus Ninjas watched as the screen shut off.
"What's gonna happen to Ivanna now?" Ella asked Donna.
"As long as she's trapped inside, nothing can get her out." Donna replied. "Until then, she'll have plenty of alone time."
"Well, with that said and down, I've got a tournament to win." Ellie said.
Inside the competition arena, the Cyberstar Tournament is about to start.
"Welcome to the Cyberstar Tournament! All chosen students, grab your consoles and win to bring your representative school gold!" The male announcer spoke through the microphone. "Ready. Set. Game on!"
Ellie grabbed the game controller and began playing with an intense smile. Lee, Irma, Donna, Ella, Aaliyah, and the entire video game club members cheered her on.
At the end of the tournament, Ellie became victorious as she showcased her trophy with a beaming smile. Her sisters and her friends cheered and hollered wildly for her victory.
Enjoy and review.