The three brothers, Mona, Splinter, Venus and the Ultimate Ninja were down in the arena waiting for the tournament to begin.
"Warriors who seek to become Battle Nexus champion prepare yourselves!" The Daimyo announces and the crowd cheers.
"Hey guys, it is Traximus," "That gladiator from the Triceraton home worlds."
"Imagine Traximus being here," Mikey speaks. "This place just gets wilder and wilder."
"Where is Leonardo and Yuuki?" Splinter questions as he searches through the crowd. "The tournament will start soon."
"Do not worry Splinter sensei," The Ultimate Ninja reassures. "I'm sure they will be along any moment now."
Back in the Hall of Fame, Leonardo and Yuuki were still arguing.
"Yuuki, you're not acting like yourself." Leo tells her.
Yuuki scoffs. "I'm fine. You're just jealous, Leo." She said. "Just admit it that there's a guy actually better than you, not to mention handsome." She sighs with a dreamy look on her face.
"Yuuki," Leo said. "Give me that bracelet. Ever since you've been wearing it, you've been acting really strange. It's got to be one of the Ultimate Ninja's tricks." He reaches for her bracelet.
Yuuki slapped his hand away. "No!" She growls. "There you go accusing him again! Don't even think about taking it!"
"Will you listen to yourself!"
One of the assassins aims the crossbow at Leo.
It fires.
Leo quickly turns around and deflects it, sending the arrow flying into Yoshi's statue.
"Sorry, Master Yoshi," Leo apologies.
The assassin climbs down from the statue facing the two of them, the others reveal themselves as well. He lunges towards Leo to strike. Leo pushes Yuuki away, shoving her aside as the assassins blade came down between them. The assassin charges at Leo, swinging his sword at him. But Leo kicks the assassin away. Another assassin fires arrows at Leo and he rolls out of the way.
Leo sees Yuuki was just standing and watching. She had a spaced out look on her face, void of any emotion.
"Kill him..." A voice entered in her mind. Yuuki groans, holding her head.
"I could use a little help if you don't mind!" Leo calls out.
Leo blocks an assassin's blade with his hands then pushes him away.
Yuuki groans shaking her head. She pulls out her tessen and charges towards Leo to assist him. Yuuki throws her weapon. Seeing the tessen coming towards him, Leo quickly moves out of the way and her weapon hits an assassin.
The other assassin got up and threw ninja stars at Leo. Leo, dodges out of the way but an assassin kicks him from behind knocking him back towards a wall of weapons. As Leo stood up then got into a fighting stance, he noticed the assassins had vanished.
"Ok, where did everybody go?" Leo questioned as he reaches behind him to grab a spear off the wall, to defend himself.
"They disappeared?" Yuuki groans, holding her head in pain.
Leo bends down and picks up Yuuki's weapon. He looks over at Yuuki suspiciously. He walks over to her with his senses still on alert eyeing everywhere in the room for the intruders.
"You okay?" Leo asked, concerned.
"My head is throbbing." She groans.
"I need you to pull yourself together." Leo tells her. "We're not alone."
He hands Yuuki backs her tessen and she takes it, holding it in front of her.
Minutes ticked by and the room was deadly quiet. Leo and Yuuki searched around, looking for the intruders. Suddenly, a chain shot out and grabbed Yuuki's arm, pulling her away from Leo. Leo tried to reach out to grab her but an assassin came up from behind and kicks him.
Another assassin throws a chain and it wraps around Leo's wrist, pulling him towards two assassins. He twists himself and knocks one of them down and tries to attack the other , but he blocks it. When Leo pushes the assassin back, another assassin comes in and kicks the bottom half of Leo's spear out of Leo's hands, breaking it, then jumps at him.
Leo kicks him in the chest, knocking the assassin back while he fights against another one. The other assassin jumps back and kicks Leo back into the wall. Leo struggles to get up, now defenseless. Yuuki struggles against the assassin holding her, but couldn't break free as the chain was wrapped around her, tightly. Leo struggled to stand up. An assassin jumped onto a statue then aimed his crossbow at Leo, ready to finish him off.
A sword comes down and slices the crossbow, destroying it.
"You fight without honor, assassin!" a voice calls out.
Leo and Yuuki look to see a humanoid rabbit samurai standing above the statue, above the assassin. He jumps down and fights the assassin then turns his attention towards the other assassin holding Yuuki then jumps and kicks him down then slices the chain, freeing Yuuki.
The three assassins backed away from the samurai then climbed on the wall, and disappear. The rabbit samurai puts his sword away then walks over to Leo, helping him up.
"Are you alright, warrior?" The samurai asked.
"Thanks for saving our shells," Leo replied.
"You are welcome, kappa,"
"I am Leonardo and this is Yuuki. We are in your debt."
"I am Miyamoto Usagi, a Ronin and a competitor in the Battle Nexus Tournament. I was just passing by when I saw you two set upon by those dishonorable assassins."
"Lucky for us," Leo said.
"Luck has very little to do with it, it is about skill and control of your energies. Your mind and weapon must be as one or you will certainly perish."
"Ya I know, our sensei is always telling us the same thing. Any other advice?"
Usagi smiles then speaks. "Yes, duck."
Leo's and Yuuki's eyes widen and they do as their told and Usagi draws his weapon as he jumps over them. He blocks a ninja star that was aimed at the two. The assassins were back for another round. More ninja stars were thrown and Usagi charges at them while Leo grabs a shield on the wall to block the flying projectiles. Then he throws it at an assassin standing on the beams, knocking him down.
"Who are these guys?" Leo questioned.
Usagi fights against two of the assassins, with ease then knocks them down. Leo grabs a pair of wooden batons. The three fight against the assassins. Leo blocks one and was about to attack him, but he catches Leo's wrist and knocks him down. The assassin kicks him back into a display stand.
The assassin grabs a sword and walks over to Leo, standing over him, holding the sword above his head, ready to strike. Leo quickly grabbed whatever was in the display case and blocked the attack. He quickly disarmed the assassin and knocked him back.
As Leo stood up, he looks in shock to see that he was holding an helmet that looked exactly like the Shredder's. He tosses it away and walked over Usagi and Yuuki.
Usagi knocks two assassins down and they climb up the wall, retreating. "They are gone," Usagi said as he puts his weapon away. "Vanished."
"Again, we thank you for your help, samurai," Leo replied.
"Yes, thank you." Yuuki said, gratefully.
"Do not thank me yet warriors," Usagi answered. "Fate may pit one of us against each other in the tournament."
"I have to tell you Usagi-san, the way you fight, I'd rather not go up against you, if I can help it," Leo said.
Usagi laughs a bit. "The feeling is mutual."
The Gyoji appears with Leo swords in his hands. "Master Leonardo. Your swords have been repaired, I trust you find them worthy."
Leo smiles and he happily takes them from him and bows to the Gyoji. "Thank you," He said, gratefully.
"You three must hurry, the next stage of the Battle Nexus Tournament is about to begin."
The three of them left the hall. As they were walking, Leo glanced over at Yuuki, concerned.
They soon walk to the battle arena.
"Good luck, Leonardo-san, Yuuki-san," Usagi tells and bows.
"And to you, samurai," Leo answered and bows back. As they walked away from each other, Usagi walks past an rhino, with a broken horn, wearing a gi, eating something. He recognizes him and stops.
"Ah, Gennosuke," Usagi bows to the rhino. "I am surprised to see you here."
"Hmm, why is that?" The rhino asked in amusement.
Usagi places his hand on his head. "I did not think you went in for contests of honor."
"Honor?" Gen laughs. "No, I'm not in it for honor. I'm in it for the money. Just between you and me, I placed a huge wager on myself to win. I can let you in on the action if you want. It's a sweet deal, you could clean up."
Usagi smiles and shakes his head. "No, thank you, but good luck. Or should I say, good fortune with your wager. You will never change Gen-chan."
" Why would I? You cant change perfection. By the way, were's your little protege?"
Usagi looks around and sees that the white fox wasn't anywhere to be found. He frowns and shakes his head. She was probably off scamming people again. Then his vision went black as a pair of hands cover his eyes.
"Guess who?" A female voice teases.
"A pest," Usagi answered.
The hands pulls away from Usagi and he turns around to see the white fox, standing in front of him, smiling innocently.
Usagi frowns. "What's with the look?" The fox asked.
"Drop the act. And give whoever you conned out of their money back."
"Hey, I won this fair and square. I can't help it if they were suckers," The white fox replied.
"Alopex, now," Usagi said.
Alopex lips turned into a pout. "Fine," She said. "You're only acting this way because I did the same to you many years ago."
"You're lucky I didn't turn you over to the authorities," Usagi replied.
"Yo Leo, Yuuki, I thought you two weren't gonna show." Raph said as he sees the two.
"What took you?" Donnie asked.
"We got attacked." Leo explained.
"Attacked?" The Ultimate Ninja said, surprised. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, now that you're here." Yuuki smiles.
"I'll survive," Leo said, frowning, giving him an wary look then towards Yuuki, seeing her clinging a little too close to the Ultimate Ninja. Venus and Mona noticed how strange she was acting as well.
"This is terrible, I will look into the matter at once." The Ultimate Ninja replied. He turns to Yuuki and smiles then kisses her hand. Yuuki looked at him a little uncomfortable by it then back towards Leo. Leo glared at him.
"Until we meet again." The Ultimate Ninja walks away.
A horn sounds out, starting the tournament and everyone gathers in a circle.
"The time has come," Splinter speaks. "Be brave my children, and more importantly, be careful."
The Daimyo uses his staff to ring the gong next to him. "Let the contest begin!"
He raises his staff and it begins to glow brightly and sparks as he aims it to the arena. The spark hits the middle of the arena. The battle arena begins to lower before walls began to rise from the ground, separating everyone into two fighters.
Yuuki turned to see Mona, who cracked her hands and punched her hand with a fist.
"I don't suppose you can go easy on me would you?" Yuuki asked, nervously.
Mona charges at her and Yuuki screamed as a punch was thrown at her. She quickly moves out of the way.
Mikey turns to a tall man and laughs sheepishly. "Looks like it's just you and me."
"Warriors!" The Daimyo calls out. "First tier, begin!"
Mikey screams as his opponent charges at him. He jumps over the alien and lands, pulling out his nunchucks. Splinter was fighting against an alien wielding a mallet. When the alien charges at him, Splinter rolls out of the way and dodges. Raph circles with an alien that has rings in his hands. He clashes with the alien before he jumps away pulling out four rings. Venus was struggling with Alopex, as the fox quickly darted around her, knocking Venus back with a couple of blows.
Yuuki threw a punch at Mona and she quickly dodged out of the way. Mona charged at her and managed to land a punch right in the face, knocking her back. Yuuki fell on her knees. The bracelet began to glow. She clenched her fists tightly and bit her bottom lip.
You are holding yourself back, making yourself weak. You have the potential so use it. Let the anger flow.
Yuuki shakes her head of the thoughts. No, I promised Leo. I never want to be that person again.
He is the reason why you are weak.
She clenched her fists and growled in anger.
Yuuki looked up at Mona who was staring at her confused. She stood up and got into a fighting stance, glaring at Mona.
Yes. He is holding me back.
For a split second, Mona could've sworn she saw Yuuki's eyes glow red. Then, next thing she saw was a fist strike out and connected with her face, hard. Mona was knocked back and she tumbled on the floor. Mona sat up and hissed in pain as she rubbed her cheek.
Mona saw Yuuki leap into the air up and was about to deliver a kick but Mona quickly rolled out of the way in time before Yuuki slammed her foot in the ground.
Mona stared at her in shock.
Usagi was facing an large alien with arms for legs. He bows before clashing the the alien. Gennosuke was against an alien with a spiked gauntlet and a butterfly knife. Donnie blocks with his staff before he gets knocked back a bit. He growls and charges at the alien.
Leo was fighting with an alien that had horns attached to his hands. Leo jumps and kicks him down, winning the battle. Splinter kicks away the mallet. The alien growls and Splinter kicks the alien in the stomach repeatedly before the alien falls down. Traximus won his match as well. More aliens began to disappear, and Gennosuke wins his battle. Raph knocks out his opponent and raises his sai. "Say goodnight, ring boy," The alien disappears just as the final blow was delivered.
Usagi jumps and makes the final blow to his opponent.
"Hey, fuzzy, what do you say we call this a draw? And I'll spring for the other half of that hair cut," Mikey calls out and the alien charges at him. "Where's you sense of humor?" The alien kicks him back and tries to slice Mikey. But, he jumps over the alien and knocks him out with his nunchucks. Mikey smiles and blows kisses to the crowd.
Donnie was knocked down and he looks up to see the alien was about to strike him. "Aw shell," Donnie disappears. He opens his eyes to see that he was unharmed and looked around confused wandering where he was. "What happened?" He saw that he was in a resting area.
"You have been defeated in the great tournament," One of the attendants informed as he checks Donnie for any injuries.
"I don't believe it. I'm the first turtle eliminated? The guys won't ever let me live this down," Donnie said. Suddenly, Venus was teleported near him. "You too, huh?"
"That fox cheated! She was so fast! I couldn't keep up with her!"
"Well, nothing we can do about it now," Donnie replied.
Then the two of them see Mona appeared.
"Mona? You too?" Venus asked.
Mona frowned shooting a look at Venus, who immediately went silent. Then Venus noticed something, she saw a bruise was beginning to form on the lizard girl's cheek. She walked over to her and was about to heal it but Mona slapped her hand away.
"Please, let me heal it." Venus insisted. Mona looked at her for a minute then let the alien to her work.
"Who hit you this hard?" Venus asked. "They nearly knocked your tooth out."
Mona pointed at the arena and Venus looked to see that she was pointing at Yuuki.
"Are you sure?" Venus asked. "I think you might have an concussion from being hit too hard. There is no way Yuuki would do that to you."
Mona frowned at her. Venus continued her work until she was finished and Mona's cheek was clear.
"If what you say is true, then we'll need to keep an eye on her." Venus said.
Then a horn sounded off, the two of them rushed over to the edge, where Donnie was watching, to see that everyone has defeated their opponents.
"Champions," The Daimyo calls out. "I commend you on your victories thus far. And now, prepare yourselves, the next round, tier two!"
A water bubble rises from the ground and expands and engulfed everyone in the battle arena, causing them to disappear.
The Ultimate Ninja was watching from his water mirror. The assassins that attacked Leo, Usagi, and Yuuki, appear from the ceiling and dropped down to bow. "You have failed me. Leonardo is still alive and you have failed to capture my bride."
"Forgive us, young lord. We will not fail you again."
"Good," The Ultimate Ninja turns to them. "Because next time, the price for failure will be your lives! The task ahead is very grave. I can afford no further blunders. Prepare yourselves and your brothers. Now begone." They crawl away before jumping up onto the ceiling, disappearing.
"Perhaps the destruction of Leonardo is premature, my lord. Should you not first secure the throne?" A voice calls out. A robed person walks over to the Ultimate Ninja.
"You dare question me? Do not forget your place, councilor."
"Yes, my lord," The councilor bows to him.
"The bracelet you gave me doesn't work. Yuuki's still with Leonardo." The Ultimate Ninja growls.
"You know I only try to serve you. And as your councilor, I must advise patience. The girl's mind is weakening. Soon, you will be able to do with her as you please."
"More patience?" The Ultimate Ninja hits the water in anger, destroying the mirror causing it to fall back into the cauldron.
"I have suffered enough in the name of patience. I have bowed before them. I have begged for their forgiveness as my father wished. But now, my time has come. I will take the throne from my father and I will become the supreme Daimyo of the Battle Nexus, with Yuuki as my queen. And I will make the turtles, their mates, and their rat master pay for their insolence to me with their lives!"
"Tier two, begin!" The Daimyo calls out.
A spark lights the arena and the floor begins to sink as the walls are brought up, placing two contestants with each other. Leo was faced against Usagi, Yuuki was faced against Alopex, Mikey was faced against Splinter, and Raph was faced against Traximus. The Daimyo rings the gong and the fights begin.
One alien was knocked out and the crowd cheers. Mikey turns to Splinter nervously. "Um, Master Splinter, are you gonna kick my shell now?"
Splinter looks up at the audience. "Do you hear the crowd, my son?"
"Do I? It's been pretty cool fighting like this out in the open, having everybody love us for it."
"Yes, this year it is your competition, not mine." Splinter sits down. "When my children fight with honor, they honor their master."
The Gyoji appears between them and turns to Mikey. "You must deliver a finishing blow to end the match," He informs.
Mikey pulls out a nunchuck and walks up to the rat. "Master Splinter,I...I," He slowly brings down his weapon on Splinter's shoulder. "Thanks, sensei." Splinter disappears and was teleported next to the Daimyo.
"Ah, Splinter-san, I see the master of ninjitsu lost to the father in you."
"Yes, I suppose so. It is just that...if my children can win, I do not wish to stand in their way."
Raph spins his sais in his hands. "I'm kinda sad to have to be the one to knock you out of the tournament, Traximus."
"I think perhaps you're mistaken, Raphael. I feel sorry to have to be the one to knock YOU out of the tournament!" Traximus swings at him, but Raph jumps over and swings at him, but misses. Traximus punches him to the floor and Raph groans.
"Stay down, little one. Or you may get hurt."
Raph jumps back up. "Thanks for the advice, Trax, but you better take it for yourself."
"You should be proud to have raised such fine warriors and children," The Daimyo said to Splinter as they watched.
"Yes, I am proud." Splinter answered.
The Daimyo glances to the side, thinking about his own son. "If only fathers could make their children understand we're only trying to protect them, from their own inexperience."
Splinter sighs. "I know exactly what you mean, old friend. But tell me, there is something familiar about this samurai that Leonardo is fighting," He looks at Usagi.
"He should look very familiar to you. He is the same young samurai in training that came to your aid when Drako ambushed you some years ago. He is already a Ronin at such a tender age," An armored man approaches him from behind. "But his sword arm is skilled far beyond his years." The assistant hands him a note and leaves, letting the Daimyo read it.
"Excuse me, I must attend to a small matter. When you join me later when this bout is over?"
"It would be my honor, Daimyo," Splinter said, bowing.
Then he glanced over at Yuuki watching her fight Alopex. He frowned in concern. He noticed that there was something off by the way Yuuki was fighting. She was more aggressive.
He did not like this. Something is very wrong here.
Three more aliens were knocked out. Traximus lunges at Raph, but he jumps back. "You're gonna have to be quicker than that, dino boy." Traximus lands a hit on Raph, knocking him to the wall. Raph growls and charges at him, ducking a hit. He is knocked back again, but throws his sai. The sai deflects off the Triceraton's armor. Raph jumps up and knocks Traximus down and lands on his shell. Traximus gets Raph in a headlock.
"You have been a worthy opponent, Raphael. This is a battle I won't soon forget."
"Yeah, I guarantee you won't," Raph throws him to the floor and jumps to deliver the finishing blow. Traximus disappears and the crowd cheers.
Donnie, Venus, and Mona watched the matches until Yuuki appeared appeared.
"I can't believe I lost!" Yuuki shouted.
"Welcome to the club," Donnie said.
The Ultimate Ninja watches the match between Leo and Usagi from above. "My lord, I must advise against this rash course of action," His councilor said as he approached him.
"Your counsel has been heard and overruled. Now keep silent, I command it."
The councilor's eyes glow green. "Yes, my Daimyo."
"And so, it is time for Leonardo to suffer for his past effrontery," The Ultimate Ninja lifts his mask and blows into a blow dart. A dart shoots out and hits Leo on the back of his neck.
"Usagi, I...I" Leo struggles as he tries to walk over the the samurai. The world was spinning wildly around him. Leo felt his heart began to beat faster as he struggled to breathe. His vision went dark and the leader collapsed near Usagi's feet. Usagi watched in horror and confusion as the turtle fell in front of him.
"Leo?!" Donnie called out. He and Venus watched in shock.
Mona glanced over at Yuuki, noticing that she was quiet. Her eyes widen when she saw her smirk.
"Leonardo, no!" Splinter calls out and the audience gasps.