Several weeks have passed and everyone's wounds were finally starting to heal. Yuuki was in the bathroom, and she took the towel off and hopped into the shower to get some of the dried blood off and washed her hair. As she stepped out, Yuuki walked over to the mirror and pulled the towel down a little to reveal a scar that was starting to heal up. Two long slash marks started from her left shoulder, going across her chest, heading straight down to her right hip. She began to put on her clothes and tucked a short sleeved reddish-pink shirt over her head, slipping it on as she finished. As Yuuki looked back into the mirror again, she picked a strand of her long hair, pondering for a moment, before looking down at a pair of scissors, resting on the sink.
Snip! Snip! Snip!
One by one, her long, beautiful strands of hair fell into sink until there was a knock at the door.
"Yuuki! Please! I can't hold it anymore!" She heard Alopex call out. Yuuki placed the scissors down, admiring her work and opened the door, surprising Alopex. Alopex's dropped a little.
"Y-Your hair." Yuuki's hair was cut short just above her chin. She brushed it gently back with her hand over her ear.
"Does it look bad?" She asked. Alopex shook her head.
"No! It looks great, definitely a new change." She replied. "Now move." She quickly pushed Yuuki out of the way and slammed the door behind her. She's been doing that a lot lately. Yuuki hummed for a moment before she walked away. Mona and Venus were sitting on the couch, playing with Elizabeth. Leo, Mikey, Raph and Donnie were getting their packs ready for the camping trip. Venus' bag was sitting by the door already set to go as well as Yuuki's.
As the group was about to leave to explore, they saw Yuuki come into the living room and noticed her different look as well.
"Whoa, you cut your hair!" Mikey shouted.
"It's looks cute." April smiled.
"What made you want to do it?" Donnie asked.
"I just wanted a new look." Yuuki replied. She turned to Leo, who was silently staring at her. "What do you think, Leo?"
"It's looks nice." He told her, before glancing away from her. Yuuki frowned.
"Let's get going." Raph said.
"You guys have fun." April said and the group left the farmhouse, heading into the woods. After a while, the sun began to set as it was almost getting dark. They stopped at an abandoned sawmill near a lake. They set their bags down and started to put out their sleeping bags to camp for the night.
"Just look at this place. They don't build turn of the century sawmills like this anymore." Donnie said.
"Probably, because it's not the turn of the century anymore." Mikey replied.
"Let's stow our stuff so that we can go exploring." Raph said.
"You coming, Leo?" Mikey asked as he turned to Leo, who was still getting his gear out. Leo didn't answer him.
"Aw, leave him. If he doesn't want to play, he doesn't want to play." Raph said. Mikey,
"I'll catch up in a minute." Yuuki told them. Raph and Donnie and Venus walked away, leaving the two as they headed towards the mill. Yuuki turned back to Leo as he stood up.
"Leo, is something bothering you?" She asked him in concern.
"It's nothing." He told her dismissively. Her eyes drifted towards at the missing piece of his shell near his left shoulder, revealing a scar.
"Are you sure? Because if there is, you know you can tell me." Yuuki spoke to him. Leo began to clench his fists tightly.
"I said that I'm fine!" Leo snapped harshly, making Yuuki's eyes widen. She backed away from him a bit, giving Leo some space. Leo's eyes widen a little and quickly turned to her.
"I'm sorry." He apologized to her.
"It's fine. We've all been a little stressed lately. That's why we're here." Yuuki felt Leo place his fingers in her hair, running them through it, gently. She looked back up at him again, staring back into his eyes. Leo pulled her closer to him and the two kissed. Yuuki felt Leo's arms around her back, getting a little stronger. There was something definitely bothering him. But he didn't want to tell her. She decided not to press him with it any further. He'll say it when he's ready. She hoped.
Back at the farmhouse, April, Casey and Splinter were outside sitting on the bench looking at the sky as the stars began to shine. "Such a beautiful night out, guys." April said, smiling.
"Sure is, April. Hey, uh, Master Splinter, isn't past your bedtime meditation or something?" Casey said, looking over at Splinter.
"No, I-" He stopped when he saw Casey shifting his eyes over at April. "Oh, yes, I did not realize how late it was. Past my bedtime." Splinter got up and walked away, leaving April and Casey alone as he headed back inside the house.
"Goodnight, sensei." April told him.
"Goodnight." Splinter murmured.
"I win!" Mikey cheered as he popped his head out of the hole in the roof of the sawmill. He's eyes widen in surprise when he saw Leo and Yuuki in front of him, standing on the roof. "Hey, how did you-" He climbed out of the hole, walking over to them. Raph, Donnie and Venus came up as well as they raced, noticing Leo as well.
"Looks like our silent partner decided to join us." Raph retorted.
"Look! A shooting star!" Donnie exclaimed. He pointed up towards the sky and everyone looked up seeing it as well.
"Awesome!" Mikey shouted. But the star shifted turning in a different direction.
"Whoa, it turned? That would indicate that it's not a shooting star but some kind of piloted mechanism." Donnie explained. It was heading straight towards them!
"Who cares, Donnie! Run!" Mikey shouted. They quickly dived into the lake as the strange flying object crashed into the mill, demolishing it, where they once stood. Everyone came out of the water one by one as they gasped for air. Mikey shot out of the water as he gasped. "I'm alive!" He exclaimed and turned to the others. "What the shell was that?"
"Well, mister big mouth, I think we're gonna find out." Raph murmured. They saw the large star was actually a giant robot of some sorts as it towered over them, getting ready to attack. Raph quickly stood up, pulling out his sais. "Hold it right there, sparky!" The others pulled out their weapons as well.
"Hey, guys, maybe it's friendly?" Donnie suggested.
"Donnie could be right. Let me try something!" Mikey said as he stepped up to the foreign alien robot and began to speak Klingon to it. However, whatever Mikey said seemed to make the robot angry and it began to attack. They quickly moved out of the way as it tried to grab them with its arms. They managed to pin the robot down to the ground on its back and Leo hopped on top and began to slice into it in an enraged frenzy.
"Leo! It's over! Back off, bro!" Raph shouted, pulling Leo away. It took Donnie and him to move Leo away as they tried to hold Leo back. Yuuki stood in between them, trying to calm Leo down. Mikey hopped on top of the machine and Venus did so as well, wondering what attacked them. The two peered inside of it to find a woman, unconscious.
"Huh? Whoa, it's a girl!" Mikey exclaimed.
The alien woman had blue skin; long hair tied in braids. The group took her back to the camp and laid her down on a sleeping bag. Donnie placed a blanket on her to keep her warm. "Doesn't look like she's from around here."
"Blue skin you're first clue." Raph replied.
"Yeah, but where did she come from?" Donnie questioned.
Back at the farmhouse, Casey was fighting, with a nervous look on his face, on the stairs that led up to the attic. Splinter was silently meditating on the floor when he heard Casey as he accidentally stepped on a squeaky floorboard. "Come in."
Casey walked over to the ninja master. "Yo, Master Splinter. You're like wise and all that kind of stuff. I need some advice. What do you do if you got feelings for somebody, and you just want to tell them something really important, but you don't know how to do it?"
"I am not an expert in such matters, but I'm sure you should simply be yourself and trust your instincts." Splinter told him.
"Um, Master Splinter, it's me we're talking about here." Casey smiled sheepishly, shrugging his hands.
"Hmm, yes, I see. Then perhaps a large breakfast, served in bed with flowers. I think flowers. Yes, many flowers." Splinter replied. Casey grinned.
"Great! Thanks, Master Splinter!" He ran down the stairs to get to work, hoping that it'll be enough to woo April.
"Many, many flowers." Splinter commented as he went back to his meditation.
Raph and Mikey were sparring against each other. "Miss me!" Mikey grinned, dodging, as Raph threw a punch at him. Then Mikey threw a punch right into Raph's injured arm. "Getting a little slow there, Raph." Raph growled and quickly grabbed Mikey, before he could react, by his wrist, and tossed him. Mikey was sent flying and crashed right into the sleeping alien, waking her up. She immediately woke up, startled, and grabbed Mikey. "I'm sorry! It was my brother's fault, he-!" Then woman tossed Mikey, sending him flying towards a tree, slamming into to it. Leo and Raph ran over with their weapons drawn, getting ready to attack. Donnie quickly jumped in front of the two, holding his staff out, blocking them. Yuuki and Venus ran over to them as well to help.
"Hold it!" He shouted. Donnie turned back to the alien girl. "We mean you no harm."
The woman pulled out a strange device shaped like a stick and placed on the necklace she was wearing around her neck.
"Why has Mariah sent her minions to do her dirty work? Why will she not face me in fair combat? Speak!" She demanded.
"A universal translator?" Donnie's eyes widen in surprise. He tossed his staff to the side, showing that he wasn't going to attack. "When we attacked you last night, we thought that you meant us harm."
"I did. I thought that you were my enemies." The alien girl replied.
"We're not." Donnie told her. Mikey grinned held his fingers up, making a peace sign.
"Peace!"
The woman grunted and let out a painful hiss, holding her arm. "Your arm is hurt. I can look at it for you?" Donnie asked.
"I might be able to help?" Venus asked her as well.
"Yeah, she's got magic hands!" Mikey joked. Venus narrowed her eyes at the turtle and Mikey quickly shut his mouth.
"It's just dislocated. How will looking at it help?" The girl replied. Then she walked over to the tree where Mikey was. He quickly moved out of her way, heading over to his brothers. To everyone's shock, they saw the alien slammed her shoulder right into the tree, fixing her dislocated arm. "That's better."
"Who are you?" Donnie asked her.
"I am called Janna." She told them. Everyone was sitting down eating some scrambled eggs as Janna explained to them, what had happened to her. "And I am bound for political matter when my ship was blown from the sky. My people nominated me to defeat our world's present ruler, Mariah, in fair combat to take her place."
"Sounds pretty much the same way we do it here." Mikey commented.
"Not quite. We, well, not us exactly, but humans in this country elect a new leader and the old one steps down. It's a peaceful process." Donnie explained.
"Most of the time." Raph replied.
"Your process sounds fair. It's a little boring, but Mariah is not a fair ruler. It was she who shot me down before I could reach the designated battle ground!" Janna said.
"So, what will you do now?" Donnie asked her.
"It will be decided here. Only one will must return victorious." She answered. She pulled out a beacon and slammed it down on the ground. It slowly began to beep as it activated. Then Janna hovered next to it with her legs crossed as she began to meditate. "And now I must prepare myself for battle."
"Janna, we want to help you." Donnie told her. Janna shook her head.
"No, Donatello."
"But from what you said, how do you know Mariah will fight fairly?" Donnie asked.
"It is a chance I will have to take." Suddenly, the beacon started to beep rapidly. "She approaches."
"Can't you just tell your people that she tried to ambush you, get her disqualified or something?" Donnie wondered.
"No. This is our way. My honor is at stake. I will face her alone." Janna told him and walked away, leaving the group.
"Come on, Donnie, you heard the lady. An alien's gotta do what an alien's gotta do." Raph said to Donnie.
Everyone looked up towards the woods and saw another woman with blue skin like Janna's with red hair come through them. "There you are Janna, I missed you. A mistake I won't repeat this time." Mariah smirked.
"You face me in fair combat now, Mariah." Janna glared at her.
"Poor Janna. Someone like you will never understand politics. They can get messy." Mariah snapped her fingers, and five large alien-like creatures came out from the trees behind her. They slowly began to advance closer to Janna. The others watched, wondering if they should step in. One was a stone creature, a bloated water creature, a snake-like creature with no eyes, a skinny creature with wings.
"One, two, three, four, five, against one!" Mikey shouted as he counted them.
"Your cowardly tactics will not save you, Mariah!" Janna shouted and she charged at her with her weapon. She flipped over the snake creature, dodging it as it charged at her, and landed on the ground.
"Nice move." Raph replied.
"Good thing Mona isn't here to hear that." Venus said.
"Our people have suffered for far too long! The time has come to-!" The creature slapped Janna away before she could reach Mariah. She was sent flying straight into a bloated water like alien, trapped inside of it. The rock monster threw a grenade, and the water alien swallowed it.
"Let's even the odds." Donnie said. The group charged pulling out their weapons, fighting off each one of the aliens on by one. Leo jumped over to the water-like alien creature, trying to slash Janna out of it. It smacked Leo away from it and Donnie jumped in front of it, plunging his staff into the creature. "Grab on!" Janna grabbed Donnie's staff and he quickly pulled her out. The two ran just as the grenade went off, exploding the water alien.
"You okay?" Donnie asked.
"I am." Janna replied as she and Donnie got up. Suddenly, the winged alien creature swooped down and grabbed Donnie, taking him with it. "Donatello!" Janna cried out. She growled and turned back to her alien opponent, charging at her. "Curse you, Mariah!"
Raph hopped onto the gooey snake-like alien creature riding on its back. It crashed through the forest, smashing and demolishing the trees in its path. "Yee freaking ha!"
"Janna, your new pets are amusing, I give you that. But enough." Mariah snorted.
"There. Okay, Jones, show time!" Casey told himself as he was fixing some breakfast.
"Hmm? Wha-Come in?" April said, wondering who it was. Casey came in, carrying the tray with the food that he made for her.
"Uh, morning! Hope you like breakfast in bed." He smiled and set the tray down in front of April.
"Oh wow! This is a surprise." April sat up. "It's, uh, it looks yummy. The flowers are great!" She took a bite of the pancakes, nearly gagging, trying to keep it down.
"I hope you like your pancakes a little crispy around the edges." Casey replied, sheepishly.
"Delicious." April replied as she managed to swallow down the pancake. Then she turned back to Casey with a confused look on her face. "Why are you being so nice? You didn't take my van apart again, did you?"
"No, nothing like that. It's just something I got to say." Casey answered. April raised her eyes in suspicion.
"Okay, then say it."
Casey began to fidget with his hands nervously as he started to tell her and started to pace about the room as well. "You know how when you get a motorcycle just right when it's firing at perfect timing, and you just don't want to mess with it because it's so perfect. But you gotta keep working on it because maybe if you don't try it and make it even better then you won't never know if it could even more perfect. You get me?" He stopped, looking at her.
April stared up at him even more confused. "Um, not really." She smiled.
"Oh, boy." Casey sighed. He rubbed the back of his head and sat down on the side of the bed next to her. He took her hand, holding it. "April, I-I care about you. You and me we're-we're so perfect together and I was afraid to tell you because I always mess things up. But I thought I had to tell you 'cause, you know, if I didn't, then you wouldn't know."
April placed a hand on Casey's mouth, stopping him. "It's alright, Casey. I care about you, too."
Splinter smiled to himself.
"The flowers were a very good idea."
"I think it's time my friend here had a crash course in aerodynamics!" Donnie quickly grabbed the winged creature by its legs and flipped himself up, landing on top of the alien. "Time to say goodbye!" He diverted the creature making it crash into the mill. Donnie grabbed his staff and ran out, seeing Mariah inching closer towards Janna with her weapon in hand. "Janna!"
Leo, Yuuki, Raph and Venus were fighting against the snake creature trying to bring it down. The creature made a hiss in pain as it touched a puddle of water as it started to dissolve. "Let's slice this slime!" Raph shouted. Leo, Raph and Yuuki began to slice at the creature with their weapons. But another head grew out from the other separated half of the creature. "Uh oh. We just doubled our pleasure."
"Water hurts it! We have to get it into that lake somehow!" Leo shouted.
"Bad boy, nice pet rock! Can't we talk about this?!" Mikey shouted at the rock alien. "Just my luck, the strong silent type!" Mikey hopped along some rock pillars while trying to avoid the stone alien creature. Mikey quickly moved out of the way as the creature slammed its fist down on the dam of the mill destroying it. Large gush of water rushed out, taking Mikey with it as it headed towards Leo, Raph, Yuuki and Venus. It engulfed the alien snake, completely dissolving it, covering the four in its purple goo.
"Gross." Yuuki cringed in disgust, trying to get some of the goop out of her hair.
"You said it." Raph agreed. He stood up, turning to Mikey who was on the ground behind them. "Thanks, Mikey."
"Sure!" Mikey grinned.
"Guys, look out!" Leo cried out. The rock monster was behind Mikey, and it slammed its fist into the rocks, pinning Mikey's legs underneath them.
"Mikey!" Raph shouted. Leo and he ran over to Mikey, trying to pull him out of the rock pile. Yuuki and Venus ran over to help them as well. Then rock alien emerged from the rubble, standing over them with a grenade it's hand.
"Uh oh, here we go again. This guy's got the persistence of a, well, a rock!" Mikey said. The rock creature threw the grenade at them when Donnie quickly jumped down.
"Guys, get down!" He shouted. Donnie swung his staff, smacking the grenade back. It flew right into the creatures mouth, exploding it to pieces.
"Look out!" Leo shouted. The five were knocked down by the rocks as it shot everywhere by the explosion.
Mariah stood over Janna, who was lying on the ground. "So, this farce is finally over. Ha! And I win!" She smirked.
"No." Her grin dropped when she saw Janna getting up. "I swore to defeat you, Mariah, and for the sake of our people, I will."
"Whatever." Mariah scoffed and extracted her weapon, as it transformed into a sickle. She charged at Janna. Janna charged back at her and flipped over her opponent, kicking Mariah in the back. Mariah stumbled on her feet.
"This is the way it was intended to be coward! Single combat!" Janna shouted at her. Mariah let out an furious roar and charged at Janna again. Janna quickly jumped onto the ruins of the mill. Everyone woke up, seeing the two women fighting against each other. "Your family has abused it's power for far too long, Mariah! You care nothing for your own people!"
"My people? Ha! That's rabble. Perhaps my ancestors felt something for those insects, but I am not so burdened." Mariah replied. She kicked Janna on her side, knocking her towards a wall of the mill. Janna quickly jumped out of the way as she dodged her opponent's weapon as it sliced through it. "Ooh! Stop moving!" She slapped some pieces of rubble towards Janna, who deflected with her weapon. Janna jumped into the air and flipped, bring her weapon on top of Mariah. She quickly backed away from her and ran. Janna chased after her.
"Cool move! I gotta remember that one!" Mikey commented.
"What's wrong with you, nunchucks for brains?" Raph said. Janna tried to swing her weapon but Mariah grabbed her wrist and pinned the woman against the tree, with her weapon dangerously close to Janna's neck.
"Do you concede, peasant?" Mariah asked, with a smug grin.
"Not as long as I breathe!" Janna shouted at her. She stomped her foot down on her opponent's foot, making Mariah release her. "Your rule's at an end, tyrant!" She charged at Mariah.
"Wrong again, child!" Mariah threw dirt into Janna's eyes, blinding her. She lunged at Janna ready to strike. Janna raised her weapon above her head, getting ready to bring it down on Mariah. "No!" Mariah screamed, closing her eyes. A slash filled the air when Janna cut off a piece of Mariah's hair. Mariah slowly opened her eyes back open again, confused., staring up at Janna in shock. Janna lightly tapped Mariah on her forehead with the tip of her weapon.
A ball of energy formed around her, encasing Mariah inside of it, floating off the ground. The group walked over to the two girls.
"Is she?" Donnie paused.
"No, but she has lost the election." Janna replied.
Later that night, the turtles were sleeping. A bright light appeared, hovering over Janna, waking her up. "Prime magister elect Janna, come, your people have sent us for you."
"Time to go home." Janna said before turning back to Donnie, who was lying next to her, along with Venus. Janna pulled out her weapon. She cut her hair and placed the braided locks on Donnie's plastron then got up. "Fare well, my friends, and thank you."
"She's gone." Donnie replied.
"Yeah, that's gratitude for ya. Hey, there's our ride!" Raph said. April's van drove up to the group. "Yo Case, April, you ain't gonna believe what went on in these here woods last night, right guys?"
As the group, headed over to the van, Mikey and Venus noticed that Donnie still hadn't moved. The two walked over to him and Mikey placed his hand on Donnie's shoulder.
"Come on, Donnie."
Donnie nodded and placed Janna's lock of hair into his bag and followed Mikey and Venus back to the van.