She swung a forearm at Tatsuo, but he blocked it with his own. They went into a brilliant series of martial arts attacks: punches, kicks, every manner of hand-to-hand combat! Venus went for a leg sweep, but Tatsuo leapt to avoid it and took to the air to regain his composure. But Venus wouldn't allow it and used her massively muscled legs to propel herself up after him and turn herself in midair to perform a flying thrust kick. She connected with Tatsuo's stomach before he could react in time! He fell down several feet, but was able to stop himself and regain his balance.

Tatsuo pulled out a kunai and concentrated his fire element energy into it, causing it to become engulfed in flames. He pulled out several more and did the same with them as he held each one between his fingers. Venus watched him very carefully and was ready to react. Tatsuo went into a dive straight at Venus and let loose one of his fire-enhanced kunai. Venus back-flipped out of the way as Tatsuo threw one after the other, trying to hit her. But Venus dodged every one. Tatsuo dove past her and began to ascend. As Venus was getting back to her feet, Tatsuo rapidly spun around and threw his last kunai at her. Venus, in one swift and fluid motion, grabbed a shuriken and threw it at the kunai where it collided mere feet from where she stood.

This was getting frustrating for her. With Tatsuo's ability to fly, he had a distinct advantage in this fight. She had to force him to remain on the ground. This meant she had to find a way to disable his wings.

Tatsuo landed and stood still a moment. Venus could sense another buildup of mystic energy. Then, Tatsuo pounded the ground, creating a shockwave that rapidly spread out and caught Venus off guard, knocking her of her feet. Tatsuo was quick to capitalize and charged toward Venus with his fist pulled back, ready to strike with a mystically energized punch that would surely end this fight. But Venus was fast and managed to roll to the side just as Tatsuo's fist missed her by mere inches. Venus was back on her feet and took this opportunity to throw some punches and kicks at her opponent. Tatsuo was quite skilled at martial arts and was able to dodge and parry most of her hits. He tried to land some blows of his own, but Venus proved equally skillful. Tatsuo punched at Venus, but she caught his fist and held it in place. Tatsuo tried with this other fist, with the same result. Without thinking, Tatsuo opened his hands and grabbed hers and the two were now locked in a contest of strength.

Both fighters muscles bulged to their max. Venus could feel the strength of the Dragon Lord, and he was no pushover; he was amazingly strong. But if there was one thing Venus thrived on, it was being pushed to her limits in order to surpass them! Venus bared her teeth as she poured even more strength into their grapple. Veins popped out of her biceps and ran all the way down her arms. A couple more could be seen around the temples on the sides of her head. Much to Tatsuo's surprise - and fear! - he was feeling himself being forced back.

'No way! There's just no damn way she could be stronger than me! No one can rival my power!' Tatsuo thought in defiance.

He struggled to increase his strength even further, but he was startled to realize that he was at his limit. And yet, he could feel Venus's strength gradually increasing! Venus was strongly tempted to add her mystic energy into the struggle. But she knew that to do so would rapidly drain it. And she needed all the mystical energy she had. She had to rely on her natural strength alone. Tatsuo couldn't believe what he was experiencing! His wrists were bending backward and before he knew it, Venus was bearing down on him, using her increased leverage to bring him to his knees! Tatsuo was feeling increased pain in his wrists and he began to lose what momentum he had.

"You won't beat me!" Tatsuo yelled defiantly.

Tatsuo used every last bit of concentration to focus his mystical energy into his muscles. It was working! He stopped Venus's momentum cold and managed to wrestle her wrists back toward her as he slowly pushed himself back to his feet. Venus knew what he was doing. She knew that she had him beat, but also knew that he wouldn't easily admit defeat. This was his way of doing that. Once Tatsuo was dead even with Venus again, he reared back and nailed her with a headbutt, knocking her back. Venus clutched her face as she felt a stab of pain shoot through her head.

Tatsuo stood there, showing signs of fatigue. His mystical energy was rapidly drained from that encounter, but he preferred this result over being beaten in such a humiliating way. Unfortunately for Venus, his energy supply was much greater than hers and he needed only a moment to recover his stamina. He looked at her and saw that she too was showing signs of battle wear.

Tatsuo merely needed to stall her while he recovered. "I'll admit, you’re strong. Stronger than I imagined. I even dare say that you have the potential to rival Pachua."

But Venus was not in the mood for anything that came out of Tatsuo's mouth. "Please, I don't need to remind you that I just proved that I am able to outmuscle you! You think I can't tell that you used your mystical energy to power your way out of that? It's quite draining, isn't it?"

Tatsuo reached behind him. "You have a big mouth for someone who still thinks she is able to defeat me. I think it's time that we got serious."

Tatsuo proceeded to pull out his fire sword. He held it in front of him and assumed an attack posture. Venus found herself smirking.

"You know, I was just thinking the same thing. That is, it is about time that I got serious. I'd say that was a good enough warm-up," Venus retorted.

Without another word, she reached in and pulled out her tessen war fans and opened them up and prepared to step things up a notch.

"Couldn't you have thought of a better choice of weapon against me than those?" Tatsuo asked, amused.

But Venus just looked at him threateningly. "Don't underestimate my tessen. They are deadlier than you think and can handle pretty well."

* * *

Michelangelo was battling Sirrush all over the devastated landscape. Sirrush launched a series of shuriken at him, which he did his best to dodge.

"Whoa dude, you throw skuriken like they're going out of style!" Michelangelo bantered.

Sirrush said nothing as he charged after Michelangelo. He threw another barrage of shuriken at Michelangelo, who swung his nunchucks rapidly to deflect them. He decided to fight fire with fire and throw a few shuriken back at Sirrush. But instead of dodging, he held up his hand and generated his kinetic field, which repelled them. Michelangelo was astonished.

"No way! He can generate force fields?" he asked himself mostly.

Sirrush was less than amused. "It's called a kinetic field, you idiot!"

Michelangelo figured that if he couldn't fight Sirrush with long range attacks, then he had no other choice but to fight him at close range. Sirrush seemed to anticipate this and pulled out his sword. Michelangelo charged forth and they locked weapons.

* * *

Donatello was having a hard time against Zu. He had deduced that he had an overly ample amount of mystical energy to draw from, as he had demonstrated a proficient use of fire style attacks. His only advantage over Zu was he was faster. But Zu didn't seem hard pressed to win this fight. Still, he had Donatello on his toes with his physical attacks alone. Donatello leapt in a front flip over Zu and, with his bo drawn, did a reverse leg sweep with it, taking Zu off his feet.

"Got you!" Donatello shouted as he pressed his newfound advantage. But Zu propelled himself from his arms into a short flying kick that caught Donatello in his shoulder, making him stumble backwards. Zu was back on his feet and held out his hand, palm facing upwards and began channeling his fire elemental energy into it. Flames appeared on his hand that began shaping and spinning in a spherical shape. As he added more mystical energy to it, the fireball intensified in brightness. The sound of concentrated fire emanated from his hand.

"RASENGAN!" Zu shouted as he ran full speed at Donatello, ready to make the kill. Zu thrust his attack forward to burn Donatello to a crisp. But he managed to get his bo up to block it. But instead, Zu landed his attack on his weapon. To Donatello's fear, the attack rapidly burned through his signature weapon and made contact with his midsection, scorching him as he fell backwards to the ground. Donatello was in serious pain as he clutched his midsection. It looked like the front part of his shell managed to absorb most of the attack, but it still hurt real bad. Sweat poured down his face as he looked up to see Zu closing in on him.

Zu held his hand up again as more flames began to dance on it and start spinning rapidly as they took shape once again. Donatello knew that if Zu connected, he'd be finished for sure. He had to get up. The pain was hard for him to bear, though.

Zu looked down at him. "NOW YOU DIE!"

He thrust his attack at Donatello, who forced himself into a backward roll and a hand-spring, landing on his feet, and barely escaping death. He did his best to shake off the pain, knowing that it wasn't as bad as it felt. He was going to have to use hand-to-hand combat if he was to survive this.

* * *

Raphael back-flipped out of the way of Pachua's very powerful punches. He took one in the chest earlier and was sent skidding several feet along the ground. Since then, he was on his guard constantly. He saw how built she was and it was having a surprising effect on him, which made it hard for him to maintain his focus. Raphael did his best to shake it off and pulled out his sai.

"Alright, let's see how strong you really are!" Raphael challenged.

Pachua put her hands on her hips. "Hmph, be careful what you wish for, little man!"

Raphael went in swinging. Pachua leapt high into the air as she went for a diving kick. This forced Raphael to jump out of the way, and Pachua made the ground crumble around her. Raphael found himself staring at her. Her muscles were even bigger than Venus!

He shook it off again. 'Stop it, Raphael! Don't you see she’s the enemy!?' he thought to himself as he tried to get back into the fight.

He watched in amazement as Pachua lifted a nearby ruined car over her head, like it weighed very little to her, and threw it at him. Raphael had no trouble dodging it, but he felt himself blushing. Why did his love for muscular women have to strike now? And for the most massively muscular one yet!?

His increasing internal conflict made him fail to react in time to her large fist, which hit him square in the chest again, and making him hit the ground with a series of thuds. She was on top of him before he could respond, and he was pinned down by her immensely muscled forearms and her weight. She looked down at him, knowing that she had him beat. What she didn't expect was to see him blushing and staring at her in a way unfamiliar to her.

"What are you looking at, little man!?" she demanded. 

Raphael felt like he was losing his mind. She was associated with Tatsuo. And yet, something deep inside him was telling him to ask the question that was burning in his mind... and his heart. He tried to think about Venus. But as he lay there staring up at this dragon woman, he felt an even stronger feeling than he did with Venus. It was... deeper!

Raphael said the first thing that came to mind. "Why do you associate with a scumbag like Tatsuo?! Can't you see that someone like him only cares about himself?! I know his type! Once he achieves his goals, you will be like nothing to him. I bet you're just a tool to him even now!"

It was a shot in the dark for him. He honestly didn't know how Tatsuo treated his minions. But he did know full well how Shredder had treated Bebop, Rocksteady, and even Krang. It was no wonder Krang actually tried to form a truce with him and the other turtles to eliminate Shredder. He was banking on his words getting through to her.

Pachua looked down at him. She had her fist all balled up and ready to strike! But she hesitated. Thoughts of the things Lord Tatsuo has said flashed through her mind.

'You really need to learn your place when talking to me like that. We leave when I say we leave, got it!?' Tatsuo's words echoed in her head.

While she had no love for the humans, she would prefer that Tatsuo keep the humans alive to be useful to him. But all he cares about is wiping them out and making the world his own. Honestly, why rule this planet if the natives are all dead? Were humans that despicable to him? She remembered I Chung. He was responsible for sealing them away in the dream realm. And all she personally wanted was to see him dead. And now that Tatsuo got his revenge... why does he insist on such extremes?

"Shut up! Lord Tatsuo is the future of this world!" Pachua said rather unconvincingly.

But Raphael knew that he had indeed gotten through to her. His gamble paid off; there was a seed of rebellion within her! Now he had to let his heart guide him.

'Well Leo, if this works out as planned, it seems I'll let you have Venus after all.' Raphael thought to himself.

Raphael paused to carefully consider his words. "Sounds like a depressing future, even for you. I see something greater in you than just someone who serves a warlord!"

Pachua was losing her patience. "What are you getting at?!"

Raphael blushed even more. "Why live a life of servitude in such a dark and evil world when you could experience things like happiness, friendship, and even love?"

Pachua wasn't sure how to respond to this. She had always considered such emotions to be petty. Her only joys came from her own muscular body.

She cautiously looked down at him. "What are you saying?"

Raphael looked her deep in the eyes. "I'm saying that I find you very alluring, even more so than Venus!"

* * *

Leonardo is being put to the test against Tiamat. Both have their katana blades drawn and are locked in sword-to-sword combat. The speed with which Tiamat moves is almost overwhelming for him. One wrong move and he's history. Leonardo decided to switch tactics; he leapt away and threw a couple shuriken at him, which Tiamat blocked easily.

"Please! You're making this too easy! Come at me already!" Tiamat yelled.

Leonardo did just that and performed a complex series of sword strikes and kicks, which Tiamat met with amazing speed. Tiamat countered one of Leonardo's high kicks with a leg sweep, taking him off his feet. Tiamat went to bring his sword down to impale him, but Leonardo swung his leg out and caught Tiamat in his shin, forcing the blade's trajectory just barely to Leonardo's side. He quickly got back up and swung his sword, which Tiamat blocked with one of his swords. He pulled his other sword out and went back on the offensive, neither of them giving an inch. It was clear that both seemed evenly matched in close range sword combat.

"I don't know who your sensei is, but he has done a lousy job training you if this is all that you can muster. Don't you see? I've been toying with you up til now!" Tiamat spat.

Leonardo could feel his anger rising. "His name is Master Splinter and, for your information, he trained me quite well. You'd be wise not to underestimate me!"

Leonardo crossed his swords to catch one of Tiamat's, pushed it upwards, swung his leg up and kicked him in the chin, and swung as hard as he could, knocking one of Tiamat's swords away. This put Leonardo at an advantage with two katanas to Tiamat's one. He brushed his chin with the hand holding the remaining sword.

"Well well, it seems I've struck a nerve. Perhaps I am underestimating you. I think I understand you a little better now. But if you have any hope of defeating me, you're going to have to really turn it up!" Tiamat warned.

Without warning, Tiamat pulled out something unknown to Leonardo and threw it right at him. Leonardo blocked it with his sword, but it exploded in a cloud of smoke revealing it to be a smoke bomb. With Leonardo momentarily blinded by the smoke, he felt one of his katanas get knocked away into another direction. Both were down to one sword. Leonardo quickly leapt away from the smoke cloud and reestablished visual contact with Tiamat.

Tiamat held up his free hand and began channeling his mystical energy into his hand, changing it to his lightning element. Bolts of lightning surged in all directions as he charged at Leonardo with his hand at his side.

Leonardo took a couple steps back, ready to leap out of the way. But then Tiamat suddenly leapt high into the air, brought both hands together on his sword, and swung down in a lethal arc. It happened so fast that Leonardo's only available reaction was to put his sword up to block. But Tiamat was expecting this as their swords clashed. The lightning lit up the area around them as both swords conducted the bolts of lightning, which surged its way through Leonardo. The pain was so intense that he lost his strength and Tiamat managed to knock his last sword away. Leonardo's legs gave out from under him as he collapsed to the ground. Tiamat smirked as he stood over him.

"I must say that I am rather disappointed. You clearly are like I Chung's daughter, but you are much weaker! I think I was right all along. It seems your Master Splinter really is nothing but a joke if all he could produce is a failure like you!" Tiamat taunted.

He brought his sword up high and produced an electrical current along the length of the blade. His whole sword lit up with small bolts of lightning. He turned it downward and aimed for Leonardo's heart.

"Now, don't you worry, this will be over nice and quick so you won't feel a thing...you failure!" Tiamat spat as he brought the blade down.

The sound of metal piercing Leonardo's flesh was heard as blood splattered on the ground behind him...

TO BE CONTINUED...!