Reptile Brains

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In the dojo, Donna and Ellie were training each other in the art of Seoe Nage as Saldana was watching them near the large tree. Ellie stretched confidently as Donna set herself up in her offensive stance and ready to come at her younger sister. But this time, they are training each other without using their powers. As soon as Ellie was done stretching, Donna charged forward and swung her leg at her younger sister. But Ellie dodged swiftly with a backflip. Donna delivered several rapid kicks at Ellie,who kept backflipping on each kick that her older sister had provided. With a few neat flips, Ellie landed on the floor with a smirk.

"Uh, what do you think you're doing?" Donna said with an exasperating scowl. "You can't defend Seoe Nage with backflips!"

"And why not?" Ellie grinned. "They are very defensive."

"Because you're supposed to follow Seoe Nage the exact same instruction of how to do it." Donna explained with a stern look on her face. She turned to Saldana for support. "Mother, what would you do if someone tried to throw you with Seoe Nage?"

"With the training you two did, I don't know." Saldana said simply. "But if you think too much of what it's coming, then you will lose focus to your sight. You must learn how to fight without thinking."

"And why would I do that?" Donna questioned.

"You'll see." Saldana replied. "Just remember when you are in a hard battle, fight without thinking. Because you thought someone makes their move, try not to think of it as possible."

As Saldana walked into her room, Donna felt deeply confused as Ellie stood next to her with a cocky grin.

"Hey, do you know what would've worked there?" Ellie told Donna. "Backflip!"

Donna sighed as she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

☆☆☆☆

Inside the lab, Donna was mapping her lilac touchscreen with her fingers. She stopped typing on the touchscreen when shockwaves were traveling up her body towards her brain that were moving out from Lee, Ellie, and Ella's walking steps.

"Hey, girls." Donna greeted as she continued typing on the touchscreen.

"How do you know we were walking in?" Ellie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because of my seismic scenes." Donna replied.

"Oh, yeah." Ella said in a low tone.

Lee, Ellie, and Ella looked over Donna's shoulders to see that she was making a flowchart of multiple plans and ideas on the touchscreen.

"So, what'cha up to, Donna?" Lee asked.

"Just finishing my master plan." Donna answered as she continued typing on the touchscreen.

"For what?" Ella said.

"To get Casey to hang out with me." Donna replied. "But, as you can see, it's not that simple. That's why I'm making an elaborate flow chart plan to maximize my every possible responses for success."

Donna expanded her touchscreen into a large size as Lee, Ella, and Ellie stared at the flowchart with collective laughs.

Suddenly, Casey came walking in the lab with his hands in his pocket.

"Sup, ladies!" Casey called out.

Donna quickly shrank her touchscreen to normal size and hid her flowchart away from the screen.

"Hey, Casey." Donna greeted with a casual grin.

"Donna, let me borrow your touchscreen." Casey said. He held Donna's touchscreen and pressed play on a news report video clip. "You girls have got to check this video out."

"The city's renowned neurochemist, Doctor Taylor Whitman, has been reported missing." The news reporter said. "I'm now speaking with Doctor Whitman's colleague, Dr. Vela North."

The Lotus Ninjas watched as the camera turned to a skinny woman. She has a tall and very slim figure with tanned skin, long platinum blonde hair, and green eyes. She wore a lab coat over a black dress and a pair of diamond earrings.

"When I hadn't heard from Whitman in days, I wen to stop by her lab." Dr. Vela North said. "The place was a mess, and...She was gone. I...hope she's okay whenever she is."

Then, Casey pressed pause on the video clip.

"So, what's your point?" Ella said.

"The point is that the Kraang must be behind this." Casey explained. "We all know that they have been kidnapping scientists from all over the city. So, I'm going to that lab for scooping about this Whitman woman."

"Casey's right." Donna said. "And I'll volunteer to go with him."

Donna grabbed Casey's arm and ran quickly out of her lab with him.

"I bet that wasn't even on her brilliant flowchart." Lee said with a chuckle. She held Donna's touchscreen in her hand and examined the flowchart with wide eyes. "Whoa, she really actually planned this."

Ella and Ellie leaned forward behind their oldest sister to see some nice sketches of Donna and Casey investigating together.

"I don't know if I should be creep out or somewhat impress." Lee said slowly.

☆☆☆☆

Meanwhile, Casey and Donna arrived at the apartment building from the rooftop. They quietly snuck inside the lab through the window and began looking around to see nothing but darkness. Casey turned on his flashlight to see the entire place was a wreck. Donna looked at the research papers on the desk from the other side of the room as Casey checked the drawers and opened the bottom one to find a glowing light blue mutagen canister. As Casey stared curiously at the mutagen, Donna narrowed her eyes in a sideway glance when shockwaves were traveling up her body towards her brain from someone's movements sneaking up on her with a baseball bat. Donna quickly spun around and pinned the woman down with her earth magic. Casey finally found the light switch and turned the lights on that revealed the woman that was trying to attack Donna was Dr. Vela North.

"Dr. North!" Casey exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, sorry, Dr. North." Donna said in a calm tone.

Donna helped Dr. North up on her feet as Casey walked in front of the scientist.

"So, what are you kids doing here?" Dr. North retorted.

"Don't worry, we're here to help." Casey said with a smile.

As Dr. North was sitting on her chair, she explained to Donna and Casey that the Kraang bribed Whitman into experimenting with the mutagen and that she used it on a chameleon she kept as a pet. Donna then concluded that the chameleon must have broken free and taken Whitman or worse.

☆☆☆☆

Outside, Donna and Casey stood on the building rooftop.

"I still don't know how are we gonna find Whitman without any clues." Casey wondered.

"Well, we can learn more once we check her flash drive." Donna replied.

"Flash drive?" Casey asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The one that I swept from her desk." Donna grinned as she took out a flash drive from her waist belt.

"Slick move, Donna." Casey complimented.

"Yeah, it's kinda what I do best." Donna said with a causal smile.

Suddenly, a female mutant chameleon appeared on the edge of the rooftops right in front of Donna and Casey. She has pink reptilian skin, gold eyes, and short lavender hair, and a coiled tail. She wore a black skintight bodysuit with black fingerless gloves and black metallic boots with white accents. As the chameleon mutant hissed dangerously, Donna and Casey got into their fighting stance.

"Ready to have some fun, Donna?" Casey asked with a smile.

"Ready when you are!" Donna smiled back.

Donna fought the mutant chameleon with her earth magic, but the chameleon mutant managed to dodge Donna's incoming magic attacks. The chameleon mutant managed to wrap Donna tight with her tail and mercilessly smashed the purple mystic kunoichi into the ground until she tossed away past Casey. Donna was knocked out cold to the ground that left Casey the only one standing. The chameleon mutant slithered forward towards Casey, who was hitting several explosive hockey pucks at the mutant. But the chameleon mutant broke Casey's hockey stick in two and grabbed him in the air with her tail with a harsh hiss.

Then, Casey noticed that the chameleon mutant was starting to calm down.

"Look...it's okay." Casey said softly. "I know you're scared, but I can help you if you just trust me."

With a calm mind, the chameleon mutant slowly released Casey from her grasp. She stared at Casey one last time and disappeared from the rooftop in camouflage mode.

Then, Casey ran over to pick up Donna in his arms and skated his way off the building rooftop.

☆☆☆☆

Back in the Crete Fortress, Ellie and Lee were watching Battlestar Matrix while Ella was brushing Samson's fur smoothly. But they quickly saw Casey carrying the bruised Donna with his arms into the living room. Lee, Ellie, and Ella got up as they ran over to see several painful bruises on Donna.

"Whoa, what happened to her?" Ella asked.

"Donna got beat up by a lab chameleon mutant." Casey explained.

"Casey, give her on ice pack." Lee said.

Casey gently placed Donna on the couch and sprinted into the kitchen, leaving three other mystic kunoichis to watch over Donna in the living room.

"Donna, are you okay?" Ellie asked with a worry face.

"Yeah...I'll be fine." Donna replied in a painfully strained voice.

"I can't believe you got beat up by a chameleon in front of your boyfriend and you didn't use the psychic communication spell to contact us?" Ella snapped.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Donna snapped back. "That chameleon was a vicious mutant!"

"Donna's right." Casey spoke. He walked over towards Donna with the ice pack and sat down to placed her head on his lap while holding the ice pack to her head. "Besides, that mutant has the ability to camouflage itself when she fought us. What do you three expect?"

"Well, Donna should get her rest." Lee said. "Until she recovers, we'll get to the bottom on that vicious mutant."

☆☆☆☆

Later, Phantom was massaging Donna's back to soothe the pain. Donna was lying her stomach on the couch as she couldn't believe how a mindless mutant was able to beat her up that easily. Especially right in front of Casey.

"I just don't get it, Phantom." Donna said with a sigh. "I'm a highly skilled mystic martial artist. How can I possibly lose to a mutant who's so...mindless of its own abilities?"

"You're very intelligent, Donna." Phantom said. "But, there are times when you and your sisters can't win the battles all the time by overthinking your enemy's moves."

"She's absolutely right." Saldana said as she watched Donna and Phantom looking at her from behind. "But in a fight, you cannot always be up in your brain of thinking."

"But how you can fight someone without thinking?" Donna said in a slight desperate tone.

Just then, Ellie came dancing in the living room as she listened to her music with her eyes shut.

"I'll show you." Phantom said.

As Ellie was walking right towards Phantom, the marionette robot swung her fist that caused Ellie to dodge under her arm. Ellie then dodged another punch from Phantom without opening her eyes. Donna watched the scene with her wide eyes wide. She knew Ellie has the raw combination of agility and sheer unpredictability, but she didn't think that her younger sister can follow her own movements.

"You see, Donna?" Saldana said as she turned back to Donna. "Ellie possesses a completely unpredictable nature that make her evade anything or anyone with her enhanced agility."

Donna, Saldana, and Phantom continued watching Ellie dance her way into the kitchen.

"Well, now I see why Ellie has more unperceived moves than me and my sisters do." Donna admitted.

"Yes." Phantom agreed slowly. "Sometimes even I don't understand her ways of mystic ninjutsu."

☆☆☆☆

Meanwhile, Donna was researching information on her laptop from Whitman's flash drive. Lee, Ella, Ellie, and Casey then walked inside the lab in front of Donna.

"Anything, Donna?" Ellie asked.

"Well, the notes are pretty hard to follow, but I recently found out that Whitman was actually trying to modify the mutagen." Donna replied.

"Why would she do that?" Lee asked.

"She thought she could use it to create a neuro chemical that would give someone invisibility." Donna explained. "But, it's only temporarily."

"So, you're telling us that the chameleon can become invisible?" Ella asked.

"More like blending into the background." Casey replied.

"Ok, we have to track her down before she hurts anyone else. Let's spread out and search the city." Lee said.

"And how are we gonna stay in contact and track her down?" Ella asked. "Because that mutant can camouflage to her advantage."

"I have a little something that might help." Donna said proudly. She stood up in front of her sisters and her friend. "Ladies and gentleman, I give you the L-Phone."

Donna summoned a black rounded rectangle-shaped smartphone with a grey skull symbol on the back.

"Dude, that's so cool!" Ellie said with a exciting smile.

"I've made each L-Phone based on your color schemes." Donna explained. "Put your number in and I will patch all of you to my network."

"Sweet. Best invention ever, D." Casey smiled.

"Oh, thanks." Donna said with a blushing smile.

☆☆☆☆

Outside, Casey and the Lotus Ninjas spread out to search for the mutant chameleon. Lee, Ella, Donna, Ellie, and Casey had located the chameleon, but it was moving too fast for them to catch up because of her camouflaging abilities. The heroes ended up regrouping in the alleyway and started to argue over on the mutant's location.

But Lee suddenly detected the chameleon's aura as she directed her team to the wall above them. Ellie waved her hand back and forth with a grabbing shape as she pointed her magic to snare the chameleon mutant with a glowing orange constructed whip. The orange mystic kunoichi was holding the vicious mutant tight as the chameleon was trying to break free.

"Ha! Got ya!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Great." Ella said pessimistically. "We got the chameleon. But not even close on finding Doctor Whitman."

"Actually, we're a lot closer than we think." Lee said.

"What makes you think that?" Casey asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because this mutant is Doctor Whitman." Lee replied firmly.

☆☆☆☆

Meanwhile, the Lotus Ninjas and Casey watched Doctor North strapped Doctor Whitman into a freaky looking chair. But the chameleon was hissing with anger, making Doctor North inject an enormous needle into Whitman's arm. Casey and the Lotus Ninjas gazed at the chameleon, who was starting to calm down with deep breaths.

"Poor Whitman." Doctor North said. "That should calm her down for now. But I could never predict this unexpected outcome."

"Can you turn her back to normal?" Casey asked.

"I wouldn't even know, but I'll see what I can do." Doctor North replied.

☆☆☆☆

Back in the Crete Fortress, three mystics and one human were minding their business in the kitchen. Ellie was playing app games on the L-Phone, Donna was surfing information on her laptop, Lee was reading her Battlestar Matrix comic book, and Casey was feeling bored.

Then, Ella came back with four pizza boxes in one hand.

"Pizza's here!" Ella announced with a smile.

As Ella placed one pizza box on the table, Lee and Casey instantly grabbed two slices. But they both realized that Ellie hadn't reacted immediately. They then watched Ellie planted her face into the pizza to grab three pizza slices with her teeth while focusing on her game. Lee rolled her eyes with a smirk while Casey leaned over the counter to see what Donna was doing on her laptop.

"What'cha doing, D?" Casey asked. "How come you're not eating?"

"Oh, I'm not hungry." Donna said inattentively. "I've been going over through Whitman's notes. It turns out she never had a chameleon in her lab. She was just using samples of chameleon DNA."

"But if she never had a chameleon in the first place, then who could have broke out of that cage?" Ella questioned.

"Which means North put her there and she's been lying this whole time!" Donna exclaimed as she got up to her feet.

"Let's go!" Lee said.

Lee jumped over the counter and exited out the kitchen along with Casey, Ella, and Donna.

"But I haven't even finished this level yet!" Ellie protested.

Ella grabbed Ellie's pigtails and pulled her away from her seat.

☆☆☆☆

Back in Doctor North's lab, she approached the struggling Whitman and injected a glowing cyan-colored needle into the mutant's neck. She was extracting the neuro-chemical from Whitman's brain and then injected the same chemical in her neck. North's eyes are now glowing cyan with a wicked smile across her face. She then turned around to see the Lotus Ninjas and Casey, who were standing in front of the entrance door.

"Don't move, North!" Lee said.

"Or we will fight you." Ella added.

"It's over, North!" Donna declared. "We know you mutated Whitman!"

"It's true. I did use her as a guinea pig." North admitted with an evil smirk.

"But why?" Ellie demanded.

"Because I need the neuro chemical from Whitman's mutant brain for my own plans." North explained. "Especially when I learned that she was planning to modify the mutagen."

"So, that was your plan all along." Casey said slowly.

"Of course." North said. "Now, no one can defeat me when I can bend into any environment."

"Oh, really?" Ella said with a glare. "I love to see you try!"

Ella charged forward and performed a high flaming kick at the woman's face, but North managed to dodge and camouflaged out of sight. Ella gasped and watched North reappear in front of her as the evil scientist gave the red mystic kunoichi a smirk. Ella delivered few more kicks and punches, but North dodged easily and then kicked the red mystic kunoichi in the stomach that sent her flying straight to the wall. Lee glared furiously at North and charged forward to attack the mad scientist from behind, but North was dodging everything through the blue mystic kunoichi's swift, coordinated moves. Casey skated forward in front of North and swung his hockey stick at her with fast speed.

Donna and Ellie watched as North floored Lee and Casey with blows to the head.

"How are we gonna defeat her if she can go invisible?" Donna asked Ellie.

"Not to worry, sis. I'll just have to fight without thinking." Ellie declared with a casual smile.

Ellie charged forward to attack North with her unperceivable moves, but North was able to knock out Ellie with a karate chop that made the orange mystic kunoichi collapse to the ground unconsciously. That left Donna the last one standing against the evil camouflaging scientist. The purple mystic kunoichi charged forward to attack North with her earth magic, but North was still able to dodge them and attacked Donna from behind with a swift kick in her camouflage mode. Donna groaned as she was struggling on her feet away from North.

"I must say I truly admire that complex brain of yours." North said with a taunting smile. "I can extract your knowledge into my own once I'm through with you."

Donna closed her eyes shut and took a deep breath as she knows that she must fight without thinking to win the fight. She looked up with her thoughts turned off with a grin and charged forward to deliver a high kick at North, much to the scientist's surprise. North flew back into the desk and got back up on her feet, but it was too late for her to react when Donna quickly kicked herself into the wall and delivered several strong punches at North until the final punch sent the woman flying into the open cage. North let out a painful groan and then passed out. Lee, Ella, Ellie, and Casey recovered their strengths as they walked over to Donna with smiles on their faces.

"Wow, Donna!" Ella exclaimed. "Great job!"

"Ha!" Ellie said gleefully as she was holding the mutagen in her hands. "Told you those backflips would work!"

"Gee, thanks." Donna said dryly. "Now that we have the mutagen, let's see what North knows about the Kraang."

The Lotus Ninjas looked to the cage and noticed that North vanish without a trace.

"North's gone!" Donna exclaimed.

"But what about her?" Casey asked, pointing his finger to the restrain chameleon.

The Lotus Ninjas turned their attention to the chameleon mutant as if they almost forgot about her. Donna walked over to remove the restraints, setting Whitman free in the process. Whitman turned to Donna, Casey, Lee, Ellie, and Ella with a soft smile for her gratitude.

"I believe she's trying to thank us for her help." Donna said to her sisters.

Whitman nodded in her response and moved to the open window as she jumped out of the building and disappeared out of sight in her camouflage mode.

"Um, just to be clear, are you guys sure New York City is really the best place for her?" Ella asked slowly.

"I'm sure she'll be okay." Lee reassured. "She is a chameleon mutant, after all."

☆☆☆☆

Back in the Crete Fortress, Saldana sat on her mat in front of Casey inside the dojo.

"Saldana, I know your daughters possess magic. But do they each have unique abilities of their own?" Casey asked.

"Of course, Casey." Saldana replied. "Every mystic has their own unique abilities. Lee can see and sense the feelings of others as colorful auras, Donna can easily improvise new creations out of existing technology with her extensive knowledge of science and magic, Ella possesses the capacity for essentially limitless physical strength, and Ellie has the potential to be the fastest of her sisters."

"Oh, that explains a lot." Casey said.

"Casey, you have been a great ally to my daughters in every mission." Saldana said. "So, I would like to train you to learn mystical energy abilities."

"As amazing as that sounds, I have to turn down your offer." Casey said. "No offense, but I never like magic."

"I understand. I'll teach the advanced fighting techniques." Saldana said calmly. "But I warn you. The techniques will drain throughout your mind mentally, physically, and spiritually."

"Now, that I can accept." Casey said with a smile.

☆☆☆☆

As Casey exited the dojo, Donna was walking out of her lab with the touchscreen in her hands.

"Oh, hey, Casey." Donna grinned with a cool face. "Were you at the dojo by any chance?"

"Yeah." Casey said proudly. "Saldana is training me with awesome hand-to-hand combat skills."

"Oh, really? Then, maybe we can train together sometime." Donna said.

"You're on!" Casey said with a grin.

With that, Casey walked away from Donna.

"You see?" Donna grinned. She looked at Ella, who was sitting on the couch with her comic book. "Forget my master plan. My coolness is awesome!"

Donna walked upstairs with a little victory dance as Ella rolled her eyes and turned back to her horror comic book.

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