A/N: Eclipse belongs to GeekyCookie1. Mara and Zane belongs to MariChat3.

So, I'm aware that technically, Eyes of the Chimera is next but for the life of me, I literally couldn't figure out how to write it so, after talking about it through with MariChat3, I'm skipping it.

Enjoy!

"Who's ready to take back New York City from the kraang? You can bet we are! Well... we will, right after this!"

GLOWING YELLOW EYES kept its steady gaze on the deer that was eating the grass peacefully while the wind blew through the hidden creature's brownish-reddish fur as it stayed down below in the bushes. The hidden creature took slow, small steps as the deer continued to eat until coming to a halt when the deer paused its eating and looked up, looking around the area as if it could feel a pair of eyes watching from somewhere.

A low, animalistic growl escaped the creature's lips, its sharp teeth being shown while its heart raced in its chest with anticipation. Then, right when the deer looked away before walking closer to the river as it started to lower its head for a sip of water, the hidden creature leapt out from the bushes and lunged to attack, its jaw wide open with its sharp teeth being completely shown as if it was ready to chomp down on the deer. However, the deer managed to run off in time while the creature landed on its paws, which got soaked as the creature's paws hit the water.

The creature's reflection in the river turned out to be a giant wolf with glowing yellow eyes and brownish-reddish fur. The giant wolf snarled its sharp teeth, giving a small growl as if it were annoyed before suddenly, the wolf leapt and charged after the deer, running after the woodland creature at full speed.

"Henry."

The giant wolf opened its jaw as it ran after the deer, getting ready to bite down on the deer with its sharp teeth.

"Henry."

Then, the giant wolf made a sharp turn as it continued to chase after the deer at full speed, its heart racing in his chest and pounding against his ribcage. Lastly, the giant wolf took its chance and lunged for the deer, its sharp teeth sinking into the deer's ribcage.

"Henry!"

A startled gasp left his hips as Henry shot awoke from the bed he was laying on, breathing heavily as he did his best to calm his racing heart down. Once he was able to get his heartbeat steady and his breathing under control again, Henry took a deep breath before he found a pair of emerald green eyes staring at him with a hint of worry.

"You alright?" Eclipse questioned her boyfriend. "I mean, this is the first time where you almost missed training because you overslept."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," Henry reassured his girlfriend, still trying to wrap his head around the dream he had. "I... I just had the weirdest dream."

Eclipse looked curious. "What was it?"

"Well... that's the part that I don't get." Henry admitted, confusion written all over his face before he continued to tell her.

"It was a wolf."

👑👑👑

FOR THEIR DAILY training session of the day, it seemed that Raphael had wanted to do a training exercise with everyone as they all stood in front of the farmhouse. Kyle, Piper, and Chloe were nowhere to be seen as neither one of the preteens had wanted to get up that early, still inside of the farmhouse where each one of them were fast asleep. One other person wasn't present with the rest of them for training and it was none other than Leonardo, who had gone off hunting in the woods.

"Alright, team," Raphael said. "If you can clobber kraang, you can crack logs. Watch and learn."

"Aw, yeah!" Michelangelo cheered. "Time for some ninja training, farmhouse style."

Raphael started doing some ninja moves and April was watching with her arms crossed, not looking very amused. Then, the red masked mutant turtle took the logs that Michelangelo and Donatello were holding, throwing them up before jumping up, kicking the logs, and breaking them.

"Woo-hoo!"

Raphael smirked, adjusting his belt. "You like that? Your turn, April."

Mara held up the log for her, a smug grin on her face. "Sure you don't want me to soften it up for you, Cupcake?"

"Just hold it straight," April responded, adjusting the log in her hands. "Wouldn't wanna miss and accidentally kick that smug grin off your face."

"Oh, snap!" Michelangelo exclaimed.

"Remember, it's not just physical strength that breaks the wood," Donatello adds. "It's also inner strength."

"I got this."

April kicks her leg straight out, unintentionally ramming Mara in the gut and sending her flying. Mara is thrown back onto the ground, face-first.

Casey bursts out laughing, only for Zane to elbowed him in his stomach while Donatello doesn't hesitant to take the opportunity to tease her.

"Oooh, I wish I could see that in an instant replay," Donatello said with a chuckle while Mara spat out some dirt. "How's that mud taste, Sparks?"

Amongst the low snickers and chuckles that come from the others, Henry feels his ears prickled at the sound of footsteps and turns towards the woods to find Leonardo emerging from the woods, limping before he collapses onto his knees.

"Leo?"

Everyone follows Henry's gaze to Leonardo and in an instant, Henry, the four other mutant turtles, and Briana dashes for him while the others follow close behind. When they all reach him, Raphael and Michelangelo each pull one of his arms over their shoulders.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Michelangelo asks.

"I had a realization in the woods." Leonardo replies.

"Going off alone with a bum leg was a bad idea?" Eclipse questioned.

"No, it's just what I need," Leonardo answers. "What we all need. We're so caught up in our T-Phones and junk food and TV that we've become at odds with nature. A true ninja must become one with it to master himself—or herself."

"Hey, man," Michelangelo started. "You leave TV out of this."

"Even Master Splinter did it," Donatello added. "He said only when you become one with nature can you make peace with yourself."

"Make peace?" Raphael retorted. "What are we, hippies? We're ninjas!"

"We'll do three days of meditation and practiced awareness in the wilderness, only eating what we can forage," Leonardo said as he looked over at Henry. "What do you think?"

"Three days? We're gonna live like animals!" Michelangelo whimpered, stepping away from his brother as he imagined the scenario in his head, flinging his arms into the air with a terrified yell. "AHH!"

Henry thought about it. "I'm with Leo, let's do this."

"I think you two might've taken one too many kicks to the head." Casey said.

"No, they're right," April responded. "Camping's a great idea. I'm tired of being stuck at the farmhouse."

Leonardo shook his head as Raphael helps him take a few steps to the house. "I'm sorry, April. This trip is ninjas only."

"But I'm almost a kunoichi!"

"Almost, but not quite yet." Eclipse responded.

Mara shrugged, finding herself taking a step closer to the redhead girl. "Cool. Looks like we'll be stuck at the farmhouse, together."

Donatello gives a small whimper as he softly whispers to himself, watching the two teenaged girls. "No..."

👑👑👑

THE FIVE MUTANT turtles, Henry, and Briana gathered everything that they needed and set off into the woods with Leonardo and Henry taking the lead.

"We've mastered our weapons, stealth, and hand-to-hand combat, but we haven't achieved the very first of the 18 ninjstu disciplines," Leonardo started. "The Seishin syoyou, or 'spiritual refinement.' All true ninjas must master it."

"Hey, who says I'm not spiritually refine—ugh—ed?" They all turned to Michelangelo as he burped, patting his chest. "Whoa. Heh. Must have been—" he burped again. "Okay, you win. Let's get refined."

The first night was where the seven teens were mediating in the treetops when leaves suddenly swirled into the air on the wind, startling the orange masked mutant turtle.

"Aah! It's happening!" Michelangelo lost his balance, toppling off the tree and onto the forest floor.

The rest of them dropped down around him. As Briana pulled her brother up to his feet, Henry's ears pricked at the soft footsteps while his nose suddenly twitched at a strange scent in the air.

Leonardo glanced around, spotting something in the trees. "Whoa. Guys, look." Henry followed his gaze, but there was nothing there but trees. "It was the same deer. I think it's been following us."

Then, out of the corner of his eyes, Henry turned to see a buck pace around behind a tree.

"It's probably laughing at the five dumb mutants and two dumb humans lost in the woods." Raphael said.

"Actually, in the Shinto religion, deer are considered messengers of the divine," Donatello stated. "Maybe it means we're on the right path."

The deer stepped out from behind a tree, and it looked different as the deer had taken a humanoid form, standing on two legs as it stared at them. Henry, Leonardo, Eclipse, and Briana stared back.

"Mutant!"

Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo did the complete opposite and ran to attack it.

"No, wait!" Leonardo called. "It's not a mutant!"

But it was too late as Michelangelo tried to hit the deer with his nunchucks, but it dodged aside, sending him slamming into a tree. Donatello ran up next, twirling his staff but the deer dodged his jabs but the end of his staff ended up hitting Raphael instead. Angry and eyes blazing, Raphael pounces onto his younger brother while Donatello flails and fights back, tumbling away as they keep wrestling. Just as Michelangelo stumbles to his fight, but the two mutant turtles that were wrestling and smack him down and soon, the deer isn't even there and it's just three mutant turtles who are just focused on pounding each other.

"Oh, brother." Eclipse said as she rolled her eyes at them while Henry just facepalms at the three wrestling turtles.

"Stop!" Leonardo repeats, but the three turtles continue to fight while his eyes narrowed. "I SAID STOP!"

The fighting freezes instantly, and Raphael's fists meets Donatello's head once more. Michelangelo holds his head, confused.

"Guys? It's gone." Briana says.

Leonardo frowns and searches the surroundings in vain from his spot, but the creature is gone.

But Henry can still feel like they're being watched and looks around till he stops, spotting a giant wolf with brownish-reddish fur and glowing yellow eyes watching them. He blinks, staring directly at the wolf while the wolf— that he knows is the one from his dream— stares right back at him as it looks between him and the others. Then, with another blink, the wolf is suddenly gone.

'What's up with that wolf?' Henry thought secretly to himself.

👑👑👑

THE SEVEN OF them managed to set up camp and made a fire, sitting around it. Leonardo glanced up, looking over at each one of the others before he looked away, letting out a small sigh. Suddenly, the fire turned bright blue, startling everyone as it surged upward, manifesting into a very familiar mutant.

"Master Splinter!"

"Watashi no musuko to musume-tachi." Splinter greeted.

"Are you, like... a ghost?" Michelangelo asked.

"My spirit has become detached from my body, but that body still lives." Splinter responded.

Leonardo stands up, his face overwhelmed with emotions. "You're alive? Where are you, sensei? Let us help you."

Splinter shook his head. "You cannot yet. There is much you must overcome. If you cannot find your inner, spiritual strength, you will not stand a chance against the Shredder."

"But Master Splinter, my leg injury, it... it's physical," Leonardo stammers, looking at his feet. "Until I heal—"

"We choose what holds us back and what moves us forward," Splinter responded. He looked around at each of them. "You will all learn this. Each of you must journey out alone to face your spiritual adversary. Raphael, your temper is a fire that you must learn to focus for power. Michelangelo, your mind is overrun with distractions. Learn to be strong and calm, like the forest. Donatello, you rely too much on your mind, and not on your body. Be strong, like the mountain. Eclipse, you push your temper to the side, allow your anger to build and grow, until it erupts. You must use that anger as power. Be fluid, like the shadows. Briana, you are strong and fierce, yet your fear holds you back. You must let your fear wash away, like a river." Then, the mutant rat looks between Leonardo and Henry. "Leonardo, Henry, as the leaders of the team, you two are to stick together— you both must be a leader in both body and spirit, become a united front. Leonardo, be like the wind. Let nothing weigh you down. Henry, doubts fill your mind, and you must learn to push these doubts away. Be sure of yourself and your choices. Sleep now, my children. For your greatest trial awaits on the spiritual plane. For the challenges you face there will be just as deadly as those you face in the real world. Be warned."

Splinter vanished, and the fire turned to normal as a silence fell over the seven teens.

👑👑👑

BY THE TIME that they woke up in the morning, the fire had gone out in the night while their minds still lingered on Splinter's words from last night. "Whoa, that was deep." Michelangelo said.

"Master Splinter made our quests clear," Leonardo said. "It's time we begin, ninjas. Each of us will forge new armor and weapons, then journey on alone, where we'll be challenged in the spirit realm, the plan where the unreal becomes real, and we meet our ultimate fate."

The others nodded, and they started their tasks, forging the new armor and weapons for themselves. Once they were done, each one of them was gathered around a banner that they had created, eyes closed in concentration— almost all of them had their eyes closed, expect for Michelangelo as he was currently eating a slice of pizza.

"Mikey, stay focused," Eclipse snapped. "Remember what Master Splinter said? The things we're gonna fight are just as dangerous as Shredder."

Michelangelo blinked, tossing the pizza slice into the bushes. "Hope you like pizza, you lucky magic deer!"

Leonardo opened his eyes. "It's time. Good luck, everyone. Kentou o." He bowed, the others followed.

"Kentou o."

👑👑👑

IT'S BEEN A few minutes since Briana had walked away from the others and started heading on her own. She didn't know how long she had been walking or how to know when she reaches the spiritual plane, but she was sure that she'd get a sign to show her that she was there. Briana lets her footsteps come to a halt when she could've swore that she heard another pair of footsteps nearby as she searches the area.

The more she searches, Briana couldn't help but notice that it was starting to get dark— and it was getting dark fast as the next thing she knew, she was in complete darkness, making it harder for her to spot where the sound of footsteps was coming from.

"Okay, I kinda wish I had Henry's night vision now." Briana mumbled to herself.

She goes to take another step but stops when she hears a whoosh sound. As quick as possible, Briana leaps out of the way to the left and avoids getting hit, watching the arrow hit where she had been previously standing.

"You got lucky with that one, little cuz."

Briana freezes at the familiar voice, her eyes widening a little as her jaw drops open slightly. She spins around and watches as Jake emerges from the darkness around her.

"But," Jake continues as he gives her a menacingly smirk. "Luck will only get you so far." He glances down at the sword in his hand before he shakes his head, dropping it onto the ground. "You can fight with a sword, but let's see you fight with something else."

In an instant, Jake forms a small ball of magic in his hands while green psionic energy appears at the tip of his fingertips. Then, he hurls it at Briana, who lets out a startled yelp before she jumps out of the way. Jake doesn't hesitant or wait to throw her around that has Briana leaping to the left, dodging the ball of magic as it goes past her.

Briana reaches behind her and pulls her katana blade out, and Jake couldn't help but almost laugh at the sight of her.

"You're the prophesied Last Destroyer and you're afraid of using your power?" Jake questioned as he scoffed at her. "You're so pathetic, weak— a coward."

"Shut up." Briana finally spoke up, glaring at her cousin as she held tightly onto her sword.

Jake shakes his head as he bends down, picking up his own sword before he then attacked Briana. Their swords collided as Jake shoves Briana again, only for Briana to be forced to block again, and again, and again as Jake continues to shove her back.

"For someone that's the prophesied Last Destroyer and with so much power flowing inside of her, you really are pathetic," Jake said. "Cowering behind that fear of yours like a coward, you'll never beat me this way."

Briana grunts and when Jake goes to strike again, she hops backwards, narrowly avoiding the sword. Briana frowns, shakes her head, and then rushes forward to attack him but Jake jumps and hops over her, landing behind her. The next thing that Briana knows is that her sword falls from her hands as she hits the ground with Jake pushing her face into the dirt.

"Oh, just give up already, would you, cuz?" Jake snaps at her. "Don't you think it'd be way better for your so-called family if you gave up and turned yourselves over to my father and me? Why else is everyone you care about in danger? It's all because of you— you're the one that brings nothing but death and destruction into their lives. Deep down, you know that they'd be better off without you."

Briana struggles to get out from underneath Jake's hold as she tries to push herself off of the ground, but Jake shoves her face back into the dirt, refusing to let her get up.

"If you want to get up, you know what you have to do, cuz," Jake taunted. "That power of yours? Use it to get up— to push me off! Embrace your fate as the prophesied Last Destroyer! Become the villain and the monster that you were meant to be!"

Briana squeezes her eyes shut, doing everything she can to try to ignore him but it doesn't work, Jake's words replaying in her head as flashes of a terrible future fills her head.

The blood red sky, the multiple lifeless bodies littering the ground while covered in blood, destroyed buildings, and at the center of all that death and destruction was Briana herself with a evil smirk on her face.

Briana can feel the panic taking control of every part of her body while her fear grabs onto her tightly, refusing to loosen its grip. Forgetting where she was for a second, she can feel herself breathing heavily, not caring if dirt gets into her mouth while the only sound she can hear is her heartbeat racing in her chest while pounding against her ribcage at a fast rate.

Suddenly, a teal blue aura forms around her and a magic blast erupts from her body, slamming into Jake as it sends him flying into a tree where he falls onto the ground. Now free and able to move, Briana pushes herself to her feet as she spits the dirt out before she looks down at her hands, finding her hands glowing in a teal blue aura with psionic energy at the tip of her fingertips.

"No, no, no, no." Briana whispers to herself, overwhelmed with panic and fear. "Not here, not now. Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show."

But it doesn't work this time and Briana finds herself breathing heavily again while sweat starts to fall down her face a little, her heartbeat racing even faster in her chest and she couldn't seem to get herself to calm down or to get her breathing steady again.

Jake pushes himself to his feet. "Finally! There's the prophesied Last Destroyer!" He lets out a laugh. "Now, do you get it, cuz? This is what you are. A villain and a monster!"

Briana squeezes her eyes shut, her breathing growing more heavily and faster as she panics, causing the teal blue aura around her hands to glow brighter. Sweat runs down her face as it feels like her heart could burst out from her chest at any given moment now.

But then, right when she was about to give up, Splinter's words replayed in her head again.

"Briana, you are strong and fierce, yet your fear holds you back. You must let your fear wash away, like a river."

And then, she heard it— the sound of a river that must've been close by as the water was rushing by at a gently and steady pace. Letting herself focus on the sound, Briana takes in deep breaths slowly and gently, letting her heartbeat return to a steady pace while the teal blue aura around her hands dies down.

Feeling herself calmed down, Briana opens her eyes and looks up at Jake with a new look of determination growing onto her face as she bends down and picks up her own sword again without a word. Jake narrows his eyes at her before he grabs his sword as well and without a word, he charges at her and attacks.

Like before, Briana blocks his attack but this time, she lifts her right knee and slams it into his stomach, causing Jake to gasp in pain. Before he has a chance to recover, Briana slams a fist into his jaw before plunging her katana blade into his shoulder while Jake gives a cry of pain. Right when Briana yanked her katana blade out as hard as she could, she watches as Jake's body disappears into a cloud of green smoke.

Briana stands there for a few chances, recovering from the fight as she catches her breath. She looks down at her hands for a second, remembering how she almost lost control and for a split second, she could feel her fear trying to break out from behind her walls but she refuses to let it come out this time and forces it to stay away.

'Not this time.' Briana thought secretly to herself. 'I'll... I'll deal with it next time.'

👑👑👑

ONCE AGAIN, THE brownish-reddish furred, giant wolf with glowing yellow eyes stands in front of not just Henry this time, but Leonardo as well. In a blink, the giant wolf is once again gone as fog slowly creeps into the woods suddenly, the two leaders are standing on a bridge, suspended over a huge chasm while the bottom was covered in fog and shadows.

Leonardo blinks. "Uh... let's try not to fall off this thing."

"Agreed." Henry said.

As if it was on cue, the bridge swayed wildly but the two leaders grabbed onto the rope in time to steady themselves. Then, two figures landed on the rope in front of them.

"Foot Bots?"

The two of them pulled out their respective swords as the robots jumped into the fog. The robots flew past them, throwing shurikens at them once it'd vanished into the fog but they blocked it with their swords. Henry looked behind them and his eyes widened at the sight of what seemed to be a lot more Foot Bots behind them.

"Aw, damn it." He cursed before he sighed. "Alright, bring it."

The Foot Bots made the first move by leaping at them. With each plunge that the two delivered into the robots made the Foot Bots vanished in smoke as the two leaders each blocked, dodged, and sliced at the robots till there was nothing left.

"That's it? Not as tough as I thought." Leonardo said.

Suddenly, the bridge collapsed and the two were sent falling down. "AAH! No, no, no!" Luckily, both Henry and Leonardo each grabbed onto one of the ropes and managed to make it back up to the mountain safety.

"I don't get this place," Henry said. "What's the lesson?"

"Lesson?" The familiar voice is enough to make the two spin around to face the person they hate the most. "You've already failed."

"Shredder."

Shredder's blades slid from the gauntlets as he stalked toward them. "You, Leonardo, are too weak to stand without your master. You, Henry, are too much of a coward to face me."

Although it was impulsive and reckless, Leonardo charged first as he lifted his swords. Shredder blocked his swords, pushing him back and running behind him. "You can hardly stand at all." He kicked his injured leg.

The sound of metal piercing Leonardo's shell and flesh hits his ears, Shredder's bloodied blades covered in Leonardo's blood, and... Shredder striking Splinter, knocking him out cold.

Henry feels a wave of anger and hatred washes over him as the wolf inside of him growls at the memories that replay in his head. He grips the hilts of his twin swords tightly and then, it's his turn as he charges at Shredder with nothing but anger and hatred clouding his vision.

Henry's twin swords clashes against Shredder's blades as Leonardo forces himself back to his feet, ignoring his injured leg and he swings at Shredder from behind, but the man dodges easily. Both Henry and Leonardo stand side-by-side, glaring at the man with a look that held so much anger and hatred.

"Your wounded leg is like a ball and chain, Leonardo, dragging you towards defeat." Shredder stated.

Leonardo glares and lunges at him, but Shredder throws him to the side easily. The fog appears again as it changes their surroundings to the top of the mountain before the fog vanishes. Shredder suddenly appears behind Henry and gives a hard kick at his side, sending him sliding to a halt at the edge of the mountain, nearly sending him off of it.

Henry quickly pushes himself away from the edge. "Any ideas, Leo?"

Leonardo shook his head. "Shredder's right. My injury's always gonna hold me back. I can't win." He glanced at his bad leg, scowling, until he realized something. "Unless... the pain is just in my mind. It's just an excuse. It's not real."

Thunder crackled while lightning streaked across the sky and Shredder rose up before them as a giant looming over them. Leonardo got back to his feet and for the first time, Henry hesitated before he stood up as well.

If they couldn't beat the Shredder on the rooftop of the Wolf Hotel the first time or during the kraang invasion, what hope did they have of defeating him now in the spiritual plane?

This was Shredder they were facing right now! He was way too strong for them to beat on their own!

"Henry, doubts fill your mind, and you must learn to push these doubts away. Be sure of yourself and your choices."

The weight of Splinter's words was sinking in as it replayed in his head. For as long as he could remember— and most likely since Splinter had made him and Leonardo the leaders of the team, Henry has always known that doubts were constantly filling his head, making him wonder if he was even doing a good job at being a leader. But if he had to be honest, deep down Henry knew what his worth was and if he ever wanted to help lead his family into defeating Shredder for good, he was gonna have to start learning how not to doubt himself anymore and start trusting himself instead.

And so, he was gonna start right now, right there.

"It's time we end this, turtle, boy." Shredder said, unsheathing his blades.

Henry exchanged a look with Leonardo. "For the first time, I agree with him."

"Me too," Leonardo said in agreement. "Let's finish this."

Shredder struck, and the two of them jumped to dodge, running up to his blade and to his shoulder. Their movements were in synced, jumping as Shredder lifted his other hand. Then, Shredder grabbed them but Henry kicked his hand open, allowing the two of them to jump on top of it, giving Leonardo the chance to pull out his bow, firing an arrow into Shredder's eyes as the giant man collapsed while the two teens landed on the mountain safety. Shredder, on the other hand, vanished into smoke.

As both Leonardo and Henry caught their breaths, the two placed their weapons away.

"Nice job, Leo," Henry said. "You beat Shredder in the spirit plane."

"We both did, and one day, we'll beat him in the real world." Leonardo said.

At those words, both Henry and Leonardo shared a fist-bump.

👑👑👑

"IF YOU KNOCK me into the mud one more time, Cupcake..."

"Oh?" April said. "What are you gonna do about it? Hi-yah!" April kick the board Mara held, breaking it. "Finally! Yes!"

But something else had grabbed the attention of Mara, Kaz, Casey, and Zane as the four of them were looking past April, as the redhead girl didn't seem to notice just yet.

"What? Nothing to say? Didn't think I could do it, did ya?" April said before noticing Mara's stare and then, realizing that her other friends were looking in the same direction. "Guys? What—?" She turned, following their gaze. "Whoa."

The five mutant turtles, Henry, and Briana were still dressed in their new gear and armor. Each one of them carried a banner with a Japanese symbol on it.

"What happened out there?"

"It's time," Leonardo answered. "We're going back to New York."

"And just like that, we were finally ready to go back home and take back our city."