The following morning, everyone was gathered up in the turtles' lair. Well, those who knew about them, anyway.

Jake was currently in the dojo, training. And everyone else was hanging out in the living area. And everyone who was there were April, Makayla (Jake's sister), Douxie, Leo, Raph, Mikey, Mars (Jake's friend), Casey, and Megamind (Jake's current guardian).

"Poor Jake." Makayla said sadly. "Whatever dream he has last night must've been intense."

"I managed to cheer him up, but I still feel like he's not really confident." April said. "And that's why he's in the dojo with Donnie."

"Out of all of us, it's strange that Jake volunteered Donnie to spar with." Raph said. "It could just be because of unfinished business, though."

April sighed as she thought back on Jake and Donnie's rivalry. Even though they were together now, Donnie still wouldn't let it go.

"I feel like it's slightly worse than our rivalry." Casey said. "And that's saying something."

"I'm surprised that Donnie still isn't over it." Mikey said. "You guys have been dating for almost a year now. . . I think?"

"That's right." April said. "Six months to be exact."

"And to think he just finished a tight battle three months ago." Makayla said. "He's building his nemesis collection faster than Megamind."

"Wow, thanks for that." Megamind scoffed.

"He just can't catch a break, can he?" Mikey sighed.

"Let's see. . . there's Natalie, Jak Luna. . . Chad *was* his enemy. And I guess Ryan and Trinity were, to an extent." Makayla said, counting on her fingers. "And not to mention the whole army of vampire hunters."

"I just hope he can see himself as not just some weak little boy." Raph said. "Nothing makes me angrier than one of my buddies doubting their potential."

. . . . .

Meanwhile, in the dojo, Jake was sparring with Donnie and trying to get stronger. But Donnie wasn't giving him much of a chance as he kept going at him with multiple blows.

"Come on, you freak of nature!" Donnie said, angrily. "Is that really all you've got? And you want to be stronger. Pathetic!"

"Look, I get that you want to be motivational, but maybe soften up on the insults?" Jake said, throwing an attack at him. "I need positive reinforcement."

"Well, what motivates you the most?" Donnie asked.

"Huh?" Jake said.

The two of them then stopped sparring as Donnie walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What's this now?" Jake asked.

"Tell me. . . what are you most motivated by?" Donnie asked again.

"Hmm. . . I don't really know." Jake said.

"No one doesn't know what motivates them." Donnie said. "I know there's something you want to protect. What is that?"

Jake then gasped as he thought back to his dream the night before. The image of April dying right in front of him was enough to get him fired up.

"I. . . I want to protect the ones I love the most." Jake said as the faces of everyone he cares about popped up in his head. "I want to save people from dying. I already failed someone once. I don't want to go through that again."

"I see." Donnie said. "What a noble thought you have."

"Really?" Jake asked.

"Really." Donnie said with a smile.

But Donnie's smile quickly turned to a serious expression as he grabbed Jake by the arm and took him down with a tactical move.

"Hey!" Jake said. "That's not fair!"

"Yes, it is." Donnie said with a smirk. "You let your guard down."

"I thought we were having a special moment!" Jake said, angrily. "I thought we were finally becoming friends!"

"In your dreams." Donnie scoffed.

Jake growled in anger as his eyes glowed a bright blue and a large bolt of lightning struck out towards Donnie, but he managed to dodge it in time.

"Wow. . . that was strong." Donnie said. "Luckily I managed to move out of the way."

Jake then stood up as his whole body was now glowing and electrified.

"Okay, you can calm down now." Donnie said.

"Actually, maybe this is what I actually need." Jake said. "If I can better control my powers, then I might just be able to take down the strongest of villains!"

At that moment, everyone else came running into the dojo to see what had happened. And when they saw Jake glowing, they all froze in shock.

"Woah, he's glowing!" Mikey said.

"Yeah, and I feel powerful!" Jake said. "This is what I needed!"

"You can't do that in here!" Leo said. "You might break something."

"I have an idea." April said. "Follow me."

. . . . .

A little bit later, everyone went outside of the lair and onto the subway tracks. And in front of them, were a few different things set up on top of a folding table. There was a soda can and a pizza box. . . full of pizza.

"Wanna test your powers?" April asked. "Then try and blow up some of these items."

"You didn't tell me you were gonna blow up pizza!" Mikey said. "That's just cruel!"

"You understand what you have to do?" April asked.

"I do." Jake said.

"Alright, now let's see what you can do." April said with a smile. "Give it your all!"

With that, April stood back and so did everyone else. Jake took a deep breath as he held out his hand and aimed at the soda can. He focused all of his energy to his hand as it began to glow a bright blue color and his lightning began to form.

He then shot a large blast of lightning at the soda can, which caused it to suddenly go flying back against the wall.

"Wow, that was cool!" Makayla said with a smile on her face.

"Huh. . . That's kind of fun." Jake said.

"Now, the pizza." April said.

"Wait, can't we talk about this?" Mikey said. "It's a perfectly good pizza! Please!"

Jake then focused more energy to his hand and aimed at the pizza box. He then shot out a powerful blast of lightning at the box, holding it a little longer than usual to put out as much power as possible. The lightning kept electrifying the pizza as the box began to shake.

"Oh, the horror!" MIkey said, covering his face with his hands.

Jake continued to emit the lightning from his hands until eventually, the pizza box exploded as hot cheese and burnt pepperoni went everywhere.

"NOOOOO!" Mikey cried out as he fell to his knees.

"That's actually amazing." Raph said. "Even I'm impressed."

"If I can keep this up, I'll be stronger in no time." Jake said.

"You sure will." April said, holding his hand. "I believe in you."

. . . .

Later that same day, Jake was headed back home after a long day of training his powers.

"Man, that took a lot out of me." Jake said to himself. "Using my powers too long is incredibly draining. I really need to work on that."

Suddenly, the wind began to blow as Jake quickly put his hand on his hat to make sure it didn't blow away.

But he quickly stopped in his tracks when he got a feeling that something wasn't right. And he knew the feeling all too well.

"I know you're there." Jake said. "You don't have to keep hiding."

When he said that, a familiar slim figure came out of the shadows and stared him down. It was the same figure that you met before.

"You've got some sharp senses, boy." The figure said. "You're perfect."

To be continued. . .

All characters belong to their rightful owners

All rights reserved