Golden Angel

A wall shook, blasting from its hold...

‘I need to do this…’

Water spraying from broken pipes turned to mist with the twitch of her fingers…

‘They need a distraction in order to get inside…’

Foot ninja charged, but rocks slammed them back…

‘I’m not going to lose this time!’

Fire escaped her mouth in a dragon’s roar, turning the mist to steam…

As the ninja cried out in agony, she drew in a deep breath, watching the steam dissipate.

‘We’re all in this fight together…I have no reason to be afraid, and every reason to keep pushing on.’

Crimson eyes flashed in the light, and the jade-skinned turtle pulled a large fan from her shell.

She smirked as Foot ninja crouched before her, wary to attack…

“It’s time for a beating…Artemis-style…”

Snapping the fan open, she swung it in a powerful arc.

A large gust of wing smacked into the ninja with the force of a hurricane, and, as they lay groaning on the floor, she snapped her weapon shut.

Calmly walking towards the elevator, she felt the adrenaline start rushing through her veins.

‘Easy…’

Her eyes narrowed a bit.

‘A little TOO easy…’

Stepping in, she checked for traps before pressing the button for level 71, the highest level the elevator reached.

When it opened into an empty hallway beside another elevator, she quirked an eye-ridge when she heard sound behind the other doors.

Using Metalbending to force them open, she gave Mikey a blank look as he hung from a bar.

“…Having fun there, bro?”

“Nah…I’m just hanging…”

“I noticed, Master of Corny Jokes…”

“HEY…”

“Artemisia, come with us to the next floor.”

Looking down at the destroyed elevator 71 floors down, she held back the obvious question.

“Alright, sensei…”

Jumping up onto the cable, she sighed as Raph worked on forcing the doors open.

“Too bad you guys destroyed the elevator…”

Mikey grinned.

“I say ‘destroy the elevator and evil clones rather than get eaten’!”

“Evil…clones?”

She gave him a disbelieving look.

“You and your wild imagination…”

“I WISH they’d been part of my imagination!”

“…You WORRY me sometimes…”

Mike stuck his tongue out at her, and she grabbed it, making him squeak.

“Do you want to KEEP your tongue?”

He nodded frantically.

“Then DON’T do that again.”

Releasing the tongue and wiping her fingers off on his plastron, the gold-banded turtle jumped into the red and black decorated hallway.

She held up a hand, stopping the others from taking another step.

“Princess?”

“This is too easy…”

Closing her eyes, she shifted her feet slightly.

Seeming confused, the three brothers turned to the youngest.

“She’s like Toph! She’s ‘seeing’ with Earthbending! I bet she can ‘see’ the whole building!”

A little rock smacked Mikey on the head.

“OW!”

“SH!” She ordered dryly.

“I can’t concentrate with your voice buzzing in my ear…”

Artemis breathed out, trying to find her center.

‘I wonder why I couldn’t do this before…’

She raised a hand, placing it on the wall.

“Traps…”

Splinter nodded, having sensed them himself.

“We must proceed with caution.”

Jumping off the walls, the elderly rat didn’t let his feet touch the ground until he was on the other side.

Don followed, then Artemis, but Raph didn’t really believe there were traps…

“Raph, don’t-!”

Too late…

“…He’ll be the death of me yet…” The gold-banded turtle muttered crossly.

‘At least he got across safely…’

Mikey, however, nearly DID give her a heart attack, and he smiled sheepishly at the glare he received.

“What? The trendy new short headbands are in this season. All the stylish ninja are wearing them.”

“Crazy little idiots named Michelangelo, maybe!”

“…There are other people named Michelangelo?”

“…”

SMACK!!!

“OW!!! ARTIE…”

Leo got across without any incident, even returned Mikey’s mask tails with a stern warning, before they turned to the large doors.

It was the darkest black, with the Foot symbol in red on the middle.

‘Like it was written in blood…’

Once pushed open, they revealed an ethereal temple, mist shrouding the floor and pathway up to a Japanese-style temple, where five statues stood proudly.

Each had a symbol carved under them, and Artemis felt her muscles twitch a bit, eyes narrowing.

“Each of these symbols represents one of the five elements. Earth, fire, water, wind, and metal.” Splinter explained.

The statues came to life, blazing in their element.

Artemis cracked her knuckles, shifting her feet into a wider stance.

“I knew this would be interesting…”

Their strange weapons were pointed at the group of mutants as they were circled, boxed in from all sides.

The blue one shot a beam of water, and the gold-banded turtle redirected it towards the earth elemental.

Mikey backed up closer to her as the brown ‘spirit’ literally ABSORBED the blow.

“ARTIE…”

“Don’t worry.”

The earth shook strongly with a sound like thunder, and the jade-skinned turtle lifted her hands parallel to the ground.

It slowly stopped shaking, but her arms shook with effort as she fought for control.

“ARTEMIS!”

Said turtle was struck with a powerful gust of wind from the side, smacking her into the air and into a wall.

It crumbled on impact, sending dust into the air as the ground rumbled and split open like a mouth.

Artemis groaned in pain, shifting slowly as her muscles protested.

“OW…”

Sitting up, she put a hand to her head.

Flinching, she felt a warm liquid on the side of her head and fingers.

Closing one eye so the blood wouldn’t partially blind her, she stood up to her full height.

“That’s it…No more Ms. Nice Turtle…”

Pulling her hands back, she flexed her fingers, and then pushed them forward with all her strength.

A huge wave of air, like a mighty clap of thunder, sent the earth elemental into scattered pieces.

The water one, holding Raph in a suffocating bubble of liquid, raised his weapon against her.

Lifting a wall of rock, she pushed it towards the elemental, crushing and swallowing her opponent.

Moving her hands in softer motions, she pulled the water away from her red-banded brother.

As he gasped for air, filling his lungs, the fire one lunged for her from behind.

Lifting her hands, she brought the water up in a wave, quenching the flame.

Metal raced for her, and she breathed deeply, reaching for her inner fire…

Breathing fire like a dragon, she melted the elemental, and was left breathing deeply.

Snorting steam, she tried to steady herself.

Using Firebending still set her off-kilter, and left her unable to use it again without fear of losing control.

Wind smacked into her like a fist, and she flew back, barely managing to keep her footing.

“Artemis!”

“Stay back!” She snarled.

Stomping the ground, she brought up a large boulder of rock, punching it at her opponent.

A sharp gust shattered the stone, and smacked her back again.

Cuts showed up on her arms and legs, but she shook off the pain, growling.

Bringing up her hands, she shot her own gust back at the element.

They were at a stalemate, caught at equal force, until the elemental forced it all out in one massive blow.

Crying out as the wind cut into her, she flew back like a leaf in a hurricane, smacking into a wall and shattering it with her shell.

Falling from the deep crater, she landed on the ground in pain.

With a hiss, she tried to raise her left arm.

“Artemis!”

Leo raced to her side, seeing the break in her forearm.

“Artemis…”

“I’m fine…” She forced out, sitting up as best she could.

“Don’t use your arm! You’ll make it worse!”

Artemis clenched her teeth, closing her eyes to the pain.

“But…I’m the only one…”

“You’re not the only one. We’re in this together.”

She locked eyes with him, seeing the serious expression matched the brown eyes.

“…Alright…”

She smirked a bit, playful.

“At least we can use Mikey as bait.”

Nodding a bit and smiling slightly at the joke, he helped her up as the others were knocked back.

Splinter took the Sword of Tengu from Leo’s shell, and raised it even as smoke rose from the metal and his palms.

“Sensei!”

The wind elemental made a tornado, but Splinter managed a mighty swing that sent the ‘spirit’ into the temple, which fell in a crashing way.

The turtles ran forward, seeing Splinter’s hand raise itself from a pile of rocks.

“Master Splinter!”

Using her uninjured arm, she lifted up the chunks of stone and threw them aside.

As Raph and Mikey helped him stand, Artemis felt her heart squeeze when she saw his seared palms.

“Leonardo…Retrieve the sword…”

Using one hand to condense water onto her palm, she rested it on her father’s.

“To help with the burns…” She explained.

That’s when the liquid glowed, and the injuries disappeared.

Crimson eyes widening, she watched the water move up her arms, healing her cuts, along with the one on the side of her head, before concentrating on her right arm.

Closing her eyes, she felt bone realign, then a soothing feeling that sucked out the pain.

“…AWESOMENESS! You can heal with your Waterbending!”

Watching as the water dripped to the floor, she nodded slightly.

“I guess I can…”

“This makes you wonder what’s in store on the next twenty floors…” Don muttered.

“We’ve still got twenty floors to go?!” Mikey whined.

“If we even make it that far…” Raph added.

“There’s no ‘if’ about it!” Leo stated stubbornly, still lifting rocks away as he searched for the magical sword.

“We WILL make it to the Shredder! Have you guys forgotten how he forced us from our home? Burned down April’s building? Nearly killed us all?!”

He gripped the sword, raising it as it blazed blue.

“Because I sure haven’t! And I’m going to see this things through to the bitter end!”

Artemis smiled, nodding in return as she stood up.

“Not by yourself, you know. I’m with you.”

“Yeah! We’ll see this thing through together!”

“I’m wit’ ya guys.”

“Me, too.”

“ALL of us.” Splinter agreed.

“April, any chance of finding us a stairwell out of here?” Don asked into his headset.

After a few moments of silence as he listened, he eventually directed Leo to search the far wall for an elevator.

Cutting down a tapestry, the blue-banded turtle found just that.

They all stepped in, and Don put a finger to the headset.

“So where does this take us, April?”

The speaker was on now, and the door slid closed on the family of six…

“Straight to the top, boys…Straight to the top.”

“…There is no turning back now. But no matter what happens today, I have never been more proud of you all. My ninja. My children.”

Nodding, Artemis breathed out, feeling the steam on her breath.

‘Now or never…’

Leo took hold of her hand, entwining their fingers.

She gave a grateful smile, feeling the steadiness quell her uncertainty.

The elevator opened, and they all stepped out into another Foot symbol-decorated hallway.

There was one door left, and the boys stepped back as Artemis stepped forward, cracking her knuckles and rotating her shoulders.

“Time to start the party…”

Clenching her fingers into fists, she jumped up and kicked the door wide open.

It crumpled like paper, flying into the room.

Looking through the large, Japanese-style room warily, she shifted her feet slowly as the others followed her.

Weapons out, they moved in fully, Artemis keeping a tight grip on the two small fans in her grip.

Flashes of smoke revealed the Foot elite, their weapons looking deadly, just like they had before.

“Shredder’s Elite guard…”

“Ya can do it, bro. We’re all in this together.” Raph reassured.

Artemis felt her arms twitch, desperate to pull the blue-banded turtle into her arms in a hug.

“You don’t know how true that is, freak.” Hun stated from behind them, blocking their escape route.

“OH, I’m going to enjoy kicking your ass to Pluto…” The gold-banded turtle growled.

No one moved to attack, and it made the jade-skinned turtle more anxious than a real battle.

“What are they waitin’ fer?”

“…Orders.”

“Astute as usual, Leonardo.”

Bringing up her fans, she shifted, ready to move.

“I don’t know how you managed to survive our last encounter, but I can assure you, you will not survive this one!”

“Your little guard dogs can’t stop me!” Artemis snarled, knuckles white from her tight grip.

“Artemis.”

Pulling back slightly at the tone of voice, she looked over her shoulder at Leo.

“This is one I need to lead.”

She smiled in understanding.

“Lead away, Leo.”

“Elite…ATTACK!”

The brothers surged forward to meet the assault, and Artemis whipped around and away when Hun tried to grab her.

“Have to move faster than that!”

Jumping up, she did a roundhouse kick to his face, leaping back and bouncing from heel to heel, adrenaline rushing through her veins.

For the others, things weren’t going so well…

With a snap-kick, Hun was knocked back, and she landed sturdily.

Pulling her hands up with a quick pull, a group of rocks came out, and she did a punching motion in order to send them flying.

She felt someone come at her from behind, but didn’t have time to defend herself from the impending blow.

Closing her eyes, she was startled at a sudden sharp snarl and no pain.

Opening them, crimson eyes widened at the shape chewing and ripping at Hun’s arm with its fangs…

“Mitsukai?!”

The dog leaped off, snarling at the man as he backed up, gripping the bleeding cuts.

“MITSUKAI!!”

With a happy bark, the ninja dog tackled her, licking her face.

“I missed you too, girl! But now’s not the time!”

An elite tried to skewer her, but she breathed a gust of air, sending the ninja into the ceiling.

Sitting up, Mitsukai on her lap, she glared.

“How, rude! Can’t a girl have a little quality time with her dog? JEEZE!”

She stood up, the gold-furred husky growling at her side.

“Can’t even have a little reunion without someone trying to kill me…”

She shook her head, as if disappointed.

“I expected better than that…”

Bringing her hands up, she pushed air, sending the elite flying back.

“In the words of the ancient master…it ain’t over till its over.”

Everyone seemed ready for round two when the ground shattered before the Shredder himself, showing a large robot, the clear top showing Stockman’s head.

“…Shell and a bag of rotten shellfish…”

“What is this?! Baxter Stockman?!”

“In the flesh…So to speak.”

“You will pay for your false report of the turtle’s demise!! However, you can redeem yourself…Destroy the turtles!!”

Artemis brought her hands up, ready to Metalbend Stockman into a pretzel.

“You blind, ignorant, self-important fool!”

Artemis elbowed Mikey slightly.

“Look whose talking…”

“I didn’t make this suit to HELP you, Shredder. I made it to destroy you! For every punishment you inflicted upon me, I will make you suffer ten-fold! You will finally learn to respect my superior intellect!”

“Stockman, I’ll have your head for this!”

“No, Shredder. I’ll have yours.”

Artemis leaned back a bit, smirking.

“Well, we can either get caught in a three-way fight with those two or beat the crap out the one who wins.”

“I chose door number two!” Mikey answered.

“And YOU, meddlesome creatures! You have interfered with my plans for the last time!”

“…I guess we don’t get a choice, bro…”

“Can you BELIEVE this guys yap? Whack job city!”

“I have to agree with you…Have you noticed a lot of people we know are crazy?”

“You’ll all pay! All of you! Not one of you will leave this room alive! You’ll all be crushed by the genius of Baxter Stockman!”

“Are you sure it’s the genius? Because I’m pretty sure your ass is going to be crushing us.”

“You insolent little-!”

“Say the b word, and you’ll wish you were dead, buddy.” Artemis warned, eyes flashing with fire.

Don and Mikey were behind her at least, probably for protection from the crazy robot.

‘Nothing can be easy, can it?’

She snorted steam like a bull.

‘Then again, where would the fun be in that?’