Sequel: Angel's Child ›
Golden Angel
Chapter 26
“Attack! Destroy them all!”
Stockman blasted Honeycutt back, and the five mutants clashed with Foot ninja.
Gritting her teeth, Artemis felt fire flare under her skin…
‘Hold it in…’
It seemed to turn white-hot, and a thought occurred to her…
The fire escaped her skin in a near-explosion, and she stumbled forward, free, but weak from the sudden escape of strength.
“Artemis!”
Leo caught her before she fell fully, and her head rang painfully as she weakly wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“It hurts, Leo…”
“I know, love…But hold on…”
Shakily, she managed to get back her footing.
“I don’t think I’ll be doing THAT again…” She admitted, smiling weakly.
“I hope not.”
A ninja tried sneaking up on the blue-banded turtle from behind, and Artemis used his arms as a pivot so she could flip over him and kick the ninja in the face.
Landing on her feet behind him left the turtle’s shell-to-shell, and she smiled wider.
“Didn’t see that one coming, did you?”
He smiled playfully, unsheathing his katana.
“Maybe…”
“That means you didn’t…”
She giggled before jumping up, kicking a ninja in the stomach as he tried to strike them from above.
The guardians came to protect Mortu from the Elite, but the Utrom still had to fight the Shredder.
“Mortu, I have anticipated this moment for nearly ten centuries!”
“I’m surprised that with your genius, it took you a thousand years to find us!”
Artemis, personally, was confused by that…
‘A thousand years? But wouldn’t he have to be immortal or something to wait that long?’
“If those guys have been enemies for that long…Then that means…” Leo muttered.
“This is the same Shredder from a thousand years ago!”
“…Okay, I’m DEFINITELY out of the loop…What?”
“It’s a long story, Artie.” Mikey stated, knocking a ninja upside the head.
“I got THAT much.” She retorted, doing a sweeping kick and knocking an enemy onto his back.
“But what IS the story?”
“Maybe if you weren’t so CHICKEN to get into the pod, you’d know!”
“Did you just call me a chicken?”
She glared at him, and she elbowed a ninja in the neck as he came at her from behind.
“…No?”
“I thought so…”
She noticed Hun grab Mortu from behind, and jumped up.
“Hey!”
Her foot smacked into his nose, and he stumbled back, releasing his hold.
“That’s not very nice!”
Jumping off, she cried out in surprise when a hand grabbed her ankle and slammed her shell-first into the ground.
“OW…”
Utroms flew in on their strange pads, shooting lasers.
Shredder, releasing his hold on her as she pulled her shell from the crater it had made, fought off the little Utroms easily.
Earth crumbled off her shell, and she rubbed her head as it rang.
Looking around in a bit of a daze, she spotted a defenseless Utrom about to be cut in half by an Elite guard.
Moving her hand forward in a sharp punch, the ninja was knocked away, and she ran forward, scooping up the little alien.
Jumping into the air with an Airbending boost, she sighed.
“Sorry about this…”
“What? Why-?”
“DONNIE! CATCH!”
“Wha-?! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
Artemis made a ball of air to stand on, and only breathed out when her brother caught the poor Utrom.
“No hard feelings?!”
A spear-wielding Elite jumped up to try and skewer her, but she jumped away, spinning in the air to make a tornado that knocked him away.
Landing in a handstand, she flipped away from a ninja as he swung a katana at her plastron.
A simple roundhouse kick took care of him, and she looked around for anymore fights.
‘…Is that little idiot SERIOUSLY going to attack Raph and Mikey at the same time?’
The two turtles got blasted into a wall…
‘Shell…’
Stepping on the metal casing, she smirked as the little robotic spider struggled.
“Not so fun NOW, is it?”
“Get off of me, you little slut!”
“EXCUSE ME?” She snarled, and the clear crack of metal breaking cut through the air like a kunai.
“I’d take that back before I decide to leave you with only an EYE.”
Something cracked loudly, hurting her ears, but he shocked her off.
“You slippery little basturd!”
The little red beams hit her straight in the chest, and she flew through the air, smacking unceremoniously into Hun, knocking him right over.
“Well…At least this cloud had a silver lining…”
Her wit was not rewarded, as it never was, and her arms were pinned to her sides by a large arm.
“OKAY, hugging is COMPLETELY uncomfortable!”
Legs flailing as she struggled, she grunted when the large arm tightened on her chest.
Lungs begging for air, she went by instinct.
Blood filled her mouth as her teeth broke skin, and Hun cried out.
His grip loosened enough where she could jump away, blood slipping from her mouth and down her chin.
“EW…MOUTHWASH!”
Spitting out some of the red liquid, Artemis shuddered.
“Ew-Ew-EW! It tastes like CRAP!”
The others seemed to be doing well, even though, when Stockman left to mess with the Transmat, the door was blocked.
Shredder was MOMENTARILY dealt with, and Mortu ran to the controls.
Two Elites and Hun ran to free their master, and the six mutants fought off the rest of the ninja.
“We will send assistance as soon as the Transmat is secured!” Mortu promised as he, the Utroms, the guardians, and Honeycutt ran to where the device would be.
“No problem! We’ll be fine!”
Shredder came free of his ‘prison’…
“…On the other hand…HURRY!”
They tried to make it to the door, but now the turtles and their sensei were the ones blocking it.
“Ya’ll have ta go through us first.”
“You are not worth wasting my time!”
He tapped at some keys, and a strange substance went over the door.
“…Oh, shell…”
A strange liquid came out of the sacks lining the room, and Artemis tried to divert the flow away from them.
However, someone grabbing her arm and dragging her feet out from under her messed THAT up…
“SHELL!”
A tunnel came out of the wall, and she struggled as Hun dragged her through.
“Let me go!”
The tunnel started closing, and her eyes widened as water came up to the lip.
“LEO!”
With the tunnel gone and the wall looking undamaged, the gold-banded turtle was surprised by a painful swipe at her cheek.
She felt two cuts open, leaking blood down her skin as she breathed out, holding back the bile in her throat.
“I never want you to say that name in my presence again.”
“…You can break my arms, crack my rips, rip open my shell, and make me scream…”
Her eyes looked defiant, like a wildfire.
“But you can’t make me stop loving him…”
He grabbed her mask tails, which she realized were now becoming stained a bright crimson with her own blood.
“We’ll see…”
The Foot headed straight for the Transmat, and Artemis still struggled violently.
Her shell was thrown against a wall, dazing her as lasers were fired.
Her eyes opened with a snap when she felt her family nearby, and she sat up wearily.
‘I’ve pushed myself too far…’
She gritted her teeth, getting up on shaky legs.
‘But I need to push myself more…’
“I grow tired of you creatures and your constant interference! Elite ninja, ATTACK!”
Without a moment to steady herself, she brought her hands up in a familiar Waterbending move, meant to make a wall of ice.
However, the Elite ninja stopped instead, as if in no control of their own bodies.
“…Oh-My-God…Artie’s BLOODBENDING…”
“You know, it would be nice if I knew WHY…”
“…Isn’t it a full moon tonight, Donnie?”
“YEAH…”
“Well, that explains it!”
“…NO IT DOESN’T!”
Hun charged for her like a bull, and her eyes widened.
“OH SHIT-!”
Moving her hands in an automatic reaction to the onslaught, the Elite smacked into the mountain of a man.
“…I didn’t mean to do that…”
The five got up, sending her death glares…
“Now-Now…let’s not get violent…”
Taking a step back, she smiled sheepishly.
“Why don’t we have a nice pot of tea and talk this over?”
They lunged, and she jumped up, sitting on a ball of swirling wind.
“Well, there goes the peaceful approach…”
The Foot then went after the others, and she jumped to the ground.
Bringing up her hands, she made the earth quake with sheer force of will.
Her brothers fought on the large wires and such above, and held their own, so she wasn’t worried for them.
Really, doing this caused Stockman some distress as he went for the Transmat.
As one hand continued this, she brought her other one up to her side, bringing water into her fist before it froze.
Spinning around, she got a Foot Elite in the face with her reinforced fist.
“Stockman, step away from the controls!”
Artemis stopped, thinking the Shredder had fallen off his rocker, when she realized it was Honeycutt.
‘Controlling Stockman? Nice…’
“Stockman, don’t listen to him! You obey only me!”
“Don’t listen to him! Override all voice command protocols!”
Stockman’s head seemed to spark and sputter, and the gold-banded turtle quirked an eye-ridge.
“…WHOA…”
“I’m…I’m free! I obey no one now!”
“I think he lost a few screws along the way…”
The strange spider-head clamped onto the Shredder’s chest, shocking him thoroughly.
“OH…That’s GOTTA hurt…”
“Who’s in charge NOW, MASTER?”
Electricity was flying everywhere, and Artemis thawed the ice and moved it to defend her brothers from the shock.
“I’m free! Free from him at last!”
The turtles stared in surprise at the Shredder’s motionless body.
“Um…?”
Stockman scuttled away, laughing evilly, and Artemis and Mikey shared a glance…
“WEIRD…Jinx, you owe me a soda! …SHELL!”
Hun lifted the body of his master, glaring at them.
“We’ll be back, freaks.”
A strange device fell from the Shredder’s hand as the Foot retreated, and its claws dug into the ground before a countdown began.
Strange red spider webs spread across the floor, the walls, the ceiling…
“That’s not good, is it?”
“Do not touch it! It is an Utrom Implosion Device! The techno-organic virus it contains will destroy you! Already, it is slowly infecting the system…”
Mortu ran to see what he could do.
“The entire building will implode…In less than ten minutes!”
Everyone looked surprised, and turned stunned glances to the timer.
“Can you stop it?” Don asked.
“No. Unfortunately, the virus is comprehensive…It spreads too quickly…”
“So Shredder found a way ta stick it ta us…Even in defeat…”
“Well, I’m not done yet!” Artemis stated stubbornly.
“I’m not going to stop fighting just yet. Are you with me?”
Mikey grinned.
“Always a cheerleader…”
SMACK!!!
“OW!!!”
“But what can we do? We can’t disarm it…Unless…”
She felt a bit uncomfortable with the look Don had on his face…
“Donnie…?”
“Maybe you can stop the blast using your Firebending.”
“I can’t CONTROL my Firebending. I might do more harm than good if the blast is too large.”
A hologram screen came up of three humans, though they suspected they were Utroms in disguise.
“Troops are coming deeper into the building.”
“We have to get them out before the building implodes!” Leo stated.
“The lower floors are completely sealed off. There’s no way to contact them.” Mortu answered.
“If only there was SOMEONE on the outside we could contact…”
Eyes widening, she locked gazes with Mikey and Raph.
“April and Casey!”
Leo immediately pulled out his Shell Cell, calling the red-head.
“April, Casey! It’s me! Leo!”
“Hello? Leo? Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m hearing your voice!”
“Me neither! When did ya get three-way callin’?”
Artemis took the Shell Cell for a moment.
“April, hit Casey for me…”
“GLADLY…”
There was a smacking sound over the line, and the gold-banded turtle grinned before handing the phone back.
“What?!”
“HELLO? ALIVE?”
“OH…Right…YAHOO!”
“Listen, you have to get the message out to evacuate the building! It’s going to self-destruct in about six minutes!”
As April and Casey tried to help, the crimson-eyed turtle felt fidgety.
“Mr. Mortu, the Transmat is powered up.”
Guardians ran in carrying Utroms, ready to get onto the Transmat.
“Primary team, assemble on the platform! We’re going home.”
They were transported home without any trouble, but time was running too low for her taste.
Four minutes left now, and it was the Councils turn, as the last Utroms, to evacuate.
“Professor Honeycutt, would you care to join us? We would gladly offer you asylum on our home world.”
“Really? Me? To live among an advanced race where my knowledge will be used for good? It’s a dream come true! But, my friends…I will miss you…”
Artemis smiled slightly.
“We’ll miss you, too. But this is for the best. I mean, how many people can say they’re friends with four mutated ninja turtles?”
“I…I can’t thank you all enough…”
“Take care of yourself, Professor.” Don stated, and the ‘Fugitoid’ stepped onto the large device.
“Mr. Mortu, thank you…For everything.” Leo stated.
“Man…I hate long goodbyes!”
Mikey latched onto his sister’s shell in fake tears, and she rolled her eyes before pushing him off.
“Come back when you’re actually crying, shell-for-brains…”
“It has been an honor to know you and your race, Mortu-san.”
Splinter bowed respectfully.
“It is WE who are honored, Master Splinter. Before we leave, a small token of our appreciation.”
A strange orb appeared in the robot’s hand, and he handed it over to the elderly rat.
It suddenly glowed, and seemed to take their father to a pleasant place before he returned.
“Your Master Yoshi was the most loyal guardian to serve the Utrom. He gave his life to protect us, but his spirit lives in our collective history. And now, my friends, you must leave this building while you still can.”
Mortu stepped out of the mechanical shell, heading for the Transmat.
“Donatello, you would do me the honor of powering up the Transmat?”
“SWEET! I’m all over it!”
“Our little techno-geek just got his dream come true…”
A couple shuriken hit the controls, and electricity raced through the air.
Turning sharply, Artemis pulled out her small fans and snapped them open, before registering that it was the Shredder and his ‘slaves’.
“As long as I live, you will not leave this place alive!”
The man of metal jumped into the fray, knocking them down as he tried to get to Mortu.
A wall of earth blocked his path, and whips of water deterred him from getting close enough to break it.
Her brothers and sensei physically knocked the Shredder back as the Transmat powered up and sent the Utroms and their guardians ‘home’.
Hun and the Elite went to track down Stockman as they did, but Shredder seemed royally pissed that his enemies had escaped him.
“You…You have been little more than thorns in my side…But now, you have robbed me of my triumph! And for that, you shall pay with your lives!”
Splinter blocked the sharp gauntlet with his walking stick.
“Shredder, there is no time! The building is about to implode! Even you could not survive!”
“And we like LIVING, thank you!”
“Then we shall all perish! Together!”
Don attacked with his Bo, but the staff broke in two on the harsh metal.
He was kicked away as Artemis brought wind to her aid, smacking gusts of it into the metal, red-eyed man.
Time was running out, and they were getting their butts kicked!
They cut him open pretty bad, and the Shredder cried out as sparks flew.
“Guys, use your weapons to penetrate his armor!” Don shouted, working on something.
“I think we can stop him for good!”
Stabbing her fans in the Shredder’s chest, she jumped back to make room for the others to do the same.
“You pathetic creatures! You can not hurt me!”
“Don’t be so sure!”
Using wires, Don shocked the Shredder so badly he fell down smoking.
With a hiss, the stomach plates moved, revealing a red, purple-scarred Utrom…
“Oh my God!”
Stepping back, she almost threw up there and then.
“The Shredder’s an UTROM?”
“I THINK WE NOTICED THAT!”
“Is Artie freaked out because he has the hots for you?”
“Mikey, get your little ass over here so I can kick it!”
The little Utrom jumped on Raph’s face, and Artemis panicked.
“Oh God!”
Bringing earth to her hands, she grabbed hold and started pulling back.
For leverage, she put her feet on Raph’s plastron.
“Get him off! Or there’ll be a little Shredder alien popping out of Raph’s chest!”
“Leo, HIT HIM FOR ME!”
SMACK!!!
“OW!!!”
Shredder tried to bite her, but the earth guarded her skin from his teeth.
“HA! Nice try!”
She managed to make him release her brother, and chucked him.
“NOT!”
As the earth crumbled away, she looked at the time…
“…TEN SECONDS!”
“Guys, quick! I’ve got the Transmat recalibrated!”
They ran for the device, eager to escape the soon-to-be-imploded building.
“I hope wherever we’re going is a lot better than the last place we went!”
The Transmat powered up, and they were transported away seconds before the Shredder would’ve attacked them or the bomb could detonate.
However, suddenly falling through the air wasn’t terribly FUN either…
Landing on the unforgiving roof of the Battle Shell, Artemis groaned.
“Nice destination, Donnie…It’s a wonder I let you drive…”
“Sorry?”
“Guys! Master Splinter! You’re alive!” April stated gratefully.
They jumped down, reuniting with their human friends.
“It’s great to see you guys…But I feel a little sleepy…”
With a yawn, Artemis stretched her arms as her eyes threatened to close.
Leo picked her straight up, smiling a bit at the surprised yelp and nuzzle he received.
“I suggest we continue our conversation in a less conspicuous location.”
Everyone climbed into the Battle Shell, settling into the seats.
Artemis curled up, eyes almost closed…
“So, do you think we truly defeated the Shredder this time?” Leo asked as he patted her head comfortingly.
“Shredder? Don’t tell me he was in there, too!” April stated.
Artemis slipped off as her brothers shared a knowing glance…
“BOY, do we have a story to tell YOU…”
Stockman blasted Honeycutt back, and the five mutants clashed with Foot ninja.
Gritting her teeth, Artemis felt fire flare under her skin…
‘Hold it in…’
It seemed to turn white-hot, and a thought occurred to her…
The fire escaped her skin in a near-explosion, and she stumbled forward, free, but weak from the sudden escape of strength.
“Artemis!”
Leo caught her before she fell fully, and her head rang painfully as she weakly wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“It hurts, Leo…”
“I know, love…But hold on…”
Shakily, she managed to get back her footing.
“I don’t think I’ll be doing THAT again…” She admitted, smiling weakly.
“I hope not.”
A ninja tried sneaking up on the blue-banded turtle from behind, and Artemis used his arms as a pivot so she could flip over him and kick the ninja in the face.
Landing on her feet behind him left the turtle’s shell-to-shell, and she smiled wider.
“Didn’t see that one coming, did you?”
He smiled playfully, unsheathing his katana.
“Maybe…”
“That means you didn’t…”
She giggled before jumping up, kicking a ninja in the stomach as he tried to strike them from above.
The guardians came to protect Mortu from the Elite, but the Utrom still had to fight the Shredder.
“Mortu, I have anticipated this moment for nearly ten centuries!”
“I’m surprised that with your genius, it took you a thousand years to find us!”
Artemis, personally, was confused by that…
‘A thousand years? But wouldn’t he have to be immortal or something to wait that long?’
“If those guys have been enemies for that long…Then that means…” Leo muttered.
“This is the same Shredder from a thousand years ago!”
“…Okay, I’m DEFINITELY out of the loop…What?”
“It’s a long story, Artie.” Mikey stated, knocking a ninja upside the head.
“I got THAT much.” She retorted, doing a sweeping kick and knocking an enemy onto his back.
“But what IS the story?”
“Maybe if you weren’t so CHICKEN to get into the pod, you’d know!”
“Did you just call me a chicken?”
She glared at him, and she elbowed a ninja in the neck as he came at her from behind.
“…No?”
“I thought so…”
She noticed Hun grab Mortu from behind, and jumped up.
“Hey!”
Her foot smacked into his nose, and he stumbled back, releasing his hold.
“That’s not very nice!”
Jumping off, she cried out in surprise when a hand grabbed her ankle and slammed her shell-first into the ground.
“OW…”
Utroms flew in on their strange pads, shooting lasers.
Shredder, releasing his hold on her as she pulled her shell from the crater it had made, fought off the little Utroms easily.
Earth crumbled off her shell, and she rubbed her head as it rang.
Looking around in a bit of a daze, she spotted a defenseless Utrom about to be cut in half by an Elite guard.
Moving her hand forward in a sharp punch, the ninja was knocked away, and she ran forward, scooping up the little alien.
Jumping into the air with an Airbending boost, she sighed.
“Sorry about this…”
“What? Why-?”
“DONNIE! CATCH!”
“Wha-?! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
Artemis made a ball of air to stand on, and only breathed out when her brother caught the poor Utrom.
“No hard feelings?!”
A spear-wielding Elite jumped up to try and skewer her, but she jumped away, spinning in the air to make a tornado that knocked him away.
Landing in a handstand, she flipped away from a ninja as he swung a katana at her plastron.
A simple roundhouse kick took care of him, and she looked around for anymore fights.
‘…Is that little idiot SERIOUSLY going to attack Raph and Mikey at the same time?’
The two turtles got blasted into a wall…
‘Shell…’
Stepping on the metal casing, she smirked as the little robotic spider struggled.
“Not so fun NOW, is it?”
“Get off of me, you little slut!”
“EXCUSE ME?” She snarled, and the clear crack of metal breaking cut through the air like a kunai.
“I’d take that back before I decide to leave you with only an EYE.”
Something cracked loudly, hurting her ears, but he shocked her off.
“You slippery little basturd!”
The little red beams hit her straight in the chest, and she flew through the air, smacking unceremoniously into Hun, knocking him right over.
“Well…At least this cloud had a silver lining…”
Her wit was not rewarded, as it never was, and her arms were pinned to her sides by a large arm.
“OKAY, hugging is COMPLETELY uncomfortable!”
Legs flailing as she struggled, she grunted when the large arm tightened on her chest.
Lungs begging for air, she went by instinct.
Blood filled her mouth as her teeth broke skin, and Hun cried out.
His grip loosened enough where she could jump away, blood slipping from her mouth and down her chin.
“EW…MOUTHWASH!”
Spitting out some of the red liquid, Artemis shuddered.
“Ew-Ew-EW! It tastes like CRAP!”
The others seemed to be doing well, even though, when Stockman left to mess with the Transmat, the door was blocked.
Shredder was MOMENTARILY dealt with, and Mortu ran to the controls.
Two Elites and Hun ran to free their master, and the six mutants fought off the rest of the ninja.
“We will send assistance as soon as the Transmat is secured!” Mortu promised as he, the Utroms, the guardians, and Honeycutt ran to where the device would be.
“No problem! We’ll be fine!”
Shredder came free of his ‘prison’…
“…On the other hand…HURRY!”
They tried to make it to the door, but now the turtles and their sensei were the ones blocking it.
“Ya’ll have ta go through us first.”
“You are not worth wasting my time!”
He tapped at some keys, and a strange substance went over the door.
“…Oh, shell…”
A strange liquid came out of the sacks lining the room, and Artemis tried to divert the flow away from them.
However, someone grabbing her arm and dragging her feet out from under her messed THAT up…
“SHELL!”
A tunnel came out of the wall, and she struggled as Hun dragged her through.
“Let me go!”
The tunnel started closing, and her eyes widened as water came up to the lip.
“LEO!”
With the tunnel gone and the wall looking undamaged, the gold-banded turtle was surprised by a painful swipe at her cheek.
She felt two cuts open, leaking blood down her skin as she breathed out, holding back the bile in her throat.
“I never want you to say that name in my presence again.”
“…You can break my arms, crack my rips, rip open my shell, and make me scream…”
Her eyes looked defiant, like a wildfire.
“But you can’t make me stop loving him…”
He grabbed her mask tails, which she realized were now becoming stained a bright crimson with her own blood.
“We’ll see…”
The Foot headed straight for the Transmat, and Artemis still struggled violently.
Her shell was thrown against a wall, dazing her as lasers were fired.
Her eyes opened with a snap when she felt her family nearby, and she sat up wearily.
‘I’ve pushed myself too far…’
She gritted her teeth, getting up on shaky legs.
‘But I need to push myself more…’
“I grow tired of you creatures and your constant interference! Elite ninja, ATTACK!”
Without a moment to steady herself, she brought her hands up in a familiar Waterbending move, meant to make a wall of ice.
However, the Elite ninja stopped instead, as if in no control of their own bodies.
“…Oh-My-God…Artie’s BLOODBENDING…”
“You know, it would be nice if I knew WHY…”
“…Isn’t it a full moon tonight, Donnie?”
“YEAH…”
“Well, that explains it!”
“…NO IT DOESN’T!”
Hun charged for her like a bull, and her eyes widened.
“OH SHIT-!”
Moving her hands in an automatic reaction to the onslaught, the Elite smacked into the mountain of a man.
“…I didn’t mean to do that…”
The five got up, sending her death glares…
“Now-Now…let’s not get violent…”
Taking a step back, she smiled sheepishly.
“Why don’t we have a nice pot of tea and talk this over?”
They lunged, and she jumped up, sitting on a ball of swirling wind.
“Well, there goes the peaceful approach…”
The Foot then went after the others, and she jumped to the ground.
Bringing up her hands, she made the earth quake with sheer force of will.
Her brothers fought on the large wires and such above, and held their own, so she wasn’t worried for them.
Really, doing this caused Stockman some distress as he went for the Transmat.
As one hand continued this, she brought her other one up to her side, bringing water into her fist before it froze.
Spinning around, she got a Foot Elite in the face with her reinforced fist.
“Stockman, step away from the controls!”
Artemis stopped, thinking the Shredder had fallen off his rocker, when she realized it was Honeycutt.
‘Controlling Stockman? Nice…’
“Stockman, don’t listen to him! You obey only me!”
“Don’t listen to him! Override all voice command protocols!”
Stockman’s head seemed to spark and sputter, and the gold-banded turtle quirked an eye-ridge.
“…WHOA…”
“I’m…I’m free! I obey no one now!”
“I think he lost a few screws along the way…”
The strange spider-head clamped onto the Shredder’s chest, shocking him thoroughly.
“OH…That’s GOTTA hurt…”
“Who’s in charge NOW, MASTER?”
Electricity was flying everywhere, and Artemis thawed the ice and moved it to defend her brothers from the shock.
“I’m free! Free from him at last!”
The turtles stared in surprise at the Shredder’s motionless body.
“Um…?”
Stockman scuttled away, laughing evilly, and Artemis and Mikey shared a glance…
“WEIRD…Jinx, you owe me a soda! …SHELL!”
Hun lifted the body of his master, glaring at them.
“We’ll be back, freaks.”
A strange device fell from the Shredder’s hand as the Foot retreated, and its claws dug into the ground before a countdown began.
Strange red spider webs spread across the floor, the walls, the ceiling…
“That’s not good, is it?”
“Do not touch it! It is an Utrom Implosion Device! The techno-organic virus it contains will destroy you! Already, it is slowly infecting the system…”
Mortu ran to see what he could do.
“The entire building will implode…In less than ten minutes!”
Everyone looked surprised, and turned stunned glances to the timer.
“Can you stop it?” Don asked.
“No. Unfortunately, the virus is comprehensive…It spreads too quickly…”
“So Shredder found a way ta stick it ta us…Even in defeat…”
“Well, I’m not done yet!” Artemis stated stubbornly.
“I’m not going to stop fighting just yet. Are you with me?”
Mikey grinned.
“Always a cheerleader…”
SMACK!!!
“OW!!!”
“But what can we do? We can’t disarm it…Unless…”
She felt a bit uncomfortable with the look Don had on his face…
“Donnie…?”
“Maybe you can stop the blast using your Firebending.”
“I can’t CONTROL my Firebending. I might do more harm than good if the blast is too large.”
A hologram screen came up of three humans, though they suspected they were Utroms in disguise.
“Troops are coming deeper into the building.”
“We have to get them out before the building implodes!” Leo stated.
“The lower floors are completely sealed off. There’s no way to contact them.” Mortu answered.
“If only there was SOMEONE on the outside we could contact…”
Eyes widening, she locked gazes with Mikey and Raph.
“April and Casey!”
Leo immediately pulled out his Shell Cell, calling the red-head.
“April, Casey! It’s me! Leo!”
“Hello? Leo? Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m hearing your voice!”
“Me neither! When did ya get three-way callin’?”
Artemis took the Shell Cell for a moment.
“April, hit Casey for me…”
“GLADLY…”
There was a smacking sound over the line, and the gold-banded turtle grinned before handing the phone back.
“What?!”
“HELLO? ALIVE?”
“OH…Right…YAHOO!”
“Listen, you have to get the message out to evacuate the building! It’s going to self-destruct in about six minutes!”
As April and Casey tried to help, the crimson-eyed turtle felt fidgety.
“Mr. Mortu, the Transmat is powered up.”
Guardians ran in carrying Utroms, ready to get onto the Transmat.
“Primary team, assemble on the platform! We’re going home.”
They were transported home without any trouble, but time was running too low for her taste.
Four minutes left now, and it was the Councils turn, as the last Utroms, to evacuate.
“Professor Honeycutt, would you care to join us? We would gladly offer you asylum on our home world.”
“Really? Me? To live among an advanced race where my knowledge will be used for good? It’s a dream come true! But, my friends…I will miss you…”
Artemis smiled slightly.
“We’ll miss you, too. But this is for the best. I mean, how many people can say they’re friends with four mutated ninja turtles?”
“I…I can’t thank you all enough…”
“Take care of yourself, Professor.” Don stated, and the ‘Fugitoid’ stepped onto the large device.
“Mr. Mortu, thank you…For everything.” Leo stated.
“Man…I hate long goodbyes!”
Mikey latched onto his sister’s shell in fake tears, and she rolled her eyes before pushing him off.
“Come back when you’re actually crying, shell-for-brains…”
“It has been an honor to know you and your race, Mortu-san.”
Splinter bowed respectfully.
“It is WE who are honored, Master Splinter. Before we leave, a small token of our appreciation.”
A strange orb appeared in the robot’s hand, and he handed it over to the elderly rat.
It suddenly glowed, and seemed to take their father to a pleasant place before he returned.
“Your Master Yoshi was the most loyal guardian to serve the Utrom. He gave his life to protect us, but his spirit lives in our collective history. And now, my friends, you must leave this building while you still can.”
Mortu stepped out of the mechanical shell, heading for the Transmat.
“Donatello, you would do me the honor of powering up the Transmat?”
“SWEET! I’m all over it!”
“Our little techno-geek just got his dream come true…”
A couple shuriken hit the controls, and electricity raced through the air.
Turning sharply, Artemis pulled out her small fans and snapped them open, before registering that it was the Shredder and his ‘slaves’.
“As long as I live, you will not leave this place alive!”
The man of metal jumped into the fray, knocking them down as he tried to get to Mortu.
A wall of earth blocked his path, and whips of water deterred him from getting close enough to break it.
Her brothers and sensei physically knocked the Shredder back as the Transmat powered up and sent the Utroms and their guardians ‘home’.
Hun and the Elite went to track down Stockman as they did, but Shredder seemed royally pissed that his enemies had escaped him.
“You…You have been little more than thorns in my side…But now, you have robbed me of my triumph! And for that, you shall pay with your lives!”
Splinter blocked the sharp gauntlet with his walking stick.
“Shredder, there is no time! The building is about to implode! Even you could not survive!”
“And we like LIVING, thank you!”
“Then we shall all perish! Together!”
Don attacked with his Bo, but the staff broke in two on the harsh metal.
He was kicked away as Artemis brought wind to her aid, smacking gusts of it into the metal, red-eyed man.
Time was running out, and they were getting their butts kicked!
They cut him open pretty bad, and the Shredder cried out as sparks flew.
“Guys, use your weapons to penetrate his armor!” Don shouted, working on something.
“I think we can stop him for good!”
Stabbing her fans in the Shredder’s chest, she jumped back to make room for the others to do the same.
“You pathetic creatures! You can not hurt me!”
“Don’t be so sure!”
Using wires, Don shocked the Shredder so badly he fell down smoking.
With a hiss, the stomach plates moved, revealing a red, purple-scarred Utrom…
“Oh my God!”
Stepping back, she almost threw up there and then.
“The Shredder’s an UTROM?”
“I THINK WE NOTICED THAT!”
“Is Artie freaked out because he has the hots for you?”
“Mikey, get your little ass over here so I can kick it!”
The little Utrom jumped on Raph’s face, and Artemis panicked.
“Oh God!”
Bringing earth to her hands, she grabbed hold and started pulling back.
For leverage, she put her feet on Raph’s plastron.
“Get him off! Or there’ll be a little Shredder alien popping out of Raph’s chest!”
“Leo, HIT HIM FOR ME!”
SMACK!!!
“OW!!!”
Shredder tried to bite her, but the earth guarded her skin from his teeth.
“HA! Nice try!”
She managed to make him release her brother, and chucked him.
“NOT!”
As the earth crumbled away, she looked at the time…
“…TEN SECONDS!”
“Guys, quick! I’ve got the Transmat recalibrated!”
They ran for the device, eager to escape the soon-to-be-imploded building.
“I hope wherever we’re going is a lot better than the last place we went!”
The Transmat powered up, and they were transported away seconds before the Shredder would’ve attacked them or the bomb could detonate.
However, suddenly falling through the air wasn’t terribly FUN either…
Landing on the unforgiving roof of the Battle Shell, Artemis groaned.
“Nice destination, Donnie…It’s a wonder I let you drive…”
“Sorry?”
“Guys! Master Splinter! You’re alive!” April stated gratefully.
They jumped down, reuniting with their human friends.
“It’s great to see you guys…But I feel a little sleepy…”
With a yawn, Artemis stretched her arms as her eyes threatened to close.
Leo picked her straight up, smiling a bit at the surprised yelp and nuzzle he received.
“I suggest we continue our conversation in a less conspicuous location.”
Everyone climbed into the Battle Shell, settling into the seats.
Artemis curled up, eyes almost closed…
“So, do you think we truly defeated the Shredder this time?” Leo asked as he patted her head comfortingly.
“Shredder? Don’t tell me he was in there, too!” April stated.
Artemis slipped off as her brothers shared a knowing glance…
“BOY, do we have a story to tell YOU…”