Golden Angel

Sitting on the floor, Artemis kept a close eye on the sleeping human on the couch.

“Can we keep her?”

“No, Mikey. I wouldn’t even trust you with a super-pet that could go years without food or water, had animantium skin, didn’t poop, pee, or bite, and could basically take care of itself.”

“Why?”

“Because you’d find a way to kill it.”

“Oh, come on! I’m not THAT irresponsible!”

“Remember Mr. Fishy?”

“…No?”

“Mikey, you had a funeral for darn thing when you kept forgetting to feed him!”

She shook her head, sighing.

“I don’t even understand why I got you the damn thing…”

“I was seven!”

“And obviously, you kept your short attention span.”

“Can you guys stop bickering?”

Looking up at her purple-banded brother, she shrugged.

“I’ll try, but that’s a hard thing to promise.”

She smirked.

“I mean, Mikey’s SUCH an easy target…”

“HEY…”

The others came to join in the watch, and Artemis leaned back on her hands.

Closing her eyes, she tried to relax, and didn’t notice Leo trying NOT to stare.

The woman started to stir, muttering something about having a strange dream.

Sleepy at first, panic seemed to wake her with adrenaline when she saw the five turtles.

“Um…hello?” Artemis greeted uneasily.

Mikey got into the humans ‘personal space’ with a grin.

“Hi!”

“AHHH!!!”

“AHHHHHHH!!!!”

Artemis fell back laughing at Mikey’s girly scream.

“PLEASE don’t do that! I almost jumped out of my shell…” Mikey begged, holding up a hand.

“It-Has-Three-Fingers!”

The red-head pulled the pillow over her head, muttering something about being asleep.

The gold-banded turtle shook her head.

“NICE ONE, Mikey…”

“What? We’re kinda new to this!”

“I have to admit, this isn’t going very well…” Don added in.

“Well, we don’t have much practice talking to humans! This’ll just take a little time.”

“Or you can just leave the room. Both work.”

“ARTIE…”

Hearing the mutters, Mikey yawned.

“Man…She’s making ME sleepy…”

Raph, blunt and straightforward as a bull, walked up to the couch and tapped the human on the shoulder.

“Hey, ya.”

Lifting the pillow in surprise, Artemis saw her wide green eyes.

“Huh?”

“What do ya know ‘bout those Mouser robot thin’s?”

“Well…First, I thought they were to clean up the city’s rat problem…But, then I got suspicious when Doctor Stockman said-. Oh no…I’m talking to it…”

Rolling her eyes, Artemis fell back on her shell.

“This may take a while…”

“To what?” Leo asked.

“Talking to it. To you.”

“You walked RIGHT into that one, Leo…” Artemis stated.

“Okay, April…You’re talking to a giant, three-fingered turtle…The only logical explanation is that you’re dreaming. So everything’s okay.”

“Seriously, if someone dreams up a giant talking turtle, I’d start to worry.”

“ARTIE!”

“What?”

She looked innocently up at the blue-banded turtle.

“It’s true!”

Believing she was dreaming, April actually started talking.

Artemis quirked an eye-ridge at the strange behavior.

“I think I’ll be over there…” She stated slowly, moving to a table she’d pulled out so she could repair her fans, decorative or otherwise.

Setting her fans on them, she jumped at a scream April let loose.

“JEEZE! I can’t take the screaming!”

Rubbing her ears, she frowned.

Turning, she saw April faint at the sight of Splinter.

“…I’m not gonna be here for another crazy fest. I’ll be in my room.”

Grabbing the Japanese screen she always loved, she moved it between her and the couch.

Grabbing her headphones and pulling them on, she started listening to ‘How You Remind Me’ as she sat down on a stool.

Besides her purple-banded brother, Artemis at least knew her way around a toolbox, and did her own repairs if it was within her power.

Opening her gold-rimmed toolbox, she spread out the necessary tools and oils before getting to work.

She’d often had the problem of her fans getting stuck when she tried to either open or close them, and found some lubricant worked wonders.

So she started the ritual of oiling them at least once a month, and polished them all until they shone.

Her normal fans had deep gold edges, but the inside, hidden when closed, what a metallic silver.

Her more decorative fans had Japanese-style dragons, wind, mountains, birds, and even turtles.

She usually hung them on her walls, but kept them sharpened and polished…

JUST in case…

The song changed to ‘Just The Way I Am’ as she polished one of her large fans.

She paused before looking at the thin rice-paper screen, studying the crane and the waterfall, along with fish and turtles.

The clouds looked wispy, and the sky bright.

She’d always thought that, if she could go anywhere, that this place would be perfect.

It looked happy and warm and FREE…

Closing her eyes, she shook the thought from her head.

‘The darkness is a ninja’s ally, while the light reveals a ninja’s presence…’

She should hate the light, but she craved it.

She’d felt the dawn’s light on her skin once, and the warm tingle it had sent through her skin had been unbelievable.

Artemis felt a bit…slower…as she continued to polish, moving from fan to fan rather quickly as the song changed to ‘We Live’.

By the time the song ‘Love Led Us Here’ came on, she was finished, and picked up her MP3 player.

It was nearly on the last song, ‘Things I’ll Never Say’, when Leo peeked around the screen.

“She’s waking up.”

Pulling her headphones around her neck, she quirked an eye-ridge.

“Is she still all weird?”

“No. I think she’s calmed down.”

“Alright…but the moment she starts acting weird, I’m leaving.”

“Deal.”

With a smirk, she stood up, following him to the couch.

April had a cup of tea in hand, and Artemis hung back.

She may not always look it, but disapproval did sting at her, though, if necessary, she was able to shrug it off.

“SO…You okay now?” Mikey asked.

“Yes. Thanks. I’ve decided that this is either a really long dream I keep NOT waking up from, or it’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me…”

“Living with these four, EVERYTHING can be weird…”

“Young woman, we have something of great importance to discuss.” Splinter intervened.

“What?”

“We have never revealed ourselves to the upper world. You have placed us all in great danger.”

“But, Master Splinter…She was in trouble and we helped her.” Leo stated.

“It’s not exactly her fault.” Artemis agreed.

“Aren’t ya always teachin’ us ta do the right thin’?” Raph added.

“As you grow older, you learn there are many ways to ‘do the right thing’.”

The elderly rat sighed.

“But there is no going back…”

Feeling guilty for putting her father in such a situation, she lowered her eyes to the floor.

“…So we find ourselves at your mercy.”

“Oh, I would never tell anybody! I mean…who would believe me?”

“She’s got a point.” Don agreed.

“Yeah! We’re unbelievable!” Mikey stated.

Artemis stood up, smacking him upside the head.

“Yeah. You’re unbelievably stupid.”

“HEY…”

“Seriously, I promise.” April stated, smiling a bit at a pouting Mikey and a laughing-eyed Artemis.

Splinter stood, walking up to April and looking her in the eyes.

He seemed to be trying to look in her soul, but Artemis felt almost SURE he wouldn’t find anything bad.

It was a feeling deep in her gut that twisted when it sensed something dark.

She’d felt it twist in her gut when she’d seen the Purple Dragons, and settle once she was safe with her family again.

“…I believe you.” Splinter finally stated, and Leo kneeled beside his father.

“Is this another lesson, Master Splinter? How to sense the truth?”

“No. This is called ‘trusting your gut’.”

“So…If I’m keeping your secret…What exactly IS it? What are you people? Er…turtles…um…whatever.”

“Well, that’s actually an interesting story.” Artemis informed, smiling.

“I have memories…” Splinter started.

“Memories of when I used to be what might call ‘normal’…”

The crimson-eyed turtle settled on a seat, absent-mindedly twirling and playing her small fans.

She drifted off as the familiar story was told, and she only seemed aware of Splinter’s voice.

Remembering all the nights that voice had soothed her nightmares, she remembered why she kept up her hard shell.

‘He can’t watch a baby forever…I need to take care of myself…’

“From a battered book on Renaissance art that I fished out of a storm drain, I chose names for each of them.”

Artemis perked, snapping her fans shut.

“Leonardo…Donatello…Raphael…Artemisia…Michelangelo…Together, they are…”

“TURTLES FOREVER!”

Artemis palmed her face in embarrassment at her brother’s antics.

“Or something like that that we all shout at once.” Mikey told April, leaning on the back of the couch.

Raph sat beside her easily.

“First rule, ignore Mikey. Yer life’ll be a lot easier.”

“I’d do that, but Mikey annoys the shell out of me…” Artemis added.

“So we have remained in secret…and that is our story.” Splinter finished, standing again.

“But how did you know martial arts?” April questioned.

“That is a story for another time.”

“Hey, guys!”

‘Mikey’s SUCH a little kid…’

“Look at this!”

Standing, Artemis peered up at one of the larger screens.

It showed a bank, where a robbery had gone on in bright daylight.

Seeing pictures of the damage, she put her hands on her hips.

“I think our little motor-mouth friends have gone topside…”

“This must be what I heard Dr. Stockman talking about.” April noted.

“He’s got the Mouser’s robbing banks.”

“What do ya know ‘bout this Stockman guy?”

“He’s a genius. He’s also nuts. I used to work for him, but when I got suspicious, he turned the Mouser’s on me!”

Artemis snorted, crossing her arms over her plastron.

“Men…”

“Luckily, I ran into you guys.”

“HE destroyed our old lair…” Leo noted.

“Must’ve been one of his Mouser test runs.” April informed.

“I’ll show him a test run when my foot goes up his a-!!”

She stopped when she caught Splinter’s look.

“Butt!!”

“What are we waitin’ fer?” Raph asked impatiently.

“I say we shut down Mouser Central…”

He twirled his sai.

“Permanently.”

Mikey grinned.

“I just LOVE those action movie lines. You write those yourself?”

Artemis rolled her eyes.

“Brothers…”

“It’s like you have a problem with men in general.” Mikey complained.

“Well, everything has its flaws.”

“It won’t be easy…StockTronics is rigged with state-of-the-art security tech.” April informed.

“Ha! Bring it on!” Mikey joked.

“We’ve got our own secret weapon! The techno-turtle himself, DONATELLO! Take a bow, Don!”

“Aw, cut it out…”

“Can-We-Go-PLEASE?” Raph asked, almost shaking with anticipation.

Artemis smirked, strapping her fans on.

“Well…he did say ‘please’…”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April was leading them through the sewers towards StockTronics, and Artemis noticed, from the near back, that her eyes kept focusing on Leo’s shell.

‘Look AWAY from his butt! AWAY! DAMN IT, eyes! OBEY ME!’

Stopping, she saw Don and April working on an alarm.

“Alarms in the sewers? Is this guy paranoid or what?” Mikey whispered.

“Would ya shut it?”

“I’m just saying…”

“Could you give April and I some quiet? This is delicate work.” Don reprimanded.

“OO…April and I! This is delicate work! Gimme a break…”

SMACK!!!

“OW!”

Leo muffled the cry of pain with his hand, and Mikey rubbed his head dejectedly.

“ARTIE…”

“Picking on them when they’re working on delicate electronics will not keep me from hitting you, wise guy…”

“Nothin’ stops ya from hittin’ us…”

SMACK!!!

Gritting his teeth to hold back the startled cry, Raph growled at her.

“Because you two don’t think before you speak.”

Don and April seemed done.

“Now march.”

“But-!” Both objected at once.

“MARCH!”

She even pointed, eyes hard, and both gave in.

With pouts on their lips, the trudged forward, and Leo quirked an eye-ridge at her.

“What? We need to keep moving.”

She smiled, walking after the others.

In a strange trance, Leo felt his eyes following her instead of his feet.

‘She’s amazing…’

Once the thought registered, he shook his head and followed them.

‘What am I thinking?’ He scolded himself.

‘She’s my little sister, and I shouldn’t think of her as anything else.’

The ventilation shafts were unprotected, and they stopped near a door.

Raph jumped out, moving across the hall with April to unlock the door.

From further back, Artemis just sat back, letting her brother work.

It wouldn’t take long, if he didn’t lose his patience.

When the door opened, they all went inside, and April sat down in front of a computer.

“Okay, I’m in. I’m blanking the cameras down that corridor at ten second intervals, so you’ve got to keep moving.”

“We’ll be right back.”

Before hearing April’s response, they were gone.

It was that cool Batman thing that made Artemis LOVE being a ninja…

A large door opened to a huge, dark room.

Pulling out one of her small fans as her stomach twisted, she scanned the shadows.

“This is too quiet…” Leo noted as they walked in.

“Uh, guys? My Turtle Sense is tingling…”

The door closed behind them, and her eyes narrowed.

“I should’ve seen this coming…it happens in all the movies…”

Lights turned on, and their eyes traveled up to a closed-off room above them.

“Intruders?! Here to steal MY secrets?!”

The voice boomed, and Artemis rubbed her ear with her free hand.

“You leave here with NOTHING!! Not even your lives!!”

Pulling out her other fan, she snapped them open and held them up defensively.

Large machines lowered from the ceiling, and they blasted lasers.

Blocking them with the metal, she jumped up.

Throwing one like it was a shuriken, it cut the blaster in half before coming back like a boomerang.

Catching it easily, she landed in a roll and dodged more lasers as her brothers jumped into action.

Her brothers were doing well, and she blocked a laser as she crouched.

“Damn lasers!” She growled, throwing both her fans this time.

When they turned now, two lasers were cut open, and she caught them before checking on her brothers.

They actually destroyed the last of the laser-blasters, and she joined them in the run towards Stockman.

Another laser was shot at them, and the group jumped out of the way.

Raph managed to get against a wall below it, and motioned for Mikey.

“Hey, Mikey! Slingshot!”

The orange-banded turtle ran, and was soon airborne.

Artemis shook her head, smirking.

‘Only my little brother…’

Hearing the glass shatter, she jumped up on a beam before leaping through the jagged hole her youngest brother had made.

Flipping, she landed on her feet and snapped her fans open.

Leo followed them, and pointed his sword at the startled scientist.

“Your rain of terror is OVER, Stockman.”

“Have you been practicing?” She asked good-naturedly.

“You like it?”

Don and Raph joined them, forming a semi-circle around the scientist.

“What ARE you?”

The door opened behind him, showing April.

“They’re with me.”

“April? You’re alive?”

“Yep. Stinks, don’t it?” Artemis mocked.

“I’ve got enough evidence to put you away for years, Dr. Stockman.”

The man pressed a button, and then the gold-banded turtle smashed her foot onto his stomach.

“No touchy.”

“Ha! Too late!”

OH, how she HATED that smug look…

“I’ve recalled the Mouser horde from their latest mission. They’ll be here any second. They’ll tear you all to pieces.”

She almost growled, grinding her teeth.

“Not if I can help it.”

“I’ll have to shut the whole system down!” April stated as she sat down.

“I’ll help!” Don offered.

“You’re doomed. Listen.”

A door opened, and the crimson-eyed turtle looked out to see Mouser’s walk in.

“…Aw SHELL…”

Leo and Mikey looked down a ladder, seeing the machines start climbing.

“APRIL…”

“The system isn’t responding!”

Stockman managed to slip from them and into the elevator, pressing the button.

“You should’ve never matched wits with me!”

“He’s getting away!” Mikey exclaimed, but he didn’t get there in time.

The Mouser’s had reached them by then, and Artemis pulled out her kunai.

They roared like little lions, and charged at them with their shark-like teeth.

“At least we’ll go out fightin’…”

“Actually, I don’t wanna go out at all!” Mikey replied.

“For once, I agree with Mikey.” She agreed, twirling the kunai knives in-between her fingers.

“It’s not working!” April stated, panicked.

“Keep trying!”

“This is it…It’s been fun, guys…”

“Even me, Raph?” Mikey asked.

“Even you, Mikey. Especially you.”

“Ah…I’ll miss you guys up in turtle heaven…”

April must’ve done something, because the Mouser’s suddenly stopped moving and froze.

Testing the waters, Leo tapped one with his katana.

When nothing happened, all of the grinned.

“YES! Go, April!” Artemis cheered, putting her fans away.

“Good job, April! I’ve never seen anything like that!” Don congratulated.

“HA! Losers!” Mikey mocked, knocking one over.

“Guys! GUYS!”

Artemis heard the seriousness, and her muscles tensed.

“I wasn’t able to shut them down.”

“They look pretty shut down to me.” Mikey noted.

“The only way I could stop them was by initiating an overload sequence…”

Artemis’s eyes widened.

“They’re going to explode…”

Her and Mikey shared a glance.

“…LET’S GET THE SHELL OUTTA HERE!!!”

The five turtles jumped out, Don carrying April.

The gold-banded turtle ran for the exit, pumping her legs as hard as she could manage.

The robots blew as they got into the hallway, and her feet almost slipped as her muscles quivered.

They managed to get out unnoticed, and made their way back to the lair.

Artemis sat down heavily, still a bit breathless.

Sometimes, she HATED having less stamina than her brothers…

The news was turned on as Leo sat beside her, and she unconsciously leaned on him.

“What will you do now, Ms. O’Neil? You are most definitely out of a job.” Splinter questioned.

“I’m not exactly sure…”

“We’ll help you get back on your feet.” Don offered.

“You guys, you’ve all been…well…Great! And by ‘guys’, I guess I mean five big talking turtles and a giant talking rat.”

“Here’s to the new team!” Don stated, holding up his cup of tea.

With a roll of her eyes, she clinked her glass against the others.

With a slight nod, she downed the drink.

‘At least I won’t be drowned in testosterone anymore…’