Golden Angel

Imagine using air, water, and earth to help put things in an antique shop…

Doesn’t sound like a good idea?

…You’d be right…

“GUYS…”

“…Oops?”

Chi rubbed her head from her seat on the floor…

“Artemis, ya sure need some help wit’ yer Earthbendin’…”

“Yeah…I probably should’ve mentioned that…” Artemis admitted as she helped the smaller girl up.

Mizu would’ve said something, but Don nearly knocked over a chandelier with his Bo staff.

“DONNIE!”

Stopping the chandelier so it wouldn’t break, the Waterbender breathed out in relief.

“Thanks, sweetie…”

“No problem, honey…”

Leo was getting up to help his younger brother, and his sheathed katana hit some dishes.

Artemis dove to stop them from falling, and closed her eyes in relief.

“That’s it! Weapons, boys. Fork ‘em over.”

“But what if the Foot attack?” Mikey asked as he was ‘relieved’ of his ‘chucks.

“Or…the Girl Scouts!”

Don gave up his Bo staff, and Leo his sheathed katana.

“You guys can survive one day.”

April gave the three bender’s a hard look.

“And if I see any Airbending, Waterbending, Earthbending, or, God forbid, FIREBENDING, you three will be sorry.”

“Yes, ma’am…” The three chorused.

The red-head went to collect Raph’s sai as he and Casey were moving a suit of armor around.

“Artemis, why don’t you and Mizu go upstairs and put these somewhere safe?”

“Yes, ma’am…” The gold-banded turtle muttered, taking the box.

“…PUT THOSE KATANA DOWN!!!”

Yelping, she rubbed her head where one of said katana had bonked her.

“Now I know why Raph hates that…”

Once the two disappeared, April watching them, everyone returned to work.

The red-head was putting up a portrait of her family, but Chi didn’t turn around to see it.

Mainly because she couldn’t.

She could see faces and bodies and other things just fine, but with pictures, she was as blind as anything.

She hated it when people treated her differently because she was blind.

Went EASY on her, took pity on her…

She snapped out of her thoughts when the armor fell and Raph started running around to kill a fly.

Antiques fell over through his ‘battle’, and only some clever Earthbending saved most of them from breaking.

“I HATE bugs!”

“And, from the looks of it, you hate tea cups, china plates, and porcelain dolls, too…” Don noted.

April…

Was pissed…

“You two, away from the breakables! Garbage detail, NOW!”

“Yes, ma’am…”

“Sorry, ma’am…”

Chi gently set the unbroken antiques on the ground, breathing out.

“Sorry ‘bout the Earthbendin’, April…Garbage detail?”

“If it hadn’t been for you, this could’ve been a lot worse…I’ll let it slide this time.”

Chi smiled, happy to stay away from the garbage.

“Thanks…”

Mikey grinned, seeing someone else that had the very useful talent of getting out of trouble.

She even looked cute, that little smile on her face…

Then again, if he told her that, she’d probably punch him in the face…

She was like Raph in that aspect, though, instead of getting mad about EVERYTHING, she only got mad when someone said something about how she looked.

“What is this stuff?” Raph asked, stopping at the door to the alley.

“Just a bunch of junk that got damaged in the fire.”

“Whoa…This looks good.” Raph noted, pulling out a strange puzzle cube.

“…I don’t believe it!”

The red-head took it from the dark-skinned turtle, looking the ‘cube’ over.

“What is it?” Leo asked.

“It’s a puzzle cube that used to belong to my uncle. I can’t imagine how it survived the fire!”

The red-head was wiping it down with a cloth, probably to clean off the ash, when it started moving.

Chi looked up, feeling the strange glow on her skin, and cried out when the earth was suddenly lost from under her feet.

Blind in more ways than one, she tried to catch hold of something as she fell.

Instead, someone caught HER, and she couldn’t exactly see who it was.

“Hey, dudette. You okay?”

She relaxed, smirking.

“I’m fine, Romeo. But can ya put me down?”

She couldn’t see his blush, but still smiled when her bare feet touched the ground.

“JEEZE…We ain’t in New York anymore, are we?”

“Sure aren’t…”

“Where ARE we?” April asked, and Chi registered that the older woman was above them.

“Sure don’t look like Midtown…”

“Or anywhere on EARTH for that matter…”

Don looked around, strangely relieved that Mizu hadn’t caught a trip with them, and didn’t realize Leo felt the same about Artemis.

Sure, the two benders would be plenty of help, since they didn’t need weapons, but this might be dangerous.

It was bad enough little Chi was there…

But seeing her calm face, and the rocks rattling under her fingers, they realized she was probably all they’d need.

She was a more powerful bender than Mizu had been when they’d first met her, and she’d shown skill in taking down the four turtles during training more than once.

Something about her style, the way she did her moves, strangely reminded them of Leo…

Then again, a mix between Raph and Leo might not be a pretty thing to think about…

“SO…you think some Utrom clown hit the wrong switch on his Transmat?”

“No, this felt different…The Transmat was a whoosh, this was more like a…shift. If I had to guess, Uncle Augie’s puzzle cube acts as some kind of dimensional gateway.”

“…So we ain’t even in our own dimension…BRILLIANT…”

‘Feels just like Artie was here…’

“Hey, it could be worse…”

“Yeah, giant flyin’ birds could swoop down and eat us!”

“…Is that your worst fear or something?” Mikey questioned.

If he didn’t know any better, the girl had just GLARED at him…

“Look, I can only see wit’ Earthbendin’. So, if nothin’ is touchin’ the earth-.”

“You can’t see it.” Don finished.

“Yeah. An’ I’d appreciate it if I could finish my own sentences…”

“…I really like this girl…”

“Of COURSE you do…She has your attitude…” Leo muttered.

Chi suddenly lifted her head, as if hearing something.

“Ya guys ‘ear…buzzin’?”

Everyone stopped, and the faint sound soon reached their ears.

“How did you…?”

“My hearin’ is better than most…”

“Aw, great…more bugs…” Raph muttered, picking up a large stick.

“Come out an’ show yerself, ya little gnat!”

Chi felt blind again, and the feeling always caused anger and helplessness to fill her, churning like the lava inside a volcano.

“Uh, Raph…you’re gonna need a bigger flyswatter…”

“Oh, crud…”

“What is it?”

Chi seemed to look around, trying to target where that infuriating buzzing was coming from.

Something strange seemed to roar, and she brought up a boulder, shooting it in the most-likely direction.

She missed, and ducked down lower to the earth as the stupid creature swooped over her.

Raph’s stick was broken, and he was knocked onto his shell by the force.

The large thing went for Raph as he stood up, and Chi managed to pounce on the large bug from the side, once she realized where it was.

It shrieked, grabbing hold of her and flying away.

Raph and Don, being the closest turtles, jumped up to help her, grabbing hold of her ankles.

“OW! Do ya guys mind pullin’ my legs off while yer at it?”

“Hey, don’t give me attitude, missy!”

“Don’t call me missy!”

“Guys, look! There’s some kind of man-made structure down there!”

“Oh, I see it, too! And I see the others!”

“What?”

“Where?”

“THAT’S what’ll it sound like when one of YOU two sees something…”

Raph pulled her leg…

HARD…

“OW! Ya wouldn’t do that if I was on the ground…”

“An insects exoskeleton is usually thinnest at the joints!”

“And I should care BECAUSE…?” Both Chi and Raph asked.

“Swing me up and you’ll see!”

With a grunt of effort, the Earthbender managed to swing both turtles up as they kicked at the bugs stomach.

They were released…

And free-falling…

“SHIT!!!” Chi cursed, and all three hit the branches, which slowed their momentum.

Until she hit the ground, the red/gold-haired girl tried not to make a sound.

In a crater on her back, she groaned a bit.

“…I’m NE’ER listenin’ ta ya two ‘gain…”

Then Don landed on top of her…

“…OW…”

April, Mikey, and Leo ran up to see if they were okay, and helped Don off of her.

“You alright, bro?”

“He should be fine…My body broke ‘is fall…”

“Where’s Raph?” April asked.

Both pointed up, and they followed with their eyes to see the red-banded turtle hanging in a tree.

“Did I mention how much I hate bugs?”

“Yes…LOTS ‘a times…”

“We’ll get you down, bro. Just…hang on.”

“Like I got a choice…”

Mikey was helping Chi up, and she flinched as her ankle throbbed.

“Shit…”

“You okay, dudette?”

“My ankle…I think it’s sprained…”

Don stood up, and looked at her ankle closely.

“It’s not bad…Just stay off it for a few hours…”

“But I can’t Earthbend without standing.” Chi protested.

“And you can’t stand, so no Earthbending.”

The black-eyed blind girl looked ready to try and yell her way through this, but Mikey, not wanting to be between her fighting…ANYONE…picked her up right off the ground.

She yelped in surprise as she was held bridal style, and Mikey grinned.

“I spotted some tree house down the river a ways…We should check it out.”

“Come on, Juliet. Time to go.”

She blushed a bit, but didn’t shoot back a mean retort.

Raph fell out of the tree, she heard it perfectly well, and she chuckled.

“NICE one…”

“Shut up…”

“Make me.”

“Missy, don’t MAKE me get up…”

“Would ya stop callin’ me that?!”

“NO!!”

Before the two could try to rip each other apart, Leo fell between them, landing on his feet.

“Alright, that’s enough!”

Once the two didn’t seem ready to pounce, the turtle’s and April went about making weapons for the journey.

They pulled bark off the trees to make ‘surfboards’ with sails made of large leaves.

Being unable to see, or stand for that matter, Chi had to cling to one with Mikey in order to go with them.

“Would it be too cliché to say COWABUNGA?”

“In other words? Yeah!”

Both were splashed, and Chi glared at where it came from.

They FINALLY made it to shore, and the Earthbender just needed to feel the ground beneath her feet before Mikey lifted her onto his shell.

“We’re goin’ up inta a tree, ain’t we?”

“Yep!”

“…GREAT…”

The orange-banded turtle looked up at the TALL tree…

“HELLO…ANYBODY HOME?”

“Maybe termites?” Leo guessed.

“If they’re anythin’ like that over-grown flyin’ cockroach, I don’t wanna know ‘bout it…”

April went up first, and Chi wrapped her arms and legs around Mikey’s shell and sides as he prepared to follow her and the others.

“Don’t be scared, bro. The girls will protect you.” Mikey teased.

“Hey, I ain’t scared ‘a nothin’! …I just hate bugs…”

“You mean like that one crawling up your back right now?”

“WHAT?! WHERE?!”

“Got ya!”

Both laughed at the hothead’s expense, and only Mikey got hit with the ladder in the face.

“HEY…”

“Don’t be a baby…Now climb…”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Once INSIDE the tree house, everyone looked around, Mikey explaining everything he saw in vivid, if not always accurate, detail to the blind, petite girl on his shell.

“Yeah, sure…there’s a talkin’ dog in the frickin’ corner…What do ya expect me ta buy?”

“…A lot?”

SMACK!!!

“OW!!! CHI…”

“This was my Uncle Augie’s…” April muttered, picking up a compass and chain.

“Are you sure?”

“I’d recognize it anywhere…Look.”

Everyone looked at the picture inside except Chi, and handed it back.

“So ya’ll always fin’ yer way back ta us…”

Donnie was flipping through an old, worn book that the red-head immediately took interest in, and Mikey and Chi were BORED…

The latter lifted her head when buzzing reached her sensitive ears, and she jabbed Mikey in the plastron with the heel of her good foot.

“Wake up…Somethin’s comin’…”

Shrieks filled the air, and everyone pulled out their wooden and stone weapons.

The orange-banded turtle set the Earthbender in a safe corner before whipping out his ‘chucks.

“Be careful, dudette. Earthbending won’t work too well up here.”

Raph threw a CHAIR at one of them, and Chi shielded her head with her arms.

“Raph, no! If you get them mad, they’ll just fire their-!”

Large red stingers ‘thunked’ into the wood…

“STINGERS!”

Everyone tried to hit the deck, dodge the projectiles, and, for another moment in her life, Chi felt helpless.

All she could do was curl up tighter and hope the stingers missed her.

A warm body went over hers, shielding her vulnerable side, and she faintly registered who it was…

“GOOD ONE, Raph!”

When there was no angry retort, Mikey looked over his shoulder.

“Raph?”

Said turtle had a cut on his leg from a stinger, and seemed to getting groggy…

“I…HATE…bugs…”

Falling over, he seemed to either be passed out or utterly paralyzed.

Not only were they still surrounded, but one of them was already down…

“Don’t they die if they sting somebody?” Chi questioned.

“These seem different…Maybe they have multiple stingers…” Don muttered.

“But he’s just paralyzed. If they’re anything like Earth hornets, the effects should only be temporary.”

The hornets still buzzed angrily, and everyone jumped when they realized the over-sized bugs were charging at them.

They busted straight through the wood, and the turtles NOT incapacitated fought them head-on.

Even April tried, but the Earthbender, whose ankle was still tender and sore, couldn’t get a sturdy stance…

Oh, and she wasn’t ANYWHERE near earth…

That might’ve been a problem in retrospect…

Besides being blind to the large insects, she still managed to grab SOMETHING and stab one in the neck.

It shrieked in pain, and some strange goop covered her.

“EW…I need a shower…”

They were all doing rather well against the hornets, until some of the large insects broke
the supports of the tree house.

Everyone slid on the tilting floor, and Mikey caught hold of Chi’s wrist as she slid by him.

“Abandon tree house!”

Everyone jumped out onto the large branch outside, and the whole ‘building’ fell heavily.

The turtles were using vines to slide down, and Chi held on tight to Mikey’s shell as he followed his older brothers.

Unfortunately, he happened to be the one still up there fighting…

“Ya want me ta hurl?”

“Not on the shell, dudette! I just got it waxed!”

SMACK!!!

“OW!!! CHI…”

“Just get on the damn ground!”

When the orange-banded turtle landed, she jumped off his shell.

Some of the hornets had landed, and she Earthbended them into the air or crushed them against trees.

LOTS of hornet guts were spilled…

Mikey touched the red/gold-haired girl’s shoulder, and then pulled back.

“EW…Hornet guts…”

“Well SORRY…Ya don’t exactly smell like a bed ‘a roses, buddy…”

Night came fast, and they camped out in the roots of a large tree.

The fire they made kept the night at bay, and April used the light to read by.

Chi was already falling asleep, leaning on Mikey until she realized she was…

She tried to straighten, but eventually fell asleep…

Mikey found it strange how…peaceful…she looked when asleep…

Her sharp, sarcastic tongue seemed numbed, the frown and irritated look on her face smoothed out.

Raph’s grumbling brought him out of that thought, and he rested a hand on her head…

‘She’s just cute, that’s all…Cute and fun to annoy…’

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Walking through the forest was bad enough…

Listening to Don and April say things that made NO sense to her was worse…

“Do you guys come with subtitles?”

“Guys, look!”

Everyone turned, and saw the temples, hornets nests attached.

Chi closed her unseeing eyes, concentrating…

“They’re sure in there deep…”

“What I wouldn’t give fer a can ‘a bug spray…a REALLY big one…”

“What I wouldn’t give fer some nice Firebendin’ right now…OH, for those stupid buggers to burn…”

“I think I know how we can get past them!”

Don jumped into the river, and came up mostly-covered in brown gunk.

Chi choked, covering her nose from the stench.

“Fer God’s sake-!! What the hell is wrong wit’ ya?!”

“Hornets and other wasps have a strong sense of smell. We need to disguise our scent.”

“Do we have to disguise it THAT bad?”

Everyone jumped in, and the Earthbender surfaced after a moment.

She HATED being in the water, and was glad it was shallow.

The mud was good ammunition, anyway…

Even if it smelled worse than a camel’s ass…

Don’t ask how she knew what a camel’s ass smelled like…

Not a pleasant experience…

April, however, seemed to be taking the whole ‘Jungle Girl’ thing a bit too far…

They headed to the temple, and Chi couldn’t help holding her nose.

“I hope this is worth having Mikey downwind…”

“We’re ‘bout ta fin’ out…’Ere they come!”

The hornets came out, and then left as if not seeing them.

“My nose is burnin’, but I guess it’s worth it…”

The group stepped inside, and even Chi hesitated when she sensed the egg-sacks.

“Uh oh…”

“Looks like the hornets have tunneled their nest right into the temple…”

“So how come no one’s minding the eggs?” Mikey questioned.

“These aren’t eggs. Pupae. Second stage development. And from the looks of them…”

“They’re nearly adults.” The Earthbender finished.

“I can see straight in there…”

“Weapons ready. Let’s move out.”

Mikey started spinning his ‘chucks, but a stone flew off and broke open a sack.

The rest started convulsing, as if waking up, and Mikey was shot down with angry looks…

“Nice goin’, Mikey…”

As the new hornets broke free of their prisons, the turtles and humans ran for an inner room to escape their wrath.

Mikey grabbed her wrist.

“Hornet at six o’clock!”

Whirling around, she brought up a column of earth, hitting a hornet in the stomach before it splattered on the ceiling.

Everyone jumped into action, though Chi needed Mikey to tell her where the flying insects were before she could strike.

“There’s too many of them! We need to find another way out of here!”

“Behind us!” Chi shouted, ducking low.

“There’s a big room, and a puzzle cube!”

“You heard the lady! MOVE!” Mikey exclaimed, and they all ran for the doorway.

They rolled the door shut, earth columns keeping the hornets at bay until the door was sealed.

The large puzzle cube was on a pedestal before them, and they walked up to it.

April found a piece of paper, which apparently had calculations or writing of some sort, or maybe drawings.

“It’s Uncle Augie’s handwriting…So he DID make it back here.”

“That’s strange…the settings of the cube don’t match the calculations in your uncle’s journal. Wherever it sent him, it wasn’t home.”

“You’re right…Something must’ve happened to him while he was setting the final coordinate…but what?”

There was a strange roar, and the Earthbender’s head snapped up as she felt vibrations in the floor and walls.

“Oh shit…”

“Ya had ta ask…”

The large hornet stomped towards them, and Chi slid into a stance.

“It’s the queen…”

“I don’t care if it’s Queen Latifah! You guys need to get that cube fired up!”

Mikey spun his ‘chucks, and he jumped for the hornet queen.

Chi smacked it in the side with a sharp shard of earth, and ran forward when Mikey got cut by the stinger.

A sphere of earth surrounded them, and the large insect roared as it failed to penetrate the hard, rocky surface.

“Mikey, ya ‘kay?”

“Oh…I feel like Raph on a bad day…”

“Shitty, huh?”

As the earth crumbled, they found Leo fighting the queen until his arm was cut.

As he fell back, fighting the paralyzing effects of the poison, Raph joined her in the fight.

Unfortunately, the damn bug took flight, taking the red-banded turtle down.

It seemed ready to eat them, slobber escaping its strange mouth, when April came at her with her spear.

Chi used earth to clamp the large behemoth to the ground, and picked up Mikey and Leo on her way up as Don called for them.

Once near the stone, the Earthbender felt the earth crumble, and the queen hornet flew up with a screech.

“HURRY IT UP ALREADY!!!!”

Luckily, they disappeared before they were skewered, and landed roughly on the floor of April’s antique shop.

“Uh…guys?”

They looked up at Artemis and Mizu, who were giving them a strange look.

“Did you guys jump into some mud puddles while we were gone, or do I even want to KNOW what you all were doing?”

Chi sighed, relaxing against the hard wood floor.

“Trust me…Ya DON’T wanna know…”

Mizu covered her nose…

“I SURE don’t want to know why you guys smell so bad…”

They all pointed at the purple-banded turtle…

“Talk to him…”

“WHOA…What died in ‘ere?” Casey asked as he stepped in.

“I’m gone two seconds, an’ suddenly everybody’s covered in crud?”

Artemis stuck her tongue out at the vigilante, helping her boyfriend up.

“OH, shut it Casey…You smell worse than this every day…”

Chi raised her knuckles, still tired.

“Ya go, girl…”

“That’s what I do.”

Once they’d all gotten cleaned up and their weapons returned, they told the whole story to the two benders and the confused vigilante.

“Man, Chi. Thanks for saving their shells.”

“No prob.”

“I’m being serious.” Artemis stated.

“I always worry about these guys…I’m just glad there’s someone else to take care of them.”

The Earthbender smiled after a moment.

“Anytime…”

‘It’s not like I really mind…This was kinda…FUN…’