Golden Angel

Practicing her balance, Artemis had to tune out Mikey’s taunts and the sound of Raph’s body hitting things.

I mean, balancing on one foot is pretty hard, and she was at least ten feet off the ground doing specialized kata.

She must’ve been a master of tuning people out, because Mikey’s voice was like a buzzing in the back of her head.

But the sound of a table breaking made her stop, worry flashing on her face as she looked down.

“Raph? You okay?”

Rolling her eyes at Mikey’s sore-winner behavior, her eyes widened when she saw the pipe in her red-banded brother’s hand.

“RAPH!”

When Raph tackled his brother, she jumped off the beam she’d been standing on.

Managing to tackle Raph off, she stopped the pipe from hitting her own head.

“RAPH! STOP IT!”

It seemed his anger faded, and she released him warily, getting off.

“Mikey, are you okay?” Don asked worriedly, helping his younger brother up.

“Raph, what were you thinking?!” Leo scolded as the red-banded turtle stood up.

Still wary, Artemis backed up a bit.

“Ah, my son…so angry. Rage is a monster that will destroy you from within. Raphael, a true warrior finds balance in all things.”

“M-Master Splinter, I…I-I…I gotta get some air!”

The red-banded turtle ran right out the door, and she furrowed her brow in worry.

He’d always had this problem, but she didn’t remember him ever trying to hurt someone so seriously.

“…Thanks, Artie…”

Turning a bit, she smiled reassuringly at her youngest brother.

“What are sister’s for?”

“Make-up parties?”

Her eye twitched, and a sheepish smile spread over Mikey’s face like butter.

“…Get over here…”

“AHHHHHHHH!!”

Tackling him, they play-fought on the ground as they rolled into the short wall.

Splinter shook his head a bit, a smile on his lips.

Though she seemed short-tempered, he knew it took much more than some well-placed taunts to make Artemis lose her cool.

He’d seen that strange fire in her eyes when she’d stopped Raph.

It seemed her instincts brought her to the defense of those being threatened or picked on, but she herself sometimes picked on her brothers good-naturedly.

She was like a dragon, docile when everything was at peace, but could launch into a fire-breathing rage when that peace was threatened.

Leonardo might have been the leader, Raphael the strength, Donatello the brains, and Michelangelo the jokester, but it seemed Artemisia had placed herself in a much harder position.

Guardian.

Without thinking about it, she’d placed everyone she knew under her protection of sorts, where she still connected, but managed to fight off any evil she felt try to penetrate her shield.

He’d heard her nightmares, the whimpers and growls and snarls that escaped her bed at night, and understood the protective side she showed.

She’d always had them worse than her brothers, and had stopped telling them to her father when she’d turned thirteen.

Her way of coping was almost constant vigilance, but she’d learned to leave Raph be when he needed it.

Standing up, she smiled at her pouting brother.

“It must be embarrassing to lose to a girl, huh?”

“You know it…”

Rolling her eyes, she punched him in the arm when he stood up.

“Well, YOU can enjoy your embarrassment while I go for a walk.”

Pulling on her large set of fans, she headed for the door.

“I’ll be back later. And NO, I’m not following Raph…”

Soon topside, she started a ‘leisurely’ walk through the back alleys.

Artemis always did that when she needed air.

I mean, she had things in common with Raph, though their temper wasn’t one of them.

She enjoyed her freedom whenever she could, and was loathe to leave it be when forced.

She was pulled from her thoughts at a whimpering sound, and skidded to a halt.

Looking around, she followed the sound to find it was originated from behind a dumpster.

Slowing down, she crouched next to one end of the smelly metal contraption and looked behind it.

A little white and gold dog was huddled behind it, now growling in warning.

What caught Artemis’s interest were the strange red-tinted blue eyes.

“Hey, there. Are you lost?” She soothed, seeing the skinny thing try backing up further.

Holding out a hand, she did a soft clicking sound with her tongue that seemed to calm the canine.

“That’s it…Come on…”

The dog crawled out, and Artemis found that it was a partly-grown husky, with a fluffy tail, pointed ears, and matted fur.

With sympathetic eyes, she patted the dogs head softly.

“Hey, there…Are you hungry, baby?”

The dog whimpered, nuzzling her hand and licking her fingers.

“Poor thing…you’re so sweet…”

The dog seemed to smile, licking Artemis’s cheek.

Smiling, she scratched the dogs ears.

“You’re so well-behaved…Hey, you’re a little girl. So I guess being well-behaved was a given, huh?”

The dog was basically pressed against the turtle’s plastron, and Artemis smiled.

“You don’t have a collar…Poor stray…Are you hurt?”

The dog seemed to nod, lifting her left back paw.

“…Well, then it’s decided.”

The gold-banded turtle smiled, carefully lifting the dog into her arms.

“You’re coming with me. Donnie can you fix you up.”

The dog rested her head on the turtle’s shoulder as she was adjusted on the shell, and Artemis started her way home.

Walking into the lair with a dog on her shell seemed to cause stares...

She, however, seemed oblivious to them.

“Hey, Donnie. I need your help-Mikey, what did you do to the wall?!”

Staring at the strangely inscribed door, she quirked an eye-ridge.

“I didn’t do anything-! Hey, is that a puppy?”

“Stay AWAY from the dog, Michelangelo!”

“But-!”

“AWAY!”

Don still seemed curious, and stepped forward.

“Artie, what are you doing with a dog on your back?”

“I found her behind a dumpster. The poor thing’s hurt.”

She gave an innocent look.

“Can you help her, Donnie?”

He sighed, already giving in.

“Where’s she hurt?”

“Her paw.”

Mikey came closer, and the dog shrank back from his hyperactive, I-Don’t-Know-Anyone’s-Personal-Space personality.

“MICHELANGELO!”

SMACK!!!

“OW!!!”

“YOU’RE SCARING HER!”

They heard a door open, and all five mutants turned to see Raph walk in.

“Hey, bro.” Artemis greeted, smiling as if nothing had happened when he’d left.

“Welcome home, Raph.” Mikey added.

“MAN…you look like you got the shell kicked out of you…”

“Yeah…it’s a long story, but first…I wanted ta…I-I wanted ta apologize.”

Artemis quirked an eye-ridge before giving a good-natured smirk.

“Either he’s possessed, or my big mean brother’s growing up.”

“Mikey, I’m sorry I got so outta control earlier. Guys, I’m really sorry…”

“Hey, don’t sweat it, bro.” Mikey assured.

“Okay…Who are you, and what have you done with our brother?” Leo joked.

“Let’s just say I’ve had some time ta think ‘bout the way I’ve been actin’. I’ll fill ya in o’er dinner.”

“Dinner?! Now you’re talking MY language!!”

“What language is that, Mikey? Nitwit?”

“Ha-Ha…Listen to the funny mutant…”

Artemis smiled at her brothers, settling the husky dog on the couch and pulling Mikey’s favorite blanket over her.

“You know what…I think I’ll skip dinner…I’ll get her some food instead.”

“Are we gonna keep her?” Mikey asked innocently.

Leo seemed ready to say no, but the hopeful look from Artemis seemed to still his tongue.

“Oh, alright…But you have to take care of her.”

Almost skipping into the kitchen, she grabbed some meat and a cutting board.

“You never get ME meat…”

She quirked an eye-ridge at her orange-banded brother.

“Mikey, you don’t LIKE steak.”

“…OH…”

Rolling her eyes, she cut up the steak and put it into a bowl.

It seemed the husky had followed her into the kitchen, limping a bit, and was happy for the food.

“There you go, girl…”

“What’s her name going to be?” Don asked.

“…Hm…I haven’t thought about it…”

“Fluffy! No-Debbie! Wait, no! I’ve got one! Goldie!”

“…I don’t think so, Mikey.”

“AW…You NEVER like my ideas, Artie…”

“’Cause you very rarely have any GOOD ones…”

Artemis put down a bowl full of water, a thoughtful look on her face.

A smile moved across her face like the wind.

“How about Mitsukai?”

Three out of five faces looked confused.

“Mitsukai?” Raph asked.

“It means ‘angel’ in Japanese, tough guy.”

“Well SORRY that I never mastered the art of Japanese, princess.”

She blew a raspberry at him, and Mitsukai gave a dog-like laugh.

Mikey grinned.

“I love the dog already!”

SMACK!!!

“OW!!! RAPH…”

Artemis shook her head in amusement.

“Brothers…can’t live with them, can’t live without them…”

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“I don’t know, Raph…Maybe we should tell Master Splinter…”

The dark lair seemed quiet, and Mitsukai trotted behind Artemis with one leg raised and bandaged.

Her tail was wagging, and a bath had left her fresh and her fur brighter than before.

She never left Artemis’s side, and seemed vicious whenever anyone seemed to threaten to hurt the jade-skinned turtle.

“An’ stop us from goin’ topside? We gotta fin’ that whack bag an’ stop ‘im. Fer ‘is own good. ‘E ain’t a bad guy, just a bit misguided.”

The lights suddenly turned on, and Artemis smacked her forehead.

“Thanks for the talking, guys. I’m sure sensei needed a way to know we’re leaving.”

Mitsukai didn’t seem to understand the situation, and she rubbed against Artemis’s thigh.

Splinter coughed, and they turned to see him by the light switch.

“BUSTED…” Mikey muttered.

“How many times have I told you not to sneak up to the surface?”

“You mean this month?” Mikey asked innocently.

“Five hundred and twelve.”

“It is dangerous for you to go openly to the world above. You can not simply walk amongst the humans. They will not accept who and what you are.”

Artemis sighed, having heard this many times before.

“It is as the great kenji warrior, Hiashi Mura, once said…Why walk when you can ride?”

Everyone seemed a bit confused at that, and even Mitsukai stopped her show of affection.

“Come again?” Raph asked.

He led them to the strange elevator, which led them up to an abandoned warehouse.

“Take the truck.”

“Thanks, sensei.” Artemis stated, and Mitsukai even gave a little bark before following the turtle.

“That dog sure loves you.” Mikey noted.

“Of course she does. I’m just that loveable.”

Mikey snickered.

“Yeah…just keep telling yourself that, sis…”

SMACK!!!

“OW!!!”

“A’right. We got till Friday night ta make this baby turtle ready.”

“Let’s get to work.” Don agreed.

Starting up the tools, Artemis grinned.

“This’ll be fun…”

They worked nonstop until Friday, and they were proud of the creation.

“Now THIS is a ride…”

Artemis grinned.

“Because it’s OUR ride.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Don stated.

“Let’s roll!”

Running into the newly-christened Battle Shell, they strapped in as Mitsukai made herself comfortable on Artemis’s lab.

Hugging the wolfish dog closer, she smiled innocently at her blue-banded brother.

“What? She loves me.”

The vehicle fired up, zooming down the streets.

Mitsukai barked anxiously, but stayed calm in her new mistress’s arms.

“And on your left is Central Park. Acres of landscaped beauty in the center of the city-.”

Don’s explanation was cut off when the dog barked and Raph spotted the vigilante.

“There ‘e is!”

“He has a motorcycle? AW!” Artemis whined.

“I want a motorcycle!”

Don smiled a bit.

“Actually, I’ve got a surprise for you and Raph in the back…”

Quirking an eye-ridge at that, the gold-banded turtle headed to the back of the Battle Shell.

“MOTORCYCLE! Motorcycle-Motorcycle-Motorcycle!”

She grinned, and the husky jumped into the nice sidecar the purple-banded turtle had built into the side of the gold vehicle.

“Donnie, you are officially my favorite brother!”

Grinning, she kissed him on the cheek before grabbing a helmet and straddling the bike.

Mitsukai was actually strapped in, and lowered herself in the compartment.

Raph jumped onto his own, pulling on his helmet.

“Don, ya are the turtle.”

He revved the engine.

“Ready, princess?”

“Ready, tough guy.”

The Shell Cycles burst through the doors, and the tires hit the road spinning.

Turning the motorcycle to follow her brother, she sped it up.

Mitsukai curled down, but her nose seemed sensitive enough.

Seeing the vigilante ahead, the husky had barked before lowering her head as the turtle sped up.

“Sorry, girl. But this thing needs to go fast.”

Raph caught up to the vigilante first, since his Shell Cycle didn’t have a sidecar.

“Hey, hot shot! Slow it down!”

The vigilante actually sped up, and Artemis quirked an eye-ridge.

“Does he not understand the meaning of ‘slow down’?”

Speeding up, she came up beside the vigilante on the other side.

“Hey! I think he said SLOW DOWN!”

Reaching out, she pulled the brake on his bike.

When he flipped off, she stopped her Shell Cycle.

She winced in mock-sympathy as she pulled off her helmet.

“Aw…Did I hurt you?”

Raph skidded past both of them, and came racing back.

“OH…Mitsukai, this is gonna HURT…”

The vigilante had stood-Which Artemis deemed a VERY bad move-And was tackled to the ground by a turtle moving at least eighty miles an hour.

This time, she DID wince in sympathy.

“OOOOOO…I’m glad I’m not HIM…”

Pulling out the kickstand with an easy flick of her ankle, she disembarked and headed towards them.

Putting one hand on her hip as she held her helmet under her other arm, she quirked an eye-ridge again as Raph stood up.

“Aw…I can’t believe I just got my butt kicked by some giant frog…”

“Look, we’re turtles. Frogs don’t have shells, genius.” Artemis corrected.

“Whatever…”

“Look, we’re no fans of the Purple Dragons either, I’ll even help ya take ‘em down. But ya gotta exercise just a LITTLE restraint.”

Raph offered a hand to help the man up, and Artemis shook her head.

“You’re such a hypocrite, Raph…But you’re MY hypocritical brother.”

“…DAMN…Those are HUGE…”

Her eye twitched, and Raph had the capacity to know he should take a step AWAY.

“…Come over here…”

Not understanding the warning in her tone, the vigilante DID step towards her.

SMACK!!!

“OW!!! What the-!?!”

“Stare at my chest again, and I’ll do worse than smack you.” She warned.

“…Okay…”

She turned to get her dog, and he stared at her butt.

With a sigh of annoyance, she looked over her shoulder at him.

“Why don’t you just take a picture?” She asked sharply, smirking.

“’Cause it ain’t yours.”

She ignored the two as they started talking, tuning out most their words and catching the basics.

She’d stopped petting Mitsukai when she heard about the vigilante’s father’s shop burning down because of the Purple Dragons.

‘MAN…That sucks…’

“Just be careful. Yer anger can take ya down, make ya act just like ‘em. My father once told me a true warrior fin’s balance in all thin’s.”

“Balance, huh?”

“Well, ya know. Enough balance as a couple hot-headed whack bags like us can manage.”

“I second that notion!” Artemis stated from the background.

“Me? You’re the only whack bag around here, doc.”

“Hey, I’m not half as crazy as ya.” Raph replied, punching the vigilante in the arm.

“Sorry, but for a little green dude, you are totally nuts.”

Punch.

“Yeah, well, I’m not the one runnin’ ‘round in a hockey mask.”

“I gotta protect my good looks. I’m savin’ this face for Hollywood.”

Artemis fake-gagged before a deep voice caught her attention.

“Well, isn’t THIS romantic?”

They were surrounded by Purple Dragons, and she whipped out one of her large fans as Mitsukai snarled, bristling.

“So…When you said I’d go too far and get myself into trouble, did you mean something like this?”

“Somethin’ like this…”

The circle was closing in on them, and Artemis snapped her fan open as the headlights from the Battle Shell hit them.

The large vehicle let the circle open, and the other three turtles jumped out.

“Friends of yours?”

“Brothers, actually.” Raph replied.

“…I can see the family resemblance…”

“I’m the pretty one!” Mikey stated.

SMACK!!!

“OW!!! ARTIE…”

“If anyone’s the pretty one, it’s me.”

The Purple Dragons advanced, and the sharp edge of her fan cut into the asphalt.

“Come on, tough guys. Bring it.”

The six jumped into action, and Artemis almost laughed at how easy it was.

Knocking five of them away, she clicked her tongue against her teeth in a ‘tsk’ sound.

“You guys need more training…Maybe some yoga?”

Leaning back to dodge a chain, she grabbed it, yanking the offender into her foot.

“What? You guys need something easy. You’re little brains can only take so much.”

Basically dancing away from their blows, she smirked and threw in her own blows.

Jumping up, she did a split kick before pushing off their faces and flipping to land on her feet.

Looking up at her brothers, she spotted Leo perfect his split kick on some Purple Dragons’ faces.

“Hey! I got my split kick right!”

“I missed it!” Raph shouted back, punching a man in the face.

The blue-banded did it again, and Raph smirked.

“One more time!”

As two more men went down, Raph and the vigilante held up their fingers as scored.

“Aw, Raph! Only six?”

“That’s all I’ve got!”

Artemis smirked, doing a hurricane kick.

She noticed someone behind her, but a growl and a white and gold blur smacked into the man.

With wide crimson eyes, she saw the husky snarl and rip at the man’s arm with her fangs.

A small smile crawled across her face.

“I get the BEST pets…”

Mitsukai backed off, still snarling and baring her fangs at the men that tried to come closer the gold-banded turtle.

“AW…A little dog after my own heart!”

Mikey stared, looking surprised.

“WHOA…”

“I know! Isn’t she bad-ass?”

With all of them working, the whole group was beaten up rather quick.

Snapping her fan shut, she leaned on it casually, patting Mitsukai’s head as she leaned on her.

“I know I’m gonna regret this, but I’m glad I met ya, crazy man.” Raph admitted.

“Me too, green dude. Ya know something? I’m starting to see what you’re all about.”

“Oh, ya mean ‘bout balance, ‘bout self control.”

“Nah. That yer a green mutant freak.” The vigilante replied good-naturedly, punching Raph in the arm.

“But I like ya!”

The punching was playful at first, then turned more aggressive, before they were wrestling on the ground.

With a sigh, Artemis used her free hand to rub her forehead.

“…He’s your brother.” Leo stated.

“No-No! He’s YOUR brother.” Mikey replied.

“Absolutely YOUR brother.”

The gold-banded turtle smiled at her brothers.

“Who wants to throw a rock at them and run?”

“I’m in!”