Golden Angel

“Well, guys, that’s that! The Triceratons are leaving!”

Artemis smiled, but she felt exhausted…

“Good, because I need a nap…”

Leo pulled her into a comforting hold bridal style, allowing the she-turtle to rest her head on his shoulder.

“You know, saving the human race gives me a warm fuzzy feeling deep down in my shell…”

Mizu giggled, hugging the purple-banded turtle and kissing his cheek.

They were flying over New York, and Mikey’s excitement caused him to hug Chi, catching her by surprise.

She blushed darkly, patting his shell awkwardly.

“Yeah…ya did good, Mike…”

“Don, the last thing we need is to be the center of attention.”

“Leo, we’re flyin’ an’ eighty ton imperial space cruiser down fifth avenue. It’s a little hard ta keep it on the down-low.”

A Shell Cell went off, Mikey’s, since he picked it up to answer.

“This is the Mikey Party Line! What’s up? …Professor Honeycutt? No way! Hang on, I’ll put you on speaker!”

He pressed some buttons, smiling as the call came on the cruiser’s speakers.

“We were just talking about you! Your ears must be burning!”

“Not so. My ears are a steel alloy. It would have to 25000 degrees Fahrenheit for combustion to occur.”

Everyone sweat dropped, and Artemis smiled a bit into Leo’s neck.

“I don’t think that’s what he meant, Professor…”

“Professor, your inter-stellar signal is so CLEAR.” Don mused.

“It sounds like you’re only a mile away.”

“Oh no, not a mile away. I’m at least 2.1 miles away, at the site for the TCRI building.”

Everyone stiffened, surprised…

Artemis groaned, covering her eyes…

“PLEASE tell me he didn’t say what I just think he said…”

“Then I’d be lyin’…” Chi replied.

“ON EARTH! PLEASE tell me he didn’t say he was on Earth!” Mizu begged.

Hadn’t they been through enough?

“We’ll be right there, Professor. DON’T move.” Leo ordered.

“Donnie, we need to hide this thing pronto!”

Artemis was put onto her feet, and she rubbed at her eye cutely.

‘How are we supposed to hide an alien spacecraft?’

Somehow, they managed, and sneaked into the fenced-in area that held the crater that was once the TCRI building of the Utroms.

Spotting the Fugitoid, Artemis gave a strained smile as he turned to them.

“Hello, my friends! It seems you’ve made new ones yourselves.”

Mizu nodded, giving a slight bow.

“It’s nice to meet you, Professor Honeycutt. I’m Mizu, a Waterbending master.”

“An’ I’m Chi, Earthbendin’ master.”

“You DO know the Triceratons were here looking for you, right?” Leo asked.

“I know. That is why I am here. To give myself up. I have just broadcasted a message to the Triceraton Prime Leader.”

Silence…

“…Professor, normally I wouldn’t try to hurt you…But you’re really pushing it…”

“Ya WHAT?!” Chi shouted.

“Are ya crazy?” Raph demanded.

“Professor, are you crazy? Do you know what the Triceratons will DO to you?” Don questioned.

“AND what they’ll do with your knowledge of Utrom technology?” Mizu added, remembering that tidbit of information.

“Never fear, friends. I’ve already wiped my mind clear of any vital information.”

“But Professor, they’ll take you APART finding that out.” Don reasoned.

“I’m rather hoping they do. I have a little surprise for them.”

“GREAT! Just what we need! The Professor’s off ‘is shell!”

“We’ll think of something.” Leo insisted.

“Donnie, how long until the Triceratons get here?”

Artemis fell into a stance, eyes narrowed.

“About three seconds…”

The Triceratons were flying down, shooting lasers.

Chi crouched down, and she ground her teeth.

“ARTIE!”

“Earth wall! NOW!”

Stomping the ground, a wall of earth came up and blocked the lasers.

“MOVE!” Mizu shouted, already drawing water from the surrounding plant life.

“I guess they got my message!” Honeycutt stated.

“YOO-HOO! I’m over here!”

He was jumping around the edge of the wall, and Artemis grabbed him, pulling him after the others in their run.

“What the SHELL are you doing?! Trying to piss me of?!”

“I told you! I’m giving myself up!”

“Like SHELL you are!”

Throwing the Fugitoid over her shoulder, she started running.

“Surrender the Fugitoid!”

Platforms landed, and Chi smirked.

“Wrong move…”

With quick, powerful thrusts of her hands, the machines were skewered, and she knocked soldiers away with massive slabs of concrete.

“WHOO! You GO, girl!” Mikey cheered, though lasers still kept them running.

They found a manhole nearby, and jumped in with the Fugitoid as Mizu ran in to create a distraction.

Using the water she’d drawn, she made mist cover their escape as the manhole slid closed.

“You must surrender!”

“Sorry, Professor! We don’t know the meanin’ ‘a surrender!” Raph retorted.

Even the Triceraton ready to cut them off was disoriented by the sudden mist…

Still, it was fun for Artemis to crash him into a wall…

Once everyone was safe in the sewers, Mizu relaxed.

Being near any source of water did that to her, but she also knew this was the turtle’s domain.

They knew the winding tunnels better than anyone ever could, so there was no fear of getting lost.

“My friends, I assure you I have not fried my circuits!”

Artemis grunted a negative, pushing her tired legs forward with the others.

“I know what I am doing!”

Chi shook her head, frustrated.

“I’m partial ta ripping ‘im apart right now…”

“CHI!” Artemis scolded.

“You MUST let me go!”

“NO!”

Honeycutt was surprised at the fierce look in the jade-skinned turtle’s eyes.

“No one gets left behind, damn it! As far as I’m concerned, you’re family, and I protect my family!”

“But I’m SURE my plan will succeed!”

Pulling him off her shoulder, she fixed him with a firm look.

“At what cost? I can’t lose anybody! Especially not if I can help it! So shut your mouth and stop telling them our position!”

“Oh, but I’m not! They found us unaided!”

“But how?” Mikey asked.

The three bender’s seemed to realize how and groaned, smacking their foreheads.

“Why me? Why can’t things be EASY? Why can’t I be at home with Mitsukai watching Indiana Jones?”

“Uh, well…That might actually be kinda…MY fault…” Don admitted.

“I sort of showed the Triceraton’s how to scan for the Fugitoid’s positronic energy signature. It was the only way to convince them that the Professor wasn’t on Earth.”

“But now ‘e IS on Earth…” Chi grumbled.

“Don, just how accurate is this scan?” Leo questioned as everyone got into battle-ready stances.

“Miles? City blocks?”

“…Inches…”

Artemis smacked her forehead…

“From now on, I hate dinosaurs…”

Mizu made the water ripple angrily, but the ninja of the group decided hiding would be easier.

“Hello, Triceratons.”

The Waterbender brought water up around her, but stayed as silent as she could manage.

Chi couldn’t see them until they hit the ground, so…

She jumped down, water cutting through the machines like blades.

Landing in the water, she brought it up in a wave and sent them flying back.

Chi stepped out of the shadows, brow furrowed as the turtles came out of the water.

“Professor, next time we say HIDE-.”

Raph was cut off for a moment by lasers…

“HIDE!!!”

The Triceratons were trying to come back, and Artemis shared a glance with Chi.

“Let’s do it.”

“NOW yer speakin’ my language!”

Taking similar stances, they brought walls and ceiling and floor to smack the Triceraton soldiers around like rag dolls.

Once the soldiers were thoroughly distracted, the two followed the others down into the water to get away.

Chi grasped blindly for something to hold, and managed to get hold of a hand that pulled her along.

Before she ran out of breath, they surfaced in a different section of the sewers, and she realized it was Mikey’s hand she held.

“You’re going the wrong way!” Honeycutt protested.

“NO! The WRONG way would be TOWARDS the Triceratons!” Artemis countered as Raph took the Professor and the group continued to run.

The Fugitoid refused to stop shouting, until no one could take it anymore.

Jumping behind a short wall, they glared at the robot.

“SHUT UP!!!!”

The teens were panting for breath, and Artemis, starting to come down from her adrenaline high, was crashing HARD…

“We’ve gotta…keep moving…” Leo stated.

“Alright…I’ll let you know…when I can move…” Artemis replied, sliding down closer to the sewer water.

“The Triceratons won’t stop…for a second…”

“Well, they’d better stop before my exhaustion makes me go Avatar State again…”

“My friends, you must let me implement my plan!”

Chi grumbled something about letting him do it, but got smacked upside the head by the gold-banded turtle.

“OW!!!”

“I can not allow the Triceraton’s rampage to continue because of me! I have made up my mind! And you can’t stop me!”

The Fugitoid headed for the wall, and started jumping and shouting.

“TRICERATONS! COME GET ME! YOO HOO!”

“We’ve gotta stop him!” Leo ordered.

“For his own good!”

“Don, do something!” Mikey pleaded.

The Fugitoid’s head was yanked off…

At least he shut up…

“Um…That was kinda extreme…” Mikey admitted.

Chi nodded in agreement, hands in her pockets.

“I panicked!”

Mizu smiled, trying to reassure the purple-banded turtle that he hadn’t technically BROKEN the Professor.

“Is there any way to turn off the signal they’re tracking, Donnie?” Artemis asked.

“Well…I could try to mask it somehow…but it’s gonna take time…”

He smiled widely, an idea forming…

“And maybe the PROFESSOR can give us a hand…”

“Donatello, why are you looking at me like that?”

Mizu’s smile widened.

“From the looks of it, you don’t wanna know…”

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Splitting up in teams with different Fugitoid body parts was one of Donnie’s GREAT ideas…

Unfortunately, there weren’t enough body parts for all of them, so Mizu and Chi paired off with Don and Mikey in their parts.

Artemis just needed to whistle, which echoed down the manhole, and, not two minutes later, Mitsukai was there.

Jumping onto the massive Sky Bison’s head, they flew into the air.

With a mighty roar and a flap of her broad tail, the behemoth moved faster.

With Honeycutt’s torso at her side, she pulled at the leather straps to steer Mitsukai away from a blast.

Looking back, the gold-banded turtle spotted a few soldiers behind them, shooting lasers.

“You want to see how to fly?”

She smirked, hands tightening on the reins.

“Well, watch the master!”

Going into a tight barrel roll, they dived towards the ground, freeing themselves from the fall and back up abruptly.

The soldiers were caught by surprise, and bashed away by the sharp horns.

Artemis laughed, a light sound among the crackle of electricity and cries of surprise.

“Try and catch us, horn-heads!”

Speeding up into the air, she gripped the cold metal closer to her side before looking down.

“Come on, baby…Drop…NOW!”

A three ton Sky Bison falling down at you…

NOT a good thing to see…

Three soldiers were hit by the leathery underbelly, and Artemis blasted the others away with punches of air before steering Mitsukai up before she hit the pavement.

From what she could tell, Raph and Mikey were still being chased, either on their Shell Cycle or Hoverboard, and she didn’t need to worry much.

She found Don and Mizu in the air in a chopper, but her eyes narrowed at the Triceraton’s chasing them.

“Hey, Donnie!”

He looked out the windshield with Mizu, and she smiled at them.

“Let me handle them! Keep going!”

Jumping up, she did an Airbending Slice followed by a quick burst of wind from her mouth.

The platforms fell, sparking, and she grinned as she landed on Mitsukai’s shaggy back.

She heard a crackle on her headset, and Don’s voice.

“Thanks, sis. We’ve got the signal. Head to the rendezvous point!”

“Got it, bro! I’ll be there soon!”

Crimson eyes widened as ten platforms of Triceratons blocked her way…

“…Make that a few minutes…I ran into some traffic…”

Turning off the line, she stood up, moving her hands to make a sphere of air.

“Ready, girl?”

The Sky Bison roared in answer.

“Then let’s go!”

Throwing the sphere like a boomerang, she jumped up, throwing air kicks with ease.

Some Triceratons were knocked down by the first strike, but metal was cut open from the second.

Mitsukai rammed three others, her tail smacking away one or two that tried to come at her from behind.

Artemis spun, making a tornado big enough to touch the ground, and knocked the others right out of the sky and hurtling towards the ground.

Landing on her spirit guide’s head, the jade-skinned turtle breathed out.

“I am SO beat…I wish I could just sleep…”

The Sky Bison seemed to sympathize, and headed for the rendezvous point, Central Park…

Everyone joined them, and they managed to put the Professor back together again.

“It’s great to have you back in one piece, Professor.” Don stated, assuring the head was on firmly.

“Yes, I agree. But now we must face reality.”

“I ‘ate reality…” Chi grumped, sitting on Mitsukai’s back with Mizu.

Both were exhausted, and the fur was warm enough to lull them a bit.

“If you don’t have an alternative plan, I must surrender myself to the Triceratons.”

“Give us time.” Artemis pleaded.

“We’ll think of something.” Leo assured.

Spotlights landed on them, and Mitsukai bristling, growling.

“Freeze! We have you surrounded! Put down your weapons and put your hands in the air, or we WILL open fire!”

Tanks and soldiers surrounded them, and Artemis yanked on the Sky Bison’s rein.

‘I can’t let anyone get hurt…’