Golden Angel

“Donnie, these techno-geek midnight brainstorms have gotta stop!” Raph complained.

“Are you kidding me? When we’re done, the Battle Shell will be sweeter than-!”

He was cut off by banging on the warehouse door, and Mizu and Chi shared curious glances before going to open it.

“Guys! Guys, are you in there!”

Opening it, Chi quirked an eyebrow.

“Yo. What’s the problem?”

“Angel?” Artemis asked worriedly, walking around her friends.

“ARTIE!”

The purple-haired girl hugged the she-turtle.

“You’ve got to help!”

Lifting the girl off the ground to hold her easier, the gold-banded turtle tried to soothe the girl’s hysteria.

“It’s alright, Angel. We’ll help.”

The other girls nodded, and everyone piled into the Battle Shell before taking off, Angel still clinging to her friend.

“Where are we going?” Don questioned as everyone made sure they were buckled in.

“Wall Street and Hanover!”

“Wall Street? Is this about your portfolio?”

“…Chi…”

“I’m on it.”

SMACK!!!

“OW!!! BABE…”

Angel held out a strange gold coin, and Mikey was eager to get a closer look.

“WHOA…Gold? No way!”

“Where’s ya get a gold coin?” Chi asked.

“My brother gave it to me. He found it at the construction job he was working at. Near the Boplehart Building.”

“…The creepy building?” Kasai asked fearfully, eyes wide.

“It’s dated 1611.” Mizu noted.

“You’re brother found buried treasure?” Mikey asked in wonder.

“I told him not to go back! I told him I had a bad feeling about it!”

Artemis sighed, fixing her brothers with a look.

“THIS is a good example of why you should always listen to your sister.”

“But that was three days ago…”

The crimson-eyed turtle could understand how much that would hurt her…

“Since then…nothing…”

“It’ll be alright. I’m here to find him.”

Artemis tried to smile reassuringly.

“No one stays lost long when I’m on the job. Don’t worry.”

“…You promise you’ll find him?”

“I promise on my honor.”

“What did the police say?” Leo wondered.

“They were too busy cleaning up the fall-out from the invasion to look for a punk on a treasure hunt…”

Angel seemed ready to start crying, and her turtle friend tried soothing her.

“There it is…”

“It DOES look spooky…” Mizu admitted, clinging to Don’s arm.

“I-I don’t want to go in there…” Kasai added, hiding behind the sai-wielding turtle.

“Scaredy-cats. There ain’t no such thin’ as hidden treasure or haunted houses.”

“…Well, I WOULD agree…But my life has taught me that nothing is impossible.”

“MAN…Talk about creepy-central!”

Mikey hid behind his sister and girlfriend, obviously scared.

Artemis’s eye twitched, and her fingers curled up slowly into fists…

‘I have a bad feeling…A bad, BAD feeling…’

The boys opened the front door, and the girls followed.

Chi made an act of acting unafraid, and Artemis managed to cover up her own fear rather well with practiced control, but the other two could be seen fidgeting and jumping at shadows.

“I don’t get it…What kind of building on Wall Street has no security?”

“A haunted one…”

“Sweetie, there’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“I’ll believe that when you prove it…”

Kasai rubbed her palms together, making warm sparks.

“I-I’m not scared of the dead…”

She felt something cold rush over her skin, and fire rushed on and off on her skin…

“I’m scared of what might be alive…”

“Hey, guys! Look!” Mikey called, looking at a small statue.

“Well…Isn’t that original…” Artemis muttered.

“C.L. Boplehart. It’s marked 1616! Whoa! Could this place be anymore like Castle Dracula?”

He caught Kasai’s wide-eyed look…

“Uh, dudette?”

“I-I’m going!”

“KASAI!”

Raph caught hold of the terrified Firebender, soothing her fears.

“It’s a’right, darlin’…Mikey never knows what ‘e’s talkin’ ‘bout…”

“You have come.”

Crimson eyes darted up, looking around warily for this strange, echoing, deep voice…

It sent chills up her shell…

“Who said that?”

“You heard it too, Angel?”

“Heard what?” Leo asked worriedly.

“I-It’s probably just my imagination…” Angel admitted.

‘Not mine…’ Artemis thought darkly, looking around.

“I’m a little freaked out, is all…”

“Come to me.”

The jade-skinned turtle jumped slightly, and fire burst over her hands as she whirled around, trying to pinpoint the voice.

“Love?”

“Find the way.”

Angel was moving as if in a trance, and Artemis growled softly as something cold tried to invade her senses.

‘Leave me alone!’

‘You can not fight me forever…’

‘LEAVE-US-ALONE!’

The flames flared blue, and her senses cleared to show Angel had unveiled hidden stairs in the floor.

“Angel…How did you…?” Don started.

“I…I don’t know, I…I just sort of KNEW it was there…”

Mizu and Kasai looked down warily, unwilling to travel down the steps, while Chi studied the ‘underground’ carefully.

Artemis was more confused, the fire dying as she remembered that strange voice…

‘What did it want?’

Crimson eyes narrowed as she steeled herself…

‘Whatever it is, it probably isn’t good.’

The others headed down, and she couldn’t keep herself from following.

She wasn’t about to let the others get hurt because she got cold feet…

There was a damp, molding tunnel below that looked worse than the sewer tunnels back home.

The floor was went and green, and it was amazing that the many torches stayed lit.

Mizu didn’t find comfort in the liquid, and gripped Don’s hand tighter.

They found a large, circular red door, and Artemis’s blood ran cold…

“WHOA…Guys, welcome to Creepsville!”

“What’s it say, Don?”

“It’s Italian. It says ‘Abandon all hope ye who enter here’.”

“…I say we don’t go in.” Kasai stated shakily.

Artemis nodded, tentatively reaching a hand forward to gently touch the stone.

Something jolted through her, and her eyes glowed as she jerked back.

“LOVE?!”

Leo caught hold of her arm, eyes dark with worry.

“I-I…I don’t like this place, Leo…Let’s leave…”

“THE AVATAR HAS SPOKEN! LET’S GET OUTTA HERE!” Mikey exclaimed.

“Check this out…” Raph muttered, and everyone jumped at the sight of the skeleton.

“LEO…”

“I’m sure everything will be fine, love…”

She shook her head, holding his hand.

“I don’t think it WILL be. I think we should go.”

“But Angel’s brother…”

Crimson eyes lowered for a moment in thought, and then came back up.

“You guys go.”

“We WON’T leave you here.” He retorted stubbornly.

“And I WON’T let you all get hurt.”

“We’ve got to find my brother! I bet he’s in here!”

“ANGEL!”

Artemis ran to stop the purple-haired girl, pulling her back.

The eye symbol on the door glowed a bright red, and Chi looked around warily.

Everything became coated in red, and the skeletons came to life, coming to get them…

Mizu brought up blades of water, cutting up the skeletons and knocking some back.

Chi brought up bricks to throw at the heads of others.

Fire sparked and flew, and Kasai weaved around rusty blades as she tried to keep a safe distance between her enemies and herself.

Artemis jumped up, using an Airbending Slice to keep some ‘zombies’ back before she pulled Angel onto her shell.

“Hold on tight!”

‘I KNEW we shouldn’t have come! Shouldn’t have touched!’

“Is it just me, or is this WAY off the creepy-meter?!”

“There’s something seriously wrong here! You can hit them, but they just keep coming!”

“We can’t keep this up forever!” Mizu added, already feeling her muscles burn.

“AND there’s more of them!”

“You fools!”

They looked towards the staircase, seeing an old man holding a lantern.

“You can not kill the dead! Run! You must follow me!”

Urging everyone forward, Artemis only stopped when one came up behind her.

Spinning around, she didn’t notice her eyes glow.

“STOP!”

They obeyed, and the light died from her eyes as confusion shifted into dominance.

“LOVE!”

“COMING!”

Running as fast as she could, she jumped up to the main floor, flipping to land on her feet.

The stairwell was closed behind her, and she panted as she looked at her three-fingered hands.

‘What was that?’

“What the SHELL is goin’ on ‘round ‘ere?!”

“Silence! You should not have come here!”

“I-I’m sorry, b-but…”

“…But it’s too late now.”

Artemis glared, standing.

“What do you mean by that? Why is it too late?”

“You have gone too far. There is no going back.”

The jade-skinned she-turtle straightened her shoulders, looking defiant.

“It’s never too late. What’s going ON around here?”

“If you truly wish answers to your questions, follow me…”

He headed up the grand staircase, and they all shared a glance…

“Let’s go.”

Chi went first, and Mikey trotted after her almost eagerly.

The others soon followed, and were eventually brought into a small, musty library.

“Uh, sure? Aren’t you the least bit freaked out? I mean, seeing us?” Don questioned.

“I have seen many strange things in my life. Very little surprises, but know this. The money you seek will never be yours. It’s a fateful trap. Only a gruesome fate awaits those that go after it.”

“We’re not here for the money.” Mizu explained.

“We’re ‘ere fer Angel’s brother.” Chi added.

“Tall. Brown hair.” Angel stated.

“He found this coin here and came back looking for more. That would’ve been about three days ago.”

“Yes, he was here…”

The old man took the gold coin, and Artemis started fidgeting.

Something about this place set off her nerves like only the Shredder could…

“I gave him the same warning I give them all, but he ignored me. He went through the Golden Door, and will never return.”

“Nobody like ME has ever gone through. I’m getting him.” Artemis stated stubbornly.

“What makes you so different from the others? Humanity is all the same. Greedy, selfish creatures.”

“I don’t care what happens to me. I promised I’d get him back for Angel, and I will!”

He seemed to study her, as if to check if she was lying…

“I’m sure you’ll change your mind when you hear what you’ll find there…”

“Try all you like, but I won’t back off.”

He pulled out a dusty book, plopping it down on a table.

He told the story about a meteor and Indians and the strange monster.

Kasai was frightened now, Mizu worried, Chi shaken, and Artemis stubborn.

“What about you? How do you fit into this?”

“I…I am his heir. I vowed to destroy the creature, and lift the curse from my family. But…I was too weak…Too long under its influence…No matter how long I desired to end its life…I could not.”

He looked up at them, locking on the crimson-eyed turtle.

“Do you still wish to face this creature?”

“…Yes.”

“You have courage…”

He opened a compartment, pulling something free…

“Here. The Meteor Spear.”

He gave it to Leo, who studied the glowing head.

“May it serve you in your time of need.”

They headed back to the staircase, though Angel insisted on coming along with all of them.

“Guys, wait up!”

“Sorry, Angel. You’ve gotta stay here where it’s safe.” Leo replied instantly.

“PLEASE…find my brother.”

“Don’t worry. You’ve got the best team on the job.”

The spear lit the way as they headed down, and everyone tensed when the zombies seemed to come back for round two.

They seemed to fear the spear, however, and the weapon cleared the way to the large circular door.

It opened for them, and Artemis fought off the chill under her skin as they all stepped over the threshold.

Once it slammed shut with a thud, Kasai jumped, whimpering in fear as she buried her face in Raph’s arm.

“It’s a’right, darlin’. We’ll be fine.”

The tunnels were still moldy and damp, but there were many more and winded around themselves.

“Ya guys buy that ol’ man’s story?”

“After those skeletons, I’m ready to believe anything…”

They came into a large room, which showed a flaming meteor.

“WHOA…I guess that’s the meteor the old man was talking about…”

“Guys, over here!” Mizu called, running her hands over the strange sacks.

“What are they?” Kasai wondered, looking up at them.

Leo swiped one open, and it showed a skeleton, along with many aged papers.

“This is a Civil War bond…This guy must be a hundred and fifty years old.” Don mused.

“And there are thousands of them…” Chi muttered.

“If Angel’s brother ended up in there, it would take weeks to find him…” Leo added.

They were about to continue searching when red tentacles came out of the many tunnels.

“GUYS!”

“Don’t look now, but the creepy-meter just went death-con one!”

Artemis threw air blades, cutting some up pretty badly as Chi brought some tunnels down and Kasai singed others.

Mizu was avoiding them as best she could, bringing up water the freeze the many appendages to the floor, walls, or ceiling.

“Is there more than one creature?”

“I don’t know!”

“I don’t WANNA know!”

“I ‘gree wit’ Mike on this one!”

Mikey was caught by a tentacle, and Chi propelled herself into the air to try and save him.

However, a tentacle wrapped around her in midair, crushing her lungs slightly.

The tentacles caught them one by one, and Artemis felt that power coursing through her…

“LET THEM GO!”

A ball of wind, glowing arrows, and bursts of steam, and the tentacles kept back as fire and earth came to crush them.

Eventually, a large one wormed its way past her defense, and caught her arms, then her legs…

Soon, she was completely trapped, struggling for breath and still breathing flames.

Something strange struck her, and everything went dark…

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Mizu woke up drowsily, feeling the hard rock under her.

Sitting up, she put a hand to her head, looking around.

“Donnie? Artemis? Where is everybody?”

Something shifted, and the Waterbender jumped to her feet.

“Donnie? Sweetie?”

He turned the corner, but…

Something was wrong…

“Donnie?”

Blood…

“DONNIE!”

Running towards him, she helped him stay upright as her hands glowed, trying to close the many gashes over his body.

“Mizu…Stop…”

“Donnie, I can’t-!”

“It’s too late…”

Tears welled up in her eyes, and some slipped past her lids and down her cheeks…

“NO! It can’t be!”

“I’m sorry…”

“DON’T!”

Her eyes burned as she struggled to take his weight, feeling for a pulse as it fluttered out of existence…

“NO!! DONNIE!!!!!!!”

“Mizu…”

“ARTEMIS!”

Still crying heavily, she turned, and…

“Oh God!”

The jade-skinned turtle, her sister and friend and guardian, was dying…

Gashes were open over her neck and plastron, and crimson flooded out as the life left her eyes…

“NO!”

She TRIED…

She really did…

Why wasn’t it working?

She wasn’t closing the wounds…

She was making them worse…

“M-Mizu…I’m…”

It was as if she could see the others soul depart their world…

“Sorry…”

“Artemis, NO!!!!”

Tears mixed with blood, and she couldn’t see anymore.

“NO! DON’T LEAVE ME!!!”

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Kasai felt something wet drip onto her cheek, and gold eyes fluttered open to reveal the damp tunnels…

“Why am I still here?”

Sitting up, she looked around, surprised when she found shackles and chains holding her fast to the ground.

“Wha-? What’s going on? Artie? Raphie?”

A dark chuckle that sent her skin prickling and her nerves aflame…

“Come now, Kasai…I’m sure you’ve realized that you can never escape me…”

“L-Leave me a-alone!”

Her heart was in panic mode as fire escaped her, palms and knuckles scraped and bleeding as she tried to scramble back…

“RAPH! ARTIE!”

If they were alive somewhere, she was sure they’d hear her…

“You want to see your friends?”

The look made her blood run cold…

“Well, why not take a look behind you?”

…Blood…

So much blood…

Lifeless, cold eyes…

“No…no…”

Her heart was breaking…

“NO!!!!!!!”

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Chi stood up shakily, rubbing her arms to warm herself up…

“Where the hell is everyone?”

“Chi…Honey…”

Her heart thumped in her chest, and the red/gold-haired girl spun around.

“M-Mommy?”

“Honey…”

“MOMMY!”

Running forward, she hugged the taller woman, tears leaking free…

“Mommy…”

Suddenly…

Warm liquid spilled across her face, and she tasted it on her tongue…

“No…”

The body fell through her arms, already turning cold, and she registered the form before her, bloody sword in hand…

“Hun…”

“Ya didn’t think I killed yer mother fer nothin’, did ya?”

“Ya…Ya BASTURD!”

She threw an angry punch, but he caught her wrist, forcing her against a wall.

“I ‘lready tol’ ya. Yer mine now.”

“Let me go!”

She couldn’t Earthbend…

Could hardly breathe…

“I…I’m not anybodies…”

“Maybe I should show ya how much ‘a ya I own…”

He pulled the sword back, and aimed it behind him.

She felt the vibrations, recognized who was there…

“Mike, RUN!”

Blood…

“NO!!!”

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“OH…My head hurts…”

Artemis looked though the dim lighting, worried.

“Leo? Love? Where is everybody?”

“Artemis…”

Turning sharply, her eyes widened.

“LEO!”

He was covered in blood, and barely able to stand, as she ran for him.

“Artemis…Where are you?”

The gold-banded nearly panicked, thinking he’d gone blind or something, when her hands fazed through him.

“WHAT THE-?!”

The others appeared around them, looking just as battle-weary, when the Shredder seemed to materialize out of thin air…

“Oh, no…”

He was crushing them so horribly…

Breaking bones, cutting open skin, spilling intestines…

She couldn’t stop him…

Couldn’t help her family…

She had to watch the life leave their eyes, hear their pleas of help echo in her ears…

Cry at their vain attempts to scream her name…

As tears flooded down her cheeks and burned her skin, she felt eyes on her…

Looking up, she froze, realizing the man of metal could actually SEE her…

Ready to run, to at least keep him from getting what he wanted, she yelped when he grabbed her wrist and threw her to the ground.

Her voice was gone, and she couldn’t yell or scream as he pinned her, grinning.

“Finally…I get what I rightfully deserve…”

‘No! Let me go!’

She caught sight of her mate’s body…

The tears fogged her vision, and a heat came near her leg…

‘NO!’

“ARTEMIS!”

Crimson eyes snapped open, and she looked up at the blue-banded turtle, heart racing and breathing rough.

“Artemis, are you okay?”

Tears came, mixing with the strange gunk on her, and she jumped, hugging him tight.

“Artemis?”

“L-Leo…You’re o-okay…”

“Of course I am…”

‘What happened to her in there?’

“Come on, love…We need to wake up the others.”

She nodded, hesitantly releasing him and going to wake up the girls.

Each had tears, clinging to her once snapped back into reality.

When everyone was free, they wiped off the strange gunk and tried to get their bearings.

“Somehow this creature, whatever it is, was manipulating our minds.” Leo explained.

Artemis clenched her fist, almost feeling that fire in her gut spurt forward.

‘That basturd…he made me live my worst nightmare…’

“Well, I don’t like being anybody’s lunch, asleep OR awake!”

“Let’s get Angel’s brother an’ get outta ‘ere!”

“When I opened the cells, they were glowing…” Artemis mused.

“Something to do with the creature’s power…”

“THERE!”

The eight teens ran for it, Chi feeling the glow as they ripped it open.

They managed to move the unconscious body, and headed down a tunnel as he began to wake up.

“Who-Who are you?”

He seemed frightened, but Mizu and Kasai managed to calm him, saying he was hallucinating.

Chi was still shaking, snappish and defensive, and led the way as best she could.

The whole place shook as tentacles raced for the group, and Mizu brought up a wall of water, freezing it to ice.

They still busted through, and Kasai blasted them as Chi tried to stop the walls from shaking.

Artemis tackled one heavily, ripping at it with water-spiked knuckles and earth-encrusted fists…

Let’s just say the others weren’t doing NEARLY as well…

They were being forced back into the main room…

Artemis spotted the Meteor Spear, and jumped for it, holding the weapon carefully.

The creature busted through the floor, revealing its large mouth and even larger, glowing red eye…

“Feel my power…See my strength…You can not fight me…You can not win…If you serve me, I will give you cities…I will give you power and wealth…I will give you the world…”

That same fog, trying to dampen her senses…

She glared, tightening her grip on the spear shaft.

“You couldn’t possibly understand what I want. What I need. I want my family and friends to be happy. I need them to be safe. You can’t give me the world because its spirit is already in me.”

Her eyes glowed, her past lives giving her strength…

“It’s the Avatar’s job to protect the world, to keep everything in balance…I’ll do that, but it’ll never be for ME. You made me live my worst nightmare…”

She glared up at its eye, unafraid…

“So f*** you…”

Throwing the spear as hard as she could, she sped it up with Airbending before it struck the massive glowing target on its forehead.

A high-pitched screech, and it was gone…

Breathing out, she almost fell over before Leo caught her.

“Good job, love…”

The girls helped steady her, and they headed upstairs to return Angel’s brother.

“Angel?”

“Ryan? RYAN!”

“Hey, where’s the old dude?”

“Mike…I think yer standin’ in ‘im…”

“EW! Gross-Gross-GROSS! AH!!”

“Come on, let’s go home.” Mizu advised, still clinging to her boyfriend.

“I’ve had more than enough weirdness for a lifetime…” He agreed.

They were happy enough to go home, and Artemis slowly drifted off to sleep…

‘Never…I’ll never let that happen…’