Golden Angel

Peaceful meditation wasn’t usually something Artemis was known to enjoy, but her nagging emotions and senses left her restless and strangely protective.

Master Splinter had suggested she go meditate and rest, collect herself…

Mizu had seemed unwilling, but happily joined Don in his lab, and Chi assured her turtle friend that everything would be fine before going to play air hockey with Mikey.

Kasai had made sure her friend was feeling alright, and a bit worried at what Artemis’s intuition was trying to tell, but Raph managed to get her away so she could relax.

Artemis settled on her bed, leaning her shell on the wall as she slowed her breathing…

Cold…

She felt cold…

She almost shivered as she slid into a strange coldness, completely unlike the normal warmth of meditation…

‘Artemis…’

That strange voice, cold and hard and she almost felt freezing fingers wrapping around her wrists…

‘Let me go!’ She ordered in a shaky voice, pulling back futilely…

‘Never again…’

That chill around her heart, the flaring pain…

‘LET ME GO!!!’

Falling to the side and out of her deep meditation, Artemis took deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart…

‘Wh-What was that?’ She wondered as Mitsukai roared, calling for her owner.

The gold-banded turtle stepped out of her room, skin still clammy from fright, and put a hand on the Sky Bison’s head…

“…I think we have a problem, baby…”

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Artemis sighed, looking at the lit party across the street…

“Ready, love?”

Looking up at Leo, that feeling came back, like something was going to go wrong…

Nodding only slightly, she gave a sudden jerk to his wrist, pulling her lover into a warm kiss.

Pulling away, he gave her a slightly concerned look.

“Love?”

“I just…Be careful, alright?”

“I will be…I promise.”

Splinter shot an arrow across the street into the Foot building, rope attached, and the two slid across as Artemis pulled out her wings.

Keeping out of reach of the light, lest her gold-tinted wings shimmer and give her away, the gold-banded turtle landed carefully on the roof.

April and Casey got in, along with Raph, Mikey, and Chi in a cart…

Don, Mizu, Kasai, and Leatherhead were coming in through the tunnels and sewers, and Artemis was worried that someone would get hurt.

‘In and out…Simple enough without the fighting…’

“The security systems down and they don’t even know it.” Honeycutt’s voice came over her headset, and she sighed.

‘That’s not what I was worried about…’

She didn’t want to BE here…

Her ‘nightmare’ had matched somewhat with Splinter’s vision, so they’d come here…

“You know that REALLY big thing the Shredder is up to?” Don asked over the earpiece.

“We kinda found it…” Kasai admitted.

“It’s a starship!” Mizu finished almost impatiently.

“He has finally found a way to leave this planet…”

“That can’t be good…” Artemis muttered, pulling herself through a window carefully.

“He’s probably planning on attacking the Utroms and bringing chaos and destruction to other planets…”

“Maybe he’ll even come back to destroy Earth…” Leo muttered.

“We must stop him.”

“Consider his flight cancelled.”

“How are we doing, guys?” Leo asked over the headset.

They got the affirmative, and the three snuck into Shredder’s office.

“Your evil ends here and now, Shredder!” Splinter vowed, firing an arrow.

Saki caught the shaft rather easily, but was caught mid-sentence by a pillar of earth.

“It seems you’ve gotten a hold of Earthbending…”

She slid into a familiar stance, smirking.

“I think you mean ‘mastery’…”

Mikey and Raph jump-kicked Saki from behind, and he stumbled forward as the ground quaked and the six jumped in to strike.

Earth and air and weapons struck hard, tearing clothes and fake skin to reveal the robot beneath.

Chi was trying to block the blows raining down on her with the force to shatter earth.

She was knocked back by one particularly powerful kick, and Mikey jumped in with Artemis to knock the Shredder back.

Doors were busted down, and Hun ran in with the Foot Elite and the Foot soldiers.

Shredder ran to a statue on the far side, opening it to a special chute, as the turtles got distracted.

“Shit!” Artemis cursed, blowing the ninja back before bolting for the statue.

It shut before she made it, and she growled before trying to force it open with her bare hands.

Hun bull-rushed her from the side, smashing her shell into a wall harshly.

“OW! For kami’s SAKE-!”

With a swift kick, she jumped away as the mountain of a man fell to the ground hard.

“NOW is not the time to get on my nerves!” She warned, pulling out one of her smaller fans and jamming it into the ‘doors’.

With a harsh pull, the statue cracked open, and the crimson-eyed turtle almost fell back when the statue proceeded to EXPLODE…

“…What?” Chi asked innocently.

“Ya were takin’ too long…”

“…We’ll talk about this LATER…”

She jumped down, and she heard the others follow her as she landed in a crouch at the bottom.

Rolling out to make room, she spotted the Shredder facing off against Don and his group.

“Together, we will stop you!” Splinter stated as everyone prepared themselves for a fight.

The bad guys followed after them from behind, and Artemis would’ve snapped at them if a strange beeping hadn’t reached her ears first…

“Uh oh…”

Kasai immediately recognized it, and brought up a wall of fire before the door was blasted off and soldiers ran in.

“Well, well, well…isn’t this cozy?”

“Not anymore…” Kasai replied boldly.

During their last encounter, the Firebender had bravely stood up against her past oppressor, and seemed to be finding her courage.

“On my mark, destroy them all!”

“You wouldn’t…” Mizu growled warningly.

“Open fire!”

“NO!”

The bullets were stopped in midair, and Chi’s brow furrowed in concentration as more came at them.

Her legs shook from exertion, but Artemis couldn’t help her, since Hun decided to try and kill her right then…

“HEY!!”

Punching him in the kidney with a metal-encrusted fist, she glared.

“That’s no way to fight someone! If you’re going to get your ass kicked, let them do it while facing you!”

He grabbed her roughly, and she saw the rage in his eyes…

“…You men sure are touchy…”

Gasping as the wind was knocked out of her, Artemis could hardly keep her wobbling knees straight as he threw her towards the starship.

She hit the walkway, rolling a bit, and caught the edge before she fell off into a seemingly-endless abyss.

Leatherhead was pounding on Saki in a fury, but Hun tackled the large crocodile off.

When the large man realized the Shredder was an Utrom, he paused, and it gave the large crocodile the opening he did to smash back into Hun.

Artemis pulled herself up to her hands and knees, breathing hard and trying to keep air in, when she realized that Shredder was running for the starship.

“Oh GREAT…”

Flexing her fingers, metal bent under her hands, and she pushed forward, making a nice break in the strip of metal.

A can was knocked over by Mizu, and Don aimed it at the Utrom robot, freezing it with liquid nitrogen.

Both Waterbender’s used the ice to pull the entire robot apart and leave the Utrom bare on the floor.

Karai, however, decided to intervene as the family closed in.

She lifted up the Utrom, and jumped over Artemis to the ship.

“God damn it-!! GET BACK HERE!!”

The Avatar tried to keep up with the older kunoichi, but she went through the doors first, and they shut in Artemis’s face.

“THIS ISN’T OVER!!!” She shouted.

‘Not yet…’

“Chi!”

“Comin’!”

Both Earthbender’s shared a glance, grabbing the doors as hard as they could and pulling them open.

Don was ready to slip through when some helicopters fired missiles at them…

“MOVE!!!!”

Artemis pushed everyone back, and the resulting explosions threw the two Earthbender’s and Don through the doorway.

The starship was firing up, and the crimson-eyed turtle looked out at them as the walkway started moving away…

“GUYS!!!”

“We’ve got to jump for it!”

“Come on!”

Water latched onto the doorway, freezing, and Mizu pulled herself and Mikey up to it as the others jumped.

They weren’t going to make it…

With a soft curse, Artemis unfurled her wings from her shell and swooped forward enough to grab the end of the chain of people.

Flapping the feathery appendages as hard as she could manage, she got them all into the small ‘room’ as Chi shut the doors securely.

The harsh sound of an engine rattled them before a powerful force sent them into the ground, and the group could hardly breathe until the force alleviated itself.

Don stood up, holding his Palmtop containing Honeycutt, and attached him to a control stand.

The door was opened, and everyone headed into the hallway.

“Come on. Let’s go fin’ the Shredder an’ give ‘im our respects…” Raph stated.

“I ‘gree wit’ ya…”

“We need to rethink this…”

Everyone turned to Kasai, who had a serious look on her face, and she sighed.

“We can’t let him get away with this ship. It’ll put millions of lives in danger.”

“I believe she is right, my children.”

“I have sent urgent messages of warning to the Utroms, but…I proceed no response…I’m not sure I’ve gotten through.” Honeycutt informed.

“We have to gain control of this starship.” Mizu concluded.

The group agreed, and the nine headed down some hallways, looking for a control room of some kind…

Artemis folded her wings, sighing as she took hold of Leo’s hand…

‘The worst is coming…’

The whole rocket shook, and they all fell over from the suddenness of it.

Chi cursed harshly, sitting up, as Mizu tried to snap out of her daze.

Kasai was nursing a bruise forming on her shoulder from a lucky hit a Foot Elite had gotten in, and Artemis was trying to find out where the explosion came from.

Another struck hard, but they were ready this time…

Chi sighed, sitting up…

“…I see somethin’ ‘head…”

Following her directions, they found the ‘power room’, containing the glowing power core.

“Whoa…I hate to say it, but…impressive…”

“Sorry, sweetheart…We’ve got to blow it up…” Mizu replied sympathetically.

“I know…”

“Just put me into any maintenance output, and I should be able to take complete control of the ship.” Honeycutt stated from Don’s belt.

The purple-banded turtle nodded, putting the Palmtop into an input, and Mikey grinned.

“We can make this the control bridge! Spokk-To-The emergency bridge! Scotty-We-Need more power!”

He laughed a bit before he saw the blank, un-amused looks…

“Heh…sorry…”

“…Chi?”

“I’m on it…”

BONK!!!

“OW!!! BABE…”

“Four minutes, and I will have complete control.”

Doors slid open, and fire burst over Kasai’s hands…

“I don’t think we have four minutes…”

The large exo-suit lumbered in, Karai right behind it, and Mizu pulled up a sharp blade of water…

“Shedder…may my Master Yoshi’s sword take vengeance today!”

Splinter and Shredder clashed harshly, and Chi pulled a rod from the railing to her hand.

She threw it as hard as she could, knocking off the new helmet, and he turned on her immediately.

“Shit-!”

A punch sent her flying into a wall, and she barely made a handhold in time…

“BABE!”

Mikey jumped at Shredder, intent on getting some degree of revenge for his girl, and the other boys joined him.

It wasn’t going too well…

A fireball melted through some of the chest armor, and an arm was nearly severed by a well-aimed whip of water…

A pillar of earth nearly crashed into his side, and Chi jumped in, crushing his forearm like it was tinfoil.

The Shredder then threw Mikey and Raph away, hitting Don and sending all three tumbling over the railing…

“SHIT!”

“DONNIE!”

A bubble of water softened Don’s abrupt fall, and floating sand stopped the orange-masked turtle.

Kasai flipped over it herself, catching Raph’s wrist and letting fire out of her feet.

It sent her back up into the air like a rocket, and she caught hold of the railing.

The starship quaked as more explosions rocked the metal, and the walls were starting to smoke as they were blown open.

The smoke choked Mizu, and Artemis managed to blow it away with her small fans, and the four benders jumped to fight the Shredder and Karai as a wire fell free of its hold.

Don and Mikey took the sparking ends, running at the evil Utrom from behind as he crushed Chi in his fist…

He whirled around, chucking the Earthbender into both turtles and took the wires in his own hands.

The blind, petite girl flinched as she realized her leg was broken from the awkward fall, even though she was splayed on her boyfriend’s chest.

Sparks caught her attention, and she couldn’t do anything to shield them…

“NO!”

Splinter managed to get in the way, taking the full shock…

“SENSEI!!!!”

A whirlwind of jade and gold smacked into the exo-suit, knocking the Shredder over.

“I am f***ing DONE with this!!!” She snarled loudly, metal crunching under her hands.

She was thrown onto her shell, a large hand over her plastron to hold her down.

Struggling harshly and trying to breathe, Artemis refused to look him in the eyes.

“Don’t even bother getting up…I’ll just finish this quickly.”

Her eyes widened, and he kicked Leo’s shell towards Karai…

Who held up a katana…

The slip of a blade through flesh, and hot tears built in her eyes…

“LEO!!!”

He fell hard to the ground, not moving, and she felt that familiar pain in her chest…

“Finally…”

Fire was escaping her skin, arrows glowing over her skin, and her eyes were closed…

“You just made a big mistake…”

Glowing eyes, bright, and the flames pushed the Shredder away.

The power died, and Artemis scrambled to her feet, racing for her lover.

“LEO!!! LEO, ARE YOU OKAY!?!”

She fell on her knees, trying to make sure he was alright as Mizu used an ice shield to guard her back.

“LEO?!”

“…Love?”

“Oh kami-! Are you okay?”

He smiled shakily, lifting a hand to wipe away some of her tears…

“Don’t worry…I’ll be…fine…”

He slid back into unconsciousness, and her sadness turned to almost uncontrollable rage.

“KARAI!”

Standing up, she snapped her fans open.

“…I can never forgive you now…”

“It was not my fault…”

“You still did it!”

Karai dodged a flying fan, and almost shrunk away from the rage rolling off her opponent…

“He TRUSTED you! And you stabbed him!”

Artemis seemed to forget her enemy when she heard the others cry out as they were thrown away…

Leo was struggling to stand, and the Shredder went to swipe him open…

‘NO!’

Time seemed to slow down as she ran towards them, hardly realizing air was following her…

‘I won’t make it!’

Even that thought didn’t slow her down…

In fact, it made her speed up…

Cold metal, gashes that spread lines of fire down her throat, past her collarbone…

Hot blood pouring out of her, and she couldn’t bring in any air…

“ARTIE!!!” Mikey and Don shouted in shock.

“PRINCESS!!!”

“LOVE!!!”

She fell back, limp, into her lover’s arms…

Blood…

Too much blood…

Crimson waterfalls from her open neck and plastron, covering whatever skin it could…

Mizu bolted to her friend’s side, water at her hands as they glowed.

“Stay with us, Artemis…Stay…” She begged, sealing up the wounds as best she could.

Water mixed with blood, clear tears mixed with crimson life liquid, and the Waterbender already knew she was too far gone…

‘No…Not like my nightmare…PLEASE!’

“Love! Love, you’ll be alright!”

An uneasy smile, a final act of reassurance, and she touched his cheek…

“I’m sorry, Leo…”

Her breathing was softer, and you could see her struggle for air…

“I-I love you…”

“LOVE!”

But the life had fled her eyes, leaving them cold and empty and vacant…

Mizu burst into instant tears, unwilling to leave the wounds unattended.

Kasai was shaken, heart shattering all over again, and the ship quaked as Chi screamed out her grief to the air.

Mikey seemed ready to cry, and Don shook as if fighting the possibility that Artemis was dead…

She had been the invincible one, always ready with a hard punch and a witty comeback, and the shield that protected her family from evil…

How…

How could she die?

It didn’t seem possible…

Even Raph was struggling with the knowledge, and Leo seemed silent…

Like he’d lost his voice as he stared at her motionless face…

“Artemis…” He whispered, resting his forehead on hers…

“I’m so sorry…I forgive you…”