Sequel: Angel's Child ›
Golden Angel
Chapter 76
“Let your minds become pools of stillness, my children…Break the surface…Explore the depths…For that is where the true wonders lie…”
The meditation was soothing…
Artemis was enjoying it, at least…
Even the other girls had joined them, and were relaxing into it…
“…I wonder if you can combine burgers and nachos into one tasty treat.”
And then Mikey started talking…
“MMMMMMMM…Burchos…”
“Baby…”
“Yeah, babe?”
BONK!!!
“SHUT UP!”
“Michelangelo, concentrate!”
“We’ve been at this fer HOURS…” Raph muttered.
“Yeah! I’m starving! Why does it have to be all brain ALL the time?”
“Because you have not been using it enough.” Splinter replied.
“Your behavior has become increasingly sloppy. A symptom of unfocused minds.”
“Hey, we’re not involved in that! THEY won’t let us do anything!” Artemis stated in the girl’s defense, hugging her belly.
“This lair is a reflection of those who live within it. What does it’s current state say about us?”
Everyone scanned the messy lair…
“…That we have four teenage boys, two pregnant girls, a SLOB, and a Waterbender living in here?”
The gold-banded turtle shrunk back a bit from her father’s look…
“Um…I mean…Well, I keep my stuff out of here! My room is clean and everything!”
Mikey had his own answer…
“We really like Casual Fridays?”
“Our safety depends on keeping our presence a secret. Yet you roam the city recklessly, as if no threat existed. And Leonardo…”
‘Uh oh…Lecture time…’ Artemis thought.
“Your behavior is most troubling of all. There is a new hardness to you, one that strays from the true path of Ninjitsu.”
“I do what I have to, to protect this family.”
‘…Did he just talk back?’
Artemis was CONFUSED now…
Leo had NEVER been a back-talker…
But the she-turtle’s attention was being split as she…FELT something…
It was WRONG…
It shouldn’t be there…
A pain cut through her thoughts, and Artemis flinched back…
“Artie?”
“Artemis, are you feeling alright?”
“Love? Love, is something wrong?”
“Leo…don’t…”
The pain flared, and she knew she wouldn’t stay conscious at this rate…
But she NEEDED to tell them, let them know something was horribly WRONG…
“Don’t trust…your eyes…”
Blackness…
She faintly heard shouts, muffled by darkness, someone picking her up…
She kept fading out, felt water and explosions and HEAT…
Artemis started coming back to ‘reality’, regaining her senses, and realized how many ENEMIES they had there right then…
“Well…This is a pleasant thing to wake up to…” She mumbled, sitting up.
“My daughter…I believe you were right…”
She locked eyes with her sensei, and nodded.
“You can not hope to defeat me! The powers aligned against you are too great! Even YOU must see that now!” The Shredder stated.
“I see many things clearly now…You have sought to cloud our senses with pain and loss and anguish…but there is something in the hollowness of it’s sounds…an emptiness of its scent…a shallowness of its soul…”
Artemis nodded, already taking a meditative position…
“That tells me this day’s events are not as they seem!”
“You speak as a fool!”
“Perhaps…but I am not speaking to you.”
The elderly rat joined his daughter, who was starting to slip into meditation…
“We wait for our true foes to reveal themselves.”
The metal-covered villain raised his gauntlet, ready to strike…
“You can not touch me.”
The gold-banded turtle let herself sink in deeper, and the sharp metal fazed through her before…
Everything disappeared…
‘Everyone, wake up! We’re not hurt! Everything’s okay! We’re not beaten!’
“Love?”
“Sensei?”
“Artemis, are you really okay?”
Everything was white, and all nine were floating in the emptiness before five presences made themselves known…
“These two are more powerful than we expected…”
The elementals that had thoroughly whipped them back at the Foot Headquarters came into view…
“No matter. They are but two to our five.”
They blasted at them, but Artemis stopped it by merely raising her hand…
“This whole thing has been nothing but an astral dream that these jerks made…”
The others were ready to strike…
“No! They attack our minds! We must respond in kind! Focus yourselves in meditation!” Splinter ordered.
Artemis nodded, though Chi seemed a bit miffed that she couldn’t hit something.
“What is it wit’ ya an’ meditation?! We gotta save ‘em!!”
“Raph, do what he says!” Leo replied.
“Come on, guys!” Mizu encouraged, and everyone settled in a circle, exactly like the one they’d taken back at the lair, and began to focus…
They felt the wind, the power surging around them…
“Concentrate, you have power as great as theirs! You need only to find it! Channel it!”
The nine beings began to glow with chi, and a strange force field shielded them from the harsh wind…
“Good, my children. Now focus. Strike back.”
Energy blasted from the shield, knocking apart the five elementals with a cry of pain…
They were back home…
“What the SHELL was that?” Raph demanded, checking to be sure Kasai was alright, rubbing the slight bump she now had…
“Back in the lair? But-? How is it-?” Don wondered, obviously confused.
“We have not left the lair all evening. What we experienced tonight was the work of dark magic.” Splinter explained.
“An attempt to destroy us from the inside out.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you master, but…” The purple-masked turtle started…
“I understand, Donatello. If it will ease your mind, you should call Ms O’Neil and Mr. Jones.”
He went to do just that, Mizu following after him so as to reassure him that they were okay, when Artemis was nudged onto her side.
“MITSUKAI! Oh, my baby!”
She hugged the massive head, grinning.
Leo started fussing again, but she took it in stride, distracting him with soft touches and ‘un-aimed’ kisses…
She knew those elementals had messed with her first for a reason…
She could control them, defeat them, and expose them easily, so they took her out of the equation…
She woke up because, deep down, she knew she couldn’t lose everything…
Not again…
The meditation was soothing…
Artemis was enjoying it, at least…
Even the other girls had joined them, and were relaxing into it…
“…I wonder if you can combine burgers and nachos into one tasty treat.”
And then Mikey started talking…
“MMMMMMMM…Burchos…”
“Baby…”
“Yeah, babe?”
BONK!!!
“SHUT UP!”
“Michelangelo, concentrate!”
“We’ve been at this fer HOURS…” Raph muttered.
“Yeah! I’m starving! Why does it have to be all brain ALL the time?”
“Because you have not been using it enough.” Splinter replied.
“Your behavior has become increasingly sloppy. A symptom of unfocused minds.”
“Hey, we’re not involved in that! THEY won’t let us do anything!” Artemis stated in the girl’s defense, hugging her belly.
“This lair is a reflection of those who live within it. What does it’s current state say about us?”
Everyone scanned the messy lair…
“…That we have four teenage boys, two pregnant girls, a SLOB, and a Waterbender living in here?”
The gold-banded turtle shrunk back a bit from her father’s look…
“Um…I mean…Well, I keep my stuff out of here! My room is clean and everything!”
Mikey had his own answer…
“We really like Casual Fridays?”
“Our safety depends on keeping our presence a secret. Yet you roam the city recklessly, as if no threat existed. And Leonardo…”
‘Uh oh…Lecture time…’ Artemis thought.
“Your behavior is most troubling of all. There is a new hardness to you, one that strays from the true path of Ninjitsu.”
“I do what I have to, to protect this family.”
‘…Did he just talk back?’
Artemis was CONFUSED now…
Leo had NEVER been a back-talker…
But the she-turtle’s attention was being split as she…FELT something…
It was WRONG…
It shouldn’t be there…
A pain cut through her thoughts, and Artemis flinched back…
“Artie?”
“Artemis, are you feeling alright?”
“Love? Love, is something wrong?”
“Leo…don’t…”
The pain flared, and she knew she wouldn’t stay conscious at this rate…
But she NEEDED to tell them, let them know something was horribly WRONG…
“Don’t trust…your eyes…”
Blackness…
She faintly heard shouts, muffled by darkness, someone picking her up…
She kept fading out, felt water and explosions and HEAT…
Artemis started coming back to ‘reality’, regaining her senses, and realized how many ENEMIES they had there right then…
“Well…This is a pleasant thing to wake up to…” She mumbled, sitting up.
“My daughter…I believe you were right…”
She locked eyes with her sensei, and nodded.
“You can not hope to defeat me! The powers aligned against you are too great! Even YOU must see that now!” The Shredder stated.
“I see many things clearly now…You have sought to cloud our senses with pain and loss and anguish…but there is something in the hollowness of it’s sounds…an emptiness of its scent…a shallowness of its soul…”
Artemis nodded, already taking a meditative position…
“That tells me this day’s events are not as they seem!”
“You speak as a fool!”
“Perhaps…but I am not speaking to you.”
The elderly rat joined his daughter, who was starting to slip into meditation…
“We wait for our true foes to reveal themselves.”
The metal-covered villain raised his gauntlet, ready to strike…
“You can not touch me.”
The gold-banded turtle let herself sink in deeper, and the sharp metal fazed through her before…
Everything disappeared…
‘Everyone, wake up! We’re not hurt! Everything’s okay! We’re not beaten!’
“Love?”
“Sensei?”
“Artemis, are you really okay?”
Everything was white, and all nine were floating in the emptiness before five presences made themselves known…
“These two are more powerful than we expected…”
The elementals that had thoroughly whipped them back at the Foot Headquarters came into view…
“No matter. They are but two to our five.”
They blasted at them, but Artemis stopped it by merely raising her hand…
“This whole thing has been nothing but an astral dream that these jerks made…”
The others were ready to strike…
“No! They attack our minds! We must respond in kind! Focus yourselves in meditation!” Splinter ordered.
Artemis nodded, though Chi seemed a bit miffed that she couldn’t hit something.
“What is it wit’ ya an’ meditation?! We gotta save ‘em!!”
“Raph, do what he says!” Leo replied.
“Come on, guys!” Mizu encouraged, and everyone settled in a circle, exactly like the one they’d taken back at the lair, and began to focus…
They felt the wind, the power surging around them…
“Concentrate, you have power as great as theirs! You need only to find it! Channel it!”
The nine beings began to glow with chi, and a strange force field shielded them from the harsh wind…
“Good, my children. Now focus. Strike back.”
Energy blasted from the shield, knocking apart the five elementals with a cry of pain…
They were back home…
“What the SHELL was that?” Raph demanded, checking to be sure Kasai was alright, rubbing the slight bump she now had…
“Back in the lair? But-? How is it-?” Don wondered, obviously confused.
“We have not left the lair all evening. What we experienced tonight was the work of dark magic.” Splinter explained.
“An attempt to destroy us from the inside out.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you master, but…” The purple-masked turtle started…
“I understand, Donatello. If it will ease your mind, you should call Ms O’Neil and Mr. Jones.”
He went to do just that, Mizu following after him so as to reassure him that they were okay, when Artemis was nudged onto her side.
“MITSUKAI! Oh, my baby!”
She hugged the massive head, grinning.
Leo started fussing again, but she took it in stride, distracting him with soft touches and ‘un-aimed’ kisses…
She knew those elementals had messed with her first for a reason…
She could control them, defeat them, and expose them easily, so they took her out of the equation…
She woke up because, deep down, she knew she couldn’t lose everything…
Not again…