Sequel: Angel's Child ›
Golden Angel
Chapter 85
“I’m tellin’ ya right now, this ain’t a good idea…”
“Raph’s right…I’ve got a BAD feeling about this…”
“You guys are just big babies. Angel seems to be happy enough.”
And the little baby DID seem rather happy, a big grin on her face under the little white snowcap.
There were even little cat ears sewn on top, and a light blue snow jacket and white snow pants.
Let’s just say Leo didn’t want to take any chances…
Artemis had actually looked at her mate like he was crazy, but hadn’t argued.
After all, it wasn’t HURTING anybody…
The little turtle-baby tried chewing on her boots as they stepped through the doorway to the museum.
“What are you two talking about? This is going to be great!” Don replied, grinning.
Mizu couldn’t help but agree, hanging on his arm with a smile.
She enjoyed seeing him happy, so she didn’t mind going along with the idea.
“How can you not be excited about being in a museum?”
Chi quirked an eyebrow…
“Sorry, Don, but we ain’t really big on nerd stuff ‘ere.”
“Chi!” Artemis scolded.
“Being a nerd isn’t a bad thing! In fact, it’s saved our shells quite a few times!”
“…Yer just doin’ that ‘cause the baby’s ‘ere…”
“Damn right!”
“My niece ain’t gonna be a nerd…”
“Oh, stuff it, Raph…”
“I want my niece to be hyper!”
“NO!” Both Artemis and Leo shouted at once.
“But-.”
“We DON’T need another you!”
Don seemed to be ignoring his family’s usual banter, holding little Angela carefully.
“You’ll really like the new attraction they made, Angela. It’s the coolest!”
The little baby giggled, sensing the excitement.
“Is it a snack bar? ‘Cause THAT I could excited about!”
SMACK!!!
“OW!!! ARTIE…”
Passing the exhibits one by one, Chi twitched only slightly as she sensed people moving about around them.
“The museum is closing in twenty minutes, so there aren’t a lot of people. Just try to keep a low profile-.”
Artemis stopped, that strange tingling feeling in her nose that said she was about to sneeze…
“Love?”
“Donnie? Sweetie?”
Don’s sneeze was loud, echoing off the walls, but Artemis’s…
Well, thanks to her Airbending, her sneeze sent her flying back…
Slamming onto her shell and dazed, the crimson-eyed turtle coughed.
“OW…”
“LOVE!”
Leo ran to see if she was alright, and Mikey snickered.
“Is that what you meant by keeping a low profile, Leo?”
“Chi?”
“On it.”
BONK!!!
“OW!!! BABE…”
“Are you okay, love?”
“My nose burns, my shell is throbbing, and I feel dizzy…I’ve been better…”
Helping her up, the blue-banded turtle checked her over as Chi tried to calm down a now-squirming Angela.
“You’ve been under the weather lately. Are you sure you’re up to walking around?”
“I’m sure. It’s just the sniffles.”
“Are you okay, sweetie?” Mizu asked worriedly.
“Yeah, but it’s not bad enough to miss seeing THIS.”
The exhibit was full of dinosaur skeletons, what seemed to be foliage, hanging structures and many other things.
“Isn’t this fantastic? It’s the biggest dinosaur exhibit in the country!”
“It’s pretty impressive…” Artemis admitted, letting her little baby play with some of the broad leaves.
“YEAH…This is SO much better than playing video games and reading comic books…THANKS, Don…”
“Don’t be grumpy, baby…That’s Raph and mine’s job…”
“’EY!”
“Will you guys relax? We’ll only be here twenty minutes.” Mizu interrupted.
“Look! There’s a stegosaurus! And a pterandon skeleton!”
“Look, a nerdosaurus!” Mikey teased.
“An’ I see a geekosaurus rex.” Raph added.
WHIP!!!
WHIP!!!
“OW!!!”
“OW!!!”
Artemis grinned.
“Let this be a lesson for you both. Don’t mess with a Waterbender or her boyfriend.”
“I’ve been a dinosaur fanatic for as long as I can remember…cool fossils, all the different species…the mystery of their extinction…What’s not to like? I mean, as turtles, we have ancestors going way back, even before the Cretaceous Period.”
“So dinosaurs are like yer distant cousins?”
“Right.”
“YEESH…And I thought RAPH was the ugliest relative we had!”
“Hardy-Har, Mikey…”
A roar startled both brothers, and they jumped away from the bushes behind them when a dinosaur popped out between them.
“Raph! Mikey! Take it easy!” Leo advised when both reached for their weapons.
“Did I mention the animatronics exhibit?” Don wondered teasingly.
“They’re state-of-the-art.”
“Would you look at that? Chickenosauruses…” Mizu teased, grinning.
The bushes rustled a second time, followed with a soft growl, and both turtles jumped away, embarrassed.
April giggled at the sight, following the others to see the large Tyrannosaurus Rex.
“And there’s the king…The Tyrannosaurus Rex…”
“He sure is big…” Chi muttered.
“I’d hate to run into THAT in a dark alley…” Mikey admitted.
“I could take ‘im.”
“…No offense, babe…but he’s about…a GAZILLION times your size…”
“So?”
There was a threat in her voice now, basically saying ‘if you answer wrong, you will NOT be very happy’.
“Um…Nothing…”
“Good boy…”
“…Mikey, you are HOPELESS…” Artemis admitted as Angela tugged on the little cat ears on her head.
“Just imagine what it must have been like back then…Herds of dinosaurs grazing peacefully, then ‘THOOM’, ‘THOOM’! The T-Rex attacks!”
Eyes turned from Don to the large skeleton behind him…
Because it was glowing and MOVING…
“…Donnie, please tell me that’s a robot…” Artemis almost pleaded.
He seemed confused, then turned around to look behind himself…
“Um…no…no it’s not…”
Backing up on instinct as the pile of bones roared, Mizu noticed the other people flee before her attention snapped back to the dinosaur…
The heavy thing took a step off its pedestal, and then seemed to turn into a whirlwind of bones, surrounding them and causing Angela to squeak in fear.
Evil laughter filled the air, strangely familiar to their ears, as the turtles discarded their disguises, the boys pulling out their weapons…
Well, if they had their weapons…
“I’m guessing this isn’t part of the exhibit…” Leo stated.
“I think that’s a good assumption…”
The bones became a familiar face, though…
Well, obviously the face had no skin or anything…
“Greeting from the Cretaceous, you miserable reptiles! Fitting I should find you freaks here with the dinosaurs! For soon, you too will be extinct!”
“That’s Savanti Romero!” Chi stated, immediately recognizing the voice.
“Savanti Romero? Didn’t you guys tell me he was banished millions of years in the past?” April wondered, confused.
“That’s what WE thought…” Leo admitted.
“There’s nowhere you can hide from my magic! Even from the past, I can find you and give you this message of your impending, inevitable doom!”
“…Why do we always get the crazy-obsessed people?” Mizu wondered.
“The ol’ Turtle Luck runnin’ true ta form…” Chi muttered.
“We probably caught it…”
“A message of doom…When you care to send the best!”
…
“Babe?”
BONK!!!
“OW!!!”
“You should have never interfered with my plans to capture the Time Scepter, and now you will pay!”
When he moved closer, or…um, hovered…Angela nearly started crying, and Artemis growled warningly.
“Mark my words, turtles! Everything you know, everything you care about, I will erase! From the past, I will destroy your futures! I will deal with Lord Simultaneous and his apprentice soon enough, but wiping out your entire timeline will be a good start to my revenge!”
“’Nough ‘a this noise! Brin’ it on, bonehead!” Raph growled, sai drawn.
Laughter echoed around them again…
“Should you try and stop me, I’ll be waiting in the ring of fire!”
“Hey, I’m talkin’ ta ya-!”
Raph lunged, but the head fell apart, bones clattering to the floor…
“…I can’t take you guys anywhere…” April joked.
“Not our fault…Being a giant turtle just attracts the crazies…” The gold-masked turtle replied.
“Did you notice how he didn’t respond? It was weird…Like a recording…Or a time capsule…” Don mused.
“Like he knew we would be here tonight…And enchanted those bones from the past…”
“Well, ‘e is a sorcerer, ain’t ‘e?” Chi replied.
“If he tries to wipe us out, he’ll get a nice foot up the rear.” Artemis growled lowly, and was soon trying to soothe her concerned baby.
“…Is this the Ring of Fire he mentioned?”
Everyone turned to Mizu, who was looking at a map with a ring of dots on it.
“Yeah. It’s a string of volcanoes that surround the entire Pacific Ocean. From Japan to Alaska.”
“Well, that narrows it down…” Leo noted.
“How are we supposed to meet up with him?” Mikey wondered.
“Yeah.” Chi agreed.
“Not like we can time travel or somethin’.”
A portal appeared before the map, and the blinding light caused everyone to back up, shielding their eyes.
“Hi, guys!”
“…Renet?”
‘PLEASE tell me I’m seeing things…’ Artemis begged in her thoughts.
“Ow, wow! It’s like, so great to see you guys again!”
Chi grumbled something when given an over-enthusiastic hug…
“This can’t be a coincidence…” Don muttered.
“Definitely not.” Mizu agreed.
“Renet, what are you doing here?”
“I’m graduating! Well, at least I am if I pass my final exam. Lord Simultaneous says that this chrono-crisis is my final, so I’m like, so totally stressed. And if-no, not if…WHEN I pass, I’ll go from Apprentice to Temporal Infraction Extracator First Grade!”
Even with the practice of time, almost everyone’s heads were spinning at the hyper speech, and the constant use of the word ‘like’…
Artemis remembered why she didn’t like Renet too much…
“But if Lord Simultaneous knows what’s going on, why doesn’t he FIX IT!” Chi demanded, obviously angry.
It was like the damn man was dumping the Timestress on them…
“Well…because…”
The Earthbender was tapping her foot, expecting the best damn excuse in the whole damn world…
“I’M supposed to do it!”
…
That?
NOT the best excuse…
Not even an OKAY excuse…
It was the kind that made Chi worry for the future of mankind…
“It’s my final exam! And I came to see if you guys wanted to help!”
…
Before the blind female could yell at her for even CONSIDERING dragging them into another crazy adventure, Mikey pulled her into the group huddle…
“I’m not doin’ it!”
“It’s the only way.”
“NO!”
“But-.”
“NOOOOOO! How many times do I ‘ave ta say it? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Are you SCARED?”
Narrowed black eyes, and Mikey grinned nervously under the death glare he received from his girlfriend…
“…Excuse me?”
“If we go back in time, you’ll probably fight a T-Rex. And you’re SCARED to.”
Slivers of obsidian, though she couldn’t see, and the Earthbender snorted.
“Fine, fine…I’ll go…Just ta prove ya wron’.”
“I’m not taking Angela with us.” Artemis decided.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I probably shouldn’t go either. I don’t think time travel will be one of my favorite things.”
“Wise choice…” Mizu admitted.
“But we can’t let Renet go alone.” Don reminded.
“Yeah, or little miss tick tock o’er there could mess it up fer all ‘a us.” Raph agreed.
Leo nodded, turning to the Timestress.
“We’ll go with you, Renet. We’ll help in any way we can.”
“YES! Now this’ll be a breeze! I’ve gotten, like, REALLY good with the Time Scepter! Here we go!”
“Whoa-Whoa-Whoa!” Artemis interrupted.
“I’m not taking my baby to the Cretaceous period to be eaten by dinosaurs. Just send her and April home.”
“Alright!”
A bright light from the Time Scepter, and they hit the ground on their shells…
And the crimson-eyed turtle noticed one thing…
“…Renet…”
“Yeah?”
“…WHY IS ANGELA STILL HERE!?!”
“…Oops?”
Renet grinned sheepishly…
“Well…she’s still cute, right?”
“…Leo, let me kill her…”
“I can’t do that, Artemis…”
“Why not?”
“She’s our ticket home…”
“…Damn it…”
Angela herself seemed more interested in the grass, grabbing at it through mittened fingers, as her mother stood up.
“Wow! I can’t believe I actually did it!”
“…Should we be worried that she sounds so surprised?” Mizu wondered.
“Probably…”
“…Thanks, Chi…That makes me feel SO much better…”
“No prob.”
The herds of dinosaurs off in the distance, the smoking volcanoes rimming the horizon…
Swaying trees, jutting rocks…
Don seemed amazed at it all, but Artemis was more worried about the carnivorous dinosaur looking their way…
A hungry look in its eyes as it stared at little Angela playing on the grass…
A warning snarl, low and dark and dangerous, and angel’s wings unfurled, flexing and bristling…
Scared at the new, angry enemy, the dinosaur ran off in fear.
Folding her wings carefully and slowly relaxing her muscles, she smiled at her happy little angel.
“Stay alert.” She ordered.
“We don’t want to be dino-chow…”
“I ain’t ‘fraid ‘a no dino-brain!” Raph replied.
“That won’t stop them from eating you, bro.”
Don started a lecture about not changing the past, yadda yadda yadda, don’t leave anything behind, blah blah blah…
Chi would have been watching a butterfly if she could…
His sneeze brought back everyone’s worried attention, and the Artemis sneezed herself, flying into the air.
Leo managed to catch her before her shell could crack open on the ground…
“SO…are we packing?”
Rolling her eyes, Artemis pulled off the jacket and pants.
Putting them into a pack, she undressed the little baby, though Angela insisted on keeping the cute little hat.
Don found a sturdy stick to take place of his Bo, and everyone started walking along.
A bit miffed at being in the past, Chi grumbled as they walked down a path clear of trees…
Pausing, the Earthbender tilted her head in confusion at the strange rumble she felt under her bare feet…
“Chi? You feel it, too?” Artemis wondered, hugging her baby tighter.
“Yeah…it’s a…”
The Earthbender’s unseeing eyes widened, and she grabbed hold of Mikey’s hand as dust appeared on the horizon…
“STAMPEDE!”
Everyone turned tail, running as fast as they could before the herd overtook them…
Artemis managed to Airbend ahead of the dinosaurs, and Chi used earth to speed herself up.
“BABE!”
She grabbed Mikey’s arm before he was stomped on.
“Be more CAREFUL!”
Mizu tried weaving around the rumbling stomping feet, sometimes barely avoiding a heavy foot.
Raph jumped onto a dinosaurs back, then leapt onto a jutting rock above the chaos.
“Han’ on, baby!”
“Why-?”
Mikey nearly screamed like a girl as the Earthbender jumped up onto the smooth stone, the orange-masked turtle pulled along.
“LEO!”
Artemis took hold of his hand, and she Airbended all three of them up and away safely.
Mizu managed to used water from the grass to lift everyone else up and out of danger, and gently dropped them onto the rock.
“Everyone alright?”
Artemis nodded, trying to shush her crying baby.
“Well, that was fun…in a scary, almost-lost-your-life kind of way!” Mikey shouted.
“Yeah. REALLY nice save wit’ the Time Scepter…” Raph added.
“It’s not my fault! The Time Scepter’s not working!”
“Neither’s yer brain…” Chi mumbled.
“…Ya’d better not say we’re stuck ‘ere…” Raph growled.
He was worried enough for his pregnant mate as it was!
“I don’t know what happened…”
“Here, let me take a look at that.” Don offered.
“Maybe something happened during the stampede…” Mizu suggested.
The red-masked turtle jumped slightly as a triceratops sniffed his back.
“’EY!”
“I think he likes you, Raphie!” Mikey teased, patting the dinosaurs head like it was a dog.
“You should embrace this! Not many people think you smell good!”
SMACK!!!
“OW!!!”
Raph grumbled something, and searched his pack…
“Missin’ somethin’?”
“What?”
“This?”
The crimson-masked turtle held up a bag of chips, eye-ridge quirked.
“Uh…I always keep a spare bag of chips around. You never know when you might need a snack!”
“…You’re unbelievable…” Artemis muttered.
Still, it seemed the dinosaur was friendly enough, and she let little Angela pat its forehead as Mikey opened the bag with a pop.
A few of the chips were offered, and the three-horned dinosaur happily chewed the little treats.
“I’m going to call you Zog! Maybe you’re Zog’s great-great-great-great grandpappy!”
“…I SERIOUSLY doubt that…” Mizu admitted.
“Zog was an alien, Mikey…and I don’t think I have to tell you that you could’ve changed all of human history by feeding that dinosaur potato chips from the future!”
“…Loosen up, man…” Chi replied.
“Ya’ll ‘urt ‘is delicate feelin’s…”
“Not you, too!”
“What? I’m ‘is girlfriend. Most ‘a the time, I try ta agree wit’ ‘im.”
“I think the Time Scepter is over-heating…” Renet stated, catching everyone’s attention as it
glowed bright red…
“It’s not supposed to glow red…”
“This can’t be good…” Mizu mumbled.
Zog seemed to ‘bristle’, staring off at the trees…
“What is it, Zog?” Mikey asked in ‘baby talk’.
A red-eyed, carnivorous dinosaur slunk out of hiding, eyeing them hungrily from the tree line.
It soon charged for them, a strange roar in its throat, and more followed.
Don explained they were raptors, and how they could rip them apart and all that…
“…You know, being a dino-fanatic was a lot more endearing when we weren’t about to be eaten by actual dinosaurs!”
“Anythin’ else we need ta know?” Raph questioned gruffly.
“Yeah…”
Artemis kicked one of them right out of the air, but the others were following its example…
“THEY CAN JUMP!”
Artemis handed Leo the baby, and gave cover with an earth wall as the others ran away from the starving-eyed carnivores.
Throwing the rock back in order to crush or disorient the reptiles, the gold-banded turtle ran after the others.
Spreading her wings, she spun around long enough to blow away some of the dinosaurs still managing to follow them.
Zog was viciously protecting Don and Renet, along with Angela and Leo, until the dinosaurs seemed to retreat.
“…Good dinosaur…” Artemis complimented, patting the mighty head.
“Do ya thin’ we scared ‘em off?” Raph wondered.
“Nope.” Leo replied.
“…Ya thin’ somethin’ really horrible is comin’ now?”
“…Yep.”
The ground rumbled, shaking in a rhythm the two Earthbenders knew very well…
“Footsteps…” Chi grumbled, eyes narrowing.
“Whatever it is, it’s big…”
Trees quaked, falling as they became ripped from their roots…
A faint crashing sound as the trunks hit the ground…
“Is it friendly?” Mikey wondered.
The last defense, the last tree, fell away, and a T-Rex roared in triumph, Savanti mounted on his shoulder…
“No, Mikey…I don’t think it’s EVER been friendly…”
Raptors came out of hiding, tails swishing, and plants withered, the water around Mizu’s hands as she tensed.
Artemis’s wings bristled, flexed, widened in order to make herself look bigger…
Chi shared a glance with her, and the Avatar shook her head.
“I’ll take him…”
“Take WHO?” Mikey wondered.
The crimson-eyed she-turtle just smirked…
“You’ll see…”
“Welcome, turtles! To your extinction!”
“We’ll see about that, demon-boy.”
“Are you so sure of that, woman?”
“Degrading? …NOT!”
“You, Renet. Hand over the Time Scepter, or your little green friends will become dino-chow.”
The two raptors coming from behind were knocked away with rock pillars…
“Nice try…NOT.”
“You think we can’t take these little basturds?” Artemis challenged, taking her protective, fiery instincts in hand.
“Are they your best shot?”
The jade-skinned turtle smirked, looking relaxed as ever.
“That’s pretty pathetic for a sorcerer, if you ask me.”
“ARTEMIS…” Leo warned, one katana drawn as his other arm held Angela close to his plastron.
“I’ll be fine, love…” She assured as the T-Rex roared, charging for her…
“ARTIE!”
“PRINCESS, MOVE!”
“Oh, I’ll move alright…”
Sliding her feet on the floor and bringing her hands up, the she-turtle closed her eyes…
When they snapped open, earth anchored the mighty reptile’s feet, causing it to jerk to a halt, and then fire flew from her mouth like dragon’s breath.
Savanti escaped the blaze, but the T-Rex was scorched enough to back up and whimper in fear.
“You DARE defy me?!”
“…Uh, YEAH.”
Savanti’s strange staff glowed, summoning different flying dinosaurs.
“Get the Time Scepter, my pets!”
“RENET!”
Angel’s wings, hard as metal, cut off the Timestress from the flying reptiles, and Artemis took hold of her arm.
“Hold on!”
Flying up, she managed to outmaneuver them, blasting spheres of air whenever she could.
“It’s gonna be a breeze, huh?”
“…Sorry?”
A dinosaur dive-bombed into the she-turtle’s shell, and the Time Scepter was released before Artemis could regain her wings.
“RENET!” She scolded.
“CHI! MIZU! CATCH IT!”
Both ran for it as the gold-masked turtle dived for it, though a dinosaur managed to swoop in and catch it first.
“HEY!”
Putting down Renet, the crimson-eyed turtle narrowed her eyes.
“YOU stay near the good dinosaur.”
Wings flapping powerfully, she took off after the Time Scepter with the other girls.
Unfortunately, Savanti got hold of it first, and blasted all three of them back.
Groaning a bit at the pain, Artemis sat up when she felt something grab her wings…
“HEY!”
Chi struggled even as the dinosaur took to the air, impairing her ‘vision’ and her bending, as Mizu tried to bring water to her hands.
A baby’s scream, and Artemis knew something was wrong…
“ANGEL!”
Struggling more violently, the she-turtle was about to bring fire to her skin when one of the dinosaurs tackled her over onto her side…
Her head smacked against stone, and her eyes started sliding shut as darkness came over her…
Waking up chained to a pillar of bones was NOT pleasant…
Crying made her pull together her dazed senses, and Artemis sat up.
Mizu was trying to use a hairpin to free herself of the lock and chains, and Chi was trying to free her hands enough to Metalbend.
A persistent, soft crying from beside her, and crimson eyes widened…
‘He put her into a cage…’
The little jade-skinned baby was crying, weakly smacking the bone cage, and using her free hand to rub her tearing eyes.
“Oh baby…It’s alright, Angel…I’ll get you out of there…”
Artemis twisted, her wrists, bound above her, twisted and bent easily as she tried to lift herself up.
Then…
‘Uh oh’
…
“Ah-CHOO!”
Flying back, her shell smacked into the pillar she was attached to, knocking it over.
Tumbling head-over-heels, she almost fell right off, but managed to skid to a halt on the bones.
“So you’re awake…”
Glaring hotly, Artemis stood, shrugging off the chains around her.
“Guess I am. And I’m going to beat your ass back to the Big Bang!”
Lifting her hands, she broke the chains holding her friends before using a whip of water to cut open the cage holding her daughter.
Lifting the little baby out, she glared at the demon sorcerer.
“You’ll regret dragging my baby into this…”
“I don’t think so. You’ll both be in too much pain for that.”
“Like me or Leo will allow that.” She growled, holding out one hand as it burst into flame…
“We’ll see.”
A blast from the Time Scepter, and she managed to avoid it, blasting air at him from her mouth.
He side-stepped it, chuckling in triumph.
“The spells are cast…Nothing can stop me now!”
“Except me!”
Chi took the baby as Artemis jumped to engage the demon in hand-to-hand combat.
He managed to blast her back, almost onto Renet, who was in the middle of the circle of bones…
Bone wrapped around her neck, choking her…
“SAVANTI!”
The bones seemed to loosen, and Artemis managed a surprise breath…
“Leo…”
“Let them go, demon!”
“Or else!” Don added, obviously unhappy.
Let’s just say you don’t mess with ANY of their girls…
Extreme bodily harm is usually ALWAYS involved…
“Do something quick!” Mizu shouted, blasting water through the bone around Artemis’s neck.
“He’s going to destroy the timeline and Renet!”
“…Can ‘e destroy Renet?”
“CHI!”
“What? It was just a suggestion!”
Monologue was something Artemis always avoided, and she tried to get a sneak-attack in as she caught her breath…
Didn’t work too well…
He made armor out of the sharp bone around them, and seemed sure they could not defeat him now.
Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, and the young Avatar looked up with disinterest…
“OOOH, thunder…Scary…”
A bolt came down at her, and it was almost instinct…
Held up her fingers to pull in the energy, let it flow through her stomach, and she sent it flying out at Savanti…
He flew back at the surprise attack, and the boys jumped in.
“We don’t have time for this! Leo, get the Time Scepter!”
“HEY!”
“I’ll save Renet!” Mizu offered, jumping down onto the chains to start cutting them.
Don went to help her, and the others jumped at Savanti to distract him as Leo went for the scepter.
Unfortunately, everyone was blasted back once the demon lost his patience…
“Enough games!”
A strange spell, and Artemis couldn’t move…
But she noticed Don was still free…
Closing her eyes to try and bring about some inner power, arrows glowing on her skin…
Breaking her free of the immobility…
Renet was free, and the Time Scepter knocked free of its strange hold by Don.
Savanti, desperate, jumped for it, and a bolt of light struck him and the scepter at the same time.
He fell into the water below them, and Artemis relaxed, falling to her knees…
“Angel…?”
“She’s a’right, Artie…” Chi assured.
“Donnie, you saved me! You saved all of humanity! And most importantly, I get to graduate! YES!”
“…You need to get your priorities straight…” Artemis pointed out, cuddling her daughter and smiling at her mate.
The structure began to shake…
“What now?!” Raph shouted.
“Savanti’s power must have been holding this thing together!” Mizu replied.
“EVERYBODY OFF!” Leo ordered.
Artemis took off immediately as everyone started running, and they barely jumped to shore before the whole thing fell into the rough water.
“Well, we saved the future…” Mizu muttered, panting.
“Which means the asteroid WILL hit now…” Don agreed.
“When?” Chi managed.
“I don’t know when…three weeks…three months…three years, even!”
“An’ wit’out the Time Scepter, we’re doomed…” Raph grumbled.
Artemis sighed, leaning against her mate…
“Trapped and doomed…GREAT…”
Three months later…
Angela curled up on her side, playing with some soft cloth near the fire.
Artemis watched her carefully, moving water around in the air.
Renet and Mikey brought back a large-butt fish for dinner, and the latter set about preparing it for cooking as the other boys watched the stars.
“And you’re SURE there’s no way for you to contact Lord Simultaneous?” Don wondered again.
“You’d think he’d come looking for you after three months…” Leo added.
“Unless ‘e don’t want ‘er back…”
Let’s just say Chi wasn’t a happy Earthbender…
“For, like, the bazillionth time, NO! When are you going to give it a rest?”
“’EY! I ‘aven’t e’en gotten STARTED, little miss ‘it’ll be a breeze’.” Raph replied.
“Complete bull…”
The crimson-eyed turtle blinked…
“Angel?”
“No way!”
Mikey held up Angela, who was holding…
“The Time Scepter?!”
“It was inside the fish! It must have swallowed it!”
“Now we can go home!” Mizu cheered.
“Whoa, slow down! I’m just saying…We’ve got dinner on the grill…no need to rush.”
“…”
“…Guys?”
WHIP!!!
SMACK!!!
BONK!!!
“OW!!!!!!!!!! Alright, I’m packed! Let’s go!”
A bright flash of light, and they were back at the lair…
April seemed confused, but didn’t ask as the girls headed for the shower…
Kasai seemed ready to open her mouth, but Artemis held up a hand…
“…Trust me…You don’t want to know."
“Raph’s right…I’ve got a BAD feeling about this…”
“You guys are just big babies. Angel seems to be happy enough.”
And the little baby DID seem rather happy, a big grin on her face under the little white snowcap.
There were even little cat ears sewn on top, and a light blue snow jacket and white snow pants.
Let’s just say Leo didn’t want to take any chances…
Artemis had actually looked at her mate like he was crazy, but hadn’t argued.
After all, it wasn’t HURTING anybody…
The little turtle-baby tried chewing on her boots as they stepped through the doorway to the museum.
“What are you two talking about? This is going to be great!” Don replied, grinning.
Mizu couldn’t help but agree, hanging on his arm with a smile.
She enjoyed seeing him happy, so she didn’t mind going along with the idea.
“How can you not be excited about being in a museum?”
Chi quirked an eyebrow…
“Sorry, Don, but we ain’t really big on nerd stuff ‘ere.”
“Chi!” Artemis scolded.
“Being a nerd isn’t a bad thing! In fact, it’s saved our shells quite a few times!”
“…Yer just doin’ that ‘cause the baby’s ‘ere…”
“Damn right!”
“My niece ain’t gonna be a nerd…”
“Oh, stuff it, Raph…”
“I want my niece to be hyper!”
“NO!” Both Artemis and Leo shouted at once.
“But-.”
“We DON’T need another you!”
Don seemed to be ignoring his family’s usual banter, holding little Angela carefully.
“You’ll really like the new attraction they made, Angela. It’s the coolest!”
The little baby giggled, sensing the excitement.
“Is it a snack bar? ‘Cause THAT I could excited about!”
SMACK!!!
“OW!!! ARTIE…”
Passing the exhibits one by one, Chi twitched only slightly as she sensed people moving about around them.
“The museum is closing in twenty minutes, so there aren’t a lot of people. Just try to keep a low profile-.”
Artemis stopped, that strange tingling feeling in her nose that said she was about to sneeze…
“Love?”
“Donnie? Sweetie?”
Don’s sneeze was loud, echoing off the walls, but Artemis’s…
Well, thanks to her Airbending, her sneeze sent her flying back…
Slamming onto her shell and dazed, the crimson-eyed turtle coughed.
“OW…”
“LOVE!”
Leo ran to see if she was alright, and Mikey snickered.
“Is that what you meant by keeping a low profile, Leo?”
“Chi?”
“On it.”
BONK!!!
“OW!!! BABE…”
“Are you okay, love?”
“My nose burns, my shell is throbbing, and I feel dizzy…I’ve been better…”
Helping her up, the blue-banded turtle checked her over as Chi tried to calm down a now-squirming Angela.
“You’ve been under the weather lately. Are you sure you’re up to walking around?”
“I’m sure. It’s just the sniffles.”
“Are you okay, sweetie?” Mizu asked worriedly.
“Yeah, but it’s not bad enough to miss seeing THIS.”
The exhibit was full of dinosaur skeletons, what seemed to be foliage, hanging structures and many other things.
“Isn’t this fantastic? It’s the biggest dinosaur exhibit in the country!”
“It’s pretty impressive…” Artemis admitted, letting her little baby play with some of the broad leaves.
“YEAH…This is SO much better than playing video games and reading comic books…THANKS, Don…”
“Don’t be grumpy, baby…That’s Raph and mine’s job…”
“’EY!”
“Will you guys relax? We’ll only be here twenty minutes.” Mizu interrupted.
“Look! There’s a stegosaurus! And a pterandon skeleton!”
“Look, a nerdosaurus!” Mikey teased.
“An’ I see a geekosaurus rex.” Raph added.
WHIP!!!
WHIP!!!
“OW!!!”
“OW!!!”
Artemis grinned.
“Let this be a lesson for you both. Don’t mess with a Waterbender or her boyfriend.”
“I’ve been a dinosaur fanatic for as long as I can remember…cool fossils, all the different species…the mystery of their extinction…What’s not to like? I mean, as turtles, we have ancestors going way back, even before the Cretaceous Period.”
“So dinosaurs are like yer distant cousins?”
“Right.”
“YEESH…And I thought RAPH was the ugliest relative we had!”
“Hardy-Har, Mikey…”
A roar startled both brothers, and they jumped away from the bushes behind them when a dinosaur popped out between them.
“Raph! Mikey! Take it easy!” Leo advised when both reached for their weapons.
“Did I mention the animatronics exhibit?” Don wondered teasingly.
“They’re state-of-the-art.”
“Would you look at that? Chickenosauruses…” Mizu teased, grinning.
The bushes rustled a second time, followed with a soft growl, and both turtles jumped away, embarrassed.
April giggled at the sight, following the others to see the large Tyrannosaurus Rex.
“And there’s the king…The Tyrannosaurus Rex…”
“He sure is big…” Chi muttered.
“I’d hate to run into THAT in a dark alley…” Mikey admitted.
“I could take ‘im.”
“…No offense, babe…but he’s about…a GAZILLION times your size…”
“So?”
There was a threat in her voice now, basically saying ‘if you answer wrong, you will NOT be very happy’.
“Um…Nothing…”
“Good boy…”
“…Mikey, you are HOPELESS…” Artemis admitted as Angela tugged on the little cat ears on her head.
“Just imagine what it must have been like back then…Herds of dinosaurs grazing peacefully, then ‘THOOM’, ‘THOOM’! The T-Rex attacks!”
Eyes turned from Don to the large skeleton behind him…
Because it was glowing and MOVING…
“…Donnie, please tell me that’s a robot…” Artemis almost pleaded.
He seemed confused, then turned around to look behind himself…
“Um…no…no it’s not…”
Backing up on instinct as the pile of bones roared, Mizu noticed the other people flee before her attention snapped back to the dinosaur…
The heavy thing took a step off its pedestal, and then seemed to turn into a whirlwind of bones, surrounding them and causing Angela to squeak in fear.
Evil laughter filled the air, strangely familiar to their ears, as the turtles discarded their disguises, the boys pulling out their weapons…
Well, if they had their weapons…
“I’m guessing this isn’t part of the exhibit…” Leo stated.
“I think that’s a good assumption…”
The bones became a familiar face, though…
Well, obviously the face had no skin or anything…
“Greeting from the Cretaceous, you miserable reptiles! Fitting I should find you freaks here with the dinosaurs! For soon, you too will be extinct!”
“That’s Savanti Romero!” Chi stated, immediately recognizing the voice.
“Savanti Romero? Didn’t you guys tell me he was banished millions of years in the past?” April wondered, confused.
“That’s what WE thought…” Leo admitted.
“There’s nowhere you can hide from my magic! Even from the past, I can find you and give you this message of your impending, inevitable doom!”
“…Why do we always get the crazy-obsessed people?” Mizu wondered.
“The ol’ Turtle Luck runnin’ true ta form…” Chi muttered.
“We probably caught it…”
“A message of doom…When you care to send the best!”
…
“Babe?”
BONK!!!
“OW!!!”
“You should have never interfered with my plans to capture the Time Scepter, and now you will pay!”
When he moved closer, or…um, hovered…Angela nearly started crying, and Artemis growled warningly.
“Mark my words, turtles! Everything you know, everything you care about, I will erase! From the past, I will destroy your futures! I will deal with Lord Simultaneous and his apprentice soon enough, but wiping out your entire timeline will be a good start to my revenge!”
“’Nough ‘a this noise! Brin’ it on, bonehead!” Raph growled, sai drawn.
Laughter echoed around them again…
“Should you try and stop me, I’ll be waiting in the ring of fire!”
“Hey, I’m talkin’ ta ya-!”
Raph lunged, but the head fell apart, bones clattering to the floor…
“…I can’t take you guys anywhere…” April joked.
“Not our fault…Being a giant turtle just attracts the crazies…” The gold-masked turtle replied.
“Did you notice how he didn’t respond? It was weird…Like a recording…Or a time capsule…” Don mused.
“Like he knew we would be here tonight…And enchanted those bones from the past…”
“Well, ‘e is a sorcerer, ain’t ‘e?” Chi replied.
“If he tries to wipe us out, he’ll get a nice foot up the rear.” Artemis growled lowly, and was soon trying to soothe her concerned baby.
“…Is this the Ring of Fire he mentioned?”
Everyone turned to Mizu, who was looking at a map with a ring of dots on it.
“Yeah. It’s a string of volcanoes that surround the entire Pacific Ocean. From Japan to Alaska.”
“Well, that narrows it down…” Leo noted.
“How are we supposed to meet up with him?” Mikey wondered.
“Yeah.” Chi agreed.
“Not like we can time travel or somethin’.”
A portal appeared before the map, and the blinding light caused everyone to back up, shielding their eyes.
“Hi, guys!”
“…Renet?”
‘PLEASE tell me I’m seeing things…’ Artemis begged in her thoughts.
“Ow, wow! It’s like, so great to see you guys again!”
Chi grumbled something when given an over-enthusiastic hug…
“This can’t be a coincidence…” Don muttered.
“Definitely not.” Mizu agreed.
“Renet, what are you doing here?”
“I’m graduating! Well, at least I am if I pass my final exam. Lord Simultaneous says that this chrono-crisis is my final, so I’m like, so totally stressed. And if-no, not if…WHEN I pass, I’ll go from Apprentice to Temporal Infraction Extracator First Grade!”
Even with the practice of time, almost everyone’s heads were spinning at the hyper speech, and the constant use of the word ‘like’…
Artemis remembered why she didn’t like Renet too much…
“But if Lord Simultaneous knows what’s going on, why doesn’t he FIX IT!” Chi demanded, obviously angry.
It was like the damn man was dumping the Timestress on them…
“Well…because…”
The Earthbender was tapping her foot, expecting the best damn excuse in the whole damn world…
“I’M supposed to do it!”
…
That?
NOT the best excuse…
Not even an OKAY excuse…
It was the kind that made Chi worry for the future of mankind…
“It’s my final exam! And I came to see if you guys wanted to help!”
…
Before the blind female could yell at her for even CONSIDERING dragging them into another crazy adventure, Mikey pulled her into the group huddle…
“I’m not doin’ it!”
“It’s the only way.”
“NO!”
“But-.”
“NOOOOOO! How many times do I ‘ave ta say it? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Are you SCARED?”
Narrowed black eyes, and Mikey grinned nervously under the death glare he received from his girlfriend…
“…Excuse me?”
“If we go back in time, you’ll probably fight a T-Rex. And you’re SCARED to.”
Slivers of obsidian, though she couldn’t see, and the Earthbender snorted.
“Fine, fine…I’ll go…Just ta prove ya wron’.”
“I’m not taking Angela with us.” Artemis decided.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I probably shouldn’t go either. I don’t think time travel will be one of my favorite things.”
“Wise choice…” Mizu admitted.
“But we can’t let Renet go alone.” Don reminded.
“Yeah, or little miss tick tock o’er there could mess it up fer all ‘a us.” Raph agreed.
Leo nodded, turning to the Timestress.
“We’ll go with you, Renet. We’ll help in any way we can.”
“YES! Now this’ll be a breeze! I’ve gotten, like, REALLY good with the Time Scepter! Here we go!”
“Whoa-Whoa-Whoa!” Artemis interrupted.
“I’m not taking my baby to the Cretaceous period to be eaten by dinosaurs. Just send her and April home.”
“Alright!”
A bright light from the Time Scepter, and they hit the ground on their shells…
And the crimson-eyed turtle noticed one thing…
“…Renet…”
“Yeah?”
“…WHY IS ANGELA STILL HERE!?!”
“…Oops?”
Renet grinned sheepishly…
“Well…she’s still cute, right?”
“…Leo, let me kill her…”
“I can’t do that, Artemis…”
“Why not?”
“She’s our ticket home…”
“…Damn it…”
Angela herself seemed more interested in the grass, grabbing at it through mittened fingers, as her mother stood up.
“Wow! I can’t believe I actually did it!”
“…Should we be worried that she sounds so surprised?” Mizu wondered.
“Probably…”
“…Thanks, Chi…That makes me feel SO much better…”
“No prob.”
The herds of dinosaurs off in the distance, the smoking volcanoes rimming the horizon…
Swaying trees, jutting rocks…
Don seemed amazed at it all, but Artemis was more worried about the carnivorous dinosaur looking their way…
A hungry look in its eyes as it stared at little Angela playing on the grass…
A warning snarl, low and dark and dangerous, and angel’s wings unfurled, flexing and bristling…
Scared at the new, angry enemy, the dinosaur ran off in fear.
Folding her wings carefully and slowly relaxing her muscles, she smiled at her happy little angel.
“Stay alert.” She ordered.
“We don’t want to be dino-chow…”
“I ain’t ‘fraid ‘a no dino-brain!” Raph replied.
“That won’t stop them from eating you, bro.”
Don started a lecture about not changing the past, yadda yadda yadda, don’t leave anything behind, blah blah blah…
Chi would have been watching a butterfly if she could…
His sneeze brought back everyone’s worried attention, and the Artemis sneezed herself, flying into the air.
Leo managed to catch her before her shell could crack open on the ground…
“SO…are we packing?”
Rolling her eyes, Artemis pulled off the jacket and pants.
Putting them into a pack, she undressed the little baby, though Angela insisted on keeping the cute little hat.
Don found a sturdy stick to take place of his Bo, and everyone started walking along.
A bit miffed at being in the past, Chi grumbled as they walked down a path clear of trees…
Pausing, the Earthbender tilted her head in confusion at the strange rumble she felt under her bare feet…
“Chi? You feel it, too?” Artemis wondered, hugging her baby tighter.
“Yeah…it’s a…”
The Earthbender’s unseeing eyes widened, and she grabbed hold of Mikey’s hand as dust appeared on the horizon…
“STAMPEDE!”
Everyone turned tail, running as fast as they could before the herd overtook them…
Artemis managed to Airbend ahead of the dinosaurs, and Chi used earth to speed herself up.
“BABE!”
She grabbed Mikey’s arm before he was stomped on.
“Be more CAREFUL!”
Mizu tried weaving around the rumbling stomping feet, sometimes barely avoiding a heavy foot.
Raph jumped onto a dinosaurs back, then leapt onto a jutting rock above the chaos.
“Han’ on, baby!”
“Why-?”
Mikey nearly screamed like a girl as the Earthbender jumped up onto the smooth stone, the orange-masked turtle pulled along.
“LEO!”
Artemis took hold of his hand, and she Airbended all three of them up and away safely.
Mizu managed to used water from the grass to lift everyone else up and out of danger, and gently dropped them onto the rock.
“Everyone alright?”
Artemis nodded, trying to shush her crying baby.
“Well, that was fun…in a scary, almost-lost-your-life kind of way!” Mikey shouted.
“Yeah. REALLY nice save wit’ the Time Scepter…” Raph added.
“It’s not my fault! The Time Scepter’s not working!”
“Neither’s yer brain…” Chi mumbled.
“…Ya’d better not say we’re stuck ‘ere…” Raph growled.
He was worried enough for his pregnant mate as it was!
“I don’t know what happened…”
“Here, let me take a look at that.” Don offered.
“Maybe something happened during the stampede…” Mizu suggested.
The red-masked turtle jumped slightly as a triceratops sniffed his back.
“’EY!”
“I think he likes you, Raphie!” Mikey teased, patting the dinosaurs head like it was a dog.
“You should embrace this! Not many people think you smell good!”
SMACK!!!
“OW!!!”
Raph grumbled something, and searched his pack…
“Missin’ somethin’?”
“What?”
“This?”
The crimson-masked turtle held up a bag of chips, eye-ridge quirked.
“Uh…I always keep a spare bag of chips around. You never know when you might need a snack!”
“…You’re unbelievable…” Artemis muttered.
Still, it seemed the dinosaur was friendly enough, and she let little Angela pat its forehead as Mikey opened the bag with a pop.
A few of the chips were offered, and the three-horned dinosaur happily chewed the little treats.
“I’m going to call you Zog! Maybe you’re Zog’s great-great-great-great grandpappy!”
“…I SERIOUSLY doubt that…” Mizu admitted.
“Zog was an alien, Mikey…and I don’t think I have to tell you that you could’ve changed all of human history by feeding that dinosaur potato chips from the future!”
“…Loosen up, man…” Chi replied.
“Ya’ll ‘urt ‘is delicate feelin’s…”
“Not you, too!”
“What? I’m ‘is girlfriend. Most ‘a the time, I try ta agree wit’ ‘im.”
“I think the Time Scepter is over-heating…” Renet stated, catching everyone’s attention as it
glowed bright red…
“It’s not supposed to glow red…”
“This can’t be good…” Mizu mumbled.
Zog seemed to ‘bristle’, staring off at the trees…
“What is it, Zog?” Mikey asked in ‘baby talk’.
A red-eyed, carnivorous dinosaur slunk out of hiding, eyeing them hungrily from the tree line.
It soon charged for them, a strange roar in its throat, and more followed.
Don explained they were raptors, and how they could rip them apart and all that…
“…You know, being a dino-fanatic was a lot more endearing when we weren’t about to be eaten by actual dinosaurs!”
“Anythin’ else we need ta know?” Raph questioned gruffly.
“Yeah…”
Artemis kicked one of them right out of the air, but the others were following its example…
“THEY CAN JUMP!”
Artemis handed Leo the baby, and gave cover with an earth wall as the others ran away from the starving-eyed carnivores.
Throwing the rock back in order to crush or disorient the reptiles, the gold-banded turtle ran after the others.
Spreading her wings, she spun around long enough to blow away some of the dinosaurs still managing to follow them.
Zog was viciously protecting Don and Renet, along with Angela and Leo, until the dinosaurs seemed to retreat.
“…Good dinosaur…” Artemis complimented, patting the mighty head.
“Do ya thin’ we scared ‘em off?” Raph wondered.
“Nope.” Leo replied.
“…Ya thin’ somethin’ really horrible is comin’ now?”
“…Yep.”
The ground rumbled, shaking in a rhythm the two Earthbenders knew very well…
“Footsteps…” Chi grumbled, eyes narrowing.
“Whatever it is, it’s big…”
Trees quaked, falling as they became ripped from their roots…
A faint crashing sound as the trunks hit the ground…
“Is it friendly?” Mikey wondered.
The last defense, the last tree, fell away, and a T-Rex roared in triumph, Savanti mounted on his shoulder…
“No, Mikey…I don’t think it’s EVER been friendly…”
Raptors came out of hiding, tails swishing, and plants withered, the water around Mizu’s hands as she tensed.
Artemis’s wings bristled, flexed, widened in order to make herself look bigger…
Chi shared a glance with her, and the Avatar shook her head.
“I’ll take him…”
“Take WHO?” Mikey wondered.
The crimson-eyed she-turtle just smirked…
“You’ll see…”
“Welcome, turtles! To your extinction!”
“We’ll see about that, demon-boy.”
“Are you so sure of that, woman?”
“Degrading? …NOT!”
“You, Renet. Hand over the Time Scepter, or your little green friends will become dino-chow.”
The two raptors coming from behind were knocked away with rock pillars…
“Nice try…NOT.”
“You think we can’t take these little basturds?” Artemis challenged, taking her protective, fiery instincts in hand.
“Are they your best shot?”
The jade-skinned turtle smirked, looking relaxed as ever.
“That’s pretty pathetic for a sorcerer, if you ask me.”
“ARTEMIS…” Leo warned, one katana drawn as his other arm held Angela close to his plastron.
“I’ll be fine, love…” She assured as the T-Rex roared, charging for her…
“ARTIE!”
“PRINCESS, MOVE!”
“Oh, I’ll move alright…”
Sliding her feet on the floor and bringing her hands up, the she-turtle closed her eyes…
When they snapped open, earth anchored the mighty reptile’s feet, causing it to jerk to a halt, and then fire flew from her mouth like dragon’s breath.
Savanti escaped the blaze, but the T-Rex was scorched enough to back up and whimper in fear.
“You DARE defy me?!”
“…Uh, YEAH.”
Savanti’s strange staff glowed, summoning different flying dinosaurs.
“Get the Time Scepter, my pets!”
“RENET!”
Angel’s wings, hard as metal, cut off the Timestress from the flying reptiles, and Artemis took hold of her arm.
“Hold on!”
Flying up, she managed to outmaneuver them, blasting spheres of air whenever she could.
“It’s gonna be a breeze, huh?”
“…Sorry?”
A dinosaur dive-bombed into the she-turtle’s shell, and the Time Scepter was released before Artemis could regain her wings.
“RENET!” She scolded.
“CHI! MIZU! CATCH IT!”
Both ran for it as the gold-masked turtle dived for it, though a dinosaur managed to swoop in and catch it first.
“HEY!”
Putting down Renet, the crimson-eyed turtle narrowed her eyes.
“YOU stay near the good dinosaur.”
Wings flapping powerfully, she took off after the Time Scepter with the other girls.
Unfortunately, Savanti got hold of it first, and blasted all three of them back.
Groaning a bit at the pain, Artemis sat up when she felt something grab her wings…
“HEY!”
Chi struggled even as the dinosaur took to the air, impairing her ‘vision’ and her bending, as Mizu tried to bring water to her hands.
A baby’s scream, and Artemis knew something was wrong…
“ANGEL!”
Struggling more violently, the she-turtle was about to bring fire to her skin when one of the dinosaurs tackled her over onto her side…
Her head smacked against stone, and her eyes started sliding shut as darkness came over her…
Waking up chained to a pillar of bones was NOT pleasant…
Crying made her pull together her dazed senses, and Artemis sat up.
Mizu was trying to use a hairpin to free herself of the lock and chains, and Chi was trying to free her hands enough to Metalbend.
A persistent, soft crying from beside her, and crimson eyes widened…
‘He put her into a cage…’
The little jade-skinned baby was crying, weakly smacking the bone cage, and using her free hand to rub her tearing eyes.
“Oh baby…It’s alright, Angel…I’ll get you out of there…”
Artemis twisted, her wrists, bound above her, twisted and bent easily as she tried to lift herself up.
Then…
‘Uh oh’
…
“Ah-CHOO!”
Flying back, her shell smacked into the pillar she was attached to, knocking it over.
Tumbling head-over-heels, she almost fell right off, but managed to skid to a halt on the bones.
“So you’re awake…”
Glaring hotly, Artemis stood, shrugging off the chains around her.
“Guess I am. And I’m going to beat your ass back to the Big Bang!”
Lifting her hands, she broke the chains holding her friends before using a whip of water to cut open the cage holding her daughter.
Lifting the little baby out, she glared at the demon sorcerer.
“You’ll regret dragging my baby into this…”
“I don’t think so. You’ll both be in too much pain for that.”
“Like me or Leo will allow that.” She growled, holding out one hand as it burst into flame…
“We’ll see.”
A blast from the Time Scepter, and she managed to avoid it, blasting air at him from her mouth.
He side-stepped it, chuckling in triumph.
“The spells are cast…Nothing can stop me now!”
“Except me!”
Chi took the baby as Artemis jumped to engage the demon in hand-to-hand combat.
He managed to blast her back, almost onto Renet, who was in the middle of the circle of bones…
Bone wrapped around her neck, choking her…
“SAVANTI!”
The bones seemed to loosen, and Artemis managed a surprise breath…
“Leo…”
“Let them go, demon!”
“Or else!” Don added, obviously unhappy.
Let’s just say you don’t mess with ANY of their girls…
Extreme bodily harm is usually ALWAYS involved…
“Do something quick!” Mizu shouted, blasting water through the bone around Artemis’s neck.
“He’s going to destroy the timeline and Renet!”
“…Can ‘e destroy Renet?”
“CHI!”
“What? It was just a suggestion!”
Monologue was something Artemis always avoided, and she tried to get a sneak-attack in as she caught her breath…
Didn’t work too well…
He made armor out of the sharp bone around them, and seemed sure they could not defeat him now.
Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, and the young Avatar looked up with disinterest…
“OOOH, thunder…Scary…”
A bolt came down at her, and it was almost instinct…
Held up her fingers to pull in the energy, let it flow through her stomach, and she sent it flying out at Savanti…
He flew back at the surprise attack, and the boys jumped in.
“We don’t have time for this! Leo, get the Time Scepter!”
“HEY!”
“I’ll save Renet!” Mizu offered, jumping down onto the chains to start cutting them.
Don went to help her, and the others jumped at Savanti to distract him as Leo went for the scepter.
Unfortunately, everyone was blasted back once the demon lost his patience…
“Enough games!”
A strange spell, and Artemis couldn’t move…
But she noticed Don was still free…
Closing her eyes to try and bring about some inner power, arrows glowing on her skin…
Breaking her free of the immobility…
Renet was free, and the Time Scepter knocked free of its strange hold by Don.
Savanti, desperate, jumped for it, and a bolt of light struck him and the scepter at the same time.
He fell into the water below them, and Artemis relaxed, falling to her knees…
“Angel…?”
“She’s a’right, Artie…” Chi assured.
“Donnie, you saved me! You saved all of humanity! And most importantly, I get to graduate! YES!”
“…You need to get your priorities straight…” Artemis pointed out, cuddling her daughter and smiling at her mate.
The structure began to shake…
“What now?!” Raph shouted.
“Savanti’s power must have been holding this thing together!” Mizu replied.
“EVERYBODY OFF!” Leo ordered.
Artemis took off immediately as everyone started running, and they barely jumped to shore before the whole thing fell into the rough water.
“Well, we saved the future…” Mizu muttered, panting.
“Which means the asteroid WILL hit now…” Don agreed.
“When?” Chi managed.
“I don’t know when…three weeks…three months…three years, even!”
“An’ wit’out the Time Scepter, we’re doomed…” Raph grumbled.
Artemis sighed, leaning against her mate…
“Trapped and doomed…GREAT…”
Three months later…
Angela curled up on her side, playing with some soft cloth near the fire.
Artemis watched her carefully, moving water around in the air.
Renet and Mikey brought back a large-butt fish for dinner, and the latter set about preparing it for cooking as the other boys watched the stars.
“And you’re SURE there’s no way for you to contact Lord Simultaneous?” Don wondered again.
“You’d think he’d come looking for you after three months…” Leo added.
“Unless ‘e don’t want ‘er back…”
Let’s just say Chi wasn’t a happy Earthbender…
“For, like, the bazillionth time, NO! When are you going to give it a rest?”
“’EY! I ‘aven’t e’en gotten STARTED, little miss ‘it’ll be a breeze’.” Raph replied.
“Complete bull…”
The crimson-eyed turtle blinked…
“Angel?”
“No way!”
Mikey held up Angela, who was holding…
“The Time Scepter?!”
“It was inside the fish! It must have swallowed it!”
“Now we can go home!” Mizu cheered.
“Whoa, slow down! I’m just saying…We’ve got dinner on the grill…no need to rush.”
“…”
“…Guys?”
WHIP!!!
SMACK!!!
BONK!!!
“OW!!!!!!!!!! Alright, I’m packed! Let’s go!”
A bright flash of light, and they were back at the lair…
April seemed confused, but didn’t ask as the girls headed for the shower…
Kasai seemed ready to open her mouth, but Artemis held up a hand…
“…Trust me…You don’t want to know."