Chapter 3: Learning
Review Replies
shirkahn: Nice update! This is a cool story! Also, Joshua's Uncle Johan and Aunt Harley, are they Joker and Harley Quinn? If so, that'd be freakin' badass! Nothing like having the Clown Prince of Crime in your corner! Looking forward to the next update! Also, will Lavinia get her husband back, or will she share Joshua with Arty?
ThermalsniperN7: Actually, Johan and Harley are a pair of OCs of mine that I'm rehashing for this story. Sorry, no Clown Prince of Crime uncle here. Also, Lavinia will get her husband back. It would be pretty awkward for Joshua to have a romantic relationship with a woman he knows was brought back to life with his ex-mother's dead body… Although I will confirm this: Joshua and Lavinia will develop a mother-son relationship. Nothing's stopping her from being one of those sexy tease-happy moms.
Dragon Emperor0: True on all counts.
Tonyhedgehog: Thanks for your response on my review so I have an important question: does Arty and her now revived mother have a limited time to be on land? After all they maybe half humans now but they're still aquatic life forms and need moisture. Also are you thinking of making pete be turned into the 2012 version of the mutant King Shark or a crossover arc of the 90s Street Sharks tv show. They could be good mutants for the apex predators. Looking forward to the next chapter.
ThermalsniperN7: There's no limit to how long the shark girls can spend on land. If there was, then sleeping would've been difficult. Though, granted, they are instinctively compelled to swim due to their shark blood. We are also thinking of turning Pete into one of the Apex animals… Just can't figure out which one.
Dragon Emperor0: And when to include all of them. It's more difficult than we originally thought.
707cloud: I have read a few maneater stories in a similar style but I must say yours is really great, one of the best ones I've read, I especially like how you have smoothly merged sexy, funny, action packed and family, I can't wait to see if you go the full distance with the tmnt series and what you will do next, I think it would be funny if Lavinia became attracted to Splinter and he got flustered over an attractive woman like her boldly flirting with him and even nervously asks Arty to help but she just says "as a ninja master of many years experience I'm sure you can easily solve this problem, see ya", at least that's what I think would be cool but whatever you do I have no doubt I'll enjoy. Keep up the awesome work!
ThermalsniperN7: Glad you're enjoying the story. Also, as stated before, Lavinia will actually get her original husband back. Splinter looks fine being a widowed father… Although the scenario you described is amusing. I'll admit that.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah. It is pretty amusing, but unlikely.
-The Lair, New York sewers-
Mikey let out a battle cry as he charged at Arty, his nunchucks swinging as he did so. The ninja shark girl stood in a defensive stance, her tanto ready.
The second the younger terrapin started swinging his weapons around, Arty was swift to counter them with defensive strikes at least six times before she kicked him back, knocked him over and pinned him to the ground.
"Enough." Splinter said, prompting the two to disengage their combat encounter. "Well done Artemisia. You have certainly improved these last few days." The man noted as he walked towards them.
"Thanks, Sensei." Arty smiled at her adoptive father as she had her brother in a headlock.
"Come on, Arty! Let go! I give! I give!" The freckled turtle whined as he waved his arms frantically.
Shrugging, the shark girl let her brother go.
It had been a little over a month since their first fight with the Kraang, meeting Joshua and Lavinia being brought back to life… And the murder of Joshua's former parents.
Everyone needed time to process what had happened since then while Lavinia herself went to set up her new home.
Joshua, meanwhile, had made his way to his aunt and uncle's place. No one knew if he'd dissected his Kraang specimen yet.
Artemisia herself, however, had something she needed to take care of.
"Am I needed for anything else?" She asked, getting a head shake from her surrogate father. "Okay. I'm gonna head to Joshua's old home and see what I can find on his old parents. Maybe I can learn a thing or two about him as I go." She told him, checking her watch and seeing that it was night time.
(Later)
Arty made her way to the old address of her friend by rooftop and kept an eye out for anything even remotely Kraang related as well just in case.
As she went, though, she saw no Kraang activity. This uneventful trip allowed her to reach the address quietly. Said address led to an actual house, something rare in the Big Apple.
'Must've had a lot of money to buy this place.' She noted mentally.
Shaking her head, Arty made her way to the back door and picked the lock before heading inside. It looked pretty average and normal, right down to the living room layout. There was a distinct lack of pets, too. The shark girl figured that Joshua wasn't allowed to have one.
Putting that thought aside, she made her way upstairs, figuring the bedrooms were up there. Opening one of the doors, she was greeted by a room that was very obviously Joshua's. She could see some video game posters for games like Halo, Crysis and even Mortal Kombat.
There were also some books on human anatomy, medical science and more on a bookshelf.
His bed was… Pretty long, actually. It was long enough for Joshua's 6'4" frame to lay on without his legs dangling over the edge. He also had a computer on an oak desk.
'Hm… Maybe I can give him a few of his books as a favor.' She thought, feeling like she'd help her relationship with him develop a bit more by doing such a thing. If not that, she can definitely help him smile a bit more.
After grabbing a few books and putting them in the backpack she brought with her, she went and checked the other rooms upstairs. It wasn't until she reached the last one that she found the master bedroom.
Joshua's ex-parents clearly knew what kind of bed they wanted, because they had a California King.
Shaking her head, she searched the room for the dead couple's journals. As she did, she just knew she was going to be disgusted by what she was going to read in those things. Eventually, she found them in separate nightstands.
As she flipped through the pages, she found herself noticing that the family was actually pretty normal at the start, but that soon changed when they ended up getting a lot of money early on in life—and was soon compounded when they realized that their son's intelligence could earn them more money.
It was a classic case of Greed being the downfall of the weak willed.
"Unbelievable…" She sighed. Then she saw the most recent entries for both journals, and what she read nearly made her scream in anger and tear the journals apart.
They had planned to outright sell Joshua to the Kraang! They even pulled him from school so they wouldn't have to worry about them asking questions!
'IF THE KRAANG KEPT THEM ALIVE, I WOULD KILL THEM MYSELF!' She screamed in her head, an angry scowl on her face.
Putting the journals in her backpack, she proceeded to leave the same way she entered.
When she got to the backyard, however, she was suddenly ambushed by ninjas bearing the logo of a foot on their chests.
"What the hell?" She uttered as she looked at the ninjas. "Okay… This is weird." She said as she let her chain kunai drop into her hand, in case this turned hostile.
There wasn't even a demand for her to surrender before the ninja abruptly attacked her, forcing the shark girl to swing her weapon of choice at them as she leapt back.
Since Arty was still feeling pretty pissed off after what she read earlier, she decided that these ninja would make a convenient outlet for her outrage.
But unlike most ninjas one saw on TV, these ninjas all attacked at once and in coordination, kicking and batting the girl around like a kickball before one of them grabbed her chain weapon and slung her into a post, knocking the wind out of her lungs.
"Gah!" She gasped, falling to her knees. Quickly recovering, she rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a knockout dart. "Okay, I made a bad call. Time to go!" She said to herself, taking out a smoke bomb and throwing it on the ground before running off as fast as she could for the nearest sewer grate.
Diving into the sewers, she quickly swam her way through the sewers to get back to the lair—her body and ego bruised after what had just occurred.
"Note to self: Never fight a group of ninjas alone." The shark girl groaned, pushing her dislocated shoulder back into place. "Ever." She added, grunting in pain.
Good thing her backpack was waterproof and sealed to keep its contents dry…
(Later)
When Splinter saw his surrogate daughter return, he expected her to look proud or angry.
Looking like she got into a one-sided fight was not what he expected, given how she was holding her left shoulder.
"Artemisia/Arty!" The girl's father and brothers gasped as they ran towards her—while Lavinia popped her head out of the kitchen.
"Yeah, I know how it looks…" She told them with a sigh.
"What happened?!" Raph demanded.
"Some human ninjas ambushed me. They all had the symbol of a foot on them." The shark girl replied, causing the rat man's eyes to widen in alarm.
"Oh no…" He gasped in concern.
"Is that supposed to mean something?" Lavinia questioned as she came in with what looked like a homemade pizza.
She was now sporting a black bikini top, a seafoam green miniskirt and fishnet stockings. She had a lot of time to get clothes that suited her.
"Artemisia, the people you just described are from the exact same clan that drove me away from my previous home!" Splinter told his daughter, causing everyone else to widen their eyes in shock, Arty especially.
"Well… Shit." The girl uttered as she took this in… before she fell forward and flat on her face. "I can see why." She groaned, her body aching all over.
"Okay, into bed with you, sweetie." The shark mom of the group said, putting the pizza on the table and picking her up. "You need your rest before you do anything reckless again." She added, walking to her daughter's room.
"My thoughts exactly." Splinter nodded. Leo watched as Lavinia brought Artemisia into her room, and then at Splinter.
"Any idea what could've brought the Foot Clan here, Sensei?" He questioned.
"Yes. That shuriken you lost. It likely alerted their leader that I am still alive." The man replied.
"Fade away without a trace… Damn it." Leo cursed.
"Oh man! Now we have a bunch of angry people after us!" Mikey groaned in dismay.
"Uh, one of us might wanna check on Joshua and April, just in case they're targeted." Donnie pointed out in concern.
"Well I say we go out there and give those guys a gift they won't forget: a beat down!" Raph growled, smacking his fists together.
"Let's focus on what we can do to prepare for them, first." Leo interjected. "We're gonna need it." He added, sighing a little.
"I will see about devising a few lessons on how to fight them for all of you." Splinter nodded.
(Elsewhere)
With Arty and Lavinia, the latter was giving her daughter a massage to work out the kinks that her body had gotten from the fight. Arty was enjoying it.
The two had begun having family moments with one another a day after being reunited. They had a lot of lost time to catch up on, and they found themselves quickly coming up with things to do together, which the younger shark girl was happy about.
Lavinia, however, was particularly mischievous whenever she teased her daughter about her and Joshua. Poor Arty blushed so hard whenever she did that.
"So." The woman hummed as she rubbed her daughter's shoulder. "Have you gotten around to visiting Joshua again after your little dip together?" She questioned.
"N-No, not yet…" Arty shuddered, feeling her shoulder muscles start to relax. "I'm still sorting a few things out. I did recover a few books of his from his old house, though." She added.
"I'm sure he'll appreciate that." The woman smiled. "What books did you recover?" She asked.
"Some medical study books, a few more entertaining books like the… What was it called? The Skinjacker Trilogy? Some Assassin's Creed books, too." The girl replied before she frowned. "And his ex-parents' journals." She spat, which made her mom raise an eyebrow at her anger.
"What did you see in them, exactly?" She questioned.
"You'll have to read them for yourself." Arty told her, sitting up and opening up her backpack and fishing out the journals that were the source of her ire and handing them to her mother.
Lavinia blinked before she accepted them and read through them, seeing the gradual downfall of Joshua's parents. It ended with her getting pissed off at the sheer audacity the now dead couple had for trying to sell their own flesh and blood for money.
"Ugh, I feel disgusted at being brought back with that bitch's body now…" The shark MILF uttered with a disgusted look on her face as she tossed the journals aside. "Well, since those two failed miserably as parents, I'll have to fill in half the void they left." She declared..
"Let's not look a gift Kraang in the mouth, mom." Arty sighed in exhaustion. "But if you decide to adopt him, wouldn't he be my–?" She started to ask.
"No, no." Lavinia cut her daughter off. "I know you have an interest in him. If you two become mates, then he'll just be part of the family anyway. I just want him to feel welcome, and for him to know that he has a mother in his life that actually gives a damn about him." She added.
"Oh…" The girl said before she buried her blushing face into her pillow. "I don't think you need to… He's already got his Aunt and Uncle…" She muttered.
"I know, but I want to." Lavinia said as she resumed rubbing her daughter's shoulders. "I feel that he deserves it." She added.
"... I think he'll appreciate that…" Arty sighed as she went back to relaxing.
(Timeskip)
The next day at an apartment in a different part of New York that was actually not far from the Smithsonian, Joshua was taking his time unpacking his things out of bags and boxes.
It wasn't all of it, but it was enough. He could replace what he didn't bring, or retrieve it, if he was lucky.
"Better here than back there…" He muttered to himself, unpacking a few books. Then there was a knock on his bedroom door.
"Hey, you still busy unpacking, sport?" A man's voice called from the other side.
"Yeah, I'm still busy, uncle Johan." Joshua called back in reply.
"Well take a break and come eat. Your aunt whipped up steak, eggs, mashed potatoes and gravy." Johan told him with a chuckle.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Joshua chuckled as well as he set a few miscellaneous books on the desk.
As the boy went down to the dining room where his aunt and uncle were waiting—with the former making three plates with a single ribeye steak, two eggs, and a pile of mashed potatoes with gravy.
His aunt was quite the looker, given she was in her thirties. She had unblemished caucasian skin with a light tan, blonde hair, seafoam green eyes and a figure that did her justice. She was wearing a blue apron over a white blouse and a black skirt that reached her knees.
His uncle, meanwhile, looked pretty intimidating and was also in his thirties. He had black hair with green streaks in it, emerald green eyes, and a stocky build. Right now, he was just wearing a plain black shirt with a pair of blue jeans.
"I was wondering when you were gonna come for breakfast." Harley smiled as she set the food on the table.
"Take a seat, we're just about to start eating." Johan told the boy to sit down, his aunt pouring them all some coffee.
"Thanks." The boy sighed as he took the offered coffee.
"How're you feeling? I know my brother fucked up if you came all the way here from the other side of the city." Harley asked.
When Joshua had reached them a couple of days ago, she and Johan were pretty surprised to see their nephew. They let him in immediately and had him give a small briefing on why he'd come to them. Much to their annoyance, their extended family had indeed screwed up with their own son.
"Fucked up" doesn't even begin to describe it." Joshua sighed in reply.
"Let's… not talk about that." Joshua sighed as he continued to eat.
Though as he said this, the condo's home phone rang, prompting Harley to get up and answer it.
"Hello?" The woman questioned. "Huh? Yes, he's here." She nodded before turning to the two men. "Joshie, someone's calling you. You happen to know an Artemisia Hamato?" She asked.
"Yeah. I met her after I ran away. Give it here." Joshua nodded as he walked over to his aunt and took the phone. "Hey, Arty. Need something?" He asked.
"I… Just wanted to ask how you were doing." The girl said, sounding rather nervous as she talked to him.
"Well, I'm fine now. My aunt and uncle saw to that." The boy replied. "What about you?" He asked.
"I finally paid a visit to your old home. I was able to get a few of your books for you… Well, the ones that I could carry, anyway." The shark girl replied. "I… I also found your ex-parents' journals. Joshua, did you know they were going to sell you?" She asked, sounding worried about his reaction.
"… I wanted to believe they weren't. Seems I was wrong." Joshua sighed.
"I'm sorry, Josh." Arty apologized.
"It's fine." He told her. "… Hey, do you think I'll be able to see you again soon?" He asked.
"S-Sure. Definitely." His mutant friend nodded on the other end.
"Cool." Joshua smiled. "I should go before breakfast gets cold. When should we meet up?" He asked.
"How about I come to you? I need to swing by April's place anyway." Arty told him.
That was the other thing: Josh had since joined April's school after everything settled down, and the two had managed to get to know each other better thanks to their shared experiences and… mutual friends.
"I think we can make that work. Sure." Joshua nodded. "Sometime tonight when we don't have anything to worry about?" He proposed.
"That should work. See you then." The girl nodded before ending the call.
The brunette sighed as he hung up the phone.
"So, Arty, huh?" Harley whispered in his ear, causing the boy to nearly jump out of his skin.
"Damn it, aunt Harley! Don't do that!" The boy hissed upon turning and seeing the teasing look on his aunt's face.
"I think I have the right to tease my nephew in the event he finds a potential girlfriend, if what I heard is any indication." The woman smirked.
"She isn't my girlfriend." The boy deadpanned. "Plus I'm pretty sure one of her brothers would kill me if I did anything." He sighed as he sat back down.
"How would you know?" Johan asked with a raised eyebrow. "How many brothers does she have? Are any of them the killing type?" He questioned.
"Four." Joshua explained. "And I don't think Leo, Donnie or Mikey would kill me, but Raph… He'd probably break me with his bare hands." He mused, drinking his coffee.
"They sound like they're named after Renaissance artists." The boy's aunt noted. "At least you found a cultured family." She remarked.
"Yeah. Their dad's name is Yoshi, but most people who know him just call him Splinter." Joshua nodded. "He's a widowed father, strict but really nice too." He continued. "Arty was adopted by him, until they found her mom Lavinia." He continued. "She's nice. You'd like her." He added.
"They sound like a nice bunch, except for Raph. I'd probably slug him if he tries anything against you." Johan remarked, eating some steak.
"He's just the overprotective hothead, uncle. It's his nature." Josh sighed. "Leo's the oldest and by far the most mature of the bunch. He's cool." He mused. "Donnie's the brains of the bunch. I'm pretty sure he's probably my equal in terms of intelligence." He continued. "And Mikey… I'll be honest, I think he was dropped as a kid—dude acts like he never matured past six years old." He added, remembering how derpy the youngest turtle was.
"You're kidding." Johan chuckled in mild amusement.
"I wish I was." Joshua sighed.
"And Arty? What's she like?" Harley questioned. "She sounded like a real cutie." She hummed.
"She's… Definitely exotic, even for her age." Joshua admitted with a blush, remembering the small dip he had with her.
"Exotic?" Johan questioned. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.
"All I can say is: If you saw her looks, you'd understand my meaning." Joshua replied vaguely.
Johan and Harley exchanged a glance as they ate their food, silently deciding to talk about this later.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, later that evening, Arty was making her way towards April's place with Mikey as backup.
The others would have come, but Leo decided to take Donnie and Raph with him for a nightly patrol around the city.
"Hey, April, you up?" Mikey called as softly as possible as he knocked on the window of the girl's apartment.
Seconds later, the redhead opened the window.
"Huh? Oh hey Mikey, Arty. What're you guys doing here?" She asked.
"We figured we'd swing by and check on you. So, what's up?" The shark girl asked as she sat on the window sill.
"Other than school stuff, not much." The girl sighed. "What about you guys?" She asked.
"We're good. So far at least." Mikey replied.
"Actually, April…" Arty piped up nervously. "I was wondering if I could get your advice about something, girl to girl." She explained.
"What's up?" The ginger asked as she let the two in.
"It's about Joshua." The shark girl told her.
"What about him?" April asked before it clicked and she smirked a bit. "You're crushing on him, aren't you?" She teased slightly.
"Oh yeah, so hard." Mikey nodded teasingly before his sister pushed him out the window.
"Shut up." She sighed. "Yes—but you see, there's something that has me concerned." The shark girl explained nervously.
"What is it, and how bad is it?" April questioned, wanting to get to the root of this.
"I'm worried that if I allow these feelings to continue to grow—and if I see Joshua again before I have time to find a way to manage them…" The kunoichi replied before she opened her eyes again, a predatory gleam in them. "I'll be overcome with the desire to push him down and swipe our V-cards right then and there." She added, a sort of mental image of a female bull shark appearing behind her.
This made April scoot away from her with wide eyes before the shark girl composed herself again.
"What's gotten into you?" The girl questioned.
"Well, from what I got from Master Splinter, going all the way on a first date is a poor strategy." Arty replied bashfully, fiddling in her seat as she recalled how surprised Splinter was at her asking this exact question.
Luckily, Lavinia was able to help things not devolve into awkwardness and she suggested asking a fellow lady.
"Forget strategy! That kind of move makes you seem like a slut!" The ginger girl blurted.
"Oi, I'm not experienced with dating, and neither is he!" The shark girl snapped back. "Plus, my mom did the same thing with my dad and it worked out great for them—Because I was the end result!" She added.
"Except Johusa's not a shark boy!" April told her with a twitching eyebrow. "At any rate, you guys should at least talk things out with each other before you even consider getting physical." She continued. "Because a relationship that starts off physical can quickly become purely physical and then fizzle out because that's all you guys will seem to bring to it." She added.
"Yeah, we decided to sort things out before anything else happens." Arty told her. "And I think we have, at least on my end." She amended. "I just don't know if he has yet." She continued.
"Ya might wanna check with him on that, then, and see if he's willing to play ball." April told him, the shark kunoichi nodding in reply.
"Right…" Artemisia nodded, right as Mikey came back with a pizza.
"What'd I miss?" He questioned, causing the two to laugh.
(Later)
Joshua sighed as he finally finished unpacking and sat down at his desk—before he pulled out and cracked open a copy of Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
As he read, he thought back to how nervous Arty sounded over the phone. It made him wonder what was eating away at her to sound like that, since–even if he's not experienced with dating–the little dip they had was more out of a need for comfort than anything else.
Don't get him wrong, he'd be happy if the shark girl wanted to date him, but he didn't expect that to happen until at least a few months from now.
Then again, if his studies into animal psychology had taught him anything, it was that animals, especially young and very intelligent ones, often imprinted really easily onto those who care for or showed affection to them while in serious and vulnerable states.
So it was entirely possible that this was such a case, but on the point where the two of them were developing romantic feelings rather than familial bonds.
'This is gonna take a bit of time to sort out…' He noted mentally as he kept reading.
One other thing he recalled from his studies on sharks was that teenage sharks reached sexual maturity quicker than in comparison to human teens, so he'd need to clear a few things out with Arty before things got out of hand.
Speak of the devil, as they say…
The brunette continued to read right until he heard a tapping on his window, causing him to look up from his book to see who was there.
Sure enough, it was Arty along with Mikey.
Shaking his head in amusement, he went over to the window and opened it, granting them entry.
"I'm home alone right now. What's up?" He asked.
"I wanted to talk to you." The shark girl replied as Mikey then set a pizza box on the boy's desk.
"And I got an extra pizza." The orange masked turtle grinned. "Enjoy!" He added as he flipped out of the window and went to find the others.
Shrugging, the two got comfortable on the couch and opened the box so they could eat.
"What'd you wanna talk about?" Joshua asked as he took a slice.
"I… I wanted to talk about last month." The girl replied. "There's something that's been bothering me since then." She added.
"Let me guess: The soak?" Joshua asked with a sigh, getting a nod in return. "Yeah, that's been on my mind, too. I've been trying to figure out how to deal with that." He told her.
"I'll be honest, my mom's been helping me sort through most of my feelings about the situation." Arty mused as she took a slice of pizza. "So, I have an idea of what to do, just not how to do it." She added.
"I've had to sort through most of it on my own, which was more or less simple, but still had a few speed bumps." Joshua nodded. "It helps that I studied sharks enough to know how to figure it out." He added.
"That meaning…?" The girl questioned, not liking how he said that particular explanation.
"Nothing serious." The boy told her,realizing how that sounded. "It just means that I'm aware of how teenage sharks… Um… Mature faster, in comparison to teenage humans." He continued, taking a moment to figure out how to say that last part. "It did help me get a rough draft of what to do to manage things between us, and make things more comfortable, hopefully." He added further.
"And what is your plan, then?" She asked.
"That we have a few get-togethers like right now, to start." Joshua began, gesturing between himself and his mutant friend. "If we like the way things go, then we officially hook up." He added.
Artemisia mulled this over, contemplating how this sounded to her. It definitely sounded like a step up compared to what happened last time they were together (circumstances notwithstanding), and it was appealing. She figured this would be a good arrangement for now.
"How many get-togethers would we have?" She asked.
"As many as needed to help both of us out." The boy replied.
"Alright." The girl nodded, taking another slice of pizza.
The two sat in relative silence as they continued to eat together, until Artemisia slowly felt Joshua placing his hand on her own, causing her to look at him.
Unable to resist the urge, the shark girl rested her head on his shoulder, feeling her nerves gradually calm down. It felt nice, being able to relax like this.
Likewise, the future animal behavior and biologist did little to resist the temptation to cup Arty's chin in his hand and raise her face up to meet his, their eyes closing as their lips slowly came closer—.
And made contact right as Harley walked into the room.
"Joshua, I–" The woman started to say before she noticed Joshua was about to kiss an obviously mutant girl. The two teens, likewise, looked like two deer caught in the headlights.
There was a very awkward silence before Joshua spoke.
"Aunt Harely, don't freak out! I can explain–!" He started to panic before his aunt started to chuckle before it turned into full blown laughter, leaving both him and Arty confused.
"Uh…" The shark girl uttered, unsure of what to say.
"Oh wow, I didn't expect this!" The older woman chortled. "And I can tell that you're this "Arty" that I heard Joshua talking to earlier, judging by your voice." She added with a chuckle.
"Um, it's short for Artemisia, actually." The blue haired girl explained. "And I feel like both of us are missing something here." The shark girl frowned as she looked at Joshua, who was still lost in confusion.
"Let's just say that I'm glad my nephew has the same balls as his uncle does." Harley grinned, much to the further confusion of the two teens.
"... Uh, what?" Joshua asked with a raised eyebrow.
Harley merely smirked before her clothes seemed to shift… and then a mass of blood red squid tentacles emerged from under her skirt, and she grew a pair of fins on her head! Her eyes even became that of a cephalopod's!
"... Wait, what?!" The shark kunoichi exclaimed in shock.
"What she said!" Joshua agreed with wide eyes. "Aunt Harley, what the hell?! How long have you been like this?!" He questioned.
"Let's see, my birthday is next month so by that time… fifteen years ago?" The blonde mused casually.
"Wha–?! And uncle Johan knows about this?!" Joshua gaped.
"Yep. His first reaction after freaking out was to say that I can give world class hugs." The woman smiled before using her tentacles to pull them into one such hug. The embrace was so warm that the two teens practically melted into it.
"World class for sure…" Artemisia sighed in bliss.
"And then there's the other stuff I can do with these babies, but that's not a topic that I think I should repeat in front of two teenagers." The blonde mused.
Joshua let out a fake cough to hide the small blush on his face while Arty looked to the side awkwardly.
"Anyway… What were you two doing?" The apparent squid woman asked, backing away.
"Just… sitting around." Joshua said, still feeling rather awkward.
"Are you sure? Because I easily spotted you two getting ready to make out." Harley smirked teasingly. "For shame, children. You need to slow down." She said dramatically.
"Sh-Sh-Sh-Shut up!" Joshua stammered, blushing madly along with Arty. "We'll do what we please! Jeez." He snapped, annoyed at his aunt's antics.
Arty, meanwhile, blushed even harder. The boy had just told his aunt off for interrupting him when he was about to kiss her.
"Okay, okay, I'll back off." The woman chuckled as she reverted back to normal. "But really, though, how long have you two known each other?" She questioned.
"This week should be two weeks past a month, right?" Arty asked Joshua.
"Around there, yeah." Joshua nodded in reply.
"That's definitely longer than I originally thought." Harley mused to herself.
"You thought it was gonna be a week, didn't you?" Her nephew deadpanned.
"Or at least half a month." His aunt replied.
"Right…" Joshua sighed. "Anyway, what did you want?" He asked.
"Oh, I got you something I think you'll love." Harley smiled as she gave him a box that had air holes in it.
"… What is it? A house plant?" He asked, noticing the weight of the box.
"Um, I don't think house plants purr." Arty pointed out, hearing a sound coming from the box.
Blinking, Joshua opened the box… And was surprised when a seven week old siamese cat with a white spot in the shape of a leaf popped its head out and looked at him.
"You got me a siamese cat?!" He gasped.
"Her name is Willow. I have a friend who breeds and raises them. She's the runt of the latest litter." The woman explained.
"She looks so cute." Arty cooed as she rubbed Willow's head, the little fur ball grabbing her hand and biting it, much to her amusement.
Even with Arty's appearance, she was still a fish to cats.
"Willow…" Joshua said as he hugged the kitten close, the feline purring happily as she rubbed herself into his hug. "It's nice to meet you." He sighed, slowly starting to tear up.
His shark kunoichi friend/love interest wrapped an arm around his shoulders. She could tell she needed some comfort.
"I'll leave you guys alone for now." The blonde smiled as she got up and left the room.
After she left, Joshua looked at his sharky companion.
"Interested in picking up where we left off?" He offered.
"I guess, just depends on what you mean by tha—MMMPH!" The sea wolf nodded slowly right before Joshua grabbed her around her waist and pulled her towards him, kissing her.
Despite being shocked at how forward Joshua was, Arty found herself returning the kiss
after coming back to her senses.
Meanwhile, Willow was mewling in confusion at the sight, not really getting what was going on. After a moment, the two teens separated and looked into each other's eyes.
"Not sure how to feel about you being that forward just yet… But that was a great kiss." She told him with a small smile.
"How about you take it the same way any girl would: As an act of claiming ownership." He told her plainly.
"Oh, someone's territorial~." The blue haired mutant teased, causing Joshua to blush. "I like that." She smiled, licking his cheek.
"G-Get out of here, you dorky shark!" He told her, causing Arty to chuckle at his reaction.
"Bye, then." Arty smiled as she exited through the window and out into the city.
'That girl is going to be the death of me…' Joshua thought as he sat back down on his room's couch, Willow climbing into his lap and getting comfortable.
ThermalsniperN7: Man, these two might as well hook up sooner than most would with how they act.
Dragon Emperor0: It's certainly better than the will they won't they stuff the rest of the guys were stuck in. Here both Josh and Arty know what they want and are just fine with taking it.
ThermalsniperN7: True. Anyway, this whole chapter was basically someone learning something; Arty learning about Joshua's early life before they met, Joshua learning how to make things between him and Arty work, Joshua and Arty learning things about each other… That kind of thing. Hence the title of the chapter. Oh, and we got to see Joshua's aunt and uncle, who are way better than his ex-parents.
Dragon Emperor0: And how Lavinia's already settling into the role of a surrogate mother to the turtles as well as Arty's mom. That's good to see. Splinter can't be expected to be doing everything after all. Poor man's been through enough already.
ThermalsniperN7: Ain't that the truth. Arty also got jumped by the Foot Clan… Not fun, considering how that went. Also, before anyone asks: Harley was designed with Lovecraftian things in mind from the get-go, so making a mutant adaptation of that was relatively simple.
Dragon Emperor0: And in regards to the Foot Clan fight, we wanted to avoid the Conservation of Ninjutsu trope, so as you can see—Arty at her current level, can't really beat a squad of those fuckers.
ThermalsniperN7: The world is a brutal yet effective teacher like that. Anyway, see you guys next time.
Addendum from ThermalsniperN7: Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was done back in February, I think, but FF wouldn't let me post for some reason.