Blake Jones ^

As the years passed, each of the Hamato children grew more skilled in their ninjutsu practices as well as getting closer with their friends and peers. Even so, they never told their best friends about their true selves.

Dean never told Elisabeth about his wings or wolf mutation. He still couldn't morph, much to his disliking. Asher, Venus, and Copeland kept their turtle selves under wraps. Dakota kept her eyepatch on, never revealing her glowing robotic eye. Mitch...he just tried to keep his family's secret as best he could.

Grade nine finished with the teens acing their exams and Venus moving on to grade two with a head full of new knowledge. All the Hamatos felt quite accomplished with having completed an official year of school, and their entire family celebrated with a rooftop night patrol as a group.

Grade ten came, and with it came new experiences.

Dean spent a lot of time on the football field, keeping his quarterback position easily. He was growing more popular every day, ending up chatting with new friends and acquaintances; players and cheerleaders and spectators alike. He saw a lot more of Katie too, finding her to be rather sweet yet playful and spunky. He finds himself really liking the attractive brunette, wondering whether she'd ever take an interest in him. Still, he couldn't help but notice that she seemed to let the popularity of being a cheerleader get to her head, making her less like the girl he knew in grade nine and ten. Still, he doesn't really mind. After all, she's really pretty, and she is nice most of the time.

Asher and Dakota won numerous academic awards, bringing in cash prizes for their family and saving up their own college funds should they ever want to do that in the future. The twins never got super involved in school teams, but did enjoy spending extra time in the science rooms and joining contests, like robot fighting and such.

Copeland didn't think much of school activities, but she did spend a lot of her night patrols kicking criminal butt with her dad and her Uncle Casey. At school, she joined one of the smaller bands that a bunch of kids started up, playing her guitar happily. She also performed in a few talent shows, earning the reputation of the wannabe rockstar, proudly following in her mother's footsteps.

Mitch was credited with coming up with the most epic prank for April Fool's day, which he only pulled off with Nixie's help. The two were sort of like the Weasley Twins of Roosevelt, constantly making people laugh with their antics and wise-cracking attitudes. Mitch was always better at making people smile, even doing a few stand up comedy routines at talent shows and performing in video skits every now and then. He and Nixie also made skateboarding montage videos for fun.

Venus, Blake, and Keith spent many lazy days playing tag or just goofing off, not having lots of homework or any exams to worry about. Their future was stretched out before them like an endless road of opportunity, and neither kid wants to spend their childhood working or worrying. Instead, they played games and let their imaginations run wild and free.

Now, grade eleven has begun, and the Hamato clan is far from being finished with their many adventures.

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Dean and Elisabeth sit side-by-side in the school courtyard, watching the newest Space Heroes episode on her tablet.

"Aww come on..." Dean groans, clapping his hands over his face. "Serex are so weak..."

"Not in large numbers. That's why Ryan's in danger! If the Serex get to the ship-" Elisabeth starts, her eyes wide with excitement.

"DEAN! DEAN!"

They both look up to see Katie waving at them. She dashes over, her dark eyelashes framing her equally dark eyes as she flicks her half blonde braid over her shoulder. Dean feels his heart rate speed up just from looking at her, unable to stray his thoughts from her beauty.

"Hey Katie," he greets, trying to sound relaxed.

"Sorry to interrupt your nerd talk, but I wanted to ask you something," she apologizes.

She seats herself in between Dean and Elisabeth, bumping the girl with her hip and shoving her away. Elisabeth frowns, but scoots over and gives the cheerleader space.

Dean raises an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"We should go out on Friday. See a movie or something like that." She smiles and gently tugs her braid, her lips shining with a layer of lip gloss.

Dean's eyes widen and his mouth opens slightly, amazed. Did he really just get asked out by the girl he likes? Does that really happen to people?

"Um...yeah, I mean, I'll see if I'm free," he says nervously, running a hand through his black hair. "Consider it a yes, though. Alright?"

Elisabeth's face falls and she pretends to be immersed in her tablet. Katie smiles at Dean and places her hands on her lap.

"Cool! I'll text you, Deanie-weenie!" she chirps, getting up. She glances at Elisabeth, giving her a smug smile before taking off towards the school.

Dean's dopey smile remains on his face as he watches Katie leave.

"Can you believe it, Liz? She asked me out! Finally!" he says, stupidly happy about the situation.

"Yup. She's a gem," Elisabeth responds, her voice deadpan.

He looks to his friend, noticing her hunched posture and pursed lips as her eyes remain focused on her tablet.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks, his sapphire blue eyes switching to concern in a moment.

Her eyes flicker to his for a moment, a dull ache resonating in her chest. She looks away, pretending to still be paying attention to the show on her device.

"I'm fine. Crankshaw just got hurt and I'm worried for his safety," she replies, her tone still low.

"Seriously?" He scoots closer to her, curious about his favourite retro cartoon.

She sighs. "Yup. Ryan isn't even around to help him because he's with that Starista girl."

Dean frowns and grimaces. "Ugh, I hate her! She was so cool back in season five, now she just seems..."

"Shallow?"

"That's it. Shallow."

Elisabeth nods, trying to keep a saddened look from her face. "Yup. She's really two-faced."

Dean smiles and continues watching the episode, unaware of his friend's distress. She wraps her arms around herself, her body stiff as she watches him more than the show.

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Copeland and Tiki sit together in one of the grade lounges, Copeland strumming a guitar lazily as she tries different chords. Tiki plays a game on his phone, glancing over at his friend every now and then.

"How are you doing that?" he asks suddenly.

"What?" She stops playing.

"You were only using three of your fingers to play...that's interesting," he observes.

She tenses a little, blowing a stray piece of black hair from her eyes. "Oh...yeah."

"Still, I like that song. What's it going to be about?" He smiles.

She bites her lip, tapping one finger on the guitar. "Secrets...and how sometimes, they're really hard to keep."

"I like that."

She nods. "Me too."

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"Hey Dakota, you know what I've always wanted to ask you?" Lukas wonders out loud.

Asher and the mentioned girl look up at him. Kelly adjusts her glasses, glancing up from her book.

"What?" Dakota asks.

"Why do you have that eyepatch?"

She gulps. Her brother looks to her warily, concerned.

"Um...I told you," Dakota starts. "It's blind, and it kind of scares people."

"It can't be that bad," Kelly interjects. "Why don't you take it off?"

"Really, I'm fine with keeping it covered." Dakota flicks a loose piece of white hair over her shoulder.

There's a moment of silence before Lukas breaks it again.

"Hey Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you sometimes cuss by saying 'shell'?"

The disguised turtle boy casts a worried glance to his sister before scribbling more notes down in his notebook.

"Um...my parents always said it. I guess it was sort of like saying 'fudge' instead of...the other thing."

The boy shakes his head, ruffling his hair. He pops in an earbud and grins.

"Cool, man."

The mutants look at each other, letting out a sigh of relief.

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"Hey Mitch!"

The blonde skater boy looks up, grinning at his spunky friend.

"Sup Nixie?"

"I'm feeling rather bored. Wanna hit up the pizza place at lunch?"

He grins. "Yes!"

She laughs, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leaning against him. She glances down at his arm, a curious look overcoming her face.

"Hey...um, why do all of your cousins and most of your aunts and uncles have the same patches?"

"What do you mean?" he asks, trying not to look nervous. "Patches?"

"You, Dakota, your mom, and your Aunt Taylor are the only ones in your family who don't wear those patches. I've seen them on Dean's lower back or Copeland's shoulder blade." She narrows her eyes a little. "Are they...addicted to something?"

He shakes his head. "Nope...um, they're actually medication. They've all got this...confusing thing where they need extra minerals to make their bodies function properly or something like that. I guess it's pretty much genetic for most of us."

She nods in agreement. "I guess so. I've never seen them without those things, so I was wondering if they were something special." She laughs. "I was actually worried they were trying to stop smoking or something."

Mitch laughs, punching her arm lightly. "You never fail to make me laugh, Nix."

"That's what I'm here for, MJ. Come on, pizza's waiting!"

The hop on their skateboards and skate away, but Mitch can only hope and pray that she doesn't ask about it anymore.

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"Venus, what's that?" Keith asks, swinging his legs a little as they sit on the play structure.

The young girl raises an eyebrow. "What's what?"

"That weird sticker on your shoulder."

She glances at her shoulder, noticing that her t-shirt sleeve had ridden up and revealed a little bit of the patch to viewing. She gulps, her body trembling. She hates lying, plus she has no idea what to say it is.

Blake looks to his disguised friend, noticing her distress. He immediately pipes up, stealing the attention from her.

"It's medicinal. She wears it 'cause she needs extra help to stay strong," he says, grinning. "Right Ve?"

She nods and grins. "Yeah!"

Keith laughs. "That makes sense. My mom is always talking about medicine teas or something like that." He shakes his head. "She's a real health nut sometimes."

"Moms can be so weird," Blake agrees.

He touches Venus' hand gently, giving her a look that she understands immediately.

It's alright. I'm here for you, Venus.