"HIYAH!"

Mitch lands on the other side of the Dragon Gate, high-threeing his turtle cousins. Dean smirks and sheathes his ninjaken while Dakota retrieves her knives. Venus does a few flips as she balances on the wires.

"That was fun!" she exclaims, her hamadashi blade already sheathed in her belt.

Asher spins his hanbō, smirking. "Indeed."

"Not bad, Dean," Copeland says. "Our outing wasn't completely boring."

Before he can reply, Dean's t-phone buzzes. He picks it up, reading the new text message.

K: Dean? Did you forget about our little outing? 😭

He cusses and types a quick reply.

D: Sorry Kate. I'll be there soon.

"What's up?" Dakota asks.

"Katie and I are going to a late night movie. I'm late! I'll catch you guys later," he explains hurriedly.

They watch as he flies off, almost tripping over himself trying to get to the theatre. Mitch lets out a long sigh.

"You know, I'm not really sure I like Katie," he admits.

"Why is that?" Copeland asks.

"She's pretty and athletic and all, but...I don't know. Something is tipping me off about her."

"Like...what?" Asher asks.

"She just always seems to be really into him and his looks," Mitch explains. "They were walking in the hallway together, and she complimented him on his muscles. Another day, it was his eyes. Yet another time, it was his teeth-"

"You remember all this?" Venus whispers. "Woah."

"I'm just saying, he needs to be careful. Dean's a good guy, and he needs a girl who can see past his looks."

"Preach it, MJ!" Dakota grins and high-fives him.

Venus plays with her hair absentmindedly. "What're we gonna do now?"

"Go home and eat pizza with a video gaming spree with Blake?" Copeland suggests.

"YES!" they all shout.

With laughs and whoops, they head home.

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Dean slows down, hardly out of breath as he drops down near the theatre. He pulls a spare patch out of his pocket and puts it on. Transformed, he fixes his hair, moving towards the theatre. Katie waits outside, her hair seeming to shimmer in the streetlight beams.

"Kate!" he calls.

She looks up and grins widely. "Dean! Oh my gosh, I thought you had forgotten!"

He laughs. "Nah."

She hugs him, and he returns it. She pulls away, taking his hand and tugging him into the theatre.

"So, I got the tickets already. There's this really cool movie I wanted to see, 'Crowning Cadence'. It's going to be so-"

She's cut off as they run into someone, knocking the person over with an audible, "Oof!"

Dean regains his balance easily, steadying his date before looking to the person they knocked down. His eyes widen at the sight of the familiar girl.

"Elisabeth?"

His friend stands up, brushing a loose strand of her brown hair behind her ear. She's wearing her long ponytail, as per usual.

"Oh...hey Dean." She glances to the other girl. "Katie."

Katie purses her lips, looking unimpressed by the new arrival.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asks, flashing his winning grin.

Elisabeth smirks. "Seeing a movie, duh."

He blushes a tiny bit. "Oh, well yeah. I meant...um...what movie?"

She jerks her thumb to a rather large poster on the wall. "Space Heroes V rerun."

"Seriously? That's on right now?" He grins.

"Yeah! If-"

"Okay, you two are friends!" Katie butts in, faking a smile. "Awesome. Now, if you don't mind, Dean and I have a date to enjoy. Run along, nerd."

Elisabeth looks down, turning and scurrying away the way a scolded animal would. Dean frowns, looking to Katie.

"That wasn't very nice."

"I meant nerd as a compliment. Besides, Space Heroes is so lame. CC is where it's at." She grins and bats her eyelashes. "Come on, don't want to be late!"

"Kate, I like Space Heroes. Looks like I'm a nerd too," he comments.

She stops, composing herself. "Oh...um...well, I guess you being a nerd is fine. Just, be sure to keep up with the quarterback vibe. It'll be good for next year when we're seniors to not let the guys know that you like weird cartoons like Space Warriors."

"Space Heroes."

She smiles a little pokes his nose. "Right, heroes. Point is, little Elisabeth can just enjoy her movie alone. We've got our movie to watch."

Dean sighs, but he still nods. "What's Crowning Cadence about anyways?"

Katie takes his hand as they walk into the theatre together. "It's about a group of singers, trying to get their way to the top. I've been excited about it for weeks, maybe even months!"

Dean purses his lips, not liking that their date had to be seeing a chick flick. Even so, he decides to give it a chance. The lights dim. Katie lifts his arm and puts it around his shoulders as they watch, but he looks back at the exit, wanting to go and see a movie with his best friend instead.

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"Hey...psst! Asher?"

The tall turtle boy yawns and stretches a little. He blinks wearily, seeing Venus standing at the foot of his and Dakota's shared bed. She clutches a tattered Captain Ryan doll to her plastron, trembling. In the sleeping bags on the floor, Mitch snorts and mumbles something about cheese and jellybeans.

"Ve? You okay?"

"I had a nightmare, and Dean isn't back yet, and I didn't want to wake Auntie April or Uncle Casey..." she whispers, her lips trembling.

He smiles, scooting over and patting the space between him and his fraternal twin.

"There's room for more."

She grins gratefully and crawls up onto the bed, snuggling close to Asher and playing with the doll silently. He pats her hair soothingly.

"What was the nightmare about?" he murmurs.

"Keith running away from me when he found out who I am..." she admits. "It's always someone telling me I'm ugly..."

Asher shakes his head. "Good thing those are all lies, hm?"

"Daddy and mommy always tell me that I'm beautiful."

"They're right."

She nods and cuddles ever closer. "I love you, Ashy."

He pecks her forehead gently. "Love you too, Venus."

She drifts off, snoring lightly. Dakota opens her brown eye, smiling at her brother and youngest cousin.

"Nice job, little brother," she teases.

He smiles. "I'm still taller than you."

She sighs. "That is a theory that has been proven correct as the years have passed."

"Hey, if you guys could shut up, I'm trying to sleep," Copeland whisper-yells.

"Desserts..." Mitch snorts through his slumber.

They chuckle silently, drifting back to sleep.

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When Dean finally gets into the house, it's quiet and serene. He enters the bedroom, seeing Venus cuddled between Asher and Dakota. The wolf-raven smiles lightly, moving over to the bed. He leans over and kisses Venus' forehead lightly, then does the same for Dakota. He glances at Copeland from her spot on the floor, kneeling down and also giving her a soft peck on the forehead as she sleeps.

He yawns, muffling the sound with his hand. He smiles weakly at his family as he settles down to sleep at last.