Legacy Mutation (Book Eight)

Chapter 6: Home Time

School ends, and the five Hamatos regroup together at Dakota and Asher's lockers.

"Well, the work is gonna start next," Dean comments.

"Can you say 'ugh'?" Mitch groans.

"Ugh..." everyone agrees.

"DEAN! GUYS!"

They spin to see Venus racing down the hall towards them, her hair bouncing on her shoulders. Dean lights up at the sight of his little sister, kneeling down and opening his arms to her.

"I had the best day ever!" she squeals, practically flying into his arms and hugging his neck tightly.

"I'm glad, Vennie," Dean says, pulling away from the hug and standing up.

She hugs his waist, still smiling. "Keith and Blake and I teamed up during dodgeball and won! It was awesome!"

"Like a turtle do," Copeland whispers, giving the younger girl a fist bump.

She grins. "Did you guys make friends?"

"Yes! There's this girl named Nixie, and she's super cool! We-" Mitch starts to ramble.

"Okay, how about we talk later? Okay Mitch?" Asher suggests. "Just in case the 'rents are getting worried that we aren't out there yet...plus the patches are going to run out soon."

"Oh! Okay!"

The group heads out, going on the walk back to the sewers. Venus holds Dean's hand, making sure to take the time to wave goodbye to Blake and Keith as she sees them. Dean catches sight of Elisabeth getting into her mom and dad's car, and he waves to her. She waves back shyly, her cheeks becoming pink again.

They all make sure to wave to their friends before they leave the busy campus. They get down the streets and into an alleyway swiftly, flipping open a manhole and hopping down into the sewers just as their patches stop working.

Immediately, they relax. Mitch and Dakota only laugh and fist bump each other. Asher stretches, wiggling his six fingers and looking at his feet.

"It's good to be me again." He grins contentedly, running a hand over his spiky brown hair as he ties on his mask.

Copeland ties her hair up into a dark ponytail as she ties on her pink mask. "You can say that again."

Dean chuckles and flaps his wings. A small part of him wants to morph into a wolf and race down the halls, but he can't. Despite all his efforts, he's never been able to change forms like his mom can.

He focuses, imagining himself as a wolf, but nothing happens. He frowns, his shoulders sagging. A small, three-fingered hand on his arm makes him drop the sad look.

"Dean? Can you braid my mask?" Venus asks sweetly.

He smiles and nods, braiding the long tails together easily. She grins and bounces down the tunnel, talking about her classmates and school. The echoing drips of the sewer tunnels don't bother them at all.

They get back to the lair, hollering out a chorus of, "WE'RE HOME!"

Destiny walks out of the kitchen, smiling brightly.

"Hey! How was your day?" she asks.

"Amazing! I made a new friend, and Dean has a new friend too! She's really pretty!" Venus squeals as she hugs her mom.

Destiny laughs, looking to her teenaged son. "A girl? I'm surprised, Dean. I thought you'd wait a couple of days before snatching up the ladies."

He blushes, and his cousins laugh and elbow him.

"Where's mom?" Copeland asks.

"Every woman in this place except me is out working," Destiny says. "Your dads are here though." She turns around, swishing her tail around her legs once. "HEY! TURTLES OF THE HOUSEHOLD!"

The turtles all come out from various spots in the lair instantly. They grin at the sight of their kids, relaxing a little.

"Copey! How was school?" Raphael asks, rushing up to her. "Did you have to pound any boys?"

"Actually, she's got a new friend who's a boy," Mitch says, nudging her.

She shoots him a glare, having not wanted her protective father to know about that yet. Raph's face becomes incredibly angry, his eyes blazing.

"Oh, I'm gonna-"

"Daddy, he's super shy and didn't try anything. Don't worry," she says immediately, pulling out the "daddy" card he always falls for.

He huffs, ruffling her hair lovingly as he completely softens. "Okay, if you say so."

"Dad! We both found friends as nerdy as us!" Asher says proudly.

"Kelly and Lukas, nerd buddies!" Dakota grins.

Donatello smiles and ruffles their hair. "What did I tell you? Just be yourselves!"

"You were right," the twins say.

"Of course I was. I'm Donatello."

They laugh.

"What was this about a girl?" Leonardo asks, raising an eye-ridge as he looks at his son.

Dean chuckles. "I helped her with her books. Her name's Elisabeth and she's pretty cool." He grins. "She likes Space Heroes too!"

"Leo, our boy has found a keeper!" Destiny cheers, looking to her husband with an excited smile.

"That's my boy! High-three!" Leo holds up his hand.

Dean laughs, smacking his dad's hand easily. Venus runs over and raises her hand.

"I wanna high-three!" she exclaims.

They all kneel down to her height, smacking their hands together again. Leo scoops his little girl into his arms, kissing her cheek as she giggles. Destiny moves over to Dean, smiling lightly.

"Any luck with morphing?" she asks softly. "Did you try on the way home again?"

He sighs and shakes his head. "None. Maybe...maybe I'm just not as special as you, mom."

She hugs him, pursing her lips. "Now, don't you ever say that. You're incredibly special, morphing or none." He doesn't respond, and she releases him from the hug, cupping his face in her hands. "Dean?"

"Yeah mom?"

He watches her green eyes, identical to his save for the colour. He admires both his parents, and Destiny has a lot of traits he wants to uphold. He wants the confidence that she does to show her battle scars, her kindness that can easily become fierce protectiveness.

His eyes travel to her shoulder, where he can see her third set of leopard claw scars. That was when she tried to save him despite her exhaustion. Venus had only been a week or two old...

In many ways, his mom is his hero.

"I'm telling the truth. Okay?" she whispers, giving him a fanged smile.

He smiles and nods. "Okay."

She kisses his cheek, turning and walking away. The other parents head off to do their own thing, leaving the kids to their own devices.

"Dean? Wanna spar?" Copeland asks.

"Yeah. Sure." He nods. Anything that will take his mind off his abilities is good.

They head to the dojo. Asher and Mitch settle down to play video games while Dakota and Venus watch. There's school again tomorrow, so the kids know to enjoy the rest of the evening.