Lunch:
the Hamato kids sat at an empty table.

They were soon joined by Quill.

"Hey guys!" the brown skinned Hedgehog sat beside Mikey. "What do you think of school so far?"

"Its awesome!" said Mikey. "Well, ya know, except for learning part. That parts kinda boring"

"Tell me about it!" said Teri as she sat down. "And Mrs Saccad is grumpy. I wish we could just, like, skip homeroom."

Raph clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes.

"Just ignore her" advised Donnie. "Some humans just can't handle people being different. Its sad really"

"I agree" said Leo. "The best course of action is to keep our heads down and focus on the teachers who do respect us"

"huh?" said Angel "what are you guys talking about? Sure, Mrs Saccad seemed a little grumpy but-"

Raph cut her off. "That ****ing ***** kept us behind just so she could tell us that she thought we were all dumb animals, and crimes of nature and she thought we belong in a ****ing zoo!"

"Raph! Language!" said Leo sharply.

"She seriously said that?" asked Angel in shock. She narrowed her eyes "how dare she!? Wait till I get my hands on her! I'll-"

"Thats enough, Angel! Its not that big a deal. We can handle it." Leo told his sister as she viciously tore into her sandwich. It looked like she was pretending it was Mrs Saccad's head.

Mikey looked around, trying to find something to change the subject. He saw Zittaru heading towards an empty table and waved her over "hey! Zittaru, right? Do ya wanna sit with us?"

The purple skinned teen paused and looked back at him. She slowly made her way over the their table and sat down wordlessly.

"So, uh, where ya from?" asked Mikey and winced. He had forgotten she was a Tiff and probably wouldn't want to talk about her past.

Zittaru glared at him before returning her attention to her lunch.

"Hey guys" Cassandra's confident Australian voice interrupted the tense silence as she sat at their table. "So this is the designated 'Mutant table' huh?"

Leo shrugged "I guess so"

"good." she turned around and gestured to Avita, who was standing in the middle of the room, unsure of where to go. "Hey Fish-girl! Over here!" she yelled, gesturing for the shy Aquatian to join them.

"Hello classmates" greeted the Amphibius Mutant as she sat down next to Cassandra.

"Hey dudette! What do ya think of New York so far?" asked Mikey.

"It is...strange. Its very...busy. And loud. And people seem to get angered very easily up on the surface. Not to mention the water surrounding this 'island' is disgusting! I tried to swim in it when we first moved here." she shuddered "that was a mistake!"

Donnie nodded sympathetically "I can imagine. I..." he trailed off as Jubilee approached their table, swinging quickly on her crutches as the girl who was carrying her lunch tray for her struggled to keep up.

"Hey guys," she looked up in confusion when no one responded. "What?" she asked as the 9 Mutants stared (or in Zittaru's case, glared) at her.

"Um, I think I'll let you handle this one Jubes," said her friend as she placed Jubilee's tray on the table and slowly backed away as Zittaru scowled at her. "Yell if you need anything!" she called over her shoulder as she took off towards one of the human filled tables. Jubilee sighed as her friend deserted her and turned back to the mutants with an expression that clearly said 'whats up?'

"I think you need to clean your glasses, Human" said Zittaru snarkily, as if it was the worst word she could think of. "This is the Mutants table."

"Well, technically, it's the Freshman Mutants table." said Donnie, pointing to the three other tables full of the Junior, Sophomore and Senior Mutants, behind them

"Whatever" Zittaru rolled her eyes "the point is, you exclude us,-" she pointed to Lizzie, who had just been rebuffed from what was already known as the 'nerd table' and was now headed towards their table. "-We exclude you."

"Um, excuse me?" said Jubilee "look, I don't care if your skin is green, brown, smooth or scaly. I don't care if you have feathers or fur. You're people, and they're people" she gestured to some humans behind her. "And right now I want to sit with you guys, 'k?"

Raph shrugged "whateva"

"sure!" Mikey grinned.

"you're welcome to sit here if you want to" said Leo.

Zittaru turned away.

"Great!" said Jubilee, choosing to ignore the grumpy Artificial as she manuvered her crutches around the table.

Zittaru narrowed her eyes and deliberately moved her tail in front of Jubilee's crutches.

"Sugar Honey Iced Tea!" Jubilee gasped as she tripped over Zittaru's tail and went crashing to the ground.

"Oh my gosh! Are you all right!" asked Donnie as he helped her up.

Jubilee nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little startled, thats all"

"what does sugar honey iced tea mean?" asked Mikey as Jubilee sat down, breathing heavily.

"I'm not allowed to swear, since I've got, like, 5 younger siblings and stuff, so, yeah..."

Mikey scratched his head. "I still don't get it"

Jubilee rolled her eyes and said slowly:

"Sugar
Honey
Iced
Tea"

"oh..." said Mikey.

Raph snorted "seriously? Yer not allowed ta swear so ya made yer own words?"

"Don't be rude Raph." Leo admonished "besides we're not really allowed to swear either. And we say 'Shell'. how is that different?"

Raph rolled his eyes "whateva, Fearless"

"guys," said Donnie in exasperation "its not really that-" he stopped as he caught sight of the 3 unclassified Mutants from their class. "Hey!" he waved them over. "Do you want to sit with us?"

Twiggy shrugged "sure" while his brothers and sister stared at him in surprise. Don was not known for being very socially outgoing, especially on the first day in a strange place. He would usually observe quietly for a few weeks before attempting to interact with his peers. And even then, for him to be interested in anyone who was not a nerd or a genius was practically unheard of. Raph and Leo shared a look. Maybe their brother was finally starting to get more interested in normal teenaged boy things, like girls, instead of creating new chemicals and blowing up his lab all the time.

the three Elven girls sat down together, their matching crystal necklaces jingling quietly.

"Hi" said Twiggy. Twitch waved energetically and Twilly nodded respectfully.

"So, I think we should go around the table and each say a few sentences about how you got mutated"

everyone stared at Donatello in shock.

"What?" he shrugged. "We're gonna be with each for the next 4 years, might as well get to know each other. Here, I'll go first. My brothers and I were mutated when we were infants. Some Mutagen got on us, and our father, who's a Mutant rat. Ok, next"

Teri smiled brightly, revealing sharp fangs "I was born this way. Cause, I'm, like, a Felan and stuff."

"I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this waaay" sang Jubilee, moving to the rhythm of the song and doing random Jazz hands, not seeming to care that she was getting a few stares.

"Teri's eyes lit up. "Oooooh! Lady Gaga!" she elbowed Cassandra in the stomach "you're next Sandra!" said the bubbly girl.

"I was born in Australia. My mom and I were normal when some Mutagen fell from the sky, onto us. We lived there for 12 years before the government found us and deported us here. Most European and Asian countries don't like having Mutants either. They just ship us off to America. I've been here a couple years now and if ya ask me, this is way better than the Outback. At least we have the freedom to walk around in public here." she gestured for Avita to go.

"My parents are Aquatian Ambassadors. We moved here six months ago"

Jubilee, who sat next to the shy girl, shrugged. "I'm a human, obviously, but I'm also what most people call 'weird'. I tend to get along better with people who are 'different'. Jackie was supposed to be watching my back since I'm a cripple at the moment,"she gestured to her crutches "but Batgirls glare of death kinda scared here off.."

Lizzie was next. "I used to be a human but I was Mutated when I was three. My parents didn't want to raise a Mutant kid so they put me up for adoption. My 'dad' Caspian Mortu adopted me. he also adopted LH."

"LH?" asked Don.

"yeah, 'Leroy-Henry' he hates his name so I just call him LH. Or Leatherhead."

"Leatherhead?!" said Mikey in surprise.

Lizzie shrugged. "Yeah, cause he's, like, a giant Mutant Alligator. So his heads all leathery and stuff-"

Mikey nodded"that makes perfect sense."

"-anyway, He's 20 and a total genius. He's been breezing through College" she rolled her eyes. "He's also my unofficial bodyguard. Don't diss me, or he'll wreck you. He's kinda got some anger issues..."

"LH the Gator went chomp, chomp, chomp, LH the Gator went chomp, chomp, chomp, passing the time by ending 'people who insult his little sister's liiiives. Down in the bottom of the swamp, swamp, swamp!"

"Dude! Awesome! I love the Arrogant Worms!" cheered Mikey, high-fiving Jubilee as she finished singing.

"I know right! They're sooo funny! Your turn Bat girl" she said to Zittaru.

Zittaru was not very forthcoming in her explanation. "I grew up in a Lab and I recently escaped. Thats all you need to know. Also, the fact that my wings are batlike, does not make me a bat! So shut up! Human"

Jubilee rolled her eyes. "Whatever grumpy-tail"

Quill looked up from his I-Phone as Zittaru elbowed him "um, I was a pet hedgehog until I got Mutated when I was 5. The young couple who owned me had no kids of their own and they already treated like a part of their family. So they kept me and raised me as their kid. By the way, feel free to ignore me if I start blurting out random facts. I've been told that I'm a total geek and that some people find it annoying."

Angel was sitting next to him. "Um, so, I'm not a Mutant, I'm just here cause my brothers are freaks." she smirked.

"Shut up!" said Raph half heartedly "Watch that attitude punk. Me 'n Casey wont always be there to bail you out when that mouth of yours gets you inta trouble"

"whatever" Angel rolled her eyes "like you're one to talk" she muttered.

"so...what's your story?" Don asked the Triplets, trying to act nonchalant.

The three girls conferred for a minute before turning back to face their classmates.

Twiggy cleared her throat. "Your history tells of 3 Ancient Species, but in reality, there were 4. The E'Lintians themselves were a different subspecies of Mutant. For they were Enhanced from years of using the Quagmire and were unlike their fellow men in many ways. Your history tells of a conceited, oppressive race, and that is true, but not all the E'Lintians agreed with the high Councils methods. A young female E'Lintian, no more than 16 years old by the long lived races standards, spoke out against treatment of non-E'lintians, human and Mutant alike. Because of this, she was exiled and sent into the world of the 'inferior' men. So she fled, taking as many of the MagicCrystals, called Quagmire, as she could carry-"

"what? She got exiled for talking about treating other people better? Isn't that a little harsh?" asked Mikey.

"No" Twiggy shook her head. "Actually, she got off easy. Most people who dared to question the High Council were put to death."

"So how'd she wriggle out of a death sentence?" asked Zittaru, eyebrows raised.

"Her father was the head of the high council, so actually, she was considered royalty. Her father could not ignore her crime, but he couldn't bear to kill his only daughter. So he exiled her instead. At that time, it meant certain death for an E'Lintian to be among other humans, alone and defenceless, without at least one Quagmire to defend and hide themselves with. They were so hated, and so recognizable that they would be quickly killed."

"So why wasn't she?" asked Donnie.

"her father chose to warn her so that she had a short time to prepare, before she was arrested. he hoped that she would be resourceful enough to grab some Quagmire, which she was. They banished her from their city and she wandered the outside world for years. One day, she returned to the great city that had abandoned her, but there was nothing left of her former home, except a pile of rubble. the other humans had had enough of her peoples cruelty, and the Once-great civilization was no more. So she returned to her wandering, for thousands of years, she crossed the globe-"

"did you just say Thousands of years?!" exclaimed Donnie in surprise.

Twilly nodded "yes, the E'Lintians were already a very long lived race, and they used the Quagmire to prolong their lifespan even more. The Quagmire-"

"Anyway," said Twiggy, elbowing her sister to be quiet. "She travelled the world, making money by healing people and performing small magic tricks with her Quagmire. She watched the human race slowly but surely become more advanced. Over two hundred years ago she came to North America, because she felt the more primitive Natives of the land would be more accepting of her healing and tricks than the more advanced societies had become."

"What do you mean?" asked Donnie.

Twiggy shrugged "there were several times she was almost burned at stake because they thought she was a witch."

"Oh my!" gasped Avita

Twiggy shrugged again. "She stayed with those people for years. When settlers came from far off countries, and made towns and cities in the new world, she found that there was one thing she had not experienced in her long life. Love-"

"-All you need is love, love, loooove. Love is all you need!" sang Jubilee with gusto.

Lizzie glared at her. "Would you stop it? We're on the verge of what is possibly one of the most important scientific discoveries of the 21st Century, and you wont stop singing your stupid songs!"

Jubilee looked offended. "Hey! Don't diss The Beatles. They're awesome! And excuuuuse me, if I love singing random songs. Theres a reason I don't get along very well with other humans ya know. I have weird tastes in music. And everything..." she trailed off, looking thoughtful.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Whatever Rapunzel. Please continue Twiggy."

Twiggy cleared her throat. "She fell in love with a young man and eventually married him. She told him of her origins but he loved her so much she did not care. She bore him a daughter, whom she named Rhinnia, which in her language meant Hope. Her Half human daughter grew up tall and pale like her mothers people, and her mother taught her all she knew. When her daughter was grown, the old E'Lintian finally passed away, and Meerkann Sirtwitt, the last full-blooded E'Lintian, left the earth. Her daughter fell in love as well, and she soon married and gave birth to triplets, which she named Twilliiangia, Twigguullann and Twittchhialel, although we prefer to be called Twilly, Twiggy and Twitch. Its easier."

"No duh!" said Jubilee.

"Wait...what?" asked Mikey perplexed, as he scratched his head in confusion.

Twilly elaborated "Basically, Rhinnia is our mother and for some reason when our E'Lintian DNA and human DNA mixed the different genes produced this. Shorter than humans and much shorter than our E'Lintian ancestors, pointed E'Lintian ears and some characteristics all our own, we are one quarter E'Lintian and three quarters human. Each of us has a sense that never developed properly but we also have special abilities, and as you can see, we do not quite look like either humans or E'Lintians."

the triplets classmates stared at them in shock.

Jubilee broke the silence. "Well, I don't know what an E'Lintian looks like, since all but one died thousands of years ago, but I agree you don't look human."

Donatello was almost vibrating with scientific excitement. "I knew there was something unusual about you guys. You're Human/E'Lintian hybrids." he paused. "Wait, does that mean you know what the E'Lintian power source was, and how to use it?"

Twiggy shrugged. "Sure, its simple, in fact we have some fragments of it right here." she held up the small crystal that dangled on the end of the cord around her neck. Her sisters, following her lead, held theirs up as well.

Donatello stared in shock. "You mean the greatest power source ever recorded is a bunch of shiny stones?"

"The Quagmire are much more than mere crystals, Donatello. They are incredibly powerful. Just one large one could run this entire city for a number of years."

Donatello looked unconvinced, but let the subject drop.

"Sooo, what do we have after lunch?" asked Mikey.

"Gym." groaned Lizzie.

"Yippee." said Cassie sarcastically

the Hamato siblings stayed silent, but shared a knowing look.

Gym? Ha. Gym was easy...


I am sooooo sorry!

my computer screen broke and i just got it back!

also my Grandfather died (of Cancer, because EVERYONE seems to die of cancer these days...) a couple weeks ago... :(

anyway, i have the next chapter written and it should be up in a day or so...

what did you think of the E'Lintian history lesson? the overall story is from various episodes of TMNT but i did fill in gaps and embellish it some...

action is coming soon! (just not yet...)

note: Lizzie called Jubilee RAPUNZEL cause she likes to randomly sing alot! like Rapunzel! get it? no? *awkward silence*

also, I read the Suger, Honey, Iced, Tea thing in another fanfic and thought it was hilarious so I had to use it!

Gtg, toodles!