Hello all! Sorry about the time of day this is coming out. My excuse is that I've kind of been... well, not as motivated to write this week, particularly early this week. And that has a good explanation, too. I've been in mourning. My great-aunt, the matriarch of my family, died early last Saturday, which I did not find out until after I had posted last week's chapter. She was amazing, quite simply, and was more like a great-gramma than an aunt. I'm going to warn you now - in a few chapters, I'm probably going to have characters who are hookers in honor of my great-aunt. And please - not the kind of hookers you're automatically thinking of! My great-aunt was an amazing hooker, and the rugs she hooked are works of art. So I'm thinking of giving Bayville High a hooker's club, for the rug-hooking kind.

All right, I want to extend my thanks to my three reviewers - your reviews were great, and warmed my heart.

Disclaimer: Hitomi's mine, but that's it.

Chapter 9, On the Horizon


Mikey yawned before he glanced at the clock. Okay, so it's nine… that explains why Leo's up and trying to walk around. Note to self: there's a reason I like having my own room. "Bro, maybe you should take it easy," Mikey told his brother as he sat up, hiding a yawn behind one of his hands. He noticed Donnie sitting on a bed across from where he had been the previous night.

Leo, of course, was collapsed on the floor, a look of pure frustration on his face as he looked up at Mikey. "There is only one way to regain our mobility, Mikey," Leo informed him as he began to struggle to get up. "I'm not going to just lay around all day."

"Yes, but you should take it a little more slowly, Leo," Donnie put in carefully as he stood up. "Trying to walk around as much as you were may not be the best thing to do our second day up," he added as he moved towards Leo. "After three months of being immobile, our bodies just aren't used to moving around like we're used to."

"Why did they do this to us?" Leo demanded softly, hitting the ground gently with his fist. "I hate feeling so… useless!"

"I wish I knew, bro," Donnie sighed as he reached Leo. He gripped the end of the nearest bed and offered a hand to his brother. "Let's see if I can help you up, okay?"

Leo sighed, and managed to grab Donnie's hand. After a moment of struggle, Leo was able to get back onto his feet, although he realized he'd have to sit down soon. "Thanks, Don," he smiled at his brother. "Let's sit down before we collapse onto the floor."

"That's exactly what I was planning on doing," Donnie had to smile back as he maneuvered himself around and onto the bed he had been gripping. Leo took a few careful steps forward and ended up gripping the end of the same bed, panting heavily.

And I thought Raph was stubborn, Mikey had to grin as Leo continued to lean on the bed. He glanced at Raph, who was still asleep. Lucky turtle… err… whatever, he mentally shrugged. Technically they weren't turtles at the moment, but thinking of his brothers as anything BUT turtles would take some time to get used to.

"This… stinks," Leo panted as he finally moved to sit on the same bed as Donnie, since it was the easiest bed to get to.

"Yeah, it does," Donnie agreed with a heavy sigh. "But if we take it easy, we can exercise at multiple points in the day to slowly regain our strength. That'll help us regain our mobility, and then we'll be able to start practicing again. Until then, Leo, just take it easy."

Like he ever does, Mikey had to hide a smile at that. Leo did not take things 'easy' after an injury. He would practice, even when he was told NOT to by their 'doctor.' (Donnie hated being called that, but as far as everyone else was concerned, he was a doctor. He was the one who was able to take care of injuries that no one else could take care of, which was as good as being a doctor in Mikey's mind as anything.)

"So what are we going to do while we're 'taking it easy,' Donnie?" Mikey asked his brainy brother with a raised eyebrow. Holy Shell, I actually have eyebrows now!

"Uh…" Donnie frowned, obviously casting around for something to say in response. Luckily for him, the door to the Infirmary opened. The three of them turned and had to smile at the sight before them. Hitomi was carrying a tray of what were obviously fresh-baked muffins.

"Hi, guys – Professor Xavier asked me to bring you guys breakfast," she smiled at them as she headed towards Leo and Donnie. "Storm makes the best muffins, and since she had plenty of time this morning, she made them fresh."

"All right! Breakfast!" Mikey yelled, causing his still sleeping brother to grumble, turn over, and glare at him. "Morning Raph!" he grinned, glad that he was a few beds away from him. Given their tract record at moving about at the moment, it would take too much energy for Raph to get over to where he was. Thank Shell for that. "Can you bring me some of those?" he asked Hitomi with a grin.

"Of course," she grinned back as Donnie and Leo took a few each before she carried it over to him. "How'd you guys sleep?"

"Not bad," Mikey answered honestly as he took three muffins, deciding not to mention that he had been woken up by Leo collapsing on the floor. "Where'd you disappear to last night?" he pouted at her before she moved to take the tray to Raph, who was sitting up, looking only half-awake. "You didn't stay for the whole party!"

"I… I'm not a party person, to tell you the truth," she answered softly as she offered the tray to Raph, who rubbed his face before taking a few muffins for himself. "And Jubilee kept glaring at me, so I decided to go to bed at that point. You guys looked like you were enjoying yourselves, anyway."

"How can you not like parties?" Mikey stared at her, stunned by this revelation. "They're fun! And exciting! And you can meet awesome people at them!"

Hitomi hesitated for a brief moment before she sighed and set the tray down. "In case you haven't realized this, I do not look completely Japanese," she told him quietly. "I have natural red highlights in my hair – most Japanese people do not. In addition, I have grey eyes. My mother was born in Japan to Japanese parents – I am, to say the least, unusual." She paused for a moment before she continued. "Any parties that we had in Japan, I was either not invited to, not welcome at, or treated as a foreigner at. The same thing happened here in the US. It is easy not to enjoy parties like that."

"Then next party we have, we'll make sure you don't feel like that!" Mikey promised her fervently. "Even if it means kicking Jubilee out!" This statement, to Mikey's delight, caused Hitomi to laugh.

"I was wondering about your hair," Donnie admitted. "It is an unusual color – I'm actually surprised that it's natural. It must have been hard growing up like that."

"Hai," Hitomi confirmed. "It was very difficult, although I would imagine it was more difficult for you than it was for me."

"Heh – ain't that the truth," Raph snorted, sounding more awake than he looked a moment ago. "It ain't easy livin' unda th' streets fer yer whole life, but I bet it wasn't a picnic for you, either."

"No, not when most of your classmates only saw your odd hair and eye color," Hitomi agreed softly.

"Why didn't you just dye your hair if it was such a problem?" Donnie had to know. Hitomi shot him a startled look.

"We weren't allowed – that is to say, we weren't supposed to alter our appearance with hair dye," Hitomi answered honestly. "My school was… unique," she added hesitantly. "Only people from… from my clan, the Shizuka na Kagami clan, are allowed to attend it."

"Wait – you're a ninja?" Leo stared at her, startled by this revelation.

"Yes," Hitomi gifted him with a shy smile. "I normally hide it, as the Shizuka na Kagami clan only exists for the tradition of training the next generation, and we don't want anyone to know that we still exist… but since you are all ninja yourselves… there is no reason to hide it from you."

"Dude – isn't the Silent Mirror clan, like, legendary?" Mikey asked, looking around eagerly.

"Yes, Mikey," Donnie grinned. "They are most famous for their ability to blend in, and remain unnoticed. That's probably why they still exist, but aren't noticed."

"Exactly," Hitomi nodded, looking at her feet.

Poor girl – she totally doesn't fit the whole 'blending in' thing, Mikey had to sympathize with her. Considering her unique appearance, she must've had it really rough at her school. However, considering the fact that he didn't want to make his new friend feel even worse about herself, he felt a distraction was in order. "What weapon do you train with?" he wanted to know, deciding that was the best way to distract everyone.

Hitomi blinked in surprise at the sudden change in topic, but luckily went with it rather than fight the change. "I train with two weapons, actually," she answered softly. "Since I… didn't have very many friends, I spent more time with training and my other hobbies than I did… socializing," she told him honestly. "My sensei chose the naginata for me, and I later started to train with the sais."

"Cool! You can train with Raph!" Mikey grinned before he suddenly realized. "Wait – what happened to our weapons?" he looked around, hoping to spot his beloved nunchakus.

Donnie sighed. "Unfortunately, I didn't see them on our way out, and I… don't think we'll ever find them again, Mikey," he told his brother sadly. Mikey felt like someone had just sucker-punched him. Raph looked ready to kill, and Leo looked upset.

"If you guys don't mind me asking… what weapon do you each specialize in?" Hitomi asked hesitantly.

"The nunchaku," Mikey answered sadly, unable to stop the pout that was forming on his face. He really loved those weapons, and it hurt to never see them again.

"I trained with double katana," Leo answered, his voice firm despite the sad expression still on his face.

"The sais are my weapon of choice," Raph growled, wishing he could put his hands on either his weapons or the guy who took them from him. "I'm gonna kill whoever took them from me!" he snarled.

"I don't think we'll ever figure that one out, Raph," Donnie sighed. "The bo is my weapon," he added for Hitomi. "At least my weapon is easy to replace…" It was clear that Donnie wished he could easily replace his brothers' missing weapons, but honestly could not think of a way to help his brothers out.

"I can't imagine what you're all going through," Hitomi told them all quietly. "I mean, there is so much that you need to get used to in order to cope – like suddenly having five fingers." Hitomi looked at her right hand. "I bet you guys don't even know what you look like," she added with a small smile as she looked up at everyone.

"Dude – you're totally right!" Mikey realized with a gasp. "And there's no mirror in the bathroom! It's a crime!"

"Why isn't there a mirror in the bathroom?" Leo couldn't help but ask, frowning slightly. "I can't think of any reason for there not to be one."

"Oh, trust me, there is a reason. Evan almost hurt himself when he came down with a really bad cold with the mirror," Hitomi explained, shaking her head. "Dr. McCoy was making sure it was just a cold. After Evan was done using the facilities, but before he left the bathroom, he… sneezed."

"And this almost hurt him… how?" Raph frowned at her.

"Evan can produce bone spikes," Hitomi answered, bemused. "When he sneezed, he produced a lot of little ones… that completely shattered the mirror, and the some of the shards of the mirror almost cut Evan. Professor Xavier decided it would be safer not to have a mirror in the medical bathroom. I'd offer to borrow a hand mirror from someone, but I'm pretty sure that all of the hand mirrors in the Institute are pink."

"Eww," Mikey scowled. "No thanks. We manly men don't use pink hand mirrors."

"Comin' from you, Mikey, that's rich," Raph snorted. "Mister High-Pitch Squeal himself. I'm sure it'd be just fine for you."

"Hey!" Mikey protested. "I don't want to use a pink mirror!"

"I have an idea that doesn't involve pink anything," Hitomi interrupted the argument loudly. As soon as all four of them looked at her, she continued. "I have a camera in my room that I can use to take your picture. I'll print it out from my computer, and bring it down."

"Perfect," Donnie told her, relieved at the simple, face-saving solution.

"Cool! Our first human picture!" Mikey bounced excitedly, grinning. "And we'll get to see what we look like! After all, it's hard to describe what we look like to each other."

"It can be," Hitomi agreed with a chuckle. "I'll be right back," she added before she left the room.


"So you lost them," a man in a dark cloak commented dryly, raising an eyebrow at the half-furious, half-terrified man standing before him. "How, precisely, did this happen?"

"My men found a young woman who had telekinesis," the other man grumbled. "They captured her on my orders to see if we could enhance her as well, but before we could do anything, someone came and rescued all five of them!" He spat on the ground away from the cloaked figure. "If my men had not been so foolish, I would have had five new warriors to send after my enemies! But as you can see, it was not my doing," he added quickly.

"How far were they in your experiments?" the cloaked figure demanded, his gaze trained on the other man's face. "Did your people manage to complete any part of… our experiment?"

"Yes," the man complained. "They had just finished confirming that the transformations were stable when they found the girl and brought her in. They did not get a chance to perform the control phase of the experiment!"

The cloaked figure grinned. "Then all is not a total loss," he told the quivering man silkily. "For you see, my friend, it was never my intention to turn those turtles into assassins. That was you goal. I was far more interested to see if the genetic manipulation would make them… worthy specimens, fit to populate the next generation. The only concerns I have are to where the creatures are now, and how long I must wait until I might test their worthiness. I do not care if your goals are ruined."

The other man spluttered, furious at this statement. "How will you test that without my goals?" he demanded angrily. "Why should I continue relaying this report to you?"

"While you were busy capturing and altering the four specimens, I was busy gathering a team of fighters, to do my bidding whenever and wherever I need them," the cloaked figure smirked. "And I would not leave out any details of the last report you received from the men working this project… Particularly since you seem to be in a… precarious situation, considering the Shredder is the one who informed you of them in the first place. He will be most displeased if he should find out that the creatures you promised to capture and 'take care of' are alive, free, and still have their own wills."

The man spluttered again, this time horrified by the amount of information the cloaked figure knew. "How… how do you know that?" he whispered.

"My dear sir, I have many methods of intelligence gathering that you are woefully ignorant of," the cloaked figure replied. "Now… tell me what the rest of the report has to offer."

"What will you do to the creatures?" the other man wanted to know, knowing he would have to tell this man everything, or risk certain death, whether immediate or eventual.

"Should they pass my test, I will leave them alone," the cloaked figure shrugged. "At least, for now. However, should they fail my test, I cannot allow pitiful specimens to cloud the mutant gene pool. They shall perish… instantly." At this, he began to laugh, a sound that sent chills down his companions back.


"Okay, I'm back," Hitomi grinned as she entered the room, holding four 8x10 pictures in her hands. At this point, April, Casey, and Master Splinter had all arrived, and were interested to see the four boys' reaction to seeing what they looked like. She quickly handed the photographs out to the boys, and waited to see their reactions.

All four of them were Caucasian, and were very different in their appearance. Donnie had wildly curly, dark brown hair. His eyes were now a deep blue, almost the color of the night sky, and he had an almost heart-shaped face.

Leo almost looked Japanese, although the face structure was a little off for that, and his eyes were not quite almond-shaped. However, his hair was very straight, and very black. His eyes were a light brown, almost hazel in color.

Mikey had slightly wavy, dirty blonde hair, making it almost a light brown in color. However, there were enough light blonde highlights in his hair to give his hair an overall blonde color. He had bright blue eyes, almost the color of the sky, and he had an oval-shaped face

Raph had wavy hair that was a dark red. His eyes were a deep, forest green, and he had an angular face. In his picture, he had attempted a smile, although it looked more like a smirk than anything.

"Jeez, is that really me?" Raph blinked down at his picture. Considering all four of them didn't have hair long enough to pull forward to see, Hitomi couldn't blame him for doubting it. Mikey leaned over.

"Yup, that's really you, bro," Mikey grinned at his brother. "I'm hot! See?" he added happily, shoving his picture in front of Raph's face, who pushed it back in annoyance.

"I can look at you, knucklehead," Raph growled at his brother. "I don't need to see a picture of you."

"So what do you guys think?" April wanted to know, looking between them. "Do you guys think you can live with what you look like?"

"I don't think we have a choice in the matter, April," Donnie pointed out with a grin, looking at his own picture. "After all, we can't go back and ask for a do-over."

"Not that we'd want to," Leo pointed out with a scowl. He looked down at his photo. "Even if we can't live with it, we'll have to get used to how we look."

"I wish we had mirrors that you guys could use," Hitomi sighed regretfully. "Even if you looked at those photos every day until you leave the Infirmary, you won't be able to get used to looking at a mirror and seeing your reflection out of it."

"How long are you guys staying in this room, anyway?" Casey wanted to know, looking around.

"At least a few weeks, until we can walk a certain distance without collapsing," Donnie answered firmly, his brothers nodding in agreement. That was what Dr. McCoy had told them when he had reappeared to confirm that all four of them had similar genetic structures. He would be starting them on a physical therapy regiment starting the next day, so that they could start on their road to recovery. "Then we'll get our own rooms in the boys' wing."

"And a proper tour of the Institute," Hitomi put in with a smile.

"Hopefully it'll go by fast," Leo added with a sigh. "At least we can borrow books from the school library to entertain ourselves for when we aren't going through physical therapy."

"Or the manga that the library has," Mikey piped up, a grin spreading over his face. He wasn't inclined to read normal books, but manga fell into the same category as comic books, and the Institute's library, according to Jamie, had an extensive manga collection.

"It sounds like you've figured everything you need to out, at least for the first few weeks," April chuckled, smiling at her friends. "Casey and I talked it over, and we'll try and visit every weekend, at least until you guys are recovered enough that you can visit us."

"Cool!" Mikey grinned at them. "That's awesome!"

"It'll give us somethin' else tah look forward tah," Raph agreed, letting out a gusty sigh. "I hate feeling so trapped!" he burst out angrily, clenching his fists. "I hate feeling so weak!"

"We all do, Raph," Leo gently reprimanded his brother before he sighed.

"Unfortunately, there's not much we can do to rectify the situation except for what we've already got planned," Donnie put in, grimacing. "There is no 'instant fix' for this one." He didn't say what was most prominent on his mind – that they were lucky, far more lucky than they usually seemed to be. Whatever had been planned for them, whatever cruelty they had managed to avoid, Donnie was grateful. He could live with a temporary problem, as muscle disuse atrophy really was, and he could live with being 'human,' so to speak, anyway. What he couldn't deal with was every idea or hypothesis that came into his mind concerning what might have happened to them had they stayed unconscious and trapped where they had been.

"Can't blame a turtle for hoping," Raph half-grumbled, half-sighed.

Master Splinter had met all of the students, and he could only foresee problems with two of them. Scott Summers was severely crippled by his need to wear his ruby-quartz sunglasses, which kept his optic blasts from destroying everything in his sight. Rogue (she had a real name, but far preferred being called that name) had a power he would not wish on anyone, although he would not wish that his greatest enemy had her ability. She was able to gain a person's memories, life force, and powers through a single touch. If she held on long enough, she could kill a person. The Shredder might enjoy the killing aspect of it way too much, and considering his true nature, it would be easy for him to deal with the downside of Rogue's powers.

She could not touch someone without fear of hurting them, for she could not control her powers. That lack of control was, in fact, the problem that he would face while training her. However, she would have to fight through his fur in order to absorb his memories and life force, and that would make things… easier. When it came down to it, the problems he faced were challenging, but not impossible to deal with.

Hitomi Weber continued to surprise him. She was one of the best at her age he had ever seen with the naginata, and it would be interesting to see how she measured up to his sons, once they were back in practice, that is. With the sais – and he had tested her – she was well above what he would call a 'beginner' status, but nowhere near the level that Raphael was.

Her shy explanation when he had inquired to her skill level with the naginata was that she hadn't had very many friends growing up, and as a result had spent more time with her training and hobbies than she had socializing. The more he learned about the girl, the more he felt that she was hiding insecurities from the others that, if pushed, would break her. He would bet that there were two reasons she hid them from others. The first was straightforward and obvious – Hitomi was too stubborn to let them see her faults. The other was one she hid from most, but had shared with his sons and himself. She was the daughter of a famous ninja clan, which had trained her to blend in. Her faults made her stand out, in a way, so she had trained herself to hide them.

Master Splinter would be taken back to New York City to gather some personal possessions from their home, as well as the rest of the food items that they had. He would collect a few of his sons' possessions as well, so that they might not be as bored as they would be without them.

There were two sides to this current situation. There was the painful side, where he had been in for the past three months while they had searched without any clue for his missing sons. They were in distress, although they didn't really realize it yet, because of their newly altered forms. It would be weeks, possibly months, before they were truly used to their new forms. There were the months of rehabilitation that they must get through as well, which would stress all four of them out. And there was the unknown, the man who had done this to his sons, that must somehow be found, and dealt with.

Then there was the positive side to this situation. His sons were safe, and they were in a place full of people who not only took in bizarre appearances as though it was normal, but had already started to befriend his sons. James Madrox, also known as Jamie, already appeared to adore Michelangelo. It warmed his heart to see his sons, who had been forced to be reclusive by their natural appearances, mingle with people who, for the most part, had not been.

There was also his new position. Master Splinter enjoyed teaching youngsters, as he had discovered over the years from teaching his sons, and this new opportunity warmed his heart. Further, he could see interest from the students in being taught the techniques he had to offer. His sons would, finally, be able to blend almost seamlessly into the human society, or at least as well as the rest of the students here did. This would be particularly good for Donatello, who would finally be able to join the scientific community as he has longed to do for so long.

Overall, this might be a good change for them. He could not say for sure if it would, for he could not see the future, but the signs were good. Indeed, most of the painful parts of the situation were temporary, and could eventually be put behind them. The good things were more lasting, more permanent changes. He would just have to wait to see what else the future held.


Author's Notes:

So now you have a hint at the villains. One of them is an OC, the other is not. I'm letting you figure out which is which, and who the non-OC is. Trust me, I gave some hints during that conversation - subtle hints, though. You'll have to really know the characters of all the associated versions of TMNT or X-men to be able to figure it out. (I'm not telling you which - that'll give it away, and half of the reason for the anonymity is that you are going to find out who it is eventually. If you want to guess, you can, and I'll let you know, eventually, who is right and who isn't.) I wish there was another time I could do this scene, but considering the timing, it HAS to be now. If I had this conversation any later, it wouldn't make as much sense. As it is, it's two days after the guys were freed. Weeks later, and the guy in the cloak would be furious. The only problem is that this occurs a long time before the guys are going to be ready for the 'test' that the guy in the cloak is planning.

I was planning Hitomi's ninja past from the beginning - it's why she's half Japanese. But I'm still working hard to make her not a Mary Sue, and there are plenty of reasons that her ninja background is more a hindrance than a blessing, particularly for someone who doesn't look like everyone else. As I've already mentioned, her hair and eye color kind of work against her for this.

The next chapter should still come out next week, and hopefully earlier in the day than this one did. Also, we'll be jumping a few weeks ahead in time. There isn't much left to write at the present, mostly because there isn't much left that is very interesting to write at the present.

Please review! You can also check out my forums. Speaking of my forums, I am trying to hammer out a birthday for each of the four turtles. If anyone has suggestions for that, please come to TMNT Centric, where I have a thread just for that. I used the western astrological signs to narrow it down to about a month for each of the turtles, and I'd like input for the actual dates. Let's just say I have some fun ideas for it, and I like knowing this sort of thing anyway. There aren't any official birthdays. (I've got more explanations for my reasoning for the topic thread. If you're interested, please check it out.)

~Star~