Chapter Three: Orange Smoothies and Missing Memories

"Whoa!"

The four teenage boys said together in a bewildered state of awe as they stretched their necks around the three-story brightly light shopping mall. Their heighten ninjas senses were overloaded with all kinds of new things to see, smell, and hear, and it didn't take April long to realize that she had made a horrible mistake.

"Cool! A computer software and gaming store!" Donatello pointed, then walked absentmindedly away from his brothers.

"Donnie! Wait!" April called out, but her words were lost in the crowd.

"Hey, what's that place?" Raphael pointed to a bright red neon sign on his right side that read Hot Topic, and he smiled as a heavy rock beat blared out from the store. "Sweet!"

"Raph!" April reached for the back collar of his jacket, but missed, and watched as he disappeared from sight. As she turned back around, April noticed Leonardo and Michelangelo had also walked away, and she saw the tops of their heads vanish into the Borders Book and Music store.

"And I thought they were hard to keep track of when they were turtles," April covered her face with her hands, then went in search of her missing friends.

Hours later after wondering around the mall without finding any sign of the guys, April plopped down into a metal white chair in the middle of the food court, letting her dozens of shopping bags fall from her grasp, and she leaned her head on the top of the white metal table, finally letting the agony of defeat take over her.

"Oh, April, what were you thinking!" She asked herself, but then heard a sudden burst of laughter rang out from behind. Her head immediately shot up from the table and she quickly turned around. Sitting about three tables behind her, she watched as the auburn headed Raphael flicked a french fry across the food court onto another table filled with teenage girls. Michelangelo's face grew bright red as he slapped both of his hands over his mouth to keep from laughing, while Donatello and Leonardo snickered quietly. Raphael spun back around before the girls knew where the fry had came from, and he did all he could to keep from laughing.

"Ahem!"

The four boys looked up at April, who had narrowed her thin eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Flirting." Michelangelo answered, then handed April a tall yellow and blue Styrofoam cup. " Orange smoothie?"

April glanced at the cup. "No, that's okay. But really guys, we need to get out of here. Don't you boys have some clue finding to do?"

"Yeah, yeah, in a minute, April," Raphael picked up another french fry and steadied it on the back of his middle finger. "I think I'm startin' ta get the hang of havin' five fingers." As he turned to fling the fry, he was suddenly greeted by his target.

"Excuse me, but does this belong to you!"

Raphael couldn't help but smile as the tall and thin blonde in front of him flared her small nose as she talked, dangling the discarded french fry in his face.

"Maybe." He leaned back and folded his arms over his hooded sweatshirt, trying his hardest to keep cool. "Just thought I'd share them with ya."

"Well, since you like to share things so much, how about I share my drink with you?"

And before anyone could react, the blonde grabbed the belt of Raphael's white pants and dumped the contents of her smoothie directly onto his bare skin underneath.

"HOLY CRAP!" Raphael screamed as he jumped out of his seat. He pulled the cold, orange stain away from his skin, watching as the girl wrinkled her nose at him, then gathered her friends and walked away, sharing giggles as they moved out of sight. Raphael growled deep in his throat and tightened his fists as he started to follow, but this time, someone moved in to stop the action.

"Raph, just calm down." Leonardo placed his hand on Raphael's chest and stopped him.

"It's not worth it."

Raphael sighed, knowing that Leonardo was right, and he slumped back down into his seat, feeling a sudden pain in his head.

"I'll never get Carrie ta like me."

Raphael then realized what had come out of his mouth, and his shock was mirrored in everyone's sudden enlarge eyes.

"Huh?" Michelangelo was the first to speak.

"How did you know her name?" Donatello followed. "You've never met her before!"

Raphael placed his fingers to the ache in his left temple. " I-I don't know. It just . . . came out."

"All right," Leonardo motioned for his brothers to stand up. " We've done enough goofing around. We have a lot of questions that need to be answered."

The guys helped April collect the many shopping bags, and as they moved out of the food court, something caught Michelangelo's eye, and, unfortunately for April, he couldn't keep his mouth closed about it.

" Sweet! This place has a Dick's Sporting Goods store!"

And April once again moaned in agony as the four disappeared, leaving her in a pile of bagged merchandise.

Later that evening, the former mutant turtles gathered together in the living room area of their underground home and formulated a plan of action. Leonardo and Raphael stood a few feet apart from each other, facing the couch, which was occupied by Donatello and Michelangelo.

"Are you going to Stockman's tonight, Don?" Leonardo asked, making sure he had everything in order.

"It's on my agenda," Donatello answered without looking up from the pair of scissors in his hand. He cut out the label from one of his new shirts, then tossed the shirt over the arm of the couch and grabbed another. "I just hope I can find something usable."

"Want me to go with you?"

Donatello turned to Michelangelo, watching intently as his brother threw a grape into the air and caught it with the tip of his tongue.

"No, I'll be okay." Donatello then laughed at the look on Michelangelo's face as it twisted from the sour taste that suddenly invaded his mouth.

"You're coming with us, Mikey." Leonardo pointed to himself and Raphael. " We need the extra pair of eyes."

"I can't stand this thing!" Raphael growled as he pulled on the neck of the gray T-shirt he was wearing. " It's makin' me itch all over!"

"I know it's uncomfortable, Raph." Leonardo said as he also pulled on his shirt. "But we don't have a choice in the matter."

"And besides, I really don't wanna see you run around here naked!" Michelangelo joked, throwing another grape into the air. He sat there for a few seconds with his mouth gaping before he realized nothing had come back down. "Hey! Where'd it go?" The grape suddenly splattered across his freckled cheek, and he growled as Raphael's laughter rang through his ears.

"Okay, then it's settled. We'll leave at sunset." Leonardo stated and began to move away from his brothers when Raphael's voice pulled him back.

"Sunset? Why do we have ta wait until it's dark? We ain't gonna exactly stand out anymore, Leo."

Leonardo opened his mouth to respond, but stopped when Splinter answered for him.

"You may not be in mutant form anymore, but you are still ninja, Raphael." Splinter held onto his walking stick as he stood up from the battered armchair that sat diagonal from the sofa.

"And as a ninja, you must stick to the shadows."

As Splinter left his students in the living room, Leonardo followed close behind, waiting for his master and father to give instructions for their evening training exercises. But as Splinter headed for his room, a worried look overcame the young boy's face as he called out to his Sensi.

"Master Splinter, are we not receiving a lesson tonight?"

Splinter stopped at the top of the steps and turned around, his face dropping down even further as he saw the look of disappointment in Leonardo's big brown eyes, which seemed to be more apparent in his human state.

"No, Leonardo. I have several matters I need to meditate upon." Splinter bowed then turned back to the sliding doors. "I trust you will at least practice on your own."

Leonardo bowed, lowering his eyes in respect. "Of course, Sensi."And as he straightened out his back, he found Splinter had vanished into the sanctity of his room. Sighing heavily as he moved toward the practice mat with his head down, Leonardo caught the sight of a pair of bare feet blocking his way. His eyes traveled up from the feet, along the loose-fitting blue jeans and gray shirt to the look of concern on Raphael's face.

"What's up with you?" He asked, surprising Leonardo even more. Leonardo studied his brother's face closely, the first time he had done so since their human transformation, and it seemed that Raphael was doing the same.

"It's . . . " Leonardo started, then hesitated as he reached for his swords that were leaning up against the wall. "It's nothing."

"You think Master Splinter doesn't believe that it's really us, don't ya?"

Leonardo's head shot back up, knowing that his brother knew him better than he thought he did. Raphael then moved over to the battered punching bag, and attempted to remove his pair of sai.

"What the . . . ?" Raphael growled as his pulled on the handles. "I swear. Mikey better not had put bacon grease on these again!"

"I don't think that's the case, Raph."

Raphael let go of the sais and turned back around to face Leonardo, and he gasped when he saw that his brother, who could handle a katana better than any of them, was straining under the weight of one sword as he tried to hold it up in the air.

"There's something else," Leonardo let go of the sword and it fell to the ground, the metal clang echoed throughout the lair.

"What?" Raphael asked.

"I don't remember how to use them."