After taking a few minutes to let the embarrassment fade from his cheeks, Leo fumbled himself into the first of the five outfits that he'd chosen: a simple, white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The whole process took far longer than he would ever care to admit, but zippers were weird!

Once he'd finally managed to dress himself, the katana-wielder emerged from his dressing room and started to head out towards the main store to see what April and Casey thought of his new look. That plan was placed on hold when he noticed Donnie standing in the middle of the core changing room area. The genius had changed into a long-sleeved, purple, button-down shirt and black cargo-pants and was now standing in front of a floor-length mirror, twisting his body around, clearly trying to examine his new look from every possible angle.

As Leo watched this display, he sensed a familiar presence drawing near and so he wasn't the least bit surprised when Raph appeared at his side. The sai-wielder studied Donnie for a moment and then said, "What's he doing?"

Up until now, Donnie had failed to notice his brothers, but Raph's question made him spin around and stare at them as a blush colored his cheeks pink.

The duo pretended not to notice this new attention, though, choosing to carry on their conversation as if Donnie was still oblivious to their presence. A choice which made Leo grin and say, "Checking himself out, as far as I can tell."

Raph made a small noise of understanding and then added, "Probably trying to impress April."

"Isn't he always?" Leo replied while shaking his head sadly.

By now Donnie's face was scarlet, his hands were curled into fists, and he couldn't keep quiet any longer, so he glared at his siblings and spluttered, "N-no, I'm not! I, I just wanna make sure that I actually like this look, that's all."

The two older siblings exchanged knowing grins and then chorused, "Suuuuure," as poor Donnie's face grew even redder.

This probably would have gone on for some time if Mikey hadn't emerged from his own changing room to ask, "What's wrong with Donnie wanting to look nice for April?"

The question made Donnie let out a relieved sigh, then he turned around while starting to thank his youngest brother for the support, only to have the words die on his lips as soon as his gaze fell upon the curly-haired teen.

The reason for Donnie's sudden loss of words was clear to Raph and Leo, both of whom were staring at their smallest sibling with looks of horror on their faces.

Mikey stared back as his lips twisted into a puzzled frown, then he cocked his head to the side and asked, "Why's everybody lookin' at me like that?"

Donnie and Raph just continued to stare, clearly at a loss for word, but Leo actually managed to reply, "What are you wearing?"

That cry was enough to jolt the other two Hamato brothers out of their stupors and prompted Raph to add, "I think my eyes are bleeding," while Donnie muttered, "They make neon-green jeans?"

Instead of acknowledging his brothers' horrified stares, Mikey just grinned and spun around, showing off his bright-orange t-shirt and uniquely-colored pants while exclaiming, "Isn't it neat?"

"It's an eyesore!" Raph replied as Leo and Donnie exchanged uncertain glances.

These less-than-stellar reactions stole the smile from Mikey's face, replacing it with an annoyed pout as he crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Oh, what do you guys know about fashion anyway? I'm sure April and Casey will think I look awesome!"

Then he stalked out of the changing area and headed into the main store with his brothers trailing along after him.

Unsurprisingly, April and Casey were waiting for them right outside of the changing rooms and both humans' eyes widened when they saw the outfit that Mikey was sporting, but there wasn't horror there, just surprise that quickly faded to amusement as Casey said, "Cool pants, Mikey."

The freckle-faced teen beamed and then turned around to give his brothers' an "I told you so" look while Raph stared at his best friend in shock and spluttered, "Wait, what?"

This cry was met with confused looks from both humans which just made Raph groan, "You can't seriously like those things."

It took Casey a second to figure out what Raph was talking about and even then he wasn't totally sure he'd gotten it right, so he asked, "What, his jeans?"

"Yeah!"

"Dude," Casey replied with a wide grin, "I've lived in New York City for all seventeen years of my life. Those aren't even a blip on the weird radar."

While Raph took his time to consider this statement, Mikey turned towards Donnie and Leo, giving the duo his best puppy-dog eyes as he said, "That means that I can get them, right?"

Leo looked uncertain how to answer that, but Donnie shook his head and replied, "No, Mikey, you can't get them."

The blonde's face fell at this decree and there was a clear note of betrayal in his voice when he whined, "What? Why?"

"It's got nothing to do with the color," the scientist quickly clarified. "It's the fabric. Leo and Raph can't keep their jeans either."

That got everyone's attention and now all three brothers were glaring at Donnie, waiting for him to explain, which he did, "You can't fight in jeans. The fabric's too restrictive. Try doing a sidekick in those things and you'll wind up with one of two outcomes: a failed kick or ripped seems. Actually, you could wind up with both of those, so that's three outcomes!"

Having never tried fighting in jeans before, the other three boys weren't ready to just take Donnie's word on the matter, but after a few comical attempts to pull off their usual moves, they reluctantly accepted his logic.

After one, last, half-hearted attempt to do a side-kick, Leo sighed, glanced back towards the changing rooms, and muttered, "I don't think that any of the pants I picked out are gonna work."

This admission made Donnie wince slightly, then he said, "Sorry, it's my fault for not bringing it up earlier. I just didn't think about it."

"So what can we wear, genius?" Raph asked, a question that led to a rather boring, but informative lecture on fabric types.

Once Donnie had finished his monologue, his brothers quickly changed back into their track suits and then spread out through the store, looking for outfits that fit Donnie's criteria. As they set about this task, the bo-wielder finished trying on his small selection of clothes, all of which proved to be perfectly suited to both his lanky frame and ninja training.

The same could not be said for the vast majority of the choices that the other three brothers made and it was another two hours before they finally managed to pick out an acceptable selection of clothing. In that short period of time, all six teens' attitudes had gone from relatively upbeat to positively sour and there was a dark cloud hanging over the entire group as they paid for their clothing and then left the store.

A dark cloud that got even darker when Donnie hesitantly reminded them that they still needed to buy shoes that they could fight in, but none of them could argue the scientist's point and so April reluctantly began to lead them towards the closest shoe shop that she could think of.

Though the shop was a good two block away, they only made it about half a block before the red-head stopped so suddenly that the boys almost ran into her.

As the five of them screeched to a halt and then treated April to a variety of confused and annoyed looks, she spun around and treated them to a wide grin as she asked, "Hey, did you guys wanna get your hair cut?"

"Do what now?" Raph asked as Mikey covered his hair with his hands and cried, "Wont that hurt?"

While this last question made April blink in surprise and stare in bewilderment at Mikey's terrified face, Donnie sighed and said, "No, it won't hurt, Mikey. Hair is actually made up of keratin, the same substance that makes up your fingernails and its removal…"

"But it's so soft and fingernails are so hard," Mikey interrupted as he brought his hands down and stared at his fingernails curiously.

Donnie sighed again and then started to explain the reason for the difference, but he was quickly cut off by Leo, who asked, "Why would we want to cut our hair?"

April shrugged. "I just figured you'd want something shorter than what you have now. Long hair can be a pain to deal with."

The leader had to admit that she had a point and so, after a brief exchange of looks between himself and Raph, Leo nodded and said, "Well, there's no harm in checking it out, right?"

When no one objected, the katana-wielder motioned for the others to follow him and then guided them into the hairdresser's.

As they entered the shop, a powerful, chemical smell wafted over them, making all four Hamato brothers twist their faces into unpleasant grimaces as the salon's receptionist looked up and treated the group to a pleasant smile before asking, "Can I help you?"

While the brothers slowly acclimatized to the strange smells, April stepped forwards and said, "Yes, actually. These four need to get their hair cut and we wanted to know if you had any available appointments."

The receptionist nodded and quickly began typing on her computer. A minute later she glanced up at the group and said, "I can take two of them in about fifteen minutes and I'll have stylists available for the other two within the next hour, if that's alright with you."

April glanced over at the guys to see if they had any opinions on the matter, but it was pretty clear that they were letting her take the lead here, so she nodded and then asked, "Do you have anything we could use to look at male hairstyles?"

Which was how the six of them had found themselves huddled in the salons waiting area, pouring over fashion magazines.

A short while later, two women in the salon's signature black uniforms came up to the front and asked who got to go first, which lead to Raph and Leo volunteering as both of them had quickly figured out what they wanted done with their hair. Mikey was the next to go, wandering off with a male stylist who couldn't stop gushing over the blue-eyed teen's curls which just left Donnie. The scientist was sitting by April's side, staring towards the back of the salon as he nervously fidgeted with the zippers on the duffle bag that he'd bought to store all of their clothing purchases in.

"You okay, D?" Casey asked, jolting Donnie back to reality and drawing his gaze towards his two friend, both of whom were looking at him with concerned curiosity.

After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, the scientist smiled softly and said, "I'm okay, it's just this whole trusting people we've never met thing. I'm not a fan."

This admission made both Casey and April adopt thoughtful looks and, after a minute, the hockey-nut slowly said, "I guess I never thought about it like that."

"Yeah," April agreed, "we kind of do it all the time: waiters, hairstylists, cooks, bus drivers…"

Her words trailed off as another woman in the salon's uniform approached the trio and asked, "So, which of you three is coming with me?"

"That would be me," Donnie volunteered nervously, then he started to stand up, only to pause when the weight of his duffle bag started to weigh him down. "Oh, right, what should I do with this?"

"Why don't I take it back to the shell… car and then come back here to meet up with you guys?" Casey offered, earning him a grateful look from the scientist who quickly pulled the bag over his head and then handed it over to the other teen.

Casey took the offered bag and then instantly let go of it, letting it plop on the ground as his eyes widened. After taking a moment to give the duffle a shocked look, the hockey-nut stared at Donnie and asked, "How in the world were you carrying this thing around like it weighed nothing? It's gotta be at least 50 pounds!"

These words drew an impish smile onto Donnie's face as he replied, "Well if you can't carry it then…"

"I can carry it," Casey interrupted with a glare as he swung the bag over his shoulder and then marched out of the salon, earning a confused look from the other patrons who'd been sitting in the waiting area, an amused chuckle from Donnie, and an eye roll from April.

After the hockey-nut had disappeared from sight, the stylist asked, "Ready to go, sweetie?"

Donnie, who'd never been called "sweetie" in all sixteen years of his life, took a few seconds to process this new nickname before nodding half-heartedly and then following the woman into the main area of the salon. As she led him along, he caught glimpses of his other three brothers and he wasn't the least bit surprised to discover that both Leo and Raph had both traded their ponytails for much shorter styles. A discovery which led him to frown and then reach up to his own hair, wrapping his fingers through the long tresses that April had so carefully combed for him. It was… comforting, actually. The long hair reminded him of the mask tails that usually hung down to brush along the back of his neck and he didn't like the thought of chopping it all off.

This idea and similar ones were still flitting about his mind when they reached the stylists chair where she asked him, "Now, what were you thinking about changing?"

The question made him lower his gaze to the ground as he shuffled his feet nervously and quietly said, "I, uh, well, I kind of like it like this, actually."

"Well, I have to admit it does seem to suit you, but how about we get rid of those split ends and even up the layers so that it looks a bit neater?" the stylist offered with a smile.

Donnie didn't really understand what any of that meant, but it sounded like the woman knew what she was talking about, so he nodded and then let the woman strap a weird, black robe around his neck.