Lost To Darkness - TMNT 2012 Fanfic

Prologue

BEFORE MIKEY'S DISAPPEARANCE: 3 MONTHS

Shredder's patience had finally broken with the last interference by Hamato Yoshi and his sons. The Foot Clan's affairs had been messed with for far too long, an injustice. The score for 'crimes' against him had been too much, an overdue debt that needed to be settled. In Shredder's unrelenting gaze, the moment had arrived for them to atone for their every misstep. And what more fitting way to extract payment than through his cherished 'sons'—the Turtles? As the starting point of their fight, they held the promise of a formidable beginning.

The four were a team, each of them handling a blind spot among the group: Leader, Muscle, Brains and the Wild One, all allowing each other to be stronger and escape his wrath so many times. The strength of their brotherhood, it seemed, held the potential to be their weak point. If he could exploit this bond, if he could pry apart their unity, then their greatest assets could devolve into liabilities. Their strengths might falter with one of them out, weakening their force and smoothing his revenge. In dealing a blow to them, he would strike at the heart of the rat, leaving him to grapple with the loss of one cherished son. The situation was a golden opportunity, where he could potentially bring down two adversaries with a single, well-calculated strike.

But the question remained of whether or not he'd kill the turtle when the time came. Shredder was tempted to, clutching the sword tightly in his hand before he thought... what if that son fought against them? To turn against his own father, their own brothers? To be the Foot Clan's weapon? The heartbreak and agony it would cause the team...

It wasn't a bad start.

Not just with a Brain Worm. Willingly, or the closest to come with willingly. The Foot Clan would benefit from having a mutant weapon at their disposal, and if that plan didn't work out, well... there will only be three more turtles, and a rat left to handle.

So which one would he go after?

Hamato Leonardo, the leader of the Turtles, and while he wasn't a bad choice with his skill and fighting ability, perhaps first or second choice, but what really stopped the Shredder from choosing him is his loyalty to Hamato Yoshi and his brothers. He would rather die than have any of them ever get hurt, and that would break his plans. So he wouldn't be a good choice. He was better off gone, just like the treacherous rat Hamato Yoshi was.  If anything, his elimination was more beneficial than his recruitment to their ranks.

Hamato Raphael? The most ferocious; violent of the group, relentless with his attacks, but at the same time, he is also very loyal to his brothers, preferring he'd get hurt instead, if the scars and chips on his shell didn't prove that enough for him. Not to mention, he wouldn't be too compliant nor would it be easy to teach him without one of the others at the Foot's custody, so he was already out.

Hamato Donatello? With his ways with machinery, surely handling the one who gives them their equipment and gadgets, possibly even helping with their tactics, to be the first one the Foot Clan took, aside from Leonardo. However, this would've been the case had it not been for some issues: He wouldn't be a good fighter against the others, and should he ever manage to get access to resources, he'd be able to escape or sabotage their ranks greatly.

He might not have been as physically strong as the others, but he was still a big threat.

That just left the youngest: Hamato Michaelangelo. The one easily distracted by things around him, but at the same time: He had a certain knack for figuring stuff out with his unusual creativity, and was the one keeping their morale... and even Shredder could tell he had the most raw talent among his siblings by the way they fought. He just needed to handle the part of easily being distracted. With a more direct approach to his training, and monitoring during their time here, they could use their unpredictability and agility against their team. They just needed to... prepare for the newcomer.