Here's where it gets complicated. I know the original canon of SAINW, but in order to have everything mash together nicely, I'm going to have to change a few things around. Now, is it a drastic enough change that causes an AU? I don't think so, I'm not changing the story too much and hopefully I can make everything flow nicely. When I say "make changes" I mean that Donatello from the past never shows up. I can't tell you anymore or else I ruin the entire idea of the story. Lol
Warning: This chapter is depressing (in my opinion)
: Chapter 10: (Michelangelo's POV)
50 days later in NYC
Donatello's disappearance shocked us all, it really did. It was like the entire earth stopped and the sun vanished, causing our entire lives to turn chaotic. You never know how much you need a person in your life until they're actually gone and wiped from it. I still remember the morning when we discovered that Don's bedroom was empty and he was nowhere to be found. At first, we all thought that maybe he was just visiting April somewhere or out inventing the next new thing, but we were far from right. When Donnie didn't return home that night, panic began to set in and Splinter and I were the only ones who had an idea where he could have gone, and we agreed to keep it a secret, for his own good.
Even though we hadn't seen much of Raph and Leo in the past, they hung around much more often now that our favorite geek had gone missing. They waited and waited until it hurt and then finally, Leo started to snap back to it and starting conducting his own search missions with Raph and Casey throughout the city. After the 40th or so failed attempt, our beloved father, Master Splinter, finally could no longer watch our brothers wonder the city without a clue in the world. So he told them. He told them that he believed Donatello had taken off to Russia by demand. Raphael was the first to call out in protest but Splinter quickly explained that Don had received a letter from Russia and then suddenly disappeared the next day. We all were able to put two and two together and at least give ourselves an idea to where he was and better yet, if he had a greater chance of being alive.
"Why would Don go to Russia? Doesn't he know better than that?" Leo had asked.
"Yeah, I thought he was the smart one. It aint' like him to just get up and leave without tellin' anyone." Raph grumbled while kicking over a few chairs at our table.
I knew in my mind that for whatever reason our little nerd left us, it was probably a good one. Raph was right, for once. It wasn't like Don to just vanish without a trace. Whatever was in that letter must have been extremely important.
The following days were nothing but a waiting game. Raph and Leo slept in the lair by day, and roamed the city streets by night. I hated to admit that perhaps a small bit of them still believed Donnie was in New York. Every morning though, they would still come back home empty handed. April and Casey, very good friends of ours, helped Splinter and I calm them down and sometimes it would work, and sometimes it ended with Casey getting punched in the gullet. Things had already been pretty rough without Don around, but now things seemed to be taking a nosedive straight into Hell.
As for me, I always felt closer with that purple masked turtle more than I did with Leo or Raph; mainly because he wouldn't beat me up like the others sometimes did. Ok, Leo wouldn't "beat me" up like Raph did, but he still got a few swings in whenever I would get on his nerves (which was rare now that we're all adults). It was odd not having him around, Don. I had gotten so use to his schedule that I felt like I had it imprinted in my brain. He would wake up at 6 or even 5 in the morning, put a blanket over top of me if I was passed out on the couch, make a pitcher of coffee, cook a few eggs and then disappear into his lab for the rest of the day until he was ready to eat again. I never actually knew what he was doing in there all that time. He wasn't popping new inventions out his ears like he usually did so I suppose it will remain a mystery until I get the chance to ask him.
A few weeks later, about a month since Donatello disappeared, the unspeakable happened. After getting a lead on a top secret weapon that Shredder was supposedly working on, Master Splinter was slain trying to protect us from the very person we feared more than anyone. The fight had ended there. Leo had collapsed onto the floor next to our Sensei's body and allowed himself to be vulnerable to the Shredder. We all were in shock but Raphael was the first to snap out of it. He lost his left eye trying to protect Leo from Shredder's blades. Thankfully, we had Karai, Shredder's daughter, to help us make our escape. She blew the floor out from underneath our enemy and allowed us to jump out the back windows and retreat to our lair with Leo carrying our Dad's body in his arms. She was never seen or heard from again.
The death of our father was only a fan to the fire that was already stirring inside us. Sadly, this fire wasn't trying to fight, it was slowly crippling into nonexistence. Splinter's death only weakened us, fanning the fire of misery and failure. Leo lost the small bit of leader that was left in him and we no longer went out to stop Shredder's plans. Without any major threat opposing him anymore, the Shredder was able to conquer the city and enslave everyone who was in it. All who tried to run, hide, escape, or fight him were killed on the spot or turned into mindless soldiers that were his army. Buildings were torn down and central park was burned to the ground. In only a few days, the thousands of people that once resided on Manhattan were either dead, or imprisoned. The government was useless against this new enemy. Shredder was too advanced with alien technology to be stopped and most of it was able to cut off all communication to the outside world; therefore, we remained under his control.
I believe that he has future plans to extend his rein beyond the already crippled city, maybe even to the other states. It didn't matter now though; I personally no longer had the will to fight, only to protect Leonardo. The loss of Master Splinter had been so hard on him that he began to lose his sight slower and slower every day until he was practically blind. I hadn't realized the true impact until I noticed that he appeared to also be aging twice as fast. I did everything I could to keep him sane and healthy and as of now, it's working just fine. We stay hidden away in our destroyed lair, far from Shredder's underground patrol soldiers.
We eventually lost contact with Casey Jones. A few days after the invasion, we found out he had been killed trying to rescue hostages from the Shredder. April, who was his wife, was destroyed after that. Once we thought that she would never recover, she made an astonishing comeback, more powerful and desperate as ever. She started her own rebellion operation and is now helping take down Shredder's army slowly so he can be weakened for further extraction. Even though April was taking Casey's loss fairly well, a certain someone was doing the exact opposite. Casey and Raph were closer than any two friends I could have imagined. I couldn't begin to picture what it was like to lose your brother, your father AND your best friend all in one month. With that being said, we haven't heard from our hotheaded brother since.
It was amazing how quickly the Shredder was able to take over the city. I felt proud of myself, however, since my brothers and I were the only ones holding him back for this long. It was bad though too, because one failure practically led to the end of our world as we knew it. With that said and the ideas of a better life far beyond my imagination, I told myself that if Raph or Leo ever died, I would walk to the George Washington Bridge and throw myself off it, and I'm not playing around. That's how bad it is right now, and yes, it's all real, live in living color. I also made another promise, the day Donatello finally decided to return, I would make sure he knew how much he destroyed our family, and I would make sure he would never forget it.