"Learning it from a book"

[Utrommaniac]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

You would have to bring in the Utroms way early. Perhaps Yoshi has a day job, but moon lights as a Guardian. After Shredder tracks him down and kills Shen, he's forced to hide/live in the TCRI building. From there, Splinter is either accidentally mutated or Yoshi goes rouge and mutates him himself after the Utroms refuse to aid him in his revenge on Saki.

Then years later after Yoshi is dead, you can keep the TCRI truck accident origin, or have Splinter break into TCRI and steal mutagen so as to recruit soldiers into his vendetta, just as he was by Yoshi.

That...is actually kind of brilliant. Especially the idea of Yoshi deliberately mutating himself. Though he'd have to know he could be mutated, which means the Utroms are already experimenting with mutation. So why would the Utroms be doing deliberately mutating things at TCRI? And why would they not save one of their guardians from injury? He wouldn't exactly be truly replaceable, as they'd have to put a lot of energy into finding someone who can keep their existence a secret.

Though, keeping in Mirage fashion, but fixing things up a little, the mutation is still accidental, but they give Yoshi shelter where Saki can't find him, in the TCRI basement. It's just a question of how the turtles get involved. Maybe they're a result of the Utroms trying to figure out what happened to Yoshi, using Leatherhead and the turtles to test it. When they realize the five reptiles become sapient, they give the turtles to Yoshi as companions and keep Leatherhead with them for safety. Maybe there can be a nod to the Mondo Gecko episode of the FW series and have Michelangelo as the only one remembering there was a fifth animal that got mutated.