WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual 2021 from IDW, on sale now.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have spent recent months overcoming one tremendous threat after another, only for Mutant Town itself to devolve into an all-out warzone. As bad as things might seem right now, they are only looking to get worse. Their old villain, the Rat King has decided that it's time to shake up the status quo on Earth, and his first targets are the Turtles themselves.
However, the Rat King isn't doing this alone, and he has just assembled the most terrifying team of TMNT villains ever.
The Rat King has watched his family, the legendary Pantheon, fall from prominence over the centuries, but the past few years have been some of the worst for him and his fellow deities. While they had previously spent millennia turning Earth into their own personal playground for grand games of war and conspiracy, the rise of mortal heroes in the world has left Rat King wondering if the glory days of the Pantheon are over. After visiting his remaining family, it becomes clear that the Rat King's assumptions were correct, as none of his siblings still share his desire to squabble amongst themselves. T
his revelation leaves him despondent, yet not uninspired, as the Rat King decides that it is time to start a new game, the Armageddon Game. No longer concerned with chaos for its own sake, the Rat King reached out to a trio of players he believes could help him claim the ultimate trophy in the form of the world itself. Unfortunately for everyone else, he is likely right, and the Armageddon Game looks set to unleash a new era of terror on the Turtles' world.
As formidable as the Rat King is on his own, the trio of villains he wants to bring into his twisted game could well prove to be even worse. Krang is finally ready to make a proper, grotesque return after having taken control of Leatherhead's body. In his current state, Krang is willing to take part in any war there is to be waged if it means freeing himself from the mutant alligator's torso. The current mayor of NYC and a constant thorn in the Turtles' side, Baxter Stockman, is also willing to accept the Rat King's offer. The same goes for the demonic Null, though both of them have their own terms to be set, and Null wants to ensure that Earth be the first world to fall victim to this new Armageddon Game.
Baxter Stockman's involvement in an already-deadly situation could very well end up making this the first act of the impending Armageddon Game. Coupled with Stockman's preexisting arrangement with Null Corp and the damage Null has already brought to Mutant Town's reputation, the villains are many steps ahead of their adversaries. Now with Krang and the Rat King working together too, the Turtles' greatest enemies are poised to end the world as they know it.