Dagger From the Mirror (ROTTMNT/TMNT 2012 Crossover Fic)

Reflection

The flashing red lights were the first sign that this wasn't going to be as easy as was originally planned.

Well, the "first sign" was actually a combination of a few things: the lights, the alarms, and the countless Kraang running past Raph to provide back-up to whatever was going on at the end of the hall. He and Little Mikey were crouched behind a small stack of crates and boxes, peeking out the edge every few moments to see if they had all passed yet.

They hadn't. They just kept coming.

More and more Kraang ran past and then even more came, all tightly clutching blasters and tranq guns and shouting out various commands to each other. However, it wasn't their words that made Raph nervous. No, what made him uneasy were the roars and cries of anguish coming from the end of the hall, ones that he knew were coming from none other than his alternate dimensional self.

It had to be the other Raph; Little Mikey wouldn't be nearly in tears if it weren't.

"He's in his savage mode..." The alternate Mikey mumbled, grip squeezing so tightly on the boxes that Raph wondered if he'd leave a dent. That'd be impressive, considering they were completely made of metal. "He's scared. He's terrified because he's alone..."

"You've got a weird definition of 'alone'," Raphael muttered, watching as another ten droids ran into the room. There had to have been at least fifty who had passed them by now. Or maybe even more. Whatever his other self was, it wasn't alone, not with that many Kraang after him. Little Mikey scowled.

"He's away from us!" He exclaimed, though he still kept his voice low enough to keep any Kraang from overhearing. "He's away from me and Leo and Donnie and Dad and April and just... everyone! He's scared, and I left him alone..." The younger Mikey trailed off, and Raph couldn't keep himself from groaning. He pulled one sai out.

"Try and hold off on that self blaming fest until after we get him back, okay?" Raph said, "We gotta focus. He's in there and we don't have much time. We have to figure out how to get in there so we can get your brother back and then get out of this hellscape."

"Right, right," Little Mikey nodded, pulling himself to his feet and glancing around the edge. The young teen closed his eyes, inhaling deeply as he tried to let the tension escape from his body, and visibly relaxed. Ignoring the tears in the corners of his eyes, he looked to Raphael and frowned, "Any ideas?"

"I think we're just gonna rush in and start pounding heads in."

Mikey raised one brow, and this world's Raphael groaned.

"Planning ain't my thing, okay? But the Kraang are obviously distracted by the other me. If we just jump and join in, we'll be fine. Probably. We're gonna have to fight them anyways."

Little Mikey shrugged. "I don't know, that sounds like a plan to me. At least, it sounds a lot like our Raph's plans."

"Awesome, glad to know we're the same," Raph spat sarcastically. While it would be a lie to say he hadn't been curious about what his alternate self was like, now was not the time to have a chat and make comparisons. Now was time to fight him and take him down. The red turtle slowly stepped out from behind the boxes, glancing around and then nodding once to Little Mikey once he was sure that the hall was clear, "Let's get in there already, come on."

And so, they did.

The room at the very end of the hall lacked an actual door. It had never been hard to hear what was going on inside, but the entrance was just after the hall took a sharp right. So, while it wasn't very far from the two turtle's hiding space, it had been impossible for them to see inside to actually figure out what was going on. Raph and Mikey approached it quickly. With Little Mikey to his right, Raphael leaned over to glance around the corner inside the room.