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

From One Leader to Another

This new dimension was quieter than his home, but Raph couldn't say he disliked it.

Sure, it let his thoughts run wild, free from distraction or escape, and sure, those horrible thoughts made him sick to his stomach. They escaped from his mind, wrapping themselves around his very being and dragging him into the darkness spreading behind him. They screamed at him that this was all his fault, that the only reason his little brothers were captured was that he wasn't enough. He didn't protect them when he should've.

Those were the thoughts that the silence allowed to ensnare him.

But as terrible as the silence was in that aspect, it was nothing like the lair back home. It was... a nice break from the familiar noise. If he wasn't in a place that reminded him too much of home, maybe his homesickness would die down a bit. He'd prefer to stay in a foreign place, especially if the alternative was someplace that would comfort him with its familiarity, only to stab him in the back with the realization that it still wasn't his. That was why he liked the alien silence.

He'd been suffering through familiarity enough already. Especially when this world's Donnie ran out of his lab excitedly updating them on the progress for one of his tech projects, or when he turned around to catch this dimension's Leo with his eyes glued to the TV screen watching some cartoon. He didn't like seeing the similarities. It only reminded him of what he didn't have.

'You only don't have them because you messed up,' A voice in his head reminded, and Raph grimaced. He wished he could argue that, but he couldn't. Not when he knew it was right.

"Hey, that's cheating! She can't add onto my pile when she hasn't put her set down yet!" Across the room from where Raph sat, Little Mikey was sitting on the floor with his counterpart and Ice Cream Kitty. The three were playing some sort of card game, and Little Mikey (as Raph recently found he was going by for the time being) was evidently not happy with the way things were going.

"Why not?" The older Michelangelo demanded, crossing his arms. Little Mikey huffed out a breath, pointing accusingly at the cat, who hissed.

"It's against the rules!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Donnie!" This world's Mikey shouted, and both of the turtles turned to stare at the entrance to the lab. A moment later, a very annoyed and exhausted looking Donatello poked his head out, raising one brow and hanging onto the doorframe.

"What?" He asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

"In Phase 10, can you add to someone else's pile without setting your own cards down yet?" Little Mikey demanded. Donnie stared at both of the Mikeys one by one, before groaning and facepalming.

"That's what you guys called me out here for?" He asked exasperatedly, rolling his eyes. "You know I have important things to work on! I'm trying to figure out a way to program the portal to open and close and then open again at specific time intervals, to make sure that we can get back home when we go to Dimension X, but I don't want to leave it open while we're gone because I'm worried about Kraang sneaking in. It should be easy, but something is up with the time factor that I can't quite figure out. If I could just-"

"Dee!" This world's Mikey interrupted, "Can you add to someone's pile before laying yours down or not?"

Donnie sighed. "No. No, you can't, you can't get rid of cards until after you complete your phase."

"Haha!" Little Mikey jumped up and down victoriously, arms raised high over his head. His counterpart groaned, pouting while Ice Cream Kitty rubbed her head on his leg, and both watched the younger turtle in disdain. "I told you! Mikey knows Phase Ten, Baby! Five-time champion of the Hamato Household right here!" He pointed to himself proudly while his counterpart stuck out his tongue at him. This world's Donnie went back into his lab and closed the door.