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

One Moment of Clarity

Raphael couldn't know for sure if the controlled Donnie was actually questioning Kraang orders or not. He really had his fair share of doubts about the idea—the other Donnie had had Leatherhead tortured and imprisoned and created one of the most devastating weapons that could ever be used against humanity too. Were those really the actions of a conflicted man? Raphael didn't know, and with Leonardo passed out on the ground and Little Mikey bleeding next to him, he wasn't sure if they could afford to hope that that was the case.

But despite all of these unsure situations, there was something that Raphael knew he could trust in: that determined look on his little brother's face, the same one that Donatello always got as soon as he figured out the solution to a particularly difficult problem and finally knew what he had to do. Whenever Donnie got that look, they always came out on top no matter what.

So if Donatello believed he could fix this, Raphael would trust him to deal with his counterpart while he went to help New Raph, his Mikey, and Leatherhead with New April and Metalhead 2.0. That was all he had to worry about.

But the fight was long since started when he arrived.

"Take that!" Mikey shouted as he swung his chucks towards Metalhead, while New Raph dodged a swing of New April's bat. Leatherhead roared beside him and charged towards Metalhead. Raphael jumped into battle without a second thought.

New Raph turned, shouting as they fought. "What's the plan?" He asked.

"We hold them off while our Donnie takes care of yours," Raphael told him. New Raph's eyes widened in panic

"That's it?" He asked, "But- But shouldn't we try to go over there to help him? We need to knock my Donnie out and—"

"Our Donnie has a plan," Raphael said, "He's got this, okay? We just gotta trust him."

New Raph certainly looked like he wanted to argue that, but he reluctantly nodded his agreement. The conversation couldn't last much longer after that, however, because Michelangelo's panicked shouts caught both Raphs' attentions.

"Dudes!!" The older Mikey exclaimed, "They called in back up!!" The turtle pointed towards the open lab door, where dozens of Kraang droids were now pouring in from, and looked at Raphael with eyes the size of pinpricks. "What do we do?!"

Raphael wished he knew.

What were they supposed to do in a situation like this? The battle was getting worse and worse for them each second and New Donnie wasn't any closer to getting free of that damned mind control device yet. New April and Metalhead were just waiting for the second they could take them all down and Leonardo still hadn't woken up yet (though Raphael had noticed Little Mikey had managed to pull both of them out of the battle arena and off to the side by now). This situation was bad.

The panic rose in his chest. But before it could bubble over, Leatherhead ran in front of him.

"I will hold off the Kraang," He boldly declared, and then ran off with a rumbling battle cry. His shouted "Kraang!!" echoed with hate and rage and, upon reaching the kraangdroids, he had bitten one in half within seconds. He held them off easily.

New Raph and Michelangelo nodded silently to each other, and then the two rushed towards Metalhead. Even with Metalhead's upgrades, Raphael was confident that his counterpart and baby brother would be able to handle him. And with Leatherhead was taking out the Kraangdroids and the Donnies facing off against one another, only one opponent remained.

Raphael turned around and faced New April, who stood across from him with a fierce grip on her glowing bat. He huffed out a humorless chuckle.

"Alright, April," He said, "I don't wanna hurt you. I'll tell you what: I'll go easy on you for now, okay? I'll—"