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

Too Late

"Agh!" April cried out angrily as the anger boiled up in her chest, erupting in a shout as she stopped just long enough to kick a nearby trashcan. The sound echoed throughout the city and drummed back into her eardrums, and that only strengthened her rage. She shouldn't be able to hear it that well! There should be shouts and laughter and cars and sirens coming from the streets, filling the air and destroying any chance of silence. The city was huge! Why weren't there any people here? Why was this dimension so... so backward and empty! Why was everything here so wrong?

Another groan and another kick and April sucked in a deep breath, clenching her fists and desperately trying to calm her racing mind. She was getting angry over unrelated things now, wasn't she? The quiet of the city didn't have anything to do with Cassandra, nor did the empty streets relate to the trust the turtles lacked in her. She had done what she always did and let her emotions pollute her mind... April needed to relax, clear her mind, and take a step back before thinking about this.

Yet another sigh. "Maybe visiting other me's house will help, huh?" New April asked herself. Her counterpart's apartment would help. It'd be a nice place to sit back for a few hours and chat about whatever came to mind before they had to head back to the lair for that night's mission. And who knew? Maybe she'd even get to meet her counterpart's parents—or her father, at least, since she vaguely recalled this world's April mentioning losing her mother. At least it'd still be interesting to see her dad.

Approaching the end of the street, New April hesitated. Was she supposed to cross the street here, or was she supposed to turn to the next block? God, she should've brought a map. April O'Neil knew New York well, but not this New York. The sky was a different shade of blue and the horizon was too foreign to ever be considered home, and even the streets were laid out differently! If she wanted any chance of getting where she wanted to go, she was going to need some serious help. She reached into her pocket.

"Come on, come on," April mumbled, pulling out her new phone (a "T-Phone", as this world's Donnie had called it as he handed it to her). "Where's that stupid app..." She swiped through the phone, grinning once her eyes landed on the new purple and grey icon in the corner, and a neat map of New York popped up in seconds. Donatello had designed it, so it even included pathways through the sewers, and she thought it would do quite nicely in her quest to find her counterpart's apartment.

She started to type in the address when she suddenly stopped. A new notification had popped up, covering the entire screen with a smiling face from her contact information. She glowered.

This world's Donatello was calling.

As she ignored the call, a pang of guilt struck her heart. Donnie hadn't really done anything to hurt her here, had he? Not directly, anyway. He hadn't said much during the argument with Leo, but he hadn't spoken up in defense of the Mikeys either. He'd stayed quiet and might have even agreed with his leader, which angered New April even more... he should have backed her up, like this world's Raph had, and seen how logic agreed that trusting your enemy was a terrible idea! He was smart enough to see that. And even if he disagreed with her then a

He hadn't done any of that.

"Sorry Don," New April muttered, clicking the 'ignore call' icon and shoving her phone back into her pocket. "I don't feel like shoutin' at you today." She wasn't going to talk to any of them until she was calm, for both her own sake and theirs. After a couple of hours of being away from them, she'd feel better and would call him back. Everything could be sorted out then.

So April walked on, setting her eyes straight ahead and paying no mind to what went on behind her. She would deal with it all later. She would ignore all Donnie's texts and calls and wouldn't read a single one until she was ready to, because that was her choice. This would be what was best for her.