I've been working through some creative slumpiness stuff for a long time, and I finally feel okay enough to keep trying to post this fic. This is the first chapter I'm posting without my co-author.

"... Dragons who have mated will usually have a higher social standing in their flight than lone dragons, the only exemption to this are alpha dragons." ~Dragon Historia, pg. 37

Chapter Ten: Flip Side

In most instances, sound was the first thing to come to him. Far off echoes dancing in his skull before he regained consciousness like a fish flopping over a waterfall. Cobra's body jolted as he woke up face-down on the ground, taking in a sharp breath - which he instantly regretted, and he coughed to dislodge his lungs of dust as he quickly got to his knees. "Shit," he coughed, getting to his feet. "What was that?"

The redhead turned, expecting to see a giant hole in some part of the city - but there was no city at all. Magnolia was gone, a flat slate left in its place. A deafening silence rung in his ears. Dark clouds swirled ominously overhead. Cobra frowned. Well that certainly wasn't good.

Snatching up his bag, he headed down into the wasteland and listened for something; anything. For a while, the only sounds he heard were on the edge of the once-city, people looking to come into town for errands only to find it a white void of nothing. When Cobra finally heard something else - he headed in that direction, determined to find some sort of answers.

That was when he came upon Jellal.

For a split-second, even before he could clearly see the man as anything more than a black speck, Cobra's insides coiled and his thick lips curled back to expose his thin fangs. Images of the Tower flashed through his mind; dark corridors, locked doors, and Jellal - turning a blind eye to what happened to the other slaves, Jellal refusing to let anybody out - Jellal selling him off . As he got closer, as he listened to the man more, he began to understand that it wasn't Jellal - not quite. But it wasn't quite not -Jellal and so Cobra still wasn't pleased to see the man.

"Mystogan's a stupid name," Cobra spat in greeting to the ragged S-class mage, with more venom in his tone than was probably needed.

"And Cobra isn't?" Mystogan calmly replied, ignoring the way Cobra seemed ready to jump on him and tear him apart. "You already know who I am," Mystogan added, pointing to his own ears to show that he knew how Cobra's worked. "And I assume you can hear what's happened."

"Sure, you're a copy of someone I'd like to eviscerate." Red tendrils of smoke crawled up from Cobra's wrists, and he curled his fingers into tight fists as he attempted to calm his scales. "A copy of someone I'd like to eviscerate," he repeated, "Saying that some sky-hole sucked up the whole town."

"You know it's the truth," Mystogan pointed out.

Cobra lightly snorted, glancing up at the swirling mass of clouds that seemed to punch through the sky for many miles. He could hear Mystogan's thoughts; that Cobra's Dragonslayer magic had saved him from the "Anima", as it had the same for Salamander, Wendy... and Gajeel.

"It was fine for the other three to go through, but you would be in danger from the Anima if you went," Mystogan said plainly. "Your lacrimal implant-"

Cobra's ears perked, hearing the warning before it was said. "My implant means I'll turn to a solid lacrima statue," Cobra finished the other mage's explanation before Mystogan could finish. He looked up at the vortex, lightly sneering at the extradimensional hole. Lacrimal implants were more hassle than they were worth; and it wasn't the first time his had been more of a handicap than a help. Cobra paused, his ears perking lightly. "But you have a way to prevent that, right?"

"In theory," Mystogan agreed. He rummaged around under his ruined dark cloak before producing a small bottle of strange pills. Cobra could hear that he'd given Gajeel a similar dosage before sending the iron idiot off with enough to help the rest of the guild… and that Natsu dragged Wendy ahead without taking any.

"Drugs," Cobra commented.

"How very astute," Mystogan dryly chuckled. Or so Cobra thought it was a chuckle - normal people didn't make sounds like that. What a freak. "If you stay here, the Council will show up and have a very convenient ex-dark mage to blame for the town's disappearance. However, in order for you to go to the other side there and remain flesh and blood, you'll need to take two of these every three hours. You have enough to last eighteen hours."

This world was dying. And he could hear it. The land didn't quietly hum with a life of it's own, it was... silent. The magic drained from the land had turned it all to desert, with minor towns and villages scattered throughout - crumbs of what had once been a green, vibrant place.

Knowing Fairy Tail, Cobra headed for where the rumors and destruction lead him - and when he was close enough the loudest fairy he knew was like a beacon, a migraine-inducing beacon. He spotted the fire and sky dragonslayers as he rounded a corner, bodies of various soldier flying through the air, and he tailed them just far enough behind to off the few remaining enemies with a flurry of quick, poison-tipped claws.

"And here I thought you had the brains to not leave witnesses when you're hiding from the law," Cobra remarked. His fingers rigidly flexed as his scales sunk back into his skin, the purple and maroon giving way to his smooth, chestnut skin once again.

"Finally, someone we know is acting right!" Happy and Natsu both said, in slightly off-sync unison.

Wendy shyly half-hid behind Natsu. She was still wary of Cobra, but her opinion of him wasn't what it had been during their original encounter. Carla practically shot daggers at him with her eyes, though.

Just when he was about to say something, he ducked - nearly avoiding a headlock-hug from a black-clad blonde.

"EJ!" the blonde called him. She moved to grab him again and Cobra again smoothly evaded her; she tried once more and once more he slid out of her reach like some awkward dance.

But it was Wendy who moved to correct the other woman, and it was next to Wendy and Natsu that Cobra slunk to stand. "Oh, Miss Ashley, this isn't-"

"Where's your camera, Shutterfield?" Ashley, clearly the Edolas version of that Lucy chick, pointed at him, mouth pulled to the side in a tough-looking frown. "And what're you talkin' for, you ain't never talked before." Cobra only leveled the most disbelieving look he could at her, until he heard her mind catch up. "Shit, you must be the other- EJ!"

"This is Cobra!" Natsu threw an arm around Cobra's shoulders, grinning widely.

"Remember what I said about touching," Cobra warned, and Natsu quickly withdrew.

Natsu, oblivious to the way Cobra pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, further explained: "And he's pretty good at fighting! But unless you're fighting him, don't touch him."

In a troublesome whisper, Happy added: "He's got boundary issues."

Cobra bristled, folding his arms tight against his chest. "That's not what that means."

"An EJ that don't like to be touched and is named after a snake?" Ashley, fully amused, snorted. "You Earthlanders really are the opposite of us."

"U-um, Cobra," Wendy gently interjected, quietly wringing the hem of her dress, "Did Mystogan send you, too?"

He nodded, red bangs bouncing slightly from the motion. "He said you ran ahead before he could finish explaining everything." With a sigh, he produced the bottle of x-pills from his coat. "You want our magic in this world, you have to take two of these ." When Natsu went to reach for the bottle, Cobra held it out of his reach. "I give you these, then we need to find Gajeel. He has the rest. I can't afford to share with the rest of the guild."

"Troubles with your implant?" Carla said, her tone implying a threat that none of the others seemed to pick up on. Damn, who know a little white cat could threaten with the skill of a demon general?

Cobra frowned at her. He then dropped the bottle in Natsu's hand. "I mean it, Salamander. You two first-gens should be good with one dose each, but I have to keep taking them. I only have enough for twelve hours once you two take your doses."

Natsu stared at the bottle in his palm, frowning thoughtfully. Cobra could hear he was actually weighing the pros and cons of having his magic back versus a limited time table at Cobra's expense. "Wendy can take hers. I'll wait until we find Gajeel." His grin returned as he passed to bottle off to the smallest dragonslayer. Salamander had half a brain and wasn't half-bad, who knew?

"We haven't seen Gajeel," Wendy said. She fiddled with the cap of the bottle until Cobra took it from her, uncorked the top, and gave it back. "Th-thank you."

Dozens of iron-clad boots beat out a steady tempo underlining an off-key marching cadence that echoed across the wide open plaza. Add to that the cheers of the crowd watching the military display, and Gajeel was beginning to understand why Cobra was alway so grumpy in noisy areas. He sat on the roof of a building overlooking the plaza, shaded by a hooded cloak and far enough from the edge that he could not be seen from the ground. Beside him stood his clone, furiously scribbling in his pocket-sized notebook, and EJ, the Cobra lookalike, silent but for the incessant clicking of his camera's shutter. Their attentions were fixed solely on the massive lacrima crystal that dominated the center of the plaza, around which Edolas' finest military squads were on parade.

"Judging by the size of that thing, it should be the lacrima which contains your guild," Redhawk said, finally snapping his notebook shut. "Just think how many people could be crammed in there, it's large enough to fit a whole city!"

"You sure that's everyone? They'd be pretty cramped in there," Gajeel responded. He cautiously leaned over the edge of their perch to get a better count of the guards below; one hundred at least, making a full ring around the lacrima, and enough civilians to pack the plaza full.

EJ paused, a look of recognition over coming his flat features, snapping the lenscap back onto his camera. He again slid his small notebook from his pocket. [IT LOOKS LESS CROWDED AT THE NORTH ENTRANCE. I'M GOING TO GO TAKE A LOOK.] After he was sure that both Gajeel's had read his message, he gave a small nod before sliding down the fire escape to scout ahead.

Redhawk slid his notebook into a breast pocket, his gaze lingering on the fire escape EJ had descended. A look of concern crossed his face, which he quickly masked by turning a bright smile on Gajeel. "Well, it looks like it's just you and me holding the fort here! Perhaps we could take this time to plot out our strengths and their weaknesses, or come up with an attack plan of some sort?"

"You worry about him, don't you?"

"Pardon?"

Gajeel motioned toward the fire escape, watching his twin's face intently. "You're anxious when he's not right beside you, and you're always watching him like a cat with her kittens. Why don't you go with him?"

"EJ is a capable man," Redhawk responded, his false grin settling into a more fond smile. "While we do depend on each other, he can look after himself. We work just as well apart as we do together, to insist on following him everywhere would only suffocate him and dampen that which makes him special. Besides, his specialty lies in espionage and, er, photoshop. Having me around all the time would draw too much attention and interfere with his work. I trust that he will return to me safely."

It wasn't quite what the iron dragon was expecting, but it made sense.

"Do you not worry about yours?" Redhawk asked.

"'Course I do, but I can't exactly say he's mine. If you've got an 'EJ', and our names are supposed to be mostly the same between dimensions, then he hasn't even told me his real name." Gajeel looked away from Redhawk and let his eyes fall on the lacrima at the center of the plaza, a frown furrowing his brow. "Say you knew he didn't want you going after him, but he was in real trouble and couldn't get himself out of it, would you go then?"

Redhawk followed Gajeel's gaze, comprehension slowly dawning. "I would without hesitation. But, knowing that, you can't expect to be rewarded in companionship for it. If he's the opposite of my EJ, I don't imagine he's especially the cuddling type..."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Both Gajeel's lapsed into silence, the stifling air broken only by the marching cadence echoing up from the plaza. Perhaps the lacrima was large enough to contain all of Magnolia. Cram every inch of it with people, and they might just fit.

"He's down there, somewhere," Gajeel said at length. "He has to be."

"If he is, then we will find him. I've got your back, me."