Disclaimer: TinySprite owns nothing of Dragon Flyz, which is owned by Gaumont Pictures. Only the plot is mine.

Prompt: Writer's Choice – Exchange

Part 1 of 5

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Lord Dread Wing slowly blinked his eyes once, then a second time, trying to get rid of the spots in his vision. His scientist Gangryn moaned weakly from where he lay, signifying that the scrawny mutant was still alive at least.

Groaning weakling himself, Dread stood up from where he'd been thrown against the wall and stumbled over to his scientist, reaching down to drag Gangryn to his feet, "What was that?"

The smaller mutant shook his head, hands nervously reaching up to readjust his goggles, "That was unfortunately a failure, my Lord. I do apologize for it."

The red mutant just grunted and released his grip, letting Gangryn stand on his own. Looking first in disinterest at the bits of machine strewn around them, Dread Wing looked up to take in the state of the lab only to find himself staring instead.

Reaching back to his scientist, Dread grabbed one thin shoulder and spun the other mutant around, "Gangryn, explain this."

The scientist blinked in sharp surprise, staring around as well, "I...I think it wasn't a failure after all sire.."

He began to mumble to himself about 'exchange ratios' and 'time streams', apparently working himself into an academic fury. Dread Wing let out an exasperated sigh and demanded, "EXPLAIN Gangryn."

The scrawny scientist readjusted his goggles yet again, "Sire, it seems my teleporter did work but...in a way I didn't expect it to."

"Clearly," was Dread's only response, taking in the sight of his ruined throne room. It'd been years since he'd seen it like this, in the time before the treaty. Looking back at Gangryn, he asked, "I take it we are in the past?"

Gangryn glanced around again, "It would seem so, Master Dread Wing...but something doesn't feel right about this place."

The larger mutant gave a slow nod of agreement, looking around again. It was hard to put into words but there was this air of malice here, something about the room's set up that spoke to more than just neglect but a cultivated effect to instill fear into one's heart.

A war cry from above drew both of their attention upwards, to the sight of Z'neth coming straight at them. Dread Wing neatly dodged him, demanding, "Z'neth! What is this about?"

Gangryn had dodged behind one of the room's many stalagmites for safety, looking out from behind it and trying to get his master's attention, "Lord Dread! Wait I think-"

Z'neth cut him off, bringing up his wind jammer to point it at the mutant Lord, "You know what this is about! Where is he?"

Dread Wing gave the human a horribly dark scowl, of such intensity that it actually shocked Z'neth. Snarling, Dread told him, "You know damn well that I do not know where your brother is, anymore than you do Z'neth! Now what is this about? Have you listened to that poisonous bastard Joshua a time too many?"

The Dragon Fly returned the snarl, "Don't play dumb with me Dread! I saw you drag Peak off of Wing Storm and you taunted us with an execution deadline!"

To the human's shock, Gangryn actually tackled him out of the way as Dread released a horrifying roar and charged at him. The scientist was on his feet in seconds, screaming, "HE'S NOT OURS! THIS ISN'T OUR WORLD!"

Dread stopped barely in time, snarling right in his subordinate's face, "What was that?!"

Gangryn held up some hand-held device thing, the only undamaged part of the machine, "The numbers aren't right at all my lord! My teleportation machine worked but not in the way I expected it to! You and I were sent to a different Old Earth entirely!"

The red mutant snarled again, "Prove it!"

At that, Gangryn stepped aside and pointed at the heavily confused Z'neth, "Think Dread Wing! Would our Z'neth really accuse you of such a thing? In addition, he doesn't have the scars!"

Dread Wing frowned and glared heavily at the human, his eyes seeming to focus on Z'neth's right arm. After a minute he suddenly sat himself down roughly on the room's floor, heaving a massive sigh, "You're right Gangryn."

The mutant scientist turned to Z'neth with a light shrug, "I'm sorry for this, it's been a rough time for everyone."

The human shook his head, "What are the two of you talking about?! Where's Peak?"

Dread Wing shook his head, "Your guess is as good as ours, Z'neth."

Gangryn spoke up, "If what I'm thinking is correct, wouldn't he be in one of the cells, sire?"

The red mutant looked up sharply, "And why would he be th-...oh."

It almost visibly clicked in his head and Dread stood straight up, growing out his wings and flying off. Gangryn shrugged again at Z'neth, "It might be best if you followed him. Unfortunately my lord isn't exactly in the right frame of mind at the moment."

That had Z'neth darting off after Dread Wing, the human's exo-wings working at a hard pace. Mumbling to himself, Gangryn began to collect the pieces of his machine.

This was going to take days to repair, if not weeks. Perhaps even months if his suspicions held true.