Gray and Natsu meet Edolas-Gray, but don't get the same warm reception they had from Edo-Natsu and the guild.

-----

i'm still comparing your past to my future
it might be your wound but they're my sutures

.

Gray could see the exact minute that Natsu realized who he was up against, and subsequently lost the fight.

Edolas-Gray attacked immediately, whipping across the ground and pelting a flurry of blows at Natsu's chest and face. His elbow came up and cracked across Natsu's cheekbone, then a palm struck Natsu's sternum and threw him into the wall.

Fight back, Gray thought desperately, clenching his fists and wishing to hell that he had his magic right now. He's dangerous. He'll hurt you. It was unsettling to see his own face up on the screen, twisted in an angry snarl, badly scarred with hardened eyes. Wasn't he supposed to be dead? What the hell was going on?

The crowd around him shouted and jeered as Natsu staggered backwards, blood pouring from his obviously broken nose. Heartbreak was written all over his face and his hands were trembling.

"Hit him!" Gray shouted, shoving his way through the crowd while making sure to keep his hood up. Now that he knew he wasn't dead here, it would be even worse to be found out.

Natsu must have picked up on his voice over the roar of the crowd, because he glanced out through the bars of the cage and then set his jaw determinedly. Planting his feet, he settled himself into a position that Gray knew all too well.

Unfortunately, that stance was for fighting with fire, and it left Natsu's chest and face wide open. Edo-Gray took advantage of it, kneeing him in the gut and grabbing him by the hair, then slamming his head into the wall. Electricity sizzled and sparked from the bars, and Natsu shouted out in pain.

"Goddamnit it, hit him!" Gray shouted again. He dug his nails into his palms hard enough that he felt blood welling up around them. If Natsu didn't start fighting back soon, he was going to get badly hurt.

Edo-Gray raised the fist that wasn't caught in Natsu's hair and was about to drive it down into his face when he faltered. Gray frowned, then realized that Edo-Gray was staring at Natsu's shoulder. Natsu was wearing a sleeveless shirt, and the paint they'd used to cover his guild mark was flaking away. Shit.

~

"Who the hell are you?" Edolas-Gray hissed, tightening his fingers in Natsu's hair. Natsu groaned, feeling electricity from the bars spark onto his skin, and he snarled up at the unsettlingly familiar face. "Where did you get this mark?"

"The guild, you moron," Natsu ground out, trying to lash out at Edo-Gray with his free leg. Edo-Gray raised a lip at him contemptuously, trapping Natsu's knee between his foot and the ground. Natsu whined in pain, trying desperately to free himself from the iron grip. This guy was stronger than his Gray – by a lot.

"I don't recognize you," Edo-Gray growled dangerously, shifting his grip in Natsu's hair until his face was centimeters from the electrified metal. "Now tell me the truth before I give you a scar on your face to match mine."

"What the fuck, Snowflake, I'm telling the truth!"

The grip on Natsu's hair loosened immediately, and he found himself flipped onto his back, a heavy foot on his chest. Edo-Gray was leaning over him, staring at him with a strange mixture of hope and anger.

"Natsu?" he asked, voice disbelieving. His eyes desperately searched Natsu's face, looking for someone Natsu could never be. Natsu groaned, grasping at Edo-Gray's foot with both hands, but Edo-Gray didn't move.

"Yes, it's me," Natsu hissed, wheezing as the pressure on his chest increased. "Not your Natsu, I'm from Otherworld. But... nggh... Fairy Tail sent us." Edo-Gray's perplexed expression began to harden again, and Natsu gasped for air. "Gray, I'm t-telling the truth. I swear... please..."

A tense silence fell between the two of them, and Natsu could hear his own Gray shouting over the din of the rest of the spectators. The sound flooded his senses, and he winced at the pain in his chest.

"This is going to hurt," Edo-Gray said after a moment, reaching down and grabbing Natsu by the throat. He dragged him to his feet, ignoring Natsu's hands scrabbling at his own. "But it has to look legit."

The anger in his eyes softened for just a second, then he drew his other fist back and bared his teeth. "I'll come to you after. Sorry about this."

Pain exploded between Natsu's eyes, and he felt himself falling to the ground, darkness filling his vision until he was lost to unconsciousness.

~

"This is fucked up."

Gray sat next to Natsu on a makeshift cot in the back room of the arena, cradling Natsu's head in his lap. Natsu drifted in and out of consciousness as Edo-Gray rummaged around in a metal box that he'd pulled out from under the cot.

"Of course it is," Edo-Gray growled, pulling out a small metal cylinder and popping off the cap. "You're wearing my face."

He gestured for Gray to tip Natsu's head to the side, then sprayed something from the cylinder along the side of Natsu's face. The skin immediately began to knit back together, redness fading away. The injury wasn't gone, but it looked better than it had a few seconds ago.

"It's not your face," Gray argued. "It's our face. We're different versions of the same person." Edo-Gray snorted, then tossed the empty cylinder into a metal container affixed to the wall. He stood up, stretching and wincing at the bruising on his ribs. "Don't you need to use some of that stuff on yourself?"

"I'm fine," Edo-Gray shrugged, washing his hands in a bucket of dirty water that sat on the floor. The water turned red as he splashed it up his arms, rinsing the blood away. He cleaned his face, scrubbing more blood from his split lip and the cut under his left eye, then ran a hand through his hair and turned around again. "I do this most nights, I'm used to it."

"That's... messed up," Gray replied, taking in the myriad of scars on Edo-Gray's chest and back. The most obvious one was the burn mark that stretched from his eye down his chest, but other scars crisscrossed his skin as well. There were patches on his arms that looked like the skin had been peeled away, and heavy, thick stripes on his back that might have been from being whipped. He was also missing his pinkie fingers on both hands, which was incredibly unsettling.

"We do what we have to," Edo-Gray murmured, reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out a chain. Dangling from the end was a silver ring, immediately recognizable as the twin to Edo-Natsu's. Edo-Gray pulled the chain over his head, then tugged on a long-sleeved shirt and brushed his hair out of his eyes. A leather jacket followed the shirt, and he shoved his feet into a pair of heavy boots.

"Gnnnhghh." Natsu groaned, eyes finally blinking open. Gray looked down at him, touching his cheek gently.

"Hey sunshine, you finally coming back to the land of the living?" Natsu grumbled in response, letting Gray help him sit up.

"That was one hell of a punch," Natsu growled, bringing a hand up to his broken nose. Even with the spray that Edo-Gray had used, it still looked terrible. "For a dead guy," Natsu added, glaring at Edo-Gray.

"I have a reputation to maintain," Edo-Gray replied, shrugging and ignoring the jab. "I said I was sorry. Now get dressed, we're leaving." He gestured to a clean shirt lying on the cot.

"We're not going anywhere until we get some goddamn answers," Natsu snarled, attempting to stand up but falling back onto the bed. Gray grabbed him around the waist and helped him up, slowly this time. "Specifically, why everyone at the guild, including here-me, thinks you're dead."

A mixture of grief and anger flashed across Edo-Gray's face, and he scowled at Natsu.

"Because I was dead," he snarled. "And I should have stayed that way." There was an uncomfortable pause where neither Gray nor Natsu knew what to say. Edo-Gray pointed to the shirt again. "Get dressed. I'm taking you to see Erza." Natsu and Gray exchanged a surprised look.

"That was easier than I expected," Natsu commented, pulling the shirt over his head. "We were trying to find her, but we had no idea where to look."

"Most people don't," Edo-Gray replied, gesturing for them to follow him out of the room and down the hallway. It opened up into a back alleyway where a rusty speeder bike was leaning against the wall. Edo-Gray walked past it. "We won't all fit on my bike, but it isn't far."

Not far was subjective, since they walked for over an hour back through the market. They wound through stalls selling various kinds of food - which only reminded Gray how hungry he was - along with storefronts offering everything from holotrips to strip shows. Edo-Gray was stubbornly silent the whole way, staying a few steps head of them to avoid conversation.

Eventually they left the market district and returned to the area where Gray and Natsu had come down the lifts. To their surprise, Edo-Gray took a right and beelined for an opulent-looking building with a flashing neon sign reading The House Of Negotiable Pleasures.

"Um," Natsu stammered, face flushing pink. "Are we... going to a brothel?"

"Just follow me," Edo-Gray replied, pushing through a group of tourists in glittery dresses and high-heeled shoes. "And keep your mouths shut." Gray and Natsu glanced at each other uncertainly, then shrugged and followed Edo-Gray into the building.

The inside of the brothel was just as opulent as the outside - gilded walls, expensive art prints, velvet and silk everywhere. Men and women dressed in revealing outfits lounged about, chatting up customers or lying on the couches, displaying themselves for sale.

Edo-Gray headed up to the counter, leaning across and whispering something to the man seated there. The man nodded, handing Edo-Gray a plastic square that looked similar to the credcard they'd been given by the guild.

"Upstairs," Edo-Gray said, returning to them and gesturing to a set of lifts built into the wall. These ones were round and made of glass, decorated with gold filigree, and the insides smelled like crushed flowers. Edo-Gray swiped the card over the panel, and the lift began to ascend to the fifth floor.

"Possibly stupid question," Natsu began, but Edo-Gray shot him a glare and Natsu put his hands up in surrender. The elevator arrived smoothly at its destination, doors sliding open and leading them into a long, plush carpeted hallway. Edo-Gray led them up to the third door on the left, then swiped the keycard and leaned in as the panel slid open.

"Rogue!" he called, stepping inside and wiping his boots on the mat. "You decent? I've got company."

"I'm always decent," came a familiar voice, and Rogue came around the corner as Gray and Natsu stepped into the room.

Gray's jaw dropped. Edolas-Rogue's hair was long, down to his waist, and was pulled back in a braid interwoven with red and orange beads and gems. His eyes were ringed with smoky liner, and a gold hoop hung from his nose, with matching ones in his ears. He wore a pair of loose, flowing pants and was barefoot, and his chest was bare save for the intricate jewelry in each of his nipples.

Holy shit, Gray thought.

"They're from Otherworld," Edo-Gray said curtly at Rogue's baffled expression. "Fairy Tail sent them. We have to get them to Erza. Can you call to open the door?"

"Slow down, love," Rogue said softly, placing a hand on Edo-Gray's chest. He kissed Edo-Gray's cheek, and Edo-Gray's shoulders visibly relaxed as he leaned into the gesture. Rogue murmured something in his ear, and Edo-Gray gave a soft half-shrug. Rogue squeezed his shoulder, then turned to Gray and Natsu.

"Sorry about him. He's rough around the edges."

"We, uh..." Gray trailed off as Rogue moved over to them, hips moving sensually with each step. "You..."

"Gray, did you punch this poor boy in the face?" Rogue reached out and cupped Natsu's chin, staring at his broken nose.

"He started it," Edo-Gray grumbled petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I said I was sorry." Gray was thrown off by his sudden change in demeanor.

"You're incorrigible." Rogue sighed, smiling at Natsu. Gray swallowed audibly, unable to keep his eyes from drifting over Rogue's finely toned chest and fair skin. "And this Gray's so much cuter than you."

"Frak off," Edo-Gray grumbled, but the curse didn't carry much venom. He moved further into the room, and Rogue gestured for Natsu and Gray to follow him.

The room itself wasn't large, but it was just as fancy as the main floor. A large, round bed sat in the center of the room, topped with satin sheets and a gold-embroidered blanket. In the far corner there was a dresser with a large vanity mirror and various makeup products, and along the wall was an enormous wardrobe, half-open to show a variety of different outfits.

"You're lucky you caught me between clients," Rogue chastised, gesturing for them to sit at a small table in the near corner. "Owl doesn't like it when I reschedule."

"I know," Edo-Gray replied, settling himself comfortably on the edge of the bed. Rogue's current state of undress didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. "I talked to Kett downstairs. He'll take care of it."

Rogue made a sound of assent, moving over to the wall next to the wardrobe and tapping a complicated rhythm onto the wallpaper.

"Sting's running today?" Edo-Gray asked, letting Rogue lean in and run a hand over his cheek, inspecting his injuries.

"Mhmm," Rogue replied, sounding somewhat exasperated. "He's pulling deckjockey, they're running a brushup on Netkon." He sighed, tapping Edo-Gray on the forehead. "You need to be more careful."

"He'd better be careful or he'll end up flatlined," Edo-Gray grumbled, ignoring the comment and leaning back lazily on his hands. His expression was more relaxed now, almost... fond when he looked at Rogue. "I know he's tech'd but still. Hollow's got a rep for pushing it."

Gray looked over to Natsu, who looked just as puzzled as he did. It was like they were speaking a different language. Also, what were they doing here?

"Everything all right?" Gray started, realizing that Rogue was studying his face intently. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable, but he nodded. "Sorry, you're just... a curiosity. I suppose we're very strange to you as well."

"Y-yeah," Gray replied, hooking his ankle around Natsu's under the table. "Everything is strange. You're... very different." Rogue smiled gently, unfazed by his words.

"We're all molded by circumstance," he said softly, running his fingers over the soft fabric of his pants. "But I have a feeling you can help change that."

Edo-Gray snorted but Rogue ignored him, moving back over to the wall and gesturing at them.

"Follow me," he said, then stepped through the wall and disappeared.

~

"Where are we?" Natsu asked, stumbling through the wall. Gray caught him by the back of the jacket before he fell on his face. Soft light spilled through the area, illuminating a spacious room. A long table stretched across the center, surrounded by chairs of various shapes and sizes. Maps, diagrams, lists and pictures were pinned to the walls in different configurations, and a desk in the corner held a large vidscreen and a stack of datapads. There was a single door in the far corner.

"This is the Resistance headquarters," Rogue explained, stepping over to the door and knocking. A muffled yell came from behind it, and he rolled his eyes. "Erza will be out shortly. Caf?" He pointed to another table in the far corner, where Edo-Gray was fiddling with a grungy-looking coffee machine.

"Please," Gray replied, moving over to the wall and looking over the pictures. Natsu shook his head, settling down at the table. "So you really are trying to destroy the stone?" Most of the diagrams on the wall were labelled maps of Acropolis, and there were several lists of known Magehunters and their positions.

"Yes," Rogue replied, sitting down in one of the chairs and crossing a leg over his knee. He gratefully accepted a cup of coffee from Edo-Gray, letting his fingers linger on Edo-Gray's hand. "We're hoping that if it's destroyed, it will return our magic." Gray glanced at the Purge mark on his doppelgänger's chest.

"And if we can take out Faust while we're at it, that's a bonus." Edo-Gray's voice was low and dangerous. He set another cup of coffee on the table, looking over at Gray and gesturing to it.

"You mean like... put him in prison?" Natsu asked hesitantly. Gray could tell that Natsu was disturbed by Edo-Gray's anger and bitterness, considering how warm and inviting his own alter-self had been.

"Kill him," Edo-Gray replied bluntly. "He deserves it for everything he's done."

Natsu was about to reply when the door at the far end of the room opened and Erza stepped into the room.

"Gray, you never told me you had a twin." Erza grinned and raised an eyebrow at Gray as she crossed her arms over her chest. She wore a simple tank top and low-cut pants with a gun holster hanging off her hip, and her long red hair was shaved on one side of her head. A nasty-looking scar ran through her right eyebrow and down her jaw.

"Frak off, Erza," Edo-Gray growled. "They're from Otherworld. The guild sent them." Erza's eyes skipped to Natsu, finally seeing past the dark hair and broken nose. Her eyes widened.

"Oh," she murmured, moving closer to the table. "Man, you did a number on him. Are you ok—"

"Don't." Edo-Gray's voice was hard, and he pushed off the table, moving to the corner of the room and leaning against the wall. "It's not him, and it's not important."

"But—"

"I said don't," he snapped. Erza sighed, rubbing her face.

"All right, the guild sent you?" she asked. Gray dug into his pocket, pulling out a small piece of tech that Edo-Natsu had given him. He held it out to her hesitantly.

"They helped us get through the Wall," Gray explained as she took the tech and moved to the vidscreen in the corner. "They gave us that and told us to find you."

Erza didn't respond, slipping the tech into an open port on the terminal. The vidscreen powered up, and there was a moment of static before Edo-Natsu's face filled the screen.

"Hey, guys!" He grinned cheerfully, waving. "If you're watching this, it means the Otherworlders found you, which is ace, because Freed tells me they'll probably end up dusted. I don't believe that – it's me and Gray, and even from another universe we're pretty trick." A sad look flashed across his face for a moment, and Gray turned to look at his other self.

Edo-Gray was still leaning against the wall, one arm wrapped around his stomach and the other grasping the chain around his neck so hard that his knuckles were turning white. His face was twisted in an expression of longing and heartbreak, and tears ran silently down his cheeks.

"Look, I know a lot of us are gone," Edo-Natsu continued in the video. "There's seven of us left in Fairy Tail, and we don't know about the other guilds. Pretty sure Rogue and Sting got taken a couple years back, and Lyon..." His voice trailed off and he looked away from the camera momentarily. "Anyway, we're hoping to hell that you've got a plan. The Others need the stone to get home, so maybe they can help us. We sent our creds with them – hopefully they can buy you some spellcubes or something. If you can get the wall down, we'll be there helpin' you in a heartbeat."

Edo-Gray made a soft noise, swiping at his face with the back of a shaky hand. His chest trembled a bit as he held in a sob. Gray wasn't certain if he should do something to comfort his other self, but decided against it. He didn't want to end up with a broken nose, too.

"So... good luck, I guess." Edo-Natsu ran his hand through his hair, eyes focused on the floor. "We'll be here, takin' out Magehunters where we can. Stay strong, okay?" He gave a lazy salute and flashed one last half-smile at the screen, and then the video faded out, leaving only static.

An awkward silence filled the room. Both Erza and Rogue kept their eyes fixed on the screen, as if somehow it would summon Edo-Natsu through the machine. Gray and Natsu both looked at each other uncomfortably, each bursting with questions. Before Gray could stop him, Natsu turned to look at Edo-Gray.

"So why the hell does he think you're dead?" he asked angrily. Edo-Gray didn't respond, just kept his hand on the chain around his neck and his eyes on the floor. He wasn't crying anymore, but his posture was defeated. "Do you have any idea how—"

"Shut. Up." Edo-Gray's voice was barely a whisper, but it carried enough weight to stop Natsu mid-sentence. "You have no idea what you're talking about." Gray placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder, squeezing it in a silent plea for him to let this go.

"But he misses you."

"You don't think I miss him too?" Edo-Gray snarled, darting toward Natsu. Rogue yanked him back at the last second, and Edo-Gray struggled against the grip, then dropped his hands, letting Rogue pull him down until he was sitting in a chair on the other side of the table.

"Gray's execution was faked," Erza explained quietly as Rogue crouched beside Edo-Gray's chair, stroking his face and whispering to him quietly. Edo-Gray didn't respond, just stared blankly at the floor. "He was kept in Acropolis and tortured. I got him out and he's been living here since. Nobody can leave through the Wall, and they've blocked all signals except official Imperium holos. He's stuck here, just like the rest of us."

"Fuck, I'm sorry," Natsu whispered, looking across the table. Edo-Gray shook his head, jaw set stubbornly, eyes on the ground. "I didn't..."

"He was the only thing in this world that ever mattered to me," Edo-Gray said quietly. He finally looked up at Natsu, eyes dark and angry. "I did what I had to, to keep him safe."

"We have the creds," Gray said quickly, feeling his stomach clench at the expression on his other-self's face. He had to fix this, needed to bring these two heartbroken men back together. "What can we do? Do you already have a plan?"

"I think we should call everyone in tomorrow." Erza glanced over at Rogue and Edo-Gray, who both nodded. "We'll take stock of what we've got so far and go from there."

Edo-Gray stood up, tucking the chain and ring back under his shirt and shoving his hands in his pockets. He gave Rogue an apologetic look, then nodded to Erza and brushed past Gray and Natsu. Moving to the back wall, he tapped out a short rhythm, then stepped quickly through the portal it created. Rogue exhaled, pushing himself back up to his feet.

"He's..." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "This is hard for him. Especially seeing you." He nodded at Natsu, who looked embarrassed. "When Erza got him out of Acropolis, we thought... we didn't know what to do. It was bad."

"What the hell did they do to him?" Gray asked, feeling sick. He thought of the scars on Edo-Gray's arms and back and shuddered.

"Tortured him," Erza replied, sitting down heavily. "Tested their Magehunting weapons. Tested his pain tolerance. Purged him slowly instead of all at once. Two years is a long—"

"Two years?" Natsu interrupted, eyes wide. Erza nodded sadly, combing her fingers through the ends of her long hair.

"He's... a bit better now," she said softly. "He works at the Pit and brings back the creds for the Resistance. Sometimes he lets... some people touch him." Erza's eyes slid over to Rogue, who was staring sadly at the black vidscreen. "He copes. Not well, but he copes."

"We all do," Rogue replied, and Gray finally took the time to process the fact that Rogue's outfit and piercings and makeup weren't just who he was here. They'd came to him in a brothel, and he was dressed like a prostitute. He was a prostitute, and he used the room they had just been in to sell his body for money. Gray was slowly starting to understand Edo-Gray's desire for Faust's death.

"Do you two have a place to stay?" Erza turned to them and Natsu shook his head.

"We had our own credcard, but I guess it got flagged?" He sighed, rubbing his face, and Gray rested a hand on his shoulder. It felt like forever since they'd slept. He realized suddenly that it wasn't actually night – it was probably actually late morning. But with the darkness and fake neon lights down here, he guessed it didn't matter what time it was up above.

"You can stay here," Erza said, standing and leading them to the door she'd come through. Down the hallway were three doors – one on the left and two on the right. "Take the second on the right, sorry if there's junk in there, we don't get guests often. Sleep for a bit, then we'll get you something to eat."

"I'm going back to work," Rogue said quietly, coming up behind them. "I'm sorry that this is all so foreign. I hope we can get you home." He reached over and touched Natsu's cheek gently. "Don't let him get to you. It's not you he's mad at." Then he gave Gray a soft smile and was gone back the way they'd come in.

Natsu and Gray entered their designated room – a small space with two single beds and a table in between. Wordlessly, they moved the table and pushed the beds together, then kicked off their boots and slid under the rough blankets. Natsu wriggled until his head was on Gray's chest, tucked under his chin, and Gray's arms were wrapped around him.

"I'm scared," Natsu admitted after a minute. Gray sighed, leaning down to kiss his head.

"Me too," he whispered, tightening his grip on Natsu's waist. "Go to sleep, we'll figure things out when we wake up."

"Mm," Natsu mumbled, burying his face in Gray's chest. It wasn't long before his breathing evened out and his body went limp against Gray's. Gray sighed, wishing he could fall asleep so easily. Instead he stayed awake for hours, mind racing as he tried to figure out how to get their other-selves back together, and how the hell they were going to get home.