Previously...

"Magic Guilds are supposed to bring like-minded people together so they can share their dreams. They're not places for killers like you to team up."

"How dare you." Dreadwing spoke in an almost inaudible whisper. Suddenly, the volume of his voice immediately rose as the rage in his blue optics intensified at Fukuro. "How dare you claim to be serving justice, when all you really do is kill people for money! People who serve justice stand for what is right and protect the innocent." Braedey paused as he glared daggers at the owl-man. "You do neither of those. You're no hero or knight of justice... you're a PIECE OF SCUM!"

"Braedey! Salamander! I'm telling you two. There's no way you can defeat him!" Simon yelled frantically.

Dreadwing growled. "I've beaten plenty of scumbags like this guy before, Simon. I'm not intimidated by this creep!" Braedey narrowed his optics at Fukuro. "This guy is going down!"

"I hate it that there are people out there that would pay someone to commit murder." Natsu snarled, the enraged scowl on his face growing stronger. "I hate it that there are people who would kill for money... and I hate that you're talking like you're in a real Guild! So me and my friend here are gonna have to take you down a notch. You hear me, bird-brain? Let's dance!"

Flames consumed Natsu's body as his anger accelerated to new levels, whilst Dreadwing deployed two missiles from both of his arms.

Simon paused and stared up at Braedey and Natsu with wide eyes. The expressions on their faces were quite livid. Things were really about to get rough...

"No, little Salamander and Take-Over wizard, you both are so naïve." Fukuro countered, unintimidated by Braedey and Natsu's rage bubbling to the surface. "I am doing this world a great service by destroying those who commit evil deeds."

The large rocket pack on Fukuro's back began to discharge bright yellow flames, but he continued to hover in place.

"And since you two are evildoers," Fukuro continued, "you both must be destroyed! Jet Ho-Ho-HOU!"

With a burst of incredible speed, the owl-man blasted toward Dreadwing and Natsu. The battle between the so called 'knight of justice', superhero, and Dragon Slayer had begun.

~*~*~

Before the Fairy Tail duo could react, Fukuro crashed into them with his left fist slamming into Natsu's abdomen and his right fist into Dreadwing's torso. The owl-man continued soaring upward at insane speeds with a trail of gold light behind him.

"NATSU! BRAEDEY!" Happy cried out, worried.

Dreadwing's optics narrowed as his face twisted into a scowl. He deployed his blaster, and fired a beam of red energy straight into Fukuro's face. The sudden attack caused Fukuro to let go of Natsu and Braedey and careen back a few metres.

"HO-HOU!" Fukuro cried painfully, rubbing his sore face.

Natsu turned his body forward and spotted one of the many chains that hung across the room right in front of him. He grabbed onto it and swung himself right back to Fukuro. He positioned himself to where his feet were in front.

With his legs wreathed in fire, Natsu shouted, "Fire Dragon Talon!"

Fukuro saw this and flew to the left to avoid the attack, grabbed Natsu by his right arm, and spun in place a few times. When he gathered up enough momentum, he threw Natsu across the large room. Before he could crash into the rock wall, Dreadwing caught Natsu and held the mage.

"Hang tight." Dreadwing ordered. "I got an idea."

"What is it?" Natsu groaned, feeling a little queasy.

"You'll see. It's gonna be a blast!" Dreadwing replied.

The Cybertronian blasted forward, leaving a trail of red light behind him. Fukuro spotted the duo coming straight toward him and decided to follow their example.

"Thruster Ho-Ho-HOU!" The deadly assassin accelerated toward them as a couple streams of brilliant yellow fire shot out from his twin rocket-pack.

The two jet-propelled combatants flew straight at one another, locked in an aerial game of chicken. Just metres away from colliding with each other, Dreadwing immediately went straight up and discharged an intense, red propulsion blast from his feet.

"Ho-HOU!" Fukuro was caught off guard by the blast and went reeling into a cage down below.

Dreadwing stopped and hovered in midair. His attention was then caught by the sounds of sickly groans. He looked down to see that Natsu's face had turned green and his cheeks were puffed out due to his motion sickness.

"OH C'MON!" Astrodactyl shouted in chagrin. "How are you sick already?!"

"Here," Happy flew up to the pterodactyl-like being and relieved Braedey of Natsu. The moment Happy grabbed onto his black vest, Natsu perked up a bit. "Ugh... thanks little buddy. I feel better now." He grinned as his facial color returned to normal.

Dreadwing blinked, confused. "How is it that you get motion sick with me and other forms of transportation but not Happy?"

Natsu turned to Braedey incredulously. "Are you serious?! Happy's not a form of transportation! He's my friend. I mean... duh."

"I'M YOUR FRIEND TOO, YAH MORON!" Dreadwing snapped indignantly.

Fukuro quickly recovered from the propulsion attack and, with a surge of speed, blasted towards Braedey. "Ho-ho, interesting abilities, creature," Fukuro commented, "but evil cannot triumph over justice!"

Golden light gathered around Fukuro's right fist as he delivered a fearsome punch into Dreadwing's chest. The Transformatrix bearer yelled painfully as he went sprawling back and crashed through two cages.

"Why you," Natsu snarled. "Happy, throw me at him!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy replied determinedly.

Happy spun in place a couple times before throwing Natsu straight at the owl-man. Flames ignited around his right fist as he cocked it back. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Fukuro didn't flinch from the incoming attack. The dangerous killer simply ducked under Natsu's flame-coated fist and grabbed onto his right leg. Fukuro spun around and threw Natsu into Happy. They both slammed into the roof of another cage below, throwing up a dust cloud.

"Natsu! Happy!" Simon yelled, concerned.

Natsu and Happy were both lying on their stomachs; the latter had his eyes closed and was semi-unconscious. The Dragon Slayer groaned lightly, lifting his head up to glare up at the owl-man. Twin torrents of exhaust blasted out from Fukuro's twin rockets as he soared toward the duo.

"Ho-Hou! Face the light of justice, Salamander!" Fukuro reared back his right fist, golden light casting off of it.

All of a sudden, Fukuro was halted when an energy whip wrapped around his right wrist. Dreadwing pulled back and swung the owl-man around him at blinding speeds. Braedey then disengaged his energy whip, which sent Fukuro flying across the room and crashing into another cage.

Dreadwing came down and landed by Natsu, who was steadily returning to his feet. "You okay?"

Natsu grunted. "Fine... that hurt though."

The duo's attention was regained by Fukuro, who had quickly recovered from Dreadwing's attack. He hovered above Dreadwing and Natsu with his muscular arms folded over his broad chest. Needless to say, Fukuro was impressed by his opponent's abilities and strength; especially Dreadwing since he too seemed to possess Jet Magic and another type of weapons magic he was unfamiliar with.

"Impressive," Fukuro commented, "you two are a lot stronger than I expected you to be; especially you, Take-Over wizard. This job may actually prove to be a challenge for once."

Simon watched the spectacle with a nervous drop of sweat racing down his face. Although Braedey's current form seemed to have an advantage over Fukuro that still didn't mean Simon wasn't apprehensive of the owl-man's strength.

"I knew they'd be tough to beat... but I had no idea." Simon noted, wide-eyed. "And to think...there are still two more members."

~*~*~

Currently, at the top of the tower, Jellal continued to sit on his throne. He had been watching the entire fight between Braedey, Natsu, Simon and Fukuro unfold since it started. Jellal turned to his circular game board attached to the side of his right armrest. He picked up a brown owl piece and moved it forward, knocking over a castle wall-shaped piece in the process. This indicated that Fukuro had defeated Simon.

"Shame on you, Simon," Jellal chastised calmly. "Defeated so easily at the start of the game."

He then picked up a red dragon piece and a black/blue angular face and placed them side-by-side in front of the owl piece. Jellal's right hand held his chin in an intrigued manner. "Our next match is Fukuro versus Natsu Dragneel and Braedey Martin. I was very much looking forward to facing one of those two or possibly both myself, but the odds do not look promising."

Jellal paused as another thought entered his mind. "However... I shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. This Braedey Martin has proven to be a powerful, capable individual... as well as Dragneel. Perhaps I will get the matchup that I desire after all."

~*~*~
Era

In the Magic Council Headquarters, the council had come to a decision of whether or not to use Etherion to destroy the Tower of Heaven.

"Regarding our debate over whether or not to attack the Tower of Heaven," Org announced, "the final vote stands at four in favor and five against. Therefore, the council has decided against firing the Etherion Cannon at this time."

Siegrain gritted his teeth. To say he was frustrated with his colleagues would be an understatement. He knew of Jellal's intentions and that he would stop at nothing to achieve his twisted dream.

"You fools!" Siegrain exclaimed. "Extreme threats can only be countered by extreme measures!"

"Watch your mouth, Siegrain." Org rebuked sternly. "We have made our final decision. We believe it is possible to reach a peaceful solution."

"I'm telling you, you're wrong!" Siegrain countered. "While we're here wasting our breath debating the issue, Jellal is coming closer and closer to resurrecting the dead! I know you've felt it...the negative energy that's been slowly spreading across the land. It's because of the man he's attempting to bring back from the grave!"

"And who is that?" Leiji asked.

"Stop beating around the bush and get to the point." Michello added.

"I dared not speak his name, afraid that any mention of him would cause widespread panic should word get out. But you've left me no other choice..." Siegrain explained.

"Just tell us who you're talking about!" Leiji demanded.

"Explain yourself," Org said.

"He's resurrecting Zeref!" Siegrain yelled.

The eyes of every councilmember, save for Ultear, widened exponentially as their mouths slightly gaped open. Needless to say, the Councilors were shocked at this revelation. Jellal was attempting to revive the most evil Black Wizard the world had ever known. They all began muttering amongst themselves in apprehension. Ultear remained silent and closed her eyes in understanding.

"And you're absolutely certain of this..." Org inquired, opening his left eye. "You're sure?"

"I am." Siegrain responded. "I know Jellal's motivations all too well." He narrowed his eyes. "Such is the bond between twins...I call for another vote."

~*~*~

"Ho-HOU!" Fukuro flew toward Natsu, intending to deliver a torpedo kick.

Salamander quickly held up his left forearm and blocked the attack; however, it did make him slide back a few feet. That's when Dreadwing decided to jump in. He activated his rocket feet and blasted toward Fukuro, engaging his energy whip while doing so. The Decepticon slashed his whip diagonally across his adversary's chest, which sent him flying back.

Dreadwing then wrapped the whip around Fukuro's left ankle and forcefully reversed his momentum. Braedey flew higher in the air as he began to spin Fukuro around him.

"Get ready, Natsu! I'm bringing bird-brain back to you." Dreadwing called.

"Got it!" Natsu crouched low and leaped up, igniting his legs in fire.

Braedey then deactivated his energy whip, and sent Fukuro hurdling toward Natsu. When the owl-man got within range, Natsu performed a flame-covered roundhouse kick on Fukuro's face. "Fire Dragon Talon!"

Fukuro let out a painful "Ho-Hou!" as he went careening back and crashed into yet another cage. A small dust cloud was thrown up from the impact. When the dust settled, Fukuro got up unscathed; however, his head was nearly twisted all the way around. He placed both hands on either side of his face and, after a couple sickening pops, he straightened his head back into place.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Fukuro taunted.

Dreadwing at cringed uncomfortably. "Okay...that's just... disturbing."

"Ho-Hou! And now the mighty hammer of justice will fall upon you-HOU!"

Fukuro crouched down as the thrusters on his rocket-pack activated. "Missile Ho-Ho-HOU!"

Suddenly, Fukuro's twin rockets disconnected from his back and blasted straight for Dreadwing and Natsu. The former simply banked right while the latter sidestepped to the left to avoid the attack.

"Wow!" Natsu remarked sardonically. "Way to miss your target, dodo!"

"Seriously." Dreadwing added, and then growled. "You weren't even close, owl face."

However, like a boomerang, the rocket-pack arched downward and circled back toward Natsu. The pink haired wizard was quick to jump over the incoming rockets. Once again, the rocket-pack circled back.

"Owl Hands, NOW!" Fukuro shouted.

All of a sudden, two mechanical arms extended from the rockets; much to Dreadwing's bewilderment and Natsu's shock. When the twin missiles zoomed by, the arms snatched up Natsu and the rockets began to spin him around in a circle at fast speeds.

Dreadwing's optics widened. He immediately knew Fukuro was trying to weaken Natsu by using his motion sickness; in fact, this kind of reminded him of when he used Gravitread to defeat Natsu a week ago. Natsu cried out as the rockets' speed increased and his vision blurred.

"Around the world you go-HOU!" Fukuro mocked.

Simon stared up at the scene in slight shock. "His attacks are so... bizarre." He commented.

As Happy regained consciousness, he could hear Natsu's screams. He looked up to see his best friend being spun around in a circle by Fukuro's rocket-pack. "NO! SLOW DOWN!" Happy shouted, frantically.

"I know my opponent's weakness very well, Salamander!" Fukuro said smugly.

"Oh no! It's transportation!" Happy cried.

Simon looked at Happy, who was flying above a cage to his right. "What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"Natsu gets super motion sick!" Happy answered.

"Weaken your prey before you go in for the kill. That's the first rule of hunting." Fukuro stated.

Dreadwing narrowed his optics angrily at the owl-man.

"Did you forget about me, bird-brain?!" He reared back his left arm and discharged a red beam straight at Fukuro. The assassin swiftly jumped to another cage on his left while Dreadwing's attack destroyed the cage he had previously standing on.

Braedey turned his attention back to Natsu and flew toward him. "Hang on, Natsu!"

Dreadwing engaged an energy whip once more, twirled it above him, and skillfully slashed it across the mechanical arms that were holding Natsu, promptly slicing them in-half. The Transformatrix bearer then scooped Natsu up again. He glanced down at his pyrokinetic friend, only to see that he was thoroughly nauseous.

"Ugh... terrific," Dreadwing murmured.

The rocket-pack returned to Fukuro and reattached to his back. "Ho-Hou! I cannot tolerate your interference anymore, Take-Over wizard. It is time that I bring you to justice. Jet Ho-Ho-HOU!"

Fukuro surged straight for Dreadwing with a trail of yellow light behind him. Dreadwing turned around and focused more power into his jet feet. Fukuro gave chase to Braedey around the entire room. Dreadwing narrowly manoeuvred around every cage and set of chains in his path, but the Trinity Raven member was persistent and kept on his tail.

As Dreadwing kept his distance from Fukuro, he glanced down at Natsu to see his motion sickness getting worse. "Great," he muttered sourly, "Bad enough I got owl-brain catching up to me, but now I gotta carry a sick passenger to boot."

"You cannot escape justice, Take-Over wizard! Ho-HOU!" Fukuro's twin rockets discharged a bigger torrent of yellow fire, promptly granting him a burst in speed.

Dreadwing glowered back at him. "Watch me!"

Without warning, a powerful, red propulsion blast fired out from Astrodactyl's feet and slammed into Fukuro. The owl-man lost control and hurtled into a cage below for the umpteenth time.

To keep Natsu from puking on him, Dreadwing landed on top of a cage and sat Natsu down. He fell to his knees with his cheeks puffed out.

"Man. That motion sickness of yours will be the death of you one day, Natsu." Astrodactyl commented.

Natsu groaned, as he steadily returned to his feet as his queasiness faded away. He glared down in a burning anger at Fukuro, who had recovered with his collision with a cage.

"I'm gonna make that dodo pay for spinning me around!" Natsu exclaimed furiously.

Without warning, the Dragon Slayer jumped off of the cage and barreled down at Fukuro.

"Natsu, wait!" Braedey protested; however, it was too late.

Natsu cocked back his fist and ignited it with flames. "Fire Dragon..."

Fukuro quickly crouched low and leapt directly to the fire wizard. "Capture Ho-Ho-HOU!"

Before Natsu could complete his incantation, Fukuro opened his mouth impossibly wide and swallowed Natsu's upper body. Dreadwing, Simon, and Happy sharply gasped in shock, which only intensified as Fukuro continued to gobble Natsu down.

"HE'S EATING HIM LIKE A SANDWICH!" Happy cried, mortified.

Dreadwing's optics bulged out while his mouth hung open. Shock and disbelief was etched into his expression. Braedey hadn't felt this flabbergasted since the time he thought that Erza had destroyed the moon back on Galuna Island a couple months ago.

"W-W-Wha...?!" Braedey stammered.

All of a sudden, a raven haired figure fell from the ceiling and smoothly landed right behind Simon without notice. The figure was none other than Gray, who was as shirtless as ever. The ice mage had been running down a corridor, trying to find Sho. After Jellal had made his announcement over the tower's PA system, Sho had panicked and trapped Erza in one of his magic cards.

While Gray was searching for Sho, he had heard commotion coming from an open doorway. He consequently hopped in to investigate. However, the onyx haired wizard was taken aback when he spotted a bizarre-looking owl-man with a rocket-pack strapped to his back.

"What is that thing?" Gray asked.

Simon glanced back, startled by Gray's appearance. "You're here?"

Gray ignored Simon's confusion and felt his eyes widen when he noticed something else. "And what is it doing to Natsu?"

Fukuro pushed the rest of Natsu's body inside his mouth and swallowed him!

"He swallowed him whole!" Happy yelled.

"How is that even possible!?" Dreadwing squawked, dumbfounded.

Braedey paused and mused for a moment. He realized he had no room to talk; after all, Mudpatch could eat things that were multitudes bigger and heavier than his own size. Nevertheless, that still didn't mean Braedey wasn't shocked when he saw his pyromaniac friend get eaten alive!

"My prey is not only tasty, but I gain their magic as well." Fukuro said tauntingly.

Dreadwing shook away his shock and narrowed his optics at the owl-man. He flew at Fukuro and engaged his energy whip, swinging it above his head. Braedey wasn't the only one charging at the Trinity Raven member. With eyes full of rage, Happy soared toward Fukuro perpendicular to Braedey.

"GIVE HIM BACK TO ME NOW!" Happy yelled.

"You better spit him back up if you know what's good for yah, dodo!" Dreadwing shouted with equal ire.

When Fukuro turned around, it could be clearly seen that his facial appearance had changed. A tuft of pink hair had grown from his forehead and his eyes had turned white.

Shockingly, Fukuro reared back his head and a blazing torrent of flames tore out of his mouth. "Fire Ho-Ho-HOU!"

Dreadwing and Happy were completely taken by surprise and faced the full blunt of the fire attack. The duo went careening back and collided with the roof of a cage hard.

"Impossible..." Simon muttered.

"Braedey! Happy!" Gray panicked

Thin trails of smoke wafted off Dreadwing and Happy's bodies. The duo had sustained slight burns and scrapes. Happy's body was overflowing with pain as he struggled to stay conscious. For Braedey, he wasn't too badly hurt. The form he was currently in was quite durable; nonetheless, he still felt the pain from that blow.

Dreadwing groaned as he sat up, rubbing his aching forehead. "Man..." he said groggily, "just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder."

"When he devoured Salamander, he somehow gained his magic powers." Simon deduced.

"Weren't expecting that, were you-HOU!" Fukuro mocked; his right fist shrouded in Natsu's flames.

Simon lightly gasped as he took a cautious step back. "Their strength combined is terrifying."

A pyrokinetic-powered Fukuro held out his hand and summoned a fiery magic circle. "And now for the final blow! Ho-HOU!" Another flaming torrent blasted out from the magic seal and struck the cage Dreadwing and Happy were on with enough force to break the chain, causing the cage to fall to the floor below.

When the dust cleared, Dreadwing was hovering in the air while Gray was hanging onto a rusted chain with a semi-conscious Happy in his arms. By the time he had grabbed Happy; Braedey had regained his bearings and gotten out of the way in time.

"Yep... that fire's pretty hot alright." Gray commented.

"Gray..." Happy said weakly.

"Ho-HOU! And who are you?" Fukuro inquired.

Gray ignored the owl-man's question and looked back at Simon. "Hey! I thought you were gonna catch that Sho guy and rescue Erza!" He yelled indignantly.

This immediately captured Braedey's attention. He looked at Gray with an alarmed and confused expression. "What?!"

"That's where I was heading until this thing showed up." Simon responded.

"We don't have time to mess with him." Gray let go of the chain and landed on a dangling cage below. "We've got to find her."

"HOLD UP!" Dreadwing flew down to Gray's eyelevel. "What are you talking about? What happened to Erza?"

"After Jellal gave that announcement for his stupid game, Sho trapped Erza in one of his cards and ran off." Gray explained. "We've got to find them." He paused as he gently laid Happy on the cage's roof. "Because if we don't, there's a good chance she'll wind up as Jellal's sacrifice. Normally, I'm sure she'd have no trouble taking him down on her own, but she's helpless as long as that pyscho friend of hers has her trapped inside that card."

Simon lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry. I thought Sho could handle the truth. I never thought he'd go berserk like that."

"Gray," Happy begged weakly with tears streaming from his eyes, "save him. He needs you."

Gray was silent for a moment as he contemplated their current situation. Sho had Erza trapped inside a magic card and could be anywhere in the tower. If something wasn't done soon, she could be captured by Jellal and used as his sacrifice. To top it off, now a strange owl-man had eaten Natsu alive. He considered his options and finally hatched a plan.

The ice wizard stood up with his fists clenched. He turned his determined gaze to Dreadwing. "Braedey, listen to me, you need to get outta here and find Sho!"

"What about Natsu?" The Transformatrix bearer queried.

"Don't worry about him." Gray assured firmly. "I'll take care of this freak and save his sorry butt. But you need to catch Sho and rescue Erza. You're the only one in here who can find them in time."

Dreadwing contemplated for a moment and realized that Gray was right; however, Braedey wasn't entirely comfortable with leaving the ice-make wizard to fight Fukuro alone.

He looked at Fukuro and then back to Gray. "Are you sure you can take him?" He asked anxiously. "This guy is tough."

"Hell yes I can!" Gray retorted determinedly. "What are you still doing here?! GO!"

Dreadwing nodded and began to transform into his vehicle mode. Once in his jet mode, he fired his jet engine to full power, and powered away, leaving behind a sonic boom in his wake, and flew off to another part of the tower.

Gray felt better knowing that Braedey was now on the search for Sho. He was confident that the shape-shifter could find him and save Erza. With that out of the way, the ice mage refocused on the matter at hand.

"When are you gonna learn to stay out of trouble? This is the last time I'm putting my neck on the line for you, Natsu." Gray turned to face Fukuro with rage in his eyes. "YAH HEAR?!"

Natsu's muffled yells could be heard from Fukuro's stomach.

"The digestion process has begun!" Fukuro declared. "In a mere ten minutes' time, Salamander's body will be completely dissolved into my own. Once that happens, I'll gain his magic powers permanently and then use them to bring you to justice!"

All of a sudden, waves of fiery energy wafted off of Fukuro's body. Gray jumped to the cage that Fukuro was standing on. The fire-powered owl-man and ice wizard were staring each other down.

"Oh yeah, I wouldn't count on it buddy." Gray retorted, getting in a fighting stance.

Fukuro got in a battle stance as well. "You'll fall too-HOU!"

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray incanted as he shot a barrage of icy lances from his hands.

Fukuro whipped his head back and placed his hands over his mouth like a trumpeter. "Fire Dragon Roar!" He bellowed.

Gray was shocked when a torrent of flames blasted out from Fukuro's mouth.

"WATCH OUT!" Simon yelled. "HE'S TWICE AS STRONG NOW THAT HE CAN USE SALAMANDER'S POWER!"

Gray's ice lances were easily evaporated from the intense heat of the fire. Gray held up his arms to shield himself as the blaze engulfed him entirely.

"HO-HOU! You should know that ice is no match for fire!" Fukuro proclaimed, still shooting a stream of flames at Gray.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!" Gray could no longer suppress his yells of pain. The heat from the inferno consuming him was extreme.

"GRAY!" Simon and Happy shouted.

"It's no use!" Fukuro stated loudly. "Your friend was even stronger than you realized. You don't stand a chance against his flames!"

As Gray struggled against the fire, a sudden memory replayed through his mind. It was the day when he had first confronted Erza in the Guild Hall ten years ago. He could remember how angry he was when she had insulted him and warned him to leave her alone.

Gray clenched his teeth, feeling anger flow through his body. This, in turn, increased his determination and magical power. Despite the flames bearing down on him, a freezing, white mist cast off of his body. Gray let out a loud yell as his magic completely froze all the flames shooting from Fukuro's mouth.

Fukuro's jaw nearly dropped off of his face while his eyes bulged out in shock.

"He was able to freeze the fire..." Simon muttered, astounded.

Gray adorned a smug smirk as he stood confidently with only a few burns littered across his body. "Natsu's flames are way hotter, pal. But I expected that... because you're just some bird-brain poser."

Fukuro crouched low. "That's some impressive power you've got. Perhaps I should capture you too-HOU!"

The flame-empowered owl-man jumped at Gray and picked him up. He shoved his head and left shoulder into his mouth, preparing to devour him whole. However, before Fukuro could swallow him any further, he felt a freezing sensation in his mouth. Suddenly, the assassin's mouth was coated in ice.

"HO-HOU! SO COLD!" Fukuro squealed.

Gray pulled back and jumped onto another cage behind him to put some distance between him and Fukuro.

"I'M NOT GONNA WASTE ANYMORE OF MY TIME PLAYING THESE STUPID GAMES WITH YOU!" Gray roared, glaring daggers at the Trinity Raven assassin. "I'VE GOT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIKE HELPING BRAEDEY RESCUE ERZA!"

Gray quickly experienced another flashback of a younger Macao and Wakaba mocking him for getting the crap beat out of him by Erza.

"Erza, I swear I'll bring you back home." The ice mage proclaimed.

As Gray was charging for another attack, another memory from ten years ago played through his mind. It was the evening he had found Erza sitting alone by the canal. He had been about to fight her until he saw something he never expected: she was crying. Just as she was gearing to fight him, he calmed down and asked her why she was always alone. Erza replied that she preferred to be alone because she would get nervous around other people. Gray then asked why she was crying if she was alone now.

Erza didn't have an answer for that. The two then sat together on the canal bank, simply enjoying each other's company. That day was the birth of their friendship.

Gray and Fukuro both let out battle cries as their fists connected. The former had bluish-white, icy energy flowing around his arm while the latter had intense, orange flames around his. After a moment, Gray was forced backwards and landed on another cage.

"Out of my way," Gray growled as he summoned a magic circle. An icy mist covered his forearms and hardened into a pair of sharp ice blades, causing Fukuro to arch a brow in confusion.

Gray leapt into the air, twirled his body around, and slashed his twin ice swords across a surprised Fukuro. "Ice Blade: Seven Slice Dance!"

The owl-man assassin cried out in agony from Gray's attack. When the black haired wizard fell to a knee, his ice blades shattered into pieces. He lifted his head up to see Fukuro careening back uncontrollably. Natsu was promptly heaved out from Fukuro's stomach just before the assassin crashed into a cage. Said cage then broke off from its chain and plummeted to the floor below.

"He beat him!" Happy cheered.

Gray stood stationary as he panted lightly, lost in thought. 'She kept her heart shielded in armour because she thought that was the only way to keep it from breaking again... but it didn't stop the pain.' He thought solemnly.

"Natsu," Happy laid his head on Natsu's unconscious form, shedding tears of joy that his best friend was alive.

"That... was incredible." Simon commented, wide-eyed in astonishment.

"I hope she knows that her friends in Fairy Tail are ten times better than any armour." Gray mused out loud. "With us around, she'll never cry again."

Simon gaze up at Gray, still amazed over how he managed to defeat a member of Trinity Raven.

"Gray Fullbuster... he's more powerful than my investigations lead me to believe." Simon said to himself.

Exhaustion caught up with Gray as he fell to a knee with his head hung low. Happy saw this and began to worry. "You okay?"

"We're running out of time..." Gray said in a strained voice. He had pumped a lot of his magic power into that final attack. "...Braedey... it's up to you...rescue Erza..." The ice wizard succumbed to unconsciousness and collapsed on the roof of the cage.

"Gray! You can't go down too!" Happy cried.

"Is it possible his concern for his friends increased the strength of his magic?" wondered Simon. The muscular man glanced over to Happy, who was trying to get a thoroughly motion sick Natsu to wake up. He smiled proudly. "You couldn't have chosen a better Guild, Erza."

~*~*~
Era

The Magic Council had finally reached a decision. The Etherion would be fired at the Tower of Heaven in one hour's time. Several council employees scrambled about in their preparations for firing the extremely powerful weapon.

Meanwhile, Yajima, a member of the council, steadily approached the office of his fellow councilmember, Siegrain. Inside the office, Siegrain had his head lowered, his eyes closed, and his arms folded over his chest. When he heard a knock at the door, he and Ultear, who had joined him in his office, turned to the door.

"Enter." Siegrain raised his head and opening an eye.

Yajima opened the door and walked into the room. "Please forgive my intrusion."

"Yajima" Siegrain stood up from his desk to greet his fellow councilor. Yajima walked over to the window behind Siegrain's desk.

"I'm sorry, Sieg, but I don't think this is a wise move." Yajima insisted. "Surely an intelligent man like yourself could come up with a more peaceful way of resolving this volatile situation."

"I wish there was another way, but the consequences of Zeref's resurrection are just too dire." Siegrain replied gravely. "That's why we must stop him by any means necessary. You understand, don't you, elder?"

Yajima sighed and lowered his head. "Yes we must stop Jellal, I agree." He conceded. "But can you live with the consequences of today's vote...?"

"Of course," Siegrain answered. "That's a burden I'm willing to bear."

The small councilmember turned to face the blue haired wizard with a serious, angry expression; veins bulging from his temples. "THIS BLAST COULD KILL THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE! Including your own twin brother! I hope you realize that the burden of his death and the countless others that will fall alongside him will fall squarely on your shoulders! Do you?!"

Siegrain looked straight at Yajima with seemingly empty eyes.

"I know what is at stake here...and I'm prepared to do what I must." Siegrain stated.

~*~*~

In the Tower of Heaven's throne room, Jellal continued to sit on his throne in the eerie darkness. He raised his head and smiled ominously. "...So, your move now, but you'd better hurry. Soon, the light will rain down upon our heads..."

~*~*~

In one of the many corridors in the Tower of Heaven, a blue and yellow jet fighter powered along. He transformed into robot mode, before tapping the Transformatrix dial on his chest. In a blue flash, he transformed back to Braedey.

The brunette sprinted down the hallway with a hard, determined expression etched onto his face. Braedey decided to wait a minute before using the Transformatrix again. He had a feeling before the day was over, he would need every ounce of power it could spare.

He continued running forward, taking in deep breaths of oxygen. "I've got to find them." Braedey told himself. "I gotta save her... Erza..." Braedey reflected on a memory that had transpired five days ago.

~*~*~
{Flashback}

Braedey and Erza were in a magic-mobile, driving on a dirt road back from their successful mission in Peony; despite the fact that they had destroyed a volcano. The former had transformed into Optimus Prime, and towed the vehicle to the halfway point. When the Transformatrix finally timed out, Erza used her own magical energy to fuel the car the rest of the way.

The duo discussed various things during the drive; however, the main topic was slushies. Erza asked what other kinds of strawberry flavours Braedey could create. The teen hero simply smirked and replied, 'The possibilities are endless.'

That answer caused Erza's throat to become dry and a trickle of blood to drip from her nose. She had almost driven the car off the road until Braedey brought her out of her awestruck trance.

Currently, Braedey was telling Erza of the time when he had traveled to yet another universe and helped a guy named Ben Tennyson stop an alien warlord called Vilgax. Erza listened attentively, amazed by the tale; although, she still found it to be difficult to believe.

"An alien that has conquered ten worlds? A boy who can do almost what you can do, only he can turn into different aliens? I find that... highly unlikely." Erza said skeptically.

Braedey shrugged. "Is it as difficult to believe as a guy who can transform into dozens of super-powered beings from another planet, and who's saved the world countless times and the universe on a few occasions?"

"Well... no," Erza admitted.

"And here I am." Braedey smirked shrewdly.

Erza smiled and looked away with closed eyes. "Touché, Braedey. I must admit though, I do find it fascinating that other worlds exist and that you have traveled to them."

"Well, this is the only other universe besides mine and Ben's that I've been to. I gotta say... that day was rather interesting." Braedey's smile soon faded into a frown as a gloomy thought entered his mind. He had only been in Ben's universe for less than one day. He had been in this world for a couple months now, and wasn't any closer to getting home.

Braedey pondered on how and why Professor TimeLine hadn't showed up yet. From what he knew, TimeLine could normally go anywhere throughout space-time. Did TimeLine even know where he was, or how to get him back?

It was then the full weight of Braedey's situation sank in again. He was trapped in a magical world he did not fully understand yet, separated from his friends and family for who knows how long... possibly forever. Though the people at Fairy Tail were great, he obviously still missed his family and friends.

'Mom, Dad, Grandpa Jackson, Jessie, Rex.... will I ever see you guys again?' Braedey wondered.

Erza glanced at Braedey, and saw him wearing a dejected frown and a thoughtful expression on his face. She had seen a similar look from him back in the hotel room last night.

"Braedey, is something wrong?" Erza asked, her voice filled with concern.

Braedey didn't answer immediately, still gazing off into space. The teen hero let out a deep sigh before he complied, "It's just... I really miss my family and my friends. I wonder if I'll ever see them again. Don't get me wrong, Fairy Tail is great and all... it's just... I still miss my home."

Erza was stoic on the outside; however, inside she was feeling sympathy for Braedey's situation. The only known way for Braedey to get back to his world was a blood-powered ritual, which required the blood sacrifice of over a thousand people, willing or unwilling. It was truly tragic.

Though the jacket-wearing teen was steadily adjusting to Earthland and making new friends at Fairy Tail, that didn't mean he didn't miss the people he cared for back home. In fact, Erza would be shocked if Braedey didn't miss his friends and family.

Without thinking, Erza re-quipped her right arm gauntlet/glove off and laid her exposed hand on Braedey's left hand. As a result, Braedey was snapped out of his thoughts and turned back to Erza. He blushed lightly and felt his stomach flutter when she held his hand gently and squeezed it.

"I can't imagine what it must be like... to be so far from the people you love... the only way back being to commit murder on a quadruple digit scale." Erza paused and looked at Braedey with a stern, yet caring expression.

"I'm sure you will see them again someday, Braedey. Until then, maybe you can come to see Fairy Tail as your family. As you know, the members of our Guild are always there for one another and will always protect each other. I meant what I said back at the hot springs, Braedey. If you ever wish to talk about anything, I'll listen... as well as the others." Erza avowed.

Braedey's eyes widened and his mouth gaped slightly from her statement. He could feel the sincerity in her voice and he could see it in her brown eyes. The longer Braedey gazed at Erza, the more he realized how beautiful she truly was. Braedey's smile soon returned as a tint of pink flushed on his face.

"Thank you, Erza." Braedey replied.

"There's no need to thank me, Braedey. We're friends. And friends are always there for one another." Erza smiled warmly, causing a sudden warm feeling to arise from Braedey's stomach.

'Man.' Braedey thought. 'Why do I feel like this all of a sudden?'

~*~*~
{End Flashback}

Braedey didn't let up on his pace down the stone corridor. That question he had asked himself that day still remained unanswered. Now, the teen hero had another inquiry to add to it. Why did he feel his insides twist so painfully when he saw Erza cry?

The Transformatrix wearer abruptly came to a halt and stood still in the hall. He took deep breaths as a couple drops of sweat raced down his face; a thoughtful expression on his face.

Hearing what horrors Erza had experienced in her childhood still made Braedey's heart ache, naturally. He knew that being back in this tower, the object of her nightmares, and with one of her old friends-turned-evil was far from easy on her. He couldn't imagine the plethora of emotions raging through her right now.

Braedey clenched his fists tightly. "Erza..." he murmured softly, "...I know this must be very hard on you. I cannot imagine what pain you are going through. But I swear... no matter what... I will not abandon you. I will not allow you to die..."

He looked at the Transformatrix, knowing that it was fully recharged by now. He scrolled through the holograms. When he found the form he wanted, he tapped the faceplate.

A flash of brilliant blue light consumed Braedey's body. As the flash died away, standing in his place was MetalMutt.

MetalMutt got on all fours and put his sensitive nose to the floor and sniffed a couple times. He then lifted his head and sniffed the air, analyzing the multitudes of scents pouring into his nostrils. After a moment of sniffing, one scent caught his interest.

It was faint, but it there was no doubt that it was sweat and... fear. As MetalMutt, Braedey was able to recognize the aroma of a certain pheromone secreted by humans when they were afraid or panicked.

It was definitely worth investigating, and Braedey already had a hunch that the source of the smell was undoubtedly Sho. MetalMutt locked onto the scent and raced down the corridor.

~*~*~
Era

Around the Magic Council headquarters, four towers with large lacrimas on top had been raised from the ground around the building, each lacrima was a different colour: yellow, blue, red, and green. All four of them were supplying magic power to an even larger lacrima floating above the building.

Naturally, this commotion has many of Era's townspeople concerned.

Inside the headquarters, there was just as much commotion as there was outside. Several humanoid, amphibious beings scrambled around, hovering in magic chairs as four coloured magic circles floated around a black spherical lacrima inside.

Many of the councilors observed the preparations for firing Etherion with varied opinions.

"Such a critical decision to make... and while the Chairman is on leave due to his ailing health..." Org noted.

"It is our solemn duty." Leiji stated. "In his absence, we nine remaining councilmembers must do whatever it takes to maintain order."

"There's no need for you to worry, Org." Michello consoled. "I realize we're violating international protocol by initiating this massive attack, but we're protected under Claus 4 of the National Security Directive."

"The legality of this is not my concern." Org dismissed. "Our decision to fire an Etherion blast," he paused and turned to face Michello, "will put innocent lives at risk."

"If Zeref is resurrected, more will be at risk." Michello argued. "Sadly, an evil force of that magnitude can only be countered by such extreme measures."

Meanwhile, on a higher balcony, Siegrain watched over the Etherion preparations quietly with his arms behind his back. He was then approached by Ultear.

"The time has finally arrived, Master Siegrain..." Ultear said.

"Yes..."

"After all of these years, your dream will become a reality." Ultear continued.

"Let me ask you something... are you afraid?" inquired the blue haired councilor.

"No. Not in the least." Ultear responded. "I trust you wholeheartedly and I have complete faith in your judgment."

"Of course you're not." Siegrain countered. "Why would you be? Your life isn't in jeopardy."

"That's true." The raven haired woman conceded.

Unbeknownst to Siegrain and Ultear, Yajima was eavesdropping on their conversation from behind a nearby wall. He was using his Flattening Magic to make his body as thin as paper, allowing him to easily squeeze in tight spaces and hide easier from others, as he was doing now.

"I must admit, I'm a little nervous." Siegrain confessed. "If my plan fails, I will cease to exist."

Yajima's eyes widened upon hearing Siegrain's words. What could he possibly mean by that?

'What?' Yajima thought.

Siegrain clenched his right fist and looked at it with a rather dark expression. "Even so... I consider the risk to my life as small price to pay. I'm so close now..." His expression darkened further into what one would describe as evil. "My destiny awaits!"

Ultear remained stoic and replied, "Yes..."

~*~*~

In the Tower of Heaven throne room, Jellal sat calmly on his throne as he eagerly awaited the fruition of his plan.

"Just twenty-five minutes left..." He picked up a piece shaped like an ice crystal and used it to knock over a brown owl piece. This signified that Gray had defeated Fukuro. "...the time has come for us to say our farewells... Siegrain..."

~*~*~

In another part of the tower, running down a long corridor was a young man with tan skin and spiky blonde hair. His dark eyes were burning with rage and insanity as he took deep breaths in-and-out of his mouth and nostrils. Only one thing was running through his mind: revenge.

"HOW COULD YOU?!" Sho bellowed at the top of his lungs. "You lied to us, Jellal! You lied to all of us! I won't let you get away with it!"

"Calm down, Sho!" Erza consoled from inside the magic card she was trapped in.

"HE'S GOTTA PAY FOR WHAT HE DID!" Sho exclaimed.

"You're going to need my help to fight him." Erza banged against the card's barrier. "Release me from this card at once!"

"I can't do that." Sho replied. "I'm sorry, but it's for your own good. You're safe in there."

"Don't be stupid!" Erza reprimanded.

The hallway Sho was running through eventually lead into a large, peculiar room. He was currently standing on a wooden bridge with Japanese-style posts on the sides. There was a pond below the bridge and pink petals floated freely across the room, courtesy of the Sakura tree growing on one of the huge boulders in the pond.

Standing across the bridge was a pale-skinned woman with long pink hair tied on top of her head with two large pins. She wore a long white kimono with a red stripe in-between two black stripes around the waist, and a black collar lay snug around her neck. She carried a long katana close to her chest, which had a red and gold hand-guard and was in a red sheath.

The woman took a few steps forward. Sho growled as he brought up eight magical cards between his fingers, prepared to attack.

"Konichiwa. I am the one they call Ikaruga." She opened her calm, but deadly eyes. "Who might you be?"

"Get out of my way, lady!" Sho got in a fighting stance. "Don't make me hurt you!"

"Dear me," Ikaruga sighed, exasperated. "Why must I be burdened with such a boorish man?"

"I WARNED YOU! HYAHH!"

Sho threw out four glowing cards. They came together to make a light blue magic circle, from which dozens of other glowing cards soared out of. Ikaruga did not flinch and stood casually with a smug smile on her red lips. She pulled out her katana and, in one swift movement; she slashed the cards in half with astonishing precision.

"How'd you do that?" Sho uttered with wide, shocked eyes.

Ikaruga continued to stand calm and collected as she smugly smirked at Sho. "My katana is able to cut through anything with extreme precision."

"Well that sword of yours won't scare me!" Sho stated.

He held out four more cards and prepared another attack until an X-shaped gash appeared in the wood underneath Sho's feet. The card mage stood where he was in a petrified position, unable to move a muscle.

"No," He said through a strained voice as he collapsed to his knees, and then fell backwards. "I can't move."

"I just severed your nerves without cutting your clothing or flesh." Ikaruga explained. "Don't challenge my Mugetsu Style."

Ikaruga's eyes widened in interest, spotting the magical card Erza was trapped inside fall to the floor.

"Let me out of here!" Erza demanded. The card blinked gold every time she banged against its barrier.

"I can't..." Sho stammered; his entire body trembling slightly.

"Well, well what do we have here?" Ikaruga said. "I wondered where you were hiding, Erza."

"You've got to release me, Sho! She's too powerful for you to take on by yourself." Erza reasoned.

"Don't worry about me." Sho assured. "All that matters is that you're safe. I cast a shielding spell on that card; she can't harm you from the outside."

Ikaruga smirked when she heard Sho's statement. "Is that so? Well then," she reached for her katana handle, "then let's test that theory. Shall we?"

"Your spell won't hold up against her!" Erza argued, still pounding away against the card. "That's no ordinary sword she's wielding, it's magical!"

"You're safe. I promise." Sho dismissed.

Ikaruga took out her lethal blade and delivered a quick slash across the air.

"Trust me..." Sho's eyes suddenly widened when he saw that Erza was now holding one of her silver, magical swords behind the card's barrier. This shocked him, considering his shielding spell prevented her from summoning weapons and armor while inside the card. "She can cut across the dimensional rift?!"

Ikaruga's eyes narrowed at the blonde haired man. Amazingly, as she slashed her sword out in front of her, a barrage of blue magical blasts was discharged. Sho cried out as he went careening back and slammed into a bridge post. Erza relentlessly struck the weakening barrier of the card with her sword.

Sho cringed in pain from the attacks, and opened his eyes in apprehension. "Sister..."

All of a sudden, Erza Scarlet appeared out from a golden sphere of light, kneeling on the ground. "I suspected your attacks would weaken Sho's shielding spell," she opened her strong, determined eyes, "allowing me to cut right through it to freedom."

'A sword that can cut through dimensions is impressive enough, but her ability to use that power to her advantage is what makes her even more amazing.' Sho thought, happy tears falling down his face.

"You said your name is Ikaruga? Well, I didn't come all this way for you." Erza stated bitterly. "Be gone."

The smug-filled smile never left her face. "My apologies, but I think I'll stay." Ikaruga retorted.

Without warning, Erza was taken by surprise when her Heart Kruez Armour cracked and violently shattered into thousands of tiny fragments. She was left wearing only her white blouse and blue skirt. Erza fell to her knee, gritting her teeth as she clutched her left arm painfully.

"Sister... no," Sho muttered worriedly.

Ikaruga's eyes narrowed malignly. "You seem surprised. A skilled warrior like you should've seen that coming." The master swordswoman paused, and then began to sing, "Is what you gaze at... the evil apparition... far beyond the mist?"

"Your single-minded focus on Jellal has rendered you a fledgling novice, completely unaware of my katana flashing about you." Ikaruga taunted.

Erza was silent, glaring darkly at the pink haired woman.

Ikaruga smirked. "Yes, there's the look I've been waiting for."

Sho paled in horror from the serious expression on Erza's face. "I've never seen her like this." He muttered fearfully.

"You may be skilled, but you don't stand a chance against me." the Trinity Raven leader asserted.

"You're my enemy and I will defeat you!" Erza stated determinedly. In a bright flash, Erza re-quipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armour. "I always do."

"I'd like to see you try." Ikaruga reached for her katana.

The two master swordswomen stared intensely at each other for a short moment before Erza charged at Ikaruga. Blue sparks showered over the bridge as Erza and Ikaruga's blades clashed. Erza went back and hovered in the air above her adversary.

Multiple flashes appeared around her as she summoned a dozen magical swords. "Heaven's Wheel: Circle Swords!" Erza swiped her twin blades in front of her, sending her swords straight at Ikaruga.

"Hmm... so that's your style. Mugetsu Style," Ikaruga said calmly as she swiped her katana forward in a pattern, effortlessly shattering all of Erza's swords.

The fragments from the broken swords pierced the wooden floor around Ikaruga and, astonishingly, none of them even made contact with her.

"That was my Yasha-senku." Ikaruga explained.

Sho's jaw dropped while his eyes widened in shock. "She cut through the swords?!"

When Erza landed back on the bridge, Ikaruga swiped her katana in front of her. Suddenly, cracks appeared around Erza's Heaven's Wheel Armour until it abruptly exploded into pieces. Erza cried out in agony as she careened back a few metres, landing on her feet.

"Mugetsu Style..." Ikaruga chanted as orange light illuminated underneath her.

"Please! Be careful!" Sho cried desperately.

"...Karuda-en!" A blaze of orange flames formed around Ikaruga. Then, a powerful torrent of fire ripped down the bridge, leaving a charred trench in the ground. The blast nearly sent Sho over the bridge, but he managed to hang onto the edge.

Erza had quickly re-quipped into her Flame Empress Armour and crossed her arms in front of her to endure the inferno; however, the force behind the attack sent her sliding back on the bridge. The re-quipping mage was still on her feet as the flaming torrent dispersed.

"Ah... the Flame Empress Armour," Ikaruga observed, "it's highly resistant to flame attacks, is it not? I'm impressed you were able to re-quip so quickly."

Without warning, the large armoured gauntlets on Erza's arms shattered, causing her to clench her teeth in pain.

"How embarrassing," Ikaruga mocked, "to be so inappropriately dressed in that young man's presence. I suggest you adorn yourself with the most powerful armour you possess."

As Sho pulled himself back onto the bridge, he glowered at Ikaruga. "What a monster."

A red magical seal appeared under Erza's feet as red light consumed her body. When it died away, she was now clad in a black armour that was covered in spikes. Her hair was styled in very prominent spikes pointing outwards in every direction, a devilish shadow obscuring her upper face.

"Purgatory Armour Re-Quip complete!" Erza shouted with glowing, enraged red eyes. "You'll regret your arrogance... when I'm through with you!"

Another red magic circle appeared in front of Erza's right hand as she summoned a large, silver sword with black spikes jutting out from one edge to the top.

"No one has seen this armour and lived to talk about it!" Erza yelled venomously.

Ikaruga stood still, unintimidated by Erza's armour. "This is the most powerful armour in your collection? Let's test its limits."

Erza leapt at Ikaruga, letting out a thundering roar. She cocked her sword to its zenith from over her head and brought it down on the assassin. However, Ikaruga jumped back quickly to avoid the attack. Part of the bridge was ripped apart while a wall of water from the pond below was thrown up from Erza's powerful slash.

Titania slashed her sword in front of her, sending a strong gust of wind into Ikaruga. The pink haired woman chuckled amusedly as she slashed her katana at the gust. As a result, the wooden boards of the bridge were ripped apart and reduced to splinters.

With a deadly glint in her eyes, Erza crouched low and leapt into the air. She let out a fearsome cry as she came back down at Ikaruga, intending to strike her. The insanely fast swordswoman jumped back to dodge the lethal blade. When Erza's sword struck the ground, she jumped toward her opponent and slid the end of her katana along Erza's giant sword, throwing off sparks. She then delivered a swift swipe at Erza's Purgatory Armour before landing a few metres behind her opponent.

The Fairy Queen felt her blade grow heavier as she hunched over. Erza screamed loudly once more as her Purgatory Armour shattered into pieces, leaving her only in a few tattered articles of black cloth. Erza collapsed to her knees, a wave of agony flowing through her.

"I'm sorry, but you can't say I didn't warn you." Ikaruga said arrogantly. "You made a valiant effort but there's no armour in existence that my katana cannot cut through. Admit your defeat."

'No. This can't be happening. It's impossible.' Sho thought dreadfully. 'She can't lose...'

Erza's lips quivered, as her body lightly quaked in pain. She kept her mouth shut and suppressed her painful cries. She wouldn't dare give this arrogant bitch the satisfaction of hearing her scream again.

'What can I do?' Erza pondered inanguish. 'Not even the Purgatory Armour stood a chance against her blade. How can I possibly defeat her when my armour is ineffective?'

"Erza. The answer is simple." A familiar voice said inside her mind.

Erza's eyes snapped open in surprise from the voice. "That voice... Braedey?" She murmured lowly.

Suddenly, an apparition of Braedey Martin appeared in her mind. He was wearing his usual attire: his blue hero jacket, black t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. He wore a determined expression on his handsome face.

"Don't let that snotty witch push you around like this." the Braedey apparition encouraged. "You are far stronger than this, Erza. I've seen it. I meant every word back at the resort, 'With or without your armour, you are still Erza Scarlet: the strong, beautiful, determined woman that I have gotten the pleasure to know these past two months.' If you cannot beat her with armour, then you will have to do without it."

Erza's eyes widened as her mouth gaped slightly. A light blush grew on her face from Braedey's statement calling her strong and beautiful, even though it was only a vision in her mind. Erza's brows furrowed, as her determination swiftly returned. She shakily got back to her feet and turned to face Ikaruga with a renewed and hardened gaze.

Without a word, golden light engulfed her body. When it died away, Erza was now wearing a pair of long red pants with orange flames at the bottom. Said flames reached up to her knees and were outlined in black. The only article of clothing on her upper body was a long strip of cloth wrapped around her impressive breasts. Her hair was tied back into a long ponytail and a couple bangs hung freely on the sides of her temples. In her hands were two, long swords.

'You're right, Braedey. I've been such a fool.' Erza scolded herself. 'I've always felt insecure without my armour, but now it's time to cast off those fears... once and for all.'

Sho stared at Erza incredulously. 'What is she thinking? She must be out of her mind!' He yelled inwardly.

Ikaruga merely lifted a brow at this unexpected development. "Is this some kind of joke? Why would you trade out your armour for an outfit made of regular clothes?" She inquired curiously.

"RE-QUIP!" Sho shouted.

"Is this peculiar choice of dress design meant to mock me?" Ikaruga asked.

"What are you doing?!" the card mage yelled, utterly confused. "You don't stand a chance against her like that. I'm sure you've got all kinds of heavy duty armour, right? You've got to stay strong!"

"I can't do that," Erza whispered solemnly, "because I've never been strong. It's all a lie." Erza paused as her conversation with Gray at the canal ten years ago played back through her mind. "As a child, I watched as those close to me suffered. I lost loved ones because I didn't have the strength to protect them.

"I tried to be strong... but when I was alone I couldn't hide my emotions. I decided that in order to convince everyone else that I was strong; I would hide my heart away inside a suit of armour. There, no one could see that it was broken.

"I wear armour to conceal my weakness from the rest of the world. Without it, I've been too afraid to fight." Erza proclaimed.

Sho listened on to Erza's speech with wide eyes and a slightly gaping mouth.

"Wear it or not, it makes no difference to me. I'll strike you down just the same." Ikaruga replied arrogantly.

"I thought my armour protected me, but it did more harm than good." Erza continued. "It shielded me from pain but it kept me distant from others. My heart was too guarded to connect with anyone... that is... until I joined Fairy Tail. Everyone was so warm and caring that my cold shell began to crack and I began to feel emotions again."

"Sister..." Sho whispered, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

"I can't rely on my armour anymore. I know I'm strong enough to defeat you without it now." Erza's already determined gaze hardened further.

An intense moment passed as Erza and Ikaruga both got in fighting stances, ready to engage at any second. The former cried out as they both simultaneously leapt at one another. Within a blink of an eye, the two slashed with their weapons as they flew past each other. The swordswomen smoothly landed on their feet, their backs turned to one another and frozen in their stances.

Suddenly, glowing cracks raced down the blade of one of Erza's swords before it shattered.

Ikaruga chuckled in amusement. "Our battle... is over."

Right as she said that, a web of cracks appeared on her katana as it too exploded into a shower of metal fragments.

"Most impressive..." Ikaruga managed to say as she collapsed to the floor.

Titania of Fairy Tail had defeated the leader of Trinity Raven... without her armour.

Erza inwardly smiled. 'Thank you... Braedey... whether you know it or not, you helped me cast off my fears.'

"Sister," Sho stammered in shock, "what you did... was amazing."

"Are you alright?" Erza asked.

"I think so." He replied.

"Defeat is quite bitter indeed." Ikaruga commented softly with closed eyes. "In all of my years, I've only known the sweet taste of victory. It doesn't matter that you beat me, because you and Jellal are both doomed to fail."

Erza tilted her head in bewilderment.

"What are you talking about?" Sho demanded as he returned to his feet, clutching his injured left arm.

"In fifteen minutes' time," she weakly lifted her right hand toward the ceiling and sung, "the light of justice... will come raining from the sky... it shall kill us all." Ikaruga's arm fell back to the ground. "What a wretched haiku." She then succumbed to unconsciousness.

"The Etherion blast." Erza realized. She turned to Sho. "Sho, go find Simon and my Fairy Tail friends and get them as far away from the tower as possible."

"What? Sister..." Sho said, confused.

Erza smiled. "I know this is hard, but will you do this for me? Please."

Sho was silent for a moment before he looked away. "Yeah," He responded, "but what about you?"

Erza turned away as anger and determination crossed her face. "I'm going to settle things. Once and for all..."

~*~*~

A couple minutes passed since Erza had defeated Ikaruga and left to take down Jellal. After taking a moment to catch his breath and recuperate, Sho was currently running across the bridge, back toward the corridor. He took one glance back in the direction Erza had gone.

'Good luck, Sister. Please... please come back.' He prayed.

The card mage laid his right index and middle fingers to his temple, preparing to send a telepathic message to Simon. However, before he could establish a connection, Sho froze when a loud howl echoed down the hallway.

All of a sudden, a large metal beast creature covered in orange armour sprinted into view. "What the hell?!"

Sho was taken off-guard when the creature tackled him to the ground. The card wizard cringed in pain from hitting the stone floor, his body still injured from Ikaruga's attacks. Sho's eyes widened in apprehension as the orange-metal creature snarled down at him, rage burning inside.

Sho paused. 'Wait...'

MetalMutt then vanished in a flash of blue, and was replaced by Braedey, who grabbed Sho by the front of his jacket and lifted him off the floor. "WHERE IS ERZA?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?" He roared.

"Wait...M-Martin?" Sho stuttered fearfully.

"That's right! Now where is she!?" Braedey demanded furiously. "Gray told me you trapped her in one of your cards."

"S-She... she got out." he stammered.

Braedey glanced up and he took notice of the destruction done to the bridge, as well as an unconscious pink haired woman in a white kimono lying on the floor. Braedey dropped Sho back to the ground.

Braedey stared down at Sho with a serious expression. "What happened here?"

Sho carefully returned to his feet and gave Braedey a short explanation of how Erza broke out from his card and defeated Ikaruga. Braedey took a quick glance at the fallen Trinity Raven member.

'So, she defeated that assassin without her armour?' Braedey smiled proudly. 'That's Erza. With or without armour, she is always strong.'

Braedey frowned and shook his head from his musings. "So, Erza has gone off to fight Jellal?"

"Yeah," Sho nodded. "Listen, she told me to gather everyone and get as far away from the tower as possible. We have less than ten minutes before the Etherion hits!"

Braedey's eyes slightly widened from how little time there was; however, they quickly narrowed in determination. "Okay. Sho, you grab the others and get out of the tower before the Etherion blast hits. I am going after Erza." Braedey proclaimed as he walked away from Sho.

"What?!" Sho exclaimed, shocked. "Didn't you hear me?! Erza told me..."

"I know what she told you." Braedey interjected sternly. "But, I am not leaving this tower without Erza; besides..." the teen hero paused as he looked at the floor with a thoughtful mien. "...I have a feeling that Erza is in real danger."

Sho tilted his head in confusion. "What? What do you mean? Are you saying Erza's too weak to defeat Jellal!?" He yelled angrily. "I'll have you know that Sister is a lot stronger..."

"I do not doubt her strength!" Braedey shouted. "Not in the least bit. However, Jellal, before he became evil, he used to be an old friend of Erza. Right?"

"Yeah." Sho answered. "She also had a crush on him too."

Braedey didn't know why, but he felt a painful twinge in his chest when he heard that. He was confused where it could've come from. The Transformatrix bearer inwardly shook his head and refocused on the current crisis.

"If that is the case, then Erza's ability to fight Jellal might be impaired." Braedey stated gravely.

Sho's mouth gaped slightly as he stared at Ben in bewilderment. The brunette haired teen picked up on Sho's cluelessness and decided to elaborate.

"If Jellal was an old friend, and possibly Erza's first love, then I doubt she could ever truly hate him." Braedey explained. "Deep down, she still cares for him, and part of her may still think she can save him, naturally. And that could very well affect her ability to fight him without holding back. I have seen something similar to this happen before."

Braedey reminisced on when he and Jessie were at odds on how to handle a power-crazed Rex after he had absorbed the energy of his previous Transformatrix to stop Shockwave. Despite the fact that he and Rex were best friends; Braedey was still ready to kill him to protect everyone else after Rex injured Jessie. Jessie, however, couldn't ever bring herself to kill Rex, even when he was hurting others or trying to absorb her Prime Angel energy.

When Braedey had finally subdued Rex as Ultimate Optimus Prime and was prepared to kill him, Jessie had managed to convince him otherwise. In the end, Rex was returned to normal and everything worked out.

However, Braedey wasn't very confident that things would work out so good in this situation. Nevertheless, just like with Rex, Braedey was ready to do whatever it took to protect innocent lives; even if it meant taking another or giving up his own.

"Also," Braedey continued, regaining Sho's attention, "I have a feeling that Jellal knows this, and he will undoubtedly use her feelings to his advantage."

Sho paled from this startling revelation, looking at the floor with wide eyes. "Sister..." He murmured worriedly.

"I have to get to her before it's too late. Sho, get everyone else out of the tower! NOW!" Braedey ordered.

Sho nodded and turned in the other direction. He took only a few steps forward before he stopped. "Martin... bring my sister back."

Braedey glanced back and nodded determinedly. "You can count on it."

With that said, the superhero and card mage went their separate ways. When Ben made it across the damaged bridge and into another corridor, he ran as fast as he could with his attention focused on the hallway in front of him.

Realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere fast in human form, Braedey activated the Transformatrix. He didn't bother scrolling through the selection as he tapped the first form he saw. After the usual blue light, replacing Braedey was...

"Dreadwing," Braedey stated. He transformed into his jet mode, and flew down the hall at a much faster speed than running as a human, leaving a sonic boom once again in his wake. "Hang on Erza. Don't you dare die."

~*~*~

Meanwhile, in the tower's throne room, Jellal picked up a knight piece and placed it in front of a king piece. This signified that he and Erza would soon fight. Jellal stood up from his throne when he saw Erza walk into the room.

"Don't tell me the game is over already." Jellal sighed in disappointment.

"You find that much pleasure in toying with the lives of others?" Erza asked, furrowing her brow at the hooded wizard.

"Between the moment of our birth and the moment of our death, there is only that game of emotions we call life." Jellal walked away from his throne, putting his hands in his coat pockets in a casual manner. "What could be drearier than simply existing day after day?" He stopped and turned to Erza with a dark smile. "It's been a long time. Hasn't it?"

"It certainly has." Erza said, glaring hard at him. "Sho and the others are no longer under your influence."

Jellal lightly scoffed. "That's fine with me. Now that the Tower of Heaven has been completed, I have no need for them."

Erza held out her sword and pointed it at Jellal. "You don't seem too worried that it'll soon be destroyed." She noted.

"You mean by the Etherion?" Jellal laughed a little.

"You're so carefree. I can only assume you were bluffing." Erza claimed.

Jellal pulled down his hood, revealing the insane excitement in his wide eyes. "Not so. The Etherion will rain down on us."

"I'm relieved to hear it." Erza countered, holding up her sword as she entered a battle stance. "That means I only have to keep you occupied for the next ten minutes, and then this nightmare will be over at last."

"No!" A black haze began to waft off of Jellal's right hand. "When the beam strikes, your life will be sacrificed to Zeref. This has always been certain. You cannot avoid fate, Erza." When Jellal closed and reopened his eyes, his right eye had a glowing purple symbol in it. "This is your destiny!" He exclaimed with an eerie undertone.

Erza and Jellal stared at one another; the former was glaring daggers while the latter was smiling smugly. The tension between them was palpable.

"When the Etherion strikes the tower in seven minutes, we'll take our final breaths." Jellal stated as an uncanny, onyx haze continued to billow off from Jellal's right hand. "Why don't we simply enjoy these last moments together?"

"You should know that I've cast off all my fears, even of my own death." Erza proclaimed strongly. "I'll relish in it because I'll be taking you down with me."

A ghostly, dark purple blob with red glyphs inside began to grow from Jellal's hand. "Oh really? Is that what you think?" Jellal turned to Erza with a sick, sinister smile on his face. "Well, we'll just see about that!"

Suddenly, a few tendrils extended out from the ethereal blob and went straight for Erza. Titania stood calmly and swiftly sliced the ghostly tentacles to pieces with one swipe, throwing up a cloud of debris.

She went on the offensive and leapt at Jellal, intending to strike him; however, Jellal stopped her attack by grabbing the guard of her sword. Jellal charged his fist with darkness magic and punched Erza, sending her crashing through the walls and hurtling outside.

Erza used a piece of falling debris as a springboard to launch herself back to the tower, surprising Jellal slightly. When she landed back in the room, she crouched low and leapt at the blue haired mage, leaving a dust trail in her wake. She reared back her sword and swiped at the darkness mage, only for him to backpedal and avoid it.

"You would destroy the very thing you worked so hard to complete?!" Erza slashed at him again and missed. He then brought up his right hand and fired a beam of purple energy, forcing Erza to jump back. When her feet touched a crystal spike jutting from the giant lacrima in the centre of the room, she used it to propel herself back toward him. "What's the point!?"

Jellal jumped away and narrowly escaped a powerful swipe from Erza, which instead cut the game board on his throne in half.

The blue haired mage chuckled. "So what? Why should I care about a pillar or two? After all, they're nothing but decorations."

"Maybe so but the reason they're here... is because the others spent all those years building them for you!" Erza countered angrily.

The sneer on Jellal's face never faltered. "How is it that you manage to find fault in everything I say?" He mused as a small dark purple energy sphere with red glyphs inside appeared over his right hand. "I didn't force them to work, they chose to. They knew how important the tower was to me. And now at long last..." Jellal clenched his fist and destroyed the dark, ghostly sphere in his hand, "It's been complete!"

All of a sudden, dark purple tendrils sprouted from the ground under Erza's feet and began to wrap around her. Erza's had eyes widened in apprehension as she struggled against them, but it was in vain. The tentacles morphed and trapped her inside a sphere of darkness magic.

Jellal ambled toward it nonchalantly. "While it's evident you've honed your skills over the years, you're no match for me." He said arrogantly.

Meanwhile, inside the darkness sphere, Erza struggled to break free. However, she was met with negative results. She then began to recall statements made by her friends.

"You're freaking me out 'cause this isn't like you at all..." Gray's voice rang through her mind. '...We wanna stay and help you out. Master taught us that even the strongest warriors need a little backup every once a while."

"No matter what, we are not leaving you behind, Erza." Braedey's voice added.

"Aye, we're Team Prime!" Happy cheered.

"I've always believed in you, Erza, and there's nothing that can change that." Simon said softly.

"With or without armour, you are still Erza Scarlet: the strong, beautiful, determined woman that I have gotten the pleasure to know these past two months." Braedey stated.

Erza blushed lightly at that statement Braedey had made, which would be forever etched into her memory. She then closed her eyes and remembered Sho, Wally, Millianna, Simon, and Grandpa Rob when they were in the tower ten years ago.

'I'll miss them...' She thought sadly.

"I WANNA REMATCH WHEN WE GET BACK TO FAIRY TAIL!" Natsu's loud, obnoxious voice rang through her mind.

After a moment, a small smile grew on Erza's lips.

Outside the sphere, Jellal was about to walk away until an X-shaped slash appeared in the darkness sphere. He turned back and his eyes widened in shock when he saw Erza on one knee, a dark haze billowing away from her.

"I told you," she returned to her feet, "I've cast off all of my fears, including you."

With a mighty war cry, Erza lunged forward and, within a blink of an eye, delivered a slash across Jellal's abdomen. The blue haired wizard was utterly shocked from the unexpected development.

'This is not the weak girl I remember.' Jellal thought as he fell back to the floor.

Erza walked toward and shot him a lethal glare that brought a fearful expression to Jellal's face. She kneeled over him and placed the tip of her sword to his neck, prepared to deliver the final blow. However, there was one thing Erza really wanted to know.

"Why don't you tell me what your real goal is, Jellal?" Erza demanded. Jellal was silent as a few nervous sweat drops raced down his face. "You and I both know that the R-System hasn't been completed. Do you know what I've been doing... since I left this place years ago? Researching it relentlessly. And I know that the tower itself is constructed exactly like the blueprints. There's still one thing you don't have, the final part to its completion."

Jellal's smile returned. "That's not true... cause your sacrifice will complete it."

"No." Erza shook her head. "Something even more basic than that: magic energy."

Jellal was silent as he stared up at Erza with a frown.

"I don't think you realize the amount of magic you'd have to accumulate just to activate the R-System." Erza asserted. "You could gather every single wizard on the continent and you still wouldn't have enough power to pull it off. This tower doesn't have the capacity to store that much magical power within its walls and you certainly can't do it on your own. I find it highly suspicious that you haven't tried to escape, despite knowing the council's preparing to attack. What are you up to?"

Jellal smiled. "Only three more minutes until the Etherion fires."

"Answer me!" Erza said more firmly. "You know your dream will never come true! So why are you willing to risk your life?" She grabbed Jellal's right leg and squeezed it hard, making him flinch in pain. "Do you want to die?! If that's the case, then we'll go together! I'll stay here to hold you down and I won't let go until the bitter end!" Erza declared, glowering intensely at him.

"To be honest," Jellal said softly with a smile, "that doesn't sound so bad."

Erza's eyes widened slightly from his statement.

"I no longer have control over my own body and soul because I've been possessed by Zeref." Jellal elaborated. "I'm merely a puppet he's been manipulating in order for him to become flesh and blood again."

"You were possessed by him?" Erza repeated, shocked over this new revelation.

Jellal continued smiling. "I wasn't able to save myself, and not even my closest friends were there to come to my rescue. That's when I realized... there is no light heaven nor does true freedom really exist." He paused dramatically. "All of creation was finished before it even began."

The throne room began to shake and bits of the ceiling fell to the floor, due to the damage inflicted by the two's battle.

"Deep down, I knew the R-System couldn't be completed," Jellal said, "but Zeref kept pushing me. He forced me to continue the tower's construction. I wanted to stop but I couldn't... it was like I was a freight train with no brakes." The blue haired mage looked up with a smile. "I surrender. Go ahead and finish me."

Erza clenched her teeth as her composure faltered slightly. Earlier she was ready to kill him; however, now that she'd heard the explanation for why Jellal became evil all those years ago, she wasn't sure she could bring herself to do it.

Jellal easily noticed her hesitation. "Isn't that why you came looking for me?" He asked.

Erza was silent as an image of the young azure haired boy she had once known flashed through her mind: her first friend. A moment passed as the tower continued to shake and ceiling debris fell to the floor. Finally, Erza pulled her sword away from Jellal's neck; much to his surprise.

"There's no need for me to spill your blood with my own hands." Erza said gently. "The Satellite Square is focused and the Etherion will fire any minute now." She laid down her sword,which disappeared, and released her hold on Jellal. "This means this is the end... of you... and me."

Jellal stood back up with closed eyes, standing by Erza but both were looking away from each other. "It is a grim fate we share."

"So all this time you were really just another of Zeref's victims." Erza said thoughtfully.

"It's my own fault. I let my weakness get the best of me." He berated himself. "The rift between my dream and reality was too deep for my mind to comprehend."

Erza turned to him. "The only people capable of saving you... your flaws and inner weakness... are those you call your friends."

Jellal looked at her with a downcast expression. "That's true."

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you back then." Erza smiled at him. "Can you forgive me?"

"Erza," Jellal said softly, opening his eyes. "You have saved me."

The two old friends fell to their knees and embraced each other. They knew that their deaths were quickly approaching. There was nothing they could do but await their fates. As Erza hugged Jellal, she felt a pain in her chest. Though she had had feelings for him in the past, they were now overshadowed by a newer, stronger feeling she presently had.

An image of a smiling Braedey flashed through her mind, causing her to shed a single tear of sadness. She wouldn't get to see the young man who, out of her knowledge, she was steadily becoming enamoured with or any of her friends ever again.

'Braedey... everyone... I'm sorry...' Erza thought.

Suddenly, the tower began to shake more violently as a bright white light cast down through the openings in the ceiling.

As they awaited their deaths, Jellal placed his hand on the middle of Erza's back while he wore a large, maniacal smile.

~*~*~
Era

In the Magic Council's Headquarters, all the preparations had been made to fire the Etherion. The council was currently standing on a nearby balcony, observing their target through a large, floating lacrima in the center of the massive chamber.

Org raised his staff and chanted, "We pray to the sacred light for forgiveness! Let us fire the Etherion at once!"

Outside the Magic Council building, the four multi-colored lacrimas emitted powerful surges of magic energy which converged on the center lacrima, and then it fired a massive ball of bright, white energy into the sky.

~*~*~

Meanwhile, in another part of the tower, a disconcerted Cybertronian was flying up a stairway that lead straight to the top of the tower. As the building began to shake and a white light poured in from the windows, Braedey's optics widened in trepidation.

"No," He murmured fretfully, knowing very well what was coming. "ERZA!"

Dreadwing flew out of the tower, and powered straight up the tower, a blue trail leaving behind him in his wake, with a second sonic boom left behind him.

~*~*~

A brilliant white beam of pure magical energy fired from the Satellite Square in space. It pierced the atmosphere and struck the Tower of Heaven, engulfing it a blinding white light. The wizards who were in the boat hundreds of yards away watched as the Etherion struck the tower.

As a result of the massive outburst of energy, tidal waves were created and threw the wizards out of the boat and into the ocean. Thankfully, Juvia quickly created a water shell around her and the others, allowing them to float above the ocean. Though they were currently safe, the group watched in utter horror as the Etherion continued bearing down on the structure.

~*~*~
Era

The Magic Council's amphibious employees were all scrambling in their floating magical chairs to confirm the destruction of the Tower of Heaven after the Etherion Cannon was fired.

"The Etherion has impacted the target." A council employee notified.

"Was the target successfully destroyed? I need confirmation!" A second employee demanded.

"The density of the Ethernano fusion is increasing! Extreme weather conditions are expected!" a third employee informed.

Back up on the balconies, the faces of the Magic Council members were rather downcast.

Org covered his mouth with his hand. "Who knows how many innocent people might have been inside that tower..." He dreaded.

"But, they were there for the sole purpose of resurrecting Zeref." Michello argued. "Their sacrifice had to be made to save the lives of others."

Org continued staring at the floor. "I understand that, Michello, but it's still heartbreaking all the same. I sincerely doubt the victims' families will be comforted by that reasoning."

~*~*~

After the Etherion blast had run its course, a massive smoke cloud was billowing from the island where the Tower of Heaven had once stood. The wizards inside Juvia's water shell looked on in dismay as tears streamed down their faces.

"No," Lucy whispered, "what's happening?"

"Oh no... did we lose them?" Happy asked sadly.

A long, painful moment passed as the smoke cloud began to disperse. Once it did, the group gasped in shock at what they saw. The Tower of Heaven was still standing!

The only difference was instead of being a twisted structure of tubes and gears it was now a massive, jagged crystal lacrima.

~*~*~

Meanwhile, in the throne room, Erza and Jellal continued to hug; however, the former paused when she realized that she was still breathing. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see that the materials that made up the tower had been transformed into crystal. A smoky mist wafted off the newly formed crystals.

"We're still alive." Erza muttered, dumbfounded.

Jellal stood up with a dark smile creeping on his face.

She looked up to him, and asked, "What have you done?"

Jellal chuckled for a second before he threw his head and arms back and let out mad, triumph laughter. It was then that Erza realized that she had been fooled. The Jellal she had known from childhood had not returned. He was still as evil as ever. Unfortunately, it was a realization made too late.

~*~*~
Era

"Ethernano neutralizers detected at the epicentre!" A council employee notified. "No... wait a minute... that's impossible!"

"There's been a sudden drop in fusion density!" Another employee cried.

"Picking up high levels of magic from another source," a third council worker said.

"The counter can't keep up with it!" a fourth employee exclaimed. "What could it be?!"

"Restoring visual feed..."

After a short moment, the lacrima that had been displaying the Tower of Heaven to the council, which had gone dark after the Etherion was fired, was now beginning to show them something... something they had never expected: the Tower of Heaven was still intact. Only now, it was a massive, jagged lacrima crystal.

"The target is still standing!" An employee yelled.

"It's a giant lacrima!"

"I think it actually absorbed the magic energy in the Etherion's blast!" Leiji realized.

Org looked at the image, his left eye as wide as it could be. "Impossible!"

Over on another balcony, separate from the other councilors, Siegrain was watching this phenomenon with his back turned to Yajima, who had now approached him.

"Siegrain, I think it's time you started explaining yourself!" Yajima exclaimed angrily.

Without warning, Siegrain's body began to distort and fade away. He took one last smug, triumphant look back at Yajima before vanishing completely, leaving Yajima shocked and stunned.

"He disappeared..." the councilor trailed off.

Unbeknownst to him, Ultear was watching where Siegrain once stood with a smile on her face.

~*~*~

In another part of the newly reformed crystal tower, Natsu was kneeling on the floor and clutching his aching head. His eyes fluttered open as his blurry vision began to refocus. When he regained his senses, he scanned his surroundings and was totally confused. The last thing he remembered was ignoring the order to retreat and rushing to help Erza, and then there was a bright light...

"What in the heck just happened to this place?" the Dragon Slayer wondered.

"I am not sure..." a voice called out, surprising Natsu.

Suddenly, a blue and yellow jet fighter flew up to Natsu, and transformed into the robot mode of Dreadwing.  

"Braedey?"

Dreadwing tapped the Transformatrix dial and transformed back to Braedey. He looked around at the crystal structures with narrowed eyes; though he was stoic on the outside, inside he was quite surprised over what had transpired. "Though I have a sneaky suspicion that the Etherion is the reason the tower got a new makeover."

Determination flashed over Natsu's face as he clenched his right fist. "It doesn't matter. We need to find Erza and make sure she's okay."

Braedey nodded in agreement with an equal resolve.

Without a word, the superhero and Dragon Slayer spotted a ramp-like structure that led up to the top of the tower and ran toward it as fast as they could; both with a fire in their eyes.

~*~*~

Erza watched in shock as Jellal continued to laugh like a maniac. "It's here!" Jellal yelled triumphantly with sinister glee in his eyes. "At long last... my moment of glory has arrived."

The Re-Quip wizard's eyes went wide from horror. "Glory?" She repeated, her body beginning to lightly tremble.

"This is the true form of the Tower of Heaven, a giant lacrima crystal." Jellal explained. "Thanks to the council it's ready to activate. The Etherion's energy provided the missing piece to the puzzle, which means the R-System is now complete."

Erza stood up and gazed at Jellal in shock. The blue haired mage continued looking away for a moment before he turned back to Erza with a smug, victorious smile adorning his face.

"So... I was your pawn." Erza realized, glaring daggers at the evil wizard.

"Your expression is priceless, Erza." A voice commented.

Erza turned back and gasped in shock. Standing a few meters behind her was Siegrain, who was wearing an exultant smile that matched Jellal's perfectly. "He is incapable of using his full power right now. So he had to manipulate you in order to save himself."

The redhead wizard locked her eyes on Jellal's twin brother. "Siegrain!" She snarled.

Siegrain ambled forward with his hands tucked away in his white coat pockets.

"I don't understand... what are you doing here?" Erza asked.

Siegrain stopped in front of Erza. "This reminds me of when we first met years ago." He mused. "Do you remember?"

Erza remained silent as she glared hard at the blue haired councilmember. Siegrain walked away and stood on Jellal's right side; both had their hands inside their coat pockets.

"You accompanied Makarov to the Magic Council to submit a written apology for destruction of property." Jellal inputted.

Siegrain looked back at Erza with the exact same smile that Jellal had. "She attacked me out of nowhere. She must've mistaken me for you."

"I can't say I blame her; after all, we do look alike." Jellal complied.

"You refused to let up until I convinced you I was his twin." Siegrain continued. "Still, you were hostile toward me from that day forward."

"What did you expect?!" Erza countered crossly. "If you truly cared about your brother, you would've tried to stop him instead of helping him cover his tracks. And I know you've been spying on me and reporting back to him!"

The confident smiles on the twins' faces never left. "Is that so?" Jellal said.

"A mistake on my part." admitted Siegrain. "In retrospect, perhaps I should've said something that would've convinced you that I was going to find Jellal and kill him. But my biggest mistake was running into you in the first place; especially after the trouble I went through to become a councilmember."

"There's nothing worse than having to come up with excuses on the spot." Jellal added.

Erza glowered at the duo as the pieces began to fall together. "I get it." She murmured. "So, the two of you have been conspiring this whole time."

"Conspiring?" Jellal echoed.

"Not exactly," Siegrain said.

Jellal took a step closer to his twin. "I'm afraid it's more complicated than that."

Siegrain blinked and, much to Erza's shock, his body became distorted and nearly transparent.

"We're not twins, but two faces of the same person." Jellal and Siegrain said in unison. "And we have been from the start."

All of a sudden, Siegrain walked into Jellal and merged with him. A golden light shone off of his body temporarily before it died away. The blue haired wizard opened his eyes and smiled balefully at the redheaded warrior.

Erza took a step back, her eyes still wide from disbelief. "But... how is that possible?" She stuttered. "Was he just a projection?"

"You never expected for a moment that we were one and the same." Jellal taunted, as a black haze started to billow off his body.

"So, you're the one responsible for firing the Etherion!" Erza deduced. "Did you worm your way onto the council just for that?!"

Jellal was silent for a short moment as he continued to smile smugly at Erza. "I hope you enjoyed the freedom I granted you all those years ago. Your release and everything after was all part of my plan to resurrect Zeref."

Erza clenched her fist and felt the tremble in rage. "How could you live with yourself knowing that your entire life has been ONE BIG LIE!?"

"Magical energy," Jellal said, ignoring Erza's question. Suddenly, dim purple light began to shine from his body. "I can feel it surging through my body."

~*~*~
Era

"A huge amount of power is building up in the Tower of Heaven!" a council employee reported.

"If too much power is contained in one place, it's sure to explode!" Another employee warned.

Yajima was still on the balcony, completely dumbstruck after having realized what had just taken place.

He placed his hand on the rail. "We've been had..."

Suddenly, the railing Yajima's hand was on crumbled to pieces. The floor beneath his feet began to rumble and crack and the ceiling of the chamber they were all in began to crumble away as well.

"What's happening to the building?!" Leiji asked, alarmed. "It's like it's starting to age and collapse!"

Org looked up at the ceiling as dust began to fall from the giant growing cracks. "This has to be the Arc of Time! But that's one of the Lost Magics!"

Large pieces of debris continued to fall from the ceiling as the Magic Council employees began to scream and run for their lives.

Yajima wandered through the collapsing building in somewhat of a daze, looking for the source of this madness, until he spotted Ultear with a white magic circle in her hands and a gleeful smile on her face.

"No! Ultear!" Yajima cried.

"This is all for master Siegrain..." Ultear said. "I suppose I should say master Jellal..." She paused and turned to Yajima. "All of his hard work has finally paid off, and now his life-long dream will become a reality!"

~*~*~

At the top of the Tower of Heaven, Erza was caught off-guard when Jellal sent a blast of darkness magic at her. She cried out as she went tumbling back across the room.

"Looks like someone's a little worse for wear," Jellal commented with a smirk. "Don't tell me you've used up all your strength fighting against Ikaruga."

Erza grabbed the floor and slid back on her hands and knees. When she came to a stop, she punched the floor and summoned a red magical circle, pulling out a large broadsword from her pocket dimension.

"JELLAL!" She jumped forward and reared back her weapon, fury burning in her eyes. "YOU'RE THROUGH!"

Erza swiped at him; however, Jellal narrowly sidestepped the attack and caused her to hit the ground instead. She summoned another magic circle and pulled out a replica of her current sword. She slashed at him once more, but Jellal ducked under the blow.

She then lifted her leg and tried to deliver a hard kick into the right side of his face. Jellal frowned as he backpedalled to elude the kick. Erza swiped at Jellal relentlessly, tearing up the crystal floor with each hit.

"By now, the Magic Council's headquarters is nothing but a pile of rubble." Jellal enlightened his opponent as he flew in the air above Erza. "I can't tell you how much of a blessing Ultear has been. I couldn't have done it without her. She has no fear of death because she believes all of mankind will become one in heaven. In fact, she told me she'd be more than happy to give her life so that my dream would come to fruition.

"That reminds me..." Jellal landed on top of a big crystal jutting from the floor. "...I should thank her for being an ignorant fool who's easy to manipulate."

"CURSE YOU!" Erza hollered as she leapt to Jellal with swords reared back. But again, the blue haired wizard quickly jumped away, causing her to destroy the crystal spike he had previously been standing on.

When he landed on another crystal formation, Erza landed on the floor below him. "I'm taking revenge for all the people you've abused!" The scarlet haired warrior proclaimed with a wrathful expression on her face. "This is the end, Jellal! I'll kill you!"

Suddenly, a hissing sound took Erza by surprise. Without warning, a dark patterned line began to manifest from the middle of Erza's back and slithered across her skin, and then wrapped around her right arm. "What's happening to my arm?" She asked fearfully, feeling her body grow numb.

"It's just a Bind Snake." Jellal answered. "I slipped it on you during our heartwarming embrace earlier."

The Bind Snake grew in length until it wrapped around all of Erza's upper body, causing her to drop her swords. She couldn't suppress an agonizing scream as her body flooded with pain.

"Now that I've collected the precise amount of magic power needed for the R-System," said Jellal, "there's one more thing that must been done before Zeref can be resurrected."

Jellal stepped toward Erza and sneered at her as she clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, trying to keep her painful cries inside of her; however, it was proving to be very challenging.

"This is where you take center stage for your moment in the spotlight. The magical energy in this lacrima must be fused with the body of my sacrifice. Once that happens your flesh will break down and reconstruct itself to create Zeref's body." Jellal said with maniacal glee.

Suddenly, a large twelve-foot-tall lacrima sprouted from the ground directly behind Erza. Jellal sneered as he pushed Erza into the lacrima, which pulled her in like someone falling into water. Titania cried out in pain as she was absorbed into the crystal.

"You know... I really did love you, Erza. But that was then... this is now." Jellal stated with a jeering smile.

"NO! STOP!" Erza shouted desperately as her torso, thighs, and left arm were sucked inside the crystal while the rest of her body hung out.

Jellal turned away and closed his eyes as he began an incantation. "Oh, great and mighty Zeref," He held out his arms, "I call upon you! To offer you this woman's flesh!"

The entire tower began to glow slightly brighter as the crystal continued to pull Erza in.

"Don't do this!" Erza yelled.

Jellal kept his eyes closed and ignored her.

"PLEASE JELLAL!" Erza cried, a tear forming in her left eye.

The azure haired wizard kept his eyes closed for a moment. He then reopened them and glanced back, only for them to widen in surprise. A brown haired young man had his arms wrapped under Erza's arms and was pulling her out of the lacrima.

"I've gotcha, Erza." Braedey assured, as he finally pulled Erza out of the lacrima. They then fell to the floor, Erza still being held in Braedey's arms. Natsu ran up to them and stood by Braedey's right side.

The Transformatrix hero gently set Erza on the floor and kneeled above her on her right side. He turned to Jellal and shot him a fierce glare that spoke in volumes. "Did you think I would sit back and let you kill her, you backstabbing bastard!"

"That's right!" Natsu grinned toothily at the blue haired wizard. "Erza's an important part of our Fairy Tail family. I won't let you touch her either!"

Jellal remained silent and frowned at the sudden appearance of the shape-shifter and the Dragon Slayer.

Erza weakly opened her eyes and gazed up at Ben's face. "B-Braedey...Natsu..." she whispered.

Braedey dropped his fierce expression and looked down at Erza with a smile. "Yes, it's us. You don't have to worry, Erza. We're here."

"Geez, what are you doing hanging around with this loser?" Natsu joked. "If we don't hurry up and get back to work, Lucy's not gonna be able to pay her rent. Trust me, you don't wanna make her angry."

Braedey sweat dropped at Natsu's comment. "That is true. But don't you think we should focus on Jellal right now rather than Lucy's anger?"

"I'm sorry." Erza said weakly. "I can't move."

Braedey frowned and looked at Erza in concern.

Natsu, however, stared at her with wide eyes. "No way," he muttered. Suddenly, a devious grin appeared on his face. He then kneeled on the opposite side of Braedey and began to tickle Erza's body everywhere he could reach, causing her to laugh. "Time for some serious payback. This is what you get for always tormenting me!"

"NO." Erza laughed hard. "Please, stop it!"

Braedey looked at Natsu incredulously. Though he was all for lightening up and having fun whenever he could, now was simply not the time. "REALLY?! AT A TIME LIKE THIS!?"

Natsu ceased his tickling and glared back at Braedey. "What?! I may never get another chance to do this again!"

"Braedey... Natsu..." Erza looked up at the two with a serious expression. "You two have got to get out of here as quickly as you can."

"I ain't leaving." Natsu retorted.

Braedey scoffed. "And neither am I. I am staying right here with you. If you can't do the fight yourself, then Natsu and I will do it for you."

"Oh yeah," the pink haired wizard remarked eagerly, punching an open palm.

"You can't... he's too powerful... besides you two don't know anything about him." Erza claimed.

"I have beaten Decepticons and demons far stronger than this pathetic excuse of a wizard." Braedey dismissed.

"Besides, who says we need to know the guy to beat him up?" Natsu inquired.

Erza gazed up at the two; more specifically, at Braedey. Tears began to stream down her face from her left eye. The teen hero felt his insides clench again, only this time, it was more painful than before when Erza had told him and the others the story of her horrible childhood.

"Please... do what I ask..." Erza begged.

Braedey stared at the redhead blankly for a short moment... until his gaze hardened. For some reason, Braedey couldn't bear seeing Erza like this. It was killing him on the inside.

"No." Braedey replied firmly.

He quickly activated the Transformatrix and tapped the faceplate. After the flash of blue, in his place was...

"GasLine!" Braedey exclaimed.

Erza looked up at the Cybertronian in confusion. "W-What are... you doing?"

GasLine's optics narrowed. "What I have to."

He held out his right hand and expelled a dark green gas from the porthole in his palm. Erza's eyes widened momentarily when she inhaled the nauseous gas. She felt her eyelids grow heavy as her vision became blurry. Erza let out a low groan as GasLine's sleeping gas sent her into unconsciousness.

Jellal turned to GasLine and lifted a brow in interest.

"What'd you do to her?" Natsu asked.

GasLine stood up and tapped the Transformatrix, transforming back to Braedey. "I used GasLine's sleeping gas to knock her out."

"And why would you do that?" Jellal spoke up. "What is the reasoning behind it?"

Braedey continued staring down at Erza's sleeping form. "I had to... because she was crying." He paused as he clenched his fists tight. "She looked so weak and fragile... I cannot explain it, but...whenever I see her like that... I feel like something inside me breaks. It hurts me deep inside."

Natsu ignited his fists with flames. "I don't wanna see Erza like that either. I've always looked up to her as a strong warrior... and when she wakes up from this nightmare... I want her to feel like her old self again." Fire shrouded Natsu's body, as he glowered angrily at the blue haired wizard.

Braedey stood up and faced their soon-to-be opponent, scowling hard at him. "If you want to get to her, you'll have to go through us!"

"Is that a challenge?" Jellal smiled haughtily. "Well then, consider my interest peaked. I've always wanted to witness the power of a Dragon Slayer, as well as yours, Braedey Martin."

Braedey gritted his teeth in pure anger. "...you are going to regret you ever did."

The teen hero activated the Transformatrix and selected the first form he saw. "TRANSFORM!" He slapped down the dial as his body was engulfed with blue light.

~*~*~

A/N: Wow. That was quite a long chapter. Though this is nowhere near close to being the longest chapter I've written for this story, but it's still the biggest one for this arc.

For those who are a bit irked that most of the fights in this chapter weren't really different from the canon, I have an explanation for that. I felt that there was no need to change up Gray's fight with Fukuro or Erza's fight with Ikaruga and Jellal. They were already good as they were.

If you're confused why Erza hugged Jellal like in the show, it wasn't out of residual romance for him. I mean, think about it. If you were trapped somewhere with an old friend and knew that death was coming, you'd most likely hug them too. Don't lie! You would. Though if it were two guys it would probably be just a handshake. But that's not the case here.

By the way, wonderful readers, if I get one more compliant that the other characters are not getting enough time in the spotlight, I will literally rip my hair out! Those claims are totally unfounded. The other characters have had been plenty of time to shine.

Gray shined in the Galuna Island arc, his fight with Juvia, and just now against Fukuro. Natsu was in the spotlight during his two battles with Totomaru and Gajeel in the Phantom Lord arc. And Erza has shined plenty with her and Braedey's fight against Jose, her spar with Braedey, and finally against the lava-demons and John Magtartus.

So, enough of that! The Fairy Tail characters are not being neglected and are getting their time to shine as well. Except for Lucy; however, I don't think anyone really cares if her fights are shown. I don't hate her, far from it actually, it's just the fights she's is in so far up to this point aren't worthy of writing.

As always, please leave comments and critique in the review box on your way out. Remember flames will be absorbed by HotRod and shot back at you. Until next time...