In a seemingly empty void, a humanoid obscured in shadows stood alone. Dark storm clouds rumbled above him as purple lightning flashed every so often, followed by the roar of thunder. The only accurate word to describe the scene was eerie.

The dark being stood in front of an amethyst sphere. However, it was not the sphere he was focusing his attention on. Currently, he was looking into a bright white orb hovering inches above his open right palm. It was projecting images of Team Prime breaking free from the Dark Entrapment's psychological attack and defeating the Cloaker avatar.

The cloaked individual frowned as he observed the scene. He finally had enough and threw the orb away, allowing it to dematerialize behind him.

"I will give these pests some credit. They are strong; however, that should be no surprise. They are from Fairy Tail, after all." The individual spat. Breaking free from the Dark Entrapment's mind tricks was certainly an impressive feat, even if the spell wasn't focusing its full power on them.

He then glanced over to the purple sphere. "It appears that we will need to step up our game. Fortunately, time is on our side. We only need to slow them down long enough for the spell to take full effect."

A sinister smirk soon returned to the unknown character's face. "Then, our work will be complete."

~*~*~

Team Prime had finished witnessing Braedey's first encounter with one of his most fearsome enemies, Cloaker. The group also had the pleasure of facing this adversary in battle. Even though the wizards had won in the end, they hoped they would not have to fight or see Cloaker again; at least not his true form, anyways.

When they passed through another gateway, the group was in another setting once more. They looked around to observe their surroundings. The four wizards and cat were now in the middle of an adobe village. The buildings were completely made out of dried dirt and wood. Needless to say, the group was quite confused.

"Where are we now?" Gray wondered.

"Why's everything made of dirt?" Natsu pondered, scratching his head.

"Yeah. I thought Braedey's world was more advanced." Lucy added.

The group's confused reactions were reasonable. After catching a glimpse of how technologically advanced the cities in Braedey's world were compared to Earthland, they didn't expect to find a community made of adobe.

"Not all places in Braedey's world are as advanced as his home country. Some are either too poor for technology or simply choose to live without it." Alpha Trion explained who was sitting on Erza's left shoulder, and in small form. "For example, this is a reservation for the Navajo people and this is how people of their culture prefer to live compared to Braedey's culture."

"I see." Erza complied, understanding the circumstances of people's lifestyles.

"So where's Braedey?" Happy asked.

The team looked around and quickly spotted the young brunette hero standing by a booth selling an assortment of knickknacks. His Grandpa Jackson was up ahead chatting with what appeared to be a friend of his. He was an old, copper-skinned man with a well-built body and long graying hair tied into a ponytail. He wore boots, gray pants, and a light brown shirt with a dark brown vest over it. This was West Bremen, an old friend of Jackson.

Due to his expression, the wizards could tell that Braedey was bored in what's around him, but felt better than being cooped up in an RV. As he yawned, Jessie looked at him in annoyance and pushed him away from the stand. The team followed the two pre-teens to hear what they were saying.

"I know Mr. Bremen is Grandpa Jackson's old buddy, but could this trip get any more-" Braedey's grumbling was suddenly cut short when his eyes fell on someone. She was a Navajo girl a bit around his age with copper skin; long black hair tied into a ponytail, and was wearing a blue and red dress. She was performing some sort of ritual dance in the street while a few men kept the beat by playing a drum.

Braedey blinked a couple times as a dopey smile appeared on his face. "-cooler." He said, finishing his previous statement.

"That's my granddaughter, Kali." West said proudly.

"Well, West, the last time I saw her, she was barely learning how to walk." Jackson smiled, placing an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Now look at her."

"She's performing a ceremonial Navajo dance." West explained.

"I was hoping to see one of those before the summer ended." Braedey proclaimed enthusiastically.

Jessie turned to Braedey incredulously with her hands on her hips. "Since when have you been interested in Native American spiritual dance?"

Braedey smirked. "Since I've heard about it in school,. It rocks!"

The group was bemused to see Braedey's sudden change in attitude. Earlier, he appeared uninterested in the village. But as soon as his eyes fell on Kali, his face lit up with excitement. Erza narrowed her eyes at the young shape-shifter. She did not like where this situation was going.

"I wonder what made Braedey so excited just then." Gray wondered.

"Yah think it's that Kali girl?" Natsu suggested.

Erza felt her stomach tighten from that possibility.

"It could be," Lucy pondered, tapping her chin in thought.

As soon as the drumroll ended, the crowd applauded Kali for her performance. The young Native American girl smiled and bowed. When Braedey spotted Kali coming toward him, he quickly slicked back his hair in an attempt to look cool. A dopey expression crossed his face as she passed by him.

"Yup. I can see it now." Natsu claimed. "Braedey's definitely crazy about this girl."

Gray nodded in agreement. "For once, you're actually right about something."

Erza's expression became more irked. She was about to comment on their words when thunder roared across the land. Team Prime looked up to see dark clouds accumulating overhead. They quickly got in battle-ready stances, prepared for a fight.

"Crap! It's the Dark Entrapment!" Natsu exclaimed.

"It's attacking us again already!" Gray shouted, confused.

"But we haven't even finished viewing this memory yet." Erza added, startled.

"No, no. Relax." Alpha Trion dismissed their worries. "That storm is part of this memory."

"Oh..." the group said simultaneously, their tensed bodies relaxed.

"You're positive you're not doing a rain dance?" Jessie inquired skeptically.

"Positive, why?" Kali asked.

Suddenly, storm clouds completely engulfed the sky and blanketed the village in darkness as it began to rain hard. Then, without warning, a purple lightning bolt struck in the middle of the street. Villagers and tourists screamed out and scrambled to safety.

"That's why!" Jessie yelled.

Jackson and West ran to the girls and guided them away from the destruction. "Take cover in the Valkyrie!" Jackson ordered.

Braedey remained where he was, despite being soaked to the bone. He continued to gaze at Kai with a dopey smile. As a result, Erza narrowed her eyes and gnashed her teeth in frustration.

'There's no way. How could he just-' Erza's thoughts were interrupted when a purple lightning bolt struck meters behind Braedey, throwing up a dust cloud.

From within the dust cloud, the outline of a large bestial-like creature and a pair of mauve eyes came into view.

Braedey turned to the creature and simply responded, "Anyone want to ask that thing for an umbrella?"

"I never noticed how much Braedey jokes around in serious situations." Gray noted.

"Oh, and like you and Natsu are any different by bashing heads every five minutes." Lucy retorted.

Gray snorted and looked the other way. "It's not my fault matchstick starts crap with me all the time."

"I start crap?!" Natsu yelled, outraged. He butted heads with the ice wizard, both of them emitting their respective magical element. "If anyone starts crap around here it's you, yah frosty prick!"

"Get real, dragon breath!" Gray countered. "Everyone knows that you're the one who always starts fights at the guild hall."

"This only proves my point." Lucy groaned, exasperated.

Before the Dragon Slayer and Ice-Make wizard could engage in a brawl, Erza swiftly slammed her armored fists into their heads. They fell to the ground with swirling eyes and stars above their heads.

"That's enough you two! No more of your nonsense!" Erza snapped.

"Aye..." they both weakly muttered.

Braedey's subconscious sighed heavily. "Those two never do stop butting heads, do they?"

"Most of the time: no." Erza replied. "However, when the situation is serious, they can come together."

"And then go straight back to fighting." Lucy added.

"Unfortunately..." Erza sighed, irritated.

Erza, Lucy, and Happy returned their attention to the memory whilst Natsu and Gray slowly regained their bearings. They were quite surprised to see a large, bipedal wolf-like creature stand amongst the smoke cloud. It looked down at Braedey for a moment, almost as if it were studying him before it ran off and vanished within a blink of an eye.

"What was that?" Lucy asked.

Braedey's subconscious narrowed his eyes. "An old enemy." he simply replied.

West and Jackson ran up to Braedey, shocked to have seen the silhouette of the wolf-like being. Before anyone could comment, the ground began to shake. The people in the memory and Team Prime looked down the street to see an enormous surge of water racing toward them.

"Flash flood!" West exclaimed.

"We're gonna drown!" Natsu yelled, panicked.

A millisecond before the wall of water reached the wizards a bright flash had filled their vision. When they opened their eyes, they were now standing on the roof of one of the buildings. Natsu looked around, confused.

"How did we-"

Alpha Trion cut off Natsu and responded, "I placed us up here so you'd have a better view of this memory." He then looked at the fire wizard in annoyance. "And why did you panic from the flash flood? You know it wouldn't have affected any of you."

Natsu grinned sheepishly and laughed weakly. "My bad..."

Gray shook his head and muttered, "Idiot."

The team turned their attention back to the memory to see that Jackson and West had climbed over the edge of the building on the opposite end of the street. Braedey pulled himself over the edge of the building the Fairy Tail group was currently on. Jessie and Kali, meanwhile, were trying to climb on top of the Rustbucket. The former was on the ladder, whilst the latter had lost her grip and was being swept away by the strong water current.

"Help!" Kali cried, trying to stay above the waves.

Braedey saw Kali coming his way and immediately reacted by activating the Transformatrix. "Going Hammerstrike!" When he slammed the dial, instead of the usual blue flash and transformation the team was used to, nothing happened. He, along with the wizards, was confused.

"Why didn't he transform?" Happy asked, bewildered.

Alpha Trion shrugged. "Sometimes, the prototype Transformatrix worked and other times it didn't."

"You're saying that it would occasionally fail?" Erza queried.

The subconscious avatar nodded. "Yes. That, or it was out of power."

Braedey looked down to see Kali being swept away past him and showed a determined look, which seemed more defined due to the rain. "Fine, then. I'm going solo."

The others were a little surprised to see young Braedey jump into action, despite not having any superpowers.

'Even though he's not an alien and is powerless, he still risks his life to save people.' Erza mused, watching the ten-year-old boy with a thoughtful expression.

Braedey ran along the roof toward Kali, and jumped off the edge, but surprisingly landed on a floating barrel. He grabbed hold and balanced himself so he wouldn't fall off.

"Help!" cried a panicked Kali.

As the young Native American girl started being pulled under, the barrel Braedey was riding reached her just in time.

"Quick! Grab my hand!" yelled Braedey, outstretching his left arm.

Kai immediately took it and pulled herself to the barrel, climbing onto it behind Braedey. Once she was, they both collectively gasped when they spotted a wall ahead of them. If they collided with that wall at the speed they were going, then the duo would certainly be in trouble.

"Jump! Now!" Braedey commanded.

Without hesitation, the two jumped up hand-in-hand and grabbed hold of the underside of a wooden rooftop for a shop. The barrel they were previously on smashed into the wall, breaking in half.

The gang was definitely relieved that Braedey and Kali were safe for the moment.

"Thank you," Kali thanked Braedey with a smile. "Can I-"

"Repay me?" Braedey cuts her off. "There's no need."

"That's nice, but what I meant was," Kai gestured with her chin down to their joined hands. "Can I have my hand back now?"

Braedey's eyes widened and he looked down as if suddenly realizing that he'd taken her hand in his own. He blushed vividly and seemed shy about it.

"Since when does Braedey act shyly?" Natsu stated with his arms crossed and head tilted quizzically.

"When he fell in loooooove." Happy trilled out in a sing-song voice.

"What!?" Erza instinctively grasped at her sword hilt, staring at Happy in shock. "That's nonsense! Where did you get such an absurd assumption?"

"Look at how he's blushing!" Happy pointed to young Braedey.

"Of course he is." Lucy scolded. "He's a ten-year old-boy. He probably still thinks girls have cooties or something like that."

Braedey's subconscious cleared his throat, gaining the group's attention once more. "As a matter of fact, Braedey did think some girls had cooties, prior to meeting Kali."

"See! Told yah." Lucy said proudly.

"Now, let's move onto the next memory." Alpha Trion said.

In a bright flash, the team was now in another setting. They looked around to see that they were in a large room that housed various artifacts in special cases. It was clear that they were in a museum.

"So, is this a museum?" Lucy inquired curiously.

"Looks like it." Gray replied.

"Ugh," Natsu groaned, "I hate museums."

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"It wouldn't hurt for you both to learn a little." Lucy deadpanned.

Team Prime then spotted Braedey, Jessie, Jackson, Kali and West standing in front of an old tapestry hanging on the wall that depicted a large wolf-man.

"I never thought I'd see one." West claimed, still dubious of what he witnessed earlier.

"One of what?" Braedey asked.

"A Lycanthrope. A Navajo werewolf." explained West. "I thought they only existed in folklore. Their presence is a sign of pure evil." West unslung his rifle from his back and loaded a cartridge into the chamber. "I must find it. I'll tranquilize it and bag it."

"I'll go with you." Jackson said.

"Count me in." Braedey proclaimed confidently.

"Me too, grandpa." Kali offered, excited.

"You know only Braves can be trackers, Kali." West stated.

"Braves?" Gray repeated, bewildered.

"A Brave is another word for warrior in the Native American culture. Only men can be Braves." Braedey's subconscious clarified, appearing on Lucy's left shoulder. Said girl nearly flicked him off in surprise.

"Who made up that rule?" asked an incredulous Jessie.

"It's been that way for centuries. Times change, but traditions do not." West declared. "You and Kali will be left behind."

Kali closed her eyes and walked away in disappointment and frustration. Jessie was about to protest until Jackson grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Their land. Their rules, Jessie." Jackson stated.

Jackson walked off after West as Jessie lowered her head in disappointment.

An upset expression overtook Erza's face as she huffed. "Even if it's their culture, it's still barbaric." The redheaded knight snapped.

"Kali seems bummed. Maybe I could cheer her up?" Braedey said to Jessie in a regular tone.

"Since when do you care about what girls care..." Jessie's eyes widened slightly as it dawned on her why Braedey was acting this way. "...about."

"Unless you LIKE HER!" Jessie informed Braedey in a slightly accusatory tone.

"WHAT!?" Braedey's eyes widened in shock.

"That's it!" Jessie pointed at his nose. "Like you so like, like, like her."

"No Way!" He vehemently denied.

"Braedey's got a crush! Braedey's got A Crush!" Jessie started singing.

"DO NOT!" Braedey denied.

"So do!" Jessie replied.

"Do not," Braedey folded his arms over his chest and smiled, "but... if you're hanging around Kali or something, could you do me a favour?"

"What?" Jessie looked at him suspiciously.

"Yah know, like you're lucky to have me for a cousin." Braedey boasted.

"So, basically, you want me to totally lie?" Jessie deadpanned.

"Well... when yah put it that way... about 50/50!" Braedey responded as he ambled away with confidence in every step.

"What!?" Erza exclaimed, but was barely heard over Natsu's laughing.

"I don't believe it! We're witnessing Braedey's first crush?" Natsu laughed, aiming the question at Alpha Trion.

"Indeed. Kali was Braedey's first crush, and had left a very lasting impression on him," the subconscious avatar gave a wry grin. "Even years later..."

Erza stiffened and clenched her gauntlet fists. 'Okay, Erza. Get a grip! There's no reason for me to feel this way. It was only a crush... but... why do I feel pain in my chest?'

"So, how many crushes did Ben have?" Gray asked the subconscious manifestation.

"Not many. As a matter of fact, he only crushed on a few girls and only really dated one girl." A pained expression suddenly crossed Alpha Trion's face.

"Hey, are you feeling alright?" Happy asked anxiously

"It's nothing! Let us move on." Alpha Trion snapped to stop the flow of questions.

The group was surprised to hear Alpha Trion get so moody and suspected it might be related to something personal to Braedey. Erza looked at the small subconscious avatar with a contemplative expression. What could Braedey be hiding from everyone else?

Another bright flash enveloped the team as they transitioned to another memory. Team Prime was now on a path in the middle of the rocky desert terrain. It was nighttime and a blanket of stars and a bright full moon filled the sky. They looked over to see West and Jackson walking down the path, the former armed with a rifle and the latter with a flashlight in hand.

"The footprints end here." West noted.

"So, lemme guess, they're searching for the werewolf?" Gray guessed, folding his arms over his bare chest; his shirt having been thrown to the ground earlier.

"Yes." Braedey's subconscious answered, once again sitting on Erza's shoulder plate. It seemed to be a favourite spot for him. "Although, I bet you'll be surprised at what you see in this memory."

"With the dead superdemon, a zombie pirate, and deformed phantom, how could anything possibly surprise us?" Natsu scoffed, unconvinced.

Alpha Trion smirked and responded, "Turn around and you shall see."

The team watched to see West become alert and turn around. "I sense its presence."

"There!" Jackson shined the light up to a pile of rocks above them; standing on it was a large, powerful-looking metal wolf creature. But, what really surprised the wizards was the fact that its eyes shined a familiar blue and it wore young Braedey's attire.

"Wait! Don't shoot. It's me! Braedwooolf!" the wolf-man howled.

"Whoa! That's Braedey!" Gray said, dumbfounded.

Alpha Trion huffed in satisfaction, and gloated, "Told yah you'd be surprised."

"AHHH!" Happy cried, his eyes bulging out in fear. "WOLF!"

"Why are you freaking out, Happy? It's just a wolf." Natsu said dumbly. "Or should I say Braedwolf."

"I hate wolves!" Happy exclaimed. "They terrify me! They're big, snarling cat-eaters. Hold me, Lucy!" He lunged for her large boobs, but was smacked to the ground. "Owchie!"

"Don't let your fear overcome common sense, and stop going for my boobs!" Lucy shouted.

"Your transformation is complete. We need the cactus." West said urgently.

"Cactus?" Erza echoed.

"In Navajo legend, the only way to kill the Lycanthrope and change its followers back to normal is to take a silver pendant, drip it in a certain type of cactus juice, and place it against the Lycanthrope's chest." Alpha Trion explained.

"So, Braedey got turned into a werewolf by that Lycan-something?" Natsu asked stupidly.

"Lycanthrope," corrected Lucy.

"Just watch and you'll find out." the Cybertronian said irritably.

West held up a red pistol and fired a bright flare into the sky. Unbeknownst to the group, it was intended to signal the trio's location to Jessie and Kali who were searching for the cactus that was needed. Suddenly, the sounds of shifting rock caught everyone's attention.

Braedwolf, Jackson, and West turned around and looked up at the "Lycanthrope" standing above them on a boulder. It smoothly jumped down and glared at the trio with its bright purple optics, snarling in anger.

"Who are you looking at, Ugly!" Braedwolf taunted.

'Does Braedey always have to mock his enemies before he fights them?' Erza mused.

"Braedey, we need the cactus to destroy it!" West mentioned.

The Lycanthrope let out a growl, bent its knees, and leapt toward the preteen hero. Impressively, Braedwolf grabbed the Navajo werewolf and tossed it over his head behind him.

"Yeah, but it doesn't need anything to take us out!" Braedwolf countered.

The Lycanthrope quickly regained its bearings and stood up. Suddenly, its mouth split into four parts as it discharged a purple-coloured sonic howl at the trio; much to Team Prime's shock. Braedwolf, West, and Jackson were thrown off their feet and slammed into a rock wall.

"WHOA! What was that!?" Lucy stammered.

"I didn't know werewolves could do that." Natsu commented, surprised.

"They can't. Something wasn't right about that howl." Erza observed.

Alpha Trion glanced at the redheaded warrior with a contemplative expression. 'She's very insightful. No wonder the conscious mind holds her in such high regard.' He mused.

Braedwolf recovered from the sonic blast and got to his feet. "Guess that dogs's bark is worse than its bite." He quipped.

"Hmm... not the best quip, but not the worst either." Gray commented.

"Given the situation though, I would say it fits well." Natsu added.

"Aye," Happy chirped.

Lucy sighed, exasperated. "You three are hopeless."

The Lycanthrope and Braedwolf charged at each other, both running on four limbs. They collided with one another hard and rolled across the ground, throwing up a dust cloud around them. The Fairy Tail wizards watched as both werewolves traded punches and blows for a moment; however, the Lycanthrope gained the upper hand as it pinned Braedwolf's arms to the ground, the edge of a cliff right behind him.

The purple-eyed wolf-man growled at Braedey as it prepared to strike, but Max was quick to step in.

"Back off!" Jackson yelled, hitting the back of the werewolf's head with a stick; which shattered upon impact.

The Lycanthrope stood up and turned its sights on Max and West, who cautiously stepped back. It narrowed its eyes and snarled in ire as it ambled towards them.

"Going Blurr-wolf," Braedwolf growled. But when he lifted his left hand, there was no watch on it. "Wait a second." He huffed and panted. "It's not on my wrist."

Braedwolf looked around, trying to find a solution. He picked up a rock and hurled it at the werewolf's head, causing it to turn around and lunge at him in frustration. Round two between the two werewolves started.

Gray's eyes bulged slightly in realization when he noticed that Braedey's Transformatrix was missing.

"Lucy, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Gray questioned the blonde-haired wizard, who turned to look at him.

"I think so, but how can we force Erza to admit to the entire guild that she's in love with Braedey and record it for future monetary value?" Lucy responded.

"That's not what I was thinking at all!" Gray exclaimed, shocked.

"Then we're not close friends, are we?" Lucy teased with a wink.

"I think what Gray meant, was that maybe Braedey's Transformatrix is missing for a reason," Erza declared, and then leveled Lucy with a scowl. "And don't believe for a second that I won't seek retribution for that thought, Lucy."

"AND I JUST PAID MY MONTH'S RENT FOR MY APARTMENT. DON'T KILL ME!" Lucy screamed, ducking behind Natsu.

The attention of the group was drawn back to the scene. Kali and Jessie returned to hand over the rare cactus needed by the former's grandfather. West then squeezed the cactus juice onto the silver coin, and determinedly ran toward the Lycanthrope. As Jackson and Braedwolf restrained it, West aimed to place the coin against the beast's heart.

However, the Lycanthrope broke free temporarily to throw Braedwolf into the ground and hurl Jackson into West, causing him to drop the silver coin. Braedwolf got up and managed to grab the Lycanthrope's arms, pinning them behind its back. With its chest exposed, Jessie succeeded in grabbing the coin, and then pressing it to the creature's chest.

"Wait... nothing's happening." Natsu scratched his head in confusion. "Shouldn't it be dying, or something?"

"So my suspicions were true. This is NOT a real 'Lycanthrope'," Erza grasped, "but something else entirely."

"Aww man..." the Dragon Slayer pouted, "And here I was thinking how cool it was to see a werewolf."

"If it's not a werewolf, then what is it?" Lucy wondered, not reaching the same realization as Gray and Erza.

"Wait, shouldn't something happen?" Jessie worried.

The Lycanthrope seemed to give Jessie a smirk before smashing its head backwards into Braedwolf's face, flipping the wolf-boy over, and leaping over Jessie to make its escape. The group gathered closer to Jessie while West bent to pick up the silver pendant and examine it in startled disbelief.

"I don't understand. That should've worked." West argued.

"Grandpa, the pendant didn't work because... maybe we're not dealing with a Lycanthrope." Kali spoke up, as she gave Braedwolf a meaningful look.

"Smart girl." Erza reluctantly admitted.

"But it bit me," Braedwolf inputted in a confused tone. "Isn't that why I'm like this?"

Without warning, Braedwolf began to convulse and twitch in pain. He fell on all fours as his body flashed with light and started to shift even more.

"BRAEDEY!" Erza exclaimed worriedly.

"Hey! What's going on with him?!" Natsu shouted.

"Look!" Lucy gasped, pointing toward Braedwolf's chest.

His clothes seemingly vanished and transformed into white armour with black stripes, and a familiar symbol appeared on the centre of his belly.

"I knew it," Erza slapped her fist into her right open hand. "It's not a regular werewolf, but a Cybertronian werewolf instead!"

"Well, why the hell did it take Braedey so long to transform?" Gray questioned the subconscious avatar that was leading on their memory trek.

"The Transformatrix was stuck between its Active and Capture Mode," Alpha Trion answered. "Thus, it took a while for the Transformatrix to 'get out of the flux' and as such, it took a while for Braedey to fully transform. But ever since then, when in Capture Mode, Braedey could turn into any alien whose DNA it acquired."

"Yah think Braedey could turn into Igneel or Happy then?" Natsu asked eagerly.

"I would highly doubt that." The subconscious dryly replied.

The scene started to fade and reconfigure into another setting. After a moment, the team had returned to the Navajo village. West was talking to a couple of men whilst Jackson, Braedey, Jessie, and Kali waited behind him. When he finished his conversation, West turned back to them with a smile.

"Good news," reported West, "it would seem that a few people are returning. Thank you."

"Eh... it was nothing." Braedey commented with fake modesty.

"Wait, what happened to that alien werewolf?" Gray queried curiously.

"Braedey and the others trapped it in a collapsing cavern. Thankfully, Braedey was able to close off the cave's entrance from a flood of lava that threatened to destroy the village." Alpha Trion responded.

"Aww... why didn't we get to see that?!" Natsu whined.

The subconscious manifestation shrugged. "I can't control the set of memories we see. We are going down the quickest path to Braedey's consciousness."

"What do you think that alien wanted anyway?" Kali asked.

"Since we never found any of that satellite equipment or your receiver, I can't say for sure." Jackson replied.

"Who cares? We kicked its metal butt!" Braedey boasted, looking at his Transformatrix; which showed a silhouette of the form that Braedey would rename in eight years to Wolficon. "And maybe now, I can collect alien DNA."

"Come inside the museum." West said to Max, leading him into the building. "I can't send you on the road without a few souvenirs."

"It's a long summer. Maybe I'll see you again." Braedey proclaimed, shyly approaching Kali.

Erza frowned. Though she'd come to accept that Braedey was bound to have had some girls in his life he loved, it still didn't ease the strange ache in her chest.

"Who'd have imagined Braedey falling for a girl?" Lucy teased with a smile.

"What? Did you think he went for boys?" Gray raised an eyebrow at the Celestial wizard.

"Of course not!" Lucy waved her hands frantically. "Not that I'd have a problem with that, I'm just saying... well, the way he acts so cool around Mirajane and me, or shyly around Cana, some of the most beautiful girls in Fairy Tail, that maybe he didn't have an interest in dating or anything."

"Yeah, I figured he was just focused on saving the world or getting back to his world." Natsu agreed before he crossed his arms, shutting his eyes in deep thought. "There's just one thing that bothers me."

"And what's that?" Lucy asked.

"Why'd you include yourself among the 'Beautiful Girls of Fairy Tail'?" Natsu questioned, earning him Lucy's fist driving itself into the top of his head.

"That's Natsu for yah." Happy sighed sadly, floating in the air.

"The thing is, Braedey, you seem like a nice guy, but you're just not my type." Kali replied.

That immediately got everyone's attention, including Erza's. Alpha Trion let out a grunt of discomfort. "Oh, this never gets any easier to remember." He said in a melancholic tone.

"Huh? I-I thought you really liked me." Braedey asked in a disappointed tone.

"Well, that was before you turned back into, well, you." Kali said in a matter of fact voice.

The whole team gawked in unison from that heartless statement.

"Whoa." Natsu's eyes widened from shock. "Man, that's..."

"...cold." Gray finished, a mortified expression plastered on his face.

"Yeah, that." The fire wizard agreed.

Even though Natsu and Gray were not the sharpest tools in the shed when it came to things like romance, love, and girls in general, they weren't completely clueless. They knew that what Kali said to Braedey was truly harsh.

"She did NOT just say that!" Lucy sputtered in disbelief. "I mean, sure Braedey as a kid is a tad...reckless, and much. But you just don't say THAT!"

"Poor Braedey, this is his first heart-break." Happy lowered his head in sadness.

"What's wrong with me?" Braedey asked in a hurt tone, the look in his eyes becoming downcast.

"THAT LITTLE-" Erza was ramrod stiff and her hands shook as they clenched at her sides. "How dare she say something like that! There's nothing wrong with Braedey! Sure, he was immature when he was young, but he's a sweet, kind, loyal, and handsome man!"

"Aye! Is that so?" Happy asked coyly, floating near Erza, only for her to grab him by his tail and throw him down to the ground.

"I..." Erza's face turned as red as her hair, realizing what she had just blurted out. "That's... just from a professional view. Nothing more, cat!"

"Nothing, and the alien stuff's cool, just not as cool as when you were a Lycanthrope. I figured I could train you, tame you, you know?" Kali continued.

Erza's eyes narrowed at the black-haired girl as she gritted her teeth in anger. "That girl has to be the most callous, cold, ungrateful, unfeeling... BRAAAGH!" Erza fumed, unable to do anything to punish Kai for her cruel statement since she was only a memory. "Braedey is not an animal to tame! He's a person, just like everyone else!"

"Please calm down, Erza." Gray suggested weakly, holding up his arms in a placating manner. "No need to get all worked up over some cruel girl's statement."

Lucy tapped her chin in thought. 'If Erza is getting this angry from somebody being cold to Braedey, then that could only mean-'

"Train him? Tame him?" Jessie's incredulous expression showed that she shared Erza's outrage over Kali's cold disregard for Beaedeh as a person. "He's a person, not some kind of pet. You can't talk to my cousin like that!" She reprimanded Kali harshly.

"Thanks." Braedey smiled, happy that his cousin was actually standing up for him. However, his smile quickly faded when Jessie finished her statement.

"Only I can talk to my cousin like that. You just blew it big time." Jessie stated.

"Oh well, whatever." Kali shrugged off as she strolled away uncaringly.

Braedey stepped toward Jessie as he stared at his first crush's retreating form with a disheartened frown.

"The thing about a crush is... sometimes you get crushed." Jessie stated in a sagely manner. She then gave her cousin a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. There's lots of other girls out there in the world."

"Yah think so?" asked Braedey. "But how do I impress them as me?"

"Two secret words is all you need to know." Jessie smirked as she walked away.

"Really?" a bit of hope returned to Braedey's visage. "What are they? C'mon! You got to tell me!"

As the young hero raced after his cousin, the scene faded away into darkness. Team Prime was left in an empty void.

"I wonder what those two words are." Natsu said, stroking his head in a curious manner.

"Yah think its 'Be Cool'?" Gray implied.

"Nah... maybe it's 'Eat a lot'?" Natsu suggested with a wide grin.

"That's three words, dunderhead. And no! None of those are right!" Lucy yelled, exasperated.

"Well then, what are they?" the pink-haired wizard inquired.

"Sorry," Lucy turned around with a smug smile. "But that's for us girls to know, and for you boys to never find out."

"Agreed," Erza replied stoically. She then turned to Alpha Trion. "So, did Braedey ever see Kali after that?"

Alpha Trion nodded. "A couple times when Kali's grandfather visited Grandpa Jackson, and one time at Cybertron HQ in Braedey's hometown a year ago. Though she eventually apologized for what she said back then, they remained just friends."

"I see." Erza nodded.

"Yeah, but I bet ole Braedey's still crazy about her. Am I right?" Natsu grinned.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Gray agreed, folding his arms over his chest.

Suddenly, a dark aura wafted off of Erza as she clenched her fists. Lucy's eyes widened as she warily stepped back.

"I mean, though Braedey never hit it off with her that kind of crush he had is not something you just get over." Natsu proclaimed.

"Right. It sure makes any girl going after him futile." The ice wizard remarked.

All of a sudden, two armoured fists slammed into the heads of Natsu and Gray. They collapsed to the ground with red swollen lumps on their noggins and swirls in their eyes.

"That's enough! It was only a childhood crush. People can change and let go of old loves, including Braedey!" Erza declared fiercely.

"Aye..." the fire and ice wizard murmured painfully.

Lucy stared at her redheaded friend with an attentive look. 'Yeah, there's no doubting it now.' She thought.

The subconscious manifestation sighed slowly and placed a hand over his face. "Okay, yes, this first heart break did affect Braedey for a long time. But, I can personally assure you without a doubt that neither Braedey nor I have feelings for Kali anymore. In fact, he hasn't had any romantic feelings for her in years."

Erza strangely felt the tension in her chest loosen up after hearing that declaration. A confused look crossed the Fairy Queen's face. Why was her body acting like this in the first place?

She didn't have time to ponder as Alpha Trion summoned another memory gateway. "I'm sure some of you will realize what this memory is. After all, Braedey has already told you about it." He then stepped into the bright sphere.

"Something he's already told us? I gotta see this." Natsu ran inside and disappeared.

"Yeah right!" Gray exclaimed, running to the white orb. "All you care about is fighting!"

"Like you're any better, Gray" Lucy deadpanned, walking into the gateway with slumped shoulders.

Erza shook off her musings and walked into the portal. She could think later on what was going on with herself. Right now, her dear friend needed her.

~*~*~

After passing through the memory gateway once more, Team Prime examined their new surroundings. They were now in a humungous cavern that seemed to go out for what could be a hundred miles in each direction, with an outer wall that was circular in shape, whilst they were standing on some kind of platform. The entire place was darkly lit. Despite the poor lighting, the wizards and cat gawked at the humanoid beings that seemed to be standing guard.

The first was a 37ft tall robot. He has a gray face with a blue helmet and antennas of the same colour, heavily detailed and designed with multiple plates and layers of pieces on top of each other. He has two sphere shaped bases for his antennas, with dark blue colouring around it. He has a red chest with windows from his vehicle mode and a dark grey strip on both of his ribs. He has big shoulders that overlaps his arms. 2 wheels are at the back held by his smokestacks, whilst 4 wheels are at the back of his legs.

The second robot seemed to stand at 40ft, three feet taller than the first Cybertronian. The main colour of the mech was silver with purple highlights. Its shoulders were broad and had three spikes sticking out from each one. A lethal looking fusion cannon was mounted on its right arm while its helm appeared like a helmet with two spikes sticking out from the sides of its face. The actual face of the robot was grey and scarred and its two eyes were blood red.

The third Cybertronian was a deadly 35ft tall bestial Cybertronian. The metal scales that were around the form are like built-in body armour. The shoulders are adorned with large spikes, as is the back and  head. A pair of wings are present on its back, and are mobile. The thumb claws are orange, while the hands are mainly grey, with a black upper half. It has sharp accents on the lower arms, and reaching back past the elbow joints, whilst the feet and lower legs were thickly armoured and well-protected.

The fourth robot is a 30ft tall big, beetle-like robot with ebony armour and orange highlights. It had sharp, talons for fingers and toes, mandibles on its face, and an orange V-shaped visor for eyes.

Lucy shivered from the sight of the second robot. "What are they?"

"They're tall and scary!" Happy cried.

"Whoa! I can see that guy's horns!" Natsu shouted in shock, pointing at the third robot.

"These," Braedey's subconscious appeared on Erza's shoulder, "are known as the Autobot, Decepticon, Predacon, and Insecticon leaders of Cybertron."

The eyes of the group widened exponentially. They remembered Braedey telling them about saving Cybertron, the home planet of the Cybertronians. So, these things were the leaders of the four factions on the planet?

"I gotta say these guys look strange to look at." Gray commented dryly.

"And they would think the same of you and every other species in the universe." Alpha Trion retorted. "These particular Cybertronians are the leaders of their armies, and also serve as part of the High Council of Elders." He then pointed to the red and blue Titan, along with the silver spiked shoulder being next to it. "Those two beings are Optimus Prime and Megatron, leaders of the Autobots and the Decepticions, two longest rivals in all of Cybertronian history." He next pointed to the two orange, black, and grey beings. "And those two are Preaking and Hardshell, the leaders of the Predacons and the Insecticons."

"High Council of Elders?" Erza repeated. "So, they are similar to the Magic Council in a way?"

The subconscious avatar nodded. "Yes, however, they hold absolute control over the entire Cybertronian race."

"Hey, where's Braedey at?" asked Natsu.

All of a sudden, Team Prime was startled when a large door not too far away behind them was busted open. A smaller Cybertronian was thrown into the room on its front side. The Decepticon stood 20ft tall, was silver with blue highlights, wings on it's back, high-heel shaped feet, missiles on it's forearms, clawed fingers, a red fin in the centre of its helm, and red optics.

This quickly grabbed the Cybertronian leader's attention.

"Who dares?!" Megatron demanded in a raspy, booming voice.

Three individuals strolled into the room. The form of Grimlock was immediately recognized. The second one was a teenage girl with long red hair and striking blue eyes. She wore black dress shoes, black stockings, a black skirt, and a white shirt with a dark red vest over it. All in all, she was quite beautiful.

"Who's that girl?" Lucy wondered; her eyebrows then quirked as she studied her closer. "She looks kind of familiar."

"That would be Jessie, now fifteen-years-old." Braedey's subconscious answered plainly.

"Dang... she sure changed." Natsu commented.

"A lot can happen in five years." Alpha Trion replied.

The third figure was a teenage boy with a muscular body and long, shoulder-length jet black hair. Surprisingly, his entire body was encased within grey metal!

"So, who's the guy covered in metal?" Gray questioned.

Natsu snorted, and narrowed his eyes at the metal-covered teen. "He reminds me of that no-good, iron-faced jerk, Gajeel!"

"That would be Rex McJones." Alpha Trion explained. "A former criminal and a psychopath that gave Braedey a hard time in his youth; however, he has greatly changed and has become a friend and ally to Braedey." He then tapped his chin in thought. "Although, his attitude is not that much different from Gajeel's, now that I think about it."

'So, that's why Braedey wanted us to give Gajeel a second chance. He had had a similar experience with Rex.' Erza realized.

"Look, Alpha Trion! It's you!" Happy shouted, pointing at another Alpha Trion walking in behind Rex, standing at his original height.

The subconscious avatar groaned, exasperated. "No... that would be the real Alpha Trion."

The Decepticon that had been thrown to the ground got up and stood before Megatron. "I'm sorry, Lord Megatron. Please, forgive me. They took me by surprise and-"

The Cybertronian gladiator held up his clawed hand to silence him. The Decepticon nodded and lowered his head in shame, walking out of the room.

Optimus Prime looked at Grimlock with his hardened face, though his mouth and face we're hidden under his signature battle mask. "You are the Earth's Saviour, Braedey the Transformer." He stated, rather than asked.

"Braedey Martin, yes. You're the leaders of the Cybertronian race, right?" Braedey asked in a serious tone.

"We have read reports of your exploits, but truly your determination exceeds all description." Predaking retorted.

"Huh...?" Natsu uttered in confusion.

"He basically said that Braedey is bold and shows he'll do anything for his home and it's people." Erza simplified.

"Oh, well why didn't he just say that?!" the fire wizard demanded in annoyance.

"He did." Everyone deadpanned.

"Thanks," Grimlock replied nonchalantly. He then became more serious. "I have come to Cybertron to try and restore your world."

"Just like that?" Hardshell asked incredulously.

"Yes!" Grimlock growled. "What do you have to gain by hurting one another?"

"The Autobots are mongrels. Inferior life-forms. Their very existence is an affront to our purity." Megatron declared haughtily.

The eyes of Team Prime and Alien Force furrowed from anger at the sanctimonious alien overlords.

"Can we dispense of these lies?" Memory-Alpha Trion snapped with an irritated tone.

"You accuse me of dishonesty?" Megatron demanded angrily.

"Is it truly you, Alpha Trion?" Optimus Prime asked solemnly.

"Do not be fooled by Megatron's posturing, Braedey." Memory-Alpha Trion advised. "They aren't attacking because of their supposed superiority. They're attacking because Cybertronian is the only thing left that they have!"

"They're deranged!" Erza shouted in disgusted shock.

"You may have missed the part where they were extremely racial and dying out?" Braedey-Alpha Trion countered. "Beings that have nothing to lose tend to perform mentally unstable actions."

"And we all witnessed that firsthand with..." Gray stopped to give a wary glance to Erza, who nodded in realization from who the ice wizard was referring to.

"...with Jellal." Erza whispered.

"This must be what Braedey meant, when he said he saved Cybertron from destruction!" Lucy managed to collect her thoughts to come to a conclusion.

"But how could he have done it?" Natsu said with a deep frown, his arms crossed. "This looks impossible!"

"Aye!" Happy whimpered, clinging to Natsu's shoulders.

The real Alpha Trion seemed to unknowingly agree with the Fire Dragon Slayer's logic. "All is lost." He bowed his head in resignation, and looked up. "There is nothing left we can do to save Primus."

"Primus?" Lucy looked to Alpha Trion, who was on Erza's shoulder. "Who's Primus?"

Alpha Trion pointed his finger up into the air, making the Fairy Tail wizards look up. What they was was beyond shocking. It even took their breath away from the mere sight of it.

It was a humungous sphere, connected with many tubes and connection points, held in place by many beams and bridges. It was intricately designed and symmetrical, but inside the core was a dark purple, and there were large crystals jutting out of the core.

"That is the core of Cybertron, Primus." Alpha Trion explained.

"Its huge!" Natsu yelled out.

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

"Damn!" Gray felt a bit of sweat accumulate on his forehead. "And I thought Metroplex was huge."

"But, why does the Core have crystal spikes jutting out of it?" Erza asked.

Alpha Trion nodded to her. "Very observant of you. You see, during the Great War eons ago, both the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting for Cybertron that lasted till today. Megatron had taken possession of a dark antithesis to Energon, and used it to corrupt the core, leaving it dark and bleeding." He clenched his teeth at the thought. "It was known as Dark Energon."

"Dark Energon?" Gray questioned.

"What's that?" Happy also asked.

"Dark Energon is a form of Energon which is notable for its spreading, corrupting and reanimating effects on most things Cybertronian and/or technological that it comes into contact with." Alpha Trion explained. "Dark Energon is considered extremely dangerous, being able to reanimate dead Cybertronians as mindless Terrorcons, of zombies in your case, and bring inert and inanimate machines to life. Dark Energon also has deadly harmful effect on exposed human beings."

The Fairy Tail wizards were shocked and mostly freaked out by the information of this Dark Energon. A type of Energon that can bring back decades Autobots and Decepticons without a problem at all?

"Why fight against... when we can fight together?" Grimlock's proclamation gained everyone's attention.

He then looked down at the Transformatrix symbol on his chest. "Transformatrix, can you repair the damage to the core of Cybertron?"

The Transformatrix responded in a monotone version of Braedey's voice. "Genetic manipulation on that scale will require all available power."

In a flash of blue light, Grimlock turned back into fifteen-year-old Braedey. He wore the same attire that the group was used to; however, he seemed to be a little shorter and a bit more on the scrawny side. His Transformatrix also looked different. It was a slim wristwatch design with a circular dial that had the same symbol emblazoned on it, and the band was blue with a black stripe going down the centre.

"Genetic recombination sequence is ready." The Transformatrix articulated.

"What is he doing?" Lucy inquired.

Erza's attention was fixated on Braedey as she stepped closer to look at him. Braedey pulled back his left sleeve to reveal his Transformatrix, which began to glow more brightly.

"What are you doing?" Predaking questioned in confused suspicion.

"Wait for it." Braedey exclaimed with a confident smile, holding his arm up into the air.

"Erza, you might want to step back a bit." Lucy called out.

The redheaded knight, however, ignored Lucy as an enormous, brilliant bluish-white pulse of light shot out of the Transformatrix. A wave seemed to fall over the entire council, then a beam of light show out of the watch, heading up into the core of the planet. Unbeknown to the group, the wave seemed to cross the entire planet, restoring all of the damage that had accumulated over the years of the Great War.

"WHOA!" Natsu shouted in disbelief.

Erza turned away from Braedey and was met with quite a shocking sight. Needless to say, the Fairy Tail group was startled by what happened.

The core of the planet was no longer in a dark purple and covered in Dark Energon crystals. It was now in a shiny steeel colour scheme, with the inside of the core now a bright beaming yellow-orange light.

The leaders were all frozen in shocked disbelief as they examined their newly restored planet core.

"Whoa... I just had a flashback to that incident with that Empowerment Charm." Gray noted, running a hand through his hair in shock.

"Please, don't remind me." Lucy cringed in fright. "I still have nightmares about hacking up exploding vomit."

"Why? That was cool." Natsu grinned widely.

"It is not cool, it's completely gross!" Lucy shouted, enraged.

"Yes, what happened was that the ENTIRE planet of Cyberrtron has been full restored." Braedey's subconscious clarified.

"Amazing...he found a solution." Erza gasped, flabbergasted. "And even though they tried to destroy each other, they still earned his sympathy, and he cured them."

"What did you do?!" Megatron exclaimed, horrified.

"I ordered the Transformatrix to restore your planet's core." Braedey proudly explained.

"And judging from the new look, I'd say it worked." Rex stated.

Braedey looked down at his wrist. "Transformatrix?"

"Restoration program complete." The Transformatrix responded ."Entire planet restored to former designation and design. All remains of the Great War no longer in sight."

"All remains of the war gone?" Optimus Prime asked in surprise.

The other four members continued to examine their newly restored core in stunned silence.

Erza crossed her arms over her armoured chest. "They don't seem very grateful." She pointed out.

Natsu, Happy, and Lucy blinked in bewilderment and watched the memory unfold further.

Braedey frowned in confusion. "I don't understand. I saved your world you can start anew." He stepped forward. "What is there to gain with all of you fighting for one thing? It doesn't seem right at all."

The four leaders of their respected faction looked at each other, as if in a silent debate. Then, after a few moments, Optimus retracted his battle mask, revealing his smooth face.

"It has been decided." Optimus announced. "From this day forth, we have decided to forge a treaty, and work together to bring back our home, and restore the damage done to our cities and homes."

"You had saved our world from the brink of destruction, and we thank you deeply, Transformatrix bearer." Predaking spoke, then knelt down on one knee, as if Braedey was royalty.

"A truce." Megatron agreed, and nodded his helm. "Shall we declare the war finally at an end?"

"Very well." Optimus tapped the right fin of his signature helm. "This is Optimus Prime calling all Cybertronians. The Great War... is finally over. There is no reason to fight anymore. Our home has been restored, and we are free."

The Fairy Tail simultaneously sighed in relief as Lucy and Happy cheered in happiness.

Jessie walked up to her cousin. "Nice work with your speech." She commented.

"I've had practice, and had years to give it a try." Braedey replied nonchalantly.

Optimus Prime stepped forward, as Megatron, Hardshel, and Predaking head off to the surface. The Last of the Primes knelt down on one knee, and the Great being held out his left hand to Braedey. The brunette placed his left hand on Optimus' hand, then the Prime gently closed his large hand around Braedey's hand, and he gently shook hands with him.

"Thank you, Braedey Martin." Optimus thanked. "We owe you our lives. We are forever in your debt. As from this day forth, you are an eternal member of the High Council, and an Heir to the Primes."

As the memory ended, it faded and distorted until a blanket of darkness enveloped Team Prime.

"Amazing." Gray breathed.

"Yeah! That was so cool!" Natsu proclaimed. "He kept their planet from dying!"

"Aye!" Happy happily exclaimed.

"Then, they formed a peace treaty so they will never ever fight again, and stopped the war!" Lucy concluded with a awed expression.

"Yes. He is certainly something else..." Erza whispered to herself, a warm smile on her face.

'Most would've wanted to kill one another for what they were about to do, but Braedey helped them instead. They earned his sympathy and he cured their home from its ailments. He saved them.' The redheaded knight closed her eyes, smiling at the thought of Braedey. A warm feeling began stirring in her chest once more. 'He truly is a great man.'

All of a sudden, the sound of thunder brought the team out of their musings. The Fairy Tail group looked up to see dark clouds swirling above them. Purple lightning flashed through the ominous accumulations. Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy tensed up as they readied themselves.

Another battle against the Dark Entrapment avatars was about to unfold once more.

~*~*~

The blank void around them began to contort and bend into a new setting. When the scene finished developing, the group was now standing in the middle of a circular clearing in the middle of a cornfield. However, the most eye catching objects were the three enormous towers standing in the fields.

The towers were made of a silver-greyish metal and their overall design was circular. Four large circular-shaped platforms, each one a different size, stretched out from the towers' structure in a random configuration. At the very top of the antenna-like construct were three spheres.

"Um... why are we in a cornfield?" Gray asked, looking around.

"And what are those big towers?" Happy added, pointing at the three alien structures.

Suddenly, the three towers hummed and fired bolts of lightning into the sky. As a result, a swirling mass of dark clouds formed over the area. The temperature dropped below freezing instantaneously. Before long, snow began to fall from the sky and stick everywhere.

Erza held out her hand and watched as the white frozen water gathered in her palm. "It's snow?"

"Why did it get so cold all of a sudden?!" Lucy stuttered as she wrapped her arms around herself, shivering madly.

"Those three towers there are known as Cybertronian weather machines." Alpha Trion answered, appearing on Erza's shoulder. "They are the reason for why the temperature suddenly dropped."

"Weather towers?" Erza repeated.

"Why would they make something like that?" Natsu questioned.

"Because the enemies you are about to fight prefer cold temperatures." The subconscious form replied.

Lucy continued to shiver badly. "I-I-I-isn't.... a-anyone... b-b-bothered by the cold?"

Gray shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm an Ice-Make wizard, so naturally, cold doesn't affect me in the slightest."

"I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer, so I can heat myself up easily." Natsu responded offhandedly.

"I have a high tolerance to heat and cold." Erza added.

A downcast expression appeared on Lucy's frozen face. She then turned to Happy and Alpha Trion. "I don't suppose you guys are bothered by the cold?"

"Nope." Happy smiled. "I'm covered in fur."

"And I'm only a manifestation. Heat and cold don't affect me." Alpha Trion explained.

Lucy sulked further, realizing she was the only one being affected by the weather. "Terrific..."

Suddenly, a strange gurgling, raspy sound caught the team's attention. The cornstalks in front of them began to shift as a strange and utterly repulsive large humanoid stepped into the clearing. It stood at about 15ft tall. The armour of its body was yellow while its hands and feet were black. Three gill-like slits were present on its chest, and its dark grey intestines were visible in the middle of its abdomen. Its helm was purple and it was shaped like a brain, and it could be seen clear as day on its cranium. It had a single purple optics with a black pupil, and a small, squid-like mouth beneath it.

The Fairy Tail team shivered in disgust from the revolting creature.

"EW! What is that?!" Lucy shrieked, cowering behind Natsu.

"That would be a Corrupticon. They were mutated Autobots and Decepticons that were created by Shockwave through experimentation, and they now follow under Starscream's command, after he left the Decepticons." Alpha Trion responded plainly.

"Maybe you can ask that thing for a blanket, Lucy." Gray suggested, grinning wryly.

"Shut it, Gray!" Lucy shouted.

"Well... you all have fun. Be forewarned, don't take these things lightly. You may not like the... disgusting consequences." Without warning, Alpha Trion vanished in a flash.

"HEY!" Natsu yelled. "Don't ditch us again, man!"

"Whatever..." Gray pulled his shirt off and threw it to the ground, an icy mist forming in his hands. "We can handle this freak on our own. There's only one of him."

Without warning, the team could hear more gurgling sounds from around them as a large number of Corrupticons revealed themselves from hiding amongst the cornstalks. There were at least three dozen and they now had Team Prime surrounded.

The Fairy Tail wizards stepped back until they were back-to-back. A fearful expression appeared on Happy's face as he cowered behind Lucy. The Celestial Spirit wizard glanced at Gray and said through gritted teeth, "You just had to jinx it, didn't yah Gray?"

Golden light shined around Erza's body as she re-quipped into her Black Wing Armour. She held her large sword in front of her, preparing to strike. "Ready?"

Natsu and Gray both smirked as they fired up their respective magical elements. Lucy smiled as she pulled off a golden key from her belt.

"Ready!" the trio responded.

One of the Corrupticons pointed at the Fairy Tail group and yelled through a gurgled voice, "Destroy them!"

With that, the horde of yellow, squid-faced humanoids charged at the Ultimate Team. Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy immediately engaged the Corrupticons attacking them directly.

Natsu's cheeks puffed up wider than a normal person's should have as he reared back his head. "Fire Dragon-" when at least a dozen Corrupticons got within a mere five feet from him, he completed his spell. "-Roar!" A massive torrent of powerful flames tore out of Natsu's mouth and struck the alien horde dead on. The mutant aliens cried out in agony as they were all sent flying back.

When the Dragon Slayer finished, he grinned roguishly at his handiwork. Unconscious Corrupticons were sprawled about, the ground was scorched, and the cornfield in front of him was burning to ashes. "Hope you like your monster cooked extra crispy, Happy."

"Aye sir!" the blue cat exclaimed next to him.

Gray narrowed his eyes at the throng of Corrupticons charging at him. "Ice-Make: Battle Axe!" A wave of ice fired from his hands and collided with the group, sending them sprawling back into the fields.

Lucy held out her key and thrust it forward, golden light shining from beneath her feet. "Open, Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius!"

With the sound of a bell, a tall man in a brown, anthropomorphic horse costume appeared. He held a bow and had a quiver full of arrows strapped to his back. He also wore a white shirt, a green vest over it, and red and white striped pants.

"Howdy do, my lady!" the horse-man addressed, saluting Lucy even though he was looking away from her.

"Do your thing, Sagittarius!" Lucy commanded, pointing at the crowd of Corrupticons about to reach them.

A glint shined in Sagittarius's eye. "Yes indeed, my lady." He swiftly pulled out multiple arrows from his quiver and loaded them onto his bow. Within the blink of an eye, Sagittarius fired a volley of arrows and the wave of Corrupticons was blown back, many of them impaled.

"Way to go, Sagittarius!" Lucy praised her horse-man spirit with a smile.

"I aim to please, my lady." Sagittarius saluted, standing away from her.

Erza narrowed her eyes at the dozen Corrupticons rushing at her. Magic flared off the blade as she reared it back. "Moon Flash!" A silver-white wave of light discharged from the sword and rapidly took out the yellow humanoids as they careened back in defeat. "All quantity and no quality." She remarked.

Within a minute, Team Prime had promptly defeated the three dozen Corrupticons with relative ease. Their bodies shined a dark purple before they vanished in a dark mist.

"Well, that was easy. Is that all those freaks got?" Natsu boasted.

"No kidding," Gray agreed. "If outnumbering their opponents is all these things can do, I don't see why Alpha Trion was so worried."

"It isn't over yet." Erza countered.

The group looked at the redheaded knight, who was staring into the field attentively.

"What do you mean?" Lucy questioned.

To answer her question, more gurgling sounds were heard from all around them. All of a sudden, more Corrupticons appeared and surrounded the team once more. Only this time, there were many more than the first wave. It was hard for Erza to tell the exact number, but there were easily at least seven dozen Corrupticons surrounding them.

"Oh..." Lucy squeaked.

"This isn't good." Gray commented dryly.

Natsu's attitude was the polar opposite compared to his comrades. A feral grin was plastered all over his face as he ignited his fists with flames. "I don't know why you guys are so nervous. More bad guys means more fighting." He punched his open right palm in an eager manner. "And I'm up for a battle any time, any day."

Suddenly, the first line of the Corrupticons horde stepped forward, reared back their heads, and spat out lumps of green goo. Natsu didn't have time to react as his the goo stuck to his right fist, extinguishing the fire wrapped around it.

"What the-" When Natsu touched the substance with his other hand, he realized what it was. "Aw gross! THIS IS SNOT!"

The rest of the team was bombarded by the snot blasts as well. Gray grimaced as various gooey projectiles stuck to his chest. "Ugh," he tried to pull it off, but it proved to be futile. "I wish I hadn't taken off my shirt now."

"EEEEWWW!" Lucy cried as she became covered with vile green globs. "THIS IS SO DISGUSTING!"

"Yes indeed," Sagittarius commented as he too became trapped in snot.

Erza gritted her teeth in frustration as she slashed at the incoming slime projectiles. Despite her enhanced offensive abilities, the green lobs began to stick to her blade which decreased its efficiency in slicing. Before long, Erza was quickly encased in a prison of cold mucus.

"Dammit!" the Fairy Queen cursed as she pushed against the green slime; however, it was to no avail.

The Corrupticons hive let out gurgled screams as they sauntered to the snot-entrapped group, with the intent of finishing them off. Needless to say, Fairy Tail's Team Prime wasn't going down without a fight.

Gray closed his eyes and concentrated on his abilities. Suddenly, the air around him and, consequently, the snot trapping him began to freeze. Once the mucus solidified into ice, the raven-haired teen easily broke out of his prison.

"Ice-Make: Floor!" He punched the ground and caused the feet of the Corrupticons in front of him to be trapped in knee-high ice.

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray summoned a magic circle, which shot out a salvo of icy lances at the squid-faced humanoids. The Corrupticons cried out in pain as they were impaled, and then disappeared in clouds of purple mist.

Natsu gritted his teeth as he tried pushing against the sticky goo covering him, whilst Happy was futilely pulling him by his hair.

"You won't budge, Natsu!" Happy cried.

"Happy, get back!" the Dragon Slayer ordered.

The blue cat did what he was told, and the magical aura around the pink-haired wizard increased dramatically. The cold globs of snot instantly melted off and evaporated away; however, a sticky residue remained on his body.

"Aww man! Now I'm all sticky!" Natsu complained.

"Natsu! I don't think that's important right now!" Happy exclaimed, pointing at the mob of Corrupticons rushing toward him.

Natsu grinned fiercely. "These guys? These freaks are nothing!"

A few Corrupticons leaped at the Salamander and they were easily backhanded away. Golden-orange flames then combusted around Natsu's body as he hungrily stared at his encroaching opposition.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you freaks it's rude to sneeze on people?" Natsu mocked.

He jumped into the air, a pair of blazing golden wings forming around his arms. "Fire Dragon... WING ATTACK!" The group of yellow-skinned mutants cried out in agony from the powerful flames. Most of them were consumed and destroyed, while a few were blasted back into the fields, defeated.

Natsu landed on the ground, crouched low, and propelled himself forward like a rocket. "Fire Dragon IRON FIST!" he sent a strong, fiery punch into one Corrupticons, which caused the others behind it to get blown back as a result.

Erza glared at the group of squid-faced humanoids surrounding her, their sharp taloned hands out and ready. "If you think you've beaten me-" Suddenly, golden light enveloped her body and expanded, causing the Dark Entrapment manifestations to cover their eyes. When the flash faded, Erza was now adorned in her Heaven's Wheel Armour and free from the snot that had trapped her. "—then you are gravely mistaken." She finished her proclamation.

Obviously, the Corrupticon horde ignored the Fairy Queen's threat and rushed at her, letting out gurgling screams. Within a silver-white flash, Erza summoned over forty swords all around her. She aimed all of her blades at her opponents and fired, swiftly impaling them until they vanished.

Though Natsu, Gray, and Erza displayed little trouble in escaping the snot cocoons, a certain Celestial Spirit wizard was having a little more difficulty. Lucy tried pushing against the cold mucus coverings and reaching for her keys, both attempts proved useless. Sagittarius was trapped too and eventually returned to the Spirit World.

"Uh... could someone help me, please?" Lucy asked sheepishly.

Natsu and Happy were in the air, the latter grabbing onto the former's vest. The Dragon Slayer had decided to deliver his fiery attacks from above. It was proving to be a very effective strategy. The Corrupticons appeared to be very vulnerable to fire.

The pink-haired wizard heard Lucy's request and looked down to see her still trapped in snot. He had Happy set him down next to her.

"Hang on, Luc." He ignited his hands with fire and placed them on the snot glob encasing the Celestial wizard. The viscosity of the snot dropped and flowed right off of Lucy's body, leaving sticky trails of mucus on her clothing.

"EWW! GROSS!" Lucy squealed, frantically trying to shake off the green slime.

Gurgling screams caught Natsu's attention. He turned around to see a group of Corrupticons rushing toward him and Lucy. The Dragon Slayer grinned roguishly as he jumped into action, his fists set ablaze.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" the flaming punch sent the Corrupticons flying back, unconscious. He then ignited his legs and leaped at the other mutants. "Fire Dragon Claw!" the fiery leg swipe swiftly took them out and caused the group to erupt in flames and dirt.

When Natsu landed, he glanced back at Lucy and said, "Hey, Luc! If you're done complaining about the snot, think you can help us out?"

"Gladly." Lucy took a golden key off of her ring and thrust it forward. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

With the sound of a bell, the robust cow-man known as Taurus appeared while boasting his usual confident and perverted attitude.

"Alright, Taurus, bring the pain on these freaks!" Lucy barked, pointing at the remaining Corrupticons in front of her.

"You got it Miss Luuuucy!" Taurus leaped forward, removed his battle-axe from his back, and skillfully swiped it forward. "MoooOOO!"

The squid-faced Cybertronians were blown off their feet with deep slashes on their bodies. Their bodies broke apart and disappeared into violent mist.

Team Prime and Taurus regrouped into a circle, each of them in battle ready position as they scanned their surroundings. The ground was torn up, burned, or frozen from the group's respective attacks. Most of the cornstalks that were surrounding them earlier had either been turned to ash, frozen solid, or cut up into tiny pieces.

Seeing that there was no more opposition, the group eased up to catch their breath. Within five minutes, the team had taken out at least eighty Corrupticons that had surrounded and attacked them all at once.

"Wow... that was intense." Lucy noted, panting.

"No joke," Gray agreed.

Taurus turned his heart-filled gaze to Lucy's ample chest, which was moving up-and-down from her deep breathing. "I gotta say, Miss Lucy, you sure look gooood all hot and sweaty!"

The blonde-haired wizard glared at the perverted cow, gritting her teeth hard. "Knock it off, yah pervert!" she yelled.

"So, did we win?" Happy questioned.

"Not even close." A baritone voice called out.

Team Prime and Taurus immediately turned in the direction of the voice. A large Cybertronian was standing on a white hovering platform with its hands behind its back. It appeared to resemble a larger Corrupticon, standing at 30ft tall, except its chest was grey and the shoulders were spiked, along with the body looking for human than alien. The helm was now shaped more like a human skull, having what could be a mask over its mouth, whilst two pipes connected from the mask to the back of the rib cage. The way its mouthless, purple-optic face stared down at them was unsettling to say the least.

"In fact, the real battle has yet to begin." The Corrupticon Titan stated.

Natsu stepped forward, his usual roguish grin plastered on his face. "That's what I'm talking about! Now we can take on a real challenge."

"You mongrels seek a real challenge? Very well..." the Corrupticon Titan held up his right hand. As a result, a flash filled the group's vision. When they opened their eyes, they were shocked to see not a horde, but rather an army of Corrupticons all around them. There had to be hundreds of the things!

Natsu's confident expression dropped slightly as a sweat drop raced down his face. Gray, Erza, and Lucy turned their lethal gazes onto the pink-haired wizard.

"You just had to open that big mouth of yours. Didn't yah, idiot?" Gray growled.

"An entire army of my half-breed vermin against only you four. With your limited strength, you can only handle so much. How can you possibly stop us?" The Corrupticon Titan boasted.

Team Prime was silent for a moment and stood still, feeling the cold wind blow around them. Lucy and Happy looked around at the mutant army surrounding them with fearful expressions. Gray and Erza clenched their fists and gritted their teeth in frustration. Their situation was nothing to take lightly. However, one certain Dragon Slayer didn't seem too fazed by the situation.

"Seriously? You brought an army of these freaks to fight for you? What, you too afraid to take us on yourself, yah coward?" Natsu challenged.

"I have no need to sully my hands with you lesser beings." The Corrupticon Titan retorted.

Natsu's hands ignited with intense, burning flames as a feral grin crossed his face. "Sorry to ruin your moment, ugly. But before this is over, you will fight us. It's gonna take more than a bunch of these snot-hacking creeps to stop us!"

Natsu's determination was infectious as the rest of the group soon straightened up and stared at the massive horde of Corrupticons with a renewed fire in their eyes.

"Flame-brain's right... which is very rare." Cold, misty air began to coalesce around Gray's body as he charged up his magic. "We're Fairy Tail wizards."

"And defying the odds is our specialty." Erza finished with a smirk.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

The Corrupticon Titan narrowed his optics in irritation. "Such arrogance from a lowly species... My legion, eviscerate them!" he commanded, pointing at the team.

With that, an uproar of gurgled screams filled the area as the Corrupticons army didn't waste time in charging at the small group of wizards. The flames covering Natsu's body grew hotter and more intense, causing the snow on the ground to instantly melt around him.

He bent his knees and discharged twin jets of fire from the soles of his feet, propelling him forward at incredible speeds. "Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu shouted, blasting through a thick wave of Corrupticons like a bullet through paper.

"No way in Hell I'm letting you show me up, dragon breath." Gray jumped forward to attack, summoning his magical circle. "Ice-Make-" He created a large, intricately-designed ice hammer in his hands. "-Ice Impact!" He slammed the oversized hammer on the ground and made a large impact crater, which squashed a few Corrupticons and sent many more flying back from the shockwave.

A few Corrupticons attempted to tackle Erza, but were swiped away by her twin swords. Titania hovered into the air and summoned several dozen blades. "Dance, my blades!" the swords then began to rotate around her rapidly. "Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword!" the blades took on a disc formation and shot at the mass of Corrupticons in front of her, instantly cutting them down in their tracks.

"MOOOOOOOO!" Taurus cried out as he swung his mighty axe into a group of DNAliens, sending them careening back.

"Nice job, Taurus!" praised Lucy. "Now take out the rest!"

"You got it, Miss Luuucy!" Taurus grinned. "Do I get a smoooooch right after?"

"JUST GO ALREADY!"

The battle continued on another few minutes. Team Prime was holding their ground and wiping out any Corrupticons that engaged them. However, the sheer number of the mutant aliens was beginning to overwhelm the tiring wizards.

Natsu had been surrounded by a large group of the yellow-skinned freaks. His attire was disheveled and torn in various places. He was breathing hard as he narrowed his gaze at the group of manifestations. He had successfully taken out dozens of these Corrupticons singlehandedly, but now his body was starting to fatigue and the enemy continued to attack in large numbers.

"Damn! These things just keep coming!" Natsu complained.

The Corrupticons jumped at the pink-haired wizard, preparing to slash him with their taloned hands. Natsu, however, ignited his arms with fire and swiped them away with incredible force. One managed to sneak up on the Dragon Slayer and put him in a chokehold. He retaliated by jabbing the Corrupticon in the side very hard. The Corrupticon immediately released Natsu and staggered back.

"RAAGGGH!" yelled Natsu, punching the mutant straight in the face.

"Well," Gray had summoned ice blades in both hands and was swiftly slashing at the opponents around him. "We are facing an army, dimwit!"

"WHAT YOU'D CALL ME?!" the Dragon Slayer shouted, enraged.

Distracted from his banter with Gray, a Corrupticon lunged at Natsu and tackled him to the ground. Others soon joined in and a pile of Corrupticon began to build on top of Fairy Tail's Salamander.

"Natsu!" Happy cried out fearfully.

The blue cat flew over to aid his best friend, but was stopped when he was hit by a snot blob. "Gross!" He exclaimed. His wings disappeared and he fell to the ground, trapped.

"Idiot!" the ice-make wizard reprimanded Natsu. "Pay attention to the fight!"

Loud gurgling screams filled Gray's ears as the number of Corrupticons around him immediately doubled and lunged for him. "Ice-Make-" His chant was cut short when a snot wad hit his hands, binding them together. A few more slime balls were fired at the raven-haired teen's legs, causing him to lose his balance and fall over.

"Crap!" Gray cursed before a group of Corrupticons converged around him and pinned him to the ground.

"MOOOOOO!" Taurus swiped his axe at a few Corrupticons, slicing them in half and causing them to disappear in purple mist.

"HI-YAH!" Lucy whipped an incoming Corrupticon in the face, making it stagger back in pain. Taurus rushed over and delivered a mighty right hook into the yellow-skinned mutant, effectively crushing it into the ground.

The cow-man walked over to his master and stood close to her. Lucy paled at the number of Corrupticon manifestations closing in on them. The Celestial wizard and the Zodiac Spirit had fended off and destroyed many Corrupticons so far; however, no matter how many they took out, more continued to attack them.

'This isn't good. There's too many... and my magic is starting to run low.' Lucy thought.

All of a sudden, multiple blobs of mucus collided with Taurus. The robust cow-man tried to rip them off, but the wads proved to be too sticky. The Corrupticon horde continued hacking up more snot blobs until the Zodiac Spirit's legs and arms were bound together, making him fall over.

"Oh NO!" Lucy cried frightfully. "Taurus!"

Without warning, a slime ball flew into Lucy's right side and knocked her to the ground. She grimaced at the cold, sticky feeling on her body. "EWW!"

Several Corrupticons surrounded Lucy and menacingly loomed over her. "This ends now, human." One of them gurgled out.

An expression of fear and dread crossed the seventeen-year-old girl's face.

Erza zoned in on a few Corrupticons and slashed at them with her twin blades, killing them instantly. As the Fairy Queen flew away, she loudly chanted, "Heaven's Wheel: Scattered Petals!" Suddenly, dozens of swords appeared out of nowhere and rained down on her opposition.

The redhead knight landed and was breathing hard. This fight was steadily draining her strength. No matter how many manifestations she and the others wiped out, more kept coming. She studied the battlefield and quickly spotted Natsu, Gray, and Lucy being overwhelmed by the Dark Entrapment manifestations.

"NO!" She shouted, alarmed.

With her attention diverted from the battle, Erza did not see an incoming snot ball that hit her directly in the chest. Suddenly, more mucus balls were fired at her and eventually trapped her in a covering of thick goo.

"Dammit. Not this again..." Erza cursed as she fell over, and the Corrupticon horde surrounded her.

Just like that, Team Prime was either trapped in mucus cocoons or overwhelmed by the Corrupticons.

"HA-HA-HA-HA!" the Corrupticon Titan chortled. "Did you really believe that you could defeat us? Our power is far superior to any strength you vermin may possess. Now, my legion, finish them off!"

The Corrupticon horde let out gurgled yells in response and proceeded with the command. Before the leader could relish in his victory, a commotion caught his attention. The manifestation could hear muttering coming from below one of the Corrupticon piles. If he recalled correctly, the pink-haired wizard was under that particular one.

All of a sudden, a brilliant torrent of fire similar to a volcanic eruption exploded from the bottom of the pile. "FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Natsu bellowed, scorching the ground beneath him. The Corrupticons that had piled on were either vaporized or sent soaring into the distance.

"WHAT?!" the Corrupticon Titan exclaimed, shocked.

Natsu stood up with a raging inferno enveloping his body. The sheer power of his flames had increased exponentially, no doubt due to his anger. "You guys are really burning me up!" He growled through clenched teeth, narrowing his gaze at the Corrupticons.

Meanwhile, the air around Gray became very cold until the Corrupticons that surrounded him were frozen in several inch-thick sheets of ice. Then, without warning, a huge burst of magical energy shattered the frozen manifestations into thousands of tiny pieces.

An icy blue mist cascaded off of Gray's body as he stood up and faced the yellow-skinned mutants around him. An irritated expression was plastered on his face. "I'm really sick of that snot you freaks keep spitting at me." He stated. "I heard you guys like cold. Well, lemme show yah what real cold feels like!"

The Corrupticons let out their battle cry as they charged at the raven-haired teen, who was gathering blue magical energy in his hands. "Ice-Make: Freeze Lancer!" Multiple icy lances shot out from his magical circle; however, these were much more powerful than Gray's normal Ice-Make: Lance. The icy projectiles struck all the incoming Corrupticons and instantly reduced them to purple mist.

On the other side of the battlefield, despite the slime restricting her movements, Lucy was able to reach one of her keys on her belt. Just as the Corrupticons over her were about to deliver the final blow, she called out, "Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"

With the sound of a bell and a puff of smoke that caused the Corrupticons to back away, a pink-haired woman in a maid outfit appeared over Lucy.

"You summoned me, princess? How may I serve you?" Virgo requested.

"Get these creepy things away from me!" Lucy cried out frantically.

Virgo's pupils glowed red as she replied, "Very well."

Suddenly, the Corrupticons had no time to react as Virgo rushed forward at blinding speeds and swung her shackles around, sending the mutants flying in opposite directions.

Once the group was disposed of, the maid turned back to her master. "Princess, is there anything else you wish of me?"

"Yes! Get this crud off of me!" Lucy screamed, struggling against the snot.

"Yes, princess. But do you wish to punish me for not doing it sooner?" Virgo asked, eagerly hoping for punishment.

Erza gritted her teeth in vexation from the mucus blobs covering her body. "No. I'm not going down like this." She growled. "Re-Quip!"

The Fairy Queen's body was engulfed with golden-white light, causing the Corrupticons to back away and cover their eyes. When the flash faded, Erza was standing and clad in her Lightning Empress Armour along with her Spear of Lightning in her right hand.

The redhead leapt into the air and hovered fifteen feet above the Corrupticons. A red magic circle appeared at the tip of the spear. Suddenly, multiple bolts of blue electricity fired from the magic seal and struck all of the manifestations around her. As a result of her Lightning Cyclotron attack, all of her opponents were wiped out.

"Hmph..." Erza snorted, landing back on the ground. "Too easy."

The Corrupticon Titan stared in awed disbelief. How could these humans possibly have the energy to continue fighting? They should be exhausted by now! They shouldn't be getting stronger and wiping the floor with his legion. The Dark Entrapment manifestation couldn't understand that the inner strength of the Fairy Tail wizards could not be taken away, and that they would continue fighting until their friend, Braedey Martin, was saved.

The Corrupticon Titan scoffed as Team Prime continued destroying more and more Corrupticons. More than half of the army had been wiped out and the remaining Corrupticons were being destroyed swiftly by the sheer strength and willpower of the Fairy Tail group.

"How is this possible?" the Corrupticon Titan muttered, shocked. "These vermin were supposed to become exhausted and eventually fall as the battle progressed. Instead, they grow stronger and our forces continue to dwindle."

The Corrupticon Titan paused for a moment. Images of Team Prime's previous battle with Cloaker and memories of Braedey's experience with the Corrupticon Titan played through the manifestation's eyes. When the playback concluded, the Dark Entrapment avatar received a new strategy for handling these annoyances.

"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." The manifestation said.

After a sudden flash of light, two more slightly shorter Corrupticon Titans appeared behind the main avatar. Without glancing back at the newly formed manifestations, the Corrupticon Titan commander ordered, "Deal with these annoying pests, but I shall handle the redhead." The former narrowed his malevolent purple eyes at Erza, who was in the air shooting lightning bolts at the Corrupticons below her.

"As you command," the two Corrupticon Titans subordinates responded.

When the three Corrupticon Titans leaped off the floating platform, wing-like flaps (that were blood orange on the underside) unfolded from their backs. As the two subordinates headed toward the battlefield, the commander had his eyes set on a certain re-quipping knight. Erza had no time to react as she was blindsided from the left.

The Fairy Queen cried out when a clawed hand wrapped around her body, squeezing it rather painfully. She turned to her attacker and was shocked to see who it was.

'I didn't know the Corrupticons could fly.' She gaped inwardly.

"Your interference ends now." the Corrupticon Titan commander said.

Suddenly, the Dark Entrapment avatar reared back its arm and threw Erza all the way to the top of one of the weather towers with a loud crash. The Corrupticon Titan flew straight toward where he had thrown Fairy Tail's Titania.

Meanwhile, in the battlefield below, the rest of the group continued their fight against the dwindling Corrupticon horde. However, the battle immediately ceased when two Highbreed landed with loud thuds.

"Enough!" Corrupticon Titan 1 yelled.

Without warning, the remaining Corrupticons disappeared in purple mist. They were no longer of use.

Natsu clenched his fist and grinned impishly. "Oh, there's more of yah now? Great! That'll make beating the crap outta you cowards even more exciting."

"Exciting?" Lucy sweated, frightened by the sight of the hideous-looking creatures.

"Wait..." Gray looked around. "Where's Erza?"

"The commander is dealing with her as we speak." Corrupticon Titan 2 said. "But your deaths will come at our hands instead."

"Pft," Natsu snorted, "Fat chance!"

"You tell 'em, Natsu!" Happy encouraged, freed from the mucus cocoon.

Gray narrowed his eyes at the Highbreed, a drop of sweat trailing down his face. 'Something feels off about these things. They feel different from the Corrupticon Titans. They feel... stronger...' he thought.

"You losers are going down!" Natsu leapt toward the Corrupticon Titan duo, his flaming right arm cocked back.

"Natsu, wait!" Gray shouted; however, it was too late.

The Corrupticon Titan on the right swiftly grabbed Natsu by his arm, stopping his attack effectively. Gray, Lucy, and Happy gawked at how easily the Corrupticon Titan had stopped Natsu's punch.

"No way..." Lucy breathed, astonished.

Natsu grunted in frustration as he dangled in the air. The Corrupticon Titan tightened his grip around his arm, causing the Dragon Slayer's expression to contort in pain.

"Do not underestimate the strength of a Corrupticon Titan, vermin." The Corrupticon Titan wrapped his other arm around Natsu's waist and squeezed tightly. This time, Natsu couldn't hold back his cries of pain.

"Natsu!" Lucy and Happy screamed.

Gray clenched his fists with rage. "Hey! The only one who hurts flame-brain is me!" With cold air misting off his body, Gray jumped into action.

"Ice-Make: Knuckle!" Several giant fists made of ice burst from the ground beneath the Highbreed and collided with its abdomen, causing it to release Natsu and go flying back.

Natsu landed on a knee and hunched over. The pain in his sides and right arm was still flaring. 'Damn... that hurt...' he thought.

"Natsu!" Happy flew over to Natsu's side. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah..." he panted, and then stood back up with a serious visage. "But you need to get back. This guy is no pushover."

"You're welcome, by the way." Gray muttered smugly.

"I never asked for your help, stripper!" Natsu retorted heatedly. "I could've handled him no sweat!"

Gray scoffed, "Yeah, sure looked that way when you were screaming in pain."

"Can it, you two!" Lucy yelled angrily. "Worry about the super-strong monsters standing here!"

Corrupticon Titan 1 shook off Gray's attack and stood right back up. He honed his purple optics on the wizards, the evil intent within was clearly visible. "Enjoy that small taste of victory while you still can, because that'll be the last hit you get on me." he boasted, stepping toward the raven-haired wizard.

Natsu stepped in-between the Highbreed and Gray with a fierce expression on his face. "No way, pal. You're mine!" he stated with full authority.

Corrupticon Titan 1 shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever. All you lesser species look alike to me."

Without hesitation, Natsu crouched down and launched himself at the Corrupticon Titan with his flaming fist cocked back.

Gray and Lucy paused when the second Corrupticon Titan loomed over them. "Well," He cracked his knuckles, "I suppose that leaves you two insects for me. This should be quick."

"Oh yeah," Gray took a fighting stance and charged up his magic, "Don't be so sure, freak. I'm not going down without a fight."

"Ice-Make: Lance!" a fusillade of icy lances fired out from Gray's magic circle. Incredibly, the Corrupticon Titan leapt over the projectiles and landed right in front of Gray. The ice-make wizard was so caught off guard by the Corrupticon Titan's speed that he was backhanded across the field.

"GRAY!" Lucy shrieked.

"As I said, this will be quick." Corrupticon Titan 2 remarked.

Lucy's fists shook with anger as she turned and glared at the freaky monster. "Okay, that's it! Virgo, take this guy down!"

"Yes, princess." Virgo replied with a hint of anger in her voice. She did not like seeing one of Lucy's friends get hit like that.

The curvaceous pink-haired maiden dug into the earth and popped out in front of the Highbreed, rearing back her chains to whip the manifestation. Shockingly, the Corrupticon Titan caught Virgo's chains in his left hand.

"Trying to whip me? Now that's just insulting." He spun around, pulling Virgo off her feet, and threw her straight into Lucy!

The blonde-haired wizard grunted painfully as she hit the ground with Virgo lying on top of her.

Corrupticon Titan 2 menacingly sauntered to Lucy until he loomed over her. "I was hoping for a little more fun, but this pathetic display is to be expected from lower life-forms." He raised his giant foot over the blonde and prepared to step on her.

Lucy closed her eyes but nothing happened. When she opened them, she saw Gray standing in front of her holding the Corrupticon Titan's foot back; though it was clear that he was struggling to do so.

"Stronger than the average vermin, aren't you?" Corrupticon Titan 2 mocked.

"You... have... no idea." Gray said through grit teeth. "FREEZE!"

Suddenly, ice traveled up the Corrupticon Titan's leg until its entire body was encased in a thick chunk of ice. Gray smirked as he stepped back toward Lucy and Virgo.

The wizard and celestial spirt returned to their feet and the former looked at her friend with a bright smile. "You did it, Gray!"

"I'm sorry, princess." The maiden apologized. "Do you wish to punish me?"

Without warning, the ice began to crack and in one swift movement, the Corrupticon Titan broke free and shattered ice was sent flying everywhere.

"What?!" Gray gapped.

"Ah," Corrupticon Titan 2 let out a content sigh, "Thank you. That was refreshing."

Meanwhile, on top of the weather tower, Erza quickly recovered from the surprise attack and stood up. The Corrupticon Titan commander flew into view and landed a few metres in front of her. His size and appearance would be quite intimidating for anyone, but not Erza Scarlet. She held up her spear and charged it with lightning.

"Why do you continue to fight? Even your limited intelligence can deduce that your efforts are wasted. You will fail and your friend will die." The commander declared.

Erza sharpened her gaze on the alien monster and snarled. "No! I will not sit idly by and allow this repulsive spell to kill Braedey. I will stop this Dark Entrapment Spell if it's the last thing I do!"

"Then you've already sealed your fate. But do not fret; we shall kill this Braedey Martin quickly so you can be reunited with him in the afterlife." The Corrupticon Titan commented darkly.

"Enough!" Erza jumped into the air and aimed her spear at her opponent. With an enraged cry, she discharged intense bolts of blue lighting upon the Corrupticon Titan.

The Cybertronian yelled loudly and collapsed to a knee in pain. After a moment of electrocution, Erza's lightning spell finished and her feet returned to the metal surface of the tower. Her eyes widened in shock when the manifestation stood back up, light trails of smoke billowing from its body.

"What? But how?" Erza murmured.

Needless to say, she was astonished by the Corrupticon Titan only sustaining minor injuries from her attack.

"Nice try, vermin. But it will take much more than mere lightning to take me down." The Corrupticon Titan commander asserted.

'These Corrupticons are very strong and durable. No wonder Braedey had such a hard time handling them.' Erza thought. 'I'll have to try a different approach.'

"Re-Quip!" In a golden flash, Erza was now adorned in her Heaven's Wheel Armour. She hovered into the air and summoned a few dozen swords around her, promptly launching them at the Dark Entrapment avatar.

The Corrupticon Titan did not attempt to dodge the lethal projectiles and allowed them to hit; remarkably, the blades shattered against its body.

Erza's eyes widened further in shock.

"That tickled." The Corrupticon Titan commander taunted.

Unexpectedly, the Cybertronian held up its left hand and fired a volley of darts at Erza. The Fairy Queen, though nearly caught off guard, managed to deflect the tiny projectiles with her twin blades.

'This is going to be a challenge.' The scarlet-haired knight realized.

"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu shouted.

Corrupticon Titan 1 held up its arms to block the flaming kick. The strength behind the blow made the manifestation slide back on its feet a few meters. It inaudibly hissed from the burning sensation of the fire, but recovered quickly as the cold air cooled its body.

Natsu then jumped in the air and propelled himself at his opponent with flames shooting from his feet. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" the Corrupticon Titan sidestepped the punch and grabbed the Dragon Slayer by his arm. Before Natsu could counterattack, he was repeatedly slammed into the ground like a rag doll.

He clenched his teeth to fight back the pain flaring throughout his body. The Corrupticon Titan followed up by throwing Natsu high into the air. Instead of crashing back down, Happy flew into view and caught his best friend.

"I gotcha, Natsu." Happy chirped.

"Thanks, pal. Now let's roast this freak." He looked down to see that the Corrupticon Titan was gone. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"Right here!" a deep, raspy voice announced from above.

The duo looked up and was shocked to see the Corrupticon Titan flying above them.

"He's got wings too!?" Natsu and Happy shouted simultaneously.

"There's nowhere you can hide from me." Corrupticon Titan 1 started shooting darts from his hands.

Natsu and Happy screamed as they tried to dodge the salvo of organic projectiles.

Lucy cried out as she dived to the ground to avoid a barrage of darts aimed at her. Virgo appeared in front of her master and swiped her chains at the Corrupticon Titan's chest, causing it to stagger back.

She then kneeled and placed her hands on the ground, yellow light shining momentarily.

"Spica Lock!" Virgo chanted.

Multiple boulders erupted from the ground and trapped Corrupticon Titan 2 inside a rocky sphere, with lightning shooting out of the cracks. As soon as Virgo released her hold, Gray quickly sprung in to engage.

"Ice-Make: Death Scythe!" Gray created a giant icy scythe, jumped into the air, and swung it at the Corrupticon Titan.

Corrupticon Titan 2 was sent careening back and landed a few meters away on its back. He remained motionless for a short moment. Lucy and Gray were beginning to think they'd won until the Corrupticon Titan returned to its feet, dusting itself off.

"Rocks and ice? Did you really think that was going to destroy me?"

"What the hell!" Gray shouted in disbelief. "He just brushed that off like it was nothing!"

Lucy's body began to tremble slightly. "This thing... how strong is it...?"

"Stronger than anything you vermin can comprehend." Corrupticon Titan 2 proclaimed. It clenched its hands into fists, reared them over its head, and slammed them into the ground. A shockwave was created that sent an unexpected Gray, Lucy, and Virgo off their feet and flying back.

Erza swiftly jumped back to avoid a punch thrown by the Corrupticon Titan commander. She had re-quipped into her Flight Armour. She had hoped that increasing her speed would provide an advantage against her strong opponent, and so far it seemed to be working.

She crouched down and dashed toward the Cybertronian with amazing speed. "Sonic Claw!" The Corrupticon Titan commander was too slow to react as Erza slashed at it from every direction.

The manifestation grunted painfully as it staggered backward. Erza used the Corrupticon Titan's temporary disorientation to her advantage.

"Re-Quip!" Golden light covered her body and faded to reveal her form outfitted in her Black Wing Armour.

She rushed forward and slashed in a cross pattern. "Moon Flash!" a silver-white energy wave erupted from her blade and struck the Corrupticon Titan, which sent it careening to the edge of the platform that the duo was fighting on.

The Entrapment manifestation growled as it regained its bearings and stood up. Erza landed in front of the Corrupticon Titan commander, both of them shooting dangerous glares at each other.

"Hmph... you have spirit, vermin." The commander admitted. "I will enjoy breaking it."

Erza pointed her sword at the Cybertronian and sharply remarked, "I am a wizard of Fairy Tail. We do not break that easily."

"Then this will be more fun than I presumed." The Corrupticon Titan remarked sinisterly.

Erza spread her stance and prepared herself for another round.

"Crap! How many darts can this guy shoot?!" Natsu shouted nervously.

He and Happy were flying around, narrowly evading the darts still being shot behind them by Corrupticon Titan 1.

"I dunno, Natsu. But you better do something fast, I can't keep this up much longer!" Happy cried fearfully.

Corrupticon Titan 1 growled in annoyance and ceased firing darts. The manifestation increased its speed dramatically until it appeared right above the Dragon Slayer and flying cat.

"Whoa! How'd he move so fast?!" Natsu said, shocked.

"Surprise!" the Corrupticon Titan delivered a powerful kick into the duo, sending them crashing into the ground. A small dust cloud arose from the newly formed crater.

Natsu groaned and winced from the pain filling his body; however, he managed to push through it. He opened his eyes only to see an unconscious Happy lying a few metres in front of him.

"Happy..." Natsu murmured.

The blue cat moaned.

The pink-haired wizard got to his hands and knees and managed to return to his feet. Suddenly, Corrupticon Titan 1 landed in front of him and swatted him back. Natsu turned in the air, landed on his feet, and skidded backwards. He was about to counterattack when the Corrupticon Titan appeared in front of him again. With no time to react, Corrupticon Titan 1 rammed its foot into Natsu's stomach.

Natsu coughed up a bit of blood while his eyes bulged out. "Filth!" the Cybertronian cocked back its fist and slammed it into the Dragon Slayer's chest. Fairy Tail's Salamander cried out from the powerful blow.

He was sent bouncing across the field and rolled on the ground a few times before coming to a stop on his stomach. He clothing was ripped and torn in various places, complemented by myriad cuts and bruises all across his body.

Natsu clamped his mouth shut as he struggled back to his feet, his body flooded with excruciating pain. 'Damn... these things are strong. I don't think even Jellal's hits were this powerful.' The fire wizard still remembered how strong the blue-haired psychopath's attacks were and to say this monster's blows were stronger was surely saying something.

Corrupticon Titan 1 menacingly loomed over the downed Dragon Slayer. "That's right. Kneel before the superior race." The manifestation paused, and then glanced back at an unconscious Happy. "Hmm... or perhaps I should just finish your little pet first."

Natsu's body tensed up while his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

The Fark Entrapment avatar turned away from Natsu and walked toward the azure cat. "So you can watch him suffer."

At that moment, the agony Natsu had been feeling vanished and was replaced with something else: rage. A shadow overtook the upper half of Natsu's face as he stood up from the ground, an ominous aura surrounding him.

"That's right. You're no threat to me now." The Corrupticon Titan bent down to pick up Happy, but stopped when he felt an uncomfortable heat radiating from behind him.

"You... bastard..." the Corrupticon Titan turned around to see hot, brilliant flames covering Natsu's body. The snow covering the ground in the vicinity instantly melted and the ground cracked as the moisture in the soil evaporated. Needless to say, a fuming look was plastered on the pink-haired wizard's face. "Don't you ever... EVER... threaten my friends; especially MY LITTLE BUDDY!" he roared.

Corrupticon Titan 1 apprehensively stepped away from Happy, holding up its forearms to shield itself from the searing heat; it was to no avail. Already his skin was beginning to shrivel up from dehydration. "That... heat..."

Natsu bent his knees and fired streams of fire from his feet, propelling himself forward like a rocket. "Fire Dragon Sword Horn!"

Without time to react, Natsu head-butted the Corrupticon Titan in the abdomen and sent it flying back. Corrupticon Titan 1's purple optics widened from the powerful blow. Still in midair, the Fairy Tail wizard did not let up on his attack.

"Fire Dragon ROAR!" He bellowed, exhaling a mighty torrent of flames upon the manifestation.

The Corrupticon Titan cried out in utter agony from being enveloped in the one element it feared most. Natsu remained on the offensive until he ran out of breath. When he finally collapsed, he observed the aftermath. A smoking trench had been carved through the terrain by the pyromaniac's breath attack and at the end of it was a badly burnt and unconscious Corrupticon Titan.

"Hmph," Natsu smirked, "superior race, huh?"

A groan behind him then caught his attention. He turned around to see Happy getting to his feet, rubbing his aching head. "Ugh... Natsu...?"

"Hey, little buddy. You alright?" Natsu asked, concerned.

Happy nodded and summoned his wings to fly up to Natsu. "What happened to that creepy guy?"

"Oh, him? He's over there." Natsu pointed to the fallen Corrupticon Titan, the Dragon Slayer sporting a proud smile.

Happy gasped upon seeing the condition of the creature whose strength had proven to be quite formidable. "Oh wow! You sure did get him good, Natsu!" the cat praised.

"You bet I did." Natsu replied.

A pain-filled moan pulled the wizard and flying cat out of their conversation. They turned to the noise to see Corrupticon Titan 1 steadily getting up.

The Corrupticon Titan turned to the duo with its multiple eyes burning with rage. "You... SCUM!"

At that moment, Natsu noticed something peculiar about the Corrupticon Titan's condition. The skin around its gut was shriveled up and its legs were slightly trembling.

"That's strange. What's with this guy?" Natsu pondered.

"It looks like he's shriveling up like a raisin." Happy pointed out.

"Wait a minute..." Natsu paused to think. Why would his opponent show signs of dehydration after only a couple attacks? Realization then struck him like a hammer. "OH, that's right! That subconscious dude said that these guys like it cold, which means-" suddenly, Natsu's body was enveloped with brilliant flames, making Corrupticon Titan 1 stagger back in fear. "-it's time to turn up the heat!"

The outburst of fire immediately caught the attention of the other two Corrupticon Titans. Corrupticon Titan 2 backhanded Gray away before turning its gaze onto Natsu. On top of the weather tower, the Corrupticon Titan commander jumped back to avoid Erza's Moon Flash attack and fired a barrage of darts at her, which she deflected with her sword. It then looked at Natsu below, its eyes widening from the sheer power of the flames encompassing his body.

"That flaming creature must be dealt with!" the Dark Entrapment avatar snarled, clenching its fists in fury.

Erza noticed the Corrupticon Titan's attention shifting toward Natsu. Why would the Corrupticon Titan suddenly focus solely on Natsu, and was that fear in its eyes?

The scarlet-haired knight's eyes widened, recalling what Alpha Trion had stated earlier. 'Because the enemies you are about to fight prefer cold temperatures.'

'That's it! That's their weakness!' Erza realized.

"Everyone!" Erza shouted. "Drive the Corrupticon Titan toward Natsu! His flames are the only way to defeat them!"

"Silence, you filthy being!" The Corrupticon Titan commander yelled, firing another round of darts at Erza; which ricocheted off of her sword.

"Re-Quip!" Golden light shined from Erza's body. When it faded, she was clad in her Flame Empress Armour. Fire formed around the crimson blade in Erza's right hand. The Fairy Queen jumped in the air, reared back her sword, and unleashed a wave of fire upon the Corrupticon Titan.

The Corrupticon Titan commander cried out in surprised pain from the heat as it was blasted off the tower to the unforgiving ground below.

Down below, Corrupticon Titan 2 timidly stepped back upon seeing the inferno surrounding Natsu's body. Already it could feel its body starting to dehydrate from its proximity to the heat.

"You heard the lady!" Gray shouted. "Drive 'em toward flame-for-brains."

Determination reappeared on Gray and Lucy's visages as they stood before the tall, intimidating monster.

"Stay away from me you lesser creatures!" the Cybertronian exclaimed; shooting more darts at the duo.

Gray acted swiftly. "Ice-Make: Shield!" a flower petal-shaped barrier of ice emerged from the ground and effectively blocked the projectiles, despite the multiple cracks in the shield. "Lucy, you're up!"

"Right," Lucy responded, "Virgo, drive him close to Natsu!"

"As you wish," the ground around Virgo began to shake until a couple of large boulders burst forth. The maiden wrapped her chains around the boulders, spun around in a blur, and swung the heavy objects into the Corrupticon Titan.

Corrupticon Titan 2 was thrown off its feet, his body soaring across the field and into Corrupticon Titan 1. Both of them were now lying on the ground, dazed from the impact.

Across the field, the Corrupticon Titan commander pushed himself off the snowy ground. His purple eyes widened upon seeing his two incapacitated subordinates. How was this happening? They possessed far more strength than these lowly humans despite their strange powers. So how was it that they were losing?!

"This... is impossible." The manifestation murmured, rising to a knee.

Erza landed behind the Corrupticon Titan with a loud thud, catching its attention. A serious expression adorned her face.

"You cannot defeat us, vermin!" All of a sudden, a flap on the alien's gut opened and revealed several tentacles. Said tentacles stretched out toward Erza to grab her.

The redheaded knight's eyes widened slightly, reminded of the battle with Cloaker and how he could do the same thing. Shaking off her brief surprise, Erza, in a blur, skillfully sliced the tentacles apart with her flaming sword.

The Corrupticon Titan commander yelled in excruciating pain, purple-reddish blood spewing out from its tentacle stubs.

"You will not stand in our way anymore!" Erza declared strongly.

She rushed forward and swung her sword horizontally and vertically, creating a fiery cross that rammed straight into the Corrupticon Titan. The manifestation bounced off the ground a few times before rolling to a stop near the general area of the other two Corrupticon Titans, who were now steadily regaining their bearings.

"Oh no, I didn't say you could leave." Gray remarked, hitting the ground with his fists. "Ice-Make: Floor!" The ground beneath the three Corrupticon Titans solidified into ice, effectively trapping them.

Natsu stared at the three Dark Entrapment manifestations with a hungry grin. "Thanks for coming to me; saves me the trouble."

"Natsu!" the Fire Dragon Slayer glanced to the source of the voice: Erza. "Eat up!" Erza held up her Flame Sword, which was sheathed in fire. The blaze grew bigger and bigger until the re-quipping mage couldn't control it anymore. She swiped the huge fireball at Natsu, who was eager to accept it.

He grabbed the fireball with both hands and inhaled all of it into his mouth. After swallowing the inferno, Natsu let out a satisfied burp.

"Thanks for the grub, Erza." Natsu said, savoring his newly restored magical energy. "Now, I'm fired up!"

The Corrupticon Titan trio watched in horror. They knew that this battle was over.

"Enjoy your victory while it lasts, wretched scum. You will soon know what real power is. Nothing will stop the Dark Entrapment." The Corrupticon Titan commander proclaimed darkly.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Natsu retorted, not listening to the avatar's prattle.

He crouched down and leapt into the air. "With the flames in my right hand and the flames in my left, put the two together, and you get-" Natsu merged the two fireballs in his hands into one above his head, which radically grew in size and power. "Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!"

Natsu hurled the massive fireball down on the three Corrupticon Titans. Upon impact, an enormous explosion of searing heat ripped the ground apart like an erupting volcano. The Team Prime, excluding Natsu, was forced to shield their eyes from the intense light and the debris being thrown at them.

Happy had grabbed onto Lucy's shoulder to keep from being blown away. The cold air and snow produced by the weather towers was gone in an instant, replaced by searing heat.

"Ugh... too hot!" Lucy whined, stepping back to put distance between her and the source of the heat.

"First you're too cold, and now you're too hot? Make up your mind, Lucy." Happy jabbed.

"SHUT IT, CAT!" the blonde snapped.

A moment later, the inferno started to die down until the flames finally disappeared. The smoke and ash began to settle, revealing a considerable-sized crater in the middle of the battlefield. There were no signs of the Corrupticon Titan. Team Prime had triumphed once more.

Natsu was slightly panting, feeling the fatigue in his body. He had to admit, expending his magic against the Corrupticon hordes and the super-strong Corrupticon Titan had drained him considerably. The others were no exception.

"Man... that... was... awesome!" Natsu yelled happily, despite his exhaustion.

"He's insane." Lucy moaned.

"You're just figuring that out?" Happy remarked.

The Celestial Spirit wizard ignored the blue cat and turned to Virgo, who was standing beside her. "Thank you for your help again, Virgo."

The pink-haired maiden smiled. "It was my pleasure. Do you wish to punish me now?"

"Goodbye, Virgo." Lucy swiped Virgo's key through the air and sent her back to the Spirit World.

"That fight... was intense." Gray commented dryly.

"Yes, it was." In a golden flash, Erza re-quipped back into her Heart Kreuz Armour. A few beads of sweat were noticeable on her face. Despite her magical prowess, even she felt tired from the lengthy battle.

"And Alpha Trion said that these manifestations would only grow stronger after every battle." Gray mentioned.

"But... those Corrupticons were already crazy strong." Lucy stammered. "What could be stronger than them?"

"Huh," Natsu ambled over to the group with a wide smile spread across his face. "I guess we'll find out."

"You better be taking this seriously, loser. This isn't a game." Gray said sharply.

Natsu got in the ice wizard's face, displaying an equal amount of anger. "Who said I wasn't taking this seriously?! And who're you calling a loser? Last I checked, I was the one who beat those guys!"

Before an annoyed Erza could intervene, a voice interrupted her. "Alright, that's enough, you two buffoons!"

Team Prime turned to the voice to see Azmuth standing before them.

"Hey, you're back!" Natsu pointed out.

"Is that a surprise?" Alpha Trion said sarcastically. "Congratulations on staying alive. What you accomplished was certainly noteworthy. Now, let's be off." Without wasting a moment, the subconscious avatar summoned a memory gateway.

"That's all you're gonna say? Congrats?" the Dragon Slayer shouted.

Alpha Trion turned back with a miffed look. "What do you want? A cookie? We don't have time to lollygag around!" he rebuked.

"Alpha Trion is right." Erza agreed. "We accomplished our task. Now, we must move on." She turned her gaze to the Galvan below. "How much further is Braedey's consciousness, Alpha Trion?"

"Not too far. Only four more memory jumps." He answered.

"What?!" Lucy screamed. "You're saying we have to fight four more times?!"

Alpha Trion shook his head. "Not likely. Your victory here has sent the Dark Entrapment a message that you will not fall easily. I reckon they will now be sending manifestations stronger than the Corrupticons after you. And there are only a few that come to mind that fit that description."

Team Prime froze from that statement. Villains stronger than the Corrupticons? Needless to say, that thought made the group rather apprehensive and unsettled.

"My guess is that the Dark Entrapment will dispatch only two or three more manifestations now." Alpha Trion continued.

"And these foes are going to pack even more strength than the Corrupticons, which I dare say we couldn't have defeated if it weren't for Natsu's fire." Erza stated.

The wizards took a moment to soak in that undeniable fact. Things were not going to get any easier from here.

"I'm afraid so. Are you sure you're still up for continuing your journey?" Braedey's subconscious mind inquired.

"Of course we are!" Natsu stated defensively. "We ain't givin' up! We're gonna keep fighting until we rescue Braedey!"

The others agreed with their pyromaniac friend and nodded defiantly.

Though he was indifferent on the outside, Alpha Trion smiled inwardly from their response. "Very well. Follow me." He stepped into the glowing sphere and vanished.

Just as the scene around them began to crack and fade away, Team Prime stepped into the gateway and headed to the next memory.

'We're coming Braedey. Just hold on a little longer.' Erza prayed.

Unfortunately for the Fairy Tail wizards, time was not on their side.

~*~*~

In the dark stormy void, the unknown individual had his hands tucked in his coat pockets. He was looming over someone who was on their hands and knees, wrists and ankles shackled by purple glowing chains.

The prisoner was none other than Braedey Martin.

Braedey was breathing heavily and his face was coated with sweat. Streams of tears were noticeable on his cheeks. His wide eyes were locked on the ground. The teen who normally displayed a confident, carefree attitude was now petrified in despondency and desperation.

"Please..." he uttered pathetically, "please... make it stop."

Purple lightning flashed through the black cloud-covered sky while thunder rumbled across the void.

A long ominous moment passed by. The dark character looming over Braedey retained his impassive expression. Then, he looked down at Braedey with a sinister grin.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Martin. I believe you deserve to see more." the dark individual replied.

Braedey's body tensed, shaken by the thought of seeing that horrible memory again. "NO! Please, I beg of you!" He begged, clenching his fists. "Please, stop all this madness!!"

"And spoil all the fun that I am having?" the man snickered. "No, I will not stop. I will keep drowning you in an ocean of misery and pain until the light inside you goes out completely." He kneeled down before Braedey, gazing at him with purple eyes that shone through the darkness and an unadulterated insane smile. "Then, and only then, will I allow you to die."

~*~*~

A/N: Damn, I'm finally finished! I have to admit; this chapter did indeed posse some challenges and was very difficult to write. Hopefully the next chapters won't have the same problem.

Next chapter: The Entrapment, Part V: Here Came the Conqueror - As Team Prime recovers from their clash with the Mutant 'Cons and Corrupticons, they trek into more of Braedey's memories. Then, they are forced to battle with a seemingly unstoppable foe who's strength is unmatched. Braedey's condition continues to deplete. What can possibly be done?