"Code Omega," he whispered. "Initiate Project: Titan."
He flipped the safety cover and slammed his thumb down on the red activation button.
Far away, in the secret underground base beneath the city—the same base Fairy Tail had used as a hideout—the ground began to tremble.
Then, from the underground base, the cover opens up, and buildings on top of it start to move.
Massive hydraulic pistons groaned as entire city blocks shifted. Fake residential buildings slid apart, revealing a massive, dark silo beneath the streets. The camouflage retracted. Floodlights snapped on, cutting through the twilight.
Then, from the underground base, a Peterbilt 379 comes out.
It was a beast of a machine. A long-nose semi-truck, painted in midnight blue with hot-rod red flames licking down the hood. Its chrome smokestacks belched black diesel smoke. It didn't have a driver. It roared out of the tunnel, its tires screeching on the pavement, tearing through the streets of the capital with the force of a freight train.
Following the Peterbilt was a massive, six-wheeled armored tactical hauler. It was bulky, carrying a heavy payload on its flatbed, painted in military olive and gunmetal grey. It smashed through barricades, following the lead truck's wake.
Finally, the silo doors fully retracted, and a sleek, experimental fighter jet shot vertically into the air. Its afterburners turned the night sky orange. It broke the sound barrier instantly—BOOM—banking hard toward the palace.
The three vehicles converged on the Royal Capital. They were moving with a singular, synchronized purpose.
Faust paused his rampage, the Dorma Anim turning its head. "What is this? More insects? More toys?"
Edolas Blake stood on the edge of the build. The jet screamed overhead, opening its canopy.
"Timing is everything," Blake grinned.
He leaped.
He free-fell for a second before the jet swooped down. Blake landed perfectly in the cockpit, strapping himself in. His hands flew across the controls.
"Sync rate 100%. Neural link active. Let's show him what real engineering looks like."
These three vehicles are moving towards Blake.
The Peterbilt and the Armored Hauler launched themselves off a ramp created by the destroyed palace walls, soaring into the air toward the hovering jet.
"COMBINE!" Blake shouted.
Blake activates a few commands, and the three vehicles transform.
The sound was a symphony of shifting metal.
Whirrrr-chk-chk-shhh-CLANG.
The Peterbilt 379 twisted. The cab split, folding down to form a massive, armored chest and torso. The smokestacks rotated to become shoulder exhaust ports. The front tires locked into place as hip joints.
The Armored Hauler split in two. The rear section expanded, heavy treads locking out to form thick, stable legs and boots. The front cabin split and extended, forming massive, hydraulic-powered arms.
The Jet, with Blake in the cockpit, nose-dived. It folded its wings back, the fuselage retracting. It slotted into the top of the Peterbilt torso, becoming the head and backpack unit. A sleek, visored faceplate slid down over the cockpit.
The machine hit the ground with an earth-shattering thud. It stood equal in height to the Dorma Anim—a humanoid titan of steel, chrome, and attitude.
Steam hissed from its vents. Its eyes—blue floodlights—flared to life.
From the compartments on its hips, two handles extended. The robot grabbed them.
SHING.
Twin blades of super-heated plasma extended, humming with a distinct, non-magical buzz.
"You call yourself a Dragon?" Edolas Blake's voice amplified through the Titan's external speakers. "I'm the Dragon Slayer... created by science."
The Dorma Anim shrieked, a sound of twisted metal and rage. It lunged first, its massive tail whipping around like a wrecking ball aimed at the Titan's head. Blake didn't flinch. He pulled the control levers. The Titan ducked with surprising agility for its size, the tail passing inches overhead, shearing off a palace turret.
Blake countered instantly. He drove the Titan forward, the Peterbilt engine in its chest roaring. He slammed a shoulder check into the Dorma Anim's center mass. The sound of metal colliding with magic armor rang out like a bell tolling for the end of the world. The Dragon Knight stumbled back, crushing a fountain.
"Insolent mongrel!" Faust screamed. The Dorma Anim righted itself, its leg pistons firing. It thrust its lance forward, the tip glowing with concentrated magical energy. Blake crossed his plasma swords, catching the lance in an 'X' block. Sparks showered down like rain. The ground beneath them cracked under the pressure of the lock-up.
"Your toy has no magic!" Faust realized, pushing the levers of his own machine. "I can feel it! It is hollow! It is dead matter! Dorma Anim: Magic Crush!" The lance pulsed, trying to unleash a shockwave to shatter the Titan.
"It's not hollow," Blake gritted out, straining against the G-forces in the cockpit. "It's combustion!" He fired the Titan's jump jets. The robot performed a rocket-assisted uppercut, breaking the weapon lock and sending the Dorma Anim's head snapping back.
The Dorma Anim recovered in mid-air, its anti-gravity drive engaging. It flew upwards, hovering above the courtyard. "If I cannot crush you, I will melt you!" Faust roared. The Dragon's mouth opened, and a barrage of homing magic missiles launched.
"Countermeasures!" Blake punched a button. The smokestacks on the Titan's shoulders flared. Flares and chaff exploded into the air, confusing the magical tracking of the missiles. They detonated harmlessly in the sky, creating a chaotic fireworks display.
Blake engaged the afterburners on the Titan's back (the jet engine). The robot launched into the sky, meeting the Dorma Anim in aerial combat. They clashed above the burning city, two gods of metal warring for the future.
The Dorma Anim used its superior mobility to strafe around Blake. It raked its claws across the Titan's back, tearing through the armor plating of the jet fuselage. Warning alarms blared in Blake's cockpit. "Rear armor compromised," a computer voice stated.
"Hold together, baby," Blake whispered to his machine. He spun the Titan in mid-air. He lashed out with the right plasma sword, slicing a deep gash into the Dorma Anim's wing.
Faust howled in fury. The Dorma Anim transformed again, its limbs retracting to form a sleek, high-speed flight mode. It became a living bullet, ramming into the Titan at Mach speed. The impact sent Blake plummeting toward the palace roof.
The Titan crashed onto the roof of the grand hall, sliding through tiles and timber. Blake shook his head, clearing the dizziness. "Damage report: Left leg servo damaged. Weapons systems at 80%."
The Dorma Anim landed on top of him, pinning the Titan down. The Dragon's claws dug into the Titan's chest, dangerously close to the cockpit. Faust shouted. "You are obsolete! Technology is a crutch for the weak! Magic is absolute!"
"Absolute?" Blake laughed, blood trickling down his forehead. He diverted all power from the legs to the arms. "Only a Sith deals in absolutes, you old lunatic!" The Titan's hands shot up, grabbing the Dorma Anim's neck.
With a scream of hydraulic exertion, Blake threw the Dorma Anim off him. The Dragon Knight crashed into the courtyard below. Blake stood the Titan up, debris falling from its chassis. He jumped down to the ground, shaking the earth.
Faust scrambled the Dorma Anim to its feet. The machine was glowing brighter now, its red color deepening to a violent purple. "I will drain the life from this planet to destroy you! Maximum Output!"
"He's charging a buster beam," Blake analyzed. "If that hits, the Titan is scrap metal. And the city goes with it." He looked at his console. He had one card left. The Ion-Pulse Cannon is built into the chest unit.
"Divert all power to the chest cannon," Blake ordered. The lights in the cockpit dimmed. The Titan's movement slowed. The plasma swords flickered and died. The grill on the truck's robot chest began to slide open, revealing a spinning turbine of blue energy.
"Die!" Faust screamed. The Dorma Anim fired. A beam of pure, concentrated magical darkness erupted from its mouth, a laser capable of erasing a mountain.
"Fire!" Blake punched the trigger. A beam of blinding blue ion energy shot from the Titan's chest.
The two beams collided in the center of the courtyard. Magic versus Science. The past versus the future. The point of impact created a sphere of energy that vaporized the surrounding garden walls. Natsu and the others shielded their eyes, watching the struggle.
"Push!" Faust screamed, his sanity shattering. "PUSH!" The black beam inched closer to the Titan. The magic was infinite; the battery was not.
"Warning: Core temperature critical," the computer warned Blake. "Meltdown imminent."
"Override safeties!" Blake yelled. "Give me everything!"
The Peterbilt engine roared one last time. The blue beam expanded, doubling in size. It pushed the black magic back. It hit the Dorma Anim's breath attack and traveled up the beam.
The ion energy slammed into the Dorma Anim's open maw.
ZZZZZRT-CRACK!
The Dorma Anim froze. The ion pulse surged through its internal systems, bypassing the magic armor and frying the delicate Lacrima circuitry inside.
"System Error," the Dorma Anim's voice stuttered. "Magic... regulation... f-f-failing."
The Dragon Knight convulsed. Sparks showered from every joint. The red glow of the eyes flickered and died, replaced by the dull grey of dead machinery.
"No..." Faust whispered in his cockpit as the controls went dead. "My power..."
The Titan stepped forward. It raised one heavy, metal fist.
Blake didn't use a beam this time. He used gravity.
"Game over."
WHAM.
The Titan delivered a single, calculated punch to the Dorma Anim's head. The massive machine toppled backward like a felled tree. It crashed into the ruins of the palace, motionless. Defeated.
The Titan stood over it, steam venting from its overheated chest. The chest grille closed. The blue light faded.
Edolas Blake popped the cockpit hatch. He climbed out onto the shoulder of his giant robot, the wind whipping his hair. He looked down at the defeated King, then out at the Fairy Tail wizards who were staring up at him with their jaws on the floor.
"Not bad for a truck driver," Blake smirked, before slumping against the canopy, utterly exhausted. The battle of the iron giants was over. Science had held the line. Now, it was up to the Prince to finish the war.