"How dare you!" Robot General shouted as he smashed Natsu against the inside of the truck with him stepping down on Happy. "We had a deal!"

"My friends are safe, and they can stop you. I did what I needed to." Natsu said.

"You know, I just been informed about something." Robot General said. "I think we don't have enough pain killers. Without them, the procedure to turn you organic lifeforms into machines is going to be very, very painful." He claimed with him saying he plans to hurt Natsu. Whoever this Robot General is, is clearly insane and he plans to make Natsu pay for double crossing him.

...

The Gang

"Come on! We need to get this thing moving fast and then get after them!" Gray said as he and the girls moved fast. He tried getting to work on getting the Myster-V running again. "We might still be able to catch them. That tin can isn't going to..." "Gray!" Erza called to get him to settle down. She had him look at Lucy and got him to see Lucy was really scared with how she held the Robot General's power source for the machine that's making those robots. That got him to focus on her.

"Lucy, we'll find them." Gray said.

"I'm just really freaked and scared." Lucy said.

"We're not going to let that freak do anything to him or Happy." Gray said.

"But it's not just that." Lucy said. "I saw it on Natsu's face just before they were taken away. I knew there was something going on with those two. It's all because of that crazy reporter, I just know it. He said they were screw-ups, don't amount anything to the team. Just think about it. If we let what he said get to us, you know they were affected by it as well." Lucy seems to be on the verge of tears. Her mind feels like it's going a mild a minute.

"Lucy, calm down!" Erza said. "We'll find them! Natsu and Happy were willing to sacrifice themselves for us, but that doesn't mean we're just going to stand around and do nothing."

"I can't... I can't lose him..." Lucy cried.

"We're not! Lucy, we need you to focus! Is there a way for you to rewire that gold trashcan lid so we can use it against them?" Gray said. "After all, once that tin can is done with them, he's just going to come after it again."

"No... This thing is sealed up real right." Lucy said. "There's no way for me to open it." She said as she didn't like this, but then something came to her as she saw one side was darker than the other. "But what we could do is put this thing in reverse. If we put it back in the machine, only the other way around, it could cause that machine to overload and the whole thing will break apart."

"All we got to do is put it back, but have it in reverse. Of course, we have to get past an army of robots who want to turn people into machines." Erza said as it sounded like the odds were against them. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm going to tell you what we're going to do. We're going to get our friends out of there." Gray said as he really took charge. Natsu and Happy saved them, but now it's their turn to save them.

...

Natsu and Happy

"Hold them here while the procedure gets ready." Robot General ordered his robots as he placed the two of them in chains. They made it back to the lab and the Robot General was going to get everything ready for his experiment to possibly turn them into robots. Natsu's wrists were bound and kept him chained to a metal beam with Happy placed in a collar and held with him. "I'm certain that your friends will be here to come and save you, but it will be too late by then."

"Too late for you. They'll have a plan to stop you by the time they come back." Natsu said.

"You know, I'm not certain on how well the procedure is going to go. There could be...complications." Robot General implied with him saying that Natsu and Happy might not make it. This is clearly the most dangerous and deranged criminal they've ever faced, but Natsu feels he did his part so he isn't afraid. When the Robot General cleared out of the room, it gave Natsu and Happy some time to reflect on this.

"Well, this might be it for us, little buddy." Natsu said as it seemed like accepted it. "I'm sure the others will be here soon, but I honestly don't know what's going to happen to us." Happy didn't like the sound of that. "Well, at least we actually did do something heroic. At least our last acts was something that actually did help the gang." They could take comfort in that. If this was their final moment, Happy cuddled up with Natsu's leg. "Well, we got into this together, so we'll be going out together. At least I got the first friend I had." He claimed with Happy feeling the same way.

...

The Gang

Despite how beaten the van looked, Gray and the girls managed to get back to the mine and had a few supplies with them. When they got there, they knew they might have to fight their way or something. With her back pressed against the wall, Erza used a mirror to try and take a look inside the lab.

"Here's the plan again. We get Natsu and Happy out of there, prey we aren't too late to save them, and sabotage that crazy robot's plan." Gray said. "You both ready?"

"Are you kidding?" Lucy said. "If that thing did anything to Natsu and Happy, he's going to need the best robotic repairman possible."

"Let's go." Gray said as the three of them hurried to the entrance and were getting themselves ready to act.

"I see Natsu and Happy. They're in their alone." Erza said. "Now's our chance to get them out of there."

"You might need this." Gray said as he handed her an axe. Once she took it, she just charged right in.

"Erza?!" Natsu said as he and Happy weren't expecting her to show up.

"Stretch out the chains!" Erza said. The two of her just did what she said, especially since she's scary when angry and holds an axe, and stretched out the chains as best as they could. She chopped the axe against the chains and was able to get the two of them free.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Natsu said.

"What do you think?" Lucy said as she bugged both of them. "We're getting the two of you out of here?"

"But why save us when you guys could have saved the day?" Natsu said.

"Are you serious? What were you two thinking in the first place?" Gray said. "We don't leave a man behind. Despite all the times we split-up, we stick together. All five of us are a team after all." Natsu was a bit amazed that they come back for him, but then again they are those type of people.

"Bravo! Bravo! I knew you three wouldn't be able to stay away!" All of them looked up and saw Robot General came back. "I knew you three would come for your friends eventually, and you brought the power source for my machine back with you! You just made your friends' little sacrifice for nothing! Now, I have all five of you to be subjects in my little experiment!" He said as he had his robots march out and had a table wheeled out for them to be placed on for the experiment.

"You'll have to catch us first." Gray said. "We need to get the power source back in the machine, but have it be placed in reverse. That will cause the machine to overload and the whole thing is going to blow."

"And you think I'm just going to allow you? Get them!" Robot General ordered as he had his robots go on the attack.

"I don't think so." Erza said as she took the axe and started smashing it against the robots. Gray even helped out as he took some marbles and tossed them on the floor. That caused the robots to slip and fall. One robot came form behind and tried to grab Natsu and Happy, but they stayed out of his reach.

"Natsu, here!" Gray called as he tossed him a fresh bat they can use to defend himself. Natsu took the bat and smashed it right against the robot's head.

"You think these silly gimmicks will save you?" Robot General taunted, but they were really just trying to keep the robots distracted while Lucy made her way to the main machine of the robot production.

"Gray, over here!" Lucy called as she was in the clear. Gray took out the power source and tossed it over to Lucy. Lucy was able to catch it and placed it on the side they needed it on. "This all ends here!" She said as she tried to get it to close, but then something happened. It wouldn't close all the way. "What?!"

"Hahahaha! Fools! As if I didn't anticipate you would try something like this!" Robot General said. "That's why I jammed the compartment. At least until I got my power source back and fix it later. I've been a step ahead of you the entire time." They've really played right in their hands and were now surrounded by robots. "It is just as I said! You are frauds and failures! You are no heroes! You are just foolish children who have been in way over your heads the entire time." This wasn't looking good as the robots grabbed a hold of Gray, Lucy, and Erza with Natsu and Happy surrounded by enemies.

"This can't be..." Natsu said as this can't be how it ends. Happy surely didn't think so as he looked around and got an idea. He got Natsu's attention and pointed to something that might help: a shovel leaning against a wagon. Natsu knew what Happy was thinking and went with it. "It's not over!"

"And what makes you think that?" Robot General said.

"Because the flying blue cat says so." Natsu said as Happy jumped right on the shovel and Natsu smashed the other end with the bat and shot Happy in the air.

"What in the world..." Robot General said as they all watch Happy flying in the air and grabbed a light with Happy shining the light right in the general's face. "Aw! What?!" That provided the perfect distraction for Natsu to run right to the compartment for the power source and pressed him against against it to force it to shut. He pressed himself against it as hard as he could. When that happened, the plan was starting to work. The machine was starting to overload and was beginning to malfunction, but there was a bigger reaction than the gang thought. It wasn't just the main machine, but all over the place. All the machines were connected to each other and the whole place was beginning to fall apart. "No! No! What have you done?!" The whole lab was beginning to fall apart. Even the robots were shutting off.

"They all shut down?" Erza questioned.

"They must have been receiving wireless orders from a transmission somewhere around here." Lucy said. Things weren't stopping. Everything was falling apart, including the entire lab.

"No! No!" Robot General called as he made a run for it.

"The whole place is falling apart! It's a bigger overload than I thought! We need to get out of here!" Lucy said. As the whole place began to fall apart. The gang ran for the exit, but Natsu was staying where he was. "Natsu! What are you doing?!"

"Go! I have to keep this thing in place so this whole thing blows!" Natsu said.

"What?! Natsu, you can't!" Erza called.

"We're not leaving when we came here to save you!" Gray said.

"Natsu, come with us!" Lucy pleaded.

"Just go! Robot General must be heading for another exit!" Natsu called. "You've got to catch him!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Lucy said.

"Gray, just get her out of here! Now!" Natsu called. Gray was going to argue, but there was no time as the whole place was coming apart. Gray acted fast as he hoisted Lucy over his shoulder and ran for it.

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed as the gang ran for the exit. Natsu stayed where he was to make sure the whole place fall apart, but he wasn't going to fall alone. He felt someone land on his shoulder and saw it was Happy.

"You really want us to stick together until the end, don't you?" Natsu said as he was glad he had a royal friend. As for Gray and the girls, they ran out in broad daylight. They managed to make it outside just as they felt the shockwaves of an explosion knock them to the ground.

"No... No! Natsu! Happy!"" Lucy cried as they all got back up and couldn't believe it. Natsu and Happy could really be gone. All that and what did the gang end up with? Losing two of their own and the bad guy escaping. Just then, they heard something coming from the cave. It was like the cave belched and both Natsu and Happy were blown out as they miraculously survived.

"I've been rejected before, but not like that." Natsu said.

"Natsu! Happy!" Lucy cried in joy as they all hurried over to him and hugged their friends so tight as they were glad they were still alive. "Seriously! You have got to stop doing this to us!"

"You are insane, you know that!" Gray said.

"Well... I was just trying to do my part for the team." Natsu said.

"Don't you get it?! It doesn't matter to us if you two can't bring anything to our team!" Gray said. "You're our friends first, and that matters more!" He claimed. Natsu and Happy really appreciated that. The team was beginning to feel whole again. Just then, they heard someone tumble out from another cave and saw that the Robot General survived.

"Curse those pests..." Robot General said as he tried to get back up.

"No you don't!" Natsu called as the gang all came in and held him down so he doesn't try to escape again. This mystery is finally reaching it's end. Also, that explosion began to draw in a crowd as news media and many more were gathering with them all seeing the gang now has the Robot General and his threat was over.

"Over here! Over here!" A reporter called as all kinds of people were gathering for this. "What happened here?!"

"We just foiled the Robot General's plans, and his robot army is out of commission." Gray said.

"But do you young mystery solvers know who was behind this?"

"We do." Lucy said. "The Robot General is none other than..."

"NNNOOOOO!" The Robot General called as Lucy and Erza removed his mask and showed he really was human.

"Jacob Howl." Lucy said as many were surprised that sleezy reporter was the one behind all of this.

"Why couldn't you miserable kids just mind your own business?!" Jacob complained.

"But he was at the museum when the Robot General was on the roof."

"You almost had me fooled, but he had an accomplice. His cameraman: Nigel." Erza said as she pointed right at his cameraman. When he was exposed, he tried running for it, but others stopped him. "I just now realized that when the Robot General was on the roof, his costume was sloppy, which indicated he got dressed in a hurry. When I accused Jacob for being the Robot General, Nigel must have quickly changed into his costume and made Jacob look innocent."

"Why did Jacob do this in the first place?"

"It's simple. Jacob really wanted to demonstrate his robotic genius." Lucy said. "He had a list of contacts from many countries, probably government officials. He was willing to send his technology over to the highest bidder, even the technology that could turn people into robots once he had that perfected."

"He had us thinking it was someone out for revenge. In reality, he's nothing more than a deranged man who was selfish, greedy, and was willing to put so many people at risk." Gray said. "As long as it was someone who paid a lot of money, he would have put so many people in danger...maybe even the whole country."

"You say that all like it's a bad thing." Jacob said as he was clearly a sociopath.

"Hold on. Then, what were those personal attacks on us about?" Natsu questioned.

"There was really nothing personal about them." Lucy said. "We found a book on psychology, specifically on psychological warfare."

"He did his research on us, but not for new coverage. All this time, he was really just trying to break our confidence and mess with our teamwork because he knew we would do whatever we could to stop him." Erza said.

"But now, he's going to be locked away where he really belongs." Gray said as the police came and took the two of them away and everyone cheering as the gang proved that they are the real thing.

"I would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for those meddling kids...and their stupid cat!" Jacob called as he and Nigel were being taken away. It was a big win for the gang as they proved themselves and stopped their most insane criminal yet. They were starting to feel good, and Erza was about to feel better as a certain person came over to her.

"Erza! Hey!" Jellal called.

"Jellal! You made it!" Erza said. "I... I was worried after you disappeared on me. Natsu and Happy said they ran into you earlier, but you were acting weird."

"Yeah... I'm sorry about that. I was really upset about the whole thing with the exhibit." Jellal said. "It wasn't easy seeing that torn apart, but...I didn't want you to see a darker side of me. Truth is...I was most upset my dedication to you was ruined." He admitted.

"Just me?" Erza said. "Well, you can talk to me about your problems... Maybe over dinner..." She offered as she just asked him out and Jellal really liked the sound of that. As for Natsu, he was talking to a few people until Lucy came over to him.

"Looks like they love us again." Lucy said. "What about you? How are you feeling now? You're not going to let what that creep say continue to bother you, are you?"

"No... He's just a jerk. I'm also feeling good since I got to actually be a hero." Natsu said.

"You've always been a hero to me." Lucy claimed as she leaped right at him and kissed him. Things are looking up for the gang once again as they continue to solve mysteries and still continue to be a great team no matter what anyone really says.

"Excuse me!" A reporter called and got the gang together. "Now that you're done with this mystery, what do you plan to do about the mud monster that has been spreading terror."

"Only one thing to say..." Natsu said as they all felt the same with Happy jumping right on his shoulder to get in on the fun and excitement that continues.. "We got ourselves another mystery."