Originally the flying carpet couldn't catch a jet fighter, but Shatter was badly injured—and Bella had planned for this. Not far from the air force base, she intercepted the female Decepticon in a mountain hollow.
"Go! Pyramid Head!" With darkness all around, Bella felt confident. Without another word, she directly summoned Pyramid Head.
Pyramid Head was a creature born from Alessa's intense resentment. He had no physical form in the material world. To manifest his body, Bella had to continuously supply energy.
At her current level, forcibly summoning Pyramid Head into the material world could last about one to one and a half minutes, after which he'd be pushed out by the laws of the material realm, and she herself would be in a magic-depleted state.
The cost was high, but she still decided to summon him.
Mainly because the Decepticons' bullets were too fast—Bella didn't dare engage in close combat.
Fighting in mid-air was truly a first for Pyramid Head... but he had no emotion like fear. Gripping his great blade, he leaped up. Bella blasted him forward with a frost ray, and Pyramid Head, like a mountain of flesh, crashed onto the top of the Harrier jet.
His two boat-sized feet stomped on the canopy, and Pyramid Head clung to it like a parasite, gripping his great blade with both hands and stabbing downward.
What the hell is this thing? Shatter couldn't understand these Earthlings anymore...
Pyramid Head seemed slightly larger than before, as if killing Freddy had strengthened him.
To the Transformers, who were routinely eight or nine meters tall, he still seemed quite short, but for humans, his towering presence was truly terrifying.
Shatter spun in the air, trying to shake this thing off, but Pyramid Head's strength was tremendous. He pried open the canopy and tried to crawl inside.
Where did this caveman come from? Shatter had looked at plenty of Earth data these past two days, but she couldn't connect Earthlings with this giant on her back. They didn't even seem like the same species!
Pyramid Head slashed viciously at Shatter. Bella, sitting on her flying carpet, aimed at the Harrier's engine and wing sections, continuously firing frost rays. Some hit, some missed. When their distance closed to within thirty meters, Shatter's wings were already coated with a layer of thin ice.
"Get off me!" Shatter, thoroughly annoyed by Pyramid Head's harassment, had no choice but to resume human form in mid-air. She grabbed one of Pyramid Head's legs, trying to tear this caveman apart with her strength, but suddenly found her hand grasping at empty air.
Bella had canceled Pyramid Head's summoning at the critical moment and used the opportunity to advance another ten meters.
She raised the Apple of Eden high, her eyes flashing with fluorescent light, looking down at Shatter with an air of superiority. "Stand down!"
Who the hell are you?! I should submit to you?
Shatter's heart was full of disdain, but the next moment she saw countless golden threads flying through the sky, surrounding her in various geometric patterns.
As a mechanical life form, she could tell this involved massive computational problems. What to calculate and how to calculate, she had no idea. She was more combat-oriented than scientific.
These golden threads had the same properties as the energy blast that had attacked her before, but served a different purpose. She couldn't figure it out in such a short time.
Little did she know, Bella was also negotiating with the Apple at that moment.
"Number Three, how's it going? Any confidence?"
Regarding forcibly controlling the female Decepticon, the Apple had zero confidence. The ancient Isu probably never encountered Transformers—the two weren't even the same species!
But it was a typical tool-apple. If Bella was stubborn and insisted on trying, it could only follow orders.
Massive quantities of golden threads emerged from the Apple's internal energy core, layer upon layer wrapping around Shatter like a cocoon, attempting to rewrite her will at the fundamental level.
But a mechanical life form's mind was vastly different from a human's. The golden threads' properties didn't quite match either. After trying for ages, they couldn't penetrate—at most infiltrating one-third before being blocked by the ice-cold metal shell.
"Work with me! One more time!" Bella multitasked, her pupils becoming razor-sharp—a skill many Brotherhood Assassins and Templar Knights possessed: Eagle Vision.
In her hands, Eagle Vision also incorporated spell-locking functionality. Once locked on, her psionic spells couldn't be dodged.
Another psionic blast.
Shatter felt like her head had been struck by a massive hammer. Her processor crashed hard, her thinking speed dropping to its lowest point. Originally preparing to transform back into jet form and escape, she froze and began falling toward the ground.
The Apple's energy seized this opportunity to invade. Shatter didn't know what was happening to her and tried to regain control of her body. The Apple, having been forced into this by Bella, didn't know where to start either. Confusion met confusion in a blind scramble.
"Boom!" Shatter slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater. Only a mechanical body could survive—a human falling from this height would be pulverized.
"Number Three, did it work?" Bella asked with some excitement.
She wouldn't use this on Bumblebee—he was a good guy. But using Shatter to test her theory? She had no moral qualms about that.
If she could capture and convert a female Decepticon, that would be so cool!
This one could transform into a jet, into a car—really excellent.
The Apple's tone was filled with uncertainty. "...This... I really don't know..."
Seeing the Apple couldn't answer, Bella didn't press it. She had the flying carpet descend slowly, gradually approaching the crater.
Falling from a thousand meters, Shatter was reduced to little more than wreckage. Already beaten to a wreck by the human military, relying on her special life form to keep going, the Apple's control had made her lose control of her body for those two seconds. Countless components began disintegrating mid-air, and after impacting the ground, various fragments scattered like scrap metal everywhere.
Bella's psionic abilities weren't weak, but she'd never been able to mind-control like Professor Charles. This meant her combination with the Apple fell far short of Professor Charles plus Cerebro.
Most of the time she was defensive, keeping her mental secrets locked tight. For outward projection, she could only do small things like sensing.
There was no "psionics strong, magic weak" distinction here—just different specializations.
For mind control, she had to rely on the Apple, but sensing Shatter's emotions was something she could do.
Chaos! Shatter's emotions were like a rollercoaster, up one moment, down the next! Countless memories jumbled together, but more were a mixture of resentment and regret.
Was this brainwashing successful or not? With no prior experience to reference, Bella watched from afar, waiting for the final result.