Inside the rusted, jolting frame of the Transit Bus, the atmosphere was thick with tension. Kawamoto and Taniuchi sat huddled together. Their fingers were interlocked tightly. As the bus hit a particularly deep rut, they were thrown against one another. Their chests pressed together as they struggled to stay in their seats. Their breasts were pushed together.
"This road is terrible," Kawamoto groaned.
Annie stood in the center of the aisle. Her boots were planted firmly on the vibrating metal floor. She peered out the windows. "We're off the road entirely," she remarked. "We've veered straight into the cornfield. Where exactly are we going?" she asked.
Ted didn't turn around. His robotic white eyes glowed with an eerie light. "We are heading toward the final destination," he droned as the bus plowed through the dense corn. A sudden jolt sent the vehicle rocking violently.
Kawamoto and Taniuchi were tossed from their seats and they tumbled onto the floor. Kawamoto ended up pressing firmly against Taniuchi. Their breasts were together and their nipples rubbed each other.
Annie just scoffed.
Misuzu ignored the commotion. "That thing we fought back there, what was it?" she asked.
"It was a Mangler," Ted replied. "An undead experimental soldier originally engineered by the Soviet Union," he added.
"Soviet Union?" Annie asked, She had never heard of it.
Taniuchi sat up and adjusted her glasses. "It's what Russia was called previously," she responded.
"Russia?" Annie questioned as she still looked lost.
"It's a place far from here," Misuzu replied shortly before she turned back to the driver. "But why was a Russian experiment in the middle of this place? Everything here looks American," she added.
"This is a Fracture Timeline," Ted explained as his voice echoed in the hollow bus. "A place where the gaps between multiverses have thinned. Other worlds have a chance to drop their 'trash' here," he added.
"So that thing shouldn't have even existed in this reality?" Kawamoto asked as she rubbed her body. Their nipples touched.
"Correct," Ted said as his eyes glowed white.
Misuzu went quiet. She thought back to the mud outside the bank. "Those footprints we've seen, one set was normal, but the other was massive. Like a giant," she remarked.
"That would have been the travelers who passed through here before you," Ted responded.
"Who was it?," Misuzu demanded.
Ted turned his head slightly. His glowing eyes met Misuzu's eye with chilling slowness. "It was James and Jasmine," he responded.
Misuzu's expression shifted instantly. Her face contorted with rage, and she gritted her teeth so hard her jaw ached. "Jasmine," she hissed. She thought that women were here. She looked at her ring. "When I see you," she said as the ring glowed pink.
Annie looked at Misuzu. She thought who was this woman Jasmine. She smiled at the thought that she could make her mad like this.
"We have arrived," Ted announced abruptly. The bus hissed to a stop. The brakes screeched as they came to a halt beneath the shadow of a massive, towering electrical pylon. "The power is peaking. Put the other one in," he said as he looked at Taniuchi.
Taniuchi reached into her pocket and pulled the small device. "This?" Taniuchi asked.
"What is that anyway?" Kawamoto questioned.
"The Goddess has been guiding us," Misuzu remarked.
"Lets just get this over with," Annie said as she walked off the bus. She looked around and saw a cornfield surrounding them. She looked ahead and saw a table with a radio, rock and speaker.
Taniuchi, Kawamoto and Misuzu stepped off the bus. "This place stinks," Kawamoto remarked.
"It has the smell of the dead," Annie said as she walked forward and saw a zombie corpse. She kicked the head of the zombie which went tumbling away.
Taniuchi and Kawamoto walked towards the table. "This looks like it," Taniuchi said as she looked at the radio.
"Do we just put that chip in the radio?" Kawamoto questioned.
"I think so," Taniuchi responded as she inserted the Navcard in the radio.
At that moment, the tower started to emit red and black lightning. The air itself began to shimmer with static. The cloud became darker and thicker.
"What's happening to the sky?!" Annie shouted.
"The fracture is reacting to the input," Ted explained, his mechanical voice unbothered by the chaos. "You are calling out to the aether. And something is answering. The Goddess commands you to kill it," he said.
At that moment, a towering, ethereal humanoid figure composed of jagged purple crystals and dark energy appeared. He was floating ominously. The entity featured an elongated, lanky frame with a hollow, void-like face framed by a crown of shards, while a brilliant white-blue light radiated intensely from its chest core.
"What is that?" Kawamoto asked as she looked at the giant figure.
"It is Legion," Ted replied. "The Goddess wants you to kill it," Ted commanded.
"As the Goddess wishes," Misuzu said.
Legion raised its glowing hands and unleashed a jagged arc of purple lightning.
"Shield," Misuzu commanded as she created a massive violet barrier just in time. The lightning slammed into the surface with the force of a high-speed train, the sheer kinetic energy skidded Misuzu backward across the dirt.
Kawamoto didn't hesitate. She leveled her Micro Aerator and squeezed the trigger. She unleashed a spray of bullets which tore through the air. The rounds impacted Legion's crackling frame. It sheared off glowing shards of energy that flickered and vanished like broken glass.
Legion unleashed a second, more powerful blast. The surge shattered Misuzu's shield like glass and threw the girls backward into the dirt.
Annie managed to flip mid-air and landed firmly on her feet with a scowl.
Taniuchi rolled hard across the ground. She gasped for air as pain flared through her ribs. Taniuchi struggled to get up. At that moment a lone zombie lunged from the cornfield. Its rotting hands were aiming for her throat. "No!" she screamed.
Kawamoto aimed her gun. She pressed the trigger and fired a single well-placed shot. The zombie got hit in the temple. It slumped instantly. "I've got you!" Kawamoto shouted. She looked up and saw dozens more shadows beginning to emerge from the stalks.
"Pink Weapon Rifle," Misuzu cried. Her pink ring shimmered with an intense heat before the light condensed into her palms and solidified into a sleek, crystalline firearm. She shouldered the weapon and pulled the trigger. The rifle roared and unleashed a volley of luminous pink tracers that mowed through the advancing horde.
Kawamoto joined the line of fire. She pressed the trigger. Her bullets chewed through the undead. "Where are they all coming from?" she yelled over the gunfire.
"Did the Goddess double-cross us?" Annie shouted.
"Never!" Taniuchi replied.
"The Goddess will never betray us," Kawamoto affirmed.
Suddenly, the air thrummed with the sound of heavy turbines. Blackout roared through the sky and unleashed a barrage of missiles that slammed into Legion. The entity was forced to stagger back in a shower of sparks.
Blackout pivoted mid-air. His mini-gun spun up to a high-pitched whine as he sprayed the cornfield. He started shredding the zombies into mulch. "The Goddess is always right!" he boomed through his external speakers. "We will defeat him," he added.
Legion hissed and swung his massive, electrified limb that swiped Blackout right out of the sky. He started to transform. His body parts shifted and grinding. His sharp, angular face emerged with glowing red eyes. He crashed into the earth, a towering mechanical titan covered in gears and vents was laying on the ground. Before he could stand, Legion fired a bolt of lightning directly into his chest. Blackout's head snapped back as the current surged through his systems.
"Train," Misuzu screamed. Her pink ring glowed with blinding intensity. She channeled every ounce of her will and created a massive, full-scale Steam Train out of pure energy. With a violent shove, she launched the glowing locomotive forward. It slammed into Legion's chest with a deafening explosion of light and steel.
Legion was forced back by the impact, but he recovered instantly. He let out a chilling screech, and a thick purple mist began to bleed from his body. The thick purple mist covered the cornfield rapidly.
"What is this?" Kawamoto gasped as her knees buckled. She felt the strength draining from her body.
She thought this could only be one thing. "It's some kind of energy-sapping gas," Taniuchi replied as she desperately pressed her sleeve over her nose to filter the air.
"Fan," Misuzu commanded. With a flash of her ring, a massive industrial fan materialised. The blades spun up and created a powerful gale that shoved the toxic mist away.
Annie glanced at Misuzu. "You're not half bad sometimes," she remarked.
"And you haven't done a thing yet," Misuzu shot back.
"Why hasn't your 'Goddess' saved us yet?" Annie challenged.
"She has her Angels," Misuzu said firmly. "And she has put her trust in us," she said.
Kawamoto fired a burst from her rifle, dropping another zombie. "There are too many! We're being overrun," she said.
"I don't trust your Goddess," Annie growled. "But I am not dying in this dirt," she added,
Annie bit down hard. Her teeth tearing through the flesh of her thumb. An explosive surge of energy rippled through her veins, followed by a blinding golden-white flash that made the very air tremble. A massive pillar of steam shot skyward.
Within the dense fog, her human form dissolved. Her skeleton elongated and twisted, reshaping itself with wet, heavy thuds. Her legs extended and her spine stretched to monstrous proportions. Her arms grew long and powerful. Her skinless, feminine face took shape and her eyes wide and cold. The Female Titan emerged from the steam.
Annie let out a muffled roar and lunged. She grabbed Legion by his glowing torso and hoisted him over her shoulder. Annie slammed him into the earth with a bone-shaking thud.
"Now is our chance," Blackout bellowed as his internal cooling fans whirred.
"For the Goddess," Misuzu cried as she floated high into the air. "Beam Blast," She said as she unleashed a massive sphere of concentrated pink energy that streaked toward the downed entity.
Legion got hit by the attack. There was a massive explosion and a black smoke cloud appeared. However Legion emerged from it and shot a jagged bolt of lightning into Annie's shoulder.
The shock sent her reeling, but she gritted her teeth and surged forward. She delivered a thunderous punch to Legion's face, followed by a crushing kick to his midsection.
Legion tried to fire another blast, but the Female Titan leaned out of the way and countered with a brutal uppercut that lifted the entity off the ground.
As Legion staggered, Blackout's chest plates slid open. "Keep pushing," he screamed, and unleashed a devastating barrage of rockets into Legion's chest. The explosions tore away more of the creature's crystalline shards.
Kawamoto didn't miss her opening. She braced her weapon and fired a burst directly into Legion's glowing head. She tried to fire again, however there were no bullets. It started to click. "I am out," she said.
"This is not good," Taniuchi said.
Annie went forward. She threw a punch, a straight, heavy right squarely into his Legion's chest. It sent a shockwave of purple sparks as his energy flickered under the sheer physical force.
Before Legion could discharge a counter-bolt of lightning, Annie shifted her weight. She then kicked him. She launched a lightning-fast roundhouse that slammed into his side. The impact sounded like a clap of thunder and sent the entity skidding across the cornfield.
Annie was already on top of him. She grabbed his glowing shoulders to pin him against the steel beams. She then threw a punch in his face and shattered the crystalline structure of his head. The force of the strike was so immense that Legion's head snapped back.
Legion roared and thrusted both hands forward to unleash a concentrated lightning bolt directly into the Female Titan's chest. The electrical surge was so powerful it lifted her massive body off the ground and sent her flying backward through the air. Annie flipped mid-flight and landed on her feet with a heavy, bone-shaking thud.
"I will end this," Misuzu declared. She closed her eyes, thinking of her devotion to the Goddess. Her love for her. "For hearts long lost and full of fright, For those alone in blackest night, Accept our ring and join our fight, Love conquers all, with violet light," she declared. "Goddess Blast!" Misuzu screamed as she channeled every ounce of her power. Her entire body erupted in a radiant pink aura before she unleashed a massive, swirling beam of energy.
Legion desperately fired a counter-blast of lightning. The two forces collided mid-air and sparked a violent spark. However, Misuzu's resolve was superior. Her beam tore through the lightning and slammed directly into Legion's chest. The energy ripped through his crystalline body and caused him to shatter into a million glowing fragments that dissipated into the wind.
"She did it," Kawamoto said.
"Misuzu is amazing," Tanuichi added. They both started to cheer.
The light from Misuzu's ring flickered and died. She began to fall from the sky. Annie surged forward. Her giant hand swept through the air to catch Misuzu before she hit the ground. She lowered her to the earth and placed her beside Kawamoto and Taniuchi.
With a hiss of steam, the Female Titan's form evaporated, and Annie emerged from the nape of the neck, returning to her human state. Misuzu's magical outfit faded and left her back in her regular clothes.
"Thank you," Misuzu whispered.
"You should be thankful," Annie said. "Now, let's get out of here," Annie said as she looked toward the horizon.
They all nodded in agreement. "The Goddess will be pleased with this victory," Ted said from the bus.
"She certainly will be," Blackout added.
"Is he coming with us?" Kawamoto asked.
Blackout gave a nod. "He will be," he responded.
Ted honked the bus horn.
In a flurry of shifting gears and whirling blades, Blackout transformed back into his heavy-lift helicopter form. As he did, a swirling portal of shimmering energy opened before them.