Chapter 40: Riot?

Owen and his crew scrambled aboard the sluggish train, its pace gradually accelerating. Exhausted, Owen crumpled to the floor, his injuries finally piercing through the veil of adrenaline that had masked the pain.

"Isn't this just fantastic," Owen muttered, drawing a wry chuckle from his companions. Kurusu approached, extending a hand to help Owen up.

"Get ready for things to go from bad to worse," Kurusu remarked, prompting Ikoma to inquire further. With a resigned sigh, Kurusu outlined the plan they had concocted following their escape from the black smoke. Essentially, it boiled down to driving toward it, unleashing the train's formidable turret upon it, and then barreling through the aftermath once it had dissipated.

"Simple enough. When do we start?" Mumei inquired, her question swiftly met with a resounding answer as a cacophony of exploding rocks heralded the ominous arrival of the black smoke in all its glory. It began its relentless pursuit of the train, throwing everyone into a frenzy of high alert as they scrambled to execute their tasks, leaving Owen isolated where he lay.

'Well better get to moving' Thats all Owen thought before he slowly stood up and began to make his way to the back of the train while passing by several soldiers who in his opinion foolishly shot at the black smoke but he didn't care to judge at the current moment as he kept moving eventually reaching the back of the train.

Finally, Owen reached the back of the train just in time to witness the black smoke halting its pursuit. It began absorbing the bodies and corpses of Kabane, integrating them into its swirling mass. The temporary pause in its chase was a hopeful sign, but Owen remained wary, knowing it could easily catch up once more.

His suspicions were soon confirmed as the black smoke, having absorbed its grisly cargo, resumed its relentless pursuit. As it drew closer, shots rang out from the train's cannon, blasting away half of its makeshift head. Yet, the damage proved insufficient to halt its advance. The black smoke's form regenerated swiftly, and it continued to gain ground on the speeding train.

Now, not only was the black smoke closing in, but Kabane littered the train's surface as well. The explosion of the black smoke's head had flung these undead creatures onto the train, adding to the growing chaos and peril of their situation.

"Fuck off," Owen thought vehemently as he delivered a swift kick to the chest of a Kabane attempting to sneak up on him. The creature went careening off the train and onto the tracks below. With a quick readjustment of focus, Owen turned his attention back to the rapidly approaching black smoke, now looming even closer than before. Details once unseen came into view; he could now discern the dimples on some of the Kabane's faces.

'Wait, why the hell is the train slowing down?' Owen's mind raced as the train unexpectedly began to decelerate. The reason became distressingly clear as they drew closer and closer. Eventually, they were near enough for the Koutetsujou to swing at them. Fortunately, it couldn't complete the swing, interrupted by the deafening roar of the cannon turret firing. The shot landed squarely on the blue glowing heart within the creature's chest, causing the entire top half to explode, revealing the giant blue glowing orbs composed of Kabane, with a single strange Kabane fused into it, now laid bare.

At that crucial moment, Mumei came sprinting past Owen, leaping into the air toward the exposed core, poised to finish it off. But just as she reached the apex of her jump, a large hand formed out of the remaining part of the black smoke's body, striking her back toward the train. She collided with Owen, who caught her with a slight grunt of pain, feeling his bruises flare up from the impact.

"Shit," Owen muttered as he swiftly set Mumei down, his mind racing with determination. Drawing his spear, he replicated Mumei's daring leap towards the rapidly closing core of the black smoke. Anticipating the hand that sought to swat him away, he countered by jabbing his spear into it, anchoring himself to the unstable mass.

With deft movements, Owen retrieved a recycler charge and hurled it towards the swiftly sealing opening of the black smoke's core. Upon impact, the charge detonated, causing the opening to rupture once more. Compressed squares of material, once part of the Kabane, unfolded, revealing the inner workings of the core once again.

Sadly Owen was unable to follow up as the black smoke soon got its shit together and tossed him away along with his spear causing him to plummet as he watched the train soon exit the station through the gate that sealed behind it.

'That was dumb' Owen's mind echoed as he plummeted from a height of 40 meters. In that brief moment, his life flashed before his eyes, a kaleidoscope of memories both good and bad, racing through his mind like a torrential downpour.

35 meters

20 meters

15 meters

It was around the 15 meters mark that a thought came to Owen that made him feel kind of stupid.

'Don't I have a fucking Titan!' It was at this moment Owen remembered the reward from the golden chest which was a ronin class titan from the titan fall world and not wanting to fall any further he called it out right below him causing the 6 meter tall robot the manifest not to far below him as it caught him using its hands barely stopping new life from coming to a end early.

'That was close' Thats all Owen could think as he stayed in the hand of the titan for a minute until eventually he was broken out of his thoughts by a voice that soon came from it.

"Boss, I suggest you get into the pilot seat so I can escort you away from the danger," the commanding male voice urged, radiating strength and reliability. Owen heeded the advice, swiftly making his way to the pilot seat as directed. He collapsed into the seat of the titan, its chest opening up to allow him entry. Before fully entering, Owen caught a glimpse of the titan in all its glory, a magnificent and imposing sight.

Clad in sleek armor adorned with intricate patterns reminiscent of ancient tales, the Ronin Titan stands tall, its silhouette a blend of elegance and menace. It wielded what looked to a long straight blade with what looked to be a 8 barreled shotgun hanging idly on its back with this primary colors being dark blue nearly black with neon blue highlights.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Since we're at the 40 milestone, let's air out our grievances with this book, okay?

To start us off, I would like to say I feel like the writing is a bit lazy and forced in some places, with me skipping over a lot of conversation and not allowing you all to get to know the characters.

Maybe I'm riding the plot to hard.