The team fled through the service tunnels of City A. The Kaguya extraction point was an old freight transport portal, abandoned in the industrial district. Time was short.
—¡The Association has cornered us! The security system has activated a magic energy suppression protocol and Ki! - Kaguya explained, forcing a ventilation duct to pass through.
-I can't use my Requip to its fullest! My magic feels heavy! - grunted Erza.
Akiha moved ahead, using her speed and the Water Fist technique to deflect surveillance drone blasts that chased them. Now, every move was a defense, not an attack.
Suddenly, a burst of plasma melted the tunnel behind them. Behind the smoke, appeared the S-Class Hero, Genos, the Cyber Demon.
—¡Stop, intruders! You have violated the security of the Heart of Gaia! My sensors indicate that the orange one is a Dragon level threat! - shouted Genos, turning his arms into canyons
—¡Stop, intruders! You have violated the security of the Heart of Gaia! My sensors indicate that the orange one is a Dragon level threat! - shouted Genos, turning his arms into cannons.
Goku smiled. -Wow, another strong guy! But I don't have time to play!
Goku prepared for a quick Kamehameha, but Kaguya stopped him.
-No, Goku! You'll destroy the tunnel and bury us all!
-His Ki is too dangerous! ¡Debo eliminarlo! - Genos fired a powerful beam of disintegration.
Erza, without hesitation, re-equipped himself with his Armour of Purgatory, which was pure physical strength. Instead of blocking, he used Bang's Water Fist to deflect the plasma beam. The beam hit the side wall, creating an opening, rather than destroying them.
-Now, Kaguya! - cried Erza, out of breath.
Kaguya threw a couple of blinding smoke spheres and used the chaos to open the cargo portal, revealing the exit to the outside, towards the jump point.
II. Green Hurricane
The team went out onto an abandoned street. Kaguya's ship, a small stealth jet, was waiting on a rooftop.
-To the ship, now! - ordered Kaguya.
Just as Goku was getting ready to jump, the whole street tilted. A massive psychic pressure, one hundred times stronger than Tatsumaki had used before, stopped them in their tracks. Cars flew over their heads.
Floating above them, shrouded in a bright green aura, was Tatsumaki. His face was furious, but his green eyes showed intense curiosity.
—¡You're not going anywhere! The man in orange humiliated me by running away from a fight! And you are responsible for the Core incident! I will crush them and find out who they are! - cried Tatsumaki.
Genos arrived, landing with a blow. -Tornado of Terror! -It's the intruders! -Stop them!
-Don't give me orders, rusty machine! - Tatsumaki sent a surge of psychic energy, forcing Genos to kneel.
Tatsumaki aimed at Goku, ready to twist him like the giant worm.
-Wait, woman! - shouted Goku, raising his hand. -If we fight here, you're going to destroy the whole City A! And we don't have time!
Tatsumaki hesitated. Goku's voice sounded sincere and unafraid.
Kaguya took advantage of the microsecond pause. He used a holographic projector on his wrist to show jump coordinates.
—Look at this, Tatsumaki. We are not of this world. We are fixing a dimensional problem that will collapse your reality. The energy fragment we stole -the Heart of Gaia- is the proof. The coordinates are from another universe.
Tatsumaki analyzed the hologram. His mind, beyond brute force, was brilliant. Dimensional energy and coordinates were data that the Heroes' Association kept strictly secret.
-Interdimensional travel? And you're the reason my power didn't affect you? - Tatsumaki said, pointing at Goku.
—Yes, said Goku with a smile. And believe me, there's no one here to give you a real challenge. The bald man will only give you one blow. I'll give you a hundred. But we have to go, now!
The proposal was simple: the dimensional truth that obsessed her, and an opponent with a strength that surpassed her psyche.
Tatsumaki lowered his aura. The ground stopped shaking.
—Very well, he said with a grunt. You take me with you. But if you lie to me or I get bored, I swear I will dismantle your ridiculous equipment atom by atom, starting with the armor.
III. Leap to the Myth
—¡Great! There's five of us now! ¡Kaguya, start that thing! - exclaimed Goku, using the Instant Transmission to appear inside the jet cabin, next to Kaguya.
Erza, Akiha and Tatsumaki jumped into the ship. Tatsumaki stayed floating, his green aura ready to protect them.
Genos stood up, firing his cannons at maximum. -They won't escape! -Maximum Explosion!
Genos released all his power in a beam of energy that aimed directly at the ship.
Tatsumaki, with a gesture of his hand, wrapped the jet in a perfectly spherical green psychic shield. Genos's ray hit the shield and was absorbed, leaving no mark.
-You are not so strong, machine -said Tatsumaki with disdain.
Kaguya finished setting up the Techno-Core and jump coordinates. The ship lit up with an intense sapphire glow, ignoring the pressure of the atmosphere.
-Hold on! Destiny is a world where energy is magical, and power comes from the underworld! - cried Kaguya.
The jet vanished, leaving Genos completely alone in a street full of rubble, with only one thought in his cyber mind: I must inform Sensei about the man in orange and the tornado.
The team, now a quintet, had jumped into the adventure, taking with them the most powerful heroine on Earth.
End of the Third Act.