A.N.

Hiya guys! Thank for checking this out!
I've been writing this story on Ao3 for some time now and I've decided that I'd like to post it here on too.

I rushed these first chapters quite a bit so apologies for the gramar mistakes; Ao3 offers a better system for editing chapters than so correcting my mistakes on this site kind of gets tiddius. But I'll still try ;)

Anyway, on with the story!

Disclaimer: respected owner of Attack on Titan is Hajime Isayama


Year 845

The bell tolls rang out into the district of Shinganshina. The birds settling within the bustling branches of the nearby trees squawked and fluttered away. As the bells bounced off each other, the streets bellow began to fill. A large parade of men on horses stood waiting by Shinganshina's southern gate; the gate itself slowly lifting upward.

Erwin Smith, a squad leader and second in command of humanity's best defense against the titans, the Scouting Legion, sat on horseback in the front just behind their commander, Keith Shadis. His eyes were set in firm determination as he patiently waited for their moment of execution. Just behind him were humanity's strongest, Corporal Levi Ackerman, and the Scouting Legion's science officer and squad leader, Hange Zoe. The two couldn't have looked more opposite.

Hange was smiling broadly, her grip on her reigns ever tensing as she continued to think of all the different titans they'd run into on this expedition. She had only two before and they were accidentally killed by her hand on one of her experiments. To say she was depressed about that was an understatement. She was mortally wounded by her reckless actions and cried for a whole week over the thought of their steaming, decaying bodies left out in the court yard. She vowed from that moment on that she'd never take such a risk ever again on another test subject. And thus her enthusiasm in her work burst forth once more and months later here she was, barely containing herself with all the excitement.

Levi glanced her way, noticing the small squeals she unconsciously let out. His face was phlegmatic as ever, never changing as he looked away and hissed in disdain. Corporal Levi was dubbed Humanity's Strongest on account of his record of solo kills and expertise with the 3DMG. Fortunately for him, humanity didn't realize he was a five-foot clean freak. He nearly rolled his eyes at the thought.

Despite the cold, uncaring outer shell that was Levi, he had a wounded heart and bitter past. Friends had died, family was gone, he just couldn't get away from being the last man standing. It hurt him, yes, but he channeled that hurt to fuel his ambitions to freeing mankind from this nightmare. And the one leading him on this path was the man in front of him. Levi would trust Erwin's judgement till the day he died and he would remind the man any chance he got.

Levi glanced upward at the wall as the gate finally reached its point. Shadis' horse was ushered forward as the man shouted out commands to march. In a matter of seconds, the Scouts were rushing out into the unknown land beyond the walls. The horses picked up dirt as they ran along, a dust cloud growing around the formation. The hammer of hooves on solid ground could be heard quite a distance off. Their green capes wrestled with the wind as they picked up speed.

Levi glanced around, his sharp eyes surveying the land. "Commander..." He called out calmly. He need not say anymore as Shadis knew exactly what was on his mind.

"Yes, the area is clear. We will split here. Erwin, give the signal." Shadis replied back. Erwin reached down into his knapsack and pulled out a flare gun and a green stripped flare. He raised his hand high up into the air and pulled the trigger. A soft explosion burst from the gun and up shot a string of green smoke.

The 49th Expedition has begun.


The wind blew softly along the path Mikasa walked. It was a small deer trail they used when out collecting wood within the forests of Wall Maria. Currently, her carrier was full, but her destination wasn't to go home.

An hour ago, Eren and her were resting in a field of flowers under a tree. She had been sitting there beside him looking up at the white fluffy clouds amidst the blue sky. She felt like sleeping, but knew better than to waste time. Upon looking down at Eren, she found him already fast asleep. Against her better judgement, she decided to leave him alone for a bit and go finish collecting fire wood. Unsurprisingly, when she got back, he was gone.

She sighed at the thought of Eren ditching her. It didn't hurt her like it would most other people, it was just annoying. All she wanted was to be with him.

Something caught her eye up ahead and she whisked the thoughts from her mind before straightening her head to look.

Staring right back at her was a young doe, body as stiff as a statue at the sight of her. Mikasa only breathed and it was enough for the deer to dart off, bouncing over twigs and bushes with its white tail raised in alarm. She continued to watch it until she heard a low moan come from behind the trees to her right.

Turning around, she looked up at a seven-meter titan kneeling down by the trees a mere twelve feet from her. It had a thin body with little muscle and a slightly bigger head. Rows of teeth sat present without lips to conceal them, the top jaw having a back row slightly higher than the ones in front. His short black hair was barely long enough to conceal any part of his face, let alone his pointed ears and big green eyes that stared down at Mikasa.

She stood there unwavered before finally taking action.

"Eren." She said nonchalantly. "What are you doing?" The boy in question looked off in the direction where the deer had run off to and moaned again. Without lips it was impossible for Eren's titan to talk, so he could only communicate with gestures and grunts. Not very useful for Eren when he had Mikasa talking to him like he was a human.

She understood what he was saying, though, and sighed. "No, I mean, you're not supposed to be a titan. Your dad said it was too dangerous."

Ever since the incident when Eren was five, Eren had the ability to "shift", the term Grisha told them was the action of turning into a titan and being able to turn back. He was a shifter too, but neither of them saw him use it. Grisha would get mad at Eren when he shifted into his titan, his mom, Carla, freaking out every time and ordering him to turn back. It was too dangerous to shift inside Wall Maria. The risk of being seen or caught was too high. If the Military Police found out, they'd kill Eren, and family and friends alike.

But Eren shifted anyway, under the safety of the forest of course. His excuse was to practice this ability so that he'd one day be able to help out humanity with the titans and explore the world beyond the walls. His mom only told him to get that nonsense out of his head and his father strictly denied the idea. Again, it was too dangerous.

Eren's titan only moaned again, longer than before. His shoulders slumped before he crossed his arms and huffed.

"Come on, we need to get fire wood. If we're gone too long, your mom and dad will get worried or worse, suspicious." She said calmly, her hands still hanging on to the straps of the carrier around her shoulders.

She gestured to said baggage, "Where's yours?" Eren's titan relaxed from his previous motions and pointed off to the left. Mikasa followed his finger.

"Okay, let me go get it. I'll be right back." She announced, trekking onward to find and collect Eren's discarded wood. She had to admit though, it did frighten her when she was suddenly picked up by the carrier and couldn't help but let out a small gasp before turning to look at Eren. The titan had only two fingers on the thing, careful not to crush it and accidentally drop his adopted sister. He placed her in his left palm before beginning to walk to where he left his fire wood.

Mikasa only smiled at him as she relaxed on his hand. Because of his defiance towards Grisha's request to not shift, he had gotten better at hand-eye coordination. He was able to pick her up without hurting her... most of the time. She didn't mind and forgave him every time. Mikasa could see how practicing using his titan was helpful. He'd come a long way since when it first happened. She remembered the story well.

Eren was only five when he, full of curiosity, wondered into the basement. Grisha had been working on something she could only assume was related to the titans when Eren ran inside and accidentally pricked himself with one of the syringes...


"EREN!" Grisha yelled with horror in his eyes. The vial in his hand dropped and shattered onto the table below from the sheer shock and fear surging throughout the man. His hands began to shake as he quickly knelt down beside his son, hands stretched out but not touching the boy.

Eren was curled up on the floor holding his arm and shaking. He began crying and screaming, his skin starting to let off steam. He felt strange, sick even. No worse than sick, he felt like he was going to explode like his body was too small. It sent spasms of pain shooting off through every muscle in his body. It hurt, it hurt really really bad.

"Daddy...!"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Grisha chanted as he scooped up his son and rushed towards the stairs. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe the one day he thought it'd be fine to leave the door unlocked, couldn't believe his son decided to run down in his lab only to smack into one of his shelves and knock over dozens of vials, couldn't believe that on that shelf was one syringe that held the titan formula. And now it was coursing through Eren's body. Any minute he was going to turn into a titan...

Right in the middle of Shinganshina District!

They'd kill his son, they'd kill his wife, they'd kill him! NO! He couldn't let that happen. Eren hadn't turned yet, and that was both reassuring and concerning. He didn't know why. It was always instant. Maybe...

"Daddy!" Eren screamed again right as they got outside. Grisha rushed around the house and burst through the door with Eren in his arms. Carla whipped around from where she was standing doing the dishes, eyes full of worry. At the sight, she nearly blacked out.

"Eren?! What happened, why..." Carla stopped breathing at the sudden realization, but mostly at what her husband had said next.

"The titan formula was injected inside Eren."


The night was cold as the autumn leaves started falling from the trees. A black horse-drawn carriage darted out from Wall Maria's gate and over the small wooden bridge. Grisha held onto the reigns as if his life depended on it. His wife was beside him holding Eren's spasming form.

"What did you do, Grisha?!" she unwillingly, out of anger, blamed him for this. "How could you not keep the door locked!?" She shouted at him, her face getting red.

"I didn't think he'd run on in at night. He was supposed to be in bed!"

"Don't blame this on me!"

"I'm not!" Grisha hollered back before he steered the horses off into the forest. Any second the situation would go from bad to utterly horrible. He was thanking God the whole time that Eren hadn't turned already. He still didn't know why that was. Was Eren immune...? But that was impossible, you only needed to be human...

Carla's voice was soft when she spoke, but it jolted her husband back to reality.

"Is he going to turn into a titan?" she whispered, her face hidden from view and shadowed over. Grisha didn't answer, the horror on his face was enough. Carla looked up at him and stared daggers, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"YOU TELL ME RIGHT NOW HE ISN'T GOING TO TURN INTO A TITAN!"

"Carla please, thinking like that isn't going to get us anywhere!" Grisha yelled back. Carla could only stare at him in disbelief. Suddenly Eren's body jerked and steam began pouring out from his skin. Carla screamed from the heat burning her own before Grisha pulled at the reigns for the horses to stop. The two didn't have time to think before Eren screamed and a white burst of light and steam enveloped them.

Grisha grabbed his wife and jumped off the still moving carriage. The front end was crushed and the horses thrown forwards as the force hit them from behind. They screeched and whined, running off as soon as they were back on their feet.

Grisha and Carla lay motionless on the ground, Grisha's right arm over his wife in protection, their eyes closed from the impact. When they opened them, both grew to full size. Ahead lay a five-meter titan with steaming coming off of his body. His head was obscured from sight.

Carla's breathed hitched in her throat as she lay frozen underneath her husband, staring at her baby boy that was now a blood thirsty, man-eating titan. Her eyes were pulled away when Grisha got up.

"Grisha!" She yelled, but only watched as he rushed to their broken carriage and pulled out one of his scalpels from his toolbox. He held it tight in his grip and ran over to Eren's titan.

"No!" She yelled, finally finding herself to move and rush over to him. Her hands gripped his shoulders as he stood with the scalpel shakingly pointed at his hand. His teeth were clenched tight as tears began to fall down.

Both froze when the titan began to move, lifting its head up. Green eyes met the two and it lifted its hand towards them. Grisha's grip on his scalpel tightened and he nearly plunged it into his hand if not for what happened next.

A soft, mournful, high pitch moan escaped the lip-less jaws of the titan. It's hand only extended so far out to them before falling down to the grass. Another moan left its mouth as it tried to get up but only succeeded in tripping over itself and falling back down. It settled there, an arm holding its upper body up as it looked longingly at Grisha and Carla. The next moan was one that came with tears.

"Eren...?" Grisha whispered as he took a step toward the titan. Carla stayed where she stood, placing her hands to cover her mouth as she could only stare.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please..." she begged as she watched the titan, her baby boy.

"Eren?" Grisha asked again, now within arm's reach. The titan looked up at him and reached out. Grisha's body tensed, ready even if he was screaming at himself not to do it. The hand wrapped around him and the titan moaned again, but nothing else. It didn't squeeze him or try to lift him up, just cupped its hand around his body like a precious, broken toy.

Grisha looked deep into the titan's eyes and saw something that made his heart break. It was scared.

"Eren..." Grisha breathed out, his heart beating a million miles a second. "Do―do you recognize me?" He nearly choked on his words when the titan nodded its head.

He was conscious, aware, and not hostile! It was as if he was a shifter instead of a titan, abnormal or not. Grisha released his grip on the scalpel and moved forward, wrapping his arms around Eren's titan's jaw. He heard Carla screech before feeling her presence beside him.

"My boy! My baby boy!" she shouted as fresh tears ran down her cheers like waterfalls. She fell to her knees, still holding onto Eren's titan's face. He moaned again in response, his enormous body beginning to shake.

Grisha moved away and quickly glanced around, listening more than looking due to the darkness.

"Grisha, do something." Carla choked out. "W―we have to change him back. You can change him back, right?" Grisha's eyes met his wife's, his mind working faster than ever. Reason came to him and he inhaled in hope.

"Yes." he breathed out. "Yes, I can." Carla watched him climb up Eren's arm and stand over his nape, scalpel still in hand.

"W―what are you...?" Carla questioned, the fear from before coming back tenfold.

"We have to cut him out," Grisha informed her. "That's the only way."

"But he's... he's a titan! You'll kill him!" She shouted frantically, gripping Eren's face a bit tighter.

"I don't know how, but it's different. Maybe it's because of my gene that Eren's not a regular titan, so he's got to be in there." Grisha held the scalpel above his head, eyes tinted with fear and determination. "We have to cut him out. Eren, I'm sorry, but hold still," he said before plowing the scalpel into the nape. Eren screeched and writhed, making Carla stagger backward and out of the way. Eren's titan brought down his fist, slamming it into the ground and causing the earth to shake. Carla fell on her knees, arms stretched out to the ground to steady herself.

"Eren, sweetie, please, your father's trying to help you!" She yelled to him, trying to get him to calm down so the task wouldn't go south. "Grisha?!" she hollered to her husband in question.

"Almost there!" He yelled back, grunting in the process as he tore away another piece of skin. He wasn't cutting deep into the flesh, but rather slicing each layer away. It was when he cut off another chunk that his heart filled up with hope. Eren's shirt became visible to him the moment the piece of flesh was ripped off. He took no time in reaching his hand down and putting his palm to Eren's steaming back.

"Eren, it's me, Daddy." He whispered warmly. The touch sent chills of warm love and Eren's titan calmed nearly immediately before falling unconscious altogether. Carla became fearful and rushed over to peer up at Grisha. Her husband was holding onto Eren's torso while the nape began to decay away. The fibers holding Eren in finally weakened and lost their grip, letting Grisha pull him out. He returned to his wife's side and laid his son down on the grass, Eren's head resting on his mother's lap.

She cried in the embrace, her hands gently cupping her child's face as her thumbs rubbed the strange pattern around his eyes and temples. Grisha knelt beside them with one knee, breathing heavily as his mind wandered. The only conclusion he could come to with all that had happened was that he was eternally grateful for their luck at what just transpired.


Mikasa looked up at titan Eren's face. She couldn't image going through such pain, let alone be there to witness it and be powerless to do anything about it. She had already vowed to keep him safe, to keep the boy who saved her both physically and mentally out of death's reach. Now thinking back to that story, it only fueled her passion towards him. She was going to be there for him no matter what. To her, it was her only purpose in life.

The two came upon a tree next to the deer trail. Leaning against it was Eren's wood carrier. Mikasa mentally sighed at how much firewood Eren actually collected. It wasn't even one fourth of the way full. She glanced up at him and he shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, obviously thinking the same as her. Mikasa could only take it as an apology.

As she jumped down and picked up his carrier, titan Eren glanced over to his right and widened his eyes. There grazing on the grass was another deer, or perhaps the same deer from earlier. Either way, it was a deer and Eren wanted to chase it. He made the action a game, chase any and all deer he found. It worked wonders with his titan's speed and the more he chased deer, the faster and less clumsy he found himself to be.

Mikasa was looking at the poor doe as well and quickly called out to him before he could get any great ideas. Unfortunately for her, Eren did not listen and dashed off in a heartbeat. She sighed again, watching as Eren disappeared after the fleeing deer.

Why does he always leave me?


The bell tolls sounded again the second time in the afternoon. A low roar of murmurs filled the streets of Shinganshina as the citizens looked over at the rising southern gates. The Survey Corps was returning.

Gasps and moans were mixed in with the mutters as the broken soldiers marched slowly into town. Many were wrapped in white gauze, while the rest were met with depression. No one was happy, not even the citizens.

"There goes another fruitless attempt." One merchant groaned.

"Honestly, why do they keep trying. Isn't it obvious, there's no winning against those titans." Another said.

"All they're doing is fattening their bellies. That certainly doesn't help us."

Levi didn't bother looking in their direction. He stopped caring about other opinions a long time ago. Still, it would feel good to bop a few heads.

The comments weren't only heard by him though. Up in front was Commander Shadis. For years he had been questioning whether or not he was fit for this role, or fit for any role among the Scouts. If anything were to be his final warning, this was it. The mission was a complete failure; the outposts were in ruins. He had lost over thirty percent of his men out there and brought back over forty percent wounded. His men were dying more than the titans. He was not fit for this job anymore.

"Erwin." He called back solemnly. Said squad leader looked up at him in attention. "I'm resigning this position." He turned around to look at Erwin. "You're next in line. I give command of the Scouts over to you." The news struck Hange and Levi dumb as they both watched in surprise.

"I'll be sending in my resignation as soon as possible." He continued, turning back to peer forward. He sighed, "As my last order, take these men home."

"Will do, sir," Erwin replied.

"Please, you don't have to call me that anymore." That was the last thing he said before galloping forward toward Wall Rose. Left in the dust were the newly appointed Commander Erwin Smith, now second in command Hange, and Corporal Levi.

"Well, that was sudden," Levi commented dryly. Hange looked away in thought. The day was full of all kinds of disappointment. Their mission to continue with the operation of creating outposts outside the Walls was currently put on halt due to too many casualties. Her attempts to capture a fifteen-meter titan was utterly denied when Levi and his squad showed up. They were trying to help, but the titan proved to be too dangerous in Levi's eyes and he killed it without question. She screamed at him for that.

All that precious research she could have done. And now with the expeditions currently on hiatus, it'd be a long time before they'd go out into titan territory again. Now where would she find a valuable test subject?

Hange's wandering mind had made her lose track of her surroundings. She found herself and the others now on a dirt road within Wall Maria. How time flies when you're not paying attention.

The forest sandwiching them was way more peaceful then the bustling streets of the Shinganshina District. Only the birds and the wind fighting with the leaves could be heard. It was... serene.

A rumbling changed all that.

Hange thought she had just imagined it, but when she glanced over at Levi, she knew it was real. Levi felt it too, he and his squad were either looking around or glancing at each other. Hange looked ahead at Erwin who had the same curious yet fearful expression when he turned his head over to the left.

Suddenly, a deer jumped out in front of Erwin's horse. The man veered to look just as his horse whined and kicked up its front hooves. But that's not what startled them. In was all in slow motion in Hange's eyes. Out from the trees came a seven-meter titan. Hange could only guess Commander Erwin and Corporal Levi, as well as his squad and every other Scout behind them, shared the same dumbfounded/petrified look she had on.

The titan looked at them with big, shocked green eyes. No lips were visible as his white teeth were very much apparent and pointed ears stuck out from short, black, messy hair. As soon as his feet touched the ground he lunged forward. His body was right above them, able to soar right over Commander Erwin and Corporal Levi as he attempted (in her quick observation) to avoid running into them. She wasn't so lucky as she had to dive off her horse in order to avoid getting hit. She crashed into the ground around the same time the titan did. On her stomach now, she looked up to watch as the titan rolled back to his feet only to clumsily trip from the speed he was going and crash back-first into the trees.

Everyone was silent and still until Oulo screamed.

"A titan?!"

"What's it doing inside the Walls?!" Gunther shouted out next. Hange didn't care as she continued to stare up at the beauty. It moaned while holding the back of its head, seemingly checking to see if it was hurt. With that, it attempted to dodge them from the sudden interaction, and on top of that, made no moves towards them.

Her smile couldn't have been bigger.

Levi jumped from his saddle and shot his wires up at a tree. He zipped towards it, using the momentum to detach from the tree and hook onto the titan's back. A jet stream of smoke poured out from his canisters as he made a mad dash towards the nape, both blades ready.

"Levi no!" Hange screamed, her hands grasping her hair in desperation. Levi cried out as he ferociously tore into the flesh, but it was not the nape that he got. The fingers that were over the vulnerable spot had been sliced clean off with the nape not even touched.

Lucky bastard, Levi thought to himself.

Hange's voice caught in her throat as she witnessed the titan cover his nape and escape death by Levi. It was now screeching loudly and looking at his hands, seeing the steam coming off of the appendages.

It was showing signs of awareness and intelligence.

"I... must... HAVE!" She clawed the dirt around her before bolting upward and dashing back over to her horse. "Erwin!" She was about to ask for a request in capturing the titan, but by the look on his face, she could tell he came to the same conclusion.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the titan realized this as well. The seven meter bolted across the road in front of them and back into the woods from whence it came.

"After it!" Erwin shouted his command. Levi took off into the air via 3DMG with his team while Hange squealed in delight and redirected her horse. "Don't let it out of your sights! Immobilize only!" Erwin shouted after them on. He lifted up his arm and fired a red signal flare.


Miles away, Mikasa was walking in the grass beneath the trees with her carrier strapped to her back and dragging Eren's in her left hand. Her burgundy scarf wrapped securely around her neck swayed gently with the breeze. Her feet stopped suddenly when a loud shot echoed through the valley. Her silver pools grew wide with worry as she gasped at the sight of red smoke rising high into the sky.

"Eren." she whispered fearfully before making a mad dash towards it; her breaths loud and heavy.


"Yaahooo!" Hange squealed in excitement as her horse galloped behind the seven meter. The titan moved his now regenerated hand back over his nape. "Oh what a beauty you are! So smart too!" She commented profoundly.

"Tsk," Levi hissed, "Eyes forward, four-eyes!" he shouted at her right before coming in and slicing the back of the titan's knee. He roared and toppled over, falling on his hands and knees to keep himself upright. Hange galloped around to the front of him, eyes glowing with joy.

Eld and Petra came in and started slicing at the titan's arms when he tried to protect his nape again. The one arm became useless and fell limply back down, but the other still moved towards the nape. Levi swung in and with one quick motion, completely cut off the wrist.

Now the thing was vulnerable.

The titan's eyes widened with fear and he fell over onto his back screaming. The Scouts had to cover their ears from the sound. After that, everything was quiet again besides the titan's heavy breathes.

"Tsk, cry baby," Levi commented. The titan's head tilted in his direction as his green eyes looked up at him in the tree. The titan must have heard Hange's horse because he then turned his attention to the female by his head.

"Oh don't you cry, we're not here to kill ya." She cooed at him before hopping off her horse. Oulo gasped at her while Petra cried out a warning from within the safety of the trees.

"Hange-san, get away from there!"

"Don't listen to those bullies," Hange said to the titan while calmly walking over to him, completely ignoring Petra's concerns. "We're just going to relocate you is all. And, I'm sorry, but we can't be having you free to move." Hange was now kneeling down so that they were eye to eye, literally. Her smile faded when she looked deep into his eye and saw something she'd never thought she'd see in a titan.

Innocence―like that of a child.

Suddenly, the rumbling returned causing Hange to blink in surprise. Levi squad stiffened and looked around, feeling the rumbling turn into large footsteps. Levi narrowed his eyes.

Out of the trees burst forth another titan, but this one caused the Scouts to recollect themselves. It was at least seventeen meters tall with a broad torso and a strip of black hair running down his chest. Long black hair covered his pointed ears and his jaw sported a beard. This was definitely unlike any titan Hange, or anyone for that matter had ever seen. She didn't have time to squeal about it because the titan was lunging for her.

She quickly shot out her wires and soared off just in time to dodge a backhand swipe from the seventeen meter. Joining Levi and his squad in the trees, which were not at all as tall as this titan was, she stared at the newcomer with both glee and worry.

The seven meter would escape soon if they couldn't get back to it. But she was shocked from her worry when the larger one did something that had them all stare with wide eyes.

The titan was standing over the smaller one, arms up in defense with one protecting its own nape. Worst yet, it was staring down at them with threatening silver eyes.

"It―it's protecting the smaller one." Hange stuttered out. "AHHHHAHAHAHA!" Hange squealed before fumbling with her jacket and taking out her notebook. She slammed the thing against Oulo's chest, causing the man to gasp and stagger a bit. "Quickly, draw a picture!" She ordered without looking back at him.

"Hange-san! Now is not the time!" The man tried to argue with her, but she would hear none of it. She took a step forward, mumbling and groaning in delight as she rubbed her hands together.

"We have to kill it." Everyone looked over to Levi who only stared down the titan. "We have no choice in the matter. We can't let that thing loose in these walls."

"But―Levi―!" Hange began but was interrupted by the Corporal.

"You're lucky I'm even letting you keep the brat down there!" He shouted at her, actually giving her a glance while pointing his sword down at the seven meter beneath the other. He returned his glare up at the Seventeen-meter titan.

"We end this, now." His voice dripped with venom as his eyes twinkled with determination against the unknown. The larger titan narrowed his eyes down at him and growled.

"You know what they say, huh ugly?" Levi teased, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." He jumped off of the tree branch and shot out towards the titan, making a sharp left before the giant hand had a chance to even come close to him. Levi swung around him twice before coming down upon his free arm, cutting deep into the flesh the whole way down. The titan roared in anger and lashed out. Lifting its left leg up, it brought it down full force onto the trunk of the tree they were once all in. Levi squad was already in the air, but Hange had to quickly zip line to another. The tree toppled over, falling down with half its roots torn out. The seventeen meter picked it up by the base and tore out the rest of the roots, now wielding it like a blade.

"WHAAAAA?!" Hange screamed.

Levi took the challenge head on, using all of his momentum to come down and arch under the tree. He retracted his wires before shooting them out at the titan's face. He pressed down firmly on the triggers to release out all the steam it could, but all he got was a chill running down his spine when he heard the inevitable. His canisters were out.

They had just gotten back from an expedition outside the walls, beaten and bruised. No stock to refuel, no time to rest; there was no way they were prepared for this to happen. Levi ducked away from the hand that nearly grabbed him and zip lined around the titan's head and into the branches of a tree. He didn't have time to rest as the titan's hand came down upon that tree like an ax, tearing the thing clean from the ground and leaving the Corporal diving off to save his life.

"Don't worry, Levi, we got this!" Petra called out as she and Gunther zipped in simultaneously to take out the titan's eyes. The beast turned just in time to see them and veer his head left. All they ended up cutting was the forehead and ear.

They both gasped at their miss and swung around to try a different tactic when one of the hands intercepted Petra's path.

She screamed when it grabbed her.

Levi hissed, watching as Gunther rushed in followed by Eld. Gunther went for the wrist while Eld had gone for the leg to try and topple the dumb thing over. Oulo had joined in and was going for the other leg, heading straight for the back of the knee like Eld.

With three coming in at once, it seemed the titan had little chance of defense.

Wrong.

All of the sudden the ground shook as the titan jumped and twirled. The cables hooked onto the titan fell off and Eld, Gunther, and Oulo were flying in the air without control. They each righted themselves; fighting inertia as they twisted their bodies to avoid hitting the seventeen meter and speeding toward any nearby tree that hadn't been decimated.

Levi growled as he watched the thing lift Petra up to its face. The girl was screaming in her head, but perfectly silent on the outside. Her teeth were clenched tight and her body shook at the thought of what was to come.

"Petra!" Levi shouted. The titan was now staring into Petra's soul, or at least that's what it felt like to her. It's silver eyes seemed to glow with determination, yet there was something else there she thought looked familiar. Something she'd seen before. Her mind flashed back to memories of her dad. He always gave her that look of fear when she'd do something dangerous or when she brought up the idea of joining the Scouts.

It was fear out of love. And she could clearly see it here in this titan's eyes.

Shockingly, the titan let go and Petra found herself falling out of the grip. Quick hands grabbed her and she watched as Levi zip lined them to the safety of the trees.

Everyone stood still within the trees as the seventeen meter stared them down, not making any moves to further put them in harm's way. He just continued to stand on top of the nearly healed seven-meter titan below.

"Sir," Came Eld's voice from another tree. "I'm almost out of fuel!"

"Same here!" Gunther announced as well, "What do we do?"

Levi hissed under his breath, "Stand down!" He ordered.

The titan narrowed its eyes but continued to watch them. After no movement from the Corps, it did something unthinkable in Hange's eyes. The seven meter had now just fully regenerated itself and had rolled over onto his stomach to get up when the seventeen-meter titan clamped its jaws down over its nape. It yanked upward, taking the chunk from the nape with it and keeping it in its mouth.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Hange screamed, watching her precious test subject decay with steam billowing up into the sky.

"It―killed it," Petra observed softly. Levi shared her surprise but kept his eyes on the seventeen-meter monster. The thing back away from the steaming body, eyes still piercing each and every one of the Scouts. When it deemed the time right, it turned and ran off.

Levi was more than willing to go after it and finish the job had he more fuel. And he certainly wasn't going to send his squad after that thing, no sir. So it ended with them watching the titan escape into the forests of Wall Maria and Hange crying out for them to go after it.

Levi whipped his head towards her with daggers in his eyes. He zipped down beside her kneeling form on the ground and grabbed her jacket, hauling her up to his face.

"Shut up! I care more about the lives of my squad than I do for your little science projects!" He yelled angrily at her, but Hange wasn't paying attention. Instead, she grabbed his shoulders with her dirty hands and stood up, now getting into his face.

"WHY DID IT EAT HIM?!" Hange shouted, taking a deep breath and shaking Levi. "WHYYYYYYYYYY?!"

Levi steamed and yanked his arms away, "GET OFF ME!" He hollered, watching as Hange fell back down on her butt. She continued to sob as Levi pulled out his handkerchief and began rubbing his hands clean.

"That's disgusting." He commented. His team joined him on the ground watching Hange with sorrowful stares.