Chapter 12 The Rouge Titan

The Titan stared down at its kill. The corpse of its 'brethren' was already beginning to evaporate away, and the damage to its foot was nearing fully healed. Steam wafted into the air, but it paid it no mind. Instead, fixing its stare over the rooftops to locate its next victim.

Armin soared through the air as fast as he could, using just enough of his precious remaining gas to stay at top speed.

"Please be alright. I'm coming for you."

He spotted her sat down in the middle of a street, unmoving as she stared off into the distance.

"There she is!"

He swung down directly towards her, slamming into her gracelessly, and pulling her upwards where they both crashed onto a rooftop.

"Mikasa! Are you okay?"

Connie landed with a slight slide next to them, steadying himself with one hand before voicing his own concern.

"Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah."

"Then we better get out of here-"

A set of thundering footsteps cut him off, and around the corner at the end of the street came a Titan. Stepping into view before it, the Titan from earlier levelled its gaze on the new arrival.

"Crap, two 15 metre Titans!"

"No…that one's different."

Armin looked at her in confusion, before openly gawking at the evaporating body in the street below them.

'How?'

The strange Titan opened its maw, and released its thunderous challenge. Its kin did not back down, and roared back in kind. The challenge accepted, the strange one placed a step back, and raised two fists in front of it.

The human audience gasped in recognition of the fighting stance, not unlike the ones they had been trained to use. Its opponent gave another war cry, and charged widly towards it. The rogue Titan's fist came swinging from its right side, and the side hook punch ripped the head clean off. It sailed gruesomely through the air, smashing into a church tower and embedding itself in place.

The now headless body collapsed to the ground, and the rogue Titan gazed at its teaming hand in satisfaction. Already, it was on its way to being restored, as lights shot through the air towards the skeletal hand, and flesh spread rapidly across the bones.

On the floor, the defeated Titan made a move to stand and restart the fight. Before an immense foot stomped it back to the ground.

"It…it just finished it off. It knew exactly where the weak spot was!"

As Armin spoke, the abnormal set its eyes across the city once more, and walked steadily away with clear intent.

"C'mon guys, time to split. Last thing we need is him coming our way."

"No, he has no reaction to us. Any other Titan would have been on top of us now."

"…it seemed to understand the skill of hand to hand combat. What is that thing?"

"Just chalk it up as another abnormal. Hell they're always an unpleasant surprise right? Forget about it, let's just get out of here."

"Wait a minute hold on! Mikasa's tanks are empty."

"Huh!? What are we gonna do!? We can't clear HQ without your help!"

Mikasa stayed quiet, biting back a response about how they still had Gohan. Still, they all knew that she would help their chances immensely. And so, Armin stepped forward.

"There's only one thing to do. I know there isn't very much left in them, but it's better than your empty ones."

"Armin!"

He didn't stop, forcefully twisting his canisters nozzle and filling up her tanks.

"This is our only choice. It'd be a complete waste if I kept them. But…use this gas more sparingly, everyone's lives are riding on you and Gohan. And there's only so much he can do."

She stared down at him in horror as he began to fill the next tank.

'What have I done? I led the attack without any regard for their lives at all! …I was even reckless with my own life. I lost track of what you taught me. Oh Eren, I'm so ashamed. Eren…'

Mikasa gave her triggers a tenuous squeeze, and only a slight burst of gas was released.

"There. Got it. Your ODM gear's functional, and I've restocked your blades."

He reached to the side and picked up a shattered sword that lay on the shingles.

"Just…just leave me this one okay?"

He stared down at the shiny metal, his wide terrified eye staring back at him in its reflection.

"It's just that…I would rather this be my end, not being eaten alive."

Mikasa yanked it from his fingers and threw it deliberately off the roof, several clangs echoing back up towards them as it hit the ground.

"Bu…why'd you…?"

Her hand clasped onto his as he sat stunned in disbelief.

"Armin."

He turned to her, her eyes boring into his with determination, and just the slightest shimmer of unshed tears.

"I will not leave you behind."

She meant it. She would do whatever it took to keep him safe.

He really had a true friend.

"But-…I mean, Titans are everywhere. You can't jump and carry me on your back-"

"C'mon let's move."

The increasingly agitated Connie had chosen then to interrupt them, grabbing a hold of Armin's hand, and dragging him along as they ran to the edge of the roof. The world began to grey and lose focus, as he saw what would await them. How they would fail…

'Please…don't do this…it's not going to work! Enough people have died on my account'

The strange Titans roar filled the air behind him, its deep call for battle clear for all to hear. He turned his head back and saw it, his eyes transfixed on its tilted back head, mouth open to the sky. He truly saw it. He saw their chance.

"NO!"

He dug his feet in in protest, and ripped his arm out of Connie's grip.

"Hold on, I've got an idea."

"What is it then?"

"Only you two are capable of pulling this off, so it's really your choice. This may sound crazy, but I think he might be useful."

"Woah you mean the Titan?"

"He only attacks his own kind, he seems to have no interest in us. What if we can somehow steer him to HQ and let him loose on the other Titans? Look, we know he's taken at least one out already, we can use him as a weapon."

"You've got be kidding, how the hell you think we're supposed to steer that thing?"

"Something tells me he's fighting on instinct, I'm almost sure if you take down the pair he's tangling with now he'll go look for others. That'd lead him straight to HQ. We're not steering him so much as luring him. I think it'll work, I really do."

"Think?! You're asking us to risk our necks on a stupid gut feeling?"

"If I'm right about this we can put down the siege on Headquarters in one fell-swoop!"

Connie's eyes went wide and terrified as he pictured all the Titan surrounding HQ. Crawling all over it. Trying to squeeze their way in and eat anyone there.

"It's worth a shot."

"Huh!? Seriously!?"

"Better to take a gamble on Armin's gut feeling than wait around to be slaughtered. If there's a decent shot why not take it?"

Armin couldn't help the slight lean forwards, nor could he stop the slight smile that graced his face.

'She believes in me. She really does.'

"So basically we're gonna recruit a Titan!"

"Yes, exactly."

"Uh…uh…we'll look like morons if we screw this up."

"Heh heh, yeah but if we don't look how many lives we stand to save!"

"Where there's a will there's a way."

Mikasa didn't stick around for any further discussion. Instead, she sprinted past Armin and towards the Titan. Armin hesitated for barely a moment before running after her, leaving Connie by himself.

"It's still nuts, but what the hell!"

Gohan flew around the street as Titans swung at him relentlessly. Tom was straddled on his back, his hands locked in a death grip around his potential saviour. The other female cadet who'd stepped in to try and save Tom was likewise flying around. Three Titans watching her with hunger as they tried to snatch her out of the air.

Up on the rooftop overlooking them, the surviving trainees watched on, frozen as their hearts demanded they leap in and help, and their brains screamed for them to run. They did neither. They needed someone to focus them, to get them moving, and so Jean opened his mouth.

"Let's go! Make a break for HQ while they're distracted!"

He didn't wait for any protest, instead twisting on the spot, and bolting towards the Garrison headquarters. Behind him, several cadets followed him quickly. Others found their feet shuffling after him, before building momentum and morphing into a run.

'We can do this. Hey, if we run out of gas we're dead anyway.'

"Give it everything you've got!"

Jean leapt as far as he could, safely clearing the narrow gap between the houses that formed an alleyway. Behind him, he heard the others all leap across as well, each of them using pure muscle and speed to get across.

Mikasa soared straight towards her target, the 15-metre Titan leering down at her with its unnatural fixed expression. She gave a tug of her cables, and only the slightest squeeze of gas, and dodged nimbly to the side before swinging back and slashing the back of its neck open.

Blood spurted through the air even as it fell to the ground dead. From behind it, Connie flew through the air with Armin in his arms. He was going almost monumentally fast considering how difficult perilous the situation would be if they had to dodge. But it was needed, and soon they landed on a rooftop only a buildings over from where the Rogue Titan was fighting.

Its hands were gripped in another Titans, both pushing against each other fiercely. With a surge of strength, the Rogue Titan pushed its victim against the building behind it, and began swinging its fists into its head. A cloud of dust and debris billowed up from the house as it was wrecked, covering up any visible signs of damage.

Still, after several powerful blows, the Titan slumped to the ground in defeat, and the Rogue Titan set its eyes on the horizon, his gaze resting squarely on the Garrison headquarters, and the numerous waiting victims that covered it.

Jean was in line with the others as they began the final leg towards their destination. Everyone was ready, and they were almost there. He pushed ahead of the others with a burst of his entirely depleted gas, and eyed the three Titans meandering down the road towards them.

He had three others in the particular group that surrounded him. The others were either still heading over the rooftops, or were taking a different street. It was good that they were split up. A small group could outmanoeuvre the lumbering idiots, but all of them together would have been slaughtered.

As it was, it was still ludicrously dangerous to be flying as close as they were, something Jean was terrifyingly reminded of when a giant hand wrapped around his leg. He didn't waste time cursing, instead he growled a war cry and swung his sword down, hacking deep into the flesh of the hand, and severing one of its fingers.

He felt himself break free, and he burst away, a strong trail of gas behind him. Saving on gas wouldn't do him any good if he was dead. He cleared the group of Titan first, the others catching up quickly, and somehow with no sign of casualties. He dropped down onto a rooftop to sprint instead of fly, he couldn't check, but he had an ominous feeling that his tanks were going to give out on him any moment.

Landing next to him, Marco was quick to match pace with him, turning to slightly face him to talk a little easier.

"Jean! Hey, you really came through for us there man, we owe you big time."

Jeans jaw definitely did not drop at that compliment, and he'd damn anyone to hell who said so. But whatever, it was Marco, he was always dreaming.

"Don't shrug it off I'm serious. We're alive because of you. Like I said you make a great leader."

Jean allowed himself to smirk with pride. So what if he had been below Jaeger, the scores had clearly been wrong. Just look at where the two of them were now. He wiped away his smirk and looked in front of them, there were several little groups of Titans already moving towards them.

"Easy with that crap, we're not out of it yet."

He leapt off the rooftop as several 10-15 metre's came closer, blocking their path. And without the gas to go around them, they had to go through them. A Titan swung at him, but it was wide and low, allowing Jean to pull himself through the air and over it. He felt before he saw the Titans hand moving for him from behind. He was fast though, and its fingertips passed by inches behind him where he had just been.

The group moved quickly, dodging and weaving between the monstrosities that surrounded them. They were almost there. The windows to the HQ were in sight! All they had to do was crash through them and- An open palm reached into the air, and snatched a hold of one of the recruits. He screamed as his friends all zipped by him, all sense of comradery gone as they fought to keep themselves alive.

Jean stared back in horror. He was going to be eaten any moment. He was practically dead already.

"Damn it!"

He turned ahead once more, and locked eyes with the closest window.

"Jean! Lead them towards HQ while you can! Please! Keep them safe!"

'…damn you Gohan. DAMN YOU!'

Hi pivoted in the air, and shot out one of his cables into a nearby chimney, relying solely on his almost ludicrous momentum to swing himself around. The man who was trapped, although boy was perhaps closer, was already being lifted towards the Titans open jaws. Jean soared straight towards its neck, the familiar bulge that sat at the nape presenting a clear target. One that he'd practiced a thousand times before.

He cut. He flew past. And he overbalanced, coming down to a halt as a heap on the rooftop behind it. He caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was a body, falling to the ground like dead weight. A grapple was loosed from the body's waist, and he trainee flew through the air once more.

The rest of the trainees tore through the air behind him, until the last one left was Jean, and four Titans.

'Last time I EVER save someone's life!' He swore as he scrambled to his feet and began to sprint back towards the HQ he had been so near to before. 'This is all your fault Gohan. I was MUCH better off just being a coward.'

A hand slapped onto the tiles behind him, and Jean let out a slight cry of terror. He heard the hand begin moving, roof tiles and pieces of wood being ripped into the air as it tore through the building towards him. He leapt into the air, strangled the triggers in his hand, and began to launch away from the Titans. Fingertips cracked against his back, sending painful, terrifying tingles up his spine. He lurched forward as the blow sped him up and he lost control.

The wild hook he had shot saved his life, as he was suddenly jerked out the way of a Titans waiting teeth, and pulled back towards HQ. He gave it everything he had left as he made his final swing into the air. Halfway through the swing, his gas sputtered and died, and he began to fall. He screamed as the broken windows of HQ began to rise past his eyes, and he made a final, desperate attempt to pull himself in as he loosed his hooks into the air.

One of the missed, and sailed off into nothingness, the other connected, and promptly pulled him directly into the wall. He hit it with his side, and he heard before he felt the loud snap of his arm breaking. He hung there, in agony but still desperate to move as shadows closed in around him. There was a lurch, and he was pulled up into the air as eager fingers slapped against the wall where he had been. He almost flew into HQ as the other cadets pulled him in, before collapsing with exhaustion all around him. Jean lay paralysed on his back, frozen with exhaustion and relief, as he stared at the hook which had embedded itself just inside the rooms ceiling.

'Never…again.'

Gohan flung himself to the side as soon as the shadow loomed overhead of him. A mighty stomp tore up the street where he had been only moments ago, the very ground being scarred with the imprint of the Titans foot. The shockwave jolted him off balance, and he hobbled on his right leg to steady himself, before diving away again as the same Titan slapped at him.

Shards of concrete and stone flew towards him, and Gohan flung his arms up to protect himself, falling flat on his back as Tom's weight became suddenly noticeable. There was a whoosh in the air, and the woman whose name he'd never caught landed next to him. She grabbed his arm in a monkey grip and hauled him to his feet. In front of them, five Titans closed off the street, three more behind them boxed them in.

"What do we do!?"

Asked the female cadet, Tom responding only with a few whimpers as he left the planning up to Gohan, and focused on keeping his arms wrapped around him. Gohan looked around for an escape. They could try to get back up to the rooftops now that the others had left, but unless their comrade had enough gas to fully fly, they could very possibly be caught. Which meant they had to stick to the street, but how could they-

"There! Between the legs!"

"Are-…are you sure?"

Was he? Well…no but…

"Yes! Let's go!"

He let his left hook fly, and wasted no time in retracting it as soon as it latched onto the ground behind the Titans. He gave himself a tiny burst of gas, which felt scarily smaller than he'd planned. The girl was barely a metre behind him as they zipped between the Titan's legs, the crowded beasts shuffling and bumping into each other as they stared down at their prey. Gohan cleared first, turning his head behind him to check on the other cadet, just in time to witness the hand slam her from the side, and crush her against the wall.

Blood sprayed from her body beneath the Titans palm. Crimson rain arced through the air, splashing against Gohan's horrified face. He fell hard to the ground, pinning Tom between him and the floor. Tom let out a sharp yelp, but Gohan didn't move, frozen as he felt part of what had once been part of a person drip down his cheeks.

"Aghh! Gohan!

Tom was yelling now, trying to throw his traumatized rescuer off of him to no avail. Gohan snapped out of it briefly to roll to the side, before fixing his gaze back on the corpse that was lying crushed against the wall. Blood marred her body, and her head listed backwards lifelessly. She had trusted him. She had stayed because she believed in him. And under his deliberate instruction, she had been killed.

"Oh Kami…oh Kami…"

The Titan that had claimed her life peeled her body off of the walls, lazily lifting her into the air above its open and waiting mouth. She fell without resistance and disappeared from sight, sliding all the way down the Titans gullet. It didn't belch with satisfaction, or sigh in content, it showed no reaction whatsoever to the life it had just taken. Instead, its eyes wandered, and fixed on Gohan and Tom.

"…I'm sorry."

The other Titans bumped into one another as they tried to surge forwards for their own meal. Scrambling to his feet, Gohan yanked Tom up and began to sprint down the street. They had moved from their original street when they were fighting off the Titans. They were closer to the HQ, but they had taken a different route to keep the other trainees safe.

"There's HQ!"

Tom pointed straight ahead of them, the familiar Garrison crest edging into sight below a set of windows. He was right, they were almost there. They just had to- Gohan skidded to a stop, a Titan emerged from around the corner in front of them, and blocked off their passage. Thundering footsteps approached from behind them as the others drew closer.

Gohan pivoted on his heels, whirling around to take a different street. The three Titans that had caught up to them made it impossible though, and soon, Gohan found himself looking back and forth between the two ends of the street, even as 10-metre tall monsters began to close in.

He needed a way out, some sort of way! He turned to the roof nearby and fired his hook up towards it. It bounced off as the weakened concrete fell away, and Gohan slowly pulled it back in to him. His Ki senses screamed a warning at him as the Titan between him and the HQ raised a fist above him, and began to bring it down. It was too fast. He wasn't quick enough to dodge it, and when it hit the ground, Gohans leg hadn't quite made it out of range. The lunge that Gohan had done to try and escape was quickly halted, as he found himself trapped with his leg still pinned in place. Tom had awkwardly fell off Gohans back, and was scrambling away towards the nearby houses as Titans began to eye him up.

As he stared up at the Titan which held him pinned to the ground, and felt the crashing footsteps of the encroaching Titans, Gohan knew he was going to die.

'Well,hey,I've never been revived by the Dragon . In fact,so far i'm the only one who has never been killed'A sascastic tone hovered through his mind,remembering his old world.'At least I'm gonna know how it felt like'.

In the Garrison Headquarters only a short distance away, the trainees were in a mixed state of relief and confusion. So many heavy breaths could be heard as most of cadet were still petrified by their near death experience .The only words that were being said is that how many of their had made it,under the chaotic circumstance ,no one knew the exact number.

Jean have done breathing as he barely people were still in disbelief that he actually risked his life to save someone,many of them could have their eyes out of it were the eyes of the people who didn't know of the story that got his attention,he look onto his left to find the demoralized faces of other garrisoning cadet who hiding under the desks ,tears could be seen dripping on their faces.

"You guys are part of the supply team,aren't you?!"

Before anyone of them can answer,Jean aggressive grabbed the male of the couple and landed his fist on the person . Marco rushed in and hold Jean back before the brown hair boy decided to land more hits.

"Stop it,Jean"

"These pieces of shit abandoned us!Do any of you fuckfaces have a clue how many have died?!"

"The titans overran the depot"The female tearfully exclaimed,shielding her friend "What could we have done?!"

"Isn't it your fucking job to figure something out?!"He attempted to kick the girl in the face but was pulled back by Marco,making his foot unable to reach her." A monkey has figured something out!"

The vocal conflict would have lasted forever if it had been for the whistling sound of a projectile coming towards the building dissolved it. The sound was loud enough for everyone in the HQ to hear and take cover in time as it made its of dust pouring out ,blocking the cadets vision. The smokescreen had finally faded quickly,it revealed a Titan face , maliciously grinning toward the already demoralized cadet as they all fled in chaos.

"Hurry,!Get Inside!"

"Run for your lives"

"Where's Miskasa"

"Where's The Monkey Boy"

"They crashed back there!The titans have eaten 'em both"

'This is normal...This was reality, isn't it?Was I just chasing a delusional dream?'The only one who was not running was Jean,he was too petrified to be able to move,the only thing he could do is to stare at the giants and cry. 'Of course,who did I think I am?I'm not Gohan.I'm not the one who though he can beat these oversized montrosities'

He would never found his eyes go wider than the momment when a fist landed on a Titan face,the impact force was so powerful that it sent the said titan and the nearby titan flying across the streets.

"The fuck?"

The owner of the punch was nothing but a titan,but there was something odd about this titan :it seemed to be more muscular and well-shapen and most of all it kills thought later disturbed when he heard the sound of broken windows where Miskasa came in,following her was Armin in Connie's arm.

"It's empty" Connie knocked on the canister that ringed hollow "We did it!We just barely made it"

"Miskasa!" Jean approached them and asked "You're..all alive?"

But she ignored him,instead she walked toward the crowd behind him,searching for something . Unable to find the thing she searched ,she turned to Jean.

"Wasn't Gohan with you?"

Oh crap,this was when everyone went silent . None of them really wanted to give her the answer or most likely did not know the answer . With the tension from Miskasa's look,Jean took all his courages and answered.

"Tom was out of gas,he came to save him"

"They're still out there." Another recruit interupted him " They were low on fuel."

Miskasa had lost Eren,and her family was about to lose another member and she would not allow this to happen. Unlike Eren,Gohan was still able to be salvage,he,so far by the knowledge of the cadet was still alive when they last saw him.

"Anyone still has any spare?"Said the last of the Asian-clan "I'm going back for 'im"

"No,none of us has any spare"Jean answered in frustration 'Damn you again,Gohan' "Their only chance that we refuel and come back to get them"

"There's no time"This was Connie speaking "Every minute that they spent out there would decrease their survivability,we have to get them now."

"Save Gohan or not save Gohan,you have to decide quickly because he doesn't have much time."

The cadets turned to the voice ,it was Annie ,who indicated her head to the window she was looking looking through it ,they now knew what she was talking about.

Their number one was kneeling on a roof,his tail was resting on the shingles instead of wrapping around his waist and his band was partially reddened .Seeing him being alone ,the cadets didn't have to make any question about Tom and the female rescuer's fate . There were titans concentrated at a nearby building, too focus on something that they ignored him;once again the cadets knew what it was,or to be accurate:who it was . A titan turned around to look at Gohan,and slowly moving toward him . To everyone supprise,Gohan stood up and removed his jacket ,throwing it away in the air.

"What's he doing?" Asked a random cadet

"He is deweighting himself ."Annie ,who is the only one has martial art knowledge ,answered but still confused by Gohan action "But that is not enough ,he'll have to...that idiot ,he's going to lose his mobility"

Gohan's memories about escaping the titan's grip was a blur,he didn't remember the whole story .However ,the things he remembered were enough to know what had happened :he remembered that the titan that was grabbing him for some reasons released him and headed toward Tom. He remembered that something took over his body and scaled a building with support of his tail. He remembered that when he tried to rescue Tom ,the thing that had taken over his body didn't let him .He remembers scalling the building hearing Tom's agonizing scream.

The Half-Saiyan knelt on the roof mourning his fallen comrades ,facing toward the monsters that were feasting on their flesh. He then got the whole picture of what the future Trunks have descibed,he knew those people pain .It was just like fighting the Saiyans,but more helpless,atleast in his homeworld there were Dragonballs that could bring them back .But here,when people die,they stay dead. Talked about death,he thought about Eren's ,he was too young ,so full of heat and most importantly he was his friend. No,he was not his friend,he's family. Only knowing the Jeager for weeks ,but Eren and Miskasa were like brother and sister to him and Grisha and Carla had taken care for him as if they were taking care of their own,they're family .Not just the Jeagers,the time he spent training along side the 104th was the most precious time he had in this strange world,they are also his family and their families behind these walls. AT last,for many years battling the saiyans,Frieza and the androids,he has found his purpose.

' I may or may not return to my family back home'He stood up ,couldn't help but notice a Titan moving toward . Something had came to his mind,he remembered a technique Master Roshi had used in a tournament to prevent him from being ring-out,his father had also used this when he fought the Red Ribbon do this ,he needs all his ki to flow freely in his body and he has to be light . He took off his jacket and threw it aside. 'But I am certain that as long as I am here ,I'l' stay alive as long as can to protect my new one.'

The chance of success were terribly low as he still considerably heavy...with his 3DM Gears . The Tailed Cadet removed it with all its straps.'Here goes nothing'

He dragged his leg across the shingles ,sending some to the ground,lowering himself in to a horse stance .He cupped his hands to his right side ,concentrated his ki and chanted.

"Ka"

He felt his ki began to move to his hands .The Titan were closing in.

"Me"

"What kind of shit is he trying to pull off?" A recruit from the HQ yelled,but it was still to quiet for Gohan to hear .

More Titans changed their attention to Gohan. The closest one was only 30 metre from him .

"Ha"

"We're doom"

A titan came close enough and reached out his arm to grab him .Its finger was only 50 cm away.

"I can't watch"

"Me"

The cadets eyes were widened as a ball of light was formed between Gohan's hand,some even rubbed their eyes .The monkey boy leaped to air as he thrusted his hands down to the titan face and finished the word

"Haaaaaaaaaaa"

A beam of light bursted out from Gohan hands to the Titan's face ,melting it .The beam subsequently hit the ground,propeled the cadet up to the air and toward the HQ like Bulma's jetcar.

"Yes,yes,yes,yes,yes"