AN:

Well I got Chapter 2 sorted out as you can see.

Hope you enjoy it and like always I'm open to improvements.

This is fun.

Al raised his head slightly, blood running down his face from a gash in his head, and looked at the fur covered titan further away from him. Then it spoke.

"That seemed much easier than I had anticipated." the titan mocked Al, slowly walking up to him

Al looked at the titan in horror, his head trying to decide whether what it just heard was real or just his dying imagination. 'Oh God...What the hell are you? What are you!?"

"I didn't expect you to survive but it's of no matter to me" the titan went on, nearing Al.

"What the hell is this thing!? How can it speak!?" Al's mind was still in turmoil, a mix of fear and confusion.

The titan was next to Al and crouched down, casting a giant shadow over Al and looming over him, "If you don't mind I'd like to borrow that device of yours. It looks slightly different from the rest…". Al stared at the titan in sheer shock and confusion.

"I understand that we speak the same language unless you can't speak that is?" the titan looked down at Al who moved his lips barely, "What are you?"

"No need to worry. All I want is that device of yours that happens to be right here."the titan reached down and carefully picked up Al's gear from the ground and held it in the palm of its hand, bringing it closer to its face to look at it better. "It's a shame but I would have very much liked to see this properly but unfortunately now it's destroyed," the dropped Al's broken gear and stood back up, "Now I have no use of you anymore…" the titan turned around and walked away, "But they still can use you…"

"W-what do you mean they? WHAT DO YOU MEAN!?" Al cried out, a mixture of pain, anger and fear in his voice.

"You'll see." the titan put it calmly in a slightly sinister way, vanishing into the treeline.

From the treelines titans appeared and walked over to where Al lay on the ground helpless without any gear. Al looked at the titan advancing to him and realised it was the end, feeling as if his insides had been gutted out of him. "It's all over…" Al said it out loud, painfully turning himself over as he slumped up against the tree behind him, "So much for serving humanity…Father would be ashamed..." he muttered out, cringing at the pain coming from his leg, looking down to see a bloody stump where his lower leg should be. Al lolled his head back and felt his eyelids get heavy. He reached into his pocket and produced a small, compact rectangular box, laying it on the ground. It was a 'gift' given to him before he set out for the expedition with specific instructions that it shouldn't be opened until there was no other way. "What's the harm in finding out what's inside this damn box?" Al muttered out again, feebly undoing the clip on the box and opening it to reveal a soft padding lining the inside with a syringe containing a strange liquid. There was also a note with it. Al picked it up and read it.

Alphonse,

I must warn you this may do more harm than good but if there is no other way then do what you must. Nothing will make sense but this is to ensure your survival. I've picked one suited for your battle style. Use it well...

The note ended with that and Al dropped it to the side, taking out the syringe and reading the label on it. 'Crystal' it read. The ground shook slightly as Al looked back up and saw the titans only metres away, one of them reaching out and about to grab Al. "Well here goes nothing then." with that Al jabbed the syringe into his arm...

Meanwhile

Jay spurred his horse on even further followed by Dante towards the the flare, the sound of titans roaring becoming even louder.

"Jay!" Dante called out, "Are you even sure we should-"

"We have to go back!" Jay yelled back, not glancing back at him "We can't le-"

Suddenly, lightning had struck, cutting off Jay completely. The trees swayed dangerous from the strong gust of air formed, their horses whinnied in fear and both Dante and Jay braced themselves against the strong wind.

"...What the hell…" Dante breathed out in disbelief only to be snapped back into reality as Jay resumed to spur on ahead.

"Jay! Wait, do we even have a plan!? For all we know, we're running in-"

Both of them slowly came to a halt as they came to a clearing and stared, wide eyed at the sight.

"...blind…" Dante finished, unable to even take in the sight at all. "Um…" his voice was small and trembling, "...Do you...have a plan?...Jay?"

Jay slowly let out a shaky breath, "...Not anymore, I don't…"

Jay and Dante rode away from the forest, Al slumped up against Dante's back. Most of the forest was now just a complete wreck, broken trees were everywhere, wood shrapnel littered the ground and steam constantly erupted from the carcasses of numerous titans. The place looked as if it had blown up. Jay and Dante rode on till they felt they found a safe enough place to rest and anchored their horses. Al began to slowly move around and began mumbling ever so slightly, Dante threw him onto the ground, Al groaned as he began to regain conscience.

"He's waking up!" Dante spoke, fighting to keep the panic down, "Jay, what the hell do we do now!?"

"Let him wake up, we can't change that," Jay retorted, his brow furrowed as he lowered his head in deep thought, "But if it makes you feel better, then we can use those…" He nodded towards something behind Dante. Dante glanced over his shoulder, his eyes widening as he saw the guns attached to their shadows. Dante glanced at Al and then looked back at Jay in disbelief.

"You can't seriously be suggesting that we'd shoot him!?" Dante blurted out, unable to believe his eyes

Jay glared at him in annoyance, "Of course not! It's just a precaution."

"But still! Come on Jay! Please! There has to be another thing we can do!"

"Don't you understand!? There is nothing else! There is no contingency for something like this. Can you be kind enough to justify or explain what happened back there?" Jay was only replied by silence, "Exactly… I hate the idea as much as you do but I'm just as confused as you are. I'm open to suggestions but for now, I'll leave that up to you."

Dante blinked in shock, completely torn about what to do. Finally, Dante reluctantly pulled out a pistol, grimacing as he did so.

"God dammit my head hurts…" Al slowly opened his eyes and looked around, his vision still blurry,"Where...Where am I?..." Al murmured as he struggled onto his feet.

"Al just stay down. We don't want to make this harder than it is already. Please."

The sound of the pistol being cocked was enough to heed Al. He stayed where he was and slowly turned his head to look at where the sound came from. He stared blankly at the pistols aiming for his head to face Jay and Dante in confusion and shock. "What the hell!?," Al tried desperately to accept what he was seeing,"No no no, This has to be some crazy dream. There's no way you two would really do this-".

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain or even take in after we both walked into God knows what," Dante stated in a surprisingly calm manner, his fingers adjusting on the handle of the gun "...so i was hoping you'd do it for us…"

"And how the hell am I supposed to do that when one you have guns pointed at me and two the last thing i remember was being attacked by that….beast titan!" Al stared back at Dante, trying to keep the panic down.

"...All we are asking of you...is to tell us what what happened," Jay grunted, tilting his head,

"I mean, we can always change to swords if you want," Dante shrugged as his hand went for the handle of his sword.

"This is just great. Erwin sent us out to do one job and here we are pointing bloody guns at each other and throwing around accusations of how who did what" Al angrily retorted, "Look...Jayden, Dante...It's me. Your friend. I wouldn't do anything to try and jeopardise the mission. You know me!"

Dante lifted his head up then looked at Jay as if to remember something. Then he looked at Al and adjusted his grip, "Yeah...I'm sorry but I don't remember doing what you just did as part of the job...do you, Jay?"

"Dante, seriously...not the best time for your stupid jokes…" Jay replied annoyed, still not taking his aim of Al, "...Ignore him and just. think. back…"

"First of all are you two going to drop the guns or am I still an unknown threat" Al asked, slowly standing up.

Jay stayed silent for a long time. Finally he holstered his pistol and stepped back followed by Dante, "Fine...we trust you enough to know that you'll at least try to explain…"

Dante perked his head up, "Wait...we do...oh, I mean, yeah,yeah, of course," he blurted out quickly as they both stared at him in annoyance.

Al let out a sigh of relief,"Well I guess I'll try and explain as best as I can but bear in mind my short memory is fuzzy," Al paused for a brief moment,"Last I remember I got the meat and began heading back to you two when this titan attacked me...but...the titan...it spoke...to me..."

Dante blinked and then rubbed his temples, "...back up for a second because this is just sounding like a whole load of crap. A titan that can speak our language? Are you serious or are your injuries much more worse than we thought…"

"I have nothing to gain from lying to you both, I swear it on my own life, that titan was able to talk and had fur. I mean think about it, no one even imagined the very being of an Armoured and Colossal titan so really we should be accustomed to seeing new breeds of titan appearing and should treat them as any other titan" Al added quickly.

"Ignore him, Al and carry on…" Jay glared at Dante.

"Thank you," Al breathed out in relief.

"Your life may depend on it after all," Jay finished off, still not taking his eyes of his comrade.

"I'm just going to carry on. The 'Beast Titan' as I call it, had intelligence that even surpassed that of the Armoured and the Colossal. It talked about the gear and it wanted it for inspections .If this titan decided to attack Wall Rose in conjunction with the Armoured and Colossal then humanity is finished, there's no way with those three together we can beat them before they breach Wall Rose and shortly after Sina as well."

"That explains that...now what about your situation then?" Dante asked.

"What more is there to tell, it pretty much swatted me like a fly and I lost my...leg...,", Al's face tensed as looked down at his leg and back at Jay and Dante,"when you found me...did I have both my legs".

"What kind of question is that!? Of course we did! We found you with no gear, your uniform torn up and there was a tear on your trouser on your left leg from just above the knee…" Jay's face began tensing in shock as he finally put the pieces together "...no, you can't be suggesting, that's physically impossible!..."

"Al, listen. I know we said we'll trust you on anything you say but this getting really far fetched. Even for my standards" Dante muttered didn't want to believe it.

"Well how else do you explain the tear on my trouser. My leg was ripped off and then I found the box...that…,"Al looked up at Jay and Dante,"It's coming back to me in pieces but I remember using what was inside this box...i just can't remember what was inside it. But whatever it is, whatever did this It's nothing like what we've come across before…"

"This should probably jog your memory then..." Dante reached into his saddle and brought out an identical box to the one Al had,"before the expedition, I got this as well with a letter. It said not to tell you or Jay about it"

"You're not the only ones..." Jay muttered out loud, as he brought out his own box as well.

"Look, just...Usually I would end this conversation because I don't want to get involved in these headaches known as conspiracies or whatever... but between what Jay and I saw back there in the forest and our current situation regarding our location, whatever this is… it needs to be cleared up right away" Dante took a key from his pocket and opened the box, displaying its contents to Jay and Al, "I assume you found this in your box as well Al and that you Jay haven't opened yours up yet"

"That's the one alright" Al confirmed.

Dante nodded, unsure of what to do next..."Well... I guess that wraps things up then. You know at the start I was really thinking that Jay and I would have to kill you..." Dante mumbled awkwardly, extending his arm out.

"Well, good thing that I'm good with words then…" Al muttered as he took his arm only to answered by Dante rolling his eyes and Jay muttering something beneath his breath. Al then grimaced, a hint of annoyance in his voice "You still didn't need to wave those guns around in my face though…"

Dante pursed his lips partly in guilt and glanced at Jay. Jay only shrugged and tilted his head to the side. "It was just one of many precautions…" Jay lifted his gun up and pulled the trigger, causing a small click to be heard, "...like making sure the guns weren't even loaded.

Dante's eyes widened in shock as he he looked down at the gun and pulled the trigger only to discover there were no bullets inside that gun as well. "No way!" He exclaimed involuntarily as Al's eyebrows shot up as he looked at him, not sure if he said it in disbelief or if he was genuinely impressed. He then turned to Jay, disbelief written all over his face. "Then what the hell was all that for!?"

Jay walked over to his horse, not glancing back at Al, "People tend to be honest when they have a gun pointed to their head or a sword at their neck. However, they're arguably more useful if they think they're going to die but the threat isn't real…"

"That's cold, even for you…" Al breathed out and shuddered, "You have to tell us. When did you pick that up?"

Jay froze just for a second before lowering his head slowly, "...It...It doesn't matter…" his voice was low, shaky and small as he thought about what had happened years ago, his hands clenched into fists and his shoulders tensing slightly. Al and Dante glanced at each other anxiously as they both saw Jay falter slightly. But just before they could utter a single word to him, Jay relaxed and resumed what he was doing "...But what does matter is that you put on a new set of uniform and we get out of here. Who knows when another swarm of titans head our way?" He noted as he untied a package from one of the horses and extending it out to Al who took it.

"Thanks... I guess," Al said uncertainly, ripping the package open and holding his uniform in his hands, "Once I'm ready, we make a straight run for Shinganshina, survey the breach and head back to Trost. Understood?"

"Understood," Jay and Dante chimed in unison, jumping on to their horses as they waited for Al to put his uniform on.

One year later. Outside of Klorva District.

All three of them stared out to a small cluster of buildings a few hundred metres away. Jay shielded his eyes against the bright, harsh sunlight as he tried to focus more clearly. He absolutely hated sunlight. He found even the tiniest bit of it a nuisance, this to him was almost blinding. He prefered the dark way more, way more easier to sneak around and much more effective. Al was toying with his gauntlets, tinkering with the various buttons and hidden mechanisms, clearly bored out of his mind. He lay down in the sunlight, closing his eyes and trying to enjoy the warmth despite the noise Dante was making, who was whistling away in tune with the birds resting above them.

"Alright, the church is only a few blocks away from the main gate and are we sure the targets are in there?" Dante asked looking down the sight of his gun to a bird chirping in the trees.

"Leave the bloody birds alone, Dante, and yes I'm positive, this came directly from Erwin himself… Alright, Jay, let's hear what you've come up with" Al looked at Jay. Jay nodded, as he placed a rolled up piece of paper down and unrolled it to reveal detailed building schematics.

"The building of interest has a great deal of vantage points. However, since there aren't many exit points, we could enter quickly and take whoever's in there by surprise. This means we have to take down any lookout sentries simultaneously and block any escape. So far the two major exits are the bell tower and the front doors." Jay observed as he noted down various points on the schematics.

"There are no underground routes believe me I've looked at the district map and even went through my father's personal inventory, I say we do both." Al replied.

"So we're charging straight through the front door as well as playing it by stealth? How the hell does that work?" Dante gave Al a confused look as he perched his fedora high above his forehead.

"It can. Here's what we do: Dante. Monitor the perimeter. You and I will dispatch any lookout sentries above ground level and you'll access the building via the bell tower. You will give a signal to Al and he will charge through the front door. I'll take my own way through." Jay nodded to Dante and Al as his hand went to his mask, hidden inside of his coat. "If this goes to plan, then we can get what we came for in a matter of minutes…"

"That seems just about right," Al stood up and strapped his gauntlets on, feeling the familiar cold metal against his skin, "well come on then, we have a plan, now let's put it into action", Al walked towards the gate, Jay and Dante behind him.

A church in Klorva District, Wall Rose

Al stood against the pillar, breathing heavily as he tried to formulate a plan. He peeked around the corner and saw only the numerous broken benches and the scattered stone pieces, "Now where the hell are those two?" Al thought to himself as he peered around the other side, unable to get a clear sight. "One of them was just up on the altar but the other one was close by. Where's she gone now-?" Al's train of thought was interrupted when he heard the sound of an arrow whistling through the air. Al's eyes widened as he quickly ducked back into cover and felt the arrow brush past his cheek, leaving a small graze.

"Dammit! I was so close!" Al heard his assailant cry out in frustration as the sounds of boots on stone echoed in the church. "Careful now! If you're going to shoot arrows at me avoid the face would you please! A lot of people would be very disappointed if I came back home with a massive scar on my face!" Al called out in a mocking manner, unslinging his bow from his shoulder and loading it with an arrow.

"Well maybe if you give me a bigger target to shoot at, I won't have to!" his assailant replied back, loading another arrow.

Al smirked to himself, "Well, if you say so" he called out as he leapt out of his cover and aimed his bow at his assailant. Al was about to release the arrow when he saw a fist about to connect with him and ducked under it, rolling out of the way and looking back at his other assailant, her arms poised in a fighting stance. Al instantly aimed his bow at her and fired out, completely sure he couldn't miss. To his surprise she jerked to the side and narrowly avoided it.

"Impressive," Al grinned, "You know...it's impolite for us to not got acquainted, you know. Since you are trying to kill me, isn't it best we got to know each other a little better?"

"I wonder how well I'll get to know your corpse" she answered blankly, charging forward at Al.

"Straight to the point! Very charming indeed," Al grunted in laughter as ducked under her fist and swung his bow out, hoping to catch her in her stomach. She easily parried his attack and crouched down, sweeping Al off his feet and forcing him onto the floor. Al rolled over behind a bench and raised his arms just in time to block a knife being plunged into his neck, feeling the tremendous brute force she was exerting onto him. "She's strong...I'm only just about keeping this knife from going right into me…" Al could just about think as most of his mind was concentrated on keeping the knife away when he looked up at her face, "Black eyes, huh?" Al thought, looking at the eyes of his assailant that weren't filled with anything but sorrow and sadness. The eyes of a person who has killed and seen death many times. "As gorgeous as she is, I need to stay focused." Al held the knife at bay and assessed the situation. He had the cover of the bench right next to him which covers him from the archer but 'Black eyes' was still inches away from slicing his throat open. his bow and arrow has ended up right in the open in the centre of the church, providing the archer a clear shot at him if he tried to retrieve it.

Al made his mind up and pushed the knife away from him and into the ground making 'black eyes' slightly confused and allowing him a few seconds to deal with the archer. Al took his chances and went straight for his bow and arrow, watching the archer vigilantly as they loaded another arrow into their bow and aimed at Al with the clear intent to kill. The archer pulled back on the bow and fired the arrow. Al instantly dropped down and slid along the floor, evading the arrow and grabbing his bow and arrow from the ground. He loaded his bow and before the archer could react and fired. The arrow landed right on the archer's cloak effectively pinning them down. Before Al could load another he heard light quick footsteps rushing towards him. He whirled around and raised arms to block the attack, just in time to see a flash of silver striking Al's arm. The knife tore the sleeves of Al's jacket and shirt underneath and scraped against the metal of his gauntlets, a high-pitched metal noise filling the air. 'Black eyes' backed away slightly, obvious annoyance flashing across her face momentarily at not being able to land a successful blow to Al, who tore the remaining scraps of his sleeve revealing his carbon black gauntlets clearly. "I wonder how I actually forgot about these things" Al amused to himself briefly before 'Black Eyes' began to lash out again with the knife in a series of strikes. Al countered them and then grabbed the knife blade itself, snapping it off the handle in one move and tossing the blade away leaving 'Black Eyes' without a weapon.

"Now then, Miss?" Al retorted, getting into his stance, smirking, "Shall we dance?"

Dante cursed as he slid behind a chimney for cover, the sound of tiles shattering filling the air as the roof was torn apart with a series of bullets.

"Alright, relax, I'm not going anywhere! And if you're going to shoot, shoot properly!" Dante yelled out as he pushed his fedora back and tossed away the empty gun cartridges and reloaded his guns. 'Dammit! If only we knew these guys were here, maybe the we could have pulled off the plan! These guys must have been sent to stop us from getting to that church...I have to shake them off!'. He looked briefly from side to side until he heard the familiar sound of a hook embedding to the chimney behind him. His eyes widened as he slid down and aimed up high. Sure enough, he heard the cable winch and over the top of the chimney, he saw a hooded individual vault high above him brandishing two long swords. Dante cursed and fired twice, gritting his teeth and squinting his eyes because of the bright glare of the sun. The hooded man swung his blades, deflecting both of the shots but came crashing down onto the tiles, stumbling for control. Dante sensed his advantage and fired a couple more shots at the man, only for him to roll over the edge.

Dante gritted his teeth and sprinted off. 'Dammit' Dante thought as he looked briefly back to see the hooded man pull himself over the edge and turn his head to his direction 'He just doesn't give up now does he. Especially with his friend with the rifle I got to be way more careful...Just how the hell did we get into this mess!'

He slid into a shadowy area between two buildings and paused to get his breath back. 'If I carry on like this, I'm done for...' he thought as he looked around, 'Dammit! what the hell would the others do?"

Suddenly a loud shot echoed out and Dante turned his head to the sound. Suddenly, he grinned as an idea popped into his head, 'So, let's take out our rifleman first'. Carefully, he reached into his front pocket and pulled out a small picture of a girl with short wavy hair, large eyes and a dazzling smile.

'Alright then' he said quietly as he kissed the photo, put it back and brought out his guns, "Wish me luck, beautiful…"

"COME ON, WHERE THE HELL IS HE!? WE COULDN'T HAVE LOST HIM NOW!" a hooded soldier shouted as he aligned the sight of his rifle and scanned the area

His partner, a person of average height and green eyes looked around desperately, looking for any signs where he could be. 'Dammit,' he thought to himself in frustration, 'How could be lose him now! He was here just a second ago!'

"I don't know!" 'Green eyes' called out, "He could have gotten past us without us knowing!?"

"He was wearing a black coat, waving around a pair of swords and using the gear! You don't miss something that!" the soldier with the rifle yelled at 'Green eyes' who gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Instead of arguing, maybe we should-!" 'Green eyes' retorted back angrily only to stop instantly as he heard the familiar sound of a hook and the whirring of metal wire being reeled in close by.

Before he could shout any warning, there was a blur and his hooded comrade was sent flying. Jay had sped past 'Green eyes' and kneed his comrade in the chest, winding him completely. His rifle clattered out of his hands and his hood went flying off revealing his closely shaved scalp as he skidded across the terracotta tiles, gasping for breath. He looked up and his face was that of horror as he saw the terrifying mask strapped to Jay's face looming over him. It was made out of scratched bronze scrap metal, messily joined together by bolts and metal wire. He could see his terrified expression being reflected by the blood red visor. But painted on the mask, was a dark red twisted smile which made his blood run icy cold. Before, he could utter a single word, Jay kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him toppling over the edge, out of sight.

Jay turned around only to find 'Green eyes' close the gap between the two of them. Jay instinctively brought his arms but it was too late. His opponent had jabbed forward and his fist connected solidly with his chest, causing him to stagger back and almost lose his balance. Jay shook his head quickly and rushed forward, keeping low and sending his arm swinging in an arc. 'Green eyes' quickly blocked this then grabbed his arm and his collar and kicked out at his leg. Jay felt his legs getting swept beneath him as he crashed onto his back. Quickly he rolled away before his opponent swung out and his fist broke the terracotta tiles, putting some distance between the two of them. he reached for the blades in his gear and unsheathed them, a sharp metallic sound piercing the air. He bent his knees slightly and tilted his head forward, his shoulders relaxed as his gloved hands gripped the handles and pointing them towards his opponent. He saw 'Green eyes' expression falter slightly but he quickly regained his composure as he reached for his own swords.

'You're damn good at hand to hand... better than me. And if you both are dealing with me, then it's safe to assume you must have some friends who are up against Al and Dante… You interfered with the plan, I'll give you that…' Jay thought as he tilted his head to the side, his gruesome mask's blood red visor glinting beneath the shadow cast by his hood '...but I want to see if you can cope with swords…" he thought as he lunged forward, ready to fight...

AN:

Well I hope you enjoyed this Chapter. A lot happened in it.

As mentioned previously I'm open to any feedback to help improve my writing and these chapters.

Till next time