As promised, chapter three is here! I am, unfortunately, in the middle of a writer's block that's very persistent. I hope I can give you the next chapter in three weeks! Anyway, enjoy this one in the meantime. :)

~Guest: (...) I'm hooked up!

Thank you! Enjoy the next chapter.

~Guest: One of the best snk stories and certainly the most creative. hope you don't abandon it.

Thanks a lot! I certainly won't.

~Guest 105: I think I speak for all the anonymous and account readers when I say "Job well done" and "I can't wait for the next update". To put simply- keep up the good work!

Thanks for the amazing praise. Hope this chapter was worth the wait!

~Guest: Shouldn't Eren also have the War Hammer Titan?

To answer shortly, you are right, but he doesn't in this story.

''Titans'' Speech

''Titans'' Thoughts

Yellow lightning cracked across the sky. A thunderous clap could be heard from miles away of Eren's and Grisha's location. An enormous blast off wind threatened to blow both father and son away, while Bertolt and Annie were actually knocked off their feet, the former dropping his gun in the process.

Bones, muscles and connective tissue began to fabricate and build itself up like a tower rising from the ground, forming itself into a moveable body. A strong, durable exoskeleton—as hard as steel—protected the body from all sides. Lastly, two menacing, piercing eyes glared down on Eren and Grisha as the armored titan rose to his full height.

''That's a slight problem,'' Eren commented while frowning, shielding his eyes from dust still flying his way. He was pretty positive about the situation they were in at the moment; Annie actually had seemed interested in taking them up on their offer. She just needed a bit more persuasion. Understandably so, both Reiner and Bertolt would take more time.

Grisha gritted his teeth while looking at his son worriedly; the armored titan could attack them at any moment. ''Eren, now?'' he yelled, panic gripping him from every side.

Reiner gave an ear-splitting roar, the ground shaking and cracking at the unbelievable power he was displaying.

''Not yet,'' Eren responded, narrowing his eyes. He got into a battle ready stance and found the familiar surge of the founding titan's powers from deep within his body. His eyes flashed with the same thunderous attributes as Reiner's transformation, albeit on a smaller scale, and he gave a loud power cry.

Reiner was preparing to trample both Eren and Grisha like a couple of insects; the couple of meters he had to cover were nothing to him. ''I'll teach you a lesson for trying to trick Annie in betraying us, you devils!'' he thought angrily, foot raised high in the air to make an end to Grisha's and Eren's lives.

He was so blinded by anger that he completely failed to notice the twenty-meter-class that seemingly tackled him out of nowhere, knocking him off balance as he crashed explosively on his side, kicking up dust and shattering trees completely that were unfortunate enough to be in his way.

Both Annie and Bertolt were coughing to clear out their lungs; scratches and bruises covered their bodies entirely—courtesy of Reiner—as they picked themselves up from the ground. As disoriented as they were, they'd no idea what was happening until they saw a mindless titan on top of the downed armored titan.

''Annie, quickly,'' Bertolt screamed; knowing if he would transform now he would do serious harm to her, ''you have to help out Reiner against these devils! You have to—'' multiple high whistles zipped past him like the bullets of a machine gun, until excruciating pain wracked his mind and he felt like he was going to faint. He gurgled helplessly as blood spew forth from his mouth, his eyes wide in surprise, disbelief and total refusal as he looked at what was left of his shredded right arm and shoulder.

''Bertolt!'' Annie yelled hysterically, seeing that he was losing consciousness fast as he dropped to the ground, blood flowing from the gaping wounds in his right limb. His arm was torn off completely. Annie gawked at the apparent perpetrator in the distance; another mindless titan—most likely a five-meter-class—who was holding a bunch of rocks the size of baseballs in one of his hands. ''Did he just throw those?'' she thought incredulously, looking back at Bertolt's unconscious form. ''That's impossible! They're mindless titans. Only if you posses the founding titan—''

That thought died in her throat rather quickly as she looked at Grisha and particularly Eren. The electricity that flashed all around him said enough. ''No way.''

Eren, meanwhile, looked at his handiwork with satisfaction. ''With kind regards of Zeke Yeager,'' he thought as he looked at the immobilized colossus titan. ''Sorry, Bertolt, but I had to. You're way too dangerous to be dealt with right now.'' His eyes turned back to Annie, whose expression radiated realization—realization filled with horror, anxiety but above all shock.

''That's right, Annie. I have the founding titan. So what are you going to do now? Help Reiner, or will you try to appease?'' Eren looked back at his father and gave him a nod. ''Now!'' he yelled with determination dripping from his voice. He bit down on the skin of his wrist while Grisha did the same, following his son's lead.

Two more thunderous claps rang through the area. The earth shook like in an earthquake while two similarly strong looking titans took shape in the place of Eren and Grisha. If Annie's eyes could have widened more, they would've popped right out of her skull. She rubbed them to make sure if she was seeing things correctly, but her eyes were not deceiving her; in front of her was not one, but two attack titans.

Reiner roared like a hungry lion as he threw the mindless titan off of him like it was a small child. It crashed somewhere behind him in a plume of smoke. It had taken a moment for him to realize what was happening until all of his senses started to work normally again. He got up rather clumsily, his whole body stiffening the moment he let his eyes rest on his transformed opponents. ''What the—''

He couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. It was simply impossible and he wondered if he started to go insane. Two attack titans had taken a battle stance, ready to fight him while only one existed.

Eren was smirking all the way. It didn't take a genius to figure out Reiner was completely caught off guard. At the moment, he was their only opponent and that was favorable. Eren had plenty of experience dealing with the armored titan alone, but it was nice to have some back-up. The moment Annie started to transform, he would shift his efforts to her while his father would continue to fight Reiner; he figured his father wouldn't have an answer to her hardening abilities, which he did have.

Just like they had planned, Eren took the lead while his father followed suit. The familiar thrill of battle excited Eren as a rush of adrenaline filled his body; it was almost soothing to him in a sense. His titan form let out a monstrous roar as he charged Reiner with all the energy he could muster. He could feel how his father was close behind him, analyzing their opponent and staying level-headed; he was their line of defense after all and more importantly, responsible for the safety of Dina—the smiling titan who Eren had hidden close by. If something would happen to her, they were in grave danger and had to retreat immediately. But for now, they held all the cards in their hands.

Reiner let out a panicked scream in his mind, the shock that there were two attack titans about to battle him paralyzing him for a couple of crucial seconds. ''What is happening?'' his mind yelled to him anxiously. It took him longer than he would've liked to prepare himself, the anger he was feeling slowly overwhelming all his other senses. ''It doesn't matter,'' he reassured himself then, mentally shaking his head, ''they tried to trick Annie, and for that, they will pay. They won't be able to penetrate my armor anyway, and once Annie and Bertolt transform, it'll be three against two.''

Still, Reiner couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. That random titan that attacked him out of nowhere; it didn't make sense. He had his arms raised to protect his head while his feet shifted apart, creating a battle stance to prepare himself for the oncoming blows.

Eren growled at the familiar stance, his dash coming to a sudden halt when he'd reached Reiner, preparing to give him a punch straight across his left cheek. His fist hardened to steel like proportions, all the momentum he had created carrying to his arm to deliver a devastating blow.

Reiner was quick to block with his left arm with the intention to retaliate with his right, assuming his armor would be enough to nullify the punch, only to be shocked once more at the brute force hammering his underarm. The strength in Eren's punch made a sickening crack reverberate through the area, his armor crumbling where he'd struck him. ''That's—'' Reiner thought, hissing in alarm at the damage taken. He couldn't block the follow-up from Grisha, who gave a powerful low-kick at his knee joint.

It luckily didn't do nearly as much damage, but the fact Grisha had attacked and retreated successfully meant Reiner was going to be in trouble very soon if his teammates didn't come to his aide. ''Come on!'' he thought angrily, ''what's taking you guys so long to transform and help me?''

He had no idea Bertolt was knocked out already and Annie petrified to the bone. She was staring with wide eyes at the unfolding battle, muttering to herself like a lunatic. In hindsight, it was obvious what she should do; all her training had prepared her for such a moment, but nobody had told her there was going to be another way out.

''They really weren't kidding,'' her mind argued, suppressing her instincts to help Reiner. ''What they offered was real; real salvation for you and all of the Eldians. They can give you a life with your dad. You'd be—normal.'' That word, normal, she'd longed for it for as long as she could remember. She wanted that so badly.

Yet, her loyalty to Reiner and Bertolt wasn't something she could throw away. They were her friends; companions who she cared for a lot. She'd sworn to protect them with her life. So, between such a devastating loss so early on in their mission and now these two mysterious attack titans making things extremely difficult, she didn't know what to do.

Reiner, meanwhile, was still waiting for some sort of help when the complete opposite happened. That titan he'd thrown off earlier jumped on his back again, reducing his movement and leaving him wide-open for a counter-attack. Eren took this opportunity to deliver a swift uppercut to Reiner's chin, seriously damaging it while trying to follow it up with a hardened kick against his side.

However, Reiner saw it coming in time. With a bit of luck, he managed to get a good grip on the titan on his back and throw it off of him like a lethal object to Eren. The titan crashed violently against Eren's titan form, knocking him over and interrupting his kick. Reiner roared thunderously with anger, Grisha's second low-kick finding its mark on his knee bringing him out of his stupor as he staggered slightly.

''They've got a clever tactic,'' Reiner admitted to himself, ''but that mindless titan should keep Eren busy while I'll deal with his dad. It appears he doesn't know how to harden his body, which is an immense relief at least.'' Reiner thought he had a lucky break, but the twenty-meter-class didn't even bother to roar at Eren. Instead, it got up alongside him and then faced Reiner again, ready to pounce on him once more.

It then dawned on Reiner while absolute horror gripped his body that either Eren or Grisha had possession of the founding titan. It was the only logical conclusion for this titan's behavior, which was immensely alarming.

The slight thunder that crackled around Eren's body confirmed Reiner's suspicions. The mindless titan attacked with a sudden leap. Reiner had no other option but to stop it with a powerful punch. His fist connected with the titan's face and ripped through it, sending boiling hot blood flying everywhere as its body crashed lifelessly to the ground.

He knew he had no way to protect himself afterwards. Eren's foot was devastating. It struck him right across his jaw, the force breaking it where he'd hit and partly dislocating it. Reiner cursed loudly, his heart beating a mile a minute. His slightly injured knee gave in as well when Grisha connected his foot precisely under his kneecap, bringing him down on one knee.

Reiner knew he was a sitting duck at this point. It was only going to be a matter of time before Eren had rendered his arms useless too, and then it was just a question of getting him out of his titan to finish him off completely. ''I'm done for,'' Reiner thought fearfully. He doubted if he could've taken on Eren alone at this point, never mind in combination with Grisha and the assistance of the founding titan.

''We've got him,'' Grisha thought, his happiness overtaking his surprise. His son's crazy plan had worked. They'd saved Shiganshina; countless of Eldian lives would see the dawn of another day, oblivious to the fact they would've been killed if they hadn't intervened.

Just as Grisha started to relax a little, another flash and boom shifted his attention towards his left. He grunted; Annie had finally transformed in her titan form and was running at him threateningly, seemingly having made up her mind. ''And we were so close in convincing her too,'' Grisha thought bitterly. Instead of waiting, he took his son's advice and began to close the distance.

It pained Annie to do this, but the moment she saw Reiner go down, she couldn't abandon him. She knew she'd basically just thrown her only chance away at a normal life. The pain she felt had made her teary eyed, pictures of her father hugging her flashing through her mind. It fueled her anger, sharpening her focus. Grisha roared at her, intent on tackling her legs and bringing her down.

In a split second, Annie had shifted her weight to her other leg and moved out of the way fluently. She avoided Grisha's tackle so smoothly that he was left utterly surprised. He could only watch as her knee hardened and she counter-attacked by bringing it roughly against his face. It exploded in a heap of blood, flesh and teeth, maiming him and leaving him utterly blind for the time being.

''Dad!'' Eren screamed, seeing his father go down. He had to give him time to heal properly, but that would ensure Reiner would be up and running by the time he was done too. ''Why didn't you wait and let me handle her?'' he questioned while gritting his teeth. This was a major set-back, especially since there were no mindless titans nearby to aide him except the five-meter-class and Dina. He knew the former wasn't going to do a thing against Reiner and he was never going to risk the latter. ''We're back at square one. I have to defeat Annie before Reiner is back on his feet again.''

Annie left Grisha's partly defeated titan alone when she'd heard Eren's furious roar. She had expected him to run at her like his father did, but instead, he walked to her slowly, taking on a battling stance she was all too familiar with. ''That's… my battling stance,'' she thought, whispering to herself. Her mind was giving her the weirdest sense of déjà vu she'd ever had. ''Who are you?''

She waited for Eren to make the first move, but he'd apparently expected that, because he was as patient as she was. They just eyed each other; one pair of eyes questioning everything, while the other pair of eyes seemingly held all the answers. In the background, Reiner was roaring, trying to get up, but his kneecap was locked in place, making him unable to stretch it, and his titan was way too bulky to stand on one feet. He could crawl, but knew that one well placed kick on his face would leave him utterly defeated. He could do nothing but wait until his knee had healed properly.

Finally, Annie was fed up with waiting. Her agile form made her able to bring her feet high above her head. She hardened it and moved it in a wide arc, trying to connect it with Eren's face. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew he was going to dodge it. She was as quick as lightning, but it wasn't enough to land her hit. Eren ducked like he'd expected her attack way in advance and then brought the rest of his body down in a sweeping kick.

He found her left ankle with his foot and saw it twist in a way it wasn't supposed to. Immediately, Annie lost her balance and fell down. She hadn't even hit the ground when Eren's hardened fist landed on her shoulder joint, destroying it into a bloody pulp and making her unable to lift her right arm. In just two quick moves, Annie was in the severe disadvantage.

''He knows my fighting style completely, like he has battled me countless of times before,'' she realized, smoke rising from the places on her body where Eren had hit her. She could only hope that she could stall him long enough now with her hardening abilities until she could move a bit again.

Eren didn't let his guard down in the slightest and that was the correct thing to do too. While Reiner couldn't join the battle from up close, he could still do so from a distance away. He had managed to crawl to a decent sized rock and throw it at Eren with the deadly accuracy of a marksman. Eren was just barely able to dodge the boulder, although it scraped the left side of his stomach, drawing a nasty gash across it which began to bleed immediately.

The distraction left Annie with the opportunity to do some damage herself. She raised her left fist and punched Eren on his calf muscles from her grounded position. The result was a limp that reduced Eren's mobility and hindered him greatly.

''I need to keep Reiner occupied,'' Eren thought, taking some distance from Annie. The commotion had lured in some more mindless titan to his vicinity, which was exactly what he needed. He commanded the eight giants of various sizes to attack Reiner, who was in the middle of crawling to another rock.

While Reiner was determined, that soon turned into despair when he saw the titans closing in on him. He roared to intimidate them and brought his fist down on the first titan that leaped at him. Just like before, he destroyed its head completely. The others were trickier to deal with. They all grabbed individual limbs and tried to hold him place, effectively rendering him completely immobile.

With Reiner dealt with for now, Eren looked back at Annie, already formulating a plan to get past her hardening abilities. He walked towards her—not being able to run anymore—and prepared to hit her straight between her ribs. As expected, Annie reacted accordingly and hardened the part of her body where he was about hit her, his attack and her defense cancelling each other out. However, it left the rest of her body completely open.

At the same time of his punch, Eren had commanded his five-meter-class to throw all the rocks he had left at Annie. The result was that she got pelted with a barrage of sharp objects that cut her everywhere.

''He's too strong,'' Annie's panicked mind thought. ''There's got to be some way to shut down the founding titan. He has to have some way to control them. There's no way he or his father are from royal blood, so how?'' Annie let her eyes scan the battlefield, but she couldn't detect anything; it was just an endless sea of rocks and patches of grass. The only thing that stood out to her was a relatively large rock that blocked her view a bit.

Eren attacked her again, his titan's piercing roar warning Annie to harden her ribs once more. The resulting blow was followed with another barrage of rocks. They were absolutely destructive in nature. Her left eye had been gauged; a weird, yellow-ish fluid dripped out of it. Her left ear had been completely torn off, and her whole body was bloody with cuts or chunks of flesh missing.

''She's not going to last much longer, I have to hurry up,'' Eren thought. Unfortunately, Reiner's victorious roar shattered those hopes. His knee had healed long enough to stand up again; the incredible strength he possessed overwhelmed the titans who were holding him down. They were unable to hurt him due to his armor, and now, too weak to keep him in place.

He began to throw them off his body like petty insects, crushing them under his feet or otherwise beating their bodies into oblivion. Once he was free, he ran at Eren with all the strength he could muster.

Eren's eyes turned to slits; he knew he had to play this smart if he wanted to win. Reiner brought his body back to punch Eren straight in his face. The massive fist was just barely avoided, the momentum Eren had created with his dodge a perfect weapon to use in his retaliation. Smartly, he struck Reiner at the same spot where his feet had hit his jaw, dislocating it completely. With a mighty roar, he grabbed what remained of Reiner's unhinged jaw, and began to pull, ripping it loose with a sickening crack.

The result was a soft tissue spot in the form of Reiner's mouth that was left completely open. One good punch from Eren there and he would splatter his head from the inside out, which would mean game over for Reiner.

It seemed Reiner knew this too and was backing away fearfully; not only because he was certain now that he couldn't beat Eren alone, but also because Grisha's titan had healed enough to be standing again.

Grisha gave a nod to Eren, indicating he was ready to fight again. He made an apologetic gesture with his hand, which Eren waved off. Eren then pointed at Reiner while he turned his attention back at Annie, who was desperately trying to stand on her weakened ankle. Grisha understood. He roared angrily, ready to face Reiner and beat him once and for all.

''I'm sorry, Annie,'' Eren thought, ''It's about time I finished this.'' Eren commanded his five-meter-class to throw a larger rock at Annie, who expectedly reacted on reflex and hardened her chest area to block it. The rock was pulverized on impact, but Annie also realized with growing horror that it was a fatal error she'd just made, and it would cost her dearly.

She couldn't block Eren's foot; she wasn't fast enough and too weakened to dodge it. It hit her square on the cheek and just kept on going right through it, pulverizing her head and knocking her out of the battle. Her titan fell to the ground, her human form finding the sweet abyss of unconsciousness as she was defeated.

''That's two down,'' Eren thought, ''only one to go.'' He commanded the five-meter-class to retrieve Annie's body out of her titan form. Once it had done so, Eren made it carry her into its jaw to Dina's location, who was still hiding behind the rock where he had left her.

Now that Eren had some time, he looked at the battlefield to search for Bertolt's body, hoping that he hadn't accidentally trampled him in their battle. What he found was his rifle and a lot of blood, leading away in a thick trail. ''Oh no,'' Eren thought, his senses sharp as he eyed the trail and saw Bertolt sitting a little bit farther ahead. He was conscious again, his healing factor working a lot faster than Eren had anticipated.

His face was screaming bloody murder, a knife in one hand while his other hand was still missing. He'd probably seen how he had defeated Annie and that he brought her body behind the rock, which made Eren assume he knew that he had the founding titan too, as well as that Bertolt was going to do everything in his power to get Annie back.

''I can't let you, Bertolt. If you see Dina chances are you know she's important to me somehow. Never mind that you'll probably see her anyway when you transform. You're a big guy, after all.''

Bertolt's eyes were entirely fixated on Eren's titan form, absolutely seething with anger for what he had done. Behind Eren he could make out Reiner's weakened titan fighting Grisha's to a stalemate. They weren't going anywhere for the time being, which meant there was only one obstacle in his way.

''I'll kill you, Eren,'' he thought murderously, the words dripping with venom. ''Manipulating Annie with false promises, stealing her body so you can harvest the female titan, knocking me out before I can transform—that all ends now!'' Bertolt cut himself across the cheek, the yellow thunder that appeared from the heavens blinding everybody for a split second.

Furious winds like a hurricane blasted up dust and pebbles everywhere, which made Eren shield his eyes. The loud explosion that followed almost threatened to knock him off of his feet. Steam erupted from Bertolt's location, rising high into the sky like an active volcano ready to explode. For a moment, only the hissing of the steam could be seen or heard, like the calm before the storm.

Then, Bertolt's face appeared from within the steam. High and mighty he looked down upon the earth below. From his point of view he could even see the wall in the far distance. But that wasn't what he was interested in at the moment; he was only interested in Eren and getting back Annie's body. ''Huh,'' he thought, ''there's another titan behind that rock; a fairly big one. Why is it crouching down like it tries to remain hidden?''

The first step he took rumbled the earth to its core. Even Grisha and Reiner had stopped fighting for a second to gape at the humongous giant. ''How are we ever going to bring that down?'' Grisha questioned incredulously. He gave a doubtful glance at his son, who also looked slightly alarmed. It seemed even he was still surprised at how big the colossal titan was, no matter how many times he'd seen it.

While he remained a huge threat, Bertolt's speed was severely limited in his titan form. There was no way he could protect himself properly, especially when the small army of mindless titans Eren had commanded to attack was distracting him too. Bertolt saw the titans closing in on him with a perked brow, seemingly not impressed. ''What's that supposed to do exactly?'' he thought with a scowl on his face.

Contracting his muscles, he opened up his secretory glands, which emanated a protective layer of boiling hot steam all around him. It withheld him from moving, but it was an easy defense mechanism to burn all the titans who were clinging to his body to a crisp.

Meanwhile, Reiner felt some confidence return back to him at the sight of Bertolt's titan. Grisha turned out to be trickier to take down than he had anticipated. While he didn't possess any hardening abilities like his son did, he made up for that with raw experience and sheer willpower. The blows he dealt were mainly focused on his joints, weakening them whenever he struck one.

However, he had dealt some big damage as well. There was a gaping wound at Grisha's hip courtesy of a well placed kick that had destroyed most of his crista. In turn, Grisha's leg threatened to dislocate with every step he took. Furthermore he'd torn off his left arm completely. It was just a matter of time before it had grown back, he knew, but the same could be said about the strength in his joints. The only worrisome part was his mouth; his armor didn't grow back even though his jaw was starting to reform. It would stay a weak point for the rest of the battle.

Grisha knew this too, who was constantly wracking his brain for a solution to make an end to this battle as soon as possible. His titan was reaching its end; the damage sustained more than he could heal back properly. ''I have to get in close, it's my only shot,'' he thought. He had held his distance until now because he was afraid Reiner would hit him, and when he did, he hit hard.

Now though, he surprised the armored titan with his sudden dash, his arms stretched out and ready to tackle him. ''Is he going to do the same thing he tried to Annie?'' Reiner thought, stupefied. He couldn't believe Grisha's desperate approach. He held his arms wide, ready to catch the attack titan in his grasp and then beat the shit out of him.

However, the moment Grisha was about to tackle him, he made a fake-out to the left, completely avoiding Reiner's attempt to grab him. Reiner let out a gasp and hissed in panic when Grisha used the momentum to grab him around his throat and lock his feet around his midsection, using his weight and the force of gravity to bring them both down.

The loud crash of both titans hitting the ground kicked up considerable amounts of dust, and from this position, Grisha had a perfect angle to hit Reiner's weak spot. He roared loudly and brought his fist down on his jaw, easily breaking it one hit.

Reiner's eyes widened at the dangerous situation he was in. He couldn't use his left arm with the way how Grisha was holding him and hitting him, while his right arm was locked firmly in place by his leg, making both of them completely useless. He couldn't get up either with the extra weight clinging to his back. The only thing he could do was lift his upper section of his torso and slam back down, and that's exactly what he did in his desperation.

Grisha continued to punch him repeatedly and in quick succession on his jaw, bone fragments flying everywhere as he felt Reiner lift him up and slam him back down. The massive weight of the titan was quickly threatening to break his spine, which would render his legs useless. If that happened, Reiner would be able to use his arm and then it would be pretty much over for him.

Yet, Grisha felt absolutely confident he was going to win. His punches had completely destroyed Reiner's jaw already. His knuckles weren't faring any better, but that didn't diminish him in the slightest. He kept on hacking away at skin and muscles, blood flying everywhere while Reiner's movements became more stiff, forced and very nervous. He managed to slam down Grisha again, who felt the strength in his legs leaving him. Still, Grisha didn't slow down.

''No, please! I can't—'' Reiner thought in panic, managing to free his right arm from Grisha's leg to try and bring down his elbow on his face in a finishing blow. When Grisha saw the threat of Reiner's elbow looming high above him—like the knife of a guillotine that was about to behead him—he gave one final cry and mustered all the strength he could find to ram his fist against what was left of Reiner's face as hard as he could, completely destroying all of his metacarpals in the process.

The effect was instantaneous. All of Reiner's higher functions seized to cooperate. His raised arm fell harmlessly at his side, the damage Grisha had done knocking him out cold. Grisha let a breath escape his mouth that he didn't know he was holding. He had given everything to defeat Reiner; his titan was as good as useless and out of the battle. The only thing that he could move properly was his right arm while only a stump was left of his fist. He had crushed his fingers into dust hitting Reiner over and over again. ''The rest is up to you, Eren,'' he thought, eyeing the idle colossus titan who was still using his steam as a shield. For the time being, he was trapped under Reiner and could only spectate.

Bertolt wasn't sure what was happening below him at the moment. One downside of his steam shield was that he couldn't see at all, never mind that he couldn't move either. He was confident he'd dealt with all the mindless titans for the time being though, and so, stopped his steam.

He would immediately regret that decision.

Eren had been patiently waiting behind Bertolt to drop his form of defense. Once he had done so, the access to his heels was free. Wounding his own hand to make a sharp edge out of his radius bone, he'd hardened it to steel and slashed it right through the tendon that connected Bertolt's calf muscles to his calcaneus. A sharp snap—like a thick cord broke—was the result.

Bertolt let out a yelp as his right leg suddenly gave away. He tried to find his balance, only to hear another loud snap in his left leg and felt that one giving away as well. He went down on his knees with a lot of violence, his large frame falling forwards. He tried to soften the blow by extending his hands, but the resulting crash was still spectacular; both Grisha and Reiner were lucky he didn't land on top of them.

''What happened?'' Bertolt babbled to himself incoherently. He tried to push himself back up, which he only succeeded in half; his feet still refused to cooperate, which was very troublesome. He looked around to spot any sign of Reiner, Eren and Grisha. When he couldn't find anybody—largely because of all the dust he had kicked up—he instead focused on what he could see, namely the mysterious titan who was still hiding behind the rock about an arm's length away from him.

From his hands and knees position, he couldn't see the five-meter-class who was carrying Annie around. He couldn't even be sure if that titan still had Annie; the smiling titan behind the rock could just as easily be holding Annie. He had to be careful before smashing everything under that rock with the palm of his hand.

First thing was first, he needed more vision. He reached out to grab the rock like it was a drink from the fridge and pulled, the protesting cracks of the rock giving away under the sheer strength of the colossus titan. Lifting up the rock revealed the smiling titan's full body, crouched down and holding Annie's body protectively on its lap.

''Annie!'' Bertolt thought, relief washing over him. ''You're all right! Don't worry, I'll get you out of there!'' He reached out to pinch the smiling titan's head between his fingers and squash its head like an overripe fruit, but that's where the titan suddenly reacted and began to run away with Annie in its arms.

''No!'' Bertolt stretched his arm desperately to catch the fleeing titan, but it was already out of his reach. He tried to crawl after it, only to feel a very distinct weight settle on his neck. His eyes widened significantly and his movements stopped.

''Forgot about me for a moment?'' Eren thought victoriously. He knew he had Bertolt checkmate. He wouldn't be fast enough to get him off of his neck and activating his steam would ensure Dina would be able to escape for sure with Annie. No to mention, it would burn away a lot of his muscles; muscles he desperately needed at the moment. Not that it mattered anymore anyway.

Bertolt lowered his head in defeat. ''Reiner, Annie. I'm sorry.'' In the next moment he could feel the muscles in his neck being torn open forcefully, exposing his human body to the open sky and effectively shutting down his titan.

Eren grabbed Bertolt's body from out of the disintegrating colossus titan, who didn't struggle whatsoever at this point and waited for inevitable death to claim him. Instead, Eren had no such plans with him. He gave Bertolt an apologetic look before knocking him out by shooting a finger against his nose. Eren's whole body relaxed afterwards and for the first time that day, he smiled. ''We did it,'' he thought, laughing as he lowered himself to the ground. ''We actually did it!''

He made his way to where his father had defeated Reiner. He had already dismounted his titan and was trying to pull out Reiner's body with little success. Eren chuckled and gave his father a hand. Gently, he ripped Reiner's body free from the armored titan and placed both unconscious bodies of the boys on the ground. Finally, he dismounted his own titan with a big, toothy grin on his face.

Grisha's own smile couldn't be wider as he embraced his son in a firm hug. ''Great job, Eren!'' he praised happily. ''We've got all three of them!''

It was almost surreal, but it was true. Not a single soul would be lost today inside the walls. He and his father had stopped the first lethal threat of Marley with stunning success.

''So, what happens now?'' Grisha asked unsurely. They had the three shifters, but what were they going to do with them? They couldn't just keep them locked in the basement of their home with the hope Mikasa or Carla weren't going to find out. Besides, the moment they found an opportunity to shift, they would take it. Grisha also needed all the space he had available if he wanted to find a way to take away their titans without killing them.

Eren gave him a grin. ''I've thought about that. I know the perfect place to keep the shifters for the time being, and also the right person to keep an eye on them in the meantime.''

Not very far from Eren's and Grisha's location, a lone girl had finally witnessed the starry night sky consciously again after a very long time. She felt like every breath she took was pure ecstasy, the feeling of just being alive overwhelming her. She couldn't express her gratitude or how lucky she had been that she had run into these warriors of Marley and devoured one of them. While she was repulsed by the idea of killing another human being, it had brought along her salvation. Ymir was finally human again, and it felt amazing.

It took some time for all of her memories to resurface. She had sacrificed herself for her Eldian followers back in Marley when the police had made a raid on their illegal cult. Her sentence was to wander utopia forever. How selfless she had been. ''But not anymore,'' she thought. From now on, she would live for herself and nobody else.

That was until she realized she was a long way from home. Her only chance of survival was to reach the wall and take refuge inside, but getting there proofed more difficult than she thought. At the dawn of a new day, while admiring the beauty of the sun coming up in the east, she was rudely interrupted by the familiar sound of a titan shifting in the distance.

''The warriors from Marley,'' she immediately thought, panic taking over her body as she hid herself away. If they found her she was dead meat for sure. She hoped they would go in the direction of the wall, but instead, more titans began to shift and loud roars could be heard, followed by massive clashes that could only indicate they were fighting.

Curiously, Ymir peeked from her hiding spot and looked in the distance at the massive battle that was unfolding. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Like glue, she kept her eyes on the entire battle until she even saw the colossal titan go down and be defeated.

''Who are those guys?'' she whispered to herself. She shook her head; she had to get far away from here before she was found. Preparing to turn around and flee, she was stopped abruptly as she ran into something very sturdy that wasn't there before. Ymir felt her throat tighten while her breathing turned erratic and her hands became cold with sweat. Looking up, she saw the same five-meter-class that had assisted the other two titans in defeating the warriors. All her muscles stiffened as the titan brought both of its hands around her small frame as gently as it could, and then put her on its back. With a scream, he took off in the direction of the two victorious titan shifters.

''Oh no! No no no no no!'' Ymir thought anxiously. ''I'm busted. They'll think I'm one of them and then kill me!'' She tried to struggle, but her captor was a lot stronger. Had she known how to shift she would've done so, but since she had no idea how it worked or if she could even do it, that wasn't even an option that rose in her mind.

She was shivering like a log when she finally could make out the faces of the two humans who had captured her. She was surprised one of them was around the same age as she was, if you didn't count the years she had spent as a mindless titan. Gently, the five-meter-class put her down in front of them until the boy took a step forward and smiled slightly.

''I can imagine this must be a nerve-racking experience for you, but you don't have to worry, Ymir. We're your allies, not your enemies,'' he reassured.

Ymir gasped. He knew her name, but that couldn't be possible; she had been a mindless titan for so long! ''Who are you?'' she questioned, stammering slightly.

''My name's Eren Yeager and this is my father Grisha Yeager,'' Eren introduced kindly. ''I'm glad you're doing well. I'm sure that after sixty years of wandering around in an endless nightmare you must feel blessed to feel the sun warming your skin once more.''

Ymir tried to even her breathing, but this Eren Yeager knew so much about her that it almost seemed like they were old friends. She wanted to scowl and give him a cold, indifferent reply, but she was too emotional at the moment to even find the right words. ''I—yes, I do,'' she admitted, almost whispering.

Eren nodded, his smile widening at Ymir's answer. ''Good. I understand you're confused right now, as you probably have no idea what's going on. But don't worry; I'll explain everything along the way to the wall. The most important thing right now is that my father and I can offer you a new life, entirely free from Marley,'' he promised.

That grabbed Ymir's attention. She looked up at Eren if she could find any insincerity, but there was absolutely none. ''You really mean that,'' she responded, like she couldn't believe it. ''But why me?''

''Because we need your help, Ymir,'' Eren said seriously, ''you know things about Marley nobody else inside the walls knows. Besides, you've got the jaw titan right now. You'd make a great addition to our team.''

Ymir looked confused. ''What do you want me to do then?''

Eren gave her a reassuring glance. ''Let's get out of here first. Like I promised, I'll explain everything to you on the way.''

And there you have it, people! Did you guys like it, love it, hate it? Review please! Next chapter the aftermath of the battle. Until then. ^^

~Syrup-Waffle