Nope, no snoo-snoo yet.

Chapter Seven: Counterattack (Part 1).

Armin, Mikasa and Eren sat in silence, gazing at the half-formed body the supposed-to-be-dead recruit had just created to protect them from the cannon fire. Amidst the silence, they heard the voices of the soldiers. Fear and confusion.

"What are they saying?" Asked the green eyed teenager.

"I think... it's something about the cannons... not firing" Armin answered, his voice trembling slightly "But why?"

They listened to the shouts of the bearded officer, an almost animal shriek amidst the growing uneasiness.

"WHY DIDN'T THEY SHOOT?! CANNON SQUAD! WHY DID YOU NOT SHOOT ON ORDER?!" he cried with all the strength of his lungs.

And then a voice answered. A voice none of the trio expected to hear at all.

"BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T SAY PLEASE... YOU DRUG EYED MOTHERFUCKER!"

-A while ago... again-

Nikolai listened to the sounds coming from outside the building he was in. The cacophony of a recent battle. Wounded crying and complaining, soldiers comforting their friends, while officers kept them in check, reprimending with voices full with anger they didn't feel, an empty threat towards people who didn't even understand what they were told. The (not so) faint smell of blood and sweat. He closed his eyes as he finished putting his new 3DMG on. He was simply handed one, the officer claiming the soldier wouldn't need it anymore... just a stick, the rest of her life. And she was lucky.

As he went out, he saw Ymir and Krista passing by. The blonde recruit spotted him and went to where he stood, hugging him. Surprised, Niko could only manage to pat her head, as Ymir loudly greeted him.

"Well well, seems you didn't get your dick bitten off back there!" she taunted "Everyone's talking about your heroic deeds so much, i thought you were a corpse already. Or half a corpse, at most."

"Nikolai! Is it true?" Krista's eyes were a bit teary when she looked up to his face "That you had to... fight those things to get to HQ?" he nodded "It's so horrible! And to think i volunteered so many times to supply gas to the rest... why didn't they...?"

"Ymir." Nikolai said suddenly "Are there any rumours about... a stranger than usual titan?"

"Now you mention it, someone was mumbling something about a titan murdering other of its kind, and that it had something to do with... you." she said, raising an eyebrow. "What have you been doing, you freak?"

"It's Eren." The other two stared at him as he got out of Lenz's arms. "He turned into a titan. Apparently, right after i saw him being eaten." Ignoring their wide eyes and mouths, he scratched the back of his head. "It's supposed to be top secret, but..." he stopped, focusing his eyes on the wall. Before the others could ask anything, he said "Ask Jean, Reiner, Annie, Bertie or Mina, they were there. Mikasa and Armin were too, but they aren't around." Ymir blinked at the last part.

"Don't tell me they were... hey, were are you going?" she asked as the grey eyed soldier ran towards the wall. Shaking her head, she told Krista to find the others as she followed him.

Nikolai ran as fast as he could without attracting too much attention. To do so, he made his way behind the buildings, carefully avoiding detection as he neared his target. He looked back once, to see Ymir trying to catch up with him. He snorted as she was left farther behind. Once he got to the wall, he used his 3DMG to climb to the top, ending about twenty meters away from his target, a cannon. A cannon pointing downwards... and inwards. He was sure of what it aimed to.

He sneaked by the right, to avoid being seen by any soldier below. There were three people near the cannon, two men and a woman. He couldn't waste a second. He got behind the man closest to the cannon, and using his hand slammed his head into the metal surface, knocking him down. As the other male turned to check what caused the noise, Niko shoved his knee into his stomach. When he bent in pain, a short but powerful jab to his temple put him on the floor. The female gave a short yelp, not able to react. Sliding under the cannon, Nikolai swept with his right arm, hitting her shins from the front and making her fall flat on her belly. He quickly got on top of the soldier and strangled her into unconsciousness, before she could react.

Looking around, he noticed none of the soldiers on the wall realized the people in charge of the cannon were down, their eyes fixed on the trio right below them. Suddenly, the commander made a gesture to fire. Mikasa took Eren, apparently deciding to climb the walls. Niko readied himself to fight against the soldiers so his ¿friends? could get up there safely, when a flash of light followed by a thundering explosion forced him to look back at the courtyard. Amidst the steam, his eyes detected a vaguely humanoid shape. A very, very big shape. He couldn't help it. Nikolai's grin was all teeth, nothing mercy.

-Present time-

Ian and Rico stood side by side, watching in shock as the young soldier on top of the wall easily knocked down the four soldiers trying to subdue him. He didn't even use his blades to fight. A last kick in the head to the fourth soldier and it was over in seconds. The commander was frantic.

"SOMEONE! GET THAT TRAITOR DOWN, NOW! YOU FIVE THERE!" he shouted, pointing at some soldiers that were guarding Eren and his friends "GET UP THERE AND KILL HIM! HE'S AN ACCOMPLIANCE OF THAT MONSTER!"

"Sir!" Ian stepped in as he gestured the soldiers to wait "I strongly recommend to avoid engaging that soldier." As Rico and the bearded officer stared at him, he explained "That is Nikolai, sir. According to the recruits' testimony, he lured Eren Jaeger in titan shape to the HQ."

"Then we must capture him alive. Is that what you mean?" said Rico.

"Not really. Sir, this young man killed, if we average the reports of all who saw him fight back in Trost, no less than thirty titans." Everyone looked at him, wide eyed. "On top of that, at least ten of those titans were killed AFTER he lost his 3DMG" the soldiers began whispering, some looking in fear at the shape strolling back and forth on the wall, not even glancing back at them. "He is a fighter like no other, if we refer to the records. Until today, reports of someone actually killing titans without gear, without the element of surprise, is unheard of. And, at least judging by what we just saw, he doesn't want to kill other soldiers, merely knocking them down. If we send more people there, he may resort to lethal force."

Overwhelmed, the commander stared down to the ground. Could they take that cannon back? What if they sent a team to recover that one, while other got another cannon ready?

"Someone's coming out of the mist!" shouted one of the soldiers, startling everyone "It's one of the recruits!"

-Top of the wall-

Niko zoomed his sight to focus on Armin, smiling softly at the boy's defense of his friend. When he gazed over at the officer, however, his mouth twitched in despise. That coward wouldn't listen, no matter how much Armin tried. He wondered if any of the rest was at least decently sensible. He sighed, standing on the verge of the wall.

"Wouldn't try if i were you." he said. He turned his head to see one of the people from the cannon squad trying to reach on of the Garrison soldier's blades. The man flinched despite his neutral expression, and backed off. In that moment, a tired Ymir finally made it to the top, staring in disbelief at the amount of people he'd knocked out. As he approached, she nervously pointed a blade at him.

"Nikolai!" she said "What did you do? What's going on?"

"See for yourself." he pointed at the corner in which the trio awaited, where the titan skeleton was almost vanished. They looked as a big group of soldiers arrived, led by an older, bald man. He seemed to exchange some words with the bearded officer, and turned to speak to Armin. Unlike Ymir, Niko could see the relieved expression on his face. He let out a sigh, relaxing his muscles. "Things seem to run smoothly. Better, much better." he said, stretching his arms above his head and looking at the sky.

"Hey, that bald guy is looking at us." pointed Ymir. Nikolai looked down again, to see the man waving at him. He waved back, and the older soldier pointed at his friends, then to the top section of the wall.

"What does he want?" asked Ymir, looking back and forth between them. "Who's that guy?"

"To tell the truth, no idea." answered the male, shrugging. "But he wants me to meet him and the other three over there. Guess i gotta go. You, on the other hand, should go back down, before someone sees you here and..." he stopped talking and waved at a group of people standing on a roof. "Hey, that's Jean! And Annie, and Reiner... is that Mina? Yep, it is..." Ymir simply looked at him, unable to understand the young man, before beginning to climb down the wall.

-Time Skip-

"So let me understand." Said Nikolai, looking at Armin with a concentrated look on his face. "Eren's gonna take the big ass rock and shove it into the hole -snort- to seal it".

"Yes, that's the plan." Answered the blonde looking down at the city map.

"While a bazillion soldiers over that wall" he pointed at where some soldiers began to gather "will literally waive their asses in front of the titan's faces to give lil Eren time."

"Mhm." Armin closed his eyes. Niko's way to express things sometimes unnerved him.

"But since there will be titans near the rock, he'll need a leet group of babysitters, right."

"Yes." sighed Armin. "Why do you ask me this?"

"Meh. I just had to make sure."

"Make sure of what?" Eren looked at him puzzled.

"That Armin dude had things clear. More or less clear, i mean. Man, i have to admit, you're really smart pal." he said, placing a hand on Armin's shoulder. Surprised, he lifted his gaze from the map, meeting the soldier's grey eyes, and finding a spark of acknowledgement. "I hope we fight together in the future, i'll need someone with your brain." he finished, smirking.

Commander Pixis approached them then, announcing that the operation was about to begin. As they readied, Nikolai suddenly asked to talk with Eren in private for a short while. He took the teenager to the edge of the wall, facing the titan filled district.

"How do you feel, Eren?" he asked suddenly.

"Well... nervous, i guess. Why do you ask me?" Eren turned to look at him, and was surprised to see how serious he looked. Niko seemed to age when he didn't smile. His eyes where suddenly tired, almost empty for a second. He closed them and breathed deeply.

"What we're going to do is basically a big bet. Nothing is certain." he continued, eyes closed.

"It never is in battle, Nikolai." Eren started to feel uneasy. "What is it you're trying to tell me?"

"It never is... yeah. But that's not what matters."

"Then what...?"

"Eren." Nikolai snapped suddenly, his head turning slightly, so he could meet Jaeger's eyes. "I don't know where or how you got this power. Nor do i care. And right now, i think neither do you. Am i right?"

"Well, yeah. Right now, i'm more concerned about the mission." admitted the young soldier, looking down to the streets.

"And yet, you forget the most important thing about your power, don't you?" said Nikolai, his eyes wandering over the buildings, as if searching for something.

"The most important thing... no, i'm quite conscious. I know i may not control it, but i'll do my best..."

"You don't realize, do you?" Nikolai turned to face him. Eren did the same. The taller recruit put his hands on the green eyed soldier's shoulders, his eyes fixed on his green orbs. Eren gulped by instinct.

"Realize what?" he mumbled.

"The price, Eren. The price of your power. THAT, is the important thing you can never forget. It wasn't your arm. It wasn't your leg." He paused, breathing deeply.

Eren stopped breathing for a few moments. His eyes went slightly teary as he finally realized where Nikolai was getting to.

"The price to pay was the blood of your friends. Of those who followed you. Of those you forgot to protect and guide while you lost yourself in your rage. Mina... she told me more or less what happened. That is why you MUST control it. To honor their deaths. To make sure they didn't face such horrible end in vain. Control it Eren, make it yours, no matter the effort, no matter how much it hurts."

Eren looked down for a moment, only to rise his head, eyes full of decision.

"I will, Nikolai. For them."

"Excellent!" Nikolai smiled so quickly, Eren actually felt scared. "That's what i wanted to hear. Nevertheless..." he paused to pat his blades "If you fuck up, i'll wake you up the old fashioned way. Only that i'll aim a bit more to the center... and a bit under your back. No pressure." he snickered when Eren gulped again.

"Okay, everyone!" shouted Ian "It's time! Get moving!" he looked at Eren and Nikolai "You two, follow me."

As they reached the insertion point, Nikolai felt his heart rush again at the prospect of battling those things again. It was... nice. No greys amidst the black and whites of the fighting sides. No ideologies. No collateral damage for the other side. It was "us", and it was "them". Like they always wanted him to believe, but now it was actually true. He grinned without realizing how it disturbed some of his companions. He was startled by Ian's voice.

"Everyone! We've reached the spot! Follow me!"

One by one, they jumped down the wall, using their gear to make their way to the rock. Nikolai felt the adrenaline running as he grappled onto a wall and swinged over the roofs, flipping in the air before landing and running full speed. Around him, the sound of more 3DMG filled the air. He looked briefly to the opposite wall, where countless soldiers hung above the titan's maws. From there, they looked like insects tied to a string... insects that sometimes went too close to the ground, and never came back.

He finally reached the rock as a thunderous boom and a flash of light announced Eren's transformation. The next was a crashing ruckus, when the still forming titan landed on a house. Nikolai fought not to laugh, covering his mouth.

Rico Brzenska stood near the grinning soldier, watching in awe as the huge creature Eren had become gave a step towards the rock. Then the titan stopped and turned to face someone. Mikasa.

"Shit."

The word broke her contemplation. Looking aside, she saw Niko wasn't smiling anymore. He looked... worried?

"Hey, what's wro...?"

The blasting noise of an impact cut her half-speaking. She turned with a startled hop, only to find Eren punching the building in front of him, right where his own sister stood moments ago. Nikolai didn't flinch, his eyes scanning for the asian girl. He found her, but before he could act, Eren rose his fist and punched again, debris flying in all directions. Mikasa, ignoring Ian's orders, used her gear to stand on the titan's nose.

"Here it comes..." whispered Nikolai to himself. He rolled his eyes when Eren fell flat on his ass, back against the rock after punching himself on the face. "Pathetic."

"Ok, i get it. No weapon of humanity. Shit, indeed." mumbled Rico, as she took a red flare and put it into the gun. She pointed at the sky and... "Nikolai, what the fuck are you doing?!" she shouted.

The grey eyed man didn't even look at her, busy in taking the red flare out of the gun he snatched from her hand a moment ago. Without a word, he handed her the empty item... and threw the flare away. It crahsed against a wall and broke, red smoke slowly spilling around it.

"You're waaay too quick to surrender, Rico. Too quick." he answered, taking his blades out.

"Rico!" Commander Ian shouted "What was that with the flare?"

"It's not my fault!" she shouted back, pointing at Nikolai "This suicidal, stupid bastard threw it away!"

"Nikolai? Why did you..?"

"Oh, please, shut the fuck up, you two!" he roared, still looking at Eren. "I knew this could happen. Actually, i was kind of expecting it." Ignoring their surprised faces, he jumped down the street, ran towards the still knocked titan, and used his gear to get on top of his nape. "Luckily, i know the solution. Cover me while i wake this asshole, will ya?" as they simply stood watching him, he rose his arms in exasperation "Cover me, you idiots! Titans are coming!"

Ian blinked a few times, before looking around. His comrades were as confused as he was, no one knew what that boy was planning, yet no one could spare any ideas either.

"Fine!" he said loudly, gesturing for Rico and Mitabi to get close "Rico, Mitabi, i need you to take care of any titans coming from that side" he said, pointing to the zone behind Eren "My team will deal with the rest. Get moving!"

"But Ian... what if Nikolai doesn't manage to wake Eren?" Rico asked, her voice full of doubt. After all, the mission had been a white lie since the damn begining, the last attempt of a drowning man to come to the surface after a long battle against the water.

"We'll have to trust him, Rico. Nothing else can be done." said Ian. "Unlike you, or me, unlike any of us, that kid" he said, pointing at Eren "can not be replaced. We must believe in them, we must fight and die if necessary to give them all the time we can. That is now our mission. Let them fullfil theirs."

Nikolai watched the soldiers pass above him. For some reason, he didn't want them to see how he woke Eren, they could... misunderstand his intention.

"Don't screw it, will you?"

Surprised, he looked up. Rico was watching him from above, the last of her team to leave the zone .

"Wake that kid up and join us in battle... if you can. The last part, at least, if you can't accomplish the first one." she said, looking skeptically at the giant shape.

"Nah, no problem, i got this. I bet you anything."

"You bet? I bet you we're gonna die. Problem is, i won't win shit, other that some i-told-you bragging before the end."

"Such a pessimist attitude... Ok, here's my bet bet." he said, telling the silver haired woman to get close. Rico's eyes widened at the proposition when he whispered to her ear.

"A... you've got no remedy, idiot. But if that thing does his job, well..." she stopped, blushing. Then she turned and darted away. Smiling, Nikolai shot his hooks at each side of the titan's nape.

"Well, boy, i was hoping that emotional shit chat we had could somehow fix that sleeping issues of yours." he said with a resigned smile. "I guess i can definitely scratch that from my resources list. But it's okay." He took both blades out, licking his lips "I got what you need right here." he whispered. Suddenly, noises of battle began to fill the air. He closed his eyes and sighed."Brace yourself little kid!" he shouted, rising his right blade, pointing it downwards to where he thought Eren's butt -or at least his thigh- was.

"Cause daddy's about to spank this bitch."

End of Chapter.

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