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Adam stared to the right at the black smoke trail. It was the second one in a matter of minutes. And not only that, but it was from Armin's position. He was only a single spot to the side from Adam's position, and Adam knew he could go there and come back before anyone knew he had. He looked around, then steered toward Armin. So far, the expedition had been fine. They had left the wall and assumed the long distance scouting formation they had been taught, kind of like a big semicircle, and so far, the troops on the flanks had been able to spot most of the titans before they got too close, firing red smoke signals to tell the formation to change direction as they did, allowing them to avoid contact as much as possible. However, according to Armin's signal, two different abnormals had broken into the formation without any of the right flank seeing them. That wasn't good.

Adam crested a hill just as a fourteen meter titan female with no skin and blonde hair falling to her shoulder knelt down over Armin, who had fallen off of his horse, and lifted his hood, staring at his face for several seconds before standing and running away. Adam stared after her before pulling his own hood up. She was looking for someone. So she was intelligent. And he'd bet any amount of money that this titan was looking for Eren.

As Adam rode past Armin, he yanked him up into the saddle just as Reiner rode over with a spare horse. Armin switched horses, fumbling for a smoke signal to show an emergency, only for Jean to ride up behind them, firing one. At the same time, multiple fired from off to the right.

"The right flank's..." Armin trailed off.

"Gone," Adam said. "We can't continue the operation without it. If we try, we'll all be wiped out."

"He's right," Jean said.

"Armin," Adam said, "That titan just now, she's intelligent right? She's looking for someone."

"Yes," Armin agreed. "It's probably Eren."

"Right," Adam nodded. "So for the sake of the formation, we need to keep her busy. Everyone put your hoods up. She stopped to check Armin, then let him live, so we have to assume that she won't kill us at least until after she checks our faces."

The others nodded, pulling their hoods up and spurring their horses forward.

"If she's looking for Eren, she's going the wrong way," Reiner said. "Wasn't Levi Squad supposed to be in charge of the right flank?"

"Did you say the right?" Jean asked. "The diagram I had had them at the back of the left flank."

"Mine had them leading the charge," Adam said.

"Misinformation?" Armin said. "So then, his position is supposed to be secret."

"So...where is he?" Reiner asked.

"Probably the safest part of the formation," Armin said. "If I remember right, that's the back of the formations center."

"We don't have time for this!" Jean said. "If the Commander orders a retreat, we might be able to avoid the titans on the right side, but if that titan is as dangerous as the Colossal and Armored Titans, then the signal might not make it to the commanding element before she reaches them."

"Then we should hurry," Adam said.

He sped ahead of the others, pushing his horse hard. Then, as he was passing her, she spun, grabbing at him. He flipped off of the horse and the titan grabbed it, flinging it and catching him in her free hand. He grunted, eyes wide in fear, waiting to be crushed. He didn't want to die. Not yet. Not like this. He had to see Annie one more time. The titan stared at him from above. Adam stared back. There was something off. The titan had stopped completely. she was simply standing there, staring at him. Fear gripped him. Maybe it wasn't Eren she was after. The titan blinked, eyes opening slightly wider than before and Adam felt his blood run cold. He knew those eyes. That icy shade of blue and the cold emotionless look in them. His eyes widened slowly before the titan knelt, setting him down and releasing him. Suddenly, Jean attached a cable to her side and she swung a backhand at him, Jean managing to slip under it by sheer luck, the cable detaching and another hitting her opposite leg. She turned to grab him only to freeze as Armin began to shout.

"Jean, you gotta avenge him!" Armin shouted. "The guy who was in a hurry to die actually did die fast on the right flank! Avenge him! She killed him!"

Jean managed to swing away from the titan safely grabbing Adam and getting a safe distance away before retracting his cable.

"She stepped on my best friend and crushed him!" Armin was shouting. "I saw him stuck on the sole of her foot!"

Suddenly, Reiner attached a cable to the back of the titan's neck, streaking toward her, only for her to catch him. Adam watched in silence. The titan pushed Reiner's head into her fist with her thumb and squeezed, blood squirting out between her fingers. Then, suddenly, her fingers flew off in a spray of blood as Reiner leapt to safety, both blades completely shattered. He attached a cable to her as he fell, swinging around and grabbing Armin, landing on his feet and sprinting away as Jean grabbed Adam's arm, beginning to pull him, only for Adam to push Jean's hand off. The titan stared at the hand Reiner had cut his way out of as it steamed and regenerated. Then, she lowered it, turning and walking away from them, breaking into a jog after a moment. Adam took off after her at a sprint.

"Where are you going!?" Jean shouted, but Adam ignored him.

She was heading directly toward Eren. But Adam wasn't thinking about that right now. Not really. Right now, he was thinking about the eyes. Her eyes. He had to see them again. He had to know. To be sure. He swung himself onto Jean's horse as he was passing it, spurring it after the titan. However, after a couple of moments, green smoke signals shot into the air at an angle, indicating the direction the formation was changing, without turning around. They weren't retreating. But they had to have seen the emergency signal. Adam continued to ride and soon, found a group of four scouts who fired a black signal and moved to engage.

"No!" Adam shouted. "She'll kill you!"

Sure enough, as three moved to attack, she caught one by the cord and jumped, the two attached to her feet going with her. She landed on one and then kicked the other as they were passing a building, crushing them. The one whose cord she had she began to spin like a weighted stone, the momentum snapping the scout's back like a twig. Then, finally, she released him, letting him go flying away from her. The other shouted in fear, turning his horse to retreat, only for her to punt him and his horse, killing both and sending them sailing through the air. Adam swore as another, larger group began to close in to fight her. Adam tried to wave them away, but the only one to see him flipped him off and shouted that he was a coward. Then, the entire group charged. And died.

"Please stop!" Adam shouted. "Please don't kill anyone else!"

The titan completely ignored him, continuing on its run. Adam squeezed his eyes shut, the horse obediently following the titan. After a moment, he opened his eyes as a forest came into view. He grit his teeth, watching the central file go in, but everyone else splitting around it. The titan charged straight toward the path through the center of the forest, several scouts moving to stop her, only to die rapidly. As she slapped the last into the ground, she screamed, the sound echoing far and wide, alerting everyone for at least a mile around that there was trouble.

Then, the titan charged into the trees, Adam following on his horse. He'd probably be charged with treason for not attacking her later. However, for now, he needed to know. Suddenly, she spun, stomping in front of Adam, Adam taking to the trees with his ODM gear as his horse was thrown, its leg breaking, the horse screaming even louder and more disturbingly than the scout before had. The titan looked at him for a moment as he hung on the side of a tree, and in that moment, he knew. He was certain of it. But it was impossible. It had to be a lie. A bad dream.

Then, the titan turned, continuing on her run. As she did, Adam dropped to the horse, putting it out of its misery. Then, he turned, following the titan with his ODM gear, careful to use as little gas as possible. As he caught back up, several more scouts moved to fight her, streaking past Adam. Adam grit his teeth. They couldn't win. But he didn't know what to do. Did he stop her? Or did he continue to follow her uselessly, probably get charged with treason, and inevitably accomplish nothing? Either way she would survive. And either way, he wouldn't.

The titan swatted one scout aside, the other avoiding her swipe at him. Adam attached a cable to a tree ahead of her and shot forward. As he was passing her, she caught the other scout's cable, spinning him. His neck hit Adam's cable, decapitating the scout so quickly that it didn't even leave blood on the cable. Adam retracted the cable, spinning as he began to fall, landing on the titan's face.

"Adam!?" Eren's voice shouted. "What are you doing!?"

Adam squeezed his eyes closed. "Please forgive me!"

Then, he drew a sword, slashing her forehead shallowly, just enough for her scalding blood to run into her eyes, blinding her momentarily, Adam leaping off and retreating into the trees. The titan paused, wiping her eyes before her forehead sealed back up and she took off after Eren and the others again. Adam followed, trying to keep up without running out of gas.

"Eren, I can't tell you what's right," Adam caught Levi saying. "You can only make a choice and hope that you won't regret it. Will you put your faith in your own strength, or in the Scout Regiment as a whole, including myself?"

Eren looked back and forth between Levi and the titan, hand held in front of his mouth, ready to bite himself to transform.

"Eren, please, have faith!" the female on Levi's team, Petra, pleaded.

Adam liked Petra. She was skilled, kind, and fair, usually. And she was unusually loyal to Levi. Adam was pretty sure that her and Levi were unofficially together, but he'd never be caught dead saying it, lest he incur Levi's wrath.

"You're taking too long!" Levi shouted. "Make your damn choice!"

"I'll continue to follow you!" Eren shouted.

Adam began to pass the titan again only for her to reach up, catching him then continuing to run, holding her hand still, not crushing him or throwing him, or slamming him into a tree. Just keeping him from blinding her again.

"Let me go!" Adam said. "Let me go! I have to get back! I promised!"

He saw the titan's eyes flick down at him before she lightly tossed him over her shoulder. He flipped, catching himself with ODM gear and shot forward again. However, before he could reach her again, she reached Eren only to stop, several carts that were tipped over to reveal barrels filled with harpoons around her.

"Fire!" Erwin's voice shouted.

Instantly, the titan clapped her hands both over her weak point just seconds before over a hundred harpoons with cables attached drilled into her, the cables pulling tight, holding her completely immobile. Adam stared at her before switching to ODM gear, continuing around to get in front of her, hidden in the trees as he watched what was happening. Another barren in a tree off to either side went off, multiple large metal spikes driving themselves through her knees, locking them in a half-crouch. He looked up to her eyes, seeing them watching him, even at the distance he was from her. He knew she was watching him. Suddenly, Levi and another senior member of the Scout Regiment, Mike, fell at the titan's hands from above, spinning and slashing, only for her hands to suddenly be covered in hardened, crystal-like skin. The sword shattered against them instantly. Mike leapt away, but Levi landed on top of the Titan's head.

"Why don't you just get out of there already?" Levi asked. "We have better things to do than this, you know. You've cause us a lot of trouble, you know that? You've killed a lot of my subordinates in a lot of different ways. Was it fun?" He knelt down. "Oh yeah, there was something I wanted to ask you. If you lose your arms and legs, you'll be okay, right? I mean, you can just regrow them? Your real arms and legs, I mean. Cause, you dying on us just won't do."

Then, the titan screamed.

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