Chapter 10: Power shift
A/N: Hope you have more battle music because it's Godzilla vs Krystalak! Let's kick it off people!
Berlot gazed at his hands, amazed by the transformation that he had experienced. Crystals now cover his body like a set of armor. He felt like he could take on anyone and anything with this newly acquired power. But first thing was first, destroy the Great Predator.
Godzilla charged in as quickly as he could, not wanting to waste time figuring out this new threat, but Berlot leaped over him, dodging the attack. Godzilla charged in again, the same outcome occurred.
"He stands a greater chance now," Reiner said, "With that beast's abilities combined with years of combat training he'll be unstoppable."
Ymir didn't see it that way. To her, this seemed wrong. She couldn't tell what it was, but something about all of this seemed to be a bad sign to her. Reiner on the other hand, just smiled and watched.
Crush him Berlot, he thought, show him the power of the shifters. Show him the pain that you suffered.
With a great amount of speed he rammed into Godzilla. While not enough force to knock him down, it did break a rib or two upon impact. Godzilla took hold of Berlot and tossed him into the air.
While off the ground, Berlot whipped his tail downward, releasing a barrage of crystal shards from his tail. The crystals showered Godzilla, with some actually sticking into his flesh. While Godzilla was busy trying to avert the projectiles Berlot came crashing down onto Godzilla's face feet first.
Berlot began beating heavily on his foe. Each punch from Berlot's Crystal covered claws was like being hit by titanium brass knuckles. Godzilla had to find a way to get the crystal colossus off of him. Using his tail like a carjack, he flipped over, taking Berlot to the ground with him.
After the grand slam, Berlot crawled his way out of Godzilla's reach. Godzilla took hold of Berlot's neck, holding him half-nelson style. The important thing was keeping his teeth away as much as possible. No need risking Berlot a chance at becoming a super mutant.
Berlot focused intensely thinking of something he could use. He inched his tail close to Godzilla's face. Before he could react, Berlot's tail fired another round of crystal shards right into the dinosaur's eye.
Screaming in pain, he let the crystal fiend go, scrambling desperately to remove the crystals from his face. Berlot, of course, wasn't kind enough to allow this. Like a ninja in the night, he made great use of his newly enhanced speed by slashing his arms at Godzilla as if they were the blades of a sword.
"There's no use," Connie called out, "He's too powerful."
"There has to be a way," Eren yelled. "Give all you have Predator! Fight! FIGHT!"
Berlot was too swift to hit. He dodged out of the way as soon as he finished an attack. Godzilla took a deep breath and unleashed his nuclear pulse. The shockwave caused Berlot to trip over. Wasting no time, Godzilla bashed at him with his tail.
Berlot opened his jaws and unleashed a powerful Prism Beam. It hit Godzilla's chest, causing an explosion of sparks.
"Could that attack be some kind of distortion of the Predator's heat weapon?" Hange wondered. "If only we could learn from this abomination."
"Wait," Armin said to himself. "Learn. That's it! Miss Saegusa?"
"Yes?" she replied.
"Do you think we can read that… 'Crystal Titan's' mind? See if you can find something useful?"
"I can try." She said.
She kneeled down alongside her assistants, concentrating. She entered the mind of Berlot. But something was wrong. She squirmed around uncontrollably, as if she were in pain. She let out a horrifying scream before she collapsed. Everyone flocked to help her as she seized up, blood trickling from her nose. Eren, who looked back at the fight, saw Berlot looking right at them. It was as if he knew what they were up to.
Returning his attention to the fight, Berlot bombarded Godzilla with hit after hit of Prism Beams. While painful, the most it did was cause some bruising and slowed him down. Berlot enjoyed his new power a little too much, as he didn't realize until it was too late that Godzilla was coming right for him.
Godzilla once again took hold of Berlot.
"Tear out his throat predator!" Eren yelled out. "END IT! END IT NOW!"
Berlot then realized something, if Godzilla could create a pulse...
…then could he as well?
Berlot loaded all the energy he could to his core. His crystal heart, like a reactor, was overflowing to the point of meltdown. Finally, in an eruption of power, Berlot used his Crystal Overload to blast Godzilla off of him.
Godzilla looked at his opponent. Even thought he was dripping with blood and covered in battle damage, he still couldn't give up. He charged in again.
Berlot had enough of this. He twitched his tail repeatedly, creating a storm of Crystals to assault the saurian kaiju. The force was so strong, some of them exploded upon impact, obscuring view with clouds of smoke.
Berlot shot the last shard and waited. Everyone watching held their breath as they watched Godzilla's shadowy figure draw closer. Finally, the smoke cleared, revealing Godzilla still standing.
Godzilla took a single step and collapsed.
Everyone was shocked. None of them knew, but thanks to a lucky shot, one of Berlot's crystal shards had dug itself into Godzilla's inner thigh. This damaged the nerve endings connected to Godzilla's Lower Brain, paralyzing him. He was down for good.
Godzilla gasped for breath on the hard ground, right at Berlot's feet. The crystal kaiju gave a sound that resembled a mix between a growl and a human laugh. It became more and more intense until it transformed into a roar of pure joy.
"No," Eren said, "No. It can't be. Get up. GET UP!"
But Godzilla couldn't hear him. Even if he could, he wouldn't be able to comply. He was helpless.
Berlot kicked Godzilla, enjoying his paralysis. Then he formed another blade from his Crystal armor, ready to finish Godzilla off like an executioner.
"Do it." Reiner said.
Berlot then looked to his blade and tossed it away. He wanted his enemy to die slowly. Godzilla showed him no mercy, why should he do the same?
Berlot placed his hands onto the ground, causing a few more crystal towers to emerge along Godzilla's sides. These towers leaded over, interlocking to form a massive cocoon-like prison. The only part of him that was left alone was his head. It was possible Berlot wanted him to watch him walk away.
"What?!" Reiner said confused. "Don't walk off, finish him! Keeping him alive ruins the plans. GO BACK AND KILL HIM!"
Berlot walked off regardless, returning to the crystal base from once he came. But not before giving Eren and his crew one last glance.
Suddenly, Miki stood up. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth opened, speaking in a voice exactly like Berlot's:
"Let the image sink in, Survey Corps. Your kind is next."
After that, she fell back down. Berlot looked away and continued marching off.
An hour had passed. Everyone was too frightened to speak. Berlot just defeated the most powerful force this world had ever seen. No one knew what to make of it. Finally, Miki awake.
"Miss Seagusa!" Moll cried out.
"Easy Miss Seagusa," Lara spoke softly, "Don't try getting up so fast."
They propped her up gently. She seemed a little woozy but alright.
"What happened back there?" Mikasa asked.
"It was….strange." she answered slowly. "It felt like… I was inside a hundred different minds at once. The stress must've knocked me out."
"That makes sense," Hange said, "Perhaps they absorb memories and mental activity when they devour living things. You might have actually been inside a hundred minds at once."
"This day just keeps getting stranger and stranger." Jean groaned.
Anguirus hovered his head over Miki, looking concerned.
"I'm fine…thank you." She said, possibly answering him.
Angurius brushed himself against Sasha, trying to comfort himself. Instead, he knocked her over into the mud. This caused her to lose it.
"Alright that's enough!" she shouted loudly. "Get it through your enormous skull; I am not you mother, not your herd-mate, hell, I'm not even the same species as you!"
"Sasha," Mikasa said, "please calm-"
"No!" she snapped back, "I'm not calming down! Miki keeps saying how smart this thing is, how it's just like us. It's not like us! If it was as smart as we are, then why can't it take a simple hint that I want nothing to do with him?!"
Anguirus was becoming frightened now. Her tone was really starting to upset him. He backed away into the trees.
"What was all that for?" Connie said. "He's just a baby. Not to mention he risked his neck for you."
"I don't care!" she said. "I'm just glad to finally have some breathing room."
"You're all missing the point!" Eren yelled out. "Right now, the Colossal is back and more powerful than before. He sent us a message, one we should be figuring out before it's too late."
Everyone was quiet. It was obvious that everyone was in a state of panic, taking it out on each other. The silence was broken by Miki.
"I think…I might know what he meant." She said. "I remember seeing something inside his head."
Meanwhile…
Back at the mass of crystals, Reiner had some things he wanted to get off his chest.
"Why did you just leave him there?!" he yelled at the crystal monstrosity. "He was right there, incapacitated and ready for the slaughter. You had your chance to kill him right there!"
Berlot paid him no mind at all. He kept advancing toward the great Crystal tower.
"Don't you ignore me," Reiner continued. "You go back and finish the job so we can continue the mission!"
Again he was ignored. In frustration, Reiner grabbed the biggest chunk of loose crystal he could find and threw it at the back of Berlot's leg. It shattered on impact, but it did catch his attention.
Berlot turned, glaring at Reiner.
"That's better," Reiner said. "Now listen up. We've-"
Berlot placed his foot down, trapping Reiner between his toes. While Reiner struggled to break free, Berlot bent down to meet his face. The expression he had wasn't hard to make out.
Go ahead, make a move.
"Berlot, stop this!" Ymir said, pulling out her blades. "We are your comrades. Don't make us have to hurt you."
With a quick flick of his tail, Berlot launched a few shards at her, pinning her clothing to the wall and leaving her stuck.
"What are you doing?" Reiner said, finally wriggled free from Berlot's foot. "Whose side are you on?"
Berlot reached for Reiner, who dodged the attack by grappling onto the wall. Again and again, Berlot was resembling a man trying to catch a fly. Growing bored with this, he shot a few shards from his hand. One managed to sever the line and cause him to fall.
Berlot grabbed Reiner. He slammed the shifter onto the same wall that Yimir was trapped onto, forming a cocoon-like trap to keep him there.
"What's all of this about Berlot?" Ymir demanded. "What's your game?"
Berlot looked at his former teammates. He guessed he did owe them an explanation.
He placed his hands on the tower. Like before, he created a tall blue crystal. The Shifters watched as the images began to form.
It showed Berlot defeating Godzilla. Afterwards, he looked at the Titans and humans roaming the lands. With great fury, he stomped every last one of them into the ground. But he wasn't done yet. He found out the hiding place of the Beast Titan. After a short struggle, he devoured the hairy Behemoth like a savage beast.
With the Beast Titan's knowledge at his disposal he created more Krystalaks, just as Beast had created Titans before. With a new race of crystal kaiju on the planet, they dominated over both human and Titan alike.
As the tower collapsed it hit Reiner like a trolley. He didn't want to help their cause, he wanted to end it. He wanted to put an end to this war between man and Titan. In its place, he wanted to usher in a new age for the planet….
….By recreating it in his own image.
To be continued…
A/N: The plot thickens onward! Well, everyone enjoy their holiday with their families and God bless. Till next time!