Hey Everyone!
I hope you've been enjoying this story so far. I just wanted to let you know that from here the story will stray from canon. At the time I wrote this, the chapters 83-85 were only just coming out, and I already had the ending planned from before that. Back then, I thought of whether to tweak the ending to match canon, but then I decided not too, partly because I thought Erwin should have been the one to survive, and partly because I wanted a unique story that wasn't just a spin on the original.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Oh, speaking of which, how did y'all like Season 2! Let me know what you thought of it in the review box!
At dawn they reached Shiganshina District, the place where it all started. The first stage of the plan was successful; Eren used his Titan to plug up the hole in the Wall and escaped back to the top of the Wall where they all stood now without running into any of the shifters. Now the difficult part was coming up. They had to find the shifters that had escaped to Wall Maria and eliminate them, otherwise plugging the hole meant nothing.
Everybody leaped into action. Those that remained at the bottom of the Wall took care of the horses and supplies, while Erwin issued Armin his own team to search the shifters out with. Besides Hanji and the Commander, the teenager was the smartest soldier in the division.
The first shifter, the Armored Titan, was quickly found, but he shifted before Levi or his squad had a chance to kill him. That was when everything went into chaos. The Beast Titan appeared outside the Wall with an army of Titans and barricaded the gate, blocking off their route of escape as smaller Titans began charging towards them. They'd probably go for the horses first, to destroy the Scouts' only way of escape.
Levi quickly glanced at Erwin, who was watching the Beast's Titan's every move and planning a counter-attack. "You done?" he asked quietly. "We're ready to fight."
The commander nodded and turned to the squads waiting behind him. Motioning to three of the squads, he ordered, "Go to the inner gate and protect the horses at all cost! Levi Squad and Hanji Squad, bring down the Armored Titan! Don't let it escape!"
Quickly everyone dispersed to accomplish their respective missions. Pulling his hood lower over his face, the captain slipped out his blades and prepared to launch off the Wall with his squad.
"Levi, Armin, wait! I said Levi Squad, but I need you here, Levi."
He frowned disapprovingly. "Do you seriously want me to protect the horses and not Eren?"
"Yes. But I also want you to kill the Beast Titan. You're the only one I can leave it to."
"Fine." Reluctantly Levi dove down to the buildings the horses were situated at to keep guard while Erwin spoke to Armin about something the captain didn't catch.
In the distance he could hear the roar of Eren's Titan as he shifted to battle Reiner. Spotting several Titans closing in to take down the horses, he activated his gear and soared through the air, feeling once more the thrill he'd always had whenever he used it, ever since the first time he'd flown through the Underground. The Titans were small 4-meter class ones, which he took down easily.
"Hurry up and get those to safety before the Beast Titan starts moving!" the captain yelled as he landed on a nearby rooftop. "I'm not having any losses here! Not a single one of you is allowed to die!"
"Sir!" the soldiers called affirmatively as they kept moving. Levi glared down at the blood staining his blades as he let out a sigh. Those MP soldiers can't even handle 4-meters…what a let-down.
He continued to keep an eye on the troops, killing whatever Titans came into that area while listening uneasily to the sounds of battle going on on the other side of the Wall where Eren was fighting Reiner, backed up by both his and Hanji's squads. There was a series of explosions, and Levi knew they had brought out the lightning spears – advanced weapons designed by Hanji specifically to take down the Armored Titan.
The noise died down, and there was silence from beyond the Wall. For several minutes Levi waited for the battle to begin again, but nothing happened. There was no time to go up to the top of the Wall to make sure, but the captain was certain one thing had happened.
The Armored Titan was down.
Just as Levi was about to go up there anyway and get further instructions from Erwin, a loud roar sounded from the other side of the Wall.
It wasn't Eren's roar.
The Armored Titan's still alive? He gripped his blades tighter as a projectile suddenly soared from where the Beast Titan stood, over the buildings, and into the Wall. Barely a few minutes had passed when there was an incredible explosion from inside, so enormous Levi could feel the heat waves from where he stood.
The only Titan who could make an explosion like that…no, tell me they escaped the blast…If it really was the Colossal Titan, anybody who was caught in its powerful blast would be instantly incinerated.
He forced any thoughts of those on the other end of the Wall out of his mind as several squad leaders landed on the roof.
"We've eliminated most of the smaller Titans. What do we do about the big one? It hasn't made a single move yet."
"It's a coward, that's all it is." Levi glanced back at the Wall anxiously, vaguely hearing the soldiers leave to finish clearing out the Titans. Screw it, I'm going up there. He was about to head to the Wall when suddenly huge boulders of rock shot through the air, plummeting into the buildings around him. Instinctively the captain raised his swords, deflecting any bits of rock that came his way. Slowly he lowered them once he was sure it was safe, and the sight that greeted him nearly made him drop the blades.
The boulders had torn through soldiers as well as buildings. Two whole squads were already destroyed, the ground and rooftops covered in their blood.
Another volley of boulders went hurtling past, and Levi leaped off the rooftop as even more soldiers were destroyed. At this rate we'll all be dead! Letting out a curse under his breath, he dropped down where the horses were secured, the soldiers around them in a panic. "All of you, take the horses and retreat to the Wall!" he yelled, grabbing hold of his stallion's reins. He wasn't about to leave it to anyone else. Soon he spotted Erwin landing down from the Wall.
"The situation couldn't be worse," the commander said, still calm despite all that was happening. "At the pace this is going, the entire place will be leveled in no time. We won't have where to hide. The Colossal Titan is also causing havoc on the other end of the Wall, so we can't escape there. But we can't back down either. If we retreat here, we lose all hope of victory."
"What happened to Hanji's group? Is Eren okay?"
"I don't know. But most of them seem to have been hit by that blast. We've taken massive losses. All the other squads were annihilated by the earlier bombardment." At this Erwin's face hardened as he turned to face the soldiers. "In other words, the only surviving forces within the Walls…are you recruits, Captain Levi, and myself."
As the group around them exploded into panic, Levi sighed and closed his eyes for a second, wishing with all his heart Hanji and the others were alive. Dammit, Four-Eyes…you promised me you wouldn't die. He released a slow breath as he gazed up at the commander.
Focus. Forget Hanji. Forget Eren. Forget Kaylee.
There is only me and Erwin.
"Erwin…" he said in a low voice. "Do you have some kind of plan? Anything at all?"
The man shook his head. "No…no, I don't."
Around the two there was still the screams of the terrified recruits, and the distant sounds of debris hitting the ground. Slowly they left the group, heading for a more secluded spot where they could talk undisturbed.
A loud crash filled their ears, and both men looked up in shock to see Eren's Titan lying limp on the top of the Wall.
"Is that Eren…?" Levi's voice trailed off, the realization dawning on the two that their final hope was out of the game. Come on, brat, the captain pleaded silently as he gazed up at the Titan. Get up. Just get up. But the shifter did not rise again.
The captain's mind raced through every scenario he'd been through over the years, trying to think of a way to get out of this. "We don't have any good moves left on this counter-attack," he said after a few minutes. "We're going to have to retreat." Pointing up to the Wall he ordered, "Go wake up that slacker Eren first. Gather all the survivors that you can, load them onto Eren and make a run for it. We can at least save some lives that way, even if just a few." Quickly he glanced back at where the horses were, verifying that they were still there. "We could use the horses as a decoy while you climb on Eren and make your escape."
"But Levi," Erwin replied, "What about you?"
"I'll fight the Beast Titan. Draw him out."
"That's impossible. You've seen his powers, what he can do – you can't even get close to him. You'll die."
"Probably." Levi glanced up to face Erwin. "But that doesn't matter right now. As long as you and Eren make it alive, there's still hope."
"I am not leaving you here to die, Levi," the commander argued. "If anyone should escape from here alive, it's you. What about your daughter? You can't leave her an orphan."
"So long as the Titans still roam the earth, she could very well be their next victim. That's why I have to end it here." Levi's eyes narrowed as he ran his hand over his gear. "Haven't you realized this situation requires extreme measures?" he snapped, his voice tense. "We've been utterly defeated. I don't even know if any of us will make it back alive. But if nothing else, at least you and Eren will make it back to Rose, even if I have to drag you there myself."
Erwin bit his lip as he thought a moment, his expression growing solemn. "There is another way," he said slowly.
"What the hell took you so long to tell me?" The captain shot back, but he felt a hint of relief at the same time. "So what do we do?"
"If this plan goes well," the commander continued, "You might be able to take down the Beast Titan. "But for that to happen…these new recruits and I must sacrifice our lives."
No. Alarm flashed across Levi's face as his eyes shot up to meet Erwin's. He tried to say something, but no words came out. He could vaguely hear the taller man speaking, explaining his plan, but he couldn't hear it. You can't die, Erwin. First Mike, then Hanji, now you…I can't go back to the Walls alone!
Levi ran his hand through his bangs, something akin to panic flashing through him.
He couldn't lose another friend.
Slowly he breathed in, forcing his mind to harden as it had every time he fought, every time he grasped the blades and killed another of the Titans on the battlefield. The sound of Erwin's voice faded into the distance, and his neutral appearance masked the turmoil inside him.
You've done this more times than you can count. You are Humanity's Strongest. You can take any blow, any heartbreak, any peril, and come out stronger.
Not because I wanted to. I've had to face everything head on for every day of my life. It's the only way to survive.
Remember what you have to do, and forget everything else. He repeated that phrase over and over in his head. Remember what you have to do. Forget everything else. Focus. Transform your fear into rage, and your rage will fuel your power. And when your power is at its peak, you can do anything. Levi clenched his fists, and he felt power surging through him, power like he hadn't felt since that nightmare on his first Expedition beyond the Walls.
He knew what he had to do.
"So what do we do?"
His head snapped back down to Erwin, who was sitting down on a crate near one of the buildings. He looked calm, like he'd already made peace with his death and was simply awaiting Levi's decision.
Slowly Levi stepped forward and knelt before the commander. "You've done well," he said, trying hard to keep his voice from shaking. "It's only thanks to you we were able to make it this far. I…I've made the choice."
He reached over and gripped Erwin's shoulders, and both men felt strength flow through them as they steeled their hearts for what lay ahead. Levi looked up, his cold grey eyes meeting the commander's blue ones as he said the words that would seal his fate.
"Give up your dreams and die for us. Lead the recruits straight into hell. I'll take out the Beast Titan."