Chapter 12: Round 2
A/N: Time once again to choose your battle music. IT ALL ENDS HERE!
PS; keep in mind some monsters are smaller than their kaiju counterparts.
Ymir and Reiner were finally free of their prisons thanks to Godzilla. The crystal structures that once held them crumbled, allowing them to crawl free. By the time the entire thing was dust and rubble the Great Predator had already left.
"We're out," Ymir said, "and thanks to him we can change back into Titans. Let's go and-"
"No." Reiner said.
"No?" Ymir asked.
"We have one more thing to do." He answered, "Save Berlot."
"What?!" she yelled, "Are you insane?! After all of this- the betrayal, plans of genocide- you still stand by him?"
"He's still in there," Reiner answered. "In the nape, I know it! If we can extract him from his Titan body we could help him, get the real Berlot back! We can't ignore that possibility."
"I don't think that is a possibility Reiner." She said, "Whatever that thing is, it's not Berlot."
"I'm going in to save him." Reiner said, facing away from her. "You may not care, but Berlot is my friend."
"You have to-"
"Don't try to stop me Ymir!" he yelled. "Either help me or stay out of the way."
She watched him wander off, ready for war. She stood there, wondering which side she would be on. She couldn't decide.
Meanwhile…
The Town of Tanikibo was no longer a safe haven. Now it was a warzone. Not everyone could make it to shelter in time when the wave of creatures hit. They scurried and crawled in the streets and alleyways in a search for prey.
Eren made it back to the city, diving right into the action. As soon as he killed off his Kumunga steed he transformed back into the Rouge Titan, bashing as many creatures as he could. Alongside Anguirus, they were the two greatest weapons in this fight. But even they weren't enough against these numbers.
The Survey Corps weren't having any better luck. Granted most of their opponents like the Terror Birds and Varans only took one hit to kill. Plus, they already knew how to finish off any Kamacuras they came across. But the Gorosaurs, Kumungas, and Axors took longer time and skill to take down.
They didn't want to admit it, but the humans were losing. Three Survey members had already fallen, with six injured.
"Keep strong!" Mobilt cried out, using his sword to keep a Terror Bird away from his face. He managed to get back on balance, slicing the bird of prey in the throat.
Connie charged into a Varan, attacking the neck.
"Keeping as strong as I can!" he responded, avoiding a swing of its tail.
Sasha, of course, was having the worst luck out of all of them. She had been too busy with a pack of Kamacuras to notice a Manda slithering behind her. As soon as she killed her third mantis, it struck her leg.
The Manda pulled hard, tearing her from her tethers. In a hurry, she took out her blade and jabbed the serpent in the face. In pain, the Manda let her go. She tried to run off, but the creature's tail wrapped around her leg to trip her over. She reached for her blade, only to be pulled toward the scaly monster.
Slowly, it wrapped more and more of its tail around her. She struggled as hard as she could, but it only made the constricting effect worse.
Just as the Manda opened its mouth to devour her, a familiar brown creature rammed into him. Anguirus had sensed Sasha was in danger and came to her aid, pushing the snake into a building wall. The Manda was too preoccupied with surviving the attack to hold onto Sasha any longer. She slipped right out of Manda's grasp.
Once she was free, the Manda decided to kill of the underdog kaiju by wrapping its long body around Anguirus's neck. He used his forepaws, pulling desperately to get this predator off of him.
While they struggles, a few Gorgonopsids slowly crawled into view. Perhaps they could get in on some of this Ankylsaurian feast as well.
Sasha finally stood up, gasping for breath. She turned around to see Anguirus struggle against the Manda, all the while stalked by saber-toothed reptiles. Anguirus was starting to suffocate. He looked to her with tearful eyes and squawked. It was a very sorrowful sounding squawk. Even if it wasn't in a language humans could understand, it had a very clear message;
Run! Just go, save yourself!
She couldn't bear it. After all she had said, all those feelings she had against him, he was going to risk his own life for her. She wouldn't let that happen. Especially an infant who could have a full life ahead of him. She couldn't let someone sacrificing themselves for her sake, human life or otherwise.
With blades in hand she charged in, slashing two Gorgonopsids in the neck. The others saw her and charged. Leaping from their reach, she stabbed one in the heart and the other in the shoulder.
Now for the big one. She fire her grapplers, aiming for the Manda's eyes. They were a direct hit! Thrashing in pain, the blinded Manda was completely unaware that Sasha had launched herself towards it blades first. Both blades sliced clear through the serpent's neck, pouring blood down its long body.
Finally, the damn thing died, collapsing into a pile by Anguirus's face. He gasped violently for air on the ground. She placed her hand on his snout, calming him.
"I guess I'm yours whether I like it or not." She smiled.
A thud on the ground signaled more danger. The two looked up to see an Axor looking them in the face. It hissed with a mouth drooling with venom. Anguirus stood up scowling. He looked to Sasha, with an expression that seemed to say;
Let's do this. Together!
She stared him in the eye and nodded. She would be honored to fight alongside a true friend. They faced the opponent and charged in, ready for battle.
While the others fought, Armin was busy taking the civilians to safety. After picking up a child off the street corner, he swung his grapplers eastward, avoiding the jaws of a juvenile Quetzelcoatl. Faster and faster, the Repto-bird chased after him. As it opened its jaws to release a stream of fire, Armin descended into an ally. His plan worked, avoiding the green flames.
Hurrying as fast as he could, he reached the shelter. He opened the doors, gazing at the frightened people inside.
"Here little one," he said to the young girl in his arms, "You're safe now."
She ran into the crowd, immediately searching for her parents.
"Are we in the clear yet?" Moll asked.
She and Miki stayed in front of the crowd, possibly trying to bestow hope to everyone inside the shelter.
"Not even close." Armin answered gloomily. "There's still too many out there."
Miki's head lowered.
"You know, sometimes I envy the Survey Corps." She said.
"Why?" Armin asked.
"So I could help people more directly." She answered. "Even faith and simple mind tricks can't solve this."
Those words inspired him.
"Maybe it can." He said. "Miss Seagusa, do you remember what you did to the Kamacuras yesterday?"
She nodded.
"Try it again," he continued, "But this time, bigger."
She absorbed what he was suggesting. There posed a problem, last time she had the children with her to aid her telepathy. In order to do what Armin was planning, she'd need the whole town to help her. She turned to the civilians in the shelter. It was most of the town, but it should be enough to aid her in this situation.
Everyone, listen! She shouted telepathically.
Everyone in the shelter heard this, becoming more silent.
I know that you all are frightened, she continued, but there are good men and women out there, risking their lives for us. They have great skill and physical prowess, but they need our help!
At this point, everyone in the shelter was paying attention.
Not all of you have the gift, but every mind can make the power stronger. Everyone join hands.
Nobody but the children could understand what she was hinting at, but they didn't have anything else to do here. They grabbed the hand of whoever was closest to them, forming a long chain of joined hands.
Focus your minds, she told them, focus on one single thought- keeping our city safe. Focus on our beautiful city being rid of danger. Focus all of your mind on that simple thought.
Every eye was closed. Their thoughts were focused, and all was silent. Armin watched as they stood still. Listening to the chaos outside, he felt the urge to help. He took Moll's one free hand, focused his thoughts, and waited.
Meanwhile…
In the city Eren struggled against a Rhinosaurus. The creature was strong enough to knock him off of his feet, despite it was only twice the size of an ordinary Rhino. Eren took hold of it, tossing it over his shoulder. In a sudden jolt, a Kumunga leaped in front of him. Trapped under the giant arachnid, Eren fought hard to keep the spider's fangs away from his skin.
Suddenly, he heard that sound again. That beautiful humming sound from yesterday. This time, instead of a light tone, it sounded like more people joined in the chorus.
To his amazement, a Gorosaurus dug its teeth into the Kumunga's body. With a single swing of its head, the Gorosaurus flung the spider away. It walked off, towards other creatures to engage in combat. Eren looked around, seeing other creatures following suit.
At least half of the monster army was turning on the others, attacking random creatures in great ferocity. Eren realized that this had to be Miki's doing. She had used her powers of suggestion to persuade some of them to their cause. They had monsters on their side now.
After two minutes of civil monster war, the ones not defending the town scattered, retreating into the forest.
Levi was on a rooftop, finishing off a pair of Kamacuras when he saw the others retreat.
"Good riddance." He said with a smile. "That takes care of that."
There was a great thundering sound. The ground shook. There was one who wasn't happy about their victory.
Berlot had been hiding in the forest, making sure his plan was in full fruition. But now it seemed that his plan had failed. Now he was mad, emerging from the wood with a scowling face. Looks like he had to destroy them himself.
"Damn." Levi said.
The entire human army saw him, slowly marching towards them. Forming crystal blades in his hands, he was ready for destruction. He opened his mouth to charge up his Prisim beam.
Then the roar was heard. That familiar, powerful roar.
SKREEEEONGK!
Berlot turned around, amazed by what he saw. Coming in behind him was The Great Predator himself, glowing with raw power. The Survey Corps began to cheer as he slowly thundered forth.
He stopped, looking directly at Berlot. He let out another roar, issuing his challenge. He was ready.
Berlot felt rage coursing through him. How dare he stand there! How dare he not just die and be out of his life forever. Berlot roared himself, ready to end this once and for all.
They charged at one another, sparks flying as their claws clashed. Godzilla grabbed onto Berlot's arm, only for Berlot to return it with a strike to the jaw. Godzilla took hole of his opponent's throat, tossing him aside.
Enraged, Berlot dashed towards Godzilla with crystal wrist blades at the ready. He collided his face with Godzilla's tail as the saurian swung it forwards. Pinned down by a massive tail, Berlot couldn't help being pummeled by Godzilla's kicks.
The Crystal Titan opened his mouth, about to bite Godzilla's tail. The reptilian Kaiju saw this and backed off. He had learned from his last encounter. He wasn't about to let Berlot gain any more power.
Eren watched in the form of the Rouge Titan. He had no idea how Godzilla became the glowing mass of radiation, but he knew it wouldn't be enough to stop that monstrosity. He didn't know how, but he had to help. Somehow he had to turn the tide.
He dashed towards the colossal standoff, only to be flung into a building by a sudden force pushing him. Eren looked up, shocked over what he saw. The Armored Titan. After almost a year, he finally showed his face.
Reiner could sense Eren's intentions, and he didn't agree with them. Whatever Berlot had become, he still was Berlot. And Reiner wasn't going to allow anyone to kill his friend again.
Then he looked at Eren, remembering the mission. If he could get the Coordinate from Eren then perhaps he could get control over Berlot, curing him.
Eren stood back up. He knew for a fact that Reiner had to be on Berlot's side, and stood in Eren's way. Knowing Reiner well, he knew that he couldn't help The Great Predator until the Armored Titan was taken care of first.
Reiner rushed forward again, this time Eren braced for it. Reiner threw a few punches, but Eren performed a stomach-kick. It wasn't strong enough to cause damage, but it did knock Reiner far enough away. This gave Eren room to throw a punch. Blow after blow, Reiner didn't even flinch at the attacks. His armor was too thick.
Reiner gave Eren a chop to the shoulder, then a tackle. As he was about to jab again, a familiar ball of brown charisma clashed against him. Anguirus had officially joined the fight.
Sasha, Mikasa, Connie and Levi watched as Kaju and Titan fought inside and outside the city.
"What should we do?" Jean asked.
"Look for any more peasants wandering around," Levi said, "Get as much distance between human and monster as possible.
Meanwhile…
Godzilla was evenly matched against Berlot this time. The only thing he couldn't match up against was Berlot's speed. He had enough of an opening to dodge Godzilla's attacks. Berlot used the distance to fire multiple shots of crystal shards, attempting to take him down the same way as last time.
Unfortunately for Berlot, Godzilla's skin and flesh gained a bit of a defense boost. While painful, the shards barely pierced the skin. Godzilla fired off a heat beam, assaulting the patch of forest with a barrage of explosive power. He remembered Berlot was immune, but hopefully he could at least knock him down long enough.
Berlot used this cover to rapidly sneak up behind him. He leapt into the air, knocking Godzilla down with a face-kick. Godzilla bit down hard on Berlot's foot. While covered in crystal, there were a few spots between his foot and ankle that still had flesh. Luckily, Godzilla's teeth dung into them.
While Godzilla held on, he noticed something. Belort's chest had a yellowish-orange gem in the center. He recalled that it glowed a bit before he released his Crystal Overload in the first round. Perhaps he could use that somehow. But he would have to weaken Berlot first.
Berlot struggled, only helping Godzilla get up in his attempts to pull the foot from the dinosaur's jaws. One final push freed him, sacrificing two of his toes in the process. Godzilla charged in with a stomach punch, then a hit to Berlot's jaw. After a third hit, Berlot swung his tail into Godzilla's face like a crystal flail. Godzilla took hold of it, once again beating Berlot multiple times like a dirty rug against the ground.
Meanwhile…
Eren was thankful that Anguirus had joined the fight. The best ally to have against an Armored Titian is an armored kaiju. But even with his help Reiner was still a powerful opponent. He had more experience with Titan powers than Eren did.
It was clear that the two needed strategy. The combination of speed, power, and durability that Reiner had was difficult to overcome.
Eren and Anguirus gave hit after hit, not even scratching his armor. Once there was enough space, Reiner jumped into the air, forcing The Rouge Titan and Anguirus to crash into each other. Reiner's foot landed right onto Eren's throat.
Anguirus saw this and charged towards Riener, only for him to grab the reptile by the neck. Angiurus struggled as Reiner placed his hands on the youngster's upper and lower jaw. Eren was forced to watch in horror a Reiner started pulling Anguirus's jaws further and further apart. The muscles in his mouth began to stretch, causing blood to flow from inside.
Reiner smiled. This was going to be easy. Anguirus began to panic, he just found himself a new family, and he wasn't allowing the risk of their deaths. He channeled power deep from his core, unleashing it in the form of a sonic roar. To Reiner's misfortune, he was holding Anguirus's mouth closely to his face.
The roar did its job, deafening Reiner and causing blood to gush from his ears. Reiner covered his ears in pain. Eren noticed the muscle in Reiner's knee, completely unarmored. With Reiner distracted, Eren jabbed his fingers into the knee muscle as hard as he could, digging deep into the Armored Titan's leg.
While blood trickled down Eren's fingers, Anguirus charged at Reiner again. Thanks to both efforts, Reiner was sent flying, completely torn from his leg as Eren held on tight. Reiner landed face-first into a civilian home.
The Armored Titan looked up, frightened by the loss of his right leg. Anguirus bashed Reiner continually with his tail. Eren picked Reiner up, throwing him into the damaged street.
Enraged and having enough of Titans, he thrust his hand into the Armored Titan's neck with all his might. He tore a piece of armor that covered the nape, exposing soft flesh underneath. He ripped Reiner's human body right from the nape, holding Reiner and a few fleshy bits in his hand.
Perhaps in a fit of rage, Eren decided not to just crush Reiner in his hands. Instead, Eren's Titan rage took hold. He clenched his fist and chucked Reiner as hard as he could, tossing him far into the distance. Eren hoped that the fall would be enough to kill him once and for all.
Anguirus roared, possibly telling Reiner 'good riddance' in his own way. Eren couldn't celebrate himself. After fighting an army of prehistoric creatures and the armored Titan, he had exhausted his titan body. He collapsed on the ground, slowly emerging from the Rogue's neck.
Anguirus sensed that Eren was weaker, so he picked Eren up with his forepaw. He was willing to hold onto him until he found the Survey Corps again. Perhaps they could revive him. He darted off, carrying the knocked out shifter through the city.
Meanwhile…
Berlot managed to escape his merciless beatings by firing a few Tail Shards into Godzilla's face. Godzilla kicked ferociously at the downed Titan. Berlot formed another blade, stabbing Godzilla's leg. Godzilla gave Berlot three punches to the face. The crystal Titan caught the fourth punch with the palm of his crystal covered claw.
Godzilla focused his radioactive power and channeled it through his arm. The power trickled down on Berlot like red electricity. It was a lot of pain, but Berlot stood strong. Now was Godzilla's chance! He lunged his claw into Belrot's chest, removing the gem. The hole in his chest revealed Berlot's heart, crystalized but still partially organic. It glowed a purple hue as it beat.
Berlot escaped Godzilla's radioactive death-grip by letting loose a Prism Beam into Godzilla's face, causing a small explosion. Berlot backed away and performed another Prism Beam onto Godzilla's chest. This attack was now the worst thing Godzilla had to fear. Too many direct hits with this attack while in Critical Mass would risk igniting a reaction.
Again and again, he bombarded Godzilla with beam after beam. Godzilla was too slow to react. Seeing his opportunity, the radioactive saurian let loose a powerful Heat Beam, colliding with Berlot's Prism Beam.
The humans watched from afar. Anguirus found the Survey Corps, entrusting Eren to their care. As Eren awoke, he saw the Beam Battle endure.
Come on, Come on. He said in his mind, you're all we have left Predator. You have to win!
The beams were still locked after a minute of their colliding. Both Berlot and Godzilla's wills were strong. Godzilla dug deep once more, causing his heat Beam to gain a quick enough surge to push the Prison Beam into Berlot's face, causing an explosion.
While Berlot was disoriented, Godzilla shot another Beam right into Berlot's chest cavity. Berlot felt this, laughing inside. All he was doing was overloading his heart. This would only activate Berlot's Crystal Overload like before.
What a fool, Berlot though.
But unlike the first time his heart overloaded, this surge was painful. He could feel his heart begin to crackle with energy, too much energy. Godzilla was planning to overload Berlot to the breaking point. Realizing what was happening, he charged in on all fours to dodge the beam.
Godzilla counted on this, grabbing him as he lunged forward. Using all the strength he could gather, Godzilla threw Berlot high into the air.
Tapping into every last bit of power he had left, Godzilla's mouth burst another Beam, this one so powerful it emitted a blinding white light. The beam was powerful enough to launch Berlot further into the air. As he soared, the energy flowed through Berlot's body like a tidal wave of pain.
No! Berlot screamed in his head, this can't be! I can't go down like this again! NOOOOOOOOOOO!
Crystals on his body began to glow bright pink, cracking and exploding into bits of molten gemstone. Blue flames covered his body, erupting from his throat as he screamed. Finally, his body couldn't take it anymore and exploded in a grand pink light that lit the night sky.
Godzilla watched the light, his body reverting back to normal. That final beam used up the last portion of power. He was no longer in Critical Mass. With confirmation that Berlot was finally dead, Godzilla let out an even louder roar than before, signaling his victory.
SKREEEEONGK!
The survivors of the onslaught cheered on. The horror was finally over. One however, was not happy. In the forest, Reiner had landed on a tree branch, twisted and mangled in the treetop. He was paralyzed and forced to witness the second death of his best friend and ally. He made a vow on that branch, that one day soon, he would have an army against the Great Predator.
"One day," he gargled as Godzilla headed back to sea. "With my bare hands…One day!"
Two hours later…
The people were released from the shelters. They thanked Deliverance that The Great Predator chose to keep his fight outside the city. The battle against the forest creatures did plenty enough damage.
"How's your head feeling?" Mikasa asked Eren.
Eren rested on Armin's shoulders as the Corps went around town during inspection.
"A bit woozy," he answered, "but…I think I'll live."
Levi had returned to the group after consulting the Tanakibo officials. He was accompanied by Jean, who held onto a familiar individual. It was Ymir.
After the fight was over, she made herself known to the Corp. She made her decision on whose side she was on, deciding she was done with this war as well. She had surrendered herself over to Levi.
"What's going to happen to her?" Armin asked.
"It's up to the Pigs inside the walls," he answered, "she's going to have a full trial. Hange wants to see if she can make a deal with the court- amnesty in exchange for donating her body to research. Ymir didn't object to it at all."
Eren coughed a little. He hadn't felt a Titan hangover this bad in a long time.
"Yeager," Levi said, "What you did out there was dangerous and idiotic. Glad to see you still got it after a year without practice."
Anguirus made a low grumble.
"You did pretty good out there too." Said Sasha, stroking his leg.
"Say Levi," Said Connie, pointing to their Kaiju friend. "You think we can get a Corps uniform in his size?"
Everyone except for Levi burst into laughter at that remark. The adamant leader turned away from them, cracking a small secretive smile as he walked off.
Eren's eyes drifted, watching the crowds of people scattering about. He saw Miss Seagusa, handing supplies out to the citizens. He lifted himself up, walking over to the priestess.
"Here you are," she said to a small child, "Deliverance be with you."
"Miss Seagusa?" Eren asked.
"Please call me Miki," she said, "you don't have to be so formal."
"I just wanted to say thanks." He continued, "You were right, I suppose Deliverance is keeping an eye on us."
"I didn't tell that speech to convert you," she giggled, "I just wanted to help."
"Still," he said, "You were right about what you said. If I just gave up back there, the great Predator wouldn't have saved our skins. I guess even a miracle from the heavens needs help now and then."
Eren looked out and watched as Godzilla walked in the distance, and as he watched this mighty creatures left his sight he could not help but think.
"With Berlot gone maybe the crystals are gone as well, would that mean the Great Predator will go back to hunting titans and if he does will he hunt me?"
"Time will tell, Eren."
Eren turned to his left seeing Miki watching Godzilla leaving.
"Yeah," spoke Eren softly. "Time will tell."
A/N: It's not over yet! Stay tuned for the conclusion as we wrap everything up. One more to go people!
PS: Rhinosaurus, Quetzlcoatl and Giant rat are from Godzilla: The Animated Series. Axor is from the Hannah Barbera cartoon. Manda Design used is from the original film.
