The sun was slightly above the horizon, the day having just begun for the inhabitants of Wall Rose.

Through the countryside a group of Scouts were surveying the lands, riding north on their horses. To their left the outline of Wall Rose was just barely visible in the distance.

One of the Scouts was alone at the head of the group, until one of the other Scouts pulled ahead so that they were beside them.

Ymir looked at Historia carefully. "You okay?"

Historia grimaced. "Yeah. I just...I'm nervous about being a squad leader."

Ymir smirked. "Well that's not the right attitude. You need to be confident and assertive."

Historia glanced away. "That's not what I'm worried about."

Ymir frowned. "Then what's the problem?"

"I...I just don't want to get anyone killed."

Ymir glanced behind them, where the other three members of their squad, Hitch, Mylieus, and Mina were riding a little ways back.

Ymir faced forward again. "...this isn't just a simple rescue mission, is it?"

"...no."

Ymir looked at Historia seriously. "Something else is going on. I know you've been having secret meetings with Commander Erwin and the other higher ups, and you won't tell me what that's about."

Historia's face flushed slightly, but she remained silent.

Ymir sighed. "Of course, I can't fault you, as I still have some secrets of my own. But I also know, or at least suspect, a little of what's going on here."

Historia looked at her sharply. "Like what?"

Ymir hesitated. "...don't tell anyone else, but...I know Eren's a Titan."

Historia's eyes widened. "What? How could you possibly know that?"

"...I figured it out. And while Eren's never straight up admitted it, some of the things he's said have strongly hinted that was the case. Plus, his absence while the Rogue Titan plugged up the breach was rather suspicious."

Historia looked at her friend uncertainly. "Ymir…"

Ymir continued. "Of course, if Eren's a Titan, then he can't be the only one. The Colossal and Armored must also be like Eren, humans who have the power to turn into Titans."

Ymir frowned grimly. "And they might even be people we know."

Historia was silent for a moment.

"...yes. But how did you figure all of that out?"

For the first time, Ymir looked slightly flustered. "...I'm...I'm not…"

Historia looked at the ground thoughtfully. "You once told me that true friends shouldn't keep secrets. I told you about my past, and I've been waiting patiently for you to tell me about yours."

Ymir looked away uncomfortably.

Historia looked at Ymir seriously. "I know I still have secrets. But...let's make a promise. After this mission, no more secrets. From either of us. Promise?"

Ymir met her gaze, and after a moment nodded. "Yes. I promise."

Further back, the other three Scouts were talking as well.

Hitch watched Ymir and Historia uncertainly. "What do you think they're talking about up there?"

Myleius shook his head. "Not sure. It's probably none of our business though.

Mina grinned. "Maybe they're planning to sneak off again like they did last night."

Hitch looked at her in confusion. "Huh?"

Mina raised an eyebrow. "You mean you didn't notice their absence last night?"

Hitch frowned. "I did, but I just figured they were going somewhere to be alone as friends."

Myleius snickered. "I think they're more than just friends."

Hitch looked puzzled for a moment, then suddenly gasped.

"Wait...you mean...WHAT?!"

Mina giggled at Hitch's expression. "What, you've never heard of two girls being a thing?"

Hitch blushed. "N-no. I...I thought that was just...something a guy and a girl did, not…"

Mina smiled. "Well, I guess you learned something new today."

Myleius shook his head. "Stop teasing her, Mina."

Mina sighed. "Fine, fine."

Hitch looked thoughtful. "Huh. I wonder if Annie's into girls…"

Mina shook her head. "I don't think she is. Then again, she normally keeps to herself, so I'm not sure."

Hitch frowned. "So even during training she was pretty reclusive?"

Mina nodded. "Yeah. She and Armin seemed to hit it off, but aside from that she didn't really try to make friends. She seems nice enough though. I hope she's okay."

Hitch looked ahead grimly. "Yeah. I hope we're not too late. The thought of assassins going after her...of going after any of my friends...I can't imagine anything worse."

Myleius let out a sharp gasp. "Holy shit."

He tugged on the reigns and stopped his horse. Puzzled by his behavior, Hitch and Mina made their horses halt as well.

Hitch looked back at him. "What? What is…"

She trailed off as she saw what had caught his attention.

The faint outline of Wall Rose was still visible in the distance. And standing right in front of it was a massive humanoid shape, its skin red and emanating a small cloud of steam off of its head and upper back.

Mina's eyes widened. "Is that…"

"It is."

Hitch, Mina, and Mylieus looked around to see that Historia and Ymir had turned around and were now right in front of them.

Historia looked at the wall grimly. "The Colossal Titan. We need to move! The other squads need our help!"

Hitch and the others looked shocked, and a little apprehensive, but they obeyed her orders.

As they rode toward the Colossal Titan, Ymir found her thoughts buzzing.

So, it's someone we know. But who?


The flash of light behind the Colossal Titan distracted Annie and Eren, but Eren managed to stay focused, and before Annie could recover he gave her a hard punch that sent her sprawling to the ground.

Eren retreated in order to see who the other Titan was, while Annie hastily got back to her feet.

From around the Colossal Titan's left leg a massive, shaggy form appeared.

Eren grimaced. Damn it. It's the Beast Titan.

The Beast Titan spoke. "So, you must be Eren Yeager, the holder of the long lost Attack Titan."

Mikasa looked up in shock, and she could see similar reactions from the others.

"I'm guessing it was a parting gift from your late father, am I right?"

Eren didn't respond, unable to speak in Titan form, and merely glared at his half-brother.

Mikasa's eyes widened. So that's what Eren meant last night. Eren…

She looked back at her fellow squad mates. "Listen, you guys get those three to safety. I'll back Eren up."

Sasha exclaimed. "Are you crazy? You can't take them all on alone!"

Mikasa pulled out her blades. "I'm not alone...Eren is here."

Connie stammered. "But…"

Mikasa looked at them fiercely. "There's no time! Just do it!"

Seeing the fire in her eyes, they obeyed. Connie, Sasha, and Marlowe readied their ODM gear, and pulled Jean, Marco, and Armin off the ground and into the air. They then began to make their way back to the abandoned Castle. Meanwhile, Mikasa moved forward toward the enemy Titans, using the nearby trees to mask her approach.

The Colossal Titan hadn't moved, but the Female and Beast Titan had changed positions so that they were surrounding the Attack Titan in a semicircle, still keeping their backs facing the wall.

Eren watched his opponents carefully, knowing he was outnumbered and that he would have to be careful.

The Beast Titan spoke again. "Now, then, are you going to make this more difficult then this needs to be? Regardless of how skilled you are, there are three of us, and only one of you. It also appears that your friends are running away. And even if they stayed, I doubt that they would be able to-"

Without warning, a blur shot by the Beast Titan's left knee, and the next second he let out a bellow of pain as his left leg collapsed, and he was forced to press his left hand to the ground in order to prevent himself from falling over completely.

The blur zoomed up across the Beast Titan's chest, and then sliced off the Beast Titan's right arm, causing him to let out another roar of pain.

Eren's eyes widened as he realized what the blur was.

Mikasa!

Mikasa then pivoted in the air, and swooped in front of the Beast Titan's face, cutting out his eyes as she did so. She then pivoted once more, and zoomed in on the nape for the kill.

But before she could cut out the nape, a massive cloud of steam erupted from the Colossal Titan, blowing her away and forcing her to retreat back into the trees.

Eren raised his hands in front of his face to mitigate the worst effects of the steam. Annie, meanwhile, had hastily shifted around so that she was between Eren and the Beast Titan.

After regaining her bearings, Mikasa flew over to a tree near the Attack Titan and perched on one of its branches.

She looked at Eren's Titan form uncertainly, then gasped in shock when she saw steam emanating from the nape. And poking out from the nape…

"Eren!" Mikasa cried.

She could tell that it was definitely Eren, but parts of his flesh were fused to the Titan body, including several long strands just beneath his eyes.

Eren called out to her. "The Colossal Titan will be visible for miles, and so reinforcements should be here before long. But with all this steam, they won't be able to use their gear effectively, which means they'll have a hard time fighting the other Titans."

While Mikasa had a million questions, she knew that they would have to wait. "So what do we do?"

Eren's gaze hardened. "I'll force the Colossal Titan back. You distract the Female Titan. The damage you inflicted on the Beast Titan should put him out of commission for at least a few minutes."

Mikasa looked at him in shock. "How are you going to get the Colossal Titan to move?"

Eren began to disappear into the nape once more. "I have a plan. Don't worry about me, just be careful!"

Mikasa nodded. "Right!"

Further away from the wall, the six young soldiers had managed to make it to the castle, where they would hopefully be safe from the unexpected Titan attack.

Connie looked at the others anxiously. "Are you guys okay?"

Marco frowned. "Physically, yes. Emotionally, though…"

"Not so much." Jean looked at the Colossal Titan grimly. "This is so fucked up."

Marlowe stared at the Titans in the distance, his face still full of disbelief. "I know. How...how could they just...how could…"

Sasha gently touched her friend's shoulder. "Armin, you okay?"

Armin didn't respond, his whole body trembling slightly. His eyes were wide, with tears leaking out from the sides, and he didn't seem to be fully aware of his surroundings.

Marlowe looked at him in concern. "What's wrong with him?"

Marco grimaced. "He and Annie had a thing going. I don't know how serious it was, but...well, this is probably hitting him hardest of all."

Jean scowled. "Damn it. What the hell were they playing at? Why did they do it? And why didn't Eren say anything sooner?"

His face darkened, and he abruptly held out his hand.

"Connie, give me your gear."

Connie was startled. "What?"

Jean watched the battle in the distance carefully. "Mikasa may be strong, and Eren may be...a Titan, but they could still use help before the reinforcements arrive. And I want to try to get some answers."

Connie reluctantly nodded. "Okay…"

Back at the forest, Mikasa was darting around the trees near the Female Titan, being careful to stay away from the protective cloud of steam that was surrounding the Female and Beast Titans.

Annie eyed the flying Ackerman cautiously. Are you trying to lure me out? Sorry, but I'm not moving until Zeke has healed. Besides, Eren is still our priority, though you're proving yourself to be quite the nuisance as well.

She squinted. I appreciate Bertolt's help, but all this steam is making it hard to see.

Meanwhile, Bertolt's thoughts were more anxious as he stared down at them all.

Damn it. My Titan is great for pure destruction, but when it comes to combat, especially direct combat, it's too slow. There's not much I can do to help. Any attack I tried, Eren would either see coming a mile away, or it would risk hitting Annie or Zeke as well. What should I…

Suddenly Eren ran back into the fray, and to the shock of Annie and Bertolt he leaped high into the air and grabbed Bertolt's right leg. He then began climbing upwards, digging his fingers into the Colossal Titan's flesh.

Annie and Mikasa stared at Eren in shock.

What the hell?

Eren, be careful!

Bertolt quickly recovered from his surprise, reached down and crushed Eren's Titan body against his leg using his right palm.

Eren let out a roar of pain, and Mikasa almost lost her composure and began flinging herself toward the Colossal Titan as fast as she could.

But she managed to keep herself in check, and stayed where she was.

Eren said he had a plan. I need to trust him.

Bertolt wrapped his fingers around Eren's form, and slowly lifted it up. As it neared his face, he opened his jaws, intending to bite off the upper half of Eren's Titan and capture Eren inside his mouth.

Bertolt felt calmer. Well, looks like you aren't as tough as I thought Eren. You may have fooled us all those years, but it seems you underestimated…

He froze just before he put Eren's Titan in his mouth, because he realized something was off.

For one, Eren hadn't struggled or fought against his grip at all. In fact, the Attack Titan's body was completely limp.

And now that it was near his face, Bertolt could see that there was a large, empty hole in the Titan's nape, from which steam was rising.

Bertolt's eyes widened. What…

The next second, Eren emerged from under his Titan's head, equipped with his ODM gear, and zoomed straight towards the Colossal Titan's face. Bertolt didn't have any time to react before an explosion of light blinded him.

Mikasa and Annie watched in amazement as Eren's Titan appeared for a second time right in front of the Colossal Titan's face.

The others back at the castle were also dumbfounded.

Connie sputtered. "What?!"

Sasha gasped. "How did he do that?"

Eren threw his arm forward, and punched Bertolt in the face hard enough to break his nose. The combined force of the explosion and Eren's punch caused the Colossal Titan to stumble back until it hit the wall, which prevented it from falling over.

The protective layer of steam surrounding the Female and Beast Titans disappeared, and Mikasa took advantage of the opening. She swooped in and tried to slice through Annie's knee.

But Annie was ready for her, and turned her skin into crystal. Mikasa's blades shattered upon impact, and Mikasa quickly retreated before Annie could counter.

Annie glanced at Bertolt. Damn him. That was a clever trick. Of course, he's had years to plan for this moment.

She smirked a little. But still, his plan had one little flaw.

Eren's attempt to push Bertolt back had been more successful than even he had anticipated. He'd planned to grab onto Bertolt's body in order to slow down his descent, but Bertolt was now too far away for him to grasp, which meant there was nothing to stop him from plummeting to the ground at a terrifying speed. Both of his legs broke upon impact, and he collapsed to the ground, uttering a loud groan of pain.

Annie ran over, intending to finish Eren while he was vulnerable. She knew that this would leave Zeke open to attack, but she calculated that Mikasa would be more concerned about Eren.

And she was right.

Mikasa immediately gave chase, and prevented Annie from running straight toward Eren, leaving several cuts on her legs as she flew by.

Mikasa glared at the Female Titan. "YOU WON'T TOUCH HIM!"

Mikasa glanced back at Eren, who was now sitting up, but still couldn't move because of his legs.

Mikasa tightened her grip on her blades. I have to buy him enough time to heal.

Mikasa and Annie then began an elaborate dance, swooping in, dodging, each trying to kill the other female soldier.

But Annie's experience eventually gave her the upper hand, and during one pass swung her hand right in front of Mikasa's path.

Mikasa's eyes widened, as she realized there was no way she would be able to dodge it in time.

She whispered. "No…"

Then, miraculously, the fingers on the hand fell off, and the hand hit nothing but empty air, blood spraying out of the stumps where the fingers used to be.

Mikasa winced as some of the hot blood hit her, but gasped as she saw who had sliced off the Female Titan's fingers.

"Jean!"

Jean looked slightly appreciative of Mikasa acknowledging that he had just saved her life, before his expression darkened once more and he glared up at Annie's Titan.

He yelled. "Annie! What the hell are you doing?!"

"I thought that was obvious."

Jean and Mikasa froze as they heard the voice echo from behind the Female Titan.

A moment later, the Beast Titan stepped into view. His leg and eyes were completely healed, though his right arm wasn't yet, as everything beneath the elbow was still gone.

"She's showing her true colors. So, you must be Mikasa. I see the number 1 spot was well earned."

The Beast Titan pulled back his left arm, and Mikasa and Jean realized that he was holding something in his left hand. The next second, the Beast Titan had flung a series of projectiles directly at them at high speeds.

But before it could hit them, Eren suddenly leaped in front of them and took the blows, his Titan body being crushed and dented by the objects before he crashed to the ground again.

Mikasa cried. "Eren!"

Eren winced after crashing to the ground, but found himself feeling confused.

That's strange. What did he throw at me? Was it just crushed up earth? Whatever it was, it didn't do very much damage at all. Is he holding back for some reason?

Without warning, the Colossal Titan roared.

The Beast Titan glanced up at him. "Reinforcements must be on their way. We need to end this quickly."

The next second he bellowed in pain as something jabbed into his right eye with enough force to poke out through the back of his head. After stumbling back, he returned his gaze to Eren's Titan, and realized that the Attack Titan must have flung a large branch at him like a spear.

He grunted as he tried and failed to pull the branch out.

He sighed. "Hold them off for a minute or two Annie."

He then retreated back toward the Colossal Titan, while Mikasa and Jean worked together to protect Eren from Annie while he healed.

Back at the castle, the others were beginning to worry.

"What do we do?" Sasha cried.

"I can hardly see anything through the trees." Connie remarked. "Except for the big guy obviously."

Marlowe swallowed nervously. "Well, perhaps we should-"

He was cut off as he heard the sound of hooves echoing through the air. He glanced down and saw a dozen or so members of the Survey Corp arrive at the castle. After taking a closer look, he recognized them as Squads Mike, Nanaba, and Krista.

Before long the horses had come to a halt, and the squad leaders reeled themselves up the castle walls until they were standing in front of the other young soldiers.

Mike stepped forward. "What's the situation?"

Everyone looked slightly flustered, but Marlowe steeled himself and answered, trying to be as quick to the point as possible.

"Sir! Our squad had picked up the trail of the missing soldiers, and we followed them to this castle. Shortly after we arrived...Eren, Annie, Bertolt, and an unknown party transformed into Titans. Eren appears to be on our side, but the rest seem to be enemies. Currently Eren, Mikasa, and Jean are fighting the enemy Titans somewhere in that forest."

Mike, Nanaba, and Krista appeared unsurprised.

Mike frowned. "I see. Is there anything else we should know?"

Marlowe briefly explained the physical appearance of each of the Titans, but after that didn't have anything else he could think of.

Marlowe grimaced. "Frankly, sir, I don't understand what's going on."

Mike nodded. "I see. The time will come when answers will be given, but now is obviously not that time."

Mike looked at Marlowe and Sasha carefully. "I see you two still have your gear. Are you injured?"

Sasha shook her head. "No, we're fine."

"Very good. You two will join Squad Nanaba."

He turned to Marco. "The rest of you stay here, and keep an eye out for any other squads that may arrive."

Marco nodded. "Yes sir."

Mike then turned around and raised his voice so that all the Survey Corp members who were still on the ground below the castle could hear them.

"Listen up! The Rogue Titan is our ally. The rest are enemies. Unlike normal Titans, they are intelligent, so take no unnecessary risks. Our first goal is to prevent them from escaping into Wall Maria. Our second goal is to capture them if possible, but kill them if necessary. Inside the nape is a human. If they are cut out from the nape and have their limbs removed, they will be rendered helpless. But as I said, take no unnecessary risks. If killing them is more feasible, then so be it."

There was some shocked murmuring among the Scouts gathered, though the veterans hid their surprise better than the newer recruits.

Hitch glanced at her squad mates. "What the hell is going on?"

Mina shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Mike continued. "Squad Krista! You will approach the wall from the left. Your first priority is to protect the Rogue Titan, while your secondary task is to take down the Female Titan. Squad Nanaba, head to the top of the wall and keep an eye on the Colossal Titan. Do not engage unless he emerges from the nape, or if one of the other Titans begins to climb the wall. My squad will approach the wall from the right and attempt to take down the Beast Titan."

His expression hardened. "The future of humanity rests on our actions here today! Dedicate your hearts! Fight with everything you've got!"

Squad Nanaba got back on their horses, and rushed around the forest toward the Wall. Meanwhile, Squad Mike and Squad Krista got their ODM gear ready, and began flying through the forest toward the Titans.

Back in the forest, Jean and Mikasa had successfully kept Annie away from Eren, who was most of the way healed.

But then, one of Jean's triggers malfunctioned, and he crashed against a tree, not hard, but enough to temporarily daze him, leaving him vulnerable to Annie's deadly attacks.

Mikasa shrieked. "JEAN!"

As Annie's fist hurtled toward him, Jean, in his terror, let out an angry yell.

"YOU BITCH! IF I WAS ARMIN, WOULD YOU STILL DO IT?!"

Annie's fist stopped moving, and she hesitated.

That split second of hesitation was all it took. Mikasa swooped in and cut out Annie's eyes, while Jean took the opening to regain his bearings and zoomed out of harm's way.

Annie let out a screech of pain, and hastily backed away.

Jean and Mikasa landed on two separate branches near Eren, whose legs were most of the way healed.

Mikasa panted. "I guess we're even."

Jean nodded. "Yeah."

He glared at the Attack Titan. "Eren, what the hell is going on?"

Mikasa shook her head. "Look, I know you must have a lot of questions. I've got quite a few myself. But now's not the time. We need to-"

Mikasa glanced around when she heard the sound of hooves thundering nearby, and her eyes widened.

Jean let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god. Reinforcements."

Nanaba's team reached the wall, half of the squad to the left of the Colossal Titan, half of the squad to the right. They quickly scaled up the wall until they were at the top, getting relatively near the Colossal Titan, but still giving him a wide berth.

Meanwhile, Mike's Squad was zooming straight toward the Beast Titan, who was at last completely healed, while Krista's squad was heading toward the blinded Female Titan.

Eren felt satisfied as he saw the Survey Corp flying amongst the trees.

Yes! We can do this!

He slowly got back up, his legs finally mended.

The Beast Titan drew back it's arm, and hurled more crushed up pieces of earth at Mike's incoming squad. The projectiles hit all of them except for Mike, causing them all to stumble or fall to the ground. But curiously, while the Scouts had major bruises and a few broken bones from the attack, none of them were killed.

Mike zoomed in on the Beast Titan, and attempted to lop off his right arm. But the Beast Titan was ready this time, and as Mike slashed, his massive arm became covered in a crystal like substance, shattering Mike's blades. The Beast Titan tried to grab Mike with his left hand, but Mike was too fast, and retreated to a nearby tree, where he sat for a moment, analyzing his opponent.

The Beast Titan looked at him, appearing slightly intrigued. "So, you must be a member of the Survey Corp. I must say, that gear you have is quite a clever idea. What's your name?"

If Mike was surprised to hear a Titan talking, he didn't show it. "The name's Mike. And I'm guessing you're Zeke."

Zeke's eyes widened in shock.

Mike's face darkened. "Tell your masters back in Marley that I said Fuck You."

On top of the wall, Marlowe looked down at the battle below.

He tried to reassure himself. They'll be fine. Annie...the Female Titan...is injured. And Eren's there to help. They've got this.

Nanaba shouted. "WATCH OUT!"

The next second, Marlowe saw why. The Colossal Titan was raising its right arm up as if to swipe them off the wall.

Marlowe swore. "Shit!"

The other members of Nanaba's squad hastily ran further down the wall, trying to get out of the Colossal Titan's reach.

But then, the hand suddenly stopped before it went over the wall.

Marlowe frowned. What? Why did it stop? What is…

He paused when he realized that the hand was grasping part of the wall, digging its fingers in.

Marlowe felt bewildered. What? Why is he grabbing the wall? What could he possibly...

But all at once, a large chunk of the wall broke off in the Colossal Titan's hand, and Marlowe realized too late what Bertolt's intentions were.

The Colossal Titan tossed down the chunk of wall toward the area where the Female and Attack Titans were. As it descended it broke apart into several smaller but still massive chunks of debris.

Marlowe screamed at the top of his lungs. "LOOK OUT! ABOVE YOU!"

Everyone looked up, but it was too late for them to dodge. Annie and Eren raised their hands over their heads, trying to protect their napes. Annie hardened her hands, covering them completely with the crystal like substance. Eren tried to do the same, but couldn't.

Eren's eyes widened. Shit! That's right, I can't harden yet! I'm-

The next second, the pieces of the wall slammed to the ground.

One piece lopped off Eren's left arm and a chunk of his left leg, smacking him down into the ground. Another hit Annie dead on, but was deflected by her hardened fists.

Mikasa and Jean managed to avoid getting hit. But Krista's squad was less lucky.

Mina and Mylieus were instantly crushed by one piece of debris, their bloody and mangled corpses flattened against the unforgiving forest floor. Ymir had her right arm torn off by another falling piece of debris, which sent her falling to the ground. Krista was not hit directly, but one of the pieces snagged her wires, causing her to lose balance and tumble to the ground.

The only one unaffected was Hitch, who glanced back at her squad mates in horror.

Jean's eyes were wide. "Bertolt...you bastard…"

Annie lunged forward, one of her eyes mended and the other not far behind, and took advantage of Hitch's distraction.

As she swung her leg forward, Annie's expression hardened.

I'm a Warrior. Last night was the last time I got to pretend otherwise. It doesn't matter how painful it is, it doesn't matter if it's wrong, I just need to do what's necessary!

Hitch looked up at the Female Titan in terror, knowing she wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time. And as she locked eyes with the Titan, she realized the truth.

Annie...why?

Annie's foot smashed Hitch aside effortlessly, killing her instantly, and sending her body flying into a nearby tree.

Mikasa and Jean were frozen in horror, while Eren let out an angry growl.

Marlowe's eyes were wide in disbelief.

That didn't just happen. That can't have. Hitch…

Annie took several more paces forward, and swung her right palm down, intending to flatten Krista before she could get back up.

But before she could, Ymir got to her feet, absently clutching the stump where her right arm used to be.

Ymir smiled softly. Well...Eren said this day would come sooner or later. Looks like that day has arrived. No more secrets...Historia…

She ran forward, and an explosion of light engulfed her body, which caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

Annie froze in shock, and Ymir, now a Titan, leaped forward and bit off Annie's right hand. Annie quickly hardened her left hand and swung it at Ymir, but Ymir caught the fist in her jaws, and bit the left hand off as well, crushing the crystal with her powerful teeth.

Annie let out a shriek of pain, and hastily backed away.

Mikasa and Jean were struck dumb, while Eren felt appreciative.

About time, Ymir.

Mike and Zeke looked at Ymir with surprise.

Mike stammered. "So that's…"

"The Jaws Titan." Zeke finished. "I'm guessing from your facial expressions that this is news to you as well. Still, it seems staying here any longer would be unwise."

Zeke raised his voice. "ANNIE! WE'RE PULLING BACK!"

Ymir looked at Historia. "You...alright?"

Historia nodded shakily. "Y-yes. Ymir?"

Annie and Zeke climbed their way up Bertolt's body, and Bertolt's steam prevented anyone from getting too close with their ODM gear.

As they reached the top, the Colossal Titan flung his arms onto the wall, forcing the Survey Corp members on the wall to pull back.

Once Zeke and Annie were on the wall, Bertolt and Zeke emerged from their Titans and climbed onto Annie's shoulders. After making sure they were on tight, she walked to the edge of the wall.

Sasha, acting on impulse, rushed forward. "WAIT!"

Annie hesitated.

Sasha yelled again. "ANNIE! BERTOLT! WHY?!"

Bertolt looked at her anxiously, part of his face peeled away from his time inside his Titan.

After hesitating, he called back. "BECAUSE WE'RE SOLDIERS!"

With that, Annie leaped off the wall. As she descended, she hardened the bottom of her feet and parts of her legs, so that when she landed on the ground the damage to her legs was minimal.

The Female Titan began jogging south, with Bertolt and Zeke still on her shoulders. A handful of mindless Titans were roaming around, but she was much too fast for them, and before long she was out of sight.


Author's Note: Sorry about the delay. Part of it was due to real life things, part of it was because every time I sat down to write, something like this happened:

(Google dilbert August 11 2015 to see what I mean)

Anyways, I'm fairly satisfied with how this turned out. Be sure to let me know what you thought. Sorry I had to kill some people, but this is still the world of Attack on Titan. Just because Eren is giving the Walldians a better chance doesn't mean things will work out for everyone. Though considering the body count of the original, I'd say I'm being pretty lenient.

Next time, less action, more talking. I'll try not to take as long for the next chapter, but hey, I'm still updating more often than the official Attack on Titan. Seriously, I need Chapter 112 NOW...