Fall of Titan
It was early morning of day two of the Titan conference in Utopia. The entire Scouting Regiment was currently waiting, hidden just within the tree line on a mountain thirty miles away. Codex and Marco ware watching activity in the town below via multiple overhead satellites. They had been able to pinpoint YMIR nearly a week ago, thanks to the always observant Sasha. It was she who'd noticed vehicles and people disappearing at then end of a road that seemed to dead end at a mountain base. Satellite imaging combined with Marco's phenomenal hacking skills got them the layout of the YMIR facility. Like father, like son, Levi though as he watched Marco concentrating on his laptop. He may not have any Super powers, but his brain more than makes up for that.
Everyone was on edge, ready to move at a moment's notice. They would be striking in broad daylight once all of the conference attendees arrived at YMIR to tour the facility. According to what Marco and Hange had been able to discover, Titan had made some kind of major breakthrough that they wanted to show of to its most affluent members.
"This is definitely a trap," Huntress said quietly as she viewed the town of Utopia from the safety of the trees.
"I agree," Levi responded. "My bet is that they're planning on wiping us out when we get in there and then taking Eren."
Codex looked up from their laptop. "Hey Raven, remember that military helicopter that took off before 'the ass crack of dawn'?" they asked, making hand quotes in the air and mocking Levi's voice.
"What about it?"
"I think I know where it went. Just got a break-in signal from Site C. Bet you're 100% right about them thinking they were going to be grabbing Eren."
"Shit. Glad we brought Eren with us now, Eyebrows?"
"I am," The Commander confirmed. "Also, glad we decided to burn Site C. It's too bad to lose the training facility though."
"There is no backup headquarters, so we better make good on this attack. We're shit outta luck if we fail," Levi observed.
"True that," Commander agreed. "Now Titan is stumped as to why Eren wasn't at Site C. I'm hoping they believe that we'd never be foolish enough to bring him with us, but we'll proceed as if they know he's here. From here on, Eren is now to be called, Rogue. Marco will be Finder and Armin will be Deviser."
Eren, Marco and Armin had all been given Scout uniforms and masks, enabling the three to blend in with the Supers. Reiner had also been given a uniform since he was now considered a member of the Scouts and had done very well in the last two weeks of training. All Scouts were equipped with an in-ear communicator and tracker that Marco had designed with a signal that was undetectable and resistant to jamming and EMPs. He had explained how they worked, but Hange was the only person that could make heads or tails of what was pure gibberish to everyone else.
Levi had spent the past week working on creating multiple portals to multiple locations at once. It hadn't taken him long to get the hang of it. Having memorized the layout of the facility they would be raiding, he was confident about creating five portals into YMIR at once. Finder & Deviser would remain at their current location keeping track of the others' whereabouts and guiding them through the facility from a safe distance.
Codex, teamed up with Aegis, would be disabling the security and communication systems. Then, with Finder's remote help, they would fry all of the computer servers in the facility and, if possible, all Titan offsite computers that were connected to it. Three teams of two would be creating distractions at critical locations within the facility. The Commander and She-Wolf would be destroying the YMIR's primary power generator. Northwind and Huntress would be attacking the primary research laboratory. T-BAB and Faerie would be attacking the what Codex had dubbed "The Clone Room".
Raven and Rogue would be investigating a room that showed up only on seismograph imaging as a hollow space with a strange energy signature that was only detectable by satellite. It was Codex that found the energy signature, and Rogue and Deviser had come up with the idea of using seismometer readings to locate the open space. "You see," Rogue had explained. "Seismic waves travel at different speeds depending on what material they are travelling through. For instance, they travel through solid rock faster than through magma. It's a method that scientists use to measure the size of super volcanic magma chambers and even to see the inside of the planet. The waves travel even slower through air."
It had taken a considerable amount of doing, including Levi and Codex placing sixty seismometers around the mountain and Utopia valley, but a large empty space was detected in the same location as the energy source. Seismic measurements were accurate enough to give them the dimensions and basic shape of the space. Levi planned on entering at the very edge and hoping no one would be there to see. The problem lay in that they had no way of knowing what they would find. They were going on Commander's and Raven's gut instincts that it was something very important.
A steady stream of vehicles was now arriving and disappearing into the mountain. Levi mentally scanned each vehicle. "I'm a little surprised. I half expected a bunch of empty cars and busses to be showing up, but all of them are fully occupied. I'm getting no sense of military personnel or anything. It just seems like ordinary people. They don't seem to be aware of this being a trap. That doesn't mean that Titan isn't still using them as bait without them being aware. I'm getting a lot of subdued excitement from all of them. Something big is definitely happening."
"Good. Just remember, this could still be a trap," Erwin reminded.
Soon the flow of traffic entering the mountain all but ceased entirely. They waited another hour. Attacking in broad daylight would be an unexpected move in most cases, but at the same time, attacking at this time when all of Titan's heads were in the research facility seemed like an obvious tactic. They could only hope that knowing this was likely a trap gave them an advantage.
"Alright, everyone. Let's go. Communicate as soon as you are in and are able," The Commander instructed.
"Yes, sir!" most of the Scouts replied.
Raven held out both hands, palms facing forward and concentrated. Five portals appeared in front of them. He had finally figured out how to create portals without the bright flash, and so, hoped that it would make entry into YMIR a little less noticeable. The portals only appeared as distortions in the air. He waited until everyone else was through before stepping through his own with Rogue and collapsing all five behind him.
Raven dropped into an immediate crouch, Rogue beside him, both scanning the area around them. Both men were shocked by what they saw. They were at the very edge of a massive cavern that was made entirely of a strange, luminous crystal. The entire cavern was brightly lit from the crystal alone. There were massive crystal pillars throughout holding up the roof. The sheer enormity of the space alone was enough to be jaw dropping.
Check-ins began coming through on the comms. Raven raised his hand to his ear, about to respond, but hesitated. Fearing the acoustics of the cavern carrying even a whisper to anyone who may be present, he checked in Telepathically to Deviser and Finder. Let the others know that Raven and Rogue are in.
"Raven and Rogue just checked in," came Deviser's response over the comm.
Listen, Rogue. I'm no expert, but the size and material of this cavern look like sound would really carry. We could drop a pin here and be heard by someone on the far side. We'll have to communicate telepathically and be absolutely silent. Levi had no sooner finished when the sound of quiet voices echoing through the cavern from somewhere beyond their line of sight confirmed what he feared.
Rogue nodded in acknowledgement. I don't have Super hearing and even I heard those voices.
Raven scanned the area, contemplating how to proceed. Codex would flip their shit if they saw this place! He cocked his head, trying to listen. The acoustics are messing with my hearing. I can't tell exactly where those voices are coming from or even how far away they are. For now, let's stick together and move along the wall to our left. We'll use the pillars as cover.
Again, Rogue nodded in acknowledgement. They moved silently along the wall, keeping as low as they could. Then came the call they were all afraid of. "We've got a problem," came Codex's hushed voice. "There's two Turncoats in here."
"Four at my location," Faerie whispered.
"Four at our location, too," Northwind added.
"Two here," the Commander said quietly.
Raven scowled in irritation. Listen up, everyone, he told everyone telepathically. Here's what we're gonna do. The Commander planned for this. Everyone sit tight and stay out of sight. Rogue and I are gonna portal to the control room and take out the two clones there. Once Codex has disabled security and communications, I'll send Deviser to take out the two clones at the Commander's location. Rogue will go to take out the four at Faerie and T-Bab's location and I'll take the four at Northwind and She-Wolf's location. We'll then return to the original plan.
"Right," came multiple hushed responses.
Raven glanced at Rogue, who nodded that he was ready. Raven then created a portal to where Codex and Aegis were just outside the control room. Now in a place where acoustics wouldn't project his voice he spoke quietly into the transmitter. "Remember; shoot to kill. There are millions of innocent lives depending on the outcome of this battle, so we can't afford the luxury of sparing a few Titan lives. Titan is sure as hell not gonna spare any of our lives if given the chance."
He spoke to Rogue as he checked the silencer on his gun. "Listen, this isn't going to be easy for you. I'll do this alone if you feel you can't."
"I don't want to kill. But if it means sparing the lives of everyone else in the world . . . then I'll just have to get my hands dirty," Rogue replied sadly. "I said I'd kill all of the Titans if I have to and I meant it."
"Alright, then. Let's go."
Codex nodded curtly before placing their hand on the panel next to the door, triggering it to open with their power. Raven and Rogue stepped quickly into the room and shot everyone they saw. The two Turncoat clones never even had a chance to fathom what was happening before two bullets ended each of their lives. Raven immediately felt the familiar roll of nausea but ignored it as best he could in favor of completing his mission.
Rogue heaved once in his mouth but managed to keep everything in as Codex and Aegis entered the room and Codex set immediately to work.
Finder's voice came over the comm a few seconds later. "I've hacked the server. Based on the files, there were only fifteen Turncoat clones. With the two just killed now and the three Raven killed the other night, that leaves just the ten."
"Alright, I've sent a burn virus to all computers connected to this control room," Codex informed gleefully. "There's gonna be a few major corporations going down hard in the next hour."
"Thanks, Finder. You too, Codex. Deviser, you ready?" Raven asked.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm sending you to take out the two clones at the Commander and She-Wolf's location. Rogue will take out the four at Faerie and T-BAB's location. I'm going to take out the four at Northwind and Huntress's location. Everyone ready?" After a hushed chorus of "Yes, sir", he opened three portals, two from his location and one from Deviser's location. "Let's go," Raven ordered.
Rogue disappeared through the portal that Raven directed him to, and Raven disappeared through his own portal. Raven came out in the very center of a truly massive laboratory. It was vaguely reminiscent of the greenhouse where Titan had grown the Nightshade Lilies a few years back. There were several long rows of workstations loaded with equipment, computers, paper, test tubes and vials of unknown substances.
Raven immediately found and targeted the Turncoat clones along with more than twenty armed guards. Because of the silencer on the gun and Raven's speed, two clones and eight guards were shot dead before anyone on the room realized what was happening. Most of the people, presumably scientists and assistants, dropped to hide behind or under their workstations with a number of frightened shrieks and screams. There were still over a dozen armed guards in the room who opened fire on the intruder that appeared out of nowhere.
Said intruder dropped to a crouch on one of the workstations and place his right hand, palm down, on the surface. An ornate dark cobalt, almost black circle appeared around him and the onslaught of bullets ricocheted off an invisible surface, shattering glass and equipment throughout the room. The energy from the impacts was being absorbed by the shield, causing it to gradually become visible. Raven had an almost sadistic smirk on his face as the pointless onslaught continued.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO WAITING FOR?!" one of the guards shouted at the clones. "NEUTRALLIZE THIS BASTARD! THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE HERE FOR!"
"He's not responding!" one of the clones replied, sounding slightly panicked.
"We can't get control of him! What is he?" the other added.
"Your worst nightmare," Raven replied calmly. In spite of the deafening sound of gunfire, his voice was still heard clearly by all in the room. "You see, I'm not really a Super; I'm just not entirely human. You half-ass clones can only control Super powers, not normal genetic traits. More importantly, you can't control magic, which is what I'm using. And while you've all been wasting your bullets on my shield while I chatter away here, I've been gathering and amplifying all of the energy and malice from your attacks against the shield, to use against you . . . like this."
The now clearly visible, though transparent shield seemed to collapse in on the winged hero, but then suddenly exploded outward in a spherical shockwave that blasted through the room. Everyone and everything except Raven and the workstation he was crouched on was suddenly slammed back into the walls. The two clones hadn't even hit the floor yet when Raven put two bullets between each of their eyes. His stomach rolled threateningly, in spite of his not having eaten in over twenty hours, as he snapped his fingers, igniting a spark that he used to set the room ablaze.
"Research lab clear," he spoke into the comm as he left the burning room to meet with the stunned Northwind and Huntress who'd been watching from the hall.
"Generator room clear," came Deviser's shaky voice over the comm.
"Clone room clear . . . but you really need to see this," Rogue finally said.
Suddenly the lights went out. "Generator's down for good. Everyone converge on the Clone room." The Commander ordered.
Raven again created portals from each team's location to the Clone room. The room was nearly as big as the cavern below where he'd originally entered the facility. The room was dimly lit from the dark blue glow from hundreds of vertical cylinders where humanoid forms floated in a clear fluid, tubes and wires connected to their bodies. The bodies were significantly larger than most humans and some of them seemed deformed and disproportioned. The ones that looked near perfect were in the cylinders that were clearly working with fluid and bubbles circulating. The deformed ones were in cylinders that were dark and still. "Mother of Sina," Raven breathed in horror.
"This room still has power," Codex noted as they placed their hand on one of the lit computer displays beside one of the functioning cylinders. Their voice betrayed how disturbed they were. "Titan is nothing but an organization of monsters to do this to any human being," they said quietly, anger building in their voice. "This room has a separate power source. Can't tell what it is, though. What I can tell you is that these poor creatures in the working tanks are the 'pinnacle' of humanities 'former glory' according to the computer." The looked up at the androgynous form in the cylinder. "Sick bastards," they hissed.
"This room is directly above the cavern Raven and I entered," Rogue stated. "It's a massive cavern of luminous crystal. That may be where this room's power is coming from."
Finder's eyes widened. "The Book of Titan . . . that cavern must be the Hall of Light that was spoken of! It was supposed to be the source of the goddess' power."
"There were people down there," Rogue said. "We never got close enough to see who or how many, but we heard them talking."
"Alright, everyone. Listen up," the Commander ordered. "This is where we'll create a distraction to draw all of Titan's forces to one spot. Codex, are these beings alive?"
"Yes. All of them. Even the ones in the dark tanks."
The Commander sighed unhappily. "I'm afraid we still have to destroy them all. We can't allow these . . . people to leave here alive. They'd never be able to live a normal life, and for all we know, they've been programed by Titan."
Raven, oblivious to the conversation, had been standing with his hand against one of the cylinders staring up at the being within since entering the room. "It's not alive."
"I beg your pardon?" the Commander questioned.
Raven startled, suddenly aware that he wasn't alone. "They're not alive. The bodies may be functioning, but there's no soul; no emotion or feelings or thoughts of any kind. Titan may think they have the perfect human here, but without a soul, it's nothing more than an amalgamation of flesh and bone." He glanced down at the writing on a placard on the cylinder. "Raymond Thompson; whoever he was, whether he was a willing volunteer or not, he died when Titan did this to him."
The Scouts all stood in shocked, horrified silence. Raven could feel the rage radiating from Rogue, who stood beside him. He turned to look at the younger and noticed that his usually ocean-green eyes were now golden and glowing faintly, much like his own silver eyes glowed. "Bastards," Rogue hissed.
"Alright then," the Commander began. "Raven and Rogue will return to the Hall of Light to find out who is down there and put a stop to them. I suspect it will be the heads of Titan. The rest of us will remain in here. We're going to destroy everything in here. That should be sufficient to draw a large portion of Titan's forces to us. We will engage them here and keep them distracted while Raven and Rogue complete their mission."
"Raven. Rogue. Before you go," Codex half whispered. "There are five tanks that are empty. In case you run into one of these, there is only one way to truly kill them. These things have the ability to regenerate limbs just like Eren does, but the one thing they lack is true immortality. If you sever the nape where the cervical and lumber meet, they won't be able to regenerate and will die."
With a curt nod of thanks, Raven created a portal to the spot where he and Rogue had first entered the cavern what seemed like hours ago. The two men began to immediately follow the same route they had before. Rogue looked a little confused. Is that chanting I'm hearing? he mentally asked Raven.
The both paused to listen. A single man's voice cried out in a loud monotone, "Our goddess will deliver our enemies to us this day!"
A crowd of monotone voices responded, "Praise to Ymir, goddess of might!"
"We will regain our former glory and take our place among the gods!" the single voice cried.
"Praise to Ymir, goddess of light!" the crowd replied.
"The Coordinate of the perfected Staircase will be given to us!"
"Praise to Ymir, goddess of life!"
Raven rolled his eyes. This is like listening to a scene straight out of a B rated horror movie.
Yeah, only it's scarier because it's real. Do they really believe all that bullshit?
I'm afraid so. Most of them anyway. We need to get a visual and find out how many there are.
It took them the better part of fifteen minutes to cross the cavern to get close enough to see the people gathered in front of a large platform of crystal against the wall that was twenty feet high and nearly as wide and had a set of stairs carved on both sides. At the back of the platform was what looked like a throne, upon which was seated a white haired and bearded skeleton, dressed in royal robes and a crown. Standing atop the platform was Zeke Ghallioht, but in front of him was, to Rogue's complete horror, a man that looked like an older version of his father.
The older man gestured the skeleton on the throne behind him. "Today, Alexander Harrington will bear witness to the fulfillment of his great prophecy!"
That must be Dad's brother, Rogue told Raven. His voice is too high pitched and rough to be Dad's. I guess this means Dad really is dead.
"Focus, Rogue. I'm glad he's not your father, but even if he were, it wouldn't change what we need to do here, Raven replied. Looks like about fifty people and only ten bodyguards. We should . . . shit! Look just in front of that pillar to our right.
Rouge leaned back slightly to see what had Raven so surprised. His eyes widened in horror as he spotted a ten to fifteen-foot tall human. It was alive, or at least breathing. From where the two men stood, the device just below and behind its ear was clearly visible in spite of the long, stringy hair hanging near it. It was impossible to tell if it was male or female.
It's one of those things Codex warned us about. It's just like the one in the lab above us. It has no soul, Raven explained. That devise behind its ear must be how they make it move. It's nothing more than a puppet. We still don't want to underestimate it. There's one on the other side too. Maybe even in front of this pillar we're behind. According to Codex, there should be five total.
So, what are we going to do? Rogue asked.
Raven grit his teeth as he tried to think up a plan of attack. Walk into the trap. Take out the obvious guards first and confront Zeke and Freak. No doubt they'll have those monsters attack. I'll leave those to you. Remember that the only way to kill one is to sever the nape. You'll need that fancy long-knife the Commander gave you. Guns will be useless against those fugly things.
Rogue took in a slow, deep breath and let it out slowly again. Right. Let's do this.
Raven smirked faintly with pride at the younger man. Follow my lead and be ready to take out those things. Use everything we've taught you. With those thoughts, Raven stepped out from behind the column and strode confidently to the front of the crowd with Rogue behind him, both men shooting eleven armed guards as they went. Even with the silencers still on the guns, the sound echoed obviously throughout the cavern.
The crowd all ducked and covered in fear, but the two Zekes regarded the intruders calmly from where they stood. "Welcome, Raven Knight!" The elder Zeke called with deceptively friendly smile on his face. "And I see you brought a friend. Let me guess . . . Golden Eye!"
"Rogue," Raven answered flatly.
The elder Zeke's friendly smile never waivered. "It doesn't matter, really. You'll both be dying today anyways. My nephew with his glorious immortality will be in our hands presently and humanity's glorious return to godhood will be at long last, complete."
Raven raised an elegant eyebrow. "Do you mean the chopper that left here before dawn? They've already arrived at and broken into our headquarters. Needless to say, we had a number of sensors throughout the facility to alert us to intruders." He snapped his fingers as if he'd just remembered something. "Oh, that's right! You don't know yet. You haven't been notified of the communications outage. They found our base completely empty." Raven laughed humorlessly at the surprised look on the faces of the men above him. "Did you really think we'd be stupid enough to leave him in the first place you assholes would look?"
The shock wore of quickly and the disquieting smile returned to the elder Zeke's face. "No matter. It's only a matter of time before we find the Prophet. And then we will have Eren Jaeger."
"And what, exactly, does the Prophet have to do with Eren?"
Zeke laughed. "Don't be coy, my friend! We all know that the Prophet's hiding place is the only place we've been unable to find. It's the obvious place to look for my nephew."
Levi smirked deviously. "Like you said, 'No matter'. By the end of this, Titan will be no more, and you will be dead with nothing but a pile of dry old bones on throne to mourn your passing."
The elder Zeke laughed heartily. "You underestimate us, Raven Knight. One would think that after all these years of Titan always being five steps ahead of you that the Scouting Regiment would know better."
"Perhaps it is you who underestimates us," Raven countered, his silver eyes beginning to glow a little brighter, with shimmering flecks of lavender and pale blue light mixed in.
It was then that the two giants that they'd spotted earlier, along three more they hadn't seen began to move. The crowd of people ran for the walls to get out of the way. Rogue sprang immediately into action. Just remember everything Levi taught you, he told himself. His eyes glowed brighter as he moved to attack, a frightening, almost demonic grin on his face.
Trusting Rogue to be able to handle himself, Raven flew up to where the two Zekes were. "This ends now," he stated as he strode towards the two men.
"Not so fast, Raven Knight," the elder Zeke said. "We still have an ace up our sleeve."
There was a loud gasp from below when one of the giants fell to the floor and began to evaporate. "So do we," Raven said. "Rogue is just of them. I'm the other one."
"My other dear nephew is ours," the elder Zeke stated proudly. "Show our friend here what you can do."
Zeke Ghallioht stepped forward. "You can't kill me, Raven Knight, or should I say, Levi Ackerman?"
"You can call me Asshole for all I care," Raven retaliated. "And I will kill you."
Ghallioht laughed. "Don't be so sure." Even as a second giant fell beneath Rogue's blade, Zeke's body grew to at least fifteen feet and much, much hairier before Raven's eyes. The man's clothing tore and fell away as he outgrew it. His eyes grew dark and monstrous and his arms grew in length to almost reach his mid-calf. "You see, I am the perfect human being. All I need is the key from my half-brother's DNA and I will be the first human to return to glory!"
Raven looked thoroughly unimpressed. "So, you look like an overgrown orangutan only uglier. Nothing to brag about really."
"Looks aren't everything," the younger Zeke replied. He swung his over-long arm at Raven with surprising speed.
Raven braced himself and actually blocked the incoming blow. "Now I know who Beast really is It's not your uncle. It's you."
Beast shrugged. "If the shoe fits." He swung his other hairy arm in to crush Raven between them, but feinted at the last moment, suddenly raising both hands in a combined fist and swung down to flatten his smaller opponent. Raven was still faster, dropping to one knee and bracing both forearms above his head. Though he grunted with effort, he succeeded in stopping the crushing blow.
"Is that seriously all you've got?" Raven asked.
"Not at all. I've had a few extra's added into my DNA," Beast replied. "Including the bit that gives me the same abilities as Turncoat." Even as he finished talking, a third giant fell to the cavern floor. Steam from the evaporating bodies began to fill the cavern, making the immediate area hard to see in.
Rogue was scarcely visible as he moved in to attack the fourth giant even as the fifth reached for him and missed. As Beast watched him, his hairy brow began to furrow in confusion. "I don't understand," he muttered.
Raven chuckled. "Turncoat's powers only work on Super powers. Rogue may be a hero and a member of the Scouts, but he's not a Super. I trained all our new members myself; Supers and non-Supers alike. Rogue is my top student."
Beast suddenly roared in pain as one of Raven's daggers was plunged into his heart. "You didn't seriously think that I would sit still and wait while you tried to attack my partner, did you?" Raven asked. "Rookie move Wookie."
Beast rubbed the spot where the dagger had thrust into him. "Ow. That actually hurt. Wookie. Very funny. But you're right. That was a rookie move. However, if you recall, I did warn you that I can't be killed." He drew his hand away to reveal the wound steaming as it closed itself. "Cut off my limbs, they'll regrow. Even my head, if removed, will replace itself. I can move my consciousness anywhere in my nervous system. So, you see, you can't win." He looked directly at Raven for a moment, clearly concentrating.
Raven deadpanned. "Yeah. I'm not a Super either."
Beast's eyes widened. "Impossible. The wings. The speed. The strength."
"Perhaps I can answer that," the elder Zeke said, looking out from behind the throne where he'd been hiding. "You see, Levi Ackerman is not human. Or rather, not entirely human. His mother is a monster from another world, tainting our human blood with hers. He is an abomination that we tried to eliminate years ago, but his mother outsmarted us. You see, nephew, Levi Ackerman is the son of the Prophet."
There were several screams from below as the fourth giant fell beneath Rogue's blade, this time crushing some of the crowd huddle against the wall and burning others as it began to evaporate into hot steam.
"So that's what you wanted back then. You just wanted to kill us. Our very existence is a threat to a madman's 'great prophecy'. Tch! You're so pathetic," Raven insulted. "You have one problem, and it'll be your undoing. You see, I know your weakness."
"And what would that be?" Beast challenged.
Raven smiled wickedly. "Over-confidence." With that, he rushed forward with a powerful thrust of his wings. Beast may have been fast, but Raven was much faster. With two of his daggers held out at arm's length, one pointed forward, the other pointed back, he went into a blinding spin, turning his own body into a circular saw blade and sliced the ligaments at the backs of Beast's knees and both of the Achilles tendons.
Beast fell to his hands and knees with a bellowing roar. Raven was on his back in a flash, before the monster could recover. He landed between the shoulder blades and leaned forward to speak in Beast's ear. "I know your physical weakness too."
Even as Beast began to raise his hand, with the intent to cover his nape, Raven leapt up into the air, began his dizzying spin as he came down, and sliced the nape as clean as you please, removing a wedge-shaped chunk of hair, flesh, muscle, bone and sinew. Zeke Ghallioht never even had a chance to cry out as he collapsed to the platform and began to evaporate.
Raven jumped off the disintegrating form and landed in near one of the sets of stairs. Behind him, he heard the last of the giants fall to the ground. It's over. A second later a searing pain exploded through his lower right side, just below the ribcage. Speaking of rookie moves . . . he thought ironically.
"RAVEN!" came Rogues scream as he watched his uncle sink a dagger into the smaller man's side. He ran towards them as Zeke's face collapsed into shock as Raven right wing and arm swung back, throwing the man back, where he fell on the bones of Alexander Harrington, scattering and breaking them as he landed on the throne.
The rest of the Scouts, having found a door that led to a stairwell to the cavern, had also arrived just in time to watch Raven get stabbed. They watched from near the top of the stairs as events unfolded below them.
Zeke regarded the scattered bones of his sacred saint in rage. "You monsters," he growled furiously. "You've ruined everything! But you haven't won yet!"
Raven and Rogue quickly retreated as the elder Zeke began to grow. Unlike his hairy nephew, he grew into a far better proportioned giant, double the height of Beast. Not only did his clothes tear and fall away, but his skin as well, leaving a giant, steaming red body of pure muscle, bone and sinew.
The two heroes backed away even further, moving down to the cavern floor to escape the furnace-like heat radiating from the grotesque giant before them. "Now what?" Rogue asked.
"The weak spot will be the same, but he knows we're aware of it, so it's gonna be harder to get to," Raven surmised as they continued to retreat as Zeke stepped easily down from the platform. "I'm not gonna last long with this stab wound. We need a way to get past that heat. Looks like I'll have to play my final trump card."
"Magic?"
Raven grinned. "My only real limitation is my own imagination, so let's see what I can do."
Both men skid to a halt and turned to face their foe as he lumbered through the columns to get to them. They could see the Commander, Northwind and She-Wolf flying in behind him and Codex using their gear to do the same. The others were nearing the bottom of the stairs.
Raven looked at the crystal pillars around them. "I have an idea." He drew one of his daggers and used the blade to chip away a chunk of the crystal . . . or rather, tried to. The blade shattered on impact. "Shit, this stuff is hard. That was a tritorium steel blade!"
"Tritorium?" Rogue questioned.
"Toughest metal in existence. According to my mother, it isn't even found on this planet. Time to try another way."
The retreated further, being able to move much faster than the lumbering giant behind them. "Good thing he's not as fast as your brother was," Raven observed as they stopped at another column. He placed his right hand against the crystal, and he eyes began to glow even brighter than before. "Give yourself to me," he commanded. He then closed his hand and pulled away a long javelin of crystal.
Rogue grabbed Raven and dragged him behind the column as a wall steam blasted out from Zeke's body. The rest of the Scouts were driven back by the blast, but thanks to Deviser's observations and warning to not get close, none of them were hurt.
"Get ready. I'm gonna use this crystal to immobilize him. Kinda like Aegis' armor, only I'm going to harden the bastard from within. Once the process starts, you'll have to move fast to go for the nape."
Rogue nodded. "Got it. Ready when you are."
Even with the disgustingly warm fog obscuring their vision, Zeke's laughter was enough for Raven to target with. "Did you really think I would give all of the best qualities to my nephew?" Zeke taunted.
Levi, Deviser's voice suddenly sounded in his mind. We need to get him to do that again; that steam blast. I can see him enough to be sure that he shrunk quite a bit with that first one. I think it takes a lot of energy and weakens him.
Good observation kid. Thanks, Raven replied. "You call blowing a lot of hot air a good quality? Hell, most politicians can outgun you there."
"You're going to run out of steam eventually," the Commander added, enjoying his own lousy pun.
Raven groaned and pinched his brow. "This so not the time for that shit," he grumbled, but the acoustics of the cavern meant that everyone could hear him. He signaled for Rogue to move out around in a wide arc to get in behind Zeke. "As shitty as that pun was, the Commander is right. You won't be able to do that very many times before you've used yourself up. What'll you do then?"
"I'll just start over again," Zeke rumbled, his voice now closer to where Raven hid.
A massive foot came into view. Faster than lightning, Raven plunged the crystal javelin through the foot and into the cavern floor. He backed off with a powerful thrust of his wings and retreated behind another column just as the enraged Zeke let out another powerful blast of steam. Raven covered his nose and mouth to try to protect his lungs from the searing hot air. The open wound on his side felt like it was boiling. He placed the blood coated palm of his right hand against the pillar at his back and focused on sending his power through the crystal of the pillar and floor into the javelin to make it grow.
He knew it was working when Zeke bellowed out, "What the?! What have you done to me?!"
Raven chanced a look around the pillar to see what was happening. Zeke was down on one knee, the torso slumped forward, crystalizing rapidly from the feet up, but from the nape of the neck, as Rogue approached, the older man burst out from the flesh at the nape and quickly pulled himself free of the dissolving mass. He burst out laughing. "See? I told you I'd just start ov-"
Zeke never finished his sentence since Rogue seized the opportunity and sent his uncle flying down to the floor with a powerful right hook. "Not if I have anything to say about it," he snarled. "You don't even care how many people you've killed or how many more people you've hurt." Rogue was already on the man, pinning him down with his body and punched him again in the face. "You feel nothing for all those lives you've ruined." Tears of rage and grief ran freely down his face as he hit him again. "You murdered your own brother for fuck's sake!" Rogue laughed humorlessly at the surprise on Zeke's face. As he drew back to strike again, Zeke, with sudden renewed vigor, grabbed a switchblade from up his sleeve and thrust it into Rogue's chest.
"NO! ROGUE!" Raven cried out in dismay as he began to run towards the two, even as his vision blurred from blood lost from his own stab wound.
Zeke got out from under Rogue as the young Scout looked down at his chest in surprise and almost numbly pulled the blade from the wound. Dark blood from his heart leaked out, but the flow was almost instantly staunched by steam closing the wound. As Raven finally reached his stricken comrade, Rogue started laughing as he slowly stood, knife still in his hand, and turned to face his uncle, whose color was fast draining from his face. "Nice try, fuck-face," Rogue noted, a sadistic smirk on his face and madness in his eyes. "But unlike you and my dear, departed brother, I really am immortal."
Zeke's face collapsed into complete confusion.
"You really don't know who I am, do you? Well let me give you a hint." He reached up and removed his mask.
Zeke's eyes widened in recognition. A mad grin formed on his bloody lips. "The Coordinate!"
"That's right," Rogue sneered. "The key to your downfall!"
"At last, I will have the key! Titan will succeed!" Zeke started to grow again, but Raven dropped to one knee, palm flat on the floor. A large, complex red circle appeared on the floor around Zeke's feet, and the crystal from the floor began to rapidly grow up the man's body, disabling his ability to grow any further. "What? How? NO!"
Rogue took advantage of his immobilized enemy, drew his long-knife, and before the crystal could completely envelope Zeke, rushed in and severed his uncle's spine at the nape.
The rest of the Scouts came running up through the fog. "Raven! Rogue! Are you two alright?" the Commander called.
"Yeah. Just fucking ducky," Levi replied sarcastically as he tried to stand, but fell to his knees, right hand holding his wounded side. "Shit!"
"Don't try to move!" Faerie cried as she ran up to him to try helping.
"Wowwwww!" Codex breathed as they noticed Zeke, crystal encasing him up to the shoulders, and his nape severed so deep that he was nearly decapitated.
"Is it really, finally over?" Rogue asked.
"I think so. The labs and security forces are all destroyed and the heads of Titan that weren't crushed have already fled the cavern and are probably out of the facility by now. We'll know in a few days just what the full impact of this will be," the Commander said.
Raven reached out his left hand and opened a portal. "Finder, grab your shit and come join us. It's over now." He spoke into the comm. As soon as Finder joined them, Raven collapsed one portal and created another. "You all need to go. This will take you to Tinninvale. I'm going to bring this whole mountain down on this facility."
"Wait, what about you?" She-Wolf asked.
"I'll stay and bring him through as soon as the spell is cast," Rogue assured.
"Don't worry," Codex soothed. "The crystal this cavern is made from is strong enough to hold the mountain up as it is. Rogue and Raven will be fine." The turned to look Raven. "We'll be waiting for you on the other side."
Once everyone but Rogue and Raven were through, Raven placed his still bloody right palm to the floor. His took in several labored and weary breaths. Rogue placed his hand on Raven's shoulder. "You're exhausted. Draw some of your strength from me."
Raven nodded gratefully and began to chant a song that he never even realized he knew. It flowed easily from his lips as brilliant indigo patterns worked their way from him along the floor, up the walls and the pillars, across the ceiling and beyond. The words, in a tongue unknown to him, echoed through the space, creating the impression of a thousand voices chanting. When he finally finished, he blacked out and the ground immediately began to shake.
Rogue immediately grabbed Raven up in his arms and rushed through the portal, nearly tripping on the wings.
As the mountain above the cavern collapsed, a lone figure stepped from the fog and picked up the knife, coated in Eren's and Levi's blood, a wicked grin on their face as they did so. "Titan will rise again."