Chapter 18

Betrayal

Being woken up by the sound of incessant knocking on his door was not the way Aomine liked to wake up. When the sound did not stop that usually meant he needed to get out of bed immediately. He groaned as he tossed his sheets aside and sat up.

"Get your ass out of bed, Daiki!" a gruff, male voice said.

"I know, I know," Aomine replied as he sat up.

"Your ass better be downstairs in the next five minutes."

Whoever was behind the door left and Aomine could hear him stomp in the hallway. Aomine ran a hand through his hair as he slowly stood up in bed. The morning sun illuminated his room revealing how scarce it was adorned. All he had was his bed and a desk. His Military Police jacket hung in his chair, as were his other clothes. As he put them on, he noticed the opened letter on his desk. Ever since he had received it, he had been in a melancholy state. It was the letter from Kuroko that said that Kise had been killed.

His first reaction was to mentally say 'I told you so', but the moment he thought it he could not actually make himself say it. The thought that Kise had died was a shock to his system. Since he was a cadet, he and the others thought they were unkillable. They had been the best ever. Now one of them was dead.

He could only guess how the others reacted. He had no doubt Kuroko had taken his death the hardest. Kise was one of the people he was closest to. Having him die in Kuroko's arms likely did not help.

He let out a sigh. Regardless of his feelings about the whole thing, he still had a job to do. Today was the summons for the Scouts, which meant they had to pass through Stohess in order to get to Mitras. He was left with the security detail, along with some of the newer soldiers to the MP's. Despite being considered a prodigy, he was still looked down on for being Oriental. It did not bother him, but being given all the tasks the other officers did not want to do did. This was just another day of that.

When he finished getting dressed, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked out of the room. He could hear the officer talking to the recruits already. No doubt one of the newbies talked back to him.

"Here comes your superior now."

Everyone turned to see Aomine casually walk down the stairs. They could all see his bored expression and his slouched posture. Some whispered if he really was part of the best soldiers humanity had.

"This is Daiki Aomine, he'll be leading this op. Us officers are too busy to deal with it, so it'll be up you newbies," the officer said handing Aomine a file. "They're all yours, Daiki."

"Yes, sir," Aomine grumbled.

The officer then turned and opened the door he stood in front of. When he opened it, he made it obvious as to what he meant by being busy. In the room were the other higher ranking officers gathered around a table playing cards and drinking booze. As the officer shut the door, Aomine heard him ask where they left off.

That's what irked him the most about the higher ups. Just how boring they were. Not that he cared. However, whenever Akashi visited, they would stand as straight as possible. Despite resenting the redhead, they were forced to obey his orders.

Aomine turned his attention to the newbies. Almost all of them looked like they would rather be somewhere else. He could not blame them. If you joined the MP's it was because you were a slacker who wanted to be as far away as possible from the fighting.

His mind flashed to the letter again. Reading about Kise's death made him feel like he should have done something. But there was nothing he could do. He was in the interior, where he wanted to be.

When he returned to the group in front of him, his gaze landed on a young male with a bowl cut. Aomine could tell he was a more idealistic person compared to the rest. It was obvious by the way he stood in attention when Aomine's eyes landed on him.

"You're the one who spoke up, right?" Aomine asked.

"Yes, sir. I just wanted to voice my opinion," the young man said.

"What's your name, newbie?"

"Marlo Freudenberg, sir."

"If you're going to have that high and mighty attitude here, you joined the wrong regiment."

The was a brief silence among everyone before one person burst into laughter. Aomine looked to the side and saw a blonde haired girl who could not contain her laughter. When she realized he was looking at her, she took a moment to compose herself but continued to giggle.

"Sorry sir. It's just that I never expected something like that."

Aomine rolled his eyes and did not comment.

He waited for the girl to control herself before he continued. He took that time to look through the assignment details. He already knew what the mission entailed, but he was double checking just to make sure.

"I'm sure Officer Drunkard gave you the details, so I won't repeat them."

There was a bit of laughter from the newbies, but he let it slide. He only called him that because he did not bother remembering anyone's names.

"Let's get a move on. The Scouts'll be here by late afternoon. Best not to keep them waiting."

There was a chorus of 'yes, sir' as Aomine turned on his heel. As he did so, he could feel the ice cold glare from someone. He looked to the side to see a blonde haired girl. Her expression was dull and did not say much. It reminded him of Kuroko somewhat. But the darting of her eyes gave away she was thinking a mile a minute. Aomine elected to ignore her, as whatever her problem was, it was not his as well.

—

As the group walked towards the barge that would take them to Stohess's gate, Aomine could hear the newbies talking about Marlo's ramblings as well as criticizing their superiors. He could even make out someone badmouthing him. It did not bother him, but a glare in that newbies' direction shut him up. It also served as a way to tell them he was listening.

When someone said that the MP's were for slackers, he had to agree. He liked the easy living that was the Military Police. He knew he had made the right choice all those years ago. Seeing Kuroko for the first time at Trost wearing the Scout Regiment uniform still made him think he was crazy.

Aomine was broken from his thoughts when Marlo belt out his convictions and reason for joining the MP's. It made stop in his tracks. His words were eerily similar to what Akashi had told him. He had asked him to join in his crusade to fix the Military Police, but he had declined to take part. He had not heard a word about it from him since the one time he asked.

Most around him made fun of him for it. Especially the blonde girl with the annoying laugh. When Aomine turned to face him the girl quickly stopped laughing, but still had an amused expression on her face.

"With words like that, you remind me of someone. Best not to become like him," Aomine said.

"What's that supposed to mean, sir?" Marlo asked.

Aomine sighed and turned away. "Just stay away from Seijūrō Akashi."

Marlo was about to argue when the quiet blonde girl spoke up. Aomine tuned out their conversation, but picked up on a few interesting thoughts. With what she said, he had to agree. Despite having a similar mindset to Akashi, Marlo did not have what it took to lead people to achieve his goal. That was part of the reason why he told him to stay away from Akashi. He would get swallowed up by Akashi's ideals.

The annoying blonde girl tried to change the conversation, but that was where Aomine drew a line. He turned around again which caused for everyone to stiffen in attention.

"Keep those kinds of conversations in the mess hall." Aomine turned on his heel and slightly adjusted the rifle on his back. "Let's get a move on."

The newbies groaned out a 'yes, sir' and followed the Oriental towards the riverfront.

When they arrived Aomine was quick to notice the crates with the insignia for the Military Police, likely their gear, along with two soldiers and a merchant. He groaned at the sight of it. Stuff like what he was seeing was not uncommon, but it was still a pain to deal with. It took some time for him to just begin to ignore it. Though he would always pass along a message to Akashi about it. He was the only person Aomine knew that could actually keep even his superiors in line.

However, just because he was used to it did not mean the newbies were. All of them found it odd that a merchant was handling their equipment. The kicker was when the merchant handed the soldier a small bag. Aomine did not need to guess what was inside it. When the newbie, Marlo, saw what was in the bag, he stormed towards the soldiers, muttering how he could not believe what he was seeing.

"Aren't you going to stop him?" one newbie asked.

Aomine shook his head. "He's gotta learn the hard way if he wants to make the best of being an MP."

"We still got time to kill, so it might be entertaining," another newbie added.

Marlo argued about the soldier's conduct, which they found amusing. Aomine did as well, but not as much. He remembered the first time he spoke out against something similar. At that time, the officers did not humor him by hearing his words, they simply beat him and called him an Oriental. He did fight back though. Broke the nose of one officer and the arm of another. It took a few more soldiers to break up the fight.

However, he knew Marlo was not a fighter. It was obvious when he tried to further berate the soldiers, but was met by the butt of a rifle. When he was on the ground was when the beating began.

Aomine sighed, it was time to break up the fight. As he took a step forwards, the quiet, blonde girl walked past him. He chuckled to himself let it play out with her instead of him. She stopped the soldier from cracking Marlo's skull open with the butt of his rifle. Aomine was surprised by the girl's strength. He laughed to himself again and walked towards the commotion.

"Sorry about that," Aomine called out.

Everyone looked towards Aomine and the soldiers were quick to stiffen in attention. Though Aomine noticed how begrudging it was.

"It's hard keeping the newbies in line. This in particular has a big head. Still showing him the ropes. Although you guys could continue and make this even more of a scene."

Aomine's gaze moved to the side and the soldiers followed it. Their faces paled when they saw the amount of civilians that had gathered. Some made comments in hushed tones, while other just glared at the two older soldiers. They turned their attention back to Aomine, who had a smug smile that pissed both of them off. They then turned back to Marlo.

"You're lucky Daiki's your superior. We'll let you off with a warning." The two then turned and began to walk away.

"Much appreciated. I'll make sure Seijūrō is aware of your conduct," Aomine said.

The two stopped for a moment and then began to walk at a faster pace. Aomine always got a kick out of seeing people's reactions to mentioning Akashi's name. He would never really do it though. That was too much paperwork.

He was broken from his thoughts when he heard the cocking of a rifle. He turned to see Marlo aiming it at the two soldiers. His expression told Aomine he was really willing to do it. Aomine groaned, but he was curious to see if he could actually do it.

"Go ahead, do it."

Aomine turned and was surprised to hear the quiet, blonde girl talking. Marlo also shifted his gaze towards her.

"You're going to make them pay, right? Isn't that what you said? I'm not opposed to helping out should you do. They put you in your place when you caught them breaking the law, why not put them in theirs?"

Aomine watched as Marlo's gaze shifted back towards the soldiers. They had moved farther away, but were still visible. Aomine watched as Marlo's finger hovered over the trigger. It was obvious he wanted to pull it. Aomine knew he would have to do something should he actually attempt it, but the shaking of his hands made him pause. Then the soldiers disappeared in the crowd, his chance was gone.

"Dammit!"

Aomine was not surprised he did not fire. Marlo lacked the conviction to do it. If her were the one in his position, Aomine would have fired without hesitation or remorse. The bright side of the whole event was the Marlo quickly learned the truth of the MP's. It would be something he would not forget.

"Tell me, those impetuous friends you mentioned, would they have done it?" Marlo asked the quiet girl.

She was silent for a moment before answering. "Maybe."

Marlo continued to speak, but Aomine ignored him and chose to focus on the quiet girl. She was different to all the other newbies he had met. She was a realist. People like that were easy to find, but the trick was to find someone who actually believed it.

When the whole event was over, Aomine ordered everyone to get on the barge. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a sullen Marlo walking behind him. Behind him was the quiet girl. She had piqued his interest. Maybe this would be the batch of newbies that would actually make being with a MP's less boring.

"Hey, blondie," Aomine called out.

The blonde looked up and nodded in acknowledgement.

"What's you name?"

The girl was silent for a moment. Aomine was unsure as to why, it was only a name.

"Annie Leonhardt, sir."

"Well then, Annie. I look forward to working with you."

Annie rose an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That depends on you and the others here. Maybe I'll actually bother to remember their names."

—

The trek to Stohess was filled with tension and silence. Kuroko could swear that the tension itself was making the pace of the journey slower than it needed to be. However, even he was not immune to everything. He could feel the sweat forming as they rode closer to Stohess' gate. Momoi and Connor were not faring any better. Connor's gaze kept darting around and could not stay focused on a single thing. Meanwhile, Momoi was more worried about the inevitable encounter with Akashi. Midorima and Aomine were a possibility as well.

There was a plan and that plan was already in motion. Kuroko would occasionally look behind him towards the covered wagons. He mentally went over the plan as many times as he could. What pained him the most was that he did not have his gear. It was stored in one the wagons. He wished he had it as he wanted to rush towards the action.

He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. He had to focus on a single thing, keep Akashi occupied for as long as possible. He wondered how the red head had reacted to the letter regarding Kise's death. He wondered if he had drowned his sorrow in alcohol like he had. He shook his head again. There was no way Akashi would do something like that.

"Hey, Tetsuya," a voice said.

Kuroko looked up and turned to where he heard the voice coming from. It was Levi who was looking at him with his usual stern expression.

"You need to loosen up at little. You look like you're about to shit yourself."

Kuroko chuckled. Surprisingly, Levi's words calmed him down a bit.

"Despite sounding like an ass, I appreciate it," Kuroko replied.

Levi merely grunted and turned away.

That was something else that made Kuroko tense up. Levi was injured and out of commission. During the fight with the Female Titan he had twisted his ankle. It was bad, but nothing major. Seeing him in civilian clothes rather than the uniform was a first for Kuroko.

"We're here."

Kuroko turned his attention forwards and in front of them was the gate into Stohess. From the top of the wall, he could hear someone call out. Soon after, the gate slowly began to open. Kuroko swallowed saliva and calmed his nerves the best he could. The mission was now in full effect.

When the regiment passed through the gate they were greeted by MP's on both their sides. Some lined the streets carrying rifles. Some were on rooftops equipped with ODM gear. Clearly they were making an obvious effort this time around.

The sound of Connor rapidly tapping his foot increased as they continued into the city. Kuroko was now unsure if he was nervous or if it was a different reason.

"Hey, Connor," Kuroko said.

His squadmate looked up to his captain and Kuroko understood. His expression was not one of nervousness, but of rage. He wanted to join the capture team rather than remain as part of the convoy.

"Look, I get it, but we need to stay calm," Kuroko said.

"I know that. Something just doesn't feel right," Connor argued.

"Is it that Kassmeyer kid?" Momoi asked.

Connor nodded. "It's part of it. You saw him during that meeting we had. It's obvious he won't keep his emotions in check. He's too attached to that girl."

"I won't deny that, but we just have to trust he can do what needs to be done and follow his orders," Kuroko said.

Their conversation was cut short when the carriage came to a halt. The three squadmates and Levi straightened their posture and wondered what was going on. Levi looked out the window trying to figure out what was going on, but the angle was not favorable. Kuroko then opened the carriage door to see what was going on. One MP began to shout at him to go back into the carriage, but he ignored them.

When he got a look at what was going on, he grimaced. He let out a breath and jumped out of the carriage. The MP continued to yell at him, while the other three watched curiously.

"It's Akashi."

Momoi nodded in response and got off as well. The MP continued to yell which drew the attention of others. They then aimed their rifles towards the two Orientals.

"Lower your weapons, right now," a stern voice said.

Everyone turned to where the voice came from and saw a young man with glasses walking towards them. The MP's looked at each other, wondering what to do next.

"I believe I gave you an order."

He did not have to raise his voice. The MP's dropped their aim and swung their rifles over their shoulders.

Kuroko let out a relieved breath. "Thanks, Midorima-kun."

Midorima grunted and walked up to the two Oriental Scouts. "You're lucky you were making a scene."

"It's nice to see you again, Midorin," Momoi said with a smile.

Midorima let out a sigh and pushed up his glasses. "On duty, call me Shintaro. Let's go."

The two nodded and followed Midorima as he turned on his heel. Kuroko spared a glance towards Levi and Connor, who sent him a nod. At the front of the convoy were Erwin, Nile, and Akashi in the middle of a conversation. Kuroko also caught sight of Aomine who stood a few steps behind them.

The conversation stopped when Akashi saw Kuroko and Momoi walk up to them. A satisfied smile formed on his face.

"Glad you could join us, Tetsuya," Akashi said.

"What's he doing outside his carriage, Erwin?" Nile asked.

"You can ask me that question, you know," Kuroko said crossing his arms across his chest.

Nile grit his teeth in frustration as he turned to address the Oriental captain.

"I was wondering what the hold up was. Clearly, it's Seijūrō's presence," Kuroko said.

Akashi chuckled in response. "Is that right?"

"He's right, Seijūrō. What are you doing here? You aren't part of this op," Nile said.

"Stohess is my jurisdiction, commander. Every single soldier on duty right now reports to me. I have every right to be here," Akashi said confidently.

No one said anything as a reply, as what he had said was valid. Kuroko knew that even if Akashi was not needed for a simple protection detail he would not have been there, but something like this was an entirely different job.

"You're just making everything more difficult. We have to get a move on," Kuroko said.

His eyes darted to Erwin for a moment. The Scout Commander simply nodded. It was his job to deal with Akashi after all. He still needed to stall a bit longer. There was still no sign of the target.

"I will. I just wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly personally. While I trust my soldiers, sometimes things can happen," Akashi said.

"Is that right?" Kuroko replied.

"All this distrust is completely unwarranted. No harm will come to the titan boy by my part. I can't say the same for all those who died in order for others to see the futility of your mission."

Kuroko felt his rage take over. He stormed forwards and grabbed Akashi by the shirt. Around him the sound of rifles cocking could be heard. However, he did not care. The two locked gazes. Blue eyes meeting heterochromatic.

"You don't get to speak ill of the dead. Not when you barely lift a finger to fight," Kuroko said.

"Isn't that what got Ryouta killed?"

"Keep his name out of your mouth. He fought and died like a true soldier."

"He was consumed by the same sense of stupidity that drove you and Satsuki to join the Scouts."

"He always had it, just like everyone does when they enlist. He was better at acting on it than you'll ever be."

Akashi's glare hardened and he swatted away Kuroko's hand. He had not expected Kuroko to have become so rebellious. Akashi had to do something about that, but it had to wait. Right now there was something else that needed his attention.

It was obvious something was up. The Scout Regiment he knew would not follow orders so willingly. That was the real reason he wanted to check on the detail personally. Plus, it was odd that most of the Scout higher ups were not present. He was sure Section Commanders Hange and Mike would have been present, but they were no where in sight. He knew Captain Levi was around, but reports said he was injured during the mission so Akashi was not surprised he was not visible.

Akashi turned to Erwin, who was silent since Kuroko had arrived. He was likely keeping quiet so Kuroko would be the only one to speak to him. Erwin was definitely crafty.

"Commander, let me ask you this, where are you officers? I feel like they would be here for something like this," Akashi said.

"We had them stay with the recruits. We felt it best for them to remain at HQ," Erwin replied.

If it's a lie, he lies very smoothly. If it isn't then he's more of a fool than I thought, Akashi thought.

"Is that right. Where's Cap-"

Akashi's words were cut short as an explosion rocked the entire area. The ground shook with the force of the explosion. Everyone was now either on high alert, or extremely confused. Nile and most of the MP's present were in a state of confusion, while Midorima and Aomine were one of the few who were still composed. He was pleased to see that.

When the shaking of the explosion stopped, everyone looked around, trying to figure out where it came from. Akashi then saw a plume of smoke in the distance. He then turned to Erwin and Kuroko, who both looked absolutely unfazed.

"What the hell's going on?" Nile asked out loud.

He shifted his gaze upwards towards some MP's on the roof and called out to them. "Escort squad! Have a look! I'll hold this position."

The taller MP nodded and called out with a 'yes, sir' before darting towards the plume of smoke.

Akashi turned to Aomine, who already had his blades drawn. "Daiki, go with them."

Aomine nodded and shot towards a rooftop.

Akashi turned back to Erwin, who had told Nile to deploy everyone as it was likely that a titan was present. Akashi almost laughed at that. To him, it was as if Erwin was trying every trick he could think of to get out of the current situation.

The sound of an MP shouting caught his attention. Akashi shifted his gaze and saw that Eren was jumping out fo the carriage. However, it soon became clear that it was not Eren. Now Akashi was figuring out what was going on. Everything up until now was a diversion to get Eren as far away as possible. All he could think about was how desperate they were.

However, soon things began to happen very quickly. A scouts dropped from a rooftop with a set of equipment for Erwin. Meanwhile, Kuroko and Momoi were already geared up along with the third member of their squad. They were all ready for a fight. For a brief instant Akashi actually believed there was a titan, but his rational side took over quickly.

Commander Erwin was had equipped his gear and was having other Scouts deployed. Nile trying to get control of the situation aimed his rifle at Erwin. Several other MP's followed him and aimed at the Commander of the Scouts. However, he remained calm.

He turned to Kuroko who was still waiting for his orders.

"Tetsuya, rendezvous with Hange and the capture squad. You and Hnage will be in charge until I get there."

"Yes, sir," Kuroko and his squadmates replied.

"Wait a minute, Tetsuya!" Akashi called out.

"Sorry, Akashi-kun, but my Commander has given me an order."

Kuroko shot towards a rooftop and began to move towards the plume of smoke.

Akashi growled in frustration and turned to Midorima.

"Follow them. I want what ever is happening under control. You're free to use my top men for this," Akashi said, his voice losing its usual control.

"Yes, sir."

Midorima turned on his heel and called out to four soldiers still positioned on a rooftop. They nodded and followed the Oriental. Akashi turned to another MP still present, who straitened himself at the sight of the captain.

"Bring me an ODM rig. I wanted it here 10 minutes ago."

"Yes, sir," the MP said fearfully.

"Hold on, Akashi," Nile began to say.

"Something's not right here, Nile. Stay with Erwin, I'll deal with this problem personally."

—-

Kuroko and his team zipped between rooftops and quickly as they could. It was not long before they were able to see the Female Titan in the distance. That meant that the identity was indeed Annie Leonhardht. Which also meant that their contingency to use Josh Kassmeyer as a deterrent failed as well.

Kuroko remember the night of the night of the planning with his mission. Both he and Eren argued for Annie's innocence. However, even Eren began to understand that it was the truth. Josh remained loyal to the girl. He should have expected it, Kagami had told him they had been in a relationship as cadets. Kuroko thought that that loyalty would prove the girl's innocence, but that clearly was not the case.

The next problem was Eren. His titan was no where to be found. Kuroko's first thought was that he had died, but that was unlikely. Annie wanted him alive. For what reason, he did not know. It was possible that Eren lacked the conviction to consider Annie an enemy. That seemed like the most probable reason.

He pushed all that aside. Right now he had to focus on keeping the Female Titan contained. He also had to lure her to the capture squad. He knew his team was best suited for that task. He sped up a bit and continued forwards. As he did, he caught sight of Aomine trying to rally MP's to join the fight. However, they all remained still. The sight of titan confused some and terrified others. Despite the speed, Aomine and Kuroko still managed to lock eyes. It did not last for than a second before Kuroko sped past him.

"Hey, Tetsuya. What's the plan?" Connor asked.

"We need to draw he Female Titan towards Hange. It's likely Squad Three is already engaging her, we need to get there and provide support. We've seen that she can tear through our forces with ease, so we'll have to take care of that."

"So, it's the usual plan?" Momoi asked.

Kuroko nodded. "Yeah. We'll try to tire her out so the capture team will have an easier time."

"Understood," Momoi replied.

"I'd prefer to kill her to get revenge for everyone we lost, but can't have it my way I guess," Connor complained.

"You'll get your chance. Next expedition kill titans equal to how many people we lost because of her," Kuroko said.

"I'll take that."

Kuroko chuckled. "Then let's get to it."

As the group got closer to the Female Titan, Kuroko would order the Scouts present to pull back and focus on containment. His team had to focus on fighting, as it would keep casualties low and fighting his team would tire her out. As they passed a crushed building, Kuroko could see Jean and Armin moving to engage the Female Titan. Based on the direction they were going, it was likely they were making her move towards the capture squad.

"Arlert, Kirstien! Move to regroup with Hange. We'll handle this."

The two recruits nodded and quickly moved out of the way. Kuroko wanted to ask where Eren was, but that had to wait. He turned to his squadmates, ready to give out orders.

"We'll aim for her hands. We need her to move so don't go for the legs. Careful with her hardening. Don't go after the nape."

"Got it," the two said.

Kuroko faced forwards and was ready to take on the enemy. Jean and Amrin moving away caused for her attention to be divided, however, she chose to follow her former friends. If this was not a mission, he would have asked them to join his squad.

With a simple hand motion, Momoi and Connor had their orders. They nodded and spread out. The sound of gear firing nearby caused for the Female Titan to shift her gaze to the side and placing one hand on her nape. She was expecting and attack from behind and that was exactly what Kuroko wanted. He sped up and closed in. In one quick motion he severed the tendons and ligaments in the Female Titan's arm pit causing for the arm covering her nape to fall. Momoi then severed the same at her elbow, making her right arm useless. Connor did the same attack as Momoi on her left elbow. Both her arms dangled lifelessly at her sides. It served to enrage her as she began to swing her arms wildly.

Come on. Just a bit farther, Kuroko thought.

As the three sped past another set of buildings, Kuroko caught sigh of Hange's maniac smile. He had met up with the capture squad.

"Disperse!"

Kuroko and his team moved away as the Female Titan barreled through the area. It was too late for her to react as the harpoons fired. What sounded like hundreds of cannons firing at once caused the Female Titan to be impaled by all the harpoons. She tried to break free, but without use of her arms, she fell to the ground. When she fell, a net with spikes was tossed over her in order to keep her secure.

Kuroko let out a relieved sigh as he landed next to Hange, who was laughing maniacally. He could only wonder how they managed to keep all the excitement in check.

"Nice job luring her here, Tetsuya."

"Yeah, well we lost several people in order for this to work. Looks like we really had to fall in plan C," Kuroko replied.

"Well, it's always better to have more than one back up plan."

"You're not wrong there."

Kuroko gazed down to their titan prisoner. He was surprised to see that she managed to get her hand to cover her nape, despite severing her tendons. He could only assume that those areas heal faster than he thought.

Hange then dropped to the ground and walked up to the Female Titan. They began to talk to it, but Kuroko could not hear what they were saying. She then brought a blade to her eye. They way her expression changed made it seem like she was genuinely fearing for her life. Kuroko growled and crossed his arms across his chest. Seeing her look afraid pissed him off to no end.

In one quick motion, the Female Titan moved her leg in an arc to destroy all the harpoon cannons on the ground. In an instant she was up and running again. Hange landed next to Kuroko, managing to avoid getting kicked, and cursed for not setting enough traps.

"Everyone move! Don't let her escpae!" Kuroko called out.

"Yes, sir!"

All the Scouts were quick to pursue. Kuroko was sure they did not need the order, but it helped for those who were still disoriented. They had to keep moving. They had to stop her, no matter the cost. Kuroko was even willing to give his life to take her down.

The sound of gear firing was all he could hear as the Scouts moved to engage. As soon as they got close, the Female Titan turned and crushed a building and used the debris as projectiles. Some were knocked off balance, whole other managed to avoid it. Kuroko had to give Mikasa credit. Her ability to maneuver with ODM gear was impressive. She dodged the debris and moved to attack the Female Titan. Kuroko sped up to act as back up. They had to get her to stop moving, they had to aim for the legs.

However, he did not have the time to relay that to Mikasa. She tried to engage, but a gust of wind from a kicked on knocked off balance. She tumbled to the ground and her cable wrapped around her. He could hear Armin call out to her, but there was not time to stop and check on her.

They continued to pursue and managed to get her into a mostly closed off area and surround her. However, the sound of a large explosion caught everyone's attention. Kuroko looked to the sky and saw the fading light of lighting bolt. He half smiled.

Took you long enough, Eren.

The sound of thundering footsteps filled Stohess. All the Scouts took positions on the rooftops as the thundering got closer. With a primal scream, Eren's titan punched Annie and sent her flying into a building. With another yell, he charged towards the Female Titan.

AN: With that, this chapter ends. First things first, my hiatus took a bit longer than I intended it to be. Mainly a combination of laziness and stuff I gotta deal with irl. I hope to get chapters out a bit quicker moving forward, as what comes next is stuff I've been planning since I started this story. At first I was gonna cover this entire arc, but decided against it as I did not want to make this chapter too long. With all that out of the way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one. If you're enjoying feel free to follow, favorite, and/or review. You should also follow me on Twitter I post story updates and other stuff.