AN: Welcome back! I really enjoyed writing this one. I don't know why, but I think Levi torturing is the sexiest thing ever. I'm really messed up like that 😂

It gets rather dark. Brace yourselves...

...

Levi

I kick that bastard in the face again and again as he's still tied to the tree, and then another tooth goes flying from his disgusting mouth.

He turned out to be another ugly cunt in the end, so my kicking has only improved his appearance. So far I've broken his nose and blackened both of his eyes, yet he still remains tight-lipped.

He's bald with a hideous tattoo running down the length of his cheek to his neck, and he appears to be some generic underground thug, and I'm starting to notice a theme here...

Yet I will still terrorize the living shit out of him until I get my satisfaction.

Some people get their fix from drugs, but I get mine from torturing sewer rats.

He tried to kill Historia after all, and he will pay. Just like the cunt before him did.

I never got to chop the limbs off the first guy, and the second I killed instantly. So this one, unfortunately, is going to get all my pent-up rage.

Plus, my arm's hurting like a bitch, so I'm still pretty pissed about that too. Still, I'd rather it was me than Historia who went through that blinding, white-hot pain.

"Talk... or I will cut both of your balls off and feed them to that cat over there."

My eyes fall on Erwin the II as he sits on a rock close by, watching the whole bloody scene with curious interest. His blue eyes taper as he swishes his tail back and forth, and it's like he's praising me.

He's not the only one. Mikasa's on close standby and Jaeger for that matter too, but the others cower away. Historia crouches by a tree, burying her face to her knees. Sasha hugs her tight.

She can't bear to watch, and I don't expect her to. But I hope she understands that I am doing this all for her.

I'm Levi Ackerman, and I don't play nice.

The asshole drops his head, refusing to look at me. Blood and saliva drip from his swollen lips, and he's a hot, fucking mess.

I'll admit, he's a strong one. He has not screamed once, and he's certainly got more balls than I have if my previous screaming sessions are anything to go by.

My voice is still hoarse, and now I sound like a demon from hell as I torment this asswipe for all he's worth.

"Well, got anything to say to that?"

No reply and I didn't want it to have to come to this. I'm going to have to start cutting off body parts.

Erwin's starting to look a little hungry now as he licks his lips.

I won't go for his balls; I'm not in a castrating kind of mood, but his small cauliflower ear is looking pretty good.

That may explain why he won't answer me. He has freakishly small ears. He must be deaf.

I feel that demon taking over me, and now Kenny's tall shadow lingers by my side.

He taught me well after all.

"Ackerman, Jaeger... hold him down..."

The pseudo siblings do as I ask, and now they both step forward, holding that bastard down. That way he won't be able to move when I cut his goddamn fucking ear off.

It's good to see the twins do as I order for once. Unlike that time on a certain rooftop in Shiganshina once upon a memory…

At that thought, my eyes fall on Erwin, and for a moment he looks just like the 13th commander of the Survey Corps as the firelight reflects off his mini bolo tie.

The Wings of Freedom are displayed proudly inside.

If only you could have seen how they fought tooth and nail to stop you from getting that injection in the end hey, Eyebrows…

The cat closes his eyes, letting out a long, haunting cry. "Meowww."

The hair rises up on the back of my neck. Well, if that doesn't blacken the already sombre mood.

And just think; we were all so merry the previous evening as we drank through three kegs of ale.

Well, the brats did. I drank good old-fashioned tea.

I'm civil like that.

I produce a knife from my pants pocket, whirling it around for a test spin. I catch it in my hand again as I creep closer, kneeling before my victim as I start hacking his ear off.

The serrated edge digs into the flesh, and the man finally makes a sound. He grunts and squirms as the brats hold him in place, and now a dry chuckle escapes my lips.

"Oh, so you can make noise?"

Still, the man doesn't talk. He keeps his head bent forward, and the sight sickens me.

I'll get him screaming and begging for mercy in no time.

"Anything to confess before I cut your ear off?"

No reply yet again, and I'm rather impressed.

"Very well."

With swift movements, I slice through the rest of his ear, and the flesh comes away. The man flinches, making more grunting sounds as the blood drips from his wet earhole.

Historia whimpers behind me, and I try to fight off the unwanted sensation in my gut.

It's guilt and I've never felt so shitty. I really would have preferred to do this away from her, but it's not as if she hasn't been at the receiving end of my ire once before. She knows what I'm capable of when pushed.

Yet… I don't want her seeing this side of me tonight. I like the way she regards me lately. As if I truly am some storybook hero and not some fucked up kid from the underground with a major chip on his shoulder.

She won't see me the same way after today. That much is for certain, and I wonder if she will still want to kiss me.

I look to the cat, holding out that cauliflower ear. "Hungry, Erwin?"

The cat chirps, trotting towards me like a happy show pony, and now he boxes that ear with his paws as I dangle it above his head. I drop it and he gorges on it immediately, and I don't miss the squirms that go around camp as his chewing fills the forest.

Connie swallows back vomit.

I guess it's true what they say; a cat will eat you when you're dead. I ought to remind Hange when I return the cat to HQ.

I fix my eyes on that slumped figure once again. "Still not ready to talk?"

Another silent response. I grit my teeth as something snaps inside of me next, and now my eyes bulge from their sockets.

Suddenly, I rush forth, planting my knee into his face, and then a delicious crunching sound follows after.

I'm not fucking done.

I wedge my foot into his mouth, giving him a taste of my shoe. I'm aware he can't say much with half of my boot shoved down his throat, yet I don't stop, loving the gargled sounds he makes as he tries to catch his breath.

I continue to fuck his mouth with my boot, over and over, crushing his jawbone as I wait for that snap.

Any moment now…

It comes at last, and now I pull my foot away as it drips with blood and saliva.

His lower jaw is broken.

Mikasa scowls at me. "Captain, we needed his mouth for information."

I raise a brow. "Whoops. Guess I got a little carried away."

"The captain knows what he's doing, Mikasa. Don't question his methods," Eren scolds, telling her off.

I turn his way appreciatively. "Why, thank you, Jaeger…"

He narrows his glowing, green eyes up at me then nods, and now he looks as creepy as Erwin the II.

I drop to my knee, gazing down into that miserable, broken face. He gasps for air, keeping his eyes tight shut as he still refuses to meet my eyes.

For someone so big and meaty, I would have thought he'd be feistier. But it turns out he's a gentle giant in the end.

It doesn't look like we're going to get much out of him. Yanking his nails off wouldn't have worked because he still would have remained tight-lipped, but it sure would have felt good.

It's best we just kill him now and put him out of his misery.

You didn't really think I was going to let him live after this whole ordeal, did you? That would just be cruel…

"Anything to say before I put your lights out?"

He keeps that face squeezed into a tight, painful grimace.

I sigh, shaking my head. "Such a pity. I really was looking forward to making you squeal, pig."

I rise once again, levelling my foot with his round, rotten face. A few stomps and he'll be out like a light.

"Well, so long…"

I bring my foot down, but then a tiny blonde runs in front of me, pushing me back, and now I stare into the blazing blue eyes of Historia.

I grind my jaw, speaking through my teeth. "Historia... Move out of my way..."

The queen doesn't budge as she protects the very man who tried to kill her, and I can't believe how fucking stupid she is.

This pointless act of kindness won't get her anywhere…

Tears run down her face, but she still won't take those shining blues off me. Next, she rises to her toes, trying to make herself taller.

"Historia…" I warn, a dangerous edge to my tone. "Don't make me do something I regret…"

She continues to stand tall, never taking those planet-sized orbs off me. "I order you to step back right now, Captain. I will see fit to this man's punishment now."

I continue to stare her daggers as I try to resist the order, but then a migraine splits my head in half and I wince, stepping back.

What the fuck was that? It was like she used mind control or something.

Could it be some other Ackerman-Reiss thing?

My squad stare at her fascinated as she gives their ruthless captain orders, and I have no choice but to back off like a dog with its tail between its legs.

Is it possible to love and hate someone at the same time? Because that's how I certainly feel about the queen right now.

Historia offers me a lingering, pointed look as she crouches down beside that pig, placing a gentle hand to his face, and I can't believe my eyes.

Is she fucking serious? We need to kill him.

"Does… does it hurt?" she asks, her voice soft and kind.

The man doesn't answer, and no shit. If I couldn't get him to talk, then she certainly won't have much luck either.

To my utter bewilderment, the pig starts to make sound, and it almost resembles words.

Historia leans closer. "Go on, I'm listening."

My eyes widen as tears start falling from the bastard, and now a sob pours from that broken jawbone. "My… my daughter…"

A hush spreads through the forest, and now my heart sinks to the depths of my stomach.

Aw, shit…

Historia blinks. "Your... daughter?"

"Please... she's sick... I... I needed the money... for medicine... she's... just five-years-old... too young to die... I'm s-sorry... Your... Your Majesty..."

I watch speechless as the man breaks down at last. Historia starts helping him up, and I can't bear to see the disgusted look in her eyes as she peers my way.

The realisation hits me like a ton of bricks.

Yeah. I just almost killed a father. One who was only looking out for his sick kid.

Well, I'm definitely going to hell now.

Maybe they'll put me in a cage next to Kenny…

A/N: What did Yelena say to Levi in chapter 128? "You can't breed violence out of people, Captain..."

I wrote this before that chapter came out, and I thought of this chapter of mine immediately when Levi had that anguished look on his face. I truly do think he hates being the monster, but it's a role he's willing to play. It's just who he is as an Ackerman.

I have a knack for writing polar opposites since it's my thing. To contrast, think of everything Kenny taught Levi and then what Frieda taught Historia. "Treat people with love and respect, and they'll love you in return..."

Yeah, sounds like something straight out of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (I was a Brony back in the day and have no shame. Fluttershy was best Pony!), so it seems to have no place in a cruel, violent anime like AoT. It really conflicts with the overall theme, but I love that line Frieda gives Historia. It's just so sweet.

Just be nice to people... even if they're not nice to you.

Anyway, I will post again next Friday. I usually have a mid-week post but I'm running out of chapters (I have four left). I want to stretch them out as much as I can so I have more time to write updates. A week is still pretty good considering some fanfics take years. My first fanfic took two and a half years to write... Plus, I am burnt out and need a little break. I'm at a day job as I work for the NHS. A keyworker, but I'm also aiming to do this for a living too at the same time (while still juggling fanfic). But I won't give up. I love writing this too much as it helps my other books and vice versa. Writing Levi helped make my own hero sympathetic. Do you know what it was? A tragic childhood. Boom! Instant sympathetic character.

So stay tuned.

See you next week.

CartoonPrincessSigningOff.