It was pitch black.

Although the darkness covered her like a blanket, she felt far from comforted. Pain took control of her entire body and, even though not actually seeing anything, she could feel the world spinning as the diziness took over her head. Her ears were ringing, but that didn't stop her from hearing what sounded like hell. And maybe it was, indeed, Hell. The distant sounds of flames burning with all the rage nature could evoke clashed with the louder screams of demons both human and titan echoing inside her head, making for a soundscape only the Devil himself could craft.

As dread filled her with adrenaline, she managed to struggle just enough for light to finally slip through the dark. It was the rubble of a destroyed ceiling that rested upon her, the same rooftop she was once standing on, although she couldn't exactly remember when she stood on it. She didn't know how much time had passed, but as she tried more and more to escape the wreckage, her memories began flooding in.

The Beast Titan showered the small village outside of Shiganshina with artillery made out of crushed boulders. As she stood motionless atop the roof of an old house alongside her comrades, it was only mere seconds after realising what was happening that she dodged a bullet: A rock roughly the size of a door landed right by her side, collapsing the roof of the building as she was instantly knocked out before landing in the middle of a bedroom.

"Bastard" was all she could mutter as she barely managed to stand up, still dizzy and weak from the event that took place God knows how many minutes ago. Laure looked down and was lucky enough to find that her body had nothing explicitly broken, even if her ODM gear hadn't suffered from the same fate. Its left side appeared to be held together by the souls of her fallen comrades and her hand grips were bent. But there was no time to worry. She had to move as fast as she could.

Laure jumped through the window and barely managed to handle the landing. Turning to her right, she once again doubted if she was actually in Hell. The village was destroyed by the Beast Titan's throwings and rubble drenched in blood could be seen everywhere. Those who were hit by the first wave of rocks exploded into red mist, leaving behind nothing but chunks of flesh, cloth and pieces of equipment. Further away, dust and smoke almost entirely covered the advancing scouts. They were charging towards the Beast Titan, covering the horizon with their march as flares were being shot towards him. The Titan, on the other hand, was readying yet another barrage of rocks. It was a suicidal charge where they had no fate other than dying.

As she touched the bleeding back of her head, Laure whispered to herself a sad, confused 'why?'. Her once braided brown hair was now a mess of dirt and blood. She could feel it slowly dripping down her neck. She could also hear the faint noise of flesh being cut. Glancing to her left, she saw the once present row of titans was shrinking in size, with a figure zipping across the air, killing them one by one. The Beast Titan didn't seem to notice, and that was all Laure needed for her mind to click. "A suicide charge to distract the Beast Titan..." Laure thought to herself as she hurtfully walked towards the mangled remains of one of her colleagues. Noticing a bag filled with flares, she grabbed as much as she could carry on herself and turned around to face the wall. "I trust in whatever it is that you all decided to do, my comrades." she said to herself. "I trust you all with my life."

As she reached the top of the wall, the loud noise of steam became even more deafening. The Colossal Titan was steaming even more intensely than when Bertholdt & Reiner revealed their identities atop of Wall Rose and kidnapped Eren & Ymir. As he steamed without break, Laure noticed that his muscle tissue shrank more and more. She also noticed the Colossal remorselesslly staring at a swaying scout with their hooks attached to his teeth. That blonde bowl hair meant it could only be one person- it was Armin being hit by the punishing vapor, and if he stayed there, he was going to be roasted alive. Laure panicked and yelled at Armin.

"Armin! Armin! ARMIN!"

Her voice was cracking and she started to cough after barely managing to shout. She was out of breath, still recovering from her own struggle. But she had to do something, she thought to herself. Armin probably had a reason to be doing what he was doing, but she couldn't allow him to die. Not like that. Laure grabbed her flare gun and loaded up one of her three flares. She aimed towards the Colossal's neck, hoping the angle and the wind coming from the steam would make the flare fly somewhere where it could grab both Bertholdt's and Armin's attention. The flare flew across the titan's eyesight and almost hit Armin on its way back. The Colossal's eyes turned towards Laure, who was trying to load another flare. "I am glad you are alive, Laure,-" Bertholdt thought before interrupting himself. "-but i can't do for you much different than what i'm doing for Armin. Mikasa and the others have their hands full with Reiner, and Eren hasn't moved an inch. I'll put you both to rest, one at a time".

"I can't breathe... this is all i can take... no, not yet. This still isn't enough. I have to buy more time."

Armin's thoughts raced through his head as he fought against all of his instincts in an attempt to stay hooked to the Colossus's teeth. He was going to be scorched alive, but it was all part of his plan. It was his only choice.

Laure fired another flare. The Colossal Titan stopped steaming, and an almost fainting Armin quickly started falling down thanks to gravity. However, he was conscious just enough to be able to turn around and barely land on the wall without dying. He raised his head to see his friend, battered, bloody and shellshocked. There was a feeling looming over Laure's head that Bertholdt was very annoyed by the flares, like a fly that just wouldn't stop buzzing near his face.

"Laure... y-you're... alive... wh-what are you doing...?" Armin said as he could barely manage to speak.

"I know you have a plan, Armin," she replied before coughing. "But i can't let you die like that. I cannot let you sacrifice yourself. I am here for you."

"I... i... i..."

Armin's skin was covered in both first and second degree burns. The adrenaline took his mind off the pain, but the damage was done. Had Laure not interfered, his fate would have been worse. "The Colossal may be slow, but that doesn't mean we don't have to be quick" Laure said, cleaning the bloody corner of her mouth with her hand while carrying a thousand yards stare across her face. "I assume you were being a distraction, correct? I don't see Eren, nor Mikasa, nor Jean or anyone else. I don't really know what happened here, but time and time again we have been saved by your skills."

Armin replied, being able to speak after catching his breath for a moment. "I needed to... hold on until the Colossal released enough steam... but your flares have got in the way of the plan... This means what was possibly our only shot at taking him down may have been wasted...". Laure wasn't happy with Armin's words. She knew she acted out of desperation to help her friend, but she didn't want to accept his death as a solution. Not while she could help. "I trust you, Armin. I just don't believe in your sacrifice.". Her mind was still thinking about the suicidal scouts rushing towards the hairy titan.

Bertholdt was staring at them the whole time, but his titan was already skinny enough to not be able to easily move. "What?!", Bertholdt panicked. "Why can't i-". He wasn't able to finish his sentence. Laure stared Armin in the eyes as she loaded her last flare before running towards the Titan with all the remaining strength she had. She fired the flare towards the Colossal's face using her left hand and shot her right hook at him. Bertholdt once more panicked. The sudden burst of steam flashed like an explosion. Laure flew backwards as she was tossed towards the wall, her hook barely managing to attach to the wall by pure luck. Armin, who was shocked and still laid prone, quickly attached his hooks to the ground. Bertholdt's reaction was more of a parry when compared to the slow scorching from a couple minutes ago. The Warrior didn't expect such a reaction. His heart was still racing as he stared at a dangled Laure. Something odd caught his attention, though. A crystallized form of Eren's titan was kneeling down near the wall's gates. A familiar voice suddenly shouted from behind him.

"Got you!"