Chapter 13
Rolf laid there slowly and still. He felt the cold feeling of stone pressing into his back, feeling many small pebbles raining down upon him. He could only faintly hear the sounds of loud crashes and smashes, feeling the tremors hit his back. However, all of those paled compared to the one feeling he felt above all else.
That of the hot tears stinging down his face.
He could feel his muscles and joints were only faintly sore. He deep down knew that there was no reason for him to not get up, but he still refused to. Out there his friends were in trouble, the people he swore to protect. And he wasn't moving, but why?
Because deep in him, past his udders, the son of a shepherd's heart lay as broken as the building he was in.
He could only swirl the memories he had of her. In training how he'd see her amusingly angry scowl whenever he told stories, or their shared comradery when they both joined the Military Police together. How she had his back against the Military Police who wanted to roughhouse, and especially that special night out with Mina.
But it'd all been for nothing. She'd just used him. She only used him and the rest of their squad for some goal he didn't know. Armin had been right, and so she had tried to kill some of their friends. Or rather his friends.
So if she'd abused him, used him, tried to kill their supposed allies...why did he not move?
Rolf opened his eyes a bit. This wasn't his first war. He'd fought against those weird green aliens from another world, but those things...they'd never been his friends.
As Rolf sat up he felt his hands tighten.
No...no! Annie was not Rolf's friend! He snarled internally, throwing off several blocks of stone from him. Rolf's honor has been damaged! Annie-girl has spat on Rolf's honor, Rolf's friends! Rolf will not stop until she is done, and when she suffers the duel of a thousand fish slaps, only then will Rolf stop!
Feeling this determination, Rolf sat up and looked out of the hole he had created when Annie had thrown him in. Standing up and storming towards the hole, he looked out and saw how Annie was looking down at the building that they had tried to trap her in.
Grabbing his gear, Rolf noted how his blades had shattered. Dropping the remains, he pulled fresh blades free and glared at her.
"Annie-girl thought she could be a wolf, yes? Well Rolf will show the wolf-girl what happens when she crosses the Son of a Shepherd!" He shouted and squeezed his triggers, the hooks launching themselves into her back. As he shot at her, he shouted his warrior cry, causing Annie to look back quickly.
"Shleyaaaaheyaaaaa!" Rolf screamed as he crashed into her, swinging his head down into her's. Her head snapped back and she stumbled...back down on the building she'd intended to crush anyways.
As she sank into the stone work, she felt Rolf land on her. He glared down at her and held up his blade. "For dishonoring Rolf, Rolf shall challenge you to a duel! Rolf suggests you come quietly if you wish for Rolf to be merciful." He said sinisterly...but then realized she wasn't even looking at him, despite being on her face, she was looking down. That's when Rolf heard Mikasa.
"Eren!" Came her scream of concern as she flew towards them. Looking down, Rolf saw that right next to her hand, crushed under rubble, was Eren Jaeger. Rolf's eyes widened as he realized what happened. Swallowing he chuckled softly.
"Well...what a strange howdy do that-" He started before he saw Annie's arm began to move, her hand sliding to Eren. "Oh no you do not!"
Swinging his arm down, he slammed his fist into Annie's head, the point-blank range knocking her back a bit, as Mikasa zipped by, slashing her blade against Annie's face, digging into her nose and cheek. Annie suddenly shot herself up and forward, sending Rolf back, the young man firing his hooks at a nearby building.
As Annie stood up, she suddenly felt a stinging slice against her arm. Looking down, she saw Mikasa buzzing around her like a wasp. Annie swung her arm to try to catch Mikasa, but the girl was too fast, beautifully weaving around her arms to slice at her. Glaring, Annie swung her arms into a nearby building, sending a cloud of debris at her. Mikasa looked at all of the medium sized stones, but at her speed and with so many, she couldn't avoid them all.
Until she saw a blur of movement as her blue-haired companion had returned to the fight, smashing himself through the debris, not even batting an eye at it. "Eren-obsessed, go stop her from snatching the hot-headed Titan boy!" Rolf shouted as he took the hits, and Mikasa quickly fired past him through the clearing, before Rolf followed suit.
As Mikasa flew past and gave her another cut, Rolf aimed himself for the back of her head, shooting towards her. But as he did so, he saw her look back. She swung her arm up, catching Rolf on it. The boy grunted as he crashed into her awkwardly, spinning off of her and away, barely launching his hooks in time.
Resting on the side of a building, Rolf saw past Annie and saw more members of the Survey Corps speeding their way over. Rolf knew it'd be bad if they got involved, but then he had a flash.
He thought back to when Eren was trying to get the boulder, back in Trost. How he'd kept Eren pinned while he freaked out, giving Armin enough time to calm him. He smirked and had his plan.
Shooting his hooks out, he aimed them on either side of Annie's head, before screaming as he slammed into her quickly surprised face. Gunning them down, he pinned her head to the wall, gritting his teeth.
"Ah hah, thought you could escape the judgment of a thousand sea flesh, yes? Well Rolf tells you, Annie shall never escape Rolf's wra-" He got out before Annie quickly swung her head to the side and reached up, grabbing the chunks Rolf had embedded his hooks into before swinging the cords, as well as Rolf, away and into a building.
"...Annie's judgment...is only temporarily...delayed..." Rolf slowly let out with a groan as he shoved building from him.
Meanwhile, farther away and deeper in the city, Hitch, Marlowe, and the rest of Rolf's squad, part of the escort team, were staring wide eyes in the direction of the fight, hearing the loud sounds and having seen the strange lightning strike.
Their stupor was soon interrupted by Commander Nile Dawk who ordered all the escort teams to investigate. Marlowe turned to Rolf's team and, seeing that Rolf and Annie were missing, nodded. "Come on, let's go!"
As they began to fly ahead, Hitch spoke up. "Hey, so has anyone seen Annie? Or Rolf?" She asked.
"No, haven't seen either one! Not in a while in fact!" Boris said as he fired ahead, their team quickly passing the other escort teams.
"It doesn't matter, we have our orders and this is serious!" Marlowe said, before widening his eyes and sliding down his feet on the building. The rest of the team did as well, similarly looking stunned.
They saw a Titan. A Titan was within Wall Sina.
This fact was nearly impossible to comprehend to the unit. Even after all of Rolf's extra training and practice, none of them ever really expected to see a Titan in their lives.
"M-Marlowe, what is a Titan doing here?!" Hitch asked quickly, but Marlowe didn't answer. Looking around, he saw the other members of the escort team had also stopped, staring in fear and confusion. But as he looked around, Marlowe saw one person in particular, one who was wearing the uniform of the Survey Corps. He looked up briefly and Marlowe saw the disdain in his eyes. And he gritted his teeth.
"Well what are we doing? This is exactly what we trained for initially, and what Rolf had us to prepare for, right? Let's go!" He said and turned.
"Are you crazy? I never signed up to fight Titans!" Hitch said quickly, looking back at the unsure faces of the rest of her team.
"Fine. But when I see Rolf, I'm telling him that you were too afraid of the Titans, and that we need more training." Marlowe said turning away and firing his gear to zoom away.
"...I don't know about you, but Rolf is much scarier than any old Titan." Boris said and leaped off the building, zooming away as well. Soon after, the rest of the team quickly began to leave, until Hitch was all alone.
"...Uuuugh! Why did I have to get stuck with a squad of weirdos?!" She shouted before joining in after.
It wasn't long before Rolf soon got up. Shaking his head of the dust that coated him Rolf looked ahead to see what was happening. There he saw many of the Survey Corps having arrived and were trying to fight off Annie. Unfortunately, she was tearing through them. Some would be lucky of they got in a cut, most of the time she swatted them aside, leaving them just a small red smear on the ground or on a wall.
Rolf gritted his hands, realizing what was going on, that his friend Annie was in fact slaughtering these people. The chunk of rubble his hand was on was crushed into dust as he glared at her. But inside he realized something else, seeing how she fought, those same attacks she'd taught him so long ago. She was a Titan, a full Titan like Eren, but she was smart and in control.
And he didn't see Eren anywhere!
"Where is the sackty patootie is that knuckleheaded Titan-boy?!" Rolf exclaimed. That's when he saw several familiar shapes rush in to join the fight. Zipping past her left shoulder, he saw the gray hair of Boris, who screwed his body horizontally to avoid Annie swinging her arm up, while on the other side Marlowe shot towards her nape. That's when Rolf saw her hand cover it, and her hand was covered in some strange kind of crystal that shattered Marlowe's swords.
"Rolf, there you are!" He heard and looked up to see Hitch land in the hole next to him. "What is going on?! Why is there a Titan in Wall Sina?!" She looked around and then back to Rolf. "And where is Annie?"
"Annie girl turned the scallop and hiked the tree, shucking the cobs of the fellow Corpsmen, and-"
"Yeah yeah, okay whatever not the time for your jabbering!" Hitch interrupted, rubbing her forehead annoyed. "Okay, so what's the deal with this one? It looks different and is actually fighting."
"This one is like Eren-boy, turning into a smart Titan!" Rolf said as he looked to see her high kick and slice through several scouts, as well as smashing apart some of the buildings.
"...Great. Not only do we face a Titan, but we get their ace." Hitch groaned and felt her hands shake as she stared at it. That was when Annie turned and looked in another direction, having heard something. As Rolf looked, he heard the hiss of someone using their gear and looked up. He saw Jean making his way towards Annie's nape, and Rolf remembered Marlowe's attempt.
"Excuse me, lazy-as-a-log-Hitch-girl." Rolf said before running out of the hole and leaping onto Annie's shoulder. Sure enough her hand had crystallized and covered her nape. Smirking, Rolf grabbed it and with all of his strength yanked it back. "S-Sorry Annie-girl, but this time Rolf thought with his noodle!" He shouted and pulled the hand away, as Jean sped in, slashing at the nape.
There was a loud clang and the sound of something shattering, and as Rolf struggled to hold Annie's hand away, he looked up...and saw that her other hand had done the same thing and covered in time.
"...Ah. Rolf sees Rolf's mistake." He said before Annie stopped struggling with Rolf and quickly threw her hand in the other direction, sending Rolf flying. Rolf fired his hooks and was able to stop himself before he started to follow her as she chased Jean and Armin away.
"Hey Rolf, that brown-haired guy had a plan and we have to follow him!" Marlowe said as he spun off. Rolf saw that and gripping his triggers, he fired himself away and started to follow the others. As he followed, they quickly ran around a corner, and Rolf heard a loud crash and explosions coming from the two sides of her in the buildings.
When Rolf looked and the smoke cleared, he saw dozens of hooks and cables embedded into her skin, seemingly trapping her. She fell back, still trapped by the hooks, before several scouts threw a large, weighted net with spiked on top of her, seemingly pinning her.
"Wow...so they had a whole ambush ready?" Marlowe asked as Rolf swung past and landed at her feet, looking up.
"Well...now that Annie is captured, Rolf shall tear her out of that and enact the justice of his ancestors with a thousand-"However Rolf was interrupted as he saw Annie's leg swing out. Gritting his teeth, he charged towards her leg, planting his feet and raising his arms to try and stop her.
However her momentum and strength were just too much. She collided with him and Rolf was swept away, crying out as he flew through the air.
"We gotcha!" Rolf heard as Marlowe, Boris, and Hitch flew up to meet him, catching him and slowing him down enough for Rolf to fire out his own hooks. Rolf was panting as he looked down at Annie fleeing.
"She is...much stronger and quicker than Rolf assumed."
"How do you stop something like that?" Hitch asked, watching as she ran off. "If it's that fast, that smart, and too strong for even you Rolf..."
"Rolf's honor has been besmirched, so Rolf shall not stop until she faces Rolf's wrath! If Titan-boy Eren won't return, than Rolf will take her down, no matter what! Dog!" He said, gripping his hands, then leaped off, and sped his way away towards Annie.
As he zoomed there, he saw the various members of the military following as well. Annie spun around, sliding backwards and grabbing at a chunk of the nearest buildings to throw rubble towards everyone, before completing her spin and kept running. As everyone bobbed and weaved through it, Rolf just smashed through the rubble, barely feeling the debris smash into his skin.
Rolf soon caught up to her, and he brought his arm back, glaring at her. "Rolf remembers Annie's training for Rolf! And now Rolf won't be holding any of the mayo back!" He shouted, swinging his fist forward and smashing into Annie's head, causing her to stumble. She fell forward, but pushed her arms out to send her back up to her feet.
Suddenly it seemed like the whole world grew still as behind the chaos, a yellow beam of lightning began to build up, before smashing into the ground, causing a huge explosion. Even Rolf slammed his feet into a building, sending shingles flying as he came to a halt. Then came a familiar roar as Rolf grinned.
"About time Eren got his mind out of his cow maker!" Rolf said as a loud thundering was heard, and in a flash of speed, faster than anyone could expect, came the Titan form of Eren, screaming as he threw a powerful punch right at Annie, too fast for her to react. She flew back in the air and crashed into a building, toppling the whole thing.
As she got up, she saw Eren starting to charge again, before turning and running from the crazed Titan. While Rolf watched, he looked back to see his squad watching in surprise.
"Marlowe! Take everyone to keep on the flanks of the meat and keep it from spilling and spoiling!" Rolf said, as Marlowe gave a half-confused nod. But that was not a problem for Rolf, because he had bigger sea cucumbers to wear.
Zipping away, Rolf flew past the building Annie had slammed into, and looking down, he widened his eyes, horrified as he saw dozens of innocent people smashed and crushed. Looking up, he saw the destruction being carved by the two fighting it out. Rolf saw Eren's blind rage and something clicked. His honor needed to be satisfied, but if they all kept fighting like this, many more would die.
As he sped along, his gear allowing him to move faster than either Titan, Rolf saw them arrive at a clearing where Annie spun around, getting in that combat stance that Rolf was so used to. Eren got into his own stance, and Rolf flew over to land on Eren's shoulder. He saw Eren staring down at Annie, and Annie returning the look, before her eyes flashed to Rolf.
Rolf was panting, his uniform was cut and tattered from the debris and buildings he'd gone through, and he kept looking at Annie. The girl he'd trusted above all else, the one he'd stood by and who'd stood by him. The one causing all this pain and destruction.
And...here Eren was just staring at her, only his deep breaths growing more shallow and angered. He'd had enough.
"Eren-boy, why is it you keep stopping until the cud has curdled, now is the time to strike!" He shouted and kicked off Eren's shoulder, embedding his hooks into Annie's arm, pulling forward. Annie swung her fist at Rolf, but Rolf kicked off her hand and swung his fist at her head, knocking her back and stumbling. It was then that Eren charged in, wrapping his arms around her and swinging her body, tossing Annie through the air.
"You nincompoop! Is your head damaged Eren?!" Rolf shouted as he saw her body flying towards the inhabited buildings. Kicking off her head, Rolf leaped into the air, before swinging down and pummeling into her, sending her down to the ground. It still caused major damage, shattering nearby windows and throwing chunks of mortar into the air, but at least she only smashed into the street.
Then Eren smashed through a building to get at them.
"Eren!" Rolf screamed as Annie hopped up, colliding her feet into Eren's face. Leaping back, she formed crystals on her arm, swinging it at Rolf first, who just barely dodged it, the winds from the blow sending him flying, before colliding into Eren's arm, sliding it off.
Rolf spun back, landing on his back on a roof and smashing through it. Groaning, Rolf looked up and out of a window, ignoring the panicking family he was surrounded by. "Eren-boy, Rolf will institute a three shoe beating upon your head!" Rolf shouted and charged past the very confused and very scared family. He smashed out of the window and drew his blades as he aimed to slice against Annie's arm.
However, Annie just ignored the cut, one of many, as she looked down at her prize. She'd managed to pin Eren down into a building and was repeatedly bashing his head down with her armored hand. Soon Eren had stopped moving.
However this lapse in awareness came to bit her, as Rolf had built up speed and momentum, finally firing himself like a screaming foreign cannonball, his fist smashing into Annie's face and knocking her back and on her side. Rolf stopped and leaned on the side of a building.
"Annie!" He shouted, as he stared down. "You were Rolf's friend. For that, the beating of a fish will sting extra!" He threatened as she stared up at him. She then looked ahead and saw the wall. Kicking up to her feet, she swung a hand-full of rocks towards Rolf, making Rolf cross his arms over his face to cover it.
Once done, Rolf saw that she was making her way to the Wall.
"Oh ho, so Annie girl is a coward after all, yes? ROLF'S HONOR SHALL NOT BE ESCAPED!" Rolf shouted and sped up towards her, sliding slow to slice at her ankle, catching it and making Annie pause and have to jump to avoid slowing down.
It was from here that the two heard a loud crash, and suddenly from out of the buildings came Eren, burning and almost on fire and missing his legs and one arm, leaping like some kind of demonic frog to tackle into Annie from behind.
Annie had quickly swung her head back, her face in a visible panic as Rolf swung from Eren's head and swung his feet in, kicking into her face and splattering Titan blood out, a sickening crunch coming from her skull. However, her attack had dislodged Eren from her, and she made a beeline to the wall, coating her fingers in her crystals, digging into them and quickly starting to climb up.
"No Annie, Rolf has made himself clear!" Rolf shouted. "The beckoning of the bleating yak will not spoil on your udder!" With his intentions made perfectly clear, Rolf hooked up on the wall, swinging up. He caught her hand as he swing by and dislodged her hand. Stopping himself, he was on the wall between it and Annie's torso. Kicking off the wall, leaving a small crack in it, his head collided with Annie, dislodging her other hand and sending her off the wall.
Rolf landed on Annie's head as the two began to fall, and he looked down at her, his eyes slowly clouding up with a returning set of tears, seeing not a Titan's eyes, but Annie's eyes, eyes that now looked at Rolf with fear.
"Why Annie? Rolf doesn't care." He felt his throat tighten as he managed to let out the last words. "Rolf says goodbye, Annie."
The two crashed down on the ground in an explosion of dust. Eren began to roar as he smashed into he from behind, bringing his hand up and smashing it down so hard his own hand was torn off, Annie's Titan head was sent flying.
The blow also knocked Rolf back, crashing back into the wall. Gripping down, Rolf saw how Eren was brutally beating into her. And as he saw Eren lean down and viciously tear into her nape with his teeth, Rolf could see Annie's face, her real face. Her eyes were closed, her face tormented...and she had tears flowing. And Rolf knew deep down...he couldn't watch it.
They needed her alive, she could be a prisoner, and of course he needed to personally settle his wounded honor...but even then, despite all the death and damage, he couldn't just allow Eren to do this to her, not like this.
"Eren-boy, you've been too far out of control!" Rolf shouted and swung down. "Don't let Rolf make your shoe beating any greater than it must!" He shouted, not noticing how Eren had paused. Colliding his feet into Eren's head, the stunned Titan was launched backwards. As Rolf jumped free, he landed down at Annie's nape and looked down, seeing her.
Suddenly, the world went blue and white, Rolf being forced to cover his eyes. He felt a powerful wind blow against him, and looking down, he saw those same crystals starting to form, a ball was growing and it was encircling Annie. Rolf felt the winds from this try their hardest to blow him away, but Rolf yanked into her Titan-flesh.
"NO!" Rolf shouted. He glared and crawled up to her. "For too long, Rolf has been bamboozled, and Annie has swatted Rolf aside long enough!" He gritted his teeth and reached down past the growing crystals and with all his might he pulled up. The bits of flesh connecting her to her body snapped but suddenly Rolf was stopped. Looking down, he saw her leg was already covered in the crystal. And it was starting to grow up her leg. In a split second, Rolf held up his blade and swung it deep, sliding right through her leg, it smashing against the crystal. Yanking back, Rolf shouted and he kicked himself off Annie's body and backwards. He slammed back to his back, holding Annie close to him, the two sliding against the ground and away.
Panting, Rolf felt a stillness around him, as he looked up and saw Annie's Titan body began to steam and smoke, like that of a dead Titan. Looking down, Rolf saw that he was holding Annie, and her stump leg was starting to steam as well, slowly growing back.
She finally opened her eyes, looking up at Rolf holding her tightly and her already wet eyes began to glaze over as she realized that her plan had failed.
"I guess it doesn't matter now..." Annie said as Rolf looked down at her, his throat tightening up and unable to say a word, as Rolf got up, still holding onto her.
Looking up, Rolf saw the Survey Corps beginning to slide down, and among them was his squad. They quickly ran over, their eyes filled with amazement and disbelief. However they all stopped when they saw what Rolf had in his arms.
"Wha-is...is that Annie?" Hitch asked slowly. "What...what is she..."
"Look at her leg." Came the still voice of Boris, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I think it's obvious. Seems we didn't only have one Titan in our unit."
Rolf looked down at Annie, the girl sparing them a glance, still glazed over. Finally her leg finished growing, and she looked away.
"Rolf told you earlier, Hitch-girl." Rolf said, and looked down at Annie. "Annie is a threatening Titan."
"Here...we'll take it from here." Rolf heard as he looked up and saw one of the Survey Corps commanders, some woman wearing goggles, as he slowly handed her over. "We know some ways to keep her from repeating this little stunt."
Finally letting go, Rolf looked around. He saw that one short scout from back in Trost freeing Eren. The Survey Corp was beginning to swarm the area, bounding and gagging Annie before she could get the energy to create a Titan body again. She didn't resist at all.
It was then at that moment that Rolf felt a stinging pain and achiness surround his body, as he looked down at the many cuts and bruises he'd gotten. He felt his heart begin to hammer from all the energy he'd exerted, and his vision began to fade, before finally going black as the back of his head hit the stone ground.
Rolf eventually began to stir and he groaned, before his eyes slowly opened. He looked up and saw a wooden ceiling, and slowly he began to sit up. He looked around and saw he was in a bed in a simple white shirt and pants. Underneath it, he could feel his body wrapped in many bandages.
He was still a bit sore when he heard a familiar voice next to him.
"Rolf, you're awake!" Looking up, Rolf saw the big eyes of his friend Mina Carolina. Behind her were Marlowe, Hitch, Boris, and the rest of his squad, all looking relieved.
"Ah...Mina what is she with the eyes of a large lake doing here?" Rolf asked slowly as he sat up.
"Well I'd gotten done with my patrols early and was making my way into Stohess to meet up with you and Annie." She said, before looking down, as her voice wilted. "Then...I see all this. And I hear about Annie..."
"I still can't believe it!" Hitch said, crossing her arms. "This whole time, we were living with a traitor. One to all of humanity!"
"Hitch, calm down." Boris said and looked up. "I don't think anyone is taking it harder than Rolf."
As he said that, they all looked up and saw Rolf looking down at his bed.
"Rolf supposes it wasn't just a rotten turnip playing the hanky tanky in Rolf's stomach, yes?" Rolf said weakly, as Mina rested her hand on his, unsure of what to say.
"...Well, I suppose you should know. Your friend in the Survey Corp, and the whole organization really, were exonerated. They were given charge to watch her, 24/7. She's been heavily bound, although so far she's not saying a word." Marlowe spoke up to break the silence.
"And it was a close call, really." Hitch said. "There was some weird crystal left by her Titan, one that had her...old leg still in it. Nearly impossible to break. If you hadn't been so fast, she'd be stuck in it."
Rolf groaned and sat up, thinking about how close that'd been, nodding slowly. "Rolf...understands."
"Kind of a crappy way to be a hero, I bet." Hitch added somewhat bitterly, before looking out of the window. "Still...now I can't help it. If that one boy, Eren was a Titan, and now Annie is one...are there any others out there?"
"Rolf doesn't know." Rolf said but gritted his hands tightly. "But if there are, Rolf saw what Annie-girl did. How she squashed the grapes with no intention of making the wine, ending the egg before it hatched. And if others are out there like her, Rolf will stop them!"
Author's Note:
So what's this? Two chapters in the same month? What madness is this?!
Yes I just got a shot in the arm for inspiration, plus this is the chapter where things start to get real interesting, and I was excited to get here. Also the Attack on Titan soundtrack is AMAZING. I really wish I could somehow get it to play while this is read, specific tracks for certain parts, but ah well.
In this series, there are various changes to canon that are either small or large. Small ones include Rolf saving Mina and Ian, and a few other ones like that. Here? Not including Rolf being here at all is the first of the major changes.
Also yes, to those who asked for This'll be a Shell of a Day, both here and there, I will continue it, it just takes the right inspiration and mood for it.