Notes:
Enjoy.
Pov/Reiner:
Eren remained still as he charged at him. He looked monstrous, as he stood above the broken form of Annie, covered in steaming titan blood. His eyes glowed green and he growled quietly as he approached him.
As he neared him, Eren raised his clenched hands, which were covered in titan crystal. Capable of shattering his armour-like glass.
He stopped before the attack titan, whose green eyes were locked on him. Neither moved and for a moment there was peace. But after a moment he ran at Eren suddenly and swung his fist, aiming for the titan-shifters head.
But his attack was dodged by Eren, who in retaliation struck him in the side, causing him to stumble back slightly, his armour cracked from the hit.
He lunged at Eren again as fast as could, taking the titan-shifter off guard and throwing him off his feet, and to the ground.
He got to his feet and slammed his foot down trying to finish the battle quickly, but Eren moved out the way just in time, barely avoiding his armoured foot, which smashed into the ground.
Eren got to his feet and he barely had a second before he continued his attack.
He threw a right hook at Eren, who once again dodged the punch and uppercutted him with his hardened fist, which threw him backword and broke his Titans jaw armour.
After regaining his balance he charged at Eren again, this time he sent a punch at Eren's ribs, which collided and made a sickening crack. Eren tried to push him away but he shot his hand out at his neck, and after grabbing his neck he lifted him off the ground.
Eren punched him in the face while being held up forcing him to throw him across the forest, the plates of his face cracked from the hardened strike. Eren smashed into a tree but barely spent a second on the ground.
He once again charged at the titan shifter who had just got his feet and was looking at him motionless.
But this time his attack failed, with Eren smashing his fist into the side of his head, shattering the armour which covered it and throwing him to the ground.
And as he tried to get up Eren kicked him in the ribs, knocking him back down and causing several of his large ribs to shatter. And as he rolled over, Eren straddled him like he did to Annie, and started to punch him repeatedly with his hardened fists, breaking and cracking his armour with each strike.
But Eren's punches quickly slowed and he used this to his advantage. He headbutted the shifter with all the strength he could muster, breaking the titan's nose and throwing him off of him.
He was just getting up when Levi squad and Mikasa descended on him, blades drawn and ready to kill.
He felt Levi squad strike his body, each member slashing against him with their blades. Only to find their blades shattered, and his body unharmed.
Even with his body unharmed, Levi squad continued to shoot around him like fly's, their blades drawn and looking for an opening.
Roaring in frustration he started throwing his fists around wildly, trying to buy Annie enough time so that she could transform again and help him deal with Levi squad, who were too fast for him to catch.
He got onto his feet, ignoring Levi squad who still shot around him wildly and he looked up and was met by the fist of Eren, which was thrown into his chest, which made a large crater in his armour, which was cracked and chipped all over.
Eren stood above him menacingly, glaring down at him with his haunting green eyes. But before he could even scream, Eren slammed his hardened foot down, into his chest which caved in around his foot.
He roared out in pain and tried to grab hold of Eren's hardened foot, which was covered in his steaming blood. But as he raised his arms Eren pulled his foot out of his chest, and then he slammed it down again, this time upon his left shoulder, which shattered under the impact, spraying pieces of armour and blood across the forest floor.
He roared again and lunged desperately at Eren's throat, in a last-ditch attempt to save himself.
But before he could grab hold, Eren once again punched him down, breaking and cracking more of the plates that covered his face.
Eren slammed his fist down again, this time spraying more blood than armour.
And with a third strike, his skull caved in. The armour once protecting his face, was shattered, and large portions of his armour across his body were broken. He was barely able to move, with all the damage his body had received.
Eren leaned down and grabbed his broken head, and lifted it and turned it roughly, exposing his nape to the titan-shifter.
He caught glimpses of Levi squad, who were flying towards Annie, seemingly distressed.
Is this it? Was all of this for nothing. The pain, the suffering, the sacrifice. Was Marcel's death for nothing. He summoned what remained of his strength and tried to move. But he didn't need to.
Just as Eren leaned in to bite his nape, a golden light once again filled the forest, as a Titan-shifter transformed for the second time that day.
Eren stopped and turned to see the fully restored female Titan, standing not too far from them.
Annie was upon Eren before he could stand, Annie, knocked him to the ground, and began to wrestle with him on the ground beside him, both of them fighting for their lives.
He continued to watch the two fight each other, but he didn't even try to move. His will to fight leaving him.
But as the battle continued, it began to fall in favour of the attack titan, who had Levi squad supporting him.
And with Levi squad cutting her limbs and the overwhelming force of the attack titan, she was once again overwhelmed by the Scouts.
Annie was thrown around by the strikes of the attack titan, who seemed to know her every move, and had no mercy for her.
He got to his feet slowly as Annie was thrown to the ground by Eren, who didn't seem to notice him. Steamrolling from his skull he stumbled at one of the members of Levi squad who was horrified by his sudden attack.
He slammed his hand at the member of Levi squad, which caught him mid-flight and flung him across the forest. Not bothering to check the body he limped towards the pair of titans who were punching and throwing each other about.
He ignored the screams of the enraged Levi squad, who shot at him and tried to strike him, and with so much of his armour broken they finally were able to find a weak spot in his defence.
One of the Scouts shot at an open spot on his leg and used her blades to slice into his flesh which cut through his muscle with ease.
He fell to the ground again, but he barely spent a moment there using all his strength to rise from the ground. He started to rise sluggishly but was met by Eren who looked down at him with sympathy in his eyes.
He got to his hands and knees but got no further as Eren struck him in the back of the head, the single strike shattering his skull and causing his body to buckle instantly.
Eren walked away from him and towards Annie who had a dozen new cuts on her body from Levi squad. He knew Annie couldn't match Eren, so once again he rose from the ground, and like a zombie, he stumbled at Eren.
Using all his remaining strength he rammed into Eren and pushed him to the ground. He then grabbed hold of Eren's neck with one hand, and with his other, he grabbed one of his arms. He grasped Eren's neck and squeezed with everything he had. But it wasn't enough.
Eren grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand from his neck with little effort. He then crushed his forearm with a single hand. And at this point didn't even have the strength to scream.
Eren slammed his fist into his face, once, twice, thrice, and soon he couldn't count them, he just clung onto Eren's arm with all his remaining strength, allowing the face to get demolished by the attack titan.
But as his grip loosened Annie finally came to aid, stamping on Eren's face and then striking him with her hardened fist, which collided with Eren's skull and made a sickening crunch.
He let go of Eren and rolled away, allowed Annie to slam her fists down in a flurry of punches, each strike sending blood into the air and causing Eren to grunt in pain.
But Annie was so focused on Eren, she failed to notice another Scout shooting down at her nape, blades were drawn.
He shot his hand out desperately trying to save Annie, with the Scout he now recognised as Mikasa shattering her blades on his hand. She then shot away, back to the trees, but only for a moment.
Mikasa shot down at him, dodging his sluggish strikes and shot herself at his nape. But once again Mikasa's blades shattered as they made contact with him, and she was called up Levi, who sat in the trees above them.
Mikasa left him to watch as Annie got punched by Eren multiple times before he pushed her off of him.
But as soon as Annie got to her feet she was struck by Eren, who put all his weight into the punch, which launched her across the forest.
And as Eren ran at Annie he got up from the ground sluggishly and grabbed onto Eren as he ran, collapsing on top of the titan-shifter with no strength left in him.
Eren slammed the bottom of his clenched fist into his face, which got crushed even more by the strike. Eren then got to his knees and was met by Annie's knee, which smashed into his face and shattered his teeth.
But this time Annie didn't try to finish off Eren, instead, she bent down and ripped him from the nape of his titan with her hardened figures. Levi squad shot down at them, desperately trying to finish him and Annie off.
But she ran from Levi squad who only chased her for a moment before pulling back to Eren, who didn't try to chase after them, instead he watched as they disappeared into the forest.
And finally, with the danger gone, he let himself pass out in the hand of Annie, their plan of infiltrating the military ruined. And with their identity now known, it was only a matter of time before they found Bertholdt, who was still with them.
With Eren.
Pov/Mikasa:
Reiner and Annie were finally gone, after fighting their hardest for more than an hour. Both of them had disappeared some time ago, both shifters broken and weakened by the battle.
There was steam everywhere, trees were broken and the ground was covered in blood. And amongst the blood lay a corpse, which surrounded by his comrades.
Though she didn't personally know the member of Levi squad, she knew his name. But only because another member of Levi squad had screamed it out when Reiner had killed him.
Gunther's broken body lay the foot of one of the massive trees below a signal flare, which had been fired by Levi sometime earlier. The corpse was surrounded by Levi squad who were all distraught by the death of their friend, who they had worked alongside for years, battling countless titans.
Even Eren seemed saddened by the death of Gunther, but he seemed more disappointed than sad like he had failed him.
She walked towards Eren who stood only several meters from his evaporating titan.
"Eren," she said, surprising him slightly.
"Mikasa? Are you hurt?
"Did you see where Annie and Reiner went?" Eren asked her.
"They went that way?" She told him, pointing to the south.
At this Eren became relaxed, but he didn't say anything else. They fell into a comfortable silence, while the rest of Levi squad mourned for their fallen comrade.
"Mikasa, where is Bertholdt?" Eren asked her suddenly, breaking the silence.
"I don't know where he is, but Armin might know," she said looking at Armin who sat at the foot of a tree, a look of horror and shock on his face.
Eren walked towards him and put his hand on Armin's shoulder, but Armin didn't react, instead, he stared at the ground muttering incoherently to himself.
"Armin, where is Bertholdt," Eren asked Armin, who whipped his head up once he spoke.
"He'll be with the rest of the newer Scouts. At the edge of the forest. Why do you… No, don't tell me he's one as well," Armin said grabbing the sides of his head. "Just how many are there amongst us?" Armin muttered.
Eren nodded grimly in reply, much to Armin's horror.
"What are you talking about?" She asked Eren.
Eren stood up and looked at her.
"Reiner and Annie are Titan-shifters, and they came from the same village as Bertholdt. Bertholdt could be like them, he might even be the colossal titan," Eren explained. "If Annie and Reiner find him before we do, we'll have lost a large advantage over them."
"Then we need to go, now," she replied.
"Captain!" Eren called out. "We need to get moving."
"…No, we'll wait for Commander Erwin," Levi responded.
"Captain. We may have another titan-shifter among our ranks, I think Commander Erwin would be pleased if we caught him," Eren explained to Levi's surprise.
Levi stayed silent for a moment before responding.
"And how do you know if he is a titan-shifter?" Levi asked walking over to them.
"Reiner, Annie and he all came from the same village, I find it likely that he is also a shifter," Eren explained.
"… So that's their names. Do you know where he is?" Levi questioned.
"Captain, I think he'll be with the rest of the new Scouts at the edge of the forest."
"We need to wait for Erwin's orders. If Annie and Reiner arrive while we're trying to subdue him, then they could easily overwhelm us. Our blades don't work against the armoured one, and the female… Well, you saw what it did to the rest of the Scouts," Levi explained.
"If he escapes, we'll have three shifters to deal with. I can take down those two if I have help, but a third would be overwhelming. And if we lose it here we may not get another chance" Eren replied.
Levi didn't respond, instead, he tried to stare Eren down, but surprisingly Eren didn't back down. Instead, he stared right back at Levi, neither breaking eye contact.
"Captain," Armin started. "It could be some time before the commander arrives, and by then Reiner and Annie could have already got away with him. As Eren said, we may not get another chance at capturing him."
"And how would you suggest stopping him from transforming?" Levi asked, finally breaking eye contact with Eren.
"We cut his limbs off. That way he shouldn't be able to transform," Eren replied simply.
"Fine. Get on your horses we leave now," Levi said definitely.
"Captain, what about G-" Petra started.
"We sent a flare-up, someone should come across him. And if not, we can come back for him," Levi explained walking towards his horse.
The rest of Levi squad followed in suit, each of them getting on top of their horses and following Levi.
"Mikasa, get on," Eren said. And as soon as he said it she was on top of his horse, sitting behind him and wrapping her arms around him.
They rode fast, each of them pushing their horses to their limits.
But luckily for them, they never rode too deep into the forest, so within several minutes of riding, they reached the edge of the forest. But before they left the forest, each of them shot off their horses and up towards the trees where the other scouts were.
"Captain!" Their squad leader yelled from across the branches. "What the hell is going on in there!"
"It doesn't matter right now, we need to find one of the new Scouts," Levi responded quickly.
"Which one?" The squad leader asked.
"His name is Bertholdt Hoover," Eren said, dropping down next to them.
The squad leader stopped for a moment before replying. "He should be down there," he replied, pointing to his left.
"Get moving, now," Levi told them, jumping from the branches.
"What do you mean captain?! What is going on?!" The squad leader called out, to no reply.
She shot after him with the rest of Levi squad hot on her trail.
"Which one is he?!" Levi shouted at them.
"We'll tell you when we see him!" Eren shouted back.
And after several minutes of shooting down past dozens of Scouts, they finally found Bertholdt, who didn't even notice them shooting directly at him.
"There he is!" Eren shouted at Levi, alerting Bertholdt to their presence.
Levi shot directly at Bertholdt, who tried to jumps away up but was cut off by Levi, who sliced all his limbs off with several strokes of his blades.
Bertholdt screamed in pain as he dropped to a branch below, his limbs already steaming.
By the time, the rest of them arrived, Bertholdt was laying on the branch tears rolling down his face, without any limbs, and Levi's blade at his throat.
Levi looked at Bertholdt's steaming stumps of limbs, which were trying to regrow as they spoke.
"So, you were right," Levi said quickly glancing at Eren.
"Yeah, I was," Eren replied, still watching Bertholdt contort in pain on the branch.
"Ho-, How di- did you know?" Bertholdt asked through the screams.
"Annie and Reiner revealed themselves to be shifters, and you're from the same village as them, so I put two and two together," Eren explained.
"… Were they-?" Bertholdt started.
"No, they escaped," Eren explained still looking down at Bertholdt, who was wriggling underneath Levi's foot.
Bertholdt sighed in relief, but still eyed the blade which was cutting into his throat.
"So, what do we do with him?" Eld asked them after another moment of silence.
"Chuck him in a cart and we can take him inside the walls. Then we can put him underground where he shouldn't be able to transform," Eren explained. "But we need to get him back to the walls without Reiner and Annie getting him back or him transforming."
"Where are the carts?" Levi asked Eld.
"The closest one should be in the forest right now, but we need to regroup first. With the right-wing decimated and so many dead it would be impossible to continue with the expedition," Eld explained.
"Well, we needed the Commander here anyways," Levi said grabbing his flare gun and shooting a purple flare into the sky, alerting the Commander to their predicament.
But two others also saw the flair, and though they were far away from the Scouts they both knew what it meant.
Bertholdt had been captured.
Notes:
This was a pretty fun chapter to write, and with Gunther dead, the fall of Levi squad begins. See you next Sunday for chapter 13.