Chapter 6: Bridge between the Humans and the Kaiju
Although most of them were surprised, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were in complete shock. They had suspicions that Eren possessed the ability to transform into a Titan, but what really caught their attention was the fact that Eren was working alongside Godzilla. It was at that point all three of them knew that the mysterious voice inside of their heads belonged to Godzilla. However, they weren't sure whether Godzilla knew who they were and would expose their identities to Eren, but they had to keep their guard up now more than ever. They continued watching Eren and Godzilla, hoping to analyze and create any strategy to take them both down. The three of them moved over to an isolated spot on the roof while everyone else kept on watching the battle in front of them.
Reiner whispered, "Hey, Bertholdt. You think you could take care of that lizard ?"
"Hard to tell. From the looks of it, Godzilla seems bigger."
"He is," Annie included, "You're usually sixty meters tall and Godzilla is likely around forty meters taller."
"Which means he has an advantage over me. With his height, he could overpower me easily."
"Not exactly true. Godzilla seems very bulky and large, which also makes him a bit slow. You may be shorter, but you have speed over him."
Reiner argued, "If he has speed, then what about Godzilla's defenses ? I doubt Bertholdt could do a lot of damage against that thick hide."
Annie pointed towards Godzilla's neck and told them both, "See the gills on him ? That means he's amphibious if he can survive breathing on land and has the capability to breathe in the water. If you can somehow land an attack on there, it could disrupt his breathing and stun him enough for you to take him down."
"That could actually work," Reiner said, "Nice insight, Annie."
"Now hold on," Bertholdt disclosed, "We don't actually need to fight that thing now. For all we know, Godzilla thinks that we're on his side because of Eren."
"What do you mean by that, Bertholdt ?"
"I'm saying that Eren is just like us now. A Titan Shifter. If Godzilla sees him as a good guy, then he'll see us as allies too. If he ever finds out who we are."
"Bertholdt's right," Annie agreed, "Our cover hasn't been blown yet and there's no reason for us to believe that it should be exposed anytime soon. We should just continue on with our mission."
Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie returned to the others as Eren and Godzilla were still repelling the Titans out of the city. Godzilla ensured that no more Titans were going to enter the city by returning to the exterior side of the Wall and covering up the breach. Eren continued killing the remaining Titans within the city, but his stamina was quickly draining the longer he was in his Titan body. He felt himself getting slower and his attacks were slowly losing their impact as his punches and kicks could not instant kill his enemies anymore. However, Eren still had the burning desire in his heart to keep on fighting until every Titan in Trost was disposed of. The only Titans left were the ones that gathered at headquarters and Eren started making his way there.
Mikasa, Armin, Jean, and the others ran on the rooftops to save their gas while trailing Eren. They notice that he was heading for the abundance of Titans at headquarters and decided to join him. Unsure if Eren would be able to understand her in his Titan form, Mikasa tries to get ahead of Eren and waves her hands in the air to get his attention. Eren manages to see Mikasa and stops to turn towards her. Armin, Jean, and everyone else stops as well, curious to see how their interaction will turn out.
"Eren ?" Mikasa asked, "This is really you, isn't it ? Why did this happen to you ?"
Eren, within his Titan body, tried to speak to her, "I'm not sure how, but...I can assure you that I haven't changed or anything."
Unfortunately, Eren was unaware that his Titan body did not move its mouth along with his words and kept staring at Mikasa.
She sighed and said, "I understand if you can't talk to me since you're a Titan now. I just hope that you could at least hear me and understand what I'm saying to you. I don't know if there's any way for you to turn back to normal, but I'm glad that you're not like the other ones. I can't imagine how Mother would react to this, but I know that she'll still be with you despite all of this."
Eren understood perfectly, but he wished that he was able to get his words out to her. Instead, Eren tries moving his large arm above Mikasa and gently places his index finger on her head. Mikasa was surprised at the unexpected response Eren gave to her and watches as he starts moving again. She touches the top of her head and smiles, happily knowing that Eren was aware of what she said. Mikasa then continues following Eren along with everyone else.
Meanwhile, Connie, Sasha, Ymir, Krista, and the rest of the remaining soldiers stood and watched as the headquarters were overrun with Titans. They barely had any gas left, preventing them from trying to retaliate against the giants. While some tended to the injured soldiers, others were just hopelessly walking around the rooftop thinking about how they're going to die.
"Dammit, there's nothing we can do !" Connie complained, "Everyone's already gone and we have to be the only ones stuck in this damn city."
"T-there has to be rescue coming, right ?!" Sasha asked.
Krista added, "Y-yeah ! They'll notice that we're out here and come pick us up."
"I wish that could be the case, but we can't get a signal out to the Garrison," Ymir argued, "It's not like they'll be able to see us with normal eyesight. We're basically specks out here."
Connie added, "Not to mention that sending out a signal like a fire could attract the Titans to us."
"There's really nothing we can do then," Sasha cried out, "This really sucks."
Things got worse as a Titan caught sight of the soldiers and immediately headed their way. Frightened screams emerged from the soldiers as they were too frozen in fear to do anything. However, a roar was heard by the soldiers and they all turned to see a Titan running towards their direction. At first, the soldiers were panicking at the sight of the raging Titan until it launched a punch that pushed the other Titan in front of them away. Unaware that the Titan was Eren, the soldiers were in shock and confused as to why he had saved them. Then, Mikasa and the others arrived and landed by the remaining soldiers, effectively calming them down with their presence. Eren proceeds to kill the regenerating Titan and moves on to the rest at headquarters.
"What the hell was that ?!" Connie shouted, "What's with that Titan ?!"
Sasha added, "W-why did it help us just now ?!"
"It's alright, you guys !" Armin reassured, "That Titan is not what you all think."
"What are you saying, Armin ?" Ymir asked.
Jean answered, "He's saying that Titan is on our side. He kills others of its kind unlike the others."
"Why are you still referring to him as a Titan ?" Mikasa said as others looked at her, "That's Eren you're talking about. Just because he's a Titan now, that doesn't mean you should talk about him like that."
"Huh ?! Did you just say that Titan is Eren ?!" Krista asked.
This also prompted others to wonder about what Mikasa had said. They muttered their words to each other as Armin listened in on what they said.
"Is she being serious ? That Titan can't be Eren."
"I've never heard of a human turning into a Titan before."
"That Titan looks nothing like Eren."
As they continue talking, Armin approaches Mikasa and whispers to her, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Mikasa ? Jean and I were just making sure that no one knew that Titan is Eren. What if they suspect him for being an enemy ?"
"You think it would be better if they don't know ? If they don't learn that Eren became a Titan, they'll treat him like one and try to kill him. Letting our teammates know about his identity is the best chance we got at protecting Eren in this state, or else they'll just assume the worst."
"I...I can't argue with you on that, but I also can't deny that Eren might be experimented on if we managed to get out of here."
"If someone wants to get their hands on him, then they'll have to deal with me first. Now, let's get going while Eren deals with the Titans."
Mikasa grapples towards headquarters with Armin following her while everyone else remains. Most of them were too focused on the Eren situation that they didn't notice the opening they had to reach the headquarters. Jean could see their blank faces and decided to snap them out of their confused state.
"Hey ! Can't you guys see this is our chance to refuel ?! This isn't the time to be worrying about Jaeger's condition ! Let's hurry up and get the hell out of this place !" Jean shouted towards his peers and grappled away.
Marco, Connie, Sasha, and all the other soldiers followed along with Jean as they traveled down the street towards headquarters. Eren easily dispatched the obstructing Titans and allowed everyone to pass. He grabs a seven meter Titan and throws it at multiple smaller Titans scaling the walls of headquarters, knocking them down on the ground. Everyone manages to break through the windows of the building while Eren watches for any remaining soldiers left behind. He spots a couple of soldiers, Hannah being one of them, on the ground right outside of the building and figures that they've run out of gas. As he bends down to help, a ten meter Abnormal Titan jumps on his back and bites his shoulder. Eren quickly grabs the soldiers with his right hand and punches the Abnormal with his left, forcing it off his back. Eren stomps on the fallen Titan and proceeds to kick its body at seven meter Titan from earlier. He places the soldiers on the floor with the broken windows, but Hannah begins shouting and pointing behind Eren. He turns around to find Franz running for his life as a crawling fourteen meter Titan chases after him. The Titan leaps at Franz and crashes into the ground face first, lifting its head and holding him in its mouth. Eren rapidly pushes his right hand into the Titan's mouth and pulls Franz out while ripping its head off its body. As the Titan's decapitated head falls from his hand, Eren finishes off its regenerating body and delivers Franz to headquarters. Once he drops Franz off at the building, Hannah goes over and hugs her companion. They both happily wave at Eren, who walks away and continues dealing with the rest of the Titans in the area.
As Eren was fighting the Titans outside of headquarters, everyone else inside had to take care of the intruding Titans within the gas supply room. After a near successful attempt at clearing the room of Titans, the soldiers advanced to refuel their gas in order to escape Trost. Most of the soldiers who were frightened before had gained a newfound hope when they realized that they could finally escape without dying. While they all waited for their gas to fill, some of them decided to pass the time by having small talk.
"Hey, did any of you see um...Eren save the others who ran out of gas ?" one soldier said.
"Yeah, I thought they were goners for sure," another person replied.
"Maybe Eren being a Titan isn't that bad. Without him, we never would have made it here."
Mikasa and Armin were relieved to hear the words from their fellow peers, but they still can't help except wonder why he was a Titan in the first place.
"Hey, Armin," Mikasa asked, "Had Eren always acted strange around you ? I can't recall a time when he acted out of character."
Armin sighed, "There was one time during training where he did act a bit weird, but that was it. I'm not sure if it relates to this situation he's in."
"So...there was no way for us to find out. Eren probably doesn't know about this either. I can't imagine what he must be feeling."
"We'll find out more when we can. He seems to handle himself fine right now. We can take the time to get out of here and find out how to help him later."
Mikasa nodded as she sits and waits for her gas tank to fill, but she worries about how Eren's future will turn out due to his dilemma. Armin worried about the same thing as he thought about how his and Eren's dream of seeing the outside world would be affected. They both were quite anxious at their own thoughts, causing them to be placed in a concerned state for the time being.
In the meantime, Eren felt himself getting weaker as he began losing his balance and his vision getting hazy. The remaining Titans started surrounding him and proceeded to chew on his body. Eren was helpless as he fell on a building and let out weak roars. Mikasa, Armin, and all of the soldiers exited headquarters to see the sight of Eren being eaten by Titans. Enraged, Mikasa grapples over to Eren and tries to rescue him. Armin calls out to the others for help, in which Jean, Reiner, Annie, Bertholdt, and Ymir responded. Mikasa quickly slices the nape of two six meter Titans at the base of Eren's legs while Reiner and Ymir take down a thirteen meter Titan together. Jean, Annie, and Bertholdt dealt with the last two Titans, allowing Eren to finally be free from the Titan's grasp. Despite helping him out, Eren could feel himself falling asleep and drops to the ground. As his Titan body dissipates, Mikasa and Armin panicked as they believed that Eren was dying.
"EREN !" Mikasa shouted as she ran over to his evaporating body and trips right in front of it.
Armin grapples over to her and tries to comfort her. Jean, Ymir, and everyone else approaches them both and watches the scene unfold. Although Mikasa initially thought that Eren had died after being eaten by a Titan earlier, she was happy to know that he managed to survive by turning into a Titan. Now she actually believes that he was gone for good and lost all hope that he might return again. Armin couldn't look at Eren's body and focused more on calming Mikasa down. He was sad as well and he wasn't sure if he had the strength to hold in his emotions. Before Armin could let his tears out, he began hearing the sound of flesh ripping. The others started hearing the noise as well, turning their attention towards the body's nape where Eren was seen emerging.
"I-it...can't be," Armin said, causing Mikasa to look up.
A spark of hope ignited within Mikasa's heart, prompting her to go over towards Eren. She pulls him out from the nape of his Titan body and places her ear to his chest. After a few moments, Mikasa could hear his heartbeat and slowly cried while she held him tightly. Armin, Jean, Marco, and everyone else gathered around Mikasa and Eren, amazed that a human had the ability to transform into a Titan. However, Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, and even Ymir were not surprised as they too had the same ability. Nevertheless, the four of them acted surprised like the rest of the soldiers in order to preserve their secret.
Godzilla had trouble trying to fix the breach of the Wall as various Titans were climbing the rubble he was placing. The regular Titans slowly climbed the broken stone while the Abnormal ones jumped high and fast. By being on the exterior side of the Wall, Godzilla had no other materials to block the breach other than the dirt on the ground. Even when Godzilla tries smacking the Titans off, the rubble would easily slide off the pile. Some of the Abnormal Titans had already made it past the Wall, prompting Godzilla to grow angry. He felt useless and the many attempts he made to prevent the Titans from reaching humanity had failed miserably. If he were to do anything else, then it would certainly cause excessive damage towards human civilization. However, Godzilla had no choice and decided to take the opportunity to use his only ranged attack like he did earlier. With no more humans in the city, Godzilla moved his eyes towards the intruding Abnormals and inhaled. With one deep breath, Godzilla let out another concentrated beam of radiation from his mouth and completely obliterated the Abnormals before they could go deeper into the city. At the rear side of the Wall, many soldiers looked to see Godzilla unleashing a powerful blue beam of light that burned the frontmost part of the city. They didn't know what to think about it other than the idea that Godzilla was doing it for no reason, but they did report his actions to Kitz Woermann. Godzilla stops his attack and checks for any remaining Titans in the city. Luckily, the Abnormals were gone and the regular Titans were the only ones left that tried scaling the rubble. Although, Godzilla wasn't sure what else to do since covering the breach with nothing except broken stone and debris was not that good of an idea. A thought came to his mind and Godzilla saw a chance to speak with Eren on what his next move should be. With insight on the human side of the Titan situation, Godzilla would understand what the humans would want him to do in order to prevent the Titans from entering their city. He sits in front of the breach, with his large size temporarily blocking the Titans' path, and concentrates on calling out to Eren within his mind.
"It seems the situation has calmed down for the time being. The soldiers of the Walls have managed to evacuate everyone in that city," Miki pointed out.
Gordon smirked, "Looks like these bastards pulled it off. Especially with Jaeger's kid turning into a Titan and beating the shit out of all the other ones."
"But how did he turn ? You think Grisha had something to do with it ?"
"No doubt about it. It's his kid after all. Though, this does give us a reason to look into him more. Maybe he could lead us to his father."
"Are you saying we should start dealing with this directly ?" Miki asked with uncertainty.
Gordon nodded, "Yeah, we need to find out what Eren Jaeger knows and quickly before our cover is exposed. Otherwise, we'll miss our chance to find Grisha and capture him."
"You know we have to inform the higher-ups first. We can't be sure they'll allow this operation to take place."
"Alright, I'll let them know. In the meantime, I'll contact the Mutants and check their status. Maybe they got some intel for us in the other districts," Gordon said as he left the surveillance room.
Just as Miki begins monitoring the soldiers leaving the Trost District, she starts to feel the presence of a telepathic connection between two minds. Although her psychic powers were not what they used to be when she communicated with another Godzilla from years ago, Miki could slowly feel them returning to that state. She focused her powers on the telepathic link and the area surrounding her body went dark. Miki looks around and notices a human body laying on the ground in the distance. Curious, she hides her presence with her powers and watches the event in front of her occur.
Eren opens his eyes and sees nothing but darkness. He was laying on the ground and got up on his feet. Eren looks around and figures that he has returned to the void from when he met Godzilla in his thoughts. Wondering why he was back here, Godzilla suddenly appears and approaches Eren with a serious presence.
"Eren, how do you feel ?" Godzilla asked.
"Like my head hurts a lot. I could barely remember what happened."
"Since this is the first time you have used this power, it's quite understandable. You appear to have lost a lot of energy maintaining your Titan state."
"I still don't get how I got this power in the first place, but it felt good using it on the Titans. Not to mention that you and I can communicate more clearly."
"It's certainly easier to speak with you in that form. I don't have to concentrate so much to speak with you as a human, but you should focus on training your mind to better control this power in the future."
"You're right. If I'm going to help you communicate with other humans, I may need your help to control this power of mine."
"I'll do what I can, Eren. I have little knowledge of this ability of yours, but I'll keep in touch whenever possible."
"Before you send me back, I just want to say thanks. For helping us again. I just hope that my people can see how much help you can be."
"I hope so as well," Godzilla said as he returns Eren to his reality.
Eren thinks about how he and Godzilla could possibly save humanity from the Titans forever, effectively returning peace to the Walls again and allowing people like him to venture past the Walls without worry. With that goal in mind, Eren hoped for a bright future for him and his family. He said to himself as his whole body fades into nothing, "I will...protect….all of you."
Miki watches Eren and Godzilla fade away and feels the link between them disappear. She opened her eyes and saw herself back in the surveillance room. Her head slightly hurt, but Miki was amazed that her powers were slowly returning to their prime. Her amazement turned to happiness as she believed that her powers came back at the right time. She will be needing her powers for a variety of reasons that she hoped would help humanity greatly for the years to come. Miki leaves the room and begins honing her powers like she did in her youth in order to strengthen it.
Carla and Serizawa were sitting around and waiting next to a building along with other escapees from the Trost District. Carla had lost her home again and grew tireless at the thought of finding another home to live in. Grisha managed to save her trouble the first time, but she wasn't so lucky this time. Serizawa frowned at the fact that his supplies were back at the Jaeger household, preventing him from continuing his personal project on building a prosthetic for Carla. Just as things got bad, Serizawa felt a vibration from his body and noticed that it was a portable communicator given to him from his group. Turning to see Carla asleep, Serizawa took a short walk into an alley and activated the device to reveal Ozaki's face.
"Hey, Doc ! Where are you right now ?" Ozaki asked.
Serizawa replied, "Well, Mrs. Jaeger and I are near the gate with the other refugees. What seems to be the issue ?"
"Let's just say that Grisha's kid is in some kind of trouble with the soldiers right now. You might need to bring his wife in to stop it quickly before it gets worse."
"Where is it happening, Ozaki ?"
"When you're facing the gate, it's all the way to the left where the waterway is located. You better hurry cause it looks like they're gonna fire a cannon at him."
Serizawa wasted no time returning to Carla and tried to wake her up. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her repeatedly, causing her to wake up with a shocked expression.
"Huh ?! W-what's going on ?" Carla asked.
"We need to get going. I've received word that your son is in danger."
"What ?! From who ?!"
"A friend of mine. We must get going," Serizawa said as he starts pushing her towards Eren's location.
Carla was very confused as she immediately woke up to the sudden news that Eren was in trouble of some kind. She wasn't a hundred percent sure what was going to happen, but she held on tight to her wheelchair as Serizawa quickly pushed her through the streets and towards the river.
"I will...protect….all of you."
Eren slowly opens his eyes and looks to notice Armin by his side. He then turns his head to see Mikasa looking back at him with an abundance of Garrison soldiers surrounding them. Eren was only confused for a moment until he realizes that they may already know about his ability to turn into a Titan. He was so determined to use his ability to help humanity and his family, but he forgot to consider the reactions of others and those who feared the Titans.
Armin said to him in a worried tone, "Eren ! I'm glad you're okay, but we're going to be in deep trouble if you don't clear this misunderstanding !"
Eren, Armin, and Mikasa listened in on the Garrison soldiers as they started talking to each other about what Eren had muttered when he woke up.
"Protect ? All of us ? Does that mean us ?"
"He's probably talking about his Titan allies."
"But he fought the Titans, didn't he ?"
The soldiers had mixed feelings about what to think about Eren. Some believed that he was innocent while others were still in doubt. Eren thought that it was clear to them that he wanted to help the humans, but was surprised that his actions weren't enough to convince them of that. Trying to gather the remaining energy he had left, Eren quickly thinks of ways to lower the tension by choosing his words carefully.
"EREN JAEGER !" Kitz Woermann shouted, catching the attention of the three friends, "You and your allies are charged with treason against humankind ! Therefore, I shall act as your executioner and decide your fate ! Should you try anything suspicious, I shall order an immediate cannon fire on your position !"
Eren wanted to protest against his words, but anything he does will affect him and his friends. He decides to wait patiently for the right moment and hear Kitz out.
"Now, answer me this before I blow you off the face of the Earth ! Are you a human or a Titan ?!"
Eren answered honestly, hoping that the truth would be enough, "I'm a human with the power of a Titan ! Is that what you want to hear ?! I'm not a threat to humanity and I certainly wouldn't think twice about being a traitor to my own kind !"
"What are you trying to clarify, Jaeger ?!"
"I know most of you saw what happened ! You want me to say it out loud ?!" Eren stated as Kitz and the soldiers listened, "The Titans are my enemy ! There's no doubt about it ! Most of you saw me fight back against them in my Titan form and you know that I don't mean you any harm ! Please ! Let me show how useful this ability of mine can be to humanity ! I can communicate with Godzilla and we can-"
"Godzilla ?!" Kitz interrupted, "You can communicate with that beast ?!"
"Yes, I can ! He can help us win the war against the Titan if you just-"
"Then you should know how destructive it is ! It destroyed half of Trost and completely widened the breach that the Colossal Titan created in the first place ! What makes you think it can help us if it causes more damage than the Titans themselves ?!"
It just became more difficult as Eren wasn't sure how to respond to Godzilla's destruction. He could make up excuses like his gigantic size, but believed that Kitz wouldn't fall for something like that. If only Godzilla himself was here to explain his actions, it would likely be easier to calm the tension.
"Jaeger ! If you can really communicate with this 'Godzilla', then explain to us all why he unleashed a stream of bluish flames upon the Trost District ?"
"What ?!"
"I'll tell you why ! Because you and that blasted creature are conspiring against humanity together ! You may not be on the side of the Titans, but you most definitely are working alongside that behemoth ! Weakening our defenses and acting like you're trying to save humanity is a very deceptive move on your behalf!"
"No ! You're wrong ! I….I…"
"Hmm...Looks like you're out of excuses ! Trainee Ackerman ! Trainee Arlet ! This is your last chance to turn in that traitor and your actions will be forgiven !"
"Screw that !" Mikasa shouted, "We'd die before giving him up so easily !"
"Then I'll get rid of you all and save humanity myself ! Farewell, TRAITORS !"
Mikasa quickly turns back and grabs both Eren and Armin, hoping to get out of range of the cannon blast. Just as Kitz begins to raise his hand to signal the soldiers by the cannon, everyone hears the voice of Carla shouting out to them.
"SSTOPPP ! DON'T HURT THEM !"
Mikasa stops in her tracks and drops Eren and Armin. Kitz and his unit turn around to see Serizawa pushing Carla towards them in a hurried fashion. They stopped in front of Kitz, who was confused on who they were, while Eren and the others were shocked at their sudden arrival.
Carla grabbed Kitz's sleeve and begged, "Please, don't hurt them. I don't know why you're seeing them as enemies, but I'm sure we can talk this through."
"It's too late for that," Kitz said as he removes her hand from his sleeve, "Besides, who are you anyway ? What makes you think you can intrude on this situation ?"
"I'm Carla Jaeger. Eren's my son. I don't know what he did to cause such a fuss, but there's no reason for you to use lethal force like this."
"Your son ? I see. The mother has come to claim her devilish spawn."
"Huh ? What're you talking about ?"
"You don't know ? Your son is a traitor to all of humanity. Conspiring against the safety of the Walls and everyone in it."
"Don't listen to him, Mrs. Jaeger !" Armin protested, "Eren didn't do anything wrong !"
"Many of our soldiers have witnessed your son turned into a Titan. Not only that, but he also has the supposed ability to speak with the beast, Godzilla."
Carla widened her eyes, "My son ? A Titan ? That can't be true."
"It most definitely is," Kitz said as he proceeds to roughly grab Carla by the shoulders, "So tell me, Witch ! How is it that your son possesses that kind of power ?! You're the one that brought this devil into the world, were you the one that gave him that power as well ?!"
Serizawa intervened, "Hey ! Let go of her !"
He forcibly removes Kitz's hands from Carla and pushes him aside. Kitz grabs Serizawa by the lab coat and throws him to the ground. Carla pushes herself off of her wheelchair and tries to drag Kitz down into the ground, but fails as Kitz pulls her off. The other soldiers didn't know what to do with such an intense situation going on. They weren't sure whether to help Carla or side with their deranged Captain. Even Rico Brzenska, one of the soldiers in the unit, was a bit hesitant to calm Kitz down despite wanting to eliminate Eren as well.
She tries to speak to Kitz, "S-sir, I suggest easing yourself. This is a bit too excessive."
"Excessive ?! This damn woman and her son must be dealt with before things get worse !"
"I-I-I understand, Sir, but Eren Jaeger is the threat. Not her. For all we know, she may not even be the reason for Jaeger's power manifestation."
Eren was shocked to see his mother assaulted and tried to make a run towards her, with Mikasa and Armin following him. Kitz turns to see the trio and signals the soldiers operating the cannon. As they fired the cannon, Kitz grabs a gun from a nearby soldier and aims it at Carla. Rico tried to grab the gun away, but Kitz pushed her back and continued aiming the weapon at Carla. Eren watched as Kitz readied the gun in his hands and felt his heart stopped. He felt like time had slowed down and that he needed to make a choice. With a cannonball heading straight for Mikasa and Armin while his mother's life was about to end with a single bullet, Eren couldn't decide who to protect and it drove him mad. Before he was about to take a risk and hastily pick one of the two choices, Serizawa stepped up and quickly removed the gun from Kitz's hands. That one moment had single-handedly saved Eren from having to choose between the people he cared about, allowing him to focus on protecting Mikasa and Armin. With just one bite on his hand, Eren was surrounded by an electric aura and flesh began forming around his entire body.
Ozaki, standing on a rooftop some distance away, couldn't believe his eyes after watching Eren's transformation in real time. He tried to record the event with a camera, but at the same time, avoided the sights of the soldiers nearby. After getting all that he could, Ozaki quickly fled the scene and disappeared in plain sight. He sent the footage over to Gordon and hoped that they could get something out of it.
All of the soldiers within the area were stunned at the sudden transformation Eren had activated in front of them. Half of a barely formed Titan was shown where Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were located and had one arm up in the air. The mere look of the Titan was enough to either frighten or shock Kitz and his unit. However, Carla was the only one who was the most surprised as the thought of Eren turning into a Titan was something she'd never expect to hear. After witnessing her son transform in front of her own eyes, Carla was completely speechless and didn't know how to react to such a thing. All she could do was stare and say nothing while Serizawa carried her and placed her back into her wheelchair. Serizawa himself was not that surprised, but he didn't expect Grisha's son to possess any kind of ability. Although, he realizes that Eren communicating with Godzilla reminded him of Miki's psychic powers and wondered whether Grisha had implemented that sort of power into Eren along with the Titan transformation. Despite these thoughts crossing his mind, Serizawa turned his attention towards the important matter at hand.
Armin and Mikasa were both unaware of what had happened in the past few moments, but they quickly learned that Eren had defended them from the cannon fire using his Titan body. He emerges from the nape of the body and drops down to the ground with them both. As the deformed Titan body begins to dissipate, Eren realizes that they have limited time to think of a way to escape.
"Eren ? How did you do all of this ?" Armin asked.
"I-I-'m not sure, but we gotta get out of here before the smoke clears."
"But what about Mother ?" Mikasa included, "We can't leave her behind and let them get leverage on us."
"Don't worry, I didn't forget about her and Serizawa. All I gotta do is turn into a Titan again and take you all out of here."
"Wait, Eren. You don't look so good right now."
"She's right," Armin agreed, "You're breathing heavier than normal and you look exhausted."
"Who the hell cares about that ? We're in a bit of a situation and I doubt that my health is the only thing at stake. I'm gonna get all of us out of here and drop you all off somewhere away from this place."
"Drop us off ?" Mikasa asked.
"I've caused enough trouble for everyone right now, especially Mom. I think that it's best if I start leaving you all alone from now on."
"No, Eren. We all promised Mom to look after each other and there's no way I'm letting you be on your own."
"I won't be. I'll be heading to Godzilla."
"Hm ? Why him ?" Armin questioned.
"Like I was trying to say earlier, I can talk to him and we can reach an understanding. If I can help him think of ways to lower collateral damage, then everyone would see that he's just trying to help us out."
"Then let me come with you, Eren," Mikasa insisted.
"What ?! No way ! This is something I have to do on my own."
"It doesn't have to be like that !"
As Mikasa and Eren argued on what to do, Armin looked around and started analyzing the current situation. He notices that the cannon crew are nearly finished with reloading the weapon and that Carla was on her wheelchair again with a shocked look. He also deduces that Mikasa and Eren will make their next move in an instant once the smoke begins to clear. However, Armin slowly wonders why he isn't doing anything to help. He thinks back to all the times they both saved him from bullies and how he has never been able to repay them at all. In the next few moments, Armin suddenly heard an outrageous idea from Eren.
"Hey, Armin. I need you to talk to the Garrison soldiers."
"Huh ?! W-why m-m-me ?!"
"I trust that you will say the right things, considering I screwed up the first time."
"B-b-but If we couldn't convince them the first time, then there's no way they'll listen a second time."
"Maybe, but it's our last chance to do this peacefully instead of heading straight for a fight. I know you can convince them."
Mikasa added, "I agree. We need you to help us again, Armin."
"Help ? What have I ever done to help you guys ?"
Eren answered, "That time when Shiganshina fell. You told Hannes to come rescue us and our Mom. If you hadn't done that, then Mikasa and I wouldn't have been able to take our Mom to a hospital quickly."
Armin thought to himself, "I've never held you guys back. This whole time...You really trusted me that much."
The trio heard the shouts of Kitz, "READY THE CANNONS AGAIN !"
They realized that the cannon was finished reloading and that the smoke was clearing, but Armin had decided to follow Eren's plan and convince the soldiers one last time. He steps out of the smoke, with the soldiers keeping their guard up and Carla coming to her senses after being shocked. Armin was frightened, but he also had some shed of confidence that he would succeed in order to save Eren and Mikasa.
"Eren's Not A Threat !" Armin shouted towards Kitz, who delayed his signal, "Please allow us to surrender and we'll discuss all the details about Eren and Godzilla !"
"It's too late to surrender ! Eren Jaeger has shown his true form to us and there's no way we can let him live anymore !"
"Then let me give you a reason for him to live !"
Kitz wasn't sure what other excuses were going to be used, but decided to let Armin continue, "All of you know already. That the Titans see Eren as a threat. So you must know that he's undeniably on our side."
The Garrison soldiers muttered under their breaths, while Kitz protested, "So what ?! Are you just going to use repetitive statements to support your claim ?!"
"There's more ! You still haven't considered the possibility of our chances being improved significantly with the aid of Eren's Titan power and Godzilla's knowledge from outside of the Walls ! If we were to utilize both of our species together, we can overcome the Titans and permanently remove them from our history !"
Armin saluted to show his devotion towards humanity, surprising Kitz, and continued, "Never before has Humanity had an ally like Godzilla ! If Eren can communicate with him, we can better create an understanding between us and him ! We can think of ways to allow Godzilla to help us without causing too much unnecessary damage to our home !"
Another Garrison soldier, Ian Dietrich, believed Armin's words and advised Kits, "Sir, I believe we should take his words into consideration. We could possibl-"
"SILENCE ! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THE LIES OF THIS TRAITOR AND I REFUSE TO GAIN HELP FROM THAT CREATURE ! I WILL DESTROY THEM ALL AS MY DUTY AS AN OFFICER !"
"That's quite enough."
Just as Kitz began to signal the cannon crew, he was stopped by a bald man wearing Garrison attire named Dot Pixis. Kitz became startled as he turned around to see Pixis and many other Garrison soldiers behind him.
"C-c-commander P-pixis ?!"
"You should take it easy before you stress yourself out too much like usual. Besides, I believe I can take it from here. Gather the remaining forces while we give these three a chance to explain everything."
Kitz slowly nodded and made his way out of the area while Pixis walked over to Carla and Serizawa, bowing to them both.
"I apologize for the Captain's behavior, Miss. I do hope that he doesn't display that kind of action again."
"Tell me, Sir," Carla wondered, "What are you going to do with my son ?"
"I simply wish to hear him and his friends out. Everything that they would like to explain fully without any intrusion."
"Can I at least see them first ? I think they'd feel more comfortable with someone familiar to them."
"Go right ahead, Miss. Take your time."
Serizawa pushed Carla towards Armin and the others as Pixis stood behind and waited. Armin called out to Eren and Mikasa, who both left from under the nearly evaporated Titan body. All three of them quickly ran to Carla's side and hugged her tightly. When they were done, Carla turned her attention to Eren and held his face. She notices strange marks under his eyes slowly fade away and shows a sad expression. Carla brought Eren closer to her and hugged his head.
"How did it come to this, Eren ?" Carla said sadly, "Why you, of all people ?"
"It doesn't have to be a bad thing, Mom," Eren reassured, "I can use it to help others. We can get our home back."
"And what will happen afterwards ? Even if you managed to drive away the Titans, who's to say that the military won't experiment on you ? They'll take you away from me and I may never see you again."
Eren couldn't answer, but Carla continued after a deep breath, "I'm not so sure why you came to be like this, but I have faith in you despite all of this. If you can truly save people with this power of yours, then I can't stand in your way."
"Mom, I still haven't forgotten my promise to you. I will come back, and I won't let them take me away from you."
Eren walked over to Dot Pixis with Armin and Mikasa, while Carla and Serizawa stayed behind to watch them leave. Garrison soldiers were instructed to escort Carla and Serizawa to the nearest shelter while Dot Pixis went with the trio to the top of Wall Rose. As the Garrison soldiers dropped Carla and Serizawa off at a shelter, they returned to their duties by the Wall. Carla reached into her shirt and pulled out the key that Grisha had given to Eren the night he disappeared.
She gripped it hard and thought to herself, "Did you do this to our son ?! Is that why you left that night ?! Were you afraid of the consequences ?! Why ?!"
As Carla starts crying, Serizawa asks her, "Are you okay ? What seems to be the matter ?"
"Serizawa, you've told me that you entrusted your deepest secrets to your fiance. Why is that ?"
"...Because I knew that she would honor my wishes. I've done some experimental things that could hurt a lot of people and I knew that she would do anything to make sure that it never went into the wrong hands just like I intended."
"I wish my husband was like that. I have a strong feeling that he's somehow connected to Eren turning into a Titan and I don't know why he won't tell me anything. I guess he doesn't have that much trust in me. His own wife."
"Don't be so sure, Carla. Grisha might have kept secrets from you, but he probably has the best of intentions to keep it hidden from you and everyone else. Even I was hesitant to share my secret at first, but I revealed it for the sake of others."
"You're saying he did it to protect me ? To protect our son ? I can't believe I'm saying this, but...this is only so much worse. Eren may be using this power to help humanity, but there's no guarantee that everyone will accept him for what he is now. I don't know what was in Grisha's mind that made him do something like this."
Carla put the key away and continued, "There's nothing I can do except wait for my son. Just like I waited all those times for my husband to return."
Although Serizawa felt sympathy for Carla, he cannot help but feel anger towards Grisha. Despite learning to see Carla as a friend, Serizawa also wanted to take down Grisha for his own personal reasons. His hands turned into fists as he thought about the things that Grisha had done in the past and wished nothing except for his suffering. He rested on the ground while Carla stared out of a window towards the top of the Wall.
Upon the top of the Wall, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin stood by Pixis' side as he looked towards the distance where Godzilla sat in front of the breach.
"I'd have to say. The Titans are one thing, but Godzilla is definitely something else," Pixis remarks as he turns to the trio, "Can you really speak with him ?"
Eren nodded, "Yes, but only through my thoughts, Sir."
"Hmm, interesting. Do you mind demonstrating to us ?"
"Um...It may be difficult, Sir. I'm still working on that aspect of my power."
"Just try the best you can, Eren. We can work on it later."
Eren sighed and sat down on the ground, closing his eyes on concentrating on creating a link between his mind and Godzilla's. After a couple of moments, Dot Pixis, Armin, and Mikasa heard a loud rumbling sound from the breach and looked to see Godzilla slowly facing their direction. All three of them immediately realized that Eren had successfully made contact with Godzilla and waited for a response from the Kaiju.
Instead of returning to the void, Eren's vision was dark and even opening his eyes revealed that he was still with Dot Pixis and the others. Just as he was about to try again, Eren heard that same deep voice from Godzilla in his mind and turned to him.
"I don't have to keep bringing you into there. Not unless you want to be unconscious again."
"You mean, we could've talked like this the whole time ?" Eren asked.
"Not exactly. You were inexperienced at the time and I only did that to help you hone your telepathic skill. Nevertheless, you're starting to do better."
"At least we can talk like this from now on. It's definitely easier than that void thing."
Dot Pixis, Armin, and Mikasa were confused by Eren staring at Godzilla, but they figured that they were currently talking to each other within their minds. For the remainder of the conversation, they all kept quiet as to not disturb them both.
"Have you conversed with your kind yet ? Are they willing to allow me to help ?"
"It's complicated right now, but yes. They're going to let you help as long as you prevent any further collateral damage to our home."
"Very well, I'll keep caution of your home. Though, it appears I have not been careful with my surroundings."
"That's okay. However, my people are suspicious about us conspiring against them. So, they're going to trust us if you're willing to share whatever information you have. Titans. The outside world. Anything that you believe would help us understand what is beyond the Walls."
"...I don't have any knowledge of what lies beyond your Walls, but there is something else I would like to share."
"Yeah ?"
"That Colossal Titan from earlier. I sense a human from within. Just like you."
"WHAT ?!" Eren thought with his face showing concern. The others noticed it and were wondering what had happened.
"That can't be ! But...that's why the Titan had intelligence. It was a person who knew what they were doing. Wait. How many are there right now ?"
"With the exception of the Colossal Titan, I've sensed the presence of three other humans within your territory that possess a similar ability. They have been around for quite some time."
Eren couldn't believe Godzilla's words about other humans who could also transform into other Titans, but there were only two that he witnessed in his life. The Colossal and the Armored Titan. He wasn't sure who they were or why they were trying to take down the Walls, but Eren figured that this information would only cause others to find him more suspicious. Therefore, he decided to keep it a secret until the time was right.
"Thank you for telling me this, Godzilla, but I need to hold off on telling this to my superiors. Until then, maybe there's another way you can help us."
"Just let me know whenever you get the chance."
Eren nodded and tried to break the link until Godzilla continued, "By the way, I might need your people's assistance with fixing this gap on your Wall. The materials that I've been utilizing are quite brittle to use."
Godzilla turned back around and Eren got up from the ground. Eren turned towards Dot Pixis and began to debrief the information. Without managing to spill any info on the other humans with the power of Titans, Eren described to Pixis how Godzilla agreed to prevent any more damage to the Districts and how he wanted help to fix the breach on the Wall. Although Pixis was disappointed that Godzilla had nothing about the outside world or the Titans, he was glad that Godzilla was cooperative rather than stubborn. About the breach on the Wall, Pixis turned to Armin and wondered if he had any plan to fix it.
"Armin Arlet. You spoke quite highly about Eren and Godzilla's ability to help humanity, so I would like to know if you have any clues on how they both could fix the breach on the wall," Pixis said.
Armin was a bit surprised, but he nodded and looked down at Trost to see what ideas he could come up with. Looking to see what Godzilla could use instead of the broken debris and the remains of the Walls, Armin saw a large boulder in the middle of Trost and came up with a plan.
"Commander, I believe there's a way to do it."
"Lay it out, Arlet."
"We could use Eren's Titan ability to move that boulder over there and give it to Godzilla, who will then use it to cover that breach. With Godzilla holding the Titans back while Eren delivers the boulder, we may not need soldiers to assist with this plan and prevent any casualties. I know this plan seems simple, but that's the best I got so far."
"That breach looks awfully big for that rock, but if Godzilla will be the one to deal with the Titans rather than the soldiers, then this plan will surely be the first to have no casualties."
Pixis turns to Eren and continues, "So, Eren. Do you think that you and Godzilla are up for the task ?"
"Y-yes, Sir."
"Then, let's get started."
Eren notified Godzilla about the plan to fix the Wall and proceeded with confidence. Mikasa, Armin, and most of the Garrison soldiers stayed on the Wall to spectate the plan in motion. Eren, with a 3DMG equipped, flew towards the boulder alone while Godzilla held the Titans back. Directly above the boulder, Eren bites his hand and transforms once again into his Titan form. However, something went wrong and Eren was idle in his position. At first glance, the soldiers were worried that the plan had failed until Godzilla let out a roar and woke Eren up from his trance. Eren starts lifting the heavy boulder over his body and slowly walks over to the breach. By the time Eren arrived, Godzilla leaned down, picked up the large rock in his hands, and placed it in the middle of the breach. Before a flare was launched to signal the end of the mission, Godzilla proceeded to place heavy amounts of dirt around the boulder and molding it to fit the wider parts of the breach. Although the action was unexpected, it did solve the problem where the breach was a bit wide for the boulder. A yellow flare was shot into the sky by Rico and everyone cheered for the successful mission. It was the first victory humanity had without any deaths on the human side and it laid the foundation between Godzilla and the humans' partnership together.
Meanwhile, Miki sat on her bed and meditated. She concentrated her psychic powers to basic levels where she could read the thoughts of others. Miki tries reaching out to Serizawa once again and could barely feel his presence. However, her nose began to bleed as she focused a little too hard. Miki stops her meditation and rested, believing that she was a bit hasty in forcing her powers. As she laid in bed, Miki thought about the conversation between Eren and Godzilla. It reminded her of when she once communicated with Godzilla Jr. and Godzilla years ago, which was vital to humanity at the time. Now that her powers were barely returning, she wasn't sure if she'll be able to take her place in the world again and wondered if Eren could replace her as the new link between humans and Kaijus. Although this was not the first time she was to be replaced from her position, Miki thought back to the time when she first met Serizawa and learned about how his fiance loved someone else. Despite her and Serizawa's place in life being taken over by other people, they both still live their lives and continue fighting for the sake of humanity in their own ways. With her psychic powers and Serizawa's scientific knowledge, they both were still an important part of their organization like the Mutants and Miki believed that the humans within the Walls will appreciate their hidden mission to save the world one day. She closes her eyes and goes to sleep while the light in her room shuts off automatically.
This chapter was a bit difficult to write because I had to improvise most of it on the spot. Nevertheless, I managed to make another long chapter. I don't actually know how many words it takes for a chapter to be long, but this one was long for me. Hopefully, it turns out okay and you all enjoy it. Questions are always welcome because I would like some insight on confusing aspects on my story. I'll always try to answer as best as I can without spoiling what happens next. If most of you are expecting to see other Kaijus in the next few chapters, then all I can say is that I'm trying to build up to it without trying to rush things. I want to focus on this story and fleshing out the characters because I'm including so much and I feel like I'm not adding a lot of narrative to some of them. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the story so far and I'll see you later.