Attack on Titan: The Black Angel

by Queen of Sharks

Heavily based on Random Crossovers' Enemies of Humanity's Past After the Colossal Titan suddenly appears and kicks the wall in, a gigantic, mysterious cyborg rises from the grave to save humanity just as he had done in the past.

7. Aftermath

-G-

Gigan's roar echoed across the steaming ruins of Trost, his blood-churning call acting as a death siren to all the titans roaming the walled city, announcing to them all that their doom had arrived. The Titans lumbered about the city mindlessly, most of them approaching the wall that a group of humans was scaling up, however, most of them disappeared in a massive explosion that reduced them to scorched chunks of evaporating flesh, or in a beam of red-hot light wiping them off the face of the Earth, leaving scorch marks where they once stood.

A lone mother, trapped within her home, clutched her child tightly and sobbed softly as a titan peered in on them. The titan prepared to break through her roof and devour both of them, but their lives were saved when a large metal blade suddenly shot down from the sky, impaling the titan, as well as two others that were standing beside it. Her savior then took a moment to kick some rubble out of her front door, freeing her, before flying away to continue his titan massacre.

One titan found itself lost in an alleyway, surrounded by walls on all sides apart from the way it came. It was about to smash its way through the house it found itself in front of until a low hum noise caught its attention. It looked up to see Gigan using his O.R.C.A. to get the titan's attention. The noise of the O.R.C.A. was soon drowned out however by the loud rumble and buzz of his chainsaw hand as he reached down into the alley and slice the titan in two from the top of the head down.

Titans of all shapes and sizes approached the ruined HQ, attracted to it by the sound of the O.R.C.A. as Gigan hovered gracefully over the building, charging up his eye beam. Once he felt a sufficient amount of titans has arrived, he unleashed the beam upon all of them. Streets that were flooded with titans became completely empty in an instant. As Gigan surveyed this scene, he felt a titan chewing on his tail claw. Gigan scowled at the titan, and in retaliation, he lifted his tail up to his toothy beak, and bit the titan's head off, before spitting it out onto the floor and chucking the body to the side.

And then the streets were silent.

Gigan took a deep breath as he sat on top of the wall in quiet contemplation. He then looked down upon the writhing pit of titans just outside of Trost, and his protective instincts and built-up bloodlust started to boil back to the surface. He started to charge up his eye beam with a sharp-toothed grin stretching across his metal beak, but he was stopped in his tracks when his A.I. companion Pelops appeared in his HUD, frantically shaking his head and waving his hands.

"NONONONONO! DO NOT DO THAT!" Pelops warned. "These titans are outside of human territory! If you kill them, Battra will-"

{Yeah, I know! I just…} Gigan groaned. {I can't stand this! Look at them! They're in the perfect spot for me to annihilate all of them with one missile, but I can't because if I do, all this time I spent fighting for humanity will go to waste.}

"Didn't killing all those titans satisfy your urges?"

{GOD NO! Because the titans were only in, to begin with, because I failed to protect this city!}

Pelops made a sad face while sitting down. "I'm sorry Gigan. If there were a better way, believe me, I'd let you know about it posthaste. I must admit, I'm also less than satisfied with the terms of this agreement."

{It's okay, Pelops. We'll figure something out.} Gigan turned away from the pit of titans and flew back to the city. {I just hope Eren's doing okay.}

-C-

Carla and Serizawa were sitting in a cafeteria refitted into a building to house escapees from Trost. After having lost yet another home, Carla was feeling a silent, creeping dread at the thought of having to find yet another new home to stay in. Serizawa meanwhile was annoyed because he left his supplies at the Jaeger household, preventing him from completing the prosthetic legs he was making for Carla. Just then, however, Serizawa felt a vibration in his pocket and excused himself. He went outside and hid behind a building before pulling out an old phone and placing it up to his ear, allowing him to hear Huang Meng's voice on the other end.

"Meng?" Daisuke asked.

"Doctor, where are you!?" Huang asked with a worried tone of voice.

" and I are near the gate with the other refugees. Why? What's wrong?"

"Grisha's kid is in trouble with some soldiers right now, so unless you want to lose our only other lead on his plans, I suggest you hurry! They have cannons aimed at him!"

Serizawa wasted no time. He hung up and ran back inside to get Carla, his frantic actions startling her as he grabbed her wheelchair and practically bulldozed the other refugees as he hurried out the door.

"S-Serizawa?! Where are we going?!" Carla asked nervously.

"I've just received word that your son is in danger!"

"WHAT!? WHY!?"

"I have no idea, but we need to move now!"

And with that, the two bolted towards Eren's location. Carla still had no idea what was happening, but knowing that her son was in danger made her cling to her chair like her life depended on it.

-E-

"I will… protect… all of you."

Eren slowly opened his eyes and noticed Armin kneeling by his side, supporting him in his arms. He then looked up and saw Mikasa standing against an army of garrison soldiers, all of whom had their weapons drawn, while Sasha stood in front of Mikasa with her arms outstretched and a panicked look on her face. Eren was confused for a moment but quickly remembered that he had just recently discovered that he could transform into a titan. In his determination to protect his friends, he failed to account for the potential reactions of those who feared the titans.

"Eren!" Armin said in a worried tone, "I'm so glad you're okay! Please, tell them that this is all just some misunderstanding."

The four listened to the soldiers surrounding them as they quietly bickered amongst eachother after hearing what Eren said.

"'Protect all of you'? Does he mean us?" One of them asked.

"He must be talking about his titan buddies!" Another cried.

"But didn't the reports say he was fighting the titans?" A third interjected.

The tension among the soldiers was evident, as were the mixed emotions among the soldiers in this whole situation. Some of the soldiers believed that Eren was innocent, or even virtuous, while others were still doubtful of his intentions. Eren, as well as Sasha, thought he had made it clear that he wanted to help humanity, but were both shocked that his actions weren't enough to convince them of that. Trying to gather what little energy he had left after his fight with the giant spider, Eren tries to pick his words carefully so that he doesn't accidentally escalate things.

"EREN JAEGER!" Captain Kitz Woermann shouted, catching the attention of the four, "YOU AND YOUR ALLIES ARE CHARGED WITH TREASON AGAINST ALL OF HUMANKIND! THEREFORE, I SHALL ACT AS YOUR EXECUTIONER AND DECIDE YOUR FATE! SHOULD YOU TRY ANYTHING I DEEM SUSPICIOUS, I WILL ORDER IMMEDIATE CANNON FIRE ON YOUR POSITION!"

Eren wanted to say something in protest against these words but worried that it would affect him and his friends negatively, so he kept his mouth shut for the time being.

"NOW, ANSWER ME THIS BEFORE I BLOW YOU TO KINGDOM COME! ARE YOU A HUMAN OR A TITAN!?"

Eren had no choice but to answer honestly, hoping this would be enough.

"I'm a human with the power to transform into a Titan!" Eren shouted. "I am no threat to humanity, and I would never betray my own kind!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO CLARIFY, JAEGER!?"

"I know you all know what happened! You need me to say it out loud?!" Eren stared into Kitz's nervous eyes as he continued. "The titans are my enemy! Of that, there should be no doubt! Most of my comrades saw me fighting back against them in my Titan form and you know that I mean you all no harm! So please, let me show you how useful my ability is! I can communicate with Gigan, and he can help us with the war against the Titans if you just-"

"GIGAN!? YOU MEAN THE MASSIVE BEAST ROAMING TROST, SHOOTING STREAMS OF RED FLAMES AND FIRING CANNONS FROM HIS HANDS, CAUSING FURTHER DESTRUCTION TO TROST AS WE SPEAK!?"

Eren clammed up as he realized that Kitz was just like Jean. He was afraid of anything bigger and stronger than him, and he had no idea how he could reason with that at the moment.

"YOU TWO MAY NOT BE ON THE SIDE OF THE TITANS, BUT YOU'RE CERTAINLY NOT ALLIES OF HUMANITY! YOU'RE JUST WEAKENING OUR DEFENSES AND ACTING LIKE YOU'RE TRYING TO SAVE HUMANITY! A VERY DECEPTIVE MOVE ON YOUR BEHALF!"

"No, you're wrong! He-"

"ENOUGH! I'm tired of your excuses!" Kitz turned his attention away from Eren and towards the other cadets. "Trainee Ackerman! Trainee Arlert! Trainee Braus! This is your last chance to turn that traitor in and your actions will be forgiven!"

Mikasa raised her ODM blade. "Make me…"

Kitz hesitated upon seeing Mikasa's resolve. One of the Garrison soldiers then leaned in and reminded him that Mikasa was assigned to the elites fresh out of training and that losing her would be a massive blow to humanity. As Mikasa stood there, waiting for someone to make a move, Sasha got in front of her and held out her arms again.

"Mikasa, I know you love Eren and all, and I know you're REAAAALLY strong, but please reconsider this!" Sasha pleaded. "There's no way we're taking every one of these guys on, even with you on our side! And even if we somehow did, there's nowhere for us to go! Basically, what I'm trying to say is we're freaking dead if we fight them!"

"Sasha's right," Armin said. "This isn't the only way! They're just scared, and they don't understand what's happening! We need to just calm down and talk it out, not fight eachother like a bunch of mindless brutes!"

"THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER!" Kitz interrupted, steeling his own resolve as he raised his own hand to give the signal to fire. However, he was stopped by another party entering the picture.

"STOP! DON'T HURT THEM!"

The quartet turned to the source of the plea and saw Daisuke and Carla arriving just before Kitz could give the order to fire. They stopped in front of the confused captain, and Carla grabbed onto Kitz's sleeve.

"Please sir, don't hurt them!" Carla begged, "I don't know what's happening, or why you see them as a threat, but surely we can talk this out."

Kitz removed Carla's hand from his sleeve. "I'm afraid it's too late for that, ma'am. Besides, who are you that you think you can intrude on this situation?"

"My name is Carla Jaeger. I'm Eren's mother."

Kitz's eyes widened. "His mother?" His wide-eyed stare turned into a dark scowl as he glared down at her. "I see. So the mother has come to claim her devil spawn?"

Serizawa and Carla recoiled at that comment. "W-what?" Carla questioned.

"Oh? You don't know? Your son is a traitor to all of humanity, conspiring against the safety of the walls and everyone in it."

"W-what?! N-no! My son… he would never-"

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM, MOM!" Mikasa called. "EREN DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!"

"Many of our soldiers have witnessed your son transform into a titan," Kitz continued. "Not only that, but he just admitted to having the ability to communicate with the monster known as Gigan."

Carla's mind was racing with questions, while Daisuke stood stock still as he realized what this meant. 'Grisha…' Serizawa thought. 'Was this your plan all along? To make Eren a titan shifter? Did you not even consider what this would do to your family? How the people behind these walls would react? Oh, who am I kidding? Of course, you didn't, you bastard. After what you did to me, as well as the Atlas children, I'm convinced that you never cared about anyone but yourself and your own twisted, psychotic desire for revenge.'

Serizawa's thoughts were interrupted by Kitz violently grabbing Carla by the shoulders. "So tell me, witch," Kitz barked. "How is it that your son possesses that kind of power?! You're the one that brought that abomination into the world, were you the one that gave him his power as well?!"

"Let her go!" Serizawa shouted as he forcibly shoved Kitz off of Carla.

In response to the shove, Kitz grabbed Daisuke by the coat and threw him to the ground. The other soldiers weren't sure what to do with this situation as it went on, unsure whether to help their captain or the citizens. Even Rico Brzenska, one of the elite soldiers in Kitz's unit, who was completely on board with killing Eren, was hesitant to approve of Kitz's actions and tried to calm her captain down.

"S-sir, please, ease yourself," She suggested. "This is a bit too excessive."

"Excessive?!" Kitz snapped back, "this damn woman and her son must be dealt with before things get worse!"

"Ah-I understand, s-sir, but Eren Jaeger is the threat here, not his mother. For all we know, she may not be the reason for his power manifestation at all."

Eren clenched his fist as he watched Serizawa get assaulted and tried to make a run towards them, with Mikasa soon to follow him, and Armin and Sasha trying to get them to stop. Kitz noticed the trio approaching and finally gave the signal to fire the cannons. As the cannons prepared to fire, he grabbed a gun from one of his soldiers and aimed it at Carla's head. Rico tried to grab the gun away, only for Kitz to shove her aside. At that moment, Eren's perception of time slowed to a crawl. With the cannonballs heading straight for them and his mother's life on the line, Eren had to choose who to protect and who to sacrifice, and the pressure drove him mad. Before he had to hastily pick between the two choices, however, Serizawa grabbed Kitz by the arm and shoulder, and twisted his wrist in such a way that forced him to release the gun, which in turn allowed Eren to focus on protecting the other three. Eren bit down into his hand and was suddenly surrounded by an electric aura.

All the soldiers were stunned as they watched half of a completed titan emerge from the resulting cloud of steam, holding out his hand to block the cannon fire. The titan glanced down at the soldiers with one eye, horrifying the soldiers in Kitz's unit. However, out of everyone in the crowd, Carla was the most shocked to see her son transform into that thing, unsure of how to react to this. She just stared at the half-formed body of a titan, completely speechless. Serizawa on the other hand wasn't all that surprised but was still disgusted that Grisha would do something like this to his own son.

Armin, Mikasa, and Sasha were all taken by surprise and were wondering what just happened, but quickly realized that Eren had defended them from the cannons. Eren soon emerged from the nape of his titan just like he did back in Trost, and dropped down to the ground with his friends. They looked up and saw the malformed titan slowly begin to evaporate, letting them all know that they had a limited amount of time to come up with a plan to escape.

"Okay guys, we have to get out of here before the smoke clears," Eren said, before looking through the thick cloud of steam. "It's hard to tell if they're watching and waiting, or just totally dazed, though I suppose it doesn't matter much now."

"Yeah, after seeing that, there's no way of reasoning with them now," Sasha said. "My guess is that they're probably getting ready to attack us again as we speak."

"So then it's settled: I'll turn into a titan again and get you all out of here."

"W-wait, Eren, I don't think that's a good idea," Armin pointed out.

"He's right," Mikasa agreed. "Your breathing is heavy, your skin is pale, your nose is bleeding… Eren, you're not well-"

"Who the hell cares about that?!" Eren interrupted. "We have more at stake right now than just my health! I need to get us all out of here and drop you off somewhere safe!"

"Drop us off?" Mikasa asked.

"I've caused too much trouble for all of you, especially mom. I think it's best if I just leave you all alone from now on."

"Eren, no. We promised mom to look after eachother! There's no way I'm letting you go out on your own!"

"I won't be. I'll be with Gigan."

"Him? Why him?" Armin asked.

"As I was trying to say earlier, I can use my ability to talk to him to reach an understanding. We just have to find a way to prove to everyone that he's not a threat, and just wants to help out."

"Well, then let me come with you!" Mikasa insisted.

"No! This is something I have to do on my own!"

"No, it doesn't have to be!"

As Mikasa and Eren continued to argue, Sasha's attention was firmly placed on the top of the wall, where, through the slowly diminishing cloud of steam, she was able to see the cannon crew readying for a second volley. Suddenly she turned around and informed the three that the cannon crew was nearly finished reloading, prompting Armin, Eren, and Mikasa to deduce that they would need to make their next move in an instant once the smoke clears, and prompting Mikasa to insist even harder that she comes with Eren. Armin then began to wonder why he wasn't doing anything to help, thinking back to all the times Eren and Mikasa saved him and how he was never able to repay them. However, in the next few moments, Armin heard Eren speak up.

"Hold on, there's one other idea that I had," he said as he looked over at his blonde friend. "Armin, I'm gonna need you for it."

Armin gasped softly.

"Now just hear me out. I'm aware of how unrealistic this plan sounds after what's happened. The best case scenario is that I try to use my Titan powers strategically under military direction. It may sound crazy, but if you think you can convince the Garrison that I mean no harm right here and now, then I trust you, and we'll go with whatever you have in mind."

The cannons were rolled back into position, and cranks turned as they were aimed back down at the four.

"We've got about fifteen seconds, guys!" Sasha called out. "Armin, whatever you decide, you better do it quickly!"

"We'll respect your opinion either way," Eren added. "But just know that if you don't think you can convince them, then my last resort is option one."

The rumble of the turning cranks stopped as the cannons clicked into place, the clicks followed up by a deafening silence.

"Eren… why would you leave such an important decision up to me?"

"Because you always keep a level head under pressure, and make the right choice. I'd say that's worth relying on."

"W-what? When have I ever done that?"

"Come on, you do it all the time," Eren said. "Just take five years ago for example. If you hadn't gone to , Mikasa and I wouldn't have been able to save my mom and get to the boat. We probably would have gotten eaten by the titans."

Armin gasped as his whole world came crashing down, and he was left completely speechless by what Eren said. They never thought of him as a burden? All this time, he thought that his friends saw him as dead weight, but in reality, they always saw him as an equal.

"Time's up!" Sahsa called. "Cannons are back up!"

"Well, Armin?"

Armin stood up just as the Titan body crumbled behind him. "Don't worry. Just leave it to me."

With that, Armin marched forwards, taking off his ODM gear, then stepped out of the cloud of steam and out into the open, his hands raised non-aggressively. Kitz ordered Armin to halt, and Armin stood in place, his hands still raised.

"IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR TRUE FORM MONSTER!?" Kitz shouted. "I DON'T BUY IT! I'LL GIVE THE SIGNAL TO FIRE! I MEAN IT!"

"EREN IS NOT A FOE OF HUMANITY!" Armin replied. "We're willing to co-operate and share everything we've learned about his powers!"

"YOUR PLEAS FALL ON DEAF EARS! HE REVEALED HIS TRUE FORM, AND BECAUSE OF THAT THREAT, HE CAN NOT LEAVE HERE ALIVE! IF YOU INSIST HE'S NOT A THREAT, THEN SHOW ME PROOF! OTHERWISE, WE'LL BLAST HIM BACK TO WHATEVER NIGHTMARE HE CRAWLED OUT OF!"

"YOU DON'T NEED ANY PROOF!" Armin screamed. "THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WE PERCEIVE HIM TO BE!"

"W-WHAT!?"

"The reports say that hundreds of soldiers saw him, and those who were there say they saw him fighting the other titans! And that means they saw him getting swarmed by the Titans as well!"

The soldiers gasped as they realized what this meant.

"To put it plainly, the Titans saw Eren the same way they do any of us: as their prey! And it doesn't matter how else you may look at it, that is in irrefutable fact!"

The soldiers all lowered their weapons, all of them moved by Armin's point. All accept one…

"PREPARE TO ATTACK!" Kitz screamed. "DON'T LET YOURSELVES BE SWAYED BY HIS CUNNING LIES! THE TITANS' BEHAVIOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION! I WOULDN'T PUT IT PAST THEM TO ASSUME HUMAN FORM!"

Kitz kept blathering on and on, trying to throw out any other explanation that can justify him eliminating Eren, before finally screaming, "I REFUSE TO LET THEM CONTINUE THIS BEHAVIOR UNCHECKED!"

The soldiers raised their weapons back up, but didn't seem as willing to attack as they were before. Armin looked back at his friends nervously. He saw the three of them smile at him, still having faith that he would be able to save them. Armin clenched his fists before turning back to Kitz and placing his fist over his heart, with the other folded behind his back.

"I AM A SOLDIER! I HAVE DEDICATED MY HEART TO THE RESTORATION OF HUMANITY! NOTHING WOULD MAKE ME PROUDER THAN TO DIE FOR SUCH A NOBLE CAUSE! IF WE WERE TO USE EREN'S TITAN ABILITY, AND ABILITY TO SPEAK TO GIGAN, AND COMBINE IT WITH THE MANPOWER WE HAVE LEFT, I BELIEVE WE CAN RETAKE THIS CITY! FOR HUMANITY'S GLORY, IN WHAT LITTLE TIME I HAVE LEFT, I WILL ADVOCATE HIS STRATEGIC VALUE!"

A soldier leaned in and whispered in Kitz's ear, only for him to be told off by Kitz. He then raised his arm up to try and signal for the cannons to fire. Carla covered her mouth in terror while Serizawa struggled to get up off the ground while being held down by two soldiers. Eren slowly raised his hand up to his mouth, about to bite his hand, when suddenly, they heard the sound of ODM gear just above them, and heard a deep, firm, powerful voice echo across the town.

"STAND DOWN!"

"Ah-" Kitz shuddered and lowered his arm in surprise. "C-Commander Erwin?!"

Erwin Smith landed down from the walls, accompanied by his second in command, Levi Ackerman, and section commander Hange Zoe, who had all arrived just in the nick of time.

"Someone wanna tell us what the hell is going on?" Levi asked.

"I too would like to know that, captain," Dot Pixis said as he too arrived on the scene.

"C-Commander P-P-Pixis?!" Kitz stuttered, sweat trickling down his face.

"What's this we've been hearing about a titan in human form?" Levi asked.

"Human who can turn into a titan!" Sasha corrected.

"Captain Woerman, gather our reinforcements," Pixis ordered. "I think we could at least do these young soldiers the favor of hearing them out."

Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Carla, and Serizawa, all collectively gave a sigh of relief.

-L-

Several minutes ago…

The Scouts had returned from their most recent expedition late into the evening, riding on horseback all the way back through Trost. Word had not gotten to them about the situation in wall Rose yet, so when they arrived to find a pit full of writhing titans all piled up on top of one another, with a massive hole in the wall where the gate used to be, everyone was stunned and confused, wondering how on Earth this could happen. While questioning this, they heard an ear-splitting, mechanical screech, followed by an explosion that launched a titan over the wall, its limbless body spraying blood everywhere as it soared through the sky before finding itself impaled on a tree far off in the distance.

"The hell?!" Captain Levi blurted out upon witnessing this.

Suddenly, Gigan stood up at his full height, towering over the walls and revealing himself to the Scouts. Many of them jumped in terror upon seeing him, as he leaned down and unleashed his eye beam upon a crowd of Titans. Section commander Hange squealed with excitement upon seeing him, and immediately grappled towards the wall and launched herself up it. Her squad members followed her, trying to get her to calm down and return to the group while Levi looked up at Erwin.

"Orders, sir?" Levi asked.

Erwin looked down at the pit. "We won't be able to get our supply carts through here. Until we receive assistance so that we can get past this obstacle, we'll have to set up camp for the time being," Erwin then turned to Levi. "I need you to go join Hange, so the three of us can travel over the wall and towards the interior. I will be with you two shortly after I brief the scouts on the current plan."

Levi nodded in understanding and then scaled up the wall while Erwin announced the plan to the Scouts.

Meanwhile, Moblit and Nifa we're standing just behind Hange. The two were sweating buckets as they watched her intentionally get the attention of Gigan.

"HEY, BIG GUY!" Hange screamed. "OVER HERE!"

Gigan looked up from the titan he was dissecting and flung it off of his bloody chainsaw hand before walking over to Change and the other scouts. His tail swayed with each step, but never so much as grazed a single building as he approached. Gigan towered over the wall, standing at over double its height, but crouched down before Hange and smiled at her while waving at her, which left her astonished and going absolutely ballistic with excitement.

"Haaa~ DID YOU SEE THAT MOBLIT!? HE JUST WAVED AT ME! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!?" Moblit didn't get a chance to speak before Hange answered her own question. "It means he's able to communicate with us on some level!" Hange squeed while hopping up and down like a schoolgirl.

"Section commander, please, calm down," Moblit begged.

Hange took a deep breath and then cleared her throat before looking up at Gigan again. "HELLO!" She called, speaking loudly and slowly so Gigan could hear her. "MY NAME IS HANGE!"

Gigan waved again and chirped to greet her, which made Hange even more excited. Hange was just about to ask if she could touch Gigan when Levi landed next to her.

"Ah, Levi! Just in time!"

"For what?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Only one of the greatest scientific discoveries we've had in years! You see, it would appear that Gigan here is able to understand our language, and even copy our gestures."

Levi's face was as stoic as always, but Hange could tell he didn't believe her.

"Okay, clearly you need proof. Watch this," she then looked up at Gigan. "OKAY, IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND US, NOD ONCE!"

Gigan gave a firm and deliberate nod in response. Levi's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"Incredible isn't it?!"

Levi nodded slightly. "Yeah, it's pretty impressive I guess."

"IMPRESSIVE!? Revolutionary is more like it! This is probably the first animal in history to ever understand human speech on such a deep level!"

"You mean aside from the abnormal in our group?"

Hange looked around, wondering what Levi was talking about, before remembering the jab he made at her that morning and frowning. "Don't get my hopes up like that. That's rude."

Suddenly, Erwin landed on the wall as well. After being caught up on everything, Erwin looked up at Gigan, fascinated by him. After fully processing the fact that this mysterious creature could understand human speech, he found himself taking quite an interest in this mysterious beast. However, as they watched Hange attempt to test the limits of his understanding, they heard the sound of cannon fire in the distance, immediately followed by a massive flash of lightning from the other side of the wall. Levi, Erwin, and Hange immediately went to investigate, leaving Gigan to his own devices.

The three eventually arrived to see the Garrison aiming their weapons at a young man holding his hands up while trying to convince them not to attack. They overheard him saying that his friend, "Eren" had some sort of ability that allowed him to turn into a titan, and furthermore, that he was able to communicate with Gigan, presumably meaning that he could understand what Gigan was saying. Both of these facts piqued the interest of the Scouts, so when Kitz prepared to order that the cannons open fire upon the four, Erwin knew he had to intervene.

"STAND DOWN!" Erwin shouted, and just like that, everyone stopped in their tracks.

-E-

Eren and his friends stood by Commanders Erwin Smith and Dot Pixis of the Survey Corps and Garrison Regiment respectively as they observed Gigan in the distance, leading the Scouts through the breach after burying the pit.

"I must say, the titans are one thing, but that Gigan is something else entirely," Pixis said.

"Indeed," Erwin replied. He then turned to Eren and addressed him directly. "So, is it true that you and Gigan are able to communicate directly?"

"Yes sir," Eren said.

"Could you demonstrate this ability to us?"

Eren nodded, then approached the edge of the wall before calling out to Gigan, who turned around and roared in return, with Eren able to understand him perfectly.

{Eren! Good to see you again! What was going on back there? I heard you transform into a titan.}

"Let's just say that things almost went really bad for us," Eren replied. "But ultimately, everything worked out, and I managed to convince them to let you help us. Just so long as you don't cause too much collateral damage."

Gigan tilted his head in confusion. {Ooookay? I wasn't really causing any, to begin with, unless burn marks count. The city was already pretty beaten up by the time I got here.} Gigan then shrugged. {But alright, I'll play ball. In fact, I'll even do you one better!}

Eren's eyes widened. "Better?"

{Yeah! I can help you guys repair the place!} Gigan then swapped his chainsaw hand out for a nano-metal spray nozzle. {I can just use my nano metal to repair the wall!}

Eren gasped in shock at this. "Y-you mean it?"

{Sure! At least, I think so…} He then looked away from the humans. {Hey Pelops, can I do that?}

"Indeed we can," he replied. "Your Nano-Metal version 2.7.3 may not be as versatile as MechaGodzilla's Nano-Metal version 3.1.1, but it should have the blueprints in place needed to re-create the gate."

{Nice! Could you give me a schematic?}

"Certainly! Just give me one moment." Pelops then disappeared as a loading bar appeared in Gigan's HUD. Two seconds later, the loading bar had finished. Pelops then reappeared and presented the schematics to Gigan. "TADA! Presenting to you, the Anti-Colossal Titan Trost Gate (or ACTTG for short)! This gate is made using hardened Nano-Metal, making it almost as durable as these walls, while also being far more resistant to shattering thanks to its metallic consistency, allowing it to bend instead of crack!"

{Impressive! But how is it specifically Anti-Colossal Titan?}

"I'm glad you asked, Gigan!" Pelops then switched to another slide, which showed a quick animation of the Colossal Titan's foot slamming into the door, and metal spikes suddenly emerging from it. "Should the Colossal Titan attempt to kick this gate in, sensors lining the door will detect the attack, and the gate's surface will deform into dozens of ultra hardened spikes that will skewer the Colossal Titan's leg in an instant, and inject liquid Nano-Metal into it! Not only will this hurt like a mother, but it will also prevent the Colossal titan from escaping, and allow the defenders of the wall to strike at it!"

{And how will the humans be able to get in and out?}

Pelops switched to another slide in response to this question, showing a simple lever. "This lever will be situated on the inside of the wall. It will require at least three people to pull it due to the size and weight." He then switched to another gif showing the two halves of the gate splitting apart and shrinking away from eachother. "Once the lever is pulled, the upper and lower halves of the wall will split apart and slide away from eachother. To close the gate, all you need to do is pull the lever back up."

{Heh. Nice work, Pelops.}

Gigan then looked back and noticed Eren standing there, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "Soooo… is that a yes?"

{Hugh? Oh, right! Sorry, I assumed you could hear Pelops too.}

"Hear who?"

{Pelops. He's an artificial intelligence that helps me out with stuff.}

For the time being, Eren decided not to ask what "artificial intelligence" was. He figured that he would probably get an opportunity to ask all the questions he wanted soon enough. For now, he simply asked that Gigan help fix the city. Gigan nodded and began by filling the hole in the wall with the new gate. He sprayed out just a little bit of nano metal, and then the soldiers up on the wall, as well as the Scouts still on the ground watched in awe as a new gate suddenly began forming. The gate had a shiny, silver color with green and red lights adorning it. On the ground next to it was a massive, three-person lever, and on the outside were a set of danger sensors that scanned the area.

"Well, I'll be," Pixis said. "That creature is quite the miracle worker."

Erwin agreed, greatly impressed by Gigan's work. Sasha's jaw nearly fell to the floor as she stood there, unable to comprehend what just happened until Mikasa snapped her out of it by literally snapping in her face. Gigan turned back to the soldiers and smiled at them. Eren, after taking a moment to take this in, smiled back and gave Gigan a thumbs up.

-C-

After the whole ordeal with the Garrison, Carla and Serizawa was sitting by a lake in Sina, reflecting on these recent revelations. As they thought over all that had happened over the course of one long, chaotic day, Carla reached into her shirt and pulled out the key that Eren had on him the night that Grisha disappeared. She clenched her fist tightly around it as tears welled up in her eyes.

'Why?' She thought to herself. 'Why did this happen? Did you do this, Grisha?! Is that why you left that night?! Were you just too afraid of the consequences?!'

Serizawa noticed Carla beginning to cry and placed a hand on her's. "Hey, are you okay? What's wrong, Carla?"

Carla sighed softly and put the key back beneath her shirt, before taking Serizawa's hand into hers. "Serizawa… do you remember what you told me the other night? About your fiance?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Why bring her up?"

"Well, did you trust her enough to tell her your secrets?"

"Well of course I did. I believe that anyone should be able to entrust even their darkest secrets with their loved ones, and I knew for a fact that she would never betray that trust."

Carla sighed softly. "I wish my husband was like that. I have a feeling that he's somehow connected to Eren turning into a Titan, and I don't know why he never told me anything about it. Do you think it's just because he doesn't trust me?"

"I wouldn't say that," Daisuke replied. "Grisha probably kept secrets from you just because he thought it was for the best that you didn't know. Hell, despite my personal beliefs, even I was hesitant to share my secrets with my fiance. I only really did so because she of all people deserved to know."

"So you're saying he did it to protect me, and our son?" Carla said in a cold, monotone voice before sighing. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but that only makes it worse. Sure, Eren may be using his power to protect humanity, but there's no guarantee that everyone will accept him for what he is even if he's using his power for a noble cause. I just can't imagine what was going through Grisha's mind that made him do this to his own son."

Carla sniffled softly as a tear rolled down her cheek. "And the worst part is that there's nothing I can do but wait. Just like always…"

Serizawa squeezed Carla's hand gently, as he felt sorry for her. At the same time, however, he also felt anger towards Grisha, as he knew for a fact that Grisha must have done something to Eren that gave him the power of a titan shifter. Seeing the woman he had grown to call a friend in such emotional distress due to Grisha's actions only made him more determined to make Grisha pay for what he had done, not just in the past, but seemingly continues to do to this very day. He gritted his teeth as he remembered all the horrible things that he had done, and all the terrible things that had resulted from his actions. However, he calmed himself as he heard Carla weeping, and he pulled her in close, wiping away her tears and cradling her in his arms.