A/N: It's AOT Sunday and I actually have another chapter for you guys! Surprising right? Anyways starting to slowly comb thru my old chapters and make some edits, and finished with my first one. I absolutely hate finding spelling mistakes in my writing so going to try and fix that! Hope everyone enjoys the chapter and hope you guys all have great weeks! ~Scipias
CHAPTER 20 – THE BATTLE FOR TROST: MAKE OR BREAK
That mad bastard is actually doing it…
It had seemed like every living being in Trost had held their breath at that very moment. At the mere sight of it you would have been forgiven as to think that even the titans were amazed at the sheer insanity of it. The 15-meter monster that vaguely resembled their comrade formerly of Shiganshina was slowly but steadily hauling a boulder the size of a city block towards the gate. If the rock got to the gate…they could block it…the titans would stop flooding in…they could win…they would win.
"Don't let them interfere!" Jean shouted, seemingly knocking everyone out of their trance, "Protect Eren!"
No arguments, no complaints, no hesitation. Lukas lept off the wall taking after his friend's lead and seeing the lot of them follow suite in his periphery. Although Jean's sudden burst of bravado seemed to only affect himself, Sasha, Marco, Connie, and Annie; other groups from all along the length of the wall seemed to be following suite. Despite the command structure or any standing orders, everyone seemed to have keyed in that this was the pivotal moment, the make or break.
As the group drifted down to the level of the cities rooftops so they might start engaging their ODM equipment, Lukas noticed that while the titans weren't 'amazed' by Eren's sudden display of strength, the monsters were still attracted to it. A large mass of the titans that had been herded towards the corner of the city seemed to now steadily make their way in that direction how a predator might start stalking larger prey.
"Everybody stay together…" Jean ordered firmly from in front of the teen, "…, if we have any chance at keeping these fuckers off Yeager, we have to look like the better alternative."
Nobody stood in opposition to the plan but even flying through the streets at breakneck pace, Lukas felt that slight air of hesitation, not just from his comrades but himself as well. There was nothing wrong with his friend's plan given the circumstances of their situation and Jean's demeanor gave the impression that this was the best plan they had but the thought of throwing themselves back out there to be titan bait again was nonetheless undesirable. The teen remembered his dad saying that while titans were one of the dumbest predators he'd ever seen, they were still predators. Dangerous to a fault, and doubly so when you're about to cut their nape open.
The group had made good time, traversing about halfway through Trost without running into any titans that seemed to have wanted to intercept Eren's titan. As they had rounded yet another corner of one of the cities block though, Connie's voice sounded out.
"There!", the teen from Ragako shouted out, "There's three out there in the open…"
Sure enough, as the party landed on an adjacent rooftop the shorter cadet pointed out in front of them. Three of the monsters, all 10-meters tall, trotted through one of Trost's smaller squares. What was once a market, now looked like the rotten husk of one as the titans crushed shop stalls still filled with various goods underfoot, creating a musk in the air as they headed towards their assumed prey. Everybody pondered the situation for a moment until Jean broke the silence once more.
"We need to keep them in the square!" the grey-haired teen asserted.
"If we don't bring them all the way into the square, they'll escape down one of the side streets." Annie spoke up unexpectedly.
"Yeah…" Marco replied, "but if we do that, we'll have nothing for our gear to hook onto. We'll be sitting ducks!" the cadet exclaimed.
Jean sighed regrettably, "If that means Yeager can…"
"Wait!" Sasha interrupted, "Y'all see that over there?"
The group looked to the rear end of the square where the market spilled out into a side street. But instead of running off further into the city, one of the building's only a couple dozen meters in had collapsed right into the middle of the street making a dead-end.
"If we can funnel the titans into there, they'll have nowhere to go!" the brunette exclaimed.
Lukas perked up at that, "Which means all we'd have to do is have someone jump down from the adjacent building to deliver the killing blow!"
"Exactly!" Sasha confidently confirmed.
"Alright" Jean spoke again, "Let's do it!"
The group agreed with the taller teen's statement as Connie, Sasha, and Lukas dropped to the square below. The three would goad the titans into the market guiding two of them to opposite corners while the third would lead their titan to the dead end. That way they should be able to take out each titan one by one. Jean, Annie, and Marco would skirt the rooftops on the edge of the square, ghosting each of the titans until they got to the dead end and jump at them from the right angle to kill them.
Connie, Sasha, and Lukas bolted across the square, reaching the three titans just as they reached the entrance of the side street. Sure enough, they got the titans attention with the aid of a few well-thrown chunks of rock, the yelling of insults, and Connie questionably mooning them. As they backed up and the titans started to advance on them, Lukas tried to dispel the obvious tension.
"You know…" he spoke without taking his eyes of the monster currently eyeing him up, "who knew my beautiful girlfriend was so smart too! Coming up with plans and all that!" Lukas exclaimed.
Sasha, on the opposite side of Connie from Lukas could be heard making an audible snort, "Do you woo all the girls in front of man-eating monsters?"
"Only the pretty ones!" the black-haired cadet exclaimed.
"Would you two stop…" Connie interrupted the couple's banter, "…I think I'm gonna be sick."
Lukas raised an eyebrow at that, "Well Connie, that might be that wart on your ass. I'm not a medical professional but you should probably see a doctor about that?"
Lukas swore he heard Sasha chuckle but before he could question that or see Connie poking at his own rear in concern, the trio heard a whistle from behind them. Jean was in position to take the first titan. With that, the bald-headed cadet shuffled with a little more pace making a beeline to the dead-end while the other two spread out to isolate the other titans.
The Trost native skirted through the wreckage of the market, his feet feeling his way thru broken produce stalls, crushed wagons, and assorted rubble while keeping a vigilant eye on the 10-meter titan currently following him. For the man-eating monsters that they were, titans were awfully peculiar. Anyone of these titans could just have charged them at any moment but they had yet to do so, and yet other titans would do just that. Lukas could understand why his aunt took such an interest in them…ok well maybe not entirely but he was fortunate that these titans were so 'agreeable'.
SLASH!
Lukas could hear the sound of metal thru flesh and not a moment later the ground rumbled as what was presumably a titans corpse fell to the ground. This was confirmed as the teen could hear another whistle from behind him. Jean had successfully killed the titan and it was now time for Sasha to lead her pursuer down the dead-end for Annie to take out. Lukas felt an ebb of concern for the brunette but trusted she'd be fine as he kept solely focused on his titan.
The cadet wiped a spare few droplets of sweat off his face as slowly vaulted over the remains of a clothing stall. As he gazed at the beast, it blankly stared back at him, no signs of emotion but still dedicatedly following the human. Lukas squinted at the thing, a haze field of red seeming to encompass the creature and the ping in his head becoming more evident. The longer he stared at it with his 'sight' the more he seemed entranced with it. Why was he able to do this? What allowed him to do this?
SLASH!
A repeat of the actions of a couple minutes ago sounded off behind him as Sasha and Annie were successful with their titan. Another whistle soon followed, albeit somewhat muffled now, and Lukas subconsciously started making his way towards the dead end. Still, as he did so he couldn't help but still ponder those questions. As he did so though, he came to notice that the pinging noise had now been replaced with another sound. It sounded like some sort of moaning, like the sound his mother patrons would make when they'd have too much to drink and pass out on the bar top. Lukas looked confusedly at the creature until he felt the familiar feeling of something oozing from his nose. The teen was surprised though as he lifted his hand to feel not a few spare drops of blood, but a small stream running down from it.
CLACK!
"OH FUCK!"
Lukas felt the heel of his boot as a miscalculated step cause him to lose his balance and fall back onto the cobblestone behind him. Not catching himself in time, the teen reeled as his head whacked the ground. His vision returned to him, albeit a bit fuzzy but the main thing was the noise which had turned from what sounded like a groan to what could be described as a feral animal before cutting out entirely. Lukas looked up to see the titan charging at him. Before his hands could instinctually shoot to his ODM triggers, the beast had closed the distance, nearly on top of him. The teen in a last-ditch reaction swung up his arms, trying feebly to cover his face from the incoming attack.
SLASH!
The attack never came though as the cadet looked back up to see the titan's corpse having fallen before him. Through the steam exiting the body, Lukas could see the familiar frame of his friend.
"MARCO!" the teen spoke in astonishment.
The well-mannered cadet strode up to him, blades drawn and titan blood steaming off of them, "Phew!" Marco exclaimed sheathing his weapons, "That was a close one! Lukas are you okay?"
The teen on the ground took a swipe his nose, the blood was still there but it had stopped flowing, "Yeah…" he mumbled getting to his feet, "I think so…"
Marco, seeing the quickly drying stream of blood on his friends face squinted approaching him, "Something…" he spoke, "something happened with that titan."
Lukas gave a weak smile, "Yeah…I think so." The shorter of the two put a steady arm on Marco's shoulder, "Thanks bud, you really saved my ass there."
The taller teen scratched the back of his head almost looking embarrassed, "Don't mention it" he chuckled for a split second before continuing, "You saved my life already today, Lukas, only fair that I repay the favor."
The Trost native nodded before a cacophony of ODM gear sounded around them as the rest of the group landed with a certain brunette at its head. The fact that Lukas had half dried blood on his face didn't matter as Sasha nearly crushed him in an embrace.
"You can't keep scaring me like that Lulu" the brunette softly murmured.
"I'm sorry." Lukas responded in kind, "I don't try too."
"I know." Sasha answered, releasing her embrace, "Something…hap" she motioned to the teens face.
"Yeah" he muttered.
Sasha nodded knowing it would be a conversation for later and immediately turned giving Marco an equally powerful hug. Jean and Connie gave their friend a nod of relief and knowing before Annie, who had landed behind them. She actually looked somewhat relieved seeing Lukas was ok but immediately took an inquisitive stance upon seeing the teens face.
"When I tripped, I hit something on the way down." Lukas answered the implied question.
"I see." Annie answered firmly before dropping the matter.
A few moments passed before the familiar sound of ODM gear could be heard again and two more figures approached the group, Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover.
"You guys alright?" Reiner questioned the group looking at the remnants of the titan that lay next to them, "Looks like you guys gave these titans a beating!"
Lukas shrugged cleaning the rest of the blood from his face away with a rag he'd found in the one of the stalls, "Something like that."
The two arrivals nodded in agreement, before the bulkier cadet continued, "Well we've spotted more titans trying to approach Eren from the west, we're headed to go and try to cut them off. You guys should head east."
"That sounds good." Jean added, "That jackass needs to hurry the hell up."
"Yeah." Reiner replied, "Good luck."
The two turned to zip off but were stopped by Annie, "If its just the two of you, I'm sure you wouldn't mind the extra help?"
Reiner gave a half smile, "The more the merrier."
With that the three of them sped off leaving the remaining five.
"We need to cover the rest of the distance to Eren" Jean commented as the group started off in the direction of east.
"Wait!" Marco quickly stopped the group, "I don't think it would be fair to have only 3 of us head west while the 5 of us are heading east."
"Well then" Jean raised an eyebrow "what do you suggest?"
"I'll go give them a hand…" Marco suggested, "Shouldn't be too hard to catch up with them."
"You sure?" Connie questioned.
"Yeah" Sasha added, "Who knows how far off they are by now?"
"I don't think it's that bad."
"Alright man." Jean said, "I trust you, I'm sure we'll be fine."
"Just be careful yeah?" Lukas added, "Don't need you getting picked off because you're by yourself."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Marco gave a sincere chuckle before speeding off in the general direction the trio had taken, "Stay safe you guys."
…
The group continued to ward titans away from their 15-meter companion, making their way to within a block of the Shiganshina native turned monster. The closer they got to the entrance of Trost, the more they couldn't ignore how loud it got. The footsteps of so many titans, the agonizing screams of so many of their comrades, and the overbearing noise of Eren's giant footsteps as he strove to score humanities first victory over the titans.
"Fuck" Connie cursed as the bald-headed cadet and Lukas narrowly dodged the swing hand of a 15-meter.
"Keep going!" Lukas screamed as the friends ran down the street with the monster in tow.
The two teens ran a good ways before rounding a corner and shooting off towards the roof as soon as the titan lost visual contact with them. They had no more time to trap titans in precarious positions to kill them, they were now hoping just to lead the creatures away from their comrade for enough time that they'd not be able to interfere. As Connie and Lukas flew over an adjacent rooftop, they confirmed that they were successful. The titan had rounded the same corner looking for its prey and not finding it seemed to just continue down the street.
Landing on the tile rooftop, the two looked to see Jean and Sasha on a neighboring rooftop, their attention turned towards the gate.
"Wha- "Connie was only able to stammer out before they both saw it.
THUMP!
Eren was only a few dozen meters from the gate.
THUMP!
There was only a single titan left in front of him.
THUMP!
The two of them were left in shock as a female garrison soldier and who could only be Mikasa expertly eliminated the last titan.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!
"GO, EREN!" Lukas could hear what sounded like Armin screaming before the abnormal titan's scream seemed to shake the entire district.
For the second time that day Lukas Scmidt had held his breath, as the titan form of Eren Yeager slammed the boulder down at the gate. The dust settling, everybody could see that the mission hadn't been in vain, the gate to Trost had been sealed…
The city was in a state of shock as the Lukas and Connie jumped to the other rooftop. No one said a word, no one needed too. Humanity had achieved its first ever victory against the titans. Lukas didn't even register it as he hugged the brunette in front of him. In fact, it was much less of a hug more…just holding her. The teen closed his eyes and a degree of relief seemed to wash over him.
Dad can you see this?
We won. Humanity won.
This feeling, having hope.
Is this what you felt too.
Lukas was knocked from his contemplation as he felt Sasha rustle in his embrace. He opened his eyes once again to see the girl was now facing him. He didn't know if it was the relief of the moment, but the brunette just seemed to glow to in the afternoon sun. She didn't speak to him but instead gave the black-haired teen a small, tired smile, her eyes affectionately looking at him with irises as brown as her long unkempt hair. If his heart was beating out of his chest, he couldn't feel it as he leaned his head down and craned it to the side. Any hesitation the teen may have had vanished as Sasha met him halfway and he felt the soft embrace of her lips touch his.
In reality, it may have only been a few seconds but what a few seconds those were. As the two resurfaced for air, she didn't even have to spare him a look to know that her face was blushing so badly that it looked like a sunburn. Instead, she buried her face in his chest trying desperately to hide it even though he could feel the heat radiating from it anyway. Lukas would have been blushing as well but as he looked up he saw Jean look over at him, awkwardly scratching the back of his ear.
"Uh…" the taller teen spoke, his voice undeniably nervous, "…hate to interrupt your guy's…moment…but I think we should go and try to find Marco…"
"Just to make sure he's ok…"