AN: Welcome to the first-ever Female v Armoured Royal Ruuuuuuuuuuumble!
But seriously though, I wanted to thank you all for the reviews and hits you've given me. I hope you enjoy the conclusion of the expedition.
From his vantage point, high above the forest floor, Armin could safely ignore the horde of pure titans gathering below him. He was grateful for that, as he could fully concentration on planning their next move.
He had seen Historia's flare and knew that right now Mikasa was either fighting Reiner or hunting him down. Ultimately, it didn't matter all that much, he believed in Mikasa and that her combat skills would see her carry the battle.
No, his mind was on what to do next. Historia had been correct in her assessment, no matter the outcome of today they needed to act fast to secure the Colossal and Armoured Titan. It caused him no limit of frustration that for all their schemes and plans, they might only have a couple of days to secure two titans when it had taken them weeks to obtain the Female Titan.
Sometimes he found his mind wandering back to when they returned. He felt like they had wasted so much time, could they have done things differently? It didn't matter now; they had been given a second chance and probably wouldn't get a third.
They'd have to make do.
"Hey, Armin," Connie's voice drew him out of his scheming "you have any idea what we're doing here? I mean just standing around in trees watching titans try to climb them doesn't seem all that important and I'm pretty sure I just heard some cannon fire."
"I'm not sure, Connie. I think something must have happened to the right flank during the operation, as we made a pretty sharp left turn to reach here. They wanted us to keep the normal titans out, so I'm guessing if there are cannons, they're being used against something we couldn't."
Connie ran a hand through his barely existing hair and looked down at the amassed titans. "Shit man, I kinda knew what to expect when I signed up, but this? I know we're new recruits and all, but I didn't expect to be kept in the dark so much."
He tore his eyes away from the sight, looking a bit queasy, and turned to Armin. "How the hell are you so calm about all this? I know you've seen Titans before when Shiganshina fell, but even at Trost you seemed so composed."
Armin couldn't stop the self-deprecating snort that escaped him as he thought of his first time at Trost. "Trust me, Connie, I wasn't calm at Trost. I may have looked like it, but on the inside, I felt like I was going to throw up. As for right now, I'm choosing to put my trust in the Commander. He must have a good reason to hide his intentions."
Connie looked somewhat comforted by Armin's semi-truthful confession. "Do you think the others are doing alright?"
"Yeah, I'm sure they're fine."
'I'm sorry, all of you. I'm so sorry.'
Petra closed her eyes as the foot dropped.
A noise like a thunderclap resonated throughout the forest and a shockwave sent Petra flying, colliding painfully against a tree. Unbidden, her eyes opened, and she gaped at the sight before her.
There was a hand. A gigantic, skinless hand.
It had grabbed the clawed foot, stopping it only inches away from crushing her like a bug. The hand hung there for a second before it thrust forward, lifting the unstable Armoured Titan off the ground and throwing it back. Its enormous body smashed straight through one of the giant trees, before hitting the ground hard and crashing into another.
"Eren?" she breathed out as she looked up at her saviour.
It was a titan, but it definitely wasn't the hero of Trost.
While this new Titan shared his height and proportional build, this one lacked the same leathery hide the Rogue Titan had.
In fact, this Titan lacked almost any covering at all. Thick, reddish muscles were left open to the elements except for a triangular strip of skin stretching from its groin to its shoulders; covering its abdominal muscles and… breasts?
Each might have been larger than Petra's body, but they were in the right place and were roughly the right shape. There could be no mistaking it; this Titan had the impossible.
Every Titan ever encountered by humanity had always possessed a deformed, but a primarily masculine body. Not once in their recorded history had a Titan like this been seen before.
A female Titan.
The very idea made her head hurt. Titans were supposed to be completely asexual, so what use would they have for breasts if they don't produce offspring.
'Hanji would love this.' Petra found herself thinking as she looked at the unique Titan.
Her eyes rose past the unusual additions, to the Titan's face. It was long and pointed, with pale, thin lips, framed on either side by shoulder-length black hair that moved softly in the wind. But its most distinguishing feature was its narrow eyes.
They were black; not dark grey or deep blue but totally black. They were utterly devoid of even the smallest speck of colour, leaving no distinction between the pupil and the iris.
They were like two endless voids, which not even light could escape.
Her saviour took a step forward, standing between her and her would-be killer, which had slowly risen to its feet. A low guttural growl rumbled up the Female Titan's throat before she threw her arms back and roared for all the world to hear.
Mikasa only had one word to describe the feeling of sprinting through the forest in the body of a titan.
Surreal.
She moved her arm, and so did the Titan.
She made a fist, and so did the Titan.
She ran, and so did the Titan.
It was a massive, living puppet which she controlled from the inside.
She ducked under thick branches, weaved between giant trees and leapt over fissures and gorges as she ran.
At first, she headed toward the loud bang she'd heard just after her transformation but had now changed course, following the scent of human blood. A part of her mind wondered if her heightened senses was a general titan ability or if it was unique to the Female Titan.
Just up ahead, the smell of blood had become far more intense, and she could hear someone screaming obscenities. The voice was then suddenly, and violently cut off by a loud splat then a soft thud of something hitting the ground.
Pushing herself even harder, Mikasa burst through the treeline into an old woodland path, just in time to see Reiner looming over the sole survivor of the special operation squad with killer intent.
She lunged forward, catching the falling foot in an iron grip.
She held it for a moment, admiring her newfound strength. She was used to being stronger than most people, her Ackerman blood being responsible for that, but this was something else. With one hand she had stopped a 15m Titan dead.
Then using this strength, she pushes against the captured foot, lifting the traitor off the ground and tossing him away like the piece of garbage he was.
Positioning herself in front of the lone scout, Mikasa takes a second to look around. There were three bloody and mangled corpses lying about, the other members of the squad and the source of the overwhelming stench of coppery blood that filled the air, but no sign of Eren or Levi.
'They must have kept moving.'
She savoured the look of surprise on Reiner's face at her presence, he had expected to fight Eren, but instead, he would face her. The traitor slowly rose to his feet, unsure of what to do. His eyes were darting around as if looking for an escape route.
'Oh no, you're not running. Must have been easy for you to kill those scouts while cowering in your Titan. Let see how you fare against someone your own size, you piece of shit.'
She threw her arms back in a blatant challenge and roared, for as long and as loud as she could, then lunges at him.
Eren clapped his hands over his ear at the mighty roar from behind them. Levi, in his usual Levi-ness, showed no sign he had even heard it.
"Calm down, Yeager. They are four of the best Titan killers in the corp. The Armoured Titan is being cut apart as we speak."
Eren wished he felt as confident as Levi sounded. 'No. I can trust them if anyone can kill that stupid monster, it's them.'
"Captain, the trap back there… did the Commander know this would happen?"
Levi didn't reply immediately, and Eren was about to apologise for speaking out of turn.
Sounding somewhat annoyed, Levi answered. "He had a theory something might happen with you on this Op. And his theories are normally right."
"Sounds like Armin." Eren relaxed ever so slightly while thinking of his friend. "He's usually right about things."
"Tch, that the blond kid at your trial? The one who made a fool out of Nile and the MPs?"
"Yes, Sir."
The Captain didn't reply, but Eren got the feeling his friend had just been moved several steps up Levi's ladder of respect.
During her first life, one of the anti-Marleyan volunteers had told Mikasa about an old proverb from her homeland, before it had been conquered and subjected by Marley.
'When striking the Chief, don't miss.'
And Mikasa had just missed.
The fight had started well, she had taken him completely by surprise and gotten multiple good hits in using some of Annie's techniques, but quickly found she wasn't as efficient in those moves as Eren had been. She had Reiner in an armlock, but he had broken free and was now starting to fight back.
She dodged and ducked most of his attacks, cautious at how easily he could hurt her with his armoured fists.
Her defence finally failed when she misstepped over a patch of uneven ground, giving Reiner an opening to grab her around the waist.
He forces her backwards, feet tearing up the soil as she's pushed closer and closer toward the gawking scout. She smashes her elbow down against his back, trying to break his hold but to no avail. Eventually, she's slammed against the tree, her heels starting to press against the grounded soldier.
Growing desperate to avoid squishing her, Mikasa uppercuts Reiner as hard as possible.
The bones in her hand crack like eggshells against his armoured face, but it's just enough to break his concentration. His grip around her midriff loosens just enough for her to shove him back, giving her room to breathe.
This fight wasn't going as planned; despite his mental illness, Reiner still had the training from two different military forces and had far more experience in his titan form than she had. He was slowly gaining the upper hand while she was being hamstrung by having to defend the vulnerable scout.
She dropped to one knee, avoiding Reiner's punch which cut the giant tree in two, and scooped up the lone scout with her non-broken hand. The women let out a surprised yelp as she was suddenly pulled up and held protectively against a titan's chest.
Rolling out of the way of the falling tree, Mikasa quickly rights herself upwards and runs.
There was a great deal of blood and screaming at the location of the failed trap. Chunks of splinted wood and sheared metal covered the area. More than a few pieces were sticking out of people, rather than the ground.
Erwin coughs, trying to clear the dust and debris from his lungs.
"RE… *cough* REPORT! WHAT HAPPENED?" He hollered out, cutting over the screams.
"Commander! The Armoured Titan broke through, the trap failed!" One scout replied, clutching his side.
Erwin bit back a scornful remark about stating the obvious.
"Where did it go?"
"It followed Captain Levi and his Squad." The scout answered, pointing in the direction with a bloody hand.
"Erwin! We have wounded down here. Orders?" Mike shouted up from the forest floor.
"Get anyone off the forest floor; it's too dangerous to stay down there. As soon as that's done gather up everyone who isn't injured, the Special Ops Squad will need reinforcements against the Armoured Titan!"
He just hoped it wouldn't be too late.
'Hold on Levi. We're coming.'
Mikasa had almost forgotten how fast Reiner's Titan could be. Without the plating around his lower leg, he was just as, if not faster, than her. As she ran deeper and deeper into the forest, all she could hear was the pounding of feet as Reiner chased after her.
By leading Reiner deeper into the forest, she had pulled him away from Eren and most of the survey corps, with one exception. Glancing down at the scout she was carrying against her chest, Mikasa wondered what she was going to do with her. She couldn't fight with one hand, especially as the other was still slowly healing.
Eventually, mother nature made that choice for her as a large lake came into view, preventing her from running any further.
With few options left, she jumps and throws the scout up into the canopy, hoping she would grab hold to something. She didn't have time to see if she had, as Reiner charges into her, tackling her away.
He was on top of her before she could blink and drives his knee into her stomach, snapping ribs and doubling her over from the blow.
Then he grabbed her by the throat, lifting her several metres off the ground and roared in her face. Clawing at the throttling hand trying to crush her windpipe, she kicked out trying to push him off but only succeed in nearly breaking her foot against his hardened legs.
Reiner drew his spare hand back, intending to punch her head clean off.
Panicking and out of pure instinct, Mikasa raises her unbroken hand to catch the fist.
It should have been the end for her. Her hand should have shattered like the other, followed swiftly by her skull.
But it didn't.
Her entire arm shook under the impact, but instead of the snapping of bone, there was an ear-splitting shriek, similar to metal grinding against metal.
The two Titans stared at each other, wearing similar expressions of shock. The armoured fist had been caught in a crystallised hand.
Reiner pulled away, but Mikasa was faster and decked him across the face forcing him to release the chokehold he had her in.
Dropping back to her feet, she takes a second to marvel at her blue hand. Maybe it was the stress of battle, but something had activated her hardening ability. It was like something had just clicked in her mind, and a flood of memories of Annie utilising it filled her head.
She concentrated on her hand and wanted to laugh when the crystal covering thickens before her very eyes.
Turning her gaze to Reiner and his newly shattered jaw, she smirked.
'My turn.'
She launches herself at Reiner with a hurricane of blows, smashing off bits of his armour with every hit. Still shocked by the rapid turnaround Reiner's increasingly desperate counterattacks were easily deflected, bouncing off her harden skin.
With half his face caved in from the onslaught and her other hand finally healed, Mikasa decides it's time to finish this.
Focusing her hardening abilities away from her hand and into her fingers, she watches as the skinless digits transform into razor-sharp knives.
Without hesitation, she plunges them into Reiner's body, piercing through the protective plating with ease. One sinks deep into his collar, grinding against muscle and bones, and the other she impales into his groin region, and with all the strength she can muster, she hauls him up.
She lifts Reiner overhead, the muscles in her back and arms bulging under the immense strain, as he flails about uselessly.
Letting out a savage roar, she slams him down, cracking the earth beneath them.
By this point, practically none of the scouts at the forest edge were watching the Titans below. Instead, they looked into the dark forest with fearful eyes at the sounds coming from within.
Loud echoey explosions, terrible roaring and the ear-piercing cracks of falling trees poured from the deep woods. It sounded apocalyptic.
Marco looked pale and worried, while Sasha shifted nervously on her feet. Even the nearby veteran was sweating with anxiety. Historia wanted to say something, anything, to calm her terrified friends but couldn't muster the courage to do so.
How could she when she was just as frightened? Whatever was happening between Mikasa and Reiner sounded extremely violent, and nothing like the quick skirmish the three of them had hoped for.
There was another roar, far louder than the ones previous, and finally a bone-rattling thud, powerful enough to shake the trees they were standing on.
"What the fuck was that?!" a red-headed scout cried out, having to fire his hooks into the branch to avoid falling.
Historia swallowed thickly as she gazed into the forest, wondering the same thing.
'Mikasa… what's happening in there?'
Stand on the lip of a titan-sized crater, Mikasa looked down at her foe. He was face down in the ground, and his left arm was bent at an awkward angle, but to her immense frustration, he was still moving.
'Enough already Reiner, it's over. Just die.'
But he doesn't. And worst he tries to push himself up again.
Unconsciously baring her teeth and growling, she stamps down on his back, pushing him back into the dirt where he belonged.
'Fine. Have it your way.'
Dropping down and straddling his back, Mikasa grabs the chunk of armour covering his right shoulder and begins to pull. As the armour starts to peel off, she forces her fingers into the widening gaps between it and the tender meat below, levering it up. Reiner bellows out as his protection is wrenched away.
Rather than discarding the bloody chunk, she decides to use it as a weapon against Reiner. Raising it high above her head, she brings it down hard against the shoulder it had, only moments ago, been protecting.
'This is for all the scouts you've killed.'
She brings it down, again and again, determined to sever his arm in the most vicious way possible.
'For Carla and Armin's Grandpa.'
There's a mighty crack as his bones snap under the successive blows. Leaving the makeshift weapon impaled in his back, Mikasa grabs Reiner's arm and starts to pull it backwards. Frantically struggling, he tries to break free, but with her entire weight pinning him down, there's little he can do.
'and the thousands of people you've butchered!'
With a final ruthless twist, she ripped the arm clean off and tossed it away. Blood spurted from his mangled shoulder like a waterfall, puddling on the forest floor. Reiner's pained screech is choked and feeble as his face is half-sunken into the mud.
Mikasa thought it was a beautiful scene.
'I'm going to tear you apart! Piece by bloody piece!'
She tilted forward, her mouth only inches away from Reiner's nape and let out a scream loud enough to rupture his human eardrums even through his Titan's flesh.
'I'm going to exterminate you!'
Her cheeks tore open as her jaw descended, revealing the rows of teeth inside. Her black eyes seemed to darken even more as she prepared to bite down on the nape, regardless of the protection surrounding it.
She was strong, so strong, she would wrench the traitorous bastard out of there, and there is nothing he can do to stop her.
'Reiner, GET OUT!'
A quiet voice in her head stopped her, cutting through her bloodlust just as the teeth brushed against the plates.
"One last thing, Mikasa. Be careful when you change. Having that much raw strength and power at your command is… intoxicating. It's so easy to lose focus and control and just to let the Titan take over. You mustn't let that happen; we can't lose you as well."
'Armin?'
She froze. What was she doing? Only Ymir's Titan could bite straight through his armour, she'd only end up breaking her jaw trying it, and she would leave herself exposed to a…
Her eyes widened and tried to move her head away, but she was too slow, Reiner's head jerked back crashing against her face.
Mikasa reeled back, momentarily stunned at the reversed headbutt. She clutched her face assessing the damage; the entire bottom half of her face was a mess; her nose had been broken, and jaw caved in with half her teeth being sent flying down her own throat.
Perhaps fuelled by fear and desperation, Reiner ushered forth a surprising amount of strength as he bucked and twisted his massive body, sending her tumbling off his back.
Wounded and wobbling, both once again rose to their feet. Reiner was missing one arm, but his other had already started to heal while he was pinned down. Mikasa's jaw was a bloody ruin, and she was growing increasingly exhausted, not use to the amount of energy her titan form required.
This was turning into a war of attrition, and neither of them was sure if they could win.
If her Titan needed oxygen, Mikasa was sure her breathing would be erratic and laborious. Bringing her fists back up into a combat position, she worried about how much longer she could keep this up.
"COMMANDER, ARMOURED TITAN DEAD AHEAD!"
A swarm of squads was flying towards them, two dozen grim-faced men and women with Commander Erwin in the lead.
"SHIT, THERE'S ANOTHER TITAN! 15 METRE CLASS!"
"WHERE'D IT COME FROM?!"
"SOLDIERS MOVE IN AND SURROUND THEM!" Erwin ordered.
Mikasa felt a spark of dread rise within her, Reiner might nearly invulnerable to their blades, but she wasn't.
'I can't fight off both of them.'
Fortunately for her, Reiner must have been just as tired from the fighting, or at the very least realised his opportunity to capture Eren had long passed. With one last fearful gaze towards her, he turned and ran.
She didn't want to let him escape, but if this fight continued like this, both of them could end up captured or being killed, either by the scouts or each other.
'Damnit.' she thought before fleeing in the opposite direction. 'Reiner… next time we meet, you won't escape.'
Never before in Erwin's life had validation felt so hollow. He had been right that an attempt would be made on Eren's life but had failed spectacularly to prepare for it adequately. Now, 20 scouts lay dead, and twice as many were injured. Levi's squad had nearly been wiped out, and Eren would have likely been captured had it not been for the intervention of the second Titan.
A distinctly female looking Titan from the scant few seconds he had to observe it.
There was a great deal of confusion about what had happened between the two titans, but fortunately, there had been one survivor who had witnessed the battle.
"Lieutenant Ral, are you alright?" Erwin knelt down next to the trembling woman. She had been found on a high tree branch, pieces of broken 3DM gear around her.
He wondered how she had gotten up here.
"It… it killed them. The armoured Titan. We didn't stand a chance." She didn't look at him as she spoke, just continued to stare down at the destruction left by the two titans.
"I…I didn't want to die, so I ran. But it chased me and was about to kill me when she arrived. She saved me, then attacked it. It all happened so fast." Petra mumbled.
Petra still seemed to be in shock from the ordeal, so a full debriefing would have to wait. The information she had already provided had given him plenty to think about.
Rising to his feet, he looks to his second in command. "Mike, please get Petra to one of the medical wagons and have them check for injuries." He ordered before loading and firing off a green flare into the air, signalling an immediate end to the expedition. There was little more they could achieve today, not after the losses they had endured.
"We'll need a full debriefing from her when we return to Wall Rose."
As Mike left with Petra underarm, it gave him some time to think. There has only been one other confirmed observation of Titans fighting on another, and that was Eren during the battle for Trost.
If that infighting came from a human who could turn into a titan, it raised the question about the true nature of the Armoured and Female Titan.
Less than a minute after Mike departed with Petra, Hanji lands beside him with an unreadable expression.
"Erwin, we lost sight of the Armoured Titan, but we discovered the remains of the Female Titan. Its nape was torn open, and we found this inside."
She handed the object to him; any sign of her usual eccentricity had been replaced by dead seriousness.
He looked down at the item for several long moments, his heart rate increasing minutely at its significance.
He didn't realise how dry his throat had suddenly become until he spoke again. "Who else has seen this?"
"Moblit was the one who found it and passed it straight to me. No one else in my squad saw it." Hanji looked about, making sure they couldn't be overheard. "He knows not to speak of it to anyone."
"I see." He uttered out while balling the object up in his fist, before slipping it into his jacket pocket.
This discovery changed a great many things. Erwin had been sure this was a fight between humanity and whoever the Armoured and Colossal Titan answered to, but now he wasn't so sure.
There appeared to be a third party at play here.
'Interesting… very interesting.'