The moment Marcel's transformation was complete, the shifter reached out and caught Reiner. The titan managed to land safely, on a tall building.
Armin looked down and saw that Reiner didn't seem to be transforming yet. However, it seemed to be only a matter of time before that happened. It wasn't looking too good from the perspective of the scouts.
"Check all around us!" Commander Erwin yelled an order "Capture any other enemies and-…"
Suddenly a loud explosion could be heard from behind. When Armin looked towards the source of the noise, he saw what appeared to be the worst-case scenario. The beast titan was standing in the distance along a row of regular titans which were successfully cutting them off from any escape route.
Armin focused to look at the shifter himself. The titan picked up a large boulder. In that instance, the blonde boy understood what their enemy was trying to do.
"WATCH OUT!" Armin cried out as the beast titan threw the boulder towards them.
"TAKE COVER!" The commander yelled as the incoming projectile flew in the air.
BOOOM!
Did the titan miss? Armin wasn't sure. He stood up and looked around. It didn't seem that anyone was hurt. Was the beast really trying to hit the wall?
"Did it miss?" Someone asked.
"No" Erwin stated, "the beast has a good aim."
Armin looked to see what the target was. He walked over to the edge of the wall.
It turned out the beast titan threw the boulder right at the gate, blocking the entrance.
"Now our horses can't pass through" the commander concluded "take out the horses, then surround us."
Armin looked to the other side of the gate. Reiner used the commotion to transform as well. But what was even worse, the jaw titan began climbing the wall.
"Marcel's gonna be here any second!" Armin cried out.
He looked towards Eren.
"Are we still waiting for the orders?" The boy asked nervously.
"The commander is observing the enemy" Hange explained "Bertholdt is nowhere to be found. They probably thought this through."
Armin walked over to Erwin. He saw that the man was currently observing a weird-looking titan next to the beast. It seemed as if the abnormal was holding some kind of cargo.
"Dina!" The commander cried out "I need your expertise."
"It's the cart titan" the woman explained "it wasn't a part of the original group."
"From what you've told us" Erwin started "I assume that they could have up to six shifters here."
"That's correct."
The commander was still deep in thought. With each passing second, Armin was getting more and more unnerved. The sounds of Marcel climbing were getting closer.
Suddenly, the beast titan hit the ground with his fist. On this signal, all the smaller titans started running towards the gate where horses were kept.
"Multiple two-to-three metre class approaching!"
Armin looked towards the commander. Why wasn't he giving any orders?
"Commander" the blonde boy started again "the jaw is getting extremely close…"
"Yes… I know…"
The man took a deep breath.
"ALL SQUADS EXCEPT FOR SQUADS HANGE AND LEVI!" He shouted out "JOIN THE FORCES GUARDING THE HORSES!"
"SQUADS HANGE AND LEVI!" The commander turned towards them "TAKE DOWN THE SHIFTERS WITHIN THE DISTRICT!"
"THIS BATTLE WILL DECIDE UPON OUR SURVIVAL!"
"YES, SIR!"
"DEDICATE YOUR HEARTS!"
The scouts started running to their positions.
"Armin, Levi!" The commander called out "wait!"
The blonde scout turned back to face his superior.
"I know I gave orders to your squads, but you're staying here Levi"
The short captain raised an eyebrow at that.
"You want me to protect the horses?" He asked with a hint of surprise.
"That's right" Erwin said as he pointed his sword towards the beast titan "and wait for an opening to kill that thing."
"Understood" Levi exclaimed as he jumped down.
"As for you, Armin" the commander turned towards the boy "I want you to take command of the squads within the district."
The blonde boy was shocked at that. Then, he remembered how the man trusted him earlier. He made a determined face.
"Yes, sir!"
The boy ran towards the other edge of the wall. Dina and Eren were standing there, waiting for Marcel to reach the top.
"Eren!" Armin exclaimed gaining the attention of his friend "join the others! You'll be fighting Reiner."
When Eren heard that, his face turned into a sour grimace. Armin knew his friend didn't like this.
"Why?" The young shifter asked nervously "I can take him…"
"Eren" Dina suddenly interjected "listen to what he says. This is a real battle. You're not here to prove anything to anyone."
The boy looked down at that.
"Make sure to engage him away from any walls" Armin added "we still don't know where Bertholdt is."
"Alright" Eren said as he ran to the side, to join others.
Armin looked at Dina with a thankful expression.
"Can you take Marcel?" He asked her.
The woman smiled at that.
"I think I am just the perfect counter for him" she said, "leave it to me!"
Momentarily she jumped down.
An explosion ripped through the air as the woman transformed. The jaw managed to climb pretty high in the short amount of time, but it didn't see Dina coming. As he raised his massive head up, Marcel was hit right on the hardened mask. The two titans fell to the ground with a loud thud.
'Alright' Armin thought as he launched himself to join the other scouts.
When it came to the armoured titan, Eren was doing a pretty good job. His hardened fists proved to be extremely effective against Reiner, and the enemy titan was being cornered.
"Surround them!" Armin yelled to the other soldiers.
The last time they fought, the scouts were helpless. The only thing they could do was stare. But today, everything was different. Today they would strike back.
Suddenly, the armoured titan threw Eren on the ground. His friend was doing good job at not getting smashed, but Reiner was restless with his strength.
Just as the armoured was about to finish the attack titan, Armin yelled a command.
"FIRE!"
Suddenly, the scouts jumped towards Reiner from all sides. They simultaneously launched the thunder spears at the dumbfounded titan.
