"This iron rod is our new weapon…?"
Hange pouted at that.
"Could you at least call it a spear?" She asked the scouts.
All of the new technology stored within the secret military police laboratory was just being discovered. Some of the concepts made Hange curious about the possibility of creating a new deadly weapon. This thing, however, looked more like a metal rod than anything of the sort.
"I placed the order and the engineers delivered" The female officer exclaimed happily "what I asked for, was a weapon which we could use to counter the hardening abilities of the shifters."
Armin was wondering just how exactly a piece of metal would help them against their enemies.
"Our blades were useless against the armoured" Hange elaborated "not only that, but jaw could also make enough use of this ability to evade all of our attacks."
"Since our enemy never showed an opening, all we could do was sit and watch as Eren fought against them."
Armin remembered the time when they were chasing the armoured outside wall Rose.
"You're right" Jean admitted "we couldn't even stop Reiner as he ran off with Eren…"
"If the commander hadn't brought the horde of titans along with him that day…" Added Connie.
Hange raised the iron rod up.
"With this weapon, I'm confident that we could kill the warriors" the woman exclaimed "why don't I just show you? Let's go outside!"
Indeed, the new thunder spears were powerful. Armin could feel sorry for the enemy shifters already.
"FIRE!"
The iron rods lodged right into the armoured titan's eyes. A second later, a huge explosion ripped through Reiner's face. The enemy had been effectively blinded.
"IT WORKED!" Armin exclaimed "QUICK, TARGET THE NECK!"
As he said that, several scouts launched their spears right at the hardened nape. Another explosion ripped off the armour, leaving the neck area open.
"THIS ISN'T OVER YET!" The blonde boy once again cried out "WE NEED TO FINISH HIM OFF!"
As the scouts fired another salvo at the helpless shifter, Armin cringed at the sight. He decided to check up on how Dina was doing. Her general tactic was about keeping the jaw away from any walls. If Marcel managed to cross over, killing the horses off wouldn't be much of a problem for him.
Armin looked as the female titan swung a powerful kick right at the jaw, sending him flying towards the houses. He looked back at the scouts who seemed to be celebrating their little victory over the armoured.
"HEY!" The blonde boy yelled at the soldiers "THE JAW IS STILL A THREAT!"
Upon hearing that, Mikasa and some of his other friends turned to look at the two fighting titans. Eren heard that as well, and he started running towards Dina and Marcel.
When the jaw saw that, he opened his big mouth. Armin still wasn't sure about the whole situation. What was Marcel trying to achieve by that?
Suddenly, it all came to him.
"WAIT, EREN!" He yelled at the attack titan "DON'T GET ANY CLOSER!"
ROAAAAR!
As the jaw roared, all of Armin's worries came true. Some kind of barrel flew from behind the wall right towards the spot Reiner was at.
"TAKE COVER!" The blonde cried out "GET AWAY FROM THE ARMOURED!"
"THE COLOSSUS IS ABOUT IS ABOUT TO FALL RIGHT ON US!"
Armin tried to analyse everything that was happening on the run. If Bertholdt turned into a titan, there was no way they could make out of this situation alive. He looked towards Dina and Marcel. The jaw changed directions and now it was running towards Reiner at full speed.
'They got us again' the boy thought.
BOOOM!
A giant fireball exploded upon Shiganshina, as the colossal titan transformed.
Right before the shockwave reached Armin, a pair of giant hands surrounded the boy, sheltering him.
Dina had come to his rescue. Armin didn't know if anyone else made out of there alive.
When the sounds of explosion subsided, the female titan let him out of her hands. Armin could see that Eren was safeguarding some of the scouts, on the other side of the district. In the middle, however, the colossus was standing in all its glory.
The jaw titan started to run again.
"Get him!" Armin yelled at Dina "I'll join Eren and the rest!"
The female titan nodded and put him down. Its wide smile always disturbed the blonde boy in some weird way, but now it wasn't the time to be thinking about that.
"Try to separate Marcel from Bertholdt!" He yelled after Dina as she ran towards the jaw titan.
As long as Marcel was able to fight, the horses were in danger. But it wasn't their only problem. Bertholdt started to spread the fire, by throwing the burning pieces of buildings around him. It was tough to navigate through the burning district, but Armin eventually managed to join the scouts sheltered by Eren.
"Armin!" Mikasa cried out as he landed on the attack titan's arm.
"Are you the only ones alive?!" The blonde boy cried out as he looked at his friends.
Thankfully, Eren managed to save Jean, Connie and Sasha as well.
"It seems so" Jean responded as he looked at the colossus "we shouldn't have gotten so close to the armoured…"
"It won't change much if we spend our energy on regrets!" Armin exclaimed "Bertholdt will probably want to get to the horses himself, since Marcel is still engaged in a fight with Dina!"
"So, what are we supposed to do?!" Jean cried out.
Armin closed his eyes. Only now did he understand what commander must've felt all the time. The mission was depending on him, and he had literally no idea about what to do.
"I don't know yet!" The blonde boy yelled "for now let's retreat to the river!"
"Everyone! Get on Eren! Conserve your strength!"
As they were retreating, Armin looked at the colossus. Its body was fairly slow, but if they avoided fight too much, Bertholdt would make it to the gate.
"We have to somehow get him to chase us…" Jean proposed.
The blonde boy looked around. Near the outer gate, the female titan was keeping the jaw in a tight headlock, constantly trying to bite into his neck.
"It's no use" Armin replied "Dina is pretty much stomping Marcel on the other side of the district and the colossus is still on his way towards the gate. If his friend's life is less important than killing off the horses, he won't bother to chase Eren around…"
"Then, what are we supposed to do?!" Jean asked with panic in his voice.
'I've forgotten how it feels' Armin thought as he closed his eyes again.
Helplessness. When you're unable to do anything but are still expected to act accordingly.
"Eren!" The blonde boy cried out gaining the attention of his friend "you need to somehow stop him!"
Everyone looked at him with shock.
"I know it's not the best idea" Armin explained "but we need to buy some time!"
His friends nodded at that.
"Everyone!" He yelled as Eren neared the colossal titan "scatter!"
When the attack titan grabbed the giant leg, it seemed to be somewhat effective. Eren managed to push it back a bit. It was really surprising, how the small titan could do this.
Then, Armin looked at the size difference.
"Eren!" He cried out once he understood what Bertholdt was trying to do "get away from him!"
But it was already too late. The colossal titan raised its huge leg behind him and sent Eren flying towards the wall. The force managed to throw his friend right at the top of the wall, just above the inner gate.
"Armin!" Mikasa cried out with a shock "Eren seems to be out of it! What now?!"
ROAAAAR!
The loud noise garnered the attention of the remaining scouts.
Reiner was back on his two feet and came just in time to save Marcel. The armoured titan threw himself right at Dina, breaking the headlock she had over the jaw. Now she was cornered by the two warriors, desperately trying to hold her ground.
"ARMIN!" Jean yelled with even more panic than before "WHAT ARE THE ORDERS?!"
'What a pain' the blonde thought as he closed his eyes yet again.
"Jean!" He yelled "You take the command over the rest of the forces! Go to the other side of the district and help Dina!"
Said boy looked at him with wide eyes.
"What about you?!" Jean asked.
"I'll deal with the colossus" Armin said with determination "I've come up with a plan. It's a little risky, but I think it'll eventually pay off!"
"Armin" Mikasa suddenly interjected "are you sure?"
He looked at the girl with a smile. The blonde boy had a pretty good idea of what would happen to him if he went through with this plan.
"Don't worry Mikasa!" Armin exclaimed "we've come so far already! Freedom is just at our fingertips!"
This seemed to reassure the dark-haired girl.
"Be safe" she said as the scouts departed to help the female titan.
"You too…" Armin answered as he was looking at his friends, possibly for the last time.
He turned towards the colossus. Bertholdt had gotten pretty close to the gate. Eren was still at the top of the wall, seemingly unresponsive.
'Time to put my own life on the line' Armin thought as he swished towards his best friend.
