Mikasa was watching in shock, as the queen's founding titan emerged from the smoke. How was this even possible? Ymir had bitten her out, so how could Frieda transform so fast? Even during training, Ymir had to wait between her transformations, but here, the queen seemed just fine without any delay.
What was even more concerning, was that this time, she had wings. Two, large wings, covered with feathers sprouted from her titan's back. As Frieda straightened up, she extended them fully. Her wingspan had to be at least forty meters.
"Had she ever done that before…?" Levi asked hesitantly, watching the queen with wide eyes.
"No…" Kenny responded in a similar manner "that would be the first time…"
Suddenly, the founding titan flapped its wings, shooting a gush of strong wind, all over the battlefield.
The three Ackermans struggled to stand, as the air rushed at them.
"We need to get away from the rooftops!" Levi yelled, before launching his gear, at the adjacent building.
But Mikasa remained stunned at the unusual sight. After the first time the queen tried her new wings, she crouched down, as if readying herself to jump. Once again, her wings rose up.
"Come on!" Kenny shouted pulling her along, which brought her out of stupor.
As the two other Ackermans jumped down to the streets, they were instantly met with a squad of MPs. Apparently, they weren't expecting two elite foes, falling down from the sky right at them, so the old Ackerman decided to use this moment to his advantage.
"Hey, you…!" One of the soldiers yelled.
However, he never got to finish his sentence as Kenny fired his gun at him. Upon the violent display, some of the other MPs reached out for their rifles, but before they could shoot, Mikasa jumped at them and delivered several strong hits with the blunt edges of her swords.
"Oh yeah!" Kenny exclaimed, seeing her prowess just before he lunged at the policemen who didn't manage to bring their guns out in time.
Dealing with the squad was a child's play for the two Ackermans and before long, they were running towards the scouts' positions, trying to catch up with Levi.
While she was running, Mikasa thought back to the queen's new titan form.
"How is she capable of doing all that?" The girl asked her companion.
"No idea" Kenny replied, "any plans on how we'll defeat her in the air?"
"In the air…?"
Suddenly, another strong gush of wind rushed at them. The two Ackermans looked at each other, before taking a turn on the next street in hopes of getting to observe what was going on the square and trying to make sense of this unbelievable situation.
Right as they reached the corner, which they could possibly make use of, the third wave of air reached them.
This time, Mikasa fell over, but even from the ground, she was able see what was going on.
Frieda Reiss took off.
She was flapping her wings energetically, which was making her go higher and higher. The otherworldly image of a flying titan burnt into the oriental girl's mind as she watched the sight in disbelief.
"What held you back?"
Only now, did she realize that at the end of the intersection, stood captain Levi. It seemed as if he had decided to observe the queen as well.
"Some merry men" Kenny replied with a sneer, watching the flying queen "good luck with reaching her speed using an airship…"
"We need to join the other scouts" the short captain said, trying not to think about the imminent doom that was apparently flying over their heads as of right now.
"Duck!" Kenny exclaimed suddenly, pulling the two with him to some shady corner.
Right after that, Mikasa could see the MPs, running through the street they were standing on just a moment ago, hurriedly.
"They're retreating?" Levi whispered with a puzzled look.
"It can't be any good" Kenny said, "we need to get to your friend club, fast…"
When the trio finally reached the palisade, some of the scouts behind the barricades looked at them with surprise.
"Captain Levi…?" One of them asked.
"Yeah, yeah, let us in" the man in question responded, as he tried to walk through the stakes embedded into the ground "I need to talk with Erwin…"
With the help from the rebels, they managed to get to the other side.
"Erwin!" The short captain yelled, when the Ackerman trio got close to the commander.
Commander Erwin looked at them with surprise. Of course, he must've noticed Kenny, but right now, he didn't seem particularly opposed to the idea of joining forces with the rogue.
"I see the mission went well" he commented "do you know everything, already?"
"Define everything…" Levi said, before bringing his hand to cover his eyes "sorry we're late, we've been pretty occupied with training the new shifters."
"How are they?" Erwin asked.
"Oh, I don't know mister commander, they just got stomped over" Kenny sneered.
Some of the other scouts glared at the man, but the blonde leader raised his hand.
"I assume you switched sides" he expressed, before looking away in wonder "I saw that they almost had her, but then, everything went to pieces."
"I'm just as amazed, commander" the rogue Ackerman spoke, trying to mimic his way of speaking "as far as I'm concerned, she never displayed such power before."
Erwin just rolled his eyes at the behaviour. Only then, did Mikasa notice that Armin was standing behind the commander, looking down in shame.
"Armin…" she started.
"Mikasa!"
The oriental girl turned around, just to have a very particular redhead engulf her in a hug.
"Floch…" she spoke with tears, tightening her grip on the boy.
"I was so worried!" The boy wailed with squinted eyes.
That display of affection must've offended Levi in some way, because he fumed at the two.
"Could you please…?"
"WATCH OUT!"
Everyone looked up to see that the queen's titan landed on one of the towers. Then, with a swift motion of her hand, she destroyed the pointy spire, sending down a rain of rocks, right at the scouts.
Mikasa grabbed Floch and started running away.
"That's why they were retreating…" Kenny exclaimed.
The rebels quickly hid behind the barricades, on the other side. As the rubble fell on the places they've just been, seconds before, Erwin looked behind.
On the other side of the field, MPs were marching slowly at them.
"They want to squeeze us" he asserted "we need to get rid of the queen… Levi, Mikasa, could you climb on the tower?"
As if to spite his idea, Frieda then grabbed several tons of rubble from the building and took off.
"When she's in the air, we can't…" Levi stated.
"Wait!"
The five of them turned to look in surprise at the only person who stayed silent until now.
"Armin?"
"I know a way of getting the three of them in the air!" The blonde genius exclaimed with conviction.
Kenny sighed at his statement.
"Listen boy, the airships…"
"I'm not talking about using an airship!"
That got the attention from everyone. Just what was he talking about, right now?
Armin took a deep breath, before continuing.
"After we invented the airships" he started "I would use the old and spare parts to play around… I've built many models, but then, after the second visit from the queen, I've finally managed to build a prototype…"
"Just what exactly are you talking about?" Erwin asked with agitation.
"A flying boat!" Armin exclaimed "it can't fly for a long time, but it reaches extreme speeds in the air!"
Mikasa thought about it. If they managed to get close to Frieda, while in the air, they could maybe strike at her, and possibly bring her down…
"Alright, this is our best bet" Erwin decided after a moment "how far is the hangar?"
"I wanted to keep it a secret, and placed it away from the main plant" Armin responded "it's actually several blocks away…"
The commander turned to look at the three Ackermans.
"I give this mission to you three" he spoke, bringing his tightened fist to his chest "dedicate your hearts!"
"Yes, sir!"
"I'll go too!" Floch suddenly exclaimed.
Erwin gave the boy a bewildered look. Mikasa knew that her beloved could pass of as a coward, to some, but deep inside, he had strong dedication. Ever since she got to know him, he's been proving it at all possible occasions.
"Okay" the commander spoke at last "off you go!"