'Green eyes' only managed to bring up his swords just in time before Jay lunged forward and swung out with his right sword, sending him staggering back from the sheer force. Jay pressed his advantage and swung out his left sword at his legs, his sword shattering the tiles at his feet. 'Green eyes' eyes widened as his arms whirled and he was tipped off balance. Jay quickly holstered on of his swords and his gloved hand gripped 'Green eyes' by the ankle and pulled him back. With his right arm, he swung out, the pommel of his sword smashing into his jaw. 'Green eyes's' teeth clacked together as he was swept of his feet and crashed onto the floor, stars starting to form in his vision.
"Pathetic…" Jay grunted and he holstered his swords and he leaned down to pick up 'Green eyes' by the collar. 'Green eyes' shook his head and with effort, grabbed Jay by his lapels, planted his feet on Jay's stomach, rocked back and kicked out. Jay was sent flying as he crashed and was sent rolling across the roof. 'Green eyes' rocked onto his feet and spun around to see Jay, slowly getting up. 'Now's my chance…' 'Green eyes' thought as he rushed and lunged forward, the sword point heading straight to Jay's chest. Jay leaned to the side, the blade nicking him by the sleeve and grabbed 'Green Eyes's' wrist. With the other hand, Jay yanked out one of the tiles and swung out. It shattered on impact. 'Green Eyes' cried out and clutched his face in pain, staggering around unsteadily. Jay sensed his advantage, and kicked out at 'Green eyes', his boot connecting with his stomach and sending him toppling out of sight.
Jay sunk onto one knee, watching 'Green Eyes' and gasped in pain. His back was beginning to throb from where he had landed and he looked down to see his sleeve. sliced open and a thin red cut across his forearm. Jay instinctively covered it and gritted his teeth. 'Dammit...I should be way more careful…' Jay chastised himself, 'They're far more skilled than I thought, and that almost cost me… Although...' he allowed a small smile to himself, 'That should be the last I'll be seeing of them…"
Jay unsheathed his swords, twirled them and ran, vaulting himself over the edge and zoomed off, not looking back.
'Green eyes' started to regain his vision as he felt something shake at his collar. He murmured as he shook his head, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He blinked a couple times and his eyes focused to find himself dangling high above the cobblestone floor. His eyes widened in shock as he looked around frantically in panic. He looked up to see 'Buzzcut' suspended by a hook embedded in the wall, his fingers wrapped around his collar.
"Damn it! Answer me ! You OK?!" 'Buzzcut' yelled out.
"I'm fine, dammit!" 'Green eyes' gritted his teeth, "Don't worry about me, we need to focus on the mission, for crying out loud!"
"Yeah but we don't where he is..." 'Buzzcut' grunted as he pulled 'Green Eyes' up onto the roof and then pulled himself up.
'Green eyes' shook his head and unsheathed his blades, "It doesn't matter. He should be heading for the church. So we just got to get there first…"
'And besides...whatever you are…' He thought as he looked down and saw a trail of red droplets leading to the edge, 'You're not invincible…'
Dante was sat down, cross legged on the edge of the roof whistling to himself with a small device on his lap. He was looking over his shoulder and all around him constantly as he tinkered with the device with a small screwdriver in his right hand.
Suddenly, he heard a fluttering sound next to him and he glanced to his side and saw a pigeon land next to him and slowly pace around. His eyebrows creased in annoyance as he kept on whistling but began to wave around frantically with his free hand at the bird.
"Shoo!" He called out in between whistling his tune, "Go! Away! Go! Away!"
The pigeon only cooed as it looked up at him and tilted his head, as if in curiosity at what Dante was doing. Dante grumbled only to hear fluttering sounds to his other side. He looked to the other side and saw two other pigeons land nearby and began to peck at the tiles. Dante whistling began to falter and drew to a stop as he saw the birds and sighed. He slowly got up to his feet and turned his head to the first bird.
"Well played, Mr Pigeon, well played," He tipped his fedora to the bird who had lost interest in Dante and began to absently peck at the tiles, "You've got me outnumbered, but I have another surprise…" he tossed the device down and began to walk off, "In three...two...one…"
The short man landed on the roof next to the Sharpshooter who had his rifle ready, "I'll admit he's one fast son of a bitch. Even I don't know where he is."
"It's not like he could have made it far using the gear. People are bound to notice." the Sharpshooter added in.
"A fair point but most of the people have fled the area and it won't be long before the Military Police show up."
"We'll smoke him out somehow. There's always a way-"
Suddenly the short man and Sharpshooter looked up to see a large pillar of smoke rising from a street a few blocks away.
"Not before he smokes himself out." the short man muttered.
"Great, now he's attacking civilians too...that son of a bitch." the Sharpshooter exclaimed, cocking the hammer on his rifle back.
"Relax like I just said, most of the civilians have already fled this area. I'll go and check it out. You stay here and try not to crap yourself if you see something..." the short man jumped off the roof and shot off towards the smoke. Below him in the shadows of an alleyway stood Dante grinning in success.
"Well can't argue with the Captain can I?" the Sharpshooter sat down on the roof and kept looking around in case he was attacked.
Now's my chance," Dante shot two hooks into the walls above him jumped up into the air with his pistols raised in front of him aimed right at the Sharpshooter's head, he too turning with his rifle raising to aim at Dante. The Sharpshooter suddenly went to the side just as Dante was about to pull the triggers of his pistols, causing him to refrain from doing so. The Sharpshooter brought his rifle back up again but realised Dante had already gotten up close to him. Dante grabbed and the rifle from the barrel and pushed it upwards, the Sharpshooter firing the weapon and the recoil of the gun kicking back into his chest, pushing the Sharpshooter down onto the tiled roof. Dante threw the rifle to the side and took out his pistols...
The short man dropped down onto the roof and looked down at the smoke below, instantly knowing something was odd as he saw all the surrounding buildings unscatched. He jumped down to the street level and covered his mouth with sleeve as he walked deeper into the smoke and found what seemed to be the centre of the blast. Looking down he saw broken fragments of metal with charred marks left on the floor by gunpowder and picked up one of the fragments and looked at it carefully, swiping some of the powder on it and sniffing it slightly. "There's barely any gunpowder in this. The rest of it is...Crap! Why didn't I think about this before," he dropped the fragment onto the ground and ran out of the smoke, jumping back up the rooftops and heading back to where to where he left his subordinate behind...
Dante took out his pistols, "You know I'll give you due credit with your accuracy, it's actually quite good even for my standards but I'm afraid it just wasn't good enough," Dante cocked the hammer back on his pistol and aimed it at the Sharpshooter's head, "I'm sorry for having to do this but in all honesty you did shoot first so it's on your-"
Suddenly Dante heard the sound of wire reeling and his eyes darted to the side as he saw a flash of green speed towards him with the blades drawn. Dante brought his pistols to shield him and felt a strong force impact them as he saw the short man in front of him with his sword dug deep into Dante's pistols. The short man pulled his swords back prying pistols from Dante's hands and sending them flying backwards into the air."Shit," Dante was now unarmed and jumped back again evading the short man's jabs and swings just about until Dante pulled out another pistol from his back and aimed it at the short man. The short man ducked down slightly and tore his cloak off, throwing it in front of him blocking Dante's line of sight when he felt a pair of strong boots connect with his abdomen and send him flying back off the edge of the roof.
'Dammit, I was so close!' Dante thought to himself sullenly as he found himself rushing towards the brick wall.
Dante grunted out in pain as he slammed into the wall. He cried out at he tumbled and his back hit the cobbled floor, pain rushing up his spine as he slid across the floor. He vision blurred as he lifted his head up groggily and pushed his hat up away from his eyes. He shook his head as managed to see a shadow drop down a few metres away from him. In realisation, he scrambled away, reaching out for one of his lost pistols. Suddenly, another green blur landed in front of him and slammed his foot down on the pistol. Dante cursed and looked up to see a short man with pale grey eyes staring down at him with an expression of annoyance on his face. Dante's head perked up and turned as he heard footstep rush towards him. There was another person about his age, the Sharpshooter, aiming his rifle at Dante's head.
"Let's see you try anything else, you cocky little-" the man with the rifle growled but was stopped when the other raised his hand and shook his head. "Captain!? He attacked us!"
"I'm aware of what this idiot did," The short man grumbled as he nudged Dante's shoulder with his boot, pushing the cloak away and revealing the Survey Corps symbol, "...But we don't kill our own...and I'd like to know why he would…"
Al and the Archer releases their arrows at the same time, sending them both whistling through the air as they both headed for their targets, scraping against each other mid air.
The Archer's shoulder thudded against the stone pillar as Al's arrow snagged at her cloak and pinned her to the wall again, the other arrow cutting across Al's arm and clattering loudly on the ground. Al winced slightly but sensing his advantage, he reloaded his bow and pulled at the string. But just before he could fire, 'Black eyes' swung out and snapped the arrow in half. Al cursed and jumped back, quickly getting into his fighting stance
"Oh for goodness…" Al huffed out as he dodged punch after punch, "Can't we just kiss and make up and pretend this never happened? You Archer friend also has that option!"
"A bit late don't you think!?" the Archer shouted out, pulling the arrow out of the wall and scrambling for the bow she had dropped
"Well fair enough then, what about dinner? It's not too late for that. What d'you say?" Al grinned as he put some distance between him and 'Black eyes', his arms spread out in a shrug-like gesture.
Suddenly, there was a whistling sound and Al's eyes widened as he recognised it. Quickly, he lifted his arm up and his fist clenched onto the arrow. Al sighed as he looked at the arrow in his fist, the spearhead centimetres from his nose. With his thumb, he snapped the arrow in half and dropped the pieces onto the ground.
"Actually, maybe we got onto the wrong foot?" He admitted as he smoothed back his hair a slow smile spreading on his face, "Let's put the weapons down and introduce ourselves. Ladies first…" Al gave a mock bow of placation. 'Black eyes' eyes narrowed as she was about to lunge forward but Al snapped his arm forward, sending a hook shooting out of his gauntlet and embedding itself into her gear. Al yanked the chain back suddenly and there was a loud metal screech as the gear was ripped open and 'Black eyes' staggered back shielded her face from the metal shards that had been ripped from the gear.
The Archer quickly ran up to her comrade and aimed at Al, slowly pacing around him as 'Black eyes' recovered from the attack.
"Alright...let's get this over with…" Al slammed his gauntlets together and brought his arms up, his eyes darting between both of his opponents.
'Come on, Jay! Dante!' Al thought in worry, 'I don't think I can buy much more time for you to get here…'
"We have to get to that church! That's where he would be heading!" Buzzcut yelled out as they sped towards the building.
'Green eyes' nodded but lowered his head, 'Just what the hell are we dealing with? All we know is that we got some information out of nowhere about some of the First Interior Squad planning to increase their numbers. But that doesn't explain how he was there. He used the regular gear almost flawlessly. It doesn't make sense!'
"Hey! Do you think that-!" 'Green eyes' looked up but stopped, his mouth hanging open as he saw Jay barrelling into 'Buzzcut', one hand grabbing his lapel and the other clutching at a sword. Before 'Green eyes' could scream out, Jay swung out, slicing 'Buzzcut's' harness and destroying his gear, a sharp metallic sound piercing the air.
"Surprise!…" Jay growled out savagely as he kicked off, sending 'Buzzcut' tumbling down charging towards 'Green eyes', swinging out. 'Green eyes' quickly snapped out of his trance and curled into a tight ball, the sword missing him by inches. He uncurled and looked around wildly for any sight of Jay who had completely disappeared. He quickly averted his sight to his comrade who had crashed into the roof of the church. Instantly, he changed his direction and sped over, landing next to him, holstering his swords.
"Oh God! You OK!? Tell me you're OK!?" 'Green eyes' blurted out, checking his friend.
'Buzzcut' looked up at his friend, squinting and clearly dazed but waved towards the bell tower, "Be careful… I saw him go to the bell tower..."
But at that point, 'Green Eyes' had already turned on his heels and sprinted off to the bell tower, his teeth clenched and his fists gripping at the sword handles as his knuckles turned white.
'That's it! This has gone far enough!" He thought savagely as he fired a hook into the wall and reeled himself up to the bell tower. He looked around angrily, his eyes scanning the top of the bell tower.
"WHERE ARE YOU!?" He screamed out, scanning the horizon, "COME OUT AND FACE ME, YOU SICK COWARD!"
'Green eyes' looked around. There was no sign of him
"I SAID! COME OUT AND FACE ME!" He screamed out.
…
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
'Green eyes' whirled around, to see Jay swing down. Before 'Green eyes' could even react, Jay swung towards him and barrelled into his chest, winding 'Green eyes' and causing him to drop his swords as they both spiralled from the bell tower. 'Buzzcut' slowly got up onto to see the two of them crash into him, sending all three of them tumbling over the edge.
Jay quickly shook his head as he regained focus and fired a hook into the church wall above the glass stained window. He reached out and snagged both of their collars before all three of them were yanked backwards towards the window.
The glass splintered and shattered as three bodies came crashing through, causing Al and his opponent to dive away, shielding their heads from the coloured shards raining down. Al looked back over his shoulder to see Jay crash down, sending one sprawling onto the altar and the other tumbling onto onto the glass covered floor. Jay pushed himself up onto his feet and growled as he swung his blades, barely missing 'buzz cut' as he rolled off the altar just in time. Jay quickly dashed over to Al and turned around, adjusting his grip on his swords and facing his two opponents, who were already getting up and began to circle him. Al brought his arms up as his gaze switched from both 'Black eyes' and the Archer.
"Where the hell were you!?" Al called out, not taking his eyes off his opponents.
"If it wasn't apparent, we had company!" Jay growled, twirling his swords, "Anyway, where's Dante, he should be here…" He faltered as out of the corner of his eye, he saw who Al was up against and let out a low groan, "...Seriously?"
Al paused and then looked at his opponents closely before shrugging, "What? I didn't have much time… Besides why not enjoy it while it lasts?" He added finally with a smirk, "That's besides the point, It's 4 against 2... Just like old times, huh?" Al grunted in amusement as he clenched his fists.
"...They should have brought more…" Jay stated cooly as he lowered his head and was about to charge forward, his grip tightening on his blades.
"Everyone lower your weapons! You idiots with the mask and gauntlets as well…" A loud voice rang out. Everyone's heads turned to the person's voice who was a short man with a pale grey gaze.
"Captain Levi, but they're…." The boy with green eyes exclaimed in protest.
"You heard what I said, Eren. Now do it!" Levi ordered in annoyance. Both Jay and Al glanced at each other in mild surprise as both lowered their weapons, glancing at each of their opponents warily and then to Dante who had followed Levi and Jean in.
"Yeah, um, everyone, drop your weapons, like the Captain said...we're all friends here, all fellow Survey Corp members so...um...no need to panic…" Dante added with a wide smile, causing Levi to fix him with an annoyed scowl.
"W-What the hell do you mean Survey Corps?" Connie exploded in outrage, "They're the ones who attacked us!"
"Let's not lose our head right now shall we?," Levi called out calmly, "Yes these three attacked us but they didn't know we were Survey Corps as well. The same goes for us. Now I'm ordering all of you... to stand down..."
"But Captain, you seriously can't believe them. It could be a disguise" Eren walked up to Levi and muttered, expressing his uncertainty about the three people who moments ago had tried to kill them all.
"Actually, they're not..." said a calm voice from the entrance. Erwin stood there, smiling as he walked in, followed by Armin "I needed to get you two groups together,"
Commander Erwin , Sir!" everyone said in unison.
"At ease, soldiers" Erwin waved dismissively, "Golden Spear Company, I'm sure you heard of Levi's squad from the Survey Corps, I assume. I'm afraid that I can't say the same for you, these three are also Survey Corps but are in a faction which officially...doesn't exist."
"I'm sorry sir but what's the point of all this," Jean asked, "What's the point of getting us together here like this,"
"Unfortunately I don't have the time to explain the full story but the fact is that the situation has become critical indeed. So this is why Levi's squad will be gaining three new temporary members."
"This is outrageous," Jean stated, clearly annoyed.
"With all due respect,sir..." Jay remarked, annoyance apparent in his voice "It doesn't help putting the most secretive faction in the military together with today's front page news!"
Eren briskly walked up to Armin and spoke in a hushed tone, "Armin, you knew about this?"
Armin shook his head, " I'm just as lost as you are. The Commander just told me to accompany him to discuss plans involving the squad. B-But nothing like this…"
"Impractical but necessary…" Erwin continued, "Your new objective is to protect humanity's most valuable asset, Eren Yeager..."
"Sir, I'm sure that we have that...other thing...we were tasked to do…" Jay muttered out loud, glancing at Levi squad and picking his words carefully
"Yes I am aware of your current objective and that is still a high level priority," Erwin looked at the members of Squad Levi,"but I'll leave it to you to find out".
Suddenly Dante looked up as he rushed over to a spot on the floor.
"Uh, guys, sorry to interrupt but...I think someone was here before us..." he said getting everyone to look at him, "There are traces of gunpowder here," he picked a bit up and tasted it. His face visibly recoiled in disgust as he made a gagging sound and wiped his hand down his shirt "But it's not your everyday gunpowder, no this thing is only used by our...mutual friends..."
"But what kind of gunpowder?," Armin said nervously.
"The kind that requires a small amount to bring down a small house...And the trail leads to the organ..." Dante noted as he, Connie and Al went over to push it past. Levi grumbled to himself and walked past towards Erwin and asked, "Are we sure we can trust them? We were at each other's throats minutes ago and now we're a squad?" Erwin paused then said, "You don't have much of a choice now..."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Dante breathed out, horrified.
"Explosives!" Al yelled out
"Everyone, move!" Jay barked as they all sprinted out of the open doors. As soon as the last one left, The church exploded, sending debris crashing over their heads and thick, black dust swirling around the area. They all dived forward, covering their heads as the dust enveloped them all and the debris rained down on them.
AN
Hello again :)
You wouldn't believe how hard it was to try and structure these fights to bring out the best in the GSC. But hey, it's done! To clear things up, this is an ongoing thing and the plan was to try to release each chapter on a weekly basis. So you can usually expect to find a new chapter every week but it will be at any time near the end of the week.
We really hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took quite a while to complete. Any feedback is more than welcome and follows keep us going.
Stay tuned for the next chapter. It's going to get a little… crazy...