-B-
"EVERYONE! COVER YOUR EARS, NOW!" Levi called to them.
Everyone did as instructed as Levi held a flair gun above his head and fired it. And the noise that erupted from it was deafening.
It was so loud that Bemular recoiled in shock as they felt their ears being muffled by devices in their helmet.
"W-what was that?!" They sputtered. "Th-that was able to activate my sound suppressors!"
"Sound suppressors?" Reiner asked into his communicator. "You telling me you have ear muffs in your helmet?"
"My species has very sensitive hearing," Bemular explained. "It allows us to hear clearly from incredible distances but also makes us especially susceptible to sudden loud noises."
"Gotcha…" Reiner said ominously.
"Reiner, if you're looking for things you can hold over my head, it's pointless," Bemular said. "Need I remind you, I can kill you very easily, in or out of your titan. Our alliance is purely built on your usefulness to me as a Reionic. However, should you defy me, you are entirely expendable. Remember that."
-E-
As Bemular and Reiner bickered, the squad did a bit of their own bickering.
"Remind me, what is our mission? Is it to simply act on our own impulses in the heat of the moment?" Levi asked, before answering his own question. "No, this squad's mission is to keep this brat alive no matter the cost," he said in reference to Eren. "Don't forget it. We keep moving forwards on horseback. Is that clear?"
"As a bell, sir!" Petra replied.
Immediately, the Levi squad's mood shifted from one of panic and confusion to unwavering loyalty. They followed Levi's orders without question. The other four in the group though…
"But for how long?!" Eren asked. "We can't keep running forever! They're right ontop of us! If we don't do something soon-"
Eren was interrupted when they heard the sounds of more reinforcements coming.
"No! They keep coming!" Eren cried. "They're all gonna die if we don't warn them!"
"TURN BACK!" Armin called. "IT'S HOPELESS! SAVE YOURSELVES!"
"EYES FRONT! STOP LOOKING BACK!" Gunther screamed.
"SERIOUSLY!?" Eren cried.
"KEEP PACE WITH THE GROUP! ALL OF YOU! MAINTAIN PACE WITH THE GROUP OR WE'RE ALL DEAD!" Eld shouted.
Eren begged for them to do something, anything to help those men, but he was met with negative responses each time, the Levi squad only growing more and more with his pleas. Eventually, Armin screamed as he watched Bemular tear one of the reinforcements to pieces after growing bored toying with him.
"COME ON! THERE'S STILL ONE LEFT! WE CAN STILL SAVE THEM!" Eren pleaded.
"DO AS YOU'RE TOLD EREN! EYES FORWARDS!" Petra yelled in reply.
Eren, furious, bellowed back, "HOW CAN ALL OF YOU JUST IGNORE WHAT'S HAPPENING BACK THERE!? DO YOU EXPECT ME TO ABANDON MY COMRADES!?"
"DAMN IT, YES!" Petra screamed. "STOP WHINING AND DO AS YOU'RE TOLD!"
Jean was just as fed up with the Levi Squad's callous disregard for their fellow soldiers as Eren was, and turned to Annie.
"Annie, can you transform into a Titan again!?" Jean asked.
"INTO A WHAT!?" Oruo shouted.
"Turning into the Female Titan right now would be useless!" Annie replied. "If I transformed now after already doing so twice in rapid succession, my titan body would be too weak to fight, and I'd probably wind up unconscious at best!"
"SERIOUSLY!? Why do you and Jaeger's powers have such stupid downsides!?" Jean snarled.
"Don't ask me! I didn't make the rules!"
After getting over the shock of finding out Annie apparently also had the ability to transform into a Titan, Eren realized that he could stop those two all by himself. He was an army all by himself. No, he was better than an army. He was Ultraman. He. Was. Invinci-
"NO EREN! STOP!" Petra screamed.
Eren had pulled out his cylinder when Petra screamed for him to stop.
"YOU'RE ONLY PERMITTED TO ASSUME TITAN FORM WHEN YOUR LIFE IS IN EXTREME PERIL! THAT WAS THE DEAL!" Petra cried out.
"AND YOU THINK THIS DOESN'T COUNT AS THAT, YOU STUPID BITCH!?" Jean screamed in response.
"HEY! YOU WATCH YOUR DAMN MOUTH GREEN HORN!" Oruo snapped back.
"OH YEAH!? AND WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT!? KILL ME INSTEAD OF THE TWO GUYS TRYING TO KILL US!?" Jean then looked back at Eren. "DO IT, JAEGER! AND MAKE SURE YOU KILL THE SON OF A BITCH FOR REAL THIS TIME!" "NO! DON'T DO IT!" Petra begged.
-B-
However, that was all Bemular needed to hear. After hanging the last soldier with his own wires, Bemular let out a low chuckle, before speeding towards the horse riders. They soared over the heads of everyone, before sinking their claws into the back of Petra Rall. Petra coughed up blood as Bemular dragged her off of her horse. They then floated in front of the squad, everyone petrified, wondering what the sadistic alien was going to do. And then, Bemular's claws began to glow.
Petra howled in absolute agony for a split second as Bemular's energy flowed into her. It was only for a split second because, after that moment, the shock delivered from her spine straight to her brain made her unable to vocalize at all. Foam poured out of her mouth as Bemular's energy surged through her body, wreaking havoc on every molecule in her body until she finally exploded into a red shower, bathing everyone who was there to watch in her blood.
'Do you feel like you're in danger yet, Ultraman?' Bemular asked in their mind. After seeing no transformation, Bemular took that as a no. 'Oh well, I suppose I'll have to keep trying draw you out.'
Oruo was next to die. Bemular's claws pierced the babbling Scout's heart, and delivered a shock straight to it, prompting immediate cardiac arrest. Bemular flew up into the air and threw him up high just as he exploded.
Bemular then feigned going for Jean, prompting him to hold up his blades defensively, but instead went for Eld's horse to throw everyone off. Bemular flipped the horse over and began shocking it with trapped Eld beneath it. But Bemular didn't just pump in enough energy to blow up the horse. They pumped in so much energy that the horse glowed bright red, and exploded in a ball of fire, killing Eld along with it.
Bemular wiped some soot off his armor and then flew right into Gunther, piercing his back just like they did with Petra, then landing on Reiner's shoulder and blowing the poor man to smithereens, showering everyone in blood again.
-E-
And this was the moment where Eren snapped.
He didn't care anymore what happened to him after this point. He didn't care if Levi didn't give him permission. He didn't care if Petra's last request was for him to follow orders. This thing was pure evil. It needed to die. And he was the only one who could kill it.
Eren pressed the button on the cylinder, and then, in the blink of an eye, Reiner and Bemular were stomped on by Ultraman. And then they were stomped on again. And again. And again. And again. Eren kept stomping on them to make sure that they would die and stay dead this time. But then, he felt something pushing back against his foot. And whatever it was, it was growing. Eren started floating to get out of the way of it but was then grabbed by both of his legs and swung around, before being thrown off the path and into a pile of downed trees.
Eren shook it off before looking up. His eyes widened as he saw that Bemular had grown to the same height they were, and their strength seemed to be comparable as well. Eren tried to throw a punch, but Bemular easily blocked it, before turning and throwing Eren again. As Eren stumbled to his knees, Bemular stabbed him in the back with his claws and began shooting energy into him, causing Eren to yell out in pain.
-A-
Armin and Jean stopped upon seeing the fight start, both of them terrified as they watched Eren being hit with the same attack that already killed the entire Levi squad. However, miraculously, Eren was able to stand up, pull Bemular's claw out of his back, and then elbow him in the face, all the energy dispersing. Jean and Armin sighed in relief as Eren kept fighting Bemular, but their smiles faded as Bemular channeled that same devastating power not into their claws, but their fist, punching Eren in the face with enough power to send him flying, crashing through tree after tree in the process.
As Bemular chased after Eren, Annie noticed Reiner running off and pointed to him. "Reiner's trying to make an escape!" Annie noted. "We can't let him get away!"
Suddenly, the trio saw a gust of smoke blow over their heads as Levi came speeding through the air like a bullet. Following his lead, Jean, Armin, and Annie used their ODM gear to follow him. Levi was able to carve through Reiner's ankles and the backs of his knees, while Armin, Annie, and Jean took out the rest of his weak spots until eventually, Reiner collapsed to the ground, his body now useless. All of them gathered around Reiner's armored nape, their blades aimed at it.
"He's in there?" Levi asked.
Annie nodded. Levi proceeded to knock on the armored plating with his foot.
"Hey! Come on out! You're not getting away any time soon, so why don't you make this easier for yourself and give yourself up?" Levi called. "Because the way I see it, you have two options: you can either come out and make your death quick and painless, or we can have Titan girl here bash at the back of your neck until it caves in."
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Reiner decided he would make a third option. He shifted only his arm around in the nape until he was able to grab a hold of his Battlenizer. He then quickly and violently shoved that hand out and activated it.
"Monstermon card synchronizing," a voice that came out of it said. "Releasing monster: Telesdon."
-E-
Eren and Bemular's fists clashed as they traded a barrage of punches, each hit being blocked by that of the other giant fighter. Eventually, Eren threw Bemular off with a roundhouse kick to the side which dropped them to their knees. However, Bemular then punched Eren in the gut, winding him and allowing them to get back on their feet and begin delivering a flurry of punches to Eren's face, each hit giving off the sound of a cannon shot.
Eventually, Eren was able to grab one of these punches and twist Bemular's arm before headbutting them. As Bemular stumbled backwards, Eren lifted one of the giant trees out of the ground and smacked his enemy with it like a baseball bat. The tree trunk broke and splintered against Bemular, why proceeded to tackle Eren while flying forwards.
Eren managed to wrestle Bemular off of him, and the two entered a standoff. However, the standoff was broken when they heard a loud, high pitched roar a good distance away. Back on the path through the forest in fact. And then he heard footsteps rapidly approaching him. Eren braced himself for impact, until suddenly, he was attacked by a gigantic creature. It looked like a hyper-evolved earthworm, with arms, legs, eyes, and a mouth with a bright red tongue, and razor-sharp teeth. The beast barreled into him while roaring and bit Eren's shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain.
-M-
"Ah- That's Eren!" Mikasa exclaimed.
Sasha, who was terrified of the noises she was hearing, tried to convince Mikasa to stay, but it was no use, as Mikasa flew into the forest using her ODM gear, blades drawn, ready to assist Eren however he needed her to.
-A-
Reiner charged forwards, fleeing from the scene he had escaped from, leaving the Scouts buried under rubble. Eventually, Annie rose from beneath a pile of rubble in a gaunt, boney, nine-meter variant of her titan form. She carried the other Scouts out in her arms, and as they landed on the ground, Annie toppled over, steam billowing off of her titan. Armin landed behind her and gasped as he saw Annie's body dangling out of Titan's nape. He sheathed his blades and ran up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist before pulling her out with all his might. The Titan tendons clung to Annie's face, arms, and legs, trying to hold her in place, but Armin was determined. And eventually, he managed to pull her free.
The two fell backward, Annie landing in Armin's lap as he took a moment to catch his breath. He then looked down at Annie to see if she was okay, and promptly screamed in shock and horror upon seeing that her face was seemingly burned off. Her eyes, eyelids, nose, and lips were missing, her cheeks were puckered inwards, her tongue dangled lazily out of her mouth, and her skin was sagging as steam billowed off her face. The only way Armin could tell that Annie was even still alive was because she let out a barely audible groan of pain, and he could still feel her breathing.
Jean and Levi landed next to Armin and watched as he clutched Annie close to him while sobbing and begging her to survive. Jean took a look at Annie's face and cringed. He could feel goosebumps running up his arms and legs as he witnessed the ghoulish state overexerting herself left Annie in.
"Jesus…" he said. It was all he was able to bring himself to say.
Levi crouched down and observed Annie's face. He was able to look past how creepy she looked, and noticed something happening that made his eyebrows perk up.
"She's regenerating," he said.
Armin gasped in surprise and relief.
"You sure about that?" Jean asked.
Levi nodded and pointed to her face. "The muscle tissue is regrowing, along with the skin, and whatever else she lost during the transformation. She'll live, but she's in no condition to fight." Levi sighed. "Damn it…"
"'Damn it?'" Jean repeated.
"After seeing that what you two were talking about was true, I was hoping we could use her power to capture Reiner. Looks like that's not an option anymore," he said.
Jean nodded in solidarity, while Armin slowly calmed down, but still held onto Annie protectively. As they sat there, pondering what they should, or even can do next, they suddenly heard the galloping of horses coming towards them. They turned around and saw Erwin riding on a white horse. To his flanks were an ecstatic Hange, and a bewildered Mike.
"Commander Erwin!" Jean called out.
Erwin, Hange, and Mike stooped before them. They all climbed off and Hange immediately ran up to examin Annie's slowly evaporating Titan body. Levi climbed down so he could talk to Erwin eye to eye.
"Levi, report," Erwin requested. "What happened here? We heard Eren transforming, and then several strange noises followed."
"The plan went up in smoke," Levi stated. "We severely underestimated our enemy. To make matters worse, it turns out Reiner has a new toy that lets him summon monsters as big as Eren."
Hange gasped upon hearing this and shook Levi by the shoulders. "MONSTERS!? As in, creatures other than Titans?! There are more giant creatures besides Titans and Ultraman?! What did it look like?! How tall was it?! What are its abilities?! Will it let me pet it?! TELL ME EVERYTHING!"
Levi shoved Hange off of him before continuing to catch Erwin up on the situation, including explaining that they have a Titan shifter on their side. As they discussed everything that happened, with Jean joining in to give everything he knew, Armin carefully laid Annie down in his lap, and began to actually start formulating some questions in his head.
'Annie, who are you really?' Armin pondered. 'I thought I knew after our years of training together, but now I'm not so sure. If you really are on the side of humanity, then why have you been hiding this from us? Who are Reiner and Bertholdt to you? And why were you really in that closet?'
-E-
Eren stumbled out of the forest and into a clearing, crushing several Titans beneath him in the process. Eren tried to regain his bearings, only for Telesdon to suddenly burst out of the ground and slash him with his sharpened snout. He got back on his feet and got into a fighting position as Telesdon roared at him and Bemular floated down next to Telesdon. Eren's eyes darted between the two, waiting for one of them to make a move.
Eren then tensed up as he saw Bemular's claws glow red, but was caught off guard when he was hit with a beam of flames blasted from Telesdon's mouth. Eren blocked it with his crossed arms, but then Bemular opened their face plates and opened their mouth wide. A blue energy beam erupted from Bemular's mouth, and the two combined beams pushed Eren backward. Eren gritted his teeth as searing pain shot through his body, but then realized too late that Telesdon had stopped firing his beam and closed the distance.
Eren was knocked off his feet once again by Telesdon smacking him in the stomach with his tail. The earthworm kaiju then mounted the silver giant and began mauling him with his claws and pecking him with his snout, before Bemular swooped in and stabbed Eren in the stomach while unloading energy into him.
Eren flew up into the sky and forcefully ripped Bemular's claws out of his stomach, before punching them right in the jaw. Eren and Bemular traded a few blows, with Bemular holding an advantage thanks to his tail and the spikes lining their armor, however Eren was quite tenacious, and was able to turn one of Bemular's strengths into a weakness by grabbing their tail and swinging them around before tossing them, then following it up with several punches and kicks.
Back on the ground, Telesdon growled and grumbled, unsure of what do do now, until the Armored Titan arrived. Within the Armored Titan, Reiner called out to Telesdon.
"Telesdon!" Reiner called. "Fire your Lava Heat Ray at Eren!"
-M-
Telesdon nodded and charged up his beam attack. However, before he could fire, an insanely fast-moving Scout suddenly swooped by his right eye and cut it with her blades. It was Mikasa, who followed the sounds of the battle right to the clearing and was able to assist Eren just in time. Mikasa proceeded to cut out Telesdon's other eye, causing him to wail and scream and hop in place, fanning his bleeding eyes with his hands.
Telesdon's tantrum ended up causing Mikasa to fall off. She saved herself just in the nick of time, but with nothing around that she could latch onto, Mikasa tumbled in the grass, damaging her ODM gear and leaving a deep cut across her cheek.
Bemular looked down and noticed Mikasa, so they mouth beamed Eren point blank, sending him crashing to the ground, before landing right behind the raven-haired girl, who turned around and saw the towering, armored alien looking down upon her with a malicious grin on their face.
Mikasa slowly stood up and spat out some blood. There wasn't much she could do now, but even then, she still stood against Bemular, remembering Eren's words back when they were young.
"Fight! Fight! Kill or be killed! It's the only way to live!"
'I know Eren,' she thought. 'That's why I'll never give up. Even if I don't have a chance at victory, I'll never give up! Because if I do, everything you've done for me, will have all been for nothing!'
Mikasa roared as Bemular's mouth beam erupted from his mouth. However, it didn't end up hitting her. In less than a fraction of a second, Eren suddenly appeared kneeling in front of her, his teeth and fists clenched and his eyes bulging out of his head as Bemular's beam blasted his back. Eventually, the light on Eren's chest began beeping and flashing red, but Eren didn't turn back even for a second. Mikasa almost teared up as she watched Eren push his body to its absolute limits just to protect her from Bemular's wrath.
-B-
Eventually, Bemular's beam stopped, and they clutched their sides and winced. Bemular cursed their body's limitations. They could feel that they'd have to turn back to their normal size soon, but they were so close! If they could just sustain their giant form for a little longer they could…
But then, they saw Ultraman rise to his feet. Slowly, smoke still billowing off of his back, Ultraman turned around. Plastered on his face was a look of incomprehensible fury and hatred, all of it directed right at them.
"You…" Ultraman snarled furiously. "I don't know who the hell you are, but I know for a fact that in all my life, never once have I hated anything more than I absolutely despise you!"
Ultraman turned around slowly, his hand shaking with rage. Bemular took a step back, the pain of maintaining their giant form being drowned out by the fear coursing through their body.
"You derive some sick pleasure from murder, and thrive in fear and pan! All that alone makes me want to puke!"
Bemular's eyes widened as blue energy coalesced into Ultraman's hand.
"But nobody… NOBODY! HURTS! MIKASA!"
A blue buzzsaw of energy suddenly formed in Ultraman's hand, and he threw it right at Bemular. The saw cleaved right through their shoulder and their left arm fell off. Bemular clutched their wound as green blood sprayed out of it. They tried to attack Ultraman, but Eren used another blue buzzsaw to cut off Bemular's tail, their armor useless against Ultraman's might.
"GYAAAAAAAHHHH!" Bemular screamed. "REINER! WE NEED TO GO, NOW!"
-R-
"TELESDON! PROTECT BEMULAR AT ALL COSTS!"
Telesdon heeded Reiner's orders and followed Bemular's Agonized screams until it reached Eren and attacked him. Reiner then charged towards Bemular as they shrank down and scooped them up before fleeing into the distance.
"This… isn't… over… Ultraman…" Bemular sputtered.
-E-
Telesdon blindly fired his Lava Heat Ray at Eren, which he easily dodged, before wrapping his arms around Telesdon's neck. Commander Erwin and his group arrived to see Eren beating on Telesdon's head. The Scouts in the trees, the leaders, and Mikasa down on the ground all watched in awe as Eren swung Telesdon around and threw him into the air. Eren then summoned one final Ultra-Slash, and threw it right at Telesdon, slicing him in half from snout to tail.
The Scouts cheered for Eren after once again saving them from certain death, but Eren wasn't satisfied. He wanted to chase Reiner and Bemular down. He wanted to finish what he started. But he could feel deep within his soul that if he didn't change back at that very second, he would die. Eren's fists shook. But he heeded his timer's warning and transformed back to his human form.
Once he was human again, Eren gave no cheers of victory, or accomplished sighs. Instead, he fell to his knees and let out a frustrated cry, damning Reiner's name. He would have damned the name of Bemular, but sadly, he never learned their name, which only made him even angrier, as he couldn't even damn their name properly.
Eren's enraged screams came to an abrupt halt however when Mikasa placed a hand on Eren's shoulder and spoke softly to him. "It's okay, Eren. You won today's battle. We'll get them next time."
Eren felt tears of hatred well up in his eyes as Mikasa knelt beside him. "How many…" Eren gasped. "How many more people need to die before we do? How many more lives do they need to take before we win?"
Mikasa looked downtrodden as tears streamed down Eren's cheeks.
"As many as necessary," a man said.
Mikasa and Eren turned around and saw Erwin riding up to them. "Whoever, or whatever that entity was, we will hunt them down, and we will slaughter them. However, the road to victory will inevitably be paved with the bodies of our fallen comrades. If what Levi and Jean Kirstein told me about his tactics is true, we are dealing with an enemy who is not just powerful, but extremely cunning. That's a frightening combination to be sure. But this battle was not in vain, as it showed that even when we were at such a disadvantage, knowing so little about our enemy, even then we were able to force them to retreat. But now, not only do we know what our enemy is capable of, we have also discovered that you haven't even scratched the surface of what you are capable of."
Eren remembered the Ultra-Slashes he did. In the heat of the moment, he didn't even notice it, but now that he did the technique, he remembers exactly how to do it.
"The day is far from lost. The information we've gathered today has brought us one giant leap closer to victory."
Eren's eyes sparkled with a reinvigorated determination. Soon, Levi rode up to Erwin's side.
"Commander! We've managed to clear out all of the Titans bordering the forest. The recruits are ready for your orders now," Levi reported.
"Understood," Erwin said. He then fired off a yellow flair, followed by a blue flair. This combination of smoke signals signaled to the Scouts that their mission was called off, and that they were to head back to the safe zone. With that, Erwin and Levi rode off. "Eren, Armin Arlert and Jean Kirstein will be arriving shortly with horses for you and Mikasa," Erwin said before leaving his hearing distance.
As Eren watched them ride off, he suddenly gasped as he felt Mikasa grasp his hand.
"Are you alright?" Mikasa asked.
Eren sighed and lowered his head. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."
"All I've been able to do since Trost is worry about you!" Mikasa's voice cracked. "I know you're strong, but so many times throughout that fight, you looked like you were about to die." Tears crept across Mikasa's cheeks. "I can't go through that again! You mean everything to me! I… I… I don't want to lose you again, Eren!"
Mikasa gasped softly as Eren embraced her. She then began weeping softly and embraced him in kind. Armin and Jean soon arrived but decided against interrupting them for the time being. Or rather, Armin prevented Jean from interrupting them so as to not ruin their moment.
-S-
As the Scouts climbed onto their horses to rendezvous with Erwin at the safe zone, Sasha's nostrils flared up as she caught a whiff of a strong but pleasant aroma coming from the area they were in. Sasha broke from her group and followed her nose to the source of the aroma. Connie, curious as to where Sasha was going, followed her towards her destination…
Which turned out to be the body of Telesdon.
Specifically, between the two halves of Telesdon, Sasha found that Eren's attack managed to seemingly cook the meat inside of the kaiju, not quite burning it though. Her mouth watered and her stomach growled as she approached the meat, kneeling down before some of the muscle tissue.
'It wouldn't hurt to have just a little taste… right?' Sasha thought.
She pursed her lips, opened her mouth wide, and sank her teeth into the kaiju meat. Connie nearly vomited upon seeing Sasha pull out a chunk of the meat with her teeth and began chewing it up.
"JESUS, SASHA, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Connie screamed in disgust.
Sasha's eyes widened and a single tear rolled down her cheek as she kept chewing and chewing. She felt as though she was in heaven. It was so juicy, and rich, and smokey. It was the best meat she's ever had in her life. So delicious, she was almost disappointed when the chewing was over and she had to finally swallow the mouthful.
"IT'S THE MOST DELICIOUS THING I'VE EVER TASTED!" Sasha sobbed. "THIS WORLD IS SO CRUEL FOR HIDING THIS CULINARY MASTERPIECE FROM ME FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE!"
"YOU'RE INSANE FOR EVEN TRYING THAT!" Connie yelled at her.
"CONNIE, PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS!"
"AH AH, NO WAY! I AM NOT PUTTING MONSTER MEAT IN MY MOUTH!"
Two minutes later…
"MHY MOUFF FEELSH LIKE IT'SH IN NERHVAHNAH RHIGHT NHOW!" Connie cried, his mouth full of Telesdon's meat.
As Sasha and Connie sobbed and continued to feast upon the fallen kaiju, Hange observed their reactions from atop the body of Telesdon with great intrigue.
"Fascinating," She said. "So not only is this monster edible, but it's apparently delicious? Truly incredible! And with the sheer amount of it that is available, we'd be able to feed the walls for weeks with just this one monster!"
-A-
Annie slowly awoke in a wagon. Her face had fully healed and she felt reinvigorated. She reached up and stared at her hand, to make sure her vision had fully returned. Sure enough, it had, however, she still found it oddly difficult to breathe. It was only then that she noticed her head was mostly wrapped in bandages. Seeing as her face was fully healed, she ripped most of them off, then sat up and looked around her. She saw in the cart next to her that Armin and Jean were loading dead bodies wrapped in cloth into a wagon so they could receive a proper burial back behind the inner walls. As Annie saw this, she looked down, feeling a deep sense of guilt.
'I could have done this,' she thought. 'I could have been the reason Armin had to bury his friends. No, I am the reason Armin has to bury his friends. If I wasn't so obsessed with returning to my "father," none of them would be here. I should have insisted we go home. Bertholdt would have been too spineless to argue against it, and I could have beaten Reiner into submission easily. But I didn't, because I'm selfish. That's all I am. A selfish, homicidal monster.'
"I'm sorry, Armin," Annie whispered.
Armin looked up as he noticed Annie was up again and he smiled, relieved that his friend was okay.
-R-
Reiner's titan slowed to a crawl as they passed the gates of Shingonshina into the outer island. Reiner emerged from his Titan panting like a dog, while Bemular stumbled off and looked down at their arm and tail. The flesh, bone, and ligaments were slowly growing back, but they weren't fully regenerated. As such, they couldn't reapply their armor fully to either limb. Reiner, looking down at Bemular's regenerating limbs, saw that they bore skin like that of an amphibian, with foldable porcupine needles along their skin. The same was true of their tail.
"You didn't tell me he figured out how to use his Specium powers!" Bemular growled.
"I didn't know he had those powers!" Reiner insisted, his hands raised defensively. "If I did, I would have mentioned it to you when you asked me about his powers."
Bemular snarled and pounded their fist on the ground. "Damn it all! And to make matters worse, now you need a new kaiju to control!"
"Are there any more?" Reiner asked.
Bemular sighed in annoyance. "I suppose we could just get another Telesdon from the quarry, but if he's already figured out how to use the Ultra-Slash, throwing Telesdons at him until he keels over would be a quick way to wipe out the Telesdon population on this island. We'll need something more powerful if we want to defeat him."
"Well, if there are more Telesdons in that quarry, logically, there should be other monsters that they feed on," Reiner suggested. "Or, given that they haven't taken over the island yet, a monster that feeds on them."
Bemular's eyes widened beneath their helmet and they let out a wicked chuckle. "It seems I made the right choice, picking you as my minion."
Surprise! I finally figured out how to add horizontal lines to my chapters! So now hopefully future chapters will be easier on the eyes for all of you.