"Hold on," Frank whispered. "You're gonna be fine."
Sure, he and Leo had their disagreements, but the son of Hephaestus didn't deserve to have half of his leg bitten off.
While everyone had been heading for HQ, a couple titans got their grimy hands on a few soldiers who had run out of gas. One of them being someone Leo enjoyed talking to, so he charged in there and sliced that titan up, only to be chomped on by another. The rest of the demigods charged into action and finished the titans of quickly, but Leo fell to the ground, bleeding out and only half-conscious. No one had any medical supplies, so Nico offered to take his jacket off so they could at least slow the blood flow, but it did next to nothing. Desperate to get somewhere that they could properly stabilize Leo, the demigods took off with a new ferocity, shooting through the air is though they were fired from a gun.
"We're almost there!" Marco shouted happily. "We're gonna make it!"
Good, Frank thought. Leo may die, he's lost so much blood.
He fired another wire and put out as little gas as he could to help him shoot forward. This would be much easier if he just transformed into a large eagle or hawk and simply carried Leo, but Annabeth advised them to only use their powers if absolutely necessary. Armin already saw Nico raise the dead, and Jason would probably end up flying soon enough, people would get suspicious to say the least. And then what?
Leo groaned and shifted in Frank's arms. His cheeks shone with the residue of tears, and blood dripped slowly from his stump of a leg.
This is horrible. Frank thought grimly. If he can get hurt like this so easily, is there really any hope for us now?
"How's he doing?" Piper called, glancing over her shoulder.
"I-I-I don't know." Frank stuttered. "The bleeding has slowed down I guess."
Piper nodded, and Frank could clearly see the intense worry on her face. She's known Leo the longest, of course she's worried sick.
Frank stumbled on the roof, his foot catching on a loose plank. He barely managed to keep Leo from falling out of his arms and tumbling to the ground below, but Frank however, did fall.
"Frank!" Hazel screamed. She landed on the roof next to him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He grunted. "I just tripped. Leo's good too."
"Alright, if you say so." She turned to look at HQ. "It should only be a one or two more wires until we're there. Let's go."
She fired a cord, and went zooming through the air.
Frank sighed and stumbled to his feet. This would be so much easier in bird form.
Jean had already busted through the glass windows of the huge stone building, Marco and Annabeth close behind him.
Frank grit his teeth and fired the final wire. He went rocketing towards the window, and he made sure to cover Leo's head as he bust through the glass. It sliced his cheek and jacket, but other than that, he and Leo were unharmed. Somehow he managed to land on his feet, and he caught sight of the supply depot.
Their eyes were wide and terrified. One girl had blood splattered on her face and uniform.
"Hold on a sec." Jean said, staring at the people huddled under the desks. "You guys were the supply team?"
"...yeah…" A dark haired man said faintly. Jean seized the front of his shirt and yanked him out from under the desk roughly. Frank got one glance at the rage on his face before Jean punched the man in the face, sending him back to the ground.
"Jean! Stop!" Marco exclaimed. He locked his elbows under Jean's armpits and held him back while the boy thrashed in rage.
"You cowards!" He snarled. "You left us out there on our own! People are dead because you didn't have the guts to do your job!"
The blood splattered girl rushed to the fallen man and glanced up at Jean. "The titans were coming at us from every angle!" Her voice was weak and tearful, like she could start sobbing at any second. "They overran the supply room okay!" Tears slid down her face as she squeezed her eyes shut.
"It's your job to deal with it and back us up anyway!" Jean roared.
A zooming sound became known throughout the room. Percy turned away from the argument and scanned for the source of the sound.
"HIT THE DECK!" Someone screamed. Percy barely had time to lower his head before the smiling face of a titan smashed through the stone wall, sending soldiers flying.
"Son of a…" Jean breathed.
"We've gotta get out of here!" Piper cried. "They can smell us!"
Screams pierced the air as people shoved past each other, desperate to get away from the possible massacre. They shoved each other to the side as they forced themselves through a doorway leading elsewhere.
Jean stared straight forward, his eyes wide with pure terror.
Piper didn't even notice the conversation around her. She was riddled with panic and confusion. What could she do? She couldn't run away, that would be cowardly! But how could she help here?
"Frank! Percy!" Annabeth snapped. "Help Leo! He's too close to the titans!"
Piper whipped towards the gaping hole in the wall. Leo was conscious again, and he was right next to the two grinning faces of the titans. He was desperately trying to scramble away from them, but he was too weak to get far enough to make a difference.
"On it!" Percy nodded. He uncapped Riptide and the bronze sword grew into his hand. He charged forward and sliced at one of the titan's faces while Frank pulled Leo away by the back of his shirt.
Percy slashed one titan straight through the eye, but it did next to nothing. As soon as he backed away from the titans, the least expected thing happened.
A titan sized fist slammed into the first titan's head.
"What!?" Jean exclaimed, and the titans went sprawling back, far from the hole in the wall.
"What the Hades?" Percy yelled, holding his sword at the ready.
A large titan showed itself. It had pointed, elf like ears and dark, ragged, hair that ended at his neck. It's mouth was huge, and it's green eyes gleamed with ferocity as it suddenly shrieked, staring forward at the titans it had just punched.
There was a shattering sound, and Percy turned to see Mikasa, Connie, Armin, and Jason bust through the window. Jason wasn't wearing his ODM gear, making Percy's insides turn cold. He had flown.
"Mikasa! You're-" Jean gasped.
"Woah, what a close one." Connie grinned, knocking on his tanks with his knuckles. "I was running out of fumes. We made it here though. Crazy, but we did."
"Jason!" Nico exclaimed. "Where's your gear?"
"Things got bad." Jason answered, helping Mikasa to her feet. "I had no choice."
"You- uh- I-" Jean stared at Mikasa, wide eyed with shock. "Am I dreaming this or what?"
"You're a certified genius!" Connie roughly patted Armin on the back, making the yellow haired boy flinch and whimper in pain.
"Ow!" He grunted.
"From now on, as far as I'm concerned your word is law!" Connie smiled. He turned towards Jean and the demigods. "Check it out! We found an abnormal that's got a bone to pick with it's own kind!" He pointed to the titan through the hole. "And the best part, he couldn't care less about us! That's right, you heard me! This big, beautiful titan is our ticket out of here!"
"You mean, like fighting fire with fire?" A man asked.
"Listen to yourself, a titan's not going to help us!" Jean growled. "You're out of your mind if you think this could work."
"It is working." Mikasa said icily. "For whatever reason he's rampaging against them. Stand back and let him do it. Trust me, you'll see."
As if on cue, the abnormal landed another punch on yet another titan with a roar of fury.
"It was insane," Jason turned to his friends. "He saved our hides more than once! And it knows hand to hand combat, and he's Reyna good at it!"
"How is that possible?" Annabeth breathed.
"Anyhow, are you guys all okay?" Jason asked while Connie commented on the skill of the abnormal.
"...Leo, um…" Annabeth bit her lip and looked over her shoulder. The curly haired boy was gritting his teeth while Frank unwrapped the blood soaked jacket they had tied to his stump of a leg.
"Oh my gods." Jason's heart dropped. If he hadn't run after Mikasa, would he have been able to prevent Leo's injury? Was this his fault?
"H-h-hey Jason." Leo tried for a grin, but he immediately flinched and fell back. "I g-g-guess those t-t-titans couldn't resist me, e-eh?"
"Hey, save your strength." Piper said. "You've lost a lot of blood, and you look horrible."
"G-gee, thanks B-Beauty Q-Queen." Leo replied. But he was sickly pale, and Jason could see clearly how weak he was. "I h-h-have materials back at m-my r-r-room to build a p-p-prosthetic l-limb. I'll b-be fine."
"Good news!" Jean exclaimed. He and many other cadets had returned, large boxes in their arms. "Courtesy of the Military Police, and covered with a layer of dust." He frowned.
Everyone who wasn't already doing something set their boxes down and began to rip into them. Percy, Piper and Annabeth worked on Leo's wound, Annabeth telling Percy how to clean it out with some water he'd found and Piper charmspeaking Leo to do whatever it was he needed to do.
Hazel slammed her fist through one box, scaring many of the boys, and pulled out a rifle.
"I thought ODM gear was the only way we could beat them." She muttered, running her fingers over the smooth gun.
"Me too, but this is all we got." Frank replied, tearing a box open next to Hazel. "We might be able to do something. Maybe we could shoot their nape?"
"I don't think a bullet we cover as much ground as needed to permanently put a titan down." Nico used his sword to pry the top of his crate open. "But it's an uplifting thought."
In no time everyone had a gun in their hands or was getting a gun out. Jean cocked his and glanced up at Armin, who had been coming up with a strategy the whole time.
"Are we absolutely sure buckshot is the way to go?" He asked. "Seems like we might as well throw spit wads." Silence stretched on for a couple seconds. "I mean, come on guys, are guns even effective?"
Hazel frowned and turned her attention to Armin.
"I dunno, but they're bound to be better than nothing." He replied, a determined gleam in his blue eyes. "We're looking at seven titans in the supply room of the four meters tall variety. If we time this perfectly, this much ammo ought to be enough to do the trick." He pointed to his rough sketch of the plan. "Step one, we lower a group into the area by a lift, to get the titans attention. Step two, When the titans come within range the group fires in all four directions simultaneously, blinding them. Then the hard part, a moment of truth as it were. Before the titans have time to recover, seven of us swoop down from the ceiling and strike their vitals. That's it," Armin looked up. "That's the plan. It puts all our lives on the line. We screw up we're dead. That's a heck of a risk for one attack, but it's our only chance. Seven people have to slay seven titans in one blow at the same time. We're gonna need the best of you, the seven soldiers the most physically gifted and in sync with their pairing blades. You'll be the difference between life and death for the rest of us. I'm sorry, that's how it is."
"Seems like a sound plan." Reiner said.
"When you get right down to it the risk is the same for everyone. Doesn't really matter who goes." Annie said.
"L-l-l-look, I'm willing to be talked out of this." Armin said nervously. "One half baked strategy can't be our only option, right?"
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself." Marco said gently. "Come on, what we're looking at, is for our only option it's pretty well thought out. If we give it our all we might just pull this off!"
"It'll be fine." Mikasa said. "You just have to be confident. You're a better strategist than you give yourself credit for."
Armi stared at her, clearly surprised.
"I'm serious." She continued. "That mind saved Eren and me more than once."
"Wha- When did I ever save you?" Armin replied, eyes widened. "That's not-"
There was a loud sound, and everyone looked to see that someone had gotten the gate to the lift open.
"Alright! The lift's ready to go. Guns are loaded to the stocks. Let's go kill some titans."
Everyone got to their feet, starting towards the lift.
"You didn't realize it at the time. We can talk about it later." Mikasa said, and she stalked off.
"O-o-okay." Armin shook his head. "Mikasa, Reiner, Annie, Jean, Jason, Connie, and Bertolt will be the seven killing the titans! Stairs are that way!" He pointed to a hallway to the right. "Now, let's go!"
Everyone began filing onto the lift, though before Percy got on, he stopped next to Jason.
"Fly only if necessary, got it?" He said quietly.
"Yeah, okay." Jason cracked a grin. "I'm part of the seven once again."
"Good luck." Percy smirked, hefting his gun, and he walked onto the lift, Armin close behind him.
"Hey, Armin." Jason rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Huh?" Armin glanced at the taller boy.
"You're smart. Really, smart." Jason smiled. "This is pure genius. You're saving our butts, so thank you."
Armin was too shocked to reply.
"I'm going to stay with Leo!" Annabeth called.
"Got it!" Jason replied. He followed Reiner and Connie towards the stairs leading to where they needed to go.
"Okay," Connie said shakily. "I'm gonna ask the obvious question. Can we do this without ODM gear?"
"No problem." Reiner grinned. "These guys are only four meters tall. They're weak spots are not too far above eye level."
"He's right, size won't be an issue." Jean said. "The spots still only one meter high and ten centimeters across."
"Right on their nape." Jason smiled softly.
"Worse comes to worst you could always just shove one of these up their butts." Reiner mimicked the motion, making Jason flinch away. "That's their other weak spot."
"Are you serious?" Connie asked, a dumbfounded expression on his face. "That's news to me."
"Gods Reiner, what are you, eight?" Jason chuckled.
"Yeah, come on." Jean agreed. "Knock it off Reiner. You want your final words to be a butt joke?"
Jason watched with baited breath as the lift was lowered into the room. The seven titans glanced around casually, having not noticed the cadets yet.
Everyone' guns were suddenly pointed outwards, to where, hopefully, the titans would eventually be. One or two of the humanoids glanced up, finally noticing the soldiers hanging from the ceiling.
One of the titans slowly walked towards the lift, it's hair covering it's face from view. It suddenly swung around to face the people in the lift.
People made scared yelps and disturbed grunts upon seeing the titan's mortifying face.
"Don't lose your cool! Fire only when they're all within range!" Marco exclaimed.
The titan turned it's body towards the lift and took one step forward.
All of the other titans had noticed the people and were approaching. Jason could practically smell everyone's increased heart rate and fear.
They're going to fire soon. He thought. He tensed up. I need to be ready.
The titan's faces were close to the lift, close enough that the titans could probably lick the humans. No one fired.
One step closer, to the point that the muzzles of the guns were nearly touching the titans' glassy eyes.
"FIRE!" Marco yelled, and gunshots quickly became the only sound in the room. Bright flashes of light surrounded the lift as bullets flew from the guns and into the titans' eyes.
Smoke began to rise off the titans as they backed away, some clawing at their eyes and others stumbling back blindly.
Mikasa was the first to react. She went running along the shafts of the ceiling and leapt off one, her blades held over her head, ready to slice titan flesh.
Jason ran to the edge of his shaft and jumped off. He willed the air to push him forward, and in one quick slice of his blades, his titan stumbled, and collapsed to the floor. Blood had sprayed onto his uniform, though it was already evaporating.
"Got it." Mikasa said. "How're you guys?
"Pumped up!" Jason replied, bouncing from foot to foot. Adrenaline was pulsing through his veins like a fire. Gods, he could totally kill some titans right now.
He scanned the room. All but one titan had fallen to the ground, and Connie was staring, wide eyed at the standing humanoid.
"Connie missed!" Bertolt exclaimed.
"I'm on it!" Jason replied. He jumped into the air and called on the air to propel him upwards as he redrew his blades. Even though Connie had already seen him fly, the bald boy turned a sickly shade of gray.
Jason dug his blades into the titan's tender flesh and dragged them through it. As soon as they slipped from the cut Jason dropped to the floor and dodged to right as the titan tumbled to the ground.
"Hey, t-t-th-thanks Jason." Connie smiled. "I o-o-owe you one."
"Don't sweat it." Jason grinned. "Thanks for not flipping out when I started flying."
Connie just swallowed nervously and frantically nodded.
"You can fly?" Reiner asked, Bertolt close behind him.
"Kind of, yeah." Jason shrugged. "I was born with the talent."
"They're all dead!" Jean announced. "Start loading up supplies!"
Smiles broke out amongst every cadet.
"It worked!" Armin grinned.
Marco let out a sigh of relief, before promptly falling backwards.
Well, no point trying to hide my abilities now. Jason thought. He leapt through the air and hovered in front of the lift, where Percy and Frank were waiting.
"Nice slicing Jason." Percy smirked. "When you were up there in the air you were very… graceful."
Frank, Nico, Hazel, Piper, and Jason all collectively groaned. Percy made finger guns and pointed them at Jason, making clicking sounds with his tongue.
"Ha ha. Very funny Jackson." Jason playfully rolled his eyes. "Seriously though, you're a terrible shot. It's like you can't even Per-SEE your target!"
More groans. Nico actually walked away, muttering in disgust.