Back again, once again, people! Enjoy the next chapter! :D

~Lazer149: (...) nice work making this fanfic (...) This is the best AOT fanfic I've read in a while!

Thank you! :)

~Guest: (...) I loved all the tension in this chapter (...) I'm so excited to see your next installment! Keep up the good work!

Your kind words are immensely appreciated! Thank a ton! :D

laviidarle-toast: I know you are busy and all, but please don't take that long to update. (...)

I'll definitely try my best!

''Titans!'' Speech

''Titans!'' Thoughts

Dina was cursing to herself violently. Not only did she leave Reiner and Annie to their fates, she also had no idea if Historia was going to make it or not. She had left the unconscious girl at Grisha's side, who looked fearfully at the condition she was in. Needless to say, he was checking all of her vitals immediately.

More time to assess the situation wasn't given to Dina; the Military Police Brigade was doing everything in their power to bring her down, even though they were as scared as trapped mice. She had mild respect for them, but not to the point that she was afraid to kill if really necessary. She had lured them into an open field where they couldn't use their vertical maneuvering equipment.

''Don't be afraid, men! Shoot that monstrosity down!'' the commander in charge yelled, his own anxiety palpable in his voice. Big beads of sweat were rolling down his face and his eyes had dilated into pinpricks.

''I need to focus on their cannons like Eren told me,'' Dina thought to herself, trying to keep her head in the game. She counted at least twenty of them and about one-hundred soldiers in total. Big blasts were heard as the cannons let loose their fire power, the incoming projectiles inaccurate but severely damaging if they hit her.

Most of them passed her harmlessly, exploding behind her and kicking up smoke and dirt. She did see one or two coming straight at her, and out of a reflex, hardened her fingers into sharp claws and slashed at them, reducing them to debris blown away by the wind. ''Now is my chance,'' she thought with a low growl.

As expected, the cannons needed a lot of time to recharge. It was a time-consuming process that left the Military Police Brigade sweating. Smirking inwardly, Dina went into a sprint, her footsteps drumming on the ground intimidatingly as she approached the terrified soldiers. It was like a small earthquake every time she moved, and going as fast as she did meant she would cover the distance in just a few seconds.

''Fire, fire those damn cannons!'' the commander cried out, shaking in his boots. ''What is taking so long? Don't you see she's going to trample us!?''

''We haven't loaded the cannons yet!''

''She's coming! Do something!''

''Shoot with your rifles!''

Total panic broke out among the Military Police Brigade. Simple bullets didn't harm Dina whatsoever; they inflicted small wounds that she'd heal almost instantly. When she'd reached the small army, most of them were already fleeing. Dina wasn't interested in hurting them anyway; she simply grabbed four cannons and smashed them together with so much force that they were partly reduced to dust. The sound of metal grinding on metal sent a big boom throughout the area, the sound harder than any cannon could produce.

''That's four down, only sixteen to go,'' Dina thought with satisfaction. If she kept this up, she would sweep the Military Police Brigade easily. However, it seemed some brave men and women had stayed behind despite her threatening advances. They'd aimed some of the remaining cannons at her from point blank range.

Dina hissed when one of the cannon's projectiles was fired directly at her face. She tried to block it with her hardened claws, but since she didn't put any force behind the block—but rather used her claws as a shield—some of her fingers cracked as a result while the top of her pink was blown off completely.

At the same time, another blast hit her ankle joint. A sickening crack was heard as her talus and its connective tissues gave away under the force, breaking it and making her fall down to one knee. Dina's eyes widened significantly at the precarious situation she found herself so suddenly in. Her mobility was severely limited and that gave the Military Police Brigade all the time to fire more cannons at her. Moreover, it seemed they figured out she could only harden her fingers into sharp claws, while the rest of her body stayed unprotected.

This seemed to give them some of their courage back. The commander's nervous tone was replaced with one of determination, albeit shaky and uneven in pitch. ''Great job! She's not invincible by any means! Attack now that she's vulnerable. Those of you who have rifles, aim for her eyes, make her blind!''

Dina realized all too quickly what the commander was hoping for. ''They're going to make me choose what part of my body to defend; there's no way I can block all of their attacks,'' she thought, panic gripping her from every side. Growling loudly, she let loose another ear-splitting shriek, the decibels she produced enough to shatter the nearby windows of the estate. With one hand covering her eyes from the incoming bullets, she sliced her other claw in an arch all around her, hoping to be intimidating and take out as many cannons as possible. She succeeded into hitting four more, the heavy artillery getting swept away like cheap toys, throwing up dirt and big chunks of rocks in their trajectory. Anyone unfortunate enough to be hit by them would be reduced to paste.

However, some brave men and women still managed to fire off a few of the cannons at point blank range; there was no way they were going to miss her. The impact of the explosions made Dina stumble; since she didn't bother protecting her legs, most of the damage was centered around her knees and ankles. A sickening crack was heard as her left foot was severed completely, her right knee cap was as good as demolished and most of her muscle function was lost, boiling hot blood sizzling in the afternoon sun from the multiple wounds she had sustained.

Dina knew she was a sitting duck at this point. Her mobility was completely gone. All they had to do was move the remaining cannons out of her range and then finish her off before she could regenerate enough. ''This isn't good. I have to do something drastic,'' Dina realized. She didn't like it whatsoever, because she knew it would leave her completely immobilized afterwards, but it was a final resort in precarious situations. She couldn't let the Military Police Brigade reload freely, and so, she focused all of her energy into a final attack.

Dina had learned while training with Reiner that she could only harden her hands, and while the ability wasn't nearly as prominent as Annie's hardening ability—since it was a lot less durable—the extreme sharpness of her claws made up for that, since she was able to slice through almost anything with enough force. She had tried to harden other parts of her body, but only if she put all of her effort into it, something happened, and if it wasn't for Reiner's quick reflexes and sharp senses, he wouldn't even be able to retell the tale.

Now though, Dina smirked as she knew she could go all out without the fear of hurting any of her allies. She closed her eyes and allowed the energy to flow freely through her body. The outside of her titan body began to glow in a titanic hue. Focusing on hardening a random part of her body, she met that same resistance she always did. Grunting, she focused on another part, and another, fighting the resistance while her power kept building up.

Meanwhile, the Military Police Brigade watched the spectacle with fear in their eyes. The confidence that had radiated from them after destroying her legs was short-lived; they all felt something very dangerous was going to happen.

''Take cover!'' the commander shouted heatedly. ''Take—'' he was unable to finish his sentence as Dina unleashed her attack. She finally felt that resistance melting away, but all of her built-up energy couldn't go anywhere except be forced out of her body powerfully. Dina burned brightly, steam rising from her titan. The resulting explosion was powerful enough to cover most of the battlefield. Sharp, baseball-sized lava pebbles were shot in every direction from the blast like a multi-directional machine gun. On top of getting disintegrated by the explosion, the commander was riddled with holes like a Swiss cheese; there wasn't much of him left after that.

Most of the Military Police Brigade unfortunate enough who weren't killed by the blast immediately were completely slaughtered by the pebbles. The explosion shook the ground to its core; angry black smoke rose thickly in the air and most of the vicinity was completely destroyed, the sizzling, metallic pebbles burying themselves deeply in the ground like a hellish meteor shower that had rained upon the earth below.

Dina's titan was reduced to nothing but molten flesh and bones; she couldn't move a single muscle. All she could do was hope that she'd killed most of her opponents, and if some still were alive, she banked on the fact they were either too injured to finish her off, too scared to approach her or made the assumption she was dead herself.

It felt like hours passed; the smoke and fire around her were diminishing gradually by the blowing wind. Dina finally felt some life return to her. Groaning, she exited her titan with a splitting headache and severe muscle impairment; it'd take another half hour at least before she could walk a bit again.

Looking around, all Dina saw was death and destruction and all she could hear was the sound of the wind and the smell of burning flesh. ''This eerie silence…,'' she thought with a shiver. It made her sick to her stomach. ''Sweet Ymir, please forgive me.''

She couldn't help but choke up a little, one hand clasped against her mouth while tears threatened to roll from her cheeks. Dina knew what she was getting into before this battle, and she also knew she had no other choice in her situation, but these men and women were Eldians just like she was. She had killed dozens of her own kin and she knew it'd take a long time before she'd be able to accept that. It was only now that full-blown realization hit her, and it hit her hard.

While she was sobbing silently, a shadow appeared in her periphery. A soundless croak escaped Dina's throat as one soldier—a woman, to be exact—had survived her attack with not a single scratch on her body. She was shivering like a log, but her eyes burned with justice as she pointed her rifle at Dina.

Their eyes met briefly, before a gunshot broke the eerie silence for a last time.

Kenny coughed violently, clearing his airways as he tried to get all the dirt out of his lungs. He was lying miserably on the ground, all of his joints aching as he tried to recall what had happened. ''Those stupid bastards from the Military Police Brigade,'' he realized with a growl, knowing their non-existent battle experience against a titan combined with their terrible aim caused him almost to kick the bucket. He was lucky none of his extremities were torn off because of the blast.

He tried to stand up, but that was easier said than done. He had wounds all over him—none lethal, luckily, but it was going to take a while before they would be healed fully. ''Hopefully that blast knocked out the kids, that'd spare me a lot of trouble,'' he thought, searching for his guns, but don't finding them. The blast must've reduced them to useless chunks of metal.

His hopes were quickly put to shambles when he saw two figures through the lingering smoke approaching him slowly but steadily. He could make out the kid's features; both were bloodied beyond recognition like himself, covered entirely in soot and dirt, but their expressions were as sharp as ever. Kenny chuckled—feeling that his trusty knife was still present on his body—and crossed his arms coolly.

''Well, well, you kids are a tenacious bunch, aren't you?'' Kenny praised them mockingly, ''and after that, you still want to fight me?'' His brow was raised in doubt, challenging them and hoping they would either attack him blindly or back off.

Annie and Reiner both didn't respond. Instead, they took their battling stance, waiting patiently for Kenny to make the first move. They were well aware of the hidden knife inside his coat; if they wanted to defeat him, they had to work together. There was no way they could take him one on one.

Kenny grumbled, knowing that his trick didn't work, and grabbed his knife. ''Fine then, if you kids want to throw your life away so recklessly, so be it. I don't particularly like killing off children, so I'll do it quickly.'' He cracked his neck, getting the terrible stiffness out of his muscles. The ache would stay, he knew, but so long as he could move, he didn't care about that.

With swift accuracy, he leaped at Reiner, figuring he'd be the strongest; so, it was in his best interest to get rid of him first. He slashed his knife horizontally, his aim impeccable and directly pointed at Reiner's exposed neck. The surprise on Reiner's face didn't go unnoticed by Kenny. Apparently, he hadn't expected him to move that fast.

By an inch, Reiner managed to dodge by extending his body backwards—in turn, the knife sliced over him relatively harmlessly. At that moment, everything seemed to go in slow-motion for Reiner. He saw the shine on the blade, reflecting the fear in his face for a moment, and he heard the sweeping motion of the sharp steel go past him. He hadn't realized yet Kenny managed to cut him on the cheek, the wound making fresh blood run past his face.

Even though Kenny hit him, he was a bit surprised himself that Reiner dodged most of his attack in time. ''This kid must've had some sort of training,'' he thought with a grumble. That thought proved to be correct very quickly, because while he was still mid-swing, Annie's foot had found Kenny's cheek with a powerful roundhouse kick.

Pain exploded across Kenny's throbbing skull, his loud cry akin of a furious and wounded animal. Annie tried to follow it up with another kick across his other cheek, but he blocked it with his arm, a loud thud echoing through his body when the attack hit him. ''I can't underestimate these kids,'' he thought with horror, knowing now that this fight was going to be anything but easy. While he blocked Annie's foot, he tried to grab it with the intent to stab his knife right through her leg.

Kenny's grin turned wider when he saw Annie gasp, realizing too late what he planned to do. However, Reiner had recovered enough to deliver a punch in Kenny's gut, knocking the wind out of him before bashing him away with his shoulder, making him stumble. ''Annie, are you all right?'' Reiner questioned worriedly.

She nodded her head. ''I'm fine. Just look after yourself,'' she stated, pointing to the cut on his cheek. Reiner touched his cheek to see his blood paint his fingers red. He grumbled a little, but then recomposed himself. ''I will, Annie. let's keep at it.''

Meanwhile, Kenny laughed, spitting out some blood that had accumulated in his mouth. ''You kids are a bit tougher than I expected, I'll give you that,'' he admitted, clutching his upset stomach a little. ''However, I'm done playing games now.'' He roared at the top of his lungs; the glint that appeared in his eyes animalistic. It appeared he was going for Reiner again, but at the last moment, he threw his knife at Annie with a crooked smirk on his face.

The sharp object flew at Annie with incredible speed. She could only raise up both of her arms in defense, which made the blade go cleanly through her underarm out of the other side. Intense pain radiated from her arm all the way through her body, a mind-numbing, shooting sensation that had her screaming as blood rushed out of the wound while Kenny's knife was still stuck in it, the sharp end of the blade just inches away from her face. If the blade had been any longer, she would've lost an eye.

Reiner had no time to respond to this new predicament; Kenny was on top of him in an instant, his fist connected with his nose and knocked him off his feet. He moaned in absolute pain; his nose clearly broken as blood spew forth from it.

Kenny laughed again, seeing how Annie was on her knees, clutching her arm while Reiner was clearly disoriented. ''This is what happens when you mess with grown-ups and grown-ups' stuff, kids. I don't know who you are, but I have every intention of finding out. Even if that means I have to torture you,'' he said maliciously, kicking Reiner in his stomach while he was trying to get up.

Grabbing him by his hair, Kenny lifted him in the air, which made Reiner cry out in pain. ''You're not from around here, that is for sure,'' he mused, ''are you from the underground, perhaps?''

Reiner just hissed and tried to struggle futilely, which made Kenny shrug. ''Figured you didn't want to talk.'' He hurled him towards Annie, making them both crash into each other painfully.

''However, I have methods for that,'' he continued, cracking his knuckles. ''Let's see here.'' He was about to grab Reiner again—who was lying on top what Kenny thought was an unconscious Annie—when Annie kicked upwards, hitting him in the wrist and making his pink bend the complete opposite way, breaking it in multiple places.

Kenny's cry was deep; his hand flinching backwards at the sudden strike. ''What…'' he hissed, seeing how Reiner had put extra pressure on Annie's wound, making sure she wasn't bleeding out. He smartly hadn't taken out the knife whatsoever, and with the time given to them, they went on the offense.

Like an oiled machine they attacked together; Reiner used his fists to deliver the heavy blows while Annie stayed in the back, using only her legs to provide back-up. Kenny hissed as Reiner managed to land a punch on his nose, giving Annie enough time to kick him hard in his liver. He tried to create some space for himself by backing up, but both Annie and Reiner didn't relent whatsoever. Their flurry of blows caught Kenny off guard completely.

''Their tenacity is incredible. If they keep this up, they might overwhelm me,'' Kenny thought, his mind reeling as it dawned on him that he was in a serious predicament right now. ''Am I seriously going down to two random kids?'' Kenny didn't want to believe it, but every time he tried to attack Reiner, Annie would be there to block it for him, and he couldn't get to Annie because Reiner was protecting her in turn.

Reiner saw this too. He knew it was possible to take out Kenny, but he had to consider Annie's condition too. If they dragged out the battle for too long, chances were present that Annie would faint because of blood loss. Therefore, he did something bold.

He completely let himself be open for attack, charging Kenny like a bull, and the mercenary took it with open arms. He tried to kick Reiner's face with the intention to knock him out cold, but Reiner moved his head out of the way just in time so it was his shoulder that took the beating. He was sure he heard something crack, but full on adrenaline as he was, he tackled Kenny's legs anyway, bringing him down to the ground.

''Now, Annie!'' Reiner screamed, hoping they had enough time for his plan to work. Annie wasted no time and leaped on top of Kenny like a lioness. With her arm still impaled with Kenny's knife, she brought it down to his chest while grabbing the hilt for leverage and extra strength to push it down, having every intent to stab the pointy end straight through his heart.

Kenny's eyes widened significantly and out of pure reflex grabbed Annie's hand, halting her downwards momentum just in time. He struggled to push her hand away, using every fiber of his being to do so. Kenny's mind was screaming out to him to do something, and with strength he hadn't thought he possessed, used his other hand with his broken pink to grab Annie's arm as well, completely ignoring the pain and shifting the momentum in his favour.

Slowly, he was pushing her away, trying with all his might to turn the sharp end of the blade around so he could impale it in her throat. ''C'mon, you brat,'' he thought maliciously, his confidence returning, ''Just a bit more before you can taste my blade.''

However, he had forgotten to take into account that Reiner was still up and running as well. With a loud roar, Reiner grabbed both of Annie's hands and started to push it downwards as well, grunting all the way as he tried to overpower Kenny.

To Kenny's horror, they actually started to succeed. The sharp tip of the blade was inching closer to his chest, which made his breathing quicken and his chest heave. ''Wait… Wait!'' he sputtered out in denial, hoping he could somehow change their mind.

However, with a sudden push, the tip of the blade disappeared inside Kenny's chest, who looked on in pure disbelief. His strength started to fade, and his breath became heavy and filled with blood as more and more of his knife was buried in his chest cavity, inevitably reaching his heart. He gurgled and started to spasm helplessly as Annie and Reiner finished the job, pushing the blade in as far as it was able to.

The life inside his eyes disappeared, and his hands fell uselessly to his sides. Both Annie and Reiner stopped pushing, the former slowly retracting the blade seemingly emotionlessly while the latter looked on worriedly. ''We need to take you to Grisha immediately,'' Reiner stated, not giving any attention to Kenny's corpse as he stood up and helped Annie up as well.

''You'll need to help me then,'' Annie admitted, her face sweating and her eyes pale. It was a miracle she was still standing after losing so much blood. Reiner supported her protectively, carrying most of her weight as they stumbled like broken soldiers over the battlefield, but on the inside, they felt like proud warriors coming home from a massive victory.

If Grisha thought the situation couldn't escalate any further, then he was in for a big surprise. At the moment, he was sweating profusely as he examined the unconscious form of Historia. Her pulse was growing weak, which indicated she was losing blood internally. This was a worse case scenario for a multitude of reasons, one of them being that she needed medical attention quickly or else she wouldn't survive.

The fact her blood pooled in her mouth and then slowly dribbled out of it made Grisha assume she most likely had torn a structure in her upper torso. He wiped the sweat away from his face as he palpated her sternum and costae, desperately trying to feel if he could locate any abnormalities underneath that gave away what structure was damaged.

''Her heart is still pumping; the fact she isn't losing blood very quickly is a big relief as well. It means her aorta is probably intact. The inferior and superior vena cava look to have been spared as well. Her lungs however…'' Grisha thought, noticing how raspy and irregular her breathing pattern had become.

''It has to be one of the lung cavities; if there's a tear I need to stitch it, but in conditions like these…'' His nervousness was growing. He was ill equipped to perform such an intense procedure in the middle of nowhere. Moreover, Historia was covered entirely in dirt and soot. Chances of an infection were huge and he had no idea which cavity was damaged; there was simply no way to find out in such a short period of time without the proper tools, which Paradis didn't even have anyway.

''I have no choice. I have to do an improvised operation.'' Grisha sucked in a lung full of air. He knew how many things could go wrong. The chances of succeeding were highly improbable, starting with the fact Historia needed fresh blood to even get through this surgery.

''You need to start a transfusion,'' a voice inside his mind whispered. Sweat started to appear over Grisha's face all over again. ''But I don't even know her blood type. I'm not a universal donor, so what if her body rejects it? She could have an ABO Incompatibility Reaction. I have to bet on the chance she is AB and therefore a universal receiver.'' Gambling with a life so carelessly like that was something Grisha would never do if the circumstances were any different.

''Do it,'' that same voice whispered. He nodded his head, already getting the necessary materials ready; he knew there was no other option available. Getting the blood flowing through a needle and a fresh bag, Grisha prepared himself mentally.

That's all for now, people! Did you like it, love it, hate it? Please leave a review! I love to read and respond to them all! Until next time. :)

~Syrup-Waffle