Somewhere in HQ

"We-We're done for."

Four cadets have themselves barricaded in an office room, praying to whatever God that they'll somehow make it out of this hell alive. The Titans surrounding the HQ don't really give their situation any hope, and neither does the sound of crashings coming from all around them. One cadet peeks out from the 'barricade' of desks that the four of them have made in all the panic. From behind the foggy windows comes a pair of massive blue eyes, with a craving look for human flesh. The cadet quickly hides back behind the barricade, begging themselves that the Titan didn't see them. Another loud crash comes from another side of the HQ building, causing the cadets to jump and whimper in fear, all except for one who was preoccupied with reloading a musket.

"Got it."

The other cadets look in confusion at the boy who finished reloading the musket.

"What good will that do?"

The boy answered his fellow cadets by placing the barrel of the musket deep within his mouth...and pulling the trigger, causing the area around him, and one of his comrades to be spattered in his blood.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Elijah

"You cowards! You left us out there on our own! People are dead because you didn't have the guts to do your job!" Seems we found the supply squadron. Before Jean could beat the shit out of the soldier, Marco held Jean back while a female soldier placed herself between her comrade and Jean.

"The Titans were coming at us from every angle! They overran the supply room, okay?"

"It's your job to deal with it and back us up anyway!"

"Jean!" I step up, facing Jean in an attempt to calm him down. "Getting mad right now is not going to get us anywhere, no matter how justified you are! We made it, now we'll take care of the situation, we'll supply ourselves." Jean seemed to calm down, though Marco still held him. I turn to the woman, kneeling to her level. "What is the situation in the supply room?"

Before she could explain, a voice behind us yelled "Hit the deck!" The wall breaks, sending rocks and humans flying. Outside the hole is the smiling face of a Titan. Shit, they know we're inside. There are too many of us in this one space, and they smell a trapped feast.

"Everyone, get inside! Move!" I direct the cadets, moving in their panicked states but at least they're mobile. As I look back, I see Jean frozen, staring down the two Titans outside the fortress wall. "Jean!" I run to him, but pause as a new development occurs right in front of us.

The Titan whose head formed the hole has a gigantic fist squishing his head. Both of us gasp in surprise as the head disappears, replaced by a long-haired Titan that roars at the ones it hit.

"Wha… What the… My god."

"Is...that Titan...fighting the others?"

Standing in our shock, we barely register Mikasa, Armin, and Connie joining us through the windows. Breathing in relief they're okay, I nod in acknowledgment of their presence. Jean speaks. "Mikasa, you're…"

Connie taps on his gas tanks. "Wow. Close one. I was running on fumes. We made it here though! Crazy, but we did!"

Jean is still confused as he walks to Mikasa. "You… I … Am I dreaming this, or what?"

Connie slaps Armin's back. "You're a goddamn genius! From now on, as far as I'm concerned, your word is law!"

I cross my arms, now wondering just what got Connie so excited he's not acting like the brat he was earlier. "What the hell is going on?"

"Check it out! We found an Abnormal that's got a bone to pick with its own kind. And the best part? He couldn't care less about us!"

"A Titan...that fights other Titans?" If I hadn't just seen it, I wouldn't believe it. And Armin came up with a plan...to lead it here? I glance at him, seeing that he's back to his normal self. He is no fighter, but he saw potential in this abnormality. Eren would be proud of you.

"That's right, you heard me: This big beautiful son of a bitch is our ticker out of here!"

I nod. "That's...actually a good idea. Fight fire with fire."

"Listen to yourselves," Jean shouts, "a Titan is not going to help us! You're out of your mind if you think this can work!"

I point to the now-dead titan that this 'Abnormal' has killed. "Seems like it's working to me, Jean."

"It is working," Mikasa sternly states. "For whatever reason, he's rampaging against them. Stand back and let him do it. Trust me. You'll see. Either way, what choice do we have? Right now, that thing is our best chance at survival."

Jean rescinds himself from the argument. Now we have an opportunity we can't miss. "Everyone, listen up. While that Titan keeps the other Titans busy on the outside of HQ, we need to get to the supply room. We refuel, we use our big ally to get to the Wall, and we get out of this alive."

Jean inspects one of the rifles he, Marco, and a group of cadets found inside. "Are you absolutely sure that buckshot is the way to go? Seems like we might as well throw spitwads. I mean, come on, guys. Are guns even effective?"

"I don't know," Armin confesses, "but they're bound to be better than nothing. We're looking at eight Titans in the supply room, of the 4-meter-tall variety. If we time this perfectly, this much ammo ought to be enough to do the trick."

I nod. "Alright Armin, what's your plan?"

"Step one, we lower a group into the area via lift to get the Titan's attention. Step two, when the Titans come within range, the group fires in all four directions simultaneously, blinding them. Then the hard part. The moment of truth, as it were. Before the Titans have time to recover, eight of us swoop down from the ceiling and strike their vital regions. That's it. That's the plan. It puts all our lives on the line. We screw up, we're dead. That's a hell of a risk for one attack but it's our only chance. eight people have to slay eight Titans in one blow, at the same time. We're going to need the best of you. The eight soldiers most physically gifted and adept with their paring blades. You'll be the difference between life and death for the rest of us. I'm sorry. That's it."

You really aren't sugarcoating this, Armin. Even if you were, everyone knows the risk. As Armin's words weigh heavy on my mind, I am sure I am not alone in this. The last two steps have no guarantee to work. The eight soldiers indeed have the most vital job, for there is only one shot to take the Titans out.

"Seems like a sound plan," Reiner says.

Annie speaks up afterward. "When you get right down to it, the risk is the same for everyone. Doesn't really matter who goes." I hold my tongue. Annie might actually believe that but in truth, the chosen eight do matter.

"Look, I… I'm willing to be talked out of this. One half-baked strategy can't be our only option, right?"

Marco leans over to console Armin. "Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. Come on, with our situation? 'Cause for our only option, it's pretty well thought out. If we give it our all, we might just pull this off!"

Armin looks to me and Mikasa for the same confidence, possibly because ours hold the most weight. "It'll be fine," Mikasa says. "You just have to be confident. You're a better strategist than you give yourself credit for." Armin gasps, possibly to refute Mikasa's claim, but she continues. "I'm serious. That mind's saved Eren and me more than once."

"When did I ever save you? That's not…"

A cadet calls for everyone to jump in the lift. We now stand, but Mikasa, Armin, and I stay in place. "You didn't realize it at the time. We can talk about it later."

"In the meantime," I finally say, "you can rest assured we are confident in your plan, Armin. It'll work." Mikasa and I walk away from Armin, joining Connie, Annie, Bertholdt, Reiner, Sasha, and Jean, the obvious eight to take out the Titans. We walk down the side steps as everyone else continues to file inside the lift.

"Okay," Connie says with some shaking in his voice, "I'm going to ask the obvious question. Can we do this without ODM gear?"

"No problem," Reiner says confidently. "These guys are only four meters tall. Their weak spots are not too far above eye level."

"He's right," Jean says, "Size won't be an issue."

Sasha turns to Connie. "The spot's still only one meter high and ten centimeters across."

I smirk as I try to lighten the mood. "Back of the head to the nape of the neck. Worst comes to worst, you can always just shove one up their ass."

"That's the other weak spot? Are you serious?"

Sasha seems to laugh at my joke, and she even plays along. "Wow, really? I didn't know that Elijah!"

"Come on. Knock it off, Everett. You want your final words to be an ass joke?"

We get in our positions, watching the Titans wander the room below us. Thankfully, there are still eight from the supply squad's report. I wonder as to why they don't notice us, could be the low light at our high positions, could be that our distance to each other doesn't amplify our scents, could be that we're too quiet for their ears to pick us up. Whatever the case is, as soon as we hear the lift make its way down, we get ready.

The others come down, moving their guns in position as the Titans take notice of them. Some cadets began to panic as the monsters came closer. They are literally level with the Titan's faces, but no one misfires. I can feel my own stress rise with the closing distance between the lift and the Titans, but my blades are ready to descend on these monsters.

Don't fire until you see the white of their eyes, we only got one shot at this.

It all happens at once. The command is given, and the guns shoot the eyes of the Titans, I and the other six make our move. I swing, hoping I made the cut as I land. Beside me, Connie falls on his stomach. I look up, seeing my Titan fall down dead. Good, no how did everyone else do? ...oh no.

"U-Um... sorry to attack..."

"Fuck." Only two of the eight Titans stand, and to my luck, it's Connie's and Sasha's. He gets up, his eyes withering in size while Sasha gets all squeaky in her voice as we back up.

"...from behind."

"Connie! Sasha!"

"Help them!"

"Lead 'em the hell back!"

"Sasha move!" I step aside as Sasha continues to have the Titan's full attention, and then I make my move. Gaining some air, I leap towards the Titan's nape and cut it down. I land back down and get ambushed by a surprise hug from Sasha. "Elijah! You saved me!"

"Are you hurt?"

"No, thanks to you..."

"Then stand, there will be time for that later."

"R-Right..."

I look over to Connie. The Titan he was supposed to kill has been taken out by Annie, thank God no one had to die here. That was way too close. "Sorry..."

"It was nothing."

So much for being a "genius." I focus my attention back on Sasha. "You sure you're alright?"

"I am now, thank you so much."

"Don't mention it, Sasha."

"Wow, just by the skin of your teeth." Reiner and Bertholdt step up behind me. "You're damn lucky you didn't end up worse off."

"Hmmph. As if." I walk off, joining the rest of the cadets to resupply.

As I'm refilling my gas tanks, I hear a few soft sobs from behind me. I turn around and I see... Sasha, crying. "I accepted defeat before the Titans..."

"Sasha?"

"I should be Ashamed!"

"Hey..." My firm yet warm voice seemed to snap her out of it, even if only for a moment. I know she probably feels like shit for panicking like that in front of everyone, but I don't blame her. This was a risky plan, but it paid off. "Sasha, you should never be ashamed for being scared, especially after a plan like that."

"But...I messed up...if you hadn't-"

"Stop." Sasha jumped a little after I grabbed her shoulder firmly with my hand. "You made a mistake, and no one got hurt. We're alive, and now we can resupply, we can fight back now."

"...Y-You're right, I'm sorry for being such a wimp."

"You're not a wimp for being scared, Sasha. Don't compare yourself to people like Daz." I don't even realize how hard I'm gritting my teeth. "At least you don't run away from the fight."

"Elijah? What's wrong?"

Sasha's concern snaps me out of my sudden anger. It's best not to get into that now, but I will, eventually. "I'm fine, Sasha."

We finish up resupplying. I and the rest of the cadets start to leave HQ. I turn back to Sasha, for what I hope won't be my last time seeing her. "See you on the other side, Sasha."

Sasha smiles warmly at me, and I swear ill never get tired of it. "Good luck, Elijah."

"This will let us escape... Come on!" Marco and I leap out of the hole that was one point our doom. Now that we're able to escape, we make our way out of Trost.

That Abnormal Titan is still kicking ass. As Marco and I pass it, he comments. "Yeah... It doesn't seem interested in us at all. It's just killing the first Titan it sees."

"After a day of having those monsters kill us, this is a nice change of pace. About time those bastards get a taste of their own medicine."

"We've gotta get rid of all the titans around HQ to clear a path for evacuation." I nod in agreement and take the lead. As we begin taking down the Titans, I start to wonder if that abnormal Titan is in a class like the Colossal and Armored Titans. Like those two, it has some intelligence to it. It fights almost human-like compared to the flailings of normal Titans. Also like those two, as far as we know, it has no care for a human diet. Yet, there's something else missing. If there was a Titan like this, where was it five years ago? In fact, where's the Armored Titan? Something isn't right.

After a few minutes of killing Titans, Marco and I regroup on a rooftop. I keep my thoughts to myself, deciding it's better if I discuss it with Armin and Mikasa later on. Marco, however, speaks his own. "I thought we were doomed back there, but I'm starting to see a glimmer of hope. No matter how desperate things get, there's always a way if you don't give up."

"How right you are my friend. I'll be honest, I didn't really know if we'd make it out of HQ. Or even make it, to that degree. My plan to take a few would've gotten us killed."

"It's thanks to Jean that everyone could gather at HQ. He, like you, is a natural leader."

I raise an eyebrow. "Me? A natural leader?"

Marco looks to me and nods. "Yeah. Connie spoke of how you and Eren were the first to engage the Titans when the Wall broke. While everyone hung in fear, you two used that fear and past experience to take up arms. He also claimed that you saved his ass multiple times today. You handled your squadron very well. I think your team is the only one that four cadets are still alive. And knowing how close you are to Eren, Thomas, and...Mina... Today must be hard. I honestly don't know how you're still going the way you are."

Instinctively, although it's probably for the third time today, I reach for my necklace. "I don't..."

"That Titan's amazing!" Behind us arrives Connie and Sasha, the former pointing to the head of the raging Titan. "It's almost like he's angry."

"Right." I turn to them, now that the immediate path is clear, we can get moving. More cadets join up with us, though none one else I'm more familiar with is within. "Alright. Connie, Sasha, Marco, we'll take point and rout any Titans in our way. Everyone else, be careful. Let's get to the Wall." We begin our mission, carefully moving through the city. Any Titans that we encounter, the group stops and the four skilled cadets take them down, but the number of Titans and the time to take them down seem to make the Wall seem farther away than it actually is. It got to the point I wished the angry one was with us.

"I wonder what the deal is with that Titan," Sasha inquires during one of our mobile attempts to Wall Rose.

Connie shrugs. "It must be an Abnormal, right? That would explain it."

"Who knows?" As we come closer to the Wall, I hear footsteps coming closer to us. "Everyone, scatter!" We either dive to the left or the right as a Titan runs through a building just to get to us. Thanks to my timely command, no one is killed. I turn myself around, firing my hooks to the runner. "You three, get rid of any Titans in the area. Everyone else, get to the Wall!" With a burst of gas, I'm off, flying towards the running Titan. It slows down, hoping to make another attempt to catch one of us, but I lower myself, nearly skidding with the ground, and raise myself up to swing horizontally to its backside just to remove both legs one after the other. It falls on its stomach, helpless and open as I hail from above to sever its nape.

As I leap up to a roof, I'm joined by Marco, seeing the other cadets ascend the Wall. I take a breath, happy that we are successful. "We did it."

Marco pats me on the shoulder. "Now you can't say you aren't a leader. I'll help guide the others. You go check on HQ." I salute Marco farewell and begin to head back to headquarters. As I get close, I see Mikasa standing on a rooftop alone. Following her projected direction, I see from my aerial position our ally Titan being...cannibalized by normal ones.

I land beside her, not believing my eyes. "What the fuck?"

A third person lands on the roof with us, the person is none other than Armin. "What are you guys doing? We have to leave now!"

"Look. Over there." Armin follows Mikasa's words, gasping as he sees what we see. As he's being consumed, the Titan groans either in pain, helplessness, or both.

"Cannibalism? Can he not regenerate like the others?"

"I don't think it's his ability to regenerate, I've seen him repair his hands, but he's being eaten faster than he can regenerate."

"This may sound stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us. That he'd help mankind break the cycle. Turn the tide just long enough to give us a little ray of hope."

"He's too valuable to just let die." We turn, seeing Reiner and his usual group plus Jean with us. "There's too much we can learn from him. I think it's perfectly clear our priority should be to ward the scavengers off him. He's no good to us picked apart."

"Are you out of your mind?" I'm starting to believe Jean is not going to die from digestion, but from the crazy ideas we put out there. "We've got a path out of this nightmare and you want to stay?"

"Think about it," says Annie, "having an Abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage, right? A cannon's got nothing on a Titan who likes to rip apart his own kind."

"You. Do you hear yourself? He's not like a new friend!"

"Oh no." I turn to Armin, seeing his distressed face once again. I follow it to a... You...

"It's the Abnormal Titan that ate Thomas!"

"What the?" Connie and the rest of us pause in our movements as he points to the west. "That came from the direction Eren and the others went! Hurry!" We zip as fast as we can to Eren, Armin, Thomas, and Mina's location, only to see three of the four looking off to the distance, and for some reason, Daz is there with them as well. Guess the coward got separated from his squad. I land beside Mina, turning in the direction they are looking...just to see a Titan hugging the steeple of a church. It moves its head slightly to the right, showing a human caught between its teeth. Upon closer inspection, I believe I recognize the hairstyle. Holding my breath, I hold my telescope to my eyes to see that it's...Thomas caught between those teeth.

"Thomas!" The Titan holds his head back, making us watch in horror as the monster slurps down my friend like a noodle. A switch flips inside me, burning me with rage as I step forward.

"GET BACK HERE!"

Mina tries to reach out to me. "Elijah, No!" I ignore her plea, bursting off the roof. I heard Eren right behind me, cursing the Titan aloud as I did so in my head. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to gouge your eyes out with my blades. I'll rip open your stomach to get my friend back. How dare you take Thomas away from us!

The rage in my body makes my skin crawl and brings my blood to a boiling point. My blades start to shake as my grip tightens like a vice, and I slowly start to walk toward the edge of the building.

"Elijah? What are you doing?"

"Keeping my promise." I leap off the building to go avenge my fallen friend. I hear the roars of that angry Titan, but I ignore it. As I come closer to it, the Abnormal Titan turns, me being the last thing its pathetic-looking eyes see before i dig my blades through them. My blades remain in the abominations eyes as I hang from its head. "You took him away from us, now you will pay for your sins. WITH YOUR LIFE!"

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The roar from our friendlier Titan snaps me back to reality. I turn to see him, still suffering from his arms and some skin and muscles being ripped off, running towards me, more specifically, the Abnormal that I'm still hanging from. "Oh, shit!" I break off my blades and I leap off from the Abnormal's face, landing on a nearby building. I turn back and see him using his mouth to bite down on the neck of the Abnormal Titan. He raises it up, using it as a makeshift weapon against the Titans that were eating it. Once the area is clear, he drops Thomas' murderer, and roars triumphant.

Then it collapses.

It's done. You can rest easy now, Thomas. You have been avenged.

The fallen Titan begins to send steam in the air, much as other Titans do when they die, however, I spot something strange around the upper back. Something bizarre... That mystery rises out of the Titan. Despite the steam, despite my inner thoughts denying what I'm seeing, I know exactly what I see. It's...a human.

I see Mikasa run down towards the human, leaving all denials I have behind as I launch towards her. Landing on the ground, I pay the murderer of Thomas one final piece of my attention. I avenged him, just as I avenged Mina, but that fact doesn't stop the lone tear from falling down my cheek, and unconsciously grabbing for my necklace. I'm gonna miss you guys, but I'm gonna do my best to keep going. For both of you. But God answered one prayer at least, in the strangest way possible.

We hoist Mikasa and the human up to the top of a tower, and we stand away as Mikasa continues to hug and cry. I stand beside Armin, my mind still trying to process the impossible, even though it's right in front of us.

I continued my pursuit, but I heard someone else cry out. I turn to see Eren fall and slide on several rooftops. I abandon my crusade to look for my comrade.

I spot his fallen form hanging dangerously off a roof. "Eren!" He's unconscious, bleeding from his head and his left leg is severed. Below, I spot the Titan that might have gotten to him, chewing happily.

"Armin, is it really him?"

"It's him. But his arm. His leg. I don't understand. I watched him get eaten. I watched him...die." Armin begins to break down, kneeling before Eren's body and taking the latter's left hand. "How is this possible?"

A moment of silence passes before I hear Jean's voice. "Does this mean..that Eren did all this?" That's when the one thought I blocked this entire time finally gains entry. I turn back to Eren, My lips are sealed as that one thought resonates within me.

"Eren," I say to myself. "How in the hell are you...a Titan?"