Creation began on 11-01-23

Creation ended on 11-08-23

Attack on Titan

Attack on Paradis: Global Retribution

A large fleet of ships beyond Marley's shoreline was an impressive display of force, but Zeke didn't feel that this would stop whatever it was that Marley was now afraid of coming from Paradis. The description of the creature didn't really scare him because he hadn't seen it in person for himself yet, but he was confident that his Beast Titan could harm the creature if hit enough times with whatever could harm it. His perception of the fleet was that the country was preparing for the Rumbling, its horde of Titans ready to flatten the Earth.

Thirteen years…no more than a memory, he thought he heard a voice in his head as he went to the Liberio military base to report in. Those left alive that possess the power of the Titans will not die in thirteen years. Those that possess the powers of the remaining Titans…please…do all that you can…to protect those from the monster that will never forgive us for our ancestors' crimes against it and its kind. Whoever holds the Beast, Cart and War Hammer Titans…please, do all that you can to protect those around you.

Zeke couldn't believe that he was hearing this! Something was amiss and he needed to know what it was. And if it was true, this meant that Marley only had three of its seven Titans left to represent the nation's power. This also left him to assume that at least one of the other Warriors that had gone to Paradis was still in possession of the Jaw Titan, but was now in hiding.

-x-

Even if he no longer had the curse of Ymir Fritz looming over his head because he possessed the Attack Titan, Grisha didn't think it would help him or anyone else with the power of the Titans if they couldn't fight a beast like this. The very power of this monster had been similar to the wrath of nature, different from the Titans and their abilities. Even without the ability to see the future because he made a request to Frieda to remove the power to know what will happen, Grisha feared that the future was bound to be worse than whatever he initially saw. But Frieda had informed him that the future was different from anything either of them had seen before the creature had attacked.

"Instead of being attacked by this monster, the Titans of Marley attacked, and nine years of suffering persisted until the Rumbling occurred and eighty percent of the global population was lost," Frieda confessed to him. "This, however, is a gentler fate because now the Rumbling is no longer feared and will never occur. Now, we of the world have a different threat out there that despises us for our ancestral sins committed against it. It lived with the hatred against Eldia because that's what we gave it. Paradis only received a reprieve when I made it realize that there are other Eldians around the world that it can go after. It'll be back…but by then, I hope we'll have a strategy to fight back against it."

But even so, Grisha knew she was afraid. They were all afraid. Nobody had ever seen a creature like this before. It was only a matter of time before they would have to face it again.

"Why did you accept the position of the Attack Titan to begin with?" Frieda asked him, wanting to know directly from him why he devoured the previous Attack Titan.

"To restore the nation, honor and integrity of Eldia," he answered. "Return the freedom and rights of Eldians everywhere."

While his intentions were noble, his methods were immoral, which cost him his allies, his wife and their son, who turned on them.

"I wanted to do better than my uncle had when he was the Founder," she revealed. "I wanted to end the suffering of the people that didn't ask for the curse of being turned into Titans. I thought I was able to overcome the First King's ideology…but it overtook me. I couldn't do anything to help anyone. I was a prisoner within my own body and someone who wasn't me was living my life. I was aware of everything that ever happened and would happen…and I couldn't do anything to change any of it…until he appeared that day. That monster…is unlike anything we've ever encountered before in the past. It defies all sense of what is understood and breaks barriers that stand to sustain what little order that exists. If anything, this creature is the living manifestation of defiance and vengeance…and it will never stop."

-x-

"…You think this creature is just another aberrant Titan?" Theo Magath asks Calvi as they observed the fleet established to defend the motherland.

"What else could it be?" Calvi questions. "For two-thousand years, Titans have been the threat to the world, and Paradis has been the epicenter of the great plague of Titans. It's only common sense that the monarchy there would create a new kind of Titan to protect their domain."

"But then why dispose of the other Titans? Why inform the Eldians that the curse to be turned into Titans has been removed and the thirteen-year limit for holding the power of the Titans is no longer in effect? That doesn't sound like a ruler that is trying to unleash a new kind of Titan. It sounds like someone trying to make amends by doing what the previous rulers could've done but never did."

"You'll see. You spend too much time with those Eldian Warriors, you start to think anything is possible. It was a mistake to send children to that island to begin with."

"Because we wanted their resources, not the Founding Titan the monarchy possesses."

Suddenly, they noticed a geyser of water shooting up into the air out at sea where one of the ships was stationed, and then saw it sink into the water. They then saw something rise out of the water, looking like some sort of dinosaur.

"Rrrrrrrraaurgh!" It roared, and it was so loud that it caused the glass windows nearby to shatter.

"Aaah!" Some civilians by the water gasped as they started to flee.

"Good Lord!" Magath went, unable to believe that the soldiers had been telling the truth. No way is that a Titan!

Even though it was from a distance, due to Marley's former possession of the Colossal Titan, there was no way that this creature was some sort of Titan. Structurally speaking, it was formed differently and much larger than the Colossal, had a more menacing visage, and like a combination of different creatures to shape something more complex than a regular animal. If Magath had to guess, even from where he stood, over a hundred meters in height, was covered in segments of armored skin with bone spikes jutting out its back along its spine, and was strong enough to support its own weight as it moved, unlike the Colossal, which had limited reflexes and mobility due to its size. The other ships nearby fired their cannons at the monster, but the tiny explosions created from the impacts of each shot didn't seem to cause it any harm.

"Rrrrrraaurgh!" It roared again, bringing its right arm down on a nearby ship…and sank it like it was made of paper.

A large, dark form emerged from behind it in the water, revealing itself to be its tail, and it swatted a ship on its left side, sending it flying out of the water and into the air, just over Liberio's internment zone!

"Impossible!" Calvi declared; none of the Titans were able to lift a ship out of the water, and this creature just sent one flying like it was a softball!

Crash! The ship had smashed into countless homes and buildings in the internment zone, resulting in many screams from the Eldians confined to the enclosed zone.

The other ships continued to fire upon the creature, but it was no use. None of their shells were harming it at all as it moved inward, towards the shore. The look on its face, lost to Calvi but not to Magath, an obvious sign that this creature was acting on something not so human…but known to humans when acted on: Vengeance.

"Run!" People panicked as they saw it coming towards them.

-x-

The people within Wall Sina had to be informed that the creature would eventually return for them, but not right away as the truth was crueler to their ears when revealed. The world beyond the Walls hadn't been destroyed by Titans in the slightest degree, people existed in the millions, far more advanced than they currently were due to being stunted technologically for more than a century, and how they were hated by the masses because of their ancestors' violent actions from over two millennia ago. This creature, a survivor of the arrogance of their ancestors' attempts to kill its kind, had a vendetta against all of them because of the brutality it experienced in the past and swore revenge by killing them, but the current ruler of the island, unknown to them, bought them some time to prepare by convincing it that there were other people out there in the world for it to take its vengeance against, and, while only appeased for the time being, it promised to return, and when it did, there would be no mercy for any of them. Some of them were upset enough to yell about this revelation, some were terrified to know that it would someday return to hunt them down for the actions made against it by people that have been dead for over a hundred years or more, but most were silent to the point of feeling resigned to their fate, knowing that a monster like that was something they had unknowingly brought upon themselves without even meaning to.

"…The Walls can't protect us from this creature, and it destroyed two of them…"

"…Mommy, I don't want to die!"

"…We didn't do anything to deserve this!"

"The Survey Corps and the Garrison are all gone, leaving only the Military Police, and they're useless against something like this…"

"…There's a whole world out there with people…and this monster is going to kill them before it comes back to kill us…"

But among the masses, Historia, just as upset and worried about the people left from the recent attack, looked around and saw her mother, Alma, who looked worse than before, her face burdened with fear. She went over to her and spoke to her.

"Are you alright?" She asks her, getting her attention.

This time, Alma couldn't blame her daughter for any of this. None of this death and destruction was her fault. None of it was, not even herself, Rod's or the people that lived on this island that they had no idea they were confined to until now. But if not any of them, where did the blame reside? Who was responsible for this dread?

Except she knew who was responsible…and she couldn't take this out on them. Nobody could. It was impossible to blame the people of the past because they were dead and had been dead for a long time. All they could do…with the time they had left…was to move on and put their affairs, however many they had, in order before the inevitable returned for them.

Alma lowered to her knees and hugged her daughter.

"I'm sorry, Historia," she told her, crying. "I am sorry."

The monster could've killed her that day they were all trying to flee when it appeared outside Wall Sina, and while she might've been rid of her daughter, there was doubt she'd be rid of the voices that yelled at her during the dreadful period of waiting for the inevitable to befall her, telling her that she could still make right to her wrongs before it was too late to change anything. But here she was, still breathing, still living her life while she still could, and trying to make amends before it was too late for all of them.

Historia raised her arms up and held her back. This was the second time in her life that her mother had ever spoken to her…and the first time where she actually said something meaningful. There were few people that were angry over the revelations. There were few people that were silent over the revelations. But these two were just lost to the emotions of those around them in this moment of reconciliation.

-x-

Nothing was working against it! Artillery shells, the Panzer Unit's relentless barrage of gunfire, not even the Beast Titan's brutal pitching abilities were harming this creature that walked through Liberio like nothing could stop it from destroying everything in its path! As they awaited aerial support, Calvi and Magath, who were fortunate enough to avoid much of the debris sent flying their way by way of the creature's tail whipping through buildings and its feet breaking through to the underground below, resulting in more casualties than before when the naval ship was sent to the internment zone, were helpless as their land, their home, was all being ravaged by a creature they had never seen before. It was a nightmare far different from what they had feared beforehand; instead of a march of Titans, it was just a lone creature that rose from the ocean and had its sight set on the people.

"We'll be with your father soon," Magath heard an Eldian woman say to her two children, huddled over against a wall amidst the fleeing crowd; the mother must've saw no point in running, as they were all likely going to die soon, regardless.

The children, both girls, held onto their mother as they waited for their fate to be sealed.

We didn't ask for this, he thought as he approached the three. We didn't choose this! So why? Why is this happening?

Upon closer inspection, he saw that the mother's legs were mangled, likely from the people that stampeded in an attempt to escape the internment zone, and her daughters were unwilling to abandon her, even to live.

"Can they still run?" He found himself asking her, getting her attention. "I will carry you if I have to."

"Why?" She wanted to know. "If it's a Titan, that means it's our fault. We brought it here."

"I don't believe that thing is a Titan. It looks like a monster far older than the Titans. If this were the Rumbling, there'd be more of them, but this thing… It can't be a Titan. It can't be a Titan."

Calvi saw with scorn as Magath picked up the woman with mangled legs as her daughters ran up the street…but paid it no mind; if they all died before reinforcements came, nothing they did would matter to anyone.

Swat! Zeke's Beast Titan threw another barrage of shells at the creature's head and neck, but to no avail; from what he could see, the armored skin on this thing was like a multitude of Armored Titans, if such was even possible.

What is this thing?! He thought as he grabbed another handful of shells from the top of the building he stood beside and threw another barrage at the creature from a distance.

"We need to retreat!" Pieck declares, the Panzer Unit having exhausted its rounds firing at the creature's legs, not even making a dent. "Nothing we're doing is making any dent in this monster's advance!"

But Zeke couldn't stop just yet. He still had a few shells left to throw.

"Just let me get one more shot at it," he utters, reaching for the last of the shells he had. "Die, you monstrous scum!"

He threw harder than he had ever thrown before, aiming right for its face!

Blast! Some of the shells had exploded upon hitting it in the face.

"Rrrraugh!" It roared as the dust settled away from its head, revealing that its snout had been made to bleed now. "Grrr!"

Seconds later, Zeke and Pieck could see something glowing bright blue from the tip of its tail, leading slowly towards its back. The people closest to it watched in anticipation as it looked like its external spines were jutting out of its hide, the bright blue light leading up its back to its head that it raised up to the sky above.

SNAP-CLICK! The spines jammed back into its back, sounding like a gun hammer being clocked before firing a bullet, and the creature brought its head down.

-x-

In the air above, heading towards Liberio, a dozen or so airships, armed with explosives that were still in the experimental phase, each group of personnel hoping that they would be enough to stop this thing that was attacking the people.

FLASH! A bright flash of light came…and it was followed by a giant mushroom cloud.

"What…what is…" One of the airship captains spoke, confused by what happened on the ground in Liberio.

"Some kind of explosion?" One of the crew members suggested.

"How big of an explosion could a bomb do if that was it?"

"Depends on the type of explosive being used."

Down below, miles on all sides of Liberio, buildings were reduced to rubble and there were no signs of people anywhere. In the center of the ruins, the monstrous entity stood, assessing the devastation and deciding that the people here had been removed from existence, the second batch in a series of batches that would be disposed of in due time.

"Rrrrrraurgh!" It roared as it proceeded to move towards the next location of Eldians.

-x-

Frieda saw the horror of what befell Liberio! Even from a distance, she couldn't deny that she was seeing a nightmare unleashed upon the world. What devastated the lands outside of Walls Maria and Rose had only begun to impact the rest of the world. But the worst was yet to come for the world. Oh, the worst had yet to come.

"Miss Reiss?" A young man asks her as he sees her holding her head in her left hand. "Are you feeling alright?"

Removing her hand from her face, she put on a smile and replied, "Nothing the sight of my family can't fix."

He sighs and nods in understanding.

"You're lucky to have your family in one piece, Ms. Reiss," he tells her.

"Thank you."

She walks away down the street, but her smile faded from her face as her gloom returned. The only thing she could draw out of the knowledge of events yet to transpire in the world was the least piece of detail relating to the unforgiving monster that hated them enough to ravage the world until they were all dead. And that detail…was the creature's designation, its name that would spread fear for years to come.

Godzilla, she thought, letting the name be shared to the Eldians across the world in other nations beside the one that was Marley. Its name is…Godzilla. That monster…will never forgive us for the actions of our ancestors.

-x-

Bash! A hand emerged from the rubble of Liberio, followed by another, pulling a man out from the debris.

"Aaaaahh!" Zeke Yeager, survived only because of the Beast Titan's regenerative power, yells in agony because he failed to save the city and his grandparents. "Aaaahh!"

Those that possess the powers of the remaining Titans…please…do all that you can…to protect those from the monster that will never forgive us for our ancestors' crimes against it and its kind, he recalls the voice of the Founding Titan saying to them, warning them of what was to come.

Even when he tried his best to stop the monster, his best…simply wasn't enough. Falling to his knees, he sobbed over his losses.

That monster, he thought bitterly, will pay for this.

-x-

Luck didn't cover the Panzer Unit's fate enough to ensure their survival. Not by a long shot. Because of Pieck's quick thinking and quicker response time, she pushed her Cart Titan to the brink of its abilities and early burned herself out, rescuing her crew, and the handful of people her Titan could carry, including Magath and the civilians he was with when that creature did what it did. Now, on the ground, miles away from Liberio, Pieck would likely be fortunate enough just to see the next day. She had never run that fast before in her life since receiving the Cart Titan from the previous holder.

"We failed," went Carlo in response to the knowledge that their home had been destroyed. "We threw everything at it…and we couldn't stop it."

"That was no Titan," said Magath to the unit. "That was a monster. A real monster."

"…Zilla," they heard Pieck say.

"What was that, Finger?"

"The monster's name…is Godzilla."

"Godzilla?"

"Taken from an old myth from a lost nation, referring to a beast from the deep."

"You mean, the Gojira tale?" Carlo asked.

"Godzilla? Gojira? What do they mean?" Magath wanted to know.

"Godzilla, Gojira…means 'God incarnate'."

"A god?"

"If that was a god," one of the other Panzer Unit members expressed, "then we're going to need help from whatever allies we have left right now. We can't fight something like that on our own."

Try as he might to deny it, Magath knew it was true. Marley's Liberio forces had been devastated and they only had two of their three remaining Titans to go against this…Godzilla. If they were going to survive, they needed all the help they could get from whatever allies they had after this show of force that seemed to only relate to the past and from a creature that carried a vendetta against the Eldians that wouldn't be satiated until they were all dead. Even though that meant destroying the rest of the world in order to do so.

"How soon before Finger can move again?" He asks the Panzer Unit.

"An hour? Maybe two-and-a-half?" Carlo responds.

Magath sighs and looks at the handful of civilians that had been saved from the destruction caused by this…Godzilla. The woman whose legs had been mangled and her daughters, a husband and wife, two brothers and two men with a little girl, all of whom had been from the internment zone, along with three Marleyan citizens and a small dog. Not something he was really proud of, but they were all lives he had a hand in saving because he felt it was the right thing to do in a situation as extreme as the one they were all in right now. And right now, their current forces were just…the Panzer Unit, a handful of soldiers specializing in the use of the Cart Titan due to its endurance and quadruped form. Not very effective, but the mere fact that they were alive showed that the Cart Titan's power was all the more invaluable to Marley after losing the Colossal, Armored, Female and Jaw Titans.

"This is really happening," said a Marleyan man holding the dog, "isn't it? This isn't a nightmare or some bad dream?"

"No, it's not a dream," answered the Eldian husband holding his wife's left hand. "That monster…took everything from us."

To be continued…

A/N: The second trailer that showed the visual weight of Godzilla's power was a perfect inspiration to the attack on Liberio. How many of you out there felt that if this had happened in place of the Rumbling, there would be a little more sympathy for everyone in the world? Personally, the mother and two children came from the original Godzilla film where it seemed hopeless to run for your life and just accept the inevitable, but I made Magath the hero in that scene because he was a military man committed to serving his country, no matter who lived in it. And as for the scene with Alma and Historia, I don't know for sure if I'll get rid of Alma, but until a final decision is made on her fate, she has a chance to do right by Historia in the meantime. This and the remaining people of Paradis as they try to make sense of this and prepare for Godzilla's eventual return to finish what he started with them.