It was a rainy day. Floch Forster, Erwin Smith and less than a dozen Yeagerists were rode on horseback toward the massive Titan forest. As they had arrived on the outskirts of the Titan Forest, they were met by an eager Levi Ackerman. But what shocked the Yeagertists was that they saw one of their heroes, Zeke Yeager was in Levi's custody. As some of the Yeagerists had gasped and looked on... they saw Levi holding and using Zeke as a hostage.

Zeke's body had was in a terrible condition. His skin had suffered second-degree burns and upper body and face appeared to have multiple red holes in his skin. His arms all the way up to his triceps had been amputated by Levi's blades. And Zeke would slowly gasp as could hardly breath as his lunges were slowly recovering. He was on his knees and he could barely see anything. He could not see the Yeagerists that were on horseback and miles in front of him.

One of the Yeagerists with short brown hair and a thin dark brown goatee around his lips was in great shock. He quickly aimed his rifle at Levi's head from a distance.

Levi glanced and noticed that Erwin Smith was with the Yeagerists... assuming that Floch is blackmailing him or holding him hostage. He then glanced at the soldier who aimed his rifle at him. He did not show an ounce of fear toward the Yeagerists as he slowly blinked.

"Hold your fire!" Floch yelled at one of his fellow Yeagerist.

"Go ahead. Shoot me. I dare you." Levi had taunted. "But just know. That if I go down..." Levi then held a blade close to Zeke's throats where small ounces of blood begun dripping from Zeke's throat. "I'm taking this bearded bastard with me. And when he dies, so does your little plan with this guy is." Levi said without an ounce of remorse.

A fellow Yeagerist with blonde short dark blonde hair, a thin dark blonde goatee and a pair of hazel eyes named Daniel. Daniel had held his rifle out, pointing it at the sky. Then aimed it directly at Levi's head out of spite. "Don't you dare kill Zeke!" He looked disgusted and worried as he watched Levi threaten to cut Zeke's throat. "Don't you dare hurt Zeke!"

Floch gasped when he heard his fellow Yeagerist yell. He looked behind himself "No, wait!"

As the Yeagerist soldier, Daniel pointed the barrel of his rifle at Levi's head from a few miles away, his right index finger was close to pulling the trigger. A second had passed and...

Bang!

Meanwhile...

Within an underground prison cell inside Shiganshina District... there are currently for members of the Survey Corp. such as Jean Kierstein, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse and the Squad Leader, Hange... whom had just recovered from a critical assault. The Marleyan chef, Niccolo was present inside the prison cell. Connie, Sasha, Niccolo and Hange were sitting at wodden tables, while Jean leaned his back against the brick wall.

"Would you like some more tea, Sasha?" Niccolo asked Sasha as he noticed that her teacup was empty.

Sasha gasped, happily. "Yes, please!" She said as she raised her teacup.

"Very well, then." Niccolo then stood from the table up and walked toward the six-inch tea kettle.

'I think I might need some more tea, too.' Hange reached her right arm out for her white teacup. As her hand was a few centimeters from grabbing the handle... the top of her head begun to hurt.

"Are you okay, Squad Leader?" Jean asked. Feeling concerned.

It had taken Hange to reply to Jean as she grasped the top of her head. "Yeah. I'll be fine, Jean."

"Are you sure?" Jean raised an eyebrow toward Hange. "Because, you don't seem like you're-"

"I said it's okay. You don't have to worry. Besides... I survived the Colossal's explosion four years, remember?" Hange said as she looked at Jean and pointed her left thumb at herself. "So, this is nothing."

As Hange had mentioned the Coloccus Titan's big explosion within Shiganshina, four years prior... Jean couldn't help but stare at Hange's eyepatch.

"Just let it go, Jean." Connie told Jean. "We don't know why Eren would suddenly turn on us and have Hange assaulted. It's like he's turned into a whole new kind of person."

"You mean a selfish jerkface?" Sasha had asked, before Niccolo had poured Sasha another cup of tea.

"I was gonna call him a piece of shit, but I guess that works, too." Connie replied to Sasha's comment.

"Assuming that Eren hadn't just lost it, I don't see why Eren would just doing what he's doing now without some kind of reason. It's like he's trying to tell us something." Hange said as she thought about Eren.

"A motive?" Connie asked.

Sasha was preparing to drink another cup of tea until she had heard footsteps from miles away. She then put down her teacup. "Someone's coming!"

Within another ten seconds, three people had appeared before Jean, Connie, Sasha, Hange and Niccolo. These people were Yelena, Onyankopon and Griez.

"It's an honor to see you all, heroes of Shiganshina. But not from across the bars." Yelena said in a polite tone.

Hange gasped. "Onyankopon? What are you..."

Connie gasped when he saw Onyankopon standing on the other side of the jail bars. He then ran toward the bars. "Wait a minute... you're on their side, too? Let us out!" Connie yelled as he demanded.

"Pfft." Onyankopon scoffed. "You are one to talk. After your Eldian people had arrested me and dragged me over to this island."

"What you are saying is partially true." Hange slowly stood on her feet from the table she sat at. "We did drag your ship onto our shores-but we did not put guns to your heads and make you teach us things about the outside world. We got to understand each other for the past three years. We're friends."

Onyankopon remained quiet as he knew that Hange was right. He remained silent for ten seconds. "Just sit here and wait. Zeke and Eren will come and make contact, soon enough." Onyankopon then turned his back away.

Hange frowned.

"Hey! We're not done asking you questions!" Connie yelled as he gripped the jail bars tightly.

Jean then walked toward the bars and faced Yelena. "Congratulations, Yelena. Things gotta be going well for you. Thanks to you, Eren has been brainwashed by Zeke's music. You got Zeke and Eren-who has the Founder. You can destroy Marley and get revenge for your mother land. That was the real reason why you volunteers came to this island, right?"

Yelena remained silent as she listened to Jean's speech.

Onyankopon gulped, then looked down and away from Jean. "We helped civilized this island. This place primitive place was a century behind compared to the rest of the world."

"What?" Connie asked in shock.

"Also, could you truly live as rulers if you had taken control of this island?" Niccolo asked as he looked at Yelena.

Griez stared at Nicolo, regularly. "You got tricked and you lost. That's all."

"Tch!" Nicolo grunted, than walked toward the cell bars and gripped it. "What was that?"

"You're the real traitor. You sided with the devils." Griez said with not an ounce of remorse, as he slightly glanced at at Jean.

"What do you mean?" Nicolo replied.

Griez then raised his left hand and pointed his left index finger at a certain direction.

"Huh?" Nicolo then followed Griez's left index finger and turned his head to see that Griez pointing at Sasha.

"She's your biggest weakness." Griez told Nicolo as he kept pointing at Sasha.

"What?" Nicolo asked as he looked at Sasha.

"I-I am?" Sasha asked as he saw Griez pointing at her.

Niccolo turned back to Griez in confusion. "What do-"

"You used to be a man who loathed Eldians for their lineage. But ever since you arrived-you've done nothing but warm up to them. Especially to this devil-blooded potato-grubbing Eldian girl." Griez said as he looked at Sasha.

"Don't say that about her!" Nicolo yelled as he was defending Sasha, verbally.

Sasha had left her table and stood on her feet. She had turned to fully face Griez and took five steps forward toward him. "I-I don't understand! Did I do something wrong?" Sasha asked Griez, feeling confused and concerned.

"Not to me. But your existence is what made the current Nicolo to be soft. How he blathers about you every night-as if he'd actually fallen in love with you." Griez told Sasha.

Sasha gasped after hearing what Griez said.

"Stop it, Griez!" Nicolo yelled as he extended his arms across the bars in attempt to reach Griez's jacket.

"You know it's true." Griez said. Then, he turned and looked at Sasha. "I honestly thought he would return to his senses after meeting you. But it looked like I was wrong." Griez then looked up at the barrel of the rifle that he was carrying for a moment and suddenly had thought of an idea. "Or maybe I'm not wrong, yet." Griez said, then grabbed his rifle with both hands and pointed the barrel at Sasha's face.

Sasha gasped as her eyes had begun to fill with horror as a rifle was pointing at her.

Onyankopon even gasped as he saw what Griez was doing. "Griez?"

"Sasha!" Connie screamed as he feared for her life. He tried to run toward Sasha, but...

"Stay where you are." Griez ordered Connie.

"Shit!" Connie cursed behind his breath as Griez had then aimed his rifle barrel at his chest. Connie knew that Griez was serious to shoot him without mercy as he had expressed himself disliking Eldians. Connie chose not to take another step as he did not want to be shot.

Jean growled. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jean asked as he saw Griez pointing his rifle directly at Sasha's face.

"Stop it!" Nicolo yelled.

"Yeah, let's not be hasty, here!" Hange said as she saw Griez point his rifle directly at Sasha's face.

"That goes for the rest of you. Don't move." Griez ordered Hange, Jean and Niccolo not to move from where they were standing and sitting.

"Stop him, Yelena! Sasha hasn't done anything to be put to death!" Jean yelled at Yelena.

Yelena remained silent and emotionless as she just watched Griez waving his rifle around. She blinked, once.

Griez then pointed his rifle barrel directly back at Sasha.

"D-do we even have to do this?" Sasha asked as she seemed a bit nervous, and her body had begun to shake a tiny bit.

"No. But I want to. With you dead, Nicolo would fall back in place." Griez said as he placed his hand on the trigger of the rifle.

"H-how about I just leave the island? That way, you won't have to see me again." Sasha said with a scared and nervous face. She knew that Griez could fire his gun at her at any moment.

"I doubt it. Nicolo would more than likely try to follow you-wherever you go." Griez said.

Sasha gulped as her face showed fear. Fear for her life being taken away. Sasha knew that Griez could end her life in an instant by pulling the trigger.

Griez stared solely at Sasha. His eyes showed no remorse whatsoever.

Nicolo growled at Griez. "Don't!"

"And for the record, I am more than glad to put down a devil's spawn, such as yourse-"

Bang!

Without hesitation or sound, Yelena had aimed and fired a her gun directly at the right side of Griez's head.

Griez's body had quickly tipped to his left as he fell onto the ground. Being left to bleed out on the ground. This action had shocked the Survey Corp. soldiers and Nicolo as they had no thought of Yelena killing her own subordinates.

"Yelena?" Onyankopon questioned as he faced her in shock.

Hange just stared at Griez's body as his head continued to bleed out from the side of his left head. She slowly lifted her eyes up at Yelena. 'She killed him without remorse.'

Connie quickly ran to Sasha. And as he approached her, he placed his right hand on her left shoulder. "Are you alright, Sasha?"

"Yeah. I'm okay." Sasha replied as she continued to stare at Griez's corpse.

"Sasha!" Nicolo cried out in relief as he had hugged her.

Sasha did not hug Nicolo back.

Yelena then leaned her head forward and bowed. "Sorry for his rudeness. This island has no need to curse you Eldians. And believe me. Our true purpose is nothing as hollow as making sure Paradis becoming a stable country. It is to severe the chains of hatred for all Eldians not only on this island... but for all Eldians that are living across the world."

"Severe the chains of hatred?" Jean asked.

"Wait, you don't mean..." Hange gasped.

Yelena nodded. "That's right. Allow me to explain it to you in its entirety. Zeke's plan to save the world. The plan of Euthanization."

Meanwhile...

Floch gasped after a gunshot had fired. He could not believe what happened in front of him. He and the other Yeagerist gasped when they heard a gunshot and looked down at the ground and saw that their fellow Yeagerist, Daniel fall off his horse and onto the dark green and wet grassy ground.

Daniel fall on his back, his eyes were completely open and his pupils did not move. A dark red circle appeared on his forehead as blood flowed out. He was shot in the head. His body had fallen off his horse and onto the ground.

Erwin did not react to the Yeagerist that attempted to shoot Levi get shot. Nor did he react to the sound of a gunshot. He just kept looking forward at Levi.

"H-he's dead!" Another Yeagerist yelled as they saw a bullet mark in one of their comrade's forehead. The dark blonde-haired Yeagerist died on the spot from shock.

"What?" Floch stopped looking at the corpse of his fellow Yeagerist, then turned toward Levi. 'That couldn't be Levi who fired. Then, who could've-' Floch then looked a bit higher and noticed the Titan Forest kilometers behind Levi.

What Floch Forster was not aware of was that there was a male Survey Corp. sniper was lying on his stomach on top of a large tree branch on the edge of the Titan Forest. Just lying in wait.

'Could there be another survivor inside the Titan Forest?' Floch had thought as he looked past Levi and at the Titan Forest. 'If so, where?'

"It looks like you've caught on quick." Levi said as he stared at Levi.

As the group of Yeagerists stared at Levi, after staring at Daniel's body. One of the Yeagerists suddenly looked up above Levi's head. He gasped and pointed. "Look! Above him!"

One of the Yeagerists gasped as they looked what was above Levi and gasped.

"What?"

Without warning, the Survey Corp. squad that was assigned to watch Zeke Yeager had suddenly made long jumps from the tall giant tree branches and directly toward the Yeagerist group by using gas from their vertical maneuvering gear. As most of them surround the group of Yeagerists, they quickly pull out their blades and guns in a hostile manner.

"Drop your weapons, now!" One of the Survey Corp. soldiers yelled to the group of Yeagerists.

The group of Yeagerists realized their outnumbered and they did not know what to do. Floch Forster did not know whether to fight them off or surrender.

"In case you're wondering..." Levi said, which caught Floch's attention. "A little birdie told me that someone's been pissing in our wine." Levi said.

The Yeagerists had gasped when they heard Levi mention Zeke's plan to drug the Survey Corp. soldiers with the wine tainted with Zeke Yeager's spinal fluids.

"Tch!"

"Yeah, that's right. We know about that, too." Levi said as he continued to grip his sharp blade and pull it closer to Zeke's throat.

"What? But, how?" Before Floch could finish asking that question, he felt the end of a rifle pointing at his lower back. Directly at Floch's lower spine. He gasped. "What the-"

"Don't move."

Floch heard a familiar masculine voice. He slowly moved his golden pupils to the right and discovered that the Yeagerist with the short brown hair and a thin dark brown goatee around his lips. His name was Harold and he had pointed his rifle at Floch's lower back. "What? Harold, you-"

"I understand what the Yeagerists are doing, Floch... but I still have a wife and son to look after." Harold said with a tiny bit of remorse in his voice.

Floch grunted in disgust. "Did you tell Levi about Zeke's spinal fluid was in the wine?"

Harold quietly nodded to him from behind. "I did."

Floch could not believe what he was hearing at the moment.

"Looks like you've been double crossed." Levi said, which caught Floch's attention.

"You had a double agent this whole time?" Floch asked.

"In case something like this happens-and I was right." Levi then looked down at Zeke who's in a weakened and recovery state. "Shall I do us all the favor and just-" Levi cut Zeke's throat a single centimeter deep. It wasn't fatal, but blood begun to poor a bit more from his throat.

Zeke coughed up a bit of blood from his mouth.

"Zeke!" Floch grunted as he knew he couldn't hurt Levi. Not as long as Zeke was in Levi's custody.

"I said, don't move." Harold said with a serious face.

Erwin Smith just looked at Levi, whom held a blade to Zeke's throat. He did not react to what was happening in the slightest. There was something in his mind that he was thinking about.

Flashback

Four years prior. Outside of the Shiganshina Gates, a one-armed Erwin Smith sat on a wooden box. Feeling depressed and hopeless, as Zeke Yeager was currently in his Beast Titan form throwing massive-size chunks of rocks toward the Survey Corp. from thousands of miles. Erwin was overwhelmed by the pressure-just by imagining all of his dead comrades staring at him.

Levi Ackerman stood in front of a depressed Erwin with a mild look on his face. He has never seen Erwin looked so depressed ever since he was dragged into the Survey Corp. Levi then narrowed his eyes and kneeled before Erwin.

"Give up on your dream and charge toward your death. And lead these crying babies straight into hell." Levi had referred to the Survey Corp. soldiers who are shrieking with fear. Including Floch Forster. "And I will bring the Beast Titan down."

Erwin continued to look down at the ground, momentarily. Then, a new spark of fire had appeared within his blue eyes. Once he glanced directly at Levi.

End Flashback

Erwin slowly blinked, once toward Levi's direction.

Floch who was still sitting on horseback and a rifle pointing at his lower spine decided to speak up and catch Levi's attention. "Okay. Okay, Levi. Just calm down and-"

"That's "Captain" Levi to you, redhead." Levi glared at Floch.

Floch's right eye twitched for a second. "R-right. Captain... Levi. Listen. We, the Yeagerists... we just want what's best for the New Eldia." Floch said as he tried to distract Levi with words.

"New Eldia? The last time I've checked, this island was called Paradis." Levi said.

"Y-yes." Floch then placed his right hand on his left chest. "And we, Yeagerists are still technically part of the Survey Corp."

"Really?" Levi asked.

"Yes, Captain." Floch said.

"Funny you say that, because the last time I've checked, comrades don't kill their own superiors." Levi said as he mentioned superiors. He thought of Dhalis Zachary.

"Tch!" Floch grunted. 'He knows about the bombing.'

"How about we skip the chit chat and get straight to the point?" Levi suggested.

"Really? Okay, then. What... do you want?" Floch asked.

"That brat Yeager." Levi said as he mentioned Eren.

"What about Lord Eren?" Floch asked.

'Lord Eren, huh? Is that what these wannabe-heroes address him?' Levi had thought. "You're gonna take me to him. But first, tell your fellow "Yeagerists" to drop all their guns. Now."

Floch stared at Levi in the eyes for a second. He knew that Levi was serious about his request. He noticed that Levi has not removed his blade from Zeke's damaged throat.

'As much as I want to fulfill my promise to kill this bearded bastard... I can't right now. Not until find Eren and kick some sense into the brat.' Levi had thought.

Erwin stared at Levi. He noticed how Levi didn't possess the intent in wanting to murder Zeke at the moment. 'Levi. You-'

"Alright. Alright, captain. You win." Floch said as he raised both his hands in the air to the same level as his face. His fingers were stretched out. "See? No guns."

Levi and Floch stare at each other in the cold rain.

To Be Continued...