"I'm sorry Reiner." Marcel blurted out, unable to handle the guilt of what he'd done to his friend any longer. The rest of his Warriors looked at him weirdly, but he didn't stop his confession.
"I'm sorry Reiner, the truth was, Porco was meant to be a Warrior not you. But, I stepped in. I put him down whilst putting you up, and because of that you've been saddled with all of this." Marcel put a tight fist to his face, crying and unable to look Reiner in the eyes.
He probably shouldn't have said that, there were possible ramifications of revealing his deeds, but Marcel needed to tell the truth. He needed Reiner to judge him for his actions.
"I'm sorry, Reiner." But, he knew it would never be enough. Reiner's lifespan had been brutally slashed down to twenty-two, he'd need to spend his whole life as a weapon for Marley, and he'd need to murder countless innocent people. And, it was all Marcel's fault.
He'd never bought into Marley's petty propaganda, with the history books sounding far-fetched to him. He didn't believe he was a devil like the Marleyans said, and he doubted the people on Paradis were all horrible either.
Reiner clearly did though, and what would that do to him?
Despite being arguably the worst Warrior candidate, Reiner was a good person in Marcel's eyes. He was compassionate, strong in his own way, and had determination in spades. He wasn't a cold hearted killer, and he didn't have it in him to be a monster.
The old him didn't, but the Reiner who'd become a Warrior might. Marley had ebbed away at all his good traits, turning a defender into a destroyer, and the monster they'd created would be set loose on countless innocent people. It was heart-breaking.
And it was all his fault.
Reiner stood, dazed as sweat began to gather on his forehead and denial entered his voice. "No, that's... that's not true. I'm- I'm a Warrior, the one Marley entrusted with the Armoured Titan-"
A sharp rumble from behind made Marcel's eyes stop leaking tears, with his other Warriors staring behind him with shock and fear reflected in their eyes.
It was obvious something was behind him.
Marcel shot up onto his feet, vaguely hearing Bertolt scream out. "It's a Titan! Run!"
He managed to turn just in time to see a Titan, painfully thin with hollow and tired eyes, lunge for him with it's hands poised to grab Marcel.
In that moment, Marcel went totally still as time seemed to slow down. He wouldn't be able to bite his hand, or even his lip, in time to transform. Even if he could, the fear was making his muscles all lock still. He was going to die, and there wasn't anything he could do to-
"Look out!"
Marcel felt a harsh shove, enough to knock him off his feet, and suddenly he was saved from becoming the Titan's feast. Though, it quickly became apparent that he wasn't the one who moved in time. It was Reiner. The one who was supposedly the weakest of all acted when the rest of them couldn't.
The blonde boy's face was full of fear and panic as the Titan picked him up by the waist, opening it's salivary mouth to claim it's next meal, and promptly shoved him down it's gullet and bit down.
As for Marcel? His world became a blur, and his muffled breaths were all he could register.
Marcel crashed onto the ground against a tree, his legs burning from the strain of running who knows how far on foot, and promptly unloaded the contents of his stomach onto the tree's base.
Exhaustion from sprinting so much might have been part his nausea, but mostly it was the reality of the situation that got to him.
"Reiner... he-" Marcel mumbled to himself deliriously, clutching his head as he keeled over onto the ground.
Reiner was dead because of him. Porco was meant to inherit the Armoured, not Reiner. Because of his selfish decision Reiner would never get to go home, he'd never get to hold Gabi, he'd never get to boast to his mother that he was a Warrior.
And he really was one, not Marley's warped meaning of the word, but he was a real hero. One who saved even the bastard who'd got him murdered.
A harsh kick to the stomach made reality catch up to Marcel, with him losing composure as he backed away thinking another Titan had showed up. But, he was only met with the sight of a panting Annie and Bertolt.
"You- run really fast... even more than normal." Annie spoke between harsh breaths, gritting her teeth in frustration. "Shit, that Titan- it really screwed us over. If we'd transformed then and there... well shit, Reiner's dead and gone now."
The reminder sent a stab of guilt into Marcel's chest, but it was only amplified when Annie stepped backwards and gave him a glance over the shoulder. "If you'd just kept your damn mouth shut... well, what's done is done. Even if he was the least skilled of us, the Armoured Titan was essential to breaking through the first Wall. Without it we can't complete the mission, there's no point in sticking around. We should grab the human who was that Titan and head back, if we return with the next Armoured and resume the mission later we'll be forgiven. Mostly anyway."
Marcel forced himself to calm down and considered Annie's words. She was right, all things considered, they hadn't lost any of their Titan powers. Marley would be annoyed that the Paradis operation would end up being postponed, but they wouldn't just feed them to someone else. Warriors were hard to train, and what happened was just bad luck. They'd get a verbal lashing, and maybe even a real one, but nothing worst than that.
He stood up, about to follow the other two and retrieve the Armoured, but then he was hit by a realisation that made his eyes bulge as he immediately yelled out. "No, we can't do that!"
Annie and Bertolt looked back, both of them appearing surprised as he continued. "We can still do this without Reiner, we just have to improvise a bit. We'll continue the mission as planned."
For a moment there was utter silence, before Annie's eyes went from wide to narrowed. "Ah, I see what it is. Reiner died, so if we retrieved his Titan and went back to Marley, then Porco would be the next Armoured. But, that's hardly a problem for me."
Marcel sweated as he internally cursed her sharpness. "But, going back now would be a problem. Marley sent us all out on a mission to save the world, to destroy this island and everyone on it, so what will everyone say if we were to return in defeat with one of us dead? Will Marley really just let that slide with a slap on the wrist?"
The shocked looks he got from Annie and Bertolt told him they were latching onto his words, so he continued to speak without thinking. "Going back for the Armoured might not be a good idea either. We've been separate from them for too long, they might have already transformed and gotten a head start on us. Even if my Jaw Titan is way faster, this island is too big. They could have run in any direction and we'd just waste our energy looking for them."
Bertolt's expression betrayed his doubt, and he retorted. "Learning to use your Titan takes practice. How on earth could they-"
"What about you! You mastered the Colossal Titan right away, so you tell me!" Marcel's voice was laced with desperation, and he knew that Bertolt didn't have enough of a backbone to speak back to him, and it was no surprise when Bertolt reeled back with an expression similar to his own.
"Going back to the dock without the Armoured Titan or Reiner is a horrible idea! And if we use up our transformations looking for the new Armoured and tire then we'll just be eaten! If we want to go home, if we want to see our families again, then we need to finish the mission! We need the Founding Titan!"
Annie's expression faltered, gritting her teeth as she showed visible frustration. "You know, all of that composure would have been really helpful back at the campfire. You chose to make Reiner a Titan, and because of that he was killed. Now, you're trying to force our hand and make us continue this doomed mission?"
Annie allowed her composure to slip as she moved, quick as water, and smashed her foot into the bottom of his chin. Marcel, though dazed, fought through the pain as his eyes turned feral and he lunged at Annie.
Grabbing her by the torso, he dragged her to the ground and wrapped his hand mercilessly around her throat. Annie might have been a pro-fighter, but she was acting out of emotion, and he'd already gotten her locked before she could do anything more than gasp and struggle against him.
Marcel knew those two were right, but he wouldn't allow Reiner's death to be in vain. Reiner died because of him, because he valued Porco's life above his friend's, and he'd be damned straight to hell before he let his brother inherit a Titan! Reiner would have died for nothing if that happened.
Reiner might have been dead, but his brother was still kicking, and Marcel wouldn't let his actions be pointless!
Annie grabbed at his arms, but his grip on her throat was like iron as he spoke into her ear. "I'm the leader here, and I say we're sticking this out till the end. Reiner might be gone, but it's not too late for the rest of us. We don't need him to go through with it."
Bertolt, tears starting to build up in his eyes, weightlessly whispering. "Stop this, please."
Marcel ignored him, keeping his hold on Annie's throat as he rasped out. "We need to do this, we need to complete the mission. After that we can go home."
Tears were in Annie's eyes, but she finally came to a decision as she slumped in acceptance.
Marcel in his Titan form watched from above the Walls, unable to look away from the absolute carnage he'd unleashed upon countless people. Titans were destroying everything, with people being stomped on, crushed, and devoured left right and centre. Children, men, women, they all screamed and begged for their lives so loudly that he could hear everything even from above the Walls.
If hell existed, then he'd surely created one for these island devils.
Marcel kept on repeating to himself that they were devils, despite every rational and emotional bone in his body saying otherwise, but it did absolutely nothing to detract from the guilt he felt when he realised what he'd done- no. What he was doing.
Bertolt had destroyed the outermost gate, letting in the mindless Titans to wreck havoc of this district, but it would be hours before he was rested enough to become the Colossal Titan again.
So, him, Annie, and Bertolt could only watch from above and witness the consequences of their actions.
In that moment, he couldn't help but think that maybe Reiner was the lucky one.
So, this might be a bit unoriginal, but this is just a place to scratch my itches and get scenarios off my chest. i might expand some of these into proper fics, but most of them will probably end up being one-shots.