Chapter 25:Home For the Infinite Losers

"Wounded? Gochan is wounded?" Concerned Lady Winter as she stared at the steaming cup of tea.

"Well ,Nile tried to hide it from me." Answered John Ingham, he tried to make sure of the Lady's face in the dim light. "But as you already know, we have other sources."

"Is he critical?" Asked Winters.

"Near death, my Lady." Answered John Ingham "Should we send some of our modern medical equipments? I don't think the primitive tools of these backward people can save our Champion."

"There's no need ,Jonathan."The Lady replied "If my theory is correct, he'll recover within a week. However,the real problem that he will get stronger afterward ,making him exposed. We need to extract him ASAP . How is his paperwork?"

John Ingham removed his glasses before answering "The good news is that it has completed. The bad news,according to Alpha, the Survey Corps have already dug in to the MrGohan's identity before the paperwork was updated."

"Oh,there will be drama." Lady Winters tapped on the table. "We might have to improvise."
"As we did before."Ingham replied.

Hell was a place that unfamiliar to Gohan, his father never told him how it was like,but it seemed that Gohan had to see it for himself. It was where he died, when he wash crush into a tree when he saved Petra- The Forrest of Giant Trees. He was wearing his purple gi, with the extra weighted clothes like Picolo's, he did not even die in those. He wandered around the forest,scanned every edge of it and stopped when he saw five green figures flying amidst the trees. He regconised them, they were Eren,Petra,Oulo,Eld and Gunther.

"Hey guys,I'm down here!"He shouted and waved his hands to them but it seemed that they could not hear him. "Guys?"

And then, another green figure appeared. The Five approached it, before whoever in that green cloak sliced Gunther nape, killing him.

"What? Gunther!"Said the squad as they scattered and fell back.

"Everyone run!"Screamed Gohan. The Monkey Boy followed them ,sprinted as fast as he could.

"Who is that? Is that the Female Titan?Another one?" Said Oulo.

Petra angrily turned back at their pursuer and screamed. "Come at me! I'll take you down even if it cost me my life."

"No,no,no,no. JUST RUN!" Gohan yelled.

A column of lightning emerged before the eyes of the Squad and Gohan as the Female Titan sprinted at the S .O. S .

"Okay,this time I'll do it." Eren started to put his teeth to his thumb "I can kill it!"

"No, Eren."Interrupted Eld "The three of us will kill it. You'll head back to HQ with top speed."

"NO, JUST LET HIM TURN. YOU ARE OUTMATCHED!"Gohan yelled at them as if they could hear him.

"No fucking way,I'll fight too."Yell Eren.

"No,we can manage this. Your power is too risky." Said Eld.

"YOU DO NOT HAVE A BETTER CHOICE, DAMN IT!"Gohan keep running to them.

"Hey, are you starting to doubt us." Added Oulo.

"Is that right,Eren? Have you lost faith in us?" Commented Petra.

Eren turned around and accelerate,leaving the squad.

"I trust you, you can do this. Good luck!"

"No,no. You have to have a mutual trust in eachother." Gohan stopped running to decide which direction he should follow,Eren or the squad. "You are a part of the squad. Come back!"

Gohan decided to run to the direction of the Female Titan,where Eld charged at it and retracted when it attempted to grab him. Then Oulo and Petra rush forward, successfully slashed the Titan's eyes. The Titan retreated, covered its nape with its hands and leaned its back to a tree.

"You got it incapacitated ,retreat!" Yelled Gohan.

Petra and Oulo sheared off the mussles and tendons in the Titan's arms and shoulders while they in midair. The squad repeatedly slicing the arms as they moved quickly as blurs .

"WITHDRAW!" Gohan finally came to the Titan's legs. He was still trying to reason with his squadmates.

Eventually ,the Female Titan arms were finally let loose. Seeing the opening,Eld charge toward the Titan's neck ,but when he about to swing his blade, he was caught in the Titan's teeth. The Female Titan then proceeded to bite him in half ,causing the shock of his remaining squadmates.

"Eeeellllddd!" Screamed Petra in terror as the Female Titan spat out Eld other half. And then she realized that the creature was aiming at her.

"No,you're not."Gohan punched the Female Titan in the leg,but the Female Titan went pass him like thin air.

The Female Titan ran at full speed to the now terrified Petra, she was unable to maneuver properly and glided in straight line. With such an easy target ,the Female Titan quickly stumped Petra to a tree,killing her.

"Hey,….. no … way ." Gohan slowly walked to Petra's corpse .

"Die!" Oulo went for the Titan's nape,but the blades shattered to the crystal . The Female Titan retaliated by kicking Oulo away to his death.

It had been three day after the expedition,Petra could not forget the death of her squadmate-Eld,the only casualty of the Special Operation Squad. Eld funeral had been held outside the squad's HQ, with his family and squadmates joined in grieve . Eld was a seasoned veteran and a good friend to all of the squad.

Another member of the squad, Gohan Son, who was unconscious and badly injured ,had show no sign of recovery. He was being fed by honey and water to keep him alive ,but if there was no chance of him waking up, he would become a vegetable. Petra, Eren ,Mikasa and the boy Armin visited him frequently in his room down the basement.

Petra hesitated for a while just before she turned the doorknob to Gohan's room. The Monkey Boy was lying motionlessly in his bed. His torso was covered in bandages, so was his head which also covered his right eye. Gohan 's right arm was put to a splint while his broken right leg was in a plaster cast. Should he wake up,it would be quite a time for him to be able to walk again.

Sitting in a chair next to the bed was Eren,who had been there since morning.

"Anything?"Asked Petra.

"What'd you think?"Answered Eren.

"Not even a movement?" Concern Petra.

"Well ,if you count his breathing chest." Eren's answer caused Petra to be even more frustrated. "You know?This is much much much much worse than the time I first met him."

"The time you first met him?"Petra got curious .

"Oh,right, we've never told you guys about that."Then Eren proceeded to tell Petra how his father found him in the forest and brought him to their home. How badly injured Gohan had been and how the Monkey Boy snuck away despite such injuries. How he managed to saved Armin by beating up three bullies. How Eren's family took him in . Petra widened her eyes when Eren mention how Gohan saved Carla and that they had thought he had been dead.

"Not the last time he cheated death."Commented Petra.

Gohan did not know how long he had cried and knelt near Petra corpse ,which was pinned to a tree.

Her spine was crushed, her eyes wide open with all the blood came out of her nostrils. Gohan tried to grab her for several time but his hands went pass her like they were nothing.

"Look at that, our little Gohan has finally fallen in love."Gohan heard a very familiar voice.

"Mr…. Mr Piccollo?" He turned around to see his green Namekian mentor. "Why are you here?"

"None of us is supposed to be here. Walk with me ,I want to show you something." Said Mr Piccolo as he walked away.

"I … don't understand." Gohan struggled to get on his feet, he pointed at Petra and the rest of the K. I. A of the S. O. S . "I saved them."

In response to what Gohan had said, Piccolo grimaced and looked at the severed body of Eld.

"Most of them,they were supposed to stay alive." Gohan could not be any more confused . "Mr Piccolo, why is this happening?" He asked him as he followed him.

"Because that you weren't here,Gohan." Piccolo never stopped walking "This is an alternate timeline where you never appear, as you should be."

"Timeline?" Asked Gohan "Like Trunks's?"

"You were not in this timeline. Those people were all supposed to die,so they died." Piccolo looked around as if he was looking for something.

"Like Mrs Jaeger, Mina's squad,The Garrison Elites?"Gohan flashbacked to his previous dreams.

"And a lot of people you shouldn't have save."Said Coldly Piccolo . "Look."

Gohan looked at the direction which Piccolo pointe at to see dozens of dead scouts. Some were mangled to their cables, some were crushed to the trees.

"Who are these people?"Trembled Gohan.

"The ones who stall the Female Titan under the order of the Human Freeza."Answered Piccolo. "If he hadn't taken you here, you would have been able to save them."

"Who's he?" Asked Gohan.

"You owe him."What Piccolo said give Gohan more question than answers. "Soon he would wish for you to fuse with him. Accept it!"

"I do not understand!"

"Now, it's the time for you to wake up,Gohan!"

"Wha-"Gohan opened his eye, he could feel pain all over his body. He regconised that he was lying in his and Eren 's quarter. And then he heard the door opened where Eren came in. The short boy turned to him, he was frozen for a moment before dropping the bowl he was holding.

"GOHAN WAKES UP!Gohan's awaken!GUYS,HE WAKES UP!"Screamed Eren as him sprinted out of the room.

It was never an easy job ,Paper works, Erwin had to list the casualties ,deaths and wounded alike and sent the condolences to each next of kin. Calculate the surplus of the supplies and refilling them was not easy either. One of Erwin other jobs was to find the identities of the Colossal Titan, the Armoured Titan and the Female Titan.

"Commander Erwin, we have some updates on the Female Titan identity." Reported Hange. "Armin Alert and Mikasa have reported suspicious resemblance of the Female Titan to their fellow cadet at the Trainee Corps."

"Who is it?" Asked Erwin.

"One of the Top Ten. Currently served in the Military Police. Annie Leonhardt." Hange replied. "Another thing, we've sent scout to Wall Sina to do some background check on some of the Cadets, we've found some suspicious individuals, Gohan is one of them."

"What do you mean. That's Gohan might be a Titan?" Disturbed Levi when he heard his squadmate's name. "He was in Shinganshina when both the Armoured Titan and the Colossal Titan appeared. I can vouch for the boy."

"Explain,Hange. Why is Gohan in the list?"Ask Erwin.

"We found no file of him."The section commander answered .

"What do you mean?" Asked Levi.

"He lied about who he really is. He's hiding something."

"What do you suggest?" Asked Erwin.

"Levi and I will arrange for the capture of Leonhardt. At the sametime, Mike will put the suspicious cadets under survailance ." Hange replied.

"I see." Said Erwin before he turned to Levi. "Has Son wake up?"

"He has, he currently raiding the Special Operation Squad's pantry as we speak."

Dirty bowls and dishes were place into columns in Gohan's room. When he had waken up, Gohan had ate half of the HQ pantry like he had no injuries.

"I believe that you've eaten your fill?" Asked Petra.

"Yeah, I'm full." Gohan tapped on his belly just to regret imediately due to the pain.

"Careful with that. You forgot that you are hurt,didn't you?" Concerned Petra.

"I didn't think it would be that hurt."Replied Gohan.

"None of us thought that you would make it." Added the brown head.

"None of you would have thought that way if you had heeded my advice."Gohan commented on the action of his squadmates in the expedition.

"Hey,fuck you, you don't need to bring that up. Eld's dead!" Petra slapped Gohan. "Sorry."

"I might have crossed the line there." Gohan held his cheek,thankfully Petra hit his left.

"Well,since you've already brought that up, I want to asked you why?"

"Well ,I think because that the first thing that came up to my mind."Answered Gohan, just to meet another slap from Petra "Ow."

"What I meant is, sorry, Why did you risk you life to save me?"

The words 'I'll do it to everyone' about to escape Gohan mouth,but something was not right. He thought back to the dream where Petra had died and he how depressed he felt about that.

"I ….. Think it … I think it would be better if you lose me rather than I lose you."

"Aw." Petra tried to hide her blush. "That sounds a bit selfish."

"It's not selfish it's sacrificial! !"

"Pretty selfish to me!"

"IT'S SACRIFICIAL !" Blushed Gohan "It's just that ….. you mean a lot to me."

"Oh" Petra was frozen for a moment after she recoiled ,then suddenly she leaned down to Gohan's face.

"Petra?"

"Just shut up."Petra pressed her lips onto Gohan's,the next things he know was that Petra got on top of him,it was painful yet pleasant. Neither of them had many sleeps that night

This one is a rather short chapter and sorry that I rushed the romance

Next Chapter:Stohess