Chapter 39: The End Justifies the Means.
Rod Reiss had not receive any news from Sannes for hours. The Military Police section that were sent after Eren Jaeger had not return either. According to the most recent inteligence, Eren Jeager ,along with nine other scouts ,were seen with the Alpha Yamcha. Yamcha had dragged those scouts along with him to many of Bulma Winters' establishments, the Papa Wolf thought no one would see him and the scouts in their ridiculous orange outfits, or should anyone saw them they would not report them, he was wrong. Anywhere Yamcha was, Eren must be with him.
"We tried to kill Yamcha twice and it didn't work." One of the nobles commented, "Reiss ,what were you thinking? That a third time will make a different?"
"Sannes' task was not to kill the Alpha, Lord Deltoff. His sole priority was Eren Jaeger, the plan was to skirmish the Alpha and obtain Jaeger amisdt the chaos." Calmly exlained Reiss to his council.
"Your prudence proves appreciable ,Lord Reiss, but I do not confident that Captain Djel Sannes and his unit would meet any decent fate."Frowned Roderick, another member of the ruling council. "It's safe to assume that he and his men are dead and the mission has failed."
Many of the council murmured in agreement, many of them were the witness of Lady Winters ascension to power. If anyone knew about Yamcha's capabilities other than his Wolfpack, the Royal Government did.
"That's most likely, Yamcha could kill many of our best MPs back in the days, on his own not to mention." Another advisor spoke. " Now he has those scouts on his side, I doubt the mission would result well."
"Where's Historia?" Tried his hardest to ignore his council's banter, Rod Reiss shifted his priority.
"She's with Erwin. Her squad is residing in Trost at the meantime." Said a council member. "What of her?"
"Have we not a squad to acquire her?" Frowned Rod Reiss.
"Dealing with Bulma ought to be our priority. With the death of John Ingham, she must has caught wind of our plans." Protested Roderick, leaving his seat. "We should call off our attacks tomorrow."
"No, there more we delay our attacks, the more she have time to mobilize her troops, erradicating her will prove more and more unlikely as time passes." Disagreed Rod Reiss, he left his seat and approached his pier. "If we don't attack her now, it'd be us she be attacking!"
"It's easy saying that! But she has her Wolfpack and Yamcha. Yamcha! Let us not forget how he slaughtered our men when we first met him." Another member of the Royal Government stood up. "Now she has Gohan Godsend on her side, that's the name the peasants give him. If Nile's reports are true, he's personally killed the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan, which means he's ten times over more dangerous than Yamcha."
"Lady Winters' bastard is the reason why I have to hasten her disposal. Bulma Winters is hated by the people as much as we hate her, but her son is the contrary." Rod Reiss faced the King,Fritz, who was idly sitting on his throne, indifferent on his 'advisors' debate. "From his feats back in Trost, Expeditions, and the slaying of the two Titans that were responsible for Fall of Maria; Gohan Winters has gained the love of our subjects, OUR SUBJECTS , more than they do us. That foreigner woman, her plan all along, was to make her foreign son the new king. Those foreigners wish to overthrow our king, and enslave our people under their yokes. Their plans must be stopped, TOMOROW!"
"That blue-haired bitch!" Deltoff slammed his hand on his chair. "We must arrest Gohan as soon as he return to his barrack."
"For the love of the gods, have you even listened? The Lady's already got wind of our plans, she won't let her son return to Stohess." Protested Roderick.
"Our best wager is the attacks tomorrow. For the sake of humanity, we must have Eren and Historia. For the sake of humanity, Gohan and his followers must die!" Rod Reiss deadpaned.
The advisors, moved by Lord Reiss' speech, unsettled themselves from their seat. They cheered and applauded at the Lord's inspiring and convincing words.
Gohan was sitting in a carriage as Top Beta Bury acted as his coachman. Following him was a squad of riders from the Survey Corps, Gelgar, Historia and Nanaba. Erwin had sent them to aid the Castle, to aid their former squad leader. Hange and her squad would catch up to them, with 'mother'. Gohan was flustered with anger, silently insulted the Military Police uniform he was wearing, the outfit whose wearers were responsible for the death of Jonathan. He saw many death before, but yet when Jonathan's body had been brought to him and Bulma, he felt more emotional than when he saw the deaths before. Maybe because of Jonathan was from his world, destroyed by a band of space pirates that he had to flee to this world, he had had hope of return to his home, yet the Royal Government took it from him. Jonathan could no longer go home.
"We're here, my lord. This is the Wolf's Den." The carriage stopped at a small fortress which was covered in vines, barely camouflaged it amisdt the trees. Awaiting outside them were Eren, Petra, Mikasa and Connie.
"Who would have guessed that the blu... Lady has such a fort in the middle of nowhere." Gelgar commented on the Wolf's Den. He cautiously looked at the carriage, which door was open and walked out Gohan. "Squad Leader, I mean, Captain."
Gohan stared blankly at the fortress before him. He just considered what to do with Bulma's offer. If him becoming king could bring his friends back to his world and better the lives of the people here, he would do it. But he would have to become stronger too, as strong as when he fought Cell, which he has to become a Super Saiyan, or else he and his friends would be greeted by Bojack when they get home. He would have kept overthinking for hours should Petra had not lunged at him and hugged him.
"Gohan, I'm very sorry." Gohan hugged her back, and he kissed her in the lip. "I know you and Mr Inham were close." She broke off from the kiss.
"I won't let it happen to you." Gohan caressed Petra's cheek, just the thought of what had happened to Jonathan happened to his family boiled his blood. He glanced to Eren, Mikasa and Connie, and noticed that they were wearing, orange gi, and he stared at Petra, she was wearing the same thing. "I haven't seen these for years. It gave me pride that they are donned by the most worthies ."
"Wait, so you've seen these uniforms before? These are real? Not a prank the Alpha pulled on us?" Connie deadpanned.
"Why would he do that? Doesn't matter, we have more important issues. Where is he anyway?"
"Where'd you think?" Mikasa glanced at the Wolf's Den. "Seeing what Yamcha did to those MPs, I stopped asking why you're so strong, Gohan."
Gohan's heart sunk when Mikasa reminded him of what happen only a few hours earlier ,the Yamcha he once knew bathed himself in the blood of dozen of MPs. They were bad people of course, but from the story he heard about his father struggles with the Red Ribbons Army, there were too few instances where he killed people, most of the time his father would deal with hostile humans with non-lethal approaches. The story Hange told him of the Cadet fight with the Interior Police shocked him completely, Gohan was not the slightest recognized the man she had described, the Yamcha of the Z Fighters who fight for rightousness he once known, but a blood thirsty killer.
Connie and Bury opened the door of the fortress, Gohan led the team to enter and that was when he where he heard the scream. The scream and grunt echoed through out the walls of the Wolf's Den, which lived up to the name, whoever that was not a Wolf enters here would never meet a decent fate. And the sounds of punches being thrown could be heard as Gohan and the Scouts and Bury were walking on the stairs.
"Whoever told you 'third time's the champ' must have not specify it does not apply to me." Gohan could hear Yamcha's voice from the other side of a metal door. A door of a room which he speculated to be a interrogation room, he could smell the blood from where he stood. He opened the door, and sight inside would succeed in making Gohan to throw up all his insides .
Levi and Gunther were standing beside Yamcha, whereas Sasha,Ymir and Jean stood in the corner. The prisoner, Sannes, all bruised and scarred and bloodied. His face was barely recognizable, the area of his face that was not swollen was litte. His wrists were restrained to the chair with barbwire, all his fingernails were remove and his fingers were bleeding, his torso was ridden with scars, both his kneecaps have a gunshot wound on each. Yamcha was standing in front of the said prisoner, with blood on his knuckles.
"He haven't said shit!" Eren told Gohan, starred dagger at Sannes. "The Alpha has been toturing him for an hour and he either stay silent or throw insults."
"Any luck in our absent?" Asked Petra
"Depends." Yamcha stepped away from the prisoner. The Alpha frustratedly sat on the table nearby.
"Depends on what?"
"Depends on whether you consider he rambling about his undying loyalty to current King and 'glorious deed' on murdering inventors luck." Levi crossed his arms and eyed their prisoner.
"Inventors?" Gohan was puzzled, he knew about the unwritten ban on innovation, he had never heard about any inventors during-that aside Bulma, nor did he ever though the punishment would be severe.
"The fuckers of the First Interior Squad butcher some pioneering teacher, and this couple who invented hot-air balloon." Yamcha reached a towel to clean the blood off his hand, he was shaking with anger, not only for Jonathan's death but perhap at the MP's atrocities. "Do you know what that mean, Gohan?"
"These bastards have hindering humanity's chance of survival!" Felling his blood boiling, Gohan charged at Sannes, attempted to throw a fist at him. Yamcha stepped between the half-saiyan and the prisoner and quickly restrained his fellow Z-Fighters. "Those Titans outside could've been easily dispatched if your technology, namely military, was advanced enough and you murdered any one who tried to improve it."
"No, no, no, it's not time for you to get your hands dirty for this kind of work, not yet." Gohan was stronger than Yamcha, the Papa Wolf knew this better than anyone in this room, but he knew Gohan would listen to him, his words was able to weaken Gohan's charge that enabled him to push the Monkey Boy away from Sannes. "My hands are already dirty, just leave it to me."
All the men and women in the interrogation had already seen Gohan tightly grips his hands into a fists before he charged Sannes, he clutched his fists so hard that the fingernails had pieced his skin that blood been dripping endlessly. So many catastrophes, so many deaths, so many bloodshed could been avoided if the people here were allowed of more technological innovation, if they were allowed to improve themselves. The Titans could have been easily dealt with if the people of the Wall could have accessed to a much better arsenal than those they were having. They would not have even needed him. But those corrupt aristocrats denied for some unspoken reasons.
"You freak, you and your whore of a mother would never understand it. I, we all did it for a greater good." Sannes sneered at Gohan with an audacity that would never be rivaled, he must have done it in an attempt to make Gohan kill him in anger, he would have succeeded if Yamcha had not backhanded him to silent.
"That is not the information I need, you reactionary trash!" And then whoever could sense energy in the room, sensed it. "You wouldn't be able keep the information that I need now."
The door creaked open, and two figures entered the room, Bulma and Hange, the former carried and metal container, both females slowly scowled at Sannes, like the both of them would feast on him alive.
"So Reiss no longer to do business with me, does he?"
"I believe you already have your answer." The bruises pained the MP face every time he smiled.
"Consider our truce canceled then. Will you answer anymore of my questions?" The Blue-haired woman approached the culprit that drew first blood to her countryman.
"Kiss my ass! Fuck you!" Blood splatter on her face as he spat on her, Yamcha and Levi were about to retaliate in her stead but she stopped them before they could land any hit on Sannes, anymore hit that is.
"No, torturing him is not working, but I can still make him talk." Bulma took a towel from Yamcha to clean her face, and calmly slower her breathe before she placed the container on the nearby table. She unlatched it, and took out a jet syringe and a vile that contained yellow liquid. "With science."
"The fuck is that? What are you going to do to me with it?" Sannes recoiled, trying his best to back away from Bulma as she extracted the liquid from the vial to the syrringe, but he stayed stationary.
"Truth Serum." The scouts and the prisoner gasped in awe, though they once heard about such chemical, but all of them believed that it was only myth, a scare tactic made up by law enforcement. It could be a ploy by Lady Winters, her bluff, but by the facial language of the Lady and her tone, and the scouters she gave the Survey Corps remove all their doubts, Sannes kept his, however. "It take it effect fast, as soon as I put this in you, you will answer every question I ask you faithfully. That effect only last for 3 minutes, but I think I get what I need in that time. However, those three minutes shouldn't be what you concern; after those minutes your brain will be so damaged that you can never speak right, you mind will never function, you will be nothing but a motionless pile of meat and bone that has its heart and liver prolonging your suffering. A suiting fate, for a monster like you."
"Monster? You have the audacity to call me that after what you did?" Sannes did not hide his fear, but he was able to pair it with his anger as he look at Yamcha and Bulma. "Your hands are as much tainted as mine, the lives that you took are as many as mine. Did you ever tell your son what you did at the Salt Mines?"
"What happened at the Salt Mines? What did you do?" Gohan's face became pale as he heard the MP, he knew that Yamcha and Bulma had done unspeakable things when they arrived in this world, but his heart was too painful to find out specifically what his old friends' atrocities were.
"From a monster to another," Bulma ignored Gohan's question entirely, and neither her face nor Yamcha change their shade like the Monkey Boy. "Are you going to answer my questions?"
"No, I'm not." Answered Sannes, defiance till the end. And Bulma replied by pushing the needle into the gunwound on his knee.
"Wrong, you are." And she injected the serum in him. Djeil Sannes' body shook horrendously for couples of seconds and his head collasped down to his knee. Bulma did not lie, the serum took effect quickly. "Who killed Jonathan?"
"I don't know."
"What plan Rod Reiss has for the Wolfpack and the Survey Corps?"
"The Military Police are being mobilized, regular and the First Interior Squad, to launch a simultaneous attack on both the Wolfpack and the Survey Corps."
Everyone's eyes become widened as they heard the answer, the only person who remained composed was Bulma.
"How and when?"
"The main assault will be at Castle Jutnar and the Survey Corps HQ. Death squads will be assigned to hunt down any straggler who is not in those location. The attacks will be conducted by dawn."
Petra, Hange, Oulo, Gunther and Levi stared at eachother for a brief moment and it was Hange who spoke up.
"That plan may change, they must assume we've already learn about this." Of course, any smart person who came up with such a plan like this should have a contingency plan for situation like this, they could always assume that their original plan was compromise. The Royal Government were not fools, especially Rod Reiss, once they believed that they plan had been revealed to the enemy, they should change it. The attack Sannes told them about could possibly has been cancel, postponed or …. hastened. "They could've already been attacking those place right now, as we speak."
"We should move, now." Added Petra.
"Oh my god, my mother's at the Castle." Shrieked Eren as he rushed to the door, many of the scouts,including Gohan followed him as they feared for their comrades and family.
"No one leaves this room, and you all stay quiet!" Ordered Bulma, and the scouts who were about to leave stop at their tracks.
"You killed Nick because you wanted to silence him, what are you guys trying to hide by doing that?"Bulma continued her interrogation.
"King Fritz is not the true mornach."
Before the room could make any reaction to the revelation, Bulma gesture a finger to silence them.
"Then who is?"
"The Reiss family. It's them who know the secret of the Titans, only them."
"Reiss? Like Rod Reiss?" Yamcha was almost as shock as anyone in the room when he heard the name, and like everyone else, he stared at Historia. "Like Historia Reiss!Of course! Man, the fucker actually better than wwe give him credits for. Keeping that information away from us for so long, well, he's good. So what relation between Rod and Historia? And you've mentioned Jaeger when you came to us, why do you need him?"
"She's his daughter. And he needs Jaeger to utilize the secret he has on the Titans."
"Why? Why do you need Eren?" Before the Lady could intervene, Mikasa hands were gripped tightly on Sannes' shoulder.
"I don't know."
"I suppose you know nothing on the secret of the Titans?" Bulma gently pushed Mikasa aside as she continued.
"No, I know nothing of it, just that Lord Reiss knows."
"Do any of your men know about it?"
"No."
"Good, assuming you their superior, they can't know more than you. I'm gonna bet on that. You did good, Sannes. Now let's save you from a fate worse than death. Yamcha!" Following Bulma cue, Yamcha pulled out his pistol and swiftly put a bullet into the MP's head.
The gunshot echoed in the tight enclosure deafen Gohan and his unprepared comrades. The gunshot only deafened Gohan physically, but watching his longtime friend just unhesitatingly execute a human being and his other longtime friend ordered him to do it before that.
"Yamcha!" Exclaimed Gohan as soon as his ear stopped ringing.
"The six extras that you've brought here with him. I doubt they can give us more information than he did." Bulma ordered Yamcha again. "Could you kindly safe them from the torture Mr Sannes here had suffered." Yamcha nodded and went to the door and exited the room.
"Yamcha!" Gohan called out to the former Z Fighter, whom stopped in his track and turned to look at him. "What exactly happened to you?"
"Fifteen years, Gohan. Fifty years too fucking long!" Answered Yamcha before turned away and strode from Gohan's line of sight, he could still sensed him thought. The Papa Wolf's energy went downstairs and approached six different source of energy, and then he heard gunshots, six of them, for every gunshot, each energy's source vanished.
"Jonathan and Him, is much like You and Piccolo." Gohan felt a hand pat on his shoulder, he knew whose it was, and he angrily shoved it away. "Jonathan's death, hit him hard."
"Okay, I hate disrupt your family drama, but what should we deal with the information we've just obtained?" Asked Jean, all of the information they had just heard puzzled him and the majority of the scouts, as much as what they were observing on Gohan's dysfuntional family.
"Yeah, my Lady, why don't you let us leave, our HQ and Castle Jutnar could be in danger by now." Said Sasha as she was as agitated about the imminent attack that could had already happened as her fellow scout.
"The Royal Government will not change their plans. They will not cancel the attack, nor will they postpone it, nor hasten it." Bulma firmly assured her allies.
"Why the fuck you so sure about it?" Eren lashed out at Bulma, he had a very good reason to do so. "Or you're just fucking bluffing? My mother is at the Castle, you brought for god's sake, are you gonna risk my mother life over what exactly?"
"They won't, I know how they operate. They need the entirety of the Military Police to launch such an attack. They need the support of the mass, a good excuse to do so, a lie they need to use as their justification of war." Explained Bulma, but the scouts surrounding her, including her 'son', were not so convinced. "I know Rod, alright. I know his council. They fear me, that's why they do this. But also because of that, they would more careful on executing their plans on executing me. You're right, they must've already known that I know now, but they won't change their plan."
"Bulma, you're the most intelligent person that I've ever known," Gohan shared his doubts to his 'mother', unawared that his new world friends had fixated on him calling his mother by her name. "but there's a high possibility that you have miscalculated our foes. For seriousness, you've been here for 15 years, battling the Royal Government in this twisted political game of yours, but you couldn't figure out that the Reiss were the real Royal Family."
"Perhaps I did. Perhaps I do, Gohan. But I still has one thing to assure me that at least Castle Jutnar is still secured." Unlike her 'son', Bulma did notice the facial reaction of the scouts when Gohan spoke to her. She stepped closely to Gohan and whispered in his ear. "Motion Sensors above the Bunker! I have a mini monitor with me. If the Castle is attacked, it would beep like crazy." And she showed him a device in her jacket, it had the same design as his world police computer, she only opened her jacket enough for Gohan to see it.
Gohan became more relaxed, he still tensed of course because he got to see a fraction of Bulma and Yamcha corruption, but knowing that Mrs Jaeger and perhaps hundred of staffs there were safe, he became more relax. He turned to his fellow scouts and he gave them a reassuring smile, which instead of feeling reassured, they were puzzle.
"So mother is safe?" Asked Mikasa, to which Gohan nodded and patted on both Eren and her shoulders. "That does not mean the Corps HQ is." Gohan gazed at Bulma again.
"For the time being, until dawn, both locations are all right. If your HQ in Wall Rose is under attack, the Castle would know." Bulma reassured the group once more, and perhaps the last time. "The Scouts in the HQ would regroup to Castle should the attacks happen separately. The MP would prefer to strike the Wolfpack and the Scouts at the same time, so we couldn't be able to aid each other."
Bulma's words made sense, this was coordinated attack, the Royal Government would commence a divide and conquer tactic and eliminate two military organization at once. Thought Castle Jutnar was locate in Sina and the Survey Corps at Trost, the distance was too far, but the Scouts could still manage to relocate to Castle Jutnar if they go by waves and in small groups and vice versa. But as the Wolfpack-Survey Corps alliance had already knew about this, if the Royal Government have intention to change their plans, perhaps the alliance should make some counter plan on this matter. So, Hange voiced her opinion.
"We should either move the Scouts from the HQ to the Castle or move the Wolfpack to the HQ. It is easier to defend one location than two."
"How about we all relocate to the Wolf's Den, we'll time to prepare here after dawn." Suggested Gunther, clearly he was convinced that the Wolf's Den was defencible.
"This place can't house that many people. And screw defending," Rebutted Nanaba before she made her suggestion. "we should go to the offensive, the enemy would not expect that we would attack them, and we might be able to outnumber them also."
"No battle plan for now, we still have plenty of time for that." Spoke firmly Bulma, her calm demeanor got everyone confuse considering her base was facing imminent assault. "We need to sort out our other source of intelligence before we can get to that. Section Commander Hange, it's the right time, to carry out what we've been discuss about back at the castle."
"My lady, now?" Eyes directed at Hange as she answered, what did the Scout Section Commander had discussed with the Lady, and why?
"The men and women in this room might not get the chance to hear it tomorrow."
"My lady, what could possibly more important than our defenses tomorrow?" Asked Ymir, she had been told that Bulma Winters was cunning, malignant politician but what she had been observing from the Lady were just illogical decisions.
"The truth about the world. The truth about these Walls. The truth about the homeland of Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner. The truth about your homeland, Lady Ymir." Ymir's spine frozen at the moniker that Lady Winters called her.
"Wait, what do you want with her?" Historia rushed over to shield Ymir, and gripped the She-Gollem hand tightly. If Historia and/or Ymir had any hope of escaping the situation, it vanished the moment the Alpha reentered the room. Once he saw Historia and Ymir's tense postures, he simply shrugged and leaned his back on the entrance.
"Ilse Langnar, the squad leader that my son has saved, has handed Erwin and his subordinating officers quite a bit of valuable information." Continued Bulma and she reached out her hand, Hange was giving her a notebook. "And Erwin had trusted me enough that he orders Hange to share this finding with me. Before Gohan saved her …. Gohan, back me up here... the Titan that was about to kill her mentioned your name ….. it spoke, Ymir, it spoke your name. And called her 'Subject of Ymir'."
Historia and Ymir twisted their heads to Gohan, who clarified things with his mother.
"That Titan, I saw it bowed before Ilse when I rushed to save her, I didn't put my mind to that detail much. Then that thing put her in its mouth, it was when I slew it. I didn't know that it spoke."
Ymir grimaced at Gohan testimony she did not know how to feel about that. Betrayed? Gohan was backing up his mother, who she suspected if she was his real mother or not as Gohan and Bulma conversed in the way that normally no son and mother would. Frustrated? Gohan did not even knew about the Titan speaking ability, he had only saw some of the action the Titan did before attempted to take Ilse life; but what he saw was enough to support the Lady's theory. Scared? Of course, she should scare, there was no way she could deny the Lady on this matter, by the She-Wolf's demeanor alone, it was seemed that she already had concrete evidents.
"Before you have any witty response, Ymir. I'm gonna tell you of what I know before Erwin shared this to me." The Lady's face became relaxed, and somewhat more gentle than she usually was, which caught everyone off guard. "I know that the Titans were Human Being, either by dark magic or a work of evil science that turned them to what they are now. That I know there's civilisation beyond the Walls, if this is an apocalypse like the those liars in the government told us, the Titan Shifters like Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner shouldn't have existed in the first place." Ymir was not the one who found these finding shocking. "And you're also a Titan Shifter, you bit my son's fingers clean off, in his Oozaru form, which should impossible, but that not what we should find out for now, it is just that it proves that like those three Titan Shifters that infiltrated us, you came from where they came."
"Much like Reiner, Annie and Berthold." Added Hange. "We're unable to find your paperwork. You claimed that it was lost after Wall Maria, but the three Titan Shifters use the same excuse. And by Lady Winters' deduction, there's no denying in this matter."
"The fuck does this mean? You've been withholding crucial this whole time?" Levi stared dagger at Ymir, his orange Gi was shaking with anger, contrasting his emotionless face. "You know how many people have died, trying to find the truth? And you know something about it, and you think it's the best option not to talk?"
"Stand down, captain. There's no need to put pressure on the girl." Ordered Bulma, but Levi kept staring at Ymir, the Lady notice that many senior member of the scouts shared the same anger. "We... I wish not to coerce the truth out of you, Ymir. You maimed my son, but there was no reprisal from me. You must know from that I mean you no harm, Ymir. You won't have to do this alone. There's someone else that will testify with you, and like her, there's no harm will come to you." Bulma gently pat her hand on Ymir's shoulder, and the scouts … and Yamcha gaped in response for that action. "Gohan would never forgive me if I do." She looked at Gohan, who played along by crossing his arms and glaring at her.
"Wait, her? Someone else knows, and she's gonna talked?" Puzzled Petra, she did not know that anyone else would know about what they need to know.
"You've no idea who's came with us from the Castle." Hange replied, she was going to need every help she could get to restrain her fellow scouts from the said person. They were not going to like who they were about to see.
"Annie?" Annie was avoiding eye contact with the scouts since the moment they got in the Wolf's Den's mess hall. She recognized the voice that asked her, it was Eren's. She recalled the moment she had told Lady Winters that she would tell her everything, she of course had told her about her deal with Gohan, the Lady let her out of the Bunker, via the voice command freight elevator, which had amazed her, truly amazed her. And she was on the carriage to the Wolf's Den where she was now.
Yamcha and Gohan and two Wolves were assigned to restrain the scouts should they couldn't keep their composure. And she had made a right decision, Petra, Gunther and Oulo rushed at Annie and were restrained by those assigned people.
"You!" Petra bellowed at the blonde Titan Shifter just as her boyfriend held her back. "You know what you did? You know how many lives have you taken?"
"Bulma, why is she out of the Bunker?" Asked Gohan as he tried to calm Petra down.
"Yeah, Bulma, why is she out of the Bunker?" Added Yamcha, it was Oulo he's restraining.
"What the fuck is the Bunker?" Gelgar noticed the Z Fighters' vocabulary.
"I believe it's where she's been keeping Annie Leonhart." Hange had seen the Lady taken Annie out of her stable, but she had seen Annie there, so she speculated that the Bunker must had been a secret chamber underneath it.
Bulma's Blue eyes gleamed at the Scouts, who didn't charge at her prisoner like Levi's member of the Special Operation Squad didn't refrained from showing their anger at Annie, which should be understandable.
"Can you guys calm down, now? Or at least you can try not to assault our witness before she can tell you the things you need to know?" Asked coldly Bulma, she stared dagger at Oulo, Gunther and Petra, who in some long seconds, did relent and back away from their restrainers. "Very good. After Hanger returned, I went to … the Bunker to collect the Serum. I didn't neglect to feed our 'guest', it she came forward to me and said that she was ready to tell me everything, and I decide to let her say it here."
"Wait, are you insane? You've just risked her escaping by bringing her out of her detainment." Barked Gelgar, he didn't bother to hide his disbelief, there was no way he could foresee that the Lady would make such a risky decision.
"She didn't escape, did she? And no, I didn't risk it." Bulma untensed her facial and body posture she grinned and looked at Annie. "I have a trick up my sleeves that make sure she would never step out of line."
"Wait, you're a Ki user, too?" Puzzled Nanaba. And Yamcha surprised her by bursting out laughing.
"Yeah, she's the most formidable fighter among us." Everyone could know that Yamcha was being sarcastic, he could not make it anymore obvious.
"It's technology!" Annie caught the scouts off guard as she spoke. "I know that you'll never forgive me. Not after what I did, the people that I murdered. But I'm willing to help you by telling the truth behind what I did, in order to help you. I don't expect you to forgive me, I know that I don't deserve it, but I wish to help you."
"Why? Why the sudden change of heart, Annie?" Eren blistered as he approached Annie, a hand reached out to stop him from going anywhere further, it was Gohan.
"It's not sudden. I tell you. It was months in captivity inside the Bunker that make me realised that you, me the people where I came from and the people here don't have to live the way the are now." Confessed Annie, she made her truthfulness visible. "And I need to keep my end of the bargain."
Gohan felt really ackward hearing her, when he disclosed to her to truth about his homeworld, he didn't think she would ever get out to tell anyone, but now she was here, and probably was going to mention it to his fellow scouts.
"What bargain?" It was Hange's turn to ask questions. The Second Commander glanced at Yamcha and Bulma, whomever Annie had make her bargain with, it must be with the Winters. Annie, however, only came forward for the information surrounding the Titans.
"I can't tell you."
"We exchanged information for information." Had already seen enough interrogation, Gohan spoke up. "I told her my story, in exchange for hers." Bulma grabbed Gohan by his arm and pulled him over.
"You TOLD her everything?" Before all this, the people of the new world could only sense the Lady anger through her demeanor and action alone, they had seen her physically showed it, nor had she ever raise her voice, but they saw it here, to her son. "What kind of FUCKING TRAUMA that ENCHANTED you to do such a thing?"
"Everything? Your story, Gohan? I thought it was that you're her son?" Levi was the first of the Scouts to know something wasn't right in the Mother and Son backup story. "Isn't that the truth? If that's not the real truth, then why didn't you tell us about it, why did you tell her of all people?"
Gohan could feel his friends' hearts sunk when they heard the captain, there were anomalies in the Scouts' Ki signatures. They felt betrayed. That what ever Gohan was hiding, he chose to kept it away from them, his friend; instead he chose to reveal it to Annie, the woman who was responsible for the deaths of hundred of Survey Corps soldiers and thousands of civilians.
"Why, Gohan? How could you told her and not us? Her? She killed Eld, Gohan, she killed one of us. You didn't trust us to tell us about whatever you've been hiding, but you trusted her?" Tears dripped out from Petra eyes as she questioned him. Of course, Gohan was not like that, he trusted them, he wished the best for them, he wished to protect them, he loved them, he loved her.
"Petra, listen, I has my reasons." Gohan attempted to come and embrace Petra, but she replied by shoving him away.
"It's not trust." Petra gave Annie a death stare when the Titan Shifter opened her mouth. "It's because I'm his enemy, his prisoner that he feel safe to tell me, that I could never tell you. That you were his friends, his family, that after you hear his story, he might lose you. He has a point of thinking that, I've heard his story, I should now, it's really hard to believe, and it is unbearable to hear. But perhaps he was wrong."
"That doesn't make any sense? What kind of truth he's hiding that he would think that we would left him upon hearing it?" Protested Eren, he and the scouts found the Monkey Boy's logic incomprehensible.
"It's not why she here, is it? It's not why you're here." Realizing it was not Gohan that exposed himself, but her overreaction that got them compromise and possibly strained her 'son' relation with his new world friends, Bulma must take action to defuse whatever was going on. "Annie is here to tell us about the civilization beyond these Walls, about the Titans, about who the real enemy. Ymir ,you correct her if she make any mistake, and add any details she misses." The Lady glance at the two Shifters, who both nodded in compliance.
" Gohan, after you told me about your history. I asked you why you told me. You said that I am your enemy, if my opinion on you changed, it's only benefits you. So here's your benefit."
Hange could possibly smacked herself when she heard about Marley, and about the rest of the world. Lady Winters' theory was right, of course, there was no point of believing humanity was extinct when there humans able to shift into Titans and fought against other human, Hange should have figure that out on her own with common sense alone. This country called Marley had freed itself from the Eldians Empire and their Titans for centuries ago. And now the Marleyan were doing the same thing that the Eldians had done to them, slavery, ethnic Eldians were put in internment zones, exploited upon, oppressed and discriminated, and used as living weapons.
Mikasa colasped to her knee after she heard Annie and Ymir shared their knowledge about the Titan powers. This one girl named Ymir Fritz, Ymir's namesake, make a deal with the Devil of All Earth to become the first Titan. And more Titans created after her. She and the Titans helped the Eldian Empire to extend its territory. When Ymir Fritz died, her power split into the Nine Titans. The Titans were now Marley main weapon in world conficts. And because Ymir Fritz had her power for 13 years, anyone who inherits her powers could only have 13 years in their lives.
Annie explained the mission of her and her fellow 'Warriors', four of them, there were original four Warriors instead of three: herself-The Female Titan, Bertholdt-The Colossal Titan, Reiner- the Armoured Titan, and a boy name Marcel Galliard- the Jaw Titan. They were tasked to exterminate the population inside the Wall, and retrieved the 'Coordinate', the Founding Titan. The mission was interupted when a pure Titan came and devoured Marcel- Ymir, thus described how the Titan power transmitted from one to another.
"This, is not the most fucked up story I've ever heard." Yamcha broke the silence, the mess hall were silent while the Titan Shifters unfold the truth to them, the two Wolves Bulma assigned to the room share the same shock as the Scouts, aside from Mikasa who collasped to the floor when she learned about the Curse of Ymir, their motion were scared off. But Yamcha, Bulma and Gohan, they had seen worse.
"How, how can I explain this to my mother? My father … I. He's the Attack Titan before me which means..." Trembled Eren, the power of the Titans, or rather how it was transferred, hit him real hard. As he was struggling to finish his sentence, Mikasa tearfully wrapped her arms around him .
"5 years we wasted, five years that I could have spent more time with you." Historia held Ymir hand tightly as she heard Mikasa expressing her regrets with Eren. 5 years have past since the fall of Wall Maria, five years since Eren and Ymir obtained their power, the years they had left were the number of Gohan remaining fingers. "The time we have left, I promise you... I …. I'll make it worth."
"I can cure it!" Mikasa and Historia swiftly moved their eyes toward the Lady. "With the right equipment and help I can find a way to find a cure for this, not just for you, but for the Pure Titans too."
"You're not a doctor, Bulma! Nor pharmacist." Yamcha knew it fell to him to shut down the false hope Bulma had planted on those poor kids. "You have no health diploma."
"I know, Yamcha, I know I'm only specialize in mechanics and engineering field of science." Replied Bulma, she did not know why, but she felt determined that she had to help these kid. It was like her old self was returning. "Biology is not my forte but I do excel at it. And we had the right tech, and more should come when our plan succeeded."
"Plans? Overthrowing the Government? I'm in on that." Nodded Hange, and her fellow squad nodded with her. "They've lied to us for all those times. They've prevented us from being able to save ourselves."
"The course of action is clear, isn't it? The Royal Government and the MPs can't prepare us from the next attack the Marleyans would attempt on us, which I believe to be in due time." Nanaba said the words that would brand her a traitor, but the Scout now were officially accused of treason already. "Historia has the royal blood, she has the claim to the thrones, she can be our new monarch. I don't care. But we have to survive the attack tomorrow first."
"Can I have a say in this?" Protested Historia. "You're going to make me Queen right off the bat. That quickly?"
"You're just going to make her a pawn. A figure head. A puppet for you to master." Ymir shielded Historia with her arm. She had seen this before back in Marley, where she just suffer the same fate that the scouts were about to bestow onto the most important person in her life. "You're going to repeat the same thing what the pricks of top were doing."
"Listen here you two little bitches." Levi stood on a table and started to gawk at Ymir and Historia, his patience has lost completely. "Over the past time, centuries, countless had die. Many of us here had lost their friends, families and loved ones. And we are going to lose more as the enemy approached, and I'm not talking only about the MPs here, those Marleyans are going to strike again. So, instead of being an self-absorbing bitch, and accept your role."
"No, Captain Levi. You needn't pressure her like that, she won't be our Queen." Bulma let out a grin.
"Then who? You?" Asked Levi, if there was something limitless, it would be the Lady's hunger for power. "Of course, that's why you wanted us to join force. So you can have absolute power. But here's the bad news, blue-haired bitch, you no longer has the upper hands on us, you won't be filling the gap the government left behind."
"I never said it's gonna be me." Bulma pointed her hand at Gohan, who had been staring at the wall the entire time, trying to make sense out of what he just had learned.
"Really?" Levi found himself asking the same question as many other, having of their strongest soldier being the new king was not something they had in their minds.
"Only power yields victory. Only strength can rule." Explained Bulma, fasinated by the disbelief in the people surrounding her. "Only Gohan has the power and strength to lead us, to protect all of you. Protecting all of you, isn't that what he's been doing? He can lead you to freedom, he can lead you to victory, he can lead you to peace."
"Your son has no claim to the thrones." Rebutted Hange, the Winters were the upstart noble family with no blood tied to the Reiss, and from an unknown background. "My Lady, with all my due respect, I don't think you're even Eldians."
"Right of conquest is a thing." Replied Yamcha, if he had to help Bulma to convince these people, he would. "Gohan is a mark of hope. He is loved and idolised by the mass as a hero, as a saint, an Angel, as the Son of Heaven. The people will accept them as their King. We already planned this thoroughly, we some nobles who would go with our winds. "
"Gohan, did you know about this?" Asked Petra, she couldn't bare Gohan match his way to power like this, she know how it could corrupt people, how Gohan may never stayed as the same Gohan she knew.
"It's bigger than what you have intended for me, Bulma." Gohan slammed his fists to one of the tables he stood near, shattering it into splinters and put all attention on him. He known what he had to do after a moment thinking his plan. "You were right, Bulma. Fighting extra-terrestrial threats for years, we've forgotten how vile human beings are to their own kind. The Eldians oppressed the Marleyans, the Marleyans oppressed the Eldia. All the wars, the bloodshed, the murders, the atrocities that are caused by this twisted, endless cycle of hate." If Gohan a few days ago could see himself now, he'd protest, but this was Gohan of today, after he learned the horrible truth of his new world. "I'm sorry for what happened to you, to the Eldians that are being segregated in Marley, to the Eldians that was coerced to join this Warrior Unit to fight as monsters, to the Marleyans that are consumed with hatred." What Bulma had suggested, he becoming King, to end the depravities within and without the Walls, he accepted it. "As your new King, I'll put a stop to your suffering. I will free you from these Walls. I will free the Eldians in Marley from their oppressors. I will free the people of Marleys from their hates." He could sensed Ki, the scouts' energy reading showed that they would support him, thought hesitant. "As I have done before, like I'm still doing now, I will protect you, I will keep you safe. Because you, all of you, are my family." Then he glanced at Annie, he know what he had to do to earn their trust, their fealty. "I didn't tell you the truth about my origin. Because I was afraid I would lose you. I've made a huge mistake. I should never lie to my family. If I want you to trust me, I have to trust you first. Swear fealty to me, and I will keep no more secret from you. And on the day of my coronation, before the ceremony, I will tell you everything that I had told Annie."
Just as Gohan finished his speech, Bulma signaled Yamcha and the other two Wolves. Bulma bent her knees and the Wolves followed her.
"We, the Wolfpack, swear our fealty to our true King, Gohan Winters." Bulma Brief pledged her and the Wolfpack, which would soon ignite a chain reaction. "Our strength, our wealth, our health are his to command. We will live, fight and die for our King. Make the gods bear witness to our vows."
Eren was the first among the Scouts to kneel, he had seen Gohan in action enough to know that his brother was worthy. And Gohan had saved his mother, a debt he could never repaid, and also from that selfless action, it proved that Gohan had a gentle heart, and he had meant what he had spoke earlier.
"I, Eren Jaeger, pledge my fealty to my King, Gohan Winters. My loyalty is with him, in victory or defeat, in sickness or in health, in life or in death, in this life and the next life."
Suprisingly, and not very much according to plan, Annie was the next one to kneel.
"I, Annie Leonhart, will spend my remaining years that I have left in my life in King Gohan's servitude, so may the gods help me that my sins can be repaid."
Mikasa walked up to Gohan, she needed some confirmation from her new King before she could make her fealty official.
"You will protect Eren when I'm not around? You will cure him?"
"I will. I promise. He's my family. You're my family."
"We need a strong shepherd, people. In this dire time, a strong leader will lead the herd to safety." She turned to her comrades and voiced her support to her new King. Mikasa then pivoted to the Monkey Boy and bent her knees. "I, Mikasa Ackerman, swear my fealty to my true King, Gohan Winters. I will fight beside him , by day or by night, through hurricane or snowstorm. I'll protect him. I'll protect his family, his land and his people."
Levi let out a relenting sigh, he signaled his Special Operation Squad, who joined him in kneeling and pledging.
"I, Levi Ackerman." Levi was the first of the squad to speak. And the SOS put their fists on their chests, they were giving him a proper salute whilst kneeling.
"I, Petra Ral."
"I, Oulo Bozado."
"I, Gunther Schultz."
"We devote our hearts to the King, Gohan Winters. As glory is in our hands, we will go anywhere that he needs us to be. As our fists placed on our determined hearts, we will complete every task that he gives us."
Connie, Nanaba, Gelgar, Jean, Ymir, Historia, Sasha and Hange and her squadmates soon followed their comrades and knelt before Gohan. The Monkey King had never felt anything like this before: entitled, proud, regal, majestic. He allowed his excitement of seeing and hearing other people regarding him as King for a short time. He knew that there was a lot to be done, and by dawn, two of his strongholds would be attacked, it was time for them to devise a battle plan to counter the storm that was coming.
Looks like Trusty McGoodguy has returned guys, and he is doing a good job like always.
I really conficted at this. One hand, I'm happy because my favorite fanfic author has return and get to read his story again. On the other, I felt like Shane from TWD when Rick returns.
I'm still gonna write this story though, you can consider this like a Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood to his story (or it is the other way around?)
Hope you still like my story, if you don't, can't really blame you. I'm also reading and loving Trusty's version too.
Next Chapter: The Wolfpack