Chapter 36: Backed into a corner
Ed stuck his blade into Kenny's, almost pushing him off his feet, Kenny quickly dug his heels into the ground and pushed back; he swiftly swung his blade at Ed but Ed quickly blocked the attack which forcing the two into a standoff.
"You're pretty tough." Kenny said, smiling; using his strength he pushed back at Ed, Ed collapsed onto the ground but quickly back into a standing position, he once more "For a runt."
"Don't call me a runt, creep." Ed shot back. The two began to circle each other as the forest around them continued to burn.
Kenny charged towards Ed once more, Ed quickly dropped his blade and clapped his hands together; a large stone fist burst from the ground and towards Kenny. Kenny ducked under the incoming fist as Ed picked up his blade and ran up the arm "You missed!" Kenny laughed. Ed leapt off from the side, fired his hook onto the wrist of the arm and swung towards the left side of Kenny.
"You sure about that?" Ed retorted as he slammed the foot of his boot into Kenny's chest, catching him by surprise, he dropped his blade as the kick sent him tumbling onto the ground as Ed landed back onto his feet.
"Crafty little shit." Kenny coughed as he got up from the ground. Ed quickly charged towards Kenny; Kenny lurched forward with a strike from his right fist but Ed quickly ducked under, dodging the attack, and landed a swift punch onto the right side of his cheek.
Huh… Kenny thought as his head slammed into the ground he could have killed me but… Ed launched another punch, a hard left, towards Kenny's head once more; Kenny quickly moved his head to the side, avoiding the attack, and threw a counter punch which landed right into Ed's right cheek, dazing Ed as Kenny kicked him in the stomach which sent Ed flying back and crashing into the ground, giving Kenny enough time to get back on his feet.
Ed quickly picked himself off the ground and knelt on the spot as he waited for the pain to subside. "You realise how shit of a situation you are in, right?" Kenny taunted "Your friends and brother are probably long gone by now and you're stuck with me." Kenny picked up his sword once more and pointed it towards Ed who glared at Kenny "Only one of us is leaving alive." Ed stood back up and charged towards Kenny let's see if you got it in you… Kenny slashed his sword as Ed approached him, but the attack was too early and left his body open to a possible stab from Ed's sword. But Ed didn't stab Kenny; instead he bashed the handle of his blade into Kenny's stomach as he threw an upper cut into Kenny's chin. Kenny staggered back Guess you didn't… Ed tried to slash his sword into Kenny's hand, in an effort to force him to drop his weapon, Kenny quickly dodged the attack; he stepped back and slashed at Ed's arm.
"Ah!" Ed yelled as he clutched onto the newly open up on his arm. Ed quickly moved back and made a wide swing at Kenny in an attempt to scare him off but instead Kenny skilfully sidestepped the attack and made a quick slash at Ed's left side, Ed's clothes were now stained in his blood. Ed fell to his knees; Kenny eyed Ed's hand and aimed to chop off his hand, cutting of Ed's ability to perform alchemy, Ed quickly moved back and dodged the attack; he clapped his hands together and grabbed the dull side of the blade.
The flesh-pairing blade shattered into pieces, Ed got up into a crouch and flipped backwards with one leg out to strike Kenny in the face again; Kenny grabbed Ed's leg and threw Ed as far as he could. Ed crashed into a tree and onto the ground. Kenny walked towards Ed, confident in his victory, until a barrage of fists spurt from the ground; Kenny staggered back, barely avoiding the stone hands. So focused on the attack he didn't see Ed run up on the arms of one the fists as he leapt from the hand and stuck Kenny in the head with his right foot. Kenny quickly rolled backwards and jumped back onto his feet as Ed landed back onto the ground.
"Still got some fight in you." Kenny commented, he pulled out his knife. "This is gettin' real tedious." Kenny sprinted towards Ed and Ed leapt back, clapping his hands together and placing them onto a burning tree; a fiery pendulum swung from the branches and towards Kenny, Kenny leaned back, narrowly avoiding the attack. Just as he was about to lean forward Ed grabbed Kenny by the neck and slam him down onto the ground, he clapped his hands again and transmuted shackles around Kenny's arms and legs, holding him in place.
Ed knelt down and grabbed Kenny by his collar with his left hand and pulled his head forward before he threw hard punch directly into Kenny's face. Kenny felt a warm fluid run from his nose and down his mouth. "Blood," Kenny muttered "it's been a while since mine had been spilt." Ed dropped Kenny's collar, letting his head fall to the ground, as he sat on the ground; the heat and smoke that surround them was becoming suffocating.
It was like a hell on earth.
Ed looked back at Kenny; he knew he had to escape this forest before either the fire or the MPs moved in to kill him, in that moment he wondered whether he should just escape or try to fulfill the mission with Kenny, his target, lying helpless before him. He placed his hand at his side and over his wound.
What do I do? Ed thought to himself. As he pondered this he felt the icy touch of the rain drops fall on his head and his body At least I'm not going to burn to death he thought. He clapped his hands together and placed them onto his body and arm, blue sparks formed from his hands as he sealed his wounds as best he could. He got up from the ground, the rain grew more and more, he clapped his hands and held out his right hand to the side; a long halberd rose from the ground and into Ed's hand, he picked up the halberd and pointed it towards Kenny's neck.
"You're gonna tell me where Rod Reiss is." Ed demanded; without the rest of the team he couldn't bring Kenny back, it would be too risky letting him out of those shackles after Ed just managed to beat him. He was going to try his luck and get Kenny to confess here.
"You what are gonna do? Stab me?" Kenny questioned "You don't have the guts." Ed pressed the halberd against Kenny's neck "Kid, have you ever fought dirty before?"
"All's fair in a fight to the death." Ed responded.
"Fair point," Kenny laughs "The thing is… I don't fight fair either." Suddenly three MPs burst from the trees and pointed their guns towards them "You think I'd really fight someone like you alone?" Kenny taunted.
I thought they were all chasing the others! Ed thought, he quickly clapped his hands together and slammed them onto the ground to transmute a wall to cover him from the incoming attacks; two loud shots from the MPs tore through the wall and the third shot, directed at Ed, was more subdued. It struck his neck, Ed panicked as he quickly placed his hand on his neck; he expected to feel a flood of blood from a bullet but instead he felt something sticking out. He pulled the dart out and stared at it for a second.
Oh shit… Ed thought.
Almost instantly he began to feel dizzy; his eyes felt heavy as the tranquilizer dart took effect. An MP landed onto the ground and charged towards him; Ed slammed the blunt end of his Halberd into their head. He quickly threw the halberd at another MP gliding around him; the weapon missed but knocked the MP from his course and gave Ed just a few seconds to act.
Stay awake! He thought to himself as fiddled with the sole handle to his ODM gear; he could feel himself slipping away as tried to aim the barrels of the hooks towards the furthest tree branch. Just as Ed pulled the trigger he felt the butt of a handgun slam into the back of his head, knocking into the ground.
Shit! No! I can't go out like this! His thoughts ran frantic in his head Alphonse… Winry, I have to see them again! I can't die here! I can't die here!
He was almost out but his determination and fear kept him conscious. As he felt a hand grab onto his shoulder, using almost everything he had, he flipped himself around and slammed his left leg into the ribs of his attacker which sent them tumbling off to the side. Ed quickly got up to his feet once more, stumbling around as he fought to keep his eyes open, he saw the MP that he kicked clutching at their ribs as they struggled to breathe.
Is that person… he thought,suddenly the sound of another person charging towards him catches his attention, he stumbled back as his attacker tried to slam the butt of his gun into Ed's temple and struck the attacker in the gut with his right fist, winding his opponent. Just then he felt another shot hit him in the back of his neck. He collapsed face first onto the soaking wet grass and desperately tried to drag himself away until someone stomped onto his back and held him in place.
"Like I said, you're a tough runt." Kenny said as he knelt by Ed's head.
How'd he get out?
"You almost had me, you could have finished me, but you just didn't want to get your hands dirty." Even through his hazy vision he saw Kenny look off to the side "Well… at least not yet." Kenny stood up, looming over him, as he lifted up his foot and brought it down onto Ed's face.
In a small abandoned outpost, along the outskirts of the forest, Petra's team lay low as they licked their wounds and waited out the day. Jean stood by the window; peering every so often through the curtains while Alphonse sat near him, wondering whether Ed had made it out, Flegel sat in the corner of the room sobbing over the death of his father, Armin had locked himself inside the outpost's bathroom while Petra tended to Mina's wounds in its empty barracks. The door to another room clicked open as Petra entered into the main area.
"Anything to report?" asked Petra.
"So far I haven't seen any of them." said Jean "I think we lost them."
"How's Armin?" Petra asked.
"He's still in the bathroom." Alphonse replied; just as he said that the sound of someone violently vomiting in the next room could be heard through the decaying walls of the outpost.
"Thank you back there, Petra." Jean said "Back at the cave you stopped those guys before they could kill us." Alphonse thought back to when he saw them and the blood running off Petra's blades. "I thought we were done for."
"None of you are dying under my watch," Petra replied "that I can promise you." Petra's expression turned gloomy as she finished her sentence. She sighs "Alphonse, I'm sorry about Ed." She said looking at him "I promise will go back for him soon."
"This isn't the first time we've been separated." Alphonse replied "He's thrown himself into more dangerous places before and has always gotten out; I have faith in him that he'll do the same again."
Petra nodded her head "We'll get back to the castle, tell Levi about what happened, Flegel will be placed under Hange and her team's care and head back to look for Ed, getting back on foot will take about a day's walk." She informed them. "Al, could you help fix up Mina?" she asked"I've done what I can with the wooden splinters; you'll just need to seal the wound."
"Of course" Al stood up and headed towards the barracks; the room had three empty bunk bed frames and two broken windows which had been hastily boarded up. In the middle of the room Mina sat on a wooden stool with her back towards the door; her blood stained shirt and ODM gear strapped sat next to her, showing her exposed back and gaping wound. A single lantern sat to her left, creating a small island of light in the middle of a dark room.
"Al?" Mina said as she turned her head back as far as she could without moving her entire body.
"Yeah" Al replied as he approached her "Just… don't turn around." He said as he knelt down behind her. He hadn't felt this awkward than when he had to hitch a ride on Mina back in Trost.
"I won't" Mina replied with a sad and very short laugh, a failed attempt to lighten the mood and ease the awkwardness. Alphonse pressed his hands together and placed fingers around the wound; the room was lit up in a blue light as he began sealing the wound. "I'm sorry about Ed," she said, her hands which were resting on her knees began to clench into a fist "if I hadn't got hit then… you might have gotten to him and we wouldn't have left him."
"Don't blame yourself." Alphonse replied as the wound sealed.
"Ed's fighting that guy by himself, you think he could handle him?" she asked.
"That guy, Kenny, he was fast but we've fought others like him and tougher than him." Alphonse said "Even if Ed couldn't beat him now, we will eventually."
He's just another name in a long line of people we've had to face Alphonse thought, trying to reassure himself.
Inside the Scout regiment's Trost district division headquarters, Hange sat with Erwin as she began to explain the new information divulged from Annie.
"Annie stated that a five meter titan had eaten one of their friends before they had launched their attack on the walls." Hange said as Erwin poured her a glass of water "The description of the titan matched Ymir's titan; it's highly possible that Ymir was one of the titans who wondered outside the walls and that by devouring a shifter she was able to turn back into a human."
"It is a possibility." Erwin said as he passed Hange a glass of water. "But it could be possible that she's lying; for all we know the beast titan could be their fourth shifter."
"I thought of that too, but there's a problem in that beast titan appeared years after, very suddenly, rather than with them; so he's either been in hiding all these years among the general populous or he's only recently shown up to check on them and judging from the reports by Eren and Alphonse during their captivity, it seems neither Reiner or Bertholdt knew of his arrival."
"Okay, we'll go off on the idea that Ymir did eat a fourth member." Erwin replied.
"The implication of this would mean a human who had been turned into a titan and eats another human who can transform into a titan will turn back into a human, however they'll also possess the ability to transform into a titan at will." Hange quickly drank from her glass of water before continuing "It explains why Reiner threw those titans at us as he was hoping one of them would devour Eren so they could more easily snatch away the power of the coordinate."
"That must be how they plan to gain the powers of the coordinate." Erwin added "By having someone else, someone loyal to them, devour Eren."
"Yes, it's a good thing we have Eren guarded away." Hange said "We couldn't afford to lose someone this powerful."
"Most of the manpower we could mobilize without creating suspicion has been focused on guarding Eren and Historia, seeing as they're crucial to our plans, or working with our allies. That's also meant we couldn't scout out the Reiss estate; hopefully Levi squad will have apprehended the head of the Interior MPs and acquired Rod's location." Erwin stated.
"Back to the subject of transferring titan powers, if Eren is nothing more than an interchangeable vessel than the same could also be said for Annie Leonhart." Hange said "Potentially we could have another titan shifter to add to our ranks and if we can acquire the knowledge to transform people into titans, the question becomes who should have that power when the time comes."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door "Come in" Erwin said, the door clicked open.
"Commander Erwin," Said the MP standing at the door "the Interior MP first squad would like to see; it's about a series of murders that have occurred lately."
"Murders?" Hange asked as both of them stood up "what does this have to do with us?"
"Thank you, soldier" Erwin replied "Please give squad leader Hange and I a moment." The MP nodded and closed the door. Erwin turned back to Hange "Something may have gone wrong." Erwin stated "mobilize the rest of fourth squad and whoever else and head back to the castle."
"You think they're going to hit the castle?" Hange questioned "That would be insane; the place is heavily guarded and Ian's men have only just reinforced it."
"Ian Dietrich's men are reinforcing the castle?" Erwin questioned.
"Pixis recently sent a letter saying that." Hange said.
"I didn't get any such letter from either Pixis or Ian." Erwin replied, a terrible realization had suddenly dawned on them.
"Then…oh shit." Hange said through a panicked whispered; she quickly walked out of the room, trying not to raise suspicion from the MPs.
Erwin placed on his long brown coat and sat down "Come in." an old man dressed in the standard uniform of the military with the insignia of the military police entered into the room.
"Commander Erwin." He said as he sat down on the same seat Hange sat was only a few seconds ago. "You know about the recent string of murders that have occurred lately?"
"Just recently," Erwin replied "am I correct to assume that the murders are being linked to the scout regiment."
"Not the entire regiment; only the single squad; the special operations unit." Said the MP, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a scout badge which he placed on the table. "This was found at the crime scene on the Mayor's corpse; the whole thing looked like a struggle and just recently a forest fire led to the bodies of Dimo Reeves and two of his employees, it looked as though those who killed him were highly trained." There was a brief pause. "Did you issue the assassinations of these individuals?"
"No." Erwin replied firmly. "I have not issued any orders which involved the killings of either high ranking officials or members of society."
"We suspected as much." said the MP "Our investigation suggests that the special operations squad, and perhaps other rogue elements of the military, are acting alone with Captain Levi as their leadership." The MP placed a piece of paper on the table "In a few days time, you and the other officers of the scout regiment are to appear in front of the king and the assembly where you'll denounce captain Levi, the special operations squad and their allies; if you don't then the regiment is to be deemed implicated in their actions and will be dissolved."
"Commander Erwin, what is it going to be?"
At the Military police's headquarters in the capital, relatives of the special operations unit were being held and being monitored. In brightly lit hallway, a small line of people waited outside a door as they waited for their turn to be interviewed.
"Mr and Mrs Braus please wait here." said the MP. The couple sat down on seats lined along the wall with along with another couple and a man, all of them looked anxious. "Wait here, Mr and Mrs Kirsten will be finished soon."
They all sat in silence for a few seconds as they waited "So…" said Sasha's father, breaking the silence "You all here for the same thing?"
"My daughter, Petra Ral." said the lone parent.
"Our daughter, Mina Carolina." Said the couple "the couple inside are here about their son."
"MPs saying our kids are criminals." said Mr Braus in a hushed tone, trying not to attract the attention of the guards who were having their own conversation not so far from them.
"I don't believe it for a second." said Mina's father.
"I couldn't tell you how proud I was when she told me about her promotion." said Petra's father. "She would never do anything without a good reason."
"When you're daughter said she had joined the scouts, how did you feel?" asked Mrs Carolina.
"We talked about it before hand; I was worried about her, I still am, but in the end it was her decision." Petra's father replied. "You're worried about your daughter."
"I'm scared… I wish she had just joined the garrison." Said Mina mother "Now she's caught up in all this…"
"The day she left for the trainees I told her that people have to look out for each other, it seemed she took it to heart." said Sasha's father. Just then the door next to them opened and out came another couple; the mother appeared to be weeping as her husband comforted her.
"That must be the Kirsteins." muttered Mr Braus to himself.
"Why… why did he have to join the scouts?" cried Mrs Kirstein "He said he wanted to be an MP, Jeanbo's smarter than this, why did he have to join them."
"It'll be alright." comforted her husband, Jean's father.
"What if something happens to him? My poor boy." She cried.
It was cloudless night as Petra's team finally reach their headquarters; the group sprinted towards the gate as Petra waved at the soldier on the battlement to signal them. "Quickly, open the gate!" she yelled. The wooden platform quickly collapsed onto the ground, allowing them to cross and enter inside the castle, they rushed across inside.
"Lieutenant, what happened?" asked one of the scouts.
"Where's the captain?" Petra asked with urgency in her voice "I need to tell him something."
"He's in his study." answered the scout.
"Thank you, soldier" Petra replied, she turned back to her team "Get Flegel to a safe place, head to the armoury and replenish your gas."
"Yes, Lieutenant" Jean replied as the group moved to the castle's entrance.
Petra took a deep breath and sighed Tell Levi and then look for Ed she moved her head towards the battlements of the castle; garrison soldiers lined the walls along with a few of the scouts. She once more caught sight of that woman garrison soldier who was once more looking at her with an almost disappointed expression on her face before looking off to the side. Why are you looking at me like that? Petra thought, she quickly shook off the thought as she ran inside to find Levi.
Petra quickly jogged up a flight of stairs when she almost bumped into the captain in an empty, dimly lit, corridor which only the bright moon had illuminated. "Captain Levi!" she exclaimed.
"Petra, where the hell have you been?" Levi demanded.
"Captain, we were ambushed by the interior MPs." She replied, slightly panicking "They found out, Dimo Reeves and his men were killed and we got separated from Ed during the fighting."
From the look on his face, Levi seemed to be at a loss for words "Okay, how the hell did that all happen?"
"We confronted the head of the interior MPs." Petra responded, slightly more calmly "He said his name was-"
BANG! The sound of a gunshot from outside instantly cut Petra off and snatched their attention from each other. "What the hell?" Levi muttered "C'mon, follow me." He ordered as they both rushed back down stairs; the sound of more gunshot, each in rapid session of each other along the screams of agony from the people outside, quickly spurred them on till Levi barged through the entrance of the keep. As the door swung open they were quickly greeted to the sight one of a scout dropping dead in front of them, his musket flopping down next to Levi's feet and his head falling near Petra's.
Littered around the gatehouse were the dead bodies of the scouts who were keeping watch as the garrison soldiers from atop the wall appeared to be shooting down at the remaining scouts on the ground. Levi quickly picked up the musket from his feet and fired it at one of the garrison soldiers; the shot stuck the target in the chest and pushed him off to the other side of the wall.
"Everyone get inside!" Levi yelled; the remaining survivors quickly rushed past them. The sound of zipping cables caught their attention as suddenly more people began to leap up onto the battlements from the other side.
"That's ODM gear the MPs attacked us with!" Petra warned.
"Hold that gatehouse, will ya!" yelled a disturbingly familiar voice.
Wait… Levi knows this guy Petra quickly turned her head towards Levi to gauge his reaction; there was a look of shock on his face as his eyes appeared to be glued onto a single individual standing above the entrance to the drawbridge.
"It's been a while, Levi and I see you're still a short little shit."
"Kenny!" Levi yelled in anger as the two looked at each other. Kenny aimed his gun at Levi and fired, Levi quickly stepping back and dodged the shot which blew the door of the main entrance off from its hinges. "They're after Eren and Historia, rally what's left of our defense and set up choke points in the hallways!" he turned towards Petra "Petra, have our squad hold the second floor, you go after Historia and get Alphonse to guard Eren. I'll gather some others and secure the armory; hopefully we'll mount a counterattack once we get more guns." They all sprinted further inside the castle as they prepared to fight the Kenny's assault.
Kenny observed the surroundings of the castle in front of him; so far they had secured the gate house and the outer walls but the inside was likely crawling with Levi and his men.
"Traute, what's the layout?" he asked as more of his MPs began to scale the walls.
"Main hall in the first ground, dungeon underneath which has their captured shifter inside, Library, barracks and offices on the second floor and the armoury and general storage is on the third." Traute informed him as she tossed away her garrison coat and quickly strapped on her anti-personnel gear. "They'll likely try to fight us inside where our gear is useless."
"These things use shotgun shells, still good for close combat and the hooks are only useless if you ain't got any imagination."Kenny discharged the empty cylinder from gun and eased a new cylinder in from the ones attached to his leg. "Traute, take some guys and go get that Historia girl while I'll go after the titan brat."
"Yes, Captain Ackerman." Traute replied.
Kenny turned towards the mass of his soldiers standing on the battlements "the rest of ya, flood the first floor and work you'r way up; keep 'em from heading to the dungeon!" Kenny swung down from the gatehouse and onto the ground as he made his way to the inside of the castle. "And if ya see the other Elric runt, make sure to put a bullet in that noggin of his."
The sound of gunfire and yelling echoed off the stone walls as Historia followed Petra through the corridors of the castle. In her hands was a hand-cannon Petra had given her while her commanding officer kept her hand on the handle of her blade which was still locked inside its scarab. As they came up to a stairway heading down the sounds of a shootout only became more intense; they moved swiftly, placing their backs against the wall, as Petra peered down.
"Keep pushing forward!" yelled one of the MPs which were followed by a rush of boots hitting the stone floor, more gunshots and cries of agony.
"We'll have to move up instead." Petra whispered, she pointed at the conjoining corridor and waved Historia along to follow her. As they approached the hallway, leading towards the stairs up, Petra stopped Historia; all the windows along the wall were wide open.
Garrison soldiers were opening all the windows before Historia remembered as she clutched the gun in her hand tightly guess we know why.
"We're gonna have to make a break for it." Petra whispered "Be ready to use that gun." Historia nodded her head.
The two sprinted towards the stairs, running past the windows, an MP swooped through the window and in their path; Petra, her hand still on the handle, promptly pulled the blade from her scarab and slashed at the MP's neck, almost decapitating him. Another flew in from the window behind them, Historia pointed her handcannon at the MP and fired off the shot; the bullet striking the shoulder and pushing the enemy soldier onto the ground as they clutched at their wound. Suddenly another MP came through the window next to Petra; before they could get their shot off Petra swung her sword but the MP quickly blocked the attack using their guns, the blade hitting in between the metal barrel and the trigger guard.
"You!" Petra yelled as the two were locked in a standoff. It was one of the MPs who were pretending to be garrison soldiers instead she was now dressed in their unique ODM gear. Suddenly more MPs swooped in through the windows.
"Get the girl!" yelled the MP locked in the standoff with Petra.
"Historia, get out of here now!" Petra yelled; she turned back towards the MP, the intensity in the light blues eyes of the MP was matched by the ferocity in Petra's, she moved forward and pushed the MP from the window. Before she could fall, the MP grabbed Petra by her collar and pulled them both out of the window. Historia began sprinting towards the staircase; an MP lunged at Historia, trying to grapple her, but she easily slipped away as ducked under the attack and moved behind her attacker. She then struck the back of MP with a kick from her right leg, pushing them onto the ground, as she continued to bolt towards the stairs.
They won't kill me Historia reasoned they can't risk shooting me just as that thought had finished she felt something sharp pierce itself into her neck; her eyes quickly shut as she fell to the ground.
"Hurry up; we have to hold this hallway!" Jean ordered as his friends began to stack boxes and flipped over tables in a desperate attempt to create a choke point. Connie began tossing shotguns and buckshot rifles to others as they took their positions. There was an uneasiness to go with the feelings of fear and anxiety they were all feeling; the idea of taking a human life still didn't sit well with most of them, the situation was beyond chaotic as they had little to no time to make sure the second floor was entirely under the castle defenders control and on top of that two of their team mates, Mikasa and Mina, were still recovering but were now suddenly thrown in the battle.
Armin rested his gun against a wooden box as he took about the box of matches he had in his pocket. As he lay eyes of the flame circle the vivid memories of those burning Military Police at to the front of his mind if worse comes to worse than… than I'll have to do it again. He looked around at his teammates, his comrades and close friends; their hands appeared to be shaking as they tried to aim their guns.
They're not going to die… not while I can do something, even if it may be drastic.
"They're coming up!" Jean yelled as the sound of multiple boots hitting the stone stairs alerted them; Armin placed the box of matches back into his pocket and picked up his gun, aiming it at the staircase from the first floor. The footsteps stopped suddenly yet not a single person had stepped, they saw a head peer up from the stairs for just a second to look at them. "This is it…" Jean said, his voice trembling like his hands.
Without warning, two people ran up from the stairs and fired a volley of shots at them; the team quickly ducked behind their makeshift barricade as another volley was fired again. Only this time the bang was accompanied by the sound of zipping cables; steel hooks burst through the some of the wooden boxes and the table, latching onto them, as they were quickly reeled away towards the attackers, leaving Sasha, Mikasa and Connie out in the open.
"Oh crap!" Connie yelled out as five MPs began to rush up onto the second floor.
"Shit! Everyone shoot now!" Jean ordered; the most of the shots missed their targets and instead only stifled the advance of their attackers with only Mikasa's shot making a fatal hit. Quickly the three ran towards the remaining cover as they reloaded their weapons. The Military police returned fire as they began to advance on their position.
A shot tore apart the crate Armin and Mikasa hid behind; forcing them to take cover against the connecting hallway where Connie and Jean hid as they loaded the shells into the buckshot, Jean blindly fired his gun in the direction of the MPs, a sharp cry of pain indicated that he had hit one of them and Armin could tell from the look on Jean's face that he was repulsed by it.
Jean and Armin quickly swapped places as Jean reloaded his weapon with trembling hands; Armin peered by the corner to see the MPs steadily advances as they pushed the captured boxes towards their positions in an effort to close the gap as they pulled away more of the remaining barricade, forcing the rest of the team to hide in the same area. Armin took out the match box once again "Guys, I have an idea." He said as he took out a match from the box "it's risky but we could hold the second floor if it works."
"If you got a plan then do it." Connie urged him "You don't need our approval."
"Do it, Armin." said Mikasa. Both Jean and Mina, who had witnessed Armin's flame alchemy in combat first hand, both reluctantly nodded their heads at the last ditch attack.
Armin placed his head against the wall, trying to focus, as he visualized the pathway of oxygen towards the oncoming MPs and manipulated the density of oxygen in the air; he placed the match head onto the striker.
Small and controlled flames, small and controlled flames, small and controlled flames he repeated in his head. Here goes nothing… he moved his body passed the corner and faced the MPs; as they pointed their guns at him he skid the match head along the striker, the forward motion match moving in their direction, as a stream of fire burst from the matchbox and shot towards them. The hallway was engulfed in a wave of intense fire as it scorched the intended area of Armin's focus; he quickly turned back into the corner for cover.
The loud blast of fire quickly died down and gave way to the ear-piercing wails of pain from the down burning. Nobody wanted to peer from the corner to see the poor souls suffer a painful end; everyone looked shaken to the core as they listen to the cries slowly die down. Armin once more felt nauseated by what he done, but was overcome by the immense feeling of relief that didn't accidentally burn his friends and himself.
"Through here, Eren." Keiji, a team leader for 4th squad, pointed his musket as he and Alphonse escorted Eren while trying to navigate their way towards a safe location.
"The rest of Levi squad should be holding the other side of the second floor." Alphonse mentioned "We should meet up with them and head to the armoury." Alphonse clapped his hands and placed them onto the wall, as he pulled his hand back a stone knife formed from the bricks and landed into his hand "Eren, take this." He said handing it to Eren.
"Keep moving, push up to the third floor." An echo alerted them.
"Quickly in here." Keiji waved them into one of the rooms before closing the door. They hid with their backs against the wall.
"Did you hear something?" said a voice on the other side.
"Peter, sweep the area" ordered another. "Rest of you, move up." there was a muffled scamper of feet followed by a few seconds of silence.
Boom! That was the sound of a door being kicked in.
Boom! Another door, this time closer.
Boom! That was the door to the next room; Keiji readied his rifle, Alphonse took out a single blade from his scarab while Eren readied to use his knife.
Boom! The door was slung open as a gun stuck out of the doorway, the MP turned to the side and pointed his gun towards Alphonse; before Alphonse could act, Eren grabbed the arm and pulled in the attacker, slamming them onto the ground before he drove the knife into their heart, the attacker let out small cry before falling silent.
"Eren…" Alphonse muttered as looked at his friend.
"C'mon you two, we still have to move to a safer location." said Keiji as he peered through the doorway. Eren pulled the knife from the MP's chest as the three continued onwards.
"Hey what was that?" yelled a voice nearby "Peter?"
"We have to go, now." Said Keiji, the three then started running.
"It's them!" yelled a MP that caught sight of them "Eren's with them!" they began chasing after them.
"The library," Alphonse pointed "quickly, get inside." The three entered the room and shut the door, placing a chair under the handle; Keiji flipped over a table and placing the barrel on the table's edge as he aimed it at the door with Alphonse Eren next to him. The door rattled as it sounded as though the MPs were trying to break in; throwing themselves at the door.
Then it stopped.
Everything fell silent.
Everything but the fluttering bangs of the wooden curtains hitting the wall; Alphonse looked to the wide open window above them. He shifted his head further upwards and in the corner of the roof… Like a large spider watching them. Kenny.
"Above us!" he yelled, the other two looked in the same direction as Alphonse.
"Yahoo!" Kenny fired his grappling hook onto the centre of the roof and swung around. Keiji tried to aim his musket at Kenny but Kenny fired his first. Keiji collapsed onto the ground as the shotgun shell tore off the upper half of his head. Kenny landed onto the wall onto the wall and watched them "Ain't it a small world, Alphonse." Kenny said "Feels like we met only yesterday." He shifted his eyes towards Eren "Oh and Eren, I heard good things about you."
"You bastard!" Eren yelled as he picked up the musket and fired it at Kenny; Kenny jumped from the wall and onto the floor, easily avoiding the shot. Eren raised his hand to his mouth.
"Do it, boy!" Kenny taunted "Send this whole building to the ground, you can go ahead and pick me out of the rubble along with your friends with that titan of yours." Eren growled at Kenny before reluctantly lowering his hand. "Alphonse, what kind of brother abandons their own flesh and blood?" Both Eren and Alphonse charged toward Kenny; Eren lifted the knife up high and brought it down, aiming for Kenny's neck as Alphonse leapt into the looking to strike Kenny in the face with a left strike from his foot.
Kenny blocked Eren attacked and pushed him away as he turned sharply towards Alphonse and aimed his gun which Alphonse slammed into the ground along with Kenny's hand. "Ow! You brat!" Kenny yelled as lifted both his hand and Alphonse off the ground, Alphonse flipped backwards and landed onto his feet while Eren got off the ground and resumed his attack on Kenny. Eren swung his knife at Kenny face which Kenny easily dodged, leaning backwards slightly. Eren, once again, tried to drive the knife in Kenny from above but Kenny held the attack by holding Eren's wrist; Eren placed both hands on the handle of his knife as he tried to press it forward. Leaving his body open for an attack, Kenny aimed his gun and fired a dart into Eren's chest.
Alphonse ran forward as Eren began to collapse, letting go of the knife, Kenny quickly grab the knife from Eren's grasp and swung it in Alphonse's direction; Alphonse pounce up, jumping over Kenny's attack, and landing a swift kick to Kenny's cheek with his right foot.
"What's with you brats and kickin' people, eh?" Kenny spat, Alphonse threw a punch towards Kenny face but Kenny quickly moved his head to the side, avoiding the attack, and grabbed Alphonse by the neck. He threw Alphonse off to the side; Alphonse crashed into the wooden shelves and books. "I've fought and killed a lot of people" Kenny said as he dusted himself off "But I got to hand it to you and your brother, you're some of the toughest sons of bitches I've ever fought." He grabbed Eren and hoisted him onto his shoulder as he aimed one of his guns at Alphonse "Well… at least your brother was that is."
Alphonse heart sank into his stomach; he felt his chest tighten as if someone had stolen the air around him.
"Liar" Alphonse accused.
"I'm standing here rather than your brother." Kenny retorted "what more proof do you need?"
Dread began to consume him and quickly gave way to anguish; he wanted to fall to his knees and cry.
no… no… no… No… No… NO! Ed, you can't be… he can't be…
They had been through so much, to on challenges and succeed, fought and beat formidable opponents, he was meant to return home to Resembool… all to be ended by him.
An almost monstrous sense of rage took over.
"You're gonna pay!" Alphonse yelled; he attached a blade from his scarab onto his handle as he glared daggers at Kenny. Kenny pointed his gun towards the door and fired; the chair keeping the door closed exploded into pieces as the shotgun shell collided with it.
"I wasn't dumb enough to think I can take on your brother on alone." Kenny remarked as the MPs began to rush into the room "And I'm not an idiot who'd think you'd be the exception." They began to swarm Alphonse "Kill that runt, will ya." They all pointed their guns at him.
Alphonse eyed Kenny and the MPs then shifted his attention towards Eren who unconscious and within Kenny's grasp.
I'm sorry, Eren. I promise I'll come back to save you. He quickly aimed handle at sill of the open window and quickly fired himself towards it. The MPs fired their guns at him, narrowly missing him as he escaped through the window.
BANG! The door to the dungeon burst open with the door crashing its way to the bottom floor and onto the ground. Annie ticked her head upwards as the loud crash woke her; the rushing sound of footsteps forced her to stand up as she prepared for something to happen. Two men, dressed plain clothes and equipped she could only assume is ODM gear, holding what she could only assume to be guns ran to her cell.
"That's Leonhart." said one of the men.
"Who the hell are you?" Annie questioned.
"You don't need to worry about that." One of the men replied. Both of them pointed their guns at her." Annie flinched slightly.
"If you shoot me, it'll only end badly for you." Annie threatens.
"We're not here to kill you." one of them replied. They fired their guns point blank at her; the force of impact hit pushed her back against the wall. Annie instantly began to lose consciousness as the two men open the cell door and approached her.
At the gatehouse, Traute waited, along with other members of the anti-personal MPs and a now captured Historia, for Kenny and the rest of the MPs with Eren in tow. The wounded members of their squad were quickly hurried out of the castle as they made their withdrawal from the raid. Traute tighten the bandage around the leg; a deep wound from a large blade, a wound inflicted by Levi's second in command before she had a hasty retreat.
Damn that bitch…
"Has Leonhart been secured?" Traute asked.
"Yes, two men had already retrieved her when we took the ground floor." said an MP.
"What are the causalities?"
"Nine dead and close to twelve wounded." said one of the MPs. "Captain Ackerman and the others haven't arrived yet."
"Have the injured been evacuated?" Traute asked.
"Yes, only the dead are left." They informed
"There's nothing we can do about that." Traute lamented. "They won't have died in vain; we must keep faith in Kenny's plan."
The sound of zipping cables caught their attention; the anti-personal squad members outside looked towards the direction of the sound "That must be Captain Ackerman and the others." Several figures swung themselves around the building, the shadow of the castle covering them, and towards the MPs. As the moonlight hit them, the figures flying towards became clear.
"Its Levi," Traute yelled "enemy counterattack!"
In one hand Levi held the handle of his ODM gear and in the other he held a sawed-off shut gun; he fired the cable onto the side of the castle, burst forward and fired off one of the shots from his gun as he flew through the air.
Traute instinctively ducked as her comrade head was blown off from their head. One member of her squad flew towards Levi and fired their guns at him; Levi expertly dodged the shot and as he came close to the MP he carved into the side of the overly confident soldier and almost split them in half.
"Push forward!" Levi ordered "Retake the gate!" a small group of other scouts quickly followed him in the fray; some collided into her squad members, impaling them with their large blades, while others were shot out from the sky.
"Take Historia and head to the rendezvous point!" Traute ordered, she turned towards the still unconscious Historia as she was picked up and quickly carried away. As she turned back she saw Levi flying towards her.
"Surprise, you little midget!" yelled Kenny as he quickly arrived to their position. Levi sharply turned his body to the side and fired his gun at Kenny just as Kenny had fired his gun; the two quickly evaded the incoming shot.
Levi landed onto the ground as Kenny landed on top of the gatehouse "you old shitbag!"
"All of you get out of 'ere now!" Kenny ordered, he looked down at Levi "Later, Levi" he said as he mockingly saluted him before jumping off the gate and disappearing into the forest
The rest of Levi squad ran outside as the MPs began their retreat, Alphonse quickly spotted one of them gliding above them; he fired his cable at the guy, hitting him in the leg, Alphonse reeled him down onto the ground, forcing the guy to crash painfully onto the stone floor, as the others grabbed the captured MP and held him down.
"Captain, we have to go after them!" Petra urged as she ran towards him.
"Don't, we'd only get slaughtered; we don't know what they have for us if we follow." Levi responded as he looked onward towards the direction of the MPs
"But Eren and Historia-"
"I know we'll just have to find another way." The sound of people struggling caught their attention as they turned to see members of their squad holding down a captured member of Kenny's squad. Levi walked up to the man "Looks like we just found our first lead." Levi remarked before stamping onto the man's face.
Hello everyone,
Chapter was more action packed than the last few chapters.
I've said 'sorry this is late' so many times it must be tiring, the truth is I've been kind of burnt out with writing. I'm not going to quit this story (I've sunk so much time into the writing and planning to give up now) and I'm going to be working on the next chapter. I'm just going to have to rediscover the spark/passion I had when I first started.
Thank you.