Chapter 37: Cornered Rat

In the cramped house within the belly of the underground, a small group of people awaited for further information to be delivered to them; the underground journalists who were in a mutually beneficial arrangement with the scout regiment. Oda and her colleagues sat around the table as they waited for Abel to deliver the next batch of leaks surrounded by stacks of papers scattered across the room.

"He's taking a while…" Isaac commented as he took a sip of tea from his cup.

"We should go out and check around, in case he got lost or something." Agatha said, slightly concerned.

"He's a scout; if he can fight titans then he can handle a mugger." Oda rationalized, she turned her head towards the door and eyed Louis who appeared to be dozing off as he sat down next to the door. "If it gets too late then we can always have Louis go check." There was a knock on the door which caused Louis to jump up from his chair and into a state of urgency.

"That must be Abel." Isaac said as he placed his cup down on the table and leaned his head back slightly. "Hey big guy, get the door will ya?"

Louis rubbed his eyes slightly as he placed his hand on the doorknob, turned the handle and pull the door open.

BANG!

There was a bright flash which shook everyone in the room and had the group jumping onto the ground as Louis limp body fell onto the floor; blood leaking onto the floor from the gaping hole in his head.

"Louis, no!" Agatha cried.

The door was flung out as the person on the other side kicked it wide open and single person stepped into the room. Kenny Ackerman.

"You…" Isaac exclaimed he grabbed his cup from the table and threw it at the intruder in a desperate and futile attempt to fight their attacker; he was met with the barrel of a gun facing him as he stood up.

"Try it, tough guy." Kenny taunted, as he stepped forward his foot got caught slightly onto the dead body. He nudged the body with his foot, giving himself some room. "Sorry about the mess; work can be messy at times." Oda began eyeing possible exits "I know what you're thinking and there's no way out; I've got the place surrounded." The sound of cables could be heard as a person landed just outside the doorway. "Speak of the devil."

"Captain, the area has been secured." said a person behind him "All exits have been cordon off."

"Kenny, you work for the military?" Oda questioned.

"Yes, that's not even the kicker; I'm workin' with the MPs. Crazy, am I right?" he joked "Listen…" he said, his tone suddenly becoming more serious "this isn't personal, you're just in the way; you being a part of Levi and the scouts' grand plan complicate things. You're helpin' a bunch of rodents and it's my job to exterminate them and that means cuttin' you out and keepin' them out in the cold from the people." Kenny pulled the trigger of his gun and blew off Isaac's head, his body collapsing onto the chair. Agatha screamed as both she and Oda staggered back.

"You piece of shit!" Oda yelled.

"Can't argue with that." Kenny replied "Again, real sorry about all this." He changed the cylinder from his gun and pointed it towards Agatha.

"NO! Pleas-" there was a sharp bang as a large chunk of Agatha's face was blown from her head as her lifeless body collapsed onto the floor. He turned the gun towards Oda. She looked to the ground, the bodies of her friends littered across the floor as the blood pooled around them.

Under the dark narrow pass, a hooded figure watched from a far as a sizable group of people circled one of the shanty houses; the sound of a muffled gunshot could be heard as a flash of light burst through the window. They clutched onto the handgun hidden under their cloak as they hid in the shadow of the pass; they spotted a tall figure, dressed what looked to be ODM gear without the scarabs, stepping out of the house. They quickly turned away, walking quietly from the scene.

An entire day had passed since the attack; the corpses of both friend and foe were being line up in a row, white blankets covering them, as the survivors and the reinforcements began cleaning up the mess. Hange and Levi lifted the body of a fallen comrade, placing him onto the ground as Levi pulled a blanket over their face.

"Sorry I couldn't have gotten here sooner." Hange apologist "If we had made it we could have intercepted them… they wouldn't have made off with Eren, Historia and Annie." Hange began to squeeze the bridge of her nose "And on top of that we don't know if Ed's dead or not."

"We'll keep moving." Levi replied "We've got one of those bastards locked away and if we're lucky he might know where they're taking them."

"If we're lucky, huh." Hange remarked. "How's everyone holding up?"

"They're shaken but getting on with it; the brats are resilient I'll give them that. You should also know that Armin was able to use that flame alchemy he's been working on." Levi informed "But Alphonse hasn't spoken to anyone since the attack; few short answers about what happened on his end but that's it."

"Where is he now?" Hange asked, concerned.

"In the barracks by himself." Levi said.

"I'll go talk to him later." Hange said "First we should probably pay our 'guest' a visit."

"I was thinking the exact same thing." Levi said. The two both made their way inside the castle, through the mess hall and into the basement below. They descended down the steps towards the row of cells; in the second cell was the captured interior MP, tied to a chair still unconscious.

"You awake?" Levi asked. There was no response, a few seconds passed before Levi threw a hard punch into his gut which caused the guy to cry out in pain. "Oh look at that." Levi grabbed a hand full of his hair and pulled his head towards his. "That was quite the little raid you guys launched; three of our greatest assets taken in one night and all it cost you was more than a couple of your men." Levi turned to Hange and nodded at her; Hange walked over to a tray next to her and picked up a nail puller. "Tell us everything you know or we pull your fingernails off."

"Seeing as it looks like you cut your nails recently, it won't make this easy for me." Hange remarked as he examined their prisoner's hands "Which means it might be even more painful for you."

"Let's start this off easy, what's your name?" Levi asked.

"Duran…" the MP replied in a hushed growl.

"Very good…the three that Kenny captured, where is he taking them?" Levi questioned.

"Fuck you." Duran spat.

"Wrong answer" Levi replied, he released the clump of hair he held in his hand as Hange dug the nail puller into Duran's finger. There was a sickening crack as she accidentally bend the tip of his index finger upwards.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"Shit, wasn't meant to do that." Hange said as she realigned the nail puller "Hold on just let me…" she pulls back as the nail from Duran's finger was ripped off "There we are, sorry about that; hadn't done anything like this before." Duran didn't respond, instead he began crying from the immense pain.

"Let's try this again, where are they taking those three?" Levi questioned "You wanna keep the nail on your middle finger? Then answer the question."

"Fuck you, midget!"

"Hange?" Levi said, looking back to her.

"I'm on it." She said as she clamped the clippers on to the edge of his nails. She pulled her hand back quickly as the nail was ripped from his finger. "Should we try another question?"

"Alright then" Levi said, he turned back to Duran "Your group, what kind of branch of the military police do you work for?"

"I'm not…" Duran mumbled through his tears "I'm not telling you freaks anything!"

Levi immediately threw a hard punch directly to Duran's nose; his head recoiled back from the sheer force of the blow as the back of his head collided into the crest rail of the chair. Levi picked up a small knife from the tray "Will you answer if it meant I didn't have to shove this into your left eye?" Levi questioned.

Duran winced at the thought as he stared at the knife Levi held in front of him, a heavy stream of blood ran from his nose. "Anti-Personnel control squad…"

"Very good" Levi replied "Now, what about the location of the three?" Levi pushed his head back against the chair's crest rail as he aligned the knife with Duran's left eye "Do you want to try back talking again?"

Hours had passed since the enemy raid, Armin walked along the scorched hallway; even when all the bodies had been removed the lingering smell of burnt flesh hung around as an unpleasant reminder of his actions. He walked into one of the rooms; there was a pool of blood on the floor just by the door.

"They still ended up taking the second floor." Armin muttered, he noticed someone sitting on one of the beds, alone and silent.

"Alphonse…" he walked up to him "Alphonse, are you-" he placed his hand on his shoulder, Alphonse turned towards Armin. His eyes were bloodshot and red, whether it was from exhaustion from the night battle or him crying, it was clear he was both physically and mentally tired. Armin gave Alphonse a sympathetic look and sat down next to him. "I guess it would be stupid to ask if you're alright." He said.

"It's my fault…" Alphonse muttered, his head lowered toward the ground "I left him… I should have…"

"We were ambushed; none of us saw it coming." Armin tried to comfort him "It wasn't your fault, don't beat yourself up." Armin looked down onto the floor "He wanted you to go; he didn't want you to be in danger…"

"What am I going to do?" Alphonse asked, Armin didn't know whether he was genuinely asking him for advice or just to himself. "If I had known this would happen…"

"But you didn't know." Armin said.

There was a knock on the door, Armin turned his head to see Hange standing by the doorway, blood splattered over the sleeves of her clothes. "Hey, just checking up on you." she walked up to the two and sat beside Alphonse. "I'm so sorry, Alphonse."

"What am I going to do?" Alphonse asked again, he placed the back of his hand onto his left eye. "What do I have to do?" his voice cracked, it sounded as if he was on the verge of breaking down into tears. "I can't do this without him." Tears ran down his cheeks as they softly splattered onto the stone floor.

Hange placed her arm around Alphonse's shoulders and leaned towards him, placing her head next to him, as she tried to comforting her crying mentor and friend. Armin placed his arm around Al's body as the two hugged him. They didn't know what to say to him but they wanted him to know that they'd be there. No matter what.

Night had fallen on the castle once more, a day had nearly passed since the attack and yet everyone was on edge; waiting for the next attack. Inside the mess hall Levi squad and Hange and her team leaders gathered around as they planned their next move.

Levi's squad sat around the wooden table as Levi stood at the end, his knuckles resting on the table as he leaned forward slightly, he observed the faces of his subordinates; it was clear to him that they were tired and distressed about the loss of their friends and the recent defeat.

"The interior police managed to track down our contacts and quickly killed them." Abel informed them "Cutting off our way of spreading our message and info to the people."

"Waging a war on information to the public" Hange remarked "Why try and compete with an opposing message when you could just cut off all opposing opinions entirely…"

"I can't believe Keiji gone…" Nifa lamented over the loss of their team member. The mood in the room was grim as they thought back to the line of bodies outside; they couldn't send them back to their families, not while they were still fighting against the Royal government and were being hunt down by the interior MPs.

"So many of our comrades have died" Moblit added.

"There's no point in moping around like a bunch on shitty brats." Levi stated "All we can do now is move forward and exact some payback to them." He turned towards Alphonse who sat quietly at the edge of the table, staring downwards as if he was still lost in his thoughts. "Alphonse." Al's head shifted upwards to face Levi. "Do you mind answering a question?" Alphonse didn't response "Did Kenny say, definitively, that he killed Edward?"

"He… said that Ed was a good fighter and that he was the one standing it was proof that he..." Alphonse stopped mid sentence as he gritted his teeth.

"So it's all implied then." Levi responded "It sounds more like he was gloating over the fact that he beat Ed rather than killed him."

"Are you saying Ed's alive then, Captain?" Connie asked. Everyone looked at Levi with a look of anticipation; they all knew by now that he had known Kenny. It was natural to assume that Levi must have known Kenny's nature and from this know if he had killed Ed or not. Of course, that wasn't the case, even Levi knew very little about Kenny. Levi could see the hope in Alphonse tired eyes. He felt guilty for dampening it.

"I don't know, Kenny may have taught me how to survive, he never told me about himself" Levi responded "The only way we'll find out is if we succeed in this coup or we fail and meet him in the afterlife. Alphonse, when you were thrown into the jaws of the colossal titan Ed was the first to act and when the armored titan ran off with you he devised the plan to rescue you, Eren and Ymir without the authorization of either Hange or I." Levi told him "We didn't know whether you were still alive but… he never gave up on you." Levi leaned back slightly "Don't give up on him, keep fighting."

"Keep moving forward…" Alphonse muttered to himself. Al nodded weakly to Levi as Levi nodded back.

"As you all know we been interrogating the captured MP from last night's raid until the bastard caved in; the information we got was that they're moving along a series of checkpoints, however he doesn't know the end point of the trail only just the location of one of the checkpoints, an inn in Stohess." Levi informed them.

"If we know one of the areas there heading then we could mount a rescue mission." Abel suggested.

"It almost certainly a trap" Levi stated "Kenny will be banking on us to launch some kind of desperate rescue mission to ambush us."

"So the information we've got is faulty?" Connie asked. "Then what's the point of it?"

"Kenny likely wants to lure us into a final confrontation and finish us off." Levi stated "So we'll use this opportunity to take the fight to him." Everyone looked at Levi shocked.

"What about Eren, Historia and Edward?" Mikasa demanded, anger in her voice "Are you saying we should leave them?"

"So long as Kenny and the 'Anti-personnel squad' are still running around they'll constantly stand in our way." Levi responded "They won't quit until each and every one of us is buried six feet under and we won't either." the members of his squad, the 104th, squirmed uncomfortably in their seats. "If we take out Kenny then we've got a clear path towards rescuing them."

"We could ask Hannes and his men to sweep the area for any suspicious activity." Hange suggested "A battle would draw any attention away from them while they searched for Eren and Historia." Hange turned towards Levi squad, specifically two members "Mikasa and Armin, you two have known Hannes for a long time; would he agree to do something like this?" she asked.

"Yes, Captain Hannes had always looked out for us." Armin replied.

"He's the one that saved us during the attack on Shiganshina." Mikasa added.

"So that's sorted then, Hannes and his men will search for them while we distract and eliminate Kenny and his men." Levi stated.

"Nifa, send a message to Captain Hannes about our next move and Abel, send message to both Captain Dietrich and Squad leader Nanaba for reinforcements." Hange ordered.

"If we do this… then we'll knowingly turn the district into a warzone." Jean mentioned "We won't be able to warn anyone like the titan attack… they'll all be caught in the battle."

"And if we don't do this then we'll lose and with us the fight to reclaim wall Maria and humanity's future will be gone too." Levi replied. "I'm not going to stand here and tell you all that this is the most noble thing to do, it may not even be the right thing to do, but it may be the best approach to making sure humanity has a some kind of chance if we can just take the over the reins of this world." There was an uncomfortable silence after he spoke. "Once we do that then we can try and make right by the people."

"We're all in agreement then?" Hange asked as she looked around the room "Good, Moblit and I will have to find an alternative bring to our message to the public seeing as our messengers are dead."

"We'll handle Kenny." Levi replied, he turned his head towards Hange "Hange, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak to me squad alone."

"Of course" Hange replied as she and her team got up from their chairs and quickly walked out the door, shutting it behind them.

Levi took one of the empty chairs and placed them on the end of the table and seated himself down. "Okay, let's talk; I know that you all had to do things you weren't comfortable with last night and now you're being told to do it again. It's a shitty situation, I know, so just air it out now."

"It wasn't quick." Armin mumbled as he looked down onto the table, getting everyone's attention. He looked upwards to see everyone's faces. "The people I've killed, they were forced to suffer." His voice trembled slightly "There was no other way to stop them but… I'd burnt them alive, does that make me-"

"Armin, those times you used your flame alchemy, you saved the lives of your comrades; if you had hesitated during the ambush or the night raid then we'd being burying our squad right about now." Levi stated "There's no turning back now, your hands are dirty." Levi looked around the table once more.

"How could you say tha-" Mikasa interjected.

"All of you have plunged your hands into the filth. And that goes for you too, Alphonse." he said, putting attention towards the younger Elric "There's no point trying to work around it any longer; the moment you agreed to teach Armin how to burn people alive, the moment you helped capture that MP for us to torture and the moment you killed a titan, you got your hands plenty dirty. You must accept that there's no coming back from this."

A gently breeze brushed across Levi's face as he sat on the rooftop of a house just a few doors away from the inn where the others were being held. The sky was a light orange as the sun began to set as his eyes scanned his surroundings. Everything looked relatively peaceful as carts and wagons drove by and people walked along the road and entered shops.

Everything's in place he thought, he looked down onto his blade, his reflection staring back him with a blank expression, hiding the uneasiness he was feeling. Where are you…he thought as his grip on the handle tighten as his shoulders shifted the cheap cloak that covered his left side but exposed his right arm which held his blade.

Just then the sound of boots landing onto the tiles behind him caught his attention "Hey again, short stuff." greeted a familiar voice with a condescending tone. "It's been what, a few days since we last saw each other?"

"Kenny." Levi growled as he looked down at him from the top of the slanted roof; at this moment he felt nothing but anger at his former mentor for everything he had done, to his comrades and to himself.

"I'm surprised, Levi, you comin' here all on your lonesome self." Kenny said "Like prey walking into a hunter's den." Just off the corner of his eyes he could see others moving in towards him and the sound of zipping cables getting closer.

"I had to get them back, I think even you knew I would." Levi replied.

"You didn't bring any back up?" Kenny asked "Your team too scared to face me again or did you just want to keep 'em out of harm's way?"

You have no idea…

"I could do this on my own." Levi responded.

"Looks like all you brought was those swords of yours, you really must have some kind a death wish." Kenny chuckled. "It's like you learnt nothin' from me, what have I told you about cornering a rat?"

"I'm not the rat here, Kenny" Levi replied, unafraid of his current situation; Without warning a cacophony of gunshots rang in the air as flashes of light and smoke appeared from nearby open windows as members of the anti – personnel squad were ruthlessly gunned down by gunmen scattered all over the neighbourhood. "You are!"

Few hours before…

Alphonse pushed his glasses back up to his eyes as he and Jean patrolled the area; they were dressed in regular clothes in an attempt to disguise themselves from the people around them. The streets seemed crowded as a member of the military police began handing out leaflets to the people around him

"Special operations unit charged with murder and arson!" he yelled "Commander Erwin summoned to the capital as more scouts join Levi and his gang of rogue soldiers!"

Alphonse took one from the man and nodded towards him as he read out the contents; a list of names from the unit, which included his, lined the column with a detailed telling of the murder of Dimo Reeves and his men, the murder of the mayor of Stohess and others incriminated them as well as the burning of the Stohess records and the warehouse nearby.

"Could you believe this?" said a passerby.

"The scouts' elite killing people" said another.

"You think those Elrics had anything to do with it?" said a person in the crowd "those two might be the ones pulling all the strings in this."

"But didn't they save Trost? They're on our side and they helped save this city during the titan attack." argued another.

"Remember, they said that the royal government has been trying to undermine their efforts." Added another "This could all be lies."

"You're siding with those murderers?" the crowd became to become restless as a heated argument erupted between them.

"They saved this city!"

"They brought the titans here in the first place!"

"How can you believe the government's propaganda?"

"Do you trust the words of traitors?"

"That titan kid and those two freaks are nothing but trouble!"

"Watch your tongue, they were sent here from God!"

It wasn't long before punches were being thrown as general unrest broke out into a riot in the streets. "Everyone, settle down!" yelled one of the MPs as a group of them rushed into the crowd armed with muskets.

"C'mon, let's get out of here" Jean whispered over to Alphonse; the two quickly made their escape through a back alley away from the civil unrest. They approached an empty warehouse, Jean knocked on the door.

"Watchword?" said a voice on the other side.

"It's us, Connie" Jean replied "Open the door." The door opened allowing them to enter through; inside Levi had been inspecting the muskets and weapons brought by Ian as groups of scouts and garrison soldiers began to prepare themselves; Sasha was busy loading muskets, Mikasa was examined her blades carefully as she gently inserted them into the scarab, Mina helped Armin fasten the straps of his gear on and Petra stood with the captain as he examined their new guns.

"You bought these weapons with the money we gave you, correct?" Levi asked. "We can't risk using army supplies and having you exposed in all this."

"Don't worry; my men bought them from either the black market or from some farmers." Ian replied as he handed Levi a sawed off shotgun.

"How does Rico feel about all this?" Levi asked.

"She was hesitant but once I showed her all the details she understood; right now she covering for my absence and telling the officials I'm off on a routine patrol of the front lines." Ian explained.

Levi opened the barrel and loaded in two shells "Good, everything's almost in place then."

"These guys have guns attached to their gear?" Ian asked "That makes our gear almost useless if they can just shoot us."

"Which is why were not just bringing knives into a gunfight." Levi replied as he hid the gun under his cloak. "Are you're men on standby to move people during the fighting?"

"Yes, all we need now is the go ahead." Ian replied.

"Lynne, are the men from your squad ready to move?" Levi asked.

"Yes, we're ready." Lynne replied.

"Okay, let's show this old shit bag what it's like to be taken by surprise."

For the first time in a long time, Kenny had been caught off guard. And he didn't like it.

Off the corner of his eyes he could see the flashes of light from guns as his some of his men fell to the ground. He took his eyes off eyes of Levi for only a second to catch a glimpse of people armed with muskets standing on the other side of open windows; he quickly looked back at Levi and just about caught him lifting the arm he had hidden under his cloak to reveal a shotgun.

"Sneaky little shit!" he yelled as he pointed his gun towards him; the two quickly stepped to the side as they both pulled the trigger of their weapons. Levi's shells struck the tiles where Kenny once stood as Kenny's shot blew off a chunk of the chimney which Levi quickly hid behind.

"That's him!" yelled a voice from behind him "Swarm him, quickly!" three people, dressed in regular clothes yet strapped in ODM gear, flew towards him as they looked to impale him with their long flesh-pairing blades. Kenny quickly leapt off the roof, pointing his gun towards one of his attackers and pulled the trigger; blowing a chunk of their neck as they spiraled down to the ground. He quickly fired the cables of his gun onto the side of a house as he swung away.

"No!" yelled one of his attackers as they watched their comrade collide into the ground.

"Kenny!" Levi yelled, dragging out his name, as he watched him escape.

As Kenny swung away, he felt a sudden urge to quickly duck his head; he lowered himself as a single arrow narrowly missed him and bounced off the stone wall "Who the hell uses arrows?" he yelled. Kenny then tried to slip through an alleyway when suddenly the walls sealed together with sparks of blue lightening and blocked his escape; he couldn't see him but he knew he was here. "The Elric brat." He growled, he continued down the street as a hooded figure ran onto the road and with a matchbox in his left hand and the match in his right; Kenny knew that for some reason this person was trouble and his fears were confirmed when they stuck the match and a wave of fire burst towards him. Kenny quickly dipped down under the fiery attack, the fire incinerating his hat he quickly knocked it off his head as maintained his getaway but just a few seconds after he cleared that attack he was greeted by a myriad of large stone hands bursting from the ground and the walls of the houses that lined the road; all of which were after him as he dodged the stony gasps of the maze of hands only to be met with another attacker from above, he recognized her face, Levi's second in command. "You again?" he groaned angrily.

Petra zoomed towards him and tried to swing her blades at his head as she descended down; acting quickly Kenny blocked the attack with the axles of his Anti – personnel gear. He spun his hips around and hit her to the side using his leg but Petra was able to make a quick swipe with her blade and sliced at the leg that batted her away.

"Gah!" he yelled as blood dripped from his open wound and splattered onto the ground leaving a red trail as he flew by.

Kenny fired a hook through the open tavern doors and accelerated towards it; bursting through the door. His heels of his boots skidded across the wooden floor as he came to a halt at the bar table. "Shit" he muttered as he looked down at his open wound; he grabbed a bottle of alcohol and poured it onto his wound, hissing from the sting, as he tore off the sleeve from one of the customers and wrapped it around his wound. "Shit, why did I head in here?" he asked himself. There was a boom on the top of the roof, the sound of people landing onto it, with the sound of zipping cables "You go to be shitting me…" he slid over the bar table and onto the other side. The tavern door flapped open to the sound of gasps.

"Captain Levi?" said one of the people in the establishment.

There were a few footsteps heading towards him before suddenly stopping "Come out, Kenny."

"I missed…" Armin muttered as he stared at the burning houses, his grip on the box of matches tighten as the box began to crumple in his hand. The large hands that tried to grab Kenny began patting down the flames before seemingly melting back into the walls and floor but it couldn't hid the damage he caused. "And all I ended up doing was-"

"Armin, there's no time to dwell on this" said Jean as the rest of the squad rushed out; Alphonse placed his hand on Armin's shoulder and gripped it reassuringly. "We still have to handle the Anti – personnel squad." Jean's voice seemed shaky as he reminded them on their mission. The echo of both distant and nearby gunfire could be heard as the ambush began to spread across the city. "They'll want to save Kenny, so we'll have to stop them in their tracks while Captain Levi and Lieutenant Petra handle him."

"We can't fight them out in the open with their ODM gear." Said Connie, he turn to Mikasa who then looked at him "Well most of us anyway…"

"If we get into a dragged out fight then we'll be quickly overwhelmed." Mina pointed out.

"So we'll need to take them out the second they come here." Jean concluded.

"I might have an idea…" Armin as he stared at the burn marks on the houses.

Less than two minutes had passed as they began placing Armin's plan into practice as the squad took position on the roofs; hiding behind chimneys and in the alleyways as Sasha kept lookout.

"Are you sure about this, Armin?" Alphonse asked.

"I don't like the idea either but it's probably the best option." Armin replied as he took a few matches from the box "Like Levi said at the end we'll try and make things right again." He looked up at Alphonse "Make sure you put out the fire."

"They're coming from the west!" Sasha yelled.

In one long stroke, Armin lit the matches in his hand at once; a burst of fire was directed on to the roofs of some housing in front of their target; the burning wooden panels began to spread a dark cloud of smoke.

Three Anti – Personnel soldiers broke through the wall of smoke and into the vision "What the hell was that?" coughing violently.

"Now!" Jean yelled as he pulled the trigger of his musket; the others quickly followed as they fired on Kenny's men. Nobody knew if they were the one who killed them but all three crashed onto the ground as they bled onto the street. Two more followed burst through the smoke; this time ready for the attack as they pointed their guns at Levi squad before they had time to reload and Armin any time to get out more matches.

Mikasa quickly flew through the alleyway and behind one of them; she impaled the MP through their gas canister and their chest. The other MP turned their body around and pointed their guns as Mikasa, focusing their full attention on her.

"Mikasa, get out of the-" a long pillar on wood burst from one of the houses and caused the MP to slam their lower back into it; taking advantage of the distraction, Mikasa fires her hooks onto the long pillar, zooms over to the other anti-personal squad member and buries her blade into their heart.

Armin watched as the pillar began to recede into the house and the dead body flop to the ground. He turned to face Alphonse, one hand on the roof transmuting and the other clenched into a fist as he didn't look upwards to see.

"How about we talk it out, what do ya say, Levi?" Kenny asked, it was very clear from his voice that he was in no way sincere about it. Where the hell are those idiots meant to back me up?

"Sure Kenny." Levi replied in an equally sarcastic tone "why not just pop your head over that counter and we can talk."

"How'd I know you just won't spray me with that shotgun of yours?" Kenny laughed. "Is this how you treat people you know?" he gazed upon a shotgun lying underneath the counter he was hiding under.

"Only the ones that piss me off" Levi replied "Now get out from under there, I want to see what colour your shitty brains are."

"Captain" Petra said as she stepped into the saloon. Levi raised his hand up slightly, stopping her from moving any further.

"Who's that Levi, she your lady friend?" Kenny joked; he quietly and swiftly turned one of the bottles from his label as he got a small view of the room.

"That's Lieutenant Ral to you, old creep." Petra shot back.

"Have you forgotten? You're all traitors to humanity now; you're the second in command to a group of rogue thugs, you're no longer soldiers" Kenny shot back "Some lieutenant you are though, you abandoned one of your own men. But we'd do anything to survive, am I right?" Kenny loaded shells into the gun quickly. Petra was about to move forward when Levi stopped her.

"Is that why you joined the Military police?" Levi asked "For survival?"

"Let's just say I found something, something I wanted to do; a hobby that made life worth living, worth even killing people for." Kenny took one last look at the reflection of the glass bottle and then slammed the barrel of the shotgun onto the counter "especially you." Levi pulled Petra to the ground as Kenny pulled the trigger; a burst of metal sprayed the room and hit some of the bystanders. "You never should have come here, you little shit." Kenny then took out a small bomb from his pocket and tossed it over the counter. Levi grabbed Petra off the floor and jumped out of the saloon's doors while Kenny fired his hook through a nearby window, onto another building and pulled himself away; all this just as the bomb was about to set off.

BOOM!

Glass shattered onto the ground and the small saloon doors crashed onto the steps as thick grey smoke poured through the window to the sound of ear piercing cries from inside.

Kenny swung away as multiple scouts quickly followed him; he was passing over small houses, trying to outrun them but they were closing in fast. One of them flew towards him, a woman with her hair done up in a ponytail, with her blades ready to impale him; Kenny acted quickly and fired his gun at her, hitting her in the gut as she crashed onto the tiles of a house below.

"Lynne!" yelled one of the scouts as they watched their comrade fall. Kenny fired his hook onto the side of a tall building and swung onto the road where he was met by a man armed with a musket pointing it at him. Kenny swung upwards into the air as the guy took his shot and missed; he aimed his gun and fired it at his head, the shotgun shell tearing through his attacker's face. He landed onto the flat foot of a store house only to be greeted by more people, armed with muskets and shotguns, pointing directly at him.

"Ah geez, can't we just talk it out. Huh?" Kenny said, half jokingly and half sincere. Suddenly his attackers were shot dead from behind as own men, led by Traute, landed onto the roof.

"Captain Ackerman, the enemy-"

"Ambush I know, I know." Kenny said.

"We're taken heavy casualties; close to half of our remaining squad were killed." Traute informed him.

"That ain't good" Kenny commented "That midget, I don't know whether I should be furious or proud that he thought of this."

"What are your orders?" Traute asked.

"Get everyone out of the city; they're here for us and they won't stop till they've killed every last one of us." Kenny replied. "Rally back with Rod and the captured brats; we're close to achieving our goal so there's no point in continuing this fight."

Eren lay there in the pitch black, his body restrained by leather belts which wrapped around his arms, body and legs within the cushion of the coffin they'd placed him in. He could hear the sound of movement outside of his box; mummers and shuffling as they carried his container around and gently slid it onto what sounded like a table.

The coffin lid was slowly open as the dim candle light illuminated the room. In front of him was Kenny who held the lid of his coffin. "Hey Eren, how'd the trip feel?" he asked sarcastically.

Eren growled in response; the metal rod in his mouth preventing him from talking. He sat up from his coffin; the small room around him was almost empty save for another coffin. From the corner of his eye he could see another person near a second coffin; it was a short middle aged man with dark hair and big round blue eyes, also like…

Rod Reiss!

Eren watched as Rod undid the metal rod in Historia's mouth He's the one, the king whose been getting in our way, the enemy of humanity; if this guy is an irredeemable bastard…

Historia spat the metal rod from her mouth and growled at him but Rod looked back at her with tears in his eyes "Historia, I'm so sorry, please forgive me." He asked as he brought her in for a hug.

"Oi, blonde, you awake?" Kenny asked as he lifted the lid from the other coffin, Eren turned his attention to the other coffin as Kenny pulled the head of the third person.

Annie!

She was still unconscious by the looks of it "Oi, c'mon" Kenny said as he flicked her ear before dropping her back into the coffin.

"Annie…" Historia muttered as she caught sight of their former comrade turned traitor.

Rod slowly let go of Historia as he turned towards Kenny "Good work capturing the other shifter; who knows what they would have been able to do with her at their disposal. But know we only have one of the Elric brothers and Levi Ackerman to worry about now"

"Yeah… about that…" Kenny said in the tone of a guilty person being caught yet not caring. "Bring him in." he yelled. The door to a conjoining room open as three people walked in; two MPs holding a person in the middle, dressed in plain clothes, wearing combat boots with a straw bag wrapped around their head as they forced them onto their knees. The MP to the left snatched the bag from their head to reveal a mess of long gold blond hair. One of the MPs grabbed at the person hair and roughly lifted their head up.

Ed!

There was a massive bruise around his right eye, swelling on the left side of his face with red marks near his temple, his clothes looked dishevelled with patches of blood and dirt streaked all over it and his hair looked to dripping with water and a long piece of cloth covering his mouth. Both Rod and Historia gasped as they saw him.

"How you doing, Ed?" Kenny asked as he knelt down, seeing him eye to eye. "Have you reconsidered? Just nod yes if you have" Ed glared at him as he moved his head slightly up; Kenny brought his face a little closer. Ed then quickly slammed his head into Kenny nose, Kenny fell back slightly as the cloth around Ed's mouth loosen enough to fall from his mouth.

"Fuck you, I'm not helping you with your stupid pla-" Before Ed could finish his sentence Kenny quickly kicked his in the face, shutting him up as the MPs tied the cloth back around his mouth."

Ed! Eren tried to break free from his binds but to no avail; he could only wiggle around as the MPs restrained Ed.

"Kenny, what is the meaning of this?" Rod demanded "I thought I told you to kill them, you just went against me, after everything I've done for you, everything Yuri done-"

"Can it will ya?" Kenny interjected as he got off the floor "Why does it matter if I let him live anyway? We use the tech we capture from people all the time, why is this any different?"

"Any different? He isn't some tool to be used, he's our enemy." Rod yelled.

"Where's your imagination, Rod?" Kenny asked nonchalantly "Imagine what we could do with him if we just rein him in; if the First squad had that power than it won't matter who comes after us in the future." Ed let out a muffled yell in response "Give it some time though."

Eren watched as both Kenny and Rod looked at each other with suspicion; it wasn't hard to tell that there was tension between them.

If Rod asked Kenny to kill Ed, then why didn't he go through with it? If Rod didn't need them then does Kenny need them instead?

"Haven't we gone a little too far?" Hitch asked as she and Marlowe patrolled a nearby dense forest outside of Stohess district. Sunlight seeped through the cracks between the leaves and thick branches only shedding patches of light around them.

"We won't find them inside town." Marlowe responded as he scanned the bushes and tree line for the rogue soldiers.

Hitch sighed "Why'd I have to be stuck with you?" she asked bored "Unless you just wanted to spend some alone time with me." She suggested, almost jokingly.

"Hitch, sorry but I didn't want you as a partner either." Marlowe said bluntly.

"Is that so?" Hitch replied, somewhat agitated "well then that's fine."

"It's odd though; why would Levi squad and a bunch of other soldiers just up and rebel against the king and become traitors of humanity?" Marlowe asked "They were there to help humanity and they even stopped an attack from the Colossal and Armoured titan on the district."

"Stopped the attack?" Hitch questioned "They couldn't prevent turning the district into a warzone; think about it, they were there just when the Colossal and Armoured titan showed up, so they knew." Marlowe was taken aback from the serious tone in Hitch's voice "If they had done more than… Annie might still be here."

"I understand, Hitch" Marlowe replied "But had they not intervened then who knows what might have hap-"

"Quiet!" Hitch yelled as she raised her gun up, Marlowe immediately followed suit "I hear water." The two walked forward as a small stream and a hooded figure crouched down came in sight. The two quietly approached the figure, their guns pointed at them, as they got closer they could make out the ODM gear attached to the person's body.

"Don't move!" Marlowe ordered "Hands up and turn around." The figure raised their hands up as they stood from the ground and turned to face them, they looked to be only marginally taller than Hitch. The leather straps of their gear were on display but the hood shielded their eyes from them. "Lower your hood slowly." The figure gently grabbed the top of their hood and lowered it from their face. He had a broad face, short gold blond hair and golden eyes "Holy shit, you're one of the Elrics." Marlowe exclaimed, remembering the briefing on their descriptions.

"Hands apart!" Hitch ordered as she pointed her rifle at him.

"Don't make a sound." Marlowe instructed "What you'll say and do will be-" suddenly they felt the cold steel of a sharp blade press against their throats as their right arm was forced behind their backs.

"Hand over the muskets." Alphonse calmly demanded as he took the weapons from them.

"Don't try anything." Levi ordered. Suddenly more people came out of the bushes pointing their guns at them; they had the two completely surrounded.

"How long had you been following us?" Marlowe asked.

"Long enough, next time you're out hunting for someone try to be more mindful of your surroundings, now get on your knees." Levi ordered calmly. Two others came towards them and tied up their hands as the two behind them unlatched their ODM gear and scarabs, tossing it to the side in a pile "Was there anyone else in your group?"

"No" Marlowe replied.

Levi moved in front of them; looking down at them "I remember you two; you're the MPs that stopped two of my squad members from leaving." Levi said "what trainee corps are you from?"

"104th" Hitch replied.

"New recruits…" Levi said "Military police still keeping the tradition of leaving the work to the recruits alive then." There was a zipping sound as boots hit the grass and jogged towards them; it was two other people. "Petra and Sasha, was anyone else following them?"

"No, looks like they were the only two." Petra replied.

"So the meeting point hasn't been compromised then." Levi stated "We'll wait here for the survey team to report on Eren and Historia's location." Levi turned back towards them, his blade resting on his shoulder "As for you two…"

"Tell me something…" Hitched demanded, her voice shaking slightly "You knew there would be a titan attack, that's why you were at the district, right?"

"Yes" Levi replied.

"If you knew than why did you let them into the district?" Hitch questioned.

"You want the truth? We originally planned to trap the shifters in the underground but they caught on at the last minute." Levi explained "I guess the saving grace of that botched plan was that no one else, other than our own men, was killed."

"No one else!" Hitch yelled furiously "It's because of your stupid plan my roommate was killed by those titans!" she then turned towards the people around her "You're all from the southern training corps, aren't you?" she glared at them "Annie was a part of you guys, did you know her?" the people around her gave Hitch a shocked look at the revelation "Of course you didn't, she was so dark and anti-social; always wanting to keep to herself." One of the team members pointing their guns slowly lowered it "But still, I wanted to get to know her and now I'll never get the chance. Because of you the titans probably ripped her to pieces!"

"No, the reason you haven't seen Annie was because she's the Female titan." Levi stated simply. "We captured here during the 57th expedition and used her to discover the identities of the others; but now she's God knows where with the interior first squad, we don't know if she's even alive at this point." Both Hitch and Marlowe stared at Levi in complete shock at what he had told them "Finding out that the people close to you are your enemy is shitty, Mina over there was probably her closet friend "he pointed towards one of his squad members "everyone's being kept in the dark about the truth of this world and only those in the centre know everything." Levi lowered his blade, pointing it towards the ground. Nearby the sound of horse and rustling bushes could be heard.

"Captain, the survey team is here." Sasha announced.

"We've got someone to meet so we'll have to push you aside for now; we'll untie you when once we're finished. You have my word on that." Levi told them.

"Annie…" Hitch muttered a member of their squad walked in front of her; Hitch looked up to see Mina looking at her with a slightly sad expression.

"C'mon" she said as she helped Hitch up to her feet and then Marlowe. She waved them forward towards the bottom of a cliff "We'll wait here for a while." The three sat down.

"Tell me something, did your squad kill those people?" Marlowe asked "The mayor, Dimo Reeves and his workers?"

"No, I was there when they killed Dimo Reeves, it was a guy named Kenny and the interior MPs who did it; his men shot them point blank and Kenny cut Dimo's throat with a knife." Mina explained "They then attacked us and kidnapped our friends, including Annie."

"So you were friends with Annie?" Hitch asked.

"Yeah, I… I guess I still am…" Mina replied, pausing in between her words as if to ponder on the question. "I'm the only person that talks to her now; that was kind of the case back during the training corps but now…." Mina paused for a second and looked to the ground.

"Even after you found out she was a titan shifter?" Hitch followed up.

"I know that what she's done is terrible but I also know that it hurt her to do it. She doesn't show it but she is a person who really does care about the people around her; I would catch glimpses of person during the training years and even when we'd talk in her cell." Mina looked up back at them "It may have been naïve and stupid but I promised her I'd stay by her side and I intend to keep that promise."

"Then let me help you." Hitch declared to both Marlowe and Mina's surprise.

"Hitch?!" Marlowe exclaimed.

"Woah I wasn't trying to recruit you into our cause or anything" Mina tried to explain.

"Well you just did, if what you said about Annie was true then I want to help her by helping you." Hitch replied "She was always so cold and reserved but if what you say is true then I want to know the real her."

"I want to help you guys too!" Marlowe added catching Mina off guard "I'll do anything to help right the wrongs in this world!"

"I… I'm not the person you got to convince." Mina explained "You've got to tell that to captain Levi."

Marlowe stood up from the ground "Please take us back to him so we can make our case." He said, almost pleading.

Mina looked at them with a surprised look "You know, you remind of two people I know" she remarked with a smile "Okay, let's go." Mina led the two from their space towards Captain Levi who looked to be in discussion with a tall figure with their hood up holding a map.

"So you've got nothing then?" said Levi to the hooded figure.

"We covered an area about this wide and couldn't find anything; no strange wagons, no horses and just farmland and villages." said the figure, he spoke in a deep and rough voice. Levi quickly caught notice of them walking towards him.

"What is it?" Levi asked "This better be important."

"Captain Levi, we want to help you and the cause." Marlowe opened with "You sounded as if you needed help finding something; the MPs have an extensive library and data records back at our headquarters in Stohess, it could hold what you're looking for."

"And you would have access to that?" Levi questioned.

"He puts in a lot of work so the officers just let him in whenever." Hitch added.

"That could work actually." Said the hooded figure, he turned around to look at them; he looked to be a middle aged man with blond hair and a dark thin mustache. "The name's Hannes."

"If I'm to trust you then I need to know something; why did you stop two members of my squad from leaving Stohess district that night?" Levi questioned. "You could have just left it, it certainly wasn't your problem, yet you still did it."

"Because it was the right thing to do" Marlowe replied. "Not just because of chain of command but for humanity too.

"So its humanity that you have in heart" Levi remarked "If you want in then okay but be aware there's no turning back from this; even if you back stab us in the end, you'll know too much for the royal government to let you live so us winning this thing is the only way we're making it out alive." Both Marlowe and Hitch nodded as if to confirm their allegiance.

"Look kids, if you can find out any possible locations for where the Reiss family can be hiding then please do." He said showing them the map "We're running against the clock here so if you can help us we'd greatly appreciate it."

"You can count on us." Hitch replied with a friendly smile.

Better late than never I guess…

I'm sorry for the long wait; I'm doing my third year at University and I've been bogged down with long essays and reading for my dissertation. I've basically been writing, at most, few hours a week.

Also trying to get back into the habit of writing again; I wrote another crossover story to help get over my mental block. (But I do plan on solely focusing on writing and improving this story for the foreseeable future.)

In light of recent events…

Friendship with World cup ended, now UEFA Nations league is my best friend.