Chapter 52: Gamble on Hope
"Marlowe, help me!" came a muffled order, through the thin gap in his right eye. His vision was fuzzy but he could make out the green cloaks and light brown coats uniform. The voice sounded muffled, like a person shouting through a thick pillow, yet Ed could just about make out who it was.
"Capta-… Levi…" he muttered out weakly as he began to lose consciousness once more, fading into black.
"Oi, don't give up on us now!" the voice demanded "Stay awake!" he felt his body getting lifted up as his arms were pulled out resting onto shoulders which flanked him, holding him up. As his vision returned he faced the ground moving beneath him as he felt his feet drag against the floor, as his hearing began to clear he heard the sound of deafening crashing against the buildings around him and onto the ground. It was loud but not loud enough to completely mask out the screaming.
His vision once more went to black, as he awoke again he found himself lying on the ground facing the sky as a two people squat down at both his left and his right picked at his face, carefully holding his head as they brought out a long white bandage, Ed began fading to darkness as they began to wrap his face.
As he opened his eyes this time he found himself back home; the sprawling open fields, green hills of Resembool under a bright blue sky, white clouds and a familiar path with a low stone wall build along it greeted him. He looked down, he found himself dressed in a familiar red cloak and black outfit.
The cool air and warm summer rays pressed gently against him, he knew exactly what would be behind him, as he looked back he saw the pale yellow walls and green windows, staircase and balcony of Granny Rockwell's house.
He wanted to move back, but his body felt trapped in place; looking down at his body standing still and motionless as he tried to move it with all his might. He looked back up towards the house, this time noticing someone standing on the balcony.
"Winry…" he muttered.
She looked back at him and waved "When are you coming back?" she yelled out.
"Coming back?" he muttered, he reached out his arm towards her, noticing that the red cloak's sleeve around his arm was replaced by a thin light brown coat sleeve, he looked back down to see himself dressed back in his scout regiment uniform. As he looked back towards the house, he was instead met with the sky and a towering wall partially blocking it out from his sight above him as he reached out towards nothing, quickly someone ran up to him and knelt down.
"You can't get up now, you're too injured." They wore a surgeon's apron and gloves, both drenched in blood as they lowered his hand, grabbing both of them and placing them firmly together, likely to dissuade him to not reach out for anything, Ed's eyes quickly began to close just before he glanced at his now blood stained hands, his mind drifting as he listed off the element of blood like counting sheep.
This time, as he opened his eyes, he found himself in a very familiar bright white room, at the sight of it Ed felt a rush of anxiety and fear spread through him. He quickly sat up and looked around.
"What the hell…" he gasped, as he turned around he found before him a colossal stone door towering over him; inscribed on the door was a tree, not like that of an alchemist's gate of truth but instead a large tree whose braches reached across even the very frames of the door.
"Amazing isn't it?" asked a voice behind him, Ed felt a chill run down his spine as he turned his head to see the Truth once more, walking to his left hand side.
"You…" Ed replied, his voice shaking slightly.
"Hello again, Edward Elric." The Truth said with a familiar smile, standing exactly eye level… if it had any. "I've been watching you and Alphonse, you two have been making great progress."
"Great progress, do you know the things we've done?" Ed questioned. "To get to this point?" the Truth didn't answer "Where's Alphonse… is he okay?"
"Your brother is alive and is being looked after." The Truth answered "However the tide in this battle in turning against you two on both sides."
Ed sighed slightly as his body slumped; he looked back to the door "What is this… this doesn't look like an alchemist's gate."
"It's not, it is a perversion of the cycle of nature." The Truth spoke. "It is something that lives separately to the universe yet still acts within it."
Ed looked at the door, the truth's words running through his head. "The titans…" he muttered "You're talking about the titans?"The Truth only looked at him "That's it isn't it? This is where they're from, how they're made…"
He turned back to the door and pressed his hands against it as if trying to push it open, the door shifted slightly to Ed's surprise with a small crack just between the doors. Peering through Ed could see a night sky cluttered with stars wrapped in ribbons of emerald green overhead a field of sand. Before Ed could look further, the door quickly closed shut as if pushed closed from the other side.
"Interesting…" the Truth commented. "I've never seen the door open before."
Ed tried to push the door open again, only to find he could no longer make it budge even a bit. His hands formed into fists as he leaned up against the door. "Tell me…" he asked "If we win this… if we take back Shiganshina and defeat the titans here… will that be enough?"
"That is for you and Alphonse to decide and for I to be the judge of." The Truth replied. "But I can tell you, that should you succeed here that is a decision both you and Alphonse will have to make."
Ed turned his back towards the door and faced the Truth "Can't you just be straight with us; it's the least you could since you lied to us." Ed accused "You said we were sent there to help a group of people battle against an enemy they don't understand, not humanity as a whole."
"I never lied, Edward." The Truth replied "I only speak the truth and you of all people should know by now that the truth can also be complicated."
"Then what do we do?" Ed demanded "What do we have to do to succeed? How can we save everyone?"
The Truth walked up to him "That… is for you to figure out, young alchemist." The Truth placed its arm on Ed's shoulder "I enjoy our talks but you still have work to do, it's time for you to wake up."
"Wake up?" Ed questioned.
"Good luck again, Edward Elric." The Truth said before pushing him back as Ed awoke with a quick gasp of air.
"Ahhhhh!" came a sharp cry to his right; the voice began to cry out in anguish, just right next to him, waking him from his slumber. Ed slowly turned his head to see a group of people huddled around one person as they thrashed around trying to move.
"Nanaba, hold still!" demanded one of the attendants.
"No! Please!" she cried.
"The left arm is completely destroyed, we have to amputate it!" yelled another.
"Hold her still!" called one.
"Father please stop, I'll be good I promise!" Nanaba cried.
"Squad leader it's us! We need to remove your arm!" one of the scouts responded.
"She delirious, just hold her down."
"Nanaba, I'm so sorry…" one of them choked out, it was clear they were crying. This was then followed by a piercing cry which no doubt strained the person's voice, Ed turned his head away and sat up, almost immediately he felt his head sway to the side as he fought off an ache in his head. He looked down at his hands, caked in blood.
Right away he noticed his peripheral vision was off, only seeing clearly on his right side; he gently touched the left side of his face, a soft pad covered over his left eye as a tightly wrapped bandage held it in place.
"Edward, you shouldn't be up." Marlowe said as he knelt down to him.
"How long was I out?" Ed asked turning to Marlowe.
"About ten or fifteen minutes, you were never really unconscious just fading in and out." He replied.
"What happened?" Ed asked, without a second later, the sound of large objects crashing against the wall answered his question; everyone flinched for a second before quickly carrying on.
"Captain Levi and I carried you over here; a piece of wood hit you in your left eye." Ed touched the left side of his face again. "The Beast titan is still throwing rocks at us, anyone who isn't inside this barrier is likely dead." Marlowe gulped slightly as he continued "Most of the officers are dead, Nanaba is horribly wounded and the ones remaining are Lieutenants Rico and Hannes of the Garrison and Captain Levi and Commander Erwin are the only ones of the scouts left on this side." There were looks of apprehension on Marlowe's face "On the other side, we don't know too much but… Eren's titan just suddenly appeared on the wall, likely thrown by the colossal titan, Armin's been sent to check it out and help if he can. It's not looking good honestly."
Ed sat silently for a few seconds processing everything "Are Commander Erwin and Captain Levi here?" Marlowe nodded. "No point for me sitting here then." Ed stood up, wobbling slightly.
Marlowe tried to reach out before Ed waved him away "You shouldn't be moving yet, you still need to take it easy for now."
"Not yet, we're not done here." Ed replied as he began to walk away.
Alphonse winced as Sasha continued to wrap the bandages around his arm and over his neck; his right arm was closely resting against his body, broken and painful to move. Hidden away from the eyes of the colossal titan in the attic of an abandoned house, a massive hole in the roof allowing light to pass through.
"I'm sorry." Sasha apologized.
"Its fine, you're just trying to help me." Alphonse assured her; he turned his head to the side to see Petra next to him with bandages wrapped around her.
There was a distant sound of a flare going off and quickly Mikasa, Jean and Connie fell through the hole and regrouped with them, they looked slightly scorched and sweating.
"Are you guys okay?" Petra asked concerned at their state.
Jean slammed the butt of his ODM gear handle onto the wall "Damn it!" he exclaimed "Nothing is going our way…."
"What happened?" Petra asked concerned.
"We tried one last attack on the colossal titan." Mikasa explained "Eren… he… he was meant to hold off the colossal titan while we went for the attack but… the colossal titan kicked him into the wall, he's lying on the top of the wall right now…"
"Bertholdt knew what was going to happen; he blew steam at us when we could get a shot off, none of them hit." Connie added. "We're sorry Petra, we couldn't stop him."
"Mina still fighting Reiner, alone." Jean stated, irritated and sadden "We saw her flying into some houses north against him, she won't last any longer. And Hange and Dirk squad are still fighting that other titan and it looks like they're struggling too."
"How many thunder spears do we still have?" she asked.
"Two left." Connie replied, holding their last ones.
The room fell silent Petra bowed her head slightly, inhaled deeply and sighed "Jean, Connie, Sasha and Mikasa, go and retrieve Mina, we're falling back to Commander Erwin and relaying what happened, signal Dirk and Hange squad we're falling back."
"We're retreating?" Connie gasped. "But what about the titans? If we all fall back from the district then they have us cornered. We'll lose."
"My responsibility is to you, it's my job to make sure we succeed and get you all home alive." Petra stated "I've failed the first one but I won't fail you."
Alphonse clutched at his arm in frustration as he gritted his teeth; he reached for his equipment "Help me get my ODM gear on." He asked in a stern tone to everyone, anyone, in the room.
"Alphonse, you can't go back out there." Sasha told him "You're arm is broken, you couldn't use ODM gear or your alchemy."
"I still have to try." Alphonse replied. "We still have to try, we've come too far to give up now!" he exclaimed. "Even if my arm is broken I still have to try, everything is depending on this."
Suddenly there was a sound of zipping cables as a person landed onto the roof, hooks we're then fired onto the edges of the hole as a person lowered themselves down.
"Armin!" Mikasa exclaimed. Armin landed onto the floor with a pained grunt as he quickly crouched down holding back the pain, Mikasa rushed towards him and helped him up.
"Armin, are you alright?" Sasha asked.
"My foot is fractured but I can still move." He replied "I saw your flare signal from the wall, I'm here to help, I saw what happened to Eren and it looks like everyone's scattered around fighting different battles."
"Is Eren still alive?" Mikasa asked her voice shaking slightly.
"I think so; it looked like he was knocked out." Armin replied.
"It's not looking good here." Jean commented "Please tell us you guys on the other side are at least beating the Beast titan."
Armin looked down "No… it looks like we played into his hands again." He said disappointed "We were bleeding them out for a while, then another titan shifter entered the battle; it could create weapons from nothing and it destroyed our defences, we tried raiding it and focusing our artillery on it… when we did beat it, the beast titan must have used the time we were distracted to reposition itself, the beast titan is raining rocks at us and has us pinned back." There was a nervous silence as Armin explained their situation.
"Bertholdt is going to reach the district end soon; if he does then he'll drop burning buildings over the survivors." Jean stated grimly "Then… it really will be over for us."
"Armin, you've come up with plans before." Connie said desperately "Can you think of something to get us out of this?"
Armin looked down at his gloved hands; the circle of flame alchemy decorated the back of his hand. He turned his hand to face his palm before clenching his fist. "Alphonse, the flame alchemist you knew, Roy Mustang, how powerful was his alchemy?"
Alphonse looked at Armin puzzled "It was very powerful." He replied."It was like he had his own cannon."
"His explosive ability, am I on a similar level to his?" Armin further asked.
Alphonse began to give Armin a concerned looked "Armin, what are you planning on doing?"
"Alphonse, I need to know, is my explosive ability the same as his?" Armin reiterated.
"Not exactly but yes, it's as close as you could get." Alphonse replied.
"Good, then this should work." Armin replied, he looked towards the rest of the squad "I'll handle the colossal titan with Eren." He proclaimed "You guys focus on helping Mina." Around the room, the feeling was lifted slightly.
Jean chuckled "Have we missed you, Armin."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves; we still have to win this first." Armin reminded him.
Petra stood up from the ground, gripping her sides "Okay everyone, you have our roles, get moving." She encouraged "I'll stay here and look after Alphonse." she joked, turning to Armin and quickly becoming more serious "And Armin, we trust you but don't sacrifice yourself we're all making it back."
"Of course, Lieutenant." Armin replied "I have no intention of dying here."
Ed stumbled his way through the chaos; garrison and scout troops running around, carry boxes or wounded while others tended to horses terrified by the blasting sounds of the shower of boulders colliding onto the barrier.
Ed leaned up towards a nearby building as he quickly began to collect himself again, batting away the slight throbbing in his head. In the vicinity he could make out the sound Rico barking out orders to everyone else, he turned around to see Hannes directing a group of garrison soldiers, it looked as though he was yelling at them.
He turned his head back ahead; he continued forward, pushing himself off the wall and walking towards the wall. Scatter around him, some garrison and scout troops sat on the ground defeated and sobbing to themselves as others continued to rush around, ducking every so often to the sounds of rocks and boulders clashing against their defences.
He reached the corner of a small house, close to the wall, a small fence with horses attached to it through its reins stood in front of him. As he neared the corner he heard the voice of Erwin speaking, his voice sounded low, calm and sad.
"If this is how the situation is then we have no choice but to launch a last ditch attack on the beast titan's position." Erwin stated "We'll brief lieutenants Rico and Hannes on the plan, if those two follow then the garrison troop will likely follow them too."
"You can sit tight, Erwin." Levi suggested "Our men will charge regardless of if you're leading it or not."
"No, every expedition and every attack was led by the regiment's commander." Erwin replied "And if there are any doubters then we can't afford to display any form of favouritism or weakness at the top of what's left of our chain." Erwin paused for a second "I'll lead the charge and die, without ever knowing what was in that basement."
Ed stood there puzzled, listening to them on the other side of the corner. "I just… want to go… to that basement…" Erwin stated in an almost defeated tone "Everything I've ever done was to get to this day, that day… when I would able to have my answers. There were so many times I thought death would be an easier option but each time, the dream I shared with my father would drag me through." Ed peered through the corner, catch a glimpse of Erwin sitting on a crate facing Levi who stood in front of him "It's there, just close enough for me to reach it… but Levi, can you see them? Our comrades? They're all watching us, wanting to know what we will do with the lives they're sacrificed for our cause… for my cause… if their sacrifice was worth this…"
Ed sighed to himself and turned the corner, coming into full view of Erwin and Levi "Commander Erwin…" he said, they both looked at him with surprise.
"Edward, the medical team said you wouldn't be able to participate." Erwin said.
"There's no point lying down and waiting." Ed replied as he sat next to Levi, his arms resting on his knees. "Commander, I heard what you said, about the basement and your goal." Ed stated simply "Commander, I can understand why you feel guilty about it, thinking that you've used the lives of the people in the regiment for your own gain but you haven't, you have nothing to feel guilty about."
"How can I not? Everyone in this regiment gave their body and soul to the cause of humanity, I spoke words of dedication and sacrifice to mankind just to hide the fact that what I really wanted was to achieve my own selfish ambitions." Erwin argued almost as if stating an inconvenient truth.
"Commander, have you forgotten why Al and I even joined the scouts in the first place?" Ed asked. "We made a deal with you to plug up the hole in the wall thinking that it'll be enough to see our end of the bargain with the Truth." Ed explained "But what we've done, it helped humanity; defeating the titans shifters, overthrowing the government, making new technology and teaching people about science and alchemy, even if I did it for myself it still benefited humanity, Armin wants to visit the world and see the ocean, Hange wants to learn about the titans and gain more knowledge, Mikasa wants to be there for Eren and Armin, the list practically goes on." Erwin continued to listen to Ed "You building the recovery path, recruiting me, Alphonse and Eren, it was for your own gain but humanity will still benefit if we recapture wall Maria here." Ed looked up the sky and then towards the ground, moving his heads to the dirt. "There's a saying my teacher told me 'All is one and one is all' it meant that everything is connected; that each person, animal and creature, each action and consequence all affect each other."
Levi couched down to face Erwin "He's right Erwin, we've only gotten this far thanks to you." Levi stated. "All your work, dedication and leadership got us here."
"We all have dreams, hope and aspirations commander, that's what makes us human." Ed remarked. "But isn't the fact that with all those different goals we all united to achieve it together and for a greater good isn't whats amazing?"
Erwin perked up a bit, a small and bemused smile escaping his lips "I guess that's a way of seeing it."
"Erwin, we need to figure out a way to defeat the beast titan, one that doesn't involve you sacrificing yourself." Levi stated.
"Yeah I overheard you guys talking about doing a big charge at the beast; I could help with you on that." Ed added "Let's make it an actual fight and not some kind of suicide charge." Ed then looked at Erwin straight in the eyes. "Commander Erwin, if we end up winning this, I will get you to that basement." Ed said. "That I promise."
There was a dull ache at the bottom of Mina's jaw as the Female titan lay spread out into a crush pile of stone bricks and broken wood. She could barely move her hands or legs, like the nerves of her titan had been severed.
Her half opened eyes twitched slightly as she lay there, in the distance she could make out the distance echoes of heavy footsteps approaching her, it was all too clear who it was.
Exhausted and beaten she lay there thinking Useless… I'm so useless…
Flashes of her memories passed through her mind; going over each point of the fight, each point she thought she had the upper hand and then the final one where Reiner would just land a single blow to her body and send her flying.
Her mind then flashed back to that day at Trost; her cable getting tugged on, her back slamming against a pillar as a titan came just inches close to eating her.
I wasn't meant to have survived that day at Trost…
She thought back to her life since then; her battles, the journey, her friends and her actions…
She remembered lying on the ground bleeding out as Annie fought her squad mates, she remembered waking up under a blanket of stars in a dark night sky lying under an endless lake of sand as her titan stood over her.
The one now laying on the ground almost defeated.
I… I shouldn't have become the Female titan; it shouldn't have fallen to someone like me…
Why was it me…?
The heavy footsteps were getting closer.
Mina shut her eyes.
'Straighten up, Annie!' yelled a voice, once more Mina found herself in a wooden area with nothing but a single padded post Remember your stance! It felt almost natural to do so, putting herself into her fighting stance as she swung her leg out like a sharp axe aimed to decapitate her enemy.
Focus Annie! The man commanded as she swung her leg again.
Focus Annie!
Annie!
Annie…
A…
Na…
Ina…
Mina…
"Mina…"
"Mina!" Came a yell just by the side of her face, it sounded familiar.
"Mina, get up!" Sasha yelled into Mina's titan's ear "Reiner's coming! You have to get up!"
"Get up!" Connie yelled on the other side "Unless you want to die then you need to get up now!"
They're here… Mina twitched her fingers as the feeling in and around her titan's body came back to her, regaining control… My friends, there here…
Using what remained of her strength, Mina pushed her titan body upwards to a sitting down position. Her jaw felt a bit loose, as if hanging by the hinges after the punch that she endured.
A hook was fired onto her forehead as a person reeled themselves up towards her face, resting themselves onto her nose. "Mina!" Mikasa yelled hanging from her ODM gear; we need your help to take down Reiner. "Can you still fight?"
Mina lifted her hand from the ground, Mikasa turned her head to watch as it clenched into a fist. Mikasa watched for a few seconds before turning back to Mina "Right."
"Mina!" yelled another voice, she looked down to see Jean "We're sorry that we had to leave you here but we need your help, you need to get us an opening to stop him!"
Mina stood up off the ground, bits of building sliding off the side of her as she once more made her stand, the Armoured Titan now just a couple streets away from her. She felt that same rush of anxiety, fear and dread. She felt herself buckle slightly.
"Mina, we attack together okay?" Mikasa told her, showing her a thunder spear, she then felt the small hooks nip into her neck and face as her friends stood on her shoulders. She once more focused on her hands as a familiar crystal coating covered her fingers and knuckles.
Maybe I was never meant to survive Trost, maybe I should have died a while ago when I Joined the scouts; eaten by a titan or killed by an MP Mina thought And maybe I should have died on the field against Annie instead of taking her place… but I didn't. I'm still here and so long as I'm here, I'll keep going!
Armin hopped onto the top of the wall, immediately buckling under his own weight as he fell to his knees. "C'mon… I have to reach Eren." He placed everything onto his uninjured leg as stood up and hobbled over to Eren, the titan's head close to the edge of the wall.
Armin approached Eren's ear "Eren, wake up!" he yelled into the ear, still there was no response. Armin hobbled back a few steps, still holding onto his handles he fired his hooks upwards and onto the top of Eren's chest, pulling him up, clawing his way to Eren's throat.
"I'll just have to do the same thing I did back at Trost then." He muttered kneeling on Eren's titan's chest; he lifted his blade into the air. "We… can't die here, Eren." Armin stated aloud "We still haven't seen the ocean yet." He plunged his blade just above Eren's chest and below his throat. "Wake up, Eren."
Eren's titan groaned slightly as Armin quickly positioned himself onto its shoulder. The titan began to move, lifting its head up slightly from the ground.
"Eren, can you hear me?" Armin called out into Eren's ear. Eren's titan lifted his head up slightly and nodded. "The Colossal titan is heading towards us, he's getting closer." Armin told him "I need your help to stop him, I have a plan; we'll trick the colossal titan, I'll distract him while you cut him Bertholdt out of his titan."
Eren's titan turned his head toward Armin, Armin looked at his glove; the glove that was marked with the flame alchemy used for explosive fire. Armin clenched his hand into a fist and shows it to Eren "I'll use this, I'll use flame alchemy to hold him off, and it should be like firing a cannon at him, not enough to kill him but just swat his hands away and maybe blind him if possible."
Armin clung onto Eren's hair as the titan began to sit up off the ground, its legs dangling from the wall as they both looked at the incoming colossal titan looking back at them as it slowly approached them.
"This plan… if it's doesn't work then it's almost certain that I'll die, I may even have to die for this to succeed." Armin admitted "But if it works then we'll beat him." Armin turned to look at him as the titan turned its head to "I have no intention of dying here, Eren, we still have to see the world outside… and the ocean." Armin turned back to the colossal titan "But no matter what stick to the plan." Armin hopped off the titan's shoulder, the gas from his ODM gear slowing his descent. He buckled as he landed as he fell to his knees.
I… I can't show weakness now… Not this time… I must stand…
He placed his injured foot onto the ground as he knelt, he picked out a piece of chalk from his pocket and began to scribble and fill a circle, placing the chalk back in his pocket before slamming his hand down on it. His injured foot was quickly in cased as the floor covered just below his knee; he once more pulled himself up, flashes of his childhood and his bullies torment seeping through his mind.
Stand… if just for one more time… I can't's run away, I won't run away!
"Moblit!" Nifa yelled out "The titan is moving left!"
"Team one and two spread out around the titan!" Moblit ordered "Do not engage it the titan unless necessary!"
The squads of Dirk and Hange were now scattered across their own battlefield against the fast and large jawed titan, it prowled around the ruins dashing in between the buildings and rubble as it picked off lone scouts who tried to hunt it down.
"Where's Dirk?" Nifa asked.
"The titan ambushed his squad." Moblit replied. "I don't know what happened to the other officers."
"So it just might be us then…" Nifa stated with apprehension. "Then we'll just have to take control of the fight."
"Looks like it." Moblit replied.
"Everyone, stick together!" Nifa ordered "Teams, twenty meter spread!"
"Do not engage the titan with your blades!" Moblit ordered, his eyes scanned across the area as it looked for the titan, its heavy footsteps crunching against the rubble as it hid and watch them like a hunter lurking in the woods.
"We still have to look for Hange." Nifa said, her back facing Moblit as they scanned the area.
Moblit sighed through gritted teeth "We can't at the moment…" he admitted "If we split our focus then we risk defeat… Hange…wouldn't want us to get distracted…." He choked out the last few words.
"Yeah, she would." Nifa replied.
There was a chain of explosions to their right as they caught sight of the titan rushing through a group of scouts, ambushing them.
"Team three and four, pursue the titan!" Nifa ordered. "The titan is heading there." She pointed in its direction of travel.
"Team one and two!" prepare to intercept the titan!" Moblit ordered "Good luck." He told Nifa.
"Same to you, Moblit." Nifa replied, they both quickly parted ways towards their teams, Moblit flew through as he joined up with the other teams as they made their way towards the titan. Nifa and the others teams began their attack on the titan, swarming the titan on all sides as they fired their thunder spears at it.
The titan pulled away, the spears either just ground and one striking its hand, the explosions damaging it while the spear pierced through its hand blowing it into smoking pieces.
The titan blown to the side, retaliating quickly, grabbed a handful of rubble in its one hand and threw it at the scouts dispersing from the battlefield as some of the rocks colliding with its target and sent them scattered across the ground.
"Fire!" Moblit ordered as he pointed his thunder spear at the titan, the titan quickly turned its head towards the group and pounced towards them, throwing its body at them before they could fire off their spears. The titan waved its claws at them, cutting through some of the scouts, its wayward strike hitting Moblit to the side with the back of its hand.
"Moblit!" Nifa yelled out as he crashed into the ground, his ODM gear just breaking the speed of his fall.
Moblit tried to stand up quickly, as he pushed himself up a sharp pain shot through him forcing him down. He placed his hand onto his side trying to find the source of his pain, another sharp bite of pain followed.
"Someone get him!" came a order, there was a reassuring sound of zipping cables. Suddenly cut out by the rapid stomping of the titan's footsteps and the heavy menacing breath, a brief cry followed as the scout was slashed to pieces. Their guts splattering onto the ground next to him. The Jaw titan had spotted Moblit on the ground just a few meters away from him,
The titan raised its claws, Moblit under the shadow of its hand.
The titan is then knocked over to the side a mysterious force into a pile of rubble, Moblit blinked a few times in shock before quickly noticing the stone fist which had struck it. "Hey!" came a yell nearby, Moblit turned his head to see Hange crouching down on a road with her hand placed onto the ground as she kept her eyes on the Jaw titan. "You leave my squad alone, you want a fight? Then face me.
Blue sparks of light dancing around her.
The Beast titan held a rock in its hands, placing it between and breaking it into two. Zeke looked upwards towards the village; it had almost become a smoking wreak of broken houses and buildings with only that smaller secondary wall standing in the wall of his shower of rocks he had been raining down on them.
"Hmmm…." The Beast hummed with its deep and growly voice "Perhaps I should change my technique; can't hit them with a pitchers throw… need to loop it over the wall… maybe I should have taken up basket ball too." Zeke tosses one of the boulders, a loose shot with no real direction "Oh well, all in good time."
The Beast titan continued to watch "Strange, I've yet to see anything more from the Elrics; no grand acts of alchemy or massive structures?"
Suddenly a soft bang caught his attention; he looked to see a lone red flare soaring into the sky leaving an imperfect straight line coming towards him and flying just over his head. He spotted a line of riders charging towards him, the glint of their blades as the afternoon sun struck it raised in the air in an act of futile defiance.
"Brave…" The Beast comments watching the scout charging towards him "A trick perhaps? It won't matter; they can't reach me from here not before I crush them into the dirt." the charging line of attackers fired their flares at the beast titan, their screaming just reaching him, a lone rider pulling back slightly.
The Beast titan crushes one of the boulders in its hand and prepares to shower the scout in it, pulling back his arm and tossing the storm of rocks onto some of the riders and killing them instantly. "They were annoying, like screaming children." An entire line of attackers sacrificed in an instant.
Before he could toss the hand of rocks he notices one rider-less horse charging towards him. He stared at it perplexed. "What? I thought I killed the horses along with them?"
Suddenly the earth around them began to shake like a concentrated earthquake that shook the area violently.
Large columns of rock, stone, dirt and mud rose from the ground, like a city of towers had been hidden underneath the surface now rising to the sky crowding the once open field.
"It was him." Zeke realized in frustration. "Using the others as a distraction to do this…"
Be careful of Edward Elric, he a crafty bastard…
There was a green hooded figure standing onto of one of the pillars looking at the Beast titan.
Suddenly there in the distance was a scream, a cry and rage in defiance as a swarm of horses and riders poured out into the open field charging towards him. An entire battlefield now suited for them and them alone.
The Beast titan leans forward and screams out against them Attack them! Kill them all!
The scattered ring of fifteen meter titans then charged into the cluster center of the field.
Amidst the rumbling of the titan footsteps, the echoed screams and roars, Zeke could make out a very faint cry.
"Rage my soldiers! Scream my soldiers! Fight my soldiers!"
Hello everyone,
Happy New Year and hopefully this one is better than the last.