Sasha approaches the cabin where she sees Karina Braun and Porco Gilliard holding her mother, gagged and tied, captive (who becomes frantic upon seeing her). She can tell that there are people in hiding, waiting to fire at her but she could care less. All she thinks about right now is getting her mom and the hostages back. She locks eyes with her terrified mother who is shaking her head violently, unable to tell her daughter to just leave.
Sasha looks at Porco. "You must be Mr. Anonymous."
"I'm Porco Gillard." Porco nods. "And your Sasha Braus. You came alone and in human form, as agreed."
"Well, I hope you don't mind that I came most of the way as a Titan."
"We could see it a mile away. I'm Karina Braun, Reiners mother."
"Braun and Gilliard, huh? So this was never about money, was it?"
"No," says Karina. "We just wanted to make sure you wouldn't drag the other devils into this."
" Well, I'm here. So can I have my own mother back? And where are the others?"
"They are inside the cabin." Porco points behind him. "Try anything funny and I got three Marleyans inside ready to shoot them. You don't want to lose anyone else, do you? How's your father doing?"
Inside the bushes, Pieck and Gabi frown at the cruel jab.
"Why are you doing this?" Sasha asks.
"To take down this island, earn our place in the world, and make you devils pay for all the suffering you've brought upon us," Karina says with a serious tone.
"We made Marley release you and give you rights," Sasha points out. "Historia is negotiating with other counties to free their Eldians. Marley is even sending ambassador there also, maybe they can negotiate a deal?"
"Actually she isn't lying about that," Pieck whispers to Gabi, who becomes more conflicted. "I did hear that Marley is supposed to be attending the UN meeting."
"Like Marley will ever negotiate with you demons," Karina spats. "We will be Marley's heroes soon enough." Karina says.
"How? By killing children?" Sasha asks harshly.
"By taking back what is ours." Porco smiles smugly. "Oh, and by the way, it was your friend Niccolo Fischer that told us everything we needed to know to do all this. And he's inside the cabin now ready to kill your fellow devils. He was manipulating you the. Whole. Time."
"Please, just let them go," Sasha pleads. "We can resolve this without anyone getting hurt."
"Only demons will get hurt today. Now, Gabi!" Karina screams.
Karina and Porco wait for Gabi to fire the dart from the nearby bush. Shoot Sasha Braus in the stomach and neutralize her so they can take her spinal fluid. But after several seconds, nothing happens. Karina and Porco turn to the bush where Gabi and Pieck are hiding surprised.
Inside the bush, Gabi's mind rushes in what to do. She is torn between her loyalty to her country and her family, and the guilt she feels for betraying the people in the cabin. She is torn between what she has been taught her whole life is right and what needs to be done to help her people, and what she's learned recently that makes her question it. She looks at Pieck for guidance, but the former shifter just smiles at her.
"Gabi, I said NOW!" Karina shouts.
"Pieck! Take the gun away from the kid! She s getting cold feet!" Porco yells.
Karina becomes confused and desperate. "Gabi! Don't go this! Don't be corrupted by these devils lies like your cousin was!"
Niccolo watches the exchange from the cabin window. Falco silently pleads for Gabi to not do it. While the Marleyans crouching down aiming their Titan rifles growl.
"Fuck this! Let's just shoot the bitch!"
"No you idiot! If we hurt her she could transform and if we hit her spine we might never get the Titan back!"
Niccolo sighs and walks over to the captives. Kaya and the other Elian kids of both Paradisian and Liberian origin glare at him. However, they become confused when Niccolo pulls out a canister from his jacket pocket.
"Well, now is as good a time as any."
"Now's a good time for what?" one of the Marleyans ask, before Niccolo uncaps the top and an off-color vapor is released from it.
Niccolo grabs Falco by the arm and runs outside the cabin as the vapor comes into contact with the Eldians. Mia and the others panick as they start to glow.
The cabin breaks apart as over a dozen Titans grow to 15-meters tall. The transformations are slow, but the resulting force and mass breaks the cabin apart. Everyone else inside, on the roof, or near the cabin were greatly injured by the resulting force, heat, or the structure breaking apart. Gunmen of both Marleyan and Eldian were crushed, burnt, or otherwise injured by the explosive appearance of twelve Titans or their weapons (thunderspears or fireworks launchers) going off.
"What the hell!?" Porco shouts.
He and Karina turn their head to stare horrified at the twelve Titans.
"What just happened?" Gabi asks, seeing the Titans.
"Gabi!" Falco runs up to her. "Are you ok!?"
"Yeah, but why did they turn into Titans?"
"That would be my fault," Niccolo says, approaching the three of them.
The surviving gunmen lay in the ground, sore from the impact. They look at the Titans that just appeared, horrified. The Titanized children look just as they did before, except much bigger with either creepy smiles or aggressive frowns. However, one thing that they noticed was different from regular Titans is that they have long bat-like wings in place of arms. Like, their hands are stretched and their fingers are elongated with their skin stretching thin from their thighs to the tips of their fingers.
Everyone expects the Titans to start eating them, but instead they look confused. The Titans look at each other and themselves and they scream. They ramble as if they are trying to speak, but only groans are heard. Most of them panic and crawl around, horrified and confused by their new forms as the gunmen look at the scene shocked.
"What is happening!?" Falco screams as Niccolo tries to shield him and Gabi along with Pieck.
"I gave them Titan serum," Niccolo says. "Altered from Beast Titan spinal fluid to turn any Eldian into an intelligent Titan with bat-like features. Hange took a similar one to make her a pseudo-shifter."
"But why?" Pieck asks.
"Why didn't you pull the trigger?"
Gabi is silent.
The gunmen regain their senses and prepare to fire their anti-Titan rifles at the new Titans. However, Sasha uses the distraction for two things. First, she reaches into their pocket and uncaps a pen-sized canister of Titan vapor, and gives it directly to her mother. Sasha backs away as her mother glows. Karina and Porco notice and run for their lives before the woman they kept captive explodes and grows into a fifteen meter winged Titan. Second, upon seeing many of the gunmen preparing to fire at the Titanized captives, Sasha lets out a scream.
It is an ear-shattering scream that can be heard throughout the mountain. It causes all the non-Titans in the area to cover their ears. The few that did manage to fire their guns either missed the Titans or hit an area other than the nape, which the Titans didn't feel and healed over quickly. What's more, the Titans were compelled to head toward Sasha. But once they arrived, they didn't try to eat her, merely stared at her. Sasha stops her scream and looks up at her Titanized mother and the children.
"I'm so sorry for this," Sasha tells them. "This was the best we could think of without risking your lives. Go, fly to Wall Rose. Hange will be there with a reversal serum. Look for the red flare."
Sasha's mother groans. She turns to Niccolo, who is hovering over Gabi and Falco (who look terrified). All the new Titans are surprised by what he did.
"I will explain everything later, please just make yourselves human again. And don't worry about dad. He's ok."
The Lisa-Titan smiles and flaps her wings. She takes off and flies toward the wall and the other Titans follow her. The one that was once Kaya smiles at Sasha, who smiles back. She and the Mia-Titan turn around to look at Gabi. They frown at her before flying off. Gabi looks at her aunt who is laying on the ground, hurt but breathing. Thankfully, she managed to get far enough away from the explosion before it could burn her. But that was more than she could say about Porco, who is covered in second and third degree burns. He smells like a barbecue. Sasha runs over to Niccolo and the others.
"Niccolo, are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad we were able to get the hostages out."
"Wait, you planned this?" Pieck asks.
"Yes." Sasha then raises her finger and shows off her razor-ring. "Now don't try anything funny."
"I'm not the one who is armed." Pieck glances at Gabi who is staring at Sasha shocked, holding her heart gun. "Gabi, drop the weapon."
"No, not now," Gabi says, confused.
"You two planned this?" Falco asks.
Niccolo and Sasha glance at each other. Niccolo starts his story.
"Yes. It started in the evening when I was working at the docks. It was our last day. The ships were done thanks to the combined efforts of man, machine, and Titan so I knew soon we would be transferred to new jobs on the island. I was talking to my friend Kess as we were painting an Eldian symbol on it.
Hours Ago
"I'm an ass," Niccolo tells Kess.
"Yeah, I know. You've barely pained at all," says Kess.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. But I mean about Sasha," says Niccolo, and Kess looks at him. "I have no right to be upset about the things that Sasha said to me. I mean, I was using her to get information. That was so wrong of me. Hell, maybe she realized that and thats why she said we were never really friends."
Niccolo looks down in shame. Kess looks at Niccolo sympathetically, knowing the real reason that she said they weren't friends.
"She probably didn't know that, Nikki."
"Maybe she did, maybe she didn't, but she still deserved better than me," says Niccolo.
"Ah, well, it's probably for the best. I mean, a Marleyan and an Island Eldian? Think of the uproar."
Though it was a shame. Kess had seen the way Niccolo and Sasha interacted. He had never seen his friend happier, and he could tell that Sasha really liked him a lot too. Dare he say it, they could have been in love. If only Niccolo was an Eldian or she wasn't a Paradisian. Their relationship could have had a chance. Although, seeing him like this now is awful.
"Yeah."
Niccolo says begrudgingly. He thinks of all the things that Griez and his other comrades have tried telling him over the last few days. That Sasha eats like a pig. She will probably get fat when she's old. She has a huge ass (though Niccolo actually liked that). All things he realized were their attempts to make him less attracted to her. But it didn't work.
"I've made a decision. When Sasha comes back I'm going to tell her that I was trying to get info out of her. She deserves to know the truth."
"What?" Kess asks. "No, man. You could get eaten by a Titan for this!"
"I think the Paradisians are a bit more civil than that," says Niccolo. "Well, most of them. But no matter what, I want Sasha to know that I'm sorry."
Present
"Oh, yeah. Sasha, I am so, so sorry!"
"I get it," Sasha says. "You were just following orders. To be honest, I kinda figured what you were doing at the beginning."
"What?" Niccolo asks. "Then why did you-"
"I didn't think I was giving you too much information." Sasha looks around. "I guess I was wrong. But I thought I could get through to you. Which is why I was so happy when you stopped."
Sasha and Niccolo smile at each other. On the ground, Porco reaches into his pocket and pulls out one of the healing serums that Pieck brought. Pieck herself urges Sasha and Niccolo to continue their story.
"Oh, sorry. So, after I said that Kess confessed something."
Hours Ago
Kess thinks. Then he sighs.
"Listen, I have something to confess, but you can't freak out."
"Uh…ok?" Niccolo says.
"Uh…Koch thought that it would be better if you didn't get too close with her so he ordered me, I'm sorry, to say something to Samuel," Kess admits, nervous for Niccolo's reaction.
Niccolo looks at Kess shocked, already connecting the dots. "What?" he asks, desperately.
"He…told me to tell Samuel that you were going to confess your feelings to Sasha," Kess says. "And right after I did that he ran off and beat you up." Niccolo glares at Kess. "And when I talked to Koch about it he revealed that he also had Griez talk to one of the guards to ask them to talk to Sasha. You know, say that she doesn't like you so that the rest of us wouldn't be so hard on you?"
Niccolo grabs Kess' shirt and pulls him in. "You lied to me!?" Niccolo shouts in pure anger.
"I'm sorry, Niccolo," Kess says.
Niccolo lets go of Kess and grabs the sides of his head.
"I need to talk to the captain, now!"
Present
"As you can imagine, I was very mad. I went straight to where Griez and the captain were to give them a piece of my mind. But when I got there I overheard a conversation."
Hours Ago
Griez leans on a tree with Captain Koch, away from the rest of their fellow Marleyans, as they watch the completion of the final ship.
"So, where do you think the Eldians will set us up now?" asks Griez.
"Oh, who knows? We might not even be here for long. The Queen just left for the world assembly meeting that Marley is supposed to be a part of. I'm sure the Tyburs or whoever Marley sends as an ambassador will request for our release."
Griez chuckles. "Better not be before we can take the Founder. Otherwise, we might just have to stay behind on this god-forsaken island."
"Aye, we probably won't have enough time, but at the very least we can help Marley regain one of the nine."
"Is everything in place?"
"Aye," Koch responds positively. "Around now our Liberian allies have taken the Female Titans family and left a note for her. Something along the lines of: "Come to this place alone and give us your Titan or we will kill them." I must thank Niccolo for getting her to tell us where her family is."
"He's still moping about her," Griez snarls. "But I'm sure that once we get back to Marley he will forget all about her. He said his mom is always trying to set him up, i'll just tell her to find someone that's prettier, doesn't reek of potatoes, and compliments his cooking. Hey, they have that device that extracts spinal fluid without killing them, right?"
"Why? We want the devils dead?"
"Yes, but if we keep her alive we can use her as bait to lure the other shifters in," says Griez. "Maybe the Colossal and the Armored. Then we really have a shot against Smith!"
Koch smacks his forehead. "Oh, you're right! Ugh, it's probably too late to contact them now."
Unknown to Koch and Griez, one particular Marleyan had just left from his hiding spot behind one of the trees.
Present
"I felt so awful. I regretted everything I ever asked Sasha. I wished I could take it all back."
Sasha grabs Niccolo's shoulder. Then she frowns.
"Now tell them what Samuel did. And which I will be giving him a piece of my mind for later."
"Right. So I immediately went to the closest guards I could find so I could tell them what was happening. The closest happened to be Samuel Linke-Jackson and two of his friends. I knew they already hated me and other Marleyans, but I was desperate to save Sasha. Unfortunately they weren't in the mood for me."
Hours Ago
Niccolo runs as fast as he can away from Griez and Koch. His mind is racing as his heart aches from the guilt.
'How could I have been so stupid!?' Niccolo scolds himself. 'Oh god, now Sasha is in trouble! Oh, this is all my fault! I have to make this right.'
He looks around, but he doesn't see Connie or Jean anywhere. Instead, he sees Samuel enjoying a drink with two other Paradisian guards. One of them is on a personalized scooter for single transport. Niccolo groans internally.
'He's a jerk and he already hates me. He will definitely kill me when I tell him this. But I know he cares about Sasha.'
"Samuel! Samuel Linke-Jackson!"
Samuel groans and turns to face Niccolo with a harsh glare. "What are you doing, Marleyan?" He asks harshly. "Shouldn't you be working?"
"Maybe he needs to be whipped into shape." One of the other guards pounds his fist in his hand.
Niccolo ignores him. "Listen, Samuel. I know you hate me and you're probably going to kill me after this. But I made a really bad mistake!"
"I agree, you shouldn't have been born." The other two Paradisians laugh at Samuels's joke. "Now scram! I'm trying to enjoy my drink here and you're ruining it."
"Samuel, I know you were lying about being in a relationship with Sasha! Kess confessed to talking with you!" Samuel growls when Niccolo says that. "You were both manipulated by Koch and Griez! They wanted to split me and Sasha up!"
"She was never yours, Marleyan," the other Paradisian says.
"Typical Marleyan," starts the other-other Paradisian. "Either they want to wipe out us Eldians or they want to control us."
Niccolo groans. "Look, Koch had me talk to Sasha to extract information out of her. Koch used that to her advantage! He's been working with Eldians who are still loyal to Marley. They went to Sasha's parent's house and kidnapped them! They are going to coerce her into giving up her Titan!"
Samuel and his two friends stare at Niccolo. Then they turn to each other. Then they burst out laughing.
"Please, you really expect us to believe that?"
"Koch couldn't have had contact with anyone, we're guarding the place."
"I bet this is just some trick."
"No I-" Niccolo is interrupted by Samuel.
"However, you did just confess to trying to extort information out of one of us." Samuel turns to his friends as he takes out a shock-rod. "Boys, I think we're required to turn him into our superior for punishment. But first, let's have some fun of our own first."
Niccolo sighs. "I was afraid this was going to happen at some point."
Niccolo reaches into his pocket and grabs ahold of the pepper shaker he started keeping on his person right after being assaulted by Samuel for the first time. Niccolo throws the pepper into the three Paradisians' eyes. The three guards scream, alerting everyone's attention. Niccolo uses the commotion to knock one of the guards away from their scooter and he drives off on it.
"Hey! Stop him!" Samuel shouts.
Niccolo drives straight ahead, toward the forest.
'Ok, Sasha said that her family is in Dauper in Wall Rose. I just need to get there and figure out where Sasha is before it's too late.'
However, before he can reach the forest, several Paradisian guards light up. The Marleyans jump back in fear as their captors grow into their Pseudo-Shifter Titan forms. They all look just as they did before as humans, except naked and sexless.
Niccolo doesn't get far before one of the pseudo-shifters grabs him off the scooter.
Niccolo chuckles nervously at the irritated pushed-shifter. "Eh, sorry. Adrenalin rush, I wasn't sure what I was thinking."
The Titan sets Niccolo down and several Titanic guards glare down at him. Griez and his friends run up to the area and meet up with the few non-Titan guards there.
"Ah, good you caught him," Samuel says. "Now do us all a favor and eat him."
The Titan that had grabbed Niccolo lets out a sound of disgust.
"Ew, Jackson. That right there is why you're not a Titan," a guard says.
"Hey, those two are running away!" another guard says, seeing Koch and Griez running off.
The Titan-guard screams and chases after them.
"So, Fischer. What led you to try and escape?" the first guard asks. "I wanna know what to put in a report."
"This guy told some lies to try and trick us!" one of Samuels friends says.
"No! I told you the truth but you didn't listen! I was trying to save Sasha's life!"
"From a situation YOU said you caused!" Samuel points out.
"Enough, Samuel!" The guard turns to Niccolo. "Niccolo, what is going on?"
Niccolo sighs. "Ok, so first my captain wanted me to seduce Sasha for information-"
Present
"Not very climactic," Pieck says bluntly.
"I know," says Niccolo. "But thankfully they listened to what I had to say and they contacted Sasha immediately."
"I was at the Hospital in Wall Maria, checking my father in," Sasha says.
"Wait, Mr. Braus is alive?" Gabi asks.
"Yeah, about that…" Falco says nervously. "…I, sort of, slipped Mr. Braus a healing serum I got from Pieck. It wasn't much, but I figured it would be enough to keep him stable until he got to a hospital."
Sasha hugs the boy.
"I got him there just in time. Thank you!"
Falco returns the hug and Sasha resumes her story.
"So, I was planning to head straight to the cabin but Hange and Levi tracked me down to the hospital first. As soon as they told me who told them I immediately enrolled to see Niccolo."
"I had been imprisoned. Locked in a cell, thankfully not the same one as Griez and Koch."
Hours Ago
"Niccolo, you filthy traitor!" Koch shouts from the cell across from Niccolo's as he sulks in his cell. "What did you think you were doing!? Ratting us out to the devils!"
"I couldn't let Sasha get hurt."
"What are you stupid?" Griez asks, disappointed. "That was the whole point of you talking to her in the first place. You betrayed your people and country and sided with the devils. Why? Because you fell head over heels for some devil-blooded potato-grubbing girl!"
Niccolo lifts his head and growls. "Don't!"
"You talked about her every single night," Griez continues. "It was torture. Me and captain thought, after we tricked that whore into saying she didn't like you, you would snap out of it. Yet here we are."
Koch crosses his arms. "A foolish sentiment. But I hope you feel better now. Because there is no way she will love you now. Not after you tricked her and got her family kidnapped. That's even if she's still alive when they are done taking her spinal fluid. I highly doubt they have or will use the right tools for safe spinal fluid transfer."
"Enough!"
Niccolo perks up as he sees Sasha enter the area. She glances at all the cells before turning to Niccolo, who gets up and runs to the bars.
"Sasha! I'm so sorry! You have every right to hate me, but please don't give yourself up!"
"Niccolo…what's happening right now is as much my fault as it is yours," Sasha says honestly. "And don't worry, the higher-ups aren't letting me give up my Titan either. But we're coming up with a plan to rescue my mom and the kids."
Niccolo sighs. "Oh, thank god."
Sasha becomes anxious. "Although, now you don't have to do this if you don't want too. You're already getting a much lesser sentence for telling the truth. But they said they would be willing to drop the charges completely if you…help. Again, you don't have too! We're asking you to go into enemy territory and you can die."
"I'll do anything! I mean…what do you need me to do?"
Present
"And here we are."
"So, you won. Gabi looks down.
Sasha kneels in front of her. "It was almost for nothing. Why didn't you fire when you were told to?"
Gabi glances between Pieck and Falco. "I just got a different perspective, is all."
"What now?" Falco asks Sasha.
"While you were all focused on my arrival the Military Police has been making its way up here on the opposite side by truck. It's a lot less noticeable when you see a 14-meter Titan with breasts running toward you. Everyone here will all be arrested."
Sasha glances at Pieck who has a neutral expression.
"Why did you do all this?" Gabi asks Niccolo. "Why not help them fight her for Marley?"
Niccolo sighs. "Because I acknowledge my country's mistakes. And because-" he looks at Sasha. "-I couldn't stand the thought of losing her." Sasha blushes. "I know what some of you are probably thinking. She's a spawn of the devil. But not to me. But she saved me from this shitty-ass war! She taught me that I love making people happy with my food. That's who Sasha Braus is to me and if she died I…I don't know what I would do."
Sasha smiles at him and cries. She wipes away a tear and speaks.
"And even in the beginning, I could tell that Niccolo Fischer was a sweet, brave, loyal guy who just needed a bit of direction in his life." Sasha leans forward and kisses Niccolo on the cheek, causing the Marleyan chef the blush. "So, everyone just sit tight and-"
A loud gunshot goes off and the top half of Sasha's losing is blasted off. The entire top portion of her head explodes and splatters on the grass behind her, removing the half of her head past the nose. Niccolo screams. Gabi, Falco, and Pieck look shocked. and Niccolo holds out his arms to catch Sasha's body.
"SASHA!" Niccolo nudges her and cries. "No! Wake up! Please!"
"Pathetic."
Everyone looks over and see's Porco Gilliard, alive and healed. He holds a recently fired Anti-Titan rifle in one hand and an empty vial of healing serum in the other.
FYI: I decided to split the chapter into threes because I thought it was too long. The final part will be coming out shortly.
Please point out any spelling errors, either in this chapter or previous ones, that you would like me to fix.
Thank you for reading. All comments are appreciated.