Chapter 33: Benefit of the Doubt.
No one had briefed Gohan on the fight they had been having with the Armored and the Colossal Titan and that Eren and Ymir had been abducted nor had anyone said a single word to him to begin with. He just took the spare clothes that one scout gave to him and started to put them on. He was done with the pants when some of the injured soldiers woke up.
"I understand why you had to cut off my tail." He put on the shirt and asked, looking at the stumps that once had been his left ring finger and little finger. "But what of my fingers?"
The soldiers stared at him with fear in their eyes and failed to utter a word in response. Even Hannes and his squadmates who had not seen the Oozaru had to give in to peer pressure and gave the same response.
Gohan noticed the silence and the stare the troops gave. He looked around and saw that many scouts were lying on the ground injured, even the ones who were on their feet had scars on their faces.
"Did I? Did I cause all this?" Gohan frantically looked around at the injured soldiers. "Oh, my Kami, did I kill anyone?"
"Not this time!" Levi and the Special Operations Squad approached him,the only one was unscathed was Gunther.
"Well, that's a relief! But I still caused all of these injuries, didn't I?" Gohan looked at one unconscious soldier near him, it was Mikasa. "Oh my god! What have I done?" He knelt down next to Armin , who jolted back from him.
"No,this is not your doing!" Assured Levi.
"Then how?" Asked Gohan, at this moment Mikasa gasped as she woke up.
"Eren!" She grabbed Armin by the shoulders and asked. "Where is Eren? Where is he?"
"Eren was with you?" Mikasa recoiled when she heard Gohan, she then gave him the same look the others gave him. "Then where is he?"
At this time the scouts from Castle Utgard approached him, he recognized Gelgar , Nanaba, Connie and Krista, but no Reiner and Berthold and Ymir.
"Captain, you better not lie to me!" Panicked Gohan as looked around again. "Where are Reiner and Berthold? Where's Ymir? Where is Eren?"
"Use your Ki Sense, Eight Fingers!" Suggested Levi.
Gohan closed his eyes and arched out his energy sensing ability and found an abnormality. He sensed Eren, Ymir and Berthold were together but underneath them was a Titan's Ki. According to his sensing, that Titan was seemed to be carrying the three of them.
"Okay, but what?"Gohan opened his eyes. "I can't sense Reiner; the others' are with a Titan's."
"Not just a Titan. The Armored Titan." Corrected Levi.
"The Armoured Titan?" Puzzled Gohan. He came to think of it and for a couple of seconds ,he realized what was happening. "So Reiner is…. Then which one's the Colossal Titan?"
He reached out his Ki Sensing and recognize that Ymir and Eren's energy signatures were dimmed, indicating that they were not conscious. 'So, Berthold then!'
"It was five hours ago!" Said Levi,crossing his arms.
"Five hours! I remember that some crash woke me up!" Exclaimed Gohan.
"You, uh, dozed off back and forth after that!" Replied Gunther.
Mikasa reached out her Ki Sense and gasped at the distance Reiner had gained from them and the fact that he was carrying Eren.
"Why did you let them take him?" Asked a furious Mikasa.
"Look around you." Levi motioned to the WIAs on the wall. Half of the team sent to Rose were all laying down bandaged up. "Most of our force is all injured. And we have to wait for the lifts to arrive so our horses can get across."
"No need for that. I know exactly where they are. Give me an ODM Gears and I'll go and get Ymir and Eren back!" Demanded Gohan ,but the scouts just took backed away from him and gave him a terrified look. Some of them even gripped the hilts of their sheathed swords while they glared at him.
"Guys, what's wrong?" Gohan couldn't help but noticed his comrades' attitudes. "Oh, right, you guys've seen my Oozaru form!"
"Oozaru?" Hange sat back up from her slumber and startled everyone. She was unconscious but when she heard Gohan's voice she immediately awoken. "That's what you call it? Tell me more?"
"Oozaru, means Great Ape. Every time I look directly at the full-moon, I turn." Explained Gohan.
"Do you remember anything from last night?" Asked Hange, struggling to stand up.
"Not after I turned. I just looked at the moon and then all my visions faded and went black!" Gohan continued his explanation. "The Oozaru took over my mind and I couldn't be aware of what I did afterward!"
"You are saying that you can't control what you do once you turn?" Asked Ilse, mustered all her courage to speak to him.
"Yeah, the Oozaru had only one sole objective once it takes over my body and mind!" Replied Gohan.
"Sole objective?" Asked Hange
"Total destruction, Titans, humans, everything lays before its eyes!" Gohan turned to Nanaba and Gelgar. "I turned to kill the Titans surrounded us, but that thing kills indiscriminately. That's why I told all of you to run before I finish them off!"
Nanaba, Gelgar,Krista and Connie bent their chins down in shame. They got really quiet if they had not already, they did not have the stomach to tell him that they had failed to do what he had asked.
"You guys ran right? Right?" Puzzled by the squad body languages ,Gohan asked them.
"At the last the last moment, they did!" Replied Levi.
"Nice to know." Gohan looked down at the Titan on the otherside of the wall. He could no longer sense the Armoured Titan, but instead he sensed Reiner. He senses the life forces of Berthold and Reiner along with their captive were stagnant in a high place, probably a tree. His right hand clutched into a fist as he thought that the ones who were responsible for the desolation of millions of lives had been once his friends. He could neither understand nor forgive what they had done. He recalled to the deaths he had seen back in Maria.
"Reiner and Berthold are the Armored and Colossal Titans." He monologued with smothering fury inside him. "Bloods on their hand can never be washed away. How come they can act so casual about it? They will not walk away from this alive! Not when I'm around!"
Gohan spinned back to his fellow scouts, who flinched. Keeping that scared look on him.
"Captain, Mikasa, we all know where they are!" Gohan approached his friends. "Give me an ODM Gears, and we can head out and kill them."
The soldiers tucked their ODM Gears back, not letting Gohan had his hands on them.
"Guys, what're you doing?" Taken aback by his comrades' behaviors. "Didn't I told you everything you needed to know?"
"You didn't tell us everything!" Retorted Mikasa. She looked at the scouts behind her who nodded in agreement.
"Pardon?" Puzzled Gohan.
"See, we got to Sina and tried to find your paper,and found nothing!" Said Hange, she sat down as she couldn't stand due to her injuries. "So, apparently you're not from there!"
"And you kept the whole 'Oozaru' thing from us, so we keep wondering…." Added Armin ,he got the courage to make eye contact with Gohan now. "…. Were all the things you said to us are true? And what else did you kept from us?"
"And that … 'Oozaru' of you, is more of a threat than all the Titans. It's only sheer luck that you didn't kill any of us. So what you're holding back could be crucial to mankind." Added Levi. "So, yeah, tell us everything. Who and what are you? Where you from? And what your story?"
"Looks like my discretion has come back to bite me!" Gohan frowned and sighed, he weighted his next words carefully and decided to tell the truth, but at the last moment he shook his head and changed his mind. "You won't believe me!"
"Try us!" urged Mikasa.
"No. If Reiner and Berthold or Annie come and tell you their side of the story, it would be more believable than what I have to say!" He retorted ,waving his arms to demonstrate the situation. "I keep it a secret because I know it is beyond your comprehension!"
"You meant that we're stupid?" Probed Levi, the scouts became uneasy and impatience.
"I didn't mean that. I'm putting myself in all of your shoes here. I wouldn't believe me either." Replied Gohan, violently.
The scouts' eyes widened. They could not imagine how unbelieve Gohan's background was. But due the seriousness his tone, they believed that he might had his pointed. In their heads, they just knew that the secrets he was keeping from them must had been worse than what he faced with the Titans. All the things the Monkey Boys had been through before he fought the Titans had been at an unfathomed harshness. What ever it was, it had prepared him to the point that Titans were so easily dealt with to him.
"What I can tell you, though, is that I Am Not Your Enemy. And I think that you already know that from what you've already known." Gohan looked at the scouts before and around, his eyes were soaked .
"What I did for Mrs Jaeger back in Shiganshina." He approached Mikasa.
"When didn't have to." Replied Mikasa.
"When I decided to go back to civilization." He approached Ilse.
"My headless body would be the only thing they found if it weren't for you!" Remarked Ilse.
"What I did back in Trost!" He walked by Nac and Mina.
"You were like an angel back then!" Mina wiped her tears.
"My performance in the expedition!" Gohan came at the Special Operation Squad.
"I though that I lost you." Petra caressed his face. "You could've just killed the Female Titan had Erwin not ordered otherwise."
The scouts lost the fear in their eyes as Gohan walked to each one of them and reminded them of everything he had done. And then he walked to the survivors of Castle Utgard. They faces brighten up when they heard everything he had to say.
"And your ODM Gears were low on fuels and blades. The only solution was the Oozaru!"
"And you did tell us to run!" Frowned Nanaba in acceptance.
And the touching ordeal was put to a halt when Levi ,Mikasa, and Gohan picked something up with their Ki Senses. They turned their heads accordingly and saw the source of the energy they sensed, energies, plural.
"You asked for a ODM Gear? He's the one who decides!" Said Levi. "That speech was emotional anyway, I almost shed my tear." Gohan knew that the last part was sarcastic.
From afar, and on top of the Wall, Erwin was riding to them, following him were the needed lifts and the entire Survey Corps surprising accompanied by the MPs. Who would have thought people could ride their horses on top of the Wall?
When the MPs and the Survey Corps reinforcement arrived at Hange's Containment Unit, they wasted no time setting up the elevator lifts. Without any opposition, Erwin ordered Gohan to be equipped with an ODM Gear, which the boy took no more than half a minute to put it on.
"I am relief that you decide to arm me, Commander!" Said Gohan to the Commander next to him as he put on the Survey Corps jacket. "I thought that I'd have to resolve to the old way."
"Your skill is required, no matter what information you're withholding." Replied Erwin, staring straight to Wall Maria's territory. "After all, Levi admits that you're stronger than him."
The Scouts and the MPs lured the horses to the lifts and lowered them down to the base of the Wall as Erwin and Gohan conversed.
"Do what I do seems redundant? Bringing a large number of soldiers from both the Survey Corps and Military Police? Since we have you?" Asked Erwin, looking at the strength of his units.
"I think it's a prudent think to do. As you can't tell how I would fare with the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan." Answered Gohan, putting the green cloak of the scouts.
"And I sensed other Titan near where they are too." Interrupted Levi, he and the scouts were all rallied behind the Commander. "No doubt that Eight Fingers here can takes them down easily, but it will be faster if we bring some help."
"You coming,Petra?" Gohan asked the scout that happened to be his love interest.
"Don't go overprotective on me. I was doing this before you arrived." Cross her arms Petra did.
"Every one of us has a reason for going,Gohan." An armed and combat readied Connie spoke to him. "I'ma ask Berthold and Reiner why they do what they did. I want them to say it to my face!"
"Not recommending that!" Inhaled Gohan, thinking of what threats Reiner and Berthold posed. "As a fighter, I know the consequence of letting your enemies have the times to build up their strength." He recalled the fight between his father and Frieza, and the one between him and Cell. "They'd turn the table,people die."
"Noted." Remarked Erwin, he turned to face his soldiers and brief them. "We're going into Titans' Territory. We'll snatch our comrades from the enemy's grasp. We shall save them before sundown. As squad leader Gohan takes the lead, victory will be assured."
"Wait , did he said 'squad leader Gohan'?" Rumbled the majority of the scouts, it seemed that they must assumed that they had misheard the commander.
"Looks to me you just got promoted,kid!" Exclaimed Nanaba. "Commander, is he taking over our squad?"
"That's correct." Answered Commander Erwin. "Lenz and Springer will be the replacements to your squad!"
Gohan nervously eyed his new 'subordinates', Nanaba ,Gelgar, Tomas, Krista and Connie. He was not the only one that got shocked by the sudden field promotion, the Wall was rumbled by whispers and discussion among the scouts. None of them discontented with the decision,though, it was the suddenness that got them talking. The only people who did not like the idea so much were the Special Operation Squad, they lost a member.
Gohan got spooked by a hand placed on his shoulder ,the commander leaned to him and asked.
"Where exactly are our marks?"
Gohan pointed at the direction where he sensed Reiner,Berthold , Eren and Ymir's Ki. They were far away, in a forrest, but they had not make any movements so far.
"There!"
Eren's eyes slowly opened as a wooden wall revealed before him. He motioned his head around and realized that he was in a wooden cabin. And then he looked at the door he saw Reiner was standing by it and Berthold was sitting on the porch. It was not a cabin, he realized, it was a treehouse.
"Hey, you're awake." Eren saw that Reiner had saw him too. "Welcome back."
Eren tried to stand up, but fell down as he could not supported himself. He gasped and shook his arm around,or atleast that he felt his arms was moving. He breathed heavily as he wiggled and then , when his tattered cloak tucked itself back, he could clearly see that his arms were missing, steam poured out from his elbows.
"What the? My arms!" Gasped Eren, terrified not by just that he had lost his arms,but also the fact that he could still feel them.
"Eren!" A familiar voice uttered from his right. In the corner next to his was Ymir, missing her right hand and leg. "I'm not in better shape, either. All thanks to the Angel of Trost. The bastard lost two fingers, too. We're not the only ones who have a shit day."
"Ymir? What did they… what did they do to me?" Eren stared blankly to his stumps.
"Sorry, that's one on me! I was in kind of a hurry back there. Bit your nape without thinking about your arms." Explained Reiner. He fixed his ODM Gear. "We only have your Gear. Quite difficult for us to carry you both with one ODM, lucky we found this tree house here."
"This is….." Eren stared at the floor, the treehouse shared the same features with the one the SOS had found in the expedition. "This is Gohan's treehouse."
"Gohan's huh?" Reiner jumped on the floorboard, and as expected, the house held, not even showed a sign of tremble. "Is there a thing he cannot do? Excellent craftmanship!"
"He's the Devil of All Earth after all." Remarked Berthold.
"You dare call him that after what you've done?" Berthold's words ticked Eren off, he bit on his stump,gnawed on it in an attempt to transform, but to no avail.
"Don't do it, Eren." Pled Berthold.
"You can't transform in that state anyway!" Retorted Reiner.
"Then I'll do it the old way!" Eren lunged at full speed at Reiner,tackled the man and rolled them both off the treehouse.
In midair, Eren saw the terrors waiting for him below. There was a dozen of Titans beneath the tree house, one of them was an abnormal lying down on it back, another one shied itself in the treelines and watched them.
Reiner shot a grapple to the treehouse and reeled himself and Eren up. He quickly shoved Eren back inside and panted when he crouched by the door.
"Don't do that again!" Reiner pointed at him.
"See where your temper led you to?" Smirked Ymir,she pat her hand on his shoulder. "We're deep in the heart of Titan country. Getting out of this would be tricky as hell."
Eren banged the back of his head to the Wall, closing his eyes in frustration.
"Oi, Reiner. You said you'd start talking once Eren was up." Demanded Ymir. "Don't'cha think it's
about time somebody explains what you plan on doing with us?"
" We're taking you to our hometown. Of course, I come to terms that neither of you is just gonna do as I ask." Reiner explain, looking down below the treehouse. "But I doubt you've any better options, we could beat the living shit out of each other if you prefer, but our friends below are not very prone to discriminate on who to eat."
"We wait for nightfall is what I recommend." Continued Reiner.
"Sooooo, why didn't you just stay in Titan form and run all the way home?" Ymir interrupted him, amused at the option their captors had. "What's the point of stopping here in the first place?You get winded and have to take a break?"
"Why don't you use your imagination?" Replied Reiner, not wanting to further the conversation.
Thought ran through his mind as the conversation between Reiner and Ymir muffled in his ear. He could just wait for an opening and assumed Titan form, he certainly could just flee with little difficulty. But Reiner and Berthold knew that he would be able to transform in his current condition. The traitors must had a good reason to make their rest here. He then considered the risk that he could be eaten by the other Titan should he could not be in full strength once he transformed. Reiner and Berthold would certainly not let either Ymir or he had a chance to recover. He assumed that his former comrades would subdue him and Ymir while they both in their most vulnerable.
Another though came in his mind, the Scouts. Had Gohan waken up? Would they come for him?
"Hol' up!" Ymir had another question for Reiner. "Back at the castle, Titans had no problem roaming at night. What make you so sure these guys can do the same ?"
" The Titans here can't move after dark."Replied Reiner, then his next words became more pressing toward her. "But then you know all about that, don't you?"
Eren reluctantly complied to Reiner demand and curbed his anger. He laid down and waited with them, he had to bid his time. He did not aware how long he had waited until he heard Ymir talked again.
"Hey, Reiner. Got any water?" Ymir motioned at Reiner. "Help a girl out. I'm dying over here."
"Didn't bring any! Sorry 'bout that!" Replied Reiner.
"Well, that's the orchestrator of the whole operation for y'all!" Ymir laid back once again.
" Speaking of which. We've been working our asses off. No food, no sleep, no nuthing." Everyone eyes widened when they heard the words blurted out from Reiner's mouth. "Ever since those Titans showed up. That was yesterday, right? Man, we're lucky the wall hasn't been , you'd think that means they'd give us a break. And don't even get me started on promotion."
"What the hell?"Pondered Berthold, everyone else was as confused as he was.
"What? Aww, come on. I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?" Reiner confused everyone in the treehouse with his yammering. "Gods know we've done our share of heavy lifting all things considered. I mean, I get it, we're soldiers. Duty first. It's just nice to be acknowledged."
Now it was Ymir turned to point out the malfunction in Reiner's head.
"You hit your head or something? What the fuck you're talking about. Seriously?"
"Ugh. Don't give me that. I'm not sayin' we storm in and demand the rank of captain or anything." Again, none of Reiner's made any sense.
"That is not what I meant." Retorted Ymir.
"Oh, yeah. Where'd you find that cannon, by the way? I owe you one for saving my bacon."Ymir exhaled as Reiner's episode continued. "Really nice of Krista to patch me up afterwards. I'm starting to think me
and her might become a thing."
"Shut your fucking face!" Screamed Eren,startling Reiner as the hot head stared daggers at the man. "What's wrong with you?You've got to be kidding me."
"Huh? What're you so pissed about all of a sudden?" Reiner got his hands up in confuse. "Take it easy, man. Did I said something to tick you of?"
"If you wanna die, then just keep talking!" Rage foamed in Eren as he spat.
"Hol' up, Eren. I think somebody's gone off the deep end." Ymir held Eren back as she realized something, the soldier averted her eyes to Berthold who still timidly sat outside the entrance. "Is that what this is, Bertholdt? If you know something we don't, now would be a good time to put it on the table."
Berthold took a deep breath and walked inside the treehouse, leaning at the otherside of the entrance.
"Reiner, you need to snap out of it!" Berthold looked deep into his friend's eyes. "You're not a soldier. You and I, we're Warriors!"
Reiner gaped and gasped and quavered at the trigger word 'Warriors', he knelt down and covered his face and started to sob.
"What you're seeing,Eren, is a man's personality is compartmentalized." Explained Ymir. "Why would the man who fucked up the wall risk his neck to save Connie? Everything he does is a contradiction in terms. Fucker can't help it." She snickered as she continued on her conclusion. "On one hand,
he's a warrior bent on pushing mankind past the brink. On the other he's pretending to be a soldier.
"I'm thinking maybe he got a little lost in the role. See. He can't resolve those facets of himself. Can't bear the weight of what he's done." Ymir couldn't help but to show her amusement to her realization. "The only way for him to cope is to fall for his own act. He thinks he is a soldier. This is what you call a split personality. He's gone insane."
"Shut up! Not another word." Ymir did not know how much her word irritated Reiner.
The revelation did not put Eren at ease, instead it infuriated him even more. If Eren still had his hands, they would be gripping tight. He marched up to Berthold and slammed his stump to his face. Berthold successful dodge him and pushed him down.
"Where do you get off playing the victims? Wallowing in self-pity?" Despite being pushed to the floor, Eren glared at both the traitors. "How dare you. What was going through your head the day I told you my story, huh? Remember that, Bertholdt? I'm talking to you, lackey!"
Eren struggled to his feet and charged Berthold again, just to be knocked over once more. "the chunk of wall you kicked out fell on our house. It's what kept her from being able to run away." This time he stayed down,but didn't stop growling at the traitor. " She's on her wheelchairs now, you sonuvabitch! And I would have lost her forever if it wasn't for…."
Then he realized it, him, the solution that he was looking for to get out of the situation. The hot head started laughing and confuse the surrounding Titan Shifters.
"Eren?" Confused Ymir of the hot head sudden burst of laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha ha, you morons." Eren could not stop laughing. "You've done fucked up. You made the most fatal mistake in your whole rubbish life. You didn't kill Gohan! You had the best opportunity to kill him but you missed it."
Reiner and Berthold eyes widen when they heard what they had not done. They looked at eachother with their gaping mouths. Eren smirked when he saw how their face became pale.
"He's not a soldier, not a Warrior, he's the force of nature that wipes out all his challengers." Eren stood up,grinning menacingly at the two people he once called friends. "He must have wakened by now, and everyone must have already told him who you really are! He can sense energies; he knows where you are. Ymir was wrong, this is not the Titans' territory ,this is HIS Territory ;and he will find you. And when he does. He. Will. Kill. You!"
Erwin did not enforce the far-range scouting formation this time, instead he ordered a tight formation with Gohan on point and Mikasa and Levi on the wings. With their Ki Sense abilities, they would be able to steer the entire unit away from Titans and headed on to where Eren was.
Gohan was able to lead the formation from many hordes of Titans as they rode at full speed. Erwin could estimate that with this rate, they would arrive at their destination in no more than 50 minutes.
"Gohan, what's our ETA?" Asked Erwin from behind.
"Less than half an hour, sir." Riding on his noble steed Nimbus, Gohan answered.
"Any additional threat?" Probed the Commander.
"There atleast ten Titans at where they are, sir." Gohan calmly answered, he drew one his blades, holding it with his three fingered hand. "No worry, sir. I can handle them all, as well as Reiner and Berthold."
"You won't be fighting alone, Gohan." Assured Commander Erwin.
"We're with you , squad leader." Said one of his squadmates, Gelgar.
"Damn! Never thought what I said yesterday would come true!" Said Nanaba beside him. "That you'd become our squad leader!"
"Were you being sarcastic back then?" Asked Gohan.
"No, I wasn't. It's actually a good idea." Nanaba shook her head. "Like you've said, you know your own limit and other people's."
"Energy sensing has its edge."Remarked Gohan, then he grimaced. "Four Titans ahead. Shift to the right!"
Gohan steered to his right,and the formation followed him. The giant flying wedge shifted right in an epic synchronization. Their velocity did not change in the entire process, leaving all the riders a mixture of determination and excitement.
"Now, I want to sense energy,too!" Exclaimed Connie, showing the excitement in his face that had lost on him the day before. "Woo-hoo!"
"Pay attention to my training and you might." Smirked Gohan.
"I certainly will! No more slacking off!" Replied Connie, then the boy flinched and corrected. "Sir."
Gohan frowned at the honorifics ,he would never get used with that. The day before he was a monster and now, he became a well-respected officer, who would have thought? He did not have much time to think on his field promotion,however, as the Forrest of the Giant Trees revealed before him in the distance. The traitors' Ki and their captives's got closer.
"Commander Erwin, the forest is right ahead, that's where they are!" Gohan turned his head and informed.
"No more dodging now. We face them head on!" Erwin unsheathed his blade and shouted out his orders. "GET TO FULL COMBAT-READINESS! WE'LL GO AT THE ENEMY WITH FULL FORCE! DO NOT HOLD BACK!"
The entire Survey Corps, the Garrison Regiment and the Military Police Brigade drew their swords. Their blades gleamed as the formation galloped to the forest.
Next Chapter: Fighter.