Chapter 43: Right of Conquest.
Darius Zackly's method of interrogating yielded little to no result. Aurille was hung upside down, with tubes attached to his body, it would force the official to drink his urine. However, all things that Zackly could extract from the man was just insults. Gohan spoke against this fashion of interrogation of course and Zackly's rebuttal was "You're not my King yet" and refused to obey his order. His 'yet' give Gohan an assurance that the Commander-in-chief did not go against the Monkey Boy being king, but it not necessarily made Gohan comfortable with his insubordination.
"Oh, right. Commander, please at least. Let me try."
"I am under the impression that he won't say anything either way." Relented, Zackly took a few steps back and made way for Gohan. "But if you want to give your 'kingly' power a try. I won't stop you."
"My mother and I would've disclosed our plan to you and Pyxis at some points, but Reiss acted faster." Gohan crouched down to Aurille as he speculated the cause to the Premiere's attitude. "Lord Aurille, you should know that you've lost. Reiss' capturing of Yamcha did not put a sway to this situation. I know you need Eren and Historia to turn the tides, but they're all save under our hands."
"Was that 'our' mean your side or a subtraction from your 'royal we' ?" Asked Aurille, in a mocking tone.
"I've been using 'I' to refer myself here the whole time. Like Darius' just said, I am not king yet. How pretentious of me to use the Royal We before I'm officially crowned?" Gohan calmly responded to Aurille's mocking, until he didn't. The chubby aristocrat cried in agony when Gohan buried two of his fingers into the man's nostrils. "As my victory is assured. Reiss has no way to turn this around. I will not allow myself to be remember as a king who left his people behind. So tell me where to find Yamcha, where to find Reiss." Aurille choked as his nostrils were obstructed by Gohan, and blood from his nose was flooding his throat. The aristocrat cried again when Gohan removed his fingers from the holes. If Gohan thought that could break the man, he had underestimate him.
"Y-you th-think I was too silver-spooned that I'd break to this childlike torture? I've been trained since my toddling years to how to prepare for failures, you think I'd fear pain just because I am who I am?" Spoke Aurille, the blood in his mouth didn't drown his arrogance. "Send the words out. Let's make a trade. The bitch's hound for Eren and Historia. How's that?"
"What did I tell you?" Smirked Zackley.
"Did Premiere Zackley tell you what I did to Kenny?" Sighed Gohan before he pulled the Power Pole from his back. "And you don't know what this thing is capable of." Though Aurille didn't show it verbally or facially, his eyes expressed all the fear that he could've been hiding.
"Perfect, I got his pee-pee you had his bum-bum. The fear alone will give the bastard one hell of a drink." Amused Zackley. But the Premiere was startled when Gohan just thrusted the Pole into the floor."Hey, I believe we just have the floor fixed yesterday."
"We've been trying the stick the whole day, let's give the carrot a shot, shall we?" Gohan brushed the dust on his outfit and wiped the blood on his fingers clean with a towel. "I have a hunch that…should you had acquired Eren and Mikasa you must've been spilling your guts right now, on the basis that most people here wouldn't be remembering anything. But reality is, all you have is Bulma's head of security.."
"What with you referring your mother by name anyway?"
Gohan stopped midsentence as he realized his one of his repeated mistakes, he had been referring and addressing his 'mother' as 'Bulma', he hadn't noticed for how long he had been doing that. Why hadn't Bulma corrected him? Perhaps she had been as preoccupied as he had been? It must have been going on long enough that all military personnel had noticed it. They must have been either suspecting whether or not Bulma was his mother or simply just a family drama. It was an attention that none of the Earthlings would wish to have. Better to fix that in the near future, Gohan took a mental note and continued with Aurille.
"You have the risk of facing the consequences of your crimes if you confess any of your past crimes or let us win this war. But what makes you think that we wouldn't torture you to death without confession? What makes you think that we couldn't find Rod without you saying anything? What makes you thing we need to win this war by getting to him?"Aurille stared blankly at Gohan, the fear was no longer there in his eyes, perhaps felt pointless to fear the inevitable. "But there's another way for this. The way that both sides can win…"
"Gohan!"
"The carrot I offer you. I'll pardon all your crimes in the past, you will keep your lordship, your fiefdom, and all your riches. All you have to do is submit, accept me as your overlord."
"You think you can buy me?" Snickered Aurille.
The door of the cell cracked open as Sasha entered it. She gave both Gohan and the Premiere a salute before she spoke.
"Your Majesty, Commander, We've found the file!" Aurille turned pale as Sasha's report went through his ear, it was hard to tell that was because it was over or that he though he had just lost his chance of to accept Gohan's offer.
"Time's up." Smirked Zackley when he saw the expression on the nobleman's face.
"Let's prep our horses." Ordered Gohan before both him and Sasha rushed out from the cell. Zackley had to block his face from the dust as Gohan pulled the Power Pole from the floor.
'Something tells me he's gonna do that time too many.' Though Zackley as he stared at the hole on the floor.
"The Ress estate is here. Right in Wall Rose. We can go east from Orvud for the shortest distance." Hange pointed on the map.
"That's where the incident of the Chapel happened." Commented Nile, recollecting all of what he could remember on the Reiss family. "The document is long outdated. Rod can't be there."
"We've all sent detachments to search every corner of Sina. If Rod or Yamcha is in Sina, we'd have heard from them by now." Retorted Erwin. His job, as well as Nile's, involved eliminating irrelevant datas to narrow down to the correct one. "Our best bet is there. Or else, it'd be finding a needle in a haystack."
The Scouts, Garrisons and MPs gathered in the Miltras Palace's courtyard frowned at the information, mere seconds ago they got excite upon knowing the location of the Reiss family estate, however when they know that there existed a chance that they wouldn't be finding Rod there, or Yamcha, their excitement vanished.
"Not really much of a big deal. Rod needs Eren and Historia to activate this Founder power. We've already won." Commented Levi, only to get lashed at by Gleaves.
"Not much of a big deal? They got the Alpha. Are you going to leave him to the mercy of those fuckers?" The only thing that prevented Gleaves from attacking Levi physically was because he knew wouldn't stand a chance. "You can't be that ungrateful to the man that made you bulletproof."
"That's why it's not much of a big deal. I'm bulletproof, we're bulletproof. So, he must be also bulletproof. I think Yamcha could pull himself out of this."
"Yamcha's safety is not why we must find him." The soldiers turned back to see Gohan leading Nimbus and Sasha leading hers to them. "I want Rod alive. Willingly yield his throne to me. Yamcha could kill him in his escape. It's better that we get to Rod first before Yamcha lay his hands on him."
"Gohan. Thank you." Historia looked at him.
"Historia!" Rebuked Jean.
"Still her father." Reassured Gohan. " What are we up against, Section Commander?"
Hange gestured to two of her subordinates, who carried forth 2 Anti-Personnel Gears, one with the hand cannons, the other the chain guns. Hange approached the one with the hand-canon first.
"This one did a number on us." She pulled out a cartridge from the Gear's ammo pouch. "These bullets share the same design as the Lady's case-bullet cartridges, but they're bigger. By experience these bullets have enough power to pen a steel door, and immediately sever our limbs and decapitate us. But they fire slower than even our bolt-actions, and the force from the casing can deteriorate the pistol. It didn't show during the battle but once examined them, I know they would not last long. Its maneuverability is limited, the user can only shoot their hook in the same direction their guns point at."
"These however it's a real pain." She moved to the chain-guns. "They fire faster than our semi-autos. Can call them full auto. We couldn't really peek out from our covers else they put holes in us in less than a second. But they're not reliable. Their fire-rate and belt feeding systems condemned them to inevitable jamming. And they could not both move and shoot at the same time. We could take advantage of that."
"We're bulletproof now. Is this necessary?" Eren crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Only us are bulletproof." Oulo referred to the Alpha's Ten Pupils. "And they still hurt like hell. I still have bruises from the shots I took."
"And not to mention the grenades." Added Hange.
"That settled it then. The guys who were trained by Yamcha can go with me. The rest of you will stay." Ordered Gohan. Which both Nile and Erwin had to protest.
"Hate to remind you that you're not the commander!" Erwin crossed his armed as he stared Gohan down.
"King!" Retorted Gohan.
"You're a coronation away from it." Nile's retort was better.
Gohan could only gave a mild sigh, and relented to the Commanders' authorities. He leaned his back to Nimbus, allowing the Officers to discuss their strategy.
"It's a good idea though." Suggested Nile. Which made Gohan raise his eyebrows. "Erwin, there's no need to throw our lives away blindly just to finish off a regime that's on its death throes."
Erwin said nothing to reply that. He searched his pocket, and look at Eren and took out his Scouter. So far, Mikasa and Levi were the only people other than Gohan that could sense energy. Of course the soon-to-be King suggestion was solid, but invincibility does not help you if the enemy kept hiding from you. So, he threw Eren the Scouter.
"At least don't fight blind. Ilse, Gelgar, you two can lend them yours." Erwin could spare 3.
Ilse handed Jean her Scouter and showed him how to use it, and the pupil shared the same reaction that Erwin once had when he saw the digits. And Gelgar was about to do the same for Gunther but Gleaves snatched the Scouter from Gelgar's hand before Gunther even able to reach it.
"Do you even know how to use that? Didn't ya listen? You're not even coming." Gunther questioned Gleaves frustratedly as the Beta donned the Scouter on his ear. "The Interior troops will put you to shreds. Their bullets won't bounce off your skin like ours."
"You got one part of that wrong." Gleaves mimic Ilse action and pressed the button on the device and startled when he saw the numbers on the len. "I AM COMING."
"Yeah right, Wolves hunt in pack." Commented Gohan. " I know about Jonathan. But if Yamcha knows that he still has another loyal, devoted one in his pack with equal vigor. You'd see him in tears of joy." The Monkey Boy glances at the Ten Pupils, well Nine rather discounting Petra and then the rest of the combine arms unit of Survey Corps, Garrison and MP soldiers. "Perhaps. Have some of you in our rear wouldn't kill."
Gohan fix the straps on his Battle Armour, the armour felt so redundant now. If the Scouts that had been trained by Yamcha were no longer be serverly injured with ammunitions, so was he. The transitive relation was appliable in this scenario. Nor did he should need any weapon. However, when mounted on the saddle atop Nimbus' back, Gohan shrugged off the thought of unequipping of either the armor and the power pole. He had the best gear, it should add to his success, there was no point for him to lower his odds.
"Commander? We don't have time to waste." He stared at Erwin, who latter signaled his troops to mount on either their horses or wagons.
"I can only allocate Hange's squad and yours with the Alpha's Pupils." Replied Commander Erwin, the he signaled Levi. "Levi, your squad is on point. That's now include all those who got trained by Alpha, you in charge of them, not Gohan." The man whose name Erwin mentioned twisted his hip to gawk at him. Erwin ignored the boy look of shock. "Mr Gleaves, get on one of the wagons. Be noticed that we're not responsible for your safety."
"Not a problem." The Top Beta hopped on a wagon where Hange and Moblit were also on. "Any of you of you has a smoke? I lost my pack back at the Castle." And the Section Commander and her second both shook their heads.
"The head team will storm the estate. Search the area, leave no stone unturned till you find our marks." Erwin continued. "Hange, you bring your squad and Gelgar's in once Levi and Gohan's team cleared out all immediate threats. Join them with the search. The rest of our unit here will wait in the perimeter, 5 kilometers from you. If there's anything outside of your capability, fire a red flare. We'll be there."
"Sir, you'll need communication. The Scouters…" Hange removed her Scouter , but Erwin interrupted her.
"None of us know how to activate that function. Do you?" Erwin held out a hand to stop her, and Hange put the Scouter back on her head upon hearing Erwin's question. " We still need the non Ki-trained to see what the trained see, You, Nanaba, and Moblit should hold onto that."
The Commander climbed onto his mount and air chopped his arm forward, commencing the operation. The wagons' wheels and the horse hooves echoed throughout the courtyard and entered the palace as the squadrons embarked on their manhunt operation.
Yamcha was no stranger to the art of deception. In his bandit days, he had made use of it in many of his 'operations' and notably when he had been up against Goku and Bulma. And in this alternative universe, when he was the Alpha, he had honed it too well that few would see through it. The desert bandit lowered his power level so much, that a "mortal" like Bury could bruise him.
The Z Fighter must have let the twisted world of the Eldians corrupted him so much that it had turn him into a sadist, that he developed an appetite of playing with other people minds. Giving them a great deal of a false sense of security that he could take them for surprise later, not for tactical reason, the Papa Wolf just want to see the look upon their faces when they realize that they stood no chance in the first place.
Peter Bury wiped off the blood on his knuckles when Fox threw him a towel as he tapped out and let other Renegade Wolves have it out with Yamcha. James Smith, Irina Fox and Armin Dynamo took turned and battered their former Alpha who grunted or gasped for every bruise and bleeding he had.
"Why don't let Karl have it at me too?" Asked Yamcha, whose face was half covered in bruises and half of those were bleeding. "Where is he? Or he is too much of a wuss … to face me?"
Smith and Dynamo just scoffed as Fox just rolled her eyes when they heard the Desert Bandit's snarky question. They knew the answer to that question, and they believed that he knew it too, even though he never heard of it.
"He's dead, isn't he? Well done, Bury. Your path of vengeance is showing promising result." Mocked Yamcha as he noticed Bury was brandishing piece of equipment after piece of equipment that were set on the table in the room they had been holding him. "What? You sent him to the Survey Corps HQ? Tried to outscout the Scouts? Nah, I raised no idiots. But then again. You're doing this."
"Welp ,we basically lost the war. It ought to happen. Hope you're not too happy…" Remarked Dynamo, but was reprimanded by Bury.
"Armin, you're not supposed to tell him jackshit. Don't give it to him."
"I know an Armin that is smarter you. Much more faithful, too." Yamcha looked at his Armin and snickered. He should have known that there could only be one loyal Armin, if the Scouts had one, the Pack couldn't.
"Why don't you three just head out first? Grab some grubs. I'll handle this from here." Bury picked a Glock from the table as he suggested. The three lesser Renegades nodded and walked out of the cell, and then they opened the door and got out of the room altogether.
The slamming of the door masked Yamcha's huff as he glared at the pistol his betrayer was holding. It was Ingham's. There was only one explanation why Bury had the possession of Ingham's Glock-17. The Interior Police had not killed the Alpha's number 1 Top Beta, neither had the Ripper. There were many people who could overpower the Earthling John Ingham, but there were fewer who could kill him, not if they wanted to try take him head on. No, they would have to take the Beta by surprise. And the only ones who could have possibly done that had to be his owns, his fellow Wolves.
"That's Jonathan's gun!" Remarked Yamcha. And Bury knew it was more of a question than just a remark.
"You must've already known the answer." Bury caressed the pistol as he walked into Yamcha's cell. The betrayer yanked the chains that were restraining the Alpha, making sure that the man he had betrayed had been fully secured. "I killed him."
The Alpha's body was vibrating as he received the confirmation. Yamcha had sworn to protect Jonathan. He himself trained the boy, and as he remembered correctly, Bury was trained alongside him. It wasn't anger that shaken the Alpha so, but regret. He should have never nurture Jonathan to trust his fellow Wolf brothers to such point. But yet he trained Ingham side by side with the rest. And had the boy gone on missions after missions with the ones he had called brothers and sisters, whose true intentions he could never have uncovered.
"Oh, the audacity!" Bury shook his head in frustration as he saw how the Alpha was fuming. "That's exactly my reaction when they told me what happened to my parents. What you did to them!" The renegade Top Beta pounded his own chest before he switched his target to Yamcha's. "You dare to act like you're the victim after what you fucking did?"
"As I recalled. Your parents didn't trust me. Like Jonathan did to you." Yamcha breathed heavily as he retorted.
"Does it matter? You kill someone I loved, I kill someone you loved. That's how vengeance works." Bury
barked back as he flaunted the auto-loading pistol to Yamcha face. "Didn't take much time to figure out
he was your favorite. When you gave him the good stuffs, and we just have the shitty revolvers."
"Chances are, you know? Your parents are not quite innocent as you might thought they were." Snorted Yamcha before he replied to the man he once considered family, changing the subject.
"What did you say?" Bury pulled the hammer of the glock before aiming it at the Alpha's forehead.
"What they said about what I did at those Salt Mines were exaggerated. I didn't kill all of them. Sure, we needed the mines, so the owners must go. The foremen, they're deadly loyal to the owners, so yeah, they go, too. The workers, as long as they don't pick up their pickaxe and try to fight me, they get to live. So yeah, I'd spared a lot of them folks, the ones that didn't fight back. The ones that did, well, they either succumbed to the injuries inflicted or recovered. Never killed them outright." Bury lowered the pistol as the Alpha elaborated. He was not calmed by the explanation in detail of Salt Mines Massacre, but curiosity that kept him from executing the Alpha. "But the blood that sullied the Power Pole in those mines, didn't come mainly from the innocents. There're hired thugs in each and every mine I've taken. There're more of them fallen victims to me than the workers were."
"The implication being?" Bury raised the pistol again, at Yamcha's head.
"The implication being: When they told you that some maniac in orange murdered your parents. It didn't necessarily mean that parents are innocent miners. There exists the possibility that your parents weren't the people they told you they were."
"You Sunova-"Bury squeezed the trigger in a blind rage, the gunshot echoed through the room, and bullet bounced from Yamcha forehead to the ceiling. And Bury saw it. The rage didn't blind him completely.
"My turn." One swipe from Yamcha leg was able to severed both of Bury's feet. The Renegade Wolf wheezed in pain as he fell. The shock prevented him from making his scream louder. "Should have known that once my Powel Level exceeded one hundred, I am invulnerable to conventional weaponry. Coulda save lot of my fellow Wolves. Woulda ended this earlier."
"Arr-min. Irrr-Irina. Ja-James. H-help m-me!" Peter pushed out words from his mouth as he fought against his pain.
"No use. I can sense Ki." The chains snapped in pieces as Yamcha yanked his hands off of it. The man finally free. He glanced at the pale expression of his betrayer and grinned. The traitor must now regretted his decision. "Your co-conspirators are very far away. Shoulda told them wait right outside. Not that it would help." Yamcha approached one of the bars in his cell. And yanked it out. He grinded the steel bar on the floor as he slowly, but maliciously approached Bury. "There were 199 Wolves alive before your betrayal, minus you and your co-conspirators. That's 194. I must say you are responsible for their deaths. So…" He held the steel bar with both hands overhead. "Let's count."
Once the combined force of the Uprising reached the forest on the Reiss Estate perimeter, Erwin ordered the column to stop, with the exception of the Soon-to-be King ,the Ki-Users,Squad Gelgar and Squad Hange whom he signaled to continue onward.
"So… Uh … My king … What happened to the …what you call it?" Asked Levi as the combined unit sped toward their destination.
"The motorbike?" Answered Gohan, with another question.
"Yeah, the motorbike. That thing is faster than any horse we have, and much louder too. I mean you'd have been at the Reiss Resident already if you were using that. What happened to it?" Levi pressed the question.
"I even thought that I would get to ride Nimbus as you already have that thing. Looks like I'll never get my chance." Nanaba leaned forward,as Gelgar's Squad were at the rear of the vanguard, so it quite difficult to hear it.
"It's busted. The stunt I pulled on Kenny earlier messed up its engine. In retrospect it was rather unnecessary. It's Yamcha's. He's not gonna like it." The Scouts within earshot chuckled upon hearing Gohan's reply.
"No worries my liege. You have ensured our approval to your accension just by messing with the Alpha like that." Grinned Gunther as he tried to spur his horse to keep with Gohan.
"Hey, I heard that!" Bellowed Gleaves from the distance.
"What exactly did Yamcha do to deserve such a dislike from you guys? Also Bulma received the same hate. What exactly has she done?" Gohan had let these questions left unanswered for too long.
The Scouts eyed one another as if to pass the responsibility to each other. The Scouts would have no second of jumping toward a horde of Titans and barrel of a gun, especially the one who now obtained their newly discovered invulnerability. But telling their future king the truths of his mother and friend's bad deeds, was something that made them prefer to do the aforementioned stunt with even less hesitant.
"Who's gonna tell him?" Suggested Levi, he and the rest of the vanguard know that they had to tell him. "One, two, three. Not it!"
"Not it." The Ki-Users wasted no time said it out loud. And Gelgar's squad was also able to said it in time, indicating that they had heard it despite being at the rear. The only people who didn't play the 'Not it!' game where Hange Zoe and her squad, not in time.
"So, Four-Eyes. I mean, Five-Eyes, are you going to tell him. Or any of your squad. Don't even think about letting the Wolf do it. His view is not reliable." Levi turned to the Section Commander's wagon, announcing her the loser of the game she didn't realize she was also playing.
"The hell, Levi? I thought it was just between you Ki-Users." Protested Hange. Moblit had to shift his weight to kept the wagon from overturning as the hyperactive scientist convulsed in anger.
"Nope, if you can hear the convo, you're in it. Tell him!" Demanded Levi. "C'mon. Gelgar's heard it."
Gohan turned his head to Hange. His eyes told her his worries, by how the Scouts just keep evading the responsibility to tell him the truth, he knew this was a question he did not want to know the answer to, but he had to know.
"Gohan, we're almost there. So I'll give you the short version." Explained Hange before she nervously gulped. And spilled the beans. "About ten years ago. The Alpha, Yamcha slaughtered all the owners, and workers of three Salt Mines within Rose. Giving Lady Winters enough resources to form her personal militias and take up a portion of our industry. And later when Wall Maria fell, she was the one behind the Reclamation Exemption Act, anyone who wanted to be excluded from the Reclamation Attempt had to paid a large sum of money. She's made herself the richest woman by exploiting the disaster." Gohan made no replies upon hearing the Section Commander's explanation. The young man was shocked beyond words.
"She has her reasons. They have their reasons. My King." Gleaves raised his voice to defend his masters.
"You can possibly just…" Moblit shook his head in response to the Wolf's appeal.
This world could bring the worst out of people. The things that Hange just listed, did not sound like something Bulma or Yamcha would do at all. Not the Yamcha or the Bulma that he had known. A fighter who had thrown himself into fights he knew that he was outmatched and a scientist who helped all the way she could in all their missions to protect their world. Yamcha had died once doing so. For Kami's sake. How had he come to this? Bulma's ingenuity had given the Fighters' edges more than once against celestial threats. She had been with the good guys. How had she stooped so low?
Yamcha's power level diminished the moment the time machine landed. But did that warranted him to resort to deadly force every time he faced someone who he deemed as a threat? As he no longer able to resort to non-lethal option as easily as he should facing humans? But then he remembered what Bulma had told him. The first thing the people here had done when they had seen them, had been trying to kill them. The reasons that Gohan had to agree to becoming the new King of Paradis, to end this cycle of hate, to protect his people, to protect these new humans. The things that Bulma and Yamcha had done could never be justified thought Gohan knew why they had to do what they had done. But there's something he knew he had to do, in addition to many other things, as long as he was on this world, whether as protectors or as king. None of his friend would have to take another human life ever again.
"I'm sorry for what they've done. I will confront them after this. They will have to make compensation."
"I don't think that will be enough." Commented Connie.
"Unless you can revive the dead." Added Jean. And the surrounding Scouts concurred.
"They'll do what they can to make up to the livings. As I will make sure that all the livings on both side of this war will be compensated." Gohan replied. "One more thing. This is my order. From now on, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Mikasa, Eren, Captain Levi, Ymir, Oulo, Gunther, and perhaps Petra too." Every single man and woman turn their heads respectively as Gohan mentioned their names. " You're no longer soldiers. You no longer have to follow order so blindly. You're not Warriors, either, you'll stay your hand from the blood of the innocents, no matter the opinions they have on you." The nine of the Ten Pupils' eyes became widened as Gohan declared his new decree. " I will not let you duplicate the Warrior Unit's nor Eldia's mistakes by using new obtained powers to force your will upon the one without it. You're now Fighters, you will protect the weak, the innocents, no matter they are Eldians, Marleyans or any of the ethnicities that exist. You will not kill if you can wound, you will not wound if you can subdue, you will not subdue if you can pacify. That is what you will do once we face the Interior Police. Our rule of engagement: non-lethal force only."
"What?" Puzzled Levi on the King's rule of engagement.
"Well, we are indeed bulletproof." Mikasa had no problem with it.
"We're not." Protested Hanged before all the Scouters beeped. "I got readings."
"And here we are." The Captain added when they had finally reached the Reiss Chapel, or what left of it.
The chapel looked like a smaller version of the Chapels made by the Wallists in Rose and Sina, but it was broken, missing a wall and half of the structure was collapse. No one would believed that the remainders of the Interior Police were here if the Scouters didn't give them the readings or Gohan, Mikasa and Levi did not sense the energies.
Sasha looked at the other building nearby, which so happened to be the Reiss Estate.
"They're there?" The Potato girl asked.
"No." Eren pointed the ground. "There."
"Everyone dismounts!" Gohan ordered. And then he looked at Gelgar and Hange. "Yours squad stay."
Everyone dismounted from their horses and wagons. Hange, Moblit drew theirs swords, followed by Gelgar, Historia, and Nanaba. Gohan had no problem with this. But when the Special Operation Squad and the rest of the 104th drew theirs, Gohan protested.
"How can you go non-lethal if you pulled out your swords? Their bullets are useless against you."
"Not very useless against the others." Levi pointed his head to Squad Hange and Squad Gelgar. And then the Scouters beeped again, and he sensed it. Some energy readings, and the energies themselves had vanished from the Scouters lensed and the Ki Sensers sensing. "And there this fucker who didn't hear your order."
"They're not coming." Gohan barked out orders as he pointed at the non-Ki Users. " Spread out to the buidings, find the entrance."
Mikasa withdrew her blades, holding only the empty handles on her hands. Levi sighed and reluctantly unequipped his blades and signaled the rest to do the same.
Yamcha alternated his bloodied steel bar to the mushy pile of red ooze that was once Bury's head. The disgust caused him to drop the bar. This was what this world had brought out of him, his worst. Peter Bury was the family of the people Yamcha had murdered and he had brutalized him to death just because he wished to brought him to justice, or revenge rather. Yamcha shooked his hands as he less the realization sink in, he was a monster, he was no difference from the Saiyans that once tried to destroyed Earth, he had less soul than the Saibaman that had taken his life. How could he had the right asking Gohan to kill Bojack, if he was no less malevolent?
And he was going to it again.
The other traitors were far away, yes, but they would have to come back at some point. That some point was now. And the room where his cell was ,was not soundproofed, the Alpha heard footsteps behind the door. They must had heard the gunshot from Bury earlier. And Yamcha's Ki Sensing had confirmed it. Only two of them, the other one must had had no interest in seeing his supposed corpse.
More loved ones of his victims would also fall victims by his hands.
Yamcha swiftly grabbed the Glock and aimed it at the door. Irina opened the door, and both her and Armin Dynamo each got shot at the chest and the forehead only couples of second after they saw Yamcha zeroed his gun at them.
He was more wolf than man.
The four new gunshots would certainly attract the other Renegade Wolf, along with what was left of the Interior Police. And … they were coming. Yamcha sighed as he crouched down to Irina Fox and Dynamo's bodies, and searched. Yamcha found two revolvers from under their jackets. The Alpha tucked both handguns behind him, under his belt. And shot 3 MPs that approached the corridor.
This wolf was lost.
Yamcha never had the opportunity to observed his surround when Bury had dragged him to his cell. And when he did now, he had more questions than answers. The wall was crystal, not brick, not concrete, not wood or stone, but bright, gleaming crystal. He wondered if the crystal just reflecting the light around them, he failed to see any torches. To be fair, it was hard to determine the source of light when there were MPs firing volley of 12.7mm bullets at you. Thought Yamcha managed to dodge most of the bullets, and the ones that did hit him bounced off him, the pain prevent him to think of something other than fighting. He blind fired his Glock, not actually very blind when point the autoloading pistol at the direction where he sensed the MP's energies.
The Alpha was blood thirsty.
The Alpha cursed when the Glock clicked empty. Yamcha dodged a high caliber round and chucked the empty pistol at the MP. He pulled out the revolvers in his back, charged at the incoming MPs and heads exploded on his path of getting out of the crystal corridor, only to lead him to a even bigger crystal corridor.
"The fuck am I?" The revolvers were emptied, much was expected from the low bullet capacity of the two six-shooters.
"Not so different from where you heading, Alpha." Gas burst before him as three dozens of Anti-Personnel MPs reeled themselves on either the ceiling or on the walls. And their all aimed their guns at him. And the bullets tore his clothing as they hit him, bruising him. The Alpha tumbled over in pain as the ammunition pummeled him.
"If you mean the grave. Then you're about a ten of blasters away to send me there." Said Yamcha when all the MP's guns were out of ammo, being single-shot weapons, it was quick. The Alpha recovered, then smile when he saw the terrified face of his foes when they realized their weapons only grazed him. "I didn't see the chainguns, you must've ditched them after you see how they malfunctioned. Shame! They could've pinned me down for a while."
The Alpha elbowed the crystals behind him, shattered a chunk of it, and pick up two sharp shards. "Not that it'd matter." Yamcha went to his signature stance, he charged at the MPs. "Wolf Fang Fist! Armed!"
He lunged at three Anti-Personnel MPs on the wall, who were caught off guard when the Papa Wolf had reached their level without needing an ODM Gears, putting more holes on their bodies than a submachine gun could. And then he wall-ran to the ceiling and repeated the same things with 7 more. And he threw the two shards at two MPs on another wall, hitting them directly in the throats.
There was no going back from this.
He utilized the dangling corpses of the ones on the ceiling to swing on to the others. Killing half of the remaining MPs with his bare hands.
Nothing could bring him back from this.
He jumped toward a female MPs, who struggled to reload her weapons. He intended to kick her neck in halves. However, before he could reach her, Gohan poked the Power Pole in her stomach, subduing her, denying the Wolf's kill.
Well, there was still one thing.
"Yamcha! Stand down!" Ordered Gohan. The MPs shifted their target to him. They fired their weapons, but just like with Yamcha, they have all bounced off.
Gohan lunged at 5 Anti-Personnel MPs, and hit them in the elbows and knees. Causing them to cried in agony and plummeted to the ground.
"Connie, Jean, Gunther. You're our shields!" Yamcha turned and saw the Survey Corps approached in ODM Gears. Nine of his Pupils join the fray with their sword handles raised, handles, without the blades.
Connie, Jean and Gunther gritted their teeth as they took all shots from the Interior Police. The bullets bounced off them, but their pains were visible. Behind them, the other five of the Pupils propelled toward every MPs that wasn't being beaten up by Gohan. Each rammed the handles at the face of any MPs that had not dodged in time, which was all of them.
It was not a fight at all. The Interior Police didn't stand a chance against the Ki Users. The only different between fighting the Survey Corps and Yamcha, was living or dying, defeat was inevitable.
The fight was over when Gohan bashed the Power Pole into the backs of two MPs that tried to flee. The soon-to-be King glared at his old friend before resting the staff on his shoulders.
"We're gonna have a talk once this is over, Yamcha."
"Bulma and I didn't have much options, Gohan." Replied Yamcha.
"Yeah because the deaths you hold responsible for will sympathize!" Retorted Jean as the soldier rubbed the bruises on his body.
"I'm gonna need a lot of contexts to know why you're friend with him, Alpha!" Added Eren.
"The only reason none of us tries to kick your ass is it so happens that you're on our side." Added Oulo.
"And your training works out." Add Sasha.
"Don't give him any credits!" Connie grimaced.
"I would love to join you in giving this son of a bitch a piece of my mind." Levi stared blankly at Yamcha as he walked pass him. "But we have a King to dethrone."
"He has only one guy guarding him. Both him and the guy are in fear." Commented Mikasa.
"Wait. We take down all of them?" Confused Eren. He didn't expect it would be this easy. "I thought I'd put my new skills into good use."
"I know the fucker with him."
James Smith could not load the magazine to his Sten even though it had been his 15th attempt. When Yamcha killed Irina and Armin Dynamo, James bolted out of the corridor, went into King Reiss' altar room and grabbed the submachine from one of the weapon crates stashed there. But the gunshots unenabled the Renegade Wolf from loading the gun properly. The continuous gunshots only meant one thing: The Interior Police was failing to kill the Alpha.
Atlast, from all the repeated reversed loading and upside down loading, he had successfully loaded the Sten SMG.
"Can you tell me what on earth is happening?" Demanded Reiss as he watched the Renegade Wolf fidgetily, and the distance gunshots.
"The Alpha escaped." Answered James as the man pulled the charging handle with his now sweaty hand. And then the gunshots stopped.
"Is he dead?" Reiss asked a question that he already knew the answer to. There were so far too many attempts on the Alpha resulted in failure that he could only resort to praying if he wanted some differences to be made.
And the Reiss King and the Renegade Wolf heard footsteps, cables reeling, hooks being shot andnd gas bursting to their direction. With less than a minute, the Alpha, the usurper Gohan Winters and Nine soldiers from the Survey Corps made themselves visible.
"Stay the fuck back!" James pointed his SMG at the Ki Users.
"Gohan Winters, you fool. You have forfeited our people future." Spat Rod Reiss. No, no, no. This isn't how it should go. "Where's my daughter? Where's Historia?"
"Playing UNO!" Howled Yamcha before charging at the last two defenders of the old regime. But the Alpha tripped and fell when Gohan extended his Pole at his ankles.
"Told you to stand down. So stand down!" Gohan raised his voice. Yamcha got the hint and raised his arms in surrender. "Mr Smith, isn't it? I don't know why you betrayed the Wolfpack. But you will get to live to tell me why." Gohan slowly strode toward the Renegade Wolf. "That's the good news."
"Save me your false altruism!" James raise his Sten and sprayed on Gohan. The Renegade Wolf mouth was agape when the bullets bounced of Gohan's Battle Armour. Assuming it was the Armour doing. He aimed for the Soon-to-be King's head and emptied his mag. James Smith recoiled harder than his weapons when all the bullets also bounced off the Monkey Boy's head, barely grazed him. "Mom, Dad. I'm coming to see you."
"That's the bad news. You won't be seeing any of your dead loved ones, for quite some time." With a swing of the Power Pole, The Sten shattered into pieces. The second swing knocked the traitor out cold. "Casualty will be put to minimum under my reign."
Seeing the guns did little to no damage to the usurper, Rod Reiss collapsed to his knees. He was fighting a losing war. The Interior Police had no mean to subdue Eren Jaeger, the Intel said that he and the Survey Corps were trained by the Alpha, so it was safe to assume that Jaeger would be able to pull of what Winters had done here. He should have said yes the Alpha's offer and save his men from this bloodshed.
"Rod Reiss, this is what you will do. You will surrender. Couple days from now, you will admit what your family had been doing for those centuries to the public." Gohan knelt down to Reiss' level. Patting on the Reiss king shoulder and tried to sound as respectful as he could. "Then you will abdicate in favor of me. I will pardon you. I will show amnesty to all your friends in the old government. You will get to live a peaceful life with Historia. Historia will never be harmed , I'll see to it. She will not participate in any war that might occur in the future."
"I'd take it." Said Levi. The man eyed the Reiss King. The man was helpless, he would not up a fight. Gohan's offer was a sound and reasonable one.
Contrary to common belief, the Survey Corps does not actively search for a fight. Well, that was what the Long-Range Scouting Formation for, avoiding confrontation with the enemies. And the Survey Corps had the same mentality when they went down the carven, they had hoped that upon seeing them being impervious to conventional weapons, the Interior Police would surrender.
"Is this what I think it is?" Yamcha picked up a case behind Rod, and showed everyone a vial. " Is there more of this?" And Rod nodded.
Gohan noticed the old man's cooperation. He chuckled and let out a breathe of relief.
"Can I take that as your agreement to my terms?" Asked Gohan, which the King nodded again. "Well, everyone, let's take him outside. It will take a while for the others to wake up. Disarm them, then tell Hange to sent in the rest the Corps to get the rest of the prisoners out. Connie, Oulo, Mikasa, you stay here ,restrain them and keep watch."
"It isn't that hard, is it?" Remarked Hange as she put the handcuffs on Rod. The King hadn't said anything when he was escorted to the surface, and had remained such when he sat on Hange's wagon. "You can be quiet this whole day. But I need you to speak up tomorrow, to the public."
"We're gonna bring these prisoners to Mitras. Afterwards, we'll go to Bulma." Yamcha ordered Gleaves when he gave him a SMG. The Wolves watched as more prisoners were escorted out of the carven. Most of the prisoners were limping, but the rest had to be carried out since they were unconscious. Their arms were all tied to their backs.
Erwin and the rest of the combined army had finally approached the estate. The Commander eyed the prisoners, and grinned subtly as the victory he had easily achieved today.
"No casualty?" Asked Erwin as he mentally counted the vanguard.
"No casualties. We let the Fighters go in." Answered Hange as she leaped of the wagon. "Interior Police weapons have little effect to them." Erwin nodded in satisfactory and continued to gaze on the prisoners being escorted. "26 prisoners in total sir."
"Get the prisoners to the wagons. We have plenty, hurry them along." Ordered Erwin, so the Scouts escorted the prisoners to the wagons and wagons moved their ways to the prisoners. When the prisoners were in the proximity of their perspective prison wagon, the Scouts shoved them in. "Alright everyone, let us move back to the Capital. The mission is accomplished."
"One second." Yamcha raised his hand, which irritated the Scouts. "Can borrow one of your shifters? And a…bag?" Yamcha stared down at the metal case on his hand.
"Is that?" Erwin widened his eyes.
"Yeah, by the look of it." Yamcha got the case closer to the Commander, Erwin opened the lit and saw a syringe and a steel vial. The vial had the inscription 'Strongest Titan' on it. He closed the lid and give it back to Yamcha. The commander took out a satchel from his saddle bag and handed it to Yamcha.
"Why you need a shifter?" Asked Erwin.
"They're faster. I need to get to Bulma."
"Just get on behind Gohan."
"Fine. Gohan!" Gohan gawked at Yamcha, who beckoned him to him. The Monkey Boy offered his hand and yank him on the saddle, just behind him. "I still need either Eren or Ymir though."
Mikasa crossed her arms and Historia put her hands on her hips. They both glared at Yamcha and asked simultaneously. "WHY?"
"Need one of them to open the Bunker."
"I don't think that'll do anything." Said Hange, pointing out to the fact that two explosion could do nothing to the blast door.
"Correction, I need one of them to have Bulma open the Bunker."
"How would that work?" Puzzled Gunther.
"You have to trust him on this." Gohan replied with a smile. And he glanced at Eren. "Eren, you go with me."
Eren took a look at Mikasa and gave her a nod. And spurred his horse as Gohan spurred his. Detaching them from the Survey Corps formation.
"Hannes?" Gasped Eren when the trio arrived to the Castle Jutnar to see Hannes and a 8 men squad of Garrison soldiers already searching the area.
"Eren!What's that thing on your eye? Gohan! Is Carla in there?" Hannes squinted his eyes as he extended his torches. The Garrison tone shifted when the light illuminated Yamcha face. "Alpha! Know how to open that thing?" Hannes pointed his head at the Bunker blast doors.
Gohan, Eren and Yamcha dismounted and approach the blast door on foot. Yamcha look at the charred blast door, shook his head and tapped on it.
"ELEVATOR! SURFACE LEVEL!" Bellowed Yamcha.
"The blast must have destroyed the voice receiver." Suggested Gohan.
"Voice receiver?" Eren, Hannes and the Garrisons asked in unison.
"No, it has not. The voice receiver is built in this door and it is very durable. I've watched the demonstration video. It can take a lot of punishment." Every word from the Papa Wolf confused all the Eldians nearby. "Must be something else. Gohan, you try."
"THIS IS SON GOHAN! ELEVATOR! SURFACE LEVEL!" Tried Gohan, using the same volume of speech that Yamcha had used. And yield a slightly different result than Yamcha's.
"Invalid Voice Protocol! Access Denied!" The Eldians soldiers jolted backward when the door beeped and started to talk.
"Invalid? How? I have registered my voice a couple of weeks ago. Does the computer update is data and automatically delete mine?" Puzzle Gohan.
"No, it means one thing. Masked Rider, give me that." Yamcha reached to Eren's Scouter. The young scout unequipped his Scouter and handed it over to Yamcha, who quickly fastened it on his left ear. "Bulma initiated Lockdown. Revoking all voice registration excepted for hers. Bulma, what the shit?"
Yamcha pressed and held the button of the device, and for 10 seconds, statics could be heard by everyone near him.
"Erwin, I need a sitrep." Yamcha could sense the surprise from the other end.
"Holy crap! You know how to activate that feature?" Everyone Eldian tilted their heads in confusion when they heard Jean voice coming from the Scouter.
"Of course! Hey does Gohan know how to?" They heard Hange's voice. "I think I'm gonna learn more of this."
"We have successfully brought Rod Reiss into custody. He's currently in Castle Miltras dungeon, he refuses to talk to anyone but Historia. She is talking to him right now." The Garrisons and Eren stopped being confused and just listened to Erwin response. "What on your side?"
"Trying to get Bulma to open the bunker. And no, Hange, Gohan does not know. He never really needs to use the Scouter. Well, neither I do I, but spent something meddling with it. I'll keep you updated. Papa Wolf out." Yamcha turned off the comm link and turned to Eren. "This is where you come into play. You see the stretch of land between the grove and our fences?"
"Y-Yes?" Answered Eren.
"I'm gonna need you to transform and start digging there. We might dig up a portion of the bunker. She will then know we're here." Ordered Yamcha. Which Eren wasted no time rushing out of the castle.
"Do we need to do anything?" Hannes asked in behalf of his Garrisons.
"No. Sit back and enjoy the music!" Yamcha search for dial on the Scouter and music, strange music came out of it, confusing the Eldians.
Wrapped in glowing rays of the morning sun
I turn toward the path that I know that I must run
Burning vectors of passion through my heart
Ignite a flame I know from which I can never part
"Alive a Life from Ryuki? Did they have a new Tokusatsu show in my absent?" Asked Gohan.
"Yeah, Kamen Rider Decade." Answered Yamcha when Eren run toward the land behind the Castle outer fences. The Titan Shifter only had the task 'digging' in his mind.
No matter the danger foresaid
The pain and the dread
I will keep riding ahead
"HENSHIN!" Said Eren before biting down to his hand and a bolt of lightning stroke down on him and the Attack Titan emerge.
"He said it! He said the thing." Exicted Yamcha pointed at Eren when his Titan started pommeling and digging up the dirt. "Which one did you watch?" He switched to Gohan.
"Ichigo. Kuuga. Agito. Ryuki. And Faiz. My mom didn't give me much free time. And my dad, well, we do more outdoor activities the time we spent together." Answered Gohan and he watched his blood brother digging. " Sound like a big design flaw for the Bunker to be breached in this manner."
Dancing among my dreams
On this side of the world unseen
"What are you guy talking about? And that thing music?" Asked Hannes. He and his fellow Garrisons were irritated by both the music and knowledge that it was seemed that only Gohan and Yamcha knew.
Thoughts of hate will crack
Taint the mirror black
So ball your fist and smash it with one attack.
Eren had made a very big hole, and he had dug quite deep.
"I explain everything tomorrow." Gohan smiled at the Garrison soldier, who could only smile back.
"You didn't promise him. He didn't swear fealty to you." Yamcha retorted.
" I will. You just wait." Hannes barked back at the Wolf.
The crater Eren was digging was just getting bigger. And Yamcha and Gohan sensed her. Them actually.
Turning to face my dreams
Though still clumsy and ever green
I just want to feel
"And no. It's not the digging. It's the motion sensor. She would get the readings down there, one that's really big she's know it's a Titan." Answered Yamcha. The blast door opened and an elevator showed itself on the surface, all encased in metal with the Capsule Corp logo inscribed on it.
"And why the hell did you told him to start digging at my lawn?" Bulma asked angrily as the elevator door opened revealing her, Petra and Carla.
"Carla!" Hannes rushed inside and hugged Carla, the woman returned the hug. The two of them caressed one another's hair. They had not seen one another in weeks.
Petra approached Gohan with a red and puffy face, she was pissed, the Special Operation Squadmember angrily threw her fists into Gohan's chest. "Don't ever leave me in there again. Don't you ever leave me out of anything like again. You hear me, Gohan?"
"I'm sorry. I heard you." Gohan returned her aggression with a hug. And Petra started to sob.
"His power doesn't work like that." Yamcha answered Bulma's question. "I can't just tell him to transform and just stand there. He'll have trouble realizing that kind of trivia task in his mind."
"Did we win?" Asked Bulma. And everyone lightened up once they heard Yamcha's answer.
"We've won. The Interior Police are defeated. The Royal Government is depose. Rod Reiss is now in our custody. And I've changed their wifi passwords." Bulma snorted at the last part. And Gohan was annoyed. Everyone else just said 'what?'. And Eren was still pummeling and clawing on the ground. "And he's still at it. I'll take care of that."
Life through ill and weal
And every searing moment with each part of me
Next Chapter: Hegemonkey King of West Eldia.
Gohan's coronation coming up next.
Author's Note 1: I was intending to have Rod transformed like he did in the canon. But the Interior Police was so devastated and Historia didn't enterd the carven and Rod had lost all hope of turning over, so I can never imagine how he would still inject himself with the serum afterward. Best to let him surrender peacefully.
Author's Note2 : I just read Trusty's ending and I my thought was "I can't beat that, no one can beat that." It was beautiful, anyone who hasn't read it, read it.