Chapter Summary: Eren and Reiner fight. Levi and Mikasa take on Kenny. And Krista tells Reiner something VERY IMPORTANT!
Earlier
Armin waits for the guards to pass by before he emerges from the shadows. He knows that he technically is not allowed to be here, but he knows that the Scouts are going to be taking her soon and they are likely going to feed her to a Titan after they break her out so Paradis can gain her power. If not, she will be experimented on to reverse-engineer it, and then executed. So, Armin just wants to see her and clear the air before that happens.
And there she is, still stuck in her crystal and perched up on a stand in the back of the room. Annie Leonhart. A Marleyan with the ability to become a Titan. Armin looks longingly at her petrified form. Having trapped herself inside this crystal, frozen, rather than being tortured for information. A temporary setback, it would seem.
Armin approaches the crystallized form of the girl that he had a crush on for the last four years. He waves awkwardly as he gazes up at her.
"Um, hi, Annie. It's me, Armin. I don't know if you can hear me, or even if you're still alive, but the Scouts are coming for you now." Armin looks down. "They are going to try and get you out of your crystal, and if they don't feed you to a Titan immediately they will try to figure out how you can transform. I really wish there was a way for me to help you, but your fate was decided in court."
Armin lifts his head. The petrified blonde is silent, and Armin chuckles sadly.
"I wish you could talk. I have so many questions. First of all, I want to know, why did you save me?"
That question has been eating Armin up ever since Trost.
"You could have kept your cover and just let me and Mikasa die, but you became a Titan and saved us." Armin smiles weakly. "Jean says that you did it because Eren seemed to figure out who you were and attacked you, so you reacted thinking your cover was blown anyway." Armin shrugs. "I like to think it's because you actually cared. Some people have told me that's just wishful thinking. Maybe it is, but maybe it isn't."
Armin sits down. He leans his head against the base of Annie's crystal.
"I remember when I was a boy. It was after the Wall fell. A blonde girl saved me from some bullies and we had a nice long talk." Armin looks up at Annie fondly. "It took me a while for me to realize that was you. That's why I always thought there was good in you, Marleyan or Paradisian. You could have just let me get beaten, a stranger in enemy territory. But you didn't."
Armin frowns and curls up into a ball.
"I just wish that I…really knew you."
Armin perks up as he hears footsteps approaching. Knowing he would get in trouble, Armin hides behind Annie's crystal and he hopes that they aren't the people sent to take her. But Armin's heart stops as he hears a gun go off.
'What?'
Armin peeks behind the crystal, and a body falls from the other side of the hallway. Armin gulps and hides himself behind the crystal. He hears laughing and footsteps approaching.
From the hallway, emerges a blonde woman in a Military Police-esque uniform accompanied by two men. She holds a gun in her hand and swirls it with a smile on her face.
"Well, there goes the witnesses," the woman says as she reaches down and takes the gun from the body. "I suppose that it wouldn't be hard to believe that our little Marleyan traitor killed the Garrisons meant to escort her to the Scouts before taking a gun and fleeing."
Armin's mind is racing.
'What? The Military Police are trying to steal Annie? Why, what for? Oh God, they killed those guards, what are they going to do once they find me!?'
Armin takes out the small knife that he had brought with him.
"You two got the drug and the breaker?" The woman asks.
One of the men takes out a device that looks like a couple of gas canisters used by the Scouts attached to a thick crystal spike at the end. The other man takes out a bottle and a needle.
"I'll break her out," says the man with the device.
"And I'll drug her," says the man with the needle.
"Good, it will be easier to transport her once she's out of the crystal and drugged," the woman says. "Now let's go. The captain will be waiting for us."
"Yes, Caven,"
Armin panics. Not only does he fear for his own life, but he is sure that whatever reason these people want her it isn't good.
"Hey, is it just me or does this kid look like you?" One of the men asks Caven.
"Oh yeah, I think you're right," says the other man. "Seriously, look, she looks like she could be Caven's daughter or something."
"Shut up you morons," Caven says, annoyed.
Armin sees a slim chance at escape. He presses his small blade against the back of Annie's crystal, in a spot on her lower back that isn't her spine.
"Ok, Annie," Armin whispers into the crystal. "I don't know if you can hear me. But I'm going to stab you as soon as your crystals are broken. As soon as you're free, turn into a Titan and run."
The man with the device places the end of the crystal tip against Annie's crystal. To the side of her body, nowhere near her torso. He presses a button and the gas that was compressed in the canisters shoots the hard crystal tip out, penetrating the crystal. The man with the device steps back as the crystal containing Annie cracks all around. Annie's eyes open, looks at the people who are freeing her, and Caven smirks. Armin prepares his blade, knowing that Annie is going to break out at any moment. Finally, the crystal shatters apart and Armin is able to reach through the debris, giving Annie a cut on the side. Annie screams as she falls into Armin's arms. The blonde boy catches her, to the three adults' surprise, and pulls Annie close to him.
"What the Hell!?" The man with the string shouts.
"Stand back!" Armin says as Annie hisses from the pain of her cut. "I cut her as soon as the crystal broke. She can turn into a Titan at any time! Oh, sorry Annie."
Annie looks at him. "…Armin?" She chuckles. "Stabbed in the back, by you of all people. How fitting."
"You dumb kid," the man with the syringe says. "What do you think the needles for? Besides, she doesn't want to crush her boyfriend. Do you, girl?"
Caven points a gun at Armin. "Drop the Shifter, or die."
Armin tenses in fear as she backs up against the Wall. Annie reaches into her pocket and pulls out some Titan-Crystal shards. He clutches them in her hand.
"Armin, drop me and run," Annie says.
"No, I can save you!" Armin says.
Armin's eyes are focused on Caven, who continues to aim her gun at him, unwavering. Sweat beads roll down his face in panic.
"You know, I could shoot you now," Caven says.
As she speaks, Armin analyzes the situation. He is wearing his ODM gear and he is sure that the device in the man's hands still has a lot for compressed gas left in the other canisters. It's a long shot, but it just might work.
"Even if I shot her accidentally, she could heal. It would be easier to move her if she can't think."
Annie looks up at the boy holding her. "Armin…."
Armin looks into Caven's eyes. "We both know that you're going to kill me anyway. So you might as well shoot."
Caven smiles wickedly. "And Shadis wrote in your file that you're supposed to be smart. Goodbye, Armin Arlert. It's a shame that you won't be joining your parents."
"Annie, aim her gun at the canister."
Armin fires his gear at Caven's leg. The hook of his ODM punctures the blonde woman's thigh, creating a deep wound. At that moment, Armin turns him and Annie around and Annie uses her leg to kick Caven's gun in the direction of the canisters attached to the device. Armin and Annie duck and shield themselves as the bullet punctures the canisters…
BOOM!
The man with the device is torn apart by his own canisters exploding. The man with the needle next to him is greatly injured. Caven is pushed back but he force, knocking her to the ground.
Annie looks up and sees Caven lying on the ground. While her two comrades are dead. Annie laughs as Armin looks at the scene in horror.
"Armin you did it!"
"I'm a murderer."
"You've killed Titans, you know they are people," Annie points out.
Armin looks down. "Yeah, I guess."
Armin and Annie stand up.
"Armin, I will answer all your questions later."
Armin blinks. "Wait, could you-"
"I heard you when I was in the crystal, yes," Annie says. "We have a lot to talk about, but right now we need to get out of here before anyone else shows up."
Armin and Annie turn around, but immediately gunfire goes off. A bullet pierces Armin's chest.
"Armin!" Annie screams as she catches him in her arms.
She hears laughing and glares at Caven, who is lying on the ground, bleeding from her leg, arm, and side of her face while keeping her gun raised.
Annie growls hatefully at the woman.
"You bitch! I'll kill you!"
"YES! Keep that anger!" Caven says. She and Annie hear commotion and footsteps approaching. "The rest of the Garrison are coming. Who do you think they are going to believe? You or me? And whatever abilities you have, they can take you down."
Annie shows Caven the crystal fragments in her left hand, as she uses her right to clasp the bleeding cut Armin gave her.
"One of the Female Titans' abilities is to gain the traits of Titans by eating parts of them," Annie explains. "Marley experimented heavily with mine. They forced me to eat a piece of the Beast Titan to give me hardening. A piece of the Cart so I could run fast. But these here are crystallized pieces of Titan flesh that I got from a warehouse in the capital."
Caven's once smug face falls into a look of shock and fear. A frown and wide eyes.
"What? No!"
Annie puts the crystals in her mouth and her eyes glow. Right when the Garrison arrives and points their guns at Annie.
Now,
Kenny, the remains of the First Interior Squad, and the Ackerman look with dropped jaws at the Female Titan, now with wings in place of her arms, emerges from the wreckage and makes her escape. Mikasa and Levi can hardly believe it. Meanwhile, Kenny throws his hat to the ground in fury.
"God damn it! My second-in-command was in there!" Kenny sighs. "Ah, well. Rest in peace, Caven."
"We have to take down Leonhart!" Levi tells Mikasa.
"We have to protect Eren from her!" Mikasa says back.
The two Ackermans run in the other direction. But Kenny uses his ODM gear to swing around them and fire at their toes. Mikasa and Levi stop in their tracks and stare at the older Ackerman as he lands on the wall of a nearby building.
"You kids ain't going nowhere," Kenny tells them.
The rest of the Interior Squad surrounds Mikasa and Levi, keeping their guns pointed at them while Mikasa and Levi are only armed with their swords. Their eyes glow, just like Mikasa's when she is at full power.
"Any plans?" Mikasa asks.
Levi looks around. He narrows his eyes at Kenny, and he answers Mikasa.
"We win."
Ymir bites her lip, and her eyes glow.
She focuses on just creating a large jaw for the sake of biting through the fingers, rather than take her full Titan form and crush/burn Krista.
The front of Ymir's face erupts with light and electricity as flesh branches out from under her eyes. Eren smirks at the scene. Krista gasps lightly as her mind tries to process the fact that Ymir, her best friend, is a Titan Shifter too. The Armored Titan stops running, looks at Ymir as a massive shark-like jaw forms from strips of flesh connected to her face. The person inside, Reiner Braun, can only stare in shock and horror as the realization dawns on him.
'She's a Shifter, and that jaw, she….'
Once her jaw is formed, Ymir uses it to bite down on the Armored Titan's fingers. She cuts off four of his digits, allowing her, Eren, and Krista to fall. Eren and Ymir hit the ground with a hard thud. Eren groans and grasps his sore bones. His leg is definitely broken, but he pushes through he pain and redirects his healing abilities into that area. The pain subsides as his leg bends back into place. Ymir, by contrast, has a graceful landing and uses her Titan teeth to break the fall. She quickly moved to catch Krista before she hit the ground, cradling the blonde girl in her arms.
Eren sighs in relief as Krista stares surprised at her savior, who now has exposed flesh under her eyes from where the strips ripped off. Ymir awkwardly smiles at her.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," Krista says. "Thank you."
Ymir sets her down.
"Krista, I know you have a lot of questions," Ymir says. "I am sorry I kept this from you, but I promise I will tell you everything once we're safe."
Krista nods. She then turns to Eren.
"You knew about this?" Krista turns back to Ymir. "Did you tell him but not me?"
"No," Ymir says. "I have no idea how he knew."
"I saw this in a vision," Eren says.
Both Ymir and Krista look at him confused.
"What?"
"I'll explain later." Eren gazes up at the Armored Titan, who is just standing there as his fingers grow back, not moving at all. "But what's up with Reiner?"
Inside the Armored Titan, Reiner Braun recalls that fateful day when Marcel was eaten by a 3-meter Titan. Though Ymir hadn't taken her Titan form, it wasn't hard to figure out that she was the new Jaw Titan. Which makes her Marcel's killer. Anger and redirected self-loathing suddenly replaced his shock. He lifts his foot.
"Reiner, no!" Krista screams.
The Armored Titan slams his foot down. The shockwave causes Krista, Eren, and Ymir to lose their balance and fall to the ground. The Armored Titan drops to one knee and swipes at Ymir.
Ymir had fallen inside her jaw, so the bony structure provides her with some protection from the impact. She flies several yards and hits the ground with a tumbling roll, causing her to bleed from her forehead as she feels disoriented.
"Ymir!" Krista screams.
She gazes up at the Armored hand reaching for her. She cannot believe that this is the boy she fell in love with. The one who swore that he would always protect her. Who she would talk to at night about her issues with her biological parents and who would share his grievances with his. The one who held her in her sleep at night. All those internal images just shattered at the sight of him turning into the Armored Titan and trying to kidnap her then hurling Ymir.
Krista yelps as the Armored Titan grabs her.
"Krista, no!" Eren shouts as the Armored Titan brings Krista closer to his mouth.
Krista trembles in fear. She honestly does not know if Reiner is going to eat her or not. Fear and regrets fill her mind. She is going to die, probably followed by Eren and Ymir. And it will be her fault.
The Armored Titan throws Krista into his mouth. Krista screams and grabs onto the Armored Titan's tongue as she slides down. She panics and tries to grab onto the slippery tongue as hard as she can. She will NOT become Titan food! Thankfully, however, the Armored Titan's throat closes. A thin layer of Titan crystal covers it, making it impossible for Krista to fall any further. Krista breathes heavily and her fear slightly subsides as she realizes this. The Armored Titan has his mouth open slightly, but hardening crystal forms from his teeth, creating "bars". Krista slides toward the bars and tries to break free, but she is unable to budge them open.
"Hey! Let me out!" Krista bands on the Armored Titan's tongue and teeth. "Reiner! Let me out!"
Eren growls at the Armored Titan, who is looking down at him.
'Reiner…he has Krista trapped!'
'This will certainly be an issue,' says Grisha. 'I'm afraid we cannot do much without risking harming her.' Eren/Grisha looks over at the unconscious Ymir. 'And the Jaw Titan is still out.'
The Armored Titan creates a "come here" motion with his finger before he reaches for Eren. Eren sneers and bites his palm, erupting with power as his Titan flesh emerges. Krista gasps in amazement at the sight from inside the Armored Titan's mouth.
"Reiner, you damn bastard!" Eren screams as the Attack Titan forms around him.
The Attack Titan roars.
Eren's heart beats faster as he is surrounded by Titan flesh. He tries telling himself to stay calm and not lose control like last time. Especially since Krista is in Reiner's mouth.
'That's it, Eren,' Grisha says. 'Take deep breaths. Try to not get so consumed by your anger. That is the key to controlling this Titan. Focus on Krista and getting her out, not your own rage.'
'Dad, how DO we get Krista out? I can't punch Reiner in the face if she's there.'
'I doubt he will willingly hurt her. Just keep him distracted until the Jaw Titan recovers.'
The Armored Titan and the Attack Titan lock eyes with each other.
'Be careful, Eren. The Armored Titan is stronger than us. Focus on evading his hits and breaking his shell.'
The Attack Titan takes his fighting stance and waits for the Armored Titan to approach.
The Female Titan flies over the city as she fights off the Garrisons and the Scouts surrounding her. The humans swarm her using their ODM gear, but the Female Titan releases a sonic scream from her mouth and all the surrounding soldiers become disoriented by the sound waves. Clutching their ears and not being able to react in time to the Female Titan flapping her wings so hard it sends a gush of wind that tears their ODM gear hooks out of her flesh and sends them back.
The Female Titian continues to fly, blocking down at the wounded blonde boy being carried by her foot. She thinks that if she can make it to the plane, she can use the first-aid kit to save him. Though she and the other shifters can heal from (most) fatal wounds without a problem, Annie was sure to pack a special healing solution she found in the capital, just in case.
A blast from a Thunderspear blows a hole in her left wing. It detonates right where the joint is and the skin tears off. The Female Titan screams as the severed half of her wing falls onto a nearby building, cracking the top, as the rest of her collides with the ground. The Female Titan smashes into the ground and skids to a halt. She pushes herself up as her wing morphs back into the shape of a humanoid arm. The stretched skin that formed the wing shrinks as the limbs and joints shrink and reshape into a humanoid skeleton as the rest of the Titan flesh grows around it.
The Female Titan picks up Armin with her free hand as her other arm steams, growing back. She notices that the regeneration is happening faster than it usually does.
"Ha! Got her!"
The Female Titan sees the soldier with the Thunderspear flying toward her. He has long blonde hair with a bun and brown eyes. Flying beside him is a man with slightly curly brown hair and wrinkles. As well as a short woman with shoulder-length ginger hair. There is yet another man, with slightly darker skin and a short crop of hair.
"Nice shot, Eld!" Shouts the wrinkled man. "Now let's bomb this big bitch."
"No, wait!" The ginger girl points to Armin, whom the Female Titan is clutching to her chest. "She has a hostage! We make one move and she could crush him."
"The kid's probably already dead anyway!" The wrinkly man shouts, pointing at Armin's bleeding body. "Look! She probably just took him for a snack! But we can't let a Shifter escape back to Marley. Come on Eld! Gunther!"
"No, wait! Oluo!" The female Scout shouts as her male comrades engage the Female Titan.
The Female Titan panics as the Scouts fly toward her, armed. She hardens her nape and she hardens the hand that clasps Armin to protect him, but she knows that won't be enough against Thunderspears. She gulps, but then she feels something in her throat. Something she hadn't realized was there before. Like something was stuck inside her Titan. Upon realizing this is the result of another trait she inherited from the Titan shards, the Female Titan attempts to use her enhanced steam again, but this time flexing her new muscle.
Her mouth opens wide as a long, meaty, tube-like appendage extends from her throat and out of her mouth. The sides of the "tube" hit her top and bottom teeth and, before she screams, she instinctively takes a big breath in. The Female Titan can feel her vocal cords hardening into an elastic-crystal (kinda like the Warhammer Titan) and she releases a powerful blast of wind in addition to an enhanced sonic boom.
The "tube" contracts and expands like a gun firing a bullet. Each time, it releases a sound ring accompanied by a blast of high-pressure air and a powerful sound wave (far stronger than before). As soon as the round of attacks hits the Scouts, they are destroyed.
Oluo barely has time to scream before he splatters into a million bloody pieces. Gunther's left arm and leg are blown off while he coughs up blood due to a raptured ribcage before his eyes roll to the back of his head. Gunther is able to avoid the worst of the attacks, but he is thrown off course and suffers a concussion from a sound wave coming into contact with his head. Before he splats on the pavement.
Petra, who was flying around the Female Titan looking for an opening, covered her mouth in shock. All the other soldiers, who were watching, stared in horror at what they had seen as well. Even the Female Titan herself is surprised, as she feels her throat with the hard that grasps Armin.
Petra flies into rage and propels herself at the Titan, screaming. The other soldiers join in as well. They draw their weapons and get ready for a fight. But the Female Titan's eyes glow. She lifts her healing arm and releases a burst of steam, heat, and lighting so strong that it blasts the nearby Scouts (including Petra) away. Several of the bodies fall to the ground as burnt charcoal. Many others are more affected by the steam than the heat, so they were blown back with first or second-degree burns. Those lucky enough to survive fall to the ground clutching their burnt flesh, asking for cold water.
The Female Titan's arm completely grows back, to her satisfaction, and uses it to grab the line of a Soldier about to strike her nape before slamming him to the ground. She turns and faces the rest of the Soldiers before using her sound cannon attack again on them. They are either hit or the scatter, before the Female Titan changes her arm back into a wing and blows them away.
The Scouts fall to the ground and the Female Titan places Armin in her mouth before changing her remaining arm back into a wing as well. She continues her escape, uninterrupted.
Levi and Mikasa fly throughout the district, fighting the Interior quad sword to sword, and doing their best to avoid the guns. It became apparent to Mikasa and Levi within the first few minutes of their fight that their opponent's ODM gear has a big weakness. The anchor points in the same direction as the gun. This means that, once it's deployed, it can't be aimed again. Levi and Mikasa take advantage of this by attacking their opponents from behind.
Levi and Mikasa use smoke flares that they brought to fire in the direction of the Interior Squad to limit their vision. The still fly at Mikasa and Levi with incredible speed, but thankfully the two of them have more combat experience. Both Levi and Mikasa almost get slashed by their swords and hit by their guns, but the two Ackermans manage to flay around them and slice their opponent's heads off from behind.
Two super-fast blade-wielding opponents charge at Levi, but he blocks them both with his own swords in the nick of time and propels himself out of there. They aim their guns at Levi but Mikasa flies by them and slices them on their sides with her dual swords.
She propels herself. Her eyes glow brightly as she uses her sword to block and cut through several gullets with many fast swipes. After many of them fire at Mikasa, they realize they have to reload, and Levi acts through their necks before they can.
"What the hell!?" One of the MP's shouts as he fires at Mikasa. "We've got the power of an Ackerman! But how can she be THIS fast!?"
Mikasa flies around the bullets with unparalleled speed and slashes through three MP's. The then flies at the man who was pointing the gun. He tries firing at her again, but she evades. She flies to the left, then when he fires he flies to the right and kicks him in the face.
"Strength doesn't equate to skill." Mikasa narrows her eyes.
Pain! That is what Mikasa feels as a bullet hits her shoulder. She clasps her steaming wound and sees Kenny fly around her.
"Aye, we Ackermans have the advantage over MP's because of our shared combat memory. But I have more REAL experience than you." He draws his swords.
Mikasa's shoulder heals and she looks over at Levi, who is holding her own against the rest of the MP's.
"So what do you say, little niece?" Kenny asks. "You're the strongest Ackerman but I'm the most skilled. Let's see whose is better?"
"I honestly couldn't care less."
Mikasa moves to fly after Levi, but Kenny intercepts and swings his sword at her face. Mikasa manages to pull her head back in time, her heart races from how close that was, but her bangs get cut. Mikasa pulls back and she readies her swords.
Mikasa sneers at Kenny's cocky grin. If he wants a fight, she will give him one.
The Female Titan flies over the Wall. She looks down and sees the Attack and Armored Titans preparing to fight, but she cannot afford to stop and help. She needs to get Armin to the plane as soon as possible. Besides, it looks like Reiner was about to leave her anyway.
'Damn it!' Eren mentally screams. 'We have to worry about Reiner AND Annie now!'
Before Eren can think further, the Armored Titan punches the Attack Titan in the face.
The Attack Titan flies far before skidding on the ground. Even inside his Titan, Eren could feel the force. His insides feel like he just got shaken back and forth once he lands. And the Armored Titan approaches.
"Reiner! Stop! Please!" Krista continues to scream, to no avail.
The Attack Titan sits up.
"I have an idea," Eren says, as he makes the Attack Titan form a hardened shell, with a blade running down the left side. "I'll cut Reiner's head off before he can swallow."
The Attack Titan lunges at the Armored. The Armored Titan throws a punch at the Attack Titan, but the Attack Titan dodges. He moves behind the Armored Titan and crystallizes his forearm further into a full blade. He prepares to strike the Armored Titan's nape. Cut Reiner in half and free Krista at the same time. However, before he can strike, Eren finds himself unable to move.
'What? What's happening?' Eren asks.
'No, Eren,' Grisha says.
'DAD!? What are you doing!?'
'Don't you remember my lessons? If you kill a Shifter without feeding them to someone else, their power will be inherited by a random Eldian. It could be an Eldian in Marley. It could be one in another country. Either way, Eldia might not get the Armored Titan again.'
'What!? Dad, are you kidding me? What about Krist-'
The Armored Titan turns around and grabs the Attack Titan's crystalized arm. He grabs the Attack Titan's neck and throws him over his shoulder.
'Damn it! Annie's move!'
The Armored Titan slams the Attack Titan down on the ground. The Armored Titan then tries to pin the Attack Titan.
"Reiner, if you don't stop this now we are done!" Krista shouts. But the Armored Titan ignores her.
Mikasa goes full-out on Kenny. She swipes her blades with such speed that the older Ackerman can barely react. Yet despite this, Kenny is having a great old time. All his life he wanted to fight someone who could actually make him sweat, and now he is. Though he had every intention of making it out of this alive.
He breaks away from Mikasa and propels himself far away, but she chases after him. She jolts by, Kenny notes that in this state she becomes blinded and doesn't seem to have full control over herself yet. He smiles as an idea comes to mind. He hooks onto a nearby building while Mikasa lands on the roof of a close by house.
"I bet you're really into that Titan boy, right niece?" Kenny asks Mikasa. She glares at him. "Kinda like how Levi's attached to Smith. Like how I was, believe it or not, loyal to Uri. There's a reason for that, you know. We Ackermans weren't just bred for strength, we were bred for loyalty. Granted, one day one of us decided to be loyal to come one else and that caused us to get banished to this tiny island. But that conditioning is still there."
"What are you implying?" Mikasa asks.
"In your file, Shadis noted that you have an almost unhealthy fixation on Eren." Kenny smirks. "I wonder, you might think that it's true love like in a fairytale, but how much of it is it really Acker-bond programming? You made him your king."
Mikasa's face contorts in outrage as she clutches her scarf.
"That's not true!" She shouts. "I love Eren, and he loves me!"
"I'm sure there's some genuine feeling mixed in," Kenny says. "But ultimately, you're just a slave to your basic instincts. You're wearing a damn scarf and it's eighty degrees outside for Titans sake! Let me guess, he gave it to you? Why do you think you STILL feel this unrelenting need to protect him despite knowing he can turn into a fifty-foot-tall killing machine?"
Mikasa screams and propels herself at Kenny. But before she can reach him, he pulls out his gun and shoots her multiple times in the torso. He moves out of the way as Mikasa falls and tumbles. She hits the wall of the building before hitting the ground.
Kenny lowers himself down, and he looks impressed as the bullets he placed in her body are pushed out as her mounds steam and heal up. Mikasa's eyes shine bright with white light as she clasps her aching shoulder and growls at him.
Kenny whistles. "Damn! What the hell did that doctor give you? Whatever it is I want it."
Mikasa tries to Attack Kenny again, but her eyes stop glowing. Kenny easily blocks her punch and delivers a knee to her gut. Mikasa coughs up saliva and Kenny lets her fall to the ground. She cries and clasps her aching abdomen as Kenny crosses his arm.
"Looks like you can't stay glowy eyes forever. Ah, well."
Kenny raises his sword and prepares to strike, but a bullet hits him in the shoulder and he clasps his arm, dropping the sword in the process. Kenny looks over at Levi, now wielding one of her Interior Police's Anti-Personnel guns, standing at the top of one of the buildings. He is covered in cuts and scars. Two in his left cheek, one on his neck, and others over his body. The clothes on his arms and legs are cut up and red with blood. Levi grunts, clasps his arm, and tries to stay composed despite the pain.
"Go home, Runt," Kenny says. "A few more slashes and you'll be dead."
"Not if we help!"
Hange drops down next to Levi's and lets her captain lean on him and Hange holds up a canister.
"A gift from a good friend of ours," Hange says. "It's a pressurized vapor version of a serum that caps an Eldian's Titan abilities. It might not work on Shifters or real Ackermans, but it made your group scatter as soon as I used it on them."
"And I proved its use by cutting through two of them at once," Levi says. "They couldn't move fast enough to react."
Mikasa uses the opportunity to uppercut Kenny and grab his gun from him.
Kenny looks between the Asian girl pointing his own gun at him, his nephew, and the androgynous-looking person who claims to be able to remove his powers. Kenny chuckles.
"Well, it looks like I'm outnumbered." Kenny pulls out a smoke bomb. "I guess we'll have to continue this fight some other time. Oh, by the way, they didn't run just because of your little trick."
Kenny throws the bomb down and a shield of smoke covers him. When Mikasa tries to dispel the smoke, Kenny is gone. Levi stomps his foot.
"Damn it! He-" Levi winces in pain.
"Captain, you need to a hospital," Hange says.
"They are going after Eren," Mikasa realizes and walks toward the Wall. "I need to-" She stops, winces, and clasps her stomach again.
"No, Mikasa, you're hurt too," Hange says. "You can't do anything if you're injured."
"We need to send the rest of the squad after them," Levi says. "The Garrisons. Petra, the others, where are they?"
Hange tenses. She bites her lip and Levi doesn't like the look on her face.
"What?"
"Um…The Female Titan, Leonhart, she had this new power. Her scream was like a canon. Everyone's either dead or injured. I saw Gunther and the others get killed."
Levi pales and his face sours. It changes from one of shock and sadness to one of rage as he imagines a hundred ways to vivisect Leonhart.
'Don't let him get you on your back!' Grisha shouts.
'He wouldn't have if you hadn't stopped me!' Eren shouts back.
The Attack Titan grabs onto the Armored Titan's face before he can be pinned. Krista screams and tries to back away from inside the mouth as the Attack Titan sticks his fingers between the teeth bars. The Armored Titan tries to close, but Eren hardens his fingers and spreads his crystal inside the Armored Titan's mouth, petrifying the joints shut.
'Perfect!' Eren thinks as he sees the upper and lower parts of the Armored Titan's jaw turn white. 'Now he can't crush or swallow Krista even if he wanted to!' The Attack Titan moves behind the Armored Titan and pulls. 'Now I just have to break the crystal open and I can wail on him as much as I want!'
The Armored Titan runs backward, causing the Attack Titan to be pushed back. The Attack Titan places the Armored Titan in a. Headlock from behind. He squeezes hard and cracks some of the armored plating around his neck.
'Good, Eren!' Grisha shouts. 'Once you break the shell enough, you can just reach in and pull Reiner out of the nape. Remember, the Armored Titan's hardening is thinner than yours so you have the advantage.'
The Armored Titan bends down and releases some of the Armroed platting around his arms and legs. Now, with greater flexibility, the Armored Titan throws his elbow back into the Attack Titan's ribcage. The Attack Titan coughs up saliva and the Armored Titan slams the back of his head into the Attack Titan's face.
The Attack Titan stumbles back and sees the Armored Titan charging after him, fast.
'Damn!He's coming too fast for me to harden. But if I'm going down.' The Attack Titan spreads his arms. 'You're going with me!'
The Attack Titan waits for the Armored Titan to collide with him. Once he does, the Attack Titan will wrap his arms around his neck and his legs around his torso. He will squeeze as hard as he can until the Armored shell breaks, and gives him the opportunity to pull Reiner out of the nape with crystalized clawed fingers. He just hopes that Krista won't be hurt by the impact. But before he can, Krista shouts.
"REINER I'M PREGNANT!"
The Armored Titan stops in his tracks. The person inside is gasping at what Krista just said.
'Did she say…pregnant?'
The Attack Titan is frozen in shock as well. His eyes are lit up like a candle and Eren is shaking inside his Titan.
"What? Krista?"
"I'VE KNOWN FOR A COUPLE DAYS NOW!" Krista shouts as Reiner shuts down inside his Titan. "I WENT TO THE DOCTOR ON MY OWN AFTER FEELING SICK, YOU ARE THE ONLY OTHER PERON I'VE TOLD. I WAS GOING TO TELL YOU BEFORE! BUT THEN TROST BROKE AND EREN HAD HIS TRIAL AND THEN MY MOM GOT TAKEN! "
Reiner sheds a tear. He cannot believe what he is hearing. This news makes him both terrified and happy at the same time. The woman he fell in love with it pregnant with his child.
'I-I'm going to be a father?' Reiner thinks in disbelief.
'Krista, this better just be some ploy to make Reiner stand down,' Eren thinks.
'I'm afraid not, Eren.' Grisha shows Eren a vision of Krista, now Queen Historia, carrying a baby in her arms.
"I WAS PLANNING ON KEEPING THE CHILD!" Krista continues. "AFTER WHAT WE BOTH HAVE GONE THROUGH, I COULD NOT STAND THE IDEA OF OUR BABY BEING ABORTED OR ABANDONED! BUT PLEASE, YOU HAVE MADE MISTAKES BUT YOU CAN MAKE THINGS RIGHT! JUST STOP THIS RIGHT NOW AND WE CAN WORK THINGS OUT!"
The Armored Titan remains frozen. The person inside debating on what to do. Then, there is a flash of light and the Jaw Titan leaps up from behind him.
The Attack Titan watches as the Jaw grabs onto the Armored Titan's head from behind. It is small, but has sharp teeth and claws with dark hair and a "hag" like appearance.
The Jaw Titan reaches her hand to the Armored Titan's mouth and cuts through the bars with her claws, pulling Krista out safely. Meanwhile, she chomps down on the Armored Titan's nape, causing it to fall forward. The Jaws Titan jumps down, safely carrying Krista, as the Armored Titan collapses to the ground with a hard thud.
Krista looks up at the Jaw Titan, and the Jaw spits out Reiner along with some chunks of Titan flesh and armor. Still frozen with widened eyes.
The Jaw Titan's neck steams and Ymir emerges from the nape.
"Hey, that wasn't true, right Krista?" Ymir asks.
Eren emerges from his Titan nape as well. "You were just saying that to distract him. You aren't really pregnant, right?"
Krista looks down. She says nothing, but that is all the answer that Ymir and Eren need.
Up above, two members of the Interior Squad fly toward the three Titans. Unfortunately, they are all that is left. The rest of their group was affected by some gas and fled as soon as two of them died. They reach into their pockets and pull out canisters which they throw at the three Titans and the girl down below.
The canisters explode as soon as they hit the ground and they release a green vapor. Eren, Reiner, Krista, and Ymir cough. Then, they find themselves unable to move.
'What!? I can't move again! DAD!'
'This isn't me, Eren. I swear!' Grisha says. 'It's this gas around us.'
Eren grunts. 'I can't see anything.'
When the vapor clears, both Eren and Ymir realize something horrifying. Both Krista and Reiner are gone! If Eren or Ymir could scream, they would. But it seems that even with the gas cleared they are still paralyzed. Although, in the corner of his eye. Eren can see Krista and Reiner being taken up the Wall.
'No! Come back!' Eren internally screams, but no one except his father can hear him.
'No…' Grisha shakes the apparition of his head. 'They have the Armored Titan and Historia now.'
A few minutes later, Hange arrives at the scene, being careful to avoid the gas. She looks between the petrified forms of Eren and Ymir, then sighs. She cuts Eren out of his Titan and then Ymir out of hers. She takes them both back to the top of the wall, where the MP's are gone but Eren and Ymir are starting to move again.
"Well, today was a failure," Hange says. "We lost Annie, we lost Reiner, we lost a lot of good people, and we even lost Historia." She glances at Ymir. "Although, maybe we still got something good out of this."
2 Hours Later
Krista stares at the floor in silence as she sits between her mother and an MP (another MP sits on Carla's side, holding her wheelchair in place). She clutches her stomach, hoping that what she just experienced didn't hurt the baby and Carla puts a soft hand on hers.
"So…when were you planning to tell me?" Carla asks Krista.
"After I told Reiner," Krista says. "And got a job. I'm sorry, Mom. You must be disappointed."
Carla grabs Krista's cheek. "Oh, sweetie. While I would prefer that you not get pregnant at fifteen, I understand that things…happen."
Carla looks across from her at Reiner. While Krista was given an injection (after she and Reiner were taken to the MP's truck) that made her able to move again, Reiner was placed in a straight jacket, strapped to a hand trolley, and had a gag placed in his mouth so it would be impossible for him to hurt himself and transform. He looks at her with sad eyes, but Krista gives him no response.
"I'm just sorry the man you gave your heart to wasn't who you thought he was."
Reiner looks down in shame at Carla's words.
"Although, I know how that feels all too well now," Carla adds.
The man in the cowboy hat who introduced himself as Kenny chuckles.
"So, you and the Armored Titan, huh?" Kenny looks between Krista and Reiner. "I take it you two are having a lovers spat. Yeah, that's bound to happen when one of you is a liar. Although I guess you both lied about yourselves."
"Why does Rod Reiss suddenly want me?" Krista asks.
Kenny crosses his arms. "How long are you going to keep asking that question?"
"Until you answer it."
"You will get all the answers you want after we reach the capital."
The truck stops.
"Well, looks like we're here," Kenny says.
One guard lifts Carla and puts her in her wheelchair. Another guard pulls Krista up forcefully by the arm. Reiner yells at them through his gag, resulting in muffled screams. Kenny smirks at his antics and rolls him along in his trolley, while the one guard rolls Carla.
"Now listen, Historia," Kenny tells Krista.
"It's Krista!"
"Fine, Krista. I lost a lot of loyal people to get you, and we didn't even get all the Shifters as intended. We even lost one. So I expect you to behave."
Krista glares at him as he rolls Reiner out of the truck hatch as she is led. They have arrived at the Reiss Family estate in Wall Sina. "Waiting for her" is Alma Lenz, sitting in a chair while reading a book. Beside her is a man that Krista recognizes as Lord Reiss, the man who rules the district and owns the land her grandparents worked on, and her biological father. He is a late-middle-aged gentleman with a thin mustache and dark hair wearing a sweater vest. Krista frowns at the two of them while Rod smiles and nudges Alma to stop what she is doing by tapping her on the shoulder. Alma puts down her book and gives Krista a fake smile.
"Historia, my beautiful daughter, welcome home," Alma says, extending her arms as if to give a hug, but giving a strained smile.
"This isn't my home," Krista says.
"It will be," says Alma.
Carla continues to glare at Alma, but she also glares at Rod, who approaches Krista with a sympathetic look.
"Nice to meet you, Historia. My name is Rod Reiss. I am your father."
Krista says no words to him. Reiner stares at the fat man while Carla looks at him unimpressed. Rod walks up to his daughter and wraps his arms around her, surprising her.
"For so long I have dreamed of this moment," Rod says. "To hold you in my arms." Rod pulls away and looks his daughter in the face. "I am sorry for all you had to go through, my child. But believe me, I had no choice."
"Yes, you did!" Carla shouts. "You could have chosen to take care of your daughter. But instead you ignored her up until now to spare yourself some public embarrassment."
"I explained to you WHY things were the way they were, doctor's wife," Alma tells Carla.
"Yeah, I remember that you and His-Krista supposedly would have gotten killed, but after thinking about it I realized I didn't believe it. There is no way the council would go through the trouble of killing a mother and her daughter just to spare one minor lord personal embarrassment." Carla continues to glare at Alma and point at Rod. "IF you did believe that, then HE was just lying to you to get out of responsibility. And look, you're with him now."
Kenny chuckles.
"Actually, Cripple, they weren't lying about that," Kenny says. "Had the Council known about this girl before the Fall I would have been sent to kill them both. And I'd have done it too."
"It's different for me, Mrs. Jaeger," Rod Reiss says.
Rod gazes at Reiner, who continues to stare at him. Rod steps forward and stands in front of Reiner. He is just a bit taller than Krista, so he has to look up at the blonde boy.
"So, you're my daughter's boyfriend?" Rod closes his eyes. "Sorry, but I do not approve of this relationship. The daughter of the Reiss family can do better than a traitorous Marleyan-Eldian like you." Rod smiles. "However, the fact that you possess a Titan is a different story."
"What do you want with me?" Krista asks.
"What I want, dear child, is for you and this island to fulfill your destinies," Rod says. "But first." Rod rolls up his sleeve and raises his hand toward Carla. She cringes as he does. "I promised that I would heal your foster mother if you came, so I shall."
Rod's eyes glow. Krista, Carla, and Reiner stare at the lord in shock. Was her father another Titan Shifter too? However, instead of him becoming a Titan, Carla groans and glows as well. Krista immediately worries for her mother. But once Rod lowers his hand and the glowing stops, Carla becomes surprised.
"Mom! Are you all right?" Krista asks.
Carla does nothing, she just looks at her feet and wiggles them. Wait….Krista gasps lightly. She can move her feet? Krista watches in shock as Calra grabs both sides of her wheelchair and lifts herself up. Carla, more shocked than anyone, stands on her own two legs and takes a small step forward. Her shock gives way to joy and happiness. Clara cries as she jumps and laughs. For the first time in five years, she is able to walk again!
"I have my legs back!" Carla cries.
"Mom!"
Carla embraces Krista, happily. Rod watches the scene with a smile as Alma rolls her eyes. Meanwhile, Reiner's eyebrows are shot all the way up and he does not blink.
'What!? He healed her!? That's impossible! He shouldn't have been able to do that! Unless….' A sudden horrific realization hits Reiner. 'No, there's no way.' He tries to convince himself. 'There's no way that Krista…or Historia…This beautiful, kind, loving, selfless, incredible girl. The girl that I was going to take home to Marley and introduce to his mother. The girl that he considered himself lucky to cuddle up and night and who carries his child. This tiny, sweet, adorable little thing with the cutest moans and the most precious smile…SHE CAN'T BE! She's nothing like the Founders in the history books! It's impossible!'
"How did you do this!?" Krista asks Rod. "I've seen eyes glow like that before. Are you a Titan Shifter? Is healing your special power?"
"First of all, there is something about our family you need to know, my child," Rod says to Krista. "Our name is not actually "Reiss". That name was merely just a mask. A cover we adopted so that people would pay no attention to us. Our real name is "Fritz"."
Carla blinks. "Fritz? Like the king?"
"Are we his cousins then?" Krista asks.
Rod laughs. "No, Child. The king that you know is merely a figurehead. A puppet for the masses to look up to. Our family are the TRUE rulers of the Walls."
And with that, Reiner's entire mind shuts down. His head spins and his head falls down, having fainted.
"Why does that explain how you have your power?" Krista asks.
"Come inside my estate and I shall tell you."
Carla and Krista exchange glances, before they (reluctantly) follow Rod Reiss.
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