Attack On Titan: Wings of Crystal

Chapter 32: Hellfire Force

Ever since the discovery of the Winged, Armoured, and Colossal Titans, the Survey Corps have made it their business to know as much about the new threat to their survival as possible.

The Armoured Titan was simple. It was a big bulky Titan covered head to toe in tough armour. Its armour can not only protect it from blade strikes, but it also acts as a battering ram that can bust through gates like they're made of paper.

The Colossal Titan was at first seen as just a really big, slow-moving giant of a Titan. Until recently when they learned of its ability to produce powerful blasts of steam that could burn someone to death if they stayed in it for too long, as well as repel any ODM anchors they fire into it. Its body can also create a huge explosion upon contact with the ground, as it demonstrated against Eren and Michael.

Then the Female Titan came along and introduced them to the concept of hardening, granting them a deeper understanding of Michaels Crystal Titan.

But the Winged Titan was always a mystery to them. The only time they've properly seen it was when it was revealed to be Lazarus. They only had Michael's brief encounter with it to go off of, and the fact that it can fly. They thought they knew everything there is to know about it with its flame breath, bioelectricity, crystal construction, hardening, animalistic instincts, and the ability to control Pure Titans.

But it wasn't until the rescue mission of Eren Yeager wrapped up that they realised they'd only scratched the surface of discovering its full potential. Nothing could be more evident than a fire-engulfed Winged Titan plummeting itself down to the ground. Coming down like a living, breathing, meteorite about to annihilate the vast landscape they're still riding in.

If the explosion of the half-formed Colossal Titan proved to be devastating, then they can assume that the one generated from the free-falling Winged Titan will be even more destructive.

Both the Scouts and the Warriors ran like a bat out of hell, desperately trying to get out of the radius of the blast zone before it hits. Reiner's unsure if his armour will be strong enough to protect himself and the others from it, and the Scouts had no way of shielding themselves.

Time slowed down as all retreating parties glance behind them. They could feel their very souls quaking with fear as they saw the Winged Titan only a few feet away from impacting the ground. Its monstrous roar acts as a final warning that they'll all be vaporised if they don't get clear in time.

Suddenly, the whole area, for a brief moment, was enveloped in a bright light, blinding the Scouts who couldn't bring themselves to look away from the colliding fiery beast and the massive horde of Titans directly below it. The light ends up blinding them, causing them to lose control of their horses and fall off of them.

The blinding light only lasted for a second. What followed was a huge blast of fire that stretched up into the sky, like a geyser of hellfire. That fire then started to rapidly stretch outwards in all directions simultaneously. All of the Pure Titans close to it were burnt to ashes in mere seconds. The shockwave of the blast spread out first, violently brushing over everything it touches like a hurricane of intense heat.

The shockwave moved with such speed that it had no problem reaching the Scouts and the Armoured Titan at the same time, knocking them off balance. The majority of the Scouts upfront only got the lesser of it. Enough to stagger them slightly, but not enough to blow them and their horses off the ground like the unfortunate soldiers in the back of the group.

The fire blast soon followed, reaching out to them, incinerating everything in its path.

"KEEP MOVING!" Erwin shouted without looking back. "Keep your eyes forward! Don't look back or slow your pace, unless you want to be dust and ashes! If we die here, then mankind is doomed to extinction! Live to fight another day!"

The soldiers all let out an intense war cry as they use everything they'd got to outrun the approaching fires of hell.

The blast starts to weaken and shrink the further it stretches out, but that didn't mean they were out of the woods yet. The flames manage to catch up with the Scouts who took most of the shockwave effect, slowing their pace enough for the flames to consume them and their horses. It happened so fast that they weren't even given the chance to scream as their bodies were instantly vaporised. The Scouts behind them who could no longer resist the urge to look back, watched as their comrades were reduced to ashes.

As for the Warriors, they were so close and yet not close enough to be completely out of the blast radius. The Armoured Titan was knocked off balance by the shockwave, causing it to fall forwards, skidding his face and torso across the ground, kicking up dirt and grass. Though he was able to drop Ymir's Jaw Titan before falling and held Michael and Bertolt high up so that they wouldn't accidentally get crushed underneath him.

The fire was approaching them fast and closing, giving them no time to get back up and keep running.

Without thinking, the Jaw Titan starts viciously digging a hole using its sharp claws, making sure it was big enough for her, Michael and Bertolt to hide in.

"What're you doing, Ymir?" Bertolt questioned her.

Ymir ignored them and kept focusing on digging until it was big enough. Then without a word of warning, she lightly smacks the two of them into the hole and then jumps in herself, acting as a shield for them.

Realising what she was planning, Reiner decided to lay down on his back on top of them, using his body as a bomb shelter. Ymir's Titan holds Michael and Bertolt in a tight embrace as the Armoured Titan's back blocks out the sun, making the hole pitch black. With his nape in the hole, Reiner should be safe, though his Titan body may still receive serious damage from the blast. As it closes in, he covers his face with his armoured hands and adds more hardening to it to increase its effectiveness.

The Hellfire Force inevitably reaches the Armoured Titan, passing over him like a wave of lava had splashed down on him. It roars in agony as it feels the intense heat burning away at the parts of his body that weren't covered. His armour did a decent enough job to shield him and the others from it. Had they been a lot closer to the blast zone, they most likely would've been reduced to ashes.

Underneath Reiner, Michael and Bertolt cried out in terror as the ground shook all around them. Even Ymir couldn't help but scream from the intensity of it all. Though they were all safe under Reiner, they could still feel some of the heat bleeding into the earth. They started to panic when they noticed the heat was only increasing in temperature. The hole they'd dug themselves was turning into an oven that threatens to cook them alive if the blast didn't die down in time.

"What the hell is this power?!" Michael shouted at Bertolt despite him being right next to him.

"I don't know!" He shouted back. "None of us knew he was capable of something this destructive! This blast, it's even stronger than the one the Colossal Titan produces when I transform."

Those words terrified Michael even more than he was before. Though he can't see it, he can feel the power behind the Hellfire Force. They were miles away from Lazarus, yet it still passed over them, though at a much lesser intensity than what the Pure Titans endured. He's honestly not sure which is more horrifying. The power of the Coordinate, or this power Lazarus kept hidden within him.

Had Lazarus chosen to use this power during their fight, he, his comrades, and pretty much all of Trost District would've been annihilated. Just what the hell was Lazarus? He was a monster among monsters to possess a power like that.

Erwin and the Scouts that survived the blast all had the same thought. Had he wanted to, he could've just used this power five years ago instead of simply breaching the walls. If ensuring mankind's extinction truly was their goal, then why not simply use the Hellfire Force to obliterate them all in an instant?

It took some time, but the huge volcanic-sized blast had finally subsided, allowing the Scouts to slow their paces and give their horses a moment's rest. They all take a moment to look back on the devastation left behind in their wake. A huge cloud of black smoke obscured their vision, forcing them to wait a moment until it cleared. They needed to know what became of the Winged Titan and its comrades.

All of them were beyond horrified by the hellish sight that befell their eyes when the unbearable, and slightly toxic, thick black smoke cleared. The vast open fields of grass, flowers, and trees were completely gone. All that remained was a vast wasteland of dust and ashes. No trees. No rocks. Not even a single blade of grass. Even the small slopes had been evened out by the explosion, levelling out into a desert of grey ashes, glass, and glowing/ burning earth.

The skies also rained down specs of white flecks. At first, they thought it was snow but soon realises that it was just more ash that got burned up in the atmosphere and is now falling to earth. In the centre of the field where the blast originated from was a large crater, similar to the one found in the remains of Odiha. It was practically identical in terms of roundness, width, and depth. The only difference was the size of it. Unlike the one that destroyed Odiha, this one was bigger by a couple of meters, showing that Lazarus put more power into it compared to the last time.

No words could ever describe the literal hell on earth brought upon them by a single enemy they once called friend. There was a sense of irony there. The man they once called a beacon of hope and inspiration for mankind, is revealed to be symbolism for death and destruction.

"I- I… I can't believe it." Connie solely uttered, frozen with terror. "Lazarus did all this?"

"What a monster," Jean added, just as scared as everyone else.

Even Eren and Mikasa were terrified of the amount of power the red-eyed Warrior had. The red eyes should've been a dead giveaway from the start that he's not one to be trifled with.

"All those Titans… they're dead!" Armin pointed out fearfully.

"I don't think even Lazarus could've survived that," Eren added. Though he and the others didn't want to get their hopes up just yet.

"Lazarus was willing to sacrifice everything to get his hands on you, Eren. To the point where he didn't care if he ended up destroying himself, his comrades, and us to ensure we'd lose." Erwin starts to lower his head in sorrow, realising that Michael might've been caught up in the explosion and is joining the rest of the ashes. "…Michael."

"Nothing could've survived that blast. He's probably toast." A random Scout next to Erwin uttered, and immediately regrets it upon just remembering he was the commander's son. "Forgive me, Commander."

Sasha then started to cry, drawing the attention of her friends, wondering what was causing her despair.

"I… I never got to tell him." She quietly muttered to herself, her wailing cries overshadowing her thoughts about Michael.

Historia places her arm around her, gently patting her back as her way of comforting her.

"Oh my god! Are you serious right now!" Jean startled the grieving Scouts, forcing them to look up and see what got him all riled up.

Everyone was horrified to see an ominous blue glow coming from inside the crater. But not as much as what they saw the glow originating from. Out of the smouldering crater, The Winged Titan slowly rose up and into the air. Its body was still covered in flames, only this time they were coloured blue. This was due to the effects of his crystallised skin being burned up alongside his armour plating, giving it a blue appearance.

Its arms were folded, and its head was down at first, but he starts raising them as it continued to ascend from the crater. Its wings were flapping at a slower, but stronger rate compared to before when he crashed into the ground. It was like they were seeing a demon rising from the depths of hell and announcing its presence to the mortals' bellow by unleashing another demonic roar.

How? How on earth could he still be alive after all that? That explosion wiped out all forms of life within its range, yet the Winged Titan rose out of it almost completely unscathed. His skin may be burning off, but he can always regenerate at a fast rate.

The Scouts were hoping that was the end of him after all that devastation. Yet he is hovering in the air like a devil looking down on them like the ants they were.

"That bastard is still alive?!" One of the Scouts shouted in disbelief.

"If that doesn't kill him, what will?!" Another rhetorically asked.

"Not us, that's for sure." Another answered. He then turns to Erwin hoping he'll have a solution to their predicament. "Orders, Commander?"

Erwin just stared blankly at the Winged Titan. Its body sheds off the burning hardened skin, revealing that underneath it all he had a body of pure muscle. Its true face was also just a skull covered by muscle. The Scouts get caught off guard all of a sudden when it slowly turns its head in their direction.

The Scouts place their hands on the hilts of their blades expecting it to fly in their direction and finish them off with a final attack. But the Winged Titan just hovers in place and stares down at them. Its hardened skin starts growing back but at a slower pace as it was physically exhausted from unleashing the Hellfire Force, only having enough to keep itself airborne.

It then decided to fly away from them and head in the direction of the Armoured Titan. The ground all around it was scorched to dust, yet it was still somewhat in one piece. Its armour has been completely blackened from head to toe, its muscles have been burnt to the point that he struggled to move. Had he not moved his hands down, Lazarus would've failed to spot him as his blackened body blended perfectly with the rest of the area.

He gently lands in front of him, his body has now just finished regenerating.

"Reiner… are you and the others ok?" He slowly spoke down at his burnt-up ally.

"I'm… alright, other than my body being scorched almost to death." He weakly responded with telepathy.

"Can you move at all?" He asked concerned for his well-being.

"Only a little. I can move my arms and legs, but I don't think I can stand."

Understanding the situation, The Winged Titan grabs hold of the Armoured's arms and slowly starts pulling him up onto his knees, allowing the others to emerge from the hole.

Ymir's Titan was less affected by the heat of the blast than Reiner was. Though she received third-degree burns all over her back. Burns that took some time to heal, but not as long as it was taking for the Armoured Titan's whole body.

Michael and Bertolt, thankfully, weren't harmed at all, though they were both extremely soaked from sweating in the hole. It was so hot that the two of them felt blessed to feel a fresh breeze on their skin, cooling their bodies. It was like they'd spent too much time in a sauna to the point that they could feel wrinkles on their skin and sweat dripping from their foreheads.

Reiner and Ymir decide to exit their Titan bodies instead of waiting around for them to heal. It wouldn't do them much good anyway as they're both completely spent from the fighting and just surviving a living volcanic blast.

"What… the hell… was that?!" Ymir attempted to vent up at Lazarus, only to be short on breath.

"My thoughts… exactly." Reiner agreed. "My body's fine but I can still feel the burns my Titan had… What did you do, Laz?"

"I'll explain everything later." The Winged Titan spoke softly to them. "But first we must retreat. We can't stay here."

The Titan Shifters all look at each other before nodding in agreement to his proposal. The Winged Titan gets down on its knees and places the back of its hands on the ground, allowing them all to climb up. He curls up his fingers into a bowl to keep them secure as he starts to take flight once again.

As the Winged Titan flew away from the devastation it created, the group peek their heads over its huge thumb and get a good look at the dark grey barren apocalyptic wasteland the fields they fought in used to be. It was so vast that it stretched out from where they were to the edge of the giant forest, they were hiding in. And at the centre of it, all was the crater he emerged from.

Michael wondered if Erwin and the others managed to get clear in time or if they got caught up in the explosion too. But Lazarus reassured them that they all survived since he saw them earlier, and he could still sense the combined powers of the Attack and Founding Titans within Eren. Had he died in that blast, both Titans would've ended up being randomly transferred to two other Eldians, making all their trial and effort obsolete.

Though they failed to secure Eren yet again, they were still able to capture the Crystal Titan as well as reclaim the Jaw Titan, so he wouldn't call it a complete failure. As for Eren, they could always try again another time. But for now, they will retreat to Shiganshina and lick their wounds.

Erwin continued to observe as the Winged Titan flies off in the direction of Shiganshina, completely unaware that Michael survived and is in their custody. Though he will assume that if Lazarus survived, Reiner and Bertolt might've as well, forcing him and his colleagues to come up with a way to fight back against them.

"Commander? Is everything alright?" Eren asked worried about his long pause of silence.

When the Winged Titan was no longer in his line of sight, he slowly turns his horse around to look back at all the soldiers that have survived everything he'd put them through.

"We have gravely underestimated the enemy." He finally spoke his mind. "Each of them has a power humanity cannot even hope to defend against. And Lazarus has proven to be the most dangerous of them all. I'm sure you're all clinging to the hope that Eren's power can help humanity reclaim these lands from the Titans. But now that they've captured the Crystal Titan, if Michael survived the blast, they're at an even greater advantage than ever before."

"The Winged Titan has a power that could destroy us all in an instant. Should he choose to follow us back to the capital, there's nothing that can stop it from killing us all. All we can do from this point onwards is keep on fighting back should they make another attempt to capture Eren. And believe me, they will try again." The tone of his voice carries a sense of true despair in his words as they pass his lips. As if he's given up any hope of actually winning this war against the Titans and creating a better future.

The soldiers all look at each other in fear. They can tell that Erwin was starting to lose the will to fight, and they were starting to feel it too. After what they've just seen, what possible chance do they have to stop them? They just can't. It's hopeless. Even Eren's powers couldn't do anything against a power that can turn landscapes into a greyed-out wasteland.

"From this moment on, mankind has just entered its darkest hour… One we may never escape." Erwin finished up, now convinced their chances of victory have raised from a hundred to ten thousand to one.

Miles away from the disaster of his own making, the Winged Titan was carrying the exhausted Titan Shifters who were sitting still within the bowl of his hands. By now the wounds they received from the burns have healed, allowing them to finally kick back and relax in the safety of his palms.

Reiner and Bertolt were sitting close to each other and gathering their bearings. Michael and Ymir were positioned atop his right thumb, looking out at the vast expansion of lands below them. They were relieved that they were no longer looking down at the destroyed plains they'd left behind.

They both take a moment to close their eyes and feel the cool breeze blowing through their hair and appreciate this calming flight, not at all afraid of being so high up.

"Wow. So, this is what it's like to see the world from above." Ymir commented. "Must be nice that you get a view like this every time you fly, huh Lazarus?"

"It has its moments, I suppose." The Winged Titan bellowed without taking his eyes off the flight path ahead of him.

"What do you mean?" Michael asked.

"Being the Winged Titan isn't all that it's cracked up to be. At first, it was fine, but then I learned of all the pain and torment that comes with it." He responded slowly so that they'd understand him better.

"How did you become the Winged Titan, Laz? You said you'd explain later what that power was. I think now's as good a time as any while we pass the time." Reiner added. "How can the small kid we grew up in our hometown end up becoming a force of destructive power?"

The Winged Titan briefly glances down at his friends, hesitating to tell them the whole story behind the False Founder Project. But he hated looking back on it. The memories were too painful. Even more painful than the actual experimentation they've performed on him. He still hadn't completely gotten over the sudden re-emergence of those memories when Armin taunted him using his love for Annie.

But he knows he can't keep the past buried forever and hope for the best. He needed to face and learn to put it behind him to finally move on and look to the future. Become the man Lucia and his parents wanted him to be.

"You're right. There's no point hiding it anymore. It's time you learned where the Winged Titan came from."

As Lazarus dwells on his past, his mind travels backwards, to the time of his childhood. It began in his original hometown of Odiha. The port city of Marley. Before Liberio, Odiha was also a place where Eldian citizens could live as long as they respected the law, kept their armbands on, and stayed out of the businesses of pure-blooded Marleyans.

Odiha was more than another town for Eldians to live in. It was also the centre of Marley's biggest research facility. It was a huge white warehouse kind of building that on the surface was a car factory. But the true purpose of this building lay under the surface. For underneath the factory itself, were tons and tons of research labs. All of them were constructed for the sole purpose of understanding the power of the Titans by having the Marleyans conduct social experiments on the Subjects of Ymir. The labs themselves were built like huge, sturdy vaults built to withstand even the strongest of bombs. The facility had a total of fifty vaults. The facility was known as "Eden's Nest. And given these experiments, Eden's Nest had some pretty interesting, bizarre, and horrifying tales to tell.

For example, one of the vaults was a gigantic chamber that was large enough for a fifteen-meter-tall Titan. Its purpose was to test out Marley's current conventional weapons on it, determining the limit of a Pure Titan's regenerative capabilities. They would also pump various psychoactive drugs and toxins through the ventilation systems and see how a Titan would react to them, and if it would be possible to poison a Titan to death without cutting the nape.

But not all the vaults were horrible inhuman experiments. Some were used to test the endurance and limits of an Eldian. It served as a sort of test to determine the strongest, fastest, highly intelligent, and calculable of the Warrior Candidates. Those who passed the tests would be recruited into the False Founder Project which took place within the deepest vault.

Among those lucky few candidates who passed the tests was a young Lazarus Averbach. He looked a lot different compared to how he is usually. His original hair colour was black, and his eyes were brown.

One of the reasons he was selected, despite his average scores compared to the others ahead of him, was the fact that both his parents were Titan Shifters. His father was the previous Beast Titan before Tom Xaver, and his mother was the previous Female before his mentor, Lucia Muller.

"Before I met you, Bertolt, and Annie. I was recruited into a special Warrior training program to see if I was a suitable subject for the new Titan transformation serum they've developed. This happened a week after you left, Michael, and erased my memories of you."

After completing the tests, all of the successful candidates were given black armbands, labelling them as test subjects for the experiment. Lazarus was ranked 14.

He and all the other kids were asked to wait in an empty room with nothing to do but talk amongst each other. Some of the kids were friendly and didn't mind conversing, whilst others were more hostile and arrogant. Lazarus mostly kept to himself, sitting in the corner of the room and looking down at his crystal sword necklace, wondering where he got it from.

"I was all alone in that cold, damp cell. Surrounded by other kids who're either determined to take part, or too scared of what the side effects could be should the experiment go wrong. By that time, I had lost my mother, and my best friend soon followed afterwards. The head of the project insisted I be a part of the project in the hopes that should the experiment be successful with me, I can use my powers to break the cycle of hatred between the races and free this world from Titans. It had always been my parent's dream when they were Warriors. But they died without even getting close to succeeding."

Lazarus bears witness to various subjects being taken out of their holding cell and brought into the main lab area where the experiments took place. There was a two-way mirror between them and the scientists prepping the subject for experimentation.

It involved strapping the subject down on an operating table lying on their front, allowing access to the spine where they make the incision. They first perform a set of harsh, some say questionable, methods of preparations before injecting the experimental serum. These preparations involved Injecting them with a truth serum that truly tests their loyalty and devotion to Marley. If they weren't loyal, they simply terminate the subject with a bullet to the head. They can only entrust the serum to one who is fiercely loyal to Marley to prevent any successful subjects from using the power against them and destroying the homeland.

Those who were loyal were then forced to allow a gas mask to be placed over their mouths and nose and fill their lungs with some kind of hallucinogenic gas to test their minds. A strong and focused mind was crucial to handling the amount of power the serum contained.

Its components were the combined spinal fluids of all nine Titan powers. If they couldn't handle the hallucinogenics, they could never handle the serum. As a result, many subjects end up being driven mad to the point their humanity is completely stripped away, leaving behind a malfunctioned animal for them to put down.

Those who pass will receive the third and final drug. The last preparation was to inject five different kinds of steroids into the arms, legs, and torso. Each steroid was designed to enhance the body in a variety of ways, such as enhanced muscle mass. An increase in stamina. Sharper instincts. Boosted immune system. And an improved processor within the brain.

One of those steroids alone could prove fatal to anyone. The subjects would grow too unstable. Their heads could literally explode from the adrenaline boost, and the list goes on. When all five are injected at the same time, the goal was to have each of them cancel out the other until they were all even.

Lazarus was forced to watch in horror as every single test subject was killed in brutally horrific ways. Their screams continued to echo throughout his mind no matter how hard he tries to drown it out. The room then glows red with the combined blood and guts of all the subjects whose bodies exploded into pieces, staining the lab, and its scientists, with their remains.

"Out of all the kids who've been subjected to the inhumane testing, I, and two others, were strong enough to survive all three preparations. But the experiments didn't stop there. They still needed to inject the actual False Founder Serum into our spines and see if we not only survive it but evolve into what they wanted. And what they wanted… was a second Founding Titan."

He pauses for a moment before he could bring himself to continue. "Marley's goal, ever since the end of the Great Titan War, was to claim the power of the Founding Titan. Because of the 145th King's threat to unleash The Rumbling should his peace be disrupted; Marley was forced to start these experiments on Subjects of Ymir to truly understand how Eldians and the power of the Titans worked. If they couldn't take the Founding Titan, then they would create their own to fight the original and take control of Paradis, and eventually the world."

For Marley to create a second Founding Titan, they needed to understand how the Founder, Ymir, obtained her powers. All they knew was that she made contact with an unknown entity that gave her the power of the Titans. That power was then spilt three ways between her children, Maria, Rose, and Sina, whom the walls were named after. They in turn split their powers three times until there ended up being nine pieces, forming the first Nine Titan powers. As for how the Crystal Titan fit into this, that was a story for another day. Hopefully, one Michael would explain once he gets his memories back.

The solution was simple in the end. They simply had to take the spinal fluid of the Nine Titans and recombine them into one. Resulting in the creation of the False Founder Serum.

The other two subjects who passed all three preparations had the serum injected directly into their spinal cord. The serum proved too powerful and too unstable for them to handle despite the hardships they'd had to endure to get this far.

Lazarus cowered in fear at the sight of seeing them both poofing into dust upon receiving the serum. Somehow, he found that more horrifying than the other subjects who exploded earlier. At least they had something left of them to bury. Those guys were erased from existence. As if God had snapped his fingers and they just ceased to exist.

"I was scared to die. But I was too far gone to turn back now. It's not like I had anything left to lose at the time. Both my parents were dead. My friend was gone from my memories, as well as my life. And I had no other family or friends. It was just me. I was willing to accept the responsibility of being Marley's Founding Titan if it meant I'd have a purpose. And if I died, then I'd at least go out peacefully."

Lazarus remained the last test subject, as well as Marley's last chance to create a new Founding Titan. Should he die like the others, the project would be deemed a failure and a waste of resources. Titan serum started getting harder and harder to produce as the years passed. If this fails, Marley will have to return to training Warrior Candidates to harness the power of the Titans under their control and make an attempt to invade Paradis and steal the original Founder.

But once they've injected the serum into Lazarus, they immediately noticed a chance for success. The last two subjects died instantly, whilst he was fighting it. All the steroids in his system were counteracting the effects of the serum, forcibly rewriting his DNA. At last, they've made progress.

"Even to this day, I still don't know what it was that allowed me to survive the serum that killed the others. But I can assure you that between me and them, they got off easy. Every second of having that serum inside me felt like my whole body was on fire. The pain I endured in those preparations was nothing compared to the unthinkable torture I was going through. I screamed so hard that I ended up breaking my voice box. I remember my fingertips bleeding from the intense clawing at the table, desperately trying to break free of my restraints. I started wishing I was dead. And it only got worse from there."

The scientists begin to panic as Laz's body started to pulse with unstable energy. His whole body starts glowing yellow, showing an X-ray of his skeleton and internal organs. His eyes and hair then start bleaching into the unusual white hair and red eyes that everyone recognises him by.

His body twists and contorts against the restraints so hard that they start to come loose from the table. One of the scientists, who attempted to hold him down, ended up getting set ablaze from the intense and ever-growing heat building up within his body.

"What's happening?!" The man responsible for the project demanded of his staff.

"His body's responding to the serum's effects, but the energy readings are off the charts! His body heat is increasing in temperature!" One of the scientists warned him.

"Mister Tybur! We need to evacuate the facility immediately!" Another scientist desperately suggested.

Upon saying that, they start to notice a Titan body was starting to form around him, mimicking his actual body's movements, destroying everything in the lab as well as killing most of the scientists.

The remaining doctors decide to go against their superiors' orders and practically drag him out of the lab by force. The head scientist briefly looked back at Lazarus and looked at him admired the appearance of his slowly forming Titan body.

"Such majesty! Eldians are so fascinating." He eerily commented to himself before racing for the exit with his employer and associates.

Lazarus's body starts to ignite on fire which quickly spreads out through the lab. His Titan body increased in size until it could no longer fit inside the lab, causing him to start breaking through the roof and blasting apart the other labs.

Two new sets of bones burst out of his back in the exact spot where the serum was injected into him, forming his gigantic wings for the first time.

Eventually, all that built-up power within him grew too strong that he was forced to expel it all at once, triggering the first-ever attempt of what he and the Brass would later call the Hellfire Force.

The blast was identical to the one he unleashed on Paradis but on a slightly smaller scale. This blast completely obliterated the entire underground facility, spreading out to the car factory and then, inevitably, Odiha.

"My first Titan transformation is what caused the explosion that took place in Odiha. All that power. All that unstable energy. It was too much for my mortal body to handle, so it made sense that to contain it, my body was rewritten to be immortal… I had no control over my Titan form. I ended up going on a blind rampage across Odiha. It wasn't until I saw the utter devastation below my feet that the parts of me that were still human managed to gain control and realise what I had done."

Lazarus's mind returns to the present as he was wrapping up his story for the others. The sun was setting over the horizon as the moon and stars started taking their place in the sky. His eyes were still focused on flying over to Shiganshina, which was now within his field of vision. He hadn't had the opportunity to see his comrade's reactions to the things he went through on his journey to becoming The Winged Titan.

"That explosion in Odiha, and the one you unleashed back there. They're both from the same power, aren't they?" Bertolt assumed.

"Yes. We call it the Hellfire Force. The most powerful, dangerous, and difficult to control out of all my abilities. I've only ever used it twice throughout my years of being the Winged Titan. The first was in Odiha, and the second one you already know. It's a power that builds up whenever I'm under extreme stress. What you saw before was a more focused attempt at it. But even then, I still couldn't fully control how much power went into it. I could've killed all of you."

"What did the military do to you once they found out you were responsible?" Reiner asked. "You told us they locked you in a deep hole so you couldn't transform again, right?"

"Yes and no." Lazarus attempted to explain. "At first, they simply had me shot down by soldiers. But my body healed faster than their bullets could harm me. They then had my head cut clean off to prevent regeneration. It worked for a bit until they saw my head grow back. They kept killing me in various ways out of fear for what I'd become. They drowned me. Froze my body in ice then shattered it. They even fed me to a Pure Titan… Eventually, we both got the memo. I was reborn as the Eldian who can never die. Once they realised how pointless it was to keep trying, and my powers couldn't be taken by other Eldians that eat me, that was when they decided to lock me away. They've filled up the crater I created in the explosion, only leaving a deep hole where the facility used to be and dropped me inside it."

Michael and Ymir were paying proper attention to Lazarus's story. Both of them couldn't help but feel bad for all the hell he'd been through. Ymir thought she had it rough with how her life went before being turned into a Pure Titan for sixty years. But this somehow proves to be far worse.

"I ended up trapped in that hole for months. None of them ever bothered to give me any food or water as they saw it as a waste of resources. They thought why worry about starving an immortal like me to death when nothing could kill me? It wasn't until the day I met Lucia that my life started to take a step out of the darkness and embrace the light. She, Mister Xaver, and Mister Waldenburg were able to convince the Brass to make me a Warrior and train me to control and harness my Titans powers. And that's how I ended up meeting you two, Annie, and the others." He finished up as he was closing in on Shiganshina.

The Winged Titan slows its pace as it makes its descent towards the wall surrounding Shiganshina. Once safely landed, he gets down on his knees and lowers his hands, allowing the Titan Shifters to climb down and catch their breaths atop the wall.

Lazarus then emerges out of the Winged Titan's nape and slides down its left wing to join the others on the ground.

He walks up to Reiner and Bertolt who were still in the process of letting his story sink into their brains. The whole time they've known Lazarus they thought they knew what kind of person he was. But now they're not so sure. It's a miracle he was as functional of a person as he was, or even had a shred of goodness in him for others. Anyone who went through a fraction of the things he did would've grown disdain and hatred towards the world and the people in it as well as themselves.

Yet he seemed so hopeful and free. How could he possibly have the mentality to move forward despite being tortured, belittled, and mistreated by everyone around him?

Lazarus told them it was because he was no longer alone after Lucia came into his life. He found new friends in them. In Zeke, and the other Warriors. He found true love in Annie. And he had a new mother figure that he found in Lucia and a true purpose that'll help him redeem himself. To show the world that if an abomination like him can be loved and respected by others, then so can the rest of the Eldian Race.

The two of them place their arms around his shoulders, showing how lucky they are to have him as their leader. And even luckier to have him as their friend.

Standing away from them, Michael and Ymir sat alone watching who they originally thought were monsters that came in and busted up the wall and ruined their lives, embracing each other like how true humans do. Their actions caused him to start questioning them as individuals. But Lazarus's story was what made him realise that they may not be the psychotic mass murderers Eren made them out to be. Maybe at the end of it all, they're all just people forced to do terrible things to protect what they love.

As night completely takes over, the Warriors decide to take a well-deserved rest alongside the two of them. The Winged Titan's body had completely disintegrated by then, causing Lazarus to suddenly remember the fact that Ymir had decided to come back and help them rather than escape and be with Historia.

"I never got the chance to ask you before, Ymir." He finally decided to speak up as the group remained quiet ever since they arrived. "What the hell possessed you to come back? You could've escaped with Christa and redeemed yourself with the Scouts. Why didn't you take that chance?"

"Can't say really." Ymir slowly replied as she looks in his direction. "Probably wasn't the smartest choice I've made… It just seemed a little unfair to send you guys back home empty-handed. Just think of me as a consolation prize."

"And you can consider me a peace offering to make up for your failure to capture Eren." All eyes fell on Michael as none of them were expecting him to say something like that to them.

"After the things I've seen with this Coordinate power he has, it made me realise that maybe there are some things that are far worse than you coming here and breaking the walls. Things were bad enough that you felt the need to erase a huge chunk of land just to stop it… It's absolutely terrifying. And I refuse to be in the service of such a power." He added sternly.

The Warriors smile slightly now knowing that the Crystal Titan was now fighting for them. But Lazarus still couldn't understand why Ymir would help him after everything he'd said to her.

"I don't get you, Ymir. First, you led me to believe you gave a damn about yourself and Christa, only to give up any chance of a future with her to save the man who said all those awful things to you. Why are we suddenly more important than your happiness?" He questioned her.

"Look at it this way, Lazarus. If you guys hadn't come to bust up the wall, who knows when my nightmare would've ended." She tearfully explains. "I owed you quite a debt. One that I can only repay by giving back the power I stole from your friend… At least somebody knows the shit you've been through, even if we're the only ones."

"Yeah, well… Thank you." Lazarus looks her in the eyes, expressing his gratitude. "I mean that. Thank you so much, Ymir. And I'm sorry."

"No worries." A sentimental smile starts to appear across her face. Probably the first genuine smile she's ever had in a very long time.

She stretches her hand out towards the star-filled night sky, feeling truly thankful for the life she'd been given by them. In the end, she was grateful for this second chance at life, even if it took a while for her to realise it.

"Being a goddess had its perks while it lasted." She uttered.

Now that things have calmed down between everyone, Michael felt now was his chance to get some answers he'd been promised once he helped the Warriors.

"Lazarus, you said that you'd help me get my memories back if I came with you willingly. I think it's time you hold up your end of the bargain. Unless of course, you've been lying to me again!" He started slowly only to end it seriously.

"I haven't forgotten." He reassured him. "The truth is, Michael. I don't possess the power to alter or restore memories. But I think I know someone who does."

"Oh? Who?"

"The leader of the Warriors. He's another close friend of mine. More of a big brother actually. He helped me fit in with all the other kids in the academy we were taught in. He's an expert on Titans and how they work. If anyone can figure out how to restore your memories, it's him."

"Wait, I thought you were the leader," Michael stated.

"I was only put in charge of the Island Operation. The true leader of the Warrior Unit is a guy named Zeke Yeager."

Michael's eyes widen slightly in response to hearing the last name Yeager. Was he implying that Eren had a long-lost brother?

Suddenly, they could feel an intense vibration on the side of the wall. Wondering what it was, they all rush over to the side of the wall in the direction they came to see what was causing it.

Michael was shocked to see that it was the Beast Titan, climbing up the side of the wall in an attempt to reach them. He was about to bite his hand, transform and attack it, but he was quickly stopped by Lazarus who grabs his arm, holding it in place.

"Easy, Michael. He's not a threat to us."

"Not a threat? This beast wiped the floor with me when we first met. Not to mention he was responsible for all those Titans that swarmed Utgard Castle and got Gelgar and Nanaba killed!"

"That's because he didn't know anything. He'd only just arrived here whilst we've been here for five years… Besides, it wouldn't be a good idea to kill the only one of us who can get you your memories back."

Michael quickly turns to look at Lazarus in shock. He couldn't believe the irony of it. The very Titan that proved just as dangerous as Lazarus, is the same friend of his who can help remind him of who he truly is.

"So, the giant monkey is one of your Warrior pals, huh?" Ymir uttered in their direction.

The others nod as they all start to back away from the edge, for the Beast Titan had just reached the top of the wall and is now at eye level with them. But rather than hang on the edge of the wall, he simply decided to climb up entirely and take a seat across from them, resting his long arms on his furry knees.

"I had a feeling I'd run into you guys here eventually." The Beast Titan slowly spoke down to his three comrades, focusing more on Lazarus than the others. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Lazarus?"

"It's been five years since I've last seen you, Zeke. How are you?" Lazarus responded happy to see his big brother again.

"Oh, you know. This and that." He responded in a slightly sarcastic manner. He then notices that Reiner and Bertolt were present, but there was no sign of Annie. "Annie isn't with you? So she's dead then."

"No! Annie's alive. Imprisoned, but alive!" Reiner corrected him.

"I see…" he then spots Michael standing behind Lazarus. He saw Ymir too, but at the moment he was more focused on him. He quickly recognised him as the soldier he stole his ODM gear from, as well as the host for the Crystal Titan.

"Well, well, well. We meet again, Crystal Titan. I assume they brought you here against your will?"

"Not quite." Michael shakes his hand in a "so-so" gesture. "I came by my own free will because I was promised the restoration of my memories in return for my cooperation. Lazarus says you're the one who can help me do that. Is that true or was it all bullshit?!"

The Beast Titan grunts as he scratches behind his right ear. Memory restoration? He'll admit he did not see that coming. But if his memories had been suppressed by the Founding Titan, how is it he's still able to use the Crystal Titan? Summoning it alone should've been enough to undo whatever they did to him, yet he still saw and fought against it.

Zeke thought over how he should do this. Yes, he could restore his memories, but would that be enough to influence his decision to join them and turn his back on the people of Paradis?

Suddenly, it all started to become clear to him. The friend Lazarus kept telling him about, and the Crystal Titan, are the same person. Meaning, he was originally a loyal Marleyan citizen before coming here and losing his memories. Restoring them may grant Marley another Titan power. But that all depends on how connected to the Island Devils he was.

"Now I understand." He finally spoke up. "It would seem, Lazarus… that you've finally found the one who's responsible for your blackouts. ironically, the same guy who erased your memories of him ended up losing his own memories of his past life, isn't he?"

"That's the thing, Zeke. I stopped having blackouts and visions ever since I made physical contact with him as the Crystal Titan. I remembered everything about us before I met any of you. Before I became the Winged Titan." He turns around to properly look at Michael. "But now the time has come to remember everything about his old life too."

The Beast Titan's head goes limp as a burst of steam erupts out of its nape, allowing Zeke to climb out of his Titan form and appear before them.

The Warriors were surprised by how much he's physically changed over the years compared to the last time they saw him. He now has a ripped, six-pack chest and a thick, blonde beard across his face. He only had trousers and Tom's glasses on for some reason.

But Lazarus didn't question it as he walks over to him after climbing down his Titan body to greet him properly. He'd hug him, but he knew Zeke wasn't the hugging type, He instead gracefully shakes his hand. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that he'd gotten taller.

"Look at you. You've got a bushy beard and a dad bod now." He teased him. "And with those glasses on, you look just like Mister Xaver."

Zeke smiled in response. He'd missed this. Spending time with his old roommate, teasing each other, sharing their hopes for the future. It was just like the good old days.

"You've sure grown a lot as well. You've grown into your father's hat this time. The last time I saw you it was too big for your head." He then notices his Scout uniform and his Cloud Zero gear strapped to his waist. "Ah, so you three have been blending into their military. I see you've put your own unique spin on this ODM gear I've heard about. Lucia would be proud to know you put her engineering skills to good use."

"Speaking of ODM gear. What'd you do with mine?" Michael asked, still annoyed that he stole it.

Zeke breaks off the handshake with Lazarus and approaches Michael. Instead of answering his question, he simply holds his hand out to him, wishing to shake his hand as well.

"The gear I took from you is safely secured in one of those abandoned houses down there. Seemed like the simplest place to store it at the time… Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Zeke Yeager. It's a pleasure to finally meet the legendary Crystal Titans' true self."

Michael shrugs as he takes hold of Zeke's hand. Upon contact, sparks of electricity appear around their joint hands, causing Michael to freeze up in literal shock.

He suddenly appeared in that strange space again. Looking around, he could see all of the other people in it slowly fading away like so many disappearing ghosts. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and the old man was there.

The old man simply smiled, tapped Michael on the shoulder, took him by the hand and said: "Thank you, our descendant. You have freed us all." Then disappeared.

Then the pain began and the memories started flooding in.

Michael throws his head back and starts screaming in mental agony as flashes of various images fly through his mind. All of them were visions of things he'd seen and done that he had no relocation of. Images such as him and Lazarus as kids sitting on the roof of their house and holding their crystal necklaces.

Another was of events that took place before that. It involved him sitting at a dinner table staring down happily at two men and two women. At first, it wasn't clear to him who they were, but when it became visible, he was shocked to see the old man sitting at the head of the table. The same one he'd been seeing in the collective consciousnesses of all the Crystal Titans. He started to recognise the other two couples, as well as remember who they were.

The voices of various individuals murmured all around him, making it difficult for him to make out. Yet he can feel a sense of familiarity in their voices. Like he'd always known who they belonged to all this time. He just had a hard time putting a face to them until now.

From everyone else's perspective, it looked like Michael was being tortured by Zeke simply by touching him. Eventually, he lets go and allows Michael to fall to his knees and clutch the back of his head in a wasted attempt to calm down his pounding headache.

"Zeke, what did you just do?!" Lazarus demanded of him, worried for Michael's well-being.

"What you asked me to do. I restored his lost memories." He simply replied.

"You did?!" He rhetorically asked. He goes to approach Michael to see if he was ok. He was surprised to see that he was already getting up. Slowly but surely.

He had his back turned towards them as he takes a moment to allow the sudden re-emergence of his lost memories to take their time readjusting to his psyche. He takes some deep breaths to calm his nerves until his headache was completely gone. He starts to quiver in a mixture of relief and realisation, He looks up at the stars above him as he embraces this moment of true peace.

"It's… so quiet." He muttered to himself in an almost scared voice, as though he could barely believe it himself. "The voices… they're finally gone… I'm finally free!" He then starts to break out into a fit of laughter, catching everyone off guard.

At first, they wondered what was so funny. But they start to realise that this isn't the laughter of someone who'd heard a hilarious joke. This was more leaning towards the laughter of someone who had finally achieved something they'd been working hard towards and sacrificing so much in the hopes it would pay off in the end.

"We did it, Grandfather… After all these years, I was able to break the curse that binds us as the Crystal Titan… We're finally free!" He declared proudly to the spirits of the past Crystal Titans.

"Michael… are you ok?" Lazarus asked worriedly.

Michael turns to look at him and the others and in a distant, faraway voice, he says.

"My name is Michael Suurvalta… And I remember everything."

End of Season 2