Attack On Titan: Wings Of Crystal
Chapter 87: The Battle of Heaven and Earth Part 2
Even though the forces of Paradis and the Omega Unit had engaged The Attack Titan Citadel, The Rumbling was still on course for Fort Salta. The longer the Alliance took to defeat Eren and Ludwig, the closer the Titans would get to crushing the remainder of humanity.
From a safe distance, which might not be safe for long, the man in charge of the base watched the Scouts and Warriors battle the resurrected Titan Shifters of the past. There wasn't much he and his people could do but they couldn't just stand there and watch the Titans close in.
"All troops, meet the enemy with cannon fire."
"Pardon sir, but the vast majority of our personnel were deployed earlier on the airships. With the troops we have left, we'll struggle to man even three cannons."
"That may be so, but it's no reason to sit back and do nothing." He looks far ahead towards the approaching Attack/Founding Titan Citadel and the heroes fighting atop it. "As we speak, a few brave people are fighting desperately on that monstrosity's back. Just what do you think they're fighting for?"
The soldiers didn't respond. They understood what their commander was getting at. Acknowledging his request, the few soldiers who stayed behind rushed outside to ready three cannons. After everything the bombing run threw at them, they knew three measly cannons wouldn't make much difference. But he was right, it's better than doing nothing. They can take down at least one Colossal Titan before The Rumbling reaches them.
The fort leader continued to watch the Alliance fight the Titans, particularly focusing on The Winged Titan taking on the entire Alpha Unit – minus the Colossal Titan – by himself.
"Come on, Lazarus." He thought with such dismay in his voice, acting like he knew him personally rather than just knowing of him like most Marleyans did.
The Winged Titan was instantly overwhelmed by the combined might of the Alpha Titans. Lydia's Female had punctured holes in his wings, keeping him grounded until they could heal. One by one the other Titans charged in with a devastating attack. Otto's Armoured Titan was the first to attack while his guard was down, still processing the fact that he was fighting the Titan bodies of his parents.
Otto lands a devastating right hook across Lazarus' mask, shattering it and unveiling his skinless face. The punch staggered him backwards, causing him to lose his footing and slip through the gap between Eren's ribs. His claws dig deep into the bone, saving him just in time.
But now he was at the mercy of Marlene's Jaw Titan hanging upside down from the rib in front of him. Her twisted teeth and tusks made looking at her Titan unsettling for the albino, which was what she'd been hoping for. She leaps towards him with her mole-like claws stretched out, ready to cut him up. But Lazarus swats her away with one of his wings, sending her plummeting towards the horde of Wall Titans below.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Lazarus launched himself up through the ribs and attempted to take flight again only to be pulled down by Malcom's Crocodile Cart Titan biting down on his left leg. Both Titans came crashing down atop Eren's rear very close to the legs. The Winged Titan roared in pain as it could feel its leg get bitten off by the Crocodile Titan's powerful jaws. How is that Titan not considered a second Jaw Titan, he wondered?
Now down a leg, Lazarus was forced to keep the other Alphas back by breathing a wall of fire separating them from him. He used his left wing to hold himself up until he could channel his energy into his destroyed limb and speed up the healing process. Through the flames he can see his parents' Titans standing directly in front of him, staring at him. The Werewolf Titan stood taller than the winged Female, reminiscing how tall Dante was when he was alive compared to Lydia.
"Mom! Dad! It's me, Lazarus. Your son!" As a Titan, it wasn't going to be easy to convince them, if they can be convinced. So Lazarus partially exits his Titan body and reveals his human self to them. "See? I'm a Warrior just like you both were. Dad, you never got to meet me, but this is who I grew up to be. And Mom, you held me in your arms for every moment of your remaining years. You never wanted to let me go, even for a second… If you're in there, I beg of you, please don't fight me."
Both Titans were unresponsive to his heartfelt plea. There were no signs of them understanding a word of what he'd said. Pieck said they were just empty bodies controlled by Ymir, but he couldn't accept that. Or rather he didn't want to accept it. He didn't want his first true interaction with his parents to be a fight to the death. A fight neither side can win. Ymir could just revive them all over again if they died and he was immortal. It would be an endless cycle of mindless beatings until The Rumbling ended.
Suddenly, the Crocodile Titan charged through the fire and opened its huge mouth wide, ready to bite off another limb. Lazarus instinctively summons a spear of hardened crystal and thrusts it in its mouth, piercing through the back of its throat and passing through the nape, killing it. Or whatever can be described as killing something already dead. He then lifts the dead Cart Titan singlehandedly with it still impaled on the spear and swings it to the side, flinging it off and into the horde of Wall Titans. Two down, four to go.
"Fight Ymir! She's making you do all this! If there is even a slither of humanity left in you then fight her with all your heart and soul! Don't let her, Eren, and Ludwig destroy the dream you desire to make a reality!" He continuously pleaded, still under the impression that they could be reasoned with.
But Dante's Beast didn't show any indication of listening, nor any desire to not fight his son. The Werewolf Titan inhaled a huge gust of air till his lungs couldn't hold any more. And like the big bad wolf he heard about in that old children's book Michael's mother used to read to him and his friend before bed, he huffed and puffed and blew away the wall of fire, extinguishing it in an instant.
Dante's Wolf Titan raised its head to the sky and howled before dashing on all fours for his son. Lazarus quickly retreats into the nape and catches his wrists just as he closes in on him. Both Titans stared intensely into the glowing red eyes of the other, neither one of them intimidated.
Like Zeke's Beast, Dante stood taller than him at seventeen meters tall. His larger muscle mass made holding him at bay much more difficult. Even with his wrists held firmly, the wolf's claws do manage to slash at his chest, leaving a huge claw mark, causing Lazarus to grunt in pain but still stand his ground.
"Dad, stop! I won't fight you or Mom!"
The Werewolf Titan growled, baring its teeth for him to see. He then opens his mouth wide and sinks his fangs into The Winged's neck. The longest canine teeth at the front managed to sink deep enough to pierce Lazarus' actual body through the torso. He ends up vomiting blood within the nape, unable to fight through the pain to defend himself.
His Titan responds by unleashing a huge discharge of electricity from its body, shocking Dante severely. Despite getting violently electrocuted, the Alpha's War Chief maintained his hold on his son, refusing to give in and increasing the pressure of its jaw strength. Lydia's Female then swoops in from behind and stabs Lazarus in the back with her right feathered wing of hardening, forcing him down on his only knee. She used both her wings to disconnect her son's wings from his body, rendering him immobile
"Mother… Father… please…" He weakly muttered as he could feel his eyelids getting heavier. Tears start building up in his Titan's eyes, trickling down his corpse-like face. The tears evaporated upon contact.
It wasn't just Lazarus who was having a hard time dealing with all these Titans. The others weren't fairing any better. No matter how many of them they kill, they just keep coming back again. Pieck was right, Eren can summon them as many times as he wants. Even with their enhanced stamina, there's still a limit to how much fighting they can take. Lazarus' energy transfer was only temporary and the moment it wears off, they'll all feel the effects of severe strength drain.
Jean, Connie and Sasha all fought like hell to help Reiner fend off the overwhelming number of Titans. They've used up a lot of Thunder Spears and blades to take out a considerable amount of them, but with how fast they keep coming back it was just a waste of ammo.
Speaking of which, Sasha was starting to run low on the anti-Titan bullets for both rifles. She tried to use them as sparingly as possible due to how much recoil they packed, only using them when she had a clear shot. With it, she was able to take out a total of five Titans, whilst most of her other shots missed as she dodged Titans using the recoil.
Mikasa was gravely struggling against Joseph's black Crystal Titan. Despite its huge size, it was very light on its feet, able to dodge one of her Thunder Spears and deflect the other by spinning its scythe blade.
She needed to get around it to reach Pieck who was being held prisoner by Lara Tybur's Warhammer, keeping her pinned down with the trident Joseph stabbed her with earlier.
"Get out of my way!" She shouted with a mighty rage, desperately trying to get around Joseph and reach Pieck. But she was forced to back away once he started spinning his scythe again.
Joseph's glowing ocean-blue eyes narrowed as he started heading towards the youngest member of the Ackerman Clan with the intent to kill. Mikasa looked around but could not find anywhere to escape. Joseph's Titan had her cornered and hanging over the edge of Eren's shoulder.
"Over here, Gramps!"
Joseph's Titan stops and glances in the direction of the new voice coming from behind. Spinning like a tornado of death, Levi slices the exposed flesh of the black Titan, forcing it to stop in its tracks and abandon its pursuit of Mikasa. Fighting through the pain of having its elbow slashed, Joseph backhands Levi out his spin cycle and sends him hurtling towards one of Eren's spines. His Ackerman instincts kicked in as he fired an anchor onto the bone and spun around it before landing on the side facing Eren's head.
"Shit, he actually swatted me. No Titan was ever fast enough to counter my spin strike. Then again, this is no ordinary Titan." He thinks back to his meeting with Joseph within the Paths and compares him to the Titan. "That's his Titan, without a doubt. No wonder they called him The Grim Reaper."
For the first time in his life, Levi was afraid of facing a Titan. Mikasa noticed the look of concern on his face as he stared at the black, grim reaper-looking monster.
"Mikasa, I don't mean to alarm you, but I don't think I can beat him on my own. Joseph's an Ackerman, like us. Fighting him would be like fighting me or Kenny if either of us inherited The Crystal Titan. We'll have to fight him together if we're to take him down and get to Pieck."
"Understood, Captain." Was all she felt needed to be said.
The two Ackermans stand together as they prepare to challenge The Reaper. Neither of them knew just how powerful Joseph was when he lived, but no man could obtain a reputation as famous as his for no reason. That blackened Crystal Titan was the progenitor of all Ackermans and the source behind their killer instincts. Even with both of the Scout Regiment's strongest fighters taking him on, their chances of winning this fight were slim. But Levi refused to die at his bony claws. Not before he finds Zeke and cuts his freaking head off.
Joseph's Crystal Titan raises his scythe up and behind him, preparing to swing it at his descendants the moment they move in for the first strike. As they conversed, he was trying to anticipate what their first move could be and coming up with the best strategy to combat them.
Levi made the first move and made a beeline for Joseph. The first Crystal Titan instinctively swings his gigantic scythe at him at such speed that the captain has less than a second to dodge around the blade and circle its staff as he closes in on whom he believed was a worthy opponent. He'd never say it to anyone, but he's met his match. He'd even go so far as to think The Reaper may be better than him. Just a little.
As he reached the Titan's arm, he continued to scale upwards hoping to slice his eye to blind him and allow Mikasa to attack the nape with the extra Thunder Spears Jean handed her moments ago. But as he reached the head, he was knocked out of the air by the black Titan's goat-like horns, positioning them at an angle he anticipated Levi would take to reach him.
Levi grunts and spits blood, feeling the wind get knocked out of him. Whilst falling, Levi detaches the katana blades from the hilts and throws them into the Titan's sockets, succeeding in dropping his guard regardless of his injury. Or so he thought.
Though blinded, the Titan stopped and remained still, listening for anyone else who dared to challenge him. Joseph already witnessed this trick with Lazarus when he did the same thing during his and Michael's fight outside Trost when he took control of his Crystal Titan.
Mikasa begins her approach and lines up a shot of Joseph's nape with three Thunder Spears on her right arm and fires them off all at once. The black Crystal Titan's ears – or the holes in its skull head where they would be – detect the faint clicking sounds of her pulling the three triggers followed by the thrusters of the missiles.
The Titan acted on instinct and sliced through all three Thunder Spears simultaneously with a downward swing of its scythe. The shockwave of the early explosion blasted Mikasa backwards until she crashed into one of Eren's ribs a few feet away from the citadel.
Both Ackerman Scouts were down but not out yet. Levi and Mikasa struggle to get back up on their feet again. They can feel their whole bodies aching in intolerable pain. There was a tightness in their bones that felt like they were on the cusp of breaking if they took any more direct hits like that. But why would Eren allow her to die, Mikasa thought? Surely there's some part of him that wouldn't allow the Titan of her ancestor to kill her right?
That's what she thought at first until she came to the same conclusion as Erwin. All these Titans were summoned and controlled by Ymir, not Eren. Eren said he'd move forward while leaving everyone else free to oppose him. This resistance was the will of Ymir. She wasn't under Eren's control any more than they were. She wants this genocide to happen.
And Ludwig was the only person in the world who shared that same desire, which was why she entrusted control of The Crystal Titans to him, a non-Eldian. But if that was the case then why doesn't Eren stop her? Does he even have the power to stop her? She won't know for sure unless she gets up and tries again. She and Levi will have to rethink their strategies if they are to overcome The Crystal Reaper.
Michael's battle with Noah's Crystal Titan proved to be even more problematic without his ability to perfectly construct weapons to defend himself. It got worse once two more Crystal Titans joined the fight. A male Titan with green crystals and long hair, and a female with pink, rose quartz-like crystals and a mohawk.
The green Crystal Titan was armed with a Meteor Hammer, a chain weapon with a spiked ball on both ends. He swings the mace in his left hand around a few times before throwing it towards the pink Crystal who catches and pulls on it.
Michael was oblivious to the other two Crystals behind him as he was preoccupied with deflecting the hardened punches from Noah's massive gauntlets. Each punch staggers him back until he trips over the chain and falls on his back. The pink Crystal Titan then summons a large pair of scissors, opens them up and closes the two blades around Michael's neck.
The scissors begin to close in on him, forcing a panicked Michael to hold them at bay, leaving himself vulnerable to another pummelling from Noah's giant fists. Each punch shattered his armour, exposing his soft flesh. Within the nape, he was screaming. He could feel his Titan ribs breaking with each punch and the scissor blades were cutting deep into his palms. Sooner or later, they'll slice through his hands and eventually the neck.
"GET AWAY FROM MY SON!"
Anchored securely to the side of one of the tallest towers, Erwin maintains a firm grip on both dual barrels as he squeezes the triggers, rotating all four Gatling guns and raining down a storm of bullets upon the three Crystal Titans. They all raise their arms in a futile attempt to protect themselves, but the green and pink Titans end up losing their arms and succumbing to a face full of bullets.
Michael's Titan roars and kicks Noah's Titan off of him, sending him stumbling back into a past Female Titan attempting to sneak attack Reiner from behind. Reiner makes short work of her with a well-placed punch to the nape, decreasing the number of Titans he had to fend off by one. It may not be enough to make a difference, but he'll take whatever he can get.
Jean, Connie and Sasha continued to provide backup for The Armoured Titan though they were starting to run low on Thunder Spears. The wise thing to do is to conserve them and only deploy them when necessary. And Sasha wasn't sure how much ammo she had left in both her rifles. She'd been firing so recklessly trying to hit a target that she lost count. It wasn't easy keeping a steady hand as she fired one, especially when in midair and trying to hit a fast-moving target.
From his perch, Erwin had a good view of the many battles taking place atop Eren's back. All teams were struggling to defeat their targets. Like Sasha, he was unsure how much ammo and gas he had left. So much of it he'd wasted on the Titans sent after Armin before entering the fortress and two of the Crystal Titans. He can see more Titans spawning from the bones of Eren's Founding Titan and the walls of the Crystal City. Pieck was right about The Founder being able to summon the past Titans as many times as they please. They may need to fall back and regroup if they continue taking blows like this.
"Grandad, you shouldn't be under Ymir's control! You freed yourself from the curse." Michael stood his ground as he watched his grandfather's Titan get back up and clank his fists together, readying itself for the second round. "That proves that you should have some ounce of free will. And I will find a way to force it out of you, with my own two fists if I have to!"
The two Crystal Titans growl as they approach one another. However, their path was suddenly blocked by one of the buildings that mysteriously moved in front of them.
"What the fuck?!" Michael internally uttered in disbelief. He did not see that coming.
That one building wasn't the only one moving around. The Alliance discovered that the whole city was moving its formations in various directions.
"Now what?!" Jean stated frustratingly.
"The whole city is moving!" Connie added in a worried tone of voice.
The tower Erwin was positioned on was among the others moving about. The only one that stayed put was the giant fortress Armin and Ludwig were inside. They were the only ones to get a clear view of the entire citadel and see the towers shifting about. Erwin was the first to realise that their movements weren't random. They were all driving themselves apart from one another to open up a huge opening in the centre of Eren's back. All the teams and enemy Titans he couldn't see before hiding behind these tall structures are now out in the open, but what for?
The answer came in the form of three gigantic, bright balls of golden light spread out almost evenly over Eren's back. The Alliance knew all too well that it was a sign of three new Titans joining the fight, and judging from their size, they knew what kinds they were.
Three looming shadows hover over the three teams, forcing them to cease what they were doing and look up in horror at the new threat. Three Colossal Titans have manifested above them. Only the top half of their bodies were summoned. Their waists fused to the wall of the fortress and held up by several strands of hardened flesh clinging to the buildings now standing side by side, forming walls. Like a spider sitting in the middle of a web.
Reiner was shocked to see a greyed-out version of Bertolt's Colossal looking down on him and the others with its arms stretched out to the sides. Not long ago he'd seen him sacrifice himself to slow The Rumbling enough for the flying boat to take off. Now he has returned to get in the way of their mission to stop said Rumbling.
"Bertolt!"
He was so stunned by his sudden appearance that he failed to evade his elongated arm swooping in and and snatching him off of the bones he was standing on. Reiner struggles and punches the top of his fingers but he can't pry himself free and is brought towards Bertolt's open mouth.
"REINER!" The others shouted. Jean quickly made a beeline for him in the hopes of saving him, but it was already too late. Bertolt's Colossal bites down on the nape, presumably crushing his human body inside.
Jean, Connie and Sasha all gasp with terror. They couldn't believe what just happened. In the past, they never would have expressed concern for the man who broke through Wall Maria. They were prepared to kill him during the Battle of Shiganshina and the Raid on Liberio, but now they worried they might've lost another of the Nine, further decreasing their chances of victory.
Michael and Erwin were facing down The Colossal Titan clung to the opposite side of the fortress. This one had different facial features to Bertolt, but its biggest difference was the large gaping hole in the middle of its chest. A row of teeth was seated around it, making the Titan look like it had a second mouth. At first, Michael thought of it as just a random past Colossal user, but he recognised the Titan's face. It bore a striking resemblance to someone he'd seen in a photograph. Lazarus once showed him it before the Warriors set out to war against the Middle East.
It was a photo of the Beta Warrior Unit who proceeded the Omega. He remembered seeing Lucia's face in there as well as Zeke's mentor, Tom Xaver. The tallest member of the group was a skinny, ginger-haired man with glasses that had a face identical to the Colossal Titan he was forced to contend with.
"I thought I recognised you. That's Leonardo Waldenburg, Lucia's cousin and Bertolt's predecessor. Lazarus mentioned he used to teach them in class in a similar way Dad's been teaching the Zeta Candidates… Marley regarded the Beta Unit as the weakest Warriors they've ever trained, but I have a feeling they may be wrong."
Thankfully Leonardo's Titan was too far away from their position to pick up and grab them like Bertolt did Reiner moments ago. But it wasn't just Leonardo's Titan that presented a serious problem to the father and son duo. Noah's Titan had re-entered the battlefield with more Crystal Titan backers, all armed with a weapon of hardening unique to them.
"Michael!" Erwin called out as he flew over towards his right shoulder. "Remember the plan of attack we talked about yesterday?" Michael's Titan nods once in response. "What say we give it a try now?"
Michael's Crystal Titan nods again and picks Erwin up, gently curling his fingers around his waist so that he can use his arms and not crush him. Erwin aims both Gatling guns forward and opens fire on Noah's Titan, blasting him full of holes. He repeats this with the other Titans by rotating in a circle whilst his father is firing, taking down the other Crystal Titans using Erwin like a single-handed machine gun pistol. It was a special team-up attack they and Lazarus came up with to improve efficiency when employing either of the special forces' ODM gear.
It seemed to have worked wonders on the enemy Titans. Some were killed whilst others had shed their broken armour, including Noah's Titan. But the two Smiths soon came to realise that it had become too easy taking those Titans down. They could've attacked them before they had a chance to, or better yet, attack them all at once, but they just stood there and took it.
"Something's off. Why would they just stand there and get hit like that? They're Ackermans. Their instincts should be on par with my own. They wouldn't hold back unless…" Michael's Crystal Titan slowly turns around and looks back at Leonardo's Colossal Titan and his eyes widen once he spots steam getting sucked into the hole in his chest. "It's a diversion!"
Acting on his own Ackerman instincts, Michael holds Erwin close to his chest and shields him from what he suspected was going to be an unexpected attack from Leonardo.
He was correct. All the steam he'd been sucking in had combined with his internal body heat, building up pressure until he finally expelled it in a concentrated beam of condensed heat pointed straight at Michael. He summons a wall of Titan crystal to protect himself, but the blast manages to break through the brittle surface with ease and hit his chest with full force. Michael's Titan roars in response to the intense heat. All of the Colossal Titan's steam was focused into one single ray of light melting his flesh down to the bone. Words couldn't describe the brutality of his suffering. He'd be lucky to last even a few seconds with the rate his body was burning away.
The last Colossal Titan was summoned at the back of Eren's Titan where Lazarus was still engaged with the Alpha Unit. It was the final member, Malcom Kaiser's Colossal Titan. The man who preceded Leonardo. The last Titan of its kind to utilise hardening. All of the Alpha Warriors have been assembled, increasing The Winged Titan's chances of failing his mission. He was engaged in air combat with his mother's Female before it half manifested before them. Its glowing red eyes were trained on him with the intent to kill.
"Oh shit!" He muttered under his breath.
Malcom's Titan roars as it reels its hardened elongated left arm back before bringing it back around for a deadly swipe attack, swatting The Winged Titan out of the sky like the pesky fly he saw him as. Lazarus hit the top of Eren's spinal column with a deafening thud, the impact ironically shattered his spine, preventing him from getting back up.
Dante's Werewolf Titan approached him with its sharp claws raised and bearing his fangs at his downed prey. Lydia's Angelic Female gently lands beside him, her wings dissolved as she closes in on her son.
The Winged Titan saw them coming but was unable to fight back. The Alpha Armoured, Jaw, and Cart Titans swarm him. Marlene's twisted, mole-like Jaw tore and slashed the joints in his arms before ripping them from their sockets. Bruno's Crocodile/Cart did the same to his legs. And Otto's Armour pulled his wings off yet again. He still hadn't gotten used to the pain, and he was feeling it everywhere. It was so agonising that he couldn't focus his energy to unleash lightning or breathe fire until his injuries healed.
Dante and Lydia's Titans just stood and watched as their son lay there helplessly, getting torn to pieces by their unit. Malcom's Colossal menacingly looked down on them still hung up by a web of hardened flesh strands.
"Mom… Dad… Help me!"
He still hadn't learned his lesson. Or rather he refused to accept the fact that his parents were gone. These Titans are only husks Ymir summoned to stop him. If Michael were here he'd have made that painfully obvious. He wondered if he was in a similar situation with the Titan of his grandfather. If so, is he going through the same dilemma, or did he already kill him without hesitation?
For the first time in a long while Lazarus wasn't sure if he was going to get back up after this. The most likely scenario would be his human body would fall into the mass of Wall Titans below where they would ensure he stays dead long enough to complete their march, and by the time he comes back, The Rumbling will have ended. He'll have lost everything. What if the others can't stop Eren without him? He'd be letting the whole world down if he allowed himself to temporarily die here.
"I can't allow myself to die! The instant I wake up Eren and Ludwig will have won! The others need me. I have to get the Founder and stop this… But we're all outmatched by these Titans. We need to fall back and rethink our strategy. Hopefully, Team Crystal has Ludwig so I can blow away this pile of bones and be done with it."
As he was internally monologuing, Lazarus could feel Marlene's Jaw Titan straddle atop his chest and attempt to impale her claws into his Titan's throat and scoop his actual body out with her curved claws built for digging.
There was no time to lose. Lazarus opens up the back of his nape and uses high-pressure steam to eject himself out of his dismembered Titan body, falls through the gap between the ribs and plummets towards the horde of Titans below. He can't see them through all that fog they were kicking up, but he can sure as hell hear them.
He fires an anchor from one of his Cloud Zero gears into the underside of the rib and catches himself just before he reached the clouds of steam. He breathes a deep sigh of relief to be out of that skirmish. Unfortunately, he spots some more Past Titans dangling under the bones, all hanging by strands of hardened flesh connected to their napes, and most of them direct their attention towards him.
He wasn't alone. Most of the others have found themselves hanging onto their grip and what's left of their strength. Connie was dazed from the sudden attack from Bertolt's Titan and vulnerable to attack. Thankfully Mikasa was there to defend him, though she seemed to have suffered a severe injury in her left arm. Adrenaline and instinct were the only things pushing her to keep fighting.
Between the two Ackermans, Levi suffered the worst injuries from his fight with Joseph's Titan. He and Mikasa weren't able to defeat it on their own. They learned the hard way that he wasn't given the nickname "Eldia's Grim Reaper" for nothing.
Reiner managed to survive getting his head bitten off by Bertolt by ejecting out of his Titan at the last second, but his ODM gear was damaged in the process, forcing Jean to hold onto him.
"I'm sorry, my ODM gear's shot. Not sure what to do." Reiner said as he tried desperately to squeeze his jammed triggers.
"Me either. My right trigger got busted somehow, so I can't pull us up" Jean replied whilst doing the same thing.
"Jean, just let me go! I can still transform one more time!"
"Yeah, and then what? You'll just be trampled by The Rumbling, even with your armour. I gotta say, Reiner, for a Titan with that name it sure does break a lot."
"LAZ, OVER HERE!"
Lazarus attempts to make his way towards them only to be called out by Erwin on his right waving his left gun-operated arm to get his attention. Michael was hanging nearby by a single cable. He appeared exhausted and slightly burnt in the face from the concentrated heat blast of Leonardo's Colossal Titan. It's a miracle his goggles were still intact after all the punishment he'd taken. Sasha was with them also, providing cover fire from any approaching Titans. It would seem almost all of the Alliance have gathered under Eren's Titan with the same thought of falling back.
"Michael, Erwin, Sasha, are you all alright?" He asked concernedly.
"We're still breathing, so that's something I guess." Michael weakly retorted as he started coughing uncontrollably.
"Our situation is more dire than I could've imagined," Erwin spoke up sternly. "Most of us sustained near-serious injuries and we're running low on gas and ammunition. We'll have to retreat to Fort Salta and tend to these problems before thinking of charging back into the fray."
"What happened, Laz? You were supposed to be keeping a lookout from above." Michael reminded him.
"I was ambushed by the Alpha Warrior Unit." He replied, sparking a reaction from his old friend.
"Oh… So Ymir summoned your parents to deal with you just as she and Ludwig called upon my grandfather to kill us?"
Lazarus nods. His suspicions were confirmed. Like himself, Michael must've hesitated to fight back. "Damn you, Ymir. Part of me wishes I let Michael kill her."
"Lazarus, can you transform and carry us all to the fort?" The commander asked him.
"I'll need a bit more time for my strength to recover, but I will get us all over there. Wait, where's Pieck and Armin?"
"Armin's still in the fortress tracking down Ludwig, and Pieck's been subdued by Joseph's Crystal and Lara's Warhammer," Michael explained.
"Then I still have to hold off on using the Hellfire Force until after they're recovered," Lazarus stated. Sasha then speaks up and addresses her reinstated commander with a look of doubt on her face.
"Do you still think we can win?"
Erwin exhales and looks over the others fighting off any of the approaching Past Titans. The view of the outside world slowly faded to black, allowing the souls of all his old comrades to appear around him, standing on air, all staring at him. He spotted Hange a few feet to his left standing between Nile and Miche. They were all counting on him to lead this alliance and claim victory in the final battle of this ongoing war between Eldia and the rest of the world. Even with the odds stacked against them they can't give up now. They are humanity's only chance to live another day and hopefully learn from the mistakes of the past. To lose here/now would erase those hopes.
He closes his eyes, fading out his comrades and allowing the present to fade back in. He then turns to Sasha and gives her his honest-to-God answer.
"Maybe not, but I don't care. We will fight to the bitter end. We're Scouts. Not knowing when to give up is what makes us who we are."
"And what if you all die before then?" Lazarus asked him.
Erwin turns to the albino and gives him a look of independence. "If we all die before the battle's won… You are humanity's last hope. You've got to finish the job, Lazarus. You can't afford to mourn us whilst the Titans march… Look at it this way. With us gone, nothing is stopping you from unleashing hell."
The others were taken aback by what they'd just heard. He's talking as if there's an almost guarantee they'll all die before the battle's over. Michael didn't think about Lazarus' immortality in that sense. Right now, they were the only reason he wasn't going all out against Eren's Founding Titan. Like Magath once said, killing Eren wouldn't stop the problem, only prolong it. Obtaining the Founding Titan from the vengeful Yeager was the only way.
"Geez, talk about putting me on the spot." Lazarus teased sceptically, hiding his true feelings. He didn't want to think about anyone else within this alliance dying. It was hard enough losing Hange, Bertolt and Magath. He won't let any more meet the same fate. "Alright, hang tight, I'll be back to pick you all up."
He hurries across the underside of the giant ribs, clearing as much distance from the others as possible. On the way, he helped out his allies fending off more Past Titans. With his trusty dual katana blades, he cut them down. Connie watched him slice up a past Female Titan with such finesse. It reminded him of the time he, Laz, Sasha, Michael and Marco competed in the Capture the Flag training and he unveiled his custom ODM gear for the first time. The way he cut through the Titan's nape was exactly like how he'd done it to the wooden cutout dummy they trained with. Amazing how far they've come since then, he thought.
The others were all barely hanging on. They're all hurt, exhausted, and down to the last few Thunder Spears. Levi inevitably succumbed to the wounds inflicted on him by Joseph's Titan. The snapping sounds of his arm breaking finally did him in. Had Connie not caught him he would have fallen into the path of The Rumbling. Mikasa was the only one still putting up a fight, taunting the Titans to give her their worst and she was stronger than any of them, though they didn't seem to understand what she'd just said.
Once Lazarus is far enough away, he bites down hard on his thumb and triggers a second transformation a few feet above The Founding Titan near the head. Whilst forming, The Winged Titan breathed a concentrated ball of fire at Lara's Warhammer directly on the nape, killing it and allowing Pieck to scramble free.
"Ah, I really wish I had some ODM gear right now!" She muttered as she uncontrollably ran down the trident her Titan was skewered on. She then noticed Lazarus on approach and waves frantically at him. "HEY! OVER HERE!"
The Winged Titan lets loose another fire blast at Joseph's Titan to keep it at bay long enough for him to dive in and scoop Pieck up in his hand, lightly holding onto her as he quickly ascended before Joseph could launch a counterattack.
"You alright, Pieck?" He asked in his demonic Titan voice.
"Yeah, nothing too serious. But I've failed to detonate the explosives. They're still down there."
"Forget that for now. We have to fall back to the fort and come up with a better plan. Hold on, I have to go back for the others." He finished as he turns himself around for a fly by under Eren's Titan.
Many Past Titans attempt to get in their way, but Lazarus easily dispatches them with hardened spike projectiles and lightning bolts from the fingertips of his free hand. But something was wrong when he closed in on the back end. Everybody was gone. Panicked, he effortlessly scans the area for any signs of where they've gone or – praying to God that's not the case – what could've killed them.
"Michael! Reiner! Where are you guys?!" He telepathically calls out, hoping to hear a reply.
"… Lazarus!"
His eyes widen again with shock. Someone responded but it wasn't Michael or Reiner. It was a woman's voice, one he recognised immediately. The most beautiful-sounding voice he'd ever heard.
"Annie? What the hell are you doing here?! You shouldn't be here!"
"Annie's here?" Pieck spoke up, picking up on what they'd been saying through her connection to Lazarus. "How did she find us?"
"How'd she even get here?" Lazarus answered with an even more important question.
"There's no time to explain, just listen!" She raised her mental voice, silencing them both. "The others are all safe. They're with us."
"Us? Gabi and Falco are with you too?!"
"Just shut and pull up. You'll find us." She interjected, reminding him that now was not the time to ask questions.
Following her instructions, The Winged Titan pulled up and escaped out from between the gaps in the ribs, narrowly escaping the Past Titans and ascending into the open sky. Pieck was still safe and secure within his right hand resisting the urge to puke from the intensity of the wind blowing against her and the sight of the ground getting further and further away.
"Annie, where are you?!"
"We're coming up behind you, Laz, on your left." Replied Michael internally instead of Annie.
"You're what?!" Lazarus asked in bewilderment.
The Winged Titan slows its pace and turns its head to the left just in time to see something unbelievable. Coming up alongside him was another flying Titan and all of his comrades were riding atop its back. The Titan was wearing a net over its body to allow them to hold on as it flew.
The new Titan's appearance heavily resembles a bird with a wingspan slightly longer than his own. He knew instantly that it was Falco's Jaw Titan. He noticed it obtained certain avian varieties as a result of Zeke's spinal fluid, but before it was only partially bird-like. Now the transformation was complete. It completely resembled a bird of prey now sporting huge feathered wings along his arms that appeared longer than how they were before, a feathered tail, and a fully covered body of fur and feathers. Annie and Gabi were sitting up front with the others holding on for dear life behind them.
"Falco… You're flying! You're just like me!" Lazarus spoke proudly to his protégé. "You've always dreamt of flying, seeing the world the same way I do. Now you can."
"Honestly, I never imagined there would be another Titan that could fly like you, but he pulled it off," Annie spoke up, making sure he and Pieck could hear her as clearly as the others did. "I know you wanted me to stay away, Laz, to keep our baby safe, but I had no choice. That said, I'm glad to be here."
"Sorry buddy," Michael suddenly spoke up. "We all wanted to wait for you, but Falco got here first… Still, I can't believe he got his Titan to grow wings and fly."
"What about the Azumabito?" Erwin asked Annie.
"The Azumabito's ship ended up sinking. It couldn't withstand Falco's Titan transformation. Even though we had no proof he could fly, Kiyomi agreed to let him make an attempt.
"You shouldn't be here!" Reiner scolded Gabi. "Why are you here, Gabi?"
"Because I can fight, isn't it obvious?! You guys shouldn't have left us behind! Falco and I have Titans now and we wanna use them to help you win! Kiyomi put her faith in us and now we have to live up to it by doing whatever it takes to stop The Rumbling."
"Gabi…"
"Hey, where's Armin?" Annie asked Mikasa, realising he wasn't with them but couldn't find the time to bring it up until now.
"He's still inside that crystal fortress." She then turns to the commander. "We have to go back for him."
"Armin is safe. The Titans can't follow him. The only other person inhabiting that fortress is Ludwig. We will return for them soon. But for now, we must fall back to the fort and tend to our wounds. Do you all still have the bottles?" He asked everyone. They all respond with a "Yes sir" and show them to him before tucking them back in their pockets for safekeeping.
Levi looks at his bottle and groans with disgust, remembering the contents within were Lazarus' tears. "Do we have to drink this to heal our wounds?" He asked The Winged Titan directly.
"Only if your wounds are internal. Any outside injuries can be healed by pouring a few drops over the wound."
Levi only groaned again with disgust. His broken arm and other wounds were all inside, leaving him with no other choice but to drink his tears. "That is a disgusting superpower." He muttered under his breath, shuddering as he thought about it.
"Listen up!" Erwin raised his voice, getting everyone's attention. "This retreat is only temporary for us to heal up and resupply. Now that we know what we're up against we'll be more prepared for the enemy. Armin is still in pursuit of Ludwig, which means our only remaining objective is to find Zeke, kill him, and detonate the explosives at the skull of Eren's Titan. We'll split into two groups this time. One will clear out the Titans to allow the second team to reach the detonator."
"The biggest obstacles in our way are the Alpha Unit's Titans, the three Colossals, and all the Crystal Titans." Michael cut in. "If Armin could take back the Focussing Crystal and hand it to me, I should be able to assume command over all of them, allowing us to even up the odds… Dad, I think our best bet would be for me to enter the fortress and help Armin track down Ludwig."
"I actually agree with that idea," Levi uttered whilst clutching his injured arm. "That Reaper bastard really did a number on me. Challenging him again would be a death sentence. No way in hell am I dying before I find Zeke and cut off his ugly head!"
"Do what you need to do, Michael. If you think you can control the Crystal Titans then do it." He turns to The Winged Titan. "Falco will carry us all out of here once we have Ludwig. The moment he does you know what to do. We no longer have the luxury of worrying about Eren. No, we never had it to begin with."
"But Commander-
"But what?!" Connie interrupted Mikasa before she had the chance to voice her concerns for Eren's safety. "If Falco hadn't miraculously flown in and saved us we'd already be dead!"
"That's right, and we wouldn't have accomplished a single thing," Jean added to Mikasa's shocking surprise.
"You too?"
"Look Mikasa, I understand why you don't want to give up on Eren, but you and Levi almost died going up against Joseph's Titan. We were lucky to have all gotten away from all that with our lives. Even Laz couldn't hold his own against the combined might of the Alpha Unit. Armin is still back there risking his life against Ludwig. I'm sorry, but it's either him or Eren. What's it gonna be?"
Tears build up in Sasha's eyes. She couldn't even bring herself to look Mikasa in the eye as she addressed her thoughts on the matter. "Mikasa, I'm sorry… but our only choice is to kill Eren."
She could not believe what she is hearing. Before the others were just going along with Erwin's plan without voicing their thoughts on whether Eren was worth saving or not. But now they all seem to be in agreement that he has to die, and Lazarus must become the last Founder.
"Mikasa…" The Winged Titan turns its head towards Falco's back, addressing her directly whilst maintaining a steady course. "You can concentrate on helping Michael find Armin, you don't have to think about it. Just leave the rest to us. You care deeply about Eren. You don't have to be present for his death."
His words of encouragement didn't make her feel any better, but at least she was aware she had a choice now. She should've known there was no chance of saving him. The entire alliance was in agreement. Eren must die, as he should have done long ago. And as soon as they rest and recuperate at Fort Salta, they'll head back into the fray and finish what they started.
After narrowly escaping the Past Titans and crashing through one of the open windows of the fortress, Armin finds himself aimlessly wandering through a never-ending labyrinth of corridors all identical to one another. Every corner he turns reveals another corridor similar to the one he ran through earlier. It was starting to get on his nerves.
"This place is an unending maze, how am I supposed to find Oppenheimer? Surely it couldn't get much worse than this", he thought. But he'd be wrong, for the corridors and walls started moving, cutting off his way forward and back like a self-shifting Rubik's Cube. Armin held his nerve and anchored himself to the floor, holding himself steady as the section he was standing in vertically moved about, praying he didn't end up getting crushed to death by the walls.
The window he was standing beside was his only view of the outside world to take a gander at what was happening. For a brief moment, he saw The Winged Titan pulling up with what he assumed was Pieck in his hands and thought he saw a giant bird flying alongside him, though his eyes could be playing tricks on him.
He shook it off and returned to the task at hand. It was clear to him that Ludwig knew he was here and was purposely changing the internal structure of the fortress to confuse and make it harder to find him. When the walls finally settled, Armin kept on walking forward until he reached a dead-end. He came to a stop in the middle of another hallway when he noticed something different about this one despite them looking the same as the last one he was in. The only difference was that there was now a staircase leading down to his right and one leading up on his left. He checked both out and was offset by how dark the downstairs was compared to how bright the upstairs was.
"Hmm, two stairs on either side of me. Ludwig could be at the other end of either of them. But which is it? Up or down?" He looks over both sets of stairs again. "A wise man would follow the light and go up, but that could be exactly what Ludwig wants me to do. It's dark downstairs, anything could be hiding down there, including the man I'm looking for… Hmm, which way should I go?"
He gulps nervously, scared of what is potentially awaiting him at the end of whichever stairs he took. Turning back wasn't an option either. The fortress's bizarre shifting of the halls cut off his way back. The only way he can go now is up or down. For the sake of himself, the others, and all humanity, he'd better choose wisely.
To Be Continued