I watched as Reiner hardened his fingers and toes. He's going to climb the wall just like Annie did back in Stohess. Steam erupted from Reiner's mouth as he charged towards the wall. He sunk his hardened hands and feet and began scaling the wall.
"Soldiers! You are not yet going to engage the Armored Titan! Maintain a safe distance!" Erwin ordered. The Scouts around where Reiner was climbing up all scattered away.
"Hange! Why doesn't he have us attack? What's he thinking?" Eren demanded.
"The enemy prepared quite the welcome. He's watching their movements for now. Erwin doesn't want to attack until he understands their strategy." Hange explained.
"It's a good thing Viv warned us earlier about holding off on Eren plugging up the inner wall. That's what they were waiting for." Jean stated aloud.
"No kidding, and if Armin didn't come up with the idea of checking the wall. We would have been in bigger trouble." Connie added.
The Beast Titan let out a sudden roar and slammed his fist onto the ground. In an instant the smaller Titans began to run towards the outskirts of Shiganshina. The Beast Titan is acting like a commander. The Titans are following his orders.
"Get ready! Multiple two to three meters approaching!" Hange called out.
"Dirk Squad and Marlene Squad too! Join Klaus Squad and protect the horses at the gate! Levi Squad and Hange Squad! I need you two to take down the Armored Titan! Employ the Thunder Spears at your own discretion! Do whatever it takes to achieve your objective! This is our moment! Our chance to strike! The fate of humankind depends on this battle! Lay down your hearts and lives! One final time, for humanity!" Erwin ordered.
"Yes sir!" The Scouts chanted. Dirk and Marlene's squads took off down the wall towards the horses.
"Hange wait!" Armin ran over to us, "I need to explain the plan before we head out." He stated.
"We're listening." Hange assured him.
I watched as Eren took off with his ODM Gear to get into position and turn into his Titan form. Erwin wants to use Eren as bait to get Reiner's attention off the horses. Now to see if Reiner takes the bait. I loaded up two Thunder Spears on both arms. This was the new technology that our engineers had been working on for the past two months. It was one of the many weapons that the interior MPs were developing and testing in secret. These were supposed to be a form of Anti-Titan weapons. We discovered the technology and Hange had the engineers finish it. The theory is, this is supposed to blow straight through Titans. It's our best bet for a weapon that can get through Reiner's armor. Our normal blades don't stand a chance against it.
A bright yellow light emitted as lightning struck. I turned my head to see Eren now in his Titan form. My eyes glanced up to Reiner. What's your next move, Reiner? Eren turned around and began running back to our location. I kept an eye on Reiner until he started to skid down the wall. He took the bait! Now to follow the rest of the plan. Keep Reiner away from the walls in case Bertholdt shows up.
We watched from the rooftops while Eren and Reiner began to encircle one another. Thunder Spears were at the ready as we watched the two closely. We'd have to step in when need be. Eren hardened the knuckles on his fists. With that hardening ability, Eren should be able to punch Reiners armor without destroying his hands this time.
Reiner charged at Eren but Eren was able to dodge his advances. Eren was doing a good job at avoiding Reiner. That's the biggest disadvantage Reiner has in that form. His Titan is clearly meant for defense, not offense. He's slow and sluggish compared to other Titans like Eren and Annie. Eren dodged another punch and swung his own fist. His punch landed and my brows raised seeing Reiner's facial armor get shattered from the punch.
"Eren actually managed to knock off his armor. His hardening ability is stronger than Reiner's armor." I stated out loud. Eren let out a roar as Reiner began to get back up from the punch.
"Unlike last time, Eren has Reiner on the ropes. Reiner has yet to land a single blow on Eren." Jean added.
"Vivien," My eyes glanced at Mikasa, "Don't hesitate when we engage Reiner. If you hesitate, there's a chance that someone might die." She warned me. I matched the look she was giving me.
"I'm well aware of that fact. Don't worry. I won't." I assured her. I glared at Reiner ahead of me. Now's the time to do what Levi advised me months ago. Store that anger in the corner of my mind and unleash it during the heat of battle.
Now is the time to unleash that anger. I already know I would hesitate to fight Reiner with a clear mind. However, I know if I'm seeing red my body should react upon instinct. I can take advantage of my body's unusual ability to react when fighting. It's something to do with my Ackerman blood flowing through my veins, and I intend to use it now!
Eren backed Reiner into a building. He swung his fists mercilessly at Reiner. More of his armor began to chip away. Half of his face now exposed the muscle tissue underneath. Reiner let out a roar as he tried to charge Eren. Eren dodged but Reiner managed to grab Eren by his ankle. That's not good, Eren is faster but Reiner is much stronger when it comes to brute strength.
Reiner roared as he lifted Eren up and slammed him onto the rooftop. Shingles went flying everywhere and dust puffed up from the impact. Reiner lifted Eren up once again and slammed his free fist towards Eren's head. Dust billowed out once more.
Mikasa went to move but I put my arm in front of her, "Wait." I ordered her. The dust settled and revealed Eren had just barely dodged the punch. Reiner let out a roar as Eren grabbed hold of his wrist.
"He needs help!" Mikasa argued.
"Not yet!" I looked over as Hange landed on the rooftop we were on, "We need to wait and trust Eren to give us a good opening. Vivien, keep Mikasa in check until it's time." I nodded my head as Hange took back off.
"You need to cool down yourself, Mikasa. You get irrational when it comes to Eren. Right now, you need to trust in his ability. He can do this. Just wait for the opening." Mikasa looked at me with surprise. She furrowed her brows in worry before finally nodding.
"Right." She muttered and turned her attention back to the fight. The two Titans began to wrestle on the ground for control. Eren manage to get out of Reiners hold and flip him onto his stomach.
My eyes widened seeing the opening, "Now's our chance! Move!" I yelled as I shot off into the sky. Mikasa followed closely behind me. Reiner began to sit up as we got closer.
I gritted my teeth as Reiner looked up at Mikasa and I. His exposed eye revealed its golden color. I pushed my feelings aside as my anger surged through my body. It's now or never!
We hooked off of Eren's Titan as we closed the distance to Reiner. Reiner made no attempt to move. He doesn't think we can hurt him, that's his mistake then. Mikasa and I launched one Thunder Spear each. Both spears embedded into his eyes.
"Now!" I yelled. Mikasa and I each pulled back the pins as we shot off above his head. Two explosions sounded and Reiner let out a roar. It worked! The Thunder Spears actually did some damage to him!
Hange and the rest of the squad quickly approached from behind Reiner. They all fired a single Thunder Spear aimed at Reiner's armored nape. Mikasa and I landed on an adjacent roof as the spears exploded. Reiner let out another roar as he felt the spears go off. I looked back and saw the armor that covered his nape was shattered.
"It's working. We're breaking through his armor." I stated.
"We can actually do some damage." Sasha stated from the other rooftop.
"Do it again! You each still have a Thunder Spear! Use them to end this!" Hange ordered. Everyone went still from shock at the command. My jaw clenched as I stared at Reiner. We weren't sure if this was going to work or not. Now that it is…we've been given the order to kill Reiner.
"But it's Reiner…" Sasha argued.
I clenched my eyes closed as I felt my left hand begin to shake. I felt a hand on my wrist. I opened up my eyes to see Mikasa giving me a look of sympathy.
"You need to stay level headed. Leave this part to me if you can't handle it." She stated a matter of fact.
I shook my head, "No, it'll take both of us to create an opening like that. I'll help you but…I don't think I can deliver the killing blow." I said honestly.
Mikasa removed her hand, "That's fine. Leave that to me then." Mikasa assured me.
"Come on guys! We said we would do it if it ever came down to this! So let's go!" Jean yelled out.
We launched ourselves in the air once more with our gear. All of us fired our remaining Thunder Spears at Reiner's nape. I pulled back the pin at the same time as the others. I flew back to safety as a chain of explosions filled the air. Reiner let out a cry in what sounded like pain. We had hit the nape where his physical body resided. He had to have felt that.
I landed on a nearby rooftop and watched as the smoke cleared. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at the scene in front of me. Reiner was uncovered by his Titan form. Majority of his head was gone and he wasn't moving.
"We did it! We beat the Armored Titan!" Someone cheered.
I fell onto my knees as I couldn't stop the tears from welling up in my eyes. My anger had now diminished and the realization what I just helped do hit me hard. I just helped kill the only man I've ever loved.
"Reiner…I'm sorry." I muttered under my breath. I could feel eyes on me. I knew the rest of the squad was watching me, but I didn't care. Now right now.
I closed my eyes and leaned forward on my hands. I bowed my head as the hot tears rolled down my cheeks. I felt my tears drop onto my hands.
"This isn't over! We'll hit him with another volley to make sure!" My eyes snapped open hearing the command from Hange. No…I can't take this anymore…
"Viv." I gasped hearing my nickname. I looked up to see what my mind tricked me as Reiner, but quickly realized it was Jean. He knelt down and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Come on, we need to get moving. I told you didn't I? You don't need to make the hard decisions alone. Get up and wipe away your tears. Alright?" Jean encouraged. He now held out his hand for me to take. I noticed that he too had tears forming in the corner of his eyes. This was hard on him too.
I nodded and took his hand. He helped me up and I wiped away my tears with my sleeve.
"I'm fine. Let's g-" A loud piercing roar came from Reiner's Titan suddenly. I looked over my shoulder with wide eyes. He's alive?! He stopped his roar before his Titan slumped back forward.
"Fire your Thunder Spears! If we want him dead we'll have to destroy his entire body!" Hange ordered.
"Hange wait! We need to retreat! See that barrel! I'm sure Bertholdt is inside!" Armin warned us.
I looked up to indeed see a barrel flying over the wall. "Shit, we're going have the Colossal fall right on top of us! We need to move!" I yelled out to Hange.
"Everyone move away from the Armored Titan! The Colossal Titan is falling towards us right now!" Hange ordered. We flew through the air to create distance. Eren began running back as well with the rest of us.
I waited for the massive explosion from Bertholdt transforming to happen but it never did. We all came to a stop and I landed crouched on Eren's right shoulder. I looked over where we came from and only saw steam come from Reiner's Titan. Hange stood on Eren's left shoulder.
"Here we go. Our mission's primary objective just fell straight into our laps. You could call this a stroke of luck." Hange stated.
"Hey look! Someone's coming our way, it's Bertholdt!" Moblit announced. That can't be good. He's getting closer to us without being in his Titan form?
"The plan is as follows! Armin you take command of Levi Squad! Protect Eren! Everyone else should come with me! We've got two targets to eliminate!" Hange ordered.
"Right!" Hange shot off with her gear followed by her squad.
"Armin!" I looked where Mikasa yelled his name. My brows furrowed seeing Armin following after Hange.
"What is he doing?" I asked out loud. I heard a growl next to me. I looked over to see Eren lowered his head and a frown on his face. I looked back where Armin was heading. He was going towards Bertholdt.
"Stop Bertholdt! Just wait a minute!" Armin called out. What are you trying to do Armin? Bertholdt listened and stopped as Armin requested.
"We don't have to fight! Let's talk this over!" Armin yelled out. Armin…
"If I'd be willing to talk! Would you all be willing to lay down and die? We only want two simple things! Eren Jaeger and the death of everyone within the walls! That's the harsh truth of our situation! Understand? All of your fates have been decided!" Anger reared up as I glared daggers at Bertholdt. So it's really come down to this. Our lives or theres.
"What? Who was it that decided that?" Armin yelled back. A second passed but no response from Bertholdt.
"What was that?" Armin yelled again.
"It was me, Armin! I decided your lives should end here and now!" Son of a bitch…he feels the need to play God now? Deciding who lives and who dies? Yeah right, that's not happening. I'm tired of people acting like they're a God just because they can turn into a Titan. That's what the Reiss family did with the Founding Titan for over a century now. They played God and now look at where they're at. The entire Reiss family minus Historia are all dead. Their power was stolen from them by Dr. Jaeger years ago.
"That's a real shame, Bertholdt! You see I was hoping I could finally stop hearing Annie scream! There's only one person who can save her from the savages of the Military Police! And that's you! If you don't then she'll be fed to the pigs!" I never thought Armin would be that harsh. Then again, is that what he said to Bertholdt back then? Is that how he made the opening when we rescued Eren from them? That's pretty cold coming from Armin of all people.
"Fine by me!" Bertholdt took off from his spot. Not good.
"Vivien, stay with Eren. I'll go after Armin." Mikasa stated and took off.
"Uh yeah, got it." Armin followed after Bertholdt and Mikasa was right behind him.
"What's with you and your childhood friends on suicide missions today? You rubbed off on them too much." I muttered as I gave Eren a look. He just stared back at me with his large green eyes. He made some sort of cooing noise before focusing back on Armin and Mikasa. Armin was now confronting Bertholdt up close.
Eren began to move, "Eren, not yet." I warned him. Jean hopped onto Eren's other shoulder.
"She's right. Stay back. You get it don't you? Your chances of beating him are damn slim. This isn't your fight yet." Jean advised him.
"Weren't we still working on a plan on how to take down the Colossal? Even if we get close to his nape, he just blasts us away with his steam." I questioned out loud.
"Who knows. Armin might think of something. We're relying on him to get us through this." Jean added unsurely.
Bertholdt went to attack Armin but Mikasa quickly intervened. She nailed some hits on Bertholdt before he finally backed off. She did it, she got Armin out of direct danger at least.
A bright light enveloped the sky as Bertholdt got high in the air. Armin and Mikasa raced to get back to our location.
"Brace yourselves. Here it comes." I said as I lowered myself on Eren. Connie and Sasha joined Jean and I on Eren's back. The explosion from his transformation hit. Eren hid behind a building and used his arms to try and cover for us.
"Agh!" I looked back to see Connie go flying. I stuck my hooks into Eren and released back.
"Gotcha!" I grabbed hold of Connie's arm, "Connie, hang on!" Connie reached up and grabbed my arm with both of his hands. The wind caused us to flail as my wires kept us anchored to Eren. Eren glanced behind him and he used one arm to scoop myself and Connie towards him. I released the hooks in Eren's flesh as the high winds finally stopped.
"You guys alive?" Jean asked us.
"Thanks to Vivien, yeah. I almost got blasted off." Connie reported.
"I'm fine. Hanging in there." Sasha replied.
"Thanks for the save, Eren." I thanked as I looked up to Eren's face. He gave a nod in the form of a reply. I heard ODM Gear approaching us.
"Armin, Mikasa! You two okay?" Jean asked as the two of them landed on the roof.
"Yeah, it missed us." Mikasa stated.
"Where's Hange Squad?" Jean questioned.
Armin downcasted his eyes, "They were right underneath the blast zone." He stated.
"Shit." I muttered under my breath. We all stared up as Bertholdt began to rise in his Colossal Titan form.
"Are you saying…that the only ones that survived…are the seven of us?" Jean questioned. Bertholdt began to move one arm and destroy the buildings under him. He launched the debris around him. More than likely trying to strike down any Scouts nearby.
"Oh no." Connie whispered.
"Armin, what do we do now?! We can't just wait here while piles of burning houses fall on us!" Jean shouted at him.
"Armin, Hange gave you command of the Levi Squad. We'll follow your command. Whatever it may be." I informed our new appointed leader.
Mikasa placed her hand on Armin's shoulder, "We believe in you, Armin. Tell us what to do." She added.
"We…We retreat. Fall back to the Commander and request new orders. To beat the Colossal Titan in a battle of attrition needs to be planned. We have to keep our distance." Armin reaffirmed the original plan.
"That was the plan, but think. If we let the Colossal Titan reach the wall then the others would be finished." Jean stated.
I nodded my head, "Agreed. He could start launching the fire debris on the other side of the wall. The squads there will be fighting a battle on two fronts. We don't have the time to retreat back to Commander Erwin." I advised Armin.
"Both of you are right. Our time to beat Bertholdt is right now! If we can't get help then we have to do it with the people we have right here!" Armin stated.
Debris began falling closer and closer to us. We're running out of time!
"Hey Armin, your orders? Come on!" Connie pleaded.
"What should we do?" Sasha followed up. No words came from Armin as he stared at Bertholdt. Fear was clear in his blue eyes. Come on, Armin. Snap out of this and take command of your squadron!