-E-

Eren was absolutely dumbfounded. Standing before him was the being that he has spent the past few months transforming into in order to protect humanity. It was Ultraman! But how? And why?

"I am sure you have many questions, Eren," Ultraman said. "And I believe it's time that I answer them. Or at least, as many as I can."

Eren's toes curled with anticipation. This could finally be his chance to find out what's going on with his powers, why he has them, and what the meteor had to do with him getting them. So, Eren started by asking Ultraman a few basic questions.

"W-well, alright. I guess my first question would be… where are we?" Eren gestured to the black void they stood in.

"We are currently speaking to eachother within your dream. However, this does not mean I am not real. Rather, it is simply more convenient for us to talk here than when you are conscious. That being said, you and I are still perfectly capable of talking in the waking world."

"Okay, I think I understand…" Eren scratched the back of his head. "So, my next question is…" Eren checked his pocket to see if he still had the cylinder on him in his dream and sure enough, he did. He pulled it out and showed it to Ultraman. "What is this?"

"That is the Beta Capsule. It is a device that is bound to our souls. As long as we are bonded, the Beta Capsule will always be with you. Wherever you go, it goes."

"Is it possible for that bond to be broken?"

"Yes. There are two ways this can happen. The first is if I decide that the time has come to sever the bond that we share. The second way is if one of us were to die."

Eren nodded in understanding. "We probably wouldn't want that to happen. So are there any other powers that you have that I can use to make sure that we don't die?"

Ultraman chuckled to himself. "Oh, Eren. You've only scratched the surface of what I can do. But I think you already knew that. We share knowledge, after all. Anything I know about my power, you know as well."

Eren smiled. It was true, he did have a feeling deep down that there was much more he could accomplish. But that confirmation was all he needed to strive to achieve it. "Thank you, Ultraman."

"Eren, I know you will accomplish great things with my power," Ultraman said. "Back when you first used my power, I knew that the road ahead would be rough for you, to say the least. Initially, I had planned to apologize to you for forcing you to bear the curse that is my power. For placing the weight of the world on your shoulders, after I nearly killed you in a freak accident."

Eren's eyes widened as his mind flashed back to the night he was crushed by the meteorite. He remembered seeing something that might have been Ultraman for a brief moment before he disappeared and he suddenly felt better.

"But instead, I came to find that there is no one in this world more suited to bear that weight than you. Your bravery and tenacity have allowed you to face insurmountable odds head-on many times, and never once did you waver. Even in the face of imminent doom, you always persevered. I am truly proud of everything you've accomplished, Eren."

Eren smiled, then felt Ultraman place a hand on his shoulder.

"Our time in the dream is almost up. The sun is rising as we speak. Soon, you will awaken, but before you do, allow me to leave you with a parting gift."

Ultraman placed his forehead against Eren's. Eren's eyes widened as he felt the knowledge of one of Ultraman's greatest abilities being unlocked. As this knowledge was unleashed, the dark void brightened into a sea of white, so bright that he and Ultraman began to disappear.

Eren slowly rose from his slumber, now armed with new knowledge courtesy of Ultraman. Eren looked down at the Beta Capsule in his hand and smiled. With this new ability that Ultraman taught him, he'd be able to finally save humanity from everything that seeks to destroy them.

-H-

Hange sat in her lab, running tests on a piece of Gudon's whip that managed to splinter off when Eren cut it off. Despite the many attempts to break off pieces of it, Gudon's whips, even when severed, were simply too durable to take samples of. This alone greatly interested Hange, so when she was able to find a fragment small enough to study in her lab, needless to say, she was ecstatic.

Using a microscope, Hange was able to determine that the whip fragment, which was about as long as an ODM blade, was made of ultra-durable and flexible skin tissue, with a large amount of blood vessels within it. These blood vessels could allow the whip to stiffen or go flaccid, so it could act as either a whip or a spear if need be. Given the durability of the material, Hange wanted to test and see if it still worked, so she attached a few small tubes to some exposed arteries and clotted the veins, before pumping fluid into them. Within moments, the fragment went completely rigid, and when the liquid was released, it went back to a flaccid state.

Hange was fascinated by this discovery and immediately began thinking of all the ways they could use this to their advantage. With the durability of Gudon's tentacles, Hange theorized that maybe they could be converted into weapons. As she considered this possibility, she heard a knock on the door. She got up and opened her door. It was Moblit, standing there with a bag in his hands.

"Oh, good evening, Moblit," Hange said. "What's that you got there?"

"Oh, this? This is a bag of skin samples from Gudon that we collected," he said. "Apparently, the skin couldn't be used to make anything edible because it was simply too tough to chew through, even when pressure cooked for over a day."

Hange's eyes widened with fascination.

"We were hoping you could study it to see if there was anything else we could do."

"Actually, there just might be," Hange said with a smile as she glanced back at the tentacle fragment. "Send a message to RND. I have an idea that could change everything for us."

-E-

It had been a couple of days since the defeat of Gudon and the Scouts were all gathered outside in the courtyard, muttering amongst themselves as they stood in the study hall, awaiting an announcement of a new weapon for the Scouts. It was unusual for an announcement to be made while Erwin was out on a meeting, but it seemed that this was urgent. After a moment, the murmuring in the crowd came to a halt as Hange came in with what appeared to be a leather whip attached to a tank of water. An assistant then wheeled in a mannequin wearing a suit of white leather armor. Everyone muttered in confusion as Hange stepped behind the front desk and presented the new weapon to them. After a moment, Eren finally spoke up to them.

"Your new weapon is a whip?" He asked. "No offense commander, but how will that help us against the Titans? Let alone Bemular and the other monsters?"

"Oh, this isn't just any ordinary whip, my super-powered friend," Hange replied. "You see this whip, as well as the armor you see before you, were fashioned from inedible parts of Gudon's body. Namely, his hands, and skin."

All the Scouts' eyes widened as Hange continued.

"Our blades were ineffective against every enemy in the full-scale assault on Wall Rose. All we could really do in our last battle was watch Eren, Annie, and the Founding Titan fight from the sidelines. There just aren't enough weak spots for us to cut through them. And the armored monster, whose name we've recently discovered is 'Bemular' thanks to a bit of… involuntary exposition from Reiner, is completely covered head to toe in a metal stronger than anything else on Earth," she explained.

Everyone continued to listen while remembering how difficult it was just to stall Telesdon alone.

"Our only attacks that could hurt the monsters either came from other creatures on their level of power, like Annie's hardened punches against Reiner, or Eren's Ultra-Slash against Gudon, Telesdon, and Bemular, or worked around their armor, such as Telesdon's folds and eyes, or Reiner's unarmored spots." Hange then lifted up the whip by the handle, which had a similar structure to the ODM blade handles. "But now, with this new weapon, we as humans are able to fight on their level."

"So, how are we gonna do that with this?" Mikasa asked. "Even if it's made of Gudon's hands, it can't be that much stronger than our blades."

"Oh, can't it?" Hange asked. "Why don't we go outside and test that assumption?"

So, they did just that. They took the equipment and stepped outside and into a clearing. There, several stone dummies were set up. Hange took a deep breath and then swung the whip while unleashing an audible grunt. The whip cracked against the base of the first stone dummy, and it shattered on impact with the tip. The scouts were amazed as Hange cracked the whip against the rest of the dummies, each of which shattered just as easily. She huffed softly and looked back to the crowd.

"What do you think now, Mikasa?"

Everyone, including Mikasa, was left slackjawed at this display of the whip's power and had to blink a few times just to be sure they saw it right. However, while everyone was staring in awe at this, Armin raised an issue with this design.

"W-wait, commander," he said. "I don't doubt that it's powerful, but is a whip really the right kind of weapon we want to have this kind of power? I mean, whips are very unwieldy weapons, and it's very easy to hit yourself with them. And with that much power in one strike, one slip up could mean certain death."

"Ah, I figured you'd say that, Armin. Which is why I made sure they could do… this!" Hange squeezed the trigger on the handle, causing water to rush out of the tank and into the whip, and suddenly, the whip straightened into a long, rigid spear. "By simply squeezing the trigger, it fills with water and becomes completely rigid. And because of the elasticity of the material, you won't have to worry about it tearing. That said, there is one big problem with this design, and it's this right here." Hange tapped her knuckles against the water tank on her waist. "The whip needs to be filled with fluid in order to be turned rigid, however, the water tank puts too much weight into one area for our ODM gear to carry it without it flopping around and snapping off."

"But I take it you have a solution in mind?" Jean asked.

"Quite the astute assumption. Indeed I do. And for that, allow me to introduce you all to the second half of this new weapon," Hange then presented the white leather armor to the Scouts. "I present to you, the Gudon leather suit."

"Gudon leather?" Eren muttered.

"It's quite literally leather armor made using Gudon's hide instead of a cow's," Hange explained. "This leather is more durable than any other suit of armor, and it's lighter than any other armor. In fact, it's so durable that this armor barely adds any more weight than our cloaks. But there's a problem: without proper cooling, this baby heats up FAST! For Gudon, this wasn't a problem, as he had several organs that were able to regulate his body temperature very efficiently, but for us humans who aren't capable of performing such a feat on our own, this poses some problems. I'm sure you can tell where I'm going with this."

Hange then pulled some water tubes out of one of the sleeves and then attached it to the base of the whip.

"By running water throughout the suit in a vein-like formation, we eliminate both the issue of heat regulation in the suit and the issue of the water tank in the whip!" She declared with pride. "Combined, these two tools create what I hereby dub the MonsArmor!"

Everyone applauded this new advancement in kaiju fighting technology. During the applause, Eren could have sworn he heard Ultraman in the back of his mind mutter under his breath, "What a curious coincidence…"

"Now, Annie, I'd like for you to come with me," Hage requested.

"Me? How come?" She replied.

"I wanted to test and see how potent the MonsArmor is against a Titan shifter," Hange explained. "Your and Reiner's hardening are comparable in terms of durability, so the data we collect on you will be very useful."

Annie shrugged. "Alright, fine by me."

So, Annie followed Hange, helping her transport the equipment to the next spot. Meanwhile, the rest of the Scouts dispersed, with the cadets of the 104th deciding that now might be a good time to pay a certain someone a visit. Though Krista and Connie were a bit nervous about this, deep down, they both knew that they would have to confront Reiner eventually.

-R-

Reiner sat in the cellar of Utgard Castle, his arms and legs severed. At the stumps where they once were, metal cuffs attached to chains were attached to prevent him from escaping. Despite this, steam still billowed out of his cuffs regardless. He had no clothing on his body besides his pants, and to top it all off, he had barely gotten any sleep. This was not only due to the discomfort of his situation, but also the fact that he was routinely tortured by Hange Zoe, who had a disturbingly creative mind when it came to this sort of thing. Downtrodden and on the brink of breaking entirely, Reiner shed a few involuntary tears of despair.

"Are you seriously crying?" An enraged voice echoed from behind the iron bars of Reiner's cell. "You really are pathetic, aren't you?"

Reiner slowly looked up, his bloodshot eyes meeting with the green eyes of Eren Jaeger. And he wasn't alone. Standing alongside him were Armin, Mikasa, Jean, and everyone else from the 104th Cadet Corps that joined the Scouts. Well, besides Annie that is.

"Reiner… why did you do it, man?" Connie asked.

"I-it must have been Bemular who made you do it, right?" Sasha asked.

"No one forced us to do anything," Reiner replied. "Once we were on your island, we were doing this of our own free will."

Most of the crowd went silent, heartbroken to learn that his actions were all his own. But he continued.

"I agreed to work with Bemular not out of fear of him, or Marley, or anything else. It was just because I wanted their help in wiping out all the devils of Paradis. They promised me they would give me the strength I needed to wipe you all off the face of the Earth, and so I agreed to help them with their mission in return."

"What do they want, though?" Ymir asked while holding Krista in her arms.

"They want Ultraman Dead," he replied.

Eren clenched his fists tightly, but then felt Mikasa place a hand on his shoulder, and he calmed down a bit.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but you two will never be able to beat us," Eren said. "As we speak, we're only growing stronger and smarter, and soon, humanity will have the power to butcher Bemular, as well as any and every monster you throw at us."

"Eren, I don't think we should be telling him that," Armin whispered. However Eren ignored Armin's warnings, too caught up in the intimidation and gloating, and his hotblooded hatred of Reiner to care about how much information he was letting out.

Eren pressed himself against the bars of Reiner's cell and glared directly into his eyes. "And once we find that third person who was with you that night, we'll do the exact same thing to them, and force you to watch!"

Reiner's eyes widened. Eren didn't know. A sinister grin stretched across his face, as he came up with a plan to get back at the one who turned her back on Marley.

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" Reiner asked.

"Figured what out?" Connie replied in Eren's place.

Eren, Connie, Ymir, and Krista looked around the room, feeling rather confused when they saw everyone else start to look quite a bit more apprehensive. Armin tried to talk to Eren, but before he could say anything to ease Eren's tension, Reiner finally dropped the bomb on him.

"Annie was our other ally, Eren. She helped us breach Wall Maria and helped cause the death of your mother. We couldn't have done it without her."

Krista and Connie were both horrified by this revelation, though Ymir wasn't quite as surprised. Everyone else did their best to calm the two down, but they failed to account for one person: Eren. Eren shoved past everyone and marched upstairs, out of the dungeon. Armin and Mikasa both ran after him, and Jean's eyes widened, before narrowing into an angry scowl.

He slammed his fist against the bars and shouted at Reiner, "What did you just do?!"

"With any luck, I killed that traitor," Reiner replied.

Jean scoffed furiously. "Come on, guys! We have to stop that idiot before he kills our best source of information about the outside world!"

However, while everyone else agreed, Connie and Krista were hesitant. So, Jean simply grabbed both of them by the arms and dragged them with him.

"Look, we don't have time for this! We need her alive, so we're gonna do what we can to keep her that way! Now move your asses!"

Ymir quickly whipped back around and snarled. "HEY! If you so much as hurt a hair on Krista's head-"

"I-I'll be fine, Ymir…" Krista said. "Sorry. Let's just go."

"Y-yeah… what she said…" Connie added.

Thus, they all ran upstairs, leaving Reiner alone in the dungeon. As he watched them all leave, a smile crept across his face, feeling empowered by this. It reminded him that even in the worst of circumstances, he still had some control over his life. And this also gave him a sense of hope. Hope that, in time, he would eventually escape.

-A-

Late into the evening, a loud crack echoed throughout the open field, followed by a gleeful cheer from Hange as she jumped up into the air. The Female Titan, who was standing in front of her, looked down at her forearms in shock, as she gazed down at the enormous crack in her hardened skin, stretching from her elbow all the way up to her wrist. The crack in her hardening went so deep that steam billowed out of the fresh wound that was created.

"GOOD LORD! I HAD A FEELING THESE THINGS WERE POWERFUL, BUT NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS COULD I HAVE IMAGINED THAT THEY'D BE ENOUGH TO PIERCE RIGHT THROUGH TITAN HARDENING!" Hange squealed with excitement as she hopped about on top of the cliff she stood on.

Annie soon undid her hardening and collapsed to the ground. She then rose from her Titan's nape and stepped down from it.

"So, was that all you needed?" Annie asked. "You just wanted me to punch you and let you hit me?"

"Pretty much," the excited section commander replied. "You're free to go now!"

Annie nodded and flipped her cloak's hood over her head before leaving. As she left the clearing and returned to camp, she thought back to all the choices that lead her to this point. All the things she wished she had done differently with the benefit of hindsight. However, she put those thoughts aside, as in her eyes, it was pointless to think about these things. She made her choices, and now, whatever happens next, she simply has to deal with the consequences of those choices.

As she arrived back at the main castle grounds, she was hoping to be greeted by her comrades, but instead, she saw Eren there, seemingly looking for something or someone with an enraged look on his face. Eventually, his vision finally landed on her, and his rage exploded. Before Annie even had time to question what was happening, Eren bolted straight toward her.

On instinct, Annie moved to trip Eren by kicking him in the shins, and it worked… briefly. What she expected would keep him down long enough to let her get her barrings, instead only gave her enough time to dodge and counter yet another lunge from Eren. Each counter only made Eren more and more enraged, until finally, he decided he was done playing fair. While he was down, he grabbed a fistful of dirt and threw it into Annie's eyes, then tackled her, and sank his teeth into her neck harder and harder until blood coated his lips, oozed down his chin and neck, and stained his shirt. Annie hollered in pain but was silenced when Eren began pummeling her mercilessly while screaming one word in her face again and again.

"MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER!"

"EREN, STOP IT!" Armin screamed. He and Mikasa came running out of the building to try and stop him. Eventually, Mikasa and Armin managed to hook their arms under his and pull him off.

Annie lie on the ground, her face bloody and bruised. But Eren wasn't done yet. He pulled himself out of their grip and stomped hard on Annie's stomach, then proceeded to grind his heel into it. Annie continued to scream in pain, her screams now more of a gurgling whine as blood gushed out of her mouth. Armin and Mikasa kept trying to get him off, but Eren just kept attacking Annie again and again, but not once did Annie fight back, nor did she transform. She knew why he was attacking her now, and she just couldn't bring herself to defend herself.

He was right. She was a murderer.

She made her choice. Now she has to face the consequences.

Suddenly, Eren collapsed to the ground, clutching his cheek. Annie slowly looked up and her eyes widened as much as they could when they saw Armin with his fist raised breathing heavily. He had a look of utter disbelief, clearly unable to comprehend what he had just done, but he did it. He punched his best friend.

"Ar…min…" Annie groaned softly.

'Annie…' Armin thought.

"Eren, please, listen to us!" Armin pleaded. "I know you're angry about what Annie's done, but please, be rational! By attacking her like this, you're only doing what Reiner wanted you to do! He's clearly trying to make us fight amongst ourselves! By doing this, you're just playing right into his hands!"

Eren remained on the ground, not even looking at Armin or Mikasa. "...How long did you know?"

Both Armin and Mikasa's eyes widened.

"A lot of you didn't seem all too surprised when he told us that she was working with him," he said. "And none of you tried to deny it. So, how long did you know?"

Armin remained silent, but Mikasa sighed deeply. The truth had to come out eventually.

"We've known since the day after we found Pigmon," Mikasa said. "Commander Erwin told us to keep it a secret because he was afraid that this was how you'd react."

Eren breathed deeply. He was almost on the verge of lashing out at them just as he had with Mikasa. No, not just that. He wanted to use his powers to exact his revenge for keeping him in the dark. Slowly, he pulled the Beta Capsule out of his pocket, and his shaking finger hovered over the button.

"Don't."

Eren stopped, then sighed sharply and angrily. He stood up and marched off, but didn't pocket the capsule just yet. He left the main castle grounds and marched out into the forest, where he lifted his arm over his head, about to transform, when suddenly, he felt Mikasa embrace him from behind.

"Eren… I'm so sorry," she said. "I didn't want to keep this hidden from you, but if I didn't, I would have been thrown out of the Scouts for sure. I was selfish, and for that, we're here, with you having to learn this from Reiner instead of from us. Can you ever forgive me?"

Eren sighed softly and held the raven-haired girl's hand.

"Mikasa, I just need some time to myself," he replied.

With that, he walked right out of her embrace and then transformed. As Eren flew off into the sky, Mikasa fell to her knees. She cupped her face in her hands and began to weep.

Meanwhile, Armin was helping Annie back to her feet and slung her arm over his shoulder to support her.

"Are you okay, Annie?" Armin asked.

"Yesh…" She mumbled, her swollen lip preventing her from speaking properly.

"Good, good," he replied. "Sh-shouldn't you be regenerating by now?"

"Cahn't… heal… withouht… the will… to heal…"

Armin's heart sank upon hearing that, and on impulse, he wrapped Annie in a comforting embrace. Annie's cheeks flushed red, and tears leaked from the corners of her black eyes as she returned the embrace. As the two held onto this hug, steam began to rise.

-E-

Eren sat on top of a rock on the moon, looking down upon the Earth. Once again, that calm, warm feeling returned to him as he gazed upon the beauty of his world. However, he had no smile on his face this time. As he reached out his hand, he decided to have another conversation with his other half.

"Ultraman," Eren called. "My real enemies… they're all out there, aren't they?"

"..."

"They're the ones that took the world away from me, not the Titans. I wonder, if I killed them all, would we finally be free?"

"...!"

"I have the power, right? It'd be so easy. It'd be-"

"Out of the question," Ultraman stated. "Under no circumstances will I allow you to become the true instrument of humanity's destruction. As an Ultra Warrior, I am expressly forbidden from doing such a thing, and that same rule applies to anyone I am bonded with."

Eren's fist tightened.

"Eren Jaeger, I know you are angry, and I understand your anger."

"How could you possibly understand?!" Eren replied. "You can't possibly know what it's like to have someone you trusted, someone who you considered your best friend, turn out to be a backstabbing monster, who destroyed your life and killed your mother!"

"Accept I do."

Eren suddenly fell silent.

"While I was fortunate enough to not witness the death of my mother, I too have experienced someone betray the trust I put in them, kill many of my loved ones, and lay waste to my home," Ultraman said.

Eren's anger simmered down and he began to listen to Ultraman's story.

"His name was Belial. Belial was one of the greatest Ultra Warriors in history. He was revered for his power, courage, and expertise in combat. He and his comrade, my father, the Father of Ultra, became heroes across my homeworld, the Land of Light."

'Just like Reiner in the cadet corps…' Eren thought.

"As a child, I had only the utmost respect for the two of them. However, one day, when my father was given the rank of general of the Ultra Warriors instead of him, Belial became bitter. So he sought out more power by stealing the Plasma Spark, our planet's artificial sun, and the life force of our planet. For his crime, he was exiled from our world. But one day… he returned."

Eren continued to listen to Ultraman's story.

"I was still new to the Ultra Warriors when he returned, and when he did, he wasn't the same honorable man I once knew. He was something more akin to a demon. He bore a new weapon that summoned an army of one hundred monsters, each of them powerful enough to defeat an Ultra Warrior in a one-on-one battle. With his army, he massacred our people, destroyed homes and cities, and tore through an army of Ultra Warriors. Many of my brothers fell, and even our leader, Ultraman King, was nearly defeated by Belial's army. Finally, using our full strength, my father, mother, King, myself, and my brothers, Zoffy and Taro, finally sealed him away within our moon for the rest of time."

"I'm… sorry to hear that, Ultraman," Eren said. "But why tell me this story now?"

"I tell you this, Eren, because if there were even a chance that my uncle was still in there, I would do everything in my power to bring that man back, even despite all the horrible things he's done," Ultraman said. "Eren, I do not ask that you forgive Annie. We are two very different people, with different outlooks on life. All I ask is that you consider giving her a chance to redeem herself. You have a chance that I did not With Belial. I implore you not to waste it."

Eren was silent for a good long while, simply staring at the Earth. Eventually, he closed his eyes and spoke again.

"Will Mikasa ever be able to see the world from up here?" Eren asked.

"Not this soon," Ultraman answered. "The air up here is not breathable, and it wouldn't be warm enough for her to survive without freezing. But one day, once you and your comrades overcome all the future challenges set before you, you may just be able to show her all this."

Eren nodded and stood up. "Alright, then I've decided." Eren raised up a singular finger. "Annie gets one more chance. Just one."

"That is all I ask."

And so, Eren flew back down to Earth. And as soon as he did so, a gigantic, black ship, dwarfing even the moon itself, emerged from its cloaked state.

-Y-

Within the control room of the ship, several pilots, all different alien races, were typing away at different control panels with button layouts personalized to their individual hand shapes. One of them bore a striking resemblance to both a cephalopod and a crustacean. It had a black body with six different black legs, each with a pair of crab claws on the ends of them, a mouth, squid-like eyes, a yellow crest on its forehead, and a squid head with a blue crustacean carapace covering it.

The alien spoke into a microphone on his desk. "Captain Yapool, the Ultra has returned to Earth. We're exiting camouflage mode now."

"Good. But be ready to turn them back on, Cool," the speaker on his desk replied. "We only have thirty more Earth minutes before the moon rises on the Ultra's island."

Up on the captain's deck, a gigantic, bright red, 50-meter-tall goliath of a man sat on an equally enormous chair. He bore a face resembling that of an ant, but the body of a very muscular human. He had a human left hand, and a crab claw for a right hand, and he was dressed in a set of gold and dark red armor. This was the captain of the Star Breaker Super Ship, Captain Yapool the 4th.

As Yapool sat in his chair, overlooking his crew, he heard the pneumatic hiss of his door opening, and in stepped an alien Dada with yellow eyes and white lips, and an alien with a tail dressed head to toe in silver armor with several glowing blue lights adorning it. He turned around and the armored being shifted to a height the same as his, while the Dada pressed a button on her belt which allowed her to do the same.

"State your name," Yapool said.

"Sir!" The Dada said with a dramatic salute. "I am Unit J1-73C, and I present to you the alien that our crew has had their eye on for the longest time, Bemular!"

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," Bemular said with a bow.

"At ease, Bemular," Yapool said. "I assume, given that you are here, that you have agreed to join us?"

"Of course," they replied. "As the saying goes: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"

"Quite true," he replied. "Quite true indeed. It's a pleasure to have you onboard. Someone of your talent will prove quite useful to us moving forwards."

"I expect the same of you all and your technology," Bemular replied. "I am in need of an upgrade to my armor, now that Ultraman is down there chucking Ultra-Slashes around like there's no tomorrow."

"Don't you worry, Bemular. Unit J1-73C will show you to the technicians' office. They'll happily upgrade your armor to help deal with that."

"Thank you, captain Yapool," Bemular said.

They turned around and began to follow the Dada, but before they did, they remembered something.

"Oh, and before I forget," they said. "We will need to stage a rescue operation. You see, I have an ally on Earth who Ultraman's human allies have trapped. He's a Reionic and-"

"WHAT!? A REIONIC!?" J1-73C shouted in disbelief.

Bemular would have raised an eyebrow if they had any.

"Commander, why didn't you tell me they were with a Reionic?!" She asked. "If I had known, I wouldn't have left that planet without him!"

"I had assumed that the Reionic would have been with him," he sighed. "Nevertheless, if he is captured, we will be sure to stage a rescue for him."

"Thank you, sir," Bemular said. And so, they exited the room, their arms crossed behind their back and their tail swaying from side to side.

-H-

As the evening turned to night, Hange carried her equipment back to the base, more than happy with the results of today's experiments. However, when she arrived back at the base, she saw Armin, Mikasa, Annie, and several other Scouts standing outside in the courtyard, and all of them seemed on edge. Mikasa's eyelids were red and puffy, a clear sign that she had been crying, and was being comforted by Krista. Meanwhile, Annie was regenerating from injuries she had sustained.

'Why does everything always seem to happen when I'm not around?' Hange pondered as she set her equipment down. She then approached the three of them and asked them what had happened.

Armin promptly explained everything to Hange, and she was frustrated by this but also relieved that things didn't go as badly as Erwin feared they would. Hange pondered what to say to Erwin, they all saw Eren returning to Earth, slowly floating down from the sky, with the moonlight shining brightly behind him. Eren transformed back to his human form and Mikasa ran up to hug him, but he didn't reciprocate said hug. Instead, he simply walked past Mikasa and towards Annie, before staring directly into her eyes. His gaze pierced right through the cold and distant mask she wore at all times and caused it to crack, revealing her trepidation at the sight of him.

"You get one chance," Eren said, his tone of voice sharper than any blade. "Don't waste it."

Eren then marched back into the castle, completely silent for the rest of the night. Upon leaving, Annie finally released a breath she didn't even realize she was holding before Armin grasped her hand, which managed to calm her nerves.

"He'll calm down eventually," he said. "Just give him time."

Annie remained silent and refrained from looking him in the eyes.

However, before anyone else could get back inside, Sasha's eyes suddenly bulged open and she dropped to her knees, pressing her ear against the ground. Additionally, everyone heard Pigmon going wild in the stables nearby.

"What's got him so worked up?" Jean asked.

"Guys?! I think there's something coming!" Sasha said.

Normally, they wouldn't take this seriously, because there was no way a Titan could get this deep in without the help of the Armored Titan. But the Titans weren't their biggest threat right now…

"You guys think it might be that metal monster?" Connie asked. "What was his name? Bemillian?"

"It's Bemular," Hange corrected.

"Right. Do you guys think it was them?"

Suddenly, Milke swooped down with Nanaba by his side. "Look sharp, everyone!" He called. "There are Titans approaching from the South! There's a strong possibility that Wall Rose has been compromised!"

Everyone gasped in shock upon hearing this, including Hange.

'Th-the south?" Connie thought. 'But that's… where my home is!'

"There's no time for ODM Gear! We need everyone on a horse, stat! Evacuate all surrounding settlements," Nanaba ordered. "Leonheart is the only person we want on the offensive. The Female Titan will be invaluable to this operation! The rest of you, stick to evacuation!"

They all nodded and rushed towards the stables while Nanaba went to warn the Scouts inside the castle. As they ran to the stables, Hange began considering what happened earlier.

'This is twice now that Pigmon's started acting up immediately before we find out about something approaching us,' she thought. 'Once is happenstance. Twice is a coincidence. But if this happens a third time, we have ourselves a pattern, and potentially a far more valuable ally than we realized.'

-E-

Erwin, Levi, and the other Scouts that joined them on the mission had just returned to Wall Rose from their meeting in the capital. It went fairly well all things considered. The damage caused by the Titans was kept to a minimum, and while Erwin was hoping to get some information about what he reasonably assumed was the Founding Titan, the fact that he didn't wasn't an issue, as he was sure they'd find out everything in due time. However, when they did return, the last thing they were expecting was to see a heard of normal Titans out at night, all heading toward the base. And among them, Erwin's eyes narrowed as he saw their leader in the center of their formation.

Levi rode up beside Erwin as they saw it out in the distance, overlooking the heard with what appeared to be cannons mounted on its back. Levi's eyes narrowed and he faced Erwin.

"Looks like the Titan brat was telling the truth," Levi said.

"Indeed," Erwin replied. "It seems Marley has finally made their play." Erwin then drew his sword and let out a booming call, rallying his troops. "ALL SOLDIERS! PREPARE FOR BATTLE! THE BEAST TITAN HAS ARRIVED!"