-M-

{2 days ago…}

Stohess District…

"How's she doing?" Marco asked.

"Better than she was when we got her out of her nape," Marlowe replied.

Marlowe dabbed a cold, damp cloth on Frieda's forehead as she lie on their couch, unconscious. While Marlowe and Marco both resented the complacency of the Military Police, it at least meant that they wouldn't have to try as hard to hide Frieda, as no one ever came in to check and see what they were doing.

"She's still burning up though," he said. "Just like when she saved us."

Marco hummed nervously as he looked down upon Frieda's unconscious form. 'Frieda, what is this power doing to you?' He thought.

Just then, the two heard a knock on the door. The two traded places, with Marco now treating Frieda while Marlowe looked through a peephole to see who it was. He then opened the door when he saw that it was Hitch.

"Has anything changed?" Marlowe asked.

"Nada," Hitch replied. "The King's paying the bosses good money to keep searching high and low for her. At this rate, they're probably gonna figure out where we've been hiding her sooner or later."

Marlowe sighed with disappointment. "There has to be something we can do."

"If only that stupid vow wasn't a thing," Hitch muttered. "She could just mind control them and make them forget that she's wanted. Problem solved."

"I don't think that she would do that, even if she could," Marco interjected. "Frieda doesn't seem like the kind of person who would manipulate other people's memories just to protect herself. Even when she was in her berserk state, she never attempted to kill Kenny or his men, even after they tried to kill her. I think someone like that would always try to find a peaceful way to save herself. One which doesn't take away anyone else's freedom."

Marlowe smiled and nodded, agreeing with Marco. Meanwhile, Hitch crossed her arms and scoffed, but deep down, she knew he was right.

Suddenly, Frieda's eyes snapped open and she jolted upwards with a gasp, launching the cold cloth off of her forehead and sending it sailing to the other side of the couch, before landing on her feet. Marco reeled back in surprise as Frieda clutched her forehead and breathed heavily. Marco placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to calm her down.

"Frieda? What's wrong?" Marco asked.

After she caught her breath, she took a moment to collect herself. Eventually, she found her voice. "The Marleyans… the people who sent the Armored and Colossal Titans, they're coming with two new Titan shifters. They're going to infiltrate Wall Rose, and create an army of Titans using the people of the walls. And they'll be here in two days!"

Everyone was nervous hearing that, but also a bit skeptical.

"How do you know about this?" Marlowe asked.

"It must be the Attack Titan's power," she said. "Just as Grisha said. The Attack Titan allows us brief glimpses into the future."

-M-

{2 days later…}

Wall Rose…

Mike led the charge against the Beast Titan and his army, with Annie following close behind him and the other leaders. The rest of the scouts remained behind as he gave commands to each of them.

"I want four separate teams, recruits and soldiers alike in each unit! When I give the signal, we'll split up! Get the word out to civilians, but do not engage the enemy! The only exception is Annie! She and I will dispatch the pure titans as well as the Beast Titan!" Mike then looked back at the Scouts. "Which one of you is most familiar with the area?"

"U-um, that would be me, sir," Sasha said. "My hometown is just to the north of here! Connie's hometown is also close by, right Connie?"

Sasha noticed an indescribable look on Connie's face, and it made her flinch slightly. She called out to him, and finally, he spoke.

"M-my village… my village is to the south, where the Titans are coming from," he said. "I can lead you to nearby settlements, but afterward, please, let me go home."

After mulling it over for a moment, Mike nodded. "Alright. Guide the southern team, then go home."

"Th-thank you, sir!"

"They've breached the woods!" Jean pointed out. "The enemy is on top of us!"

"Alright! SCATTER, NOW!"

The horses all diverged into different paths. As they all rode in different directions, Mike turned to look at Annie.

"Leonheart, now's your time!" He ordered.

Annie nodded in acknowledgment, then turned her horse and rode towards the oncoming horde of Titans. Once she got in close enough, she leaped off the back of her horse and bit into her hand. All at once, she was enveloped in a bright light as the Female Titan formed around her from the nape outwards. She then stood up and unleashed a howl which got the attention of every Titan in earshot. Once they all began approaching, Annie immediately engaged the smaller Titans by striking at their napes with hardened claws, and when the taller ones got in too close, she wrestled with them to the ground before slashing their napes out as well.

As Annie dropped Titan after Titan with her claws, the Beast Titan watched from afar, less baffled and more disappointed by what he saw. He then turned around and looked down at a barrel he had clutched in his hand. He lifted it up to his face and began to speak to it.

"It seems her father was right," he said. "Annie has betrayed us."

He heard someone's angered shouting from within, followed by a sequence of taps, with moments of silence in between them, which the Beast Titan listened to carefully.

"Not yet. If he was right about her betraying us, then he may have also been right about the giant that killed Bertholdt," Zeke replied. "If I sent you out now, we'd run the risk of drawing him out, which is the last thing we want to do now."

Zeke continued to observe Annie, who Mike was now backing up. Zeke paused, finding himself fascinated by the ODM gear he was using, and how finely tuned it was to slaying Titans.

'Fascinating,' Zeke thought. 'It seems that they already knew that we reside in the nape. I suppose it's best to harden mine, then, just to be safe.'

A clump of translucent blue crystal suddenly formed around Zeke's nape, making it neigh impenetrable to anyone who would try to strike at it. As he observed the battle, though, he soon noticed a horse rider riding off on her own. Zeke was curious about this but paid little mind to it until he saw a red rolling ball following her from a distance. However, this distraction gave Annie the opportunity to get in close and strike Zeke in the jaw.

'Ah… so that's how it's going to be,' Zeke thought.

-S-

As Sasha rode towards the village, passing through dense trees in the dead of night, with a lantern in her off-hand, she thought about her father, and how he convinced her to join with the rest of society.

'How long has it been? Three years?' She wondered. 'Surely he'd have the sense to pack up and leave by now, right?'

As Sasha rode forwards, she gasped in shock when she saw a set of footprints, which were definitely that of a Titan. It seemed to be a smaller one, but even they were dangerous. It was nerve-wracking to think they had gotten this far, and she knew just from that alone that the little shack she grew up in was no longer safe. However, the place she arrived at was no little shack, but instead, a large village, complete with a drawbridge connecting it to the side of the river she was on.

'Woah. When did all this get built?' She thought.

Her horse leaped over the open drawbridge and she rode into the village, unaware of the rolling ball of fluff tailing behind her.

At the first house she arrived at, Sasha found the source of the footprints she saw, in the form of a 3-meter-Titan slowly eating a woman who was letting out pained, raspy groans as blood poured from her thigh down her body. She was clearly in utter agony, but from the sound of her voice, she probably was no longer able to scream for help. Outside the house, Sasha found a sharp woodcutter's axe embedded into a tree stump. She brandished the axe, then ran inside, and with all her might she swung the axe down into the Titan's nape.

Sasha brought the axe down on the Titan's nape again and again and again, but she simply couldn't get the axe to pierce deep enough to kill the Titan, and it simply healed before she could do any actual damage. Eventually, the axe slipped out of her hands, flew through the air, and lodged itself above the front door, leaving Sasha without a means to kill the small Titan. Sasha wailed with fear as she looked around the house for anything she could use as a weapon.

Eventually, her eyes locked with a child sitting across from the Titan. She seemed almost catatonic, with a permanent empty expression plastered on her face. With no options left, Sasha grabbed the girl and fled. The dying mother watched them, and closed her eyes, content that her daughter was safe. However, as they ran, the Titan stopped feasting on its prey and turned to look out the front door, watching as Sasha and the child fled.

"Do you have a name, sweetie?" Sahsa asked nervously, trying to calm the girl and herself down.

The girl simply pointed forwards and asked, "What's that?"

Sasha looked ahead and saw Pigmon talking to her horse. Sasha and the girl stopped and she ran up to the little monster. The girl tilted her head in confusion when she saw Sasha talking to the fluffy red monster.

"Pigmon, what are you doing here?!" Sasha scolded. "You shouldn't be out here! It's dangerous!"

"Why are you talking to it?" She asked. "Is it friendly?"

Sasha turned around and tried to explain it to the girl, but before she could get a word out she glanced back at the house and saw the Titan approaching. Sasha's muscles tightened and her breathing quickened as sweat trickled down her face. Pigmon, undaunted by the sight of the small Titan, stepped past Sasha with a determined look on his face.

"P-Pigmon, wha-" Before Sasha could ask further, Pigmon sped past Sasha and the little girl, and directly toward the Titan. "NO!" She screamed.

Sasha ran after Pigmon, but as she did, she noticed a bright yellow light begin to envelop the little monster, growing brighter and brighter, until at last, he closed the distance between him and the Titan and tackled it, wrapping his hands and legs around the Titan as the yellow light enveloped both of them, growing so bright that Sasha was forced to avert her eyes. The Titan screamed and writhed in Pigmon's grip, but the little monster held on tight, refusing to let go of it. He could sense that the Titan was suffering from the curse it was forced to bear, and no matter what, Pigmon was determined to alleviate that pain.

Eventually, the light dissipated, and a gust of wind erupted from the two of them, so mighty that Sasha was knocked flat on her back. She groaned softly before looking up and seeing Pigmon standing not over the titan, but instead a naked, human man with brown hair. He was laying on his back, unconscious, but clearly breathing.

Sasha was stunned by this sight. She had heard from Annie that all Titans were once human, but seeing something like this firsthand was a surreal experience. As she gazed at the sight before her, she saw Pigmon collapse next to the man, exhausted from the maneuver he had just pulled. Sasha rushed towards the little kaiju and tried to wake him up. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a group of horses galloping towards her. She looked out to the street, and there she saw a group of horse riders led by her father approaching them.

"Sasha?! Is that you?" Her dad called as he arrived, before looking down at the creature and the naked man. "The hell's going on?"

Sasha glanced back at the little girl, who was utterly flabbergasted by everything that just happened. She then looked back at her father and rubbed the back of her head. "It's a long story."

-C-

As Connie rode through the ruins of the village he grew up in, he felt as though he was in a waking nightmare. In desperation, he called out to someone, anyone who might still be alive, but no matter how hard he screamed, there was no answer. In one final desperate act, he returned to his childhood home. Maybe, just maybe, his family might still be there. Maybe, by some miracle, his home survived this attack. But he soon received his answer when he saw a Titan laying on the roof of his home. Its bloodshot eyes were fixated on the young recruit, and its grin seemingly widened slightly upon seeing him.

"SPRINGER! GET BACK!" One of his commanding officers called, before pulling him away by the arm.

"B-but… it's my house…" Connie muttered.

The commanding officer gazed upon the titan, realizing that its limbs were likely too small for it to even move. He wondered how it could be possible for it to have gotten here… until he remembered the information that Annie previously divulged to the Scouts, and his stomach sank.

"Connie… I need to tell you something," he said with a bitter tone of voice.

"Wel… welcome… home…"

Both Scouts looked up in shock at the Titan. It seemed impossible, and yet, they both could have sworn that they heard the Titan speak.

-Z-

Meanwhile, Zeke held up his hardened arms as he felt strike after strike impact him. Annie's hardened knuckles pushed Zeke backward with each consecutive strike before she delivered a roundhouse kick to the knee. Zeke managed to harden his knee just in time before the kick connected, but moving the hardening from his arms to his leg left him open for Annie to swing her hardened hand right through his arm, cutting through it like a knife.

Zeke growled in frustration and stumbled backward, but the grateful that the bladed thumb wasn't able to cut the arm off completely. He heard a few taps from the barrel he was holding and responded while dodging more of Annie's strikes.

"Not yet," he whispered.

Annie didn't understand what he meant by that but knew that whatever or whoever was in that Barrel was probably important to whatever plan Zeke had, so she reached out to grab it from his hand. But before she could, Zeke rammed her with his shoulder, then delivered a hardened punch to her face, cracking her skull and knocking an eye out of its socket. However, Zeke was unable to follow up on the attack, allowing Annie to grab him by the arm, then harden her shoulder in an attempt to snap his arm off.

However, before she could do so, Zeke clamped his jaws down upon Annie's nape. Annie screeched loudly and cried out for help as he prepared to rip her nape out in one quick motion. But before he could tear it out, Zeke's jaw suddenly fell slack, steam billowing out of his cheeks.

'WHAT THE HELL!?' Zeke thought.

Zeke checked to see if Mike had abandoned the other Titans, only to find him huddled up in a tree, keeping the Titans distracted by using himself as bait. But then who-

Suddenly, both of Zeke's eyes were sliced out by someone in ODM gear, followed by his shoulders, the backs of his knees, his armpits, and finally, his heels, all too quickly for Zeke to react. As he fell to the ground, his nape still hardened, he heard his assailant land on the hardening, followed by two other soldiers.

"Well done, Levi," one of them said.

The one who was apparently named Levi responded. "Thanks, Erwin. So, what're we gonna do with the monkey boy?"

The one known as Erwin hummed for a moment before coming to a decision. "Dirk, inform Hange that we've managed to secure the Beast Titan."

"Yes sir," the third man said. However, as Zeke heard him take off, he then heard the sound of a machine gun, followed by his body dropping to the ground.

-L-

As Levi watched Dirk's bloody body fall to the ground, he tackled Erwin behind the Beast Titan's body before a volley of bullets assailed them. Soldiers wearing white uniforms with yellow armbands and white military helmets emerged from the forest and opened fire on Annie.

'Damn it!' He thought. 'They were ready for us! How, though?!'

Annie blocked the onslaught of bullets with her bare hands and marched toward the fleet of soldiers, stomping and smashing each of them. However, as more emerged from the bushes, she ended up being forced to march further into the enemy lines in order to wipe them all out, until eventually, she was ambushed by yet another Titan shifter. The Cart Titan.

Levi growled upon seeing the small quadrupedal Titan wrestling with their own shifter. Though the Cart Titan didn't seem to be armed, which came as a relief to Levi. But even still, the Cart Titan's speed and agility made it difficult for Annie to take her down while the Marleyan soldiers were shooting at them, and her mere presence meant that Annie couldn't just go back to killing the Marleyan soldiers without the other Titan pestering her.

In all this chaos, Levi and Erwin found themselves powerless when they realized that Zeke's right armpit had regenerated. Zeke propped himself up with his left arm and wound his right arm back. Levi tried to stop Zeke but ended up taking a bullet right to the thigh in the attempt before Erwin rescued him. Zeke then threw the barrel into the air, and as it reached the apex of its arc, lightning suddenly struck, and it exploded.

Levi, Annie, Erwin, and Mike all watched in horror as they saw the mushroom cloud suddenly appear. And as it faded, a titan taller than the walls themselves stood proudly, its heat so intense that it ignited fires that illuminated the dark, bloody night. Scouts from every direction all felt the explosion and saw the towering Titan standing above the trees. Their hearts pounded in unison, all in terror as they gazed upon the visage of the destroyer of Wall Maria.

The Colossal Titan was back.

-E-

Eren ran down the stairs of Utgard castle. While he had been ordered to stay back in case something went wrong, he figured that the return of the Colossal Titan probably qualified as "something going wrong" and took the initiative to leave the building and dispatch it just like he did with Bertholdt before.

"Ultraman," Eren said. "Does your Ultra Warrior code prohibit killing humans if it means defending your friends from one guy?"

"It does not," Ultraman said. "Ultra Warrior law Number 136-C Amendment 3 states that 'In a situation where an individual person or a group of people are attempting to kill another group of people, if the group under attack is greater than the attacking group by twenty percent or more, it is your duty as an Ultra Warrior to deal with the attackers, using lethal force only if necessary.'''

"Thanks for the lesson…" Eren replied with an awkward drawl in his voice.

However, before Eren could leave the building and confront the new colossal titan, he was suddenly stopped by a woman with a black and white striped body, a black head crest, pouty, ruby lips, flared-out nostrils, and piercing blue eyes with no pupils. She stood there with a hand on her hip, seemingly waiting for him, before perking up when he arrived.

"Hello," she greeted with a friendly smile.

Eren rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Um… hi? Who are yo-URK!"

Suddenly, she kicked Eren in the stomach, prompting him to clutch his stomach and curl up in pain, before a second kick was delivered to his chin, which launched him into a wall, and against a table.

"I'm a member of the species Dada. Unit J1-73C at your service," She said with a bow. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now."

She then pulled a large gun out from off of her back. Eren rolled out of the way just before it fired, then saw it shrink the table behind him to minuscule sizes before his very eyes. Eren dodged several more shots of this blaster, before ramming into her and shoving the blaster out of the way. Eren then kneed her in the gut, before tackling her to the ground and pummeling her. However, he was knocked off by a smack to the side of the head from her gun.

As J1-73C stood back up, Eren quickly grabbed a chair and used it to block another blast from her shrink ray. She was about to fire again but then heard a beep come from her gun. Upon checking it, she realized it was on cooldown.

"Oh for the love of…" She groaned before grabbing her gun by the mussel and swinging at Eren with it.

The Scout ducked beneath it and tackled her into a wall, then elbowed her in the chin, drawing yellow blood that reeked of rotten eggs and stung Eren's skin. The Dada lady responded by headbutting Eren, then delivering a flurry of blows to Eren. Eren eventually landed against a counter and reached for anything to use as a weapon, before smashing Levi's tea cup against her face, drawing more blood and causing her to wail in pain. He then shoved her over and bolted out the door, before pulling out his Beta Capsule.

But just before he transformed, he was suddenly grabbed by the throat and hoisted up to the sky, before being thrown down to the roof of the stables. Eren coughed and rubbed his throat before looking up and gasping, his fists tightening with rage as he laid eyes on his assailant. While the armor was different, now rocking a different mask shape and an emerald green coloration instead of silver, there was no mistaking who it was.

"Bemular," Eren growled.

"As much as I know you'd love to fight right now, Ultraman, killing you like this would be far too easy, and would prove nothing," they said. "Besides, it's not you who I'm here for tonight."

Before Eren could respond to that, Bemular charged their tail with energy, and swung it twice, sending out two red shockwaves which sliced through the roof and caused it to collapse beneath Eren. As Eren fell to the ground, a single beam of wood smacked him right in the forehead, knocking him out cold.

-B-

Bemular turned around and looked at J1-73C, who was limping out of the castle doors while plucking shards of glass out of her face.

"I thought I told you to let me handle it," they said.

"I thought I told you to let me handle it," she mocked. "Why haven't you saved the Reionic already?!"

"I thought it was funny to watch the human beat you," they teased.

As J1-73C sputtered furiously, Bemular clicked a button on their new helmet, activating an X-Ray scanner. Using it, they were able to find the dungeon Reiner was kept in, as well as several armed guards all the way down to his cell. Bemular strutted towards the door to the dungeon and ripped the door off of its hinges. Almost immediately, Bemular was met with gunfire, which they deflected with a forcefield before stabbing the soldiers one by one with their charged claws, causing them to explode.

One of the soldiers tried to run, only for them to grab him by his neck with their tail, and then squeeze until his neck snapped. Bemular then swung their charged tail, unleashing a shockwave that cleaved right through the guards, slicing them all in half before dissipating.

Eventually, Bemular arrived at Reiner's cell, and quickly ripped the door open. Reiner winced at the loud screeching of metal but was grateful for the rescue.

"Long time, no see, eh Reiner?" They said.

"Too long…" Reiner replied.

Bemular broke Reiner free of his bindings, then carried him out of the dungeon as his limbs slowly regenerated. Along the way, they passed by several bodies of Scouts lying dead on the floor, many of them cut in half. As the two exited the dungeon, Reiner looked up and saw the Colossal Titan wreaking havoc and tapped Bemular on the shoulder with one of his arm stumps.

"Bemular, we should re-group with them," Reiner said. "Marley would be a valuable ally in the future."

"We already have an ally far more valuable," Bemular replied.

As if on cue, J1-73C approached the two. Reiner tensed up upon seeing her, but Bemular was able to calm Reiner down. They then explained the situation involving the space organization they had enlisted into recently, which was located on a ship that was orbiting between Earth and Mars. They described the many different alien species aboard that ship, and how J1-73C was one of them. They also described how the alliance was led by a giant named Yapool, and how with their help, they were able to upgrade their armor.

"Reiner, the council offers us the chance to both get what we want," Bemular said. "You get to destroy the devils on Paradis, and I get to truly and utterly defeat Ultraman. So what do you say, Reiner? Will you join us?"

Bemular held out their hand to Reiner, who considered the offer. However, when looking back at his comrades from Marley, he knew that he couldn't just abandon them. So, he came up with a compromise.

"Give me two weeks to convince the other Warriors to join the alliance. If by then they say yes, you just got yourself four shifters for the price of one."

"And if they say no?" The Dada asked.

"Then I…" Reiner sighed dejectedly. "I'll still join you guys."

Bemular and J1-73C nodded and turned to leave, reminding him that they will be back in two weeks. But before they left, Bemular left Reiner with two things Reiner had lost. As Reiner had regenerated most of his arms and legs by now, Bemular wrapped his communicator around his wrist and placed his Battlenizer in his hand.

"We'll be waiting for you, Reiner," Bemular said.

With that, Bemular and the Dada were enveloped in a beam of light and disappeared. With nothing left to do, Reiner placed his Battlenizer in his pocket and transformed so he could join up with Marly. However, before he could, he suddenly saw a woman dressed in tan leather armor with a black whip in her hand land in front of Reiner.

'What the hell is she wearing?' Reiner thought. However, he quickly shook off that question. 'Doesn't matter. I'm still a Titan, so one person doesn't stand a chance against me.'

That's what he thought, however, the girl flew up and did a test swing, cracking the whip against Reiner's shoulder, which immediately shattered his armor plating and caused broke his shoulder.

'HOLY SHIT!' Reiner screamed mentally. 'Okay, can't engage her! I just have to keep moving. Hopefully, I can outrun her.'

Reiner began fleeing from the armored woman, who giggled gleefully before chasing after him.

However, unbeknownst to them, within the stables, beneath a pile of rubble, Eren's hand twitched and slowly tightened around the Beta Capsule. Eventually, he lifted his finger and pressed the button.