Petra's world wavered in and out of focus. She was spinning, struggling to remain conscious as she stared at the remaining lower half of Gohan. Of her love. Of their only hope. Cell released her, and she sagged to the floor, her body empty of the will to stand. Slumped on the floor, all she could do was look at all that remained of him.
She wanted to scream, felt the urge to do it. To scream, or cry, curse and rage. But instead she did nothing, as her world crumbled around her.
"Ah… You know, I worried for a moment." Cell admitted, smugly stepping closer to look over Gohan's remaining limbs. "I was worried that killing him wouldn't be as satisfying as I dreamed it could be. Now that I'm here, and it's over…" He took in a deep sniff of air, savouring the moment. "I couldn't be happier."
A twitch in her body, and Petra began to rise. It was slow, she moved like a zombie or a puppet on broken strings, rising and moving without even realising what she was doing at first. By the time she realised it, she was standing before Cell, his curious gaze looking back at her and the fist she held raised in the air.
She hit him. Weakly, even for her. Then again, and again. Weak, fragile fists, bouncing off his unyielding body as she struck. The tears fell freely, her voice came in, rising from a whimper to a yell. There were no words to describe her pain, only the wounded wailing of a woman in grief.
"The bereaved…" Cell rolled his eyes at her attacks. He allowed her three more punches before he raised his hand, and a pulse of energy blasted her off her feet and hard onto the dirt. Parts of her uniform burned and she yelled out in pain from his attack. "Little puny humans, always so boring when they grieve. I've heard the crying wails countless others like you little girl, do you really think I would tolerate more?"
"Why… why do this?" Petra could only hiss the words, such hate and anger the only thing managing to make her speak. "What's the point of all this? Just to kill?"
"Hmph." Cell took several steps forwards. Petra did not shrink back, she held no fear over the uncertainty of death. Gohan was dead, soon she would be too. "The point is whatever I want it to be. Killing Gohan was revenge, evening the score for what he did to me in our world. What I do to all of you, that's just fun. Entertainment."
"Entertainment…" She spat the word. "That's all we are to you. Just little insects to study and play with. Toying with us."
"That's right." It felt surprisingly good for him to admit it out loud. He had searched for a purpose since being birthed, leaping from goal to goal. Absorbing the androids and achieving his perfect form, then matching himself against the strongest to prove his might. Now… now he was the strongest. This world was nought before him. He could wipe the people and the world itself away with a mere flex of his power.
He considered it. Blowing the world away and then travelling onwards. But… why? To what end? The universe was now his to play with. If that was the case, then why not start here? Cell looked over the small group of survivors. Gohan's... disciples. He sneered at them, but he also saw the potential. The chance for some enjoyment.
"Well well well, I have some good news for you all. I'm not going to kill you right now." None of them looked relieved. Too devastated or terrified to react to his words. "Instead, I'm going to give you a little bit longer, but how much longer is up to you and how hard you're willing to fight." He rose up into the air, gaze surveying across the world as he began planning his first steps. "Prepare yourself for the fight of your lives. By my estimation, you might have a few short hours before the end of your world begins. I'll see you all soon."
A crack of the air signalled his exit, a boom through the sky from his speed and power. As the world returned to silence, the team of survivors sat slumped in defeat.
"What… what do we do now?" Sasha was the first to speak, looking around the ruined land, unable to gaze at the remains of Gohan.
Nobody answered. There was quiet, until a sudden shuffling on the ground. Petra rose, dull eyes returning to life as rage filled them and she whirled on Mikasa. Her first punch landed true, catching her off guard. The second was caught, though not by Mikasa who was still too stunned to react. Instead, it was Jean who had intervened.
"Petra, stop it."
"The hell are you doing? She got him killed! SHE KILLED GOHAN!"
"Cell killed Gohan!" He caught another attempt at punching by her. It was weak, her body uncoordinated as she reacted in shock and sheer emotion. "He'll kill us too next. We need to go back to base and plan. Whatever he's going to do, we need everyone there."
Petra fell back, strength leaving her body. Reluctantly, Jean took in the looks of all those who were left. Sasha, Petra, Mikasa, Mina, and himself. They would be the ones to tell of what happened, and it would be they who would need to help prepare to fight whatever came next. Jean floated slightly, looking over them all.
"Everybody move, we're flying back to base."
Slowly, one by one they each rose into the air. Numbly moving before they began to fly. Some looked back, but Petra's eyes lingered the whole way, still in utter disbelief at the loss of her Gohan.
She just couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true. Somehow, she would wake up and this would all be some terrible nightmare. Gohan couldn't really be dead…
At the Liberio Internment Zone, a small congregation of soldiers stood waiting. Not a word was spoken, only a tense silence was cast over them as they felt the approaching team. One team, no second, and no Gohan. The strongest among them had felt the moment that his power had ceased, the moment where only Cell had remained. Horrified shock had set in among them.
None spoke when the team came into view, nor when they landed before the assembled troops. Nobody spoke until Mike stepped forwards. His voice was shaky, but he held himself firm. He wouldn't falter, not until he confirmed what he knew.
"We sensed everything. Ilse, Gohan, the others… are they…?"
Jean looked to Petra. Technically, she was senior to him, but clearly in no shape to speak. A sullen look in her eyes as she stared off into nothingness. Reluctantly, he stepped forwards, wondering not for the first time just why he had always ended up being among the ones to take charge. Life would have been so much easier if he could keep himself in the background.
"It's true. Team 1 took casualties, 100%. Gohan was… killed by Cell."
Hushed and shocked whispers went up among them. Mike should have silenced them, but for several moments he was lost. Mike and Ilse's relationship wasn't secret, but Jean knew it wasn't just that. Levi, Nanaba, even Eren, Mike had known them all for years and known them well. He called them friends, comrades, and now they were dead. But Mike proved he was deserving of his title as he swallowed down his pain and turned to the others.
"Stow the chatter." They went quiet, looking to him for guidance as he worked through his options. "Get me a line to command, I need to speak to Premier Pixis. Get a flyer back to the Paradis Military, we'll need to inform them too. Petra…" The woman's eyes snapped up to him, only vaguely returning to reality. "Petra, you need to see the doctor. Get your injuries checked out."
"I'm fine."
"Go to the doctor," he repeated, "they'll tell me if your fine or not."
Petra moved to argue, but there was no fight in her left. She sagged and was led off towards the medical area. Mike watched her leave, a million thoughts running through his mind, but only one that really mattered to him.
Ilse.
His love, now gone. Far away from him, without even a chance for him to be there, to say anything more to her. They'd both known it had been possible, but also had both believed it couldn't be true. Gohan was there, he would fight Cell. No matter what happened, Gohan would appear and save her just as he had all those years ago when he'd first saved her.
All those years, all those memories. All to be lost.
Now Gohan was dead too. Humanities saviour, the most powerful being who had ever existed. The best of them. Dead like countless others. Like they would be too. It would just take time…
Mike didn't know how much time they had left, which was why he made his way too the makeshift headquarters quickly. He had to get in touch with the rest of the military and inform them of what had happened. Whatever came next, they would need everyone.
Levi awoke as he hit the ground, sharp pain stabbing up through the broken bones of his ribs. One of his eyes felt swollen, and he could only see partially out of it. The other was open enough for him to see a horrifying sight.
Cell, standing and overlooking another city.
His breath caught, and he tried to move quietly but in vain. Cell turned to look at him with a smug impression.
"Levi Ackerman… formerly considered humanities strongest." He spoke to him with a sense of almost familiarity. It was chilling, especially since Levi had never revealed his last name in the presence of Cell, nor the title he had long lost to Gohan. "It seems that no matter what world I'm in, humanity continues to be so small. But honestly, even for humans this world is weak. Even Yamcha would be able to conquer this whole planet without even getting a scratch. Pathetic…"
He walked over to Levi, his tail reaching out and ensnaring him. He was wrapped up and held up into the air to see the city more clearly.
"This world holds so little of value for me, but some of you do hold some interesting chemistry inside of you."
"Why-" Levi gasped the words out. "Why are you telling me this?"
"What better joy is there in the world than the one you share with others?" Cells smile was so inhumanly gleeful it was terrifying.
"The hell do you think we are? Friends!?"
Cell laughed, openly guffawing at Levi's snide remark. Cell couldn't help it, it just tickled him the way so many humans got just so angry with him. "Oh no… you are simply to be my first test subject. My first trial with the secrets of this world. I do find myself ever so curious about you people and your… Titans." He looked Levi in the eye, the man realising with fear his plans. "There it is. The reason for my joy."
Levi tried to speak. To say something, anything, even just to let out a scream of pain, but it all happened too quickly. Cell's tail stabbed into the man's spine, and something new was shot directly inside. Levi's body spasmed, rippling and sparking before he was hurled away.
Cell threw his body down towards the city, his body rolling closer as the sparks of electricity built. Before finally, there was a flash of lightning, a bolt striking down from the heavens and striking Levi's body. An explosion of steam to follow, and the screaming cry of a monster.
"Why didn't you say what I did?" It was all Mikasa could wonder as Jean and the others followed her. Sasha and Mina wouldn't say a word, but Jean could at least manage a few short sharp sentences.
This was a question too far however, and Jean grunted out an angry sigh. "It's exactly what I told Petra Mikasa. Whatever is going to happen next, we need everyone. You're strong, maybe now the strongest of us all. If we're going to have any chance of surviving, we'll need you."
Mikasa nodded. She felt the burning question at the tip of her tongue. She tried to fight it, to not ask, but she had to. "What about after? If we survive…?"
He didn't answer. Mikasa saw it though, there was a snarl on his lips that he bit back. It hurt to see, especially from Jean. She may not have returned his affections as he would have liked, but she had long considered him a friend, one she respected heavily. But he didn't respect her, not now, not after what she'd done.
"After…" Jean repeated, wondering if it was even worth thinking of such an impossibility. "After, if we survive, I don't ever want to see you again."
It stung. Mikasa's walls had come down in the recent years, and it pained her to be hated as she was. Sasha and Mina might not have said the words, but their sentiment was shared between them all.
"I only did what I had to."
"You lied to us. You attacked us. Us. Your comrades. I don't care what you say, there must have been another way." Jean's anger was personal, one of betrayal, and not one that Mikasa could blame him for. Until and unless she was proven correct, Mikasa had helped to murder several of their friends, their comrades, and their saviour.
Mikasa didn't say another word until they arrived at their target. She opened the doors to the house where inside lay in waiting Zeke and Dina. The two were surprised to see the others in the company of Mikasa however, looking at each other with mild concern.
"So…" Zeke began. "What happened?"
Jean's fist hit him squarely across the chin. Zeke may have had several years and Titan healing abilities as advantage on Jean, but Jean had Ki. Zeke's jaw broke in an instant and he was sent flying backwards into a wall. He let out a yelp as he hit it, Dina rushing to his side to collect him and help him rise.
"Gohan is dead."
The cold tone and words shook Zeke into focus. Previously beginning to anger, it faded as instantly as he heard the words. He let his jaw heal, electricity sparking and steam billowing from his chin before he finally spoke.
"Ah… so you know about the plan."
"You four and your fucking plan." Jean spat at the ground before them. "People are dead, good people. Including Gohan. So you better tell me right now, just what exactly you people were planning. How the hell do we survive this? Mikasa told us this was apparently the only way we might have a chance to survive, so you tell me, right now."
Zeke coughed, looking at his mother and Mikasa. They shared an unknown conversation before the two of them backed away and Zeke stood upright.
"I… don't know."
"WHAT!?" Sasha, Mina, Jean, any of them could have been the one to blurt out the words. Each of them was sent into a sudden rage as they heard Zeke's admittance. Jean gripped Zeke by his shirt, lifting him up and raising a Ki ball to his face that began to burn his skin, flashes of electricity sparking across his face as his body tried to heal in response.
"Listen! Listen!" Zeke waved his hands placatingly, tapping Jean's hands in surrender. "Eren couldn't tell us what exactly would happen. Something about how if we knew, we wouldn't act right. But I do know that this is all part of what he planned to happen alright? You want to be mad at someone, be mad at Eren and his plan. All we did was follow it as we had to."
"You lied to us all!" Jean brought the Ki ball closer, Zeke's skin beginning to truly sizzle under the heat of it. "And you're still no better than a monster yourself. I still remember all the blood you have on your hands. What you did at Connie's village. You took his family from him!" Blinding light came from the ball of Ki as Jean's power was subconsciously pumped into it. Zeke couldn't fight against the yelp of pain he let out, his face burning.
But Jean wasn't a torturer. He was angry, but he had not lost himself. He pulled back, growling before he flicked away his hand, enough self-control to let the energy dissipate harmlessly. He dropped Zeke to the ground, the man's body healing quickly, proof of his many years of Titan experience.
"Fine then… what do you know? What happens next?"
Zeke prodded against his cheek as the burns faded away, and the smell of charred meat dissipated out through the rest of the house. It was still tender in parts, but he could speak. "After you all lure Cell out, and Gohan is killed. We just have to survive for as long as we can."
"Survive?" Mina cut in with an angry sneer. "Against Cell? That thing could blow up the planet, how the hell are we meant to survive?"
"Not against Cell." Dina spoke up, clarifying so that her son didn't need to lose any more time healing. "Against something else. Something that's coming. A new Rumbling."
Jean's eyes narrowed in confusion, and then his eyes widened. He could feel it, feel what was now coming.
"Oh shit…"
Panic was running loose in the command tent of the Marley officers. What had once been a simple establishment from the supplies brought by train had quickly become a more permanent fixture, outfitted with every tool they could possibly need. The number of radios and communications equipment was astounding, providing an incredible level of communication from the north of Marley, all the way to the south with no interruptions.
It was this level of communication that provided the full scale of the apocalyptic events that were unfolding.
"All forces attempting to fall back in the Krolva region have been lost!" General Calvi swore silently. Yet another region had been confirmed dead at an astounding rate, and the radio operator was already receiving another alert by the looks of things. He gripped his headset with wide eyes, scribbling down more notes. "Hizuru is confirming an invasion, they're requesting reinforcements."
If Willy Tyber were still in the room, Calvi imagined he would have made some comment about the political opportunity of the situation. Indeed, Hizuru calling for help from Marley was quite a stretch for them. While not officially enemies, their relations could be considered frosty at best. Of course, it didn't matter at all what political gain there could have been.
It was the end of the world after all.
"Inform them that reinforcements are being sent, but they must hold the line." Calvi said, watching as the operator relayed the message quickly.
By his side, one of his aides looked at him in confusion. "Sir… who are we sending?"
"Nobody. We need Hizuru to die fighting to give us as much time as possible. What's the latest reports on our ships?"
The aide nodded sadly, accepting the macabre reasoning as he handed over a form that listed all the latest messages for the mobilisation. "The fourth and seventh fleet are under way, the first fleet was intercepted on their travels. Admiral Beitel's last message was that he was going to try and buy us as much time as possible."
"Mark him for a posthumous commendation." It was a meaningless decision in the grand scheme of things. Most likely, none of them would survive long enough to note anything beyond basic information, but it would help keep up the morale of those in the room somewhat. "What about the rest of the fleets?"
"All remaining fleets that were not already with us are either engaged or lost General."
He knew it was coming, but the sudden loss of breath in his lungs surprised him. So, this was now it. Everything that they had left.
Marley was beyond under attack; it was being exterminated. Methodically, cruelly, and quickly. The Mid-East Alliance was near dead according to the last reports he had received, though he found no chance for himself to have any joy in the outcome. How many hours had it been? Such a short space of time for everything to go so wrong.
A new man entered the room, one of the Eldians from Paradis. A messenger of theirs who had arrived coincidentally at the same time as Calvi had ordered one of his own to travel out.
"Corporal Floch Forster." He introduced himself, twitching at the instinctual need to salute but holding himself back. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to salute a foreign officer after all. The twitch was the sign of inexperience and youth, unsurprising given the man's young age. It was hard to believe he was more powerful than everyone else in the room combined. "I've been sent with a message from my superiors. They want to discuss with you the situation of Cell."
"I know." Calvi turned to face him fully, wishing he could have a drink or a smoke, something to give his own twitching fingers something to do. "Tell them I'm prepared to meet now, as soon as possible. Whatever terms they want to demand for assistance we'll accept."
Floch blinked in surprise. "Uh… isn't that Willy Tybur person meant to make a decision like that?"
"Willy and his sister are all indisposed currently." Indisposed inside of a temporary holding cell. "I'm acting in command here, for all remaining Marley forces."
"Very well." Floch nodded and took a step back to move. "I'll pass it along and-"
A boom of artillery fire interrupted him, and Calvi's eyes widened. He ran out of the headquarters with several others in tow, sprinting towards the nearest observation deck to grab a pair of binoculars. Several other artillery pieces opened fire, the staccato of explosions ringing out in the distance, one that was now far too close for his liking.
"Closing distance! All batteries continue firing!" The artillery officers were doing their jobs well in coordinating fire, and it didn't take long for Calvi to see their target.
Titans.
A dozen of them, each of varying sizes, and each of them sprinting at an inhuman speed towards them. Calvi watched one of them look skywards as shells came in, then fling itself to the side as it dodged what would have been a direct hit. It was knocked off course, but recovered quickly and resumed its unyielding pace.
The rest of the artillery opened fire, every gun that could reach them blasting away multiple volleys on target. It was too much for the Titans to react to, and clouds of smoke obscured their bodies as they were obliterated under the Marley Military's immense firepower.
As the dust cleared, a dozen Titans lay dead and smoking in the distance. A dozen, among what could very well have been millions.
The attacks had started some distance away, beyond the battle lines of Marley and the Mid-East Alliance. First one, then more. Hundreds of Titans appearing out of the blue. Thousands and more. The initial reports had been scattered, confused, but one message had come through with a clear description of events. It had cost the operator their life, but the radio operator of the Mid-East Alliance had delivered a message world wide for all to hear.
They had seen a monster, green in nature and with bug like wings, fly directly over a city, releasing a spray of some chemical mist behind it. Then, an entire city had transformed into Titans. Not ordinary ones, and not only Eldians, but instead every inhabitant had also become one of the monsters and begun attacking everywhere.
Every base, every city, of every nation, on every country. The entire world was under attack by a new kind of Titan. Ones that ran, fought smarter, harder, more aggressively. These one's didn't try and devour, only kill.
Calvi dropped his binoculars. The monsters had finally reached his doorstep. A scouting party, only a taste of what was to come.
Floch landed by his side, having hovered up into the air to see the carnage and relative success. In spite of their victory, it had only further proven their inevitable defeat. Their concentration of forces here had been everything that could be spared to fight Gohan. Twelve had been manageable, but there was an impossible number of Titans still to come. And only a very real limit on their ammunition stockpiles.
"Corporal Forster, slight change of plans. Take me with you to see your commanders, we need to talk now."