The downpour over the city of Trost did not last long, ending after a short half hour, spilling the blood shed that day into a sinister reddish tide.
The survivors of the 104th Cadet Corps had gathered on several nearby rooftops, exhausted and traumatized. They had seen so many horrible things today, the sight of devoured men and women and the memory of their screams of anguish haunted their minds, and the thought that they too, would meet the same fate nailed them to their despair.
"Hey, Jean," Connie, one of the few cadets who managed to put aside the trauma, tried to rally his friend. "What are we going to do?"
The latter did not even look at him, his eyes were riveted on the roof.
"There is nothing we can do. They finally gave us the order to withdraw but we're all out of gas," he sighed. "I can't believe this is how it's going to end…because of those damn cowards."
"Are you talking about the guys at the supply depot?" Connie asked confused. "Where are they?!"
"They've all lost their will to fight," Jean explained dejectedly. "I can understand why...but they abandoned their duty to resupply us in order to barricade themselves inside the HQ. And the Titans have invaded the place, which means we can't get the gas ourselves."
Connie grew increasingly aggravated by the situation.
"So what are we waiting for? We must go! Start reducing their number so that we have a chance! Sitting here on this roof is completely useless! The Titans will eventually come for us!"
Jean gave him a cold disdainful look.
"We don't have much gas left," he growled. "We would waste the little we have if we try to run away. And without our mobility, we're completely screwed."
He sighed again before continuing:
"You're using your head for once, Connie," he remarked. "Congratulations, but do you really think we can pull off such a thing with such a low number of people? The veterans of the vanguard have all been killed. How would a group of recruits pull off a suicide mission like this? I mean, let's be generous and expect half of our forces to survive the initial assault. Then what? The Supply Warehouse is likely filled with three to four meter Titans. I don't see us accomplishing much there."
The words sank into Connie's head and the will to do something flew from his gaze.
"It's hopeless," he finally realized.
Jean heaved another sigh.
"Goddesses, what a shitty life I had… if I had known I would have told her…"
On another part of the roof, Sasha unsuccessfully tried to rally the troops.
"Come on guys. We can do it! All right? Let's go! If we all work together, we can do it! I know we can do it. All right?! I will take the lead if necessary!
Her words fell on deaf ears. The cadets were too traumatized to move. They had seen horrors they had never imagined, even in their worst nightmares.
A little further, Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt and Marco were looking towards the horizon, visibly waiting for something… A sign or an opportunity perhaps…
"Reiner?" The little blonde ended up asking. "What are we going to do?"
"We are waiting," he answered, "if we do something, it will be together."
"It's over…"
Marco was the one who had spoken these words, he had the same traumatized look as the others, his monotonous voice was as if dead.
"No matter what we do, we'll all die without being able to leave this town," he continued in the same tone before rolling his eyes. "I had resigned myself to death you know? But I'm going to die for nothing..."
The distinctive sounds of ODM equipment were suddenly heard, and the cadets raised their heads to discover the identities of the comrades who were joining them.
Amos and Armin, landed beside them, the smaller of the two blondes looking shaken, but his expression reflected a positivity that no one here had until now. The taller one, on the other hand, seemed unhappy.
"Guys…" a rookie blurted out feverishly, "it's Amos. Amos is here."
The other cadets raised their heads, and stared at their valedictorian with mad hope in their eyes. A hope that exasperated said valedictorian more than anything else.
"Those poor bastards think I'm gonna save them all with a wave of my magic wand... Now that's pathetic..."
"Annie!"
Armin's heart skipped a beat hearing that voice, Amos gritted his teeth in frustration.
The little blond saw Mikasa coming, it seems that she had decided to abandon the rear guard after having finished evacuating the civilians.
"I know how badly things have gone," she said despite the lack of regret in her voice. "I know it's selfish to put personal feelings first, but have you seen Eren's squad? »
"Some squads managed to climb," Annie replied, "but I don't know about Eren."
Reiner pointed his thumb behind him.
"Armin just arrived with Amos, though."
Seeing the blondes, Mikasa hurried to join them.
"Armin!"
He had lowered his head, unable to hold her gaze as she appeared before him.
"Armin, are you okay?" she asked softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you hurt?"
Every second of his silence amplified her concern.
"Where's Eren?" she finally asked with a hint of desperation.
Amos couldn't stand it any longer, and put a hand on the oriental girl's shoulder while looking at her straight in the eyes.
"Mikasa, Armin is the sole survivor of his squad.
These words caused three reactions, first, the little blond looked up at her, revealing his anguished face covered in tears. Then, what little morale the cadets had managed to recover immediately crumbled. Many of them bowed their heads in mourning, and some looked at Armin still trying to understand the meaning of his words. They couldn't believe that Eren Jaeger, among all the other cadets, had met his end. All the other members of the top 10 were unscathed.
Mikasa had the feeling that someone had pierced her chest with a spear. She had failed. She had failed to take care of him when he needed her. She had broken the promise made to Carla, and now he was dead too. Once again, Mikasa was alone, and this time that was for good.
Amos would have liked to give them enough time to grieve, but he had to defuse the situation in order to put his plan into motion, so he chose to take charge immediately:
"Will tears give us back our dead?!" he roared with a fury that no one expected.
"No sir!" replied the cadets with a start.
"Will being depressed like a frightened cat on a roof save your life?!"
"No sir!" they replied more confidently, and this time almost everyone had spoken.
"Do you all intend to die here like a bunch of stray dogs?!"
"No sir!" they all answered in chorus, even Armin had regained his speech, only Mikasa hadn't joined in the answer.
"That's very good to hear!" he snarled before stepping over to the edge of the roof to stare at the titan-covered building. "We will have to make a breakthrough to infiltrate HQ, we will advance in a triangle formation to cover as much ground as possible!"
Several cadets urged to quickly place their trust in Nox, but Marco still had doubts:
"But… there are far too many titans, even with you or Mikasa in the lead, we won't be able to pass…"
The Oriental girl immediately glared at him.
"I can do it!" She shouted, pulling herself up to Amos' level.
"Mikasa! exclaimed Armin panicked. Don't…
"Armin, calm down!" she retorted violently. "It's not time for tears yet."
The little blond flinched as he met her gaze, her eyes completely devoid of… anything. Those were the eyes of a corpse.
"Oh fuck no," Amos growled inwardly, "not those fucking eyes. Anything but that…"
Marco instinctively recoiled when he saw her.
"I am strong," Mikasa declared, raising her sword. "Very strong. Even Amos doesn't measure up. You hear me? I am a warrior!"
The latter… raised a dubious eyebrow.
"Despite the terrible pain she is in, she's immediately trying to move forward… It's an improvement from last time… but… something's off she looks like she is about to collapse."
"I have the power to kill any Titan that stands in our way…even if I have to do it alone. As for me, I'm surrounded by incompetent cowards."
The cadets looked at her, surprised. Some were offended that she had the nerve to insult them, even if it brought them out of their traumatic state.
"That has no chance of working," he sighed inwardly, "Actually… now that I think about it… the overwhelming majority of the cadets present are boys…"
The rant continued:
"You can all sit here and look at me with envy, because that's all you can do! Look at me with envy!"
"Wait, Mikasa, are you insane?! It's crazy!" a cadet protested.
"You can't eliminate them all yourself," another added.
"If I can't beat them, then I'll die, but if I win, I'll live…and the only way to win is to fight."
This time Amos understood her intentions, and he clenched his fists white in anger.
"You... fucking bitch! You don't intend to fight! You just want to kill yourself!"
He gritted his teeth, swallowed his feelings, and spoke:
"Reiner! You and I will take the second row right behind her."
"Understood!"
"Jean, Bertholdt and Marco, you guys take the third row," he commanded the he spoke louder, "I have only one thing to tell you: if you stop you're doomed! So go as fast as you can to HQ!"
"Yes sir!"
Mikasa left before he even finished speaking, which made him roll his eyes.
"Come on, move your asses! Unless you really are a bunch of wimps!" He called before taking off with Reiner at his side.
"They are right!" Jean added with a snarky tone. "You really are a bunch of fucking cowards!"
"Hurry up! You plucked chickens!" Sasha shouted before leaving in turn.
Finally motivated, the rest of the cadets let out a cry of determination before following Potato girl. Even the sun was beginning to shine through the clouds on their silhouettes.
The whole group followed Mikasa, Reiner and Amos. The three spike heads decimated the Titans that approached them on the path to HQ. The oriental girl led the way cleanly, and the boys were covering for her whenever needed. The tactic was to avoid fighting as much as possible by using the gas sparingly, something Mikasa didn't do at all. Indeed, the young woman was drawing on her reserves as much as possible to go as fast as possible. And what had to happen happened, she ran out of gas and disappeared in an alley.
"Keep going!" Amos yelled at the top of his lungs as he took her place. "Jean! Replace me!"
"Understood!" the latter shouted despite the abominable feeling that gnawed at his insides, then, he noticed something horrible. "Fuck! Amos?! Some guys have stopped!"
Nox recorded the information, before taking the deepest breath of his life:
"OOOONWAAAAAAARD!" he roared with all his might.
His scream echoed through the whole neighborhood, and into the skulls of the other cadets still alive.
"If you stop, you're dead!" he reminded everyone as Reiner killed a ten meter titan. "No matter what happens! Never mind the horrors! If you want to survive you have to keep moving forward!"
He did not see it as his attention was focused on the road, but some of the cadets who had chosen to stop to help their friends who had ran out of gas reluctantly drove off despite their tears and the cries of those they had abandoned. The other part ended up being devoured.
But as they approached Headquarters, Amos was unpleasantly surprised to see a troop of five to eight-meter titans heading their way, followed by a crooked-nosed fifteen-meter.
"Reiner! Jean! Slow down! I'll take care of this bunch of giant pigs all by myself!" he ordered, staying high up, out of reach of the smaller creatures.
Neither of them agreed as it seemed impossible to attack a beast of that size from the front, but they chose to obey their self-appointed superior nonetheless.
Predation suddenly captured Amos' gaze, time suddenly slowed down, and Nox simulated the best way to take down his opponent before putting it into practice:
"First, frighten the prey."
He sent his two blades to pierce the eyes of the titan, who immediately clapped its hands on its face.
"Bypass the enemy."
He planted his grappling hook in his target's right pectoral, and went under his armpit while arming himself with two new weapons, before propelling himself high with a good thrust of gas.
"Skinning the game."
He took advantage of the very short window at his disposal to inflict the mortal wound on the creature's neck. He landed on its shoulder, then effortlessly leaped onto the roof nearby while it fell, the huge body slowly slumped over the smaller titans who were already speeding towards her comrades.
"Enjoy the feast."
"The whole procedure requires surgical precision," he murmured under the dumbfounded gaze of Jean and Reiner.
"Ooooonwaaaard!" he yelled as loudly as possible, pointing the building with the blade. "This is your opening! Everyone inside HQ! Do not stop!"
He cringed when he saw that he had lost more than a third of his troops, but was content momentarily with this small victory.
He was however taken by surprise when a terrible headache came to twist his brain, he staggered slightly before stabilizing himself, and felt a trickle of blood running down his nose.
"Damn...I haven't stopped since the start of this damn mission...And I hardly practiced during my classes...My brain isn't used to putting in so much effort anymore."
He wiped off his hemoglobin with the back of his hand, and mechanically weighed his demijohns.
"I'm lucky the corpse I looted still had 80% of its reserves." he thought as he prepared to join his comrades.
But his legs refused to move, making him frown.
"The fuck's happening to me?" he asked aloud. "Why can't I move forward?"
An image of Mikasa and him in the middle of a martial arts lesson imposed itself on his mind, that day, the young woman had insisted that he taught her precisely the most sensitive points of the human body, in order for her to know which area she had to avoid touching if she wanted to prevent the serious injuries she could have inflicted on their comrades.
Nox couldn't believe his own brain.
"What… the hell…?"
A new image appeared, that of an evening where the cadets had played Truth or Dare while indulging in alcohol, the blond had been very unhappy when he was forced by Connie to arm wrestle against the oriental girl, a challenge that he had completely lost.
"Why… ?" he asked himself. "Why is…? Is that kind of thoughts...?"
He swallowed his immediate resentment to feed the unreal desire that fueled his imagination. But he was unable to contain the extent of his thoughts when they reminded him of a very particular memory during his classes.
This moment, this conversation he had had with the Oriental girl, had been as brief as it had been important in his eyes. He had slumped his back on the balcony railing of their dormitory, while she had bent over it on her elbows to watch the setting sun during their discussion. They had talked about family, future, feelings and reasons for existence… The conversation may not have been long, but it had been instructive for both of them.
Amos knew, he knew he was the unofficial leader of the 104th Cadet Corps, as he recalled all the good times he had had with them, with each one of them, he realized that he never had the slightest desire to decide the fate of his comrades. And this despite all of his resolve and the heart of stone he had tried to build.
"I…" he began to think… "I…I don't want her to die… Neither her, nor any other…"
His depressed face showed a small smile, as sincere as it was sad and disturbing.
"We can't get rid of all these titans without her anyway, she's an irreplaceable soldier..." he mused, gritting his teeth before turning around. "Mikasa…"
Time slowed, and a series of complex calculations flashed before his eyes. "…I'm going to pull your ears off."
(-)(-)(-)
Mikasa couldn't really understand how she survived her fall. She had fallen on some sort of tarp, but that didn't matter. She stared at her broken blade, the blood of the Titans she had slain had long since evaporated. It was her last kill. She'd killed at least five in that battle, maybe more, but it hadn't been enough. It would never be enough. Nothing she could do would bring back the boy who had given her his scarf.
"Again… it's happening again… I lost my family again."
She let out a groan, managed to get up and took a few steps, but her legs gave out, and she fell to her knees. First her parents, then Eren's parents, and now Eren himself. Despite her superhuman strength and extraordinary abilities, she couldn't protect the people who had mattered most to her. In the end, she was a useless little girl who wanted her suffering to end.
"This world is cruel… but it is also very beautiful"
As if to grant her prayer, she felt the vibrations of a moving titan, it was coming in her direction, and stretched out its hand to grab her.
Satisfied, she closed her eyes, and waited for her death.
"I've had a good life," she mused with peace of mind.
But her body didn't seem to share her opinion, and summoned its owner to move through the violent impulses of her survival instinct.
Mikasa held on for a few moments, until the giant hand was only inches away from her, then she sliced off its fingers with the backhand of a broken sword.
The titan reacted immediately by trying to crush her, but she jumped out of his reach before displaying a surprised look. The monster tried to grab her again, but she dodged again.
"Why?" she mused before dodging another attack. "I thought I had given up."
The breath caused by the impact between the hand and the ground threw her several meters further, she wiped a coughing fit before recovering.
"Why…am I getting up…? Why am I struggling?"
Then the sound of ODM equipment caught her attention, she looked up to see Amos looming up into the sky and bringing his blades down on the titan's neck. The creature slumped to the ground with the Adviser standing on the back of its skull.
"Hello there," He ironically greeted before jumping on the ground, "I hope I'm not bothering you."
Mikasa's eyes widened as he advanced towards her, a fiery fire burning in his emerald gaze.
"Amos, what are you...?"
The ground immediately started shaking again, and the blonde gritted his teeth when he realized that another titan was approaching.
"Get on," he ordered, pointing his back with his thumb, "Let's get out of here."
Mikasa gazed at him with eyes filled with such sadness that he almost lost his mask.
"Why are you making this so difficult?" she whispered. "I don't want you to die as well."
Amos clenched his fists, the titan wasn't far away now, he had to wake her immediately or they'd both pass.
"Extreme situations call for extreme measures." he thought before grabbing the Oriental girl by the collar to pull her towards him and headbutt her masterfully.
The young woman let out a cry of pain before shivering before the young man's animal gaze.
"Listen to me very carefully, Mikasa," he growled as their blood mixed and ran down their noses, "Eren is dead!" You hear me?! He died protecting Armin like you would have done in his place! But he did not die in vain! He bequeathed to him… He bequeathed to YOU his dreams, his iron determination and his will to always move forward! Armin understood that and that's why despite the pain he keeps fighting in his memory while you're there feeling sorry for yourself! You sincerely think that he would have wanted to see you being eaten without reacting?! If that's really what you think then you've never really known him!"
A bolt of lightning crosses Mikasa's brain, taking him long, long to Trost, long to this chaos and his misfortune. He took her back to that moment, six years back, as she watched a man strangle Eren, the boy who saved her by killing two of his captors. Despite the way the man squeezed his throat, he managed to say the words to her that would forever be etched in her memory:
" Fight. You have to fight!"
He had always wanted her to live, since the first day she had met him. Even if he hadn't survived, he would have wanted her to survive.
"Do you drown in self-pity or do you fight?"
" Fight ! Fight ! Fight !"
Amos almost heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the dead eyes of the oriental girl resume their beautiful jet-black glow while misting in tears, alas, the titan arriving behind her prevented it from rejoicing.
"I'm sorry, Eren," she mused, regaining hope, "I won't stop, I won't ever stop." If I die I won't be able to remember you, so I'll do anything to win!"
Amos had been so focused on Mikasa and the incoming titan behind her that he hadn't noticed how close the other was behind him. He would have been grabbed had the girl not pushed him out of the way to chop off the monster's fingers.
Nox reacted instantly, he grabbed one of his blades and threw it into the creature's eye, which instinctively recoiled. Without wasting a second, he grabbed his rival like a young bride and pulled his grappling hooks to the highest roof.
"That's going to be a close one," he realized as the other titan was dangerously close.
He sent a good push of gas to fly away quickly, before a giant fist came to pass barely a meter behind them, and struck the jaw of its congener.
The blast from the attack was so intense that Amos lost control of his ODM, Mikasa and he were thrown onto the roof they had aimed for and rolled painfully on the tiles.
They didn't believe their eyes when they opened them.
The titan responsible for this betrayal of his own kind was as lean as he was muscular, his jawline was unlike anything the two cadets had seen today. A vaporous exhale escaped his lipless mouth, before he let out the loudest, most furious roar they had ever heard. The creature ignored the two shocked humans, and rushed on its congener to trample its neck without the slightest mercy or restraint.
Mikasa and Amos stood frozen in place, the expression on their faces betraying incomprehensible bewilderment. The blond was the first to find his voice:
"You just saw a titan kill another titan, right?"
The Oriental nodded slowly.
"Okay ... good ..." he sighed to calm his nerves before resuming more calmly: "we have no time to hang around or investigate this, unfortunately, the others are waiting for us at HQ. We have to join them and escape on the walls."
He approached to take her back in his arms, before seeing Armin and Connie heading straight for them.
"Mikasa, are you okay?" the worried little blond asked as he landed.
"Damn, looks like you've seen Hell close by," Connie added.
"What are you two doing…? Never mind, we have to go to HQ where the others are waiting for us."
"Yeah," the boy with the shaved head agreed.
But the shaking ground immediately caught his attention.
"Shit! Two fifteen-meter Titans! »
Seeing that one of the Titans was the newly dubbed Rebel Titan, Mikasa replied:
"No, this one is different."
"It kills its congeners," Amos explained, pointing to the corpse of the Titan fallen under the Rebel's blows.
Armin's eyes widened.
"Why...?"
The Adviser shook his head.
"No idea."
The Rogue Titan let out a roar of challenge pushing his opponent to answer him under the amazed gaze of the tall blond.
"It's like a battle between two alphas for territory or a female's heart, titans are more fascinating than I imagined."
As if things couldn't get any weirder, the Rogue Titan took a fighting stance. Demonstrating its intelligence. The other Titan charged only to receive a fist to the side of its head. It took off suddenly to fit into a nearby tower. The headless giant tried to get up, but the rogue crushed its neck.
"It… It finished it off," Armin said in a daze. "It knew exactly where the weak point was!"
"Fascinating," Amos muttered in awe.
Connie, on the other hand, had had enough.
"Come on, guys we have to get out! It could turn against us."
But the blonds shook their heads simultaneously.
"No," Armin said, "it has no reaction towards us, we do not interest him. Any other Titan would have been above us already."
"He had notions of martial arts," Mikasa added. "What is this thing?"
'I don't know,' Amos admitted, 'but I really want to know."
"He's just another abnormal" Connie insisted. We know next to nothing about them anyway...
"That's exactly why this specimen is so important," Nox snapped, then muttered, "a titan that kills other titans..."
"Forget it, damn it! And let's get out of here!"
Connie was about to leave when the tall blond grabbed him by the arms.
"Wait, Mikasa's tanks are empty, it needs to be recharged! »
This caught him off guard.
"Eh? But what are we going to do? We can't clear out HQ without her!"
"Calm down," Amos ordered before miraculously pulling out two full carboys from under his sheaths."
His comrades looked at him with wide eyes.
"What?" he smiled mockingly. "You think I finished first by chance? I always have an ace up my sleeve."
He approached Mikasa by undoing one of his own canisters, before handing it to her along with one of the new ones.
"You have a little less than 20% in that one, the other is full. Hurry up."
The young woman nodded after swallowing her surprise, and hastened to comply. The tall blond busied himself putting on his spare tank before turning to HQ, grimacing.
"It's not going to be easy," he growled aloud, "there must be at least a dozen titans around the building, not counting the little ones who have taken over the supply room. We will have to start by eliminating the biggest ones ourselves before joining the others inside."
Connie was so nervous he had a hard time keeping his hands from shaking.
"Even with Mikasa and you... do you think we can do this?"
"We'd have to pull off the perfect assault, I'm not very optimistic." »
"Maybe..." Armin hesitated, "maybe there is another way."
All attention was now on him, his gaze fixed on the RogueTitan.
"It's risky, but… can't we use this titan?"
"Use it?!" Connie blurted out in shock.
Amos' eyes widened.
"Thats's brilliant," he commented in amazement.
"Eh?" the boy with the shaved head wondered, turning to his valedictorian.
"He kills other titans," Armin explained, "he is not interested in us. So I thought maybe we could guide him to the refueling station."
"Guide him?" Connie said wide-eyed. "How do you want to do that?"
"He's constantly on the lookout for new victims," Amos said, watching the rogue rush toward the titan closest to his position. By exterminating the titans on his way he will go straight to the HQ.
"There we will just have to let him do all the work," Armin continued, "while we take care of the little ones inside."
'That's brilliant,' Amos repeated with a smile, 'we could get away with a minimum of casualties. Armin, you're a little genius."
Said little genius blushed strongly at the compliment, that Nox complimented his intelligence was very gratifying in his eyes.
"We can't take so many risks!" Connie stubbornly yelled, this plan was completely crazy for him.
"Would you rather have us take down all the titans around HQ all by ourselves?" Amos quipped. This plan is indeed risky, but it is by far the best one we have."
Mikasa nodded, her gaze determined.
"I agree, it is better to take risks than to wait for death."
Connie looked down, resigned.
"If we fail, we'll be the laughingstock of the Regiment.
"If we fail we'll be dead," Amos corrected, smiling.
"But if we succeed, we can save everyone," the little blond said, happy to see hope returning.
"Good! Nox exclaimed, clapping his hands. We've wasted enough time. Mikasa you take the three on the right, I take the ones on the left. Armin and Connie you stand back and make sure there isn't a little one hiding in the streets. We'll meet at HQ when our new titan friend catches up with us.
"Understood!"
(-)(-)(-)
Jean didn't know what to do.
They had managed to reach the HQ under Amos' directive, but now that he was gone, no one seemed ready to take up the torch of command, especially since everyone believed him to be dead. Kirstein himself didn't want to take that place, what Nox had done was crazy in his opinion. He had led his comrades to death, used the deaths of some of them including Mikasa to achieve his ends. He was absolutely incapable of doing such a thing. He didn't want to live with that for the rest of his life.
The cadets had been hiding behind desks in order to stay out of the sight of the titans while desperately searching for a plan to fill up their canister in order to escape.
A sniffle caught Jean's attention, directing his gaze under a table. He saw two soldiers, a man and a woman, curled up in balls. The woman's face was covered in blood but it didn't look like it was hers.
Jean approached slowly.
"Wait a second. Are you with the supply team?
"Yeah," the soldier replied, sniffling.
Kirstein grabbed him by the collar, and broke his nose.
"Jean, stop!" Marco exclaimed, holding him back.
"Fucking cowards!" he roared furiously. "You've abandoned us! People died because you didn't have the courage to do your job!"
"The Titans have attacked us from all sides!" The woman cried, protecting her comrade from any further harm. She was almost incoherent when she spoke. "They kicked us out of the supply room, okay?! We couldn't do anything!"
"It's your job to handle this and support us no matter what!" he retorted.
Suddenly, they were interrupted by an unearthly roar. The Titans weren't done with them yet.
"Watch out," a cadet shouted as a wall exploded, sending the cadet flying down the hallway.
Two Titans had their heads embedded in the building, trying to bite anything that came near them. Panicked, the soldiers tried to flee towards the exits, but confusion reigned supreme here. And if it continued to do so, everyone was going to die.
A giant fist appeared out of nowhere and struck the heads, sending them flying away from the building.
Annie's jaw dropped at the sight of their savior. A 15-meter Titan with green eyes and pointy ears. He wasn't trying to attack the soldiers; He was attacking the Titans who were attacking them.
"Did…did that happen?" Reiner asked in shock.
"Yeah," Marco replied just as shocked.
A shattered window caught their attention. With unimaginable relief, the cadets saw Mikasa, Armin, Amos, and Connie enter the building scratched, but alive.
Jean was the first to speak:
"Mikasa, you are alive!"
"Dude, that was close," Connie interrupted excitedly. "I almost ran out, it was crazy, but we did it."
"Good job Armin," Amos complimented cheerfully. "We succeeded thanks to you."
Connie slapped the little blond on the back, a wide grin on her face.
"You are a certified genius! As far as I'm concerned, your word is law", he declared before pointing the finger at the rogue.
"Look! This thing is an abnormal that kills titans. And he doesn't care about us! It's true, you heard me! This big and beautiful titan is our ticket out!"
Jean looked at him like he was crazy.
"Are you serious? You want us to use a Titan?! It has no chance of working!"
"It works," Mikasa retorted. "For some reason, he rages against them. Back off and let it be. Trust me. Anyway, what choice do we have? Right now, this thing is our best chance at survival."
The Rogue let out a loud roar drawing the Titans towards him.
"That's how we lured him here," Amos explained, stretching, "exterminating the titans in his path so he would come in search of new preys. Now we just have to get rid of those who have invested the refueling room."
Jean ran his hands through his hair, trying to control everything, he gave a frustrated growl and headed for the exit while Nox rounded up his troops.
"We are only one step away from freedom," he declared aloud, "all it's going to take is one last effort!"
He didn't need to say more, his sudden irruption mixed with the trap they had just emerged from was enough to motivate them.
"Armin? Mikasa and I still have gas, but it's very difficult to maneuver indoors, and there are too many titans for us to kill."
The little blond felt the pressure weigh on his shoulders.
"Why are you asking my opinion?
Amos rolled his eyes at that.
"Why do you think I spent all this time sharpening your wits? Two brains are better than one and it was you who came up with the idea to use the Titan. Stop underestimating yourself.
"I agree," Mikasa intervened joining them, "your intelligence has already saved Eren and me."
Armin didn't seem to believe her.
"W-when did…?"
"Armin! Amos cut, taking him by the shoulder,"Focus!"
"Yes ! Sorry."
"And stop apologizing all the time."
"Sor…I mean, okay."
(-)(-)(-)
The first thing the blonds did was inspect the place using the freight elevator to check the number of titans, meanwhile, and under Amos's instructions, Jean and other cadets had gone looking rifles of the MP.
"Good news," Kirstein announced, opening the crate he was holding. "Courtesy of the Military police, and a layer of dust..."
"What a bunch of wankers," Nox sighed, then went back to the plan Armin was plotting.
Jean cleaned the gun and checked to see if it was still working. Once the inspection was over he asked,
"Are you sure the buckshot will work?"
"Titans' eyes aren't as tough as their skin," Amos explained. "Armin?"
"Yes!" he replied presenting his plan. "There were eight four-meter-tall titans in the supply room. If we time our shot perfectly, that much ammo should be enough to blind them. Step 1: we lower a group into the area by an elevator to attract the attention of the Titans. Step 2: When the Titans come within range, the party fires simultaneously in all four directions to blind them. Then the hard part. The moment of truth, so to speak… Before the Titans have enough time to recover, eight of us will descend from the ceiling and strike their vital regions. That's all. That's the plan. He puts all of our lives on the line. If we mess up, we're dead. It's a hell of a risk for an attack, but it's our only chance. Eight people must kill eight Titans in one hit at the same time. We will need the best for that. The eight most gifted soldiers with the blade. You will be the difference between our lives and our deaths. I'm sorry. It's like that."
"That's a very good plan," Amos agreed, patting him on the shoulder.
"Mikasa and I still have gas, if anyone fails to kill its titan, we can at least limit the damage."
"Sounds good to me," Reiner said with a smirk.
Armin was beginning to hesitate, but Amos called him to order with a flick on the ear.
"Don't bloody hesitate," he reprimanded, "we do it this way, we don't have all day."
"Yes, sor… I mean, of course."
Satisfied, he straightened up to address his comrades:
"Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, Jean, Annie, Sasha, Connie and I are taking care of the blade assault. Marco you take command of the lift team, wait until the last moment before shooting, our timing must be impeccable."
"Understood," the freckled boy replied, wiping away a bead of sweat.
"Give us five minutes until we're in position before you get off the lift, whatever it takes, keep your cool! We'll get out of here, you hear me?!"
"Yes sir !"
(-)(-)(-)
"Then I'm going to ask the sore question," Connie said as they descended to the lower level. "Can we really do this without ODM equipment?"
"No problem," Reiner said. "These guys are only four meters tall. The weak point is always the same, one meter high and 10 centimeters wide."
"From the back of the head to the nape of the neck," Sasha repeated, recalling their lessons.
"Worst-case scenario, you can always stick a blade up their asses," Reiner joked, raising his sword. This is the other weak point.
"Seriously?" Connie asked in shock. "I have never heard of this technique."
"Me neither, it's the first time I've heard it," Sasha added.
Amos looked up at the ceiling.
"Have you checked that theory with your two-meter titan, Reiner?" he asked bluntly.
Bertholdt's eyes widened in horror as the others held back their laughter.
"That's Impossible for him," Annie declared, "his blade is too short."
Nox had to put his hands over Sasha and Connie's mouths to keep them from bickering.
"Reiner, Amos, Annie, those could be your last words, you know?"
"We know horse-face," replied the little blonde.
Jean chose not to answer.
The eight cadets fell silent as they approached the ground floor. Amos silently opened the door, before motioning for the others to follow him carefully. The Titans' loud footsteps disconcerted them, but they kept their composure. Carefully, they separated on different rafters. Their timing had to be perfect for this to succeed.
In the middle of the stomp, they heard the elevator approach before entering their line of sight.
"Good," Marco muttered. "There is not one more"
Immediately, all the cadets in the elevator pointed their rifles in four directions as planned.
"Don't move," Marco continued, "wait."
A blond-haired Titan was walking randomly, until he noticed them. He turned towards them, scaring a few cadets.
"Don't lose your temper," the freckled boy exclaimed quickly. "Shoot only when they are all in range."
Slowly, the eight Titans approached them, ready to turn them into their next meal. The soldiers on the rafters waited patiently for the attack to begin. As Marco kept telling them to wait for them to stay stable, the Titans had them completely surrounded. There was no way they would escape. It was do or die.
"Fire," he finally yelled.
And fire they fired, the guns spitting a hail of lead into the creatures' eye sockets, blinding them instantly. With determination, the eight soldiers jumped from the rafters and struck their targets as hard as necessary. Six Titans fell to the ground, dead. Unfortunately, Connie and Sasha weren't efficient enough, and their titans turned to stare at them.
"I'm so sorry," Sasha said nervously, stepping back in terror. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you."
"Oh shit," Connie swore.
Amos reacted quickly.
"Mikasa!"
The two best cadets activated their grappling hooks and sliced the necks of the remaining titans before they pecked their comrades.
Once back on his feet, Amos allowed himself a genuine sigh of relief, while Mikasa ordered Sasha to get up.
"Thanks man," Connie said, putting a hand over her heart to slow it down, "I owe you one."
"No worries," he replied, before turning to their comrades on the lift. "It's ok, the titans are dead, fill up your canisters. We're out of this mess once and for all!"
He let out an amused smile when he saw Marco almost pass out, the rest of the recruits exulted in happiness.
Amos found a quiet corner where he filled his gas reserves, Armin and Mikasa came to sit next to him.
"You should have more confidence in yourself, Armin," he smiled, loading his canister, "it's mostly thanks to you that we managed to save so many of our comrades."
The little blond blushed at this compliment, but he ended up shaking his head.
"I would have been eaten without you," he replied a little ashamed, "I was curled up in a street waiting for death to pick me up when you came to shake my fear off. Without you… we'd still be on that roof, or we'd be dead… And Eren would've died for nothing."
Mikasa tensed on her canister, she had done the same thing, and Amos had come to bring her back to reality too.
"I made mistakes too, Armin," he sighed, lowering his eyes. "It is useless to rehash and regret the past, we can only learn from it to improve the future."
The little blond let out a smile, before starting to refill his second canister.
"You know…I don't think you're an asshole."
He raised a questioning eyebrow, Mikasa leaned forward, a little surprised to hear him say that.
"You could have joined the walls when the signal to retreat was given, yet you immediately decided to go and help the others, you guided them, encouraged them and led them to safety. I think you would make a great officer."
"I left them," Amos countered, filling his second canister, "when I took them to HQ I left them to go rescue Mikasa."
The latter widened her eyes, before lowering her head.
"It's not a decision I regret," he clarified, "originally we needed her to get rid of the titans outside. But they all had faith in me as a leader, they had placed their hopes and faith in me and I let them down at the worst of times. In the end it went well, they didn't seem to have noticed that I had escaped and we were all able to escape, but the fact remains that I left."
A somewhat awkward silence ensued, and they finished refueling before heading for the exit, however Mikasa stopped Amos by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Why did you come back?"
"Mikasa, we don't have time..."
"Why?" she insisted. "I made the same mistake again, I put my comrades in danger by letting my emotions take over. I don't deserve your forgiveness, so why did you come back?"
Amos let out a deep sigh of sadness, before lifting the Oriental's head up by the chin.
"Mikasa… It I who doesn't deserve your forgiveness."
The girl's eyes widened, shocked by the sincerity of his words.
"I knew what you were going to do, he let go impassively, I knew it and I didn't stop you… That headbutt, I should have given it to you before we left for HQ, but I hesitated and you almost paid the price. Some of our comrades paid the ultimate price for this mistake, but I cannot know because I have not stopped moving forward. I didn't even have the decency to watch them die."
Mikasa didn't answer, she wasn't sure how he could have come to this conclusion.
"My entire squad got wiped out," he said, grumbling bitterly, "because I took their lives and their obediences for granted without even considering their emotional state. Another stupid mistake that caused unnecessary bloodshed. And if only that was it... but I had already made a similar mistake years ago and I preferred to unleash on you rather than question myself."
The oriental frowned, encouraging her to say more.
"The survival exercise…" he clarified before lowering his eyes slightly, "I knew what was going to happen. I knew they were going to take hostages, they were going to take Eren hostage, but rather than warning you and explaining to you how we were going to save them I just expected you to obey me. I... I'm sorry... Really sorry... I should never have blamed you so much when I was as responsible as you... It's me who doesn't deserve your forgiveness..."
She didn't answer, it was the first time she had seen him like that, ashamed and sorry. She wasn't sure she understood everything, because in her eyes she was responsible for her own mistakes. However, something was off… why was he so sorry?
"What the hell are you doing?!" cried Jean, seeing them dawdle. "Come on let's get out of here"
"We're coming," Amos replied, and said one last word to Mikasa. "It'll never happen again, now I know what I have to do."
The oriental frowned, another sentence she hadn't understood, she nodded however and followed him.
"Good!" Amos said louder to the other cadets. "I don't think I need to tell you twice, but I'd rather be safe: climb the walls to join the main army! But watch out for the titans, it would be too stupid to die now! Come on, let's go!"
The cadets were all too happy to obey him, and flew without stopping towards their longed-for freedom. Amos and Mikasa stayed behind, however, and headed to a high point to see what had happened to their heavenly ally.
"Mikasa? Amos?" Armin called as he joined them. "What are you doing ? We have to leave now!"
"Look," the young girl said without looking away.
The little blond's eyes widened in horror as he watched two ten-foot Titans block the rebel against. They, a seven-meter and a four-meter were desperate to try to devour his body.
"Why is he being cannibalized?" Armin questioned as the rogue roared in pain. "Can't he regenerate like the others?"
"He might be out of juice," Amos theorized. "We never got to fight a titan long enough to see him tire out. Such a regenerative capacity undoubtedly has limits."
"It might sound stupid to you, but I was hoping he would be the key for us," Mikasa admitted. "That he would help humanity break the cycle. Turn the tide long enough just to give us a glimmer of hope."
"She's right," Reiner agreed as he, Bertholdt, Annie, and Jean joined them on the roof. "It's too precious to let it die. There are too many things we can learn from him. I think we should get rid of his scavengers.
"I agree," Amos added, "he has been far too useful to us to give up. Who knows ? Maybe there's a way to tame it..."
Jean couldn't believe his ears.
"Did you guys freak out or what? We finally have a way out of this mess and you want to risk your lives to have a titan as a pet!"
"Think about it, Jean," Annie replied. "Having an abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage, right?
Jean couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Can you fucking hear yourself talking? He's not a hunting dog! He's a fucking titan!"
Armin suddenly gasped, drawing attention to himself. He pointed the tip of the sword at another creature.
"That titan… it was the abnormal who ate Thomas."
As if he heard him, the rebel let out his rage, knocked down the titans that held him prisoner, and charged at the creature identified by the little blond while roaring loudly. His arms were ripped off by the titans who clung to them, but he didn't stop running. He violently bit the nape of his target, before lifting him from the ground with the sole force of his jaw. A crunching sound indicated that he had crushed its weak point, killing him. Seeing a Titan trying to attack him from behind, he threw his lifeless body in the face, knocking him into a building.
"Holy shit," Jean muttered.
With a final roar, the Rogue Titan fell to its knees and crashed to the ground, seemingly dead.
"Okay, well, I don't think we need to talk about it anymore," Kirstein said. "Let's get away while we still can. This monster is not an ally, a titan remains a titan."
"There's something in his neck!" Amos exclaimed in amazement.
"Eh?"
The eyes of each of the cadets widened one after the other as they followed the gaze of the tall blond.
In the midst of the vapor the corpse was emitting, they could see a boy with brown hair, a boy they all knew.
"Don't tell me…" Jean began flabbergasted…"don't tell me it's Eren…?"
Mikasa immediately rushed to the ground, then she ran towards him, carried by a mad hope. Amos followed her closely. The Oriental girl hugged the boy as soon as she was within reach, he was there in her arms, she lowered her head to his chest, she could hear them! It was real! His heartbeat...
Mikasa burst into tears, she cried and cried again and again without the slightest restraint, it was too beautiful, it was a miracle, he was alive, alive!
Amos kept his calm despite his amazement, he approached ignoring the sobs of the Oriental, took the young man's louse in turn, before opening his eye to find that his pupil was not dilated.
"He's exhausted," he noted, trying to contain his amazement, "but other than that he seems unscathed..."
Nox racked his brains hard, but he had no idea how such a thing was possible, and even though he had a million questions, he didn't have time to ask them.
"Mikasa," he breathed, a little annoyed for disturbing her.
He really felt like he was spying on an intimate moment.
"We need to get him to safety, other titans might be coming."
This warning was enough to bring her back to reality, she had lost Eren once, she refused to lose him again, she would never lose him again.