Members of the trainee corps sat on the roofs of the buildings. They were either praying to a God they didn't know or horrified by the fact that they were probably going to die here. However a few others were trying to do something about the situation.
"Hey, Jean!" Connie called out as he walked over to Jean, "What should we do?"
Jean just sat there looking down on the roof. "There's nothing more we can do." He looked up at Connie and put one hand on his head. "They finally issued the order to retreat, but without more gas we can't climb the walls. So we're all going to die, because of those cowards."
"The supply team, what happened to them?" Connie demanded. "We're they wiped out?"
"They're too terrified to move." Jean answered without much care, "I can see why, but abandoning their mission to resupply us, to hide in HQ? That's unbelievable. And sure enough, the Titans have swarmed them, so we can't go get more gas."
"Then we must take a chance!" Connie yelled, "And try to destroy the Titans swarming HQ! We won't be any worse off than just sitting here. The Titans will be here before long! And if we keep running, we'll just waste the gas we have. Without the use of Maneuver Gear, we really are done for!"
"I'm surprised you're using your head for once, Connie." Jean remarked, "But do you really think we can do that, given our numbers here? Most of the veterans in the vanguard were killed. Which of us trainees could lead a suicidal mission like that?"
Jean looked around to see his fellow comrades depressed. Some of them crying to themselves. "Well, even if someone could, we can't fight the Titans. I bet the gas supply room is chock with 3 to 4 meter class Titans. Obviously we can't refuel with them around."
Connie widened his eyes before he gave of a sad expression as well. "So were doomed?"
Jean sighed in irritation, "What a stupid life, If I'd known this would've happened I would've told them."
"Come on guys!" Sasha tried to encourage her comrades, "Let's do it! If we work together we'll be fine. I'll take the lead."
No one said anything. How could they go and continue to fight the titans after watching their comrades die? The way they ate humans, those terrifying smiles, they were horrified.
Sasha was about to continue, but heard loud footsteps in the distance. She turned around to see what it was and widened her eyes in horror.
Sasha began to stutter trying to get people to look in her direction. Jean noticed this and sighed. "Sasha, if this some kind of joke-"
"It's the-th-the -t-" Sasha kept stuttering as she pointed in the direction she was looking at.
"Spit it out already!" Connie yelled.
Jean looked in the direction Sasha was pointing and widened his eyes. Armin was coming in their direction with his Maneuver Gear, but behind him was a...
"It's the Armored Titan!" Jean yelled.
All of the trainees began to panic and scream as they saw the Titan running towards them.
Armin looked over to see his comrades freaking out as he practically flew over to them.
"Over there." Armin told Optimus as he made a turn.
Armin landed on the roof while Optimus skidded to a stop behind him.
"Armin get away from that!" Jean yelled as he went to grab his blade.
"Jean, stop!" Armin instructed, "He's not the enemy!"
"How can you be so sure?" Reiner demanded as he stepped forward while everyone was stepped back, "He's a Titan! Titans eat humans and nothing more!"
"If the only way for a titan like myself to survive is to consume humans, I would've consumed Armin long before." Optimus retorted calmly.
Everyone widened their eyes in complete shock and stopped what they were doing. Jean began to tremble as the blades in his hands almost fell out. "He's intelligent?"
Armin nodded his head. "This is Optimus Prime. He is no enemy to mankind. He willingly saved my life twice earlier."
The trainees began to mutter amongst themselves. This Titan saved a human? Reiner looked back at Bertholdt who had a worried look on his face.
Optimus suddenly heard a whirring noise from behind him. He turned around to see a female charging at him with the same equipment Armin had. She let out a battle cry and tried to slice at his shoulders, but her blades shattered on contact.
She rolled onto the roof startling most of the trainees. She suddenly pulled out two more blades and was about to charge at him again, but Armin got into her way.
"Mikasa, stop!" Armin pleaded, "He's not the enemy!"
"It's a Titan!" Mikasa retorted, "He's the enemy!"
"He's not! He saved my life twice!"Armin shot back.
"What do you mean he saved your life?" Mikasa demanded, slightly calming down.
"He saved me from being eaten by Titans." Armin explained, "And you know he's not the Armored Titan. We saw it when it broke the gate in Wall Maria."
Mikasa still wasn't convinced, but she knew Armin was a truthful person. She calmed down completely and put her blades in her holders.
Optimus looked at her with slight curiosity and surprise, but for some reason she reminded him of a certain Autobot on his team.
Mikasa then noticed something was wrong, completely wrong. She looked at all of the other trainees who were still in shock, but she didn't find the person she was looking for.
"Armin, where's Eren?" she asked, "He was on your squad right?"
Armin face was suddenly consumed with horror. He began to remember how Eren was reaching out to him while he was in the Titan's mouth, before Optimus came to save him.
Armin hung his head in shame and sadness.
"Armin, what's wrong?" Mikasa asked.
Optimus noticed Armin distress and knew what it meant. This Eren person was eaten by a Titan. Armin said it earlier when he was screaming.
"Armin, you need to tell her." Optimus said, "You cannot keep her in the dark."
Mikasa looked at Optimus in shock and confusion. What did he mean by that?
Mikasa looked back at Armin, who looked back at her with sadness as tear poured down his face. Mikasa widened her eyes. It couldn't be true.
"The members of Trainee Corps team 34," Armin began, "Thomas Wagner, Nack Tias, Milius Zermusky, Mina Karolina, Eren Jaeger, these five died valiantly in the line of duty!"
Everyone looked in shock. Especially at the fact that Eren Jaeger was dead. He was in the top ten, and he was already killed. If Eren was killed, how the hell could they survive this mess?
"No," Sasha muttered.
"Team 34 was almost wiped out, then?" a soldier questioned.
"If we try to face the Titans, the same thing will happen to us." a soldier said.
"I'm sorry, Mikasa," Armin apologized, even though it didn't change anything, "Eren...he sacrificed himself for me. I...I couldn't do anything! I'm sorry..."
Mikasa put her hand on Armin's shoulder. "Armin, calm down. This isn't the time to get emotional."
Armin looked at her in confusion while Optimus didn't say anything. But Optimus could still see it in her eyes. She was shocked and upset, and she was trying to block out these emotions. She wanted revenge, but didn't know who to take it out on. Optimus mentally sighed. Now she really reminded him of a certain Autobot on his team.
"Marco," Mikasa called out as she walked away from Armin, "if we eliminate the titan swarming HQ, then we can refuel and climb the walls. Isn't that right?"
"That's right, but..." Marco trailed off, "even with you here, there are too many." He wasn't so sure if this 'Optimus Prime' was truly on their side.
"I can do it." Mikasa proclaimed, causing Marco to gasp in shock. She then raised her blade high in the air. "I am strong. Stronger than you guys. Very strong. Therefore, I can defeat those Titans! Even on my own! You are not only weak, but you are spineless cowards. I am disappointed in you. Just stay here,"
"Listen to me," Optimus interrupted, "You cannot face these creatures on your own. You may be skilled, but you will also need help from your comrades."
"They are not willing to fight." Mikasa retorted, "If they are not willing to fight, why should they be called soldiers?"
"Hey, Mikasa!" a female soldier called out, "What are you saying?!"
"You're going to fight the Titans by yourself?!" another soldier asked.
"There's no way you can do it!" a third soldier reasoned.
"If I can't, I'll die," Mikasa said as she turned away from her comrades, "But if I win, I'll live. If I don't fight, I can't win."
And with that, Mikasa hooked onto a building and took off, leaving the rest of the trainees and Optimus.
"Mikasa..." Armin muttered.
"She is consumed by her emotions," Optimus explained, "And is trying to find out what to do," Optimus sworn he heard a loud roaring off into the distance, but forgot about it and focused onto the situation at hand.
"What's just disappointing is her vocabulary," Jean said, "Was that suppose to be an inspirational speech? Damn it! This is your fault, Eren!"
Optimus immediately pinpointed Mikasa location and activated his blades, surprising everyone. "If Mikasa is heading towards HQ by herself, she will surely be eaten. We must follow her."
Optimus then followed Mikasa towards HQ, leaving the other soldiers.
Jean slightly widened his eyes. This titan was serious. He raised his blade high in the air. "He's right! Were we trained to let our fellow soldiers fight alone?! Do you really want to become cowards?!"
Jean then ran off to follow the two, with Connie right behind him.
"I wouldn't want that," Reiner remarked before he, Bertholdt, and Annie decided to follow. Armin wiped his tears and followed them as well. Marco sighed as he put a hand on his forehead before going into battle.
"Come on, cowards, wimps, idiots!" Sasha yelled to her comrades before jumping into battle.
"Damn it. I'll do it!" a soldier declared.
The rest of the trainees let out battle cries before they charged into battle and headed straight for HQ.
Mikasa sped through the battlefield as she killed a Titan with ease. Optimus was a couple of houses over, stabbing the Titans straight in the neck.
"Hurry!" Jean instructed, "Follow Mikasa! We do this fast! We need to storm to HQ before our gas runs out!"
"Mikasa's amazing though," Connie remarked as he looked up at her, "And that Prime guy is great too. But how is Mikasa moving so fast?"
Armin looked with dread. 'No, she's using too much gas. She'll run out fast! No matter how good you are, without the Maneuver Gear, you're helpless.'
Mikasa hooked onto another building and killed another Titan. As it crashed into a building, Mikasa hooked to the next building and swung around the corner.
'I knew she wasn't her usual calm self.' Armin thought, 'Optimus was right. She's trying to ignore her shock by taking action. At this rate, she'll...'
As if on cue, the gas in Mikasa's tank ran out. She slowly flipped in the air as she crashed onto the roof and tumbled to the floor.
"Mikasa!" Armin cried as he went to go and save her.
"Damn it!" Jean cursed as he saw Armin changing course.
"Jean, you take over!" Connie instructed, "I'll go after Armin!"
"I will too!" Jean declared.
"What are you doing?" Connie demanded, "The Titans are still out there! We need your skills!"
And with that, Connie took off to get Armin and Mikasa before they got themselves killed. Jean gritted his teeth as he lead everyone to HQ.
Mikasa lied down on a blanket-like roof as she stared at the cloudy sky. She didn't have a reason to live anymore. Her parents, Carla, Eren, they were all gone, and she was all alone again. She lifted up her blade and looked at her reflection.
'Again,' she thought, 'This again. I lost my family once more.'
She jumped off of the stand and fell to her knees on the ground. She was also frustrated. If this Optimus titan saved Armin, why couldn't he save Eren as well? Eren meant everything to her, and he was now gone.
'Do I have to remember the pain again?' she asked herself. 'And start over again from here?'
She heard loud and slow footsteps from beside her. She didn't look up but she knew it was a titan. She almost gave a sad smile. It looks like this is the end for her.
Jean looked down to see 3 to 4 meter class Titans around the area they were in. He was beginning to lose hope in the fact that they wouldn't make to HQ, at least not everyone.
'We can't even get close to HQ,' Jean thought to himself as he looked down to see the Titans, 'Not unless we're willing to risk causalities.'
Jean suddenly heard someone scream and looked down to see a soldier trying to use his 3D Gear to get up the house, but it was no use, he was out of gas. And to make matters worse, he was in the middle of a swarm of Titans who didn't notice him yet.
'Damn he out of gas,' Jean cursed to himself.
Jean widened his eyes as a Titan spotted him and ran to grab him. The man yelled stay back, but the Titan didn't care at all. Jean wanted to help the man, he really did, but he didn't want to die either.
"Tom, I'm coming for you!" a soldier proclaimed as he used his gear to get to him. The female soldier from earlier decided to use her gear to so and save her comrades.
"Don't!" Jean cried, "It's too late!"
The man known as Tom cried as he was in the grip of the Titans, ready to be eaten.
"Don't!" the soldier who wanted to save him cried, but another Titan caught him before he could get to Tom. Jean's body began shaking. Why wouldn't his body move? Why?
Tom widened his eyes as the Titan opened his mouth, ready to eat him. Tom screamed for his life, but instead of getting crushed by giant teeth, he fell to the floor with a thud. Tom and everyone around them looked up to see a blade go straight through the Titan's head. Tom looked to see who was at the end of the blade and saw that it was the Armored like Titan that was with Armin.
The Titan fell to the floor with a thud as steam rose from his head. The metal titan changed his other hand into some kind of gun and fired one round of some kind of blue substance at a Titan that was holding a female soldier. The Titan's head began to disintegrate as it dropped the girl to the floor. The metal titan then used his blade and sliced the hand of the titan the third soldier was in. The metal titan then stabbed the titan at the nape of the neck. That titan fell to its knees and slide off of the blade to the ground.
The metal titan looked around. Two more titans were heading for Tom and the others. He then used his gun to fire two more shots at the heads. The remaining titans fell to the ground and began to disintegrate. The metal titan noticed that one of the titans was slowly getting up. He walked over to it and stabbed it in the neck before it had the chance to get up.
Everyone widened their eyes in shock at the sight. Armin was right. This titan was fighting for humanity.
The titan that Armin referred to as Optimus pulled his blade out of the titan's neck and waited for some of the blood to evaporate before he somehow changed them back into his hands.
"What is your name?" Optimus asked as he looked over at Jean.
Jean snapped out of his thoughts and slightly stuttered. "It's Jean."
"Jean, take the rest of your comrades to your headquarters." Optimus instructed, "I will assist the ones who can no longer fight and transport them there myself."
Jean paused for a moment before he turned to his comrades. "Listen to him! We need to head for HQ right now!"
Jean jumped onto the roof and ran towards headquarters. Marco and a couple of others were a bit hesitant, but summoned up the courage to follow after him.
Optimus slightly sighed with relief before he knelt down towards the other soldiers. "I will take you to your head quarters safely, but you need to trust me in order to do so."
The three soldiers looked at each other for a moment before they nodded their heads.
Optimus transformed into his alt mode and opened the door. "Get in and brace yourselves."
'This is our only chance,' Jean thought, 'Once we're out of gas it's all over. Even with the titan on our side.'
"Full speed ahead!" Jean instructed as they were jumping over rooftops.
Mikasa put the last blade she had in her holder. 'This world is cruel, but also...very beautiful.'
She smiled as she remembered Eren putting the scarf around her neck after he saved her from the traffickers . She lifted her head and closed her eyes. 'It was a good life.'
She waited as she heard the Titan's footsteps coming closer and closer. She waited patiently, but something inside wasn't giving in. As she sensed the titan trying to grab her, she reacted. She grabbed her last blade and sliced two fingers off of the titan. She jumped out of the way as the titan tried to grab her with his other hand, only to hit a wall.
"Eh?" she questioned. The titan slammed his hand into the ground as Mikasa barely dodged it and slammed into the wall back first.
'Why?' she asked herself. The titan slapped his hand into the wall and Mikasa went flying. 'I thought I had given up.'
She grunted as she tumbled and skidded across the ground. She slowly pushed herself up to her knees and looked at the piece of the titan she had cut. 'Why am I standing? Struggling?'
The sun began to shine down on the piece of the titan. 'Why?' She slowly stood up and looked up at the titan who was now standing and looking down at her. 'My life has no meaning anymore. What's keeping me going?'
She was going to make a run for it, but another titan came and blocked her path, stepping over the destroyed building. She was in a dead end.
"Fight!"she remembered Eren telling her the first time that they met."Fight! Fight!"
"Eren." she muttered.
As the two titans came closer to her, the word grew louder and louder."Fight! You must fight! Fight! Fight!"
Mikasa gasped in realization as tears came down her face. 'I'm sorry, Eren. I won't give up.'
Her memories of Eren flashed through her mind. 'I'll never give up again. If I die, I won't be able to remember you. That's why, I'll survive no matter what! I'll live on no matter what!'
Mikasa got into a battle stance and let out a battle cry, ready to defend herself, but she was suddenly shot into the air by an unknown force. She protected her head as she slid across the ground.
"What's going on?" she asked, but widened her eyes at the sight. It was a 15 meter class titan with a muscular body. Its hair stopped right at the nape of the neck, and she noticed pointed ears in between. The titan had no lips, but its teeth were showing completely. Mikasa looked in wonder. What was that?
The titan let out a loud roar as Mikasa covered her ears. She looked to see the titan, stomping his foot on the other one, killing it.
'A titan...killing another titan?' Mikasa asked herself. She took her hands off of her ears and looked in shock and surprise.
She suddenly felt someone tackle her as she and the person went into the air and rolled onto the roof.
"Mikasa, are you hurt?" Armin asked.
They turned to see Connie land on the roof next to them. "Are you guys okay?"
Armin nodded his head.
"We must get going!" Connie declared. All three heard a loud roar and turned to see another 15 meter class titan appear.
"Shit! This is bad!" Connie cursed, "There are two 15 meter class titans."
"No that titan," Mikasa began.
Armin looked over at the decaying skeleton and widened his eyes. What was going on?
The two titans roared at each other, ready to fight each other to the death. The rogue titan raised its hands and got into a simple fighting stance, shocking the three. The titan charged at the rogue titan without thinking, but the rogue titan slapped the titans head off. The head spun and crashed into a tower nearby. The now headless titan fell to the floor as steam rose from its neck. The rogue titan looked at its hand as it slowly regenerated. The headless titan tried to get back up, but the rogue titan crushed the nape of the neck with its foot.
"It knew of the Titan's weak point?" Armin asked aloud. What the hell was going on?
Jean crashed through the glass and skidded across the wooden floor of their HQ. He made it in one piece. He looked up to see his other comrades crash through the glass windows and land on the floor.
"How many made it?" Marco asked.
They heard a small rumbling noise and turned around to see the three soldiers from earlier jump out of a hand and into the building.
"How did you?" Jean began to question.
"That Optimus guy is faster than the horses itself." Tom answered.
Some of soldiers looked through the broken window to see Optimus land on the ground and activate his blades. Jean didn't look. He was too deep into his thoughts to think.
'If that titan wasn't there, more comrades could've died in my command.' Jean thought, 'We already lost a good amount of them already.'
Jean turned around and saw two soldiers hiding under a desk with a horrified look on their face. One just sat there, while the other soldier was crying. The crying soldier had blood on her uniform she didn't bother wiping off.
"Aren't you guys with the supply team?" Jean asked.
"Yeah," the horrified soldier answered.
Jean pulled him out from under the desk and gripped his uniform. He gave him a punch in the face, causing him to fall to the floor unconscious. Before Jean could do anything else to hurt him, Marco held him back with his arms.
"Stop it!" Marco yelled.
"They're the ones who abandoned us!" Jean yelled at the two, "Because of you, more died than was necessary!"
"Titans came into the area!" The crying soldier reasoned, "We couldn't do anything!"
"Doing something is your job!" Jean retorted.
They all heard rumbling from outside as it got closer and closer to the building.
"Get down!" Reiner yelled, but it was too late. A titan used its face to create a large hole in the headquarters. The force sent the soldiers in the room flying back.
"Damn it!" Jean cursed as he got up and looked back, "Too many people are in one place!"
The soldiers inside the building began to run deeper into the building for their lives. Some told everyone to hurry up, others asked where Mikasa was, only for others to say she ran out of gas and was eaten.
'This is normal,' Jean thought as he was greeted with two disturbing smiles, 'This is reality. Was my hope just an impossible dream? I should have known that this is reality. It should've been a simple enough realization, that we could never beat something so huge.'
Jean widened his eyes and everything went in slow motion. A large hand shaped into a fist collided with the first titan's face. The face was slowly deforming as it made contact with the other face.
"What?" Jean gasped, as the realization hit him. The two titans were punched off of headquarters by another titan. The new titan let out a terrifying roar at the other two titans he punched.
Optimus looked over to see the titan roaring at his opponent. Optimus was confused. From what he observed these titans attacked humans and that they weren't sentient. Was there something special with that one?
"What is that?" Jean asked aloud.
He heard a loud crashing noise and turned to see Mikasa come through the now broken window with Connie, who was carrying Armin in his arms.
"Mikasa?" Jean asked in surprise and shock.
"That was close," Connie remarked with relief, "I'm all out, but we made it! We made it just barely!"
"You're alive!" Jean exclaimed.
"You did it, Armin! Your plan worked." Connie said with happiness as he patted Armin on the back, much to his displeasure. "Everyone!"
Everyone began to listen to Connie as he pointed at the 15 meter class titan. "That Titan is an Aberrant that kills other titans. And it isn't interested in us. If we can use it along with that Prime titan, we can escape!"
"Use the titan?" a soldier asked.
"A titan helping us?" Jean asked, "Do you even know if that thing possess intelligence? With Optimus its somehow reasonable, but an average one? That sounds like a dream-"
"It's not a dream," Mikasa interrupted, "I don't care if it's an aberrant or whatever, We need him and the metal titan to stay here and to keep fighting. That is our most realistic chance of survival."
The rogue titan punched another titan to the ground while Optimus cut the head off of another one. The rogue titan let out a loud roar, attracting more titans to the area.
'I must be careful.' Optimus thought, 'If I am not I may kill the humans inside the building.'
He widened his optics as he heard loud footsteps getting closer. He turned to see the rogue titan getting ready to punch him. Optimus slightly froze as the fist was going to make contact with his faceplates.
The trainees sat patiently as an elevator was coming up from the bottom floor where the gas was.
"How much do you know about those Titans?" Reiner asked Connie.
"We can worry about that later. Let's just get out of here first." Connie said, "And besides, the Prime guy shown he possesses intelligence."
"You're right." Reiner smirked, "We'll get out of here first."
"We found it!" Jean called out as he and a couple of trainees came in with large boxes. "This is the Military Police stuff. It was covered in dust."
They all opened the boxes to reveal multiple rifles, enough for everyone, matter of fact.
"Are scatter shots really enough?" Jean asked as he loaded the rifle. "Will these rifles, actually be of any use against the Titans?"
"I think it's a lot better than nothing." Armin remarked as he began to explain his plans, "If there are still only seven 3-to-4 meter class titan in the supply room, even this may be enough fire power to blind them all at once. First, we'll use the lift to lower a large amount of people through the central ceiling. They'll fire at the seven faces of the titans in unison to blind them. And then the next instant will be critical. The seven of us hidden among the ceiling beams will strike the blinded titans in a coordinated ambush. In other words, in this plan, all of our lives, will depend on this one strike."
"The seven must kill seven titans at the same time with a single strike." Armin declared, "The seven will be those of us whose skills give us the best chance, but...I'm sorry to make them bear the weight of everyone's lives."
"It's alright." Reiner reassured.
"Regardless of who goes, everyone dies if we fail," Annie stated. "The risk is the same."
"But is the plan I conceived, really the best one?" Armin asked, unsure of himself.
"It's our only option," Marco answered, "There's no time, and this is the best plan we'll have. We just have to give it all we got!"
"It's fine." Mikasa reassured, "Have confidence in yourself. You have the ability to find the right solution."
"What?" Armin questioned.
"That ability saved both Eren and me," Mikasa continued.
"When was this?" Armin asked in confusion. He didn't remember saving any of his friends. His friends were always saving him.
The door to the lift opened and a soldier stepped inside.
"The lift's ready!" the soldier informed, "The guns too! They're all loaded!"
"You just don't realize it." Mikasa said, "We'll talk later."
"Yeah.." Armin trailed off before going in the lift.
"But can we kill Titans without Maneuver Gear?" Connie asked as he walked down the stairs with Reiner and the others.
"Sure, we can." Reiner answered, "They're 3-to-4 meter class Titans. The target will be easy to hit."
"Yeah," Jean began, "No matter what the size, the target is always that one spot on the neck."
"One meter long! Ten centimeters wide!" Sasha recited.
"Or we could shove this up their ass." Reiner joke as he held his blade, "These are their only two weak points."
"I didn't know about that!" Connie said, "We can do that too?"
"Reiner," Jean called out, "Those may well end up being your last words."
The lift was being lowered into the supply room as the rest of the trainees were in potion, pointing the rifles from all of the blind spots.
"It's okay." Marco reassured as the lift stopped, "Their numbers haven't changed. We're still a go!"
A titan walked right next to the lift and came to a stop. It seemed to notice them, because the titan turned around to look at them with a sadistic smile. A man gasped in shock as he was beginning to panic.
"Keep calm!" Marco instructed, "Draw them in!"
The other titans noticed them as well and began to walk towards the lift.
"Wait," Marco said.
Mikasa, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner were all in position on the ceiling beams, waiting to strike.
"Avoid fighting from a disadvantage," Jean warned, "If you don't want them all to die, finish them off with one strike."
"Wait," Marco said.
The titans got closer and closer towards the lift. Trainees began to shake as they took aim.
"Ready," Marco said as he moved his finger to the trigger, "FIRE!"
Optimus dodged another strike from the rogue titan as he kicked a regular titan behind him, sending it flying. The rogue titans tried to punch him again, but Optimus blocked it with his arm.
The force of the punch actually shattered the hand of the rogue titan, but it regenerated quickly.
Optimus gritted his denta behind his mask. Something was definitely not right with that titan. It has basic combat moves and knew of the titans' weak point. There had to be something wrong with it! Or maybe...
Optimus did a quick scan of the titan as he elbowed a titan in the stomach. Optimus widened his optics as he found a life signature at the nape of the neck where the titans' weak points were. Someone was in there controlling the titan's body.
But how was he going to get him out? His blades were too large. He might end up hurting whoever was inside there, maybe even killing him or her. And where would he take him? There wouldn't be a safe place to put him if he even managed to get him or her out without hurting the person. Optimus was at a deadlock.
The rogue titan tried to grab Optimus with both of its hands, but Optimus grabbed them as well. They were both pushing at each other as the titans came closer to them.
Optimus looked around him and so did the rogue titan. Optimus looked back at the rogue titan. He needed to try to reason with it, or find a way to show that he was trying to help the rogue titan.
"Listen to me!" Optimus yelled. "I am on your side! I am trying to get rid of these creatures like you are!"
The rogue titan didn't seem to listen as it still tried to force Optimus down. Optimus looked behind the rogue titan and saw a titan was coming to attack it. Optimus transformed his servo into a gun and fired at the head. The titan then fell to the floor and its body began to disintegrate.
The rogue titan looked back at the body before he looked back at Optimus. Optimus noticed that the rogue titan was studying him. The rogue titan was about to punch him once again. As Optimus was about to defend himself, the fist went past him and it punched another titan behind him.
Optimus and the rogue titan looked back at each other before they went off and continued to attack the other titans.
The trainees filled up their gas tanks as the titans bodies began to disappear. The plan was a success, however Sasha and Connie didn't kill their assigned titan, and Annie and Mikasa were the ones that killed them. And Sasha was still crying after her ordeal, in fear and shame.
"We did it." A soldier said with relief, "We're safe now."
"The titans aren't coming in," Another soldier said, "It's thanks to those two titans fighting outside."
"I accepted defeat before I faced the titans," Sasha muttered to herself, "I'm so ashamed!"
"I'll despise you all you want later!" Connie told her, "Let's get out of here!"
Jean and Marco sat together as they were refueling their tanks.
"I don't think I'm cut out to be a leader." Jean spoke, "Don't say things like that again."
"I hope you won't get mad when I say this," Marco began, "but you aren't a strong person. So you can relate to how the weak feel. I think it's the same thing with that metal titan for some reason. He's using his power to protect the weak. He somehow understands them."
Jean sighed as he stopped refueling his tanks. "But he knew what to do. He was able to take command and save our comrades. I probably wouldn't have been able to save them."
"Maybe you could ask him for advice," Marco suggested, "He was able to size up to the situation. You do that as well. You both knew what had to be done."
Jean looked at Marco in surprise while Marco just smiled at him. "That's why was able to follow you and trust the metal titan. I know putting my trust in someone I just met sounds stupid, but for some reason I could. And that's why I'm alive."
"You ready?" a soldier as they finished filling up their tanks and headed outside.
"We all head out together!" another soldier declared as the trainees took off.
"Scale the walls!" the first soldier said.
Armin ran outside and looked for Mikasa. He was surprised to see her on the roof, staring at something. "Mikasa?"
Armin hooked onto the top of the building and was practically pulled up. He landed next to Mikasa and looked at her in slight confusion.
"Mikasa, we have to run." Armin informed.
"That titan," Mikasa began.
Armin looked into her direction and widened his eyes. The rogue titan was being eaten by the other titans surrounding the area. Optimus couldn't help it at the moment because he was dealing with another set of titans.
"Cannibalism?" Armin questioned. "Can it not regenerate its body?"
"I thought that if we could solve the mystery of that titan, it may give us a way to overcome our bleak predicament." Mikasa spoke.
"I agree." a voice said.
Mikasa turned to see Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Jean on the roof with them.
"If it gets eaten we won't learn anything." Renier said, "Let's try keeping it alive by killing the ones clinging to it."
Optimus then stabbed the titans surrounding the rogue titan and kicked them away. The rogue titan almost fell, but Optimus caught the rogue titan before it hit the ground. Its ribcage was eaten away at and its arms were practically useless.
"The metal titan has it taken care of," Jean retorted, "We just need to get out of here!"
"But what if the titan could prove to be a valuable ally along with the metal titan." Annie reasoned, "Their abilities are more useful than any cannon."
"The regular titan is the one we can't trust." Jean retorted, "The metal titan maybe, but..."
Armin widened his eyes as he saw a 15 meter class titan with blonde hair. "That's the titan that ate Thomas!"
The rogue titan roared as it kicked its way out of Optimus' grasp. He ran over to the titan and chomped down at the nape of the neck, shocking everyone. The rogue titan raised the titan high into the air, despite the fact that its ribs were breaking. The rogue titan slammed the body onto two other titans. Another titan was coming up from behind but the rogue titan threw the body at the other titan, ripping the nape of the neck in the process. The two titans collided and crashed into a building.
"Come on," Jean began, looking in horror, "It doesn't need our help."
The rogue titan gave a triumphant roar before it collapsed to the floor unconscious. Armin and Mikasa looked in shock. One of their only chances of defeating the titans was gone.
"I guess it finally exhausted itself," Jean said as he turned away, "That's enough, we're leaving. That thing couldn't possibly help us. A titan is still a titan."
Armin widened his eyes as he saw Optimus run over to the body. "Optimus, what are you doing?"
Everyone stared in confusion as they saw Optimus kneel down and try to carefully pull something out of the nape of the neck. Optimus made a daring move and used his blade to cut the remaining skin at the neck.
"What's he doing?" Jean asked.
Optimus moved his hands out of the way as someone emerged from the titan's body unconscious. Optimus made a quick scan to see if he was alive. He was and he was in good shape.
Mikasa gasped as she knew who the unconscious person was. 'Eren.'
Mikasa used her 3D Gear to get down from the building. Once she was on the ground, she ran to Eren as fast as she could. She didn't care about anything else right now. She didn't care about her teammates, or the metal titan. The only thing she care about was getting to Eren. This couldn't be true. Armin said that Eren was eaten. He couldn't be alive.
Mikasa hugged Eren and held onto him for what seemed to be an eternity. She could feel him. This was the same person that saved her all those years ago. But was he alive?
Mikasa put her ear against Eren's chest. After a long time, at least it seemed like it to her, she felt a warm heartbeat, and it kept beating. He was really alive. Mikasa began choking as tears welled up in her eyes. And all of her emotions began to spill.
Mikasa began crying, with relief, sadness, whatever emotion she could think of, and let it all out.
Optimus picked both of them up and put them up at the highest part of the building along with Armin and the others. Everyone just looked in shock while Mikasa just didn't let go of Eren.
'It's Eren.' Armin thought, 'He regained the limbs he lost. I saw the Titan swallow Eren whole before Optimus saved me. I saw...'
Armin finally began to cry as he held the hand Eren lost. "What happened?"
Optimus wanted to smile slightly. It was very rare for somebody to find someone that they have lost, or find out that they were still alive. Armin and Mikasa, they were both lucky, but that also meant...
"Then that means," Optimus began, getting everyone else's attention, "That Eren was also the cause of part of the destruction."
Now there was only one question that was hanging in the air: What now?