"Erwin," Levi began as the soldiers were riding on top of the wall, "Are you sure that this titan is one of Optimus' kind?"
"I'm certain," Erwin answered, "Unless there's a titan shifter who can fly, then it has to be a Cybertronian. They also provided a description of the flying titan."
"A gray, battle-scarred titan armed literally to the teeth," Levi stated, "Do you think it might be that lizard that Hanji managed to find out about?"
"The titan wasn't stated to be lizard like or actually having wings," Erwin retorted, "And Optimus said that only three of those beasts, or Predacons I believe, exist. I doubt one of those creatures would make its way to our world since only three are in existence."
The two heard more hissing and turned to see Sasha acting more erratic and jittery.
"It's getting worse," Levi remarked.
"It also said in the report that the flying titan took down the Colossal Titan," Erwin added.
Levi looked in surprise. "That seems pretty challenging."
"No one was even able to make contact with it," Erwin continued, "And this titan is able to take it down without any issue. It also seemed that Optimus knew who he was."
Levi slightly grimaced. "Optimus has been getting mad lately and Sasha been acting up ever since this titan arrived. Something tells me this isn't going to end well."
Eren groaned as he heard someone yelling at him. He tried to focus as the noise grew louder and louder.
"Wake up!" the voice yelled.
Eren's eyes snapped open as he tried to kick the person as he tried to kick the person who tried to wake up. Eren crouched and threw a punch, but the figure caught his fist with a clawed hand. He widened his eyes in fear as he realized that he tried to attack the flying titan.
The flying titan, or Megatron, as Optimus referred to, simply deadpanned at the attempt at attack.
"Really?" he questioned before sighing, "Look, I don't know if you can understand me, but I'm going to let go. I'm not here to fight."
Megatron let go of Eren's hand while Eren slowly pulled back his. Eren gave Megatron a cautious look as the Cybertronian stood up and wiped his clawed hands. The flying titan looked down at Eren and held out his hand for him to take. Eren slightly hesitated as he took his hand and was brought to his feet.
Megatron raised an eyebrow as he looked at Eren's mouth. "You can't speak, can you?"
Eren simply shook his head.
"Not my problem," Megatron said, "Either way, your comrades are concerned for you."
Eren widened his eyes as he looked up to see soldiers recovering. He ran over to the wall while Megatron leaned against a tree.
"Eren," Mikasa sighed with relief as she looked down the wall.
"Eren, are you okay?!" Armin asked, earning a nod from him.
Eren then looked over to see the crater in the ground next to the wall. What happened? Eren looked up and pointed to the crater near him.
Armin used his 3D Gear and came down the wall and placed himself next to Eren.
"Bertholdt collided with Reiner, causing the explosion," Armin began.
Armin covered his eyes as the steam prevent him from seeing the remains. Armin managed to see Bertholdt crawl out of the Colossal Titan's corpse, carrying Ymir in his arms.
Reiner managed to regenerate him limbs as he walked toward Eren. Armin panicked as Reiner was about to grab Eren by the neck, but Reiner pulled his hand back as a sword almost hit him in the arm.
Reiner turned and looked in fear as Megatron was on one knee while resting his hand on the other. Reiner backed away while Bertholdt attached to Reiner neck at sat on his shoulder. Megatron struggled to his feet as Reiner walked backwards before running off.
Megatron began huffing before he collapsed on the ground unconscious.
Eren widened his eyes as he looked back at Megatron who was simply tapping his claw on his arm. He saved him?
Wait a minute…Shit!
'Optimus!' Eren thought as he looked around frantically.
"He's over there," Megatron said as he pointed to another set of tree.
Eren widened his eyes in fear as he saw Optimus' unconscious form next to a couple of broken trees. Eren ran to Optimus while Armin attended to Mikasa's injuries.
"Armin, do you know who that titan is?" Mikasa asked.
"No one does," Armin answered, "The only one who seems to know is Optimus."
"How long has it been since they attacked?" Mikasa asked.
"About five hours," Armin answered, "The flying titan hasn't really made a move since then, so he could possibly be an ally."
"Commander Erwin," Hannes called out as Erwin came riding on a horse with other Survey Corps and Military Police members.
"I'm impressed that you've managed to bring horses to the top of the wall," Hannes remarked.
"That's beside the point," Erwin declared as he got off his horse.
"Jean," Armin said as Jean got off of his horse and walked over to him and Mikasa.
"I heard what happened," Jean began, "Did they…really appear?"
Armin nodded his head. "And that's not all. One of Optimus' kind showed up."
Jean widened his eyes in shock. "What-"
"What the hell is that?" Levi demanded.
The soldiers that weren't injured looked down to see the flying titan fiddling with his sword.
"We're calling him the flying titan," Hannes explained, "He just came in and started helping us."
"Looks like he just came out of hell," Levi remarked.
Armin noticed Sasha loudly hissing and shaking as she tried to move farther away from the flying titan. Her reaction to this titan was worse than with just Optimus.
"Who is that?" Jean asked.
"I don't know," Mikasa admitted, "No one does."
"But something's not right," Armin realized.
"Besides the fact that he looks like the devil himself," Jean commented.
"No," Armin answered, "The flying titan was away before any of us were, and he also seemed to know Optimus. But instead of waking Optimus up, he wakes up Eren."
As Eren was trying to wake up Optimus, the flying titan looked up the wall and narrowed his eyes at Erwin and Levi.
"Erwin, that's the exact same metal as Optimus," Levi realized, "You're right, it's one of Optimus' kind."
"But something different about this one," Erwin noticed, "Optimus told us that most of his species' eyes are blue. This one has red."
"Think we might be dealing with an enemy?" Levi asked.
"I pray not," Erwin answered, "Optimus has technological advancements that we could only dream of. It wouldn't be beneficial to mankind if this one has dark intentions."
Eren's eyes brightened with relief as he heard Optimus groan. Megatron noticed this and retracted the blade of his sword before placing it back on his hip. Eren then made some room for him as Optimus sat up and rubbed his head. Eren growled with concern as Optimus turned to him.
"I'm fine," Optimus insisted as he tried to stand up. Eren immediately helped him up before Optimus gestured that he was fine.
Optimus rubbed his helm to ease the pain. "What happened after I…,"
Eren noticed Optimus' eyes growing bigger before they grew rather dark.
"Where is he?" Optimus demanded.
Eren assumed that Optimus was referring to Megatron and pointed behind him. Megatron stood up straight as Optimus turned to look at him. Eren could practically feel the tension growing between the two titans.
"Eren, stay behind me," Optimus instructed, "That is a order."
Eren looked in confusion. Megatron didn't seem so bad. Why was Optimus still paranoid?
"Why is Optimus glaring at him?" Mikasa asked.
"Optimus doesn't usually…," Jean trailed off.
"He had been pretty mad lately," Armin retorted.
The tension between them only grew worse when Optimus took out his blaster and aimed it at Megatron.
Bertholdt held his tongue in pain as he tried regenerating his hand. When the limb finished, his hand was still covered in dark spots and part of his ring finger was gone.
"It's not changing back," Bertholdt began to panic, "Why isn't it changing back?"
"Bertholdt, calm down," Reiner said, "We'll figure something out. It's a good thing you ripped off your titan hand when you did, or it could've been worse."
"But how are they going to fix it?" Bertholdt asked, "Annie can't regenerate her arm because of that stupid energon thing."
Bertholdt winced in pain as he felt the insides of his hand boiling. He then widened his eyes as his head began throbbing from the pain.
"Why does it hurt so much?" Bertholdt asked himself.
Reiner looked at his friend with uncertainty and concern. He didn't know what to do. This energon thing was posing a really big problem for them. And now, there was another titan that had strength and power like Optimus, if not more. That beast tore out his own heart like it was child's play. Reiner put his hand over his eyes as he began shaking himself. He's never been so terrified in his life.
They also didn't grab Eren because of that stupid titan that survived the explosion. He was barely managing against Optimus. How the hell would they go up against one that could fly?
Reiner heard Ymir groan as she woke up and looked at her regenerating arms. She looked over at the two titan shifters in confusion before realizing the situation.
"Great," Ymir groaned, "I'm a hostage to the Colossal and Armored Titan."
Ymir looked down to see titans surrounding the trees below them, waiting for one of them to fall.
"So, what are you going to do with me?" Ymir asked.
"We're taking you back to our hometown," Reiner answered, "And we already suspect that you're not going to cooperate. But we can't move now since the titans are active. So we're waiting until nightfall to make out move."
"Well you have armor right?" Ymir asked, "So why can't you just run now? Did you get tired and decide to take a break?"
"I'll let you decide," Reiner answered.
Ymir heard hissing as he looked over to see Bertholdt clutching his head in pain and saw that his hand had third degree burns.
"What happened to him?" Ymir asked, "Did he get hit by Optimus?"
"No," Reiner answered, "It was another metal titan. One that could fly,"
Ymir looked in shock. "One that could fly?"
Reiner nodded his head. "We have to warn them. As soldiers we have to protect them from this threat. We're not powerful enough to-"
"Reiner," Bertholdt winced, "We're not soldiers. We're warriors."
Ymir looked at Reiner as he collapsed on the tree branch while thinking it over. "You-you're right."
Mikasa, Armin, Jean, and Eren widened their eyes in shock while Erwin narrowed his.
"Seems like he's got dark intentions," Levi proclaimed as his hand went for his blade.
"Wait, Levi," Erwin said as he put his hand in front of Levi, "Let's see how this plays out. Besides, we can't take him out."
"His eyes are a weak point," Levi commented.
Eren watched as Megatron raised his hands in the universal sign of surrender.
"I'm not here to fight, Prime," Megatron stated, "I'm here to talk."
Optimus didn't move, causing Megatron to sigh in irritation.
"Well then," Megatron began, "I'm going to make a guess that 'Because I now know the true meaning of oppression and have thus lost my taste for inflicting it' has going completely past your processors."
"What are you doing here?" Optimus demanded.
Megatron scoffed. "What am I doing here?! Unless if you've gotten amnesia again, I'm the one who should be asking that question! Last I recall, you became one with our planet's core!"
Megatron took a small step back as Optimus aimed another blaster at him.
"I will not ask again: what are you doing?" Optimus demanded as he charged his blasters.
'He knows about the core,' Erwin thought as he looked at Levi.
"Optimus never said he lost his memory," Levi remarked.
"Why?" Mikasa questioned, "They were just working together. Why is Optimus trying to kill him now?"
'Mikasa is right,' Armin thought. Optimus was never really someone who wanted to kill, so then why would he try to kill this titan. Optimus seemed to know who he is and Optimus just ended a war. Could it be possible that this titan is a Decepticon? Possibly, but it didn't have the Decepticon symbol.
Damn it, who could this titan be?
"I left Cybertron," Megatron stated, "I left because I have no reason to be there. I've been traveling through space for a month before I found myself on this twisted version of Earth."
'The world where humanity is free?' Eren thought. 'How does he know about that place?'
"And what of Cybertron?" Optimus asked.
"Who knows," Megatron answered, "I left after I saw you sacrifice yourself. I never made contact with anyone else since then."
"Give me one good reason why I should not kill you right now," Optimus practically ordered.
Megatron didn't say anything as he put his hands down. "I don't have one."
Optimus widened his optics in shock. What?
"The crimes I have committed in the past are ones that can never be overlooked. I'm no longer wanted on Cybertron, I have to remain in hiding because everyone wants me dead, and I can no longer return to the Allspark because my spark is corrupted." Megatron explained.
Megatron removed the hilt at his waste and threw it at Optimus' feet.
"You want to kill me, then go ahead," Megatron said as he stretched his arms out, leaving his chest wide open, "You'd be doing many others a favor."
Eren looked with concern. Was Optimus really going to kill him?
Optimus was having a serious internal conflict. Many parts of him were screaming at him to kill Megatron. Don't let the humans get involved. Protect his new family. But a small part of him was telling him to give Megatron a chance. He abandoned the Decepticon cause right before his optics and didn't try to kill him or any of the humans. Matter of fact, he did the one thing that he despised most and helped them.
His reasoning came back and told him that Megatron is a master manipulator. He's probably waiting to attack them all at their most vulnerable. Even if he was surrendering-wait a minute.
Megatron would never surrender. He would never surrender to anyone. He even said 'He was commanded by no one.' So why would he surrender? Megatron wouldn't just give up on life. If anything, he would fight until his last breath. The Megatron he knew…the Megatron…
He doesn't exist anymore, and Optimus can't tell what's left of him now.
Optimus changed one of his guns back into a servo and picked up the hilt at his feet. He knew what he was about to do may destroy humanity, but if Megatron really has changed from what he's seen, then he would try to take a risk.
Optimus powered down his other blaster before changing it back into his servo.
"Is he an ally or what?" Levi demanded.
Optimus looked up at the wall. "Survey Corps, there is no need to fear! Megatron is an ally to humanity!"
Armin and Jean widened their eyes in shock and fear and looked at each other. Megatron?! The Leader of the Decepticons?!
"Oh my God! Optimus, what are you doing?!" Jean questioned as quietly as possible.
'For now,' Optimus thought as he walked past Megatron.
"Try anything and I will grant you your death wish," Optimus swore in Cybertronian.
Megatron looked at Optimus with an unreadable expression. "Noted."
Erwin noticed Armin and Jean's fearful expression as they heard the flying titan's name.
"Erwin, they know something," Levi remarked as he noticed their expression's as well.
"We'll ask them later," Erwin declared, "Captain Hannes,"
"Yes sir," Hannes spoke.
"Did the Colossal and Armored Titan capture anyone?" Erwin asked.
"They took Ymir," Historia answered as she walked up to him, "She's a titan shifter as well and can be beneficial to humanity."
"At the same time the two probably haven't go that far," Erwin added.
"Erwin!" a voice yelled.
Erwin looked down to see a injured Hanji trying to crawl over to him.
"I-I need the map. Give me the map," Hanji said.
"Eren," Optimus spoke, "Go to the wall and hear the plan."
Eren looked at him with concern before slowly walking to the wall. He looked at the two titans whose backs were facing each other as he had more questions about them now. How does Optimus know Megatron?
"So do you mind telling me what's going on in the twisted world?" Megatron demanded.
"I have no reason to trust you," Optimus retorted, "Let alone tell you anything."
"I can still make assumptions," Megatron commented.
Optimus looked back at him and remembered something that he noticed during the battle. "What happened to your dark energon powers?"
"I could ask the same about your upgrades," Megatron retorted before chuckling, "I guess Primus has limitations when in the core of our planet."
"You still have not answered my question," Optimus spoke.
"Do you really think that Unicron would leave his vessel with the power to defend himself?" Megatron rhetorically asked.
"The only thing Unicron cares about is destruction," Optimus commented.
"Optimus!" Armin called out as he landed on Eren's shoulder, "Reiner and Bertholdt are in one of the forest of giant trees!"
"Well your enemy left a pretty noticeable trail," Megatron commented as he pointed to the Armored Titan's footprints.
"And you didn't bother to go after them?!" Historia yelled, "When did you even wake up?!"
Armin's face filled with dread while Jean put his arm around Historia's mouth. Historia's mouth was muffled as she was trying to demand why he was doing this.
Megatron raised an eyebrow at the girl before shrugging it off.
"I'll move on ahead and slow their movements," Megatron said to Optimus.
Optimus simply nodded his head before Megatron jumped in the air and transformed into a fighter jet. Erwin and Levi looked in shock while Jean's mouth dropped as Megatron flew above the trail of footprints.
"You've got to be shitting me," Levi said in disbelief.
"Optimus," Erwin called out as Erwin hooked himself to the wall and jumped down to his eye level, "Who is that titan and why did you try to kill him?"
"Commander, the situation is complicated," Optimus answered, "I need to confirm if he truly is an ally. I will explain this to you later, but for now stay away from him."
Historia managed to grab Jean's arms and push him away from her. "What the hell is your problem?!"
"You're gonna thank me later! Trust me!" Jean declared.
'Optimus, what are you thinking?' Armin thought.
Eren noticed Armin's distressed look and wondered why he was so scared of Megatron. Eren felt something at his foot and looked down to see the shield that he used to fight on the ground. Eren picked up the shield off the ground and looked at his reflection. He then looked at the direction Megatron took off to.
"Can you stand?" Reiner asked Bertholdt as he put a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't know," Bertholdt answered, "Everything hurts."
Reiner looked at his friend with concern before looking back to see Ymir finish regenerating her arms. Ymir's titan form was fast. And the only reason why that it was was because she ate their friend as they made their journey to the wall. If they made one wrong move in detaining her, then they could both end up dead.
He had to convince her to be on their side.
"Ymir," Reiner began, "Do you really think that this world has a future?"
Ymir looked at Reiner in confusion, trying to pinpoint what he was getting at.
"If you really think that's the case, then wouldn't it be best to come to our side?" Reiner asked.
Ymir scoffed with a smirk. "What makes you so sure that you can trust me? I can't even trust you."
"I can trust you," Reiner admitted, "You're trying to protect Krista, right?"
Bertholdt looked at Reiner with concern while Ymir widened her eyes.
"We can both agree on that topic," Reiner continued, "I know it seems like I'm joking, but you and I both know we can agree on that notion."
"Reiner," Bertholdt began as she stood up and leaned against the tree.
"We can't guarantee you're safety, but we may be able to help when it comes to Krista," Reiner declared, "You or Krista. Take your pick."
"Reiner, wait," Bertholdt began as he saw Ymir contemplating, "She ate Berik, didn't she?"
"Right," Reiner said, "She became human again, so she probably wanted to play her cards right and live. Until she met Krista. She met someone more important than herself and was willing to risk her life for her."
"Reiner," Bertholdt looked at his friend with uncertainty as he held his hand, "What are you now?"
"Relax, I'm still a warrior," Reiner reassured, "But Krista is apparently part of the Wallist Group. If we bring her along, she can be useful in helping us finding the coordinate if Eren isn't it. Then we can go home."
"What about Optimus?" Bertholdt demanded, "He's too powerful. Even in our titan forms he could still managed to kill us. And that flying titan,"
Bertholdt began shaking again at the thought of that monster. "What the hell are we suppose to do?"
Reiner didn't know. He didn't know how he was suppose to reassure him.
Reiner heard a loud engine noise and looked to the sky to see the same flying object that turned out to be the flying titan searching the area.
"Shit!" Reiner cursed.
"What?" Ymir demanded, "What the hell is that?"
"They-they found us?!" Bertholdt exclaimed.
Reiner used his 3D Gear to jump onto the tree branch Ymir was on and grabbed her by the waist.
"What the hell are you assholes doing?!" Ymir demanded.
"You want to live to protect Krista?! Then shut up!" Reiner ordered.
The soldiers continued to ride towards the forest as Armin looked over at Optimus as he drove on ahead.
'Optimus,' Armin thought, 'I really don't know what you want. Why would you allow Megatron to live? Do you think that Megatron has changed?'
Armin looked over at Jean to see his worried expression as he looked at Optimus. Jean was probably thinking the same thing. He couldn't tell if Optimus was even thinking straight. He didn't care about what he told him that night. He just wanted to know what the hell was going on in Optimus' head!
"His name is Megatron," Optimus began. "He was the leader of the Decepticons."
"What was he like?" Jean asked, "How did you first meet him?"
"Jean, wait," Armin interrupted before turning to Optimus.
"I met him during the twilight hours of the Golden Age on Cybertron," Optimus answered, "I was still an archivist at that time, and I have been noticing many corrupt places within the government and other high places."
"Like what?" Armin asked.
"Many lower class citizens were forced into manual labor. They were practically slaves to masters down there. Many have died due to horrific working conditions and abuse," Optimus answered, "Then I heard of a gladiator who wanted to change the system."
"Gladiator?" Jean repeated.
"A gladiator is a warrior who fights in an arena for many reasons: glory, power, survival. The gladiator champion took the name of one of the thirteen original Primes: Megatronus.
"Megatronus spoke of changing to system of Cybertron, to replace the system so that all Cybertronians would be created equal. I believed in those words as well. So I began meeting up with Megatronus and discussing possible solutions to a better system. I began to trust him after we met; I considered him brother."
"You guys had the same goal, so how did you two end up on opposite sides?" Armin asked.
"I questioned Megatronus' motives when there were actions committed under his name," Optimus explained, "A little while after I heard of these actions, Megatronus and I were advised to go to the High Council to propose our solution. But that was when I saw that Megatronus believed violence would be a means to obtain peace. I knew that what Megatronus was saying could put both of us in prison and label our revolution as terrorism. So I stepped in and spoke of using non-violence as a means to obtain peace. When I finished, the High Council believed my words and even anointed me to become the next Prime."
"Well that's good right?" Jean questioned.
Armin noticed Optimus tightening the grip on his arm.
"No," Optimus answered, "That was the problem. I never asked to become a Prime. Megatronus wanted the title of Prime and worked for it in his way, and it was given to me instead. I had no choice but to accept because the Senate was still in power, and that ended up causing a rift between us. I tried speaking reason to him, but he refused to listen. He ended up killing a member of the Council in his rage; he severed all ties with me, and he started a war a few days later."
Armin and Jean looked at each other in surprise before looking back at Optimus.
"I believed that he still wanted a better future for Cybertron when the war started, but as time went on, he became cruel, manipulating, sadistic. He would kill anyone who got in his way of his seemingly endless quest for power. I tried, I begged him, to end the senseless fighting multiple times, but he refused to listen."
Armin could see the pain in Optimus' eyes as he continued telling them about this Megatron. It must've been hard for him to fight someone that he was close to.
"I'm sorry," Armin apologized, "I shouldn't have asked you something so personal."
"It is alright Armin," Optimus reassured, "The only thing I ask of you is to not share the information. Just like the Survey Corps, I do not know who I can trust here. When the time is right and I am sure that I can trust the Survey Corps, then I may discuss with them something that is that personal."
"We won't tell," Jean proclaimed, "We promise."
Armin looked over at Commander Erwin who began to notice his distressed look. He knew that the Commander knew he and Jean knew something about Megatron.
But he couldn't shake the distressed feeling. Optimus told the two of them that Megatron was a fighter before the war, but he could've killed Colossal and Armored Titan so effortlessly and would have no regrets what so ever about it. He tore his heart out! The only one who had the power to go against him was Optimus, and he didn't kill him!
Why? Why didn't Optimus kill him? He can't be letting personal feelings get in the way, can he?
Everyone slightly closed their eyes as they saw a bright light in the forest.
"It's a titan transformation!" Erwin declared.
"Optimus, I found the Armored one," Megatron informed through his comm. link, "He's heading out of the forest, and is running at his top speed."
Bertholdt held onto Ymir and Reiner ran as fast as he could to Wall Maria. Ymir probably has no choice, but to comply. They were probably the only chance to survive and help her get rid of this titan power.
Ymir looked back at Wall Rose with sadness. She would probably never she Krista again, but she didn't even know if she would be safe with the Corps.
Reiner skidded to a stop as the flying titan landed in front of them. Ymir looked in awe and fear and she saw the flying titan look at them.
"I'm certain that you do not want to fight me again," the flying titan declared, "And I am not a rather merciful . But since I am in a rather…good mood, surrender now and I will let you live."
Ymir clenched her teeth and jumped off of Reiner's shoulder and bit her hand. Megatron covered his face as Ymir's titan form appeared.
Optimus and the Survey Corps arrived on the scene as they saw Ymir getting ready to claw at Megatron.
"Shit! Ymir, stop!" Connie yelled.
Ymir grunted as Megatron grabbed her by her face, the clawed hand covering her eyes.
"I'd take it that's a no," Megatron concluded as he crushed Ymir's face.
"YMIR!" Historia screamed as Megatron threw her deformed titan body aside.
Eren looked in shock while Erwin narrowed his eyes at the strength of this titan. Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode and looked at Ymir's crippled form. This was not going to end well.
Levi looked to his left to see that Erwin wasn't there. What the hell is that bastard up to now?
Bertholdt looked in fear at Ymir's crippled form. He had no choice. He had to protect Reiner.
Bertholdt jumped off of Reiner's shoulder and landed on the ground.
"Bertholdt, what are you doing?" Jean asked.
Bertholdt didn't answer as he bit his uninjured hand, causing a large cloud of smoke to appear. The Survey Corps and Military Police looked in shock as the Colossal Titan roared.
"Damn it!" Mikasa growled as she pulled out her swords.
Optimus transformed his servos into blasters and was prepared to fire, but felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Megatron with his arms on his hips as he gestured Optimus to give him his sword back. Optimus sighed as he gave Megatron his weapon back.
"Thank you," Megatron said as he transformed and flew into the air.
"Bertholdt, why?!" Connie yelled, "Why are you doing this?!"
Mikasa and Levi jumped off of their horses and latched onto the sides of the Colossal Titan. They threw themselves into the air before landing and running on the arms of the beast. The Colossal Titan then released large amounts of steam, preventing Mikasa and Levi from going anywhere near the neck.
Optimus turned to see Reiner running towards him to attack him. Optimus was prepared to fire, but Eren jumped in the air and slammed the shield in Reiner's face. The two ended up rolling across the ground as Eren quickly stood up and into his fighting stance.
"Ymir!" Historia cried as she rode up to her titan form with Connie.
Hannes looked at the horizon before looking in horror. "Erwin! What the hell are you doing?!"
Everyone looked in shock as Erwin and a couple of other soldiers brought an army of titans their way.
Optimus pulled Eren back as the titans attacked Reiner and the Colossal Titan's feet.
"All units, disperse!" Erwin ordered as they moved away from the battle. Before Erwin could give another order, an aberrant titan snuck up behind him and bit off his arm.
"Commander!" Armin yelled.
Erwin grunted in pain, but still kept a calm face. "ONWARD!"
Everyone looked at him in shock.
"The chance to defeat the enemies to mankind is right before your eyes! ONWARD!" Erwin yelled.
Eren tried to move, but grunted as Bertholdt grabbed him and lifted him up in the air.
"Eren!" Mikasa cried as she ran towards him on the muscular arm. Optimus tried to grab him, but grunted as Reiner threw a titan at his torso.
Eren slammed the shield on Bertholdt wrist, which had little effect. Eren then heard shifting noises and looked up to see Megatron dive in and raise his blade. Megatron cut off Bertholdt hand, causing Bertholdt to roar in pain. Mikasa lost her balance on the arm and ended up falling over. Levi then jumped off of the other arm and latched onto the Colossal Titan's chest before swinging in and catching Mikasa.
Megatron landed on his feet while Eren fell on his back. Eren forced himself out of the chopped up limb as Megatron transformed and flew back up to the Colossal Titan's neck.
"Ymir! We need to run!" Historia begged as Ymir slowly got up and rubbed her head.
"Krista! Come on!" Connie yelled as he tried to pull her away from Ymir.
"Stop it!" Historia screamed.
Bertholdt roared as he felt the titans climbing up his leg. He began prying them off, unaware of Megatron flying right behind him. Megatron transformed and covered his optics as the steam prevented him from seeing. The Cybertronian landed on the neck of the Colossal Titan and stabbed his sword in the back of the head.
Bertholdt gasped in the nape of the neck as he began to lose control of his titan form. He forced himself to raise his injured hand and grab Megatron, but Megatron pulled his sword out and cut the wrist preventing him from grabbing Megatron. Megatron then used his claws and cut open the nape of the neck.
Bertholdt screamed as Megatron pulled him out of the nape. Megatron jumped off of the neck as the corpse began to fall over. Levi gritted his teeth as he and Mikasa began to fall with the corpse.
Eren saw the two and jumped into the air and grabbed them. Eren landed on his feet before he began rolling to break his fall.
Optimus gasped as he and Reiner jumped out of the way as the body hit the ground, causing smoke and debris to rise up and blind them.
Eren put down Levi and Mikasa as he attacked approaching titans with his shield. Levi and Mikasa then latched onto Eren before swing themselves at other titans and slicing their necks.
Eren continued to attack until he heard someone yell, "Hey bastard! I finally get to kill you after all these years!"
Eren turned and looked in shock and fear as he saw Hannes fighting…the titan that killed his mom.
'Hannes!' Eren screamed in his head.
Eren looked in horror as the titan grabbed Hannes before biting his lower half.
'No,' Eren thought, 'NNNOOOOO!'
Eren roared at the top of his lungs as he punched the smiling titan, causing him to drop the remaining dead half of his former friend.
Everyone stopped moving as the titans stopped their activities and began running towards the smiling titan. They all tackled the smiling titan and began to devour the body, causing everyone to look in shock.
"By the Allspark," Optimus whispered as Megatron landed next to him with a struggling Bertholdt in his hands.
"Well, this is interesting," Megatron remarked.
'No,' Reiner thought, 'It had to be him. It just had to be. The coordinate power just had to fall into Eren's hands!'
"REINER!" he heard Bertholdt scream.
Reiner turned and looked in horror to see Bertholdt in the hands of the flying titan as he tried to break free from his grasp.
"REINER, HELP ME!" Bertholdt begged.
Reiner roared as he made his way to the two titans. Eren noticed this and screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the titans to stop devouring the smiling titan and run straight for Reiner.
"Reiner, no!" Bertholdt screamed.
"Don't let this chance slip away! Pull away!" Erwin ordered as he held onto his bleeding shoulder.
Historia held onto her horse as she saw Ymir looking back at a struggling Reiner.
"Oi! What are you doing you old hag?!" Connie yelled, "Let's go."
Ymir solemnly looked back at Historia as she gently touched her face. "Sorry."
Historia widened her eyes in confusion before calling out her name as she ran back to help Reiner.
Optimus transformed into his alt mode while Megatron transformed with a screaming Bertholdt in the cockpit.
The soldiers continued going towards the wall while Eren began crying in pain as he continued running with them.
Eren panted as people that remained in the expedition we're pulled up to the wall.
Connie panted while Historia practically fainted in Riko's arms.
"Is…is this it?" Connie said, "Is this all that's left?"
The people remaining watched at Megatron landed on the ground in his bipedal mode before throwing Bertholdt on the ground.
"At least it's not a waste," Jean remarked.
Eren looked in shock as Bertholdt was crawling away from Megatron. This flying titan managed to capture Bertholdt.
Megatron grabbed his hilt and transformed it into a full-length sword. He raised it in the air as Bertholdt covered his eyes in fear. He was going to die without returning home.
Bertholdt jolted as he heard a loud clang. He opened up his eyes and looked up to see the edge of the sword mere inches away from him. He looked in shock as he realized that Optimus forced Megatron's lower arm back to prevent the titan from killing him.
"What is he doing?" Jean demanded, "This is the perfect opportunity to kill Bertholdt."
"Prime's too merciful. That's the fucking problem," Levi groaned before looking over at Erwin, not realizing that he was losing consciousness, "Erwin, what do we do?"
"We…still…need…him…a-" Erwin collapsed on the ground as a couple of soldiers ran to his aid
Megatron looked down at the terrified mutant before looking back at Optimus. "I was assuming that you wanted this creature dead. The rest of the humans seem to see him as a plague to their race."
"Then I should say the same about you," Optimus shot back.
"Touché," Megatron chuckled, "But still, are you letting him live because you wish to give him a second chance?"
"No," Optimus answered, causing Megatron to look in surprise.
Eren looked in surprise as he listened to the conversation. This wasn't anything like Optimus. How did Optimus just change so much after a day?
"Killing him will not end the titan's reign," Optimus explained, "There is a village made up of humans who posses similar abilities to him. We need him to tell us the location. I will let the humans decide what to do with him once he is no longer useful to them."
"This is certainly surprising," Megatron admitted, "You consider the humans your allies, yet you would let them turn on each other."
"Like I should consider you an ally after everything that you have done," Optimus growled, "I do not know who to trust anymore, so if you wish to prove to me that you are an ally, then drop. your. sword. now."
Megatron gave Optimus an unreadable expression before letting the sword slip out of his grasp and fall to the ground. Bertholdt gasped in fear he felt someone pin him to the ground from behind. He grunted as he looked up to see Levi glaring at him as the Captain wrapped his arms with a cloth.
"Prime, Erwin seems to also want him alive," Levi informed.
"Then take him to a location where the boy cannot transform," Optimus instructed without breaking eye contact with Megatron.
Levi simply nodded his head before noticing Bertholdt's burnt hand. Prime never shot him. Where the hell did he get that?
Jean ended up cutting the nape of Eren's neck and pulling him out of his titan form before bringing him up to the wall. Eren wiped him eyes of the steam as he looked down at the two warriors. They may have succeeded in a victory today, but something told him that this situation was far from over.
Deleted Scene
Reiner panted as he and Ymir rested on one of the houses in Shinganshina. Ymir laid on her back looking at the stars while Reiner was one his knees. Before Ymir could say anything, Reiner screamed to the heavens as tears began to fall down his face.
Ymir sighed to herself. Guess, she couldn't thank him now.