A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to a new chapter! Enjoy!

edited on june 11th, 2021 @ 10:28am

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚂𝙸𝚇,
𝓕𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙻𝙴 𝚃𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙽, 𝟻𝟽𝚃𝙷 𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙴𝙳𝙸𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙱𝙴𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚂, 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃 𝙾𝙽𝙴.

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In the year 850... for the first time, humanity recovered part of its territory from the Titans. Though at great cost.

A month later, led by Erwin Smith, the Survey Corps left Karanes to find a route to Shiganshina, where it's believed the secrets of the Titans are held.

AS THE SOLDIERS RODE PAST the abandoned houses, Section Commander Hange looks around and spotted a Titan closing in on the left.

"Ahead, to the left, a 10-meter class!" They announced. "I am very interested in seeing what's inside it's stomach... But I'll leave it to the support team!"

The two members of the support squad goes in to end the Titans life. One of the slices the Titans nape, but it wasn't deep enough.

"Damn! Not deep enough."

"Defend the formation!"

Sasha began to whimper. "Stay strong! Leave it to the support team, and keep going!" A soldier told her, placing his hand on her head and forced her to face forward as they continued to ride down the run-down town.

"Onward! Onward!"

Soon enough, they were all outside of the walls. "Go into long-range scouting formation!" Erwin ordered.

"See ya, Section Commander and Armin." Reiner bid farewell to Julian and Armin.

"If you run into a Titan, don't piss your pants!" Jean added.

"Says you, Jean." Julian teased.

"Damn you, Nii-san!" Jean shouted.

"Stay safe out there, Cadet Arlert." Julian told the blonde.

"You as well, Section Commander." Armin said as he watched Julian and his squad move out towards the direction Levi was along with his squad and Eren.

The vanguard is to spread out in a semi-circle. But stay within visual range of one another. Position yourselves at fixed intervals. Extend the recon and message relay range as far as possible.

Julian's squad was riding along when Julian noticed something. "Something's not right, it's been a while since we last saw the red smoke round." Lyon informed.

"You noticed as well, Ly?" Julian asked as the red head nodded. "It is strange, but we have to keep moving to get to Levi and his squad."

A loud bang was heard. "Section Commander! A black smoke round is spotted!" Zach informed.

"Shit! They must've ran into an Abnormal!" Julian exclaimed as he loaded his gun chamber with the smoke bomb and raised his arm into the air, firing the black smoke round.

"Damn, we'll have to fight it..." Ness cursed. "Sys, go for the neck! I'll stop it!"

"Roger!"

Ness got out his swords. "Using Maneuver Gear on flat terrain is a huge disadvantage. It almost never works. But I can't let it disrupt the formation." He thought. "I think that's Arlert over there. I don't want one of the new guys to run into it."

Ness then got stood on his horse. "We kill it here!" He thinks to himself, jumping off his horse and slashing the ankles of the Titan, making it fall to the ground.

"Now, Sys!"

Sys came in and sliced the Titans nape, finishing it off. "You did it, Squad Leader Ness!" Armin cheered. But he stopped when he noticed something approaching them.

"Did I get him?" Ness asked himself before his horse came up to him. "You came for me? That's my partner..." He said, jumping onto his horse. "I love you, Shallot!"

Giant footsteps were heard in the distance. Ness and Sys turned around. "Again? What is the right flank recon squad doing?" Ness questioned.

"If it ignored them and came this way, it must be another Abnormal." Sys answered. The figure starts getting closer and it's footsteps became louder.

"Oh, fine... Sys, we do it again." Ness told him, pulling out his blade once more.

"Right."

"But we've got the worst luck, doing this twice in a row... and I think it's at least a fourteen-meter class. This one will be tough." Ness informed.

The Titan then charged at them with insane speed. Ness and Sys quickly moved out of the way before it crushed them. Armin fires another smoke signal as his eyes widened with terror.

"What's that? It's too fast!" Armin said to himself.

"Don't let it reach Arlert!" Ness ordered as Sys attaches his hook to the Titan's nape. As he goes in for the kill, the Titan head butts him as his body splattered onto the ground. Soon, Ness tries to attack it but is only grabbed and slammed to the ground.

Armin watched as the Titan stands in the middle of the field, it's blonde hair flowing in the wind. It looks back up and charged towards Armin, who began galloping away.

"No... No... that's no Abnormal. It's intelligent! Like the Armored or Colossal Titans, or Eren... A human in the body of a Titan! B-But who? Why? This is bad! What should I do? I'm going to die, too... I'll be killed!" Armin rambled.

He lets go the reins of his extra horse as it got stepped on. The Female Titan hovered over him as he looked up.

"What does it... No, what do they... What do they want?"

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The Female Titan stomps her foot in front of Armin, causing his horse to stop in its tracks and throw Armin to the ground. He rolls as his hood was placed over his head. He tries to stand up but freezes in place as soon as he hears the Female Titan walking towards him.

She kneels down and pulls off his hood, revealing his face. She smiled at him as Armin stares at her with fear in his eyes. She lets go of his hood and runs off in the opposite direction, leaving Armin alone.

"It's not going to kill me? Why?" Armin asked himself. "It removed my hood... To... To look at my face?"

"Armin!"

"Reiner!"

"Hey, can you stand? You won't last outside the walls unless you're on horseback... Hurry!" Reiner said.

"Right!" Armin said as he made his way towards the horse.

Both Reiner and Armin started following the Female Titan. "I saw the smoke round signaling an Abnormal. Was it that one there with the nice ass?" Reiner questioned.

"That's no Abnormal... It's a human in a Titan body!" Armin replied.

"What was that?"

"Wait a second. We need to fire a smoke round first." Armin informed as he struggled to put the canister in the chamber. "H-Hurry... There's an emergency over there. With a smoke round, I'll..."

Luckily someone had already done it for him. "Wait... I think Jean fired it." Reiner stated as they both looked back.

Jean rode his horse closer as they heard two signals fire at the same time.

"It came from the right flank. Does that mean we're so compromised, we can't continue the mission?" Reiner asked.

Jean rode next to Armin."Looks like the right flank recon squad was partially wiped out... Titans, tons of them. I don't know why, but there are lots of fast ones. For now, we're holding them back, but recon is no longer possible... We've taken heavy losses, and if we aren't careful, we'll be destroyed!" Jean explained.

"That Titan came from the same direction. No way... Was it leading the Titans?" Armin wondered.

"It? Why is a Titan over there? An Abnormal?" Jean questioned.

"No, it's a human in a Titan body... Someone with the same ability as Eren." Armin informed.

"What?" Jean said.

"Why do you think that, Armin?" Reiner asked.

"The Titans only eat us. We're just killed in the process. Killing us isn't ever specifically their goal. But when Sys aimed for its weak spot, it crushed him and smashed him into the ground. It killed him to kill, rather than to eat him. It's nature is different from the others. When the Colossal and Armored Titans destroyed the walls, it must've been the one that brought that army of Titans. Their goal has consistently been to attack all humanity!" Armin explained but then paused.

"No, maybe not. It felt like it was looking for someone... if that is the case, could it be looking for...  Could it be looking for Eren?" Armin asked.

"Eren?" Reiner questioned. "Eren's with Squad Levi and Squad Julian, which is in charge of the right flank."

Armin and Jean turned to him with surprise. "The right flank? The plans I got had them to the rear of the left flank." Jean informed.

"Mine said they were near the front of the right... Wait, there's no way they'd be on the front lines." Armin said.

"So where are they?" Reiner asked.

"Probably the safest place in the formation. Which means in the center, and toward the rear..." Armin replied.

"Armin! There's no time to think. Smoke rounds can't possibly indicate how much of a threat it poses! At this rate, it'll wipe out command. Then the formation will fall apart, and that'll be the end." Jean informed.

"What are you trying to say?" Reiner questioned.

"In other words, at this range, we may still be able to draw its attention. We may be able to buy time to withdraw. Maybe... Maybe..." Jean trailed off.

"But it really is intelligent. To it, we are nothing but insignificant insects. It'll just crush us..." Armin told him.

"Seriously?" Jean chuckled. "That's scary..."

"Hey, are you really Jean? The Jean I know never thinks of anyone but himself." Reiner commented.

"Don't be an ass... I just don't want those charred bones I saw to be disappointed in me! I... I know what I have to do now! And this is the job we chose. Help me!" Jean shouted.

It was silent for a moment until Armin placed his hood over his head. "Put on your hood. As far forward as you can... So that your face is hidden from it. I don't think it will kill us until it knows who we are!" He said.

Reiner reached for his hood. "Oh... You believe if it thinks we might be Eren, it won't kill us?" He asked, placing his hood over his head. "If nothing else, it'll make me feel better. Let's just hope it has poor eyesight!"

"Armin, I thought it was creepy how you always clung to Eren. But I've always thought you had it in you." Jean commented, pulling up his hood as well.

"Uh, thanks. But "creepy"? That's really mean..." Armin stated.

The Female Titan continues to run, Armin signals Reiner and Jean, giving them a nod.

"It's going much more slowly than when I first saw it. Is it tired? If it runs at that speed again, we'll be too late! Now's our chance... we have to do it now!" Armin thought.

Jean got up from his horse and attached his ODM gear to her foot. She stops and stomps her foot, trying to shake off the hook as her feet slid across the grass.

She turns to Armin and slaps the horse that he was riding on away, making him fall onto the ground as his body rolls away and his gear coming off.

Jean gasps as Reiner tried not to get hit by the flying horse. Armin laid on the ground while blood dripped down his face. The Female Titan kneeled down, most likely to finish what she started.

"Armin!" Jean called out.

Jean attached his gear to the back of the Female Titan's neck, making her turn around and placing her hand over her nape to protect it.

"This one... Its movements are much more precise than the others' are! Damn it. I... I underestimated it!" Jean noted. "It protected its neck..."

"Jean!" Reiner called out.

"Damn it! I can't get away!" Jean thinks to himself. "I'm going to die! Once it grasps my wire, it's over!"

"Jean! Avenge the suicidal bastard!" Armin shouted, making the Female Titan stop in her tracks.

"Armin?" Jean questioned in his mind. "It stopped?"

"That's the one... That's the one that killed him! He rushed to his death on the right flank! Avenge him!" Armin yelled. As Jean managed to get away.

"What happened? Did Armin hit his head and go insane? This isn't the time..." Jean thought.

"It crushed my best friend! I saw his body under its foot!" Armin continued to yell out.

Reiner used his gear to head straight for her nape. "He's going straight for the neck? No, it's working! While it's distracted by Armin!" Jean thinks to himself.

As Reiner flies around her nape, the Female Titan looks at him as she smirked. Reiner's face turned pale as the Female Titan crushed him with her hand.

"H-Hey..." Jean mumbled.

The Female Titan placed her thumb on Reiner's head as he kept struggling to free himself from her hold. She pressed down and crushes his head between her fingers as if he was a bug. Jean backed away in horror.

"H-Hey... Reiner, you..." Jean muttered.

Suddenly, Reiner appeared as he freed himself from her grip, his blades breaking in the process. Reiner ran and threw Armin over his shoulder and the Female Titan stares at her palm which was now steaming.

"Reiner did it! Mikasa was so strong, I forgot. But he's really strong and reliable, too..." Jean noted.

"We've bought enough time, right? Let's get the hell away from it! If it isn't a man-eater, it won't follow us!" Reiner shouted.

He turns out to be correct as the Female Titan gets up and runs in the opposite direction.

"Look... That big bitch got scared and and decided to go home!" Reiner informed.

Armin gasped as he realized where she was heading. "No... Why? That's towards the center rear. Is it heading toward Eren?" He thought.

And he wasn't the only one, Jean noticed as well. "Nii-san and his squad are with Squad Levi! I have to trust that he won't die. He's a skilled soldier. He knows how to get out of sticky situations." Jean reassured himself.

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A/N: Another chapter done! Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 2397 words.