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

edited on april 20th, 2022 @ 9:27pm

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽,
𝓓𝙴𝚂𝙲𝙴𝙽𝚃.

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THE ARMORED TITAN KNELT TO THE ground with his head down and Reiner comes out of it, but his head was generating steam.

"We did it!"

"We blew his head off!"

"The Armored Titan bit the dust!"

"We did it... You were such a pain in the ass for us. Serves you right, scumbag!" Jean laughed at Reiner.

Jean then noticed Connie and Sasha crying as Jean grabbed onto both of their collars.

"What the hell are you crying for?! C'mon, get up! This ain't over yet!" Jean shouted at the two.

Connie and Sasha didn't stop crying as tears started to form in Jean's eyes.

"Don't cry! We're the ones who killed him!" Jean reminded them.

"It's not over! Ready your equipment for the next round!" Hange shouted out.

Mikasa walked over to Armin, who seemed as though he was spaced out. "Armin..." She said in concern.

"It's not like... we had any chance to negotiate... It's our side dealing with the overwhelming lack of information. We don't have the power to capture someone who can turn into a Titan. There was... nothing we could do." Armin ranted on.

Suddenly, Josiah noticed the Armored Titans mouth started to move as he let out a loud roar, setting everyone on high alert before he faced his head down again.

"Nail him with Thunder Spears! We'll just have to blow his body to bits!" Hange shouted.

Armin suddenly took notice of a flying barrel in the sky, heading towards them.

"Wait! We need to get away from Reiner!" Armin informed as Hange looked towards him in confusion. Armin then pointed to the barrel.

"Up there! The Colossal Titan is coming! We'll all get blown away!" Armin shouted.

"Shit! Everyone, get away from the Armored Titan!" Hange ordered. "The Colossal Titan is falling our way!"

Everyone used their gear as they quickly fled from Reiner.

The barrel opened as Bertholdt appeared. "Reiner!" He shouted, landing on top of the Armored Titan.

Everyone regrouped next to Eren. "In any case, our mission objective just came falling into our laps. You could even call this lucky." Hange informed.

"Target approaching from ahead!" Moblit shouted out. "It's Bertholdt!"

"Our plan is as follows: Levi Squad protects Eren under Armin's command! All others work together to take down the two targets!" Hange ordered.

"Roger!"

Armin followed after Hange. "Please wait!" He told them.

"Armin?"

"This is our final chance to negotiate!" Armin stated as he landed on a roof. "Bertholdt! Stop right there!"

Everyone watched as Bertholdt landed across from Armin.

"Bertholdt! Let's talk this over!" Armin shouted.

"If I agree to talk, would you all agree to die?!" Bertholdt shouted back, leaving Armin in shock. "We only want two simple things! We want Eren and the demise of humanity in the walls! That's the harsh truth of reality, Armin! It's all been decided already!"

"Wha—? Wh-Who decided any of that?!" Armin asked.

"I did..." Bertholdt mumbled.

"Huh? What was that?!" Armin questioned.

"I decided it! Your lives are coming to an end right here!" Bertholdt said more clearly.

"That's very unfortunate! I was hoping... I wouldn't have to hear Annie's screams any longer! The only one who can save her from the savages in the Military Police... is you, and no one else! At this rate, she'll end up as feed for the pigs!" Armin informed.

"Fine by me!" Bertholdt said.

Josiah used his gear to head over to Armin. "Let 'em feed her to the pigs! If they really have her, that is!" Bertholdt continued on.

Both him and Armin landed on the roof. "What's the rush, Armin? Aren't we going to talk?" Bertholdt taunted as Armin took his blade out.

"Did you think that if you talked about Annie, I'd lose my cool again? That since I'm the meek and timid Bertholdt, you could fool me into letting my guard down?" Bertholdt asked.

Eren was going to follow the two, but was stopped by Jean. "Stand down, Eren. You should know. You've got a slim chance against him." He informed. "This isn't your fight."

"I know what you're doing. You're just buying time. Surrounding me with soldiers... and distracting me with this ruse while the others finish off Reiner! I can tell. You're standing there shaking so much, you can't do a damn thing." Bertholdt revealed.

"If you knew that much, why did you even come talk?" Armin questioned.

"I wanted to know. To know whether, if I faced you guys, I'd start whining and beg for forgiveness again. But..." Bertholdt raised his blade. "...seems like I'm fine now. Yeah. You are precious comrades to me. I also intend to kill you."

"Is that... because you think we're spawn of the devil?" Armin asked.

"No. None of you have done anything wrong, and you're not devils either. But you all still have to die. That's just how it is." Bertholdt replied.

Josiah suddenly appears behind Bertholdt and tries to slice him with his blade, but Bertholdt counters with his. Josiah uses his other blade to try and slice off Bertholdt's head, but Bertholdt dodged and got his ear cut off instead.

Bertholdt tries to kick Josiah, as the brunette blocked it, but ended up falling off of the roof as a result.

"Josiah!" Armin shouted out.

Bertholdt runs towards Armin with his blade ready to slice him, but Josiah throws his blade at Bertholdt, who blocked it. Josiah runs towards Bertholdt, but he escapes them. Armin tries to chase after Bertholdt, but Josiah stops him.

"Armin! Don't chase! There's no knowing when he'll transform. If we don't keep our distance, we'll get caught in another explosion." He told him.

"I don't think Bertholdt intends to just yet. Reiner's on the verge of death, so if he did, he'd finish Reiner off. We could take Reiner as a hostage and fight him straight on with swords." Armin stated.

"We should, but..." Josiah paused for a moment. "It seemed like he had some sort of plan though. Still, was that really Bertholdt just now? To me, he seemed like a different person."

"Me, too." Armin agreed.

Josiah watched as Bertholdt went higher into the air with his ODM gear as he widened his eyes.

"Don't tell me he's going to—!" Josiah started to say, but he was cut off by a yellow ball of light that wasn't coming from the sun.

A huge hall of explosion appears, blowing away everyone who was caught in the wind.

The Levi Squad were hanging onto Eren, Josiah and Armin were hiding on the side of a house, and Hange squad were caught in the explosion.

The huge yellow glow disappeared soon disappeared.

"You guys alive?!" Jean asked.

"I don't know! Are you?!" Connie spat back.

"I-I'm hanging in there..." Sasha said.

"Josiah! Armin!" Mikasa shouted as she saw the two regrouping with them.

"You okay?!" Jean then asked.

"We're fine." Josiah reassured.

"Hange Squad?" Jean questioned.

"They were so close to Bertholdt..." Armin trailed off as they looked up and saw the Colossal Titan.

"You don't think..." Jean paused. "...the only ones who survived... are us here?"

The Colossal Titan lowers his hands and picks up houses on the ground before he threw them.

"Armin! What now?!" Jean asked as Armin looked towards him. "Wait for burning houses to flatten us?!"

Josiah placed his hand on Armin's shoulder. "Armin. You're in command. We follow your orders." He informed.

"We retreat... Rally at the commander for new orders. We'll engage the Colossal Titan in a battle of attrition as originally planned." Armin informed.

"Hold up, Armin..." Jean began. "It'll be a disaster if we left Bertholdt near the wall and the others. If the houses in the inner gate catch fire, they'll be sandwiched between the fire and the Beast Titan."

"Th-That means..." Armin stuttered. "...we have no choice but to defeat Bertholdt right here? And we have to do it... with the people we have here?"

Debris kept falling to the ground. "A-Armin!" Connie shouted. "The fire! Your orders?!"

"Hurry it up!" Sasha added on.

Armin didn't reply as he continued to stare at Bertholdt with horror.

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A/N: Another chapter is completed! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1396 words.