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

edited on october 28th, 2021 @ 11:52am

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝚆𝙴𝙻𝚅𝙴,
𝓜𝙴𝚁𝙲𝚈, 𝚁𝙰𝙸𝙳 𝙾𝙽 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝙷𝙴𝚂𝚂 𝙳𝙸𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙲𝚃, 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃 𝙾𝙽𝙴.

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《 𝖲𝖤𝖵𝖤𝖱𝖠𝖫 𝖣𝖠𝖸𝖲 𝖤𝖠𝖱𝖫𝖨𝖤𝖱 》

"THEY'RE LATE." Levi stated. "Erwin and his men are keeping us waiting. The MP escorts will come here before they do. He's probably constipated and having a rough day."

Simon had his arms crossed, keeping silent. Eren sat their awkwardly, drumming his fingers on the wood as he had nothing else to do.

"You're talking a lot today, Captain." Eren pointed out.

"Don't be stupid. I always talk a lot." Levi informed. He suddenly set his tea cup down as he winced in pain. This got Simon out of his thoughts.

"Is your injury more serious than we thought?" Simon asked.

"Don't fret so much, Simon. I just put pressure on it." Levi reassured him as he tched. Simon gave him a look that he was unconvinced but decided to leave it alone.

"I'm sorry. Back then, if I hadn't made the wrong choice... This never would've happened." Eren said, still blaming himself for the death of Levi's squad and Alastrine.

"I told you... No one ever knows how things will turn out." Levi told him.

"I don't blame you either, Eren. You're starting to sound like Oliver. He won't stop blaming himself." Simon sighed at the mention of his best friend.

The door then opened as Eren stood up. "Sorry to keep you waiting." Erwin said.

"Not at all, sir."

"You guys! U-Um..." Eren trailed off, noticing Armin, Mikasa, and Jean.

"We have identified a person of interest who may be the Female Titan." Erwin began as Eren's eyes widened with shock. "This time, we won't let her escape."

"The operation will be in two days. It will take place in Stohess District, on our way to the capital. This is our first and last chance. Once we past that point, Eren will be remanded to the capital. Our pursuit of those who seek to destroy the walls will become fraught with difficulty. Ultimately, humanity stands to go extinct. We will stake everything on this plan." Erwin explained as everyone was seated at the table. Eren just nodded in reply.

"Here it is. When we pass through Stohess, Eren will act as a decoy, and lead the target into this underground tunnel. If we can get her to the lowest level, given the tunnel's size and structural integrity, even if the target transforms, we can immobilize her. But if she transforms before then... Eren, we'll need your help." Erwin continued.

"Yes, sir." Eren said. "As for the target... Are we sure she is in Stohess?"

"We received word that our target is a member of the Military Police." Simon replied.

"The Military Police?"

"It was Armin who arrived at that conclusion, and Simon agrees with him. He believes the target also killed the two captured Titans." Erwin said. "She may have been a former trainee from the 104th, the same as you."

"W-Wait a second... The 104th?" Eren questioned.

"The name of the girl we believe to be the person of interest is... Annie Leonhart."

"Annie's the Female Titan?" Eren asked. "Why? Why do you think that, Armin?"

"From the start, the Female Titan knew what you looked like. And she reacted to your nickname, "suicidal bastard," which only the 104th trainees would know. And the biggest reason is that I believe Annie killed the rest subjects, Sawney and Bean." Armin replied.

"How can you tell?" Eren questioned.

"Only someone very skilled could have done it. And they'd have used their own Maneuver Gear, which they're accustomed to." Armin responded.

"Yeah, wasn't that why they inspected our Maneuver Gear? But they didn't find anything on Annie..." Eren pointed out.

"That's because Annie brought Marco's Maneuver Gear to the inspection." Simon answered. He could see Jean, who was sitting right next to him, tense up at the mention of Marco. "That's why she managed to avoid getting caught."

"Huh? What are you talking about? What does Marco have to do with this?" Eren asked, looking over to Jean.

"I don't know." Armin admitted.

"Are you sure it was his?" Eren asked.

"Yes, I know what I—" Armin began.

"Hey, kid." Levi interrupted. "We get it. Do you have any other evidence?"

"No, I don't." Armin answered truthfully.

"I think Annie's face resembles the Female Titan's." Mikasa put in.

Simon suddenly remembered something. "Didn't she also rank 4th in the top ten of your class? When I came to visit, I couldn't help but notice she was a good fighter." He added.

"Huh?" Eren said as he stood up. "What are you talking about? That isn't evidence—"

"So, you have no proof, but you'll do it anyway." Levi interrupted once more.

"You have no proof? What? Then why do it? What if it isn't her?" Eren asked.

"Then we'll know she's innocent. That's all." Mikasa answered bluntly.

"And then I'll feel bad for Annie. However, if we don't do something, you'll end up being sacrificed to the people in the capital!" Armin informed.

Eren looked away. "You're crazy to think Annie's a Titan." He said.

"Eren, now that you know we suspect her, isn't it ringing any bells?" Mikasa asked. "You fought the Female Titan. Didn't anything remind you of Annie's distinctive combat style?" She added as Eren widened his eyes as if he remembered something.

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《 𝖯𝖱𝖤𝖲𝖤𝖭𝖳 𝖳𝖨𝖬𝖤 》

Simon was currently in an alleyway with his hood up and Oliver was next to him. Simon peeked out to see that Eren, Armin, and Mikasa had lead Annie to the underground tunnel. It seemed as if they were talking about something, but from where Simon was standing, he couldn't hear what they were talking about.

"Do you think this plan will work?" Oliver asked.

"I sure hope so. If not, Eren will have to transform into a Titan. If that doesn't work, then we have Hange and their squad ready with the traps." Simon replied. "And as a last resort, I'll transform into my Titan and fight her, which I hope it doesn't come to that." 

"More importantly..." Simon continued. "I want to find out how exactly she knew I was a Titan shifter."

"Considering no one knows except us, Erwin, Levi, and Eren since you told him." Oliver added.

"Exactly. Which leaves me thinking how many more people in the military know." Simon stated.

They looked back and saw that the civilians rushed over to keep Annie from transforming. It was then Simon spotted something shiny on her finger. He gasped and rushed out of his hiding spot.

"Stop! She has a ring!" Simon warned. But it was too late as lightning hit the ground and Annie was able to transform into the Female Titan.

Simon used his ODM gear as he headed straight for Annie. She caught him in her hand before he sliced her fingers.

"Like hell I'll let you get Eren!" Simon claimed before using his gear to charge at her again with the help of Oliver and Mikasa while Armin went towards Eren who was trapped under the debris.

Annie was heading straight towards him as Mikasa sliced her arm. She fell onto the ground from the debris Annie caused.

"Don't let the Female Titan escape! We can't let her get away!"

Simon headed straight for the Female Titan with Mikasa and Oliver right behind him. "I won't make this easy for you!" He claimed, slicing her tendons.

"Annie!" Simon heard Armin call out. "If you don't kill me this time, your feeble excuse about "your real bet starting now" will be worthless!"

While Annie was distracted, Simon tried to cut her fingers as she crystallized them.

"Armin! Jean! This way!" Simon shouted.

"Understood, Section Commander!" Armin called out as he used his gear to follow Simon, Oliver, and Jean. Annie had begun to follow them.

"If Eren doesn't get his shit together and transform, I'll have to fight her using my Titan form! That's the one thing we're trying to avoid! Let's hope these traps work!" Simon thought.

The four of them passed by Hange's squad as they fired the traps at her. Annie tried to move but fell to the ground as two soldiers placed the net onto her.

Simon landed next to Hange with Oliver right next to him. "Thank the gods that worked." He mumbled.

"All right! Personally, I thought having a Plan C seemed like overkill. But Commander Erwin really knows his stuff." Hange said as they stopped twirling their wire.

"Now, then..." Hange said as they dropped down from the roof with Simon following them. "I suggest you be a good girl and behave yourself."

Simon pointed his broken blade towards her eye. "You can't call any Titans to eat you this time. But don't you worry. I'll savor the information I prise out of you instead." He finished as Annie used her leg to knock over the traps.

"She broke free?!" Mikasa exclaimed.

"Looks like we didn't set enough traps!" Hange stated.

"Don't let her escape! After her!" Simon ordered as him, Jean, and Armin headed towards her.

"Plan C didn't work. Looks like I have to fight her. Damn it, I don't want to turn into that monster again!" Simon thinks to himself.

Mikasa tried to head for Annie but ended up losing her balance and falling to the ground.

"Mikasa!" Armin called out in concern.

Simon was about to transform when all of a sudden, lightning touched the ground, making him sigh in relief as he placed his hand down at his side.

Eren had appeared in his Titan form as he rushed towards Annie, throwing a punch to her face and making her crash into a building, heading towards her once more.

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

Word Count: 1723 words.