empty spaces ~ armin x reader

chapter four // the gamble

The reunification was short-lived as the supposedly dead War Hammer titan remerged, creating a new weapon. The crossbow severed Eren's titan head from its neck. Mikasa drove them out of danger just before the strike. Eren allowed himself to be carried by her and observed as she drew back in with another armful of thunder spears.

Reinforcements would be on their way from the sea and the mountains. Armin helped arrange it so he would have been the one who took care of the marine threats. I was most likely the only one who knew how shifting fucked him up though. I didn't need to go into depth about the guilt I felt for not even seeing the issue at first and then pressing it on him right at that moment. I wouldn't be surprised if that alone would propel him to push me away.

I unhooked the grenades from my belt and held them firmly in my fist. My right hand was preoccupied controlling the ODM gear and the other one was holding the weapon. I took the clip of the grenade between my teeth and ripped it out. I let the grenade fall on the pissy soldiers below. Cursing proceeded as the explosion fed on the gunpowder in the soldier's weapons, forming an even larger flame.

I coughed on the smoke as I held on for dear life to the top of another slanted roof. I dry-heaved several times as ash clouded my nostrils and throat. I hated fire with a passion but I was mesmerized at the same time. What was an enemy to fire? The oncoming storm.

Eren transformed into his titan form once more and dug his fingers into the ground below the stage. He yanked free a crystalline shell. At closer examination, I realized it was the body of the person controlling the War Hammer Titan. The crystal shell reminded me of the one Annie Leonhart was encased in back within Wall Sheena. Annie's condition was still under debate, so it would've been fascinating to see Eren's idea for getting that bitch out of her clam.

Eren raised the shell to his mouth, but another titan, even I had managed to overlook, appeared on the scene. This titan was smaller than the rest of the shifters, but had sharp claws I acknowledged. The Jaw Titan sank its teeth into Eren's titan neck, drawing thick streams of blood. It took less than a blink for a third figure to appear with a sword and cut directly through the jaw muscles of the distracted Jaw Titan.

Levi Ackerman flew faster than any avian creature in the sky.

The bite wasn't deep enough to kill Eren, so he took advantage of the moment and grabbed the Jaw Titan by the hair. Eren screamed again as he threw the Jaw Titan in the direction of the enemy fire. In the direction, I was standing.

I ran as fast as I could when I saw the Jaw Titan plummeting to the ground overhead. I threw my ODM gear and latched onto a building up ahead. I was making my way across when gravity did its shit and caused the Jaw Titan to land on the building I was currently latched on to. I didn't have time to calculate a quick, life-saving reaction as the building fell apart. The piece I used as the base for my ODM gear projection crumbled.

I drew my hand to the back of my neck and shot the latch on the closest thing. It clasped onto a somewhat stable building and the slack rope tightened. I swung into the window of a building, thankfully missing the bone-crushing brick by a few feet. My entire body felt the impact of the glass and then the floor level. Glass shattered and sparkled around me from the yellow glow of the fire and continued violence. The thud of my body reverberated in my eardrums as my ears picked up gunshots shooting from outside.

I didn't fully understand how injured I was at the time due to the adrenaline making everything disappear except the goal. I felt the air knock out of my lungs, and I laid there for a few minutes trying to breathe. I pushed myself onto my elbow and heaved in a breath. Tears prickled my eyes as my lungs screamed.

Jean flew through the broken window and kneeled next to me. I bit my tongue very hard to keep the tears from falling. He looked up briefly to see that the gunshots were coming in our direction. He shoved us both on the ground.