Lost in the Cruel World (Mikasa's Second Chance) (AOT)

19. Female Titan

A flare was shot.
.

'A black smoke round?' Armin thought. 'Is a Titan ignoring the nearby humans and heading for the formation's center?' He held up his gun and fired off a black shot. 'It has to be!'

Two soldiers came out of the forest, followed by a Titan.

It walked straight, ignoring the nearby soilders.

'That's an aberrant!' Armin thought.

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

"Roger!" Siss yelled from the other side of the Titan.

Ness pulled out his blades. 'Using Maneuver Gear on flat terrain is a huge disadvantage. It almost never works. But I can't let it disrupt the formation.' He glanced over at Armin. 'I think that's Arlert over there. I don't want one of the new recruits to run into it.' He carefully stood on his horse. 'I have to stop it here!'

The hook embedded into the Titan's heel and the soldier surfed on the ground, using the momentum from the aberrant to move.

With a thrust of gas, he surged forward and severed the tendons, causing the giant to fall.

"Now, Siss!" Niss ordered.

Then Niss sliced off the aberrant's nape, killing it instantly.

"You did it, Squad leader Ness!" Armin said and smiled.

But, his smile dropped when he noticed something coming towards them.

"Did I get him?" Ness wondered. His horse then came to him. "You came for me? That's my partner." He quickly mounted her. "I love you, Charlotte!" The horse galloped by the steaming corpse.

In the distance, a figure was running toward them.

When Ness and Siss heard loud footsteps, they looked over their shoulders.

"Again? What is the right flank recon squad doing?" Siss said.

"If it ignored them and came this way, it must be another aberrant. We've got no choice then..." Ness said and pulled out his blades. "Let's do it again, Siss."

"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." Siss replied.

The footsteps were almost upon them and Ness looked over his shoulder, gasping at the sight.

The Female Titan raced toward them, passing between the two soilders.

Armin fired a black smoke round. 'What's that?' He panicked. 'It's too fast!'

"Don't let it reach Arlert, Siss!" Ness ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Siss replied and jumped off his horse and flew toward the Female Titan.

Coming in a wide arch, he cried out, blades ready.

The Female Titan ducked her head and caught Siss.

She clutched the wires in her other hand and spun Ness and smashed him into the ground along with Siss, killing them instantly.

The Female Titan planted her foot in the ground, skidding to a stop.

Armin watched her with an open mouth.

Then she started moving.

Armin pulled at the reins quickly and the horse galloped away. 'No... No....' He was panicking. 'That's no aberrant. It's intelligent! Like the Armored or Colossal Titans, or Eren... A human in the body of a Titan!' The Female Titan continued in pursuit. 'B-But who? Why? This is bad! What should I do?'