Levi x Reader | Cold

Chapter Thirty - Panic

Jean bends over and places a hand on Eren's shoulder. "Eren, don't screw around! I said we'd all be counting on you, remember?! You, of all people, are entrusted with mankind and the lives of its people! Is this what we get?!" He gets on his knees and buries his head in his hands. "Marco... Marco didn't-"

He's interrupted by a crash ruining the wall behind us, coming towards us. I jump quickly out of the way but fall on my already injured torso, and Jean and Armin are brushed away by the wind the force creates. I feel a stinging pain come from my chest as I make a rough contact with the ground.

"Armin," I give him a remorseful look as I see Eren's body being put under even more rubble and pressure.

"We'll have to take care of her first," Jean commands, drawing his blades. I follow after him reluctantly, knowing if I look back the weakness I hide in me will draw me to help Eren and Armin as innocent people are dying.

"Jean," I call, as I use my 3D Maneuver Gear alongside him.

"What?"

"I'll help you."

He nods as we draw in closer to the large body of Annie Leonhardt, and he damages her legs and back minimally.

"Annie!" I hear somebody yell from behind me. I retreat from my position of going towards her ankles and go on the roof of a nearby building. I see Armin and begin shaking my head. Wasn't he just trying to save Eren? Why is the idiot here?

"If you don't kill me this time," he continues, "you won't be able to make any excuses like 'we'll see if my gamble pays off'!"

She turns around and I see Jean coming in from behind her. I quickly follow his lead but go after my original target of the ankles. A few shards of blade coming falling near me and I retreat back to my roof to avoid them. I notice he was trying to go after her hardened hand, a mistake on his part.

"This way!" Jean yells, going forward. Armin and I take his lead, going towards the middle of the large district, leading her to Plan C.

I make short eye contact with Hanji, and a mere second later large rounds are piercing in the Titan's flesh, making her quite literally stop at where she's standing.

Jean and Armin just barely keep out of her grasp, and I look behind me, watching her get attacked from every point on her body as she falls backwards. Armin and I go to the ground a comfortable distance away from her restrained body, listening to Hanji.

"Okay!" She cheers. "I didn't think we'd have to resort to Plan C, so what a surprise. That's Commander Erwin, I guess. Now then..." She uses her 3D Maneuver Gear to get herself to the ground. "You're a good girl, so please keep yourself still."

She points a blade towards the Female Type's eye and continues speaking to her.

I decide not to talk to Hanji, assuming she's in her Titan-crazy stage. If you know well of Hanji, this phase of hers is not just about her curiosity of the Titans. She can reach a violent state of mind, and I prefer to not let the angry or bloodthirsty thoughts of others forever impact my image of them.

Suddenly, Annie uses her legs to kick the men surrounding her, and I get myself atop of a building, sighing. She manages to remove herself from the traps and run away, leaving an annoyed group of soldiers.

We go forward in squads, few of us successfully removing her flesh. Mikasa and I are the only ones still fighting after a little, but even she gets kicked away eventually.

"Annie!" I yell, as I stand from a roof tall enough for her head to be level with my body. "I'm quite sorry we couldn't stay friends." I brush my bangs behind my face nonchalantly, grinning as I throw my blades up in the air, taking steps towards her. "By we, I mean Mina as well." Images of Mina and I doing each other's hair while talking to Annie and Sasha flow through my mind. The girls of the 104th all got along pretty kindly, with a few exceptions. Although Annie normally dismissed most of the girls, Mina and I were two she seemed to be able to withstand. "But really, wasn't it because of people like you that she died?" I notice Annie's pupils shrinken, her body stiff. Annie's the one who discovered Mina's decapitated body that day, mere feet from Marco's, and I know she remembers it. The Corps assumed a while ago that the Colossal and Armored Titans were just like Annie and Eren, and if it weren't for them, the world would be in the place it was at before that fall.