The Return of Marco Bodt (Titan!Marco)

Chapter 21

It was the day of the expedition and the air was filled with nervous excitement. Some scouts glared at Marco as he walked by, trying to convey the message that he better not screw up. No one knew if they would actually need for Marco to use his titan form but they were hoping that if they did, everything would go well. Eren would also be on standby as well so that if worse came to worst the scouts would have two titans to back them up.

"How are you feeling?" Jean asked Marco, surveying his still heavily scarred face as they walked outside to mount their horses. "Are you ready for this?"

"Yep! I'm ready to do everything I can to protect the scouts!" Marco cried optimistically. Jean rolled his eyes and shook his head, annoyed by Marco's optimism. Marco was being placed in the front of the center formation along with Erwin, Levi, Eren, and the rest of Squad Levi. Jean was being placed a few rows behind them.

Marco mounted his horse and pulled it into formation next to Levi and Eren. It took a few moments before everyone was in line and ready to go but soon, Erwin announced it was time to leave the walls before kicking his horse into a gallop. Marco followed, keeping his horse in line next to Levi's.

"Do you know how to work the flares?" Eren asked as they just left the safety of the walls. Marco nodded as a response, too nervous to speak. He hoped he didn't show how nervous he felt. He couldn't screw this up.

The first few minutes went by without any major complications. A few titans were spotted in the left and right flanks but they were quickly taken care of with minimal casualties. Soon, the expedition took a turn for the worst. Multiple titans, both normal and abnormal, were spotted dangerously close to the left flank. It was too late to move the formation out of the way and they had no choice but to go through and fight them.

"Should we?" Eren asked, lifting his hand to his mouth.

"Wait a moment," Levi answered, his eyes locked straight ahead of him. Multiple black and red flares appeared from the right flank alerting them that the right flank was in trouble as well. "Okay. Marco, you go to the left. Eren, you go to the right. Come back when you take care of them," Levi ordered. Marco and Eren nodded, swerving out of the formation to simultaneously turn into their titans.

Jean's anxiety rose as he watched Eren and Marco break off from the center formation and turn into their titans. Both the left and right flank seemed to be in deep trouble, forcing them to use their titans so early. Jean forced himself to keep looking forward hoping that they would both be able to take care of the problem without any issues.

"Eren's slowing down!" Armin cried. Jean risked a glance over to the right, seeing that Eren was struggling to fight off multiple titans that were attacking him from all angles. Despite his struggling, he managed to push through, though he was showing definite signs of slowing.

They were caught off guard by a titan that had crawled their way into the center formation. It moved around on all fours like a spider and was moving at an alarmingly fast rate. Jean sent up a red flare and kicked his horse willing it to go faster. Jean swerved out of the way as the titan leaped for him. The titans arm hit the ground dangerously close to him causing him to fall off his horse and hit his head on the ground, soon losing consciousness.

Marco moved closer to the center of the formation trying to get a glimpse of Jean to see how he was doing. He felt something inside him snap as he saw Armin clutching Jean in his arms while he fended off a titan that was rapidly approaching. Without thinking, he ran through the right flank to the center where Jean was. He grabbed the titan endangering him and in one swift movement, ripped off its head and sent it spiraling over the heads of the scouts behind him.

Armin barely dodged Marco's arm as he reached down to grab Jean. Armin noticed right away that something about Marco wasn't right. "Let him go! We'll take care of him! Just focus on getting rid of the other titans!" A scout ordered Marco. He turned his head in the scouts direction, his eyes a crimson red.

Marco's foot came down on the scout, their blood splattering the grass. A few scouts that had witnessed the scouts death sent up black flares hoping after seeing Marco they would know what was going on. A few brave, or foolish, scouts jumped off their horses using their gear to try and cut Marco out of his nape. He yanked a scouts hook out of his arm and slammed them into the ground, while sending the other ones to the same fate as their fellow comrade. Blood stained the grass a sickly red. The corpses of fallen scouts littered the ground.

Levi broke off from the front of the formation and went in to cut Marco out. Marco lifted his hand to his nape, protecting it, while he held Jean close to him in one hand. Levi cut his arm off, and swiftly moved it to cut open his nape before it could grow back. Levi wrapped his arms around Marco and pulled him out, tossing him lazily to the ground. The expedition was deemed a failure and the scouts were ordered to retreat. Armin pulled Jean's still unconscious body away from Marco's evaporating titan and slumped him over the back of his horse, preparing to retreat with the others.