A/N - I was going to make this two separate chapters, but I couldn't find a good place to end it, so I just combined them into a larger chapter.
Do let me know if you guys want larger chapters and longer wait times or shorter chapters and quicker updates.
This was full blown Titan country they were heading into, with no extra supplies to refuel or rearm once they were out, you had what you had. The one objective they had was to recover Eren whatever the cost was, because as long as they could get him back, humanity still had a chance against the Titans.
Every single one of them was expendable, their lives held no true value when compared to Eren's. That was the reality they faced when Eren was kidnapped, they had to get him back, even if it was just Eren that came back, it would be worth the sacrifices.
It would take them about an hour to reach the forest of giant trees at full speed, and despite the formation encountering a lot of Titan sightings, Erwin ordered the formation to move forward, and to tighten the outside to avoid casualties.
Y/N was riding in a squad with a couple of the recruits who he had been stationed in Wall Rose with, namely Connie Springer and Sasha Blouse, the three of them also had Jean for company on the left side of the formation.
"Hey, Connie." Y/N spoke up to the small soldier to get his attention. "I heard you back there, you want to know why they did it, right?"
"Yeah." Connie responded rather grimly. "I have to know." He repeated what he had said. "I need to be there when they explain, I have to look them dead in the eyes while they tell us why they did it."
"Connie, I'm gonna tell you that's a really bad idea." Y/N told him. "While I was an MP, I met some really bad people. They always tried to justify why they did it." He said. "Stealing food because they were hungry, bribing officials to get out of jail time. Dealing drugs for money. Killing people because they cheated."
"I let them justify their actions and said nothing in return." Y/N spoke. "I sat across from a woman who murdered her husband and his mistress, she had their blood all over her and I thought she had a point, that she was justified to kill him because he slept with someone else, but I've learned that is not the right way to think."
"Connie, they killed a quarter of a million people when they broke the walls, a fifth of the people living in the Walls. I'm telling you Connie, do not let them try to justify it. It will just lead to you feeling confused about whether they were justified or not." He explained. "There is no reason to kill two hundred and fifty thousand people. It is inexcusable, genocide is not justifiable."
"But... they were our friends." Sasha was the next to speak up. "We trained together for three years, why would they do this?"
"I'm not saying you can't ask questions and get answers." He assured them. "Just don't let yourselves become numb to their reasoning. Just don't accept their reasons without thinking it through properly."
"What about you then?" Jean asked Y/N. "You said you were in the MP's, did you have to do bad things to good people?"
"Yes."
"Do you regret it?" Jean asked, curious to what his answer would be.
"Some things yes, some things no." He responded. "I've made a lot of decisions in the spur of the moment, some were bad..." He thought back to the time he murdered that noble family in the middle of nowhere. "And some were good..." His mind flashed to when he had that Reiss girl in his hand, she was terrified and hysterical all at once, he could've ended her with the slightest of squeezes, but he chose to let her go instead.
"I never wanted any of this to happen, I just wanted it to be an easy life, where I could just do what I wanted." Y/N continued on. "The truth is, I switched regiments because I felt bad for the Scouts, all those years of nothing but failure, their plight was depressing..."
"What are you talking about?" Jean stopped him there. "What are you trying to say?"
"Don't mind me Jean." Y/N chuckled rather darkly, looking out ahead to see the green smoke ordering their advance. "There's a very big chance we're not gonna come back from this mission. I'm just talking out my ass, thats all."
There was no response from Jean, Connie or Sasha, and when he glanced a look over at them, they all had the same look in their eye, like they had figured something out right then and there. He hadn't made it difficult to decipher what he'd been saying, and even if they recovered Eren, there was no way Reiner would just let them leave, he would chase all the way to the wall if need be, so something would be needed to stop him... or something.
"Look, the most important thing here is that we recover Eren and bring him back to the Walls." Y/N broke the tension filled silence that had filled the air. "If needs must... I'm prepared to give my life for that to happen." He noticed that the forest had come well into view now. "You three should as well, it could become hell on earth when we catch them."
Up ahead at the forest of giant trees, there was a horde of Titans that were standing around the edge, waiting to greet them as they advanced on their position.
"Oh great." Jean sighed. "We've got company."
The combat was inevitable now, there was no avoiding these Titans in front of them. They'd have to thin their numbers before it was even remotely safe to thinking about moving through.
Suddenly, the ground shook beneath them, there was an explosion and a beam of light coming out of the forest.
"We're out of time." Erwin realised. "Soldiers, disperse! The enemy has assumed Titan form. Find Eren and get him out of there."
"You three get in there and find Eren." Y/N told the three younger Scouts. "I'll stay out here and keep the horses in tow."
It seemed like the three of them couldn't get away from him quick enough. Shaking his head, he whistled sharply to get the horses to follow him around the edge of the forest, with Commander Erwin, the MP's and after a moment of looking around, the Levi Squad was out here too.
What remained of the forces outside the forest continued to circle it, moving around the perimeter while the more experienced Scouts used the nearby trees to cut down any Titans that threatened their path.
Watching them work was like clockwork, the three of Squad Levi were all in sync, though it mostly came down to Oluo delivering the killing blow to the Titans, with Petra and Eld assisting him and the others in the area.
After around ten minutes circling the forest, there was another explosion, this time it was a lot closer, in fact, it was right behind them. Looking back at the noise, Y/N could see the Armoured Titan dropping out of the trees, making a break for the open plains of Wall Maria.
As soon as Reiner left the forest, a Titan jumped at him, and seeing it was Ymir, Y/N was hoping that she'd attack him, but she didn't, instead she was riding on him like a piggyback ride, which meant that she had now chosen her side.
Erwin by this time had also seen what had happened, and he was already giving orders. "Ride, let the Titans chase you! All squads follow my lead!"
"Do what?" One of the MP's shouted back. "Erwin you conniving bastard! You're using us as bait again!"
"It's the only way!" Erwin answered the soldier's concerns, with the squads now starting to follow. "You've fought well as MP's. Now give your all as soldiers!"
"The Armoured Titan must be stopped before he takes Eren! Failure is not an option!" Now looking back, Y/N saw that there was an entire horde of Titans chasing them at near full pelt, with any luck, they'd be able to flank the Armoured Titan and lead the Titans straight into him.
And that was what Erwin had ordered, their horses were faster than the Armoured Titan, so they changed course to flank around the Armoured Titan while the forces that were in the forest caught up and gave chase from the rear.
And within a couple minutes riding, the rear forces had caught up to the Armoured Titan and they were in ODM range. Hannes was the first into action, hooking in and going for an attack on Reiner's leg, though his blades shattered and he was left on the ground.
Another Scout went forward to save Eren now that they could see he was awake, he grappled up and moved forward, but Ymir pulled his cable out and he fell to the ground, hitting his head harshly and dying instantly.
Mikasa didn't take too kindly to that, slashing at Ymir's eyes, and now with Bertholdt in her sights, she shot forward at an inhuman speed, she was prepared to kill him this time, but Bertholdt moved to the base of Reiner's neck.
"Reiner, protect us!"
Quicker than Mikasa could reach Bertholdt and kill him, Reiner moved his hands to his neck, keeping Bertholdt and Eren concealed, but the gap in his fingers was enough for him to see Mikasa shooting him a deadly glare, one that freaked him out.
Enraged at the oriental girl, Ymir took a swipe at her, but Mikasa dodged and her mind was made up, Ymir would be the first to go.
"Mikasa no!" Historia shouted, getting in her way.
Surprised at her intervention, Mikasa had to change direction and land on the back of Reiner's head.
"You're not going to kill Ymir." She stated.
"That all depends on her." Mikasa shot back angrily. "What'll it be? She can step aside, or she can die. It's her choice."
"It's not fair." Historia protested. "She'll die if she doesn't go with what Reiner and Bertholdt tell her to do. She's screwed either way."
Mikasa had finally reached a point where she didn't care anymore, and she made that abundantly clear to Historia. "Listen, there's only so many lives I can give a damn about. Cruel, but that's the world our enemies gave us six years ago. Sorry. I don't have any heartstrings left for you to tug on. You want compassion? Move on. You want fair? Tough shit. Time's wasting. Pick your side, Krista. Eren, or the bitch I'm gonna kill!"
Enraged at her statement, Ymir made the move to attack Mikasa, but she was stopped by Historia before she could.
"Ymir stop!" Krista yelled. "Look at her face, she means it." That seemed to get Ymir to think about it. "Don't make a move." She said, and Ymir had to think about it before deciding that Historia was right.
"Quit struggling." Bertholdt tried to get a hold of Eren inside the safety of Reiner's hands, who was kicking against the makeshift wall, squishing Bertholdt up against it. "It's not going to help."
"Good luck talking sense into that one Bertholdt." Jean had now arrived outside their bubble of protection. "When someone lights a fire under him, that's it. Getting Eren to calm down is a lost cause. Take my word for it, I've been on the receiving end more than you have."
"What do you say we teach him patience?" Jean asked. "Come on, show yourself."
"Give him back! Right now!" Mikasa yelled at Bertholdt.
"Guys, really? This is some kind of joke right?" Connie pleaded for an answer from them. "There's no way this is you, you've been lying to us this whole time? We were supposed to be comrades!"
"They still are!" Sasha jumped into the conversation, but she didn't sound convinced of what she was saying. "This is just a big misunderstanding."
"Where do you think you're going?" Jean asked another question. "You can't keep running forever. We're not gonna let that happen. Rat bastards, through thick and thin we slept under the same roof as soldiers for three years. Matter of fact, the positions you would sleep in were an art form Bertholdt." Jean reminisced all the good times they had together.
"I'm not kidding, we all loved waking up to see your contortions in the morning." Jean continued with. "Used to predict the weather with them. How'd you do it Bertholdt? Was none of that a care in the world? Lying beside your victims. Yet you slept like a log."
"Was it all just an act to you?" Connie spoke up to ask. "What about the way we used to talk about surviving this together? About growing old looking back on the worst of it over drinks? Remember? Was it all bullshit? Answer me!" Connie yelled. "Go on, what was the point? What were you trying to do?"
"It doesn't matter anymore." Mikasa interrupted. "Shut up and focus on opening the traitor's neck." She hissed. "Hesitate for a moment, and we forfeit Eren. Who cares what they pretended to be? This was their choice."
"No! You're wrong!" Bertholdt couldn't take it anymore, he was nearly crying inside Reiner's hands. "Who chooses to be this? TELL ME!" He roared. "What do you think I am? Huh! What? You think this is what we aspired to be?"
"People loathe us, and why wouldn't they, we're monsters. We deserve to die for the things we've done." He admitted. "We're lost. We could live a thousand years and never again know peace. Try to imagine that darkness, the only light was our brief time as soldiers. It was never a lie, do you understand? We're not who we said we were, but it wasn't an act. We genuinely thought of you as our friends." He told them all.
Bertholdt was crying now. "I'm not stupid, I know I have no right to ask for forgiveness, but please, I beg of you, if we were comrades, someone find us."
They were silent for a moment, until Mikasa spoke up. "Give him back. I won't ask again."
"I'm sorry, I can't." Bertholdt refused. "One of you has to do it. One of you... has to stain your hands with my blood. "
"Guys! Get down from there and take cover!" Hannes yelled to the group of recruits on Reiner. "What the hell is Erwin doing?" Hannes asked, flabbergasted at what he was seeing ahead of him. "He's off his rocker! Look! The lunatic is leading the Titans straight for us!"
Up ahead of them was Erwin Smith, who was leading the charge towards the Armoured Titan, the soldiers behind him and behind them was the horde of Titans, each soldier terrified in their own way of the situation they had in hand.
"Hey! Bozado!" Y/N called out to the tongue biting Scout, who was on the very left of the Levi Squad behind Erwin. "I never got the chance to talk to you, and since this may be the last time I see you, now seems better than any."
"Hey, you're not insinuating you're gonna get back and I'm not are you?" Oluo shot back. "You're just as much of a greenhorn as the rest of the recruits."
"Shut up before you bite your tongue." Y/N stopped him there. "Let me talk. What I was saying was that I might have went over the top back in the cadets, so I'm sorry about all that."
"Never mind all that bullshit." Oluo told him. "I'm part of the best Titan killing squad the Scouts have, if you hadn't done that, I might not be here. Just help get Eren back and we're even, got it?"
"Yeah." Y/N nodded, focusing on their target ahead, who had now crouched down to take the Titans shoulder first."
"Squadrons break!" Erwin ordered. "Make the Titans scatter!"
On cue, all the soldiers split up, going around the Armoured Titan as it charged straight into the Titans. The first few Titans were sent flying, but after a small one tackled his leg, he tripped and crashed onto the ground onto his knees, and looking back, he could see Ymir defending Historia who had remained there with her for some reason.
The soldiers who had went left had now circled back around the Armoured Titan and regrouped with the others, who were all staring in horror at the number of Titans that were in front of them, and the Armoured Titan was letting out a howling scream, presumably to attract more Titans.
"What's going on?" Jean asked himself out loud. "Is this hell?"
"Not yet, but it will be." Erwin replied as he raced ahead, charging straight towards the Titans. "All soldiers charge!" Now that was enough to make everyone think he was crazy, but what came next made him sound a lot more reasonable.
"We've come to the moment of truth! Mankind's fate is decided now." He stopped to raise his sword into the air. "There is no future in which we reclaim these lands without Eren, and there never will be! Go! Recover Eren from the Armoured Titan and retreat!" Erwin then slammed his fist onto his heart in a salute.
"Your heart and soul to the cause!"
Mikasa was the first to follow Erwin without hesitation, closely followed by Y/N and then the Levi Squad. And at that point, most soldiers knew what they had to do, so they all begun charging forward save for a few MP's who thought they'd taken one too many hits to the head.
Up ahead, Reiner had started to move his hands in order to fight the Titans holding on to him, leaving Bertholdt and Eren exposed.
"It's working." Jean gasped. "His hands are down!"
"Now's our chance." Mikasa was ready.
"Uh Mikasa, you can see those Titans right?" Jean questioned her. "I mean I get it, you're strong, but that's one hell of a mess."
Up ahead of them, Erwin was convinced this was the best strategy. "Advance!" He roared, but he missed the Titan jumping at him, at his arm was bitten and he was dragged away off his horse by an Abnormal that kept on crawling away from where Eren was.
"Commander Erwin!"
"I SAID ADVANCE GOD DAMMIT!" Erwin could be heard as the rest of the soldiers stopped at the horror of their leader being dragged away by a Titan. "Eren's right in front of you! Do not falter!"
Those words were enough for some, but for others, they had just seen their commanding officer being bitten by a Titan, so they needed more encouragement.
"You heard the Commander!" Eld was the one to step up. "Advance!"
That was enough for everyone else now, while a few did go after Erwin, the majority all moved forward towards the Armoured Titan.
In front if them was a swarm of Titans, and getting through it was a horror show, some were grabbed, some were bitten straight off their horses, some crashed into each other in all of the chaos and a few were even stepped on.
The first out were some from the 104th, with Mikasa leading the charge, though she was caught and Jean had to help her, with two Scouts losing their lives as Reiner cut their lines with a swipe of the hand.
"Oluo!" Y/N called out to the man. "Let them handle it. Help me keep the Titans off their back."
"Haha, I thought you'd never ask." Oluo understood what Y/N wanted to do, he wanted to keep extra Titans away from the Armoured Titan, for he had faith in the others to get Eren. "Petra, Eld! Keep the Titans off their backs." Oluo called out to his squad mates. "Try and keep up greenhorn!"
As it turned out, Y/N could keep up very well with the Levi Squad, they may have had more experience, but he was ranked at number one for a reason. In only a few minutes, the four of them had cut down seven Titans, three from Y/N, that had tried to follow them to the Armoured Titan, but that was all the time they needed.
"We got Eren!" Eld called out to the three others with him. "Back to the horses!"
"All soldiers retreat!" The call was made by Erwin, Y/N hadn't even noticed him go by, he was one tough bastard, that's for sure.
Their retreat was in full effect, they were racing away for their lives, they were going to make it back... that was until the Armoured Titan started throwing Titans at them to slow their retreat and block their exit.
"He's tossing Titans now!" Jean exclaimed. "That son of a bitch has gone berserk!" He looked back to see Reiner throw another Titan with a roar.
The Titans that Reiner was throwing were also kicking up a lot of dust and dirt, making it hard to see, and by the third Titan, the soldiers had all been split up and it was chaos yet again.
"Where's Eren?" Eld coughed in the smoke.
"I don't know, I can't see five feet in front of me." Petra was also coughing up a storm.
"He was with Mikasa." Y/N called out. "I don't know where she is though."
"Split up and find them." Eld ordered the make-shift squad. "If you find him, take him and run."
"Got it!" The three others responded in sync, trying to sort their way through the madness and chaos that was going on all around them.
Reiner was still throwing Titans like they were balls of fluff to him, but to everyone else they were death and destruction. He had no idea where Eren was, only that he was around here somewhere.
His eyes scanned every direction he could see, Eld had found Commander Erwin, Oluo was searching the area and off in the distance he could see Petra had went and joined up with Historia, Connie, Sasha and Ymir, neither of them had found Eren yet.
And out in the distance some idiot was fighting a Titan on his own, just where he fuck was Eren? Wait... was that Mikasa? He looked closer in the distance, and someone had stood up, one with no sleeves on his shirt, there he was.
Off in the distance the ground was rumbling, Reiner had finally shook the Titans off him and he was closing on Eren fast. Digging his heels into his horse, Y/N shot forward, watching the guy fighting the Titan getting grabbed, he readied his blades knowing full well he'd need to save him first, it would take less than twenty seconds to do so, Reiner was a couple minutes away at least, he had the time.
Putting two fingers into his mouth, he whistled hard, calling any nearby horses to him, and he whistled again, and then a third time just for good measure.
Up ahead Eren was frantically biting into his hand while the soldier in the Titan's hand struggled as he was brought closer and closer to his demise.
Jumping up to a crouching position on the back of the horse, he knew it would be close, but he could make it if he hurried, so he jumped, hooks flying forward, and he shot himself over the top and past Eren and Mikasa, and right as the Titan was going to bite down on the soldier's legs, Y/N cut straight through the mouth of the Titan, leaving the jaw hanging and standing on the teeth of the Titan that couldn't bite down anymore.
With another upwards swipe with his blades, the fingers of the Titan were cut off, and the soldier fell out its grasp, and he was stunned to see it was the man Hannes from all those years ago. Y/N grabbed him out of the air and began his descent towards Eren, who was still frantically biting his hand and Mikasa who looked like she could barely move.
"Well I'll be damned." Hannes chuckled as they landed next to the two kids, with Y/N whistling once more to get the horses over. "Looks like ya did get a hold of the ODM Gear after all."
Y/N's horse arrived on the scene, and thankfully another one did as well. "Get on the horse." He ordered Hannes, to which he did while he moved to pick a defeated Eren up off the ground.
"Get off your ass Eren!" Y/N yelled as he dragged him to his feet, shoving him forward towards his own horse. "Stop moping and get on the fucking horse!"
"I can't! I have to kill it!" Eren struggled as he was pushed up and onto the horse. "It has to be me!"
"Another time then!" Y/N shouted back as he went to help Mikasa to her feet, she was in an incredible amount of pain, so it took a lot more help to get her up onto the horse. "Humanity needs you Eren! More than you need to kill a Titan!"
"Hannes, make sure he gets back in one piece." Y/N spoke to the man, before slapping both horses on the rear sending them packing towards the walls.
Though Y/N had grabbed a flare gun and a blue flare before he sent them on their way, hopefully they'd all get the message.
Before he could fire it, he was grabbed by the Titan behind him, his gear crushed against him, now broken beyond use, but he didn't panic, instead he made sure the flare was loaded and he aimed across the battlefield, firing the flare so that it soared across the sky.
Looking back, the Titan hadn't healed it's mouth yet, so he couldn't be bitten just yet, but nobody would come for him, so it looked to be over for him hiding his power, unless nobody saw him do it, but Eren, Mikasa and Hannes would surely realise, and there was Jean, Sasha and Connie, they seemed to put two and two together, so he couldn't count on his identity being kept secret any longer.
Taking one last look across the battlefield, there were still Titans everywhere, somebody would need to keep them at bay, so naturally it was up to him to stall them and Reiner. Though just as he bit his finger so blood came out, he could see a familiar face staring at him from the distance.
"I'm sorry Petra, forgive me."
When he opened his eyes again, he was sixteen metres up into the air, everyone was looking at him now, but he felt strange, he felt more powerful, and with his eyesight, the Scouts, Garrison and what remained of the MP's were about to be decimated, eaten by Titans.
That was no use, they needed as much soldiers as possible, and if he wanted to go back without Captain Levi killing him on sight, he needed witnesses to his heroic actions, he needed Erwin to survive this.
Glancing back, he saw that smiling Titan was gnawing on his crystal, breaking it's teeth in the process, but he didn't move to take himself away, instead he left himself there, his crystal in its hands... it just felt right.
Then, without warning, the Titan bit down and destroyed its teeth and gums, blood pouring all over his crystal, and he felt absolute power, like he was unstoppable, like he had the power to save them all right here and now.
Slowly he let it build up, channeling his energy into his power, ready to release it all at once. The jaw of his Titan opened wide. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH."
As soon as he screamed it happened, spires of crystal shot out of the ground, impaling every single Titan that was on the battlefield, hoisting them a good twenty metres into the air at least bar three, Reiner, Ymir and the one behind him.
Everyone was stunned into silence at what had happened, but Erwin wasn't one to waste any time. "This may be our only window. All soldiers retreat!" On command, every soldier scrambled to their horses, some with wounded, like Armin who had a wounded Jean on his horse.
Though the Armoured Titan had already started giving chase, something that Y/N couldn't allow to happen, but luckily for him, Reiner was running through the crystal spires, so within an instant, the spires shrunk and disappeared completely, which left Titan all around Reiner, surrounding him instantly, which would hopefully hold him up enough to let the Scouts get back with Eren.
Turning around to the smiling Titan, he yanked his crystal free from its grip and punched it in the gut, sending it flying back onto the ground to give him space.
"Alright, just like Zeke demonstrated. Left foot forward, shoulders in line with the target, push off and rotate as I throw."
And just like that, he was sailing through the air, his eyes now opening as the crystal soared through the air, he could see down below Reiner was fully swarmed by Titans, not the best strategy, but Ymir had gone back to help him, which was very surprising, but he couldn't see what happened next as the crystal spun, so all he could do was wait to land.
By the time the formation of broken and battered soldiers made it to him, he was already out his crystal and waiting, by no means was he expecting a hero's welcome, in fact, he wasn't sure that anyone would stop for him, but he had hope they'd realise he was helping them.
A couple did stop nearby him, but the only one to approach was Petra, and she looked furious, not the girlfriend angry with her boyfriend furious, the kind that was reserved for your worst enemy, but she didn't have her swords in hand, so he didn't think she'd try to kill him.
Instead what he got was a punch to the face, Petra had socked him right across the nose, it had broke, bent all out of shape, but it snapped back into place within a moment as he took on the stares of everyone who had stopped.
"I swear, if it was all a lie... I will kill you."
"It wasn't a lie." He told her. "Everything was real."
Behind her, he could see Oluo, Connie, Historia and Sasha had been the others who had stopped.
"I don't know whether that's a good thing or not." Petra finally responded.
"I..." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I do love you Petra... but I understand if you want to end things between us now."
"No, you don't get to pull that card now." She pointed an accusatory finger at him. "I need to think, and in the meantime, you are coming back with us to the Walls, and you will answer any questions you get asked, and you will cooperate with us, do you understand?"
"Yes."