"That's enough." The voice of Marta's saviour, Dot Pyxis, the Garrison Regiment's top officer of the Southern territory, the man who made Armin's vision of Eren and Marta sealing the gate of the wall a reality. Many were opposed to it, most of the Garrison Regiment and trainees included but Pyxis managed to convince the majority to stay and here they were.
Ian Dietrich had been put in charge of the elite squad to protect Eren and Marta while they patched up the wall. The two were now whizzing through the air beside the small squad consisting of them, Ian, Rico Brzenka and Mitabi Jarnach.
"There's something I want you be aware of, Moller, Jaeger." Rico began, "make no mistake. More than a few of our comrades are going to die today trying to pull this off. That blood's on your hands." Both of the Titan Shifters suddenly felt the reality of the situation on their shoulders and sweat dropped.
She continued her speech nonetheless, "I'm talking friends, Captains, Lieutenants. Yes, they are soldiers and they are prepared to die. But remember, they are all still a flesh and blood person.
"Every one of them has a name, hopes, fears. Alyosha, Dominic, Fine, Isabel, Ludwig, Martina, Guido, Hans.
"They're not pawns. They're people.
"Some have been living together like family since their cadet years. This may well be the end of them. Whole families snuffed out in a moment. Whatever you think your mission is, the first and foremost concern is making sure their deaths mean something. Whatever happens, you keep that lodged in your mind, take everything that comes with deadly seriousness."
It wasn't exactly a motivational speech, but Rico's words had struck a chord deep inside both of them.
"Yes!" The two promised with a newfound determination in their matching teal eyes.
And then there it was, the giant boulder the two of them were to lift to give humanity their first victory against the man eating giants since their existence began.
"This is the place, let's do it!" Ian ordered. Rico shot a green flare.
Mission started.
Lightning struck as Marta and Eren both became 15m beasts with glowing green eyes, despite Marta being shorter while human.
The mission quickly went awry, Eren had just transformed and was slowly making his way towards Mikasa, who was perched on a rooftop. Marta watched as his fist hit the spot where her body had once been.
'Why would Eren do that, to Mikasa, to his sister?' She had been thinking before she came to the only plausible conclusion, 'Eren isn't in control.'
The female Titan's eyes widen and she knew what she had to do to protect her friends. She had to take Eren out, pacify him before he could do further damage. Marta charged towards the giant male with fever, hoping she would overpower him through the element of surprise.
She was wrong.
The two ended up a tangle of giant limbs on the cobbled streets of Trost. Mikasa watched in shock as she watched the two throw punch after punch at each other but neither had bested the other yet. That was until Eren found a clear opening and punched her straight in the eye, knocking her out for the time being.
He turned his attention back to Mikasa.
"Ackerman, look out!" Ian screamed at her in warning before Eren's fist came pummelling down again into where the girl had been standing seconds before.
Mikasa tried in vain to get Eren to get a grip on his humanity again, but sure enough, the twin Titans had both been knocked out, Marta sprawled across the street while Eren was passed out against the giant piece of debris.
A shot of red smoke was set into the sky by Rico.
Mission failed.
"What the hell? You're telling me Jaeger was a regular Titan all along?" Mitabi was in disbelief as the squad looked at the Marta and Eren.
"Eren!" Mikasa called out in one last effort to get his attention and bring him back.
"Captain! We've got two Titans closing in on us! A 10-metre and a 6-metre!"
"Heads up! There's a 12-metre closing in on us from the rear!"
"Ian, that's it. Please," Mitabi pleaded with his leader. "Just look at him. We need to get out of here, the plan's a bust."
"Agreed. Full withdrawal. We have to leave him as he is," Rico held no hope either.
Mikasa was not happy about this and Marta woke up just in time to see the death glare the silver haired girl.
Marta would've laughed if she wasn't a 15m monster.
"Ian, snap out of it! Give the order." Mitabi pleaded again.
"She's waking up." He replied. "Take out the titans, we can't leave either of them defenceless. Period."
"What!?" Came Rico's voice.
"Change of plans. Our job now is to keep the others off them until they've both recovered. I'm not sure Marta can lift that boulder on her own." Ian explained, "whether we like it or not, they're still our best chance. We're not about to abandon them. We're expendable, they aren't. They can't just be replaced."
"Please don't talk to me about our last best-" Rico was cut off by a screech coming from Marta's direction. The Titan pointed at the others as if to say "go do your job" and began to help with taking out the numerous Titans now gathering around the area of Eren and the boulder. Out of the corner of her ginormous eye, she spotted Armin.
He really was an angel, coming in at just the right moment.
With his genius, Eren was sure to be woken up and back to his 'normal' self.
Armin seemed to be chanting something to himself before he stabbed Eren in the nape of the neck, Marta quickly rushed to the scene and watched as Armin slowly coaxed Eren out of his sleep.
"Eren! Can you hear me? You've got to pull it together, if you stay like this, we're all going to die!
"Whatever this body's doing to you, fight it!
"You're Eren Jaeger, damn it! What's this steaming lump of flesh have on you, huh? Come on. Damn it! Wake up and get out of there! We need you! Marta needs you!
"Your mum, remember? Remember what they did to her? You were bent on avenging her death! You swore to massacre the Titans!
"Eren! Eren, please! You have to push through it for the sake of us all! I know you're in there so listen to me!
"If you don't get a move on, the Titans are going to kill us! It'll all end right here!"
Marta was beginning to give up on Eren at this point and had been so distracted she didn't realise her teammates had been dying right in front of her eyes. She needed to get his over with before any more of them died, quick!
Gathering all her strength, she squatted to the ground and started to hoist the bolder only to realise, she couldn't do it.
She had never been all that strong in real life, just about enough to get through training in a breeze, but for God's sakes! She was a 15m Titan now, couldn't she have just been as strong as her muscular body looked?
Marta's roar of frustration echoed throughout the Trost District and she tried again. Little did she know, a roar was harmonising with her own and soon Eren was at her side, hoisting up the rock with her.
With their collective strength the massive hole in the wall had been sealed by the equally as big boulder, a large crash reverberated through the wall and spread cracks along its brick exterior.
Exhaustion overtook Marta but she still managed to pull herself out of her large second body, only to stumble to the ground, the only thing cushioning her landing being Mikasa.
Getting Eren to co-operate was a little bit more of a struggle, as usual.
"Armin! How is he?" Mikasa shouted as she shot her gear towards the searing body where said boy was pulling Eren out of it.
"Unconscious and scorching to the touch!" Armin used what little strength he had to pull Eren's body out even more. "There we go. Ugh. We have to get him up the wall!
"Damnit, he's fused to the carcass! I can't work him free!"
"Then we cut." Rico stated bluntly and suddenly Marta was shoved into her arms and Mikasa was pulling Eren out alongside Mikasa.
A slash and the two fell back, Rico had sliced Eren's flesh.
That was a mistake.
Two Titans, one of them the ugliest Armin had ever seen, now towered above the three.
In seconds they were dead, steaming carcasses on the street. Rico jumped down, Marta in her arms, to meet the three and the new member of the group who brandished an emerald cloak with the Wings of Freedom on it.
"Who's that?" Mikasa asked.
"The Wings of Freedom..." Eren choked out.
The man finally turned to reveal a handsome man with a scowl on his face and a patronising tone in his voice. "Pay attention, kiddos. This is the part where you explain to me exactly what it is I'm looking at."
It was the end of a long and death filled battle.
And the start of a long and death filled future.