***(Y/N) POV***
"If our information is correct, they're down here..."
Levi crouched over a small door in the floor of the Reiss Church, where we all huddled, ready to go. We had a plan, one that would go off with a bang. Literally. All we had to do was psych ourselves up.
"So, this Kenny guy...We stand a chance..?" Crouching beside him, I stared at the door, pursing my lips.
"Yes. He himself is a force, but I've never known him to work well with people. His squad shouldn't be impossible to deal with." Levi replied, seeming somewhat distracted.
"Shouldn't be, huh? Sounds great..." Connie groaned, rubbing his face with the heels of his hands. Tension was high. There was a lot at stake, and we had to be at the top of our game and willing to do anything to make sure we came out on top. Despite disliking Eren as a person, I knew how important he was.
"Well..." Standing up and cracking my neck a little, I placed my hands on my hips, looking down at Levi. "...I think we're as ready as we'll ever be." Nodding, the captain followed me in standing up, checking his straps.
"Damn right. Get into position. We're going in."
We can do this. We're prepared.
It was a pain in the ass climbing down the hatch, and I very nearly ended up becoming too aquainted with Connie's rear end in the process. Hoisting our secret weapons down proved even harder, but we got the job done.
"Listen...if you see a man in a wide brimmed hat...stay away from him. He's mine." Levi leaned in close to my ear, and I pushed against the backs of my teeth with my tongue.
"Yeah, well, if he comes at me, I won't be picking and choosing." I replied stubbornly, triple checking all my straps and ties.
I didn't externally flinch when he grabbed my arm, but it startled me. It was almost desperate.
"He's mine. You don't go after him. Understood?" He reiterated, forcing me to look up at him when he squeezed. It didn't hurt, but the situation was still a little disconcerting.
"Noted..."
Finally releasing me, he made his way to the front of the group, positioning himself in front of the doorway.
"Alright. When I kick this open, you push the barrels out. Sasha, we're counting on you to do this right. Are you sure you can do it?"
She nodded aggressively, bow at the ready. Her job was to hit each barrel in turn with flaming arrows, igniting the oil which would set off the gunpowder within. She was crucial to the plan. Taking in a deep breath, Levi nodded in response before reeling his leg back.
My feet were moving even before the door burst open, and I felt the barrels zoom past me before everything became bright. Wherever we were, it looked like the world was made of crystaline glass, and if I wasn't in a hurry, I would have been amazed.
"Here they come! Shoot 'em down!" I heard someone yell out from above, but our plan was already in motion. The first explosion was loud and, thankfully, perfect, and I launched myself into the air the moment the smoke began to fill the space.
They were all around us, muttering and cursing our technique, and it became louder as the others set off signal flares, covering myself, Levi and Mikasa.
"Thirty five total! In the upper parts of the pillars! We take them all out right here!" The captain announced, suddenly sounding so far away from me.
"Everyone, scatter!" A woman's voice barked out. "Let them spread out, then surround them!" We were completely outnumbered physically, but when it came to experience, I was positive we had them beat. It was all a matter of speed, accuracy and resolve now.
Spotting two men heading to the left, I directed myself towards them, noticing Jean out of the corner of my eye doing the same. Another one of Sasha's blasts came just in time, and I knew we both had to act. Only issue was, could Jean really do it?
"I can't see shit..!" One of the men exclaimed, giving away their precise location in the smokey haze. I could feel the copperet by my side as we burst through, but I had to turn my focus onto my target. Did he have a wife? Children? I couldn't help but wonder as I sliced my blades through either side of his throat.
The trail of blood dissipated behind him as he fell, and that was when I noticed a duplicate. Quickly looking to my side, I felt both relieved and pained by the expression on Jean's face.
"Oi..!" Calling out, I managed to get him to look at me, and I gave him a small nod before launching my grappel towads the right. "You're gonna be okay..!"
Dipping back into the smokescreen, I sought out my next kill. The best tactic, as Armin had deduced, was to attack from behind, or when they were reloading. At least that was what was working so far. The sounds of metal and gunfire echoed all around, and I ended up passing by Connie, who had very nearly gotten himself shot.
"Y..you good..?!" He asked in a stammer, pausing on a nearby pillar as I rushed past.
"Fine! Keep covered, egghead! You're not allowed to die today..!" I yelled back, grunting as I plunged my blade into another human torso.
"That goes for you, too!" His voice was fainter now, lost somewhere behind me. "No dying!"
Don't exactly plan on it...
We were fairing well, from where I could see. I myself had five down, and I had seen Hange take one or two. Gritting my teeth, I scolded myself. Why was I thinking of it like some kind of achievement?
The final barrel lit up, and we had to act fast. Once this round of smoke dissipated, we'd be sitting ducks. That was the last thing I recalled for a while, only zoning back in once I was tearing my blade from the stomach of some poor woman.
Shit, not again..!
Mikasa was to my left, doing what she did best, taking on almost more than she really should be able to handle, and to my right, I spotted another enemy. Luckily, I hadn't been noticed yet. Baring my teeth, I grapelled above and behind his head, only then noticing that my blades were worn down.
Thinking fast, just as the bastard turned around, I straightened my leg, yelling out as my boot connected with his cheek.
Blood and teeth sprayed from his mouth as he hung there, pinned by my weight, even though he was likely far stronger than me physically. Without any hesitation, I ended him, just like the others. This time, however, I didn't pause to think about him as a person.
"Whoo-hoo!" When that yippy ki yay holler sounded out, I froze, pressing my back up against the bloodied pillar. Up above, and a few pillars to the side in the same row, was Levi, only centimetres from a huge, blown out hole.
Across from him, hat tipped and grin wide, was a man I could identify immediately. It had to be Kenny the Ripper. He was talking, that much was for certain, but I couldn't hear a thing. I just didn't like the way he was looking at Levi.
I know he told me not to...but...this guy...
When they began to skirmish, I followed after them, as close as I could, still cutting down whoever got in my way. I hadn't seen anyone else in the squad for a while now, but I had to stay positive. If we had survived titans, we could survive a pack of gun toting bastards.
They seemed to be evenly matched, in both speed and cunning, with Kenny blasting down part of the ceiling, but Levi bit back with a mouthful of teeth, a bag of oil causing quite the explosion when he tossed it in the way of a bullet.
My skin prickled as he flew through the flames, taking the man head on before finally landing a rough slice to his middle. Retreating, Kenny muttered something about it hurting, and Levi followed. I followed, too.
"It seems I found another reckless spirit..!" Hange's voice carried over, and part of me wished I hadn't seen it. The grappling claw of a woman's gear ripped deep into her shoulder, blood spraying as she was whipped into a pillar, falling to the ground. Panic flooded my system as I considered stopping. Was she still alive? Could she have survived that?
If I hadn't been focusing on Kenny...could I have stopped that..?
I didn't have time to really think about my mistakes. Not when the same thing was happening to me. That blonde woman, with an expression of ice, caught my eyes, I knew I was done for. A sharp, burning pain surged from my thigh as it was pierced, and when I was ripped away from the pillar, my neck nearly snapped when my own line became taut.
"Fall back! We'll regroup and take them on further up!" She announced, sneering over at me as she flicked her arm. The grappel caused my blood to fly from me in a gorey display, and I ricochet backwards, smashing into the pillar and dropping, just like Hange, but thankfully from not as high up.
The landing caused my old injury to act up as well, but I had been lucky enough to land on my left side instead. If one could even call that lucky. The crystal was cold, but my thigh was hot, and I could tell there was a decent amount of blood, even without looking.
I groaned as somebody landed beside me, and my reflexes acted faster than my mind. Blade out, I spun to take the enemy down, only for the sound of metal hitting metal to bring me back to my senses. Levi had his own blade up, blocking mine from severing his neck.
"I thought you died..." He whispered, eyes wider than usual, but his mouth the same, shoestring line it usually was. I shock, I shakily dropped my blade, my sigh of relief trailing into a hiss as I shifted my leg.
"Well, I thought you might k..kick my ass if I did...so...ta~da..."
Levi's hands found my sides as he helped me sit upright, lingering as he inspected me. It was then I noticed the cut on his face, and how out of breath he was. It wasn't like him.
"We need to stop the bleeding and get you out of here..." He muttered, moving one hand to my calf to keep me from moving my leg.
"Not gonna happen..." I snipped back immediately, catching my own breath and shaking the dizziness from my head. "I'll patch it up and keep going. I'm still conscious, so I can still-"
"That's a fucking order!" Levi had shouted at me before. Plenty of times. This, however, was in a completely different way.
His pitch was higher. It almost quavered, like a taut wire being plucked. His grip tightened, but not enough to hurt, and his eyes screamed at me. No, pleaded, that I listen for once. Maybe if I hadn't been so stubborn, or if it hadn't been an order, I may have listened.
"I'm with you, Levi. As long as I can move, I'm staying with you." Narrowing my eyes, I pushed my decision, but I could tell it upset him. Not anger, not disappointment. Upset.
"(Y/N)..!" Both Jean and Sasha landed a few feet away, rushing towards us in a panic. "Wh..when I saw you go down, I thought you were dead! I so thought you were d..dead!"
Sasha's blubbering eased me a little, but Jean was silent. Crouching beside me, he placed a hand on my head, not quite ruffling my tangled (H/C) hair. The quiet in our little patch of crystal was deafening as he and Levi exchanged a look. I couldn't see it exactly, but it was heavy.
Clicking his tongue, Levi stood up, giving me one final glance before starting away.
"Sasha, tear part of your hood to patch her up. I need to check on Hange. Jean..." He paused, and I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination, but I swore his hands balled into fists by his sides.
"...talk some sense into that girlfriend of yours..."
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***Yeah, I copied a screenshot for this. Not claiming the posing or background as my own at all. Just thought it would add to the chapter. I have another one for later on, too ^_^
Also, Jean's chin has taken the internet by storm, and I'm living for it.
Next Time: Swelter***