Chapter 11 Trial of the Cadets

Beta read by Levi Ackermanlet

'Eren, where are you?'

The thought sat heavy in Mikasa's mind like a lead weight, each passing second without him let the insidious doubts trickle further into her mind.

'What if I can't find him? What if he's…no. I won't believe it. Gohan's survived when we all doubted him. He's alive. Eren, as long as you're part of my life, I can fight to the bitter end...'

All around her she could see the terrible destruction that the Titans had wrought. Blood stained the street below, a terrible preview of the slaughtered soldiers who frequently dotted the area. Mikasa stared at each one she passed, checking each of them for any sign of Eren. For every body she could tell wasn't his, she shamefully breathed a sigh of relief, which was swiftly dampened by each body that had been made unrecognisable.

Every so often, she would spot a Titan still lurking around the front of the city, most having made already their way towards the inner wall of Trost, towards the civilians, and towards Gohan and the others.

She truly did feel guilty about leaving them behind like she did, leaving them to fight off the Titans and protect the civilians with one less soldier. But she had to find Eren. She had to protect him. She knew Gohan would understand when they returned together.

"Arghh! Somebody help us!"

It was a woman's voice, one that sounded faintly familiar, and it was screaming only a short distance away. Mikasa pivoted in the air, and shot her hooks in the direction of the distressed voice. Whoever it was, maybe they could help her find Eren. Maybe Eren was with them!

She redoubled her efforts and let loose an extended burst of steam. She was close now, they must have been just behind the building before her. When she cleared it, she quickly saw two Cadets engaging a Titan each. The female was swinging around, narrowly avoiding the swipes made for her. The male was in an even worse situation, being trapped in a Titan's hand with his own legs exposed. As he was held dangling over a Titan's gaping maw, Mikasa made her move.

She shot towards the Titan nape as fast as she could, a gas trail marking her movements as she soared towards her target. She let a hook fly directly into its neck and raised her blades. A single well practiced swipe and the Titan began falling to the ground.

As she too landed, Mikasa spotted the second Titan fall with a mighty crash. The red-haired girl running franticly towards the male body clenched in the Titan's fist.

"Franz!"

She raised her blades as she neared and sliced off its fingers, a wheezing cadet dropping out.

"Franz."

She sounded far more relieved now, and wrapped him up tightly in her arms, tears glistening in her eyes. The boy, who she now recognised as being one of the other cadets of the 104th, quickly returned the hug, both squeezing each other tightly, as if afraid that they might slip away.

"Hannah. Oh god I was so worried. I love you, I love you so much."

'Hannah' began to openly sob into his shoulder, leaving Mikasa to stand awkwardly to the side. Eventually, Mikasa felt the need to break the silence.

"Have either of you two seen Eren?"

"W-What? No, he was with Armin, wasn't he?"

"Do you know where I can find him?"

"No, sorry."

Without a word, Mikasa pivoted on her heels and prepared to leave.

"Wait! Mikasa, bring us with you!"

She paused, but didn't turn back to look at them.

"I'm not slowing down for you. If you can keep up then do it, but I'm finding Eren."

She wasted no further time, and instead began to fly away. Leaving Hannah and Franz to hastily follow her.

"Wake up! Armin! Hey! Can you hear me? Come on, snap out of it! I need you to talk to me, say something!" After several terrifying moments of shaking, Connie finally managed snap Armin out of whatever trance he had been sat in. His eyes focused, and slowly locked onto his. "There you are, you with me now? What's going on, where's your squad?"

"…squad?" The word was barely audible as it trickled out of Armin's mouth, his mind still trying to grasp where he was.

"Alright let's get you on your feet, you shouldn't be out here alone." Gently, Connie removed the reassuring hand he'd laid on the blonde's shoulder. He looked at it strangely, opening and closing his hand in curiousness. "And what the hell you got all over you that's so damn slimy? What happened?"

Armin's eyes remained wide as the nightmare came back to him. Seeing Thomas be eaten by that Titan, his friends being grabbed, looking away in horror before they no doubt reached their demise, sliding down that monster's throat, then being saved by Eren. Eren…

His high pitched scream pierced the air, the terror in his voice palpable to all those around him.

"Waah! You're worthless! Why can't you just die!?"

Connie nervously stood over him, hesitating slightly as he saw the tears stream down his face. "Hey, you need to pull yourself together."

"Damn you!"

"Where is everyone?"

Silence. At his foreboding question, Armin's wails ceased, the ominous quiet lingering in the air, before it was broken rudely by Ymir.

"Let it go, Connie. He's it, the rest of them are dead."

"Damn it, don't talk like that! We can't assume he's the only one!"

"Take a look around you, isn't it obvious? We can't waste any more time here with him, we've gotta move on."

"But where are the bodies? Why are there so many dead Titans around? They wouldn't just leave him behind."

"Others probably came in and finished them off. Swept the place clean.

"You're not making any sense, why would the Titans ignore him?"

"I dunno. Maybe they thought he was already dead or something. When you get right down to it that's the real tragedy here, people like Gohan and Eren and all the others bust their asses, and the one left standing is him."

"Alright, that does it, bitch. I'm gonna shut your mouth up permanently!"

As Connie made to move towards her, Krista ran and froze in front of Ymir, her arms spread wide as if to block him.

"Both of you stop it right now. Look, we're all at the end of our tether, okay? We're seeing our friends being killed like animals. It's normal to be upset."

Ymir gracelessly wrapped an arm around the young blonde girl, pulling her in for an awkward hug.

"Look at my Krista keeping the peace, you are so gonna have to marry me when all this crap is over. Hahaha!"

Relenting, Connie took a step back once more. "Yeah well, she best get a hold of that mouth." He turned back to the still crying cadet at his feet, his head held by a death grip in his hands. "Alright, come on we gotta get out of here. Are you able to stand?" He extended an arm to him regardless, and waited patiently as his crying abruptly stopped.

Ignoring the offer, Armin stood up straight and walked towards the edge of the building. "Sorry to be a nuisance. Don't worry about me, I'll rendezvous with the rear guard."

"But, Armin-"

He cut himself off as the boy leapt away, soaring off above the street with a practiced burst of gas.

The short Cadet watched him leave, a sadness sweeping over him as a voice called from the distance.

"Connie, hop to, we've been given orders to advance."

He gave one last look to where Armin had left, before he turned on his heel and moved to follow his orders.

At the Trost inner gate, a crowd had formed around the blocked entranceway. The chatter of Trost's dwellers was occasionally interrupted by the shouts of angry citizens, demanding that the passage to safety be cleared. One man attempted to do it himself, but was swiftly thrown back by one of the numerous thugs which guarded the carriage that blocked the way.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?"

"I don't think you fully appreciate how bad the situation is!"

The man in charge turned to face the heckling townsfolk.

"Oh I appreciate it just fine, believe me. You wanna make it out of here alive then stop whining and help!"

The shouts of the crowd grew in both volume and anger, yet no more moved to take action, each one just as terrified by the sneering goons as they were by the sounds of battle to their backs. The angry citizens parted briefly as one of the Garrison soldiers was shoved forwards.

"You're a soldier, do something!"

"Make him move that damn wagon!"

The young man was already sweating bullets, and drawing the attention of several large angry men didn't help his confidence.

"Uh, not exactly sure-"

His stammering was quickly cut off as he drew the angry eye of the man in charge.

"Take your best shot, little man, I'm the president of this town's merchant guild."

"Uh, well I-"

Said merchant president promptly marched up into his face and began to stare him down, the sweat drops now cascading down endlessly.

"Who do you think pays for all the food you and your buddies crap out? Or maybe you got some finances tucked away to fund the racket you call a job!? Now shut up and push!" He turned back to the still fuming onlookers. "This cargo's worth more than you people make in your whole lives! Nobodies getting out of here unless the wagon's in front of them! There's a reward in it if you help!"

Away near the back, a young brown haired child tightly hugged her mother. The elder soothingly rubbed her daughter's back, whispering calming words all the while.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, daddy's gonna use those big loud cannons he showed us to scare the Titans off."

The mother forced a calm look onto her face, even as she hid the child's head into her shoulder. Inside, she was beyond terrified for her husband's safety. He was amongst the first to fight the Titan's after all, and if they were still advancing then…

'No. He has to be alive.'

She cast a glance over to one of the other soldiers, this one a cadet and resting on a crate, his leg wrapped in a splint. From what she'd heard, a surviving Vanguard soldier had found him and some other cadets, saved their lives and brought them back to the gate. One of them in critical condition had been taken she knew not where, the girl had joined with the elites after getting some rest, however he was out of commission.

But if someone else from the front lines had survived, then she knew her husband would as well.

"Mommy, look. There."

Apparently she hadn't done as good a job of blocking her daughter's vision as she thought, as she followed where her outstretched hand was pointing at, and saw the dazed soldier stumbling down the street slowly. The growing thunder of a Titan's footsteps encroaching from behind him.

From around the street corner, a Titan came charging into sight, briefly smashing into a building before it corrected itself and headed straight for the now screaming crowd. The meandering soldier before it was almost crushed under foot, until a single soldier flashed into sight and pulled him out of the way. Saving the man's life, yet now unable to catch the beast running down the street.

"Push it through, damn it! If you don't, that thing's gonna kill us all!"

The crowd flung themselves against the wall, each attempting to either push the cart out of the way, or climb over their more unfortunate comrades to safety. Despite their ferocious efforts, the cart refused to so much as budge any further.

As their death drew closer, three soldiers shot towards the Titan from behind. The two men and single woman were using their gas with thoughtless abandon, desperate to catch up to their target, yet closing no distance.

"Someone wanna tell me why this son of a bitch is ignoring us?"

"It's an abnormal! Stop trying to figure it out!"

"He's too fast! There's no way we'll overtake him before he reaches the gate!"

"Just stay on him!"

A blur of movement shot past them, slowly coming into focus as it slowed down and shot a hook into the Titan's neck. With a burst of Ki, Gohan reeled himself in and accelerated towards its nape, his blades raised threateningly.

With a single, well executed slash, the beast fell dead to the ground. Its momentum making it slide across the ground briefly, before coming to a safe halt in front of the stunned crowd.

As none said a word, Gohan took a moment to inspect his blades. It had been a hasty strike, and would normally have blunted his sword, however by running his own Ki through it, it had survived. Something that he was very thankful for. Despite having stocked up using Mylius's spares, as he could no longer fight with his broken leg and wouldn't need them, he knew just how quickly he could run out.

Turning his attention away from his weapons, and instead towards the masses that were staring at him, Gohan spoke, confused.

"Uh…hey, shouldn't you guys be on the other side of the wall by now? What's going on?"

"Couldn't have asked for better timing." Shouted the merchant guild president. "Force these useless morons to push my wagon! I'll pay you handsomely!"

Gohan remained in stunned silence, unable to fully comprehend what the man's words implied. "You blocked the gate? There are people dying here, laying down their lives for you."

"Yeah, that's their job. You expect me to shed a tear 'cause they gotta fulfil the duties they signed on for? They're supposed to be willing to lay down their lives! Don't get all high handed on me just cause you gotta earn your damn keep after all these years!"

Gohan narrowed his eyes and hopped off of the Titan's corpse. He focused on the man making demands and began to take slow, deliberate steps towards him, putting away his swords as he walked.

"Do you really think so low of people's lives? Every one of those people out there, fighting for you, has a family. Mothers. Fathers. Brothers and sisters." Two of the thugs rushed him, but Gohan delivered a quick strike to each and sent them sprawling across the floor. "Some even have children of their own. If you have any family of your own, anyone you loved, wouldn't you do anything possible to save them?"

He kept his eyes locked on the man, who was now sweating profusely and casting nervous glances around himself. The crowd had always looked at him with something close to hatred, but now even his own hired goons seemed to be having a moral dilemma. He thought about the teen's words despite himself.

'Flegel…'

The image of his son wormed its way into his mind and he gave a grunt towards one of his men.

"Pull the damn wagon out."

The crowd waited only moments, just until they were sure there was a way past, before they began streaming through the open gate. As he watched, Gohan felt a slight happiness grow inside of him. In spite of all the death that had and was occurring around them, and the man's greedy actions, people could still do the right thing.

"You're amazing!"

The soft, child-like voice snapped Gohan's attention away, drawing his eyes to a little girl who was stood just by what was most likely her mother. The girl looked slightly familiar, as if he'd just seen her recently, but he couldn't place where.

"You've saved our lives, sir, all of us are in your debt."

Gohan stood in stunned silence for a moment, before he twisted to face them. He flashed a good natured smile, and held a thumbs up towards the little girl. She looked delighted, and returned the gesture with a smile of her own as both her and her mother turned to leave.

The weather began to dampen Gohan's good mood however, as he felt rain drops land lightly on his head, until they quickly transformed into a heavy downpour. As he was about to raise his Ki to keep him warm, a cloak smacked against his chest.

"Good work, Son. I'm impressed."

His temporary CO, Captain Ian Dietrich, stood only a short distance away, slipping on his own cloak along with the rest of the elites.

"It's a spare since I presume you didn't have yours."

"Uh, no sir, I didn't. Thank you."

"Don't mention it, and Carolina, good job saving that soldier."

"Thank you, Sir. He was one of the survivors of the Support Squad, helping the Cadets. He seemed pretty distraught, Sir, shall I send him through the gate with Mylius?"

"Do it, he's no good out on this side."

Mina gave an affirmative nod before heading off. As Gohan waited to see if he was going to get any new orders, he noticed that his Captain was staring intently at the gate. Following his gaze, Gohan realised that the thugs had prepared themselves to push the cart through just after the soldiers were done making their way past the gate.

"Y'know, despite it all…we do need that cart."

"What?"

"With food as scarce as it is, we can't afford to lose a town's worth." Ian looked back at Gohan, who now wore a very disappointed expression. He flashed the cadet a reassuring smile lest he get the wrong idea. "But you were still right to do what you did, the people come first."

Gohan gave only a slight nod, dropping his head to avoid eye contact. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the gate become jammed again when all the civilians and soldiers were through.

"C'mon. There's more moving in just a few blocks away."

Gohan gave only a solemn nod before turning to follow his CO, blasting off with a burst of steam.

Soaring through the air, Mikasa was rapidly beginning to lose hope. Where was he? She had been flying around for ages, and although she'd seen the occasional soldier, it was either someone who she'd never met, and therefore wouldn't know Eren or Armin, or they were simply by their lonesome.

Franz and Hannah were still following her, though she paid them little mind. The fact that they were still there meant nothing to her. She didn't need their help to kill Titans, and they knew nothing of Eren's fate.

"Mikasa! Over there!"

Her head turned quickly at Hannah's shouts. She seemed to be pointing towards a small group of four cadets flying down the street.

"Hey! Stop!"

Apparently, Hannah must have known one of them, as the group stopped on a wrecked building and waited for them. When they arrived, Mikasa didn't waste any time in letting Hannah speak, and instead began her interrogation immediately.

"Have any of you seen Eren? Or Armin?"

"N-no, I've not seen them, but there's a whole bunch of us who are doing a meet up."

"Where!?"

"We're heading there now, just follow us."

The four trainees darted off once more, taking great care not to use their gas to fly, and instead only using their momentum and retracting hooks to fling themselves around. Mikasa didn't hesitate to follow them, and neither did her two companions.

Back at the inner wall, the gate sealed shut with a gentle bang. The gate door proudly bearing the wall Rose coat of arms as the city of Trost was closed off.

"That's it, we're done. Now scale the wall."

At Captain Dietrich's orders, several soldiers began making their way up and over the wall, eager to be free and safe. Gohan however, span around on his feet and began to run further into the city.

"Sir, I'll get the remaining soldiers."

"What? No, Son-"

Gohan blasted off into the distance without any response, the captain awkwardly frozen mid-sentence. He turned and walked away, only stopping to fire a black smoke round into the air, before speeding up and following his troops out of Trost.

"Captain, please wait. There's only a handful of us left, sir, if the Titans were to attack here in force we wouldn't have a chance in hell of holding them off!"

"Please sir, we need you here!"

The trainee's voice echoed throughout the empty headquartes, completely deserted save for the three cadets blocking the path of Captain Woerman and his three guards.

"Out of my way soldier. We have to get going, my expertise is needed to help direct the reinforcements."

Kitts couldn't bring himself to look them in the eyes, something not missed by the cadets.

"Behind the safety of the inner gate, am I right?"

"Just what the hell are you implying? They need my help reorganising. Or would you rather us be overwhelmed due to a logistical nightmare!?"

"But-but sir, if we lose those supplies-"

"That's enough!" The captain drew his sword and aimed it straight at one of the soldiers, the girl quickly back peddling away. "Question my orders again, or delay me in my duties, and I'll run your treasonous hide straight through!"

The soldiers all remained silent for several moments, before standing aside in shame.

Gohan reeled himself in and landed on the edge of the clock tower. Having had time to catch his breath while working at the inner gate, he could focus his Ki senses once more, and finding the survivors had been a cinch.

He was taken aback by the sorry state they were in however, with the horrifyingly few of them just standing around, as if they had no idea what they had to do.

'Why isn't anyone going over the wall? They saw the retreat signal right?'

Gohan stretched out his Ki to try and locate if there were any more survivors. There was a group who were making their way towards his position, who were thankfully free of any Titans in the area, and there was a small grouping of around four people far away. He looked over to where they could be, before setting his eyes on the Garrison Headquarters, and the numerous Titans that he could feel around it.

Inside the abandoned building, tables and desks had been flipped over and stashed against the wall, a fruitless attempt to gain some protection. From behind the barricade, a single female soldier poked her head out, briefly locking eyes with a 14 metre Titan perched hungrily on the other side of the window.

"It's over. All over. We're doomed."

She ducked back inside their little fort with the other three remaining soldiers. One was sitting quietly with his head in his hands, another sat crying softly, whilst the last was diligently loading a musket.

All of them looked around as they heard a mighty crash, followed by the nightmarish roars of Titans.

"There."

The man who'd been loading his gun smiled, and set his equipment on the ground beside himself.

"C'mon now, that musket's not enough to stop them."

The soldier cut herself off when she saw him move, and place the barrel inside his mouth. As the gunshot filled the room, blood splattered across the woman's face, and the soldiers screamed in fright.

"Hey, Jean, what're we gonna do?"

"We can't do anything. They finally gave us the order to withdraw, and we were all out of gas. Of course. I can't believe this is how it's gonna end. Because of those damned cowards."

"You mean the supply depot? What's going on? Where are they?"

"They all lost their will to fight. And I can understand why, but they abandoned their duty to supply us, barricading themselves inside HQ. And of course Titans have swarmed the place which means we can't get the gas ourselves."

"Then why are we waiting? We gotta go! Start thinning their numbers so we have a chance! Sitting here on this roof is totally pointless, eventually the Titans are gonna come for us! We don't have much gas left, we'll just waste what little we've got if we try to run. And without our mobility, we're completely screwed!"

"You're using your head for once, Connie, nice going. But I'm just not sure we've got the numbers needed to pull this thing off. The veterans and the Vanguard force have all been killed. How exactly do a bunch of rookies pull off a suicide mission like this? I mean, let's assume even half of our force survive the initial assault, then what? The supply room is probably crawling with Titans in the three or four metre range. I don't see us accomplishing much in there."

Connie took a deep breath, ready for a comeback, before letting out a deep sigh of resignation.

"It's hopeless."

"God, what a dull life this turned out to be." Jean ran his hand through his messy brown hair. "I never even got to tell her just how I feel."

Elsewhere, Sasha tried to motivate her own group of cadets.

"C'mon guys, we can do it. Right? Let's go, if we all work together we can make this happen, I know we can. Alright? I'll take the lead."

Despite her best, no one even looked at her. Many of the cadets locked in a thousand mile stare, some covered with blood from what was once their friends. Sasha looked around for support, her eyes focusing on Armin leant against the wall. She broke into a short run to get over to him, her pace dropping when she saw his glazed over eyes.

"Armin, it's time to go."

Just like the others, he said nothing. The brunette's shoulders slumped in defeat. She had thought that out of all people, at least Armin would have been willing to do something. But apparently not.

Only a short distance away, a small group of cadets, Annie, Reiner, Marco and Bertolt, stood in discussion.

"Reiner, do we move out?"

"Not yet, we have to let them gather up first."

"It's no use." The group turned their attention towards Marco, who was staring solemnly into the distance. "There's too many of them. I don't think any of us are going to survive this. I've come to accept my impending demise." He looked over at the 50 metre wall that 'protected' the city. It seemed so much taller when nobody had the gas to climb it. "I just…wanted my death to mean something."

The sound of 3DM gear attracted the attention of many of the surviving cadets. It wasn't the noise that kept everyone's attention however, it was the person using it.

"Gohan!?"

Many of the recruits began staring at him as he landed on the rooftop. Gohan had become a well-known name amongst the cadets during training, not only for being one of the nicest people there, but also for being the strongest in the 104th, and as such, many had heard that he'd been in the Vangaurd, and was presumed dead.

"You're alive?"

"Guys, have any of you seen Eren or Armin?"

"None of us have seen Eren, but…Armin's over there."

From the defeated tone in one of the Cadet's voice, Gohan felt an uneasy feeling grow in his stomach. The apprehension inside of him grew when he saw Armin slumped over by himself. Something had happened, he and Eren were the only ones Gohan hadn't seen when rescuing their squad, but Armin was alive, so something must have happened.

"Armin!"

He jogged over to the blonde, noting with worry how the boy's eyes had shot open in fear.

"Armin, are you okay? Where's Eren?"

His head turned down and away from him, small incomprehensible mutterings escaping his lips.

'Oh no…How do I tell him what happened to Eren? I survived and it means nothing. I'm so useless. I wish…I had died with him instead.'

"Armin, what happened? I saved Mina, Nac, and Mylius, but they said you and Eren were still out here."

"They're…they're alive?"

"Yeah. Armin, tell me…what happened to Eren?"

"He…he…" Armin steeled himself and tried his best to hide his sniffles, though he failed miserably. "Cadet Eren Jeager…upheld his duty. He died valiantly, on the field of battle." He broke off into sobs, hanging his head in shame.

Gohan stood over him in silence. It felt like Cell had just punched him in the gut. He couldn't breathe, it felt just like when Nappa and Vegeta had arrived on Earth, and so many people had died. Except here…there were no dragonballs to bring people back. There was no hope that he could ever see his friend again. There was…nothing.

Several of the recruits were watching the two, many of them having felt the same emotions of loss and anguish that Gohan was currently consumed by. None of them thought any less of him as he began to shed tears, yet they were surprised when Gohan knealt down in front of Armin, and embraced the boy in a tight, comforting hug.

"It…It'll be okay, Armin…"

He didn't quite believe the words himself, but he could sense how terrible Armin felt, and he hated it.

"Mikasa? Weren't you with the rear guard?"

"Annie!"

The blonde turned to see, to her surprise, Mikasa bearing down on her, several other recruits landing on the rooftop with them.

"Annie, have you seen Eren? Or Armin?"

"…Armin's over there."

The dark haired girl turned to where Armin was being held by Gohan, tears streaming onto the monkey tailed boy's cloak.

"Gohan…?"

The boy looked over towards her, his wet eyes shimmering with grief.

"No…"

Her head sank down and Gohan stepped closer, ready to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Mikasa." Armin's voice caught Gohan's attention, specifically the way it seemed to constantly catch in his throat. "It should have been me who died, not Eren. I…I couldn't do a thing."

"Armin, don't say that." Gohan wrapped his arms around the trembling boy, trying to push some warmth into him.

"I'm worthless."

"Armin." Mikasa's hand laid itself on his, a single teardrop passing them by as it fell onto the tiled roof. Both Gohan and Armin looked at her, surprised to hear her sound so…steady. "Calm yourself. We haven't got time for you to get emotional right now."

Her face was devoid of all emotion, and a sickly feeling began brewing inside Gohan's stomach. He'd felt loss, many times, and he knew what she was already beginning to do.

"On your feet." She pulled him up, Armin too stunned by Mikasa's reaction, or lack thereof, to object. "Marco, if we eliminate or bypass the Titans at HQ, we can there refuel our gear. Allowing us to get back over the wall. Is that assessment correct?"

"Well uh yeah, I guess so, sure. But there's just too many of them out there. Even with you and Gohan on point."

"I can do it." Mikasa's sword made a 'shring' as it was pulled from its metal sheath,

"What?"

"I'm strong. Real strong." She pointed it into the air, directing what few cadets attention whose eyes weren't already on her. "Only one of you even comes close. You hear me? I am a warrior. Know this, I have the power to slay all of the Titans that block our path. Even if I have to do it alone. As far as I am concerned, I am surrounded by a bunch of unskilled, cowardly worms. You disappoint me. You can just sit here and twiddle your thumbs and watch how it's done."

"Wait, Mikasa, are you out of your mind, that's crazy!"

"You can't be serious, trying to take them out by yourself?"

"There's no way you can hope to beat them!"

As each recruit pleaded with her to see reason, Gohan stepped forwards.

"Mikasa-"

"If I can't beat them, then I die. But if I win, I live. And the only way to live is to fight." Turning her back on them, she hopped off the rooftop and soared away, the stunned cadets frozen in place.

"Mikasa…" The words were mumbled as Gohan stood with the rest in surprise. Shaking himself a little before running across the rooftop after her. "MIKASA!"

"You know I was expecting something more motivational, your way with words was kind of a letdown." Jean reluctantly pulled his swords from his sheaths. "I blame everything about this on you, Eren…HEY! Don't just stand there! We weren't taught to let our comrades fight alone! 'Less you are a coward then stay out of my way!" Jean, Connie, and a few others all promptly jumped off in pursuit.

"Never expected that from him." Mumbled Reiner, though he and Annie promptly turned to follow. Even Armin wiped away his tears and began to move, with others like Marco hesitantly following. Though it was Sasha who energised them completely.

"Hey, seriously, come on you bunch of chickens!"

"They're nuts…"

"Damn it… All right, let's go!"

The surviving recruits from the battle of Trost all gave a war cry, diving off the buildings in unison, and heading after their comrades with military determination.

Towards the front of the 'formation', Gohan finally caught up with his friend.

"Mikasa! What are you doing? We should stick with the others and keep them safe!"

She ignored him. Instead, she pushed on ahead and sliced through the nape of an inattentive Titan.

'Darn it, if she keeps this up she's going to-OH NO!'

Gohan abruptly shot a cable into a nearby chimney, swinging himself around and using his momentum to fling himself past Jean and his group.

"What the hell is he-"

A 13 metre Titan stepped out onto the street, its hand raised and ready to swat several encroaching soldiers out of the sky, before promptly dropping to the ground as Gohan flew past it. A spurt of crimson blood arcing through the air.

'Oh I see, Mikasa carves the path and Gohan keeps it clear.' Jean drew his attention towards the men and women who had finally caught up. "Hurry up! Follow Mikasa, avoid landing if you can, and get to HQ before you run out of gas!"

"Whoa, Mikasa's a badass. How's she going so fast?" Asked Connie, slightly overwhelmed by the trail of destruction she was beginning to leave in her wake.

"You think that's impressive?" Asked a nearby recruit. "Check out Gohan!" As she spoke, the teenager shot past them once more and sliced out the eyes of a Titan who was getting too close to the group.

Armin ignored the gasps of his comrades as they watched their number one zip around them like a guardian angel. Instead, he was focussed on the one clearing the way. 'No…Mikasa's using too much gas. She could run out at any second. It doesn't matter how scared she is, once we lose mobility we're as good as dead!'

Mikasa either hadn't noticed her own gas usage, or had stopped caring, as she launched herself forwards at top speed and took down another target. Its limp body crashing heavily into a building.

'I see through the veil of her composure, she's letting adrenaline distract her from grief. Any time, she could-'

Mikasa's gas gave a final splutter, before dying, and dropping her out of the air like a rock.

"Mikasa!"

Armin screamed out as she disappeared behind the houses, immediately veering off towards her.

"Damn it." Cursed Jean, watching their number two soldier disappear as likely as their chances of survival.

"Jean, you lead the rest to HQ, I'm going after Armin!" Shouted Connie, having also noticed the…issue.

"I'm going too!"

It was Gohan, having shot himself alongside the two boys.

"Don't be stupid, there are still Titans everywhere! You gotta help the others!"

With that, Connie disappeared off among the houses, leaving Gohan flying at an awkward in between point.

'I promised to keep them safe. I already failed to protect Eren. But…I can't let these people die. Please Mikasa, please be safe!'

Grudgingly, Gohan fell back in line with Jean.

"Gohan! We need the path cleared!"

"…got it." He shot forwards, his Ki senses highlighting several important dangers. "Keep them safe, Jean!"

As she laid by herself on the stack of wood, Mikasa slowly raised her broken sword into the sky in front of her eyes, the pair of blades having snapped in half when she crashed painfully onto a rooftop.

'It happened. Why this again? I've lost my family.'

She trudged out into the middle of the street, indulging her exhaustion and slumping to her knees in defeat.

'Why? Wasn't the first time enough? It's all over. Nothing left for them to take from me.'

Booming footsteps sounded around the corner, a potbellied Titan causally making its way towards her.

'It's no use. We're not getting anywhere near headquarters.' Jean gave a glance down to the street below him, eying up the Titan that was scratching at the building he had paused on. 'Less of course you don't mind dying.'

There was a slight whimper below to his left, and he spotted a soldier trapped on the ground. His cables shot into the wall yet slack on the ground, and his 3DM Gear producing only miniscule streams of gas spluttering out from it.

'Shit, he's out of gas.'

The soldier cried out in fear as Titans closed in around him, one swooping down and snatching him into its mighty hands.

"Tom! I'll save you!" Another recruit shot past Jean, heading straight towards the Titans.

"No, wait-"

"I'm coming!"

The man was openly bawling as he was raised towards the hungry Titan's mouth, his babbling doing nothing to make it hesitate.

"Stop it!"

The first of his would-be rescuers was snatched out of the air almost effortlessly, the second also falling victim to the numerous beasts that roamed the street as she too was plucked out of the sky. His last hope gone, Tom cried desperately as the Titan's mouth opened wide.

"Hang on!"

Faster than any of the Cadets could believe, Gohan shot past the horrified onlookers and nimbly dodged between a Titan's splayed fingers. He wasted no time in slowing down, instead simply crashing into the Titan's neck and carving away, only using his powerful leg muscles to slightly slow himself down. The force of the impact pushed the Titan forwards, its grip on Tom loosened as its dead body slumped against a house.

Gohan darted away again, a white aura bursting around him as his body burned with Ki. Reaching the first 'rescuer', Gohan slashed viciously, the Titan's hand falling to the ground, and its lower jaw dropping open as its cheeks were ripped apart.

Leaving it alive, but sufficiently slowed, Gohan dove towards the final prisoner. Allowing his swords to pierce the capturer's eyes as he landed directly on its face. Hopping into the air, he sheathed his blades, pulled the soldier out of the now weakened grip and shot a hook out into the ground.

Using some of the last of his precious gas, he flung himself directly into the previous soldier he'd rescued and sent them both sprawling out onto the ground, narrowly avoiding the hand that slapped fiercely onto the ground.

Using the precious few moments he had before they were upon him, Gohan drew his attention towards the rooftops. "Jean! Lead them towards HQ while you can! Please! Keep them safe!"

With the Titans almost in range, one of the rescuers considered their job complete, and flew up towards his comrades, leaving only Gohan, Tom, and the unknown female soldier on the street.

Mikasa sheathed her broken sword, for all the good that it would do her, and slowly awaited her fate.

'This world is cruel. But it's also…it's also beautiful.' She remembered the feeling of that warm red scarf around her neck, the first time Eren had wrapped it around her. The footsteps grew closer. 'It was a good life.' And closer. Closer. They were almost right next to her.

Mikasa felt the wind move as the Titan's hand reached out towards her. Without thinking, she promptly reinserted her sword and sliced, a finger flying into the air. She back flipped away as the Titan's other hand smashed into the wall near where she had been.

She froze in surprise of her own actions, something which proved to be a mistake as her enemy attacked again, slapping down onto the ground with Mikasa having been missing by mere inches, the shockwave however slamming her into a wall.

'Why?'

The hand came for her again, Mikasa dodging once more but the shockwave sending her sprawling onto the ground.

'I've already given up. So why…? Why am I struggling? Why do I keep getting up?'

The Titan stumbled as it pulled itself free of the wrecked wall it had created.

'Why am I still fighting? I mean…I've lost any reason to live. What keeps pushing me?'

The Titan now towered over her once more, and Mikasa turned to run. She was halted in her tracks as another Titan stepped around the corner and onto the street.

'Fight. Fight. Fight!'

'Eren…'

The two Titans encroached on her, each now within grabbing range of her.

'Kill or be killed, it's the only way to live! You have to fight!'

'I'm so sorry, Eren, I'm through giving up!' Two tears streamed down the side of her cheeks as she remembered the boy who'd saved her all those years ago. 'I'll never give up again. Because if I die, these memories of you die with me. That's why, I'll do whatever it takes to win!'

A hand reached out towards her, and Mikasa gripped the shattered sword with both hands. 'Whatever it takes to live!' She let out a final battle cry and readied herself to charge.

The Titan's foot that smashed into the ground behind her however beat her to it, as the second Titan that had entered the street dove over her, and punched the attacker powerfully in the jaw. Spurts of blood flying through the air as it was knocked off its feet and sent crashing to the ground.

"What was that?"

Mikasa questioned aloud as she wondered why she was still alive, gasping when she saw the second Titan standing victoriously in the street. A deep, threatening roar broke from its lipless mouth as it charged forwards towards its downed target.

A loud crash consumed the street as it stomped down on the beast's neck. Again. And again. And again. Until there was no more left than a red smear below its foot.

AN: Hey guys and gals, got another chapter for you. Only real thing I want to mention is that due to the popularity of this story, this is now the number 1 DBZ/SNK crossover story, and the number of reviews I'm getting, I will now only be posting reviews with which it's appropriate for a response. Otherwise there's gonna be a good chunk of the chapter size devoted just to thank you's. I will however say a great big thank you to all of the praise I've received, and as for the fight that kinda erupted in the reviews, I understand your problem with nerfing characters, but I hope that you can understand why and enjoy the story anyway. Hopefully the moment I have planned later on will interest you.

Vybion Es Britta - 17 titans ina day, oh man,this is so cool ! With every fight and near death, Gohan is getting more OP. For a moment, i thought Gohan was gonna turn super saiyan when his superior died ( despite his power being as low as teen Goku or kami level )
Your story keeps getting more epic with every line ! Question : How long does it take to write one chapter ? Can't wait to see Gohan meeting Pixis again and Levi. The clash between humanity's 2 strongest soldiers ! – I couldn't really give an accurate time frame for writing as, given I'm only 11 chapters in and have been affected by moving, writers block, etc. But after a chapters been written, it takes about a day for it to be beta read and for reviews to be answered. Hopefully that somewhat answered your question.

KuramaFTW - So Gohan swoops in and saves most of Eren's squad. I'm kinda surprised though that the soldiers are working Gohan so hard. I mean he's at least put down 20 titans, that's more than most of the soldiers in the Levi Squad put down individually, and the day isn't even half over yet. I understand that they need every able bodied person out there fighting but Gohan has done more than everyone else so far and he's got to be pretty exhausted. So you'd think they'd tell him to go over the wall and and rest for a bit and resupply before sending him back out. – Although it wasn't actually mentioned specifically in this/the previous chapter, Gohan did manage to get his energy back somewhat as he didn't have to fight as hard or as frequently when protecting the civilians.

Aiseki0Hikari - wow~ this ff is just amazing. It's blazing with fantastic development. Oh you should do Carla and Keith together, since he loves her, but then Grisha married her, but his dead since Eren ate him, like damn son. You just ate your father. Nice... lool what a achievement that is~ Gasp~ can you do a slash pairing? or not allowed? Even a hint? Btw, is Gohan going back to DBZ world? Or some of them showing up in SNK world? Just curious? Sorry, if my review...Is kinda long? More like questions, but please update! I seriously would love to know what's happening next. Have a nice day! Or life~ - I've got no problem writing a slash pairing as long as it's good. My only limit is that I don't want to interfere with Canon relationships. So I won't be doing any LevixEren for example unless something happens in the manga. Though I kinda doubt that since it was hinted, in the anime at least, that Eren had a small crush on Annie. Until…you know.

JustSaiyan - Not too shabby, I understand why you had to depower Gohan a lot otherwise this would have been a much shorter story. I actually have a bunch of questions hopefully you can answer them without giving too much away (spoilers)

1) How did Cell transport Gohan to another dimension/Possible Future? I mean in the first chapter the piece of him that attached to Gohan said that it didn't have enough energy to make another Cell but it had enough energy to transport Gohan? Did the blob attempt to use Instant Transmission on Gohan and screw up? – It was a bit of a screw up and a bit of…something else.

2) Why didn't Gohan sense Eren's energy when he rescued Squad 34? I mean I can accept that Armin may have been blocked by being inside the Titan mouth but why didn't he sense Eren bleeding out on the roof top? Was he just distracted? – Gohan was pretty exhausted by that point having already been on the front lines for a while, add into that that neither Eren nor Armin have particularly noticeable power levels, and then several Titans come to finish off all the people Gohan just rescued. He was a bit preoccupied.

3)I know Gohan is saving a bunch of characters doomed by canon but will his presence actually cause the death of any currently living canon character? Like Sasha (technically she was suppose to die in Volume 9 but was saved by the tears of the editor) or anyone else somewhat important? – Not unless there's a suitable reason for it. By Gohan being involved with AoT, he can almost only help. But don't think that means everyone has ploy armour, I have plans for some of them. –insert evil laugh here-

4)Related to the third, since the manga is supposedly going to end sometime in 2017 will you change the story (rewrite chapters and change ideas for future chapters) as the manga plot develops or have you already decided a ending based on your own theories? Though that is still a long ways off, the manga might end before you finish the uprising arc, the anime and manga could have different endings (Like FMA) or inspiration could hit you at any time. I just want some of my favorite characters to be alive in canon or in this story at least (I mean Armin just triggered a bunch of death flags last chapter) – Unless something particularly interesting happens in the manga, SMB's arc will be; the Arrival arc, the Trost arc, the Expedition arc, the Castle Utgard arc, the Uprising arc, and the Return arc. I don't think I'm missing any details there, but essentially it will follow the manga until the current arc, where upon it will become the Return arc that should finish off the story in, hopefully, a great finale.

5) Is Gohan developing any new techniques? Future Gohan developed Down Burst (combo of solar flare and ki blasting himself into the air) to fight the Androids and I bet it would be more effective against Titans especially working in tandem with 3D gear. Maybe making his previous attacks more Titan effective or sword blasts? Afterimages or a finger blast so he can still use his blades? – Well he's already managed to push Ki into objects, his swords, but as for new techniques…nothing planned yet, but I do have a couple ideas that I'll be experimenting with.

6)Has/Will Gohan aid in medical / technology advancement? I know he has limited time and tools but will he become a doctor (filling Grisha spot) when he is off duty or maybe modify his 3D gear so he can use his ki attack and still move effectively, maybe a pressure trigger or a double tap mechanism sort of like Spider-Man's web shooters. – Perhaps. Remember though that for all of his genius, Gohan is still limited by the technology of the time. So don't be expecting capsules or anything like that. Though there will be a specific scene in a later chapter that you'll probably like for that.

Anyway I don't normally recommend this but I hope you diverge from canon a lot more you have seemed to captured a lot of the character's personalities and I feel confident you would portray them accurately when you eventually make your own arc (Cell's Return arc I presume). As long as it make sense in your story I wouldn't worry about following the canon storyline, canon relationships, or canon deaths as much. In crossovers if authors stick too closely to the canon they eventually forget some of their character abilities and make lots of plotholes or they suffer from the idiot ball, deus ex machina, or the worf effect. For example if someone gets "kidnapped" Gohan would be able to pinpoint their energy easily and it's not likely the Kidnappers would be able to knowingly block his powers. Most would give the kidnappers a mcguffin to block his ability, however I feel that would be kind of lazy writing, most likely the kidnapping would turn into a hostage situation followed by druging / kidnapping Gohan as well thus eliminating a threat, destroying a solid trail Sorry about the rant I just can't stand lazy writing it's sort of insulting to the reader – Don't worry, outside of the initial necessary power decrease, Gohan won't be hampered by Deux Ex Machina's. I do have some planned events which should fit both Gohan's abilities and his character, whilst also still being tense and exciting.

BR - I kind of want to pair up Gohan and Annie Temporarily (she kind of like 18 /Lazuli), It would make future events more impactful and when she reappears in the manga there can be a intense moment between the two especially if Gohan moved on. – It wouldn't fit with Annie's character in my opinion since she already struggled with becoming attached her comrades, so much so that she couldn't kill them, having a romantic relationship? Not likely.

zombielord97 - Hey another great chapter I want to ask a question I know it's not even close to this part but the part where they're in the courthouse and eran is getting beat i hope you don't make Gohan stand aside because we all know Gohan won't take that and if you do make him get arrested along with Eran because of his great form please don't make him get beat – Don't worry, I have a plan for that scene which should be pretty interesting.

Slyr3x - Everything's running smoothly until I read the part where he's teaching KI. I have no idea if it's paranoia and or other, but it went in my head in a way little something like this: "Martial Arts can't help you in a Titan fight? Hah! I'll show you, Annie! It's something that's basically flashy sorcery in your eyes, only it's not magic because it's actually energy in your body! And no, it's not Mana. No, I am not a wizard. I'm a fighter. Martial. Artist. Anyway, I can even teach you guys that if you like. Yeah, you can do flashy-blindey things too! We can even do it out here. In broad day light. In the middle of a military complex. Where less than savory people can watch and plan how they could use my other KI 'talents', providing I have any more with me, for their own gains. How? Why, blackmail me by threatening my friend's mother, of course!" Etc etc. Beyond that... well, I have no other complains. I'm sorta liking how this would turn out. – You're right, he did do that. Out in the open where it had previously been mentioned about two characters overwatching the training…not saying anything more…