Chapter 48: Backs against the Wall

The Beast watched from a distance as the large dust clouds from the boulder he had thrown began to rise and vanish into the air, the titans that flanked him on either side stood diligently as they wobbled like tipsy patrons, he looked down slightly to see Pieck placing another boulder before his feet.

"Thank you, Pieck." The Beast titan spoke in its unnatural voice. He could see the ant like dots zip around the large blank canvass that was Wall Maria. Zeke looked down at the boulder behind his feet "Perhaps one more for good luc-" A distant succession of booms stopped him as his eyes perked upwards back to the city to see quick flashes of light. It sounded and looked all too familiar yet…

Suddenly the titan next to him was hit by an explosion, tearing off half their body as their torso collapsed to the ground. The slope of the mound he stood on exploded as a mess of mud and dirt struck him, all around him a few larger titans had fallen to the ground in a cloud of smoke as their entire top halves were obliterated and smaller titans were flung into the air from the explosive projectiles that struck them directly or nearby.

The Beast titan raised his arms defensively as the bombardment continued on them; he quickly moved his right arm off to the side to look back at the town as a shell struck his hand, the explosion decimating his entire forearm as he was knocked to the ground with a loud thud.

"AAAHHHHH!" The Beast titan cried in anger, he looked at the smoking nub where his arm once was.

"War Chief!" yelled the raspy voice of the Cart titan as it crawled up to him. "Are you okay?"

The Beast titan began to get up to his feet, not once taking his eyes off the town. "I'm fine, just need to focus my attention to healing my arm, damn and it was my dominant hand too." He looked around his titan line; empty patches now littered the line where a titan body filled.

"Modern artillery couldn't have done this…" he commented "So these are the kind of results you get with alchemy." He inhaled deeply as he let out a loud roar, suddenly behind him a few more bright explosions of light came off as more titans began to fill the empty ranks. "I was hoping to not use the extras just quite yet, I was hoping to save them for a later attack but it seems ill have to make an adjustment."

"War chief, should I call upon our 'help?'" the Cart titan suggested.

"No, not just yet" The Beast titan replied "But I do have an idea…" he looked down toward the Cart titan "Pieck, leave Bertholdt and Porco here, I need you to scout around the town."

"Yes, War chief." The Cart titan replied, reaching over to the wooden platform and placing the cargo onto the ground.

"Now… let's kick things off." The Beast titan remarked, he then curled his left hand into a fist and slammed it into the ground as it let out a vicious roar, commanding the first line of smaller titans to charge forward towards the village.

Erwin watched as the front line of smaller titans charged towards the town, another volley of artillery hit the titans, blowing the charging titans to chunks of meat and smoke along with the ground around them, leaving titan bodies and craters in its wake.

"Direct hit on the Beast!" Gelgar cheered, his fist raised slightly. "Eat it, you ugly bastard, try throwing rocks at us now!"

"The titans are still going to reach the town!" Nanaba pointed out.

"Commander, the armored titan!" Sasha yelled, turning to him. "It's climbing the walls!"

Erwin stood silently as he watched titans laying siege to them, he focused his eyes on the Beast titan and the smoking stump on his right arm when his eyes drifted to a single titan running on all fours around the formation.

That titan is carrying cargo on its back… he observed they must have already taken form before the battle, was this the one who spotted us? If that's so… he thought back to the information from Armin, four metal mugs Then there are still two other shifters, the colossal titan and another, we haven't found yet…

"The quadruped titan is intelligent too." Erwin stated "We're up against more than the ones we know about. The enemy has more up their sleeve than we predicated."

"Garrison forces are now engaged with the advancing titans." Informed one of the scouts "Two and three meter titans are into the town."

"Thank you, corporal." Erwin replied in his calm and authoritative tone as the battle began to commence around them.

It seems their strategy is similar to Utgard, going after our horses and cutting off our methods of escape Erwin analysed However, they didn't seem to know we were carrying artillery with us this time meaning their attempt to organise a prolong siege or inflict heavy casualties is now difficult; even if we lose our horses we can fortify and bleed them out instead… of course… Erwin looked down into the town below, the garrison troops zipping around the outskirts of the town and around the invading titans that all depends on making sure our cannons are still being operational or our horses are still alive…

"Oi Erwin" Levi said, catching attention "You gonna say something or should I go get breakfast?"

"Squads Nanaba, Marlene and Klaus, reinforce the garrison soldiers below!" Erwin ordered, his voice booming as he raised his blade upwards. "Protect the horses and artillery positions!" he inhaled deeply "Squads Levi, Dirk and Hange, take down the armoured titan!" he paused for less than second "Squad leaders, use the thunder spears at your discretion, carry out the objective at all costs." He turned to face the group of squad leaders "This moment, this battle, will decide the fate of humanity, so once more, dedicate your hearts!"

"Yes sir!" the other scouts yelled in imperfect unison as they jumped off the walls on either side.

"Levi squad, wait." Erwin called out, stopping them before they could all just into the district. "Levi, Edward and Armin, I need you to join with the garrison and scout units facing the Beast titan." He said pointing his blade onto the town below him. "Petra, you lead the special operations unit, you and Hange will command our units in the battle within the district that includes both our titan shifters, neutralise the armored titan quickly, we may require Mina's help if the other titan decides to attack from the front."

"Yes, commander." Petra replied the confidence and resoluteness in her voice hiding its shakiness. "Special operations unit, forward!" she commanded as she jumped over the edge.

"Alphonse" Ed called out to his brother, catching his attention. "We'll get through this."

"Yeah, of course we will." Alphonse replied with an uneasy smile before he jumped off the edge just behind the others.

"Commander, shouldn't we have one of Eren or Mina stick with us?" Edward asked facing the commander.

"For now I'd like to keep any shifter fighting contained within the district itself." Erwin replied "Ordering either of the two to engage the Beast titan may tempt the other shifters to launch an all out attack on the garrison's position placing both our artillery and horses in jeopardy."

"Plus they're here to capture Eren, we don't know too much about what else the enemy has so being in the district at least shields them from that." Armin added.

"Indeed." Erwin replied "Edward, I need you to build a defensive barrier around the horses." He turned to Armin" Armin, the open space and range of your ability will be useful on this front, support the artillery positions. You two will take orders from Ian under further notice."

"Yes, commander." Armin replied as he jumped off the wall.

"Let's win this." Ed said with a slight nod to Erwin and Levi before following Armin.

"Levi, I'm tasking you killing the Beast titan." Erwin informed Levi, pointing his blade at the Beast titan. "I trust you to destroy the Beast."

"Understood" Levi replied a low growl "I'll take the Beast titan's head."

"They're here." Jean called out as both Mina and Eren landed onto the flat roof of a building, a green column of smoke hung over them.

"Lieutenant Petra, where's Captain Levi?" Eren asked, he looked around the group "Where's Armin and Ed?"

"Commander Erwin ordered them to help the garrison forces against the Beast titan; you'll be following mine and Hange's orders." The two shifters nodded their heads.

Suddenly the other squads arrived at the scene, both squad leaders Dirk and Hange approached them; Dirk pulling out a map of the district and laid it on the floor.

"Armoured titan is still climbing the wall." Dirk said pointing at the entrance of Shiganshina as everyone huddled around "We have to assume his target is our horses."

"Meaning we have to force the armored titan to us." Moblit stated.

"Commander Erwin said we should lure the armored titan using both Eren and Mina." Petra informed them, catching their attention. "That means we should use them as bait."

"Wouldn't that put them at risk?" Mikasa pointed out.

"Use them as bait…" Hange pondered, placing her hand on her chin "That could work, even if Reiner ends up going for the horses below he'll still to contend with Ed and Armin and that would free up both of Eren and Mina to either escape or ambush the Beast titan, it'll confuse them."

"We still got to be careful of Bertholdt." Jean added "Remember last time he got the better of us?"

"Then we'll have to hope Reiner takes the bait and lure him inwards from the walls." Hange concluded lifting his finger up from her chin. "Alphonse, you stand back and offer support in the battle, try to remain hidden."

"Yes, squad leader." Alphonse replied.

"Let's get into position." Hange announced, the rest nodded.

Petra turned to face Eren "Eren, move down the street and transform, we'll position ourselves here." Petra pointed towards an area on the map, she then turned to Mina "Mina, you're with us, when Eren lures him to this position you'll be the first to attack from behind." Mina nodded "You're goal will be to distract him long enough for us to hit him with our spears."

The rest of the teams then scrambled off the rooftop, zipping towards their position as their hooks latched onto the ruined buildings pulling them forward. "Lieutenant." Mina called out, catching Petra attention "I'm willing to do whatever you ask of me but… I don't know if I can take on Reiner alone if I have to." Mina confessed letting out a slight sigh "I wasn't in the top ten like Eren and I'm completely inexperienced."

"I understand." Petra reassured her, trying to calm her anxieties. "You're right, maybe you don't have the experience or knowledge of either of those two… but you won't be fighting alone."

"Let's go! Let's go!" Hannes commanded as he yelled at the other garrison troops behind him pulling at the reins of the horses as they dragged them towards the blocked entrance of Wall Maria. The shattered cries of explosions and people and the nearby destruction of houses rang through the air.

"Is that all of them?" Ian asked, yelling above the noise.

"There are still some horses on the other side of the town!" Hannes yelled back. A house just a few streets away was suddenly torn to pieces as a titan crashed through, scouts zipping around it. The titan bobbled its head towards Hannes and the others as it swayed its body towards them, jogging at them.

Suddenly a fiery explosion struck the titan from behind as it toppled to the ground. "Mr Hannes!" came a voice from the rooftop; Hannes looked up to see Armin "Go now!" Hannes and the others quickly tugged on the reins as they forcibly led them forwards.

"Edward!" Ian yelled as he turned to face Ed, already kneeling down on the ground, Ed placed his hands together, bright sparks of blue light flickered around him as he slammed his palms into the ground. A wall, in the shape of a half oval, rose from the ground as the earth shook, shielding them from the battle raging on the other side.

Armin zipped down next to Ed, the two exchanging nods.

"Good work, next task is fortifying our artillery positions." Ian briefed them. "First wave of two and three meter class titans pushed our operating crew further back abandoning a few positions on the wider areas, garrison and scout soldiers are doing what they can but it's not enough and if we want to hit the encirclement hard like we did initially then we need to push forward."

"It'll be impossible to fortify the entire town…" Armin pondered "But there are a few main roads which if we block off can limit their movement into it."

"There's the main road right ahead, two other larger ones on the left side of the town" Hannes mentioned using his memory of the area "other side of the town across the river is more sparse."

"Houses are built closely together, forming its own barrier." Armin added "We'll just have to have more troops to guard the side across the river."

"Sounds good" Ian replied "Armin, move to the other side of the river and support right flank until we can move troops to that side."

"Right" Armin replied, he grabbed the handles of his ODM gear and fired onto the wall, pulling away.

"Ed, we'll need you to cover those entrances for us" Ian instructed "Hannes, you and your team cover Edward, once that's done try to consolidate the center."

"Consider it done!" Ed replied as he grabbed the handles to his gear.

"Team, cover Edward!" Hannes commanded "Kill any titan that tries to look at him funny!"

"Sir!" came a broken chant of several garrison troops.

"Ed." Ian called out, catching his attention before he could fire the cables onto the makeshift wall. "I know you know this is big, everything hinges on us succeeding here." Ian seemed to remind him.

"Yeah I know." Ed replied, as if stating the obvious.

"That's why I need you to agree with me here; no matter what, you focusing on making sure we win. Whatever it takes." Ian stated.

Ed was silent for a second before turning his head away "I'll do what I can, don't you worry about that." Ed pointed the handle towards the small wall, fired his cable and pulled himself up with the other garrison troops. He stepped over to the other side; behind his feet were small titans crawling at the wall and running around the streets of the town like curious children chasing flies. The garrison and scout troops flying around them.

"Main road straight ahead." Hannes pointed.

"Let's get moving." Ed said, he fired his cables onto a nearby house and pulled himself forward, Hannes and his team following behind him. He skipped across the houses, small titans tried to grab at him with their meaty hands as the garrison troops behind him quickly cut them down before running after Ed.

Ed leapt off of a house and towards the main road, a 3 meter titan wondered into his path. He fired his cables onto the side of his temple and swung himself around to its back, his gas pushing him faster than the titan could turn, as he slashed at its neck before landing gracefully onto the ground.

He skidded onto the roof of a house, just a few more streets till the main road. Ed swiped his head from left to right, checking his surroundings, when he spotted three titans clawing at the edges of a nearby building as two scouts tried to back away from them. "Marlowe!" he yelled. He felt his body suddenly shift towards their direction when someone grabbed his by his hood.

"Keep moving!" yelled the person behind him.

With his eyes still trained on them he saw a figure flash past the titans as they collapsed onto the ground, the figure landed onto a nearby house. "Go now!" Levi yelled at them "Get the rest of the horses to cover."

He looked ahead, in the far distance the beast titan stood before him with his blockade of titan. Hannes and his team quickly encircled Ed, Ed dropped his handles and slammed his hands together and placing them onto the ground.

A tangled row of stone and rock thorns rose from the ground as it sealed off the entrance.

"Alright!" Hannes yelled urgently "Onto the next!" he said pointing into its general direction.

Armin snapped his fingers together; a burst of fire struck a four meter titan from behind as it fell limp onto the ground, he scanned the area from the rooftop of one of the houses scattered across the other side of the river.

Titans scrambled around the houses like lost children as the scouts and garrison troops flew around them, luring them to the edges of the town.

"Keep them away from the artillery positions!" Mitabi ordered as he stood up on the roof top of a house.

The sound of cables zipping around caught his attention as a single garrison troop flew around a four meter titan. Armin pointed his hand towards it and pressed his fingers together, as his fingers skidded past each other; a blazing trail of fire struck the titan in the eyes blinding it as it clutched at its burning wounds, letting out a deep cry. The garrison troop swung around and put the titan out of its misery.

"Arlert!" yelled Mitabi "Titans are concentrated at the south side of the town!" Armin snapped his head to the side, a group of garrison soldiers were attached to a church tower as a group of possible seven or eight titans clawed at it.

He pointed his hand at them and pressed his thumb and index finger together, a burst of fire consumed the titans at the base of the church, concentrating on controlling the path of the flames. The titans were set alight; in their panic they moved from the church and began to wonder around. Crashing into nearby buildings.

"Kill those titans!" Mitabi commanded "Before they set the town on fire!"

A titan began charging towards the house Armin watched from in its painful rampage, Armin stepped back slightly, his teeth gritted "Crap, no…" he quickly pointed his hand at the titan and quickly clicked his fingers, the titan's head exploded, sending half of its head flying to the side.

On the outskirts of the town, a few buildings were set ablaze from the chaos.

"Damn it…" Armin muttered to himself, his eyes shifting quickly to survey the damage. "I'm sorry, sir."

"No point apologizing, just gotta get on with it." Mitabi replied "Rally the men and move them further in before the next wave comes in."

"Of course" Through the flickering blaze Armin spotted it, a titan. A titan carrying a platform on its back as he crawled around on its hands and legs, watching them just outside of the edge of the town.

Armin quickly pressed his finger and thumb together as he watched its movements, crawling very casually behind the dark smoke as it wondered off to the side.

"Sir, I'm moving towards the side, I spotted some titan movements that could threaten us." Armin informed Mitabi.

"Be quick about it." Mitabi ordered before he fired off his hooks and swung away. Armin then fired off the hooks towards a nearby building to the south, aiming at and hanging off of the walls of the buildings as he approached the general direction of the titan until he reached the furthest house the east. He climbed up onto the roof, lying down on the tiles trying to hide himself.

He spotted the crawling titan, carrying a wooden platform on his back, stay just a couple meters away from the outskirts of the town, pulling out his telescope from his side he peered through the lens for a better look; the titan had a long horse like head and face with an a wide mouth which almost stretched from ear to ear with black hair sat on top of its head. The titan crawled on two arms and legs with a wooden platform lying against its back, Armin focused on the platform and noticed it carrying several rocks.

"Rocks…" Armin whispered to himself. His mind then slipped back to Utgard… the boulders raining down on them. He moved his scope down back towards the titan's face, looking down onto the ground. Armin followed its gaze to see it digging a hole in the ground as it picked up a large rock just buried below the surface.

Armin crouched up slightly and aimed his hand at the titan "close to twenty meters…" Armin whispered.

He snapped his finger and thumb together, an explosive burst of fire struck just a meter away from the titan, knocking them down as the platform spilled the rocks onto the floor. "Just off…" he muttered irritated.

The titan quickly got up; it shook its head from side to side looking for him. Armin did his best to stay low, slowly inching away down the tiled roof. Suddenly the rough sound of zipping cables snatched his attention as a lone garrison soldier landed near him.

"Armin, Mitabi want-" Armin quickly pulled the garrison troop down, before turning his head back to the titan.

Standing up back on its hands and legs and now looking in his direction.

The titan picked up a smaller piece of rock with its hand, pulling its arm back.

Armin quickly stood back up, his hands ready, as he snapped his fingers together once more just as was about to throw the rock at them. A fiery blaze burst from his pointed finger and struck the titan in the face as it tossed the rock at them.

The rock crashed into the side of the building they stood on. The garrison troop grabbing Armin and quickly using their ODM gear to lightly crash into the ground as the house collapse on itself.

Armin collided into the grass; he pushed his body up, trying to ignore the pain, as he moved his head back. He spotted the titan rushing away to the distance and back to the titan line.

"What was that?" the garrison troop asked completely confused.

"Another intelligent titan" Armin replied as he got up to his feet, helping the garrison troop up too "I saw it looking at us for a bit and then digging up from rocks, looks like it was trying to gauge our defences while getting some rocks for the Beast titan."

"Gotta tell the others about that." The troop suggested.

"Yeah we should." Armin agreed, the two began to run back to their posts. All the while Armin played back the moments before the titan's got away.

Who are you?

Reiner continued to chase after Eren as he sprinted further away from the walls and towards the center of the district; Eren weaved through the abandoned and ruined buildings, his titan body moving more agile than Reiner's who bumped into some of the houses, destroying them in his path.

Eren entered into an open space, a large water fountain stood in the centre meters away from houses and buildings which encircled it.

Eren turned around to face Reiner, walking around the fountain as the two eyed each other as they circled around waiting for the other to make a move.

Eren began to raise his hands to his face, a familiar crackling sound filled the air and a crystal substance began to cover over his hands and fingers like brass knuckles.

How the hell did you get the serum for that… Reiner muttered angrily internally doesn't matter, I'll still beat you… Just have to do it quickly before-

There was a bright flash of light behind him and a very familiar sound of thunder, Reiner quickly turned his titan's body around to quickly see. A titan fist collided into his face, before his head to thrown back by the force of the punch he saw the feminine figure of the titan and long black hair covering its face as it swung its fist into his face.

Annie…

Reiner crashed into a nearby building, as he pulled himself out of the wreckage he turned to look at the titan.

What the hell? Reiner stumbled away from her; his titan didn't show it but his face was a picture of confusion which morphed into grief as he got a better look at the titan.

Its long black hair, the sickly pale grey skin and its silvery eyes just hid behind its raised fists covered in the crystal armor.

Annie… I'm so sorry… Reiner clenched his fist as he watched the two titans approach him; he readied himself with a vicious roar I won't let you death be in vain! Not you or Marcel!

Reiner charged into Eren pushing him onto the ground, Eren tumbled into a nearby house. He then quickly turned to the Female titan he swung his right fist at it, the titan dodged to the side and struck its fist into his front, shattering the armor but not piercing through it.

Reiner jumped back slightly, he pushed the Female titan back Is that all you got? He walked towards her, swinging a heavy blow with his right hand, the Female titan steps over the right and just dodges the attack but Reiner hits with a jab from his left to his shoulder, pushing her back further as she stumbled on her feet.

Reiner goes in further when he feels something grab his ankle; he quickly looks down to see a hand, a large stone hand from the ground grabbing at his ankle. His second of confusion bought the Female titan enough time to land a punch with her right fist square in his forehead as she sends him stumbling back.

There was a large blue flash of electricity behind her as the Female titan reach down her here and picked up a stone war hammer; the Female titan picked up the hammer, raised it over her head and smashed in down onto Reiner's head. The hammer shattered into pieces as it crashed onto his crown but forced him onto the ground.

Suddenly he was tackled to the ground by Eren, crashing further into the ruins of the district. They both quickly got up from the wreckage; the two stared at each other for a second before they both swung their fists at each other.

Eren ducked his head to the left, Reiner's fist just grazing Eren's neck and shoulder as he delivered a counter punch into Reiner's face, the crystal knuckles destroying the side of his face through his armor.

The force of the punch sent Reiner crashing into the ground, as he rolled onto the ground Eren let out his own roar.

Reiner persevered, quickly rising to his feet. Eren threw a hard punch with his right hand; Reiner quickly blocked the shot with his left arm, pulling back his own hand for the punch, his hand grabbed at from the side before he could throw it.

The Female titan held a tight grip over Reiner's wrist as it swung a punch into the other side of Reiner's face, further shattering the armor around his face.

Eren then struck him in the stomach and his ribs, large chunks of his armour shattering and falling to the ground.

Damn it… Reiner felt a hand grip his neck, holding him in place, as Eren threw blow after blow to his face. I can't take two of them at the same time…

The Female titan then swept his right leg back and Eren swept the other as Eren forced him onto his knees. The two titans stomped onto his legs holding them in place as they both held his arms apart; he struggled to break free but to no avail.

He felt the Female titan and Eren then twist his arms; he felt his titan's arms, its muscles and nerves being tore from his body till his arms was torn off and thrown to the side.

Through the labored breathing and grunts of the titans, Reiner could make out the sounds of cables zipping around them. "Break off!" came an order.

Both Eren and the Female titan

Two cloaked figures glided around him as the titans held him, turning around and heading directly towards him

Large metal rods sticking out of their arms…

That's not-

There was a flash of smoke followed by the metal rods shooting directly into his eyes, breaking through what remained of his armor.

Wuh-

He only heard the scout troops burst away as a loud explosion, blinding him completely.

NO

"One more round!" came a voice in the distance.

"Aim for the neck!"

I'm done for! Someone please, help me!

"Everybody get back!" someone yelled.

"Retreat!" yelled another "Away from the Armour titan!"

"Eren, Mina, fall back!" came a command.

Mina…. You're the… Wait, whats happening?

"Colossal, run!"

The Beast titan continued to watch as his titans continued to swarm the town which covered the entrance into the district, a few distant booms echoed through the air as the occasional shower of shattered artillery struck the titan line or the ground.

Off in the distance he could see structures rising from the ground "So they're here…" the Beast titan muttered in its gravelly voice. "Blocking the entrance, so you're digging in then." he looked down at his smoking snub, his forearm had grown back but his wrist and hand was still missing.

There was a rush of footsteps to his side, the Beast titan turned his head to see the cart titan rushing towards him, burn marks and injuries covering their skin. "War chief."

"Pieck, whats happened?" the Beast titan asked "Enemy artillery targeting you."

"No, an enemy soldier was able to ambush me on the left side of the town." Pieck informed "But war chief, I didn't see any explosive or weapon in their hands but whatever it was hit me like a flamethrower."

"Left side?" the Beast repeated, he looked back at the town "Then there are two of them here, I saw some alchemy being used in the centre and the right side and your attack only happened recently, yes?"

"Correct." Pieck replied.

"Then it's not just the artillery we have to tackle." Beast titan stated. "Strange though, neither Reiner nor Bertholdt told us about fire ability."

"How is the situation, is anything going as you hoped?" Pieck inquired.

"Worse, the enemy is looking to dig in and appears to be spreading themselves across the town." The Beast titan informed "Even if my hand wasn't blown off, I wouldn't be able to hit the bulk of their forces, seeing as they're avoiding the outskirts. And even if I did, they'd still be able to retaliate with their artillery before I could hit them with a second strike."

"How should we tackle this, war chief?" Pieck asked.

"Locate their artillery positions and destroy them, or at least as many as we can." The Beast stated simply "There's ranged weaponry and those alchemists are making light work of titans, taking them out would make things a lot easier, failing that I'll need a distraction instead."

"Should we send Porco or Bertholdt in?" Pieck suggested.

"No, let's not change our plans on one front just because isn't going to plan just yet." The Beast "We still have our ace which might more suited to the situation."

Suddenly a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, thunder then struck inside the district. "A third flash of lightening?" Pieck observed. "Has one of Reiner or Eren Yeager needed to change their titans already?"

The Beast looked up at the sky They couldn't of… oh Annie…

"Or… they have possession of the Female titan." The Beast stated, he looked at the ground and the two barrels next to him along with the other cargo. "Bertholdt, you're up."

"Shouldn't we wait for Reiner's signal?" Pieck asked.

"There won't be a signal." The Beast replied "They'll kill him before he can do anything." The Beast picked up the barrel with his left hand "Sorry about my aim, Bertholdt, it's been a while since I used my left hand let's hope I'm not too off." He pulled his left arm back and with as much force as he could muster in his left arm, tossed it into the air and to the district.

"Everyone take cover!" Hange yelled "Abandon the armored titan!" Hange fired her hooks onto Mina "Run!" a number of her squad and Dirk's did the same as they either latched onto Mina or Eren who began sprinting away from the incoming dot in the sky.

"Spread out!" Petra ordered, waving her thunder spear. She fired off her hooks, clinging to the nearby building as swung away following her squad.

In his panic, Alphonse frantically grabbed at his handles fired them off in the general direction where Eren and the rest of his squad were going. He reeled himself forward, pushing the gas, as he liked the others burst in all directions.

He hopped across the houses, other scouts moving either ahead, to the side or just behind him like a rat race, as he looked back he could just make out the armored titan now in the distance, the distance echo of its loud roar filled the air as it fell over to the group limp.

He looked up to the sky; the dot in front of the clouds was a bit closer; it was now a barrel in front of the backdrop of the district wall.

As he jumped off the ledge of the house he stepped on, still watching, the barrel in the sky quickly burst in a small ball of light which grew to enormity in the blink of an eye as the buildings around it were pushed back and ripped off the ground and into the air.

A godly powerful wind quickly spread from the epicenter of as it destroyed everything in its wake. Alphonse looked down, a cellar door at the bottom.

Alphonse dropped down to the ground "Down here!" he yelled, grabbing the attention of some of the scouts, a small group of scouts followed him, among them was he recognized Nifa from Hange's squad. Alphonse smashed his hands together and slammed them onto the doors of the cellar, the wooden doors shattering into pieces. "In here, hurry!" the group of scouts from different squads rushed down the stairs into the dark cellar, the only light coming from the open entrance.

As Alphonse entered and fell to the cellar floor he looked back at the open entrance above; he could see the top half of the houses opposite being torn off by the wind.

"Get down, get down!" yelled Nifa as they crouched onto the floor, some covering their heads with their hands.

A random scout grabbed Alphonse and pulled him further in.

The ground behind them began to rumble and shake violently as the sound of the house above them came crashing down over the entrance, closing them in darkness.

Hello everyone,

It's been a while, sorry about that I was busy with my Master's dissertation and getting back into writing after more writing can be a bit difficult.

But hopefully I can get the next chapter done sooner.