The Guardian's Tale (AOT fanfiction)

-Assault-

Just as we were about to fire, the sound of machine guns echoed through the war-zone and I looked over only to see the Cart Titan mounted by a steel armor. Some of our soldiers tried to retreat but the bullets found them before they had the chance to. Knowing that there was no way we could get the Jaw like this, I crystallized my arm into a shield and held it in front of Jean and I. He quickly crashed through a window and took cover behind a fallen table as I threw the shield down and stood in the window frame, ready to go back and fight.

"OI YUKI !" He bellowed, his brown eyes meeting my golden ones. "You can't go back out there alone. Are you crazy ?!"

"After all of that Hell..." I turned my eyes scarlet and smiled. "Maybe I am."

Just as I jumped down, a crystal shard in hand, I spotted the Beast Titan out of the corner of my eye and rage coursed through my veins. I sliced my hand and a dome of light surrounded me as Titan flesh connected me to a larger body, the one of the Guardian. I let out a loud roar and crystallized my fingers as the Beast stopped dead in its tracks, a clear grin formed on his monstrous face.

"Let none escape. Kill them all." He ordered the Jaw and Cart Titans.

"Don't die on me. Survive !" Captain Levi directed us before heading straight for the Beast Titan.

I was about to follow him when I spotted the Jaw heading straight for one of our soldiers, its mouth wide open as if it expected to win that easily. I grabbed it by the hair and threw it into a building and I was about to attack it again before I spotted the Beast winding up for a throw. I quickly buried my hand underground and a large crystal wall formed between our soldiers and the boulders, giving them a clear path to escape. However, two of them carelessly went for the Titan's neck and got shot down by the Cart's artillery. 

When I looked over at Eren, I noticed that the Warhammer had stuck him inside some sort of crystal pillar. He jumped down and transformed again, much to the enemy's surprise as they probably thought all the fight he had in him was gone. The Beast wound up for another throw, this time it was headed straight for the houses where our soldiers were hiding. Having no time left to make a wall, I used my body to shield them as blood trickled down from my nose.

"Eren Yeager, is not my enemy." The Beast Titan announced as I struggled to keep my Titan standing. "Someone else comes first. Show yourself, Levi. You're running out of time."

"So are you...Zeke Yeager." I growled, looking down at the pocket-watch in my hand. "As I recall, you have one year left to live. Clock's ticking old man."

Suddenly, a huge dome of light followed by an explosion appeared in the port's direction as powerful winds threatened to blow us away like mere bugs. Right on time...Armin. I took my chance and ran over to the Beast Titan, slamming it down as Captain Levi sliced its nape. I quickly broke out of my Titan, some of its flesh still hanging under my eyes and jumped down to stand next to the raven haired man. For a second, my burning scarlet eyes locked onto the stone grey ones of the Jaw Titan but that was enough for me to see the fear in them. Wasting no time, I formed a crystal casing around Captain Levi and I, just as he dropped the grenade onto the Beast Titan's nape.

Immediately after the sound of the explosion died down, I broke free and held my arm out and Jean grabbed it, throwing me up in the air as he landed on the rooftop where Sasha and the Cart Titan were. From the looks of it, she'd managed to shoot down one of the Cart's soldiers but the Titan took no time to grieve and attacked her. Luckily, Jean appeared just in time and shot his hooks into the Titan's leg, sliding himself closer to it until he got a good shot at its eye.

"Now ! Fire !" He ordered as his Thunder Spear exploded.

Seeing as we were the only three soldiers on this roof, I shot all of my Spears before engulfing my body in flames and diving down with the weapons. Thanks to the extra exposure to flames, the explosion was as destructive as if 30 Thunder Spears had been shot down. Before I had time to crash onto the roof, Jean grabbed my burnt and bleeding body and headed after it. 

"The hell was that you idiot ?!" He reprimanded. "You could've died ! What the hell are you ? A suicide bomber ?!"

"I'm fine." I sighed as steam started to emit from my bare skin. "Besides, it worked didn't it ?"

He simply shook his head and landed us both on a rooftop from where we could clearly see the Cart Titan's mutilated body. We simply glanced at each other and I let flames engulf my body once more before diving down with him. All of a sudden, my eyes focused on the shape of a child standing in front of it...but not just any child.

"FALCO GET OUT OF THE WAY !" I yelled at the boy as I realized that I was headed straight for him. "LISTEN TO ME AND MOVE DAMMIT !"

"DON'T SHOOT ! PLEASE STOP !" He pleaded as he held his arms out to shield the Cart. 

I managed to put out the flames just in time as my body came crashing down right in front of the little boy, gravel digging into every inch of my body. Just as Jean took the shot, steam burst out from the Cart's body, forcing the Spear to take a new path and explode right next to its original target. Or maybe...he missed on purpose. Just as I was starting to get up, Jean grabbed my waist and hauled me over his shoulder. Suddenly, bullets started to rain down onto the Scouts and I jumped down, slamming my hands onto the ground and making a crystal wall just in time.

As soon as I was far enough from everyone, I sliced my hand and Titan flesh once again wrapped around my body despite the fact that I knew I was at my limit. I quickly jumped over buildings and crystallized my arm, sinking it into the Jaw Titan's stomach before it had the chance to attack Eren. I wound my arm back and threw it as far as I could before blood slowly dripped down from my nose again while my regenerative ability vanished.

However, the Jaw came back faster than I expected and latched on to Eren's arm, frantically slashing any piece of his body that it could get its hands on. As it tried to slash Eren's nape, he held out the crystal casing where the Warhammer's wielder was hidden and my eyes widened when I realized that its claws had left a huge dent. I snapped out of my daze and tried to grab the Jaw but it was too fast and backed down, latching on to the crystal structure the Warhammer had made to trap Eren. 

I heard a strange buzzing sound and when I looked up, I noticed that our airship had arrived along with Hange and Armin. The Jaw must have realized that it came to pick us up because it jumped up as if he planned to rip it apart. Unluckily for him, Mikasa sliced off both of his legs and I created a crystal spike with the strength I had left, sticking in deeply into his hand to pin him down. Deciding that it wouldn't be good enough, I ripped out both of his arms before Eren picked him up and stuck the Warhammer's crystal casing into its mouth.

I watched in shock as Eren used the Jaw's powerful mouth to slowly crack the crystal, holding it over his head with his mouth wide open. I managed to break my beaten body out of my Titan and turned away as I could hear the Jaw's pleads. Surely enough, the crystal shattered and blood burst out of it, which Eren eagerly drank. He then slammed the Jaw's head onto the ground over and over, weakening it in order to be able to consume whoever was inside. 

Despite training for 4 years, my body still couldn't take too much at once and I could feel myself slowly getting weaker. With my regenerative ability now gone, there was no way I could heal the burns and cuts I'd obtained trying to kill the Cart Titan's wielder. My scarlet eyes slowly turned back to their original golden color and I was about to close them when a scream made the free half of my body snap upright. 

"REINER !" What seemed to be the voice of a little girl screamed out. "HELP US ! GALLIARD IS ABOUT TO GET EATEN !"

Galliard...so that was the Jaw's name. When I turned my clouded gaze back to Eren, I noticed that he was lifting the Jaw up again, about to eat him. I sighed, relieved that it was finally going to be over when, out of nowhere, Reiner's voice echoed through my mind.

"Shut up." His deep voice commanded. "Can you please be quiet ? Please...be quiet. Why...won't you guys..."

Suddenly, a dome of light appeared behind Eren and I, revealing what seemed to be an uncompleted version of the Armored Titan. Reiner's face replaced the one of a Titan and his Amour spiked up in some places instead of covering his body as it usually did. 

"...just let me...die in peace ?!"

"REINER !" I didn't know why...but at that moment, it was the only thing that I managed to say.

TO BE CONTINUED !