BLOODSPORT

Episode 30

"Help me up!" Rhea cried out after Ymir leaped off the tower and transformed. Connie lifted Rhea to her feet as her eyes went wide in disbelief that another one of the 104th Cadets was a shifter. Ymir jumped from Titan to Titan, ripping out the nape with her large teeth.

"It was her that day," Reiner pointed out to his friend.

"She's the one," Bertholdt added.

"What are you guys talking about?" Rhea questioned, still staring down at their comrade.

"When we were younger, Reiner and I and our friend Marcel were out camping. The day the wall was breached, was the day that Marcel was eaten. By Ymir," Bertholdt said.

The tower shuddered once again. The force of the impact caused Krista to fall off the ledge of the tower. Reiner managed to catch her just in time with his good arm!

"Stop, you're hurting me!" Rhea noticed Reiner and saw that he wasn't in control of what he was doing. He had helped Krista but with the information that Ymir killed their friend, it was as if Reiner was in some type of trance.

After Connie yelled at him to let her go, Reiner snapped out of it. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," Krista mumbled.

"Tell me the truth," he pleaded. "You had to have been in on all this. Ymir's a Titan. How could you not know?"

Krista glanced down to Ymir's Titan form. "She never told me," she admitted. "We were inseparable. And yet, I had no idea. I mean, how?"

"Not sure what to think?" Reiner responded. "All this time she's been keeping it under wraps and we never suspected a damn thing."

"Well," Connie spoke up. "It's possible she didn't know. Eren was caught off guard. He had no clue till he transformed. Then again, Ymir did seem to have a plan."

"Wait a second; are you trying to say that Ymir is a threat?" Krista asked.

"What he's saying," Rhea added on, "she knew about her power. She knew to draw blood. Eren bites his hand, Ymir cut herself. Why didn't she help the Scouts if she had this power all along? Is she on the Titan's side?"

The tower began to shake as Ymir used it to climb up to safety and away from the bigger Titans. Her Titan was a lot smaller in meters than the previous shifters. It made her more agile, sure, but when it came down to a fight, all she had was her teeth and claws. Unexpectedly, Ymir jumped off from the safety the tower would have provided and went back to fighting against the Titans.

"You're kidding, right? She's worried about the tower falling down?" Connie questioned in disbelief.

"Exactly," Krista assured. "She didn't have to stay. She could have chosen to escape. Nothing keeping her here. And still... She's fighting. It's us. She's risking her life for us!" Krista then perched herself on the ledge again while Connie tried to get her down. Krista, however, was shouting at Ymir, stating things that felt too personal for Rhea to want to be a part of. But among that rant, Krista said for Ymir to tear the tower to pieces and live for herself.

"Are you out of your damned mind, girl!" Rhea shouted. "We're going to die if she uses the tower."

"She's going to die if she doesn't!" Krista countered. Ymir had begun to already use the tower to her advantage though, pulling and throwing the stone bricks at the Titans' heads. Eventually, Ymir climbed back up to the top of the tower where Rhea and the rest of her comrades lingered.

"Wanna live? Grab on tight." The tower was collapsing as Rhea grabbed hold of Ymir's hair. Gripping the Titans hair tight, she felt her stomach drop when Ymir leaped from the stone, as the tower plummeted to the ground, crushing the rest of the Titans.

Rhea landed on the ground with a loud thud. Luckily, she managed to fall onto her good side, but the shit still hurt as she coughed through the clouds of dirt emitted from the tower's impact with the ground.

"Hey, ugly! You've got a job to finish!" Connie hollered at Ymir as some Titans got up from the rubble. Ymir took out one Titan but another tossed her to the ground, her head hitting a boulder when she landed. One by one, more Titans appeared to have survived after the tower fell upon them. They each proceeded to get up and surround Ymir before all jumping on her like a wild pack of dogs.

"That's not good," Connie mentioned.

"We need to go!" Rhea instructed. "I hate to say it, but this is our best chance to escape."

Krista ignored Rhea and ran after Ymir, pleading and begging for her to get up. "Krista! Son of a bitch–"

"Rhea, stop!" She heard her friends shout as she ran after the stupid girl, tackling Krista to the ground as a Titan was about to grab her. As soon as they fell to the ground, Rhea's whole body quivered. She was in immense pain when the blood splattered on her face. Looking up, she saw Mikasa standing tall and proud on a boulder, she had just sliced the nape of the Titan.

Scouts came in from all around, cutting the monsters down where they stood. Rhea rolled off of Krista, feeling a sense of relief. She would live to see another day. She would live to see Jean and all her other friends. And if the Scouts were here, did that mean they were successful with killing the Female Titan–Annie?

"Rhea!" She turned her head to the side, no longer feeling strong enough to sit up on her own. She had completely drained herself of any and all things.

"Rhea! Oh my god! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Armin asked, now kneeling beside her. He wrapped his cloak around her body.

"Hey, Armin," Rhea said weakly. She lifted her hand for her friend to grab, and he immediately took it in his own. "Where's everyone else?"

"Mikasa and Eren are here, they're all alright. We took down Annie as best we could. I'll tell you more later. Right now you need to rest. Can we get some help over here?!" Armin turned to the others.

"What about Jean? Is he here?" Rhea coughed.

"He's with Commander Erwin back in Wall Sina. But don't worry, he's safe too," Armin assured her.

"Good. I don't know who I'd make fun of if Horseface was gone. See, it's already not as fun. No flying insults back at me." Rhea chuckled and Armin laughed. "What about the others? Reiner and Bertholdt? Where are they?"

"Debriefing with Hange." Rhea noticed Armin's tone slightly changed. He had become nervous when she mentioned their names.

"Armin, what's wrong?"

"Set it down here!" Hange instructed the Scouts to place the stretcher next to Rhea. Armin glanced back at Rhea before letting go of her hand and walking away. The Scout had carefully placed Rhea onto the stretcher, making sure she would no longer be putting any weight on her leg.

"Armin...?" but Armin couldn't look her in the eyes and instead went back to Eren and Mikasa. What the hell was going on? Why did Armin suddenly act suspicious when she mentioned her friends? Rhea slammed her head down on the stretcher as the Scouts moved her onto a cart, where she lay with endless questions in her mind. 

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