JDthebeast's Beauty and the King

Chapter 25-Breach (Season 2)

Armin: (Narrating) The walls stood for a century. A bastion of peace and security. Gone was the terror of living at their mercy. Mankind had acclimated to living like cattle. Them. . . The Titans breached what we'd long taken for granted. The fight for humanity's survival began. Death reigned, claiming soldiers and civilians alike. The causalities were staggering. Staggering too was the hard-won knowledge that Titans were hiding among our own. Five years after the first wall fell, we successfully captured one of these treacherous creatures alive. A fellow soldier. Annie Leonhart. And yet, even as the smoke of battle cleared, the next threat was already close at hand.

Hanji and Moblit watched as the crystal Annie had secluded herself in was covered by a sheet and dragged off by two horses. She was on her way to the deepest dungeon they had, making sure she couldn't jump out and surprise them with a transformation.

The sun was beginning to set over the wall, almost concluding the eventful day they all suffered through. A series of gasps from nearby Scouts and MPs alike drew Moblit and Hanji's focused attention. They were all looking up at the wall.

Scout 25: What the--? (Pointing up at the wall) Guys! Look!

Hanji turned with Moblit and peered up at the thing that got the soldiers so spooked. And what she saw made her gasp in fright. The portion of the wall that was blasted by Y/n's energy blast started to crumble away, revealing something truly horrifying. There peering down at them was a colossal Titan.

Scout 26: Wh-What is that? It's a Titan! (Gasp) In the wall?

Scout 27: Impossible!

Moblit: (Gasp) Section Commander, your orders?!

Hanji: Uh. Well, I'm not sure.

Hanji: (Thoughts) Is... Is this just a coincidence, or...? Oh, no. Surely it doesn't mean!

A hand firmly planted on her shoulder, causing her to gasp and turn to face the person who grabbed her. There, panting heavily, was Pastor Nick.

Hanji: Pastor Nick?

Pastor Nick: (Pant) Listen to me. Whatever else you do-- (Pant)--don't let sunlight touch it!

Hanji: (Going wide-eyed) Mm.

Scout 28: For the time being, we've covered the Wall Titan with sheets. It seems to be holding up. Further measures will be taken after sundown, commander.

Erwin and two other Scouts were walking down the Stohess HQ halls.

Erwin: Understood.

Scout 28: Forgive me, sir, but what are we supposed to make of all this? I mean, I never imagined there could be Titans inside the walls.

Erwin: Why would you? No one did. There are only whose who knew and those of us completely in the dark.

***

Marlo: Why are they keeping quiet about this? It's an earth-shattering discovery, for god's sake. What's the point of playing it off?

Marlo and Hitch were currently on clean-up duty, taking care of the dead before a plague breaks out.

Hitch: Status quo, right? Yeah, higher-ups play it close to the vest. All this carnage and they couldn't even be bothered to come up with a decent cover story.

The two of them looked out across the street of rubble and debris. The dead were crushed and slaughtered by the Titan brawl that raged through Stohess.

Hitch: This is definitely not what I signed up for.

***

Hanji: All right. You wanna tell me what's going on?

Hanji was currently atop the wall, just above where the sheet has been placed over the Titan's face. Along with Moblit, there was a handful of Scouts and Pastor Nick, who she brought up there to try to get some answers from. The Pastor was currently on his hands and knees, peering over the ledge and down at the sheet below.