BLOODSPORT

Episode 53

After the dust settled, Rhea heard Jean call out to the rest of her comrades. Mikasa, Armin, and herself regrouped with Sasha, Connie, Eren, and Jean from across the courtyard. "You three okay?" Jean asked, staring directly at Rhea when questioned.

"Yeah, it missed us," Mikasa said in disbelief.

"Where's Hange's Squad?" Jean inquired, peering down at the trio from Eren's Titan shoulder.

Rhea glanced around confused, "Wait did they go after Reiner?" She was so caught up with distracting Bertholdt that Rhea didn't realize Hange's squad must have gone after Reiner.

"They were right under the blast zone," Armin confirmed, looking doubtful of Hange's squad survival.

"So you're saying, we're the only ones who survived?" Jean's voice quavered.

Rhea turned her attention towards the Colossal Titan who now stood erect as he crushed and stomped on the town below. It looked like Bertholdt was making his way to the Wall.

"Look at all those houses up in the sky," Connie said. Rhea cocked her head to Connie and saw he was fighting back a laugh. "One of 'em could be yours, right, Eren? Eren's house is... eavesdropping? Get it!?" he burst out into a fit of laughter.

Rhea rolled her eyes at her comrade. Of all the times Connie. "Sasha, could you smack him for me?" Jean asked, to which Sasha lightly tapped Connie's head with a thunder spear. To this, Rhea smirked.

"It doesn't look like Bertholdt knows our location," Mikasa voiced.

"You're right," Amrin agreed. "He's just scattering burning debris to turn Shiganshina into a sea of flames."

A boulder suddenly landed on the house beside the Scouts. "Hey, Armin! Your orders? C'mon!"

"What should we do?" Both Sasha and Connie had a worried look on their faces. They were scared shitless. Without a real commander, the chances of them making it out alive were slim to none. Yet, Rhea had faith in her comrades. She had faith in her friends.

However, Armin didn't seem to have the same faith in himself. "Jean, can you take over for me?" Rhea's mouth widened in surprise. Of course Jean was a good leader and all as he knew to make logical calls. Nevertheless, Armin was highly intelligent in planning attacks to take out their enemy.

"What?" Jean questioned, confusion blanketing his face.

"I don't know what to do." Armin confessed. "I'm worried I'll screw up. I made a mistake thinking Rhea could talk to Bertholdt and make him change his mind. Please, Jean! You're better suited for this!"

Now it was Jean's turn for his mouth to open aghast. Rhea noted how his eyes had widened from Armin's remarks. Soon enough, Jean gritted his teeth and began giving orders. "Move. Make for the river! Everyone aboard Eren! Conserve our gas!"

As Rhea and the rest of her comrades climbed aboard the Titan, she had a sinking feeling in her gut. "This doesn't feel right, running away?"

"We're not running away, I'm just thinking." Jean stated before turning his attention towards the Colossal. "Eren. At some point, we'll have to get Bertholdt's attention, but until then, you need to stay out of sight. Hey Armin, I'm all right with judgment calls, but I don't have some genius plan for getting us out of this. In the end, you're the one we're gonna be counting on."

Rhea stared at Jean as she witnessed him confiding in Armin that people weren't going to count on Jean to lead them to victory. Without Jean right now, the group would not likely be keeping it together. He was a natural born leader ready to take on the role.

As soon as Jean glanced her way, Rhea was immediately drawn to the Colossal Titan. Her eyes widened as shock flooded her veins. Betholdt was so close to reaching the wall. "Uh, guys!" She pointed.

"Eren, yell at him!" Jean took control again, "we can't let Bertholdt get any closer to the wall!" Rhea covered her ears as her friend let out a terrifyingly loud scream. "He heard you." Jean stated as Bertholdt turned his attention to the Scouts before ignoring them and continuing his pursuit of the wall.

"That bastard! He's ignoring us and heading straight for the wall!"

"So what do we do now, Jean?" Connie asked, fear evident in his voice. "If he gets there-"

"We're not letting him." Jean cut Connie off. "Hey, Eren! Tackle that lanky jerk's leg!"

Eren began to sprint and all Rhea could pay attention to was the horrified look in Armin's eyes. They were all counting on him for a plan and so far he's said nothing.

"Hang on." Connie started. "Do we actually have a plan for this?"

"With that steam he puts out, he can make our ODM gear useless! It wont connect!" Sasha added.

"You think I don't know that?" Jean remarked. "I'm well aware, but we have to give it a try anyway. We can figure out his weakness as we fight!"

"I can kill him." Mikasa stated, staring up at the Colossal with a determined look about her.

"Then we can distract him." Rhea clued in. "Try and take him out from the front while Mikasa is attacking his nape. Maybe using a thunder spear I can blow out his knee."

"Right. Connie, give me your thunder spear." Mikasa said and Connie handed her his weapon to which she latched on to her own holster. Rhea peered down at her own arm, observing her last thunder spear. She had to make this shot count.

"Now, scatter!" Jean shouted.

While the rest of her comrades went their separate ways, Rhea had stayed on Eren in order to get closer to her moving target. Just as Eren latched himself onto Bertholdt's leg, Rhea aimed and fired her thunder spear. It hit his kneecap and exploded causing the leg to move back in a fit of despair. Only then did Rhea realize that Eren was still holding onto Bertholdt's leg and he was soon flung forward, smashing into the wall, as the colossal titan endured the pain of the thunder spear.

She heard Bertholdt scream in agony as she reached the roof Armin was on. However, the one thunder spear did nothing to stop him. Rhea watched from below as Bertholdt continued to scream and spit out steam knocking her friends off course. There were loud explosions from Mikasa's thunder spears.

Rhea couldn't make out anything from all the steam which caused her to become anxious and worried for her friends. She began to pace about the roof when, all of a sudden "Guys!"

Rhea saw her friends falling out of the sky and landing on the roof beside her and Armin. "Connie!" she heard Sasha yell from the roof over. Rhea turned on her heel as Mikasa landed beside Armin. She however ran up to Jean and inspected his burnt face.

Jean flinched at Rhea's touch as Mikasa questioned Armin if there was a way to take out the Colossal titan. Armin's answer was brutally honest when he said he didn't have a clue.

Everyone stared as Bertholdt continued to the wall, stepping on and knocking down everything in Shiganshina. Realization dawned on them as the Scouts heard familiar footsteps making their way towards the group. Not only was Bertholdt their problem but Reiner had woken up.

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Guys I was on a role tonight! Please enjoy this chapter and look forward to more being released!

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