Another Ackerman - Ayanokoji x Snk

Connie abruptly stopped on the roof where we stood, his eyes wide and his face tense with fear. "WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" he screamed, pointing toward the horizon. "This is bad, really bad! Two fifteen-meter titans!"

Sweat dripped down his forehead as his words came out in near incoherent panic. His desperation was palpable.

Mikasa and I remained still, both observing the situation with calculating eyes. The strange titan roared ferociously at the fifteen-meter one, which responded with an equally furious roar.

In that instant, the air seemed to freeze. The titan assumed a combat stance—one that was clearly human. With a powerful hook straight to the face of the other titan, it sent it flying through the air, the enormous head soaring directly toward us.

"GET DOWN!" Armin shouted, alarmed.

We ducked just in time to avoid the impact. The roof tiles shattered into countless pieces, scattering everywhere.

The aggressive titan looked down at its own mangled hand from the blow. But what came next was astonishing: within seconds, its flesh and bones regenerated completely. Without wasting time, it lifted its massive foot and stomped directly on the nape of the other titan, clearly aware of having found its weak point.

"Did it kill it in a single blow...?" murmured Armin, incredulous. "Is it just me, or did it consciously aim for its weak spot?"

"It doesn't matter," Connie interjected nervously. "What matters is getting the hell out of here before that monster turns on us!"

I suppose you need another clue to come up with a plan, Armin...

"I don't think that's necessary," I said aloud. "It only seems interested in the other titans. It didn't even react to us, even though we were just meters away."

"It even seems to have knowledge of hand-to-hand combat..." added Mikasa, a mixture of surprise and bewilderment in her tone.

"What the hell..." Connie muttered irritably. "A special titan or something? This is all a nightmare; none of it makes sense."

"Whatever! We need to get to the headquarters!" Connie shouted. "Everyone out there is fighting for their lives!"

"WAIT!" Armin exclaimed. "Mikasa used up all her gas!"

Time seemed to freeze for a moment.

"HEY! You've gotta be kidding, right?! How are we supposed to make it without you?!" Connie shrieked in desperation.

"There's a very obvious solution to that," said Armin with a determined voice. He quickly crouched down, disconnected one of his own gas tanks, and handed it to Mikasa. "Hurry up and switch it."

"Armin!"

"It's the only way," he insisted. "It makes no sense for me to keep it. I'm almost out of gas anyway."

Come on, Armin... still thinking self-sacrifice is your only option? Maybe... with the right development and situation, you could actually become a useful tool against the Colossal Titan.

Mikasa seemed to finally accept the situation, though she clenched her teeth tightly. "Alright," she muttered, proceeding to swap the tanks and blades with Armin's.

"Take my blades too!" Armin offered, holding out a broken piece of metal. His expression darkened with resignation. "I'll just keep this... if you don't mind. I'd rather not be eaten alive..."

Before I could stop myself, I kicked the blade out of his hand, sending it tumbling off the roof.

I stared at him, my face hard. "Armin, we're not abandoning you."

"B-but... you can't carry someone around... not in an area full of titans..."

I placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Then you'll have to come up with a plan. You're the smartest one here. It would be a massive loss for humanity to leave you behind."

"Exactly!" Connie shouted with determination. "There's no way we're leaving you here. I'll carry him, and you guys cover me."

As Connie pulled Armin along, his gaze returned to the strange titan, which continued to slaughter its own kind with an almost irrational fury.

Finally...

"LISTEN TO ME!" Armin suddenly exclaimed, stopping abruptly. "I have an idea!"

He lowered his head, doubting himself. "But... it needs several people to pull off, so it's up to you—"

"No," I interrupted. "We'll do it. We trust you, Armin."

—

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG

The titan's blood-curdling roar echoed as we crashed through the headquarters window. Around us, soldiers stared with expressions of shock and confusion.

"Uh... what was that?" Jean asked, clearly astonished.

"MIKASA!" he shouted upon seeing her, his face lighting up with enthusiasm—a reaction I couldn't help but despise. Does he really think he stands a chance with Nee-san?

"That was close!" Connie exclaimed, radiant with joy. "We made it, Armin! Your strategy worked perfectly!"

Jean approached, visibly concerned. "Y-you're alive... Thank god, you're alive!"

"WE DID IT, ARMIN!" Connie continued shouting, slapping him hard on the back. "Ow! That hurts," the poor guy complained. "But it worked! Guys, that titan is a rare specimen! It kills its own kind and doesn't care about humans!"

"We guided it here by luring titans toward it," Connie explained proudly. "If we use it, we might be able to escape!"

"Use a titan...?" some soldiers murmured in disbelief.

"Doesn't sound bad in a dream," Jean muttered nervously.

"We're not in a dream," Mikasa interrupted firmly. "I don't care if it's a rare titan or whatever. If we want to survive, this plan is our best shot."

—

In the following moments, the frenzied titan's rampage echoed nonstop, like a wild beast slaughtering its own kind. The air was thick with tension, every second bringing us closer to a final confrontation.

Meanwhile, we fine-tuned the last details of the plan.

"HEY! We found Military Police equipment," Jean announced, approaching with a large box in his arms. He dropped it with a dry thud. "Though it's covered in dust... are these firearms even useful?"

"It's better to have them than not," Armin replied. "There are seven titans between three and four meters tall in the warehouse. With these weapons, we could blind them all at the same time."

Surprisingly, Armin's plan seemed more than acceptable, especially considering the desperate standards of this world. I briefly thought that if someone like Ryuen were here, he'd probably be seen as the brightest person within minutes. Even Horikita might be considered for commander.

The plan was divided into two simple but risky phases:

First, several armed people would descend using the elevator and fire directly at the titans' eyes to blind them.

Then, seven combatants would launch themselves from the roof, attacking the titans' vital points during the chaos of the shooting. Everything depended on landing a single clean blow.

The chosen fighters were: Mikasa, Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Sasha... and me.

As Armin gave the final instructions, his voice began to waver, trapped in his own insecurity.

"But... is my plan really the best option?" he asked with a forced smile that barely concealed his self-loathing. "I mean... I'M ME."

Marco, ever optimistic, patted him on the shoulder with a bright smile. "We don't have time for another plan, Armin. We'll go with this one. It's all we can do!"

"Nothing will go wrong; trust yourself a bit," Mikasa added calmly. "Your skills have saved us many times before."

"Really? When?" Armin asked, visibly confused.

"THE WEAPONS ARE LOADED, AND THE ELEVATOR IS READY!" a soldier interrupted, cutting the conversation short.

Mikasa glanced at him sideways. "I'll tell you later."

Finally, Armin took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. Let's do it."

-------

This would be decided in an instant. If the plan failed, I would only have a few seconds to escape.

We descended slowly down the stairs while the soldiers tried to muster confidence amidst nervous murmurs. The palpable fear was difficult to ignore. Each step toward the confrontation felt heavier.

"But... killing titans in such a small space?" asked Sasha, her voice trembling but curious.

"Of course!" Reiner responded with his usual firmness. "They're only three to four meters tall. We just have to target their weak points."

"Yeah, forget about the height," added Jean with a mix of seriousness and sarcasm. "We'll just operate in the head-to-nape zone."

"Just in case," Reiner said with a carefree expression, "you can also stick a blade up their ass. That's their second weak point."

An awkward silence took over the group. Sasha blinked incredulously.

"What?"

"Reiner... those could be your last words, you know that, right?" snapped Jean, trying to stifle a nervous laugh.

Sasha shook her head, muttering to herself. "I've never heard anything like that..."

As we approached the elevator, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. The soldiers crowded into the narrow space, tense, weapons at the ready. Their hands trembled slightly as they awaited Armin's signal.

Through the metal grates, the titans began to approach, their heavy steps reverberating in the confined space. Their hollow eyes and deformed faces reflected insatiable hunger.

When they were finally within range, Armin's shout broke the silence.

"FIRE!"

The deafening sound of gunfire filled the space. Dozens of bullets flew toward the titans, destroying their heads and blinding them in a rain of blood and bone fragments.

I took advantage of the chaos to drop down with pinpoint precision. My blade sliced cleanly through the nape of my titan before it could even react.

Landing smoothly on its back, I quickly assessed the situation around me. Jean and Reiner had fulfilled their parts efficiently, but Sasha, beside me, had completely missed her attack.

The titan in front of her roared furiously and swung its massive arm, ready to crush her.

Wasting no time, I propelled myself forward with pure speed. The titan was barely a few meters away, giving me just enough space to maneuver, but it was sufficient. I cut through its fingers with a clean motion, using the momentum to launch myself toward its head.

With surgical precision, I connected the cables and delivered a decisive slash to its nape.

The titan let out a choked grunt before collapsing heavily to the ground. I stood atop its motionless body, breathing slowly as I observed the surroundings.

Sasha stared up at me from the ground, mouth agape and eyes wide, unable to believe what had just happened.

"You don't have to thank me," I said in a neutral voice, trying to sound polite while cleaning the blood from my blade and extending a hand to her.

She swallowed hard, still in shock, before letting out a deep sigh. Suddenly, her face lit up.

"Kiyo! You saved me!" she exclaimed, her voice trembling but filled with gratitude.

The others had already finished off their respective titans during the surprise attack. Now, out of danger, we could confirm the plan had been a success.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, quickly evaluating her.

"No, thanks to you!"

I sighed and kept my hand extended. "Come on, get up. We need to resupply."

Sasha nodded, finally accepting my help as she stood up from the ground with a relieved smile.

"LET'S RESUPPLY NOW!" shouted Jean with energy, his voice cutting through the commotion.

"WE DID IT!" exclaimed a soldier, eyes shining with disbelief.

"GET EVERYTHING!"

"THE TITANS AREN'T COMING IN!"

Within seconds, we all rushed to fill our gas tanks and replace damaged blades. The tense atmosphere began to dissipate, though no one fully let down their guard. The echo of gunfire and the scent of blood still permeated the air.

With our equipment ready and minds focused, one thing was clear:

We were ready to escape to the walls.

Upon exiting the warehouse, I moved to a nearby rooftop alongside Mikasa, who kept a vigilant gaze on the horizon. Moments later, Armin appeared, breathing heavily.

"We have to leave... quickly," he said between ragged breaths.

"The titan... look," Mikasa pointed.

I followed her gaze. The aggressive titan, the one that had caused chaos a few minutes ago, was cornered by two other titans, who were crushing it against a building, attempting to devour it.

"Cannibalism?" murmured Armin, completely surprised.

"It's not regenerating..." I commented, observing closely.

"If we could somehow figure out what's happening with that titan... we might get out of this hopeless situation," Mikasa reflected, her voice tense but determined.

"It was a good opportunity," I said softly, "but right now it's more important to escape—"

Before I could finish, a powerful shout interrupted me.

"I AGREE WITH MIKASA!" Reiner approached decisively, followed by Jean, who seemed desperate to stop him.

"IF THEY DEVOUR IT COMPLETELY, WE WON'T LEARN ANYTHING!" Reiner exclaimed, his eyes burning with determination.

"REINER, ARE YOU CRAZY?! We barely managed to survive!" Jean shouted, trying to reason with him.

"What if that titan is an ally? What about that?" Annie interjected coldly.

My gaze fixed on her, curious. Annie showing interest in something other than the cold indifference she always projected? What happened to her character? Is it that easy to break her facade?

"An ally? Are you serious?" Jean observed them incredulously, almost unable to process the conversation.

"I don't think it's necessary..." I interrupted calmly, trying to restore some rationality to the situation.

Then Armin seemed to realize something. His face paled as he pointed to the horizon.

"I-I know that titan..." he whispered in a trembling voice. "It's the one that devoured Thomas..."

A deafening roar broke the atmosphere.

The allied titan, recognizing the enemy, shook itself furiously, freeing itself from the titans holding it down.

It launched itself directly at the titan that had devoured Thomas, biting into its nape and lifting it into the air with tremendous strength. It slammed it repeatedly against the ground, as if venting a contained rage. The impact made nearby buildings tremble.

Without stopping, it hurled the enemy titan into another nearby, knocking them both down like mere dolls.

Jean, pale, whispered in a terrified voice: "Hey... who were you trying to save?"

The titan, after its violent frenzy, collapsed heavily to the ground, completely exhausted.

"As expected... it ran out of strength," said Jean, still shaken. "Doesn't matter anymore, right? Let's go. There's no way we can turn that monster into an ally."

A titan is still a titan.

But then...

A dense steam began to escape from the titan's motionless body. The fog expanded, enveloping the area, and a figure slowly became visible within it.

Mikasa, without a second's hesitation, leaped from the building. Within seconds she was next to the figure, her breathing uneven as she approached in disbelief.

"This can't be..." she murmured, her eyes filling with tears.

She wrapped her arms around the figure, as if afraid it might vanish into thin air.

"UAAAAAAH...!!!"

We all began to gather around. Some, like Mikasa and Armin, were overcome with tears. Others remained silent, paralyzed by shock.

"So that means... Eren did all this?" Jean asked, his voice trembling.

Around us, the steam slowly dissipated, revealing a landscape filled with titan bones.

Countless titan remains littered the area.

Eren...