Location: Trost District - Forward Plaza
The ground trembled. Not from an earthquake, but from the footsteps of gods.
Two Titans stood amidst the ruin of Trost.
One was the Attack Titan—Eren Jaeger. He was a beast of raw, unadulterated rage. His green eyes burned with a feral intensity, his roar sounding like tearing metal. He threw himself at the nearest 10-meter Titan, tackling it into a bell tower. His fists hammered the Titan's face until it was nothing but red pulp.
The other was the Sovereign Titan—Ren. He was a monument of calculated destruction. His white, crystalline armor shone in the sunlight. He held a twenty-meter Warhammer made of hardened Titan flesh.
Ren didn't roar. He didn't flail.
He swung.
WOOSH. CRUNCH.
The hammer connected with a 15-meter Titan's torso. The impact was so severe that the Titan didn't just break; it bisected. The upper half flew into a building, while the legs crumpled instantly.
Ren stepped over the corpse. He looked at Eren, who was currently biting the nape out of another Titan like a wild animal.
He has no technique, Ren observed from inside the nape. Just anger. Effective, but messy.
A swarm of five Titans approached from the west street.
Ren planted his feet. He slammed the butt of the Warhammer into the cobblestones.
[Titan Skill: Ground Spike]
He channeled his Hardening ability through the ground. Massive white spikes erupted from the street, skewering three of the approaching Titans through the groin and chest, lifting them into the air like kebabs.
The remaining two hesitated—an emotion Titans shouldn't feel.
Ren didn't give them time. He spun the hammer, the momentum building, and unleashed a horizontal swing that took both their heads off in a single stroke.
[System Notification]
[Titan Kills: 15.]
[Points Acquired: 1,500.]
On the rooftops, the 104th Cadets watched in stunned silence.
"That... that white one," Jean Kirstein stammered, clutching his broken blades. "It's using a weapon. It made a weapon out of thin air."
"It's intelligent," Armin breathed, his mind racing. "It's fighting... for us?"
Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover stood on a lower roof, their faces pale.
"Reiner," Bertholdt whispered, sweat pouring down his face. "Is that... the War Hammer?"
"No," Reiner hissed. "The Tybur family has the War Hammer. They're in Marley. This is... I don't know what this is. The armor is different. And the eyes... they're glowing."
Annie Leonhart joined them, her expression unreadable, though her hands were clenched tight. "It's the man," she said quietly. "The one in the black coat. Ren."
"A Shifter," Reiner realized. "Here? Inside the Walls? Who is he working for?"
The Burnout
The massacre lasted ten minutes. Between Eren's frenzy and Ren's precision, the immediate vicinity of the Trost HQ was cleared.
Eren, exhausted and overheating, stumbled. He let out one last, weak roar before collapsing face-first into the street. Steam began to rise from his body as the Titan form disintegrated.
Ren watched him fall. Time to de-escalate.
Ren drove his Warhammer into the ground, leaving it standing like a monument. He knelt down.
The nape of the Sovereign Titan split open. Ren emerged, cutting the flesh connections. He slid down the armor, landing on the pavement next to Eren's steaming Titan carcass.
Mikasa was already there. She had flown down the moment Eren fell, cutting him out of the nape.
She held an unconscious Eren in her arms, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at Ren.
"He's alive," Mikasa sobbed. "He's really alive."
"I told you," Ren said, wiping Titan residue from his face. "He just needed a push."
"You knew," Mikasa said, her voice hardening slightly. "You knew he was... this."
"I suspected," Ren lied. "But now the whole world knows."
Ren looked up. The rooftops were lined with Garrison soldiers. Their cannons were aimed down at them. Fear was palpable.
"And that," Ren sighed, "is the problem."
The Standoff
Twenty minutes later.
Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Ren stood in a corner of the district, hemmed in by the Wall and a semi-circle of terrified soldiers.
Captain Kitz Woermann stood in front of the line, his sword shaking. He was a coward, and cowards were dangerous when armed.
"Traitors!" Woermann shrieked. "I saw it! It came out of the Titan! You are enemies of humanity!"
Eren was barely conscious, leaning on Armin. "What... what's going on?"
"They think we're monsters, Eren," Armin whispered, terrified.
"Ask the question!" Woermann yelled. "Are you human? Or are you Titan?"
Ren stepped forward, shielding the trio. His Incubus Charisma was dialed down; he was projecting pure Grandmaster Intimidation.
"Captain," Ren's voice was calm, carrying over the wind. "Lower your voice. You sound like a frightened child."
"Silence!" Woermann panicked. "I will fire! I'll blow you all to bits!"
"Ren," Mikasa whispered, gripping her blades. "I can take the ones on the left."
"No," Ren said. "If we fight, we prove them right."
Ren looked at the rooftops behind the soldiers. His team was there.
"Woermann," Ren said. "You saw me kill twenty Titans. You saw the boy kill ten more. And your solution is to use your cannon on us instead of the enemy breaching your gate?"
"You are the enemy!" Woermann signaled the gunners. "Load high explosive!"
Ren sighed. "System, give me the megaphone effect."
[Skill: Telekinesis (Audio Amplification)]
"LISTEN!" Ren roared.
The sound wave hit the soldiers like a physical blow. They flinched, covering their ears.
"I am the Sovereign!" Ren announced. "I am not a victim of your walls. I am the one who keeps them standing. Fire that cannon, and I will treat you like a Titan."
Woermann was hyperventilating. He raised his hand to give the order to fire.
"Die!" Woermann screamed.
He dropped his hand.
CLICK.
Nothing happened.
The cannon didn't fire.
Woermann looked at the gunner. "Fire, damn you!"
"I... I can't!" the gunner shouted. "The mechanism is jammed! It won't move!"
Ren smirked.
[Skill: Electro-Magnetism].
He had fused the firing pin of the cannon to the casing from fifty yards away.
"Your weapons know better than you do, Captain," Ren mocked.
From the rooftop above, a new voice laughed. A calm, eccentric laugh.
"That's quite enough, Kitz. You're embarrassing the regiment."
Dot Pixis, Commander of the Garrison, sat on top of the Wall, swinging his legs. He held a flask.
"Commander!" Woermann saluted frantically. "These are Shifters! They are dangerous!"
"Dangerous?" Pixis took a swig. "I saw them save the cadets. I saw them clear the HQ. If they were enemies, you'd be paste by now."
Pixis looked down at Ren. He saw the white-haired man (Ren's hair had turned temporarily white from the Titan strain, slowly returning to black) standing confidently.
"You," Pixis pointed at Ren. "The loud one. You call yourself 'Sovereign'?"
"It's a title," Ren replied.
"Well, Mr. Sovereign," Pixis smiled. "I think you and I should have a drink. And discuss how to plug that hole in my wall."
The Council of War (Top of the Wall)
An hour later, Ren, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin stood with Pixis and his advisors.
Eren was fully awake now, processing the reality that he could turn into a Titan.
"So," Pixis said, looking at the devastation of Trost. "You say you can lift the boulder near the gate and seal the breach."
"Eren can," Ren corrected. "He's the muscle. I'm the escort."
"Can you do it, son?" Pixis asked Eren.
Eren looked at his hands. He looked at the smoke rising from the city. "I... I don't know if I can control it. I lost control earlier."
"You won't lose control this time," Ren said. He walked over to Eren.
"Why?" Eren asked.
"Because I'll be right there," Ren said. "If you lose control, I'll beat you senseless until you wake up. Then I'll drag you to the boulder myself."
It was harsh, but it was exactly what Eren needed. Structure.
"I'll do it," Eren said, eyes hardening. "I'll seal the wall."
Pixis nodded. "Then let's get to work. I'll broadcast the plan. We use the troops as bait to draw the Titans away from the gate. Ren, Eren, and the elite squad go for the boulder."
Before the operation started, Ren met with his team in a secluded section of the Wall.
Saeko, Saya, Maggie, Andrea, Amy, Shizuka, and Hirano were waiting.
"Nice speech," Saya Takagi crossed her arms. "Although jamming the cannon was risky. If he had a backup fuse, we'd be craters."
"Calculated risk," Ren said.
"Ren," Saeko stepped forward. She had Titan blood on her uniform. She looked euphoric. "That form... the white armor. It is magnificent."
"It's useful," Ren said. "Now, listen up. The operation starts in twenty minutes. Eren is going to carry the boulder. I'm going to guard him."
"What about us?" Andrea asked.
"You are the hidden blade," Ren said. "Reiner Braun. Bertholdt Hoover. Annie Leonhart."
Ren showed them sketches he had drawn from memory.
"Who are they?" Maggie asked.
"Spies," Ren revealed. "They are Shifters, like me. They broke the wall five years ago. They are watching me right now."
Ren looked at Saya.
"Saya, keep Hirano and Shizuka safe. Stay with the main force. Watch Reiner. If he tries to transform or interfere with Eren, signal me."
"Got it," Saya nodded. "Spy hunting. My specialty."
"Saeko, Maggie, Andrea, Amy," Ren commanded. "You're with me. We're going into the hot zone. Keep the Titans off Eren's back."
The Boulder Operation
The signal flare went up. Green smoke.
The operation began.
Hundreds of soldiers ran to the corner of the district, shouting and firing cannons to draw the Titans away.
Eren, Ren, Mikasa, and the Elite Squad (Ian Dietrich, Rico Brzenska) headed for the boulder.
They landed on the roof near the massive rock.
"Eren, you're up," Ren said.
Eren bit his hand.
BOOM.
The Attack Titan appeared. This time, it didn't roar. It looked at the boulder. It looked at Ren.
It walked over, bent down, and lifted the massive stone.
"He's doing it!" Armin cheered from the sidelines. "He's in control!"
"Move out!" Ian Dietrich ordered. "Protect the carrier!"
Eren marched. The ground shook with every step.
Titans ignored the bait and started swarming toward Eren. They were drawn to the Shifter.
"Contact front!" Rico shouted. "Three 10-meters!"
Ren didn't transform yet. The strain from his earlier transformation had taken quite a toll on him mentally and physically.
"Saeko! Left!"
Saeko launched herself. The Murasame hummed. She spun around a Titan's arm, severing the fingers, then slashed the nape.
"Maggie! Eyes!"
Maggie, perched on a roof, fired her sniper rifle. Bang. A Titan blinded.
But more were coming. Too many.
"Ren!" Mikasa shouted. "There's an Abnormal coming from the alley! It's going to hit Eren's leg!"
Ren saw it. A crawler, moving fast.
Ren jumped.
[Skill: Telekinesis (Force Push)]
He blasted the crawler into a wall, stunning it. He landed on its neck and crushed the nape with his mace.
But then, he felt it.
A gaze.
He looked up at the Wall.
Annie Leonhart (in human form) was watching. Reiner and Bertholdt were nearby. They were debating. Ren could tell. Do we stop him? Do we capture Eren?
Ren made eye contact with Reiner.
He pointed his mace at Reiner, then pointed at the Titans.
Help us, or I expose you right now.
Reiner froze. He understood the threat.
Reiner drew his blades and jumped down from the Wall.
"I'm helping!" Reiner shouted to his confused comrades. "Protect Eren!"
Ren smirked. That's a good pawn.
The Seal
Eren reached the gate. He was groaning, the weight of the boulder crushing his Titan shoulders.
"Almost there!" Armin shouted.
"GO!" Ren roared. "SLAM IT SHUT!"
Eren let out a guttural roar. He threw his body weight forward.
CRASH.
The boulder slammed into the breach. Dust billowed out. The hole in Wall Rose was sealed.
"It's done!" Rico fired the yellow flare. "Mission accomplished!"
The soldiers cheered.
Eren's Titan collapsed. Ren and Mikasa flew down to extract him.
As they pulled Eren from the steam, two Titans approached the motionless group.
"We're out of gas!" Mikasa panicked.
Ren stood up. He was tired, but not empty.
He saw a blur of motion.
A short man with a green cloak spinning like a top descended from the sky.
SWISH-CHOP.
Two Titans fell instantly, their napes carved out with impossible speed.
Levi Ackerman landed on the Titan carcass. He stood up, looking at Ren, then at Eren.
"Oi," Levi said, his voice flat. "What's going on here? And why is there a giant white skeleton in the middle of my district?"
Ren smiled. The gang was all here.
"Captain Levi," Ren nodded. "We're the cleaning crew."
[Quest Completed: The Battle of Trost.]
[Reward: 10,000 System Points, Reputation Max (Survey Corps).]
[Destiny Altered: Eren is hailed as a hero, not a monster (mostly).]