Oh, how the mighty have fallen

Third Person POV:

The short ride away from where the female Titan was now restrained and unable to move, was surprisingly peaceful for the most part. Kaminari's mind quickly flitters back to the thought of the trainees' first expedition.

The whole escapade had been a ruse, and that idea alone would ignite anger and distrust amongst some of the scouts. But Kaminari did believe it was necessary, and she, like Erwin and Levi, didn't care much for the anger that would surely follow this expedition. The trio were more focused on the fact that they actually drew the enemy out.

They succeeded, for the time being at least.

But none the less, Kaminari couldn't shake the feeling of utter dread nesting in her stomach. She didn't know why she felt this way, especially after the mission going so smoothly. But a 'smooth' expedition isn't something that happens to the Scout Regiment.

With a deep breath she buries the feeling before thinking about the cadets - She missed her intellectual debates with Armin and she missed the messing around and sneaking off with Reinor and Bertolt. And she missed Sasha's obsession with food. Eren remains lost in thought, causing his horse to veer into Oluo, whom quickly yells at the boy to focus on pushing forward before the group finally comes to a halt.

The group immediately gather around, bar Kaminari, who just uses her 3DMG to lift herself on a higher branch of a tree, above them. It was nothing personal, she just wanted a little time to focus on what needed to be done. She was never one to mull over the intricate details of the missions, but with the way things were discussed in her meeting with Levi and Erwin, she wasn't leaving anything to chance.

Below, Eren still appears a little shocked at how things had played out as he mutters. "So that was the plan all along? We weren't just going by the seams of our pants?!" He looks wide eyed to the rest of the Operations Sqaud whom remain blank faced before fixing his gaze to the aloof blonde, who still sits above the group.

Sensing that her lack of interest or input was due to her being intently focused on something unknown to himself, he turns back to the group. "I get why you kept it from me, but come on! Keeping the rest of you in the dark, you'd think you guys had earned a little more trust than that." He states with a slight scoff.

"-Quiet kid! Damn you're annoying." Oluo breaths out, obviously still pissed about being left in the dark.

But Petra wasn't so easily blinded by her emotions. "Hey! Don't you go on thinking the Captain's left us out because they think we're a liability." She scolds him, with blades in hand. Eren sends her an almost remorseful expression, "I'm sorry but I am. There's no other way it makes sense." The brunet explains, not noticing Oluo's growing anger until the man snaps.

"That's enough! Petra, knock his teeth out would ya!" Eld Jinn watches the interaction with slight amusement, not attempting to interfere. "I hate to say it, but the kid's right." He says begrudgingly, ignoring Oluo's bewildered expression as he explains his reasoning behind it. "Being as instrumental to the plan as we were, it didn't give us much to go on."

"So, what?" Gunther queries.

"It means they didn't trust us enough. Big deal. Come on you guys, think about it." He pauses to let them do just that. "Eren isn't the only one who can change and maybe, someone in the regiment is a titan spy."

"A spy? Are you sure about that?" Gunther asks, a little stunned as all the pieces seem to fit, but that didn't mean it was any easier to comprehend. After a moments pause Eld replies, looking whistfully at the blonde above them. "No, but the Commander believes it. He'd have to. And I'd wager you anything, that the people who know of this were survivors from five years ago."

"Of course, that has to be it." Gunther states

"I confer wholeheartedly." Oluo says before swivelling around to face Eren, "heard that snivel drop? There was a good reason." Doubtfully, Petra drops her head. "Yes, a perfectly good reason." She mutters, as if to convince herself. "Look, it adds up. Afterall, in their position it's the best way of narrowing down the list of suspects to a managable number. Shiganshina is probably when the spy got in."

"So you think this person is responsible for killing Sonny and Bean?"

Petra shrugs in response, "possibly. In fact, after it happened the Commander asked me this odd question." She remarks, allowing the rest of the group to remember Commander Erwin asking them their own odd question, much like Eren's own that races back to the time the Commander asked him an equally skewered question, his eyes widening upon the realisation. "Of course, that's what he meant." He mutters.

Eld sighs before roaming his eyes over each of his comrades, making sure to meet their eyes as he speaks in a clear voice. "If we'd known the answer to that question he'd probably let us in on it that day. Again, I don't really think any of us would've known-"

"-Speak for yourself," Oluo injects with a bored tone, ignoring the gaze of the annoyed Eld. "I knew. I just decided to keep to my own council. Not that you'd appreciate the reason for my silence." Kaminari grits her teeth from above as she keeps an eye out for any suspiscious activity, trying not to get involved in a petty argument with the stupid blockhead below.

But that didn't mean she wasn't mentally killing him over and over again in her mind. Oluo had always been one to piss her off, especially when he's trying so hard to sound like Levi. As herself and Petra would attest to, nobody could sound or act the way Levi did, his past had shaped him this way. He wasn't a pretender and nor was he a piece of crap like Oluo.

"Do you think the Commander was in the wrong to keep us out of the loop?" Eld suddenly asks.

"No." All head snap upwards to where Kaminari was crouched, this being the first time she had spoken since their pause in movement. They all immediately notice how her blades remain in hand, being held in reverse like Levi did.

She was clearly ready for anything, as her green eyes continue scanning the direction they came from like a hawk. Her posture was still tense, like a coiled spring ready to be released within a moments notice.

This attitude did however shock the squad, as she had never been this uptight during a recon, especially when everything was seemingly said and done. Eren looked to the others to confirm his suspicions about her odd behaviour, this being confirmed as they're all painted in confusion as the blonde continues.

"Erwin did what was necessary. He chose between letting all of us perish or only a letting a few of us die. In hindsight it's easy to say what you think he should've done, but at the time it was the best and only option we had." She explains in a dead tone, her gaze shifting from the forest down to her squad. "

Eld "Eren, I can understand why you still have your doubts, but in time you will come to realise, just like we all did- Erwin Smith was entrusted to lead the scouts and carry humanities hope."

"Or why someone as cagey as Captain Levi can trust him." Petra

Oluo "Indeed. Live long enough and you will understand the weight of it." Eren looks down in thought.

Kaminari hums in agreement, whispering. "To rise above monsters we have to abandon our humanity, our hearts and our souls. If you can't hold onto it, then it's not worth holding on to. We must be willing to sacrifice everything to have a shot at a better future, for us and the rest of humanity-"

A deafening shrill echoes throughout the forest for a solid five seconds, causing everyone to cover their ears until it stops. The group sit in silence as they await news of their next move. Kaminari's face contorts into one of an unknown emotion as the withdrawal signal is seen only minutes later. "Everyone move out, we're done here."

The group follows her lead, the rest of them engaging in mindless banter except Gunther and Kaminari as they spearhead the formation. Gunther turning back with a pinch of annoyance. "Nobody cares who wet whose pants. Just focus on the job at hand. But for the record, my shorts have always been dry." Kaminari snorts,"dually noted." Her eyes then catch something strange, something so out of place that she couldn't even fathom why it was there.

A green smoke signal.

A nagging feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as it just didn't seem right, the Commander had just told them to withdraw and now he wanted to know their position? It didn't make sense. Gunther on the otherhand didn't notice the strange behaviour or ignored it, as he sets his own flare off saying, "it must be directly from the Commander- don't worry Kaminari, we'll be back with Levi soon."

Kaminari outwardly scowls at Gunther's choice of words, but she doesn't reply. She instead keeps her gaze set forwards, keeping Gunther to her left. The blonde didn't know why she was so on edge, whilst everyone else appeared to relax at their withdrawal.

Only two minutes pass by until Kaminari and Gunther spot someone out the corner of their eyes, a little to the left of the group. The former drawing her blades immediately, ignoring the words of protest from the rest of the Squad.

"Draw your weapons, that's not Levi," is all Kaminari can shout out as the hooded figure pushes off a tree and with a single swipe of her blades, kills Gunther. The dead weight only hanging by a single wire as it slides down the tree trunk. Kaminari growls as Eren swings down to see if the man was okay, not noticing how he was hit."Gunther! Are you okay?!" But his question is answered at the grisly sight of his now deceased comrade.

Kaminari swings down and shoves Eren along without so much as a glance back, "we have to move now, Eren! Go!" Eren does so in shock, unable to believe what he had just witnessed. But Kaminari didn't give him time to think further on the matter as she continues to usher the group forwards at an alarming pace.

"Keep pushing forward's! We can't let the female titan shifter get Eren! Make for HQ at full speed!" Kaminari shouts, desperately trying to keep her eyes on the hooded figure, but it's increasingly difficult due to the dense vegetation. The hooded figure disappears from view, before shifting into a titan once again. "Get movng she's coming for us!" Oluo shouts.

"Not again, I'm going to kill you!" Eren screams at the female titan, readying his hand to be bitten but is only paused by Eld's sharp voice. "No Eren! Let the five of us handle it, you get back to base." Eren looks pleadingly to Kaminari for permission to transform, only to be met with a harsh glare.

"Eld's right Eren, get out of here! We can deal with her, as you said before, if the Special Operations Squad can't deal with her, who can? Go now!" Eren goes to retort but the shouts from the other squad members finally sway his mind as he pushes away from the group.

"I HAVE FAITH IN THE LEVI SQUAD! GOOD LUCK!"

Eld jumps in as the first to have a swing at the female titan, followed behind by Oluo and Petra, where Kaminari takes up the rear. Eld sends a wire behind him to allow momentum to pull him backwards as he then emits smoke in the female titan's face.

Petra and Oluo quickly send wires in the titan's big blue eyes before drilling their blades in deep, causing it to momentarily go blind. A large hand automatically encases it's neck to protect itself from harm, making Kaminari growl as they launch forward.

She gestures for Oluo and Petra to slice the titan's arm pits, as herself and Eld continue hacking their way through the muscle until the titan's arms drop limply at her sides. "Let's go for the neck!" Oluo shouts as they all throw themselves at the titan.

Eld was the quickest and closest to react, as he moves at breakneck speed. 'Surely,' he thinks. 'Surely this will kill the bitch.' Kaminari suddenly pulls back as she notices a twitch of the titan's face, "GET BACK!" She cries.

From further on, Eren hears her desperate screams and rotates only to see Eld bitten in half by the female titan. Kaminari's head immediately swivels to where she sees Eren turn back, "GO EREN! YOU ARE THE PRIORITY! NOW, THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Petra, Oluo and Kaminari neck it away from the female titan as quickly as possible, the blonde taking up the rear once again as Petra takes the lead as she trails close to the ground whilst the other two remain up high.

The auburn haired woman's high pitched shrieks of horror could be heard. "SHE CAN SEE AGAIN!? IT'S ONLY BEEN THRITY SECONDS!" A look of both horror and fear crosses her face as she realises what had just happened."One eye? She channelled her healing in one eye to regenerate quicker!" She exclaims, desperate to let Kaminari and Oluo know what was seen from her position.

"Get up higher Petra! Hurry!" Oluo shouts to his comrade, praying that she quickly manoeuvres out  of harms way. But his prayers fall on deaf ears as the female titan lifts a single foot and crushes the woman's small figure against the tree trunk.

The breath is caught in Kaminari's throat as imagines of her first expedition cloud her vision, imagining the area littered with the corpses of her comrades, and the grass was washed in their blood. The scarlet substance exploding from the crushed body and immediately paints the bark in that god awful colour. Oluo ignores Kaminari's command to move towards Eren's position as he takes his chances, expending gas as he is propelled towards the exposed neck of the beast.

"NO OLUO!" Kaminari's shrilled screams are cut off by the sound of Oluo's body being kicked midair and splattering across two trees before his now lifeless body drops to the ground like a fallen angel.

Kaminari turns to the titian and expells a ridiculous amount of gas as she pushes her 3DMGto it's limits, practically flying in the direction of the beast. Those large blue orbs belonging to the titan look almost hesitent as they lock onto the furious blonde girl.

The large hand swats at the girl who nimbly evades the limb thrown her way through a series of bodily twists and rotations. Kaminari ignores the rogue tears that escaped her eyes as she slashes the titan's eyes, not enough to blind her but enough to make life difficult.

Neither the female titian nor Kaminari waste any time as they both retaliate, the former ducking the girl's next strike, forcing her to relocate. The human growls in frustration as she again, dives out of the way of a well placed punch that splits the tree she was on in two.

Her wires steady the girl as they plundge into the tree behind the titan, just as she and the female titan spots Eren. "EREN GET BACK!" She yells, rushing towards her comrade as the female titan closes the distance between herself and the brunet.

Surprisingly, Kaminari makes it there first and pushes Eren to the safety of the trees with one thought running through her mind. 'So this is how it ends?' Kaminari knew that with her initial proximity to her favourite suicidal maniac, the female Titan should've gotten there first.

But it let her pass by, not even sparing the desperate blonde a swat as she pushed Eren to safety. The damn beast was playing with her, and as much as that pissed Kaminari off, she knew there was little she could do against the grotesque being who just happened to be just like Eren.

The said boy lands ungracefully on his side, making Kaminari sigh with satisfaction, knowing that even if the female titan is upon her, she still saved Eren for the time being. The blonde breaks eye contact with a horrified brunet as she drops her blades and discards her 3DMG, facing the titian.

"You messed with the wrong team, bitch."

And then, like many times before, she bites her hand allowing her transformation to take place.

A/N: Not edited.