Previously:

"What a mess… And right after my outburst at the hearing, this is what happens… Heavy losses and nothing useful gained," Levi said grimly. "I wonder what they'll do to us and Eren when we stroll back through the gate after a failure like this?"

"…" Heidi furrowed her brow and frowned with concern as she listened.

"We'll think about that after we get back," said Erwin. "Right now, we have to focus on returning safely without incurring any further casualties. At least for now…"

"Um, Heichou," Heidi said tentatively, getting his attention, "what should I do? I don't have a horse any more."

"You'll have to ride on the back of mine for now," Levi told her. "We might be able to find you a spare horse once we rejoin the rest of the formation."

'The steam from the corpse is affecting visibility… It could interfere with the signal flares, too…' Erwin thought as they talked, keeping his eyes on the scene of carnage below. "…!" he gasped as something startling suddenly occurred to him.

"I'm going to call my squad back," Levi told him, getting ready to leave. He hoped they hadn't gone too far. "Come on, Heidi."

"Yes, sir," she answered dutifully, preparing to follow him.

"Wait, Levi. Heidi, too," Erwin said, stopping them. "Go refill your gas tanks and get new blades first."

"There's no time," Levi said. "I think we have enough to last… Why are you saying this?"

"It's an order," Erwin told him. There wasn't enough time to explain. "Do it." Levi glanced back at him and saw the look in the commander's eyes

"… Yes, sir," he said. "I'll trust your judgment on this one. Let's go, Heidi."

"Roger," Heidi said, leaving hurriedly with him to resupply.

Chapter 24: Crushing Blow

As soon as they had finished reloading their blades and Heidi popped some recovery pills, she and Levi were off.

"Erwin… Why did you make Levi and Heidi resupply?" Hange asked as the eccentric squad leader and the others rode away with their commander. "We're in a hurry…"

"Hange… I did it because I remembered one of your hypotheses," Erwin said, looking straight ahead.

"Hm…?" Hange said, wondering which one he meant.

"When the Colossal Titan disappeared, no one saw what was inside. You theorized that inside was someone who had been equipped with 3DMG, who made a quick getaway using the steam as cover," he reminded Hange.

"But remember, I finally concluded that was impossible, based on the state that Eren was in when he emerged from his titan body… His equipment was hopelessly damaged and even his uniform was gone. But the most important part is that Eren was so exhausted that he couldn't even stand without help," Hange reminded him in turn.

"That female type had the ability to draw titans to her with a scream. The mission failed because we couldn't predict that," he said pointedly. "But we need to be able to make those leaps of imagination if we're going to outsmart the enemy. If that 'titan power' can be trained, then basing our perceptions and conclusions on Eren, who is only a beginner in using that power, is wrong. So back to your hypothesis, if the enemy was able to escape under cover of the steam… with the same gear as ours put on in advance… then they could blend in with the soldiers. And if the enemy has a way to conserve their stamina… perhaps it's possible they can transform into a titan again."

–∞–

BOOOOM!

Heidi and Levi's eyes widened when they heard a great explosion in the distance just as they had finished reloading.

"No way…" Heidi said, shocked. "That sounded like…" That sounded like a titan transformation.

"Let's go!" Levi said, and they hurried off in the direction of the sound.

–∞–

"I had a feeling we would have to confront the enemy this time. But even my best plan wasn't enough to beat our adversary. We must challenge the enemy fully prepared to lose everything! We have to be willing to take massive risks. Unless we fight in that manner, humankind cannot win," Erwin stated gravely. "I will take whatever risks are necessary."

–∞–

"GWRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!"

"!?" Levi and Heidi started when there was another explosion, and they heard a familiar roar.

'That voice…' Levi thought, furrowing his brow. 'Don't tell me…'

'Eren…!' Heidi thought worriedly. The only way he would transform was if the others were in trouble.

"This way!" Levi said, and they both immediately turned, speeding towards his cry.

They found Gunther first.

"!" a distressed cry of shock escaped Heidi's lips when she saw him hanging limply from the tree with a huge chunk of the back of his neck sliced out, but they couldn't stop. He was already gone. She bit her lip and kept going, following Levi right on his heels. His unchanging expression seemed cold and detached, but there was no way he didn't care. She could only imagine what he must be feeling at that moment.

Next was Erd. All that was left of him was the upper part of his torso. It looked like he had been bitten in half. Heidi bit her lip harder, drawing blood, as they continued on.

Then came Auruo's broken corpse, his spine snapped in half so that his body lay prone in a disturbingly unnatural position, surrounded by fragments of his crushed equipment. A bead of blood rolled from Heidi's lip to her chin.

And then, finally… they saw Petra. She had been crushed against a tree. Her spine was bent unnaturally, and blood stained her clothes and the bark. Some of it had been smeared from her nose and mouth to her strawberry-blonde hair. Levi's face was cast in shadow as he gazed down solemnly at the horrible sight that greeted them; his stoic expression barely concealed the dark fury and murderous intent he felt towards the titan who had done this and the grief he felt for his comrades. He continued forward, but suddenly realized that Heidi wasn't following. He glanced back and saw that she was still standing on one of the branches of Petra's tree. There was blood on her lower lip and chin. Her knuckles were white, and her hands trembled as her grip tightened on her blades. Her face was cast in shadow, but he could see that her pupils were blown wide open, giving the eerie illusion that her eyes had turned pitch black. Levi's own eyes widened slightly, and he stopped immediately.

"Heidi—!" he shouted sternly with concern, hoping she hadn't snapped and lost control of herself.

"—It's alright, Heichou," she said, eerily calm as her trembling hands stilled. "I'm in control… But I'm too angry to shut it off." She had come dangerously close to losing it just now.

"…" Levi frowned as he stared at her with a grim expression on his face. He wasn't surprised. He knew how she felt, and on top of the trauma of finding their comrades like this, it was obvious that seeing Petra's hair being smeared with blood hadn't helped, because seeing women with strawberry blond hair killed by titans seemed to act as a trigger to drag up memories of her mother. "Can you still follow orders?"

"Yes," Heidi answered resolutely, tightening her grip on her blades.

"Good. Wipe your lip, and let's go," he ordered. They couldn't afford to linger any longer. They needed to catch up to Eren and that female titan, before it was too late. Heidi followed without hesitation.

They continued on until they found signs of a titan-sized struggle. The headless body of Eern's titan form lay collapsed beside a giant tree that had been snapped in half. The titan form was already dissolving, but enough of it still remained for them to be able to tell that the cavity carved out of the nape of its neck had been made by teeth. The sight made Heidi's blood run cold.

"We're getting close," Levi remarked. "Be on your guard." They couldn't leave without confirming Eren's fate.

"There's someone else up ahead," Heidi said, surprising him, and she squinted a little as she strained her ears. "I can hear a human voice, up ahead to the right, but…" Levi didn't hear anything, but he knew from their sparring sessions that her hearing was sharper when in a controlled berserk, so he performed a quick scan of the environment again and swung around to head in that direction when what he saw seemed to confirm her claim. Heidi followed his lead without needing to be told, and her eyes widened slightly as they caught up with her ears, and they caught sight of the female titan and the person chasing her up ahead in the distance.

'Mikasa!?' Heidi thought, surprised. What was she doing out there? Why wasn't she with the other cadets and the rest of the troops? How did she get there before them? There seemed to be a million questions spinning around inside her head, but Heidi quickly recovered from the startling surprise and flew forward with Levi, swiftly closing the gap between them just in time to help him grab Mikasa before she could launch herself forward in another attack.

"Wait!!" Mikasa yelled at the titan."!?" she gasped, startled when Levi hooked his right arm around her as they continued forward without stopping, surprised when she recognized Heidi. "W-What…!?" she started to ask her, when the violent midget gave her a sharp look out the corner of his eye.

"Stay back for now," Levi ordered the glaring girl.

"!" Mikasa gritted her teeth. If looks could kill, he would have suffered some very critical damage.

"Listen, Mikasa," Heidi said firmly, seeing the not-so-thinly veiled hatred in her friend's eyes, correctly guessing she still wasn't over what happened at the trial. "You want to save Eren, right?" The crease in Mikasa's brow deepened, but she seemed ready to listen now. Levi watched them out the corner of his eye and released his grip on her, allowing Mikasa more control over her movements.

"Maintain this distance," Levi ordered them. "She must be worn out, too. She's not moving so fast anymore." He glanced sideways at Mikasa. So this was the 'Mikasa' Heidi and Eren were always talking about. After hearing her name, he remembered it being mentioned before on several occasions by the chatty brats when they talked about their friends. But there was something else about this girl… He thought he might have seen her somewhere before, but the memory was still vague. "It looked like she bit the entire nape off. Is Eren dead?" Heidi braced herself for the answer, while Mikasa clenched her jaw and gritted her teeth tighter, glaring darkly at the enemy ahead of them before directing her harsh gaze back at the two humans beside her.

"Eren' s alive," Mikasa answered grimly. "The target appears to possess intelligence. Her objective is to take Eren away. If she wanted to kill Eren, she would have crushed him. The target put Eren in her mouth so she could fight and flee at the same time."

"Maybe her aim was to eat Eren," Levi suggested. "If that's the case, Eren is in her stomach… The normal conclusion would be that he's dead."

"He's alive," Mikasa insisted sternly as Heidi furrowed her brow.

"Eren's told me he survived being eaten before—and I mean chewing and swallowing, the whole deal," Heidi said, quickly deciding she agreed with Mikasa considering everything she has just heard and already knew of Eren's abilities. It was in another titan's stomach where he transformed into one for the first time, and he had healing abilities a normal human didn't. "As long as his vital organs are intact, I think he'll survive."

"I hope you're right," Levi said, glancing between the two girls. Mikasa scowled at him and bowed her head slightly as her expression darkened further.

"In the first place, if you had protected Eren, this would never have happened. Didn't you say you were going to protect him!?" she said angrily, redirecting her glare to Heidi to show that she blamed her, too. Mikasa felt this kind of betrayal was even worse coming from her since she was supposed to be their friend. Heidi frowned as the crease in her brow deepened, but kept her eyes fixed on the enemy ahead.

"..." Levi looked at Mikasa again, surprised, as he finally recognized where he had seen her before. "I remember now… You were Eren's friend at the trial. I see..." Mikasa was surprised, and Heidi was concerned when they saw the expression on his face. It was virtually unreadable, but Heidi thought there was something haunted about it, as if he were recalling something terrible from his own past. Looking at Mikasa, who reminded him of his past self, next to Heidi with her red hair brought back memories Levi could never forgive himself for. He looked again at Heidi's grim expression as he recalled more recent memories of seeing her smile while laughing with Eren. He didn't want history to repeat itself with these kids. Heidi already seemed to be having trouble hanging on to her self-control. If someone else she was that close to died in front of her… he wasn't sure what that would do to her. And, of course, Eren was too important to lose if they wanted to reclaim Wall Maria.

"Mikasa..." Heidi said calmly, closing her eyes for a moment. "You're right. And you can hit and yell at me as much as you want later, but right now we need to focus on correcting that mistake so we can get Eren back. Which is more important to you? Blaming us, or saving him?" she asked, looking the angry girl in the eye.

"!" Mikasa furrowed her brow again as her eyes widened slightly. "Saving him, of course!"

"Then shut up and work with us," Heidi scolded her firmly. "You aren't the only one here who cares what happens to him."

"First, we'll have to forget about trying to kill the female," Levi ordered, taking charge.

"But she killed many of our comrades," Mikasa protested.

"As long as she's able to toughen her skin, we can't do it," Levi said, keeping his gaze forward. Heidi frowned but didn't argue, recalling their previous failed attempts to break it. And that had been while the intelligent titan was restrained. "Obey my call on this. We'll put all our hopes on Eren still being alive. We'll rescue him before she makes it out of the forest. Heidi, are you still 'activated'?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered seriously.

"Then the two of us will slice her up," he told her. With her heightened perception and enhanced reflexes, Heidi was the only one capable of keeping up with him under these dangerous conditions where anything could happen. "You distract her," he ordered Mikasa. Mikasa looked like she wanted to argue about switching places with Heidi, but they were already moving into position before she could have the chance. So she gritted her teeth and flew forward at a low angle, weaving around the enemy's feet.

"Follow my lead," he instructed Heidi quietly as they moved in from above. "Don't give her time to heal or harden." Heidi nodded grimly in response, and they both adjusted they grips on their blades, preparing to strike. They watched their opponent for an opening.

'Now!' Heidi thought as the female titan spun around to throw a straight punch at them, reading the movement of every muscle in her arm and Levi's body as he spun himself forward to anticipate the next move. Before the female titan's eyes even had a chance to widened in shock from the way he was rolling himself up and around her arm like a spinning saw blade, he was already inches away from her face. She quickly tried to move her other hand to swat at him, but Heidi struck first, launching herself forward to bore a hole through it's open palm like a corkscrew, flipping upside down as she passed through to swing her blades together in an 'x' pattern to lop what was left of it clean off the wrist, while Levi lunged forward to stab both of his blades into the titan's eyes to blind her. Levi released the blades and pulled back, making eye contact with Heidi for a split second as he reloaded. She nodded subtly, adjusted her grip so one of her blades was held reversed like him, and together they plunged into a dive, shredding flesh and muscles and tendons as they rolled their blades across the titan's body, weaving in and out of each other's paths with such speed, that she was already falling as they flew back around to reach the nape of her neck. Levi struck first, but the titan managed to get her remaining hand in the way to block his attack. Heidi followed, stabbing the hand with her blades as she fired a grappling hook into its head to pull it up, but the female titan countered by letting herself fall back against the tree, and Heidi was forced to eject and jump away, barely escaping in the half-second before she would have been crushed against the tree.

'They're fast!' Mikasa thought, shocked. 'He's so quick, she can't toughen her skin fast enough! And Heidi's keeping up with him! Not only that, but they're able to move at that speed and still be able to anticipate each other's movements enough to work together so seamlessly…' She could see now why Levi chose Heidi to attack with him instead. There was no way she would have been able to synchronize her moves with his on this level so instantly. 'Heidi… when did you…?'

Meanwhile, Levi was already diving again to slice up the muscles on the arm protecting her nape and around her upper arm to limit her mobility further and prevent her from swatting at them again. Heidi joined him so that neither arm was ever left unattended as they bobbed and weaved past each other at lightning speed.

"!" Mikasa gasped when the hand covering the titan's neck fell away. "Her nape… is exposed!' she thought excitedly, burning with a vengeful wrath. 'She's exhausted… and unable to move! I can kill her!' Mikasa rotated herself and fired a grappling hook into its shoulder. Levi and Heidi were startled when they saw.

"No!" Levi yelled, but she wasn't listening.

"Mikasa!" Heidi screamed as the female titan raised her stubby left arm to swat her with her regenerating wrist. Levi dove forward while Heidi spun around. Heidi's heart pounded in her ears. She knew instantly that she wouldn't make it in time. Levi was closer.

"Heidi!" he shouted as he reached for Mikasa, reminding the redhead to stay on task. Heidi frowned as she immediately redirected herself to fly at the titan's face, severing its jaw muscles as Levi shoved Mikasa out of the way. He winced at the pain that shot through his leg when his foot came in contact with the giant wrist, but he ignored the thought that something was most likely broken and pushed himself forward to grab Eren as the titan's jaw dropped, snatching the slimy boy from her open mouth in an instant. As soon as he had him, Levi and Heidi retreated to a safe distance to regroup with Mikasa. "Hey!" Levi shouted at the disobedient brat. "Let's get out of here."

"Eren!" Mikasa gasped, relieved to see him again, but concerned that he didn't seem to be moving.

"How is he?" Heidi asked.

"He's probably okay. He's alive, but a mess..." Levi answered. "Don't go after her. We're retreating," he added, focusing particularly on Mikasa since she seemed to have a hard time following orders. "Don't lose sight of the true goal of the mission. Or will you put your personal feelings first? Isn't he your precious friend?" he asked her as he turned to leave.

"I'm not…" Mikasa said quietly. "I'm his..."

"Come on, Mikasa!" Heidi said, grabbing her arm to pull her forward with her. They needed to get away before the female titan regenerated. Levi glanced back at the girls to make sure they were following, and his eyes widened slightly at what he saw. Curious, Heidi furrowed her brow and followed his gaze.

"!" Heidi gasped, shocked when she looked back and saw that the female titan had tears streaming down her face. That skinless face… Those eyes… she had tried to ignore it while they were fighting, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about them. And the way she had moved… Heidi's subconscious confirmed her suspicions when she felt tears threatening to form in her own eyes, and her heart clenched at the sight as though she was watching a friend cry. 'What…?'