---
The world was frozen in a moment of stunning, absolute disbelief. The sixty-meter Ultraman Power Type stood as a crimson shield between the charging Scout Regiment and the battered Female Titan. The air, thick with the smell of ozone and Kaiju dust, crackled with a tension that was more suffocating than any monster's roar. The sheer pressure radiating from the crimson giant was a physical force, pressing down on the soldiers, making it hard to breathe.
Captain Levi was the first to find his voice, and it was a sound of pure, undiluted fury that ripped through the stunned silence like a blade.
"NAKAMURA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" he roared, his voice echoing through the ravaged forest. "THAT IS THE ENEMY! THE TRAITOR WHO KILLED YOUR COMRADES! STAND DOWN! THAT'S A DIRECT ORDER!"
Akira didn't speak. He couldn't. The Power Type was a vessel of primal instinct, a form fueled by a protective rage so potent it left no room for words. But his action was his answer. He remained an immovable, crimson wall, his glowing cyan eyes filled with a pain and resolve that his friends couldn't possibly comprehend.
On the ground, the hearts and minds of the 104th shattered into a million confused pieces.
Mikasa, hovering in mid-air with her ODM gear, felt her world tilt on its axis. Her mind was a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. The absolute, unshakeable trust she had in Akira, a trust that was the very foundation of her world, was at war with the horrifying sight before her. "Akira... why?" she whispered, the words stolen by the wind, her voice breaking. "She's the one who... who killed them... She killed our friends... Why are you protecting her?"
From the steaming, broken heap of her Attack Titan, Erin watched with wide, disbelieving eyes. She had just been mercilessly defeated by that monster, and now Akira, her hero, her protector, the one she looked up to more than anyone, was shielding it. It was a double betrayal that made no sense, a nightmare layered on top of a nightmare. The confusion was so profound that it was a physical ache in her chest.
Huddled behind a fallen tree, Christa's hands flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. This wasn't the hero she believed in. The Titan of Light was supposed to be a beacon of hope, a force to banish the darkness, not protect it. "No... it can't be..." she mumbled, her faith trembling, tears welling in her eyes.
Beside her, Sasha and Mina could only stare, their faces pale with terror and confusion. "What's he doing?!" Sasha cried out, her voice high-pitched with panic. "That's Annie! He has to know that's Annie! We all heard Mikasa!"
Even Ymir, ever the cynic, couldn't hide her surprise. Her usual smirk was gone, replaced by a look of intense, analytical curiosity. This wasn't simple treason. This was something far more complex, something that defied all logic. And that made it far more interesting.
And among Levi's own squad, Petra watched, her heart sinking into a pit of dread. Her personal feelings for the kind, powerful boy who had joked with her just days ago were clashing violently with her duty as a soldier. She looked to her Captain, her face pale, waiting for an order that could make sense of this madness.
The loudest voices came from the soldiers who saw Akira not just as a hero, but as a comrade.
"AKIRA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Jean screamed, his voice cracking with a mixture of disbelief and anger. "That's the bitch who killed Marco! GET OUT OF THE WAY! SHE'S THE TRAITOR!"
"MOVE, NAKAMURA!" Connie yelled, his face a mask of pure confusion. "WE HAVE TO KILL HER! FOR EVERYONE SHE KILLED!"
---
Behind the crimson shield, inside the nape of her steaming Titan, Annie was just as shocked as everyone else. Why? Why is he protecting me? After everything I've done? He knows. He has to know. Why? For a moment, she was paralyzed by the sheer, illogical nature of his action. But then, she saw the frantic, desperate blinking of the color timer on his chest. He was running out of power. He couldn't maintain this standoff forever.
Akira, sensing her hesitation, made a subtle gesture-a slight turn of his massive head, a motion with his free hand-urging her to run. Go. Now.
Her survival instincts, honed over years of brutal training, took over. This was her chance. Her only chance. With a final, conflicted look at the giant who was sacrificing his honor for her, the Female Titan turned and fled, crashing deeper into the Forest of Giant Trees.
Her escape sent the Scouts into a frenzy.
"DON'T LET HER ESCAPE!" Levi roared, his voice filled with a fury that promised death. "HE'S WEAKENING! GO AROUND HIM! TAKE HER DOWN!"
---
The swarm of green capes moved as one, a torrent of righteous anger. They fired their ODM gear, a river of steel and fury, trying to fly around the crimson giant, to get past the impossible obstacle.
But Akira was ready. He couldn't attack them. He would never attack them. But he could stop them.
He raised his massive foot and stomped down.
The impact was not a simple thud. It was an earthquake. The ground buckled and split, massive fissures racing across the forest floor. The shockwave threw the charging soldiers off balance, their ODM gear sputtering as they crashed into trees and tangled in their own wires.
It was chaos. But it wasn't enough. A few of the most skilled, including Levi and Mikasa, managed to correct their course, their determination unshakable. They were coming, their blades glinting with murderous intent.
Akira swung his massive, armored arm, not to hit them, but to move the very air itself. The swing created a hurricane-force gust of wind that howled through the trees. It was like flying into a solid wall. The soldiers were blown backward, their gear useless against the gale. He was a parent stopping his children from running into a fire, and the act was tearing his own soul apart. He could feel their anger, their betrayal, and it was a pain worse than any physical blow.
Levi grit his teeth in frustration, forced to anchor himself to a tree to keep from being blown away. They were humanity's best, the elite of the elite, and they were completely, utterly helpless against him. He wasn't even trying to hurt them, and they couldn't get past. The sheer gap in power was insulting. It was terrifying.
---
But this immense power came at a cost. The Power Type was a raging inferno, and it burned through his energy like a wildfire. The "Giga Breaker" had already taken a massive toll. Now, using his strength to hold back the entire Scout Regiment was draining the last of his reserves.
The color timer on his chest began to blink furiously, the beeping a frantic, desperate alarm that echoed through the silent forest. The brilliant crimson of his armor began to flicker, the cyan light in his eyes dimming. He could feel his strength fading fast, his giant limbs growing heavy as lead. His massive form trembled, and with a groan that sounded like grinding mountains, he stumbled, dropping to one knee with a ground-shaking thud that sent another tremor through the earth. He had done it. He had given Annie the time she needed to escape.
But it had cost him everything.
---
With a final, brilliant flash of light, Akira's giant form dissolved into a shower of glowing particles. His human body, battered and broken, collapsed onto the ravaged earth, unconscious before he even hit the ground.
The spell was broken.
The Scouts immediately surrounded him. Mikasa was the first to his side, her ODM gear discarded as she dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she frantically checked if he was still breathing. "Akira... Akira, please..."
Erin, having painfully extracted herself from her Titan form, limped forward, her face a mess of tears and confusion. "Why did he do it, Mikasa? Why did he protect her?"
Christa and Sasha rushed to his side, their concern for him warring with the horrifying memory of what he had just done.
Levi landed beside them, his face colder and harder than ever before. He looked down at Akira's unconscious form, then at the direction Annie had fled, his eyes filled with a mixture of fury and cold, terrifying confusion. The boy had just saved them all from a monster, only to protect another monster from justice. It made no sense.
Commander Erwin arrived on the scene, his horse trotting calmly through the devastation. His face was a grim mask as he took in the scene: the steaming corpse of Erin's Titan, the massive crater where the Kaiju had been obliterated, and his unconscious ace, the boy he had called their trump card, now lying broken and vulnerable on the ground.
He looked at Levi, and a silent question passed between them. What do we do now?
Levi's gaze dropped back to Akira. The respect, the awe, was gone. In its place was a new, dangerous suspicion. His voice was quiet, but every word was a shard of ice, a verdict delivered to the silent, watching soldiers.
"He protected the enemy," Levi stated, his words echoing in the stunned silence. "He committed treason."
---
•To Be Continue•
---