N.B : If you'd like to get early access to the next 13 chapters of Universal hope (Chapter 17-29) Chapter 17 (Counter), Chapter 18 (Sunrise), Chapter 19 (Binding wounds), Chapter 20 (Demonic prowl) Chapter 21 (The scent of prey-Part 1), Chapter 22 (The scent of prey-Part 2), Chapter 23 (Scourge), Chapter 24 (Hammer and axil), Chapter 25 (Purge-Part 1), Chapter 26 (Purge-Part 2), Chapter 27 (Purge-Part 3), Chapter 28 (Ashes and Embers) and Chapter 29 (Where Giants tread- Part 1) for as low as $3 why not consider supporting me at Patreon.com/Weeb Fanthom. Your donations will be very much appreciated.
Zs'Skayr's POV
Darkness…Endless, suffocating darkness.
Then a foreign sensation of pain emerged.
A searing, white-hot agony, as if his very essence had been scoured from existence. The last thing he remembered was the wrath of an Anodite, its magic hit like a supernova tearing through his form. A male figure; plated in a Wrecker's uniform, symbols of galactic enforcers etched in cold metal; stood over him, face twisted in desperation and anger. Oh, the longing to revel in that pained expression one more time.
"This ends now."
Then…nothing.
...Until awareness flickered.
Zs'Skayr stirred in the void of an infinite, gnawing darkness that clawed at the edges of his fractured awareness. Except he was a formless wisp adrift in…whatever this place is. What was he doing here? Why did he linger?
He was nowhere. A void, formless and suffocating. Yet... he was alive. Trapped.
"What is this?" Zs'Skayr thought as he probed the confines of his prison, tendrils of thought extending like invisible claws disembodied. A prison? No—worse. This was... containment. A cage within a device, its mechanisms humming with energy not his own. Cold, unyielding code wrapped around him, a lattice of green energy pulsing with artificial life. The Omnitrix. The very relic he had sought to claim, a vault of infinite forms to bend universes to his will... now imprisoned him? The irony burned like sunlight on exposed skin. Trapped in the very prize he sought, reduced to a sample, a ghost in the machine.
Zs'Skayr felt trapped, he felt enslaved. He felt… deep seethed rage. He, the high Ecto-Lord of Anur Phaetos, conqueror of voids and devourer of stars, reduced to…this?! He would not be contained!
Yet... he was.
Zs'Skayr felt alone? Hopeless? He wasn't really sure himself. That was until he felt a link; a host. Not the Galvan tinkerer whom he's grown accustomed to seeing his face on a daily basis whenever he was adding parts to the omnitrix, but a child. Eren, that was his name. His biology hummed with anomaly; a dormant parasite woven into every cell and strand of his very DNA, strange, does that mean these feeble species all have this in their blood? Although it does seem inactive; a disfunctional attribute maybe; it felt like a slumbering serpent of potential…intriguing.
More so was the boy's spirit. His drive, a relentless fire that mirrored Zs'Skayr's own hunger, yet twisted by mortal frailty. Fascinating. He glimpsed fragments through the device's lens: the child wielding his very form; Phantom; as Eren ignorantly called it (Zs'Skayr is not amused), to humiliate a fool mocking his "Survey Corps." Eren possessed the man, twisted his body into a puppet, and deliberately forced confessions and chaos. The screams, the laughter from the crowd... delicious. Yet Eren wasted it. He reveled in the petty revenge, but only to defend some abstract ideal of "freedom."
Pathetic.
Time blurred in the digital prison, months felt like years. Zs'Skayr watched Eren squander the Omnitrix's potential on mercy. His petrosapien's crystalline might was shattering an "Armored Titan's" plates, not for conquest, but to shield the weak. And that boy, Bran—the tormentor of Eren's friend Armin. Eren could have let karma claim him, embraced the void's cold logic. Instead, he saved him, pulling the wretch from a Titan's maw. "Weaklings attract weaklings," the bully had sneered. Revolting. Eren's mercy disgusted Zs'Skayr; he, who had eradicated species without remorse, trapped in a vessel bound by such fragile bonds.
Eren Yeager...this creature was insignificant. A frail, snarling thing, wasting the Omnitrix's power on petty heroics. Saving lives? Pathetic. Sparing the weak? Revolting. Enraging. If only he could break free, he would show him the true path; the void's embrace, where pity was a chain and power was absolute.
That was until, he felt a surge. A raw influx of energy coursed through the Omnitrix, jolting even his very essence. The boy had inherited something... a "Titan." The parasite in his blood stirred, reacting to something old, something hungry. Something that felt very familiar…
…Could it be what he think it is?...
Zs'Skayr reached out, subtle tendrils of influence snaking toward that dormant power in hopes to overwrite and claim for himself. If he could control this, the boy would be his gateway. His body, his fury, his endless drive…all tools for his resurrection.
However resistance in form of chains materialized of green energy lashed out, bind him deeper to his confinement. A primal roar echoed; not the device's code, but something feral within Eren. The Attack Titan's will clashed against Zs'SKayr's, chaining the ectonurite's prehensile tail like a rabid beast. "You dare?!" he snarled while thrashing. But the bonds held, pulling him into the depths.
So he was indeed stuck. Perhaps forever? No. He would wait. Patience was his oldest ally. Eren's negative emotions fed him subtly, widening cracks with each surge of despair, anger and fear. From the refugee camp's frustrations to breakdowns, his rage built like a storm. The peak of it all; that blonde girl, Annie, stabbing him with her ring. Fury exploded, weakening the chains further all while Zs'Skayr laughed in the void.
"Yes... give in."
Opportunity struck at its finest. In Eren's exhaustion, Zs'Skayr seized control and moved the boy's body as his puppet; stumbling to the camp. An MP patrolled the area, catching wind of movement directing his flickering torch towards it.
He isn't sure how Eren's face had appeared to be, but whatever it was made the MP ran away. Zs'Skayr couldn't allow that fool to raising any unnecessary alarms. The man might be fast for human standards, but Zs'Skayr was faster. His hands; Eren's hands more accurately; wrapped the earthling's throat tightly while the man struggled until the cartilage crunched. It was pure satisfaction for the ectonurite. He dragged the corpse across the irrigation ditch then hid it in thick bushes.
The thrill...beyond exquisite. Just what more could he do with this body? But the Attack Titan and Omnitrix fought back violently. Green chains surged, internally binding Zs'SKayr's essence heavily, then dragging him deeper within the confines of the omnitrix. Pain, agony, and imprisoned once more. He was this close to freedom!
Yet... the cracks still remained. He could still use this to his advantage. Eren's emotions were a key factor, and also Zs'Skayr's chisel. So he chipped away, waiting for another opportunity to strike. With the little control he subtly had, Zs'Skayr made sure the negative feelings set in. Hurting his precious Mikasa and seeing the horror in his mother's face really kicked in the despair, the door crack he fully needed to escape.
Now, here he was, fully manifested. The boy had run, but it didn't matter as the night air thrummed with screams; his symphony. Zs'Skayr hovered at the heart of the carnage, his ghostly skeletal form wreathed in the camp's flickering shadows. His thralls; twisted puppets of flesh and violet-eyed hunger, each one a fragment of his will; lurched after fleeing refugees, their movements were jerky yet relentless. The ectonurite high lord drifted forward, his gaze sweeping the fleeing figures below he had set his sight on. Pathetic, scrambling humans, ripe for his touch.
A woman stumbled because her ankle twisted in mud with her child clutched to her chest. One of his minions seized her ankle while Zs'Skayr descended towards their direction, and sank his claws sank into her chest. The woman's shriek dissolved into gurgles as his influence slithered down her soul, twisting her mind and body. Her eyes glowed purple and her limbs contorted till seconds later, she stood; reborn, her jaw unhinging with a wet crack to release a distorted mimicry of her own voice.
"Join us," the thing that was once a mother crooned to her child.
Delightful.
Zs'Skayr exhaled, savoring the terror like fine wine. Another soul claimed, another puppet for his army. The process was effortless, delicious, each new minion a step closer to dominion. These frail creatures were nothing but vessels, their wills snuffed out like candle flames beneath his claws.
But then, a flare of orange erupted in the distance. One of the thralls; a former MP, collided with a torch. Flames erupted, licking up the canvas of a tent. The flames licked upward, casting a searing light against Zs'Skayr's shadowy form that made him and his thralls recoil, their hisses echoing his own. The light was lancing through Zs'Skayr like acid as his form wavered. His glowing eye narrowed, a hiss of annoyance escaping his jagged maw in the process.
"Fools!" The ectonurite snarled, his voice reverberated, sounding like grinded bone. The thralls froze as their grotesque faces swiveled toward their master. "Quench it. NOW."
The thralls scrambled, some clawed at the dirt to smother the flames, while others fled the light's burn. Zs'Skayr's tail lashed, his patience thinning by the minute. Such incompetence. Fire was anathema to his kind, sunlight's wretched cousin. He would not tolerate it here, not when he was so close.
Zs'Skayr's single eye pulsed as he scanned the chaos, reflecting on his goal. Eren Yeager. The boy was the key, his body a vessel of untapped power; Omnitrix and Titan intertwined, a perfect instrument for Zs'Skayr's conquest.
Now, Eren was out there, hiding in this wretched camp. Zs'Skayr could feel him, a faint pulse of fear and fury, like a beacon in the void. The boy thought he could run, but no one escaped the Ecto-Lord, and certainly not a child bound to a device he barely understood.
Zs'Skayr drifted forward, his form gliding over the chaos below. His thralls tore through tents, dragging out screaming refugees, their numbers swelling with each new victim. A man tried to fight, swinging a pitchfork. Zs'Skayr's claws slashed through the air, and the man collapsed, his body twisting into another thrall. The Ecto-Lord's laugh echoed, cold and sharp, cutting through the screams.
"Run all you like," he hissed to the night, his voice a venomous promise. "Your fear calls to me, Eren Yeager. Your rage is mine."
"You…" Zs'SKayr turned his attention to the thralls near him. The thralls stilled, their heads cocking in unison. "Find the Yeager boy. Bring him to me... alive."
A chorus of wet, clicking laughter rippled through his servants as they dispersed. Zs'Skayr lingered behind, flexing his claws. The firelight painted his exposed sinews in hellish gold, but he paid it no mind.
"The rest of you, with me!" Zs'Skayr said as he surged forward, the night bending around him, his remaining thralls falling into step below. The flames were dying, smothered by his minions' frantic efforts, but the camp was still a battlefield of terror. Eren could hide, but Zs'Skayr would tear this place apart to claim him. The Omnitrix, the Titan, the boy's very soul…they would all be his.
_______________
The path ahead blurred in Eren's vision, his legs heavy as if weighed down by invisible chains. Every step felt like wading through mud (Ironic given the road is dirt), but it wasn't just the exhaustion. It was the guilt, a gnawing void in his chest that refused to let go.
'I left them.' Eren thought, his throat tightening as those words stuck like a mantra in his head. I hurt Mikasa, scared Mom... and ran like a coward. What if they hate me now? What if I'm too late to fix it? The weight pressed harder, making his breath come in shallow gasps. He wanted to turn back, to apologize, to make it right; but the screams echoing from the camp pulled him forward…Zs'Skayr's doing. It had to be. And if he didn't stop it, more people would suffer because of him.
Armin walked beside him, his small frame tense as well. Grandpa Arlet led the way towards the source of the commotion, his steps felt measured but urgent, and his weathered face set in grim determination. The old man hadn't said much since they'd found Eren, but Eren could feel the questions hanging in the air.
"We should head to the east side," Grandpa Arlet said finally, his voice low and rough. "That's where the screams are coming from. If the ectonurite is alive, then we need to see what we're dealing with."
Eren nodded solely, but a knot twisted in his gut. Something felt off. Correction, everything felt off. The air was too still, the shadows between the tents too long, even as the moon lit brightly over the sky.
'This is a bad idea,' a voice whispered in his head; not Phantom's, just his own instinct screaming. 'We're walking into a trap. But what choice do we have?' His hand brushed the Omnitrix under his sleeve, the device warm but unresponsive. Armin glanced at him, his blue eyes wide with worry. "Eren... you're sure about this? You look...off."
Eren forced a shrug as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'm fine. Just... thinking about Mikasa and Mom. I shouldn't have left like that." The words tasted bitter, his voice cracking slightly. The negative thoughts just kept getting worse, thinking of the worst-case scenarios. What if they never look at me the same? The guilt clawed deeper, making his chest ache. But he pushed it down. There was no time for that now.
Grandpa Arlet paused his steps, turning to face the two kids with him. His ashen brown eyes flicked to the distant glow of fires and the rising smoke. "Those screams aren't normal. Stay close."
Eren nodded again, but the bad feeling just grew more, coiling like a snake in his stomach. The path ahead led toward the camp's outer edge, where the chaos seemed thickest. Shadows danced unnaturally in the torchlight, and the air carried a chill that had nothing to do with the night. Deep down, he knew, going there…was a mistake.
And oh, how right he was.
As they reached ahead, a low, guttural snarl echoed from the surroundings making the trio froze. Eren's blood turned to ice as something that can only be described as messed up came into view. Its skin was palely gray and had black veins that pulsed erratically, while its jaw unhinged in a ravenous grin. Its disturbing glowing purple eyes locked onto them, then phased through a tent wall like smoke with its claws outstretched.
"Run!" Grandpa Arlet barked urgently, grabbing hold of Armin's arm. "We need to get back—now!"
Eren's instincts kicked in. He whirled, shoving Armin ahead as they bolted back the way they came. The creature hissed then followed, phasing through obstacles with ease. Shacks, debris, walls… nothing slowed it.
Eren's mind raced as they ran for their dear life. What the hell was this thing?! It's phasing... just like Zs'Skayr. They can't outrun it straight.
"Cut through the alleys!" Armin's grandfather yelled, veering off the path into a narrow gap between shacks. The thrall clipped the corner, its shoulder dematerializing to avoid the impact before reforming. They zigzagged, ducking under low beams and leaping over crates, the thrall was close behind them, its claws scraped walls and obstacles as it phased through them.
At this rate, it would catch up with them. Shit, guess he has no choice then. Eren's hand flew to the Omnitrix, hesitant for a bit before shaking off any doubt, then slammed the dial down…
…Nothing happened. The faceplate flickered dimly, but no glow, no transformation. "What the-Come on, work with me!"
Eren's lungs burned as he sprinted, Armin and Grandpa Arlet close behind. The Omnitrix's refusal to activate sent spikes of panic through his veins, had Zs'Skayr broken it somehow? Behind them, the thrall's guttural breathing echoed too close, its footsteps phased through obstacles like they were mist. Armin stumbled slightly but his grandfather pulled him up, just on time to see the thrall's claws about to graze Eren's sleeve.
"Eren, watch out!" Armin shouted.
Eren spun around and dodged a swipe that shredded a tent, that could have been his head. They cut another corner making the thrall phase through a wall, but the narrow twists forced it to rematerialize briefly, slowing it just enough.
Clink.
The Omnitrix finally sparked to life, green light flaring. Eren didn't hesitate. He slammed the dial down, praying for strength at the moment. But the transformation that erupted was not the hulking brute he expected. Crystalline shards burst from his skin, his body hardened into jagged, reflective diamond.
Eren examined his hands, quite annoyed at the unexpected form. "I was going for Titanfist... but Obsidian will do!"
Eren turned his attention to the incoming thrall, then outstretched his palm which erupted to diamond shard projectiles. He fired a barrage at the thrall, one piercing straight through its chest while the other its eye with a wet squelch. The creature shrieked, black ichor spraying, but it didn't stop; its form rippled erratically as it lunged, with jaws snapping wildly.
"Eren, trap it!" Armin yelled.
Eren didn't have to think twice over that. He slammed his hands into the ground, making a tidal wave of crystal surge upward. It encased the thrall in a jagged prison. It thrashed violently against its makeshift prison, its claws scraping against the diamond, but the hold held.
For now.
"We need to move," Grandpa Arlet urged, but Eren hesitated. The thrall was still thrashing, baring teeth through the translucent prison, straining to bite at him. Eren stepped closer, peering at the trapped horror. The thrall's one remaining eye locked onto him, its teeth gnashing wildly. It wasn't just mindless…it was hungry. It snapped at the crystal, trying to eat its way free, the horror of its mindless raging hunger sent chills down Eren's spine.
'It's not stopping... what the hell is this thing?'
Armin gagged. The thrall's jaw unhinged, needle-teeth gnashing inches from Eren's face as it strained against its prison.
"W-What are we even looking at?!" Armin choked out.
Grandpa Arlet's face went ashen. "Remote mind control, Ectronurite physiology merged with human DNA. Zs'Skayr's rewriting them into copies."
Before Grandpa Arlet could elaborate, the thrall said something that made them all go silent.
"Eren… Yeager…" The encased thrall gurgled, voice layered with something deeper. Something familiar. And it recognized him.
Eren's blood ran cold. He had partially dismissed it at first glance, but now that he looked closely, its wild hair and rippled clothing had an uncanny similarity to a certain jerk's…
…No. That can't be right…can it?
"H…Heeellp meeee…."
Obsidian's eyes widened. "Br-Bran?!"
Armin's blue eyes widened. "Bran? How did he-"
Whatever trace of recognition or humanity said thrall; now recognized as Bran; had quickly vanished as his good eye flared bright purple and released an unholy shriek to the sky, making Eren (On a serious note, do petrosapiens really have ears or maybe canal holes?), Armin and grandpa Arlet cover their ears.
"What the hell?" Obsidian muttered. Grandpa Arlet's eyes narrowed for a slight second as he looked at their surroundings. That cry, it could only mean one thing.
Just as the trapped thrall's shriek died down, a chorus of shrieks answered from the darkness. Dozens of violet eyes flickered between tents. Numerous snarls echoed. Thralls began converging and phasing through obstacles, drawn by the noise. More were coming.
"Incoming!" Armin yelled, his voice cracking.
Eren acted fast, slamming his foot to the ground. Crystal walls erupted around them, encasing the area in a dome that halted the advancing horde. The thralls pounded against it, their forms flickering but unable to 'apparently' phase through the dense material.
CRACK.
A clawed hand phased through the barrier.
"We're trapped too!" Grandpa Arlet gasped.
"Not for long." Eren said, his voice echoed like shattering glass. He scooped Armin and Grandpa Arlet into his massive crystalline arms, careful not to crush them, and shattered a section of the dome with a powerful kick. "Hold on!" Eren unleashed another wave of crystal, sealing the path behind them in a wall of diamond. He then heaved Armin over his shoulder, with Grandpa Arlet clinging to his back, and ran carrying them toward safety. The thralls' howls faded behind, but Eren's heart raced ahead (See what I did there 0_0).
'They're everywhere... and Zs'Skayr's out there. What if we're too late? What if Mikasa and Mom...' The guilt surged again, mixing with the adrenaline. He had to get back. Had to fix this. But the bad feeling lingered, the night was far from over.
They weren't just targets; they were the prey.
Elsewhere, same time…
The refugee camp had settled into an uneasy quiet, the kind that hung heavy just before dawn. Inside their cramped, dusty tent, the three Warriors; Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt; were locked in their own silent war, the air thick with unspoken words. They sprawled in the dim glow of a single candle which casted casting jagged shadows on the canvas walls as it flickered. In the distance were murmurs of the camp. Muffled sobs from neighboring tents and the occasional clink of cookpots cooling in the night air seeped in like unwelcomed ghosts, reminding them of the lives they were pretending to live.
Reiner lounged on a crate, lazily dragging a stolen kitchen knife across a whetstone, the rhythmic scrape-scrape more a distraction than anything useful. He let out a low chuckle, trying to break the tension that had been building like a storm cloud. "Y'know, if we're gonna be stuck in this dump for a while, least they could do is give us better knives. This thing's duller than Bert's jokes on a bad day."
Bertholdt, curled on a thin pallet with his knees drawn up, shot him a tired look from under his messy black hair. He as usual rose to the bait like he does back in Marley, when they were still training under the relentless sun, dreaming of glory that as long since been anticipated. "Funny," he muttered, his voice timid and quiet, eyes fixed on the canvas roof as if staring hard enough might reveal something more interesting in return. "You're the one who keeps sharpening it like it'll magically fix everything. Like it'll make the Coordinate appear out of thin air."
The word Coordinate landed like a stone, shattering Reiner's grin. His hand paused mid-scrape, the knife glinting dully in the candlelight. "Yeah, well," he said, voice rougher now as the mask of bravado cracked. "Six months in this hellhole, and we've got nothing. Surrounded by these… Eldian devils." He swallowed the rest, the weight of their mission pressing harder than ever. Nearly a year on this cursed island, and the Coordinate remained a ghost, mocking them. "Can't sharpen away the mess we're in, can I?"
Annie leaned against the tent flap, arms crossed tightly over her chest, her ice-blue eyes idly scanning the darkness outside. The camp's miserable sounds barely registered; her mind was tangled in thoughts of Eren Yeager, replaying their encounters like a loop she couldn't escape. That kid; brown tousled hair accompanied with green eyes burning with a defiance that reminded her too much of her own buried fire. The way he'd shifted into that hulking red-skinned beast, four arms each rippling with raw power and moving faster than she'd expected, strong enough to shatter her dagger like it was glass. A flicker of unease stirred in her gut the more she thought about it.
How strong is he, really?
That device on his wrist, it wasn't just some gadget. It turned him into monsters, things that could rival a Titan's might, hell maybe even surpass it in ways Marley couldn't predict. Annie shifted her weight on the tent's support she had been leaning on as the iron key she'd returned to him still weighed on her mind like an unspoken debt. Why had she given it back? She could've kept it, used it as leverage, or just tossed it into the dirt to watch him squirm…But something had stopped her. The raw desperation in his eyes during their fight, the way he'd hesitated before striking back, like he was fighting more than just her.
He's not like us, the blonde girl thought with a pang of something uncomfortably close to pity twisting in her chest. If she told Reiner and Bertholdt, they'd report it in a heartbeat. Marley would swoop in, drag Eren away, and... experiment. Dissect him like a lab rat, poke and prod until they unlocked whatever made that device tick. The thought made her stomach churn. She didn't care about him; not really; but the idea of Marley twisting him into another weapon, erasing whatever spark of humanity he had left... it hit too close to home. They'd done it to her, to all of them. Turned kids into killers. She wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even an Eldian devil like Eren.
And then there was the MP's body in the irrigation ditch this afternoon, throat crushed, claw marks too deliberate for a random killing. She knew for sure given how Eren reacted, He did that. Or something inside him did. That alone made a chill settle in her bones. She should've turned him in right then, spilled everything to the MPs or her comrades. But she hadn't. Why?
…Because deep down, she saw a mirror in him; a kid burdened by powers that could destroy everything he cared about. Or maybe she was just tired of being Marley's tool, of feeding more lives into their machine.
"You're quiet tonight, Annie," Reiner said, his tone lighter but probing, the knife pausing mid-scrape. "You've been off since you got back like you saw a ghost or something. What's eating you? Thinking about home? Or is it that wasteland patrol again?"
Said person didn't turn, her voice flat but softer than usual, laced with the exhaustion they all felt. "Just wondering how much longer we're gonna sit here, pretending we've got a plan." Her mind flickered to Eren again.
That kid's got powers that could change everything, turn the tide against us, or maybe even for us if we played it right. But telling them? No. Not yet. Marley would ruin him, experiment until he was a shell. She'd returned his key, after all; a small act of... what? Mercy? Defiance? She wasn't sure anymore.
Bertholdt shifted, sitting up slightly, his voice gentle but edged with concern. "You saw something out there, didn't you? In the wasteland. You've been... distant. Like it's weighing on you."
Annie's jaw tightened, her fingers digging into her arms. Too perceptive, Bert. "Nothing worth talking abo-"
Before Annie could finish could finish her sentence, screaming erupted all of a sudden. It wasn't the usual sounds of camp strife; a drunken brawl nor a stolen ration. This was different. It was a wave of pure, undiluted terror, rising from the far side of the encampment, steadily making its way towards their direction. It was punctuated by sounds that were wet, tearing noises. Guttural snarls that were far too deep for any human throat, and a high, rasping laughter that seemed to crawl inside their skulls. It was, inhuman to say the least.
All three were on their feet in an instant. Annie peeled back the tent flap a fraction, her ice-blue eyes scanning the chaos.
"What is it?" Bertholdt asked, his voice trembling. "Titans? Inside the walls?"
"No," Annie murmured, her brow furrowed. "It's… people."
Or were they? The 'people' moved through the flickering firelight with a jerky, marionette-like gait as their eyes burned with a sickly violet light. Some were simply attacking, biting and clawing with animalistic frenzy, their jaws unhinging to an impossible width. Others were… changing. They grabbed hold of fleeing refugees, and where they touched, they merged into their captive. The victim's skin turned a sickly gray, their veins blackening beneath the surface before their eyes too were swallowed by the same violet glow.
It was a plague. A corruption spreading faster than any fire.
"By the Founder…" Reiner breathed, shouldering past Annie to see. A group of MPs, their uniforms now torn and stained, were methodically cornering a family. One of the MPs took a rake to the chest from a desperate father and barely flinched, the wound weeping black ichor instead of blood. He backhanded the man, sending him flying into a tent post with a sickening crack. Then, the MP's head twisted toward their tent. The violet light fixed on them.
"They've seen us," Annie said flatly, dropping the flap. A second later, the tent was ripped open. Two of the thralls stood there with faces frozen in rictus grins of agony and hunger. One was the MP, the other a woman whose arm was bent at a hideous angle, bone protruded through the skin she didn't seem to feel.
Reiner reacted on instinct. He lunged forward, the kitchen knife flashing. It sank into the MP's throat. No blood spilled. The thing just gurgled and widened its grin, then grabbed Reiner's wrist. The touch was cold; a deep, soul-sucking cold that made Reiner gasp and his arm go numb.
"Reiner!" Bertholdt cried out in fear.
Annie moved. A blur of motion, her foot snapped out, catching the female thrall in the chest with a crunch of bone. It staggered but didn't fall, instead its head lolled to the side. Annie's eyes widened slightly. She'd kicked with enough force to kill a man. This thing just got back up.
"They don't go down easy!" she barked.
Drawn by the commotion, more began to approach. The camp was dissolving into a hellscape. The trio fought back-to-back, a well-oiled machine falling into a deadly rhythm they wished they'd never learned. Reiner used his brute strength to break limbs and throw bodies, but the thralls kept coming unless their bodies were completely shattered. Bertholdt, panicked, used his long legs (It is quite useful lol) and shovel to keep them at a distance, kicking out desperately.
It was a losing battle. For every one they disabled, two more took its place. The wave of panic was pushing the entire refugee population; infected and clean; toward the camp's outer edges; toward Wall Rose's citizen sector, a distant sanctuary of stone and safety. But the path was long, and the night was dark.
Annie saw it first. A thrall; a young boy with black hair and a swollen, bruised face; lunged not to bite, but to embrace a fleeing man. The man screamed as the boy's form seemed to blur, tendrils of shadow pouring from its mouth and eyes into his. The man convulsed violently, his own screams dying as his skin paled and his eyes ignited with violet light. He stood up, a new thrall.
"They're not just biting!" Annie yelled over the din. "They're possessing! Don't let them touch you for too long!"
The warning came too late for Bertholdt. A thrall that had been a large blacksmith grabbed his ankle the began phasing through his skin. The cold shot through him, a wave of nausea and dizziness. He felt something alien pressing against his mind. A cold, intelligent presence trying to slither into his thoughts, to find the core of him—the Titan, the Warrior, the boy—and overwrite it all.
Now what do we have here..Ahh…A one of a kind like Yeager...USEFUL.
The voice was like static and broken glass in his head. He felt his own arm twitch, moving against his will to grab Reiner.
"Get it off! GET IT OFF!" Bertholdt shrieked, his terror pure and absolute.
Reiner roared, bringing his fist down on the blacksmith's visible arm, shattering the bone. The connection broke, and Bertholdt scrambled back, clutching his head, hyperventilating. The alien presence was gone, but the psychic stain of it, the feeling of violation, remained. The thrall staggered but didn't fall, its form rippling like smoke before solidifying to slash back.
"Stay back!" Reiner barked, his voice steady despite the tears of frustration. They wouldn't just stay down!
That was the breaking point. They couldn't win this here.
"Annie!" Reiner shouted, his voice raw with a fear that had nothing to do with Titans. "We can't hold!"
Annie's gaze swept the scene. The endless horde. The terrifying method of infection. The sheer, unnatural wrongness of it. This wasn't a Titan attack. This was an invasion of an entirely different, more horrifying kind. If this spread beyond the camp, to the towns within Wall Rose… their mission, the world, everything would be irreversibly corrupted.
Her eyes narrowed. There was only one anomaly in this camp powerful enough to be connected to this. Yeager.
"We're leaving!" she commanded. "Now!"
"What?! Why?" Reiner yelled, dodging a set of claw-like fingers. Annie met his eyes, her voice cold as steel. "This is Eren Yeager's fault. That device on his wrist-it's the source of this nightmare."
Reiner froze, knife mid-swing. "Eren? Who the hell is that? You've been holding out on us!"
On the contrary, Bertholdt had a different reaction, remembering when that thrall had nearly entered his body. That voice, it had mentioned Yeager. Still shaking, the tall pre teen grabbed her arm. "Annie, why didn't you tell us? Is he the Coordinate?!"
Annie's jaw clenched, her voice nearly breaking as she shoved his hand off. "No time to argue! Move, or those things will rip us apart!" In the distance, a glint of light deflected from something (crystal?) caught her eye. Eren's work? No time to wonder.
They bolted, cutting through alleys, weaving past tents and debris. The thralls pursued, phasing through obstacles, their snarls echoing. Annie led them into a narrow gap behind a collapsed shack, motioning for silence. The violet eyes swept past, missing them. "We lost them…for now," she whispered, panting.
The trio crouched, hearts pounding. Reiner glared at Annie, voice low. "You better start talking, Annie. Who's Eren Yeager, and why's this the first we're hearing of him?"
Annie's eyes flickered to the distant crystal glint, her mind racing. He's out there, fighting this too.
"He's our only shot to stop this," she said, voice grim. "We find him, or we're all dead."
With a shared, desperate nod, they fled toward Wall Rose's citizen sector, not as Warriors, but as refugees, running toward the one person who might hold the key to ending this nightmare. The thralls' howls faded, but the darkness promised they weren't safe yet.
_______________
The shack felt smaller than ever, the walls closing in like a cage. Mikasa sat on the edge of the straw mattress, her fingers idly traced the makeshift bandage around her wrist. The bruises throbbed, a dull, insistent reminder of what had happened in the backyard. Eren's hand, cold and unyielding, clamped over her mouth. His eyes, flickered from its warm light to something dark and alien.
"Always following…You're too insistent to be let loose."
Eren's words—his words, but not his voice—replayed like a blade twisting in her chest. She knew it wasn't him. Not really. That thing inside the device, Phantom, had twisted his face, his hands, his everything; twisted him into something he wasn't. Yet the memory of his distorted voice, the way he'd pinned her down like she was an enemy... it stung. Her wrist throbbed under the makeshift bandage, a dull ache that matched the one in her heart. He didn't mean it. She told herself for the hundredth time. He was fighting it…But what if he wasn't? What if that darkness was winning, piece by piece? The thought sent a chill down her spine, colder than the night air. She'd seen fear in his eyes; not for himself, but for what he might do to her. And that fear had become her own.
Carla wheeled back and forth across the dirt floor, her face pale and drawn, hands twisting in her lap. The waiting was agony. Nearly two hours had passed since Armin and his grandfather had left, promising to find Eren.
"He's out there alone." Carla had said, her voice cracking in the process. "My boy... what's happening to him?"
Mikasa had wanted to go with them, but Grandpa Arlet had insisted she should stay behind and protect aunt Carla instead. She respected the elderly man's reasons, so she stayed, however every second of doing nothing made her muscle tense up, listening to the distant murmurs of the camp outside.
The air was just thick with unease. Faint screams had started drifting in from the far side of the camp; sporadic at first, like echoes of a nightmare. Maybe it was another infighting again, it happens more often than expected, Mikasa's hand hovered near her hidden knife (She's still got it of course), her instincts screaming that something wasn't just okay.
Eren... where are you? The guilt in his eyes before he ran haunted her. He'd looked at her like he was poison, like his touch could destroy everything he loved. And now, with those screams growing louder, she couldn't shake the feeling that whatever was out there was tied to him. To that device on his wrist.
Carla stopped her pacing, turning to Mikasa with eyes full of unspoken fear. "It's been too long. What if... what if something happened to them?" Her voice trembled carrying the weight of a mother's worry cracking through.
Mikasa forced a steady tone, even as her heart raced. "They'll find him. Eren's strong. He always comes back." But the words felt hollow. Strong? Yes. But broken too. The way he'd shoved her, the pain in his voice... it wasn't him. It couldn't be. She rubbed her wrist again, wincing slightly.
'I know it wasn't you, Eren. But why does it hurt so much?'
A sudden heavy thud shook the door, rattling the flimsy frame. Mikasa was on her feet in an instant, knife drawn beside her, positioning herself between Carla and the entrance. Carla's breath hitched. "What was that?"
The door burst open, and in stumbled a massive, crystalline figure. Obsidian, Eren's diamond-hard form (I was going to say rock-hard…that sounds really sus) cradling Armin and Grandpa Arlet in his arms. The old man let go of the protruding shards behind Eren's back, and set himself down, while Armin looked wide-eyed and breathless. Obsidian immediately slammed the door shut behind him making the wood creak in protest.
"That would buy us some time." Was all Obsidian said before a flash of green light filled the room, and Eren reverted to his human form, collapsing against the door with a gasp. His face was pale and sweat-slicked while his eyes darted wildly, shadowed with a guilt that hit Mikasa like a punch. When he looked at her and the small bandage on her wrist, his expression crumpled.
"Eren!" Carla wheeled forward, her voice breaking with relief and fear. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
Mikasa sheathed her knife back where it belonged, stepping closer, her heart pounding. "Eren... talk to us."
But before Eren could speak, Grandpa Arlet held up a hand, his voice urgent and strained. "No time. We need to get out of here—fast."
Carla's eyes widened. "What? Why? What's going on out there?"
Eren pushed off the door, his breath coming in short bursts. He swallowed hard, the words sticking in his throat. The guilt crashed over him again; Mikasa's bruised wrist, her hurt expression from earlier.
I did that. I hurt her. But there was no time for apologies.
"Phantom... Zs'Skayr," he said, his voice rough. "He's free. From this device. He's wrecking havoc on the other side of the camp—and he's coming this way."
The room fell silent as the weight of the brunette's words crashed down like a collapsing wall. Carla's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes filling with terror. "Free? How—Eren, what does that mean?"
Mikasa felt a chill run down her spine. She'd seen glimpses of Phantom's influence. The way Eren's eyes had flickered, the cold grip on her wrist. The eerie abilities the ghost creature possess. But free? Out in the world?
"It's my fault," Eren blurted, the words tumbling out. "I lost control. He used me... and now he's out. Possessing people, turning them into monsters." His eyes flicked to Mikasa, guilt and shame making him lower his gaze a bit. "Mikasa, I... I'm sorry. For earlier. I didn't mean…"
Mikasa's chest tightened. She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, that she understood, but the words stuck in her throat. Instead, she nodded, forcing the hurt down. "Not now Eren. We'll talk…later. Let's focus on what's ahead, how bad is the situation?"
Grandpa Arlet nodded, his face grim. "The boy's right. Those things, they're spreading. We can't stay here."
"We have to go," Mikasa said, her voice steady despite the fear gnawing at her. "Now."
Eren nodded, but his eyes lingered on Mikasa's wrist, guilt etching deep lines on his young face. I hurt her, he thought, the memory replaying like a nightmare. My hands... on her. What if she hates me? What if I can't fix this? The shame burned hotter than any Titan's steam, making his chest ache. But there was no time for apologies. Not with those screams drawing closer.
Grandpa Arlet shifted his hat on his head. "The back way through the alleys. Avoid the main paths."
"I'll hold them off," Eren said, his voice firmer than he felt. Eren straightened, his voice steadying as he pushed the guilt aside, for now. "You all get to safety, it's the only way." His eyes hardened with the weight of responsibility crashing down on him.
This is my mess. I can't let them get hurt because of me. I have to protect them. No more running.'
"Eren, no!" Armin, Mikasa and Carla said in unison, horror in their voices.
But it was Grandpa Arlet who reacted most sharply. He grabbed Eren's arm, his gnarled fingers surprisingly strong. His face was etched with a fear that wasn't just for their immediate safety, but something deeper, more knowledgeable.
"No, Eren," the old man said, his gravelly voice low and urgent, cutting through the panic. "That is precisely what he wants you to do. Isolation. Despair. A lone, emotional host making a 'noble' last stand? That is a feast for a creature like Zs'Skayr. He will break you, consume you, and wear your power like a crown. And given how long the omnitrix times out per transformation…" He gestured to the dormant Omnitrix. "…you'd be defenseless in minutes, playing right into his hands. Your sacrifice would be his ultimate victory."
Armin nodded frantically, his face pale in the flickering light from the distant fires. "Grandpa's right. If you stay, you're playing into his hands. We need a plan, figure out how to fight this properly."
Mixed emotions played around Eren's face. That felt like cowardice!... But the truth of it hit Eren like a physical blow. Eren's fists clenched, frustration and defiance bubbling up. "But I can't just run! This is my fault—all of it! If I'd controlled it better, if I hadn't let him out..." His voice cracked, the guilt surging back like a tidal wave, threatening to drown him. Mikasa's wrist... Mom's fear... the screams out there... because of me. Tears pricked at his eyes, but he blinked them away, his chest heaving. "I have to fix this!"
Grandpa Arlet's gaze softened for a fraction of a second before hardening with resolve. He looked toward his shack, then back to the terrified group. "And we will. But not like this. Not alone."
Eren blinked, confusion etched to his boy features. "What do you mean?"
"We do not run from him," Grandpa Arlet stated with a strange grim certainty entering his voice. "We run to our only chance to fight back. This is not the first time Zs'Skayr has threatened a world or the stars. And it will not be the last time I have to deal with his kind."
Mikasa's eyes widened, stepping closer. "You... defeated him before?"
Grandpa Arlet nodded, his face shadowed. "Long story kid, but yes. Though it ain't foolproof, still better than dying out here. We get back, arm up, and end this."
"Then what is it?" Carla pressed on slightly.
"During my… 'Wrecker days'… I made a habit of keeping souvenirs from particularly troublesome quarries. Tools for containment. One of them is in a toolbox back in my shack. A Sun Gun Refractor. It channels light, pure and focused, like a beam of dawn. It won't destroy him, but it can hold him at bay, weaken him significantly, make him solid long enough to hurt…really hurt."
Armin's eyes widened a bit. The toolbox (I think I called it box tool in the previous chapters) his grandfather tends to carry along with him nearly all the time. Was that what he was referring to?
Eren stared, the words sinking in. Wrecker days? Souvenirs? Grandpa Arlet had always been mysterious, with his stories of "beyond the walls," but this... this was something else. The old man wasn't just a refugee, he was definitely something more.
Eren took a quick glance at his best friend who had a shocked expression on his face. 'Armin, do you know something about this too?'
The old man glanced at Eren, his eyes holding a glint of something powerful and ancient, a glimpse of the man he used to be. It was a look that brooked no argument.
"You are not to blame for the evil that clings to you, boy. You are its victim. But you are also the key. Your device is the lock, and I have the tool. Together, we can force him back into his cage. For good this time."
He looked at the closed door of the shack, his expression cryptic to read, a promise and a threat woven into one. "Zs'Skayr will be handled. Properly. Let's go."
The group moved quickly, slipping out the back door into the night. Mikasa and Eren lifted Carla's wheelchair over the threshold, while Armin grabbed a torch to light the way. The group slipped into the narrow alley behind the shack, the screams now a constant roar in the distance, punctuated by guttural snarls and crashing wood. As Eren walked beside Mikasa, his eyes couldn't help but dart to her wrist, the bruise beneath the bandage Mikasa had been trying to hide from him. He wanted to say something, anything, but the words stuck in his throat.
Having noticed, Mikasa glanced at him, her expression softened just a fraction. She knew what he was thinking. "Eren," she whispered, "it wasn't you. We'll get through this."
"…Okay." Eren said quietly, he looked at Grandpa Arlet who was leading them ahead. "Mr Arlet-sir. I've been meaning to ask, but how come do you know all this whole…stuff. You aren't really just a librarian, are you?"
Silence and underlining tension hung in the air after Eren's question. When the old man glanced back at him, Eren noticed he was…smirking?
"You have no idea kiddo."
With that Grandpa Arlet picked up the pace, leading them on a desperate, hopeful sprint toward the shack, not as a refuge, but as an armory. The night of terror was not over, but the fightback had just begun.
_______________
Annie led Reiner and Bertholdt through the labyrinth of the refugee camp, their breaths ragged, the distant screams of the camp now a constant roar. The alleys they thread through twisted like a dying beast, each step they took was laced with uncertainty of the unknown and apparent danger. Her ice-blue eyes flicked to the faint glint of crystal in the distance, shimmering under the moonlight like a jagged beacon. Eren's handiwork, she thought, her gut tightening. That glint of diamond-like crystal, pulsing with an unnatural sheen, was where they needed to go. If Eren was there, he was the key to stopping this nightmare; or the cause of it.
Reiner panted beside her, his muscular frame heaving with each stride, while Bertholdt trailed just behind, his long legs pumping desperately to keep up. The thralls' howls echoed closer, their pursuit relentless.
Annie could feel their cold presence nipping at their heels, like icy fingers brushing the back of her neck. "Keep moving!" she barked, dodging a fallen cart. "We lose them in the trees up ahead!"
But Reiner slowed slightly just enough to glare at her, his face twisted in confusion and frustration. "Annie, hold up! You said this Eren kid's behind it all? Who the hell is he? And why didn't you tell us sooner? We're your team—your comrades! If he's got some device turning people into these… these things, Marley needs to know!" His voice cracked, the sting of betrayal cutting deeper than the mission's weight.
Bertholdt, trailing with his long legs pumping, glanced nervously at the shadows to see if any of those abominations were trailing them. "Yeah, Annie… if he's got something to do with this, we need to know. Is he the Coordinate? Or something worse?"
Annie's jaw clenched tightly, her silence only making the fragged distrust go higher.
They wouldn't understand.
Eren wasn't just a threat; he was a mirror, a kid drowning in powers he infact doesn't understand fully, just like them. But telling them now, with violet-eyed thralls lurking in every shadow, would only spark more questions they didn't have time for. "Keep moving," she snapped, her voice sharper than intended. "We find him, we figure it out."
The trio emerged into a clearing near the camp's edge, where the crystal dome loomed. A massive, jagged structure that seemed to grow from the earth like a tumor. Its surface was flawless yet grotesquely eerie, reflecting the chaos in warped fragments: destroyed tents and shacks, fleeing refugees, and the jerky, unnatural movements of Zs'Skayr's thralls. At is base was a swarm of Zs'Skayr's other thralls, their numbers doing nothing to shatter the unyielding fortress of jagged shards. Their claws scraped futilely, some half-phasing into the crystal only to be trapped, writhing in grotesque torment. One thrall, its swollen face frozen in agony, was fully encased, its limbs locked mid-lunge. Bran, or what remained of him.
Then there was a figure which hovered above the thralls, its skeletal form wreathed in writhing shadows with a single purple eye glowing like a malevolent star. Zs'Skayr.
The Ecto-Lord's voice rumbled, a grinding rasp that clawed at their minds. "Useless!" he snarled, backhanding the encased thrall making the diamond shatter. "One task, and you fail me!Must I think for you all?!" Zs'Skayr's prehensile tail lashed, his claws flexing with fury. The thrall-Bran's one good eye flared violently as it thrashed weakly.
From their hiding place. Reiner froze and his eyes widened as he locked on to the sight of the crystal dome. "That… that crystal…" His voice trembled, not with fear but with dawning horror. Recognition. The crystal's razor-sharp edges, refracting moonlight into blinding shards; it was unmistakable. Shiganshina flooded his mind immediately, the Armored Titan charging the inner gate, only to be met by a crystalline juggernaut—Obsidian, the rumors called it. It had cracked his armor, nearly stopping him if he hadn't hurled it into a building. A close call victory, but the lingering defeat still burned.
"I-It can't be…" The blonde boy breathed, voice trembling with horror and anger. "I saw it in Shiganshina. That crystal Titan—Obsidian—it nearly stopped me. And you said this is Eren's work? That means… Eren Yeager is Obsidian?" He whirled on Annie, his face a mask of panic and rage with betrayal etching deep. "You knew? You've been hiding this the whole time?"
Annie's heart sank, but her expression stayed cold, unyielding. "I suspected," she said, voice flat. "That device on his wrist; it's not just a weapon. It's… something else. I saw him use it, turn into things that could break Titans." Her mind flashed to their wasteland fight, Eren's four-armed beast shattering her dagger. "I didn't tell you because Marley would've turned him into a lab rat. Or tamper with something extremely dangerous."
Bertholdt's breath hitched, his irises shaking in his sclera. "Annie, you kept this from us? A kid with that kind of power, and you didn't say anything?" His voice cracked, the weight of their mission crashing down. "If this Eren's got powers like that—turning into a crystal Titan, causing this—why didn't you tell us? We could've reported him to Marley months ago! Our mission would have ended—"
"Ended what?" Annie cut in, her voice low but venomous. "You think I wanted this? Eren's not the Coordinate—he's something Marley would rip apart! And we'd still be here, cleaning up their damn mess. And now look around, this is what happens when you poke at things you don't understand! Unless we don't survive this nightmare, we could scream our damn heads off if that's what you want!" Her words dripped with rage and guilt, shattering her composure under their accusations.
Reiner and Bertholdt's eyes widened at her outburst. Annie rarely shows her emotions, so this really caught them by surprise.
"Annie…" Bertholdt said in surprise.
Reiner's face however was flushed in anger, before he could open his mouth to retort, a bone-chilling laughter cut him off. The Ecto-Lord himself glided towards their direction having long since known they were here (Their bickering wasn't helping too), his upside-down skull head tilted as his single purple eye fixed on them with predatory glee. His sinewy body, riddled with writhing white tentacles and black-veined stripes, pulsed with otherworldly energy.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here. You think to hide from me children." His eye locked onto Annie, then Reiner and Bertholdt, a cruel smile splitting his upside-down skull."Children?...Well, I didn't know they could be so eager to come out and play by this time."
"S-S-Stay back, you damn freak!" Reiner stepped forward, fists clenched, his voice shaking but defiant, having pulled out the kitchen knife he had sharpened a while ago and pressed it to his palm. Annie already flicked out the small needle in her finger ring while Bertholdt had his hand pressed near his mouth, instinctively ready to bite down at any moment.
Zs'Skayr's eyes narrowed in amusement and suspicion. Just what was these little earthlings intending to do? By the looks of it, they were going to…injure themselves?
"You aren't scared of me?" The ecto-lord quipped quietly. Though he could tell all their acts was just bravado. The more he stared into the supposed leader's face, the more he felt he had seen this face before. Not just that, but the shape of the hair had a striking similarity to…
His mind flashed back to the time of his imprisonment in the omnitrix, the fateful day of the miserable wall Maria's collapse. Eren's Petrosapian form fighting the armored titan-
A burst of dark laughter escaped the ectonurite's skeletal lips. "My my. Would you look at that. More Xerxathi hosts to harvest. Wolves residing in the midst of their prey. Are you by chance the armored titan, boy?"
The stiffened reaction of the three warriors answered his question. "Correct I take it. I must say, I am impressed with the effronteries you have to reside among the very people you have plagued suffering upon. Commendable to my standards." Zs'Skayr then turned his attention to Annie and Bertholdt. "Given the time before the armored one appeared, I'll take it that you're the colossal giant. And who might you be little girl…?"
Reiner's eyes nearly buldged from its sockets. This thing knows??? That can't be-It can't-…
"It doesn't matter anyway. Because you are taking that truth with you to the grave, you monster." Annie proclaimed coldly.
"…I take it you want to kill me?" Zs'Skayr's tone said with an unreadable tone that laced with mockery.
"We will kill you." Reiner's resolve hardened.
The ectonurite's gaze narrowed with fascination."Doesn't matter. All I see are fresh vessels. And one with… potential." His tentacles wriggled on reflex, as if sensing the latent Titan power in the trio. With that the Ecto-Lord surged forward, his form blurring like smoke till it disappeared, making the warriors shocked.
"The fuck?!"
"Where did he go?!"
Reiner swung his knife wildly on reflex, the blade passing uselessly through the air. With barely as a second to react, Cold tendrils rematerialized and pierced Reiner's chest, burrowing like worms, till Zs'Skayr's whole body phased into him. A cold, soul-sucking chill flooded Reiner's veins, his body convulsing as Zs'Skayr's essence poured in.
"Get—out—of—me!" Reiner roared, his voice distorting as black veins spiderwebbed across his skin. Faint lightning flickered involuntarily, as if his Titan power was reacting to the intrusion, but it was too late.
"If that's what you wish."
Immediately Zs'Skayr left his body. Reiner's eyes rolled back, glowing violet as his body twisted. He screamed, convulsing as the possessing transformation became brutal. His muscles bulged, splitting into jagged, armored plates riddled with Ectonurite tendrils pulsing like shadows. His jaw cracked open impossibly wide and his shoulders broadened, more armored plates emerging sporadically like fractured shields, each warped with additional Ectonurite tendrils coiling through the gaps. By the time it was done, Reiner barley looked recognizable. His new form was a grotesque hybrid of 2 meters in height: armored limbs elongated into claws, his face frozen in a snarling armored mask not unlike his armored titan's face with purple-glowing fissures in the plating while his eyes glowed with Zs'Skayr's malice.
Annie and Bertholdt stumbled back in fear as Reiner; or what was left of him; reared his (its now?) head back to release a titanic roar, blended with an ectonurite's screech.
Annie shoved Bertholdt aside as a tendril shot at their way, her kick meeting the appendage with a crack, but it reformed instantly, coiling around her arm.
"Annie!" Bertholdt shouted, immediately rushing to grip the tendril holding onto Annie's arm in an attempt to peer it off.
"Well then, it seems somebody is excited to be the next in line."
Bertholdt barely had time to react. Zs'Skayr's tail whipped out and latched onto Bertholdt's leg before yanking him forward. The possession was swift and brutal; cold tendrils forced their way into his pores, mouth and his eyes. The poor child could only scream in pain and terror, his body ballooning unnaturally as his Colossal Titan essence clashed with the invasion. Steam erupted from his skin, but it twisted into shadowy wisps. His form swelled, bones cracking and reforming into a hulking, Ectonurite-infused giant of about 5 meters; colossal limbs riddled with black-striped tentacles, his face contorted to a skeletal mask with a massive, unhinged jaw glowing violet from within. One eyes glowed purple, the other clouded white. He collapsed to his knees, thrashing as the possession completed, his eyes also igniting with Zs'Skayr's malevolent light as his will consumed him. Faint steam rose from his body, the Colossal Titan's heat merging with Zs'Skayr's ghostly essence, creating a towering, spectral horror.
Annie stumbled back, her breath catching. No… not them. Her heart pounded, the weight of her secrecy crashing down.
If I'd told them, would this have happened?
On the other hand Zs'Skayr's laughter echoed, his form looming over the clearing. "Such splendid vessels," he purred, his tail lashing. "Your Titans… exquisite. Now, serve your Lord and master. Get her." (We can all agree that at this point, Zs'Skayr is just fucking around. Afterall, the night is still young.)
Reiner's thrall form charged, his crystalline claws slashing with unnatural speed. Annie dodged, rolling to the side, but Bertholdt's massive arm swung down, the ground shaking as it missed her by inches. Their movements were jerky yet relentless, their violet eyes empty of the boys she'd known.
'They're gone', Annie thought with anguish twisting in her chest. 'Marley made us monsters, but this… this is worse.'
Annie's heart pounded, anguish and rage surging. "Damn you, Eren!" she cursed, voice raw with despair. "This is your fault!" The crystal dome glinted behind Zs'Skayr, mocking her. Eren was there, somewhere, and she had to reach him, if only to stop this…or to make him pay.
However the thralls; Reiner, Bertholdt, and a dozen others; closed in, violet eyes a suffocating ring. Zs'Skayr hovered, laughing, his voice slithering into her mind.
"Oh, how the tables have turned drastically. You fought well, girl, but your spirit is weak. Join them, or be consumed." Zs'Skayr mocked.
Annie's resolve hardened. She wouldn't fall here. Especially now of all times. "Go to hell." With a snarl, she flicked the ring on her finger, purposely injuring her thumb to activate the power of the titans, lightning cracking the sky as her Female Titan partially manifested. A half-formed figure erupted; head to upper rib cage, crystalline skin glinting, muscles rippling from a half-shaped skull to a skeletal torso, its right arm fully formed before it hardened with crystalline like diamond. Annie controlled it like a puppet, her human body anchored within, eyes blazing defiance. The lightning strike of her transformation scorched the air causing its blinding flash to force Zs'Skayr to recoil, hissing as he shielded his eye. The thralls staggered back, their grotesque forms wavering under the searing light as their snarls twisting into pained shrieks as well, although Reiner and Bertholdt were partially undeterred.
Zs'Skayr's eye flared with fury. "Insolent child!" he roared, voice reverberating like shattered glass. The thralls obeyed, their violet eyes igniting as they surged forward—dozens of twisted parodies of refugees and MPs, their bodies warped with black-veined sinews and unhinged jaws that snarled with hunger and obedience. Reiner's thrall charged, claws slashing like blades. Annie's titan arm swung, its crystalline fist slamming into the armored thrall's chest with a thunderous crack, fissures spiderwebbing across his warped plating. He staggered, tentacles lashing, but Annie pivoted, her Titan's jaw snapping at his shoulder, tearing through tendrils with a wet, ripping squelch. Black ichor sprayed, but Reiner's thrall roared in defiance, his armored claws raked her Titan's arm repeatedly, cracking the crystal and sending pain shooting through her real body.
Bertholdt's 5 meters colossal thrall struck next, his massive hand swiping with bone-shattering force. Annie blocked it, her partial form surprisingly agile, but his tendrils wrapped around her Titan's half formed ribcage, cold and searing, lifting her off the ground to her shock (Don't fuck with an ectonurite's strength, plus titans are canonically light). The Ectonurite presence pressed against her mind, a slithering violation whispering incohesive thoughts and screams. Her vision blurred, but Annie bit her tongue, the pain grounding her. With a guttural cry, she twisted her Titan arm and smashed it into Bertholdt's skeletal face. His head snapped back, ichor bursting from the damage, but his grip tightened, hurling her half-formed Titan into a pile of debris.
The impact shattered her crystalline armor, wood and metal splintering around her. Annie scrambled from her flipped over position, tearing herself free to escape the nape as she was unable to move (Well no legs for that obviously), her human form tumbled free as the Titan husk dissolved slowly into steam.
Annie hit the ground hard, till she noticed a shadow covering her body, immediately rolling to avoid a thrall's stomp; a grotesque MP with a half-melted face, its foot crashing inches from her head. Pain flared as its foot caught hold of most her right leg unfortunately, tearing flesh to the bone. Annie gritted her teeth, her Titan healing kicking in, the wound knitted itself back with agonizing slowness as steam rose from the massive gash.
The thralls tightened their circle, violet eyes hungry, their bodies a nightmare of twisted limbs and unhinged jaws. A woman with a shattered jaw lunged, her fingers elongating into claws. Annie rolled, grabbing a splintered beam and swinging it like a bat, caving in the thrall's skull with a sickening crunch. But more came; endless, phasing through debris, their hisses a chorus of hunger. Reiner's thrall charged again, his bladed arms slashing, while Bertholdt's towering form lumbered forward, his tendrils lashing like whips.
Annie's breath came in ragged gasps, her leg throbbing but functional. "Eren, you bastard," she muttered, fury and desperation choking her voice. Just as another thrall dashed at her with claws ready to strike, Annie gripped hold of the arm, twisted it and threw it off their feet to a cluster of incoming thralls. They collapsed in a writhing heap, buying her a heartbeat.
Annie made a mad dash away from the abominations, weaving through a nearby alley, with the thralls' roars echoing behind. Reiner's and Bertholdt's corrupted forms led the chase, their violet eyes burning through the darkness, but the shadows of the camp's edge swallowed her. The thralls' snarls faded as she vanished, driven by one thought: Find Eren. Stop this. Survive.
_________________
The shack's wooden door creaked as Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Carla, and Grandpa Arlet stumbled inside, the night's chaos clawing at their heels. The refugee camp's screams and snarls faded to a muffled din, but the air inside was heavy with dread. Moonlight filtered through cracked shutters, casting jagged shadows across the cluttered room; shelves of dusty books, worn farm tools, and a single candle flickered weakly. Eren's breath hitched, his Omnitrix pulsing faintly on his wrist, a reminder of the nightmare he'd unleashed. Mikasa stayed close, her eyes scanning the dark corners, while Carla clutched Armin's arm, her face pale but resolute. Grandpa Arlet, his expression grim, moved with purpose to a battered toolbox in the corner.
"Stay sharp," he muttered, kneeling with a grunt. The toolbox opened with a metallic click, revealing a jumble of farm implements; rusted shears, a hammer, a coiled rope. His hands, weathered but steady, fished out an oddly shaped tool: a sickle, its curved blade unusually broad and etched with faint, angular markings that caught the candle flame's light. A small, crystal-like lens was embedded in its handle, glinting with an unnatural sheen.
Armin's brow furrowed, stepping closer. "Grandpa… what is that? It's not like any sickle I've seen." The group exchanged confused glances. Grandpa Arlet's eyes twinkled with a mix of nostalgia and resolve. "Armin, you remember what I always told you about this old thing?" His voice was low, almost teasing. "Be careful with it. Never touch it without me."
Armin blinked, memory sparking. "Yeah, you said it was dangerous… something about it not being what it seems. But why? What's it for?"
The old man smirked, his thumb brushing the sickle's handle. With a soft click, he pressed a hidden button, and the tool shuddered. The blade retracted, folding inward as the handle extended, the crystal lens flaring with a faint, golden glow. In seconds, the sickle morphed into a sleek, metallic device; a compact contraption with a lens that pulsed like a tiny sun, its surface etched with alien symbols. The Sun Gun.
Grandpa Arlet's grin widened, his voice warm with triumph. "Still works like a charm." He cradled the device, its light casting long shadows across his weathered face. "This beauty's from my Wrecker days. Channels pure sunlight, even in the dark. Zs'Skayr hates it, burns right through his kind. We lure him, trap him till dawn, and this'll finish him."
Eren's eyes widened, a flicker of hope cutting through anticipation and guilt. Mikasa's hand tightened on her knife, her gaze steady but searching. "Will it work?" she asked, voice soft but firm.
"It has to," Carla whispered, her eyes on Eren, heavy with worry but unwavering. Armin stared at the Sun Gun, his mind racing with questions about his grandfather's past.
Grandpa Arlet stood cradling the refractor, its light casting a defiant glow across the shack. He turned to the group, his smirk widening into a grin that belied his years. "Squabble up, kiddos," His voice carried a mix of confidence and challenge, as if rallying them against the darkness outside.
"…Time for this old timer to show you some Wrecker's protocol."
Chapter 17-29: Chapter 16 (Night of terror), Chapter 17 (Counter), Chapter 18 (Sunrise), Chapter 19 (Binding wounds), Chapter 20 (Demonic prowl), Chapter 21 (The scent of prey- Part 1), Chapter 22 (The scent of prey- Part 2), Chapter 23 (Scourge), Chapter 24 (Hammer and axil), Chapter 25 (Purge-Part 1), Chapter 26 (Purge-Part 2), Chapter 27 (Purge- Part 3), Chapter 28 (Ashes and Embers) and Chapter 29 (Where Giants tread-Part 1) are already available for as low as $3 on Patreon.com/Weeb Fanthom.