Zeke had lost all control. Rage consumed him, clouding reason until even Erwin and Levi, fighting side by side, couldn't subdue him.
Across the courtyard, Annie Leonhart watched with tightening fists. The captain's movements were frantic, feral—wrong. She instinctively took a step forward to help, but Bertolt Hoover grabbed her arm.
"Wait—something's off with him!" he hissed.
Annie froze. He was right. Zeke wasn't fighting like a soldier; he was lashing out like a cornered beast, driven more by grief than fury. Every strike seemed to carry heartbreak.
She looked at him again—this proud, brilliant man who now looked so small and broken.
Zeke Yeager, trapped like an animal in the middle of the Survey Corps.
"I'm going to help him," Annie whispered.
Bertolt's grip tightened painfully. "Do you want everyone here to see what we are? You'll be branded a monster!"
Her breath caught. Around them, whispers spread like wildfire.
"What's that man doing?"
"He's… protecting a Titan?"
"Is he insane? Who'd defend one of them?"
Annie's pulse quickened.
Here, the word Titan meant demon. Anyone who defended one was as good as cursed.
If they acted now—if they revealed their strength—they'd be discovered. Not just enemies. Specimens.
Death would be mercy compared to what these people might do once they realized what she and Bertolt really were.
But as she watched Zeke surrounded, beaten, eyes wild with despair, something twisted painfully inside her.
She couldn't just watch him fall.
"I still have to help him," she muttered. "If the Corps captures him, we'll all be exposed anyway!"
Bertolt's eyes went wide. "Annie—!"
But she was already moving.
Then—
Zeke's roar split the air.
He ripped a heavy firearm from his back and aimed it wildly.
"If anyone comes closer, I'll shoot! I swear I'll kill anyone who tries!"
The soldiers froze. Even Erwin hesitated, stunned not just by the gun but by the sight of Zeke—their ally—aiming it at his own comrades.
That weapon wasn't ordinary. Erwin could tell from its make and weight—it could blow apart even a Titan's nape. Against a human? Instant death.
"Zeke, put the gun down!" Erwin ordered, his tone calm but sharp. "You'll hit someone by mistake. There are civilians here!"
Zeke's breathing grew ragged. The tremor in his hands betrayed the chaos inside him.
"Talk? What's there to talk about?!" he shouted. "You'll never trust me again! None of you will!"
He looked around, seeing only fear and disgust reflected in their faces. The truth hit him like a blade.
He'd failed.
He was no longer one of them—never had been.
Once captured, there'd be interrogations, torture, endless suspicion. He would never stop his father's cursed legacy from consuming Eren.
After everything, he'd failed again.
The crowd murmured louder, voices sharp with fear.
"He pointed a gun at us?"
"For that Titan?"
"He's a spy! He must be!"
Zeke's vision blurred.
"What else do you want from me?!" he roared at no one and everyone. "Carla's alive! Wall Maria still stands! Everything's changed—so why can't I let her go?! I already killed her! What more do you want?!"
"You… killed her?" Erwin repeated, confusion flashing across his face. "Then why protect her body?"
Before anyone could answer, Annie's eyes widened in realization. No way… it can't be.
She covered her mouth, her chest pounding.
Zeke's voice cracked as he turned toward the towering Titan body nearby. "Carriage!" he shouted desperately. "Carriage, come with me!"
But then—a ripple through the crowd.
"The Titan's eyes… they moved!"
Zeke froze.
No—impossible. Titans turned to steam after death. But this one—her body remained. Her eyes flickered with faint light.
And when she looked at him, he felt it—recognition.
"Zeke…"
The whisper echoed in his ears. His mother's voice. Dina Fritz.
Tears blurred his sight. "Mom…"
Erwin's sharp voice cut through the haze. "Now, Levi!"
Levi was already moving. This time, he didn't hesitate. He launched forward with full force, blades sheathed, slamming into Zeke and driving him to the ground. His knee pinned Zeke's spine; his hands twisted the gun from his grip.
Erwin arrived moments later, breathing hard but focused. He disassembled the weapon swiftly, handing its pieces to a nearby soldier. "Secure it. Don't let anyone touch it."
Levi pressed down harder as Zeke struggled. "Hey, brat—do you want everyone to think you're a monster?"
Zeke's laughter came out broken, bitter. "As if I'm not already one."
"Are you sure?" Levi growled.
And in that instant, Zeke saw it.
Eren Yeager—younger, innocent—staring at him from the crowd. In his mother's arms, eyes wide, trembling.
"Why… why is Brother Zeke protecting the Titan?"
The words cut deeper than any blade.
Zeke's rage drained away, leaving only emptiness.
He had become exactly what the world always said he was.
A monster.
Captured.
Bound.
His mind spiraled to what came next—interrogation, exposure. But worse, his mother's body would fall into their hands.
Dissection.
Experimentation.
Even in death, she would know no peace.
He couldn't let that happen.
Why was this world so cruel?
Why couldn't he save both?
If he protected Eren, he'd lose his mother.
If he saved his mother, he'd damn Eren.
Fate always demanded a sacrifice.
He looked at Dina—at the gentle, unblinking eyes that once smiled at him through a mother's love.
Her lips moved soundlessly. Maybe she was calling his name. Maybe it was just his guilt echoing back at him.
Either way, he knew what he had to do.
Zeke pressed his forehead against the cold ground, tears soaking the dust.
In a trembling whisper, he said the only mercy he could give her:
"Please… go to hell."
And the shot rang out.
...
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