Lost Boys

Chapter 3: Go Go Power Reiner!

There was a blinding flash of light, and Reiner Braun felt an explosion of intense heat and electricity as the armored titan formed around him. The whole world went dark as fast as it had light up, and his whole body was rooted in place by extra muscles and tendons latched on to his limbs and face burrowing themselves his skin. A humid cavern of flesh had completely enveloped his physical body and the next moment he opened his other eyes, looking out on the world from fifteen meters in the air.

By the time the armored titan had fully formed, the female titan had been knocked on to the ground by three titans who started to consume her. One gnawed at her left arm, another her right leg, and the largest of the three pinned her down while biting deeply into her neck.

"Hurry, Reiner!" Bertholdt called in a panic. His hand was not far from his own mouth, and tears streaming down his face.

Reiner lurched forwards, his body letting out a loud grinding sound like a stone statue being dragged across concrete. The armored titan was heavy and unresponsive, so he had to strain all of his muscles to get himself into motion. With his left hand, he scooped up Bertholdt, who yelped, and he drew back his right hand before throwing all of his weight into a punch levied against the neck of the massive titan. The hardened fist backed by the inertia of the armored titan crushed the lightweight neck releasing a torrent of steam and sending the titan off Annie and flying backwards. As it bounced, the titan's head was only loosely attached to its body the whole thing was collapsed into itself releasing a thick column of steam. It wasn't getting up.

Thank you, Marcel. For making me a warrior and giving me the power to protect my friends. The thoughts hung like a black cloud in Reiner's head. I am the one who should be sorry. I couldn't protect you.

Another titan charged through the column of steam and Reiner swung his head over to the female titan. Her neck had been ripped open, exposing Annie's human body, which was completely covered in in a silver-blue crystal cocoon. Inside the crystal, blood swirled around in the clear liquid, dissipating until the whole crystal had turned cloudy and pink. But before the crystal became opaque, Reiner saw Annie's left arm had been bitten clean off.

"No!" Bertholdt called out. "We can't get her out without Marcel's titan. She's going to be in there for years!"

Reiner kicked one of the swarming titan's away before ripping the crystal out of the female titan's neck with his teeth. He felt an enormous weight straining against him as a titan grabbed hold of his shoulder. He picked the female titan's body waiving it into the air for all the titans to see, before throwing it into the mass of titan's in front of him and running the other direction, with a titan still hitching a ride on his shoulders. The titans ignored the steaming hollow titan body that Annie had occupied, and Reiner heard a thunderous rumbling of giant footsteps behind him.

Reiner felt a pair of giant arms clutching his right leg, and he staggered, almost going down. Another titan ran directly at them, ten meters tall with a bald head and bulging eyes, its arms spread wide. Reiner stuck out his arm, and stiff armed it into the sand, but it slowed him down, and he tripped over a three meter all one, almost wiping out again.

"If you go down, I'm going nuclear!" Bertholdt said in a panic. "I'm sorry, Reiner!"

If only I could break the crystal, Reiner thought. Annie would know what to do. He ground his teeth on the edges of the crystal only to crack a tooth against it. Giant chunks that looked more like stone than enamel fell out of his mouth and clattered against his chest. Two more titans piled onto Reiner's back, slowing him down to a crawl. He could see three smaller ones approaching along with another ten meter titan, and there were so many more lumbering behind him.