No.

It couldn't be.

Those four words circulated Chi's mind over and over as she raced toward the second tier, screaming for retreat. No matter how much pride she held in her pack and herself, she knew that this woman would be the deciding factor of their battle for freedom.

Why, of all times, did that wretched woman have to appear now? Chi had completely forgotten about her; the Deviants had been so close to their goal that she'd been filled with adrenaline and the biding cry of victory.

Several others joined in on her race to the interior, distracted by fear. They needed a plan if they were determined to even attempt to take Violet down; even the assigned messengers would not travel fast enough. Chi decided to take leadership of her own accord; if she did not, lives could be lost.

"Everyone!" she screamed, tearing at her lungs. "Retreat and regroup at the third tier! Violet is approaching with an unknown titan! Retreat! Retreat!" It took no moment of hesitation for the other Deviants to heed her command, gliding towards the third tier as Chi rocketed ahead.

It took time for the message to reach the base; but Violet was not the only danger. The first tier was designed to attract titans, making it a bloodbath of a battle in the third tier, where the most gravity took place. There were hundreds of titans left to overtake, but because there were additional skilled troops available from the second and first tier, it didn't take as long as they had initially determined to finish the job.

Chi landed on Wall Maria, their base, and rushed over to where Ruff stood with Peony and several other older-looking Deviants, stuck with beads of sweat running down their foreheads. She could see her comrades still hard at work, taking down as many titans as they were able before the final enemy approached.

Chi headed for Ruff, but overheard a remark that sent chills down her spine.

"Though it seems like the perfect soldier," Ruff whispered lowly, "like the perfect weapon to fight against our one enemy, she is very, very flawed. No matter how powerful, there will always be a mistake within her."

"I know there will be," Chi interjected, cutting into the circle with a fierce expression. "I must tell you: I am half-human. It's inevitable that I'm flawed, but it does not mean that I can't take Violet on! Please, let me go after her! Allow me to take that duty!"

"Chi," Peony addressed in a voice as thick and sweet as honey. "Please, darling, there is no time to discuss about you in particular. We must form another plan including the entirety of the Deviants; Violet is too strong of an opponent. It may require all of us to subdue her."

Chi shook her head vigorously. "I can take her on my own!"

"No, you cannot," Ruff replied, shaking his head. "We have faced her many times, Matsumoto, and we understand her strength; one mere soldier will not come close to stopping her. We absolutely must work together as a whole if we even think we'll have the chance."

Chi stamped her foot impatiently in protest.

"But if we do, someone could get ki—!"

"Chisaki Matsumoto," a sharp voice cut in. It belonged to a weary-looking man with sparse, gray strands and a thick mustache of the same color. There were lines etched into his skin around his eyes and mouth, pulled down into a thin line. He looked to be among the first few experiments that came to be. "My name is Claudius. I can sense your aura. It radiates strength and determination, and I am confident that you are one of our strongest warriors—but now is not the time. It would be best if you joined the battle again—this time, with your friends who don the Wings."

Chi blinked at the man before turning to look at the battlefield, only noticing now that members of the Survey Corps now slew titans beside the Deviants. They may not have been as quick as the Deviants or as agile, but they still input their priceless effort, working alongside the mutants toward their common objective.

"Alright," Chi said curtly, her heart thrumming in her chest; this meant he had to be here, too, and it was the only reason why she was not playing her argument to the seniors. Running to the edge of the wall, she leapt, twirling in the air as gravity pulled her down to the swarm of titans. She shot off toward the nearest titan and took it down immediately, her eyes flickering up to the horizon to see a small speck that was the strange-looking titan and Violet.

As Chi was momentarily distracted, a stray titan stole the chance and swiped at her body, immediately enveloping her in its crushing grip. All of the air was expelled from her lungs, leaving her gasping for oxygen, her arms pinned to her side. Her head spun as the titan tightened its vice grip around her, several cracks emitting from her ribs. With swimming vision, she struggled to clear her head as the titan brought her closer to its mouth.

Chi wriggled and squirmed as much as she could, but her arms were limp and useless; with the titan still crushing her, her ribs were unable to properly heal. Just as she approached the gruesome titan's mouth, a force sliced away the nape of the titan's neck so sharply, it shoved the titan to the side. It released Chi from its grip and she fell, hacking up a bout of blood as she plummeted to the ground.

The force that had taken down the titan swooped in and gently stole her in their arms, and she felt the person's feet land against the ground. Grimacing, she squeezed her eyes shut and straightened her arms, feeling the broken bones piece themselves together again. She took a slow breath as a few cracked ribs restored themselves, exhaling when the throbbing pain finally ebbed away. It took a while, as she was still getting used to the whole "controlling titanic abilities" thing.

Once she felt as good as new, she let herself down from the person's arms and finally opened her eyes, dusting herself off. As she wiped away the goopy blood covering her lips and chin with the the back of her hand, she raised her gaze to meet with stellar stormy eyes.

Caught off-guard, Chi stumbled backward with a sharp gasp as she realized it was, in fact, Levi who stood in front of her, his arms crossed, her blood staining his jacket.

"Tch," he sighed, shaking his head. "Took you long enough to get it together, idiot."

A smile so large it hurt Chi's cheeks spread on her lips, and she dashed forward to engulf him in a massive hug, but a wild titan's hand cut in between them. They both had to move backwards to avoid getting caught.

"Dammit!" Chi pouted, drawing a fresh pair of blades. "Really? You had to ruin a heartfelt, sentimental reunion?! There were people waiting for this, you know!" She took off flying, the ends of her cords attached to the titan's shoulder where she soared high above its head, her blades raised in preparation. At the corner of her gaze she could see Levi was doing exactly the same, an eyebrow raised in amusement as they shot towards the titan's weak spot together, performing in perfect unison.

With the most flawless coordination, Chi and Levi ran their blades through the titan's flesh, bringing it straight to the ground as they spun through the air, already targeting another titan. Another grin crossed Chi's face as she caught Levi's gunmetal gaze once more, the both of them working together without exchanging a single word.

The titans' numbers soon began to dwindle; there were only very few left, and the silhouette of the strange titan neared their jumbled formation.

According to Levi, within his time in the walls, three people who were believed to have had abilities to shift into titans were discovered and taken captive, brought inside the walls with the help of both Deviants and Corps members. Chi already knew who they were.

The very last titan was slain by Rowan, whooping in victory once it was done; he swung over to where Alabaster stood on the ground glumly, his arms crossed. The younger boy sighed and smacked a small wad of money into Rowan's hand, and when Chi flickered her gaze over to Clare, the girl mouthed, "Another bet."

Though it was the last titan in sight, it was surely not the very last one on the face of the planet; they would have to expand their perimeters and go searching for the remnants of the final ones. But first... they had a bigger problem to worry about.

Violet was so close, the ground shook with every step the ape-titan took. The troops, Corps and Deviants alike, lined up like a barricade in front of Wall Maria, poised with their blades ready. Chi sped off to Ruff as quickly as she could. Once she landed, she thrust her way back into the little circle of a huddle and stood in front of Ruff, her golden eyes flashing.

"She's nearing," Chi said fiercely, but her voice was tinged with fear. "We have to come up with a strategy, and fast. Regardless, I'm going in for the kill; we have to take care of the ape-titan first."

"Before you do," Ruff suggested, "there is something I must tell you. It may aid to answer one of your many questions." He leaned forward and whispered a few remarks into Chi's ears, her eyes widening in surprise as she came to a conclusion. Her eyes wandered to her hands, where she looked at them in awe.

"Alright," she murmured. "That explains it, then."

Ruff cleared his throat, adjusting the hem of his top. "Now, for the strategy we plan to use," he continued. "We're going to go with what we always do: charge in with twenty of our best Deviants all at once to take down the titan, and then we'll deal with Violet later, with the rest of us. It's our best chance."

"And how are you going to organize this?"

"I want you to go down to the front lines and issue this order: Code Emerald, Ape Titan. They'll understand what you're saying immediately; we're used to following Code Emerald."

Sucking in a sharp breath, Chi nodded. "Alright. And I take it I will be one of the people charging for the titan as well?"

Chi barely waited for Ruff to nod before she took off, racing toward the front of the gigantic army before them. She bit her lip in fear when the ape-titan stopped less than a ways away from the gigantic army of soldiers; it bent over to place Violet gently on the ground, who stepped off of the titan's hand with that same unforgettable smirk still stuck on her lips.

"Tch," Chi glowered, landing in front of the entire mass. Raising her right hand, in which she held her blade, she screamed, "Code Emerald! Ape Titan!" And immediately, beside her, nineteen other Deviants took their places. Among them she could see both Clare and Alabaster, poised to strike; they both caught her gaze and nodded, their faces showing the same determination that had been driving her the entire time.

Beside them, there were people of all sorts: men and women and everyone in between with fine lines, and some who looked to be closer to Chi's age. One with a ruffled head of chestnut hair looked over at Chi, smiling warmly as his eyes flashed. She shot him a grin, too, then looked over to the ape titan with a sneer. Closing her eyes, she infused herself with Levi's image, reliving the thought that after this battle—after their victory—they would finally be at peace.

Behind her, she heard his wistful voice say, "Come on, idiot. Time to get that revenge you've always wanted."

Upon her lips, a smirk grew, and she opened her eyes again, her pupils sharp against her metallic irises, its hues more mesmerizing than simple gold.

"CHAAARGE!" Chi roared, and the twenty of them burst forward, their cords aimed for the titan. The gas propelled her forward, he blades already held high above her head to aim for its weak spot.

But then... all went wrong.

The titan suddenly pivoted in place and began to sprint away, its footsteps trembling along the earth to pull the Deviants who had already shot their cords into its body away. But for Chi, something else snagged her cords, yanking her into the earth.

The air was knocked out of her body as she was slammed into the ground, creating a crater in the dirt as a small bout of blood spewed forth from her lips. As she struggled to get to her feet, she heard another small yelp that was eerily familiar to one of her friend's.

Chi was astonished when a hand tangled itself into her hair and dragged her along the ground. She kicked and screamed at the owner of hand to release her. When they stopped, Chi's blood froze; she knew who it was only by the presence the person radiated. When she opened her eyes, she could see herself crouched in front of the Deviants and the Corps, ashamed, on her knees, her hands grasping the grip that was tied into her hair.

"Look!" Violet's unforgettable, velvety voice demanded. "Look at your pitiful soldiers—your shameful friends at their demise by my hands. Why do you choose to fight, when you know that you are sure to lose?!"

"We—won't!" a voice choked. Chi tried to break out of Violet's grip, even using one of her blades to come up and slice her arm—but the blade shattered against Violet's skin, drawing gasps from the Corps in the crowd.

Chi's blood froze when cries of pain emitted from a small, familiar voice. Chi twisted her head to the side to see Clare.

Violet's left hand was wrapped tightly around her throat, and her feet dangled above the ground, her hands desperately clutching Violet's arm.

Her throat was crushed by Violet's hand.

Even with her regenerative abilities, if this were to continue... she would not survive.

The entire army surged forward, crying roars of rage, but the purple-haired woman tightened her grip on Clare's throat.

"No, no, no!" she sang, bursting in snark laughter. "Come any closer, and I'll kill your two friends! And I know that none of you believe I am lying."