Cultist Hunt (Open) (Lots o' Violence)

Severin saw several men leave the HQ.He signaled to the other three,and they followed the group for several minutes.The men had met up with a group of other men.Cultists,no doubt.They were still close enough to the HQ that guns would be heard,and Severin knew that as he aimed his rifle at one of the uniformed men.He unloaded all five rounds in under twenty seconds,and his men followed suit.Seven people,including the three uniformed men,dropped to the ground.While Slips,Charles,and Epsilon engaged with their bayonets,Severin reloaded the magazine of his rifle.He took aim,and pulled back the bolt.Another five men fell.A minute later,all the men were dead,and the uniforms were searched.Severin lept off,carrying papers,with Slips,Charles,and Epsilon in tow.As they moved,Severin looked behind to see if they were being followed.

Reia watched as the cadet put her feet on her superior's desk. "Who does this kid think she is?" Reia wondered. She involuntarily glanced at Levi. "I would have been scrubbing the horses' stalls for a month if I did something like that when I was a cadet." Apparently Hanji was more forgiving.

Hanji sent Reia and Levi on ahead while she collected her tools. They made their way to the Special Ops wing in silence. Reia glanced out a few windows as she walked. Everything seemed quiet. Commander Erwin must have followed through with his promise to take care of the fighting.

When they arrived, Eren was taking care of the horses under the watchful eyes of Eld and Gunter. Petra was making coffee, while Oluo was sitting at the table raving about something.

"Hanji's coming to run tests on Eren," Levi informed them. "Get ready."

After a few groans and unintelligible mutters, everyone went to the well where Hanji performed her tests on Eren's titan form.

Luna and Hanji were positioned several yards away from said well and both we're sitting cross legged on the ground, Hanji was explaining some sort of process while her cadet tugged tufts of grass out of the soil in an attempt to ease her obvious boredom. After a few beats of silence, Hanji sat up. "Reia ----- go check on Eren and see if he fell asleep or something."

The redhead nodded and glanced back over at the well in curiousity. This was not unsual - while Eren's ability was a great addition to the Survey Corps, it did have it's downfalls and one of them was the fact that the teen had some trouble when it came to harnessing that power. Luna shuddered, the last time she had gone to check on Eren she had found him with ateo bloodied hands.

Severin was surprised nobody came to investigate the gunshots.As they sipped along,Severin saw two people sitting near a well.Curious,he stopped at least twenty yards away.When the rest of the group landed,Severin was going through what they took from the dead bodies.Out of sight and mind,Severin,Charles,Slips,and Epsilon watched quietly from the trees."What are they doing?"Charles asked,not expecting an answer.Severin looked at him."They're waiting.For what,I don't know."One of the figures got up and headed towards the well,and the four men shouldered their rifles.

Reia nodded to Hanji and urged Angus forward toward the well. When they were a few meters away, Reia dismounted and walked to the edge. "Eren?" she called. Reia looked down into the well and saw Eren cradling his bloody hands.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I don't think it's going to work today."

Reia glanced back at Hanji and the others, then used her 3DMG to descend to the bottom of the well. "It's alright. That's enough for now."

Together, they used their 3DMG to climb to the top of the well. Reia reached the surface first and extended her hand to help Eren over the edge. He took it, and she began to pull him up. However, the blood that still coated his hands made them slick, and he slipped from Reia's grasp. As Eren fell, Reia leaned over the edge to catch him. Eren screamed and reached for her, not quite making it. Then there was a flash of lightning accompanied by a loud bang.

Reia was blown backwards by the force of the change. She landed on her injured leg and was momentarily blinded by pain. Suddenly, she heard a strange sound, like something was growing. She opened her eyes and saw that a titan was forming around her. Reia scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain in her leg, and raced to get away from the titan that was now manifesting with her inside.

When the smoke cleared, Reia found herself looking up into the emerald eyes of Eren's titan. It was sitting in front of her with its knees pulled up to its chest, not moving. Reia felt a light pressure on her right hand, and realized that the titan was holding it between its thumb and pointer finger. Reia couldn't help but find the situation amusing. "Hi Eren," she said with a half smile.

Luna's mouth fell open in gasp of surprise and she found herself scrambling backwards in an attempt to put more distance between herself and Eren. Hanji laughed aloud, obviously excited, and jumped to her feet, reaching over to pull her redheaded cadet up with her so she could drag Luna over to Eren.

"Eren! You ready to try some new stuff?" The woman called up to the still smoking Titan. Not waiting for a reply, Hanji grabbed Luna and shoved her forward causing the girl to stumble a bit before falling onto the grass. "Try picking her up ------ but you have to be gentle."

"Hanji -----" Luna's speech was cut off as she saw Eren's hand loom out of the corner of her eye and she let out a cry of alarm. "Eren - " And then she was rendered speechless as the surprisingly careful hand picked her up off of the safe ground and into the air where her legs kicked back and forth in protest.

Her Squad Leader continued to laugh manically. "You're doing just fine, Luna, stay calm."

"I'm calm!" Luna fumed, her arms crossed over her chest as Eren gently set her atop his right shoulder. "A little warning would be nice next time." She added, looking pointedly at Eren.

Reia heard Hanji laughing maniacally in the background, but she was more focused on her squad, which was rushing forward with blades drawn. Eren released her hand, and she stepped back. "It's alright!" she called. "He won't hurt me!"

Her comrades looked at each other, unsure of what to do, until Captain Levi ordered them to stand down. Angus ran over to Reia and began nuzzling her head with his snout. "I'm okay, Angus," she said, comforting him.

Hanji told Eren to pick up the cadet - Luna, Hanji had called her. Reia watched as Eren lifted the slightly-flustered girl onto his shoulder. His control was great once he was in titan form. He still couldn't talk, but he at least seemed to understand when Hanji told him to do something.

As per Hanji's instruction, Eren put Luna back on the ground. "Amazing!" she screamed. "He's so strong, but he can control his strength. I'd love to see how his muscles work," she muttered to herself. Then she addressed Eren. "Alright, big guy! Lay your arm down flat and try not to move! I'm going to put it under the knife!" Hanji pulled out a scalpel.

Every member of the Special Ops squad tensed. "Hanji..." Reia said, placing a hand on her arm. "I don't think taking a knife to an unrestrained titan is such a good idea."

Luna dusted off her shoulders as her feet touched down on the soft blades of glass and jogged over behind Hanji, watching as her Squad Leader brandished said knife as if it was a flag. "He'll be fine ----- won't you Eren?"

The Titan in question merely stared blankly in response to the brunette's question and Luna stifled a giggle in her uniform jacket. "I think it'll be fine." She then spoke up, turning to Reia. "Hanji's pretty good at this sort of thing and Eren has gotten better at behaving. We'll just have to be on our toes."

Hanji nodded in agreement and presented a thumbs up. "Eren's in good hands - don't worry." She then reached over to ruffle her cadet's dark red hair in a kind of thanks for speaking up for her experiment. "Just think of all the things we could learn!" Hanji then exclaimed, hopping back and forth on the balls of her feet, ecstatic by just the notion of investigating Eren's Titan form further.

"How could you possibly say no to that?" Luna laughed aain, gesturing over to Hanji as the older woman continued to dance about.

"Imagine if I started cutting up your arm. Would you just sit there and take it?" Reia asked Luna. Then she turned to Hanji. "Eren may be in control now, but he could lose it at any moment, especially once you start hurting him. At least let him drop this titan and manifest a smaller one, or better yet, let him just manifest an arm."

"Don't be reckless, four eyes," Levi scolded. "You're dealing with a titan."

Hanji huffed. However, she couldn't argue when everyone's safety was at risk. "Fine," she sighed.

Luna merely smiled in response at the sight of Hanji's down fallen expression, but Reia and Levi we're correct. "Do you wanna cut him out or just wait 'til he tries himself out?" Squad Leader Hanji questioned, turning to the Special Ops squad as she spoke.

"We could just practice some more manuvers." Luna suggested and then added, "I mean ---- he could use some more practice following orders - it wouldn't due any harm."

Severin and his men observed from their trees the scene going on.The Survey Corps had the Titan from Trost."Didn't it die?"Charles inquired."Apparently not,"was the reply."Well,this is something you don't see everyday,"remarked Slips with an interested expression."Wait..."Severin held up his hand."That same lightning appeared before the Colossal Titan at Shiganshina.If the rumors are true,then that Titan was controlled by 50 Shades of Pissed Off.That would mean the Collosal Titan also has that ability.The Armoured Titan too."Severin leaned back."Brings a whole new meaning to 'humans are the real monsters'."Charles chuckled.

"Tch, let's just get this over with," Levi muttered. He lept onto Eren's shoulder and cut him out of the titan.

Hanji looked sad to see the titan go. She sighed. "Alright, everyone, five minute break! Then it's back to work!" Her energy returned as she began pouring over her notes.

Reia handed Eren a cup of water. "Next time, make sure I'm outside the titan, okay?" she said jokingly.

The brunette grinned in response, his Caribbean blue eyes sparkling in obvious amusement. "My bad ----- 'm still having a bit of trouble with keeping it under control, but I'm trying hard." He turned back to his Squad. "Thanks for dealing with me." Eren mumbled quietly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.

"You're doing fine." Luna stated simply, saying no more or no less than what was needed to get her point across. "The Titans won't know what hit 'em."

Severin crept forward a few feet,trying to get a better view.Flammende Gerechtigkeit was still shouldered and ready to fire at a moment's notice.'Are they...training the titan shifter?'he thought.There was a commotion from behind him."What in the name of-"Severin muttered.He turned around to see Military Police surrounding them."Ah,shit."The next several seconds included Severin and his men dropping to the ground and fleeing with their 3DMG,the MPs in hot pursuit.They were shooting,too.Sevein weaved through the trees,trying to escape.He had been separated from his men."They want me dead,"Severin mumbled,"So Ember Squadron is crippled."The MPs were doing something smart,for once.Severin clutched the papers he had even tighter.As the MPs drew closer,he realized his best chance of survival was to reveal himself.So Severin made a sharp right turn and flung himself out of the tree line.He sailed through the air,landing with a thud and rolling several feet.The MPs followed.Severin got up and continued running,holding the papers even tighter.

Their respite ended, and Hanji told Eren to manifest just a titan arm. Shockingly, Eren got it on the first try. "He really is improving," Reia thought.

As Hanji readied her tools, Reia grabbed a towel and put it in Eren's mouth. "Just in case you feel any pain," she informed him. "We wouldn't want you to bite your tongue off."

"Thanks," Eren mumbled through the towel.

"Although, if you did bite it off, it would probably just grow back. Creepy little lizard," Reia mused aloud. Eren's eyes widened, and she smirked at him to let him know she was joking. Partially.

Suddenly, Eren's face contorted in pain. Hanji had started cutting into his titan arm, just below the wrist. She let out an excited scream as if she had found something interesting. Then again, everything interested Hanji. Reia hated that this "scientific discovery" had to come at Eren's expense. Even though he was a teenager now, sometimes she still saw the little boy that she knew five years ago when she looked at him. She wished she could spare him the pain, but unfortunately there was no way around it. For the good of humanity, it had to be done. So Reia watched, stone-faced, as Hanji continued to dissect Eren.

Severin made a break for the HQ,practically dashing across the ground.He saw a giant arm appear out of nowhere.Severin shot a red flare into the sky and kept running.The MPs wouldn't miss their shots forever.As Severin ran,he noticed people by said giant arm.Hanji was probably there.Severin turned and made a break for the group of people.There were at least fifteen MPs,judging by the frequency of the shots.Severin yelled out as he fell to the ground.Well,the MPs had caught up to him.Severin stuffed the papers in his jacket and readied his rifle as the MPs surrounded him.

Luna stood behind Hanji, teetering on her tiptoes, hovering just over her Squad Leader's shoulder as she watched the woman cut carefully away at Eren's Titan arm. Moving around to Hanji's left side, the redhead stared in fascination at the copious amounts of steam pouring from the wounds and stole a glance up at Eren to see how he was faring. By the expression on his face, she guessed not too well. Frowning slightly, Luna went back to following Hanji's precise movements with her blades and tried to dispel the fact that while they were making strides for humanity it was Eren that was bearing the larger yolk out of all of them.

At the sound of shouting and what seemed to be gunshots, Luna pulled her attention away from the scene in front f her and placed her hands over her blades in caution. A man was making his way towards their group with what appeared to be a group of MPs following directly behind him.

"Hanji ----- you better hurry up with whatever you're doing." The teen said as the soldiers started to draw nearer and nearer. "We've got company and they don't seem friendly."

Severin deflected the first sword jab with his bayonet,and continued running.The people were turning to face him.'Finally,'he thought.'I have their attention.'Another MP took a swing,and Severin deflected it.Suddenly,shots rang out from beside Severin.Slips,Charles,and Epsilon had come back,and were attacking the MPs.Taking advantage of the distraction,Severin turned around and fired a few shots with Flammende Gerechtigkeit before continuing his run towards the people.

The sound of gunshots filled the air, and everyone turned their attention away from Eren to a group of MPs and Garrison soldiers not too far off. "You have got to be kidding me. I thought Erwin got rid of them." Reia let out an angry huff and drew her blades.

"Hey! This is a restricted zone!" Oluo shouted.

"Time to go! Reia, get Eren!" Levi commanded.

Reia sheathed her swords, grabbed Eren, and pulled him apart from the titan arm. As it evaporated, she whistled for Angus. He came galloping over, and they jumped on. While the others drew their blades to protect them, Reia and Eren raced back to HQ.

"Shouldn't we stay and help them?" Eren asked over her shoulder.

"They can handle themselves," Reia replied, hoping she was right.

Once inside, Reia led Eren through the maze of hallways to a secret hiding place that only a very select few knew about. There, they waited.

There the help went.Instead of running to help them,the group of peoe went inside.He was running out of options.Severin shot out cables and aimed for a window.He zoomed and landed on the wall right next to it.And came face to face with commander Erwin.Heaving,he tossed the envelopes containing their evidence of Survey Corps activity with assisting the cultists before detaching and making a break for the treeline.The MPs followed him.

As the Special Ops a Squad raced away with Eren in tow, there only weapon considering none of the scouts had any sort of rifles, Luna pulled Hanjinback away from a barrage of bullets. "Squad Leader, we gotta get out of here!" She shouted over the commotion, motioning towards the trees where their horses were tied up. Stealing one last look at the Garrison soldiers, the young girl fervently wished that they could be of assistance, but they would be of no use.

The brunette quickly went about gathering up her instruments, much to the agrivation of her squad before she, herself, was racing towards the trees only dropping a few scalpels in the process that Luna convinced her were not worth taking a bullet for.

"What the literal hell is wrong with them? And - more importantly - why are they settling their fight here?" Luna mused aloud as she went about mounting her frightened horse.

Hanji Squad made it back to HQ in record time and before they could even thane abreath, their Squad Leader was making her way to Erwin's office - mostl likely to chew his head off for not resolving the issue.

Severin raced back to the trees,dodging the bullets.He missed a cable shot,and fell to the ground.He almost hit a horse."Fucking MPs won't leave us be..."he muttered to himself as he got up.His leg erupted in pain.Severin looked down,and realized that his wound had reopened."No time for that."Severin said as he launched his cables and zoomed off.Where were Charles and the others?That didn't matter.He'd given Erwin the evidence.That should end the Survey Corps end of the cultist deal.

Reia and Eren only had to wait a few minutes before Captain Levi found them. "They ran off into the woods," he informed them. "Erwin's ordered everyone inside, and he's got security patrolling the entrances. No more tests until things settle down."

The three of them made their way to the dining hall, where the rest of the squad was waiting. Before they entered, Reia grabbed Eren's arm and whispered, "You must never tell anyone about that hiding place, understand? No one." Eren nodded, and they went inside.

Reia loved that Special Ops had a private dining hall. It meant that she didn't have to deal with the ruckus caused by the rest of the regiment and, more recently, it made it easier to keep Eren away from prying eyes.

"As long as we're here, might as well grab some chow," Eld said.

Everyone murmured their agreement and went to the kitchen to grab leftovers. Reia was suddenly aware of how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten all day.

Severin raced along,bleeding,through the forest.He got snagged on a branch and flew backwards.He landed on the ground with a thud.He then realized that he was dead if stayed here.Severin limped back to the edge of the forest,eluding the MPs.He fired a flare."Come on,guys."Severin whispered.He hid in a tree trunk while the MPs searched the area.When the MPs were searching,a green fog,covered the area.Several minutes later,someone helped Severin up.Splinter.The groupoved into the open so Slips could attend to Severin's wound.Ember Squadron had arrived.

As per Erwin's orders, Hanji Squad was assigned to surveillance on HQ's roof and while sitting around watching the trees wasn't all that fun, Luna supposed it was better than being cooped up in her dorm. Sighing heavily, the young girl plopped herself down at the edge of one of the many stone battlements and propped her rifle up beside her with care.

Looking up she found herself surrounded by the beauty of the starry night and she found that the beautiful silence of it all was one of the most peaceful moments she had experienced in quite some time and she couldn't help but allow the beginnings of a small smile tug at the corners of her plush lips. Though this was all suddenly interrupted when Hanji decided to make her post a mere five feet from her own so she could share today's discoveries with her cadet.