A Matter of Stature Chapter 17 [LevixReader]

A Matter of Stature

Chapter 17: Levi vs. Ninja

The carriage continued rocketing forward as fast as the well bred pair of horses could pull it. You smiled nervously at Mona, who sat across from you, gripping the armrest to maintain her balance. You could hear the crash of weapons on the roof and Gustav's voice urging the horses to run faster. You wanted to see what was going on, but you didn't want to get your head chopped off as a consequence of your curiosity.

You looked over Mona's shoulder at the window in the front of the carriage where you could see Gustav sitting, driving the horses through twists and turns on the road and little known alleys that were a tight fit for the carriage despite it being light and small. Then you saw it, from every direction, ninjas were gathering in front of the carriage's path. They could see it from the tall rooftops, you realized, and the ODM gear made them able to fly faster than the horses could run, it was inevitable, the ninja couldn't be outrun.

"Gustav!" Levi shouted over the noise of hooves on the road and blades colliding against blades. "Take us to an open area!" If the carriage was boxed in, it would be over, Levi could only parry so many attacks at once and didn't have much room to move around in.

Gustav urged the horses out of the narrow passage and into the larger main road. The ninja followed quickly. "There's too many of them!" Gustav shouted in alarm.

"(Name)!" You were surprised when Levi called out to you. You had not been hazardously leaning out to see the fight this time. "See if you can find something useful in the backpack, there are some guns of some kind in there."

"Right!" You answered back and quickly began to dig through the backpack. You ended up spilling a good portion of its contents on the floor of the carriage, but found something that looked gun-shaped. The item had a water bottle attached to the top. You peeked out the window carefully and sprayed the water on an attacking ninja. The speed at which the liquid was shot out was far greater than any water gun and judging by the steam produced and the ninja's scream, the water was boiling. Unfortunately you didn't have a refill, so you were back to digging around the odd assortment of tools, just what kind of experiments did Hange do anyway? You weren't sure you even wanted to know.

You grabbed another similarly shaped gun, but instead of a water bottle on top, it had a metal can that must have been rather thick because the contraption felt heavy. You held it with both hands and cautiously aimed out the window again. Levi was blocking the attacks coming from the front, so you kept an eye on the back and spotted the glint of twin swords as a ninja swung towards Levi from the back, while two others attacked from the front. You aimed as best you could and fired. A strange green liquid was blasted out from the gun and caught the ninja on the arm. The ninja screamed in agony, weapons abandoned and ripped off the black sleeve as the scent of burning flesh invaded your senses. You really didn't want to know what kind of experiments Hange was involved in.

You continued using the acid gun, trying not to empty it too quickly. Eventually it ran out and you went to search for something else to use. A hook hit the carriage's side and one of the seemingly endless numerous ninja, daringly tried to board the carriage. Levi cut the rope, disabling half of the ODM gear and causing the ninja to be unable to recover in time and suffer a nasty fall. The impact however, was enough to push the carriage to the side as it turned a corner. One of the horses lost its footing and the carriage looked like it was about to topple.

Gustav tried to stop the other panicked horse from continuing the run, pulling hard on the reins, which caused the animal to kick at the carriage behind it and finish sending it sideways. Mona screamed and shielded herself with her arms, though she was far enough from the pile of items on the floor of the carriage not to get any serious injuries. You felt something stab you in the stomach, but it wasn't too deep so you pulled it out. Then a device shaped like big metal jaws triggered and trapped your leg. You screamed and tried to get it off. You managed to open it, but the damage to your leg was considerable. Mist began to form around you, but you forced yourself to calm down. You couldn't transform now, what if you couldn't control it? You weren't even meant to be a titan shifter, the mist was very thin now, probably signifying the expected progression of your condition. What if you only did another partial transformation and ended up with an oversize useless malformed limb that slowed you down far more than it helped? It was too risky, you had to calm down.

"(Name) cover me, we have to move!" Levi called from outside. You snapped to attention. Levi was terribly outnumbered, you had to watch his back as best you could. You scrambled to grab anything that may serve as a weapon, the darkness of the night not at all helpful in your task. You managed to find another gun shaped item and pulled yourself to the window. Levi hooked one side of his ODM gear to the carriage and the other to a building on the side of the street. He used the gear to pull the carriage upright and once again took his place on the roof. At the same time you shot the random gun shaped weapon, the first one you managed to grab. A thick gray smoke spread around the area. "Go!" Levi shouted as the carriage was pulled upright.

Gustav urged the horses to move forward once again, speeding up as much as they could, though not as much as before, since one of them appeared to be injured. Most of the contents of the backpack had fallen out the carriage windows. You searched for another cartridge to put into the gun. It was similar to a flare, but produced an effect like a smoke bomb, so maybe you could use it to throw the ninja off your trail if you shot it at the right moment.

"(Name), do you have more smoke bombs?" Levi asked.

"I found a few in different colors!" You replied, one was black, another white and another red, though the red and white would draw attention more than anything else. You couldn't find any more blacks, aside from the one and there were no other grays either. "Only one is black!"

"Save it!" Levi replied. You did and began to scan the carriage floor for anything else that you could use to help. You could hear Levi turning in every direction stopping the ninja and spinning around like a deadly tornado. You had no doubts that he really was humanity's strongest soldier. After the spin attack that knocked a few ninja into each other, leaving them with injuries that would make handling ODM gear very difficult, Levi gave Gustav some directions.

"But that leads to a dead end," you heard Gustav protest.

"Do it!" Levi commanded with finality and you knew no one would dare to defy him.

"(Name) get ready!" Levi called out.

"Ready!" You answered, prepared to shoot out the black smoke bomb.

The carriage turned down a narrow alley then broke down, losing one of its wheels on the side that one of the horses had kicked it earlier. "We're close, keep moving on foot!" Levi ordered.

Everyone abandoned the carriage and horses to follow after Levi. "Don't lose track of each other," Levi hurried towards a tunnel. A terrified Mona grabbed Levi's and Gustav's hands, you were inevitably stuck in the rear, since you had to cover the escape. You grabbed Gustav's hand, to make sure you didn't become separated from the group in the darkness, with Levi leading the escape. "Now!"

You shot the black smoke behind you as Levi turned left, right, and turned corners running through dark unfamiliar tunnels that he felt oddly confident about traversing. "This place is like a maze!" Mona complained in alarm.

"I know the way, now shut up if you don't want to give him any clues," Levi snapped.

Mona let out an undignified "hmph," but didn't speak further.

It felt like you were going deeper and deeper underground and it was pitch black. The light from outside you left behind could not reach this far into the tunnels. "We're going up, hold on to me," Levi announced. You tried to do so, at the same time as Mona and Gustav, hoping that Levi's ODM gear could lift the four of you. The hooks were shot up and the ropes pulled you along until your feet could no longer feel the ground, higher and higher.

"Stop choking me," Levi complained in the darkness.

"I'm trying not to fall!" Mona Lisa countered.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, you reached the surface. "Follow me and stick to the shadows." You, Mona and Gustav obediently followed Levi through narrow streets and dark alleys until the realization sunk in that you were no longer in Sina. Somehow you had passed below the wall and were now in the innermost area of Rose. That wouldn't stop the ninja from pursuing you if they found you though, so it was vital not to be spotted.

To be Continued