The titan's maw gaped stupidly up at the trio on the rooftop, the recruits standing there in stunned silence. It had just crashed it's way through a building, pushing through the timber and stone as if it were nothing more than a house of cards. The bravest of the three gritted his teeth and took a running leap from the rooftop, firing his maneuver gear into one of the surrounding buildings and attempting to swing around the creature to get at its back.
Xavier came around the street corner on foot just in time to see the creature snatch the recruit out of the air with a simple motion, almost casually. The crunching sound as its fist tightened made his stomach churn, blood pouring from between its fingers as it dumped the crushed bot's corpse into its open mouth. Xavier's eyes darted to the two girls remaining on the roof.
"RUN!" He shouted, seeing that they were frozen in place with fear. His words either did not reach them, or they did not hear because neither one of them budged in the slightest. He cursed under his breath and fired his hooks into the remains of the building the titan had crashed through, both finding solid purchases in a plank some thirty feet in the air. It wasn't going to be quick enough, he saw, as the titan swung an arm at the recruits. One of the girls had sense enough to move then, her 3DMG whisking her away just before the titan's hand came down on the roof. The second girl was tossed to the side and sent rolling across the tiles of the rooftop.
Xavier came at the titan's neck from behind, but it was on his right side. He spit, knowing he would have to circle back around if we has to have any chance of injuring the creature, and the girl across the street did not have that kind of time. He'd have to distract it. He clicked the release trigger and swung his right arm with a practiced motion, the blade of his sword releasing at the right moment to be sent flying across the short distance into the Titan's neck. The blade scored a minimal hit sinking into the creature's neck just below the jawline. It didn't even blink.
Xavier continued on his path, attaching another blade to his sword handle as automatically as breathing, while watching as the titan went face-first into the rooftop right on top of the helpless recruit. The rooftop exploded into splinters, and Xavier turned his head in time to feel several sharp stings on the right side of his face. he released the hooks on his maneuver gear, breaking his momentum slowly as he arced through the air, coming to land heavily on the shattered rooftop across from the titan who was still neck deep in the building. He eyed the creature, sizing up his ability to kill it while it was trapped, but its arms were pinwheeling at random, and he could see more titans on the way from only a few blocks down the road. He might kill this one, Might, and then he would almost certainly be killed a few moment later.
Xavier grit his teeth, and looked away, trying to find a suitable escape route. He needed some reliable soldiers around him if they were to make any sort of difference in this fight, much less survive the next hour. He felt a warm trickle of blood start down his face near his right eye, but it was nothing serious.
The whirring sound of 3DMG was the only warning the pair had before Xavier touched down a few yards away. He came down at a shallow angle, but still stumbled a few steps on the cobblestones when he landed. He seemed to be unharmed, but as he righted himself there was a trail of blood trickling down the side of his face. A few splinters were lodged into his skin, as well as a couple small nicks from other shrapnel.
"It's not looking good up ahead." he said, only giving a slight nod in greeting. His eyes were vacant, his mouth set in a hard, grim line. A blade was already missing from his sheath on his right side. "This one's the first one I've seen killed." He grumbled, then seemed to remember himself and smiled sheepishly. "Nice job, by the way, Jemma." The change in mood was so abrupt it even seemed to catch Xavier himself off guard, and he frowned a little before the situation seemed to once again overcome his natural cheeriness.
"The last I heard we were supposed to be pushing the Titans towards the outer wall." His mouth twitched, turning down slightly at the corner. "And by push, they meant bait, I do believe." His eyes were hard bits of steel, but there was a struggle there too, the red-head fighting to keep his composure. His left hand clenched and un-clenched against the handle of his sword, his breathing somewhat erratic. He raised a hand and tried to wipe the blood away from his eye, inadvertently smearing some of it across his face and nose.
"Safety in numbers." He spoke up, seemingly to himself. Then to the other two. "We should stay together if at all possible. We have better chances, especially if we can link up with others from the 108th. We're all used to working together."