[An RE AoT inspired fanfic with multiple pairings/side pairings/OC pairings, and whatnot. Sort of a RECVX setting because it makes more sense, to me at least. Enjoy.]
He found her meditating on the roof edge, her bareback to him as he watched the accumulating rivulets of raindrops shower upon her. She sat crisscross, facing the expanse of the destruction made by the outbreak. A design consisting of burned buildings, crashed vehicles, streets littered with a mass of paper, shards of glass, bullet cases, and a mix between inert corpses and skinless abominations walking about, acting as if they were human. With a gray backdrop portraying the dreary skies, painted of freshly paved concrete.
They were safe in the fortified building of their headquarters. Situated atop a mountainous area where many handpicked employees hopelessly believed to be impregnable. Wasting away behind tinted glass while twiddling their thumbs as scientists worked fervently for a cure; a scene the man was familiar and intimate with, because he too was one of the selected few picked by the boss. A man whose face he had never seen. Always encased by the shadows in his usually unlit office, the exception being an occasional stray sun ray managing to leak through the shutters and engendered his spectacles to gleam in an eerie manner.
"I leave on the morrow, provided I'm given the appropriate tools," the female said.
The man said nothing, pulling over his plastic poncho as he joined beside her, albeit standing. He leaned over to find her eyes closed with the rest of her countenance vacant of emotion. She remained that way for the entirety of the exchange.
Yet when his eyes dropped, not intentionally, he felt his cheeks become hot.
"And those are?" he coughed into his hand, trying not to stare. Wasn't she cold?
She was quiet for a time, ruminating.
"Clothes entirely wrapped in tape, specifically on the peripheral areas of the body: arms and legs,"
He froze in disbelief, incredulous of her queer desires. Then again, her upper body was exposed. The man nodded, realizing she couldn't see his assent yet she seemed to perceive it anyway.
"Repair my hook shot, an ample amount of the Heat, and the bare essential of nutrition,"
"And that is all?"
"Yes,"
Without warning she stood from her seated position, towering over him from the edge and examined the destitution of their ruined world. She stepped off, her face a blank sheet as she seemingly didn't notice his flustered expression when he received a better display of her toned stomach and ample breasts.
When they met gazes, he saw nothing but a dull expression in them. He forced a cough. "I heard you're afraid of heights…"
She turned away from him, beginning her trek to the door. Her voice was low, atonal. "To survive in this world, you must face death head on and laugh in its face."
The man said nothing. He watched her walk away, mesmerized by her general nonchalance. For a while, when she disappeared down the stairs that the door led into, he lingered over the horizon. Despite how small they looked from this distance, seemingly harmless like ants, the man remembered. He remembered when the alarm rang off, the red lights flashing everywhere, how scientists and others alike barricading their offices or fleeing them.
How it happened was still a mystery. The testing area was guarded; the room holding diseases and cures of all kinds was unknown with the exception of a few. So how did the outbreak happen?
He could come to no conclusion.
Far off into the distance he could hear the distant roar of a different strain mutating. He shuddered in fear rather than the cold from the rain.
"I'm glad for you to reconsider my offer… uh…"
"Just call me Sombra,"
"Sombra, it is then. Tell me dear, what branch of security were you?"
The shadowed man observed her from his seat, steepling his fingers against his lap while taking amusement in how no reaction seemed to come from the former soldier. She stood before him adorning a lent blazer from one of his men. In the relative silence of his office, save for the rain outside, the droplets slid from her body and stained the carpet.
"It doesn't matter, I'm a mercenary for hire now," she replied.
His men discovered her a fortnight previous, surviving in the sewers with another. They couldn't discern who her companion was but he died before they could do anything. Then again, there wasn't much that could be done. From what intelligence gathered, the man was infected. Death was his only cure. She joined the group with little resistance.
She had been silent for a time before Sombra decided to request an audience with the person in charge.
"Of course, I apologize for trying to pry,"
the female straightened in place. "Apology accepted,"
"Now then," the chair groaned when he leaned closer to his desk, "onto business,"
he leaned to one side, pulling open a drawer to collect several manila folders. He dropped them onto his desk, pushing them towards her and spreading them apart.
"Consisted in each folder holds the names and faces of the targets I need back, alive,"
Sombra stepped closer, drawing out a slender hand to reach for a folder. Flipping it open she saw a young face staring back, the person didn't look to be happy, but she wasn't surprised. She wouldn't be either if she were one of them. A drop of water dripped onto the glossy photo, landing just below an eye. It seemed as though their melancholy had been emphasized. She tucked a wet strand of hair away.
"I'd imagine they're a tad older now… and probably dead, are you sure?" she asked, lifting her eyes from the photo.
"They've all seemed, from what I know, to have bonded perfectly with the strain,"
"Transformation?"
The man frowned. "I'm afraid our testing was cut short when the outbreak happened. I do believe, however, one of them managed to escape and instigated it,"
"Do you want me to figure out which of them had done it?" Sombra closed the manila photo and began to gather them together.
He shook his head, negative. "No need, I have an idea of who it is,"
"Yes sir,"
She turned to leave until he reeled her back with an inquiry.
"I don't mean to offend, Sombra, but are you sure you don't want to rest and… have a real shower?"
When she responded, something akin of humor could be heard in her monotonous voice.
"Movement is life, sir, if I allow myself an unnecessary amount of rest, I fear atrophy will occur, and while I don't smell pleasant, it's best I don't shower with scents, they'll smell me otherwise."
Eren Jeagar
"Eren, Mikasa, run!" an older woman advised, barricading the door with her body. The hinges of the door threatened to come lose, thumping as though it were a heart. Debris trickled out with every urgent push. The addressed children stood there in shock, their eyes wide and felt their feet suddenly become stones.
The woman nearly doubled over when the force grew, but she managed to spring back, pushing the door in a ferocity that only a wild animal could provide. She looked over the children, the whites of her eyes emphasizing the glint in her pupils. Her lips pulled back in a grimace while she barked the previous order.
"Why in the hell are you still standing there!? Eren, take Mikasa and get the fuck out of here, NOW!"
Eren, a brunette that was a spitting image of the woman lurched backwards, snatching the dark-haired girl's hand and guiding her towards the back.
The windows they passed revealed smoke stained skies, flames taking up space and everything it could absorb. People cried out in fear, pain, and hysteria. The loud clitter-clack of bullets occasionally drowned them out, but not the roar of these creatures that shed their former skins in rapid processions.
"Eren, don't get distracted," the girl known as Mikasa wiggled her hand free from the boy and headed towards the back door. She pressed her ear against it only to hear nothing from the other side. Their house led out into an alley which at the end, revealed a river. Perhaps no one decided to take that route just yet.
Sirens blared in the distance.
"Follow me," Mikasa ordered.
The boy felt reluctance, glancing over his shoulder towards the direction of their mother.
"Eren!"
Eren looked back to his step-sibling. She wrenched open the door only to find a skinless freak lunge forward.
It didn't take long. It overwhelmed her before she could do anything. Her dark eyes went solid black the second it munched on her throat.
Before he could register the sight taking place, the spill of her blood splattered loudly, her head lolling back to meet her sibling's gaze. He couldn't tell if she was conscious still, but her lips managed to move.
"N-no!" he stepped forward, hand shot out in a futile attempt to stop the nightmare before him. It was too late.
The thing dropped her corpse, lifting its head to sniff the air and finally focused its eyes on him.
Eren felt hopeless.
"YOU BASTARD!"
He bolted upward in bed, gasping loudly with a hand outstretched. It didn't take long to register his surroundings as his tensed face dropped into a more relaxed state. Eren sighed, his shoulders drooped.
His clothes stuck to his skin in an asphyxiating fashion, engendered by the excessive perspiration he excreted from his nightmare. The content had been the same, nary a change since the event took place. Therefore, the nights were doomed to be insufficient, never granting him a time of peace until he completed his resolve: to eradicate the infected.
A conviction he found himself nearing upon the completion of his military training. Graduation night was a fortnight away and everyone entered a phase of nervous complacency. He couldn't blame them, well, not everyone to say the least.
Eren kicked the sheets off, removing the shirt and slinging it across the room. Face in hands, fingers tugging at his russet locks, the young man released air between flapping lips as he mentally prepared for the day.
He sat there for a time until a knock at the door roused him from concentrated contemplation. She opened the door without waiting for assent and she took a single step into his room. In a panic, Eren turned his back to her, grasping for a pillow.
"Mikasa!" he growled, annoyed.
"Just checking in on you, Eren," she explained, monotonous.
He shook his head, exasperated. "I don't need you to patronize my morning rituals, damn it, I'm aware of the time!"
Silence.
He heard her sigh, mutter an 'okay' and closed the door. When her footfalls receded enough to where he could no longer hear them, he relaxed, the muscles in his back loosening and his shoulders sagged.
When he heard the drill sergeant coming down the hall, Eren was already dressed. He looked through the caged window and wondered how things beyond the Islands were.
His thoughts were interrupted when the door flung open and shut closed. He said nothing as he turned to face his childhood friend, trembling with wide eyes while he sifted through the closet.
"You've been gone all night, Armin," Eren said, smirking. He already knew.
the blond glanced briefly, a sheepish smile across his round face. He rubbed his neck, chuckling.
"I couldn't help being in the lab, there's so many things to learn about," Armin replied, shrugging off his shirt.
"It's a genuine surprise that Zoe permitted you to be there,"
"Her theories and experiments may be out there, but each day I feel the discovery of a cure is coming, Eren, I can feel it!"
Eren couldn't help, but feel enthusiasm from his old friend. His smile nearly split his face until the two straightened in place the second they heard the drill sergeant roar from outside their dorms.
The scent of sea salt relaxed his tensed nerves as he joined the rest, falling in line on a designated row. With a folded right arm where he placed his outer wrist against his heart, he barked out greetings in unison of the others when the drill sergeant called.
A man of tall height, eyes filled with a glint that compromised his wizened countenance, and radiated an aura which engendered Arlert to self-urinate the first time the boy matched gazes with the man. Many tried not to laugh, but Eren remembered how pissed he had been. Now, however, his friend had become stronger. This time around the blond proved to be able to handle his bladder and urinated afterwards.
"You maggots better not be cocky just because training is over! You're all still little shits that need to be beaten around some more before you ship off the islands," the drill sergeant bellowed, pacing now while he swept his large frightening eyes across every cadet's face. From his vantage point, they all stared straight ahead. He stopped for a moment to admire the rippling sea water. Where Eren stood, the man's tanned pate gleamed under the sun's shine and after staring at it for too long, the young man had to close his eyes. Too shiny.
"But I'm unfortunately not in charge of the fucking rules here, so relax while you can before they bite the shit out of you!"
Everyone remained quiet and despite the lashing wind, the click clack of boots filled the air. Before them all appeared a suntanned male of a taller, wider stature, exchanging words with the drill sergeant.
Eren's eyes narrowed in on him. He recognized him from somewhere, but the memory failed to come into fruition.
"I would talk shit to you all more, but the commander wants to talk you now. Remember though, no fucking around, got it?"
In response the group cried, "yessir!"
The man nodded in feigned satisfaction.
He gave the go ahead to the commander.
A man of blond locks, eyes so blue it rivaled the seas. Chest puffed out and his face constructed of stone, he stepped into the center to greet them all.
Eren along with the rest gave a heart-filled greeting to Commander Erwin Smith.
"Years ago, as many of you will remember, came an unfortunate fate to mankind."
The dream Eren had earlier ailed him. For a moment he felt inclined to search for Mikasa amongst the crowd only to remember her standing before him. Her now short hair, he noticed, flowed along with the wind. It appeared she had taken his advice in having it cut short sometime back.
"I know it may upset you to be reminded of the tragedy, but it's best to be reminded of what happened so as to maintain our resolve to fight back.
Many of you had seen your family and friends fall victim to this plague, watched them consumed or witnessed how they turned as their skin tore apart and fell... Yet you all overcame this trauma and joined the military.
This commitment, I promise, already gives you an upper hand against our common foe. Now, by the end of the week you will all be assigned in a branch of the military. The top ten have the choice to join the leader on the island of Sina, the military guard.
Others will fall in the other two groups, the infantry and the scouting regiment."
He didn't care whether he made the top ten or not. His aim was for the scouting regiment, a group that sailed for the former civilized lands, meant to eradicate the threat and procure supplies. It had been a long time since Eren last set foot, the last he saw of it was when he had been on the ship, watching his home set aflame and become diminutive as he was whisked further into the sea. Mikasa had been silent, but she remained by his side while he wept.
"I'll kill them all!" He promised to himself.
And kill them all I shall, he thought. He joined Mikasa the second everyone disassembled upon dismissal.
Armin met up with them only to let know that he would be with the doctor Hanji Zoe, a woman of science, having completed biomedical engineering some years before the outbreak. Word has been that she was searching for a cure, but also supplied projectiles for the weapons. She dubbed it the heat, claiming the substance being capable of stunning the enemy and rendering them incapacitated as it melted them from the inside.
The recommended method was for the head region, where she believed that remnants of cognition still occurred for the enemy to operate.
Unfortunately, Eren Jeager wasn't necessarily a good shot. His stamina and perseverance made up for it though.
Mikasa and Armin on the other hand, were sharp shooters.
His sibling could fire close and far range without batting an eye. Armin was better fitted as a sniper.
If they decided to join the scouting regiment, humanity would certainly have better chances.
"Mikasa," he said after a long silence. They walked their usual lap around the ship, about halfway now.
"Yes?"
His words fell short when he realized he didn't really have anything to say.
He opted for what he first noticed.
"...Your hair looks nice short,"
He watched her eyes widen and she looked away, embarrassed. She fingered a side bang, observing it as if it had some hidden meaning.
This was something Eren still didn't quite understand, but at least the unease between them this morning had ceased. His tendencies to rebuff her nitpickings could cause rifts, not that he really noticed, but he did appreciate it from to time.
But just now...
They both clasped their hands over their ears and nearly bumped into each other from surprise when the alarm blared.
After registering what was said, a look of reciprocal shock and terror consumed their faces.
"How does that even happen?!"
The Island of Maria is under attack. I repeat, the island of Maria is under attack.
Armin Arlert
Despite the obnoxious tendencies doctor Zoe was doing, it did not cease his growing anxiety as he watched footage of the monsters in action.
The young blond could hardly believe they were once human. Well, they still looked human, just... Skinned and yet there was variants also. Zoe had dubbed them Deviants. One deviant in particular kept mutating the more it was damaged, growing larger, faster, and stronger. A soldier combatting against it was immediately overwhelmed. Hearing the soldier's blood curdling cry, Armin flinched away.
The doctor munched loudly over her snacks, noticing her pupil become distressed at the sight. Beside her was a bag of popcorn, she grabbed it and urged Armin to open his eyes.
"Take this as a lesson if you do reach the mainland: never hesitate! Movement is life, Arlert,"
He watched the screen undergo pelting of popcorn.
"How can you watch this every day?" He asked, trembling.
"The duty expected of me, of course, why else?" She replied, mouth muffled by food.
Hanji Zoe was known to hardly rest and eat. Today just so happened to be the day she decided to feast. He wondered how she could stomach it, regardless of her duty.
"You'll get used to it, that is, if you survive," she wiped her greasy hands on her lab coat, then hopped off her seat to grab the remote. Replaying the footage again, she returned to her seat.
What replayed was the same scene. He kept wasting ammunition under his panic when the deviant closed in on him. When the stray bullet managed to pierce the deviant however, the screen froze and reversed. She kept repeating the scene until Armin realized Zoe was staring at him, expectant.
"Y-yes?"
She motioned her chin towards the screen. "Do you notice anything?" He looked back at the television, eyebrows furrowed. After a few repetitions he frowned, shaking his head.
"Not necessarily… Is there something there?"
When she said nothing for a long time, Armin felt inclined to say something the moment he saw a mixture of disappointment and contemplation on her usual enthusiastic face. Zoe sighed and turned off the screen.
"Maybe," her lips rolled inward, eyes narrowed, "but it's not important, probably my imagination,"
"Imagination?"
"It's hard to see from where the camera recorded, but a stray bullet managed to hit another beast, yet there was something off…"
I'm an idiot, Armin thought at once, his hand flying for the remote until the two nearly jumped out of their skin when the room was automatically drowned in flashing red.
The scientist moved quickly to the back, her conditioned instincts propelling her to ready the transport of supplies for the military. Meanwhile, Armin froze in place, eyes wide as he felt all the hairs on his body stand on end. The cold sweat seemed to have excreted from all his pores for he shivered, understanding what this meant.
"W-what was that…?" the blond replied, incapable of hearing Zoe over the blare of the intercom.
Island of Maria under attack, Island of Maria under attack…
*
The hiss of steam undulating from the tear of their skin sounded far harsher than any she had ever heard. Moments of when she saw old viewings of nature channels, she wondered if the precedent warning of the rattle would accompany their transformations. Unfortunately, no such thing occurred. Their shedding gave ample time for her to flee to safety before pursuit yet seeing them transform up close was too much to pass up on. Regardless, she bounded across the central plaza, taking brief coverage of Saint Maria's shadow.
Brandishing her Heat-filled devices, the female entered into a fighting stance, prepared to take on any of the newly infected.
Entrance to the Island of Maria wasn't hard, especially the entrance to the food supply that was shipped specifically. He had given her the instructions of what to do, how to do it, and how to avoid the possibility of misusing the contained strain. The empty vial remained in her jacket's pocket and before she went for higher ground, she tossed the vial into the fountain where Saint Maria was centered upon.
This would throw off the soldiers while she returned to the others.
Movement is life, she whispered, hoping those running amongst the crowd would show their true selves.
If not, the plans would be ruined.
"Graa..aahhh…"
Adrenaline filled her veins at once. Spinning around to face an infected, referred to as Titans, after the name of the virus, she wielded the blade across her form. The edges glowed a low orange, pulsating with the Heat. Contact would automatically engender the blade to secrete the ooze.
Beneath the white light of the sun, its exposed form glittered sickly when the last strips of skin fell off. A long trail of cooked skin remained behind the Titan, seeming to evaporate by the second. The Titan's steps were ponderous at first, a typical commencement of the mutations, but the change settled in quick when it seemed that the virus took entire control.
It let out a roar, starting a sprint towards her, however, it met its end when the female spun in place and directed the tip of her blade from the lower torso upward. The deep cut revealed sudden inflammation, orange ooze dribbling out and the Titan suddenly becoming ponderous once more.
"No hard feelings, whoever you were," she mumbled, forcing the Titan to its knees with an angled kick to the side of its leg. Without further hesitation, expedited by a chorus of roars in the distance, she decapitated the abomination.
All I need to do now is wait and see if I can detect the others.
- Let me know what you think of this idea and give some feedback to better improve this story! Updates will be every two weeks. Thanks and have a nice day.
It'll get better as time progresses in terms of writing style.