'I swear man season 2 is gonna be awesome you don't even know.' My friend says over the phone.
"You know it the animation can only get better, I can't wait for the 29nth to roll around." I say back.
'Ah, well I have a test tomorrow goodnight Michael.'
"Night man." I say before hanging up.
I guess you could say we were a bit excited for season 2 of attack on titan to come out, it's been two years. I should really go to bed I gotta take that test to, I lay down not even bothering to take off my backpack and immediately pass out.
Many questions are running through my head right now, mainly where the fuck am I? I'm in the middle of a forest not any forest one that resembles the redwood forest of wherever the fuck it is at. I shiver at the thought of someone breaking into my house just to kidnap me and drop me off in the forest. Well at least they left me my backpack, I dig through it to look at what they left. A small solar panel, Attack on Titan season 1, a portable DVD player, and a portable tv.
"Dude, if your gonna drop me off in a forest at least have the decency to leave me stuff I can use!" I shout to the forest.
I put on the backpack and head in a random direction hoping to find civilization. Maybe i'm on one of those hidden camera TV shows where they prank you, I swear if that's what's happening to me i'm gonna kill someone. I haven't walked for long before a soft rumble starts to go through the ground, I look to the right towards the sound of stomping on the ground and move towards it. People, people on horseback running through the forest, with a terrified look on their face. I was about to shout at one of them but then the ground rumbles more and I look behind them to see a giant…..skinless….woman. Chasing them, ok where the fuck am I this has to be a joke. I thought that anyway until all but one person on horseback jumped off and started flying.
"Ok, what the fuck is happening?!" I yell, surprising the man still on horseback.
He looks at me with a look of pure shock on his face but stops his horse and gestures for me to hop on quickly. I do this and look behind me to see the flying people…..fighting….the thing.
"I swear to god, if this is a joke i'm gonna kill someone." I say to the man on the horse.
"You're not in the scouts, how the fuck are you here?" The man asked, ocean green eyes looking forward.
"The hell should I know? I just woke up in the forest a few minutes ago!" I yell looking back again, to see the giant thing kill one of the flying people. And killing the rest one by one, Ok not a joke. Definitely not a joke. I look at the man in front of me and all I can see is a look of pure anger and hatred. Why does this all feel familiar?
"Here take this horse and keep riding if you run into anyone point them in our direction." He says jumping off the horse, He raises his hand to his mouth and bites it. There is a bright flash as another huge person is standing there ready to face off against the woman. I leave the thundering until it's only a dull rumble.
"That's Eren's horse, but he isn't on it." Someone says riding behind me.
An asian girl rides up to me looking like she will tear me limb from limb, "Where is Eren?" She asks. Eren must be that man's name.
"H-he j-j-jumped off the horse a-a-a-and turned into a…..a….giant naked man." I say realising how stupid it sounds.
"What?! That means he is in trouble hurry we have to help him, you follow me you're gonna take us to him." She says bearing holes into my eyes.
What the actual fuck, this seems so familiar yet I can't put my finger on it. I just change direction on my horse, funny I have not rode a horse in years since I was like 8 actually. We rush deeper into the forest and pass the bodys of the people with Eren, now dead to the world and few people around them. I have never seen a dead person before, it's so horrific. I swallow the bile rising in my throat and keep my eyes forward to the sound of thudding footsteps. Suddenly there is a monstrous thud, and all is quiet.
"Come on they are close by." The woman says jumping off her horse and vanishing into the canopy above, followed by her friend.
I can only catch a few of the words she screamed something about 'You won't take him from me' as I ride closer to the scene, suddenly there is a clearing and the giant Eren turning to steam on the ground. I see a rather short man keeping the woman from charging after where I assume the giant woman ran.
"You stay here I will go after the brat." He says before shooting off at a blurring speed.
"Not without me." She says before shooting after him.
To hell with it i'm getting some answers and if I have to follow them into whatever the hell it is i'm getting caught up in so be it. I keep charging after them barely keeping up until they face off with the giant once more. Forcing her to the ground then slicing the muscles in her face allowing them to grab an out cold, but not dead Eren.
"Ok back to the main force." The short man yells at the woman who shoots off into the forest.
I follow after losing ground thanks to my tiring horse, we come into what i'm guessing is the main group. And to say we got some odd looks, mostly directed at me, would be an understatement.
"What the fuck happened to him Mikasa?" A bald man asked the woman, whose name is Mikasa.
Everyone stops in a clearing in order to gather and leave. Suddenly everything clicks and I know where I am.
"This is all a dream." I say to myself, "I'm just gonna wake up and none of this will have been real."
"Who the fuck is that?" A man who looks like a horse says.
"I have to be dreaming, you people aren't real." I say taking a trembling step away from the horse.
"I don't know what your talking about but you're not dreaming." Says the short man.
"If I can be out cold maybe I will wake up." I say looking at one of the trees before ramming head first into it, knocking myself out cold.
POV SWAP-
Either this man is very stupid, or stupid take your pick. He just knocked himself out in the middle of titan territory.
"Damn sir what do we do?" Asked Armin.
"Put him and his stuff in the wagon with Jaguar." Levi says getting on a horse and riding to the command center.
"Shit he is heavy." Says connie as he attempts to pick him up.
"Move." I say picking up the slightly tall and well built man.
I place him in the cart with Eren and take a seat as we get the command to retreat. We failed at whatever it was we were trying to do in the first place, and we almost lost Eren. I won't let that happen again.
POV SWAP-
I woke with a start only to have Mikasa's hand hold me down.
"What happened?" I ask, being allowed to sit up.
"We failed and Levi squad was annihilated." Mikasa says.
Why, why does this always happen to me? I swore to protect them but still they died, the only one to blame is me I failed to protect them. I could have saved them if I just transformed. I go to slam my fist down in frustration only to hit hard muscle, I look down and see the man who showed up in the forest bandage around his head.
"Did he get hurt because of me?" I ask.
"No he freaked out said it was all a dream and rammed his head into a tree, the cart medic said he should wake up sometime when we get back." She says.
"He's delusional." I say.
"Yeah." She says.
"It still doesn't change the fact that Levi squad died because of me." I say eyes glistening.
"Eren it's not your fault, they wanted you to keep riding." Mikasa says to me.
"Still if I hadn't listened they would still be alive." I say.
"We don't know that, they could have gotten caught in the crossfire of the fight." Mikasa says.
I guess she is right I don't want to think right now I just want to sleep. I lay back down and let the darkness take me once again.
POV SWAP-
Like I said just a dream, huh I must have slept over at someone's house because this isn't my bedroom ceiling. I sit up only to be brought back down by a splitting headache.
"Finally awake brat?" An unfamiliar voice says.
I look up to see the short man from my dream, but how? How is he here I know i'm awake because of the headache but how?
"Don't freak out and hit your head again brat, we had enough trouble finding a room for you in the first place." He says.
"W-where am I?" I ask.
"HQ , where do you live?" He asks.
"I'm not from here, I don't belong here…..I need to find a way home." I say.
"Tough luck, not until we figure out how you got outside of the walls in the first place." The man I know is Levi says.
"I don't know, I just woke up in the woods with my backpack beside me." I say honestly.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Levi asks.
"Going home and going to sleep." I say.
"Again where is your home?" He asks.
"I don't live inside any walls, I live in America, the USA. You're not even real over there you're a character in a story." I blurt out.
"What?" He asks annoyed.
"I know it sounds strange but someone put me here and-." I look down and see a note in my hands that says 'don't say anymore about the story.'
"Brat what are you looking at?" Levi asks.
"There is a note in my hand." I say waving it in front of his face.
"No, there's not." He says.
"What?" I say looking at the note.
"Tell me more about life outside the walls." He says.
"Um well I-" I say but was cut off by the door opening to reveal Eren Jaeger and Erwin Smith.
"Levi you are needed to assemble a new squad, we will take over here." Erwin says.
"Tch, fine." He says rising from his seat and leaving.
"I hope he didn't frighten you too bad." Erwin says.
"He is not as intimidating as I thought he would be." I say.
"Now what were you doing outside the walls?" Erwin says.
"I just woke up there, I remember going home and going to bed, then waking up here." I say.
"That's what he told me sir." Eren says.
"You know the plan to catch the Female Titan was a long shot." I say.
"How do you know about our plan?" Erwin asks.
"Well it may sound strange but this is one hundred percent true." I say looking at them.
They nod.
"Alright where i'm from your live's and events that happen here are stories in my world." I say.
"What all do you know?" Erwin asks.
"Well I know about Eren's life from the time he met Mikasa, the story revolves around Eren, the show stopped after you catch the Female titan but the manga….. The next chapter was supposed to come out sometime this month but it stopped when you got to the ocean." I say.
I am met with silence, until a hesitant Eren speaks up.
"Do you know what's in the basement?" He asks.
"I'm sorry but no." I say.
"What about titans origins?" Erwin asks.
"Um yeah but you won't like it." I say.
"Tell us." Eren says.
"Well there is a country outside the walls and across the ocean, that you were at war with one hundred years ago. Since then they have been turning prisoners of war into titans and dropping them off at a base near the ocean." I say.
"There are people outside the walls?" Erwin asks.
"I don't know how many but yes." I say.
"This changes things a bit." Erwin says.
"They also want nothing but to kill you all." I say.
Again more silence Erwin gets up and leaves.
"What does the ocean look like?" Eren asks.
I remember I have my phone in my pocket and pull it out, half a battery left in it.
"I lived beside it with my parents, I would go there almost every day with my friend, I have picture's of it somewhere on this thing." I say flipping through my files until I find one I took of the beach at sunset and show him.
"Wow it's amazing." He says eyes widening, "Is it true that it's salty?" he asks.
"Yeah it's so salty that if you drink it you would just end up more thirsty than before." Is say.
"What about the desserts of Ice?" He asks getting excited.
"I haven't been there but they are called the polar Ice caps, the coldest place on earth." I say.
"Wow." He says.
"The world is an amazing place, people just mess it up." I say turning off my phone.
"I can't wait to see the ocean." He says.
"I used to be scared of it." I say.
"Why?" He asks.
"Because we have been studying it for over one hundred years, but still know only 10% of what it holds." I say.
"Thats incredible, hang on I have to find Armin." He says getting up.
"No I will come with you I don't want to be in here anymore." I say.
I follow him out the door and walk around until he finds Armin.
"Armin, Armin he has seen the ocean!" He tells him.
I can see his eyes widen at this, "Eren Shhhhh!" He says.
"Why?" He asks.
"Don't you think that it would be a little suspicious if people with closed minds knew that information?" He says.
"I didn't think about that sorry." He says.
"Come on let's go to the canteen i'm sure both of you are hungry." He says.
"I would kill for some pizza right now." I say feeling my stomach grumble.
"What's that?" Eren asks.
"It's like thin bread with tomato sauce, cheese and anything else you want on it." I say.
"That sounds good." Eren says.
"It really is." I say.
"We don't have anything as fancy we can barely get any salt so pardon the quality of food." Armin says.
"Don't worry about that my school is the same way, like all schools at my home anyway." I say.
"Im sure you had salt though." Armin said.
"Yeah but I always bring….hot…...wait a minute I think I left a small bottle of hot sauce in my backpack!" I say running back to find the bottle.
"What's so special about that?" Eren asks.
"It makes any food, except sweets taste better." I say.
"Well here is your serving." Armin says handing me a thin beef soup with cheap bread to go with it.
I taste it and it's honestly not that bad for using the bare minimum, I still add the hot sauce.
"Can I try some?" Eren asks.
"Yeah, can you handle hot food?" I ask.
"I don't know peppers are even more rare than salt." Eren says.
I dab a couple drops of hot sauce into his stew and mix it up. I eat all of mine and the bread, this is still better food than my school gave me.
"Eren you're sweating." Armin says.
"Why is it soo hot?" he asks.
"It's only mild, I guess since you don't eat peppers you can't handle hot food." I say nearly laughing.
He then chugs his water, "Why does it still burn?" He asks.
"Because water only makes it worse, you either have to wait it out or drink milk." I say.
"I'm never eating hot sauce again." He says panting a bit.
I just laugh and think about the meals I would eat during the holidays, amn mom would make the best turkey. At least I think it was good, my memory from that time is still a little foggy.
"Hey." Armin says.
"Huh?" I ask.
"You were in a bit of a daze there, you alright?" He asks.
"Yeah just revisiting some good memories." I say.
"So we never got your name by the way." Armin says.
"My name is Michael Allen." I say.
"My name is Armin Arlert and this is Eren Jaeger." He says smiling.
"Nice to meet you both." I say.
"So Michael what did you want to do career wise?" Eren asks.
"Well I wanted to go to the NBA, but if I didn't make it I was going to join the military." I say.
"The military was really your second option?" Armin asks.
"Yeah I was either gonna do what I love or protect what I love." I say.
"That's respectable." Eren says.
"What about you two?" I ask already knowing the answer.
"I have always wanted to be a scout but ever since Wall Maria fell I wanted to kill all the titans, kill them for caging us in like animals and denying us the freedom we deserve." Eren says.
"I just follow this guy." Armin half laughs.
"Thats a great amount of resolve you have there, I guess now that i'm here I will help you achieve your goal." I say.
"It's not that easy to get into the scouts we went through years of training." Armin says.
"Most of which is physical conditioning." I say.
"True, but you also have to be decent in 3DMG gear." Armin says.
"I bet you I could get it first try." I say.
"Bet you can't" Eren says.
"Bet I will." I get up.
"Right here, right now you can even use my gear." He says.
"Deal." I say heading outside.
We find two suitable trees and Eren hooks the cables into them and letting them go slack. He then fixes me into the harness and instructs me on which triggers do what.
"Ok that should be it have at it." Eren says backing up.
I nod and pray this stuff works like the online guides say they do, I allow myself to stand on the leather straps on my feet and lift an inch above the ground to find my center of gravity. Once I am satisfied I can balance I lift off the rest of the way, just getting off the ground was exhilarating.
"Wow, thats a suprise." Armin says.
If I remember the top triggers are the gas and the bottom ones are the cables, so I press the gas and loose the cables.
"The hell?" Eren exclaims.
I then attach myself to another tree and swing around it flying through the air, the wind ripping at my face as adrenaline courses through my veins.
"Come down before you hurt yourself." Armin warns.
"But I wanna see what I can do." I whine.
"He is right brat come down." I hear a familiar and slightly annoying voice state.
"Fine." I say, practically crash landing on the ground.
"You know you are actually pretty adept for someone who says they aren't from around here." Levi says I notice Erwin standing near him.
"With some training you could be one of the best in the scouts." Erwin states.
"But i'm not in the scouts." I say.
Erwin raises a very thick eyebrow.
"You don't mean." I say getting excited.
"Yes, would you like to be a scout?" Erwin asks.
I'm just silent i'm not upset, i'm really just a mixture of shocked and excited, to the point of where I can't move.
"Keep in mind that the death rate are at an all time hi-" I cut Erwin off.
"Hell Yeah I'll join." I say excitedly.
This actually shocked everyone, I bet nobody has ever said that when asked to join besides Eren.
"Alright then, Levi you will be in charge of his training, your new squad will also be training with him." Erwin says.
"Fine, brat we need to get you 3DMG of your own." Levi says motioning me to follow him once i'm out of Erens.
"How much do you know about me?" He asks once we are out of earshot.
"Not as much as you would think, I know who Kenny is, that you came from the underground city, about….. Them." is say feeling awkward.
"I see." he says as we reach a building.
I follow him inside and am confronted with what i'm guessing is the equipment room, it's full of spare parts and 3DMG gear. Levi inspects one for any faults in the device before handing it to me, he then opens a box of uniforms.
"What's your measurements?" He asks.
"'I'm a size 16." I say.
"What about shirt size?" He says.
"Um 32?" I think.
He hands me the uniform and points to a door of which i'm guessing is the changing room, I go in and put on the clothes. They are surprisingly comfortable, I walk out.
"Boot size?" He asks.
"12" I say.
"They are not in the best condition but they will make due until the cobblers come by next month." He says handing me a well worn pair of boots, "Before you put those on, put on the harness."
I grab the harness out of his hands, this was really simple. It basically was built to fit to your body so you could tell what went where. After I get the harness on I put on the boots, put on the jacket Levi left on the back of the chair, and attach my gear.
"Good now listen brat, don't speak a word of my past to anyone." He says sternly.
"Yes sir." I say.
"Tch, report for training in 2 hours." He says.
I walk out and head to the forest again, I really want to fly around a bit more before training starts so I can get the hang of it more.
"Hey, Michael over here!" Eren shouts.
"What are you doing?" I ask looking at the wooden cutout him and everyone else set up.
"Commander Erwin said to set these up so we could go through the basics with you." He says.
"Oh ok let's do this." I say blasting off into the trees and landing on a branch.
"Ok Michael, when the cutouts are up you can start, and remember the napes are their weakness." Armin shouts.
"Got it." I say.
The cutouts are up and rotating, I watch for a second to see where they all are before jumping out of my tree and attaching myself to the tree nearest to a titan. I swing around launching myself near the first titans neck, I slice a little too deep and the blades almost get caught in the wooden cutout. I manage to finish the cut while also cutting out some wood, I then repeat the process with the rest of the titans only skidding across the ground once.
"Geez who is this guy?" The guy I know as Jean say as I land beside Eren.
"Did the horse just talk?" I ask Eren while laughing.
Eren laughs but Jean didn't take kindly to that, "The hell did you just call me?"
"Don't worry about it, it's all in good humor." I say.
He grumbles something about incompetent, something another I don't know.
"That was actually really good Michael, you're at the average soldier's level even though you just started." Armin said.
"Aww man, just average?" I say.
"Yeah unfortunately." Armin says.
"Fine that just means more work I gotta do." I say.
We walk back to the castle and I am shown to my bunk, gotta say it's clean. Almost too clean. I can live with it though, man this is kinda cool. Terrifying but cool, I guess I should unpack what that guy left me. I take out the tv and place it near the window and set up the solar panel in the window. Wait, if we just came back from the 57th expedition that means I can show them who the female titan is! I grab the tv and solar panel again and put them back in the pack before rushing off to the meeting room. I bang on the door.
"What is it?" An annoyed Levi asks.
"I have something you might want to know." I say.
"Come in." He says.
I walk in and am confronted with all of the important characters sitting around a table with a small window nearby. I shut the door.
"I kinda forgot to tell you something." I say.
"Well brat spit it out." Levi says.
"I know who the female titan is." I say.
"Perfect timing we were just discussing that." Erwin says.
"Who do you think it is?" I ask.
"Well it's just a hunch but Annie." Armin says.
"And you would be right my smart friend." I say grinning before placing the solar panel down in the window and hooking everything up.
"How do you know and what are you doing?" Hanji asks.
"This is a device that shows pictures, and what i'm about to show you is, you guys trying to capture the female titan." I say putting the DVD in and selecting the correct episode.
"Ohhhh, a new toy for me to play with!" Hanji says nearly crushing me to get a closer look at the tv.
"Back up, let everyone else see too." I say pushing Hanji back.
Unknown location-
"Are you sure you picked the right person?" A figure in a red hood asks.
"Yes he will do just fine." A green hooded figure says.
"Who even caused such a drastic change in the timeline?" A blue hooded figure asks.
"We do not know." The green hooded figure says.
"I have a feeling this will not end well." The red hooded figure says.
Back in the meeting room-
"So that's how it all goes down." Eren says.
"Yeah," I say.
It is all silent for a time while they all absorb this information.
"Is there anything else you can show us?" Erwin asks.
"I can't show you the next episode was gonna be published next month. I can't tell you either, I didn't read the manga." I say.
"Well this will allow us to make corrections in our plans, Eren you are to be taught advanced combat lessons." Erwin says.
"Yes sir." Eren says.
"Alright move on to your training, Levi take over." Erwin says.
"Yeah, yeah come on let's move," Levi says.
We all walk out and wait for Levi to gather everyone up in the courtyard, we all line up into formation and pretty much go through an army PT drill. It consisted of push ups, sit ups, obstacle courses, running, stuff the Military does. Overall, despite my athletic background it was still exhausting, when we get back I nearly forget to shower and change. After I do said things I lay down and fall fast asleep.
Dream land-
"Michael." A green hooded figure says.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"I brought you here for a reason, I can explain later." He says.
"Ok why did you leave me in the middle of a god forsaken, titan filled forest!?" I ask quite mad.
"You are the only one who can correct the changes in this world, if you could tell there were a few changes already." He shows how they never set the trap to capture the female titan, how Eren got over the loss of the squad so quickly.
"You're right." I say slightly shocked.
"You have ability's very few people hold in the walls, but you have to unlock them one at a time." He says.
"Like what?" I ask.
"Too many to tell in such a short time, I will be in here if you need information or just to talk." He says pointing at my head.
Barracks-
I wake with a start, man what a strange dream.
'It wasn't a dream kid.' A voice in my head says.
I fall from my bunk and land in a heap on the ground.
'Cool your jets kid i'm here to help you.' He says.
'Are you the guy from my dream?' I ask.
'Yeah that would be me.' He says.
'What can I call you?' I ask.
'Thanatos.' He says.
I have a feeling this just got a little more interesting.