Attack on Titan: Another way

A/N: Just to clarify, this is an alternate ending to the video game 'Attack on Titan 2', if you haven't played it you should definitely try it. It's just a different way the story could have played out. This will be my last piece of work until June, and if this goes well I may expand this to a two-shot or series.

Once again, he found himself back in that same place.

No matter how hard he tried, how hard the soldier fought, Titans would always end up towering over him. Never the other way around. Ever since he'd first watched the Armoured Titan end his peace with one great charge, he vowed revenge and swore to never be that powerless again. In the end, he broke his own promise. The Armoured Titan was just lying there, powerless and weak. The armor surrounding its flesh was cracked and ready to shatter. He was given a chance, that bastard could have died right there and then from his own blades. But instead he chose to turn away, and minutes later it was him that lay powerless, dead weight at a Titan's feet. No spare blades left in his scabbard, with one of his precious hooks broken and no way out for him in sight.

But even at that moment, when his life started flashing before his eyes, he still refused to give up and yield to the monsters of humanity. He decided that if his life was going to end that day, then he would go out doing the craziest thing yet. One last effort that would determine how he would lose his life that day.

He slashed at a reaching titan's fingers, while the images still formed in his mind for his final act. Then he placed his useless right sword in his hand, the edge of the blade pointing straight to the ground. He then plunged it deep into the earth's surface, afterward draping his torn and bloodied Survey Corps cloak over it. Said blood most likely his, from the lack of steam and the burning pain of what was most likely cracked ribs from his fall earlier.

Then, he turned his head and last remaining sword towards the grinning abominations staring straight at him, an emotionless look in their eyes. But still, he stared, a strong determination of steel and will of iron giving the soldier courage and strength.

And finally, he raised his blade and pressed the stiff trigger inwards, firing his last hook straight into the Titan's mouth, before latching onto the back of its fleshy throat. In one fluid motion, he jumped in place, retracting the gears line before surging straight towards the jaws of death with a face of rage and eyes holding strong on his target. The nape. In what he believed were his last moments, the scout strived to be the first human to eliminate a Titan from within.

He felt the wind in his hair and listened to the hissing of the tank's gas, readying his blade for one final great slash, only to hear his blade shatter into pieces behind him. Turning his head back, he looked towards the sound only to see the pieces falling to the ground before the view was blocked by the Titan's teeth closing, sealing his fate and life away. He'd tried to use a rotating slash, one like the corporals. Only for the blade to shatter after colliding with the monster's teeth.

All he could do was watch as the Titan shut its meal away, and tried to swallow him whole like a pill. The Scout tried to stay in place with all his might but was soon swallowed into the belly of the beast, the hook dislodged from its throat while his hopes and dreams sank along with him. He continued to fall down, eventually reaching the monster's disgusting stomach. He shot out his hook into the stomach lining and hoisted himself up. At first, relieved to have survived, but the sight that greeted him was too grim to relive.

To start with the smell was horrific, unlike anything else he'd smelt before. But then the soldier's eyes came into play, and what he saw that day reminded him how cruel his world could be. What he saw were disfigured and bleeding bodies, of soldiers, of fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. All devoured to feed a cruel hunger for death and misery. Some missing arms, some missing legs and there were even those who'd been decapitated entering the monster's mouth. They weren't as lucky as him, that's if you could call his situation that.

Everything he gazed upon gave the scout urges to scream, shout or cry. But he restrained his vocal chords and emotions, realizing that any sound he made would easily become his last. The Survey Corps had never known if Titans were willing to tear each other apart to reach humans. So the less noise he made, the better.

Realising all the circumstances he now faced, the young soldier valued all his options. He couldn't try and climb back up the throat, he'd get swallowed before even reaching the uvula. And trying the... other way out wouldn't work. If the stomach acid didn't dissolve him into bones first, then he'd reach the bottom only to find it most likely sealed, as Titans couldn't defecate. This left him truly stuck, with no way out. Trapped. Within the very monster, he swore to destroy. Though in reality, his 'host' was the only thing between him and the monsters lurking nearby.

There was no other option... but to simply wait. If the corp eventually found him, then he'd be able to finally escape out the monster's mouth without being swallowed back down. Neither his Titan host or the others guaranteed to be waiting outside would be able to harm him anymore.

And so he waited there, and waited, and waited. Suspended from the monster's stomach lining by one slender hook for what felt like days. But when he felt the titan stop moving the scout realized that it had become night, or rather it'd been night-time long enough at least for his 'host' to run out of energy and be forced to stop moving from exhaustion. He briefly considered climbing back up its throat when there was no chance of it fighting back and to use the night's opportunity to run away.

He soon dismissed the idea though, realizing that in the pitch black of night he'd become lost in the darkness without a torch. He also realized that without most of his gas and with one of his blades missing, he'd be defenseless against Titans. There was also the issue of those Titans he'd seen from Utgard castle, as they could move around in the darkness. What's to say that the other monsters out there couldn't?

Realizing he was still left with no options, the once-courageous fighter settled down in a scared and vulnerable state for what would be a night of uneasy and uncomfortable sleep suspended from his last remaining hook.

There was no way. Absolutely no way that he could have survived, they all knew it deep in their hearts. And Sasha knew it too, but she just couldn't believe he was really gone. Just like that. No goodbye's, no final words. He'd just placed his journal within Eren's hand and flew straight into the jaws of death. That took undeniable courage, and no-one wanted to believe that was really the end of him. He was one of the Survey Corps best, though not carrying much experience he made up for it in skill. No-one wanted him to be gone. But it didn't stop the reality of the situation, no matter how hard Sasha tried to build a wall between her and the memories and doubts, the monstrous nightmares that plagued her sleep would just knock it back down.

They were always the same, her lost friend flying straight into the Titan's horde, before being plucked out the air. The Titans grips like vices. And she was forced to watch as they devoured him before her eyes. No matter how hard Sasha tried, that image wouldn't leave her head. The sleepless nights and ruptured slumber drenched in a sheen of cold sweat saw to that. But taking into account all that she'd endured over the last few days, and all they'd achieved despite being without him, she knew it was time to move on. The world was changing drastically, and she needed to change along with it.

Sasha knew she needed to forget her fallen friend. But couldn't find it within her.

Even after Corporal Levi had given her the 'don't let his sacrifice be for naught' pep talk, she still was unsure. They all were, still tossing and turning during the night trying to forget the cry he'd given out of earshot, which they all assumed would be the last they'd hear of their friend. And in one moment, late into a cold and nightmare-fuelled sleep, Sasha had woken up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath and on the urge of crying. She covered her mouth, intent on not waking her sleeping comrade in the lower bunk.

But a few minutes later, she heard the ladder for her bunk creak as someone climbed up. She looked down her bed to see Mikasa at the top of the ladder, dressed in her nightwear still wearing her scarf.

"Mikasa?" she whispered to the raven-haired girl.

"I heard you wake up, are you feeling ok?" She asked the red-head, hoisting herself up so she was sitting on the beds' edge with her legs dangling over the edge.

"Not really." She said, raising her sleeve to her eyes before wiping the tears starting to form. "Could we just talk? It would help."

"Sure." Mikasa replied, moving herself to sit opposite her friend.

"Would it be ok if I asked you something personal?" Sasha asked.

"Sure."

"If you lost Eren... What would you do in that position?" She asked, resulting in Mikasa taking a guarded expression.

"Honestly?"

"Honestly." Mikasa sighed outwards, before telling Sasha her answer.

"I was in that position when we heard from Armin that Eren had died along with the rest of squad 34, then I lost hope. When all of us charged for HQ, I was just trying to distract myself from grief. On the way, my gear went dry from my bad maneuvers. At that moment I almost refused to fight, even when a 15 meter Titan reached out towards me."

"Then how did you survive?" Sasha asked curiously.

"Eren."

"Oh yeah, now I remember," Sasha said, as she lightly facepalmed herself. "He showed up as a Titan and saved you. We all heard."

"Not exactly."

"What do you-"

"What I mean," Mikasa said interrupting "Is he's the reason I stopped giving up."

"Why?"

"My memories of him." She replied with a small smile. "If I'd died my memories of him would have died with me."

"Oh, now I get it."

"I can guess why you're asking." Mikasa said, causing Sasha to nod in return.

"You probably can, it's not exactly hard to guess." She said, giving a sad smile. "I miss him. Everything about him. How he used to shoot off against Titans, with his hair flowing in battle and the times we went together on hunting trips. You know he saved my life once?" The girl said to her friend, who lightly shook her head in return. "I was fighting in my village during the Rose attack, he helped save me and a little girl. But now... I'll never get to repay him." Sasha whimpered, not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I can't believe he just... left. Without a word. Why didn't he at least say something to us?"

"There was probably nothing to say."

"There was plenty to say!" She replied louder now, the tears starting to flow down her cheeks. "He could have said goodbye! Or good luck! Or hell, he could have even said 'I love you' anything except just leaving without a word!" She nearly shouted out, at that point having moved to cry on her knees, her face buried within them. Mikasa then moved down the bed to her side and lightly wrapped her arms around the crying girl. Sasha continued to cry out, while her friend gently stroked her hair. "Why? Why did he have to die?" The redhead cried out.

"I don't know." Her friend said in return. "But what I do know," Mikasa said, bringing Sasha up to face her "is that if he were here, he'd tell you to move on. Live your life." The girl said before the potato girl lowered her eyes back to her own knees to continue crying.

And following that moment, Sasha cried for another ten minutes before going back to sleep. Come morning, through her red eyes she looked out towards the outer wall beyond her view and decided to continue living, just like he'd want her to. She knew that after the morning's operation to reclaim a supply base she'd be able to think more. About her past actions, her present state, and what the future would hold.

But she couldn't help but wonder, where would he be right now? She knew he was dead, but did he accept his fate? Or die fighting?

She originally thought there was no way of knowing. But even fate seems to pick its favorites.

The cadet knew, that his time was almost up.

It had been a week, probably longer at that point. The lack of sunlight prevented him from fully knowing the passing of time. But however long his confinement had lasted, it was slowly driving him towards death and insanity. The last of his flask's water had long since run out, and he'd gone without any kind food for too long. In desperation, he'd tried slicing off a piece of Titan flesh and devouring it. Give it a taste of its own medicine. But that was his worst decision since entering the Titan's stomach, the meat tasted vile like poison, and scorched his mouth and tongue, requiring him to consume more of his precious water.

And since then, he kept growing more and more hungry. Wishing for food, even a few crumbs. But still, the hole in his stomach and stamina continued to grow. To the point, he could barely stay awake. Causing him to go in and out of sleep, only causing more confusion to his body's natural systems. It was now, that he struggled to deal with anything. The strain from his belts, the growling of his stomach and the dryness of his tongue that could rival a barren desert.

But the smell was easily the worst. His clothes stank, his body stank, and the pungent smell of corpses had only grown more foul as time slowly started to decay the bodies. To the point where it drove him mad, wanting to slice off his nose with his last blade; though now was little more than a glorified dagger.

He'd considered just giving up. But before he could detach his line and plunge deep into the monster's depths, effectively ending his life, he instead thought back to his comrades. No, they were more than that. To his friends. Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Connie, Historia, Hanji, Erwin, and Levi. And of course, one that stuck to his mind was Sasha. All his memories of her started to flood back; the hunting trips, her country accent and even the raids on the officer's pantry. He'd give up everything he had, though not much, just to spend one more day like those.

Though now, chances of that were looking thin. He felt like blacking out every second and feared his next sleep could be his last. And in response, he fought with his fatigue to try and stay awake. Thinking of anything and everything to keep his mind working. His revenge on Reiner and Bertholt, his time in the scout regiment. Going on for so long, he worked down to the most obscure of memories, like Jean's mother and Hanji's experiments. And he knew the situation was desperate if he was remembering those time-consuming sessions.

He was just remembering a particular lecture from Levi, something along the lines of cleaning and responsibility before he heard a sudden sound pierce through the silence of his situation. He wasn't even given the chance to question its nature before he felt the giant concealing him start to fall. He detached his cable from the stomach lining before falling towards the Titan's throat. The angle of the falling monster resulted in him falling straight into the monster's mouth through the jaw. He breathed in a lungful of air, his breath knocked out from the impact.

He stood, which resulted in every muscle in his body screaming from exhaustion and fatigue. It took monstrous effort, to the point where he was sweating and breathing heavily when he reached his feet. Using every last ounce of strength, the soldier started to move towards the teeth barricading him in. He looked behind him to see his hook trailing behind him. His gas had depleted halfway through retracting the hook. Highlighting how screwed he would have been, if not for staying put.

He soon reached the jaws. However, due to the beast having fallen onto its side, was now angled sideways requiring him to pull them apart like a set of double doors. He squeezed his hands through the small gap, cutting himself on its teeth, and tried to push them apart. But his bodies weak and useless state left him too weak to push the jaws apart. He used all his might but still wouldn't budge. His desperation turned to rage, he wouldn't let himself die then! He'd survived being swallowed, after losing the last of his gas getting within the Titan's stomach. A few teeth would not stand between him and freedom.

"Hey guys, come quick! There's someone inside this thing!" He heard a voice sound, had he the energy he'd try to recognize it from memory, but was too weak and too focused to care.

"Hurry! Get them out of there!" He heard another voice say, feminine this time. Before he could even consider ignoring it, a second set of hands emerged from the other side to push the two jaws apart. Another set of hands soon pushed through. And another. And another. And another. To the point, he couldn't count the number of hands pulling. He instead joined them, continuing to widen the gap and escape.

He eventually pushed out, falling to his knees and gasping for fresh air. The soldier tried to look up towards his saviors, before realizing that his hood had fallen and obscured his view. He was too weak to lift it back up, or even utter a word. All he could do was try not to black out.

Yet, he saw his hood lift exposing him to the light of day. And his eyes burnt from the scorching suns hot rays before his perspective finally adjusted. His eyes soon opened wide when several figures came into focus. First, their jackets and cloaks came into view before a set of white and blue wings took center stage. It took him a moment, but he soon realized who he was looking upon.

At that moment, he gazed upon his comrades standing right before him. Their green hoods flowing in the wind, some with tears starting to line their eyes. He slowly recognized their faces. Eren... Jean... Sasha... They were all there. And when he looked upon them all, he finally knew things would turn out ok.

And all he could do was smile, as he fell into a fatigue-induced sleep.

A/N: Well, that's how it could have been. Seeing the original ending for the first time I couldn't help but wonder if that was really the end of 'our man', as I did see his right sword detached from his gear, though his left one was mostly intact. And it did look like Sasha had a thing for him/her. I may expand this further come June, but I'll give a warning in advance there will be spoilers for season 3/4.
Wish you all the best, see you next update.