"Return of the Fallen"

An Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin Story by MysticalHexanes

*Author's Notes*

"Attack on Titan" is the creation of Hajime Isayama. I do not own the manga/anime or any of its characters, nor do I seek to gain any monetary profit from them.

I do, however, hope that the manga's author and the anime's developers hear of the ideas for the series which I describe here. As a loyal fan of "AoT," I hope that these sorts of events do take place in upcoming seasons of the show. And I would be ever so happy if my favorite character, Petra, made a return.

"But, she died…" you might be saying. Yes, one thing I love about AoT is that it captures the gritty reality of war: People who have names and families and dreams die all of the time, and as much as we may long for them, there's nothing we can do to bring them back. Even so, in Petra's case, there may be hope yet for her return, and it makes strategic sense, too.

Curious? Well, I invite you to read on…


Introduction: Man Becomes Titan

When Petra Ral first joined the Survey Corps, she expected to learn a great deal about the fearsome Titans which plagued her world. As far as she knew then, Titans were horrendous brutes with misshapen bodies, great strength, and an overwhelming appetite for human flesh. But their utter lack of intelligence made them easier to bring down than one might suppose, and Petra had faith in the ability of the Survey Corps to unlock the mystery of these murderous giants and restore humanity to its former glory.

And as it turned out, Petra proved to be quite a skilled soldier indeed, widely considered by her superiors to be among the best of the Survey Corps' new recruits. Riding out into the grassy wastelands beyond Wall Maria, she and her squad-mates encountered Titan after Titan, experimenting with new strategies for subduing the mindless, lumbering monsters. And though this learning process was costly, indeed, the surviving members of the Survey Corps were rewarded with a deeper understanding of how the Titans functioned, and how best to bring them down. Petra's aptitude for teamwork and her courageous spirit helped her to become especially adept at slaying Titans, and her recorded number of kills was among the highest possessed by any of her fellow soldiers.

Witnessing the beginnings of humanity's revival firsthand, Petra began to feel a stirring sense of hope that the Survey Corps would uncover the secrets behind the Titans—their origins, their sources of energy, their true level of intelligence, their weaknesses…Already, Squad Leader Hanji's research on live, captive Titans was beginning to shed light on these and related matters, and the fieldwork accomplished by other members of the Survey Corps was instrumental in the development of improved combat techniques. At times, it seemed as though the end of the Titans' reign could be mere days away…But that's when everything changed. For a new Aberrant Titan had been spotted within the walls, one whose true identity would leave a lasting mark on Titan research for months to come.

Aberrant Titans were nothing new to Petra; from unusually-fast sprinters to the terrible Colossal Titan itself, these unpredictable creatures were alarming and mysterious, but even they seemed not to be immune to humanity's growing knowledge of the Titans. After all, they were still Titans. They still posed an imminent threat to humanity, and that made them something less than human; something that deserved to be eradicated from this world. That was the plan, of course, until that ferocious, bellowing Aberrant with sinuous muscles and piercing eyes collapsed to the ground, exhausted from having just torn apart countless dozens of his fellow giants. And through the cloud of steam emanating from his fallen body, a figure had been seen emerging from the nape of the Aberrant Titan's neck. A figure identified by his squad-mates as Eren Jaeger, a young soldier who had just graduated from training, and who was preparing to join the Survey Corps.

In other words, this "Aberrant Titan" was no Titan at all. He was a human being, albeit one with the remarkable ability to synthesize his own Titan-like body at will. A Titan Shifter.

This realization would change Petra's life forever…


Well, that's all for now! It's only the introduction, but I hope that you enjoyed it just the same, and that you will look forward to reading the first chapter, which will be posted soon. I will probably complete it this weekend, so stay tuned!

-MysticalHexanes