Disclaimer: Attack on Titan belongs to Hajime Isayama. All other fandoms referenced here belong to their respective creators as well. I make no money from this story.
This chapter is dedicated to the fanfic writer ii-Phoenix-ii, who is a better writer than I.
Warning: Heavy manga spoilers ahead. Not for anime-only fans.
See bottom for more notes.
Marcel was dead.
He was fairly sure about that. He remembered a Titan rising out of the ground, reaching for Reiner, pushing him out of the way, being grabbed in his place, teeth closing down on his head, and then the sickening crunch of his own skull being crushed. And then this. A blank field of white space, stretching endlessly in every direction.
It would be a lie to say his death was unexpected. Nobody in Marley really knew what the situation was like inside the Walls, and he knew he might not return from this mission. It was unlikely, of course, given his regeneration and Titan form, but still possible. He was kind of ticked off about the fact that he didn't even complete the trip there, though. In retrospect it should have been obvious that they would have to be wary of normal Titans on the way, although a Titan rising from beneath the ground was definitely unexpected.
He glanced down. For some reason he still had his clothes. Was that evidence for or against his death? For that matter, what was this place? And more interestingly, why wasn't he freaking out right now? He remembered the feeling of terror as the Titan's hand gripped his body and brought him towards its mouth, the shock and fear in the eyes of his friends, the instinctual knowledge as teeth closed around neared his neck that this was how his life ended. But now he was more or less calm. He partially felt that he should be more worried about that, but he shrugged the feeling off. Maybe that was just an effect of this place.
Marcel panned his gaze though his surroundings. In every direction lay an endless sea of white, making it difficult to determine the position of the horizon, which way he was facing, or even basic depth perception. He could assume he was still because he wasn't walking anywhere, but for all he knew he could be falling downwards without noticing it. It's not like there appeared to be anything holding him up, and there wasn't any air to impact his body.
He jumped up and down. His view didn't change at all, but it felt like normal jumping. It was probably safe to assume there was a floor of some sort, even if it was impossible to tell where it began and where it ended. If everything looked the same, whatever force was holding him up probably made a floor that was flat, so he didn't have to worry about falling into any holes. He shrugged his shoulders, picked a direction, and began walking straight. At least he hoped it was straight.
As Marcel walked, he began to ponder the circumstances of his death. (He was almost positive that he had died by this point). How would the mission continue without him? Would the rest of his team make it to the Walls safely, or would they turn back? If they did continue, what would they do once they got there? He had never fully planned out what to do once they arrived at the Walls, and he had had some preliminary ideas, but now Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie would have to figure it out without him.
On another note, what would happen to the Titan that ate him? Would his team stay around to capture the new Jaws Titan alive, or would they run off? If whoever inherited his power did wake up alone, would they be able to escape the Titan infested territory on the outskirts of Paradis? He supposed it didn't matter. If that person got eaten by another Titan, the Titan that ate them would have the same problem. They were unlikely to escape by making it to the ocean, and Marley would probably catch them before that could get back to the mainland. Heading for the Walls might be safer, but nobody knew what was going on inside them anyway. Marcel was also unsure how much the new Jaws Shifter would remember of its past life as well as its life as a mindless Titan. He didn't remember being one at all, but he still remembered his whole life beforehand. On the other hand, he was only a mindless Titan for a few minutes at most, and the Titan who ate him had been out there for years. Maybe even decades, considering the time it would have taken for it to get buried like it had.
As Marcel mused silently, he eventually noticed a dark speck in the distance. It was so small that he never would have been able to see it normally, but given that literally everything else he could see was a uniform white, it stood out like a sore thumb. Finally having been given a sense of direction, he hastened toward the object. After what seemed like several minutes (though he wasn't sure time even functioned in this place) he was able to make it out as a rectangle. As he drew closer, he saw that it was a door. Walking up to it, he glanced back one last time to see if was anything he missed, and walked into the room on the other side.
On the other side of the door was a comfortable looking living room, featuring two small couches, a few armchairs, and a side table in the corner that for some reason was completely covered with apples. Looking back at the door he had just come through, he saw that it had disappeared, leaving only a blank stretch of wall. However, several more doors were lined up on the wall next to it. He went through trying to open each one, but all of them were locked except the last one, which opened up into a small closet barely big enough to fit two or three people inside. On the wall opposite the door, large blocky letters were engraved, finally giving Marcel some information about what the hell was going on.
RULES
1. If you're reading this, you're dead.
2. Dead people can't come back to life. You're stuck here now. Sorry.
3. Most dead people don't show up here. The fact that you're here means you get to participate in this bonus metaphysical level. Luckily for you it's not a water level.
4. Every so often another soul will come through their door. Once a soul walks in, they can't go back out until the time runs out.
5. Time passes here according to event time rather than absolute time. That means that if someone dies and arrives here, four years go by in the outside world that don't go by in here, and then another person dies and ends up here, it will have been four years for the second person to die but only a few minutes for the first person.
6. The blank screen in the main room is for watching events go by in the outside world. The speed at which things happen on the screen determines the relative speed at which time passes in here.
7. To start or stop the video, throw an apple at the screen.
8. The video will stop automatically at the end of every episode, and the next episode cannot be played until all people meant to watch it take a bite out of an apple.
9. The video cannot be turned back or sped up, so pay attention. If you miss something important, there's no going back.
10. No matter how bad things might seem, they can't be any better, and they can't be any worse, because that's the way things fucking are, and you better get used to it. Quit your bitching.
11. Life is short and flammable, but the world is quiet here.
12. LGOYET. ETV. E, ABW.
13. Are you seriously still reading these? There's not going to be any more useful information. Is this really how you want to spend your time?
14. Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's going to die. Come watch TV.
By this point, Marcel was crouching to read the writing on the wall, which continued all the way to the floor. Having finished reading it, he straightened out, walked into the main room, and grabbed a couple apples from the table. He had the sense that the last several 'Rules' were some kind of inside joke by whatever entity had designed this place. It was also bizarre that so many rules were based around apples, but it probably was just another inside joke. He started walking towards the couch, realized that he might have to pause the video, and grabbed a few more apples off the table. Plopping down on the couch, he looked at the large black rectangle that dominates the wall that the furniture was facing. He took a bite out of his apple, chewed, and swallowed. Then he picked up another one and hurled it at the screen. It passed straight through the black screen, which immediately lit up and began playing episode 1.
This is my first fanfiction, so the writing's probably pretty awful. I'm a huge fan of "Power to Strive" by ii-Phoenix-ii, and I thought it would be an interesting twist to have certain side characters watch the show, especially those who kind of know what's going on. I can't promise that they'll all be in character (especially since Marcel is like 10), so any constructive criticism is much appreciated. Later arrivals won't appear in the tags to avoid spoilers, but the first couple viewers are there. If I actually manage to finish this, I'll start a new fic for season 2, and then another for season 3. Part of the advantage of this story is that I don't really have to worry about consequences, since they're already dead. So in summary, this fanfic is kind of a bad rip-off of "Power to Strive" with dead viewers. Oh, and many inside jokes and references will be assorted throughout the story. Rules 10 – 14 aren't relevant to the plot at all, I just wanted to say them to confuse the characters. Maybe I'll add more rules later.
Anyway, if you've made it through the wall of text, please follow, favorite, and review! Or don't, I guess. Who am I to tell you how to live your life? You can do what you want! Be free! (Joking aside, any reviews would be much appreciated, in order to figure out what people want from this story. If you don't have anything to talk about, just name your favorite Attack on Titan fanfiction, and why it's better than this one. Or name a character you want to see in this story after their death. Or go on an incoherent rant about the South Sea Bubble for all I care. What's important is community engagement, regardless of the actual nature of the content.)
Thanks for reading!