Pale, hulking behemoths with sadistic grins and blood stained flesh stalked the city, grabbing anything that looked alive and shoving them into their gaping maw, just to be vomited up later. They ate people because they liked the taste, it was simple as that. But this time, their prey was not so defenseless. Taking to the skies with hooks and clouds of smoke, they tore apart the skins of their necks, breaking their spines and sending them tumbling to the ground where they would disintegrate into ash within minutes. In the 5 years since the last attack, the Garrison had become a deadly fighting force, lead by General Pixis and comprised of mankind's greatest warriors. But they were rapidly losing ground, lacking the muscle to deal with the Kyojin properly. There were too many variables, too many ways the fragile equipment could malfunction, too many raw recruits who would make simple mistakes and cost their regiment the whole battle. Until today, it looked like the best we could hope for was to go down fighting. With Eren Jager's appearance, everything changed.

At first glance the boy was nothing special. Black hair, green eyes, bad attitude. Like most teenagers, he was prone to yelling when he didn't get what he wanted, and was still immature and inexperienced. He could handle a blade decently, and once he learned how to buckle a belt he adapted to the 3dmg gear quite easily. But all in all he was just another conscript with a big mouth. He wasn't exactly a tactical genius like Armin, or a walking death machine like Mikasa, but he had survived. After a few successful bouts with the Kyojin menace, none of them particularly fruitful but not complete disasters, he was thought to have died, devoured by one of the beasts. It was only when he tore his way out of the foul monster's stomach that his true potential was realized. He was one of them, or at least he could become like them under certain conditions. Standing at 15 metres of pure muscle and hatred, he tore through his brethren like a 1000 degree knife through Styrofoam. He was the secret weapon the Garrison needed, though at first they didn't see it, thinking he was just one of them. It was only when they saw the result of his appearance they agreed to let him continue his campaign against the Kyojin.

"Crusaders of the Garrison, divert your attention to me!" Pixis shouted at the top of his lungs, standing on the massive stone wall the people had erected around their cities, overlooking a large army of conscripts. Most of them were teenagers, many of them young women, always a bad sign that the population is dangerously low. They were all tools of warfare now, they all knew it. They would either kill or die so that one day the Garrison would be like it was in the old days, where they just sat around drinking mead and looking tough, repairing cracks in the walls from children horsing around, and supervising old grannies as they came home from the pub. "Um, Pixis?" A bored looking woman in her mid 30s, hair already a stark white from constant stress of duty, gave him "the look" that told him she knew exactly how much he had been drinking, and that he'd once again forgotten a small but important detail. "Yes, Rico? I'm rather busy giving a speech. If only these young whipper snappers would listen.." "Well maybe if it seems like they're not listening it's because you're shouting at them from 50 metres above their heads without your bull horn. Do we want this to be like last time when you lead them in the national anthem and nobody could actually hear you singing the words, and everything slowly fell apart, and the King told us in front of the MP and the Recon Corps what a huge disgrace we all are?" Her cold eyes met his, and he smirked. He took nothing seriously, even life or death situations. "Very well. Hand me my bull horn."

"Crusaders of the Garrison, divert your attention to me!" This time, the mass of leather and steel turned their heads to look at him. Jean Kirschstein, the horse-faced rich boy with a temper rivaling Eren's and the ego of a princess, mumbled under his breath, standing off to the side with Armin, Mikasa, and Marco. Marco was a freckled optimist who, at the ripe old age of 16, still looked like an 11 year old. "So the old man actually remembered this time. Maybe now people will listen. Speaking of which, where's Jagermeister? Surely he's eager to suck up to his superiors like always." As soon as he spoke, Eren walked up to the edge of the wall, standing at the general's side. "As you can see, I am currently sharing the spotlight with this brave young conscript, and you may be wondering why this is! Well, I'll tell you! This young man possesses an ability like none other, the ability to form a titan body and control its brain, using it to accomplish legendary feats of strength that even our finest machines would struggle with, completely without effort! He shall use this power to repair the hole in our wall, locking the Kyojin outside and holding this ground for humanity! You, other nameless unimportant Conscripts, will assist him in this task, by slaying as many of the beasts as possible, and keeping them from getting in his way, since, you know, ever try to fight while carrying a giant rock? I have, and it's not easy." "So this is really what it's come to, we're dependent on Jager for our survival? And here I was hoping for a dignified end.." He caught a nasty punch from Mikasa and quickly shut his mouth, while Armin silently analyzed the situation. While Eren's titan form is indeed strong, it acts completely of its own will. Nobody knows how well it will do taking orders.

"Some of you may think this is insane. Maybe, maybe..I did come up with the idea after all. But what else do we have? The tiny sliver of hope that we may survive in Wall Sina, at the mercy of the government and the Military Police? No...it must be this way. And so I wish you good luck, Sir Jager. We're all counting on ya, kid." Eren joined the rest of the Garrison troops, having a few moments to chat with the others. Mikasa was naturally the first to approach him with her usual concern. "They didn't hurt you, did they? I don't know if I trust that Rivaille.." "I'm fine, would you relax for once? You're not my mother and I'm not a little kid." She pouted as he gave her his usual annoyed look. "You know they can't hurt me anyway. I'll just form another titan like last time." "Just be careful. For my sake." He couldn't help but rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Sure...Armin? Any advice? You seem to have a lucky streak going." "I was going to suggest that perhaps the vanguard should keep their distance until you take out the titans surrounding the boulder, but I doubt they'll listen. They insist on staying close to you..if you lost control-" "Which won't happen." "But if you did. Would they be able to stop you?" "I'll worry about that when it happens. For now I just need to focus on that objective. It doesn't work unless I concentrate fully."

He felt a strong woman's arm pull him to the side, and at this point his nerves were shot from the constant fighting so he did little to stop it. When he turned to see who it was he found the same cold eyes that had stared down the General, those of Rico Brzenska. "I just thought you should know, that it will be inevitable for many of them to die. Most of them have families, lives of their own, things they're fighting to protect. Don't let them die in vain." "I won't, what makes you think I-" "Young men like you tend to act before you think. I'm just letting you know the consequences." "Yeah, yeah..everyone is acting like my mother today.." Pixis then set off the flare that signaled the beginning of the operation, just as the next wave of Kyojin had started to come through. As planned, Eren launched himself towards the conveniently sized boulder, dispatching the smaller, weaker Kyojin he found along the way. Armin and Mikasa joined the rest of the vanguard, clearing the area around the boulder with only slight complications. Rico was right when she said deaths would be inevitable. When he reached it, a massive burst of electricity was seen, and in his place was the biggest, baddest beast of them all. But something had changed in his eyes. Primal rage had consumed him, and he was no different from the rest of the endless horde. He tightly clenched his fist, the size of a very overweight man, and brought it down upon his former comrades.

Blood and guts splattered Armin's jacket as an explosion of dust and gore filled the air, sending him flying back. His fears had come true, and the behemoth had followed its own instinct and without any Kyojin to slaughter since the Garrison had done their job well, turned on the humans that were left. He picked himself up out of the rubble and debris, tightly gripping his blade. He didn't want to use it on his best and only friend, but he knew it would likely happen. Mikasa was faster than him, and managed to dodge the first blow, though a shard of rock scraped her cheek and left a scar she'd never be rid of. "Eren..what the hell is going on in your head?" She jumped onto his face, looking him in the eye. He gazed up at her, the man she once knew acknowledging who she was. "I don't know what's gotten into you today, but I can't let you ruin this! I know you wouldn't want to set us back even further!" It seemed to register in his clouded mind, but then the beast took over, and he took a mighty swing at her. As she jumped away at the last possible second, his fist slammed into his own face, causing him to stagger backwards. This only enraged the Kyojin further, of course the idea of something so strong beating himself down was laughable. He laid into her again, forming a crater in the roof with her in the middle of it. Blood poured out of several open wounds, and she could barely open her eyes, much less move any of her twisted limbs. She could see the sorrow in his eyes, knowing he experienced every second of this but could prevent none of it. She held no grudge in her heart. He raised his fist again, and she closed her eyes, thinking this would be the end.

"Eren...Eren wake up!" "Huh? Where..exactly am I?" "Oh, you know, just in the field where you were supposed to be gathering firewood. You fell asleep again, dummy.." "Is that all? It felt like..like something was controlling me. I had limitless power, but I wasn't the one using it. It was the beast. The beast that's always in my head. I couldn't stop him from.." "So you had another nightmare. Better not let Dad know, he'll probably try another of his experiments. I'll just tell Mom you got tired on the way back and needed me to carry everything~" "Hey! That's not fair! Like she'll even believe that.." Mikasa...what am I doing..why can't I stop myself from hurting you...the sound of blade meeting flesh was heard, and Mikasa slowly opened her eyes again to see Armin standing over her. He had stopped the punch at the last second with his sword, deflecting the Rogue Kyojin's blow and severing several fingers. "You have to run, while you still have a chance! I can't hold him off forever!" "Armin...no...you'll only get yourself killed too.." You're too weak. You've always been weak...the Kyojin let out a roar of anger and anguish, sweeping his other hand across the roof to send both of them flying into the distance. He then turned his attention to the other troops, slowly bleeding out, when a familiar white haired woman caught his view.

"Somehow I knew this would happen. What is it with angsty teenage boys and not being able to control the immense power they always seem to be given? I'll just have to kill you, I guess.." She hooked onto a nearby pillar, using the standard technique to circle around and kill a Kyojin, something she had done a million times. However, she had underestimated his intelligence, and he quickly grabbed the rope, snapping it in half effortlessly. She crumpled to the ground in a heap, clutching one broken blade like her life depended on it. At this point, it most likely did. He stood over her, crushing her in his massive fist. He brought her up to his mouth, opening it wide. This surprised even her, showing once and for all just how much of his humanity he had lost. She drew the blade, stabbing it into the roof of his mouth long enough to fire the red flare. The Garrison had lost. He crushed her with his powerful jaws, blade and all. Once she had finally stopped struggling, he spat her to the side, strolling along the streets in search of more prey. The last thing Armin and Mikasa saw before losing consciousness was their former friend walking away from the first fight they had seen him win, at the cost of mankind's future.