Alright, so the 2nd chapter is up.

I did my best to keep everybody in character, so enjoy. I'm sorry it took so long to upload it, but Fanfiction wouldn't let me, and I always got . , so I don't know what to do about it.

I do not own Attack on Titan.


"What are you guys stupid or something? To kill titans of course!"

What the hell was this geezer talking about? Ed didn't understand. If this was some sort of military branch for Capital city, with his credentials, he would have been made aware of this branches existence by now. But what did he mean by titans? Nothing matching that had ever appeared in teacher's studies, and he couldn't help but wonder why they needed to be killed. And besides, this still didn't explain why Ed and Al had aged significantly from just moments before. Where the hell did Truth put them?

"Alright you two! Move it!"

They were quickly rushed to the right corner of a group of soldiers who had the same clothing as they did. When the Elrics were just about to ask each other the questions racing through both their minds, their eyes quickly drew to the man in the center of the crowd of soldiers.

The man had an oval face with a defined, muscular chin with a goatee, and a sturdy jaw line. He had a narrow, oblong face with angular cheekbones. His mouth formed to a simple blank slate, but his eyes said otherwise. Within the depths of this mans eyes, Ed and Al could see the deep pain and suffering this man must have gone through. The nightmares and memories that must haunt him every night form the horrors he must has encountered in his life, and the brothers couldn't help but wonder if perhaps these titans the soldier was talking about had some correlation to the steely gaze in this mans eyes. Ed had seen that kind of determined, stone cold face with the Major General Armstrong, but with this man, it was on a much higher level. It appeared that the years of service had worn him down, as the dark circles around his eyes practically screamed torment, however he still had an air of authority that was palpable to everyone and demanded absolute respect.

"Straighten those spines, piss-ants! As of today, the 104th Cadet Core boot camp starts now! For those of you who don't know, my name is Commander Keith Shadis, and all you maggots will grow to despise me! This camp is gonna be a soul crushing tour of hell, and if all goes how it should, you won't be able to close your eyes without the terrors of this place bubbling up to haunt you for the rest of your pathetic lives! As of now, you are just trash, not even worth the dirt under my boots, but with my training and expertise, I'll make sure you'll be able to mow down your very own goliath! This is the moment in your life when you consider whether you're a warrior, or livestock for the titans to devour! Are you gonna let your bones be crushed by the titan's boulder size incisors, or are you gonna bite em where it hurts?!"

The Elrics calm demeanor quickly but silently changed to a demeanor of slight concern. This man clearly was meant to break them down physically and mentally. Not even teacher ever had the mouth this Commander Shadis had. If this is what this kind of military had to offer, it looked like these two might be in for a whole different definition of pain.

"Hey runt! Am I disturbing your daydreams, or do you have your head so high up your ass you can't even hear me?"

Ed didn't even see Commander Shadis come up to him, but when he heard this guy call him runt, his attention instantly diverted to the commander in front of him. Just as Ed was about to go on a ranting, hurling insults right back at him, he turned to look at Alphonse, whose wide eyes and rapid increase in breath rate alerted him to the distress and concern Al was feeling. He could practically hear what Al was screaming at him with the look in his eyes.

'Now isn't the time or place to talk back'

Swallowing his pride, Ed looked at the commander with a neutral face yet eyes filled with anger and defiance.

"Of course not sir!"

"Let me ask you something! Where is your maggot family from?"

"Um… Resembool sir!"

"What a stupid ass name for a town! Since I've never heard of it, I'm guessing you're one of the districts of Wall Maria that was taken by the titans, or am I wrong, pipsqueak?!"

That did it! If this thought he could get away with calling him short, he had another thing coming

"Don't call me short, dick face!"

Everyone stared at him in complete shock. Even the head strong loner Annie Leonheart gave this new kid a look of awe. A few of the cadets started murmuring to each other, wondering if this guy was mentally insane or just had enough balls to talk back to Commander Shadis.

Ed looked around, suddenly regretting what he said. Maybe that wasn't the smoothest move, but he wasn't going to let anybody call him a pipsqueak. Whatever the case, that short lived confidence quickly drained away as he felt a new sense of dread coming up to bite him as he saw the Commanders eyes darken at his sudden outburst.

"So we got ourselves a comedian, huh? You think you're gonna put on a nifty show by acting like a badass? Alright then. 100 laps around the camp every day for the week, or until the sun comes down. Whichever comes last. And you better hurry if you don't want to miss dinner."

Ed opened his mouth to protest, but the Commander's dead serious face made him see there wasn't anything he could do to change his mind. With a final rebellious scoff, Ed started sprinting away from the group. Oh well then. At least this would give Ed some time to think about what the hell was going on and why they were there.


Shortly after Ed had left to start his run, Al watched as the commander observed all of the fresh recruits, and he had been lucky enough not to be one of the people called out. While the commander went around inspecting the fresh recruits, Al managed to make out the names of a few other cadets, such as Jean Kirstein, Marco Bott, Armin Arlert, and a few others. One of the cadets, apparently named Sasha Blouse, was consuming a potato while the instructor was inspecting, and she had the honor of running 200 laps with Ed. After the formalities were out of the way, Al was intrigued as he was introduced to a special kind of training in which you had to maintain balance with 2 bungee cords holding them up from the side, which seemed to be for some device called a 3-d Maneuver Gear. Fortunately for Al, he didn't have to go perform this exercise in front of the soldiers since there wasn't enough time to get to him. As soon as the training was finished, he sat himself near one of the cabins he has been assigned to see Ed run his 150th lap.

"I can't believe that he's ran 150 laps while Sasha is only on her 100th lap. Honestly, that new guy barely seems like he's taken a sweat."

Al looked next to him to see a few of the other cadets had come to sit next to him and watch Ed finish his punishment. The male soldier who just spoke had a slim build, with bright hazel eyes, and a distinctively shaved head. He smug face showed that he was a more of a go with the flow kind of soldier. He was dressed in a simple long-sleeve white shirt and shin-length brown slacks.

"The name's Connie Springer. You probably already recognize Marco and Armin, and right here is Eren Yaeger."

"Oh hello there. My name is Alphonse Elric."

Alphonse wasn't quite sure if it was the best idea to socialize with these cadets. I mean, he still didn't even know where they were. In his opinion, now wasn't the best time to get to know others better, so he simply stayed quiet for a few seconds until Armin decided to break the silence.

"I have to say, you and that soldier seem to have a connection. You wouldn't happen to be related to him in any sort of way, would you?"

"Oh yea. That's my brother Edward Elric."

"Your brother has got some real balls speaking up to the instructor like that. I was surprised," said Eren, finally speaking up after a moment of silence.

Alphonse couldn't help but notice the hint of respect that stood out in Eren's words. Al had been horrified when brother had the audacity to speak out like that. He should have known better, but then again, this is brother he was talking about.

'Brother, don't worry. I know we will figure this out. '


Commander Shadis lounged at the top of the watchtower as he began to take a glimpse at how the two trainees were progressing with their run. Shadis was more than happy to silence those who attempted to usurp his authority with their own defiant nature. In order for these soldiers to truly progress in life, they must learn respect towards their superiors, and the two soldiers running were prime examples of brazen fools, and Shadis simply disillusioned them into thinking rebellious behavior would go unpunished.

Shadis was more than pleased as she saw the girl barely making it through her run. Her arms were limping from her sides, as she was gasping for oxygen, barely even able to stand up straight, much less run. How pathetically out of shape she was. Well, on the bright side for him, this would serve as a dual purpose: giving the girl some exercise, and displaying his authority.

"Now where is the blonde haired shorty…"

The corners of his mouth tugged into a small grimace at the sight of the male cadet sprinting at full speed across the camp, as if this was nothing more than a Sunday jog in the woods. His arms were at his sides, with his back straight up, and chin held up in a way of shouting, 'Is this all you got?'

Fury and incomprehension were released as Shadis marveled at this cadet's surprising ability to maintain such a high speed with an inhuman tolerance to exhaustion. There was no way that Shadis would let this go untested. No, he had to make this kid pay. He would find a way. He bet his life on that.


As the hour passed and the other cadets prepared to go to dinner, Alphonse stayed and watched Ed finish his final lap. Al rushed up to him as he fell onto the ground from sheer exhaustion.

"BROTHER!"

That was all Ed could process before he was thrown into a bear hug aimed around his chest that winded him to the ground, tensing his already stone stiff muscles.

"Jeez Al! Calm down! It was just a run! I'm alright!"

The young Elric brother quickly released himself from his older brother. "I know. I'm sorry brother, but its just that I didn't know if you would be alright after running for a fourth of the day. I didn't know what would happen to you…" said Al as he shrunk down on the ground, his hands trembling as he did so.

"Al." Fear and anxiety were clearly clawing at his younger brother, and he placed his hands on his brother's shoulders, meeting his worried borther's eyes. "We survived 6 months of Teacher's training. I think I can handle this torment for a week. And besides, the automail kinda takes a little pain off", said Ed, a sheepish grin appearing on his face

There was suddenly an abnormally loud growl resonating through the air. Both brothers burned with embarrassment, as their hunger became known to each other.

"Well I guess there's no harm to going to the dining hall."

"Of course brother. And besides, I still have the notebook of everything I want to eat, so I might as well get started now."

With reinvigorated enthusiasm, the Elric Brothers ran to the dining hall, completely forgetting about the worry and anxiety growing in the back of their minds.


Well that's a wrap for chapter 2. I'll be sure to add more chemistry between the different characters in the next chapter, but this chapter was basically getting the Elric brothers acquainted with the world they were living in. Until Chapter 3!