(844, Scout HQ)
"I hate paperwork." Lucas thought to himself as he was going over the casualty report from the previous expedition. "I swear Keith, Erwin and Flagon give me the paperwork they don't want to do. I would've never taken that promotion if I knew what this was going to be like. Youngest Corporal in the history of the Scouts they said, with your skill you'll be an asset for future expeditions they said." He mocked himself for falling for that. "Fucking Erwin, shitty bastard, dropping all this paperwork on me, at least I don't have to write those letters to the dead soldiers families anymore."
He was taken out of his thoughts as there was a knock on the door. "Name and reason?" He called out to them.
"Moblit Berner, Corporal. I have a message from Commander Shadis." He said from the other side of the wooden door.
"Enter." Lucas said, putting the papers dowm so he could properly face Moblit when he entered. "What is it?" He asked after he had entered.
"Commander Shadis has requested your presence in the meeting room Corporal Ackerman." Moblit said while saluting him.
"Don't be so stiff Berner. I don't give a shit if you salute me or not." He replied. "Wait, you're Hange's assistant arent you?" He asked.
"Yes Sir." He responded. "I am Hange's assistant." He told him. "Oh and before I forget, Hange wants you in the infirmary later tonight. She wants to run an experiment on your physical strength related to your muscle mass."
"No. She can kiss my ass if she thinks I'm going anywhere near her with a scalpel in her hands." He replied. "She once wanted me to break her arm just to see if I could, she's lucky Erwin stopped me or I might have."
"Actually, she got permission from Section Commander Erwin to run this experiment on you." Moblit told him. "So you don't have a choice when it comes down to it."
"Get out." Lucas growled out, not happy anymore.
"Have a good day Corporal." He said as he left the room, cringing as he heard something slam against the wall, a chair if he had to guess correctly.
"I don't even want to know." Nanaba said as she was also walking along the corridor at the same time as Moblit had left the Corporal's office.
"Was he always this prone to outbursts of anger?" Moblit asked. "I don't think it's normal for someone to get this angry all the time."
"After what happened in the forest he wasn't really angry that much, he was just sarcastic a lot and very blunt." She explained to Moblit. "But after he came back from our week off after the winter training exercise, he started becoming more and more agressive, I asked what was wrong and if anything happened but he just shrugged it off, like it didn't matter at all to him."
"Well I'm pretty sure he needs another chair after what we just heard in there." Moblit joked. "That's gotta be the fourth one this month, we might end up spending half the budget on the 23rd expedition on buying him new furniture for his office."
"At this rate probably." She laughed. "I think he's too hard on himself sometimes though. It doesn't help that he's constantly worrying about his family. Apparently his mom and sister are the last of the Orientals within the walls, supposedly theres a fortune to be made if they were sold on the black market in the Capital."
"So that's why he only has one set of clothes. Because he gives his salary to his family." Moblit summed up, he always found it strange how the Corporal only seemed to wear one shirt, and he had once seen him cleaning it at night while going to the bathroom.
"Come on. We should leave before he decides to break us instead." Nanaba urged. "And I'd shove you infront of me so I could try and reason with him."
Five minutes later Lucas had just entered the meeting room where Commander Shadis, Erwin, Mike, Flagon and a few others were all seated and waiting for him.
"So you've finally shown up." Flagon, one of the Section Commanders commented. "Surprised you showed up at all to be honest."
"Flagon. Now is not the time for this." Shadis interrupted him. "I called this meeting to inform you all that I will approve of Erwin's long range scouting formation for the upcoming expedtion. I feel that less casualties will be incurred as a result of us avoiding the Titans rather than engaging them head on. Any questions?"
"Is that it?" Lucas asked. "You called a meeting just to tell us that?" He asked, thinking that his time had been wasted.
"No, there's something I need to discuss with you, Erwin and Mike. The rest of you may leave now." Shadis responded, politely telling the other officers to leave the room.
Once they had all left Erwin produced a document from his jacket, laying it on the table for them all to see. "Furlan Church, Isabel Magnolia and Levi." He began. "These three thieves live in the Underground District, our informant has reported that they have possession of ODM gear and are quite proficient with it. I would like to recruit them to the Scouts."
"You're joking right?" Lucas was the first to speak up. "What makes you think any thief in the Underground would want to join the Scouts?"
"Well, it's either that or we hand them over to the Military Police." Erwin casually replied. "Seems like a logical choice to me."
"Tch, says the guy who stayed single just to join the Scouts." Lucas retorted back at him. "Any sane person would take prison over fighting Titan's any day."
"Are you saying that you don't have faith in Erwin's plan Corporal?" Shadis asked him with a glare which shut him up, since he had been in the Scouts he had learned that trusting in his fellow soldiers was the most important thing.
"As I was saying." Erwin continued on. "Once we have a location on them, we'll move in to detain them once the MP fall behind. Once we capture them I'm sure that I'll be able to convince them to join our ranks."
"Flagon won't be happy." Lucas stated. "He may be an ass, but he takes a lot of pride in being a Scout, he won't like that those three just walked in without any proper training."
"If Flagon has an issue with it he can take it up with me." Shadis spoke. "Lucas, you will go with Erwin and Mike to the Underground, you will be responsible for making sure they don't get away."
"I'm just one person." Lucas reminded him. "I can't be in two places at once."
"It'll be fine Commander Shadis." Erwin interjected. "The Corporal here can apprehend Miss Magnolia. Me and Mike will take Levi while the others capture Mr Church."
"Do you have to be so formal with them Erwin?" Lucas asked. "I'd recommend locking your door and window at night. Sounds like they might slit your throat while you sleep, if I don't get to you first." He growled out.
"Pardon the Corporal's behaviour Commander. I gave Hange permission to run more experiments in regards to his near supernatural strength." Erwin explained.
"I see." Shadis chuckled, before adopting a serious face. "Is that all gentlemen. I have a meeting with the others regarding the long range scouting formation."
"Actually Sir... I need another chair for my office." Lucas spoke up. "The one I was using wasn't sturdy enough."
"That's four this month." Shadis reminded him. "I'm well within my rights to dock your salary for-"
"No!" Lucas yelled out. "I mean no, It won't happen again Sir, just don't take it out of my salary." He pleaded.
"This is the last time, Corporal." He warned him. "Next time it will come out of your pay." He said as he exited the room.
"I'm starting to think that you shouldn't be allowed a chair in your office." Mike joked. "If you keep throwing them at the wall every time you get angry you'll have killed more chairs than Titans."
"I've killed more Titans than you Mike. I've been here for two years, what's your excuse?" Lucas mockingly asked him.
"Stop bickering you two." Erwin ordered.
"When do we leave?" Lucas asked Erwin.
"Now." He commanded, leaving the room with Mike and Lucas in tow, preparing to leave for the Capital where Erwin could enact his plan to have Nicholas Lofov thrown into jail.
(Underground District, Two days later)
"Where are they?" Lucas asked impatiently, they had been waiting for an hour now and he was getting bored beyond his wildest dreams, he was seriously beginning to believe that his mother trying to teach him to sew was more entertaining than this.
"Patience Lucas." Erwin told him. "We can't just expect them to come straight into the open. They've been doing this for years, they're the closest thing you'll get to professional thieves down here."
"Mike, please tell me you can smell them." He pleaded with the taller man, only to recieve a smirk from him, he could tell that Mike was enjoying this.
"I'd rather be sewing with my mother than be here right now." He complained to them both. "I'd much rather... no, in fact I'd rather be here than talk to her again."
"Her?" Mike smirked. "Who is she?" He asked. "Don't tell me you've got yourself a secret girlfriend and haven't told us about her." Mike feigned hurt by holding his hand over his heart.
"You're should count yourself lucky that I don't gut you like a fish Mike." He hissed at him. "I'd gladly show you my own technique for carving up Titans, it's obviously far superior to yours anyway."
"Not to overstep any boundaries Lucas, but are you gay?" Erwin asked. "I've seen plenty of females who outright admire you and I'm interested as to why you don't at least take up one of their offers."
"No I'm not gay Erwin." He hissed at him. "And I'm not going to sleep with some girl that just throws herself at me. As much as it may not seem like, I do have standards when it comes to women."
"Oh, really?" Erwin asked, genuinely curious now. "And that girl you mentioned earlier, the one that you don't want to talk to, what's your relationship with her?" He asked.
"Tch, you're not going to let this go are you?" He asked. "Fine, I met her at Trost two years ago, we talked for about twenty minutes and I insulted her many times, and she had the nerve to say she thought I was sweet. Can you believe that?"
"Are you serious?" Mike asked. "You met her two years ago and you still think about her. Must have really caught your eye, eh?" He nudged him with his elbow.
"She didn't catch my eye." He denied. "No one had ever said that to me, at least not after what happened in the forest, but she somehow saw who I was before it happened, and I-" He stopped himself once he saw Mike smirking at him and Erwin looking at him with curiosity.
"Fuck you two. I know what you just did, now I'm really considering breaking into your rooms and slitting your throat while you sleep." He growled out, annoyed that he had let himself show weakness once again.
"Having feelings isn't a weakness Lucas." Erwin told him. "Having feelings makes you human, it's about balancing those feelings that make you human and the job we do that sometimes requires us to throw away our humanity for the cause."
"Tch, I never asked for a speech about it Erwin. Just don't pry into my private life again." He warned them.
"Ah, looks like they're right on time." Erwin spoke as he gestured to a cart that had been knocked over by three people using ODM gear. "This is it gentlemen." He announced to the other Scouts with them. "Bring them back alive and unharmed, we need their skill for the upcoming expedition." He said as he lifted his hood over his head and activated his ODM gear, with the others following his example quickly after.
"They had us! It's those pests again!" One of the merchants cried out as someone ran away with some food that had fell out of a crate.
"There they are!" The other merchant yelled out, pointing towards where they were headed. "Someone call the Military Police!"
"Yahoo!" One of the thieves cried out, Isabel Magnolia from the description that Lucas was given by Erwin, he was to detain her.
"Levi, they're here!" Furlan called out. "The pursuers!" He clarified.
Levi looked back to see that three MP's were chasing them, and four others were behind them, all wearing cloaks with hoods covering their faces.
"Heh, the Military Police again?" Isabel asked. "Haven't learned their lesson have they?" She asked before facing the front. "Hey Levi-bro! What I said was a cool line right?"
"Are you an idiot?" He asked in response, getting her to pout at him.
Levi then swung upwards and spun around in the air, confusing the Military Police eho were following but the cloaked soldiers instead sped up, getting closer and closer to him. That was until he clicked the buttons of the gear and fired the hooks sideways into the walls of the buildings, causing three of the four soldiers to go flying passed him, but the fourth used the outstretched wire to leap into the air, effectively stopping himself from flying passed him as he seemed to hover in thevair above Levi as he quickly dodged a lunge at him and linked up with Furlan and Isabel again.
"Those movements... they're not Military Police." Furlan realised, knowing that they were far too good to be MP's.
"Yeah." Levi agreed with him. "No mistake. It's them." He revealed. "The wings of freedom crest... It's the Survey Corps!"
"Heh, as people who battle the Titans, they're as different as expected." Furlan said as he and Isabel looked back at them.
"You guys... you know right?" Levi asked them, knowing what they had to do.
"Of course." Isabel responded.
"It's the job right?" Furlan replied.
At the next street, Isabel shot off to the right while Furlan went left, with a Scout following each of them.
"Mike! After the girl!" Erwin ordered. "Lucas, you're with me, I underestimated his skill it seems." They both nodded with Mike taking Lucas' place in following Isabel while Lucas kept going straight with Erwin both following Levi.
"Now let me see... how good the Survey Corps really is!" Levi thought to himself as he shot himself through the window of a building. Vaulting over a table and through a crack in the wall, coming out of a window at the other side of the building, only to see a Scout emerge from the alley and launch himself at him, forcing Levi to dodge.
As Levi tried to get away, he went under a structure, only to see the roof get torn apart from above with a soldier with black hair and eyes like his come down at him, with Levi sliding on his back and using his hands to propel him to his feet. He drew his knife and attacked the soldier with it, only to see his strike deflected downwards and recieve a kick to his midesction much to his shock.
He was about to charge until a blonde Scout came down from above, blocking his knife with his two blades and sliced at him, forcing Levi to dodge which allowed Erwin to rush him, grabbing thr hand with the knife in it and holding a blade to his neck.
"Stop it. Take a look around you." Erwin said as he felt Levi begin to struggle against him, when Levi looked over he saw that Isabel and Furlan were both handcuffed, with Isabel struggling in Mike's grip.
"Let me go... you bastard!" She yelled out as she continued to struggle against him. "Damn it all!"
"Levi!" Furlan called out, seeing the position his friend was in.
Levi then dropped his knife as he knew there was no escape from this and decided to give in to the Scouts.
"You're quick at reading the situation." Erwin observed as he let him go, with Lucas coming up from behind him as Levi glared at Erwin.
Once they were all in handcuffs and on their knees, Erwin began to ask them questions, much to Lucas' dismay, he wanted to get some sleep since he had been awake for the majority of the night before.
"I'll ask a few questions." Erwin announced, holding up the handle to one if the ODM gears that they had stolen. "Where did you get this?" He asked, referring to the gear, but didn't recieve an answer from any of them, they all stayed silent. "You guys are skilled with the ODM gear. Who taught you all that?" He asked, once again not recieving an answer.
Erwin then moved forward towards Levi, towering above him in his current state. "You're their leader right? Were you trained in the military?" He asked him, only recieving a glare from Levi in response.
Erwin then nodded to Lucas, who then placed his boot on Levi's back and forced him down, face first into a puddle of dirty water, adjusting his boot so it was on the side of his head. "He asked you a question midget." He hissed at him.
"You!" Isabel growled out at him while Mike stood back, looking on in amusement at the scene before him. Lucas wasn't even five foot seven and he was calling someone else a midget.
"I'll ask one more time." Erwin stated to Levi. "Where did you learn to use ODM gear?"
"Not from anyone!" Furlan cried out. "We learned it by ourselves."
"Self taught you say?" Erwin asked him. "I don't buy it."
"It's just so we're able to rise even a bit in this dirty garbage place!" Furlan yelled at him. "People who're used to sunlight like you guys wouldn't understand."
"That's enough. Let bro go!" Isabel demanded, which Lucas snorted at, she was in no position to make demands. "Don't be cocky just because you're soldiers!" She yelled at both Erwin and Lucas.
Erwin nodded to Lucas who took his boot off Levi's head and forced him onto his knees again, not being gentle about it at all.
Erwin then kneeled down infront of Levi who had his head held in place by Lucas who had a strong grip on his hair. "My name is Erwin Smith. And yours is?"
"Levi."
"Levi." Erwin repeated. "Why don't we make a deal?"
"A deal?" Levi asked in disbelief.
"I will let your crimes go unpunished." Erwin revealed to them. "In return, lend me your strength. Join the Survey Corps."
"And if I refuse?" Levi asked him in response, already knowing what his answer would be.
"The Military Police will have you. Considering all of your crimes, you and your friends, won't be treated very nicely." He said, getting up and turning his back on him.
"Choose whichever you prefer." Erwin said as he turned back to look at them, Levi in particular.
"Fine." Levi said, spitting on the dirty street. "I'll join the Survey Corps." He said, glaring up at Erwin, who had a rather creepy smile on his face.
"Tch, don't blame me if you leave your door unlocked at night and end up dead." Lucas deadpanned, getting a glare from all three handcuffed individuals.
(Scouts HQ)
"Quite frankly, this is humiliating." Flagon said as he slammed his fist on the table. "Are you honestly telling us, who have always held formality in high regard, to accept a bunch of criminals?" He asked Shadis. "Our soldiers morale will be tainted if we allow those Underground scum to join our ranks."
"I am in agreement with Flagon." The Scout next to him said. "And to suggest we take these criminals with us on the next expedition?"
"I fail to see the issue here." Lucas spoke up, he wasn't at the table, he was leaning on the wall behind Erwin. "Worst case scenario is they all get eaten out there, best case they keep killing Titans for us."
"I understand your concerns." Erwin spoke up before they could start arguing again. "But I can personally vouch for their ODM gear skills."
"The new formation that Erwin has been working on us quite groundbreaking." Shadis spoke up. "It emphasises importance not on how best to kill Titans, but how we should best avoid them. I believe our casulties will be greatly reduced."
"This formation is likely to be accepted as the norm for our forces." Erwin agreed with him.
"What those scum lack are discipline and manners." Shadis growled out.
Flagon gritted his teeth, glaring at Erwin as he did. "It should only require a short amount of time. They don't appear to be idiots. Right Erwin?"
"Correct." He answered, holding Flagon's stare.
"We'll end things here for today." Shadis spoke as he stood up, effectively ending the meeting.
Once the meeting had ended, Shadis had called all the present Scouts to the courtyard where he could introduce the three criminals as members of the Survey Corps. Shadis and the three were on a stage, where as every other Scout was stood at attention in different lines, with Lucas at the front of his line because of his rank as Corporal.
"From today, these three will be fighting alongside you all!" Shadis announced to them all, with Levi standing with his arms crossed, Isabel with her hand on her hip, and Furlan the only one that was standing at attention. "Introduce yourselves!" He commanded.
"The names Levi." Levi rudely stated, almost as if the idea of just being there disgusted him while the Scouts looked at him in shock, except a select few.
"Levi... the first thing you'll need is some god damn discipline!" Shadis said. "Next!"
"I'm Isabel Magnolia." Isabel stated as she stepped forward, pointing to herself. "Nice to meet ya!"
Furlan then put his fist over his heart in a casual salute as he spoke. "My name is Furlan Church."
"Flagon, these three will be in your squad." Shadis announced. "Look after them." He said, getting an amused snort from Lucas in response.
"My squad Sir?" Flagon asked, clearly not approving of the decision.
"Are you dissatisfied?" Shadis asked in return.
"N-No." His shoulders slumped as he looked over to Erwin. "But shouldn't Erwin-"
"Erwin is tasked with the soldiers formation." Shadis explained. "The new recruits are your responsibility. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sir, understood!" He responded, saluting rather unenthusiasticly, glaring up at Levi on the stage, who glared back at him.
"Corporal Ackerman." Shadis spoke up once he finished with Flagon. "Is there something that you find amusing about this situation?" Shadis asked him.
"No Sir." Lucas responded. "I just had something in my eye."
"So... his name really is Ackerman." Levi thought. "Shame we won't have the chance to talk after we're finished the job."
Levi thought back to when they had met Lofov to take the job, and what exactly the job entailed.
"There are two things I'll have you do." Lofov's voice echoed in his mind. "First you'll obtain a certain document which is in the possession of Erwin Smith."
He remembered glaring up at him, thinking that it wouldn't be that easy.
"And secondly to kill the Survey Corps' Section Commander Erwin Smith." The words rang through his head. "Oh, and a word of warning if you would indulge me. Be wary of his lapdog, Corporal Ackerman, they've taken to calling him humanities strongest soldier. He'll be by Erwin's side most of the time." He explained. "Those are your jobs."
Later that day, the soldiers were doing their regular training where as some of the officers had taken an interest in the training that the new recruits were going through, particulary Isabel and Levi, mainly because Isabel seemed a natural at riding a horse. Lucas was watching on as she rode around like she had been doing it her entire life.
"I'm surprised." A brown haired female Scoute in Flagon's squad stated. "Did someone teach you how to ride a horse?" She asked.
"Nah." Isabel smiled, petting the mane of her horse. "But I've always been fond of animals. This guy says he likes me too."
"No way!" The Scout said in amazement.
"She's not talking to the horse." Lucas scoffed as he offered up his opinion. "But riding a horse will be the least of your troubles when you come face to face with a Titan out there."
Isabel pouted at him. "What's that boy?" She asked the horse. "He says he doesn't like you." She said as she took off on the horse once again.
"Tch, I should have her cleaning the fucking toilets tonight for that comment." He growled out. "Do you know where the midget went?" He asked the female Scout.
"I think he went to the forest for ODM training Corporal." She replied. "But why call him a midget? He won't respect you if you insult him like that."
Lucas didn't reply, instead walkimg off towards the forest where said midget was about to do some ODM training.
Levi had just pulled out his sword as Lucas arrived and held it, facing behind him while the other was facing forward.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Flagon asked, crossing his arms as Hange and Moblit looked on in curiousity. "Those blades weren't designed to be held like that."
"Isn't that the way the Corporal uses his blades though." Moblit interupted.
"That's because Corporal Ackerman knows what he's doing and is ridiculously talented with the ODM gear." Flagon replied, now turning to face Levi again. "Do you want to die the moment you step outside the walls?"
"That might just happen to you." Levi said as he turned to face him.
"What did you say?" Flagon asked.
"All I have to do is slice the neck, right?" Levi asked. "I'll do it my way." He declared, engaging the ODM gear and launching himself into the forest.
"Was he given formal training?" Hange asked as she observed him.
"No, I don't believe so." Moblit answered her question.
"Good, very good." She stated, a creepy grin on her face now. "Everything from the way we search for Titans to the way we take them down is dependent upon individual methods." She squealed. "This is starting to get interesting."
"Wipe that creepy smile off your face before I staple your mouth shut." Lucas said as he smacked her on the back of the head. "He's wasting gas by doing all those flips, pulling off manoeuvres like that in Titan territory is a one way ticket down a Titan's throat."
"Corporal shorty!" Hange squealed in excitement as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I wondered when you'd show up, we still have to run those experiments about your freaky strength." She told him.
"Get your hands off me before I rip them off." He threatened her.
"We should try that!" Hange exclaimed. "Not on me obviously." She giggled to herself. "I'll have a cadaver brought in to test that. I need to find Erwin!" She exclaimed, running off to find him.
"How the fuck do you deal with her?" Lucas asked Moblit. "Surely she must drive you crazy."
"There's a reason I drink the most alcohol in the Scouts Corporal." He reminded him. "The job is stressful to say the least, but I enjoy it nevertheless."
"Idiot." Lucas scoffed at Moblit. "If you need me I'll be in my office. I have more paperwork courtesy of eyebrows himself." He said. "Bastard." He whispered as he walked off.
Later at night, Furlan was looking around Erwin's office for the documents that Lofov wanted while Levi and Isabel stood watch outside the room.
"Damnit, where is it?" He thought as he searched a drawer in the desk, still not finding it. "I thought this would be easier considering how little equipment there is here." He thought as he went through the bookshelf. Then he heard a bird call and started to panic.
Erwin had just got out of the meeting about the formation for the upcoming expedition. He entered his office only to see that Lucas was leaning back in his chair with both his feet on the desk.
"Lucas." Erwin greeted. "Must you put your feet on the desk whenever you sit there?" He asked, this wasn't the first time it happened.
"I came by your office to deliver those documents you wanted." He responded. "Only to find that riff-raff Church had been in here. You can tell the fact those books on the shelf are slightly out of place, and I know how tidy you are."
"Really?" Erwin asked in amusement.
"No. I watched him leave the room." He deadpanned. "Speaking of which, why exactly was a former criminal snooping around your office?" He asked.
"I wondered when you'd figure it out." Erwin stated. He then pulled a scroll from his jacket pocket. "They're after this." He revealed. "These documents detail Nicholas Lofov's dealings with the Lang company." He explained.
"What? You blackmail him or something?" Lucas asked.
"I had to ensure that the expeditions would continue. Without us, humanity will never be able to live outside the walls again." Erwin explained.
"You're gonna turn him in anyway. Aren't you?" Lucas realised.
"That was the idea." Erwin responded. "Lofov hired those three to retrieve the documents regarding his crimes, and I suspect to kill me as well."
"You're insane." Lucas stated. "Risking your life for a piece of paper. No wonder you're almost in your thirties and still single."
"Oh, I didn't realise your relationship status has changed since we got back from the Underground." Erwin teased. "Speaking of which, Commander Shadis recieved a request from someone... rather interesting."
"It better not be a marriage proposal." Lucas said. "I'm not marrying someone I haven't met."
"It's just a meeting." Erwin reassured him. "Shadis recieved the request from Lord Reiss. He requests that you meet him at his estate after the upcoming expedition."
"What could that man want from me?" Lucas asked in disgust. "If he wants me to be his bodyguard he can think again. I'd rather endure one of Hange's experiments."
"I'm sure you would." Erwin chuckled. "But Shadis already said you have to go. Improving relations with the nobility is exactly what we need right now."
"Tch, fine." He agreed. "But I want to go home before I go to that cesspit of greed and corruption."
"I'm sure we can arrange that." Erwin agreed. "Will two days be enough?"
"A week or the deal's off." He demanded.
"I'm sure that would be acceptable, given that you actually go through with the meeting." Erwin agreed.
"Are we done here?" Lucas asked. "Because if we are, I need to hide from Hange now." He said, getting out of Erwin's chair and heading for the door.
"One more thing Corporal." Erwin called out as he reached the door. "I heard that Lord Reiss has a daughter about your age, play nice will you."
Lucas scowled at Erwin in response. "I'm going to shave your eyebrows off one day Erwin. Let's see how serious people take you then."
Erwin smiled to himself as Lucas left the room. It really was too easy to get him angry, hopefully after the meeting with Lord Reiss the Scouts could get some more backing from the nobility. Lord knows they needed it now more than ever, especially since they had almost lost their funding this time.
(23rd Exterior Scouting Mission)
"Open the gate!" Shadis yelled as the bells sounded around the town, giving the signal that the Scouts were beginning another mission. "Today, we take another step forward! Show me the fruits of your training!" He yelled as he looked back at them. "Show them the strength if humanity!"
The majority of soldiers responded with a war cry, raising their swords into the air as they did. Ready to give their all on this mission. Their lives if it came down to it.
"We will now begin the 23rd Expedition beyond the walls!" He announced. "Forward everyone!" He roared, galloping out if the gate first, closely followed by the other Scouts.
"Wow." Isabel gaped as she took in the outside world for the first time, her cheeks even turning pink at the sight.
"Yeah." Levi agreed, taking in the scenery for himself. "Not bad at all."
"What are you doing?" The female Scout that helped Isabel with her horse asked. "Don't lose focus. We're not out here to sightsee. There's no telling when we could run into a Titan."
"Hah." Isabel smirked. "If we do see one, we'll clean it up right away for you." She declared.
"Idiot!" She replied to which Isabel flinched at. "You wanna be the first one to die!"
"What's your problem." Isabel grumbled back at her.
"You're only able to talk like that because you've never seen a Titan before. You have no idea just how many good soldiers have been eaten..." She trailed off at the end.
"Titan sighted!" A scout called out, signalling to a fifteen metre in front of them. "Ahead and to our right! One fifteen metre class right ahead!"
"Thats... a Titan." Furlan observed nervously, seeing one was definitely different to talking about them.
"Two ten metre classes are heading towards us from behind!" Another Scout yelled out.
"They're too close for us to slip away. Prepare for combat!" Shadis ordered. "Equip your ODM gear!" He yelled, with three Scouts instantly leaving their horses and taking to the sky.
"Flagon, shoot your flare." Erwin said as he looked back to him.
"I know." He responded as he pulled out his flare gun and shot a red flare into the sky, alerting nearby Scouts to the Titan sighting.
"Commander, let's tighten our formation." Erwin suggested. "Looks like it's going to rain." He observed.
"Damnit!" Flagon said as he watched a Scout get bitten by a Titan. He then circled around to it's nape and cut it open, killing the Titan instantly.
"Incredible." Isabel commented as the Titan fell to the floor, slowly disintegrating away into steam.
"They're more impressive than the Military Police." Furlan agreed with her.
"They're here!" Isabel yelled as she heard the footsteps behind them.
"Two of them!" Furlan added in.
"You two, stay your course!" Flagon ordered as he returned to his horse, only to see that Levi was headed straight towards the Titans.
"Levi!" Furlan called out. "Let's do this Isabel!"
"Right!" She responded, preparing to engage the Titans with Levi and Furlan.
"Are they trying to get killed?" Flagon asked in frustration.
Levi then jumped off his horse, shooting his hook between the Titans into a tree, using his momentum to propel himself upward, he sliced open the nape cleanly. He saw the Titan go down, along with the other Titan grabbing Isabel on her leg, she cut herself free which allowed Furlan to cut the nape and kill the Titan.
"All the Titan's have been wiped out!" A scout called out.
"Everyone regroup!" Another ordered.
"How's that Levi?" Furlan asked, proud that he had managed to kill a Titan. "We took down a Titan all by ourselves."
"We did it bro! We did it!" Isabel chanted, obviously proud as well.
"Yeah... you guys did well." Levi praised them.
"Section Commander, those three..." The brown haired Scout started, only to have Flagon interupt her.
"Yeah." Flagon agreed. "I'm beginning to see why Erwin was so insistent on having them join."
"Indeed." Erwin said as he and Lucas joined the trio. "That was impressive, considering it was your first time. But you used too much gas. You need to be especially conservative out here."
"You're expecting me to take priority of my equipment over the lives of my friends?" Levi asked him.
Erwin was about to speak, but Lucas spoke up before he could. "If you run out of gas out here you're dead. Simple as that." He told them. "And unless you have developed a way of killing Titans by glaring at them, I suggest that you conserve your gas."
"What Corporal Ackerman said is true." Erwin agreed with him. "You're performing a lot of unnecessary movements." Erwin then narrowed his eyes at them. "Are you beginning to have doubts?"
Levi's eyes widened at that statement.
"If you are, that'll be the death of you very soon." Erwin warned them.
"Damn him!" Isabel yelled as she glared at the retreating forms of Lucas and Erwin. "He better watch his back when he's alone!"
"Shh!" Furlan hissed. "He'll hear you." He warned her.
It then began to rain, starting off slow and then the grey clouds covered the sky, the rain lashing down onto the ground below, reducing visibility to only a few feet in all directions.
"It's difficult to see." Erwin thought. "If the storm gets any worse, the flares won't be if much use."
"We should reduce our speed Erwin." Lucas commented. "I don't want to ride straight into a Titan's mouth out here."
"Yes." He agreed with him. "Although I'd like to get away from this open area as soon as possible." Erwin said as he shot a green flare into the sky.
"You realise they'll use the rain to come for you right?" Lucas asked him.
"I know." Erwin responded. "I'm counting on it."
"Tch, I swear if I die fighting them instead of a Titan I'm going to come back and strangle you." Lucas commented, but followed Erwin anyway.
Elsewhere, Levi, Furlan and Isabel were all close together, discussing what they would do while the rain was still pouring down.
"I didn't know rain could be this heavy." Isabel commented, watching it bounce iff her cloak and onto the ground below.
"Yeah!" Furlan agreed. "We won't see any Titan's before it's too late!"
"This is our chance." Levi stated, using the rain as a cover would be perfect. "We'll use this rain as cover and get close to Erwin."
"Levi!" Furlan and Isabel gasped.
"Are we gonna go for it bro?" Isabel asked him.
"Yeah, but it'd be suspicious if all three of us were to break away at once." Levi responded. "I'll go alone."
"True, it's probably not best to carelessly move around." Furlan agreed with him.
"Alright, fine." Isabel conceded. "We're counting on you bro! Go and secure our surface citizenship!"
"If anyone asks, tell them I went to survey the terrain." Levi told them.
"Got it." Furlan nodded as Levi changed direction and sped ahead, moving through the rain to where Erwin would be. He was going to kill him, and humanities strongest if he got in the way too.
Levi then yanked the reigns of his horse, pulling it to a stop as he came across a massacre of soldiers. "What the hell... happened here?" He asked in shock.
He saw a black flare being fired behind him, he turned to see a mortally wounded soldier crawling around. "The Titan..." Was all he managed before he went still.
"No way!" Levi spoke as he looked to the ground, seeing the footprints heading in the opposite direction. "Did we pass each other?"
Gritting his teeth, he raced back, through the pouring rain as it pounded against him until his horse hit something, sending him flying to the ground. When he looked up he saw Isabel's head lying on the floor, specked in blood and dirt from the grassy field.
He then noticed the Titan as it growled at him, biting down on what it was chewing and spat it out, revealing the upper half of Furlan.
A gust of wind blew across the Titan, allowing Levi to slip out of it's sight, coming in from above to slash at the Titan. It tried to swat him but he was too fast, continuing his assault, screaming the whole time, he ripped the Titan apart, he eventually went up it's arm and cut the nape. With him covered in blood and crying with his head down.
Once the Titan had skeletonised, Erwin, Mike and Lucas were all standing there, with Levi still on his knees with Isabel's head next to him.
"So you're the only survivor." Erwin stated. "How pathetic." He commented.
Levi's head snapped towards Erwin as he charged towards him, using his blade to slice at him which Erwin caught, the blunt blade easily being held at bay.
Erwin heard another sword being drawn to his left, but before Lucas coukd do anything Erwin spoke up. "Stop!" He held his hand out to Lucas, who eventually relented afrer a second.
"I'm going to..." Levi breathed deeply then. "Kill you!" He roared. "That's why I'm here!" He screamed.
Using his free hand, Erwin reached into his jacket and produced a scroll if paper and threw it to the ground. "These documents revealing Lofov's crimes... are a fake." Erwin revealed. "The real ones have likely reached Darius Zackly by now. Lofov is finished."
"You knew everything right from the start!" Levi accused him. "You knew we were after you right from the start, and yet you-" He struggled more but Mike was able to pull him back as Levi slumped to his knees, dejected and depressed beyond belief now.
"Don't." Erwin warned him, seeing the look of regret on his face. "You'll regret it." He stated. "If you begin to regret, you'll dull your future decisions and let others make your choices for you. All that's left for you then is to die."
Lucas looked with his blank facade on, sure he didn't particularly like Levi, but nobody deserved this to happen to them. It was quite sad to be honest.
"Nobody can foretell the outcome. Each decision you make holds meaning only by affecting your next decision. We're going to continue the expeditions." Erwin turned and began walking away. "I expect you to come with me."
Levi looked stunned as he watched Erwin walk away, bodies and weapons scattered everywhere.
"If you're going to just mope here the least you could do is hand back your gear." Lucas said as he walked up to him, holding out his hand. "They're rather expensive to manufacture and the Corps operating budget is already at an all time low. We can't leave a perfectly good weapon out here. Can we?"
Levi looked up at him, realising what he meant he grabbed his hand and pulled himself up.
"Welcome to the Survey Corps Levi." He said as he walked off towards the direction that Erwin had went in.
The day after they had returned from the expedition, Lucas was given the week off as promised and was now outside the house that he spent the first twelve years of his life in. He knocked on the door and waited for it to open. It was his mother who opened the door, who gasped at the sight of her son before her.
"Hey mom." He greeted. "I'm ba- woah!" He said as she latched herself to him relieved that he was okay and had returned.
"You're back." She said. "My beautiful baby boy is back." She said once more, almost in tears at this point.
"Tch, If you're gonna be like that then I'm not going to let you hug me anymore." He deadpanned. Gently putting his arms around her, still not the most comfortable when it came to affection.
"Mom, what's happening." Mikasa asked her mother, before seing who was at the door, her eyes light up in delight. "Big bro! You're back!"
A/N- This was a fun chapter to write, there he is already at the rank of Corporal. He seems to put a lot of trust in Erwin, but still insults him and most of the others, but Shadis isn't having that. But I wonder what causes the anger issues? But now he's home for a week, I wonder what will happen while he's home? And right before he has to meet with scumbag Rod too. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!