Everything is black. And cold. Eren is awake, dazed as hell, but awake. He can barely see a thing, save a red light that occasionally goes off. He is surrounded by unforgiving, ice cold metal. He's having trouble remembering what just happened, as he had hit his head on the way down. He tries to stand, but the place is too cramped. "Hello?" He calls out. Nothing. "Well, fuck. What happened?"
"Come on, get on your bikes!" Mikasa starts her engine, ready to race after the TITAN. But no one is following. Whipping her head around, her friends receive an icy glare. "What are you doing?!"
There's hesitation all around, until Armin finally speaks up. "Mikasa, what can we do? That thing is huge. We're no where near strong enough to take it. Try to understand..."
"We can't just stand here! They have Eren!" Mikasa yells in desperation, offended that Armin was giving up. "I can't lose him! And I'm not going to just stand here and watch them take him away from me!"
Armin starts to tear up, hurt that she is yelling at him. It makes him feel weak. "I love him too, you know..." He mutters quietly.
"What?" Mikasa snaps back, glaring at him.
"I said I love him too!" Armin shouted, tears streaming down his cheeks and landing with little plops on the ground. "You don't get it! I loved him too, he was my family too! And it hurts a lot that they got him...I want him back to you know. But we can't do anything. We're just a group of kids with wings on our backs...do we even know what we're risking our lives for? I mean who are the Wings of Freedom? We want change...but are we going about this right? People are getting hurt, and we're losing our friends. Hell, I killed someone! And they didn't deserve it!" At this, Armin fell to his knees, kneeling like he could throw up. "I never wanted to do that. I'm not strong like you and Eren..."
Mikasa's anger fades, as she begins to realize just how hurt Armin is. She kneels beside him. "I'm sorry, Armin. I know it hurts. But I'm not giving up on him."
"I don't want to give up either. But what can we do?" Armin asks sadly, wiping his tears away.
"We find this Levi guy." Jean pipes up. "After all, he's escaped. That's why he's our leader, right?" Jean looks around for approval. "Those bastards have two of our kind now. I promised Marco I'd never let anything happen...but look where he's at. I'm going to save him. And I'm going to save Eren. But we can't do it alone, guys. We need to find this Levi."
The whole time, Sasha and Connie have been quiet. They'd heard that name before. Levi. "I think we can help you." Connie suddenly spoke. All eyes turn to him. "A pair of girls who come into the diner a lot talk about him sometimes. The tall one has a strange name...Ymir, I think. I can't remember the other's name, but she's a short blonde who honestly looks a lot like that singer Krista Lenz..." Connie hoped this was help.
"Can you take us to them?" Jean demands.
"Probably..." Connie stammered. "But we'll have to go back to the diner..."
A white light suddenly envelopes Eren, and it blinds him slightly as the floor drops out from beneath him. Crashing on cold, hard cement, he looks up to see a new environment. Stone walls and metal bars. It's a prison cell.
"Well...Eren Jaeger." Footsteps echo as a short female police officer approaches Eren's cage.
"Fuck you." Eren growls, feeling like a trapped animal.
"Shut up." The woman replies, pulling off her helmet to reveal her blonde hair in a neat bun.
"Annie...the traitor." Eren said in disgust. "Still Military Police scum, I see."
"And I see you're still a pathetic pawn of Levi's. Have you even met him yet, Eren?" Annie shoots an icy glare in his direction.
"Fuck you. At least I'm trying to change the world, unlike you, corrupting it more."
"Eren, we have the same goals, idiot. Just different ways of pursuing them. I was done wasting my life getting nothing done as one of those winged morons."
"It's your fault we can't go anywhere without MP shit showing up. If we have the same goal, why does it feel like you're only protecting yourself?" Eren went to hit her, but realized his hands were bound.
Annie went to say more, but a nameless MP appeared. "Is the prisoner ready for the procedure?" She asked Annie.
"Yes Hitch. Just don't listen to the garbage that dribbles from his mouth." She scowled, leaving Eren and Hitch.
"Procedure?" Eren echoed. "What procedure?"
"You're coming with me." Hitch said vaguely. Eren went to argue, but at the press of a button he was out again.
He wakes up on an operating table, in nothing but his boxers. He is heavily drugged, seeing everything, but unable to move, speak, or feel, save an intense pain in his stomach. He watches in horror as his left arm is cut open, wishing he could fight, trying to, but is unable. There are three surgeons. One has carefully cut open his arm, and works to keep the blood loss under control. Next, the other two surgeons go in, one with a bone saw. Eren sees them cut a chunk of his bone out, replacing it with a highly developed piece of machinery. He is both disgusted and slightly awe-struck. However the awe leaves him when he witnesses the surgeon carefully cut a line from his arm to his shoulder, and they sit him up as they end they cut at the base of his neck. There, they place a small, blue device deep into his flesh, connecting it to his spine. The two devices, neck and arm, are connected with a wire. Eren has no idea what it is, but doesn't like it. Angered, he summons every bit of his will to try and move, but all he hears is "Operation is a success" before he's out again.
He doesn't awake in his cell as he expected. It appears to be a hotel room. He sits up and instantly regrets it. "Take it easy, son." A man says. "Our last patient died. We wouldn't want that happening again."
Eren squints to try and see who is speaking. Everything more than a foot away is dark and blurry. He knows that voice, but from where? He looked down to see he was clothed now: black slacks, a white button up shirt, his left arm in a sling. "Where am I?" Eren asked aloud.
"You're free. We let you go. You're going to behave now, correct?"
"Free?" Eren repeated. "I'm not going to prison?"
"Of course not. You've paid your dues through human experimentation. It's ok for criminals."
Eren tries to process it all. "Your last patient died, you say?"
"Yes, poor freckles wasn't strong enough." The man sighed.
Freckles...Eren's mind went to one person. "Marco Bodt?"
"Oh, did you know Marco? A shame." The man replies. "You can't see much or eat anything until about eleven tonight. I suggest rest. Your hotel fees are covered. Sleep well, ." Everything goes silent.
Laying down, Eren tries to take in everything that just happened. Marco is dead. That kills him. He shuts his eyes tight and tries to remember how he got here. Police, that diner...thelast thing he can recall is getting swallowed by a TITAN. A sharp pain goes through the boy, and he rolls on his side, curled up in agony. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that man was right. Closing his eyes, he falls asleep.
"Yeah...I know where to find Levi. But it's gonna cost ya." A tall, tan girl, with dark features, freckles, and a long sleeved black turtleneck dress is sitting at the diner, where the Wings of Freedom have rendezvoused again. On her lap is a small blonde, obviously her lover, who is in a soft brown Lolita type dress, her eyes big, blue, and shining. She looks like a goddess.
"Cost us what?" Mikasa growls, already annoyed with this Ymir character.
Ymir smirks, looking down at her lover. "What do we want, Historia? How much do we ask for?"
The blonde smiles slightly, before replying, "I don't want money. Why don't we just help them?"
Ymir nuzzles Historia, kissing her on the cheek. "My sweet girl, always doing the nice thing. Fine, we won't charge ya. But finding him won't be easy. And are you even sure your friend's alive?"
"He has to be! Both of them!" Armin cried in fear. "Don't say that!"
"Why would he be dead?" Sasha asked nervously.
Looking around, Ymir leans in close. "I hear they don't imprison criminals no more. I hear it's much worse now." She pauses, making sure no one else is listening. "Human experimentation."