"Oh this sucks!" Church grunted as he kicked a nearby tree. Swearing in every language he knew the male cursed whatever luck he had been tossed with the rest of the lot.

"You know sometimes you gotta wonder why Sarge hated you so much, you got one hell of a mouth" Church snorted at what Alex said, not at all paying much attention to him other than the fact that he was merely trying to pass the time with a joke or two. Usually Church wouldn't mind but he just didn't give a fuck this time.

"We go outside the walls, in like what? A month of just maintenance and learning how to take care of our horse to just sit around on our asses and guard a goddamn tree!" He gave the piece of bark a flick of his finger and barely restrained the urge to snap at it when it didn't break down into a billion tiny particles like how he hoped.

"Um...I don't know what orders you got but mine is to keep the cart safe, if you want to go hang out on the tree thats fine by me but don't expect me to kiss you or anything" Church gave Alex the middle finger and kicked the tree again for extra measure.

"This is just such bullshit I want to kill some Titans man! Not none of this guard crap" Church balled his fists in frustration and turned to Alex with something close to exasperation in his eyes, "I thought the Survey Corps had the greatest chance at meeting one of them"

Alex shrugged his shoulders carelessly, he also wanted to fight them but he knew the value of patience-to some extent-and was tolerant to Church's rants after four years of boot with him. The brown-haired Cadet stretched his back as far back as possible, letting out a contented sigh as his bones cracked and freed themselves. "Man that feels good"

"Ah shut it you old man" Alex smiled bemusedly at his sulking friend and was about to say something more sarcastic when the ground suddenly shook with a slight tremor. Turning to the cart he could hear the brief rattle of metal against wood that would occasionally bounce from the ground moving. He heard Church shuffle behind him and barely a breath later the Jewish male was by his side with a sword half unsheathed.

"What's that?" He asked. Alex spied at the corner of his eyes to see Church scanning the perimeter with keen intelligent eyes. The Jewish male brought his right leg back into a guard and left leg forward in the ready to spring into action if needed.

The tremors moved on for a while more, nothing was heard. There was the brief cricket and flapping of wings before complete silence. An eerie type of silence that Alex didn't like. Alex turned to Church and managed out slowly and quietly "Wasn't that where the attack team headed off on?"

Almost on cue a large foot landed atop the cart that they were guarding. The wood splintered and the gas canisters exploded in fuel and gas as both Church and Alex was knocked away burning and singged. Alex felt his back smack painfully against one of the trees with enough force to snap the back of his neck against it.

Sliding down the Cadet barely held onto consciousness. His eyes dropped with each breath and he heard the sounds of 3D Gears launching and swords being drawn, the slow splatter of blood then burning followed by a cry, it was muffled but he could tell it belonged to Church, "OI You think I'll let you kill us! I have half a mind to kill you! And the other half agress!"

Despite himself Alex couldn't help but smile at the corny joke and hacked off a weak cough. Church would survive he was sure of it and then they'd go and save the rest of the scouting legion, maybe even meet up with the rest of the 101st trainee squad members.

Little did he know that he was dead wrong. Literally.

End Flashback

Alex woke up from his sudden impromptu sleeping-while-standing nap to stare blearily at a sun that was halfway up the sky. He blinked his eyes a couple of times, trying as hard as he could to regain vision back into the real world. After making sure he wouldn't slip into a memory again Alex slapped the side of his head angrily. "Come on, head in the game Alex, their dead but you gotta live for them" He was about to say more when he looked back to see Hanji grab Oluo by the collar and proceed to school him on the importance of capturing a Titan alive.

Alex let out a puff of air when he noticed the glint in Hanji's eyes and wished he didn't exactly have to be there in that exact moment in time. The Blacklight Holder rubbed the top of his head warily. He didn't know why but Commander Erwin had gathered the Recon Troops for a sudden Expedition outside the walls. Though he left Captain Levi back at the wall.

Having recently been promoted to Captain with his new position in training and recruiting members for the Survey Corps Elite Evolved Squad he had been privy to Levi's new task for the upcoming year. A task that Alex envied only due in fact to Mercers memories of once doing it. That's right, Levi was going to infiltrate the underground network in Wall Rose to gather information on the Military Polices Shady Central Command. Why Commander Erwin wanted to know about them was anyones guess.

As far as Alex was concerned he could simply just consume some Military Police Officers and be done with it, though he would imagine there wouldn't be much information in them looking at how scarcely they know of their Central Command.

Shaking his runaway thoughts he looked to see his two new recruits into the Evolved Squad, Oluo and Petra the two Green Recruits of the Survey Corps, being belittled by Hanji though Oluo was getting the brunt of it. Alex scratched his head at the foam rising from Oluo's mouth. Truth be told when they morphed into the Evolved form Alex discovered they were weaker compared to Mercers Evolved and deduced that the Biomass he had given them was insufficient so he resolved to get them to at least consume ten Titans before this expedition ended as well as help in them mastering their abilities.

Oluo it seems favored the blade more than anything else and really that was all he could use as far as he knew and Petra caught Alex in a loop, she had the whipfist and the ability to use Musclemass two abilities he hadn't even unlocked. So he was more careful with her. To stack up on that most of their more useless bodily functions were discarded. They don't need to eat all that much, the Titans they consume being enough energy and biomass constantly being reserved, as well as breathing or going to the bathroom though to their immense relief-for whatever apparent reason- their reproductive organs were left relatively untouched and Alex couldn't help but tease Petra at how worried she was about her ability to reproduce.

Alex stuffed his hands into his pockets and strode forward towards his one female member trying to rile the male member to his feet. "Captain Alex! Shouldn't his regeneration be helping him!" He grumbled something under his breath at how he wanted to scare the recruits back at boot instead of dealing with this and looked down to see Oluo pasty white with foam running down the side of his mouth.

Hmmmm now how to fix this. OH! Perfect idea!

Tuning out Petra Alex brought his foot up and then stomped it down onto Oluo's jewels, needless to say he was pretty awake after that. "Oi enough playing games, Evolves don't need to breath so choking is barely an excuse for you" Oluo scratched the back of his head sheepishly and couldn't help but draw circles on the ground because of his stupidity, not at all affected by his jewel being stomped on, "Sorry Captain I'm still getting used to the changes" The newly minted Captain sighed and brought his hand to his forehead.

"Never mind come on we gotta go and scout out a bit-" A pop of red smoke rose into the air and on instinct and instinct alone both of Alex's hands morphed into the Claw form. Pupils dashing to Oluo he spotted the minute surprise on his face before he morphed his right hand into the Blade and Petra did the same thing a few moments later, her whipfist uncoiling itself to reveal its terrifying form.

"Wait Squad-Leader! You can't go alone!" Alex turned sharply around to curse out loud when he spotted Hanji on horseback heading towards the Titans. "Suicidal Bitch!"

Alex motioned his team forward and they didn't even bother to get their horses, merely readying their legs together and sprinting forward to try and catch up to the crazed woman.

XXXXXXXXXX

Levi watched the undergrounds warily. The scum of humanity littered around the area like a bad joke and the Captain was disgusted with himself to be back here. He adjusted his black formal suit, the type of clothing you wouldn't expect in a place like that, and made slow gliding steps through the mass of people.

The place smelled rotten, Levi thought, just like how he remembered it. Passing by a familiar alleyway he looked inside to see two young kids, one boy and the other a girl, talking in hushed whispers while scrounging for as much food from the trash cans as possible. The Captain shut his eyes tight, willing away memories of Isabel Levi continued on undaunted.

Erwin was smart to have sent Levi in place of Alex. Even if Alex could blend in with his odd shape shifting ability he wouldn't be able to walk with the gait of a man who's seen the things he had. Indeed, not many could copy the walk. The walk of man who stood in front of everything the street could throw at you and spit right back, the walk of a man who's got his whole world on his shoulders, the walk of a man who knew the streets. Levi lived in these streets and he had earned the walk. Alex, though confident and strong, walked not like how the street would teach you nor as a soldier. He was a mix of the two.

When he walked it was like a mesh of different personalities. His hands were almost always stuffed in his pocket and his shoulders were slumped lazily but his legs would always be tensed and his eyes, though calm in first glance, would occasionally glance at every roof and window as if expecting a man with a gun to pop out and shoot him. Then there was his face. Likely no one would really pay attention to a person's expressions when the body language was all one needed but the moment Levi caught his head he knew that the boy was more than he seemed, more than just some type of Virus holder.

His head was always bent to the side lazily, a slow creepy smile on his face but his eyebrows were knitted downward like he didn't know whether to scowl or laugh at the whole world as it fell apart. Then there was the look in his eyes, as he scanned each roof and window there was a look of childish expectant, he wanted to fight, to bare his fangs at anything even human and then there was the deep saturated hunger.

No, with all that Alex would be too noticeable in the streets where everyone was paranoid. More than likely everyone would classify him as a murderer and stay as far away from him as possible.

Levi was indeed the best option.

He stopped his steps and carelessly leaned against the nearest wall, looking mildly annoyed as he did. 'One...two...three' He kicked the back of his shoes against the wall and grimaced when dirt fell on his shoulders and smudged his shoes. 'Going to have to clean that later' he grated.

"What's the word that the bird can give?" Sparing a glance to his left Levi was given the honor to see a tall lanky man with a half-cut goatee and shaggy hair. The Legendary Information Broker Birdie. Quite the confident type, self-assured, above-average intelligence, Levi knew this man was as dangerous as they come.

"MPCC (Military Police Central Command) what do you know of it?" Birdie looked dubious for a moment before a wide grin stretched across his face. "That's quite expensive, can you pay up?" Birdie looked at him and Levi barely suppressed the urge to slug him in the face, he just didn't like that look.

Quietly Levi slipped a piece of paper between them and listened as Birdie whistled appreciatively, "Ration tickets, up to two months I might add! This is hard stuff to get in these parts of the wall, you're really desperate aren't you?" Levi knew saying anything would only give him the incentive to start questioning so he instead shrugged his shoulders uncaringly.

"Well since you're so generous I'll be too but don't think I'm doing this for your rugged good look I gotta keep standards" Levi narrowed his eyes in annoyance and glared heatedly when Birdie began laughing. "So's you want to know about the CC of the MP? See the word play? (Glare) Okay, okay I got'ya. Anyways I don't have much information on them just like how everyone else doesn't but the main thing you gotta know about them is that their ruthless and consider themselves above the law" Levi raised an eyebrow and Birdie grinned savagely, "Ever heard of the massacre down by Benedict street? Fifteen people killed and injured? Well they were responsible for it. The details are sketchy but from what I can get the people who were killed had apparently pissed them off and get this, really you gotta, supposedly those fifteen were scientists and they had document with the detailing the anatomy of a Titan."

"How do you know all this?"

"Its my job to, and oh there's one more thing, the CC, there's rumours about them going after somebody in the Survey Corps, personally I don't mind but...when Wall Maria fell I;ve been supporting them however I can and if they end up knee deep in any of this political nonsense I don't expect them to make it out" Levi patted him on the shoulder and moved to leave the area now that he got what he wanted.

"Don't worry the Survey Corps won't die so easily"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Alex jumped of a nearby tree trunk and tried to catch up to Hanji, who was now chasing the Titan, and felt like consuming her rather than that walking hulking mass. Looking to his right he sa Petra sweating a bit and he noticed Oluo breathing hard, 'Tch their tired already, to be expected I guess as the biomass is still developing in their bodies. Actually pushing their bodies like this would help them stabilise their biomass better'

"Switch to 3D Maneuver Gear" Alex ordered and both his two new recruits didn't waste time in launching their wires out and swinging from tree to tree.

"Captain! I see Hanji and she's about to get attack by the Titan, I'm going in!" Before Alex could shout out a 'Wait you idiot!' Oluo had already launched a wire and connected to the back of the Titans neck.

"No!Don't!" Oluo was right above the Titans neck and was about to swing with his blade when Henji said those words. He hesitated and Alex cursed when the Titan got a hold of him. Alex knew Oluo and even petra could survive getting eaten in half but he'd rather not deal with an amnesiatic Evolved and having to explain their whole lives to them.

Launching his own wire, the Blacklight virus reeled himself in close enough to sheer of a number of the Titans leg tendons, causing to fall on its knees and leaving the nape of the neck exposed to him.

"Got'ya!" Slicing off a chunk from the the nape of its neck Alex landed on his feet gracefully. Turning around to see the titans hand opened up to a relieved Oluo on the verge of tears. "Captain! I'll follow you anywhere!" Oluo shut his eyes tight to stop his tears and Alex scratched the back of his neck, not really knowing how to respond.

"Captain, did the Titan do this?" Alex turned to Petra questioningly before moving his head with her line of sight to see, inside the hole of a tree was the body of a human, headless and obviously being there for a long time.

Petra screamed and Alex had to dig his ears out with his pinky, "Oi, oi Haji go check the body" Hanji looked surprise before nodding her head, going to the body she noticed it was wearing the armband for the 34th expedition and made to tell the others.

"Been in there for almost a year huh, wonder what happened" Alex looked around his surroundings and barely listened to hanji go off on one of her explanations. He stopped however when he spotted a thin red book on the ground. Walking towards it he motioned for Hanji to follow and for Oluo to stand with Petra.

"What's this a diary?" Alex smirked when Hanji rolled her eyes and opened the notebook to a random page. 'The Titan spoke words of meaning' His eyes widened to become dinner plates as he stared at that sentence, 'The Titan has assumed a position of respect' gulping down the lump in his throat he wasted no time in tossing the book to Hanji, "Read that and go convince Erwin"

He didn't wait for her response and made towards Ilse's body. He crouched next to it and inserted a single tendril into her body. 'Strong DNA structure, capable body, shame she lost her head, she'll probably have no memory', What was he doing you might ask? Well, let no man say he liked seeing woman in such a state so planned on rectifying that...and gaining a new member.

Alex launched a tendril and latched onto the Titans body and then launched another Tendril that connected with Ilse, "I'm sorry Ilse I can bring your body back but your mind will be trapped elsewhere" Without a second thought Alex sucked the Titan dry of its biomass and shifted his biomass and the newly acquired biomass towards Ilse's prone body.

His three companions watched flabbergasted as the color returned to the headless body, formally pasty white skin grew an alabaster glow and, to Hanji's infinite shock, tendrils sprouted out from the stump of her neck to form a ball, before it shaped itself in a head, eyes, mouth, nose and then hair. The face of Ilse Langard was reconstructed..

When Alex was finished all three of them were left dumbstruck.

'Is this what Alex can do?' Petra

'Captain is amazing!' Oluo

'What on Earth happened to him' Hanji

The body twitched slightly. A series of short movements before her shoulders jerked upwards and she gulped in a breath of air. Wide eyes stared at the four of them in fear and shock. Alex, most probably the closest thing to a father to her now seeing as she isn't the real Ilse Langard crouched down to her level and tried to give her a placating smile.

"Hello, my name is Alex" Alex expected a 'Where am I?' or a 'Get away from me you creep' what he didn't expect was for her to suddenly start wailing and grabbing onto his shirt, making weird mumbling noises and goos. "oh shit...I made a baby"

Ahhh rewatching SAO was really good I wonder when the second season is coming out. ANyways I lied to myself when I said i was going to do ASTB after this, GODDAMNIT!