Disclaimer: I do not possess ownership rights of Star Wars or Attack On Titan
I sincerely apologize to everyone for the long wait, life got extremely busy, with the fact that I've been needing to find a job ad im going on two years since I've graduated High School and still have not found work. But have also taken abit of leisure time, spendung time with friends and playing new games, and having gone through the site, was disappointed to see that one of my favorite authors, Melishade, has discontinued her work with her story Attack on Prime and has completely disappeared from the fanfiction community, Melishade, if you see this I do hope you make a return. Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, Happy Valentines Day, and Happy Whatever holidays I missed, I'll try to not take so long with the next Chaptet. And with that, enjoy!
Chapter X: Differences put aside
The next morning, doing just as he said. Eren woke up and went straight for Angors ship, rested and ready to train. He saw Angor by his ship waiting for him and he approached and Saluted Angor.
"Ready kid?" Angor asked as Eren responded with a nod. "Alright, you know the drill." Eren nodded and got to work with his excersises as Angor watched, and like yesterday, gave him more difficult challenges, such as stacking items on him, pressing down on him with his foot, and obstacles in the way of his laps. Angor watched as Eren overcame each challenge his arms crossed as he continued to train the boy. When Eren was finished with his laps he stood infront of Angor.
"Am I training with the droid thing again?" Eren asked and pointed to the deactivated Training Droid.
"No kid. You're not." Angor responded.
"But I thought we were training?" Eren asked in confusion.
"We are. But instead of the Droid. You'll be sparring with me." Angor told him.
"N-No way, with you?!" Eren looked at him as if he had grown a second head.
"Yep. I want to see how much you've progressed." Angor says.
"A-Alright..." Eren was unsure but went along with it anyway. Eren took his position and prepared to fight, and Angor did the same.
"Don't worry kid. I'll go easy on you." Angor smirked and waited for Eren to rush him.
"Yaaaaaah!" Eren charged at Angor, ready to prove himself.
Mikasa exited the castle and heard Eren yell. She immediately went to investigate. When she turned the corner she gasped when she saw Angor deliver a punch to Eren's stomach and watched him keel over, holding the area. She sneered and charged at Angor, she knew she couldn't trust him. When she was in range she went to deliver a roundhouse kick. She grimaced when she saw him dodge, and kept trying to hit him.
"Mikasa, wait!" Eren got up and called to her. She ignored him and continued to try and attack Angor. The way she saw, he was a threat, more importantly a threat to Eren as she continued to try and attack.
"If you don't stop girl, I will fight back." Angor warned her as he continues to block and dodge her attacks. Mikasa was too focused on trying to take him down to pay attention. Angor sighs as he strikes back, pushing her punch to the side and delivers a side kick to her side, making her grunt as she staggers.
"Mikasa would you-" Eren started but got cut off.
"Stay out of this Eren" Mikasa told him as she and Angor fought.
"You got skill girl, lets see how long you can keep it up." Angor said as he went on the offensive, striking at Mikasa.
She grunted as she blocks each of his strikes. She then parrys his strike and moves behind them and kicks his back. Angor grunted as he went down, but he used his momentum to somersault back to his feet and delivered a roundhouse kick that made Mikasa fly back. She skid across the ground before getting back up, both were so focused and transfixed on eachother that they didn't notice the crowd forming around them, some of them even starting to take bets.
Armin and Jean exited their Barracks and saw some Scouts run by, confused, Jean pulled one aside. "Where is everybody going?"
"We're going to see the fight." The Scout quickly replied before breaking from his grasp and running towards the direction everyone was going.
"Fight?" Armin looked at Jean who shrugged his shoulders as they began to follow suite.
Angor and Mikasa continued their display of combat prowess, it was almost like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object as they each traded blows. When one seemed to get the upper hand, the other pulled out a trick to even the grounds once again. Both of them moved with such speed and power, they could hardly be tracked as they fought. The longer the fight proceeded, the larger the crowd around it grew, people pushing and shoving to get a glance at the top cadet of the 104th, and the stranger from the stars. Eventually though the fight went into Angors favor, Mikasa mistep and Angor took advantage of this, getting an arm around her in a submission hold and locking her limbs. Futily she struggled against him as he tightened his hold around her neck, seeing no other options she did the one thing she never thought she would ever do, or anyone else would see her do. Mikasa Ackerman, star pupil of the 104th, tapped out. Everyone looked in disbelief, even those who were in the same group with her couldn't believe the sight. Angor released her, and she gasped for breath, holding her throat and glared at Angor. Eren kneeled by Mikasa and helped her up.
"Are you okay Eren?" Mikasa asked, her attention immediately shifting.
"Are you sure you're the one who should be asking that?" Eren replied
"How are you not mad, I saw him attack you." Mikasa asked, wanting to know.
"We were training." Eren simply told her.
"Tr-Training?" Though she wouldn't let them know, Mikasa felt embarrassed and guilty about her error in judgement. She broke from Eren's hold and approached Angor. "I apologize for my error in judgement."
"It's fine, you saw the scene and thought he was in danger. So you reacted the way you knew how. You got skill girl, don't let your feelings cloud your judgement." Angor told her as he looked down at her. Mikasa looked up at him and nods with her usual blank look. "Perhaps we can spar again sometime." Angor offers, and once again Mikasa nods, Angor extends his hand to shake, and Mikasa accepts the gesture, as she goes to shake, their attention is drawn by the sound of another voice.
"Oi, what the hell is going on out here!" Everyone turned to the sight of an irritated Levi as he looked at the crowd of people.
"Don't get your panties in a knot shortstack, it was just a friendly sparring match." Angor stepped forward. Levi's eye twitched at the mention of his height. Usually, in a normal circumstance, he would've knocked the man's teeth down his throat, but talking with Angor was anything but normal at most times. He could tollerate the man, but that didn't mean he liked him, they may be allies, but they weren't friends. Levi sighs and pinches his brow.
"Did it really require causing this large of a scene?" Levi glared up at Angor.
"Levi, relax, no harm no foul. It's over, so why don't we all just go about our day?" Angor suggests.
"Fine..." Levi looked up at them, "Everybody back to work." Levi ordered and the crowd immediately dispersed. He then approaches Angor and put a finger to his chest, "You better start taking this seriously, The Scouts are counting on you and the brat."
Angor brushes off Levi's hand and looks down at him, "Just remember that I'm here because I have no choice in the matter." Angor then turned and went back into his ship. Levi left with Eren following closely behind.
"This could pose to be an issue.." Erwin conmented to Hanji after both had witnessed the scene from the 2nd floor of the Castle.
"They're working together, they're just not 'working' together." Hanji said.
"We need a way to get them on the same page before any big issues come from this." Erwin said as he pinched his chin.
"Leave that to me Erwin." Hanji grinned widely as she took her leave.
"I have a bad feeling about this.." Erwin said to himself as he returned to his duties.
Angor kept to himself for a majority of the day, spending what time he had fixing his ship, welding hull plates back on and mending damages done in the crash or his encounter with the Pirates. He occasionally parted from it to get something to eat but then went back to work afterwards.
Eren and Levi continued with reviewing the strategy for the Expedition, but Eren would occasionally look to Levi as a thought crossed his mind, wondering why Levi was so distrustful of Angor, especially after he offered to help the Scouts, and offered to train Eren. However his train of thought was broken when Levi looked at him, and Eren went back to paying attention to what Levi was telling him. Afterwards, Levi took his leave, leaving Eren with the rest of the squad.
"Is something bothering you Eren?" Petra asked him
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." Eren tried to reassure her
"You sure? You seemed pretty distracted." Gunther pointed out.
"Was it that obvious..?" Eren asked, scratching the back of his head
"If it wasn't, we wouldn't be asking brat." Oluo said
"Well, I guess I'm just curious about why Captain Levi is so distrustful, especially towards Angor." Eren said.
"Don't take it personally kid, it's just how he is, and coming from the underground, who can blame him." Eld explained. Eren nodded in understanding as they rode their horses.
"So how long do you think it'll take for Angor and the Captain to finally work together." Eren asked to no one in particular
"Who knows, could be sooner, could be later." Gunther said
They soon arrived back at the Castle and put their horses in the Stables and went about their own buisness. Eren went to go see what Angor was upto. When he got to the ship he saw Angor laying in the grass, resting, he saw that 'The Dark Star' was in better condition than when he first saw it and figured that Angor had been repairing it all day. Leaving Angor to rest, he went to look for his friends instead. He found them in the Mess Hall and sat down with them.
"Hey guys." Eren greeted as he sat down.
"Hey Eren." Armin greeted with a smile as he sat beside Mikasa who nodded in Eren's direction. Jean simply sat across from Eren with his usual scowl. Connie waved to him as Sasha continued stuffing her face with food. Christa smiled and wave while Ymir paid no acknowledgement, and Reiner and Bertholdt were talking with eachother. "We figured you'd be training with the Skyman." Connie said
"Skyman?" Eren questioned
"He means Angor." Armin clarified.
"Oh, I was gonna, but hes resting." Eren said
"Must be nice to see that he can just lounge around all day while we work our asses off.." Reiner commented
"How would you know what he's been doing all day and be able to compare it to what you've done Reiner?" Armin questioned. Reiner didn't answer and resumed talking with Bertholdt. Everyone resumed eating and making small talk with eachother.
Later in the evening, Hanji crept through the halls of the Castle with a few Scouts and had abducted Angor and Levi from their sleeping quarters, making sure they stayed asleep, and brought them to an empty room in the Castle. Hanji smirked as she watched her idea play out in her head. Come morning when Angor woke up, he knew something was off when he felt the cold, stone floor rather than the bed he had he had in his quarters on 'The Dark Star'.
"What the hell?" Angor looked around the room and saw it was one of rooms in the of the castles. He could tell by the Stone and Wood textures. He then saw Levi's sleeping form on the otherside of the room, "What the hell is this?" Angor questioned as he stood up. He went over to the wooden door and tried to open it but saw it was locked, sighing, he reached to his belt for his Saber, but to his surprise saw it wasn't there. He groaned in annoyance as he kept trying to open the door. His struggle with the door however ended up waking up Levi.
"What the hell is going on?" Levi sat up and saw Angor trying go beat down the door. "Where the hell are we?"
"I guess someone thought it'd be funny to lock us in a room together." Angor said as he gave up trying to break down the door and sat down on the otherside of the room.
On the otherside of the door, Hanji and the rest of Squad Levi were listening into the room "Think they're getting along yet?" Gunther asked
"Well im not hearing any fighting." Commented Hanji.
"Let's see how long it stays like that." Eld says
"The Captain's serious nature and Angors carefree attitude really aren't something you shoukd mix for long periods of time." Petra warned, to which Hanji simply shrugged.
Levi leaned back against the wall, while Angor kneels and meditates, "So who's idea do you think this was?" Angor asked
"If I had to guess, Hanji, what her goal is though, I don't have a clue." Levi said
"Well, im not playing seven minutes in heaven with you bowl cut, if that's what she thinks." Angor said
"Do you have to make a wisecrack about everything?" Levi asks, abit annoyed with the stream of jokes and cracks that come from Angor.
"It's how I cope, sorry your hard ass facade can't tolerate it or develop a sense of humor." Angor retorted.
"Well not everyone can live a worry free life of flying through the stars, without the worry of beibg eaten by Titans. Where I grew up, in the Underground, it was tough that got you to the next day." Levi countered.
"Oh buddy, if you think Titans are the worst thing out there, then you aren't ready for the Galaxy beyond this dustball... You got Mercenaries, Pirates, Bounty Hunters, creatures that make Titans look like children. You may have had a shitty childhood, but let me tell you that it was much better than mine." Angor retorted back at him with a glare in his eyes
"Oh yeah, and how is that?" Levi wanted to know how Angors youth could've possibly been worse than his own while he lived in the underground.
Hanji and the rest of the squad listened aswell, genuinely curious of Angors story, Eren and Commander Erwin turned the corner and saw them pressing their ears to the door.
"Whatre you guys doing?" Eren asked when he saw them.
"Shut up brat, were about to hear the Sky Guy's back story." Oluo shushed him, curiosity peaked, Eren and Erwin joined them in eavesdropping.
"Because atleast you were born free. While it may not seem like it, being trapped in these walls, you were born with a helluva lot more freedom than I had. I was born a Slave, immediately torn away from my mother and sold to some nobles on Dromuund Kaas." Angor told him. Hearing that, Levi's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and listened to Angors story. "As soon as I was strong enough to work, that was all I did, beconing to every order barked from those disgusting pigs that were my Masters. Day in and day out I was subject to their labor and abuse, if I got the most miniscule thing wrong, back talked, or if they were drunk, bored, or both, I was beaten to a pulp, and I was subjected to that life of hell for 7 and a half years. By the time I was 8, while I was being beaten by one of bastards, I finally discovered my link to the Force, and with just a thought, his life was within my grasp, quite literally, with just a thought, he was gasping for air as I crushed his windpipe and broke his neck, when I looked upon the the body of the first one, I knew I had the means of taking my revenge. I broke down the door to the residence of the Noble, and killed the other as he slept, sending jolts of lightning through his disgusting body, and then covered my tracks by destroying the building and killing everyone inside. When I was 8 years old, I had discovered my powers, and slaughtered an entire family of Sith Empire Nobles and escaped, I was already killing like I've been doing it for years..." Everyone listened to Angor tell the story of his youth, surprised with the harsh conditions that he was faced with. "Now of course something like that doesnt just go unnoticed. Not long after I was found by the Empire and sent to the Sith Academy on Korriban for training, and there I was met with even more harsh, rigorous conditions, The wildlife, the weather, the people, one piece of hell after another, something on the planet was always out to get you. I was conscripted as an Acolyte, I had to fight for the apprenticeship of a Master, killing other Acolytes in cold blood to heighten my chances of being taken, if you're not taken by a Master, the Empire kills you off, there was no room for weakness in the Sith Ranks. I was finally taken in, and after years of intense, rigorous training, I saw that I was simply leading the same life as I was before, serving a Master, preforming more feats of pointless labor. So I killed my Master, stole my ship, and left the Sith behind me. And I finally got the chance to live and be in charge of my own life. Finally free after 17 years of Slavery." Angor finished his story as he leaned against the wall behind him, not saying another word.
Levi was actually speechless as he heard Angors story. He may have had a horrible childhood, but Angors may have possibly been worse than his. Levi looked down slightly as they sat in silence. Everyone else continued to listen for anything else, but heard nothing. Angor looked up at Levi and cleared his throat. "I apologize if my wise cracks do tend to get on your nerves Levi."
"It's fine, after what you told me, I have a somewhat modicum of respect for you, I'm assuming it wasn't easy for you to tell me your past like that." Levi said "Im impressed that you can actually still have a sense of humor after that." Levi admitted. Angor simply shrugged his shoulders, "I guess since you told me your past, it's only fair if I told you mine.." Levi sighed out that last part. Angor looked up and prepared to listen with interest, The rest of Levi's squad, Hanji, and Erwin were shocked as Levi was not one to simply open up about his past. "I was the son of a prostitute.. I don't know who my father was.. I barely got by... when I was nine, my moyher died of disease... I was then taken in by Kenny the Ripper ..one of the most ruthless criminals of the underground.. he took me in, fed me, clothed me, and taught me how to survive in that shithole... when he taught me what I needed..he just left me and vanished without a trace.. I was on my own for a while, killing, stealing, doing what I could to survivs. Eventually I fell in with a gang. I lead it with another kid about my age named Farlan, we mostly consisted of youth stuck in the underground, commiting crimes to heists on merchants. We managed to hijack some Menuevering Gear, which made our thieving alot easier. Eventually some kid landed herself with us, young girl named Isabel. She came to us running from some Thugs, trying to grt an injured bird to the surface before started chasing her for not paying. We let her join us, and became one of the group with me and Farlan. One day we were approached by some suit, offered a reward, paid no attention to it at first, but then some of his workers brough up our friend Jan, acknowledging his problem with his leg from having been in The Underground for so long. So he got our attention and we followed him. He brought us to the Surface to meet his Employer. He offered us a job in exchange for helping our friend abd granting us citizenship on yhe surface, taking Jan to a first rate hospital on the Surface. The job, stealing from some Merchants. It didnt go aswell as expected, as we were soon being pursued by what we thought were Military Police, but later found out that it was the Survey Corps, lead by our very own Erwin Smith. After a lengthy chase through the streets we were apprehended. After some interrogagting we were taken in by the Corps. With our experience with the ODM Gear, they wanted us for the next Expedition. Little did they know at the time, we wanted to be captured, our Employer warned us of Survey Corps intervention, our true goal was to kill Erwin Smith. The Merchants were just a way to get their attention. After some training we were ready to go. It was during the Expedition thstvwe decided to make our move on Erwin. I wanted Isabel and Farlan to stat behind, but they were insistent upon going, upon sticking together. When the time of the 23rd Expedition came we rode out together, But only I came back... A storm came whilevwe were riding out, I took the opportunity to ride out to find Erwin, telling Farlan and Isabel to stay with the group. When I broke off the fog became dense, I was determined to fulfil my goal, but was stopped when I came upon a massacre, the entire group was slaughtered a lone Abnormal Titan, I continued to ride but my horse tripped on a body, when I looked, I was in shock to see Isabel's mangled body in front of me with dead, lifeless eyes... I looked and saw the Abnormal, and out of his mouth he spit the top half of Farlan... I kneeled there in the mud, consumed with rage as I was surrounded by fallen comrades and my deceased friends. I lashed out in a fit of Anger, Dicing and slashing the Titan until nothing remained of it, and even then I felt my need for revenge was not quenched. The rain eventually stopped and I was approached by Erwin. 'How Pathetic' he said. I lashed out my blade to try to kill him, to avenge my friends, to secure the future we were promised only for hin to grab my dulled blade. I wanted to die right there, but it wad Erwin who convinced me otherwise. I continued to follow Erwin to this day, fighting on in their memory, not regretting the decision I made." Levi finished.
"Living on in their memory is the best you can do for them now. I know what its like to lose friends. Ive lost plenty over the years, from my time as a slave to now, and it never gets easier. You can only push on for them." Angor told him
Levi looked to Angor, knowing what he means.
"Now c'mon, lets get out of here." Angor gets up and heads to the door.
"What're they saying now?" Eld asked
"Shh, I dont know, it got quiet." Hanji replied.
Suddenly the door exploded into splinters knocking everyone back with a yelp, everyone looked at the door to see Angor. Hanji eeped as Angor grabbed her by her collar.
"Try something like this again and I'll string you up by your ankles and leave you there for a day." Angor warned and shoved her back down as he proceeded to walk off.
Levi watched the interaction and to his own surprise, it got a small chuckle from him.
"Not bad spaceman." Levi said as Angor took his leave.