Four Weeks Ago
When Annie's next kick connected, she couldn't suppress a smirk, watching smugly as Eren collapsed to his knees with a groan.
"You know, just because you can kick me in the balls doesn't mean you should," Eren said through gritted teeth. "You're fighting dirty. It's not really fair, is it?"
Annie raised her eyebrows as she stared down at Eren, hoping that he wasn't being serious.
This moron. I still don't understand why Armin and Mikasa are always hanging around him. There's absolutely nothing special or unique about him. He's just an angry little boy who lost his mommy. Give me a break.
"Remember, Eren," Annie said with a sarcastic tone as she held up her hands defensively. "I'm just a girl, after all. I'm smaller than you, and I'm much weaker than you too. I'm just defending myself from the big strong man who was trying to pick a fight with me, especially after I already told you to leave me alone."
Eren looked indignant as he got to his feet, wincing in pain. "Hey, we're all just standing around waiting for our graduation rankings, so I figured I'd see if you changed your mind about wanting to teach me anything."
Annie shrugged her shoulders. "You figured out my answer yet? I think I made myself clear."
Eren shook his head ruefully. "Forget it. I should've remembered. Moody Annie doesn't care about anyone or anything."
Annie smirked. "Damn right."
Internally though, Eren's comment did cause Annie to pause and think.
If he knew what I was really here to do, what my true mission is, he wouldn't see me as a stuck up ally. He'd see me as a cold-hearted enemy who has to be destroyed. I wouldn't blame him for thinking so. My mission isn't to form bonds or sow peace with these people. I've been chosen to be a part of something far larger than myself. It's my life now, and to put anything else before it would be-
"Eren, are you bothering Annie again?"
Annie turned at the sound of Armin's voice, and though it didn't show, she softened at the sight of the odd boy as he walked over to the two of them with amusement in his eyes.
"No," Eren said defensively, shooting Annie a murderous look. "I was just trying to spar with her again, and then she kicked me! Hard!"
"Didn't Annie tell you to leave her alone?"
"Yeah, yeah, I just thought that maybe-"
Armin shook his head in exasperation. "Eren, you've gotta use your head sometimes. Remember what people say, and you might avoid ending up in situations like this."
Eren stared at Armin with mock betrayal as he shook his head. "Come on, why you gotta take her side? You've known me for practically our entire lives!"
"And that's why I know better than anyone that you have a tendency to pick fights when you shouldn't," Armin said knowingly. "You can't win every battle. Fighting head-on won't always work, especially if your opponent is much stronger than you are. You have to use your brain, and think deceptively."
Eren glanced at Annie and rolled his eyes, gesturing towards Armin with an annoyed wave of his hand. "See, Annie? My best friend. Always has my back."
Annie didn't respond while Armin shot another snarky comment back at Eren. She turned to leave, only to find a certain girl wearing a red scarf coming towards her with a dark look in her eyes.
Oh, come on. Not her.
"You're pretty good at fighting," Mikasa said casually, a smile crossing her face which didn't quite reach her eyes. "Why don't you try fighting me instead? I'm curious to see what you're made of."
Annie stared at her with a bored expression, trying to convey indifference, but internally, she knew that this wasn't going to be easy. She'd intentionally avoided getting into any confrontations with Mikasa, but it didn't look like she'd be able to get out of this one. Subconsciously, she shifted her stance into a defensive position.
Shit. Mikasa's practically a beast, equal in strength and ferocity to a Titan. She's both larger and stronger than me. I'll have to be careful.
"Well, I suppose it would be useful to find out if my technique works on animals," Annie said coldly as she raised her fists. "Your move."
As if they had been lying in wait, the other cadets all gathered around, the long-awaited showdown between the two strongest women in the 104th finally about to take place.
"You know, you guys don't have to fight," Armin said nervously.
"You kidding?!" Sasha squealed. "We need this! Mikasa vs. Annie. Oh, I wish I had some popped corn!"
"Yeah, we've been waiting to see this forever," Thomas said excitedly. "My money's on Annie. She's ruthless, and won't hesitate to strike first."
"What?!" Jean yelled out. "You're crazy. Mikasa's got this in the bag!"
"Well, Annie has speed on her side," Mina reasoned. "Have you guys seen her run before? It's insane!"
"Well, who does Armin think will win?" Reiner suddenly said. Everyone glanced at him, and then over at Armin, who balked at the sudden attention.
"You think Annie will win, right?" Bertholdt remarked as he folded his arms, staring down at the shorter boy.
"Psh, talk about overrated!" Ymir said with a barking laugh as she leaned her arm on Christa's head. "Look at the size difference! She's the smallest one of us besides Christa here!"
"Hey!"
"Well, uh…." Armin looked back and forth between Annie and Mikasa, indecision written on his face. "I guess Mikasa, given her abnormally high strength. Not that you're not strong or skilled, Annie, but Mikasa's pretty much guaranteed the first place graduate ranking after all."
Annie didn't move, but her eyes narrowed slightly as she prepared to strike.
So he thinks Mikasa can beat me. Well, I guess I'll have to prove him wrong.
"Let's see if you're as strong as everyone thinks you are, Mikasa," Annie growled out as she sprung forward with a roundhouse kick, ready to engage the only person in the 104th who she considered to be a true threat.
Present Day
With a concussive explosion, a towering monster materialized out of thin air around Annie, destroying the underground chamber with its sheer size and sending rocks tumbling through the air as dirt and dust billowed around its gigantic form. It had six long, spider-like legs, a small shelled body reminiscent of a squid, with a small head protruding downwards, and writhing tentacles hanging from around its mouth. It looked like a beast straight out of a fairy tale told to frighten children, and when it let out a terrifying, screeching roar, it could've been mistaken for a monster escaped from Hell.
To Mikasa, none of that mattered. It didn't matter that she had been slammed back into the wall, and was now covered in burns and bruises. It didn't matter that most of the people within the underground chamber had been crushed by falling rocks. It didn't matter that Reiner was having a panic attack, lying on the ground and hyperventilating. It didn't matter that Bertholdt was seemingly frozen in place, unable to move in utter shock. It didn't matter that Armin had curled into a ball on the ground and was weeping.
All that mattered was that within the mass of the monster Scylla was an intelligent, malicious person in control of unimaginable power, and that Eren, the most important person in her life, was in there with her. Mikasa was barely thinking as she engaged her ODM gear and flew up into the air, not even stopping to check on her three comrades. She was operating only on animal instinct now, and would stop at nothing to save her friend.
Annie Leonhart. You will give Eren back to me.
Spinning up and over Scylla's head, she drew her swords, and-
With a blood-curdling screech, Scylla jerked its head down, causing Mikasa to completely miss her mark and overshoot entirely. Letting out a frustrated grunt, she quickly retracted her gear and refired it, barely managing to catch herself before she hit the ground. Using her momentum, she continued to spin around Scylla's head, trying to find an opening to strike.
I know you're in there. Hiding, like the coward you are.
Scylla's eyes tracked Mikasa's every move with caution, watching the girl as she flew around and around, managing to avoid being yanked out of the air despite Scylla's sudden, jerky motions. It would only take a particularly well-timed movement, and Mikasa would be sent tumbling to the ground far below.
Mikasa knew this all too well. But she didn't care.
Give him back to me NOW!
As Mikasa let out a warrior's cry and suddenly changed course in midair, aiming directly for Scylla's eyes, the monster surged forward with powerful strides of its long, slender legs. Mikasa collided with the monster and bounced right off its face, sending her plummeting to the ground in a dazed freefall as Scylla began to move away, quickly leaving the now-destroyed compound behind.
Just before she collided with the ground, Mikasa was able to fire her ODM gear and slow her descent enough so that instead of breaking every bone in her body, she merely landed in a rough, tumbling heap. Not stopping for an instant, she discarded her spent swords and equipped another pair, drawing them with such fury that sparks flickered down the blades.
Annie won't hesitate, just like she didn't in our fight that day. And this time, she'll go for the kill.
So will I.
With a hiss of gas, Mikasa was flying through the air once again, swinging from tree to tree in a mad dash to keep up with the quickly retreating Scylla. Leaves and branches became a blur of green and brown as Mikasa flew at breakneck speeds, putting every ounce of skill and strength she had to the test as she began to gain on the giant monster.
She's going for Wall Rose. If she gets through it, I won't be able stop her. Not alone.
With every thunderous crash of Scylla's legs, trees and dirt were sent flying into the air, leaving a flurry of cascading debris that Mikasa had to weave back and forth through. Despite this, slowly, but surely, she caught up to the escaping Alpha Titan. Firing her ODM cables again and again, Mikasa was conscious of the fact that she was expending a lot of gas. Too much, in fact. Mikasa knew that she couldn't keep up this pursuit for much longer, especially since they were nearing the edge of the forest. With a decisive spin in midair, Mikasa shot herself forward like a bullet, rising up into the air over the treeline and firing her cables at the peak of her arc.
Long lines trailing metal hooks sailed forward, barely snagging Scylla's torso before they reached the end of their length, and with a giant jerk, Mikasa was yanked forward through the air. At the mercy of Scylla's every move, Mikasa barely noticed when the trees beneath her gave way to grasslands, and how in the distance to the south, with the sun just barely peeking over it, lay Wall Rose, in all its glory.
Triggering the mechanisms of her ODM gear, Mikasa was pulled forward towards Scylla, and with deadly precision, she flew under its massive body, swinging towards one of its legs and slashing with her swords. When her blades collided with the thick exoskeleton, they shattered on impact, the shock of the blow traveling up her arms and rattling her spine. Startled, she almost lost her grip on her sword handles, and lay dazed beneath Scylla for a brief moment, dangling precariously as six legs thundered around her.
I can't break through its armor. But….Eren came out of the neck of Godzilla. Maybe that's the weak spot of the Alpha Titans.
After only a moment, she shook off her shock and swung up and over Scylla's body, landing on its shelled back and racing down its sloping spine towards its dangling head. Coming to a stop right at the base of its neck, she fired her ODM gear into its flesh to prevent herself from sliding off and tumbling to the ground. Bracing herself against the rumbling movements of the uneven flesh beneath her feet, she re-equipped fresh blades and prepared to strike.
Don't worry, Eren. I'll save you from this traitor.
With a carefully strong slice, Mikasa cut through Scylla's exposed flesh and revealed Annie's lithe form, connected by tendrils of flesh to the monster surrounding her. Encased at her feet was Eren, who- besides his face- was completely wrapped in tendrils of muscle. For a split second, his eyes opened halfway and connected with Mikasa's gaze, squinting against the sudden burst of light.
Eren….
Annie suddenly turned, her eyes blazing with fury and fear. With a loud yell, she tore free from her meaty prison and grabbed Mikasa, tumbling out onto the sloping head of the now-dormant Scylla. Mikasa's swords were knocked out of her hands, and she began to grapple with Annie, whose flesh was parted and steaming where she had been connected to her monstrous body.
"Go away!" Annie's voice was deep and strained, and as Mikasa gripped the soggy fabric of Annie's signature hooded sweatshirt, she glared into her adversary's eyes and snarled her response.
"Give Eren back to me, you bitch!"
The ground beneath Annie and Mikasa suddenly collapsed as Scylla's giant form began to disintegrate, columns of steam erupting around the two and enveloping them in the rancid smell of raw flesh. Hit with a blast of heat, unable to see a thing, Mikasa's whole world suddenly became her and her opponent, in a fight to the death. Tumbling roughly through the air together, they didn't release each other even as they collided with pieces of the quickly dissipating body of Scylla. Their descent was rough, and within moments, the two landed on the ground together. Bruised, but alive, they didn't stop for an instant as they continued to match each other's every move, punches and kicks swinging just like they had in their previous fight.
Annie was more flexible than Mikasa, but her smaller size and slightly lower strength meant that before long, Mikasa had Annie on the ground, gripped in a headlock. Struggling and flexing with everything she had, against any other opponent, Annie would have been able to snap their limbs and win the battle with relative ease, but against the overwhelming brawn Mikasa possessed, she was no match. With her legs and arms locked in place, sticking out at awkward angles, she was trapped.
"Let me go, I can explain," Annie managed to grunt out in a desperate attempt to calm Mikasa's fury.
At the sound of Annie's words, Mikasa's rage only grew. Red began to tinge the corners of her vision, and she began to tighten her grip around Annie. In the moment however, she didn't notice as Annie glanced at Eren's unconscious body lying a few feet away from them, and shifted her right hand into the air, straining against Mikasa's grasp.
"I'll kill you," Mikasa seethed in absolute anger, her feelings for Eren overtaking her and narrowing her focus to destroying those who wished to harm him at all costs. "I won't let you take him from me."
By the time the morning sunshine glinted off the metal ring on Annie's right hand and caught Mikasa's eye, it was too late. Annie gave her hand a slight flick, and a small blade popped out of the ring. With desperate urgency, Annie sliced herself, and-
The world became nothing but a flash of light.
Laying in the destroyed ruins of Eren's former prison and torture chamber, Armin's sobs had finally died down, leaving the boy in a state of emptiness, his soul shattered from the betrayal. He was curled up in a ball, covered in dirt and soot from the explosion created by Annie's transformation. With his eyes squeezed shut, the world around him was nonexistent.
Even as the voices of his comrades surrounded him, and he was picked up and carried out of the ruins of the compound, he barely noticed. As his body was carefully laid on the ground, his mind was miles away, lost in the recesses of his psyche.
I should have known. I should have seen it coming. I shouldn't have let myself get so distracted.
Annie. A traitor.
How could you? How could you? You're Scylla? You broke through Wall Maria six years ago? You helped bring about the deaths of so many innocent lives, including my grandfather?
How could you betray everyone? How could you betray humanity?
How could you betray me?
I thought….I thought that maybe, just maybe, you cared. You drove everyone else away almost immediately with your hostility, but not me. I looked past your stinging coldness, and glimpsed someone strong and beautiful.
Damn it all. I never even noticed. I never suspected a thing. I was so naive and hopeful, I didn't consider that someone close to me could be a traitor. I turned out to be useless after all.
A flash of Annie's scowl appeared in Armin's mind, and he almost broke down again. Everything that had transpired between them, every word, every moment….had it all been a lie?
Wait.
Armin felt his breath catch, and his eyelids fluttered.
No.
Flashes of Annie's words came to Armin, playing in his mind like they had just been spoken moments before.
'Armin, why are you even talking to me? Everyone else knows to stay away from me, yet as soon as I come in here, you greet me like you would anyone else.'
'You're the only half-tolerable person I know.'
'I never made any effort to be your friend, yet you're the closest thing I have to one.'
Armin didn't believe that those words had been lies. He couldn't believe it.
C'mon, Armin. Think. Use your head. It's the only part of you that's worth anything. Why would Annie do this? When she attacked Mikasa, she seemed so….broken. Like it was killing her to do it, but she felt she had no choice.
But there's always a choice. I just have to help her see that. If I can convince her to stop, if I can just talk to her….
Yes. I can do this.
Armin's eyes opened, and he slowly sat upright, blinking as his mind began to process his surroundings. Above him, the branches of a large tree swayed in the wind, early morning sunlight filtering through the leaves and creating a deceptively peaceful feeling. Lying on the ground next to him was a similarly stunned Reiner and Bertholdt, both covered in a thick layer of soot. Gathered around them were Jean, Marco, Conny, Sasha, Ymir, and Christa, who all looked incredibly confused.
"Armin? Can you hear me?" Marco's concerned voice was distant, but Armin managed to nod his head slowly.
"What happened here?" Jean sounded uncharacteristically worried, and for once, he didn't have any cynical remarks to make. "Where's Annie and Mikasa? Did you guys save Eren?"
Armin took a deep breath, bracing himself for what was about to come, and slowly got to his feet, gratefully accepting Conny and Sasha's help.
"Whoa dude, take it slow," Conny said in surprise.
"Yeah, you look like shit," Sasha remarked with a halfhearted smile.
Armin shook his head as he put one foot in front of the other. "I can't stop. I need to follow them."
"Wait, what? Follow who?!" Ymir's voice was frantic, like she already knew that something terrible had happened. "What are you going on about? Tell us what happened!"
"Armin, please, we need to know." For once, Christa didn't sound like she was trying to sound sweet. Instead, her tone was deadly serious, and when Armin glanced at her, for a moment, it was like he was staring at a different person.
"I'm going after Annie," Armin said as he shrugged out of his friends' grasps and readied his ODM gear. "If anyone can convince her to stop, I can."
Annie stared down at Mikasa's battered, unmoving form, safe within Scylla's massive body once again. The ground where she had transformed was scorched from the heat of the blast, and she shifted her six long legs carefully as she took a moment to catch her breath.
That was too close. Way too close.
Even from Annie's vantage point high above, she could still see Mikasa clearly. While she had been covered in soot already, the black dust was now mixed with red streaks of blood. When she began to move, it was with unsteady, shaky movements, her breath coming in short and ragged gasps. When she tried to stand, it was immediately apparent that the blast had stunned her. After supporting herself for several seconds, she collapsed to the ground in a tired heap as her legs gave way.
Annie watched as Mikasa let out a pained scream of frustration, and couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity.
I'm sorry, Mikasa. I know taking Eren will kill you. But I'm a survivor. If I don't bring Eren back with me, then I'll be killed, and every one of you with me.
As Scylla turned to leave, a small, distant voice rang out from the direction of the forest to the north, where Scylla had just come from. Turning around slowly, rotating six massive legs, Scylla watched as a gold-haired boy came running up to Mikasa and slid to a stop.
No. Not him.
Armin looked up at Scylla, Mikasa's battered body clutched in his arms. Annie felt something inside of her break at the expression on his face, and started to turn away.
"ANNIE! WAIT!"
Scylla stopped as Annie closed her eyes and grimaced. Even though she wasn't facing Armin directly, it was like she was there on the ground next to him, being forced to confront head-on what she had just done. She wanted to keep moving, to retreat over Wall Rose, and then Wall Maria, and escape back to her homeland, where she would be welcomed as a hero and praised for her bravery and loyalty.
But something kept her rooted to the spot. A part of her that knew she had already betrayed Armin enough, and that the least she could offer him was to listen to what he had to say. Before she never saw him again.
With a warbling groan, Scylla knelt down, folding its massive legs and setting its shell-like torso on the ground. Even its head was several meters tall, so when she emerged, still connected to Scylla by long strands of flesh, and steam broiling around her, she looked down at Armin and Mikasa from above, her expression as unreadable as she could manage.
"Make it quick," she said dispassionately.
Armin took one last look at Mikasa and stood up, walking forward and stopping in front of the long squid-like tentacles that were splayed out on the ground in front of Scylla's head. He crouched down and hesitantly reached out, gingerly placing his hand on one of them.
Annie flinched at the contact. Armin had no way of knowing just how unusual his willingness to touch her monstrous form was.
"Annie," he called out, staring up at her with wide, red eyes. "You don't have to do this. Come down, we can talk about this."
"There's nothing to discuss," Annie responded as she flicked her eyes up to make sure nobody else was coming.
Armin came alone. Why would he do that?
"Annie, you still have a choice!" Armin cried out. "Please, don't take Eren! He's my friend!"
Annie's gaze hardened at the mention of the brazen holder of one of the Nine Titans. "Eren is now part of something far beyond you," she said coldly. "He possesses stolen power, and it's my job to return it to its rightful owner."
"But why?!" Armin said, his voice cracking. "I don't understand. Eren didn't know he could transform into an Alpha Titan, I swear! I don't know why you broke through Wall Maria six years ago, but if you come down, maybe we could talk, and-"
"I helped break through Wall Maria because I want humanity to fall," Annie compulsively lied, repeating what she had been told for years as a child. "The people within the Walls are the spawn of devils, and must be eradicated."
Armin looked like he was about to break down again, but he took a deep breath, and even from several meters away, Annie could see the determination in his eyes. The resolve.
The love.
Oh, god. This idiot….
"Even me?" Armin said pointedly. "You said I was the closest thing you had to a friend. Did you not mean that? Was everything you said to me a lie? Do you really want me to die?"
Annie hesitated before she answered, and even as the words passed her lips, she could tell Armin didn't believe her. "I made it all up. I don't feel anything towards you."
Armin shook his head. "I don't believe that. You saved me from one of the Titans, yesterday during the Trost attack. If you truly felt nothing for me, you would have let me die. Nobody else saw me get picked up by that Titan. You could have abandoned me, and no one would have known. You gained nothing from saving me, yet you did it anyway. Why?"
Annie looked away in shame.
Damn him. He's too smart for his own good.
"OK, you want me to be honest? Fine," Annie snarled. "I was falling in love with you. But because I'm not foolish, I buried those feelings deep down, so that I could accomplish my mission in peace. But now here you are, dragging these feelings to the surface, and it's only hurting us both."
Armin looked like he had just been struck, and Annie couldn't hide on her face that it was killing her to do this to him. She hated to admit it, but she had been developing feelings for him, despite knowing that she shouldn't have. They were on opposite sides of a brewing conflict that could spill over into all-out war if she didn't fulfill her mission. She should have hated him, and his stubbornly kind treatment towards her. He was a good person, who wanted to learn and help others.
Not like me. I'm not a good person. He doesn't deserve to have fallen for a monster.
Annie let out a resigned sigh. She knew what she had to do.
I don't have a choice. It's for his own good.
"Do yourself a favor, Armin. Hate me. Loathe me. Curse the day you met me, and pray for my painful death. I'm not a good person. I've killed many people, and I'll surely kill many more."
Armin finally cracked as tears began to stream down his cheeks. His sobs twisted and wormed their way into Annie's heart, and she couldn't bear it any longer. Climbing back into Scylla, the flesh resealed around her, and she once again was in control of a fifty-meter giant. Seeing with its eyes, and hearing with its ears, she stood up and began to move away to the south.
"Annie, wait!"
Scylla didn't stop as it continued towards Wall Rose.
"ANNIE!"
Annie could feel tears trying to break free, and she fought to keep herself composed. Like all Titans, despite their massive size, they weighed relatively little, and with the help of her long, spider-like legs, she carefully climbed over Wall Rose. Her feet left indentations in the stone, but the wall remained standing. That was the least she could do after betraying her fellow soldiers.
I'm sorry. I know you won't be able to forgive me. I know your friends definitely won't be able to forgive me. But I don't care that everyone else will hate me. The only thing I regret is that I hurt you.
Armin.
Author's Note
Annie and Mikasa is a rivalry that I've always enjoyed, as their perspectives on life are so vastly different. Mikasa is highly devoted to other people around her, and will fight tooth and nail to protect them. Annie, meanwhile, is a survivor, who will take any measure necessary to ensure that she comes out on top. Coupled with their similar levels of strength and cunning, they make good foils for each other, and I tried to emphasize that here.
Armin and Annie I feel somewhat similarly about, at least in regards to them being foils. Where Armin is optimistic, Annie is a pessimist. Armin looks out for others, as a result of losing his parents at a young age (and in the case of my story, losing his friend Katrina as well), whereas Annie is very much about looking out for herself, an understandable outlook given her upbringing, which while very different from the canon version (and will not be fully revealed until much later down the line), still resulted in the same familiar cold attitude that she's known for.
Eren doesn't have a lot of agency at this point in the story, something he's obviously not going to be very happy about once he fully recovers, since Eren/Freedom is the OTP (jk), and in general, my portrayal and treatment of him is probably the part of my story where I've taken the most creative liberties. My goal is not to tell the same story that we've already seen, and part of that has been altering Eren himself considerably. Most notably, he lacks the skill with ODM gear he displayed in canon (as shown by him placing last in graduate rankings), as well as starting off much meaner than he originally was. Both of these were intended to show a different take on the character, though I believe he's still very much the Eren he always was, with his raw anger and drive for freedom still being at the center of his character.
Any comments are greatly appreciated, I love hearing what people have to say about the story so far. Until next time!
-AlphaBeta17 (10/15/20)