A/N: Little late to the chapter upload like I said in the prologue but I had class. Sue me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

KANG

KANG

KANG

KANG

Heavy breathing resounded throughout the entire stone room. There was a single boy in the room repeatedly striking at an oil drum in the centre of the room. With a grunt, the boy gave a final punch to the drum before the metal burst open, letting a torrent of sand flow out to the floor.

He raised his bloody hands up and looked at the damage. The skin on his knuckles was torn, letting his bones below peek out. He struggled to control the shaking in his hands, clenching and unclenching them.

"You always insist on pushing yourself to your limit. Do you truly have no regard for your own well being?"

The boy turned around to see his mentor at the cell doors. The entire facility was an underground dungeon that had been repurposed for training and for living, which made it slightly more comfortable but there was only so much you could do to remodel a dungeon.

"Landon, sir," the boy greeted stiffly. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"So it is a surprise for the teacher to observe the student?" Landon asked with a tired smile.

"I suppose when you put it that way," the boy replies. "Though I have a feeling you're here for something else."

Landon sighs, running his hand through his greying hair. "The custom iron you requested has arrived. If you would like to begin, then we should go."

"Good." The boy moves to get out of the room but is stopped by the older man.

"You honestly think I would forget about your hands? Show them," the man ordered.

Groaning, the boy sticks out his ruined hands and the man beckons someone forth.

"Drayce, what did I tell you?" a little girl asked as she ran up to him.

"That I wouldn't train so hard," Drayce responded. "But I know you. You're looking for an excuse to help, aren't you Kristie?"

Kristie pouted before putting her hands over Drayce's. A green glow began to emit from her palms as she healed the broken skin on his hands.

"You've improved," Drayce compliments, inspecting his hands as Kristie giggled. "For a little girl that is."

"Little?! I'm four!" Kristie exclaims, hopping madly.

"Yes, and I'm twice as old as you are so that makes you little to me now doesn't it?" Drayce comments. "I suggest you get back to your studies. After all, the human anatomy is quite a lot to take in if you want to be a fully fledged healer."

Kristie giggles and runs back down the long hall and out of sight. Drayce leans over to make sure that she didn't stick around. "Good, because things are about to get ugly. She doesn't need to see it."

The pair strode down the hall in silence until Landon broke the silence. "How's the progress of...well, you know."

Drayce sighs and his claws shoot out of his hands, the bone a greyish metallic color. "Well, I know it's spreading. I'm lucky that only my bones have been affected."

"Are you absolutely sure that it has only spread to your bones?" Landon asked, his voice grim and hard. "Anything else and you would be rendered useless."

"I am quite certain that it is just my bones. It's been eight years. Something should have happened by now but it hasn't so the so-called inconvenience is currently my greatest utility," Drayce replies coolly.

The two enter another room where a blazing fire is maintained by another boy. "William, how's the progress?" Drayce asks as he begins to shed his shirt.

"It's ready whenever you are," the brown haired boy shrugged. "Do you want me to do it?"

"If you don't mind," Drayce responds as he lies down on the wooden bench, his back facing the air. A strong pair of hands presses down on his shoulders, preventing him from unnecessary movement.

William pulls the iron out of the flames, the glowing metal hissing through the air. He positions the symbol above his friend's back before counting down. "Three. Two. One!"

He plunges the branding iron downwards, the metal hissing and the boy below it groaning and struggling to keep his shouts of pain from bursting forth. The red hot metal seared the mark onto his skin forever. William removes the iron from his friend's back and gazes at the brand, a circle with three katanas in the middle forming a triangle.

"I will no longer bear my father's name," Drayce grits. "The curse that turns my proud name into that of a slave. I will have it no more."

Landon gazed at Drayce as he stood back up. "Then I welcome you to our ranks, Drayce Azumabito. Now if you're feeling up to it, please join us in our briefing."

Drayce watches as his mentor walks out of the room, leaving him and William in the room. A silence pans out as William extinguishes the fire used to heat the branding iron. William begins to say something but Drayce cuts him off sharply.

"Don't. You know I hate it," Drayce growls as he snaps the branding iron in half.

"Dude!" William exclaims exasperated, gesturing at the broken iron. "Do you know how much money it cost?"

"Who cares, no one's going to use it again anyways," Drayce mutters, letting the pieces he's broken further clatter to the ground.

"Ok, come on. What with the prissy attitude? You're not normally like this," William asks, folding his arms.

"I'm not prissy for your information," Drayce growls before reigning in his emotions. "Just the thought of spending three years in boot camp with the human scum in Marley."

"Why do you distrust humans so much anyways?" William asks.

"I don't just distrust them, William, I hate them. Tearing the world apart centuries ago, committing mass crimes and murder for their own selfish gain," Drayce spat. "What's to trust or like?"

"They're not all like that," William persists.

"THEY HUNTED DOWN OUR KIND AND SHOWED IT OFF LIKE SOME SICK SPORT," Drayce bellowed. "DOES THAT MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?"

Drayce turns away before speaking in a softer tone. "I thought you of all people would understand," he whispered.

Drayce watches as William clenches his fists, his knuckles turning white, and unfurling his hands. "Yeah, you're right. I do but I don't let a few people speak for the entire human race," William says in a low voice letting a ball of fire ignite in his hands.

"You upset me, my friend. I wash my hands of this matter. We have a meeting to attend to and I suggest we get a move on lest we arrive late," Drayce says.

The two boys jog out of the room, William closing the cell door behind them, and down the hall into the war room. Well, it wasn't so much a war room as it was their rec area. Before that, the room had belonged to the commissioned officers' but they had long cleared out the building on Landon's command.

Drayce pushes open the door to find the rest of his friends in various positions throughout the room, though most of them were simply sprawled across the couches. "You all never cease to amaze me at how lazy you all can be," Drayce comments before sitting down in an antique wooden chair.

"Not everyone is as dedicated to the mission as you are man," George comments from his spot at the table, looking up from his hand of cards.

"But you should be," Drayce reprimands sharply. "We are training to infiltrate a highly secure military base so that one of us can inherit one of the nine titans. If anyone of us slips up during the upcoming years, well, I suppose we'd have to bid everything we care about farewell, now won't we?"

"You really need to lighten up Drayce. Being so grumpy all the time isn't going to be good for you either," Rachel pips up from her spot next to George. "I mean, we got this in the bag!"

"Have to agree with Rachel on this one," Mabel simply says. "With our team, I find it hard to screw up."

"It's not impossible. But if we do, you know what happens," Drayce says pointedly, getting out of his chair.

"You're such a drag and a downer, you know that?" Rachel asks, pouting.

"Not so much as he's being one of the only realists here," William counters. "What he means to say is that while your ability to complete the mission is good enough, he still wants us to be careful because he doesn't want to lose any of us. Think about Kristie for example."

Drayce gives William a nod before something small plows into his back. "Ow," Kristie moans as she rubs her nose. "Oh! Sorry Drayce! I wasn't watching where I was going. Too much stuff in my head."

"Evidently enough. Come on and take a seat. The meeting is about to start," Drayce says lightly, pushing Kristie towards the chair he was just in.

"Why am I not surprised?" Landon asked as he walked through the door, scanning at the squad's various positions throughout the room. He sets down the stack of papers he'd been carrying for their mission briefing. "Come and get them."

The mutants around the room scramble out of their seats and each grabs a copy of the file before scanning over the details.

"As I'm sure all of you know, our current mission is to take one of the nine titans, the Victory Titan to be exact. To do this, you all will pose as cadets for the warrior program," Landon reads. "At the end of your three year training, they'll select the most capable of you to take on the titan's power. We have an envoy to meet at sundown. Get your horse ready, we leave in 10."

(Line Break)

The sounds of horses whinnying filled the darkening sky as the group of seven gathered in the stables, getting ready to mount their horses. Drayce feeds that last piece of apple in his hands to his horse before climbing onto his pure black steed. He rubs the horse's neck before grabbing the reins.

"Everyone ready?" Landon asks from atop his horse. "George, open the portal."

The boy's eyes began to glow green before a swirling light began to manifest in front of the group. The light began to expand, tearing into the fabric of reality in front of them. The scene just beyond the portal was an expanse of rolling hills covered with green grass, the rays of sunset just peaking through the dimensional doorway, giving Landon's face an orangish tint.

"Hiyah!" He snaps the reins and rides through the portal to the other side, the rest of the team following in suit. When the last member passed through, the breached sealed back up, leaving the stables empty, with no sign that anyone had been there.

The ragtag group rides away towards the edge of the island known as Paradis, quite ironic as it was essentially a living hell with creatures known as titans roaming the land. The titans, hellish humanoid creatures that ate humans, had forced the denizens of Paradis to cower in fear behind three giant walls that they had erected in order to protect themselves from the beasts. Though voracious in daylight, they now laid dormant at night, just like this night.

They passed countless numbers of these beasts, all of them curled up in various fetal positions to wait out the night, all eager for a new day to come to allow them to wander once again. Slowly but surely, the horizon illuminated by the countless stars and the moon gave way to the glittering mass of water known as the ocean, a body of water so wide that no eye can see the end of it. When the first light rays of dawn began to break out, a small dot in the sky began to grow clearer and clearer. The massive blimp eventually touched down on the water's edge, the propellers spraying sand and seawater everywhere. The cargo door opened, revealing a uniformed man. Landon dismounted from his horse and marched forward, saluting to the officer.

"Commander Magath!" Landon greeted, popping into a crisp salute.

"At ease soldier," Magath replied. "Good to see you again, Price. How have you been holding up?"

"Doing as well as I can sir. I have managed to select viable candidates to join the Warrior Program," Landon replied, releasing his salute. "I expect that they will be able to meet and even surpass your requirements."

"Your excellent work is most certainly deserving of an award," Magath praised. "Load up recruits! Your horses go in the cargo bay! Let's move!"

The kids began to scramble, urging the horses onto the blimp before hastily entering the flying machine themselves, shortly followed by Landon and Commander Magath. As soon as the door slammed shut, the propeller revved back up, lifting its crew and new passengers into the sky.

"All right, listen up recruits! My name is Commander Magath, one of the few overseeing the Warrior Program! From this point on you will not be coddled, your hand will not be held. You are training to be a warrior for the great nation of Marley! Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir!"

"I can't hear you! Sound off!"

"YES SIR!"

"Very good! Your training will last 3 hard and grueling years. You will train beside your fellow soldiers. You will eat with them and you will sleep next to them so be prepared to get real comfy with the people around you, whether you like it or not!" Magath declared. "We will arrive in approximately 5 hours. During this time, you will refresh yourselves, eat, and await further instructions! Dismissed!"

The kids broke formation and began to explore the space. It wasn't very big. With the cargo area currently occupied by the horses, it left them with the upper level. The space had a table near the side with a single cardboard box on it. The contents, breakfast. They each grabbed a ration from the box, tearing into the package and eating the biscuit inside.

"I'm still hungry," Kristie said, staring glumly at her crumpled plastic wrapper.

The older kids move to break a section of their meal off but Drayce stops them. Instead, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his share of the ration and hands it to Kristie.

"But aren't you hungry?" Kristie asks, her bottom lip quivering.

"You know I don't need to eat," Drayce replies as he watches the girl tentatively open the packet.

It was technically true. As a mutant with incredible healing factor, it removed the need for him to eat or drink as his body would simply heal itself from any damage caused by hunger or thirst. Because of this, Drayce always gave away his share of food if they didn't have enough to eat.

"Then why do you even eat or drink anything at all?" Rachel asked, frowning.

"Because I want to. No one in their right mind would pass up meat," Drayce replies. "Or any other good foods for that matter."

As the day approaches mid morning, the airship begins to descend, revealing a vast land over the ocean. "Take a good look, recruits. The great nation of Marley in all its glory," Magath declares proudly. "This will be your home for the next three years."

The airship eventually touches down in what they assume to be the military base that they were to be stationed in for the duration of their training. "Walk with me. I'll take you guys to the barracks to let you all get accustomed to this place before the announcements. You all already missed the orientation but Commander Magath already gave you all a short run down of it," Landon spoke as he strode off the vehicle.

The barracks, as it turns out, was divided by the companies. Being girls, they were naturally placed in Echo company while the boys were assigned to Bravo company. The barracks were neat and tidy, the beds stacking 3 high in conjunction with the three large metal boxes that were stacked in front of it.

"I claim top," Drayce says as he vaults onto the top bunk.

"Middle," William says immediately after.

"Aww come on!" George groans, as he slides into the bottom bunk.

"Too slow man," William smirks.

A loud clattering comes from the door and a mass of kids rush inside the barracks. Drayce, William, and George immediately get up and snap to attention.

"Get in front of your bunks, all of you!"

Who they can only presume to be the sergeant steps into the barracks, watching the boys scramble to get into position.

"My grandmother's faster than you all, and she's six feet under!" the sergeant barked. "You! What's your name?!"

A boy with a thin build and messy brown hair across from them was the first victim.

"C-carl Riechert, sir!" the boy stammered.

"I AM NOT SIR! SIR IS WHAT YOU CALL USELESS PEOPLE! I AM SARGE OR SERGEANT WEST! GOT THAT RECRUIT?" Sergeant West screamed.

"Y-yes Sarge!"

"And work on your composition. It disgusts me," the sarge growled as he stalks away. "You're next half-pint!"

The small blond who had been smirking at Riechert suddenly froze as he realized who the sergeant was talking to.

"You think this is funny don't you? It was a joke to you, huh?"

"No sarge!"

"Well would you like to hear my own joke?" the sarge asked in a dangerous tone. "10 LAPS AROUND THE FIELD, NOW!"

The kid scrambles out of the barracks and out into the field. "I don't have time to waste on you shitlings! Everyone outside now! Move it!" Sergeant Hower screams.

"I hate him already," George mutters under his breath.

"Better put up with it for the next 3 years then," William replies.

"Scratch that. He's not even going to last a single year if he thinks this is bad," Drayce retorts before running outside with William, leaving George alone.

"Well shit."

A/N: As you noticed, big changes compared to the previous version. This time, I want to focus a lot more on Marley because frankly, I find the Warrior Program interesting and there's a lot of things that have happened before the anime/manga start that can be explored. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed.