Chapter 6: Battle of the parking lot Part one: The first battle.
After eating dinner and having a talk with his parents, Eren was getting ready to call his friends while also feeling very nervous. 'What am I going to tell them? "Hey, there guys! I'm sorry I caused a huge scene 'cause I decided to fight horseface over my club choices, Oh! I'm also sorry that I made you feel bad for just wanting to be safe and then making that feeling worse by giving you the cold shoulder for the rest of the day. We good?" Yeah right...what a joke.' Eren's thumb hovered over the call button, twitching in anticipation for Eren's choice. Finally, after remembering the conversation he had with his mom he decided to throw caution to the wind and try to right his wrongs. After a single push, all Eren could do was listen to the buzzing of his cell phone and mutter something along the lines of "I'm fucked."
"Ereh! Are you alright? Are you feeling better?" Mikasa asked frantically, worried for the boy she had named "Sand-knight" in her contacts, with Armin joining in as well.
"Eren! We're so sorry we made you feel like you had to do this alone. We should have backed you up during the fight with Jean!" Then suddenly, Mikasa and Armin's ramblings were cut off by a soft chuckle.
"You guys...I don't deserve you two...". This statement stunned the two, clearly not used to the fact that Eren was showing this level of vulnerability. "I call trying to apologize and to make sure you two are doing alright, and then here you two are, doing exactly what I wanted to do." Eren sighed before he continued. "I'm...sorry I embarrassed you two in front of all those people and then giving you two the silent treatment." Eren wished that someone would barge in and tackle him or something, because to the green-eyed boy it was better than the deafening silence that followed after he apologized.
Thankfully the eternal silence was easily broken by trios resident nerd speaking up. "Eren, It's alright. You may have been cold, but...we should have more honest with you about why we want to join the student corps."
"Well, then let's be honest, why do you two wanna join the student corps?" Eren asked, wanting to know the true reason behind his friends' decisions.
"Well...While I was pissed at The Notorious Yolks for ruining my grandpa's car, I'm also tired of being a coward. Jean was right about how a part of me wants to go into the teacher's lounge for an easy life, but If I do that, then it shows that I gave up." Armin said, no longer afraid to talk about his insecurities.
"Ah, that makes sense. What about you Mikasa?" Eren asked the goth girl, wanting her to also open up.
"Ereh please don't get mad at me but...I wanna join to keep you and Armin safe." Eren sighed at this before Mikasa cuts him off. "I know, I know, I'm not trying to smother you guys but still...I'd still prefer it if you two were never at risk of being humiliated by those jerks." Eren sat in silence for a couple of seconds before responding.
"Thanks for being honest guys, I know I can't promise that I'll always be this open, but I'll try." Said, not a hint of dishonesty in his voice.
"It's okay Ereh we're just happy that you're alright," Mikasa said, not afraid caring that her cheeks started to turn red.
"Say Eren..." Armin began to ask, "you normally aren't this open with us, what made you open up?" Eren began to think back to the conversation he had with his mother during dinner.
-One hour ago-
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT TO JOIN THE STUDENT CORPS!?" Carla yelled as soon as Eren confessed his intentions. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY MEMBERS GOT HUMILIATED BACK IN MY DAY!? EREN YEAGER I ORDER YOU TO GET THOSE THOUGHTS OUT OF YOUR HE-" Carla was unable to finish her sentence before Eren cut her off.
"THEN HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO AVENGE YOU!? That sentence was all that was needed to stun Carla. Eren, noticing that he managed to silence his mother, decided to continue his argument. "I FAILED TO PROTECT YOU AND MIKASA THAT DAY! BECAUSE I WAS WEAK! But...if I can join the student corps...They can make me stronger, then I can scramble those yolks and pay them back for messing with you!" Carla stood there, lost in thought before she decided to ask her son an important question.
"Son is that the only reason you want to join the student corps?" Eren thought for a second, now unsure of his own goals. Then, he was reminded of that day, of that feeling, the feeling of being caged behind the fear of being absolutely humiliated by the hands of those who wish to take their joy. "I-I want us to be free...free from the fear of being egged! Free from the laborious task of getting eggshells out of our car's paint job! Free to enjoy the last 4 years of our teenage lives!" Eren shouted, vigor in his heart once more. Carla then sighed, accepting that her son wanted to go down this path.
"Alright, I'll let you join the student corps. But that doesn't explain why you think you're a bad influence."
"oh yeah," eren said, suddenly remembering the incident that occurred earlier in the day.
After explaining what exactly happened during his lunch period; minus his self-doubt issues as he didn't want to stress out his mother even more than he already had, Carla felt a mixture of pride, and annoyance bubbling in her chest.
"Eren," she began, her tone not letting out any signs of anger or even disappointment, instead only giving eren a feeling of understanding. "You said that you want to fight for all our freedom...right?" Eren nodded in response. "Then you have to understand that you would also be fighting for the freedom to choose what they want. Even if it means that they choose to follow in your footsteps." Eren sat there for a monument before finally connecting the dots.
"I understand...I...think I should give them a call and clear things up". Carla smiled at her son before patting his head.
"You probably should."
"I just talked with my mom," Eren responded quite nonchalantly.
Friday had rolled around quickly, with today being the last day to turn in club applications and the EMA trio could not have been any luckier than they currently were. With Armin nearly losing his application sheet and Mikasa having trouble convincing her own parents to let her join the student corps. Wanting to process the applications as fast as possible, The school decided to pick up all applications in the parking lot. After the busses left, pulled out his Megaphone to grab the attention of the students.
"ALRIGHT STUDENTS! HERE'S HOW WE'RE GOING TO DO THINGS! WE WILL CALL YOU BY YOUR LAST NAME IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER! GOT THAT?" A collective gulp ensued, not wanting to piss off the already agitated teacher. It was only a matter of time until Mikasa and Armin were called to turn in their papers. Leaving Eren alone, much to the young Yeagers annoyance. Deciding that he didn't want to be bored, Eren searched around for people to talk to. It didn't take long for him to find Connie and Sasha, who we're currently talking to some other people.
"Sasha, you can't just break into the vending machine just for some cheap potato chips!"
"Screw you I do what I what!" by now Eren wasn't surprised by Sasha's blatant gluttony, but to be willing to break a vending machine for some off-brand chips? All he could say was "I'm impressed".
"Oh hey Eren! You ready to turn in your Club application?" Mina asked, wanting to shift away from the topic of Sasha's eating habits.
"Hell yeah, I am! After today I'll be an official member of the student corps!" Eren said, any previous doubts about joining are now but a fleeting memory.
"Well, you aren't the only one joining you know," Thomas said, confusing the hyped-up Yeager.
"What do you mean? Wait... Are you also joining the student corps?!" Thomas nodded in response much to Eren's surprise.
"He's not the only one you know! Mina and I are also joining! Same with those two Numskulls." Samuel exclaimed, pointing at Connie and Sasha.
"Wait you two are joining the Student Corps? I thought you wanted to join the student council. What changed your mind?" Connie and Sasha started to sweat, not wanting to admit why they decided to change clubs.
"I don't know about them, but I think it has to do with that speech you made on Tuesday," Samuel interjected, wanting to tease the duo.
"That's not why asshole! I'm an independent man who makes his own choices!" Connie yelled back, clearly not happy that he was exposed in such away.
"Well, what about you Sasha? Why do you wanna join the corps?" Eren asked the hungry brown-haired girl.
"Well..." Sasha began "I can't enjoy my lunch knowing that people are fighting those jerks. Plus I wanna get back at them for ruining my onigiri!"
Eren was not surprised by her motivation but respected it nonetheless. 'It's been an entire week since that day, We're finally getting our dignity back! We can win! Our school's comeback...Has only just begun!"
Eren was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of a revving motorcycle.
Before he had time to register what had just happened, it was too late. Samuel had been knocked out after an egg hit him in the temple. everyone began to run for the school building in an attempt to escape from the Notorious yolks, only to be met by a disturbing sight. The doors had been boarded up. Everyone stood in shock. What were they to do? They were locked out, doomed to repeat Monday's incident, and suffer immense humiliation.
"Fight..." When all hope seemed lost, they were alerted by a voice yelling at them using a megaphone. When the students turned around, they saw none other than Eren Yeager, running towards one of the bikers. "DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY! the young boy yelled, not a hit of fear on his face. DON'T LET THEM HUMILIATE US AGAIN! FIGHT!" Freeing his hands by dropping the megaphone, He grabbed his backpack and let out a yell as he tossed it at the Biker. "FIGHT"! The backpack, filled with heavy textbooks and homework managed to knock down one of the bikers. "I did it! I knocked one down!" Eren was excited, no! Eren was thrilled! He was actually able to fight back! However, he was snapped out of his victory high by Mr. Weilman, his English teacher.
"EREN GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE OR YOU'LL BE EXPELLED!" After being knocked out of his high, he finally noticed even more bikers approaching the school and realizing that he may get jumped by them, decided to listen to his teacher.
"Okay, guys I know this looks bad but don't worry! We thought it over and we decided to send some of you to fight off the bikers for now!" one of the teachers explained, not seeing how making a bunch of 15 to 16-year-olds fight a bunch of bikers could go wrong. "You will be divided into 3 groups The Vanguard, The Mid-Guard, and The Rear Guard! We've already sent the Vanguard to buy us more time to plan out our strategy." Eren had had just returned from attempting to enact his vengeance, only to find out that he was being sent back with backup. "Eren Yeager! You are in charge of the 34th Mid-Guard squad, consisting of Armin Arlet, Thomas Wagner, Nack Tierce, Milieus Zeremski, and Mina Caroline. Do you understand!?" Expecting the teenager to begin shuttering or maybe even an audible gulp, the teacher was surprised at the sight of Eren grinning like a mad man.
"You got it, sir! We'll wipe them all out! Eren was about to head back into the fray when suddenly he heard an all too familiar voice yell his name.
"Hey, Yeagerbombastic! You must be sooooo happy that this is happening! Aren't you?" Asked an extremely stressed-out Jean.
"What the hell do you mean horseface?" Eren asked, not understanding why Jean was getting snappy at him.
"You must be soooo smug about the fact that you were right about The Notorious Yolks returning! God damn it I was supposed to join the student council and chill in the teacher's lounge! Eren just stared at the grey-haired boy as he continued his rant. "Well, go on! Start preaching about how you were right and that I'm just some fucking dumb-" Jean was unable to speak after being tossed into a wall by Eren.
"Damn it Jean calm down! I don't give a rat's ass about you wanting to hide In the Teacher's lounge, just do what you need to do to survive, then you can fuck off in the Teacher's lounge for all I care!" Jean was shocked at Eren's words. 'What the hell...is Eren...trying to help me!?' Before Jean could ask, Eren had already run off to join his squad.
"Ereh wait!" Eren sighed and turned around to face Mikasa, a worried look on her face. "Ereh, if things go to shit and they probably will, I want you to try to find me, alright?" Mikasa asked, much to Eren's annoyance.
"Damn it, Mikasa we're on different squads, we can't just disobey orders like that!" Instead of backing off, Mikasa stood there, steadfast and unafraid.
"Ereh, orders don't mean crap when things fall into chaos, we have to stick together! I-" Before Mikasa was able to continue, Mr. Weilman Inturpted her.
"Mikasa Ackerman! According to your gym coach, you scored the highest physical exam scores! That means you are to join the Elite squad in an attempt to create an entrance back into the school am I clear!?" Mikasa gulped, she was going to be put into a different squad, How was she supposed to protect eren? 'I have to convince him to let me join My Ereh!'
"Sir! I believe that my strength would be wasted if I-" Mikasa suddenly felt her body being shaken really hard.
"Damn it Mikasa focus! You have a responsibility to your squad just like I have a reasonability to mine! Stop being selfish and help them out! Got it!? Mikasa finally backed down, finally understanding that she had a responsibility to her peers and not just Eren. 'He's right, I have to do this. Plus the sooner we get the doors opened, the sooner Ereh can be safe..."
You're right Ereh, I'm sorry for being selfish, but... promise me something."
"Shoot"
"Promise me you won't die..." Eren sighed as he patted Mikasa's back in an attempt to comfort her.
"Mikasa, we're dealing with bikers who at most just want to throw eggs at us, I'm like 84 percent sure we're gonna be fine." Eren then began to run off but not before making another promise to his childhood friend. I'll bring Armin back safe and sound, don't you worry!"
"OH GOD WE'RE GETTING JUMPED", the last vanguard member screened before a group of bikers grabbed the poor student and then proceeded to douce them in egg whites.
"Me and my big mouth, Armin any ideas?" Eren asked, itching to wack the bikers with the rulers they were given to fend off the invaders.
"Well, it looks like the bikers are aiming to surround the school rather than aiming for a single point, If the Vanguard fails to hold them off in time then we'd be attacked by all directions," Armin said as he looked for the weakest points in the barrier the vanguard created. "
Alright, then what can we do? Thomas asked as he shot a glance at the leather-wearing meatheads.
"If we can lower the number of bikers trying to get past the Vanguards shield, we may be able to buy the Elite squad enough time to open up the school doors," Armin replied, surprising everyone but eren, who already knows of Armin's ingenious ideas. Well, then what are we waiting for!? Let's get those jerks! Eren yelled as he charged into the fray, much to Armin's dismay. "Eren wait! We still need to be on the lookout for- "
"WATCH OUT THAT VAN!" a Vanguard member yelled as said van broke the ring formation, aiming right for the 34th MG squad. "DODGE!" Armin yelled in an attempt to warn his squadmates, with most of them listening. Keyword: "Most"
"Is everyone alright?" Eren asked, with most of them letting Eren know that they were alright. However, it wasn't long until Armin did a headcount and notice something disturbing.
"Guys... where's Thomas? Before anyone had the chance to realize Thomas was missing they heard his screams coming from the van that was trying to hit them.
"NO NO PLEASE NO!" Then in an instant, his screams were silenced. Not a peep came from the van until one of the doors opened and out came Thomas covered in red paint, crying and running off in the distance.
'They...They...' "YOU BASTARDS!" An enraged Eren yelled as rushed to toward the van which was beginning to drive away, his squad begging him to come back. However, no matter how loud they yelled for Eren to return, their pleas fell on deaf ears. Eren was mad, no Eren was fucking pissed. "YOUR GONNA PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO THOMAS YOU HEAR ME!?" He was catching up, the van was right in front of him! Eren was so focused on catching up to the van...he didn't notice a Harley Davidson heading right for him.
"EREN WATCH OUT!" Armin tried to warn his friend in time, he really did. However, he was not prepared for more bikers to approach his squad and knock them out."N-No... M-My...s-squad..." Armin just stood in shock as the Notorious Yolks poured paint on their unconscious bodies and as if to add salt to the wound, started to laugh. They were laughing...laughing at the pain and suffering they were invoking on the students. "Why...? Why am I watching as my friends get humiliated...Why...can't I move..." While Armin stood in shock at the absolute savagery he bore witness to, he didn't notice the van that Eren chased earlier in the day slowly approach him. Suddenly, He felt himself being dragged into the van, the thugs already opening the paint tin, excited to deliver Thomas's fate onto the poor boy as screams filled the air. Screams that were heard by a certain Yeager.
"A-Armin..." Eren was fading in and out of conciseness, thinking back to a conversation he had with the nerd during their middle school days.
"Eren! Eren!" Armin asked the bored preteen, waiting for the clock to reach 3 o'clock so he can begin his summer break.
"What's up Armin?"
"Are you ready for high school? We're gonna be out in the real world in like...four years."
"Honestly, I don't know. I mean, Mikasa wants to get a degree in childcare and you want to be an explorer yet... I don't know what I wanna do after high school. If anything these next four years are just gonna be harsh, you know?" Eren said, not exactly looking forward to the dread that his adulthood.
"Then learn to enjoy it!" Armin exclaimed, confusing the young Green-Eyed boy.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you said you're scared about the future, so why not just try to enjoy today? I mean We have the freedom to do so, Am I right?"
"Yeah...Yeah, you're right."
'We have the freedom to enjoy our Highschool years...and these monsters want to take the freedom from us.'
As Armin was being dragged into the van a ruler flew into the neck of one of the thugs, causing them to let go of Armin. As the Blond opened his eyes he saw Eren grab his arm and pull him outside of the van with one arm, his other arm currently pushing another thug to buy them some time. "I refuse to get humiliated here, I'm enjoying my high school years and so are you, buddy! We'll make it through this! Together!" Eren exclaimed as he stretched out his arm.
Armin rushed to grab the arm. Wanting desperately to not be useless and to save his friend. "EREN! HOLD ON!"
Unfortunately, it was too late, As the van's driver began to speed away with Eren being dragged in the cargo department, Doomed to suffer the fate that Armin was originally destined to suffer: Ultimate humiliation.
"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Armin just screamed. His best friend had just gotten taken and he felt that it was all his fault.
Mikasa had just finished opening the School's sports shed when she felt her stomach drop. "Something happened..." She put her hand on her chest and looked in the direction where Eren had run off to with his squad. "Ereh...Please be okay..."
Author's note
Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took so long to write! I was adjusting to my new schedule what with work and life and such. It seems things aren't going too well for the students of Paradis high. What are they to do? How will Mikasa take the news of Eren's untimely fate? Why are the Notorious Yolks using paint now? Tune in next time and until then, I'll see you guys around my rats!