Chapter 8: Battle of the parking lot Part Three: A scholars rage
Connie was not having a good day. Instead of being paired up with his friends, he ended up being put into a squad with Ymir and Historia, and while he didn't mind the petite blonde, her girlfriend was just outright hard to talk with. When he tried to be serious, Ymir would make jokes at the worst times possible. When he tried to be funny, Ymir would just shrug him off! Him! Connie! The absolute Meme lord was ignored. But right now his opinion on the freckled girl would have to wait as Connie suddenly tripped over something or rather someone...
"Armin? What the hell man, You alright?" Connie asked, concerned for the boy who was currently in the fetal position. Armin just looked at him, tears in his eyes.
"I-I lost them..." suddenly, Armin started to break down. He felt useless, why did he lose his squad to a bunch of weirdos in leather jackets? Why did he always have to be saved by his friends? Why did his best friend have to get his dignity robbed just for him?
"Damn, looks like blonde's gone mad, Might as well leave him here," Ymir said in an attempt to lighten the mood. One should know that Ymir is terrible at reading the room, and thus the only response she received was a scolding from Historia.
"Ymir! That was so uncalled for! Gosh, why do you have to be so goddamn bitchy somethings!"
"Alright! Alright! I'll chill out, seriously though save some of that feistiness for our wedding night alright?
"W-What!? Y-You...I-I...DON'T TRY TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" Armin couldn't help but let out a chuckle, causing a small smirk to form on Ymir's face. 'looks like I managed to snap him out of his fit. Welp time to make the donuts,'.
"If you're done bitching around, we're supposed to meet up with the elite squad, so let's get going!"
"R-Right..." With that, the group started to head for the rally point. Once they arrived they were met by Jean's squad and Reiner's squad, Debating on how they were going to take on the main barricades.
"I'm telling you guys! We should head for the Woodshop to use the tools in there to break down the wall!"
"How many times do I have to tell you that the Woodshop is in the second building goddammit! Even if we wanted to get there we can't because that building also got barricaded!"
"It's not in the second building goddamnit!"
"Yes, it is!"
"How do you know!?"
"Because I signed up for Woodshop goddamnit!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP! BOTH OF YOU HAVEN'T OFFERED A SINGLE GOOD IDEA!" Jean was frustrated, aside from his friend Marco his entire squad was made up of what was essentially the bottom barrel of Paradis high. So when he noticed Connie's squad arrive he was relieved that he didn't have to work with his squadmates anymore. "Yo! Connie how the hell are ya?"
"We're alright! We lost Joe but no one really liked him, We also found Armin on the way here!" Everyone stared at Armin, noticing that the boy was not with a certain green-eyed ball of anger, with most of them feeling as though something bad had just happened, keyword being 'most'
"Yo Armin? Wheres Eren?"
"Reiner!" Armin began to tear up in an instant, remembering that Eren was gone, much to Ymir's annoyance. But before the blonde could respond he heard the voice of the only person he did not want to see at the monument. 'Oh no...If I couldn't handle what happened to Eren...how will Mikasa handle it!?'
"Hey, Glad to see you're all okay, What's the situation? Mikasa asked, hoping that Eren's squad would arrive soon, not knowing at Armin was the only remaining member.
"We were discussing ways to take down the Barricade in front of the main building, Unfortunately, my team aside from Marco, is a bunch of stupid motherfuckers, so we were hoping you had an idea."
"Thanks for not calling me stupid, Jean."
"No problem Marco, You're a good friend"
While Jean and Marco were having their bromance broadcasted to the world, Mikasa was deep in thought, While she was no strategist like Armin, She does have the experience of breaking down just about anything, Mainly because of how often she would have to break down Eren's bedroom door to wake him up in middle school, Much to the Yeagers annoyance. 'Wait, most of the blockades are made out of drywall! Meaning that we can burst our way into the main building if someone can hit it hard enough! But how do we do that...that's it!'.
"Reiner, You signed up for the football team right?"
"Um...I did, why?" Reiner asked, not knowing what the black-haired teen had in mind.
"I think you may be able to burst through the wall if you run through it," Mikasa said nonchalantly.
"Mikasa, you're a genius! Let's do it!" Jean quickly exclaimed, partially because it really was the best idea he's heard so far and partially because he wanted to get on the raven-haired girl's good side.
"One problem," Annie interrupted, "Reiner can't just charge into drywall wearing nothing, We need to get his football gear." Mikasa nodded in understanding before remembering her squad opening up the school sports shed to see if anyone was trapped inside. 'That reminds me, I gotta ask Armin why he yelled like that.'
"Wait, didn't we pass the sports shed earlier on?" One of the Elite squad members asked.
"That's right! I bet you both my kidneys that Reiners Gear is in there!" another member replied.
"Well, then what are we waiting for!? Let's go get that football armor, We're gonna need more manpower to get past those jerks so well wait for Eren's squad to get here. Armin! think you can spread the word to your squad-" Jean was suddenly smacked on the back of his head by Ymir, not wanting to deal with another "Armin fit."
"Ymir what the fuck!?"
"Damn it, Jean! I swear you and Reiner are absolutely terrible at reading the room!"
"The hell do you mean by that!?"
While Ymir and Jean started to argue, Mikasa walked towards Armin, a nervous feeling crawling from her gut, 'Why is Armin alone? Did he abandon his group? No, Armin isn't the type to do something like that...Did something happen to Ereh? Is that why he screamed?.' Mustering up all her courage in the hopes that Armin's scream was not related to Eren, she asked the one question Armin feared the most.
"Armin, are you alright? Are you hurt? Where's Ereh?" Armin's heart sank, What was he supposed to do? Tell the girl who obviously madly in love with Eren that he sacrificed himself just for him of all people? The idea of lying to her crossed his mind but Armin quickly got those thoughts out of his head. He owed it to his best friend to at least be honest with her. 'Here goes nothing...'
"T-They were...The Freshmen assigned to squad 34..." 'We're...?' "Thomas Wanger...Nack Tierce...Milieus Zeremski...Mina Caroline..." 'Please Armin, please don't finish that sentence...' "Eren Yeager... These five upheld their duties to Paradis Highschool...and sacrificed their dignity for the sake of the Freshmen class! I'm so sorry Mikasa! I'm so fucking sorry!" Armin began to sob, He felt pain in every part of his body. Meanwhile, Mikasa's mind started to race, 'Armin has to be lying, he just has to!'. Mikasa was at a loss. She had to accept that Eren was humiliated, and she could do nothing to stop it. Suddenly, Mikasa's mind went blank, with the smell of gas being the only thing on her mind.
"A gas station?"
"Yep! This place has everything! I'm sure we'll be able to find something to fix up Sir Rabbitman!"
"Really? You think so?"
"You bet Mikasa! Now c'mon!" Before she could respond, the Green-Eyed boy ran into the convenience store, leaving her alone outside of the convenience store. Alone...That's what she was. All alone.
"Mikasa? Mikasa! Mikasa snap out of it already!" Armin said as he shook his friend in an attempt to get Mikasa out of her state of shock. Expecting her to break down and cry her eyes out or start yelling in anger, Armin was shocked to see Mikasa's face showing zero emotion.
"Armin, it's okay."
"W-What?"
"Eren knew what he was doing. All we can do now is finish our jobs."
While Mikasa and Armin were talking, the rest of the group also took in the news of Eren's fate. Sasha and Connie looked at the ground in defeat. Historia started to cry into Ymir's arms. Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie felt the pain of losing a comrade but also wore stoic faces, they couldn't show weakness in the face of despair. Marco was thinking of ways to try and make the situation better, which he found to be a really hard task, And Jean was at a loss. Despite not liking Eren that much, he was able to respect the fact that Eren stood by his words, that he wasn't just all bark but no bite, and to hear his fate? Jean didn't have time to ponder. 'As Mikasa said, we have a job to do'.
"Alright, We're gonna have to switch up the plan, we're gonna need some of you to hold off the bikers to give some of us enough time to get Reiner's gear-"
"I'll do it." Mikasa's words silenced the group of students, 'sure she's a tough cookie but is she enough to hold the bikers off?', this thought was shared by most of the students, with Marco being the only one to voice said thought.
"M-Mikasa! Are you crazy!? There have to be at least 20 bikers in that area! You're gonna get destroyed if you try to fight them all!"
"That what you think bitch."
"Damn Mikasa Chill out!"
"Shut up, Reiner! I'm strong, real strong! I can rock all of their collective shit! Even if I have to do it alone, you can all sit here like a bunch of babies and watch while I deal with those fuckers."
"B-But, There are so many of them! You couldn't possibly take them all!"
"If I can't beat them, then I die, but if I win I live," Mikasa then started to rush toward the group of bikers, a ruler in one hand and her famous bonk stick in another. "and the only way to win...IS TO FIGHT!" Mikasa suddenly jumped onto one of the bikers, grabbing her bonk stick she held it under the biker's chin and used him to attract the attention of the others, then she jumped off the biker, landing on another biker and knocking him out. While Mikasa fought off the bikers, Everyone stood in awe at Mikasa, mummers of 'What a badass' and 'Go Mikasa!' filled the air. While most of the students were happy to let her deal with the bikers, the same could not be said for all of them. 'Is this what we're reduced to? Spectators to a story that hates us? Is this what I wanted? To stand back and let others do the dirty work?' Jean sighed in resignation, he knew that what he was about to do could cause a lot of people their dignity, but from what he saw? There wasn't much, to begin with.
"Damn you, you suicidal bastard, making me think this way..." Jean whispered to himself before he yelled towards the freshmen. "WELL!? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? LET'S SHOW THESE THUGS WHOS BOSS!", and with a warcry, Jean started to charge towards the bikers, His words resonating with the others.
"Well! What are you waiting for you, chickens! LET'S MAKE THESE DICKS PAY FOR RUINING OUR LUNCHES!" Sasha yelled, following Jean's lead.
"Those fuckos are insane!" a scholar yelled, shocked at the display of bravery
"I know...why don't we join their insanity then!" Connie yelled in response. Soon the rest of the scholars rushed towards the bikers, the battle was intense, bikers being hit in their nether regions with rulers, Students getting their uniforms ruined by yolks. It was chaos, and it seemed that the students had the upper hand until they noticed more bikers heading their way. 'that shouldn't be happening...' Armin thought to himself as he too joined the fray, "Mikasa was in that direction, they shouldn't be able to pass through unless..." Then in an instant, Armin sprints towards her direction, Hoping that he was not too late, but not before letting Jean know that an Evacuation may be necessary.
-Meanwhile with Mikasa-
"Okay, maybe I'm not that tough..." Mikasa was surrounded by the bikers, while she definitely had the strength to fight them off, She knew deep down that there would be more, and that she would not be able to fight the next batch. "I have...to keep going..." Mikasa was huffing at this point. Despite this, she used her wicked martial arts skills to fight the thugs in front of her. That was until a bike struck her, her tired body landing right next to an old willow tree. 'Welp this is it...I've enjoyed having my dignity intact for this long...' looking in front of her she noticed an empty cup, it was familiar. Then it clicked, this cup was from her parent's Frozen yogurt shop. The one Eren had gotten the money for...
"Come on Kruger! Just let me buy one, please!" Eren Kruger sighed, he knew that once the Green-Eyed boy wanted something, that there was almost no way to make him back down."
"Alright alright, Just know you won't be able to cash in the money if by some miracle you win alright?"
"I know but still! It's pretty fun you know?" Kruger just chuckled at the young boy. Finally giving in and letting Eren buy a lottery ticket along with some sewing materials, a small ice cream cone, and a red scarf that intrigued the cashier.
"Say, kid what's up with the scarf? I know fall is around the corner, but stocking up on winter gear this early?" Eren looked at the scarf, Then he looked at Mikasa, waiting outside, holding Sir Rabbitman with care.
"None of your beeswax Kruger. See you around!" With that Eren exited the store. Ready to being what he called "Operation Rabbit's foot." Alright, Mikasa! I got the stuff ready!
"Y-Your gonna sew him back together?"
"Yep! My dad's a doctor so he taught me how to stitch wounds back together so maybe this is like that!" the boy said with confidence.
"Ereh..." Mikasa was shaking, While she trusted the young boy, she wasn't sure if he could actually sew the rabbit back together, Seeing this Eren grabbed the red scarf that he bought from Kruger and wrapped it around the nervous girl, albeit it awkwardly.
"Here...Warm isn't it?" Eren asked, hoping that the scarf would help her calm down. Mikasa grabbed the scarf, suddenly calming down, she didn't know why, but the gesture itself made her heart flutter.
"I-It's warm..." with a nod from the now calm girl, Eren began to sew up Sir Rabbitman. It took him a while, but after half an hour passed, Eren was Finally done with his task.
"W-Well? Does it look alright?" Mikasa looked at the stitched-up rabbit, while the stitches themselves were very noticeable, they strengthened the plushie. When the young girl didn't respond Eren started to get nervous.
"Mikasa?" Suddenly, Eren felt a pair of strong arms squeeze around him as Mikasa hugged him, tears beaming out of her eyes as she thanked him for saving Sir Rabbitman.
Soon the two children went back to the Ackerman's apartment with her parents frantically asking Mikasa what happened to her and why she had scratches on her face, meanwhile, Grisha took Eren outside for a monument to scold him for fighting three teenage boys. On his own no less.
"Damn it Eren what the hell!?"
"What? I don't like bullies so I put them in their place!"
"Eren, you just fought a bunch of teenagers. You could have gotten shot!"
"Oh, and you wouldn't have jumped in?" This silenced Grisha, a look of both sadness and understanding forming on his face before continuing his rant.
"That's not the point! You're strong, yes, but you could have gotten your butt kicked or worse!"
"B-But...I didn't know how else to save her..." After seeing his son tear up, Grisha sighed and put his arm around his son.
"Look, you did the right thing, just don't be reckless alright? I think you owe the Ackermans an apology for getting Mikasa involved alright?
"Okay..." Suddenly Eren remembered that he may have a really good way to apologize to the Ackermans, it was a long shot, but if it was successful, Then a lot of their problems would be answered.
"Hey, dad! I managed to convince Kruger to let me buy a lottery ticket! Maybe that can help them out!" Grisha simply smiled, while he didn't believe that the ticket would be the answer to the family's issue, it was at the very least a kind gesture.
"Well young man? Have anything to say? Polo asked the young boy.
"I'm sorry I got your daughter into a fight when I shouldn't have..."
"Daddy! He saved Sir Rabbitman!"
"Not now Mikasa, your father has to assert his dominance over the boy!" Not knowing how to respond to that, Eren held out the lottery ticket as a peace offering to the older Ackerman.
"H-Here...I heard you guys were going through some tough stuff and...maybe this will help?" Polo sighed as he grabbed the ticket and began to scratch at it, but after scratching the three fruit-shaped boxes Polo's Eyes widened in shock.
"H-Holy..." before Polo could even take in the results there was a knock at the door. After opening the door he saw none other than his landlord, a livid look on his face.
"Um... can I help you, Mr. Robbins?"
"YEAH! YOU CAN BRING YOUR FUCKING BITCH OF A DAUGHTER OUT HERE! SHE AND HER DUMB FRIEND OWE MY BOY AN APOLOGY!" Before he had the chance to do so, Polo realized something, "Wait a minute...if Mikasa said that some asshole tried to threaten her...then that means...' "WELL ARENT YOU GONNA-" Before the greedy landlord could finish his sentence, Polo launched his fist right into the center of his face.
"We'll leave your apartment in a month. Don't you worry." With that, The Ackerman patriarch closed the door on the portly man, much to the horror and shock of Akitsu.
"POLO WHAT THE FUCK!? DID YOU JUST MAKE US HOMELESS!?
"Oh don't worry dear! We're not homeless, far from it actually, by the way, Eren!" the boy looked up at Polo, confused as to why he was suddenly so nice to him."
"Y-Yeah?"
"As far as I'm concerned you welcome to hang around my daughter because we won the lottery! We can start anew and it's all thanks to you Eren!" Akitsu and Mikasa couldn't believe it, just after meeting Grisha's son, they were suddenly given a second chance at life, Polo no longer had to humiliate himself to make do with rent, Akitsu didn't have to weep whenever she saw the bruises on her husband's body, and Mikasa no longer had to grow up without her dignity! Using the money they decided to open up a Frozen Yogurt shop in downtown Shinganshia, where it remains strong to this day, and just as the shop stills stands strong to this day, The memory of Eren's gift was still in Mikasa's mind.
"Eren...Without you...I would have never learned what it means to fight for the right cause..." Mikasa started to get up, despite everything, she had the will to keep fighting. "Without you...My family would have never been able to start their Fro-yo shop...and without you..." Mikasa looks at the bikers in defiance, her hands gripping onto her bonk stick. "I would have lost my dignity that day...and if I just lie here and let these bozo's take it from me...I throw away everything you've done for me...so from now on, I...Will...FIGHT!" Mikasa yelled as she charged at the bikers, but just before she can so much as swing her stick, a van suddenly slams right into the group of bikers and then begins to roll over.
"W-What...was that?" suddenly Mikasa gasps as the dust begins to settle standing in front of her is what appears to be a biker. However, while the bikers wore black leather jackets, this one wore what appeared to be a denim jacket with a drawing of an owl spreading its wings on the back, instead of the traditional boots worn by the Notorious Yolks, this biker wore what appeared to be steel-toed boots, and on their hands, they wore brass knuckles and just as Mikasa started to take everything in, the biker let out a high pitched scream. Causing the rest of the bikers to turn their attention to the rouge.
"No...It can't be...you graduated years ago! We made sure-" the biker didn't get the chance to finish as they were suddenly kicked in the head by the rouge, all while Mikasa watched in morbid curiosity. 'That biker...he's...he's beating the shit out of the other one!'
"Mikasa!" turning her head to the source of the voice, she saw Armin heading towards her. "Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah... You alright?"
"I'm good but we need to get out of here, the students got overwhelmed so we're heading for the football field!"
"I-I should have been there...and instead I bailed on them...I'm so sorry Armin..."
"It's alright but we need to get out of here now!"
"Hey, you two!" Interrupting the conversation between the two was Connie, riding a bike he managed to steal from one of the bikers. "We need to get the hell out of here before those two bikers get us!"
"No that other biker, the one with an owl on back, he's not like the others," Mikasa stated as the biker began to pull up his arms, getting into a stance.
"I-I'm not afraid of you dude! I'll prove it right now!" the biker said as he charged right at the rouge, but before he could register anything, the rouge suddenly punched the biker so hard, his helmet came clean off and was launched so far, that it ended up in the window of one the vans. Causing it to crash into a nearby tree.
"Holy fuck...Welp, we should get moving!"
"Wait! The bike only has enough space for only two of us! How are we supposed to get to the football field in time?" Mikasa looked at Armin, hoping that the blonde would be able to come up with a plan.
"Well...you two would able to reach the football field if you got rid of the dead weight..."
"Armin, we're not going to abandon you!"
"But that's all I am! I'm so fucking useless! I couldn't save anyone!"
"But's that's not true Armin! You've saved me and Eren so many times back then and you'll do it again, I know it." Mikasa said, her voice no longer sounding cold.
"...Thank you, Mikasa, I really needed that...That's it!"
"Ummm...What's it?" Connie asked.
"We can use the van the rouge used to crash into the bikers!"
"Um...but won't he mind?" and as if on cue, the rouge charged right into the crowd of bikers to fight them all, leaving the van behind.
"Welp that's that. Let's head out!"
"Right," As Armin and Connie went for the van, Mikasa looked at the rouge biker, fascinated at what she was seeing. 'A biker beating the shit out of another one, I'm still shocked at all of this, could there be more like him? Where did he come from...? Is he one of the students? If that's the case...' The biker let out another owl-like screech as they towed over a recently knocked-out biker. 'On this day, I bore witness to the rage of a scholar,' and as Mikasa got into the van, the rouge continued his rampage.
Author's note:
Holy hell this one was hard to write! Sorry, I took so long! Had some issues with my schedule but as I said, I'm seeing to it that this story gets finished! So who is this mysterious Biker? Will they be able to turn the tides of the battle against the Notorious yolks? Will Mikasa and Armin be able to find Eren before it's too late? Will Connie keep the bike he stole from some random biker that will totally not play later on? Tune in next time to find out!