Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan, Devil May Cry, or any of its characters...


"I'm… just… completely confused…" Mikasa thought as she watched Eren walk up against the approaching titan. "There's no doubt that… that's Eren…" She watched as the white-haired teen jumped up to avoid the titan's hand before teleporting to the back of its neck, using Yamato again to finish it off. "But… what happened to him…?" Her tears stopped flowing altogether, just as Eren headed for the next titan in his way. She was too focused and confused with what was going on, that she didn't even notice Armin landing behind her.

"Mikasa!" he cried out, which still wasn't enough to get her attention so he simply wrapped his arms around her waist, taking her with him as they flew up to a nearby building. However, due to his lack in strength, their landing didn't go well when he hit his head on the roof as a result.

"Ungh…" Mikasa groaned in pain slightly, since that landing still affected her somewhat. As soon as she recovered with her mind getting back on track, Armin turned to her with a worried expression.

"Mikasa! You fell because you ran out of gas, right?! Are you injured?!" He asked, and she looked down for a few seconds before answering.

"...I'm fine… but…" she turned her look towards Eren in the distance once again, still utterly confused with what was really going on. Armin took notice of that and he immediately knew what she was feeling right now. He too, saw Eren with a more demonic appearance earlier and he could only think that it was his real power. Well, at least he was sure that they won't be targeted because of what transpired between him and Eren earlier.

They were interrupted all of a sudden when Connie landed on the rooftop where they were. "Hey, you two! We've gotta get a move on already! We should be heading back to headquarters and stock up!" He told them both before he noticed a 15-meter titan walking towards their location and it wasn't far from them as well. "This doesn't look good! We got a 15-meter titan that can notice us at any second! We need to move!" He said, urging for his two comrades to get up only for Armin to raise his hand before he pointed to the titan approaching them or more specifically, to the person who was near that monster.

"Wait, Connie. Look at who's walking up against that titan for a second." Armin said, and Connie quickly did as he was told to do. He could only grin nervously when he saw a guy about to fight that titan, ignoring the spectral demon that was behind him.

"That guy's seriously gonna take on a titan that large? He's brave, but I don't think it's enough for him to take down that big of titan." He sighed and shook his head, since he was going to watch another one of his fellow cadets get killed.

Armin shook his head and continued to point in Eren's direction. "No, Connie. Look closely. It's… Eren."

That single sentence was enough for Connie to look again, this time a lot closer, to the point where the mop of white hair was visible to him. "E…Eren…?" he breathed out, before shaking his head in denial. Were his eyes deceiving him? "No… No, I know what I saw… That… That can't be him, I… I saw him die, dammit…!" he said, unable to believe what he was seeing. "I… I think I'm going out of my mind or something…"

"Connie… there's…" Armin looked down, also going through his own state of shock. Earlier he was convinced that Eren really died, but now he was alive and well, fighting against the titans. "There's only one person we know… who is the same age as us… that has… white hair…" At that, Connie stopped shaking his head and simply looked at Eren from afar in disbelief. "We both know… who that person is, Connie…"

Connie remained silent for a few seconds, before turning to Armin with a desperate look. "Then what the hell is going on? I know I saw him with a damn sword through his chest earlier! He can't be alive and well for no reason!" Armin frowned upon hearing that. The scarecrows that he saw earlier didn't have any swords and the titans certainly didn't have anything with them as well. But he shook it off and focused on the situation at hand.

"That's because…!" Armin tried to answer, only to hesitate at the last moment. Was he really going to reveal Eren's real nature to them? Right now? "Uhm… it's… it's a really long story, but… I think I have an idea how Eren is still alive…" he said, making both Connie and Mikasa's eyes widen.

"Armin…!" Mikasa said, placing her hands on the blonde's shoulders. She looked really worried if her expression meant something. "D…Do you know what's… what's happening with Eren…? W…Why is he… l…looking like that…?" she asked in a tone of confusion mixed with worry.

"I… only have an idea and… I'm not even sure if I'm right about it…" Regardless of that answer, both Mikasa and Connie still waited for him to say something. Anything just to explain, or at least, give an idea why Eren suddenly looked like a monster of sorts. "But it's not the right time to discuss things like this! We're still in danger of being noticed by the titans at any second!" he said in a completely different tone, showing how he was still traumatized with what nearly happened to him earlier. "All I can say is…" He remembered how Eren answered his question, and it made Armin feel somewhat assured. "Eren is on our side! H-He's fighting the titans for us! Just look!" He pointed to the direction where Eren was and his two friends' gazes followed.

The 15-meter titan was approaching him, but the Devil Trigger Eren still looked unphased even with how it was towering over him. The monster was about to crouch down, but Eren kept still for a few moments before finally jumping up, drawing his arm back before unleashing a massive right hook that was strong enough to sever the titan's head off its body and send it flying away.

Unfortunately, the head was sent flying towards the direction of Armin, Mikasa, and Connie as they were shocked with how fast it was.

"Duck!" Connie warned, as they all moved out of the way before the titan head could get to them. As a result, it crashed into a nearby tower, before falling to the ground as it began to evaporate.

"He… Eren even knew its weak spot…!" Armin concluded, noticing how the titan was dead as Eren moved to focus on the next one. "He knows what he's doing, you two! He's fighting the titans for us! We have to take advantage of this situation and get out of here while we can!" He told them both, but Connie was the only one who nodded.

"Still…" Connie couldn't help but look at Eren, his right arm in particular, in both confusion and slight amazement. "What the hell is going on with Eren's arm…? He always kept it hidden under bandages… but if we had known it had the fuckin' power to punch a titan's head off completely from its body, it would've helped us a lot before…!" He exclaimed, overlooking the fact that Eren was completely different from a normal human.

"I think… he has his reasons…" Armin half-lied. It was obvious Eren hid his arm in order to conceal his demonic nature, but he wasn't going to touch that subject right now.

"But…" Mikasa's weak voice somehow caught both their attention. "Will… Eren be safe…? If… If we just leave him here… alone… he… he may get… eaten by…!" she couldn't even finish her sentence because she was already consumed by the dread brought by learning of Eren's 'death' earlier. Now that he was alive, much to their shock, will that be wasted so soon? Although she didn't know what exactly happened, she didn't want to feel that way again.

"Mikasa… Eren will be fine." Armin said in a reassuring tone, remembering how Eren saved his life earlier. "You just saw how he killed three titans without effort, right? I think… he can deal with this more than we can." That left a bitter taste in him, as it made Armin feel like he was useless compared to Eren again but he kept his composure this time. "You can trust him, right…?"

It didn't take more than a few seconds for her to answer, and although she had her doubts, Mikasa only found herself nodding grimly. Regardless, Armin gave a nod of understanding before Connie spoke again.

"Alright, that's settled!" he said, before pointing to the direction of the military headquarters. "We gotta get to HQ now, because everyone's fighting there!" He was about to take off, had it not been for Armin's voice stopping him from doing so.

"Wait! Mikasa is out of gas!" he said, causing Connie to look back in shock while Mikasa had her hair shadowing over her eyes. She knew that her running out of gas was due to her emotions getting the better of her, and now she didn't know what to do.

"Hey… are you serious?!" Connie said, looking at Mikasa. "What are we gonna do if you're not there?! You're the best in our class after Eren and Reiner!"

"What needs to be done is obvious! I don't have much left myself, but…" Armin crouched down and began taking off his gear, much to the confusion of Mikasa and Connie. "Hurry up and trade with me!"

"Armin…?" she said in confusion. "W…What are you doing…?"

"It's gotta be this way! There's no point in me having it!" He said, looking up at Mikasa before going back to removing his gear. "But this time… use it wisely, to save everyone…"

"I…" Mikasa thought, looking down in sorrow. "I forgot about my duty and… didn't consider my own life… And… I did that because… I let my personal feelings…dictate my actions, too… I…"

Just then, Armin spoke up with a tone of relief in his voice. "All right! The maneuvering device still works! And I gave you all my blades!" He then held up a small broken piece of one of Mikasa's swords, which was enough to bring back the girl to reality. "Just… let me keep this one… The one thing I want to avoid is getting eaten alive…"

Before he knew it, Mikasa stood up and took the blade from him. "Huh?" She then threw it off the roof before Armin could even say anything. "What?! W-Why…?"

Mikasa grabbed his wrist and gestured for him to stand up. "Armin!"

"...?!" He looked greatly confused with Mikasa's actions that he couldn't say anything.

"I'm not leaving you here," was Mikasa's simple yet powerful response.

Armin slowly looked down, becoming momentarily speechless for a few seconds. "B…But you can't fly around while carrying someone… and when there are titans all over the place!"

"There's no way we're gonna leave you behind!" Connie said, grabbing Armin's arm and pulling him along as they began to run for it. "Let's go! I'll carry Armin! Mikasa, you provide us some cover!"

"No, don't… at this rate…" Armin thought, averting her gaze to the headquarters. "I'm gonna get more of my friends killed…" He looked back towards Eren, who was still slaying titans left and right, before something struck his mind. He turned back to the HQ, before turning to Eren, then back to the HQ, then Eren, and he kept on repeating this until he broke out of Connie's grip. "Listen to me! I've got a plan!" he exclaimed.

That made Mikasa and Connie stop in their tracks. "A plan?" asked Connie.

Armin frowned for a few moments, taking into account just how mad his 'plan' was. "The two of you would carry it out so… you two decide whether to do it or not." With that, Connie and Mikasa looked at each other for a few seconds and nodded, before turning their attention back to Armin. The blonde boy sighed and turned around, pointing at Eren in the distance. "I think it's crazy, but…"


The rest of the 104th Training Corps weren't doing well, compared to Mikasa and Armin's situation. They couldn't even get any closer to the military HQ due to the titans surrounding the place, and there were also a few ones roaming the streets around it. Jean stood at a lone rooftop with a conflicted look on his face.

"No way…" he thought to himself, gritting his teeth. "I can't even get close to headquarters… unless I'm prepared to sacrifice myself…"

"WAAAAAHH!"

"-?!"

That sudden scream caught Jean's attention all of a sudden as he looked down into the street below. One of his comrades was unable to fly up to the top of the buildings, as his gear gave off its last heap of gas. "Shit! He's out of gas!" Jean actually had the sudden urge to fly down there and help, but it was too late because the several titans have already circled around the guy.

"WAAAAAAHHH!" he screamed in terror as he was held up by two titans.

While Jean was left in his place, too frozen and helpless to do anything, two other cadets had flown in and looked at their comrade down below. "Tom! We're comin' to get ya, buddy!" One of them said, snapping Jean out of his trance just as they descended to the street below.

"Don't! It's too late!" Jean tried to warn them, but it was also too late. The three were grabbed by multiple titans and ultimately became another meal to the mindless monsters. Only screams of anguish and pain filled the air, while Jean could only watch in horror along with his fellow cadets who somehow remain alive until now. However, he then started to realize that this was exactly what they were waiting for, and what they needed right now. The titans were… too busy… eating…

With a mighty yell, Jean called out to his remaining comrades. "NOW!" He quickly took off, and although it was a few seconds before they understood, the other cadets followed him out of instinct. "Head straight for HQ while the titans are occupied over there! Now or never… either way… if we run out of gas, it's over!" They all sped towards the military HQ. "Everyone, charge!"

Their fastest route towards the HQ wasn't exactly safe, either. There were at least 3 different titans along the way, and the sound of the cadets zipping through the air didn't help concealing their presence either. They did their best to maneuver through the inescapable grasp of the titans; some were fortunate enough to get past them, while a few were not.

In Jean's case, he was almost through without any titan getting close to him, only for that to end when a 10-meter one reached out to grab his foot. Jean gasped and breathed erratically upon seeing that the titan got him, but he still remained composed enough to keep firing his gear to get away. Luckily, his right managed to slip out and he continued to fly towards the HQ fast out of desperation. Getting caught by a titan… that was something he didn't want to happen again.

"AAAHH!" He screamed out, nearing one of the windows of the HQ as he prepared to force his way in. With a strong kick, he crashed through the window and landed a bit awkwardly, rolling through the floor before his back slammed against one of the desks that were there. "Unff!" He groaned in pain, before noticing the other cadets crashing through the windows one by one, finally making it into the HQ.

"How many of us made it…?" He asked himself, seeing Marco, Reiner, Sasha, Krista, and some of his other fellow soldiers safe from the titans' grasp, but he was quick to notice that this wasn't even almost half of their original number before taking off. "Using the deaths of our comrades… how many died on my signal?" Jean was almost about to berate himself for being a lousy leader when he saw two cadets hiding underneath a desk beside him.

"Y-You two…" Jean slowly approached them. "You're the support squad… right?!"

While one of them looked like he was too traumatized to say anything, the other one beside him could barely even speak. "Yeah…"

"...Huh?" Before he knew it, he was suddenly yanked up by the shirt only to receive a punch to the face from the raging Jean.

"Jean! Stop it!" Marco grabbed his friend by his shoulders and pulled him away before this could escalate into something more.

"It's their fault! They left us in the lurch!" Jean screamed, letting out his anger and frustration at the two. "More people died than necessary because of you spineless bastards!"

"The titans invaded the supply point! There was nothing we could do!" cried the other cadet in fear, as he helped his friend relieve his jaw for that punch he just received.

"Doing something about it is your job! You're soldiers, aren't you?!"

While Jean was berating the two for their cowardice, Reiner suddenly noticed something outside the window. "—?!" His eyes widened and he quickly turned to everyone else, while making a dive to get away from his position. "Get down!" he screamed, loud enough to get everyone's attention.

Unfortunately, they weren't quick enough to react and only their screams of anguish could be heard when a titan's head burst through a chunk of the wall, while they did their best to get away.

"What?!" Jean could only blurt out in fear, seeing more of them outside. They were now within the field of vision of three titans outside with a hole in the building that was big enough to grab any of them in a glance. With titans in the supply room as well, it's possible to assume that there was no way out for them.

"Crap… There are too many people gathered here…" he thought to himself, while his fellow cadets around him kept panicking as they didn't want to be eaten.

"Where are Mikasa and Armin?!"

"We have to get out of here now!"

"Right!"

"Stop! We can't all get out at once!"

"Those two ran out of gas and got eaten by titans!"

Everyone else scattered away from that gaping hole, except for Jean who was frozen in place with fear. "This is normal… This is reality…" He looked down, thinking back to when he bragged about joining the Military Police and living in the interior. "Was I chasing a dream? A vision…? I should've known better… that this is reality… " He looked up, meeting the gaze of a titan. "It's simple, really… when you think about it. There's just no way to beat these gigantic things…"

*WHOK-KRAAAKKKKK!*

Out of nowhere, a massive grotesque-looking arm had punched the titan in the jaw, causing it to fall on the one beside it and both went crashing down on the ground. It was at this point that the arm suddenly disappeared, and all the cadets inside the HQ could see was Eren who looked like he was floating in the air with a demonic-looking projection behind him.

"I NEED MORE POWER… POWER TO KILL YOU ALL!" He screamed in a voice more demonic and monster-like that he any sign of his old self was gone. Afterward, he then fell and landed gracefully on the ground, quipping Yamato before turning his attention to the titan that was nearest to him.

Inside the HQ, the cadets couldn't be more shocked upon what they saw. Most of them were too speechless to even mutter a single word, while some kept on stuttering out of confusion and fear. Only a few were able to voice out their thoughts.

"Huh…?!" One female cadet said in shock.

"Who… Who the hell… was that?" Jean mumbled, realizing just now that their lives have been saved. He didn't know who that person was, but he was damn brave enough to face those titans outside. However, Jean was too overwhelmed with shock and also confusion to think about anything else other than that question.

*CRASH!*

"—?!" That simple window crash was enough to snap him, or rather everyone, out of their current state as Mikasa slowly stood up after landing on the floor while Connie panted in exhaustion after apparently carrying Armin all the way.

"Mikasa… Armin… Connie…?!"

"Phew! Damn, that was close… I'm all empty…" Connie exclaimed, tapping his canisters to check his gas levels. "We did it… we just made it…"

"Y-You're… alive!" Truthfully, Jean had already assumed they were dead when the titans had broken through even the walls of the HQ. But now… seeing them alive…

"We did, Armin!" Connie said, patting Armin on the back rather harshly. "Your strategy worked!"

"Ow! Ow!" Armin grimaced in pain, feeling his body was too weak to even withstand his comrade's action.

After voicing out his gratitude to the blonde boy, Connie stood up and quickly ran to the gaping hole before pointing down below as he faced everyone else. "Guys! The person you saw earlier was Eren! He isn't dead! He's been fighting the titans for us ever since I found Armin and Mikasa!"

The news of Eren being alive obviously hit them like a ton of bricks, especially for Krista since she was the one who witnessed it first-hand. But were they really in any place to feel that way? They didn't really know what happened.

Jean quickly shook off his shock and spoke up. "That was Eren…? Hold up, how can that be him? His arm doesn't look like a monster's and it doesn't grow! He even kept it under bandages, Connie!" His mind quickly went back to him watching those titans getting blown away with a massive red-looking arm, since that was the first thought to cross his mind.

"Well, I don't exactly know the details… I'm just glad that there's hope for us to finally get out of here…" he pointed towards the blonde teen near Mikasa. "But Armin said he knows something. Go ask him."

All eyes in the room immediately went towards the blonde boy, who nearly shrunk from their gazes. "Is that true, Armin? What do you know about this?" asked Jean.

"Y-Yes… I… I know why Eren's looking like that… he… told me himself…" The moment that Armin mentioned the white-haired teen's name, it was confirmed in their minds. That person earlier who punched away those titans outside was indeed Eren, but how exactly did things come to be that way? "But it's not the right time to talk about this yet!"

That caught everyone by surprise. "What…?" Jean muttered.

Armin slowly stood up, feeling more determined. "I can tell all of you why Eren seems different, and why his arm looks that way! But I can't right now! Not when we're still in danger of getting attacked and eaten by titans!" At the mention of 'titans', everyone instantly remembered that there were still some of them in the HQ, particularly in the supply room. "All I can say is… he's on our side! And he's fighting to protect us! I know because he protected Mikasa from getting eaten earlier! I'll tell you all everything after we leave this place!"

While everyone else was still caught by surprise from Armin's words, Mikasa took the opportunity to speak. "It's… true. He… saved me." she mumbled, remembering how she was about to die earlier if it weren't for Eren coming in to kill the titan who was about to eat her before she adopted a more serious look. "Right now, Eren is out there fighting the titans who are surrounding this building… while… while he's holding them off, we have to stock up on supplies now… before it's too late." she said, reminding everyone of the reason why they came here in the first place.

"This must be a dream…" Jean whispered. He was ready to give up earlier and accept his fate, but now here he was, apparently listening to what may be their last ray of hope.

"Personally… I think most of you aren't comfortable in leaving Eren outside, fighting the titans. You're probably thinking that he's going to die fighting them alone… that includes me…" Armin said, looking down on the floor with some of his fellow cadets doing the same, feeling guilty. However, that stopped when Armin looked up with a fierce expression. He thought back to when Eren fought the scarecrows, killing that titan who came this close to eating him, and protecting Mikasa from getting killed. Those were enough to give the blonde teen enough reasons to place his trust in Eren once more, so this would be all over.

"...But we have no choice! Eren is out there, fighting for us so we have to move! He may be our best means of getting out of here, and we must not waste it!"


Too short for your taste? I apologize, but I've been following the pace of the manga in terms of chapters while also putting in bits of DMC with it. Anyway, next chapter will be the continuation of this one so you better stay tuned. Will the cadets finally get to the supply room? Will Eren give in? Will Armin get to explain 'his' interpretation of Eren's real nature? Oooh, I can't wait~

By the way, two other things. If you all noticed in the first chapter, I have only reached up to the second DMC game, in terms of the Devil May Cry storyline. That leaves the door open for possible DMC4 and 5 story arcs here in my fanfic, and yes, I do plan on making them. But at the moment, I'm having trouble in incorporating them into the story so if you guys have any suggestions for it, please PM me.

Second, yes, Eren will have Red Queen and Blue Rose as his weapons here. He is Nero, after all. Regarding the other Devil Arms like Cerberus, Agni and Rudra, and so on, I have no idea. I'm thinking no since he isn't supposed to be Dante, but I'm still having thoughts about it. Red Queen and Blue Rose are due to make their debut in one of AOT's future arcs.

Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*

-Lance