A/N: Quick shout out this time around to my Guest reviewers, you guys came out in force last chapter lol, and even though I can't tell how many of you are there, I love you guys all the same. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, now excuse me while I go wallow in those Chapter 138 leaks :( ~Scipias
CHAPTER 12 – THE BATTLE FOR TROST: DISTRACTION
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Jean screamed at his friend violently, "CAUSE THAT SURE WAN'T ANY FUCKING HEADACHE?"
The tension within the Military Headquarters was high, with the breach of Wall Rose and the influx of titans pouring into the city, the 104th had received their marching orders from the Garrison and were soon to be deployed throughout the mid-section of the city. Currently the lot of them stood scattered within the inner courtyard of the facility, among them, Jean and Lukas, who along with Mikasa and Armin had tucked themselves away in a secluded corner.
Lukas pinched his brow, "I don't know. That's what I've been trying to tell you!"
The taller teen looked around disgruntled, "Why the hell didn't you tell anyone, fuck why the hell didn't you tell me?"
"I did!" the shorter teen exclaimed, "Remember that shit with the bandits a year ago?"
"THAT WAS BECAUSE THEY'D BEEN STALKING US!" Jean screamed once more, "YOU LITERALLY JUST HAD A PREMONITION OF SOMETHING BAD HAPPENING MOMENTS BEFORE TITANS BROKE DOWN THE WALL!"
Lukas rolled his eyes at that, "Yes because telling anyone about my special 'future reading' powers would've landed me anywhere else than the damn looney bin!"
Jean was about to pose a response when Armin, whose perplexed state about this predicament seemed to be the only thing stopping the blonde from going catatonic from fear of the days most current event, spoke up, "Lukas has a point." The blonde spoke, voice a bit stutter, "I doubt anyone would've believed him if we hadn't seen what just happened. It looked like your body reacted to what was about to happen."
Lukas nodded, "My mom said it could be some sort of instinctual reaction, like something just clicking inside of me?"
Armin looked quizzically in thought at the teen's response, while Mikasa who hadn't yet spoken a word, seemed to shrug away an inquisitive look.
"I'll be damned if that was instinctual Schmitty." Jean responded, "But this isn't exactly our biggest issue right now."
"Oi, there you guys are!" a voice sounded from down the corridor
Lukas looked and spotted Connie and Eren jogging up to them. Immediately the teen had a horrible chill run up his spine, this time nothing to do with his previous issue. Connie and Eren had been on the same cleaning squad as Sasha up near the gate. Lukas immediately berated himself, he had been so caught up in the moment that he hadn't even spared a thought to anyone who had been in the vicinity of the gate when the colossal titan had broken through it, most especially his girlfriend.
Lukas trounced in a panic ridden fear over to his bald-headed friend, "Connie, you guys' are alright! Where's Sasha? Please tell me she's here with you?"
"She and Thomas took Samuel to the infirmary." Connie's response easing some of the edge the black-haired teen felt.
The shorter teen started recalling the recent events. How the colossal titan had appeared from nowhere blasting the squad off the wall with steam, How Sasha had heroically caught an unconscious Samuel by regrettably impaling one of his legs with his ODM gear, and how Eren had tried to engage the behemoth only for it to disappear without a trace only moments later.
While getting a small sense of pride for his girlfriend's actions, Lukas was still worried about the girl and felt an immediate urge to go see her. This thought interrupted by the loud beratement from Jean who had caught sight of Eren.
"IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED YOU FUCKING MANIAC?" the taller teen closed the distance grabbing the object of his anger by the shirt.
"Eren!" Mikasa cried in shock.
"Wha…" Eren was barely able to respond before Jean continued.
"YOU WANTED TO KILL AT TITANS, NOW HERE THEY ARE! YOU MUST BE SO ESTATIC!" Jean continued, obviously letting his rage get the better of him, "WE WERE ALL SET TO BE ON OUR WAY TO THE INTERIOR TOMORROW…"
SMACK!
A fist landed, striking Jean straight across the cheek. The taller teen barely had time to look at his assailant before he was quickly forced off of Eren, grabbed and pinned up against the wall with a fierceness. Looking down, he saw Lukas grabbing him by the collar, eyes riddled with anger.
"I SWEAR TO THE WALLS JEAN YOU NEED TO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND REALIZE WHERE WE'RE AT!" the shorter teen spoke with a venom.
Jean, still shocked tried to utter a reply but again was spoken over by his friend.
"We're home Jean, this is our home." Lukas spoke softer now but with no less conviction, "As much as you hate this place, as much as you want to go to the interior, we grew up here. People we knew have probably already died, and I hope to the founder that you haven't also forgotten that your mom and my mom also live here."
"No." Jean muttered having slowly realized what his friend was getting at.
"Good." Lukas sighed, releasing his grip on his taller friend. The matter resolved; he was about to rush to go find Sasha until a voice from the courtyard garnered everyone's attention.
"Squad 27, Cadets Bodt, Schmidt, Springer, Daz, and Tuchel, form up!"
"Fuck!" Lukas cursed, knowing he'd missed his opportunity to see Sasha before heading out had elapsed.
"Lukas, let's go!" Connie spoke with some urgency.
"Jean…" he turned to his friend, "don't die out there." He turned towards the trio from Shiganshina, "goes for you guys as well."
"Hey." Eren spoke up, "Good luck."
The teen nodded at his comrade, turning back to Jean, "If you see Sasha out there…"
Jean gave a solemn nod, "You got it bud."
The taller teen extended his hand, and wordlessly Lukas completed the ritual, before heading off with Connie.
…
"This is hell…this has to be hell."
Lukas didn't have to tap into his senses to observe the fervent dread that blanketed the city of Trost even though the teen's body gave off a constant stream of sour bile into his system. He could say he was one of the calmer individuals in his squad though, even if that wasn't saying much; the slow clinking of the roof tiles underneath him caused by a nervous shaking of one of the teens legs. So much was on his mind, the titans, the rampant destruction of his hometown, the safety of his mom, his friends, Jean, Sasha….
A hand clasped the teen on the shoulder, "Lukas, come on I can't lose you too…" Marco looked at him with a concerned look.
Lukas steadied himself, turning around, "Don't worry bud, you got me…"
Looking back up the roof, the teen noticed the rest of his team wasn't doing much better as when he'd last looked at them. The five of them hadn't even been sent out yet, and Connie was already putting out a thousand-yard stare, while Daz and the other recruit, Tuchel, seemed an instant away from devolving into a slobbering mess, though for the former that didn't seem too out of the ordinary either way. The only saving grace was Marco, who seemed to be keeping it together, both for himself and for the group.
"Squad 27!" the yell from the senior Garrison officer sounded out over the noise from a few buildings over, "Advance five blocks up the street and determine the status of Squad 23. Hold the intersection there until further orders."
All five of them gave a hesitant acknowledgement saluting the officer before turning away.
"This is it…"
The lot of them jumped off the building, ODM gear activating and sending them flying down the street. Marco led the formation, flanked on either side by Lukas and Connie, with Daz and Tuchel behind them. As soon as they had made it one block, alternating between ODM and running across the rooftops to conserve gas, Lukas started to get a worse feeling. Even though it was late morning by this point, visibility had degraded horribly in the city. A slight fog mixed with dust from the debris of destroyed buildings, leaving it hard to see more than half a block in front of you. What was worse was that Lukas could sense them, the titans. He couldn't tell the distance, or how many there were, but he could tell the direction, and he knew there was at least one somewhere in front of them.
"We're halfway there!" Marco yelled, as they were coming up on another intersection.
"Keep an eye out!" Lukas yelled out, "They're close!"
He saw Marco give a nod in agreement before Connie spoke up flying beside him, "How the fuck can you tell in this fog?"
He turned to his bald friend, "It's just…" before he could finish, a massive thump materialized on the left side of his head, "LEFT SIDE…LEFT SIDE!"
The group veered right at his suggestion, and not a moment later a large hand swung out of the mist from the same direction as they had past the intersection. All anchoring to a tower on the opposite side of the road, a horrible realization struck them as they steadied themselves; they were down a man. In unison, the remaining members of Squad 27 looked across the street to see a 15-meter emerge from the mist, Tuchel seemingly unconscious in its grasp. Before the group could even think up a plan to save their comrade, much less enact it, the teen was already halfway into the titan's maw.
"By the founder…" Marco muttered from above him.
A scream of pure existential dread permeated from Tuchel's mouth just then, the teen having been arisen from the pressure of the abominations jaw closing on his mid-section. The scene seemed to drag on as the titan seemed to take its time with its victim, agony present on the former cadet's face, who somehow seemed to be still alive. That wouldn't last for long though as a moment later the maw snapped closed, the sound accompanied by the distinct noise of the teen's spine snapping and a cascade of blood shooting from the scene, the beast devouring both pieces of their former comrade with two successive gulps.
"OH FUCK, OH FUCK, OH FUCK!" Daz started screaming manically, "I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I'M GETTING THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
The shaggy-haired cadet sped off in the opposite direction from where the titan had devoured Tuchel, not heading towards the objective, or even back towards their reinforcements, but on some random course driven by a panic-induced state.
"DAZ!" Marco screamed, shooting out to follow his teammate, "DON'T RUN OFF, WE HAVE TO KEEP IN FORMATION!"
It took a few moments for both Lukas and Connie to take hold of the situation, the pair still shook from the titan who was now meandering across the street. As Marco leap off the tower, the two took note, both with grim expressions on their faces.
"Fuck…" Connie muttered.
"I know…" Lukas squinted painfully, "We can't stop now though…"
The two unhooked, trying to make up the distance to Marco. They soared past another block, barely seeing their friend who they could faintly hear still trying to communicate with Daz who was outside their view. The fog was thick though, and after awhile even with Lukas being a native of the city, the two couldn't determine where they were. Even worse yet, they had lost sight of Marco as well, only vaguely flying in the direction they'd last seen the teen.
It was this confusion and the shock that Lukas still felt which blinded him from another feeling popping up. Only moments later this was realized when a 10-meter titan seemed to appear out of the mist not a few meters in front them. The taller teen cursed, barely enough time to veer off but Connie was not so lucky being caught by the monster in a very similar fashion to how Tuchel had been.
"Fuck…Connie!" Lukas screamed seeing the transaction from the corner of his eye as he past.
The teen maneuvered into rolling stop onto a nearby rooftop quickly recovering to see his friend start to scream as he registered his situation. Lukas didn't have much time to act so instinctually he found himself running full speed at the beast. The titan partially distracted by his approached tried swinging its other hand at the black-haired kid. Lukas saw this and slided cleanly under the appendage. Completely blanking on his training, the teen shot his ODM to the opposite side of the street making a beeline for the titan's hand holding his friend. Unsheathing his blades, he made a quick swipe at the titan's wrist, and hitting true severing the tendons of the beast's hand. Seeing Connie fall out of its grasps, Lukas was content until realizing that in its anger and his own recklessness, the titan swung its hand unlatching the teens cables from the building.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
Reacting fast, Lukas reeled back in his cables, and as the building quickly approached, he tried aiming himself towards what looked like a second-story window. Successful in his gambit, he barreled through the glass and though painful probably proved less so than the alternative. Lukas rolled to a stop on a wooden floor amidst pieces of broken glass. He was barely able to register that he had landed in some residential living room before he heard the sound of ODM behind him.
"LUKAS!" Connie screamed appearing through the entrance he had made, "ARE YOU OK?"
"Yeah…" the teen shrugged of some soreness as he rose to his feet, "Are you?"
Connie nodded, "I…I owe you one…"
"Don't mention it…" Lukas replied seeing Connie's expression turn sour in that moment.
"WATCH OUT!" Connie screamed pushing Lukas and himself out of the way.
The duo hit the deck once more, both looking up in shock to see a titan arm sticking its way through the open window where they had previously been. The two scooted out of its reach leaning up against the opposite wall. The monster seemed determined though, its hand knocking around all the furniture which had been arranged in the room looking for its prey. After a moment though, even though it hadn't stopped trying, Lukas realized it didn't have the reach to grab them, or the strength to reach further into the building but at the same time the two didn't have an avenue to escape the beast without passing through the area of the titan's reach. For the time being, the two of them were stuck.
"Looks like we'll have to wait…" Lukas muttered looking at his friend beside him. Connie didn't manage a reply though, the shorter teen looking almost catatonic, his face giving off a thousand-yard stare into the floor. That didn't seem to help Lukas either as this standoff with the 10-meter titan ensued, the adrenaline from the past hour seemed to wear off, and the realization of their dire situation seemed to set in. Lukas noticed his leg start to steadily shake again, and his brain started to fill with worrying thought once more.
"No no no no no…"
Before his mind was totally surrendered to fear though, the teen recalled a memory from what seemed a lifetime ago.
…
[YEAR 845]
Lukas sat on a bench flanking the canal in Trost. It was late in the afternoon as he watched the water flow by slowly with slightly puffy eyes. They had buried the remains of his father in a small ceremony not an hour earlier and his emotions were finally getting to him. A lone tear hit the cobblestone pavement below, as his leg started to slowly shake below him. He didn't understand any of it, why did his dad have to die…he said he'd always come home…he said he'd always be fine. His dad was one of the best, Lukas knew that for sure, he just couldn't understand why it happened…why why why why why…
*SNIFF*
"There you are sprout…" Lukas turned to see his godfather walking up to him, and ruffling up his hair "How are you doing?"
Lukas didn't answer, his throat seeming too raw to even manage a response as he stared back at the canal.
"Hmmm" the man who was more or less his uncle reacted to his silence, the two sitting in silence for a long while.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lukas then saw the man pick up a pebble from the ground, look at it briefly then throw it at the canal; the rock bouncing off the blue surface a few times before sinking.
"3" he heard his godfather mumble beside him.
A moment later the man repeated the process, picking up a rock but then placing it in Lukas's palm. The boy stared at the stone until his uncle spoke up once more.
"Throw it."
Lukas did as he was told chucking the rock at the canal. The stone bounced off the water once before sinking below.
"Not bad…" the man uttered handing Lukas another rock, "now do it again, but throw it from your side."
The boy repeated the process, launching the projectile from his side, the rock striking the water two times now before sinking. Somehow the action seemed to take his mind off the day at hand, and as he looked at his godfather, he nodded approvingly at his throw handing him yet another rock. Lukas concentrated on the arc of his throw making sure he released the rock perfectly from the side of his body. The projectile flew, skipping off the water a whole four times before sinking. A sense of accomplishment shone through Lukas, and at that moment so did the faintest glimpse of a smile.
The man chuckled, patting him on the back, "Fine work Lukas."
The two sat in silence once more, the boy still sad but a little bit lighter, at the very least his eyes were clearing up and his throat didn't seem that constricted. Still though, the boy felt confused.
"Why?" he mumbled.
The man didn't hesitate in answering, knowing full well what Lukas meant, "I wasn't there at the time, but I can guarantee you he knew what he was doing…"
"But…you two are the best ones…aren't you?" the boy responded.
"Doesn't mean we're immortal." His godfather sighed, "That's the risk of the job, your dad knew that. Everyone's time comes eventually"
Lukas looked down understanding the meaning but not fully settled with it, "I'm sorry…"
The man put a hand on his shoulder, "It's alright to be sad sprout…"
Lukas looked up at him, "But you don't seem sad."
"I am…" his uncle replied, looking at the canal, "Your dad was my best friend, but…but I've seen enough of my friends die to know how it feels…"
Lukas looked at the man confused and so his uncle continued, rubbing a rock between his fingers "Having emotions is healthy but you can't let them bring you to a standstill. You have to keeping moving so sometimes you have to distract yourself to keep the ball moving."
"Is that what you're doing Uncle Mike?"
He nodded, "Sometimes the best way to help yourself is to help someone else."
…
Lukas looked back up to see the giant arm was still there, albeit it had stopped moving, just waiting now. The teen turned to his friend, he didn't know how much time had passed, but Connie was still in a similar state as he had been before.
"Hey Connie…" the teen roused his friend who briefly looked up, "What do you figure your family is doing right now?"
The bald-headed teen gave him a confused look, "Huh?"
"You heard me…" Lukas responded, "You've never told me about your home, so I want to know."
"Oh, uh…yeah" Connie murmured a bit, "Ragako only has a couple hundred people in it. Mostly farmers but some traders too like my family."
Lukas nodded assuredly at his friend who continued, "The village isn't much to guffaw at but sometimes when I see patches of wheat, it reminds me of home…"
"Sounds like a nice place." The taller teen responded.
"It is!" Connie answered with a little more emotion, "About this time, Mom would be setting up for lunch, my little brother Martin trying to help her out. Martin is a lot quieter than I am, unlike my little sister Sunny" Connie chuckled a bit, "She's just like me."
"I would've loved to have siblings, especially a sister" Lukas smiled.
Connie smiled at his friend's response then looking at the teen thoughtfully, "I can't imagine what you must be feeling seeing your town like this."
Lukas nodded, "Yeah, but I got to keep on fighting right? What's the use of a soldier who can't fight for his hometown?"
"True." Connie replied, "Thanks Lukas, for what you did just there."
The taller teen put an arm on his shoulder, "Of course baldie, after all what are friends for?"
"Hmph…yeah." The shorter teen replied, "What's that thing you and Jean do? 'Till the End' right?"
"Yeah, that's it"
"Well let's hope it's not that time yet." Connie said sarcastically.
The two teens shared a nod and not a moment later they heard a scream originating from down the street.
"HELP!" It was Marco calling out.
As the owner of the voice registered in their heads it also seemed to garner the attention of the titan currently blocking their escape. The monster pulled its arm out of the building, walking towards the sound and seemingly forgetting about the two boys stuck in the building. As the titan walked further down the street, the two didn't hesitate, jumping back through the window and shooting back up to an adjacent rooftop.
"Yeah, that's Marco" Connie said with urgency, "But I don't see Daz."
Their friend seemed to be running down the street, with the 10-meter titan bearing down on him. Luckily, said titan seemed to be the only titan in the area.
"Shit, I think he's out of gas" Lukas observed.
"What do we do?" Connie questioned.
Lukas thought for a moment, trying to formulate a more detailed plan but to no avail he decided to go with his gut again.
"Ok I'm going to distract that titan while you circle around to Marco. Trade out one of your tanks with him and that should be enough to get you two back to the rooftops."
"Are you insane?" the shorter of the two questioned.
Lukas rolled his eyes, "Do you have a better idea?"
"Shit…no" Connie answered after a moment.
With that, Connie shot of the opposite end of the building out of the titan's sight. Lukas ran across the roof, closer to the titan but also giving time for his friend to circle around. A few meters away, head leapt off the roof, using his gear to safely descend to street level.
"HEY YOU UGLY FUCK…OVER HERE!" Lukas screamed at the creature, garnering its attention.
The titan turned catching sight of the teen. As it turned around to face him though, Lukas could see it perk up once more, hearing Connie land behind it quite loudly, as the bald-headed teen started to switch out his tank with Marco. The titan, now seeing two targets instead of the one Lukas posed, readjusted its gaze once more, walking towards the duo at the opposite end of the street.
"Shit…no no"
"WHERE YOU GOING SHITHEAD…COME BACK HERE!"
The yell proved to be of little affect, but Connie and Marco needed more time.
"GET BACK HERE!"
Nothing.
"STOP!"
The titan started running towards his friends.
"FUCKING STOP!"
The monster was almost there, they wouldn't make it in time…
"I SAID FUCKING STOP!" Lukas screamed at the top of his lungs.
What all three of the teens saw next was beyond belief. The titan actually stopped but…but it didn't look natural. The monster seemed to have stopped mid-stride and it was shaking like it wanted to try and move again…but it couldn't. The creature's eyes darted around seemingly confused as to why it was currently motionless and minute amounts of steam seemed to be spilling from its joints caused from what seemed to be exertion. It wasn't until after Marco and Connie zipped back up to the roof that Lukas noticed something viscous dripping from his nose.
"Blood?"
Not a moment later a deafening scream seem originate in his head, and as he reeled back, he noticed the titan was moving once more.
"What in the hell?"