Creation began on 05-13-21
Creation ended on 06-11-21
Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan: Rage and Control
Catching their breath on a nearby rooftop after befalling an eleven-meter Titan, Krista Lenz and Ymir wondered if the remaining Titans that came in through the breach made by the Colossal Titan would be easy to deal with due to whatever activity reduced the number of them over the years. But individually, both ladies had to reflect on something they heard from Eren during a winter training session. It was something unusual, because Eren didn't seem like the type of person that actually gave a damn about other people's personal lives.
"I know your name isn't really Krista Lenz, Krista Lenz," the blond-haired girl recalled Eren saying in the absence of the majority of their other comrades. "But what I really want to say to you is…you shouldn't throw your life away because of what others think about you. When we graduate from the Cadet Corps, you should join the Garrison or Military Police, whichever one keeps you alive."
"Why?" She had asked him.
"Because…she didn't want you to suffer like others have suffered."
She had to wonder what he meant by that, as it made no sense to her. Someone, another woman, perhaps, didn't want her to suffer like others had suffered, but she didn't know any other woman…except one she had no relationship with.
"Where do you get off telling her what she should and shouldn't do?" Ymir questioned him that same, cold night.
"I'm not trying to tell her what to do," Eren responded, "just that she shouldn't throw her life away like she's some martyr. She, like you, should live for herself. And I don't know who you are, Ymir, but I have a suspicion of what you are…and that you have no hesitation when it comes to using your power that came at a price."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"The Titans. You probably don't remember much of what happened, but it's been a long time for you. You're older than you look, Ymir, and named after the founder, something I shouldn't know anything about…yet I do."
It made no sense to the blond-haired girl, but the freckled girl seemed bothered by what Eren had told them. It only came back to her in a recent dream she had, but she realized that when she returned from where she had been sent to, she was just relieved by being alive again.
Fate's a fickle, old whore, she used to believe back then. "What do you want?"
"I don't want…money or loyalty," he told her. "what I want…or…what I feel I need…is for you to do something I suspect you'll do, regardless of whether or not you're being asked or told. Whatever you do…just make sure you keep her safe. She is…precious to her."
It was a strange request he made of Ymir, especially because neither she or Krista had any clue as to who he was talking about…and maybe, just maybe…Eren didn't know, either.
"Have you thought about where you're going to be after graduation?" She asked Krista.
"What?" Krista responded. "No. Have you?"
"No."
Once they caught their breath, they took off again into the air. So far, it looked like there were only four Titans left inside Trost. As soon as they were disposed of, they could begin work on sealing the breach.
-x-
"…I don't understand," Reiner told Annie as they looked down at the decreased Titan activity. "Five years ago, there were dozens of Titans. But now, there are…fewer than anticipated. How is this possible?"
"Maybe the Survey Corps have been getting better candidates in the last five years," Annie suggested to him.
"If so, I'd like to meet them. I'd like to know how they were able to reduce the onslaught of Titans when five years ago, the very idea was nothing more than an idea."
"Hey, you two!" They looked up and saw Bertolt flying their way. "There are eight more Titans coming this way! How are we with the evacuation?"
"Less than half the district has already been cleared out," Annie stated. "How big are the Titans coming this way?"
"Most are fifteen meters. If they get in, they're gonna…"
Crash! They looked towards the breach and saw a fifteen-meter Titan charge in.
"What the…" Reiner went; this Titan had entered through the breach…and decapitated a ten-meter Titan that was in front of it. "Did that Titan just…"
It not only took another Titan's head off, it was looking around the district, as if looking for something, and roared as it did find something.
"What is it doing?" Annie asked as it ran further down the streets, but it was the very way it was running down the streets that bothered her; it made hard turns, left and right, avoiding the buildings the other cadets were on, and heading towards a section of the district where a large rock was located. "You don't think…"
"It can't be," said Bertolt. "It's not possible."
-x-
As he killed a third Titan that was barely nine meters, Eren looked up and noticed a fifteen-meter Titan from afar right next to a large boulder, digging its arms right into it and picking it up off the ground.
"Eren, are you seeing this?" Armin asked him as he and Mikasa flew by and landed on the roof with him. "This Titan's moving a large boulder. What if it tries to throw it at some of the buildings? The collateral damage will be immense."
But try as he might to answer, Eren couldn't imagine a Titan like this throwing a large rock at any of the structures. The Titan hefted the rock over its head…and started turning the opposite way, going down the street, albeit slower because of the immense weight of the rock. He looked at the size of the rock and compared it to the size of the hole.
"If that Titan's doing what I think it's doing, our breach problem may be solved," he told them.
"What are you talking about?" Mikasa asked him.
"What does a Titan carrying a large rock away from where it picked it up instead of moving it towards the part of the city where the people are seem like to you? It could've even tried to attack the cadets nearby on the rooftops of other buildings, but it didn't do that, either; it's like it's not even giving us any indication that it's aware of us."
"Are y'all seeing this?!" They heard Sasha yell to them as she and Marco flew by and saw the boulder-carrying Titan. "We were nearby, and it didn't even attack us! It's like it didn't even care we were there!"
"And it's carrying a boulder towards the breach!" Marco added. "If that thing's big enough, it will plug up the hole and keep the other Titans from getting in!"
It wasn't until four minutes had past that the mysterious Titan carried the boulder to the breach and slammed it into the hole, sealing it.
"Rrrraaurgh!" It roared as it spotted the only Titan that got inside before the breach was sealed. "Rrrraaurgh!"
-x-
"You think it could be the Jaw Titan?" Annie asked Reiner and Bertolt.
"No, it's too big to the Jaw Titan," Bertolt stated; no known incarnation of the Jaw Titan ever exceeded five meters. "There were at least three exceptions of a bigger Jaw Titan, but they were only seven meters. This one is fifteen meters; according to Marley, there are only three Titans that are fifteen meters: The Armored Titan, the War Hammer Titan…and the…"
"With two of them accounted for, this one has to be," Reiner suspected, "the Attack Titan. It's one of the only two Titan powers Marley never captured."
"It was hiding here the whole time?" Annie couldn't believe. "It was in the one place Marley left alone until now. Could it be serving the royal family? Fighting for them so they don't have to?"
"Maybe, but why would it do so?" Reiner questioned; as far as he understood, the Attack Titan, like the other eight Titans, had been engaged in conflict, quelled only by the Founding Titan. "Unless, of course, after the Great Titan War, it was approached by the royal family and offered something in exchange for loyalty."
The Titan then decapitated the other Titan and looked around the district, seeing no other Titans. With that confirmed, it turned to the wall beside it and gripped its arms onto it, beginning to climb up it.
"It's…leaving?" Bertolt wondered. "It shows up, kills the Titans inside the district, plugs up the breach…and now it's leaving?"
As the Titan surprised people that were able to see it by being able to climb the wall and go over it, disappearing from sight, there was now talk going on about it.
A little girl asking her parents, "Did that Titan just go away?"
A man with a merchant wagon having a simple question: "Why didn't that Titan come after us when it took notice of us?"
Even several other civilians having similar questions, never believing in the possibility of a Titan just coming into their city…and then leaving. And some of them actually saw the Titan carry the boulder towards the breach and plug it up. It was a sight that couldn't be ignored or overlooked; while credit for disposing the Titans could've been given to the cadets that were present, there was no way they could explain why or even how a Titan could just show up and kill other Titans and cover up a breach made by a Titan that was bigger than the Walls themselves.
"What was with that Titan?" Mikasa asked.
"It was incredible," Armin stated. "There's never been a Titan that attacks other Titans or ignores humans."
"Maybe it was an abnormal," suggested Jean to them, "a Titan with unusual behavior."
"It's possible," went Connie, "but even those kind of Titans don't really ignore humans; they just go to there are more humans to eat instead of trying to grab random ones nearby."
Nobody could really understand it. It was something that just seemed too impossible to believe…and could make people too curious for their own good.
-x-
"…With the outer gate no longer accessible, travel to and from Trost District will be difficult," Survey Corps Commander Erwin Smith uttered as he, Captain Levi, Hange Zoe were engaged in a conversation with Garrison Commander Dot Pixis and Captain Kitz Weilman. "And all because this Colossal Titan appeared for the second time after its initial encounter outside Wall Maria's Shiganshina District."
"That's not the craziest thing to happen, though," said Weilman to him, calmer due to the aftermath of the Trost invasion. "Despite the breach, there were fewer Titans to deal with. The situation was over before it could even escalate. And then, there's talk about one of the Titans that appeared and left right after it did the damnedest thing a Titan can do…besides kicking a hole in the wall."
"What?" Hange asked, curious. "What did this Titan do?"
"According to several of the cadets that were present when this occurred, it picked up a large boulder, carried it across the streets…and sealed the breach," revealed Pixis. "It never once tried to attack humans to eat them."
"An abnormal, perhaps?" Levi suggested.
"It's possible," Weilman responded, "but what kind of Titan attacks and kills its own kind?"
"How big was this Titan that sealed the breach?" Hange wanted to know.
"Fifteen meters, according to the cadets."
"Any identifying features? Hairstyle? Body type? Jawline?"
"One of the cadets mentioned that it possessed an irregular jawline," Pixis informed. "The front of its mouth was downward while the sides were upward, different from the regular Titans we've seen over the years."
"Oh, my gosh!" Hange gasped. "We've seen that Titan before!"
"What?!" Weilman reacted.
"It was last year during the five months we spent trying to return to Wall Maria. It was killing several Titans and running around like it was in a frenzy. Every time it saw us, it ran into one of the Titan Forests and disappeared. Titan activity was reduced drastically by the time we were able to survey the other three districts of Wall Maria. We think that Titan is the reason for the reduction in their numbers and activity, maybe even capable of intelligence like the Colossal has been stated to possess."
"One Titan that is larger than most and deliberately kicks a hole in the Walls and destroys cannons is one thing that indicates deadly intentions, but another Titan that is the standard size and that willingly kills other Titans and ignores humans at every turn seems to indicate that it prefers its solitude and is capable of murder," Levi added. "Titans eat people, but they don't demonstrate intent; they just eat people until their stomachs are full and they cough up these balls of whatever they've eaten and go eat again. But these three Titans we've learned about, the Colossal and Armored Titans and this strange Titan that kills its own…they're not dumb…and are capable of strategic planning, performing actions with intent. The former two demonstrated intent by attacking the Walls, and the latter third demonstrated its own intent by killing other Titans and ignoring humans. Something isn't adding up here."
They all had to agree on that conclusion; there were many things that weren't adding up regarding the Titans. In particular, the three that were viewed as new and unusual because of their differing levels of intelligence. In many respects, their intelligence was similar to humans, capable of planning, deliberate actions…and, apparently, murderous intent.
"What are the chances of finally reclaiming Wall Maria, Commander Smith?" Pixis asked.
"Since this strange Titan has been confirmed to be attacking other Titans and ignoring people, the decrease in Titan numbers and activity will enable the Survey Corps to take more equipment to Shiganshina and repair the inner and outer gates and expand our survey beyond Wall Maria," Erwin answered.
"What will you do about should the Colossal Titan appear again?" Weilman wanted to know.
"We can always hope that mysterious Titan returns and manages to deal with it," Hange stated in a hopeful tone.
-x-
Taking shelter in the forest again, the young man within the Titan shed his oversized husk and jumped onto a nearby tree branch, collapsing as he caught his breath.
"Just a few more days," he uttered to himself. "If I can eradicate the remaining Titans in just a few more days, I can keep my home safe…just like that dream showed me I would… But so long as he stands in the way, hope only lingers for a time…and he threatens to keep the freedom at bay. He was there in Trost, but he wasn't a threat just yet. When he becomes a threat…that is when I will eliminate him from the issues at hand. Nothing must come between the freedom that is sought after…and the freedom that can be gained."
It was only every once in a while that he had these strange dreams that felt real. Within them, he saw himself standing atop a moving throne or chair made of bone, surrounded by a legion of people the size of monoliths, walking towards their future, erasing all that dared to oppose them. But in front of himself was this guy that looked just like him, but wasn't anything like him, preferring peace and contentment over what he sought after, and behind him was a woman with dark hair and purple eyes. How he hated the sight of them and wanted them to disappear from all that was and all that could be.
"Fight," he told himself as he started to lose consciousness. "Fight…fight."
-x-
"…Are you sure you're fine with your choice when you graduate, Eren?" Armin asked his friend as the night of their decision to join one of the three branches of the military was at hand. "You could switch over to the Survey Corps whenever you choose."
"I'm sure," he responded. "The Garrison will ensure the protection of the people within the Walls…and if Wall Maria's going to be reclaimed in due time, I have every intention to watch over the wall in Shiganshina District."
"What about you, Mikasa?"
"I will…be joining the Survey Corps," Mikasa revealed; about a year ago, she and Eren had a conversation that stemmed from her being somewhat vigilant towards him, and he suggested that she join the Survey Corps and explore the land beyond the Walls. If Eren's not going to leave the Walls, there's nothing to really worry about.
Mikasa, Eren, Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Krista, Ymir, Armin, Sasha and Connie had reached the top ten graduates with flying colors and were able to get into the Military Police if they desired. So far, it appeared that the majority of them would be joining the Survey Corps while it appeared that Krista, Ymir and Annie would be joining the Military Police and Eren would join the Garrison. Each one's reason for joining the respective branches were diverse; each wanted to pursue a future they could be proud of.
"That Titan, though," Eren heard Reiner say to Bertolt and Annie. "We should go out there to look for it."
"You two want me to join the Survey Corps when the original plan was to join the Military Police?" Annie questioned them. "No way. I'm sticking to the original plan. I'm joining the Military Police. I'm putting an end to things once I get to Wall Sina. You two can do whatever you want."
"Annie, finding that Titan may explain many things," Bertolt tried to explain to her.
"Eren?" He heard Krista say to her, feeling her place her left arm on his shoulder.
"Ah!" He gasped.
Crack! A strange flow of power surged through Eren that felt like it reached out across the whole island, past and future.
He saw nine giants with deformities and abilities that were beyond rational explanation, a young girl in rags falling into a pool of water under a large tree, a centipede of light latching onto the girl, a man forcing three girls to eat a human corpse that had been mutilated, wars and widespread death and destruction, and four children being sent on a mission to steal something that was beyond them. And then, across the land, in a forest of trees that reached up to the sky, he could see a man that looked like himself, but was unkept and full of rage, looking at him.
"I see you," he heard him say in a colder version of his voice. "You want to protect those that matter, but you don't want to move forward. You're weak! When I see you, I will end you! I will undo your existence and then only one of us will be left standing!"
Behind his angry lookalike was a Titan with an uneven jawline and pointed ears, looking down at him.
When Krista's hand removed itself from his shoulder, the feeling ceased and he turned to face her with an expression of being shook.
"Uh…yes, Ms. Lenz?" He asked her, seeing that she had two cups with her.
"Thirsty?" She offered one of the cups.
-x-
It was only for a brief a moment, but the unkept man that just spent his time hunting down and killing Titans felt a connection between himself and another person that looked just like him, but with a less-direct approach on life…and it disgusted him. How could someone like that be content with the way things were when they could've done more, been more? He felt like the next time he saw that man, he needed to remove him from existence…just because he lived and breathed, the same as he did…but barely did anything more than that. The sooner he did that, the better everything would be.
There are still a handful of Titans left to be disposed of, he thought as he looked up at the night sky. They're not active at night. However many there are left, I will destroy them all. All of my enemies…will know the eternal sleep that comes with being dead.
-x-
"…Okay," went Bertolt to Annie and Reiner, an hour after making their choices on which branch of the military to join, "was I not the only one to feel that…whatever it was from earlier this evening?"
"It felt like someone was having a nightmare," Annie stated, "only it was crazy."
"What did you see?" Reiner asked them. "I saw the Nine Titans."
"I think I saw the First King," Bertolt revealed, "and then Ymir Fritz and three girls…eating her remains at the will of the First King."
"There was war and death," Annie confessed, "but it looked like the worst was yet to come. A Titan, far bigger than the Colossal…unleashing a legion of other Titans against the world…and there were only a handful of people that stood between them and the end of all life."
"We need to find the Founder and take it back to Marley," Reiner reiterated, "and the Attack Titan, as well. Whoever they are, we need to complete our mission for the sake of everything."
But how they would go about doing so would be different; Reiner and Bertolt were in the Survey Corps while Annie joined the Military Police. If one of them was able to capture at least one of these two Titans, then they could return to Marley and put an end to the threat.
-x-
"…And here's the list of new recruits for the Military Police, sir," a woman informed a man as she handed him a sheet of paper that displayed a list of names.
"Thank you," he responded as he looked at the list, seeing one name that he was surprised to see: Krista Lenz. I'm surprised you didn't join the Survey Corps like you had been expected to. Even more so to know that you're still alive.
He had been informed of the situation that had been resolved at Trost, about how the Colossal Titan appeared again and breached the outer gate, allowing a handful of Titans to get inside, all of which was then disposed of…and the breached closed off by another Titan that ignored the people and attacked only the other Titans.
Whoever this Titan is, they need to be found and dealt with as soon as possible, he thought as he looked out the window at the city around him. Order must be restored.
On a lighter note, the increase in the lack of Titan activity over the months allowed for another expedition to reclaim Wall Maria by venturing to Shiganshina District to seal the breach there. Once successful, people could begin relocating back to the outermost districts and further expeditions could be made to venture out beyond the Walls. If the decline in Titan activity was due to this mysterious Titan killing them, then it became an additional priority for the Survey Corps to find and capture.
Could it be the same Titan from before? The man wondered.
To be continued…
A/N: I hope this chapter tides y'all over until the next update. What do you think about it so far? Despite there not being much said between them, the Eren everyone has some involvement with does have their best interests in heart, but wants to protect them without being controlling, while the Eren they have yet to meet with has only helped from a distance and has made exploring between Wall Maria and Wall Rose less dangerous. I am open to small suggestions for what Eren's Founding Titan form should look like because there are two versions of him and only one has made use of the Attack Titan without any restraint, but I don't want the Founding Titan to resemble the Attack Titan in any way. And as for Krista and Ymir, Eren has been influenced slightly by the previous holder's memories, but only in the area of an unrelated person's protective instinct, and sees Ymir as someone that can protect Krista if something terrible happens, just in case he's not there or there's nobody else that he would entrust her to. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, sane and alive.