Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan Junior High

"What do you mean, Erwin was turned into a horse?!" Nile squawked, pointing at the grinning white horse, who somehow got into the palace uninterrupted, incredulously while glaring at Mike in the mustache.

"Uh no…" Mike Zacharias mumbled, "I said I mistook him for a horse at first, not that the Commander was turned into a horse…"

"Then at least make that clear!" Nile snapped angrily, "...and now that I think of it, you shouldn't even add what you think in a professional report to your superiors!"

Mike sniffed, "You were the one who told me to give a thorough report, sir."

"Excuse me?!"

"...so after we leave orders to reorganize the troops, we immediately head to the capital of Mitras to report to his majesty—" said 'king' was currently staring blankly ahead, but to those who knew him well, he was slowly dozing off, "—since it is impossible to continue the mission without our Commander." Nanaba continued her report as if nothing happened, ignoring Mike and Nile causing a scene.

"Are you saying...your commander, Humanity's Strongest Soldier and his squad, that crazy scientist, and the Titan brat's gone? In a goddamn puff of smoke, even?!" One of the noble demanded hotly. "And apparently by some Kuro asshole? How is this even possible?!"

"Another bottle, please!" Pixis breathed out weakly, form sloping on the table.

Anka whacked him on the head, "Commander! This is a serious problem!"

Pixis' eyes glinted, "It is a serious problem indeed...We need to fix this right away, so Anka, get me another bottle so I can concentrate."

The bald commander said in an unusually serious voice and the assistant gasped. 'About damn time!'

Gustav handed him another bottle of liquor, "Here, sir. How do you propose we go about this problem?"

"Hah? What problem are cha talkin' about?" Commander Pixis chugged down the bottle in one gulp, "The booze's here, so there's no more problem. See?"

Anka slapped her forehead, 'Of fucking course, why would I expect anything else?!'

"THE TITAN BRAT IS GONE, CHEERS!" One of the high-ranking Wallist held up his mug and a fistful of cookies shouted. "LONG LIVE THE WALLS!"

"HIP HIP HOORAY!" His fellow Wallists also mimic the actions and yelled, "TO OUR GODDESSES! MARIA! ROSE! SINA! KANPAI!"

"Keep it down, fools!" The General of all Three Military Branches, Darius Zackly, finally lost it and reprimanded the Wallists and several other Nobles who had deemed it fit to join in in a stern voice.

Currently, there are about fifty-something people present—King Fritz had called them to the capital of Mitras for the annual reports on district management and the likes when Mike and Nanaba broke in, dragging countless soldiers who tried to stop them behind. The King, agitated by the Squad Leader's action, immediately demanded him to tell his reasons for 'interrupting an important meeting' that totally wasn't an excuse for the rich fools to get together and brag their ass off. Had the useless piece of flesh who called himself king stopped for a few seconds and used his brain, then the big news of the Survey Corps' elites went missing in a poof of smoke wouldn't cause such a commotion. In a tiny chamber. With fifty-something retards. And most importantly, no way of escaping this mess.

Currently, the nobles were at each other's throats, yelling obscenities about taking control of the Survey Corp and appointing a new Commander since Erwin is nowhere to be found, disbanding the Corp, throwing a party, and causing a mess in general. A whopping total of three people were seriously listening to Nanaba's report, not including Zackly himself.

'This day can't get any worse….' The man face-palmed in irritation.

"WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" A soldier pushed through the chamber, breathing heavily while somehow still found the strength to blast through everyone else's eardrums and gaining their attention.

"How dare you, barging into here without permission!" The pseudo-king roared, "If you don't speak your reasons right now I shall execute you!"

'...and of course, the guy still hasn't learned his lesson…' Zackly felt the migraine returned with fervor.

"I apologize, your majesty!" The poor soldier squeaked in terror. "Er-um...we have a problem, sir—"

"Duh, no shit, Sherlock!" Pastor Nick mumbled.

"—we've spotted a 14-meter class titan outside Wall Rose near Karanes District—"

"You dared to interrupt our conversation for a measly Titan?!" Lord Wald slammed his hands on the table and angrily demanded, getting nods from his fellow noble chess friends. "You, what's your name—?"

"At least let him finish, Lord Wald." Rod Reiss calmly sipped his wine from a glass cup. "Depending on what he says, we can think of different ways to send him to the other side."

"B-but sir," The poor soldiers whimpered, "I-It's got boobs..."

In all of a sudden, Pixis immediately stopped drinking from his bottle and his ears automatically drowned out Anka's reprimands and only focus on the soldiers' voice. 'It can't be…'

Kenny Ackerman, who for some reason was present in the meeting despite not being a noble, grunted, "Hah? What has what now?"

"A FEMALE TITAN HAS APPEARED OUTSIDE OF KARANES DISTRICT, SIR!"

Dot Pixis was gone from his seat.

"Goddammit…" The governor of the Shingeki no Kyojin world crushed the can of soda she's holding in one hand and snarled.

"YO, Shiro! Enjoying the show?"

A very familiar, very irritating, and very unwelcomed voice piped up from the innocent phone sitting on her table as the girl grasped it with crushing strength and screamed, "There you are you thrice-damned piece of—wait, who's Shiro?"

"Well, you, duh! I go by Kuro now, so it'd totally make sense if I start calling you Shiro, eh?"

"THE HELL IT DOES!" The now dubbed 'Shiro' roared, "YOU BETTER EXPLAIN WHY YOU ARE MESSING WITH MY WORLD RIGHT THIS INSTANT OR OTHERWISE I'M GOING TO PULVERIZE YOU!"

"I see, then let me tell you a story…" Kuro spoke in a somber tone that even got Shiro to do a double-take, "It may seem irrelevant at first, but after listening to this, you will know the reason why I decided to do what I did…"

'Finally she's serious, let's just hope this isn't something bad.' Shiro mentally sighed in relief, "Speak. I'm waiting."

"'Kay. Have you ever heard about the tale of Cinderella?"

"We have something to tell you...and it has something to do with the Colossal and Armored Titan."

Hange repeated Erwin's words with closed eyes for dramatic effects. 'And 3...2...1...open!', "Indeed, we have something to tell you—wait, why are you guys already eating?! That's not fair!"

"Sorry, Hange-san." Petra smiled sheepishly, "The recruits were eager and you guys were talking for quite a while so…"

"What are you, dogs?" Levi sneered. "And what is with that thing?"

"They are called honey toast, captain." Eld explained, "By the looks of it, you take half a loaf of square bread and take the filling out, caramelized the outside, and put... stuff in it."

"It's a little, sweet, but it's delicious." Jean nodded sagely. "What's this cold thing again?"

"It's ice cream." Christa flipped the pages over and read out loud. "There's also soft cream and a variety of fruits on top along with honey! Also, they come in six different flavors. I don't know what chocolate is, but it tastes really good!"

"This ice cream is so nice," Eren sighed in bliss with a scoopful of chocolate ice cream in his mouth. "If the 'lands of ice' is full of this 'ice cream' stuff, I think I might move there once we kill all the Titans…"

"I know, right!" Armin smiled. "Imagine us three building a house made of ice cream…take ice cream bath...sleep on ice cream beds...fishing ice cream…"

"I thought the 'lands of ice' are supposed to be full of ice and snow?" Mikasa blandly interjected, knocking the boys out of their wishful fantasies.

Erwin brought the attention back to himself with a short cough, "Even though the honey toast looks delicious, we need to get back to the important matter at hand."

'Seriously….?' Levi inwardly sighed. 'Has Erwin always been this stupid?'

"Oh yeah!" Connie whisper-shouted. "You said you were going to tell us something about the Colossal and Armored Titan!"

"Correct, Springer." Connie beamed. "As you have already known, the Colossal Titan suddenly appeared at Trost district and smash through the gate, sending numerous Titans into the vicinity before completely disappearing without a trace. It is also where," Erwin nodded in Eren's direction, "we discovered that Eren Yeager is a Titan Shifter. He transformed into a Titan and plugged the hole in the wall, sealing Trost District for good."

The Commander paused, letting the information sink in. "Has anyone realize what is amiss?"

"Was it something we supposed to know?" Oluo hushed.

Gunther replied, "Uh...maybe?"

Seeing his soldiers whispering among themselves with no answers being given, Erwin continued, "Where do you think...the Armored Titan is during all this?"

As realization dawned, Captain Levi smirked at the recruits' staggered expressions, 'Took them long enough.'

"That's right." Jean spoke up, "Where was the Armored Bastard during all this? Surely after the Trost District's gate was broken, it should've gone for the inner gate, just like how it happened at Shiganshina!"

'How could I not have picked it up?' Armin berated himself in frustration, 'No, this is not the time. Think. What is the commander getting at here?'

"That day…" Eren snarled, "As all the refugees were boarding the ship, the Armored Titan crashes through the inner gate. During Trost, even though we were delayed by the Titans surrounding the headquarters or the lack of help from the Survey Corp, the Armored Titan wasn't there."

"What if they aren't working together after all?" Sasha nervously asked, but even she knew that it's impossible. No one replied to her only further corrected her theory.

Hange stepped up, "So we have come to a conclusion: Eren's transformation into a Titan was completely unprecedented, and obviously wasn't part of their plan, and therefore he was the one who stopped the Armored Titan from transforming and breaking Wall Rose's gate."

"And that led us to the next conclusion. If the Titan can see or hear about Eren's transformation into a Titan…" Erwin slowly opened his eyes, "Then it is very likely that the two Titans have intelligence, and are disguising themselves as human."

Gasps can be heard around the room.

"The Colossal and Armored Titans….are human?!" Oluo looked over to his side, ready to join in on the eventual laughter with everyone because surely this cannot be real.

So he was definitely surprised when Eld quietly spoke, "Make sense when you think about it. Eren can turn into an intelligent Titan that is different from the others. The Colossal and Armored should be the same."

"What's worse…" Mikasa added on, unknowingly continuing her superior's line of thought, "is that they can blend in with the humans, act like humans, train with humans, and learn all our secrets."

Seeing everyone's stricken faces, Erwin decided that it's best to calm them down before they completely fly off the handle. "Hange, if you will."

"And for my dear Sonny and Bean…." Hange sniffed, and screamed, "I SWEAR I'LL FIND THE BASTARDS WHO TOOK MY BABIES—"

Levi tugged on her ponytail several times before pulling her ear down to his eye level, "Enough is enough, Four-Eyes."

"...he probably pulled her down cuz he's not tall enough to whack her on the head," Connie mumbled to Sasha, who giggled.

"Fine, geez." Hange grumbled, "Whoever killed Sonny and Bean, they must have the maneuver gear since only iron bamboo can deal damages to the Titans, so that's why we have your gears checked. However, we also did a little experiment on our own. On the night of the ceremony where you have to choose a military branch to join, we have the Levi squad plus Eren going out on patrol. Just them alone. Now, ladies and gentlemen, what could this mean?"

"Oi, is that true, Eren?" Jean turned to his rival and demanded.

The Titan Shifter nodded, "It's true. We were on patrol that night and I get to know everyone better."

'Eren was on patrol on the night of the ceremony...a soldier who killed the two Titans…The Colossal and Armored Titan can be humans….the only explanation for this would be—' Armin's thoughts screeched to a halt as he finally spoke up, "You….You think that the traitor is amongst the 104th Trainee Corp?"

"Ding ding ding! And someone gets it! Your prize is 'free info from the Survey Corp'." Hange made the motion of ringing a bell in satisfaction.

"WHAT?!" Eren roared. "Armin! How can you say that?! They are the people who trained along with us for three years! Three years! How can you—"

Mikasa held Eren back and said, "Calm down, Eren. We don't even know if Armin is talking about our class or not. There are other divisions of the 104th—"

"No, Mikasa. That can't be." Jean interjected, looking shaken. "The 104th South Division is the only division who participated in the invasion of Trost, so the traitor has to be one of us. The bastard needs to see, or at least heard that Eren transformed into a Titan, or otherwise they would've stormed Wall Rose."

"B-But Armin, how did you even come to that conclusion?!" Historia was really curious; she was supposed to be the master at disguising her emotions and putting up a façade, but there are supposedly two people in her class who does that everyday and she didn't even notice?

"The Commander said that the Colossal and Armored Titans can be humans, which most likely means they are soldiers, since the Colossal Titan disappeared right after, right Eren?" Armin looked at his best friend.

Eren, after all, who the one and only person who went up against it directly. "That's not gonna prove anything!"

"I know. It would be impossible to escape quickly without the gear, and they have to be people who participated in the invasion of Trost." Armin put another finger up, "So that narrows down the suspects a lot. Next, the Commander sent Eren out as bait for whoever wants to kidnap or kill him, while staying behind at the ceremony himself. Whoever is absent at the ceremony will draw a lot of attention to themselves, so it's either that they can't leave to kidnap Eren, or they didn't plan to do that at all. And our class is the only class at that ceremony."

'This one's smart…' Erwin smiled, "As a matter of fact, only some of my most trusted subordinates or present at the ceremony; all soldiers from the Survey Corp are technically free to do what they want that night. And you can clearly see, Eren is still alive and well."

"You used Eren as bait?!" Mikasa growled.

'That's what you chose to focus on?!' The recruits mentally deadpanned.

"It was necessary," Erwin stated firmly, taking a bite out of the strawberry honey toast. "Also, this is quite delicious."

"Do you have any suspects in mind yet, Commander?" Ymir warily asked. They were completely correct to doubt the 104th trainee class, but she wouldn't have thought that they'd narrow it down so quick. 'Reiner and Bertolt….those idiots!'

Levi's eyes slid over to another one of their primary suspects and calmly replied, "We have a few people here and there, but nothing concrete yet."

"That's all we have for now." Erwin nodded to the recruits. "We will discuss further if we have time. Now, let's watch episode 4, shall we?"

Finally snapping out of their bewilderment, everyone hastily took their plate of toast and went back to their own seat.

"Who would've thought that the trainees would be one of the suspects…" Oluo mumbled.

Eld nodded as he settled down, "I know, right? This class's probably cursed or something. Petra, what's wrong? You've been pretty quiet."

Startled out of her thoughts, Petra mumbled, "Um, it's nothing, er...I was just wondering…."

"...yes?" Gunther leaned forward in anticipation.

"Do you think...we are under suspicion, too?" Petra whispered fearfully. Once she got the hard part out of the way, all of her previous concerns and worries carry themselves along, "I mean—when I think about it, we didn't practice any formation with Eren's Titan form, even if they are just trial runs, and I feel like the Commander and some of our superiors are hiding something. Something big. Something important. It's—look, I can't explain it well, but I think that something is wrong."

"Even if you put it like that..." Eld sighed deeply. "It's not like we can do anything about it."

"He's right," Oluo said with determination shining in his eyes. "We are the Special Operation Squad, and we respond to orders coming straight from Captain Levi. We have to do all we can to protect him, and Captain will do the same for us. That's all I need to know."

Everyone was stunned silent by his claim before Gunther chuckled.

"Wow, Oluo…" Gunther remarked. "...that might just be the coolest thing you've said this month—no, year."

"I know right? It's been forever since I hear him say something that doesn't imitate the Captain!" Eld laughed lightly.

Oluo grumbled, "You guys…I was being serious..."

They heard a chuckled from Petra, then small giggles. She would've laughed louder, but the other groups aren't in as good of a mood as hers, so there's that.

"Thanks, boys."

"It's not a problem."

On Eren's side, he was still fuming and refusing to speak with Armin. The blond boy knew his friend's personality too well by now, so he waited patiently for the brunette to calm down. Mikasa was stuck in between the two and decided to converse with Armin and Jean instead.

"Who do you think the Colossal and Armored Titan can be?"

Armin hesitantly replied, "I've known you two since childhood, and the two Titans were there in Shiganshina, so we are definitely not the Titan Shifters. Our superiors are also out since they weren't there at the beginning of the Trost invasion. And as for the rest of our classmates…" Armin looked to the side, avoiding Jean's gaze, "...everyone currently looks suspicious right now."

"Wait—you think that I can be the Colossal or Armored Titan, Armin?!" Jean hush-whispered loudly. "I—Marco's dead because of those two fuckers and you think that I—I'm—"

"But you can't prove otherwise, now can you, Jean?" Armin murmured softly, almost sadly. "That's the problem, isn't it. For all we know, you could be pretending all this time just to get close to us. To Eren. It makes sense, too. You, who always worked hard to join the Military Police suddenly changed your mind and—"

Jean smiled bitterly, "So that's how it is."

"Armin. Enough." Eren glared at Armin. He never would've thought that a day would come where he's defending Jean of all people from Armin.

"But Eren, I—"

Armin trailed off as Jean grabbed the knife provided along with the honey toast to slash himself across his palm. Red liquid flows freely onto the carpet floor and dyed the material in crimson. "Jean, what are you—"

"You saw Eren's arm and leg got bitten off, didn't you, Armin?" Jean calmly took out a roll of bandage from his belt pouch. "His injuries healed just like those disgusting Titans. Steam emitted from where his wounds were. And now look at me." He flexed his palm in and out; the movement caused even more blood to flow out. "It's not healing. Is this good enough proof?"

Not knowing what else to say, Armin dumbly nodded, shocked that Jean—a scaredy-cat who wanted to work in the interior to stay away from danger—would be bold enough to do something like this.

"You know…" Eren spoke up, looking at Jean's bloodied palm. "We can always compare notes." He took Jean's knife on the table and sliced across his palm. The blood burst from the wound, but it quickly steamed up and the skin knitted itself back together. Soon, the wound was no more.

Jean smirked triumphantly. Armin was ashamed at himself.

"Perhaps we can use this to determine who are the traitors." Mikasa quietly added.

"Let's wait until the end of the episode," Armin said, helping Jean to wipe the blood away and wrap the bandage around his palm. "I don't think everyone is ready for this right now."

Over in Connie's group, it was livelier, so no one noticed that Jean cut himself. "So who do you think is the Colossal and Armored Titans?"

Connie began in an uncharacteristically serious voice. Ymir looked away and said with a bored voice, "Who knows. Could be anyone. Even you guys."

"Ymir!" Christa reprimanded.

"What? I'm just telling the truth." But she wasn't. She knew precisely who were the traitors, but could they be called traitors even though they were never on their side?

"It's probably not Daz." Sasha chuckled nervously. "He would be too frightened to wipe out over half of humanity."

"I don't know…" Christa whispered tearfully, "I've trained with them for three years, and I've seen them all. None of them looked suspicious! Every time I tried to match their face with the Titans who broke through the Walls, it just doesn't feel right."

And Historia wasn't lying. None of them looked like they have the guts to do something of this scale. The closest ones she could think of was Reiner because of his gorilla face, but Reiner has always been a big brother to everyone. He was even willing to take part of the blame with Sasha when she raided the teachers' meat pantry!

"Maybe we shouldn't count the dead out, too," Connie whispered. "Titans can regenerate, right? What if they pretended to be dead to escape suspicions?"

"You actually say something smart for once, Baldy." Ymir sighed. "Well, we aren't going to get anywhere by speculating. Let's just stop and watch the episode."

On the Commander's couch, Levi spoke up. "You didn't talk about Bertolt Hoover. Why?"

"Well, there are several reasons." Erwin tapped his fork on the plate. "Firstly, there might be a chance that Eren will transform into this cramped room since he seems to be close to those two. I'll have to tell them my suspicions eventually, though. Secondly, it's just a hunch with no backup proof. And finally…" The Commander's eyes slid over to Armin, who was taking care of Jean's wound. "I want to see if he can deduce it from the information I've given him."

Levi snorted, "If you can't do it yourself, then how can a snot-nosed brat do?"

"Thanks for your high opinion of me, Levi." Erwin chuckled, "But he has potential. Who knows? He might be the next Commander of the Survey Corp when I die or follow Keith's footsteps."

"Pftt…" Hange burst out laughing. "And then maybe Levi can finally look straight at his Commander in the eye without—" Hange quickly took three steps back when Levi pulled his sharp duel swords out with an intense aura, "—I'm just joking!"

Erwin nodded sagely, "By the way, Hange. This 'honey toast' is quite divine. I think this has become my favorite food. It'd be nice if you can study its structure and replicate it."

The scene started out with Armin humming a foreign song. "Isn't that exciting?!"

"I don't think I know this song," Hange noted.

Eren and the others were trailing behind him as they walked away from the school building. "It's stupid. If I'd known the Scout Regiment was strictly off the books I'd have signed up for anything besides Wall Cleanup."

"Who would have thought, right?"

Sasha pokes her finger on her cheek, "You gotta wonder what kind of activities this club entails."

Connie snickered, "Oh, I don't know. Wall cleaning maybe?"

"I think it'll be great!" Armin exclaimed.

Connie mumbled, "It sucks we have to do this when it's getting all hot."

"The summer's just around the corner!"

"Is this just me or Armin seems more cheerful this time?" Mikasa mumbled.

"Um, about that," Eren spoke up, and everyone stopped walking once they noticed that Armin and Eren also stopped. "Aren't you like...burning up in that thing?"

"Not really." Armin turned around. "My hood might look warm, but as a matter of fact...they've made a mess!"

Sweat fell like a waterfall from his hair.

'Disgusting…' Levi tsked.

Armin said, "Neat, huh? Levi sows this for me actually." Connie grunted in agreement.

"You can sow, Captain?!" Eren raised a brow.

"I can. What's it to you?"

"Uh, it's nothing... " Eren nervously smiled, 'Wow. He can cook, sew, clean...basically an ideal housewife if not for his personality.'

Sasha stopped and stared at Eren. "Oh great. What is it now?"

"Who cares about Armin's hood…?" Eren clutched his fists tightly, "...WHEN WE ARE STUCK WITH WALL CLEANUP CLUB!"

Eren screamed, "I can't be the only one here who wants to say forget this and turn around! My whole thing is fighting Titans, which means I get to get stronger! Something I'm not going to be able to do playing janitor! GRRR!"

Oluo flipped his hair, "If it was me then I'd never complain. I would have done my job flawlessly as a member of the—GAH!"

Petra sighed, "Maybe you should start carrying a first-aid kit around, Oluo."

Mikasa pointed out, "If you quit they are bound to put you in a club you hate even more. We don't even know what's the Wall Cleanup club is all about. At least give it a chance before you bail."

"Yeah," Jean said in agreement, "all of the cool clubs are probably at max capacity by now anyway."

Connie looked up to the sky as he lamented, "I think I should've signed up for the going home club."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that one only exists in your mind." Jean deadpanned.

Eren shouted, "Oh come on! Exactly how many secret organization does this school have?!"

"Well, if they are secret…" Armin trailed off.

A foreign voice spoke up as they slammed the broom on the ground, "Snap to, first years! We're not here to gab!"

"Rico!" Eren exclaimed.

"Who is it, Eren?" Eld pondered, "Though I think I might've seen her somewhere before.

Gunther smirked, "Cheating on your fiancée, huh, Eld?"

"You are so awful, darling~" With a high-pitched voice, Petra mimic her friend's future wife's voice.

"Of course not!" Eld protested. "I just think that I might know her from somewhere!"

Eren said, "Her name is Rico. She is from the Garrison's elite squad which protected me during Trost."

"Uh...who are you?"

Rico slammed the handle of the broom on the floor again and spoke in an authoritative voice. "Welcome, new members. I am the president of this club, Rico Brzenska. Brace yourselves, rookies. You are about to be put through the mill."

An innocent bucket of cleaning supplies was placed snugly at his feet.

Eren hesitantly asked, "Um...excuse me, what's all this?!"

"Standard-issue custodial equipment set. Use it with caution."

They laughed at the look on Eren's face.

Eren seemed dumb-struck by this revelation. "T-They are just cleaning supplies…"

"Eren, breathe!" Mikasa quickly caught Eren before he fell.

'Lucky bastard.' Jean mentally grumbled.

Rico continued, "In the glory days when this club was first founded, we have over a hundred members. Now, I'm the only one left. This institution needs fresh blood. In other words, you." She grabbed Eren's shoulders roughly and stared at him in the face, "The training will be hard; that I can guarantee."

Eren whimpered in pain.

Eren hated the display of weakness his other self was currently putting on. If that guy really wanted to get revenge for his cheeseburger or whatever then he should've been more proud and stubborn.

"You know," Mikasa started softly, "Rico is the only one that survived from the team tasked with guarding Eren in Trost."

"I see," Hange replied. TV-Rico said that she was the only one left, so adding that with the information Mikasa provided, it made sense.

Sliding the broom onto her shoulder, Rico shouted, "Listen up! As first-years, you start here! I want to see these windows sparkle!"

"Come on! Seriously?!" Jean protested. "Doesn't the school have someone on its payroll to handle this crap?!"

"They usually have someone to clean the school for them?!" Sasha was slightly winded, "I'm so jealous!"

Connie moaned, "Shadis always make us clean up after ourselves."

"If you don't like it, then find another club," she smirked, "Let me warn you though, all of the human clubs have reached their membership quotas for the semester. The only ones still accepting applications are overrun with Titans."

"Err...I—"

"By all means, don't let me stop you."

'Was she always this cruel though?'

Armin whispered to Jean, "It seems really cut and dry to me. We better pick up our buckets and get cleaning."

"Start with the new buildings. Do not slack off."

The scene changed to the first-years wiping down windows. Mikasa, Armin, and Jean were the only ones doing it properly, as everyone else has dejected looks on their face and writing things on the glass window with cleaning foams. Eren, predictably, wrote 'chee-burg', Sasha wrote 'potato', and Connie wrote 'fried chicken'.

Christa beamed, "Ymir, how do you cheer up a baked potato?"

"Are we really doing this?" Ymir groaned, "Though you look pretty cute like this, too."

"I know I know!" Connie raised his hand up, "You butter him up! Right? Right?"

Sasha whined, "No more potato jokes!"

"If I'd stuck with the original plan then odds are my name would be synonymous with 'Titan Slayer' by now…." Eren moaned.

Sasha groaned, "I'd kill to have an afternoon snack…"

"I bet the going home club have all kinds of snack..." Connie sighed.

Jean scolded the three, "Stop writing on the window and clean them already."

"I'm a little surprised that a guy with a face like yours didn't join in on the drawing," Levi remarked.

'What kind of face…' Jean sullenly thought.

Armin added on, "Yeah. You heard what she said; we can't slack off!"

"I'm so jealous of those guys…" Eren sighed.

The screen showed Reiner fighting with an opponent in the Judo club, Bertolt taking a ball to the face in the volleyball club, Christa and Ymir hanging around in band and Annie in the student council. Ilse was spying on them outside the window.

'That is—' Hange stopped writing.

'Ilse Langnar?' Erwin unknowingly finished her thoughts.

"You know, Annie joined the Military Police." Armin started. "Do you think the student council is the Military Police?"

Jean nodded, "It would make sense. The student council is the face of the student body, and the Military Police is what people would think of when they thought of a special soldier."

"Then the Wall Cleanup club is—when the hell did we join the Garrison?!" Eren said in bewilderment.

"Maybe this represents the brief period where we team up with them at Trost?" Mikasa offered.

"Could be." Armin shrugged, "Though it will be ironic since Eren always made fun of the Garrison soldiers in Shiganshina about changing their job to 'Wall Maintenance Squad'."

Eren continued, "What I wouldn't give to be in their shoes…"

Two girls giggled as they walked past the group, "Seriously, who would join a club where they clean windows?"

Though they tried to whisper, everyone in the vicinity can hear them, "Maybe they are being punished for forgetting their homework or something."

"You are probably right. What a bunch of losers."

Hange wrinkled her nose, "Ugh, I hate these kinds of people the most. Purposefully talking out loud for their target to hear them."

"You of all people?" Levi raised a brow. Someone with Hange's level of eccentricity would've faced with these kinds of problems a lot. It really doesn't help that she's also too obsessed with Titans for her own good.

"Facing it a lot of times doesn't mean I have to like it."

Noticing Jean's shaking form, Armin spoke up, "Uh...Jean?"

Suddenly, Jean threw the rag down on the floor before jumping outside the window, "THIS CLUB IS LAME I'M OUTTA HERE!"

"Jean! This is the third floor!" Armin yelled. Jean, however, landed on his two feet perfectly fine even though all the bones in his body rattled.

"Don't even think about slacking off like that now that now are in the Survey Corp," Gunther advised. "Captain Levi will drag you back on your ass and have you clean the horse stalls with a toothbrush."

Ymir smirked, "Sounds like you are speaking from experience."

"Of course not," Gunther chuckled, "It was actually Oluo who—"

"Shut up, Gunther!"

Eren yelled, "Knock it off, Horse-face! We're not even done yet!"

"Heh. You idiots want to spend the rest of your life cleaning windows? Be my guest!"

"FIRST-YEARS!" Jean looked to the right at where Rico's voice was coming from. She was running on the roof of the building, "I clearly told you not to slack off!"

"Hey, is that—" Eren paused.

She jumped off the railing and sailed in midair before twisting around and anchored her maneuver gear to fly at Jean's horrified face before whacking him on the head with her signature broom. Jean fell a heap on the floor.

Eren guffawed along with the rest of the soldiers. "HAHA—Serve you right, Horse-face!"

"The gear is only missing the blades—though that is understandable since we aren't aiming to kill Titans in this world." Hange chuckled.

Rico landed gracefully a few meters from Jean and sneered, "When I give you an order, I expect you to see it through to the bitter end. Is that understood? We clean whatever the cost."

Levi remarked, "'We clean whatever the cost'...hmm. I like it. Maybe we should make that the Scout Regiment's motto. It will certainly raise everyone's spirits for the next Spring Cleaning."

"As...neat as your idea is, Levi, the Scout Regiment's goal is not for the liberation of cleanliness inside the Walls. It's humanities. Humanities." Erwin coughed delicately.

"RICOOO!" Eren screamed as he ran up to her, "What you just did was totally awesome!"

"You were totally flying like a bird!" Connie stretched out his arms and exclaimed.

Armin said, "I think I'm interested in learning how you pulled it off!"

"It's the coolest thing ever!" Sasha declared.

"You mean this old thing?" Rico looked down at the gear, "We called it vertical maneuvering equipment—the club's most coveted secret. It's used like this,"

Rico shoots up the side of the building and begins cleaning. "All the better to help scour down those hard-to-reach places."

"Well, that's one way to utilize the gear," Eld said in bemusement. "Captain Levi came up with it first, though."

Everyone seemed impressed by the ingenuity of the device except Mikasa, who kept her face blank.

'If I learn how to use this, it can help me bring down the Titans!" Eren thought excitedly.

Jean smirked, 'If I learn how to use this then I'll be the coolest guy on campus!'

'They are so predictable,' Petra mentally sweatdropped.

Rico jumped down. "Now quit screwing around! These windows aren't going to clean themselves—"

Both Eren and Jean immediately jumped into her face and yelled at the same time, "PLEASE TEACH ME HOW TO USE YOUR GEAR—HUH!?"

Eren glared, "I get to go first!"

"Whatever, jerk! But stop copying me!"

Armin called out to the two, "Both of you, please calm down!"

Sasha volunteered, "If they are going to be morons, then I'll go—"

"I see what you did there!" Connie exclaimed.

Rico deadpanned, "Wow. I'm dealing with a pack of idiots."

Ymir nodded along, "Couldn't have said it better myself."

She covers her ear with one hand and blocks the other one with her arm, which was holding a gun pointing upward. The shot fired out a pillar of red smoke and successfully gathers everyone's attention. Connie was on the ground, butt exposed.

"Disgusting!" Sasha yelped.

"Hey!"

Ymir covered Christa's eyes. "Christa. Don't look."

The guys were busy laughing while Hange commented, "It's a nice, shiny butt."

"'Mission failed?'" Armin referred to the red smoke round.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but until you can learn how to clean a window properly, vertical maneuvering equipment is out of bounds. Period. Now put aside juvenile things and make a mental note; you are to clean as though your lives depended on it. Show me that you understand by going back to work!" Rico took off, leaving the teenagers behind.

"Guess she told us, didn't she?" Armin smiled.

Connie mumbled, "I suppose you guys better go back to scrubbing windows."

"Don't you get it?!" Eren said with a stretched voice since Jean was pulling on his cheek. "We show Rico we know how to take window cleaning seriously and she'll teach us how to use the gear!"

Sasha sighed fondly, "What an optimistic simpleton."

"When we were younger, his solution to every problem is to butt heads with it until the problem finally cracks," Mikasa explained in a long-suffering tone. "Naturally, he's not right in the head most of the time."

"Mikasa! No one asked you!"

Eren ran back to the building, "Stand back, everybody! I'm gonna make these windows shine like they're on fire!"

Mikasa followed him, "If that's how you feel about it, then I'm right behind you!"

"Hey, hold up!" Jean yelled.

Sasha agreed, "I wanna make them shine like they're on fire too!"

"Hey, wait for me!"

"I'm inspired!" Armin said.

"Inspired?" Armin wondered.

The scene changed to Rico stomping on the stairs, "Ugh….idiotic first-years. The Wall Cleanup club is just a joke to those brats. Now, check up. I better not see so much as a streak—" A bright flash of light appeared as Rico turned the corner. She covered her left eye while peaking at the source, "Good heaven! What is this blinding angelic light?!"

"This is the result of what 'butt heads with it until the problem finally cracks' can do." Eren proudly smirked, "What do you think, Mikasa?!"

"You have six people and only a few windows to clean. It would be more disappointing if you didn't achieve at least something like that with me there."

Levi grunted, "Acceptable."

The window was shining beautifully. It's so beautiful that you can barely even see the window.

"Rico!" Eren called out. Rico turned to look at the shining sweat from the first-years who were sporting a proud look on their faces. All except Mikasa.

"I-It's so beautiful." Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. "Well done, bravo! Normally, only seconds and third years students are allowed to use the gear, but in your case, I'll gladly make an exception!"

Sensing where this is going, Eren excitedly started, "So we—"

"Yes. I'd be honored to teach you all how to soar through the air!" Rico smiled with determination.

"The gear is exclusive to the Wall Cleanup club," Petra noted, "So us Scouts doesn't have it. How do we conduct expeditions then? Are there even expeditions beyond the walls? And how do we fight against the Titans?"

"Hopefully it's not paper fans like Captain Levi." Eld smiled in amusement, "Hilarious as it may be, none of us would come out of that mess alive."

"YEAH!" They cheered. However, the smiling Eren was flipped on his head with a look of despair on his face. He'd failed to balance on the gear.

"Ah. It's that time." Eren moaned.

Hange perked up, "What time?"

"That's some shit results, even for a first-timer," Levi said. Mikasa glared at him from her seat,

"His gear was malfunctioned."

"Yeah," Eren nodded. "I almost failed my aptitude test because of this."

Levi nodded absentmindedly, "That so."

Mikasa and Armin stared at Eren who was hanging upside down, "W-Why am I—How do I work this thing? This can't be happening!"

"What is your major malfunction, Yeager?!" Rico asked. "Straighten yourself up!"

"Just remember the basics and you'll be fine," Mikasa advised.

Armin added, "Loosen up your stance a little bit. If I can do it, I know you can."

'That's it!' Eren slapped his cheek in determination. 'I'm gonna do it. I have to! I may not be as talented as the rest, but nobody, nobody has more guts! I'm not giving up! NOT WITHOUT A FIGHT!"

"You have impressive willpower, Eren," Petra commented.

"Thanks, Petra."

With a battle cry, Eren lifted himself straight and managed to stay upright. Rico and Armin were amazed, though Mikasa was unfazed by his efforts.

'I did it! I freaking did it! Huh—'

Eren lost balance and promptly fell flat on his face. "Eren!" Mikasa ran up to him.

"This is even more hilarious than the first time!" Jean squeezed out between peals of laughter.

"Never in my life have I seen a kid with less aptitude." Rico deadpanned.

"Eren's so athletic though...something must be throwing him off." Armin wondered.

"What's your trip-up, guys?" They heard Jean's voice coming from the direction of the Walls. He was hanging diagonally from the wall with a broom in his hand, "You've managed to screw up in every way imaginable. Short of accidental equipment related brokage. Face it, man. I'm better than you. I mean—it's no big deal, really. Some people are just born with skills."

Christa frowned, "There's no need to be such a jerk about it, though."

"Don't forget Eren basically said the same thing on his first day," Ymir snorted, "Something about how the weak have to leave...funny how he almost went himself right after."

Connie flew to one section of the wall, "This is my side of the wall!"

"I'm right behind ya!" Sasha followed suit.

Jean chased after Connie, "Hey! Quit showing off!"

"Argh, look at them! Those jerks…" Eren growled.

"Getting mad about it isn't gonna solve a thing," Armin advised. "There's still time to get some practice in tomorrow morning."

"Either way, to stay in the club means he has to master the gear. Wall Cleanup is only for students who have balance." Rico said.

Armin was startled, "W-What happens if he sucks at it?"

"What do you think happens? He'll be put in some other club." Rico declared.

"No, please!" Eren stood up from his position on the floor. "Just give me a chance!"

"I don't make the rules. The weak simply has no place here."

Eren wisely ignored the snorts from his other classmates.

"No…" Eren whispered in despair. "I'm pathetic. How can I even stand up to the Titans if I can't even stand up straight?"

"Maybe it's time to let that dream die."

Eren's expression fell flat like a pancake, "Ah, I remember this."

Eren looked up to Mikasa in surprise. "What? What do you mean?!"

"I think you should give up this attempt to be a hero."

"What are you saying?! After everything you saw that day—everything that the Titans took from us—" a flash of the Colossal Titan eating Eren's lunch was shown, "—you're nuts if you think I'm just gonna run away!"

"Look. It doesn't matter how determined you are."

Eren angrily demanded, "Huh?! What are you talking about?!"

"Because whether or not you are fit to be a window cleaner isn't up to you."

Levi muttered, "Give him to me for a few days and I'll whip him into shape."

Armin wondered, "Setting Jean aside, even Connie has mastered the gear, so clearly it's not a question of intellect or equilibrium. Perhaps there are undetectable flaws within the gear itself?"

"I think I'm offended." Connie huffed.

Rico glared at the blond boy, "That's ridiculous! Our predecessors took a hundred and seven years to perfect this equipment! When the R&D ran out they dug into their own pockets. They went without juice, man. They went without juice!"

"Well, they definitely have my respects," Levi said.

"I thought that our gear was created seventy-something years ago?" Jean blinked.

Petra hummed, "Good observation. Thanks."

"They really wanted the Walls clean!"

Rico confidently claimed, "There is no chance of this gear being flawed whatsoever! It is the fruit of geniuses! In fact, I'm so confident that the gear cannot be to blame that I'm willing to stand upside down and eat spaghetti through my nostrils—"

"Oh she's so gonna get it~!" Eren gleefully said.

Rico saw the malfunctioned gear part on Eren's belt, 'Oh. Well, that's the problem right there!'

Mikasa asked, "What's the matter?"

"GAH!" Rico jolted.

"I'm no expert, but…" Mikasa stared at Rico with a deadly look in her eyes, "It looks to me like the gear he has on is absolutely to blame."

"Is the dark and gloomy aura an Ackerman trait or something?" Sasha whispered. "If so, I think I never want to meet her other families."

Hange laughed, "Reminds me of Levi back in the days! He looks like he was ready to slice Mike in half for stuffing his face into the mud—"

The scientist quickly dodged the foot aiming at her face. The recruits, particularly Eren, was very curious but none dared to ask lest he turned his wrath on the wrong person.

Rico started sweating bullets, 'Oh crap what am I gonna do what am I gonna do what am I gonna do what am I gonna do—'

"Somebody messin' with ya?"

"Hey, Hannes!" Eren cried.

Petra frowned, "He's drinking on the job."

"Did you got on Mikasa's bad side today?"

"What makes you think taht—UGH you reek of booze!" Eren quickly covered his nose. "Wait a minute, what are you even doing here!?"

"Huh? What are cha talkin' about, son? Who the heck do you think the faculty advisor is for this club?"

"What?! You gotta be kidding me!"

"Shaddap! Take dat rig off and let me have a crack at it."

Christa chuckled despite herself, "Oh, no…"

Rico protested, "Er...wait…"

"Fine. Do you even know what you are dealing with?"

Hannes laughed, "Oh come one. Gimme some credit here. They didn't put me in charge of the Wall Cleanup club yestahday, you know?"

"Um….excuse me…"

Hannes put Eren's gear on. "There we are. Alright, now pay attention to this old man who can teach you some new tricks!"

The man shot off before Rico could get a word in. Armin was amazed, "Woah! Look at Hannes goes! He's amazing!"

"So he's not just your average everyday boozehound!"

"Nope." Eren shook his head. "He's changed now, but he's still your average everyday boozehound."

"HAHAHA What do ya think of me now? Am I cool or what?" The malfunctioning part of the gear exploded, and Hannes lost his balance as he went flying through the air.

Jean argued, "Don't even act like you weren't going to cheat just now! I found this spot first! I called dibs you jerks!"

Sasha laughed, "That's adorable. Sorry Jean, all's fair in love and housekeeping! Calling dibs...it's first come first serve doofus!"

"D-Did you just call me an idiot, Ninth?!"

"Ranking doesn't have anything to do with this, Sixth."

Eren smirked, "Technically, both of you are more of a doofus than I am. Don't worry, if there's anything you don't understand, call on Master Fifth and I'll consider answering."

"You wanna go at it, asshole?!"

"Bring it on, Horse-face!"

Mikasa coughed quietly, "You were saying?"

Connie whisper-shouted, "The First is here~bow down you insolent pigs!"

"I'm onto you, Potato Girl! Don't bring your hunter logic into this!"

"POTATO?!"

Hannes slammed into Jean and knocking both of them on the floor with a large crash.

"Hannes! Are you okay?" Hannes suddenly clutched Eren's hand tightly and solemnly said.

'I think this happens when he couldn't save my mother back then.' Eren gloomily thought.

"Eren. There's nothing you could've done about it. You are a kid. You're weak."

Eren sweatdropped, "Actually...I was practicing earlier."

"Don't beat yourself up. I'm far worse." Hannes suddenly cried and screamed into Eren's face, "When push comes to shove I'm just too heavy!"

Eren turned his face away and shouted, "UGH YOU STINKS!"

Eren smiled in amusement, 'Did he drink then, too?'

Rico screamed and ran up to Hannes, "What have you done?! The gear was perfectly fine!"

"Saved by a drunkard; Rico got lucky." Petra chuckled.

He looked the malfunctioned part, "Well, I'll be damned."

"Oh, you're such a mess. Whatever are we going to do with you? I'll just have to mend that myself after class." She hastily turned around and pushed the first-years away. "That's it for today, everyone! We're done here!"

"What's got you so worked up?" Mikasa inquired.

"None of your business! I said we're done so so home or...wherever!"

The next day, Eren easily hung on the gear, "I can do it now...Yes! I don't know what's different from yesterday but I can totally do it now!"

'Idiot'. Oluo thought.

"Nice Eren!" Sasha shouted. Rico breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, Rico? Does this mean I can stay? I can be in the Wall Cleanup club?"

"Uh yeah, you passed. Nice job! Now keep training."

'Check it out, Mikasa,' Eren thought triumphantly, 'I'm doing it. I can fight the Titans all by myself. You don't have to worry about me anymore.'

Mikasa looked down. Eren was always complaining about how she was too 'motherly' with him, and while she was not happy with his verbal opinions, hearing it directly from his thought like this hurts.

Jean frowned, 'Stupid asshole, taking things for granted. You think he would've learned to appreciate things more after his mother died.'

"I think I'm actually glad things worked out for him." Jean smiled.

Armin added, "His eyes are totally saying 'check me out'!"

"Nuh-uh," Mikasa shook her head, "What his eyes are really saying is that he doesn't have to leave me anymore."

"Um…" Eren started, but even he isn't sure what is the proper reaction to this. Should he scream? Shiver? Demand an explanation? A mixture of everything?

Mikasa shrinks into her scarf, avoiding Eren's searching gaze at all cost.

The other four was speechless at Mikasa's strange line of thought.

"What the—" Sasha suddenly dropped on the floor and listened to the sound. It was some strong footsteps.

Jean snorted, "Are you an animal?"

"Of course not! I can hear danger coming from all direction by doing that. Cool, huh?" Sasha puffed out her chest.

"Your senses are sharp." Erwin commented, "With time you can even rival Mike."

Sasha flushed, "Thank you, Commander Erwin."

Jean mumbled, "Do I even want to know what you are doing?"

Sasha suddenly opened her eyes, "Gigantic footsteps are heading this way super fast!"

Rico turned around and immediately barked out orders, "Move away from the walls, now!"

Two Titans with paint spray bottles and paint brushes ran to the wall. "The Titans are coming!"

"Stay where you are," Rico warned as the two Titans reached the walls.

Eren asked, "What are they doing with the spray paints?!"

The Titans began spraying the walls and aggressively drawing on it. Sasha exclaimed, "They are attacking the Walls! Those jerks…"

"OH HOLY MARIA ARE YOU GUYS SEEING WHAT I'M SEEING?!" Hange drooled, "Titans are drawing! That's so awesome!"

Levi growled in annoyance and quickly wipe his hands with a handkerchief, "Your slobber is getting everywhere!"

"Yes...now you see what we're dealing with. Their graffiti is the reason this club was founded. Someone has to clean up after the wide-spread vandalism. It's an eyesore. Several students decided to take matters into their own hands. Their names were Alyosha, Dominic, Fine, Isabel, Ludwig, Martina, Guido, and Hans—founding members of the Wall Cleanup club."

"When we were headed towards the boulder," Eren began, "Rico talked about how her colleagues aren't faceless pawn. TV-Rico talks about the founding members of the Wall Cleanup club from 107 years ago. Isn't it strange?"

Petar hmmed, "I'll write that down."

Eren snarled and snatch the broom from Mikasa's hand. "Sorry, I have to do this!"

"Eren! Wait!"

Rico screamed, "Don't be a fool, Yeager!"

Eren flew up towards the Titans. Rico turned to her recruits and asked, "Did anyone did him how to use the gear while my back was turned?!"

They shook their heads synonymously.

"You are so dead." Connie shook his head.

Eren charged with a battle cry, "I can do this! As long as I'm wearing this gear the Titans won't even have time to pray—"

Suddenly, the gas stop emitting from his canister as Eren fell downward and was pulled through the red paintbrush on the tall Titan's hand. He smashed into the graffiti, screaming all the while. Eren then fell flat on the grass below.

Chuckles were heard, and Eren curses his other self's idiocy.

"As if you wouldn't do the same thing, Yeager." Levi rolled his eyes.

Mikasa worriedly ran up to him, "Eren!"

"Way to go." Jean flatly said.

Armin sweatdropped, "Guess it goes to show how important practice is."

Rico facepalmed, "I've bitten off more than I can chew...He'd have to be trained from scratch…"

The Titans, finished with their job, went back to the building. Eren screamed, "Yeah, you better run! Next time you won't have it so easyyyyyy!"

Everyone giggled.

The Titans wrote 'soft-boiled eggs' on the Walls.

"Why soft-boiled egg, though?" Christa wondered. But no one has an answer to her question.

"—so the prince took Cinderella back to his castle and they lived happily ever after. Interesting, eh?" Kuro ended the story, cackling.

"I don't get it." Shiro blankly asked, "What does that have to do with the reason you are doing this?"

"Oh, after I finished reading that I was soooo bored so I thought that I might as well go around and wreak havoc. Tee-hee-hee." Kuro smiled cutely and stuck out her tongue even though they weren't on a video call.

"..."

The other side went strangely silent for a moment, "Shiro?"

"..."

"Shiiiroooo...where are you?"

"..."

"Let me tell ya another story. So there's this girl called Snow White and—"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU YOU HALF-ASSED PIECE OF SHIT! YOU MADE ME LISTEN TO AN ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS STORY AND DESTROY MY WORLD JUST BECAUSE YOU FELT LIKE IT?! I'LL END YOUR MISERABLE EXISTENCEEEE!"

A strange static sound buzzed on the other side. Seems like Shiro broke her phone. Again.

"Well, whoopsie." Kuro laughed as she went back to organizing her yaoi collections.

"We didn't learn much in this episode." Hange summarized. "Hopefully the next few will be different."

"Let's get on to the next episode, shall we?" Erwin asked.

Before he clicked play, Armin spoke up. "A moment please, sir!"

'Did he figure something out?' Erwin paused in his action as he noticed everyone's eyes are on Armin. "What is it, Arlert?"

"Sir, I think we have a method to determine who is the traitor amongst us." Armin started.

Everyone tensed. Sasha narrowed her eyes, "What are you getting at, Armin?"

"We know Titan Shifters heals, right?" When everyone nodded, he continues, "Then, we can make a wound on them, and if it heals, then they are the traitors."

"That easy?!" Petra mumbled, surprised.

"What if the enemy shifters can control their own regeneration rate?" Erwin challenged.

"I don't think they can since Eren can't. The wound on Eren's hand healed immediately when he stabs it at the beginning of the episode." Armin held out Eren's and Jean's hand for everyone else to see. "Jean's hand, however, is still in the process of healing."

Christa gasped, "You stabbed yourself, Jean?!"

"It was necessary." And he left it at that.

Erwin nodded, "I see. This could work."

Eren smiled, "Then let's do it immediately, sir—"

Before he could get another word in, Levi suddenly appeared in front of Eren and kicked him in the gut. The Titan shifter kneeled down in agony and nearly vomited. He was incredibly fast, so none of them saw it before it was too late.

"Eren!" Mikasa shouted in alarm before taking her swords out and aimed it at Levi. "What do you think—?!"

"Stand down, Ackerman." Levi's tone broke no rooms for argument. Armin's voice can be heard in the background, worrying over Eren.

"You—"

Erwin sent a look at Mikasa, "That's a direct order from your superior. Obey."

Seeing Mikasa finally subdued, Levi looked at Eren, "You know why I punished you?"

"No, sir…" Eren weakly replied, still recovering from the shock. He would've vomited since they've been eating a lot, but he knew his captain won't be happy if he vomits on the carpet floor.

"You dare to cut yourself without permission from me," Levi stated plainly. "I told you once before, didn't I? You are owned by the Survey Corp now. I am your supervisor. You don't have control over yourself, I do. What if you turned into a Titan by that stupid decision, huh? In a small room like this, we'd be squashed. Your childhood friends, your squadmates, your superiors. Are you ready to shoulder that?"

Everyone in the room was quiet. Mikasa was still glaring, but the intensity of her gaze clearly dropped a little. Even Hange is solemn unlike normal. Erwin chose to let Levi discipline his men instead of getting involved.

"I—" Eren choked, "I—I'm sorry, Captain. I didn't think that far ahead."

"I'm also at fault, sir!" Armin cried, "I was the one who brought that topic up when we were talking earlier."

"If—If that's the case, then part of it also lies with me." Jean lowly said even though his posture screamed 'fear', "I cut myself first, so Eren also cut himself. I apologize for my actions, sir." Jean bowed deeply.

"I didn't stop them, so I'm equally at fault." Mikasa didn't bother to bow to Levi, but she did put her swords away.

The staring contest went on before Levi sighed, "As long as you've learned your lessons."

"This doesn't mean I forgive you for harming Eren when you should be protecting him, Shorty."

Hange choked on her spit. Levi was irritated but didn't allow himself to react to the girl's taunts. He turned to his squad, "You guys, too. How did none of you pick up on the fact that the brat cut himself?"

"We are sorry, Captain…" His squad looked down guiltily like a pack of kicked puppies.

"I expect you to do better next time."

"Yessir…"

Erwin coughed, "Now that is out of the way, I think that Arlert's method is worth a try, isn't it? Everyone, please line up and hold out your arms. We will do a quick trial before watching the next episode."

Ymir's eye twitched, 'Oh hell no.'

Thanks for the three people who reviewed the last chapter! This chapter is really, really late (it's been over a month) and I'm sorry. Real life sucks, my future hits me like a sledgehammer (hey that doesn't rhyme), and school has been pretty stressful though there's literally nothing to get stressed out about. Human psychology is pretty weird. On another note, holy crappp is anyone watching Season 3?! It's pretty fucking epic and lol I can't wait for the poor anime lads to finally catch up on SnK events XD. Erwin's scream was awesome and the Colossal Titan was absolutely majestic! Too bad WIT Studio is considering to drop this series, so it might be the last season...

This has to be the longest chapter I've done so far, and considering how late I am, it's worth it. I'm currently typing this while listening to Levi's 'The Dark Side of the Moon'. Oh, and did you know that some of the AoT characters have their own songs? I certainly don't! Levi's voice was a little young though, but I really don't mind.

I'm really glad you like the last chapter! I mentioned 'chase' specifically because I didn't want to use 'capture' since the two got away and no, they weren't chasing for a specific titan in the 57th expedition like you said. The Scouts misunderstood (that happens when you are too confident in your secret plans lol) that this 'chase' will happen during the expedition when in reality we know that it won't. About the Trost references, here's my response:

1) Too broad; they'll never be able to connect the two. And this is Connie we are talking about. I doubt he'd remember what he said and everyone would be confused when a giant blob of Titan broke down your home and your friends are dying left and right.

2) I have no idea what you mean by this.

3) That one was kinda obvious? I mean it would be a little far-fetched to get them to connect every little event to one another, so I'm only focusing on the ones that really stand out from the rest.

4) I totally forgot about that lol

5) I also didn't remember this one ;))

As for that last reference...yeah I have no excuse. I didn't even connect the game of dodgeball to the boulder scene if you hadn't pointed it out.

So yeah, this story is made with the purpose for everyone to scream out "This is some BS!" so obviously it's not going to be serious or the likes. As for the next chapter, I'll probably update sometime in late June or early July, so you can look forward to that.

So how was the chapter? Please leave a review; they are the snow that warms us authors in the winter, ink to wash clothes in the spring, extra assignments in the summer, leaves to clean in the fall—well you get the idea.