The carriage bumped along the dirt road, making the ride from the Survey Corp Headquarters to the mysterious Atlas Corp. facility all the more uncomfortable. Sitting inside was Commander Erwin and Captain Levi on one side, and Squad Leaders Hange and Mike on the other.
Hange was the only one chattering away excitedly, but that was only to be expected. After all, it wasn't every day the scientific woman got to meet a whole horde of experimental titan shifters. She wanted to learn everything about this research and was just itching to get her hands on it. Mike and Erwin would reply to her every now and again, just to pass the time, but Levi vehemently refused to involve himself in the irritating monologue Hange was spewing out of her mouth. Instead he watched outside the window and scowled at the trees and plant life.
It wasn't until the Captain spotted something up ahead that he finally spoke.
"If that's where we're heading, I'm turning this carriage around now," Levi growled, earning the attention of the others, who all eagerly leaned over to stare at the building coming up beside them.
"Well, they did say they were performing this experiments in secrecy. I could understand why they would chose such an inconspicuous location for them," Erwin admitted.
"More like disgusting," Levi grumbled under his breath, glaring at the overgrown ivy and cracks in the rough concrete building.
When the carriage finally stopped, the group of officials got out and noticed the other carriages parked nearby. Seems they were the last ones to the party, judging by the Garrison and Military Police insignias on the doors.
"Oh, don't be such a downer today, Levi! We're getting the opportunity of a life-time!" squealed the brunette happily, but the Captain continued to growl about the state of the place.
When they reached the steel door, it swung open and revealed two men in unfamiliar matching uniforms and identical blank expressions. They stepped aside and allowed the Survey Corp group to enter the compound.
Niles and two of his subordinates along with Pixis and his assistants were already there, as they suspected. They seemed to be having a conversation while their soldiers stood idly by, looking very nervous.
Erwin's group joined them and the commanders ended their talk and turned to the newcomers.
"Ah, Erwin, good to see you've finally arrived!" cheered Pixis, cheeks tinted red. "Now, we're only waiting on that woman."
"What took you so long anyway? Doubt the traffic was rough," Niles asked, snidely, seems someone was still bitter about being left with a mob of angry townsfolk.
The blonde merely shrugged, choosing to ignore Dawk's hostile attitude. "Left a bit later than expected, but we're here, aren't we? And considering our host hasn't arrived, we aren't technically late."
Nile's grumbled but didn't reply. Suddenly the door to the right of the room opened and the woman of the hour stepped through, flanked on her left by a stoic Rogue. At the sight of the titan shifter, the subordinates stepped back, weary of the stories they'd heard about the boy, but the officers didn't even bat an eye.
"Oh, how lovely, you've all arrived!" Violet exclaimed in faux excitement.
"Hello, Ms. Drake, and how are you this fine morning?" Pixis asked politely.
Violet grinned at the old man. "I'm just wonderful, thank you for asking. Now, I'm sure you're all anxious to get this little tour started, so if you would just follow me through this door, I'll show you our research laboratory."
Hange was practically jumping at this, but the others only sighed. They had been hoping to see the other titans first.
As the group was passing through the doorway, Erwin spared a glanced at the boy, who was silently crossing the room to another door, but before he slipped through he shot a look back as well, catching Erwin's gaze. The look on the boy's face was impassive but Erwin thought he saw a flash of emotion that suspiciously looked like hope. The look and the boy were gone in a matter of seconds, leaving the commander to ponder the interaction.
"Ms. Drake, where was Rogue going?" the blonde asked as they entered a long corridor and began walking. The windows to the rooms had been blacked out, preventing anyone seeing inside.
"Oh, he's going back down to the training area with the rest of the shifters. I had a conversation with him this morning, which was the only reason he was on the ground level at all," Violet explained off-handedly.
"And you just let them roam freely around the facility?" asked Niles incredulously.
Violet simply laughed at that. "No, no, Rogue is the only one allowed on this level by himself, and even then, we still have guards stationed in case anything were to happen. But Rogue has proven his trustworthiness more than once, so he has earned some freedom."
Erwin didn't like the sound of that, and judging from his colleagues faces neither did they, though probably for different reasons. The fact that these shifters had to earn their freedom, made them seem like criminals and it didn't give the Survey Corp officials a good feeling.
For now, they had to play along and listen to whatever Violet was explaining if they wanted to get anywhere. They get their answers eventually.
Walking down the steps toward the lower levels, Eren thought over how this turn of events would affect his plan.
He hadn't accounted for Violet wanting to take Gwen back. After all, she had proven more than once that she held no sympathy for the shifters, even in Eren's case. How was he to know she would find a way to take Gwen out of the military's custody? How could he have accounted for the military just handing her over? He had considered every possible outcome, even Gwen's possible execution, but this one seemed so unlikely he'd let it slip past him. That was his biggest mistake.
Eren groaned in frustration and stopped on the stairwell, thankful the guards no longer felt the need to follow him everywhere. He clutched his white hair and ground his teeth in irritation. This was not how this was supposed to play out.
If Armin were here, he would have thought of such a better plan and actually accounted for everything, Eren thought bitterly to himself. The dull ache in his chest flaring up again at the thought of his old friend.
The boy shook his head and jerked straight. No, this wasn't the time to wallow in old memories or berate himself for his mistake. He had to come up with another plan and fast. Originally, he had hoped to use Gwen to convince the Survey Corp into raiding the compound and freeing the shifters, or at least make enough of a distraction for them to escape during the chaos. If they could have gotten to the upper levels, they could have shifted and ran for freedom with the guards too distracted by the soldiers. They all had better control over their transformation so it would have been easy. Maybe that's where his plans fell apart. It was too easy for them escape if everything had gone right. And that's where his flaw resided.
Letting out a sigh, he continued toward his destination. When he reached the bottom, he turned and swiftly opened the door the training cavern, putting his blank face on. All the other shifters were there, doing more playing than fighting, even Mathias was there, chained to the wall, and watching them predatorily.
When Eren descended the stairs, he was greeted by a fist flying into his face and the maniacal cackling coming from its source. With little change in expression, Eren dodged the punch and countered it, sending the attacker flying off to the side.
A growl ripped up Riah's throat as she crouched on the ground, slit-pupil eyes flashing with madness and sharp teeth exposed as she smiled widely at him. Her long, fleshy tail whipped around behind her in excitement.
"Look, our great leader has returned from the almighty bitch! How was the chat, Rogue? How is our wonderfully benevolent queen, hm?" she giggled hysterically, head tilting to the side and ears twitching.
Eren rolled his eyes, too use to Riah's nonsense to care. Instead, he turned to the rest of them, who all stood by, watching the scene with varying expressions of anxiety, indifference or calm ignorance.
"The commanders of the three military branches are here," Eren stated. He saw the only sane shifters exchanging looks, while the others either weren't listening or didn't care about the news. Normally, this wouldn't phase the boy but today was not a day for anything to be goofing off.
"PAY ATTENTION!" he snapped, his commanding voice echoing in the cavernous room and freezing all the shifters into shocked attention. A shiver traveled down each of their spines as they were forced to obey, even Riah jolted to her feet and Mathias cowered in his corner, eyes locked on Eren.
The boy huffed in annoyance but continued, "This is a very crucial day, do you all understand that? This could be our chance to leave this damn place, but if you don't do as I say, they might just kill us off."
"T-They wouldn't do that, w-would they?" Gwen stammered, nervously. "I mean, Ms. Drake went to all the trouble to get me back, s-so she won't let them kill us right?"
"I don't know, Gwen, but I think if she was forced to by the military, she'd kill us off and start over," said Eren, bluntly. "The most it would be for her is an inconvenience."
A growl started in the dark corner and Eren looked over at Mathias, who was snarling at the topic of conversation. The insane boy may not participate in the talk, but he could still understand what they were saying.
A sudden hiss sounded from the shadows and Piers materialized out of the blackness, pale face etched with pain while thin tentacles of darkness attempted to swat at his ankle. Attached to his leg was tiny Sophia gnawing at his skin.
"Will sssssomeone, get this disssgusting creature off me?" Piers hissed out, his cold speech resembling that of a snake. He tried to shake off the offending parasite, but the girl latched on harder and bit deeper into his flesh, sending a volley of steam into the air.
Lily sighed and marched over to grab Sophia around the torso. The blonde quickly yanked her off and tossed her to the side where the cannibal started chewing at the bit of flesh she'd managed to tear off the boy. Piers growled at her and bent to check his wound.
"There, happy?" snapped Lily, before turning to Gwen. "You should watch that beast more closely, Gwen, she's your sister after all. I'm sure you don't want her to end up like Mathias."
"I-I know. I'm sorry," Gwen replied, going to her sister's side to quietly scold her for her actions.
"So about this stupid visit. You want us to act like good little boys and girls for these military douchebags? Am I getting that right?" sneered Lily, arms crossed. Next to her, Dove was sat on the floor staring up at the ceiling and swaying from side to side.
"Oh! OH! I can be a good girl and boy! Hee hee!" Hannah laughed. "Get it! Get it! HA!"
"Why don't you shut up, bitch," challenged Riah, stalking toward her oldest friend, that manic look on her face again.
"You wanna go! Fight me!" Hannah retaliated, jumping to her feet and getting into the same crouched position as her friend.
"Will you two knock it off, this is serious," said Gabriel, greatly displeased.
"You're just saying that 'cause you're Rogue's little side hoe," Riah taunted, egging on the lightning shifter. One of Riah's favorite pastime was teasing the other shifters into a fight.
Gabriel simply rolled his eyes, not taking the bait.
"Enough, Mariah," Eren intervened, growing tired of her antics. "It's been decided that you, Mathias, Sophia, and Dove are to stay in your rooms until the inspection is over, understood?"
"Whaaaaaaat? I don't get to scare those little humans? Not fair, Rogue!" groaned Riah. From the darkness, Mathias growled in agreement.
"Why does Dove have to go? She's not a danger," Lily argued.
"No, but Violet doesn't want them figuring out the extent of her 'experiements'," said Eren. "That means anyone who was significantly affected, which includes your sister."
Lily growled under her breath, still very much displeased.
"Don't complain, it's Violet's orders," Eren stated, before turning to his second in command. "Gabriel, make sure everyone behaves while I take these four back to the cells. No shifting and no fighting."
At those last words, Eren locked eyes with each of them, intimidating them into understanding. Andy and Gwen were quick to look down in submission, Lily and Piers looked him dead in the eye, while Hannah was too focused on something else in the room to notice. Eren sighed and shook his head, before turning and going to unlock Mathias' chains.
"Oh and before I forget." Eren went to Gabriel's side, whispering instructions for his new plan in his ear. When he pulled away Gabriel was staring at him, conflicted but determined to follow through with what he was told.
"Come on, Riah, don't be difficult," Rogue said, guiding Mathias up the stairs, while Dove helped Sophia at a safe distance. The Razor titan wouldn't dare attack Rogue but the others were another story.
Mariah growled and rolled her eyes, before following along, staying closer to the two girls but between the two groups. She may be bat-shit crazy but there was still a protective streak in her when it came to her weaker friends. Gabriel watched them leave and worried about how this would play out. They were playing a dangerous game, but as long as Eren was confident they would escape, he would follow without question. It wasn't like he had a choice anyway.
"These notes are so detailed! And look at all this equipment! Do you know how long it would take for me to get things like this!" Hange squealed, much to the irritation of the rest of the group. The woman was flitting around the room, bothering the few scientists still working and bouncing with questions for them and for Violet, who seemed only too pleased to answer.
"Will you shut up, Four Eyes? You're giving me a headache," grumbled Levi, rubbing his temples. They had been given the tour through most of the facility and truthfully it was all dull. "As fascinating as all this is, it's not exactly the reason we're here."
"Yes, when are we going to be meeting these titan shifters you talked about," Pixis asked, politely.
"Oh, well I suppose if we're done here, we can go see them now," said their host, gliding past them and through the door to the laboratory. The rest followed, with Levi half dragging Hange away.
"Finally," muttered Niles to his subordinates. "Thought she'd never get around to it."
"I should warn you, they may be training at the moment, so they'll be a bit…preoccupied when we arrive," Violet advised, as she led them to the main room again and unlocked the opposite door.
When the group reached the stairs, and began their descent, there was suddenly a thunderous noise from the bottom and several more crashes and booms that startled the group. The only one not concerned was Violet, who only smiled.
"I did warn you," was all she said. The commanders exchanged cautious looks while their underlings shook nervously. Hange, Mike and Levi remained calm. Well as calm as Hange could be at the moment.
Violet stopped at the door, giving them one last smug look, before swinging the door open and revealing the chaos below and causing jaws to drop.
Two massive titans, both at least fifteen meters and male in proportions, were in close combat in the center of the giant training arena. One seemed normal looking, with short dark hair and eyes completely white and blank. Small jolts of white energy jumped across its muscles and occasionally pulsed from its eyes. Apart from the nakedness and the strange electricity, this titan appeared somewhat similar to a human, its opponent however, was an entirely different story.
Across the circle, watching the other titan wearily, was probably the most haunting titan any of the soldiers had ever encountered. It was completely skinless, exposing ropes of muscle and tendons, but that wasn't the most disturbing feature. What drew the eyes of the humans were the rows of exposed ribs on the monster's chest as well as the skull-like helmet that encased its head, shadowing its eyes but leaving the fleshy mouth open. Off to the side, sat the other shifters, switching between watching the fight and staring at the humans apprehensively.
The soldiers were completely astounded by the monstrosities, some of them having never been this close to a titan before. Violet watched their expressions with a smug grin on her face.
"The one on the right is Lightening, one of the young men I brought to the courtroom if you remember. The left is named Bones, surprisingly their human form is female but for some reason their titan form is male," Violet introduced, thoughtfully.
"I must admit, they're quite impressive," Pixis stated, taking a generous swig from his flask before one of his assistants confiscated it.
"Their magnificent!" Hange shrieked, practically drooling over them. "Oh, I have to take a better look!"
Hange was quick was bolt down the stairs and toward the fighting titans, only to be stopped at the edge of the arena by two armed guards. The rest of the group was cautious as they descended, eyes glued to the fighting titans, who had engaged in hand to hand combat.
"Please, miss, we can't allow you to come any closer. It could be dangerous," one of the guards, sternly.
"Are you afraid they'll attack us?" Nile asked, suspiciously. His two men were the furthest away from the creatures and looking the most afraid.
The guard simply shook his head. "They won't attack us directly, but they can get out of hand when they fight. They don't exactly pay the closest attention to the ground."
As if to prove their point, Bones stumbled from a low kick sent by its opponent and nearly crushed into the group of watching titan shifters, who had to dodge out of the way quickly and scrambled to the other side of the arena.
"Ah! Angel, it's so good to see you again!" Hange exclaimed, ignoring the fight long enough to embrace Gwen in a tight hug.
"It's good to see you too, Hange," gasped Gwen, struggling to breathe.
"Let her go, Four Eyes, before you suffocate her," scolded Levi.
Hange giggled but released the poor girl. The other shifters stayed a good distance away, watching the humans just as closely as the humans were watching them.
Before they could introduce themselves, the fight between the titans escalated and everyone's attention returned to them.
Light had the other in a head lock so tight it cracked its exposed skull. Bones clawed and tried to break the hold, sending its elbow back and knocking Light away, both titans wheezing from their encounter. This seemed to be the line because Bones stood straight and reached for its chest and, to the shock of the human audience, ripped two rib bones out from the base. It held them like swords before launching them toward Light.
This is where it all went to hell.