CHAPTER 3 – Gone
Luke felt the cold wind brush against his face, which calmed and soothed him. He just insulted his boss and could get court-martialed for that… But that wasn't on his mind anymore. His mind circled back to Sky. Was she okay ? Was she safe ? Was she wounded ? Was she… Dead ? Luke's anxiety rose and he felt and he felt a knot tie up in his stomach. He heard a grapple hook being shot behind him. The wire flew like a bullet through the air on his left side and grappled a building nearby. Diana appeared beside him shortly after. ''You okay, kid..? '' she asked. Luke sighed deeply, shaking his head in denial, negating the fact that he was okay. ''No I am not… My sister might be dead or dying and I'm not there to help her ! I'll probably die in this mission according to what Michael said and everyone keeps calling me reckless and saying that I put others in danger and it makes me feel like shit !'' at the same time of that exclamation, he slammed his sword against a building so hard that he broke it half. ''Fuck !'' he spotted a titan below him and released the blade, replacing it with a new one. He made a full circle around the building he was hooked on and and let go. Gravity pulled him down and he grappled the side of the titan's neck, starting to circle the titan. He looked around the street, analysing. The street was narrow and wasn't the best place for maneuvers but still, Luke reeled in on the precise moment he was passing over the titan's shoulder. When he got to the nape, he sliced it off swiftly and accurately. He flied back to the roof where Diana was watching him from. She looked at him, analysing every point of his face. After a bit, she said ''You see kid, you've got skills, you're smart and intelligent but you're too defying and stubborn. You simply don't care. And that could get you killed. You have to pay more attention and remember who you're fighting. You have to listen more. Instead of only following your guts, follow your guts, your senses AND what others say. You'll do better like that'' she cleaned a stream of hot titan blood from his cheek with her thumb. ''Let's go, before we get late'' they bloth flew away to the Facility.
-Meanwhile, with Michael and Raven-
As they fly to the Research Facility, they kill every titan in their way there. They stop at a safe spot with supplies to recharge blades and battery and to drink water. They sat down to rest for a bit and Michael finally spoke. ''So, what's your story ? What got you here ?'' Raven shrugged before saying ''The usual… My parents died during the titan invasion in the city of Octavia and I want to avenge them. It's the least I can do for them'' Michael stared at her for a bit ''Wow… I'm sorry for asking..'' Raven shook her head ''No problem. It's okay, really. Hey hum… Can you go easy on him ? Don't be so harsh with him. He's kind of a time bomb. And he's gonna end blowing himself up.'' Michael chuckled ''Yeah okay but if he screws up really bad, I won't be patting him in the back. Oh, by the way. Want to know what's in that box ? I can't keep the secret anymore and you guys deserve to know.'' Michael said as he turned on the communicator on his ear so that the whole team could listen. ''Titan serum'' and even though everyone was in different spots of the town, they all froze and their eyes widened, except for Michael. ''Titan serum..?'' asked Lilianne, chocked ''W-what is humanity doing with that…?'' she stuttered. ''Experimenting. Ever heard of Eren Jeager ?'' Raven nodded ''Yeah. That titan kid from 1200 years ago, right ?'' Michael nodded ''Yup. We're fighting fire with fire. We're using titans to fight titans.'' Michael declared. Lilianne thought for a bit. ''That seems risky… What if the serum goes wrong and just spawns off a normal, derpy, blood-thirsty titan ?'' she asked. ''That has to do with the genetics of every person injected with the serum. Some are compatible and some aren't. But we improved the titan serum a whole lot so the possibilities of creating a titan shifter are bigger now, even though they're still kind of small'' explained Michael. Diana called out ''Guys… Trouble incoming… And it's not good at all…'' she said, with her eyes put on the wall. Around 30 soldiers were standing on top of it. Some of the soldiers threw the corpses of the defeated Garrison troop that was manning the cannons off the wall. ''Assholes. Jerks. Filthy shits…'' said Raven, enraged by their arrogance. ''Wait. Are those Anti-Humans..?'' asked Luke, watching as the soldiers on top of the wall load their handguns and sawed off shotguns. ''I… Wasn't expecting that…'' said Michael, with his eyes widened now. ''We gotta move, let's go.'' as he said that, a yellow colored flare was shot from the top of the Titan Research Facility. After seeing the flare, every enemy soldier on top of the wall jumped off, beginning to head in the direction of the Facility. ''Alright team, let's hurry !'' said Michael and they all flew away.
Luke and Diana switched teams, now Diana pairing up with Raven and Luke pairing up with Michael. Strength and speed respectively. ''Watch out for the battery. The Research Facility is still a mile ahead and we'll have to clear some bad guys along the way'' said Michael to Luke as they descended to the street in the middle of the buildings. ''Be ready for anything'' said Michael before making a sharp turn to the left. His eyes widened when an Anti-Human passed few centimeters beside him. Luke, with a quick reaction, hooked the waist wires to two buildings beside him. He let himself get thrown forward by his movement and then he reeled the cables in, being pulled backwards and acting like a slingshot. He released the wires and was thrown back to the previous alley. He grabbed a windowsill to support himself and analyze the street. The anti-human was now flying in his direction. At high speed, Luke advanced towards him, taking out his blades, meanwhile. He charged at the enemy as he got closer and closer, who was already aiming at him. ''Look out !'' yelled Michael, who had just returned to the alley Luke was on. Luke stared at the Anti-Human with a defiant yet serious face. ''Bam~'' said the Anti-Human when he got close enough. He shot, with a look of joy in his face. Luke, as if a force had gotten into him, dodged the bullet. He dodged it. His eyes were just as widened as everyone else's in the alley. But it wasn't just that. The Anti-Human stuttered as he saw his stomach trespassed with Luke's blade. He coughed a big amount of blood out and chuckled before saying ''You're a good one, punk. They'll make sure to get you.'' And he died. Luke's face was a mix of shock and confusion. Luke removed the blade from the dead hostile's stomach and the body fell from a 10 meter height. Luke was hooked at buildings on his sides. He climbed to the closest roof and Michael met him up there a few seconds later. ''You okay, kid ?'' he said. ''Y-yeah… W-we should get going…'' he stuttered. ''Yeah, let's go'' Michael took flight but Luke didn't. He walked to the building's edge and stared at the corpse of the first human being he killed. "I don't pity you..." said Luke "Wrong choices bring bad consequences... And choosing the life where you kill your own kind was the worst you made... I don't know your name. Nor your story. But you have my word when I say that I will hunt down every last one of you... I don't know what you ment with those last words of yours... But if they come and get me, I'll be ready... And I swear that if they try to harm those I love, I'll fucking kill everyone..." and with those words, he left and began flying in the direction of the Research Facility