The Attack On Titan Loops

Chapter 5

A/N: I would like to thank all contributors to these chapters.

5.1

Connie had a grin on his face. It could only be classified as a "shit-eating" grin. "Chainsaws."

Eren, who had been left alone with the newest member of their looper entourage, resisted slapping his face. He was used to taking Connie through Basic and mentoring him to improve is survivability, but there were times when he really got on Eren's nerves. "Connie..."

Connie held up this loop's variant of Pairing Blades. "Chainsaw. Pairing. Blades. How are you not freaking out over this?"

Eren pulled a chain-pairing blade out of his pocket. "This isn't the first time we've been through a variant of what the blades were."

Connie blinked in surprise, staring at the different Chain-pairing blade. "So... if it's not a regular pairing blade, it's a chainsaw?"

Eren began pulling out different weapons. "Pairing scythes, pairing axes, pairing halberds, pairing baguettes, pairing aircraft wings, you name it, we've probably fought with it."

Connie stared at the vast variety of weapons. "...Can I have some of that?"

Eren grabbed up his stuff and dropped it back into his pocket. "Get your own."

"Come on, it'll help."

"No way, this is my stuff."

"Eren!"

"Get off me Connie!"

Ymir, at that moment, rounded the corner and saw Eren and Connie struggling. For a moment, all three stared at each other. Ymir raised her hands placating and started to back away. "I won't judge. Later!"

Eren glared at Connie, still tangled in his limbs and trying to grab his stuff. "Good going Connie, now she thinks were dating."

5.2 Crossoverpairinglover

"..." Mikasa and Eren had no words for Armin this loop, considering that once again he was the son of Ymir and Krista/Historia.

But this time, he had Ymir's skin tone as well.

"Are you sure neither of them is merely fond of cross-dressing?" Eren felt like checking the only logical explanation as Armin shook his head.

"Believe me, I can assure you neither of them are crossdressers" After finally having that loop as Sanji, Armin knew what cross-dressing men looked like.

"Well, then how else can you look like both of them then!?"

Mikasa, who looked ponderous over this entire thing, removed a pair of body analysis glasses (Bat-gear number 43524) from her subspace pocket and looked over Eren a few times. "Eren...I'd avoid titan shifting this loop" she told him in the most serious of voices.

"Why?!" Eren asked in both annoyance, and dread.

"Because Titan shifting appears to have a genetic side effect of specifically concentrated releases of either estrogen or testosterone in specific areas of the user's body" she gave the vaguest answer she could get.

Eren didn't catch what she meant, Armin however...

The banging of his head against a wall suggested he did in fact know exactly what she meant.

5.3 SeaOfFallingStars

When I woke up in a loop, I didn't expect it to be in an alley with pipes on the walls, looking like a hellhole barely holding itself together. Let alone with some thugs pointing advanced (to me) rifles in my face and the face of… Connie? Last I remember Eren was fighting Reiner and Bertolt in a mechanical version of his titan form that glowed a tasty shade of green. Mmm… greens. Focus, girl! Survival first, gorging yourself second! Thankfully, we weren't bound, so it'd be easy to punch one of them.

"Rargh! Glrabb! Rulgbib!"

…And the shouting made no sense. It sounds more like he's about to cough up something while growling. Oh. Oh, that's gross; who coughs up TAR!? While he's choking, I switch from cowering to throwing a punch at his buddy. The two guarding Connie turn to face me and fire. Not again! I don't want to die from a stomach shot again! Once was bad enough. Twice… I shunted those thoughts to the side and threw something at one of the other thugs. Cougher was still losing his tar-coated guts so it was simple to bring out a blade and…

…and my subspace pocket isn't working? WHAT!?

"Sasha look out!"

Connie threw his arm forward in a sweeping motion and the pipes we were laying against burst, scalding the four thugs and blinding them. The one I threw something at dropped a… potato? This is going to be a strange loop. Sure they were stunned, but that didn't mean anything. They needed to go down hard.

"Connie, we'll learn our powers later. Use the pipe to spin-kick the one closest to the wall. I'll rush the other side and see if I can snap their neck. After that, we'll just beat them up until they're down. Those martial arts lessons should pay off now!"

Thanks to decades of experience, possibly over a century, as a huntress, I knew that their confusion wouldn't last long. A noise akin to a hard loaf of bread being broken open resonated in my ears as I ran behind the cowering thugs and wrapped one arm around the neck and used the other to twist the head at a sharp angle. Contrary to what folks thought, those of us who lived with the Titans weren't weak; they were that strong.

"Get down!"

The unknown voice caused me to stall in the fighting, only for the head of one thug to explode and the other to run away, only to get gunned down. No. no no no I don't want to be shot I don't want to be shot not again not again not again-

"Sasha! Calm down!"

Connie's voice seemed so far away. Hold it together girl… hold it together…

"Nam… -Eke. I… -Chor for th… she ok…"

The world went dark, as Connie tried to negotiate with the newcomer for dwellings. I don't want to die from a stomach wound again…

Days under Quarantine: 12

5.4

Hange didn't really see notice anything different the next morning, not at first. Levi was sitting in his usual place in the mess hall, drinking some expensive black tea in his typical manner. Quietly acknowledging humanity's greatest soldier, Hange grabbed a loaf of bread and plopped down next to him. "Yo."

Levi sipped his tea, nodding lightly at Hange in greeting. The duo sat in silence, Hange noming on the bread, Levi sipping his tea.

The bread and tea soon vanished from their plates, and Hange, uncomfortable and jittery with the silence, broke it with an interesting conversation piece. "You know Levi, I had the strangest dream last night." Hange reached over and snagged a crumb of cheese off of Levi's plate. "I dreamed about Titans."

Levi leveled a blank, vaguely aggravated look at Hange. This wasn't the first time the mad scientist had dreamed about Titans... or stolen his cheese. "This wasn't a perverted dream, was it?"

Hange chuckled. "Nah, it was different." A pensive look overtook Levi's friend. "I dreamed about the future. About the Titans breaching Shiganshina, a war between them and us. About people that could become Titans, and fight them. About a huge conspiracy..."

Levi tapped against his teacup, almost as if doing so would cause it to magically be refilled. "Is that so?"

Hange's lips broke into a wry grin. "Well, it was a dream. Like it would actually be real." The grin became down right cheeky then. "And just so you know, in the dream, you were married to Petra, and I was some sort of half-boy, half-girl hybrid."

Levi nearly choked on thin air when Hange said he was married to Petra. "Sh...shut up Hange." Rallying in his annoyance, Levi then burst out; "and if you were half-and-half, how'd you get off?"

For a second, neither spoke. Then Hange broke out laughing and Levi slapped his forehead. "Ha...hehehe, did, heh, did you really just... Ahaha, say that?"

Levi reached over and slapped Hange. "Shut up. You made me say that."

At that moment, a messenger burst into the room. "Corporal Ackerman, Corporal Hange, Wall Maria has fallen!"

The laughter died like an anvil had fallen on it.

The ride to Wall Maria was quick and brutal. Most soldiers in the Garrison and Survey corps had foregone saddling their horses in an urge for speed, while many only grabbed their bare possessions. A few hadn't even changed from their bed clothes, and wore their ODMG over them.

Hange and Levi led the charge, trying to guide the group down from the western territories and into the southern regions. All the while, they talked fast.

"Hange, are you sure this dream of yours was just a dream."

Hange wasn't exactly comfortable with the subject though. "I don't know. It was so vivid... so long. It felt as real as everything we're doing now does."

Levi set his jaw in annoyance. "Prophetic dreams... damn and I thought things couldn't get any stranger. Well, what are you sure about?"

Hange shrugged. "The Titan-Shifters and the Wallist conspiracy. If the reports of the Colossal and Armored Titans come back, then we can assume that the Titan Shifters do exist. As for the Wallists... all we'll need is to drill into Wall Rose to confirm that there are still Titans in there."

The tense discussion was broke by a shout. "Hostiles, one o'clock!"

In the extreme distance, more than five miles away, Hange and Levi could see them: masses of hulking flesh, beasts in human form. Titans were indeed with the territory of Wall Maria. Levi urged his horse faster. "Everyone, remain vigilant. If the Titans have reached this deep into Wall Maria-"

The army shot past a narrow gulch, a party of refugees screaming as a Titan moved to devour them. "A TITAN!" a soldier shouted redundantly.

Hange didn't think, just acted. Sinking ODMG hooks into a tree, the scientist leapt above the group and began to swing in a wide arc, compressed gas steaming behind. With a roar, Hange squeezed the ODM's triggers, accelerating as centripetal force took over, before detaching and flying through the air. A second firing lodged the hooks into a tree directly across from the Titan, and with a mighty swing, Hange bisected the Titan's nape.

This all took place in barely five seconds.

Hange rolled off the Titan's steaming corpse and smirked at the assembled soldiers, whom to their credit were mostly focused on getting to the major battlefront and were ignoring the dead Titan. "That's how it's done!"

Levi quirked an eyebrow when Hange caught up with him. "Alright then Hange, I believe you."

"Huh?"

Levi pointed back at the fallen Titan. "I've never see you moving like that. Obviously, you've either been training in secret, or..." Levi let the implications hang.

Hange winced as the penny dropped. "Or I inherited the reflexes from... well I guess we can't really call it a dream anymore."

Levi urged his horse to go faster. "We must not let the Titans move further."

The army steamrolled towards a village, a collection of lonely houses and shops arrayed around a clock tower. The village also happened to be on the main road heading north, which netted it the unhappy honor of being the focal point of the Titan invasion. Nearly a dozen Titans were waddling towards the outskirts, with a lone fifteen meter class Titan... banging its head into the clock tower. It was obviously an abnormal.

The soldiers began to fall back, clearing a path for what was, by silent agreement, their ace in the hole team. Hange and Levi shared a glance and readied themselves to engage the fifteen meter class. "Everyone, today this town becomes our spearhead against the Titans. Be ready to hold it to. The. Death!" Hange and Levi fired ODM hooks and hurtled forward.

The fifteen meter class turned towards the approaching humans, a quizzical look on its face. Levi went left, Hange went right, both circling to get their target to open its blind spot. The Titan turned towards Levi.

Hange circled behind the Titan and managed to just shoot a hook into the Fifteen meter class' nape, squeezing the trigger and going in for the kill. And then Hange's world became pain.

The mad scientist faltered, arcs into the ground and skidding through the dirt, a dust trail marking Hange's fall. The world began to swirl, colors fading in and out. Hange was acutely aware of a pounding headache. "I want... a cigar... what..."

A shadow fell over Hange's vision, resolving somewhat to become a pale and raven haired creature. "Le...vi..."

"I'm here Hange."

"Did... you get th..."

"The Titan is dead Hange."

The world was fading. Levi became more indistinct every second. Hange realized that there was something that needed to be said. "The shifter... Eren... Yeager."

"I will find them Hange."

"Of Shi...Shi..."

"Shiganshina."

"Yeah..."

Hange closed her eyes. "Keep... keep Petra..."

The world faded to black.

Hanji woke up.

He was in his room, having just climbed in for a quick catnap. If memory served, he hadn't woken up until the morning after... when the news of Shiganshina and Wall Maria's fall had reached the western territories.

Hanji's hands dived to his legs, feeling the warm and intact flesh that was still connected to him. Somehow... a Titan had eaten him. But here he was and...

Wait? HE!?

Hanji ripped off his trousers and stared at disbelief at what he saw. "What the fuck...?"

At that moment, the door to the bunk room opened and Oluo walked in, took one look at Hanji, turned around, and left. "This isn't what it looks like!" Hanji shouted after him.

Hanji hopped off of his bed and struggled, for a moment, to pull his trousers back on, and rocketed out of the room. He grabbed Oluo as he ran, dragging the significantly older man behind... Her? Him? Hir?

Whatever.

The mess hall was full. A mixture of Survey Corpsmen and women, alongside Garrison soldiers, were eating their lavish dinners of beef stew. For a second, Hanji nearly fainted in silent gluttony, before recomposing... themself? "Everyone, is Wall Maria-"

Hanji was interrupted when a small, raven-haired girl appeared out of thin air with the crack of a gun and grabbed... err, Hanji. Before even a single person could comment, Hanji felt a sudden pressure, as if he was being squeezed down a Titan's gullet. With the crack of reality snapping back a second later, Hanji staggered away from the girl, and nearly fell off the edge of the wall they had appeared on. Wall Maria, if Hanji wasn't mistaken. "What..."

"Ahem."

Hanji spun on his (HIS!) heel and came face to face with his exceptionally tiny and adorable kidnapper. "Hello Hange," the kid-kidnapper said.

Hanji's brain short circuited. "Uh..."

The girl smiled a little bit, but Hanji could see that she didn't seem to have any happiness behind it. "Before we begin, may I ask if you recognize me?"

Hanji blinked and stared at the little girl who had kidnapped him and teleported them both to the top of Wall Maria. She didn't look familiar, but at the same time, there was something just... dancing on the edge of her memories. Then it hit him. "Mikasa...?"

Mikasa Ackerman smiled slightly and nodded. "How exactly do you know me, Hange?"

Hanji squeezed his eyes shut hard, before opening them again. The slightly smiling girl remained there, intact and certainly not a hallucination. Hanji blinked hard again to double check, then straightened up. "You're Mikasa Ackerman, top graduate of the 107th military regiment and widely considered the most powerful woman amongst humanity. But you're not twelve."

Mikasa nodded, her smile growing a little more real. And suddenly there were more loud cracks and noises, and then Hanji and Mikasa weren't alone on the Wall. "What... what, what the..."

Eren Yeager, twelve years old, walked forward. "Welcome to the loops Hange. Oh, and Armin." Eren's eyes bulged, the iris turning as white as the sclera. "He's a guy this loop. Pay up."

Armin pulled out a few coins and held them out to Eren, but Hanji took them instead. "Alright, that's it, stop. What the hell is going on, why did my gender switch, and why are you all twelve."

"I'm eleven," Armin quipped.

Hanji sipped his wine. "So... time's repeating between the five years and two months from this evening, to the night we try and rescue Eren. And in almost every iteration, by gender flips between male and female."

"Or you're hermaphrodite," Armin pointed out.

Hanji sipped his wine again. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure I was one in my first loop." A little smile crossed Hanji's face. "Well, at least it could be worse. I am non-binary after all."

Hans, otherwise known as "the guy who had gotten eaten," spoke around the steak in his mouth. "That always gets me. Male or female, you just don't care. Why is that?"

"Do I need a reason?" Hanji countered. Hans nodded at "the person whose gender always changed", and cut himself another slice of steak.

Hanji, Mikasa, Armin, Eren and Hans had set up a "welcome party" for Hanji atop Wall Maria. Many statements were made about the fact that Shiganshina was sealed and safe from the Titans, even if it had been badly damaged in the interim. Apparently, The Anchors had been searching for Hanji for several loops, ever since Levi had tracked them down and explained that a certain dead comrade of his had had a prophetic dream.

Hanji sipped his wine, setting it down when Eren addressed him again. "Hanji, seeing as your gender changes from loop to loop, how would you prefer we address you?"

Hanji raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"What pronouns would you prefer?"

"...Who cares?" Hanji set her wine down to the assembled people's confusion. "I don't, so call me whatever you want."

Mikasa and Armin shared a look, Armin looking vaguely amused, Mikasa not looking anything at all. "Okay. Well, since you're like that, I guess we might as well have fun with this." Armin raised a glass. "I call for a vote. All in favor of madam Hanji here not caring, say aye."

"Aye!"

5.5

"Mom!"

Carla Yeager struggled against the onrush of cold darkness, forcing her eyes open. As her fading awareness was reinforced, a sense of horror flooded her. She could barely hear the screaming in the distance over the deafening sounds of her children's shoes.

"MOM!"

It all hurt. Carla had never tried to understand everything Grisha had said about broken bones, but she could still feel her legs. Or could she? Was she so delusional that she was imagining things?

"MOM!"

Carla let out a long sigh, closing her visible hand. Sparks of agony flickered across her back and legs, her arm and torso hazes of pain. She could feel her life slipping between her fingers.

"Mom, don't move, we've got you."

Carla forced herself to look up at Eren and Mikasa, latching on to the beam that lay across her shoulders. "What... What are you doing!? You have to run now!"

Eren heaved against the beam. "We're getting you out of there mom. Just give me a...Second!"

Carla's terrified retort was severed in a flash of pain as her children heaved the beam off of her. A split second later the two were by her side, looking her over.

Though Carla couldn't see it, Eren had activated a set of byakugan, a holdover from an early fused loop with Naruto Uzumaki and Harry Potter. "You have internal bleeding, ruptured organs... your legs were crushed..." A look of horror developed. "And your spine is snapped at the sixth thoracic vertebrae."

Carla could hear the tone of her son, hear the fear. A light, melancholy grin spread across her face. "My little doctor. You're replace your father one day. Eren, run. Take Mikasa and run!"

Carla could hear the rumbling stomps of a distant Titan, but she daren't look to see it. "Mikasa get Eren to safety! You need to leave now!"

"They're not going anywhere without you Carla." To Carla's relief, Hannes swooped in at the moment. "We need to get you three out of here. If those Titan's catch you in this condition, you won't be living to tell about it."

Eren stood up, a frankly unnatural will burning in his eyes. "If we can get my mom out into the countryside, I can treat her injuries. I have the supplies needed for an exploratory laparotomy. I can brace her bones as well, but we need to make sure that her spleen and kidneys don't take further damage. We'll need to transport her gently to unsure that she remains with us. Any further trauma, even minor trauma caused by transportation will only worsen her condition." To that end, while Eren had been talking he had pulled medical stretcher from somewhere and was helping Mikasa move Carla onto it. "Hannes, me and Mikasa can carry my mom. You watch for Titans."

"But-." Hannes was shut up as Eren and Mikasa picked up their mother and began to race for the gates. The garrison soldier nodded absently to himself, turning towards the steaming corpse of what was once an approaching Titan. Above him, a blond twelve year old watched from above as Eren and Mikasa recovered their patient.

As the three ran for the gates, Carla quietly wondered what was happening. 'Am I dying...?'

She could see the sky.

'I am dying.'

But she was with her family. Her children.

'I'm... not alone.'

"Don't worry mom, we have a safe house just ahead of us. We'll be there in minutes."

'I'm here...'

Carla Yeager closed her eyes.

'Thank you...'

"Mom?"

'Mikasa... Eren... thank you.'

"MOM!"

"Mom!"

Karula Jaeger struggled against the onrush of cold darkness, forcing her eyes open. As her fading awareness was reinforced, a sense of horror flooded her. She could barely hear the screaming in the distance over the deafening sounds of her children's shoes.

"MOM!"

Karula ground her teeth as a torrent of pain reasserted itself, the beam on top of her shaking with the thunderous steps of the distant Titans. Her legs didn't feel attached to her, not anymore. She couldn't feel her legs.

"Mom!"

Karula's heart began to flutter, her crushed body shaking as the import of what was happening hit her. The Titans had breached Shiganshina. Her children were right in the pathway. She was dying.

"Mom, don't move. Stay as still as possible."

Karula risked a paltry glance upward, seeing that Mikasa and Eren had arrived at her side. Despite her pain and fear, Karula mustered enough lucidity to shout. "Eren, Mikasa, RUN! You need to get out of here, the Titans are coming!"

Eren shook his head as he wrapped his arms around the beam across his mother's back. "No... Hans is taking care of it. Now don't move any more mom." And then Eren and Mikasa heaved.

Karula covered her mouth with her one free hand, trying to muffle the scream of pain that moving the beam elicited. Their mother free, Eren and Mikasa carefully extracted her from the rubble and laid her gently on the earth. "Alright mom, we should be able to carry you to the safe house this time. Just don't move."

Karula felt her consciousness flickering out. 'This time...' Karula tried to lift her left hand to caress Eren's face, or even feel the warm skin of her son just once more. When her arm didn't move of its own accord, Karula turned her head to see it and noticed that her left arm was little more than a heap of bloody meat held together by the rags of her sleeve. "I can't... feel my arm."

Eren looked her up and down with his byakugan, his face contorting in feel. "Multiple points of internal bleeding, lacerations, broken ribs and vertebrae, and a punctured lung." He gulped audible. "Stay still mom. We'll protect you."

Karula felt tears forming in her eyes. "Don't... don't leave-"

A splinter of marrow, knocked loose from her crushed left arm, freed itself and passed through Karula's heart. Karula seized, and died.

"Mom!"

Karla Jaeger struggled against the onrush of cold darkness, forcing her eyes open. She could barely hear the screaming in the distance over the fading sounds of her children's shoes.

"MOM!"

The whole world hurt...

"MOM!"

Karla felt her consciousness receding...

"Don't move mom. Me and Eren are here."

"Mikasa..."

It was too much. With a shudder of her frame, Karla Jaeger passed on from her world, a single word dancing on her ears.

"MOM!"

Far from human eyes or Titan hands, atop Wall Maria, there is a cottage. A small, insignificant cottage that was once a guard post, but following the loss of the territory enclosed by Wall Maria, it had been abandoned for a time. Now it was once again filled with activity.

"Scalpel's one through fifty... all types and duplicates accounted for. Gauze and skin grafts... items one through thirty present. Items thirty one through sixty present. Items sixty four, seventy eight and eighty eight not accounted for. Come on Armin, you're supposed to have those ones."

Armin hauled another box of artificial organs out of his subspace pocket. "Well sorry Eren. I'm running myself ragged here."

Eren nodded, counting the organs as present. "Thanks Armin. IV drip sets one through ten are present." Eren scribbled this information, along with all the rest of the materials he had in his possession, onto a large white clipboard. "You know Armin, I have a good feeling about this one. This is next loop will be the loop that my mom will see to the end."

Armin grabbed one of the operating tables (one of five) and pulled it into his subspace pocket. "Well, if there's anyone who can do it, it'll be you Eren."

In a different part of the cottage, Mikasa was drilling a dozen shadow clones in setting up the operating room, focusing on speed and efficiency in positioning boxes of skin grafts, bags if spare blood, and trays upon trays of scalpels. By now Mikasa was drilling in doing it blindfolded, and just approaching the one minute mark.

Eren finished his checklist. "This time, mom's gonna make it."

On a lonely hill inside Wall Maria, a wooden grace marker was erected. Memories were recalled. Some drink was shared. And Eren and Mikasa's mother was remembered fondly.

Hannes, the only normal looper that was awake, had elected to sit away from the trio of his anchors, letting them silently wallow. Eren drank, Mikasa dozed, and Armin stared out at the distant lake and mountains that came together to create the beautiful vista that Karula's grave overlooked. Finally, as the sun fell into the horizon, Armin spoke up. "It's not your fault you know."

Eren didn't comment immediately, but instead sighed before speaking. "I know. I tried my best. It's just... three hundred times. Are... Aren't we meant to save her?"

Mikasa sat up and leaned into Eren. "You've done your best Eren. Learned from some of the greatest doctors in all the loops. Tony Chopper, Greg House, Bruce Banner. It's not you, it's the loop."

Eren looked outward, looking at the far mountains with a sorrowful gaze. This little hill had been the spot of a picnic long ago, one that their mom had brought them to. It was almost always Karula's burial ground. "If it's the loop..."

Eren didn't look at his siblings. "I guess the only thing we can do is try and take away the pain." The doctor of the Anchor's ground his teeth and fought back tears. "I give up."

5.6 RockGolem

"So in this loop Attack on Titan is a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online game?"

"Yep."

Sasha was fiddling with thin air. "Hey why can't I open my pocket? I want to grab my digitizer and use my Over Board."

The dark haired Looper who had introduced himself as Kirito (while sounding a lot like Eren) looked at her with a carefully blank face. "In my universe Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online games, or VRMMO's for short, are played full dive. That means the device that that connects us to the virtual world intercepts the signals from your brain to the body, so your body stays still while your brain controls what you do here."

"What has that got to do with our subspace pockets" Sasha nearly shouted as she flung her hand out trying pull out her digitzer.

Armin who and been quietly thinking had a realization. "We can't access them because we're in a virtual world and our real bodies are in the real world. These bodies are just avatars and don't have subspace pockets."

Kirito nodded "In these games you start off as human but as you level up you become super human."

"Well that blows" Sasha pouted

Armin looked at her "Half an hour ago when the giant floating game master told us he made it so our brains get scrambled if we die in game or someone on the outside tries to get us out, you were pumped saying how awesome it was going to be."

"Well that was when I thought I had all my awesome stuff to use." Sasha had taken her sword out at was using it to draw doodles in the sand, to Armin it looked like she was drawing some of her favorite toy she carried in her subspace pocket.

"Urr fine." Kirito looked a little annoyed "Asuna is getting Yui online and then we can get admin access and create whatever you want, just stop looking sad ... please."

"Oh Kirito, always having to play the hero." The pretty brunette that had been introduced as Asuna before she left earlier had just snuck up on Kirito and given him a kiss on the cheek. "I know you wanted to beat this game fairly but this way Yui can have fun with us."

The black haired little girl who looked a lot like Asuna to Armin, smiled has she ran up and gave Kirito a hug "Come on daddy we can build something really cool together."

Sasha and Armin looked at each other but decided the ten year old girl calling a teenager daddy was nowhere near close to weird for them and went with it.

"Okay Yui I'll help you build things for the others but I'm going to play the game fairly."

One Week Later

Kirito used his maneuvering gear like an expert as he brought himself up the to the titans weak spot. Finally he was going to kill one of these bastards, when suddenly the titan roared as Sasha on her flying hover board thing fired an arrow into its eye. The titan leaned back causing Kirito to miss completely, he landed heavily but managed to spring to his feet just in time to see Asuna and Yui riding their longboard sized flying rapier as it sliced the back of the titans knees forcing it to the ground. Armin appeared overhead in the batplane, the bomb doors opened and thousands of swords fell out falling into the back of the Titan's neck.

LAST HIT BONUS appeared over the batplane as the titan evaporated into sparkles. Erin looked at the short sword in his hand to all the far superior swords Armin was literally dropping without a care. "Stupid Haxs."

5.7

The Colossal Titan ascended above the rim of Wall Maria, and in a fit of the impossible, spoke to the inhabitants of Shiganshina. "What's good niggas? This looks like a sand box."

Down on the ground, Eren stared up at the Colossal Titan, speechless. A quick ping destroyed his hope that he had a companion for the loop. Breaking his silence, he simply said, "This is a punishment loop, isn't it?"

Then the loop memories struck.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

An hour later, Eren was on a slow boat to Trost, sitting next to an Armin that was one part Armin, three parts Hitler, and a Mikasa that seemed to prefer to ignore their familial relationship. Eren didn't blame her: there was a decent chance that they were related, a supposition based solely on the estimated number of men that, this loop at least, his mother had bedded.

Eren himself? Well...

"I am not Hans's son. I am not a ginger. I am Grisha Yeager's son. Everything Hans said was bullshit."

To Eren's credit though, he did have the lucidity to draw some blood and run a few tests to see why his father had needed to give him weekly injections. When the results came back, he was less then pleased. "Damnit. FUCKING DAMNIT!"

Mikasa, unawake naturally, looked at Eren. "What?"

Eren held up a list. "According to this I've contracted syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia trichomoniasis, genital warts, genital herpes, HIV and AIDS, the plague, the chills, the common cold, the uncommon cold, three incredibly rare Chinese diseases that I can't pronounce, bird flu, swine flu, dog flu, cat flu, cat allergies, fish food, butt cancer, Louis Swartz Conundrum, Hitlerism, Titanism, and Mexico."

Mikasa ever so slightly scooted away from Eren. Armin ever so slightly scooted away from Eren. Eren wondered when the loop would end.

5.8

It rose over Wall Maria, a terrifying sight. It looked down on the inhabitants of Shiganshina like a man would look upon an ant. With almost deliberate slowness, it cocked its leg back, and then let it fly.

With an almighty kick, one hundred years of peace was shattered.

"The Mexicans are coming! The Mexicans are coming!"

"Run! They're going to eat your jobs!"

"Flee for it is the end of times!"

Eren, Armin and Mikasa were staring at the sprinting Caucasians, all running from the sudden onslaught of Hispanic people's. Eren opened his mouth to comment, but no words came out. Armin casually noted that most of the Mexican people were screaming stereotypical Spanish phrases, such as "Por que?", "Dinada", and "Uno, dos, tres". Mikasa was thoughtful, as she contemplated if something similar had happened when her family had arrived.

Finally, as the waves of immigrants began to abate, Eren found his voice. "You know, I never realized how racist our loop was."

Mikasa nodded. "Hange did say that the Titans were just as, if not more, intelligent than we were, and you prove it. We can't understand the Titans, they're being kept out by massive walls, and of course, we don't know they motives, similar to how we wouldn't understand their culture." A Mexican man with a worker's visa ran by. "Lots of parallels to immigration and racism, when you consider that we're a white populace, with a single religion and a monarchy."

"Yup..." Eren clicked his lips. "So, wanna smash Wall Rose and Sina?"

"Oh yeah."

Between them, Armin began to chuckle. Then he began to laugh. Then he fell to the ground, rolling with laughter.

Eren and Mikasa looked at their brother. "What? Something funny?"

Armin pointed at Eren, choking around his laughs. "You're... hehehe, you're the Rogue Hombre!"

Eren promptly decided that this loop was going under the, "Never Spoken of Again" file, right next to the Rouge Kangaroo and the Harem loop.

5.9

"Everyone, we have an important announcement."

As Hange called the group to order, Eren finished laying out a collection of pairing blades on a table in the front of the room. As the seven assembled loopers settled into their seats, Hange continued. "I and Eren have brought you here for a moment of great import."

"Get on with it Vitruvius," Sasha called. Hange ignored her and steamed on.

"Following a particularly violent revolution several dozen loops prior to this, Eren contacted me to engage in a series of tests, specifically gauged to determine the exact materials that comprise the so called "pairing blades." Through our careful examination, and then cross examination of several versions of the blades from multiple loops, we have hit upon two specific and common materials that are used as the basis for the blade."

"Come on, hurry up," Connie shouted from his seat.

Hange pointed at the shaven haired boy. "Shut up." Taking two of the blades, Hange held them up. "These two blades represent the most common types of material that compose our weapons. On the left is a blade composed of steel-alloyed tungsten. As you are all aware, our blades need to be composed of exceptionally hard metal, at least at nine on the Mohs scale, so as to both hold their ultra-sharp edge and be able to penetrate the equally tough skin of a Titan."

The penny dropped for Hans. "You mean..."

Hange held up the right most blade. "The more common form of the pairing blade is not composed of tungsten however. In fact, it is composed of a specially hardened organic matter. In the common tongue, this sword is made of hardened Titan flesh."

The room was deathly silent.

Eren took over then. "We've identified a cellular structure within the first form of the blades, which we have come to refer to as the 'primary', or 'type one' blade form. The cells we found within the blades corresponded directly to the cellular structure of Titans. Additional investigation yielded us with the craftsmen in charge of forging the blades, who in turn revealed the methods in which they hardened Titan skin for removal."

Jean jumped to his feet. "Wait, if they can harden a Titan's skin, could you?"

Eren winced and squeezed at his nose. "Unfortunately, no. My Titan form is derived from baseline, and its data in Yggdrasil is corrupted. It changes from loop to loop, and we have yet to discover a method or material that would duplicate the effects outside of its home loop."

Hange set the blades aside. "And that's not mentioning the fact that the type one blades only appear maybe every other loop. It's a situation that is very unscientific."

Eren sighed heavily. "That said, our weapons remain under out control. They aren't going to try and eat you, or turn into a Titan any time soon. So, ideas and strategies."

Armin held up a hand. "Give me and Hans few hours. I think we'll be able to work out a few strategies to incorporate our abilities into these."

Mikasa kicked back, unperturbed by the news. "Well then, we should be on our toes for when this becomes our baseline."

No one spoke. Between the curse and Mikasa's intuition, no one was going to bet against her.

5.10

Eren cracked his knuckles as he stared out over the glistening rooftops of Trost, glaring furiously at the wandering Titans and their ilk, hatred and frustration mixing in his stomach. Growing sick of the view, he stomped down the spine of the roof he, Mikasa, Armin and the rest of the unawake 104th had selected as their meeting point. Mikasa fell into step next to him, a concerned look on her normally emotionless face. "Damn it Mikasa. Of all the loops not to get Titan powers, why did it have to be this one?"

Mikasa patted her brother on the shoulder, trying to stabilize him. "It's bad luck Eren. It happens sometimes."

Eren scowled at the distant wall. "Of all the damn loops..."

Armin glanced up from his map of Trost to comment as his siblings walked past. "Are you sure you guys don't want to hear my plan? I've got it worked out to where we only take five percent casualties."

Eren ignored Armin and Mikasa waved him off politely. "I can't make heads or tails of it Armin. Maybe in a little bit."

Eren growled again, independent of his brother and sister. "No Titan Shifting, no loop powers, no pocket. IF ONLY THIS DAY COULD GET WORSE!" Eren stomped his foot in rage...

...and promptly went straight through the cobblestone roof and into the attic. "FUCK!"

Armin and Mikasa bolted over and pulled their brother out of the hole. Annie, finally having enough of the trio, marched over. "Will you shut up Eren? Your shouting isn't helping any of us, and if you don't think clearly, you'll... you..." Annie trailed off, staring down the hole Eren had created.

Eren glared at Annie with a burning passion. "Leonheart, you can fuck off for all I care. I'll do whatever the hell I want."

Armin wrapped his arms around Eren to try and stabilize him. "Eren..."

"Is that what I think it is?" Annie pointed down into the hole Eren had created. Mikasa, if only to shut Annie up, looked into the hole. A tall metal cylinder glinted faintly in the cloud obscured sun, and took Mikasa's breath away.

Annie hopped into the hole and detached her gas cylinders. A quick search revealed a gas hose connected to the cylinder. Breath baited, Annie pressed the tip to the cap of her cylinder, and nearly cried when she heard the hiss of gas. "Oh my walls... it's... IT'S A GAS TANK! EREN FOUND A GAS TANK!"

The 104th began to walk over... and then run... as the soldiers in training began to realize that somehow, Eren Yeager had found a refueling station. In minutes, individuals starting to make runs for the safety of Wall Rose, screaming in elation as they raced to scale the wall.

As the rooftop emptied though, Eren casually pulled one of his pairing blades out and let it nick Annie. Annie grunted in surprise, but only glared at Eren. "Watch it Yeager. You'll cut someone's head off if you're not careful."

Eren nodded as he noted that Annie's cut didn't immediately heal. "Just a slip."

Mikasa cocked an eyebrow as Annie finished filling her and Bertolt's gas canisters. "Yeah..." Climbing out of the hole, Annie delivered a furtive and slightly worried glance at Eren. "Well... see you on the other side." And with that, Annie, Reiner and Bertolt left the roof, racing for the core of Wall Rose, and leaving their Anchor's behind.

No one spoke as Mikasa filled their gas canisters. No one questioned their luck as they fled from Trost. No one thought of how strange it was that Bertolt, Reiner and Annie weren't shifters.

Everyone's mind was on their pursuit of survival.

5.11

Trost. Sooner or later, they all had to fight in Trost whilst awakening mid-battle. For Sasha, this was going to be fun, given her new powers. It was helpful off the field, but she wanted to put it to the test in a fight. Trost was perfect for it. The loopers all had earbuds that let them communicate thanks to Hange spending a loop as a gadgeteer or something.

"Spuds to Blade Dancer and Explorer; I'm going to use my conduit powers to try and test out what they do against titans."

"Explorer to Spuds: Go ahead, but be warned that you get to explain to Pixis what's happening."
"You got it! Spuds out."

She wasn't telling them what she had planned. The loops made death irrelevant, but that didn't change the fear of what she was going to do. Hopefully there was a 7m or 14m class nearby to try this out with. ODMG was good, but the urban movement training Cole gave her and Connie proved incredibly useful, and something she tried to teach her fellow loopers. Turning her head from the side of the building, she saw her target.

"Now then, let's see if this 'grow anywhere' power works with Titans..."

Jumping Sasha jumped down the Titan's throat, using her powers to grow roots and potatoes on the way down, clogging its muscles and providing handholds to stop her descent. The disgusting sauna feel was no issue, as Eren helped them get past it for fighting.

"Spuds to Steamer, Roots Test successful. Feel free to bring Blade Dancer or Rough Rider by to slay the titan at any time."

"Copy Spuds, en route to Rough Rider now. Wish Boffin was here to see how well we're using these."

Sasha held on to her titan-grown potatoes, embedded within the throat of her enemy, awaiting the killing blow that would bring it down.

5.12 Detective Ethan Redfield

Hannes didn't even think as his blade danced over his head, slicing apart entire chunks of Wall Maria as the Colossal Titan destroyed the front gate. He felt as though his mind were steel, like nothing mattered except his purpose. Now that the Carla would survive, for a bit longer anyway, it was time to put the second phase of his plan into action. With several presses of the 3D maneuver gear control device, he launched himself towards the hole in the gate, where Titans were already on their way through the newly formed entrance.

He landed on a rooftop across from the first titan to make it through. His piston fired the grapple hook, which struck right above the hole. He quickly recalled his hook and dropped over the Titan's shoulder, slicing the nape cleanly. A second later, he launched his second piston to the far end of the hole over two more titans' shoulders. His sword whirled around, once again striking true before he emerged from the hole. Spinning in mid air, he re-oriented himself to face the top of the wall and fired his hook again, pulling him on top of the wall.

The cannon operators were stunned into silence at his sudden arrival, but Hannes quickly took command of the situation, "Aim for the head, center of the forehead. You might be able to knock them over and buy us some time to rally. If we can hold them here at the hole, we can save the wall."

The two operators suddenly seemed less scared, more resolute. Hannes watched as their first shot missed slightly, meaning they were probably still drunk, but sober enough to almost hit a target from 100 meters.

With that, Hannes reached into his uniform, then, once his hand was out of sight, into his subspace pocket and pulled out his flare gun. It was pre-loaded in preparation for just this loop as he aimed skyward and fired. A single, purple line of smoke trailed into the air, drawing the attention of every garrison member in the city. He returned the gun to his subspace pocket and drew his wand, muttering a sonorus spell, "Members of Wall Maria, the front gate has been breached. Civilians are advised to evacuate the city to Wall Rose. Garrison soldiers who are not helping civilians evacuate, report to the supply depot at once."

Thirty minutes later, over a hundred soldiers were loitering about the supply depot, all muttering in defeated tones about how humanity is finished and the Titans would kill them all. Hannes walked through the soldiers to the center of the plaza and shouted, "Soldiers of Zhiganshina, I look into your eyes and see humanity has already lost. We will all die here."

The soldier's expressions turned to despair, only for Hannes to glare at every soldier in the area, "Yes, we will all die. All your wives and husbands. Your sons, daughters, your friends, everyone you have ever met and known! Our city has been breached, but we are not dead! We still live! Your loved ones are still alive! What will you do now?"

Someone shouted, "We take our families and flee to Wall Rose! Where we'll live!"

Hannes' eyes rested on that man, "Yes, you will live for a little longer. But Wall Rose cannot support you. Your families will burden the rest of humanity. We will all slowly starve to death in a back alley as the current population cannot be supported by the two remaining walls. They will reject you, send you back out to reclaim Maria and your families will die trying. The needs of the many will outweigh the needs of the few and, to survive, humanity will do what it believes it must."

Hannes looked around at the men, his words taking hold in their minds as resolution began to build in his men. The blonde haired soldier continued, "But you, soldiers of Zhiganshina, will survive and live with the shame of abandoning your families to your fate. Can you live with yourselves when your families die, with your shame?"

Every soldier was staring at Hannes as he finalized his speech, "If we stand here, and hold back the Titans and not surrender the wall, we may yet save humanity. But it will cost you everything. It will cost you your lives. I ask you not to die in shame from abandoning your families, or die when Rose turns us away. I ask you to stand together and die for your loved ones here. In the face of despair, we will lift the torch of human will. Let us ride swift and sure into battle against our captors. Let every man, woman and child look back on this day and know, This is where we fought, this is where we died! Let them not remember we died as cowards do, running away, but as heroes for our loved ones and saviors of humanity! Who will fight with me!"

A few seconds passed, then one soldier stepped forward, "I will fight with you."

Another soldier stepped forward a moment later. "As will I."

Slowly, the sentiment spread outward from the center of the plaza, as every soldier arose from their spots and stood at attention, all prepared to die for their loved ones. Hannes walked among the men, patting them on their shoulders, speaking a soft thank you to each one.

Reiner didn't know what hit him as several Garrison soldiers gave chase after them, a particularly annoying blonde one at the front. The Blonde one seemed almost indestructible. He swung a punch at the guy, but he just kept disappearing in a flash of blue light before his punch would strike, then reappearing after his attack missed. He had killed a dozen soldiers already, but this one just wouldn't die. Eventually, he just gave up and blitzed towards the gate separating Zhiganshina from the land between Maria and Rose. Several cannons had taken position and were laying down a rather furious bombardment, but the Titan shifter made it through, crushing through the gate. And then, just after his successful breach, several cannons started bombarding the remnants of the wall, tearing more and more out of the wall until a pile of rubble had filled the hole.

*Flashback*

"Once the Civilians are evacuated, we can work on clearing out a path to the main gate of Wall Maria. There, we can collapse the rest of the wall with our cannons, sealing the breach for good. Although the Colossal Titan has disappeared, we cannot be sure he won't reappear and make his way through the town to breach the second wall. Half the remaining cannons must be moved to outside Wall Maria to permanently seal the town, just in case," said Hannes to the captain commanding the cannon crews.

*End Flashback*

To add insult to injury, those same soldiers had caught up with Reiner and were even now trying to hit his nape. Reiner decided escape was the better part of valor and raced for a nearby forest where he could change back to human form and blend in with the retreating survivors of the fallen district.

5.13

Hanji usually began his loops asleep, pleasantly unconscious. It was a treat for her to do so: apparently Awakening asleep was uncommon. It made him feel all warm and giddy to Wake Up unconscious. A warm bed and sweet dreams was what she needed.

But alas, he was needed, and so Hanji roused herself, fully awakening in both senses of the word. With a great "Yaaawwwww," Hanji stretched his jaws almost their breaking point just to yawn. Scratching her side, the perpetually genderless mad scientist groped for his glasses, and stepped off the bed.

At that moment, the door to the bunk room banged open, a man slumping against the wall. Hanji barely registered the man who had fallen into the room was Levi before she was at his side, trying to bring him back to his senses. "Levi? Levi!?"

Leviathan Ackerman blinked hard and seemed to register that Hanji was in the room with him. A look of indescribable fear, mixed with incomprehensible hope, broke across his face. "Han... Hanji... I... I..."

Hanji righted his friend. "Levi, what do you need?"

Levi stared at Hanji through crystal crimson eyes, sharpened fangs slipping past his lips. "I need... BLOOD!"

5.1: Crank it like a chainsaw!

5.2: Don't think too hard about it.

5.3: They'll be infamous!

5.4: Welcome to the loops Hange… or is it Hanji?

5.5: Carla… poor woman. She has Trisha Elric's voice, don't you know? Doomed from the beginning.

5.6: Life is like one big game.

5.7: A Slap on the Infinite Loops.

5.8: It's an interesting parallel, in my mind. It helps that everyone's a moron in this loop.

5.9: I'm calling it here: Soylent Green is people! …no wait… The Swords are made from Titans!

5.10: More than a few secrets hidden in this loop…

5.11: Call signs: Spuds: Sasha. Steamer: Connie. Rough Rider: Jean. Blade Dancer: Mikasa. Explorer: Armin. Boffin: Hange/Hanji. Bulwark: Han/Hannes. Mr. Clean: Levi. Suicide: Eren. Jotun: Ymir. Purple: Historia. Ghost: Marco.

5.12: …admit it, that speech was fucking badass. It's a crowning moment of awesome.

5.13: BLOOD!