Eren charged forward, his arms thrown out behind him as he ran. The colossal leaned back, and suddenly swept it's thick red arm across the top of the wall, demolishing the cannons and causing Eren and Percy to leap into the air to avoid being flattened.
This is insane. Percy thought. I can't believe this is happening.
He grit his teeth. Well believe it Jackson, you've gotta save humanity again. No point denying the inevitable.
Eren leapt off the wall, gas from his ODM gear throwing him forward. He hovered in front of the colossal for a second, before it reached forward to grab Eren.
"EREN!" Percy screamed. "LOOK OUT!"
He leapt off the wall towards the colossal, his wire settling firmly in it's shoulder.
The nape of the neck. He thought sourly. That's where I have to cut.
He yanked Riptide from his pocket and uncapped it, the bronze sword springing to life as he shot through the air. Eren suddenly landed on the colossal's opposite forearm and began running towards it, his eyes blazing with fury. The colossal bent it's arm and tried to get Eren off, but the stubborn boy used his ODM gear to pivot away from any dangers and shoot towards the colossal's back, just as Percy's feet connected with the titan's shoulder.
They both charged in at the same time, weapons aimed at the monster's nape. Eren got there first, his blades swinging to slice the vital part of a titan straight out.
Suddenly, smoke and more ferocious winds blasted both boys away, the only thing keeping them from plummeting down being their ODM gear.
Eren grunted and re-aimed, firing another wire into the smoke. It must have connected with something, because he bulleted forward.
Percy's wire suddenly slackened, no longer connected to anything. He panicked for a second and aimed at the wall, sending himself tearing through the air at the wall. He glanced behind himself to see Eren tear through the smoke with his blades, where the colossal titan had been.
"EREN!" Percy screamed. The boy was so shocked at the titan being completely gone that he was falling. "EREN WAKE UP!"
He snapped back to his senses and fired a wire at the wall, his feet quickly landing on it.
"Eren! What happened?" Percy called.
"I-I-I-I-I-" Eren stammered helplessly.
A man looked over the wall. "Eren, where'd he go? Did he get away or did you take him out?"
"He's gone!" Eren replied. "Exactly like five years ago! He's here one moment, gone the next, just like that!"
"Come on Eren, let's get back up there." Percy said.
Eren nodded, and zipped up the wall, where Percy joined him. Eren hung his head shamefully, his eyes glued to the ground.
"I'm sorry, I-"
"Don't apologize." The man cut him off. "Look at us, we were too scared to move."
"Hey!" Connie barked. "Wallow on your own time. In case you haven't noticed there's a breach. We have to act now, if they start pouring in that's it!"
"Look alive!" A man said as he settled onto the wall. He had the Garrison Regiment symbol on his jacket, and everyone on the wall quickly saluted. "Operation colossal titan response is in effect, I expect you to take part. Report to HQ. If you got close to the thing we need details."
"Sir!" Eren said.
"Sir we pray the advance team will be victorious!" Connie said. The man leapt off the wall.
"Hazel, Leo! You guys okay?" Percy asked, rushing towards his friends.
"Yeah, we're good." Leo replied. "Hazel had an idea once she saw the breach, we think it might work."
"What is it?" Percy asked.
"There's tons of precious stones under the ground over there." Hazel jerked her head towards the wall. "I might be able to summon a barrier from it, but it would only be good for about half an hour. These materials aren't notably strong."
"Do it." Percy urged. "Anything to hold off the titans is worth doing."
Hazel nodded and stood at the edge of the wall, her hands raised to begin summoning the materials deep in the earth.
"Hey, Percy." Eren's voice said.
Percy whipped around. "Yeah? You okay?"
"I-"
A loud bell suddenly started ringing, cutting Eren off. People began to exit their homes and stare at the wall in horror before fleeing towards Wall Rose.
"I'm fine." Eren continued. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me out back there."
"You're the one who did everything." Percy pointed out.
"It's just nice knowing that someone would come with me on a wild ambition like I just had."
"Of course! We're friends Eren." Percy smiled.
The ground trembled, alerting Percy that Hazel had manage to summon the barrier.
"Come on, let's head to HQ." Percy sighed.
~:~
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire cadets! Time to put your training to work! I have faith each of you will be a credit to your regiment!"
"Percy!" Annabeth cried, throwing herself at her boyfriend. "You're okay!"
"Of course I am. I'm not about to be taken down that easily." Percy hugged her close to his chest. "Now let's get suited up. We need to go slay some titans. Hazel's barrier will only hold out for a couple more minutes, then the titans will come pouring in."
"Right." Annabeth pulled herself away and tugged Percy over to the gas stations where Armin, Eren, and Mikasa were having a fierce conversation.
"Do you need a refill?" Annabeth asked.
"Wouldn't hurt." Percy said. Annabeth hooked him up and began to refill his gas tank.
"We need to go the courtyard once we're done here, that's where everyone else already is." She explained. "That's where they'll be giving us our orders."
"Then there isn't a moment to lose."
~:~
"I WANT EVERYONE SPLIT INTO FOUR SQUADRONS AS PRACTICED! ALL SQUADRONS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SUPPLY READYING, MESSAGE RELAYING, AND ENEMY COMBAT UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE GARRISON REGIMENT!" The man shouted. "THE INTERSOUTH SQUADRON WILL BE TAKING THE VANGUARD. CADETS WILL BE TAKING THE MIDDLE GUARD LED BY THE SUPPORT SQUAD, REARGUARD WILL GO TO THE ELITES! I EXPECT YOU ALL TO MAN YOUR POSTS, KNOWING THE ADVANCE TEAM HAS BEEN WIPED OUT!"
There was a collective gasp of horror around the courtyard. Wiped out? That's horrible! Leo shuddered.
"THAT'S RIGHT! THE OUTER GATE IS HISTORY, THE TITANS ARE IN! THIS MEANS, THE ARMORED TITAN IS LIKELY TO REAPPEAR! IF AND WHEN HE DOES, THE INNER GATE WILL ALSO BE HISTORY!"
Murmurs of fear swept through the crowd of cadets.
"I wanna go home." Hazel said shakily. "I can't handle this."
Frank secretly grabbed her hand and rubbed her palm reassuringly, conveying the message I'm here, don't be scared.
"QUIET!" The man barked. "RIGHT. THOSE IN THE VANGUARD BE READY! THE AREAS ARE NOT YET EMPTIED. YOUR MISSION IS A VERY SIMPLE ONE! DEFEND THE WALL UNTIL THE EVACUATION IS DONE! NOW, BE AWARE, ALL OF YOU, THAT DESERTION IS PUNISHABLE BY EXECUTION! IF IT COMES TO IT, LAY DOWN YOUR LIVES!"
"SIR!" The cadets saluted.
There was a panic as everyone scrambled around to find their way. Frank pulled Hazel close, saving her from being trampled at least twice.
"I can't believe the Advance Team's been wiped out." Hazel whispered.
"Well let's make sure they didn't die for us to start whining." Nico hissed. "We need to head out there before any more lives can be lost."
"Right." Hazel nodded. She caught sight of a man, on his knees, throwing up , and felt her stomach twist in fear. She buried her head in Frank's chest.
Annabeth saw Jean walking away, and Eren walking as well.
Oh no. They're gonna crash in three...two…
"Move it!" Jean snapped, shoving Eren away roughly.
"What the heck man? What's wrong with you?" Eren grabbed Jean's wrist.
"What kind of question is that? We're all about to be titan chow, you expect me to sing you a happy little song?" Jean got closer to Eren, his scowling face in Eren's personal space. "You're loving this, aren't you you little psycho? Of course you are! Your whole life's aspiration is to be eaten! I was one day shy of shipping off to the MP!"
"Jean, get a hold of-"
"No! Not all of us are suicidal!" Jean snapped.
"Dang it! Shut up for a second!" Eren slammed Jean against a support beam. By then all the demigods and a couple others were watching the situation unfold. "You were trained for this! What do you think the last three years were about? We survived. We stared death in the face and we lived. Not everyone can say that can they? Some people couldn't take it and either ran or were thrown out. Heck, some people actually died but not us! Am I right? We powered through for three years," people looked up from their state of disarray, closely listening to Eren's speech. Hazel looked up. "What's one more day? You can do this Jean, alright? The MP will still be waiting for you tomorrow." Eren released Jean and walked off, leaving the tall boy momentarily dumbfounded.
"Shoot." Jean muttered. He turned and stalked away. "On your feet Daz! And stop bawling."
"O-okay…"
Mikasa stopped Eren, and that's when Annabeth returned her attention towards Hazel.
"How're you feeling?" She asked.
"Better. I'm ready to do this." Hazel put on a brave face.
"That's my girl." Frank kissed the top of her head, making her blush furiously.
"What's your squad?" Annabeth asked.
"The only person whose name I recognize is Piper." Frank replied.
"I'm with Percy." Hazel put in.
"I've got Nico." Annabeth said. "So Leo and Jason are going to be separate, I talked to them and they're not in the same squad.."
"Jason's with Armin and Eren." Frank offered.
"Really? That's good." Annabeth said. "Come on, let's go find the others."
"We're supposed to go to our stations." Nico said. "We'll regroup when this is done."
Annabeth nodded, and by some instinct, glanced at Mikasa. Eren was marching away from her, and she looked rather distressed to say the least.
"Go ahead. I'll catch up." Annabeth said as she started jogging over to Mikasa.
"Okay." Frank waved a bit, then he, Hazel, and Nico exited the courtyard.
"Annabeth." Mikasa greeted darkly.
"Is it about Eren? He's in a squad with Armin and Jason. He'll be fine Mikasa." Annabeth explained.
"...Are you sure?"
"As I can be."
~:~
"Look at it this way Armin." Eren said. "It's a golden opportunity. If we prove our worth as soldiers right here, we'll rise up right through the ranks, before long we could even be leading our own regiment! We could bypass rookie status altogether." Eren grinned.
Armin looked a bit surprised at first, then he relaxed and broke out a smile. "Sounds good. I'm with you all the way."
"Now now boys." Mina smirked. "You're not the only ones in your class. Save some of the glory for the rest of us."
"Good luck beating us to the punch a second time Eren." Another cadet said. "No headstarts for you this round."
"Is that a challenge?" Eren asked.
"Whoever kills the most titans gets bragging rights."
"Better not fudge your scores."
"Squad 34, move out! The vanguard needs support!" The garrison regiment soldier yelled.
"Right!" Eren regained his serious attitude. "Let's get 'em!"
"YEAH!"
They charged, racing over rooftops and firing wires. Jason didn't even use his gas, he simply had the wind propel him forward. Within seconds he had nearly surpassed Eren.
Man, I am good with ODM gear. He thought.
Then he saw the titans.
Many of them, scattered around, lumbering slowly through the town as smoke rose from who knows what.
"There's so many of them!" Mina exclaimed.
"The vanguard's been completely overwhelmed!"
"I don't believe this, those guys always talked so big!"
Jason glanced at Eren. His green eyes swept the scene, and widened upon seeing something.
"We've got an abnormal! Pull up!" He screamed. A large titan with shaggy blonde hair leapt off a roof, rocketing towards the cadets at breakneck speed. Jason used the wind to veer upwards as the titan crashed into a large tower.
The cadets tumbled onto a roof, Eren barely hanging off it. Jason hoisted him up, but his wide green eyes never left the abnormal. Jason followed his gaze to see the titan peek out from behind the tower, a member of his squad hanging from it's mouth.
Jason trembled in horror. All anyone could do was watch.
The cadet's face was so scared, so pitiful, Jason couldn't stand it anymore. He leapt off the roof and went bulleting towards the titan, just as it swallowed the cadet.
"NOOO!" Jason screamed. He halted in midair, refusing to believe it.
The titan released the tower and walked off casually.
I was too slow. Jason trembled. I failed him. He's dead because I was too slow…
"You...you...YOU MONSTER!" Eren screamed. He shot off the building, clearly aiming to chase the titan.
"EREN!" Armin exclaimed.
"Wait! Stay with the group!" Another man yelled. Armin took off after his friend, and Jason and the others followed suite.
Eren screamed his rage as he did all sorts of fancy maneuvers, ducking bridges and slicing trees as he chased it.
Jason felt adrenaline pump through his veins, pushing him forward so that he was nearly as fast as Eren. So he was right behind the boy when the titan jumped up and bit his leg off from the knee down.
"EREN!" Jason yelled. Eren hit a roof and went tumbling across it, no longer moving.
Jason touched down on the same roof and went running towards the fallen boy. He was soaked in blood. By the time Jason had reached him, screams rang out through the air.
My comrades are dying. Jason realized. Eren's just hurt. I have to help them!
Jason took off towards the nearest titan, who was about to clamp it's jaws down on Mina.
"HEY UGLY! LET. HER. GO!" Jason shot at the titan's nape, drew his blades, and slashed.
The titan wobbled, then fell, Mina still locked in it's grasp.
It's going to fall on her.
"MINA!" Jason screamed, but the titan fell, and Mina didn't even have time to scream.
"No...Mina…" She was such a nice, innocent girl. How could the world be so cruel as to take her away?
Another scream pierced the air, and this time, it was Armin's.