Mikasa and Jason barely managed to dodge Eren's fist once it hit the roof. Jason shot into the air to avoid the titan's attack, though Mikasa was forced to leap to the side and collide with a wall.
Eren pulled his steaming hand back, surveying the roof with an intense expression. Jason let out a shaky breath, watching the titan cautiously. What was Eren doing? Was he even in control? Surely he didn't want to kill us, he's better than that!
The titan tensed his other arm and squeezed his hand into a fist, his glowing green eyes fixed on Mikasa.
"ACKERMAN, LOOK OUT!" Ian cried. Mikasa remained motionless for a millisecond, before a screaming Eren swung his fist at the girl, sending bricks and tiles flying through the air. Mikasa jumped into the air just in time to avoid the punch, and to Jason's surprise, fired her wires straight at Eren.
"Mikasa, wait!" Jason exclaimed. She ignored him and went zooming towards Eren, planting her feet on the bridge of his nose and seizing a lock of his hair in one hand.
Eren seemed to study her, not moving from his position. He let out a small rumbling growl, clearly not appreciating Mikasa's closeness.
"Hey! Ackerman, stand down now!" Ian commanded. "Get away from him, that is an order!"
"Eren!" Mikasa cried desperately, tugging on Eren's hair. "I know you're in there somewhere, I know you recognize me! That's right, come on! Snap out of it, we've got a breach to seal up!"
Eren continued to growl, going slightly cross eyed to look at Mikasa.
Does he really recognize her? Jason wondered. He just tried to kill her twice! And his hand is fully regenerated and twitching. She's in trouble.
"Mikasa, come down and calm down!" Jason exclaimed. "He looks like he's going to try to hit you again!"
There was a loud bang, and Jason quickly glanced over his shoulder to see that Rico had fired the red smoke signal, the color meaning failure. Jason grit his teeth and whipped back around.
"Eren!" Mikasa said. "Listen to me- you're human!"
"Get out of there!" Ian yelled.
Mikasa noticed Eren's hand as it came flying towards his face, and she sprung off of him, landing expertly on the roof with everyone else.
Eren grunted and stretched his jaws open in a silent scream, his eyes and stumps of wrists steaming. He staggered, took a shaky step backward, and collapsed into a sitting position with his back against the boulder. He remained there, motionless.
"What the heck?" Matabi said. "You're telling me the kid was a regular titan all along?"
Jason scowled at him. He was confident Eren wasn't a titan, though he couldn't deny he was acting strangely.
"Eren!" Mikasa shouted. Jason quickly approached her, ready to grab her if she tried to go reason with Eren again.
"Captain!" A voice called. "We've got two titans bearing down on us from the front! A ten meter and a six meter!"
"Heads up!" Another man put in. "We've got another twelve meter closing in on us from the rear!"
Jason whipped around, identifying each titan. He could probably take at least one of them down.
"Ian, that's it." Matabi said. "Please, just look at it."
Against his will, Jason glanced over his shoulder at Eren, lying there motionless.
"We need to get out of here, the plan's a bust." He continued.
"Agreed." Rico remarked. "Full withdraw. We have to leave him as he is."
Jason grit his teeth, about to speak up, when Mikasa whipped around. Her eyes teemed with a murderous rage worthy of Eren, and her expression was showing fury Jason couldn't pretend to know. She would kill to keep this boy safe, and Jason felt she might do that if someone didn't speak up.
Ian flinched away, seeming to come to the same realization as Jason.
"I'm staying whether you retreat or not." Jason growled, breaking the thick silence. "You can run back with your heads bowed in shame and retire for all I care. Eren is in there, alive, and I'm not leaving a soldier on the battlefield. I was raised with honor."
Mikasa gave him a grateful look.
"Ian, snap out of it what are you waiting for?" Matabi suddenly shouted. "Give the order! Hey, it's not like this is your fault, come on! Look, this plan was doomed from the start, we all get that! Was it worth a shot? Sure, whatever, we did the best with what we had, but all we've got left now is going back over the wall."
"...I don't think I like you very much." Jason decided, glaring at Matabi.
"Why should I care, four eyes." Matabi hissed. He steadily began walking towards the edge of the roof.
Mikasa whipped her blades out and began to charge, but Ian thrust in arm in her path.
"Stop! Easy." Ian shifted to use his whole body as a barrier between Matabi and Mikasa. "Now's not the time." He turned away from Mikasa, but kept his body in place. "Team Rico, take out the twelve meter approaching from behind. Team Matabi and I will handle the two front runners."
The shock on the soldier's faces was comparable to that of a man just struck by lightning.
"Are you nuts?" Rico exclaimed furiously.
"In case you've forgotten I'm the one in charge!" Ian barked. "Now do as your ordered soldier." He relaxed his stance. "We are not leaving Jaeger defenseless, period. Change of plans, our job now is to keep the others off him until he can be recovered. Whether we like it or not he's still our last best chance. We're not about to abandon him. We're expendable, he isn't. He can't just be replaced."
"Please." Rico growled. "Don't talk to me about our last best chance. He's a failure countless soldiers have died because of." She pointed an accusing finger at Eren. "Just look at him Ian, are you saying you want more of us to die saving that?"
"That's right." Ian replied. "Down to the last man. If that's what it takes so be it!"
Once Rico recovered from her initial shock, she snapped, "Ian you can't be serious!"
"What other hope against the titans do we have?" Ian snapped back. "You know something I don't? This is it, this is all we've got an you're well aware of it! I am making a judgement call here! If you have a better plan speak up! How else are we ever going to get out from under their feet? I'm all ears here!"
"If you're asking me how else we'll defeat the titans, obviously I have no idea." Rico said drily.
Ian relaxed. "See? That's why we can't afford to be a retreat. Not just yet. We may not know what else is in there, but there's hope. And as long as that's the case, we're gonna fight 'till the bitter end."
Neither Rico or Matabi had a response to this, they simply kept their eyes trained on him, one frightened and panicky and one withering and cold.
"Look at us." Ian sighed. "Always scraping by. Always on the run. Don't you… Don't you want it to be over? Don't you wanna make a stand? Well this is how it's done."
Him and Mikasa exchanged a knowing look. Jason frowned. This people had been oppressed for so long, none of them deserved this. He was going to fight for them. Keep them safe and free them from the terrible clutches of the monstrous titans if it took a week or fifty years.
"This is just-" Rico grit her teeth, visibly shaking. "This is madness!" She slowly walked away, trembling as she went.
"Hey!" Ian barked.
"I think you're right." She said icily. "If we're to stand, this is the only way." Rico turned back around to face her squad. "Just this once, let's fight a fight that's not just a battle of defense. Let the beast's taste humanity's wrath. Right, my team will address the twelve meter titan approaching from the rear." She stalked off. Matabi followed, suite, heading in the opposite direction.
"Well." He grunted. "We've got the two in front or don't we?"
"Right." Ian said, a bit wistfully.
Matabi dashed off the roof and fired a wire.
"Thank you captain." Mikasa said. "That was brave."
"No it wasn't." Ian protested. "There's no thanks needed. The fact of the matter is I was petrified of the mess you were about to get into." He drew his blade. "But you're free now. Go, do your thing, make us of that inborn skill."
"Sir." Mikasa nodded.
"Go save the man you love." Ian said, and with that, he dashed off the roof.
Mikasa turned red. "It's not like that."
"Oooh!" Jason squealed. "So cute!"
"Shut up Grace." Mikasa flushed deeper. "We've got to keep Eren safe."
Jason straightened and cleared his throat. "Yes, of course."
Mikasa turned and studied Eren for a moment. "Wait, his wounds haven't repaired themselves yet." She pointed out. "Could the earlier damage have compromised him?"
"Hm." Jason stared at the steam steadily rising off the fallen titan's body. "Unlikely. It might have something to do with why he's not acting himself. If he has no control over his titan body, he might not be able cycle around his regeneration energy."
"What if he never comes back?" Mikasa breathed shakily.
"Mikasa!" Jason gasped. "No, he's going to come back. If the plan does fail, we slice the nape and tug Eren out! That's where he is, remember?"
"What if his nape was damaged when he fell?" Mikasa asked frantically.
"Do you want me to check?" Jason offered.
"I-"
"I'll go check." He decided. He jumped into the air and willed the air to swing him around to Eren. He surveyed the titan's thick, muscled body. His nape was in the condition it was supposed to be in.
"He's good!" Jason called. He flew back around to settle on the roof next to Mikasa.
"I've been meaning to ask you," Mikasa said slowly. "How do you do that? The flying thing."
Jason felt blood rush to his face. "Uh, that's a conversation for when we're not fighting titans, seeing as it would take...quite some time for us to reach a satisfactory end to the discussion. As for now, let's just say I'm not from around here."
Mikasa surveyed him warily, but nodded. "Okay. Is there a limit to how much you can do that or is it only possible in certain conditions or..?"
"I can do it anywhere that there's air." Jason shrugged, noticing a seven meter titan out of the corner of his eye while doing so. "Shoot. I'll be right back."
"I'm going to check on Matabi and Ian." Mikasa said. "Watch Eren for me."
"Will do." Jason bowed. "Your man will remain untouched."
Mikasa blushed again and took off, heading in the same direction as Matabi and Ian.
Jason leapt of the roof and used the wind to propel him forward. The titan turned and fixed it's dark eyes on him, it's small mouth slowly stretching wider and wider in anticipation of it's next meal.
Just as the creature's jaws were about to clamp down on him, Jason shot into the air and doubled back, his blades out and ready to tear titan flesh.
His grip tightened as they sunk through the hard skin and muscle, an unnerving ripping sound following his blades as blood sprayed from the titan onto Jason's body. The tension was relieved, and he hovered in midair, watching the giant collapse to the ground. The blood evaporated off his skin as he zoomed through the air and landed on the roof.
Jason turned his attention back towards Eren to see wires fired across his line of vision and a small blonde figure speed towards the fallen titan.
"Hey!" Jason barked. He jumped off the roof and rocketed towards the boy.
"Huh?" The blonde turned and revealed Armin's face, causing Jason to halt mid-flight.
"Armin!" Jason gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"I-I-I-I-I saw the red smoke," He explained frantically as he settled down on Eren's back. "So I came here to see what was wrong. What happened?"
"He went nuts!" Jason said. "He tried to kill me and Mikasa, then Mikasa tried to snap him out of it. He accidentally hit himself trying to hit her, and he just collapsed there. He hasn't budged for minutes now, and he's not regenerating either!"
Armin's eyes widened fearfully. "But- how?"
"Armin," Jason said. "You might want to get off him. If he wakes up he'll probably try and kill you too."
"Hey! What's going on?" Mikasa's familiar voice called. Jason glanced over his shoulder to see her standing on the head of a fallen, relatively close titan.
"What happened to the plan?" Armin exclaimed.
"We've been forced to change tactics!" Mikasa replied. "Right now all we can do is protect him, he's defenseless! And there's- there's just so many! I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!"
Armin grit his teeth and spun back around, studying Eren with his hard, glacier blue eyes.
"Mikasa, how many are there?" Jason asked.
"Four more came in, all over ten meters!" She replied. "And more! They just keep coming in!"
"Any that I could take care of?"
"Yeah, the one that's- ARMIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Mikasa suddenly screamed.
Jason whipped around to see Armin, blade in hand, staring coldly at Eren's nape.
"I'm pulling him out of here!" Armin replied.
"Pulling him out of the titan or out of existence?" Jason yelled. "The nape is the weak spot, remember? You can't slice him there!"
"Just hold off the other titans for as long as you can!" Armin shouted back.
"Wait!" Jason protested. "What are you going to-"
"When Eren first emerged from this form, it was from the weak spot!" Armin fired his wires into each of Eren's shoulders. "I don't know, but something tells me that's a big part of the picture, how these things work." Armin raised his blade with trembling arms. "It'll be alright, as long as I don't hit the center." Then, he added more quietly, "This won't kill him. But, well, it is going to hurt, ALOT!"
"NO!" Mikasa cried.
Armin plunged his blade into Eren's neck swiftly and relentlessly. The titan immediately reacted, snapping back to attention and throwing his head back. He roared loudly, while Armin struggled to keep his hold on the blade handle.
Eren thrashed, but he seemed unable to get off the ground. He made pained, animal like cries as he struggled and flailed against what Jason imagined was a pain like fire ripping through his body. Armin bounced back and forth, determination gleaming in his eyes as Eren attempted to shake both him and the blade off.
"Stop it!" Mikasa exclaimed. "You'll get yourself killed!"
"I'm fine!" Armin replied. "Just do what you can to keep the rest at bay, trust me, there's other people you should be worried about. Now leave Eren to me and go do what you do best!"
I've got to trust him with this. Jason thought. Now's not the time to start doubting my friends. But I swear to the gods Armin, Eren, Mikasa, if you get hurt, I'll flip out.
Jason sprung off the roof and rocketed through the air. Most of the titans seemed to be coming from the area closest to the inner gate. He'd make his way over there, that's where all the titans were. Nip 'em in the bud.
There was a sudden flash of flesh color in front of him, and Jason halted just in time to avoid his legs being removed by the jaws of a four meter.
"You hunt dirty, don't 'cha?" Jason hissed as he yanked his blades out. "I hate it when people fight dirty, especially when they're already filthy creatures like you!"
He shot down and circled the titan with impossible speed, dragging his blades through the creature's nape. It stumbled, then fell to the ground, sending dust floating up.
"That's what I thought." Jason growled. He turned and saw another titan approaching, long, lanky, and three times as big as the one he had just taken down.
"Wow, you really are everywhere." He commented. "Guess I have to kill you now."
The titan grinned as though the thought of being killed was a pleasant memory.
Jason used the wind to zoom through the air, helping him close in on the titan faster than ODM gear could have.
"DIE!" Jason screamed, and he sliced the beast's nape before it could react. "I'M GOING BACK HOME, AND YOU'RE NOT STOPPING ME!"
Everything was a blur. The second a titan came within his eyeline Jason tore through the air, filled with an unfamiliar adrenaline rush of rage. He'd been kept in this nightmare for three years. He had family and friends to get back to. His sister Thalia, his best friend Reyna, Coach Hedge, Mellie, their son, he'd even settle for his father's disapproving glare. He wanted to go back home, and see them again.
"YOU'RE THE REASON I'M HERE!" Jason exclaimed as he ripped through another titan, not even bothering to aim for the nape. All the pent up rage, sadness, and fear he had kept locked away for three years couldn't be controlled any longer. He would cut each titan into ribbons before he killed it, he'd cause it as much pain as possible. It was their fault he was here. If they didn't exist, he could already be back at home, relaxing at Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood, talking to Piper or sparring Percy, spying on Will and Nico, tolerating Leo's passionate experimental fits, talking about being a praetor with Frank…
"YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY FROM ME!" He shouted. "SO COME GET WHAT YOU SIGNED UP FOR! I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON! I DON'T CARE! YOU DID THIS TO ME, AND YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!"
Slash.
Slash.
Slash.
Slash.
Slash.
Blood sprayed everywhere, even some of his own. He didn't even feel his blades accidentally slice his skin. He didn't care. He was going to kill them for what they'd reduced him to.
"HOW DOES IT FEEL?" He screamed. "I'M TAKING EVERYTHING FROM YOU!"
"JASON!" Someone suddenly cried.
"What are you doing? You've just- Jason, are you okay?"
"Hey bud, snap out of it."
The fog cleared from Jason's mind.
He was cut all over, on his arms, chest, face, and legs. None too severe, but still tingling with pain. Ruby red liquid was evaporating off his clothes, though his own blood remained and was smudged all over his glasses.
Percy, Piper, and Annabeth stood a few feet away from him, concerned looks on their faces. Jason let his gaze sweep the land.
Titan corpses were scattered everywhere, almost all of them torn apart. Smoke rose so furiously, it seemed to be the only thing Jason could see besides his friends.
However, he did see a familiar figure standing atop a nearby roof, watching Jason intently. Before he could identify them, he felt his shoulders being roughly grabbed.
"Jason, are you okay?" Piper asked gently.
A single tear fell from Jason's eye, carving it's way through his blood. "What happened?"
"You went beserk." Percy answered. "You took out at least eight titans just now. And you did it slowly and painfully. It was scary to watch. You kept screaming bloody murder."
"Oh. Wait," Jason wiped some blood off his face. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Since some of the titans were wondering away, so we were sent out to cut them off before they got to Eren." Annabeth answered.
"How about you stick with us?" Piper offered.
"Sure." Jason sighed. "Yeah, okay."
"After all," Percy smiled drily. "Every titan we kill brings us a step closer to going home. Unleash your beast mode to kill 'em if you must, but we will get home."
Jason grinned at his friend and held his fist out. Percy bumped his own hand against it.
"Lovely bromance boys," Annabeth said. "But we've got two twelve meters coming from the front and back. Me and Percy will get the ones in front, Piper, Jason, take care of the ones in the back."
"Aye aye, Captain Chase." Jason fake saluted, then spun on his heel and locked his gaze on the ginger twelve meter.
"You ready?" Piper asked, a sly grin on her face.
"Oh yeah." Jason nodded. "Nice hair cut, by the way."
With that, they charged.
Jason whisked himself into the air and commanded the wind to propel him towards the titan. Piper flew alongside via ODM gear, surprisingly keeping up with him the whole time. She looked stunning, but Jason quickly returned his focus to the task at hand.
"I'll distract him, you just get around and slice the nape!" He barked.
"On it!" Piper replied. She fired her wire to the left of the titan and swung around. The titan turned as if to bite her, but Jason fired a wire into it's eye.
The titan turned and looked at Jason sadly, as though he had really hurt its feelings. Suddenly, it leaped at him, its mouth stretched open, revealing all of the huge blood stained teeth and slimy tongue it held there.
Jason abruptly veered upwards, and a lock of the titan's red hair brushed his thigh, and he felt its hot breath on his foot.
Piper zipped under him and slashed through the titan's nape. Blood sprayed from the slice and a chunk of flesh tumbled to the ground.
She landed on a roof and watched the titan collapse to the ground, its body already steaming.
"Nice job Pipes!" Jason said.
"Thanks! Are there any others around here that we should get?" Piper lowered her blades.
Jason scanned the land. Titans were stumbling in from the breach surprisingly fast, turning his stomach with fear. What was drawing the beasts in like this?
"Let's make our way to the breach!" Jason called. "That's where most of them are!"
"Roger!" Piper fired a wire at another roof and went zooming off, her short, choppy brown hair waving behind her.
Jason shot through the air alongside his girlfriend, glancing around for any other enormous humanoids who wanted to devour them.
Soldiers flew between buildings and giants, some vanishing behind the looming mass of a titan, others cutting down the ugly beasts.
"Heads up!" Piper screamed. She shot to the side, revealing a fifteen meter titan with close cropped brown hair and a bulging belly in their path.
Jason willed himself to the right as quickly as he could before swinging back around with his blade in the titan's nape.
"Show off!" Piper yelled as the titan sank to the ground, dead.
Before Jason could reply, a familiar, titan like roar pierced the air.