EREN: The door closed behind Hanji and Levi as they walked out.
"Okay, so remember earlier when Hanji mentioned the Titans might have a base somewhere?" I asked. "Well, I think we should go looking for it as a birthday present to Hanji. If we find the base and arrest all of the Titans ourselves, they'll be really proud of us."
"Eren, don't be stupid," Mikasa scolded.
"Mikasa, can't you see that this is a great idea?" I demanded.
"Mikasa's right, Eren; Hanji and Levi would want us to stay here and away from the Titans. They care about us." Armin said.
"Armin, come on! They'd be so proud of us!" I pleaded.
"Eren, they would be very ashamed of us if they found out we had disobeyed them and gone after the Titans ourselves." Mikasa said.
"It's like Armin said yesterday: they wouldn't have trained us if they thought we weren't ready to go out and arrest the Titans ourselves!" I pointed out.
"Don't use my words against me," Armin argued, "I only said that because I knew we'd be safe with Hanji and Levi around!"
"But the point is we're ready! We arrested Annie, didn't we?" I protested.
"No, Levi and Hanji rescued us from almost being killed," Mikasa corrected me.
"Mikasaaa," I groaned, "where's your sense of dignity?"
"Dignity?"
"Yeah, don't you want revenge on them from taking your parents lives?"
"Don't you dare bring their souls into this!" She snapped. "They weren't killed by Titans!"
"How do you know those evil people weren't working with the Titans? They very well could've been! If we find the Titans' hideout, we can find the leaders of the organization that killed your parents!" I said.
"That's ridiculous, Eren," Armin said.
"But it's plausible. Fine, if you're not going with me, I'll go find the Titans' hideout myself." I said, standing up.
"Eren!" Mikasa grabbed my wrist. "Don't be stupid. You're staying here."
"Mikasa, you're not my mother! My mother is dead because of those assholes! I have a duty to fulfill for her, and that's to avenge her death. Stop pretending you're in charge of me, because you're not." I argued, wrenching my wrist free.
I stormed downstairs, retrieving Carla from the case. I stuck the pistol in my belt loop and stormed out of the office.
It wasn't long before I heard footsteps behind me. I clumsily whipped my gun out and pointed it at-Armin and Mikasa.
"I thought you weren't coming," I muttered.
"I may not be in charge of you, but that doesn't mean I won't take care of you. You're my family now, Eren, and if I lost you I wouldn't have any family left." Mikasa said.
"Same with me," Armin agreed, "I have no one to take care of me. If I didn't know you, I wouldn't have anywhere to go."
"Guys..." I faltered.
"Now come on; we have Titan ass to kick." Armin said.
I smiled crookedly, hungry with revenge. "Alright, here's the plan."
After wandering around the city for an hour, we spotted a suspicious-looking kid who was very easy to keep an eye on due to his height; he was probably around six feet tall, if not taller.
"Hey, doesn't he look familiar?" Armin whispered.
"Yeah...does he go to our school?" I asked.
"I think so...I think that's Bert Hoover," Mikasa agreed.
Bertoldt Hoover, aka Bert, was a huge and clumsy kid in the eleventh grade. I'd seen him in the hallways, constantly bumping into people. If it weren't for his friend, Reiner Braun, keeping him on track, Bert would've been a mess.
Our suspicions were confirmed when Bert disappeared into an alley and immediately bumped into a Dumpster.
"That's Bert, alright." I muttered.
We followed him down the alley. At the end was a heavy metal door. Bert rapped his knuckle on the door, and a slit opened up at the top. His lips moved, and I figured he was whispering a password or something. My ears weren't good enough to hear it, but Mikasa's were. She hissed the password into my ear. The door opened up for Bert and he stepped inside. It quickly slammed behind him, the slit shutting as well.
The three of us came out from behind the Dumpster and scrambled to the door. I knocked on the door, and the slit appeared again. A pair of eyes were revealed, waiting for the password. The word escaped my lips shakily.
The door opened, letting us in. It seemed too simple to break into this place.
Just as we entered, we heard several guns clicking and being aimed at us. We put our hands up instinctively.
"State your names," one of the masked figures holding the guns demanded. This figure was probably a grunt, seeing as his mask wasn't very intricate.
"I'm Eren Jaeger, this is Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert. We're orphans; you killed our parents." I said.
"Why are you here?" Another grunt demanded.
I was about to execute the plan, but I was interrupted by Bertoldt. His mask was the one they had referred to as Colossal, probably because of his size.
"At ease," he said, "Eren Jaeger, I recognize you. We attend the same school, St. Maria High."
"Yes we do, Bertoldt Hoover." I said. "I'm here because-"
"I don't care why you're here," Bert said, "I'm actually glad you came here. Annie keeps an eye on you in school-she's in your grade, right?-well, before you arrested her, she suggested you as a new recruit to the Titans."
"That's stupid, why would I ever join you sick bastards?" I snapped.
"Think about it, Eren; we killed your mother. You're furious with us, and you have every right to be. But we could use your senseless rage to better our organization. You're berserk, you're-" Bert struggled to find the best word.
"Rogue?" Someone behind him suggested. I recognized his voice as Reiner's.
"Yeah. In fact, that could be your Titan alias. Besides, if you worked with us, you would gain your revenge. The Titan that killed your mother? He's here." Bert motioned for someone to come closer.
Out from the shadows stepped the Titan who killed Mom, his gruesome smile and lifeless eyes as sick and disturbing as the day he shot her.
"You..." I grumbled, but Mikasa grabbed my arm.
"If you joined us, we would allow you to arrest him. You could kill him if you wanted to, if your rage is that inhuman." Bert offered.
"I might be furious with you, but I wouldn't kill him. I'm not like you monsters." I objected.
"But Eren, there isn't much difference between you and I. We both have grudges against the Titans. I'm here because one of these monsters killed my best friend, Mina Carolina. I came to them to avenge her death, but I found that I could be of use to them with my strength and size. Besides, I knew holding the grudge would be useless; using it as fuel to run on is much more efficient. Now, what do you say?" Bert threw me a mask: it had an elongated face, messy brown hair, and long elf-like ears. "Will you be our Rogue?"
My fists clenched over the mask. He was sickeningly right; holding an impossible grudge was useless, but if you could turn that grudge into something useful..."Alright. I'll be the Rogue Titan." I agreed, slipping the mask on.
"Eren!" Mikasa screamed.
"There's nothing you can do, Mikasa. I've made my decision. You might as well join, too." I said.
"Never! You take my parents, you take my brother! I may have lost everything I have to you, but I refuse to lose to you!" Mikasa said, drawing her gun. She fired several shots as Armin opened the door, and they escaped.
"Should I go after them?" One of the grunts asked.
"No," I said, "they aren't worth the trouble. There's no way they'd be able to come back for me; I'm a Titan now."