Chapter 4: An unusual day on the Job
A/N: Hello followers and newbies, I hope you remember my advice from last chapter, because the action starts right now!
Levi and Eren were surrounded by children, each ready with their own questions.
"How far can you fly?" one child asked.
"We Don't fly," Levi sneered, "the gear only allows us to glide on air. Perpetual motion takes care of the rest."
"How big do you get when you become a Titan?" another child asked.
"15 meters," Eren answered, "at the very…"
Eren stop as his sights set on the horizon. A long trail of purple smoke slithered in the sky. It was an emergency. He looked over to Levi, who also noticed.
They weren't the only ones; the entire Central Patrol group ran off, grappling whichever building was nearby.
"Sorry," Eren said, "Duty calls."
Eren darted off as quickly as he could. He aimed his grappler, pulling him onto the rooftops thanks to the help from a jet of pressurized gas. The two ran and leapt from roof to roof, making their way towards the source of smoke.
They had finally caught up with the rest of the team, seeing an area of town demolished. The ash and dust was incredibly thick, obscuring view.
The order was given to hold, as it would be unwise to attack without visuals. Eren gazed fiercely at the cloud of ash, able to see some kind of movement.
Whatever it is, Eren thought, it has to be huge. A Titan? After months of inactivity, have they come back?
The answer seemed to be much stranger.
The thick cloud of ash faded, showing what looked like a gigantic human's silhouette.
"30 meter class," Hange called out, "possibly a Deviant Type."
Her suspicions were almost immediately debunked as the smoke cleared completely. The figure that stood before them was in fact an insect. A praying Mantis to be exact. Towering at 30 meters, its exoskeleton bore a greenish-gray color, complementing its bright yellow eyes. It stood there, cleaning its scythe-like appendages. In one world, this species did have a name; Kamacuras.
"That is one seriously deviant type." Connie spoke out.
The gigantic mantis was not alone; behind it six more emerged, walking past the first one and into the city. Four more followed suite.
"Everyone scatter!" Levi yelled, "Don't let any of them go further into the city!"
The hundreds of Survey Corps soldiers went off, scattering in different directions.
Connie, Jean, and Armin went to take out the Mantis to the left. Eren, Mikasa, and Levi went to take the one to the right. Mobilt, Hange, and Sasha went to the center Mantis.
Jean decided to go for the first strike, jetting strait for the colossal invertebrate. Grappling the monster's shoulder, he propelled himself towards the creature's neck. The monster mantis noticed his advance and began to swing its arm towards the human.
Jean quickly flipped midair, dodging the insect's attack. Connie decided to take advantage of the distraction and leapt forward. He managed to glide onto the monster's arm, making his way to the neck. He made it.
He raised both blades, dual slashing the usual weak spot. But all it did was scratch the exoskeleton, the blade didn't cut through.
"I don't think the usual plan is going to work here!" he yelled.
"Then come up with something new!" Jean shouted, trying to regain momentum.
Meanwhile, Sasha and her group where having similar troubles. The Mantis kept swatting at them like flies. The group wasn't able to get a hit in due to the fact that these things moved quicker than the Titans they were used to.
"Its primary weapon," Hange said, avoiding a swipe from the creature, "Seems to be using slash-attacks. It doesn't appear to use blunt force. Armored exoskeleton, flight capabilities…"
"Any time you want to give us its weakness," Moblit said, slashing at one of the monster's legs, "would be great. Now focus on staying alive!"
Sasha had an idea of her own. Maybe attacking the eyes would be a good start. She unleashed her grappling hooks to two nearby chimneys. She pulled herself back, preparing to slingshot her way up to the creature's face. She released herself, letting out a jet of gas to keep her momentum.
Halfway up, she realized the major problem with her plan; the creature could see her!
With a swing the monster insect back-handed her away, sending her flying right towards the Market district. She tumbled, making it hard to tell when to dispatch the hooks again. All she could do was spurt out gas to lower her speed. Fortunately, a vegetable stand broke her fall.
She got back up, covered with the remains of what once was good produce.
"My cabbages!" the stand owner yelled out.
Sasha ignored the stand owner, grabbing a zucchini and a tomato she took off to rejoin her crew.
One of the other Mantises was making its way towards a granary. Eren and his group made their way over.
"Mikasa," Eren said, "I've told you before, I don't need your protecting!"
"You never did listen too well," she said, "I'm always going to protect you. You just don't have a choice in the matter."
"If our little lover's quarrel is over," Levi interrupted, "We need to focus on that thing attacking the city."
Mikasa opened her mouth, as she was going to yell that it wasn't like that at all. But she closed it immediately as she realized Levi was right. They had to drop the argument in order to keep this territory intact.
Levi took charge, climbing up the creature's back and performing his signature takedown on the neck. Like Connie just a few hundred feet away, all it did was leave a few scratches. It was like trying to cut a crab with a toothpick.
"I highly doubt this thing is a Titan!" Levi cried out.
This had Eren confused. If this thing isn't a Titan, then what the hell is it? And more importantly, how could they stop them?
At this point, the gigantic insects were so preoccupied with the puny humans, they didn't even move from their positions, desperate to kill the tiny organisms that halted their search for food. That was the good news. The bad news was, there was still a swarm of gigantic insects on the loose.
The biggest victory here was that they were too over-whelmed to fly, like a butterfly being swarmed by ants.
At this point, the large monsters could be seen from the far end of town, causing panic. Even the children in the Town Center could see the carnage.
"Children please," Miki called out, "remain calm! Just remember what I've taught you and join hands."
Each child sat down in place, holding whoever's hand was nearest to them. Eventually, there was a long line of children linked in hands, all the way to Miki herself. Everyone then closed their eyes and remained still.
Connie and Jean were struggling against the colossal invertebrate, since they couldn't actually hurt the thing, they had to either lure it out of the city or capture it. And it wasn't willing to comply with either option.
Armin circled around the creature, trying to think of something. He then remembered- this was an insect! Testing his theory, he shot his Grappling line, aiming at the knee of the creature's first front leg.
The hook hit between the segments, into the flesh. The monster mantis screeched out in pain.
"What the hell did you do to it?" Connie yelled out, landing on a rooftop.
"It's an Insect," he called out, "all insects have segmented bodies that connect to-"
"In English please!" Yelled Jean, avoiding another swing by the monster.
"Attack its joints," Armin called out again, "and were the limbs meet the body. Those areas won't be armored!"
Jean and Connie looked at each other and nodded. This sounded insane, but Armin's track record showed that his plans were ninety percent solid. They leaped in unison, releasing their grappling hooks at the elbow joints. They hit their targets, causing the Mantis to shriek even louder. They then flew at the enormous insect and landed on each of its forearms.
They took out their blades and dug them as far as they could into the elbow joints. As the creature cried out in agony, the two Corps members preformed a crouching run, guiding their blades to a circling pattern.
As they made a full circular slash, the arms flung off with a torrent of yellow blood. Armin took charge, hooking onto the area were the torso and waist of the creature met. He crossed his arms, with blades in hand, and performed a flawless cross-slash.
The attack worked, causing more yellow mantis blood to pour out. The creature toppled over, the nerves connecting to the legs severed. It lay twitching on the street, bleeding to death.
"Good eye there Armin," Jean said, admiring the kill.
"Don't thank me yet," Armin said, "We have to let the others know what we've learned or the city will become a giant feeding ground."
The three scattered, each going in a different direction. Armin was off not only to warn the others of the new plan in attack, but also to make sure the two people he cared about most were still safe.
Fortunately, they were still safe. But for how long was still uncertain.
So far, their only plan was to aim for the eyes. Eren thought that going Titan would be too risky, as he didn't want to cause any more unnecessary damage to the city.
Levi swung to another rooftop, ready to get a new angle. The Mantis caught sight of Levi, performing an upwards slash. This tethered the line, sending Levi flying upwards. Before he knew what to do, the Mantis used its other scythe to swipe him downwards, right into the creature's mouth.
Levi could feel the grinding on his legs as the monster pulled him into its maw further. Mikasa ran up the creature's arm, grappling into the Mantis's right eye. Distracted, the monster opened its mouth long enough for Mikasa to pull him out.
Levi was able to escape, covered in insect saliva, but otherwise unharmed. Mikasa, however, was not so lucky. The Mantis preformed a downward sweeping motion, flinging her down towards the street.
"Mikasa!" Eren Yelled, launching himself towards her.
She was able to fire off the grappling hooks, but due to damage taken by the monster, the mechanism malfunction. The ropes entwined as she fired them. She hung suspended off the ground, entangled in her own gear.
The creature lumbered towards her, preparing to end her intrusion. It raised its claw, attempting to impale her.
A sudden gust of steam rushed out at the monster, concealing sight for a solid second. As it cleared, it was revealed that a pair of hands had stopped the claw in its place. These hands belonged to one of humanity's greatest weapons; Eren Yeager, the Rouge Titan.
Eren roared at the Mantis, issuing a challenge. He then pulled with all his might, severing the claw from the gigantic insect. Holding it like a baseball bat, Eren used the severed limb to beat its former owner.
The sounds of the fight caught the attention of the other mantises, alerting them to better prey. Once the first was dead, a Kamacuras snuck up behind him and leapt on his back.
Armin landed on the rooftop next to a slime-covered Levi.
"He's gone Titan already?" Armin asked.
"Don't just stand there," Levi said, franticly trying to get as much saliva off him as he could, "Get Mikasa out of there before she get herself killed!"
Armin complied. Due to the saliva, Levi's equipment was clogged up. All he could do now was keep lookout.
Eren managed to toss the Kamacuras off his back. They were surprisingly light for being larger than his Titan form. Once the insect was down, Eren assaulted it with a multitude of poundings with his bare hands.
Another Kamacuras charged in, ramming Eren into a large building. He kicked the creature back with all his might, sending the creature into a row of freshly built homes.
While Eren roared at his fallen foe, another one crept in, crouched near his right leg. The Kamacuras bit down hard onto the Titan's leg. Eren pounded on the monster's head, drawing yellow blood. Then, pulling his leg up, he was able to grab hold of the creature and tear it off his leg.
Three more Mantises came crawling towards him. Eren threw the Kamacuras he removed from his legs and charged in. one of them made a slash attack, just missing Eren by a hair. Eren held on to the creature's shoulder and stomach punched the Kamacuras.
Another one crept in, ready to bite into Eren's neck. Luckily, he noticed it right away and slamed the two mantises into each other. He stomped furiously on the pile of knocked out invertebrates, creating a gigantic crunching sound that could be heard a mile away.
Meanwhile, the one from earlier he had tossed into a few buildings got back on its feet. It took hold of Eren's arm with its claws clamped down tight and its jaws set. Before Eren could react, the Kamacuras tore his arm off. The attack threw off the Titan's balance, causing him to trip over.
Eren performed a sweeping kick, hard enough to break all four of its legs and send it tumbling down. While the Kamacuras fell, Eren took hold of its neck and slammed the creature's head into the ground. He then brought the creatures neck back up and chomped down on the Kamacuras's throat. This was to ensure it wouldn't get back up again.
Armin had finally cut Mikasa loose, taking her to the rooftop to rejoin with Levi.
"I almost wish he didn't do that." Mikasa said, watching the carnage before them. "These things are faster and more numerous than any Titan attack we've encountered so far."
"He can handle his own," Armin said, "but we should be ready to assist at any time."
Two more mantises fell at Eren's hands. Another managed to take hold of his remaining arm, stopping him in his tracks. A second Kamacuras took hold of his right leg. He attempted to kick it away with his left leg, but another Mantis grabbed that one as well. Like a gang of bullies from his childhood, they held him into place as he struggled.
Creeping in from his other shoulder, a fourth one held onto his torso. It was opening its mouth, ready to bite into the one place that could harm him, the neck.
"No!" Mikasa yelled, activating her gear and heading to Eren's location.
"Eren!" Armin yelled as he followed.
Just as the others gnawed on Eren's body, the fourth mantis prepared to chomp down on Eren's neck.
Suddenly, a sound could be heard. Eren heard a choir of children humming in unison. What was stranger still, he wasn't hearing it with his ears. It was in his head.
The Mantises stopped in their tracks, as if something else caught their attention. They released Eren, leaving his chewed up body to fall to the ground with a giant thud. The enormous insects then began to walk away in unison.
They opened their wing cases and lifted their bodies off the ground with the beat of their wings. They flew off, returning to the forest from which they came.
Eren lay motionless on the ground, still hearing the strange song in his head. Exhausted and taken too much damage, he was expelled from his Titan body. Emerging from the neck, the song ceased.
Armin and Mikasa made it too him, lifting him off his feet.
"Are you alright?" Mikasa asked, "Speak to me Eren!"
Eren let out a cough and opened his eyes.
"Yes," he answered, "I…I think so. What…happened to those things?"
"They just flew off," Armin replied, "I don't even know why. They just…up and left."
The signal flare was released, a yellow flare, to alert all that the danger had passed.
"Where did the singing come from?" Eren asked.
"What?" Mikasa said, "What are you talking about?"
"That singing," Eren explained, "when those things ganged up on me. Couldn't you hear it?"
"We didn't hear anything Eren." Mikasa answered.
"Maybe it's another side-effect," Armin stated, "You always say weird things happen when you turn."
"I guess you're right Armin." Eren replied.
But deep down, Eren knew this wasn't normal. He did hear something. But what was it? The only thing he did know for sure was that whatever was going on….
…it was just getting started.
A/N: two things I want to say before I go: yes, I made Kamacuras smaller this time around due to this particular chapter. Second, I have no idea how to say Kamacuras in the plural form (ten points to whoever can help me with that.) be sure to stay tuned as the story continues!
Ps. From Z-King. The Kamacuras used in this story is the one from Final wars and be prepared more Godzilla and titan goodness are on the way!