Eren slammed Reiner who had just charged at him with a wooden knife
"Sorry, I'm not good at holding back" Eren said, holding out a hand as Reiner got back onto his feet and held the knife out to the brunette
"Now it's your turn to be the bad guy" he said as Eren silently grabbed the knife, but Reiner could see something was bothering Eren "What's wrong?"
"I don't get this training. Why would soldiers fight other people? Only someone stupid would decide to take on an opponent barehanded"
Before Reiner could even respond, his attention was drawn towards a crowd chanting the words 'fight' as both Tim and Jason were facing each other
"What the hell are you all doing standing around?!" Keith's voice boomed as a brave cadet not thinking about any consequences, stepped forward and answered
"Sir, Jason and Tim have never been seen fighting each other, they are always paired up with Mikasa or Annie. So we were just wondering who would win between them"
Keith was silent for a moment, looking at the two mentioned boys and nodded "You two" he said as Jason and Tim turned to face him "You're both sparing one another. Don't hold back"
At this, both former Robins turned to each other with a competitive expression on their face. It's been a while since they last spared with one another and both had been itching for a challenge
"What's the rules Baby Bird" Jason called out, stretching his arms as Tim did the same
"First one to get the other on the ground wins" Tim decided as Jason agreed with the rules
The cadets all eagerly made space and watched as the two circled around each other. Suddenly Jason decided on making the first move, knowing Tim wouldn't be doing so anytime soon
Tim dodged the incoming punch and went to strike, only for Jason to block his attack and push him back
The younger teen wasted no time in counterattacking as he tried to sweep Jason's legs, but the older saw this coming and back flipped away
Tim used this opportunity to try and surprise him, but Jason was able to grab him and hold him in a chock lock
"I thought Keith said not to hold back?" Jason whispered as Tim gave a sly smile
"Who says I am?" was all he said as he head butted and twisted out of Jason's hold, moving slightly away. The older teen playfully shook his head and smirked as he charged
Everyone could only stare in awe. These two were in a completely different league from everyone else. Eren had to admit, they might even be better than both Annie and Mikasa, two of the best female fighters
Graduation Day
"You have three options after you graduate from the Trainee Corps today! The Garrisons, which reinforce the Wall and protect each city! The Survey Corps, which risks life and limb to venture into Titan territory outside the Walls! And the Military Police, which serves under the king by policing the people and preserving order! Of course, the only ones allowed to join the Military Police are the top ten trainees. However due to having two trainees score the same, we had to take a look at their grades"
The top ten stood side-by-side in the order of their ranking: Mikasa, Tim, Jason, Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Eren, Jean, Marco and Connie
'We've finally made it here. Now it's our turn to devour the Titans!' Eren thought
"Yes! I'm gonna be in the Military Police!" Connie said with a grin as Sasha was seen looking sad at not having gotten into the top ten and complained about how she would not have had to worry about food if she had placed in the top ten
"How'd I rank under Eren, damn!" Jean complained as he took a slip from his mug
"Still can't believe I got under you due to not having the same grades as you. I thought we'd only be tested mostly on fighting and our ability on the ODM gear. Also can't believe we didn't use our full potential either" Jason said with crossed arms
"It wouldn't have made sense if they had two people in the same rank, I'm guessing maybe that's why they added in the grades. Also, I told you that if we went all out, we'd surely get unwanted attention. We almost blew it during that day"
Jason sighed, but knew Tim was right and slowly turned his attention over towards Eren, as he listened in on what the brunette was saying
"So? You're gonna give up because you think we can't win?" Eren said
"Well..."
"Yes, humanity has lost so far. That's because we were clueless about the Titans! Material warfare is useless against them. We lost, but the information we gained in battle will lead to further hope! Are we just going to throw away all the advances in fighting techniques that cost us tens of thousands of lives so we can be Titan fodder?!" at this point, everyone literally had their eyes on Eren "To hell with that! I'm gonna drive out every last Titan and leave these cramped Walls! That's my dream! Humanity hasn't truly been defeated yet!" with that Eren left
"Wait, Eren!" both Armin and Mikasa were seen chasing after their friend
Many looked at one another while others were lost in their thoughts as Tim had to admit, Eren did give a good speech
The Next Day
"It's here! The main unit of the Survey Corps!"
"Commander Erwin! Give those Titans a real thrashing for me!"
"Look! It's Captain Levi! They say he's as mighty as an entire brigade!"
"Ugh, shut up already" Levi grumbled
"This is nothing like five years ago! People actually feel hopeful about the Survey Corps!" Eren smiled
"You sure seem to worship the Survey Corps" Jason commented as Eren looked at him sheepishly
"Wouldn't people feel happy about the fact that their are people around to try and keep them safe? They're risking themselves out their and you're telling me they weren't treated right?" Tim asked since he had heard rumors about the Survey Corps being treated badly, but thought that was just rumors
Eren's expression became that of a confused face "Have you two never seen how the Survey Corps were treated back in Shiganshina? Especially before the Colossal attacked?"
"We never really payed the Survey Corps much attention back then. We were mostly trying not to get caught by the locals back home" Jason answered with a shrug, hoping the trio would buy the lie he just made up on the spot as a familiar face to the Shiganshina trio appeared
"Hannes!"
"I heard you graduated. You squirts really shaped up" Hannes said
"What about you? I can't get use to it, a drunkyard like you, now a squad leader in the Garrison"
"You little!" Hannes said as he flicked Eren's head, but then looked down sadly "I'm sorry I couldn't save your mom" he continued as both Tim and Jason turned to one another
"It wasn't your fault" Eren was heard calmly replying shocking the older man and his friends "We're not ignorant anymore. We won't let another tragedy like that happen. We will defeat the Titans!"
'No wonder this kid wants revenge against the Titans! Like I told Tim, he lost someone to them and that someone was his mother... hope he didn't see it happen...'
"Who are these two? Part of your class?" Hannes asked taking note of the two black haired teens
"That's Jason Todd and Tim Drake. They're also from Shiganshina" Armin introduced
Hannes thought back and wondered if he'd ever since these two before. There were plenty of kids so maybe he had and just hadn't noticed before "Hopefully this one didn't give you any trouble during training" he said motioning towards Eren, who turned away from Hannes
"Tim helped Eren during the ODM gear training. He was able to figure out the problem with why the gear kept failing Eren... even thought Eren was able to stay stable for a short while on defective equipment" Hannes looked impressed at the fact that Eren was able to stay balanced on faulty gear
"You should have seen Jason. Armin and I were coming back with Reiner and Bertolt and we saw Jason balancing like a pro even on faulty equipment" Eren commented as he remembered how the older teen didn't seem to be struggling much on the faulty equipment
Tim shrugged "I noticed he was the only one who had any real problem with the gear. I mean flipping upside down, even the ones who were having slight trouble didn't end up the same way as him. I waited until night time to actually check the equipment myself. I tried it out and immediately felt something wrong, so I had Jason switch places with me and saw it had a broken piece"
Armin had to admit, even he wouldn't have thought to check the gear or made the connection with everyone else. He just thought that Eren was having actual trouble using ODM gear
"Baby bird here's a master detective. Can solve any crime thrown at him and all. Heck this kid figured something at the age of nine that no one else could" Jason said as Tim rolled his eyes at the mention of how he figured out the secret identity of Batman and Robin "Ya, well Jaybird is a killer marksman. Proficient in both guns and swords"
"Why do you call each other Baby Bird and Jaybird?" Armin asked, taking note that the two barely referred to each other by their names. They must be friends or something to have such familiarity with one another
"They're just nicknames we call each other" was all Tim said, not wanting to really discuss the details about the two nicknames and the significance about them
Later
On top of the Wall, the newly graduated trainees were performing maintenance work
"Huh? You're joining the Scouts, Connie? You were so set on the Military Police!" Eren said in complete shock as he stopped what he was doing
"Yeah, I was" Connie said polishing the cannon and not once looking up at him
"But sounds like your speech yesterday won him over" Mina commented
"Huh?"
"Shut up" Connie turned to them, a little pink "I decided it on my own!"
"Don't be so embarrassed. You're not the only one" Thomas admitted himself
"Thomas, you..."
Turning towards Jason, they looked at him curious to know what it was he would choose "Don't look at me. I planned on joining the Survey Corps long before Yeager's little speech. At least they do something against the Titans" he said, not sparing them a glance as he continued his work
"I told you to just call me Eren" the brunette mumbled, which Jason heard and gave him a slight smirk
"Umm, everyone?" Sasha grabbed their attention "I brought some meat from the officers' storehouse!" she said holding up said meat, making everyone look at her in shock
"Sasha! Do you want to end up in solitary confinement?!"
"You really are crazy!"
"So much that it's scary"
"We can all share it later. All sliced up, and between some bread" Sasha drooled, cheeks red. She let out a guttural sound in delight
"Go put it back!"
"Yeah. After we lost all that land, meat's become really valuable"
'To think something like meat is valuable here while back home you can go to the store and buy some meat. Heck you can get meat at restaurants!' Jason thought to himself
"It'll be fine!" Sasha said as she moved towards the wooden ice-box "We can just raise more cattle and sheep once we retake our land"
Samuel gulped "I'll have some of the meat!"
"M-Me too!" Connie spoke up next "Save me some!"
"I'll have some too, of course!" Mina smiled
"Guys..." Eren said as he trailed off, with Jason not saying anything
"Why are you just standing there, Eren? Jason?" Samuel asked "We'll get found out if we don't get back to work! Lunch isn't for a while!"
'Five years have passed since then' Eren thought looking out at the city below 'Humanity is finally regaining its dignity. Cannons lined the Wall. We can win! He clenched his hand. Humanity's retaliation is just beginning!' he continued saying, however...
Lightning suddenly struck from the other side as a colossal face appeared behind Eren. They were all frozen for a few seconds, even Jason couldn't help but be shocked, never having seen a Titan before today
'So this is the Titan that was seen in Shiganshina... they weren't kidding about the size of these things!'
Steam blew and the gate exploded. Debris flew and the winds ripped apart homes. The group on the Wall was knocked off as well
'Oww! Hot!' Eren thought and as fast as he could, he quickly worked his ODM gear 'What the?!'
"Samuel!" Connie suddenly yelled, everyone watching their comrade fall
"Sasha!" Mina called out as Sasha was seen running down the Wall, one hook in the Wall and was about to shoot the other hook towards Samuel, only to have Jason suddenly sweep in and catch the falling teen, carefully not to snap his neck
The others sighed in relief at seeing Samuel safe as Jason handed him over to Sasha, reminding her to be careful. Meanwhile Eren noticed something about the wall 'It's broken!'
"It's happening again! The Titans are going to get in!" Connie's voice was heard shouting
"Mounted Cannon Maintenance Squad 4! Prepare for battle! The target is the Colossal Titan dead ahead! This is our chance! Don't let it get away!" Eren shouted as he landed back onto the wall, swords ready and staring at the Titan before him
"Hey there. It's been five years"
'This kid, charging in without hesitation... it'll get him killed' Jason thought, an image of his younger self chasing the Joker flashing to his mind 'No! I won't let history repeat itself' he continued, climbing back up and stopping to stand beside the brunette
I should stop writing stories that require battle scenes😭 I still suck at them Anyway the 104th trainee corps have graduated and their first battle is about to get underway. With Jason and Tim in the mix, a few things will be slightly different in the next chapter, hope none of you AOT fans mind
P.S. This story got a personalized cover from me! Hope you like it ^^