"Armin!" Eren cried out as he watched his best friend slowly get positioned above the Titan's mouth, cursing himself for not moving as his thoughts think back to a certain memory
Flashback
"Eren"
"What is it Armin?" Eren asked sitting as he looked lazily at the clouds
"My grandpa was hiding this book. It's a book about the outside world!" Armin exclaimed holding out a brown book
"A book about the outside world? Isn't it illegal to have those? What if the Military Police finds out?"
"Who cares about that now? According to this book, most of the world is covered in water called an 'ocean!' And this 'ocean' is entirely saltwater!" exclaimed a very excited Armin
Eren looked at him in complete disbelief "Salt?! Y-you're lying! Salt is a treasure trove! I'm sure merchants would've snatched it all up!"
"You can't though! The ocean is that big!"
"Yeah, right" Eren said, still not believing it
"There's a lot more than mountains of salt too! Fiery water! Lands of ice! Sandy snowfields! The outside world must be
By now Eren was looking in awe "The outside world..."
"And this is still a secret, but my mom and dad are planning to venture into the outside world" the blonde whispered to his friend
"The outside world huh" Eren repeats
"Hey Eren, I hope we can explore the outside world too someday"
End of flashback
'No! We still have to see the outside world together! Especially the ocean!'
It happened so fast. One minute Armin is about to be dropped, the next thing he knows is two blurs making there way towards the Titan. One killing it and the other saving Armin as the duo were revealed to be Tim and-
"Jason?!" Eren said in a shocked tone. Wasn't he assigned somewhere else?
"Don't look so surprised Eren, I've been known to break the rules. Besides couldn't let baby bird here die... would never hear the end of it from Dick or the old man" he said turning to Tim who was helping Armin get over his shock
"Hey!" a voice called out as it was revealed to be none other than Connie with both Christa and Ymir close behind
Noticing Jason (who was part of their squad) among them, Christa put two and two together "Oh you ran of because you were worried for Tim! That's so sweet"
"Me worried about baby bird? Please. I know he can take care of himself just fine. I was more worried about having to listen to Dick wine on and on about how I didn't take care of my younger brother and how I could let him die" Jason said with an eye roll as Tim sent him a glare
"Wait you and Tim are brothers?" Christa questioned
"Never mind that! Armin, Eren, Tim, where's the rest of your squad?" Connie asked as the trio flinched at the reminder of there fallen squad members. Jason glanced at Tim and noticed his clenching fists, making him narrow his eyes
"It's all my fault! Everyone's dead because of me! If Tim hadn't reacted in time, I'd might as well have joined them! All that talk back there and I couldn't even kill one single Titan!" Eren screamed out as the group is shocked by his outburst. He couldn't believe how stupid he was, rushing in blinded by his emotions, leaving his teammates behind...
"I just stood their watching it all instead of fighting back as well. I-I wanted to move, wanted to do something, but couldn't move" Armin admitted as well
Jason started at the duo with a concerned expression and saw that even Tim's own guilt was eating away at him. Jason knew that he would feel the same way as Tim if he were in his position or if Roy, Kori or even anyone in the 104th cadet corps died
Connie sighed "Let's go and see if we can find anyone else" was all he could say in the end
"C'mon Jean! What are we gonna do?!" Connie asked
"Ain't anything we can do. They finally gave the order to withdraw, but we don't have enough gas to scale the Wall. We're all gonna die now. All cause of those cowards" Jean said in defeat as he was sitting down with his hand on his face
"You mean the supply soldiers?! What's happened to them? Were they wiped out?"
"They probably lost the will to fight. I can understand the feeling, but abandoning their duty to supply us so they can barricade themselves inside headquarters?"
"I'm guessing the Titans have swarmed the place, meaning we can't even get gas for ourselves"
Jason who was listening from a slight distance away, joined in the conversation "Why is it every time something seems hopeless people give up?" Jason asked with a sigh "Sitting here doing nothing won't solve anything! What's stopping the Titans from coming here? We should continue advancing while we still have the chance. When you're out there in the field there will be no time for complaints. You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed... walk it off! None of us are perfect, but each of us have one thing in common and that's fighting the Titans and saving humanity. The world out there is full of unfairness, it's up to us to combat the unfairness and push ourselves to the limit in order to make that happen"
Jean looked at the others "Do we have the manpower to pull that off though? Most of the veteran members of the vanguard have been wiped out"
Jason turned his attention to the others, all of which were standing around looking helpless, unsure of what to do with themselves or like they'd given up on living. None of these guys would last even a day in Gotham if this is all it took to get their hopes crushed
"We're just trainees. Who can possibly take charge of a suicide mission like that? Even if someone could, it's not like we'd stand a chance against the Titans anyway. And the supply room's probably got some that are three or four meters high"
"There's no way we could get anything done in there"
Connie's face fell "It's hopeless?"
Jason just glared at them. If they didn't plan on doing anything then he would. He doesn't care if it'll be a suicide mission... it was better than waiting around to become Titan food that's for sure
"What a dull life this was" Jean scratched his hair "If I'd known this would happen..."
"Come on, guys!" Sasha suddenly said, trying to raise some spirits "Let's do it! Get up! If we all work together, we're sure to succeed! I'll take the lead!"
Unfortunately no one reacted to her words as silence was her only answer. Jason however did give her points for trying to get people to move and do something
"Reiner, what now?" Annie asked from where she stood with Reiner and Bertolt
"It's not time yet. We must regroup first"
"It's no use. However you look at it, we're not getting out of this city. We're all dead. I mean, I'm ready to die and everything... It's just what am I dying for?" Marco said
"Mikasa!"
"Weren't you with the rearguard?"
"Annie. I understand the gist of the situation. So I'm sorry for letting my personal matters interfere but have you seen Eren's squad?"
Before Annie could even answer, Mikasa's eyes found Eren and Armin. Running towards them both, she couldn't help the relieved expression at seeing that both were safe. Mikasa made a mental note to thank Tim for keeping his promise after this was all over
"All of you should be ashamed" Tim's voice cut in, making everyone turn towards him "Many people have died since the Titans entered Trost. Most might have been strangers, but others might have been friends or family. They risked there lives, whether intentional or not so that others would live. Everyone here just sitting down wallowing in pity, none of you deserve to be alive. If you're so helpless and feel there's nothing left to live for, why not end it all? If you think that's the only option, who am I to stop you? Just remember this. Those people who risked their lives ended up saving a bunch of cowards who at the first sign of helplessness just gave up"
Jason wasn't expecting Tim to speak out. Sure he knew that he'd been listening to the conversation he had with Connie and Jean before, but still he though that the baby bird would be trying to come up with a plan... however seems that both his words from earlier and Tim's own were slowly started to get through their heads
"If you win, you live. If you lose, you die. If you don't fight, you can't win" Eren softly said as Mikasa's eyes widened at the familiar words that just left, her thoughts thinking back to that day where he had risked his life to save her...
Jason and Tim both nodded at Eren's words. How could anyone hope to win a battle if they didn't at least try and fight? Neither of them waited for anyone's response and instead took off much to the surprise of many
Eren, not wanting to be left behind was seen following after them with Mikasa and Armin chasing after their best friend
"Those two. I blame them and Eren for this" Jean mumbled as he stood up and turned to his fellow cadets "Hey! Since when were we taught to let our comrades fight alone?! That is unless you want to up like Titan food!" he shouted as he took off with Connie right behind him
"Never thought I'd hear him say that" Reiner sighed as he, Bertolt and Annie followed
"Never mind Jean! I'd never thought to feel motivated to fight just by hearing a speech" Bertolt commented as even Annie had to agree with that
"Come on! You cowards, weaklings!" Sasha shouted as slowly one by one the rest of the remaining still alive moved forwards with a battle cry
Leading them was Mikasa, with Tim and Jason close behind her. Everyone watched as she cut down a 15-meter in her path, rushing to the next without stopping. However only Armin and Tim noticed that her gas canister seemed to be slowing down slightly
'Her canister is going to run out any second!' Armin thought
"Mikasa!" Eren shouted as he saw her gas canister suddenly run out. This in turn caused her to suddenly fall "I'll get her back! Keep moving forward!" he said to Jean, going back in the direction he last saw her as the other teen cursed but did as Eren said
"I'm going after them. Keep everyone safe and don't do anything reckless if possible" Tim said, but knew it was in vain as Jason and reckless were bound to happen one way or another
Not giving Jason time to respond, Tim followed after Eren, slowly catching up to the brunette
"Shouldn't you be with the rest of them? Losing Mikasa is bad enough, but you were second best"
"Jason's still with them and I'm not about to break my promise to Mikasa about letting you die. I've had enough dead. I'm not about to have yours on my conscience" Tim seriously said as Eren didn't say anything, but even he could agree that he's had enough death for today
The two found Mikasa lying on the ground as Eren ran to her side and helped her back up. However before anything could be said or done a Titan could be heard coming their way
Eren cursed. Mikasa had no gas left and he wasn't sure how much he or Tim had with them. Heck he wasn't even sure if they could carry Mikasa with them back to where the others were
"I'll hold them off! Get Mikasa out of here Tim!" Eren shouted, blades ready and at hand as Mikasa wanted to object, but there wasn't any time as the Titan made a grab for them, which all three narrowly avoided from getting caught
Eren took note that Tim was no longer in the area and his mind flashed back to that activity where they almost had their gear stolen were it not for Jason and Tim
Suddenly hearing the sound of ODM gear being used, both Eren and Mikasa noticed Tim appear from who knows where as he was free falling and using his sword, did a spin flip as he landed on the back of the Titan, slashing the nape and killing it
"Eren! Mikasa! Behind you!" Tim shouted as Eren once again cursed and grabbed Mikasa as he used his gear to get them above ground instead. However just as the two landed, the Titan attacked them, causing both to lose their balance
"Mikasa!" Eren cried out in horror as the Titan closed in on her and without thinking jumped and using his gear, pushed Mikasa out of the way as the Titan was able to tear of his gear, making the teen crash into another rooftop
"Eren!" Mikasa yelled trying to reach out as if she could pull him back over to their side
Tim tried to move, he did, but it was too late, Eren Yeager was no more as the Titan got to him faster and devoured him
Mikasa Ackerman just watched as the person that had saved her years ago and wrapped her scarf around... was now gone
Yes I followed Mikasa losing her gas like the anime, don't judge me. So Eren is close to appearing as a Titan. I almost thought about making this story without Titan Eren, but then I was like, where's the challenge? Besides since I'm sticking to the anime and the anime has Eren become Titan in Trost, so does user Mari have Eren become Titan in Trost. Tim tried to save him, but I couldn't let him do it again... poor Tim though since he considers Eren a friend