Chapter 8
Adjusting his watch so it's on the inside of his wrist, Eren hides behind a booth on the first floor. He managed to sneak in when Gabriel opened the door and has been hiding ever since. Waiting patiently, he turns the safety off on his M1911. The inside of the pizzeria is bigger than it looks on the outside with the place being big enough to look like Dave & Busters in the United States. The first floor is littered with booths going all around the room and has a large kitchen to fit twenty chefs in the center. There were several slot machines and arcades in the corner but Eren didn't focus on them. Without wasting another second, he pulls his mask down to bite his hand. Drawing blood, the glint in his eye returns and he sighs confidently before pulling his mask up.
Guard 1 passes by in the dark, missing Eren in the corner of his eye. Guard 2 and 3 accompany him.
Biting his lips behind the mask, Eren steels himself and...
BANG!
Guard 1 goes down. Eren aims at the other two. He aims for their legs. BANG! BANG! Now that they're on the ground, their heads. BANG! BANG!
Nearby, Guard 4 tackles Eren to the ground. Eren knocks him off, rolling on top of him before aiming his gun. Instead of aiming for Guard 4, he aims at Guard 5 rushing down the aisle.
BANG! BANG!
Eren pistol whips Guard 4 across the temple before slapping a new magazine into the gun. Cocking the gun, he jams the barrel into Guard 4's head. BANG!
The guards on the first floor return fire, firing blindly in the darkness. Eren fires back at them. BANG! BANG! BANG! Feeling bullets flying over his head, he quickly makes a break for it, taking cover behind another booth. He fires over his head blindly, squeezing off the last three rounds before he slaps another magazine in.
Guard 6, 7, and 8 flank Eren and run to his position while firing with all their might. As they're about to corner Eren, they find his hiding spot and charge for him. As they look around, they suddenly notice him gone and the shadows give him the advantage of stealth. All they can find is three bodies. But there was something off with one of the bodies; they were lying with their chest being pushed toward the air.
The revelation hits them too late when they realize Eren is under the body and already aiming a gun at them. BANG BANG! BANG! BANG! Guards 6 and 7 go down and Eren quickly aims for Guard 8
Guard 8 fires off a shot and a bullet lodges into Eren's chest. Screaming, Eren fires back. BANG! BANG! CLICK! Guard 8 goes down and would've stayed down had the chamber not jammed when the last bullet would've fired. Eren groans before reaching into the holster of the guard he was using as a blanket and draws his pistol. Click. He turns the safety off.
BANG!
Eren pushes the meat shield off of him before slapping a new magazine in his gun, tossing the pistol he got from the meat shield away. He slaps a new magazine into his gun and press-checks it.
Moving ahead and taking cover behind another booth, he pauses. Looking around, he narrows his eyes through the eyeholes in the mask before pulling his head back to cover.
Where the hell are they?
Several gunshots on the second floor nearly make him jump out of his skin. He smiles behind his mask.
Kick their ass, Mikasa.
When the gunshots slowly start to die down and become less erratic with each passing second, Eren peeks his head out. He looks at the corner of the ceiling. He spots the cameras. Mikasa disabled the cameras, just as I told her to.
He takes a deep breath before slowly moving out of cover, walking through the aisle in a crouching position.
I have a rough idea of this layout but the security guards working here know the terrain by heart. Even in the dark, they have the advantage.
A gunshot goes off. Eren screams and falls on his side, hitting his head on a booth. Looking up, he sees Guard 9 hiding behind a chair, firing at him. The bullet hits Eren in the side. Eren roars before aiming.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Guard 9 flops to the ground like a dead fish. More gunshots go off and Eren feels a jolting pain in his stomach. Eren yells and rolls on his side before aiming the gun at the advancing Guard 10 and 11.
BANG! BANG! BANG! CLICK!
Guard 10 goes down permanently while Guard 11 falls to his knees.
Eren roars like a monster as he charges for Guard 11, leaving a trail of blood behind. He rams into the guard and they both fall to the ground. Guard 11 punches Eren in the jaw before flipping on his back. Guard 11 punches Eren in the stomach, aiming for his gunshot wounds. Eren yells before elbowing the guard in the groin. He headbutts the guard when he folds over before kicking him off with both legs. Eren grabs his gun and aims for the guard, intending to shoot him, before the clicking sound returns.
Eren slaps a new magazine in the pistol when-
Guard 11 rams him and they tumble toward the counter. The guard throws Eren over the counter, knocking the cash register off and Eren falls flat on his back. Eren winces before remembering that he is bleeding. The glint in his eye returns. He points the barrel to the counter in front of him and squeezes the trigger twice.
BANG! BANG!
Guard 11 goes down to the floor, screaming as he clutches his feet. The son of a bitch in the Attack Titan mask shot him through the wooden counter in the legs.
Eren adjusts his aim at the counter.
BANG!
Eren climbs to their knees, groaning in pain as the bullet wounds make it difficult for him to breathe. Biting down on his tongue unconsciously, the glint in his eye returns as he feels the blood staining his shirt from the inside.
You aren't going to sneak up on me.
Rolling to the side and kneeling with his right knee touching the ground, he aims the gun at the wall where, on the other side, is a hallway leading to the bathroom. Adjusting his aim, he licks the inside of his teeth.
BANG!
A thudding sound fills the room a few seconds later and Eren sees a motionless hand sticking out from the hallway and just barely in his line of sight.
On the other side of the wall, Guard 13 and 14 gasp before they growl. If this intruder can shoot at one of their teammates through the wall, then so can they. They aim at the fall and fire.
As they fire, the wall breaks open in small spaces as bullets fly in their direction.
BANG! BANG!
Guard 13 falls to the ground, a bullet in his forehead, while Guard 14 falls against the wall, a bullet wound on his cheek.
Eren leaps over the counter and aims at the guard.
The guard squeezes off two rounds and hits Eren square in the stomach. Eren falls flat on his ass as he squeezes the trigger. BANG!
Seeing the chamber back in place, Eren chucks the pistol at Guard 14, hitting him square in the face. Eren rams into him like a football player and bashes his head against the wall. He grabs him by the hair and hammers it into the wall.
SMASH! SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!
Eren collapses onto his knees, wincing hard as he puts a hand on his stomach.
Shit, that fucking hurts.
Eren retrieves his M1911 pistol off the ground and reaches for a new magazine. He pauses when he finds nothing in the holster around his hip.
He holsters his pistol before retrieving the pistol from the guard.
Glock 27. He takes a magazine off the guard's holster and counts the bullets. Ten rounds.
He slaps the new magazine in before press-checking it. He steals several more magazines before putting his back to the wall once again, wincing in pain but his mask muffles his cries.
The glint in his eyes returns as his blood stains the top of his pants.
He aims the gun at the door he came through earlier.
BANG! BANG!
Guard 15 falls against the door, breaking the window, and has half his body dangle through.
Eren pushes himself off the wall and begins walking away from the hallway and counter, staggering through the aisles and heading for the stairs leading to the second floor.
Creeeak.
Pausing in his step, he turns and aims for the bathroom door.
BANG! BANG!
Guard 16 falls while Guard 17, 18, and 19 burst through. All three of them fire on Eren, who makes a run for it. He leaps over a table, overturning it to give him some cover before he blindly fires at his three enemies. BANG! BANG! BANG!
The guards get closer, almost overwhelming him. They continue to fire at him until Eren hears the clicking of the gun. Eren roars as he leaps over the table and charges for them. BANG! BANG! BANG!
Guard 17 collapses onto a table, knocking it over, while Guard 18 and 19 wince and clutch at their stomachs.
Eren chucks the gun at Guard 18 before he can get a shot off and removes his M1911. Suddenly remembering the ammo in the pockets of his cargo pants, he rips one magazine out before slapping it into the gun. Aiming at the guard, a yell from above draws Eren's attention.
Mikasa was being pushed against the railing of the second floor and almost fell off. Mikasa manages to grab hold of her attacker's head and pull it slightly over the railing and more importantly, in Eren's line of sight. Eren aims at the attacker.
BANG!
The attacker yells as he clutches his ear before vanishing from sight as Mikasa pushes him back.
Guard 18 and 19 charge for Eren. Guard 18 tackles Eren to the ground while Guard 19 rips the gun out of Eren's hand. He steps back and aims the gun, waiting for his comrade to get clear of him struggling with Eren. As his hands tighten around the handle, the weight of what feels like a hammer falls on his head and he collapses on his back, spit flying from his mouth.
Guard 18 puts Eren in a chokehold. Eren punches him in the stomach before kneeing him in the gut. He uses the booth beside him to give himself leverage as he lunges against the guard. Eren gets behind the guard and puts him in a headlock. He punches him in the temple as Guard 18 wraps his arms around Eren's waist and lifts him. Eren roars before punching him in the scalp twice. Eren breaks free of Guard 18's grip around his waist before bodyslamming him. Eren kicks him in the jaw before running for his pistol in Guard 19's hand. He rips it from the guard and aims at Guard 18.
BANG!
He turns to Guard 19.
Click.
PIECE OF SHIT!
Eren unjams the gun before firing.
BANG!
Sighing heavily, Eren lets his arm go limp as he looks at Mikasa.
"Eren?" Mikasa leaps over the railing before landing on the ground with a roll. She runs to his side. "Ereh, are you okay?"
Eren pulls his Attack Titan mask down. "I'm okay."
Mikasa looks at his stomach. "You're bleeding."
Smiling, Eren lifts his shirt to reveal his bare stomach. Despite the bullet holes in his shirt, any sign that he had been shot was gone.
"The Attack Titan never lost his healing abilities, Red Scarf."
Chapter 9
Remembering Eren's orders, Mikasa puts a lock on all the doors around the pizzeria. They brought the locks themselves when they found out they were going to a pizzeria and now, it was Mikasa's time to make sure the locks were on all the doors except the one Eren was about to go through. Once she accomplishes that task, she heads to a pipe leading to the second floor and climbs it. Making it to the very top, she finds a window leading to one of the bathrooms and opens it carefully.
Climbing through the window, she lands in a stall in the men's restroom. Ignoring the unclean urinals and the graffiti, she heads through the door, sticking to the shadows and keeping her head down as she unsheaths her sword from her holster. Ahh, the sword from her old days in the service - it sure brings back memories but nostalgia wasn't on the menu tonight.
Listening carefully to the softest thuds in the hallway, she moves out and heads down the hallway, passing several booths before pausing at a room for employees only. Hearing the soft creaking sounds of a leather chair inside, she quickly opens the door and looks inside.
Guard 20 sits at a desk with a monitor before him, taking careful sips of coffee. Mikasa strolls over before putting her hands over his mouth. SHING! She stabs the blade through his neck before yanking it out and tossing him to the side. She looks at the monitor. A camera system. She turns off all the cameras before shutting the monitor with a soft tap.
Walking back outside, she steps back into the shadows as she hears two voices coming her way down the hall. She waits patiently, clutching the sword in her hands when-
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gunshots from below cause Guard 21 and 22 to nearly jump out of their skin.
Looks like Eren's begun his assault. My turn.
Mikasa swings her sword at a downward angle, severing Guard 21's arm from his body and screams before swinging the sword. SLICE! Mikasa kicks the standing dead body into Guard 21 and knocks his gun away. Guard 21 barely has any time to react as Mikasa drives the blade into his stomach. She sweeps his feet out from under him and pulls the blade out before driving it deep into his chest. SQUELCH!
More gunshots go off, gunshots coming in two different directions. Eren was battling his opponents downstairs; now was the time for Mikasa to focus.
Mikasa looks up and bites her lower lip as three guards suddenly appear at the other end of the hallway. They fire at her. Mikasa somersaults out of the way before they knew what hit them and threw her sword at Guard 22. Guard 22 goes down while Mikasa grabs a nearby vase and chucks it at 23's face, knocking him back. As for Guard 24, his gun jams on him, allowing Mikasa to move in. Guard 24 clears his pistol and takes aim when-
Mikasa throws herself forward, sliding across the ground on her back with two Ka-Bar knives in her hands from her holsters and throws them. They lodge into 24's chest, making him fall and groan in agony. Mikasa kips up before leaping to rip her sword from 22's chest and slice his throat. SLICE! She swings the sword almost like a bat and cuts a chunk of Guard 23's stomach off before following through with another tornado-like spin - SLICE! - the sword takes the guard's head off. As she continues spinning, she stops to allow herself to fall forward and land on top of Guard 24, the tip of the blade digging into the man's sternum. SQULECH! The man struggles before ceasing suddenly.
Removing the sword from the corpse - BANG! - Mikasa screams as she goes down, landing on her stomach. Looking behind her, she sees Guard 25 down the aisle, hiding behind an overturned table, firing at her. Mikasa performs a kip-up before making a run for it. She charges for the man, zig-zagging as he unloads his ammunition on her. When he runs dry out of his first pistol, he rips his second pistol out of his holster and aims for her. She is five feet away - perfect.
As he squeezes the trigger, Mikasa leaps into the air, grabbing ahold of the small lightbulb above dangling from a chandelier and using it to swing toward Guard 25. Her feet kick the man back as she touches down, where she drives the knife into his chest. STAB! Guard 25 screams and tries to aim the gun but she already knocks it away. As she tries to rip the knife out, the blade suddenly breaks with the hilt in her hand and the blade is stuck in the man's chest. Without waiting another second, she slashes the man's throat. SLICE! The man goes down, clutching his throat before going limp.
BANG! BANG!
Mikasa looks over her shoulder and is about to look over the railing to check on Eren when a silhouette in the corner of her eye rotates her head. Guard 26 and Guard 27 stand behind a Pacman machine and fire at her.
Mikasa ducks, barely avoiding their crosshairs and runs out of sight behind an elevator. Why is there an elevator to a two-story pizzeria? Who knows, but the answer to that question is the last thing on her mind.
Guard 26 and 27 rush in on her, following after her, aiming down their iron sights and looking everywhere for the Asian intruder.
They stop in the last spot they saw her, literally, which is next to the elevator, and look around, doing thirty-sixty scans of the area. What they fail to do is look up at the beams in the ceiling. Maybe if they saw the holes left behind by the lives Mikasa used to climb up there, the idea would've crossed them but no, nothing.
Mikasa waits for their backs to turn to each other before letting go of the beams. She lands square on Guard 26's back, knocking him to the ground, and proceeds to knife throw a knife at Guard 27 just as he turns. The knife hits him in the chest, stunning him, and allowing Mikasa the opportunity to whip out the rest of her throwing knives from her holster and spear them at her opponent.
STAB! STAB! STAB! One by one, the knives sink into Guard 27's body as he screams in pain. Aiming the gun for her, Mikasa kicks it out of his hand before shoving him into the wall beside the elevator. She unholsters her second sword and drives it through the man's mouth - SQUELCH! - nailing him to the wall like a picture frame. Guard 26 turns on his back and looks at Mikasa. Mikasa spots her recovering opponent and quickly rips all the knives out of Guard 27's body. Without hesitating, she chucks them at Guard 26, the first blade going into his wrist so he can't fire as the subsequent knives dig into his body like a pencil through an orange. STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB!
Sighing heavily, Mikasa looks down at her deceased porcupine-looking enemy before turning back to the one impaled to the wall. Removing her sword from the corpse's mouth and letting it fall like a raincoat-
BA/NG!
Mikasa goes down to the ground, yelling in pain. Looking up, Guards 28 and 29 stand near the stairway, both having smoke coming from their barrels. Mikasa rolls to the side like a barrel as they proceed to move on her. She kicks over a table and uses it as a cover. She kneels behind the table, she feels her face turn red with anger as she rips out another knife from her holster. Standing up, she catches the attention of the guards, who aim at her. A split second from firing, Mikasa simultaneously kicks the overturned table at their feet while throwing her throwing knife at them.
The knife hits Guard 29 in the forehead... handle-first, not blade-first, but the force with which Mikasa threw the knife was enough to make him lose his balance and collapse. As for Guard 28, the overturned table kicked at him and hit him in the feet, making him fall face-first into the ground. Well, he would've fallen face-first into the ground had it not been for Mikasa activating the hidden blade in the toe of her boot and placing it in front of the mobster's face for him to fall onto. STAB!
Guard 29 picks himself up and aims at Mikasa. Mikasa kicks him back, sending him flying into a table and knocking it over. He remains standing and readjusts his aim.
As if everything was happening in slow-motion, Mikasa sees Guard 30 emerging from the woman's bathroom with Guard 31 behind him to her right. Mikasa narrows her eyes before turning back to Guard 29. Without warning, without any real plan, she kicks the gun out of Guard 29's hand and high into the air. That's when an idea came to Mikasa. With lighting reflexes, Mikasa removes a knife from her holster, tosses it into the air, and watches as both the gun and knife fall before her.
She quickly does a spinning hook kick at the gun and sends it flying and without putting her foot down or breaking her speed does another spinning hook kick at the knife and sends it flying in the same direction as the gun. Guard 29 blinks, unable to believe what he is seeing.
This intruder did two spinning hook kicks so it was fast, she looked like a blur. And he was so distracted he didn't realize that Mikasa did not break away from her spin or rhythm and she delivered her third and final spinning hook kick to his jaw. SNAP!
The gun and knife Mikasa sent flying made contact with their targets. The knife hits Guard 31 blade-first this time - SQUELCH! - while the gun hits Guard 30 square in the face, breaking his nose and sending him flying back. Mikasa charges for Guard 30 as he gets up. Instead of throwing the sword and slashing him with it, she delivers a flying knee kick to his chest with enough force to - CRACK! - stop his heart mid-beat.
Mikasa backs away as the body flops to the ground and she takes his moment to catch her breath.
Not done yet.
Hearing more footsteps coming for her, she realizes that there are more than two guards this time. Guards 32, 33, 34, and 35 come running out of various 'Employees Only' rooms, and they all fire at Mikasa from the farthest corner of the pizzeria.
Mikasa goes to a kneeling position before moving across the ground. She somersaults across the ground before picking up Guard 29's body and uses it as a meatshield as she closes the distance to the four guards. They fire with all their might into the meatshield before Mikasa lifts them both high above her head with one hand and chucks it like a spear at the four, knocking them down like bowling balls. Mikasa rushes and spears her sword at Guard 32, hitting him square in the throat. STAB! Mikasa yells as she shoulders into the corpse and retrieves her knife. Without thinking, she gets to work as the other guards start to get up. SLASH! SLASH! Guards 33 and 34 go down with slit throats while 35 picks himself up. Mikasa gets behind him before putting him in a rear-naked chokehold. She thrusts her sword into the side of his neck. SQUELCH!
Mikasa tosses his body away.
The final three guards make their appearance near the elevator from before. Mikasa picks up a small table and uses it as a sword as she charges for them. The table takes the full force of the bullets as she continues to close the distance. She picks up a napkin holder from a nearby table, throws it over her shield, and hits Guard 36 in the head. With one of them down, she kicks the table at them, knocking 37 and 38 down. She sprints for the still-standing Guard 36 and shoulders him into the wall. She kicks him in the stomach before forcing him to his knees, where she thrusts the knife into his neck. SQUELCH!
Guard 37 reaches to pick up his fallen gun, only for Mikasa to sever his hand from his body, making him scream. She frontflips before landing on top of him, her calve hitting him square in the stomach and nearly making her gag. With the knife in her heel still activated, she stabs him in the temple. SQUELCH!
Guard 38 lunges for her. Mikasa climbs to her feet but isn't able to drive the sword into her opponent. She hits the railing as he gets her in a chokehold. Just a few more pushes against the railing, she'll fall through and land on the first floor below.
BANG!
Guard 38 screams suddenly and clutches his now missing right ear.
Eren, Mikasa realizes.
She headbutts him before kicking him off his feet. With the sword in hand, she swings it like a golf club.
SHING!
Mikasa collapses to her knees after following through on the swing, catching herself with her arms barely as Guard 38's head rolls in front of her. Sighing like a runner who just finished a marathon, it takes all of her strength to just keep her from collapsing on her side. That, and one more thing.
"Ereh..." she mutters under her breath. She quickly holsters her sword before heading for the railing. "Eren?" Mikasa leaps over the railing before landing on the ground with a roll. She runs to his side. "Ereh, are you okay?"
Eren pulls his Attack Titan mask down. "I'm okay."
Mikasa looks at his stomach. "You're bleeding."
Smiling, Eren lifts his shirt to reveal his bare stomach. Despite the bullet holes in his shirt, any sign that he had been shot was gone.
"The Attack Titan never lost his healing abilities, Red Scarf."
She pauses. "Neither did my Ackermann abilities."