Once, during basic training, Jean had bragged that being in the Military Police, he'd never have to worry about being grabbed by a Titan. Those like Eren had seen it as just being snobbish, as if he were looking down on them as unlucky idiots, which to be fair he had been, and so they'd looked down on him in turn. Some, had been envious, not confident enough in their skills to make it to the top 10 and been given the choice to get as far away as possible from humanity's nightmare, and their lack of confidence had been well placed given how Jean had bested so many of them.
He was one of the 104th's best cadets, placing in the top 10 above all others, and by no small margin. But he remembered that day not for everyone else's thoughts, but his own. He had never actually given thought to what would happen if that day came, when that day came. As it turned out, when he was wrenched out of that building he reacted much as everyone else did. He kicked and screamed, fought back as his mind tried to process what was happening, and then there was silence. A moment as he drew closer to the Titans hungry maw, as he realised what would happen.
To him.
To his mother.
To everyone he'd ever known in the cadets.
It was… he didn't know what it was. Some unknown feeling paralysed his body as his life flashed before his eyes, a life cut short, too short. A life without accomplishment, without love, a life overshadowed by brats like Eren, someone so infatuated with the revenge he wanted he cared not for the lives of such amazing people like Mikasa who he would drag down with him. A life twisted by idealistic fools like Gohan, someone who was so unwilling to see the world for what it truly was that he'd begged Jean to risk his own life to save others, an act that would now cost him his own.
A life overshadowed by his death, consumed by a Titan like so many forgotten others. The feeling that came next, Jean knew well.
Wrath.
"Fuck you!" A twist of his body freed his hand to swing his sword, as he stabbed it over and over again into the creatures' hand, hacking off chunk after chunk of distorted flesh. "Fuck you! Fuck you! I'm not dying here you bastard!"
The damp breath of the Titans mouth washed over him as his torso was pushed past its teeth, time moving so cruelly slow as it readied to chomp down on him. He thrust his sword up into the roof of its mouth, still screaming as he did so. "Fuck you! Fuck you! You don't get to kill me! Fuck you!"
The mouth began to close, and Jean had just enough time to realise that his resistance had all been for naught, when it suddenly stopped, and opened wide as a pained wale escaped from its throat. The hand around his body loosened, and Jean felt himself begin to slip back outside. As sunlight reached his eyes, the Titan finally chomped down, Jean pulling his arm back with a yelp, the teeth catching on his blade instead and shattering it into pieces.
He hit the floor without a sound, too in shock to recognise the jolt of pain that rocketed through him when he landed flat on his ass. The Titan above him was still clearly alive, its eyes darting to the side as it followed the sound of gas and reeling wires.
"Damn it, too shallow!"
That voice, he recognised that voice, that was the same idiot who had been following him earlier.
"Jean! Over here! Run!"
That one was another familiar voice, and he turned to the side to see someone he truly hadn't expected.
"Marco you dumb bastard, what are you standing in the middle of the street for!?" Despite how happy he was to see the idealistic moron, he couldn't hold back the anger as he scrambled to his feet and sprinted towards him, already hearing the creature moving again.
"Saving you! Now let's go!" Marco turned around and began to lead him up the street and past the crushed soldier, Jean hearing but not seeing whatever the other cadet was doing with his 3DM Gear. Speaking of…
"My gears busted, help me grab this guys!"
"No time! We'll circle back later for it!"
As he ran past the gear he swore under his breath at the delay, wanting to be free of this nightmare already, and yet now having to wait even longer now. But no matter, that was his goal, he would be back for it.
Rico landed with a slide, one of her other soldiers following her lead and landing next to her. As they turned back, they got a clear view of yet another of her men being devoured, a 12-metre blissfully munching away on the man's top half.
"What are we going to do captain!? We're all that's left!"
Rico took a look around for any openings, not that she needed to. They'd been surrounded by Titans for too long now, the only way they could retreat was back towards the boulder, and even that wasn't completely clear. She could see a few Titans were already slipping through the cracks in their 'defence'.
Really, all they'd managed to be for a little while now was bait, slowing the Titans down with their own bodies rather than managing to kill any.
"We fall back to the boulder!"
There really wasn't any choice any more. They'd given every scrap of time they could for those cadets to get Eren under control. If he wasn't by the time they got back, they wouldn't even be able escape anymore they'd attracted so much attention. If Jaeger was still going loose though, she might just try and kill him herself before she died.
Elsewhere towards the front, things were much the same as at the rear, with Ian landing by two of his troops with Mikasa in tow, just in time to witness another group of Titans wandering through the hole.
"Status report!"
"Five Titans approaching from the gate sir!"
Well, at least that was all it was. He already knew their lines were folding all around him, and the Titan flow seemed endless, but at least there weren't any new surprises. And yet, a tiredness was settling in on Ian. Was it truly hopeless as it seemed? The flanks were about to fold and if they held their position then they'd be swamped and torn apart. Yet if they moved, how long until those new Titans joined the horde and simply trampled over them with their backs against the boulder?
A scream caught his attention as he looked his side, a few rows down another of his men was being lifted to a Titans mouth. How many deaths would that make? He couldn't believe he'd actually lost count. A wire shot out from nearby the creature, and Ian had just enough time to spy the flash of red that shot towards the Titan.
Gohan flew directly into the Titans mouth slowing his speed with a spin as he drew near, finally landing feet first onto the bottom row of teeth. He thrust one hand upwards, spearing right into the gums between the top set of teeth, before looking over at the man that was just being pushed past the Titans lips.
He felt the Titan try to bite down, Gohans legs immediately bending as he braced and held the mouth open. With his free hand he slashed at the soldier, cutting off the fingers which held him in place. He sheathed his free sword, and grabbed a hold of the man, pushing off and disconnecting his remaining blade, as he the two of them flew free, a mighty crash sounding behind him as the creature finally bit down onto only air.
He landed on a rooftop with the soldier still firmly in his grasp, before fling him far off to the side and turning back to his would be killer.
"Hey! Over here!"
He didn't bother to taunt it, the Titan reeling back its arm with a fixed snarl on his face. Nor did he bother to move when the Titans hand promptly slapped right through the roof of the building where he'd stood, or at least, it hadn't looked like he'd moved. To the rest of the world it seemed like he had simply disappeared beneath the Titans hand, and then reappeared behind its nape.
Not for the first time, Gohan was thankful he'd been taught the afterimage technique.
Something he hadn't been taught was what he attempted to do next. With one blade destroyed, and not enough time to draw a new one, he pulled his remaining sword from his sheath and flooded Ki into it. It was similar to what he'd had to learn surviving in Titan territory, however this time he treated it a little differently. When he sliced across the Titans nape, he let the Ki flow completely, embedding a line of energy deep into the monsters neck as he flew away. A single deep slash may not have been enough, but when he landed in a crouch by the soldier, and heard the energy blow the creatures neck outwards, he knew that had been enough.
He must have made quite the sight as he pulled the soldier to his feet, given the way the man stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you alright? I need you to take me to Captain Ian."
The man snapped out of his shock and nodded, moving into a run and a fly as he led him towards the man in question. There was a small group of them that Gohan could see, as he soared towards them. Captain Ian, Mikasa, two soldiers next to them, plus the soldier by his side only made five. Stretching out with his senses Gohan was heartbroken by how few others he managed to sense. There were a few dotted here and there, with their rear being particularly empty. If only he'd been faster at getting Eren back to the boulder.
"Captain! Cadet Son reporting sir, Eren is back at the boulder and is being convinced by Cadet Artlert as we speak. Cadet Jaeger will be ready to proceed shortly, where do you want me sir?"
Truthfully he hadn't wanted to sound as military as he did, the words feeling unnatural and stiff compared to his experiences with the Z fighters. But as he had learned from them, it was important to be succinct, and tell them in a way they would like. Act as if all was normal, and he may be able to ease the burden on Captain Ians' shoulders.
"…right. Head to the rear and help out Rico squad. We need to hold position around the boulder until we can… oh my god…"
It wasn't horror, but a simple mix of disbelief and relief, and as Gohan felt it with his Ki sensing, he grinned.
Jean turned the corner with a yelp of pain as he reflexively shifted his weight onto his bad leg. He didn't let up as a Titan leapt at where they had been, literally skidding across the floor mouth first as dust flew up around it. Marco was just ahead of him, almost leading the way were it not for the fact that he too had no idea where they were going. They were heading in the rough direction of the wall, true, but Titans were almost crawling out of the woodwork now.
Jean heard the familiar hiss of gas as Annie landed on the rooftop by their side, running almost alongside them were it not for the height difference. "What's the hold up? Why aren't we leaving?"
"Jeans gear is busted! There's another set back at the boulder but we need time to do a swap!"
"No time!" Annie nodded ahead of them, and Jean could see their path was about to be blocked by a 6-metre. "Someone needs to carry him out, and now!"
There was another hiss from ahead, and Jean had just enough time to see Connie fly out and smack face first into the Titans head, flipping over it as his gear pulled him past.
"Are you insane!?" Jean shouted, coming to a complete stop as he was both blocked from going forwards, and stunned by the stupidity of what he had just witnessed.
"What are you waiting for? Get out of there!"
Connie himself had to move as the Titans hand moved up and snatched the roof tiles away from where he had been standing.
"There!"
Marco pointed to a small alleyway and immediately headed in, Jean following afterwards but not for long as he was forced to a stop by the dead end before them.
"Now what?"
"Quick, climb on!" Marco hunched over, offering Jean his back as he braced.
"What are you doing? You can't carry me I'm too heavy for you!" There was a heavy stomp from behind them, and Jean turned back to see a gleeful smile staring back at them, hands already beginning to move and try to catch them.
"No choice! Climb now!"
Jean didn't need any more encouragement as immediately jumped on the boys back, arms wrapping around him tightly. The sudden weight staggered him, but Marco was quickly moving and flying, his gear groaning under the strain but the hooks and gas released faithfully, and the two were pulled up into the air.
Their momentum only carried them up and over the wall immediately in front of them, the two quickly plummeting as Marco had to reel in a fire his wires again. He took the chance to turn around in the correct direction, giving them an entire street to run along and pick up the pace.
When the two were finally in the air properly, they wasted no time in heading straight for the wall, the extra weight making them scrape along the roofs on the way. Eventually though, the two managed to clear all the way up to the top of the wall, landing in a heap that gave Jean a bloodied chin as he smacked it against the concrete. He didn't care though, he was finally safe, as were the others as they all landed next to him.
For a moment, he thought about berating them for the death wish they all seemed to share, but with his brush with death being something closer to a direct slap, he just couldn't find the energy to do anything more than to sit up and look over the nightmare city.
It was Annie who summed up best Jeans reaction to what they all saw, the blue eyed woman idly brushing a hair behind her ear as she muttered in disbelief.
"I'll be damned."
There was Eren, moving that boulder just like they'd said they would.
Steam poured from Erens Titan form as he stomped down the street, the strain literally destroying his body as his healing fought to regenerate itself. The clouds of smoke only made the green of his eyes glow brighter, looking as inhuman as his strength said he was. For Mikasa though, the sight only brought a wide smile to her face in pride.
"Eren…"
"Gohan! Mikasa!"
Another body flew through the air and landed beside the two, the blonde boy clearly short on breath but hurried to report anyway.
"Armin!"
"He came out of it somehow. We're set, he's determined to see the mission through to the end. As long as we've got his back while he heads to the wall, victory will be ours!"
"…I knew you could do it Armin." There was a short silence that followed Gohans words, Armin absorbing them with pride while Ian felt a renewed vigour flow through him. Victory was within their grasp, and they would not fail now.
"Defend him! To the last man if that's what it comes to! Eren must reach the gate! I don't want a single Titan anywhere near him!"
Gohans eyes looked out over the empty streets before them as the world went quiet. He shut it all out, the cheers, the orders, and fell into a kind of calm he hadn't felt in quite some time. He closed his eyes and felt with his Ki, the soft powers of his friends, the now calm tainted energy of Eren, and all the dozens of filthy powers that were closing in around them.
He could feel what remained of team Mitabi approaching from the distance on the ground, ready to sacrifice whatever it took for victory. But they'd sacrificed enough, now it was Gohans time to act. He remembered when he'd been here before, after the last of the vanguard had died in his arms and he'd sworn no more, but that had been foolish. He couldn't stop the tide that was coming, he would fight to the death trying. But now was their chance, to save Trost, and stop the tide of Titans entering Trost. And so, now he could fulfil that promise.
No more…
He dug deep, feeling that familiar, yet oh so diminished pool of energy within him, and he began to fan the flame. It was his first true power up in this world. Something more than the rage he'd fuelled earlier that day, something that took time and focus. Something that made him scream.
He tilted his head back and tensed as he felt the roar begin to grow, nothing more than a mere growl at first, but building and building as he felt his power grow. The wind began to whip up around him as the others turned to him in confusion, and then shock as the wind turned violent, and the groan turned into a scream.
"RrrraaaaaAAAAAGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
An aura of invisible energy wrapped around him as Ki flowed from his body in torrents. It was nothing compared to a super Saiyan, less even so than during the Saiyan invasion, but it was enough.
He crouched, the last truly clear image of him that the others could see before he disappeared and flew towards the Titans. It was almost pure Ki at the start, the gas trail following him being utterly eclipsed by his flight, and hooks not even being bothered with until he drew close. As he passed the first Titan, he let the first hook loose, and then we was a blur of movement.
The first one was quick, precise, one redirect in the air and the Titans nape was slashed before it could even turn its eyes to notice him. The second was rougher, Gohan leaping with his powerful legs alone from one neck to another, this time carving across the entire area of its neck until an entire geyser of blood hid him and the carnage he wrought from view, only reappearing as he flew towards his third target. There was a flurry of slashes as he passed from the third to the fourth to the fifth, all in one fluid blur of death, leaping off and landing on his feet just in front of team Mitabi and its leader.
He heard the steady crash of his foes behind him, one by one they toppled and died to the amazement of the soldiers in front of him.
"Pull back and act as support, I'll take it from here."
It felt good to be able to say that, to finally have the opportunity to promise it. Now he had a solution, now he could truly make a difference.
'Thank you Eren…'
He moved again, this time back towards Ians team where there gathering had begun to gather attention. They hadn't moved, whether it was from shock or to act as bait it didn't matter, none of the Titans were close enough for Gohan to worry. Instead, it was a field day.
He flew down one street, slashing away tendons, fingers, and eyes as he opened them all up for attack, then flew back up it and cleaved off nape after nape. He let one of the 10-metres' topple right onto a six and a four metre Titan, the two of them crushed like bugs beneath a boot, before he slew the boot itself.
He landed, dropped an afterimage, then circled around as a Titan took the bait, the creature slumping dead before it had even realised it had grasped at nothing but thin air. He took to the air again, Titans converging all around him as he moved directly towards them. Ki blasts hit their eyes and blinded them, hit legs and immobilised them, steam billowed as they healed but for just the split second they were vulnerable, Gohan struck again and again.
Eren stomped unopposed through a valley of decomposing corpses, every creature that meant him harm either dead or dying as he moved closer and closer to the gate, step by step their victory being realised. By the time he stepped onto the bridge there was but one remaining, a 12-metre that had just wandered through the open hole.
Gohan zipped between its legs, effortlessly dodging its swipe as he passed and soared high up against the wall. He landing above the hole in the gate, fixing himself against it with his hooks as he turned back to his last remaining enemy. Eren didn't slow down, no doubt sure that if he stopped he'd never move again, and the Titan turned back to him.
"Masenko!" He cupped his hands over his head, the ball of yellow light illuminating the blood red bandanna he wore, his remembrance of their sacrifice now becoming their vengeance. "HAAA!!!!"
The beam that tore through the air and into the Titan blew the entire creatures' neck apart from back to front. Bits of its lower jaw went flying as shrapnel, and its body was charred from shoulder to shoulder as it fell into the surrounding pits without nary a moan of pain.
Eren drove onwards, the boulder raised high on his shoulders like the symbol of victory it was. Gohan cheered, screaming out encouragement as the boy let out a victorious roar and slammed the boulder into the gap, the entire wall shaking from the force. Trost, once more sealed, and humanity for the first time…
Victorious.
"I knew you could do it Eren." A proud smile lazily graced his lips as he felt his energy drain away. It took everything he had, more than he had even, but it was done. Eren was safe, Trost was safe, and no more had died to do it.
There was a crack behind him. He tried and failed to summon the energy to turn his head and see, barely able to look out the corner of his eye and see the indent around his hooks grow larger, until another crack set them free. He plummeted, empty of all strength and will, the wind whipping at him until a hand snatched his.
He was jerked to the side as his saviour completed their arc, but the monkey grip held firm, and soon the two of them landed softly and safely on the ground by Eren. He was laid down on his back as his saviour checked him over.
"Teach me." Mikasas' words were breathless, her eyes wide in awe in a way that Gohan couldn't help but chuckle at. Then the chuckling turned into a full on hearty laugh. He couldn't help it! They'd finally done it.
"Sure thing Mikasa. But let's get out of here first yeah?"
She nodded, turning around and sprinting off towards Erens hunched over body which lay drained and steaming. The boy must have been even more exhausted than Gohan was after carrying a boulder of that size. He briefly thought about running the numbers through his head to try and gauge how heavy the thing had actually been, but he very quickly pushed that away. He was too tired, and it looked like it had a crowd to entertain anyways.
The other Garrison troops all formed a small perimeter around them, the squad leaders coming over to check on Gohan. Ian looked the most concerned, whilst Mitabi was still stuck in shock at what had happened. Rico was barely holding back tears of joy however, and the sudden emotion stood out more than anything with everything else he'd seen from the otherwise cold woman. He would definitely have to remember to tease her about that later.
"Cadet Son, are you injured? Gohan?"
It was nice of Ian to worry like that. He almost asked the man if he had a senzu, oh how he was already missing those little wonder beans. Instead, he simply raised his hand and flashed him a thumbs up.
"Areas clear for now sir, but Titans are still moving in from deeper within the city." One of the perimeter guards reported, and Gohan noticed a yellow smoke round drifting slowly through the air above them. They must have fired it very soon after Eren sealed the hole for Gohan not to have noticed the sound. The again, he'd been rather busy falling to his death after that.
"Understood, prep Jaeger and Son for evac, here come the reinforcements."
He heard them before he saw them, at least until one of the garrison soldiers propped him up against their shoulder. The wings of freedom, the scout regiment had joined them. He idly glanced over them, only faintly recognising the ginger haired woman by the way she stood out amongst the rest, all of them affixed with the dark green cloak and the scout emblem billowing proudly however.
The shortest man was looking out over the Titan bodies, some blasted in two around the neck, others with various missing chunks marking them. He turned to the officers and Gohan, and steely gaze meeting them all.
"Someone mind explaining what exactly it is I'm looking at?"
With that, Gohan let out a final sigh of relief. His eyelids drew heavy, and with a contented smile and a body wracked with pain and exhaustion, Gohan drifted off to sleep.
It was more than a day later that Jean finally walked the streets of Trost again. After the rest of the garrison elite teams had withdrawn, for an entire day the cannons around the wall had boomed, blowing away Titan after Titan. Those that had stayed in the city had been slain by the returning scout regiment forces, and so all that had been left to do was the tidying up.
The final death toll had been counted at more than 150 dead, and almost 600 wounded, a terrible price to pay and one that had sapped away any kind of celebration. There would no doubt be those inside of wall Rose who saw it as a victory, proof that humanity wasn't finished. Others inside of wall Sina would no doubt still look down on them, to them it was obvious.
Of course Shiganshina would be retaken, it was the soldiers job to do that wasn't it? Any who had died had simply been a necessary sacrifice, so nothing needed to be said for them. The higher ups would no doubt get a big pat on the back for their brilliant tactics, regardless of whether they had actually done anything or not.
Jean pushed away the growing anger in him. Since when had he cared about the dirty politics of it all, let alone getting angry over hypotheticals? He should be focused on the here and now, even if it did mean the gut wrenching truth of his job. Picking up the bodies of his fallen comrades, and identifying them.
A cart moved past him, a collection of bloodied limbs and faces not even able to be covered by a tarp for decency. Still, as he looked to one side and saw yet another corpse he was disturbed by how numb to it all he was getting. He had gloves to keep him clean, and a mask that was supposed to help keep the smell away, but none of it really numbed him as much as wandering from street to street, and from body to body.
The worst was the spitballs from the Titans. Whole bodies frozen in terror and agony, simply spat out by the Titans in gloopy red balls of blood thanks to their lack of digestive tracks. He thanked god that he didn't have to clean up those, and also prayed that the two Titans they'd captured in the city would be put through hell for the sake of their memories.
"Really makes you think doesn't it?"
"About what Marco?"
The boy was staring at a body not too far from them, nobody Jean recognised and nobody he thought Marco did either.
"About what we're doing here. About how any one of us could have been in their place instead. About… what we do going forwards."
That was new. For years through boot camp Jean had been forced to listen to the boy prattle on and on about how glorious it would be to serve the king from the safety of the inner wall, and yet here he was sounding… doubtful? The boy had placed eighth in the class, he'd secured his ticket to safety, if anything seeing all the death and destruction would make him all the more determined to get as far away as possible from it. It's what Jean was gonna do after all.
…right?
"Why? Why should this change things?" It came out angrier than Jean expected, louder too as he noticed several eyes drift his way before they apathetically drifted back. "We all knew what this was going to be. How many times did we say that fighting the Titans just results in these kinds of massacres?" He grabbed Marco and pushed him against the wall. "We've been saying it this entire time, so what changed huh? What changed!?"
Marcos' eyes were wide, and even beneath his mask Jean could tell that his lips were trembling. "I…I guess I just never really understood it until now."
Jean pulled Marco back before angrily shoving him against the wall again. "Idealistic idiot! Why do you think we need to get to the interior? To get the hell away from this. If we don't join the MP's, then this is all our lives are going to be! Cleaning up corpses and trying to guess the names of our friends until it's one of us in those balls of Titan vomit!"
He stormed off, ignoring all the judgemental eyes that were following him. They could judge him all they wanted, it didn't matter, none of it did. The only thing that mattered is the choice they would make.