Eren sat at the foot of his bed as the sun continued to rise. He didn't get that much sleep the previous night. He tried, but having access to the truth unlocked a floodgate of memories from his father that haunted him. He only got two hours of sleep before staying up the rest of the night.
Eren forced himself to stand up and change out of his clothes into his uniform. There was going to be a meeting regarding the information, and he needed to be there. Regardless of if he wanted to.
Eren finished changing and opened the door to leave his room, but was surprised when he saw Jean leaning against the wall.
"Um…hey," Eren greeted.
"Hey," Jean greeted.
"What are you doing here?" Eren asked.
"Mikasa needs rest, so I've decided to be your babysitter," Jean answered.
"Like I need you of all people to babysit me," Eren grumbled.
"I took turns with Connie and Sasha," Jean added, "I'd hate to stay up the entire night to watch you."
"Ha," Eren drawled out.
"Well, hurry up," Jean said as he walked down the hall, "We have a meeting."
Optimus merely stood by the door as he watched the meeting unfold. He saw Historia sitting next to Darius Zackley and someone else whiles the others branches of military were seated all around. Erwin was the only one absent because of his…outburst today, specifically directed at him. Levi knocked him out and locked him in a room to prevent further damage. Meanwhile Megatron witnessed the entire situation and laughed at the entire scenario. Hanji decided to take his place in the meeting to convey the material.
The Prime then thought about the information presented regarding the outside. The world became more complicated. Titans were no longer the enemy. Humans were. And even though he and Megatron didn't consume humans, they would be labeled as the enemy because they were considered titans. They also sided with the humans that they despised so much.
But was this even a winnable situation? The world wants them gone. Wiped off the face of the Earth. Once they got their hands on Eren, what would stop the Marley Empire from wiping out the island and the Eldians in the interment zones? Optimus would try to advocate for a peaceful solution, but in this scenario it seemed impossible. Now he would have to fight the very species he swore to protect. The question was: could he really go against his moral code?
Optimus jolted as Eren shot up to his feet, almost as if he came to a sudden conclusion. When asked about it however, Eren merely sat down and looked scared. He then noticed that all the other Survey Corps members looked tired from hearing the information.
"Optimus Prime," Zackley spoke as he turned his attention to him, "It was mentioned that one of the titan shifters has your life force in her veins. Do you have any idea of what that could mean?"
"In all honesty, I do not know," Optimus admitted, "Organic life usually has a negative reaction when exposed to energon. The fact that Annie Leonhart is still alive with the substance in her systems already worries me. And the possible enhancement she may have gained may prove to be dangerous."
"Despite Megatron beating the Female Titan in combat, she still managed to cause damage to his form," Hanji continued, "If Marley does manage to replicate this power, it would be extremely dangerous for the island. The only other possible person that might know the secret to this would be Kenny Ackerman. But it seems he's been withdrawing information."
"But what do we do about the information about the outside?" a soldier asked, "If we release this information to the public, it would cause chaos."
"Do you truly believe withholding the information would be wise to do?" Pixis asked, "That would be committing the same act King Fritz did a century ago."
"There are others who still have misgivings about Historia," another soldier retorted, "This may give more people a reason to go against her."
"But we told the public we would retrieve the information," Pixis countered, "They are demanding an answer."
"We must release this information," Optimus declared, earning everyone's attention.
"Do you really believe we should?" Zackley asked, "There are some issues with releasing the notebooks that we should take into consideration."
"I understand," Optimus agreed, "But that information may not matter at the end of the day. Keeping the public in a state of ignorance will not prevent the enemy from coming onto the shore and killing everyone here. It will only leave the island more unprepared for the future. Marley and the rest of the world want us gone. We must be prepared for that day in order to preserve our future. United we shall stand, but divided we will fall."
There was silence in the room before Historia spoke. "We will release the information. Optimus is right. We must be united against this threat. King Fritz stole the memories of the people a century ago. We are merely returning them."
Megatron stood on top of the wall and watched the sun set. He noticed humans looking up at him in fear and awe, but he didn't pay any mind to it.
"Megatron!" Hanji shouted as she used her 3D gear to reach the top of the wall, "Can you do me a favor?!"
Megatron sighed in irritation as he sat on the wall, mindful of where Hanji was. He glanced down at her before begrudgingly offering his servo. Hanji contained her excitement as she jumped into his servo before he lifted her up to his face.
"What is it?" Megatron demanded.
"We were wondering if you could check something out really quickly," Hanji began as she flipped through one of Grisha's notebooks, "According to Grisha, just South of the island, there's a port where the Marley drop off the Eldians and force them to become titans. I also asked Ymir and she stated that it was the case. I was wondering if you could check it out and report back to Optimus once you get there. And I already told him about the situation, so you should be good to go. If you're willing,"
"Where are you even keeping the other shifter?" Megatron questioned with curiosity.
"We didn't place her in a holding cell because she isn't really trying to escape," Hanji explained, "She says she doesn't want to fight you."
"Understandable," Megatron said before placing Hanji down on the wall and stood up.
"Thank you so much for doing this," Hanji said.
Megatron merely grunted in response as he transformed and flew south.
"Eren, may we talk?" Optimus asked as he approached the titan shifter in the hallway with his holoform on.
Eren didn't say a word as the titan kneeled down in front of him. He was just trying to get to his room without incident. He didn't want to talk to Optimus right now. The titan shifter hesitantly forced himself to look Optimus in the eye.
"I just wanted to know if you are alright," Optimus explained, "I understand what we have learned may be difficult to digest, but I just wanted to know how you were feeling about it."
Eren sighed to himself as he tried not to snap at the Prime. He was only trying to help. "Angry, confused,…a little upset."
"And you have every right to be," Optimus reassured as he placed a hand on his shoulder, "But rest assured, we will find a solution to this madness."
"Will we?" Eren questioned, "This just seems like an impossible situation."
"I understand," Optimus said, "But we should not give up hope just yet. We will find a way to end this curse and-"
"Stop," Eren interrupted, "Please…just stop."
"Eren?" Optimus questioned.
Eren merely shook his head. "Remember that promise you made to me? When you said you would come with me, Mikasa, and Armin to see the world? I want you to forget all about it, and forget all about me." (This is in the oneshots. All of them are on Wattpad)
"Why would you say that?" Optimus asked.
"Because I'm a dead man walking, okay?!" Eren exclaimed as he pushed Optimus' hand off of his shoulder, "I only have eight years left to live. Meanwhile you have another four million! And even if my lifespan wasn't shorten; us humans are only lucky enough to reach a century! I'm just going to turn to dust while you continue to live on."
Eren hung his head as he took a step back. "Just forget about me."
Optimus watched in heartbreak as Eren ran away from him. The Prime was about to give chase, but his comm. link turned on.
"Optimus, I've reached port the mad scientist mentioned," Megatron informed.
Optimus didn't respond immediately, afraid whatever might come out of his mouth would be a broken sound of agony.
"Optimus, I need you to respond," Megatron said, "Optimus?"
The Prime took a deep breath to calm his nerves and spoke. "I read you."
"I'm facing the wall right now the humans use to separate themselves from the titans they drop here on the island," Megatron explained, "The other side is the ocean. I saw it before I landed in front of the wall. I'll come back to you right-"
"Destroy it," Optimus ordered.
"Excuse you?" Megatron questioned.
"Destroy the wall," Optimus repeated, almost letting his emotions take over, "Destroy the port if you must. Make sure that Marley is unable to land a ship on these shores and use it to turn humans into titans."
Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner stood in shame in front of their commanding officer as they were riding a metal ship back to Marley with other members of the Marley military. The three immediately took to the port, using Annie in her titan form. Thankfully the ship didn't dock later into the night and arrived at sunset. It just made it easier to leave the island as soon as possible. They made sure to take the broken thorn of the flying titan with them as proof, but that didn't stop them from getting chewed out by Commander Magath.
They had forgotten the dirty looks and slurs they heard because they've on the island for so long, but now it was only worse, since they failed their mission of retaking the Founding Titan. The crew looked at the three of them with so much hatred.
"Five years," Commander Magath began, "You've been on this island for five years, and have yielded no results! Not only did you fail to retake the Founding Titan, but you have also managed to lose the Jaws Titan in the process!"
"But sir-"
"I will not hear an excuse, Warrior!" Magath shouted at Reiner, "The only thing you've managed to bring back was an unidentifiable mineral! A hunk of metal! This practically means nothing, especially if this is a resource that is only found on Paradis!"
"We failed our mission," Annie accepted, "But we weren't prepared for what was on that island. They have titans that come from beyond the stars. They stopped Bertholdt's healing factor."
"Titans from the stars?" a Marleyan soldier said, causing the others to laugh at the absurdity of the idea.
"You have no say in the matter," Magath declared, "Making excuse after excuse will not save you. Neither will bringing that!"
The three saw Magath point to the piece that Annie managed to chop off. They noticed the other soldiers keeping their distance from the metal, since they were unfamiliar with the mineral.
"So unless you three can provide solid evidence of this titan's existence, I will revoke your titan abilities and hand them over to the next batch of warriors!" Magath threatened.
"Commander Magath!" a soldier cried out.
"What is it?!" Magath demanded as he walked to the man.
"The wall-!" the soldier exclaimed as he pointed to the wall.
Magath watched the wall on the port begin to shake, as cracks began to form. The Commander watched in horror as a fist punched a clean hole in the wall. When the being retracted his fist, the whole wall came crashing down. Magath and other soldiers watched as a gray titan stood up fully and stepped over the wreckage it caused. Magath noticed the intricate features on the titan: the spikes, the rusted ends, the purple markings, the haunting red eyes, and the missing thorn on his left shoulder…
The one that was on their ship right now.
"What kind of titan is that?" a soldier asked.
The crew heard a scream behind them and turned to see their titan warriors panicking in fear. Bertholdt clutched his damaged hand and looked ready to vomit. Reiner clutched his chest and his throat, almost as if there was a wound there. Annie was the most terrified out of the three. The mostly reserved girl was outright sobbing as she covered her mouth to prevent anything else from coming out. She collapsed on the floor and curled in on herself, almost as if she was trying to disappear.
Magath looked back at the titan, and saw that it was looking at their ship with a calculating stare. Magath gasped as the titan removed something from his waist and did something that caused the object to shift into a full length sword.
"What the hell?!" one of them shouted.
"Commander, your orders!" a soldier next to him said.
"Don't!" Reiner shouted as he grabbed Magath by the arm and got down on his knees, "Please don't! He'll kill us! If we attack it, he'll see it as an excuse to kill us!"
Magath was about to tell the Eldian to let him go, but saw that Reiner was beginning to cry as well. He pulled his hand away and turned back to the titan and noticed that it, he, was still staring back at them, unmoving. What was it doing? Why was it just standing there?
Everyone watched the titan raise its blade into the air, before swinging it into the water. The crew watched in horror as the blade destroyed two of the docks. The titan personally stepped and crushed the third one, not caring if it got its foot in the water.
The titan then threw his blade into the left side of the undamaged wall, piercing it and causing it to crumble in response. The titan then used his claws to bring down the other side of the wall. The crew watched as chunks of debris fell into the sea while the titan stomped on what remained. The titan then raised its fists into the air and slammed them down hard unto the port floor. Cracks formed as the port floor shattered under its action. Pieces of the port floor fell into the water, and said water rippled in response. Magath could've sworn he felt the attack, even though the ship was a good distance away from the titan.
"The titan is sentient?!" a soldier asked in shock, "The devils have a sentient titan!"
"That thing looks like a devil," another one commented.
"Is that the devil of all Earth?!" a third question in horror.
Magath watched as the titan picked up his sword and caused it to transform back to its original state. He then looked out to their ship once more, and Magath could've sworn he saw the titan…smirk at them?! Magath could only watch as the titan mockingly bowed in front of them. He was taunting them. He knew he had an audience, and he taunted them! The titan turned its back on them, and before Magath could bark out an order to attack it, the titan jumped into the air, shifted its entire body into a strange object, and flew north towards the wall at high speeds.
"What the hell?!"
"The island devils grew in numbers!"
"What do we do?!"
"A sentient titan just flew?!"
"Was that an Eldian?!"
"They must have created the titan!"
"That has to be an Eldian!"
"Quiet!" Magath shouted, causing the entire crew to shut up. The Commander walked over to Reiner and grabbed him by the shirt.
"You will explain exactly who that titan is," Magath ordered, "If you want to live for however many years you have left."
Later that night
Optimus closed his optics and tried to rest in his bipedal mode, leaning against Wall Sina to support his back. He opened his tired optics to see Megatron walking up to him and handing him a piece of energon.
"I do not need it," Optimus said.
"Suite yourself," Megatron responded, leaning against the wall and taking a bite out of the shard, "Chewing energon is more strenuous than it needs to be."
"Megatron, all I want is some rest," Optimus immediately proclaimed.
"I doubt that you're tired," Megatron proclaimed.
"I am," Optimus retorted.
Megatron merely hummed in response. "I bet you were satisfied that I destroyed that port."
Optimus glared at Megatron and quickly stood up. "Do not say such ridiculous statements."
"Ridiculous? Do you honestly believe I didn't notice your distress over the comm. link?" Megatron rhetorically asked, placing his servos on his servos, "You're upset, and are having trouble analyzing the situation about human not being extinct."
"I have already accepted that," Optimus declared.
"I know you're also upset about your pet," Megatron added.
"He is not a pet," Optimus warned, "He is a child."
"He's also a fool," Megatron declared.
The ex-con didn't flinch as Optimus aimed his gun at his face.
"Choose your next words carefully," Optimus warned.
"I am not going to take them back," Megatron proclaimed, "You are too attached to this boy. You are too attached to humans. He would have been lucky if he reached a century before he died, even if he didn't have that curse over his head. You knew the consequences, so why are you still upset?"
Optimus closed his optics and sighed, lowering his gun and transforming it back into his servo. "That is not the issue. I am fully aware of the human lifespan and how it pales in comparison to ours. I knew that when I stayed on Earth and I became stranded on this world. I am fully ready to accept that. That does not make it right."
Optimus turned away from Megatron to prevent the ex-con from seeing his face. "That does not make it right, that a father would put such a burden on his child, and take away the rest of his life."
Megatron's claws twitched as he moved his servo to rest them on the Prime's shoulder, but he hesitated as he was mere inches from him.
"Please, Megatron," Optimus pleaded, "Just let me rest."
Megatron watched as Optimus transformed into his alt mode and drove away from him. The ex-con clenched his fists and realized that the boy must have said something. Optimus wouldn't be like this if his pet didn't say anything. First Mikasa, then Armin, and now Optimus. He shouldn't care about any of them, but slag it, he does.
And now, he was going to make sure to kill that brat.
Eren sat down on one of the crates in the supply room away from everyone else. He went to his room after running away from Optimus, and when he wanted to leave later, he managed to get the slip on whoever was at the front door. Connie was guarding it, but he was also sleeping.
He hated everything, and he just wanted to disappear. There was no end to his nightmare.
Eren stiffened when he heard the door to the supply room open. He glanced up to see Megatron's holoform, seemingly tired for wear, looking at the titan shifter with such hatred it would have made the Military Police shit their pants.
"I am going to rip off your head," Megatron threatened.
"Then maybe you should've let me die that night," Eren shot back.
Eren jolted as the ex-con slammed the door shut and stomped towards him.
"You better chose your next words carefully," Megatron warned, "Where's your weapon?"
Eren stared up at the ex-con with an innocent look on his face. "What weapon?"
Megatron growled and grabbed Eren's leg, causing the boy to nearly lose his balance on the crate.
"What the hell are you doing you-"
Eren nearly cursed as Megatron lifted his pant leg to reveal a knife in his shoe that he managed to grab from the kitchen. Megatron pulled on Eren's leg, causing him to fall to the floor. He then took the knife and snapped it in two before throwing the blade into the wall.
Eren clutched his head in pain from the impact. He then felt the air in his lungs forced out of his as Megatron stepped on his chest. The former warlord kneeled down to look the child directly in the eye.
"I did not save your life just so you can throw it away and cause others misery," Megatron proclaimed.
"No," Eren retorted, "You did it so you could get on Optimus' good side."
Megatron let his anger take over and began to choke Eren. "Maybe you were right. Maybe I should have let that bullet pierce your skull!"
Megatron stopped when he noticed Eren's small smile of contentment, despite the fact he was trying to kill him. Unless…Eren wanted Megatron to kill him. The ex-con took a deep breath to calm his nerves and removed his hand from Eren's throat and took his foot off of Eren's chest. Megatron noticed as Eren rubbed his throat, that he was looking up at the ex-con in disappointment. Not anger.
"You're more pathetic than I thought," Megatron remarked.
"And you're more childish than I thought," Eren shot back.
Megatron gritted his teeth. He knew Eren was trying to anger him enough to kill him, but he knew he shouldn't give in. No matter how tempting it was.
"I'm not going to deal with this," Megatron declared as he walked away from Eren, "I'm getting your comrades."
"Wait! Please don't!" Eren begged as he shot up.
"You want me to kill you," Megatron stated, "I am not dealing with that nonsense because I already hate you. I would rather get someone who can deal with your self-loathing."
"You don't understand! I can't put them through that!" Eren declared.
Megatron stopped in his tracks and looked back at Eren. "Explain."
"I…," Eren trailed off, "You already know how worthless I am. And now I only have eight years left to live. The promises I've made with Mikasa and Armin. The dreams about seeing the ocean and all the other places in the world, it's all pointless. I'm just going to hurt them when I die."
Eren fell to his knees and curled in on himself. "Just please…let me die alone. It's better for everyone."
Megatron watched with an unreadable expression at the boy's pathetic actions. He couldn't deal with this. He wasn't right to deal with this. But…the others were in too much distress to try. Mikasa's sorrow, Armin's anguish, Optimus' silence. If Eren was truly blind to see the sorrow he was causing by distancing himself, then he really was a fool. The problem was…getting Eren to see that.
He needed to reignite his will to live.
"I hate you to no end," Megatron declared.
Before Eren could respond, Megatron grabbed Eren's arm pulled him to his feet before dragging him out of the stable. Eren should've fought back. He should've said something, but…maybe Megatron might finally end his life.
"Optimus, I'm resting outside the wall. I need time to myself." Megatron reported to Optimus before pushing Eren forward and deactivating his holoform.
Eren stumbled forward and noticed gray feet in front of him before he was picked up by the ex-con. Eren closed his eyes as Megatron transformed into his jet mode with Eren in the cockpit. Eren opened his eyes and gripped whatever he could as Megatron flew north.
"Where are you taking me?" Eren demanded.
"Somewhere," Megatron merely answered.
"Are you going to kill me?"
"I'm not granting you that wish. No matter how many times you anger me,"
Eren gasped as Megatron transformed into his bipedal mode and held him in his hand before dropping him. Eren expected to hit the ground, but gasped when he fell into water. Eren choked on the water as he managed to sit up and realized the water tasted like…salt.
Eren stood up with his soaking, wet clothes as the full moon revealed that he was at…
"The ocean?" Eren questioned in shock as Megatron sat down, "Why…would you bring me here?"
"You humans have never been outside of these walls," Megatron answered as he crossed his legs.
Eren stomped out of the water and trudged through the heavy sand before angrily throwing off his shoes.
"You bastard!" Eren yelled, "I was supposed to see this with Armin and Mikasa!"
"Really? Because I thought you wanted them to forget all about you," Megatron shot back.
Eren growled as he walked away from the ocean, but was stopped when Megatron grabbed him by his shirt and threw him forward into the sand. Eren grunted in disgust as he began to spit out sand from his mouth.
"Where do you think you're going?" Megatron demanded.
"Back to the wall," Eren answered as he stood up.
"No you're not," Megatron declared.
"And what exactly are you going to do about it?" Eren challenged.
Eren jolted as Megatron's claws sunk into the sand, mere inches away from his face. Eren looked up at the ex-con who was clearly unamused by Eren's antics.
"Sit," Megatron ordered.
Eren grumbled in response as he sat down on the sand. "Why'd you bring me here?"
"Because leaving you by yourself is more destructive for you," Megatron explained, "And for some reason, leaving you with someone else hurts them."
"Like you would care, you monster," Eren hissed at him.
"There's an entire continent that would say the same thing to you," Megatron countered, "'Villain', 'Monster', 'Titan', 'Filth'. Every name you call me, they call you out there. Congratulations, brat, you're the bad guy in this story."
"You think I don't know that?" Eren shot back, "I've been seeing memories from my father. I know exactly what's been going on."
"Yet you look at the world with a narrow mind, which is why you're having such a difficult time accepting the reality in front of you," Megatron declared, "You still look at me with contempt and hatred because of what you have heard. You never questioned how it came to be. You still refuse to understand the other side of the story."
"I bet you don't even understand us humans," Eren proclaimed.
"I've been walking among you for the past month and observing how you behave," Megatron retorted.
"Oh yeah? And what conclusion could you have possibly come up with for us?" Eren demanded.
Megatron didn't respond, making Eren believe he won the conversation. There was no way Megatron saw something good in humanity.
"I see," Megatron began, "A race with courage that could rival that of a Cybertronian. Despite your species' shortcomings,"
Eren turned to look at Megatron's stoic face as he stared out into the sea. For some reason, he could tell he wasn't lying.
"Even if that shortcoming is my lifespan?" Eren questioned as he turned away from him.
"You still have time," Megatron said.
"Eight years is not a lot of time," Eren retorted, "Not compared to four million years."
Megatron chuckled at his response. "And yet, I have wasted my time."
Eren glanced back to see the ex-con took a handful of sand and brought it to his face. "Four million years of energon spilled and endless fighting. A fight that lasted so long, we had forgotten what the purpose was. We had forgotten what peace even looked like, or felt like. And when I look back on my life, I realized I have tarnished my name,"
Eren watched as Megatron opened his hand to let the sand blow into the wind. "And wasted my time."
"But…you're still alive," Eren retorted.
"With a damaged spark and a world that would want me executed the moment I step foot on the planet once more," Megatron retorted, "It doesn't matter if you have all the time in the universe, boy. It matters what you choose to do, and who you choose to be."
"But what's the point?" Eren questioned, "All the suffering, all the madness. It's just too much to deal with."
"I never said it would be easy," Megatron reminded, "Reality is never that easy. And ending your life may seem like the easy way out, but it is not."
"Have you…thought about that?" Eren asked.
Megatron sighed as he rested his arm on his knee. "Before I arrived here. I was alone. No comrades, no enemies or friends. I thought about doing so."
"Why didn't you?" Eren asked.
"Because it was the coward's way out," Megatron answered, "Throwing my life away wouldn't have solved anything for me. So I continued to move forward, regardless of what I was feeling."
"But…didn't you lose everything?" Eren retorted, "So why-"
"Maybe because it was a duty to correct my wrongdoings," Megatron answered, "Maybe it's because I still have a will to live. I just know that if I ended my life then, I wouldn't have found Optimus here. I continued onward, and I suppose…I found a will to live."
Eren didn't say a word as he looked back at the ocean. It was so strange to see Megatron act like this. It was strange to see him be honest and truthful. He continued to move forward despite having nothing, so then…why shouldn't he?
Eren was so caught up with his thoughts and fatigue he didn't realize he fell asleep.
Eren jolted awake when he felt something sharp poke his back. He wiped the sand off of his face and looked up to see Megatron standing up.
"It's morning," Megatron stated, "I need to take you back before someone realizes your gone."
Eren stood up and was about to put on his shoes, but stopped when he noticed the sun rising over the sea. The water glistened with a bright light as he heard the waves rushing into the shore. He didn't notice this, when Megatron brought him here, but now that he saw it, the sight before him was…beautiful.
"Wait," Eren said, "Can I do something really quick?"
Megatron thought it over. "You have a minute."
Eren dropped his shoes back into the sand and rolled up his pant legs to prevent them from getting wet before walking towards the ocean. The titan shifter hesitated for a moment, but decided to place his feet in the water. The sand was muddy under his feet, and the water was nice and cold. He watched as the water receded back into the ocean before rising up once more from the small waves.
"It's…beautiful," Eren spoke as he looked out towards the horizon.
"I suppose," Megatron said.
"I always thought that beyond these waters was freedom," Eren continued, "But now I know that there is an enemy out there. The entire world that wants us gone. Megatron, can you tell me, is there any possible way to achieve freedom? If we defeat the enemy, will we finally be free?"
Megatron didn't respond as he thought about his answer. "I do believe so. But it will be a long and difficult task, with much sacrifice and loss. If you're willing to continue onward despite what lies ahead,"
Megatron remembered the sun rising on a reborn Cybertron before he left his planet. "You will finally be free."
"Where's Eren?!" Armin and Mikasa demanded at Connie, Sasha, and Jean outside of the castle in Wall Sina.
"We don't know, because Connie was sleeping on the job!" Jean shouted.
"I got tired," Connie retorted.
"You should've called one of us!" Jean proclaimed.
"Damn it, we got to go looking for him!" Sasha exclaimed.
"You better hope you find him or one of your heads is going to end up on my sword," Mikasa threatened.
Armin gasped as he saw Eren walking up to them with his shoes in hand, his pant legs rolled up, and dirt all over his body.
"Eren!" Armin exclaimed as he ran to him, prompting the others to follow. Eren was about to wave hello, but he grunted as Armin and Mikasa tackled him to the floor.
"Guys, wait, let me breathe," Eren requested as he sat up.
"Eren, where have you been?" Mikasa demanded.
"We've been worried sick!" Armin exclaimed.
"Guys, wait!" Eren shouted, getting them both to be quiet. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for the way I've been acting. And I know I'm a mess and I know I only have eight years left but-"
"Eren that-"
"Please," Eren interrupted, "Let me just-…I still am a mess, and I still need time. But…I would really like to see the ocean with you guys."
His two friends could only stare at Eren before the tears began to fall. Armin and Mikasa hugged Eren and the titan shifter willingly hugged them back with a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Optimus watched from a distance as Eren got to his feet to greet his other comrades. Optimus stilled as he felt a servo on his shoulder and turned to see Megatron standing behind him.
"Megatron, did you-?"
"I…did what I could," Megatron said as he awkwardly patted his shoulder before removing it.
Optimus gave a small smile before looking up towards the sky. "The information regarding the outside has been released to the public."
"Which means there's no going back," Megatron concluded as he looked up towards the sky as well, "This is the beginning."
Optimus silently agreed with Megatron. This was definitely the beginning of a new age. And now…
There was no going back.
Me: Over 12,000 FUCKING WORDS. Jesus Christ! Okay, I'm taking a break. I have to study for an exam. I will post the next one as soon as I can. It will most likely be in August, and it's going to be about Ymir and Historia. It will still have some relevance regarding Marley, but it will mostly be focused on them. Hopefully I'll get as many chapters out before summer ends and we can dive right into the Marley Empire. And for those that want to know exactly what Erwin did:
Optimus and Megatron were talking to each other in their holoform as they made their way to the courtroom. They turned a corner, but were startled when they saw Erwin bump into Optimus.
"Optimus, just the titan I wanted to see," Erwin said in a rather…cheery voice.
"Erwin, are you not going to the meeting?" Optimus asked while Megatron narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"I will not," Erwin answered as he patted Optimus on the shoulder, "Today is my last day, and I have resigned my position to Hanji."
"I see," Optimus said as he realized Erwin was acting oddly.
"But before I resign, I have one more thing to say," Erwin proclaimed as he shook his limbs to relieve his stress.
"Erwin-"
"Wait, I need to make sure I'm ready enough," Erwin said as he shook his head.
Optimus and Megatron quickly glanced at each other as Erwin cleared his throat.
"Explain what this is," Megatron demanded.
Erwin merely shushed Megatron before turning his attention to Optimus.
"Fuck you," Erwin said to Optimus.
Megatron stared at Erwin as if he lost his mind while Optimus was completely caught off guard.
"E-excuse me?" Optimus questioned.
"Optimus Prime, fuck you!" Erwin yelled.
Before Erwin could say anything else, Levi tackled Erwin to the floor and knocked him out with a frying pan.
"Levi what the hell?!" Hanji exclaimed as she arrived on the scene.
"Just help me!" Levi ordered as he and Hanji dragged Erwin's limp body away.
Optimus was still in a daze, but snapped out of it when he heard Megatron chuckling. He turned his attention to Megatron and saw the ex-con clutching his side and laughing his head off. Optimus glared at Megatron as he collapsed on the floor and continued laughing.