"DAD, STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Eren's voice echoed through the void, desperate, trembling, his eyes covered in tears. "You're acting so strange since mom died!"
Grisha Jaeger grabs him with clear desperation, his eyes showing madness as they fill with tears. "Eren, give me your arm!" Grabbing his arm forcefully and injecting something into him.
Suddenly, everything broke. "I just hope that monster doesn't..."
—
...
...
...
—"EREN!"
"AAAHHH!!!"
Eren woke up suddenly, sweating, with his eyes wide open, instinctively clutching his arm. He breathed heavily, as though struggling to return to reality. When he made eye contact with me, he recoiled in fear, as if he had seen something monstrous.
"Interesting..."
"Are you okay?" Armin asked with evident concern, leaning toward him. "You passed out. We had to bring you here. I don't know what you were dreaming, but it seemed like a nightmare..."
Eren furrowed his brow, placing a hand on his head as he tried to remember.
"What was it... Uh... I can't remember."
—
Later, with Eren recovered, each of us headed to our work stations on the wall. However, I had something more important in mind before continuing the daily routine. Crouched in a narrow alley, I prepared to carry out Mission Meat 01.
The perfect moment was approaching: the officers were about to change shifts with their colleagues. When I intercepted them, I made sure to block their path right at the entrance, crashing directly into one of the officers, which caused her to fall accidentally onto me.
The impact was enough to knock us both to the ground.
"Ah!" she exclaimed, completely flushed from the closeness, while her colleague let out a restrained laugh.
Looking at her face, as red as a tomato, I adjusted my strategy instantly. Seduction was off the table due to the age difference, so I opted for a different approach.
"S-sorry..." I muttered quietly and monotonously, modulating my tone to sound shy. The officer quickly got up, flailing her arms nervously.
"It's fine! Let's pretend this didn't happen, cadet."
I tilted my head in apparent confusion "Are you sure? Your face is really red..." I said, reaching my hand toward her forehead.
"NO! I'm fine! Everything's fine!" she almost screamed, backing away as if she had committed a serious offense.
I kept my expression innocent and slightly confused, tilting my head to the side. "Mmm... Alright, I suppose. I appreciate your consideration, officers," I concluded with a perfect military salute before turning and walking away.
Barely around the corner, a strong arm around my shoulder nearly made me lose my balance. "YATTA!!! WE DID IT!" Sasha whispered-yelled, raising her fist triumphantly, dragging me along with her at full speed.
I blinked a couple of times, processing the situation. To avoid discomfort, I raised my own fist with the most excitement I could simulate. "Yatta..."
"MEAT!"
"Meat..."
When she finally showed me the precious spoils, my eyes filled with much more intense attention.
"Meat!"
Sasha beamed with pride, holding the valuable piece as if it were an ancient treasure.
"For the meat!" she exclaimed fervently.
"For the meat...!!" I repeated, maintaining my composure. But this time, perhaps with a hint of genuine interest.
—
Arriving at the wall, Sasha quickly approached Eren and the others. "Sorry, guys..." She opened her jacket slightly, showing a piece of meat. "We managed to steal some meat from the officers' supplies," she said, quickly including me.
"!!!!!"
They quickly accepted that Sasha could do that, but everyone looked at me for confirmation, so I simply raised my fist and said, "Meat... Yey..."
Eren grabbed me by the shoulders in shock. "Y-You?" So I kept my gaze firm as he began shaking me. "WHAT???!!!"
"I like meat..."
Sasha hugged me again with camaraderie. "WE LIKE MEAT!"
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?? Do you want to be thrown in an isolation cell?" Connie asked/yelled, but I interrupted him.
"There was no way that was going to happen, we planned it carefully," we both nodded in sync. "We can share it later... or better yet, Kiyo can prepare one of his unique dishes!!!" Thanks, Amasawa... Horikita, I'd never been so happy to know how to cook.
"Go put it in its place," Connie said, resigned, and the girl next to him, Mina Carolina, agreed. "He's right, with all the ground we've lost, meat is very valuable."
...
Sasha ignored him as she began storing the meat in a chest. "Doesn't matter... we'll have many more sheep and cows... when we reclaim the lost land," she said as if it were nothing.
"Eh?" – Eren
"She's right," said the guy next to her, Thomas. "An early celebration for the recovery of the wall, huh?"
"ONCE WE'VE FINISHED EATING, WE'LL ONLY NEED TO GATHER THE COURAGE TO FACE WHAT COMES NEXT!!!"
Eren and Connie fell silent, not understanding, but another guy with black hair named Franz hesitated for a moment before deciding "I WANT TO TRY SOME OF THAT MEAT TOO!!!"
Mina too, while stammering a bit. "I-I TOO, IT WILL BE A PLEASURE TO TRY YOUR FOOD, KIYOTAKA!!"
Franz gave a strong slap on Eren's shoulder, who was still in his trance. "Don't stand there!! Keep working or we'll get punished!!"
Mina gave him a big smile while also saying, "There's still a lot of time before noon!!"
I noticed Eren's fist trembling as he seemed to remember something, probably for the first time feeling genuine support for his goal—hope for humanity.
After a few seconds, he gave a big smile and turned to start working.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THOOOOOOM!!!
A blinding flash crossed the sky, followed by a deafening crash that echoed throughout. The thunder roared sharply, hitting the earth, the sound tearing through the atmosphere with such force that the trees shook and the ground briefly trembled beneath our feet. The air filled with an unbearable pressure, almost sending us flying...
Suddenly, a thick cloud of steam began to rise from the ground, boiling intensely. Thick and hot, it overflowed like a pot about to explode, enveloping everything around it with suffocating force, releasing waves of searing heat that distorted the air.
And in less than a second, there it was...
-
-
-
-
The Colossal Titan
In the blink of an eye, an incalculable amount of boiling steam launched us into the air, causing the ground beneath us to disintegrate. My body was thrust by the force, and before I could do anything, we fell from the top of the Wall.
"IT BURNS!!!"
"AAAAAGGGHHH!"
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
"UUAAAAAA!!!!"
"GUYS!!!!"
The commotion was so great that everything seemed to move in slow motion. Quickly, I controlled my center of gravity and, with a precise movement, activated the 3D maneuver gear. I hooked onto the wall, ensuring I didn't fall with the impact. The meat...
"USE THE 3D MANEUVER GEAR!!!" Eren shouted, reacting a second before the others. However, he quickly noticed Samuel falling in free fall. His face clearly showed he had lost consciousness "HEY, SAMUEL!!!"
Unfortunately, I couldn't waste time. Sasha ran toward him, using her skill with the gear to hook him, leaving him hanging by one leg. The poor guy groaned, but there was no time to feel sorry for him. While they took care of that, I shot upwards at full speed.
I snapped out of my thoughts by a loud crash as the entire door was blown away.
Beside me, Eren stood with a look of pure rage. "I haven't seen you in 5 years."
We both launched at full speed toward him, luckily his blows were slow, and with skill, we dodged his strike, but we couldn't prevent him from destroying all the cannons.
We pushed ourselves as each of us ran up the Titan's arm. Seeing an opening after the Titan's blow, Eren launched himself to cut its nape.
"I'VE GOT YOU!!!!"
PSHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Before we could connect, steam erupted from its body without limit, sending us flying while I was in free fall with some burns from the steam.
Finally, I managed to find a clue.
After releasing all that steam.
The Colossal Titan lost mass.
The Titan seemed imperceptibly thinner.
There's a limit to the amount of steam it can expel.
So there's a way to defeat it.
But before I could even react, the Titan was gone.
Next time...
Next time, I'll make sure to kill you. I just need to prepare someone willing to give their life.
...