A/N- Thanks to everyone who is reading this story. I completely forgot to add an A/N when I posted this originally. Mainly because I can't really think of anything to say. After seeing the initial reaction I got a better feel for what you want. This is an EDIT. I have made a few changes and added more to the first chapter. I hope it pleases you. I may add more to this chapter in the future before I make a second one so keep an eye out. I know it's not the longest or best story, but as long as some of you enjoy it then I am pleased.
Expect random updates. Be sure to leave a review.
Disclaimer- I OWN NOTHING!
(-)
Have you ever said or done something that you later come to regret? That happened to me recently. I constantly find the normalcy of life to be ever so boring that I often find myself wishing it was more like an anime. You know what I mean right? Super powers, magic, giant fighting robots and such. Would it be too much to ask for real life to be more like that? When I die I wish for nothing more than to be reincarnated into an anime. But be careful what you wish for, because sometimes you just might get it.
(-)
I woke up slowly from my nap and immediately knew that something was off. For one, the last time I checked my bedroom wasn't in the middle of a forest, and two, I had never seen trees that were as big as these. My initial thought of, are one of my friends pranking me?, was cast aside when my mind countered with, what friends? Hahh, thinking I might still be asleep I decided to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. Ouch. I wasn't. It was then that I noticed that I wasn't wearing any clothes. My initial alarm at that was set aside when I attempted to cover my modesty, only to find nothing there. Now I was confused. I tried to curse out loud, but all that came out of my mouth was "Grahh".
Huh? What's going on?! Internally I was panicking but my attention shifted when I heard loud footsteps nearby. I turned my head and what did my sight behold? A naked human with no genitals. His head was unusually large and he had a rather wicked smile plastered on his face. I immediately recognized the human as a Titan, albeit one of the shorter ones.
Shit, this is one fucked up dream, or is it? I stood up to run but then I noticed that the Titan was short compared to me, and then it clicked. I'm a fucking Titan. Thank god for my quick wit.
You know, when I lied down for a nap today, I wasn't expecting to wake up as a Titan. That was the furthest thing from my mind. And yet here I am, most likely in the Attack on Titan universe... I then began to internally panic.
Not being a very patient person, I decided to go through the five stages of grief as fast as possible.
Denial. No, no, no, this can't be happening! I only laid down to take a nap and now here I am in one of the most dangerous anime I can think of! This HAS to be a dream, it just has to!
Anger. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" FUCK FUCK FUCK GOD DAMNIT SHIT SON OF A BITCH MOTHER FUCKING COCKSUCKING SHIT!
Bargaining. Please god or whoever is in charge, give me another chance!Why did this have to happen to me? If I was going to be reincarnated into an anime -despite being one of my favourites- Attack on Titan was one of the farthest ones down the list because of how dangerous it is. I was thinking something more along the lines of A Certain Magical Index or maybe Fairy Tail. You know, one where the good guys have a fighting chance. Not the slaughter-fest that is AoT. Also, I wanted to be reincarnated after I died. Not now. Dark Souls 3: The Fire Fades edition just came out and I only just started it!
Depression. Of all the ways I could go I wasn't expecting it to happen when I was so young. I collapsed unto my hands and knees in despair. Fuck my life.
(-)
After my initial... episode upon realizing my situation, I managed to calm down and better asses my situation. As of right now I have no idea where I am in the AoT timeline nor do I have any idea where I am period. So I decided to pick a direction and just walk.
After about an hour of walking I happened upon a river. I knelt over the river and got a better look at myself. I was tall, very tall. At least fifteen meters I would guess, but that was only natural. Even in my past life I was a tall individual. It made me great at basketball, but my laziness stopped me from playing it outside of gym class. Anyway, as I gazed into the water I could make out my face. It was similar to my original face, but a bit more emaciated as was the rest of my body. My arms and legs were both unnaturally long. It reminded me of the Grayjack enemy from Resistance Fall of Man. Then there was my hair, shoulder length scraggly black with a single streak of crimson in it. Same as I last had it before I took that fateful nap. I was somewhat surprised how much I resembled my old self even as a Titan.
I then scooped up some water in my hands to take a drink but stopped halfway when I remembered that there was no point to it. As I recall, Titans don't need to eat or drink. They only eat humans for shits and giggles.
Knowing that a river ran through the Walls, I decided to follow it. Maybe I would encounter a scout that could be so kind as to put me out of my misery, and just maybe I would awaken from this nightmare.
As I walked along the river I eventually came across another Titan. It wasn't to big, roughly 8 or so meters with undersized arms. On what was possibly a whim, I decided to test my own strength. The Titan saw me but paid me no attention as I got closer to it. As I got closer I brought my right arm back and once I was on top of it, I swung. My fist collided with the Titans face and knocked its head clean off. The force of my punch also broke my wrist and left the bone exposed. And when I say broke I mean my hand was hanging off my arm by a few pieces of flesh.
AGHHH! Shit that hurt! The pain was immense at first but quickly dulled as the injury began to regenerate. My eyes widened as flesh and bone reconnected. It was happening at an alarmingly fast rate, much faster than I had seen any of the Titans capable of in the anime considering how serious the injury was. Roughly three seconds had passed and my hand was already back to normal.
Huh, cool. I bet I could go up against an army of these fuckers and they wouldn't even stand a chance seeing as they consider me one of their own. I then stomped on the neck of the down Titan, destroying the nape in the process. It then hit me, I finally had an outlet for all my pent up aggression. I grinned madly as I spotted another Titan walk out from behind some nearby trees. Maybe this world won't be so bad after all. Acceptance.
I lurched forward with my arm cocked back and repeated the process with the newcomer. It didn't even know what hit him. Three more Titans appeared in my field of vision. Two 5 meter class and one 15 meter. I charged the 15 meter one and tackled him against a tree whereupon I bit at his neck and ripped out his nape. More. I turned to face the two smaller Titans. I grabbed one with my left hand and picked him up while I simply stomped on the other. I threw the one in my hand against a tree as hard as I could which resulted in a satisfying splat that exploded in blood and gore. More, more. I heard the voice in the back of my head cry out for more as I began to be consumed by the blood-lust. I guess it's true what people say, humans are violent by nature.
I kept up my killing spree by outright slaughtering any Titan that I happened across and there were quite a few. I kicked a few heads off of the shorter ones and much to my amusement they got some good distance, that is something I would definitely have to do often. With every swing of my fists I would damage them badly but they would quickly heal and my tolerance to the pain would build. I did have to admit that it was a bit annoying that my body could not withstand my own strength, but my body was built for speed, not power which was perfectly alright with me.
Another Titan came out from behind a tree and I rushed over and slammed my elbow into its face, shattering its skull on impact. I had read enough and watched enough fighting manga and anime to at least be able to have a grasp on how to fight. One of the things I learned from them was that the elbows and knees are quite strong. I also learned how to deflect and parry strikes from my father who had learned some form of martial arts but I can't remember which it was. Not that it would help me against enemy's who don't fight back.
Soon I found myself grinning like a madman at the whole ordeal. Maybe this new life wouldn't be so bad. The sun was setting and unlike the normal Titans who get tired at night, I failed to lose my energy, then again I was more of a night person anyway.
And by that logic I'll be tired in the morning since I'm not a morning person.
I tossed that thought to the back of my mind for the time being and continued with my current objective, finding civilization. Why you might ask? Not even I am completely sure. Maybe a part of me still wanted to die at the hands of a scout and wake up from this nightmare, or maybe I wanted to help save the humans, either way it wasn't like I had anything better to do.
The sun rose over the horizon as I continued my trek along the river in the hopes of reaching civilization. And of course I totally called it. I let out a long yawn. Not a morning person. I decided to take a nap for now and continue my trip later on.
(-)
It had been roughly a month by my estimation since I became a Titan and life was pretty much alright. It was boring at times, not being able to interact with anyone, but my violent tendencies towards the Titans never got old.
I suppose that the Scouts would be thanking me if they could, after all I was making their job a lot easier by 'thinning the herd' as it were. I made it a personal goal to kill all the Titans I come across seeing as how there really isn't anything else to do. Although on some level I felt sorry for the poor bastards. If I recalled correctly, then all Titans were once human. When that depressing thought came up I would always justify it as mercy killing. After all, who would want to be stuck as a Titan anyway?
I had also decided to practice talking in case I ever came across someone who would be willing to listen to a Titan rather than kill it. Crazy right? But none the less I continued my endeavor and by now I could form coherent sentences. My voice was still a little rough, but at the very least people would be able to understand me.
(-)
It was on the 35th day that I finally saw it in the distance. The Wall. And judging from the large hole in it and lack of fighting it was Wall Maria. The first wall that was broken down by Bertholdt in his Colossal Titan form. This meant that I was currently at the point in time between the wall being breached and the expedition where Eren fixed the breach if I recall. My memory is becoming more and more fuzzy each day as I had not yet read up to that point in the manga. All I knew of it was from hearsay and spoilers on the internet.
Damn. If I knew that I was going to be reborn in this world then I would have invested more time into the series.
But now was not the time to let the 'if only's' distract me. Now was the time to make a difference.
After a short jog I arrived in Shiganshina district where I then spent the next 3 days breaking down buildings and using the rubble to block the hole in the wall to stop the flow of Titans. With the hole blocked then the number of Titans inside the walls perimeter would slowly diminish until none remained. And with Annie and company inside Wall Rose, they would be none the wiser of my efforts to subvert their plans. By the time they do realize, it will be too late.
(-)
Day number 'I stopped counting' came by and for once something interesting occurred. While walking through the woods I happened upon a Titan that was talking to a scout that it had cornered up against a tree.
The scout was fervently writing in a notebook that she had on her and I instantly knew who it was. Ilse.
Knowing what was about to occur I hurried over to her just in time to kick the head off of the Titan before it made a meal out of her. I then looked down to the frightened woman who from the looks of it had just pissed herself. But she kept writing in her notebook all the same whilst speaking her thoughts aloud.
"The talking Titan was about to attack me when another Titan showed up. It is tall. Easily over 18 meters in height with black hair that has a single red streak in it..." she rattled off nervously while sweating bullets before returning her attention to me. "It proceeded to kill the other Titan. Maybe to steal its meal? I am unsure. It's staring at me. Just staring. Almost as if it appraising me or something."
I decided to have a little fun with the high-strung woman and squatted down to get closer to her. "You know, you could be a little more grateful to me. I did after all, just save your life." I spoke clearly and concisely.
I had to resist the urge to laugh when Ilse damn near dropped her notebook along with her jaw. She then returned to her writing.
"The new Titan can talk as well. Although more clearly then the last. As unusual as it sounds, it seems to be asking for thanks for having saved me." she spoke as her pen hand continued to move.
Seeing that she wasn't going to stop anytime soon I decided to halt her train of thought. "You can stop acting like these are your last moments. I'm not going to kill you."
She paused. "W-what?"
"I said that I'm not going to kill you. I'm different from the others as you can no doubt tell."
"You're not going to eat me?" she asked warily.
I waved a hand dismissively. "Don't have to. Titans only eat humans for shits and giggles. It's something that is ingrained in their minds. But me, I'm an exception to that. I have no interest in the flesh of man."
Ilse was starting to get a look of hope on her face. Prior to this she had resigned herself to death with her horse gone and ODM gear busted, but now she had found a friendly Titan it seemed. "Oh thank god!" she said as she collapsed to the ground and grasped at her hyperventilating chest.
"I'm sure you have questions for me, but this isn't exactly the safest place to hold a discussion, what with the other Titans in the area. Here, hop on my hand and I'll put you on a branch out of their reach." I said as I lay my hand on the ground.
It was obvious from her body language that Ilse was apprehensive of the idea, but relented none the less. As soon as she was in my palm I walked over to a nearby branch and placed her on it.
Ilse rapidly collected herself before addressing me again. "What are you?"
"Who, not what. I have a name."
"And what would that be?"
I paused for a moment. Sure I knew what my name was, but there was a slight problem. My name was the same as one of the series main characters. And I doubt that the good captain would be pleased to share a name with me, so I made something up on the fly. "You may call me Red."
"Oh, like the streak in your hair?"
"Exactly. And who might you be?" I asked already knowing the answer, but it was the polite thing to do.
"Ilse, a member of the Scout Regiment." she said confidently, her fear of death having been replaced with the hope of escape should she gain my favor.
"Well Ilse, what brings you out here beyond the safety of the Walls?"
"You know of the Walls?!"
I let a grin creep across my face. "I know a great many things. Things that you would never believe without proof. Although my mind is somewhat fuzzy on the subjects. Ask what you want and I will answer to the best of my abilities."
"Why are you different from the rest?"
Oh, going for a serious one already. One that I don't exactly know the answer to myself. "I am unsure. I remember that one day when I went to sleep and when I woke up I was like this." I said as I gestured to my body.
"Wait, you mean that you weren't always a Titan?"
"No, I used to be just as human as you. As were the rest of the Titans. But they were changed. How, I do not know." I said with a grumble as I was disappointed with my own lack of knowledge.
"What?! The Titans were once humans?!" Ilse asked frantically.
I lowered my head. "Unfortunately yes. There is no known hope for them now though. They are simply mindless animals with a hunger for human flesh. A proper mercy killing is all that you can do for them." I kept the knowledge of the Titan shifters to myself for now. After all, I doubt she would believe me.
"That's... impossible..." Ilse said dejectedly as she looked down.
"Believe it or not I am telling the truth."
"Is there anything else you can tell me?"
"Nothing that you wouldn't believe without proof. Proof that I don't have but know where it is. It is information that is vital to the struggle against these monsters." I said in all seriousness.
"Where is it?" she asked.
I paused for a moment. "What I say next stays between you and me. The only person you can allow to know this information is your commander. Understood?"
She nodded in affirmation and I could see from the look on her face that she was not lying.
"It is in the basement of a house in the Shiganshina district. That is all that I can tell you for now." I kept the exact location a secret so as to not completely screw up the timeline.
"Okay. Anything else?"
"Not much. The Titans weakness is that most become inactive at night. I am one of the ones that can still move at night but I have trouble in the morning."
"Alright." Ilse said as she finished writing in her notebook. "Now, would you be able to bring me back to the Wall?"
"I was waiting for you to ask that. I only have one condition."
"What is that?"
"Keep my existence a secret. I can't tell you exactly why, but know that there are people who would see me dead regardless of my intentions."
I then plucked Ilse out of the tree by her cape. Luckily for us there were no Titans around so I didn't have to deal with any ankle-biters.
"Which way to the wall?" I asked.
"Ilse pointed in the direction she came from. "That way."
Along the way we were able to get Ilse a replacement ODM gear so she could scale the wall once we got there. I wasn't too keen on getting too close to the wall. I have a feeling that the guards would sooner blow my head off then assume I was friendly.
We were just out of range of sight of the Walls guards and I was hiding behind an old house with Ilse in my palm. I peeked over the roof and saw no Titans at the wall so Ilse should have no problem reaching it.
"Well, I suppose this is where we part ways." I said rather unceremoniously.
"I guess so." was Ilse's response.
I placed her on the ground before readying myself to leave. "I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. Perhaps, if fate would will it, we shall meet again. Maybe at Shiganshina."
Ilse nodded. "Yes, I hope we do."
I remained in place for awhile with my eyes on her as she became a speck in the distance. Once I was sure she was up the wall I turned and left. I already missed her, for that was my only human interaction in quite some time.
On the bright side I now knew where I was in the timeline. I had roughly a year before Wall Rose would be breached. One year to train myself for what's I stayed nearby and counted the Scout expeditions as they left I would eventually get to the point at which the wall gets breached. So man plan is to stay just out of range of them and hopefully they will ignore me. Other than that, all I can do is train and do my best to remember the coming events. I will make a difference, I will save all that I can.
(-)
The year came and went. My drive to stop the shifters being the only thing that keeps me going. I truly do believe that somewhere along the way I have lost my sanity as I sometimes find myself trying to hold conversations with other Titans, acting like they are family members I haven't seen in some time. And with each passing day my memory becomes more fuzzy. I have to narrow my thoughts to remember important details lest I forget them.
I often wondered how Ilse is doing. Did she break our promise and tell people of my existence? If so then the shifters will be preparing for me. Is she even still alive? Perhaps she died on another expedition.
I pushed such thoughts to the back of my head as they only brought my mood down.
I then looked in the distance at the wall where the Scout Regiment was currently funneling out through. Number 56. If I was counting correctly then this was expedition number 56, the one where the wall gets breached. Now I just had to wait for the big boy to show up and I would make my move.
(-)
Sure enough I was right. Bertholdt showed up and kicked a hole in the wall right on schedule. I then made a bee-line for the hole, knocking over any Titans in my way. This was the riskiest part of the plan as the Garrison Regiment would just assume I was an abnormal and kill me regardless of how I acted. Luckily for me and unluckily for them, by the time I got though the hole the majority of the vanguard was preoccupied. Now I just had to stumble upon Eren's small squad in this giant ass city. Nothing too difficult right?
Knowing my innate luck I should find them just in the nick of time to save Thomas. Until then I would slaughter any Titans that were unfortunate enough to cross my path.
Sure this would screw up the whole 'Eren unlocking his shifting powers' thing, but I could just talk with him and say I sense an unnatural power in him and tell him how to shift. I doubt they will believe me at first, but eventually it should all work out. At least I hope so.
I grabbed a nearby Titan by the throat before throwing it to the ground and curb-stomping its neck. Turning around to a scream, I watched as a Garrison soldier was grabbed out of the air by a Titan as it prepared to make a meal out of him. Luckily for the soldier, I was going to interrupt that meal. Running up to the Titan at full speed, I slammed my massive frame into its side, knocking it over and causing it to drop the soldier that was in its grasp. The Titan fell to the ground, leaving an impression in the road. It looked up just in time to see my foot coming down on its face. Deciding not to linger, I continued on my way to my next victim. Hopefully my early presence would greatly reduce the number of Titans in the district and allow for more people to survive.
"Ah, there you are." I said as I saw a squad heading directly for an abnormal. No doubt it was Eren's squad. Time to make an entrance. I thought as I sped up.
I saw the abnormal about to chomp down on Thomas, but before it did, I gave it the mother of all sucker punches. The Titans head flew right off and landed several rooftops away. My hand was broken as a result, but it was already halfway healed.
Thomas landed nearby on a rooftop, no doubt recovering from his near death experience, and his squad-mates soon joined him.
"You okay Thomas?!" asked Eren.
"I'm... fine..." Thomas said in between breaths. "If... that Titan... hadn't... I don't know..." he said as he looked up to see me staring at him. "Fuck! Titan!" he screamed at which point he and the rest of the squad took up a fighting stance.
I ignored them and quickly made my way over to another nearby Titan whereupon I bit its neck out. Following that I continued my rampage of carnage, killing all of the Titans who were heading for Eren's squad. By now Armin has probably suggested that I am an abnormal that kills other Titans so I should be safe from them. The way I see it, as long as I keep on killing Titans, the more likely the humans are to leave me be.
Another neck stomp here, a decapitation there, and I was starting to rack up an impressive kill count. It's a good thing I've been working on my stamina over the past year. It's thanks to that that I'm able to keep going.
As I continued my killing, I was momentarily distracted by the sight of several humans flying in front of me. This must be them trying to lead me to the HQ.
I played along, killing any Titans along the way, and sure enough they had led me right to the HQ building which was surrounded by Titans. I let out a roar as I charged the nearest Titan and ripped out his neck with my bare hands. They continued to ignore me in favor of the humans inside the HQ which made my work all the more easier. One by one I killed each and every one of the Titans that had surrounded HQ, all that was left for me to do was kill any newcomers.
Soon the area was clear and the surviving humans entered the building to resupply. I already knew what was happening inside so I kept my eyes peeled looking for more Titans to slaughter. I know that one character in particular will die soon but I don't know when. From what I remember, Marco had died at some point between now and the closing of the breach so- FUCK! The breach!
It was only now that I realized my mistake. Eren was able to move the boulder because of his muscular Titan form. With my emaciated speed-built body I would be lucky if I could push the damn boulder. I really didn't think things through. The only hope of closing the breach is Eren's Titan form, but now because of my interference, he hasn't realized his power!
Fuck. Well, it's going to take some grade-A acting on my part, but I just might be able to pull something off.
I patiently waited for everyone to exit the HQ keeping a watchful eye out for Eren. One by one people poured out onto the roof until eventually I found him. He was standing with Mikasa and Armin near the edge. I would have to separate him from the rest in order to make this work. I also noticed out of the corner of my eye that Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt were staring at me. No doubt they knew that I was no simple abnormal and were already plotting my demise. But that would have to wait till later. In fact, it might play into my favor. If their focus was on me then maybe they wouldn't fuck up and have to kill Marco. But for right now I had more important matters to attend to.
I approached Eren and company slowly, making sure to come off as unintimidating as possible. I stared at them intently until I got their attention and they stared back. "You, with the green eyes and brown hair, come with me." I spoke plainly. Needless to say, everyone was taken aback by the fact that I could talk.
"What?!" exclaimed several people, Eren included.
"Time is of the essence. I need you to come with me right now. The fate of the district rests on your compliance."
"Why me?" he asked at which point Mikasa got in front of him to guard him from me. Understandable given my state of appearance.
Now it was time for me to pull out the stops. "You have the power to stop the flood of Titans, I have not the time to explain but know that I sense a power within you. One that we need to seal the breach."
"What do you mean?"
I noticed Annie and company taking a keen interest in our conversation. I know Eren is apprehensive, but I need to get him to come with me without revealing too much. "It is not important right now. Are you going to come with me and save the day, or are you going to stay here and let more people suffer from your inaction?" I asked as I held out my hand. Now was the time for him to choose.
He took a step forward, but an arm caught him. "What are you doing?" asked Mikasa.
"I'm taking a chance. If this Titan is telling the truth then I can stop this madness."
"And you are just going to trust it?"
I internally grimaced at the 'it' remark. I was a him not an it.
"I don't see why he shouldn't." spoke Armin. "It hasn't killed any humans from what we've seen, and its best interests seems to be our survival. Plus, I never heard of an intelligent Titan before."
"All the more reason not to trust it. It could be plotting."
"To what? Kill a single human after saving so many?" Eren asked. "I'm going to give him the benefit of doubt. Let's go." he said as he stepped on to my hand.
"Eren..." spoke Mikasa softly.
"Don't worry Mikasa. I promise I'll be fine." Eren said as he shot her a thumbs up.
"Fear not little girl. I will not harm your boyfriend. You have my word." I said plainly to reassure her.
Her cheeks gained a light dusting of red at my remark, but she said nothing in response.
I then turned and headed for the giant boulder that we would use to block the breach.