"Talking"

Thinking

"Remembering"

This guy is insane!

Connie's day went from bad to just plain surreal. The bad part was when Titans started flooding the streets and eating his friends. That was pretty bad. Now it was a day filled with the impossible looking easy, monsters he had feared for his entire life falling apart before his eyes, and a near constant abuse to his views of reality. This, of course, was all thanks to a certain green haired swordsman. Said swordsman was running across the roofs of the town with impeccable speed, holding half of a titan in one hand and using one of his swords with the other to slice away any part of the titan he felt regenerated too much, all the while dodging the fists of a larger titan trying to kill his unwilling cargo.

Yeah, Connie was having a weird day.

Connie turned his attention to more important matters, like piloting his 3DMG so that he made it to the HQ in one piece, and keeping a good grip on Armin at the same time. Since the blonde had given all his gas to Mikasa, Connie was the one left to carry his ass so that he didn't get eaten by titans. Now that he thought about it, why didn't Mikasa carry Armin instead? It's not like she's killing titans right now.

In fact, every new titan the group had encountered on their way to the HQ had their head and neck "mysteriously" fall off their shoulders in a surprisingly bloody display before Mikasa even had a chance to engage. Every time this happened, Connie would, for a split second, see some sort of ripple in the air zip by towards the titans. It didn't take long for Connie to realize that their new "friend" was the one responsible. Connie could almost feel the headache coming as he thought over this. Where the hell has this guy been this whole time?

Connie had to put his musings on hold, however. They had arrived. Connie stopped himself and Armin on one of the roofs closest to the HQ, as did Mikasa a moment later.

"Oi. This the place?" Zoro called over to them from another nearby roof before casually jumping out of the way of another strike from the rogue titan. Before Connie could question how someone could make dodging a fist the size of a grown man casual, Amrin answered.
"Yea! This is it!"

"Alright then big guy. Fetch!"

And fetch the titan did. As Zoro threw the bloody titan he had been carrying towards the titan covered HQ, the rogue titan literally jumped towards it. It then brought it's fist down on it mid air, pulverizing the smaller titan easily into the road below. With it's target finally dead, the rogue titan rose itself back to its full height, and immediately noticed the many titans in the area.

Connie couldn't help but think that it was actually thinking about which one it wanted to kill first. It didn't take long, however, before the rogue titan charged forward and drove its fist into the heads of two titans that were looking into the same gaping hole in the wall of the HQ.

"That's our cue!" Armin shouted. Hearing that, Connie picked Armin back up, bridal style, and engaged his 3DMG. Within seconds, Connie launched himself off the roof, and through one of the already broken windows of the HQ, just in time for this gear to putter out. Mikasa wasn't far behind, and Zoro merely landed through the hole the titans had made.

"Mikasa!"

Connie looked up, and saw the surprised faces of his fellow trainees. Jean, Marco, Sasha, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie. They all made it, good. He then looked down at his gear and came to a realization.

"It's empty… We did it! We just barely made it!" Connie was in utter jubilation with the knowledge of their survival. He turned to armin and slapped him on the back. "We, did it Armin! Your plan was a success!"

Armin on the other hand merely winced at the rough treatment. Not that Connie noticed that much.

"Everyone!" Connie called out while pointing at the rogue titan visible through the hole in the wall, "That titan is an abnormal that slaughters other titans. It's not even interested in attacking humans! If we play our cards right, we can all get outta here alive!"

"We'd… use a titan?" one of the trainees asked in shock.

"You'd rely on a titan's help?" Jean asked equally as shocked.

"Why not?" Zoro then spoke up, causing the other trainees to notice him. "It's doing a hell of a lot better job at defending this place than any of you. So why not use it?"

"I agree," Mikasa said next. "Just let it rampage here for as long as possible. Realistically, that is our best option for survival." The sound of the rogue titans roar outside only seemed to solidify her statement.

"Well, that's not entirely true."

"Huh?" Everyone said as they looked at Zoro.

"You guys would be safer if you had me out there holding them off. But I think you're gonna need some help with the ones that are still inside."

Most of the trainees were confused, as well as spooked, by the swordsman's words. However, one of the surviving supply trainees, who had been in the HQ since the wall had fallen, spoke up.

"How do you know about the titans in the supply room?"

Zoro gave the trainees another bone chilling grin before answering, "I can hear them."

Jean seemed to curse under his breath before saying, "So there are titans in the supply room. I was worried about that."

"So, what do we do?" one of the female trainees asked. "We are all out of gas."

"I already told you." Zoro said, "Sit back, and let me handle it." With that said, the swordsman began to walk deeper into the HQ. He didn't get far, however, before he stopped and called back, "How do I get to the supply room?"

Before anyone could answer, Zoro spoke up again. "Never mind, I'll just go the direct route." Zoro drew his white sword, and three lightning fast slices later a perfect triangle shaped hole was made in the wood flooring, which Zoro promptly jumped through.

"But," spoke up one of the supply crew, despite the fact that Zoro was already out of earshot, "there's seven three-to-four-meter classes down there."

For a few moments, all was silent. Then Connie spoke up.

"You know, I think he's got this."

The response was a mostly unanimous, "Huh!?"

"What? You've all seen what he's capable of. Remember that first titan he cut in half?"

Most of the trainees gained thoughtful expressions, while Marco just blurted out, "Wait, that actually happened?"

"Luring that abnormal titan here might have been Armin's idea, but do you guys even know how we pulled it off? Tell them Armin."

"Huh? Why me?"

"I don't mean to interrupt," Mikasa spoke up, "But it's still not safe here. We should move to a more secure location in the HQ."

"Oh, uh right," Connie said sheepishly.

With that, the trainees began to make their way deeper into the HQ, making sure to avoid the fresh hole in the ground as they passed by it. As they made their way to the lift that connected the top floor to the supply room, Jean spoke up.

"So what were you saying, about how you lured that abnormal here?"

Connie looked over at Armin expectedly, as did several of the other trainees.

"Oh, well, um," Armin stuttered, not used to being the center of attention, "This is probably gonna sound crazy, but we used live bait, at least that's what Zoro called it."

"Live bait? The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You're gonna have to be more specific, Armin," Connie commented. By then the trainees had already reached the lift room and were now all attentive to Armin's next words.

"Um, well... Zoro… kinda cut a six-meter class in half and then… carried it so that the abnormal chased him here."

…

…

"Bullshit," deadpanned Jean.

"Heh, I know how you feel," Connie spoke up. "I actually saw it and I still don't believe it."

"What Armin says is the truth," Mikasa spoke next. "That man is far stronger than any of us could possibly imagine."

Silence reigned over the room once again for several more moments as the trainees tried to process this information. So understandably, several of the trainees visibly jumped when a new voice yelled out.

"Oi! You guys gonna keep twiddling your thumbs up there or are you going to actually come down and do… whatever the hell it is you guys need to do!?"

As one the trainees spun to look at where Zoro's voice had come from, only to realize he must have been at the bottom of the lift, out of sight.

"It would seem Zoro has kept his word. Shall we?" Mikasa asked.

It took a few minutes to raise the lift platform up from the supply room and then lower it again with the trainees as cargo. As the lift passed the roof of the supply room, the trainees immediately saw seven large decomposing corpses, several with large pieces missing, and Zoro sitting against one of the rooms support pillars. It almost looked like the swordsman was taking a nap, until he lazily raised his head and said, "What took you so long?"

As the trainees went about refilling their gas tanks and restocking on fresh blades, Armin took some time to reflect on the last several minutes, specifically the master of impossibility that was Zoro. So far Armin had witnessed the swordsman cut fifteen meter tall titans completely in half, cause massive amounts of destruction with just a sword, move at speeds equal to, if not exceeding, a 3DMG without said gear, cut things several meters away from the reach of his sword, and carry a load that should have crushed him with its weight alone. With this in mind, Armin come to the only logical conclusion he could.

This man isn't human.

"(Sigh) Well this was a disappointment," Zoro said with a bored expression, which Armin heard since he was refilling nearby.

"What do you mean?" Armin asked curiously, hoping to learn more about the swordsman.

"Tch. The whole reason I decided to help you kids was because I thought I would get to face some new and challenging opponents. But instead all I've faced are mindless, unskilled giants that just happen to regenerate if you don't cut them just right. I haven't had to use anything more than one sword this whole time. It's no fun when it's not worth the effort to go all out."

Armin blinked once. Then twice. A third blink came and went before he finally caught on to the meaning of Zoro's words.
"You mean this whole time you were holding back!?"

This outburst caused several of the other trainees to switch their attention to the two. Those that were already listening in, however, were just a shocked as Armin.

"Yeah," Zoro continued. "I was thinking of ways to make it more challenging, but besides not using a sword at all, I couldn't think of any. And what kind of swordsman would I be if I refused to use my swords."

Once again Armin mind raced as he thought over these implications. If Zoro did all that he did with hardly any effort, Armin's blood turned cold at the thought of what the swordsman could do if he did put effort in. Judging by the wide eyes and shocked looks of his fellow trainees, they too had come to a similar realization. Even Mikasa, who was always straight faced and neutral, looked visibly shocked by Zoro's statement.

"That man is far stronger than any of us could possibly imagine."

I don't think you knew just how true your words were, Mikasa. That is if he's telling the truth. Even with that doubt, it wasn't that hard to believe given what Armin had already witnessed. To think that a person with such strength existed. It really shows just how much we don't understand about the world.

"Well, at least I'll be able to find a port after this. My nakama are probably completely lost without me."

Armin wasn't sure, but he could have sworn a sudden feeling of absolute dread washed over him when he heard Zoro say that. He wisely decided to keep quiet and finish refilling his gas tanks.

Once everyone had refueled, they stood at the doorway leading to the outside.

"Are you all ready?" Jean called out. "Let's get out of here!" And with that, the trainees rushed off and took to the rooftops. Most of the trainees went straight to the wall, to safety, but Mikasa did not. Armin noticed her standing on one of the roofs, as did Reiner and his slightly taller companion, Bertholdt, and moved to join her.

"Mikasa, we have to hurry!"

"That titan…" Mikasa merely stated. Armin then looked to where Mikasa was looking, and saw what she meant. The rogue titan they had lured was currently pinned to one of the town buildings by several other titans, and was being eaten alive.

"It's body can't regenerate?" Armin asked while looking at the morbid scene. Mikasa spoke next.

"I thought uncovering the truth about that Titan might be the key to freeing ourselves from this desperate situation…"

"I agree," spoke up Reiner.

Armin and Mikasa looked over to see not only Reiner, but Bertholdt, Annie, and Jean had joined them.

"If they just rip it to shreds like that," Reiner continued, "Then we won't have learned a single thing! We should get rid of those titans currently devouring it, and at least try to keep it alive."

"Are you insane Reiner!?" Jean blurted out.

"I'm up for that plan."

Armin and Mikasa turned again to see that Zoro had, once again, appeared behind them.

"That giant is the closest thing around here that could possibly be a challenging opponent. It would be a shame if it died before I got a chance to see what it's capable of."

"Forget that, we need to get out of this deathtrap!" Jean exclaimed.

"But what if that titan could become an ally?" Annie spoke next.

"An… ally? Are you for real!?" Jean responded in disbelief.

It was at this moment that Armin noticed another titan walking across the street. That's the abnormal that ate Thomas!

Armin wasn't the only one that noticed this particular titan.

With a sudden roar and burst of strength, the rogue titan pushed through its captors, not caring for the arms that were ripped off due to its struggles, and charged straight for the newly arrived abnormal titan. Seeing as it no longer had arms to attack with, the rogue titan instead opted to bite down on its enemies neck, and then proceeded to use its newfound chew toy as a flail to beat to death the rest of its would be killers. The trainees could only watch in awe as the rogue titan then threw its improvised weapon into the last remaining titan with enough force to send both completely through a house, while still having a strong grip on the head of the now very dead abnormal. The armless titan released what was left of its enemy, and let loose a final roar to the skies, before finally collapsing.

"Oi." said Jean. "What was that about helping it?"

"Tch, damn." Zoro said next. "That one's not getting back up. (sigh) Another disappointment."

"Well, whatever. Let's just get going." Jean turned to take off, only to notice that his fellow trainees were still staring down at the fallen titan. "What is it?" Jean asked, walking back to the edge to see whatever it was that was keeping his companions rooted in place. What he saw left him speechless as well.

"Well I be damned," Zoro said, mirth evident in his voice, "Seems this place is full of surprises."

Mikasa audibly gasped at what she saw.

Emerging from the decomposing titan's neck was a young man, a young man she had thought dead.

Eren Jaeger.

Author's Note: Ok, third chapter's up, and it's slightly shorter than the last one. Sorry about that. Next chapter is gonna be from the point of view of a newly awakened Eren, so expect some confusion from the narrator. Review and tell me what you think so far.