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Eren paced the short, mossy length of the cavern floor; three steps, pivot, three steps back. His bare feet made soft, frantic scuffs against the stone.
Shit. Shit. What to do? What to do? What to DO?!
The questions hammered against the inside of his skull with no answers. The Omnitrix was a cold, dead shackle. The Forest of Giant Trees sprawled far below. Mikasa, Armin, Hannes—were they alive? Were they searching? Did they think he was dead, burned to ash in Trost?
The Vulpimancer, a silent orange monolith, watched him from its spot by the entrance, its smooth head tilted, tracking his frantic vibration signature. Its presence was a paradox; a comfort and a terror. It hadn't eaten him. It had given him water. But it was also the reason he was here, in this stone coffin overlooking hell.
'Think, Eren!' He slammed a fist against his own thigh. 'No family. No watch. Just… you. A ten-year-old in a cave with a monster, surrounded by bigger monsters. Dad… what would you—'
THOOM.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was immense. A deep, subsonic tremor that traveled up through the cliff face and into the soles of Eren's feet. He froze mid-pace, his blood turning to ice.
Thoom… THOOM…
Footsteps. Massive, deliberate, slow. Something colossal was walking along the base of the cliff, just out of sight below the cave's overhang. The rhythm was wrong; not the mindless, shambling drag of a Pure Titan, but a purposeful, almost curious stride.
Eren's breath hitched. He took an instinctive step back, pressing himself against the cool rear wall of the cave. His eyes were wide, fixed on the vine-shrouded entrance.
The Vulpimancer was instantly alert. It flowed to its feet with silent, predatory grace, its haunches lowering into a slight crouch. A low, questioning rumble vibrated in its chest, not a growl yet, but a sonar ping dialed up to a warning. It took a single step back, not in fear, but to place its bulk more squarely between the entrance and Eren.
Eren's fear spiked, but this time it was aimed at the orange creature. "What are you doing?" he hissed under his breath, his voice trembling. "It's out there, you dumb mutt!"
The Vulpimancer's mouth twitched, catching his whisper. It didn't turn its head, but the rumble deepened slightly, tinged with what might have been annoyance. Its focus remained laser-locked on the outside.
THOOM.
Closer. Right outside.
The footsteps stopped.
The world held its breath. The dripping water paused. The wind died. The only sound was the frantic thundering of Eren's own heart in his ears. He could see the curtain of vines shiver slightly, disturbed by the displaced air of something massive standing just beyond them.
A long, agonizing silence stretched.
Then, a slow, wet, grinding sound. Like stone on stone, but organic. It was the sound of a Titan… breathing.
Eren's bladder felt dangerously weak. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if that could make it go away.
Don't see us, don't see us, don't—
CRUNCH-SHHHKKK!
The world exploded.
The curtain of vines and the rocky overhang framing the cave entrance were ripped away in one sudden, violent motion. Daylight, harsh and unfiltered, flooded the cavern. But it was blotted out instantly by a wall of pallid, steaming flesh.
A face filled the new, jagged opening.
It was a 10-meter Class Titan, the same one just slouching outside some time ago; its features a grotesque parody of a laughing man, frozen in a rictus grin that stretched ear to ear. Beady, unintelligent black eyes peered into the darkness, scanning. They swept over the Vulpimancer, dismissed the large animal as background, and then… locked onto Eren.
Recognition. Hunger. Purpose.
Eren's breath left his lungs in a silent scream. He was pinned, a butterfly under a microscope made of nightmare flesh.
The Vulpimancer reacted not with a roar, but with a sound Eren had never heard from it; a deep, guttural, territorial snarl that seemed to start in its toes and erupt from its entire body. It was a sonic challenge, a physical wave of defiance that made the air vibrate. It took a full step forward, planting itself directly in the line of sight between Eren and the Titan, its orange fur bristling, its head lowered like a battering ram.
The grinning Titan's expression didn't change, but its head pulled back a few feet, surprised by the audacity of the smaller creature. The moment of hesitation was a lifeline.
Eren's paralysis broke. He scrambled back further even as his back had long since hit the cave's wall—useless, but it felt like distance.
The Titan's moment of curiosity vanished, replaced by simple hunger. With a speed that belied its size, a massive, five-fingered hand shot into the cave. It wasn't a clumsy grab; it was precise, fingers curling like a cage, aiming to scoop Eren directly from his hiding spot against the wall.
Eren yelled, throwing himself flat. The fingers, each as thick as his torso, brushed over his back, the heat and stench of them overwhelming. They closed on empty air and scraped against stone with a sound that set his teeth on edge.
A blur of orange fury struck.
The Vulpimancer's jaws, capable of crushing steel, snapped shut on the Titan's extended thumb with a CRUNCH that echoed like a falling tree.
The Titan didn't scream. It let out a muffled, surprised groan. Its hand reflexively yanked back out of the cave, withdrawing into the sunlight; with the Vulpimancer's teeth still firmly buried in its thumb.
"No!" Eren shouted, the protest torn from him. He didn't think. He just moved. He sprang forward, ducking under the raining debris from the shattered entrance, and stumbled out onto the narrow, rocky ledge outside.
The scene below was a vision of surreal horror. They were halfway up a sheer cliff. The Forest of Giant Trees loomed about some miles away, a fortress wall of impossible trunks. And in the clearing between the cliff base and the forest, the 10-meter titan stood, shaking its hand violently, trying to dislodge the orange parasite attached to it.
The Vulpimancer held on for a second longer, then released, landing in a controlled crouch on the Titan's forearm. It didn't pause. Using the arm as a runway, becoming a streak of orange as it ran up the Titan's limb towards its shoulder, its claws finding purchase in the steaming flesh.
The Titan, confused by the attack and the swift movement, swatted at its own arm with its other hand.
"LOOK OUT!" Eren screamed from the ledge, uselessly.
The Vulpimancer leaped. It launched itself from the Titan's shoulder, a magnificent, powerful arc that carried it directly towards the Titan's grinning face. In mid-air, it twisted, and a forepaw armed with claws like black daggers lashed out.
SQUELCH.
The blow struck home, not on the temple, but directly in the Titan's left eye. The beady black orb burst in a spray of viscous fluid. The Titan's groan became a wet, gurgling roar of pain. It staggered back, one hand flying to its ruined face.
The Vulpimancer landed nimbly on the ground, skidding to a halt. It turned its smooth face towards the ledge where Eren stood, panting.
"Here! Down here, you big furball!" Eren yelled, waving his arms. He had no plan. Only the desperate need not to be alone.
The Vulpimancer's head tilted. Then it bounded towards the cliff. It didn't climb. It jumped, powerful legs propelling it up in impossible leaps, using tiny outcrops as springboards. In seconds, it landed beside Eren on the ledge, its warm, musky bulk pressing him against the rock. It was panting too, a hot wind blowing over Eren.
Eren looked from the recovering Titan; steam already beginning to hiss from its regenerating eye socket; he had no weapon to kill the titan, and the omnitrix is dead. Then he turned to the distant sanctuary of the giant trees. The distance was a killing field. But the cave was a deathtrap.
"The trees," he gasped, pointing. "We have to reach the trees! It's our only chance!"
The Vulpimancer didn't understand the words, but it understood the pointing, the tone of urgency, and the threat of the large two-legs. With a decisive huff, it bent its head and, before Eren could protest, closed its jaws with infinite care around the back of his jacket.
"Hey—!" Eren's protest was muffled as he was lifted off his feet.
Then they were moving.
The Vulpimancer leaped from the ledge, not down the cliff face, but outwards, clearing a terrifying drop before landing on a steep, wooded slope below with a jolt that rattled Eren's bones. It hit the ground running, Eren swinging like a ragdoll in its maw. The world became a terrifying blur of green and brown, the rhythm of the creature's gallop a thunder in his ears.
The Titan's roar of rage followed them. It gave up on the cliff and began to run, its heavy footfalls BOOMING behind them, shaking the earth. It was fast. Horrifyingly fast for a titan-no- an Abnormal. Its regenerating eye was a furious mess, fixed on the flickering orange streak.
The Vulpimancer wove like a phantom. It juked left as a massive hand slammed down, cratering the earth where they had been a half-second before. It cut right, avoiding a clumsy grab that uprooted a small tree. Eren, bouncing wildly, caught glimpses of the Titan's grinning face getting closer, the stench of its steam hot on their backs.
The giant trees were so close now. The nearest trunk, wider than a city block, towered before them. Sanctuary.
The Titan, realizing its prey was about to escape into the labyrinthine roots, made a last, desperate move. Instead of grabbing, it lowered its head and charged like a bull, its massive body plunging forward in a diving lunge aimed to crush them against the forest's edge.
"LEFT! GO LEFT!" Eren screamed, though the Vulpimancer couldn't hear him over the roar.
The creature sensed the pressure shift and veered hard. The Titan's skull smashed into the ground where they had been, a seismic impact that threw up a wave of dirt and rock.
The Vulpimancer was tripped not by the rumble of the titan's fall. A football-sized stone, flung up by the impact, caught its hind leg just wrong. With a yelp of pain and surprise, its graceful run turned into a crashing, tumbling roll. Eren was torn from its mouth and sent flying.
He hit the ground shoulder-first, the world spinning, pain exploding in a white nova behind his eyes, coming to a bone-jarring halt against a gnarled root. For a second, everything was white noise and agony. His head throbbed, a warm, sticky trickle of blood seeping into his eye. He pushed himself up on trembling arms.
Get up. Get up!
Through the ringing in his ears, he heard a pained whine. The Vulpimancer was struggling to its feet nearby, favoring one leg, shaking its head dizzily.
And then a shadow fell over him.
Eren looked up.
The Abnormal loomed having recovered from its dive, dirt caking its eternal grin, its half-regenerated eye an orb of singular focus. On him. It reached down, not with a clumsy swipe, but with the deliberate, terrifying precision of a child picking up a toy.
'No. No. Not like this.'
Panic was a fire in his veins. His right hand flew to his left wrist, fingers clawing at the Omnitrix. He slammed his palm down on the faceplate.
CLICK-VRRRT.
A weak, sputtering red glow flickered across the symbol from its previous grey, accompanied by a strained, digital gargle from within the device. It lasted a nanosecond before dying.
"Work, damn you!" Eren snarled, smacking it again as the shadow of the hand engulfed him.
VRRR-KZZZT!
This time, the red glow flared brighter, but it was sickly, unstable. Tiny, angry arcs of green lightning; the chaotic spit of a short circuit; crackled over the dial. The device whined, a high-pitched protest of overtaxed systems. It was trying. It was trying to draw power, to reboot, to do anything. The green and red lights fought beneath the surface, strobing erratically.
The Titan's fingers closed.
Eren's body was compressed into a cage of hot, crushing flesh. The pressure was immense, squeezing the air from his lungs. He was lifted, higher and higher, the ground shrinking away. He could see the Vulpimancer below, limping, looking up, letting out a sharp, frantic series of barks. He beat his only free left fist against the unyielding gray fingers. "LET GO!"
No. No no no no NO!
This couldn't be it. Not after everything. Not eaten by a mindless thing in the middle of nowhere. His mom's face flashed before him; not the nightmare version, but her real, tired, loving smile. Mikasa's stubborn scowl. Armin's wide, earnest eyes. Hannes's gruff laugh. They were waiting. They needed him. He had to get back. He had to TELL them…
I CAN'T DIE LIKE THIS!
He brought the hand, the one wearing the spasming watch, up and smashed it against the Titan's thumb.
K-KZZZZAP-CHT!
A larger arc of green lightning jumped from the Omnitrix to the Titan's skin, leaving a tiny, smoking scorch mark. The Titan didn't even flinch. The Omnitrix gave one final, furious stutter; red, green, red, a shower of sparks; and then the lights died completely. The faceplate went dark, then faded back to a solid, dead, matte grey. The whining ceased. An absolute, deafening silence emanated from the device.
It had short-circuited. It had given its last gasp.
"No… you stupid… thing…" Eren choked out, despair colder than any terror flooding him. He was helpless.
The Vulpimancer, seeing its two-legged charge in mortal peril, gathered its remaining strength and charged the Titan's ankle, biting and clawing, a desperate distraction. The Titan ignored it, focused entirely on the morsel in its hand.
The Titan's hand brought him level with its face. The steaming maw yawned open, a dark cave lined with flat, grinning teeth. The smell was a physical blow; rotting meat, superheated air, and something profoundly alien.
"I have to… I can't…!"
With the Titan's grip tightening, his ribs screaming in protest, Eren made one last, futile effort. He twisted, biting the watch with his teeth. If he could just pop the dial, maybe, somehow…
The Titan's head tilted back. Eren was shoved forward, towards the dark pit of its throat.
His fingertip found the edge of the faceplate. He pushed.
SNAP-CRUNCH.
A sound, horrifyingly close and wet. Not the sound of the Omnitrix activating.
The Titan's teeth, closing like a gate, met just below Eren's knees.
There was a moment of perfect, silent shock. Then agony, white-hot and all-consuming, erupted from his legs. A scream was torn from his throat, raw and endless. He looked down, his mind refusing to process what he saw: his lower legs were simply… gone. Severed cleanly. The world tilted, faded to grey. And he was falling, slipping down into the dark, hot chasm of its throat. The last thing he saw was the grey face of the Omnitrix, now alight with frantic, sputtering green lightning. His vision was a tunnel, blurring, darkening at the edges. He couldn't make out the icons. He saw a shape; humanoid, broad.
'Titanfist?'
It had to be. Four arms. Strength. It could… it could burst out from the inside. It was his only chance.
With the last shred of his consciousness, as the darkness of the Titan's gullet swallowed him and the roar of digestive acids filled his ears, Eren Yeager let his hand fall limply onto the searing, sparking dial.
Outside, the Vulpimancer stopped its attack. It let out a low, pathetic whimper, a sound of utter defeat. It watched as the large two-legs swallowed the small one. Its head drooped. The pup was gone.
The 10-meter Abnormal, meal acquired, turned to lumber away, its job done.
It took one step.
Then it stopped.
A low, guttural groan, different from any sound it had made before, rumbled from its abdomen. It clutched its stomach. Its regenerated eye widened in something akin to confusion, then…pain?
A green light; faint at first, like embers deep in a furnace; began to glow from within its torso, visible through its translucent steam and pale skin.
The Vulpimancer perked up, its sonic senses screaming with a sudden, violent energy signature.
The Titan groaned again, louder. It stumbled. The green internal light grew brighter, pulsing, spreading like cracks in a dam.
Silence held for one heartbeat. Two.
Then, the sky directly above the Titan ripped open.
A bolt of emerald-green lightning, silent and pure, lanced down from the clear blue heavens. It struck the Titan square in the back.
There was no explosion of flesh. The Titan's body simply disassembled. It didn't burst; it came apart in a perfect, silent sphere of disintegrating matter, from the skin inward, vanishing into motes of green light. In the space of a blink, the 10-meter Abnormal was simply gone, replaced by a swirling, fading nebula of emerald energy.
And in the center of that vanishing cataclysm, crouched on the scorched earth, was a new Titan.
It unfurled from its crouch, rising to a height of fifteen meters. Its build was lean and powerfully muscular, built for devastating agility rather than brute mass. Short, dark hair framed a face that was neither mindlessly grinning nor blankly serene. It had a set of serrated teeth; its jaw strong while its eyes burning with a fierce, intelligent green light under prominent brows. Steam, tinged faintly with that same green, rose from its corded shoulders and back in gentle waves.
And on the center of its chest, pulsing in time with a slow, thunderous heartbeat…was the Omnitrix symbol, glowing with a soft, steady viridian light. Thin, luminous green veins traced from it under the Titan's skin, pulsing with latent, contained power.
This Titan was not a mindless force of nature. It stood with a predator's awareness. It looked down at its own powerful hands, clenched them into fists, and then threw its head back.
Its roar shattered the stillness of the forest. It was not the moan of a Pure Titan, nor the bestial cry of a monster. It was a sharp, piercing, defiant scream of rage and victory that echoed off the giant trees and shook the leaves from their branches. A declaration of existence.
The Attack Titan had been born. And it was pissed off.
The Vulpimancer stared, frozen, its sonic sight painting the impossible image. The small two-legs was gone. In its place stood a giant that smelled of ozone, fury, and… faintly, strangely, of the pup.
The green-eyed Titan lowered its head. Its burning gaze swept the clearing, past the cowering Vulpimancer, and into the depths of the forest, as if searching for its next target, or perhaps, the path home.
Chapter 29-31 are already available on Patreon.com/Weeb Fanthom.
Alien countdown: Heatblast (Inferno), Wildmutt (Savage), Fourarms (Titanfist), Ghostfreak (Phantom), Diamondhead (Obsidian), Greymatter (Cerebrus), Eyeguy (???), Stinkfly (Buzzrot), XLR8 (Blitz), Upgrade (Overhaul), Ripjaws (Leviathan), Jetray (???)…Attack titan? (???)