Attack On Titan: Hope

Alright so I'd like to take this moment to announce I just launched a new fan fiction Attack On Titan: Regrets. It's 1 chapter long only, about 8000 words long and it's what I can say cannon. What I feel like might've happened between them when Eren showed her what could've happened if they were together or her response was something else. I consider it cannon so you should too, yeah you should. Anyhow go read it and make sure you write reviews and comments and tell me how was it.

—————————————

Rain poured relentlessly over the district of Trost, drumming against the stone walls of the castle where the cadets sat stranded. The downpour blurred the ruined city below, making the already dire situation feel even more hopeless.

"It's futile... We're as good as dead!" one of the cadets choked out, his voice barely audible over the storm. His gas supply was nearly empty, and the others weren't faring much better. They huddled together in the dim, cold afternoon, shadows pooling around them as they braced themselves for the inevitable.

Then—

"Arminnn!!!"

Mikasa's voice ripped through the rain, sharp and desperate. Her eyes locked onto a slumped figure against the wall, barely moving. Armin.

Without a second thought, she launched herself down, landing beside him with a muted thud. Her heart pounded as she took in his trembling form. His uniform was drenched, his breath shaky. For a terrifying moment, she thought he was injured—badly.

"Armin..." she muttered again, reaching for him.

His head jerked up at her voice, teary blue eyes flickering with recognition. "Mikasa..." he breathed, his voice hoarse.

"You're not hurt?" she asked, scanning him for wounds.

He swallowed hard, shaking his head. "I-I'm fine..."

Relief crashed into her, but it didn't last. She turned her gaze toward the others—Christa, Connie, Ymir, Sasha, Marco—each one looking just as shaken. The weight of their helplessness settled over them like a heavy fog.

"Mikasa..."

Jean's voice cut through the silence. He stepped closer, his figure just as unsteady as the rest. His eyes searched hers, desperate.

"Reiner… Where is Reiner?"

Mikasa blinked, caught off guard. How was she supposed to know? She had spent every moment searching for Armin so they could reach Eren.

"What?" she murmured, rainwater dripping from her bangs. "How am I supposed to know?"

Jean didn't answer immediately. The storm howled around them, the distant sounds of Titans echoing through the city.

"But... they told us he went after you when you left their squad to find Armin," Jean said, motioning toward the traitors standing off to the side.

Mikasa frowned, shaking her head. "I never saw him," she muttered, uncertainty gnawing at her.

A sudden crack of thunder split the sky, momentarily illuminating the ruined city in an eerie flash before darkness swallowed it again. The rain continued to fall, relentless and cold.

"The hell is taking them so long..." Jean gritted his teeth, frustration seeping into his voice. "It's been three hours, and they still haven't evacuated the citizens..." His fists clenched at his sides.

Silence settled over the group, heavy and suffocating. Mikasa's gaze flickered from one cadet to another—faces pale, breaths uneven. Their gas reserves were either dangerously low or completely empty.

"What do I do...?" she thought, exhaling slowly. "I can't just abandon them and take Armin with me..."

Decision made, she took a step forward. "Armin! Christa! I'll go find Eren and bring him back! If he's with us, we might have a chance—"

Before she could finish, a scoff cut through the air.

"Tch... my ass," Porco sneered, arms crossed. "I bet he's lying dead somewhere out there."

Mikasa shot him a glare so sharp it could've sliced through steel. Her cold, piercing eyes froze him in place, and for once, he shut his mouth.

She turned back to the others. "Anyhow, wait for me—"

A sudden, blood-curdling shriek ripped through the air.

Every head snapped toward the source. One of the cadets stood frozen, her face drained of color, a trembling hand pointing into the distance.

Beyond the haze of rain and shadowed rooftops, massive, towering figures emerged from the darkness—Titans.

And they were sprinting straight towards them.

"Shit! Shit!!" Jean barked, his legs trembling under his own weight. Around him, Marcel, Pieck, Bertholdt, Annie, and Porco remained unfazed, already drawing their blades with mechanical precision. The sharp metallic ring of steel being unsheathed echoed through the rain-soaked air.

"Hngh!!" Mikasa grunted, her blades slicing free from their scabbards, the metal sparking against the containers. Christa and Ymir followed suit, the tension thick enough to choke on.

A grotesque, towering Titan suddenly jumped forward,.its massive hand plunging straight toward Sasha, who stood frozen in terror.

"Sasha!!" Mikasa's voice cut through the chaos like a blade, her body already in motion. She skidded in front of her, slashing clean through the Titan's fingers in a brutal arc. Blood sprayed in all directions, sizzling against the rooftops.

Without pausing, she fired her hooks, shooting straight toward its abdomen. Her movements were too fast—unnatural. In a heartbeat, she carved crimson arcs through the beast, twisting midair with inhuman control.

She scaled its body like a shadow, her blades whispering through flesh, until she reached the nape. One final strike— and the Titan crumbled.

"What the hell—?" Connie whispered, eyes wide as he watched Mikasa land, her form sleek with blood and rain. He knew she was strong, but this... This was something else entirely. There was a reason she was ranked second, but watching her now, she didn't feel second to anyone.

But there was no time for awe. They were surrounded. Twenty Titans. Maybe more.

"Christa!!" Ymir's frantic voice cut through the air as the blonde launched herself into the fray, striking down smaller Titans with swift, calculated movements, her entire body drenched in their blood.

"Ugh!!" Mikasa skidded back, boots scraping against the slick rooftops. She was soaked—rain, sweat, Titan blood dripping from every inch of her. Her chest rose and fell, mist curling from her lips as she took in the battlefield. "Shit... They're abnormals... I don't think I—"

Just as the thought crossed her mind it vanished by his words.

"You're different from them. You're special, Ackerman. " His palm pressed against her chest as he whispered against her ear," Just think about the feeling of killing a billion versions of yourself to get the right one..."

The words rang in her head like a war drum. Her eyes darkened, pupils dilating as the rush of her Ackerman instincts surged through her veins like fire.

"I will."

And then she was gone—just a blur of motion, slicing through flesh, severing limbs, splitting bones until there was nothing left to cut. Blood rained like a storm around her, the sound of blades meeting flesh like a violent symphony.

But they kept coming. More Titans. Spawning from the depths of hell itself.

"Christa!!" Ymir's voice cracked with urgency as a massive shadow fell over Christa. The blonde turned just in time to see the gaping maw of a Titan closing in—its jagged teeth reaching for her.

"Move it!!" Mikasa shoved Christa mid-air, yanking her out of harm's way before neatly slashing through the titans entire body, her hooks then shot to where the blonde fell. Christa groaned, her vision spinning, but all she could see was Mikasa.

Dark hair clinging to her face, rain trailing down her cheeks, her eyes like death itself. A deep, heavy breath escaped her lips—tongue peeking out slightly, her body wired with adrenaline.

"Mikasa...?" Christa whispered, but Mikasa didn't turn.

Because she felt it. Something was coming.

The cowards who had been too afraid to move finally noticed the massive Titan hands closing in from all sides, shadows swallowing them whole.

And then—

A thunderous boom.

A violent, blood-red streak of lightning tore through the storm-darkened sky, illuminating the battlefield in a crimson glow.

And in the next breath—a Titan materialized from nothing.

Towering. Monstrous. Long black hair, green eyes glowing with a terrifying, unnatural light. Blunt, jagged teeth. A chiseled, muscular form—every inch of it screaming power.

Eren stood in his Titan form, fists clenched, his rebellious, untamed face twisted in raw fury.

"Die."