Work Text
I DO NOT own Assassination Classroom/ 暗殺教室
or Attack on Titan/ 進撃の巨人
at all. If you like it, leave a review and say what you liked about it, what I can improve, and what hit your heart the most, thank you, and enjoy the story.In the Nation of Marley, there was a boy who was about 13 years old. His name was John Bertrand, and he was saying goodbye to his Parents. He and twenty-eight other teenagers who can turn into creatures called Titans were being put on a boat to an island called Paradise Island. They were on a mission. That mission, was to destroy the Descendants of those who ruled their country in Ancient times, the Subjects of Ymir. John waved goodbye as the mainland drew further and further into the distance, and it would be the last time he saw it. Now in the present day, a 40-year-old John is the leader of the most decorated and elite divisions in the Scout Regiment codenamed: the E-squad. They never revealed their last names in case anyone else from the mainland was on the Island.One day while out on Patrol, John along with those accompanying him, his wife Toka Yada-Bertrand, one of his Second-in commands Nagisa Shiota, and his wife Kaede Kayano-Shiota were on horseback when a member of the group, Tomohito Sugino, rode up to them and said, "John! Wall Maria has been breached in the Shiganshina District!" John and those with him gasped before John turned his horse around and asked Tomohito, "How?" and Tomohito told him and the others, "The Armored and Colossal Titans John. They're here!"John got a look of dread on his face before he said, "To our base inside Wall Rose NOW!" Nagisa, Toka, Sugino, and Kayano nodded their heads and their horses ran to the entrance to the Krolva District to get access to Wall Rose. After the breach by the Colossal and Armored Titans, the military conscripted a quarter of a Million civilians under the guise of retaking Wall Maria. But John knew the truth as it was really the culling of the herd and almost no one came back from that.John growled at the sight of casualties and slammed his fist into the nearby wall. Back at their headquarters, everyone was asking questions. But John got their attention as he spoke and he said, "As you know, the Armored and Colossal Titans were the reason Wall Maria was breached, more people from the mainland have arrived on the island." That was when one member of the group, Hiroto Maehara, stepped forward and said, "What do you want us to do John? If we revealed our Titan forms to everyone, we would have just signed our death Warrants."John nodded his head and said, "I know Hiroto, but the Scout Regiment will be counting on us to help them out." John then said, "I remember when we made that pact all those years ago about protecting this island from the mainland, but we have been in human form doing so. Now that the Armored and Colossal Titans are here, who knows what other Titans of the nine are here as well? Until we know for certain, we keep our secret and continue to kill those abominations we once called our fellow Countrymen."The group nodded their heads, as they no longer had any good feelings towards Marley, only Hatred.Two years later, John, Karma, and Nagisa were riding their horses to the Cadet training grounds. Karma hurried his horse to catch up to John and asked him, "Remind me why we're going to the Cadet training grounds? I thought we agreed on keeping the number where it was." John nodded his head and said, "I know, but I want to take a look at the new Cadets. Remember, we were once in their shoes." Karma rolled his eyes as they rode into the camp and they saw the old Scout Commander himself train the new Cadets.Stopping right outside of hearing Range, John, Karma, and Nagisa could hear him yelling at one of the recruits. That was when John said, "I hope you're not giving them any softer treatment when you trained us now Commander Sadies." That was when the old scout commander, Keith Sadies, looked at them and said, "Well I'll be damned, John, Karma, and Nagisa."Commander Keith then walked over and shook all their hands before he said, "Alright Maggots! Those who are looking towards the back, ABOUT FACE!" and the cadets did as they were instructed. Commander Keith then said, "We have special guests today, members of the E-squad. The leader and his second in command. John, Karma, and Nagisa." John noted the reactions of all the cadets, including the reactions of three cadets in particular. John cleared his throat and said, "Morning Cadets, I hope you don't mind us dropping in like this, but I wanted to take a look at the new Cadets, who are you guys.." John then saw the reaction of a certain young man with a fairly long, yet rounded face, and sizable, expressive, teal-green eyes. His hair was dark brown and short and he wore the Cadet uniform with what John was sensing as pride."You got some excellent cadets here Commander," John said as he held his hands behind his back as he walked up to the Cadets. Commander Keith simply said, "When I'm done, they'll be ready to face Titans." John nodded and stopped in front of the Young man he saw the reaction. Walking around him, John noted how his uniform had no creases in it. Getting back to the front of the cadet, John said, "You were there, weren't you… two years ago." The cadet nodded his head, saluted John by holding his right first in front of his heart, and said, "Sir! Yes sir I was there." John nodded his head and said, "At ease." The cadet nodded his head and went at ease as John walked over to another cadet. He had a rounded feminine face with blond hair that was cut in the style of a bob. He also has large, expressive blue eyes, brown eyebrows, and a slightly upturned nose that is often slightly red."Mop-Top!" John said with authority in his voice. The cadet who was standing in front of him saluted him like the previous cadet did and said, "Sir!" John looked at Commander Keith before looking back at the cadet and asked, "What's your name?" and the cadet said, "Armin Arlelt from Shinganshina, Sir!" John nodded his head and said, "Tell me, cadet, why did your parents curse you with such a dumb name?!" Commander Keith smiled as he would have asked the same question in the same tone of voice. Armin said that it was his grandfather who named him. John then shouted, "Cadet Arlet! Why is a Runt like you here?!" and Armin replied, "To help humanity overcome the Titans.""Delightful to hear that from you cadet." John said before pulling Armin's hair and said, "You're gonna be a great Light snack for a Titan Cadet Arlet!" John then let Armin go and went on to inspect the cadets. He met a Cadet named Thomas Wagner from the Trost District and a Cadet named Mina Carolina from the Calaneth District. A Cadet named Samuel Link from Snate. Nagisa and Karma chuckled as Commander Keith said, "He's grilling them like I would." Nagisa nodded and said, "I bet he's skipping over cadets you'd skip over too." Commander Keith nodded and said, "I may be a Drill instructor but nothing compares to what those recruits have seen.""Yeah, they had to have been there, witnesses to the hell of the Titan Attack two years ago," Karma said as he crossed his arms. John stopped in front of a smart-ass-looking cadet and asked, "And what do we have here?" the cadet saluted him and said, "Jean Kirschtein, sir. From the Trost District!" John then asked why he was there, Jean smirked and said, "To join the Military Police, sir. The best of the best." John nodded his head and said, "I see… I see… Must be very nice, wanting to live in the Interior wall. You wanna live in the interior, do you?" and when Jean said yes, John headbutted him hard. With Jean on his head, John shouted, "No one told you to sit, Recruit! DID I GIVE THE COMMAND TO SIT RECRUITS?!" All of them shouted, "SIR NO SIR!" John then looked down and said, "If you can't handle a Simple headbutt, Kirschtein, then FORGET ABOUT JOINING THE MILITARY POLICE!" John then noted a cadet smiling and stepped in front of him."CADET! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE, YOU SMILING IDIOT?!" John shouted at the Recruit, who identified himself as Marco Bodt from Jinae, the South side of Wall Rose. He then said that he aims to join the Military Police and give life and limb in service to the king! John gave him a look of hatred and said, "Well then cadet Bodt. THAT MAKES YOU AN IDEALISTIC FOOL! AND A RUBE! You wanna hear the truth cadet?" John then whispered into his head, "The only use the king has for your life and limbs are as Titan Fodder." John then looked at the Cadet next to Marco and said, "Hey Cue-ball. You're up next!" The cadet saluted with the wrong hand and said he was Conny Springer from Ragako Village. Karma, Nagisa, and Commander Keith all saw that and face-palmed. John slapped his hands onto Connie's head and picked him up. He then said, "You have it backwards, Conny Springer. That was the first thing you were ever taught. The salute represents the resolve in your heart to fight those bent on the systematic destruction of our people! IS YOUR HEART ON YOUR RIGHT SIDE?!" John then heard something being bitten into and looked to his left as he saw a female Cadet eating a potato."Oh damn, she is in trouble." Nagisa said as Commander Keith quickly marched up to her and said, "CADET! WHAT DO YOU THINK…" but was stopped by John after he dropped Conny and walked over. John simply looked at her and said, "Hey, you. What do you think you're doing?" as he walked over, she took another bite of the potato and Commander Keith said, "YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON MY SHIT LIST! JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" As John got to them, the girl saluted them both after swallowing what was in her mouth and she said, "Sasha Braus from Dauper Village, at your service sirs! Reporting for duty sirs!" the two veteran warriors looked at her as Commander Keith said, "Sasha Braus, huh? And what is that you're clutching in your right hand?" She told them it was a steamed potato. She said it was just sitting in the mess hall begging to be eaten."The theft, I understand. But here? Why eat it here of all places Cadet Braus?" John asked her, to which he got a reply from Sasha, "It looked quite delicious. And it was getting cold. So I gave it shelter in my stomach, sir." John nodded his head as Commander Keith said "Why? I can't comprehend. Why would you eat that potato?" Sasha raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you asking me why people eat Potatoes?" John stepped in front of her and shouted, "NO CADET! HE'S ASKING WHY ARE YOU EATING IT HERE OF ALL PLACES?! YOU ARE IN FORMATION! AT ATTENTION! AND WITH A MAN WHO HAS KILLED SEVERAL TITANS IN YOUR PRESENCE! FOR THIS INSUBORDINATION! YOU ARE GONNA RUN LAPS UNTIL THE SUN GOES DOWN AND NO FOOD PRIVILEGES FOR FIVE DAYS!" Karma and Nagisa weren't shocked at how angry John was, they'd seen him angry before.Later on, John, Karma, and Nagisa were watching Sasha run laps as a wagon filled with dropouts were heading to the fields. That was when John said the Cadet he was told was Eren Jaeger, Cadet Armin, Cadet Connie, Cadet Marco, and Cadet Mina all on a patio talking. John looked at his sub-commanders and said, "Eren Jaeger, his father was Grisha Jaeger, am I correct?" Karma and Nagisa nodded their heads and Karma said, "Yeah, he was one of the Eldian Restorationists before his son turned him, his wife, and the others in." John nodded his head and said, "I thought I recognized the last name. To think he was still alive all this time and had a son too." They then saw the five go into the mess hall, so John decided to go in there too.At the Mess Hall door, John, Karma, and Nagisa heard Eren say he saw the big one, which they knew as the colossal titan. They then walked in and the cadets quickly stood up and saluted them. John said, "As you all were." The cadets sat back down as John noticed a large group of them around one table. Meaning Eren was there. Walking to the table, John, Nagisa, and Karma were all looked at in awe by the cadets and they moved to allow them to sit down. John looked at Eren and asked, "So Eren, the giant titan, how tall can you say it was?" Eren told John, "He stuck his head over the outer wall sir." one cadet said he heard that it stepped over the wall completely, and then two other cadets said the same thing. But Eren said, "Nah. He was big, but not that big." Cadet Mina asked Eren what it looked like, and he said, "It had a mouth like a corpse. And not skin, just muscles."John, Nagisa, and Karma all shot each other looks that they now confirmed it was the colossal titan based on Eren's Eyewitness testimony. He was then asked about the other titan, the armored titan, the one that broke through Wall Maria. But Eren said, "Is that what they're calling it? In all the panic, it was just another titan to me." Eren was then asked what the Titans were like and he froze. John, Karma, and Nagisa realized that Eren had a small form of PTSD, which meant he saw someone he cared deeply about getting eaten. Eren then dropped his spoon and covered his mouth.Marco then said, "C'mon. That's enough questions, alright? I'm sure he'd rather not relive everything he went through." Conny was in the midst of apologizing when Eren said, "It's not like that." before taking a bite from a piece of bread and continuing, "Those stupid titans. They're not that big of a deal. If we focus on mastering the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear they give us, then it's titan payback time!" He then said that he'd waited years to be trained as a soldier and that all of a sudden, the reality was sinking in. Eren said that he was joining the Scout Regiment and that he was going to send the Titans back to hell, that he was gonna butcher them all.That was when they all remembered that John and his sub-commanders were present and Eren said, "Sorry sir." but John said, "No reason to be sorry Cadet Jaeger. I can understand your anger. Who knows, you may even be eligible to join E-squad." Eren smiled as other cadets gasped as Jean said, "Hey are you all crazy or something? Not that it's my business, but signing up for reconnaissance is like a death sentence." Karma and Nagisa stood up as John said, "Death is coming one way or another Cadet. I've killed so many titans, I doubt they'd question why a single, obnoxious, self-centered Cadet, who is you I'm talking about, would go missing." Jean paled at how John was talking to him. John then saw a buff man not looking at them as they talked and it was suspicious to him. But Eren stood up and said, "Anyway Jean, to what you said, I guess we'll see. Or at least I will."Karma was about to stop the incoming argument but John stopped him from speaking. Eren then said, "You seem content hiding in the Interior with the MPs Jean." Jean told Eren, "Look, I'm just speaking honestly here, kid. I think it's better than being some loud-mouthed Braggart tough-guy wannabe pretending he's not as piss-scared as the rest of us." Eren clenched his fist and asked, "Are you trying to pick a fight?." Marco tried to get them to stop as John, Karma, and Nagisa were all present. But Jean stood up and said, "Alright, sure. Makes no difference to me." That was when John slammed a hand onto the table and Jean froze in his tracks as the cadets looked at him."You say that being in the Scout Regiment is a death sentence but look at me and my team. We've been in that branch of the military since joining and we haven't lost a single person. Hide if you want Jean, but People like Eren and I, we have the skills to take down Titans." John then looked at Eren and said, "Cadet Jaeger, I will talk to the commander to allow you and whoever you wish to join you for a two-day special training back at E-Squad." Eren smiled brightly and said, "YES SIR!" John smiled before he, Karma, and Nagisa all walked out of the mess hall and passed by three Cadets who were still eating. John looked at the one who was tall and sort of skinny as the cadet looked back at him.Outside the Mess hall, John, Karma, and Nagisa saw Cadet Braus collapse and another cadet walking up to her. Just then, Cadet Braus jumped and snatched a loaf of bread from the other cadet, making her fall onto the ground. Karma and Nagisa tried to run over, but John stopped them as they heard Cadet Braus shout, "It's Bread!" the other cadet, a petite young woman, and the smallest soldier. She had long blonde hair, large blue eyes, and a heart-shaped face. The cadet, who he learned earlier in the day was called Krista Lenz, then said to Cadet Braus, "Sorry there isn't more, it's all I could take." Cadet Braus looked at her as the cadet then produced a jug of water as she said, "Hey, hang on. You really should drink a little water first.""You- You're a Goddess, aren't you? GLORY UNTO YOU!" Shouted Cadet Braus. John then saw a Cadet he heard her name was Ymir walked up to the two other cadets and asked, "Hey. Just what are you two girls up to?" Cadet Braus began to eat the bread as Cadet Lenz said that Sasha had been running all day with no food or water. That was when John made his move and walked up to the three ladies. John stood there and said, "Cadet Braus, Cadet Lenz, Cadet Ymir." The three cadets stood at attention as Cadet Braus still had the bread in her mouth and slowly took it out. John chuckled and said, "No go ahead, finish it. We're not in formation so I don't mind. I will admit, I was getting worked up since I was talking to you this morning."Cadet Braus took that and finished the bread before swallowing the last and falling down. John caught her and said, "Alright Cadets, let's get her to bed." The other two cadets nodded their heads and helped John get the sleeping Cadet Braus to bed. John looked at Eren talking to Cadet Mikasa Ackermann and Cadet Arlet and smiled at them. The following morning, Commander Keith had the cadets gather around a device and he told them, "It's aptitude test time, so listen up!" Commander Keith then said that there was no place for the cadets there if they could not perform. He then threatened them that if they failed, they would be shipped to the fields.John, Karma, and Nagisa watched the cadets train as they all remembered how it was for them and the others. John saw that cadet Ackermann was able to master it fast and she even cut her hair. Conny, Sasha, and Jean were all capable. But John noted that Eren was having problems with his ODM Gear and Commander Keith was shouting at him. After training, Eren was back at it with help from Mikasa and Armin when John and his sub-commanders joined them."Alright Cadet Jaeger, just remember the basics and you'll be fine. No fancy maneuvers. Focus on your balance." John said to Eren, who nodded his head. Then Armin said, "Try to keep a loose stance. If I can do it, I know for a fact you can." Eren nodded his head again and said, "Okay, a loose stance, but balanced. Let's give it a shot Armin." Armin nodded his head and turned the crank to lift Eren in the air. Suddenly Eren flipped and hit his head on the ground. John and Karma picked him up and carried him to the Medical building to get his head bandaged up as Nagisa looked at the belt He had.Afterward, John, Karma, and Nagisa were riding back to their headquarters as John said, "Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackermann, Armin Arlet, Sasha Braus, Ymir, and Krista Lenz. Those six are the ones I want to give special training to." Nagisa looked at John and asked, "Those six? Mikasa, Sasha, Krista, and Ymir I get, but why Armin and Eren?" Then Karma said, "Remember how John failed to get it right the first time Nagisa? But he does have a point though, why not Bertolt, Reiner, and that Annie girl?" John looked and said, "I don't know, I have bad feelings about those three… like they're hiding something." Karma and Nagisa looked at each other as they knew and trusted John's gut instincts.The next day, John rode back to the training ground with Karma and Nagisa behind him, this time Toka joined them in watching the cadets training. John and Nagisa walked over to the Aptitude training area and saw the cadets gathered around one machine. In the machine was Eren with Commander Keith looking at him. John crossed his arms as Eren was raised and watched him flip. Nagisa sighed as he knew John would still want Eren and heard Commander Keith tell Thomas to lower Eren After that John walked over to Commander Keith and whispered into his ear. That was when Commander Keith said, "Wagner! Please exchange belts with Mr. Jaeger." Thomas was confused but did as he was told. The other cadets were confused too.Soon Eren was balanced using Wagner's belt and he was in shock. Commander Keith then said, "Your equipment was defective. If given a piece of functional gear, you might not be worthless after all. Quartermaster didn't notice this broken clasp. Might have to visit the Supply depot and crack a couple of skulls." Eren then asked if he didn't wash out, and Commander Keith said, "Thanks to Commander Bertrand here you made the cut, now Keep training Cadet!" Eren was happy and clearly thinking to himself as he grinned brightly while looking at Mikasa. John looked between them and smiled as Nagisa said to him, "Couple mode engaged." Toka and Karma smiled as Commander Keith looked at Eren and said in his head, "Grisha. Today should bring you pride. Your son is a soldier."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
I DO NOT own Assassination Classroom/暗殺教室 or Attack on Titan/進撃の巨人 at all. If you like it, leave a review and say what you liked about it, what I can improve, and what hit your heart the most, thank you, and enjoy the story.
Two years after the cadets started, the Rain was coming down hard as Commander Keith had the cadets running in it while he was on horseback and he was shouting at them while John, Karma, and Nagisa trailed behind them, and in front of them was Armin. John asked Armin if his boots were waterlogged, saying that he needed to see some hustle. He then said, "Gear too heavy for you, son? Hell, Drop it! Leave it in the mud!" Nagisa shouted that the Titans would have easier Work digesting Armin without all the Excess baggage."Damnit." Amrin said before a voice said, "Seriously?" Armin had his gear taken from by Reiner who said, "Here. Focus on staying upright. We are being graded on this, you know?" Armin thanked Reiner but then asked if they would demerit him for helping. Reiner simply said, "Yeah, IF they find out. Just make the cut and we're even, alright?" John watched the interaction as he thought in his head, "Reiner Braun. The Mind and Constitution of a grass-fed ox. Respected by his comrades.""I'm no one's burden, you hear me?" said Armin as he ran and got his gear back and he quickly ran to pass other cadets as Nagisa thought, "Armin Arlelt. Built like a Daffodil, but academically brilliant." The next day was ODM gear training, John, Nagisa, Karma, and Keith watched Cadets practice cutting the napes of Titans, three cadets cut the same one, one not as deep as the others. Karma looked at the girl and said in his head, "Annie Leonhart. Gifted with a sword, but doesn't exactly play well with others… and her last name… sounds familiar." Nagisa looked at the tallest Caet of the three and thought, "Bertholdt Hoover. Heaps of Natural talent, but is too mild-mannered. Why does his last name sound like I heard it before.""Jean Kirschtein. Head of the class on ODM; also an insufferable smartass with a hair-trigger temper. Absolutely not E-Squad Material like the ones I have picked out." John thought as he heard Jean say, "Think those showoffs can slice and dice? Best hope you see a titan before I do!" as he swung through the tree to a second training dummy, he was about to strike it when he heard a voice say, "Way to lead the charge!" and the Cue ball cadet came in and was about to strike the spot when someone ELSE beat him to it."Yeah-ah! Woo hoo!" said the girl who ate a Potato in formation. John smiled to himself as he said, "That one, Sasha Braus. She has unusually fine instincts. Though she rarely shares them with her teammates." Nagisa nodded his head and added, "Not to mention that Conny Springer. He's Agile on the switchbacks, though he's a few sandwiches shy of a picnic." Karma looked behind him as Two dummies were put into position as Mikasa followed by Eren took turns taking swings."Now the chick with the scarf, Mikasa Ackermann. She's a model Cadet. Excels in everything. It's no overstatement to call her a genius." Karma said as John jumped onto his platform as he said, "Part of the reason I want to give her special training with the others. Now Eren Jaeger. He may be lackluster in the classroom, but he's Marginally better in the field. However, he's driven by a sense of purpose that can be considered terrifying."After that, John, Karma, and Nagisa watched the Cadets train in hand-to-hand combat. Eren was charged at by Reiner but was able to flip him and get Reiner onto the ground. Eren then gave Reiner his hand as he apologized. Nagisa wrote down a note for Eren as he pulled Reiner up. John noticed them talking and began walking over. As he got closer, he heard Reiner say, "The fight doesn't give us a say. If it wants to get ugly, it gets ugly. It's our job to be prepared." John put his hands behind his back and said, "Well said Cadet Braun. The Truth is this, Cadet Jaeger, the enemy comes in many forms. Sometimes it can be the form of someone you trust with all your heart. Artillery's not always gonna be the number one answer. Soldiers, the ones with their salt anyway, are ready for anything" He then swept Reiner off his feet, but Reiner did a springboard with his hands and landed back on his feet."See. and look over there," John added as he pointed to Annie, Eren asked what about her, pointing out that the only thing she was ready for was any chance to slack off. Reiner suggested that he give Annie a good talking to, give her a li'l heard-knocks lesson in preparedness. John looked at Reiner with an eyebrow raised. He watched the walk over and soon, Reiner was standing in Annie's way and soon saw Eren on the ground."Damn, that looked like that had to hurt," Nagisa said as he walked up to John. John nodded his head and watched the cadets. At the Mess hall, John saw Karma and Toka arrive in the coach for the six cadets. John smiled as Karma got off and told him that the others knew about the six chosen. John smiled and nodded his head as Nagisa walked up to them with Commander Keith and he said, "Commander Keith has been informed and is willing to let us take the six." John nodded his head when they heard Eren say, "You Son of a bitch!""Bring it on you little bastard!" Was Jean's Reply, clearly they had gotten into an Argument. John, Karma, and Nagisa walked in and the mess hall fell silent. John saw Eren and Jean looking at them and Eren's hand on Jean's shirt. Clearing his throat, John shouted, "SHOULDN'T YOU CADETS BE SALUTING YOUR SUPERIOR OFFICERS?!" All the cadets in the mess hall saluted them and shouted, "SIR!" John walked over to Jean and Eren as Nagisa and Karma remained at the door."What's going on here?" John asked the two boys. Jean said that Eren was the one who started it, stating that it was better to play the system than to get sent to your death. That caused John to grab Jean by his neck and lift him. He then told the cadet that what he said was incorrect. John pointed out that he and his team were among the scouts and were still alive so being in the scouts was not a death sentence. Dropping Jean, John looked at Eren as he saw Mikasa and Armin in his sight too."Eren, Armin, Mikasa, grab your things. The coach is waiting outside for you three." John told them. Jean chuckled and said, "Seems like you three are being sent to the fields." Eren clenched his fist and was about to speak when John looked at the Cadet who had just spoken and told him, "Keep that attitude up and you'll be sent to the fields instead. These three, plus Cadets Sasha, Ymir, and Christa are going to be going to E-squad's Headquarters to be given special Training. Commander Keith has already been informed and command has given us the go-ahead. Truth is Jean, if you think the Military Police are your ticket to the good life, then you are a fool. You're not a soldier, you're a joke."That made Nagisa and Karma hold back snickers as Connie stood up and said, "Wait, what about Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie? Shouldn't they get your special training as well?" John looked at him and said, "Well Cue-Ball it's simple, they aren't worthy of it." John looked back at Eren and the other two before telling them to get their things. The three nodded and ran out. John then looked at Sasha, Christa, and Ymir before telling them to get their things too. The girls nodded their heads and walked out. John moved for the door when he felt someone was about to attack him from behind.Annie tried to grab him, but John quickly blocked her and pinned her to the floor. Reiner and Bertholdt stood up to help Annie, however, were frozen in place by Nagisa and Karma's glares. John looked at Annie and told her, "You got skills Cadet Leonhart, next time, put them to use on someone who wasn't your superior officer." John then let Annie go and walked out before feeling like three titans were glaring at him, but for now brushed it off.Outside, John saw the six Cadets he picked with their gear getting into the coach. Toka was talking to Mikasa as she explained things about E-Squad. Karma looked at the six and said, "Think they got what it takes to be scouts?" John crossed his arms and said, "We got two days to get them to our level, so we better train them right." Karma nodded his head as Nagisa stood between them and asked, "Was I the only one who felt like three Titans were glaring at us?"John shook his head and said that he felt it too, Karma agreed with them. John told the two to focus on the task before them and led them down the stairs. He got to the six cadets he picked and said, "Cadets listen up! We will be heading to E-Squad's headquarters for the training. We will assign you each trainer for the two days. You follow their orders, and you'll learn a lot. We got you for two days so make the minutes count, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" The six saluted him and shouted, "YES SIR!"Later, John was riding his horse in front of the coach as Toka drove it, Karma was on with her as Nagisa got the rear as they arrived at an old looking building that looked like it had seen better days. Erena asked if they were at the headquarters yet. John looked at Eren and said that they were just arriving at it. Eren was excited as Armin was shocked at how worn down the headquarters looked. Getting off the Coach, the cadets lined up as John put two fingers in his mouth and whistled before shouting, "E-SQUAD! FORM UP!"Suddenly several people jumped from hiding places and landed around the group. As the mysterious figures stood up, the cloaks they wore bore the Symbol of the Scout Regiment with a Big letter E over it in red. Eren realized that they were members of E-Squad. John looked at the cadets and said, "You already met me and my second in command; Nagisa Shiota and Karma Akabane, Along with my wife toka Yada-Bertrand. Now met the rest of E-Squad, Yuma Isogai, Taiga Okajima, Hinata Okano-Maehara, Manami Okuda-Akabane, Meg Kataoka-Isogai, Kaede Kayano-Shiota, Yukiko Kanzaki-Sugino, Masayoshi Kimura, Hinano Kurahashi-Okajima, Sosuke Sugaya, Tomohito Sugino, Kotaro Takebayashi, Ryunosuke Chiba, Ryoma Terasaka, Rio Nakamura-Sugaya, Kirara Hazama-Terasaka, Rinka Hayami-Chiba, Sumire Hara-Muramatsu, Yuzuki Fuwa-Mimura, Hiroto Maehara, Koki Mimura, Takuya Muramatsu, Taisei Yoshida, Ritsu Karasuma-Takebayashi, and Itona Horibe. We are the E-Squad of the Scout regiment. E-Squad. Meet Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlelt, Mikasa Ackermann, Ymir, Sasha Braus, and Christa Lenz, the cadets who will be training with us for the next two days."Eren smiled as he was in the presence of the whole E-Squad, John went on to repeat what he said at boot camp, but added that when he called a Cadet's name, they were to go to the E-Squad member he said. John shouted and told Mikasa that she would be with Toka for the two days of training."Cadet Arlelt! You will be training with Nagisa." John told Armin, who was speechless as Nagisa patted his back. Nagisa told Armin that he'd be fine. Armin nodded his head as John shouted for Ymir to go over to Rio, Christa to Kayano, and Sasha to Hara. That was when Eren stepped forward and said, "Um sir, you didn't call my name." John smiled at Eren and that told the cadet all he needed to know. He then said, "Are… are you training me, sir?!" John nodded his head, walked over to Eren, and put a hand on his shoulder."I want to train you personally. Though you will be having someone training alongside you." John told Eren, who smiled at training under a man he idolized. John then said, "But first, it's time to hit the hay. Get some rest cadets…" he then turned and walked towards the group as he continued, "Your training begins tomorrow morning."The Cadets were shown the barracks and the Co-ed showers. The girls went first as Eren and Armin got their things unpacked that they needed. Eren looked around and couldn't stop himself from smiling as he said to Armin, "I can't believe we're here. E-Squad's headquarters." Armin smiled as he remembered when he, Eren, and Mikasa first met John and the others. It was months before the loss of the Shiganshina District, the three of them ran down a pathway and got to a road as E-Squad rode into town. E-Squad was the only known squad to never lose any members when they went out. John looked down and saw the three and smiled at them as he waved at them. Eren's smile grew big that day and Armin smiled at how happy Eren was."Yeah, you idolized the whole group," Armin said with a smile. Eren looked at his friend and said, "How could I not? Especially after Shiganshina fell and we lost the area between Wall Maria and Wall Rose. John and E-Squad went out and slayed probably dozens of Titans." Armin smiled as he looked in the direction of the showers and paled as he saw Toka standing there glaring at him. He quickly looked away from there and towards the ground. Eren looked and said, "Mrs. Bertrand, it is a great honor to be here." Toka's glare went into a smile as she said, "Great to hear. And since you got my husband training you for the two days I'm sure he'll teach you a lot." that made Eren smile more.The next day, Eren met up with John as the other Cadets went to their trainers. Getting to John, Eren saw another boy who looked like a younger version of John. John saw Eren walking toward them and said, "Ah Eren, meet my son. Marsau, meet Eren Jaeger, he'll be training with you for the next two days." The other kid, who Eren found out was John's son, held his hand out and said, "Great to meet you. My dad must think highly of you to pick you to be trained by him.""Really? Thank you. It's an honor to be here." Eren said as he shook Marsau's hand. John got their attention back to him and said, "Listen up! We got a full day of training today. Let's get to work." Eren and Marsau nodded their heads and followed John into the woods to train. With Toka and Mikasa, Toka looked at Mikasa and told her, "It's gonna be hard for me to show you new things. You're top of the class and you operate your ODM gear perfectly. So how about we just talk?""It's your call, Mrs. Bertrand," Mikasa said to Toka. That made her giggle and tell the young Cadet, "Please call me Toka. Mrs. Bertrand makes me feel old. So I'm guessing you joined the Cadet Corp because of Eren?" Mikasa blushed at the question and nodded her head. Toka smiled and said, "I see. I understand how you feel. Before we were husband and wife, John joined the military and we followed him as well… all 28 of us.""You all followed him into the Military?" Sasha asked Hara as she and her husband prepared the meal. Hara nodded her head and said, "We all grew up together, John was a Natural leader. In our village, he organized drills in case Titans attacked." then Muramatsu said, "Those were boring as hell. But in the end, it saved our asses when Wall Maria fell." Sasha nodded her head and asked when the training would begin. Hara told her that once the meals were prepared then they would begin training."I see… I guess that makes sense." Historia said as she and Kayano jumped from branch to branch. Kayano stopped on one branch as Historia joined her. She then drilled what she learned about Titans into Historia's head about how to avoid the hands and be wary while on the ground. Historia followed Kayano and noticed how smoothly she moved from tree to tree, but being a member of the best Titan killing Squad in the Scout Regiment it made sense.Meanwhile, Ymir was dueling Rio and Rinka as they used training swords. Ymir was always on the defensive when it came to training, she tried to find an opening when something hit her back, looking at it, it was a paint splotch and Ryu was the one who fired it. Meaning that they would be training harder as Rio as teaching Ymir about being aware of her surroundings. All while Nagisa was teaching Armin about tactics and strategy. Armin nodded his head and wrote it down before they went outside and did physical training."How much do each of them weigh again?!" Armin asked as he had some weights on his back. Nagisa told him, "About… 45 pounds each." Armin was in a planking position as he tried to keep the stance. He then asked Nagisa, "If I may sir… where were you when Wall Maria fell?" Nagisa sighed as he told him, "I was with John and our wives on patrol on the other side. When Sugino told us about the breach, we got back as fast as we could. We tried to convince the higher-ups not to send civilians into battle against the Titans… but they did not listen." Armin shook the weights off and looked at Nagisa as he teared up, "My grandfather was among those who died that day…" Nagisa looked at Armin, sighed, and patted his back."I'm sorry… we tried, we did." He told Armin. Later on, John and the others, along with the Cadets, sat down for lunch. As they ate, John asked the trainers how their cadets were coming along. Each of them told him the training was progressing. John smiled as he watched Marsau talk to the cadets. Toka leaned on her husband and asked if he regretted barring Marsau from joining the Cadet Corps and he told her, "No, we taught him what he would have learned in the Cadet Corps. So he is on the same level as the cadets.""Still… were we in the right… to keep the truth from our son?" Toka asked John. Everyone around them was silent as they had their kids that were Marsau's age to worry about. Yukiko and Tomohito had Okuma, Karma and Okuda had Marsuda. Hiroto and Hinata had Ryoko and Rinka and Ryu had Genshi. They were all staying in Wall Rose to keep them safe from harm, but only Marsau stayed with his parents. After Wall Maria fell, they sent their children away, but Marsau refused to leave."I'm not leaving!" Marsau shouted, John and toka tried to convince him, but it was in vain. Marsau's mind was made up, he was going to stay and train to take down Titans. John groaned in frustration as he said, "FINE! But only you. The rest of you are going behind Wall Rose!" the kids knew better than to argue with him and nodded their heads. From that day, John made sure Marsau was trained properly and perfectly. The next day, John and the trainers kept the training of the Cadets up until it was time to leave back to the boot camp. The six cadets trained their hardest to prove they were worthy of being the chosen six for E-Squad. Eventually, it came time to go back and Marsau said goodbye as John, toka, Karma, and Nagisa took the cadets back to boot camp.Soon it was time for the 104th Cadet Corps to graduate. Of the original Recruits, 218 of them were able to graduate. Of those 218; Mikasa, Christa, Eren, Ymir, Sasha, Armin, Reiner, Brtholdt, Annie, and Jean were the top ten Cadets to qualify for the Military police. John smiled as he watched from his position with Nagisa and Karma behind him. At the Party for the 104th, Jean was complaining about how he got ranked so far below Eren."You're really gonna turn down the MPs and join the scouts?" Thomas Wagner asked Eren. Then Marco asked why he would do that and pointed out that he made it to the top ten. Eren told them that the scouts had always been his goal. He then said, "I don't want the easy life. Not with all the work I've put in. I trained to fight Titans." Thomas asked Eren if he was insane so loudly, that everyone was looking at them. Even John heard that and moved to listen closer as Thomas went on to say, "How many people have died? We're talking a fifth of the population. If that doesn't paint a picture for you, I don't know what will. This is our life now, we can't beat them""So you're content with being cattle, ready for the slaughter?" John asked as he walked down the stairs and to the group. Then Eren asked if they should Buckle. Take it all lying down? He then pointed out that things had changed. He said, "Maybe not a helluva lot, but enough. They aren't the mystery they were five years ago. There's still a long way to go, but we've made progress. Not to mention E-Squad bringing back body counts higher than anyone here! Every battle we've lost taught us a lesson. Gave us the tiniest inroad towards something like hope.""You telling me it's better to cut our losses? Let all the death and destruction be Meaningless? Just to ball it up and accept it?! NOT ON YOUR LIFE! Humanity's future lies outside the walls, and I'm gonna clear the way! I'M GONNA TAKE BACK WHAT WAS OURS! I'LL DRIVE THEM OUT! AND AS LONG AS ONE OF US CAN SAY THAT, WE'RE NOT DONE!" was what Eren ended his speech with before walking out of the pub with Armin and Mikasa following after him. John smiled and looked at Thomas before he said, "He took the words right out of my mouth. Cadet Wagner I won't try to force you to join the scouts, pick the Garrison regiment or Military Police. it's your call, but Eren is going to join the scouts… and I'm recruiting him for E-Squad, him and the others I took."Everyone was speechless as John walked back up to his allies and they all left. Karma asked John if he was being serious and John said, "Yes, The six of them have bright futures ahead of them, I can feel it." Karma and Nagisa nodded their heads, knowing John's mind was already set and nothing could change it. The next day, Commander Erwin, Hanges, Captain Levi, and the rest of the main scout Regiment returned from beyond the wall as the crowd gathered to greet them. John smiled from the rooftop he was on."All clear on the north side," Karma said after landing near John. He nodded his head to Karma as he spotted Eren and his friends. Karma saw them talking to Hannes and he said to John, "I talked to Hannes on that day five years ago, he told me he had to carry Eren and Mikasa away from Eren's mother so they didn't get killed by a titan alongside her. John, was it wise about letting the six of them join?" John looked at Karma and said, "The Colossal and Armored Titans are still out there Karma, it's best to keep them close to us so we don't lose them. He then saw Eren run towards the Wall."Aren't you supposed to be meeting with Toka and Marsau soon?" Karma pointed out. John chuckled and thanked him before zipping off with his ODM Gear. After a while and landing in a small square, he saw his wife and son. They saw him and they all hugged. John looked at Marsau and asked him if he wanted to be officially inducted into E-Squad. Marsau smiled and was going to answer before the three of them felt something was off before hearing what sounded like an explosion. John shot up onto a rooftop and saw smoke and a big red hand at the Southern entrance. Then Karma landed near him and said, "He's back!" John looked at Karma and told him to get the others before looking down and shouting, "TOKA! GET MARSAU TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL! NOW!"Toka nodded her head and took Marsau with her. Then using his ODM Gear to get to the wall, John saw Eren, Mina, Conny, Thomas, Samuel, and Sasha were all there hanging on the walls. He heard Eren shout to the other Cadets as he got closer, "THIS IS IT PEOPLE! DO OR DIE!" Eren then got some slack as he continued shouting, "Mounted Cannon Squad four, take out the Colossal Titan! This is our chance! Don't let it slip away!" John gritted his teeth as he said in his head, "Damn it Eren!" Landing on a rooftop, he saw the colossal titan's head and John said, "Hello there, it's been a while." John knew that the battle for Trost was now underway.