Alex adjusted the straps of the Scout uniform, the familiar weight of the gear settling against his body. The green cloak fluttered behind him as he stood atop a damaged rooftop, eyes fixed on the distant smoke rising from another section of the Wall.
Another breach.
"…So you really did make another one," he muttered.
His first instinct was clear—go there, confirm who caused it, seal it again before things spiraled further out of control. His body felt fine now. The dizziness was gone. The headache had faded to a dull memory.
I'm good enough to move again.
He stepped forward—
"Hey! You!"
Alex paused.
A senior officer landed nearby using ODM gear, boots scraping against stone. "You. Scout trainee. New orders."
Alex turned slowly. "…Sir?"
"Evacuation zone near the inner streets. You're reassigned. Protect the civilians moving through the alley routes."
Alex clenched his jaw.
"…Understood."
The officer didn't wait for a response, already launching away to deal with something else. Alex exhaled sharply, gaze flicking back toward the smoke.
Of all times.
As he moved through the streets toward the evacuation routes, a familiar figure appeared ahead—black hair, red scarf, blades at her sides.
Mikasa Ackerman.
She stopped when she saw him. "Where were you?"
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Nice to see you too."
Her eyes were sharp, urgent. "Protect Eren."
That was it. No hesitation. No request.
Alex stopped walking.
"…You could've said 'please.'"
Mikasa blinked, clearly not expecting that response. "This isn't the time—"
"You're right," Alex interrupted calmly. "It isn't."
She inhaled, visibly forcing herself to slow down. "…Please. Protect Eren."
Alex studied her face—the tension, the fear she tried so hard to bury.
"…Alright," he said softly.
He stepped closer and tapped the top of her head lightly.
"Don't worry."
Mikasa stiffened instantly. "Don't—"
Too late.
Alex was already moving past her, cloak billowing as he fired his ODM gear. Behind him, Mikasa stood frozen, annoyed—and strangely relieved.
Using the Six Eyes, Alex's vision sharpened. The city unfolded in layers: heat, movement, cursed distortions of space and mass.
Titans.
Dead soldiers.
And—
"…Found you."
---
Eren Jaeger was inside the Titan's mouth.
Armin stood nearby, frozen, eyes empty, hope leaking out of him with every second that passed. Blood stained the street. Screams echoed—but not close enough to matter.
Eren wasn't moving.
Alex's chest tightened.
Too many dead already.
For a brief moment, regret cut through him.
If I hadn't pulled back to recover… if I'd stayed—
No.
Focus.
Without hesitation, Alex launched forward. Space bent subtly around him as he closed the distance in an instant. His blade flashed once—clean, absolute.
The Titan's head split apart.
Its body collapsed.
Eren fell free.
Alex caught him before he hit the ground.
"…He's alive," Alex said sharply.
Armin flinched, barely reacting.
"Armin," Alex snapped, eyes burning. "Snap out of it. He's breathing."
That did it.
Armin's eyes trembled. "E—Eren…?"
Alex didn't answer. He was already moving.
Eren's condition was bad.
One arm—gone.
One leg—severed.
Blood loss severe.
"Listen to me," Alex said firmly to Armin as he secured Eren to his harness. "Go there."
He pointed toward a narrow street.
"No Titans. I checked. Stick with the other cadets."
"But—"
"Now."
Armin nodded shakily and ran.
Alex vanished in a blur.
---
The abandoned house was quiet.
Too quiet.
Alex placed Eren gently on a wooden table, hands already glowing faintly as he began channeling his power—not Limitless, not fully—just enough.
"Alright… let's fix you up."
But something was wrong.
Smoke rose from Eren's wounds.
Alex's eyes narrowed.
Using the Six Eyes, he saw it.
"…You're healing."
Not externally.
Internally.
Cells dividing at an impossible rate.
Alex's breath hitched.
"That's not human regeneration…"
Suddenly—
Light erupted from Eren's body.
"—!"
Alex teleported back instinctively just as the explosion of flesh and energy tore through the room.
The house collapsed inward.
Where Eren had been—
A Titan stood.
Alex lay sprawled against rubble outside, coughing, staring up at it.
Then he laughed.
A short, stunned sound.
"…How did I not see this coming?"
But the Titan didn't attack him.
Instead, it turned—and charged another Titan down the street.
One punch.
Another.
Brutal. Precise. Furious.
It killed the Titan and kept moving.
Running.
Like it had somewhere to be.
Alex pushed himself up slowly, watching.
"…Huh."
He tilted his head, a smile creeping onto his face.
"Guess you're not the bad kind."
He fired his ODM gear.
"Hey!" Alex called out, chasing after it.
"Wait up."
Here is a clean, emotional, third-person POV continuation, aligned with AOT tone, keeping Mikasa and Armin in focus, natural dialogue, and smoothly tying Alex and Titan-Eren into the scene. I corrected grammar but did not change your intent or events.
---
Armin stumbled through the narrow street, legs weak, chest tight. Smoke blurred his vision, but fear burned sharper than the ash in his lungs.
"Armin!"
Mikasa landed in front of him, eyes scanning him quickly for injuries. "What happened? Where's Eren?"
Armin swallowed.
"…He—" His voice cracked. "He saved me."
Mikasa stiffened.
"He lost his hand," Armin continued, shaking now. "And his leg. The Titan… Alex got him out. He took him somewhere."
Her breath caught.
"…Where?" she asked.
Armin looked away.
"I don't know. There aren't any clinics nearby. No doctors. No nurses." His fists clenched. "There's no one who could help him here."
He couldn't finish the thought.
Mikasa stood perfectly still.
The noise of the city faded.
Eren… gone. Again.
Armin's shoulders shook. "It's my fault," he whispered. "If I hadn't frozen—if I hadn't—"
"Stop," Mikasa said sharply.
But her voice trembled.
She turned away, scarf fluttering weakly in the wind. For a moment—just a moment—she looked lost. Like the ground beneath her had vanished.
But the screams brought her back.
Titans were closing in on the evacuation route.
She clenched her blades.
"…We move," Mikasa said. "We live."
---
Chaos swallowed the main gate.
Civilians shoved, cried, screamed—desperate to escape Trost. Soldiers tried to maintain order, but panic ruled the crowd.
At the center of it all—
A massive wagon.
Loaded with goods.
Blocking the only exit.
The merchant stood atop it, shouting, "Move back! These are my livelihood! I won't abandon everything I own!"
People begged.
Children cried.
Titans groaned in the distance.
Mikasa landed in front of the wagon.
"Move it," she said coldly.
The merchant scoffed. "Do you know how much this cargo is worth—"
A roar cut him off.
An Abnormal Titan burst through nearby buildings, sprinting straight for the crowd.
Mikasa vanished.
Steel flashed.
In one fluid motion, she severed its nape. The Titan collapsed just meters from the civilians, shaking the ground.
Blood sprayed.
Silence followed.
Mikasa turned slowly toward the merchant, eyes empty, voice calm and lethal.
"Move the wagon," she said. "Or I'll kill you here and now."
The merchant paled.
The wagon moved.
The gate cleared.
Humanity flowed forward again.
---
Mikasa launched away from the crowd, grief weighing heavier than her blades.
As she fought, memories surged unbidden.
Her childhood home.
Warmth.
Then blood.
Her parents lying lifeless on the floor.
The hands that grabbed her.
The knife.
Eren's voice—angry, desperate.
Fight.
If you don't fight, you die.
She remembered the moment she killed to live.
The world had always been cruel.
And it still was.
A Titan charged her—
She flew straight toward it—
And then—
Impact.
The Titan was struck from the side by another Titan—smaller, faster, furious.
It smashed its fists into the creature's face again and again until it stopped moving.
Mikasa froze midair.
"…What?"
Another Titan form stood there—steam rising, eyes burning with rage.
Behind her, Alex landed, blade dripping with blood from another kill.
His boots scraping against broken stone. His breathing was steady now—too steady for a battlefield like this. The dizziness was gone, but the weight in his chest hadn't eased.
"Took care of the one sneaking up on you," he said casually, helping her steady herself.
Mikasa didn't look at him.
Her eyes were locked on the Titan.
"…You're late," Mikasa said.
Alex blinked.
Late?
He glanced around—fallen bodies, shattered rooftops, Titans still roaming in the distance.
Yeah. That tracks, he thought grimly.
"Got held up," he replied lightly. "City's kind of busy today."
Mikasa's grip tightened on her blades.
"Where is Eren?" she asked again, sharper now.
Alex followed her gaze—to the Titan in the distance, smashing another Titan's skull into the pavement with animal fury.
Steam poured from its body.
The sound of impact echoed through the street.
Alex swallowed.
So that's what you are…
Or maybe what you've always been.
"That one," he said, nodding toward the chaos. "That's him."
Mikasa finally turned.
Her eyes widened—just slightly—but Alex caught it. The crack beneath the composure.
"…That's impossible," she said.
"Yeah," Alex agreed quietly. "That's been the theme today."
She stared as the Titan staggered, then roared again and charged forward.
"…Is he alive?" Mikasa asked.
Alex hesitated.
Define alive.
"I saw him," Alex said carefully. "Inside. Breathing. Angry. Very Eren."
He paused. I shouldn't be saying this.
"I think—" He stopped himself, eyes narrowing. "…Never mind."
Her shoulders trembled once.
"…Armin said Eren lost his hand," she said. "And his leg."
Alex closed his eyes for a moment.
And remembered
He saw it —the blood, the severed limb, the way Eren didn't even scream.
"He did," Alex admitted. "He still jumped anyway."
Mikasa looked down.
Alex watched her carefully.
This girl's running on one thing, he thought.
And it's about to snap.
"Why didn't you bring him back?" she asked quietly.
Alex exhaled through his nose.
"Because," he said, "if I had stayed any longer, a few hundred people would've seen a miracle they weren't ready for."
She frowned. "What does that mean?"
He shrugged. "Means sometimes saving someone means not being seen doing it."
Another crash echoed as Titan-Eren slammed an enemy into the wall.
Alex's jaw tightened.
And sometimes saving someone means letting the world break first.
Mikasa watched the Titan again.
"…He's fighting," she whispered.
"Yeah," Alex said. "That's Eren for you."
A beat passed.
Then—
"…Thank you," Mikasa said.
Alex blinked. "For?"
"For not letting him die."
Alex looked away, scratching the back of his head.
"…Didn't do it for thanks."
She narrowed her eyes. "Then why?"
Alex thought of the cadets' bodies.
Of the second breach.
Of the blood on his hands.
"…Because," he said slowly, "I already made one mistake today."
She studied him.
"You regret something."
Alex smiled faintly. "Wow. You're sharp."
Another silence.
Then Mikasa asked, "What are you planning?"
Alex's eyes followed Titan-Eren as it ran deeper into the city.
I was supposed to seal another hole.
I was supposed to stay hidden.
I was supposed to rest.
"…I'm thinking," he said, "that checking on one angry kid isn't going to ruin my schedule."
Mikasa stiffened.
"You're going after him."
"Not exactly," Alex replied. "I'm… walking nearby."
She looked at him suspiciously.
"You're strange."
"Been told."
The Titan roared again.
Alex stepped back, adjusting his gear.
"Protect the evacuees," he said. "I'
ll make sure nothing worse shows up."
Mikasa hesitated.
Then nodded.
"…If Eren dies," she said quietly, "I'll kill every Titan."
Alex paused mid-step.
"…Fair."
As he launched away, Alex's thoughts sharpened.
Regeneration.
Titan biology.
This isn't coincidence.
He glanced once more at the rampaging Titan.
Eren Jaeger, he thought.
What exactly did you turn into… and how long until the world notices?
And for the first time since arriving in this world—
Alex wasn't sure whether he was here to save humanity…
Or contain it.