Darkness.
Again.
Alex didn't panic. He didn't scream. He didn't even open his eyes right away.
He sighed.
"…Wow. I pass out once and my brain immediately schedules another dream. Amazing customer service."
When he finally focused, the first thing he noticed was height.
He was tall again. Properly tall. No aching joints. No unfamiliar weight. No ODM gear trying to rearrange his spine.
He looked down.
His old clothes.
"…Oh," Alex muttered. "So now you remember what body I'm supposed to have."
The space around him was empty—just darkness stretching endlessly. No walls. No ground. No sky.
Then—
Light.
Faint. Off to the right.
Alex tilted his head. "That's either important or my subconscious trying to be poetic."
He walked toward it.
Footsteps echoed.
Small ones.
Fast.
A kid ran across the edge of the light, moving away from him.
"…Hey," Alex called.
The kid ran faster.
"Oh, come on."
Alex jogged after him, long strides eating distance—but somehow, the kid stayed just out of reach.
"…Okay," Alex muttered between steps. "I know this is a dream, but this feels personal."
He instinctively reached for his power.
Nothing.
He frowned. "…Excuse me? Why am I nerfed in my own head?"
The kid darted forward.
Alex cursed softly and pushed harder, finally lunging—
His hands closed around the kid's shoulders.
They both stopped.
Alex blinked.
The body.
The shape.
The way it stood.
"…That's not funny," Alex said quietly.
The kid's body looked exactly like the one Alex had been using. Same frame. Same proportions. Just smaller.
The kid looked up at him.
"You need to wake up," the kid said.
Alex snorted weakly. "Wow. Straight to the point. No context, no explanation—just emotional damage."
The kid's grip tightened.
"Help them."
Alex's smile faded. "…Help who?"
The light flickered.
Darkness swallowed everything.
"Yeah," Alex muttered as he fell, "figured."
—
He woke up mid-fall.
Wind tore past him.
"…Oh. Falling again."
He stopped an inch from the ground.
Limitless shimmered instinctively, freezing him in place.
Alex blinked. "…Good job, sleeping instincts."
A shadow loomed.
Titan.
Its massive hand reached for him.
Alex rolled aside effortlessly as it smashed the ground.
"Wow," he said, standing up. "I wake up and immediately get grabbed. This world has issues."
One clean motion.
One precise strike.
The Titan collapsed, steam pouring from its body.
Alex wiped his face and exhaled. "Okay. Kid dream. Cryptic warning. Almost flattened. Great start."
His eyes drifted toward the city.
Smoke.
Rubble.
Cadets—young, panicked, scattered.
"…Of course," he muttered. "It's kids."
The dream echoed in his head.
Help them.
Alex clicked his tongue. "Could've just said that."
He activated his ODM gear and leaned forward.
"Alright," Alex said. "I'm coming."
Then, with a sharp launch, he shot toward the chaos.
"Try not to die before I get there," he added. "That'd be inconvenient."
----
Before the Storm
The gates opened.
Steel groaned. Horses snorted. Cloaks snapped in the wind like ominous flags screaming something terrible is about to happen.
The Scout Regiment rode out.
From the crowd, Eren leaned forward so hard he nearly tipped over the barricade. Mikasa caught his collar without looking.
"Don't fall," she said flatly. "That would be embarrassing."
Armin adjusted his book nervously. "They're… they're really going outside again."
A man in the crowd gasped and pointed. "Hey! That's Captain Levi!"
Levi rode past, expression carved from stone.
"They say in battle," the man whispered loudly, "he's as strong as an entire brigade!"
Levi's eye twitched.
Hange Zoë leaned over from their horse, grinning. "Wow, Captain. If they knew how much you scream when dust gets on your boots, they'd be devastated."
Levi shot them a glare sharp enough to sanitize a room. "Keep talking and I'll disinfect you."
Before riding off, Hange clasped their hands dramatically. "I wonder what kind of Titans we'll see today! Ooooh—maybe Abnormals!"
Levi deadpanned, "I already see one."
Hange spun in circles. "Where?!"
Levi patted Hange's shoulder. "Right here. In front of me."
"…Wow," Hange said. "Rude."
Outside the Walls
They rode into Titan territory.
Mankind's strongest soldiers.
Still, casualties climbed fast.
A scream split the air.
One soldier was caught—half his body already inside a Titan's mouth.
"YOU HEAR ME?!" he yelled, waving his sword weakly. "HUMANITY WILL KILL YOU ALL! ESPECIALLY CAPTAIN LE—"
Slash.
Levi appeared like a bad memory.
The Titan fell.
Levi didn't even look impressed.
"Petra," he said calmly. "Wounded soldier. Now."
She nodded instantly.
Levi turned to the rest. "Assist on the right. I'll take the left."
Someone blinked. "Alone, sir?"
Levi already moved. "Yes."
Two Titans turned toward him.
Levi frowned. "Why do you all have the same stupid face?"
Seconds later, both were dead.
Blood splashed onto his gloves.
Levi froze.
"…Tch."
He cleaned his hands immediately.
Petra approached with the injured soldier, who was barely breathing.
"Captain…" the soldier whispered. "Was I… useful?"
Levi took his hand.
"You did more than enough," he said quietly. "Your strength stays with us."
The soldier smiled—and went still.
Even Petra looked away.
Then hooves thundered.
Commander Erwin rode up. "We retreat."
Levi stiffened. "Why?
"The Titans are moving north," Erwin said. "Toward the city."
Silence.
"…Meaning," Petra said slowly, "the Wall—"
"May already be breached," Erwin finished.
They turned their horses.
Alright. Here it is from the very start, rewritten cleanly, 3rd-person POV, manga-style, natural flow, emotional with light humor where it fits, and fully aligned with your rules:
Eren is not swallowed
He sees inside the Titan's mouth/stomach
Armin is there
Eren regenerates on his own
Alex tries to heal him but doesn't know he's a Titan
Eren moves away before transforming
Everyone later knows Eren came out of the Titan
Humor is subtle, not mood-breaking
---
Eren's boots scraped violently against something slick and hot.
Teeth slammed shut inches from his face.
Pain exploded through his body as one of the Titan's teeth crushed down, tearing flesh—but somehow, impossibly, he didn't fall.
His fingers dug into muscle, nails scraping uselessly as he clung to the Titan's mouth, wedged between gums and tongue. Steam blasted against his skin. The heat was suffocating.
"Ghh—!"
He looked down.
And his breath stopped.
Below him—past the writhing tongue, past the pulsing throat—he saw bodies.
Soldiers.
Floating.
Half-dissolved in blood and bile.
Uniforms he recognized.
Faces he remembered laughing with just days ago.
Eren's mind went blank.
…This is where we end up?
Five years.
Five years of training. Blades. Formations. Weak points. Survival tactics.
And still—
Most of them ended here.
Inside a Titan.
A weak sound reached his ears.
"…Mama…"
Eren's eyes snapped toward it.
A young female soldier—barely conscious—was sinking slowly beneath the surface, lips trembling as she whispered through the heat.
"It's… hot…"
Something cracked inside him.
His grip slipped.
For a moment, the world faded.
He smelled bread.
He heard his mother's voice.
Don't go too far, Eren.
Her smile blurred.
The soldier's voice stopped.
Her body disappeared.
Eren clenched his teeth, tears burning.
"…Why?" he whispered.
"Why do you take everything?"
Dreams.
Families.
Lives.
"…Why do you get to decide?"
His strength finally gave out.
Darkness rushed in.
---
Eren didn't feel himself fall.
Didn't realize the pressure around him suddenly shifted.
Didn't see the space around his body bend—subtly, unnaturally.
From a shattered rooftop nearby, Alex froze.
"…Oh. That's bad."
Blood trickled from his nose as his eyes locked onto the falling body.
A kid.
Still breathing.
Alex vanished.
Eren hit the ground—but not hard.
Alex caught him mid-fall, grimacing as he knelt.
"Easy, easy," Alex muttered, placing a hand over Eren's wounds. "Kid, you look like you lost a fight with a blender."
He focused, trying to stabilize him.
"…Huh?"
Warmth pulsed beneath his palm.
Alex blinked.
The flesh was already knitting itself back together.
"…Wait. I didn't do that."
Eren's body regenerated on its own, muscle sealing, skin reforming.
Alex stared.
"…That's not normal."
Before he could think further, Eren suddenly moved—rolling away sharply, gasping.
Alex recoiled. "Whoa—hey—!"
Too late.
Steam erupted.
Alex's eyes widened. "…You've gotta be kidding me."
He backed away instinctively.
"Yeah, no. That's my cue."
The transformation detonated behind him.
---
Fire.
Flesh.
A roar that shook the street.
Eren's Titan form tore its way into existence, screaming with pure fury.
It attacked anything that moved.
Titans.
Buildings.
Rubble.
Alex stood at a distance, arms crossed, watching.
"…So that explains the healing," he muttered. "Wish someone had mentioned the 'turns-into-a-giant' part."
He then follows the titan.
---
Later.
Eren woke up gasping.
"…I'll kill them all."
Silence answered him.
Too much silence.
He blinked.
Garrison soldiers surrounded him.
Weapons raised.
A cannon aimed directly at his chest.
Fear everywhere.
"He's awake!"
"That's him!"
"That's the one who came out of the Titan!"
Eren's breath hitched. "…Came out?"
Armin stood nearby, pale but steady.
"I saw it," Armin said quickly. "Everyone did. You emerged from the Titan's nape."
Eren looked down at himself.
Human.
Both arms intact.
"I didn't know," he said hoarsely. "I didn't even realize what I was doing."
"That doesn't matter!" someone shouted. "He was a Titan!"
"And Titans don't protect humans!" another yelled.
Armin stepped forward despite the shaking cannon.
"He did!" Armin shouted. "That Titan fought other Titans! If Eren wanted us dead, we wouldn't be standing here!"
The cannon creaked lower.
Eren swallowed.
"…I just wanted to kill them," he said quietly. "That's all I remember."
High above, Alex watched from a rooftop, hands in his pockets.
"…Kid doesn't even know," he sighed.
Then he smirked faintly.
"This world really knows how to skip introductions."
---
Inside Wall Rose, the surviving cadets moved together in a loose, exhausted cluster.
Conny spoke as they walked, his voice quieter than usual. "We… we made it to the supply base. Refilled our gas. Armin's plan worked."
Christa listened closely, hands clenched at her chest. "…And the others?" she asked softly.
Conny stopped walking.
For a moment, he didn't speak at all.
"They didn't make it," he said at last, eyes lowered. His voice cracked, just slightly. "Most of them… are gone."
The air grew heavy.
Christa's friend—Ymir—glanced around the group, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion. "Then where's Mikasa?"
Conny hesitated. "I think… she came back late. With Jean."
Christa turned immediately to Jean. "Jean—was Mikasa wounded?"
Jean stiffened.
He looked away,jaw tightening , as he remembered what happened,.
"I can't say," he replied flatly. "I promised."
Christa frowned. "Promised…?"
Jean exhaled slowly. "…But it won't stay a secret for long. Everyone's going to know soon anyway."
That answer only deepened the unease.
The Wall loomed above them—tall, unmoving, indifferent to how many lives had been lost beneath it.
---
High above, on top of the Wall, Captain Hannes stood with the wind tugging at his coat.
He scanned the streets below while listening to a technician beside him explain the newly devised defense plan—how the remaining cannons were repositioned, how the inner districts would be reinforced.
"It's solid," Hannes said, nodding. "But don't relax. Titans don't care about our plans."
The technician swallowed hard.
Hannes noticed the tension in his posture. "What is it?" he asked. "You look like you're about to fall off the Wall."
The man hesitated. "…It's just—some of my friends stayed in the vanguard."
Hannes's expression softened slightly. "Then focus here," he said firmly. "This is where you keep them alive."
The man nodded, then blurted, "I also heard… Eren, Mikasa, and Armin stayed behind."
He bowed quickly. "Sorry, sir. I'm talking too much."
Hannes looked out over the city again.
"…Those three," he said quietly. "They're stronger than they look. Not just with blades."
He smirked faintly. "I believe in them."
---
Below the Wall, the situation was far less hopeful.
Mikasa and Armin stood restrained, soldiers surrounding them.
"If you interfere," a Garrison officer warned coldly, "you will be charged with treason."
Armin swallowed but didn't back down.
Mikasa didn't say a word. Her eyes never left Eren.
Eren stood alone in the center.
Cannons aimed directly at him.
He could hear the creak of wood, the tension in the fuses.
If he moved—even an inch—he would die.
His mind felt foggy, like he'd woken up in the middle of someone else's nightmare.
A captain stepped forward.
"Answer carefully," the man said. "Lie… or move… and you're dead."
Eren nodded slowly.
The question came, sharp and unforgiving.
"Are you human… or are you a Titan?"
Eren opened his mouth—
And for the first time since the battle began, he realized something terrifying.
He didn't know the answer himself.
---
Eren's lungs burned. Dust clung to his throat, grit scratching against every breath. Around him, soldiers trembled, weapons shaking in their hands. Cannon smoke curled in thick clouds, sticking to their uniforms and stinging their eyes. Every heartbeat sounded like a drum in his ears, drowning out everything else.
"I—what do you mean?" Eren's voice cracked. His jaw ached from clenching, chest heaving. He could feel the heat of the cannon, the sweat on the soldiers' brows, the silent judgment in their eyes.
The captain stepped closer, boots crunching on stone, shadow falling over Eren like the edge of a knife. "You will understand," he said, voice low, calm—but lethal. "Witnesses saw you crawl out of the Titan. Your hands, your movements… human, yes—but the fact remains: you came out of a Titan. That makes you the enemy."
Eren froze. The world seemed to tilt. Soldiers shifted uneasily around him, the ground vibrating under the cannon's pressure. The air was thick with fear, dust, and the metallic tang of blood.
One soldier whispered, barely audible: "We should… kill him while he's still human."
The words hit Eren like a punch. He swallowed, heart hammering so loudly he thought it might give him away.
Mikasa's blade gleamed in the faint sunlight. She stepped forward, eyes sharp as daggers. "Touch him," she said, voice low but ice-cold, "and I will kill you where you stand."
Some soldiers faltered. Others gritted their teeth, trying to hide their fear. One young recruit shivered violently, the barrel of his weapon trembling.
"Captain—she's one of our best soldiers," an officer said quickly. "If we harm her… it would be a disaster."
"Silence," the captain said, voice like stone. His gaze pierced Eren. "Answer. Are you human, or are you a Titan?"
The question pressed down on Eren, crushing. The heat, the dust, the tension—it felt like the world had shrunk to the square between him and the captain.
Eren looked at his left arm. Whole. His chest rose and fell with ragged breaths. Sweat stung his eyes. Memories flickered: the Titan's mouth, bodies floating in blood and bile, Alex nudging him away, keeping him from being crushed.
"…It wasn't a dream," he whispered.
The captain's hand tightened on his sword. "Speak."
Eren's teeth clenched, eyes blazing. "I… I'm human!"
Silence. Dust hung like a shroud. Soldiers froze, frozen mid-step, faces pale.
"You'll understand soon enough," the captain said coldly. He gestured. "Fire."
The cannon roared. Smoke and heat hit them like a wall. Eren's ears rang. The vibration rattled teeth and bone.
Alex's eyes flickered from the rooftops. He could intervene—but the timing was delicate. One misstep and Eren would be crushed, one misstep and the cannon would strike unimpeded. He reached forward subtly, shifting the trajectory just enough, buying a sliver of breathing room.
Mikasa's hands grabbed Eren and Armin. "Move! NOW!" Her voice cut through the thick air like a blade, sharp and urgent.
Eren's eyes caught the glint of the key on his chest. Memory hit like a landslide: the needle, the basement, the promise. If you want to protect Mikasa and Armin… you must master this power.
His body trembled. Pain, fear, and rage collided. He bit down on his hand.
Steam hissed. Flesh shifted. Tendons strained. Muscles grew, expanding, breaking the boundary between human and Titan.
The cannonball thundered closer—but then it slammed into a massive Titan hand, fingers cracking with pressure as they crushed it midair.
Mikasa and Armin clung to him, pressed close, dust and smoke swirling around them like a storm.
Silence descended like a physical weight. Soldiers stared, mouths open, hearts hammering, eyes wide with disbelief.
"A Titan—!"
"He stopped the cannon—!"
"Impossible!"
Eren's body trembled, Titan flesh glimmering in the smoke, his gaze wild, every inch pulsing with barely contained power.
Above, Alex exhaled quietly, unseen. "…Good. You made the choice," he murmured. One hand rested on a railing, the other idly brushing dust off his coat. Invisible, untouchable—but watching.
The world around Eren felt suffocating, oppressive. Dust, smoke, fear, heat, Titan energy—it pressed in from every side. His muscles ached. His heart pounded. But through it all, he held on.
He had chosen to protect his friends. And that choice stretched the tension taut, snapping it across the square. One wrong move, one twitch, one wrong breath, and everything could collapse.
Eren realized, in that suffocating, claustrophobic moment, that he wasn't just fighting for himself—he was the line between survival and annihilation.
And above it all, Alex watched, calm but alert.
"…Kid's awake," he murmured to himself. "…And the world's about to lose its mind."