recolle | (trumpets intensify)

[ okay, so: brisk warm up complete, and eren takes advantage of showing some disarming moves to crow, by now, basic close quarters combat and more, before they’re on break. eren comes prepared: there’re plenty of water bottles for them to dig into, plus packed fruit and whey protein bars to replenish energy.

right now, eren attacks a classic: a plastic container of grapes, held in one hand while he uses a stick to draw into the dirt. he’s an artist.

it’s a stick figure with a man bun. ]

If I ever turn on you again, or anyone, [ promptly, he draws a line across all limbs, as if cutting, and promptly smudging them away until they’re only left with a limbless stick eren. ] cut my arms and legs off as fast as you can. One time slashes, no mistakes.

[

questions! ]

Edited 2019-03-07 00:25 (UTC)

[Rean's mostly quiet as he follows Eren out to his usual spot. His nerves are obvious, but if he trusts anyone at all with this, it's Eren.

Once they've reached the crystallized training grounds, Rean looks around in minor awe for a moment.]

...Is this flesh, too?

[Sorry, sorry. He's still kind of weirded out by the flesh stretcher. More seriously, he takes a deep breath to steel himself.]

And how do we want to go about this?

. . . Sort of.

[ the crystal comes from. somewhere?? an extension of flesh. which is essentially what the titan is anyway, so. for lack of eren’s proper wording and not knowing how to explain it much himself, “yes”.

eren is finishing up with the many straps and buckles to his body harness, a few lights placed strategically to give them better vision the more it gets dark (crystals makes pretty lights, in fact??). hah. the trees have so many chips and dents from the maneuver gear, he’s almost surprised they haven’t broken down yet.

thick trees, good bases. there’s crystal patched over the worse ones. as soon as he clips the metal on and has that done, eren puts his hoodie back on, a mask, and the hood up. there’s a reason he didn’t say much about what he was going to do, exactly, beyond trying to bring shwarzergeddon out of rean.

if he told him, the element of surprise would be dead, and half the chances they had to thrust rean into “danger” was less dynamic. time to get into character.

last time eren checked— he was actually good at that. there’s no friendliness to his next words, detached and drifting fridgedly from behind the mask. ]

I’m going to kill you in six seconds.

[ countdown is already starting (five), and eren takes something else out of a separate holster (four): a black, curved blade with a handle as white as bone. his handy dandy

dragon scale blade (made from real dragon). it looks sharp. ]

[Given that Rean's not really sure he wanted an answer to that question, it's pretty easy to just shrug off the answer and roll with it.

As Eren prepares, his own hand hovers over the hilt of his blade, twitching to draw it. But no, not yet. Almost, but not yet.

He's just quiet as he watches, but then Eren drops that bombshell. He opens his mouth to respond, but the words don't come. He wants to tell Eren it's useless, that threatening him is the last way to make this work when he doesn't normally give a damn about his own safety, but...]

[— he's out of time, and Eren's coming at him. He can dodge, he was quick on his feet even before regaining his past self's skill set, but he's not nearly as well trained as Eren. He can only keep out of harm's way so long.

The adrenaline is pumping in his blood, his blood pounding through his veins and echoing in his ears. And at first, that's still not enough.

I'm going to kill you, he'd said, and Rean doesn't doubt him. It's not as though his life flashes before his eyes at this point or anything, but it's enough to get his mind running in overdrive.

Is he all right with dying? For once, he's finding the answer is no.

He has so much he has yet to tell Crow and Eliot – Crow especially. He has so much he still needs to see Raina through, needs to watch her make her own friends and be there to tease and support her like she's always been for him. He remembers Raina telling him she didn't want him to get hurt, remembers Crow and Elliot's panic at seeing him bleeding from the bullet wound, remembers Crow narrowing his eyes dangerously and calling him a dumbass for jumping in the way of that—

He needs to live. They still need him. And that's enough.

The black aura erupts from his chest, enveloping him as he lets out a gutteral yell. His eyes glow red and his hair turns snowy white, and Eren is now face to face with the demon inside of Rean rather than Rean himself.

Rean, the one he knew, is still somewhat at home. But oh, it's tempting to slip away.]

[It'd been a crash course in just how serious Eren was about all this, that's for sure. When he arrived, he expected a little hand to hand combat, and the disarming moves were certainly not out of the ordinary.

But even so, Crow's still just a guy newly succumbing to the idea that he has to act like a swordsman from an anime, so forgive him if he's letting all that process as Eren draws that picture.

Don't mind if he side eyes those grapes as he reaches for an orange to peel.]

This is just you as you are right now, right? Not just a countermeasure for your titan form?

[He looks at that double saber. It was more than capable of slicing off a limb like butter.]

Can you even recover from that?

[ aggressively eating grapes, this is what he does for a living. anyway, he nods, beginning to draw the arms and legs back on. ]

Yeah— I’ll grow them back. [ a sharp point to the ground. ] The more blood I lose, the faster regeneration intervenes. The last thing it wants is for me to die, and I won’t be able to shift.

[ they’re covered, there. now in another emergency. eren begins drawing a line on each side of the figure, slanting sideways to indicate shoulders. ]

If I do manage to shift, that’s where you’ll find me. The nape. Cut me out and leave me limbless the same way.

Guess I better learn how to jump.

[He smiles wryly, rolling his shoulders.]

Can't say I enjoy cutting you to bits but...revenge for all those hellish study sessions? Maybe a little.

[Just like him to find humor in the situation.]

First things first, I gotta master this ass of a blade. Otherwise, I'm not cutting your hair, much less your limbs.

Remember that I’ll still get you back.

[ he punches crow’s shoulder, although it’s more of a nudge as he pops another grape into his mouth. he pats his hand against the metal at his hips. ]

. . . I’m not a swordsman, [ he doesn’t know much of fancy technique beyond what dave showed him when he was still on the app, and beyond that, eren was all hack and slash with acrobatics attatched ] but if I can get you to remember something, we’re getting somewhere.

[That punch is taken with a smile, standing up to walk over to the 6+ foot long blade that lay leaning against a tree. The thing was heavy, but it felt so surprisingly light in Crow's hands. He's not sure if that's just his usual strength or if his memories are making it easier to pick up.]

I've been practicing with it in my free time, before this, even.

[He'll just do some twirls with it, spinning it much like a baton.]

Almost took my own damn head off it the first day, but now it's like second nature.

[ well— this might’ve been a tad easier than eren had predicted, but no celebrations yet. he holds himself back completely before singing too soon. what eren had in mind at least, worked, and whether the mask had helped the brain to not connect him with eren on sight or not, it still stays on. eren doesn’t want rean to see “eren”.

he also sort of loves v for vendetta and only doesn’t watch it more than mechs because there are no mechs.

there’s a moment’s notice as shwarzergeddon (yes, re-emerges, but eren doesn’t waste it— he dives for him, swiping the blade for weak points, the first being joints, and to show that he means it, the first swipe— it’s ready to slice rean’s cheek if he doesn’t get out of the way in time. ]

You’re going to let me attack first? [ he’s playing with fire, but— who else could push him like eren could? he had a plan b if he were to get injured, and. well. that’s sort of the point. take advantage of a live test dummy while you have him, rean. ] That’s one friend down.

[Eren can try to come at him, but the thing about this form is that everything is amplified, including his speed. He was fast before this, it's almost like a flash step out of the way now.

And in that time, Rean's drawn his sword, taking a wild swing at Eren from behind.]

N̯͖̗̲̜͈̈̒o̥t̆̌̃̋̌ͤ ̼̺̣̗̩ͮͣ̆͆̇s͇͗͛͆o ̔ͤͦf̬͍̯͚̹͙͇̓̈́ͥ̆͊a͕ͩ͑̐̆ͭs̘̗̜̮̗̖̀ẗ͍̺̟̦͕̖̦ͧ!͖̳͊̅ͭ̃ͧ

[His voice has a strange, otherworldly reverb to it now, but there's not going to be a ton of time to focus on that. Rean's going for limbs. Move fast, Eren.]

[ eren can move fast. just not superhuman, and in this case— not fast enough. he turns away from the after image and around to the voice, an ugly voice, only for his legs to gash and tear his muscle wide open. by the time he turns, he turns his body with a thud against the training grounds and a short yelp.

it’s enough now, though, hurting him was what eren was waiting for. mask off, phase two. except phase two has been shortened in a way that eren wasn’t expecting. another thing to consider for their next round. with the mask gone and hood flipped back, eren shows his face, drops his blade and pulls a handle from his holster, aiming his anchor to a nearby tree. only one, because there’s only time for one. the blood is soaking his clothes and staining the ground, and it smears as he tries to pull himself back with the one arm he left free. ]

Rean?! If you hear this, stop!

[ testing the microphone to see if he hears it. he calls to see if there’s a conscious response. it’s not a frightened yell— but he can’t say it isn’t frightening to be up against something like this without a back up plan. shwarzergeddon was the best name. ]

[ ah, eren hums, as he casually takes his maneuver gear handle, just to look at. he’s finished his grapes, but there’s one left! he holds it out to crow. ]

You should’ve seen how many times I fell with this thing.

[ a light click, connecting the blade to the handle, but leaving it at that for now. he points up. ]

From up there.

Edited 2019-03-10 12:21 (UTC)

[Luckily for Eren, there is a response.

It takes a moment, and it's clear that there's conscious effort on Rean's part to take back over. The demon is still trying to push forward, to fight, to spread more of that glistening red around their battlefield, but Rean is holding it back.

He looks like he's in pain, but he's stopped coming towards Eren, at least. The aura is still raging around him, though, not looking at all ready to ebb away.]

[ okay— okay, seconds to think, seconds to get back up on his feet somehow, even if he had to drag to a tree, throwing his anchor there to make the wires do the rest of the work for him. he’s still bleeding and leaves a hefty trail behind, but thankfully, there’s no going back on his word. pushing forward, alway, and using a tree to help hold his weight up.

ready to move at any moment. ]

Don’t fight it. [ he doesn’t know how much of that could even get through to him, but he sees the strain, and he sees the growth of energy this has around him. with his hand blade gone, eren connects his maneuver gear handle to their longer blades, unsheathe game the iron and exposing lined crystal. ] Work with it.

[Easier said than done, Eren. Not fighting it would mean charging toward that tree to slice Eren to ribbons.]

I̮̠͐̎ͬ̆́̚t̖̟͖͗̿.̄ͪ͋̾ͭ͂.̣̣͍͚͎̔.̭̲̟̤̲͖̣̎̃ ͕̮͎͕̙͓̙i͕͖͍̫̿̊͛̍ͫ̎̌ṯ̦͙͙͔̓̈́̓ͣ̍͋ ̬̥͔̟̰̯w̝̗̟̠͖̺ͅȁ̼͔̯̱̇n̤̖̩͔̖̝͆ͫ͛t͔̪́͋̽ͮ̋̈̚s̋̒ͮͩͬ̾͒ ͐̈ͤ̄t͖̪ͮö̱͚̮͍̭̼́̽ ͓̥̜͖͒k̫͎̩̪ͥ͋i̟͚̱̰̭̜͎ͮ̐͛l̟̰͎̐͂ͩͩ̾ͅl̔̽͒ ̰͕̘̇̿ͨ̉̌̿̚ỳ̱͒̎ͯ̃ő̤͉̣̾ͮu̳̼̣͈͈̯̥͌ͧͬ̈́̊.̺͚̹͕̅̃͋̍ ̖ͯI̠̹̻̤̣ͫ̓͂̂ ̞̖͔̖ͪ̄̐̇d̜̭͈͍͖ͪ͆̽̽̒o̤͓͍̥͎͎̊ͅn̫͔̠ͤ'̘͆̓t̪͕̜̝̪̺̏ͩ.̯̪̘͂ͮ ̱̠̟͖͔ͣ̑H͈̥̅̆ͤo̰͛̏̋͗w̥͎̲̺̖ ̟͛̅ͬả̹̲̜̲̜̂͆ͩm͙͓͆ ̭̮̫̜̇̊̈́Iͨ͒͂͛ͭ ̬͎͙̮̞͐̇̚s̖͈͕̗͉̯̉͋͛u̘͇̪̜̤̾̆͗ͯ͌͗ṕ̺̝̙̗͂͒̿̄͐p̱̱̝̋ō̖͇͔̺̱̑ͅs̺̾̓ͧ͒̐͊̿ẽ̗̟̥̇d̈̔̂ ͙͉̫̭̖̘t̫͇̮̲̝̿ͦ̍ͅo̝̠̊ ̝̲̰̫̝̹̪̈ẃ̞̥̙̬͍ỏ̞͓̳͈̗͙̮ͪr͍͚̼̺̣͙̹̃ͯ̈͒̚k ̞̟̹w̰͐ͫ̅ͩi͕̳͚̹͉t̟̪͍͍̳ͦͫ̾̄hͯ ̉i̪̳̠t̾͊?̜̮͔̟͉̼̓͋̒

[ he knows for a fact this will work. he knows rean can do it, crow told him so— but eren was not the one who would tell him. he told crow that he would be the one to tell rean himself.

it is always easy said, but someone has to say it. for now, the one who’s already stepped over the same obstacle. ]

Find middle ground.

[ it was more like . . . stop making the horse under you buck and make it obey your reigns. but eren is not about to talk about horses here. with enough time to recooperate, his maneuver gear suspends him, in a good place to use them: trees. perhaps not the best thing to use, considering he needs all his muscles intact and his calves are split open.

no titan, yet. he’ll have to make do with what he has. shorter extensions and jumps, wincing the whole way as he throws his weight back and forth to keep upright. eren raises both swords once he’s close enough, toes touch up on the grass and wires keeping him from falling. blood follows him every step of the way, but he’ll fight until he couldn’t use his legs. eren jaeger was simply like that. ]

That’s the only way you can use this!!

[He wants to argue that that's not helpful at all, that he doesn't know what he's doing and he doesn't know how to balance this out, but Eren's not leaving him a choice. Eren's coming at him, whether he likes it or not, and if he holds himself back here, he's as good as dead.

Maybe... maybe he can try to work with this. Work toward not trying to destroy, but merely survive.

Step one is blocking Eren's inevitable blows. He doesn't need to kill Eren, just get him to stop coming at him, right? He parries Eren's attacks until he has a chance to get a move in, wherein he goes for the legs again, aiming at weak points like Eren had.

A part of him still hates doing this, but Eren can heal, right? He just has to keep reminding himself of that. It's the only way he can even hope to meet this thing in the middle.]

[Crow, by now, only has a minor fear of Eren with grapes. When he hears it in the bushes, or a parking lot alone at night...those times. But here...he'll take that grape, tossing it into his mouth as he looks where Eren's pointing.]

...

[Low whistle.]

I bet that hurt like hell.

[ somewhere out there, retrospec has made a compilation of eren’s falls (and screams) to fitting music. ]

Like this will.

[

and what happens is eren very seriously, and very quickly, unsheathing his blade slashing at crow.

DISARM HIM YOU FOOL ]

[ eren works in weird, non conventional ways. lesson you must see, follow your heart you will.

if rean can learn a few things from it, the first, eren is vicious. it’s difficult to parry when his legs were and are targets, but he can block. clanking metal against metal until he misses— he cries out with each slash opening the muscle in his legs, drawing his blood enough to mark his steps. stumbling, far more than one would like, but he refuses to fall. his wires tighten when he pulls the mechanism trigger and makes his whole body tremble to keep upright (he runs a mighty risk of flipping). he stays up.

he keeps going. keep moving forward. forward. he clenches his teeth, and he rises like an eruption. his crystal blade swings up horizontally, and falls the same way— in direction of rean’s middle, his torso, until he’s hacking repeatedly. step two in phase two. ]

If you come up on top, you live! If you lose it, you die!!

[ the second is, that— maybe eren can’t even give him an answer when it has to be his own reasoning. this was eren’s. he’s practically throwing himself at the demon, a close and dangerous range to be scuffling in. he’s forcing him to do what eren always remembered doing, huffing, nearly gasping through the pain and tearing it between his teeth. he’ll only fall when his body won’t take it, and even then, he has the heart to drag himself.

because his mind is in control. ]

If you don’t fight for it, you can’t win!! What are you fight for?!

[ what is rean living for–? ]

Edited 2019-03-13 20:32 (UTC)

[Thankfully, Crow was blessed with the same quick reflexes as his past self, and when Eren goes to swing that sword, he puts that double sabre into his left hand to block it with the bottom blade.

The slight power struggle brings them to a standstill, though Crow's wincing a little bit. It's clear he's still a greenhorn with this thing.]

Ngh...

You really get right down to it, don'tcha...

[It's all Rean can do to fend Eren off. He keeps moving forward, forward, relentlessly toward Rean, and even the demon finds itself struggling to keep him at bay, to keep Eren from ripping open Rean's torso with that blade and sending another pool of gore onto their battlefield.

What are you fighting for? Eren asks it, screams it, and at first Rean has no answer.

For power, whispers the demon. For death.

No.]

T̸̮͕͓̬̲̖̱o͉̞͇̻̟̞̳ ̼̘̥̣ͅs͈̲̯̯̤u̲͠r̺͞v̞̻̟i҉͎͖͕̮v̧̳͓͙̝é!̛̖͙͍̲͕͖ ̨͈͓B̴̘̣é̖͉͓̝͍̱c̷̼̰au̥̫̯̝͔̹s̘͇e̢̹̫̱͚̥̖̦ t̺h̼͎e̼̯re̺̹͓̰͟ ̯͉ͅàr̢e̠ ͍̞̼s̬͙t͓̝̦į̲̘͚̹ͅl͡ͅl̠͈͍ ͎̩͈ͅp̫e̼͈̙̠̪o̧̼̖̙̳ͅp̙̣ͅl̜̻̺̼̲͉e͙̼̩͈̲ ̻̖̖̲͘w̶ḩo̥͉ ̢n͚̗͖̼̙e̶̩͚͇͈̥ęd̫͈̕ ̲͇̼̦̤̰͈̀m̜̗̲̹̲̺ͅe͇͙͝,̝͍͖͢ͅ ̱͙̺́ͅa̼n̲͚̤͔͈ͅd̛̳̫ ̺̭͉͎̗̦I͕͉̮̹ c̯͍a̭̼̤͙̠ͅn̲'̰̘t͠ ͓͓̤d̟̝̞̘͎i͟e̟̘͞ ̶̯̫͖ý̹͓͉̺̻e̞̹̣t͇̭̖̰̳!͈͚̕

Edited 2019-03-13 22:41 (UTC)

I’m not about to give you longer breaks.

[ eren is positively glowing (it must be the baby coming) as he tests his friend’s prowess and seems satisfied with the. hmm. okay, good reaction time (it was great, he’s just undermining). someone has to pull back and it’s eren this time, attempting to clinch and keep the blades connected. he doesn’t want to give him room, and— close quarters are eren’s favorite.]

Feet.

[ the other blade taps at his ankles. don’t forget to always be on the move. ]

(trumpets intensify)

C-CAW, C-CAW

the initial shrekening

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i can't believe eren is actually going to kill rean with a guy fawkes mask on? smh?? anyway 1/2

2/2

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it was this or his chewbacca mask

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