Mikasa Ackerman (Attack on Titan / Shingeki no Kyojin) by MidbossMan

((May include spoilers for the Attack on Titan: the Final Season, I'll try to step around them where I can))

A small from Paradis Island, hand-picked by Levi Ackerman, closed their eyes and rested in the darkness of midnight, taking a last bit of comfort in sleep while they still had the opportunity. The sky over the sea was dotted with stars, but their destination, the distant land of Marley, seemed no closer or more familiar than any of those celestial bodies. The occupants of the boat were just entering adulthood, now 19 years of age, but they'd been tasked with the most critical mission in the defense of their small kingdom. The majority of them had been members of the Survey Corps and later, Levi's Special Operations Squad. Now, they had no official title-- all they knew was that they needed to be the saviors of that small island against an impossibly large foe that they'd never known existed until about four years back.

The burden hanging upon them made sleep seem all the more important. Most of them had already drifted off, but one person remained awake: Mikasa Ackerman, known as the star graduate of the 104th Training Corps and now, a hero of the fight against the titans-- tremendous creatures in the shape of humans, capable of trampling entire cities. Among humans, she was a peerless physical , with unnatural hand-to-hand combat skills, raw strength, and running speed, putting her in a league with Commander Levi himself. Against Titans, she was one of the few that humanity could truly rely upon, an expert at using 3-D maneuver gear and cutting techniques to incapacitate the once-invincible creatures. Everyone on the boat had a lot riding on their shoulders, but Mikasa had perhaps the most of all, especially considering the nature of their mission: it was, in part, a rescue mission for the person she cared about most in the world.

As such, she found it hard to sleep. There was too much on her mind. She stared silently at the growing town of Marley in the distance as the boat moved slowly closer.

The few who awoke found themselves in awe of how profoundly sad and beautiful she looked in the moonlight.

The girl's jet-black hair, somewhat unusual among the inhabitants of Paradis Island, had been cut short, almost boyishly short. She'd never been one to spend a lot of effort styling or maintaining it, as she'd never cared about catching anyone's eyes or conforming to their expectations. That said, she had an appeal all her own that made her popular with the rest of the former scouts: the training she frequently underwent gave her a lean but muscular body, while maintaining a woman's curves. She actually had the best abs of anyone in her class, male or female. Her manner of dress showed none of this, consisting of the same tan uniform that all of her comrades wore, accented only by a thick red muffler.

While her attitude at times seemed a bit cold, it wasn't that she didn't care for her allies-- it was more the result of an unfortunate, secluded upbringing. It made her the kind of person who not only protected others, but also, whom others want to protect themselves. The others in the corp had long since given up having a shot with her, knowing she had just one soft spot reserved for the brother in her adopted family, Eren Jaeger. Still, they could watch and dream what it might be like to have that kind of spot in her life.

And dream they did. In times of war like this, one often dreams, to take oneself away from the grave situation at hand. Eventually, even Mikasa started to drift off. Perhaps, in her dreams, she could meet Eren again...

A strong light from above caused Mikasa's eyes to jolt open. Had she fallen asleep all the way into sunrise? Surely the boat-ride couldn't have taken that long? And if it had, how could anyone let her sleep in? Usually, she was an early riser, so she had no idea how to explain the sunshine and blue sky overhead as she awoke.

"Armin? Connie? Sasha?" she called into the open air, looking this way and that as she tried to spot any of her comrades. The sky above wasn't the only thing that wasn't making sense. When she'd fallen asleep, she'd been aboard a small boat. Now, she found herself on a green field, a sort of valley with hills all around her and the walls of the city well behind her. There was no sign of Titans, but outside of the walls like this, it was only a matter of time before she encountered one. The grass and the sunlight had been comfortable, but how could she possibly have fallen asleep in a place like this? As she continued to search for her friends, she brushed grass and dew off of her brown jacket and tight, white slacks, leaving grass stains on the latter as her fingertips grazed the fabric.

"Oi, Mikasa! I didn't hear my name in all of that!"

At least one familiar person was still hanging around. Slowly, the lanky figure of Jean appeared, as her comrade slowly rose up from the grass and massaged his aching shoulders. Unlike Mikasa, he had no experience sleeping on the ground-- he'd been angling for a cushy military police job when he was younger and preferred, like most people, a soft bed. His light brown hair, shaved at the sides, was unkempt from sleeping outdoors, and his face held its usual scowl. He tried to set aside whatever indignation he was feeling at being left out of her role-call... there had been a time when he'd fancied her too.

"Jean! You're alive..." Mikasa sighed, clasping her hands together with relief.

"Alive? I don't think the situation's that grim, is it?" Jean questioned, turning his eyes to one side and trying not to look too happy about her reaction. "What it is, though, is pretty damn confusing. Where the hell are we? Outside the city walls? I thought we were... on a boat to Marley," he grumbled, rubbing his beard stubble thoughtfully with one hand. Had that all been some kind of dream? A four year dream? It seemed so real...

"We were," Mikasa answered simply, although she'd already moved on from watching him. If Jean was around, there might be someone else hidden in the tall grass as well. It could even be that all of them had been deposited in this strange place. She had no such luck, but she did find one more person, the late sleeper of the bunch. She knelt down in the grass and gently shook his shoulder. "Armin... Wake up... Armin..."

A loud snore came from the grass.

"Armin!" she shouted this time, lifting him so he sat upright and shaking his shoulders with a sense of urgency.

"Haaaaaaaaaa!" the blond boy screamed, wearing a look of utter terror on his face for just a moment before settling down to a wide-eyed expression of confusion. "Huh? Are we back on the island?"

"It seems that way," Mikasa responded in a quick whisper, before standing and resuming her search for others. Ultimately, even working together, the three of them found none of their allies.

Armin crossed his arms and looked at his feet while thinking deeply. "Hmm... It's really just the three of us. Why us three?" he questioned. "You don't think... we were attacked by the enemy? They us and sent us back to the island? No... why would they? If the enemy found us, they'd just kill us. They were certainly never using humane or non-lethal methods before."

"No shit," Jean growled. "Titans are about as far from humane as it gets." He stared out at the horizon. If it weren't for the strangeness of their situation, it would be a perfect, sunshiney day. In fact, the absence of titans, or even any titan footprints, made it feel too perfect. "It really is like we're dreaming..."

Just as they were beginning to wonder if their best course of action was trekking all the way back to town-- an unattractive proposition, given that they had no horses-- the sound of horns blowing came from all around. It was as though ghosts were the culprits. No band or even a single trumpeter could be seen anywhere in the valley. The three soldiers huddled close together, wondering if perhaps they were about to fall under attack by some variant titan they'd never seen before. Each of them still had a few blades and maneuver gear, but would that be enough to face an unknown threat? All the rest of their equipment was still back on the boat.

The horns were joined by a new voice, an energetic male's that sounded like the announcer for some sort of festival.

"Welcome to Shingeki No Kyojin Fantasy! This is a demo for a new collaborative online-service project for Android and IOS, featuring your favorite Shingeki no Kyojin characters in a charming fantasy setting! Jxmp has partnered with S-A-T Systems to bring this new world to life. The full game will feature all of your favorite characters and an array of services, but here, we want to give you just a taste of what's to come using some of the most popular characters from this beloved franchise! Of course, Jxmp has given S-A-T systems full license for creativity here and have not proposed any age restrictions on the content. We know that Shingeki no Kyojin fans are used to adult-tailored content and we aim to deliver!"

Jean's eyes swam as he looked into the sky, trying to place where that booming, nonsensical voice was coming from. "What... the fuck is he talking about?"

"I don't know, but I think he's talking about Titans, at least. It's a rough translation, but Shingeki no Kyojin translates to, roughly: The Advancing Titan. Maybe it's a special Titan after all?" Armin questioned, feeling himself talking through teeth clenched with fear. "W-We have to escape. We're completely exposed in a field like this! If we can reach the forest, we can at least use the trees-!"

"The forest is over a day away!" Jean shouted, pointing to the trees, small on the horizon point.

Mikasa remained cool and silent. There was no use panicking. If a titan appeared, she'd cut it down like always, even if the situation seemed impossible. No titan would stand in the way of her mission.

"What was that about adult-tailored content? Is he talking about goring us? Titans killing us? That'd be the usual," Jean spat, keeping his hands on the hilts of his blades at his waist-belt. "I don't think we'd be lucky enough that it'd be some other adult content. When's the last time we got lucky with anything?"

"This isn't a time for jokes," Armin reminded him, as they watched the horizon point, waiting for some earthquake to signal a titan's footsteps or for a sneering human visage to make its way over the hill-tops in horrific fashion like they were used to.

The supernaturally omnipresent voice spoke back up again.

"Not limited to just the classic series designs, our expert team of designers has cooked up a variety of fantasy appropriate costumes to put a new spin on your favorite characters! That's right: you'll have fun collecting exciting variants of every character. The designs you're seeing here are for the 'R,' or 'Standard Rare' versions of characters, otherwise known as their default costumes, the ones you begin the game with. Hm? You wonder why it isn't 'SR?' Well, 'SR' is already 'Super Rare,' while 'SSR' is 'Super SUPER Rare' and... ahem... yes, I'm putting down a note here. 'Confusing rarity system.' Understood! We thank you for the feedback."

"He's talking to someone else, not us," Armin noted. "Apparently, they're talking to him too, but we can't hear what they're saying. Are we actually being watched by a lot of people right now? Who...?"

"Hey, wait. I'm more interested in that stuff about rare costumes," Jean questioned. "It's starting to sound like it's not dangerous after all? But... what the hell is all this? How are we even hearing that guy's voice?"

Armin was the thinker of the group. Jean wasn't exactly a thinker, but he was crafty. Mikasa, on the other hand, was the type to get by on her resolve and strength rather than her brains. She had no idea what any of this was about and, frankly, she wasn't really thinking about it. All she needed to do was protect her friends if a threat showed up. The others might have a few thoughts brewing about where the announcer was going with "rare costumes," but that sort of thing didn't mean anything to her.

If this was a dream, Mikasa wanted to wake up. Sure, this place was somehow "peaceful," but Eren wasn't here and neither was her mission. "How do we leave?" she asked, speaking to either the voice or to the others-- she wasn't sure which.

"All we can do is let the voice dictate," Armin answered. It was a hunch on his part, but he was sure it was correct. "That's why we've been dropped here in this field, too far away to walk back to walls, the forest, or the sea. He's given us no option but to see where he's going with this and he doesn't want us to waste time going places we obviously can't get to. Maybe once we finish the 'demo' for Shingeki no Kyojin Fantasy, he'll let us go?"

The voice spoke back, seeming now more as though it was in their heads than anywhere around them: "And don't forget! These costumes come with fabulous abilities and powers for each of our fighters as well, including huge stat increases. You'll see SSR Mikasa, SSR Jean, and SSR Armin can do, even against the series' well-known nemeses, those nasty titans!"

Mikasa's ears perked up. She hadn't been paying much attention to the confusing words of the announcer until now, but that sounded promising. "Armin, did you hear? It sounds like the costumes will make us stronger," she questioned, with something like excitement creeping into her voice. If the source of all of this was supernatural, maybe the costumes were too? It didn't seem like too much to hope for, after some of the bizarre, man-made sources of strength she'd seen in the world, like serums that turn a person into a titan. She still wasn't smiling, but she had found a purpose for being here in this place-- that turned the dull confusion on her face into a steely frown.

"Well, let's dive right into those costumes with a preview at some of the 'SSR' costume designs! I think you're going to be quite excited!"