I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

UltraViolet

Something about fighting Krista excited Ymir, leaving her wondering if she didn't lay on the floor that there would be more to come. Her strength was already worn down as a bead of sweat trickled down her face, she wiped it away. She glanced at Erwin for a moment, then fell to one knee to rest. "I want this one to be my co-pilot."

A/N: This is a collaboration with Reservation Red, updates are based on how often we reply...go check out her stuff and yeah, enjoy this!

Date: March 12 2016
Location: Los Angeles Shatterdome, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Time: 2000

Ymir scuffed her boot against a step of the stairs, she nonchalantly glanced down at the more ruined edge before continuing on. Brow covered in sweat, the heat of California battered her far worse than the burn off of a flamethrower- she wished they were posted somewhere colder, like Alaska or somewhere farther north. Russia would be too much-

Her thoughts had been traveling far nowadays. At first, acceptance into the Defense Corps with Ilse was thrilling, they had the opportunity to take what they had been doing all their lives to a new level; Ilse as the theorist and Ymir as the practitioner, though both participated equally in both sides.

Sides included being Jaeger pilots, full-time Rangers.

Ymir was heavier built than Ilse, more stocky and hardened, more rougher in mind and thought. She thought less of the situation later on, only choosing to focus on the now; opposite of that, Ilse was a calculating woman, she always made sure to think ahead, she had more of the brains than Ymir when it came to strategies. Without Ilse, Ymir wouldn't have made it through their first drop on sheer power alone.

Now the brains was gone, Ymir had lost her head quite literally.

It all started six months ago.

Back in the dock below her, Ilse and several other researchers were busily calibrating the newest designed Jaeger, one that Ymir sketched out herself and had Ilse take care of the rest. She was the one who took care of the technical stuff, Ymir simply just made it look good- the Defense Corps approved their blueprints via design team.

It went through numerous changes but overall, it kept the semblance of what Ymir started with the night she had one too many shots. Now her pride and joy was sitting in its hold, still not being deployed.

Again, dragging back to six months before, Ilse had formulated an offshoot plan to create a machine to be piloted by a single individual as this particular design was smaller than most Jaegers. It sounded convincing at first, up until the woman suffered severe brain damage from attempting to Drift alone- what was that girl thinking?

Ilse died a few weeks later.

Ymir paused and gazed over the railing and past the sparks that flew off of workers trying to weld pieces together, there it was; the Titan, it was a lame name but easy to pronounce, and downright powerful too. But the stature of it was anything far from being a titan itself. She walked on, eyes still fixated on the metal plates- this was all she had left of Ilse, the last thing they had worked on together.

The Titan underwent various changes to accommodate two pilots, not one.

Today was the day Ymir would be selecting her co-pilot.

Fists clenching, she brought one to her brow to wipe away her sweat again to make her way to the bridge.

Krista felt sweat roll down her neck and back as she unzipped her work jumpsuit. She stepped away from the knee joints of the Jaeger, letting the top of her suit fall down. She never knew it got so hot down in California. Up in Seattle, days like this were rare and far between.

She was starting to miss the constant dreary rain.

She sat at the edge of her platform as the davit pulled her up and away. She watched as the Jaeger became active.

"Hydraulic evaluation commencing in twenty seconds," the intercom announced as workers moved from the Jaeger.

Steam and exhaust vented from it as she reached the designated floor with a shake. Its fumes finally hitting her as the heat became unbearable. She hid her face behind her arm, but kept her eyes downward.

The Jaeger commenced the neural handshake. Nothing was out of place.

A foot moved.

Weight shifted.

A deafening bang sent everyone reeling and cupping their ears despite the earplugs. Krista cursed as she stood up, walking over to the floor manager who was frowning.

"Goddammit! What the fuck was that now?!" He roared as the Jaeger was sent back and deactivated. The crew was upon it in swarms, looking at the joint that had caused the abnormal noise. He caught Krista's gaze.

"Lenz," he directed his question to her.

"If I had to guess, aeration, sir." She stiffened, the pit of her stomach growing cold and hard.

"The pump inlet must have some damage from the last encounter that the crew might've missed. We will re-assess the intake lines." She could see his gaze harden at her.

"We've been having the same goddamn problem for the past two days. Either you and your crew figure it the fuck out, or get the fuck out. We can't have some fucking Jaeger falling over with a goddamn bad knee! Do I make myself clear?!"

The floor manager threw his clipboard to his assistant.

"We'll continue this later!" He began to walk off as his assistant fidgeted.

"Sir, the Marshal wants this done today." The assistant cowered as the floor manager stomped back and stared at his assistant.

"I'm not telling him this. Fuck that. You, Lenz, since it's your screw up, take the blame! Go to the Marshal, now!"

Krista frowned.

"Sir?" Never once had she been told to leave the floor. Let alone go and take the heat for someone else's mistakes. It wasn't her fault he kept firing her experienced crew members over small reasons. Now it was her turn for the chopping block.

"You heard me. Go!" He waved her off. Krista frowned but nodded. She went through the hallways till she was alone.

When she first heard about the Jaeger program, she immediately set forth to signing up. She had worked herself to the core every day at the gym with a hired trainer. She was able to get tutors to help her with mechanics as she prepared herself for the testing.

She was going to be in the front lines for humanity. She would embody hope against the Kaiju.

In the end, she was disqualified due to low physical evaluation. She was given a position to be a technical mechanic instead.

She kept reminding herself that it was close enough.

Close enough.

Krista kicked a trash can nearby and kept marching towards the Marshal's office and stopped. Where was the Marshal's office?

Krista kicked the trash can again and clenched her jaw. Sweat was already back on her as she wiped it off with her hand and smeared it onto her suit.

"Goddammit," she muttered under her breath.

The people she sparred with...they were weak, lame, hardly worth even breathing the same air as her.

She whipped her pole once more at the last move.

"4-0," the referee announced as a crowd clapped softly at Ymir's final victory. "That is all."

"Get me a new set!" Ymir nearly shouted to the Marshal, hands shaking in frustration. Every one of them she clashed with increased her anger, she wished Ilse was back, they'd be fighting by now, winning, just as they always had been. None of these idiots were compatible, she glared down at the young man that was flat on his back; he scrambled to his feet and staggered away with a limp.

Only half an hour in here and she was done.

Erwin evaluated her movements, though he spoke with a calm demeanor, his voice was laced in disappointment,"At least try to form a dialogue with them, Ranger-"

"None of these people are good enough," Ymir hissed as she went to stand by him, arms folded over the pole she used to prop herself up. Next to her, at her feet, was a bundle of her own clothes, it was too hot to slap them on, too hot to bother with them. She wiped her forehead and looked on, aloof of all of the failures that feebly threw worried glances at her.

Her deployment had been delayed because of this, because of all the failures. Every one of them, no matter how far they were brought in from all over the world, were poor matches; Erwin wasn't even looking at their papers at this point, it was like he was pulling them out from a hat.

She brushed her bangs away.

"If we can't get you someone in a week, we'll have to replace your position altogether," he broke to her.

Her lips curled into a snarl- he couldn't do that, she didn't want anyone else piloting that Jaeger except her; it was all she had left, all of Ilse sat in that metal. She gripped the wood harder, nails digging into it. Slowly and bitterly, she said to him,"Then get me a street rat, someone who can fight, don't have to be certified."

"Langnar, you know that's not an option," he started. "Each of these machines..."

As he explained himself, Ymir's eyes drifted to the door to the right, one that led into the main hallway. It opened, hesitantly at first, then all the way to reveal a small blond; Ymir's head perked up at her, wondering if she were another candidate.

Krista frowned as she found herself in a room full of the Rangers. Up in front of everyone was the Marshal. She quickly made her way to him, patting down any loose hairs before stepping in front of the crowd.

"Sir," she gave a short salute.

"I have news regarding—" her eyes went over to the woman beside him. She was sweaty and looking rather angry. Krista averted her eyes back to the Marshal.

"—the Crimson Butterfly. The joint keeps having aeration problems. I am disappointed that my crew was unable to fix it the first time." Despite being sweaty and hot, she felt her cheeks flush more.

The fact she had to strip herself of her pride in front of others made her upset.

It wasn't even her job to do this.

To be disciplined in front of the Rangers no less…

Her eyes glanced back over at the woman's adamant look. She almost gave a steely one back.

"Who's this?" Ymir inquired sharply, though she was intrigued by the new prospect.

"Krista Lez, mechanic," Krista stated immediately.

"Here for a try out?"

"N...not exactly-"

Ymir could already tell by her build that she was more than a mechanic, her arms weren't lean but rather defined; regardless, she had the urge to finish up one more fight.

"I want to fight her," Ymir said.

Erwin checked his list, then back at Krista; he truly was pulling names out of a hat when he motioned for Krista, his hand going towards the rack of poles.

"Excuse me, sir?" Krista's eyes were wide as the other girl was sizing her up. She was already on the fighting pad.

"It seems you cannot keep up with the work conditions and requirements out on the floor." Erwin said, tucking his clipboard under his arm. "Prove you're worth being in the front lines for humanity instead."

Krista's jaw was clenched.

"Your name?" His ink pen clicked as he didn't even look up at her.

"Krista Lenz." She repeated as she was tearing her jumpsuit off and throwing it off to the side.

She grabbed a spare pole and went to the mat. She felt her knuckles ache at her grip as she stood.

"Alright, Lenz, entertain Miss Langnar for us." His eyes rested on the two.

Krista gave a quick flourish, remembering the weight of it. She kept her eyes locked to the woman before her. Sighing, she focused on the match. How long ago had it been since she did this? It felt ages ago.

Sweat beaded down her neck as she stood still, keeping her pole at the ready and her other hand up, palming the air.

They started off at their respected spots.

The referee voiced out,"Go."

"Don't tell me this is all you have to offer," Ymir said loudly to Erwin as the audience stopped to watch, wondering how badly Ymir could waste the blond. Ymir hefted the pole lightly, twirling it skillfully while approaching the center to intimidate the blond. Her raw power had so much control to channel it into graceful yet devastating flourishes.

She stopped and waited for no more than a second, she took the first swing, aiming for Krista's waist as the blond never moved from her position in the middle.

"1-0," came the voice, Ymir stepped back and had her pole at her side, ready to be drawn like a sword.

"It's not much fun if you just stand there," Ymir sneered, expression showing nothing but pure boredom; was this serious an easy fight?

Krista felt the sweat drip down to her jaw line. The pole swung and stopped by her side. She kept staring at the woman's eyes.

"1-0."

After seeing a sample of the woman's style, Krista stepped forward. She held her sword downward and circling to the right. She quickly slapped the sword against Ymir's until they were locked. She kept moving until they were close together.

The poles shook from the force.

Krista knew she wouldn't last in a battle of strength. Shifting her gravity, she shot her foot out to slam it against Ymir's ankle. The woman was fast and avoided it but not without retreating enough to give Krista room to work. Krista stumbled at the unexpected speed from her disrupted center of gravity.

Krista steadier herself but gasped, finding the woman already advancing on her from behind.

She was too fast.

Krista braced for the pole and saw the woman over extended slightly. Krista made use of it and quickly reached behind her and grabbed the woman's upper arm with her left hand. She dropped the pole in her right and quickly whipped her elbow toward Ymir.

The tall woman shot her head back to avoid the elbow that narrowly avoided her face. Her hands went up to grab Krista's elbow, but it was going in a full arch to her held arm.

Ymir attempted to pull away, but Krista predicted this. Following the flow of Ymir's arm pull, she twisted it and shot her elbow into the joint enough to cause an opening. In one swift motion, Krista was holding Ymir's arm against the woman's back. She was wrenching it upward with one arm and the other hand held the side of Ymir's face.

Using the weight and force of struggle, Krista threw Ymir down in the way the woman was trying to pull away.

Ymir recovered but not without Krista holding her pole at Ymir's face.

"1-1."

"Damn," Ymir hissed, surprised by the short woman having skills that were efficient.

The pole was lifted away from her and Ymir got up while shrugging away the stinging numbness in her joint. Not one person managed to score one against her throughout the entire time, she could feel the anticipated breaths of the onlookers, each of them wondering how she would deal with the girl. Ymir sighed and repositioned herself; the only other person to beat her every time was Ilse.

She tried to imagine that sister standing in front of her, tried to remember how Ilse would take her down.

Instead, she lunged forth, her pole resting gently in one palm as she swung it, aiming for Krista's head, but the blond deflected it and shot her hand out to her weakened joint; Ymir whirled about, stooping low to swipe her foot towards the back of the girl's knee. Krista immediately undid herself and hopped out of her foots range.

For that moment she was in the air, Ymir used her weight to thrust her grappled arm downwards, hefting Krista onto her back. Instantly, Ymir pressed a barefoot against her wrist, the one connected to the hand that held her pole. Ymir was able to wrench her arm away and readied to strike the end of her pole downwards as she cage her in place with her body, stopping only a hair away from Krista's nose.

"2-1."

"You're breaking my record," Ymir huffed as she got up and stepped away.

Krista felt her hold her breath when Ymir was above her. She felt her face flush as she stood up, brushing herself off. She tucked her hair behind an ear, feeling it starting to stick to her face.

It had been a long time since she did this. She felt at ease despite her job being on the line.

Krista didn't say anything to the woman about breaking her record. She felt herself swell in pride that she at least held one point.

Once they were back in their spots, Krista held her pole up in front of her with both hands. They were signaled to start. Krista knew Ymir was already catching on so she'd have to bait an initiation to counter. She could only hope her luck and skill would allow her to shift it to her advantage.

Krista shot forward, holding her pole and arms out too far to see if Ymir would take it. It would make her vulnerable—the move itself was a double edge sword with unpredicted balance.

Immediately, Ymir's hand was around her left hand—her non dominant, a good move—and shot it upward with Krista's pole and cocked her wrist, making her drop her pole. Krista used Ymir's pull as momentum for her right leg to kick upward. Her leg flew by Ymir's face. Trying to gain advantage, Ymir took Krista's left leg and tried to pull her down, but Krista hooked her right leg onto Ymir's arms, throwing her down with.

They hit the ground with Ymir on top and moving to pin, but Krista used her grapple on Ymir's left arm to roll them into another roll. Once Ymir was underneath her, she locked Ymir's right arm into a hold. She could feel Ymir's face flush against her lower abdomen and uncomfortable hot breath.

"2-2."

Krista withdrew her upper body from Ymir's arm and face. She was straddling her left arm and looking down at Ymir's freckled face.

She felt Ymir shift and Krista stood up, allowing them both to retrieve their poles.

As Krista got up, Ymir felt her abdomen throb from the girl's sudden weight. She hauled herself onto her feet; she was feeling exhausted for once, the kind of fatigue she only got from Ilse. She promised herself that if the girl manages to earn a point above her, she would stop the fight. She gathered her wits again, she was signaled to start once more.

She decided to come in aggressively, striking her pole against her all the while keeping her distance. Their clacking bangs resonated throughout the room as Ymir let out haggard grunts as she struck quickly, trying to tire Krista out. With each hit for the girl keeping up with her, she could feel the pole on the other end beginning to grow slack.

Her strikes increased tenfold in speed and strength, up until they locked against one another; by then, Krista's arms were shaking. Ymir made to withdraw and hit her once more but she backed away to swing the pole at her again, resuming her barrage to exhaust her.

Krista felt her arms weaken. The woman's relentless attacks were wearing on her. If she didn't hurry, she'd run out of strength and Ymir would win. Krista caught what little breath she could get when they were locked. She could see the resolve in the woman's gaze. Krista gulped down air when she returned to fighting with blind passion.

If Krista wanted to strike she had to now or she'd lose and not be able to go for another round.

Ymir took another strike, but Krista dropped her pole. Ymir's pole went narrowly by her right arm, almost slapping against her hand. Krista used this opportunity to hook her arm under Ymir's right arm. With the last of her strength, she jumped and used momentum to swing up and around onto Ymir's back with a newly found grapple on the woman's arm.

Ymir quickly went to defend her immobilized right arm and Krista threw her left foot around Ymir's left arm, holding it in place.

For the people around them, in the split second this position was held, it looked like an awkward piggy back ride. Ymir pulled with all her might to free her right hand. Krista grabbed and held Ymir's elbow and pushed her weight with Ymir's pull. The two fell but not without Ymir forcing the two to land on Krista's back.

A pop was heard but the two rolled again until they were still—Krista's legs hooked around Ymir's head and right arm that was held by Krista's hands.

"2-3."

Immediately, she released and let herself fall fully onto the ground. She was breathing and sweating profusely.

And her back, oh fuck!

Her back!

Krista groaned in pain.

It wasn't broken, but did she do something to it!

"Shit," she groaned, rolling onto her stomach. She couldn't go for another round which meant she lost by default.

She'd lose her job. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to steady her breathing.

Ymir panted and stood above her, watching her, she didn't bother going back to her spot.

Krista's eyes still held tears as some fell, but she quieted her groaning. As she tried to stand, it only hurt more. She stayed on the ground as she tried to listen.

"I've had enough," she huffed, a sly grin danced upon her lips. Something about fighting the girl excited her, leaving her wondering if she didn't lay on the floor that there would be more to come. Her strength was already worn down as a bead of sweat trickled down her face, she wiped it away. She glanced at Erwin for a moment, then fell to one knee to rest. "I want this one to be my co-pilot."

"She's just a mechanic," Erwin started,"but I remember her face, she didn't qualify to be a Ranger-"

"She's qualified for me," Ymir pressed on.

Krista stiffened when Ymir said she made her decision. Krista's head shot up to stare at Erwin with her mouth open.

He didn't argue against her. They were pressed on time and, with Ymir's need for a compatible partner adding to the mix, he couldn't refuse her demand. He quickly wrote down her name to the list and circled it.

Krista regurgitated her regrets as she bit back more tears, but she held her gaze. When Ymir forced Erwin's hand, Krista felt her eyes finally release the torrents. A great sense of pride and relief left her falling back onto the ground, shaking.

Ymir sighed heavily and looked back at Krista.

She couldn't place her tongue on it as the medics rushed in to lift Krista onto a cot.

Krista didn't fight the medics that brought her on a cot, even if it was excessive. She kept her hands covering her face until she felt like she'd suffocate and die of a heat stroke.

Once she was laying there groaning once more, Ymir brought herself to stand up to lock eyes with her again.

"Not bad," Ymir praised her as she followed her, she quickly picked up her belongings, left her pole, and continued on with her. When she removed her hands, Ymir was staring at her.

She choked back tears and steadied her breathing.

"Thank you," Krista hiccuped with a big grin.

She was now a Ranger.