Chapter 1: The COLOSSAL Kaiju

"Hey Eren, get up."

Eren groaned, turning in his bunk away from the voice, "No…"

"Yes. Get up."

When there was no response, Mikasa sighed and rolled her eyes. Approaching her friend's bunker, she pulled off the comforter. "Get up, we have work to do."

"Ugh, fine." Eren huffed, groaning as he sat up in the bunk.

Mikasa turned and went to finish putting her gear on, her black hair catching the light from their flashing computer.

"Mikasa?" Eren rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "What's going on?"

"Movement in the breach." Mikasa supplied, buckling a belt on her uniform.

Eren sighed, turning towards her so his feet could dangle off the bunk. "What category?"

"Two."

"And what time is it?"

"Also two."

"Ugh…" Eren sighed, ruffling up his hair as he jumped down from his bunk, "I hate it when you're this serious so early."

"You were the one that convinced me to join you for this crazy job." Mikasa replied matter-of-factly without a blink of an eye, pulling on her brown leather jacket.

"Yeah, I guess I did." Eren replied, stretching his arms before getting up. "But you were the best option, let's face it."

Mikasa didn't let him see the small smile on her face.

"This one's larger than the ones we're used to. Even for a category two." Mikasa explained as both of them set off for the hangar, "Codenamed, COLOSSAL."

"Great, even better." Eren replied sarcastically, tugging closer his jacket.

From behind the walking pair, "GIPSY DANGER" stood out in black on their brown leather jackets, right over an image of two swords crossed under the hilt.

Upon entering the hangar, they were ushered into a room to suit up in their pilot uniforms. Even for two-thirty in the morning, the Anchorage hangar was bustling with busy activity. Engineers worked on putting the finishing touches on GIPSY DANGER, while technicians fitted both Mikasa and Eren with their state-of-the-art Jaeger tech pilot uniforms.

Mikasa saw Eren glancing at the logo on their uniforms, raising a brow. "What's wrong?"

Eren blinked before shaking his head, "Nah, just thought about my old man."

Mikasa glanced down at the same logo. "He should be fine in Tokyo. I hear they're having more talks about pushing the Jaeger program further. Have you heard from him?"

Eren huffed, "Not for months." He glared down at the floor, before looking sideways at Mikasa. "Just because he helped establish the program and they name it after him means that he gets to flitter around as much as he wants."

Mikasa shrugged. "As long as the tech he's working on protects us both."

Eren took the helmet that was offered to him by a technician, "I guess so."

Mikasa nodded, placing her pilot helmet on.

Both began making their way into their positions in the GIPSY DANGER.

Eren slowly made his way to the right side of the Jaeger. Since he and Mikasa had been fighting Kaijus, Mikasa was always placed on the left and he on the right.

He smirked at the thought; Mikasa was always the more logical one of the two, and it seemed to match up with the left side of their Jaeger's 'brain'. Eren had always been more impulsive, even when the two of them had been kids. So he was always taking the right side.

Both settled into their positions, waiting for the word from up on deck.

Their communications crackled before a familiar voice came on, "Hey guys, how's it going on this bright sunshiny day?"

Eren's face broke into a smile, "Hey Connie, what's up? How'd the date go last night?"

"Did you forget to pay?" Mikasa asked stoically, receiving a sputter from Connie.

"I did not forget! The girl seemed to like me. Her boyfriend on the other hand…not really."

Eren laughed as Mikasa gave him a sidelong glance, "I bet you got your ass kicked."

"I did not! But a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do. So now I've got a date with Sasha next week."

"Take her to a nice restaurant." Mikasa replied.

"Well, thanks for the advice, Mikasa! I know Sasha's a good friend of yours, so-"

"And a cheap one, too." Mikasa added, "That girl could eat us out of a job."

"Hey! Don't be dissin' my lady!"

"Your lady last night seems to have dissed you." Eren replied with a smirk, pushing some buttons while Mikasa checked her wiring.

"Eren!"

"If you're through, Connie, I'd like to engage the drop."

Connie almost choked on his coffee when he realized who was standing next to him. "S-Sir, yes sir!" He clicked a button on his panel, "Marshal Erwin on deck!"

"Good morning, sir." Mikasa greeted.

Erwin nodded before looking down at Connie. "Engage."

"Yes, sir! Are you guys ready?"

"Yes." Mikasa replied.

"Eren?"

"Yeah, ready to go!" Eren replied, starting to get pumped up at the prospect.

"Then I'm engaging the drop!" Connie replied, pressing a few buttons.

Slowly, GIPSY DANGER'S head descended to attach itself to the main body. Both Mikasa and Eren felt a jolt before it locked into place.

"All set, sir." They replied.

"Engage pilot-to-pilot protocol, Connie." Erwin directed.

"Engaging now."

With a push, GIPSY DANGER embraced the freezing ocean waves off Anchorage, its lights piercing the darkness before Eren and Mikasa.

"I'm engaging neural drift now, guys!"

"All right, Connie!" Eren replied, turning to look at Mikasa. "You ready for this?"

"As ready as I've been the last hundred times."

Engaging neural drift…in 3…2…1…

Both felt a jolt before their minds entered the drift.

Memories passed through Eren's mind: he saw his childhood with his parents, his interactions with Mikasa and his other friend Armin; everything flowed through like water in a stream. He'd been doing this long enough to know not to 'chase the rabbit'.

Then came Mikasa's memories, which at time were a mirror image of his own. He saw her parents, her taekwondo training, her cat Nikita. All this happened in an instant, and suddenly both Jaeger pilots could breathe clearly and see the path ahead of them.

Testing the link out, they extended their arms together, nodding when the Jaeger did exactly what they had done.

Eren smirked, blue eyes flashing, "Let's do this."

"Your mission is to keep the miracle mile off Anchorage," Erwin's voice commanded through communications, "I don't want to see any Kaiju's approaching shore."

"Yes sir." Mikasa affirmed, analyzing the territory in front of them for the approaching Kaiju. So far, the only view both her and Eren saw were the continuous crashing of icy waves around them.

"I don't see anything…" Eren murmured, Mikasa nodding in agreement. Slowly, they piloted the Jaeger forward, its lights glinting across the surface of the murky ocean water.

Suddenly, Mikasa saw a glint from underneath the waves, "Target approaching!"

Without much warning an enormous Kaiju broke through the waves in front of them, rearing its large head with a soul-piercing shriek.

Connie flinched from the high pitch, while Marshal Erwin stood firm.

Eren's eyes were ablaze, "There you are."

Turning to Mikasa, his gaze caught hers. They both nodded, turning to face the enormous category two.

The Kaiju appraised the smaller Jaeger with fierce eyes, before letting out another shriek. It barreled forward, and GIPSY DANGER managed to dodge it in the nick of time.

"It's fast!" Mikasa shouted, the Jaeger turning around briefly as the Kaiju righted itself for another attack.

Eren scoffed, "Not gonna be fast enough for us!"

The Jaeger moved forward, delivering a heavy blow right to the side of the Kaiju's face. It reared back in pain, before pushing forward to hit another blow on the Jaeger.

This jolted both Mikasa and Eren, and pushed the air out of their lungs.

"Shit!"

"Mikasa, you okay?!"

"Yes, I'm fine!"

They both maneuvered the Jaeger into the water, giving it enough thrust to propel the machine out. It soared over the Kaiju, and Mikasa and Eren put the Jaeger's hands together into one large fist. Their blow landed squarely on the top of the Kaiju's head, pushing its body into the waves below.

"Yeah!" Eren exclaimed, earning a small smile from Mikasa.

The waves had quieted momentarily.

Eren turned to smile at Mikasa, before both of them were unexpectedly thrown down.

The Kaiju had just propelled itself from under the water to come out and latch its powerful jaws onto the neck of the Jaeger. While it had a large gash on the side of its head, it was determined to take the machine down with it.

Eren could see the Kaiju's eyes from where it latched onto the neck of the Jaeger on his side.

Mikasa's eyes widened in shock, her wiring having come loose from such a jolt.

The Kaiju briefly let go, climbing farther up the Jaeger's body. The damage it had caused had circuits shortening and water leaking into the head. Its teeth, it seemed, where sharper than the technicians and engineers had supposed. It was tearing the GIPSY DANGER to bits.

"Eren, move!" Mikasa screamed.

Eren had collapsed near the edge of his side, trying to right himself up under a pile of debris, "I'm trying!" he yelled back, his eyes wide with anxiety as he grappled with some wires. His legs had been injured in the attack, and it was hard for him to stand.

It wasn't fast enough. Mikasa's wide eyes took in the form of the approaching Kaiju, it's mouth open. Fatally sharp teeth gleamed from its enormous head, and it let out a resounding cry.

Eren felt his heart drop.

Time seemed to slow, and Mikasa moved forward without a second thought.

Eren watched as Mikasa detached herself from her stand, before leaping to his side of the Jaeger.

"What are you doing?!" He screamed, just as the Kaiju tore into his side of the Jaeger's head.

Mikasa moved with the speed of a demon, pulling the debris off of Eren before pushing him out of the way of the incoming teeth.

And slowly, with a mortified expression, Eren watched helplessly as his best friend disappeared into nothingness. Whether into the ocean or into the Kaiju's mouth he did not know, only that Mikasa was gone.

"Neural drift has been disconnected!" Connie yelled, pushing buttons rapidly as Marshal Erwin frowned deeply.

"Eren!" he yelled into the microphone, but there was no answer.

The Kaiju had left a gaping hole on the side of the Jaeger's head. It fell back into the water to preserve its energy.

"Eren, EREN!" Connie shouted over the communications, but Eren couldn't hear him.

All he could see was Mikasa's expression. How she faded into the darkness. How he had felt her fear, her anxiety for his safety, and then the sudden cold cut off of the neural disconnection.

Hate began to boil in his veins.

That Kaiju had killed his best friend.

"I'll kill you…" he murmured, eyes blazing at the category two, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Still connected to the Jaeger, he managed to control one arm. It careened into the side of the Kaiju's head, but Eren didn't stop there. With one active arm, he continued to beat the Kaiju until what remained of it was a floating dead carcass in a sea of Kaiju blue.

Eren's fury was the only thing that propelled him further. If you asked him what had happened after witnessing Mikasa's death, he wouldn't be able to tell you.

He wouldn't remember defeating the Kaiju, or slowly making his way back to the shore. All he knew was that when he woke up three days later in a hospital, was that his life had changed now that Mikasa was gone.

It was over.