The cigarette was burning away uselessly in Connor's hand as he stared ahead at nothing. A sense of dread filled him as countless thoughts ran through his mind. 'If people can turn into Titans that means that we are not fighting some mindless monsters, but an intelligent and cunning enemy. If that's the case we've been infiltrated, but why would they bother to infiltrate us when they can easily destroy us? They are looking for something, is it Eren? He's no Titan lover, that's for sure, but why can he transform? Armin and Mikasa had no idea that he could do that, however-'

A loud explosion interrupted his thoughts and in an instant, he was already on his way to where the explosion took place. When he arrived he saw a lot of armed soldiers preparing themselves for an attack to come out of the huge smoke screen. The green-eyed teen activated his Void Gaze and he gasped at the Titan skeleton protecting Armin, Eren, and Mikasa. He was about to blink at their location, but he heard some muttering behind him. Canceling his ability he turned to find Annie, Berthold, Jean, and Reiner. 'What are they doing here?' He turned back and saw Armin coming out of the smoke, his hand held in a surrendering gesture.

"So, you've finally revealed your true color, monster!" yelled the Captain, whom Connor recognized as the bastard who let the Supply Squad die. "I'll signal…I'll signal the cannon!"

"He is not the enemy of mankind!" said Armin. "We're willing to share any and all information we have!"

"I have no intention of hearing your pleas! We've seen everything we need to know. There is no room for discussion! If you claim he's not our enemy then prove it! If you can't we'll simply eliminate the threat!"

"There's no need to for proof! Besides, how we see him is not an issue!"

"What?!"

"I've heard that many have seen him in action. If that's true, they must've seen him fighting Titans. And that includes the sight of Titans swarming him! In other words, the Titans saw him as a target, just like mankind! No matter how we go about it, that fact cannot be denied!" said Armin and all the troops started to doubt Eren was a threat to them.

Connor smirked. 'Nicely done Armin. I clearly underestimated you.'

"Don't be fooled by his clever tricks!" yelled the Captain to his troops. "Their actions have always been beyond our comprehension. It must be possible for them to imitate our shape and speech to deceive us! We cannot allow them to do as they please any longer!"

The chestnut-haired teen mentally cursed the officer for his cowardice and stupidity as he prepared himself to intervene. 'Yeager must not die, not until I get some answers.'

He was about to slice the Captain's throat when Armin delivered his best speech to date. Slapping his hand over his heart and standing in salute he yelled at the top of his lungs. "I am a soldier that has long since offered his life for the revival of mankind! To perish while obeying that conviction will be my life greatest glory! If we were to utilize his Titan powers in addition to our remaining forces, recapturing this town would no longer be impossible! Praying for the glory of mankind, I shall elaborate on his strategic worth with all the time I have left!"

Connor always held Armin in high regards due to his strategic mind, but now his respect for the blond boy grew tenfold. 'He reminds me of Commander Erwin,' he thought.

However, not everyone shared the boy's idea. The captain raised his arm to signal the cannon to fire, but before Connor could tackle him, some grabbed the captain's hand from behind. That person was Commander Pixis who took the three cadets on top of the wall to discuss with them. For the time, Connor returned to his fellow recruits. Once the plan to retake Trost was laid out, Connor was selected to guard Eren with the elite squad. The team made it to the boulder without encountering any Titans. Eren transformed successfully, but Connor felt something was wrong when the titan shifter turned his attention to Mikasa.

The Outsider's chosen one felt his blood run cold. "Move Mikasa!" he called out desperately and a second later Titan Eren threw a punch at his adoptive sister. Mikasa tried to reason with him but she was unsuccessful.

As the officers began debating what to do Connor tried to understand Eren's behavior. 'He wasn't acting like a normal Titan, he wanted to crush us rather than eat us. Could it be that he is being controlled and if so how do I break him out of it. I could try possessing him, but…'

Thankfully, the Garrison elite decided to protect Eren, leaving Connor and Mikasa with him.

"Go help the others, I'll stay and guard him," Connor said to her.

"But…"

"The Garrison can hold out only for so long. They will be overwhelmed. We need to get Jaeger out of his Titan body and try again. Go help them and I will get him out!"

Mikasa reluctantly agrees, leaving Connor alone. The boy's left hand glowed white establishing the connection between him and Eren before activating the spell. The emerald-eyed boy found himself in a white endless void, with only a house in front of him. He walked towards the house and looked through the window and saw Eren, Mikasa, and his parents.

"Jaeger!" he called and knocked on the window.

Suddenly, something spun the teen around, grabbed him by the throat and smashed him in the wall. The thing that grabbed him was made out of pure shadows with 2 glowing eyes that pierce Connor's soul. The trainee tried to fight it off, but he felt how his strength left him quickly. The thing took his left arm and stared at the glowing mark before letting out a cry and disappeared. Connor tried to get up, but he felt very weak and used the wall of the house for support.

He banged on the window. "Jaeger! Can you hear me? Wake up! This isn't real!"

Eren turned his head towards the window with a sleepy expression. "Connor? What are you talking about? What the hell are you doing here? I'm feeling kind of sleepy right now, would you go?"

Connor panted, feeling out of breath and about to faint, but he pressed on. "Jaeger…Why did you want to join the Survey Corps? Remembered how…you bragged about it? Why?"

"Because I wanted to see the outside world," the brown haired teen said as he stood up. "Why? Isn't it obvious? Because I was born in this world!" he exclaimed before the house was set ablaze.

'Fucking finally," thought Connor before his world turned black.