Attack On Titan: Wings Of Freedom

Chapter 5

Chapter 5
I struggled to get the bolt to twist just the last quarter turn. I put all my weight on the handle and it nudged a little. "Come on, go!" I ordered it in frustration. My hand suddenly slid off the wrench and I crashed to the floor.

"Ow..." I hissed as I sat up. There was a gash on the inner part of my left arm from something on the machine, but otherwise I was fine.

"Eren, are you okay?" Mikage ran up, practically tossing his box onto the table and knelt to look at my arm.

"Fine, just a scratch." I said as I stood. I moved over to a bucket of water and quickly washed and bandaged it. It took a surprisingly short amount of time for blood to soak the bandage.

"That's a lot of blood." Mikage said.

"It's fine." I waved him off and returned to the machine. "You're stronger, can you lend me a hand?" I asked. Mikage looked at the wrench and easily pushed it down.

"That enough?" He asked.

"Show off. Yes." I answered. I picked up the little barrel shaped contraption and looked over the whole thing. "Perfect. Time for a test run." I said.

"Wow, I can't believe you've already finished that." He said.

I shrugged. "I've been working hard. Anyway, can you lead me to that warehouse?" I asked.

"Sure, but where do you plan on putting that?" He asked.

"On." I answered. I attached it to my belt and pulled on a cloak. It covered the device perfectly.

"That works." Mikage said before leading the way down. Leo was sound asleep so we snuck out without waking him.

"The warehouse is at the edge of town." Mikage mentioned as we walked. Getting there didn't take more than ten minutes anyway. It was made of stone with wooden pillars, big, and completely empty. Mikage closed the door as I examined the place.

"This will work perfectly." I said. I pulled off my cloak and tossed it to Mikage.

"Are you sure it's safe to wear that thing?" He asked.

"Yes. I did the testing and the math, all that's left is to try it for real." I said. Mikage watched closely as I got ready. I didn't have much to do, but grab the handle I used to control when the air fired.

"Okay." I said softly. I took a slow breath and let everything else fade away. I opened my eyes and gently squeezed the trigger. I heard a whirl, but nothing happened. I squeezed a little harder and felt my body want to move forward.

I squeezed it all the way and the suddenly strong blast sent me stumbling. "Hm..." I looked around and saw a board on the ground. It was flat and would slide much better than my feet.

I jumped on and pulled the trigger. I moved forward easily and at a slowish pace and I got used to turning and balancing. The gas worked better than I had expected and I cranked it up a little further.

The board slid across the ground without any trouble and I pulled the trigger all the way. It was so fast everything was a blur, but just it a moment it felt like I was flying. Suddenly the board hit something and I was in the air.

Pain flared from my forearms and shoulder as I landed partially on my side. "Eren, are you okay?" Mikage ran up and knelt next to me like he had done earlier.

"Fine." I sat up and winced at the pain on my shoulder. "Dislocated I think." I said. "Can you...?" I started to ask. He nodded and put one hand on my shoulder, the other on my elbow.

"Ready?" He asked. He waited for a moment then suddenly popped it back. I yelped and hissed but the pain started to fade away and we stood.

"Ow. Okay, enough testing on that." I said as I held my shoulder.

"What's it for?" Mikage asked.

"It's the center piece of my invention so a better question is what it does. And there's a lot in that category and I don't want to list them all." I said. He nodded as he ran over what I had said.

"So, testing anything else?" He asked.

"Just the grappler." I said. I moved to the middle of the room and fired the hooks up, where they latched on either side of the walls. For now I left them in the wood.

I moved so they stretched down perpendicularly to me. I pulled down on both strings to make sure the hooks were secure. "Okay, here goes." I picked up my handle and pulled a different trigger.

The barrel whirled, tightening the ropes, then it started lifting me. I stopped with my feet a couple inches off the floor and practiced balancing. It was surprisingly easy. I squeezed the trigger a little harder and it whirled fast. Suddenly the machine made a high pitched whirling sound and then the wires on both sides snapped.

I landed on my feet but stumbled backwards and fell. Before I could catch myself someone caught me and I landed leaning up against them. "This is dangerous." Mikage said.

"Yep, but it must be done." I replied. I stood up and he did the same. "You okay?" I asked.

"Fine. You?" He asked.

"Fine of course." I answered. I took off the barrel and checked it over. It was smoking slightly and when I pinched a little of the exposed rope it burned my finger.

I set it down and moved over to the ropes still attached to the hooks. With a little help from Mikage they came down and I started going over them. The hooks were perfectly fine, so that wasn't an issue. The ropes were a different case.

The right one had snapped because of the machine, so the cut was clean, but the left one has most likely snapped under my weight. "Maybe some kind of wire would work better..." I speculated quietly.

"So what's the conclusion?" Mikage asked.

"Different rope, or rather some kind of wire, should fix it." I said as I stood. I gathered everything up and then looked at him. "How do we get this back?" I asked.

He sighed and pulled out a bag, which he tossed to me. "That should do it." He said.

"You're the best, Mikage." I smiled brightly as I neatly tucked everything inside the bag. Mikage took it back.

"Your shoulder is injured so let me take that." He said.

"Not like I can say 'no' now." I replied.

"Very right." Mikage replied. We headed back to my house together and I reviewed everything I'd learned from the two tests.

"I need a more extensive harness too..." I muttered partway through one of Mikage's sentences.

"Extensive harness?" Mikage asked.

I nodded. "For balancing purposes in the air." I explained.

"Balancing? Harness? In the air? You aren't planning something crazy now, are you, Eren?" Mikage and I turned to see a soldier from the wall. He was an old friend of my dad's and replaced him as the head of their squad when he disappeared.

"Not at all." I replied innocently. Commander Pic Redfeld eyed me suspiciously.

"I don't believe that innocent smile, not with you covered in dust and bruises." He said.

I laughed. "Normal work injuries, Pic." I smiled. "By the way, how's that laundry system working out?" I asked.

"Like a dream. My wife almost wishes there was more laundry since it's so easy." Pic said with a hearty laugh.

"Maybe I can send you some of mine and Leo's. I don't ever have time to do it." I said. "See you around, Pic." I said as we walked off.

"Say hi to the wife." Mikage added. Far enough away, we ran. By the time Pic realized we'd duped him we were long gone and laughing.