JAEGER WAR (an anime + Avatar fanfiction)

Episode 7 - Perfectly Balanced

Paradis Island, First World. Two years ago

The jar blew up in a thousand little shreds as the shotgun fired. Eren simply stared at it, reloading with a concentrated expression on his face.

'The port will be finished soon!' Armin's voice was filled with excitement as the three friends were on the shooting range, practicing on another usual day. 'Thanks to the Marleyan engineers, building it has been quick.'

'I still don't understand why they help us, but they sure been cooperative,' Mikasa calmly replied, her rifle resting on her hand.

Eren shot again.

'It went bad at first since neither side trusted the other.' Armin continued, covering his ears. 'But given enough time, if we set aside our labels and see each other as people, I'm sure we can reach understanding.'

'Armin,' Eren finally turned to look at his friend. 'Have you seen Bertolt's memories?'

'Huh?'

The blonde boy was accustomed to Eren's grim personality, he had always been kind of... intense. But now it was different. That seriousness, that quiet determination to something Armin didn't know... It scared him a little.

'Yeah,' Armin finally answered. 'But there's nothing that seems helpful.'

Eren glanced back at his target. 'There's not much time. Zeke has less than three years left.'

'Yeah, about that...' Armin stared down at the ground. 'Do we really want to go along with Yelena's plan?'

'What's the problem?' Mikasa asked.

Armin shook his head. 'Is using the Rumbling to threaten the world the only way of protecting the Eldians? By doing that we will be the devils they say we are. Maybe we could talk and-'

Eren's shot interrupted his words. Armin turned to face him, his friend's eyes fixed on the end of the rifle.

'Look at this.' Eren muttered. 'Perfectly balanced. As all things should be. Too much to one side or the other...' As he spoke, he let the rifle wobble before centering it once again.

Armin and Mikasa shared a worried glance. Eren continued.

'The world sees us as monsters than can turn into Titans. They're not wrong. We see the world as oppressors that have turned our lives into a living hell. We're not wrong. And the cycle continues.'

He then stood up and handled the shotgun to Armin, who gasped in surprise. 'Here, you try.'

Armin reached for the weapon and knelt towards the shooting range. The three knew he wasn't the best warrior, let alone the best shooter. Still, Eren knelt behind him. Armin could hear his calmed breathing.

'Concentrate,' he said, as Armin chose one of the jars. Eren smiled. 'There. You've got it.'

Armin pulled the trigger.

Holding that very same rifle in his hand two years later, Armin stared out the closing sunset as the airship approached one of the entries Eren had created after using the Tesseract. Gateways to other worlds, to the other Stones. It still felt weird.

His thoughts were interrupted by the familiar footsteps of Mikasa. Armin turned to face her somber face. She looked so sad... It broke Armin's hard to see his friend like that, her eyes desaturated with worry and muted pain. It had been almost a year since Eren had left through that portal, since everything had changed.

There are other five Infinity Stones, like the Tesseract. Each of these stones hold the power of existence itself. I'll use them to decimate half of the universe's population. I'll bring balance and end the cycle of hatred in all worlds.