Disclaimer: I don't own Geneshaft or any of it's characters!
AN: Before I go any further I would like to take this time to warn everyone that this fic will contain spoilers from here on out!
One thing I find different about Jean's character is he talks to himself and often in third person. I don't know, that's just one of the things that caught my attention when I watched the series.
Chapter 2: Think Different
The sun speckled walk way surrounded by buildings of a bygone era was vacant save for a fuming Jean. The majority of the students were at lunch. Jean found himself better suited to wandering the halls than to sit alone at an empty table in the corner of the dinning hall. 'I wouldn't be able to stand their annoying conversations anyway.' Mario had been the talk of the campus for two days now. The only time he was mentioned was in relations to how close Mario was. Grinding his fingers against the medal he had snapped apart from its pin a few days prior, he stalked the halls with a fury that would make everyone take the long way around to get out of his way. He had superior genes, superior skills, and got the highest scores; what more could he do?
The clear sunny day seemed to only darken his mood. They would have physical training later in the afternoon. The only thing he could not change, his stature. Despite his superior genes, Jean was still small in comparison to his class mates. 'Inferior scum!' He cursed them all. He wasn't jealous. How could he be jealous of scum? He was the best, right? No matter how close Mario or anyone else came, Jean was still the best.
Straightening his shoulders, he absently smoothed a tuft of his wild hair. Of corse Jean was the best. The hollow thunk of approaching footsteps brought him from his brooding. The lone set of steps echoed off the surrounding buildings. Standing in the shadow of a pillar, he waited to see who it was before making himself known. He didn't need the drowning, broken record congratulations from his teachers. His teachers... they were scum too.
The up beat steps slowed, pausing. 'They are so close, four meters- five tops.' Peering from the relative safety of the pillar, Jean found himself watching his rival. Mario had taken the time to admire the beautiful day. The standard uniform clean and pressed, he shouldn't have expected any less from his competition. Clenching his fists, Jean watched, his mind calculating, plotting. Following the gold trim of the collar down his chest Jean scoffed, 'He has no skill badges.' Fingering the medal that had grown warm in his grip he set his plan into action.
A low ring broke the silence as the metal disk went rolling across the pavement, hitting its mark, Mario's shoe. 'That's right, Jean 's the best,' he cheered internally. Quickly straightening his jacket and placing a hand on his hip, making himself look confident, even so far as arrogant. His mask, a mask he used so often it was more of a second skin fell into place. Mario's dark eyes first went to the coin like medal, his curiosity making him pause before picking it up. Visually followed its trail back his deep eyes fell upon Jean.
"You must be Mario," Jean started acting as casually as he could manage. "You have very good skill ratings. Almost as good as Jean in sixty- two out of sixty-three tests. No one has ever been able to crowd Jean so closely before." Letting a smirk tip the corner of his lip, Jean waited for Mario's reaction. 'Get angry just like everyone else. Come on, just like all the other scum.' The red-head found his fingers digging into his coat, creasing it as the other started to smile. 'That's not in Jean's plan!' Keeping himself in check, Jean continued, "Jean 's the best you know. Only one can be the best and the rest are scum."
"I don't think that way," Mario fidgeted, but never lost that little smile he had when he had gained during the conversation. Tilting his chin slightly upwards for added effect, Jean waited for the anger to boil in his rival. Turning away, 'the final blow,' Jean applauded his own performance as he started to walk away. Cooly, Mario looked down at the medal in the palm of his hand.
"You can keep it, I have a lot of those," Jean paused, 'it's not like scum like you will get any on your own.' Unsure he could keep the celebrating smile and cheers in check much longer, he risked it by turning around, he want to miss his reaction. Turning nonchalantly around, all thoughts of celebration vanished as he saw Mario advance on him. A smile on his own youth full lips, Mario was still unruffled.
"That's ok, I'll earn my own." The dark haired boy slipped the medal into the breast pocket of the other's jacket. Jean was frozen in place. It was Mario's turn to turn to walk away. 'He's not angry? He didn't keep Jean's medal? Was he ignoring me? Jean 's the best! Everyone has to listen to Jean!' Slack hands became ridged, balled into white knuckled fists as he watched him step away. 'Jean's the best! You are just scum!' He could feel his eyes becoming moist, tears threatening to form. 'You are all scum!' Charging after the retreating youth, Jean wasn't sure what he was about to do, his body moving more on its own than by his direction. Mario started to turn back towards him, hearing the running steps behind him.
A spray of blood misted the humid summer air as fist met face. Taking a haltering step back to catch his balance, Mario's knees started to get weak. The world seemed out of focus for a few seconds, his hand had instinctively been raised to prod the tender flesh. The copper taste in his mouth and the small stream of blood from his nose seemed foreign, belonging to a different body as his eyes came back into focus. His dark eyes wide, pupils slightly dilated Mario turned to look at his attacker, only to find he had to look up into his face.
'I-I really hit him,' Jean looked first to Mario then to his blood speckled fist. 'He looks afraid now... because I hit him? Ha! That is what scum get for not listening to Jean!' Flashing his psychotic smile, Jean felt power flow into him. 'Scum deserve to feel pain!' Mario faulted before standing to his full height, a few inches above Jean. It was really unheard of for one person to strike another. There wasn't any punishment for it, it just wasn't done.
The sensation of power that had initially run through Jean began to dim as Mario stood his ground. 'Why isn't he running away?' He could feel the muscles in his legs start to twitch with anticipation. 'If he's not going to run... is he going to fight?' Jean took half a step back, his body screaming at him to run. 'I-I'm not afraid! I-I ha-have power. Je-Jean is, Jean is the best.' He drew his smile in a bit more. 'I ha-have a dis... I have a disadvant-advantage. I may not-I can't win.' Despite being only a few inches taller, Mario out weighted Jean by almost twenty pounds. Jean found himself cursing his slight build for the second time that day.
Mario watched the emotions play across his opponents face. His glare making the other only retreat further. Quickly collecting his calm visaed, Mario could see the psychological damage Jean was causing on his own. Wiping the blood on his dark sleeve, he let himself resume is journey across the court yard, leaving Jean frozen in his place. Even though the only punch that had been thrown wasn't his, he declared himself the winner.
'Jean 's the best,' Jean reassured himself. 'He didn't fight back because he was afraid,' he nursed his injured pride. 'That's right. Jean 's the best...'
To be continued...
AN: I decided this was a good place to end this chapter since most of it is contained within the series. So what do you think so far? Please review!
AN: Before I go any further I would like to take this time to warn everyone that this fic will contain spoilers from here on out!
One thing I find different about Jean's character is he talks to himself and often in third person. I don't know, that's just one of the things that caught my attention when I watched the series.
Chapter 2: Think Different
The sun speckled walk way surrounded by buildings of a bygone era was vacant save for a fuming Jean. The majority of the students were at lunch. Jean found himself better suited to wandering the halls than to sit alone at an empty table in the corner of the dinning hall. 'I wouldn't be able to stand their annoying conversations anyway.' Mario had been the talk of the campus for two days now. The only time he was mentioned was in relations to how close Mario was. Grinding his fingers against the medal he had snapped apart from its pin a few days prior, he stalked the halls with a fury that would make everyone take the long way around to get out of his way. He had superior genes, superior skills, and got the highest scores; what more could he do?
The clear sunny day seemed to only darken his mood. They would have physical training later in the afternoon. The only thing he could not change, his stature. Despite his superior genes, Jean was still small in comparison to his class mates. 'Inferior scum!' He cursed them all. He wasn't jealous. How could he be jealous of scum? He was the best, right? No matter how close Mario or anyone else came, Jean was still the best.
Straightening his shoulders, he absently smoothed a tuft of his wild hair. Of corse Jean was the best. The hollow thunk of approaching footsteps brought him from his brooding. The lone set of steps echoed off the surrounding buildings. Standing in the shadow of a pillar, he waited to see who it was before making himself known. He didn't need the drowning, broken record congratulations from his teachers. His teachers... they were scum too.
The up beat steps slowed, pausing. 'They are so close, four meters- five tops.' Peering from the relative safety of the pillar, Jean found himself watching his rival. Mario had taken the time to admire the beautiful day. The standard uniform clean and pressed, he shouldn't have expected any less from his competition. Clenching his fists, Jean watched, his mind calculating, plotting. Following the gold trim of the collar down his chest Jean scoffed, 'He has no skill badges.' Fingering the medal that had grown warm in his grip he set his plan into action.
A low ring broke the silence as the metal disk went rolling across the pavement, hitting its mark, Mario's shoe. 'That's right, Jean 's the best,' he cheered internally. Quickly straightening his jacket and placing a hand on his hip, making himself look confident, even so far as arrogant. His mask, a mask he used so often it was more of a second skin fell into place. Mario's dark eyes first went to the coin like medal, his curiosity making him pause before picking it up. Visually followed its trail back his deep eyes fell upon Jean.
"You must be Mario," Jean started acting as casually as he could manage. "You have very good skill ratings. Almost as good as Jean in sixty- two out of sixty-three tests. No one has ever been able to crowd Jean so closely before." Letting a smirk tip the corner of his lip, Jean waited for Mario's reaction. 'Get angry just like everyone else. Come on, just like all the other scum.' The red-head found his fingers digging into his coat, creasing it as the other started to smile. 'That's not in Jean's plan!' Keeping himself in check, Jean continued, "Jean 's the best you know. Only one can be the best and the rest are scum."
"I don't think that way," Mario fidgeted, but never lost that little smile he had when he had gained during the conversation. Tilting his chin slightly upwards for added effect, Jean waited for the anger to boil in his rival. Turning away, 'the final blow,' Jean applauded his own performance as he started to walk away. Cooly, Mario looked down at the medal in the palm of his hand.
"You can keep it, I have a lot of those," Jean paused, 'it's not like scum like you will get any on your own.' Unsure he could keep the celebrating smile and cheers in check much longer, he risked it by turning around, he want to miss his reaction. Turning nonchalantly around, all thoughts of celebration vanished as he saw Mario advance on him. A smile on his own youth full lips, Mario was still unruffled.
"That's ok, I'll earn my own." The dark haired boy slipped the medal into the breast pocket of the other's jacket. Jean was frozen in place. It was Mario's turn to turn to walk away. 'He's not angry? He didn't keep Jean's medal? Was he ignoring me? Jean 's the best! Everyone has to listen to Jean!' Slack hands became ridged, balled into white knuckled fists as he watched him step away. 'Jean's the best! You are just scum!' He could feel his eyes becoming moist, tears threatening to form. 'You are all scum!' Charging after the retreating youth, Jean wasn't sure what he was about to do, his body moving more on its own than by his direction. Mario started to turn back towards him, hearing the running steps behind him.
A spray of blood misted the humid summer air as fist met face. Taking a haltering step back to catch his balance, Mario's knees started to get weak. The world seemed out of focus for a few seconds, his hand had instinctively been raised to prod the tender flesh. The copper taste in his mouth and the small stream of blood from his nose seemed foreign, belonging to a different body as his eyes came back into focus. His dark eyes wide, pupils slightly dilated Mario turned to look at his attacker, only to find he had to look up into his face.
'I-I really hit him,' Jean looked first to Mario then to his blood speckled fist. 'He looks afraid now... because I hit him? Ha! That is what scum get for not listening to Jean!' Flashing his psychotic smile, Jean felt power flow into him. 'Scum deserve to feel pain!' Mario faulted before standing to his full height, a few inches above Jean. It was really unheard of for one person to strike another. There wasn't any punishment for it, it just wasn't done.
The sensation of power that had initially run through Jean began to dim as Mario stood his ground. 'Why isn't he running away?' He could feel the muscles in his legs start to twitch with anticipation. 'If he's not going to run... is he going to fight?' Jean took half a step back, his body screaming at him to run. 'I-I'm not afraid! I-I ha-have power. Je-Jean is, Jean is the best.' He drew his smile in a bit more. 'I ha-have a dis... I have a disadvant-advantage. I may not-I can't win.' Despite being only a few inches taller, Mario out weighted Jean by almost twenty pounds. Jean found himself cursing his slight build for the second time that day.
Mario watched the emotions play across his opponents face. His glare making the other only retreat further. Quickly collecting his calm visaed, Mario could see the psychological damage Jean was causing on his own. Wiping the blood on his dark sleeve, he let himself resume is journey across the court yard, leaving Jean frozen in his place. Even though the only punch that had been thrown wasn't his, he declared himself the winner.
'Jean 's the best,' Jean reassured himself. 'He didn't fight back because he was afraid,' he nursed his injured pride. 'That's right. Jean 's the best...'
To be continued...
AN: I decided this was a good place to end this chapter since most of it is contained within the series. So what do you think so far? Please review!