Jean woke up in the dark room after what seemed like a long and arduous nap. The only light in the room came in the form of a dainty light bulb hanging from the ceiling. He cleared off the dust that was lingering on his clothing. Despite being underground, he could hear the faint sound of the outside world. The muted chirping of crickets and the flowing of a river traveled through the thick walls. Based on the fact that there was light and some form of connection to the outside world, Jean concluded that this place wasn’t originally used for solitary confinement.

Without much to do, he paced around the room. Someone had to have told the Headmaster about the sparring. His only real guess was that it was Serizawa. She had made her stance regarding Jean very clear from the beginning. She must have somehow caught a glimpse of Jean sparring and decided to inform the Headmaster. Jean sat back down, realizing that there was no point dwelling on it.

“Trapped in a cage aren’t we?”

Jean jumped up upon hearing the all-to familiar voice. Being alone, Jean decided to converse with this beast-side of himself vocally.

“For a lack of better words, yeah”

“Let’s just break out,”

“I’ve already gotten in trouble for sparring, I’m not going to risk getting myself killed,”

“Hehe, being in here, we might as well be dead,”

Jean sighed, ignoring the pessimistic statement.

“So, how’re you talking to me?”

“You’re me and I’m you. It’s a mental link. It’s as simple as that,”

“Are all beasts like this?”

“No. Don’t you pay attention in your classes?”

“Shut up and just tell me,”

“Whenever a human’s potential becomes corrupt, they lose control of it the enhanced blood flowing through their bodies. Any conscious link they might have had to their original mind is lost when they turn,”

“And they just crave human flesh, is that it?”

“Not necessarily. Beasts have unfinished business as well. Except on rare occasions, potentials don’t go corrupt for no reason,”

“What do you mean?”

“If a human becomes corrupted with enough hatred or negative emotion, anything linked to their last thoughts become their mission. Take somebody you hate for example. You turn with that hatred still lingering in your heart, as a beast, you’ll hunt that person down until they’re killed by your hands,”

“Then how am I able to maintain control of my own mind,”

“Because you and me are merged as one entity. When a human turns into a beast, they’re taken over. They don’t share the body,”

“So you can’t take over my body?”

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“Like I said before, I only know as much as you in regards to this half-beast nonsense,”

“Wait, then how do you have your own conscience? Or know anything about beasts in the first place?”

“One would do well to know about their own kind. As for my own conscience, I don’t know. Maybe it’s a manifestation of the human mind. I assume beasts don’t have the ability to communicate on a higher level beyond maiming and killing,”

“Didn’t you just say that you should know your own kind?”

“I’ve never lived as a beast that’s taken over a human body. I only know about the functionality of beasts,”

“I feel like you’re hiding something from me,”

“You’ll discover the truth soon enough without me telling you,”

“How much more to the tru-”

Jean was cut off by what sounded like an explosion going off. Shortly after, the bell began to chime.

“Hehe, looks like they’re here,”

“Who's here!?”

“Beasts,”

Jean had never considered that beasts could get into the school, especially with all of the teachers and security that happened to be surrounding the campus itself. The noises began to grow louder. There was now the faint noise of screaming. The same fear from the day of the incident rushed over Jean.

“No, no, no! Not again!”

The sound of fighting began bleeding through the walls of the room. Jean was torn between going out to fight and the returning feeling of dread.

What do I do!?

“Hehehe, what do you want to do Jean?”

“What am I supposed to do!? I don’t have my weapon and I’m stuck in here,”

“Are you scared, Jean?”

Jean didn’t want to admit it, but knowing that this other-self of his knew what he was thinking; he spoke the truth.

“Yes. I’m scared out of my mind. My legs are shaking and my body won’t move,”

“I’ll ask again. What do you want to do?”

Flashes of the incident played in his head. Joles blood splattered across the field, the pain he felt during the whole ordeal. But he also remembered his one-on-one encounter with the beast. The power and the adrenaline. All of it came flooding back to him.

“I don’t trust you yet… But, I need your help. I don’t know what I’m getting myself into, but I’m not going to sit in here and wait for those things to get to me or kill anymore people,”

“I thought you’d never ask. Go to the door,”

Jean stood up and approached the large metal door.

“Break it down, Jean”

Jean turned his body sideways and ran towards the door, slamming against it with his shoulder. Jean fell back upon the impact, but looking up, saw that there was now a huge dent in the door.

“AGAIN!”

Jean got up and without hesitation ran at the door once more, full force. With a loud thud and a crash, the heavy duty hinges of the door came flying off. The door fell to the floor, cracking the concrete floor below it and kicking aside the dust and dirt.

“That’s the power we possess, Jean. Use it,”

The voice faded away.

“Hey! Hey!”

There was no response.

“Shit!”

Realizing that he didn’t have time to waste trying to get the beast inside him to speak again, he began making his way up the stairs at full speed. Moving with finesse, he leapt up entire flights of stairs. His body felt better than ever. No amount of fear he felt hindered his ascent. Reaching the top of the staircase, he slammed open the door to see the academy in full chaos.

A massive fire was raging, enveloping half of the school. He could hear the sounds of weapons cleaving into the flesh of the beasts clearly, despite the distance. Suddenly, he saw a small body come flying out from the second floor of the school. As the body got closer, Jean jumped towards them and caught the individual.

“Hey! Are you-”

Jean stood horrified at the lifeless child resting in his arms. Jean silently sat the body down against a nearby tree. The child’s stiff soulless eyes stared back at Jean. Unable to look, he closed the child’s eyes before standing up. Tightening both his fists, Jean stood up and turned to face the burning school and the group of beasts stomping their way into the school.