victory_road | 5th [action and/or video network post]

[Jean has been spending most of his time either at Armin's Gym, or the Casa de Voltron, so this situation was entirely unavoidable. The ocean is everywhere, and he's the curious type, especially about Pokemon. It was only a matter of time before he was able to touch one of the swarming Basculegion.]

[His feelings on this situation were mixed.]

[The first person Jean saw was Marco. This alone unnerved him quite a bit. He wasn't sure if he should be elated, or frightened. On one hand, he still missed him terribly, and wanted to see him again. On the other, he was afraid that Marco would... disapprove, of the man he had become. When he was nothing but a memory, at least that was what he would stay. Forever.]

[It didn't help that his image couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to be the young, freckled face he remembered, or the 3/4ths of a corpse he found lying on the streets of Trost.]

[Anyone is welcome to somehow find them speaking with each other again. (I could even contrive a reason for his gear to turn on without him noticing.)]

[If they're not in the neighborhood, however, they might see the post he makes some time later.]

These ghosts. How exactly are you supposed to get them to go away?

[Jean's expression is extremely tight with forced composure, and at this angle, with his back against a wall of some kind, only his own face can be seen.]

I don't want this anymore.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[When it comes to crisis, Jean isn't choosey about who tries to help him. Besides, Mando might find him obnoxious, but Jean definitely saw Buckethead as more friend than enemy.]

[Part of his love language was definitely picking fights and being a little shit in general. He was starting to understand that that part of himself didn't translate well with most people.]

[That didn't mean he felt like changing it, though.]

Most of them don't talk.

[He already noticed that only people he knew talked to him, which was mostly a blessing. If the people he killed suddenly started wailing at him for his crimes against humanity, he wouldn't be able to deal with it.]

I still don't want them around, though.

[Mando would probably like Jean better if he didn't insist on calling him Buckethead. Then again, he's not exactly rising above it by calling Jean Landlocked.]

Were you a soldier?

[That would explain why he's got a body count, and why he's upset about it.]

...Yeah. But I didn't expect to be killing people when I started.

... what were you killing if you weren't killing people?

I was trained to exterminate Titans. That's all it was supposed to be at first.

What are titans? Are you seeing any of those?

[Is this helping? Just having someone to talk to? Mando has no idea, but Jean keeps answering, so he'll keep asking questions.]

...It's complicated. Giant, humanoid monsters that eat people? Technically, they used to be human, but they can't really change back, so killing them is kind of a mercy.

Like, if I ever turned into one, I hope someone would kill me eventually.

I'm not seeing any though. Maybe because they can't hold it against me.

They sound difficult. No wonder you became a soldier.

[Mando, a champion of understatement.]

Do you think the other people you're seeing do?

Uh, yeah. I guess. [He wasn't expecting to really be fighting them either, when he started training, but that was a lifetime ago.] We thought we were the only humans left alive, but things have gotten way more complicated since then.

Of course. I mean, why wouldn't they?

If they were soldiers too, isn't that part of the agreement? That you might be killed in the line of duty?

It's not personal. It's following orders. If they were going to be angry with anyone, shouldn't it be the people who ordered you to fight?

...I don't know. I was still the one that pulled the trigger, even if I didn't really want to.

And when it comes to the Marlians, they think we're literal demons, so. Yeah, that'd probably harbor some resentment.

So maybe they didn't want to pull the trigger either.

[Battle ethics professor Mando, reporting for duty!]

Anyone who has a blaster--a gun--expects that they'll have to use it. If you were faster or better with yours, it means you trained more and respected your abilities more. That's it. Any failing is on their heads.

...That's pretty cold. I don't think anything involving life or death is really that cut and dry.

[A pause, then a sigh.]

It's not.

[It would make life so much easier if it was!]

What were you fighting for, kid? Was it something worth the fight?

Humanity? Yeah, I'd say it was worth it. Since we've eliminated the pure Titans on Paradis, life has already gotten better for everyone living there.

I'm just still kinda torn on Marley.

Then why torture yourself?

[Like it's so easy to just stop.]

It sounds like you saved your world. That's worth the fight.

It's not saved at all. There are wars going on outside of the world I grew up in that are bigger than I could have ever imagined. Even without Titans, my people are still in danger.

Then the battle continues.

[Sigh.]

There's always a war going on somewhere. It's up to us to choose which side to fight with.

That's the thing though. Where I'm from, life is sacred. The Titans made shit so tough for everyone that we all had a common enemy. Now, seeing people kill each other over stuff that happened centuries ago... Why? A part of me gets it, but a part of me doesn't. It's feels like such a waste.

[This is what happens when the world you were born in literally has no history. No memory of anything past 100 years ago.]

Of course it's a waste. War always is.

But until everyone understands that, there will always be wars to fight.

[A pause.]

I wish I had a better answer for you, kid.

I don't expect answers. I'm just telling you how it is.

[There's a long pause before Mando speaks up again.]

It makes it easier if you have someone you care about. Someone you think is worth protecting.

I hope you have that.

Yeah, I do. One of the few reasons I keep on doing what I'm doing, really. A couple of them are here. They're kind of my anchors.

That's good, then. Hold onto that.

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