Day 2: (Ab)normal days

Rachel smiled when she realized who was on the watch but sprung to worry when she realized what it was. By the time her video ended she looked up, trying to find the bear, a murderous look in her eyes.

"I'm gonna tear that bear to shreds," she said quietly, "And I'm going to enjoy every second of it."

She looked up at Cobalt.

"Shut up. Cobalt, for god's sake, please shut up."

She let her head fall down on the table, her shoulders shaking. "Why is this happening?"

"Cobalt!" Minerva gasped. "You can't... you can't just!" She was clearly taken aback.

"Eve if, you'll still condemn someone to die! It's best to just let everyone control that urge to kill to be free!" She said, her voice quavering. She was no Aris, but she still was a part of the whole. "Come on! Come upstairs with me!"

She walked over, gently grabbing the smaller boy by the shoulder. "We can... talk this out! Don't do it!"

Claire couldn't hold herself together after what she saw on her bracelet. "Wyatt... Oh, Wyatt!" She begab to sob. "Please don't let this be reality! I don't want to have to do it!" She drew her legs up onto the chair and curled into a ball, sobbing into her knees. "No... Oh God, no!"

Martin didn't want to watch, he was still gripping his head. The reactions of those around him also warned him that it was a bad idea, the fact the bear was involved definitely meant it was a bad idea.

He peeked.

"Ma-aah, aah, AHH," He stuttered, standing up and sending a death glare towards Monobear, "F...F...Fuck  you!" He waved a severe finger, spinning around and gripping the back of his chair. He muttered and started walking towards the door.

Cobalt whirled around, new determination in his eyes.

"If people feel they want to kill, then they will put aside everything to do it. I have seen it happen before. And if it is going to, I will at least make sure it is me instead of someone who did nothing wrong at all. I will volunteer myself for this. I am sorry, but you cannot stop me Minerva. This is the only way I can see myself fulfilling my duty to all of you."

Caleb blinked a few times at the footage, watched it play and let it roll off. He pondered the footage for a few moments until he heard Cobalt's self-sacrificial speech. He blinked a couple of times at him, for once at a lost for words, before clapping his hands slowly.

"Good show, Mr. Cobalt. You truly are a samaritan. And as for you, Headmaster..." He then turned to the bear who was still giggling with glee on top of the table.

"Thou doth truly hold a candle to the devil." With that, Caleb walked over to Jason McDorne and offered a hand.

Jaden grew angry at Cobalts speech, and grabbed his other shoulder after Minerva. "You listen up you fuckin' pipsqueak! You're not dying! I'm not dying! No one her is killing anybody!" He practically spat the words out.

"If you die you're only provin' to everyone that we're willing to kill! You're part of the fuckin' problem then! Don't you see that!"

Jason blinked once, twice, three times. The video ended after a few seconds and he was clutching onto Judas' sweatshirt without quite realizing it. His face was blank.

"Oh. Oh, that's how it's gonna be," he said to no one, "You're going to threaten us into submission."

He smiled weakly, looking up at the ceiling. "Nice attempt."

Lisa rolled over to first Jason and then Martin, whispering to them. It was the same message for them both.

"We should room together for safety, if you want. If you want to do that, then come to my room at the beginning of the night."

She then took a position by the door.

Jason curled up when he hit the floor, trembling slightly. "They're everything I have left..." He cried into his knees, not noticing Caleb's hand until it was dangling almost in his face. He looked up, not caring exactly how stupid he looked with tears in his eyes, but he took the hand, standing up like a baby deer.

"T-thank you." He mumbled.

Dakota watched wordlessly. When the video ended, she still had nothing to say. The corners of her mouth twitched as if trying to spill just a single one-liner, but they failed. Dumbfounded, Dakota watched the other students blankly with an open mouth. Eventually she curled up, rubbing the stuffed animal in her pocket.

"I'm with Jaden! Murder is still murder, and a life taken is still one wasted, even for a noble cause!" She huffed, looking over to Jaden briefly.

"You're just gonna give straight in to despair and help everyone along with it!"

"I ONLY SAY THIS BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND HOW REAL THE THREAT IS! HOW DESPERATE THIS IS!"

He took a deep breath.

"A voice... there was a voice telling me I needed to go and help that civilian! I managed to beat it back, but I am no mind reader- I do not know how you all feel, and this is the only solution I can think of! I am not trying to encourage people to kill, only to use me if they feel they need to! I have places to go in my life, but my job as a vigilante comes first!"

He looked at Lisa and nodded, standing up easily. He looked around at his fellow classmates and could feel his own eyes welling up with tears. He wiped them before anything came of it.

He reached where Lisa was and whispered to her. "I gotta get my notebook, but I'll be right over after."

Caleb smiled a little bit and released Jason's hand.

"My pleasure," he said lightly. Looking around, he became noticeably aware of everyone's frenetic states.

Turning back to Jason, he spoke slowly and rather quietly.

"It seems everyone is in an unsound state of mind. Would you like me to escort you somewhere away from here? My only plans tonight involved writing."

"3...2...1..."

Jordan's eyes opened, and she couldn't not notice Claire falling to pieces beside her.

"Hey," She whispered, her face a fragile smile, "Don't listen, just count." Jordan folded her hands in her lap, almost gripping her stomach, "10...9..."

"I'm sorry if I sound too much like Aris, but you sound like a fucking piece of work." Minerva said, sighing. "You're not... not a doormat that other people can walk over. What happened to last night! Why can't we just... do that..."

There were some tears in her eyes.

"I-i-i..." Jason tried to say, but his mouth didn't want to function properly. Every small noise was making him flinch.

Ne nodded, his hand trembling. He tried to speak again, but he couldn't even say the first few letters of what he wanted. He bit his lip, looking down.

"Because if we did that, we could both die. My purpose is to protect the people, even at the risk of my own life. And that is what I intend to do."

Tears spilled over his mask.

Noticing that the bear wasn't going to give her a response soon, Ruby turned her heel and headed straight for Minerva, tears still welling up in her eyes.

She tapped her on the back once, just so she would notice her. Like everyone else, Ruby had been listening to Cobalt's death wish and thought about it carefully. In a hushed voice barely above a whisper, she gave Minerva her request.

"You're busy. I know. When you get a moment, my room. Knock three times."

With that, Ruby left the dining room and headed for the elevator.

Jaden grew increasingly frustrated. "For once give up your stupid fakey superhero bullcrap! You're just a kid! I don't know what your real talent is, but if you keep this up it's gonna be Super High School Level Dead Weight!" He turned and faced the still assembled students.

"Any one of you tries to lay a hand on this kid you'll have me to answer to! Got it?!"

Martin didn't look at Lisa, he was staring off into the distance.

"R...right." He replied softly, conveniently already by the door, "Lets go."

Rachel jumped as Cobalt nearly reached her decibel level. Not many people could do that. She retreated out of her chair on shaky legs and headed for the door. She mumbled to herself as she walked.

"He's fine, come on, he's fine, he's fine. He can handle himself. He's fine! He's fiiine..." she trailed off. She stopped momentarily, her eyes going wide. She shook her head and massaged her forehead. "I hate this. I hate this so much."

She nearly pushed Jason and Lisa apart to run through the double doors and to the elevator.

Claire lifted her head and stared straight ahead. "I don't even know if I could count to ten correctly right now," she said between choked sobs. "I just want death. I want out..." She was inconsolable.