There was a silence in the air; the type that was thick and oppressive, with the smidgen of incredulousness. Reina blinked, wondering if she'd misheard. Had Arcturus said that to the killer?

“Excuse me?” the killer asked.

“Ugh!” Arcturus gagged. “Get your stinky breath out of my face!”

“IDIOT!” The killer pressed the button on the wall again; Arcturus's chains disconnected from whatever was keeping him up, dropping him to the floor. Before he could scramble to his feet, a strike sent him hurtling through the air.

Arcturus landed onto the trash cans with a crunch and groaned, dazed from the blow. Reina scrutinized the incoming fight, analyzing both of their skills. Who would win?

The killer threw a knife but Arcturus flung up a food tray to act as a mini shield. When the knife struck the shield, Arcturus reacted, throwing the tray to the killer.

He easily swatted it out of the air but before he could do anything more, Arcturus had vanished. Along with everybody else, Reina scoured the cafeteria for any indication he could have been. The killer was becoming frantic, trying to find Arcturus before he killed him.

A strike to the head caused the killer to collapse to the ground and Arcturus popped out of nowhere. Wrapping his legs around the killer’s neck in a strangler move and enveloping his body with his own to stop him from doing anything, all everybody could do was wait.

Would Arcturus last out or would the killer make a comeback?

The killer struggled valiantly (can’t believe she put the word ‘valiantly’ in the same sentence as the killer) and punched Arcturus in the legs. He grunted before adjusting his hold to gain more power over his foe.

The killer changed, turning feral and even more rabid than he already was. Gnawing at the legs of Arcturus, the killer stabbed himself with one of his knives.

Maybe it was because he knew he couldn’t attack Arcturus. Maybe he was too deranged to think of another way.

Whatever the explanation was, the knife tore through his chest, and blood splattered everywhere. Reina watched, almost in slow motion as blood landed on Arcturus's face, blinding him momentarily. And that was all the killer ever needed.

He should have been out of the fight the moment the knife entered his chest but he wasn’t. Instead, he clipped a bomb onto Arcturus’ belt and kicked him away. Before Arcturus could react, the killer’s scarf darted out and trapped Arcturus, binding him in a silk prison.

“Hahahahahahaahahahahaha! Not too happy now, are you!?” the killer demanded to know, sending spittle flying everywhere. Growing delirious, the killer smashed Arcturus’ head into the ground, over and over again.

Reina felt sick as a small crater formed where his head landed, and it became stained by blood. The sound of bone snapping and splintering filled the cafeteria. The more his head hit the ground, the weaker her faith became. Even Arcturus couldn’t handle so many heavy hits to the head, right?

“H-hey! Did-dn't you have a que-question for me? Hm?” Arcturus slurred, the pain and wooziness making his voice slippery.

“What? Oh, that’s right!” The killer dropped Arcturus’ head onto the ground where it landed with a thud. “I nearly forgot about that. Oh well, where is she? The flaming one?”

“I-I know!” Arcturus stammered out.

Reina’s eyes shot open and she wasn’t the only one. Everything else in the room also had a look of extreme shock on their faces. Even if the newer students didn’t know Arcturus as well as most, they knew him well enough to understand he wasn’t one to roll over and obey others.

The fact he was doing this was. . .depressing to a lot of people.

But Reina couldn’t believe it. Arcturus may be a real piece of work who required a lot of therapy but underneath it all, he was a good man. A good man who only wanted to do what was right for the world, even if that meant having everybody hate him. He loved his students (okay, maybe love was too strong of a word but he darn did care for them) and he would rather kill himself than betray them.

So why? There must be some plan!

“Sh-she’s over there!” Arcturus flapped his hand in the general direction of Reina. As the killer looked and Reina could barely fathom the pain of being betrayed once more, she very nearly missed the look Arcturus gave her.

The look that said we only have one chance at this so you better not fucking mess it up!

A glint of light shone and Reina only had time to realize it was one of the knives. Arcturus must have taken it off of the killer when he wasn’t looking!

Reina suddenly felt a lot more at ease and glanced down to find the chains had been sheared right through. A small gasp made her turn and spotted Brandon staring at her with wide eyes, maybe wondering what was happening.

Before more people could notice and unwanted attention was drawn to them, Arcturus leaped to his feet and tackled the killer. Together, the two of them rolled around on the floor, snarling and biting.

Reina took the initiative. Focusing, she melted through all of the teacher's chains and did the same for as many students as she could. By then, her arms were pounding as her circuits worked too hard.

She apologized. Reina had the suspicion she was going to use her circuits a lot more.

As it appeared everybody could escape without anybody noticing, any and all hopes of that were thrown out the window when the glass shattered and doors slammed open.

A steady stream of the hacked robots entered, shockers primed and ready. To make matters worse, they seemed to have been loaded with more advanced weaponry, having guns and machetes added to their arsenal. Adding their metal defenses and it would be hard to destroy them.

But they had to! There was no other option!

Reina readied herself, lighting herself up in flames. She was fully prepared to do whatever it took to save everybody. Whatever is required to protect people!

She may have questions she wanted to answer with all her heart and the robot may have the answers but this was more important.

Her friends and family were more important!

Reina would do whatever it took to end them all. To relieve everybody of this suffering and carnage. She may die today. As May many others.

Who knew, everybody in this room could die. But Reina didn’t care. She didn’t care if she lived or died. If her journey ended right then and there.

Life was an interesting concept to a girl like her. Could somebody live life without enjoying it? Was that what life was? Why was it that every scenario like this was slowed down? Did the universe want her to suffer longer for her mistakes? Was it giving her a message? Was everybody going to die?

These questions swarmed her mind while the school got ready. The teachers were on the front lines and behind them were the 4th years. After they were the 3rd years, behind them were the 2nd years, and the 1st years were at the back.

This fight. . .could be the end.

The robots lunged forward and the teachers ran forward to meet them, eluding a magnificent battle cry that would chill the blood of any human. Reina was sure the battle would have been a sight to see.

However, it never happened.

Instead of a battle, what everybody got was a shot ringing out and creating an indent right between the charging forces.