It was a pretty average day in the Eternal Algebra Class Withfour; about as average as it can get, anyway.
With all the assignments done to the best of their ability, and with nothing to look forward to besides the next time that horrific creature emerged and tormented them with *more* work to be done, the students mostly just doodled on whatever they could get their hands on, talked to each other about something or other, or just slept to let the time pass by, hoping that by the time they woke up somebody would finally let them go. But that moment would never arrive, of course. Odds were that the classroom was just gonna fill up with more and more people (knowing their luck, they'd all have to share the same amount of space) until the Battle for Battle for Dream Island ended on its own and then... Well, they don't even know what'd happen. Four was definitely... something. Maybe they'd do the good thing and finally let them out, or maybe they'd just keep them imprisoned here forever. After all, could they stop them? Could they stop *anything*? The algebralians just went down one day and ruined everything; what exactly was stopping them from ruining more?
All that commotion would come to an end as that blue number that nightmares are made out of would start fading into existence, signifying that another round of the horrors was about to begin; most of those asleep would be woken up, though some would be allowed to continue snoring just for laughs. Eventually Four fully materialized into being and immediately got to work.
"Hello, my precious students!" They'd exclaim. "That's... ick." Pencil remarked, keeping quiet and hoping her position in the back would help in avoiding the number's wrath. It wouldn't though. "I *heard* that." Four flatly stated, staring deeply into the writing utensil's soul; Pencil was stunned for a moment before shaking her head. "Uh, heard *what*?" "You know *exactly* what it is." Four replied. "No, I don't." Pencil scoffed.
Ellipsis.
"Stop playing dumb." The algebralian replied. "Well, dumber than you already are!" There'd be nothing more than a pitiful chuckle in response to that attempt at humor. "Don't you remember where you are? I am everywhere, I hear everything." The entire classroom then began to shake, causing everyone to fear for their lives. "*Everything*." Four's voice boomed, as if coming from everywhere.
"I also heard that you guys are getting tired of all the math!" The number continued. "Math is important, don't you know?" "Important for, like, *what* exactly?" Match interrupted. "I got to where I am now without, like, having to memorize my times tables." "You were eliminated." The blue numeral brought up. "Thrice now." The matchstick remained silent for a good while, unnerved and unamused. "Well, like, still; I didn't have to know *any* of that."
"Normally, such insolence calls for *extreme* punishment!" Four exclaimed. "How *dare* you all question the importance of knowing my value?" The room shook around again. "But fortunately for you all, I'm feeling nice today." "Nice?" Firey Jr. interjected. "*Nice*? What part of any of *this* is nice, exactly? You've been nothing but some dumb, sadistic jerk that forces us to play your games and act out your sick-"
With the wave of a hand, the smaller, worse Firey would turn into a mess of scribbles. ".-.. --- .-.." Roboty beeped, though nobody would care. "Since you guys apparently hate me so much, today's lesson will be about you for a change! Let's see how *you* like it!" Four stretched out their arm to collect the mangled remains of the ignorant child, placing it neatly on their desk. "Lately, I have been interested in studying and understanding the thing called life that you are all so desperate to protect; I have learned quite a lot from all of you!" The algebralian smiled. "So, today's lesson is about what makes all of you guys tick, what gives you your value! All I've learned from finally getting a closer look at you curious creatures!"
"Now, immediately I had all sorts of questions about you guys." The algebralian continued. "Why were you all so weird and strange? Especially towards me? Why did you all squish me when I do *not* like to be squished? Then I saw the collection of that menace cumulus cloud..." As they continued on their long-winded tangent, Pencil wrote a little message on her mini-me and passed it over to Match, who would read a quick quip about how it's gross that there's basically just a dead body in clear view of *everyone*. Also, that everyone's just... okay with it. That they think it's just fine. The Battle for Dream Island had *really* rendered them numb to a lot of things, hadn't it?
