THE SECOND TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE SECOND TRIAL

[Soon after the failed attempt to contact the dead, the tell-tale alarm suddenly rings out, rattling everyone's teeth alongside Marie's voice.]

ATTENTION! EMERGENCY ALERT! PLEASE GO TO THE ELEVATORS IMMEDIATELY!! HMHMHMMM! I WILL NEVER GET TIRED OF SAYING THAT...!

[And so, once again, the elevators bring everyone back down to the trial room, where the table has been...altered, slightly, color-wise, to reflect those who are no longer among you. And once more, upon entering the force field, weapons disappear - and powers fail to work.

Bottson hops up onto the center of the table, transmitting the evidence found.]

heRe yOU Are eVerYBOdy! THe sUsPECt lISt!



YoU cAN Do THiS!


[Above everyone once more is Marie, floating around in her hover platform.]

WELL, WELL! FANCY MEETING YOU ALL HERE AGAIN! I GUESS YOU ALL FAILED TO KEEP THAT GUY ALIVE, HUH?? AHAHAHA!!

WELL, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN GET WHO DID IT THIS TIME, HMM??

Comments

[crouching_sin]

I suppose that's up to the votes, then. You can't speak for everyone.

Though I will say - again - that I didn't put a hand on him.

[vividsins]

That's the thing, Naoya.

You wouldn't have had to if you'd kicked him.

[ You're talking to a demon. Precise details are his bread and butter. ]

[crouching_sin]

[He knows your tricks, Baku.]

Heh. I'm not a very good hand to hand fighter, so if I had been in a fight with him and kicked him, he could have overpowered me easily. Especially with those extra limbs.

[theserpentsmiles]

Strength doesn't matter much if you can take out your target with a single blow.

[crouching_sin]

I'm not an assassin, Nagisa. I do take things out in a single blow when I have my COMP, but I don't have it here.

[vividsins]

You'd only need one kick, Naoya. One single kick, aimed right at his face. And with enough arms, he'd be unbalanced and tip over, right into the electrified water. And my, you're certainly fast. Above his center of gravity, with extra limbs unbalancing him? My, he'd tip over like a topheavy, drunken barmaid!

[fashionfever]

Can you please not describe him like that.

[vividsins]

It was to get across the point he would be unsteady like that, Miss Angela.

[crouching_sin]

Sure. That's certainly possible. But I'm not an acrobat. Even if I can kick high I didn't kick him into the water. I would have had to do an incredibly high kick or a flying kick to get the angle that the bruise formed.

[mementodagger]

What if he was in the bath and you kicked him while you stood on the edge? He'd be unconscious, giving you time to drop the wires into the water.

[crouching_sin]

I would have had to kick him very hard to knock him unconscious. Acrobatics isn't the same thing as sheer strength.

[fashionfever]

Too easy! The killer only touched Rosenkreuz with his foot!

[crouching_sin]

I'm not a very good brawler. You'd want Atsuro for that. Rosenkreuz was a trained soldier, and I'm a computer programmer. Do you really think that I would have won in a straight-up fight?

[fashionfever]

Such a souped-up stripped television isn't part of any "straight up fight" I ever heard of!

[crouching_sin]

You're reaching a bit, Angela. I would have had to get him in the water. And if I tried pushing him, he'd definitely resist.

[fashionfever]

[through gritted teeth] Given... the... condition of his body... [mettle found, eyes blazing] He was probably willingly sitting in the water at the time of the murder! The killer might have kicked him, from a higher angle since they were on the side, not standing in the pool, to keep him from getting out! That's how you could say you never kicked him "into" the water!

[crouching_sin]

Again we come to the issue of strength. If that's true, then I would have had to kick him hard. And again, I'm not the muscle of my party.

[fashionfever]

Would such a hard kick definitely leave a bruise around your ankle or whatever?

[crouching_sin]

... Only if you're an idiot. And... fell, or something?

[fashionfever]

Are you an idiot like that?

[HE KEEPS TELLING JONATHAN TO ASK MORE DIRECTLY IF HE MUST

SO.]

[crouching_sin]

No. I wander around Tokyo on geta, do you think I'm that clumsy? I've climbed over forty flights of stairs in them.

[fashionfever]

Sounds like it would strengthen your legs...

[crouching_sin]

... To be fair I was also using magic. I do walk around Tokyo but I'm not very good at martial arts.