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

VOTING

[commandurr]

[As time goes by, Marie is looking bored.]

UGH, SOMEONE KISS OR PUNCH SOMEONE ALREADY, THIS IS BORING!! YOU GUYS AREN'T STRIPPING AGAIN, THOUGH, SO I GUESS THAT'S OK!!

[So she takes out, from her platform...a giant...Toblerone?]

YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE KICKED THAT STUPID ROBOT. AT LEAST THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUN!! ANYWAYS, I THINK IT'S TIME TO VOTE!!

[She shakes her giant candy at them.]

REMEMBER, USE THE TITLE!...OH RIGHT, YOU CAN USE THE SUSPECT NUMBER TOO, I GUESS!! BUT GET GOING!! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!!

[om]

[fashionfever]

[in the awkward silence as nobody wants to speak first, Angela starts putting her clothes back on again. she ends with the same sleeve as the communicator on her wrist, and then taps a button.]

I voted for Naoya.

It's not because he's "cagey". It's not because he said creepy things about murder way before this motive ever turned up. I don't play favorites suspecting people, but if I did, Naoya wouldn't be the one to go. It's because he's the person we saw dodge attacks with our own eyes, and the person we didn't see with any kind of alibi while Rosenkreuz was still alive in the onsen.

You can blame me when you vote for him. I just tried to say what evidence painted him in a corner, maybe I stopped saying the other types of evidence, maybe I didn't see the real evidence. I'm not very good at this practicality thing, you know? I'm not taking it as far as Rosenkreuz would want, picking the best suspect to die according to the big picture. I just want the person who killed him to have a bad time. But I'm always going to listen to you. Like I've said before, you can tell me anything.

Whoever did it for real... Whoever moved the knives or some weird junk like that... [She makes a little gesture with both her hands like she's plucking two eggs out of a carton, then crushing them.] I hope you never wanna have kids.

Damn mobile made me mispost

[backuphero]

[Aaaaaaaaand Jonathan's no less nauseous than he was last week. He's pale, and leaning heavily on the table, and... digging in one of the front pockets of his coat?]

Hey, Angela?

[He's not going to puke on you, honest.]

[fashionfever]

[her brow furrows intensely; she doesn't see an immediately obvious reason "why now", but ignoring jonathan isn't an option at all. she turns to him like a sunflower, openly, and even puts a hand on his shoulder]

Yes, Johnny?

[backuphero]

Hang on to this for me, okay? Just... in case anybody else decided to vote like I did, and you end up without the reckless dead weight.

[He presses an obviously well-used "bracelet-style" one-decade rosary into her free hand with a sickly, sad smile.]

[fashionfever]

[Her eyes fill up with the tears she's been holding back this whole time. She loses three inches of height now that she's not power-posing in her push-up bra.]

You're not dead weight to me! You, you, [she promised to help him find another way without killing no matter what but. he has to vote to kill someone. she tucks it into a pocket and not her wrist so she clearly does know her way around it] You're a good person... You don't have to be smart like that to be a good person... [LOOK AT WHOEVER MURDERED ROSENKREUZ WITH THEIR KNOWLEDGE THAT TELEVISIONS CONDUCT ELECTRICITY INTO WATER]

[backuphero]

[...shit. He wasn't supposed to - he didn't mean to - ]

I don't want to be the reason somebody else dies. Not when they might be the reason everyone else lives.

[She's shorter than him, which is... that's about the only thing different from his mother as he can see right now. He's pretty convinced he's going to die, Angela, and that's a hell of a kind thing to say to someone who's convinced he's dead and has always been convinced he's not smart enough to stand on his own.

So congratulations: you're not the only one tearing up, and you now have Jonathan clinging to you.]

[crouching_sin]

[Well.]

[He gently pries Jonathan off of Angela and pulls him over to the side, speaking quietly.]

If I get killed...

[He lets out a long breath.]

You can tell them. I won't care anymore.

[fashionfever]

[WARMLY HOLDS????]

I don't like - I don't like wasting someone's life with the death penalty. I don't like it at all. It sucks. But! Listen! Even with the prize—How can anyone be the reason we live, when they'd kill one of us, or let you take the fall? Anyone who hates me, or... or hated Rosenkreuz... that much, trying to save me? They can SHOVE IT!

[theserpentsmiles]

[Nagisa has returned to his spot around the table now and-

"E as in end"]

Don't say that! You were there for me when we got the first motive. Not all "use" is in intelligence or strength. Jonathan-- you're as much my brother by now as Yurick is!

[backuphero]

[Well, he's going to unbury his face from Angela's hair at that, holy shit.]

Nagisa, I -

[He doesn't understand this. He doesn't understand this. How can he - how could anyone -]

I hope we get to talk about this. I... honestly, that's what I meant, saying I wanted you to... if I died, I wanted you to....

[theserpentsmiles]

[Nagisa wishes Korosensei were here, not for the first or last time. Not because he wishes this on the octopus, but because...he'd know what to do. What to say. He'd find a way out and know how to uplift even the darkest hearts.]

When...when this is over, I'm sure we can. You....have to get through this. [His voice cracked a little, that's not good... He has to keep it together. He's done well so far.]

[losergod]

You're not going to die, Mister Morris.

[ He smiles. It seems... off. But he smiles nonetheless. ]

You're innocent.

[backuphero]

...if I was "innocent" I'd be a very, very different person.

[Yes, he heard that. Didn't see the smile, though.]

[losergod]

Don't twist my words, Mister Morris. You know what I mean.

[commandurr]

AHAHAHAHAHA!!

YEAH, CRUSH THOSE EGGS!!

[losergod]

...

[ Inhale. ]

... Everything will end, and there will be nothing to be sad about. Regardless of the outcome, we've done what we could.

[vividsins]

[ He locks in his vote, and then is quiet. Then, he turns to Naoya, moves over and quietly whispers so only Naoya can hear. ]

...Hey. I don't know how, but... I get it. Being willing to do a lot of awful, awful things for one person.

[crouching_sin]

[Naoya lets out a quiet sigh.]

... I can't really do anything for him anymore. I ruined any chance of him being himself a long time ago.

[vividsins]

...If you die, is there anything you want me to do in your stead? ...I'd say free of charge, but consider how interesting you are payment. I don't meet many humans quite as interesting as you, Sir Naoya.

[crouching_sin]

Make sure someone takes care of the animals in the room. You can raid the rest of the things that Akira and I received for materials or whatever.

... There's also something under the mattress that you might be interested in. Just be careful grabbing it.

[vividsins]

Understood.

[ He's not sure what emotions Naoya is dredging up in him. They're complicated, and make his head and heart hurt. Because there's a giant gap in his memory. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

[Nagisa puts in his own vote. He doesn't look happy. Or even satisfied. Just...resigned.]

I'm sorry. I can't really judge anyone for murder... There is no right answer. [Even if he voted for the correct person. 'Right' and 'wrong' lost meaning the moment he woke up in this purgatory.]

[losergod]

[ Hey... there's a gentle hand on your shoulder. Reassuring, with a gentle smile.

Fuck it, he's not sitting down, he'll flit around and fuss and take care of everyone. ]

[mementodagger]

[After Nagisa's outburst to Jonathan, and seeing how the younger boy looks now, Yurick is grateful their assigned spots are next to each other. It takes just a moment to step over to Nagisa and rest a hand on the shoulder C isn't touching. The mage doesn't say anything, silently lending Nagisa whatever strength he has.]