THE THIRD TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE THIRD TRIAL

[As soon as the final pieces of evidence are collected, Bottson just looks at everyone through his sunglasses and huffs, before rolling off.

Several moments later, the alarm sounds.]

ATTENTION! IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN!! EVERYONE COME TO THE ELEVATORS IMMEDIATELY FOR THE TRIAL!! AHAHAHAHA!!

[Once everyone comes down to the trial room, once more powers and weapons disappear when they enter the force field. The table has been updated to reflect those who are now, unfortunately, gone.

Bottson, meanwhile, hops up on the table, looking completely disinterested in what's happening, even as he processes and uploads the evidence given. The suspect list appears on everyone's wrist communicators.]

THE GLOW

THE TECHNO

THE DRUNK

yEAh! heRe's youR StUpid suSpeCt liST! YoU doN't liKe it, TuFF! AnD yEah i spELl it t-U-f-f 'cuZ i aM CoOL!! i sPeLl eNUff thE sAMe wAY nOw tOo! so ThERe!!!

[From the ceiling, outside of the force field, is Marie, looking very pleased with herself.]

THERE!! THAT STUPID ROBOT IS FINALLY WORTH SOMETHING! I'M SUCH A GENIUS TO FIX HIS PERSONALITY CORE AND PROGRAMMING, HMM?? AHAHAHAHA!!

OK, NOW GET GOING! SOMEONE AMONG YOU IS TOTALLY A KILLER AND NEEDS TO BE PUNISHED!!

Comments

[losergod]

...

[ He's a little shook by that suspect list. Maybe it's wrong? Anyway. ]

On the subject of the two victims we've had in this case, I believe I should probably start out by noting that although the one that died was killed by some kind of blunt trauma to the head, the killer also shot him in the back so badly it reached his spinal cord. There were obvious burn marks, meaning it was from one of the laser guns.

In other words, he was completely incapacitated at the time of his death, which would have given our killer ample time to also attack Mister Morris.

The odd thing is that he was shirtless.

[vividsins]

I found his shirt in the furnace. Along with a number of other items. Are you sure he was shot and that it wasn't, say... A super hot cannonball? Or a laser bat? There were a number of laser weapons in there. As well, some typed notes asking to meet...

[theserpentsmiles]

[Thankfully Nagisa is next to Jonathan to begin with and can take care of him as best as the trial will allow. He's incensed to see his brother on the suspect list yet again. Especially considering Jonathan is clearly a victim - or attempted victim.]

There are only three this time... [There's something a little more...dangerous to the trial room today. Something is hunting. Nagisa has decided - whoever is responsible for this, whether they leave the trail alive, whether they're even one of the listed suspects, will not leave this base.]

I take it no one found a whip?

[losergod]

I never came across a whip. I don't know if anyone else might have.

[vividsins]

No. We have to consider this person working against us took it. In which case, it might have been burned up.

[fashionfever]

Let's get this over with...


[Angela just skips straight to the stripping and turns around, long yet fading hair covering her entire upper back.]

[commandurr]

[s c r e e c h]

[theserpentsmiles]

...Why are you stripping?

[toushiro]

...Is this really necessary?

[losergod]

... No. No way. We are not stripping until we HAVE to. I am NOT getting undressed.

[ He crosses his arms. ]

The suspects, you can all do it. But the rest of us are staying clothed.

[backuphero]

Well, I'm up there again. I don't... can't... refuse to believe Barbara or Angela would hurt me or kill.

[Jonathan is leaning heavily on the table. There's still a ringing in his ears, his head still aches. This ain't his first rodeo, as head injuries go. He knows it'll take a few days or even a few weeks to get back to normal.

Damn shame they haven't got that time.]

So... what changed this time?

[mementodagger]

What changed was there was a witness. But you can’t remember what you might have seen, due to your injury. Is there any way to know in what order Jonathan and Passepartout were attacked?

[tiefleaf]

I'll admit I didn't know Passepartout that well, but I'd like to bring up the possibility that no one really planned for this.

[fashionfever]

That you were in there too... Akira always said, nobody was that sadistic on purpose... Extra victims would only ever be someone in the wrong place at the wrong time...

[EMOTIONS???]

[losergod]

I... don't want to believe it either. Miss Napoli and Miss Finch are outstanding people. That they'd stoop to murder is...

[vividsins]

All right. We're not going to get anywhere unless we figure out what of this, if anything, was sabotaged. I already suspect the letters asking to meet were. Pass's clothes somehow survived, too. In fact, of all the burnt things I found in the furnace, the cannonball was the worst of it, and the fact the letters survived is a miracle. Given evidence, I'd wonder if the lab was fought in and later things ended up in the repair area for other reasons. There's also the onsen robe, indicating whoever covered him up wanted him to have some dignity, and the fact that Jonathan was hurt and is missing his whip...

...You know, our saboteur seems to hate whips. Or favor them.

[mementodagger]

Akira strangled Vita... perhaps the killer took the cords and whips to conceal which was used for thre murder.

[theserpentsmiles]

Could the saboteur have moved them both to the mecha repair? Jonathan said he'd been going to the bathroom... [Bathroom, lab, mecha repair, furnace... They won't get far unless they figure out how people and things got from one place to another.]

[earietale]

[Well, this is definitely not Barbara’s day. One of her good friends is dead, and she’s a suspect of his murder, along with two more of her friends.

She wants to scream, but all she can do is let out a sigh.]

Ask me whatever you need to, and I’ll try to be as helpful as I can.

[losergod]

Barbara, for all our sakes, where were you the night this happened? What were you doing? What is everyone's alibis in general in this situation?

I think I'd like to hear from both you AND Miss Napoli.

VOTING...??

[commandurr]

WELL, ISN'T THIS ALL JUST SO TERRIBLE AND SAD!! HMM!

[She shrugs, chuckling.]

OH WELL! NOT MY PROBLEM. I THINK IT'S OBVIOUS WHO DID IT, SO LET'S NOT DELAY ANYMORE! HOW ABOUT WE VOTE NOW?

[vividsins]

It's not obvious at all, Miss Marie, so kindly shut your face for a minute and let the adults do the talking.

[ Baku is Done. ]

Catherd 2: Electric Boogaloo

[vividsins]

Now. Since we know what Yurick fabricated, we can move along. Yurick fabricated the cannonball in the incinerator. Before that, it was covered in blood, so it's likely out murder weapon. Most of the scorch marks on the wall are his. As is the water--to obscure drag marks. He also took the whip. Everything else appears to be the killer's. Now, let's put this scene together, shall we?

[ This is the face of a man who gives zero fucks anymore. ]

[losergod]

I think it's looking likeliest the death happened in the lab, in that case, right?

[1/2]

[commandurr]

[At everyone's accusations and insinuations, Marie starts to form tears in her eyes. But she doesn't just cry, even as the tears fall down.

She starts laughing, naturally.]

AHAHAHAHAHA!! STUBBORN, MEDDLING FOOLS!!

[And she is hysterical.]

YOU ALL THINK YOU'RE SO SMART, BUT YOU'RE NOT! THE TRUTH IS, NO MATTER WHAT, YOU CAN ONLY VOTE FOR WHO'S ON THE SUSPECT LIST!! I COULD CONFESS RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!! BUT IT DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING!! I MADE SURE OF THAT BEFOREHAND!! SEE?? WATCH!!

I DID IT! I KILLED THAT IDIOT WHO NEARLY KILLED ME WITH THAT SLOP HE CALLED FOOD BEFORE! I PROMISED HIM A MEMORY IF HE CAME TO MEET ME, AND WHEN HE WAS TURNED AROUND... I SHOT HIM!! HAHAHA!! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON HIS FACE WHEN HE COULDN'T FIGHT BACK WHEN I SMASHED HIM!! OHOHO, IT WAS GREAT!!

AND THAT BOY!! OOOH!! HE THOUGHT HE COULD OUTSMART ME WITH HIS DISH, BUT I OUTSMARTED HIM! HE NEVER SAW ME COMING!! AND THAT WAS ALL TOO EASY!!

[Silence.]

SEE?? NOTHING HAPPENED!! BOTTSON KNOWS BETTER NOW!! YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME!! I WIN, YOU GET IT?! YOU CAN'T VOTE FOR ME NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[2/2]

[strangerpeople]

[From where he is, in the center of the table, Bottson is strangely silent as he looks on at Marie.]


[MACHINEGUN TALK BATTLE

S T A R T]

VOTING

[commandurr]

[There is a long silence after everyone has spoken to Bottson. He looks at Marie, then at the Titled, then down.

A moment later, everyone's wrist comm beeps.]

WH--WHAT ARE YOU--!?

NO! STOP!! YOU STUPID MACHINE, THAT'S THE WRONG PERSON--!!

STOP!!

[vividsins]

[ BAKU JUST SLAMS HIS VOTE IN WITH THE SMUGGEST GODDAMN SMILE. ]

Good job, Bottson. Good job.

Check and mate, Milady Commander.

EXECUTION: Goodbye Strangers

[commandurr]

[The vote is...well. At this point, it doesn't matter. Marie isn't going to say what the vote is, so it's very probably that the Titled will never know. But she doesn't have to say anything.

The look on her face is enough, as are the angry, scared tears as she continues to slam on buttons.]

NO!! NOOOOO!!

NOT AGAIN, NOT AGAIN, NOT AGAI--

[A laser grazing her hair interrupts her, and she lets out a scream as she turns to see Barney materialize out of the wall.

She gets out her own laser, and shoots.

It does absolutely nothing but get absorbed into the android's unique metal composition.]

NO!!

[She starts to fly her hover vehicle, trying to get to the elevator, but Barney isready for it. Instantly, he melts into a puddle that shoots across the floor, re-materializing in front of the elevators and blocking her. Once he is standing, he resumes firing lasers out of his body - lasers that bounce harmlessly off of the force field,and into the walls, the floor, the ceiling.

Marie flies wildly to try and avoid the blasts.]

BARNEY, STOP!! ABORT!! AAUGH--

[Her voice is cut off with a blood curdling scream, as a laser hits her right in the back. Instantly, like a rag doll, she slumps and falls off the platform, landing hard on the floor as the platform crashes into the wall.

She's not moving, after that - at least, not her arms and legs. Her head, however, manages to look up, eyes wide with terror as Barney's hands transform into a massive cannonball.]

NOOOO!!!

GET BACK, GET BACK!!

[And that's the last she says before the cannonball swings, like a wrecking ball, right into the back of her head. There's an unhealthy-sounding crack that echoes through the room; after a moment, Barney smashes the cannonball on her head again. Just to make sure, of course.

Not that he needed to, but there's no doubt once her eyes start to stare glassily up towards the ceiling, her body in a heap.

Marie, the Commander, is dead.]

[strangerpeople]

[Once Barney dissipates back into the wall with his slow walk, Bottson looks at everyone.]

twO minUtes to tHe ForcE fiEld lEttINg uS oUt, FoOs...