T̢H͜E̵͟ ͏́͡TH͘͢I͠͞R͜͡͝D̷̶ ̛͞T̴R͏̨Į̷A̵̧L̡̨̀

[strangerpeople]

T̢H͜E̵͟ ͏́͡TH͘͢I͠͞R͜͡͝D̷̶ ̛͞T̴R͏̨Į̷A̵̧L̡̨̀

Attention, Strangers. It's time for the trial now.

Please bring whatever you see fit and not anything against the rules.

[And so it is, that the Strangers must come once more to the elevators, to the room where the force field sits and their podiums wait. Three more people are now Xed out, as if they never existed.

Once everyone is in place, five podiums light up red.]

THE BRITTLE	THE DISCORD	THE ENEMY	THE FORLORN
				THE JOVIAN

Once again, two bodies have been discovered. It sure is tragic. Please remember to vote accordingly.

[There is no hesitation, no pause, before the clock begins, and the ticking echoes through the chamber. The evidence is there for the remaining Strangers to see, and organize. Voting must happen to ensure justice. What else is there to say, then?

The trial for the murders of Vita Clotilde-Morris, the Bad Luck, and Jonathan Morris, the Double, has begun.]

Comments

[otherworldlyking]

Feel free to ask any questions.

[ Talk about rotten luck. No pun intended. ]

I'm not going to really summarize everything I found again. [ It's a lot, everyone can see it, and it's a pain. ] Anyone want to talk about why "mercury" would be just lying around?

[poorlovefool]

[Welcome back to the suspect list! He is not going to ask questions since he already thinks he knows who did it.]

It's poisonous, but that seems a bit extra when there's the berries around.

[incendiarize]

...Vita let them do it. They got her first, Jonathan found her and went after the killer.

Vita was.... I think she and Jonathan had an agreement. She was gonna poison him and claim the motive, but she couldn't do it. I think it was his idea.

[otherworldlyking]

[ ...Before he addressed the first thing, there's the second- ]

What exactly did you see on his end?

[ Besides him going after the killer. Details of the battle. ]

[relieable]

Okay, I've got a question, then.

Vita was going after the motive, right? Does that mean that someone else was, too? Or did they kill her for some other reason?

[relieable]

[he's a suspect again? and Karma, too? Osomatsu drops the stuff he has on his podium and sighs through his nose. he's annoyed, and upset, but so is everyone else here. so, whatever.

he pulls up his wrist communicator to refresh his memory]

I started off in the conservatex, and I noticed that two different plants had been stripped. The first one was this pink flower. The second was a bush with little fruits, almost like berries, on it. Most of the berries had been picked off the bush.

[there are images of the plants provided]

Then I went back to the kitchen and actually found the missing fruit! There was a whole pile of them on the counter. I don't know if someone was gonna eat 'em, or what. Next to Vita's body, I found a spork. It's got some blood on it, still.

[he points out the berries and spork on his podium, then gestures to the hunk of charred remains of Lazy]

Lastly, I found this in the corner of the kitchen. I... think it's the laser bat? But it's been pretty beat up.

[katzenpfote]

The pink one is a sleeping agent. The berries are extremely poisonous.

HOST TOP FOR YOUR HOST TOP NEEDS.

[mermaidkin]

[Hiyori and Link are sitting behind the observation glass. There's no food with them this time. Hiyori's smile is desperately trying to reach his eyes. He's rifling with some papers on the table every two minutes. About an hour in:]

As you know... Jonathan Morris and Vita Clotilde-Morris aren't going to be happy and comfortable with us. They wanted to have a "traveling honeymoon", so we prepared these... brochures... about life on Camazotz...

[He holds up the pamphlets in view for the first time. They're in black and white.]

If you eat pills instead of other junk at the trial... you can ask for the color version!!

[poorlovefool]

Hey, hosts. Can one of you go get the rest of our pets? We're kind of stuck here.

[poorlovefool]

[Something has snapped inside of Eric. The past cases, he's been grateful to not be on the suspect list, or to have killed. But we have a double murder now and no real reason why. We have a million weapons. He's been bottling things inside since the last trial, and now, looking at what he's got, he's ready to come out swinging. The whip is in his hands, and he gives it a dramatic crack, FOR JOHNNY.]

I'm not going to fuck around here. King, give me one god damn reason to think you didn't have something to do with this after the way you acted all last trial.

Because from what I can tell, it makes no fucking sense for this thing to have hair all over it if it wasn't attacking someone furry.

[unwittingking]

[Okay, WOW?? WHY???]

I...won't lie, I was out of line with the Kyuubey things, but that doesn't mean I did this.

And...people have hair. Maybe he got someone in the head with it.

[Very nice of you to assuming things despite what assuming does.]

[katzenpfote]

Vita didn't look too much like she struggled, though. Don't you think she would have fought back against him?

[carryabigstick]

If it did actually hit someone like that... wouldn't there be some kind of wound to prove it? Maybe we should check everyone.

[otherworldlyking]

Could try to make a comparison or closer look right now. There's still a difference between how "fur" and "hair" would feel.

[ Especially if the whip had hair or whatever all over it ]

[unwittingking]

[Wow, this is...literally a suspect list full of people he likes. Granted, he pretty much likes everyone at this point, but at least two of them are people he's really close with, one he talks with casually, another they get along pretty well, and then him. Not good, to say the least.

He just sighs, a paw getting dragged over his face.]

Ask me what you need to, I guess.

[Not that he thinks anyone could see him doing this. Better to just be complacent then unruly in these situations.]

[katzenpfote]

[Of course he'd be blamed for this. Of course.]

A few things.

First - again, Arthur can confirm I was at home, though I know some of you will not accept that.

Second - I would not have the strength to hit Vita that hard, nor would I stand any sort of chance against Jonathan, a trained monster hunter.

Third - As both McBurn and King can attest, I was very close friends with Charlotte on the train. There is no way I would kill someone that close to her.

Fourth - ... As some of you know, even burning someone has a risk of making me go somewhat catatonic. A combination of burns, poison, and blunt force would be reliving the components of the absolute worst memory of my life. Arthur's seen it. ... If you don't believe me, I suppose he can show you.

[His breathing has calmed somewhat, but he still looks a bit like he's going to be sick. Not even Frumpkin, leaning against his leg, seems to help.]

... A-ask me whatever questions you need to.

[unwittingking]

Don't need to. I believe you.

[He knows Caleb didn't do this.]

[otherworldlyking]

You'd be dead if you had to take that man in battle.

[ The whole scene was an absolute mess, and he couldn't see Caleb easily coming out of it alive if he had anything to do with it. ]

[carryabigstick]

Considering even just what I know about your history with fire... I believe you. I don't think you'd do that.

[necroyalty]

[Ambrosine places a bloodied bar of soap on her podium or whatever it is we're using as a surface. ]

It need not be our murderer, but someone tried to wash themselves clean of evidence in the most literal way possible.

[comesaround]

[ Really. This was not something he was expecting; to be accused of killing someone but also not the first time. ]

I'm not going to re-summarize anything I did find as it's all there where you guys can see it, but as for the rest?

[ He held his arms out to each side of him. ]

Ask me anything you want to know and i'll answer.

[relieable]

...

Are you okay?

[he's been so quiet]

[unwittingking]

[He's crying, and he shouldn't be doing that, because they'll know, and he needed to do this, if he didn't do this he was going to die, and they wouldn't get their father-he'd never see them again for all he knew, and he just wanted them to be safe, that's all he wanted here-...

But...he went to far, didn't he?

From Caleb's jacket, he's bursting into tears and sobs. His body is shaking and he's not speaking clearly, just crying and sobbing. Tears are running down his cheeks-as silver as the ones Karma found-and he's feeling God awful and he just wants it to end.

The only thing anyone can understand is:]

I didn't...I didn't mean...for it to be like this...

[He just wants his family back...]

[katzenpfote]

[Caleb pulls him out of the jacket gently and holds him against his chest, smoothing his fur down. He doesn't say anything, just keeps him close.]

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

[mermaidkin]

[So during this entire span of time - the entire trial really - Link obviously hasn't spoken, while Hiyori has made only a few comments.]

Hey, so, we couldn't help but overhear you talking about how much you want to save the life of the person who killed our friends from the plane. And you know, we failed them, not peacefully ending the game earlier. I mean, Jonathan Morris thought getting burned after death was terrible, and look what happened. But we want to give you a little reminder. It's not even about "living through the execution despite receiving the collective vote" - though at the very least, we thought we were clear that living through the execution is one prerequisite of getting the prize, avoiding the collective vote another.

[Hiyori snaps his fingers, and on everyone's wristscreens, a certain rule flashes.]

Do not attempt to enter restricted areas, or you will be punished. Also, you’ll run into the force fields. Please get used to them.

[Fifteen seconds tick past, and he feels sure it's sunk in.]

The executions occur behind a force field in a restricted area.

I know what you're thinking. "Swordpoint conversions! How sick!" No, we're not writing you off as all dying like Sapiarch Elenwen did, or destroying your souls like Lala Hagoromo feared so much.

According to Vita Clotilde-Morris, this type of punishment is going to be worse!

That's all. Thank you for listening.

[Despite the various cloying interjections and the like, a close observation of Hiyori before and after he actually spoke would make it clear that he had to power through this speech.]

[unwittingking]

[He was having a small bit of hope...but it seems like the hosts-no, he's not going to keep calling them that. As far as he's concerned? They're just IT right now. And he is done with IT and all of their bullshit by now.

The cat is jumping out of Caleb's pocket now, and it starts to change again, but...different.]

Guess I should say this now; I've been lying about my power. Ever since the train, I didn't want to say it, because I didn't want to risk it hurting me in the end.

[He keeps changing, now becoming more canine, but keeping that black fur, and going bipedal.]

I think I've realized how stupid that is now, when you're willing to help me this much.

[The process finishes, and standing there is now a dog, tall enough that the ears can be seen above the pedestal in fron of them.]

And at this point? I'm using it, as much as I can.

YOU WANT TO COME AFTER ME?! GOOD LUCK FIGHTING THE DOG VERSION OF HERCULES!

[He's ready for this.]