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

[unwittingking]

Are we sure this isn't pointless, though? For all we know Jonathan might've hit a pet on accident and no one has any injuries.

[There are like fifty pets here or something, it has to be a possibility at least.]

[carryabigstick]

Well, at the very least it will rule out the idea that he was trying to hit one of you so I think it's worth that much. It definitely could have been a pet. But that will help us put together the case I think.

[unwittingking]

…alright. Do I need to move my fur for people to look closely?

[carryabigstick]

Maybe I could just pet you down...?

[....yes, a little part of her just wants that.]

[unwittingking]

Sure, whatever.

[He's been through worse.

And if she pets him down, she won't feel anything. No wounds here.]

[carryabigstick]

[Good, she can enjoy petting dog friend without any sadness.]

[unwittingking]

[She's lucky he's starting to get used to this stuff.]

[poorlovefool]

Uh huh. Well, if we decide it's a pet, that still narrows it down a lot. Osomatsu, McBurn, and Karma don't have any. And yours is white.

[relieable]

I have a pet. But it's not furry.

[poorlovefool]

Huh? Really? I never saw it... [pokeballs are convenient that way, aren't they.]

[relieable]

I can show you him later!

[a pause... if he gets out of here later, he means. hm. sad. actually, that brings up another concern, but he'll think about that a little later]

Th-the point is, he's a bird-like creature, and not a cat. So no fur. Plus I had him with me.

[poorlovefool]

Well. I believe you. There's no reason for you to bring that up if it's a lie.

Bird-like, huh... [he's thinking about poor lonely Grianos now.]

[unwittingking]

[That is something bold to say when Eric is in punching distance.]

Oh, yeah, because it's not like they could've been left outside. All it takes is someone being a bad pet owner for one night, and there's hair on the whip.

[poorlovefool]

You want me to ask about pet alibis?

[come at him, short stack!!]

[unwittingking]

[BRING IT ON ICE CREAM NERD]

It's possible they weren't paying attention and the poor pet got left outside. And it could've been any of them.

Maybe even an old dog.

[poorlovefool]

You little brat-

[he looks ready to test out just how well his fur would stick to this whip!! but he won't because that would be animal cruelty. See, he's not COMPLETELY discriminatory.]

Gab is white, and plus he was still at my house this morning. He wasn't hurt at all. Neither was Spike.

You look pretty desperate if you're trying to pin it on them.

[unwittingking]

I'm older than you after the year conversions.

And convenient that we can't check or anything. Even if Gab wasn't it, doesn't seem like you're denying Spike is a possibility.

And you're basically putting my life on my argument. I'm sorry if I'm trying to find answers so I don't get killed.

[poorlovefool]

I just said Spike was the same as Gab.

Well.... well!

[Yes, maybe it is a bit mean, and he'll feel guilty later. For now he's running on adrenaline.]

The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we can try to do something about it! Back in the Depths, we killed what tried to kill us every time after the first!

[carryabigstick]

You tried to kill it?!

[Well then...]

Then... maybe... it's okay if we fight back!

[poorlovefool]

No - we did kill it. The dragon first, then all the mooks they tried to replace it with. ... I probably have a higher kill count than any of you if you only count death games.

[awkward pause....]

Not proud of that, but it's true.

[carryabigstick]

Woah..... that's pretty darn cool.

[Way to go Eric.]

Then we definitely could too!

[otherworldlyking]

[ That was mildly impressive, yeah ]

Never thought we couldn't.

[ How are we not surprised he's all for this. ]

[unwittingking]

Well you said that in a confusing way so I misunderstood.

[But his ears do perk up at that, and he looks surprised.]

You...you did? How?

[poorlovefool]

I'm not going to say it's the same as here. There weren't any force fields, and after we killed the dragon all they had was a bunch of elves, mortal as anyone else if you shoot an arrow into them.

I don't want to be responsible for your death. I might still hate you if you really killed them, but I don't want any more blood on my hands. It makes me panic and I just feel guilty. I'm sick of this.

[unwittingking]

[…elf Nazis...that makes more sense now.]

Thanks, I guess. I just...I don't want to die here. I've still got a lot to live for, you know?