SECOND TRIAL

[keyofimagination]

[When the investigation is done, the door to the boiler room once again opens, with the elevator doors readily awaiting the remaining guests. Like last time, once everyone is buckled in, the elevator moves backwards and then up, with The Narrator’s voice echoing in.]

Dipper and Merlin, despite their age difference, had a lot in common. They both are fascinated in science, the unusual, and an escape out. Last night, they decided to stay up late, only to both find out that they are forever in an eternal slumber. And they’ll soon learn that they’ll be stuck in a never ending nightmare called… The Twilight Zone.

[Once again the elevator stops abruptly.]

You are about to discover what lies beyond the fifth dimension. Beyond the deepest, darkest corner of the imagination… in the Tower of Terror.

[Did you expect the elevator not to drop again? Because too bad, the elevator drops again. After a few more drops, it once again stops at the top floor, The Tip Top Club.

The soft music fills the room and the Tip Top Club looks almost the same as it was last week. Except now Preston, Finnick, Merlin, and Dipper’s pictures on the wall are also in grayscale. The Narrator is still sitting on the stage, but he is now sitting in the chair like a normal human being. In his hands there is the all-too-familiar Talky Tina, that The Narrator is thoughtfully looking over. When the guests enter the club, he finally looks up.]

Welcome again to the trial room, everyone. I hope you remember all the rules from last week, but if you need a refresher I may explain the rules again.

Comments

[nocasetoobig]

[WELL THAT KIND OF PULLS HIM OUT OF THE LAST OF HIS MELANCHOLY, STUPID ELEVATOR. Chip - still damp - pokes his head out of Tadashi's pocket, grimacing before hauling himself off completely and shaking a bit to try and get some of the water off. Urgh. Hope there's some kind of towel here...]

...all right, what'd everybody find?

[theduck]

[Yeah, knowing the drop was coming didn't make it any better (or less nauseating) this time around. Still, might as well get this part over with.]

Er, I found some scissors. In the lobby. They were buried in one of the plants. There's some fabric stuck to them, and I think it used to be white, but...

[He holds up the bag pointedly, and both the scissors and the fabric are covered in blood so. Yeah. There's that.]

Other than that, there were a bunch of snacks lying around on the lobby floor. Probably not as important.

[forgottenfounder]

[....Tower of Terror. Why does that seem familiar...

Anyway, Oswald looks, slightly less shaken then the last time, might as well get to business.]

I checked out the janitor's closet. I guess we could have used what was in it to clean up any... mess.

[uuuugh.]

But I found that a ton of cleaning chemicals were missing.

[darnsitall]

Mr. Narrator, may I ask you a question?

[keyofimagination]

Of course, Sally.

[greatwidesomewhere]

[Belle steps off that Godforsaken elevator again, still looking pale and queasy, and even more melancholy that she did last week. This time, it's two people she'd actually liked. Merlin had been kind to her, and Dipper...Dipper had helped her understand so much, had been so patient with her questions. He was a sweet boy. The news of both deaths had been too much for her to bear; she's spent the entire investigation in her room, trying hard not to panic. It happened again. How could it have happened again?

Feeling ill, she sits down at her table near the front and idly begins doodling on the corner of her notepad. After a moment, she speaks up.]

How can it be that none of us heard anything at all?

[nocasetoobig]

...I mean. They were rooms away...

HERDIN SOME CATS

[nocasetoobig]

[Chip...he's not happy. Not by any means. But he's not...angry at Goofy, even though he hyuckin goofed. He takes a deep breath and...]

Okay, everybody- we know that Goofy found Dipper in the pool, before any of us, then found Merlin in the first aid room and jumped to conclusions. We still don't know why Dipper was in the pool, or how Merlin got wet in the first place, so...let's just. Doublecheck everything, okay?

If someone framed Merlin for it, and made Goofy take the fall...then there's got to be a clue pointing to that, right? The first aid room was a mess, from what Sally said, with a drawer being cleaned out. We know that there was some water going from the pool to the first aid room, too. Some fabric on scissors, but that probably came from Merlin, since...those were what were used to stab him, right? [LOOKING RIGHT AT GOOFY FOR A SECOND BEFORE CONTINUING]

There were a bunch of cleaning chemicals missing from the closet. And...[he glances at Kylo] You said something about poison, right? How would we know how to find that? Like I said, Dipper didn't look like...anything had happened to him aside from...[you know]...but if Donald found some snacks and if they were messed with...

[darthfanboy]

You got close to the child's body. Did his pupils seem dilated? Did his breath smell?

[geomanctic]

Actually-- I know where the chemicals went, too. They were in a pile in the ballroom- with a bunch of sharp things, as well.

That's not all that was in there, either. There was also a blood trail. From the first aid room, to downstairs, it looked like. And....Dipper's journal. [Her calm exteriors cracking, a little. This is all too awful. He was just a kid.]

VOTING TIME

[keyofimagination]

I think you've all meandered about long enough.

[Even he looks a little bored at this point. So, when he takes a drag of his cigarette, his eyes narrow just a bit.]

You have a confession, and you have a culprit. The same rules as last week apply.

[greatwidesomewhere]

But—we haven't figured out the whole story yet! We could be missing something important!

[sentree]

Excuse you, we're not finished, Roddy.

[theduck]

But-- we don't even know what really happened! How are we supposed to vote without the full story?!

[hallotween]

[Goofy]

[forgottenfounder]

Whoa, hold on! We still have some evidence we need to go over!

[Where's your rush, Rod? Oswald's kinda concerned.]

C'mon, give us a little more time?

[coulombslaw]

Wait, hold on! This isn't over yet! We can't end this until we have cleared everything up!

[fairlypushy]

We have a confession and culprit for one murder. I refuse to vote unless we have a culprit for both.

[darnsitall]

Oh no, this really isn't as cut and dry as the first one, is it?

[darthfanboy]

[GOOFY]

[just kinda sideeying all of this rambunctiousness tbh]

[stenchus_rodentus]

I haven't finished my drink.

[goofy_er]

[......

he writes down merlin's name

even though he's, yknow, dead]

[greatwidesomewhere]

[she hates to do this, because it feels like there's something they don't quite understand, yet...

...but she's also afraid that Rod's patience might run out, and the consequences of that could be bad. So she lets out a shaky, frustrated sigh, and writes out:

Goofy.]

[sentree]

[ Some time has passed with all of this and it's suddenly much more tragic than if it had been what they thought. No, it's like a proper Greek tragedy, and Thalia hates this all more and more. A sobbing man, who was actually a good father, in contrast with last week and...what she's familiar with.

There's nothing more they can do.

Goofy

She writes out in Ancient Greek. She doesn't feel like having any more of a headache right now. ]

EXECUTION: The Whole Truth

[keyofimagination]

Goofy has been found guilty for the murder of Merlin. As there seemed to have been some confusion, we'll be providing a reenactment.

[A film projector appears behind the narrator, and he turns to operate it. An image is projected onto wall of the stage, and it is accompanied by a loud and booming voiceover.]

"HOW TO COMMIT A MURDER!"

[The film continues to project, showcasing an image of a large diving board. Goofy disappears from the club floor and appears in the film itself on top of the diving board. His outfit has changed as well. He is clad in a red shirt, a vest, shorts, and a blue hat with a pine tree on it. He looks around confused, scratching his head. Wasn't this supposed to be an execution of some kind? What kind of gag are they trying to pull with him? His curiosity is broken when the voiceover starts up once again.]

"Ah, murder! One of life's most simple pleasures! Many great men have committed it, and many great men have died because of it. But just how does one go about committing this vile act? This one that moves civilizations, makes kings of men, changes the world as he know it? To begin, we must have...a motive."

[Goofy peers around on the diving board. Maybe there's a way to get out of this place here? He looks long and hard, getting down on the diving board, clutching the sides. He peers under the board, around the pool, until eventually, getting up, his clumsiness causes him to trip and fall directly onto the rotted pool cover that appears below. His hat falls off his head and lands on the diving board, as his body horribly rips through the cover. He floats in the pool water, eyes closed, rubbing his head for a moment. The sheer shock of the water would've knocked any lesser man (or boy) out, but Goofy is resilient. Just as he begins to lose consciousness, the voice talks once more.

"Here we have our motive: the accidental drowning of a young child. The pretense established here will allow our murderer to finish off his victim without any hesitation or remorse. Thus, we shall begin the crucial part of the lesson."

[The water disappears around him, and a cartoony blow-dryer dries him off. A robotic arm and hand appear with an old wizard's costume and fake beard, practically forcing them onto Goofy as a dustcloud appears around them. Eventually, the dust settles, showing Goofy in the costume. He struggles to pull it off, as the robotic hand leans back into frame.]

"Here we have our victim, an innocent bystander who attempted to save the drowning boy. Our murderer has stumbled upon them and has assumed the worst. As this murder has not been planned out, he must improvise. You may grab whatever is around you, be it a knife, a gun, even something as mundane as..."

[Scissors materialize into the robotic arm's hand.]

"...A pair of scissors."

[The robotic arm thrusts forward with precision, creating a large open wound in Goofy's chest. It stabs wildly with as much glee as a robot can show, and even cuts away at the costume and the fake beard. Goofy is left standing there, bleeding out and dazed, in his normal clothes and blue wizard's hat. It seems as tough this would be the end of the short, but the voice continues on:]

"Finally, we reach the conclusion of the cartoon, in what is the most important step of the process. Disposing the body. You may do this in any way you wish, but here, we shall simulate our victim falling down a very large pit."

[Goofy staggers about, bleeding, and the floor behind him disappears. He stumbles onto the missing floor, walking onto it as though it hadn't been misting it all. He continues to bleed out, woefully unaware of his current act of defying gravity.

Until he looks downwards.

It is then that he suddenly becomes aware of the missing floor, and lets out a nervous gulp. With one final yell, Goofy drops down into the abyss below him. The loud cartoony yell continues, growing further and further away from the guests as Goofy keeps falling and falling until there is one very loud wet splat.

There is a bonechilling silence, before the Narrator turns to address the audience.]

[keyofimagination]

Pictures of Goofy, a true father to his core. He would do just about everything to protect an innocent child. But when he saw Dipper’s body, he naturally flew into a rage, seeking revenge on the culprit. What he didn’t know is that there was no culprit, and when he found Merlin, his fatherly instincts kicked into full gear…for the wrong person. He now knows that the phrase “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” is especially true…in The Twilight Zone.

[The elevator doors open.]