Fourth Trial

[rech]

[Well today was a disastrous bloodbath, and it's not even half over. But hey, at least Randy seems to be his normal "chipper" self as he does his speech!]

Our tour begins here in this gallery where you gaze upon the sweet innocence of youth. Ah, but things are not always as they seem. Can it be this room is actually stretching? And notice this: this chamber has no windows and no doors, which offers you this chilling challenge… to find a way out.

Of course, there’s always my way.

[As always, there's a lit candle and a voodoo doll to the newly fallen members of your group. Randy, as normal, doesn't seem affected at all by the bloodshed.]

You really know how to spoil a guy, don't you?

[TRIAL START!]

Comments

[hasit]

[Any upward progress Leia might have made, mood-wise, this week is pretty much dashed as she enters the trial room; her podium is becoming increasingly isolated as the weeks wear on, and now there are four more empty spots than a week ago. She's quickly catapulting from 'tired' to 'emotionally exhausted'. But ruminating on how sad and awful this all is isn't going to fix it. It isn't going to bring anyone back from the dead.]

We need to solve this. Some monster murdered four people last night. Two kids, two animals. Whoever it was...I beg of you, step forward now and don't make the rest of us suffer more than we already are.

Otherwise, let's talk evidence.

[notasingleword]

[Ariel reaches over and rests her hand on Leia's arm. She's here for you.]

[faciliheir]

We're starting with the "monster" thing before we know the whole story again, I see. 'Cause that worked out so well last time.

[pinkflip]

[ Kim wants so much to go over and hug Leia, but she looks pretty exhausted herself. And she wants to say something, but- She bites her lip, though, and rubs at her forehead. ]

M- maybe...we should start off with...the state of the... [ oh this feels awful to say ] the bodies.

[nachosquire]

It seriously looked like there was a fight in the art room. Like, everything was knocked over and out of place, and there was a wood carving knife missing from where they're usually kept but it was a mess too, like someone tried to grab it in a hurry.

[Marco flips through his notes, making sure to mention everything he had written down.]


There was also a blood trail leading from Neku's body to one of the cabinets, and there was a pair of scissors missing from one of the shelves.

[athleticallyinclined]

[ OH WAIT HE JUST REMEMBERED he's actually got something useful to contribute.

He pulls the scorched cue ball out of his pocket with a flourish. ]

I found this!

mods?

[not_over_yet]

[ This week, Basil remembers to check those burn marks on the floor. He scrambles up his podium as usual, and takes advantage of the height boost to give their circle a look-over. Are the burns still present, and have they changed since their first appearance? ]

[grimgrinningghosts]

[There are zero alterations to the burn marks.]

MEOW

[nachosquire]

Ooookay, okay. We've done a lot of checks and stuff but nothing's really come up so I think now is a good time for everyone to focus on the evidence again and figure.....ssssomething out.

[Marco pulls up his notebook, flipping through it as he talks.]

Lessee... we know that Rocket had plans for a bomb that he couldn't make as well as he had hoped, and it exploded in the pool room. On top of that, it looks like Remy was either clinging to Rocket's fur when it exploded or pulled some out or something, I don't really know what happened there exactly.

Meanwhile there was a fight in the art room, that resulted in Moana most likely falling on an easel and having it... i-impale her, and Neku with a wood carving knife jammed in his throat and a pair of scissors in his calf.

[flip flip flip]

There's some footprints on the walls, and a pool ball was found in the hall along with a pool cue found in Moana's hand and on the floor.. sooo basically, there's a lot of loose ends that we gotta tie up here.

Firstly, I think we should figure out the order of how everyone died. Moana had the pool cue in her hand and it wasn't scorched, which means she was in there before the bomb went off, right? Let's talk about that, maybe.

[pinkflip]

Are we sure that means Moana died first?

[ Kim's frowning. ]

I've... I've been thinking, you said there was nothing to tie the rooms together, but- where did the scratches on the pool cue come from?

[stanbyme]

Do we know whether she fell onto the easel or...y'know.

[Whether she was knocked into the easels and someone took a broken easel leg and stabbed her.]

hey guys let's have some fun

[pinkflip]

[ It's likely impossible to ignore how Kim is leaning against her podium, hands gripping her head and eyes wide. Those close enough- no, you don't even have to be close to tell she's trembling. And breathing hard. And...murmuring, as she shakes her head back and forth. ]

No. No, no- no, I- I couldn't- I- it can't- b-but I--

[ And...she looks up to face everyone, tears in her eyes and her expression etched with panic. ]

Please, s-someone- tell me I couldn't have done this!

[MTB...Start...?]

[hasit]

Marco...Marco, you said she was in your room last night, right? All night?

[Make this stop? Someone? Please?]

[faciliheir]

[maybe if she just goes completely still and never breathes or blinks again this won't actually be happening.]

[angelgoatdemon]

[He's just going to

fly over to Kim and give her a hug.]

[stanbyme]

[Honestly he's just gonna keep quiet and hold back anyone who needs to be held onto.

Criminy, this is gonna end in Mabel not speaking to him again, isn't it.]

[holdthetrumpet]

[HEY WHEN HE HAD THAT REALLY BAD THOUGHT EARLIER HE DIDN'T WANT IT TO ACTUALLY BE A THING???

But he can't in good conscience tell her she couldn't have when like. She is one of the most capable people here. MmmmmMMMM BOI

he's just gonna look real hard down at his own hands and Not thank u]

[nachosquire]

K-Kim you couldn't-- you wouldn't! I know you wouldn't!

[Marco's trembling too as he says this, even though he knows.. that it's probably in vain.]

Who cares if you're missing a charm! You could have just left it in your room! It doesn't mean anything!

[rech]

[While Randy seems to be having fun most of the trial, he becomes unusually quiet when this outburst from Kim happens. He doesn't even look at her when she has her meltdown.]

cats 2: the cattening

[nachosquire]

[Okay. Well. Kim definitely murdered someone at least and it's more or less messed up.. everyone here. Including Marco, who's been crying silently for the last ten minutes or so. But there's still the matters of the explosion to figure out, and they don't want to make a mistake and get them all killed here so when he feels like he's not just going to cry more, Marco clears his throat.]

K-Kim... sh-she didn't cause the explosion. So we need to figure out who d-did, and who killed Rocket and Remy. Right?

[That's about the best he's got but it's something to get everyone back on track.]

[not_over_yet]

....This bastard did say every culprit, didn't he. [ Those exact words? Basil has no idea, he's too angry.

...But.

But he does have a job, and unfortunately it's not yelling at Randy. Kim's... sorta calmed down, so. Yeah. About that. Murder bullshit. Fine. ]

Anyone who's able to assist in establishing a timeline, I'd appreciate it. Things more or less go explosion then fighting then she returned to her room, yes?

[scrapplinghook]

Um, I dunno if it'll help at all, but I found something too?

[Mabel's usually uncharacteristically quiet during trials, but with everything going on... she's gotta speak up.]

There was a banged up picture from the art room outside the art room! It looked like it was hit by something really hard!

VOTING

[rech]

...Well.

[unusually deadpan:]

You’ve all had your fun. It’s time once more for our ritual to conclude, so please put down the name of your desired target.

[angelgoatdemon]

[You know what he's going to shove Negaduck aside and misvote on his behalf]

>Negaduck.

EXECUTION: Goodbye So Soon

[rech]

Well I see that almost all of you have voted correctly… almost.

[He eyes Negaduck and Lekmet.]

I’ll get to you later, don’t you worry.

[He suddenly turns around as the trial room is plunged into darkness. He is clearly not going to watch this execution.

After a few moments the light comes back on and Kim is on the stage. She all four limbs tied with four separate beasts holding on each rope: pterodactyl on one arm, a crane on another, disturbing mannequin gymnasts on one leg, and a white tiger on her other leg. Kim immediately tries to struggle out of the ropes but it’s not long until the beasts start pulling.

They pull hard on each of her limbs and Kim lets out a yelp in shock. She tries even harder to yank herself out of the bonds but the ropes get tighter and tighter as the beasts pull on her limbs. It’s clear that it’s becoming incredibly painful but Kim tries her hardest to keep a brave face.

And then the white tiger successfully pulls a leg off and she shrieks in pure pain and terror. Blood starts pooling around the stage and Kim can’t focus on anything but the pain. The pterodactyl then tears off an arm and Kim is now openly sobbing. She wanted it to just end, for Randy to just get it over with and kill her.

Finally, the gymnasts and birds tear off her final leg and arm. The beasts look at Kim’s screaming and sobbing torso for a moment before calmly leaving the stage. She lies there in a pool of her own blood for a few minutes as her sobbing and screaming gets slower and quieter until she just… stops.]

Farewell, old friend.

[The curtains close on the stage. Randall takes off his hat, solemnly.

Then he snaps his fingers.]

EXECUTION: Trust In Me

[rech]

[When Randall snaps, the smell of paint thinner fills the room.

A panel below Negaduck's podium opens up, and he is left standing for just one second. Just one, as if suspended by some cartoony force. That's before he looks down. Negaduck rolls his eyes - really, that's the best you've got for him, Randy? You're so showy, you can do better than this. Where's the gunplay and the car crashes and the violence? He's about to open his mouth to audibly complain, make some snarky comment, something.

Then gravity does it's job.

Negaduck plunges down into the panel below, and a splash of unidentifiable green liquid, bubbling and churning, is sent upwards. If inspected, it will smell and feel like just...paint thinner. But looking down into the hole he fell through will reveal that Negaduck appears to have melted in it, a swirl of yellow, white, orange and yellow mixing into the green.

A red fedora floats to the top. If somebody wants to wear that, that's on them.]

He was very showy. For those of you who are perhaps complaining that the others were more graphic, he would have enjoyed that too much.

[He takes off his hat, solemn.]

Now, unfortunately. There is the matter of misvoting. This is against the rules, and there must be punishment.

Thus...

MASS EXECUTION: Friends On The Other Side

[rech]

Mass Execution.

[The room goes dark. Pitch black.

The shadows about you are moving. You feel cold, everywhere.

The drums start.]

ARE YA READY?

[memotome]

[...there's a voice, from seemingly nowhere.]

Wait, wait. Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait.

[Light suddenly fills the room. There are shadows everywhere, some poised and ready to strike out at the competitors with daggers, some seemingly content to sit back and watch. But the unique trait that all of them share is the fact that they're now all screaming, slowly disintegrating into nothing.

A new figure appears from a cloud of smoke next to Randy, obviously pissed.]

I'm not ready at all, Randy. That's - that's not an ending. Are you kidding me? You - I. Ugh. Okay. With your rules and...oi, look. You gotta let em off the hook. I mean, just because the Jesus Goat misvoted, you're gonna execute all of them? That's - gimme a break, okay? Where's the suspense? The anticipation? I'm - I'm not buying it, kid. You've got a lot to learn about showmanship.