SEVENTH TRIAL

[bathymetric]

[ After a while, Davy Jones comes and collects you all again. It's a much quicker trip than he's ever had to take for you all before. You all fit so easily into the elevator in the theatre now, don't you?

As he plays the song that takes you down, even Jones seems tired. But the elevator certainly isn't, moving just as dramatically into the depths of the ship as it ever has. You now know all the floors it passes on its trip down to the trial room, don't you?

And none of you even know that this is your last ride down. The end is coming. But that's for later, and not quite yet for all of you.

The crew of the Dutchman is... different, somehow, this week. There are more figures aboard, and they're all singing, well. Maybe Scott was right, that first week. ]

Ye know what to do, passengers.

[ Jones moves to the wall to look out at his ship, scowling.

The podiums are waiting.

Welcome to your seventh trial.

Comments

[scythegun]

[Hmm...]

Why are these taped closed?

[That seems weird and also it's in bold text???]

[scouserer]

So they don't fall out in my pocket. You wouldn't believe the amount of times I've stuffed a box of cigarette into my coat and a few of those buggers fell out. Then it's a mad search for my pockets to find a lint-covered cigarette that's weeks old.

[He says this quite casually.]

Are we done, now?

[scythegun]

You don't mind if I take a look inside just to confirm, ja?

[scouserer]

You'll only find cigarettes in there, but be my guest.

[You wanna open this, Yeager?]

[scythegun]

[this is somehow just as ominous as a mod-bolded "are you sure" comment........ but hell yeah, of course he's gonna open it!!]

[scouserer]

[Yeager opens the box, and finds....cigarettes! As Constantine promised. There's no amulet in here or anything.

...

But of course, there's one problem--these aren't fresh. Even though Yeager doesn't smoke, he can probably tell that these are just stubs. Days old, from the looks of it.

Constantine, for his credit, does not look away from Yeager. His trademark, smug expression does not leave his face.]

Like I said.

[cethflayn]

...

[Closes her eyes. Breathes in.

Would these be about similar to the stubs she found outside the photo lab?]

[scouserer]

[They would, yes.

Constantine does not look at Flayn.]

[cethflayn]

[Breathes out.]

Look at me, John Constantine.

[scouserer]

[Constantine does not turn.]

Usin' my full name. My, my. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were tryin' to be me mum.

[jibunwo]

...Did you-

[No way. Who the hell would think of that? Lelouch wouldn't even think of something that galaxy brained.]

Did you frame yourself?

[sivard]

Daaamn!

Melchior himself wouldn't stoop so low!

[scouserer]

[Constantine cocks his head to the side. His expression may be smug, but his eyes seem vacant.]

What do you think, Lelouch? You think I'd be as stupid to do that and guarantee my own conviction?

[jibunwo]

You really want to play that game with me, John? Because I've gotten very tired of you seeming to presume I'm some stupid child.

I think you'd be exactly that stupid specifically to throw people off your trail. No one really thought you or Magica did it, not even when you leveled that accusation against her ignoring your own incriminating evidence.

People trust you. So of course you would make it look like something we didn't want to believe.

[scythegun]

[Given that he's seen Constantine smoke a few times and he knows enough to know that these don't look like the usual ones...]

These are a little shorter than usual, aren't they? I'm fairly sure that unused ones wouldn't look like this...

It would be a pretty good diversion to leave evidence pointing at yourself, though, wouldn't it?

[scouserer]

It would.

[The smirk does not leave his face.]

I had no doubt in my mind you'd all eventually figure it out, though. For your credit.

[sivard]

Well, you were right.

Turns out, I shouldn't have trusted you after all. In hindsight, it was obvious the moment you pointed the finger at Magica.

[scythegun]

Going off to handle things yourself? I thought we agreed that we needed to be careful in how we act.

[He doesn't sound disappointed though, or even all that upset. Just a brief incline of his head as acknowledgement; you can have these back.]

[ahelpingpaw]

What...? Are you--what?!

[That's a confession, isn't it?]

[magycks]

[ Anyway, this is no longer a gagtag icon, Magica's bolted from her podium and is running full-tilt at him while growling in the back of her throat! From the Yeager side, because while he might stop her he's at least only one guy. ]

[jibunwo]

[JESUS CHRIST MAGICA]

[...he's gonna try to grab her but also, it's lelouch, so]

[scouserer]

Oh, bloody hell--

[He jumps back from Magica, trying to put some distance between himself and her! And if he can't do that, he's just going to...gently keep her at bay with his legs.]

Hey! Hey!

[magycks]

HEY? You've had this coming from moment one! You planted evidence on the crime scene to frame me! You stole my feathers, you accused me of murder after I wasted all this time not killing anybody — also, how long were you even keeping those?! I'm going to rend you limb from limb, you—

[ She's not even pulling the switchblade out or anything, though, it seems like her strategy is "claw up his legs like a cat attempting to climb someone." ]

[cethflayn]

[I mean thank goodness it's not from Flayn's side because she is not getting between this duck and the source of her rage]

[scythegun]

[lmao he's not doing anything, fight fight fight!!!]