THIRD TRIAL

[bathymetric]

[ Two bodies this week. As a result, it's a little longer before Mayor Fontaine's voice calls out over the loudspeakers. ]

All right, that'll do, all of you. Get to the bathyspheres. Trial time.

[ There's fewer bathyspheres this week, aren't there? It's starting to get really noticeable. One by one, alone or in pairs, you descend into the depths. The bottom of the seafloor, a place no human life was meant to travel to unassisted. It's dark, until it isn't, the same bio-luminescent slugs as before lighting up the area and revealing the great glass dome in which the trial takes place.

Within, three more podiums have gone dark. They remain empty as you all gather around into the circle.

The projector clicks on, and you see the silhouette of Mayor Fontaine above you. ]

We all know why we're here. Florida Man and Cryptobro got themselves got. Up to you to figure out who did it, or... well, you know by now.

[ Welcome to your third trial. ]

Comments

WHO SAID LOVE COULD EVER BE LUCKY AT ALL, BABY? (hagakure body evidence)

[bootyhunter]

[Dandy arrives in the trial room, his pompadour at half-mast, looking pretty disheveled overall. His face is surly and that foul of mouth of his twisted into a thin line, and his own slinky frame is covered in pink blood from the neck downwards. It's all over his shoes, pants, and shirt in messy streaks. There are handprints on his slacks on account of... Him wiping his hands off on them?! Disgusting. For any particularly observant characters, it will be obvious that Dandy's signature necklace is no longer on his person, and stacked alongside the alien hunter's non-functional communicator bracelet are Hagakure's prayer beads.]

Alright.

[He steps up the podium with his Dandy game face on.]

I'm not really down to beat around the bush today, baby, so... Here goes.

He had five big-time boo-boos, the bonehead!

[is he really serious is he serious right now?! he is butt i also am writing space dandy. just one time i would like to play a character who speaks normally!!! anyway]

Two stab wounds on either side of the chest, and three in the stomach. Whoever went for it really freakin' went for it. Seems like when they were goin' all stabby-stabby, they weren't really tryin' to get a clean hit, just a lot of 'em. They also left him there to bleed out all over the floor. Classless piece of shit! At least put him outta his misery fast enough? Fuck! Anyway.

When I looked at his face, I...

I saw somethin' kinda freaky. Same kinda deal was all over his hands, too.

[He neglects to note how wretched he felt. All the sentimental and emotional beats- This is not the time or place, and there is also another body, whom he wishes to be respectful towards. Dandy is not one to grieve or weep openly, as he's been around for long enough that tears, especially of the non crocodilian variety... Are hard to come by.

He certainly cried today.

But at least for now, Dandy has managed to wipe his face dry.]

I'm no doctor or nothin', but I spend most of my time back home on a crusty old spaceship that's gettin' up there in age. Which means I've seen my fair share of blow-ups and gas leaks- This looked like kinda similar. Almost like he'd been hit by shrapnel, but there was nothin' lodged in any of those places.

Weird!

[Dandy then runs his dirty hands through already tousled hair.]

Oh, and uh... One more thing.

[Dandy wrinkles his nose at this. It's clear this fact in particular bothers him a lot.]

His hands had that purple stuff on 'em, from the... Eh.

Plasmids? Power-ups, those things. Before I could get him to stop actin' like an idiot, he stabbed himself with one of 'em, so I know he's been messin' around with those abilities all week. He picked the one that gave ya ESP.

And, uh... Finally, Or what-the-hell ever?

His hair looked like it just been on fire. Trust me! I would know- Turns out hair gel is pretty dang flammable, baby.

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan doesn't have any evidence to offer, but he still became prepared this time around. He has brought sandwiches and cakes for everyone, as well as water and some hot tea. For those who need more general comfort, he also brought some blankets and a penguin plush. He calmly places the items on his podium.]

If you have not eaten before the trial, I recommend everyone take something, even if you do not feel hungry.

[onemillion]

I investigated the lobby and found a barricade made up of the furniture found around the lobby. To be more accurate, it was half a barricade, as the other half was ashes. Someone clearly came through the lobby doors wielding those fire powers - because those were entirely burnt down. The hinges were partially melted and there was a large pile of ash to account for both the doors and half of the barricade.

[Here's the mod comment describing the layout if you're struggling with spatial awareness like me!!!]

[pairtner]

We have two cases to solve today. Don't let yourself be swayed by despair. If we take this piece by piece, the cases can be solved. I will now provide the findings related to Jason Mendoza's case.

[Aiba displays a map of the church. Don't ask me how it looks like because I have no idea, haha]

I have marked the location of Jason's body. As you all can see, it was located quite some distance from the scorching marks from, presumably, an explosion. There also were no signs on the body he ever was hit by the explosion itself -- or perhaps it was a kind of explosion that wouldn't release a shockwave or a heatwave.

Jason displayed signs of having consumed some of the Mayor's plasmids. [Injected, but yeah, same thing] Both of his hands showed effects: his left hand had an artificial plastic appearance, while the right hand smoldered with fire coming from inside.

Other points of note involving fire are present on his pants and the bottom of his shoes. [Aiba shows her memories of those] Determining the exact source was impossible at the time -- it could be from his own fire powers, or perhaps from the explosion.

Finally...

[Aiba shows a picture of a blackish scrap of fabric, scorched as well]

There also was this clue. After comparing with Jason's clothes, I determined it is not a match. There's a chance this belongs to the culprit.

[This scrap of fabric was physically brought to the trial, yup]

[sastruga]

[...She'll go ahead and take some water for herself and some tea she'll be brining back to Mielle.]

Thank you, Harker-san. That's very thoughtful of you.

rip jason who died as he lived: like a molotov cocktail (cw: needles/addiction)

[allatonce]

[Joy's eating nachos when she walks into the trial room, looking a little full-on Carrie from dealing with Jason's body. Unfortunately, she has evidence this time, so. You know. She sets the nachos on the podium.]

So Jason was in the church. He's like twice my weight so I had some issues when making sure he was actually dead, hence all the goddamn blood. No, I didn't change. You can all deal with it. Three stab wounds here, here, and here [She indicates on her own body.] of relatively clean persuasion. Probably not someone super trained? They seem to have ended up near his heart by accident, not on purpose.

[What else? This is the worst. Pour one out for Forrest, man.]

Aiba said his hands were still juiced up from the Plasmids he took, but I couldn't find an evidence he was, like, addicted to them or anything. I'm thinking that means it was just not long after he died that I found him. Hadn't burned out of his system yet. Some evidence of burns on his arms, but Aiba looked at that more thoroughly. I don't know, man. I was not up for finding another body this morning. I just wanted nachos.

[pairtner]

Jason might have used his fire. There's no guarantee it was him, but so far we know he wields fire abilities.

[It's possible someone else here in this room does as well, maybe? Checking people's hands to find out could be a good idea, hm...]

[capreelcious]

Geez, so whoever wanted in really wasn't givin' up, huh?

[onemillion]

Yes, I thought that was the one he had.

[Though it sounds like he also had a second one... Wild.]

For those of you who took the Plasmids, do you still have your abilities?

[visiblepattern]

Because I know this came up last time, the only piece of clothing I've finished and delivered that was black was given to Rossiu. Everything else that may be black is something I've been struggling with this week, and so haven't been delivered yet.

[dullshooter]

Okay - first of all, Hagakure's dad? Probably not an alien robot. I checked; thought I should clear it up in loving memory.

[Moving on.]

I checked out the arcade and found a bunch of busted up cabinets, like they'd been scorched or otherwise brutalised. They were all somewhere between the door and some scattered blood on the floor. It was bright pink, so no prizes for guessing whose it was.

[visiblepattern]

I don't, as of this morning.

[onemillion]

Apparently not. Given the construction of the barricade, it would have served its purpose and would have kept someone out... if they didn't have the power to burn it down, of course.

[bootyhunter]

Hey, I can't say I see any, baby, but... Is there liiiiike...?

[He's squinting at that piece of fabric- Yes, with the exact idiotic expression in the icon.]

Any hair or sweat on that thing?

[Mostly, he is trying to learn from Obi's trial! And all that running around they did with the piece of clothing.]

[capreelcious]

Nnnnope.

[fuckingguy]

So, I guess I could go into the church without issue this whole time.

[ This is the lead-in Nandor chooses! He looks very mad about it, but also he has an empty podium to either side, so maybe just let him nag for a moment, as a treat. ]

Anyway, someone made a fucking mess in there! I did not examine the body closely myself, as there were no bloody weapons lying about, but there were signs of a big fiery explosion in the middle of the floor... in that there were scorch marks on the floor and burnt and blown-up pews all around. So, pretty cut and dry. They were smoldering whilst we did our investigation. Closer to the front of the place than Jason's carcass—

[ he says "cahcahze", i'm so sorry ]

—and then there was a smaller scorch mark on the ceiling nearby also. Kind of looked like the scorch marks outside the church. I checked the floor for gunpowder or the signs of a bomb, but it was not to be... got soot and ash all over my fucking clothes for nothing.

[onemillion]

I can confirm this, though I unfortunately didn't bring it with me.

[He wasn't going to risk getting that ruined by blood???]

[fuckingguy]

[ NODS SOLEMNLY...... ]

[bootyhunter]

When you say blood, you mean Yasuhiro's, right?

[Dandy is holding his right wrist with his left hand. Mostly, he is trying to restrain himself from getting visibly agitated with how "loving memory" seems!!! To have been said with such little meaning.]

And by that I mean pink.

I just wanna make sure we're all in the clear, here.

Was there any red mixed in with it?

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan is... genuinely surprised by this reaction. He sort of assumed that Mafuyu did not appreciate his presence after previous trial encounters.

But... he was not one to hold a grudge, especially when she's still a child who is being forced to witness such death. Soon, Jonathan gives Mafuyu a gentle smile.]

It was the least I could do. I have realized that Fontaine refuses to provide any of us provisions even as he forces us to be kept her for hours on end without even allowing us to have breakfast. If he doesn't want to provide the care everyone here deserves, I decided that it would be for the best to take it into my own hands.

[giddyundertaker]

How thoughtful of you, Harker...

[ Gonna nom on a sammich for now. ]

... Is the penguin part of the evidence?

[allatonce]

Oh. Yeah, Jason probably caused that.

[She's back to eating her nachos.]

[hotpaprika]

What kind of horrible person would desecrate a church like that...

[This is said more to himself.]

[dullshooter]

[Sorry Dandy, casual detachment is his thing.]

Nah, just pink. It was definitely Hagakure's.

[pairtner]

I scanned and analyzed it upon finding it. There's none. Any traces that could be usable were destroyed by the fire, most likely.

[It was most likely an incidental thing instead of intentional, but yeah, no hair or sweat she could work with, yup]