Fifth Trial

[bathymetric]

[ There's a long while of examination before the Mayor speaks up. There's plenty of evidence to pick up yet again this week, after all. ]

Annnd that's going to do it. Wrap it up and head to the bathyspheres, kids, you've got some business to attend to.

[ The bathyspheres take you all down, down, into the now-familiar dome below the city. The similarly familiar red glow persists until the lights properly turn on - the projection of Fontaine's silhouette is gone, of course, replaced by that same flickering "please stand by" message. But your mayor's voice is still the one that speaks over the increasingly empty circle of podiums. ]

If you somehow need a reminder of why you're here, three of you are dead. Get away with it, killer or killers, and the execution room gets to really work overtime today. But I guess if you wanna live, you should find who murdered three people. Could be important for you guys.

[ Welcome to your fifth trial. ]

Comments

[fuckingguy]

[ This is the trial where it finally hits Nandor, really hits him, that so many of them are gone. He looks around the circle, fiddling with his hands, and for a few moments seems at a loss for words.

But then he sees all the people who are still alive, some of whom are very weak and still not used to looking at dead bodies even after all this time, and he finds enough of a sense of authority to proceed with what he does best: just kind of rambling on in a stupid-ass voice. ]

... So, I will begin with what I have discovered in the course of my investigating. Hild first, then Jonathan. Which is in the opposite order of how I actually investigated them, but, you know, one is a guy's room and the other is a corpse.

Hild was laid out on the stage in the theater. [ He raises his right hand in a fist and indicates the spots where the deep wounds on Hild's body were with an emphatic punch: the heart, the gut, and the left thigh. ] She was stabbed three times with a vended knife — here, here, and here. Based off the body cooling, she had been lying there for several hours when she was found. There were also many smaller cut marks on her arms, possibly from the same knife, though when wounds are so small it is hard to tell... the point being, I do not think she "went down easy", as they say. The damage to her arms looked defensive, and she had someone else's blood under her nails. I could not get any more detail than that, due to the massive amount of demon blood on the stage, but trust me when I say it was not hers. The nearby scenery on the stage also showed signs of stabbing and slashing from a knife, so clearly there was some kind of altercation.

Someone moved her around after she was dead and posed the carcass. Similar to how vampires sleep, actually... like, lying on her back, the hands crossed over the chest and the eyes closed. And, she had this slender chisel [ it's an icepick, he's just pulling an icepick out of his clothes ] in her hand. There was a scrap of white cloth nearby on the stage, looked like it was lightly stained — like there was some blood on there, maybe, and it was washed off but not well. Also, she was wearing jean shorts and that small top with the man's face on it, but I do not know if that is significant or not.

Now. Jonathan's room in Suite 1 was not locked. After being roused from my slumber by the body announcement, I went inside to see what the hell was going on, and I found his key on his desk and this head wrap with dried water stains on his bed. He, or whoever entered his room, left this note in the trash.

[ He holds each item up in turn, setting the first two down on his podium to join the icepick and fabric, and keeping the piece of paper held aloft. ]

I will pass it around after reading out loud, but it is very brief and stained with water, so there is not much to see. "Heading out to meet up"... and then it is too blurry to read... "if something", then another blurry bit, "I'm sorry." And that is all it says. It was written in his own hand.

[ And he goes silent, like he's not sure how to conclude this and simply never picks the thread back up. ]

[inaclearing]

That thing - [He's indicating the ice pick.] - that's from the nightclub! I saw it there last night, behind the bar, but this morning it was gone...

[visiblepattern]

[Forrest takes a moment to just breathe and calm himself; the last time they were here was bad for him, and he's now isolated podium-wise.

But as before, he has due diligence to perform.]

Jonathan's body was found in the nightclub near the bar. He seems to have collapsed in the middle of...well, not having a very pleasant time - he was crying and seems to have been very upset judging by his expression.

From what I can tell, he was poisoned. His lips and fingertips were blue, and the signs we've seen with previous poisonings were otherwise there. He was holding Hagakure's prayer beads, and his other hand appeared to have been wet at one time? He had small bits of paper sticking to the skin on his fingertips, but it was in a fragile, flaky sort of way.

He also had wounds on his neck - a pair of puncture wounds, evenly-spaced. Somewhat in the way carnivorous animals do? They missed anything vital, however, and they seem to have been made after he died. I'm...not sure what that's about.

[fuckingguy]

[ there's a beat, before: ]

Are you fucking shitting me?

[inaclearing]

Uhhhh - here.

[Brett did remember to go and grab the coffee and snacks - apple-cinnamon baked oatmeal cups, courtesy of the restaurant - that he got ready earlier, before everything. But he just sort of shoves them at whoever's nearest him. His hands are still shaky and he doesn't want to spill.

His normal calm demeanor is cracking; he's not crying, but he looks shaken and incredibly on-edge. Still, he forces it down as well as he can.]

Jonathan - he was in the nightclub. I just saw him there last night, I walked back to the dorms with him...why'd he go back there alone -

[The singing, it seems, is also slipping through the cracks.]

Uh, there was a glass that smelled like cyanide. And another one that was clean. Oh, I didn't - I didn't write any of it down -

[He takes out his own notebook, laying it on his podium alongside Jonathan's taser and Jonathan's journal.]

These were there too. And a page ripped out of the journal. It's wet, it isn't all legible, but it says...

"Dear -

Thank you for always being there for us and providing - . I know you have been through a lot and do not deserve to be here but I hope you are able to find peace and eventually - . I will always remember you fondly.

Jonathan Harker"

[And he turns to furiously writing all of that down in his own journal. He has not taken any of the coffee or oatmeal himself.]

[honeyedtea]

What exactly is cyanide...?

[sastruga]

I wonder who he was addressing... I guess there's no way of knowing.

[allatonce]

[Joy comes in and sets a sizable hunk of rock on Dandy's podium. Before anyone can ask about why the fuck she has it, she points and in the tone of someone who is disappointed but not surprised:]

So which of you can break rock off of pavement? Gary is fine, by the way. That's very important, since one of you very rudely went and smashed up some shit in the aquarium.

[visiblepattern]

I would imagine Misfire would be able to, before anyone else here.

Misfire Evidence, part 1! cw: robot gore

[capreelcious]

So... Moon Jellyfish and I found Flying Fish in the fields. He was missing his head and an arm. Looked like someone tore them off him with an applied force instead of bein' sliced off.

He also had a whole pitchfork run all the way through his body, and into one of those fiberglass cows. He was pretty dented up, too.

[ He pauses, trying to remember things. ]

He was definitely dragged through the field from the barn because it was a mess, and there were pink blood drag marks leading into it. There were also smushed veggies on his feet, and when I went to look, some of the pumpkins had a bunch of holes in 'em? And the squashes were well, squashed.

cw: robot gore

[onemillion]

[Flying Fish is Misfire, right... Anyway, Rossiu is also here with poor Misfire's head which he is going to set on Misfire's podium so anyone else can look it over if they want to. Also so he's not just. holding the poor guy's head through this trial.]

I can confirm that; Misfire's head shows signs of being torn off. It was leaking pink in the shallows of the lake where I found it.

[It's no longer leaking said pink stuff, though it is still wet.]

more misfire evidence ft. your good friend cw: robot gore

[sastruga]

Mm. I saw the trail of energon in the barn. And I found... ah... Misfire's arm was in the woodchipper. It was still running when I got there... It looked like... his arm was torn from the socket.

There were also holes in the wall near the woodchipper... right?

[Looking at Mielle briefly for confirmation.]

Like... about the size of the pitchfork.

cw: robot gore

[inaclearing]

[Brett doesn't really say anything, just puts his head down on his podium. Give him like two minutes here.]

[visiblepattern]

...It's possible that I missed something, but I'm a little concerned with how Misfire got from the barn to the field? He was dragged, apparently, yes, but wouldn't it take a good amount of strength to do that?

[inaclearing]

That's a good point. Why bring him all the way out there, anyway?

[asymptotes]

[ And... one reveal later, Drakkon starts to just... laugh. He throws back his head and laughs. If you've ever seen a cartoon, or read a comic book? It's an evil fucking laugh. A supervillain laugh. ]

Ridiculous. All that work, and for what?

I hope you all have more of an argument towards my guilt than a rock.

[ MTB Start! ]

[honeyedtea]

. . . Oh, I refuse to believe I've ever myself sounded so pompous and ridiculous.

[ IS THIS HOW HER EVIL LAUGHS SOUND TO PEOPLE WHO HEAR THEM??? ]

[visiblepattern]

Not to be rude about it, but reacting like this isn't precisely an argument in your favor...

[allatonce]

God, you're so cliché. Seriously? This is like supervillain 101.

[onemillion]

Given what we've worked out so far, the rock is rather important. Someone was in the aquarium making it look as though a fight took place there; this same person was responsible for killing Misfire, and it seems they must have been strong to impale him with a pitchfork.

You fit that profile, and that rock places you at the aquarium.

[...plus, like Forrest said, this isn't exactly inspiring confidence in your innocence here...]

[sastruga]

...The pitchfork was giving you trouble, huh?

[visiblepattern]

...We need to keep moving.

[We've still got someone else to solve for...]

I feel like we've figured out a fair amount about what happened to Jonathan and Hild, but going over it again can't hurt, can it?

[inaclearing]

[Brett's obviously still very upset, but he lets out a sigh. Yeah. They need to move on.]

Jonathan was poisoned by someone who had a drink in the nightclub with him. It must have been late last night, after - [Well. He can't.]

The method's really different from what happened to Hild. It makes me think his murder was planned, but hers wasn't. Maybe she happened across them when they were...trying to frame Nandor?

[everythingeverywhere]

[What a lovely, not at all ominous song you have there, Joy. Oh, I'm sorry: Jobu Tupaki.]

Yeah, I'm not really feeling copying Thomathan or that loser Vholran. Oopsie, I murdered your friends! Get out all your little emotions out and I'll pretend like I care.

[MTB... start?]

[onemillion]

[WELL, THAT'S FINE, PROBABLY.]

Jobu, is that correct? Who... are you, exactly?

[Are you still Joy, are you someone who was pretending to be Joy this whole time... what are we looking at here?]

[bathymetric]

Wow. Look at all this ambition. Well, ambition and unchecked nihilism, but I like to think Jojo's pretty ambitious in her own way.

Time to vote, gang. Up to three votes, however many culprits you want to hold accountable. Majority wins. Love wins. Or not.

[visiblepattern]

>Tommy Oliver
>Jobu Tupaki

EXECUTIONS

[bathymetric]

Annnd ladies and gentlemen, we have a majority. Our two multi-dimensional weirdos, Jojo Chewbacca and Subtractive Mixer, are your culprits. Which means it's time for me to do my job and clean house for you.

[ The shutters lower. Projections on. You know the drill by now. ]

EXECUTION - Forever Green

[bathymetric]

[ Drakkon stands… well, where else would a Power Rangers villain end up but the middle of a quarry? He looks up and around at the walls of stone that tower above him, laughs a little. ]

Come on, mayor! Bring on your fake rangers!

[ And to his call, it seems, the Mayor obliges. In different levels of the quarry, row after row of costumed figures emerge - some from puffs of smoke, some out of the back of vehicles, some teleporting in from elsewhere though science fiction gadgetry.

Drakkon watches them all arrive with a look of slight amusement on his face. ]

This is what happens to the monsters, huh?

[ Behind them land rows and rows of similarly colorful giant robots. The near armada assembled before him is impressive in its sheer scale, back to the horizon. Though… something about it all does look a little cheesy and fake, huh? Guess that’s just part of the genre.

They all strike fighting poses, wordless. A few of them, however, step forward.

Two in yellow and in red are first, and Drakkon starts fighting them. It’s simple hand-to-hand combat. Showy, but no one’s getting anywhere. ]

Hey, kids. Yeah, yeah, sorry about pretending I raised you-

[ He’s still more than a match for them, with his powers. Then more step forward. Two more. Five more. Every ranger he killed, before the whole universe had to clean up after him. The lives he destroyed.

He’s almost relieved to be struck by the arrow, when it connects. When he finally sees the archer, he smiles. ]

Predicable-

[ Is all he manages to get out before the sword pierces his heart, through his back. He never sees himself as the blade is pulled from his chest. But he does see as each and every ranger here, save for the archer higher up, pulls off their mask to reveal another Tommy Oliver.

Lord Drakkon is dead, surrounded by his failure. ]