THIRD TRIAL

[airlockedmods]

[With the announcement and evidence, the doors in the pool area are the next destination for anyone who doesn't particularly want to see what a punishment from PAL would look like (with the exception of Junpei).

Three more greyscale portraits have joined the others this week, Lee, the Champion Comeback, Takumi, the Champion Tactician and Mary, the Champion Twin. Their names and titles are still brightly displayed but the harsh red is a painful contrast to the lively green of the living Champions' podiums.

Kip isn't present this time around and after the argument with PAL about staying with Junpei it'd be more surprising if he was there.]

Welcome, Champions, to the Rose Ceremony. Weed out the true culprit and they'll be eliminated, vote incorrectly and they'll be allowed to go home at the expense of the rest of your lives.

Oh, and don't bore me. I cannot stand being bored.

Comments

[scourgingstars]

Allow me to get the morning's complication out of the way before we proceed with the actual incident itself.

[The absolute picture of calm indifference, Ardyn was a sharp contrast to how he'd been the past few days as he spoke up.]

Earlier I found Junpei in the second floor rest area. Given his condition I initially thought him to be dead, and he was unfortunate enough to have been given the abilities of someone whose blood may not exactly be safe to touch. Until that reverted a moment later, I made an attempt to warn the rest of you to keep your distance.

The point is this; once he was back to normal and the others were taking care of him, I found glitter in the hallway just outside. I suspect I need not outline to most of us what that signifies, or what it means was likely responsible for Junpei's current condition.

[honoraryembryon]

Wait. What happened to Junpei? ... Are you saying that Mai's power could have been given to someone?

[brokencode]

Do we know who had Mai's powers?

[daughterofthemark]

...what is Sir Junpei's condition?

[brokencode]

[After everything that's happened -- after thinking a good friend was dead and seeing him come back to life, only to learn her roommate and friend was dead, not to mention finding a basin of blood and a knife -- Angel was a bit slow to arrive. When she did, she bypassed her own podium (noting Junpei's absence with a pained expression in the process) and settled in beside Rhys.]

I discovered a few things in the bathroom. The sink was covered in blood, to start off, and there were bloody paper towels in the garbage. It... looked like they had been used to wipe something off -- quite possibly the kitchen knife that I found in the back of the toilet.

[desperateprayer]

...Actually...

[ Clarith, who is standing next to Choromatsu right now, will hold up a dirt-covered unitard. ]

...I think it's more likely that towels were used to wipe off someone's hands. Arianna and I found this in the garden. It was buried near the memorials with... With...

[ A deep breath, and then quieter. ]

An organ wrapped up inside.

HEY MODS

[brokencode]

[Now that things have been called into question, someone has realized that they never bothered to investigate the status of the knife. That someone isn't Angel.

Is it clean looking? Bloody? What we got?]

[buddyoldpal]

[ Having pretty much carried Queenie into the courtroom, our buddy old pal Nishitani is currently shirtless. Not by choice, honestly though! Blood washes off hands but it just wouldn't come off his nice shirt. So sad. He might be more choked up about the shirt than the fact he walked into a room full of blood earlier. ]

Right, so we got two bodies, yeah? I dunno about Takumi-kun... and shit, didn't even know Junpei was fucked up, damn. But anyway, I'm the one who picked up Mary-chan and pulled 'er outta the foam pit so if anybody's got questions about that, hit me up.

[ He leans on his podium. You could be less chill, maybe? Maybe? ]

Long story short, looks like Mary-chan got done in by a fucking foam dart. Found the thing rammed in 'er chest pretty good, but that was kinda it. [ He produces the dart, btw, it's a nerf dart. Don't worry, he washed it, too. ]

[honoraryembryon]

... A... foam dart?

[ Wait. What? ]

But foam darts can't kill people, can they?

[scourgingstars]

...Mai's abilities turned replica weapons into usable ones according to what Takumi told me. The one he showed me was a bow, on top of that.

[shikosuki]

[ ...oh ]

I... I think Takumi had a bow that was shooting those.

[brokencode]

[ You mean you washed away valuable evidence? God dammit, Nishi. ]

Wait. The PIPs said Mary d -- [A pained breath escaped her.] died of massive chest trauma. You... aren't saying that a foam dart caused that, are you?

[everylittlesecret]

[So... After the organ has been identified, time to chime up about her own discovery.]

I checked over Takumi's body. For those who don't know what exsanguination means, it's tremendous blood loss. Which... given by the state of his body is not that hard to imagine. His stomach was slashed, but I think the fact that he was stabbed repeatedly in the chest did not help. Probably by that knife Angel found.

[daughterofthemark]

Did his wounds resemble Dame Mikaela's?

[buddyoldpal]

Mind if I ask where he got stabbed? 'Cause we gotta think... Somebody got close enough to Takumi-kun ta stab him over and over like that.

[ Weird but here we go. ]

What if our asshole killer stabbed Takumi-kun and left 'im with Mary so she'd try ta eat him? Takumi-kun mighta been defending himself.

Clothing Check

[brokencode]

[Because there should always be one.]

Can... everyone step toward me and let me see what you are wearing? If a unitard was disovered, it might be pertinent to evaluate everyone's attire at present.

[desperateprayer]

[ Clarith is wearing her nun outfit. ]

[goteachother]

[Sitting here in that saloon girl dress with bloody knees and petting hair ribbons. If you want more than that from her you're gonna have to move her through it.]

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn is wearing the almost not disastrous red and black vest/shirt/pants that his formalwear was replaced with.]

[honoraryembryon]

[ Roland is wearing that shitty, terrible looking suit he got that replaced his formalwear. Just without the cape and hat, y'know. As you do. Look, it's the only not skintight clothes he has. ]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Church is in a unitard today.]

Wound Check

[desperateprayer]

I'm... Sorry to suggest this again. But Angel has pointed out there's tears in the unitard I found in the garden. It could fit most of us, but... Takumi had great aim. I doubt a third party would have gotten out of a fight with him unscathed. I'm... Sorry to ask but... Girls on one side, men on the other, check each other for wounds, please.

[ YOU GUYS GOT THE NUN TO SUGGEST STRIPPING TWO WEEKS IN A ROW YOU NEED JESUS ]

[scourgingstars]

[jesus is already here, he's just also a bunch of demons in a trenchcoat.]

[he's also uninjured.]

[honoraryembryon]

[ He's still going to re-dress before he tries to remember anything. He wants SOME propriety, at least, but...

They're not wrong to be suspicious and he knows that. Roland remains silent for a long moment, his eyes shut--and then he quietly opens his eyes. There's not much in them right now. ... Except maybe what seems to be an incredible amount of tiredness. ]

... I spent most of the night in the bar. I probably shouldn't have been drinking in the first place, but old habits die hard, I guess. I think I left the bar sometime after midnight. I... don't remember when, if I'm being honest. It's too blurry in my mind to get a clear idea of if I even stopped to check a clock.

[ ... However... ]

I do remember seeing Takumi that night, though. He was still patrolling at that time, and I'm pretty sure he was holding something. I didn't... really care enough to see what it was. I honestly didn't think we'd have another situation like Mai's again.

I do know at some point I took my pill after or during all that, but... after that, I'm having a little trouble remembering anything. I do know I woke up in my bed at some point around six in the morning, though, and I was pretty damn hungover. I don't remember seeing Mary at all, until... she was already dead.

[ GAME START. ]

[shikosuki]

...Your pill?

The... "magneton" ones?

[ nice try Choromatsu but no ]

VOTING

[airlockedmods]

Now that we know what's been eating at Roland the last few hours, it's time to vote.

FUCK YOU PAL

[desperateprayer]

[ Clarith... Doesn't say anything this time. She just quietly goes back to her podium to vote. For Mary... ]

> CHAMPION TACTICIAN

[ And then... Takumi... ]

> CHAMPION OF LOKAPALA

EXECUTION: Writer's Block (cw: needles and needle-like things)

[airlockedmods]

[Once all the votes are in, the overhead lights in the courtroom go out, leaving each Champion illuminated by the light coming up from their podium.]

Processing...

[The rose on the front of Takumi's podium lights up, and then begins to move clockwise around the circle, more and more roses lighting up as the lights spin around the circle. Finally, when the lights stop moving, there are 13 roses lit with rich, red light - leaving the six empty podiums, and Roland's, dark.]

Congratulations. The Champion of Lokapala has been found guilty. Now commencing execution.

[Like the weeks prior, in a flash Roland disappears from his podium. He appears on the other side sitting at a large, ornate desk. The chair that he's bound to by both ankles and his non-dominant wrist is less than luxurious, however, given the long, sharp, narrow nails that line the seat and back. There's an IV stand next to the chair, with a branching tube. One end is obviously going into the crook of his elbow, while the other end trails red blood into a fountain pen. The wall behind him lights up with a large digital timer with one minute, and for the first time PAL's voice rings out, amused but somehow still deadpan.]

You know, perhaps it isn't quite fair to punish you for something you can't recall. So here is your chance to redeem yourself, Champion of Lokapala. Write me three thousand words before that drip finishes feeding a strong anticoagulant into your veins. You have one minute.

[The timer starts and the IV starts dripping; Roland begins writing as fast as he can, his face distorted into a grimace of pain as blood pours out over the page. The words become sloppier and sloppier, as more and more blood begins to spurt from the pen, trickling from the IV seated in his arm. Despite the frantic movement of his arm, his body stays completely still, balanced over the nails.

He turns the third page when the timer hits zero and the spotlight drops to blood red. The IV suddenly draws taut and pulls out of his arm. He screams and jerks against the pain, driving the nails into his shoulder. The anticoagulant makes blood spray out ridiculously, and as he thrashes from each new pain the nails drive in deeper, causing more and more wounds. Blood runs underneath the chair, until finally Roland stops struggling.

He leans forward as far as he can and steels himself before slamming his chest back into the nails. Blood sprays from his mouth, running down his chin as he pants in agony, breaths becoming shallower and shallower and head heavier and heavier until his chin lolls forward to his chest and the vital signs monitor on his PIP flatlines.

The lights in the execution chamber go off, the lights in the courtroom come on, and the patio doors unlock with a 'click.'

You're free to go, Champions.]

[scourgingstars]

[This was starting to take a sharp turn for the worst. If this happened again, then-...]

[...]

[It couldn't happen again. That was all it really came down to.]