first trial

[airlockedmods]

[With the announcement, the Champions are free to decide amongst themselves what order the groups leave in. Once that's done the process of teleporting is automatic and happens in the blink of an eye. Once second they're in the center of the cafeteria before a soft blue light surrounds them and then they're standing in the middle of a circle of podiums.

The room itself it the same shiny, chrome-covered atrocity as most of the rest of the ship save for the sections of floor that aren't the teleporter: those are thick clear glass that show nothing but empty space and stars beneath the Champions' feet. As for the podiums they're the same sort of garish chrome with a digital screen facing toward the center of the circle. The screens each have a name and title associated with a Champion written in green block letters, all save for Chloe Price, the Champion of Max Caulfield, Miki Naoki, the Champion Support and Chitose Karasuma, the Champion of Mediocrity. Theirs are a striking red and, floating above their podiums, are greyscale portraits framed in some kind of bold, mechanical-looking frame.

The Overseers are waiting when they all arrive, standing on a floating platform just high enough to be out of reach and back far enough toward a far wall to have a full view of the courtroom. Both are dressed well, Rox in a pressed grey dress jacket and skirt and Blaze in a black suit with the sleeves rolled up to expose his numerous tattoos.Rox is again the one who speaks up.]

Welcome, Champions, to the courtroom! Twenty of you have entered, but - in the best case scenario - only nineteen of you will leave. The goal here is to compile the evidence that you've gathered and figure out who the killer is. Once you think you have an answer, we'll call a vote where you'll use the podium in front of you to vote on the title of the Champion who you all agree has broken the peace. If you're correct, the culprit will be executed and the rest of you will be allowed to go back upstairs. If you're wrong, however, the killer goes free and the rest of you take the punishment in their place.

There's no time limit, but we reserve the right to call for a vote if things drag on too long. Now let the first trial begin!

Comments

VOTING TIME

[theoverseeing]

[While you're all having fun down there, Rox will clap her hands for attention.]

Well done, Champions! If you're ready, you can use your podiums to vote for the person or persons responsible for Mediocrity and Support's deaths.

...oh, and you should make sure to vote correctly. You won't get another chance.

[photoshooter]

But--but they were both accidents! N-neither of them meant to hurt anybody!

[theworldsliveliestcorpse]

Oi. What happens if we don't vote correctly?

[Because Zombina is seriously considering putting Chitose down as her own killer.]

[theoverseeing]

You'll be punished.

[playthedamncard]

I know you like to twist or otherwise ignore your own rules, but rule seven--the rule that leads us to an investigation and this game show trial--refers to murder. Murder is premeditated. Lucina's case was an act of self-defense. Tsurugi's was a more complicated case, but it can be argued that if he was in a fugue state, it may not have been 'him', nor can we prove it was premeditated.

A murder is death, but death need not be murder.

So I pose the question: does rule seven count for any non-Overseer death, or specifically murder?

[in4apounding]

[Yeah, that gets her to perk up just a little. Just a second of hope. She looks between Kaiba and Rox and Lucina, waiting to see how this plays out.]

[theworldsliveliestcorpse]

[You go Kaiba-kun! Zombina'll shoot him a proud look.]

[batfortheprincess]

[Looking over with interest...]

[theoverseeing]

Rule Seven applies to the death of any Champion caused by another Champion.

[titularly]

[You know what. Rather than asking questions or even trying to stall for time, Osomatsu just does as told and puts in votes for both Lucina and Tsurugi.

And then he moves to sit down on the ground in front of his podium as he waits for it all to finally end.]

[karappo]

[Karamatsu listens to the people around him, yelling about having to vote, protesting it all. Lucina is right by him, asking what their punishment might be if they don't vote correctly.

And that's just it, right? Fucked if you do, fucked if you don't.

He lurches, staggering, and drops his elbows onto his podium, his head in his hands.

...he doesn't want to die. Not for real.]

[challengesfate]

[There isn't enough time to convey how thankful Lucina is for the kindness of the people she had met here. Not just now, but...before the death began. So many people had been so good and kind, in their own ways...she can never repay them. She couldn't ever even if she had lived.

So she returns to her podium in resignation.]

...I thank you all for...trying to fight for us to live. Truly, I do. But...none of you should be punished. Please...keep yourselves alive. Defy the fate that has been handed to you.

[It takes a bit of struggling, but

CHAMPION EXALT

CHAMPION SCORPION

And she looks up at Rox Petuu with a ferocious, unrestrained hatred.]

If you really do take my father one day...if you harm a hair on the head of any Ylissean...I swear, I will claw my way from the depths of Hell and take up Falchion to end your life. Is that clear?

[theoverseeing]

[Whatever, looks like she just got a text.]

[playthedamncard]

Lucina.

[But what is there to say? She didn't do this deliberately. She didn't know what she was capable of, but this...?

Kaiba hasn't shown off how dramatic and room-commanding and scene-stealing he can be, so he marches from his podium, over to the center of the circle, paying no mind to the vastness of space beneath him. His gestures are severe and sharp and purposeful as he addresses the room.]

She's absolutely right. This game, this trap, was built with an endgame in mind: to crown one Ultimate Champion, while the rest suffer and die. That is the fate we've been given. That we are to become desperate and paranoid, to shed blood for fun, as if we are nothing more than mistreated dogs, ready to tear out throats of those we would otherwise help.

But they do not get to tell us what the future holds! There is no seeing into our lives a day, a week, a month ahead, and they cannot declare to know how this will end. No one truly has that power, not to tell you what to do with your lives!

We make our own futures! We carve out our own destinies! We take fate, and we grind it into the dust of the past!

We will defy this fate, defy the Overseers, defy the rules, and we will live our lives knowing we bested what we were told was inevitable. We will rise up to be better than they expect us to be! We will rise!

[quadjumps]

This--this isn't fair! It wasn't Lucina's fault and Tsurugi wasn't even his goddamn self!

[ he's not voting. his hands are trembling from where he's standing on his podium, chitose's portrait next to him. ]

[immaculacies]

[...Anyways, Manaka doesn't care.]

> Champion Exalt

> Champion Scorpion

[And then she just folds her hands in front of her skirt, bows her head, and waits for everyone else to likewise cast their votes.]

[discalibur]

[One part of this is easy. Easier than it should be, maybe.

> Champion Scorpion

...Filling out Lucina's is harder. She doesn't... She doesn't deserve this. She didn't even try to kill someone, it just happened while she was defending herself. That's different. And it's not right.

...But Lucina has made her decision. Just like he made his.

There's no changing that now.

> Champion Exalt.]

I... I'm sorry...

[It's all he can say. It's not enough, it can't ever be enough, but it's all he has.

The one fear holding him back is the realization that he won't get to see Mika again. She already has her brother with her.]

[le_mat]

[he's been listening to this. It's too late to try and form a united no voting front. And if they screw up they all die.

It's a matter of numbers. But... ]

No.

[lovecolored]

[ Marisa waits for literally as long as possible to cast her vote. Funny, she normally didn't have a problem shooting innocent people out of the sky, but this whole thing just made her feel sick to her stomach. ]

Lucina, Tsurugi...sorry for this. Neither of ya really deserve it. Thanks for bein' a friend, even if we only talked a few times.

>CHAMPION EXALT
>CHAMPION SCORPION

[batfortheprincess]

[It takes a while before he looks at the podium. It takes even longer for him to make a decision, but they don't really have many choices here. And so.]

> Champion Exalt
> Champion Scorpion

...I'm sorry. [He's not strong enough to do anything else.]

[theworldsliveliestcorpse]

[Zombina is glaring at Rox as she votes. God, she doesn't want to do it, but Lucina and Tsurugi gave the okay so.... Zombina is hitting the podium as hard as she can when mashing the votes in.


> Champion Exalt
> Champion Scorpian

once she's done, she promptly flips off Rox with both hands.... A few fingers might be crooked now.]

Fuck you Shark-chan. Fuck you with an rusty spork.

[theundertaken]

[Max, for his part, eventually leaves Prompto's podium to make his way back to his own. He never thought he'd take part in something like this, but...]

> Champion Exalt
> Champion Scorpion

[One more person safe. One more vote in the pool.]

[unhappylittletrees]

[When Jamie finally makes it back to his podium he's nauseous and shaking. He doesn't want to be responsible for the deaths of two people who didn't even mean to do what they did, one who didn't even know-

But then he remembers Cindy, his big sister who will be dragged into this same hell if he doesn't do this and his stomach clenches.]

> Champion Exalt
> Champion Scorpion

Lucina? ...I get it, why you stayed quiet.

[andjerry]

[he listens and listens to the others fight and knows there's only one way that this can end. after what he said to Akira, not doing it himself would be wrong, and there might already be a majority. so he types out his votes:]

CHAMPION EXALT

CHAMPION SCORPION

I wish this hadn't had to go this way.

[he wishes a lot of things]

[dejabrew]

[Bolton hates this. He hates the idea of sending two people to their deaths for something that wasn’t their fault.]

Lucina. Tsurugi. Tell me what I can do for you. What we can do to remember you.

>Champion Exalt
>Champion Scorpion