Taking Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

And a while after that strange, dark floor is accessed, after you've had time to look things over and get some idea of what's happening...well. There won't be any sort of official announcement to tell you to get downstairs, nor will there be a personal invitation for you to do so. Instead, the doors at the end of the corridor (were they there before? You find that you don't remember. It doesn't matter anymore, though-) slide open, as they always do, and the elevator ride to the courtroom is probably the first familiar thing that's happened all day. It's smooth and quick, though it seems to take a bit longer than it usually does. And when the doors open at the end of the line, the courtroom looks different. The dark, weirdly cylindrical room is largely the same in and of itself, but the usual twenty-seven podium circle is gone; instead, there's a smaller setup in the center of the room - ten podiums total, and you'll likely find the way your spots have been distributed to be very familiar indeed. Of further notice is the balcony - there's a structure that wasn't there before in view of the courtroom, situated high above, barred-in by a railing that'd probably be at about waist-height on your average person; there's no one up there just yet, however. There are so few of you now. It seems that today there are no speeches to give; maybe the Kingmaker is absent, maybe he just doesn' have anything to say. Either way, however, the implication in the fact that you're here at all is clear. For one last time, make the guilty take responsibility.

Comments

[sleepingkogoro]

If that is correct then...hmmm...

The former King is thrown away by the new King, according to Black-kun's notes. The Kingmaker here doesn't seem to like Ambitious very much.

I suppose it's not much of a stretch to think something happened to Ambitious and a certain Kingmaker is to blame.

[goodforsomething]

Inspector, please! Use the man's title!

[sleepingkogoro]

Sure, that seems like a good idea.

[It isn't. Let's piss off our captor every five seconds, that is bound to end well]

[goodforsomething]

[YOLO]

[penduli]

The new king can do whatever they want with the old king. If Pretentious and Ambitious didn't get along, I'd assume he was disposed of, yes.

[ .....yes he's going to start using that title instead of Kingmaker now, it's suitable. ]

[isafraid]

Makes sense. Doesn't sound like the two of them got along.

[Which is nice. Then again, Ambitious also sounds like a dick.]

[notjustawriter]

[Hmmmm.]

So it sounds like Ambitious tried to do something to the Kingmaker, or vice versa.

If the Kingmaker was from the game before ours, maybe he tried to take over for Ambitious, and Ambitious, being a warmonger, didn't take kindly to it?

[garudynamic]

I also gotta wonder why anyone would take over if they won. I mean once or twice? Yeah maybe someone crazy enough to want to see people suffer would. But I mean... a LOT of us would want to kill the Kingmaker if we were allowed. What if killing them auto makes you replace them?

That would make ME hate the whole thing pretty fast, that's for sure.

[isafraid]

Getting stuck like that would probably make you want to end it all something quick!

km page

[garudynamic]

Guess it can't hurt to ask? Might give us a clue on how to stop the game from restarting too.

[He's kinda shy asking the KM stuff now, but hey]

Kingmaker- is it possible for the game to end with no winner and no Kingmaker?

[kingmakereffect]

Focus on the trial. You're doing a terrible job of that, as usual.

[garudynamic]

[Oh he's just vibrating in rage now]

Oh so sorry for thinking of what happens after this bullshit.

[penduli]

We need to focus on getting to the "after" part of this. That's all he's saying. [ ...probably.

he's an asshole though, he could just be being an asshole. ] We need to figure all this out like we've done for everyone else's trials—like we did for mine.

[garudynamic]

Won't matter if we end up just playing the story out all over again. Just figuring things out and playing it how he wants is what got everyone else 'killed'.

[He can't aim his rage at Black, but there's a sullenness in him anyways]

...sorry.

[He just puts his head down on the podium and stops talking all together]

[notjustawriter]

....hang in there, Yosuke.

[amygdalae]

We'll do our best to figure it out, just as we always do every other time.

[isafraid]

Easy, Youske. It's all about getting one done before the other.

[.... He gets it though. He's giving him a sympathetic look.]

It's gonna be up to us whether someone dies in the end here.

[penduli]

[ ... ]

We're putting this on for him this time though, and he's letting us. [ Even if Yosuke's not gonna talk back, he's here to say something. And... to hesitantly set a hand on the back of Yosuke's head, exhaling softly. ] Everyone else got "killed" because they took responsibility for their actions.

It's no different now—it's just not one of our own for this trial. [ god this sounds like such bs, really— ] There's nothing to apologize for, anyway. Just cool off and put your brilliant mind to good use when you can think a little clearer.

[ ...god he is trying his best here ]

[goodforsomething]

It'll be fine, kid. We'll pin him!