Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

And after a given amount of time, those elevator doors at the end of the first-floor corridor open up; as it was last week, the ride down is smooth and quick-moving, even if there are less of you this week. (Technically, you're only down by one in the elevator; Bruce has ensured that Pearl is with you in some way, albeit unconventionally and by the grace of Ziploc.) However, when the doors open up to the podium circle standing in the middle of that black void of a courtroom, there's no mistaking the fact that there are fewer people present than there were last week – Kamui and Pearl have joined those with podiums draped in black, their framed profile portraits watching the proceedings in shades of grey. It's still impossible to tell exactly where the Kingmaker is watching the proceedings from, though it's obvious that he is; he'll wait until everyone is settled before he speaks, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "Devoted has been taken from you. All of you know what the stakes are now, but this happened anyway – looks like someone's determined. Whether they succeed or not is up to you." Twenty-four Survivors remain. We'll see how many are still standing by the end of the day.

Comments

[garudynamic]

[After his little yelling snit with the Kingmaker earlier, Yosuke is nice and focused]

Okay, who wants to go over everything we found?

[lackinginfaith]

[Caren's brought along her own sledgehammer today, which means she's either taken a hint from Mr. Carrying-Throwing-Knives-Around in ways that don't involve mopping up evidence or she's just been to the vending machine recently. Considering that she's also got a bottle of Ramune that she's sipping very carefully, it could be the second thing. With bandaged-up hands from Thursday's fiasco with Sigrun and the bottle, she hefts the hammer onto her podium so she doesn't have to deal with the weight and frowns, looking around the room.]

Well, it looks like you've brought a... number of things in. --Sigrun, I'm not even going to ask about that hammer.

[cherryblooded]

[Cherryblod is quiet throughout the elevator ride, and waits until Yosuke speaks before he clears his throat.]

Pieces of Pearl's body were found near the stairwell, along with a sledgehammer that appears to have been the murder weapon. However... I believe it can be safely said that the murder scene was elsewhere.

Sledgehammers, as a general rule, do not break stones into only large fragments. They also create smaller pieces, of which there were none at the scene. Someone picked her up and tried to make it look like she was killed there.

Did anyone find any other places of note?

[And before anyone asks: Cherryblod's wearing his suit today, meaning that both his shirt and gloves are white.]

[bloodisthicker]

I suppose I should get the question that I'm sure is on some people's minds out of the way, then -- no, I did not find the rest of Pearl's body anywhere, so it's safe to assume that Mettaton was correct in assuming that all we found is all that's left.

...unless the murderer is hiding her body in their room or something, in which case what is wrong with you.

Attn. Kingmaker

[garudynamic]

If we need to maybe we can do a room sweep later?

[He looks up at the ceiling]

Can we leave the trial room once we're down here?

[amygdalae]

[It's not that Bruce hasn't handled dead bodies before, but this is strange even by his standards - and his standards tend to be pretty high for these kinds of cases.

Still, he handles it all as well as he can; the black void of this trial room greets them once more, and as they all peter out towards their respective positions Bruce takes a moment to go to Pearl's podium and sort of... carefully place the ziploc bag there. Just for this trial; it simply doesn't feel right to just keep her in a pocket or something.

Once that's done Bruce goes back to his podium, giving himself a moment to relax before he starts to focus. The shock of everything has passed, and his mind is clear now. They have another case to solve.]

EVERYONE LINE UP

[wokeupdead]

[There has been enough talk about this mysterious towel. Lynne is going to go around the circle and check everyone over. THIS IS A PAT DOWN, GUYS.

Please note if they are wearing any white or if there are any tears or visible injuries. No strip searches just yet but don't make her. She totally will.]

Excuse me! This'll only take a second.

Re: EVERYONE LINE UP

[sleepingkogoro]

[Mouri's shirt is pretty much white and pretty much intact. You'll have to check somebody else]

[notjustawriter]

[All clear here.

Gabriel's not in white; he's wearing a jumpsuit in a particularly eye-searing shade of vibrant yellow.]

[capyper]

Be gentle with me, Lynne!!

[ He's wearing white ceremonial robes, which covers almost all of his body but there are no tears on it anywhere. ]

[isafraid]

[Speedwagon is wearing a white dress shirt under his chimney sweep getup. It is fortunately clean and intact!]

[ignorantly]

[ Shirazu's wearing his hideous jumpsuit, so no white here. ]

[wokeupdead]

[Oh right, as for herself Lynne is clean. She only works in bright primary colors, thanks.]

[captainobnoxious]

[Her jacket's white, and there's a few tears that've been sewn up on her left sleeve where she had the stitches last week when they had a strip fiasco, but otherwise there's nothing of note.]

[cherryblooded]

[As earlier mentioned, Cherryblod has white gloves and a white shirt, but as far as tears and injuries he's pristine.]

[pokexplorer]

[Colress is wearing his white lab coat and white gloves, but there are no visible tears or imperfections in either. He also doesn't have any visible injuries!]

[amygdalae]

[Bruce is also stuck in garish neon colored jumpsuits and has been since day 1, so no dice from him here.]

[penduli]

[ Black's decided to forgo his sweater and puffy vest combo today, so all he has is his white plaid shirt. No tears or anything here though!

...and since he was expecting a trial (as they, you know, had one after the last murder) he didn't bother wrapping up his fingers to keep them from getting pricked, so he's clean. Sewing can wait until after this is all through and he needs something to do that doesn't include being anywhere near food. ]

[garudynamic]

[No white... since his whites are now a lovely shade of pale orange.

Yes, even the underpants, you wanna check that, Lynne?]

[prismbloom]

[ Aqua's also wearing white, but she's completely clean--no tears, cuts, injuries etc. ]

[lackinginfaith]

[The only white on Caren belongs to the bandages on her hands. Which might be a little torn up from everyday wear, but there are damp traces of suspect dust.]

So?

[sleepingkogoro]

[Well this is not going very well]

It doesn't seem like matching the fibers will work. Everything looks the same to me! We'll have to think of some other plan.

The remains were in contact with some sort of clothing right before the culprit left, it can't have been something like socks. I think shirts, jackets and gloves are our best chances, the closer to the hands the better.

...unless the pieces were carried wrapped in something, but I found nothing like that.

[captainobnoxious]

What're the chances of the fight just being moved upstairs? It's not like the laundry room is that far from the stairwell.

[lackinginfaith]

[Good choice.

There's a bright light when the water hits Caren and a thud as she falls to the ground. When the light fades, you'd be forgiven for thinking that she'd melted like the Wicked Witch of the West, until you noticed her on the floor.

Her hair is bright purple now, as are her eyes, instead of periwinkle and grey, but it might be more distracting to note that she's now wearing a shell bra, some pieces of jewelry, and a cut high up on her arm where one of her bracelets is. There are two strings of beads on the end of her fanned tail. Wait. She has a tail.

Hey, Sigrun, you were right for once when you weren't licking murder weapons. Meet Caren -- Princess of the Antarctic.]

...I guess the stories about turning to foam when your identity is exposed to a bunch of humans were just stories after all.

[She looks up, hands on the floor to support her, and glares around the room.]

But just because you've shown everyone who I really am, it doesn't mean you've won. What kind of murder investigation are you running? You're still going to need to prove if I did anything! I'm not going to sit down and let you accuse me without telling me what you're thinking. If you're right, then you can prove it -- so tell me, if the other people in here are as important to you as what I may have wanted might be to me, what are you going to do to save them?

[capyper]

[ ... He almost wants to ask, "Who is it that you wanted to see?" but there's something else on his mind. ]

Hey, I have a question before people start proving stuff and whatnot! ... Do you have water powers? It wouldn't be that weird, y'know, given your mystery identity.

[ Hey, mermaid princess. Yato's been thinking about this one for a while, actually, after that handprint came up — he did, up until very recently, have a weapon that can manipulate water, after all... ]

SELECTION.

[kingmakereffect]

If you've heard enough, let's move on.

Like last time, select the title of the person you believe is responsible for Devoted's death. Majority rules.

It's time for someone to take responsibility.

[cherryblooded]

AQUEOUS

[There's nothing left to say.]

ACCOUNTABILITY.

[kingmakereffect]

[And as the votes come in, the lights go out, and the room is once again plunged into darkness; the only light visible is that ambient dark blue that accompanies the electronic touchpads powering down.

Eventually, though, as before, the pit illuminates itself, and Caren is gone from the circle. Again, there was no sound, there was no outcry or indication of a struggle - Caren was there and then she simply was not, leaving nothing but traces of water on the floor where she'd transformed.

It seems that her arrival in the pit has left the dampness behind, however; when she enters from that door beneath her podium, rather than crawling, dragging a long tail behind her, she's walking under her own power, her usual bright clothes and hair standing in stark comparison to the empty white walls of the pit.

The walls don't remain white for long, however; there's a sudden shift in the tiles, as though they're being lit from behind, and the pit is soon bathed in a pale pink glow - there's a warmth to it, almost, nothing sharp or harsh to the color itself, but any comfort that may be taken in it is short-lived as the door beneath Podium 7 opens.

When Pearl steps out, her movements are graceful, deliberate; Caren steps back, her eyes narrowing. They've seen this before with Zagi, but actually seeing your victim - someone you've confirmed dead, someone whose soul you smashed with a weapon in your own hands - seeing that person standing directly in front of you is another thing. But the gem on Pearl's forehead is intact here, despite the fact that it's still very definitely on her podium above, where Bruce left it.

Pearl isn't smiling like Zagi, but there's nothing angry in her expression, either; it's strict, maybe, but not unhappy. It's just straightforward and a little severe in intensity, and as she approaches Caren she holds out her hand.

The gesture is fluid and calm; Caren doesn't seem to be wanting any of it. Instead she just...stares, like she's trying to figure out what the trick it. She steps back again.

Pearl doesn't give her a choice the second time, lunging forward and gripping Caren's bandaged hand with a grip so tight that Caren winces, and the sudden pain seems to catch her off-guard strongly enough that Pearl can jerk her forward into what isn't quite an embrace, but closer to a closed-waltz position.

Caren squirms against Pearl's grip; she freezes up as the music starts, the strains of it audible both within the pit and to those still standing at the podium circle outside. And when Pearl makes her move the motion is gentle enough to keep her from stumbling; it's gentle enough to ensure Caren moves with her, and she calmly paces her through a few bars of melody before pushing her lightly, twirling her out and away and releasing her hand.

And once Pearl's hand is no longer occupied, it moves to that gem on her head, pulling a long bright spear out of the center of it, letting it materialize in her hand; when she leaps at Caren it's quick, measured, and she lands just close enough to sweep Caren's legs out from under her, dropping her to the floor again. Her spear is just as quick when Pearl moves to bring it down on her, as though it's going to pierce her throat.]

Goodnight, Aqueous.

[The Kingmaker's voice sounds out as Pearl shifts direction with her spear; it's not much, but it's enough, and the head of the weapon pierces through the pendant Caren has been wearing. The pearl inside shatters; Pearl's spear doesn't stop once the pendant breaks, driving through Caren's body and impaling her completely through the chest, front-to-back.

Caren's body jerks, the motion shuddering but largely involuntary; she drops to the ground, unmoving.

Pearl doesn't retrieve her weapon; she just stands near the body, staring down at it with that same strange, severe expression as the lights in the pit go dark and the fluorescents above return to life.]

[cherryblooded]

[That was... strange.

Cherryblod watches the entire exchange, the dance and the impalement, completely silently - now that he's expecting the dead to show up intact, even that doesn't get a gasp. When the lights come up, he turns to go back to the elevator.

There's still the living to attend to.]