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

[trustharder]

[Right hand!]

[lackinginfaith]

[She's starting to shake a bit now; with her free hand, she takes a swig of the Ramune as if it were alcohol to calm down.]

Why don't you tell me?

[lackinginfaith]

[It's... well, pearlescent.]

I got on the elevator with all of you, that's it.

[isafraid]

No way...

[lackinginfaith]

[He's a number of podiums away, so she just frowns at him.]

[prismbloom]

[ Aqua's shaking, too, but she clenches her fists hard.

This is her friend. This is her friend and she's... ]

Did you carry the gem pieces upstairs?

[garudynamic]

It was all in a bag, Caren...

[notjustawriter]

[He doesn't want to believe it. Can't believe it.

She's his friend. He likes her.]

[cherryblooded]

You lugged an entire sledgehammer down here on a guess. And that dust on your bandages...

Miss Caren. I'd like to believe in you, but I have another question.

That secret you made me promise to keep.

Would you kill someone over it?

[wokeupdead]

Oh, Caren...

[Lynne just sounds. sad.]

[lackinginfaith]

...I should have known. After that fight in the last trial saying nobody but us cared about the storage room, I thought it might be safe to put that towel from the laundry room in there.

What do you think, Aqua?

[amygdalae]

[Case in point: the ziploc now sitting at Pearl's podium.

And yeah, Bruce doesn't look very happy with this, either. His expression is... unreadable.]

[lackinginfaith]

...Not over that.

[prismbloom]

....

[ She hates this. ]

I think there's someone you care about enough, who you wanted to see enough to--

[ Aqua can't bring herself to say it. ]

[cherryblooded]

Alright. That's a relief. I don't think I could have respected you any longer if that were it.

[He sounds... tired, mostly.]

So it was the Kingmaker's incentive?

[amygdalae]

...but over something else, which is what I'm getting here.

[captainobnoxious]

To kill someone, [Sigrun'll finish, leaning the sledgehammer to the side so she can cross her arms.]

You really don't play around, do you, Caren. You're not my first guess to someone who could swing a sledgehammer, that's for sure, so why don't you tell us what happened?

[lackinginfaith]

...[She's trapped. Caren looks around. There's one thing in that evidence, and she doesn't want to be desperate enough --

Who has the full washbucket?

Because you might want to get in here.]

Re: EVERYONE LINE UP

[happysweets]

[Nothing white on Misa! She's wearing all black as usual.]

[garudynamic]

[He has a bucket, sure.]

[lackinginfaith]

You -- All of you, don't you think there's something you're missing?

[well she's moving toward you mr. knives you might wanna do something about that

...worst wet t-shirt contest ever but it's better than the alternative]

[garudynamic]

[OH FUCK DON'T SLEDGEHAMMER HIM BROSIS

ttly chucking his bucket]

[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?

[lackinginfaith]

[ow]

[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... ]