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

[amygdalae]

There's already too much violence here. Adding more to it won't help anyone.

[...nobody can be surprised by this, considering how Bruce's profile blatantly has 'violence' as a dislike.]

[captainobnoxious]

So I'm hearing. Man, you guys live nice lives.

[garudynamic]

I... don't agree. But I understand.

[Maybe he's the weird one. After Mettaton, Black... now Caren. Maybe he's weak for wishing he had died right along with his world instead of having the balls to try and save someone important]

[lackinginfaith]

[Caren's hand goes to her winged shell pendant again. She snaps it open.

Inside is a purple pearl, accompanied by one of the smaller shards of white pearl from the laundry room, wedged into the shell.]

I didn't want to go for the pearl, because then there couldn't be a new life reborn from it, but I couldn't get her any other way.

[ratingspoint]

...Well. You're a lot more interesting now than you were before, I'll give you that much.

[...thank you for that contribution, mettaton, we all needed that.]

[captainobnoxious]

Alright, alright. I won't smash up the fish girl.

[Sheesh.]

I knew there'd be people against anyway, I'm just saying I wouldn't have qualms if it came down to it.

[notjustawriter]

I..... I understand why you did what you did.

[captainobnoxious]

[Beeeeh all these people. She sighs.]

Usually even the threat of it's enough anyway. I won't, alright?

[prismbloom]

[ There's a lump in her throat, and Aqua's heart sinks. ]

Her pearl was her weakness, then. How did you find out?

[isafraid]

That's enough. Miss Eide!

[all of this is enough.]

[prismbloom]

Thank you.

[captainobnoxious]

Violence solves some things, anyway, but I won't.

[Being pleaded at by the younger generation is really too much. And if things are unpopular it's not like she'll go ahead and do it anyway.]

[amygdalae]

And then what? Did you even consider to think how that person would feel about you sacrificing the lives of others for their sake? What would they think?

[And Bruce understands. He understands so well, but god, no. Sacrificing lives is never the answer.]

You won't be the one to carry those lives on your shoulders - that person you 'saved' would bear that responsibility instead. Could you bear to see that happen? See them shoulder that guilt that you put on them every single day? That's not saving them at all.

[ignorantly]

...We have plenty of evidence. Is torturing a confession out of her really necessary?

[ He's reminded of that time Sasaki quoted the Ghoul Countermeasures Law at him and Urie. "It is prohibited to cause more pain to a ghoul than necessary."

Caren isn't a ghoul, but... ]

[lackinginfaith]

My country was attacked a year ago. By this person, this self-proclaimed boy-king trying to revive a nation that's been sealed out of the world for a thousand years and his little sea witch harem, they're after people like me to try and summon a goddess and get her power under their control. They've got my sister.

I couldn't depend on anyone else to fix it.

[captainobnoxious]

I hear you, I hear you.

[Loooud and clear.]

[isafraid]

...Bloody hell.

[All of this is well and fascinating, but Speedwagon just looks... sad.]

I'd heard the legends of mermaids before, like any other lad... And now I'm seeing one right in front of my eyes! [He wasn't smiling.] This isn't how I ever expected it to go.

[captainobnoxious]

From her mouth asking us to put together a story for us, I would've said so. But there's too many people against the idea like I thought there'd be.

[happysweets]

Caren...

[ God. She knows how she feels. And she knows what she's talking about, too.

But murder is murder. ]

I was wrong about you.

[penduli]

They wouldn't have to know.

[ ...SOMEONE had a chord struck in them with Caren's confession, God. ]

[goingdigital]

Do you really think it's smart to be doing anything to make enemies at this point?

[prismbloom]

... Caren wouldn't have to tell them. Someone else could.

[ KINGMAKER. ]

[amygdalae]

[Sorry, Black. Bruce just has a lot of feelings about things like these.]

Something like this can't be kept a secret forever.

[lackinginfaith]

...[She looks up at him.]

I don't know. But it's better than always running away. I followed rumours for a year and got that radar by chance, and now...

[She gestures to a broken radar that fell on the floor after Yousuke's Wet T-Shirt Contest Adventure.]

It came out of the machine broken and unusable. I can't even track the moving castle with that, and that means I can't find Noel on my own, even if I did go back. But with the incentive, the Kingmaker could have found Noel.

Even if it were a trap, even if it would hurt, what else could I do? Tell me that. Who else could I honestly believe?

[captainobnoxious]

Hey, if I was gonna do it, I would've done it already. I'm just threatening her a little.