Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

And once the allotted time for investigating comes to a close, those elevator doors at the end of the first-floor corridor open up; the ride down is fast, smooth, and understandably tense as far as atmosphere goes. You're down to less than half of your original number. The doors slide open and the podium circle comes into view, standing stark against the black-walled courtroom and encircling that pit in the center; Misa and Aqua have joined the ranks of the deceased, photographs in greyscale watching the proceedings from their podiums draped in black. Of course and as always, the deceased aren't the only ones watching; the Kingmaker will make his presence known once everyone has settled at their podium, his voice sounding out through the room for all to hear. "Resilient has been taken from you. Maybe this time the guilty party will actually succeed at fulfilling Rule Seven, seeing as this is the sixth try and all. Whether they manage it is up to the rest of you." Thirteen Survivors remain. However many will be down by the end of the day is up to you.

Comments

[ratingspoint]

...A wrench large enough to bludgeon someone to death with is definitely large enough for me to tell her not to bring it down to use it on me? The toolkits are fine.

[i mean he sees where you're coming from and both mettaton and aqua are kind of inept but

jesus christ we're talking about something that controls fine motor skills, not unscrewing a fucking lug nut on a car tire]

[sleepingkogoro]

[Mouri closes his eyes. Mettaton is not the kind of person that would allow one to sit back and see stuff happen. If they were going to fight him in some sort of word fight...

...then may as well fire any theory they could think and see what sticks.

It's desperate, but what else could be done]

The wrench was already in the crime scene.
Aqua brought the wrench.
The wrench wasn't the crime weapon.

I concur you wouldn't go all the way to the workshop to get a weapon, but that doesn't mean you didn't kill her. The scenario you are refuting is one of many possibilities.

[It was not much progress, but better say something than not saying anything]

[ratingspoint]

Then what are you saying did happen, sweetheart? Because if the wrench was already there then I didn't know about it, and I was not about to let Aqua use something that size on my ankle.

[amygdalae]

She could have brought it down unintentionally - she could have brought down several tools from the workshop at the same time to see what would work and what didn't work. The toolkits can only get you so far, after all.

[ratingspoint]

[He's quiet for a moment, and he doesn't...quite understand where she's going with this, to be honest.]

...Human souls linger after death here.

I've seen them. I won't speak for Aqua's, but I know their souls are still here in some way.

[ratingspoint]

So that's where you're assuming the multiple weapons came from?

What, are we suggesting she brought me a vibrator too?

[amygdalae]

You could have easily taken those from her room - or your own, whichever. You did after all stop by there to put her bloodied clothes there and get out her dress.

[ratingspoint]

Either way, it's cute and all that you're absolutely married to the idea that Aqua brought the wrench down, but she definitely didn't.

HEY KINGMAKER

[captainobnoxious]

You've never stuck around the bodies long enough to take one. And it'd be weird if you suddenly did that, anyway, but if you killed someone yourself, you'd have a good chance at it. And then you'd be strong enough to save who you wanted to or if not you could maybe save a world you wanted to live in yourself, since there's nothing left for you back in yours. Either way, win-win.

... And this whole production isn't shining an innocent light on you, honey. Really.

[... That's that, really, though she's gonna be speaking out to the Kingmaker too now.]

Out of curiosity, Kingmaker, did this guy ask anything about the incentive you gave us this week? Exceptions included.

[amygdalae]

And why are you so certain about that?

[garudynamic]

Could the wrench have already been there, waiting to be used then? Like a set up?

[sleepingkogoro]

If I had to guess...

...

...you didn't kill her immediately, I mean, you didn't crush her head right there when you were with her at first. It's possible you fought without a weapon. I know very well you are prepared for fighting, faulty ankle or not.

Bruce-san found bruises that may indicate she laid on her side for a while, enough for blood to gather and form the bruises he found.

While she was incapacitated - or unconscious, I don't know - you could have taken the time to go get everything we found, including the crime weapon. Once you had all the objects you chosen the crime weapon and killed her, afterwards taking the time to smear all that stuff with blood in an attempt to confuse us.

That is it.

[He is not confident, but that is what connecting the dots leads him to]

[notjustawriter]

....What?

They're still here?

[.....]

That's incredibly depressing.

[ratingspoint]

I would have seen it? I'm not blind, honey.

[ratingspoint]

If it was, I didn't do it, because when we met in the music room there wasn't one there.

[ratingspoint]

I'm going to stand by my story that I didn't crush her head at all, if no one minds, but hypothetically speaking? All of that still falls under the category of "who does that."

[kingmakereffect]

He did not, no.

[ratingspoint]

Yes. Just...trust me, I know they are. I can't interact with them or anything, but I know they're here.

[amygdalae]

...why would it matter if you had seen it at that point?

[penduli]

[ ...hummmm. ]

Do you have any guesses yourself, Mettaton?

[captainobnoxious]

That's one thing solved in your favor, Mettaton.

[Which is a tiny relief.]

... Did Aqua call you anytime this week about it?

[ratingspoint]

You just asked me how I knew she didn't bring the wrench down with her.

I would have seen it if she had.

That's how I know.

This isn't difficult, sweetheart.

[garudynamic]

... then maybe the wrench isn't the murder weapon at all. It's impossible to tell for sure what hit her, and the wound had like, punctures in it, right Bruce?

[ratingspoint]

About who would have done that sort of thing? How should I know. We're looking at someone who knows how to smash someone's head in with a wrench, for crying out loud, it isn't like it's rocket science.

If I had to take a guess, someone found her after I did, already had a weapon with them and killed her with it. It makes more sense than all this business with the stairs to me.

[notjustawriter]

I believe you.

[He's not lying.]