THIRD TRIAL

[despairection]

[Ashley Blair, the SHSL Witch-in-Training, is dead. She's had her life snuffed out, but how and why? It's a murder both mysterious and menacing.

Portraits of Betrayus and Ashley, depicted in monochrome coloring, stand at their podiums. But more importantly, the courtroom this time is an exact and functional replica of the Eggman Factory. If only for the evidence they'll never be able to move...

Will they be able to use this evidence to find the truth? Or will the culprit's confusing conundrum get the best of them?

10 students remain.]



[Let the class trial in the murder of Ashley Blair...begin.]

 

Comments

FACTORY MAP

[despairection]

[tsungeonsanddragons]

[Rubbing her temples. Just when they seemed to have found the last piece of evidence, two more pieces would show up in their place. Clair herself chose to stay out of it this time around, but she doubts any of it would make any sense even if she had. They'll have to wade out what's important and what's not.]

With all the evidence we have, I don't doubt it's going to be easy to get overwhelmed. However, we should treat this trial like all the others; go over and share what we found first, then try and piece it together. If you found anything during the investigation, I implore you to speak up.

[green_mario]

R-right, maybe we should think of why this person did something... like this rather than how.

E-either way, I found a Walkie Talkie outside in a box while I was-a looking out there, and I also found these things in the snow.

[He pulls out a gun, a mallet, a fulcrum, and a ball and set them on his podium.]

[fitnessenthusiast]

[She slowly lifts up a walkie talkie. Helping!]

[superstylishschism]

There's two things I found in there that seemed odd about the corpse itself. The first one is that the gear in Ashley's back was blunt. There was no blood on the machinery, or anything else to indicate she'd been trapped in the equipment, but there was another gear stuck in the wall. I checked, and the wall was normal wood, not something you could easily shove something blunt into.

The other oddity was a note she was carrying. It was typed, so we can't match handwriting...and it said it was from someone who worked for Monobear, but was sick of helping him. It described the location of the hidden room and claimed there was something that could help us.

[He puts the note in question on his podium.]

Obviously, there's no way to be sure right now if the note was telling the truth about either of those claims, so we need to figure out if anyone here could have known about the laboratory.

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow clears his throat (which results in a bout of coughing; being out and about when he SHOULD be resting seems to have tired him out)]

This area is a replica of a base used by Dr. Ivo Robotnik, aka "Eggman", though I do not recognize it specifically. Dr. Robotnik is the grandson of my creator, Dr. Gerald Robotnik, and is a threat to my world and its inhabitants. I do not think this is a real base, due to the lack of guard robots and connected terminals. The machine built into this room is what is commonly known as a Rube Goldberg machine; an unnecessarily complex creation to accomplish a simple goal. This machine is so complex that I... can't quite figure out what it's supposed to do. I know there's a switch. It may be useful to push it. Unless someone did that while I was walking back with Miss Hinawa.

[tsungeonsanddragons]

Alastor did. He requested we leave the room before he started the machine, in case it was dangerous.

[theothersissel]

Okay, okay, so far we are getting absolutely nowhere with this. Printers, walkie talkies...I mean, the important question here is how did Ashley get murdered? I mean, apparently it's a Rube Goldberg machine or whatever, but what's the timeline? Did somebody activate the machine?

I mean, we have all these questions, but absolutely no answers. Does anyone have any theories at all?

[green_mario]

Well is there any evidence that there was another person in the lab?

[lavenza]

...If I may.

Is the "how" ultimately the way to answering the "who"?

Clearly it's an important element of the mystery-- however, maybe we need to look at this from a different angle.

[green_mario]

By the way, the gun that I found outside had duct tape on it, as if it was attached to something. I'm-a thinking that it had something to do with the Rube Goldberg machine but does anyone know where it goes?

[superstylishschism]

There's duct tape on the inside of the claw!

Voting Time

[despairection]

Well, you kids really know how to keep me waiting, huh? I was starting to get real sleepy over here! You kiddos know what to do by now! For all our lovebirds out in the audience, don't vote wrong on purpose, otherwise you'll be joining the culprit up there!

[theothersissel]

[There's no pause. He slams the button down for his own name. This is kind of what he wanted. Better to be dead than have to live with ten years of misery ruining everything for the rest of one's life.]

>Yomiel

[superstylishschism]

[Alastor's expression isn't one of anger, or of sympathy. No, what's written on his face is pure disappointment, plain and simple. He shakes his head as he reaches forward to select the name.]

> Yomiel Shchrodinger

Re: Voting Time

[green_mario]

[Luigi sighed as he looked at all the other students. A voice in his mind pointed out that if another murder were to happen, over half of the students would be gone.

And only time would tell if they'll ever be able to escape before they all die.]

>Yomiel

[chaoscontrol]

Tch.

[Shadow pushes the button, without any sort of expression on his face]

> Yomiel Shchrodinger

You almost had us.

[fitnessenthusiast]

[She looks at everyone doing what's become routine. She looks at Yomiel. She looks at the voting option in front of her.]

Do I have to?

[shslancer]

[Judging by the look in her face, Nephenee's just drained at this point. That much self-loathing and anger...

It really puts her own self-esteem issues in perspective. She doesn't want to ever be that way...and to be honest? She's a little afraid of what this place is doing to her.

There's little in the way of energy in her voice as she speaks and hits the button:]

Miss Hinawa...Miss Wiitney...Miss Clair...please don't watch.

[She's not sure she even can.]

> Yomiel Shchrodinger

[She needs a hug.]

[sunflowerfields]

[Hinawa stares at her podium for a long while. All she can think about is how she could have stopped this. Ashley could still be alive right now, and Yomiel wouldn't be a murderer. If only she had seen that note earlier. This was all her fault.

So while everyone else is voting for Yomiel, she's staring at her own name.]

[lavenza]

[LET'S PRETEND I HAVE NOT BEEN AT WORK ALL WEEKEND AND AM NOT SNEAKING THIS IN WHILE ON BREAK

LET'S ALSO PRETEND I HAVE ANY IDEA EHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN NOW AND LAST NIGHT

Oh I guess it was Yomiel neat]

>Yomiel

[stabspeople]

[It is how it is. Funny how things like this can start to seem like... routine.]

> Yomiel Shchrodinger

[tsungeonsanddragons]

[It's voting time, and Neph already hit Yomiel's button for her. Yomiel's gone back to his podium, as expected, but Clair's grown silent. She can't bear to watch as the others soon chime in, dooming the man she cared about to a fate he chose for himself. She doesn't want this. Even after all the talk and all the action, her mind hasn't changed.

And that's when she remembers. Wiitney had chosen the wrong button by mistake and was allowed to edit her choice! There was still time! As long as she does this quickly, there might be a chance. Slowly, she raises her hand and...]

> CLAIR TARASQUE

[...huh. It actually worked.]

FINAL SMASH: SCHRODINGER'S RUBE

[despairection]

Geez, took you guys long enough, I was feeling sleepy over here! Maybe if you guys had spent more time solving the case instead of drawing on my face, we’d have been out of here sooner! I’m not feeling pithy enough to throw a few puns your way, so let’s just kill the dead guy again!

...But, hohoho, what’s this? Two people are going to get SMASHED? Well, hey, I’m not complaining! What a great time to show what happens when you decide to misvote!


Yomiel Schrodinger has been found guilty.
COMMENCING FINAL SMASH

[Chains clamps around both Yomiel and Clair’s necks, dragging them out of the courtroom. Clair goes further into the darkness, and Yomiel goes into… actually, no, you can’t see him at the start. You can’t see anything, in fact, until a spotlight shines down on the center of the stage… and he’s standing, at least, though his hands and legs have been tied. He… doesn’t really struggle, though he does look around a bit blearily… until another spotlight shines down.

Really, though, how many cosplay outfits does Monobear have? Monojowd steps aside to reveal a canvas and a desk with a painter’s pallet on it. He takes the pallet off the desk… and there’s some sort of clicking noise, which causes a box with a funnel on its top to drop down on the annoyed Yomiel. Monojowd then paints two words on the canvas: ALIVE in bright red and DEAD in bright blue.

The detective bear then flourishes the tip of his paintbrush to the other side of the stage, where another spotlight illuminates a breezy bear in a white coat doing a sweet dance move onto the stage. After he finishes dancing onto the stage, he sets a record onto a phonograph and prepares to play it, but is interrupted by another spotlight.

It’s Clair, who is both confused and angered by her surroundings. She immediately recognizes what’s going on and knows that she needs to save Yomiel. She begins running towards the pair of bears, only to step onto a large red button. She looks down with shock as some kind of unfitting music begins to play… eagle-eyed watchers will be able to see that there’s a shiny wire attached to the phonograph’s needle, which turns on a light switch and illuminates the stage.

Clair’s face turns to that of horror as she realizes that she’s set off the trap, and she prepares to take action...until suddenly, she finds herself gagged and bound by a Monobear in a giant wig and ridiculous outfit who seems to come out of nowhere. Forced to sit and watch, Clair screams as the trap begins to work.

The setup is… well… some sort of absurd contraption not unlike the one Yomiel used to kill Ashley, and it seems like turning on the light pulled a lever which drops a ball down into a gutter with a switch at the end. The switch activates a series of weights that open the valve to an enormous tank of water, which proceeds to rush through a spiral pipe that eventually forks at its end. The smaller fork leads to another pipe that empties out into a bucket that’s connected to the next leg of the Rube Goldberg machine.

The larger fork, of course, leads into the funnel that empties into the box containing Yomiel. It’s impossible to see what’s going on inside the box, of course, but that sure is a lot of water heading into that box… and so, water heads through both forks until the the tank is near empty. Water is beginning to pour out of the top of the metal box’s funnel… while the bucket seems to be almost weighted down fully.

Cabearnela raises a hand in query to Monojowd, who looks quizzically at ALIVE and DEAD, moves his paintbrush back and forth… and then shrugs, because it’s impossible to tell at this point.

So they both look back up at the Rube Goldberg machine, where the bucket pulls down on a pulley that sends a hammer up that knocks a bowling ball off a ledge. Said bowling ball rolls towards several catapults, each containing a sizable stone that looks a bit like a meteorite. Each meteorite is sent flying towards the box at enough speed that… well… they all go through one side of the box, but don’t quite go out the other…

Water begins leaking through the holes, and soon enough, it’s pretty obvious that it has something of a pink tint to it. Again, Cabearnela looks quizzically at Monojowd, who tries to peer into the holes… and then shrugs again.

Anyway, it seems like the Rube Goldberg contraption has reached its final leg, at which the bowling ball, now going at substantial speed, slams right into a pressure pad. This seems to both be affixed to two spotlights pointing up at a crane holding… a… yellow submarine? Uhhhh… well, anyway, the crane’s claw sloooowly opens to drop the submarine onto the box, crushing it and sending pinkish water all over the stage.

Cabearnela looks affronted that there are pink stains on his white coat, and he looks a bit angrily at Monojowd, who… shrugs and then crosses out ALIVE and underlines DEAD.

There’s a piercing scream, and they both turn their attention back to Clair, who makes loud noises through her gag, tears welling up in her eyes. It’s what prevents her from noticing what’s been going on behind the chair. A crane lowers behind her, with a makeshift gun duct taped to the inside of it. It’s the exact trap Yomiel used to kill Ashley.

The crane squeezes the gun, and two gears are shot out. One is shot right above Clair’s head, and the other hits her square in the back - in between her shoulder blades. With a gush of pink blood, Clair Tarasque slumps forward and is no more.

Monolance wanders away from Clair’s body, as both Cabearnela and Monojowd look at each other frantically, turning their heads to the canvas. What are they to do about this unexpected turn of events? Monolance ponders the situation for a second, and paints his own words onto the canvas: WHO CARES?

The lights fade, the spotlights go out… except for the one at the center of the stage, where a light blue and dark blue Monobear peeks out of the top of the submarine and throws a golden key into the courtroom. After that, the stage finally goes dark, and a voice rings out…]

PLAYER THREE: DEFEATED
PLAYER FOUR: DEFEATED

[sunflowerfields]

[Three people are dead because of her.

Hinawa turns away from the spectacle, sits down on the floor, and hugs her knees to her chest.]