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

[theothersissel]

What if the guy didn't want to do it because the last two murderers messed up and got evidence on them? I mean, at this point, are we really expecting anyone to be stabbed now after those failures?

[green_mario]

That's true, but that means that the culprit must-a been pretty desperate to kill someone to remember that and instead made it impossible to get evidence on themselves.

[So that must mean that the culprit wasn't at the scene of the crime when the murder happened. Luigi was about to bring that up when suddenly a question popped up relating to how desperate the culprit must have been.]

Yomiel, is there something in your past that you didn't-a want us to find out about?

[theothersissel]

[He practically bristles at the question, his smile cold.]

My past has nothing to do with this.

[green_mario]

... Yomiel our pasts has-a everything to do with this. That's the motive for this week.

[theothersissel]

Shut up! I-It's not like... [His hands are trembling at his sides, he's that angry.]

You wouldn't understand! None of you would! A-and there's still no damn proof it was me! You have nothing on me!

[sunflowerfields]

What wouldn't we understand? Yomiel, we're all in this together, you can talk to us.

[theothersissel]

[He lets out a choked laugh.]

Ha! Talk to you? What a joke. What a joke! I-I couldn't...talking wouldn't...

Just shut up. Shut up!

[superstylishschism]

If you think we wouldn't understand, that's exactly what my suggestion Thursday was for. I wanted us to be able to trust each other, Yomiel. To have a chance to share things on our own terms, to help people understand what we've lived through and done, and why.

[theothersissel]

[He just laughs again, like he's heard some joke that only he understands.]

You wouldn't be able to trust me. Hell, I wouldn't trust myself.

[green_mario]

Not... trust yourself?

[What does that mean? Does Yomiel have uncontrollable tendencies or something?]

[superstylishschism]

Forgotten who you're talking to? I'm a devil, I was born in the underworld. I've been an actual supervillain. Whatever you've done, you think I haven't seen worse? Maybe I've even done worse, I told you guys my hands aren't clean.

[green_mario]

[Ngh, as much as Luigi hated to admit it, Yomiel was right. He still didn't have conclusive evidence that he did it and, well, as tiny of the chance is, one could argue that there is another student who really likes Rube Goldbergs and would have the motive.

If the murder weapon wasn't to obviously a Rube Goldberg, he kind of wished he could go back and see how everyone understands Rube Goldburg.

Maybe if he just... keeps asking questions the answer will present itself.]

But why wouldn't we understand, Yomiel? You can't just-a say things like that

1/2

[theothersissel]

Oh, why wouldn't you understand, huh? Why not, I wonder? Yes, because...because explaining that for the last ten years, I was...

[He slams his hand into the podium, letting out a frustrated noise. He can no longer restrain himself. He feels trapped, stuck, and gods, at this point, he no longer cares. He sees where this is going.]

I was dead. Not for good. I was stuck...I couldn't move on. Do you know what that's like? Do you know how that feels?! No. Of course you wouldn't. None of you would!

2/2

[theothersissel]

[He suddenly slumps onto the podium, covering his face. There's a very long pause before he speaks, his voice quiet, emotionless. Almost dead.]

Just kill me now. Just...honestly, just do it. It's too obvious to go back, okay? And...and maybe a part of me always wanted this to happen.

[superstylishschism]

[He snorts and shakes his head.]

Dead for ten years? That's your secret? I was dead for two-thousand years, trapped in a sword so that I couldn't even choose the fate of my own soul.

You really think I can't understand being stuck between life and death?

[theothersissel]

Oh, poor you. A sword.

[He laughs, his voice on the edge of cracking.]

My fiancee, she...she decided to take her own life because she thought I was dead for good, did you know that? Huh? And after that, I had no one! No one even cared! No one REMEMBERED! And you have the damn right to even compare yourself to me...!

[He shakes. His hands tighten into fists.]

Shut your damn mouth, Alastor, before I go and shut it for you.

[shslancer]

Don't ya dare threaten him, or anyone else here.

[There's steel to that sweet voice. You just pushed a button, Yomiel. Despite it, there's also a calm...like that before a storm.]

There's been 'nuff pain already for everyone here. Ah won't let ya hurt anyone else.

[theothersissel]

[He smiles. It's incredibly fake.]

Well, I'm already going to die, so really, at this point I wouldn't care if you beat me up or not.

Don't worry, though. I'm not going to hurt him.

[superstylishschism]

Tch...you're just determined to think of yourself as alone and unsympathetic, aren't you? At least you had enough freedom to know what happened. Try being an inanimate object locked away in an evil castle.

But, whatever. I tried to offer a hand of friendship to everyone who was left yesterday. You're the one who decided you would obviously be excluded if we knew you died and someone loved you so much it broke her heart.

Maybe you're right, we're not the same. I actually got over myself when I realized the thought of scaring away the first people to try to reach out actually terrified me. You just stuck your head in the sand and refused to see what was right in front of you.

[green_mario]

[Luigi's face softens, almost saddened after hearing that. So Yomiel was a ghost this whole time? Honestly, at this point after how draining that interrogation was and watching how defeated Yomiel is, he couldn't find himself caring.]

Yo... Yomiel...

I'm so sorry...

[shslancer]

[Nephenee watches the whole thing with sadness, but feels like something's missing.]

...So is there a second person? Or is that a ruse?

[She's not sure what to think anymore.]

[green_mario]

A-actually I was-a starting to think that the Walkie Talkie was so that Yomiel could hear when the Rube Goldberg was working. Since he wasn't at the scene of the crime.

[theothersissel]

[He doesn't even look up.]

I don't need your "sorrys".

Just let me die.

[tsungeonsanddragons]

Just let you die...?

[Throughout the entire ordeal, Clair was silent. It was the kind of silence often caused by disbelief. Yomiel kill someone? That was insane. He'd made it this far without snapping. Hell, she'd lost it more times than he had. She slammed Ashley against the wall. She almost murdered Betrayus. And during the week of the first motive, she'd almost considered going along with it. But she didn't. And Yomiel didn't. He was one of the strongest people she knew. Oh sure, he was obviously smart enough to pull it off, and yeah he had a lot of secrets, but all that was true for the entirety of this past month and yet nothing came of it.

...so why? Why now? Why when she finally started caring about him, did he have to cave in? Why? WhywhywhywhwhywhywhywhyWHY????

There are no tears. Not yet, at least. But they were coming. Every inch of her face gave that away. She didn't care that he'd killed people in his past. Maybe she should have, but....right now, all she can think of is this very moment. What he'd done to her, Ashley, and everyone else.]

You think that's easy?

[Her hands grip the podium like its Monobear's neck; tightly and as if she was trying to choke it. Of course, her hands wouldn't be shaking nearly this much.]

Let me let you in on a little something, Yomiel. Even if you did kill people, even if you were dead, and even if you make yourself look like some mustache-twirling villain...do you honestly think that's going to change how I feel? That it's just going make me suddenly okay with killing you? Because if so, then let me make things perfectly clear...

[Her hand slams down on the podium hard, enough to injure her hand. But the tears streaming down her face aren't from the pain. At least, not the pain caused from that.]

IT WON'T.

[lavenza]

...So like a form of purgatory. Only alone.

I am sorry, I don't know how that feels, no. There are a lot of things the rest of us wouldn't understand about one another...

...But I'm sure we all would have listened, anyway.