Take Responsibility.

[antitrust]

And when the door at the bottom of those stairs unlocks and it swings open gently of its own accord, allowing everyone back down into the courtroom, there are decidedly fewer of them than there were just a few days ago. The change in the podium circle is massive this time; Dio, Logan, Marty, Yuuri, Hibiki and Mordecai have all joined the ranks of the deceased, their podiums adorned with black cloth and greyscale photographs. Furthermore, the mass of shadows in the pit at the center seems agitated again, shifting and breaching upward toward the glass if one looks at it long enough. It's been something of a bad week, to put it gently. Not that it's evident from the Conductor's behavior; as usual, the proceedings are being watched from behind that panel of translucent glass behind podium 30, and he'll speak as soon as everyone has found their place in the circle. His words are a bit more rapid than usual; he seems interested in this one. "Temporal, Lucent, Vivacious and Universal...all four of them have been taken from you. Does whomever is responsible for this really deserve your compassion? There can be no hesitation; you should offer no mercy. It's you against the guilty. Take control of your fate, and hold them responsible." Thirteen Participants remain. You've lost five people this week, and eight since the last investigation; we'll see how many more you lose today.

Comments

[blazeit]

That's... true.

[ He's now staring at Blue hard because said person is also good at stabbing people and good with fires, so there's that. HE DOESN'T WANT THIS TO BE A CORRECT SHOT IN THE DARK. ]

[withabigsmile]

She'd be able to set someone on fire like that, wouldn't she?

[That is definitely in Tabby's skillset--]

[blazeit]

I do— [ "I don't know". He kind of does, though. ] Well, yeah.

She was the one who was giving me shit for that earlier in the trial.

[ He trails off into silence. TABBY PLEASE HE LOWKEY KIND OF LOOKS UP TO YOU IF ONLY BECAUSE HERO IN TRAINING. ]

[zomgboom]

It's not my fault your superhero school is .

[blazeit]

That's not the point right now! Can't you say something to be like "I wouldn't kill people, I'm a fucking superhero" instead?!

[zomgboom]

Uh, I explained this to Logan once but like. You call the Avengers if you want, like, heroics. You call the Nextwave Squad if you want a job done.

[SHE . . . KILLS PEOPLE A LOT . . . ON THE JOB . . .]

[blazeit]

[ opens mouth

...




closes mouth...


OPENS HIS MOUTH EVEN BIGGER ]

But you wouldn't kill somebody here.

[zomgboom]

Not for no reason.

[Like, you know. Self-defense, maybe.]

[withabigsmile]

Did you have a reason?

[Her last name starts with an S...]

[zomgboom]

I dunno, you tell me.

[That's not her job. Ya'll are the ones with evidence.]

[blazeit]

[ He really doesn't want to go down this path, it's like accusing himself in a few years of murder....... but that answer doesn't inspire confidence. ]

This probably isn't related to anything, but... you're the originator of the chicken petition, right?

... Do you know why they were increasing?

[zomgboom]

Nope, no idea! I dunno, maybe the Conductor thought we needed more fluffy friends.

[blazeit]

We need to collectively stop being a group of sick fucks is what we need.

[ But the Conductor probably isn't going to give them therapy on Tuesdays so. ]

I dunno, I'm having a hard time thinking that Marty, of all people, could give you a reason to resort to violent self-defense, but...

[ It would be strange for the murderer to keep any items that would implicate them, but let's be sure. ]

Can we check your pockets?

[zomgboom]

I'd, like, advise against it, but if you want. Not you, though. No offense, but I don't want you feeling me up.

[blazeit]

... Trust me, I wasn't gonna volunteer to be the guy doing it.

[ EVEN HE KNOWS HE SHOULDN'T PAT DOWN GIRLS... ]

Blue, you wanna do the honors?

[withabigsmile]

[She puts on some white gloves as she heads over.]

I'm on it!

[Time to rummage through Tabby's pockets! What's in there?]

[zomgboom]

[I wouldn't rummage too hard.

Tabby's pockets are full of homemade flash grenades.]

[withabigsmile]

[She will rummage gently, pull exactly one out, and gently put it back and back the fuck away.

If there was anything worth looking for in her pockets, someone else can do it.]

[zomgboom]

Told you it wasn't worth it.

[blazeit]

[ Okay, that he does recognize. ]

... I'm not gonna ask why, that much is obvious.

But the only reason you would want them here is if you thought you were going to need them... here.

[ Like if she thought she was going to be getting executed...

... ... He still doesn't want to be thinking this and yet he is, Bakugou actually kind of hates his brain right now. ]

[clearasmud]

[ good boy son she's raised you well ]

[announcemyvictory]

Tabitha, we just watched Mr. Sanchez confess to killing two of the least deserving people in this establishment for no reason other than he was done with what a disaster this place is. That's something anyone could say!

[zomgboom]

It's, like, not my job to tell you what I'm thinking 24/7. Like, get some facts or ask me a real question.

[withabigsmile]

Well, like I said, you're definitely the most likely candidate for setting someone on fire in here. You usually blow stuff up for fun. And stealing stuff is kind of your thing, isn't it?

[There has to be something she's missing, something more solid than that, anything--]

[zomgboom]

It's something I, like, do if that's what you mean.