THIRD TRIAL

[whimsicalism]

To the court room. Make it quick, alright? I don't really know about any of you but I don't want to waste more time on a couple of bratty teenagers.

[The Queen still is silent as you descend to the court room. There are ten less of you than when you began. The podiums look empty as you go to them. Even if the podiums are getting empty, though, there is a new jury box near the Alices that is rather full... of ghosts of all the participants of the previous round you've discovered and of your dead compatriots. They don't talk but they're there. Judging. Always judging.

There is someone who doesn't notice this addition, though. Queen Alice.

The Queen is quiet but she's next to the Cat. Her head is bowed to her chest as she seems to sleep quietly. Then as movement she jolts up, smiling vaguely as she nods.]

Yes, a tea party--that's what we...need...

[Her head drops back to her chest as she falls asleep again. The Cat glances at her then back at the crowd with agitation.]

Someone is responsible for Lena and Neku's deaths. Do something about it, will you? Why did you even bring one of those ghosts in with you, anyway?

Comments

[battlestations]

I checked to see if there were any signs of her crawling, but there were no handprints or the like.

I wondered if it was a missed shot, but I'm not sure how that would play in. If there was a chase, you'd think we'd see more disturbed footprints. ....Granted, Neku could float, but I don't think Lena could.

[soverainty]

I dunno, have you ever seen her flap those arms of hers properly? Like hell I know how that works.

[She gestures meaningfully at Amdi, because they apparently don't have a single normal animal or anthropomorphic animal in this place??]

[battlestations]

W-well. No. But if they were both in the air, would the bullet still hit the slide?

[soverainty]

I don't see what the slide's got to do with it. Where in the slide was the bullet, anyway?

[battlestations]

If Lena was flying like a duck and one of them was chasing the other with the gun, and their shot missed, I thought it would just go over. But, now that you mention it, it was near the top of the slide. On the side facing the pit, as well.

[so that's interesting]

[soverainty]

It could have gone anywhere if they were up high enough, right? The side facing the pit, though. You think Spikes was the one shooting?

[battlestations]

Well, it was his gun. Seems like the most likely conclusion.

[he's SIGHING though because dammit Neku.]

[soverainty]

So they were both planning a murder somehow? I thought it was a pretty wishy-washy motivation from Alice-tan this week, but wow.

[battlestations]

I'm more surprised about Lena planning one than Neku. He admitted it, after all.

[Nigel is so annoyed. It wasn't like he wasn't watching him closely either, but he... actually started to believe he was a nice guy??? LAST TIME HE DOESN'T TRUST HIS INSTINCTS, HE'S NEVER BEEN WRONG THIS WHOLE GAME.]

I should have just drilled some metal plates on his doors.

[soverainty]

Sounds like it wasn't exactly Lena, and none of us really know what the hell was going on there. But...

[Stares at the diagram and the knives again!!!!! Seriously, what kind of villain. She blinks and then snickers.]

That's one way of countering him. I have no idea whether I should call that powers canceling each other out or not.

[prescience]

Obviously, I agree that no wish obtained this way would be well-earned or well-granted. But I've heard this more than once from you this week. Why is this a less palatable motivation to you than the week before?

I don't see a reason why you'd have to lie about this one.

[soverainty]

Isn't it the same as it was two weeks ago?

There's no point to a wish you can't make happen yourself.

[She seems perfectly confident on this answer.]

[prescience]

[She nods.] It was worth verifying, but I don't think I really believed she could have made it that far.

Unfortunately, we don't yet know what Lena was capable of, with our without the influence of this "aunt" she referred to.

The shooter may have approached them when they were focused on each other.

[battlestations]

That does seem like the best strategy to ambush someone - when their focus is elsewhere. But we're thinking Neku had the gun to begin with, right? Then they would have had to sneak up on him and take it.

[prescience]

Yes, it is my understanding that he wouldn't release it from his possession.

If he was taken off guard by the trap Lena-san - or her aunt - devised, could he have dropped it?

[strictura]

Actually, what do we think about the bruises on his arms? That hasn't come up yet, has it? Maybe he was being held down somehow while the gun was taken?

[prescience]

[She frowns, as if she's trying to place that information too.]

We'd need to determine who might be strong enough to do that... It's so difficult to imagine an altercation like that playing out and someone still being able to deliver a fatal shot like the wound we have.

[battlestations]

Do you think switching bodies with her aunt could make her bigger? Like an adult.

[prescience]

[Her expression is truly, legitimately baffled at that suggestion.]

Is that possible? I suppose anything might be.

Her writings make it sound as though she was more inclined to subterfuge, though...

[battlestations]

I've seen stuff like that happen all the time, actually.

[Like he's been turned into an adult himself.]

But if it wasn't that, it just means it had to have been the third party pinning Neku's arms. I really don't think the duck could have done that.

[prescience]

[How do you live with yourself knowing that you, too, can be an adult?]

No, I don't think she could have either, barring other circumstances like the ones you mentioned.

If we were to consider who might have been able to overpower him [the list doesn't seem like it could be very long.] ... we should at least consider the line of inquiry Nagisa Shingetsu-san proposed. If Amdiranifani-san were to try...could he have made those marks?

[strictura]

[ well since I just remembered the darkness in that other thread ]

...Allen said she was a sorceress of "shadows," right? It was a lot darker on the third floor than normal. Could that have increased her power somehow?

[battlestations]

I would think fear like that would tighten one's grip. But now I wonder if he had to touch his pins to make his magic like the levitation work... that could have required him to drop it.

[Nigel that's basically the same thing.]

[strictura]

Ah... come to think of it, would Sakuraba have been able to float above the knives?

[battlestations]

He should have been. Maybe that's why he wound up getting shot instead... he'd still be like a fish in a barrel if someone pushed him in before he activated that power.