Third Trial.

[withthemost]

[The Mayor is oddly silent today. Contemplative. It may have something to do with the wallpaper here now being very obviously reinforced. Don’t try to tear it down again, kids. You won’t like what happens.

Both Martin and Alfred’s podiums have been smashed to pieces, one of those might come as a shock if you weren’t around when the other body was found. But in the end, you’ll have to press onwards regardless of how many people have fallen today.]

Trial start.

Comments

[dearboswell]

God help me, I didn't want to do it. I didn't. And if his outlook had been less grim- if I had had actual supplies and-

... He was going to die within the next days, at best. There is nothing I could do about that amount of blood loss with what little we have, here. And I have no anesthetic, barely any painkillers- he would have been in agony that whole time, unable to sleep, likely awake should I even try to operate on him.

With circumstances as they are... I couldn't spend the next few days trying to keep alive a lost cause, not when-

[God help him, he almost says Twilight's name, but stops himself- he won't do that to her, he can't even let herthink that it's her injury that was the cause of Alfred's death-]

-not when those same supplies could go towards keeping the rest of you alive.

I. It never occured to me that by- by putting him out of his misery- that I would be considered his murderer. I thought that honor would go to whoever mortally wounded him in the first place. Though at the time- at the time, I didn't know for sure who that was, either. [For the first time since his confession began, Watson looks up, and meets the eyes of someone else- Juno. He laughs, slightly, but there's little humor in it]

I suppose that means there's one good thing out of this arrangement.

[tenrules]

Why did you move him to the Town Hall, Mr. Watson?

[dearboswell]

... We felt it would be kinder. Easier, as well, for the rest of you- instead of you all having to run around trying to find a dead body... Well.

And it was my idea to at least make him look peaceful.

[tenrules]

[Dlanor is silent for a moment. This is officially a confession. There's nothing else to be done]

I wish I could give you the mercy of a quick execution, but it is unlikely I will be allowed TO. Thank you for your help during all these weeks, I truly mean THAT.

[Buuuuuut what's there to be done? Nothing. She doesn't want to vote for Watson. In her opinion, this doesn't deserve an execution. Too bad she doesn't make the rules]

MODS

[hydrazine]

...My title is the Pragmatic. You don't have to explain it to me. I get it, I'm not angry, I...

[She pauses, tears pooling in her eyes for the first time since she arrived here. She can't quite meet his eyes right now, and she looks at the ground.]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I...

[A deep breath, then:]

Hey, Mayor. If the actions of two people combined cause someone here to die, are we supposed to vote for both of them or the one who delivered the last blow?

[withthemost]

It’ll be the one who dealt the last blow, yeah. Sucks.

[junosteel]

....What?

[His voice is barely above a croak.]

No. No. It can't be.

[protojoker]

...You did this.

[junosteel]

...

[He doesn't respond. He just looks horrified.]

You--You can't do this!

[hydrazine]

John, he got attacked. He didn’t even want the damn wish! He tried to save the person he hurt!

[junosteel]

Stop.

[He sounds utterly defeated.]

[hydrazine]

Like hell I will! It wasn’t your fault!

[protojoker]

That’s not fair! You can’t be trying to justify this, any of it!

It’s his fault if this execution happens, and if he’s not dying today, I’m going to make sure his life is a living hell.

[dearboswell]

... Thank God.

[Watson looks oddly relieved. Now that he knows Juno's the one who fought off and wounded Alfred...]

[montages]

Watson—you don’t deserve this! This isn’t fair!

[dearboswell]

If someone has to die today, then I'm just glad it'll only be me.

[Now that the truth is out and Juno is safe from the fate of death, Watson seems calm- at peace, really. He's even writing something down in his journal, as if this is just any other day.]

[junosteel]

Watson--you can't. You can't accept this. For--

[He chokes.]

For the love of God, you're the only doctor here. You're one of the few people I respect and...

[He pauses.]

Trust.

[dearboswell]

[Watson smiles at that.]

It'll be alright. I'll still be here, afterwards- like the others. If all else fails, I can talk you through treating other people and giving medication.

[He pauses, and digs into his coat pocket, pulling something out. The way he presses it into Juno's hands makes it seem like something so much more valuable than a mere journal.]

Keep this safe for me, please. When you all get out of here... If there's any way for you to find Holmes, contact him, please do- and give this to him.

If not... Well. Just take care of it for me.

[pegathesis]

[Twilight hadn't been saying anything while everyone argues and the sound in the trial room grows to a fever pitch.

She hasn't been saying anything because she's been crying.]

T...this isn't fair!

[She suddenly shouts from her corner of the room, trying to sit up in the wheelbarrow. She wants to get out of it and hobble over to Watson, but the moment she tries to move she falls back down again.]

I...I'm so sorry, Juno, but...Watson...

[She sniffs, tears rolling down her cheeks and disappearing into her fur.]

He s-saved my life...he...he shouldn't...

[She can't stand this. Juno is her friend, and so it Watson.

It makes her wish she'd just kept sleeping in that clinic.]

[endlesscrush]

Twilight...

[ Uncharacteristically somber, Mika scurries over to Twilight, to get her back into the wheelbarrow. ]

[pegathesis]

[Bless you Mika, she's a bit of a mess right now]

[junosteel]

[Juno flinces, seeing Twilight stumble.]

Twilight, please. Don't.

[pegathesis]

[Twilight doesn't say anything. She can't, because Juno shouldn't have to die either. It's just like how it was with Li, he was attacked.

It's not fair.]

[dearboswell]

[Oh God.

Watson comes over to her side at an instant, and at first, he looks over her wounds, assuming that she's crying out of pain.

The realization that she's crying over him floors him for a moment.]

Shhh... It's alright, dear- it's alright. I'll still be here. Remember? Everyone else who dies in this place has come back- it's not the same, I know, but... It's alright. It's alright...

[He continues to murmur things along those lines for a while, trying desperately to comfort her.]

[pegathesis]

[Somehow, knowing that just...doesn't quite make it better. She'd said as much herself earlier in the week, to be doomed to an eternity as a ghost is- in her opinion- a fate worse than death.

She ends up pressing her face into Watson's sleeve, crying into it. Because she knows he's going to ultimately be voted to be executed, and there's nothing that can really be done. If she doesn't vote the same, they'll all be forced to the same fate.

She didn't think things could get any worse, but they finally have.]