fifth trial

[stagemanagers]

[When the investigation finishes, the lights begin to flicker on and off as that low, gentle rumble echoes through the opera house.

Your intermission is ending. Please return to your trial room.

The court room looks just as it always has for you: the grand chandelier glittering above your heads, the dusty red velvet seats. In the orchestra pit your circle of wooden podiums are waiting. Jeremy and Steven's podiums are draped in black crepe with their grey scale funerary portraits, just like your friends before them. The ghost light glows softly behind the podiums.

The curtain is closed, waiting to open when a decision has been reached and the execution can commence.

When everyone is in their places, the Phantom's voice echoes loud and clear through the theatre from his place in box 5. His tone is even, with none of the distraction or terse notes in the weeks before. He almost sounds curious for how this all will play out.]

You must now determine who was responsible for the death of Steven Universe. Submit your vote on the podiums when you are certain of your choice.

[Gather your evidence and let's begin.]

Comments

2/2

[37773972]

[And now? And now the music swells. As the electric guitar whips in to a frenzy, Stephen seems to be in one, too, stepping- no, leaping on to something and half-climbing atop his podium. Indeed, for someone who was once so disturbed by the music, he seems almost consumed by it now as he half sings, half-screams, throwing out an arm in emphasis-]

I stand before a line in the sand
The beginning's in sight, fate in my hands
Today, we change the end
One step and the future is torn
The road that we walk, it can still be reformed
Today, we change the end...!

[MTB; START]

[heathencall]

[Son of a --

He's putting an arm out in front of Christine if she's still nearby. Holding her back.]

Why?

[37773972]

If it was up to me
I'd rewrite history
And change our destiny
One! Last! Time!

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Too bad for Mephisto, she's immediately rushing, trying to push past his arm with a scream.]

Stephen! Don't!

Betrayed by father again
This is the last time; we're not going back then
We can still change the end...

[Her voice wobbles and wavers.] Just not like this, Stephen, please... We can't.

[37773972]

Don't tell me what I can and cannot
I've already won, this is my final shot
I will negate this end!

[madgiganticfeelings]

You haven't won anything! We... we can't let you go back!

[With Mephisto releasing her, she had a shot to move closer to Stephen, but now, her steps falter. She hasn't seen Stephen like this before and it's horrifying.]

But I say
Why do you fight?
How can you choose for us what is right?
What if we win?

[She has to believe in that, so she asks that of him with a hint of pleading, holding her hand slowly out to him.]

[37773972]

I know I can win!
I've done it before!
Don't stand in my way!
I have to understand more!

[And he looks up again, back towards the Phantom, and- past. Ignoring that hand.]

One! Last! Time!

[heathencall]

We said it wasn't worth it.

[37773972]

[And Stephen- grimaces, a bit, working his mouth-]

You don't- none of you-

The vision washes over me, I can't describe it-
I have stood here once before, but you don't remember

[heathencall]

[Mephisto is stepping forward. Level with Christine, but not holding her back. There's a lot going on on Mephisto's face right now. Too much for him to process.]


Who wants to separate
The world we know from marred beliefs
And who sees only black and white
Distinguish loss from sacrifice

[His tone shifts now. The anger shows on his face.]

You could take me higher
So you said, I trusted you

I may be a liar
But betrayal lies on you

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine, for once, tries to be the support. After how Mephisto protected her, these last two trials, she has to do the same, even if she can feel herself starting to drift away, with her anchor so broken beside her.

So she holds Mephisto's arm, grounding him, even as she continues to plead with the man before them.]

I told you you were more than that. I told you you weren't just a pawn! Why did you have to play his game?

[likemypicture]

No!

[What the fuck, what the fuck. Anne takes the hammer. And just slams it into -- oh, Tad's there. She smashes it into Richard's podium instead, and lets out a useless wail of a scream.]

[garbageface]

[ Mephisto might be holding back Christine. But right now, there’s no one holding back Santana. She screams, whipping out Stephen’s old steak knife and lunging across the way, at his podium. She’s crying, her expression a horrified mix of shock and betrayal and anger. ]

No! Don’t you dare! Out of all these assholes here, I trusted you!!!

[heathencall]

Santana --

[God time to go chasing after a different teenager.]

[likemypicture]

[Oh, jesus. This is what happens when you let yourself lose your head-- the teens do this shit. Anne drops the hammer, scrambling after Santana instead, trying to make a grab for the back of her uniform.]

[stagemanagers]

[But it isn't necessary to grab Santana.

It feels as if an invisible hand is there instead, seizing the back of her uniform as Anne tried to, to hold her back.

It won't stay long. But long enough for someone else to catch her.]

[likemypicture]

[Thanks Ghost Hand-- it's enough time for Anne to catch up, and trip one hand on the neckline of her uniform, and throw the other around her waist, trying to hold her back. She may be tiny, but she is fierce, and she is putting all of her strength into this.]

[garbageface]

[ Anne and Mephisto aren’t quite quick enough at first, but the ghost hand makes Santana stumble, slowing her down enough for Anne to grab on. Santana struggles at first. But she doesn’t want to hurt Anne, and after a few moments, her screams turn to something more like sobs, her thrashing closer to trembling. She can only keep up the fight for so long.

Still, she doesn’t drop the knife, or take her eyes off of Stephen. Over and over, she repeats: ]

I trusted you. I trusted you. I trusted you.

[ Santana’s trust is not something that’s given easily. Breaking it hurts. ]

[likemypicture]

[Thank God Santana's fighting slows-- literally, thank God. Anne couldn't hold her that long at her full strength. As her screaming turns to sobs, the hand on the back of her uniform releases, and wraps that arm around the girl too, not just holding her back, but holding her out of necessity for both of their despair. Behind Santana's own screams, then sobs, Anne's voice sings out-- but not to Santana. Not to Stephen. Not to any of them.]

God save him if he can be saved
Free him if his soul's enslaved
Clear the clouded refuge of his mind
Quell his anger, calm his scorn
Let his spirit be reborn
Help him gather sight where he is blind--

[37773972]

[Stephen isn't blind to Santana's breakdown. Even as he sings to Mephisto and Christine, his gaze darts towards the cheerleader, and - something? - seems to flicker in his eyes, something that pierces the wild energy that he seems to be lost within.

Something pained, something tired, but something...something more him than he's been since he started singing.]

[musacal]

...What?

No! No, did you... are you trying to do what I wanted to?!

[37773972]

[Oh, Nana. When Stephen's gaze comes to rest on her...he takes a deep breath, looks up, and]

They'd have told me 'no way'
But I have found the loophole otherwise
Yesterday is nothing-
I have sixteen lives to rewrite
I don't care about the future-
I will take its path and force a change
This will be the final cure
I am gonna take the past away

[musacal]

No... no, no, no!

You can't! It's not... I know now that it's not right!! I know this temptation, believe me, but--

We can't let you do that Dr. Browning!! We have to find another way to end this!!

[37773972]

With the full force of a dying star
I will end this
Whether I'm near or far
I'll break it apart

[musacal]

[ She shakes her head. ]

No. You won't. They're not going to let you. They wouldn't have let me either.

[ she takes a shaky breath ]

All of my life I've only had one single wish and nothing more
When will the future I've dreamed to meet appear in front of me?
It's them who brought this loneliness to light and gave it life

[ ... ]

You've shown me a reason to always remember that I am not alone