More ugly news reports + one patronizing [video] message courtesy of Seth Richardson

[stay_classy_cat]

A casual Monday outing turned tragic when two men were brutally gunned down in front of Malo's Gun and Ammunition mart. The victims; Kaplan Stridehr and Marple Dethrris were found dead with a single Aperture-Brand Resolution Pellet to the head. A third victim, Hendorff Ditherrs, was found at the scene asphyxiated to death. All three of the victims regularly donated community service hours to the FLUDD orphanage and were cherished by their grieving families.

The murder suspects, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Vivan Johnson, and Rick Johnson, all attend Smash Academy and have been interrogated at least once by the FDCPD. Rick has been hospitalized for the time being with life-threatening injuries, though his condition is stable. He will be questioned when he regains consciousness. It's unclear if his injuries were inflicted in self-defense, or by the other two Smash Academy students in the middle of the attack.

The Smash Academy students claim they were the ones who acted in self defense, but FDCPD has not reached a clear verdict yet to a very messy and terrible situation.

"It's not completely clear this was in self defense." says the police chief. "If you're not looking to kill, you don't put a bullet in someone's head."

Several eye witnesses to the attack also claim the smaller student, Vivian, was the one who open fired and murdered the victims, unprovoked. All three are on juvenile preemptive probation until further investigations are finished. It should be worth noting, again, these were non-human students of Smash Academy, a fighting school that accepts many different kinds of unnatural, humanoid creatures. They could still be considered dangerous despite the probation. Aperture Science is also being questioned for product deficiency, but has not returned any of our calls.

[Lakitu, an unnatural, humanoid turtle man, shuffles the papers on his desk and prepares for the next, possibly vaguely related news story.]

An abandoned church on the east side of the city was mysteriously engulfed in flames last night. Fire accelerants were noted in the area, suggesting that this was no accident. It's uncertain if this incident is related to the gun attack, but non-human terrorists are suspected given the target. If you have any important clues or tips to report, please call the FDCPD immediately.

It's truly terrible this historic building has been reduced to tinder and ashes. Residents are outraged and are calling for Martial law. Mayor Tabuu is taking this into consideration with rising rates of violence and crime, but states he is not likely to come to a decision or see any action result for a least a month, especially given the complicated nature of FDC. Martial law would necessitate the need for an outsourced, contracted military, and the Mayor wants to ensure he has the best for the job.

---

[video]

[Seth appears on video, close up and fiddling with the camera before settling in his seat, a grim expression on his face.]

In case you weren't aware about a certain fiasco that happened between Mary and Vianca a while ago, a new development has recently come to my attention, and I for one am ashamed. Shame on you!

Honestly, she's just a child and didn't know any better. That's no reason for anyone to go antagonize and bully her! I want to think better of our student body.

You're all so quick to turn a blind eye when that murderous swordsman returned to campus. You hardly bat an eyelash at knowing there's at least three new and different murder suspects residing right here! Have any of you even seen the news lately? They're right here, living amongst you all--murderers as your very neighbors. But the moment a naive little girl does something she didn't even know was wrong you ostracize her unfairly. I don't want to name names but you know who you are.

Everyone's double standards here are truly unsettling. You should all think on your sins.

[Ahem. He clears his throat and adjusts his collar, as if to clear out all that ~undignified emotional outpouring~]

Anyway, I apologize if any of that came across as harsh or blunt, and Mary's poor name shouldn't be dragged through the mud any longer. Mary has all my condolences, I wish her the best and above all that this doesn't happen again. That was a while ago anyway--old news. She should know better by now.

I'll see to it personally.

Comments

private voice;

[rebut]

Then the trick is finding a lawyer who'd be willing to take the case and be serious about defending them.

[ Frankly, Naegi only knew as much about courtrooms as he could glean from 2ch threads and the like before he entered Hope's Peak. So while he knew some of the more obvious stuff, the finer details elude him like a snipe. ]

Same here. I...don't want a repeat of what happened back then. There has to be a way to figure out the truth behind all this and show everyone who's actually innocent and guilty here.

[ Never again does he want to see Ishimaru like that ever again, and something's telling him things could escalate to that point if they don't do something. ]

private voice;

[iksb]

[She stays silent for a moment, mulling it over.]

Where would one find such a lawyer? I shall begin searching as soon as possible.

private voice;

[rebut]

Normally at a law office... But maybe if we're lucky, there's a good lawyer in the school.

[ But really, what are the chances of an awesome defense lawyer staying in the academy for some reason? ]

private voice;

[iksb]

I do believe one of the teachers is a lawyer. Whether he'd be interested in helping, I don't know...

[halp mukuro cannot people]

private voice;

[rebut]

Maybe we can go talk to him together? It's worth a shot, right?

private voice;

[iksb]

... Maybe.

[She sighed. This situation was a lot more complicated than it looked. It would take a crazy or optimistic lawyer who would want to take this case. Or both.]

private voice;

[rebut]

Who is he anyway?

[ Can't deny that, nope. It'd definitely need to be someone who can deal with overwhelming odds and possibly born lucky... ]