A deathly silence fell over the inhabitants of Merrin as mykonian's voice shattered the heated debate.
The sun had already began its descent from its pinnacle in the sky, ribbons of tepid orange and deep pink ribboning outward along the horizon. As the verdict was reached, however, streamers of blood red tainted the peaceful backdrop, casting an ominous shadow over Merrin's town square. The fountain continued to usher forth cool, crystal clear water, a curtain of mist wafting lazily about the square. Slowly, the air stirred, buffeting the mist towards the lone noose that now swayed back and forth from its fixture. In the silence, it had waited patiently for a warm neck to wrap around. As the sun began to set, it knew it would only have to wait several minutes more until its wish had been fulfilled.
whimpered
"see reason. Panzer or BB are by far more suspicious than me. One of them has to be a culprit!"
"Nice try, but do you have any evidence to back that up?"
retorted
. The silence met with this question solidified GIEFF's resolve.
The town slowly began to press in on qwints from all sides, forming a blockade about the fountains base, where their first target had sat during most of the discussion. Their decided lynchee shifted nervously, his large trench coat, the uniform outerwear of Merrin, and his wide-brimmed hat not concealing the look of absolute fear painted into every facet of qwints’ face.
qwints screamed,
”I do have evidence, I swear I do.”
The group slowed their approach as he stood and fumbled with the cluttered mass of papers held to his chest -- notes taken during the day. He jerked them into the air, frantically waving them high over his head.
”You see, I am innocent. I’m innocent!”
Breath coming to him in short gasps, qwints rushed forward, headed straight for
, who regarded him curiously as papers flew from his grasp, catching the breeze and fluttering away.
he whispered to himself as he stumbled over the stone ground. The notes cascaded from his hands, scattering to the winds as he fell to all fours in an attempt to catch those within proximity. As he scuttled about, the inhabitants continued to draw closer still, disregarding the flurry of papers that tumbled by their feet or floated over their heads, splotched with mist. Noticing this, qwints wailed in fright and disbelief. The young man clawed his way back towards the fountain's edge, but in his panicked hurry, caught the end of his grime covered coat, and fell once more.
What happened next would be remembered by all that witnessed this scene for the rest of their lives.
lunged at qwints without warning, tackling into him and forcing him into a spread-eagle position upon the cold stone.
and
were now upon him as well, hoisting him up by the collar with ease. Both made to drag qwints towards the noose, but the young man resisted, pushing Panzer into Zilla before punching BB in the face. Panzer and Zilla crashed to the ground, while blood began to trickle from BB's busted lip. Anger flashed in the eyes of the latter, before his hands wrapped firmly around qwints' throat.
Flailing in his captor's grasp, qwints brought his hands down upon BB's forearms, but his attempts to free himself were of no avail. Growing weaker from the lack of oxygen, qwints' hands dropped to his trench coat's pockets, where they fumbled for something that would surely save him. Drawing forth a sleek, jet black pistol, qwints buried it deeply into BB's gut.
Released the safety lock . . .
Wrapped his index finger around the trigger . . .
And went soaring through the air.
Beyond_Birthday, having felt the gun and realized the danger, had thrown his weight into qwints before letting him go. The group watched as their targets head collided with the edge of the fountain, a horrific slap echoing through the evening air. The gun skidded off to the side, where it came to a rest at GIEFF's feet. Snatching up the weapon with a look of incredulity, the man bolted towards qwints, whose blood had began to pool at the base of the fountain. Hands wrapped about his head, qwints had no hope of retaliating this time. Sobbing loudly, the young man wiped away the blood that flowed freely from his split forehead, eyes rolling about erratically as he did so. Salty tears mixed with the sticky rivulets of crimson as he tried to get to his feet, but GIEFF kicked his legs out from under him, before crouching over his target.
Forcing the barrel of the gun into qwints' mouth, GIEFF steadied his hand, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger.
A deafening roar ripped through the town square, while a cloud of smoke obscured the scene. Smoke and silence. As the cloud dissipated, the town rushed forward, tentatively evading all that remained of qwints' head: fragments of skull and bloody bits of brain matter. His corpse convulsed wildly as blood sprayed into the fountain and blanketed the immediate periphery, but the town had to know whether or not they had made the right choice.
Tossing the gun aside, each person began to peruse the many pockets of qwints' trench coat. From within its confines, the group discovered a plethora of fake IDs, letters forged masterfully to look like other townsfolk had written them, realistic masks, and a variety of other items. The young man named qwints could not have been more guilty, but had intended to incriminate others in hopes of avoiding justice.