All it took was Harold and Kevin shooting their arrows to "kill" the dragon. It returned to its skeleton form and we all helped Jon rebury the skeleton.
"Didn't you say the dragon would be a lot stronger?" I asked Jon.
"Um... it was supposed to be strong." he said, "Maybe it needed some time for its batteries to charge?"
"I feel like nothing makes sense in this world." I commented.
It was at that moment that we saw two knights holding Tom's hands behind his back.
"Let go!" he exclaimed.
"Be quiet," one of the knights said, "we know that you were the one that released the dragon!"
"I didn't!" shouted Tom.
"Calm down," the other knight said, "the trial is tonight at sunset."
"Crap," said Hunter.
"We have to do something!" Jon said.
After that we saw a few knights carrying Eric's corpse.
"Dammit!" exclaimed Jon, "NOOOO!!!"
"Jon," I said, "calm down."
"How the hell can I calm down at a time like this!?" he asked.
"If you don't calm yourself," I said, "it will be hard to prove Tom's innocence." I replied.
"Wait – are you going to defend him?" Jon asked.
"Yes," I answered, "I may not have actually defended somebody before, but I do have some 'experience' with this kind of thing."
"I don't think playing lawyer simulators counts." commented Jason.
"Well, I guess we should search for whoever we're going up against on this case." said Jon.
I started to walk with everybody following behind me. I had to find whoever the prosecutor was. I came up to a guy who looked like he was a hobo. He was covered in dirt and had flies surrounding him.
"Excuse me, sir." I said, "Do you know who the inquisitor for this case is?"
"What case!?" the hobo snapped.
"Er, the one the just happened," I answered, "the one where the dragon was released."
"Oh, he said as he pointed behind himself, "he's over there in the gold armor."
"Thank you, sir." I said as I walked up the guy in the gold armor.
Up close, I could see he had clean orange hair that went down to the end of his neck and green eyes.
"Are you in charge of the black dragon case?" I asked.
"Yes, I am the inquisitor." he answered, "Now tell me what you want or go away!"
"Just some information of the incident." said Jon.
"No." answered the inquisitor.
"It all ends here!" exclaimed Jon.
"Jon," I said, "we haven't really done anything yet. The end is far from now."
"You're right… and where did Hunter go?" asked Jon.
"He ran after the knights trying to rescue Tom." answered Daniel..
Jon scanned the town and saw Hunter lying on the ground with a sword stuck in his back and he was holding a knife in his hand. Jon started to cry.
"Our leader is a baby." Jason commented.
"Great," I said, "we've made no progress in our investigation and now somebody else is dead!"
"I'm a failure!" exclaimed Jon, "I just suck!"
"Yeah, I know." I said, "It's sad when people die."
"It isn't that," he answered, "I just feel like I chose the wrong people."
"How could you say that!?" I exclaimed, "Two people from our team have died!"
"Well, and it's probably your fault for choosing us randomly." commented Jason.
"They may have died here," answered Jon, "but they have returned to your world."
"Oh," I said, "well, I think we should search for evidence."
"I found a broken glass bottle!" exclaimed Jason.
"And I found a gold shovel!" said Daniel in excitement, "Can I keep it? Can I keep it?"
"I found a piece of paper that seems to have been ripped off of something." said Harold.
"I found a cat!" I exclaimed, "Meh, it's not like it will do us any good."
"This seems to be a good enough," Timothy, "now let's go find that inquisitor."
I led everybody behind me as I walked toward the inquisitor.
"What do you want?" asked the inquisitor.
"Information on the incident." I answered.
"No." responded the inquisitor.
"You're going to tell us why you think Tom is guilty... NOW!" I replied.
"Tom?" he responded, "Oh, the accused. I guess I can explain that…"
"Thank you." I said.
"The accused was standing right next to where the dragon was buried the entire time. Who else could have dug up its remains with the golden shovel? There is nothing that points to the existence of a second person." answered the inquisitor.
"What do we do now?" asked Jon, "I didn't notice a flaw in his reasoning."
"You probably just weren't paying attention." I said.
"Are you saying that you found a problem already?" asked Jon.
"There is nothing wrong." said the inquisitor, "Now run away and cry yourselves to sleep!"
"HOLD IT!" I shouted.
"What?" asked the inquisitor.
"There is one thing that points to the existence of another person." I said.
"What? Impossible!" responded the inquisitor.
"Do you even know what you're doing, Ron!?" asked Kevin.
"Yes," I said, "the evidence is the glass bottle that Jason found."
"What does that bottle have to do with anything?" asked the inquisitor.
"The spot where the accused was standing was marked on the ground in black paint," I said, "yet this bottle was found quite a distance away from the marked spot."
"Hold on," responded the inquisitor, "The accused probably just threw it!"
"I don't think so." I replied, "If it was thrown, it would have been grabbed at the top, not the bottom. And it would be broken. Not the other way around!"
"Ugh… er… gah!" exclaimed the inquisitor as he walked away, stomping his feet.
"I don't think we'll be the ones crying to sleep." commented Harold.
We did some more investigating until it was about time for the trial to start.
"I think that's everything." I said.
"Don't fail." said Kevin.
"I'm not planning on it." I responded.
After a while, the sun had started to set and I walked into Dovacath's courthouse with everyone. I made my way into the courtroom assigned to the incident and I stood at the defense bench. Jon came to the bench with me while the others sat in the gallery.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm going to help you if you get stuck." answered Jon.
"Um… thanks, I guess?" I responded.
The courtroom became quiet. I saw the inquisitor standing at his bench on the other side of the room. Also, the judge was in his chair. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but he was an old bald guy with a large grey beard.
"The Dovacath Court is now in session for the trial of Tom Fortune," said the judge, "now, inquisitor Bob, please give me your opening statement."
"I stand here today to prove that Tom Fortune is one-hundred percent guilty!" answered the inquisitor.
"Inquisitor Bob," said the judge, "tell us what the charges against the defendant are."
"Yes, sir." answered inquisitor Bob, "Ron is here on suspicion of releasing the dragon buried under Dovacath. The reason for the suspicion was that he was standing near where the dragon was released. To start, I'd like to call a witness from Dragon Fortress."
"He's in the gallery, correct?" said the judge.
"That's right, milord." responded inquisitor Bob, "So there shouldn't be any trouble with getting him to the stand."
A brown-haired guy with green eyes walked up to the witness stand and I didn't feel like he was trustworthy at all.
"Witness," said the inquisitor, "give us your name and occupation."
"Rick Jones." he answered, "I work at Dragon Fortress. There I receive… various tasks."
"Your testimony, please." requested inquisitor Bob.
"OBJECTION!" I reacted, "He's from Dragon Fortress! His testimony is probably going to be unreliable!"
"What are you talking about?" asked the judge, "Dragon Fortress is full of trustworthy people, helpful to the citizens of Dovacath."
"WHAT!?" I exclaimed.
"You seriously wasted your epic objection on that?" responded the inquisitor, "You fail as a defender!"
"I… uh… sorry?" I replied.
"Sorry won't cut it!" said inquisitor Bob, "What do you think this is? Some kind of crappy story originally written by a high school student?"
"Well…" I began.
"It was a rhetorical question!" exclaimed the inquisitor, "…Ass."
"Could the witness please give testimony?" asked the judge.
"Yes." answered Rick, "I'll get right to that."
"I was instructed to go to Dovacath." started Rick.
"Why were you instructed to go to Dovacath?" I asked.
"I was getting to that," answered Rick, "I was told that darkness was going to release the dragon."
"How would you have known something like that?" I asked.
"I have no knowledge of where my boss gets her information," answered Rick, "since I'm not allowed to know."
"Why is that?" I asked.
"OBJECTION!" shouted the inquisitor, "Organizations need to keep secrets and they are not important at this time! Witness, you may continue your testimony."
"The accused was the one holding the golden shovel." said Rick.
"OBJECTION!" I reacted, "If that's what happened, then why does it say 'Property of Dragon Fortress' on the handle?"
"Well," answered Rick, "today we had some intruders in the fortress."
"OBJECTION!" I responded, "You can't prove that there were any intruders."
"I can't?" responded Rick, "A key to our closet was stolen."
"That's the key I took." whispered Jon.
What should I do? This could either help us or make things worse, I thought.
"Jon, give me the key." I whispered.
"Okay," he answered.
"If that's the case, then why do I have the key?" I asked, holding it up.
"OBJEC-" started inquisitor Bob.
"OBJECTION!" I shouted back, "You of all people should know that the defense didn't meet with the defendant."
"Gack!" exclaimed the inquisitor.
"Hold on!" shouted Rick, "That must mean you guys were the ones that sneaked into Dragon Fortress!"
"OBJECTION!" I shouted, "An archer was killed trying to break in. Therefore, it's impossible to break into Dragon Fortress. The security is too tight!"
"D-Damn you!" shouted Rick, "How the hell is this noob winning!?"
"OBJECTION!" shouted inquisitor Bob, "Continue your testimony and this 'noob' will surely fail."
"Oh… yes. Got it!" responded Rick, "It is impossible for me to have been the one to release the dragon; I know that's what the defender is thinking about! Anyways, I was just doing what I was instructed to do. The accused was there and he was the one to release the dragon. There is no evidence pointing to anyone else."
I was still. I didn't know what to do. I didn't think that there was anything that I could do. I couldn't find a problem.
"Ron," Jon said, "do you really have nothing?"
"I-I… have… nothing." I answered.
"You need to look through the evidence again." he suggested.
"Uh… I… er… agh… cats." I said.
"It's in there." Jon told me.
I didn't know what he was talking about. A few seconds later though, it hit me. He was referring to the piece of paper that Harold had found.
"Your honor!" I said, "The defense has evidence to present. This evidence points to somebody else as the culprit!"
"Well," the judge said, "show the Dovacath court what you have."
I picked up the piece of paper that Harold had found and said, "It's this!"
"How does the evidence point to someone else?" asked the judge.
"Read it." I said.
"Oh," the judge said, "it says '…Do not screw up this time, Rick. Uncover the remains and return to the fortress…' – And it's signed by the owner of Dragon Fortress!"
"Preposterous!" exclaimed inquisitor Bob, "Your eyes are deceiving you. Also, they could have gotten that paper from anywhere!"
"OBJECTION!" I shouted, "There is black paint on the note and I'm sure you all know where it came from!"
"OBJECT-ack!" exclaimed Bob, "How could I have lost!? I thought it would be as unlikely as a bell's ring turning people into pigs!"
"What?" I responded.
"Even as we speak, you're still hiding the wound!" exclaimed inquisitor Bob, "…It's beneath your mask!"
"I… what?" I responded.
"It seems that he's just insane." replied Jon.
Suddenly Bob was shot in the face with several arrows. His heart fell onto the ground through the leggings of his armor and it had several brown spots.
"What the-!?" started Jon.
"He just crapped out his heart!" I exclaimed.
Bob fell to the ground and no longer made any sound.
"ORDER! ORDER!" exclaimed the judge as he banged a gavel on his desk.
"Wait," I whispered to Jon, "was that because of one of our men?"
"It's possible!" he answered, "Let's hurry up and find them!"
We ran from the defense bench and into the gallery.
"Even though all you guys seem to be in a panic," said the judge, "I would like to inform everyone that this court withdraws its charges against Tom Fortune and will instead be put on Rick Jones."
In the gallery, Jon and I found Kevin.
"Did you shoot him!?" I asked.
"I was aiming for Tom." said Kevin.
"Don't worry about it now!" I exclaimed, "Where are the others!?"
"I don't know." answered Kevin.
Suddenly, I saw Daniel fighting a random person with a shovel. The random person managed to take the shovel from him and beat Daniel to death with it.
"…Another one of us is dead!?" I said.
"This just keeps getting better." commented Jon, sarcastically.
"Come on, Kevin," I said, "Let's get out of here before you get arrested!"
I ran out of the courthouse with Kevin and Jon. We ran straight into the forest, hoping to meet up with the others. We had left our own world and now we were breaking the laws of this other world.