PDARPG Boss Fight Entries: Laguna 9: Mediation Part 2 (Prompt 10)

“This tribunal will now hear the case of Laguna v Ronin. All rise.”

 

The gathered merfolk rose from their places, their faces turned towards the podium where three nagas sat coiled in their fancy judge chairs. They didn’t look like the underwater type of naga, but they did look exceedingly judgy, which befitted their role, Eltanin supposed.

 

“These are the charges being brought against the defendant,” the brown-scaled one on the left said. She held up a writing slate that looked like it’d been hastily-scribbled on ten minutes before the tribunal had arrived. “Theft of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair competition. How do you plead?”

 

“Not guilty,” Ronin replied, flashing a winning smile up at them. Winning strictly in the charismatic sense, of course, or he wouldn’t even be in this courtroom to begin with.

 

The purple-scaled naga snorted, as if to say, ‘Of course you’d say that, pretty boy.’

 

“And here I thought we’d all get to go home early,” the blue-banded one sighed, out loud, in front of about thirty strangers. He reached out his hand to take the gavel sitting on his podium, thought about it for a second, then simply slapped his tail against its coral top, producing a series of booming thwacks. “You are both entitled to a pre-trial conference, after which the tribunal shall reconvene to start the trial proper.”

 

“We advise you not to waste this opportunity,” Imani said. “Take the time to gather evidence, build your respective cases, and get your timelines straight. Dismissed.”

 

“Of course. Thank you, Your Honours.” Ronin held his arms out to the guards who approached the defendant’s table, in a sort of flippant ‘take me away, boys’ pose. “C’mon, captain. Let’s go work on getting this as watertight as we can. Pun intended.”

 

“Oh no, you don’t,” Laguna growled, rising from her own plaintiff’s table. “I brought him here. He’s coming with me.”

 

“No offence, ‘Guna, but you kidnapped him from his bed. He willingly came to mine.”

 

Calixte snickered.

 

“Finally, some real drama,” Zayne said, leaning over his podium spot with renewed interest.

 

“Sorry, Laguna,” Eltanin piped up at last, “but I’m with Ronin on this one. I think I’d like to hear his side of the story now.”