The Trial in Heaven | |
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Pete faces Bahamut. Comic: "Here Come Da Judge" (click for full size) | |
Info | |
Number of Comics | 10 |
Dates Published | May 14th - June 4th, 2012 |
Featured Character(s) | |
Pete, Bahamut | |
Previous Arc The Critical Review of Spot Following Arc
Let's Imaginate Guys and Dolls! |
The Trial in Heaven is the 55th arc in Housepets!.
This arc delved further into the rules of the Cosmic Game, as well as Spirit Dragon and Pete's history and motives.
Characters[]
Plot[]
After attempting to steal Joel Robinson's fate in heaven, Pete is put on trial for his actions, though he chains himself up after complaining that heaven's dungeons have no style. The head of the celestials, Bahamut (taking the form of a dragon) charges Pete with tampering with a mortal's soul and tells him to explain himself. Pete rebukes that Bahamut is omniscient, but Bahamut waives it for narrative purposes.
Pete begins his rebuttal by accusing Great Kitsune of preventing predicable outcomes of their games with a Book of Fate. Bahamut tells Pete that a book of fate cannot be imbued with malice, but Pete tries to explain he did what he did to neutralize the effects of it against him--by turning King into a dog he ended up doing him a favor rather than ruining his soul. Bahamut tells him that any game of theirs is legal as long as it does not interfere with any mortals' ability to enter heaven, and asks Pete to explain the game (at the price of Pete sounding dorky.)
Pete starts by explaining the rules of The Cosmic Game; the goal is to gain as many followers as possible to earn mana that can be used. There are two types of powers the celestials can use over mortals: personal and granted. Celestials can use personal powers to grant miracles, but they are generally limited by the mana that accrues in their own personal temple. Granted power is more powerful, which is given to basic followers and the player's avatar, a single mortal chosen by the celestial to wield a large amount of their power; sometimes it can take entire generations to build up enough, and certain "classes" can gain power quicker, and generally they never do anything that they wouldn't have done anyways. Spirit Dragon and Pete got into an argument over their goals and decided to duel each other; the winner would get to lead their gaming group and the loser would be sentenced to a lifetime in a mortal body, removing their time subjectivity.
Pete attempted to get a one-up on Spirit Dragon by spawning his temple in the middle of a desert with an extra-large mana pool, but Spirit Dragon cursed it, leaving him trapped inside without any followers, only able to project dreams, while Spirit Dragon was able to accrue her forces. Eventually Pete found a human to uproot the temple and take it to Babylon Gardens by promising him he would help equalize human-animal society. As Pete was five thousand years behind Spirit Dragon, he decided to choose the class Dream Sunderer, targeting Peanut and Grape at first, but Spirit Dragon interfered by sending Tarot, as avatars cannot be "in love" at the start. He tried to overrule the love requirement and sent Grape and Peanut directly to the temple, but Zach had opened it instead and was illegible to be an avatar due to his species.
Instead of his original plan, Pete switched to the Dark Paladin class. He transformed Joel into a dog in order to meet the species requirement (avatars can only be cats or dogs), and his age and natural discontent as a human made him a perfect candidate. Pete figures King will choose to accept his role as Pete's avatar, even though he doesn't like him, just to end his ordeal.
Even though Bahamut found Pete's actions to skirt the line, he still rules that he didn't do it out of malice, and sentences him to be barred from heaven and serve another hundred thousand years in solitary confinement, which is served instantly due to his time subjectivity. Spirit Dragon meets Pete outside of the courthouse and demands why he can't just let King go, as he even has a girlfriend now. Pete however states that he already knows and begins to laugh evilly.
Back on Earth, Tarot, possessed by Spirit Dragon, comes by the wolf house to warn King of the imminent danger, but he merely slams the door in her face.
Events[]
- This arc further explores the Cosmic Game itself, such as how it began and the rules of the game.
- It is also revealed how Pete became trapped in the temple, and his relationship with Henry Milton
- Pete reveals the loser of the Game will be sentenced to a lifetime of mortality.
- This arc reveals how Grape was prevented from becoming an avatar, and the events of The Grove was Pete's attempts to use her.
- It also suggests that Pete also tried making Peanut or Fido his avatar.
- It also delves a bit further into why Pete turned King into a dog
Trivia[]
- This arc was originally going to be called "A Game in Heaven" as shown in it's (old) archive address, however it was changed after the new site layout.
- The alt-text in We All Dream For Sundering references the popular term "took an arrow to the knee" from Skyrim.
- Bahamut appears as a dragon in this arc. He later appears as a humpback whale (a reference to the Wind Fish in Legend of Zelda) in Heaven's Not Enough, Part 2 before returning as a dragon in HECKRAISER, Part 1.
- This is the first arc to bring up the "time subjectivity" of Celestials.