Respect Needed

The place Damian found himself in was completely different from his first trial. Instead of a chemistry lab, he stood on a modern, some kind of talent show-style stage..? The lighting was focusing solely on him. The audience sat in cushioned chairs, chatting amongst themselves, but they were all mere silhouettes without clear facial features. Yet, they murmured and laughed as if they were real people.

'Cough' 'Cough.'

"..Are you just here to look around?" A voice called from Damian's side.

He immediately turned and saw three peculiar figures seated on throne-like chairs, reminiscent of a judge's panel on a reality show. The creatures, small and blue-faced, looked like gnomes but much longer faces, each around 3–4 feet tall overall. The one in the middle looked serious, frowning; the one on the right smiled happily at him; and the one on the left sighed into his microphone, clearly bored.