Twelve Angry Nobodies
Act 1 Pt 1
The jury room of a Twilight Town Court of Law. A very hot summer afternoon.
The entire room was absolutely stifling. With the lack of any breeze, the July weather was unforgiving and seemed as though it was punishing the court room's inhabitants. Judge Ansem the Wise dabbed his brow with a handkerchief and cleared his throat.
"This concludes the court's explanation of this matter. And now, lady and gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the charges and testimony that apply to this case. Murder in the first degree-premeditated homicide-is the most serious charge in our criminal courts. Now its your duty to pick out the facts from fiction. A man is dead. The very life of another hangs in the balance. I urge you to deliberate truthfully and thoughtfully. If any reasonable doubt arises-then you will bring me a verdict of 'not guilty.' If there is none, then you have found the defendant to be 'guilty.' Let me remind you that if 'guilty' is your verdict, no pleas for mercy will be heard. The death sentence is mandatory for this case. Think carefully on your decision. Thank you, lady and gentlemen."
The jurors stood and left without looking at the accused. Except one. The lanky redhead sighed as he glanced at the small blonde boy starring dejectedly at the ground. 'Poor kid.'
As the jurors reached the appointed room, they were let in by a guard who went about checking off their names on a list. A young man with a sandy blonde mullet crossed the room to the bathroom. Another with long blonde hair opened up the morning paper. The rest of them milled about the room awkwardly. A tall man with dreadlocks pulled back on his head, took out some notes and began to study them. After a quick glance around, a graying man with an eye patch walked over to the water cooler for a drink. The foreman, a man with long silver hair, tore up strips of paper for ballots. The guard crossed to the twelfth juror, and only female, to check off her name. The seventh juror, a man with blue hair and a large scar, walked to the fourth, the blonde man with the paper, and offered him a stick of gum.
"No thank you." Said the blonde shaking his head. The seventh then turned to the eighth juror, a younger man with a shock of red hair.
"Gum?"
"Nah, I'm fine thanks." He drawled with a grin. The blue haired man took a piece for himself and went to sit next to the sixth juror, a smaller man with slate colored hair over one eye.
"Today is supposed to be the hottest of the year." The sixth was silent and merely nodded in reply. The guard cleared his throat.
"OK then, everyone is here. If you need anything, I'm right outside. Just knock." He walked out the door and in the silence the sound of the door being locked could be heard. The fifth, a rather large man with rust-colored hair looked towards the closed door and said simply, "Never knew they locked the door." The tenth, a short haired blonde, looked up from the cards he was shuffling.
"Of course they do. Think they wouldn't?" The fifth shrugged.
"Never really thought about it."
The tenth noticed the silver haired foreman and his slips of paper.
"What are those for?"
"For if we choose to vote with ballots."
"Ah."
Back at the water cooler, the third juror turned to the second.
"So what do you think?"
"I don't know, it was pretty interesting."
"Yeah? I was nodding off."
"Well, this is my first time with being on a jury."
"Really? I've sat in on a few, it always amazes me how the lawyers go at it. Even when the case is as obvious as this one, they insist on talking on and on. Honestly, have you ever heard so much talking about absolutely nothing?"
"I guess, man, they are entitled, though."
"Mm hm. Everyone deserves a fair trial. That's the system. Now don't get me wrong, but I think we'd be better off if we took these kids who think they're so tough and slapped 'em down before they make trouble, you know? It would save us time and money." The graying second juror fiddled with his eye patch nervously, nodded, and walked with his water to another spot.
The blue haired seventh juror turned to the Foreman.
"Should we start?" The third juror brushed a few dreadlocks off his shoulder.
"Yes let's. We all have other things to do." The Foreman looked at the clock.
"Of course. I was only thinking we'd take a five minute break, the younger man did leave to the bathroom."
The large fifth juror cleared his throat.
"Are we going to sit in order of number?"
"Why not."
The eighth juror stood gazing out the window, his arms crossed in front of him. The twelfth juror, the woman, walked up to join him.
"Not a bad view." The redhead just grinned.
"What do you think about the case?" He didn't answer her and she kept talking.
"Well I found it interesting. Not many boring parts, we were pretty lucky to get a murder case. Burglaries or assault are just dull. Anyway, is that the clock tower?"
"Yep."
"Funny, I've lived in this town my entire life and I've never been to the top." The eighth juror remained silent and continued to gaze out of the window. The young woman gave up attempting to get him to talk and moved away. Back at the table, the seventh juror fingered a strand of his blue hair.
"This is a waste of time." The tenth juror looked up from his deck of cards.
"Hm. We sat in that court room for three days for this?" The tenth chuckled.
"Impatient are we-" The blonde man broke off to blow his nose.
"A cold in the summer?"
"Unfortunately."
The seventh turned to the foreman again.
"Does the ceiling fan work? It's hotter than Hades in this room"
"Let me take a look at it." He stood on a bench to try the fan. Stepping down he said, "Seems it's broken." The seventh juror checked his watch.
"Should we start now, Mr. Forman?" The silver haired man nodded.
"All right, lady and gentlemen. Let's take our seats, number order please." The remainder of the jurors still standing, with the exception of the young ninth juror still in the restroom, all seated themselves accordingly. The foreman turned to the eighth juror still looking out the window.
"How about sitting down?" The redhead didn't seem to hear him.
"Gentleman at the window?" He turned around, slightly startled.
"Would you care to join us?" Asked the foreman.
"Oh, sorry." His grin was apologetic as he was seated. The tenth juror leaned across the table to speak with the fourth.
"It's all a bit simple to figure, isn't it? The kid kills his father, just like that."
"Well if you analyze the figures-"
"What figures? It's those people! They let the kids run wild up there. Well, maybe it serves them right. Know what I mean?"
The foreman left the table to knock on the bathroom door to get the ninth juror.
"We'd like to get started." The ninth juror opened the door, a bit embarrassed at making everyone wait.
"Oh, sorry." When the two men were finally seated, the foreman addressed the jurors.
"All right. Now we can handle this any way you want. If we want to discuss the facts first and then vote, that's one way. If you all want to vote now to see where we stand, that would work as well." The ninth juror raised his hand.
Uh, do you think we could introduce ourselves with at least our first names. I don't know about anyone else, but I think it would get a bit confusing the address each other by numbers." The silver haired foreman cleared his throat.
"Anyone have a problem with the ninth juror's suggestion? All right then, I am Xemnas."
" 'Name's Xigbar." The man with long graying hair and an eye patch scratched a scar on his jaw.
"Xaldin." Said the man with pulled back dreadlocks.
"My name is Vexen." The long haired blonde replied.
"Lexaeus." The large man with rusty brown hair said with a slightest of smiles.
"Zexion." The small young man with slate hair that covered half his face, propped himself up on his elbows.
"Saix." The blue haired seventh juror said his name in a monotone voice.
"The name's Axel. A-X-E-L, Axel." The redheaded eighth juror grinned widely.
"Hi, I'm Demyx." Said the ninth juror brightly.
"My name is Luxord." The tenth juror looked up from the cards he was shuffling.
"I'm Marluxia." The eleventh juror had brightly dyed, pink hair and a smooth smile as he spoke his name.
"My name's Larxene." The twelfth and final juror smiled as she leaned on the table.
--
Yeah, I know it's kinda boring now, but if you stick with me, I can promise it'll get better!
And don't try to make any guesses on what pairings there are because... there aren't any. Yep, my first story without any pairings at all. Weird.
MVSB