Chapter 2
"An Eye For An Eye"
"Chief!" Toris' voice broke through the speaker connecting to the room. The young mans voice was verging on frantic. Alfred raised an eyebrow, wondering why Toris seemed in such a hurry.
It's been nearly three months since the newest indecent involving the infamous sky pirate captain, Arthur Kirkland.
Three painstaking months.
There has been no clues as to where he was.
Even with the "help" of the Nailatalian, Feliciano Vargas. They had found out from him that the young man, approximately 21 years old, was looking for his older brother, who had been taken by a different sky pirate, not Kirkland. He went to Kirkland for help, who accepted as long as Feliciano worked on his ship, to which Feliciano immediately agreed with.
But that's all Feliciano knew, he swears. Not that Alfred really ever bought into it.
Which is why Alfred has met with the auburn haired man a few times a week since they caught him. Feliciano was currently awaiting a military trial, facing charges of conspiracy.
"Yeah, what is it?" Alfred asked, turning in the direction of the speaker, as did the man across from him.
"There has been sightings of Kirkland-" Alfred's heart skipped a few beats he couldn't be serious, could he?
"What do you mean?" Alfred asked, interrupting Toris.
"There has been sightings of Kirkland in sky warehouse's in the Northern District!" Alfred stood up completely, it was his chance! To finally catch that damned sky pirate and right all the wrongs he had done in the past eight years! Alfred's heart thumped in anticipation. He couldn't wait to see the look on Kirkland's face when he brought him to justice.
"Send units 2, 9, 12, and 11 to the scene! Leave the other units on stand-by encase it's a trap." Alfred left the small metal room, leaving a very nervous and confused Feliciano behind. Alfred didn't care, though. The only thing on his mind was getting there in time, and catching the sky pirate. He had to.
Toris immediately agreed and quickly sent out the units, he met Alfred back at their Sky car. Alfred was wasting no time, he took off before Toris was completely in the skymobile. The blond turned on the siren and took off. The skymobile was set on autopilet, so Alfred wouldn't get lost and loose Kirkland.
"So," Alfred began, "What are the details?" His blue eyes briefly glanced at his second in command. He looked as serious as Alfred felt. Toris nodded, his wavy brown head bouncing with his head.
"Right, we got the call about fifteen minutes ago. Apparently a few teenagers were 'hanging out' in the sky-warehouses when they spotted a man who 'seemed like he was hurt'."
Alfred blinked, "Hurt? How so?" He turned his full attention to Toris, not worrying about the traffic ahead of them.
Toris looked at his PDA before speaking, "They said they saw a figure 'limping' in a far corner of the building, they called from across the room to see if they were okay, but the figure didn't reply. Their curiosity got the best of them, and they went to check it out. When they got closer they saw a man with blond hair hunched over and panting heavily. They, once again, asked if he was okay. The man looked up and said, quote, 'get the fuck out of my sight before I fuckin' kill you.'. And then they ran away and called us."
"Sounds like Kirkland to me." Alfred nodded, "Ya think it could be mutiny?" He asked, turning his eyes back in front of him. He watched the skymobiles quickly move out of the way as they zoomed past them.
"Perhaps... you know Kirkland, though. It could easily be a trap."
Alfred couldn't help but smirk with excitement, "Or our big break..."
Alfred had split up from Toris to search one of the many warehouses that loitered the sky. This was the third one he checked in the past hour, and it seemed as their luck was running thin. They really needed to cut down on these empty buildings. Seriously.
He sighed, frustrated. Kirkland was probably gone by now. Alfred frowned and turned to leave, but stopped when he saw something. He wiped his head around.
Blood.
Didn't Toris say Kirkland was injured? Alfred's heartbeat picked up again. The blood looked fresh, too. His blue eyes followed the trail. It was inconsistent. Only a few drops here and there, it was a miracle he even saw it.
Alfred started walking, as silent as he could, and followed the drops of blood. As he went farther into the large building, his heartbeat started beating even harder. It was his blood, Alfred knew it.
Alfred stopped walking. He could hear something...
He hesitantly started walking again, he held his breath and was careful not to make any sound. The noise was growing louder with each step he took...
He neared a corner, thankfully there was a row of boxes just before it. The blond pressed his back close the the boxes as he peaked around the corner. His blue eyes scanned the small area, the sound sounded like muffled grunts.
Alfred's breath caught in his throat. There was a man back there. His back was facing Alfred and he was slowly standing up. One hand was placed on his knee, helping him stand, while the other was held by his face.
Alfred swallowed a lump in his throat. It was him- Arthur Kirkland. From what he could make out in the dim light, he had the shaggy blond hair, but he was missing his large hat and coat, only wearing a white shirt, trousers, and boots. Alfred narrowed his eyes, his sweaty hands reached and grabbed his gun.
You have to take him alive. Don't let him escape. Don't let him do anything drastic. Don't let him kill you.
With those thoughts running through his mind, he grabbed his gun and turned around the corner.
"Freeze, it's the Sky Police! You're under arrest!" Kirkland jumped, he quickly turned his head to face who ever was apposing him. A hand, covered in blood, was held over one eye while the other sent Alfred a fierce glare- if looks could kill-
But they can't.
In half a second, the sky pirate was gone. He ran the opposite direction, using his speed to his advantage. But Alfred was fast too.
"Stop!" He yelled, of course the blond didn't listen, he wasn't expecting him to. It would be a major disappointment if the feared Captain of the Britannia just handed himself over.
Alfred quickly grabbed his PDA and pressed the emergency button. It immediately called for back up, which he'd probably need. He put the device back in his pocket, and focused on catching up to Kirkland. He was a good twenty feet ahead of him. It was nothing to Alfred. He smirked, year after year he placed "Most physically fit" in his department. He had brains and brawn. And Kirkland was nothing but a filthy pirate. He had him.
He was quickly becoming in reach, and Alfred could hear how exhausted he was getting. Alfred reached out with the hand that wasn't holding a weapon to grab him. "Got ya!" He grinned, all of the sudden the blond took a sharp turn left, surprising Alfred. Alfred turned and pushed against the wall, however, and caught himself.
Alfred cursed as Kirkland was even farther ahead of him now.
The race continued, and Alfred tried to pick up his pace as Kirkland neared the exit. He was ready to use his gun as a last resort, though he'd always refrained from it as long as he could. He didn't like putting people's lives in danger, even if it was a cold-blooded-murderer.
"Fuck..." Alfred held is gun in front of him, aiming for the pirates feet.
And he shot.
The bullet hit the ground somewhere in front of Kirkland, causing him to move out of the way on instinct.
He tripped.
He couldn't catch himself.
Kirkland fell to the ground, and before he could get up Alfred was on top of him, pulling his arms around his back and holding a gun to his head. "Arthur Kirkland, you're under arrest for multiple counts of murder, and conspiracy. Anything you say can, and will be used against you in a court of law."
Arthur glanced up at Alfred with a smirk, he was panting, obviously exhausted. "So... is this your... big break, officer? Imagine how... much attention you'll get for catching The Arthur Kirkland!" He laughed.
Alfred scowled at him and gritted his teeth. He didn't even know who he was. He didn't know that Alfred has spent his entire Sky Police career trying to catch him. That's the kind of man he was. He didn't give a damn about the people he was affecting.
"Cat got your tongue, boy?" His head was on it's side as he looked up at him, and that's when Alfred saw it.
"What happened to your eye?" His eye was destroyed. The green iris was completely gone, all that was left was a bloody hole. It was... unnerving.
That explained the blood on the ground.
"Ah, this ol' thing?" His good eye glanced at it. "I think it's pretty damned obvious, don't you?" His playful voice fell, as did his smirk. His one green eye darkened. He was far more frightening like this, than with a smirk on his face. Alfred had to repress the shivers that threatened to run down his spine. He would not be intimidated by someone like him.
Alfred was about to retort, but was interrupted by footsteps coming towards the two.
"Chief!" Toris yelled, as he and about twenty other men and woman neared them.
"I'm fine," Alfred reassured Toris with a grin. "I've apprehended Kirkland." Alfred had a hard time keeping the excitement out from his voice. Alfred attached a pair of arm restricters and lifted Kirkland to his feet, as Alfred was standing up. Alfred's grin slipped as he glanced over to his prisoner, who was staring straight in front of him, eyes- well, eye now- was filled with an emotion that Alfred couldn't place. Alfred stared for a few more seconds before looking away. "He needs medical attention- he has a wound to his eye."
Toris nodded and a few other officers grabbed his arms, Kirkland immediately tried to shake them off, spewing things like "Don't you dare law your filthy paws on me, animal." or "If you fuckin' touch me, I will rip your damned hands off." A few of the officers flinched and were hesitant to grab him, but they did, much to Kirkland's annoyance.
Both Alfred and Toris were silent as they watched the Arthur Kirkland walk away in arm restrictors. Alfred pinched his arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming. After a moment a gitty grin spread across his tanned face-
"Oh. My. God. Toris! We finally caught Kirkland! We caught him!" Alfred, in his excitement, embraced Toris and even spun the smaller man around a few times, for good measure of course. Toris pushed himself out of Alfred's arms, stumbling as he was put on the ground. Alfred didn't notice, he was far too excited about his catch. He, himself, caught Arthur Kirkland! Someone who he's been after for years! Someone who he joined the Sky Police to catch! And he finally accomplished it! He honestly could hardly believe it.
"I caught him, Toris! How amazing is that!" Toris couldn't help but smile back at Alfred's child-like excitement. Even after seeing all the things Alfred had seen as a police officer, all the death, destruction, families being ruined- he could still be like this. So happy and kind. It never ceased to amaze and inspire Toris.
"Good job, Alfred." Toris replied softly.
"Now he wont get the chance to hurt anyone else. He'll be locked away the rest of his life, if I can help it..."
Toris nodded, "Of course he will, sir."
"So. You wanna tell me why you were in the sky warehouses?"
It had been a few days since Alfred had caught Kirkland. Up until now Kirkland had been receiving medical attention for his missing eye. He had, not surprisingly, been very hard to... work with. He had spit, bite, and cursed at anyone who had the displeasure to meet the man- if Alfred could call him that.
"And you are?" Kirkland asked, his accented voice echoed through the metal room. His single green eye glanced around the room with boredom. His other eye was covered in sickly white bandages. The doctors had said recovering his eye was "not going to happen.", the eye had a bullet go through it, the doctor was even surprised the bullet had stopped there, and not had gone through his head. "Very lucky" the doctor told him, voice full of sarcasm.
Alfred's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "The chief of Sky Police. The one who caught you."
Arthur looked up at him, his eye stared at him. After a few silent minutes he nodded, "Oh right. You're that boy."
Alfred gritted his teeth, "Yes. That boy." He cleared his throat, "Anyways, why were you in the sky warehouses?"
"Mutiny."
Alfred blinked, "Mutiny?" He got no response from the pirate, who was staring at him. It was unnerving how fast Kirkland could change his personality. One moment he's playful, having fun with things, the next he's dead serious. His eye was cold and cruel, his face emotionless.
It was the face of a killer. That's all he was. The sarcastic jokes and sadistic comments were a facade, Alfred noted. The real Arthur Kirkland was a cold blooded killer. And that's all he would ever be.
"Care to elaborate?"
No response. Alfred sighed.
"Listen, Kirkland. You can either talk to me about what happened or wait til court, but I really recommend that you-"
"I'll wait til court. Now get out of my sight." Alfred scowled. His patience gone.
"If you haven't noticed, pirate, you're playing with different people now. We don't take orders from scum like you." Alfred's blue eyes stared, unwavering, against the cruel green of the person sitting across from him. "It's about time you drop your act, Kirkland. You're playing with the law now. We have different rules then you murderers do."
Alfred inwardly cursed, he told himself to not let Kirkland get to him- but. But. He was at his breaking point, right now. With preparations for his trial, dealing with his- his- shenanigans and complete disrespect, not to mention all the people breathing down his neck-
Alfred took a deep breath. Clear thoughts, clear thoughts. It's only Kirkland, he's doing it on purpose, don't feed into it.
"Did you calm yourself down, lad?" His eyes shot open, meeting the amused gaze of the captive pirate.
Alfred decided it would be best to ignore him. "Do you have anything else to add?"
He was met with silence.
With a sigh, Alfred stood up and made his way to the door. As he opened it, Kirkland spoke up.
"When will my trial begin?"
Alfred glanced over his shoulder and looked at the man, "Probably a couple of months for someone like you. Then the trial will last probably a few weeks. You'd probably be better off asking your lawyer, though." And with that, he left. Not looking back at the man behind him.
Alfred sighed deeply, and a bit over dramatically, and slumped in his chair. Beside him, Toris chuckled.
"You seem stressed, Al." Toris said, taking a sip from the beer in front of him. The blond grumbled in response, putting his forehead on the cool counter top, in hopes it would make his slight headache go away.
He'd been getting headaches constantly in the past few weeks. The blond couldn't help but blame a certain pirate for his problems. With Kirkland, there was no rest. He played mind games, making Alfred second guess himself, worry, and nit pick with the prosecution lawyer.
Toris placed the beer back down, and rested a hand on Alfred's shoulder, smile still in place. "Don't worry about it, Al. I know things are frustrating you right now, but you wont have to deal with him for much longer, you know. His trial's coming up soon, he'll be serving time and you wont have to bother anymore."
Alfred glanced up, head still rested on the counter. He smiled, "Why can't he be as nice as you, Toris! Then I wouldn't mind going to work everyday!"
Toris let out a laugh, "But if he was nice, you would have a hard time sending him to prison, right?" The blond laughed a long with his friend in agreement.
"Right! In a few more weeks, he'll finally see justice!" Alfred grinned, feeling gitty inside. He couldn't wait for Kirkland to be up on the stand. "So, enough about me and my problems, what about you, bro?" Alfred asked, raising his head from the metal counter.
Toris' smile faltered a bit, he waved his hand in the air dismissively. "You may have problems, but at least it's something to talk about!" He chuckled, "My life's as boring and bland as always."
"Seriously, man? What about that one hot chick you kept going on about last month?" Alfred winked, leaning forward. Toris leaned a bit away from his boss. "What was her name, again? Nata-something, right? Nata... Natalie?"
Now it was Toris' time to sigh and slump forward. "Natalia..."
"Natalia! That was her name!"
"We were never really a... thing. She was so sweet on all those dates we went on!" Alfred nodded, knowing that when Toris said 'all of those dates' he really meant the two short dinner dates they had. "But, she said that she was in love with someone more important then me, and I haven't heard from her since..." Toris sighed, once again.
Alfred smiled sympathetically and patted his friend on the back. "That's pretty rough man. Maybe someone new'll come around?"
"Who knows... Hey," Toris looked down at his watch, "It's getting pretty late, isn't it. We should probably leave soon, don't you have an early meeting with Ludwig?"
Alfred shivered at the thought of meeting with the lawyer.
Ludwig Beilschmidt.
He was one scary motherfucker.
He was the prosecution lawyer on Kirkland's case. He had a nearly spotless record of sending people to prison- fairly. The German lawyer didn't play sneaky, didn't make deals, and most certainly didn't play both sides. Alfred respected him. In the world they lived in, there were few people in the force that weren't corrupt- even though Alfred himself didn't want to admit it. Even if the man was a scary son of a bitch, he was one of the few people Alfred could trust fully.
"Right. Him. He's seriously stressing out over this trial, even more then I am! I don't even know why, though! Kirkland's as good as guilty." Alfred grumbled. The German man had been hounding Alfred for records, tapes, photos, and anything else he could think of, about Kirkland.
"You can never be too careful, especially around someone as devious as him." The brunette added, standing up, Alfred followed suit, stretching his arms over his head.
"Yeah, anyways bro, thanks for tonight! I really needed it." Alfred grinned at Toris, who smiled and nodded in return.
Over the next few weeks things were chaotic.
Alfred had never found himself to be the type of person to submit to stress, but he couldn't help it. It seemed like it was the first time in his career that he was so busy with work, he couldn't eat as much as normal, work out ever, and he got very few hours of sleep at night.
It was all beginning to wear on him.
Alfred tried not to show it, but he couldn't help but notice those long glances he received from his secretary, and those- while thoughtful, extremely annoying questions he got from Toris;
"Are you alright, chief?"
"Would you like me to do that for you, chief?"
"You look kind of thin, would you like me to get you something to eat?"
"Is there anything I can do?"
He was extremely thankful to have a friend, and assistant chief, like Toris- but all that worrying was driving him up the wall.
He was a grown man, he could take care of himself!
"Chief, how a-"
"I'm fine, Toris." Alfred said with an eye roll. "I already ate, I got a responsible amount of hours of sleep last night, I, surprisingly, don't have a headache, and I finished my work and don't have anything for you to help me with." Well, the last part was a lie, but the rest of it was true.
Today was the day. Arthur Kirkland's trial was going to start at nine am, sharp. There were butterflies in his stomach, and his palms were sweaty. He was going to be part of the jury, but was also going to be questioned.
He knew he really didn't have anything to be nervous about. He was a great public speaker, he was even on the speech team during his high school years. Alfred decided to dismiss those butterflies excitement.
Toris smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "J-just checking chief..." The brunette chuckled, "Today is the day, and all, so I wanted to make sure you were doing alright." The taller blond slapped the other on the back, laughing boisterously.
"Tor, I couldn't be better! I've waited years to see Kirkland on the stand! I'm so excited..." Alfred threw his arm around the shorter brunettes neck and brought him into a half hug. "This'll be so awesome! I can't wait to see the moment when they say; 'Arthur Kirkland, the jury has voted and you are hereby found... guilty.' Tor, it's gonna be awesome."
Toris chuckled, endeared by his bosses enthusiasm. He removed the arm wrapped around his neck, "You're excited."
"How couldn't I be? I've been waiting for this since he made his first move!" Alfred grinned, more butterflies burst throughout his stomach. Toris agreed as they made their way to the court room, which was in the center of the city, about a ten minute drive from the sky police station. They made small talk while on their way, Alfred found himself not really paying attention. The closer he got, the more sweaty his palms got, and the more butterflies that appeared in his stomach, and now there was a lump in his throat. Alfred couldn't imagine why he was feeling so- so- nervous.
He was never nervous!
He was the chief of the Acireman Sky Police. He had been shot at, in many sky-mobile chases, he had even killed before(not by choice, mind you. It was an accident and he was still ashamed), he didn't get nervous over a trial, even if he was on the jury.
Alfred F. Jones just doesn't get nervous.
"Alfred?" An hand was placed on his shoulder, effectively snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Huh?"
"I said we're here, Al." Alfred blinked, before smiling.
"Right! Let's go, I don't wanna be late!" The blond bounded out of the car, confusing the man left inside.
The wheat haired man successfully made it in the building with no trouble, people waved to great him and he nodded in return. He arrived at room the trial was to be held at and slowed down his pace.
"Chief." A few men that stood in front of the door nodded, showing respect to their superior. Alfred nodded back, hastily going through the large double doors the guards held open for him. He knew where to go and directly headed towards his spot at the metal jury booth, there were already a few other police officers already there waiting.
"Hey chief." They greeted, Alfred did the same back. "What'dya think about all this?"
"I think it's about time." He grinned as the men around him laughed and agreed.
"Yeah, that bastard Kirkland's finally getting' what's coming to him. Think he'll get the death penalty?" One of them asked.
Alfred shook his head, "Hope not." The others raised an eyebrow, a confused look on their faces. They all knew that their boss hated what Kirkland did- he hated Kirkland.
"But... why? We thought you-"
"You guys should know by now! I don't believe in killing." The other officers smiled with a nod, trusting their leader. "Besides, killing is the easy way out. Life in prison is like, a thousand times worse!" He laughed, his infectious laughter infected the other jury members, making them laugh along with the blond.
Soon enough the judge arrived, and they all stood as told and sat down as Kirkland came in, four police officers surrounding him.
Alfred had decided to bump up security. Kirkland had a lot of resources, they couldn't let him have an opportunity to escape.
The chief of police starred at Kirkland as he came in. He was wearing a dark red jump suit that was too big on him. His injured eye covered by a white, medical eye patch. His blond hair was as unruly as ever, but clean compared to when they first caught him. His pale face was expressionless. Kirkland was sat down in a metal chair, the four officers not leaving his sides.
People in the audience chattered and whispered at the site of the pirate. It was probably the first time they had ever seen the young blond, not including the television, of course.
The judge slammed his gavel on his podium, making a loud sound. "Order in the court!" And with that, the court was silent. The judge was silent for a moment, taking a few minutes to gather his papers and what not.
"Alright, Arthur Kirkland you are being charged with several counts of first degree murder, piracy, and conspiracy." Alfred glanced over at Kirkland. He was looking around the room, a bored expression had taken over his features. Kirkland's single green eye not focused on much. "Mr. Beilschmidt, would you like to present your case?" The judge asked, he was a rather plump man. He was bald, and over weight with glasses resting on his nose.
"Yes, your honor." Ludwig Beilschmidt. He was one of the countries top prosecution lawyers. A mean record of winning the vast majority of his cases. He was a serious man. Very serious. His blond hair was slicked back with gel, and his blue eyes were unforgiving. "I believe we have all seen ze evidence of his crimes on ze television, especially his most... recent of crimes; the murder of our governor. According to Chief Jones, he some how over rode the networking system and streamed him killing another human being." Ludwig stopped and cleared his throat, "Now, I have a witness; Mr. Feliciano Varges. He is a member of Kirkland's 'crew', as he said." Feliciano stood up, looking as nervous as ever, and approached the stand. Once Feliciano stood behind the metal stand, Ludwig began.
"Good morning, Mr. Varges." Ludwig nodded, his hands behind his back.
"G-good morning M-Mr. Beilschmidt..." Came the Auburn haired mans reply. He looked around the large room fidgeting, looking anywhere but Ludwig and Kirkland.
"Would you like to tell the court exactly what you were doing the night you were arrested."
Feliciano was silent for a few moments, staring at Kirkland. Alfred saw he was staring right Kirkland, his brown eyes wide open, for once. He was silently asking for help- for what to say. But he got no reaction. Arthur stared back at him, his green eye unblinking. There were no movements, that Alfred could see. No facial twitches, no nothing.
Feliciano looked away, "V-veh... well I was told to exit the ship-"
"And who told you?"
"T-two people higher up then me..."
"Not Kirkland?"
"Correct, Sir..." Ludwig nodded for him to continue and after a shaky gulp, he did. "They gave me a bag and told me stand by for orders..."
"And?"
"A-and-! And... I did. I waited in the alley a few blocks away, and I waited for orders..."
"How did you receive orders?" Ludwig asked, staring at the fidgeting man, who still refused to meet the intimidating Namerg.
Alfred couldn't blame Feliciano for being afraid, Ludwig was from Namerg, after all. Those people had a track record of intimidation. Alfred was even afraid sometimes(even though he would never admit it to anyone).
"An ear piece, v-veh..."
"Did someone talk to you through the ear piece?"
"Y-yes sir..."
"Who spoke to you?"
"I'm not sure..."
"According to surveillance footage, after you took the charge you ran into an alley way, correct?"
"Yes..."
"You then gave the bag of charge to two men- who are unidentified. Do you know them?"
Feliciano shook his head no, "No I don't..."
"What happened after you gave ze two men ze charge?"
"One said 'see ya later', and left."
"You weren't allowed to follow?"
"I don't think so..."
"Why do you think Mr. Kirkland didn't want you to come back?"
Feliciano glanced at Kirkland at the mention of the mans name. "I don't know..."
"That is all the questions I have for the witness, your honor." Ludwig said with a nod, to which the judge responded with a nod of his own.
"The witness may return to his seat." Feliciano stood up and made his way back to his seat in the crowd, pointedly looking at Kirkland, who didn't so much as acknowledge the young man. "Does the prosecution have anyone else to question?"
"Yes, your honor. The prosecution would like to question Mr. 'Captain' Arthur Kirkland."
The judge nodded, "Alright, defendant Kirkland, please take the stand."
The four guards walked Kirkland to the stand and sat him down, Kirkland flinched with a small growl as one of the men touched him. After sitting down, Kirkland stared at Ludwig, who didn't seem to have a problem with returning the stare.
"Good morning, Mr. Kirkland." Ludwig said,
"Good morning, Mr. Beilschmidt." Kirkland replied, a small smirk playing on his features.
"Mr. Kirkland, I would like you to either confirm, or deny zese claims zat have been made against you, understood?" The prosecutionist spoke as he gathered papers, Kirkland's eye watching his every move.
"Of course, sir."
"Right zen. Mr. Kirkland, did you or did you not have your crew rampage through the council of Nacirema and kill-"
"Yes, I did."
Ludwig narrowed his eyes, but continued. "Mr. Kirkland, did you or did you not rob the national bank of Nacirema, killing thirteen peo-"
"Yes, I did."
Ludwig's blue eyes narrowed, his fists clenched behind his back. "Mr. Kirkland," His voice was strained, Alfred could tell he was losing his patience. And Ludwig had a temper. "Did you or did you not-"
"Yes, Mr. Beilschmidt. I did those politicians. Yes, I did kill those business men. Yes, I did kill the governor of Nacirema." His green eye stared back at the heated glare the blue eyed lawyer was giving him.
"And why? Why did you kill those people?"
Kirkland smirked and leaned back in his chair. "I don't feel the need to justify myself." Ludwig's stone blue eyes and Kirkland single green did not look away from the other, even as the court broke out into a fit of whispers.
Alfred narrowed his eyes, glaring at the blond pirate on the stand. With every word that came out of his mouth, Alfred's blood boiled. Alfred gritted his teeth, he didn't feel a need to justify himself? He's killed hundreds of people. Hundreds. And he didn't even have an explanation as to why he did it? Alfred couldn't help but hope the man was insane. A person in his right mind couldn't possibly kill so many innocent people with no reason, right?
"Right, Mr. Kirkland." Alfred could tell Ludwig was having a hard time keeping his cool, too.
"'Scuse me," A voice rang out somewhere in the crowd of people. They all turned to look for it. Alfred's heartbeat started up faster, again. Though this time he knew why. Something was wrong. Extremely wrong. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to cut this short." The man had a strange voice, defiantly not native to the country they were in. It sounded more like Kirkland's, but with a twist...
Alfred's blue eyes scanned the crowd for the owner of the voice, and stopped when he saw a vaguely familiar face. He had a tan face, and wore a simple hat. But that smirk...
Alfred let out a gasp- it was one of the guys from the surveillance footage!
"The one in the hat! Third row from the back!" The police chief yelled, trying to alert the officers that stood guard in the back of the rather large room.
But it was too late.
As a few of the officers in the back rushed forward to grab the man, another hit them over the head, knocking them out. Alfred cursed, there were fakes.
Alfred was about to stand up, but immediately re-thought that decision. Others threw grenades on the ground which released a gas into the air.
Alfred ducked down and covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve to keep himself from inhaling the gas.
The crowd, from what he heard since he couldn't exactly see him, was beginning to quiet down from the rowdy noise they were producing a few moments before. Alfred guessed that the gas that the grenades released was some sort that, if inhaled you fall unconscious. Even a few of the jury members around him had fallen.
He heard gun shots, and instinctively reached for his own.
He cursed when he realized he didn't have his gun with him.
Alfred peeked over the metal that blocked his view from what was happening. His blue eyes searched the now misty room. People were unconscious, laying on one another in the crowed, there were also some of his officers he recognized, both shot and unconscious. But, he also saw people in their uniform that he did not recognize. Those people wore gas masks and stood by the door with large guns in their hands. Alfred's eyes moved away from them and stopped on Kirkland.
He too was now wearing a gas mask. The man from before, the one from the surveillance footage, was handing him a red, pirate-esq hat with a large black feather attached. Kirkland put it on with a nod. There were others around the two, a few large men picking up Ludwig, and another picking up Feliciano.
Alfred narrowed his eyes, why were they taking Ludwig?
The chief decided it was time to confront Kirkland, as his head was beginning to fog over. The gas was getting to him. He crawled out from his position and hid behind one of the rows of seats in the audience. Kirkland was just leaving. Now was his chance. He swallowed a lump in his throat, grabbed a gun from an unconscious officers nearby. He attempted to stand up, only to find he couldn't, all the way, at least. So he settled from crawling over behind where Kirkland and his crew were walking.
Alfred was kneeling to the best of his ability, and pointed his gun at Kirkland's head. "Freeze, Kirkland." He panted out, trying not to inhale too much.
Kirkland stopped, as did the rest, and turned around.
"Ah, it's Chief Jones. What a pleasure." His voice was slightly muffled and hard to hear through the mas on his face.
"Drop Beilschmidt, and I'll let you go." Kirkland let out a quick, humorless bark of laughter, walking towards Alfred.
"And what'll you do if I don't, Jones?" He stopped in front of Alfred, who couldn't even see straight, let alone aim his gun correctly aim. Kirkland kicked the gun out of Alfred's weakening arms. "You can't even hold your gun."
"If you leave, Kirkland." He all but spat his name, "I'll come after you again. If I caught you once, I can do it again..." Alfred now sat on his rear, trying his best not to fall unconscious. It was so hard though, he was already seeing double. He didn't even see the foot that hit him in the face, knocking him over. Alfred groaned, now on his back. He attempted to move his arms to push himself back up into the sitting position, but the booted foot was stomped on his chest.
"Don't be so petty, Jones. Do you really think, I- Captain Arthur Kirkland, would be caught so easily? I knew you were dim, but I wasn't expecting this." He pushed his foot down. Alfred swear he heard something crack in there. "I'll make this clear; if you keep pursuing me, I will kill everyone and everything you hold dear. Is that understood?" Without waiting for a reply from the blond, the pirate lifted his boot from Alfred chest.
"Sweet dreams." Was the last thing Alfred heard before everything went dark.
Wow! I'm SO sorry about the wait on this chapter! I honestly didn't have a plan for it, hence why it took so long! Not to mention it's finals for me, and every time I wanted to work on this I had to write a paper, do a project, blah blah. So I'm REALLY sorry!
And double wow! 20 reviews. 20! On the first chapter! It really blew me away! And it means a lot to me that you guys all like the first chapter! I was a bit unsure of it(who am I kidding? I'm always unsure of my writing), but I'm severely happy! So PLEASE review again if you liked it! Review if you didn't like it! Review if you didn't last time! :) And thanks to all anon reviews! They too mean a lot!
Guys. I'm sorry! I have no clue how a trial is run! I did a bunch of research, but none of it helped with the order of things in a court, and yeah. So I did my best with trying to be logical about it? Feel free to correct me!(I also NEED a beta, anyone~?)
(I don't usually respond to people on anon, because I don't like posting it here, so next time please sign in :)) Logichole: I really hate explaining things that aren't a big part of this story, like currency. But, as I said, this is a futuristic AU, and therefor it's in the future. That's why I made the currency "charge" because it's not dollar bills. Charge is basically like poker chips, they're small and each one holds a different amount of money on them. They are small enough to fit into a bag like the one Feli was carrying- and I don't want to get into the ATM's, because it's the future, things will be different. Yup.
If you guys have something like that to say, do it off of Anon please! I wont chew you out or be annoyed, but I hate having to put that in my chapter, so for future notice, unless you do it off of anon I won't respond.
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