The courtroom was large. Loads of old Duel Monsters cards were perfectly lined up, the members of the jury the same animals from before, the Queen Aki and King were sat at the top, whilst little Yusei was at the bottom. 'This isn't how a court room is set out, surely,' Yusei thought. 'For starters, the members of the jury are in a totally wrong place, there aren't supposed to be guards like this in a court any way. The judge is too high as well.' The judge was the King Bruno, but he wasn't wearing a wig. Carly came running in with a scroll in her paw and trumpet in the other.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" she called, reading from the scroll. "Members of the jury, cards, kings and queens, Your Grace. 'Today's trail is about Alice during her game of Croquet, with terrible harassments, teasing, name-calling, and annoying'—"
"FORGET ABOUT ALL THAT!" The queen shrieked. "Get to the very end, please!" Carly panicked and read the end of the scroll: " 'And if the suspect should fight back, it'll hereby cause the queen to lose her temper'!"
"Okay, now that's settled," said the judge, "call the first witness."
"That tone won't enforce them anything," the Queen frowned. "FOR GOODNESS SAKE, GET ON WITH IT!"
"Carly! Call the first witness!" the judge shouted.
"Introducing the March Hare!" Carly called. The March Hare came walking in, still sipping his tea. 'I don't remember him being at the game?' Yusei thought to himself.
"What do you know about this terrible business?" the king asked.
"Nothing," the March Hare shrugged.
"Nothing whatever?" the judge asked.
"Nothing whatever!" the March Hare copied.
"THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT!" The queen shrieked in the judge's ears. "Write it down!"
"You meant 'unimportant'!" the judge said.
"Shut up," the queen snapped. Judge Bruno sighed. "Next witness," he said banging his hammer.
"R-Right!" Carly heisted. "The dormouse!" Yusei blinked. 'That dormouse has hardly said a word, yet yawn,' Yusei thought. He clinched to his stomach for a bit. He felt strange again. 'I hope I'm growing back to normal,' he thought. 'But, hold on, I didn't have anything to eat or drink. That's odd.' By this time, the Jack dormouse was at the stand snoozing.
"Give us your evidence!" Bruno demanded.
"Shan't!" the dormouse snapped, and went to sleep. The King and Queen blinked and looked at each other. "Try and cross-examine this witness," the queen whispered loudly. The judge thought for a moment. Finally he said: "What bad words can you think of?"
"Treacle!" the dormouse yawned.
"That's the most important piece of evidence we've heard yet!" Queen Aki cried with delight. Yusei blinked at her. He decided not answer back, just in case. "Any way, NEXT WITNESS!"
"The Mad Hatter!" Carly called. Pleasantly, Mad Hatter Kiryu came walking up to the King and Queen and bowed.
"Take off your hat!" the judge ordered.
"I can't do that!" The Hatter remarked. "It's not mine!"
"STOLEN!" Judge Bruno cried. "Write that down!"
"No wait! You don't understand!" The Hatter begged, bowing over and over. "I'm a poor man! I'm a hatter! I sell these!"
"Well, why didn't you say so?" the judged asked. The Queen starred at the Hatter for a while. "Do I know?" the Queen asked.
"I can't say you have?" the Hatter trembled, till his shoes were off.
"But to business!" the judge continued. "Where were you when this crime was committed?"
"I was at home!" the Hatter cried. "I was having tea! Even when the March Hare said—"
"I deny it!" the March Hare cried.
"I object!" the Hatter called.
"Objection denied!" the judge laughed.
"But, you see," the Hatter continued nervously. "I'm a poor man! I haven't had my tea! The bread-and-butter was getting thin! The twinkling of the tea—"
"I KNOW YOU!" The queen shrieked. "At my concert, you ruined my concert! Off with his head! Now!" The Hatter gasped with fright, and ran out, forgetting about his shoes and socks. "Oh well, take off his head outside."
"I object!" Yusei cried.
(Continued in the next chapter)
