Chapter 11: Would You Please Approach The bench
Outside everyone was watching and waiting. There hadn't been any news in over an hour. "How long do these things take?" Bobby asked.
"A long time Bobby, it drives kids crazy," answered Jubilee.
"How do you know that Jubilee?" Jean asked the young girl.
Jubilee shot Jean a nasty glare. "Um, let me think, oh wait, I know! I was the foster girl no one wanted because I blew-up everyone's electronics! I hate Court Rooms."
Jean looked at Scott and then over to Jubilee. "Jubilee, I'm sorry. I didn't think."
Jubilee shrugged, "Whatever, no one ever does."
The atmosphere seemed to thicken and then Logan let out a half moan half growl. "Damn it! I should of gone in, not Stripes!"
They all looked at him, "Logan, are you alright?" Scott asked the gruff man.
"Just fine Shades! I let Stripes walk into a Court Room! She probably hates them!"
Everyone was looking between each other and Logan. Finally the professor said, "Logan, I don't think anyone likes Court Rooms. So Rogue may have had a rough patch when going through legal procedures as a child, but she is strong, she will handle things, you of all people should know that."
Suddenly there was a "bamph!" and Kurt was in front of them. "It's about damn time Elf! What the hell is going on up there?"
Kurt looked around and said, "Vell, they vere calling people to the stand and none of them knew Viser. It vasn't looking good…" Logan growled but Storm stopped his outburst before it happened.
"What changed it?" Jean asked.
Kurt sighed, "It vasn't looking good until Tommy caused a little scene."
They all stole glances at one another and Kitty asked, "What kind of a scene?"
Kurt explained how Tommy had seen Wiser's colleague and screamed. He carried on telling them how Tommy had tried to put himself under Oath before telling anyone what had happened when he had been taking the medicine. Some of them chuckled when hearing this. "Dis ol' Cajun wishes he could o' seen dat." Remy laughed.
"What is happening now Elf?"
"Vell, vhen I go back the Judge vill have the bench open to the public. Ve are at a recess right now."
Storm smiled at him, "Thank you for the update Kurt. We will be waiting right here when you all get out."
With that Kurt re-entered the Court House back to the waiting group.
There was an announcement over some loud speakers, "Court will reconvene in five minutes. Please take your seats."
All the people re-entered the Court Room sitting down. Judge Luke entered three minutes later looking over some of his notes as the jury glanced over their own. Suddenly there was a swing of a mallet and they all heard, "Court is now in session. Those that would like to approach the bench may do so in an orderly fashion."
Rogue lined up her supporters in what she hoped would be a good order. First, Rebecca, then Sarah, Kurt, Calysto Amara, Emily, Tommy and then herself. Rogue looked around the Court Room. Obviously people were reluctant to stand their ground because Rogue's party was the only one standing. Judge Luke looked at Rogue and how organized she was. He sensed a turn for the better. The way things had gone in the first half had him worried that he might have to let this lunatic walk. He prayed that the jury would listen to these kids and teens.
"You may approach the bench." Rebecca did so. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?"
"I do."
"You may be seated." Rebecca sat at the bench. "Please state your name for the record."
"Rebecca Cane."
"Rebecca, do you know this man?" The lawyer pointed to Wiser.
"No sir."
"So why are you here?"
"I know that he is the one who created Kicking The X." The man looked at her.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well he left his name on the packaging of the drug as Dr. J. Wiser."
There were mumbles in the back of the court room but they died down not wanting to anger the Judge. "Did you take the drug Rebecca?"
She nodded. "Yes sir I did."
"Did it help you?"
"No sir, it harmed me."
"Can you explain to the jury what happened when you took the drug?"
"Absolutely. I had trouble breathing after a few days. I thought I was coming down with a nasty cold because I had a bit of a fever, but the fever refused to break. Then my heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
How do you know it was the drug and not the weather causing your headache? Or a common cold, or the weather and a common cold combined?"
"I know it was the drug because I had never felt that way before I took it. I also went to the Xavier Institute where Dr. Hank McCoy took care of me and about fifteen others that were in the medical bay who were all being monitored after taking of this drug."
"Thank you that is all for now. You may step down." Rebecca left the bench.
"Next." Sarah stepped up swore to tell the truth and entered the stand. "State your name."
"Sarah Thomas."
"Sarah, why are you here today?"
Sarah looked around the Court Room and her eyes glued themselves to Jake. "To make sure that this scientist goes back to jail."
"Why would anyone your age want anyone to go to jail?"
"If he hadn't made the medicine to try and make me like humans I wouldn't have gotten sick."
"What medicine is that?"
"Kicking the X. My Dad thought it would be a good thing to try, so I did. I didn't get better though, I got sick."
"Please explain to the court what happened."
"First I got a bad headache, a kind of headache that I had never had before. My head felt like it was being squeezed like a lemon. I got all hot and started sweating. Then I threw up. I stayed with Dr. McCoy for five days in the medical bay. I had to wear an oxygen mask for two days until I was able to breathe better on my own and could have a popsicle."
There were small chuckles in the Court Room at the last remark. "Is that everything Sarah?" She nodded. "You may step down."
Kurt stepped behind the bench and turned off his image inducer. Eyes popped out, mouths dropped open, but Kurt wasn't looking at them, he was looking at Rogue. She smiled at him. 'Kurt should be in a Court Room more often.' She thought."Sorry your honor, I jus' thought that the court should see the real me. It is a rare thing, but I am under Oath."
"Yes, well thank you Kurt. It must have taken a lot of courage to do that."
"Ja," he mumbled.
"Getting back to matters at hand. Do you know this man Mr. Wagner?"
Kurt nodded. "Yes sir, I do, he vas the man in the lab on Maui in Hana."
There were gasps from in the room. "ORDER!" The room quieted back down.
"How do you know this?"
"Vell sir, I vus there vhen he vus arrested. I saw all the mutants he had as test subjects. I also saw his files."
"Did any of those files contain information on anyone in this Court Room?"
Kurt nodded, "Yes sir."
"Could you point them out to us please?"
"There vus information on Sarah Thomas, Tommy Jones, Rebecca Cane, Emily Spots and Calysto."
"What sort of information did these files have?"
"Most of it vus shipping information to vhere to send the drug. There vas also a list of deaths caused by the drug. Another set of files contained medical information like blood work, temperatures and vhat cell or cage that mutant vus in."
The jury took all this down. They had listened to people say they didn't know this man, and here was this blue fuzzy boy saying that he had seen the lab and caged mutants along with this scientiest's files. They had heard that the drug had been nothing but trouble so far and the odd person in the jury had seen the package and knew that his name was indeed on the box.
"Do you have these files with you Mr. Wagner?"
"I do not have them, someone else does."
"Who?"
"My swister."
"Your honor, he is avoiding the question."
Judge Luke looked at Kurt. "Kurt, is your sister here?" Kurt nodded. "Is she going to be coming to the bench?" Kurt nodded again. The judge shrugged. "The boy does not have the files, if you wish to ask him something else that does not pertain to the files you may. Otherwise you can not hold him here."
The lawyer let out a humph, "I have nothing else at the current time your honor."
"Kurt you may step down." Kurt did so and Calysto went up behind the bench.
Name?"
"Calysto." They looked at her. "That is all, I have no last name."
"Very well Calysto, do you know my client?"
She scowled, "I am disgusted to say that I do know him."
Wiser shifted in his seat and Calysto gave him the evil eye. "How do you know him?"
"I was one of his Guinea Pigs in Hana. He poked me taking blood, tried dissolving the drug in water and injecting it into me. He took my temperature pre and post administration of the drug, same with the blood work. I was locked in a cage like an animal."
"All your friends, they say they got sick. You haven't described anything remotely to what they had."
"You didn't ask."
"Well I am asking now, what happened when you were given the drug?"
"I got ill. I had a fever and I couldn't move. I lay there on the cold metal floor getting sicker and sicker from the drug, lack of food and the dying bodies around me."
Murmurs rose again in the Court Room but were silenced. "ORDER! I want quiet in my Court Room!"
The lawyer shifted his gaze to Wiser. The look was a mix of," What bodies? You won't get out now." "What bodies Calysto?"
"The bodies of other mutants that had died during testing or the ones that were even weaker than I was starting to waste away."
"How did you get out?"
"The X-Men." 'Oh great, Ah don' need the looks now! Damn Oaths, she can't lie!' Rogue was not thrilled.
"The X-Men." Calysto gave a quick nod. "Who are The X-Men?"
"They are a group of mutants that fight for peace between humans and mutants. They don't need to do much fighting now though because there has been peace for several months now."
"Are any of them here today?" 'Busted!' Rogue thought bitterly.
"Yes, you have spoken to one of them already, if not two."
"Names please."
"Kurt and Rogue." Rogue glared at the man but he took little notice. She had been glaring so much in the room that her face looked like it was frozen in that position.
"Thank you that is all, unless there is anything you wish to add."
"There is. I also was under the care of Dr. Hank McCoy. If he had not taken me in and treated me, along with the other fifteen or more patients, I would be dead because of this man." She pointed at Jake. "That is everything your honor."
"You may step down."
"Amara, do you recognize this box?" He held up a blue medicine box.
"Yes I do. That is the box that contained the drug that almost killed hundreds of thousands of people."
"Why would you say it was this medicine box?"
"Because it was shipped to millions of mutants and those that took all fourteen pills died. It was on the news and in the files that Kurt spoke about."
"Are you sure? What other information can you give to this Court to convince them that it was this medicine that made the mutants ill or caused their deaths?"
Amara's face hardened. She did not look like herself at all. "I was helping take care of Dr. McCoy's patients such as Tommy, Sarah, and Calysto. I helped keep their temperatures down as well as brought down food to the med bay. Whenever a patient came into the lab the box that you are holding came with them so that Dr. McCoy could see how much of the drug they had taken."
This info made Wiser shift in his seat again. The Judge took note of this. Each piece of information that had been presented to the jury from these children was putting this man on edge.
"That is everything, you may step down."
Next up was Emily. "Do you know this man?"
"No sir I don't."
"Why are you here?"
"I am here because of him and the medicine he created that almost killed me."
"What medicine was that?"
"Kicking The X, you know the drug in the little blue box you were holding a moment ago."
"You say it almost killed you, but everyone else just got a fever a d had trouble breathing. What makes you so special?"
"I wouldn't word it like that."
"Just answer the question."
"I almost took all the pills 13/14. Dr. Hank McCoy took care of me. I was on life support for two days, oxygen for two weeks and in the medical bay for a month."
"Life support?"
"Yes sir. I was told that if I had taken the last pill I would not be alive today. That medicine that they called, "The Cure" was nothing more than a new way to kill mutants."
Did you see any of these people when you were sick?
Emily nodded, "Yes, I saw Amara. She would pass by my bed on her way to help Tommy, Calysto or one of the many others. Sam and Jamie were in charge of me."
"Are Sam or Jamie here right now?"
"They are outside, we all wouldn't of fit."
"All?"
"Yes sir, everyone that helped out in the med bay."
"Ah, I see. Thank you, that is all."
Next it was supposed to be Tommy. "Your honor, do you need the boy to speak again?"
Judge Luke looked at the jury. "Your honor, although the boy was not under Oath during his speech we did keep it on file, he may pass unless he has more to add."
"Son, do you have any new information for us?"
Tommy climbed up behind the stand and swore to tell the truth (this time being asked) "I do"
"Tommy, what is it that you wish to add?"
"I wanted to show you the medsin box." Tommy pointed to the blue box on the table. "That was the box and he was the medsin man. That is all Mr. Sir."
"Thank you Tommy, you may step down now."
Finally it was Rogue's turn. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?"
"Ah do."
"State your name for the record."
"Anna-Marie Darkome, but Ah go by Rogue"
"Very well then, Rogue do you recognize this man?"
"Yes sir Ah do."
"Would you please tell the jury who he is and how you know him."
"Sure. This man's name is Jake Wiser. He was the head scientist under the supervision of Mr. Graton Creed while on Maui in Hana, in an underground base. Ah met Mr. Wiser as Ah was on a mission."
"What sort of mission were you on, you don't look like you work for the government."
"No sir, Ah was on one o' mah missions as an X-Man. Mah job was t' get in t' the base and get rid o' the drug that ya see on the table. There were ova 150'000 boxes in that lab. Sir, Ah know that Mr. Wiser is pleadin' insanity, but Ah can assure ya that he was quite sane when he was makin' this drug."
"Oh, how can you be so sure? He also said he was forced to make it. Are you telling us that he actually had a choice? How are you so sure of these things Rogue?"
"Who 'ere likes technology?"
"Pardon? Answer the question please, Rogue."
"Your honor, with the courts permission Ah would like t' insert this flash drive in t' one o' the Courts lap tops."
"What for?"
"On this drive Ah hold all the information from Hana, including all o' Mr. Wiser's research and testin' o' the drug that resides on that table. Your honor and members o' the jury, in order t' see if y' work is actually workin' ya need a clear head, ya need t' be sane." She smiled. "Y' will also find some video files with audio on that drive as well your honor. Ya can take a look f'r yourself the horrors on Hana."
A laptop was handed to the Judge. He took the flash drive from Rogue and inserted it in the side of the laptop. A few clicks later and a video came on with Jake and Creed.
"Sir, I am telling you that we have been receiving fewer and fewer orders. Mutants just aren't buying it any more. Maybe a new form of advertisement is needed."
"No, that add was perfect! They believed that we wanted to help them. Those stupid, sickening, plagued creatures! They need to be eliminated Jake."
"I agree sir; they shouldn't be among 'normal' humans."
"They are not humans Jake, they are animals! Monsters! A disease and therefore must die!"
"Well sir, what do you suggest? I have over 50 packages in storage room A and 100 in storage room B. Each package, as you know contains 1000 boxes of the drug. That doesn't include the drugs being created in the labs as we speak. That is enough for 150,000 mutants' sir; and I don't even have 30,000 orders yet. If we don't sell it soon you are out hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention the drug will go to waste. We tried to tell you that it is only good for up to two years and then seems to have no effect."
The Court Room was silent as they all listened. "For a man who is claiming insanity your mathematical skills are quite excellent," Judge Luke stated. "Let us see what else is on here, shall we?"
They scrolled over to files/subjects and opened it up. Inside were charts with short notes with signatures. The judge looked at the jury, "I am going to have officer Steven read some of the notes from the area File/Subject. If you please"
"Wed. May 10th: Today subject in cell 6 fainted after two minutes after injection of the drug. Tomorrow we shall try a smaller dose. Dr. "
"Friday May 12th: Today I saw subject from cell 13, (Who calls herself Calysto). She is a fighter. Used sedation prior to adminerasting KTX. Hopefully tomorrow she will not give us so much trouble. Dr. J. Wiser"
"Sunday July 21st: The first batch of KTX has been released and orders are flooding in. I will be a rich man. I still need subjects should anything go wrong, but Mr. Creed is at an all time high and I am getting an early bonus. Oh yes, subject from cell 6 died last night. Dr. "
"Sept. 2nd: I gave the actual pill of KTX to subject in cell 5 today. He looked tired so I gave him some food with it, more of a bribe Mr. Creed might say. Whatever works, he took it. I told him as long as he took all fourteen pills he would feel better. We will see over the next six and a half days if he is still around. Dr. J Wiser"
"Thank you Steven that is enough." Steven nodded and shuddered on the inside. 'What kind of man could do that? He was clearly sane just had no concuss." Rogue looked at the Judge and then over to the jury. "Rogue, what else would you like to add?"
She thought she had done enough, "Well, Ah never took the drug, but Ah did see the side effects when Ah was visiting Dr. McCoy. He hardly left the med bay when all of this happened. Ah saw IV's in people, oxygen masks or nose tubes, blood pressures being taken. Honestly your honor, Ah had never seen so many mutants in the med bay in mah life, and it was all due to those little 14 pills. If someone had taken all 14 pills it was all we could do to keep 'em comfortable."
"You mean some died?"
"Yes sir, only if all fourteen pills were taken. Ah 'ave never seen Dr. McCoy so broken hearted as he was a few months ago when he knew there was nothin' he could do f'r some o' 'is patients. It was Jake Wiser who told us that information sir."
"What information Rogue?"
"That if ya took all fourteen pills ya would die, but if ya didn't' take all o' them then you jus' got real ill."
"Mr. Wiser, is that true? Did you inform this young lady that these pills killed if all were consumed?"
All eyes went to Wiser. "Not exactly your honor."
"Then what did you say?
"All fourteen pills. If you don't take them all it won't work. You get sick but you won't die."
The Judge blinked, "Oh well then that is so much better! You were knowingly killing Mr. Wiser." He turned to Rogue. "I suppose those 2'000 deaths in this state alone seven to nine months ago were related to this drug."
"Most o' 'em your honor. If the person possessed those pills they were a mutant and thought they were getting' a cure, not a death wish."
"Yes, indeed Rogue. May the jury have a copy of the flash drive?"
"Ah'm sorry your honor, Ah can not grant that request. Havin' one copy is bad enough. We don't need any more Creeds' or Wisers' runnin' around."
"This is true. May the jury borrow the flash drive, or would you feel better if they looked at it here while you were with it?"
"Ah would honestly feel much better if Ah could see it at all times. Ah would be happy t' sit on the other side o' the room while the jury looked at the information on the drive, but then Ah would like it back immediately. Is that alright your honor and respected members o' the jury?"
There were mumbles from the jury members and finally, "We the jury will grant this request as long as Miss Darkome does not interfere with our search of the drive, letting the jury come to their own conclusions from the information that we gather."
"Rogue, do you understand? The jury will remain in this room on that side of the Court, while you sit over there (Luke pointed to the other side of the Court Room), and are silent. You are not allowed to voice your opinion because you are not a member of the jury. Once they are finished with the drive it will be handed back to you immediately and you will leave."
"Ah understand and Ah thank y' and the jury."
