::I Need an Adult – Testimony [Part 1]::

Dee didn't want to sit on the witness stand, but it didn't change the fact that she had to. The burden of proof fell on the prosecution, after all; Kyle would have looked like a fool if he didn't call her first. The school councilor, Ms. Misty, presented a bible for her to swear upon, and she agreed to the vow with a silent nod before withdrawing her hand and taking a seat in the chair that set next to the PC Judge's upraised platform.

"I would like the court to note that it is my client's personal choice not to speak; as such, he will only be willing to indicate yes or no answers, which should be entered into the record."

Who was keeping the record? Probably Wendy, with some tech wizardry. She's always been damn good at that. That or someone else is scribbling this all down and I just haven't seen them.

"Noted." The PC Judge affirmed stiffly.

Kyle nodded, approaching where Dee sat at the witness stand and giving her a look that couldn't believe he was doing this, but had to carry it out anyway. They were leading with their weakest act, so to speak, and hopefully it would lull Cartman into a false sense of security. If the kid had any more tricks, the hope was to encourage overconfidence and get him to tip his hand early. "Dee, would you confirm for me that the woman here, the defendant, is your first hour science teacher, Ms. Lehman?"

Yep. A short nod, Dee found this just as silly as he did, but it was part of the game.

"When you first began her class on the first day of school, did Ms. Lehman pay any special attention to you? Did she seem to notice you more than other students?"

Nope. A shake of the head, simple and short. I was just another one of the crowd. No doubt she was still assessing possible targets.

"So she was just a teacher to you?"

Not quite... Dee's expression changed, a frown forming as she actually shook her head no.

"N-no?" This wasn't part of the script, so to speak, but they hadn't exactly practiced as much as Kyle had with Kevin. His testimony was considered more important, or at least more user friendly. "She wasn't just a teacher to you? … what was she...?"

Her brow came down, and she gestured with her hands as if to allude to something monstrous, greater than oneself. In an example of a sort of faux sign, she dropped that and mirrored her own response to Ms. Lehman in crossing her arms over her chest and holding her own shoulders. She was fucking scary, dude. On the first day she threatened Cartman and sounded like she wanted him to misbehave just so she could punish him.

"I see, you found Ms. Lehman... intimidating?"

A vigorous nod. Yes, extremely.

"Frightening?"

Oh fuck yes. She was fucking terrifying, and I didn't get why. Just a gut feeling. More nodding, with a grimace. She felt a ripple of energy in the people around her; everyone in the front row seemed to feel what she was mentally 'talking' about, their faces twisting along with hers. It was a sort of infectious... projected empathy? That was turning the mood of the room. The doubt that Cartman had interjected suddenly had to contend with the fact that people looked at her and knew how frightened she'd been of Ms. Lehman. Somewhere between facial expression and something more intangible than that, her silent pantomime was getting through to the onlookers.

"So when Ms. Lehman approached you, you were already afraid of her. Is that correct?"

Yes. Her head followed along with the affirmation in her head, remembering the feeling that had coursed through her at that time- from getting her paper handed back to her telling her she needed to meet the teacher she found the most intimidating, to the exchange that had followed after the fact. I could feel her authority over me, and how willing she was to use it.

"I'm to understand that Ms. Lehman offered to mentor you, help you gain certain advantages in life, even change the grades of you and your friends if you agreed. Is that correct?"

The whispering was picking up again as Dee nodded; people were talking once more, and the buzz seemed to be boosting Kyle's confidence.

"And, of course, she gave you the option to say no to her?"

Hell no. She threatened to kick me out of school. Dee's face turned angry, the raw rage bubbling up in her as she smartly shook her head no. Something about being the focus of so many people made her aware of more than just their reactions, she felt energy from them. Was that just part of the room, to feel the mood of so many people in one place? Or was that her? Was this the part of her that was special, interacting with the mob energy that existed in the people of South Park? She didn't know, but she found it thrilling.

"No." Kyle confirmed what he already knew about the case so far, that no choice had been given. "She threatened you, as I understand. She told you that if you said no, you'd be out of school; that if you didn't do what she wanted, she would simply get rid of you. Is that right?"

Yep. Dee's gaze had changed. She wasn't looking out at the people anymore- she was looking at Ms. Lehman... who also appeared able to feel the energy of the room. Mainly, how it had turned against her. Her posture had narrowed, shoulders drawing in as she began to compact into a thin pillar that crumbled upon her seat. Confident posture curved downward as more and more angry eyes focused upon the back of her head from the rest of the gym, and it was in meeting Dee's eyes that she seemed to realize, finally, she'd fucked with the wrong kid.

"How did that make you feel?" Kyle asked, beginning to pick up that Dee had more for him than simple answers of yes and no. The non-verbal stuff might not have gotten entered into the record, but she was clearly having an effect... and that made him bolder in asking a question that wasn't so thoroughly staged.

Fucking betrayed. An authority figure, someone I was supposed to trust, gave me an unfair ultimatum and told me to make a choice before I could begin to understand it. I was offered benefits most kids could only dream of, power over my fellow students, but refusal carried the price of scholastic death. I was manipulated and terrified- and then I tried to tell myself it was okay.

I tried to tell myself it was okay.

The expression she wore started out so angry, brows furrowed and her lips forming a deeply carved line that twisted her whole face. Then, as she remembered what she did to herself, how she tried to convince herself it was alright when it wasn't... she remembered the horrible feeling of being so intensely vulnerable, and it got to her. Teeth clenched, and she had to drop her head down to look at her own knees before screwing her eyes shut.

Part of her wanted to cry. She had to fight that.

"Oh, shit, sorry dude..." Kyle's voice had dropped into a whisper as he stepped closer to the stand, sharing a private word that wasn't projected to the crowd. "Damnit, I didn't realize it was that raw... hang in there, we're almost done, okay?"

She nodded, but her head remained bent. She wasn't sure if she was ready to raise it up again- what would people think of her, getting teary in front of the whole town? Fucking lizards dancing the polka on Satan's left nipple, this is pathetic.

"As you can see," Kyle projected once more, turning to face both jury and public audience, "My client is distraught- this is the effects of coercion; the unethical persuasion of an individual to do something they do not want to do. Ms. Lehman offered my client a chance to be her personal pet or be expelled, and left my client with effectively no choice at all. This treatment is more than wrong, it shows that Ms. Lehman had something to gain by my client being afraid and isolated, too scared to possibly communicate to friends what was going on."

"Objection!" Cartman cried out at this point. "Prosecution is assuming a point of view for the witness!"

"Sustained." The PC Judge answered back. "Mr. Broflovski, stick to what your witness has directly established."

Dee's head came up again- anger was a good way to get past the desire to cry, and man oh fucking man was she pissed at Cartman. She could glower down at him and keep her head on straight, even if her face was flushed to fuck.

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry." Kyle responded quickly, thankful to see Dee was back in the game. "Dee, did you try to tell your friends what was happening?"

No, I didn't. I was scared and angry and unsure- I wanted to figure it out for myself. Kenny had to corner me.

"And it was that this point that you received the packet of documents from the anonymous person at the park?"

Yeah, that's the story. In truth I realized I was being manipulated and decided to fight the fuck back, but yeah, let's stick with the anon thing.

"And once you realized that you weren't alone, that you were not the only victim, you knew you had to speak up?"

Yep. One last nod, particularly pointed.

"Members of the jury, you've been provided with copies of this packet of documents, which has been entered into evidence. These same documents were found by the police in Ms. Lehman's home, within a locked file cabinet, after she'd been taken into custody." Kyle turned to the jury at this time, addressing them directly while papers shuffled, people his own age now looking through pages of bank records... and photographs of the most obscene sort. "These documents are provided in mostly original form, with some mild editing to the photographs, as they are of a pornographic nature. Even with the blurring, I am certain you can recognize what my witness recognized; young boys committing sexual acts with a teacher. Acts they were incapable of giving consent to, due to the power-imbalance between teacher and student, and the fact that they were all underage. Each and every one of these boys went to this very school at some time, and attended Ms. Lehman's class. They all also got perfect A's in her science class, despite some of them having poor school performance before being in her class."

Some faces on the jury were impressed with the photos- mostly the boys. The girls were disgusted, flipping through them quickly and then turning away... only to peek back a moment later, as if to see if it really was a repugnant as they thought.

"Also in these files, you will find bank records, statements relaying the income of some of the pictured boys, as well as markings in pen as to what percentage is owed. There are also print-outs of e-mail correspondence, as if Ms. Lehman were keeping meticulous record of what threats she'd made to whom for how much- all the threats involve the photos taken of these boys, some of them now young men with promising careers, accompanied with demands that they keep paying her not to release said photos to the people they care about- romantic partners, spouses, bosses, along with reminders not to tell anyone. What my client was experiencing was the first step in a cycle Ms. Lehman had repeated many times, grooming a victim to be under her complete control, obtaining scandalous photos of that victim, and then asserting herself whenever it benefits her most later in that victim's life. And the worst part of it?"

Kyle swept his hands outwards, towards everyone assembled. The jury, the audience, every kid in that gym or watching the broadcast was now who he wanted to speak to. Every boy who was listening. "It could have been any one of us this year. Any boy could have struck Ms. Lehman's perverse fancy this year. It could have been me, it could have been you... but it's not. It's him." Kyle pointed back to Dee, indicating the true victim with conviction. "And if he hadn't said something this year, it could have been a little brother next year, a cousin, a nephew, a son-"

"Objection! Relevance!" Cartman screeched while jumping up from his bench- he didn't like where Kyle was going. Worse, he hated that he was connecting with people. Boys on the jury were looking uncomfortable, glancing towards Ms. Lehman and frowning deeply as they once again looked at the pictures and suddenly didn't seem quite so impressed anymore.

"Relevance?!" Kyle barked back at Cartman. "Look around, dude- the relevance is that you're defending a pedo who could have just as easily picked you to be her target. If I were you, I wouldn't feel so safe sitting next to her."

"Sustained!" The PC Judge shouted over the top, banging a gavel he'd not seen fit to use since the trial began, but the crowd was beginning to get a little unruly. People were shifting in their seats, and the buzzing had not waned in the slightest. "Mr. Cartman, Mr. Broflovski, you will maintain order between yourselves or your clients will represent themselves."

I wouldn't mind that, if we can do it death match style. Just let me kick the crap out of her on local TV, that would work for me.

At the suggestion that Cartman could have been her victim, Ms. Lehman visibly cringed, glancing over to the fat teen next to her as he consented to sit down once more.

"Yes, of course Your Honor, I'm sorry." Kyle responded with a little humbling hand-waving, though he still stole one last glare back at Cartman. "Let's get back to something relevant. Dee, in the days leading up to this trial, is it true that you received an e-mail from Ms. Lehman of a personal nature?"

Personal is one way to put it, she sent me a picture of her tits covered in cream. A short nod, almost sarcastic in its quality.

"If the jury would please refer to the blue folder provided to them." Kyle instructed, moving on to a direct piece of evidence. "This photograph was sent to my client, unsolicited; a sexualized photo of Ms. Lehman's breasts, sent from her school e-mail account. A photo designed to get my client to lust after Ms. Lehman, despite the fact that she held power over him. I present this to the court as evidence of direct manipulation, and sexual harassment."

"Objection!" Cartman was up on his feet again, a few beads of sweat beginning to appear on his brow. Between the heat and the energetic movements, this appeared to be work-out for him. The full suit wasn't helping. "How is a boob pic sexual harassment?"

"The same way a dick pic is, you fat moron!"

It wasn't Kyle who cried out this time, but someone in the crowd- Dee didn't see the speaker, but it sounded like a girl had shouted out. Other voices were joining her, leading the PC Judge to beat his gavel down several more times.

"Order in the court! I WILL have this room cleared!" He threatened, shouting over the noise until the rabbeling of the mob cut off with the chance of dismissal outweighing the desire to shout and grumble.

"I have no more questions for this witness, Your Honor." Kyle excused himself, returning to his bench and clearing the floor with a certain smile on his face that was tallying up the little victories he hadn't expected to score with his first witness.

"Mr. Cartman, you have the opportunity to cross-examine this witness. Do you have any questions at this time?"

Eye contact was made between Dee and Cartman; Cartman, calculating what he could gain by needling Dee... and Dee, glaring at Cartman and daring him to just fucking try it.

"Not at this time, Your Honor."

Biding his time again- what do you have planned, Cartman? If you try to get evidence thrown out again...

"Then the prosecution may call its next witness. Mr. Broflovski?"

"Thank you, Your Honor." Kyle stood up once more. "The prosecution would like to call Kevin McCormick to the stand."


::The Author's Corner::

I was considering using this space to explain exactly how I feel Dee's powers work to y'all, particularly in this offline scenario, but I decided not to. The joy of good fiction is the ability of the reader to construct their own picture and understand how things are working with the information the story has provided them. If I pull back the curtain, it takes all the fun out of it. :3

ONWARDS!

-Buttlord