Chapter Twelve: Culprit Discovered
After Sasha was released, she immediately ran to her father, and gave him the biggest hug she could. "Thank you so much! I couldn't have gotten through this without you. You and Courtney were the only two who believed in my innocence!"
"Sasha, will you be able to forgive everyone for doubting you?" asked Roger.
"Perhaps, but I'll never forgive Ratchet."
"That's completely understandable, and I don't think you should. Well... You should let the anger go, you know, to stop it from eating you inside, but you should NEVER take him back. He does not deserve you."
"I couldn't agree with you more, dad."
"SASHA!" screeched Courtney, like an excited school-girl, as she ran to Sasha.
"OH COURTNEY! Thank you so much, I could not have won my innocence without that lawyer. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be on death row right now. Thank you so much, sis. I'll never forget this, never. You really came through for me this time. Even though I disagree with the method, you still saved my life, and for that I truly thank you."
"I would do anything for my family, Sasha, anything," said Courtney as she squeezed and kissed her sister. "Dad... I'm not quite sure what to say to you, it's been so long."
"YOU, got that lawyer for Sasha? How? What does Sasha mean when she says that she disagrees with your method?"
"Oh, I, uh...let's grab a coffee and talk. I think we have a lot to catch up on."
"I agree with you there Courtney, but instead, why don't we get lunch, my treat? I'm starving," said Roger.
"Sounds good," said Courtney.
"Sasha?" said Kate, as she slowly walked towards her, Courtney and Roger.
"M...Mom? Is that you? Gee, I only recognize your voice! I really don't know what to say to you. I know what you should say to me, though, before you're worthy of any of my time," said Sasha.
"I know. I apologize, profusely, for abandoning you as I did, and making it seem as though it was your fault I left. That couldn't be further from the truth. That was abusive alone, and I was blatantly abusive while I was still with your father. I heard you...know everything. There's no excuse for how I treated you, and I am so sorry, Sasha. I don't know if you could ever forgive me. If it means anything, I flew for hours on end to get here, to see if you were okay, and if you were released. I'm glad to know you were acquitted. The only reason I didn't contact you sooner was because of my own shame; pathetic, I know."
"I forgive you, mom, and I am quite willing to work on having a mother-daughter relationship with you, if I can. I'm willing to give it a shot. It's just nice to know that you don't hate me. I hate being at war with people, which is why I'm willing to put the past behind me. I know it wasn't easy for you either," said Sasha to her mother, as she glanced at her father. "The only thing I find strange is that it had to take a tragedy to happen to me, to get my family to tell me the truth, and apologize for their wrongs. Anyway, the main thing is that a relationship is now possible, between Courtney and our father, and between me and our mother," finished Sasha.
"I love you Sasha," said Kate as she hugged her daughter.
"How about I treat all four of us to lunch?" asked Roger.
"Sounds wonderful," said everybody else in unison.
"Courtney," said Sasha, after everybody ordered their meals. "What else do you know about Lawrence? I mean, after Ratchet defeated Nefarious, weren't they both trapped on an asteroid? How did Lawrence end up working at a Hotel, and end up reviving Ratchet?"
"I, actually, have no idea. I only know what I wrote in the letters. I don't think that Nefarious will be trapped for long, though, because, from what Lawrence tells me, the three demons and Freddy are planning to free Nefarious using supernatural techniques. Like they are planning something along the lines of taking the form of a bridge, that Nefarious can walk on, to get to a nearby planet, or he'll finally learn how to use a teleporter, for once."
"Wow, but I still really want to know how Lawrence managed to free himself, and not Nefarious. I mean, wouldn't Nefarious find that suspicious? Would he not want Lawrence to free him from the asteroid too?"
"I actually wonder the same thing, Sasha. I know that somehow, Freddy MUST be defeated, or this Universe is history. If Freddy is defeated, the three demons will die, and this is, apparently, supposed to end all evil. This is all Lawrence knows so far, but you feel free to ask him about how he freed himself. I'd be interested in knowing that too. I have his phone number on my cell," said Courtney before writing it down and handing it to Sasha.
"Thanks, I'll definitely phone him about that," said Sasha.
"So, Courtney, how did you attain that lawyer for Sasha?" asked Roger. Courtney told him about what she had to do,and Roger wasn't too pleased. "Courtney, you should never stoop to the level of a skank for any reason."
"Dad doing that was the only way to acquit Sasha. There was no other option."
"Remember, it was the jury who decided on finding Sasha not guilty, not the lawyer. In a criminal case, everybody has the right to a lawyer. It's paid by tax money in criminal cases."
"The lawyer would still have to choose to defend her, and no lawyer was willing to. If I had to stoop that low to get one to defend Sasha, doesn't that speak volumes, dad? I wasn't about to let my sister suffer for something she didn't do. You should be happy about that. Would you rather she is stuck in prison the rest of her life, unfairly, or worse, on death row? I only ask because that was the only other option."
"Obviously not, I guess it was just unfortunate it had to come to that. Courtney, I want you to know that I'm sorry I was an abusive drunkard during your childhood. I apologize to you also, Kate. Even though you'll never have me back, can we still be friends?"
"Sure," said Kate.
"I accept your apology," said Courtney.
After lunch, Roger phoned Samantha with the good news about Sasha, and he also told everybody about her. Sasha was interested in meeting her, and so was Courtney. Roger arranged a time for her to meet his two daughters, while Sasha phoned Lawrence. "Hello?" answered Lawrence when he opened his cell.
"Hey, it's Sasha, Courtney's sister, and the fiancée of the man you revived back at the hotel. You remember me, right?"
"Yep, I do, and congratulations on being acquitted. I must admit, I thought you did it, at first, but after what Courtney told me about your story, it all made sense because of what I knew of Freddy."
"Courtney told me everything you know, but the only thing that we are both left wondering is how you ended up off that asteroid and at a hotel."
"Ah, I left a hologram of myself on the asteroid and used a secret teleporter to teleport me to a nearby planet. Nefarious knows I have a teleporter, but he has no clue that it can teleport us off that asteroid. He still thinks that we are both trapped, and that there's no way off, the idiot."
Sasha giggled then said, "Thanks, I will pass this information on to Courtney."
"You're welcome, is that all you needed to know?"
"Yes."
"Okay bye, then."
"Goodbye," said Sasha. Sasha then told Courtney what Lawrence had said over the phone.
Since Sasha was acquitted, Courtney thought that she would never have to deal with that lawyer ever again. She thought wrong. Lee got it into his head that since he wasn't paid a dime, but only in sex, for defending somebody that he wouldn't have defended in the first place, he should be able to sell a sex tape of him and Courtney to make loads of extra cash, and for bragging rights that he really did bang Courtney Gears. Courtney received a phone call, from him, later that day. "Hello?" answered Courtney.
"Hello, sexy. I believe you still owe me."
"Who is this!?"
"You forgot me already? It's Lee, the man you fucked for your sister's freedom."
"What are you talking about? The agreement was that I fuck you, you free my sister, we both move on. What do you want now? I already fulfilled my end of the bargain."
"I need to be able to prove that I fucked you. You and me, we're doing a sex tape."
"Or what, what are you going to do if I say no, huh? The case is already won, so it's a little late to be saying you want this. She can hardly be retried for something she's already been acquitted of. Even I know that, and I'm not a lawyer, so tell me what you are going to do, because I'm saying no."
"I can report what happened between us, and for what purpose. It would humiliate you and your sister, and we could both get in trouble, so I ask you again, want to do a sex tape?"
"Fine, if you really want to play it like that, fine."
"That's great, sexy, so meet me at my office after eight. I'll provide the recording device. If I can prove it using a porno tape, I will keep mum on the subject of why we fucked, but if you refuse, I'll out you, and we'll both end up in trouble. Either way, everybody is going to know of our encounter."
"Fine, but after this, I'll kindly ask you to fuck off."
"Sure."
"So fine, I'll meet you at your office tonight at eight-thirty," said Courtney before pounding the hang-up button. That sex tape was later posted online, and Qwark had a good watch. He had a huge secret crush on Courtney.
That next week, Sasha and Courtney met their father's new love interest. They met at a restaurant for Sunday brunch. "Courtney, Sasha, this is Samantha; Samantha, these are my daughters, Courtney and Sasha," said Roger when Samantha arrived.
"It's really nice to meet both of you," said Samantha.
"I've already told Samantha what happened with you, Sasha, and the danger that the Universe is in if these evil entities aren't stopped. This is the most serious threat in history! I wonder if this could really be the end of life; I really do."
"Your father also told me that he's going to make an announcement to the whole Universe, starting with this galaxy. He plans to tell all the presidents in the Universe what the inevitable is if this threat is ignored. I don't fear death, and death is a fear that most will have to get over from the sounds of it. I don't know about any of you, but I plan to live my life to the fullest while I still can."
"Yeah, it sounds to me like he can't be defeated," said Courtney.
"Ratchet definitely has his work cut out for him if he can be defeated," said Sasha. The four were dead silent through the rest of brunch. Everybody was trying to get their heads around the inevitable Universe Armageddon in the very near future.
In less than two days, the galactic president made his public announcement of bad news, and it had the whole Universe in a state if hysteria. People were frightened because they were getting the nightmare the presidents talked about. Darla couldn't even report properly because of her trembling. She just had the nightmare a day before Roger made the announcement. Dallas and Juanita, of course, talked about nothing else that Tuesday. Instead of their usual show, they appeared as news presenters with a background image stating "Could this be the Complete Annihilation of Life?" "Ladies and gentlemen," announced Dallas, "a shocking announcement was made, recently, by every known president. WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" yelled Dallas before bursting into tears like a baby fresh out of a mother's womb.
"Um...uh...," continued Juanita, "The first galactic president to make these shocking claims was Mr. Phyronix. All the presidents in the entire Universe believed his claims to be founded on factual information. The claims are that the Universe is, apparently, being taken over by four undefeatable evil entities. Three of these entities are demons, said to control all forces of evil there are in the Universe. The least powerful one was, apparently, a HUMAN that the boss decided to gift with power to haunt dreams and kill, using fear. Mr. Phyronix based these claims on suspicious nightmares of a...man in a...red and green sweater...with a sword glove...oh gosh! I had that nightmare just last night; I can't believe I'm reading this..."
"I had my whole life ahead of me! I was going to become a ballet dancer!"
"PULL yourself together, you blubbering IDIOT!" scolded Juanita as she whacked him, just like that day in Dreadzone.
"Thank you, Juanita. I was wrong the last time I said that Ratchet was facing his toughest challenge. Based on the information we have here, defeating Gleeman was a cakewalk. THIS time, Ratchet is facing his toughest opponent. Ratchet must defeat Freddy Krueger, which will render the other three evil entities useless and dying. IF he can do this, all evil will end, and it will be like Paradise on this Universe. If he fails, WE ALL DIE! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ratchet for, once again, being such a great role model, and a pillar of our community. If anybody can save us, it's YOU Ratchet."
"We're rooting for you, little buddy," added Juanita, "and I apologize to Sasha for thinking that she was behind all this. I hope she can accept my apology. Sasha, if you're watching, I apologize," finished Juanita.
