Chapter 15:
Karma, Glorious Karma
How was life in the circus for Senbo and Aibo? Well, it was a bit too early to answer that question, since they just got there. So far, they had mostly spent the night admiring the many rides and attractions surrounding them. Near them were various food stands, bumper cars, and some shooting games that held interesting prizes. Farther away but within their sight were the "bigger" parts of the circus; namely the Ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and the ride that looked the most interesting, the Tunnel of Love. But as tempting as all of this was, the two had to think about how they were going to survive as circus runaways before enjoying the attractions.
To start, they wanted to find a more secluded place where they can plan their future in this very circus—and eat the food they brought with them, since they were hungry right now. Conveniently, they found some wooden picnic tables in a more isolated part of the circus. Wooden picnic tables that reminded them of the ones they would often sit at back at their favorite grassy field. Not wanting to let this opportunity go to waste, Senbo and Aibo sat at one of the tables, got the food out of their bags, and dug in. Naturally, Senbo made sure to pack his lady's favorite food—meatloaf sandwiches.
"Now, Senbo," said Aibo as soon as she swallowed a piece of her beloved meatloaf sandwich, "if we're going to start a new life as circus kids, we're gonna need to develop a particular set of performing skills. I haven't done all those acrobatics at gym class without picking up a few pointers."
"And I have always wanted to throw a pie at some sucker's face," said Senbo, "or possibly ruin their clothes with a good spray of water."
"Excuse me," came a goofy-sounding feminine voice.
The runaway couple turned around to find a very tall woman who simply screamed circus material, with her clown makeup, crazy hair, and colorful uniform. Not only that, she was riding to where they were sitting on a unicycle, of all things. It was clear to the two that this was a circus member.
"I couldn't help but overhear you two sweet things looking for a job at this very circus," said the clownlike woman in an almost motherly tone.
"Yes, we are," said Senbo. "Do you think you can help us, ma'am?"
"Why, certainly," the woman replied. "We can get started as soon as you two are finished eating. I even have some desserts."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly," said Aibo. "These meatloaf sandwiches are filling as is."
Suddenly, the clownlike woman began slowly removing her crazy hair, which turned out to be nothing more than a wig, revealing a very…different hairstyle. And a very familiar one. She then removed her colorful outfit, revealing very familiar clothes underneath.
"Not the kind of desserts…" said the woman as she got out a rag.
As the woman used the rag to wipe the clown makeup off of her face, it was clear who this was.
It was Saiko disguised as a clown.
"…that I had in mind," she finished angrily.
Once it became clear what the anime girl was here for, Senbo and Aibo's first instinct was to freak out and cling onto each other in fear.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" they screamed.
"It's payback time, Senbo and Aibo," said Saiko furiously. "You're both going to suffer for what you put me and my friends through!"
"You'll never take us alive!" proclaimed Senbo as he took his lady by the hand with the intent of getting away from her, into another part of the circus.
Normally never one to let the people who provoke her get off scot-free, Saiko made no attempt to go after her tormentors, which they found slightly curious. This curiosity faded away as soon as they ran into another familiar face emerging from behind one of the circus tents. Then another. And another. And another. And another. Before they knew it, Senbo and Aibo found themselves surrounded by Saiko's band members and friends, all wanting a piece of the runaway couple's asses.
"It's time you paid for upsetting my queen," said Whimpu.
"I spilled my heart out for you, and this is how you repay me?!" asked Tari with tears in her eyes.
"You really are a special kind of messed up, aren't you, Senbo and Aibo?" fumed Belle.
"You wouldn't receive any badges if you were in scouts," said Shroomy.
The more everyone advanced on Senbo and Aibo, the more unnerved the two became, and the more they wondered what was going to happen to them, once again clinging to each other in fear.
"This time," said Saiko, "there's no escape."
"No fair!" protested Senbo. "Five against two?!"
"Wait," said Aibo as soon as she noticed someone was missing, "where's Meggy?"
"Don't you mean Officer Meggy?" asked Shroomy.
The cornered couple's entire world fell apart as soon as those words parted the mushroom boy scout's mouth.
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Senbo.
Sure enough, Meggy had arrived to the circus to attend to her cop business with her friends instinctively making room for her. She was not only still wearing her police uniform, but was carrying a pair of handcuffs. What's more, she was accompanied by the very person they weren't looking forward to seeing: Mr. Monitor, also carrying handcuffs. It was pretty clear what they intended to use them for.
"Senbo Mazushi and Aibo Sumato," declared Meggy, "you are under arrest."
Neither officer wasted any time putting their handcuffs on the two perpetrators. And it was easy, since Senbo and Aibo made no attempt to get away, likely knowing the consequences of running from or fighting a police officer. That would just land them in even deeper shit than they were already in.
"You have the right to remain silent," continued Meggy. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?"
Senbo and Aibo could only nod their heads with their heads down, knowing they basically lost their battle with Saiko…if you can call it a battle, that is.
"Good," said Meggy. "C'mon, Mr. Monitor. Let's get this scum ready for their trial."
And with that, Meggy and Mr. Monitor escorted the handcuffed Senbo and Aibo out of the circus into the police car they arrived at. Saiko, Shroomy, Whimpu, Belle, and Tari watched as the car took off, satisfied that their enemies have been stopped.
But that was only half of the battle. There was still their trial to worry about.
Everyone the scheming couple has wronged in some way, shape, or form showed up in court for the trial of Senbo and Aibo. Most notably, Saiko was the plaintiff, Shroomy, Whimpu, Tari, and Belle were sitting near her, and Meggy was her lawyer—with the attire to match, naturally. Obviously, the two defendants felt like this was an unfair advantage; felt that Meggy couldn't be a police officer and a lawyer at the same time. Someone had to have to had pulled some strings to screw them over.
The jury consisted of the many colorful residents of the SMG4 universe, from Mario recolor to watermelon-turned-human. But since they probably knew about the defendants' machinations as well, it was a safe bet that, no matter how nice some of them were, they weren't about to let the perps who caused so much panic by making them think Tari was dead off easy. Being put on jury duty was bad enough.
Senbo and Aibo could see their parents sitting somewhere in the back row. They looked very disappointed in their children, as expected. It's pretty obvious that they weren't going to be let off easy by their own family either.
So nervous about what was coming their way were the two that they didn't notice Mr. Monitor approaching them.
"Put your game faces on, kiddos," he said, finally getting their attention.
"Mr. Monitor," begged Senbo, "please tell me you got us a lawyer."
"Affirmative," said Mr. Monitor, "and here he comes now."
As soon as the front doors opened, everyone in the courthouse looked back to see the very lawyer monitor man was talking about. The attorney they got for the job was none other than…
JubJub Boopkins wearing a lawyer attire.
"JubJub!" cried JubJub.
"Our lawyer is an infant?!" shrieked a flabbergasted Aibo.
"No one else wanted to defend you," said Mr. Monitor. "This was the best we could do."
Mario was one of the people in the jury, and as soon as he saw who the defense attorney was, he could feel the urge to do what he does best coursing through his veins.
"KICK THE—" he was about to say before he was stopped by a hand grabbing his shoulder.
That hand belonged to SMG4, who was also on jury duty. He shook his head at Mario, nonverbally telling him to not do anything stupid. This included kicking the baby.
"All rise for the honorable Judge Kevin," announced Mr. Monitor.
Approaching the bench was a tall man dressed in black, with brown eyes and long black hair. As soon as he sat down, everyone attending got off of their seats to rise for him. Of course, SMG4 was the first to do so. When they sat back down, Kevin banged the gavel.
"Court is now in session," he said. "Defense counsel, your opening statement."
JubJub made his opening statement by…falling on his face.
"Beautiful," Kevin complimented.
All Senbo could do was slam his head on the desk.
"We're doomed," he groaned.
Plaintiff attorney Meggy figured that she should start this case right by recounting what happened when her client first met the defense. To do that, she called Senbo to the stand and worked her way from there.
"In order to understand Senbo and Aibo's motives," she said to the court, "what better place to start than the very beginning?"
Her attention turned to the wannabe musician as he sat nervously at the stand, knowing that there would be a bombardment of questions regarding his actions.
"Mr. Mazushi," began Meggy, "I understand your first encounter with my client was at her front door over a week ago. State your business on that day."
"Well," explained Senbo, "I just wanted to admire her and her wonderful music."
"Is that so?" said the skeptical young lawyer. "According to Saiko, the real reason you were there was so you could ask her if you could borrow her guitar."
"What?!" exclaimed Senbo. "Come on! That's not the ONLY reason I was…!"
"Need I remind you that you are under oath?" said Meggy.
"Alright, FINE!" screamed Senbo frustratedly. "I wanted her guitar! But can you blame me? I mean, you were in her band! You've seen how awesome that guitar was! Look, why are we making a federal case out of this?!"
"Now," said Kevin, "the prosecution will show the jury items pertinent to this case that have been entered into evidence, all of which were acquired from either Senbo or Aibo's houses. Mr. Monitor?"
At the judge's request, monitor man showed the jury the evidence he found, which made the defendants dread their separation even more than they already were before. He started with the blueprints they used for their plan that started this whole mess.
"Exhibit A: blueprints titled 'Operation: Saiko's Guitar'," he said.
Indeed, these blueprints had everything. All the steps needed to carry out their plan to lure Saiko out of the house, break in, and play the guitar while she was gone. When Aibo constructed them, she made sure they were easy for her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend to follow. The downside to this mindset was that the jury will find them easy to follow too—which they did. Mr. Monitor wasn't even finished there—there was still more evidence to present.
"Exhibit B: a movie director costume," said Mr. Monitor.
Senbo could feel the weight of the world on his shoulders as the jury was shown his movie director persona. The beret, the suit, the sunglasses—even the fake card he gave Tari. He wasn't sure how the police managed to get all of that, but who was he to question Mr. Monitor?
With the shock of how well the movie director costume played into the blueprints the jury was presented a minute ago came some murmuring of how "the pieces fitting together" or whatever that one guy in the front said.
"Exhibit C: a bottle of chloroform," said Mr. Monitor.
Aibo could feel the weight of the world on her shoulders as well as the bottle of chloroform was being presented to the jury—with her fingerprints, no doubt. She doubted the jury would think anything good would come out of a chemical substance that rendered you unconscious. Indeed, people started to murmur things like "why would their parents let them buy that?" or "can I use that on this guy that's currently annoying me?". The gravity of the situation was so overwhelming, it was almost as if she had taken a whiff of that stuff.
"Exhibit D: This recorded video from Aibo's phone," said Mr. Monitor.
Already, the defense knew what was coming up next: he was going to show her recording Saiko's crying for Tari after watching her "die" before her very eyes, as well as Aibo taking glee in her suffering. Then the jury is going to be shocked, disgusted, and practically call for the couple's hanging. Sure enough, the video cued up to Saiko's sobbing at the quicksand pit.
"T…T…. TARI! I'M S…I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY I COULDN'T SAVE YOU!"
"That's what you get for saying no to my Senbo."
Yep.
And the jury weren't the only ones reacting with the very shock and disgust that Senbo and Aibo predicted. Tari was once again shedding a few tears, and the plaintiff turned to the defense with a venomous glare.
"You were recording my crying?!" she said furiously.
All the two could do was smile nervously—which Saiko took as an admission of relishing in her misery. In a rage, the anime girl attempted to charge at the couple with clear intent to harm, forcing multiple people to grab onto her and hold her back.
"Order!" yelled Kevin as he banged the gavel. "Order! Order in the court!"
One of the witnesses called to the stand was Tari. Since the world thought she was dead for a time, the court deserved to know her side of the story—and judging from her relentless sobbing, it was not a happy story.
"And…and then when I pretend…pretended to drown in quicksand j…just like Senbo asked me to," she testified in-between sobs, "Aibo CHLOROFORMED MEEEEE!"
It killed Meggy—hell, it killed just about everyone to see Tari cry like this. She was already a fragile flower, but if she was crying this hard and this passionately, you know something went wrong.
"Permission to hug the witness, your honor?" asked Meggy to Kevin.
"Granted," he replied.
And that's what she did. Meggy gave Tari a loving hug, allowing the hurt android to cry on her shoulder. Hopefully the young lawyer could dry her friend's tears—all these people felt like they've heard enough crying here.
There was one more piece of evidence that needed to be presented to the court before they could decide on the punishment. Specifically, proof of the fake Meta Runner arm thrown into the quicksand. Meggy just had to call one last person to the stand. This was a tall, darker-skinned man with a beard, a mustache, and…four robotic arms attached to him.
"Now, Marco," said Meggy, "please state your occupation, for the record."
"I'm glad you asked, kiddo," explained Marco in a hammy announcer voice, just as you would imagine. "I'm the owner of the only store in your area that sells fake Meta Runner arms! You want a fake robot arm built in the likeness of the real thing? Then come on down to Fake Meta Runner Arms R Us! Or is it just Fake Arms R Us? Meta Runner Arm Mart? We're working on it. Point being, I sell fake Meta Runner arms."
"And when was the last time you sold one of your products?" asked Meggy. "Specifically, the model that matches Tari's Meta Runner arm?"
"Ah," said Marco, "that's one of the rarer items in my store, it is. Not quite as popular as my other selections, but nonetheless, someone did buy this beauty a few days ago. In fact, I think I'm seeing the very lucky girl to have this amazing product."
The salesman then pointed to Aibo, who was worriedly waving her hands in a futile attempt to stop him from incriminating her more than she and Senbo already were.
"No further questions," said Meggy, as Senbo and Aibo buried their heads in their hands, knowing full well they were losing the case.
"Be sure to tell your friends of the special double fake Meta Runner arm sale next week!" announced Marco.
"Sure," said Meggy, clearly only half-paying attention to what he was saying.
As we conclude this chapter, I have a very important announcement to make. Originally, I said there would be a total of seventeen chapters. Well, plans have changed. There will now be sixteen chapters total. The reason for this is because I ended up merging Chapters 15 and 16 while putting this together. See, Chapter 15 was originally going to have a glorious chase through the circus; but then I realized that it would be easier to just have Senbo and Aibo be cornered and taken to court ASAP. Yeah, it's kinda anticlimactic, but it's also realistic considering those two don't have any fighting skills, and you wouldn't be losing much of anything this way (other than circus exploration).
This also means that the story is almost finished with one more chapter to go. Tune in next week for the final chapter of Saiko Rocks!