The Trial of the Century Begins

"All right students," Emma turned on the television in the Hellion's classroom at the Massachusetts Academy. "Prepare to witness history in your lifetime."

"History, shmistory," Beef snorted. "It doesn't take a genius to know how this will turn out!"

"And you would know wouldn't you Beef?" Monet casually filed her nails.

"Although I admit I share your skepticism young man, I do believe that the American justice system has some merits," Emma told the class. "Particularly for giving us a welcome break for the regular daytime programming."

"What I don't get is why the hell he didn't break out of that dump when he had the chance?" Bevatron asked. "I mean he knows he doesn't have a chance in hell right?"

"Maybe he really is innocent?" Tarot suggested. "I mean if I was in his situation I'd try to prove it no matter what they threw at me."

"That is a possibility," Emma nodded. "The truth is we really don't know what Daniels' motives were for not escaping. It could be something as simple as he really hates Magneto."

"Doesn't everyone?" Jetstream snickered. "All Bucket Head ever does is blow stuff up and steal weapons."

"When he's not experimenting on his own kind," Roulette agreed.

"Yes we all agree that Magneto only cares about preserving mutantkind as long as he is the one in charge," Emma sighed. "But that is not the point here. Think of this as a class project, is Daniels guilty or innocent? That is what we will find out."

"Ooh! Sounds like a little 'extra curricular activity' to me," Empath grinned.

"What? You gotta be kidding me?" Bevatron snapped. "What the hell do we care if some lower evolved mutant gets off or not?"

"Lower evolved?" Catseye glared at him. "Catseye does not like that phrase."

"Nor do I," Emma gave Bevatron a cold stare. "What have I told you about saying things like that in my classroom?"

"Uh oh…" Monet gulped.

"Somebody's gonna get it," Jetstream snickered in a sing song voice.

"Hey I wasn't talking about Catseye or anything," Bevatron backpedaled. "I mean, the X-Men are our enemies right? Besides the guy left them to live in a sewer! How smart could he be?"

"Bevatron…" Emma glared at him. "Stifle yourself!" She sent a massive headache his way along with an extra stab of pain. Bevatron screamed and passed out. "Sleeping in class Bevatron? Well it looks like you'll have to serve one of my famous detentions. Anyone else have some comments?" No one said anything. "Good."

"Ms. Frost," Tarot raised her hand. "What did you mean before about finding out if Daniels is innocent or guilty? Can't you just go into his mind to find out?"

"An astute observation my dear," Emma nodded. "I have already tried, only to discover somehow Mr. Daniels has some kind of mental blocks placed in his mind."

"Xavier?" Jetstream asked.

"Possibly…" Emma mused. "Or another telepath. The point is I cannot figure out from the source what really happened. So I guess we're just going to have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Meaning?" Monet asked.

"We're going to find out the truth of what happened that night," Emma said. "One way or another. Step one: We find out who the key players are. Then we will investigate them thoroughly."

"And then what?" Catseye asked.

"Well that all depends on what we discover now doesn't it?" Emma grinned. A tone from her cell phone rang. "What is it now?" She grunted as she looked at it. "Excuse me class." She walked outside.

"Wonder what's up?" Beef mused. He and Jetstream got up to listen at the door.

"Ms. Frost isn't going to like that you're spying on her!" Catseye warned.

"Shh!" Monet shushed her.

"I specifically told you not to call me here," Emma hissed into the phone. She waited a beat. "I will talk to you later. Tomorrow, fine. Look here, just because you have invested a certain amount of money into my company doesn't give you the right to…Oh really? Well we will see about that!" She hung up. "Bitch!"

She then said. "Beef, Jetstream…I see the two of you will be joining Bevatron in detention." She glared at them.

"Oh boy…" Jetstream gulped.

"Told you," Catseye snickered.

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"All rise," The bailiff spoke. "This court is now in session. The honorable Judge Brooks is presiding." The X-Men were all in court to witness the trial as well as Evan's parents. The courtroom was filled to capacity with cameras as well as spectators.

A tall-distinguished African American judge with a beard walked into the courtroom. "Be seated," He said. "The Prosecutor may now begin."

The prosecutor stood up. "The murder of Guy Spears, a well respected businessman was a shocking blow to this community. He was a man who brought jobs to Bayville, donated money to charities. He even helped build the local skate park. However that life was cut down by this…individual…"

He pointed at Evan. Evan was wearing nice pants and shoes. However since he couldn't really put a shirt on, his chest was bare, save for a necktie around his neck. His hands and feet were shackled. "This…mutant. This creature took his life without mercy. And the frightening part is that he is only one of a huge number of mutants freely roaming about this city causing destruction. How many of you remember when the Sentinel first showed up? Or when Bayville High was nearly destroyed twice? Or any of the other strange and bizarre instances and phenomena that have plagued this town ever since the Xavier Institute opened it's doors!"

"However, this is the first time that one of them is being held accountable for his actions! Evan Daniels is a menace to society and needs to be put in a place where he cannot harm anyone else," The Prosecutor spoke to the jury. "During this trial you will hear unshakable proof of not only the defendant's guilt, but how dangerous he really is! We will tell you of the vicious attack of the Morlocks on that night. We will show you tapes of not one, but two attempted escapes from justice! We will show you that the defendant has a long history of lawless and violent behavior! We need to send a message that this type of lawless behavior will not be tolerated! It's time for us to take back our city! And only you can do it! Thank you."

"Well isn't he Mr. Sunshine…" Rogue growled under her breath.

"Easy Rogue," Scott whispered. "We all knew the prosecution is going to play up on people's fears of mutants. We're just going to have to try harder to convince the jury."

"Shh…" Kitty whispered. "Our lawyer is starting."

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Jack White spoke. "You are going to hear a lot about the so called 'mutant menace'. True there are those mutants that are dangerous. But Evan Daniels is not one of them. Yes those spikes he has do look menacing. But looks are deceiving, but if you take a hard look at the evidence…and there is a lot of evidence, you will find that the only crime Evan Daniels has committed is the fact that he is a mutant."

"The Prosecution will have you believe that Daniels violently stabbed Mr. Spears to death when the reality is the opposite. Guy Spears was in fact poisoned with an unknown substance, not stabbed to death. In fact, the so called 'smoking gun' that points to Daniels as a murderer was placed in the body at least an hour after he died!"

"You will learn what happened the night of Guy Spears' death. You will learn the fact that the man was creating a poison intended to wipe out an entire group of people. Yes Daniels was part of a group that attacked the Power 8 plant, but only as a last desperate resort! It was not an attack of wanton and random destruction, but an act of self-defense! In fact we will prove that Evan Daniels wasn't even there the night of the attack! And the only reason he is on trial now, is that he is being made a scapegoat for this crime while the real killers roam free! We will show that there were other people who had equally damaging motives to kill Spears. Motives such as money, power…greed."

Jack took a deep breath. "Ladies and gentlemen, you will also know that there were attempts by other groups to free Mr. Daniels. Actually only one attempt. The first so-called attempt was a prison break of another mutant, on the other side of the prison. In fact Daniels wasn't even the target of that outbreak which turned out to be a group of FOH members in disguise! The defendant rejected the second one by Magneto. He could have run there's no doubt about it. But he chose to stay behind and prove his innocence! Ask yourselves, if he was guilty why didn't he run when he had the chance? Answer: He is not guilty! He is an innocent boy! A 16-year-old boy who's only crime is to be born with a gene that makes him different. That makes people afraid of him. He is not a hardened murderer or a monster as the prosecution will have you believe! Despite of how he looks or what he can do, he is a human being."

"Wow," Kitty breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad he's on our side."

"Very well," Judge Brooks looked at his file. "The Prosecution may now begin its case. Call your first witness."

"Certainly," He stood up. "I'd like to call for my first witness the Defendant's attorney, Jack White." This caused a stir in the court.

"Your honor I fail to see the relevancy of this," Jack stood up.

"I think it's extremely relevant," The Prosecutor said. "I just want to know one thing. Are you a mutant?"

"What?" Jack gasped.

"I think the court should know the reason why anyone would defend a mutant in the first place," The Prosecutor said.

"It's his constitutional right!" Jack snapped.

"That only applies to human beings," The Prosecutor shouted.

"Mutants are human you bigoted…" Jack began.

"Quiet!" Judge Brooks slammed down his gavel. "Mr. White is not on trial Prosecutor! His personal life is irrelevant!"

"I disagree," The Prosecutor said. "I think it is relevant if it interferes with this trial. I think the American Public deserves to know the truth!" He pointed to the camera.

"I refuse to answer any kind of question that will fuel your witch hunt!" Jack White snapped. "Your honor this has nothing to do with this case!"

"It is if you're using your powers to influence the jury!" The prosecutor shouted.

"All right first thing first! Turn off those cameras!" Judge Brooks pointed to them and pounded his gavel. "I'm ordering a media ban on this. I will not have this court turned into a circus!"

"Answer the question!" Someone in the gallery shouted. "Are you a freak or not?"

"It's well known that Mr. White has a photographic memory as well as an odd pigmentation!" The Prosecutor shouted. "Is that a result of your mutation?"

"It's also known that you sir are a member of the FOH!" White shouted back. "If anyone's motives should be under suspicion it's yours!"

"Listen you freak lover…" several people arguing and shouting in the court cut out the Prosecutor.

"ORDER! ORDER! TURN OFF THOSE CAMERAS!" Judge Brooks pounded on the gavel.

"Keep those cameras rolling!" The producers of each network told their cameramen. Soon the cameramen got into a scuffle with the bailiffs. Before anybody knew what was going on some FOH supporters jumped out of the rows and started to attack White.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Evan shouted as he stood up but was restrained by several guards.

"Professor I think we should get out of here…" Kitty gulped as the courtroom got more tumultuous.

"But we can't leave Evan in the middle of this!" Kurt protested. Then someone bumped into him, turning off his image inducer to reveal his true self.

"A MUTANT!" Someone screamed. "IT'S AN ATTACK!" Then people were racing towards the X-Men.

Jean created a barrier to protect them. "Kurt! Get the Professor and the Daniels' out of here!"

"ORDER! ORDER! GET ME MORE BAILIFFS!" Judge Brooks pounded on his gavel as a riot broke out in his courtroom. "YOU'RE ALL OUT OF ORDER! AND TURN THOSE DAMN CAMERAS OFF!"

Back at the Massachusetts Academy Emma was watching all of this with amusement. "I love the American Legal System," She shook her head.

"Yeah Law and Order looks kind of dull compared to this," Beef chuckled.

"The War in Iraq looks dull compared to this," Monet told him.

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Several hours later back at the Xavier mansion. "God whoever heard of delaying a trial so they could get a new prosecutor?" Jean held her head as if she had a headache.

"Day one of the trial and there's already been a riot!" Kurt groaned. "Professor maybe its best that I don't go to the courthouse anymore. As much as I'd love to see Evan…I don't want him to get killed."

"What happened wasn't your fault Kurt," Xavier sighed.

"How's Jack doing?" Ororo asked.

"I'm fine," Jack walked in with a black eye. "Other than this shiner on my head. My legal career is another story."

"Oh no," Ororo looked at him in horror. "What happened?"

"I had to confess to the Judge I was a mutant," Jack told him. "It was in his chambers supposedly in private. But somehow the information got blabbed to the press not even ten minutes after I told him. I suspect the secretary."

"Mr. White I'm sorry," Jean said. "Are they going to disbar you or anything?"

"No but let's just say that this is going to be the last high profile case I'm going to be doing for my firm," Jack sighed. "I'm not being fired at least. But…"

"We're not going to need another lawyer are we?" Vi asked.

"No I'm staying," Jack shook his head. "Somebody has to take a stand against these bigots. It just would be easier if Evan had a human lawyer representing him. I have a feeling some of the jurors might end up a bit prejudiced because of this."

"I heard they had to send one juror away for giving another juror a split lip," Jamie said.

"This is a nightmare," Carl groaned. "My boy is gonna fry before they even convict him!"

"It doesn't look good does it?" Vi whispered.

"Patience Vi," Ororo held her hand. "We'll get through this. I promise."

"If we survive it," Vi sighed.