Disclaimer
- Mayhem Mine. Original cast Not
mine.
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Chapter 14
Spotlights and Shadows...
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"One of the most controversial and surprising criminal cases in recent memory may very well reach its conclusion today, here at the Royal Criminal Court building in Jurai city Jurai." The young female reporter's voice blared over the small TV that sat in the corner of the bar. Heero watched out of the corner of one eye, trying hard to suppress the growl that tried to escape as a picture of the mongrel that had been his prey for so long appeared behind the pretty young woman.
"Class C criminal Mayhem, shown here during his flight from the Jurai Royal Hospital yesterday, was until recently considered to be a murderer of the most heinous sort, but the most recent rumors and the little information we have managed to confirm would indicate that Mayhem may in fact be a relative innocent. Though critics of this new view have been quick to point out that no explanation has been presented for the gruesome security footage that marked the beginning of his criminal career."
Heero snorted into his drink, a rather foul tasting brew that was fortunately not potent enough for him to actually get drunk off of, but smelled bad enough to make people think he was no more sober than anyone else in the dive. He'd learned long ago that people of the type he seemed destined to deal with always felt more comfortable dealing with each other when they thought the other party was at least slightly inebriated.
On every channel it was the same, half of the "experts" were claiming that the mongrel was a victim, even a complete innocent, and the other half were calling for his head. It was almost enough to make him want to drown his sorrows in alcohol for real, and if it weren't for the business at hand he might have very well given into that urge... even with the foul drinks they served in this place.
Just as he was beginning to contemplate shooting out the television with his sidearm, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and heard the distinctive thunk of the establishment's heavy front door opening and closing. Surreptitiously glancing towards the sound and movement he recognized his contact, but didn't react, merely waited as the portly man made his way towards the booth he was occupying.
As arranged the man walked right past him, sitting in the next booth over, his back to Heero's. The man, a rather jovial fellow, ordered a large meal, flirting shamelessly with the waitress the entire time despite her being at best half of his age. Sometime later, after the man had gone through a considerable portion of his order, he surreptitiously slipped a thin envelope underneath the small gap between the two booth's shared backrest and collected the envelope that Heero slipped back to him. After several minutes Heero tossed back the remains of his drink, left a few bills on the table in payment and left.
It was an old ploy... but sometimes the old ploys worked best.
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She wasn't sure how to feel about the news Washu had just given them really... pheromones of all things! Though it did explain quite a bit... including her own out of character behavior when they had been stuck in that damned shuttle together. Angrily Ayeka punched the smooth wooden wall of the corridor, and immediately wished she hadn't as pain flared in her knuckles. Looking down she noted that she had managed to split three of her knuckles, and though the bleeding was minimal, it stung. Fortunately, the long sleeves of her formal kimono covered her hands and cuts. She considered going back to the medical lab to get it treated, but quickly changed her mind when she remembered who was still in there.
"Why do these things always have to me so complicated?" she muttered angrily to herself before turning towards the hall where her parents and several dozen others waited. Including nearly a dozen members of the planet's overly enthusiastic press corp.
Neither her nor her parents wanted the press in the chambers while the case was being reviewed, but political pressure not only from the public, but a number of other nobles as well, had basically forced them to allow the press in. She wasn't sure which group she detested more sometimes, the press or her fellow nobles. Particularly after spending several years living essentially as a commoner
Pausing briefly before the big wooden doors leading to the council chamber where the hearing was to be held, the regal young woman took a few deep breaths to calm herself and then pushed the doors open, and was immediately greeted by the click and whir of cameras and the murmur of voices trying to talk about the latest gossip without being overheard by the wrong people.
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"So how'd you warrant an invite to this show rookie?" the elderly reporter asked, nudging Kanno with his elbow.
"Oh... just have a few friends in high places." The young reporter answered with a grin as he made a few last minute adjustments to his new, rather expensive holocamera.
"You and everyone else in this bloody courtroom Kid." The elderly man snorted, his cynical gaze drifting around the room lazily. The extra attention he paid to the four members of the Royal family already sitting up front hardly noticeable even if one had been watching him closely. No one was. "The real question is... What favors do you owe these friends in high places?"
Before Kanno could give an appropriately witty reply the doors to the hearing chamber swung open and the last member of the royal family glided into the chamber, the silk of her ceremonial robes looking almost liquid in the soft light of the chamber. Immediately every camera in the room focused on her and the assembled reporters all but fought to get the best shot of the lovely young woman.
"Is it just me, or does she look a little... upset?" Kanno muttered aloud, focusing his own camera to get a close-up of her face before she took her seat on the defendants bench alongside her younger sister and the only thing they'd be able to see was the back of her head.
"A bit." The other reporter replied with a shrug. "Can't say I'm surprised though. If even one tenth of the rumors going around are right, she's got a lot to be pissed about."
"No kidding." Kanno agreed, smirking slightly as he double-checked the camera's memory card.
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"Oh crap." The red-haired scientist groaned after Keith explained why Ayeka had had such a bad reaction to the news she'd given them about the pheromones Keith emitted. "Me and my big mouth... I'm sorry Keith."
"Nothing for you to be sorry about Washu-chan." Keith sighed. "I'm glad you said something... even if the timing could've been better. Better for her to be pissed now than do something she'll really regret later because she didn't know."
"So you two didn't...?" Washu asked, her natural curiosity getting the better of her. Keith just shook his head in reply.
"How close did you come then? It had to have been pretty close considering her reaction."
"Too close." Keith admitted. "If the ship hadn't come out of hyperspace when it did..."
"I see..." Washu muttered, her brows furrowing as she thought the problem over. "Well that's a problem that can wait for later. For now, you're ready to go... I'll call the bailiff and we'll get this party started!" she grinned.
"Sure..." Keith sighed. "Just do me one favor."
"Depends on the favor." Washu smirked.
"If worse comes to worse could you get this and my daughter to my parents?" the shaggy haired man asked, holding out a small data-pad. "There are instructions on how to find them already in there."
"Of course." The small scientist said, accepting the data-pad with a solemn nod. "I doubt it's really going to be needed though."
"I wish I had your confidence about it." He muttered as she called for a bailiff that was supposed to escort him to the hearing chamber.
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Keith briefly considered knocking out the young guardsman who was acting as his Bailiff and making a run for it, but quickly nixed the idea when he considered where he was. He might have been good, but he was still in bad shape and the building and the city around it was too well guarded for him to have a chance even if he'd been in peak condition. I didn't mean he couldn't make a pest of himself though.
"Any chance of getting a snack before we go in?"
"No."
"But I haven't eaten anything since breakfast!"
"It's not even 10 in the morning yet!"
Keith would have continued, but they arrived at the doors to the hearing chamber and he figured that intentionally making an ass of himself in front of the judge was a bad idea. The real question would be if could avoid unintentionally making an ass out of himself as well.
The silence that met them as they entered the room was almost deafening... at least for the first 2 seconds. Then the cameras came to life and the room was filled with the hum of whispered conversations. Sasami almost immediately stood and started walking towards him, but Ayeka in the seat beside her gently grabbed her arm and shook her head no, bending over to whisper something in the blue-haired girls ear once she sat back down. Keith found himself led to the table where those two and a man that he didn't recognize in the least were sitting, and was all but forced into a chair between the man and Ayeka.
Immediately after he sat down, his restraints were attached to the chair itself and tightened, effectively immobilizing his arms and legs.
"Glad to see they're concerned with my comfort." the shaggy haired youth muttered sarcastically.
"I'm sorry I couldn't meet you at the door Keith-san." Sasami whispered over her sister. "Ayeka said it was against the rules."
"No worries Kid, I appreciate the thought." He answered with a quirky smile, though he was hard pressed to keep it in place for long when he noticed that Ayeka was refusing to look at him.
"Mr. Mayhem?" a deep voice asked from his other side.
"Huh? Oh sorry." Was Keith's somewhat distracted response as he turned to look at the man. He was fairly elderly by Jurian standards, with his hair just barely starting to turn gray at the temples, and deep lines showing at the corners of his eyes and mouth. "You my lawyer?"
"That would be correct young man, my name is Michio Jurai."
"You're a member of the royal family?" Keith exclaimed, more than a little surprised.
"He is my Granduncle." Ayeka explained, "And he has been kind enough to represent you on my request, the least you can do is not sound so surprised Keith-San."
"It's quite alright Ayeka." Michio chuckled. "While my nephew over there is not terribly happy about the situation, everyone deserves a fair shake. And the evidence my niece has presented to me makes me think you have a rather strong case."
"I do?" Keith replied wonderingly. Ayeka just elbowed him under the table. "Well that's good to hear... but wasn't Karishima...?"
"He was my relative, one of my brother's sons..." the older man sighed. "But I can't say I'm surprised at his end given some of his rumored activities. No, given what I've seen and heard, I don't blame you for his death. At least not at the moment."
"At the moment?"
"Well, if you fail the lie detector test in this hearing..." Michio trailed off warningly.
"Understood." The shaggy haired young man gulped. "Well then, given the situation you might as well call me by my real name then."
"For legal purposes, that would probably be a good idea." The elder man affirmed, a hint of a smile appearing on his lined face.
"Keith Alan O'Connor, at your service." He grinned, purposely mimicking his grandfather's deep Irish accent as he said it. "I'd shake your hand if I could, but..." he shrugged.
"Don't worry yourself over it." Michio acknowledged. He looked like he might say something else, but at that point the Judge entered, and the Bailiff called for everyone to stand. Keith, still bound to his chair didn't bother to try.
"So, as I understand it, this hearing has been called because the previously non-existent defense for Mr. Mayhem over here has some new evidence to present?" the judge, a woman who would have looked to be middle-aged if not for the steel gray of her hair, asked, staring pointedly at their table.
"That would be correct your honor." Michio responded, his deep bass carrying easily over the entirety of the room without him needing to raise it beyond a normal speaking tone. "Though the defense would like to note for the records that the defendant's real name is Mr. Keith O'Connor, and request that he be referred to by this name for the duration of the proceedings."
"I see no problem with that." The judge nodded, "Does the prosecution have any objection?"
"No your honor." The prosecutor, a young looking man with deep blue, nearly black, hair replied. Though he didn't look all that pleased with the development.
"Very well then, according to this, the new evidence includes the original security footage, a number of character witnesses, and testimony from the accused while being monitored by a lie detector. One designed by Professor Washu specifically for use on the accused at that!" the judge sounded genuinely impressed by that particular detail. "Can the prosecution give any reasons why any piece of evidence should not be accepted?"
"As long as we get our chance to cross examine the witnesses and accused when they are on the stand, no." Keith could almost swear he heard Azusa growl at that.
"Well then, I suppose that only leaves us with one more thing to do before we start this circus." The judge announced, glaring at the assembled media before turning her gaze towards Keith. "Mr. O'Connor, do you understand that today is not a trial, but rather a hearing to decide if a trial should even take place based on not only the evidence brought forward today, but on past evidence as well?"
"Yes your honor." He replied, his throat dry.
"Very well then, how would the defense like to proceed?"
"We would like to start with our character witnesses... assuming the prosecution has no objections?" the prosecutor merely shook his head to indicate that he didn't.
"Then I'd like to call my first witness, Ayeka Jurai." Michio announced, gesturing for the violet-haired girl to take the stand as the audience murmured to each other and the watching press snapped more pictures and took notes. Keith just found himself hoping that she wasn't too pissed at him.
The swearing in was simple, almost familiar to Keith, but rather than placing her hand on a bible or other holy text as she took the oath, she instead placed her hand upon a small branch taken from the holy tree, Tsunami. When he asked, Sasami explained that only the highest courts followed this custom, the lower courts instead swore people in using a carved seal with Tsunami's symbol on its face.
"Princess Ayeka, would you please tell the court how long you have known Mr. O'Connor?" Michio asked, his tone professional despite the smile he directed at his grandniece.
"A little more than a week... though I admit it seems like much longer." Ayeka replied, her tone of voice giving no clue as to if she meant the latter half of that comment as a good thing or a bad thing.
"Would you say that you know him very well?"
"I would say I know Keith unusually well considering how short a time it has been since we met." was Ayeka's somewhat sardonic reply, and this time she couldn't keep a hint of a smile from reaching her lips.
"And what is your impression of him as a person?"
"As a person?" Ayeka repeated, her brow furrowing ever so slightly as she considered the question. "Well, despite his rough exterior, twisted sense of humor, and often irresponsible attitude..." she started, her mouth turning up at one corner in an impressive impression of one of the shaggy young man's typical smirks, "he is a kind, loyal, brave, and occasionally even thoughtful person."
"Would you consider him capable of murder?"
"No." she responded instantly, shaking her head vehemently to emphasize her answer. "I saw that man willingly give himself up to a man he knew was going to try and see him dead in order to save others. He is no murderer."
"No more questions your honor." Michio announced formally, striding back to his seat even as the prosecutor stood to begin asking his questions.
"Princess Ayeka," the younger man began, casually adjusting the sleeves of his formal black and red outfit, "you mentioned how long you've known Mr. O'Connor, but you have yet to tell us how you met him. Could you please enlighten the court how this unlikely event occurred?"
Ayeka visibly started, surprised that the man had even known to ask such a question, but quickly calmed herself. It was a logical thing to ask she supposed.
"Truth be told, we tracked the man down." She shrugged, somehow making the gesture seem elegant. "After the Galaxy police chased him to the planet my Sister and I have been staying on, Miss Washu's surveillance system tracked him to a nearby city, and at my insistence we went after him."
"So you met him as a group then?" the prosecutor asked, though his tone made it sound as if he already knew the answer to that. Ayeka had to consciously suppress the growl of frustration that tried to escape. She had been hoping that he was shooting in the dark, but apparently he had somehow heard what had happened already.
"No. My friends and I were forced to split up in order to locate him." She answered, somewhat reluctantly, though anyone who didn't know her well wouldn't have noticed.
"I see." The black-clad man nodded thoughtfully. "So which one of your group encountered Mr. O'Connor first?"
"I did." She replied, this time the hesitation in her voice obvious to everyone listening. Keith and Sasami exchanged worried glances; both knowing that Ayeka wouldn't... couldn't... lie.
"And what happened then?" the prosecutor asked, sounding nearly as smug as he looked. Ayeka didn't answer for several seconds, throwing an apologetic look in Keith's direction... it was the first time she'd looked at him since the hearing had begun. He just smiled back to indicate that he understood, though the smile was a weak one.
"He captured me." The violet haired princess sighed, her shoulders slumping the tiniest bit at the admission.
"And how long were you held captive Princess Ayeka."
"Roughly two days." Ayeka muttered, glaring openly at her questioner.
"So you were kidnapped then?" It wasn't really a question.
"In the most technical sense, I suppose so." She admitted reluctantly. "However, Keith did let me go of his own violation, and..."
"No further questions your Honor." The prosecutor cut her off. "And based on this new information I request that the honorable Princess's testimony be removed from the defense."
"On what Basis?" the judge asked, beating Michio to the question by a millisecond
"Based on a common psychological phenomena that appears in kidnap situations, commonly known as Sankret Syndrome among Jurian psychologists. Victims, over time, become sympathetic to their captors as a way of dealing with the violence and abuse they are faced with. I believe there is a possibility that the Princess has been affected by this and her testimony should be considered invalid."
"Sustained." The judge agreed, "The defense will remove Princess Ayeka from the list of character witnesses for any future trial."
"Friggin' Stockholm syndrome." Keith growled under his breath, feeling a bit of grudging admiration for the lawyer's strategy. "Slick." For her part, Ayeka looked absolutely livid as she was dismissed from the stand and stalked back to her seat at the defense's table.
"Well that's one point in their favor." Michio commented as Ayeka sat down. "But it's a minor one, and the rest of our character witnesses should be a lot harder to get rid of."
Michio turned out to be right. The prosecution, despite several valiant attempts was unable to convince the judge to dismiss any of the others. Sari he went after harder than any of the others, but despite revealing what planet she was from, he was unable to present any evidence she was anything other than a starship mechanic. Sari had always been good at covering her tracks.
After the witnesses had all been brought forth, the judge called for lunch break, and various elements of the press ran off to report to their employers even as most everyone else filtered out to actually get something to eat and drink. Sasami crossed the room to talk to her parents, and Michio stood to talk to the judge. Still bound to his chair, Keith's stomach growled loudly.
"So do I get something to eat too, or do I just have to sit here till everybody else gets back?" Keith groused, only half-jokingly, as his empty stomach had been screaming at him for food for the past two hours. Ayeka glanced at him, though she studiously avoided meeting his eyes. Much to her surprise, she had found that she wasn't actually mad at him, though she was still upset at what she had learned. Not to say she was about to let him off the hook so easily as that of course.
"I suppose that the dining hall is well ventilated enough that I can take you to get something to eat Keith-san." She sighed in an exaggerated manner even as she gestured for the bailiff. Keith almost retorted harshly, but caught the slight smirk she was trying to hide and settled for rolling his eyes.
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Tenchi found Ryoko laid out on the bed in his dimly lit quarters... seemingly asleep, the blankets pulled up to her chin and her bare feet sticking out the other end. He could see Mayuka fast asleep in the portable crib he had had set up in one corner of the room, so she wasn't here for one of her traditional attempts on his virginity. The spiky-haired youth was rather surprised to realize that he was slightly disappointed by that fact. Not that he'd actually give in to any such attempt, he didn't think either of them were really ready for that kind of thing yet, but...
"Mmmm...?" the cyan-haired girl mumbled cutely, rolling onto her side to look in his direction. "That you Tenchi?"
"Yeah." Tenchi answered with a nod, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Better." Ryoko replied with a yawn, one hand reaching out from under the blanket to grasp his. Her exposed arm wasn't as thin as it had been the day before, but it still was far from the toned muscle Tenchi normally associated with the girl. "My gems did a lot of work last night... I can walk on my own again." she added, her golden eyes flashing to match the pirate-like grin that formed on her face.
"I guess that explains why there's no sign of your hover chair." Tenchi mused, returning her grin with a soft smile of his own.
"If I never see that thing again it'll be to soon." She grimaced, her eyes narrowing briefly before the happy grin returned. "So what're you doing down here? Shouldn't you be up watching the Royals trying to screw Keith over?"
"They're taking a break for lunch." He explained before adding, "And not all of them are out to get the guy you know."
"True," Ryoko mused, "Ayeka wants to screw him in a completely different way." She added with a wicked grin.
"Ryoko!" Tenchi hissed in admonishment, trying hard to keep his voice down and avoid waking up Mayuka.
"Sorry." She chuckled, not sounding the least bit contrite, "Easy shot, I had to take it."
"Well at least wait until you're better before you start teasing Ayeka where she can hear you again." Tenchi responded with an exaggerated sigh. "I don't want you getting yourself killed after I just got you back after all."
"Bah, I can take her."
"Ryoko, you couldn't take my nephew right now, much less an angry Ayeka." Tenchi pointed out with a smirk, poking her in the stomach to emphasize his point and eliciting a very un-pirate-like giggle out of the cyan-haired girl. "And since when have you been ticklish?"
"I'm not!" She denied quickly, but her face did a poor job of hiding the lie. Tenchi took it as a challenge and very quickly had the cyan-haired girl to the point where she was having trouble catching her breath through the laughter... unfortunately the noise was more than enough to wake up Mayuka.
"You're so going to pay for that." Ryoko threatened, still trying to catch her breath and giving Tenchi a fierce mock-glare as she watched him retrieve his crying daughter from the crib.
"Hey, a man has to take such opportunities when they present themselves Ryoko-chan." Tenchi chuckled. In his arms, Mayuka almost immediately quieted down, giggling happily simply because it was Tenchi holding her. "Once you're back up to full strength I won't have a chance."
"True." Ryoko admitted with a predatory smile. "But you're still going to pay for that."
"Guess that means I'll have to get you as many times as I can while I still do have a chance then." Tenchi teased sitting back down on the edge of the bed, Rocking Mayuka gently in his arms, one of her chubby fists grabbing a solid handful of his shirt. Ryoko just settled for sticking her tongue out at the spiky-haired boy, reaching over to tickle Mayuka as she did so.
"So..." she started after a few comfortable minutes of silence, "have you talked to Ayeka yet?"
"I've tried," Tenchi sighed, "but I apparently have horrible timing. Every time I've tried something manages to stop me."
"Well try harder then." Ryoko responded jokingly, though Tenchi could hear the slight hint of genuine annoyance that crept into the cyan-haired pirates tone.
"I will." The young prince assured quietly.
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"Well things seem to be going pretty well so far." Keith noted between bites of his second sandwich. Ayeka hadn't said anything since they'd sat down to eat; she'd just been absently picking at her salad, and was refusing to so much as look him in the eyes. It was starting to drive him nuts.
"I suppose." The princess responded listlessly, her royal-purple eyes still fixed on her increasingly mangled salad.
"You're still mad aren't you?" Keith sighed, leaning back in his chair and fixing his silver eyes on what little he could see of her face under her bangs. When she didn't answer after a few moments he continued, "C'mon Ayeka-chan, at least look at me won't yah?"
"No Keith, I am not mad at you." She responded finally, looking up a bit hesitantly, but meeting his eyes nonetheless. "I am upset and rather embarrassed by the situation though." She explained in a soft voice, obviously trying to make sure their escort, the young guard that was acting as the bailiff for the hearing, didn't overhear.
"I'm not exactly happy about it either." Keith sighed, leaning heavily on the table and resting his chin on his crossed arms. "I'm genuinely fond of you Princess, and the idea that what's happened between us so far has been because of my body putting out some weird chemicals..." he let the sentence trail off, grimacing.
"I... I do not think it has all been because of that." Ayeka admitted with a slight blush. "Though I do believe that the one... incident... was likely triggered in part because of it. It was more than a little out of character for me after all." She managed a slightly sardonic smile with that last remark, though the blush was still firmly in place.
"Oh, I dunno." Keith drawled, unable to resist the opening she'd left him, "You've always struck me as being pretty darn aggressive when it come to getting what you want." Ayeka scowled at him for a second before returning his smirk.
"I suppose I must admit to that, but I'm afraid that you are severely overestimating your own value Keith-san." She replied coolly, the smirk widening a bit. "You qualify at most as being somewhat entertaining. You are far from being truly desirable."
"Ah, there's the sharp-tongued little harridan that I know and tolerate." Keith laughed. "So, where do we go from here Ayeka-chan?" he added after a few moments, his tone serious once again, but considerably lighter than it had been before.
"I suppose we will just have to wait and see Keith-kun." She replied, giving the shaggy-haired young man a soft, but genuine, smile.
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"You do know that this is not going to help my career, right Milord?" the young prosecutor groused, looking at the darkened image of his benefactor.
"We all have to make sacrifices if we are going to achieve our goals young one." The shadowy figure replied. "That false Emperor has held the throne for far to long."
"But this man is the one who killed our best hope in a thousand years to actually take the throne away from him." The dark-haired young man hissed. "Where is the sense in letting him go free without a fight?"
"It is not your place to know such things." The figure rebuked sharply. "Just do your duty."
"Yes Milord." The prosecutor replied humbly, bowing his head in response to the rebuke. He still did not understand his lords reasoning... but it was his duty and he would fulfill it. Though putting up enough of a fight to make it look like he hadn't thrown the hearing while following those orders would be... tricky... unless the evidence the other side presented turned out to be better than he thought.
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Keith was actually rather surprised at the brevity of the prosecutor's questions when he took the stand. From the look on Michio's face, the elder man was surprised as well. But surprised or not, Keith should have been thankful. If the dark haired lawyer had decided to press about his and Ayeka's relationship... Azusa could have had him executed even if they'd managed to prove him innocent on all counts. Jurain's were a bit old-fashioned when it came to their family honor, particularly where the honor of their daughters was concerned. Admittedly he could have refused to answer the questions based on the fact that they had nothing to do with the case at hand... but even that would have been more than enough to make Azusa suspicious.
Of course, that was really one f the things that the prosecutor may very well have seen no reason to ask. What really had startled him was the lack of depth to the questions. The slick-looking man had stayed strictly on topic, not pressing for extra details except where it was obviously necessary. As a result, Keith hadn't had to volunteer very much in the way of personal information, and had managed to keep a number of less than flattering parts of his past completely untouched.
But despite those pieces of good news, the shaggy young man couldn't help but feel worried; the whole situation reeked of a trap. He just couldn't see where the trap was.
As he took his seat after the last round of questioning was over, he gave Ayeka and Sasami what he hoped was a confident smile, which they returned, but he could see the nervousness they were feeling in their eyes.
"Why do you think he went so easy on you Keith-kun?" Ayeka whispered, leaning close to him to make sure no one would overhear the question.
"Damned if I know." Keith responded with a shrug.
"He may think he can get the lie detector evidence thrown out if this goes to trial, and he might be right given the historical precedence for such evidence." Michio interjected. "Though with any luck we should be able to avoid that particular eventuality."
"Barring any particular bias of the judge, we should be able to avoid having this farce go to trial at all." Ayeka stated firmly, sitting back in her chair and schooling her expression into the practiced neutrality every public figure eventually learned.
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He knew most people considered him to be fat. He also knew that there was some truth to that. But more importantly, he knew that most of the so-called 'fat' he carried around was solid muscle that his race had developed simply by evolving on a heavy gravity world. Of course, such things were neither her nor there. For the moment he was more concerned with maintaining his role as a member of the press pool even as the hearing dragged on seemingly forever.
It wasn't too hard really. Everybody was too focused on the events unfolding before them to notice that he barely knew which end of his camera was which, or that his scribbled notes mainly consisted of doodles of the judge and lawyers dying in interesting and unusual ways.
This was most definitely one of the most unusual jobs he had ever taken in his long career as an assassin. For one, he didn't actually HAVE to kill anyone to get paid, just make a convincing attempt.
Oh yes, this was going to be FUN. Assuming he didn't get killed doing it that was.
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"Ladies and gentlemen of the court, I'll warn you now that the evidence that we are about to present is of a VERY graphic nature." Michio began. "However, it WILL prove that Mr. O'Connor's version of events is the truth."
"I still say this is a bad idea." Keith muttered, barely loud enough for Ayeka to hear him. "When it's all said and done I did rip the guys head off yah know." Ayeka turned a bit green at that statement, and Keith winced inwardly when he realized exactly how insensitive that had been.
"I... am aware of that." The regal young woman replied quietly, her voice catching just a bit. "I've seen the tape."
"I'm sorry..." Keith whispered back weakly.
"As distasteful as that video is, it is the only way to truly clear you of the charges Keith." Ayeka responded, ignoring his apology. "It does, after all, confirm your version of events." She added, forcing a small smile as she turned to look at him. It wasn't in the least convincing, but this wasn't the time or the place to talk about it.
And in any case, they were starting the video...
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He was glad there was no audio. The sight alone had been gruesome enough without the wet, tearing, cracking, sound that he KNEW had accompanied it being broadcast for them all to hear. He'd killed hundreds of people. Quite often in rather gruesome ways... but the sight of the Duke's head flying from his body in a spray of gore was enough to turn his stomach.
Suddenly the job didn't seem like nearly as much fun.
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At least one member of the audience threw-up, one of the noblewomen fainted. About a half dozen people screamed. Pretty much everyone jumped. Keith didn't really notice. His eyes were focused almost entirely on the image of Talia. On the emotions that were passing over her face, of the way she walked over to his feral form and wrapped her arms around his neck in a comforting hug despite both of them being covered in blood and gore. Held him until he had changed back...
Then they tuned off the video and Michio began addressing the audience again.
"Now, no-one here is going to clam that the images we just saw were not disturbing, but one has to recognize that the woman in the video was under obvious and direct threat from Duke Satoshima when Mr. O'Connor acted." He paused, looking calmly around the room, leveling the full force of his not insignificant charisma at the audience. "One should also be able to recognize that Mr. O'Connor's actions, while rather gruesome to watch, were not that different from the actions a police officer or guardsman would have taken in a similar hostage situation. Mr. O'Connor simply lacked a firearm such as they would have employed."
"Is that true Miss Makibi?" the judge asked, turning to look at the teal-haired Galaxy Police officer. It took a second for Kiyone to respond, the question, or rather the fact that it had been directed at her, catching her by surprise.
"If the life of the hostage was in danger and I had a clean shot, I'd take it in an instant your honor." Kiyone responded firmly. "And I'd expect any other officer to do the same."
"Does the prosecution have anything to say to this?"
"Yes your Honor." The black-haired man responded, rising to his feet. "At this point the prosecution would like to drop the charge of murder in regards to Duke Satoshima. While I do believe that there is still a case, I do not believe it to be strong enough to win, and I do not believe that specific charge to be true myself at this point." He paused for a second to let that statement sink in. Keith could see Ayeka starting to smile out of the corner of his eye, but he was personally just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"However!" the young looking man continued, raising his voice partly for dramatic effect, partly just to silence the growing buzz of voices from the gathered audience of Jurian Royalty and media. "His innocence in that matter does not excuse him from the 97 other charges filed against him, and unless the defense has similar evidence in regards to these additional charges, the prosecution still has a significant and rather solid case against the defendant. One that by all legal precedence MUST to go to trail."
The judge sighed heavily, leaning back in her oversized chair as she considered the prosecutor's argument. After several tense seconds, she readjusted her glasses, and leaned forward to address the court.
"While I personally would like to declare all charges dropped and say you were free to go Mr. O'Connor, the prosecution is correct. You're innocence in regards to this one charge does not excuse you of the others that have been filed against you. The prosecution does have a case, and I have to let it go to trail." Keith simply nodded, if he had tried responding verbally there was no way in heaven or hell that he was going to maintain a civil tongue. Or utter ANYTHING that wasn't a curse-word of some sort for that matter.
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He couldn't help frowning a little at the Judge's announcement. This was most definitely not how he had been told that things would happen. If Mayhem didn't get off he wouldn't have a chance to do the job... and he'd never get the money they'd promised him. For the amount they were paying him and the assurances they'd given, he'd happily do the jail time he was probably going to get for it.
Unfortunately though, if the judge was going to hold the punk for future trail, there was jack crap that he'd be able to do about it.
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Kanno wasn't entirely sure how to take the announcement. It wasn't that he liked Mayhem or anything... the guy still scared him a little to be honest... but even he could tell that this was an injustice. Heck, even if the guy really did deserve it, it was going to screw up the interviews he'd been promised. Not that he really needed it anymore of course. The one he'd broken already all but proclaiming Mayhem's innocence had been enough to secure him a job at one of the sector's major newspapers.
And in any case, this was going to be a good story no matter what happened.
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"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Funaho's voice, the steel that was normally hidden beneath a layer of silk blatantly obvious, rang out across the packed room before the judge could bring down her gavel in the traditional sign that the session was over. Beside her, Azusa reluctantly nodded his agreement. Misaki did as well, though if anything, her nod was even more reluctant than her husband's.
"Mr. O'Connor." Funaho continued after a second. "My husband is willing to make a deal with you."
"A deal?" Keith asked, more than a little suspicious, but feeling a little more hopeful than he had a second ago.
"You are from a pre-star travel planet. Correct?"
"Yes Ma'am" Keith responded, not bothering to try and hide the grin that sprung firmly into place. He could see where this was going.
"If you agree to return to your home-world and remain there, the Royal family will agree to drop all charges against you." Keith had to force himself not to laugh; they didn't know he was from Earth! Apparently the fact that he wasn't a normal human had prevented the thought from even crossing their minds! If they knew there was no-way they'd ever have offered this deal, not with Ayeka and Sasami both staying on the planet.
"Agreed." He practically crowed in response, he would have jumped out of his chair in celebration if it weren't for the restraints.
"We will have to provide you with an internal locator beacon to make sure you do not violate this agreement of course..." she added, a slight edge of suspicion starting to creep into her voice.
"Of course." Keith agreed happily, though he managed to restrain himself a little at the change in tone. "I apologize for my excitement... but going home is what I've been trying to do ever since I was taken from it." He explained, perfectly truthful. Of course that wasn't the only reason for his glee, but they didn't need to know that.
"Well then." The judge interrupted, smirking a bit herself. "I guess that means there's nothing more to say here other than Case Dismissed!" and with that she brought her gavel down with a loud bang of wood on wood.
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"Mr. O'Connor!" a reporter, one of dozens, called from beyond the barrier that the local police had set up along the rather impressively long set of stairs that led down to the street from the courthouse's main entrance, "how do you feel about having been acquitted of the charges against you?" Keith ignored him like just like all the others. After all, he apparently had a deal (brokered by Yosho) with that reporter that'd he'd met at the hotel a few days back.
"My client has no comment at this time." Michio responded for him, the elder man's deep voice carrying easily over the crowd. "Any questions you have will be covered by the official press release, until then you all will just have to be patient." It didn't shut the crowd up of course, but at least the questions became less insistent... even if the flash of holo-cameras screwing up his night-vision was making it hard to see much to either side of them.
"You get used to it after a while." Ayeka mused as she walked beside him, the rest of their merry group trailing just behind, minus Tenchi and Ryoko. Ryoko just hadn't attended, Tenchi hadn't returned after the lunch break for whatever reason. "Even if you never learn to ignore them entirely."
"With any luck I won't have a chance to get used to it." Keith replied under his breath, barely loud enough for the purple haired girl to hear.
"So when do you plan on telling my father which planet you come from?" Ayeka asked, the slight smile that appeared with the question bordering on a smirk.
"I was going to try and avoid that particular detail if I could." Keith grimaced slightly. "At least until everything has been put in writing." Ayeka just laughed. "Hey, what time is it anyway?"
"Nearly 10:30 pm local time. Sari replied from behind them.
"She's not out quite yet then." He muttered with a slight frown.
"The kid you mean?" Sari asked. "Isn't that her right down there with Ryoko and Tenchi?" She said, pointing past him towards the base of the stairs. Keith followed the line of her finger and saw Ryoko and Tenchi standing next to a parked hovercar, a ten-year old girl with chocolate brown hair and unusually long ears standing between them, looking a little wobbly despite the medical exoskeleton strapped to her legs and waist.
"Jurai has a twenty-six hour day Keith." Ayeka reminded him, chuckling slightly at his confused expression. He didn't really hear it, and started to hurry his pace a little. The princess just rolled her eyes and picked up her own pace to keep up with him.
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Why did the steps have to be so fucking long he thought with a scowl, every second longer this took was another second for someone to notice that something wasn't quite right about his holocamera. And while he fully expected to get caught, he wouldn't get paid if he got caught before he even made the assassination attempt.
Finally! They were moving a little faster for some reason... 3... 2... 1... NOW!
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The ball of plasma that roared out of the crowd at him was very obviously subsonic. The simply fact that he could see it coming at all at such a short range meant it was traveling shit-slow for a projectile weapon of any sort, which meant hat the weapon was likely a home-made job or jury rigged in some way or another. Unfortunately, as interesting as all that was... it didn't change the fact that there was no way in heaven or hell he was going to dodge it, or that he was dead the second it hit as weak as he still was.
The shouted cry of "For my brother!", that accompanied the shot didn't even register.
Fortunately Ayeka's reactions were plenty fast enough and the ball of plasma splattered on the force-field that she threw between it and them, sending bits of flame everywhere. Erin's scream of pain as one of those bits landed on her pierced him to core.
This level of change really was an instinctive thing. He actually had found that he couldn't do it on purpose. Something to do with the temporary loss of intellect that went with it as parts of his brain literally went dormant to help compensate for the vast increase in energy consumption that the rest of his body experienced. His mind couldn't consciously do that to itself.
Not that he lost all awareness though. He still could see what he was doing, and he always remembered it afterwards... but what he did was all on instinct. And instinct wanted to rip out the throat of whoever had just harmed his daughter.
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The creature that Ayeka saw leaping for their assailant was much leaner than the one in the video, skinny and a bit ratty looking truth be told. But it was every bit as frightening. The fat man who had fired the shot was already running, and members of the press screamed as they scrambled to get out of its... his... way.
She'd seen him change but it was still hard to believe that the creature was actually Keith.
She had to stop him, and with that thought she raised another shield, wincing at the crackling noise that Keith's impact made as it stopped him in his tracks bare inches from his fleeing target. The man still didn't get far though, the guards tackling him a bare ten seconds later, but Ayeka had more important things on her mind.
"Keith!" she shouted, and gulped audibly as the creature turned towards her growling angrily, wolf's ears laid back flat against it's skull and every sharp tooth exposed. "She is alright." Ayeka continued in a softer tone. Keith looked towards his daughter, who was nursing a burnt arm but otherwise fine, and the fierce expression left his features... though the low growl continued. Steeling herself Ayeka started towards him.
Keith's head whipped back towards her as she stepped closer, and his ears went flat again. Ayeka didn't pause though, continuing towards him until there was a mere two feet between him. In this form he stood a little shorter than she did because of his crouching posture, but she still felt tiny next to him. The only part of him she still recognized was his silver-green eyes.
"Everything is fine." She assured, trying to make her voice soothing, though she couldn't help the slight tremble that crept into it. Kari had described him as a wild animal when he was like this, and Ayeka found herself wishing that she had had more experience with animals of any type even as she held out a hand slowly for his inspection like lord Tenchi had taught her to do with dogs back on Earth.
The growl changed to a low whine and she felt his nose, warm and dry unlike an actual wolf's, butt against her palm, and she let out the breath she hadn't even known she was holding.
"Yes... everything is fine."
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End Chapter Fourteen...
Next... the Prolog and eventually the sequel!