Chapter 10
The snores of the immigration judge echoed through the courthouse, making it difficult to hear the Titans' lawyer speaking.
"…My clients have more than adequately shown their devotion to this country. They are good people without any criminal record and they have done us immeasurable services as the city protectors. They have been given no chance to clear their names before being spuriously accused, and presumed guilty—contrary to all we stand for—and are about to receive the legal sanction of a deportation without due process. This is a violation of my clients' Constitutional right to due process and a jury trial…"
The judge continued to snore on as Mayor Granger said: "…So for that reason this court must not order the deportation of my clients. The constitutional issues I have raised should merit a review by a federal court. Let's also consider Raven's request for asylum. Raven is a native of the dimension of Azarath, which happens to be ruled by a demon named Trigon. Trigon is certainly worse than any—"
The prosecutors jumped up from their seats, shouting "Objection, Your Honor—" The sleeping judge jerked awake upon hearing the word "Objection" and, fearing he was missing something, immediately replied "Sustained!" before he realized what had just happened. Shaking his head to clear it, he paused and then mumbled: "I mean…uh…Sir, what did you just say?"
The prosecutor was smiling the most devilish smile as he said, "Well Your Honor, I was about to object that the opposing counsel is using hearsay, which they in fact are not. I was raising an objection that is invalid on its face. Had you been paying attention, you would not have accepted my objection."
The judge thought a moment, then came to a conclusion. "Okay, in that case, the objection is—"
"But as it happens," the prosecutor cut him off, "you sustained my objection before you even listened to see what it was. Therefore, my patently false objection still stands." The audience booed loudly until the judge slammed his gavel on the counter. "We will have order!" he shouted at the top of his voice. "Order!" With the booing quieted the judge immediately went back to sleep.
Both lawyers were confused now, as were all the media commentators. The judge had sustained the prosecutor's objection, but had not instructed the defense what to do about it. Eventually, Mayor Granger decided to continue presenting his case. He cleared his throat and started talking, then realized that the judge was still asleep.
"Uh…Your Honor…wake up!" he said. The audience laughed. The entire nation was being treated to the spectacle of the mayor futilely trying to get the attention of the judge. The judge didn't stir. "Your Honor, can you hear me?" he repeated, louder this time. The judge remained asleep at the table. Finally, he walked up to the bench and shouted right into the judge's face, "Your Honor, wake up!" For good measure he pounded with his fist on the wood counter.
Suddenly the judge was wide awake and fuming. "Mr. Granger do you understand that I was up all last night hearing cases and haven't gotten an hour of sleep this whole week?" he screamed hoarsely, "When I finally get a case that isn't so complex it needs my full attention you disturb my rest! I am holding you in contempt of court and your case is dismissed! YOU LOSE!" With that the judge slammed the gavel angrily upon the countertop. The countertop cracked and the gavel splintered into pieces.
Raven and Starfire were taken aboard a heavily guarded aircraft and flown to Cape Canaveral, where two white-painted spaceships, each emblazoned with the American flag, waited to take them to what the INS considered their homes. Although deportations like these were normally routine, un-newsworthy events, this case was high-profile because of the people involved. Crowds of spectators and news crews with cameras and camcorders awaited the exile Titans at the launch pad. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were there for the final, sad parting of ways.
Suddenly Robin leaped forward, past the police maintaining the safety barrier, and sprinted towards the ships. As the loudspeakers blared out the final countdown, the rocket boosters of the ships began to shoot out bright white flames and smoke. Robin rapidly cut open the door of the ship with a bird-a-rang and slipped inside as the rockets began to heave upwards.
"Goodbye, Robin," whispered Cyborg from within the crowd.
"Cyborg, I'm leaving the city to you," Robin's voice returned through Cyborg's communicator, "Farewell!"
The spectacle over, the crowd began to disperse. Cyborg turned to his left, where he thought Beast Boy was standing—but Beast Boy was gone! Frantically, Cyborg looked around, searching the crowd for any sign of Beast Boy. There was none to be found. Cyborg activated the communicator in his arm and called. "Beast Boy? Beast Boy, where are you?"
There was no response.
The spaceship Robin was on continued away from Earth, dropping its rocket boosters and flying under its own power. Robin stealthily crept along the corridors, evading the security cameras and crewmembers. After about an hour of searching, Robin finally found the brig. Rows of metal-barred, windowless (of course) prison cells lined the walls. Inside each was a toilet (with no sink or toilet paper), a bare mattress, and an empty shelf, all painted the same shade of light gray. Most of the cells were empty. A security camera panned over and Robin hastened to duck out of view. He swerved into an intersecting corridor out of view of that camera, only to see another one panning right at him. He had to run to evade that one and only managed to land perilously close to a roving group of guards. Fortunately, they were walking forward away from him and he could only hope they didn't look back. But they stopped in the corridor for no reason and started to talk; one of them started turning towards him…
Even the Boy Wonder and all his stealth skills had a hard time avoiding being seen here.
The ship rushed through the void of space towards its destination…
End Chapter.
Author's Note: I am still looking for feedback on the story itself and of course on character pairings, for which I haven't received enough responses to constitute a representative sample of public opinion. If there is anything I can improve on this story, please let me know; I am holding open the pairings for one more chapter to see if I get a clear preference.
As you may have guessed, I like statistics…