Chapter 11: Technoid strikes back.
It was day four, out of the five days set for the trial. Tensions were starting to run high among the pirates, especially the ones that stayed at the Arch Academy. Dame Simbai had checked Sonny's vital readings everyday, and stated that he had indeed grown stronger, but not as strong as she would have liked for him to be. It was clear to everyone that Dame Simbai was trying to buy them some time. Even though Sonny appeared strong and fit to most, the ones that knew him, knew he was faking it. Corso felt it the most. He saw how Sonny would mask things when with D'Jok and Mei or anyone else but him was in the room. But the minute they were alone, Sonny would drop the act and show how weak he really was. The wound on his stomach, where Dame Simbai had drained him, healed well, but was painful. It was hard to watch his friend like this.
Corso stayed with Sonny most of the time, making sure he rested and didn't overdo anything. Sonny had no strenght to even fight him. He would run himself jagged just to keep D'Jok and Mei believing that he would be fine, that they would win this.
Corso had made all the pirates work to make sure Technoid would not be able to find out that Sonny had left the academy. If they did, it would be proof that Sonny had violated the conditions set for his stay at the academy, and would make Technoid have him back in their hands. What would happen to him if so happened, no one dared to think of . Sonny had gone to talk to Mei, Corso knew Sonny cared a great deal about his doughter in law, and now that she was pregnant, he had gone into overprotective mode. Corso snapped out of his trail of thoughts when Artie yelled at him. «Corso, come see this, quick». Corso stormed over to his workstation. «What is it Artie?», Artie just turned the computer over to him. «Trouble, if you ask me. How could we overlook this?». Corso quickly read through the file, only to have his mouth fall open. «Artie, are you sure this file isn't corrupted? If this is true, we have a huge problem». Corso thought it through. Then, he made up his mind. «Bennet, go get Sonny, we need to inform him of this»...
Mei sipped carefully from the tea that Sonny had given her. She knew Sonny hadn't come just because he was worried for her. And during the conversation, it was clear. «I'll do it Sonny, we need you, we can't loose you to technoid». Sonny smiled. «Thank you Mei». «Sonny, you're always around, no matter what, if D'Jok or I need any form of help, you seem to drop everything else to come to our aid, and with great risk for your life». Sonny smiled. Mei had gotten good at reading him, that was why he had come to ask her help. Sonny had already formed a plan in his head, but he needed Mei to help him execute it. Mei looked at him. «Is it hard to sit infront of everyone there, knowing that is technoid wins, it is truly game over?» she asked. The compassion and concern in her voice was very touching. Sonny concidered avoiding the answer for a brief second. But Mei was family to him now, she deserved him being honest. «I do my best to hide any emotions, if Technoid would see it, they would use it for what it was worth and beyond. But it is very uncomfortable, being on display like that». Sonny turned his back on Mei and walked towards the window. He stared out on the snow that fell, placing his hand to the glas. Mei nodded slowly. «We all talk about it here on the academy too. No one believes you guilty Sonny, and we fear for D'Jok, if you're taken...». Sonny turned. «If so was to come Mei, never give up fighting to bring forth the truth. I might be Sonny Blackbones, the leader of the pirates, but I am also a father, a parent, and someone's son. That is where Technoid fails to see beyond the walls of the box they're in. They only see one side to my personality, and they persist on judging me. But what they're really after me for, that won't be spoken of in the court. Technoid would not dare, because it would be their own downfall, they'd be forced to admit to their evil acts through decades, and they are not going to. That is the difference between technoid and the pirates, we continue to work for the good, we know we're sometimes wrong, but we also dare to admit it, Technoid.. they are too proud and foolish for that». Sonny looked sad. Mei looked at him. Sonny may have thought he hid his feelings well, even to Mei, but over the years, she had learned to read him. Sonny was scared. He was faced with a situation that was new to him, and he had no real clue as to how to handle it. Mei remembered a time when Sonny had spent several weeks at their house. He had gotten a phnemonia, and was very sick. Mei had forced him to stay in bed, normally, Sonny would have oposed that, but this time, the strong pirate leader had been too weak. Mei had placed him in bed, and spent hours of watching over him as he slept, while D'Jok was at work, as a coach for the galactik kids. The team had been allowed to play the kiddyleague, but when they reached the age of 16, they had to join the teams with their own, unique fluxes. It had been hard on D'Jok, preparing to send his first ever football team off in different directions, and having to deal with his father being sick in their home. And on top of that, Technoid had decided to increase the bounty on his head at that time. But Sonny had not been nervous of that. He had been calmer than any of them, but as D'Jok left the house, Mei had cought him pasing around, stressed out and worried. Technoid had been patroling the neighbourhood, and he feared that someone might have seen him, and would blow the whistle. Mei had a long talk with her father in law that day, and realised just how good Sonny was at hiding his emotions. Now, Sonny made no effort to do so with her, he knew she read him. Sonny stood up. «I got to get ready, and thank you for being there Mei». Mei hugged him tight, out of all the original snowkids, wich had their reunion this year, Sonny had let no one but herself and D'Jok hug him at the dinner with their parents. Mei knew Sonny needed her help, and she wold help in any way she could. Sonny made his way into the hallway. Then Bennet came. «Sonny, we got problems, come quick». Sonny and Bennet joged off to the room where the rest of the pirates were gathered. «What is it Corso?» asked Sonny. He knew that if Corso sent people to look for him, it was serious. Corso didn't say anything, but handed him Artie's computer. Sonny quickly read through. Then, he nodded. «I suspected that much». His team looked at him. «How come Sonny?». «Piratesintuition» he replied. Corso wasn't satisfied yet. «But Sonny, if Technoid finds out..». Sonny nodded. «We're prepared for it, if it was easy to find, they might already know», he rubbed his chin, a habit all of them knew meant that their chief was in deep thoughts. Then, a smile formed on his lips. « But we will play along for now, they always reveal themselves too soon, let's see if they've gotten better actors, or if old mistakes is their eternal downfall». Sonny turned to leave. Corso placed his hand to his shoulder. «Sonny, I got a bad feeling about this, just promise that you'll be carefull up there today». Sonny nodded. Then, he went to speak to D'Jok for a little while, before he left for his room to get himself ready...
Judge Allegi could feel the tension in the room when she entered. The pirates seemed like they were ready to start a fulblown war at any minute, and Sonny tried to keep them calm. But even he was changed. Judge Allegi jumped when she saw that. His hazels reflected something new, not trust and confidence, he looked uncertain and sceptical. She knew, at that very moment, that the pirates had found out. They knew of her family, her choise, and they felt betrayed. However, they would pretend to be unknowing, to have this courtissue resolved. But then, a confrontation would come. Judge Allegi calmed herself. For the moment, the pirates needed her to help Sonny, they would not do anything stupid. They all took their seats. Judge Allegi tried to capture Sonny's gaze, when she did, she saw questions and a demand for answers on her part. Technoid was first, Duke Maddox was called to the witnesstand. Sonny didn't even appear to pay attention, even though she knew he did, he seemed like he was trying to come up with a solution to something. He was known among the pirates for this abillity. Without him, could the pirates even hope to reach any level of security?, Sonny seemed to be brutally dragged from his trail of thoughts, when Duke Maddox mentioned the last night. «It struck us as odd that Sonny would come voulantarily to speak to us, especially when he's not allowed to leave the academy». Sonny noticed what the duke said, and hastily wrote something on a piece of paper, which he handed to his attourney. Mr. Winters looked at it, then he looked at Sonny, who gave him a nodd, to go forth with it. «Your honor, may I approach the bench?» he asked with a smile. Judge Allegi herself wanted to know what Sonny had discovered. «Approach the bench, Mr Winters» she said. He handed her the note Sonny had written. It told that Technoid had abducted his pregnant doughter in law, and they had made a clone of him, wich they had sent to technoid, to get them away from the academy, to dispatch a rescueteam to go find her and bring her to safety. Judge Allegi was not surprised. It became clearer and clearer that Technoid was going all out to find a way to get hold of Sonny. What did they want from him? Judge Allegi nodded. «You're excused from the witnesstand, your exellency, I will now call Sonny Blackbones to the stand, it seems we will have an explanation to technoid's allegations». Sonny nodded and approached the told of the nights events, but left his own involvement out. Judge Allegi, who knew the pirates way of handling things, wanted to ask Sonny, but she would expose herself to a far wider audience if she did, so she kept her mouth shut. Sonny was done telling his story, when Mr. Beastly stood up and clapped his hands. «Bravo Mr. Blackbones, you really should concider going into the entertainment buisness with those stories of yours». Sonny frowned, and Corso, sitting behind Sonny and his attourney, clenched his fists in anger. Mr. Winters noticed the two pirates struggles. «Your honor, Mr. Beastly is going over the line in his accusations». Judge Allegi banged her hammer. «Enough, settle down!». The next move was not anticipated. Sonny looked up at the judge, with a humoured gilmpse in his hazels. «I'll admit that Duke Maddox was indeed visited by a «Sonny blackbones» last night, only, it wasn't me, we sent a clone. As for the allegations that I supposedly left the Arch academy, we got videofootage that proves otherwise. It's not been altered, but do please scan it, just to be on the safe side. Also your honor, I would like to propose a test for Technoid's represenatitves. Can they tell a clone from the real me?» Sonny's gaze turned as he said that. Duke Maddox face was red with anger. «Why you..». Judge Allegi made a quick call. «I'll allow it Mr. Blackbones, what did you have in mind?». Sonny rose. «Now, I'll go outside, and to make the eperiment more interresting, we will also bring the clone still in Technoid's care, into the mix, I'd like for you, your honor, to see if the clone is unharmed, it would bring sufficient proof that Technoid does not treat their prisoners well if any damage is detected, as I would suspect». Judge Allegi nodded. « A guard will follow you Mr. Blackbones, to make sure this is not an escapeattempt». Sonny nodded it, as he stepped down from the witnesstand. Mei felt the Duke's gaze at her. He was furious that she had managed to escape, and there was no question, whatsoever, that if they won. Sonny would be made to suffer for it. She had to keep that from happening. Sonny came back in, but now, there were four of him. Corso rose, to explain the experient further. «Your honor, we would like for technoid to have a look first, and tell us who is the real Sonny, and then we will have Mei, Sonny's doughter in law, to identify him among the ones. As this experiment is conducted, Sonny will not speak, as it would give him away, he will let you know who he really is, after both parties have done theirs». Judge Allegi recognized the proceedure. It was a clever move. Sonny really proved time and time over, what he was made of. Duke Maddox walked up, and started the examination. Then, he placed a tag on to «Sonny» to identify him. Then, he sat back in his seat. Mei was terrified, but she tried to hide it. The clones were as identical to Sonny as it was humanly possible, if they spoke, their voice would be Sonny's too. There had to be something, one little detail that made him stand out. All of them would give her a blink with the eye and a smile. Mei closed her eyes. She needed to make the right choise. Carefully, she looked at all of them. If only Sonny could give her a small sign as to what to look for. All of a sudden, she stopped, and headed back to sonny number one, with a smile on her face...
Corso noticed the sudden smile on Mei's face, as did D'Jok, who sat beside him. Corso smiled. He had found out the second they entered the room, wich was the real Sonny. Sure, all of them looked identical, with the earpiercings and all. They had managed to create exact replicas of Sonny when they cloned him. Exact, with the exception of one tiny detail. Now, it seemed Mei knew what to look for. Sonny remained neutral. Corso knew this was hard, as he knew Sonny wanted to let Mei know, so she'd choose right. D'Jok was tensed. «Corso» he whispered. Corso looke at him, and patted his shoulder. «Don't worry D'Jok, she figured it out, now, just observe and see what happens». Corso made no mentionings on where all the pirates that still operated in secretsy were hiding. They had taken their positions the moment the pirate chief sat foot in the courtroom, ready to defend themselves and him at all cost. Now, it was only a matter of time, before this was over...
Mei smiled as she would check every Sonny's wrist. Technoid had made clone number 2 their mark. But Mei saw, he was just a clone. He too lacked the one thing that would positively identify Sonny as himself. Mei moved on, and checked the next one's hand. There, the bracelet. Mei took his hand and squeezed it. «Found you» she whispered. Sonny let his hand rest on her shoulder. «What made you change your mind Mei?» he asked. «You know» she smiled, she did not want technoid to know just how much sonny's bracelet would give him away. She turned to the judge. «This is the real Sonny Blackbones, number three» she called out to the court. Judge Allegi had someone examine the fact. Mei was right. She truly knew Sonny well enough to identify him. «Well then, Perhaps Duke Maddox can tell me why his men could not make the positive identification? As of now, it seems Technoid could arrest a clone and not know wheter it's the real deal or not» she apptly stated. No one was surprised to hear snigger from the present pirates. It was a well known fact that everytime technoid would make a mistake, it humoured the pirates a great deal. Duke Maddox did not look happy. But then, he was handed a note from his attourney. He looked at it. A grin formed on his face. «Well, laugh while you still can pirates, I got a big news flash for you». Sonny and Corso exchanged worried glances. Technoid knew. Sonny looked at judge Allegi. «Your honor, I know what technoid is about to put forth, you did your best to clear my name, I am grathefull for that, but all victories comes at a price, now, it seems the price of this one is to be put on the table».
Mr. Beastly didn't even ask to approach the bench. He just stood up and walked over to Judge Allegi. « Members of the jury, we have found evidence that judge Allegi should not have been assigned this case. Judge Allegi was born and raised in Shiloh, wich we all know is the home of the pirates. Her motivation to handle this case, has been the untimely death of her brother, Jay, who was killed in the attack of Shiloh, led by Technoid. An act aimed at a rock that was supposed to be uninhabited. The pirates there, had no one but themselves to blame, for beeing whiped of the face of the galaxy. Technoid sees Sonny as the responsible for the deaths of these men and women, as he as their leader, allowed for pirates to settle here. And as of now, Judge Allegi is removed from the case, during the pending investigation of her personal involvement in this. As for the pirates, the immunity is as of now removed».
Both Sonny and Corso seemed too shocked to move. Mei pulled sonny's arm. «Sonny, you got to go now, please!». Duke Maddox rose from his seat. Never had the chief of technoid seemed more evil. «Sonny Blackbones, and Corso Takashi, you are both under arrest. Sieze them, and have them taken to a secure location. The court will rest untill a new judge can take Judge Allegi's place»...
Now what? Is all lost? Will Sonny and Corso get out of this? And what about judge Allegi? Her past is gonna come haunting her. Keep reading the exciting continuation.