Arc One: Chaotic Field Trip
Part five
"Echelon formation!" Maxxor commanded, as he battled Mudeenu.
The moment Maxxor called out the command, the Overworld soldiers began to move forward in a diagonally pattern towards their enemy.
Maxxor and Mudeenu are battling each other, and the other creatures weren't interfering with their battle. It was like the others knew not to get in the middle of that battle or else their leader would seem weak for needing help in a one verses one duel.
Najarin is currently acting as air support. From up in the sky, he could blast energy beams at any Mipedian on the battle field. The Mipedians fired back at him, but Najarin easily dodged their attacks.
Kaz and Tom were thrown to the ground by the guards who rushed to aid the other Overworlders. It hurt and both boys will have large bruises form on their chests and ribs.
While on the ground, Tom saw that one Overworld soldier had broken away from the battle and was running in the direction of the camp. Tom didn't know why the soldier left but he thought maybe he went to get backup.
"Now's our chance to escape Tom." Kaz says, while they slowly got back on their feet. With their hands still tied together, it made it more difficult, but they managed.
"What about Reggie?" Tom asked, looking for him. The battle was happening in front of them, but it had moved far enough away that they didn't have to worry about being attacked just yet.
"What about us!" Kaz says. "We tried saving him and look at where we are now. He broke the law and got himself into this mess, Tom. We shouldn't have to pay for his mistake."
Tom was about to say something, but someone had spoken into the communication link.
"Tom, Kaz, run towards your right side." A woman's voice instructed them. "Don't worry, we'll keep you safe, but you have to follow my instructions."
They turned towards their right and saw a Masked Guard hiding in some bushes a meter away. She is from the Imthor clan based on her helmet and gauntlets. Her Masked Guard uniform was black military style boots, gray pants tucked into the boots with a black belt to keep her pants up, her shirt was the same color as her pants, and her long coat which goes to her knees is made of a material that blinds in with the wearer's surroundings so right now it is the color of the bushes which are a brownish-green. On the back of the coat is the Chaotic symbol.
With barely any thought they both ran towards the Masked Guard.
"You got to help, Reggie!" Tom said, panting. "The Mipedians have him over there."
"We know, Tom." She assured him. "Hold out your arms, both of you. I'll transport you home."
"But what about Reggie?" Tom asked.
"Like I said, don't worry. My comrades are getting him as we speak." She said and grabbed Tom and Kaz's arms.
Symbols began glowing on their bodies. Their code broke apart and transported away from the battle and reformed safely in Chaotic.
The Masked Guard had transported them to a hospital in Chaotic's capital. The doctors said they were dehydrated with a few large bruises, but besides that they were healthy. All they needed was fluids, food, and rest.
Their parents made it to the hospital an hour later. Kaz's mother hugged him so tight, he thought his bruises would double in size. Tom's parents were just as relieved as Kaz's mother at seeing their son alive and well. Of course, the three parents scolded them on how foolish and stupide they were for going on that failed rescue mission.
Peyton and Sarah visited them a few minutes after Tom and Kaz's parents came. They filled them in on what happened after they left them in the forest.
It was a political mess as soon as the news came out that a student went missing and two more went missing trying to find the first one. An hour after Peyton and Sarah informed the teachers of Tom, Kaz and the blue scanner without an owner, the news went mainstream and everyone in Chaotic was talking about it.
People demanded answers from the school and the authorities looking over the case. Parents came rushing into the school, seeing if it was their child who had gone missing. It didn't take long for the school to figure out it was Reggie who lost his scanner.
The other students were quickly notified on their scanners to transport back home. Within ten minutes of the message being sent most of them were back at school. Only Tom, Kaz and Reggie were not accounted for, so the Masked Guards knew who lost their scanner and who they needed to find.
The media was not able to get any details on what actually happened on the field trip. The Codemasters seemed to not want people to know the full story. At least not yet.
Tom and Kaz only got to talk to their friends and family for thirty minutes before the Guardians came into their hospital room. The Guardians are the police force of Chaotic. It is their job to protect the people, enforce the laws and investigate when the laws may have been broken.
It was odd that they would be questioning them, but it didn't take long into their talk to find out that Reggie was the one in trouble. Apparently, the Masked Guards found out about Reggie's deal with the Mipedians and now there's a big investigation into the situation.
After hearing everything Tom and Kaz knew, they told them not to talk about it with any one. The Guardians didn't contact them again until five days later when they were informed they would be witnesses in Reggie's trial.
That was a week ago and now Tom is in an empty white room with the only furniture being one metal chair which he is sitting on.
His cloths are traditional Chaotic formal wear. Grey robes along with white, glossy, tight-fitting shoes. Of course, he has his gauntlets on and he has his helmet resting on his lap. He didn't have to put the helmet on until they summoned him to the courtroom.
He wasn't allowed to bring his scanner with him. They didn't want him to talk to anyone while he waited for his turn to testify to the Codemasters. He's been stuck in the room for almost two hours with nothing to do.
His parents couldn't come since at fifteen, Tom and Kaz are considered old enough to not need them here with them during the trial. Their parents were too busy with work too, so they weren't even waiting outside for them. Tom was disappointed to hear that, but he understood his parents just couldn't get off of work. Peyton and Sarah weren't asked to be witnesses, so they couldn't get out of school.
A door slides open, the que for Tom to get up, put his helmet on and go to the courtroom.
The courtroom is a very large, dome shaped room with very little inside it. Tom was sure his whole house could fit inside the room. The walls are made of a silver colored metal with veins of light.
Reggie is standing with his lawyer in front of the judge's podium. Like Tom, Reggie is wearing the traditional robes for the Crellan clan, making them look identical. The only thing that sat them a part was that Tom was two inches taller than Reggie.
On top of the podium, sat three Codemasters who were overseeing the trial.
Normally, Codemasters didn't act as judges unless it was a serious case. A long time ago, the Codemasters were the only ones to judge trials but overtime their population grew too big. The Codemasters no longer had enough time in the day to oversee all the court cases and get their other work done. So now the Codemasters appointed judges to handle most trials.
The last time a Codemaster judged a trial was over ten years ago. Tom was five then, but he still remembered everyone talking about it. His parents hid the details from him because they didn't think he was ready to hear about it. It wasn't until a few years later that he found out the trial was about a man from the Oron clan who murdered fifty people over six years. He was found guilty and sentenced to death.
This trial was apparently just as serious as that other one ten years ago.
Reggie had done the unspeakable act of contacting another Tribe without a Codemaster's permission. It wasn't the first time a Chaotic broke the rule of silence, but it was a rare thing and those few instances of it happing was because the Chaotics were captured and tortured into breaking the rule.
Reggie's case was completely different than the others in that he sought out the Mipedians in order to trade with them.
The punishment for that is death. Tom remembers all the talks he had with his parents and teachers about the rule of silence. In the cases that Chaotics did break the rule, they weren't punished because of the circumstances. Reggie on the other hand could be the first Chaotic to be found guilty of breaking that rule.
Tom didn't want to think about it, but he knew he had to tell the truth. Even if he tried lying to protect Reggie, the Codemaster would know if he was telling the truth or not.
Even though their helmets looked just like anyone else's who is a part of their can, Codemaster helmets have a lot more benefits to them. Like being able to tell when a Chaotic is lying to them.
So, Tom really should only tell the truth. No point in lying.
Since Reggie and Tom are a part of the Crellan clan, Codemaster Crellan came to the trial.
Codemaster Amzen is also here, sitting on the left. Her helmet and gauntlets are just like Kaz's. Her robes are green with a high collar. Tom figured she was here because Kaz is also going to be questioned or has already been questioned.
And in the middle sat Codemaster Hotekk, the head judge for this trial.
Reggie was standing in front of the Codemasters, with handcuffs on and a Guardian at his side. Reggie's parents hired a well-known lawyer. Tom didn't know the lawyer's name, he just heard that apparently the defense lawyer has own almost all his cases since he became a lawyer.
Tom imagined the lawyer costed a lot. The lawyer was from the Tirasis clan. His helmet has a red face plate. It was very plan looking with nothing to indicate a mouth. The top part of the helmet kind of looked like a pointy, silver crown. His visor was black with glowing red eyes. The hand part of his gauntlets is red and the rest of it was grey. He was also wearing the tritonal robes of the Tirasis clan which were purple.
Out of all the Chaotic clans, the Tirasis helmet is considered to look the most intimidating. According to the history books the first Codemaster Tirasis made his helmet to look furious so his enemies would tremble at just by the sight of him. Legend also says that the original Tirasis wisely choose battles and arguments he knew he could win, and he never lost because of that.
For Reggie's sake, Tom hoped his lawyer was like his ancestor who first put on that helmet.
"Tom Majors of Crellan." Codemaster Hotekk spoke. "Stand in the circle." He commanded, pointing to a spot on the floor were a beam of light created a circle on the floor.
Tom walked into the light circle, trying his hardest to keep his head held high and shoulders back.
"Codemaster Crellan." Hotekk says, turning his head towards Crellan. "For the record, is this boy Tom Majors and is he a part of your clan?" He asked, sounding annoyed he even had to ask such a question.
"He is Tom Majors." Crellan conformed Tom's identity.
"Good, now Majors," Hotekk turned back to Tom. "Tell us from the start to the end about what happened during your school trip into the forest."
"Me and my friends Kaz, Peyton and Sarah transported in the northwestern," Tom began telling the whole story. From when they found the scanner to how they found Reggie in the Mipedian's hands. It takes about an hour to explain everything. At some points in the story, one of the Codemasters would ask him to clarify a few things or ask a question of why he decided to do something.
Codemaster Crellan would defend Tom whenever one of the other Codemasters' questioning turned into accusations. Only Codemaster Hotekk was being harsh with Tom, but Tom was expecting that. For generations every Codemaster Hotekk has had the same brash personality as the first Hotekk.
Tom knew Reggie didn't have a good chance of being found innocent. Not with Hotekk being the head judge.
"And then the Masked Guard transported me and Kaz to hospital." Tom finished his story.
"So, mister Tavington didn't tell you what was on the map?" Codemaster Crellan asked, his voice edged with a warning. Tom understood Crellan was warning him not to lie.
"No Sir." Tom says, shaking his head.
"I think we've heard enough from the boy." Codemaster Amzen said. "Wouldn't you agree?" She asked her fellow Codemasters.
"Yes." Crellan said. "Tom has told us all he knows so I don't think he needs to remain here."
"Fine." Hotekk said, waving his hand to dismiss Tom. " Tom Majors, you may leave now so we can decide the verdict."
The door he came through reopened. Tom looked at Reggie before he left the room. He couldn't tell what Reggie was feeling because his helmet kept him from seeing Reggie's wearied face.
Tom is waiting in the same room he was in earlier. He guessed Kaz most have told his side of what happened first since Codemaster Hotekk said they were going to decide on the verdict after Tom left. Tom hoped he wouldn't stay in the waiting room for much longer.
After half an hour of waiting, a Guardian came to escort him out of the room.
"Hi Tom." Kaz says when he sees Tom walking down the hallway with his escort. Kaz was also being lead outside, but the Guardians weren't pushing them to leave and didn't seem to mind them talking to each other.
"How'd your time talking go?" Tom asked, eager to hear every detail.
"Not good." Kaz said, sounding embarrassed. Kaz looked away from Tom as he said: "I was so nervous that Codemaster Amzen had to calm me down every few minutes. It was so humiliating, Tom."
"While you were under a lot of stress. I'm sure the Codemasters understood that." Tom said, trying to make Kaz feel better.
Kaz looked back up at Tom and said: "Codemaster Hotekk wasn't very patient with me. He even yelled at me to stop stuttering, which only made me stutter more. Codemaster Amzen of course called him out for it, but that didn't help me feel better."
"That doesn't sound fun." Tom says, then looks towards the exit. "Let's go outside and wait for the Codemaster's verdict."
"Yeah, don't want to miss Codemaster Hotekk saying they're going to kill Reggie." Kaz said in a somewhat angry tone.
"Hey, don't act like that. I'm sure the Codemasters will give a fair sentencing." Tom said, but his words felt fake. He didn't think Reggie should be killed but at the same time Tom reminded himself he had no idea what Reggie even done. Sure, he knew Reggie broke a very important law, several actually, but he didn't know exactly why Reggie did it.
He didn't even know what was on the map or what Reggie wanted in return for it.
"You two might want to stay inside a little longer." One of the Guardians suggested.
Both Tom and Kaz were surprised at him talking to them. The two Guardians hadn't said one word since they entered into the court drome so it was a shock to finally hear one say something.
"Why Sir?" Kaz asked.
"It's very hectic out there right now." He began to explain. "Every news media is out there waiting for the Codemasters to announce their decision. They would likely swarm you with questions. Wait until the Codemasters began to give their verdict then sneak out. The reporters will be too focused on the Codemasters to notice you."
"Okay, thanks for the advice." Kaz says then asks Tom if he wanted to do what he suggested. Tom thought if over and said it probably would be better to do what the Guardian said.
They waited next to the exit door. The noise outside was very loud. They guessed when the noise quieted down, it would mean the Codemasters were making their announcement.
So, they waited about ten minutes and then suddenly, like a switch was flipped off, the noise was completely gone.
"Let's go." Tom said to Kaz. He opened the door.
The Guardian was right. All the people crowded in the street are staring at the screens showing the three Codemasters and didn't pay any attention to Tom or Kaz walking out of the court drome.
They quickly went into the crowd of people who weren't reporters, trying to blend in as best they could while wearing their traditional but completely out of style robes.
No one seemed to bat an eye at them. They were too focused on the Codemasters.
Tom and Kaz didn't stop to look at the screens since they both wanted to go home without getting questioned by reporters. But they could still hear what Codemaster Hotekk is saying.
"After hearing and seeing all the evidence, us three Codemasters, Crellan, Amzen and myself, we have talked about the situation and now have made a verdict." Hotekk said, in a very professional way.
Tom tried to stay focused on leaving, but he was also very much wanted to hear every word Hotekk was saying. Kaz didn't want to hear it. He already decided there was no way Reggie wouldn't get the death penalty.
"We have found Reginald Tavington of the Crellan Clan guilty of talking to a non-Chaotic without the permission of a Codemaster, making a deal with a non-Chaotic without the permission of a Codemaster, traveling to Overworld and Mipedian locations without the permission of the proper authorities, stealing forbidden information, and trading away Chaotic secretes to non-Chaotics."
The crowd was shocked at what they heard. How could a fifteen-year-old not only do those things but somehow found a way to bypass all the Chaotic regulations?
"Now normally these charges would mean death to the guilty, but after a debate," Hotekk added some venom to the last word. Tom knew that debate must have been very heated. "we have decided Reginald should not be put to death because of his young age and other circumstances that will not be revealed to the public at the present.
Tom let out his breath that he didn't realize he was holding in. The crowd murmuring among themselves, asking each other questions and none were giving answers.
"But he will still be punished." Hotekk went on to say, making the crowd silent once again. "His punishment will be paralyzed. As I speak, Reginald is being operated on, so he will no longer be allowed to walk. Now I'm sure the public as many questions on what happened during the disastrous school field trip so Codemaster Oron will be answering those questions later tonight and he will also explain what happened. May your life be filled with chaotic adventures." Hotekk closed out with an old Chaotic farewell. The screen went dark, and the crowd of people began to talk again.
"Come on Tom." Kaz said, trying to pull Tom by the arm. Tom had suddenly stopped walking when Hotekk announced Reggie's punishment. "We need to get home."
Tom allowed Kaz to pull him through the streets.
Notes: Alright! Last part of the arc. Don't expect any updates in a while. I think the next arc will take place in Chaotic, so I can build up the world a little more. I think I'll split all arcs into five parts for this AU.
I know this chapter didn't answer all the mysteries and questions so far that were brought up in the story, but I am planning on answering them in future chapters.
My profile aviator is what Codemaster Tirasis looks like in this fan fiction. I got the image from The Ultimate Guide to All Things Chaotic on page 152. I don't know which Code Master it is since the book didn't say, so I'm guessing it's Tirasis. I recommend any Chaotic fan to buy the book since it has some interesting stuff about the cartoon, talks about some things that weren't shown in the cartoon and it's cheap to buy on Amazon right now. If you want it, don't wait. There's not many copies left, and I think in a few more years it'll be very difficult to find a reasonably priced copy.
Oh, also my profile aviator might change in the future but I'm planning on keeping it the way it is for at least a year or more.