Today's courtroom felt different than last time's courtroom. It was nearly empty with only Geus, the school board, and the row of judges. Other than the completely filled room with bystanders, everyone else was in the same positions. Even the judges were the same as before. Same seats, same fears. Tensions on the other hand was not as high as before. It felt to be a more relaxed day to smooth the details over.
The first man entered the room from the back. Geus recognized this man with one look on his face. An eyepatch over one eye and a steel frame brace over his shoulder. He didn't give a look to Geus. Kept his eyes above the child and turned to the judge without a glimpse. His tone of face didn't show any ill feelings toward the whole event. If anything, he appeared bored.
"Name?" The head judge asked.
"Marcus Ree." He answered.
"Alright Mr. Ree, we're going to make this fast and get the day over with. Your private questioning revealed you were the initial guard during Geus's escape from holding. Struck in the eye and" he cleared his throat. "'Bashed into the back wall of the elevator.' In any way, shape, or form would you say the defendant's actions were malicious or even attempted at your life."
"Those things are true except for the ending sir. I do not believe his attack was anything more than a proficient takedown. The attack on my eye was small enough to only feel burns and pain yes. But he could've taken my eye out completely. I do have to wear glasses after my eye is completely healed. And my shoulder will be good as new in a couple months."
"So how would you state in your own words of his intent and actions?"
"To be perfectly clear, I believe he escaped with the intent to cause as minimum damage as possible."
"And do you believe in Warden Iroh's position that he had Geus under his control this whole escape?"
He looked back at Geus and made eye contact. It was obvious he studied the nervousness of Geus. If this court was really anything, it was to put down Geus and find out only the facts. Nothing about Geus's case was normal compared to other courts. No lawyers, no public statements, only asking questions to connect the missing dots. The only thing that made this legal were the judges that could sentence.
"Yes." He turned back to the line of judges. "The only time Geus ever attacked anyone else was during him defending himself. Any other inmate would attack relentlessly if they were in his position. While his attacks were precise, I do believe this was out of character and not something he would do on his own accord."
The judge on the far end leaned forward into his microphone. "What do you have to say about this, Mr. Sansei?"
"Whether or not Iroh had anything to do with my escape. Everything that was built up to this point was a factor to what I did."
"What exactly were those factors?"
"My cousin and the attack. I was told exactly where to go to get him back. I couldn't sit back and watch nothing happen."
"And another report states the new protocols for Geus was instated for only several days." Another judge added. "No way he could've learned a path to escape within 48 hours." The other judge turned to his mic. "Geus, do you know how your quirk works?"
"My oxygen is directly infested with the sulfur cells which creates my quirk."
"What about your lungs?"
"The amount of air my lungs can create is how much I can use."
"And has Warden Iroh ever given you your physical by UA?"
"What physical?"
The judges eyed each other which only worried Geus more. This entire time he remained as calm as he could be. Still a worried look never left his face but the confidence in it all was there. The faces the men ahead of him made showed worriedness like his. This hearing was about something he didn't know.
Geus leaned into his mic. "Excuse me, but what is this all about?"
The head judge rubbed his chin while he looked at his papers. He eyes the principle of UA before he closed his eyes with a nod. His attention slid back of to Geus. "Since yesterday after your hearing, was there at any point that you made contact with any person affiliated with your imprisonment location?"
"No, only Beka gave me a call about this whole thing."
"Let's start with the workings of your quirk. Right next to your heart is a small sack equal in size. That thing directly feeds your quirk into your system and alters everything on how your body should work. Injunction with your lungs, it modified it to satisfy its needs. Your lungs divided up into chambers that allow for oxygen to replenish while other parts use your converted oxygen. So your seizures that are induced by this is because of all those chambers are placed in use to emptiness. Iroh apparently kept this hidden."
"And coldness slows down the production to where it stops it."
"You are dismissed, Mr. Ree."
He nodded at each of the judges before he took his leave. The head judge cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. "Last night at 11:03 pm, a pile of tapes were on Warden Iroh's desk. At 11:56 pm, Iroh was spotted leaving the facility. That was the last time he was seen along with a dozen other inmates of the facility. At this time they are still at large."
The muscles inside Geus's arms tensed up and flaired with access amounts of gas. The infestation Iroh caused last night made much more sense. It was a warning, a warning he was going to come for him. Either from him, or from them. His arm trembled with the thought of Iroh.
"Calm down." Aizawa calmly said, his words broke through Geus's fear and brought him back into reality. With everything that has happened to UA, I think you can understand why the secrecy was placed."
"Quiet." The head judge demanded. "This is still my courtroom and this hearing is for the safety of everyone in UA and the public." He turned to Geus. "Mr. Sansei, are you able to recall the events of your escape?"
"Kind've. I remember getting up to the main level, attacked a few guards." His head lowered as he cleared his throat. "I hit one down the elevator shaft and incapacitated Iroh."
The line of judges looked at each other. Many of them went down in frustration. Geus's heart pumped faster as his mind split in two. Anytime there was silence, he feared the worst from the situation. He locked eyes on the now open door by the judges. A small tv on a car rolled out by the Baylor and placed in front of him. He injected a tape and turned on the HD screen.
The top corner of the screen read of the date and time of his escape. The edges of the screen were blurred to an undisguisable degree. But the center of the screen was crystal clear. Geus stood just off the blur at the entrance of the elevator. His quirk flowed heavily out of his mask and covered almost the entirety of the floor. The guards by the elevator were in a panic and bit to the edge. One rushed to the front exit while the other tried to skip across the gas. He tripped, his back leg kicked against his heel and tripped him closer to Geus. He was in a panic while his body squirmed in the gas. There was no volume to the tape, but the way his body bounced around said total agony. His body went toward the elevator. He knocked over Geus and plummetted down the shaft.
Geus didn't get up just laid down on a clear section of the floor. A path opened up in front of his unmoving body. Another person entered the screen. The size of the man and the suit he wore could only be described as Iroh. He walked the clear path and bent over to Geus. He grabbed hold of one of the filters and pulled Geus up to the air.
They stood there for minutes. Until the open arm of Iroh stretched out behind him. Geus began to move right after. His arm tugged after Iroh with gas all around his arm. Iroh swung his arm straight forward and twisted the arm to the side. But that didn't stop his actions. The gas enveloped Iroh's arm freed himself. Iroh's body fell first then Geus's right on top of him. Another few minutes past on screen. Geus got up with his hands on his head. He looked at the camera and held his arms out to it. Right before the entire screen turned black, his body hurled for it.
The real Geus jumped back from the chair, causing it to tip onto its back feet and crash into the ground. He refused to believe what he saw. The fear bound him back to the separator gate where he stayed. His arms clung around the wood bars even with how heavy he heaved his breath. Nothing on that screen was how he remembered it.
'It has to be a lie, this, this isn't real.' Geus pleaded to himself. I'm the one that attacked those guards, I dropped that man down the elevator shaft. I fought him.'
"Further analysis determined nothing about this was altered or computer generated." The side judge fixed the placement of his glasses.
"Seems like before Iroh left, he gave away everything." The head judge leaned forward past his mic. "You sure you don't want to tell us the real story or was Iroh really controlling you?"
"I-I don't know. I remember attacking the guards in that room, took down and hurt him, how else would you explain my injuries? That has to be fake."
Aizawa stood up from his seat. "The injuries were real, Recovery Girl made sure everything was healed before his return to school. I saw even the littlest tendencies in his nature, none of those Geus's action in the tapes was consistent with him."
"I have the X-rays in my files here Eraserhead. I want nothing more from you." Aizawa sat back down. The judge recovered his appearance and pointed over to Geus. "Get back in your seat as well." He watched Geus closely as he scrambled to recover and sit back into his seat. "The problem with this, and why we can't question anybody else on this... Nobody else has a straight story either. Two of the guards stationed at the close door said they were late for their shift and waited for the doors to be unlocked. The unfortunate one that fell down the elevator shaft said he saw you but slipped into the hole before he could restrain you."
"So now you see the predicament. Placing you inside UA's care ensured a free space to see the true you and then determine in the future what to properly do. As it is true that your parent's end was nothing more than an accident, what happened inside that prison is still unknown." Another judge stepped in. Free of one crime, then inside the next."
"I'm not an expert in this sort of thing, sir." Geus stood up from his seat. "Isn't it possible Iroh did all these things at once? His power is currently unknown if nobody saw this coming. I swear I have no true memory of any of that happening. My memory says that I assaulted everyone in that building that stood in my way. I'm sorry I just can't prove everything."
The head judge snarled. "Sure everybody stands in my courtroom. Why not." He cleared his throat. "Until your aunt signs and completes the necessary requirements for your adoption, I can't release your custody. With Iroh on the loose, a League of Villains ever expanding. You are free Geus, I sentence it. And I don't think we need to vote for this. But you are still forever under our watch." He looked at both sides. "Any last thoughts before we close this?"
"Nine not guilty, zero guilty." One judge blurted out.
The one on the far right rose his hand. "If I were you kid, don't let your guard down at all. If Iroh makes contact, report it to either a hero or the police. We must get everything we can on him before things in the public eye."
"Okay." Geus nodded. "But what adoption?"
"Also, UA, send him in to get his suit redone. With the new mask and awakened power needs a reevaluated performance." Another judge added to the notion.
"What about adoption? Why am I getting adopted?" Geus asked again.
"He will also need to stay under the guidance of his current therapist until all paperwork is finalized. After that, the choice is his." The fifth judge placed in his first words of the day.
Geus sat back down, his head felt light and made him nauseous. What turned from a serious forum to evaluate Geus's situation became a bundle of confusion for him. "How is any of this legal?" He mumbled.
"It is still my court after all." The lead judge got up from his chair. "We determined your actions and came to the conclusion that you were not at fault. And we also placed in stipulations to this conduct. To ensure the safety of the public and your safety, all aspects need to be covered. Let's pray that this doesn't get out of hand." He slammed down the gavel. "Case closed and dismissed."
"Ensure that Lt. Bailey's promotion remains under wrap and all agreements are signed before it takes place." He said before he walked off from his chair.
Geus quickly shot up from his own chair. "Wait!" He shouted as he followed his finger with the man. "Who's adopting me?"
He stopped and angrily sighed into the ceiling. "Wasn't it obvious?" His dead eyes leaned over to the kid. "Maria Sansei, can't have the press hearing a fresh ex-con is now locked in UA."
The rest of the line got up from their own sets. And all of them were ready to leave from the start. A few had already loosened their ties, and one had a cigarette in his mouth. The lack of professionalism angered Geus. These were the people that decided his fate and all of them looked like they were ready to take a nap after this. The judge on the far right noticed how Geus presented with himself. He wasn't angry or pleased, more frustrated pain.
"Look, kid, from the start once we saw that tape. Which I recommend you seeing it as well. Your parents forced their actions on themselves. You'll get your reparations and a clean slate. With how low your school's reputation is getting right now, you need every edge." His arms rose in the air and angled his body to the UA body. "I mean have you seen the papers since getting him inside? People thought a full fledge killer was being harbored in the school." His arms dropped back down to his sides. He paused for a moment to catch his breath. "Damn tight this courtroom was borderline illegal but with the fall of All Might, the League of Villains, an escaped Warden, and prisoners, some things just needs to be taken carefully under the law."
Geus didn't have a response, his mind just had him stare down the final man. His body at least became calmer with only heavy breathing intact. Eventually he gave a small, determined nod before he turned. He walked through the divider and pushed open the doors.
Immediately a series of bright white flashes impeded his vision. Words spewed from all angles and blocked his path through the courthouse.
"Sansei! How does it feel to be there when All Might retired!?" One reporter shouted.
"Sansei, are you the one that leaked the tape of your parent's deaths on the web?!" Another shouted.
Geus stopped listening to everyone else. He caught the eye of that reporter and pushed his way through the rest. The crowd of journalists gasped in unison and moved to the side. A small circle surrounded the two with cameras and mics pointed at them both. The eyes Geus gave of launched fear directly into the man, he became unable to speak through the chatter of his teeth.
Geus placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in close to his ear. "What the hell did you just say?" He whispered. No response came out of the clatter. Geus reached for his mask and opened the mouthpiece while he sucked in his breath. "I don't want to repeat myself." He closed his mouth and straightened his back to face the man head on.
"The-the-the uh, the uh footage of your hospital visit a year ago it-it's uh, online. You did-didn't happen to do it did you?"
"That's enough." Aizawa broke through the circle and grabbed Geus's collar. "Can't you pests leave a kid alone? It was ruled an accidental cause. Not a murder, now get out of the way. No questions will be asked today." Aizawa tightened his grip around Geus while he walked through. He pulled him close in front of him as his other arm forced others away. "What do you think you're doing?" Hdle angrily whispered into Geus's ear.
"He talked about my parents." He mumbled back. "Somebody's out there trying to hurt me."
"You idiot." They made it through the crowd of questions with little effort. Aizawa made sure to push Geus forward and strongly kicked him through the doors. "Get on the bus. We got a lot of work to get through with you."
Geus's body rolled to the steps of the courthouse. He rolled straight off the first step and flew down the rest. He managed to recover and land on the bottom step perfectly on his feet. "Long day? What else is there still to do?"
"If I'm not at class do you really think that today would be over that easy? The support class has been working on a redesign of your mask and a new suit. I intend to raise all of you above this."
"You can't erase my quirk can you?" Geus smirked. "You're always here and protecting me because you'd kill me."
Aizawa didn't say a word during the walk down the steps. He stopped inches away from Geus and stood. Geus's smile only grew in size, he was sure he had his sensei right where he wanted him. His greedy nature blinded him from the strong right hand of Aizawa. He was able to slip it behind him and slam it on the back of Geus's skull.
"Get on the damn bus." Aizawa walked past him entered the school's bus first.
"I'm serious!" Geus spun around. No longer was he cocky with the smirk. He looked genuinely worried. "I got all these things riding on me, to you this is small but everything is just happening!" Geus shouted. "It was subtle but I can see how you separate me from the rest of the class, an extra spot, special teachers, you never once took away my quirk when I was a shit in class! You know how'd I feel if I can again move my mouth without the fear of hurting somebody if I do? I'm finally able to feel like one of the class, hell I'm sure if you wanted you could just kick me out now but you don't. I don't want this special treatment anymore! I want to be equal to my class! I earned that with all of this shit!"
"Now is not the time for this." Aizawa dropped down one step. "The way I had to teach you was based off the agreement the school was set up with your enrollment here. And yes you are an extra student, an off number group that had to be under careful watch to ensure both sides could see benefit and ease. Now that you are among equal grounds to do whatever I please, I can set you up however I like to. It's easy to see how you are in class and out here, you like to see yourself out of participation and the spotlight. Your life, on the other hand, set you out to be out there. You maybe seventeen but you should be grateful that your family still sticks their necks out for you. And your classmates, Yaoyorozu has treated you like every other student and started your rise in grades. Todoroki has broken out of his own familiarity and assisted you in your own training. Stop being so closed minded and see that your classmates and all of UA is treating you like you're part of the class in their own way. Life changes, people see you differently based on your actions and life choices. Before your quirk, you acted exactly like yourself in a quirk filled society. Now you're just like everyone else in my class." He faced the bus and climbed up the final two steps. "And besides, how fun is it knowing I could kill you by just looking at you?"
