(Octavian 28, 59 / 10:11AM)

  (Military Complex)

  Everyone had their eyes pinned on the one man that stood out from the brunch.

  A young man who had a side bang that covered his right eye, a man who carried red irises that dwelled between the fantasy and the supernatural.

  A leader who didn’t seem unleader-like regarding the terms of the imaginary guillotine that dawned upon his neck.

  Everyone that was in the back of Luke soon huddled up close, shying away from the gring Reed. Cpping his hands, a loud smack pierced the air as bits of gravel fell out of some statues that were trapped within the stone walls.

  (President Reed) Judge Golden. Please proceed with the following.

  (Judge Golden) With pleasure.

  Instead of using the white sheet of paper that he had on top of his wooden pew, Golden used his semi-old fingers to scour through a space inside of the wood. Feeling a slight scratch, Golden instantly pulled out a yellowish note card that seemed to be covered in dust.

  Fpping it three times to get rid of the dust bunnies, the little traces of dust soon trampled onto his wooden pew, which didn’t cause the somewhat old man any mind.

  (Judge Golden) We allow these beliefs to be self-evident, that the male and female, infant to elder, cowardly and brave, to be allowed to be free from the status of becoming sinners in the hands of an angry god.

  Golden turned the yellow card over to see more handwriting that was scribbled in cursive, handwriting so foreign to the people of this very world that even Golden squinted his eyes onto the paper.

  Letting out a soft cough, he used his left hand to massage his Adam’s apple that sprouted out like a sore thumb. As his fingernails traced along the mountain that gave him the voice of reason as well as manhood, Golden opened his mouth slightly as his tongue was seen from the corner of Kennedy’s vision.

  (Judge Golden) Justice is given to serve, and justice is there for all; For there is no greater reward nor punishment than the piety of absolute judgment.

  Golden then threw the card down onto his pew, csping both of his hands as he turned his attention to the right of him. Allowing himself to see Vice President Kennedy having both of his hands inside his tuxedo, Kennedy hurriedly pulled out the same yellow card that Golden had.

  Instead of the card being riddled with dust and grime, the cursive handwriting that caused Golden to squint managed to make Kennedy put the card down while he looked straight ahead.

  (VP Kennedy) Indeed there is … all sinners need to face penance, tribution, and the light at the end of the tunnel that leads to damnation and redemption…

  Kennedy didn’t dare look at the group that was in front of him, as his entire body trembled with his knees already on the verge of buckling. Putting the yellow card back inside his tuxedo pocket, he nervously looked to the top of where the President stood.

  Darkening his eyes, Kennedy’s gsses couldn’t even hide away the sorrow and guilt that soon started to tear away at his soul.

  (President Reed) And in this court of procedure, your lies will be determined true if the masses deem you worthy. Until the morning rays and the gleaming moonlight, we’ll be in this courthouse until a swift verdict has been issued.

  Reed pced both of his hands behind his back, without even trying to find a yellow card that was supposedly given to him.

  Luke noticed that Luna’s hands were already clenching up into hardened fists, with her knuckles on the verge of cracking. Pcing his left hand onto her right shoulder, he gently squeezed it once to get her attention, making her loosen up from his touch alone.

  Even though she instantly calmed down, she looked away while pcing her left hand into her leather jacket pocket, biting down her front teeth as she thought to herself.

  (Luna’s thoughts) That fucking prick! What does he have against us!? We’re supposed to be on the same freaking side!

  Luke took a step forward, pcing his left hand on his chest like a lost maiden who was trying to ask for directions. Despite his shy and nervous pose, it only caused many of the agents on both sides to lean their heads forward evermore.

  (Luke) We’re willing to expin everything fully with people present. We had soldiers and agents fight with us against the liches as well as the Bringer of Death that was used as a trump card.

  (President Reed) The Bringer of Death took down an entire nation overnight six years ago but was stopped by a small group of elite soldiers and a small ptoon of rookie soldiers. Seems too good to be real.

  Luke only looked away as the sudden rebuttal to his argument was thrown against him, leaving him to y down his left hand on his side.

  Hope pced herself right behind Luke and shyly gnced at Judge Golden, who started to stare at her smugly. Making herself seem invisible only led Luke to position himself so that he would wrap an invisible bnket around her.

  Sweat already dripping onto the white marbled floor beneath him, Luke began to stutter as soon as he opened his mouth.

  (Luke) With all due respect sir, I have an extraordinary amount of luck.

  (President Reed) That’s your counter? Your reason for winning?

  (Luke) Well…

  Luke had his left shoulder brushed against by none other than Luna’s right shoulder. Extending his left hand, he firmly grabbed a hold of Luna’s wrist as his body tugged forward from the strength of her hand.

  Luna only growled and clenched the ends of her teeth. As her left hand was completely balled up into a fist, she managed to get all the agent's attention as they all stared at her from top to bottom.

  (Luna) And where the hell were you?! We saved your freaking city you asshat!

  (Luke) Luna!

  (President Reed) Hmm, sounds to me like you’re not good at controlling your soldiers.

  Luke tightened his grip on Luna’s wrist, darkening his face in the process. For the rest of The Dark Angels seemingly keeping quiet, Luke tugged Luna’s wrist repeatedly to get her in the back of him.

  Luna however made a tch sound with her teeth, stepping forward once with Luke being tugged again forward.

  Her toes in the direction of Reed, every agent on both sides of the room jumped from out of their seats, their hands all lowered into their jackets or side pockets.

  (President Reed) I wouldn’t let your anger get out of control if I were you. Agents are trained to take out not just criminals, but criminals with blessings as well.

  (Luna) Answer my question!

  (President Reed) What question? About where I was during the attack on Lagefor? That information is cssified, but…

  Leaning his body forward, he tilted his head upward as he pinned his attention onto Luke, ignoring the fuming Luna. With all the senators and judges pinning their interest on the smug grinned middle-aged man, the only sound that—

  No, it was completely silent, as not even a simple thump or knock on the wood disrupted Reed.

  (President Reed) You knew that already, did you?

  Luke widened his eyes, making eye contact with Reed as he held his stare.

  Stan, whose face turned into a simir shade as that of a lich, started to breathe heavily as bits of CO2 got caught inside of his throat. As Miles and Gary noticed the bizarre reaction coming from Stan, they both pinched his elbows while leaning their heads close to his ears.

  (Miles’s whispering) Hey man you good?

  (Gary’s whispering) Keep it down. What’s gotten into you?

  (Stan’s whispering) The phone call…

  Remembering the phone call from a month ago, Boris had a caller tell him about President Reed leaving the city for a cssified mission, which was the same day that Lagefor was attacked.

  During the night in which they all had a break before The Bringer of Death was summoned, Agent Briggs accused Boris of having cssified information that could put them in danger.

  With these two critical points in check, Stan’s fingers started to tremble gently followed by his legs on the verge of buckling. Feeling as if his feet were hot glued to the white marbled floor, Stan gnced on both sides of the room, with some agents beginning to look at him.

  Still squeezing Stan’s elbow, Gary only put a striking amount of pressure on Stan to finally gnce behind him.

  (Gary whispering) Calm down now. Some agents are already looking at you.

  (President Reed) Do you two have anything to say?

  Luke looked in the back of him as Reed’s voice of direction was passed down to a couple of men in the back of the group. Seeing that Stan’s face was deathly pale, Luke puckered up his lips.

  Luna gred at the elf who continued to drip down with sweat, while Hope brought her right hand toward her chest with a worried look.

  (Luna’s thoughts) That idiot!

  (Hope’s thoughts) Stan…

  (President Reed) You. The elf who’s wearing overalls. Do you know anything about the cssified info regarding my whereabouts?

  Reed folded his arms so that he could look down on the freckled elf with ginger brown hair.

  Putting both of his hands into his pants pockets, Stan swung his hips back and forth in a repeated motion. Not looking up toward the man in the center, Stan kept his mouth shut, his mouth being completely zipped up with traces of sweat getting onto his lips.

  (President Reed) Speak now. Before—

  (Luke) I was the one who heard of the info.

  Everyone turned their attention to the light brown-haired young man who had his head slouched down.

  Every agent that was standing all let go of their pockets, as they folded their arms or csped their hands together. With the judges and senators all gasping in awe, even Luke’s friends themselves were in disbelief.

  Luna let her right hand drop down to her side, her eyes widening as she remained frozen in pce. Hope, who was in the back of him, dug her fingernails into his shoulder bdes in an attempt to punish him.

  (Luna’s thoughts) What…

  (Hope) No, why did you—

  (Luke) I heard the intel from an outside source. I’m the one I should take the bme.

  Luke noticed a bunch of rge figures overshadowing him from the back.

  Turning around, every young male that Luke was close with all furrowed their brows and opened their mouths, with Miles at the forefront of the group. Having both of his hands enclosed into trembling fists, Miles' body was divided in two since Miles' general body remained still and frozen in pce.

  (Miles) What the hell are you doing…

  (Luke) It’s better this way.

  (President Reed) I’m surprised, considering that you never did hear the cssified info.

  Luke slowly turned his body around to see Reed devilishly smiling.

  Continuing to have his arms folded around his chest, Reed pinned his gaze down onto Luke and Hope who started to cower. As Miles released the angry state from his hands, he let them hang motionless, his fingers and palms starting to go numb.

  (President Reed) Did you expect me to believe that you would be the one to find the intel that easily? The only way in which intel gets spread out is from within the system, not out.

  Reed turned his attention onto Judge Golden who was lost in thought upon Hope’s body and looks, with Golden having a bit of drool come out from his right lip. Making a scrunched-up face, Reed began to look down on the semi-old man who wore the cardinal robe that signified justice.

  (President Reed) Golden…?

  No response came from the old pervert who had the chief judge badge on his right breast pocket.

  Golden, who continued to smugly stare at Hope, didn’t pay the President any mind, causing Reed to pop out a vein from his right temple.

  Putting his right hand into his bck suit, Reed let out a huff all the while his knuckles grazed the fluffy fabric of his clothing. Once he started to pull something out of his pocket, the object itself was a circur metal ball, a ball shiny enough for the sun’s rays to reflect light.

  With a simple thrust with his right hand, Reed threw it straight onto Golden’s shiny head, creating a rge bump on his head. Bouncing off from Golden’s head the ball neatly dropped down onto the marbled floor beneath the two of them. Putting both of his hands onto his head, he caressed the hairless spot with his old and frail fingers, all the while looking up at Reed who started to grin.

  (President Reed) Enough with your antics you old perv. Read the list of crimes that The Dark Angels are guilty of.

  (Luke’s thoughts) G-Guilty of?

  The entirety of The Dark Angels huddled close together as much as possible, like a bowl of yarn that knotted itself to remain unbroken.

  Even though they were clumped, Luke was the only one who was right in front, all while shyly looking up toward what fate may have for him and the rest of his friends.

  Instead of being handed a paper, Golden pulled out one from the inside of his cardinal robe. Despite the robe not having any pockets on the outside, Golden tucked in his right arm so that he could access the inside pockets of the red robe that hid away the many things tucked inside there…

  Having the paper in his right hand, he brought it up close to his face as the handwriting wasn’t in a cursive format, causing Golden to lean back his body.

  (Judge Golden) The Dark Angels have broken many unwful ws that have disrupted our principles of said jocur life. First and foremost is the use of unwful destruction during the attack on Lagefor.

  Luke only blinked.

  Everyone else that was in the back of him blinked and looked at one another with dazed faces, faces that were all too coded with furrowed brows and slightly opened mouths. Having hands grasp the top ends of his shoulders, Luke continued to wide-eyed stare right at Golden.

  (Judge Golden) A bar on the south side of the city was heavily damaged, followed by an industrial factory taking critical damage. Not only that but a huge crater was brought forth by none other than the men who worked alongside the Dark Angels.

  Hope and Benn recalled the mostly broken-down bar that they fought Gemma on, the hellish fight that both endured. As Hope looked down, the bits of blood and absolute gore that Gemma induced onto those poor pitiful teenage boys was enough for her to cover her mouth and shut her eyes.

  Fred, Gary, and Diego remembered the holdout for the military complex that they were now in. With bits of memory pying the Sergeant who sacrificed his life to protect not only his soldiers but also Fred and the others, Fred clenched both of his hands in a hellish squeeze.

  Golden looked down at the second line of reading that he had to do, followed by a shallow breath coming out from his nostrils. Instead of having the paper close to his face, he allowed the paper to hover over the wooden pew that he had in front of him.

  (Judge Golden) The hearing of cssified information is one of the greatest acts of betrayal a person could do to their government. Combined with the recreation of chemical warfare that the leader proudly dispys as well.

  (Luke) C-Chemical W-W-Warfare? But I—

  (President Reed) You created a perfect sample of mustard gas, did you not? Followed by many other chemicals at your disposal, you have recklessly endangered many lives with your so-called “weapons”.

  Luke began to twitch as he slightly lifted his right hand, looking at Golden with a heartbroken expression.

  During The Array, the infamous case of one of his weapons backfiring was when Gemma inhaled some of the fumes of the gas. Because of that, Fred had to carry her on his back; and because Fred was physically weak, she had no choice but to drop herself to save Fred.

  Causing her death.

  Unable to even speak, disgruntled grunts can be heard amongst the many agents who kept watch on him and the others. Even senators and judges alike, let out scoffs and murmurs toward Luke, as he couldn’t even hear what they were saying to him.

  But all he knew was that it had something to do with his way of fighting.

  (Judge Golden) Some inventions that some men created are ridiculously dangerous, most notably the highly pressurized water bomb. If the water bomb self-destructed, then who knows how many lives it would’ve cimed if the calcutions were mismatched.

  (Gary’s thoughts) But that bomb saved the city though!

  Luna and Gary started to fume, as both she and him shriveled up their bodies in a tense position.

  Gary soon took a single breath in and out, closing his eyes in the process as he gripped his hands.

  Meanwhile, Luna started to bite down on the back ends of her teeth, followed by her eyes stabbing piercing daggers straight at Golden.

  (Judge Golden) Another case of property damage was in one of the Mayor’s houses on the North side of the city, where a few weapons cases were broken into. Not only that but the highly influential Zirardge Tower was heavily damaged from two fights between two Dark Angel members and two powerful liches—or rather one lich and one human.

  Luna recalled the fight to the death that she endured against Kenichi’s hands, a fight that almost had her lose her life.

  That ginger hair, those two chainsaw-bded swords.

  Everything about him screamed death.

  As if her body seemingly flinched upward, she jolted her body up like how a person wakes up from a dream that they were falling.

  But Luna swayed her head back and forth, putting on a mean front even in front of fate itself. Finally calm, Luna folded her arms as she let go of Luke’s body.

  (Judge Golden) And stly, they took down The Bringer of Death without any knowledge of the fact that it could explode upon death. Since they made a huge crater that is now turned into a ke, there is no choice but to bel this incident as nothing more than a form of domestic terrorism.

  (Luke) … but…

  The more Golden talked, the more Luke’s vocals worked with the judge.

  Taking one single step forward with his right foot, both of his eyes began to water as if someone pepper-sprayed him. His nose, his cheeks, even his throat, all were working against him as he couldn’t even constrain the ultimatum that he was facing right in front of him.

  Everything that he worked for, everything that he lived for.

  Surviving the attack on Ticia, the hellish one-month walk, training, The Array, and now the attack on Lagefor…

  Was it all for nothing?

  To be someone’s best soldier, to live, to see the world that he yearned for when he just stayed in his room and pyed video games and read…

  Was it all just a dispy of someone’s sick game?

  The more he thought about everything that he faced and lived, the more he hunched his body forward, without having the rest of everyone worrying about him. Like a ticking time bomb, Luke spread out both of his feet apart all the while he pced his right hand alongside his heart.

  Just as a bit of drool was about to spray the floor beneath his feet…

  (Hope in Luke’s thoughts) Now make an oath.

  In that single moment, Luke let go of his chest that he cwed with his right hand.

  Bringing himself upward slowly, his face returned to a teary-eyed face that was on the verge of spilling its floodgates. Not daring to look back at his friends, Luke silently stared as Golden put down the paper onto the wooden pew.

  (Judge Golden) From the information that we have, it’s safe to say that Luke Fenix, along with his crew, are on thin ice. Unless we have testimonies to testify for the betterment of him and his group, please step forward.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  Silence fell again.

  As Luke’s friends huddled against each other in a way for the man in the center to not gre at them, Luke was at the forefront of the group. Tucking in his head like a turtle, he gnced at both sides of the room to notice that no agent stepped out or made a scene, creating a brittle suspense that can only be broken by—

  A short-haired agent knocked on the wooden pew two times, knocking on wood.

  Everyone turned their attention to the blonde-haired agent, with even senators and judges alike looking toward the agent whose eyes were as cold as the Kepputhan gciers from up north.

  (President Reed) Ah, Agent Briggs. “The Wintry Agent”. Have anything to defend or attack Luke’s cims?

  Briggs took off his bck fedora with his right hand while having his left hand pced firmly on the wood that he stained with his shrill hands. Having his bck fedora in his right hand, he dropped it down to his side, followed by pinning his attention on Luke.

  (Agent Briggs) Me and my agents were there during the attack on Lagefor. I can confirm that Luke and the others were there in the counterattack.

  (President Reed) Are Luke’s cims true? Did he put innocent lives at risk when battling against The Bringer of Death?

  Briggs stared right into Luke’s teary-eyed face, moving his bck fedora onto his crotch with both of his hands. Piercing his eyes right into Luke’s soul, Briggs felt both of his shoulders being tugged by both Alexandra and Eren.

  Not bothering to pay attention to his agents, Briggs also didn’t pay the smug grinned Reed that just watched from on top.

  (Agent Briggs) He did take out The Bringer of Death, and the rest of us all managed to defeat the liches and zompires all with luck. The rest of my agents can confirm. But…

  The bck fedora that he held onto with both of his hands started to scrunch up, its bck fabric being wrinkled against his ice-feeling hands.

  Not only were his hands the only part of his body to be scrunching up, but his eyes also began to turn bloodshot red, as if his entire body was holding back.

  But what?

  Darkening his eyes, a strand of his hair soon blocked against his right eye, leading to him having a simir side bang as Luke.

  (Agent Briggs) I think he’s the one… I know of it.

  (President Reed) The one for what?

  (Agent Briggs) The ringleader of the infamous cartel group.

  Luke took a step back.

  His chest, his legs, his arms; they all began to feel the loss of motion and the need for blood.

  His breathing fastened, his heart pumping and everything from within his system except for blood went into overdrive. Sweat drenched his chest, and a small amount of body odor escaped from his body as he used his head to slowly look around the courthouse room.

  From the many agents on both sides of the room, they all put their hands back into their suits or pants pockets, their hands hovering over something. To the judges and senators who murmured with themselves, Luke can now hear the clear sayings of the higher-ups from the pews in front of them.

  (Judge #1) The Ringerleader of the Los Cerdos de Ojos Negros?

  (Judge #2) Well, the reports say that the ringleader has light brown hair.

  (Senator #1) So he is the one that we were trying to track down!

  (Senator #2) Seems like it. Like they say, a quiet man holds the most secrets.

  The whole courthouse room was then filled with noise.

  His own thinking being overrun with talk and gossip, Luke cradled his face with his fingers even when his fingers dug deep into his smooth skin.

  Droplets of sweat dripped down from his face, he hunched his back as he couldn’t dare to look up or to the sides of him. Not even looking back, his neck fought against the very idea of checking his friend’s reactions.

  (President Reed) Well, there you have it. You may have been able to defeat every single obstacle in the way, but at what cost?

  Luke continued to slouch further and further down, letting his knees drop to the cold hard floor. His eyes bugged, his breathing started to intensify as every breath came out a wheeze from his overworked lungs.

  As his chest continued to let the correct flow of blood underneath his skin, his nerves couldn’t sense the many figures from behind.

  Figures that all stared at him, but Luke couldn't turn around.

  He didn’t want to.

  But he wants to.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Why is this happening…?

  Even his knees started to fall asleep under the sacred spell of ck of blood flow.

  In front of him, Reed took out a pocket watch within his suit’s pocket, opening up the golden canister to read the time it said. Popping the cover back onto the lid, Reed spread out both of his hands wide, making himself bigger than he already was.

  As everyone in the room turned their attention to the man in the center, the agents, senators, judges, and the rest of The Dark Angels all saw the dispy of smugification.

  Except for Luke.

  (President Reed) As of this moment, I hereby decre all ten of you, followed by the rest of the missing members and workers who have helped you; to be sinners.

  Luna and Hope gently pced both of their hands on both of Luke’s shoulders. Noticing that Luke wasn’t responsive, Hope pced her other hand too to give Luke another nudge.

  Luna meanwhile gripped her hold onto Luke’s bony and frail shoulder bone even more, digging her fingers under the bone that did not even startle the poor young man.

  (President Reed) For your punishment, you will all be sent to The Dome, a maximum security prison that is twenty miles near the town of City King.

  (Miles’s thoughts) That’s near my hometown…

  (President Reed) As for the time of your sentence, I would suggest a good 50 years in the smmer would do.

  Luke slowly lifted his head, while having his knees digging the bottom barrel of the white marbled floor that he sank upon.

  His eyes reddened, along with his sniffling nose trying to contain a white liquid that assaulted his throat, he let go of his hands that dug deep into his face. As he still kneeled with both of his knees, he dropped his hands to the ground with his knuckles barely grazing the top ends of the floor.

  But he didn’t turn his head, his neck stiffening at the sight that unrattled his pyful face.

  (President Reed) Do you have any st sayings before I confirm this sentence?

  Luke gulped down whatever dried-up saliva sat around his tongue and teeth. Finally receiving the pain from his shoulder that created a stabbing sensation, Luke puckered his lips.

  Followed by his head turning to see the tanned beauty to the right of him, her eyes barely containing tears that wanted to escape.

  And in return, his left eye let out a single tear.

  (President Reed) I said do you have any words? I’m giving you one st chance to speak your mind.

  Luke turned his head to see Reed smugly grinning at him, his snted eyes and pushed back short hair all causing him to burn something within himself.

  But his legs couldn’t even let himself stand, since his knees were fast asleep under the intense pressure that he conflicted upon only him. Trying to work his knees that were under a fatal spell, Luke grit both ends of his teeth, grinding his enamels together to spark a fme underneath his heart.

  (Luke) Why … Why are you doing this?

  A simple question, a question that couldn’t be dodged with a yes or a no.

  In that instant, Reed made a deadpan face, while he pced the back ends of his palms onto the edges of the wooden pew in front of him. Leaning his closer to Luke, Reed took note of the young man’s light brown hair and skinny-toned body.

  A simir body type that Reed cannot shake from the depths of his mind.

  (President Reed) You remind me of an impudent fool. A fool that betrayed one of us.

  A cataclysmic boom rocked the entire courthouse room.

  Followed by a rapid plume of smoke and dust.