Adventures in Parodyverse: The Trial of Liu Xi Xian, Part 4


    Visionary’s eyes darted back and forth nervously as he sat on a bus stop bench across the street from a frozen yogurt stand near Off-Central Park.  Vinnie was hiding somewhere behind him, waiting for one of the people who had been quietly eating frozen yogurt to turn into a demon and attack.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Maybe we got bad information,”  Visionary hoped, unsure if Vinnie could hear him.  But he hoped the newer Legionnaire did, because perhaps it might prompt him to pack up and go home.

    Instead, from the bushes behind Visionary, Vinnie De Soth reminded him of the instructions.  “Remember, try to keep them separated, I can only get one at a time.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yeah, um...”  Visionary swallowed hard.  “I’ll try.”

    When Visionary looked up again, all of the people holding cups of yogurt were staring at him.  They dropped their cups, growled as their eyes glowed red, and they moved toward him quickly all at once.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Separate!  Separate!  Ahhhh!”  Visionary tried ordering them as he dove over the back of the bench and covered his head, in the hopes that would be effective somehow.

    Oddly enough, it was.  There was no noise, no grisly death.  Maybe Vinnie De Soth was better than he thought?  He raised his head slowly, and saw small-sized feminine short leather boots.  The owner of those boots squatted in front of him, and she had purple hair and eyes, and a smile.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Looks like I got here just in time.”  Yuki Shiro happily reached over and messed up Visionary’s hair.  She wore leather pants, and a babydoll shirt with a Lair Legion logo on it.

    Vinnie, meanwhile, was standing on top of the bench, sprinkling a foul-smelling black sand-like substance on each one of the unconscious demons.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Do you guys always do things the hard way?”  Yuki asked.  She stood and strolled across the street.  The yogurt vendor’s eyes widened as she approached, and he abandoned his post and started running.

    Visionary cringed at the first loud smashing and creaking metal noises.  “Why didn’t we do that?”  he asked Vinnie.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Wait!”  Vinnie didn’t pay attention.  He ran over to the yogurt machine.  “Don’t spill it!  We’ll have demon rats running around the sewers!”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Good point.”  Yuki said, admiring the smashed vendor cart.  “What should we do with it?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We could feed it to Faite,”  Visionary pointed out.  “She’s a teenager so she never stops eating.  And I doubt she can be turned into a demon.”

    Yuki glared at Vinnie.  “Don’t even think about it.”  Then she thought for a moment.  “Hey wait, that’s not a bad idea.  Maybe she can taste it, and then she can tell you were it came from.”

    Visionary pointed down the street.  “Um...shouldn’t we catch the guy who was selling it?”

    The purple-haired legionnaire shrugged.  “He’s not going anywhere.  I’m watching him on the city cams.”

    Once Vinnie removed the container of frozen yogurt, Yuki gave the vendor cart one more hard kick.  It tumbled over and bounced off the wall of a nearby building.


---


    Arnold J. Armbruster sat in a leather chair in the judge’s quarters, quietly admiring the dark wooden decor.  The bailiff led him in there immediately after the recess ended, and he was waiting for the judge, with his briefcase alongside him.

    Finally, Judge Anna Marie Lewis, as the sign said on her desk, entered and sat down.  “I want to see those documents your Japanese friend gave you.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Chiaki?  Um...okay.”  Arnie was sweating a little as he reached into his briefcase and pulled out a ruffled stack of papers.  He dropped it on the judge’s desk.  “Why?  Am I in trouble?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That remains to be seen.”  Judge Anna mumbled as she started reading through the papers.  She kept pausing as she went through them.  “Where did she get this information?”

    Arnie shrugged.

    She answered by picking up her phone and saying, “Yes, can you bring Chiaki Bushido in here?”

    A moment later, the Psychic Samurai was led into the judge’s chambers.  Without a word, she quickly and calmly approached the desk, and sat down.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where did you get this information?”  the judge repeated to the Asian.

    Chiaki replied, “I have ghouls doing some of the research for me.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Ghouls?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Under Gothamatropolis, yes.”  She confirmed with a single nod.  “Except right now a few of them are under Paradopolis to help me out.  And some of the information comes from a friend, Akiko Masamune.”

    That final name Chiaki mentioned made the judge turn pale.  She cleared her throat, and handed the paperwork back to Arnie.  “You can go,”  she said.  Then she looked at Chiaki and added, “You stay here.”

    The bailiff opened the door just as Arnie was leaving.  “The prosecutor still hasn’t made it to court.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“He’s probably picking up his drycleaning,”  Arnie commented.

    Judge Anna’s eyes narrowed.  “How would you know that?”

    Arnie cleared his throat, and shrugged.  “I dunno.  Just a hunch, I guess.”  Then he quickly retreated from the room.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Would you have any knowledge of why he hasn’t shown up yet?”  the judge asked Chiaki.

    Chiaki shrugged, and truthfully replied, “Negotiation is a possibility.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Negotiation?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“A great many court cases have their outcome negotiated outside the courtroom,”  the Samurai noted.  “I suppose we’ll find out more when he arrives.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  the judge agreed.  “I suppose we will.  Now about this information you handed Mr. Armbruster.  You’re aware of the implications of it, right?”

    Chiaki nodded once, quietly.  “This is a death penalty state.  The consequences of failure are much higher.”

    The judge sighed, and relented.  Then she handed the papers back to Chiaki.  “Ask your friend first,”  she warned.  “Because I will.  I will not make a decision based on assumption.”

    The Samurai stood, and began leaving the office.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“One more thing,”  the judge stopped her.  “Why did you decide to go with this angle?  Don’t you trust your friend to get a fair jury trial?”

    Chiaki held her sword by its sheath and raised it in the air.  “Those of us with any sort of power can’t trust our fate to anyone else.  Even you...as a judge, one false accusation would cause you to lose your job, possibly even your privacy as well, and maybe your freedom.”

    Judge Anna Marie Lewis frowned, and remembered how Arnold J. Armbruster once coaxed her into helping him.  After a rival of his found out, she spent two agonizing weeks while a review committee decided whether she would keep her job, while Arnie got off with a warning.  Either this Samurai was very good at research, or she did indeed live up to her nickname.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I see your point,”  the judge replied.  “Very well.  Get your friend to agree, and I will make it so.”


---


    Liu Xi Xian saddened, and sat back in a plastic chair as she listened to her friend Chiaki Bushido.  Her attorney, Arnold J. Armbruster, stood cross-armed, leaned against the wall in a wood-paneled meeting room in the courthouse.

    The Chinese girl clasped her hands in her lap.  “But I...I worked so hard not to be a victim anymore.”

    Though she wasn’t tall herself, Chiaki kneeled in front of Liu Xi.  Mostly because her friend was looking down at the time.  “Liu Xi, not being a victim means not being silent about something that happened to you, either.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m a little worried this might backfire,”  Arnie pointed out, unintimidated by the Samurai’s stare.

    Chiaki looked up at Liu Xi again.  “This is your decision, and yours alone.  I know it is not easy, and I hope you will never have to decide anything like this again.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I should do it,”  Liu Xi decided.

    Arnie moved in closer.  “Are you absolutely sure?”

    The elementalist nodded.  “Keeping this secret is only helping this man who terrorized me in life to do the same long after he is dead.”

    The attorney pulled a thick piece of paper out of his briefcase and slid it onto the table in front of Liu Xi.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  Chiaki placed her hand on the paper.  “No signed statement.  Let her tell her story on the stand.  The jury will feel bad for her, and if the prosecutor keeps pushing his case, he will only be digging himself in deeper.”

    Arnie shook his head.  “Oh, Chiaki.  I talked to the judge too, while you were bringing Liu Xi in here.  She said if I get a signed statement, she’ll ask the prosecutor to drop all the charges and call it self defense.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Really?”  Chiaki enthusiastically asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m good, sometimes.”  Arnie bragged.

    The Samurai smiled.  “You are, sometimes.  I suppose you can always fall back on testifying if it falls through.”

    Liu Xi was reading through the papers while the other two were talking.  She signed it and slid it back to Arnie.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Wait right here, you two.”  Arnie said.  “I’m going into court alone, it’ll look confident, like I already got this thing won.  I’ll send a bailiff to get you if it doesn’t work.”

    With that, Arnie left the meeting room and shut the door.

    A moment later, he came back in, and grabbed the paperwork for the statement.  “I’m going to need this,”  he said.  Then he left again.

    Chiaki laughed.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You like him a little, don’t you?”  Liu Xi asked Chiaki.

    The Psychic Samurai’s smile vanished, and she looked a little embarrassed.  “No, he...irritates me.  But he is also like the American brother I never had, very smart, kind of silly, self destructive.”

    Liu Xi nodded.  “I should get closer with my friends.  I have been neglecting them all since I became close with Vinnie.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You felt like time with them was time away from Vinnie, right?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Mmmhmm.”  She nodded.

    Chiaki smiled.  “You will outgrow that.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I already am,”  Liu Xi responded.  “I feel like Vinnie’s always with me now, even when we’re apart.  And I’ve been missing my friends.”

    The door to the meeting room opened again, and Arnie burst in.  He high-fived a surprised Chiaki, and then did the same to a less-surprised Liu Xi.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You just have to appear before the judge and make it official,”  he said.  “She’ll ask you to summarize the signed statement again.  Just tell her that you were brought into this country, sold to be this man’s husband, and then he had sex with you under false pretenses, treating you like a prostitute.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Okay,”  Liu Xi whispered.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You can still change your mind,”  Chiaki noted.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  the Chinese girl replied.  “No, I won’t.  This has hurt me again and again.  I can’t hide from it anymore.”


TO BE CONTINUED


Story written and copyrighted (C) 2011 by Jason Froikin, and may not be reprinted without permission.  Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow.  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin.  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin