Morix: Web of Mistrust

Turnabout Deception, Part 5

March 12

Courtroom No. 1

1:30 PM

Cotoli Morix

The silence seemed to stretch on for a thousand years after we asked Mr. Lent for his response. He glanced around at everyone in the courtroom before finally speaking. "How do I respond? You want to know how I respond?! You're being ridiculous! I told you time and time again that I didn't do it, but you still keep on pressing the matter! I don't understand how you can do this in good conscience... If she didn't deserve it, then I wouldn't have attacked her! She was going to hurt him! I could feel it! You're all full of crap when you say that the culprit... That I... Was wrong for doing this! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Mr. Lent's voice only seemed to be getting louder, a feat that I found impressive given how loud his voice had been when he first started yelling at us. 

"Witness, please calm down," Prosecutor Shield instructed, narrowing his eyes. 

"I can't calm down, because you don't know what constitutes as dangerous in any situation! I'm the security guard! I've done more with my life than any of you could ever hope to try! You don't understand what I do, and you're all absolutely ridiculous for thinking that I'm the one to blame here!" Mr. Lent went on. He slammed his hand into the witness stand with each word for the sake of emphasis, and all I could really do was stare in surprise at him. I hadn't expected his reaction to be so sudden and loud. 

"Please take a deep breath and step away for a second if you need to," Judge Frost told him, his gaze stern. I could tell that he didn't know what to say aside from that, so he went back to being quiet shortly afterwards. 

"I've been protecting him for years! I know exactly what's dangerous for him! I couldn't fail again, so I did what I had to in order to get her to back off! You don't know what we've seen, so you have no right to even think about judging us for what's happened in the past! Back off already!" Mr. Lent was continuing to slam his palm against the witness stand before him, and I could see the stability of the podium beginning to falter. 

"Explain what happened calmly, Mr. Lent," I said, not sure of what else I could do to calm him down. 

"I'd never do something like that for pieces of garbage like yooooooou!" Mr. Lent raised his hand in the air just before the last word, and when he slammed it down, the hit to the stand was powerful enough to splinter it completely, and Mr. Lent was left standing there, breathing heavily in his fury. He glared at everyone, and he had the look of a wild animal in his eyes. "Fine! I did it, but if you had seen the things that I have, you would have done just the same!"

"Bailiff, please arrest the witness!" Judge Frost shouted. At those words, a set of bailiffs swarmed into the room and surrounded him without a second thought. When the bailiffs grabbed him, Mr. Lent continued to struggle, muttering vulgar words that I couldn't quite make out as he was dragged from the courtroom. 

I watched as Mr. Lent disappeared from the room, and I could see that Chrysalis was doing the same out of the corner of my eye. We watched as the door shut gently, and I turned my focus to the rest of the courtroom. It seemed that nobody else knew what to do now that he had been taken in either. After all, he had dominated the space for so long, and without that figure at the center of everything, the area felt oddly empty all of a sudden. It was a good thing, don't get me wrong, but it was odd nonetheless. 

Eventually, I looked up to Judge Frost, letting out a small sigh when I did so. He seemed just as surprised by the sudden outburst as the rest of us were. When he managed to fully pull himself back into the situation, Judge Frost reached for his gavel and lifted it before hitting it against the bench before him. "It seems as if we've found the truth behind this case. The culprit has been uncovered, and we can move on to the verdict of this case. Will the defendant please take the witness stand once again?"