Welcome to Gaia! ::

Antonio stood and straightened his suit coat. "Your Honor," he began, stepping out from behind his table to begin a slow pace in the area in front of the judge's bench and witness stand. It helped him think without it coming off as such.

"My client, The Queen of Diamonds, has served this Family without serious incident a number of years now. Her brother-in-law, The Duchess," he motioned to Ryzan in the audience, "is a pillar of the community. Gracious and loyal. Along with her blood relative, Mr. Soul, their Family, in one way or another, has enriched the lives of not only The Royal Family of Hearts, but of everyone that has had the good fortune of meeting them.

And yet, I have evidence and eye witness accounts that the accused," he paused to point a judgmental finger at The Red Knight, "unlawfully detained my client's brother under the false pretense of pastry theft. During a Family event, no less.

Not only was the charge itself frivolous, he went on to use excessive force, humiliation, and unlawful imprisonment to enforce this false charge. If that wasn't enough, as you can see now," he started to gesture at Tes in the back of the courtroom, but some man with a pink feather boa and an obnoxiously large sign reading "Marry me G" stood between him and Tes. stressed He motioned sternly for the man to sit down, but he was a bit slow to catch on stare Thankfully, the other equally flamboyant men in his immediate vicinity forced him back to his seat and allowed Antonio to continue.

"As you can see, Mr. Soul was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment for a made up crime he did not even commit. Experimented on, like some disposable lab rat. Mutated into a Jabberwocky hybrid against his will."

He then stepped aside to motion to Liada and Kits. "Others fell victim to this heinous abuse of authority as well. And for what purpose?"

Antonio approached the bench, voice still projecting so all the audience could hear. "As you know, the Jabberwocky's of The Red Dominion are extinct. Even those within the Land of White are becoming scarce. So if one were to gain control of three at once, they would be well on their way to creating a force powerful enough to not only oust Your Majesty, but seize control of all of Wonderland itself!"

He took a step back and gestured grandly, "Your Honor, I propose that the accused has been using deprivation of rights under color of law to wrongfully detain and experiment on the innocent citizens of Wonderland with the intent of raising a counterfeit Jabberwocky army to establish himself as the supreme despot of all Wonderland, claiming both the Red Dominion and the Land of White as his own.

In other words: High Treason!"

Antonio casually stepped over to his table to take a drink of water, leaving a purposeful dramatic pause lingering in the air before he continued.
"Your Honor, I'm confident that the gruesome and shocking details revealed today will prove, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the malicious conspiracy that Her Majesty katana has ever so vigilantly worked to thwart for the sake of not only the health and safety of The Hearts Family, but for the good of the common people, even on the other side of our borders. She is passionate about the well being of all and even gone so far as to put herself in harm's way as a selfless act of protecting the land and people she holds dear. Do not let her efforts be for naught, as her bravery may very well have saved us all.

Thank you."

He then gave an ever so slight bow and returned to his seat.

*tail twitches in annoyance while everyone files in because the noise is getting on her nerves more than usual* cat_stare

*while listening to Antonio's speech, studies her wings with a confused expression* cat_confused That's a good speech for making it up on the spot.

*As Kyle hands out the new scripts, the Queen's assistant informs Will that there's been a script rewrite, and that the Red Knight will be the one on trial.* Wait, what?! eek No! That's -not- what this movie's about! gonk *Will takes the new script and quickly scans over it as the Red Queen gives a motivational speech. It's true. stare The new script states that the Red Knight is on trial for treason. Oh for God's sake. Why wasn't I notified sooner! scream By then, Kyle has disappeared. stressed


Some of the outside crowd has been let into the courtroom and all the seats are being filled. With Psy being in charge of directing, he makes an attempt at trying to get her attention, but to no avail. She is totally focused on the crowd, on Gio, and then her brother, Tony ... Tony?! WTF is -he- doing here?! stressed Looks over the script again. Prosecution lawyer ... Great. As if this day couldn't get any worse. stare The next thing he knows, Psy hollers out ACTION!, and he quickly takes a seat at the Defense table, by himself ... Of course. stare There's no Defense lawyer there for him. His day -just- got worse. stressed Sits there and listens as the Prosecution gives the opening statement.* stressed

Sergio bursts into the courtroom out of breath, goes over to the table of the defense and plunks a Louis Vuitton briefcase onto the table. O-M-G I’m SOOOOO sorry I’m late your Grace. sweatdrop But SOMEONE mad … Looks right at G sternly … decided it would be FUN to play a little game of hide and SEEK! talk2hand

Takes out his laptop and places it onto the table. He closes his briefcase and sets it by his chair. He leans toward the defendant and lowers his voice talking out the side of his mouth. Don’t you worry, Mr. Crimson Tide. Sergio has arrived. wink Snaps in the air.

He moves out from behind the desk and starts to walk in front of Royalty and the witness box with panache. FIRST off all! I want to say that EVERYTHING the prosecution has said is OUTRAGEOUS!! talk2hand Your Highness! My client is the type of man who just LUVS to take orders! NOTHING excites him more than submitting to a beautiful, dominant, strong willed woman in leather and fashionable high heels JUST like your Grace. xp He couldn’t have POSSIBLY …… He pauses realizing he’s missed the entire opening statement of the Prosecution. eek ……done whatever it is he is accused of doing!! whee Turns dramatically and faces the courtroom audience. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Court, my client is a law abiding, obedient and loyal puppy dog!! And EVERYONE loves a puppy…… AM I RIGHT?! emotion_awesome

He goes back to the defense table and sits down grinning. He leans over to the Red Knight. We’ve got this one in the BAG! Slam dunk!! emotion_awesome

rolleyes Despite Lia slightly overdoing it things seemed to start out well enough. She didn't have any doubt that Antonio would roll off the change as well as he currently was doing but after seeing Sergio storm in Kyle was about to say something about the abruptness but the elf held him back with a hand raised gently. No this works, I did not think to have a defense attorney with the rush of the change. Probably not who I would have chosen had I thought of it but if he wants to volunteer then let the man have at it. talk2hand Besides in the end Psy was the one directing and if she didn't yell cut from Sergio rushing in then Psy will allow it. Anira was just there for notes on her concept afterall.

If the accused doesn’t have issue with his assigned council, I’d like to begin the proceedings. Councilor…how does your client plead? emotion_eyebrow



Sergio immediately stands. Your Grace, my client pleads not guilty because he is overwhelmed and overcome by your beauty and domineering presence, your Majesty. emotion_awesome Sergio winks at the Red Knight. wink



The King of Hearts sits up straight in his chair and narrows his eyes at the Red Knight. evil



The Queen of Hearts takes pause at this statement. eek ………… Very well. The Prosecution may proceed and present their case. emotion_eyebrow

*The Red Knight was caught off guard when Sergio came rushing in and stood at the Defense table. Sergio's my lawyer?! eek Gives an unsure nod when his new lawyer speaks quietly towards him. sweatdrop ... It's gotta' be better than -not- having a lawyer ... right? ninja

But when Sergio starts speaking and describing his client as a submissive, that's not exactly something that -any- Officer of the Law would want to be publicly known. emotion_facepalm Besides, that was in the past. He takes his glasses off and rubs his face, then puts his glasses back on. When his lawyer finishes speaking and sits down, then quietly addresses him again, Will can only manage to get out a few words.* I hope so. stressed

When Sergio goes to talk with the Queen, Will looks upward slightly for a brief moment. God, please give me strength. gonk After Sergio sits back down and makes an inquiry with his client, Will looks at him directly and speaks in a lowered voice.* Yes, I -did- detain the Knave of Hearts for stealing tarts, as that's what I was -supposed- to do. stare But I swear, I had -nothing- to do with these so-called 'Experimental' Jabberwockies! And my supposedly wanting to overthrow the Red and White Domains is absolutely absurd! Katana has -always- held a grudge against me, and I -swear- I'm being -framed- for something that I didn't do! stressed

*When the Red Queen addresses the Red Knight about his assigned counsel, he turns his palms upward and looks at her in an 'I don't know?' type gesture. But then Sergio keeps insisting on the dominance thing, and now Gio's staring him down. Great. Thank's Serg. stressed At least he's got the correct 'Not Guilty' plea stated.* neutral


Edited