Heroes: The Road of Good Intentions

[LadyTevar]

The fresh air was welcome. The anger and antagonism between the two men were not, even if she couldn't hear the words. "Just shut up, and go through the portal, David," Li Na snapped, stalking past Gravitas. Too much contact with the Demonheart and her own injuries did not mix well with the two of them bitching at each other.

Yes, she needed a nice quiet place where she didn't have to feel ANYONE's emotions. There was that one beach in Hawaii that could only be reached by helicopter....

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart drifted through the portal. Agony wracked his body. Control, he hissed to himself, control.

[LadyTevar]

Li Na paused, turning back to look at Blackheart as he floated through the portal. She did not need the link to feel his agony.

She didn't want to touch the Demonheart again. She didn't want to feel it growling and snapping at her. She wanted as far away from it as she could get.

Dammit.... "Blackheart? Learn to ask for help," she said sadly, reaching her hand out to him.

[Cynical Cat]

"Too set in my ways and too little time to change them," he said taking her hand.

[LadyTevar]

As she said, she could read lips... a little. "In short... too stubborn?" she asked with a slight smile as she squeezed his hand and pulled his pain away again.

[Marcao]

Baden’s death was extremely satisfying and he enjoyed watching the man be consumed by the inferno. His body seemed to implode something that surprised him somewhat he had seen death before but not quite like this. Even as Baden died, he did not relax. He had been in too many situations where doing so had proven to be nearly fatal either to himself or members of his team. It was that experience in dealing with people that had nothing left to lose that allowed him to react somewhat to Baden’s last action.

It took a mere fraction of a second to realize that something was amiss and then the shockwave began to manifest itself. His gut instinct was to blink away, but out of the corner of his eyes he realized that his initial blink further into to the store had robbed him of line of sight to the entrance. That had been a mistake. In his haste to assure Baden’s demise he had blinked into a position that did not show him a neat way out.

Ultimately, it was Baden’s arrogance and greed that saved him from a great deal of pain. Had Baden focused all his energies against him, it would have been possible for him to breach his force screen and deal very real damage to him. Fortunately, Baden’s desire to lash out against both his attackers had gotten the best of him. The omni directional nature of the shockwave meant that he was dealing with at most fifty percent of Baden’s might. He could not blink out of the department store easily, but he could try and absorb the damage until an opportunity presented itself.

He kneeled and in doing so lowered his profile to the incoming storm of kinetic energy. The building shook around him and for a handful of heartbeats he wondered if the building would start to collapse around them. That would certainly be tedious. He spared Blast one look out of the corner of his eyes as he found himself firmly in the grasp of the shockwave. He hoped that the Meta had a plan for getting out of this little bump in the road.

He felt himself being picked off the ground and tossed aside as if he were in the hands of an invisible giant. Around him, his force screen flared as it was impacted by a myriad of objects. This was a department store; most of the objects that had the ill fortune of finding his shield lacked the mass to inflict any but the lightest of damage against him. Nonetheless, the force screen reacted irregardless a rainbow of colors displayed around him as he flew through the air.

He went through a store’s divider, went through three separate coat racks and kept on going. His initial velocity slowed somewhat through each of his trips through some sort of obstacle. In the end, he was speeding towards one of the perimeter walls of the store and that was one that he did not wish to merely plow through. He was airborne still, when he managed to gain enough control over his body to twist on his axis. It was at times like this that his background in gymnastics came in handy. As he twisted in mid-air he caught sight of the wall and his impending union with that wall. His eyes focused on a spot along the wall before from those very eyes, twin neon green beams manifested and spat out. The wall seemed to shudder and melt a hole wide enough for his body carved out. He went through that hole and into the street beyond, his eyes immediately offering him many possibilities to blink to.

<Blink>

He re-appeared on a street, his head tilting as he looked over his shoulder at what once had been a department store unfortunate enough to attract Baden’s attention. He hoped that Blast was alright. His eyes left the store then and darted about his surroundings. Where was the rest of the team? He had a feeling that they wanted to leave the area quickly. They had to go back to the tower, their clothing was still there and he had no intention of leaving his uniform behind…

[Hotfoot]

Blast's eyes went wide as for the second time today he was caught in a massive shockwave. His shield flared as the shockwave passed over it, individual points flaring as shrapnel impacted. Not as much energy was burned as when the plastique was detonated, but it was still a significant drain. Between deep breaths, he scowled, "Damn it all to hell! I am getting pretty fucking tired of getting blown up on today! Who are these assholes?"

...Meanwhile...

Hotfoot zipped into every damaged area he could, pulling more civilians to safety, the extended running getting tiring, especially after Blast drained him. He kept looking around for the others, waiting for Argent to take everyone away from here. Soon the authorities would be here, and then things would get really difficult...

[B4UTRUST]

Saibot was escorted out of his cell. His destination ended up being a court room, complete with judge and jury. He might have been shocked to realize he even had a court appointed lawyer to defend him.

They all stood as the judge entered, and then were seated. The judge scanned the case notes before him then looked at Saibot.
"Garth Tobias, you are being charged with the following crimes: Conspiricy to murder, multiple counts of first degree murder, larceny, grand theft, trafficking in stolen goods, fraud, multiple counts of assault, petty theft, assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, destruction of public property, destruction of government property, destruction of private property. The list just goes on..."

The judge shakes his head in disbelief at the list of crimes being brought against this man. It was appaling, shocking, unbelievable.
"Garth Tobais, how do you plead?"

[Dark Silver]

Garth wasn't expecting the trial so quickly, he wasn't given the choice of meeting with his lawyer or anything, instead he found himself facing a judge and jury. He didn't expect a jury.

He took his place as he was escorted, in the defendants box, rose as the judge entered, then sat. He listened to the litany of crimes he had perpetrated, and being read back to him.

"Garth Tobias, how do you plead?"

Garth looked to the judge, never once glancing to the jury or his lawyer, his voice very calm, very smooth.

"I plead guilty your honor."

[B4UTRUST]

The judge was split in his feelings. He was surprised, pleased and not surprised at the same time. Saibot's lawyer was wide-eyed with utter disbelief, her mouth agape. The jury was shocked, some giving a gasp. Even the court stenographer gave a slight pause. The judge turned to Garth and stared at him.
"Son, I want you to be aware of three things right now. The nature of these charges, the penalties for them and your right to not plead guilty and have a jury trial with a jury of your peers. To continue with your plea of guilty I have to ask you some questions for which you must be under oath. Please raise your right hand."

The judge swore Saibot in and proceeded to ask him the questions, pausing in between each one for his response before continuing.
"You may put your hand down. Mr. Tobias, you are now under oath. You should tell the truth because if you do not, you could be prosecuted by the Government for perjury or for making a false statement. In any such prosecution, the Government could use against you any statements you make here under oath.

You have pled guilty to these charges brought against you today. You do not have to plead guilty. If at any time during this hearing you change your mind and decide you don't want to plead guilty, just tell me, and I will recess the hearing and schedule your case for trial.

Do you understand?

I now have to ask you some personal questions to make sure you don't have any mental or physical problems that would make it hard for you to understand what we're going to talk about today.

Would you state your full name? How old are you? How far did you go in school?

Is it fair for me to assume that you can read and write the English Language?

If you have problems understanding anything that comes up during this hearing, will you let me know so I can better explain it to you?

Have you ever suffered from or had any problems with alcohol or drug abuse?

Have you ever suffered from depression, anxiety, or any other mental illness?

Here today, are you under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or medication? Have you recently used any legal or illegal drugs or any prescription or non-prescription medication? Has any medication been prescribed for you that you are not taking?

Other than what we have talked about, do you know of anything that might affect your ability to understand what's happening at this hearing or your ability to make good judgments today?

Does the defense counsel find your client competent to proceed with a plea hearing today?

Do you understand what the charges mean?

Mr. Tobias, under the statutes that apply to the charges against you,
on count I, the district court judge could send you to prison for up to 827 years, impose a fine of up to $7.86million, and sentence you to a term of supervised release of up to 20 years.

Do you understand the statutory penalties?

You should understand you will be in custody for all or any prison sentence you receive, reduced only by any credit for good time you may earn. You can earn a reduction in your prison sentence for “good time” of up to about 15% of your sentence. You should understand you never will see a parole board or be paroled out of prison before completing your sentence; parole has been abolished in federal court.

After you have served your prison sentence, you will be placed on supervised release, during which your conduct will be monitored by a probation officer. There are a number of standard conditions of supervised release, some of which are that you cannot commit any federal, state, or local crimes, and you cannot possess firearms, ammunition, or illegal controlled substances. The district court judge could impose additional special conditions. If you violate any of the conditions of your supervised release, the district court judge could revoke your supervised release, and require you to serve in prison all or part of the time you otherwise would have been on supervised release, possibly without credit for time served.

As a result of your conviction, you also will be deprived of the right to vote, to serve on a jury, to hold public office, and to possess firearms and ammunition.

Do you understand this?

Mr. Tobias, if you plead guilty, you will be giving up your one chance for a jury trial on these charges. Before I can let you do that, I must explain your trial rights to you so you'll know what you'll be giving up by pleading guilty.

You have the right to a speedy, public jury trial before a jury of 12 people selected from a cross-section of this community.

Your jurors would promise under oath to try your case fairly and justly, based only on what is submitted into evidence at trial and the instructions given to them by the district court judge. They would be told by the judge that you are presumed innocent, and that the presumption of innocence remains with you unless and until, at the end of your trial, the prosecution has convinced the jury of your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Any verdict by the jury would have to be unanimous, which means all 12 jurors would have to agree on the verdict.

Do you understand you would be presumed innocent at your trial, and could not be convicted by the jury unless the prosecution proved your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?

Do you understand any verdict in your trial would have to be unanimous?

The prosecution would have to call its witnesses to testify under oath here in court. You would be able to see and hear their testimony, and they would be able to see you while they are testifying.

You would not have to put on a defense at your trial, but if you wanted to, you could present any relevant evidence to the jury. You could make witnesses come to court by having subpoenas served on them. These subpoenas could be served anywhere in the United States, and would require your witnesses to come to this court for your trial. If you couldn't afford to pay the costs and fees necessary to serve the subpoenas or get your witnesses to court, I would make the Government pay those costs and fees.

You would have the right to appeal, and the right to a free lawyer to help you with your appeal if you couldn't afford one.

Do you understand the rights I've just described to you?

If you plead guilty, you will be giving up your right to a jury trial. You also will be giving up the right to file pretrial motions, including motions for discovery, motions challenging the Indictment/Information, and motions to suppress evidence.

If you plead guilty, you will have no trial. You will be adjudged guilty based on your plea, just as if a jury had returned a guilty verdict against you.

Do you understand that if you plead guilty, the next hearing in this case will be your sentencing hearing, and it likely will be the last hearing in your case?

Do you understand that if you plead guilty, you won't have a jury trial or any other trial?

At the end of the sentencing hearing, the judge will determine the appropriate sentencing range for you under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which are issued by the United States Sentencing Commission. She or he then will tell you what your sentence will be, which in most cases must be within the range established by the Guidelines. The judge does have the power in certain special circumstances to sentence you either above or below the Guideline range.

However, in this case, there is almost no chance the judge would sentence you below the bottom of the Guideline range or below the mandatory minimum , so you should not expect that to happen.

In most cases, whatever happens at the sentencing hearing, you will not be allowed to withdraw your guilty pleas, even if you don't like the sentence the judge gives you. Howeve, you may have the right to appeal from what happens at the sentencing hearing.

Do you understand how your sentencing hearing would be conducted?

Mr. Tobias, has anyone made any promises to you to get you to plead guilty? Has anyone forced or pressured you to plead guilty? Has anyone threatened you to get you to plead guilty?

Mr. Tobias, do you have any further questions? Do you still wish to plead guilty?

Mr. Tobias, formally and for the record, how do you plead to the counts brought against you today - guilty or not guilty?

The record should reflect that the defendant has pled guilty to all of the listed charges.

I find that: The defendant is competent; He fully understands the charges against him; There is a factual basis for his plea; He knows the maximum punishment that could be imposed on the charges; and he knows his/her jury rights and has voluntarily waived those rights.

I further find that: The defendant's decision to plead guilty was voluntary, knowing, and not the result of any force, pressure, threats, or promises.

Therefore, I find the defendant should be adjudged guilty based on his plea of guilty."

The judge hit the gavel once on the wood.
"Court adjourned until the sentencing hearing to be scheduled. Guards, escort Mr. Tobais back to his cell please."

[Dark Silver]

Garth answered the questions as they were asked by the judged, standing at attention the entire time, no emotion in voice or face during it. His plea of guilty was the least he could do, it was also the most he could do in his current state.

When it was done, the gavel was banged, and Garth turned on his heel, and was escorted out, back to his cell, to await the sentencing.

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost had been sitting in the back of the court. No matter how bad Saibot had screwed up or that the team had left him behind, the old spook still considered Saibot a teammate. He walked down to Saibot's cell and asked to speak with him.

[Dark Silver]

Garth had been back in the cell, the cuffs and shackles removed, and was sitting on the cot, watching CNN when the guard told him he had a visitor.

They brought Ghost to the cell, not opening it, and keeping the two former teammates seperated. Garth never looked up from the television, his voice still the same, calm tone as he spoke, "I thought you'd be with the others, where ever they went off to."

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost leaned against the door. "Well, the story I've been saying is they thought I wasn't powerful enough, but truth is they didn't trust me enough to take me along." Ghost looked into the cell. "Well, it is certainly nicer in here than alot of cells I've seen."

He fell silent for a few minutes the spoke up again. "I know it probably doesn't mean anything to you, but I'm proud of the way you handled it." He said, not clarifying what 'it' was. Saibot knew. "I doubt the others would have done as well. I know that Gravitas would have made some bullshit speech about godhood." Ghost said, a lame attempt to lighten the mood.

[Dark Silver]

Ah, there it was. Another one they didn't really trust.

"It's not bad for a hole in the ground...it could be worse...and Reason apparently worked it out to let me have a TV with the 3 hots and a cot....almost makes up for the fact if I need to even take a shit I get three guards crowding into the stall..."

Garth turned off the TV, and turned his head to look to Ghost, "I may not have been at the wheel on the last mission...but my powers were used to kill innocent people. People like me, have to much power not to be held responsible for how it's used. As for the rest of it.....I'm not proud of my past, but I always knew I'd have to answer for what I've done. Why bullshit when they got a full copy of everything in my brain, ya know?"

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost nodded. "I know what you mean about past sins. If half the stuff of what I've done or been a part of ever came to light, I would be in the cell right next door." He sighed. "As for bullshitting, yeah, that never really works when teeps are involved."

[Dark Silver]

"Pretty much, they take all the fun out of trying to get out of things."

Garth leaned back on the cot, till his back was against the wall, his head thumping it lightly, "Still....827 years....figure I can behave well enough to get that communed down to that nice 700 year for probation?"

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost laughed. "Doubt it. Who knows, you maybe in your cell for a few years and then I'm sure some TLA will try to get you released into their custody. Anyway, I do hope they don't hit you too hard on the sentence. You may have had some rough spots, but your one of the good ones, Garth. I've read your file. You aren't doing it for the glory."

[Dark Silver]

Garth shrugged, "Never know...whatever comes, comes. I deserve it. Thanks for coming visit Ghost....appreciate it."

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost chuckled. "Not much else I could do, team left me in the dust. Right now though, I'm going to be working on the investigation about Cascade's murder." His face tightened for a minute, thinking of his dead friend. Ghost was silent for a moment before speaking again. "As for the visiting, I won't assume that you would do the same thing if I was in your position. No offense."

[Dark Silver]

"Yeah..probably wouldn't be a safe bet that one.... I'm not exactly known for going out visiting..."

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost knocked on the door a few times. "Well, not much left to say. Anyway, good luck with the sentencing. Just wanted to let you know, that the rest of the team may have left you behind, but not everyone bails on a comrade when things look dicey."

[Dark Silver]

Garth looked at Ghost, really looked at him for the first time in the visit, nodded, and almost smiled, "Thanks Ghost....appreciate it. And good luck finding Cascade's killer.."

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost nodded, a hard look in his eyes. The things he would do to the killer would probably land him in here. But only if he wasn't careful enough to not get caught. "No problem, Saibot. Good luck and Godspeed." With that, Ghost turned and walked off.

[LadyTevar]

A brush of wind, blowing dust from the collasping building caused Argent to frown. She was getting annoyed with being deaf, she should have -heard- that. "I think Blast and Tachyon were in there..."