Singularity’s actual court case was resolved very quickly due to his decision to plead guilty to all charges though his unhappy lawyer asked for a number of mitigating circumstances to be taken into consideration. The Balance’s statements were read into the record uncontested, though the team asked if they could make statements in the boy’s defence, which the judges allowed.
At the lawyers’ request X-Ray was invited back to attend Singularity’s court judgement. With juveniles, and especially of a fourteen year-old like Chris, the judgement was heard in private with only the detainee and their lawyer, the judges and essential staff in attendance but an exception was agreed in X-Ray’s case.
It was a couple of days later when he received the invite and headed down to the court in his costume. The proceedings were a lot less formal that he’d expected, with everyone else seated around a long table. The three judges sat opposite looked like normal if elderly people, without their formal wigs or gowns. Next to them sat a Court Clerk taking notes. Chris’s assigned social worker, a sour-faced man, his thin strands of hair swept across the top of his otherwise bald head looked bored as he sat to the side of the boy and his young female lawyer, while two armed AEGIS operatives stood either side of them. Only X-Ray sat at the rear of the room, away from the table.
Singularity, Chris, was tall for his age, but gangly and thin, with shoulder-length dark hair hanging listlessly down over his shirt collar and his brooding eyes projected a conflicted demeanour; his eyes and his expression betrayed both anger and fear and a brooding menace hung over him. Someone had provided him with the loan of a dark suit for the occasion, but it didn’t help his appearance, it was too big and hung on him like a funeral shroud as he awaited sentencing. X-Ray glanced at a bulging suit pocket on Chris’s suit, and saw the top of a torn old paperback he had stuffed into it. Chris was clearly a book reader.
The case had revealed that the boy had been rendered homeless. No, call it what it was, he’d been kicked out onto the street by his latest set of foster parents after the Stadium event had caused his powers to materialise. Homeless, frightened and burdened with uncontrolled powers he’d lashed out at a couple of older youths that had thought it would be fun to urinate on him as he huddled in a shop doorway. They had been released with a verbal warning while he had been rounded up and sent to the Meta Evaluation Centre from which he’d subsequently escaped.
He tried to look as though he didn’t care, but to X-Ray he appeared frightened and alone.
Before sentencing, the social worker read out his background report. It didn’t make for easy listening and the kid squirmed as they heard about his various periods of sickness and his living in multiple foster homes that had prevented him integrating or forming emotional bonds with others of his own age. That and his subsequent moody and angry behaviour had resulted in even more isolation as he grew up.
The report went on to paint a less than pleasant picture of his past. It appeared the kid had never had a break. His birth parents had been a pair of junkies who appeared to have so out of it that most of the time they’d forgotten they had a child and as a result he’d been taken into the care system as a toddler. Born addicted, he remained sickly as a child. His father died when he was eight from an overdose in an abandoned building and all contact with his birth mother had been lost about the same time. Not that they’d made much effort to see him before that.
Left in an unfeeling care environment, he’d been one of those who had not been fortunate enough to have been adopted, instead he was shipped from one short-term foster home to another, the frequency increasing as he got older and more rebellious even as the lengths of stays in each home grew shorter and shorter.
Brian’s wife Stacy had suggested that they could possibly foster Chris; it was an idea that had immediately appealed to Brian, though not from truly altruistic feelings. As X-Ray, Brian knew that he was a Child of Gaea, with access to the natural energies that surrounded and flowed through the Earth. Brian wondered whether Chris’s powers were born of the same source, that Singularity was, also, one of Earth’s defenders.
Fostering was something to consider but such approval took time and would be null and void if he was sent down.
The lead judge, a woman in her 60s, with a pink perm and a string of pearls cleared her throat to indicate that the judges were ready to give their judgement. “Christopher Benjamin Terazzo, we have taken into consideration the extenuating circumstances presented so eloquently by the Balance and particularly by X-Ray.”
She nodded in X-Ray’s direction even as she continued, “And based on their testimonies, we accept that the assault on Redshift Industries was not something you had any control over and any crimes you committed while there were not within your control.”
She paused for a second before continuing, “However the previous wilful damage and your assault on officers of the law at the scene of the Diamond District siege were, as was your willingness to assist known criminals to carry out their crimes.
We have no alternative than to sentence you to a minimum of two years in a secure juvenile detention facility such as the Pryde Foundation Preparatory Institute. However were you to accept an offer made today of interning with a Hero Certified Programme instructor or institution, we are willing to suspend that sentence provided that there are no subsequent relapses in your behaviour.”
Chris’ interrupted her with an angry “Yeah? And which bunch of pansy heroes would have me?”
The three judges glanced at each other and smiled before the chief judge continued. “I understand that X-Ray on behalf of the Balance has made such an offer?” She looked at X-Ray as though to confirm he understood what he was taking on. X-Ray nodded.
Brian stared at Chris, a deep meaningful stare that implied a lot and promised more. Chris took a few seconds, but seemed to understand what was happening. He relaxed a little, just a little, but it was a start.
“Please be aware that your continued freedom will be conditional on your good behaviour and your efforts to control your God-given powers Mr Terazzo, that in future you use them for the betterment of your fellow citizens and not to reinforce your fall into criminality. This is your one and only chance to stay out of the prison system, do you accept the terms as explained to you by your social worker?”
The social worker immediately handed the kid a single sheet of paper. Typed on it seemingly in plain English were the terms under which he would be granted parole. X-Ray had already read the longer, more legalese version and their sponsor Bethany’s lawyer, Jim Selachi Jr aka ‘Jimmy the Fish’ had advised the team not to sign. They’d done it anyway to Bethany’s applause and Jimmy’s scowls.
Chris’ nodded a look of shock on his face. Then muttered a hesitant and stuttering “Y’ye… yes?”
The judge smiled, “In that case, we sentence you to two years but suspend the sentence until you reach maturity. This means that you will not go to a juvenile detention facility immediately but provide you with the chance to stay out of trouble though you will need to comply with the all of the stated requirements set by the court.
You will be subject to a rehabilitation activity requirement. In this case, you will be expected to undertake the required HCP training regime and will need to pass any and all necessary training requirements as laid down by your instructors. You will be subject to a curfew and stay in an allocated foster home for the duration of your sentence and you will agree to undertake a treatment programme for alcohol or drugs should that prove necessary.
If you do not comply with all of the requirements, or are convicted of another offence during the period of you suspended sentence, you will be arrested and will serve the original custodial term as well as any sentence you may receive for the new offence consecutively. Do you understand?
Dismissed and Mr Terazzo..? Let us hope we do not see your face in this court again.”
After the judges and Clerk had left and the room cleared X-Ray turned to Chris and offered the boy his hand. Chris hesitated, then shook his hand gingerly. “Hello Chris or do you prefer Singularity? I am X-Ray, as I’m sure you know. I will be your trainer and hopefully your friend, and….well, I want to discuss the intern proposition, but that can wait a minute; what say we go and grab something to eat, hmm?”
“Can I ask if Kurt’s been offered the same deal? Did you offer him an internship as well?”
It took Brian a few seconds to realise that he was referring to Kurt Lister, Washout as they’d nicknamed him. Lister was a wiry-looking 19-year-old with longish dirty blonde hair who’d come across as unmotivated, narcissistic and, if he was being honest, a smug jerk.
Brian cleared his throat and explained, “No, Lister is considered an adult in the eyes of the law and will be tried in Crown Court. He’s also pleaded not guilty to all charges claiming he was under the influence of mind control throughout. It will be several months before his case comes up as both his lawyers and the Crown Prosecution Service will need time to gather and examine all the evidence.”
Brian doubted he would have considered an internship anyway, he’d come across as someone who was only interested in what they can get for as little effort as possible. He kept that thought to himself though, “I’m sorry, he’s not someone we can help, at least at the moment. Now tomorrow, you need to head to the main fountain in Port Meadow Park. Be there for 9am sharp you’ll be met by a gentleman called Mr Jeeves, who will show you how to access our training facility. Please don’t let us down, I’d hate to have to request the court fit you with a monitoring cuff to enable us to keep track of your movements. Be warned it will be hard work, you up for that?”
Chris nodded. He wasn’t sure what he had just agreed to but there was a part of him that had always wanted to be a hero and this was likely his one and only chance.
X-Ray’d originally hoped that the BASEment would be able to provide Chris with accommodation during that time, with X-Ray and Stacy spending time with him for training and personal downtime before confirming their willingness to proceed with fostering. However, Social Services hadn’t been willing to consider their charge being housed at a secret location though they were happy for him to be trained in one.
A Registered foster carer had been found for him at least temporarily and meanwhile it made sense to ‘home school’ Chris at least for the moment – a task the support team, led by Jeeves had agreed to undertake initially.
He also decided it made sense to research Death Metal, to see if she had the potential to be a Child of Gaea, despite being a “Stormer” – who knows how Gaea actually revealed her plans?
The beginning.
Superhero Adventures, UK Style 