Excerpt:

“Bring in the defendant,” The judge commanded, his rich bass voice, calm and collected as he met the eyes of the District Attourney. The man inclined his head to the judge, unflustered by this minor defeat. His two assistants on the other hand were less composed. One, a gangly red head, looked overtly worried the other, a well-oiled fox of a man, who simply looked angry. The full courtroom, including the jurors, turned towards the double door at the back of the courtroom. They swung outwards, revealing a man between two police guards, unbound. He was dressed in a uniform. Navy blue pants with a gold cord down the outside of each leg, highly polished black oxfords. His belt was concealed, but judging by the shine on the real brass buttons he wore, the buckle would be equally luminescent. The jacket came to the base of his hips, and was a deeper shade of blue, so dark it was nearly impossible to tell it was not black. The gold rank on his shoulder showed three chevrons up, and two rockers, with the crossed rifles in gold on the red background in the gap. Five rows of medal ribbons stacked above his left breast. His name on his right, below the campeign ribbons read only Aadar. Between the two rested a five pointed star, surrounded by a laurel wreath. No one in the court was close enough to see the detail work, but they could all see the sky blue ribbon, spangled with stars that hung around his neck.

Everyone in the room in uniform came to their feet, and a voice from the wall of uniforms on the defendant's side called firmly, “Present ARMS!”

The defendant stiffened his already upright posture, and returned the salutes, and everyone, including the judge and one of the jurors took their seats once more. A little girl on the prosecutions side of the courtroom leaned over to whisper to her mother, “Why did they stand up, mommy?”

“That's the Medal of Honor, dear,” Her mother replied voice neutral.

“What's that?” the girl pressed, still confused.

“It means he's a hero, child,” The old man on her other side replied.

“Then what's he doing here?” For the eight year old, courts were places bad people wound up in.

“Not everyone thinks he's been a hero since then,” The old man replied sadly.

“Do you?” The little girl asked innocently as the defendant was marched down the isle to his seat.

“I'm here to find out. That's what I'm here to find out.” The old man answered and turned his attention back to the scene before him.

“Why is this man unbound in the courtroom?” The judge asked cautiously. He didn't look at the District Atourney, but the oily one was looking more than a little annoyed at being preempted.

“Sir, we have nothing that could successfully bind him if he wished to escape. He came willingly, or we could not have made him come at all,” The police officer's voice was stiff, formal. He didn't like the defendant, but he didn't like the trial either.

“Very well, take your seat, gentlemen.” The defense attournies, both in uniform, both with birds on their collars, one in a naval uniform, one in a marine's uniform, moved out of the way to allow the defendant to sit. The chair, a sturdy looking court chair creaked a little under his weight, which drew second looks from the audience. He stood only about 6 ft tall, broad shouldered and muscular, but he shouldn't weigh more than about 200 pounds. He had black hair, velvety brown eyes, and a bronze tan that overlaid a honey complexion.

“Gunnery Sergeant Destrian Jakob Aadar, to some known as Paladin, you stand charged with reckless endangerment, assault with a deadly weapon, police malpractice, and failure to register,” The ballif read the charges with commendable neutrality. “How plead you.”

“A moment, your Honor,” The marine attourney interrupted. “Under which law did he fail to register?”

“Under the possession of deadly powers act,” The baliff responded after checking his notes. His complete calm should have qualified him for an Oscar or a Tony (given that this was most definitely a live performance on his part.)

Paladin stood, and his attourneys didn't stop him. “Sir, to all charges save the last, I plead innocent. To the last I plead no crime.”

“I beg your pardon?” This came out of the redheaded assistant district atourney, though his smoother counterpart soon took over.

“How can you plead no crime?” He asked standing. “If you are here it most certainly is a crime, and that is not a proper plea.”

“The Possession of Deadly Powers Act has not been passed yet,” Paladin replied simply. “Congress votes tomorrow.”

A murmur ran through the courtroom and the judge simply spoke, silencing the murmur without having to use his gavel. “This court acknowledges the plea of 'no crime' and instructs the jury, should you decide that this law does not yet apply, you may render 'no crime' as a verdict on that charge.”

The judge then turned to the prosecution, “Present your case.”

The oily assistant district atourney stood smoothly and turned to the jury, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. The laws apply to everyone, no matter what their current employment or past employment has been. The defendant has been critically involved in several incidences that have cause massive damage to this city, and have endangered the lives of the public. Thus far we have been fortunate that there has been no loss of life, but if this disreguard for the laws that provide the safety of our city and our people is continued, we cannot hope for that trend to continue.”

He paused long enough to let that sink in, “It is worse, by far that this man is both a police officer, charged with upholding the laws, and a former member of our armed services, sworn to protect this country. He should be a role model for the city, instead his uses his status and flaunts the law. He has been involved in incedent after incident that have nothing to do with his duties as a police officer. He has used his position and his reputation to bully, threaten, and intimidate the citizens of our city. All for the sake of his personal reputation and glory.

“We will amply demonstrait, ladies and gentlemen, that this is man who has come to believe himself superhuman and above the law, simply because he has skills you and I do not posess. We will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused has, and will continue to be a threat to the safety of this community unless we deal with him here and now.”

The judge turned to the defense attourney, responding a little sluggishly as he moved through the motions that should have been second nature to him. “Defense, you may present your case.”

The Marine stood and eyed the Judge, then the prossecution, then at last the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen. When an officer of the law sees a crime, it is his duty to act, officially on duty or not. If an officer of the law fails to act, he can be legally held responsible for deriliction of duty. If an officer of the law sees a crime that can either be prevented now, or not at all, he must choose between proceedure, and duty. If he believes that the crime is likely to cause the loss of life or injury, he is criminally lible if he does not intervene to the best of his ability.

“It is in his favor, that he is very capable of dealing with the extreme situations in which he has found himself," He paused meeting the eyes of the foreman, a mousy nervous man who fidgited at being singled out. “In each and every case, this officer of the law performed as his duty demanded of him. He is no stranger to duty, obligation, and responsibility. He is a marine. He is an officer of the law. He has a responsibility to the people as both. These are not easy times. We will demonstrait that in each and every case, this man acted as befitted his calling as a Marine and and Officer of the law, that he used no more force than was reasonable in the circumstances, and that he strove ever and only to save lives and limit the damage as much as humanly possible.”

“Humanly possible..." He paused and actually gave the jury a wry smile. “Those words are becomming very elastic these days. Yet, even as strange as things are becoming, there are still limits. Each and every one of us has strengths and weaknesses. They varry from individual to individual, that is why we form communities, not just for companionship, but so that one person’s strengths may bolster another’s weaknesses, and vice versa. There is nothing unusual, inhuman, illeagal, or immoral about that. Yes, there is a law up before congress saying that all individuals with ‘inhuman powers’ should be required to register with the local police force. This law has not yet passed.”

The marine's tone became hard here, “No one, not one person in this country, this state, or this city, can be bound by a law that has not yet been passed and enacted. Not one. Every year new laws are proposed and passed. Every year new laws are proposed and rejected. Be careful the precedent you set this day. Make certain you would wish to be bound by your own decission. Who sets the definition for an ‘inhuman' power? And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the heart of this issue. For today you are here to decide whether this man is a hero or an egotist. Human or inhuman. If you decide against him let it be because of the facts of law, duty, and obligation, not because he has abilities that may unsettle you. Starting today you must decide if you will be ruled by law or by fear.”

Several heads were nodding and the atmosphere of the courtroom seemed to clear slowly as the Marine had spoken. He slid into his chair, back ramrod straight without even looking at the prossecution. He knew better than that. The gentleman in the middle of the prossecution stood and, after recieving a nod from the judge, spoke. “The prossecution calls to the stand, Alden Prescot.”

There was a surprised murmur through the crowd, Alden Prescot was well known, notorious would be a much better word for it. He ran the majority of the ‘soft’ crime in the city, yet he was a man with a reputation for his own brand of honor and loyalty, and when he gave his word it meant something, which was why he seldom gave his word to anyone on anything. He entered the court today in a crisp suit, for once not flanked by any looming bodyguards. There was no flipancy in his manner as there usually was when he was summoned as a defendant rather than a witness.

“Raise your right hand,” The Balif ran through the motions of swearing the man in and nothing in his expression gave any indication that he knew who this man was, much less expected him to take the oath seriously or not. Once the oath was given he stepped aside, clearing the path to the witness box, a ritual that most had seen countless times before, yet today seemed much more significant as the oath itself seemed to clear the way to the stand.

“Please state your name for the record," The stately district attourney began ritualistically.

“Alden Prescott," He kept his face commendably straight given that it was likely the most superflous question of the decade.

“Also, state how you know the defendant,” The district attourney continued, just as formally, though now the ritual was only in the pattern not in the actual questions.

“We did bussiness once," the well polished 'bussiness man' replied promptly.

“What sort of bussiness?" The DA continued.

“Some of my boys were working a neighborhood, checking in on our bussiness interests. I won't go into too many details since their trials are pending," He quirked an eyebrow at the DA who nodded, and then continued. “Let’s just say their behavior there has cost me quite a bit of money and landed them in jail.”

“And the defendant?” The DA prompted with no trace of impatience.

“He was the one who arrested them," The man said with a shrug. “He came to me after saying he wasn't amused, and wanted my people out of his neighborhood. I made him a wager, that if he could get out of my place in one piece and he took it.”

The man's tone turned sour, but with notes of distinct self appreciation. “I’d never have made that deal if I'd known he was a marine, much less made of something with more resembance to marble than flesh.”

“Please go into detail," The DA prompted once more.

“Sure, why not. You can't use any of this outside of this trial anyway," There was a brief flash of an exceptionally dangerous grin, which simply seemed to slide off the district attourney, then Prescott began his tale.