A Clash at the Cross-Dimensional Court Hearing, the Liaison Office Chief's Chain of Evidence
The air in the TVA's Cross-Dimensional Supreme Court, was thick with tension.
Above the dome, three colossal stone statues of the Time-Keepers silently cast shadows, their cold beams of light dividing the entire space into distinct zones.
Mordo stood ramrod straight in the dock.
His Illuminati legal team sat behind him, each of them bearing the same sense of superiority that belonged to the upper echelons of civilization, just like him.
"Quiet."
In the dock, the Presiding Judge's voice echoed throughout the courtroom through a loudspeaker, devoid of any emotion.
Mordo cleared his throat and glanced at the audience.
The Negative Zone Management Committee only sent two people. One was Gwen Stacy Stacy, the Liaison Office Chief they had met at the border, and the other was a strange man sitting behind her, presumably the Director named Lynn.
Both of them appeared calm.
In Mordo's view, this calmness is the only posture the weak can adopt in the face of absolute legal authority.
"Illuminati Envoy, Mordo, you may begin your statement," the Presiding Judge's voice rang out again.
Mordo nodded slightly, his voice steady and loud.
"Your Honor, fellow jurors. First, on behalf of the Earth-838 Illuminati, I express my regret regarding this Dimension misunderstanding caused by energy leakage."
He first set a tone.
Misunderstand.
"According to the Agamotto Memorandum signed between us and Kamar-Taj in Earth-616 in ancient times, the Illuminati possesses the legal immunity to preventative intervention against certain Catastrophe-Level Variant. Our actions are entirely based on this memorandum and aim to maintain the overall security of the Multiverse."
Mordo paused, allowing those in the courtroom to process his words.
He presented the core of the legal basis.
"As for the so-called 'attack' and 'intrusion' raised by the Negative Zone Management Committee, these are pure nonsense. The fact is, during our compliant monitoring mission, we detected an abnormal energy tide, which highly matched the characteristics of the ' Scarlet Witch ' recorded in the memorandum. To avoid escalating the situation, our Fleet merely implemented temporary traffic control, a standard measure that any responsible law enforcement agency would take."
His tone shifted, becoming tinged with indignation at being wrongly accused.
"However, the Negative Zone Management Committee not only refused to cooperate, but also demanded a staggering claim of three trillion Standard Energy Unit. This is not a simple communication failure, but blatant extortion!"
His words were spoken with resounding conviction.
He portrayed himself as a victim who acted in accordance with the law but was falsely accused, while depicting Negative Zone as a greedy and opportunistic rogue organization.
In the gallery, some TVA officials who were unaware of the inside story began to whisper among themselves.
The Presiding Judge's face remained hidden in the shadows, revealing no emotion. He turned to the other side.
"Representative of the Negative Zone Management Committee's Coordination and Liaison Office, what is your response to this?"
Gwen Stacy stood up.
She didn't walk to the presentation area; she just stood there, holding a thin Data Pad in her hand.
"Your Honor, we have three objections to Special Mordo's statements, and three pieces of evidence to submit."
Her voice was clear and calm, a stark contrast to Mordo's impassioned speech.
Mordo's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.
sucker Punch.
"The first piece of evidence," Gwen Stacy ignored his expression and simply tapped the Data Pad, "An Assessment Report on the Ecological Damage and Asset Losses Caused to Our Jurisdiction by the Illegal Cross-Border Attack by Earth-838."
A detailed report was projected in the center of the courtroom.
"The full report, totaling 1,342 pages, details all costs incurred due to the spatial ripples, conceptual entropy increase, and emergency repairs to the strategic asset ' K-01 ' caused by the attack. All items are audited and endorsed by an authoritative third-party institution. The final total loss assessment is 3 trillion 72.1 billion Standard Energy Unit. What we are proposing is compliant compensation for losses, not extortion."
Mordo's smile froze.
He hadn't expected the other party to actually produce a report that looked incredibly detailed and professional.
"Absurd! This is a numbers game you've unilaterally created!" he couldn't help but retort.
"Mordo, watch your words," the Presiding Judge said, a hint of warning in his voice. "It is now the opposing side's turn to present their case."
Mordo took a deep breath and sat back down.
"The second piece of evidence," Gwen Stacy continued, "Is the 'Hedge Analysis Report on the Energy Spectrum of the Earth-838 Long-Range Attack Band and the Illuminati 'Erasing Command'."
The second projection lit up, revealing two complex energy curves to everyone.
"Envoy Mordo claimed that it was all just 'energy leakage.' However, the energy waveform of the attack source intercepted by our Department of Technology matches the energy spectrum of the Illuminati's ' Conceptual Erasure ' command, which is specifically used to eliminate traitorous Executive Officer, with a 99.97% accuracy rate. This is not a misunderstanding, but a targeted and deliberate remote execution."
Gwen Stacy's fingers traced across the projection, the two curves perfectly overlapping and emitting a soft buzzing sound.
"This proves that the Illuminati not only attacked our assets, but its actions also seriously violated the TVA's Interim Act on Prohibition of Cross- Dimension Enforcement of Internal Discipline."
The atmosphere inside the courtroom began to change.
If the first piece of evidence was merely a matter of money, then the second piece of evidence has escalated to the level of illegal operations.
The Presiding Judge's gaze lingered on Mordo for a full three seconds.
A fine bead of sweat appeared on Mordo's forehead.
He hadn't expected the other party to be able to analyze the energy spectrum so thoroughly.
"This... this is just a coincidence! It's a reading error caused by energy pollution!" he stubbornly insisted.
Gwen Stacy did not argue with him.
She calmly pulled up the third and final piece of evidence.
"The third piece of evidence is supplementary video material regarding the 'routine surveillance missions' mentioned by Special Envoy Mordo."
A high-definition video has replaced the complex graphs.
The scene depicts the Delta-9 Quarantine Zone in Negative Zone. An invisible figure is cautiously moving through it.
Despite being in a state of quantum teleportation, her every move is recorded by Conceptual Sensor.
Mordo's pupils suddenly contracted.
It's Susan!
The video continues.
Susan was lured to an abandoned storage station and saw the forged dossier. Her beliefs began to waver, and the emotional turmoil caused her invisibility device to malfunction.
Finally, Gwen Stacy arrived with Enforcement Team and arrested him in accordance with the law.
Susan did not resist at all.
"The video recordings show," Gwen Stacy's voice echoed in the silent courtroom, "That after we issued our first Notice of Objection to you, the Illuminati not only did not cease its intrusive actions, but intensified them, sending its core member, Ms. Susan Stone, one of the Fantastic Four, equipped with the highest level of invisibility devices, to illegally infiltrate our heavily guarded quarantine zone with the intent to steal classified information."
"Illegal border crossing, violent resistance to law enforcement, remote murder, and espionage."
Gwen Stacy turned off the Data Pad and looked directly at the judge's bench.
"These three pieces of evidence form a complete chain of evidence. The facts prove that the Illuminati's series of actions constituted premeditated, organized, and systematic crimes that severely disrupted the stability of the Multiverse and blatantly disregarded the legal dignity of TVA. That concludes our statement."
The entire courtroom was deathly silent.
All eyes were focused on the pale-faced figure in the defendant's dock.
Mordo opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
All his carefully prepared arguments became a pale and powerless joke in the face of that airtight, progressively stronger chain of evidence.
He was checkmated.
The Presiding Judge shifted his gaze from Mordo to the video footage, his voice carrying an undeniable authority.
"Arrange all evidence as the highest priority case file and archive it."
"Clerk, take note. The Illuminati found guilty of contempt of court and obstruction of justice."
Mordo shuddered.
He knew he had lost. The Illuminati lost too.
What awaits them is TVA's harshest sanctions and exorbitant compensation.
No.
It can't end like this.
A surge of madness born from despair welled up inside me.
He suddenly stood up, his eyes bloodshot.
"I object!" he roared. "This is a frame-up! A conspiracy!"
He stared intently in Lynn's direction.
"According to the Supreme Charter of the Illuminati, when faced with a systemic threat from an unknown Dimension, we have the right to initiate the ' Final Judgment ' procedure! All hearings are suspended!"
A powerful magical energy began to gather around him.
He wanted to use the Illuminati's trump card to forcefully overturn the table.
At this critical moment...
Lynn, who had been sitting silently in the back row of the audience, slowly stood up.