You're Mine Now (Venom X Eddie)

Part 10: Verdict

Today was the day. Today, the jury would determine the verdict. There were two possibilities:
- Guilty
- Not Guilty
Guilty meant they would remain in prison for God knows how long.
Not guilty meant they would get out. They would get out, and then....

Then they would go after Kasady, and end him once and for all.

6:30 AM
Eddie was up early getting ready.
His door opened, it was Matt. "You ready, Ed?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." He responded. Matthew walked over, cane in hand, and sat down next to him. "Look, Eddie, no matter what happens, no matter what that judge says, know that it's meant to be. I'm a firm believer in things happening according to a greater plan; I think what happens is meant to be.
"You're a good man, Eddie. Whether you did something wrong or not is up to the jury, not me, or anyone else. I can, however, tell you that I think you're a good man that doesn't deserve any time. That may not be true, but it's what I think. If you serve time, you serve time. It's simply what was supposed to happen. Know that this--all of this--is happening to better you. To make you a better person. Just remember, I believe in you, and we're in this together."
Matt patted him on the back, and left his cell. Eddie had grown quite fond of Matt. He was a good man, and he was trying to help Eddie. Not many people wanted to do that, especially not after all of this. They saw him as a freak, a psycho. He did hear voices inside of his head from a tentacle monster that he bonded with, BUT, that's besides the point. He lost many of his friends, some of his family too, after all of this. And as for Anne - would she even want him back after all of this?
He dismissed the thought. It mattered not, Venom was all he had. All he needed. He left his cell and followed after Matt.

When they got to the cop car, Eddie got in, and Matt peeked in,
"I'll see you at the Courthouse, Eddie."
He waved to the officer, who started to drive off, and turned to get into his car.

7:00 AM
They arrived at the Courthouse shortly after, and went inside. Eddie sat in his place, and got ready for the judge to start speaking. Matt was next to him.
"You ready?"
"I hope so."

7:10 AM
After a short wait, the judge finally sat and started to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we all know why we're here. We're here to decide if the man Eddie Brock is guilty of starting the explosive riot in the San Francisco Ultra-Max Prison. Several witnesses have testified that they saw him inside the prison, and a few of the guards at the gate reported that they saw him entering the prison. The only problem is, several of them said that he entered after the riot had already started."
That's when a man in a black suit ran into the courthouse, screaming, "Your honor, your honor! I've got something!"
"Who are you?"
"My name is Jamie Duncan, your honor, and I have got something!"
"What are you do-"
He slammed a paper on the judge's table.
The judge put on his glasses and started to read.
"According to this, the officers that testified in favor of the defendant attended numerous therapy sessions after this incident at the prison. Every one of their therapists reported that they were not mentally fit to provide proper evidence for the case, but they did so anyways. In this report, it is stated that one of the officers suffered a certain amount of brain damage from the trauma inflicted by the defendant. Another! In this one the therapist says that the officer mentioned could not possibly have known what happened at the front gate because he was not even there!"
He stopped to put the papers down.
Eddie looked to Matt, who was wiping sweat off of his forehead.
"With this information, I can deduce that the guards at the front gate of the prison had a distorted perception of what happened due to the stress and trauma from the defendant's invasion."
"I'm calling a small recess to show this information to the jury."
"Matt.."
"I know."
"There's still a possibility, right?"
Matt silently nodded.
Eddie feared the worst.

8:00
The judge returned to the stand.
"The jury has come to a decision.
"They were primarily divided on the case, but this new information influenced many of them."
Eddie's eyes widened.
"Matt..." He said nervously.
Matt gulped.
They could hear people shouting in the back, "What's the verdict!" and "Get on with it!"

The judge looked straight into Eddie's eyes when he said it.

"With all that said, the verdict is...

Guilty."