The Judge heard the number of the survivors and stayed silent for a second.
"I see." He said with a smile. A helpless smile.
"Why are you smiling, sir?" The reporter asked.
"Before we cut off his tongue, he had said, he never leaves empty handed. A man of his words. Hah!" The Judge let out a heavy sigh.
The reporter stayed silent.
"What's your name, son?" The Judge asked.
The reporter replied, "Ellen, sir."
"Ellen, help me stand up. I can't feel my legs. I want to see that Devil." The Judge raised his head, and gave his hands to Ellen.
Ellen slowly nodded.
"You can't feel your legs because…" Ellen hesitated but finished saying, "You have no legs anymore, sir."
The Judge's eyes twitched but the next moment, he turned normal.
Ellen then helped the old man to sit on the bed.
A wheelchair came and Ellen made the Judge sit on it.
He turned the wheelchair towards the cross. Now both the Judge and Ellen saw Pablo and the cross.
"Let me go!"
"No sir. You will die if you move."
"I don't care!"
On the left side of the Judge and Ellen, a commotion took place.
They both turned their heads and as soon as they saw the scene, they shivered.
A man, whose upper body from the right side was completely missing. He had no right shoulder. The veins and blood throbbed on the man's body.
But the thing that made them shiver was that the man was still able to walk. He was still alive.
"What's happening there?" The Judge asked.
A nurse was stopping the injured man but the man paid her no heed.
He was walking straight towards the cross and on his left hand was a pistol.
The Judge looked closely at the man and he recognised him.
"The Chief of the special force. He managed to survive the explosion?"
The Chief was the closest to the explosion and the man survived, although barely.
"Soldier! Stop! You will die!" The Judge shouted and his shout reached the Chief.
The Chief stopped and jerked his head at the Judge.
"My all four soldiers died, you bastard. My whole force died, killed by just one man. This is not your court. So just shut your goddamn mouth."
The Judge flinched under the rage of the Chief. And the Chief started walking again towards the cross.
The nurse still ran behind the Chief.
"Lady," the Judge called. The nurse stopped as well. "Let him be. He wants to die. You do your other work."
"But.."
"Believe me. I have seen such men. He won't back down. You tend to the others."
The nurse looked at the back of the walking man and reluctantly turned around. She understood the Judge's words. The Chief won't come back.
The Judge, Ellen and all the injured people who were still able to see, watched the Chief standing just in front of Pablo.
He had his head up, looking straight at Pablo.
He clenched his jaw, he kicked the ground and in the same emotion, he raised his left hand with the pistol towards Pablo.
"Rot in hell."
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The Chief shot all bullets on Pablo and he continued pressing the trigger.
His eyes teared up, his body dripped blood but he kept pressing the trigger.
"Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die."
The Chief cursed and cursed and fell on his knees.
He was crying on his knees in front of Pablo and the scene looked like a man crying in front of a martyred God.
Still, the Chief was badly injured and while crying his heart out, he went silent.
The Chief stayed in the kneeling position and remained silent.
The silence was enough for the Judge and all the others watching, that the Chief of the Special Military Force died.
And with the Chief, all the members of the special force, designed specially for Pablo, died. And that too, by Pablo himself.
The Criminal, Pablo Castillo, died laughing and the brave soldier, the Chief, died crying. Irony was at its peak.
The Judge watched all this and instantly looked over his shoulder.
"Ellen." He called.
"Yes?"
"Call a cameraman in front of me. I want to address the world."
"Ah.. yes, sir." Ellen motioned his hands in the air and all the cameras that were present, came towards him.
The cameras were busy capturing the Chief and Pablo but when they saw the Judge, they all swarmed towards him.
Everyone wanted to know what was going on as there was no one to answer them. They didn't even know what happened with Criminal X.
The whole world wanted to know and the news channel which would capture the answers would see a huge spike in their TRPs.
Soon, more than twenty cameras were in front of the Judge, eager to get the answer and the Judge wasted no time as well.
"Everyone," He spoke. "I am the Judge of the highest court in the world. My name is Harry Kasparov. Today, many bad things happened but all those bad things were outweighed because of only one good thing that happened today."
The Judge leaned forward, stared at the cameras and said :
"Criminal X is dead."
That was it. That was the confirmation everyone needed.
The people watching from their homes beamed after they heard the news. They all celebrated.
Cheers and applause ran all over the social media and the praises for America and Russia spread all around the globe. It was their collaboration that made the capture of Criminal X possible.
The Judge was still speaking and people paid attention.
"Apart from the death of Criminal X, there were many others who died today. Many innocent people, Presidents and Prime ministers, the lawyer, Richard Scruggs, the brave soldiers, my fellow judges. They all left this world. Criminal X didn't go empty handed. He killed people even in his last moments."
The Judge rubbed his eyes and the people waited patiently.
"However." He spoke again, clenching his fist. "Today marks a new beginning for all of us. 13th August, 2024 is a day we should never forget. On this day, evil left our world. Yes, the cost was heavy but we won. The biggest Criminal in the world died today. Therefore, to make this day more memorable, I declare…"
The judge raised his right hand, and like a winner, he declared :
"An International Holiday all over the World."
Claps rang out instantly and the news flashed all over the television.
People were eager to hear more and their smiles never vanished.
"I will handle all the paperwork, formalities, documents, procedures. But I will make sure to turn this day into an International Holiday. That's my promise."
People cheered for the judge. They all were happy to their cores.
"I will also make sure this day is recorded in the history books. This day shall be taught in all the schools. Everyone should know who Criminal X was. They all should know everything about the trial of Criminal X.
And this place where I am, the largest garbage dumpster in the Netherlands, shall become the resting place for Criminal X. He shall not be buried. He shall not be burned. He shall not receive flowers. He shall just rot on the cross and the crows and worms shall feed his body. He shall never achieve salvation."
More claps and cheers were made for the Judge and no one moved away from their television.
"What will the holiday be called, your honor? What should this day be remembered as?" A cameraman asked and everyone paid attention. They wanted to know it as well.
The Judge nodded. He leaned forward again and stared at the cameras.
"This day, 13th August, is the day where this world got free from Pablo Castillo. We all got liberated from the sins of Criminal X. There can be no other name for this day. I, hereby declare, this day shall be called…"
The Judge raised his fist again and in his booming voice, he once more declared :
"The World Independence Day."
Silence spread around everywhere by such words but then the ice was broken…
"Yesss!"
"Thank you!"
"Best decision!"
"Independence!"
"Freedom!"
"The best Judge!"
People from all over the world praised the Judge and their happiness knew no bounds.
Some people were even crying. They were the ones who were victims of Criminal X. They finally felt they received justice.
The Judge then went back to his bed and the cameras began to capture the scenes around the area.
Everyone was happy.
After many years of torment under Pablo Castillo, the most wanted Criminal finally died.
People cherished the man's death as his body kept rotting amongst other garbage.
Pablo Castillo, born on 13th August, 1939, died on 13th August 2024 at the age of 85 years old.
The Worst Criminal of all time was no more.
The sins and story of Criminal X was finally over…
That is, only on Earth.
———
[[A/n : Art for Pablo is in Comments!]]