Miguelito Central Boulevard, Ciudad de Alexis, National Federal District
1302 HOURS, 20th FEBRUARY 2019, 35°C CLEAR
MIGUELITO LUIZ DE LA SANTOS IIThe convoy trundled down the boulevard leading towards the Supreme Court Building in downtown Ciudad de Alexis. Located two kilometres from the National House, the Supreme Court Building was first opened in 1901 by Spanish authorities after 17 years under construction. Now, although much of it remains intact, there have been several attempts at looting during the War of Liberation and the Five-Day War. Several old works, including a portrait of the First Spanish Viceroy of Alexis, were stolen and presumed to have been sold on the black market.
The Supreme Court Building in downtown Ciudad de Alexis
Miguelito sat in his blacked-out SWAT van; windowless, cold and encased in a-quarter-inch bulletproof steel. To his front, left and right, men in balaclavas, black uniforms and sunglasses stared at him, fingers on the triggers of their weapons. Miguelito could make out several motorbikes and another similar vehicle in front of his. His hands bound behind him, his mouth gagged and a GPS tracker attached to his leg, all Miguelito could do was stare forward, trying to make something out of the reflection of his captor's sunglasses.
"Miguelito Boulevard," the driver quipped as they turned the corner, the final stretch towards the Supreme Court Building, "how ironic. I worshipped you, Sir, until I found out what a power-hungry freak you actually were..."
"Quit the talking, Indie," said the man who rode shotgun, slapping the driver on the shoulder.
The van halted, and blinding light entered the back of the van as the doors swung open. As Miguelito was pulled out of the van by several people, Military Police and Republican Marshals kept the crowds of journalists and the public away from Miguelito by brandishing their bayonets. Pointing their rifles at the throngs of people who wanted to get a look at the man who plunged the nation into chaos, they managed to keep the crowd at bay. As Miguelito climbed the steps into the Supreme Court Building, a clump of fertiliser hit him on the back of the head, prompting the Military Police and Republican Marshals to display their bayonets in the on-guard position, leading to several members of the public being hospitalized from stab wounds. As the crowd was increasingly agitated, Miguelito was rushed into the building and the doors sealed behind him.
Miguelito entered the courtroom, deadly gazes focused solely upon him from those in attendance. The prosecution sat to the left while his lawyer sat to the right. Miguelito sat, and the session continued. Presiding over the court was seasoned Judge Joshua Artemis Malagasy, flanked to his left by a man in an officer's uniform and a man in a business suit to the right. Miguelito thought to himself that they were the cronies of the bastard usurper Ulrich. As the day continued, the defence was asked to make a statement. His lawyer, one of the most experienced, and expensive, in Alexis, Niel Tan Zi Shang, stood up and read from a piece of paper he had readied weeks prior,
"Your honour, my honourable gentlemen and ladies in presence in this courtroom, we may be quick to suggest that my client is a warmonger, murderer and traitor to our glorious nation. However, we must view this in the lens of the circumstances that we faced when we were granted our independence. Miguelito has put into place the foundations that have built this nation, he had risked his life down fighting against the imperialists for years and this is how we treat him. His months of fighting for his life against his own countrymen, the death of his wife, of his son, as well as his time on Seda Island, has left him an empty shell of his former self. This man is clearly mentally unstable and is unfit to stand trial!"
"Liar! Traitor!" shouted several men from the back of the courtroom. More murmuring could be heard before Judge Malagasy smashed his fist onto the desk.
"Silence, another outburst like that and I'll have all of you leave the room at once,"
The hearing continued, and Miguelito was asked to sign a document confirming his understanding of the charges laid out against him;
- Premeditated Murder of Bartolomeo Francesco Hernangomez Sanders, Emily Hernando Sanders (née Rodriguez), Salinas Sanders, Anne Sanders and Mary Sanders, Wessel Siegfried de Vries
- Murder and unlawful killing of Alexians
- Acts of Terrorism against the people of Alexis (during the Five-Day War)
- Kidnapping of various government officials, the Sanders Family, Wessel Siegfried de Vries
- Torture of various people
- Compromising the sovereignty of Alexis by collaborating with foreign nations (the Philippines, the People's Republic of China)
Jose Dominguez y Don Luiz Umali Federal Prison, Santiago de Compostela, National Federal District
0600 HOURS, 19th DECEMBER 2019, 24°C THUNDERSTORM
MIGUELITO LUIZ DE LA SANTOS IIMiguelito's plea of insanity had fallen on deaf ears. Consigned to his fate, Miguelito had sat quietly in the back of a limousine while on the way from his holding cell in the Central Police Headquarters to Jose Dominguez y Don Luiz Umali Federal Prison on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela. The convoy was surrounded by hordes of people, throwing stones, vegetables, eggs, waste and anything else that could be flung, at the convoy. People carried placards that said "Down with the despot", or "Crucify Miguelito". He had little time to worry about what they had to say though; he knew as soon as he reached the prison, he would be on his last legs already.
Even the best lawyer in Alexis couldn't save him from the executioner. The prosecution had brought up several people, from his own personal bodyguard, a Janitor at the National House, as well as the former head of Department Four, Tersal Ainge, to testify against Miguelito. When he saw Ainge speak against him during the hearing, Miguelito lost all hope. There was concrete evidence presented against him, and anyone who could testify for Miguelito was either dead or on the run. Ainge had been promised clemency for his crimes is he spoke up against his former master.
Next to him was the Bishop of Gatayan City, Rev. Tomas Fredrich. He had made a call to his family hours before, and he was assured by his lawyer that they would be under the safe care of the Social Service. Miguelito could see the imposing walls of the Federal Prison tower above the fields of rice that surrounded it. Miguelito was led out of the car and through several security checkpoints before making his way to a cell close to the yard, where his execution would take place. With the time ticking, the Bishop entered the cell before being promptly dismissed by Miguelito,
"I do not need any more comforting lies, Reverend."
The Bishop spoke in hushed tones, "Pray not that you are afraid, child. Confess to me your sins, and accept Jesus Christ as your lord and saviour, and in the afterlife, you shall receive greater blessings than those who would turn their backs upon faith. The Lord forgives, and you may rest assured that I will not divulge any information from our meeting."
"Thank you, Reverend, but I don't think I need to worry about anything else anymore, I die with a clean conscience."
"Very well, may the Lord accept you into his chosen few."
Miguelito placed his head onto the cover of the Bible grasped by the Bishop, as the Reverend Bishop muttered a few more words in prayer. Miguelito could only think of all the things he'd done leading up to this, whether it had all been worth it. All the people dead, Zelha and his son, as well as his own life, about to be taken away by a man in a mask. It all seemed arbitrary to him.
There was a knock on the door, and Miguelito was brought out by the Prison warden and the Bishop into the yard, where a large stage had been set up. Several hundred people, whom Miguelito had invited, sat on chairs in the rain, drenched from head to toe. He climbed the steps to the stage, noticing a block of wood, and a large, muscular man who wielded a sword in his sheath. Beheading had last occurred in Alexis in 1891; a form of capital punishment that was thought to befit a man of a wealthy or influential background. The usual form of capital punishment came in the form of hanging.
As his time approached, he made one last speech to the audience, "I die with a clean conscience today. I would like to send my regards to my children in Gatayan City, as well as the cook who prepared my last dinner yesterday, simply amazing. Get on with it, headman."
Miguelito put his head on the chopping block and heard the large two-handed sword being pulled out of its sheath. The executioner dipped the sword in a mixture of oils and floral scented perfumes before the Bishop made one last sermon to the crowd. The heavy rain drowned out his monologue. The warden checked the time, and once it was already 7 am, he signalled to the executioner to behead Miguelito. In one fell swoop, the executioner severed Miguelito's head from his body, followed by several people in the crowd screaming and fainting. The Bishop carried his head and placed it in a casket that was already prepared beforehand, and along with the rest of his body, was buried in the prison cemetery.
In an interview with a local newspaper later, the Bishop said that Miguelito's last words moments before decapitation was "Puta".