Turnabout
Titan
Chapter
Two: The Turnabout Courtroom
The Teen Titans known as Raven, Cyborg, and Yin slowly entered the detention center and sat down across the transparent polymer barrier from their leader. The Titans had special privileges to visit criminals, and the guards were more than accommodating considering all the Titans had done from the city.
Raven reached out with her empathic senses—a biological gift from her demonic father Trigon—and determined there was very little hostility towards the Titans among the guards. "It's safe to talk, I think," Raven said.
The massive half-mechanical teenager Cyborg sat down by Raven and the much smaller, stretchier Yin rested on his shoulders. Finally, Cyborg spoke. "Raven and I took the box under your bed by the precinct. We didn't open it, so I guess it might be a good idea for you to tell us what is in it."
Robin hadn't said a thing since they had arrived, and still didn't speak for a moment. Finally, he answered. "Like I said, the murder weapon was in the box."
Raven frowned, allowing her violet hair to fall around her face slightly and sighing. "Robin, you do realize that possession of the murder weapon is the most incriminating thing possible in a case like this."
"I understand that," Robin said. Raven saw that his calm demeanor belied a maelstrom of emotion underneath. "But surrendering it looks better than trying to hide that I have it. I didn't kill that man, Raven."
"I understand that," she said.
"I believe you too," Cyborg said, "But this ain't going to be easy prove."
"This is going to go to trial, isn't it?" Yin said from atop Cyborg's shoulder.
Robin nodded. "This woman—Detective Simmons—she and the district attorney already presented the case to a grand jury before they even made the arrest. The trial—I don't know how long it will take."
"Something about that is especially bothersome to you, isn't it?" Raven asked pointedly.
"Last night," Robin said, "After I found the body and saw what had killed him, I panicked. I grabbed the murder weapon and ran back to the tower. And I called—him."
"Who?" Yin asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Who do ya think," Cyborg said, smacking the rubber teen across the head harmlessly. He means the Batman."
"And?" Raven asked…
Robin looked up. "He gave me an ultimatum."
3:50 AM, That Morning
A jet as black as the night itself hovered above Jump City harbor, silent and almost invisible to the naked eye. Its owner stood before Robin on the roof of Titans Tower—the Dark Knight himself.
Batman's deep, gruff voice bore down on the Boy Wonder, not allowing him any quarter. "Robin. I'm not quite sure you understand the gravity of this situation. If you're convicted—which is likely given the evidence, then you'll have to unmask. And that will expose all of us."
"I understand that, Bruce," Robin spat. "I've been under a lot of pressure lately. This is the last thing I needed."
"Pressure?" Batman's voice was a low growl. "You put yourself under pressure every day. You put your life on the line every time you put on that costume."
"This is a different kind of pressure, Batman." Robin turned and looked out over the city. "When I saw that the murder weapon was my staff, I took it with the intent of cleaning it and hiding the evidence. It would look like he was shot to an untrained eye. The murder would likely go unsolved. That's why I couldn't bring myself to clean off the staff."
Batman arched an eyebrow under his black cowl, and the gears in his head obviously began turning in the way Robin was leading. "Are you saying that you plan to get arrested in order to expose the real murderer?"
"That wasn't what was running through my mind when I pulled the staff out of his chest—but that's the plan now."
"Robin, if this goes to trial, there will be a media frenzy. And if you are convicted, it will bring the entire metahuman community under scrutiny. You know that. Even when you were arrested before in Tokyo there were murmurs; those continued even after you were acquitted."
"Then we'll get the trial over with as fast as possible."
"Trials of this high-profile are never over quickly, Robin." Batman strode deliberately across the tower, stopping in front of Robin and leaning over his former sidekick. "And if your identity is made public, then everyone around us is in danger—Barbara, Nightwing, Alfred, Batgirl, Flamebird, Huntress and the Question. All of them will be vulnerable because of their ties to me."
"What are you saying?" Robin asked, keenly aware of the veiled threat in Batman's voice.
The Dark Knight's eyes narrowed behind his cowl to little more than thin white slits. "If your identity is exposed during the proceedings, I will personally shut down the Teen Titans. When you left Gotham, I forbade you to be Robin. But you continued, despite knowing how I felt about it. I've tolerated your continued operations without my approval, but I will not tolerate your foolish actions putting the rest of us at risk. If you haven't been acquitted within a week, the League will intervene. Am I clear?"
Robin's expression matched Batman's note-for-note. "Yes, sir. I thought I could trust you with this. I guess I was wrong."
Batman began to walk away back to his jet, then he turned and glanced over his shoulder, and pulled his cowl from his head. The face of Bruce Wayne looked down at his estranged son with compassion. "Trust isn't the issue, Tim. Necessity is. Your legal bills will be covered discreetly. But I can't offer any more help than that. I'm needed in Gotham."
And with that, the Batman vanished back to his plane, returning to Gotham before the noon-day sun required Bruce Wayne to appear at his office.
"A week?" Cyborg blurted. "There is no way we're gonna figure this out in a week."
"There might be," Yin, jumping down and walking across to Robin. "If you use the Turnabout Courtroom system, the trial has to be finished in three days, for better or worse."
Robin raised an eyebrow. "The Turnabout Courtroom system? I'm not familiar with that terminology."
Yin goggled. "How could you not know about that? There was that huge stink with amending the Constitution and all three years ago. Heck, I remember it and I was eleven at the time."
"Three years ago?" Robin asked. "I was… preoccupied then." His tone made it clear he wanted to say no more on the subject, and Raven didn't blame him. She knew only vague details of what had happened that caused Robin and Batman to split apart, but even that sent chills up her spine.
"The Turnabout Courtroom system requires that all trails finish within three days, and that's perfect if we want to expose the real murderer."
"How do you figure that?" Cyborg asked.
"Think about it—if someone is trying to frame you, chances are they'll be around to make sure it works." Yin made his index finger one foot long and began using it as a pointer. "And if this person is called to give testimony, there should be obvious contradictions in their statements."
"I hate to say this," Raven picked up, "But Yin is right. If you go through the new justice channels you might have a chance to get this over with before your reputation suffers any significant damage."
Robin shook his head. "There's still the problem of the photo that little boy took. If the jury gets one look at that, I'll be convicted faster than Kid Flash can lap the world."
"Um…" Yin sweatdropped. "Yeah, I forgot to mention something. In the Turnabout Courtroom system there is no jury. It's just a judge. Only one man to convince that you're innocent."
Robin goggled. "No jury? You've got to be kidding me! I'm not going to trial without a jury."
"You may not have a choice," Raven said. "But working the Turnabout Courtroom system will require something more than your run-of-the mill lawyer."
"Like?"
"I have just the guy!" Yin said. "I've been following his career for years now. He started around the same time the Turnabout system did, so he's not an old school lawyer."
Robin began sweating. "I'm going to go to trial without a jury, defended by a guy who has been practicing for only three years? Heaven help me."
Yin smirked and grabbed Cyborg's arm, opening a side panel on the limb and dialing a certain Los Angeles phone number.
"His name is Phoenix Wright," Yin said. "He'll get the job done! He's only lost one case his whole career, and the guy was guilty as sin anyway."
Suddenly,
Cyborg's arm-phone stopped ringing and a youngish male voice
answered the phone. "Wright and Co Law offices, Phoenix Wright
speaking."
Cyborg goggled. "Hello, Mr. Wright," he
said. "How would you like to defend a superhero?"
There was silence on the line for a good thirty seconds. "Excuse me?" the man finally said.
"This is Cyborg of the Teen Titans. It's not exactly public knowledge yet outside of Jump City, but Robin—yeah, the Batman's Robin—has been arrested."
Robin said something to the effect of 'Hey, Batman doesn't own me!'
The voice on the phone finally spoke again. "You're completely serious?"
"Dead serous, I'm afraid. Robin opted to use the Turnabout Courtroom system and I've heard from a quasi-reliable source that you're one of the best attorneys around."
"Gee… That's nice of him. Or her," Wright's voice was torn between skeptical, embarrassed, and flattered. "So you want me to come to Jump City?"
"Yeah," Cyborg said. "If it's not too much trouble. And if it is, I can fly out there and pick you up."
"Oh, no, no trouble at all," Wright said. He was obviously lying, but Cyborg wasn't about to look the gift horse in the mouth. "I'll be out there in about two hours. Know any good hotels?"
Cyborg smirked. "Now we're talkin'!"
Maya was looking over everything in sight when she, Phoenix, and her cousin Pearl arrived in the semi-luxurious Grand Leap Hotel in the middle of Jump City. They'd never traveled much during her time under his wing, and, well, everything about Jump City was foreign to them. Los Angeles didn't have any major superheroes, and there were certainly no giant T-Shaped towers that Wright knew of.
He dumped his—and Maya's, and Pearl's—suitcases in their room and told Maya to watch her cousin while he went headed down stairs and took a cab to the detention center.
The room where Phoenix found his meeting place with Robin was much larger than the detention center meeting room back in LA, but not by much. Across the glass, the Boy Wonder looked up. There was an understandable skepticism in his eyes.
By the window, two figures sat. One was a young woman that looked about Maya's age (which probably meant she was about seventeen, since Maya looked young for her age); she had an odd pale grey shade of skin and indigo hair. She wore navy-blue cloak fastened at the top by a golden brooch that depicted a black bird against a red background.
Next to her was a guy who must have been at least six foot tall. He was built like a linebacker, with an emphasis on being built. His entire body, with the exception of parts of his head and arms, seemed to be made of robotic parts.
"Raven and Cyborg, I presume," Wright said.
"Yeah, that's us," Cyborg said, extending a hand to the attorney. "The rest of the team headed back to the Tower. The police are going over it right now."
"The Tower?" Wright asked. "Oh, you must mean that T-Shaped building out in the harbor. How do you get out there?"
"A bridge comes out of the ocean," Cyborg explained, matter-of-factly.
"A bridge? Out of the ocean? Really?"
"It's really not as impressive as it sounds," Raven said. Or at least, Wright thought was Raven. The voice that was coming from a teenage girl sounded more appropriate for a middle aged woman.
"Ahem," Robin said from across the glass. "My bail is set at over five million dollars and my… benefactor decided not to deliver. Mr. Wright, if you want to talk to me, you'll need to do it now before visiting hours are over."
What have you gotten yourself into, Wright? Phoenix sat down across from Robin and reached into his pocket. "First things first. I need to know if you are really innocent of this crime or not."
"I am." Robin said evenly.
"Can you be more specific than that?" Phoenix asked, remember the word game a previous client played to avoid this interrogation. He clutched the item in his pocket even more tightly.
Robin narrowed his eyes. "I did not kill Frank Newitt; I'm not involved in any way with his death."
Raven gave him a wry grin. "That'll get you off the hook for sure."
Wright glanced over at her. Great. It seems like sarcasm is a skill of my associates no matter where I go. He turned back to Robin and smiled. "Well, she might not be convinced, but it was enough for me. I need to know everything you know about the case. Don't leave out any details; I want as few things to blind side me as possible when this goes to trial tomorrow."
Robin sat back. "Okay, here it is."
The Boy Wonder proceeded to tell the Wright what had happened, every detail he knew, supposedly. Both men leaned back in their chairs, Wright looking more worried than Robin.
"Wow."
"What?"
Phoenix stood up and stretched. "Well, I've taken cases that seemed more hopeless than this, but not by much."
Cyborg stood beside Wright. "The dude who suggested hiring you said you were the best in the business. I guess that counts for something."
Phoenix felt his face heat up. Great, they're putting their faith in me. I hate it when people do that! "I'll do my best," he said. Wright reached into his left pocket and handed Robin and Cyborg both his business card. "I'm staying at the Grand Leap Hotel, and my cell number is on this card. I may be crazy, but I'm officially on the case."
"Good." Robin said. "You look like a rank amateur, but I can see you have more fight in you than you let on. But let me make this clear. If there is any motion that I have to de-mask during the court, you have to fight tooth and nail to prevent it. If my secret identity goes, there are a lot of people who will be in danger. I hate to bring a civilian into this, but right now there's no other way."
Raven looked up from her book. "Yeah, Kate Spencer is busy settling the Siegel and Shuster lawsuit with DC Comics."
Wright gave her an inquisitive look. "Who?"
"Never mind."
Wright nodded. "Well, this was productive. I need to go check on my… own sidekicks."
And with that, he turned and left.
"He seems like a nice guy," Cyborg said. "But the real question is, can he win it?"
"I don't think he can," Robin said. "I don't think anyone could at this point. If that photo hadn't been taken…"
"It is okay, Tim," Raven said. "There is more to this attorney than meets the eye. When asked you whether or not you committed the murder, I felt a swell of spiritual energy."
"What?" Robin arched an eyebrow. Raven was the Titans' resident magic-user, and if she felt spiritual energy, she probably knew what she was talking about.
"I think he has something called a Magatama. It allows him to know when people are hiding things, and that's why he had you be so specific."
Cyborg shrugged. "I don't know, man, that guy doesn't really seem like the spirits'n'spells type. He looked almost freaked out by me and you."
Raven nodded. "We'll see what happens. For now, I think we might have more pressing concerns."
"Huh?"
"I can feel Ragnarök and Starfire heading this way, and both of them are upset."
No sooner than Raven had spoke, the door burst open and the same two Titans that Raven named entered the room. "Cyborg, Raven, come quick!" Starfire implored.
Ragnarök backed her up. "The cops at the Tower said they found something on the computer that was 'extremely incriminating.' But the refused to tell me what the snorkel it was."
Starfire continued. "Beast Boy said it had something to do with the victim, but he was unable to read the entirety of the file before they took it." The Tamaranian princess flew over to the glass divider and looked at Robin. She gazed at him as though she was trying see his eyes behind the black white slits in his mask. "Robin, please—tell me that you have nothing about the victim on our machine of computing!"
"I have no idea who Frank Newitt was," Robin said. "I certainly didn't have any data about him on our computer. This only proves that whoever is framing me has planned this very well."
"We'll handle this," Cyborg said. "Tim, you stay frosty. This is probably just a misunderstanding."
The two Titans vanished with Starfire and Ragnarök, leaving Robin alone with his thoughts.
Robin sighed. "Somehow, I doubt it will be as easy as they make it sound," he said to the empty room.
"THEY DID WHAT?!" Cyborg blurted, standing over the relatively diminutive Beast Boy.
"They said there was some important evidence on Robin's section of the Hard Drive, so they copied it and took it with them," Beast Boy winced as he waited for Cyborg to freak out over the damage.
"Wait, so they only copied Robin's files?" Cyborg sighed with relief. Beast Boy sighed too, relieved that the Titan's resident tech-wizard hadn't cried.
"What was so important that they had to take it?" Raven asked, hovering over to where Beast Boy and Cyborg were talking.
"Detective Simmons said that she found evidence related to the motive of the crime. Why would Robin have anything about that guy on his computer?" Beast Boy sighed. He felt like turning into a gnat and disappearing. But even that wouldn't make the frustration go away.
"The trial tomorrow will be the place where we debunk whatever this is they found." Raven said. "But until then in might be good to know what they found so we can give Mr. Wright some ammunition."
Raven sat down and began to log onto Robin's profile.
"Are you crazy, Raven?" Cyborg walked up behind her. "Even I've not been able to crack Bird Boy's password."
Raven glanced up at him, typed a few keystrokes, and she was in within seconds. "Being an empath helps," she said. After a few moments of scanning and searching, she glanced up at Cyborg. "Vic; this evidence is convincing, but it couldn't have been produced by Robin. But we'll need proof of that, and the best way to get that would be to call the Justice League. Tell Mr. Terrific that we need a record of all inter-stellar traffic in the Milky Way for fall of this year."
Cyborg shrugged, walked over to an auxiliary computer terminal, and complied.
Here I go again. Alright, Wright. You can do this.
As Phoenix, Maya and Pearl entered the courtroom, they looked across the way to see Robin standing near a couple of police officers. He was handcuffed, but just by looking at him, Wright got the sense that Robin was not obeying the cops because he had no choice, but because he simply respected them. The idea that a kid who could single-handedly take out a troupe of evil robots was actually at the mercy of a couple cops seemed a bit silly.
Though, admittedly, so did his costume, the cape and utility belt removed.
"Robin," he said, nodding at his young client. "Are you ready for this?"
"Won't be the first time I've been in a courtroom," Robin said. "Let's go."
"WAIT!"
Wright and Robin jerked their heads to see the rest of the now-seven-strong Teen Titans rushing up towards them. As they walked, the green-skinned one, who Wright knew was called Beast Boy was signing autographs from random adoring fangirls that approached him.
One of the Titans, a kid in green armor, walked over to him. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Wright. I'm Ragnarök. By the way, nice hair."
"Nice to meet you to," he replied absently. Ragnarök smiled broadly, and Phoenix realized that Ragnarök's haircut was almost identical to his own. Wright sweatdropped.
"You know, in my universe, you're a video game character."
"That's.. interesting." I'm beginning to think that this young man is completely out of his mind.
About this time, Maya and Pearl arrived by Phoenix's side, both smiling broadly. "I hope the author doesn't randomly forget about us once the trial starts," Pearl said.
Cyborg and Beast Boy winced as the fourth wall collapsed.
"It's okay, Pearly. I'll buy you a shake if he does."
"Yay! By the way, what is a universe?"
Ragnarök's eyes widened as he realized Pearl was addressing the question to him. "Actually, that's not so easy to explain. A universe is… well, everything. But there is more than one everything, and I'm from a different everything than what you're from. If that makes any sense."
The little nine-year-old shook her head. "Not really."
Ragnarök frowned. Then he gasped when his green armor suddenly turned black, coated in dark, writhing energy. Raven's signature power wrapped him up and levitated him out of the way.
"Mr. Wright," she said--
Just then, the bailiff called for the trial to commence.
"I'm sorry, it will have to wait," Phoenix dismissed her, beginning to walk off…"
"No, it can't." Raven handed him a small manila folder full of papers. "You'll have to look over this on the fly, but trust me, it's important."
The bailiff called again for the trial to start, and Wright nodded, heading off to the courtroom. Time to go to work.
December 17th, 2008
10:19 AM
Jump City District Courthouse
Courtroom B
The loud WHUMP of a judge's gavel slamming down signaled that the court was in session.
Wright glanced up, feeling utterly unprepared for the case he was about to argue. Then he was utterly blindsided. Across the aisle from him, in the prosecution's stand, was none other than Franziska von Karma. A young woman no older than Maya, the blue-haired Franziska was the daughter of a former Los Angeles prosecutor Manfred Von Karma.
The elder von Karma was no longer among the living, but his daughter had flown all the way in from Germany to take her revenge against Phoenix Wright and her adopted brother, prosecutor Miles Edgeworth—Edgeworth for losing to Wright, and Wright for getting her father convicted of a crime.
"Wh…What are you doing here!?" Wright blurted as soon as he saw Franziska. Well, as soon as the shock wore off.
She smiled savagely at him. "Foolish fool who foolishly asks foolish questions."
CRACK!
Her whip lashed out and smashed into Phoenix's arm.
"Ouch!"
"Mr. Phoenix Wright, I would follow you to the ends of the Earth to exact my revenge on the shame you have brought to the von Karma name."
The gavel struck once again, and both prosecutor and defense attorney glanced up at the judge. "Is the prosecution ready?" he asked in a heavy British accent.
Franziska von Karma bowed. "Read as ever, Your Honor."
"Is the defense ready?"
Wright goggled. "Y-yes sir. If you don't mind my asking, why are you in Jump City? And why are you speaking with a British accent?"
The Judge seemed taken aback. "What kind of question is that, good sir? I preside over this district court. I've never heard a case anywhere but jolly ole' Jump County."
Wright began sweating… "But… you… my cases… in… LA…" He couldn't find the words to stammer, and just stared blankly at the Judge. This is getting weirder and weirder…
"OH!" His Honor finally gasped. "You must mean my twin brother! He's a fairly important Judge down there." The Judge glanced down at the court record, then over at Phoenix, as if something had suddenly clicked in his mind.
"Your Honor?" Wright asked, not liking the look in the Judge's eyes…
"Good heavens!" he exclaimed. "You're the infamous Phoenix Wright? The one who threatened to hire an assassin to kill my brother?"
"WHAT!?!" Wright blurted. "I did no such thing!" I never realized the Judge back home was so paranoid…
"You have the look of a guilty man, Mr. Wright," the British Judge said. "Be warned, I'll be keeping my eye on you."
This case is going to be hell. Wright thought. I can feel it in my bones.
"Don't give up, Nick," Maya said. He glanced to his right to see the girl standing next to him. "I'll be here for you. And Mia will too if you need her."
Wright nodded. Maya, the spirit medium, had a few talents that could come in very handy. Summoning the dead, for instance.
For a moment, the Judge continued to read the case file, and then slammed down his gavel one last time. "Without further ado, I believe it's time to get this trial underway. Miss von Karma, if you will, please call your first witness."
"Very well." Franziska smirked wickedly. "I call Detective Regina Simmons to the stand."
Across the room in the defendant's chair, Robin watched the scene unfold in horror.
"This isn't a trial," he growled. "It's a circus."
