4 Turnabout Returns - Part 1

A scent of coffee filled the defendant lobby that day as Trucy made her way to her trial. Of course, as with most cases, this was just the first, and anything could come of the case no matter what happened today - as long as it didn't break the "Double Jeopardy" rule - but it still made her feel nervous, walking in as the defendant instead of the defense's assistant. She took a deep breath and opened the door to the lobby. It was a strange, bitter smell - a smell her father had tried to describe so many times in stories about the days when he was a lawyer. So, of course, she knew exactly who the defense was going to be today.

"Ah, you must be Miss Wright." A man in a red shirt, a striped grey vest, stunning white hair and a strange mask walked over to her, a menacing smile on his face. Trucy nodded in reply. She knew exactly who this man was.

Diego Armando. Also known, in his prosecutor (or "second") life, as Godot.

But one question still remained - If he was a prosecutor now, how come he was the defense today?

"Yeah. You're Diego Armando, right?" She asked nervously, hoping she wasn't wrong - that would be embarrassing. Thankfully, however, he nodded, but his smile refused to fade, and it made Trucy feel quite uncomfortable. However, she continued, "But aren't you a prosecutor? You're defending me today, right?"

"I used to be a prosecutor, at the start of my second life. However I was only ever a prosecutor to challenge your father, and make him pay for letting..." He went quiet for a second, then suddenly shook his head and carried on. "Well, anyway, after Mr. Trite's badge was taken off him, and the metaphorical cat was out of the bag, there was no reason for me to continue as Godot - I went back to Diego. However, my hair and sight are permanent. Dyeing hair is just a facade. I'm sick of facades." Even saying that, he continued to smile. He looked quite obnoxious, and evil at the same time.

Diego looked at him watch, and looked back to Trucy. "Time to go in. Are you ready?" The smile never failed to stay as wide and unnerving as ever, as he looked at her through his strange metal mask. She nodded, too nervous to even try to stutter a reply, and she followed him into the court room, taking her place behind the defendant stand. Seeing the court from this angle was strange - almost surreal, given she'd always been on the defense stand, not the defendant's.

The prosecutor was a woman who looked to be in her mid-20s, probably only a few years older than Apollo, and was wearing a black and white dress with puffy sleeves and a few blue decorations. She looked very snotty, and had a cruel scowl similar to a prosecutor Phoenix had once talked about. She was also holding a whip, and looked quite malicious.

Once everyone was seated, the Judge began, "We are here today for the trial of... Trucy Wright?"

He turned to look at her, sat in the defendant chair, a sad look in his eyes, like everyone else had done. "Phoenix Wright's daughter Trucy Wright?"

She nodded nervously, and the prosecutor cracked her whip on the prosecution stand, laughing, but it was cold and humorless. "That fool had a daughter? Well, then, I'd say it's pretty easy to wrap this up. She's obviously guilty, just look at how that fool lost his badge. He brought her up foolishly, therefore she must be a fool, too."

Trucy began to feel very angry at this remark. Her fists clenched, and her jaw tightened, but she managed to hold herself back. There was no point in starting an argument, it would only serve to put her in a worse situation than she was already in. So she pulled herself together and waited for the Judge to start the trial.

"Y-yes, well, anyway... How is the prosecution, Miss Von Karma?"

Franziska Von Karma. Trucy had heard of her before. She was a child prodigy, and had even become a prosecutor at the young age of 13. She was cruel, and a hard rival to beat, just like her father, but outside of the court she wasn't that bad a person. According to Phoenix, she still had her snobbish scowl and attitude, but she was also nicer when he wasn't shouting, "Objection!" at her from across the court room.

Franziska sighed and cracked her whip. "The prosecution is ready, Your Honor."

"A-And the defense?"

The Judge turned to Diego, who was smirking as always, coffee in one hand. He sipped it, and replied, "The defense is as ready as my next cup of coffee - and my limit of 17 mugs hasn't increased, so why don't we start?"

The Judge nodded, and asked for my testimony on what I was doing the night of the crime. I took a deep breath, and began...

"Well, it seems we've only been able to prove one thing today - finding the guilty party of this case will lead to finding the culprit behind the chain of murders and disappearances that have happened lately. We will resume this case in a few days, but for now - Court is adjourned."

Trucy stood out in the defendant lobby, waiting for the police to take her back to the detention center. She was being kept an eye on by Diego, who still had his unnerving smirk plastered on his face - it seemed to be drawn on in permanent marker, it was ever present across his face. Trucy decided to break the awkward silence.

"I didn't hear anything about the "chain of disappearances and murders" before today. What was that all about, anyway?" She asked, determined to find some information out before she was locked back in her cell.

"You see, there's been a lot of murders and disappearances happening lately, surrounding your father and people he knew. First, a kid he grew up with was brutally murdered - no one even looked into a link with Mr Trite at this point. But then a girl went missing - a girl from Kurain Village. Pearl Fey. But see, I met her. And Pearl isn't the kind of girl to just up and run away. She might run off sometimes, but never properly run away. It didn't fit, so they looked into it. Her sister was your father's assistant. Then, the final clue - Apollo Justice. You've met him. Your father pretty much mentored him after Kristoph Gavin was jailed for killing... Well, you know already. So that's it. The only reason people didn't connect this case with the others is because of you. You had a motive for this murder only. The police don't really search for the honest truth - they search for loopholes.

"And you were the perfect loophole."