Disclaimer: Do I really still need to say it? Don't own anything...
Back in the defendant's lobby, Maya awoke to see an indiscernible blue figure standing above her. "Ghost!" she squealed while falling off the couch. "Ow.." she cooed as she rubbed her sore arms and then her throbbing forehead.
"You're finally awake! Thank God," the figure came into focus as Phoenix. "Wait..you're afraid of ghosts? You're a spirit medium!"
"Oh…you're right…" Maya conceded. Phoenix chuckled.
Maya…
"So what happened? Did we win the trial?" The spirit medium leaped to her feet excitedly.
The defense attorney shook his head. "No. Before you summoned Darkstar, von Karma knocked you out and the whole court went crazy. The judge barely managed to call a recess."
"Crap…" Maya shifted her gaze toward the floor and winced painfully.
"Are you ok, Maya?"
"…The wound just hurts a little bit."
" Lay back down, Maya. You can't go back into the courtroom in your condition. Hey, Pearls can you watch Maya for a bit? " Phoenix guided his love back toward the couch while Pearl watched over her cousin like a stalking cougar.
Maya tearfully watched her love walk forward and continue without her.
...
"This is the most ridiculous trial I have presided over in all my years as a judge!" The Judge leaned back in frustration. His anger was permeating throughout the court. "I can't believe it. Being made to look like a monkey in my own courtroom! Mr. Wright, Ms. von Karma, I expect nothing but professionalism! This trial will end today! Got it?"
Both the attorneys nodded in unison.
"Now…" the Judge unruffled himself, "let's begin with the witness testimony."
Von Karma locked eyes with Phoenix and nodded. Without taking her eyes off the defense attorney, she began. "Mr. Demarco Jurney, I would like to inquire about your relationship with the victim."
Demarco folded his arms, his hat obscuring his eyes.
-Defendant's Testimony-
"Our relationship"
"We were a couple, deeply in love. Things didn't work out between us, however, and we were forced to separate. The heartbreak was my motive for killing her."
Franziska von Karma stared at Phoenix, who then glared at Demarco. Demarco returned the defense attorney's silent challenge.
"Uh..ok?" the Judge confusedly looked up from his bench. "Well, the cross examination Mr. Wright?"
Phoenix leaned forward in an aggressive stance. "What do you mean 'things didn't work out between us'?"
"Just a difference of views, Defense Attorney Wright," Demarco snapped defensively, then grinned. "It may even happen to you and Spirit Medium Fey."
Phoenix gritted his teeth at the remark, forgetting to follow up on the questioning. Franziska noted this and quickly sprang into action.
"Mr. Demarco Jurney, are you forgetting about the murder trial you defended your wife in?"
"That's irrelevant, Prosecutor von Karma. You're naiveté is showing."
"Don't you dare lecture me," Franziska glowered, but refused to take the emotional bait. "I call it into relevance because the murder occurred right after that trial."
"That is irrelevant, Prosecutor von Karma! Your Honor, please dismiss this line of questioning."
"Well, if it's not relevant…" The Judge mused lackadaisically. The crack of a whip straightened him up.
"Your Honor, this trial may be the real motive behind the murder! This means the defendant is lying! We have to pursue this further to see the truth."
"What does it matter?" Demarco yelled, visibly withering on the stand. "It was just a trial! Prosecutor von Karma what are you doing? I thought you were on my side! I thought you wanted to reveal the true ugly face of the law to the world!"
The true face of the law…? Phoenix wondered.
"Mr. Demarco Jurney, I'm afraid I don't agree with your philosophy. The law is not a weapon. It is a shield," Franziska continued, shifting her gaze toward the apprehensive Phoenix, "it protects us. That is its purpose."
"What an asinine belief…" Demarco muttered through his teeth. "In that case, I will crush the both of you."
"Bring it on," von Karma smiled, "I have no intention of losing to an attorney that resorts to forged evidence."
A light bulb went off in Phoenix's head. I almost forgot about that…
Demarco grimaced.
"I have all the paperwork right here," von Karma threw a thick folder on the bench in front of her. "You can't hide it."
"You're dancing on thin ice, Prosecutor von Karma."
"Why did you forge evidence? Was it because you couldn't win against my brother?"
"You're related to that monster? It makes sense. Two weak minded fools…"
"Don't ignore the question. Why did you forge evidence?"
"…I plead the 5th."
All the breath Phoenix had been holding in was exhaled in a sharp dammit! Franziska had backed Demarco into a corner and before she could finish him, he escaped. Or so he thought.
"That doesn't work here, Mr. Demarco Jurney," Franziska leaned on the Prosecution's bench, wagging her finger tauntingly. "You've already been persecuted for forging the evidence. You can't protect yourself with the 5th because honestly…you have nothing to protect. Remember, you're under oath."
Damn, she's brutal…The defense attorney admired his rival from afar.
"Answer the question, Mr. Jurney." The Judge added pressure.
"He doesn't need to," Phoenix straightened up, ready to finally get in the fight. "He forged the evidence because Darkstar's life was on the line and he loved her. He loved her more than anything. And she betrayed him…" His voice was soft with empathy. He realized he probably would've resorted to the same desperation to protect Maya. Taking the picture of Rachel Darkstar out of his pocket, Phoenix showed it to Demarco. "She was your everything wasn't she?"
"Defense Attorney Wright," Demarco chuckled, "you're as useless as your assistant."
"I know the truth, Demarco."
"What? That you're a second rate lawyer, Defense Attorney Wright?"
"She betrayed you. She egged you on to use the forged evidence and then took her freedom while you lost the only thing you really had: your right to be an attorney."
"So I killed her," Demarco said nonchalantly. "We're back to square one, Defense Attorney Wright!"
"But you were so emotionally torn after losing both your loves. Your mind couldn't take it. It was Rachel's demented plan all along…"
"What are you talking about?" Demarco's voice grew soft. "What plan?"
...
A hearty chuckle emerged from the possessed Maya. "That hack of a defense attorney is still alive?"
"Ye..yeah…but he's on trial for your murder! If you don't help me out…he won't be alive much longer!" Phoenix pleaded. Rachel giggled and flipped a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I don't care if he lives or not. He's already served his purpose. The experiment is completed."
"The experiment…?"
"Yes, my beautiful experiment was a success!" Rachel beamed and continued excitedly, "I did it! First, I got the idiot to fall in love with me, and then I had him defend me in a murder trial! I gave him my cutest face and said 'Demarco, you have to win for me. Forge evidence, Demarco.' And he does it! What a maroon! What an idiot!" Rachel was too emotionally invested in her rant to notice that Phoenix was fuming in anger.
How could this son of a….She manipulated him! Right from the start!
"Here's the best part," Rachel continued. "So after he's found out for the forging and loses his attorney's badge, I break up with him! So he has nothing! And just as I hypothesized…he loses it! He starts talking to himself, his personality takes a complete turn! I did it! I literally made him crazy!"
"But he killed you…" Phoenix chimed in, deadpan.
"That doesn't matter," Rachel dismissed the fact with a wave of her hand. "My experiment and results had already hit the scientific community. I mean, it got me a few sideways glances but hey, attention is attention right? I did it. I proved to the world that I could take away mankind's most private and guarded item: his mind." She started laughing uncontrollably while Phoenix and Pearls just stared in disgust. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of cackling, she left the defense attorney and apprentice spirit medium with her final declaration:
"I'm a god among men."
...
"I was her…test subject? Her lab rat? From the start? Is this true, Phoenix?" Demarco lurched over the witness stand in disbelief. He finally knew Rachel's motives. "I mean, I knew she manipulated me…but from the very beginning. Every kiss…every "I love you"….was a lie. And now here I am. Her crowning achievement."
Phoenix nodded dejectedly. "I did some snooping and found her article. In it, she mentions that she manipulated you into losing your badge and losing the love of your life to stress you into dissociative identity disorder…"
"Otherwise known as split personality disorder…" Franziska von Karma added. She realized that this case wasn't about winning or losing. It was about a man that had been agonizing for too long.
"Wait…" the Judge interrupted, obviously not following the scene in front of him. "So the victim purposely left the defendant and tricked him into losing his attorney's badge so she literally drive him crazy?"
"Yes, your honor," Phoenix nodded. "It was all her 'experiment' to prove that she could break down the human mind."
"And it worked," Demarco scowled.
"But Mr. Wright," the Judge butt in again, "How do you know Mr. Jurney has multiple personalities?"
"TAKE….THAT!" Phoenix said, slamming Demarco's written and video confession on the stand in front of him. He grinned. "If you can get a VCR out here, your honor, we could compare these two confessions."
Almost immediately, an overweight bailiff haughtily wheeled out a television set with a small VCR attached. He swiped the video from Phoenix and crankily pushed it into the machine.
Geesh…where do they get these guys from? Phoenix mused.
A pregnant silence hung over the courtroom as the video started. As Demarco, inside the screen, mechanically explained his crime, everyone the court watched for a cue or signal that indicated that he was, in fact, crazy. To the audience, there was a certain romance to the reality that an insane person, a flawed member of society, essentially "broken", was standing before them.
As the confession was nearing its end, the image of Demarco stared at the direction of Judge stating: "I, Demarco Jurney, swear that all I have said is utterly and completely true."
"Pause it there," Phoenix said quickly. Instantly, the screen was frozen on Demarco's defeated expression.
"Mr. Wright…what does that.."
"Hold on, your honor!" Phoenix gestured by raising his palms in a "slow down" manner. "Now listen to this…" He picked up Demarco's written confession and held it firmly, as if the vital piece of evidence would slip through his fingers otherwise. "The defendant signed his written confession 'Defense Attorney Demarco Jurney.'"
Demarco's eyes widened in shock. The other figure, the one that had whispered in his ear since he lost everything, the one that had followed him, the one that hated life and the law, was finally revealed. "I can't believe it…" He whispered incredulously.
"What does that mean though, Mr. Wright?" the Judge asked, impatience leaking into his voice.
"Think about it, your honor. Why would the defendant sign his written confession 'Defense Attorney Demarco Jurney'? He's not even an attorney anymore…" Demarco winced at Phoenix's remark, "You've even noticed it yourself, your honor. When Demarco helped me in the Doe trial…now in the courtroom…do you see the sharp personality change?"
The Judge held his chin thoughtfully. "I guess you do have a point, Mr. Wright. To be honest, I can't remember that other trial you're talking about…"
Oh your honor…you're one of a kind…Phoenix slumped over the stand, and then braced himself for a powerful conclusion. "There are two personas fighting within Demarco. There's the kind, misguided soul that used to be my assistant, and the cynical, nihilistic 'Defense Attorney' whose only desire is revenge. Revenge on the two loves that wronged him: Ms. Darkstar and the law."
Franziska smiled and nodded, agreeing with the defense attorney. The battle was finally over. She sighed and relaxed the tense muscles that had been teetering with adrenaline and excitement since the trial began. "The prosecution rests, your honor."
Phoenix looked over to Franziska, trying to nonverbally communicate his appreciation for her help. Once she returned his soft gaze and smiled, he closed his weary eyes. "The defense rests, your honor."