Hello, all!
Here at the festival, the roster people were a little incompetent; apparently, somebody screwed te seatings completely and they had to be completely redone. Now, instead of doing the Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet I have to do Petrushka. Oh well. I sightread it today, and it's a pretty fun read. Now let's hope that we get the hang of the meter changes.
And aside from the big revealer of Link's actions with Samus, today is also the day that the last Harry Potter book comes out. I'm sick of the stuff that people say that Harry's going to die simply because it's the last book in the series. You can't assume death because it's the last book of a series, people. You'd do well to learn that.
I've blabbed enough. Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 25: The Trial
"All rise! The honorable Judge Antonio presiding."
A body of people thronged in a section of a large room stood as a man wearing a black robe with aged features on his face entered and sat on an elevated platform.
"You may sit," he added upon sitting. A unanimous dropping of buttocks onto chairs sounded in the room.
"Now, let the trial of the Super Smash Brothers, represented by Phoenix Wright, against Link, represented by Miles Edgeworth, begin."
Nana looked nervously at the two sides. On the prosecutor's side of the courtroom, a man with brown hair all combed towards the back wall and an ocean-colored suit sat quietly. On the defendant's side, Link sat next to his own attorney, who had white hair and an amethyst suit.
The young Ice Climber moved closer to Bowser Jr, who happened to be sitting next to her. The witness stand was empty, but they knew it was soon to be filled by the prosecution. Nana had memorized the order from what Bowser told her; he, the doctor, and Matthew were all witnesses for the prosecution. She had also heard that Samus and Link were both witnesses for the defense, and the fact that Samus sat on the prosecutor's side of the room attested to this very well.
"Will the prosecution begin with their opening statement?" asked the judge.
"Yes, your honor," said Phoenix, promptly standing up and walking in front of the jury. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you see before you many people who wish that justice be bestowed upon the man in the defendant's part of the courtroom. These people have all lost someone dear to them because of what this man did and would want nothing more than to have Link dealt with according to the law. Link has much evidence against him, and he held a grudge against the intended victim that was left unattended and allowed to spiral into the massacre that was the night of July 10th. I hope you will side with me, for justice and for the happiness of the witnesses who will testify today. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, for your time."
Phoenix walked back to the prosecutor's part of the courtroom.
"Will the defense begin with their opening statement?" asked the judge.
"Yes, your honor," said Miles, doing the exact same thing Phoenix did when he made the opening statement. "Many people are misunderstood; their actions are deemed evil by society when sometimes their intentions are good. My client may have done all of the things he did on the night of July 10th, but the fact that he may have had his reasons comes to my mind. Ganondorf Dragmire was an evil man, that is for sure; perhaps he did something that Link considered unjust and the deaths were simply those caught in the crossfire of Link's justice. Gentlemen of the jury, I plead you to consider this as the trial progresses. I thank you for your time."
Miles walked back to the defendant's side of the courtroom.
"Will the prosecution call their first witness?" asked the judge.
"Yes, your honor," said Phoenix. "The prosecution calls Bowser to the stand."
A small murmur came around as the king of the koopas stood up and walked to the witness stand. The bailiff came to him as he sat down and motioned his right hand to lay on the Bible he carried.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you the gods you believe in?" asked the bailiff.
"I do," said Bowser. Phoenix walked over to the king.
"Can you tell us of what happened to you during the night of July 10th?" asked the attorney.
"I can," said Bowser. "I was woken up by a yell some time after midnight, and was about to go back to sleep when a friend knocked telling me that Link was trying to kill Ganondorf. I ran down the stairs in hope of distracting him, and when I did, he attacked me so that he could get rid of me. Then, Popo Climber intervened and was killed; shortly after, Peach Toadstool lost her arm because of him. And then the doctor came in and Link ran away."
"Right," said Phoenix. "Were any derogatory remarks said about the intended victim?"
"Ganondorf was referred to as a piece of dog shit," said Bowser. A light gasp followed from a few people in the crowd.
"This was said by Link, correct?" asked Phoenix.
"Yes," said Bowser. "I wouldn't say it. Ganondorf is my friend."
"I recently heard from some officials at the forensics office that Link had what looked to be cocaine in his system," said Phoenix. "Can you explain this for us?"
"I found a Ziploc bag containing the stuff on his bed," said Bowser.
Link's eyes widened a little as the crowd let out a collective gasp, afterwards going into a somewhat loud discussion.
A set of gavel bangs resounded in the courtroom shortly after.
"Order in the court!" shouted the judge.
The discussion died down.
"Do you think that Link murdered three people because he was high on cocaine?" asked Phoenix.
"No," said Bowser. "Link and Ganondorf were always rivals; it's a wonder we let it get to this point."
"No more questions," said Phoenix as he took his seat.
"Thank you," said the judge. "Will the defense now cross-examine the witness?"
"Yes, your honor," said Miles as he stood up and walked to the witness stand.
"If you found a pouch of cocaine on his bed, why did you fail to report it to the authorities?" asked Miles.
"I originally thought it was laundry soap," said Bowser. "A friend told me that it might be cocaine, and the mansion's doctor verified this last night."
"Do you seriously think that Link would think of such a simple plan of attack and run after Ganondorf on a high?" asked Miles.
"Again, the two were bitter rivals," said Bowser. "Link would not have to think about trying to kill his enemy intentionally while high on crack anyway since that's true. It would explain why he would feel no regret for the others, however."
"And why would he kill the others?" asked Miles.
"They got in his way," said Bowser. "Before he attacked me, he told me that after he got rid of me he would go after Ganondorf."
"No more questions," said Miles as he returned to his seat.
"Will the prosecution call their next witness?" asked the judge.
"Yes, your honor" said Phoenix. "The prosecution calls Dr. Mario to the stand."
The doctor stood up and walked to the witness stand.
Falco was busy making sandwiches in the kitchen. He had sat through the most important testimony of the defense, and now he felt he had no reason to watch the witnesses for the prosecution go through their thing.
Also, the three of them were beginning to get hungry; none of them had eaten breakfast, after all. Since Marth had no intention of leaving the match lounge and Peach could not make sandwiches because of the fact that she had no right hand, Falco ended up going to the kitchen to make them.
He wondered why Matthew told the chefs to take the day off. He knew that everybody would go out to lunch, but he had also neglected the smashers who were staying at the mansion. Falco shook his head, figuring some people could never have a head that could be penetrated by simple psychology.
Falco put the finishing touch to the club sandwich Marth had asked for, and then with the take-out containers that were stored in the kitchen he went across the hall to Marth and Peach. Both were watching the screen; Marth sat there at the edge of the couch intently listening to the trial while Peach sat at the table, handless arm hanging over the backrest as she looked at the trial indifferently.
"Did I miss anythin' from the defense?" asked Falco.
"No," said Peach. "They're in the middle of Matthew's testimony."
"Right," said Falco as he handed the sandwich containers to the people who had asked for the sandwiches. They all opened the containers and began to eat.
On screen, Matthew stood at the witness stand, with his attorney asking him questions.
"And he died in your arms, yes?" asked the onscreen lawyer.
"Yes," said Matthew. "I heard the gunshots again, and then I called the police afterwards."
"No more questions," said the lawyer. He sat down as the other attorney walked to Matthew.
"So, Luigi sacrificed himself to save you," said the defense attorney.
"Yes," said Matthew. "There is no denying that."
"Is it also true that his brother Mario had left the mansion prior to this incident?" asked the defense attorney.
"Oh, Jesus," said Falco. "Did he have tah bring that up?"
"Are you saying that Luigi purposely did it because he did not want to live anymore?" asked Matthew.
"I figured he would say that," said Peach. "It's a sensitive subject, really."
"I am not saying that," said the defense attorney. "Now answer the question."
"Yes," said Matthew.
"Is it also true that Mario had made Luigi feel terrible psychologically the day he left?" asked the defense attorney.
"Yes," said Matthew.
"No more questions," said the attorney as he went to take his seat.
"Has the prosecution run out of witnesses?" asked the judge once Matthew was seated.
"Yes, your honor," said the prosecutor.
"Will the defense now call their first witness?" asked the judge, turning to the side of the courtroom with the defendant.
"Yes, your honor," said the defense attorney. "The defense calls Link to the stand."
The fallen hero stood and walked to the witness stand.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you the gods you believe in?" asked the bailiff.
"I do," said Link.
"As if people haven't said it enough times," said Falco. "That kind o' talk annoys me tah no end."
The defense attorney walked forward.
"The other witnesses say that you and Ganondorf were in a rivalry," said the attorney. "Do you deny this?"
"No," said Link.
"Was the attempted murder of Ganondorf part of this rivalry?"
"No," said Link. "It is an impeachment of justice that drove me to this."
"What?" asked Marth. "Ganondorf tried to change; he would never do that now, not after he has progressed so far!"
Falco shrugged and continued watching the trial.
"Can you tell us of what happened if that is true?" asked the defense attorney.
"It is quite simple, actually," said Link. "During the daylight hours of July 10th, we were all shocked about Mario's disappearance. Samus came to me at the match lounge and pulled me aside to tell me something."
"And what did Samus say to you then?" asked the defense attorney.
"That Ganondorf had raped her, simply put," said Link.
A general gasp of shock went throughout the courtroom and the match lounge.
"What?" asked Marth loudly.
"Is something the matter?" asked Peach.
"He is lying, damn it!" yelled Marth, jumping from the couch, not caring that the sandwich container fell to the floor along with the contents of the other half of the sandwich he had been eating when Link said the fatal words.
"This is not true!" shouted Marth. "Ganondorf would never resort to rape!"
"Marth, settle down!" said Peach as she settled her sandwich in the container and stood up. "You never know about that."
"You never know?" asked Marth. "So you are saying that he would murder his own tribe then?"
"Wha?" asked Falco, jumping off of his seat still holding the sandwich. "She never said that! What are ya talkin' 'bout?"
"You know damn well what I am talking about!" shouted Marth, face glowing in a red light.
"No, Marth," said Peach. "If Ganondorf could do things like that, then he—"
"He would never do such things, understand?" yelled Marth at the top of his lungs, effectively silencing the two other occupants of the room. "I know Ganondorf better than either of you ever will! He would kill, but he would do it only out of mercy! He would never do anything you two would think he would!"
"But Marth, ya—" began Falco.
"Shut up!" yelled Marth, throwing the unfinished sandwich he held in his hand at the avian. "You will never understand! Since you will never understand, why are you even talking right now?"
Silence followed as Link's testimony continued. They had not started the cross examination.
"I thought so," said Marth dangerously beneath his breath. "Now, if you two would not mind leaving me in my room so I can avoid the foulness of that man's words, I will do that."
The enraged Altean walked out of the room, leaving Peach and Falco to wonder what they had said to get the prince so outraged.
Marth slammed the door when he entered his room.
Those fools would never understand Ganondorf the way Marth understood the king. Again, ignorance seemed to get in the way of Ganondorf's development, but he could not stand to see the comments being made while the king was able to hear them.
Marth was loyal to the Gerudo king; ever since he had told the king about his past he felt a great debt to him. The two times he had to repay him had both gone against how he would have imagined it, but the third time Marth would be sure not to let the king down.
The prince went to the bookcase and grabbed a book out of the case. He then proceeded to tear all of the pages out of his book.
His anger could have been spent on Falco, but Marth did not want to risk being sent out of the mansion; thus, he turned to the books on his bookcase for destruction purposes. Marth was angry that the testimony meant that it would be Ganondorf who would face punishment upon waking up, and he knew nobody else understood it. However, for Falco to have said something was even worse for the prince. This only rubbed in the fact more; and Marth did not want to face it.
Once he was done tearing the pages of the book, he proceeded to grab another book. As he was about to tear the pages of this one, a light thud came from the bookcase.
Marth looked up, eyes still etched in anger.
He found a digital camcorder on the shelf that he had just pulled the book from. It had fallen on its side from the lack of support of the green book.
The prince's expression took on an infinitely more curious tone after seeing the camcorder. He dropped the book he was holding and picked up the camcorder.
"Since when was this here?" asked Marth.
He opened the camcorder to find it recording, He hit the stop button.
The prince then hit reverse to figure out when the camcorder had been put in his room. After waiting a few minutes, he pressed play.
He saw himself enter his room and go to bed.
The prince shook his head and reversed some more. After hitting the play button, he found a slightly different clip of him doing the exact same action. He frowned and reversed.
When he hit play the third time, he was greeted by something very strange.
He saw Link and Samus walk into his room.
"They caught this on tape?" asked Marth.
Link then sat on the bed, removing Samus' helmet, revealing long blonde hair.
"What in the world?" asked Marth.
"Samus, you truly do look beautiful," said Link.
"Really?" asked Samus.
"Yes," said Link. "I have a way of killing Ganondorf, and it will require some cooperation from you. Do what I tell you and we can get away together, my love."
Marth nearly froze at this sentence.
He hit the fast forward button, hitting play after a few seconds to reveal a white mass with two main components on the bed. Distinctly feminine moans were heard as a blonde man hovered above.
After this, Marth had seen enough. He cued the video to where he had seen Samus and Link walk into the room and ran out of the dorm, flying down the stairs and dashing to the match lounge.
"Is the trial still commencing?" asked Marth upon entering the lounge.
"Link's in the middle of his cross-examination, Marth," said Peach. Falco looked at Marth as he entered. "Listen, we're sorry for offending you with what we said. We would like to make it up to you. How do you think we can do that?"
"You can take me to the courthouse now," said Marth.
"Why would we do that, man?" asked Falco, standing up. "We're not—"
"I have evidence that will prove Link a liar," said Marth. "Now if you really want to help me, show me to where the Arwing is and get me there as quickly as possible."
Falco knew that such evidence was real big news for Marth and to the prosecution, so he wasted no time in running out of the match lounge, Marth and Peach following in hot pursuit as Marth held the video camera in his hand.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you the gods you believe in?" asked the bailiff.
"I do," said Samus as she sat in the witness' stand. The bailiff walked away as Miles Edgeworth walked forward.
Samus was not wearing her power suit; rather, a business suit replaced it that allowed the spectators to see her face. The suit was very conservative in taste, such that no cleavage showed.
"Link said in his testimony that you told him you were raped by Ganondorf," said Miles. "Is this true?"
"Yes," said Samus.
A smaller gasp rang in the courtroom, but this time the clamor that had followed Link's utterance of the word rape was nonexistent. It took a minute to get the crowd to settle down then, but for Miles it was a good thing; it was smooth sailing to get his client acquitted no matter what happened. The cross-examination proved some points, but they would be worth nothing if Samus talked about her rape.
"Did he show any signs of aggression towards you at all?" asked Miles.
"He spoke to me in a haughty voice a few times," said Samus. "One time was before the first match that I had with him."
"I know this will be hard on you, but can you tell us how it happened?" asked Miles.
"Of course," said Samus. "I was walking along… Then, he showed up and pulled me into a room. I fought, but he managed to get the power suit off. Then, he dragged me to a bed and, well, you know the rest. He had raped me in a friend's room, on top if it…"
"Right," said Miles. "Did he use a condom, which could potentially eliminate any threats to your life and prevent an unwanted pregnancy?"
"Why would he?" asked Samus. "It would kill the whole point of rape."
"No more questions," said Miles as he returned to his seat and Phoenix stood up.
"So it happened in a friend's room," said Phoenix.
"Yes," said Samus.
"Are you sure it was Ganondorf then?" asked Phoenix. "It could very well be that somebody else was in there that you could not see."
"The lights were on," said Samus. "You can't confuse people when the lights are on."
"And if so, who would he borrow the room from?" asked Phoenix. "Don't you have to risk a person walking in on you?"
"He must have thrown the occupant out then," said Samus. "He also locked the door behind him when he pulled me in."
"Did he leave any marks on you?" asked Phoenix.
"On my breasts," said Samus. "You can see hand-shaped bruises on my breasts."
"Would you mind showing us those marks?" asked Phoenix.
"Objection!" yelled Miles as he stood up. "The observers of this trial might get offended if Ms. Aran exposes herself in front of them."
"Sustained," said the judge. Miles sat back in his seat.
"Are you sure nobody else raped you then?" asked Phoenix.
"Yes," said Samus.
"No more questions," said Phoenix as he sat down.
"Has the defense run out of witnesses?" asked the judge.
"Yes, your honor," said Miles.
"Is there any evidence the prosecution may want to present?" asked the judge.
"No, your—" began Phoenix before the door opened.
"Yes, your honor," said a man as he entered. His indigo eyes told something that he needed to say.
A small murmur went in the audience as he entered.
Bowser was mildly shocked to see Marth suddenly walk into the court.
"What the hell is he doing here?" he asked under his breath.
"And you are relevant to this case, how?" asked the judge. "You barge into a formal court proceeding and then claim you have evidence! Escort this man out of here imm—!"
"But your honor, you must take us into consider—!" said Marth.
"People that barge into a formal court proceeding are trespassing," responded the judge. "You should not have come in here in the—!"
"It's because he does have evidence, your honor," said the man's humanoid avian companion as he stepped forward after closing the door behind him. Bowser immediately recognized him as Falco. "Please, your honor. He can't abandon a friend in need, and he has evidence that can prove the defense wrong. Let him talk what he wants tah talk 'bout and see what he says."
The judge was silent for a few minutes.
"Bring him forward," said the judge.
Bowser stared as Marth was allowed close to the witness stand. Before entering, Falco shot him a glance that seemed to say 'ya owe me one, man'.
"And this piece of evidence is…?" asked the judge.
"I found a video camera in my room a few minutes ago, your honor," said Marth as he unveiled the said article.
"What does a video camera have to do with this trial?" asked the judge.
"It has a tape of a certain sex act on it, though," said Marth. "It was hidden in a bookshelf, and it seemed to be positioned to track something. Does anybody have a projector or anything of the sort?"
"I do not believe so," said the judge. "It would take too long to get one here anyway."
"Well, some of the audio can be revealing enough," said Marth as he walked to the bailiff. "Will you please give this to the judge?"
"Yes," said the bailiff, taking the camera and walking to the judge, who then took it and pressed the play button.
Footsteps sounded from the slightly condensed quality of the camcorder. Then, a plopping of a bed and the deep exhalation of a power suit helmet being removed came from the camcorder as well.
"Samus, you truly do look beautiful," said Link from the camcorder.
The defendant almost froze, but he knew that he had to keep his composure if he wanted to win the case.
"Really?" asked Samus, also from the camcorder.
"Yes," said Link, also from the camcorder. "I have a way of killing Ganondorf, and it will require some cooperation from you. Do what I tell you and we can get away together, my love."
Marth had heard that part, so he expected not to know what came next. However, he resolved to keep his composure.
"And what do you want me to do?" asked Samus' condensed voice from the camcorder.
Nothing much was said, but a closing of distance between bodies was heard.
Link calmly stood up from his seat.
"May I see the tape, your honor?" asked Link.
"You may," said the judge as he handed the camcorder to the bailiff. He then went for Link, handing him the camcorder and standing next to him as he watched.
The faux hero watched himself undress Samus from a singular viewpoint from a supposed bookshelf. He also watched the bounty hunter undress him with her lips on his.
"This…" said Link, stuttering a little. "This is preposterous! Where did you get this?"
"Again, it was on a bookshelf in my room," said Marth. "I haven't the slightest idea how it got there."
"This was edited," said Link softly. "This was edited!"
He shouted his last sentence.
"Link, settle down," said Miles. "We—"
"I would never willingly sleep with that bitch," said Link. "I love Zelda!"
A small gasp of shock followed after Link said the swear word as Samus' face became flushed of all of the color it had originally had.
"Link, I order you to settle down," said the judge. "This is a courtroom!"
"But your honor, this is not right!" said Link loudly. "I would never do this! This must be Zelda in a power suit!"
"Then why would her hair be done exactly like Samus' hair?" asked Marth.
"Shut up!" shouted Link. "This is not right! This isn't me! It has to be—!"
At this point, Samus abruptly stood up and pointed a finger at Link.
"You said you loved me!" shouted Samus as she did this.
Link stopped speaking as he and the rest of the courtroom turned to face Samus.
"You told me that Zelda was a bitch!" shouted Samus at the top of her lungs. "You told me that we would run far away once you had broken out of jail! You told me Ganondorf was a hindrance for you to me! And now, you sit here calling me a bitch! You said you loved me! You said you loved me!"
"Settle down, Samus," said Miles.
Samus sat back in her chair, tears beginning to appear on her face.
"Is this true?" asked Phoenix, directed to Link.
The faux hero looked at Samus, then at Phoenix. He then sat down and looked at the floor with a depressed aura surrounding him.
"Yes," said Link. "I told it to her so that she would keep quiet that she had sex with me consensually so I could frame Ganondorf if you checked…"
Peach readied a small little victory snack for Marth, humming a cheerful tune as she did.
After Link had admitted to his lie, the rest of the trial was set for the victory of the prosecution. Of course, there was nothing Link could do since it was too late for him to plead guilty, so everybody knew that it was only a matter of time before Link would have his sentence read. Peach had speculated that he would be set for death, but she knew that anything could happen.
The jury was deliberating, and she had put the TV volume on maximum so she would know when to stop making noise. Fixing snacks with only one hand was really very difficult, and she was constantly dropping things on the floor every other second as a result. Peach always shook her head, playfully rolling her eyes at the fact that she would have to get used to it.
After what Bowser told her on that day, she felt as if nothing could tell Peach that she had a curse; rather, she looked at her arm as a blessing. Because she had lost her arm, she had somebody she could trust with her life. The fact that such a friendship would bring peace between two enemy nations was something very far from her mind at the moment.
The princess really could get used to such a life with such a friend.
As of then, the princess had been preparing Marth's favorite salad; this was a garden salad with bacon bits thrown into the mix. She had managed to chop the bacon bits, and after quite a difficult time of finding something to hold the salad bowl she managed to get the bacon bits into the salad bowl.
She was about to refrigerate the finished salad when she heard the TV buzz to life.
"All rise!"
Peach placed the garden salad in the refrigerator and ran to the match lounge to find the spectators sit. She had arrived just in time to see Link's sentence be read.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" asked the judge as everybody sat back down.
"We have, your honor," said a young man who looked to be in his early twenties. "The jury finds Link… guilty… of three counts of first degree murder against Ms. Cornelia Hand and two members of the Super Smash Brothers. He has also been found guilty of one count of possession and use of cocaine and one count of lying under oath."
No noise was made, for many people expected this to be the verdict. Link let his head fall on his shoulders. By then, he knew he had lost.
"Link," said the judge, turning to the hero. "For being found guilty, your sentence is death, by the electric chair."
He brought the gavel down on the piece of wood that lay on the stand.
"Court adjourned!"