June 21st, Courtroom No. 3, 12:55 PM

Enter Phoenix

Levi followed Phoenix's request of putting her purple and orange cell on speaker-phone and she finally talked to the General, placing the phone on her desk.

"General Tophel, you are now on Speaker Phone." Levi said loudly, crossing her arms.

"What are you calling me about, Prosecutor Gaudium?"

"Well, a particularly brash girl came and made me an offer that will win me this case." she said, switching glares between Phoenix and Pearl.

"An offer, you say?" General Tophel asked.

"Indeed. Tell me, General, was there any evidence pointing to Mask deMasque found at the scene of the crime?"

"Not that I know-"

"…Hold it."

Levi's confident smirk quickly changed into a grimace of fear upon hearing her former teachers machine-like voice.

"I have never been so happy to hear that mechanical lugs voice in my entire life." Phoenix thought as he smiled.

"Asmodeus! What is the meaning of this?"Rykker barked.

"I just found this within the rubble found inside of the elevator. It is a silver brooch. But what is important is not the metal nor the classification of the object, but rather what it looks like, and more importantly who it ultimately belongs to. Your evaluation, General?"

Levi was sweating bullets as there was a slight pause.

"By god, it's one of Mask deMasques brooches!"

"Hurk!!" Levi grunted as she cringed.

"What else do you need, Prosecutor Gaudium?"

"Nothing, General. I think that finishes it." Phoenix said, smiling and gazing at Pearl, who smiled back.

"Very well." Tophel hung up.

Levis eye began to twitch.

"How… I… You couldn't have…" She started to babble.

"You were the one who wanted a poker game, Levi. But, it looks like you were the one who got royally flushed." Phoenix said matter of factly.

"I…. This…. AAAAAAAAAAAAASMODEUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!" Levi screamed, clutching her temples in disbelief.

Light enveloped her body: A brilliant explosion of confetti, pyrotechnics and flashing lights illuminated the courtroom as Phoenix and Pearl took a step backward. Doves flew every which way dodging explosions of fireworks skillfully as purple, orange and green lights filled the vision of every thing in the courtroom. Cards fired out of Levis sleeves, outstretched as she flailed about in temporary madness, explosions of red and blue paper matching with the vibrant blasts of fire spouting from her desk.

A hail of confetti rained down from the top of the courtroom as Levis break down finally subsided. The magician finally fell in a slump over her desk, defeated.

All of the members of the gallery ducked for cover, and the judge himself rose slowly out from behind his bench.

"Is it-Is it s-safe?" he asked Phoenix with big eyes as a dove alighted on his bald head.

"I'd say she's down and out, your honor." Phoenix said.

"In that case, this court finds Shelly deKiller…"

Not Guilty.

"I hope you won't mind; I think Madame Gaudium just about used up all the confetti we had at the moment." The judge said, plucking the dove from his head and stroking it.

"That's fine." Phoenix said, laughing a bit.

It was good to be back.

***

June 21st, Defense Lobby, 1:15 PM

Enter Phoenix

"You truly are noble, Mister Lawyer. Perhaps I was wrong about the stance I had on people when I began my job as an assassin…" deKiller said, dismally.

"I have brought you naught but pain. For you to honor my wish when all others would have given up… It proves me wrong. They will lock me up for my crimes, and I will die. But, I'm enlightened, and it's all thanks to you, Mister Wright: I can die knowing that humans are not all bad people…" deKiller said, faintly, as if the words were difficult to say for him.

"I bid you my final goodbye, Mister Wright." deKiller said, offering him his hand.

"Goodbye, Mister deKiller." Phoenix said, shaking his hand before deKiller returned to his guards side.

"You did it, Mr Nick!" Pearl said suddenly, tightly embracing him.

Phoenix smiled. Pearl was fifteen years old and from her previous display, much more mature. It was nice to see that some things never changed.

"I did it with the help of an old friend; If you hadn't shown up at the last second, my goose would have been cooked." Phoenix said, smiling greater still.

"Well, I can't say it was all my idea." Pearl said, biting her thumb.

"Then who…?" Phoenix asked.

"…Ahem." Asmodeus coughed, sneaking up on Phoenix. Phoenix jumped up in surprise.

"You won the case, I presume? Good." Asmodeus said, crossing his arms.

"Wait… don't tell me… This was all your doing from the very beginning?!" Phoenix said loudly in disbelief.

"I did it with the help of an old friend. If Pearl hadn't ran the evidence over in conjunction with me finding the evidence, you would… find your bread quite burned." Asmodeus said, trying to use a different culinary metaphor.

"Alright. Explain yourself." Phoenix said, crossing his arms. "What exactly were you up to?"

--Testimony: Asmodeus' Gambit—

"I found out it was Mask deMasque from the very beginning, thanks to that forged evidence I analyzed."

I wouldn't put it beyond Levi, however, to leave that as a clue to throw in my way, to lure me from the scent. She would endanger her career to do that, and I know this fact well: I needed a true confirmation of the facts"

"I would have brought this case to a standstill if I just presented that evidence, but you got in my way. I suppose I have to thank you though, because we could have left the police on a false trail set by Levi."

"Too many questions and not enough answers: Which is why I wanted so desperately to leave for Franziskas location as soon as it was discovered."

"I scouted out the building with my heat seeking vision application, and with this in mind, I discovered it was Mask deMasque for certain: He was with Franziska in the elevator chute, trying to avoid Colonel Campion and the other SWAT members."

"I thought to prepare insurance (Just in case Levi wasn't lying) in the form of other Mask deMasque articles I recovered from police. The genuine piece of evidence was the brooch I found in the dust: There was no way that Rykker or Levi could deny that it was truly from Mask deMasque. "

"My parting gift to you was Grand Master Pearl, but I had to co-conspire with her first: It was I who thought to make Levi a bet (Knowing her competitive gambling nature wouldn't allow her to refuse) and I sent Pearl with the game plan and all the evidence I had but one piece: The brooch."

"I kept that by to present to General Tophel once Levi called… Which I knew she would."

"And that, Phoenix Wright, is how you won that case. I believe I deserve a thank you."

--End Testimony—

Phoenix looked at Pearl and Asmodeus in utter disbelief.

"You knew? You knew this whole time, and you didn't say anything?" he asked nobody in particular.

"Sure. I'm never one to count my eggs before they hatch. As for Pearl? I couldn't let anyone know about my truer intentions. And, neither would she. Pearl still cares about you, despite not communicating for a while. She wouldn't throw you into jeopardy just to tell the truth." Asmodeus said, stroking Pearl on the head like a small kitten.

"I'll always help you, Mr Nick; In any way I can..." Pearl said, with watery eyes.

Phoenix knelt down and the two hugged as Asmodeus watched in disgust.

"It's a good thing I don't have a soul, otherwise I might think this was a happy reunion." He scowled.

Hold it!!

"Asmodeus, you do have a soul."

"Oh really. And how exactly can you prove that?"

"You cared. You devised that scheme just so I could win the case. That speaks volumes about you."

"Aha. No no no. I might have cared about this case, but I did so for my own ends also."

"Well, in that case, I have one last piece of evidence."

Take that!!

"The Magatama?" Asmodeus asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes: It searches for Psyche Locks on the soul of some body when they're keeping secrets. Point being, you had Psyche Locks when I asked you about Lana… So that must mean you still have a soul."

"…Harumph. Just remember what I said before I left. Are you staying with Wright, Pearl?" Asmodeus said, starting to turn around.

"Yes, if that's alright." Pearl said, looking up at Phoenix.

"So be it. I have matters I must attend to anyway."Asmodeus said, lumbering out the court room door.

"He doesn't exactly say a simple 'goodbye', does he?" Phoenix said, not keeping his eye off of him until the door shut.

"Nope, but that's just the way he is, I suppose." Pearl said, bouncing up.

"Which begs the question…" Phoenix asked, scratching his chin.

"Y-Yes?"

"You and Asmodeus seemed to be pretty buddy-buddy with each other back there: You helped him sort out this whole thing, after all… How long have you known each other?"

"…"

Everything turned to black, and six psyche locks appeared on Pearl.

"I'm sorry, Mr Nick… but I can't tell you..." Pearl said, looking down.

"I should have been anticipating this, but… Pearl? What's going on?" Phoenix thought, trying to comprehend how long they've possibly known each other; and how.

Even though this case was over, there were still too many questions to answer: and not enough time.