Rei Ryghts: Ace Attorney
The Mech-Suit's Turnabout
by Derald Snyder
Investigation- Day 1 (Part 2)
*KA-THOOOOM!*
"W-what was that?!" 'Yuu' squeaked, looking around for the source of the noise.
"Oh, no! Look over there! It's an attack!" The NPC yelled, pointing to the southwest. In the sky, there was what appeared to be a purple-hued robot that was raining destruction on the expo with laser blasts fired from its palms.
"What the...?" 'Yuu' trailed off. (Is that... the mech suit that Morty and Nepgear were talking about? But why is it attacking the expo?) Her train of thought derailed as she felt her companion shaking the sleeping Neptune.
"Lady Purple Heart! Wake up, please! Your citizens need you!" No response.
'Yuu' tried to help rouse the CPU as well. "Please Neptune, you *have* to wake up!" Unfortunately, all they managed to accomplish was causing her jaw to fall open slightly, a trail of drool coming down her cheek. (Why doesn't she wake up?! Everyone's in danger...! And where's Nepgear?! They're the only ones who could stop-)
And then, 'Yuu' jerked her head up as an idea came to mind. "Stay with her!" she ordered the NPC as she gently removed herself from under Neptune's head, letting it rest on the bench. "I'm going to... call the police!" With that, she ran off...
"Wait!" the man called after her, only to nearly fall over as the shockwave from another explosion hit. "Ugh, stay with her my foot! Better to just get us both to shelter!" He lifted the unconscious CPU in his arms, before turning and running away from the carnage.
Rei came to a stop in an unoccupied alleyway, panting slightly. Part of her couldn't believe she was about to do this... But she didn't see any other option.
(Several of my clients have put their faith in me in the past, so I should be able to do this... I just hope I don't lose my mind again...) Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus. "The one in the mech suit... *that's* my enemy. Everyone else is... not worth my time..." Rei clenched her fists and concentrated.
"Access!"
Immediately the alleyway was engulfed in a pillar of light...
July 7
South Courtyard
Planeptune Higher Learning Institute
Though several people had fled when the attack started, quite a few had stuck around, wondering if this was just a student that had gotten a little too overzealous in demonstrating his/her work... The mech suit came to a stop in mid-air, looking down on a group of four people clustered together...
...before firing what appeared to be several small missiles from its shoulders, targeting the students who screamed as they froze in panic...
*THOOM-THOO-THOO-THOOMMM!*
After a few seconds, the students realized they were unharmed, Looking up, they saw what appeared to be a CPU in HDD form, a large stone shield in front of her, making it obvious how she had blocked the attack. Relief soon changed to terror, however, as they realized said CPU had long cyan hair and a pair of horns atop her head, which turned, revealing a familiar deranged face...
"I suggest you maggots run, unless you WANT to die."
"Oh my Goddess!" exclaimed one of the students. "It's HER!" The realization seemed to unfreeze the four, as they promptly fled in a panic. Letting the shield dissipate, the goddess rose into the air, allowing everyone to get a good look at her.
"I'm *back*, bitches!"
"AAAAAHHHH! It's Rei Ryghts!"
"AAAIIIIIEEEE!"
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
"MOMMY!"
"I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"
Rei let loose with an evil laugh as she watched the remaining citizens flee. "That's right, you fools! Run! Run like the cowards you are!" (So you don't get caught in the crossfire...) Turning to the mech suit, she cracked her knuckles expectantly. "All right, tin can, let's see how you fare against someone who can fight back!"
Her opponent responded to the challenge by raising its hands and firing off laser blasts, which were deflected by Rei's stone shield. It then fired off another salvo of missiles, which caused several cracks to appear, before charging forward with its own body, the kinetic impact shattering the shield completely-
-but Rei was not behind it. "Got you, fool!" The mech suit looked up just in time to see Rei bear down on it with a brutal axe kick that sent it crashing to the ground. "Heh, that all you got?"
The mech suit responded by firing its rocket boots, flying away horizontally, before pulling up after getting some distance from the goddess. Rei promptly chased after it, only to see the suit turn itself around in midair, the CPU realizing too late she'd made a mistake.
"OOOF!" She grunted as she was head-butted in the gut, sending her crashing into a pile of burning metal from the robot's earlier attack. After a few seconds, however, said pile promptly exploded, revealing a *very* ticked off Rei, surrounded in a battle aura.
"All right, that's it..." she growled, her weapon appearing in her hand. "No more Miss Nice Goddess!" She launched toward her opponent at high speed, the mech suit unleashing twin flamethrowers from its wrists in response. However, Rei simply swung her weapon in front of her, causing a strong gust of wind that blew out the flames, before tilting her body backwards, slamming her knee into the mech suit's groin area.
"Huuuurrggghh!" A voice sounded from inside the suit as it doubled over in pain. Male or female, an attack like that still hurt, even with armor...
"So, there *is* someone inside," mused Rei. "Which means I just have to pry you open like the tin can you are!" The mech suit responded by swinging its entire body around, catching the goddess in the side, sending her flying away. This time, she was able to stop herself in midair, before charging forward again. The mech suit crossed its arms in front of itself to defend against the attack...
Only for Rei to suddenly stop right in front of it. "Fooled you!" She swung her weapon up from below, breaking her opponent's guard, before somersaulting forward, bringing her weapon down on it's head, sending it crashing to the ground, cracking the stone walkway. Rei then followed up with a double-footed kick to the chest, causing a small crater. The mech suit jerked erratically, sparks flying from every point on its body, before its visor dimmed, slumping as it shut down.
Rei couldn't help but laugh in triumph. "Finished already, maggot? What a joke!" Kneeling down, she grabbed at the helmet... "Now, let's see who the pilot is!" she cackled as she removed the headpiece...
Only to drop it in shock, eyes widening as she recognized the purple-haired girl inside. "N...Nepgear?!"
Indeed it was Nepgear, her hair pulled up into a ponytail, her expression a mix of fear, panic and relief. "Th... this isn't what it looks like!" she screamed. "Get me OUTTA HERE!"
The cyan-haired CPU quickly recovered, scoffing. "Stupid, useless, good-for-nothing CPU Candidate!" she ranted as she bent down and wrenched off the damaged chest piece, tossing it aside.
"Freeze!" A male voice cried out. Rei stood and turned slightly to see two brown-suited security officers standing a few yards away, guns drawn. "Don't move!"
"Uh, bro..." the other officer spoke up. "Ah don't think this's a good idea..."
"Shaddup, Drew! Ah'm in charge here!"
Rei's expression turned disdainful. "Oh... the *police*." Turning fully to face them, she spread her wings, rising slightly into the air. "Wriggling worms like you aren't even worth my time. If you want her..." She gestured to Nepgear. "You can have her. I'm done." With that she ascended rapidly, before turning and flying off.
Drew lowered his gun in relief. "Whoo-ee, that was scary! Ah saw mah life flashin' before mah eyes there!"
"Can't say Ah disagree with you, brother," the other officer muttered as he holstered his weapon. "C'mon, let's get this lil' troublemaker into custody..."
"Shore thing, Andy!"
Touching back down in the alleyway, Rei let her transformation revert, becoming 'Yuu Kobayashi' once more as she leaned against the wall, panting slightly. "I... I did it... I stopped the attack without killing anyone..." (But why was Nepgear of all people inside? What the heck is going on?!) Shaking her head, she stood up before walking out of the alley. (First things first, gotta find Neptune...)
As she stepped into open space, she was suddenly confronted with two burly-looking black NPCs. "Uh... c-can I h-help you, g-gentlemen...?"
"Rei Ryghts?" one of them spoke, causing her heart to drop into the pit of her stomach.
(I'm busted...) "Yes?"
"Please come with us." Rei lowered her head as she held her hands out, expected to be arrested right there... Instead however, the men gently took her by the forearms, escorting her away...
June 7
Western Gate
Planeptune Higher Learning Institute
The two NPCs led Rei to a large van. "Get in." She promptly complied, her head still lowered as the sliding door was shut. (Off to jail for me... stupid, stupid, stupid...)
"Hello, Rei. it's been a while." Looking up, she saw a familiar brown-haired girl with green eyes, wearing a large blue trenchcoat and a leafy bow in her hair.
"IF," Rei acknowledged. "Figures you'd be the one escorting me to prison..."
"Who said anything about prison?" IF said.
Rei's eyes widened at that statement. "Huh? B-but aren't y-you here t-to arrest m-me f-for what I j-just pulled in t-the courtyard...?"
IF heaved a sigh as she placed her hands on Rei's shoulders. "Rei, listen to me. You are not in trouble. Not yet, anyway. Right now, I just need you to tell me everything that happened from your perspective."
"O-Okay... um, where do I start?"
"Start with when the attack first happened." IF instructed.
"OK, well... yadda yadda yadda blah-de-blah-de-blah blah blah..."
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I see..." IF nodded as she scribbled on a notepad. "But why did you feel the need to transform?"
"W-well, Neptune was asleep, and Nepgear wasn't anywhere to be found..." Rei's eyes widened as something suddenly clicked. "AH! Neptune! I forgot all about her...!"
"It's OK, Rei, she's fine," IF assured her. "One of my fellow agents is with her right now. There's nothing to worry about."
"One of your agents...? Wait, you mean that NPC was...?"
"Exactly," the other woman smiled. "Good deduction. I expected no less from a lawyer of your caliber."
Rei blushed slightly at the compliment, before something else occurred to her. "But wait, I d-don't understand! I thought Neptune s-said you were on s-some secret mission o-or something...!"
IF turned her head to one side, frowning. "It's... related." Facing Rei again, she continued, "I can't really tell you anything right now, but I can say that me and my fellow Guild members will be assisting with the investigation. Is that satisfactory?"
"I-I guess..." Rei sighed. "So, d-does that mean you w-want me t-to defend Nepgear i-in court?"
IF sighed. "Well, Neptune will probably insist on it once she wakes up... Speaking of which, we better go see her."
"R...right..."
June 7, 12:36 PM
Main Hallway, First Floor
Planeptune Higher Learning Institute
IF and Rei walked in from outside, seeing Neptune and IF's NPC associate sitting in two chairs, the CPU still sawing logs.
"How is she?" IF inquired.
"Still no luck," the NPC shook his head. "She's mumbled a few words in her sleep, but that's about it..."
Rei bit her lip, coming to a decision. "Allow me." Walking up to the sleeping goddess, she put her lips close to her ear. "So, maggot, I guess you don't care that your little sister Nepgear has been *arrested* and is going to jail!"
"Hmmm... Nepgear... arrested..." Neptune mumbled. There was no further response for a few seconds... then her eyes suddenly shot open. "Wait, WHAAAAAAAAAAAATT?!" She jumped several feet into the air, nearly hitting her head on the ceiling. "Nepgear's been *arrested*?! What the heck happened?!"
"Well, *that* worked..." the NPC grunted in surprise.
Rei turned to IF. "Should you tell her, or should I?"
"I think you should," the agent answered. "You were there, after all..."
"OK..." she sighed. "It's like this, Neptune... yadda yadda yadda blah-de-blah-de-blah blah blah..."
The purple-haired CPU's eyes shrank to write circles in disbelief. "So, lemme get this straight... a mech suit attacked the expo, you went and transformed and thrashed the guy, only to discover Nepgear was piloting?!"
"A-actually, she s-sounded like s-she wasn't i-in there o-of her own w-will..."
Neptune frowned at this. "I knew it... it's that Morty guy! He must have tricked her or something! He's *gotta* be the one!"
"Neptune, please, calm down," IF insisted. "We don't know all the facts yet, so we shouldn't jump to conclusions..."
The CPU looked ready to argue the point. "But Iffy, who else could've gotten her in there?!"
"W-well, maybe she g-got in t-to test it o-out, but t-then the suit malfunctioned or s-something," Rei suggested. "It could have b-been a p-preprogrammed battle r-routine or something l-like that..."
"Which is why we need to go talk to him," said IF. "And please Neptune, don't accuse him of anything before he's had a chance to explain himself..."
Neptune heaved a sigh. "It'd better be one heck of an explanation then..."
June 7
Robotics Garage, First Floor
Planeptune Higher Learning Institute
Mortez Doez was looking quite distressed when the three ladies arrived. "Man, oh man... what a mess this whole thing is..."
"Excuse me, Mr. Doez?" IF spoke up. "My name is IF, and I'm assisting with the investigation. I need to ask you some questions about what happened."
"And you better have some darn good answers, " muttered Neptune, which got her dope-slapped by the Guild agent. "OW, Iffy...!"
"Please, Neptune, let me talk here," IF said.
"It's all right," sighed Mortez. "I have a little brother who got himself in some big trouble awhile back, so I can kinda guess how she feels..."
Neptune's expression quickly shifted from upset and angry to mildly curious. "Really? What happened? Did he hijack one of your mech suits and go on a rampage or something?"
"Ding ding, ding! Give the lady a prize," Mortez affirmed with a slight sarcastic undertone. "Yeah, he took one of my prototypes, dubbed himself 'Anonydeath', and started wrecking stuff all over the area. Thankfully, the power source wasn't up to snuff, so he was arrested once the suit shut down on him. Thanks to that idiot, my family was forced to move here from Lastation in order to escape the negative stigma." He massaged his temples. "And now, it's happened all over again..."
(Wait, so... Mortez's brother is this dimension's Anonydeath?!) Putting that thought aside, Neptune asked, "But why would you even build something like that anyway? I mean with all the weapons it had..."
"I-it was meant for military application," Mortez stuttered. "I-I mean, you goddesses can't be everywhere at once, so I figured a skilled warrior could don the suit and help resolve more... minor incidents. Y-You know, just make your jobs easier. T-That's the same thing I told Nepgear..."
"So, did Nepgear enter the suit of her own will?" IF inquired.
"Well, yeah, I asked if she wanted to help me test it out... I even had some targets set up," he gestured to a set of mannequins standing single-file at the other end of the garage. "Never expected her to hijack it though..."
"OBJECTION!" declared Neptune. "I heard from a reliable source that when Nepgear was pulled out of the suit, she was yelling that it wasn't what it looked like, and she was really freaked out!"
"H-hey, *I'm* the one t-that's supposed to o-object here...!" Rei protested.
Mortez crossed his arms. "Come on, she was the one in the suit, maybe she just went out of control?"
"Or maybe someone remote-controlled it!" Neptune shot back. "Don't think I didn't see that controller on your work desk!"
"Huh? Oh, right..." The mechanical engineering student walked over to the bench and picked up the remote. "Well, you're right in one sense, this *is* a remote control for the mech suit, but it's range is really weak. Like, only 10 meters or so. There's no way I could've used this to maneuver that suit all around the courtyard, if that's what you're thinking..."
"Regardless, we'll have to take that remote into evidence," IF stated. "I'll have forensics check it to see if your explanation checks out."
"Fair enough," said Mortez, handing the remote over. "But I'm telling the truth. By the way, who stopped Nepgear's rampage, anyway?"
**Mech Remote added to Court Record.**
"Nepgear wasn't rampaging!" protested Neptune, only to be stopped by a raised hand from IF.
"Neptune, please. For your information, Mr. Doez, the one who stopped the attack was Rei Ryghts, of all people."
Mortez blinked several times in disbelief. "W-wait, THE Rei Ryghts?! That psycho goddess that nearly destroyed Planeptune and threatened all of Gamindustri?! You're kidding me...!"
"We have several witnesses who confirm it," the Guild agent affirmed. "Don't worry, we're searching the area for her as we speak."
Rei fought off the urge to sneeze as she readjusted her sunglasses.
"Well then, with all due respect, miss Neptune, shouldn't *you* be helping out with that? I mean, you're the only one here who could even *remotely* stand a chance against her!"
"I told my fellow agents to call us immediately if they find her, so Neptune can get to the scene ASAP," IF reassured him. "We have the situation under control. Besides," she continued, "doesn't it make sense that Neptune would be here, since it's her little sister on the hot seat?"
"Y-yeah... of course, you're right. I'm sorry." Morty bowed to Neptune repentantly. "So... is there anything else I can do to help you?"
"Well, most likely you'll be called upon to testify at Nepgear's trial... Can we count on your cooperation?" IF asked.
"Sure, no problem," the student nodded. "Just tell me when and I'll be there."
"OK then. Thanks Mr. Doez, we'll be in touch. Come on, Neptune, Yuu."
"O-okay," Rei nodded as she followed after the agent, Neptune trailing behind her...
June 7
Main Hallway, First Floor
Planeptune Higher Learning Institute
"By the way, Iffy..." Neptune spoke up. "Am I gonna be able to visit Nepgear in jail? She's gonna need all the support she can get..."
IF searched through her pockets for her cell phone, eventually finding it. "Well, let me call my fellow agents and see if we can talk to her now." Dialing a number, she stepped aside as the call connected, speaking in hushed tones.
"Umm..." Rei spoke up. "A-are you g-going to want me t-to d-defend your sister in c-court?"
Neptune stared at her like she'd grown tentacles. "I thought that was a no-brainer. Of course I want you defend Nep Jr..."
"What do you mean tomorrow?!" IF suddenly yelled. "We've only just started the investigation!" She paused as she listened to the voice on the other end. "Seriously?! *sigh* OK, I'll tell them. Don't worry, I've got a lawyer already lined up for her defense. Yes, her. You got a problem with that? ...Alright. OK, bye." She hung up. "Just great..."
"What's wrong, Iffy?" The CPU asked. "What's going on tomorrow?"
"The trial's scheduled for tomorrow," IF groaned in exasperation. "Apparently the headmaster for the Institute made a real stink over the incident, and wants to make an example of Nepgear..."
"What?! That stinks like limburger cheese!" Neptune protested. "We haven't even found any real clues or anything!"
"W-what about N-Nepgear?" Rei inquired.
IF sighed, "Well, the security guards who arrested her put her through the wringer in interrogation. She's not really in the mood to see anyone right now..." She shook her head. "Look, I'll tell the others to try and step it up a bit. But for now, you two should probably go and get rested for tomorrow."
Neptune hung her head and sighed. "Man, if only I hadn't decided to catch a few winks, things probably wouldn't be so bad right now..."
"B-but where will I stay?" Rei asked. "I-I hadn't b-been planning o-on staying the n-night..."
"You'll be bunking with me, of course!" Neptune stated matter-of-factly. "Don't worry, once I explain things to Histy, I'm sure she'll understand..."
June 7
Neptune's Room
Planeptune Basilicom
"I'm home, Histy!" Neptune declared as she and Rei walked in. "And I've got a houseguest!"
"Hello Neptune," Histoire, Planeptune's Oracle, greeted the CPU. "And you as well... Rei." The fairy's eyes narrowed slightly, the lawyer seeming to wither under her gaze.
"I-it was her idea, n-not mine," she squeaked.
"I'm sure you've heard by now what happened?" asked Neptune.
"I saw it on the news," Histoire affirmed. "Shares are already dropping because of this... if Nepgear gets convicted, it could prove disastrous."
"Hey, it's cool. We've got a veteran lawyer on our side, after all. And besides, unlike Lowee, Planeptune uses jury trials, so the... uh... the..."
"I believe the phrase you're searching for is 'burden of proof'," The all-seeing tome supplied.
"That's it! The 'burden-of-proof' is lower than in Lowee's trials, so this should be a snap for Rei!"
"I-I don't know..." Rei sighed. "I mean, Nepgear w-was c-caught about as r-red-handed a-as you c-can get... Convincing a j-jury she's innocent w-won't b-be easy."
"Maaaaybe, but you've overcome some pretty low odds in court before, too," The CPU pointed out. "If anyone can pull this off, it's you! And I'll be right by your side to give you support!"
Rei couldn't help but smile from Neptune's reassurance. "Thank you..."
With that, the two retired for the night. But what would await them in court tomorrow?
To be continued...