Rei Ryghts: Ace Attorney

The Mech-Suit's Turnabout

by Derald Snyder

Trial- Final Day (Part 1)

Court Record:

-Drugged Pudding

-Mech Remote

-Crime Scene Diagram

-Mech Suit Helmet

-Security Staff Roster

-NepCarFax Report

-Abnes Testimony

-Bullock Bros. Robbery Article

-Lab Security Door

-Security Access Log

July 10, 9:37 AM

District Court

Defendant Lobby No. 3

(This is it...) Rei thought to herself. (One way or another, everything comes to an end today...)

"So, did you find the mastermind who set me up?" Nepgear inquired.

"I think we know who did it..." muttered Neptune. "The problem is proving it. After all, who's gonna believe that the headmaster himself did it?"

"Th-the headmaster?!" the CPU Candidate gasped in shock. "I met him once... he seemed a bit gruff, but not *that* bad..."

"It's him," Rei stated firmly. "I'm almost certain of it."

"I wish I had more stuff for you guys..." IF sighed. "But we still haven't found the laptop or Andrew Bullock... On top of that, our grilling of Underling's gone nowhere. She just keeps saying, 'jailbirds don't squawk'..."

"Figures she wouldn't crack easy..." Neptune sighed.

"Actually, I think Segata's going to be putting her on the witness stand today," Iffy supplemented. "After all, he's the one who took her down in the first place, so maybe his presence will intimidate her into revealing something..."

"Let's just hope she doesn't try to escape again..." sighed Nepgear.

"Surely Mr. Sanshiro will pre-empt any attempt at that," Rei muttered. "I'm actually looking forward to cross-examining her. It'll be a good way to get some payback for that groin attack yesterday..."

"Anyway, I'll be cheering you guys on from the gallery," IF stated. "Good luck!"

"Thanks, Iffy!" Neptune smiled. "All righty then, let's put an end to this farce once and for all!"

July 10, 10:00 AM

District Court

Courtroom No. 3

"All Rise!" declared the bailiff. "Court is now in session for the trial of the State v. Nepgear, the honorable Judge Theodore Kintobor presiding."

"The defense is ready, Your Honor," Rei stated solemnly.

"The prosecution is also ready," Segata added.

Judge Kintobor took his seat. "I feel the need to remind both parties that this is the last day of trial allowed before the case is sent to deliberations. Both sides will need to present solid proof with their arguments."

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Understood."

"Very good," the judge nodded. "Prosecutor Sanshiro, your opening statement, if you please."

Segata nodded, before beginning, "As was proven yesterday, the security guards at the scene on the day of the expo were in fact bank robbers incognito. Unfortunately, we have been thus far unable to locate the point man of the group, Mr. Andrew Bullock. However, those two were not the only outstanding felons at the expo that day, if you recall. There was also the former ASIC associate who served drugged pudding to CPU Neptune in order to exact revenge for an earlier defeat. But thank to the efforts of miss Neptune and Ms. Kobayashi, that Underling has been arrested. However, we have failed to gather any pertinent information from her via normal interrogation methods. Thus, I have decided to summon her as a witness today, to explain her actions to the court." As he said this, the courtroom doors opened, two burly NPC bailiffs escorting the woman in question, holding her firmly by the forearms, though her wrists were handcuffed.

"Loosen up, willya?!" she protested.

"I don't think so," one of the bailiffs answered.

"You're hurting me, dammit!"

"Surely you've endured worse pain from the goddesses," answered the other bailiff.

"Good work, bailiffs," said Segata. "I will handle things from here." The two burly men promptly released their charge, who jerked away as soon as their grip loosened up.

"About damn time!" she growled, before looking over at the prosecutor's bench. Immediately her pale skin turned even paler as her eyes shrunk to white ovals. "Waaahh! S-Segata Sanshiro? What are you doing here?!"

"He's the prosecutor for this trial, don'tcha know," Neptune spoke up.

"Th-the prosecutor?!"

Segata ordered the woman, "On the witness stand. Now." She promptly complied, shaking slightly with fear. "Name and occupation."

She swallowed hard before stating, "My name is Linda, as if any of you care. As for my occupation... part-time pudding saleswoman, full-time career criminal." The crowd started muttering at this, only being silenced by the judge's gavel.

"Miss Linda," began Kintobor, "do you understand why you have been summoned here?"

"Duh," the former ASIC Underling rolled her eyes, "You morons couldn't crack me in interrogation, so you dragged me here to explain myself. That about right?"

"Guess it'd be redundant to request permission to treat as hostile, huh?" Neptune muttered.

"Indeed," the judge assented. "You will testify truthfully about your actions on the day of the attack on the Robotics Expo."

"Why should I?" Linda grumbled, crossing her arms. "You probably got the whole story figured out anyway..."

Segata said nothing, but faux-chopped his bench loudly.

"Meep!" the felon squeaked. "I-I mean, one testimony, comin' right up!"

(Guess she still remembers what Segata did to her yesterday...) Rei thought to herself.

"Right, so... yeah, I knew that meddling CPU Candidate Nepgear was likely gonna be at the Robotics Expo, so I figured it was the perfect chance to get a little revenge. I got bunch of pudding and mixed in some sleeping drugs, so I could serve one or more of 'em to her, so she'd fall asleep and miss the whole expo! Too bad I couldn't find her there... but I did find the CPU herself! You probably know the rest, Miss Lawyer, seeing as you were there..."

"OBJECTION!" cried Neptune. "Pudding is *my* favorite food, not Nep Jr.'s! Doesn't it make more sense that you were going after *me* specifically?"

"Oh, come on!" muttered Underling. "You two are sisters, so I figured you liked the same kind of foods! And if I could drug you both, so much the better!"

"I suppose that is not entirely out of the realm of possibility..." Segata stated.

"...Ms. Kobayashi, your cross-examination, please." the judge instructed.

"OK!" whispered Neptune. "Now's the time to hit her with that lab report, right?"

Rei shook her head. "Not quite yet."

"Wha-? Why not?!"

"Neptune, we're not trying to prove you were drugged, but that Underling wasn't acting alone," the lawyer explained. "I want to save that evidence until the time is right..."

"...Well, you're the lawyer here," the CPU conceded.

Rei nodded, before turning to the woman at the witness stand. "You know, miss Underling, for all the times the goddesses must have kicked your butt in battle, getting back at them by drugging them asleep... no offense, but that seems a bit mundane for revenge."

"Well, excuuuuse me, Miss Lawyer!" Underling protested. "I don't exactly have much in the way of resources after ASIC bit the dust! I have to make do with what I've got!"

"So you're saying you acted alone?" inquired Segata.

"Well, yeah," the felon affirmed in a slightly sarcastic tone, "not like I have much in the way of friends these days..."

Rei allowed a sinister smirk to spread over her face. "Oh, really? I wonder about that... Your Honor!"

"Y-yes?" gasped Kintobor, caught off guard at being addressed directly.

"Tell me... what would be the worst thing to happen to a CPU? Outside of death, that is."

"Hmmm..." the judge pondered the question. "Well, I would have to say... the worst thing that could happen to a goddess would be if her people lost all faith in her..."

"Correct... so, what if a goddess were perceived to not be helping her people in a time of crisis? That would cause a loss of faith, wouldn't it?"

"W-what are you getting at?" Underling demanded.

Rei just shook her head. "Isn't it obvious? You drugged Neptune so she wouldn't be able to put a stop to the terrorist attack on the expo! And I have eyewitness testimony to back me up!"

"Whadaya mean 'eyewitness testimony'?" the felon growled, starting to sweat a little.

"I'd like to remind the court about miss Abnes' testimony yesterday," the disguised lawyer explained. "An unidentified male called her to the northern courtyard at around the time of the attack, saying it would be the biggest scoop of her life." She crossed her arms. "And what bigger scoop would there be, than a CPU being utterly derelict in her duties, even when innocent lives are at stake?"

"I... I don't know anything about that!" Underling protested, her voice wavering slightly. "Whoever called this reporter, I don't know!"

"OBJECTION!" cried Neptune. "Come on, Underling, do you REALLY expect us to believe that? That you had *nothing* to do with the terrorist attack whatsoever?! Seriously?!" The crowd chattered at this, forcing Judge Kintobor to bang his gavel to quiet them down.

"Oh, yeah?!" the punk girl challenged. "Where's your proof, huh? If you had any, ya would've pulled it out by now!"

"Unfortunately, I must concur with miss Underling," Segata nodded. "Without evidence, your theory of the crime is but a wild guess..."

"I think he just tossed you a softball, Yuu..." Neptune whispered.

Rei shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't call it a *direct* link to the attack... but I *do* have proof that this woman was at least working with someone inside the Institute itself! TAKE THAT!" She presented the forensics report on the drugged pudding, handing to the bailiff who passed it to the judge.

"Hmmm..." Judge Kintobor adjusted his glasses as he read over the report. "If I'm reading this right, the sleeping drug added to the pudding is called 'Senyak-13'."

"And just how does that prove this woman was not working alone?" asked Segata.

(You're just saying that because you have to as the prosecutor, aren't you?) Rei pondered, before speaking aloud, "This particular drug is an unapproved substance being tested in only a few labs across Gamindustri... one of them being the Institute itself!"

"Oh my!" gasped the judge. "So you're saying Miss Linda stole this drug from that laboratory?"

"No, Your Honor," Rei shook her head, "I'm saying that it wouldn't be possible for Underling to have stolen the Senyak-13 from that lab!"

"OBJECTION!" Segata cut in. "Ms. Kobayashi, you are contradicting yourself!"

"No, I'm not," the former goddess retorted. "You know as well as I do that this woman could never have gotten past the security door!"

"Oh, yeah?" Underling challenged. "What makes you so sure of that?!"

"Well, not only do you need the proper access code, but you also need a matching thumbprint to go with it," Rei explained.

"Pfffft!" the felon rolled her eyes. "You think I don't know how to get someone's thumbprint?"

(Hook, line, and sinker,) the lawyer thought triumphantly. She couldn't stop a smirk from forming as she sprang her trap, "Oh, I don't doubt that you could, Underling. Which is why there is also a hidden camera with facial-recognition software!"

Underling recoiled like she'd been punched in the stomach. "Wh-wh-whaaaaat?!" The crowd chattered at this.

"Hah! Didn't know about *that*, did you?" Neptune taunted.

"Order!" the judge banged his gavel. "It seems Miss Linda could not have entered the lab after all..."

"Exactly, Your Honor," Rei nodded. "Which means the only way she could have gotten Senyak-13... is if someone who *did* have access procured it for her!" She then slammed her fists on the bench. "This is proof positive that Underling was NOT working alone!"

"HOLD IT!" yelled the former ASIC member. "If I didn't know about the hidden camera, then how the hell did *you* know?!"

"Quite simple," stated Segata. "We learned about this security feature from the headmaster himself!"

"WHAT?! The headmaster?!" Underling screeched, sweating.

"Indeed. Which is why I have summoned him to testify to the court on this matter!" declared the Savior of Saturn. "Bailiffs, remove this felon from the courtroom and return her to her cell!"

"Yes sir!" the bailiffs complied, taking the punk girl by the forearms and escorting her away.

"OW, easy...!" yelled Underling as she was dragged off. Meanwhile, the headmaster in question came down from the gallery and made his way to the witness stand.

Segata nodded. "Prompt as always, professor. Please state your name and occupation for the record."

"I am Professor Austin Paragan, acting headmaster for the Planeptune Higher Learning Institute," the older man stated. "And I would go on the record saying that I am very upset over the chaos that the defendant has wrought at my school..."

Neptune looked about to explode, only for Rei to grab her by the arm. "Neptune. *Don't,*" she hissed. "You'll only hurt our case..." The CPU sighed in frustration as she sat down, pouting.

"So, professor," the prosecutor began, "As we have just heard, there would have been no possible way for the Underling to enter your laboratory which contained Senyak-13, correct?"

"Correct," nodded the professor. "Which, as the defense has just pointed out, unfortunately means that one of the scientists or higher-ups in security must have obtained the drug for her..." He shook his head. "I thought they were all trustworthy... to learn that one of them may have grossly violated their ethics is very disturbing to me..."

"Boy, he's a good actor, huh?" Neptune whispered to Rei, who could only nod grimly.

"But, couldn't those corrupt security guards, Drew and Andrew Bullock, have procured this drug for Miss Linda?" asked the judge.

"Absolutely not," Paragan stated firmly. "They were only recent hires, and thus lacked the clearance necessary to access that laboratory. Thank goodness for that, given who they turned out to be..."

(Right, because *you* hired them in order to hijack Morty's mech suit with Nepgear inside...) Rei thought.

"That being said, I don't know why the court is wasting time on such a trivial matter," Austin continued. "I thought it was miss Nepgear who was on trial here..."

"OBJECTION!" Neptune cut in. "If Underling hadn't done what she did, I would have transformed and stopped the mech suit myself! She did what she did in order to get me out of the picture!"

"And you failed to recognize her, even though she was a consistent enemy of yours in the past?" Paragan pointed out. "That doesn't reflect well on you, miss Neptune..."

The purple-haired goddess flinched at that. "Oh, come on! It's been years since I saw her last! Nobody's perfect, ya know!"

Judge Kintobor banged his gavel. "I believe we're getting a bit off-topic here. Now, professor, getting back to the matter of the Senyak-13..."

"Yes, yes, of course," the headmaster muttered as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "Anyway, I gave a listing of everyone who had access to that laboratory to Mr. Sanshiro yesterday. Surely you were at least able to narrow down the list of suspects when you checked the access logs..."

"I was," acknowledged the judo master. "To the lone access number that was *not* on the list!"

"What?!" gasped the judge. "An unlisted access number?" The crowd murmured at this.

"That's right!" said Neptune. "And the time this unknown went in the lab was July 6 at 11:05 at night! Exactly the time you would expect for someone to go in and get that drug for Underling, so she could spike my favorite food and serve it to me the next day, the day of the Expo!"

"Oh my!" said Kintobor. "But who could this mystery person be?"

"Actually, Your Honor..." Rei spoke up. "I think I know who it is..."

"You do?" the judge blinked in surprise.

"You do?" Segata said in slight shock.

The lawyer nodded. "Prosecutor Sanshiro was given a complete listing of all that had access to the lab... save one. And the reason that one was not on the list... was because it was a given that he would have access!"

"A given?" pondered Judge Kintobor.

"...Professor Paragan. This is your access number, isn't it?" Rei asked.

"...Mine?" The professor looked Rei straight in the eye at this. She found it a supreme effort not to crumble under his sharp gaze.

"Ms. Kobayashi. Do you have any idea what you are suggesting?" stated Segata.

Rei closed her eyes, before taking a deep breath. "With all due respect..." she stated, her voice wavering slightly, "...it's the only explanation that makes any sense."

"Y-you..." Austin Paragan abruptly let out a cry of anger, as he slammed his fist on the witness stand. "How DARE you! How *dare* you insinuate that I am complicit in a terrorist attack on my own school!" He slammed his fist again. "Is there no depth you attorneys won't stoop to, to get your clients off the hook?!" The gallery started chattering at this.

"Order! Order in the court!" cried Judge Kintobor, as he banged his gavel several times. "Ms. Kobayashi, I would advise you to carefully consider your course of action. Do you seriously intend to accuse the headmaster himself of being involved in this plot?"

"Not just involved, Your Honor..." Rei slammed her fists on the bench. "I believe that Mr. Paragan is, in fact the *mastermind* behind this entire scheme!"

"WHAAAAATT?!" cried Segata as he 'blocked' an attack. The crowd chattered again.

"This is outrageous!" yelled the professor. "You have no proof whatsoever of this! And *why* would I do such a thing? I have dedicated myself fully to this school, and you dare to say that I, the headmaster, have masterminded a terrorist plot to destroy one of its most popular events?!"

"OBJECTION!" yelled Rei. "As I have stated before, the intent was *not* to destroy the Robotics Expo, but rather, to destroy the reputations of both Nepgear and Neptune as goddesses of this nation! To discredit them in the eyes of their own citizens, in order to have them removed from their positions!"

"And now you accuse me of wanting to overthrow Planeptune's government entirely?" Paragan growled. "There is no basis in fact for your extreme accusation!"

Rei just shook her head. "Nice try, professor, but you don't fool me. I *know* that you hate the CPUs more than you love your school! After all..." She pointed her finger at the headmaster. "You were a member of the anti-goddess Citizen's Group!"

"What? The Citizen's Group?!" gasped the judge. "You mean the terrorist group led by Rei Ryghts, before she gained the power of a CPU herself?!"

"Exactly," the disguised lawyer nodded. "I should know, seeing as I was once a member myself!"

"You were?!" Kintobor's eyes went wide at this. The crowd started chattering again.

"Ah, yes," nodded Segata, "you mentioned that yesterday, while we were discussing the case with Agent IF..."

"Correct. And I can say for a fact that I saw the good professor here at at least one or two of the group meetings!" Paragan looked down at this, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Order! Order!" Kintobor gaveled down the restless gallery. "...Well, professor? Is this true? Were you a member of the Citizen's Group?"

"...Before I answer that, I have a question for the defense," Paragan stated. "You said that you were once a member of this anti-goddess group... yet, why are you defending one of them in court here and now?"

"Two reasons," Rei answered. "One, the facts of the case just didn't add up in my mind. As a defense attorney, this was something I could not ignore. And the second..." She looked over at Neptune. "Let's just say I owe a personal debt to Neptune and Nepgear. If it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't even be here today."

"Yuu..." Neptune said softly.

Judge Kintobor nodded. "Well, I suppose being helped out of a tight spot by the goddesses would be enough to make almost anyone change their tune." He then focused his attention back on the headmaster. "Now then, professor, as to Ms. Kobayashi's assertion..."

"Yes, yes, I was just about to address that..." muttered Paragan as he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "First of all, for argument's sake, let's assume that Ms. Kobayashi is correct, that I was a member of this Citizen's Group." Looking over at the defense's bench, he continued, "So, you say that you know I was a member because you saw me at the group meetings. But what if we turn that statement around?"

"Turn it around?" Judge Kintobor blinked.

"If Ms. Kobayashi saw me at a Citizen's Group meeting, would it not follow that I also saw her as well?" the professor argued.

Segata nodded at this. "Yes, I suppose that would make sense..."

"Uh-oh," muttered Neptune, "I don't like where this is going..."

"However, I can state for a fact, that the first time I met Ms. Kobayahi was yesterday!" Paragan concluded. "Before then, I had never met with or heard of anyone named 'Yuu Kobayashi', or anyone matching her description!" If the professor had expected the defense attorney to recoil or break down at this, he was sorely disappointed, as 'Yuu' simply let out a sinister chuckle in response.

"But that's just it, professor," she countered, "my name *isn't* Yuu Kobayashi. It never was. I've been operating under an alias this entire time."

"An alias?" gasped the judge.

"Yuu, what are you..." Neptune's eyes went wide as realization dawned. "NO! Yuu, don't do it! You can't!"

The lawyer looked over at her companion. "I'm so sorry, Neptune... but this is the only way I have to prove the professor's motive." Facing forward again, she cleared her throat. "Your Honor. Prosecutor Sanshiro. You might want to brace yourselves. I'm about to reveal my true identity to the court."

"Hmph," grunted Segata as he crossed his arms. "After all that's happened during this trial, I highly doubt there's anything left that can surprise me..."

"Ah, so that explains all the blackouts on your case files," muttered Kintobor. "So, who are you, really?"

'Yuu' smirked. "Honestly, Professor Paragan, I'm surprised you didn't recognize me sooner... after all I *was* one of your brightest students!" With that, she unzipped her hoodie, throwing it off, revealing her normal business suit underneath. She then switched her sunglasses for her usual eyeglasses, before undoing her ponytail, letting her blue hair flow free. Finally, a familiar horn-like protrusion clicked into place. "IT'S ME, AUSTIN!"

"WHAT?!" screamed the professor. "Oh, son of a-"

"AAAAAHH!" cried Segata he 'blocked' an attack, taking a defensive position. "You! You're..."

"Rei Ryghts herself?!" cried the judge.

"That's right, *maggots*! It was ME all along!" declared the former goddess, a psychotic smirk on her face. To say the gallery panicked was an understatement. A few of the citizens even started running for the doors!

"YOU ALL BOUGHT IT!" cried Rei as she stepped out from behind the defense's bench, pointing at the gallery. "YOU ALL BOUGHT IT, HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER! YOU ALL BOUGHT IT!"

"EVEN MY TEACHER!" she gestured toward the professor. "EVEN MY OLD MENTOR AND TEACHER BOUGHT IT!" Paragan was gripping the hair on the sides of his head, his teeth gritted, an expression of shock and disbelief in his eyes.

"EVERY DAMN ONE OF YOU WERE MADE FOOLS OF!" Rei finished, punctuating her statement with an evil laugh.

"OBJECTION!" yelled Segata as he chopped his bench. "So it was *you*! *You* were the one that stopped the mech suit's attack on the Robotics Expo!"

"B...but why?!" cried the judge.

"Well, you know..." Rei shrugged. "I *really* didn't want to have to do it... but from my perspective, this incompetent excuse for a CPU," she gestured to Neptune, "was sleeping on the job, and Nepgear was nowhere to be seen! So you see, I had no choice, but to use my bad reputation to make those moronic students flee for their lives, so they wouldn't get their sorry asses killed! I even had to save a quartet of them from getting blown up! Oh, and if any of you happen to be in the gallery today, YOU'RE WELCOME!" She then turned back to the professor. "And now, Austin... Austin, now you know! There is no price, I will not pay... there is no depth, that I will not stoop... to protect the innocent, and to make the lives of criminals, here in Gamindustri, a total, complete, living, HELL!" She punctuated those last four words with repeated stabs of her index finger. Professor Paragan had managed to regain his composure somewhat, crossing his arms and shaking his head, avoiding eye contact with his former student.

"Order! ORDER!" yelled Judge Kintobor as he banged his gavel repeatedly. "Order in the court! Order, I say! OOORRRRDEEERRR!"

But order was not to be had, and in the end, the judge had no choice but to call a recess...

To be continued...