Apollo Justice - Turnabout Connections

by WitchHatsFTW

Someone was murdered at the police station, and the suspect is Ema Skye. Wright's still without his badge, so it falls on Apollo to clear Ema's name. But he's not against Klavier this time. Who is this rookie prosecutor? Is he really after the truth? And why is he wearing Godot's mask? As the mystery unravels, the threads tying everything together become clear. [post-AJ, pre-DD].

5. Trial Day 1 (Pt 2)

-Chapter 4-

December 18, 10:56 PM

District Court

Defendant Lobby No. 2

"I'm sorry, Detective Skye," Apollo looked down, disheartened, "I nearly let you down in there…"

Relax," Ema grinned, crossing her arms and tilting her head up confidently, "You're Wright's protégé, right? I've seen first-hand how Wright's trials play out. Things may seem bad, but in the end he always pulls through. I've seen you do it too, you know?"

Apollo looked over at Ema and frowned. Earlier this morning, Ema had been in such a grumpy mood that she was almost unapproachable, but now it seemed that she was almost excited, despite the fact that her situation hadn't gotten any better.

Apollo was about to ask Ema about this out-of-place change of character, when suddenly an iconic, loud crunching brought his attention to Ema's hand and the recently opened bag of snackoos that sat in it.

Oh… so she was just going through snackoo withdrawal… Apollo thought dryly.

"W-where did you get those?" Apollo asked. He hadn't seen her with them earlier, and he was positive the detention center wouldn't let her sneak snackoos in at all, let alone bring them with her to court.

"Wright snuck them in for me," Ema noted, cheeks puffed full with the crunchy snacks, "He's here watching the trial, you know."

Apollo nodded, "Yeah, he mentioned something about that when we talked about the case last night."

After Apollo responded, the two fell into a silence that Apollo would've otherwise described as comfortable if it weren't for the sound of Ema loudly munching on her snackoos.

Apollo didn't have much to discuss with Ema anyway. She hadn't remembered a thing from the day before, regarding the incident that left her unconscious in the evidence room. He supposed he could come up with something to talk about other than the case at hand, but he wanted to stay focused on what was important and he didn't think Ema would take well to small talk considering the situation.

"You know," Ema replied suddenly, breaking the silence with something other than her loud munching this time, "There's… something odd about that Gamma guy. He seems… familiar, somehow."

Apollo looked over at Ema curiously. There it was again. Everyone seemed unnaturally interested in the new prosecutor for some reason. Even the judge mentioned something about recognizing his mask.

It had to be something with the mask. That's what Wright had mentioned before and what the judge had taken note of. In fact, come to think of it, Gamma had mentioned something about the mask having appeared in the courtroom before. Perhaps there was something about the mask in Wright' old case files, and Apollo was just forgetting about it.

Apollo figured Ema was also talking about the mask, but then she spoke up again.

"It's kind of like," Ema paused, trying to find the words to describe her feelings, "It's kind of like I'm supposed to recognize him, but I can't quite figure out who he is with that strange mask on…"

That wasn't what Apollo had expected at all.

"W-wait," Apollo furrowed his brow, placing a finger on his forehead, "You don't recognize that mask?"

Ema's eyes widened as Apollo's question caught her off guard.

"N-no… why? Am… am I supposed to?"

Apollo shook his head, "No, at least, not that I know of. But everyone else seems interested in Gamma because of that mask. Even Wright brought it up yesterday. You're the first person I've heard say Gamma himself was familiar."

Ema fiddled with her hair as she frowned slightly, as though she were mulling over what Apollo had told her in her head.

"Well, it's just an impression. I don't actually know him," Ema replied finally, "I'd probably remember someone with a strange name like 'Gamma' if I knew them."

Apollo frowned. As confusing as Ema's case had been so far, Apollo was even more perplexed by the rookie prosecutor who stood against him in the courtroom.

Before Apollo could mull over things any more, the bailiff entered the room and called out to Apollo.

"The recess is nearly over, court is about to reconvene."

Apollo nodded and turned to Ema.

"I can't promise I can get to the bottom of this in one day, but I definitely won't let them pronounce you guilty!"

Ema nodded silently and the two made their way out of the defendant lobby and through the courthouse, ready for the next phase of this courtroom battle.

---

December 18, 11:06 PM

District Court

Courtroom No. 4

The judge clacked his gavel down upon the bench to signal the end of the recess he had issued and looked across the court as he spoke.

"This trial seems rather straightforward, and the guilt of the defendant seems rather certain, yet there are still a few questions that need to be answered. Why was the defendant found unconscious at the scene of the crime? What exactly happened in that room at the moment of the shooting? These are both questions I hope the prosecution can answer."

"Your Honor, I believe the next witness will provide an acceptable explanation about the events that took place in the room at the time of the shooting," Gamma replied, grinning, "After all, he was one of the first people on the scene."

The judge nodded, "Very well, the prosecution may call its next witness."

Gamma nodded, "The prosecution calls Victor Darke to the stand!"

Apollo felt his shoulders slump at the name.

Why did it have to be him!?

A few moments later, the cocky visage of the scientist known as Victor Darke was standing at the witness stand, arms crossed smugly.

Gamma looked unfazed by his appearance, but Apollo thought something was odd with the way he was standing. Apollo might've been imagining it, but he seemed a little more stiff than usual.

"Witness, state your name and profession."

Victor smirked confidently and placed a hand on his hip, tilting his head to the side and flashing the court a toothy grin.

"Names Victor Darke. You might not have heard of me before, but you've definitely seen my work. I'm the number one forensic scientist down at the precinct."

The judge's eyes widened, "The… number one?"

Victor continued to grin, "That's right, gramps. Number one. The guy in first place. The gold medal finalist. I carry the shoulders of our forensics department. Heh, that ballistics test? That was my work. Took me no more than five minutes from the moment I got the bullet."

Gamma slammed the desk, "If you're done bragging, witness, please testify to the court about the day of the murder. Specifically, how the crime scene was found, and what you believe occurred."

"Heh, fine, I think the court recognizes my importance by now anyway."

The judge clacked his gavel, "Alright, please begin your testimony."

Witness Testimony

- The Defendant and the Victim -

"When I arrived at the scene, it was a pretty nasty sight. The victim was lying dead on the floor of the evidence room with a large pool of blood around him. The defendant was lying nearby, unconscious and holding the gun in her hands. At first it seems weird, but it's obvious what happened. With the last of his strength, Allen Renchez fought back and knocked the defendant out cold. Pretty hardcore if you ask me."

- End Testimony -

The judge nodded, "I see. So you believe the victim fought back against the defendant, which is why she was found unconscious. Very well. Mr. Justice, you may begin your cross examination."

For someone who brags so much, he certainly left a big, gaping hole in his testimony. This one's almost too easy…

Apollo looked over at Gamma, who was staring across the courtroom with a blank expression.

I'll worry about Gamma later… It's time for my cross-examination. Here comes Justice!

Cross-Examination

- The Defendant and the Victim -

"When I arrived at the scene, it was a pretty nasty sight. The victim was lying dead on the floor of the evidence room with a large pool of blood around him. The defendant was lying nearby, unconscious and holding the gun in her hands. At first it seems weird, but it's obvious what happened. With the last of his strength, Allen Renchez fought back and knocked the defendant out cold. Pretty hardcore if you ask me-"

"OBJECTION!"

Apollo slammed his fists down on the table.

"There's a rather large contradiction in your testimony just now, Mr. Darke."

Victor tilted his head and raised an eyebrow cockily at Apollo.

"Really now, Mr. Justice?"

Apollo nodded, "You said that Allen Renchez fought back after being shot at, which is why Detective Skye was found unconscious at the scene… but that's impossible!"

"Impossible!?" Victor asked, indignant, "You'll be surprised what even the most pathetic weaklings are capable of in a pinch."

Apollo shook his head and grinned confidently, "Take a look at the victim's autopsy report. It says right here that the bullet entered Mr. Renchez's heart and he died instantly. It's not that I don't believe the victim didn't have the physical strength to knock the defendant unconscious…"

Apollo paused, slamming his fists down on the bench then pointing directly at Victor.

"It's that the victim couldn't have done anything after he was attacked! He died immediately!"

Victor reeled back in surprise and the small cat bell attached to his choker jingled comically; a rather stark contrast from his serious, always full-of-himself personality.

"W-well, maybe he knocked her out before he was shot!"

"If he had knocked Ema out before he was shot, then how do you suppose she shot him in the first place!"

Apollo slammed both his fists on the table aggressively.

"The defendant was found unconscious at the scene, meaning she had been knocked out at some point during the incident! However, she couldn't have been knocked out after the victim was shot, nor could she have shot anyone had she been knocked out beforehand! That proves that there was someone else in the evidence room on that day!"

At Apollo's forceful conclusion, the gallery erupted into commotion, murmurs and discussion creating a cacophony of voices throughout the courtroom. The judge had to clack his gavel quite extensively to get them to settle down, but once he did, an unusually calm silence settled over the entire courtroom.

Apollo smirked confidently and turned his attention towards Gamma, only to look on in surprise once he realized that Gamma didn't even seem the least bit phased by what he had just declared. In fact, Gamma had the beginnings of a confident grin plastered across his face.

"Heh," Gamma laughed, "Answer me this, Mr. Justice… who's to say that Ema was knocked unconscious at all?"

"What are you talking about!" Apollo asked, slamming the desk again and pointing at Gamma, "The defendant is clearly unconscious in the crime scene photo!"

"Ema was unconscious when the scene was discovered, that much is true," Gamma pointed out, "However, that isn't to say that her unconsciousness was a result of a physical assault. Consider this: Perhaps Ema was merely overcome with shock over the horrific act she had just carried out, and fainted on her own."

Gamma looked at Apollo as though he were expecting the defense attorney to reel back in surprise and start sweating bullets now that his argument had been blown to pieces with the masked prosecutors reasoning. Instead, Apollo looked on confidently as he crossed his arms.

"That… simply isn't possible," Apollo replied, grinning.

The judge clacked his gavel and looked at Apollo expectantly, "If you're going to make a claim like that, you better be prepared to back it up, Mr. Justice."

Apollo nodded, "Yeah, I know. The thing that shows it isn't possible for the Detective Skye to have simply fainted is this…"

"TAKE THAT!"

The judge's eyes widened as Apollo presented the profile of Ema Skye herself to the courtroom.

"T-that's… the defendant!"

Apollo nodded, "While I was speaking with Detective Skye, she told me that she had a nasty bump on the back of her head. While my client can't recall anything from the morning of the murder, that's pretty solid evidence that she was struck by someone with the express intent of knocking her unconscious!"

"OBJECTION!"

Gamma shook his head and frowned at Apollo, speaking in a tone that sounded filled with mock disappointment, "Mr. Justice, this is my first trial, but I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't go easy on me just for my sake."

Apollo glared at Gamma, "I'm… I'm not going easy on you!"

The judge shook his head, "I'd have to agree with Mr. Justice on this one. With such a hopeless case, I'm sure he's doing the best he can to try to counter your arguments."

Apollo slumped over once more, looking at the judge with an entirely unamused expression.

Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being patronized?

Gamma raised his hand up to his mask and shook his head, "In this dark age, can 'facts' such as that be taken at face value? Fabricated evidence takes time to prepare, but simple word-of-mouth statements meant to garner sympathy for the defendant can be made up on the spot. You work under that legendary defense attorney, so I doubt that was your intention…"

Gamma pointed forcefully towards Apollo, "…but do you have any evidence to support your claim!? Was the defendant, Ema Skye, really struck over the head with anything?"

"OBJECTION!"

Apollo slammed his fists down on the bench in front of him and pointed at Gamma angrily.

"If you want proof, why don't you take a look at the defendant's head yourself! She still has the bump where she was struck!"

"OBJECTION!"

Gamma slammed his own desk with the back of his hand and grinned.

"Even if she has a bump now… there's no way you can prove that she had that bump on the day of the murder! Perhaps she accidentally bumped her head against the cold walls of her holding cell!"

The judge nodded as he closed his eyes, mulling over Gamma's last statement.

"Yes, that's very true. There are times I bump my head against my bed's headboard on accident. It's times like those that I wish I had hair to cover up the bump that forms."

"A-Ack! No…. nooooo waaaay!"

Apollo reeled back in shock and felt his hair spikes droop down over his forehead. He knew that Ema had an injury on the back of her head. She had showed it to him. Even still, he could not provide solid evidence that she even had the injury to begin with.

The judge pounded his gavel, shaking his head at the sweating lawyer behind the defense bench.

"It seems that this trial has come full circle. It does not appear that Mr. Justice has proof of the defendant's injury. As to whether or not the defendant merely fainted has yet to be established, I do not consider that a significant reason to prolong this trial further. I am now prepared to hand down my verdict."

The judge paused dramatically as Apollo sat, sweating bullets at the stand. He wanted to raise an objection, but he had truly run out of fuel this time.

I… I failed… I let you down, Detective Skye… and I failed Wright too…

"HOLD IT!"

Apollo's head shot up at the sound of the voice.

The judge's eyes widened as he looked around the room, looking for the source of the shout.

Gamma merely sat at the bench, though he had one arm raised against his mask as he fiddled around with it.

Apollo turned off to his side to see Wright standing next to him, looking considerably cleaned up but still otherwise in street clothes. Rather than his normal outfit, the man was wearing a white t-shirt with a stylized Steel Samurai head printed across its chest and a pair of dark blue jeans, although he was still wearing his wool hat and had the locket strung around his neck. Wright himself had his hands casually shoved in his pockets and was grinning confidently, a smirk somewhat reminiscent of his glory days before he was disbarred.

"Prosecutor Gamma," Wright began, "I don't know how knowledgeable you are when it comes to dealing with the police department and the detention center… but I know for a fact that proof of Ema's injury exists!"

Apollo expected Gamma to react with surprise at Wright's bold statement, but instead the prosecutor seemed as calm as ever, with a blank expression plastered across his face.

"So," Gamma began calmly, "You've finally stopped hiding in the gallery…. Wright."

Wright's expression darkened and he glared directly at Gamma, forgetting the trial for the time being.

"That mask… Just who are you, exactly?"

Gamma turned his head slightly to meet Wright's gaze directly and gave the faintest of smiles.

"From what I've heard about you… you already know the answer to that question."

Gamma fiddled with his mask again and looked at the judge, who seemed rather lost now that such a calm, serious atmosphere had settled over the courtroom. Apollo was also slightly unnerved by how calm the two were conversing, despite being on opposite sides of the courtroom in the middle of a heated trial.

"Regardless," Gamma replied, turning his attention back to the trial at hand, "You mentioned proof. You wouldn't happen to have this proof, would you?"

Wright shook his head, his cocky grin coming back almost immediately.

"Sorry, Prosecutor Gamma," Wright replied, "but I'm not the one who's supposed to have this proof, you are."

Wright took his hands out of his pockets and placed them on his hips smugly.

"When a suspect is arrested while unconscious or otherwise injured, they are automatically given a rudimentary medical examination. The results of this examination are recorded, regardless of the findings."

Wright raised his arm slowly and purposefully before pointing aggressively at Gamma.

"As the prosecutor for this case, you should have received this report yourself!"

For the first time, Gamma recoiled from the shock of the pointed accusation directed at him, his mask letting off a surge of sparks as his whole body reeled backwards, leaving him leaning against the desk to recover. Small sparks continued to dance their way across his mask, causing him to flinch and clench his teeth.

"I… I must've overlooked the report…" Gamma admitted calmly, though his expression was still anything but. Wright continued to smirk confidently at him.

Gamma shuffled the papers on his desk until he found an enclosed envelope with Ema's medical examination report in it and skimmed through it briefly before holding it up.

"I've found it, and as the defense suggests, as early as the moment Ema was detained, there were signs of blunt force trauma to the back of the cranium. She definitely took a blow hard enough to force her into a state of unconsciousness."

The judge nodded, "The court accepts this into evidence,"

-Ema's Medical Report added to Court Record-

The judge clacked his gavel, "Well then, Prosecutor Gamma. It definitely seems like you've made a grave error regarding the defendant's cause of unconsciousness at the scene of the crime, and as the defense suggests, it's highly unlikely that the victim is the one who knocked Ms. Skye unconscious. All things considered, I believe this raises considerable doubt regarding the defendant's guilt."

Apollo grinned and clenched his fists in victory. The trial would be allowed to continue another day, and maybe Apollo could scrounge up more info and evidence to make a stronger case for Ema.

Yes! I'm glad I was able to hold out this far!

"It's too early to be celebrating, Apollo," Wright replied, frowning as he glanced across the courtroom, "Look at Gamma's expression."

Apollo followed Wright's eyes across the court and found that Gamma was smirking successfully with his arms crossed.

"I'm sorry, Your Honor," Gamma replied, "but I'm not quite done yet. After all, what does this medical report prove, exactly?"

Apollo slammed his fists down on the bench, "It proves that Detective Skye was knocked unconscious!"

Gamma frowned and shook his head, "Sorry, but it proves nothing of the sort. All it proves is that the defendant received a blow to the back of the head. Now, take a good look at the crime scene photo."

"The… the photo?" the judge asked, eyes wide in confusion.

Gamma nodded, "Note the position of the defendant. She's lying face-up. Isn't it possible that she merely hit her head when she fell down after fainting from the shock of committing murder?"

Gamma emphasized his last statement with an aggressive point, and Apollo recoiled slightly.

"See," Wright replied, "I don't think today's trial will end until we present that piece of evidence."

"W-what do you mean? How will that help end the trial?" Apollo asked, placing his finger on his forehead in thought.

Wright laughed, "When you're as experienced with these sorts of things, you get an eye for knowing when a piece of evidence is important."

That… that didn't answer my question at all!

"Hmm…" the judge nodded, "Yes, that is possible, but-"

"HOLD IT!"

The judge, not expecting to get cut off, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Apollo and Wright both looked at each other, then around the room to locate the source of the call.

Gamma himself also seemed rather surprised until he looked over at the witness stand. After realizing who had called out, Gamma crossed his arms and put on a blank expression.

Victor Darke stood on the witness stand looking as smug and cocky as ever, smiling sideways and tilting his head to the side in a condescending manner.

"Since the prosecutor seems a bit slow on the uptake, I'll help him fill in the blanks with testimony, of course."

"OBJECTION!"

Gamma slammed the desk in front of him angrily.

"I object to my witness insulting my intelligence in court!"

Victor smirked wider on the witness stand, "I wouldn't have to insult you if you weren't such a bumbling greenhorn! I've seen puppies prosecute better than you!"

The judge clacked his gavel, "Objection sustained. Witness, please stop insulting Prosecutor Gamma."

"Tch," Victor scoffed, crossing his arms, "He deserves every bit of it!"

Apollo slumped his shoulders and looked over at Wright, noting dryly, "I've heard of prosecutors badgering witnesses, but a witness who badgers prosecutors!? Who does this guy think he is?"

Wright laughed, "Careful Apollo, or he'll start badgering you next…"

The judge clacked his gavel once more, "At any rate, it seems like the witness has something else to say. Witness, please testify to the court."

Witness Testimony

- Ema's Injury -

"Heh, it's like cyber-face over there said, the detective must've fainted. She did just shoot someone, after all. Yeah, she fainted and when she fell she hit her head on the ground. It's the most logical explanation. She was knocked out on purpose? Give me a break! If someone really knocked her out, what could they have used on the spot like that?"

- End Testimony -

"Hmm," the judge nodded, taking in everything that had just been said, "Yes, that does seem to make sense. Mr. Justice, are you ready for the cross-examination?"

Apollo nodded, "Of course, Your Honor."

Cross-Examination

- Ema's Injury -

"Heh, it's like cyber-face over there said, the detective must've fainted. She did just shoot someone, after all. Yeah, she fainted and when she fell she hit her head on the ground. It's the most logical explanation. She was knocked out on purpose, give me a break! If someone really knocked her out, what could they have used on the spot like that?-"

"HOLD IT!"

"Out of curiosity, there was something about the way you phrased that that seems… odd…" Apollo noted.

Victor cocked his head to the side, "What are you talking about?"

Apollo frowned, "Well, you asked, 'what could they have used on the spot like that?', but that's an odd question to ask, don't you think? I mean, why couldn't the real killer have knocked her out with something they had prepared earlier?"

Gamma stepped in, smirking, "Heh, sorry, Mr. Justice, but I think I know where Victor was going with his line of reasoning…"

Victor scoffed and cast Gamma a condescending look, "It's about time someone did."

Gamma chose to ignore Darke's comment and shook his head, "If this hypothetical "real killer" had been prepared with something heavy enough to knock out Ema with, why didn't they use that to murder Renchez? After all, they used the defendant's gun to commit the crime, which would only make sense if they were ill-prepared for the murder otherwise… not to mention that a gun would be riskier to use due to the sound of the gunshot."

Apollo slumped his shoulders.

"Ah… I didn't think of that."

Realizing he had gone over Victor's entire testimony, Apollo frowned.

"Victor's being rather repetitive, I don't know if any of my evidence contradicts his statements…"

Wright smiled, "Victor seems like the kind of guy who always thinks two steps ahead of everyone… but this might work to our advantage. I'm sure if you press him, he'll say something that doesn't quite fit."

Apollo nodded, focusing intently on Victor as he began to speak again.

"Heh, it's like cyber-face over there said, the detective must've fainted. She did just shoot someone, after all. Yeah, she fainted and when she fell she hit her head on the ground. It's the most logical explanation-"

"HOLD IT!"

"What do you mean by 'most logical explanation'?"

Victor scoffed, crossing his arms smugly, "Don't you get it? It's the explanation that makes the most sense. The only explanation that answers all the questions perfectly."

I know what what you meant I just… argh… Nevermind…

Wright piped in at this point.

"Hold on, Apollo… didn't Victor mention something about this earlier?"

Apollo's eyes lit up and he nodded.

"Wait, I think I should bring that point up!"

Apollo turned his attention to the forensic scientist and slammed his hands down on the bench in front of him.

"Wait, earlier you mentioned that the reasoning behind your theory was because any theoretical third party would have been unprepared to kill, and therefore wouldn't have had anything to strike the defendant over the head with, correct?"

"That's the gist of it, yeah," Victor smirked, "is there something wrong with that?"

Hmm…. Apollo thought to himself, Is there something wrong with Victor's theory?

"Actually," Apollo opened his eyes, "There is something rather flawed with that line of reasoning!"

Victor grew angry and crossed his arms indignantly, "I-impossible… my logic is flawless!"

Apollo shook his head, "I'm sorry, Victor, but your logic falls apart if…"

Apollo paused to mull over what he was going to say next, then nodded to himself once he confirmed how he was going to approach this.

"If I were to prove there was something in that room that the real killer could have used to knock out Detective Skye, your line of reasoning falls apart!"

Victor flinched again, his bell jingling as he reeled back and raised his arms in front of him.

"W-what!? You can't actually prove that, right!? That's why you said 'if' just now… right!?"

The judge shook his head, "Mr. Justice, I'm afraid hypotheticals aren't enough to discredit a witness's testimony. Do you have proof that something else in the room could be used to strike Detective Skye over the head?"

Apollo nodded, "Of course I have evidence, Your Honor!"

This time, Gamma reeled back in surprise, with more of those sparks flying off his mask.

The judge clacked his gavel.

"If you have evidence, please present it to the court."

Apollo nodded and began looking through the Court Record.

Let's see… the evidence that proves there was something else that could be used as a murder weapon is…

"TAKE THAT!"

"Why, this is a lovely collection of trophies… are these yours?" the judge asked as Apollo pulled up an image of the shelf of trophies in the evidence room.

"N-no, they're not mine, Your Honor," Apollo replied, trying to shrug off that non-sequitur as best as possible, "This is a shelf of trophies stored in the evidence room where the murder occurred."

Gamma slammed the back of his fist against the prosecutor's bench and shook his head, "So? Are you suggesting that's a poor place to store trophies?"

Apollo once again shook his head.

"No, but if you can't see where I'm going with this then you might need to check your eyes."

Gamma grumbled something incoherent at Apollo, but the red-clad defense attorney kept rolling with his argument.

"This shelf alone proves that there were plenty of items that the real killer could have used to bludgeon my unsuspecting client… however, note that there is one trophy missing!"

The judge's eyes widened, "Ah! You're right! There does appear to be space for a single trophy on that shelf!"

Apollo nodded and smirked before slamming his fists down onto the bench forcefully, "The fact that a trophy was missing from the crime scene… points to that trophy having been used to strike Detective Skye over the head!"

Gamma stood silently in shock and surprise as he let that information sink in, then…

"W-WWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT!?"

Sparks danced agross Gamma's mask as he leaned against the prosecutor's bench, trying to recover… suddenly, he raised his hand up and slammed the desk before pulling himself upright.

"Heh, you almost had me there, Mr. Justice," Gamma replied, "Indeed, shards of glass were found at the crime scene, and they do appear to be from some sort of glass trophy… however… no blood was found on any of the glass shards! If the defendant had truly been knocked out…"

Gamma slammed the desk again, then threw his pointer finger out to point at the defense bench.

"There should definitely have been blood on at least one of the shards!"

Wright smirked, "There, now do you see, Apollo. I told you… that glass shard is key to this trial, at least, for now."

Apollo smirked.

"Prosecutor Gamma, have a look at this piece of evidence!"

"TAKE THAT!"

"A…. A GLASS SHARD!"

Gamma shouted in surprise, leaning over the bench as though he were in physical pain, then…

"There… there's blood on this glass shard!" the judge exclaimed.

Wright smirked, "You know what to do, Apollo."

Apollo nodded, then pointed ferociously at the prosecution, "If the blood on this glass shard belongs to Detective Skye, then that proves that the trophy was used to knock her unconscious… meaning there had to be a third party at the crime scene at the time of the murder!"

The judge clacked his gavel, "Bailiff! Take this shard of glass down to forensics at once… we must establish whether or not this bloodstain belongs to the defendant or not!"

Victor, from the witness stand, smirked, "Didn't I already tell you, Gramps, I am forensics. Just give the glass shard to me, I'll take it right now and have it analyzed in less than five minutes!"

The judge's eyes widened, "Can you really do it that quickly?"

Victor nodded, "Quickly? I was being generous. My personal record is three minutes and twenty four seconds."

"Very well," the judge replied, "Witness, I permit you to analyze the blood on this shard of glass immediately!"

The courtroom was almost entirely silent while Victor worked. He had taken an on-the-spot blood sample from Ema Skye and was using a special device he seemed to have been carrying around to analyze both her blood and the blood from the shard of glass. It was a crude, test that would only be able to determine if it was Ema's or not, but that was all it really needed to do anyway.

After four minutes, Victor tapped the screen of the device and it printed out a small report.

"According to my analysis… the blood from the glass… is a ninty-five percent similarity between the blood taken from the glass shard and the defendant's blood. In other words, it's a match."

The judge's eyes widened.

Apollo stood, looking successful and confident after what he could only describe as the longest 4 minutes of his career as a defense attorney.

Wright sat with his hands in his pockets, looking rather smug himself but with a relaxed air about him.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the courtroom…

"NNOOOO WWWWAAAAAYYYYY!" Gamma's mask began sparking like crazy, then exploded in his face, leaving the prosecutor leaned hard against the desk, his mask both smoking from the explosion and letting off stray sparks here and there.

As though Gamma's outburst were the trigger to some sort of chain reaction, the gallery went up into a total uproar. The tides of the trial having been turned. The gallery wasn't even murmuring anymore, they were outright shouting about the amazing comeback by the defense.

"At first I thought she was guilty, but now I'm not sure…"

"Did you hear that… there might've been a third person at the crime scene…"

"That prosecutor didn't stand a chance! Not against Wright's apprentice!"

The judge had to clack his gavel three times, nearly yelling at the top of his lungs, "ORDER! ORDER! ORDER IN THE COURT!"

Once the crowd finally settled down, the judge looked at both the defense and prosecution.

Apollo and Wright were standing side by side, smirking confidently now that they had blown a hole in one of the major assumptions of the prosecution's case.

Gamma was still leaned over the prosecutor's bench, though the smoke from his mask had settled down, leaving only the occasional spark dancing across the metal surface.

"Well, what seemed like a rather open and shut case turned out to be something a bit more complex than I imagined. The defense has proven the likelihood of a third party at the crime scene at the time of the murder. As such, I do not believe I have enough information to pass a verdict at this time. I expect both the prosecution and the defense to look further into this matter to prepare for tomorrow's trial."

The judge was about to clack his gavel when someone burst through the courtroom doors.

"HOLD IT!"

"Please wait, Your Honor!"

Everyone in the courtroom turned towards the witness stand as the new person rushed in and roughly shoved Victor Darke out of the way.

Apollo's shoulders slumped immediately when he saw who it was.

There, standing on the witness stand and clutching his messenger bag like his life depended on it was Derek Fanne.

The judge's eyes widened briefly before he narrowed them and shook his head.

"I was just about to prolong the trial, I don't appreciate being interrupted like this."

"Oh…" Derek replied dejectedly, as though he wanted to be the one to save the trial, "A-anyway! I have a report from the police department, Mr. Gamma! It's absolutely urgent! They told me to interrupt the trial if I had to, because you really need to hear this!"

Gamma slammed the back of his fist down on the prosecutor's bench, "Did they really tell you to interrupt the trial?"

"Well," Derek looked to the side as though it would help him avoid the question, "they definitely said to make sure you read this right away… and since you're still in trial, I'd have to interrupt it anyway, so…"

Gamma slammed his fist down on the table yet again, "Enough. What's the report about?"

"Here it is, sir!" Derek handed Gamma the report, then turned to flash Ema a smile, "Anyway, sorry for interrupting the trial… please don't hold me in contempt of court!"

The judge shook his head, "Honestly, I think after this that would be the most appropriate action-"

"OBJECTION!"

Gamma had just shouted, but he was doubled over the bench with his mask sparking again, enough so that it looked as though Gamma was in physical pain.

"I… I object… I object to this report! This is insane! Are you kidding me!? Is this some kind of joke!?"

It was the angriest and most emotional Apollo had seen Gamma throughout the entire trial, which served to really catch the red-clad attorney off guard.

Derek shrunk in his own clothes as though he were at fault for the contents of the report.

"W-what?" the judge's eyes widened, alarmed at Gamma's response to the report, "What does it say…"

Gamma paused, as though he were reading the report over again to make sure his eyes weren't playing horrible tricks on him, and then he picked himself up off the bench and stood calmly.

"It seems as though an entire file of evidence has gone missing from the evidence room… and seeing as Ema was not found with an evidence file on her person when he found her knocked out, we can only assume someone entered the evidence room at one point to steal an entire case file. The police have yet to determine if this is a related incident or not, but…"

The judge shook his head, "Either way, this new information does not change the situation very much as far at this trial is concerned. I expect the prosecution to further look into the matter of the stolen case file and determine whether or not this particular incident has anything to do with the murder in the evidence room. Gamma, you understand your responsibilities on this matter, correct?"

Gamma nodded, "Yes, Your Honor."

"In that case, without further delay," the judge began, "court is adjourned!"

The judge brought his gavel down one last time, bringing an end to the first day of what was turning out to be a rather bizarre trial.

To Be Continued...

---

AN: So, it's just now occurred to me that I forgot to add the obligatory "To Be Continued..." after the last chapter. Whoops. Now, I highly doubt anyone actually thought I was finished with the story after last chapter, but just in case I've added it retroactively (which probably means by the time you read this it's actually there now).

Now, you may notice that some of Gamma's "animations" (or for those of you with less imagination, frequent actions) are similar to Godot's. Why? Well, I'll let you work that one out yourselves, but you might want to look back on certain Ace Attorney character sprites. You may notice a particular pattern that will give you a hint of who exactly Gamma is.

Perhaps I've said too much.

Also, if you haven't noticed yet, the chapter titles now reference what part of the case the chapter is about, so you can navigate the story easier! Anyway, hope you've enjoyed the chapter, and always remember that reviews are appreciated.