"The prosecution calls Tyler Maxwell to the stand!"

"...We are so screwed." Maya said.

"I know, Maya…" Phoenix hung his head with a sigh, "I know."

A young man who looked to be about the age of the defendant settled in at the witness's stand. He looked relatively apathetic. He also looked to have had severe resting bitch face, but he also could have been glaring at the defendant. Phoenix couldn't really tell.

"Name and occupation, sir." Payne stated, confident smirk on his face still. He was certainly positive in this witness.

"Tyler Maxwell." He said, voice gruff and agitated, "I'm the vice president of Phi Gamma...and I would have been president, if not for that backstabber over in that chair!" Tyler spat, pointing at Chris in the defendant's chair.

"Order!" The judge shouted, pounding his gavel, "Witness! If you cannot behave, you will be evicted from this courtroom posthaste!"

Tyler crossed his arms and let out a huff, blowing his bangs out of his eyes, "Whatever."

"Anyways… Mr. Payne said that you were an eyewitness at the scene of the crime. Is that true?" The judge asked.

"Yeah, that's true. I saw Chris murder Milan with my own eyes!" Tyler said.

"Then please testify to this fact." The judge requested.

"It was the last day of Hell Week. We had all the pledges lined up for their last initiation test. Suddenly, Chris goes up to Milan and gave her a specific test: to hang the sorority flag up on the clock tower. The two of them started running for that tower, and I chased after them before I could stop myself. I climbed up the tower with them, and I was on the ledge as well. Chris shoved Milan off once I arrived, and I watched as she fell. I know Chris did it. There's no doubt in my mind." Tyler said forcefully, eyes never wavering from Chris as he testified.

"Defense, you know what to do." The judge said.

Phoenix rubbed his chin in thought, eyes focused off to the side, "Pardon my hesitation to believe you, Mr. Maxwell, but the eyewitness earlier never mentioned a third person on the ledge."

"The other witness was Jess, ain't it?" Tyler simply retorted, "Surely you noticed her glasses. We asked her to take them off to make sure she couldn't see through the blindfold. I know this, because I was the one to hold on to them for her. She couldn't see everything too well without them."

"OBJECTION!" Phoenix turned towards Payne, "What is the point of having two witnesses when one completely invalidates the other's testimony?!"

"Same point, different details." Payne dismissed Phoenix's claims with a wave, "There's no issue here."

"I agree with the prosecution." The judge added, "I see no problem with this."

For a brief moment, Phoenix grimaced and sweat beaded on his forehead, but he recovered soon enough, "I, for one, see a huge problem!"

"Which is…?" Payne asked.

"Even if Ms. Robinson was without her glasses, I don't believe she was wrong in saying that she only saw two figures!" Phoenix slammed his hands down on the desk, "I just believe she misidentified who was with Milan on that ledge!"

"Oh?" The judge blinked rapidly, "Who do you think was on that ledge, then?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's the witness!" Phoenix pointed at Tyler, and the courtroom erupted into chatter at the accusation.

The judge pounded his gavel. Maya sent Phoenix an unsure look.

"Uh…" She trailed off, "Do you have any idea what you're doing here, Nick?"

"No." Phoenix replied simply, "I'm just rolling with it."

Maya placed her elbows on the desk and rested her head in her hands, "Oh boy…"

"Order!" The judge yelled, "Mr. Wright! What compels you to accuse the witness of murder on a whim?!"

Phoenix grinned a bit, "I have no reason to doubt Ms. Robinson's testimony. She made no mention of being without her glasses, so we have no choice but to go with Maxwell's word. Even without her glasses, she should have been able to discern basic shapes. There's no reason for her to be unable to see three figures on the ledge."

"Proooooof!" Payne yelped, "You need proof!"

Of course I do… Phoenix's confidence faltered for a moment, but then he presented Maxwell's profile on the courtroom's screen. "The proof is in the grudge Maxwell holds against Chris Archer. He called the defendant a backstabber no less than ten minutes ago because Chris Archer took the spot as president when it should have been Maxwell's." Phoenix took a second before looking over towards Maxwell, "Allow me to guess. You were the head of New Gammas freshman year, weren't you?"

"Yes… I was…" Maxwell muttered.

Phoenix's confidence increased at that, "Now, I wasn't in a frat myself when I was in college, but I still knew about how things normally worked. If you're head of New Gammas freshman year, you're a shoe-in for becoming president your senior year, but somehow, Chris Archer managed to get elected instead of you. Isn't that right, Maxwell?"

Maxwell only grunted in defeat. Phoenix took it as a yes.

"That angered you greatly, didn't it? To have that honor ripped out under you by this pathetic guy?!" Phoenix pointed towards Chris.

"H-Hey! That's our client, Nick! Don't call him pathetic!" Maya stammered, though she ultimately was ignored.

"Damn straight I was angry! I still am!" Tyler yelled, gritting his teeth and tightening his grip on his sleeve.

"But… You still managed to become vice president. That's only one step away from becoming president, should the acting one suddenly… Oh, I don't know… get arrested and not be able to perform his duties anymore?" Phoenix grinned.

Tyler's eyes widened, "W-What?!"

"You pinned this crime on him so you could take his position of president that he stole from you, didn't you?" Phoenix pointed at Tyler, "You killed Milan Jackson because you knew that everyone would think Chris Archer did it! He already had a bone to pick with the defendant, and the opportunity was too perfect to pass up on!"

"And how do you intend to back this up, Mr. Wright?" The judge chimed in suddenly, as to make sure Phoenix didn't forget the fundamentals of the courtroom.

"With Ms. Robinson's testimony, of course!" Phoenix pounded his hands on his desk again, "She only saw two figures on the clock tower! It doesn't line up with Maxwell's take on events, and unlike Maxwell, she has no reason to lie!"

The judge stroked his beard and closed his eyes for a moment. He looked to be thinking everything over, "...There's a possibility to this that I cannot deny. Witness, what is your response to these accusations?"

Tyler lowered his head and growled, but he lifted his gaze soon enough, and his expression had softened considerably, "That's not what happened. I would never take Milan's life just to ruin Chris's, no matter how much I'd like to. I...loved her."

"WHAAAAAT?!" Phoenix shouted, eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"Don't…make me say it again." Tyler fixed his eyes on the ground, "I would never hurt her."

"Witness!" The judge interjected, eyes still wide from the surprise, "Please testify about your relationship with the deceased!"

Tyler let out a sigh, "If you say so…"

"We're still so screwed…" Maya muttered to Phoenix.

"I know, Maya…" Phoenix shot back.

"Milan and I… we hit it off really well on the first day of initiation. She was smart, pretty, and reserved… and she was so passionate about the Gammas. I was taken nearly instantly. Now… I kind of have a problem. A drinking problem. It turns out she does too. She's a really bad perfectionist, and she drinks a lot because of the stress of trying to be perfect all the time. We'd drink together and talk all night about nearly everything. I'd never kill her to get back at Chris. He's too much of a scumbag to waste an innocent life to take him down." Tyler said those last few words filled with spite, yet Phoenix couldn't spot anything wrong with it.

Phoenix looked up to the judge, who had tears in his eyes and was blowing his nose into a handkerchief. "How tragic…!" The judge said, immediately blowing his nose again.

At a loss for words, Phoenix just stared down at the ground, dumbfounded.

The judge had managed to stop crying, and he glanced down at Wright, "Any questions from the defense for cross?"

Phoenix was completely out of ideas. He looked over to Maya, who just shook her head. It didn't look like she believed Mia would be of any help at that moment. Phoenix lowered his head and sighed. Maybe he truly had a guilty client this time. It was bound to happen at some point.

"The defense...rests." Phoenix sighed, closing his eyes in defeat.

"Then if the prosecution has no objections, I shall declare my verdict." The judge continued.

Payne looked absolutely delighted to be on the winning side of things, "The prosecution has no objections!"

The judge nodded, "Then I declare the defendant, Mr. Chris Archer…"

"HOLD IT!"

The entire courtroom froze in that moment from the booming voice. It wasn't Maya. It certainly wasn't Payne… And it wasn't Phoenix.

"Who… Who said that?" The judge looked around, blinking in shock.

"It's me, Your Honor!" One of the bailiffs shouted, "The defendant has gone missing!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Nearly everyone in the courtroom screamed.

The judge pounded down on his gavel, "Bailiffs! Track down the defendant at once! Get the police to put out a search for this man! I won't have anyone escape the power of justice!"

The bailiffs all left the courtroom, and the police mobilized. Phoenix and Maya were left in the midst of the chaos, looking at each other with expressions mixed with relief, confusion, and shock.

The defendant is declared…missing?!


Later that night, when Phoenix went home without even a celebration dinner due to the outcome of the case, he received a strange call on his phone.

"You and I, we need to share words…" The ominous voice came from the other line.

"Who is this?" Phoenix said back, though he could draw his own conclusions easily enough.

"Who else, idiot? It's Chris Archer." Chris spat. His voice was dripping with malice, "You failed me!"

Phoenix shook his head frantically, "I can't win every case! It didn't help that heaps of evidence were stacked against you!"

Chris growled loud enough that the line clearly picked it up, "Well, I had to take matters into my own hands."

"You've already lost, Archer. Fleeing doesn't help you. Soon enough the police will find you, and you'll be facing even greater penalties than before." Phoenix sighed, "You dug your own grave."

"No… You're gonna fix this. I'm not going down for this murder." Chris was hasty to say, "I want to talk to you, you and you alone. No one else, not even that little girl. I'll tell you where I am if you promise to meet me alone."

Phoenix sighed, "Fine. Where are you? I'll be right over."

"Maine."

"MAINE?!" Phoenix blurted, nearly dropping his phone, "H-How did you get there so fast?!"

"I have my ways. I'll expect to see you in a day or so. Make it quick, Wright. I wouldn't want to have to resort to other measures to get you to fix this mess you've created…" Chris threatened.

Rubbing his temple, Phoenix let out a sigh, "I'll fly out there as soon as I can. We'll work something out."

"I'm sure we will. See you then, Phoenix Wright." And then there was a 'click,' and the line went dead.

Phoenix threw his phone on his bed and took his head in his hands, letting out an annoyed groan. Before he knew it, he was pulling out a small travel bag and a pen and paper.

Looks like Phoenix needed to go on a little trip.