Standard disclaimers apply
Flashback to Global Studios #2 5 years ago
Prior to the Steel Samurai even coming to fruition, another show from a foreign land had reached the pinnacle of popularity in American shores. The show in particular focused heavily on a boy who was a tennis prodigy and mostly made his home in Japan but also made trips to Los Angeles for competitions. Through taking on some interesting characters who had unique tennis abilities, the main character who went by the name of Ryoma Echizen, had bested his opponents by analyzing their move sets during a match so he could adapt his own play accordingly and he had a unique way of changing his tennis playing hands from left to right if necessary. Biggest complaint about this character was that he always carried a bored cocky demeanor that often served as a mask to hide the affections he had for his teammates, which led to many critics to have the opinion that such a character trait would be difficult for audiences to grasp.
Despite those criticisms of both the show and that character, Prince of Tennis gained enormous popularity both in Japan and the United States to the point where Global Studios wanted to attempt a movie inspired by the show with Bill Hammer as the star. By that time Studio 2 was newly built and they were ready to film a fight scene that went between Bill Hammer's character and an extra in that movie who was working for a villain. What nobody counted on though was anyone dying from a dangerous prop, but when it did happen the screams were everywhere.
"Someone get an ambulance!" yelled a director.
"There's blood everywhere...we're too late!" said a studio medic.
A crew member noticed a female dressed in black coming out of the studio trailer "Aah! Ms. Varnello!"
"What...? What happened here?" She asked with a yawn due to her waking up to the screams.
"It's your boyfriend, Ms. Varnello, he fell from the trailer porch," the crew member replied.
Varnello shifted her focus to a man lying face down and impaled by a metal spike, blood draining out of his body into the flowers and concrete. He wore all black from the jeans and shoes to the Kevlar vest and long sleeved shirt, no one could see the eyes but he had a look of shock that Bill Hammer would carry five years later. The name of that person belonged to Manuel Pedroza, who prior to his death, was a lover of Joan Varnello for 3 years. Because of that relationship being built on both Varnello and Pedroza's mutual appreciation of the martial arts movies from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan, Varnello used her connections with her family to secure her gaining control of Global Studios and easily landed her lover in mostly small movie parts...a career that Manuel didn't take for granted. Before he died, he was supposed to play the part of a henchman for a villain in this Bill Hammer movie. Right now, Bill Hammer being dressed in some tennis gear and looking in absolute horror at Manuel bleeding to death on the sharp metal gate.
Though his horror wasn't even remotely compared to Joan's horror who was forcefully being held back by studio security that was on hand in the studio, she was trying to get close to the body, she began screaming his name when she did get held back.
"Ms. Varnello, please, try to remain calm..." said a guard on her right.
"No...! No! How could this happen!?" screamed Varnello
"I swear to you Varnello all of this was just an accident," came the voice of the director who was trying to calm her down. "We were just doing an action scene and..."
When Varnello remembered what Manuel and Hammer were supposed to do that day, she made one final attempt to go after him but she was held back again and it became the final straw for her as she broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. The man she loved was dead and there was nothing she could do about it.
October 20, 1:12 PM District Court Defendant Lobby No. 3
In the world called murder, a killer would automatically cry that he or she didn't do it and would even go as far as getting an attorney to either suppress evidence that police would uncover either by the book or by breaking the rules. If a judge were to grant the suppression of said evidence, it would be up to prosecution to conceive another way to put the murderer behind bars, which in turn would uncover new evidence or witnesses. If prosecution outweighed the defense then a plea deal would be made.
But in Joan Varnello's case, she just didn't want to go through the same drama that her father went through, didn't save her from getting screamed at from both sides of the spectrum. Her attorneys told her not to do this because she was risking the death penalty, but ultimately the choice befell between Varnello and Miles Edgeworth. As a result, Edgeworth made arrangements with her to instead take fifteen years to life and Joan accepted without any argument. Right now the final arrangements were made for Robert Powers' release from police custody and once that was done there was no hiding the big smile on his face. He came out a much different man than the one that Phoenix and Mia met three days ago and made no effort to hide it from them.
"I was right to call you guys all those days ago, you did a very good job," Robert reached out to shake both their hands in thanks.
"No problem, Mr. Powers, we're just glad that we were able to get you out of trouble," Mia replied while returning the smile. "We're just as glad that we didn't have to argue with Varnello about whether she killed him or not."
"Or better yet her having to play some sort of mind games with us," Phoenix added his two cents to the conversation. "Something tells me that she would've played a test on us."
Maya cut in, "I think her pleading guilty to this murder is brain racking enough for us, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes sis," Mia smiled at her "but that's one game I'm more than not willing to play in the future."
Daniel Reagan and John Briscoe were entering their lobby as they overheard their conversation "That's the perfect way to handle it, Mia, just take whatever victory you can and run with it," Briscoe said as he offered her a friendly hug.
"Says the detective who's just as happy to put away another Varnello behind bars, huh Briscoe?" Reagan quipped while earning a quick shoulder jab from his partner in the process.
"Oh stop it, Reagan, I told you I was smelling a rat and that rat was a Varnello."
"But still," Powers began to speak "It's sad that Mr. Hammer stole my costume and wanted to kill Ms. Varnello...but why would he want to frame for the murder?"
"Guess Bill Hammer was a huge mentor to you?" Mia asked curiously before looking to Phoenix "Why don't you answer for him?"
For a while Phoenix was trying to recoup from the curveball his partner threw at him...a habit that has been getting very frequent with them. Mia would have a good answer to a complicated question asked by a witness but would always look at Phoenix to give the answer. He admitted that this practice was needed for him, he just had a big problem of having Mia getting to him in a very rude sense. 'We're going to have to have a chat about these pop questions." Phoenix thought to himself as he began to unscramble the motive behind the crime. By the time, the only answer he could give to Powers' question came to him as he looked at the picture of Bill Hammer in the Steel Samurai costume at his costume.
He began to show that picture to Robert as he explained "It's because you were playing a role that he used to be."
"A role that he used to be?" Rob repeated curiously.
"Of course," Phoenix continued "Mr. Hammer was a big star back then, but because of a fatal accident, he was reduced to acting in a children's show...and as the villain to boot."
Maya knew where Phoenix was going with this theory and she added her two cents. "Because children like Cody Rojas loved the Steel Samurai with a passion, Bill Hammer looked at that passion and hated you for it...he thought that by killing Joan Varnello he would have a chance at regaining his glory."
At that point, it didn't take much for Robert Powers to absorb this information. "There's no way that I could've switched roles with him if he said something could he?"
Phoenix shook his head and said "I'm afraid not...and as you know they're still thinking about canceling the Steel Samurai, think of it this way, you look like you're ready to move your career forward and if you ever get that big break, you can be more than thankful that Bill Hammer got you there and you can act in his honor. If nothing else, you can be the guy that will continue Bill Hammer's legacy of action movies."
For a while, Robert thought about Phoenix's revelation in terms of his future in acting. Prior to this incident happening, he always looked to Bill Hammer as an idol in the movie business, the very reason why he wanted to be an actor in the first place. By the time Robert actually got the job of playing the Steel Samurai, Bill Hammer was actually a very nice man and became a good mentor to the young actor, almost like a big brother and little brother relationship...a relationship that Powers himself cherished. When the incident happened and the underlying cause of it began to be uncovered by both the detectives and the attorneys, his feelings for Bill Hammer really didn't waver at all, even now he felt nothing but sympathy to his mentor. So after thinking about Phoenix's words about how he could be the real successor of what Bill Hammer was in his prime, his smile not only returned...but grew wider as a result.
"You're right," Robert said in happiness. "The only reason why I became an actor, was because I too was an admirer of Bill Hammer's work and even now I really don't feel any hate for him...he's going to need someone to carry on his legacy and every time he hung out with me, it felt like Hammer became my big brother and I'm going to take that relationship and use it in my acting roles...again thank you very much, Fey and Wright I wish there was a way I can keep you guys as my personal attorneys."
Mia replied this time "Believe us, we would love to be your personal representatives in your career...but our real job is with defending the innocent and bringing justice to the dead."
"After the exceptional job you guys did, the least I want to do is give you a bonus for the job you've done for us," Powers replied. "At least give you guys leverage in your new law office."
But as Robert began to offer his reward, the group was suddenly struck silent by a familiar figure entering the defendant's lobby and stood right behind Robert Powers. When he began to ask what was wrong it was Maya who replied "N-no! U-um nothing's wrong...right, sis?"
But Mia wouldn't hide what she saw standing behind Robert Powers. "What are you doing here, Edgeworth?"
Robert then turned his body to see one Miles Edgeworth wearing the same stoic look that he usually carried in the court room, his gaze was very intent at Phoenix Wright who returned said gaze with a stoic look of his own. They locked eyes for a good thirty seconds before Edgeworth began to say to Phoenix that he didn't like small talk.
"Why?" Phoenix asked at first, all the while his voice began to sound very distant.
"Why what, Wright?" Edgeworth replied.
"...Why have you been helping us in this case?"
"You don't hesitate to get to the point do you, Wright?" Edgeworth gave no sense of amusement "...Because I wanted to make a form of an apology in regards to my behavior in the Bluecorp Incident."
"Miles Edgeworth apologizing for something? Now I've heard everything." Phoenix quipped.
"Yes I know it's out of the ordinary, Wright, but I almost let Redd White continue his crimes against the children in third world countries because I didn't let you or Ms. Fey stop him," Edgeworth made a brief glance at Mia who was stood behind Phoenix but mostly kept his gaze at the latter. "By allowing the detectives to work with you in this case, it ultimately led me to my greatest victory as a prosecutor."
"Varnello?" Phoenix asked as if checking the time. "To be honest with you, had she not plead guilty to this murder, I wouldn't have done well with cross-examining her."
Edgeworth pondered on that possibility for a few seconds, "I think you would've succeeded...but then again I probably would've been the one to save your butt in the process."
He finally turned his gaze to Robert, who kept his attention to the two attorneys keeping their eyes locked "May I just say, I'm a big fan of your work, Mr. Powers, been watching your show since it first came out."
"O-oh well...thank you very much, Mr. Edgeworth," Robert replied while the prosecutor went back to Phoenix.
"If I may be honest with you about something, Wright...I hadn't expected to meet you again after all these years."
It was Maya who spoke next "Meet 'again'?"
But Edgeworth ignored her "In retrospect, it would've been better had we not met," then he broke his gaze away from Wright, "since crossing paths with you, I am saddled with unnecessary...feelings."
"Well aren't those kind of necessary?" Phoenix asked curiously.
"They only serve to get in my way and my job," when Edgeworth looked at Wright again he glared "I don't ever want you showing your face in front of me again, do you understand?"
But Phoenix wouldn't give his answer because Edgeworth was taking his leave from the lobby, leaving the remaining people in the lobby silently flabbergasted.
Finally Briscoe asked "You guys are neck and neck in your age group, why do I get the feeling he has a past with you?"
It made Phoenix remember something as he turned to his partner, "I think I still owe you a drink, Chief, shall we have one tonight?"
Mia began to realize what Nick was thinking about, both she and Phoenix silently thought about his first case in the courtroom, how he defended a childhood friend. To Mia's theory, prosecutor Miles Edgeworth was also a connection in her partner's past.
"Yeah I think you do owe me a drink, Phoenix," Mia replied finally but began to realize something. "But we'll have to take another raincheck on it."
"Huh? But why?" Phoenix asked in a bout of shock.
Mia could only grin as she looked at John's direction, "Because my dear student, John and I scored eight tickets to a concert at the Staples Center for next Saturday."
Now John began to be shocked at the realization, "Oh yeah that's right, I completely forgot," and so John began his explanation "A week after the Bluecorp crap was over and done with, I found out that a singer Mia and I had mutually liked was coming to the Staples Center and thankfully we were able to get those eight tickets for two different dates before they sold out like hot cakes."
That piqued Nick's curiosity, "Who's the singer?"
"Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood," Mia and John replied in unison.
Maya lifted her eye-brows in amazement, "You got tickets for them?!"
"Thirty minutes before they even went on sale, sis, we would like you and Phoenix to join us," Mia replied looking at her sister with a grin.
Naturally Maya was excited about this news because like Mia and John, she had taken an interest in the music of Garth Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood like her sister had been interested, but unknown to the trio who liked those two singers, one person was very confused and he had to ask.
"Umm...who are Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood?" Phoenix asked innocently.
Automatically Phoenix began to feel small for asking that question as John, Mia, and Maya looked at him with shock across their faces. But when Mia looked at him and found out he really had no idea, she took his hand in sympathy. "When we get back to the office, you and I will listen to his CD's together."
With that said, the foursome exited the courtroom and made the trip back to the offices of Fey and Wright.
Flashback to an incident from spring 2001
He was nine years old and in the fourth grade and back in his day, he was alone to the point where he didn't have a single friend. Who would want to be friends with one of the rarest examples of a boy completely orphaned from birth and being raised by two godparents who loved him...all because drinking and driving killed his parents and they didn't drink. "Don't be friends with that boy," that small town said about him "he is a by-product of a family that drank their selves to death, you hang around him, and you'll get a case of the drunks."
In an age where most kids rarely listened to parental reasoning, the children of that town not only hung on to every word but they take it one step further and pick on him for not having a real mommy or daddy and that his godparents were just temporary replacements until they got drunk. No one wanted to be friends with him, they all looked at him like he was a mere punching bag. That same punching bag almost got torn in half on the day that it happened.
Every month, the children had to bring envelopes, with money from their parents, to school to cover cafeteria lunches and apparently one of those envelopes was stolen during a P.E. Class. Both Phoenix Wright and his eventual friend, Larry Butz were coming down with a cold so they had to skip class that day. Problem was since the envelope was stolen during the time of that class, the entire classroom that Phoenix belonged to thought he did it. The accusation was so high in tension that it was unanimously agreed by the children that he should be put in a classroom trial.
"I...I didn't do it!" Phoenix said in a near scream.
But every child in the classroom kept screaming "Guilty! He did it!"
"Guilty! It was you!"
"Thief!"
"Give me my money back!"
"You're such a meanie!"
"Did your 'mommy' tell you to steal that money?"
"Just admit you did it!'
"You can't hide the truth!"
"Tell us the truth!"
"We're not going to play with you anymore!"
"Yeah, and no borrowing my eraser!
"He shouldn't be allowed in the relay race!"
"Or on the library committee!"
"Give me back the 50 cents I loaned you!"
"Hey, did you rob that bank the other day?"
Like mentioned before, a lot of those children were just as cruel to him as they were prior to this incident, but what Phoenix didn't count on was the teacher siding with those children. "Now, Phoenix, you know you shouldn't steal people's money! It's not right."
That would've been the straw that broke the camel's back for that little boy, he had felt very alone since the day he was born, and no one really loved him except his godparents who adopted him. But now even they couldn't help out his depression, he felt like he was at the end of his rope. He couldn't stop crying at this point but when he tried to make his way to the victim of that stolen envelope in order to apologize, he sure as hell didn't count on that one word that would eventually save his life.
"OBJECTION!" Came the yell of the boy sitting at that desk. He wore a purple suit that fit perfectly for a child and his neck was wrapped around a red bowtie. Even as a kid he had dark gray hair and it was combed in the same style that he still uses to this day.
After calming his voice down a bit, he still kept it loud enough for the entire classroom to have their attention on him, he began to speak "He shouldn't have to apologize, the only thing that belongs in a trial is evidence, anything else has no place, you should all be ashamed... amateurs!"
At that point the teacher was more surprised at him coming to Phoenix's defense "M-Miles?"
"Look, Mr. Wright, it wasn't you who stole my money, was it?"
"...No..." was all Phoenix could say after being so shocked at Miles coming to his defense.
"Then you shouldn't apologize," Edgeworth said and raised his voice again, "Your honor, this court lacks the necessary proof to convict this boy of any wrongdoing, therefore he should be declared not guilty by this court."
"B-but Miles," the teacher began to say still shaken up over Miles coming to Nick's defense, "it was your money that was stolen!"
Even the classroom wanted to agree with the teacher and they all thought that yelling at Edgeworth would make them win:
"Yeah!"
"He did it! He's the one!"
"We don't need proof!"
"Make him say he's sorry!"
But out of nowhere, another yell came from another desk opposite of where Edgeworth's was, "Why don't you all just shut up!"
That voice in particular belonged to a boy in a white tank, brown shorts, white shoes, wore a Band-Aid on his right leg, and his brown spiky hair would be used many years later. "This is always how it is with all of you and him, picking on him for no reason over his tragic circumstances and not taking into consideration that your accusations are practically killing him. He said he didn't do it; Miles said it himself that you need evidence to say otherwise, but seeing as how there's none appearing in this classroom, maybe it's best that all of you just shut up, chill out, and leave him alone for once."
And the funny thing was, Larry's short speech did make everyone shut up, to the point where you could hear a pin drop...and for good reason. If there was one thing that you didn't do in a small town, it was pick on the child of the mayor, if you did, you better get ready for a major ass chew. So for Larry Butz to come into the defense of Phoenix, it was the equivalent to getting a pardon if you were in a real jail cell, and to that point the teacher in the classroom didn't want to make any further argument in this matter. In the end, she promised Edgeworth that she would replace the money herself and ordered everyone in the classroom to take their seats...which they did but not without some silent grumbling among themselves.